I Leica Long Run

It was a return to the tough stuff  again this weekend, including a visit to the track on Saturday for some painful 400s. The usual 12 reps were cut short though; legs and calves in particular were grumbling ferociously by number 8. I called it quits, as did M saving ourselves for the long one today. We reminded ourselves of the importance of knowing when to stop flogging a dead horse...those hills from Tuesday seem to be sticking with me for now and there was much needed cake awaiting to replenish our depleted stores.

For a refreshing if slightly exhausting change M planned an 'undulating' route for us to run together today for our steady 17 miles. A late start after staying up to watch late night telly  left us setting out from Gargrave at midday under a warm sun. The  slighly wonky lollipop route took us through lovely Dales villages, Airton, Kirby Malham and Hetton. If only the hills had been less hilly. All four legs were well and truly mashed by the final miles but we consoled ourselves with reassurances of it all being fine prep for the Burnsall 10 in just under a fortnight. There's just the egg throwing training left to worry about now.

New Stuff

I've been a bit of a geek tart one might say; being distracted from my usual blog fiddling by other shiny things on the WWW of late. After having lots of fun creating picture books I've been distracted again by other cool new stuff. Spookily Kate's comment about her daily photo journal came whilst I was checking out Blipfoto.

I joined the site after the pure and simple excitment of discovering a quietly creative and positive place where members load a daily snap; the simple rules being only one pic per day, taken on the day of publishing.

The site is really fab and a source of constant inpsiration, but also very addictive. As every minute ticks by people all over the world upload their chosen daily snap sometimes accompanied by funny, inspiring and constructive words. If you like taking pics then you're likely to love this. 

Back to blogging and all is going well. My creaky old legs are starting to grumble less  and so to celebrate I put them through their paces with some hill work on Tuesday. Hill hell was less hellish than I remember though the pain may have just dulled along with my memory these last 48 hours. 8x90s reps up a steep and steady climb saw me chasing (and overtaking) some men on bicycles. (She writes smugly). 

Mid Week Mayhem

Three days into the new job and I already need another holiday. How tiring it is to be a newby; everywhere I turn I'm reminded of all the stuff I don't know yet. There's so much stuff coming from all kinds of directions and I've yet to discern the important stuff from the mere fluff. I've got brain ache and just long to get home and clear my head with a good run. Late finishes this week have made the evening run a squeeze leaving no time for blogging, whether it be reading others or writing my own. I'm thinking that I might start experimenting with my BBerry for some mobile blogger action...

On a more positive note, the sore foot has been grumbling less on the even road surface and a return of some hill efforts last night were a good workout though a bit of a shock after very little hill work of late. M came too and the bad bum cheek is now well and truly grumble free.

The late & long one tonight could have been tough had I not been giddy with some good news. I was very chuffed to hear on Monday that some running sponsorship will be coming my way. With the kind support and advocacy of Mr Complete Runner, Brooks have offered some sponsorship support, meaning this Runningbear now has a kit deal for the next year. So, I will be very well turned out indeed for all of my running adventures in the coming months. I get to pick my shoes and 'apparel' this weekend with a very glitzy Brooks racing kit for my non-team events. I'm hoping for the best when it comes to a choice of pants, it could be a deal breaker.

Simples

Simple hills it was then. 5 x 4 mins to be exact and tough it was too after the exploits of the weekend. I'm feeling much clearer and happier about what I'm doing which is a nice way to feel after what seems like months of fretting and fiddling with my training. The hard work is starting to pay off. Each hill rep brought its own special pain but I still had some strength in my legs despite the 20 miler on Sunday. That just wouldn't have been manageable for my body a few months ago. So I'm slowly remembering that quality days are where the work is, easy days are to be enjoyed.

The hard hills efforts now out of the way mean tonight's easy bimble around Ilkley should be relaxed and a chance to stretch the legs but nothing more. That leaves more time for catching up on bits of missed telly and digging out the Ben & Jerry's for a bit of a yummy treat. Some more instalments of In Treatment are on the cards tonight. Its a must see. Check it out on Sky Arts...a demain.

No Frills

These old legs have been feeling heavy and tired after XC racing and that super long run this weekend. A nice and supposedly easy 5m on Monday was a reminder of the necessity of these recovery days being exactly that. I dragged myself around the village at dawn wearing a pair of wooden legs wondering where my bouncy & bendy ones had got to.

The last few days have included lots of reflective training chats with M, his pa and some revisiting of our dog-eared running books. I've also been looking back at what I've done since I started a structured training plan two years ago, (a great advantage of keeping a log). All these elements have combined to form a really useful process; reminding myself of the running basics that I've somehow forgotten in recent months.

In trying to capture what made all the difference to bring the big improvements over the last 2 years, one of the most striking things was the simplicity of my training. My efforts to find new and sophisticated ways of doing intervals or drills or some other fancy session is all a bit unnecessary. I've been reminded of the basics, proper recovery around high quality work. Giving the body enough space to respond to hard training is a key discipline and rather crazily, is just as tough for me as it is churning out those yucky intervals at the track. The wild distractions of hilly drills and the like all now seem to be just a bit of nonsense. Keeping it simple is the Runningbear motto. So tonight, simple hills, definitely no drills & no more frills.

Hilly Drills

I'm embarrassed to confess that I've been a bit of a narcissist, and revisited my recent TV appearance from the Great South Run. Apart from the initial horror of my thigh girth for all to see (though they do say telly adds the lbs) and the general unpleasantness of seeing yourself on TV, I was reminded again of my rather inefficient running style. I have a rather long and bouncy stride for someone so vertically challenged. In fact my cadence and stride often mirror M's (who is a foot taller than me with legs that look double the length of mine). I'm really not likely to make huge progress in race times without some attention to my cadence. A point also put to me recently by one or two other polite observers of my recent races.

Anyway, the time has come for action. Apart from trying to build in a return to intervals work in the last few weeks I thought I'd try something a bit different tonight. After some inspiring chat with Bingley superstar Vic W on Saturday I thought I'd give some short hill work a go tonight. The different bit was a focus on form and cadence rather than propulsion. My usual hill efforts involve shifting as quick as I can and covering as much ground as possible within a set time. Tonight was a very different experience, 12 x 90 seconds on a very steep hill, working to pump my arms and increase leg turn-over to the point that it was more of a drill exercise than a hill effort. I covered much less ground that usual and felt a different kind of tiredness; one of working specific muscles rather than the lung burning, oxygen gasping, near coronary experience I usually have during hill work.

However, since uploading my Garmin data my heart rate barely rises above zone 4 leaving me wondering whether the session was effective at all. I've never tried the drills thing before and understand its the done thing for improving leg turn over and holding form. Most of all I need to find an effective way of shifting quicker. Are drills the answer? Or should I just focus on shorter track intervals? Any training experts out there? Answers on a postcard please...

M's Big Day

A big day today for the club and for M as we fielded some of our best road runners in the Yorkshire Vets Road Relays. It was also a big day attending our first event hosted by our club of old, Ilkley Harriers who did a fine job with a brilliant venue and much posh nosh for post-run refuelling. This included more types of cake than I have digits and lots of cocktail sausages that I know M very much appreciated (though I don't think they were solely intended for him as he might have hoped). Anyway, important food report complete, back to the running... Bingley were unstoppable today, I was so proud of all our runners, the boys had a storming run on the medals winning gold in the M40, M50 and M60 categories, and silver in the M35s close behind an awesome Otley team. However, I must make special of M who was pretty keyed up for today's race in our M40 team, being a non-fan of this short and sharp stuff (sound familiar?), but with his new Fastwitch racers (tied with three lucky knots) and a kiss from me he flew through the start, clocking 5.30 in his first mile then charging past those foolish enough to have burned up the first hill section (M is V good at hills). It sounds like the painful descent caught out everyone with a weird sharp drop back to the Lido, just to kick you in the shins after the gruelling mile of climb. M came sprinting round into the finishing funnel clear of the Ilkley boys and looking like he was just on the warm up. He did good. Fellow mates Tricky & Twinkle (my new name for Kevin O) also did Bingley proud, making mincemeat of the hills and showing off their superior racing form. There's no stopping 'em. Well done to all the Bingley boys and girls...

Racing Highs

Just a quickie whilst our visitors sleep off our Saturday night (I also got a bit 'pished' at the pub) and I guess blogging whilst our guests look on is not good hostess behaviour. We had a really lovely day at Burnsall yesterday. Big thanks to the organisers for another lovely event this year, see results here. The weather was gorgeous if a little bit too warm for this tough 10m but we were ready for a great race. This was to be my last trip out before a bit of an ease down so I was really up for enjoying the event and then indulging in lots of cake and that amazing ginger ice-cream at Katie's Kiosk, with the spectacle of the fell race and the end of day presentations to look forward to.

Though M & I we were a bit worried by the hot sun (neither of us cope that well racing in the heat) we managed to keep our cool and ran a strong race. I was determined to run a sensible start knowing the climbs to come in the later miles and somehow managed a negative split for the second 5m. This was a bit of a wonder and I'm not quite sure how I managed it, particularly if you know the tough climbs in the second half of this cult classic. There was also plenty of much appreciated support all around the course from Mr T of Complete Runner and fellow club mates, including Stewart M who kept me driving for that sub hour result. We ran in great company with some fine Otley and Bingley boys, including our mate Julian M, (who is clearly getting his old racing form back) and Kevin O who had a strong run and added to the fine sea of Bingley vests. I also had the pleasure of bumping into fellow blogger Old Runningfox who also had a great run, finishing as first local but rather unjustly not having an age group prize to celebrate his incredible achievements & fine vintage.

Anyway, M also finished very strongly in a quality field to come 14th overall, 3rd V40 and 3rd counter for the men's team with a 2nd team prize! I finished 7th overall and first lady with a lead in the end of over 5mins. Most of all I was chuffed to just sneak under the hour on this course - I didn't think I'd be anywhere near that time so it was a great feeling to finish this latest training phase with a strong and testing run; confirmation that my fitness is back for the more competitive racing this Autumn. It'll also keep me focused as I've just heard I've got an elite start at the English Champs 10m event in October! Yikes, I can hardly wait.

Pics & Elvis Tricks

I enjoyed a rather nice and lazy start to the day after dropping M off for the train this morning; ambling home with a paper and mooching about for an hour or so before a nice & gentle social run with the Complete Runner this morning. Of course, marathon talk featured heavily in the topics for discussion. I then spent the remainder of the day fiddling with my camera and software whilst it mostly drizzled outside. I'm getting quite used to this lady of leisure lifestyle, I think it suits me.

However, I didn't get off too easily as a tough training session soon followed M's return home tonight. Back to hill efforts, which felt like very hard work after the toughest training week ever last week. The plan was 8x3mins; a little ambitious after the weekend. M was also a bit wobbly so neither of us really attacked the session but sort of whimpered through it. We pulled off 7 reps in the end on a real killer hill. My legs were tying up after #5 so by #7 I had proper Elvis wobbles and thought it best to call it quits. I'd rather save myself for a good session on Thursday; a 4 mile threshold thrashing in the middle of a 12 mile run.

Hill Heaven

Just a quickie as I'm so in need of a good kip. Did good tonight and managed 7 x 3mins on the steep bit of Ben Rhydding drive. The session was less hell & more heaven tonight; just managed to finish the full set in reasonable shape and am feeling like I'm getting my teeth back into some quality sessions. My legs were burning a bit after Sunday's race but I managed a pretty consistent effort I think. Total run was 9.5 miles all in. No more tough stuff now until the relay on Friday. 3 more days to holidays. Yay.

Training Guilt

A real quickie as I really need my bed at this late hour, especially after my embarrassing snoring noises on the train tonight, (though at least I avoided drooling over any neighbour passengers for a change). Am now feeling really guilty after some encouraging and persuasive posts from URC and Hayfella that I should have gone for the hills tonight. You were too late guys. I opted for showing up at the club to do my club runner bit and ran an intervals session on the grass. However, instead of drowning in training guilt I'm gonna change things around and move my hills to Thursday instead. How's that for flexible? They are always excellent training and I always feel virtuous for having done 'em. I do appreciate training input from fellow bloggers who can be a voice of balance and objectivity, so will take on board your feedback.

Tonight ran what equated to 10x460m efforts on very bumpy grass. A great speed & strength session though pace was hard to judge given the running surface. The reps at least were in the right training zone and it felt good to have some club mates for company. Thanks to club mate Tricky as always for his effervescent company though I don't know how he still manages to chat midway through efforts without his lungs bursting. So, hills on Thursday it is.

The Bear Done Good

I did it readers. You would have been so proud of me tonight. I'd set out a plan to tackle an old fav; 5x4min long hill efforts. Tonight I was trembling at the prospect; this is a tough session at the best of times. I'd been reassuring myself all day that, well, if I couldn't do 5 reps then I'd just have to do 4, or reduce to 3 if I felt terrible. Anyway, did the usual warm up for a couple of miles and then decided to go straight for it (you don't want to prolong the agony as they say). First rep was lung bursting and legs felt heavy and tired. I managed to get through rep #2 feeling a bit better and then rep #3 was the peak, I managed to get the furthest of all the reps in the 4 mins; just passing the bungalow driveway at the top with the funny lantern on the corner. I then felt weak and wobbly and jelly Elvis legs starteded to kick in. I'd decided at that point I was only gonna manage 4 reps. This fourth one was the worst of all as my breathing didn't settle and my legs were aching to stop. Somehow I managed a bit of a strong spurt in the last 20 seconds. By this time I'd decided to call it a day. Then, somewhere halfway through the recovery downhill towards Ilkley that then shifted to 'I could possibly squeeze a 3 min rep for the last one'. That then shifted to 'I could maybe do 2x2 mins to make sure I do the full 20 mins altogether'. I then got to the start position and thought 'I'll just go for it like I'm doing a 2min effort but see if I can hang on'. Well. I'm pleased to say that I got right to the top and managed to squeeze out a full 4 mins for rep #5. Feel so chuffed I didn't give up! Through gritted teeth and plenty of gurning I got to the top; frightening the old bloke with my pained faces whilst he busily mowed his pristine lawn to my right at the 3 min mark. All in all, feel chuffed to have got through the whole thing and am now nicely shattered. It was tough to do this session alone again but it's good prep for those tough bits in races where you just wanna give up and walk. I did good tonight. I'm enjoying this training lark once again. Can't wait to tackle the weekend runs. Night all.

Hill Hell

OMG. Took my first tentative steps back into VO2 work tonight with a 'challenging' little hill circuit near home. M persuaded me to do 8x2 min reps on a rather steep climb rather than the 5x3mins I had planned. Was I grateful for that or what. What a shocker. The session was lung burstingly awful. I really don't know how I survived the whole ordeal. I'm still not quite sure why it felt so tough exactly and am hoping it's not a sign of my losing loads of fitness. Despite this my heart rate didn't reach anywhere near my max, which I can't quite understand.

The first 40secs of the rep seemed quite civilised; I was prematurely congratulating myself that I hadn't lost the old knack. This was swiftly followed by severe quad burn at 1min, quickly spreading to a full, lower body burn and general lung bursting sensation by 1.20. I sort of blacked out the pain for the last 20secs of the effort. By rep 4 I was all for giving up and stopped in a pathetic state halfway up the hill. The Yorkshire grit in me then felt the shame of defeat and I pressed on like a proper 'ard Yorkshire lass. I then managed to push on with reps 5 & 6, bottled it again, managing only half of rep 7 but then squeezed out a final effort to finish #8. Tonight was a sure sign of lots of work to do this summer.

I've clearly lost some fitness but tonight's workout is also an indicator of a general weakness of mine; my speed strength & general power. I've always been daunted by races around 5km; this just isn't an easy distance for me. I think my natural strength is endurance, which may explain why sessions like tonight feel so flippin' painful. But, I am pleased to have got through the whole thing in one piece. I'm also seriously impressed by M's strength and power up those hills. This is one session I'm going to have to revisit regularly; working on my main weakness should prove to be a great investment later on this year. God it were 'ard tho. Why do we do this exactly?