Lazy Days

What a lazy week it has been since breaking up from the office over a week ago. A flying visit from a southern friend was swiftly followed by a bit of shopping for a new bearmobile, (to replace the broken one) and then a few days generally getting my head round not being at work. I'm now facing week two; the days are whizzing by, gradually being filled with trips to the vet and ideas of sorting out that peeling paint on the front door... if only the sun would come back.

Running wise the training has been low key, except for a trip to Blackpool on Saturday; a rather lonely 3k for the club in the BAL Cup competition. The best bit was the warm up in and around Stanley Park; what a great place. The event felt like more of a time trial than a race with an easy win by nearly a minute over the 3k but  it's a speed session in the bank at least.

A return to a bit of mileage for this coming week, starting with a nice long Sunday run. As M and I skirted Kilnsey Crag and climbed the road to Kettlewell, thoughts turned to the Burnsall race in August and our first inspiring introduction to Old Runningfox, a fellow adventurer around these parts. This area has got to be one of the most beautiful places in the country and the running is spectacular whatever the weather. The Burnsfall Feast Sports day is a firm Runningbear favourite and offers something for everyone, whether its road running or fell racing or just lots of cake and silly games by the river. It's a nice day out in a truly gorgeous spot; get it in your diaries.

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.