Golden Weekend

Well, I have to confess to being a bit of a blog skiver these last few days, it's been a bit hectic this week though & I can't believe it was Wednesday since my last post. It was a wishy-washy training week, with a good session Tuesday & then half easing down but half not for the rest of the week. M and I journeyed to Birmingham on Friday for a stay in a very cosy hotel so we'd be ready fresh faced for the XC international on Saturday. M was overjoyed to have permission to eat a full English whilst I settled for a meagre boiled eggie on toast, (sausages and racing don't mix). We then set out to pick up 'Old Man' Teasey; M's pa travelled half way across the country to join team Runningbear this weekend. We arrived at Alexander Stadium in time for kit collection and team photos which I deftly avoided.

A truly wild, wet and windy day made for a hard core cross country outing. Complete with the rather frightening red England pants I shivered my way to the start line, along with my England team mates for a competitive 6k race in rather wild and wintry conditions. M and Old Man Teasey were a great support as I trundled around the course, second behind super Vet Debbie Walters (who was running in the W40 category) and just holding off the first W35 Ireland counter. I think I maintained the pace into lap #2, building a bit of a lead but reached the final lap feeling pretty spent with a hard training week in my legs. I was relieved to hold on to the lead for the W35 race and great runs from fellow team mates brought a convincing W35 England team victory and gold medals for us all. No pics sadly as I forgot to show M how to use the pocket camera or maybe he just got distracted by the fetching red pants...anyways, I really enjoyed a proper cross country race with real mud and rain and plenty of windy gusts to battle.

After a welcome refuel in a fine Italian joint and some good running chat with M and his pa last night we were both out again for a long one this morning, my longest ever in fact. It felt wondrous to run under expansive blue sunny skies for the full 20 miles, taking in 9 miles of trail and finishing with a tarmac loop into Ilkley and home again. The pace averaged 7.29 and reflected a conscious decision to run these long ones a bit slower to leave room for more fun at the track on Tuesdays. M ran 18m and seemed to cope better than ever with the distance. I'm keeping my eye on him for Thirsk 10m, some very good racing and PBs are definitely on the menu these next few weeks.

Damn That Spam

No, not the rubbery, pink and pretend meaty kind but that pesky electronic kind from a very irritating source, oksele.com. They have somehow penetrated my email, deleted all my messages sent and received for the last month and then infiltrated all my contacts sending a bogus message from me about recommended electrical products on their website. The cheek! Its VERY annoying. I keep getting puzzled emails from long lost mates wondering what's going on. If anyone has any top tips of how to sort this I'd be grateful. So far I've Googled for help threads and nothing seems to have sorted the problem. Apologies to anyone out there that might been on the receiving end... back to running.

Legs are tired and a bit sore from the mammoth efforts of last night. We ran in Ilkley for a change tonight, a moderate paced 7 miles around town. It felt a bit chilly and a bit of procrastination featured before I finally got out of the door. The pace averaged 7.13 so not so fresh but not so bad after the week I've had. Another moderate one tomorrow then easy Friday before a trip to Birmingham Friday night, a hotel stay and a fry up for M then race day Sat, a new England kit and lots of mud I expect. Ho hum.

Lonely Hearts

Today was the first day since my drilling on hills that I've felt remotely normal. The legs have been howling at me for days, especially after my attempt at the long run Sunday so thankfully I had permission to skive yesterday, what with college and all. We learnt the last bit of the massage routine last night. The back. Its a lot to remember but M will be in heaven with all the practising over the coming weeks.

Anyway, I was back to the tough stuff with a visit to the track tonight. Another quality session on my lonesome which will no doubt toughen me up for the marathon distance but it doesn't half make for slow times on these intervals. The odd sprinter was on the track tonight running with a tyre attached to their waist. We occasionally coincided to give me something to chase, which made up to 5 seconds difference to my rep times; a stark reminder of the value of a well matched training partner on these sessions. Anyway, 8 x 1k it was with 2 mins of jog recovery. A total of 11 miles all in. I had a nice chat with a local Clayton runner who was expounding the benefits of drill work for leg speed. I'm gonna have to Google this stuff and add it to my arsenal when I'm gunnin' for those PBs in the New Year. Another good sesh in the bank before the XC race in Birmingham on Saturday. No more hard stuff for the rest of the week.

Ingerland..Ingerland..Ingerland..

Yay, England won! After all the build up and nerves about pants it was a successful day. The English team won in both ladies and men's races after a very delayed start hanging about on a freezing cold & rainy Sunday morning. I'm completely knackered so cannot report other than to say that I came 4th overall in the race and didn't die of embarrassment in the horrific outfit. Report to follow when I've recovered a bit. Off to put my feet up now... Results here.

XC Is Back!

Well, its the night before the night before and M is readying himself for his big relay tomorrow, the BMAF XC relays at Mansfield. Its a stunning boys team and they will no doubt do some damage on the loveliest of of XC courses at Berry Hill. This is my favourite ever XC course, usually multi-laps over undulating and soft, grassy terrain with a very fine patch of woodland for some good chasing, particularly in team relay competitions.

I'll be standing at the sidelines feeling a tad jealous, mixed in with a few guilt pangs for not running with our ladies team & of course trying to put those red pants to the back of my mind. M is fit and hungry for racing so can't wait to see what he and team mate Tricky can pull out of the bag for the team performance tomorrow.

Then its a hurry back up the motorway for my overnight bag and a last cuddle with the furry feline kids and then back in the car for the trip to Warrington & the team meeting at 7pm. Another night in a Premier Inn, counting down the hours in a strange bed until race day. Its a 9am race start (yuck) so am hopeful I can swallow some breakfast early enough to avoid any repeats of the Nottingham experience. Wish me luck. I may nor may not post some race pics depending on the state of me in an England 'bikini'. Until Sunday then.. all pinkies crossed.

Some pics of the Relays... Results here.