Monday, August 29, 2005
Well Ive just returned from hols in Ireland and
thought Id better give a quick update to running
progress. On the first week of our hols I managed the
difficult run round Beith of about 5 miles and that
was about it. On Sunday the 21st, I completed a 5.5
mile slow run from our cottage in Galway to the local
town and explored a bit. On Tuesday 23rd I completed
another 5.5 mile run again to the local town and
around some other routes. On the Wednesday I
attempted a longer run of about 8.5 miles but my
stomach was giving me trouble so only managed to run
5.5 miles and had to walk the other 3. I also fell
when climbing over a gate and managed to hurt my left
quad
On the Thursday I managed to motivate myself to
run a whole 2 miles
and that was it.
Brian did not stick to his runners world programme
on the first week of his hols he did half of the run
round Beith 25 mins. The next week he went on a 3.5
mile run on the Tuesday and the 2 miles with me on the
Thursday.
Food in Ireland was not as bad as my last trip
Dublin had some tasty fare to offer and I had some
excellent vegetarian foods courgette ricotta and
mint pasta; sun dried tomato, goat cheese and
asparagus salad; a mushroom and smoked tofu wellington
with mashed root veg, broccoli and a fantastic sauce;
and mushroom, roast pepper and halloumi cheese stack
burger with fries and stilton, pear and walnut salad.
Yum. In Galway I did a lot of my own cooking but
found a nice little Mexican that made veg Tostadas,
Quesadillas, Burritos etc
.so not too many cheese
Sandwiches!
Weather though was not so great
ok in Dublin but very
wet and windy in the West. I will pack more jumpers
and some waterproofs the next time I go!
On Sunday 28th we both ran the Paisley 10k race.
Racing conditions were not ideal it was very windy.
So windy in fact that the start blew over before the
race along with the clock and most of the fencing!
The weather was warm otherwise with some light
drizzle. The route was a new, flatter, faster route
and one I will probably do again in the near future.
Again I was plagued with some tummy trouble before the
start (need to use Sheila Morrisons tip of taking
most of a pack of Imodium before a race), still had a
slightly sore left quad and hurt my lower back
immediately before the race. During the race I
managed to ignore the niggles, but stupid me, I didnt
double knot my laces and had to stop twice in the
first 2k to re-tie them! A mistake I wont make again
in a hurry.
My watch time for the race was an unofficial PB at
54:45, but unfortunately my official time will not be
a PB I estimate it will be about 56:00. There are
about 1300 runners in the Paisley race and although
the running numbers have a chip, these measure only
finish time and not start time. It took over a minute
to get through the start, and I spent the first
kilometre at least trying to get out of the crowd of
slower runners I managed to get tied up with. So
annoying, but as usual there were walkers taking part
that decide to queue up right at the front row of the
start line and then walk from then on. I have nothing
against walkers taking part in a race, but it would
make sense for them to let the runners near the front!
Anyway Brians time, after 5 weeks of training, and
as I said earlier the last two weeks of his training
were pretty lapse
his unofficial time
(allowing for the delay at the start) was about
49.30!!!!!!! What a pain!
I have another race next Sunday, and will remember to
double tie my laces. This one is a chipped race in
Glasgow, so hopefully will be able to get a decent
time. Will update shortly
.
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Tuesday, August 16, 2005
Todays update will be brief the runs havent been
up to much since my last entry. Sheila Morrison and I
tried to go out for a long run on Saturday morning but
failed dismally to keep going. We planned on a long
run, from Belhaven up to Halhill, through the trees to
Spott roundabout and up to Spott. From there we ran
ahead to the ford and the up and over to Pitcox. From
Pitcox we ran back along to Dunbar, going via Little
Spott, Daniels Brae and Spott again. We then took a
bit of a shortcut going through Dozy Dean and down to
Eweford and back down to Belhaven. We calculated the
route as about 12-12.5 miles and we should have
managed to run that in about 2 hours. All the way we
were cursing Ian Rowland, because following intervals
on Thursday night our muscles were aching, and every
hill was a major effort. Anyone who has ran the route
also knows that it is pretty hilly with 6 of what
Sheila would call good hills. I would definitely
call them otherwise!
Anyway, the round trip took us about 3 hours. I timed
the bits we spent running and we did run for about 1
hour and 55 minutes. So somehow we managed to spend 1
hour not travelling anywhere very quickly. I think a
lot of it was spent at the top of hills, cursing Ian,
stretching muscles and me trying to get my breath
back. At least we did run up the hills, so there was
some quality running going on!
Following this, Sheila and I had a mad plan to go into
Edinburgh as Footworks have a bit of a sale on. I got
them to check my trainers and they are sorting out my
over-pronation and girly flick problem still so no
need for me to get a new pair, but Sheilas usual were
much reduced so it was a bargainous trip. (I got a
new pair of socks, so as not to be left out).
The plan was to then go to Haddington to catch the
runners finishing the Haddington half marathon but
unfortunately Sheila got the start time wrong, so we
ended up missing the fellow club runners coming in.
We stayed for the prize giving and a quick drink with
the teammates so it wasnt a wasted trip. Give our
performance earlier in the day I think we were both
glad that we hadnt attempted the race.
I am now officially on holiday and am heading off to
Ireland for some cheese sandwiches tomorrow. Feels a
bit odd as I will miss 4 club sessions but will try to
ensure I keep up the regular training in Ireland (Id
better as Ive got a 10k race to run the day after we
return, and many more planned in for September).
I just attempted a run round Beith, Ayrshire and had
extreme difficulty. The weather is very close and its
about 26 degrees, so I struggled on for 30 mins, took
a brief walking break as I began to feel quite unwell
in the heat and then ran a further 20 mins back to mum
and dads house. Lets hope things start looking better
soon
.
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Thursday, August 11, 2005
Big run was completed on Saturday. We ran from
Belhaven Bay through John Muir Country Park to the
North Berwick road, along the road and up to Lawhead,
stopping at the top of the hill for a well deserved
sports drink. We continued on and ran down onto the
Tyninghame to East Linton road, ran down to the Ford
and along by Knowes Farm, back onto the North Berwick
road, back into the country park and back along to
Belhaven running the route past the farms in the park.
We think it was about 13 miles, and only had one real
hill in it, so have identified a tougher 13 miler for
next weekend! As its now Thursday I am getting
slightly nervous about this
.
On Sunday I went out on a training run with Brian
running for 20 mins, walk 3 and repeat. Was quite a
good run, round from Belhaven to the farms in John
Muir Country Park and back to Belhaven. We were
running at quite a good pace. Following that I went
on for the weekly Pilates session. My cold was still
present on Sunday and I had nice scars on my leg
following a fall I had on Saturdays run, a mile and a
half into the 13 miles.
I then had a couple of days off, Tuesday night was the
first club night that Ive missed in ages and it was a
bit odd but I was resting for the East Lothian Summer
Series race in Haddington on the Wednesday night, and
used that as an excuse to meet one of my friends for a
drink in Edinburgh.
Brian went out for 25 mins on Tuesday and measured the
distance afterwards 3.1 miles. I told him this was
5k what a pain. Its taken me 3 years to run below
25 mins in a 5k race and Brian is pretty much there
after 3 weeks. I definitely think its something to
do with the genes
And now for the race on Wednesday night
.Id spent all
day Wednesday psyching myself up for this run and what
a disaster! Sheila Morrison and I had been given the
same handicap and were both due to go first.
Unfortunately Sheilas sense of direction wasnt
working well, so we led about another 10 runners round
a filed of hay instead of the proper course route.
Well we managed to figure out how to get to the finish
line and it turned out that we had marginally run a
bit extra but werent too far behind those that new
where they were going. Sheila and I would like to
make a public apology (in my diary) for leading you
all astray
.
I felt quite good for the first part of the run, well
apart from swallowing a fly going through the first
field (the one we were meant to run through) and
choking for the next half mile
and my hamstrings hurt
from about the first step
but otherwise I felt quite
good. Then demoralised after running out of the next
field at the same place we had run in. It was very
hard running in the field too, grass up the hill and
then hard tractor tracks for the rest of the way. Oh
well, its good training for anyone going on to run the
cross country in the winter.
Tonight was interval night, along with the predictable
jokes about managing to find my way there
. Same
dynamic stretching as last week and a few sprints. I
like the sprints best I manage to beat people in
those! (Probably because they are only about 50
metres or something) Although worryingly knackered
after the warm up and running quite slow 400m after
that. Tonights session was 8x400m on 3mins30secs
following the warm up. An easy session apparently for
those going on to run the Haddington half on Saturday.
On the 5th 400m I stopped after two hundred and
jogged back to the start for a bit of extra recovery
and this seemed to work because the times for the
remaining 400ms reduced, with the last being the
fastest of the night (if not ever). Hamstrings were
still hurting all the way through, and I think I have
a mild case of groin strain (if girls can get such a
thing?). So for the first time in my runner career I
came home and iced. Lucky I bought that bag of mixed
veg in Tescos the other week
think I will need to ice
again tomorrow night in preparation for the big run on
Saturday.
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Friday, August 05, 2005
Sunday afternoons jaunt with Sheila Morrison was a
bit of a long one. We ran from Belhaven through John
Muir Country Park to the North Berwick road, crossed
over the railway and ran up to Biel. From there we ran
onto Pitcox and down to the roundabout on the A1,
using the shortcut route to Dunbar. (At which point we
were propositioned by some twelve year old boys
messing around on a small motorbike Here lady watch
us bounce around) From there we crossed down shore
road to run along the burn and back along the dump
road to Belhaven. The run had a few stops, although
they were mainly at the top of hills, rather than at
the bottom or half way up. Great views of Dunbar and
Belhaven from this route.
Poor Sheila, didnt realise I was planning on running
quite so far! I turned up with my Camelback and it
was at that point that she realised that I wasnt
planning a nice easy 5-6 miler. Oh well, time I
started getting some revenge.
My stomach pain was still present when running,
although only mildly uncomfortable and not the pain
that I suffered at Musselburgh on Saturday. Legs felt
quite tight too.
Tuesday nights club run was quite a short number as I
had a running club committee meeting at 8:00pm. We
ran from Halhill to East Links Farm Park and back
along the track to Belhaven, and back through the
houses to Halhill. It seems like ages since we were
running through the houses every week last winter, but
it wont be long until we are confined to town running
again.
On Wednesday I drove Sheila Morrison to North Berwick
to take part in the North Berwick Law race. It was
really windy, and brave of her to run it. I guarded
the joosters. It was good to watch the leaders were
pretty impressive, especially the first lady. Also
cheered on the Dunbar runners taking part Stuart,
Frank, Amanda and Sheila. Sheila got lost up the
hill, and due to the steepness ended up coming down
the hill mostly on her backside. Had to do a bit of
refuelling afterwards (of course) so stopped off for
an Italian in North Berwick before heading back.
Thursday night interval training was interesting!
Sheila Morrison was being naughty and skived the
training. Ian got us to do two extra laps warm up
with some funny drills to help us stretch. We then
ran three sprint distances by which point I was
totally knackered. After that we then had to run
4x400m followed by 8x200m. I skipped one of the 200m
which proved to be a good decision as I had been
getting progressively slower and slower. After that
mammoth session we then got to run a 4x200m relay
with batons!!! I think my handover was pretty poor
co-ordination was well and truly gone by then.
Its Friday now, my legs are aching (hamstrings),
throat hurts and generally feeling sorry for myself.
I am due to run a big long run with Sheila tomorrow
morning, but will definitely be running slowly. I
refuse to get ill, it is only a mildly sore throat
(but if I was a man I probably would be in bed laid up
with flu by now!)
Brians training is going too well have been
fighting with him all week as he keeps reminding me
that he ran the first mile of his two mile run the
other day in 7mins 44secs. I have to keep reminding
him that it was all down hill, with a back wind and he
was knackered for the next mile. He will be beating
me in no time
.
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