Wednesday, September 28, 2005
The running is not going so well this week at least
its helped me make up my mind about Doon Hill. I
will be the sensible one standing wrapped up in my
winter coat with my arm outstretched showing people
the way down the grassy path near Wester
Broomhouse
.marshalling definitely seems to be the
better option.
Last weekend I went for a run down in Peebles, from
Cardrona to Traquair House and back. It was
terrible
I felt really out of breath and wheezy and
that it was such a big effort, and when I worked it
out I was running pretty slowly as well. On Sunday,
Brian and I went out for a short one (about 4 miles)
along the beach at Belhaven and back through John Muir
Country Park and I think I felt even worse, felt very
unfit. On Sunday evening I developed a nice cough and
tickly throat and decided to blame the bad running on
the cold. Its annoying though, thats two colds Ive
had quite close together. I dont normally suffer
colds and other illnesses and therefore dont suffer
well, and I am again feeling sorry for myself.
On Tuesday we went out for our club run earlier than
usual and ran most of the Doon Hill route. The route
itself is lovely, really nice countryside and
differing terrain. The hills werent as bad as I
expected (although there were a couple of walk breaks
in there!) It would be a nice route to do again but
not in a race just yet. I am impressed by the times
the runners do though, given the challenging course.
Running wise I felt a lot better than I had done at
the weekend. It was dark by the time we finished
Sheila Morrison and I are guessing 9 miles for the
distance.
Tonight Sheila Morrison, Sheila Kerr and I went out
for a short, flat run (another 4 miler) in John Muir
Country Park before the dark set in. Again I was
feeling better than at the weekend, although it was
bitterly cold and is the first time Ive worn the full
length tights so far since autumn has set in. It was
also very windy, but an enjoyable run. We managed to
do some catching up on all Sheila Morrisons trekking
experiences, from her performance in the Doon Hill
race I would say that the altitude training has done
her some good off she was trotting up these hills
again. Maybe I need to head off somewhere exotic in
the name of altitude training
Anyway Im looking forward to the marshalling on
Saturday, (and the soup and sandwiches). I might fit
another run in before then and will probably head out
on Sunday morning. Im hoping the weather might
improve slightly but wont hold my breath.
Unfortunately Im going to miss Ians interval
training tomorrow night, and next Thursday too. I
have some work thing tomorrow (a fashion show with the
outfits all made out of stationary items???? I will
report if there is any interesting usage of post it
notes) and next Thursday Im off out for a girls night
out in town, with my study buddy group again. Always
a good excuse for dinner, booze and a gossip
.Please
dont hold it against me Ian make my first session
back after my mini break an easy one!
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Saturday, September 24, 2005
Oh my god
..Ians back. He says he had a good
holiday, but certainly wasnt being very kind or
lenient with his interval sessions. Thursdays
session entailed 32x200m in 1min15 seconds. I did a
half session
and that was ok. Not so sure about the
full session. One good thing though towards the end
of the session I was able to keep up with Clarissa and
Anne on some of the 200m, not something thats likely
to happen again in a hurry!
The nights are drawing in so our chances for long
countryside runs on Tuesday club nights are limited.
Tuesday night we ran up to Eweford, under the A1, up
to Wester Broomhouse, down the closed road, back to
the Spott roundabout and then back to Halhill via the
new houses. A sense of dread overcame me as we were
running down Kellie road in the winter we will be
running through the new houses on a very regular basis
and for some reason I really dislike running along
Kellie road. I think its because its soooo long and
you can see right the way along it.
The road racing season is also nearly over I missed
out on entry to the Stirling 10k as I applied too late
and the places were already filled. I have one more
10k on the calendar the Cancer Research 10k at
Hopetoun House on 9th October and it sounds quite
nice. A mix of tarmac path, track and grass. Dont
think there will be a chance of a pb though with the
different surfaces, and Ive heard the path can be
quite narrow and hard to get ahead. Also its not
chipped, so it will be a case of elbow your way near
the start line and still there will be hundreds of
people walking the course that start in front of me.
Looking forward to it though
The next big race for me is the Jedburgh Half, at the
end of October. This will be good as the club are
going together and stopping for a meal afterwards
(running is always good when food follows). To train
up for this Sheila Morrison and I are planning a run
to Haddington, along by the River Tyne, with lunch to
follow. The last time we did that was on the day of
the London marathon, where we had bagels and chocolate
prior to running. Bad move, I think my body was still
trying to digest that all the way along the run, and I
had a few light-headed moments. I wont be trying
that pre run binge again!
Last Sunday Sheila Kerr and I went out for a pre Doon
hill run something hilly and quite long. Sheila has
entered Doon Hill and I am continually dithering. I
marshalled the run last year and saw the quality of
runners, which is probably why I have been dithering
so much! Our practice session was a run up round
Spott, along to the second ford, down to Pitcox and
back along to Spott roundabout and to our start point.
We estimate the run was about 9.5 miles with 4 good
hills in it. Sheila had never run the route
before
.not too sure shell be running it again in a
hurry!
Lindsay survived the GNR, we are still waiting to hear
her tale as she wasnt able to come to club on
Tuesday. Im sure we will get an update soon,
although some club members are running Doon Hill on
Tuesday as practice, and as the nights are drawing in
are leaving a bit earlier. Ill probably dither about
the practice too
..well it is a very big hill!
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Sunday, September 18, 2005
Well we (Sheila Kerr and Brian) did do a nice flat
number last Sunday, alongside the A1, down to West
Barnes, through John Muir Country Park, cutting
through to the beach and ran back through Dunbar to
our start point. Brian failing to follow any running
advice by going out and running 8 miles (previous
longest distance was 10k in the Paisley race two weeks
ago) without doing any other running for the past 2
weeks.
On Tuesday club night the womens side was sadly
lacking Clarissa and Karen are both on holiday,
Lindsay had a bit of a chest thing going on and
didnt want to push her cold any further into her
chest with the Great North Run on Sunday and Sheila
Morrison still trekking. This left Sheila Kerr and I
to try to keep up with Anne (although clearly Anne
wasnt running anywhere near normal pace). It was
very windy and our skin was getting well exfoliated by
sand being blown into our faces. The route was from
Halhill, down to Whitesands and along by the golf
course back into town. Coming out of the golf course
and running up into town was like jogging on the spot
the wind was so strong. Anyway that means extra
calories were burned! (although I seem to have
managed to put on weight this week, hmmmm
..)
On Thursday night I braved intervals with Anne yet
again, interesting as none of the other senior ladies
were there so I felt like I was miles behind the
others. We did 4x200m in 2 mins, 4x400m in 3mins30
and 4x200m in 2 mins. The 2 mins for the 200m sounds
like a gift but it wasnt true recovery as we were
meant to jog back from the 200m point to the start
line again. (I say meant to because I soon started to
miss this part out, doing my 2nd 200m back to the
start line from the 200m point. Crafty
the extra
recovery definitely helped!)
On Saturday I was planning a run but had been out on
Friday night, and by the time I got home on Saturday
it was windy and raining, my least favourite weather
combination for running. So I decided just to sit
inside and make warming winter soup instead. So now
its Sunday and I feel the need to fit a longer one
in. Have arranged to meet up with Sheila Kerr shortly
and go for about 9-10 with some hills. I will see how
it goes though! I think up to Spott and round by the
second Ford, but I guess it partly depends on how cold
and windy it is.
Sheila and I both watched the GNR this morning for
motivation and inspiration, and believe I saw the
fastest ever half marathon. How amazing? I wonder
how Lindsay got on
.
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Saturday, September 10, 2005
Have sort of been taking it easy this week, lightly
following Massage Mans instructions (well apart from
racing on Sunday and intervals on Thursday!!)
Club run on Tuesday night was short but sweet as there
was a committee meeting afterwards. Ran from Halhill
along Kellie Road and through the houses to the Spott
Roundabout and ran up the Spott Road taking a right
turn up to Wester Broomhouse, down under the A1 to
Eweford and then back to Halhill.
On Thursday the plan was going to be to run a nice 6
mile gentle flat run, but Brian couldnt be bothered
going out and Sheila Kerr was otherwise disposed.
Sheila Morrisons busy trekking in Nepal so I thought
I may as well head along to interval training. Did 2x
400m as a warm up and then got sent round for another
400m with some dynamic stretching. We then did a
couple of short bounding type runs (think that might
have been plyometrics???) and then started on the real
session. Anne was taking us tonight as Ian R was on
holiday, not sure who is worse though!!! The session
was 20x200m in 1min15 secs, though Anne did take pity
after about the third one and put it up to 1min30secs.
I did 16 in total, which I think was a bit of an
achievement. Strategically placed rest sessions
helped greatly.
Friday night was a check up with massage man,
following all the work I had done last week. Luckily
the lower back was all perfectly aligned, just a few
joints out at the top (again). I did confess to
continuing to run. I have now been let off attending
for a further session for 5 weeks and good timing
this falls the Monday after a Sunday race. (Hopetoun
House Cancer Research 10k)
Its now Saturday and I have just come home from the
Lammermuir Circuit race/run. A number of the club
runners did a 20 mile route, with an option of a half
and 10k also. I stuck to the 10k. Amanda drove us up
into the hills, approximately 10k from Halhill and we
all ran back for showers, soup and sandwiches. It was
nice runny weather cool with some light drizzle and
all those doing the 10k enjoyed the scenery. I think
we polished off a round of sandwiches for 20 between
the 9 of us taking part
..usual runners appetites
then!
Tomorrow I think I will go out for that nice gentle
flat one, somewhere between 6-8 miles. Depends on how
well the wine flows tonight though
..
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Monday, September 05, 2005
It has been a hot week for my return from Ireland
On Tuesday club night we ran across the Belhaven beach
and back through John Muir Country Park. It was
really muggy and felt quite hard, but Ive been told
the route is probably only about 10k. Felt harder and
further than that. I still had my muscle niggles, but
they werent as bad as they had been on the Sunday.
Unfortunately just before the race on the Sunday I
hurt my back and had been finding it very difficult to
move around on the Sunday and Monday. By Tuesday I
had improved slightly, although waddling around like a
duck and still in pain at times.
On Thursday Sheila Morrison, Sheila Kerr and I went
for a shorter run. Sheila Morrison was leaving on the
Friday to travel out to Nepal for her trek and I was
racing on Sunday in the Great Scottish Run (10k), so
we opted out of the usual Thursday night interval
training as we thought wed better save our legs! We
ran from Halhill to Eweford, Bowerhouse, Spott Road,
Spott Roundabout and back to Halhill through the
trees.
On Friday I was going to see massage man to sort out
my back problem. Interestingly my lower back had gone
out the opposite way to the last time, and it took a
relatively easy manoeuvre to pop things back into
place. I was told to abstain from bending and
twisting for a week, so that means most housework is
out of the question (shame). I was also told not to
do my Pilates this week, and then told that running
probably wasnt a good idea. I neglected to mention
that I was racing on Sunday in the Great Scottish Run
and just looked at massage man with a funny what do
you mean running isnt a good idea? look on my face.
Hes obviously dealt with runners before though,
because he clearly knew that I would be running this
week
.
Then for the Great Scottish Run in Glasgow. I arrived
nicely on time for the run, starting at 9:30 and made
the very sensible decision to wear my sunglasses. It
was soooooo hot. I am so glad I wasnt running in the
half marathon as it started at 10:30, by which time it
must have been about 24-C, and for me running 2 hours
in that heat would have been terrible. Anyway
..the
run itself was good, I felt quite good in the race and
I must thank my Dad for reminding me to tie my laces
in double knots. The run is pretty flat and good for
fast times, just unfortunate about the weather.
However I did run a PB!!! (Well the official times
arent out yet, but pretty sure it will be an official
PB as the race was chipped. Tip for next year though
is not to wear the chip round my ankle on the funny
Velcro strap thing. I have now got a huge plaster on
my ankle where the strap was sawing through my flesh,
slight agony from about 2km onwards!) I timed myself
as running 54:04, 45 seconds faster than last week.
Now for some exciting runner chat re PBs. My fastest
time last year was in the Great Scottish Run 2004,
running 58:49. This year I have run 5 10Ks, running
PBs in 4 of these (using my personal timing).
Grangemouth I ran in 55:52 (official time 56.08),
Dunbar in 54:50 (official 55:09), Brittanic Asset
Management in 55:56, Paisley in 54:45 (official 55:48)
and Glasgow in 54:04. Comparing the Great Scottish
Runs in 2004 and 2005 my 10km time has gone down
4mins and 45 seconds in one year. This huge
improvement has a lot to do with joining Dunbar
running club, and with Sheila and Sheila especially
for taking me out for runs and getting me to run
further and faster on weekends and evenings, not just
club nights. The East Lothian Summer Series has also
helped, racing against other club runners and trying
not to get overtaken by the faster runners somewhere
behind. Incidentally I came third out of the women so
have a trophy to add to my huge collection of medals.
The aim for the future is to have even more
improvement, and Ians interval training has got a lot
to do to try to keep the improvement at these levels!
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