Filed under: Reading Half Marathon, half marathon training, running | Tags: Reading Half Marathon, running
Yesterday, I ran the Reading Half Marathon in two hours and seven minutes. Some way off the 2:01 achieved at Reading two years ago, but not nearly as bad as some of my worst half marathon performances. I said prior to the race that I’d be happy with 2:10, so I was pretty chuffed with 2:07.
I’ve been running half marathons on and off for around eight years, and still take pleasure in learning something about every race. Yesterday I learned that the cross-training I’ve been doing over the past few weeks (in order to run the half marathon, cycle across the middle of the UK and complete a week’s skiing) wasn’t the disaster that I anticipated it would be. I was staggered to feel pretty comfortable as Phil and I ticked off the first seven miles together, well inside the 10-minute mile pace that we had set ourselves, and worried that I would hit some kind of a wall later on in the race. But miles eight, nine, ten and eleven passed by and – although my legs started to feel heavier – we were still averaging 9:45-minute miles. Mile 12 was a bit painful – having slogged up the A33 towards the finish at the Madjeski Stadium, we then started running away and dropped a minute to complete that one in 10:42. We sped up for the final mile, by which time I was breathing like a 70-year-old that had smoked 20-a-day for her entire life, and crossed the line with half of the population of Reading cheering us on.
The high points were:
- The general level of support around most of the course, especially in town.
- The bands – especially the one outside the Town Hall playing “Is This The Way To Amarillo” and the chaps playing the drums underneath the IDR at The Oracle.
- Friends cheering us on – thanks Kasia, Emma, Hannah and James!
- The lovely firemen standing to attention on Kendrick Road.
- Phil staying half a step behind me for the run, so I could control the pace. Right up until the last mile, which he got me through with a few words of encouragement.
- The stadium finish – third best in the UK, just behind the London Marathon and the Great North Run.
- Finding out my little brother ran the race in 1:36. How good is that?
- Meeting up with JogBlog, Iliketocount, Moretolifethanweight and Tracey afterwards for pizza and pasta, and a jolly nice pint.
I can’t think of any low points, actually. It’s flat, fast course; weather was near-perfect; water and Lucozade was plentiful; and there was a real sense of occasion among the other runners. Reading’s a big event now (at 17,000 or so runners, one of the largest in the country), and the organisation is a far cry from the old race that started at the Rivermead, usually half an hour late. I’ll be putting my application in for next year.
Update: Forgot to mention the goody bag. Which was very good. Contents included: Walkers crisps, Nature Valley granola bar, Mars bar, Dorset Cereals fruit and nut slice, Lucozade bar, Ricola sweets, Adidas deodorant. Oooh, and a lovely weighty medal.
Filed under: Barmouth-Yarmouth bike ride, Reading Half Marathon, nike+ sportband, running | Tags: Reading Half Marathon, running
If I was running a 10k race on Sunday, I wouldn’t be worried; I’ve done a fair few six and seven-milers over the past few weeks.
Today, I was on a top secret mission which I can’t talk about here in case my Mum is reading my blog. However, top secret mission complete, I was able to squeeze in another (nearly) seven-mile run – the old Nike+ Sportband registered 6.83 miles, completed in one hour and seven minutes.
Once again, I didn’t feel much like running that distance all over again afterwards – but I’m committed to running the Reading Half on Sunday, so I’m just going to have to get on with it.
Spinning tomorrow so I can keep up the pretence of training for the Barmouth-Yarmouth bike ride.
Filed under: 10k, Reading Half Marathon, gym, half marathon training, running | Tags: 2TENfm, Amy Macdonald, Beats International, Death Cab For Cutie, Duran Duran, Elbow, Fall Out Boy, Gabriella Cilmi, Girls Aloud, gym, iPod Shuffle, Jackson 5, James, Kings of Leon, Madonna, Mark Ronson, Meatloaf, Michael Jackson, Rose Royce, running, Spotify, The Killers, The Trammps, Toto, treadmill, Weezer
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: Reading Half Marathon, running | Tags: Reading Half Marathon, running, skiing
It’s been a while since my last blog, and indeed, a while since my last run on Friday 6 March – 10k in 59:06 mins at the gym. I’ve been on a ski trip since then – partly on my own, thanks to what has become known as The Passport Debacle.
This is me, demonstrating a complete lack of technique.
I got back on Sunday, with something of an upset stomach; no doubt self-inflicted by scoffing too many bar snacks, pasta, ice cream and hot chocolate in the Italian resort of Sauze d’Oulx. The I got a cold, and didn’t fancy a British Military Fitness Class or a run, even in mild temperatures. Then yesterday, I came over all queer at work – first, my vision went a bit weird, as if I’d been staring at a camera flash for too long; then I got pins and needles all down my left hand-side. This was followed by an absolutely blinding headache centered above my right eyebrow. “A classic migraine,” said the nice nurse at NHS Direct. I went home and retired to my bed, feeling a bit like a nineteeth century heroine (they were always taking to their rooms with the slightest chill/fever/ache).
It’s now ten days until the Reading Half Marathon, and I do not feel even vaguely prepared for it. My longest run in training has been eight miles, and that was painful for the last three. While I intend to complete the distance, I know it’s not going to be pleasant and there is zero chance of getting close to my PB (achieved in Reading 2007) of 2:01. I hate being this unprepared.
Filed under: British Military Fitness, Reading Half Marathon, X-bike, circuits, cycling, half marathon training, running | Tags: Barmouth, BarYar, cycling, running, spinning, X-bike, xdream, Yarmouth
Rather foolishly, I have agreed to a two-wheeled challenge over Easter weekend.
Along with a group of friends, I will be cycling from Barmouth to Yarmouth, the so-called BarYar Challenge. When I agreed to this, I didn’t actually realise they meant Barmouth on the west coast of Wales to Great Yarmouth in Norfolk. For those of you who weren’t listening in geography lessons, this is quite a long way: around 250 miles in three days. Yikes. Some of the BarYar group are using this as a training ride for the Land’s End to John O’Groats, and you can read about their exploits over at Girls on Cogs.
I haven’t been out on my bike yet this year- I still harbour some residual fear of cycling after last year’s little topple, and – well, call me a wimp – but it’s been a bit on the chilly/icy/wet side lately. Instead, I’ve been working on my legs in the gym and continuing with Reading Half Marathon training/British Military Fitness.
Mind you, after the Hardwick X-Stream 10k last weekend, I wasn’t fit for anything on Monday.
By Tuesday, the experience was fading to a more distant memory so I went to the gym. There, I hopped onto the Xdream (like the X-Bike spinning machines, but with an interactive screen to simulate a race on various different terrains). I did four races against my imaginary friends and won all of them. But I think this was to do with being forced to race on the “beginner” setting rather than my amazing cycling. I even fell off the imaginary bike a few times. Afterwards some lower body weights for calves, hamstrings, quads, glutes adductors and whatever the opposite of those are.
On Wednesday, I found the British Military Fitness significantly more enjoyable in the slightly warmer evening air – and even got to the end of the class thinking, “oooh, is it over already?”
Finally, I went to a spinning class this morning. The instructor Matt – who normally entertains with an eclectic selection of pop, rock and indie – put one of the manufacturer’s CDs, which guided you through the class at different tempos. It was good and I worked hard, but it was a bit soulless and not as enjoyable as Matt’s normal classes. Still, good to try something new once in a while.
So, this weekend – need to do a good run, and maybe some circuits to work the legs again.Or should I be dusting off the bike?
Filed under: 10k, Reading Half Marathon, food, half marathon training, running | Tags: 10k, Aylesbury, cross-country, food, hardwick x-stream, mud
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.
I registered for the Reading Half Marathon a little while ago, but haven’t really thought about it much since. And wasn’t intending to for a little while. This time of year, my thoughts turn instead to sausage rolls, mince pies, mulled wine, Christmas cake and Quality Street.
But Jogblog and Iliketocount are already talking about training, which makes me think I ought to too. By all accounts, it’ll be a blogging joggers’ funfest, with Sorelimbs and indeed Sorelimbs’ significant other planning to join the party.
My half marathon PB happened at Reading in 2007 (2:01). It would be good to crack two hours in the same place, but the 2009 race unfortunately falls on TheRedBucket’s birthday and we were fully intending to Go Ape the day before as a birthday treat, then eat curry and drink wine. Well, I was anyway.
So anyway, about the training. My (non-existant) programme has ground to a halt as I’ve finally been stricken down by the bug that’s been sweeping the office for a fortnight. Had a nice little wander around Mapledurham and Whitchurch on Thames this afternoon, but that’s about all the exercise I can manage this weekend. Time for another mulled wine while I wait for the roast beef to finish cooking…
