Well what a two weeks – Spring race season is well and truly up and running and though I’ve been sidelined I’ve been trying to still make the most of it and have to say it’s been interesting.
The sort of ironic thing is that because of London training I was never really sure whether or not I’d be able to run my clubs staple spring 10ks – i.e. Blyth and North Tyneside. And there was always a chance that I’d never quite get my London training right given that I was training for a marathon whilst everyone else at club was getting all set for 10k PBs. Of course, London training came to a dramatic halt so I never quite found out.
I do quite like to still get to races, show a bit of support and give a big shout out. But then of course races tend to still clash with training so what do you do? Well you try to do 2 things at once of course!
Blyth came around and I got my long Sunday run in by running there (14.5mi) arriving just at the point the race started and managed to see people as they headed off – spotted one of life-long mates who was running her first ever 10k having only ever ran 8k previously. I knew she’d be a bit nervous but I gave her a shout and she set off with a wave and a smile …
The sort of ironic thing is that because of London training I was never really sure whether or not I’d be able to run my clubs staple spring 10ks – i.e. Blyth and North Tyneside. And there was always a chance that I’d never quite get my London training right given that I was training for a marathon whilst everyone else at club was getting all set for 10k PBs. Of course, London training came to a dramatic halt so I never quite found out.
I do quite like to still get to races, show a bit of support and give a big shout out. But then of course races tend to still clash with training so what do you do? Well you try to do 2 things at once of course!
Blyth came around and I got my long Sunday run in by running there (14.5mi) arriving just at the point the race started and managed to see people as they headed off – spotted one of life-long mates who was running her first ever 10k having only ever ran 8k previously. I knew she’d be a bit nervous but I gave her a shout and she set off with a wave and a smile …
Problem is as a spectator on foot there’s not a lot to do on an out and back course and nothing to see.
I jogged up the route a bit but then of course I knew I’d just see people coming past eventually in another 30 mins or so, and not see them finish?! What to do – stay put or go back? I opted to stay put thinking that, that way I’d be able to give people a welcome holler when they were starting to feel the strain and I’d also see my mate at the point where she’d be in unfamiliar territory. Having just ran myself and now stood about I was freezing cold, shivering and starting to cramp up, so indeed – time to call in the cavalry and get my Mam who lived just down the road to come rescue me – thanks Mam!!
The troops started to come through and there were some classy finishes by my Training group – great to see their efforts paying off, if not a little hard as despite the fact that I HATE racing I’d have given anything to be on their side of the pavement warm and adrenaline fuelled rather than my rather damp and lethargic one. It wasn’t just my team mates coming through though and it was great to see some top, top performances from feloow bloggers Iain Twaddle romping in, in a very respectable 4th and even sweeter to see Sarah Cawthorn surrounded – Madonna and her bodyguards stylie – swooping in to smash her PB.
I stayed around to see my mate finish her first run and give her a victory hug at the end – I remember those first few efforts well, what a sense of achievement that you’ll never forget – frankly priceless.
So that was Blyth where all went swimmingly to plan apart from my shivering wreck look and this time next week time to do it all over again at North Tyneside.
This time around it was another mixed bag of spectating – I knew Batochir was rumoured to be back and he was amazing to see tonking it down the Parade last year, also Justina Heslop was due to be racing and it’s always great to watch the girls giving the guys a genuine run for their money, my team would be out in force again and a pal from work who I've been running with a little of late, was also aiming for an epic performance … but alas another 10am KO so how do you fit it all in …
Not wanting shiver-gate take two I hit the road early, got a 12 miler in then jumped straight on my bike to get over to the coast to catch the guys coming through Cullercoats. Much better option bike bound as I could follow the race and see how it panned out. Some great racing action going on with the girls and an even better battle between two of the nicest men in Vets running – Brain Hetherington and Les Smith. Shout outs at half way point and at end, I waited until I could see how my work pal got on and I headed back home before the rain set in or my calves turned to stone. Hitting home after a 30mi round bike trip I’d been at it now for 3hrs10 minutes. It was fair to say I was drained but not in pain or sore and I genuinely enjoyed the somewhat marathon-esk session.
I jogged up the route a bit but then of course I knew I’d just see people coming past eventually in another 30 mins or so, and not see them finish?! What to do – stay put or go back? I opted to stay put thinking that, that way I’d be able to give people a welcome holler when they were starting to feel the strain and I’d also see my mate at the point where she’d be in unfamiliar territory. Having just ran myself and now stood about I was freezing cold, shivering and starting to cramp up, so indeed – time to call in the cavalry and get my Mam who lived just down the road to come rescue me – thanks Mam!!
The troops started to come through and there were some classy finishes by my Training group – great to see their efforts paying off, if not a little hard as despite the fact that I HATE racing I’d have given anything to be on their side of the pavement warm and adrenaline fuelled rather than my rather damp and lethargic one. It wasn’t just my team mates coming through though and it was great to see some top, top performances from feloow bloggers Iain Twaddle romping in, in a very respectable 4th and even sweeter to see Sarah Cawthorn surrounded – Madonna and her bodyguards stylie – swooping in to smash her PB.
I stayed around to see my mate finish her first run and give her a victory hug at the end – I remember those first few efforts well, what a sense of achievement that you’ll never forget – frankly priceless.
So that was Blyth where all went swimmingly to plan apart from my shivering wreck look and this time next week time to do it all over again at North Tyneside.
This time around it was another mixed bag of spectating – I knew Batochir was rumoured to be back and he was amazing to see tonking it down the Parade last year, also Justina Heslop was due to be racing and it’s always great to watch the girls giving the guys a genuine run for their money, my team would be out in force again and a pal from work who I've been running with a little of late, was also aiming for an epic performance … but alas another 10am KO so how do you fit it all in …
Not wanting shiver-gate take two I hit the road early, got a 12 miler in then jumped straight on my bike to get over to the coast to catch the guys coming through Cullercoats. Much better option bike bound as I could follow the race and see how it panned out. Some great racing action going on with the girls and an even better battle between two of the nicest men in Vets running – Brain Hetherington and Les Smith. Shout outs at half way point and at end, I waited until I could see how my work pal got on and I headed back home before the rain set in or my calves turned to stone. Hitting home after a 30mi round bike trip I’d been at it now for 3hrs10 minutes. It was fair to say I was drained but not in pain or sore and I genuinely enjoyed the somewhat marathon-esk session.
That sort of brings us almost up to date, so what has it taught us? Well it’s taught me that a) although I HATE racing I do miss it and seeing as though I’ve now missed two golden 10k opportunities (that I was gonna miss anyway but for better reasons) I’m on the hunt for something fast, flat and tarmacked, b) it’s a bit of a logistical nightmare this whole spectator sport and I now appreciate the lengths people go to, to help us out along the way on races even more and c) I genuinely do love to see people do well and to see them grinning ear-to-ear over their achievements, whatever they are – we can’t all win but we can win our own battle!
And lastly, I love my bike. I do and I really enjoyed the backwards brick session on Sunday, question is can I keep it up? Will it scupper my running? Can I ever learn to front crawl? Is the triathlon temptation nipping away at me ……… we’ll see, but I’m not ruling it out – I always need a challenge.
Training update:
Still on the comeback for the last two weeks and building up the effort by chipping away at some leg speed with my work mates' lunch time sessions and the odd stride here and there - but happy to say I can more than see the light at the start of the back-to-full-training-tunnel ...
Mon am Yoga + 6mi Cycle, lunch Gym, pm 6mi Cycle
Tues am Yoga + Run 5mi, lunch Gym, pm Run 5mi + Pool 7x2 lengths
Weds am Yoga + Cycle, lunch 2x1.5mi 90secs recovery - joined work peeps for last session pre 10ks, pm Cycle + Yoga
Thurs am Yoga + Run 5mi, lunch Gym, pm Run 5mi + Pool Pyramid
Fri am Yoga + Cycle, lunch 7.5mi, pm Cycle
Sat Jog with dog
Sun Run 14.5
53mi running
Mon am Yoga + Cycle, lunch 2 x 1k 90 secs recovery - helped work peeps with last sharpener pre-NT10k, pm Cycle + jog with dog
Tues am Yoga + Run 5mi, lunch Gym, pm 5mi
Weds am Yoga + Run 9mi, DIY-ness rest of day
Thurs am Yoga + Run 5mi + Gym, DIY-ness day 2, pm 25mi Cycle
Fri am Yoga + 5mi Fartlek Pyramid session, DIY-ness day 3
Sat Jog with Dog, DIY-ness day 4
Sun 12mi run + 30mi Cycle, DIY-ness day 5
55mi Running
Next time lets hope its more about the sessions than the sidelines ...
And lastly, I love my bike. I do and I really enjoyed the backwards brick session on Sunday, question is can I keep it up? Will it scupper my running? Can I ever learn to front crawl? Is the triathlon temptation nipping away at me ……… we’ll see, but I’m not ruling it out – I always need a challenge.
Training update:
Still on the comeback for the last two weeks and building up the effort by chipping away at some leg speed with my work mates' lunch time sessions and the odd stride here and there - but happy to say I can more than see the light at the start of the back-to-full-training-tunnel ...
Mon am Yoga + 6mi Cycle, lunch Gym, pm 6mi Cycle
Tues am Yoga + Run 5mi, lunch Gym, pm Run 5mi + Pool 7x2 lengths
Weds am Yoga + Cycle, lunch 2x1.5mi 90secs recovery - joined work peeps for last session pre 10ks, pm Cycle + Yoga
Thurs am Yoga + Run 5mi, lunch Gym, pm Run 5mi + Pool Pyramid
Fri am Yoga + Cycle, lunch 7.5mi, pm Cycle
Sat Jog with dog
Sun Run 14.5
53mi running
Mon am Yoga + Cycle, lunch 2 x 1k 90 secs recovery - helped work peeps with last sharpener pre-NT10k, pm Cycle + jog with dog
Tues am Yoga + Run 5mi, lunch Gym, pm 5mi
Weds am Yoga + Run 9mi, DIY-ness rest of day
Thurs am Yoga + Run 5mi + Gym, DIY-ness day 2, pm 25mi Cycle
Fri am Yoga + 5mi Fartlek Pyramid session, DIY-ness day 3
Sat Jog with Dog, DIY-ness day 4
Sun 12mi run + 30mi Cycle, DIY-ness day 5
55mi Running
Next time lets hope its more about the sessions than the sidelines ...