Track Jams

The track training plan was seemingly doomed yesterday. After a forgetful Friday of failing to phone and check out the bookings we arrived at 10am to find coach loads of kids being emptied out at Carnegie... the tiny little ant-type creatures were crawling all over the place for their school sports day and would have presented a serious squishing hazard. After a bit of dithering we discovered the little blighters had taken over South Leeds track too;  the planned session just wasn't going to happen. 

The drive to Seedhill was just too far in the wrong direction and the morning was hotting up as we panicked thinking what to do. At this point I should confess that we were less than keen to stray too far from the most-wonderful-deli-in-the-world. It makes the best, most gooey and chewy chocolate brownies that are, by far the finest reward  for the virtuous afterglow of a tough track sesh. So, some quick thinking took us to the Uni playing fields for some grass intervals. I revisited the site of an old cinder track, (now rugby pitch) that was incidentally the venue for my first school 800m medal...

The track target had been 14x400m reps with a short recovery and pacing at 75s. We opted for 75s intervals with the same short recovery, though a bit of adjustment on speed would be needed for the howling wind, the blazing sun and the change of terrain; the not quite so springy grassy grass lacks the bounce and mesmeric feel of the track.

I was glad to have Ms company as we set out at a pretty fair lick, sub 5 minute pace felt extra tough in the conditions. The efforts rolled on and by number 10 we were both feeling spent. We pushed to 12 before drawing an end to the session. My absence from grass training was taking its toll as the funny sore bit of my right foot that caused my DNF in the winter XC came back to grumble at me. A good session in any case with reps all on target; encouraging given the conditions. I've even created a pretty chart just to celebrate. The post run cake was well deserved.

Another PB!

I have to admit to being a bit of a scaredy cat tonight; as we drove over to Stretford I remembered the unpleasantness of my leaden legs hitting lap 5 a fortnight ago. My old lady knees were knocking at the thought of another frighteningly short race on the track after a weekend of hard running, but its' all good training as they say...

It was my second 3k race ever and what a gorgeous sunny evening it was to be running like a nutter around a giant, flattened rubber ring. After my first attempt at the distance a fortnight ago I was chasing a slightly faster time but feeling a bit doubtful after the exploits of my long run in the sun on Sunday. Anyway, I crossed the line tonight in 9.58.55, a PB by 13 seconds. Yeehah! Needless to say I am very chuffed with myself (sorry for being so boring M) and have at last run my first sub 10 race. I had to go for another run before bedtime just to get rid of the post race buzzin'. I'm feeling good.

A Boiled Bear

I hate to think what someone might have googled to land on this post... It was a tough session tonight with a blazing sun and mile efforts to get through. A tough 16 miles on Sunday followed by a seeing to from Team GB physio Alison Rose at Carnegie on Monday left me feeling a bit bruised and less perky than usual. The calf wringing was eye-poppingly painful and coach Scobie just sat there and grinned as I bit my knuckles!

Apparently I have a rather large difference in leg length and am lucky to not be frequently injured! The analysis of my form suggests this is what saves my bacon; I'm 'very efficient' but I need to build up height in my left shoe to give my right leg a bit of a break. Funny to have not discovered this until now...

So, somewhat overheated and niggly I managed 10 in total tonight with a few mile efforts thrown in. A good session if a bit slow but Saturday at the track will more than make up for that. I am SO getting into this speed work and never want the summer to end. Ho hum.

M's Masters' Medal

What another fine running weekend it's been. First of all a morning trip to the track yesterday resulted in another great quality speed session in the bank for me; 6x800m at a good lick saw me running faster than ever despite the blustery conditions. M was stand-in coach and was conscientious and dedicated in his whistle blowing to keep me even paced through the effort. The speedy strategy is working well; my recovery run later in the day saw my old lady legs turning over quicker than ever, if only my lungs could keep up!

Today was M's last day of racing for a few weeks; a team effort in the British Masters 5k Champs at Horwich. Though not a race he'd planned for it was one he was happy to turn out for to complete the Bingley Men's V40 team. The event is a blistering three lapper around Horwich town centre including a not-so-nice hill, painfully situated at each lap end, including the final run into the finish. The course is fairly tough, particularly on a warm day but M ran strong despite the challenges of the course. Close rivals for the team prize were Salford, another strong road club with a killer V40 team. 

The Bingley boys ran strong with Andy Peace finishing first in 16.02 closely followed by Stewart MacDonald in 16.13 , Simon Johnson in 17.08 and M in a fine time of 17.17. All four Bingley boys made up the prize winning Bingley team, finishing second V40 team and swooping silver medals. M's form held well and suggests a sub-17 on a flat course is well within his grasp so watch this space! Many other fine performances were had on the day and after all the excitement I'm off out to do my long run now; I hope to be back before dark... 

A PB !

Just reporting in on what was my first track race last night. I say first track race but it isn't the first ever. I was a handy middle distance runner as a schoolgirl but the last time I raced in circles on a track was over 23 years ago at the age of 14. You might say I was a tad nervous as we journeyed over to Stretford stadium, the home of Trafford AC for one of their fortnightly Grand Prix Open Series events. 

It was my first ever 3k race and I was dead nervous. It seems a bit silly now as it was never intended to be more than a speed session, especially after a weekend of heavy training. But the prospect of such a short race sent my achey calves all a quiver and I just can't seem to enter any race lightly; I'm just one of those annoyingly competitive types... 

M was chauffeur, photographer, bag carrier and hand holder and endured the long drive over once we'd managed to skip off work early for the 6.30pm race seeding. The whole thing was a bit of blur and after a hurried warm up and a few strides in my lovely spikes I was soon on the start line. It was frightening and eek-inducing but awesome and exciting stuff all at the same time. The pacing plan was a whole new world and saw me setting out at 77"/400m pace with a plan to build a steady rhythm through 7.5 laps of even splits; working to a time as near as possible to 10 minutes. 

I ran well through the first 4 laps but fatigue from the Sunday long run soon caught up and by lap 5 I was flagging. I lost a couple of seconds in the later stages though just managed to pull back the pace on lap 7 to finish strong to take second lady out of 5 with a time of 10'11". Not too bad a restart to my track racing career, especially on these old lady legs. I've now a great target to beat in the coming weeks, with just a few more speed sessions in these legs and I might even manage a sub 10!

Post warm-down and we were both nicely ensconced track-side with a tray of chips from the fab food kiosk and bearing witness to some awesome track talent. Later races included the likes of Lisa Dobriskey and Laura Kenney pictured in a blurry fashion above in the 1500m BMC race, (they were running far too fast). The evening race programme was brimming with track elites and what an awesome sight they were; great motivational fuel to draw on during those tough interval sessions ahead. Results here.

Back To It

As I near the end of the holidays, I can say I've truly enjoyed a real break from work, the universe and all things racing. I've had time enough to  feel refreshed and ready again for some proper training and the making of some firm racing plans.

The break from training and sensible eating has taking its toll; I'm now much more 'cuddly' than usual as access to the naughty cupboard at home all day long has brought back my old love handles. I'm now starting to crave broccoli and have nearly (but not quite) tired of cake. It seems impossible, I know.

Planning so far includes a bit of very short stuff building to a half marathon or two later in the year. For now a bit of fun with some track racing will bring a fresh approach to keep things interesting this summer and provide regular opportunities for extra speed work. The last time I raced on the track I was 14 years old.  The odd 3k race will be a nice gauge of my training progress and help the club out with the odd league event. Runningbear will soon be back on track.

Mammas & Pappas

A mad scamper about last week in preparation for a week off work left me feeling like a bit of an empty husk on Friday. But, with a birthday weekend filled with numerous treats and ample pampering I was soon recharged and ready to go. This little bit older Runningbear can still honestly describe herself as a thirty something...

Many treats have followed including too much food and lots of sunshine and with a week off ahead, complete with visits from M's ma and pa we have lots more good times planned. A tweak of regret at not being in Edinburgh running a marathon was soon wiped away after a run in the heat on Sunday. Impressively this didn't seem to affect the ladies too much with a star run from awesome super Vet Sarah Gee of Reading; a very inspiring run indeed. 

Anyway, lots of nice sunny running planned this week. A trip to the track today was my speed injection for the week;  14x400M at Carnegie track alongside M and local talent Becky L of Skipton. It was a real pleasure to have such hard working and positive company on the track and left me with a real training buzz, a feeling I've been missing of late. My Brooks track spikes were awesome again and my rather bulging calves are starting to acclimatise to the new footwear little by little. No more tough stuff planned except for a bit longer run on Thursday, I need to test how quickly the endurance is returning. Long runs are still a struggle and I've now promised an Old Man a trip to the Doc's to check it all out.

A Good Reminder

Yuck. Getting out of bed this morning was really horrid. A very late night out (for us anyway) meant what felt like zero sleep before the alarm sounded at 7am this morning. A hurried breakfast and a frantic drive into Leeds got us there just in time for a reasonable warm up. This 5k course is not so quick; full of bends and muddy bits it's probably 30 seconds too slow for a 5k PB. But it's a welcoming and low key event and great for those wanting to squeeze a bit of speed work into the weekend.

M & I were less than optimistic about our likely performance; we played 'who's got the best excuse for a bad run' Snap around the warm up route as the weather turned a bit nasty. It was even Stevens on who would be slowest as we stripped at the car and got ready to race. It was freezing, a bit windy and then it started to rain. I was by then feeling very grumpy and had come completely unprepared; you might say I wasn't feeling terribly up for it...

After our 3 mile warm up wiggle we lined up with the crowd. The event attracts a healthy number each week of all shapes and sizes, including the odd star. This week we were joined by superb runner Sarah Tunstall, who was herself racing for the first time after recent injury woes.

M & I braced ourselves ready for the pain, joined by Mark H, (hi MH), who was also looking for a bit of a lift and a good speed session in preparation for his VLM. We were soon off and I somehow forgot how to run fast and hung back a bit too much at the start; hordes of runners whooshed past me and forced me to wake up and respond. After the initial shock of the speed the race went quickly, with a handful of blokes and Sarah T in my eye line. I gradually worked through the course, feeling strong if a bit tired but running with a flowing rhythm, something I never thought I'd write about running a 5k! I'm not sure if I pushed it enough but was mindful of the major mileage this week and the 23 miles planned for the morning. I paced it evenly and worked through to finish second overall, results due to be published here. It was a good speed session and a nice reminder of why we should come more often.

M came in soon after, running strong despite his recent glute problems as well as the sniffles and heavy mileage this week. Mark H was also right behind him, looking fresh despite his 20 mile run on Thursday. Well done boys. It was then a nice easy warm down; 3 more miles at a chatty pace and time to catch up. MH has his first 20m race next weekend, same day as me, (good luck MH). We shared a plan of attack before parting; we're just gonna race flippin' hard. Nice to see the Brooms from Holmfirth too who were as friendly as always, like so many of the helpers and supporters today. What a nice and friendly lot.

The Spring Is Back!

After all my adventures in the murk on Thursday, Friday brought the second toughie of the week; a medium long run with tempo efforts. I set out for the 12 miler in misty, cold and damp conditions feeling uninspired and rather shivery for the first couple of miles. The route is an undulating one for a couple of miles before the tempo efforts kick in on the edge of Ilkley. This time I opted for a slighter easier ride; 3 x 2M efforts to split up the hard work. As usual the return leg was heading back into gale force winds (I exaggerate mildly). Despite the dead feeling in my legs the effort was a steady threshold pace and a decently paced run by the end of the final 12. Another quality sesh in the bag that I can enjoy ticking on THE PLAN.

The prospect of today's strides held even less appeal as I shambled down the stairs with wooden legs this morning; a perfect opportunity to return the spring in my step you might say. This is a new approach for me; a steady aerobic run interspersed with short, pacy strides to get the leg turnover cranked up during high mileage weeks. The strides certainly did the business today; the brisk 7 miles left me feeling pretty nifty and ready for my hilly long run tomorrow. Sunday has a 20M route planned with company; the fast boys once again. I've been assured they'd be very tired after the XC at Sheffield today. All digits crossed, they're knackered. P.S. M's cheek also survived a road run last night.