Filed under: 10k, running | Tags: breathing problems, golder's green, hampstead heath, hampstead midsummer 10k, hill, juneathon, run, running
I’d previously ruled out doing the Hampstead Midsummer 10k, local to Phil, on the basis that it was a three-lap course around a residential area. I don’t much enjoy laps, especially ones that contain a massive big hill; and it seemed a shame to run around the roads when the Heath itself is gorgeously green and lush at the moment.
However, my little brother was keen to give it a go – and it is Juneathon after all – so the three of us turned up on Sunday morning and entered on the spot.
The good:
- Cheap to enter (£8 in advance, £10 on the day)
- Parking available on the start line. I mean literally *on* the start line – next to the lampost that said “start” on it.
- Friendly bunch – despite being a club-run organised by London Heathside, it didn’t have the elitist feel of other club runs we’ve done, such as the Hardwick X-Stream. By that I mean we didn’t come anywhere near last.
- A nice little melamine mug momento for all finishers – brilliant for camping
The bad (but not as bad as I thought)
- The laps – the course loops around the Hampstead Heath extension, just east of Golder’s Green station. Laps are inherently lacking in variety, but it wasn’t actually that bad. The marshalls were rather lovely, a single water stop served us three times, we were within sight of green grass and trees for the whole route, and the terrain was sufficiently uppy-downy to feel like you weren’t just slogging along a boring flat road.
- The hill – at least a kilometre in length, a long gradual slog. Psychologically not bad at all first time around (i.e. I was expecting worse), significantly harder the second time (once I knew what I was up against), and then not so bad again the third time (almost on the home straight, all downhill from there).
The ugly
- My breathing. Honestly, I don’t know what to do about it. OK, I’m a long way off being super-fit but, during an average week, I’ll do a couple of British Military Fitness/circuits sessions incorporating hills and sprinting; a spinning class; and a couple of steady runs (one of about 30mins, one 45 mins-1 hour). That’s a fairly significant improvement on where I was a year ago and should be generating a real improvement in my fitness levels. And it’s true that my core feels stronger, the hills somewhat easier, and my times over five or six miles are improving. And yet, every time I up the pace a little bit or tackle a hill – I start panting like it’s the first time I’ve run in ten years, almost wheezing with the effort of it, gasping for air. My breathing returns to normal very quickly once I reach a flatter stretch (i.e. within a couple of minutes – Phil was timing it yesterday, so I think he may have been slightly worried) which I think is a good sign, but I’d love to know what I could do to feel a little more comfortable and push myself to go faster still.
Anyway, we completed the run in 58:24 – not bad for a hilly 10k – and went for coffee at David’s Deli – then sausage sandwiches at the flat. Yum.
Filed under: 10k, Reading Half Marathon, gym, half marathon training, running | Tags: gym, running, treadmill, Duran Duran, The Killers, Madonna, Kings of Leon, Meatloaf, James, Michael Jackson, Elbow, The Trammps, Death Cab For Cutie, Amy Macdonald, Weezer, Mark Ronson, Spotify, iPod Shuffle, Beats International, Toto, Jackson 5, Gabriella Cilmi, Girls Aloud, Fall Out Boy, 2TENfm, Rose Royce
Today was a good day. Everyone at work was in a fab mood, the birds were twittering outside my office window, Brenda (my plant) was very happy basking in the sunshine and a client said “thank you”.
I also discovered Spotify today. That is to say that I’d heard the name quite a bit but hadn’t had a play with this new(ish), free music streaming application that enables you to share playlists with other Spotify users. And it’s pretty cool. We opened up the decks (spare PC) up to anyone in the office, and invited people on Twitter to add tracks to our playlist. The results were fairly eclectic, and included Duran Duran, The Killers, Madonna, Kings of Leon, Meatloaf, James, Michael Jackson, Elbow, The Trammps, Death Cab For Cutie, Amy Macdonald, Weezer, Mark Ronson and some strange tracks selected by my (slightly younger) colleagues that I’d never heard of and am never likely to hear of again.
Having failed (unintentionally) to set my alarm this morning in time to get up for the gym this morning to do a 10k run, I decided to go after work to do my 10k run, but nearly reversed back out of the reception area when I realised my iPod Shuffle needed charging. “But no,” I said to myself, “I’m open-minded about new music today – I’ll use the in-gym equipment.”
Unfortunately, it’s a bit shit. I remembered almost immediately why I bought my trusty little Shuffle last year. On the gym system, there is one MTV channel, two audio channels that play completely random tracks and a radio station (the horrendous 2TENfm-in-Berkshire-and-North-Hampshire). The other entertainment possibilities included Sky News on a loop or cricket, neither of which were likely to give me much motivation.
Not to worry, I started out on the treadmill toggling between the various musical options. Once I’d ruled out MTV, which was broadcasting some kind of McFly-fest; and the radio for just being crap, I went on to the audio channels and got this random selection as I jogged on:
- “Africa” – Toto (which I’d never noticed includes the line As sure as Kilimanjaro rises like Olympus above the Serengetti which I thought was impressive in its non-rhymingness)
- “Blame It On The Boogie” – Jackson 5
- “Sweet About Me” – Gabriella Cilmi
- “Dub Be Good To Me” – Beats International (Wikipedia says it was written by Fatboy Slim, and I didn’t know that)
- “Promise” – Girls Aloud (which made me laugh, because Phil loves this but likes to think his music preferences are somehow cool)
- Erm, can’t remember what else came on.
So then I went back to MTV and listened to/watched “I Don’t Care” by Fall Out Boy. The video is jolly funny – boys doing all sorts of rude and inappropriate things, like flashing their bits in the street, stealing money from buskers and dressing up as kleptomaniac nuns.
One more toggle through the channels, and I returned to 2TENfm-in-Berkshire-and-North-Hampshire, which was by now playing “Club Classics”. I could just about cope with “Carwash” by Rose Royce and cranked up the speed for the last kilometre.
And then I realised I’d run 10k, yippee. That took me 59:23 – nice and steady, and I’d actually be pretty happy to run the half marathon at that pace which would put me on track for a 2:10 race. It’s nowhere near the 2-hour milestone, but I just haven’t put enough training in to do that sort of time.
As I cooled down, I thought how brilliant it would be for each treadmill to have an in-built Spotify application and an internet connection so you could listen to playlists you’d made in advance or just play around with new music to make the time go faster without having to resort to 2TENfm-in-Berkshire-and-North-Hampshire. Does anyone want to make me a prototype?
Filed under: 10k, Reading Half Marathon, food, half marathon training, running | Tags: 10k, mud, food, hardwick x-stream, cross-country, Aylesbury
It hasn’t been too good a week for exercise, blogging or sleep – mainly because I over-committed myself seeing various friends on consecutive nights then attended the bizarre Reading Twestival another evening. As a consequence I haven’t been the nicest person to spend time with this weekend. In fact, I’ve been Little Miss Grumpy.
My mood was not lifted by Carter’s ski shop in Reading yesterday. Having dropped off my skis to be serviced there nearly four weeks ago, I finally had a call to say they were ready for collection and duly went to get them. As I went to hand over the £25 that had been quoted when I dropped them off, then saw a note taped to the top of one ski saying, “couldn’t service – too much wax – would of [sic] ruined machine – £8″. The elderly man behind the counter looked thoroughly confused, as did I, and called someone else for assistance. It transpired that whatever dimwit had been brought in to service the bloody things hadn’t: 1) bothered to do the job that was asked (AKA full service, due to skis being unused for two years, having rusty edges and various scrapes on the base; or 2) had the bright idea to call me to tell me this. Why the f’ing hell they couldn’t manually remove the wax and do their job properly is beyond me. With less than three weeks to go before I depart for my trip, there’s very little I can do about it. Some wax has been dribbled across them, but the edges are still rusty. Luckily I can’t ski very well, so it probably won’t make much difference. I won’t be going back to Carter’s.
Nonetheless, after a very nice Valentine’s dinner yesterday evening and a good night’s sleep – I was actually looking forward to the Hardwick X-Stream this morning. It promised to be a cross-country 10k that would just about keep us on track in terms of training for the Reading Half at the end of March. An August race organised by the same team last year had a stonking 95% approval rating on Runner’s World, so expectations were high.
We arrived in the little village of Hardwick, north of Aylesbury, in good time, to find runners parking cars along roads, in front of driveways and on verges. The locals looked less than amused with this influx of scantily clad freaks. We were directed by marshalls towards a car park at the bottom of the village – which turned out to be in a farmyard, complete with horses, cows and quite a lot of shit.
Undeterred, and vaguely amused, we ambled along to the “Race HQ” at the village hall to go to the loos – all three of them – which involved a 15-minute wait. There were lots of very fit-looking club runners decked out in trail shoes, club vests, shorts and very little else. I had a feeling we weren’t going to put in a terrific performance compared to this lot.
The start line was in a field, with an open gazebo for baggage and a St John’s Ambulance Land Rover, which served us well as a windbreak. I was rapidly losing enthusiasm for the run and that was before a marshall announced there would be a ten-minute delay. Presumably to wait for all the people still queueing for the loo.
Finally, we were off – out of the field and straight into a muddy ditch…where several people lost their shoes. The course skirted around numerous fields, filled with a sticky mud that just stuck to the bottom of your shoes in massive clumps, and made the water crossings almost a relief to jump into because you could get shot of some of the mud. My legs felt like lead pretty much from start to finish and I fell several times along the way as my tired limbs failed to keep me from slipping and sliding to the ground. Although the marshalls were numerous and friendly, there were no mile/km markers and no water stops – so it felt like a very long race. We crossed the line, with only six people behind us – something like 243rd and 244th in a field of 250.
But that wasn’t the end of the story, of course: we had to go back to the car and somehow get changed into clean clothes while standing on a carpet of cowpats and horse manure. That’s when it occurred to me that the people parked on the grassy verges with the icy remnants of last weekend’s snowfall had the right idea all along.
I’ve calmed down now, after two massive sandwiches, much tea, a long hot bath and some homemade (I owed P an apology for my bad mood) banana and pecan muffins. And I do feel as though I’ve done a good run today – but my knees especially estimate the distance at about 10 miles, not 10k. I do wonder what the summer race is like – but I’m not sure I’m going to be brave enough to find out.
Filed under: 10k, British Military Fitness, Bupa Great Capital Run, Nike Human Race, food, gym, nike+ sportband, running, running gear | Tags: 10k challenge, British Military Fitness, Bupa Great Capital Run, Nike Human, running
I pretty much run at one speed: 10k/6 miles per hour, whether I’m running 5k or a half marathon. I’m a great pacer at that speed and can slow down other people if they set off too fast, or speed them up if they’re lagging. But that’s been my speed for the eight or so years that I’ve been running reasonably regularly, and I’m not exactly progressing. It hasn’t bothered me much in the past, but seeing the likes of my little brother doing a 40-odd minute 10k with apparent ease only months after taking up running makes me think I should push myself a bit more.
Doing British Military Fitness classes is starting to take me out of my comfort zone, making me sprint and do hill reps that I wouldn’t normally bother with. I’m already noticing a bit of difference when running, and am definitely capable of tackling hills with a bit more gusto than previously.
So one of my New Year’s Resolutions is to get my 10k time down during the course of the year. I’m aiming for around the 50-minute mark, but I haven’t got a clue how feasible that is. I’m going to use the gym to gauge my progress, because I can accurately measure the distance. (The Nike+ Sportband really isn’t that accurate. Maybe I should have asked Father Christmas for a GPS thingy).
I do try to get into the habit of writing down my times, but don’t always remember. Here’s a few:
20 July – 57:35 (Bupa Great Capital Run)
31 August – 60:14 (Nike Human Race)
13 September – 60:00 (gym)
30 September – 56:02 (gym)
today – 55:24 (gym)
The times over the past couple of months do indicate I’m going in the right direction, but there is clearly some way to go. This morning’s effort was hard work, especially around the hip flexors/top of my quads – perhaps I can do some work on stretching those out more. I had a long hot shower at the gym but, by the the time I got home, I felt weak and shivery. I don’t feel unwell in any other respect, despite the germs flying around my office, so I guess I just needed some food. I walloped down a power smoothie (banana, Skippy peanut butter, yoghurt, milk) followed by scrambled eggs on toast, and am feeling much better now. 
Filed under: 10k, Commando Challenge, gym, running | Tags: 10k, Commando Challenge, gym, running, weight training
Abstained from alcohol last night, had a healthy vegetable pasta meal and was in bed by 10pm last night.
Went to the gym this morning and ran 10k/6 miles in 60 mins. I rarely run at any other speed – and I’m good at pacing other people, as long as they run 10-minute miles! At some point, I’ll do some proper work to increase my speed over shorter distances.
Right now, I need to build up my strength, particularly in my upper body in preparation for Commando Challenge. So I did about 25 minutes of weights in the circuit training area. I did two sets of 12 then 8 reps, increasing the weight for the second set. Each machine has 12 weight settings,and I’ve noted below for my own records what I did on each machine. I’ll be trying to increase the weight level in the run up to the Challenge.
| Sets | Reps | Weight | |
| Tricep press | 2 | 12-8 | 5-6 |
| Ab crunch | 2 | 12-8 | 5-6 |
| Biceps curl | 2 | 12-8 | 5-6 |
| Seated row | 2 | 12-8 | 5-6 |
| Seated leg curl | 2 | 12-8 | 6-7 |
| Lat pulldown | 2 | 12-8 | 5-6 |
| Shoulder press | 2 | 12-8 | 5-6 |
| Squat | 2 | 12-8 | 5-6 |
| Chest press | 2 | 12-8 | 5-6 |
| Leg extension | 2 | 12-8 | 6-7 |
Just thinking about doing some work that needs completing by Monday 
But getting distracted by the Paralympics. Top marks to the BBC for screening three hours of coverage at peak-time on a Saturday even after the football season has started. Terrific to see the GB team remain in second place, having already secured as many Golds as we did in Athens (35).
Filed under: 10k, Bupa Great Capital Run, Nike Human Race, gym, half marathon training, running | Tags: 10k, gym, Nike Human Race, Nottingham Half Marathon, running
A belated race report, as I went on holiday about four hours after completing the race last Sunday.
The good bits:
- Well organised, well publicised event by Nike. They might not make great running shoes, but they sure as hell know how to run and market an event.
- Great start inside Wembley Stadium after set by Moby, swift baggage drop-off and pick-up and plenty of loos.
- Not one, but two, lovely freebie dri-fit tops – a short-sleeved red one that we all ran in, and a long-sleeved white one to keep warm in after the event. Well worth the £30 entry fee. And they’re actually fitted for girls – wooo-hooo. Watch and learn all you other race organisers. Us ladies do not want another massive, square-fit cotton number that would work better as a (deeply unsexy) nightshirt.
The not-so-good bits
- Running with a dodgy tummy after tapas the night before. I blame that for the lame time – 1.00.14 (according to my text from Nike just minutes after I crossed the line).
- Moby’s warm-up act, Pendulum. Atrocious.
- The late start. I’m not a fan of evening running, though that’s just my personal choice. But there was also a very long wait – in the region of two and a half hours – between arriving at the stadium and starting the race.
- The rather uninspiring route around Wembley on a slightly chilly, very wet and dark evening.
That all sounds a bit negative, but I would definitely do the race again. I’d hope for less waiting around next time, nicer weather and – erm – a rather more solid feeling in my tummy.
Been on hols for a week, and put in a couple of runs – around the four and six-mile mark. It was a bit warm, and I don’t feel even vaguely ready for the Nottingham half marathon in six days’ time. That’s crept up on me, I can tell you. Despite my resolve as I travelled home earlier today to eat properly and run every day this week, I’m going to struggle with three events in London over the next three evenings. It’s going to take self-discipline that I’m not sure I have to resist the lure of naughty food and wine so I can still make my dates with the gym…
Filed under: 10k, Nike Human Race, Pulse8, gym, running | Tags: 10k, gym, Nike Human Race, Pulse8, running
Congratulations to the GB team for bringing home 19 gold medals out of a total of 47. What a fantastic boost to the 2012 team, and a thorough “up yours” to all of the people moaning about how much money the Games will cost us. Isn’t it all worth it? I’m not a big sport spectator, but I’ve really enjoyed watching the achievements of the GB team alongside the other faces of 2008 – notably Usain Bolt and Michael Phelps. Let’s hope our disabled athletes share similar success as they complete their final preparations before the Paralympics start on 6 September. I hope the BBC gives them the coverage they too deserve.
My own training has muddled along during the course of August – though it’s been hard to get in my three/four weekday sessions over the last couple of weeks because of work commitments (on holiday now for two weeks, whoop whoop!)
But I haven’t done toooo badly. Here’s the rundown:
- Sunday, 3 August – Run around Hampstead Heath (45 mins/4.4 miles)
- Tuesday, 5 August – Circuit training + treadmill run (10 mins/1.82km)
- Wednesday, 6 August – Spinning (on X-bikes with virtual reality screen. Liable to cause motion sickness)
- Thursday, 7 August – Treadmill run (45 mins/7.77km)
- Sunday, 10 August – Bike ride with Dad and chums (32 miles)
- Tuesday, 12 August – Circuit training + treadmill run (15 mins/2.82km)
- Wednesday, 13 August – Spinning
- Saturday, 16 August – Run around Twyford/Dinton Pastures (60 mins/5.57 miles)
- Tuesday, 19 August – Circuit training + treadmill run (15 mins/2.63km)
- Thursday, 21 August – Treadmill run (35 mins/6.23km)
Also managed to get in a couple of good walks in the Brecon Beacons this weekend. I could feel my glutes starting to gripe a bit by the end of day two anyway.
Five days until the next event: the Nike Human Race, a 10k starting at Wembley Stadium. Unusually it’s an evening run, with music from Moby and others before we set off. This is what I’ll be wearing…alongside thousands of other runners.
Lemming top
I won’t be going for gold of course. Happy just to jog along with the crowds. First though, I’m off to Runners World in Rayners Lane to get a pair of shoes that fit. My feet hate me at the moment, as I keep forcing them into a pair of Asics that have never been quite right.
