Theresas training

So last week (15/05/06 – 21/05/06) was a low mileage
week – only 17.2 miles covered in the week. This week
has been a bit higher (22/05/06 – 28/05/06) as I
managed to run about 22.85 miles (although the quality
was variable…………..)

On Tuesday 23rd I’d been running a training course at
work and had to dash back to make it to club – just
about on time. Luckily Sheila K was also late so we
set out for a run together after the other ladies had
headed off. I call it run…..but I think that would
probably be a breach of the trade descriptions act.
Actually we went for a shuffle – slightly faster than
walking pace – around the beach and cut back across
and round John Muir, without actually running through
any of the trees. We were both a bit knackered.

On Thursday at intervals we ran a pacing session at my
request. It seemed to have helped before Jedburgh so
thought I would give it a go – although it took some
of the ladies a wee while to get the hang of what they
were supposed to be doing. As I was running the half
on Saturday, I got to run at my half marathon pace (or
actually what I would like to be my half marathon pace
of 2hrs for the half). This was a lot slower than
usual interval pace and did take a bit of getting used
to. Anne was spot on nearly with her session – she
was only 4 seconds out in total, which is pretty good.
I was thirty something seconds out. Oops. We ran
4x400m, 2x800m and 1x1mile all at the pre determined
times, without any watches. I like this session – its
good fun!

And then Saturday……what a disaster! Sheila M and I
set off at about 11, only to find her car had no
diesel in it and we had to detour to the petrol
station. We then got on the way to find a huge queue
at the bridges – there were road works on, and it was
a holiday weekend. We decided to detour again via
Kincardine Bridge, only to arrive in Kinross at 12:50,
when the race started at 1:00. We abandoned the car
and ran to the start (about a mile warm up at quite a
fast pace). We grabbed our numbers, haphazardly
pinned them to our chests, and went round the side of
the building to get rid of the excess fluid we had
consumed in an effort to start the race well hydrated
(I pity anyone who decides to go for a walk down that
nice country path – there are now a few rivers that
never flowed there before!) We got to the start line
and I was still trying to arrange myself so that I was
comfortably for the run and the hooter sounded! I
couldn’t believe it – I’ve never been so ill prepared
for a race start. Never mind the energy and stress we
had used/built up swearing at all the bloody caravans
on the way! And the wind! What a pain. Although I
was top of the class at higher geography, I’m not very
good at figuring out wind directions and how these are
going to affect you, which may have been lucky as boy
was the wind a nightmare for the last 3 miles.
Absolutely head on and energy zapping – loads of
people were walking and it was a bit of an internal
fight not to join them, but it was quite a boost
overtaking people all the way to the finish. Did the
pacing session work? Well I didn’t start my watch
dead on the start so here are the splits (for a 2 hour
half I need to run 9min10sec miles), although the
first one isn’t quite correct – lets just say I don’t
think their mile markers were quite in the right
place:

Mile 1 – 8.44 (remember I didn’t quite start my watch
on time
Mile 2 – 9.42
Mile 3 – 9.14 – nearly there!
Mile 4 – 8.37 – obviously a downhill or something
there???
Mile 5 – 9.12 – nearly spot on again
Mile 6 – 10.64 – think the markers were wrong – look
at mile 7
Mile 7 – 7.58 – can only do that sort of speed at full
on sprint!
Mile 8 – 10.21 – see what I mean about these
markers??? And this was the dreaded hill…
Mile 9 – 9.12 – again nearly spot on
Mile 10 – 9.07 – downhill again
Mile 11 – 9.37 – not bad at this stage in the game
Mile 12 – 10.36 – not so good – the wind was really,
really blowing at this point
Mile 13 – 10.02 – kept it going anyway
.1 – 1.00 – took a while – should have managed that a
bit faster!

My total – 2.04.04 – although I didn’t start the watch
quite on time, shucks. My official time was 2.05.03
(Sheila 2.01.52 as she ran with me until 8 miles), and
my official pb from Jedburgh last year was 2.04.57.
Damn – 6 seconds outside it!

Damn that wind – if it hadn’t been blowing this would
definitely have been a pb! Also if the race had been
chipped from start to finish I would have got a pb due
to delay getting to the start after the hooter.
Although this is by far the closest I’ve come to my pb
this year, and given the conditions….So it was a sort
of unofficial pb type thing – as I would have been
under the Jedburgh time……might try the East Kilbride ½
at the end of June – it’s chipped and flat. So long
as it’s not too hot though….you can never please us
runners with the weather!

As for the cow hunting – I’ve now ticked off 24 out of
94. I’m going again tomorrow to tick off the main
cows in the city centre. Annoyingly some are well
hidden – I couldn’t find number 18 – “The
International Moovers” which is apparently in ocean
terminal somewhere, or number 5 – “Circus Cow” which
is apparently beside number 79 – “Catch of the Day”
which I did find, down beside the Scottish Executive
in Leith. If anyone sees these cows let me know where
I’ve gone wrong….

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# posted by user : 10:56 AM  0 comments

Last week I managed about 29 miles again – so that was
two weeks in a row with high mileage. This past week
though the mileage has come down, circumstances and a
race all at once!

Last Sunday Sheila Kerr and I headed out at about 3pm,
we were worried in the morning that it might be too
hot, however seemed that we had planned our run at the
best possible time as it had cooled down by then. We
ran on through John Muir Country Park and did a small
loop in the beach before heading back. Think we made
it to about 5 miles, maybe a bit further.

On Tuesday we headed out from Halhill, up to Spott,
down to the first ford and up Daniel’s Brae. I stuck
at the back of the pack with Sheila Kerr – probably a
good move given the mileage covered at the weekend.
The weather was crap – it was raining as we left and
my shower-proof jacket kept me dry for all of about 2
minutes. As we headed down from little Spott the
heavens opened. We were absolutely soaked. Although
in a perverse sort of way the run itself was quite
nice (and I made it up all the hills, and didn’t stop
on Daniel’s Brae - not even when the big 4x4 tried to
run me off into the ditch…..

On Thursday we had intervals – 6x600m in 4mins and
6x300m in approx 2 – well we got to walk back to the
start point, so if you were slow at walking we got a
bit more rest! Not bad session though. I have
decided that I don’t like anything longer than 400m –
seems far too long! I was trying to pace myself in a
conservatory way due to the Glasgow Women’s 10k on
Sunday, however, couldn’t contain myself. The last
600m I did 10 seconds faster than the others. On the
300m the last 3 I ran quite quickly (thought I’d
better put some effort in to beat Fay, Sheila et al)
and the last one I really did go as fast as possible
(at that stage that isn’t that fast really……)

So onto Sunday and the women’s 10k – bet Anne is
regretting telling me how to work out my splits!
Sheila and I were separated this year, as we both made
the mistake about being honest on our entry forms
about the expected completion time so were put in
different coloured groups, only to find that most
other people had just stood where they fancied. We
were overtaking people walking after only 2-3 minutes
of running – and they thought they would finish in
less than an hour? Some of them seemed to think they
would finish in less than 50 minutes…..

Anyway here are the splits:
1st km 5.38 – tripping over those slow people in front
of me
2nd km 5.31 – still weaving my way round but getting
slightly better
3rd km 5.27 – getting there….
4th km 5.21 – thank goodness, getting to some clearer
running
5th km 5.27 – oh dear – on the way back up again
6th km 5.29
7th km 5.44 – the first major (ish) hill – Pollock
Park
8th km 5.55 – more hills, clearly worse than the last
one
9th km 5.21 – feeling relieved, it’s nearly all over
10th km 5.05 – can really put the effort in, it’s the
end!

Total 55.03 (matches the chip time, so I must be
pretty accurate at this recording malarkey!). Sheila
M – 53.58. Last year I got 55.56 and Sheila got
54.03, so I knocked off 53 seconds from last year, and
closed the gap a bit on Sheila from previous….just
need to keep moving in the right direction (and get
Sheila to move in the wrong one – this won’t work if
she keeps improving too!)

Had a peek to see how Emma did – think she did 47.28.
I can only dream…..

So the weather was hot, I was tripping over people for
much of the way and I ran with my ipod for the first
time in a race (which did help at those points were
you really could give up – gave you something else to
focus on. Also couldn’t hear how heavy my own
breathing was – a good thing I think!) I now have an
interesting running injury from the ipod – it nips a
bit! Now have to decide whether to ipod or not at
Loch Leven??????

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# posted by user : 1:50 PM  0 comments

Am trying to keep up with the mileage targets I set
myself – last week I ran just over 29 miles and now
trying to sustain that….could be difficult though
given the speed I run and all the other life things
you have to do (like work – unfortunately!)

Anyway on Tuesday we ran down to John Muir Country
Park from club, Sheila M, Lindsay and I ran for about
8 miles. We went through the park heading towards the
North Berwick road and then turned back on ourselves
along the rougher path that follows the beach. It was
really warm on the way out but got cooler and
therefore nicer running weather towards the end.
Sheila M was scampering along at the front, having a
better running night than she’d had the week before.

On Thursday there was only one male at the intervals.
Plenty of women though – wonder what that means????
Anne, Emma, Jennifer, Lucy, me, Sheila K and Val were
all there (hope I haven’t missed anyone). Sheila M
was “otherwise engaged”. Our delights of the evening
where 8x400m in 3 mins and 8x200m in 1.5mins –
although Ian did take pity on us towards the end and
extend our rest time marginally. It was tough going
even though it only adds up to about 3 miles.

Yesterday morning Sheila M and I went out on a long
run – training for Loch Leven half in two weeks. We
ran from my house, down through Pinkerton and round
the bottom of Doon Hill, up behind Spott Mains Farm
etc, down the Brunt (and up the other side – forgot
about that) along to Falsely Cottages through to
Thurston Mains, along to Innerwick and then a loop to
Thornton and back down to the A1 turn up to Innerwick,
with a bit of cross country back to mine. I measure
it and I’m sure it was only about 12.5 miles but
Sheila thinks it was longer…..It was a really nice
route, and not toooooooo hilly. Although apologies to
Sheila – we were meant to do the loop round Thornton
so it was mainly downhill although I got the turning
wrong and we ran the uphill way round. Ooops. It was
funny weather – warm when in a sheltered bit but cool
when the breeze hit you.

Today I’m going out for a short one with Sheila Kerr –
will see how far I manage but planning on somewhere
between 4-6 miles. That should keep the miles up!

Also entirely unrelated but how exciting – Cow Parade
has come to Edinburgh. I’ve only got 10 weeks to find
the 94 cows. Cool. Check out the website!

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# posted by user : 4:53 AM  0 comments

What a week! It’s the first time that I’ve run five
times in a week I think! Holiday weekends help
matters greatly though…..

On Monday Sheila M and I ran through John Muir onto
the North Berwick road, up to the old A1 and over the
bridge at the pink cottage which goes over the railway
line. From their we ran up round Biel and on to
Pitcox, before running back down to one of the new
roundabouts on the A1 and a shortcut track over to
West Barnes. From there we ran back to Sheila’s, had a
quick shower and headed back out to Pilates. How
disciplined?????? (well apart from the quick buffet
snack in between which involved a lot of cheese and
quite a few crisps!)

Tuesday night was a different story – bullies Morrison
and Kerr wouldn’t allow me to run further and made me
take a short route back to Halhill. I was up for a
short route anyway seeing as we had a committee
meeting that night – but this was shorter than even I
had planned! We ran through Halhill woods, down to
West Barnes, along the road to the Biel burn, along
the Biel burn and back along the dump road, through
the houses to Halhill. I only was planning on running
down the road to the farm park and back so not much
further…..

On Thursday night it was the handicap race and the
first time I had run the route through John Muir
Country Park. We ran it the tough way round – along
the road first and back through the sandy path in the
trees. Luckily Frank caught up with Fay and I quite
early on, and gave us directions to ensure we went the
right way! It was hard going – although Emma didn’t
seem to find it so bad when she bounced past me after
about 18 minutes. Ian R got a chance to run as Bob
did the timings so he was the next one to come
bounding up behind me. Although he did shout
something so I knew I’d better speed up , which meant
a quick sprint to the finish. It took a fair bit
longer than the route around the houses, but was a
whole lot nicer!

Saturday, and Brian fancied a spot of fishing down the
Tweed. I had no other plans so accompanied him down
to a place near St Boswells and ran along side the
river, through a few fields and around a really nice
estate for about 4.5 miles. The run was nice,
although I used about 4 face wipes trying to clean the
sheep shit of my shoes afterwards. And that was me
being careful….

Today I went out for a wee run with Sheila K and Fay.
We ran from Sheila K’s, up round the cement factory,
down to the lighthouse, along the John Muir way for a
bit and onto the beach, back to the lighthouse, round
Whitesands and back to Sheila’s. Probably about 7.5
miles. The weather was a bit odd – mist off the sea,
but warm at the same time. I think it needs to
thunder. Today was also the Edinburgh 10k which
Lindsay was running so will need to find out how she
did. Yesterday any mad people would have run the
Edinburgh to North Berwick 22 mile road race – will
find out who they were and how they managed on
Tuesday!

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# posted by user : 6:50 AM  0 comments

I’ve been a bit naughty and haven’t written for a
while – the last run I wrote about was on Easter
Sunday, where we were egg rolling for fun.

On Easter Monday, 17th April, I went out for a short
run at Belhaven. I ran through John Muir Country Park
until coming to the small wooden bridge part way
through and then cut back across the sand. It was
very windy, so I had made sure that I ran the way
round where the wind would be at my back on the beach
rather than head on! For some reason I thought it
would be a good idea to try out Ian’s suggestion of
doing intervals on the beach and did just 5x2 mins
fast, with 2 mins slower recovery in the middle. I
haven’t repeated this since – its even harder doing
intervals on your own compared to at club!

On the 18th club night we went from Halhill down
through John Muir Country Park and up past the first
farm, round to East Links and back to Halhill. Anne
was meant to be tapering for London, but don’t think
she was doing a very good job of it.

On the 20th – Thursday club night – intervals again.
We did 4x400m in 3mins, 2x800m in 5 mins and 4x400m in
3 mins again. Sheila M got all confused and thought
that the last of the first set of 400m was our last
interval and ran really quickly on that one, not
realising she wasn’t even halfway at that point! I
did a 400m instead of one of the 800m for a bit of
extra recovery.

On the 23rd, whilst most of the running world would
have been tuned into the London marathon (or running
the London marathon) Sheila M and I were undertaking
our own marathon – a how much can you eat type! We
went to Grangemouth first and ran the 10k, followed by
lunch with Sheila’s sister Ailsa at Bean Cross.
Starters, main course and Sheila also ordered a
pudding. Then back to mine for more food, wine and to
watch the marathon (I had recorded all 6 hours of tv,
but we only made it through to 4.5. We think we saw
Ian though after 4 hours of viewing, at that point
watching all those who finished under 3 hours.
Grangemouth was as scenic as ever – the pavements were
very hard and hurt my feet. My new asics kayano had
an inaugural run as my last pair of trainers wore out
after 2 months. Managed to rip quite a bit of the
sole off of the new trainers too……need to figure out a
type of trainer with a much harder wearing sole – they
need to last a bit longer than 6 miles!!!!! Anyway did
my splits again at Grangemouth – a bit odd again,
anyway
5.11
5.20
5.34
5.20
5.32
5.35
5.49
5.41
5.44
5.35
Its probably similar to the women’s elite splits at
the marathon – only their times were for miles rather
than kilometres! I got 55.39 as official time, which
was faster than last year but not as fast as Dunbar
and still not a pb…… Sheila M got 53.10, so is still
ahead by someway – about 15 seconds a kilometre faster
than me.

On Tuesday (25th) club night Sheila K was back, and
Amanda, so I think we had 11 women in all. Most of
the women seemed quite sprightly and were way ahead
from the start so Sheila K and I decided to take it
easy. My legs seemed to be quite sore from Sunday
anyway, so we ran up past Spott roundabout, along up
to Spott, but turned up towards Wester Broomhouse and
came back to Halhill via Eweford. The other ladies
did a bit of a longer sort of cross country route
running up behind Karen’s red chimney at the bridge,
up behind the farms and down Starvation Brae before
running back to club. Anne had turned back at some
point and joined Sheila K and I on our trek – her legs
were not quite her own at that point! No wonder, I
was impressed she was out running!

On Thursday (27th) Brian and I were up for a long
weekend in Grantown on Spey. So I did a nice run (red
marked route) through some woodland there. The run in
the woods was about 5.5 miles so from B&B the route
was just over 6.

On Friday (28th) I went out for a longer one – again
through the trees on some marked tracks. I did the
same (red) route as Thursday but added another (blue)
route before it – so ran about 8 through the trees and
with some extra bits added in made it to 9.5 miles.
Not bad for being on my own, although I do lose the
willpower at about that stage. Also went flying in
the trees, all these tree routes sticking up. Had a
bit of a sore left shoulder and knee after that.

On Saturday (29th) I went to Balmoral to cheer Sheila
M on at the 10k road race. Shame but you couldn’t
enter on the day – a good thing because if you could I
might have bowed under the pressure to do so. Instead
I felt a huge amount of relief at not running – weird.
Must have been Sheila’s tales of the hill at the
start from last year. I did watch those finishing in
about 52/53 minutes and wonder why they were running
faster than I could though…..Later I went for another
run in the trees where I noticed my knee was still a
bit sore after my escapade on Friday. I did two
routes again but shorter – the blue and the green
route so did about 4 miles in the trees and about 4.5
miles total. I ran with my ipod on this one after
seeing something when flicking through a running
magazine about it now being proven that running to
music makes you go faster. Might try that for my next
race and see if it’s true – at least it will help me
to relax and maybe breathe a bit better.

Now (Monday) I’m due to be heading off on a long one
in about half an hour so I’d better get my skates on –
more next time…..

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# posted by user : 6:33 AM  0 comments