In some sort of divine blessing, the weather for the FoD half this year was marvellous again. Unfortunately, it hadn't been in the previous week - so there was a fair bit of mud around!
The FoD half has evidently been becoming more popular due to its great reputation, but I think this year it had slightly exceeded its organisational capacity. There was a woeful lack of toilets at the start considering the number of runners, and once the course left the main driveway and deviated onto the forest trail, it became hopelessly congested. Mind you, it wasn't helped by some runners who appeared slightly surprised at the appearance of mud, who actually stopped and walked around it. This, predictably, created chaos amongst a congested field, with people almost tripping over each other in the resultant bunching up.
There was a fairly sharp long descent within the first couple of miles, which meant the rest of the course was almost relentlessly uphill. There were a few downhill runs, don't get me wrong, but certainly after that first descent we had around 6 miles of gradual uphill. Around mile 12, heading up towards the finish, there was approx a mile of shoes-sucking muddy uphill - great fun, but gruelling at this stage of the run!
Despite the challenging nature of the course, I managed at PB in 2h 9mins, which I was really pleased with. As long as the organisation improves, I would certainly do this again as it's a lovely forest run, albeit a challenging one.
Sunday, 28 March 2010
Sunday, 7 March 2010
Running Down My Batteries
Right, so finally a blog-like update!
Training has been going OK-ish - did some snowy runs, which were great for core stability. However the cold, unpredictable weather we've had through February thoroughly threw me off track, and, combined with a break in the Lake District, resulted in me losing my running mo-jo for a little while. But we're back on track now, combined with my mate setting up a circuits class in Solihull which is great for cross-training and all-round strength.
14 miles today (actually it was 14.2) on top of 5.8 yesterday with the running group. So 20.5 for the weekend, which really does give me a good psychological boost. I had a flare in my ITB a couple of weeks ago after I pushed myself up the Hagley Mile, but, after some icing and finding a new stretch for it *crosses fingers* it's been fine and hasn't bothered me today. Stupidly, after it bleeped a low-battery warning at me yesterday, I forgot to put my Garmin on charge. I realised this five minutes before I went out this morning - so quickly stuck it on charge, not expecting it to last the run. My MP3 player, though, was showing two bars of battery, so I thought it should be fine.
Of course, in a delicious stroke of irony, my MP3 player gave up the ghost within 25 minutes and my Garmin lasted until I was back home. You do the math, as our American friends say.
Now I really need to get going on my fundraising. In a perhaps the most bizzare fundraising story, I earned my first £20 by helping to push an old lady's car from off a rock in the Lake District. I've set up my new fundraising page - www.virginmoneygiving.com/drcathsmarathonwheeze. So tell all your friends, and let's get that money rolling in! Cheers :)
Well, I had a nice long nap (about two hours of it) this afternoon, because I was knackered after the long run. But I'm still pretty tired, so I think an early night may be in store - but after House, of course.
Training has been going OK-ish - did some snowy runs, which were great for core stability. However the cold, unpredictable weather we've had through February thoroughly threw me off track, and, combined with a break in the Lake District, resulted in me losing my running mo-jo for a little while. But we're back on track now, combined with my mate setting up a circuits class in Solihull which is great for cross-training and all-round strength.
14 miles today (actually it was 14.2) on top of 5.8 yesterday with the running group. So 20.5 for the weekend, which really does give me a good psychological boost. I had a flare in my ITB a couple of weeks ago after I pushed myself up the Hagley Mile, but, after some icing and finding a new stretch for it *crosses fingers* it's been fine and hasn't bothered me today. Stupidly, after it bleeped a low-battery warning at me yesterday, I forgot to put my Garmin on charge. I realised this five minutes before I went out this morning - so quickly stuck it on charge, not expecting it to last the run. My MP3 player, though, was showing two bars of battery, so I thought it should be fine.
Of course, in a delicious stroke of irony, my MP3 player gave up the ghost within 25 minutes and my Garmin lasted until I was back home. You do the math, as our American friends say.
Now I really need to get going on my fundraising. In a perhaps the most bizzare fundraising story, I earned my first £20 by helping to push an old lady's car from off a rock in the Lake District. I've set up my new fundraising page - www.virginmoneygiving.com/drcathsmarathonwheeze. So tell all your friends, and let's get that money rolling in! Cheers :)
Well, I had a nice long nap (about two hours of it) this afternoon, because I was knackered after the long run. But I'm still pretty tired, so I think an early night may be in store - but after House, of course.
Sunday, 24 January 2010
Medal #21: The Telford 10K.
The Telford 10K should have taken place in December. Unfortunately, it iced up and snowed over, so it was postponed. Then it iced up and snowed over again, so it was postponed again. It finally took place on January 24th, so in some kind of weird anachrony, I have a medal from the Telford 10K 2009 which was actually run in 2010....
The Telford 10K is a great little run, mainly completely flat; it is a sort of 2-lap course, with one little hill at the start which is short and sharp, and with a corresponding short, sharp downhill soon after. It's PB-tastic; I wasn't exactly in race condition, so I didn't really make the most of it, but still managed a reasonable time despite having had to miss the Cov and Kenilworth halves due to that grotty chest bug which I blogged about after the Brum Uni 10K.
I would definitely recommend this one for PB potential, and it was nicely organised too.
The Telford 10K is a great little run, mainly completely flat; it is a sort of 2-lap course, with one little hill at the start which is short and sharp, and with a corresponding short, sharp downhill soon after. It's PB-tastic; I wasn't exactly in race condition, so I didn't really make the most of it, but still managed a reasonable time despite having had to miss the Cov and Kenilworth halves due to that grotty chest bug which I blogged about after the Brum Uni 10K.
I would definitely recommend this one for PB potential, and it was nicely organised too.
Monday, 23 November 2009
Losing My Religion
This is not a post to spark religious debate. So please, if you're reading it, don't try to start one. Thanks. Sorry if this sounds stompy, it's just I have seen how these things tend to degenerate, and I don't want people falling out on my blog :-)
I don't really believe in God. I believe in Jesus, yes, he existed, he was a great bloke, did many impressive and wonderful things. I also believe in the spirit of love and goodwill that Christianity embues. I just don't really believe in some being floating above in the ether somewhere.
My sort-of-religion is my asthma control.
It's something I've really had to work on over the last few years. It's taken me a long time to really get to know my asthma; to learn how to work with it, rather than against it; when I can battle on regardless and when I really do have to take notice rather than just judiciously ignoring it. Something I have taken very great care over is an almost religious routine of taking my meds every morning and every evening, and making sure I'm taking them in the optimum fashion to maximise the benefits I can gain from them. So yes, I still look like I'm about 12, because I use a large-volume spacer with my MDIs; this is because large-volume spacers ensure the greatest possible drug delivery to the lungs. If I'm going to take time to take my inhalers, I may as well get the greatest returns from them.
People sometimes tell me that they can forget to take their preventative inhalers & tablets. I don't. I can't. If I don't take my routine meds then I start feeling rotton pretty quickly. And that really gets on my wick, big time. Waking up in the night, feeling tight, just ruins your sleep (and I do love my sleep). Coughing your way through morning surgery isn't much fun. And not being able to run really does get me narked.
So I've been pretty narked the last few weeks. I had a slight sniffle when I ran the Brum half, which pretty quickly developed into a rip-roaring flu-type illness; I bimbled around the Uni of Brum 5K because I really wanted to, but there was absolutely no chance of me going faster than the 29min I managed alongside Vixx, and I felt rough for days. Truth be told, I really shouldn't have done that race. Common sense prevailed and I pulled out of the Cov half, because I was really rather concerned there may have been an episode of Completely Inadequate Ventilation.
Since then, I have been a) recovering and b) studiously avoiding going for a run, whilst c)simultaneously being frustrated about not going for a run. Studiously avoiding, because I knew the first run back would be hard work, with a battle against the Truculant Twins being on the cards. But I knew it was a step that I needed to take - running really does help with my asthma control, and I need to get that edge back. So I had to face the psychological hurdle head on; it's a bit like having to tear a plaster off a wound. You know it's going to sting like hell, but it's got to be done.
It's difficult to describe the sensation of the internal battle whilst you're running with asthma. The result certainly makes you feel like someone's been pummelling you lightly in the lower-to-middle-rib area. All I know is that, with some hefty encouragement from Vixx early on Saturday morning, I managed around 5 miles of running (the last mile walk-running) at a pace I've not seen on my watch since about a year ago, and a level of breathlessness I'd nearly forgotten. I'm not quite sure what's gone so wrong - I had longer off running during the summer, and didn't feel quite so grotty on my return as this weekend.
In a similar way to any religion, it's most difficult to keep the faith when times get rough; it's just hanging in there and waiting for things to get better that's the challenge. I've got to keep going; I've already committed to AUK to run the marathon again for them next year. I've also got a half marathon coming up in just under four weeks; this is what's really worrying me at the moment, based on Saturday's "performance". Psychologically I've got to put that behind me and move forwards; the only way I'll do that, though, is by going for another run. And that's a separate challenge of its very own.
I don't really believe in God. I believe in Jesus, yes, he existed, he was a great bloke, did many impressive and wonderful things. I also believe in the spirit of love and goodwill that Christianity embues. I just don't really believe in some being floating above in the ether somewhere.
My sort-of-religion is my asthma control.
It's something I've really had to work on over the last few years. It's taken me a long time to really get to know my asthma; to learn how to work with it, rather than against it; when I can battle on regardless and when I really do have to take notice rather than just judiciously ignoring it. Something I have taken very great care over is an almost religious routine of taking my meds every morning and every evening, and making sure I'm taking them in the optimum fashion to maximise the benefits I can gain from them. So yes, I still look like I'm about 12, because I use a large-volume spacer with my MDIs; this is because large-volume spacers ensure the greatest possible drug delivery to the lungs. If I'm going to take time to take my inhalers, I may as well get the greatest returns from them.
People sometimes tell me that they can forget to take their preventative inhalers & tablets. I don't. I can't. If I don't take my routine meds then I start feeling rotton pretty quickly. And that really gets on my wick, big time. Waking up in the night, feeling tight, just ruins your sleep (and I do love my sleep). Coughing your way through morning surgery isn't much fun. And not being able to run really does get me narked.
So I've been pretty narked the last few weeks. I had a slight sniffle when I ran the Brum half, which pretty quickly developed into a rip-roaring flu-type illness; I bimbled around the Uni of Brum 5K because I really wanted to, but there was absolutely no chance of me going faster than the 29min I managed alongside Vixx, and I felt rough for days. Truth be told, I really shouldn't have done that race. Common sense prevailed and I pulled out of the Cov half, because I was really rather concerned there may have been an episode of Completely Inadequate Ventilation.
Since then, I have been a) recovering and b) studiously avoiding going for a run, whilst c)simultaneously being frustrated about not going for a run. Studiously avoiding, because I knew the first run back would be hard work, with a battle against the Truculant Twins being on the cards. But I knew it was a step that I needed to take - running really does help with my asthma control, and I need to get that edge back. So I had to face the psychological hurdle head on; it's a bit like having to tear a plaster off a wound. You know it's going to sting like hell, but it's got to be done.
It's difficult to describe the sensation of the internal battle whilst you're running with asthma. The result certainly makes you feel like someone's been pummelling you lightly in the lower-to-middle-rib area. All I know is that, with some hefty encouragement from Vixx early on Saturday morning, I managed around 5 miles of running (the last mile walk-running) at a pace I've not seen on my watch since about a year ago, and a level of breathlessness I'd nearly forgotten. I'm not quite sure what's gone so wrong - I had longer off running during the summer, and didn't feel quite so grotty on my return as this weekend.
In a similar way to any religion, it's most difficult to keep the faith when times get rough; it's just hanging in there and waiting for things to get better that's the challenge. I've got to keep going; I've already committed to AUK to run the marathon again for them next year. I've also got a half marathon coming up in just under four weeks; this is what's really worrying me at the moment, based on Saturday's "performance". Psychologically I've got to put that behind me and move forwards; the only way I'll do that, though, is by going for another run. And that's a separate challenge of its very own.
Sunday, 18 October 2009
Medal #20 - The University of Birmingham 5K, 18th October 2009
A nice little trundle around the Uni campus, wreathed in nostalgia for me, as this was where I went to uni. And it was at a very civilised hour of day too, an uncommon finding for races - it started at 11:30. Nice.
Having been suffering with a rather stinking cold over the last week, I decided that an all-out race was definitely not going to be on. Vixx wanted to get sub-30, so I stuck with her and we got round in 29:18. Lovely weather and a nice pleasant course, nothing too "up", nothing too "down".
One to do again next year, I feel.
Having been suffering with a rather stinking cold over the last week, I decided that an all-out race was definitely not going to be on. Vixx wanted to get sub-30, so I stuck with her and we got round in 29:18. Lovely weather and a nice pleasant course, nothing too "up", nothing too "down".
One to do again next year, I feel.
Medal #19 - The Birmingham Half Marathon, 11th October 2009.
It was cool and drizzly for the second Birmingham Half Mara last week.
So drizzly, in fact, that I had to stop three times to wipe my glasses. There is something about heavy drizzle that is much worse than out-and-out rain for specs wearers; the drizzle seems to manage to obscure your vision much more effectively than mere rain can.
I also got rather wet.
I forgot to take my usual paracetamol before starting the run, too, so by mile 11 I'd really had enough and wanted to go home! However, I was rather pleased to come in with a time that equals my PB, which, considering I wasn't able to train as well as I would have liked for this event, was fair enough in my book.
So drizzly, in fact, that I had to stop three times to wipe my glasses. There is something about heavy drizzle that is much worse than out-and-out rain for specs wearers; the drizzle seems to manage to obscure your vision much more effectively than mere rain can.
I also got rather wet.
I forgot to take my usual paracetamol before starting the run, too, so by mile 11 I'd really had enough and wanted to go home! However, I was rather pleased to come in with a time that equals my PB, which, considering I wasn't able to train as well as I would have liked for this event, was fair enough in my book.
Medal #18 - Stourport Shuttle 10K, 27th September 2009
As a last-minute decision, Vixx joined me for this nice little club-type event in Stourport.
We were both impressed by the pleasant, modern facilities in the club house - and the fact that it served fresh-brewed coffee (well, OK, it was out of a machine, but close enough).
The field was quite a small one, with a number of scary-looking proper-type athletes. Vixx and I kept ourselves to the back of the pack to start with, although both of us overtook a number by the end of the race.
The route was pleasant enough, quite flat, but with one right b*gger of a hill just after the three-mile point that sapped my legs completely. It ended with a lap of the track, which is a novelty for me as I've never really run on a proper track surface.
We finished off in proper Vixx 'n' Cath style with a coffee from the clubhouse. We really must get round to doing that coffee run...
We were both impressed by the pleasant, modern facilities in the club house - and the fact that it served fresh-brewed coffee (well, OK, it was out of a machine, but close enough).
The field was quite a small one, with a number of scary-looking proper-type athletes. Vixx and I kept ourselves to the back of the pack to start with, although both of us overtook a number by the end of the race.
The route was pleasant enough, quite flat, but with one right b*gger of a hill just after the three-mile point that sapped my legs completely. It ended with a lap of the track, which is a novelty for me as I've never really run on a proper track surface.
We finished off in proper Vixx 'n' Cath style with a coffee from the clubhouse. We really must get round to doing that coffee run...
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