Quality not Quantity!

Let me just explain the photos you see here!

I asked Chris Holt at Cannons (he's a trainer there) if he was up for being entered into the Heat magazine "Torso of the Year" competition. He said yes!! So last Saturday, after his spinning class i smothered him in fake tan, (tough job!!) then took some pics of him without his top on!! (even tougher!!)

I sent them into Heat and i got an email on Friday to say he has made it through to the voting stages!! So, each day, next week, on http://www.heatworld.com/ there will be all the other torso photos that made it through for the public to vote on their favourite, So please log on and vote for Chris. Could be any day next week, so just keep checking! If he gets through to next round, he gets photo shoot in London and i get to go too!! Yay!!!

Anyhow, back to running!! I really do have to keep an eye on my mileage.......im doing too much!! Im guilty of thinking "more is better" and know this is not true! But im just in the habit, and its a hard to one to break. Ive really tried hard this week to do less and only will have run 4 times. My calves felt tight after Hitchin Hills on Thurs, so didnt run for 2 days - only 2 days i hear some of you cry - but thats good for me. Very often i will just go and do a "short one", even if my calves are tight! Which they are most of the time to be fair!! But im trying to stop those "just go for a short one" as they are doing more damage than good i think.

I need to remember "Quality not Quantity" .

Cant believe that marathon season is almost upon us once again - it soon comes around! I do enjoy marathon training, but i also like not having a particular goal and just enjoying my running without any pressure!

Too much mud!!

Ive come to realise that running for me is as much "in my head" as it is "physical fitness".

I had quite a lot on my mind last week, had to make a decision regarding work and it was using up a lot of time in my head! Ive read that lots of people can find running, a good way to de-stress their mind and thoughts, i find its the opposite!

I find i really didnt run well last week, whilst i was making up my mind of what to do. Some days i just couldnt run at all. Once id made my decision, i felt relaxed again and my running came back to normal. Quite strange!.

Other than the days that i was pre-occupied, i have ran quite well, especially the XC today at Dunstable. I amazed myself in fact! Ive not beem looking forward to XC since Thursday really, i could quite easily not go! But when it became apparent there would not be many women there, i thought that reallty i should go. Jo S kept assuring me that i will be better at it this year as we have done lots of XC runs (no mud though!!) and have completed lots of big hills during these runs as well.

After almost missing the start and having to sprint to the start, - not a good way to start a race!

Anyhow, it was VERY muddy, and i did do my best to avoid the muddy bits, but this soon became impossible. Sometimes losing your feet in a mud puddle, that ended up past your ankles! I knew i was getting muddy, but i decided to not look until id finished as i knew this would stress me out! And consequently, i would run badly for the rest of the way!

My heart rate reached 194 on one of the hills! Blimey, that cant be healthy! Once, id finished, i decided i had enjoyed it. Always the way though, i enjoy it once its over - Never during!

I was very pleased that i had such a good run on a XC course, as im not good on grass or mud!! So, i guess i must be getting used to it and improving. It was nice to score for the club, never happens usually, as the super fast women are always way, way ahead of me!!

Thanks to Gary Cook for telling me to sprint at the end to catch the Bedford Harriers lady ahead. I wasnt going to bother, as i thought id never catch her, but i could hear Gary shout and i managed to go up a gear and caught her! Such a good feeling!

Got my best placing of 13th lady, usually im around 28th, so pleased with that.

A good running week!

Well, this has been a good running week.

Had 2 really good runs, both with Jo S! My first was the Letchworth 7m loop in my last blog, the second was a 9m loop into Graveley and Weston.

Again, we completed this in the fastest time ever we have done that route. Its quite challenging ( i would put a link in here to show you the route, like Lindsay and Gary do, but i have no idea how to!!). There are a few climbs - the biggest being the one in Graveley. I used to have to stop at the top for a breather when i first came back from injury, but now i dont - so a good sign im heading the right direction!!

Our average pace was 7.45 for the 9m. Our best previous to that was around 8.00, so its quite a lot quicker!

I do like that route - you dont see many cars and it out in the lovely country lanes and its challenging enough to enjoy doing over and over.

The countdown had begun for the ball!! The biggest social event of the year for NHRR. This event takes a lot of planning and it all started way back in May!! We lost our original venue - The Blakemore, due to being taken over by Travel lodge, so i had a panic to find a new venue at short notice!

So, with a bit of negotiating it ended up as Letchworth Hall Hotel. Which i hope will be fantastic.

Getting better!

I had fantastic run yesterday (Tues) with Jo S. We said we'd just do a nice,comfotable pace, but as usual when we run together it ended up quite tough!

Did the 7m loop around Letchworth and we completed it the fastest time we ever have!

At 5m our average pace was 7.37. We knew by the time we got back to Cannons though it would have slowed a bit, as it was nearly all climbing.

By the time we got back, out average was still a very speedy (for us) 7.47 average. So we were both very pleased with that.

Its amazing the difference running with someone else can make. When i do that route alone, i may be lucky if i do it in an average pace of 8.30 ish. But when we run togther, Jo and I seem to run quite well.

Enjoyed Standalone at the weekend. Was dreading getting abuse from im-patient drivers, but my bit road to marshall was ok. I was soooooooo wet and cold by the time i got home, i sat on the sofa all afternoon, heating on and wrapped in a blanket!!

I would really like to run it one year, but im just not quick enough!! But, hey, im still happy with the pace im running right now!!

Up and Running !!

Well, its been an awful long timr since my last blog! Im now finally up and running again! Yay! I feel i can now do speed work again and have been running pretty much how i used to be.

My injury seems to be pretty much sorted now. Ive just got myself some custom made orthotics (£315 - EEKK!!). Im hoping that these will now keep me injury free. It turns out my right leg is longer than my left, hence why i always get injured on my right side. I have thought about orthotics before, but have it off due to the cost. But i thought, that if they will keep me injury free, they will be worth it.

Im running pretty well right now and am up to the speed that i was before i had my time off /recover time. It surprised me how much speed i lost from having time off. Then it takes soooooooo long to get it back.

Ive decided to do Rome and London next year. I will either race Rome or used it as a training run. If i race it i will just trot round London as i really enjoy the course.

I have a new regime in the gym at the moment to increase strength and endurance, its quite tough, but after 3 weeks of doing it, im starting to find it a bit easier, so i will change it again in the next couple weeks.

So, feel quite positive again about my running!

A long process!

Its been a while since i last blogged. Well, there's not a lot to say really. Im still doing 30/40mins running, its jogging more than running really. I have to keep the pace on the easy mark.

I feel there is some inprovement, but its very slow. To be honest, its really getting me down. I just want to be normal again!! And do whatever i want. I keep reading about all the training going on at the club, on the track and the balke tests and i want to be part of it. Also the MWL, i love doing them, but this year, i wont be.

I go through stages of really being motivated with trying to get my injury sorted, then other days, i just feel, sod it, i cant be bothered with it anymore.

Im not able to get myself to the club, when i not away at work, purely because i would find it would make me feel worse!! Silly maybe, but i would feel really depressed, just coming to notices, then having to go home again, whilst everyone else went off to train. I know some people do that and even come to encourage at the training sessions when they are injured, but im afraid ,im not one of those people. Im finding this time difficult enough already.

Ive accepted as well, i may not be able to do Berlin marathon either. Its all booked and paid for. The plan was to run it and train with Sharon. I would need to start training for it in the next month or so. I will just have to see how things are going. Im not going for a time at Berlin, so i may be able to get away with less training. I will still go though, whether i run it or not, to support Sharon.

Learning to run again!

Well......so far so good, my first couple of runs have been quite succesful!

I ran on Sunday for 20 mins and then again on Tuesday for 30 mins, i should have only done 25mins, but i did more!!

It feels very strange that my last run was 26.2 at race pace and i got a PB and now im doing 20/30mins at a very slow pace. It feels like im learning to run again.

I felt good on the runs i have done, i thought i would really struggle, become breathless, everything hurting, but none of that happened. I have kept up my gym work and cardio whilst ive not been running, so i guess thats helped - none of it feels the same as running though!

Its made me realise how much i take "just going out for a run" for granted. Its always the way though, like with most things in life - you dont really appreciate what you have or what you can do until its taken away from you.

At the moment, im running, well, jogging, every other day for 30 mins. I have to be aware how my heel feels first thing in the morning, as thats a key part of how an achilles injury is repairing.

Im going to get myslef some compression socks or tights - have heard positive things about them, so it cant hurt to try them and they look quite funky !!