Archive for September, 2007
September 23, 2007 at 3:42 pm · Filed under Event, Running
This time next week I ought to be sitting in a South Tyneside pub celebrating the end of a half marathon. I’m pretty apprehensive about the event, the travel arrangements are just mind boggling and both me and OGB have decided to just arrive and hope we get dragged in the right direction. Every time we read the official magazine and try and get our head around the details we end up quaking in our running shoes. At least we will get to Newcastle though, my dad has kindly offered to drive us there at the crack of dawn.
I didn’t run at all last week, I thought it was more important to ensure I got over the cold than attempt any endurance training while I was ill.
Now I’m not sure what to do with this week - cram in a long run mid week or just aim to keep the legs ticking over with the mileage low? I suppose I’ll play it by ear and just try and relax.
As for the race itself, I haven’t much of a clue how to play this either. Still not sure what pace to aim for, I’m thinking it’s going to be so crowded back in my race pen that I should just aim to keep going and not stress too much about hitting any specific splits, I can leave that for the *next* half mara. I’ve picked up some great psychological tips for dealing with the Great North Run from the runnersworld forum. XL-man kindly let me repeat his 4in1 race strategy here:
Run 1 - 5 miles (8 km). (DON’T think about anything further) Huge crowds, great atmosphere, bands. Take it steady, not too fast, you’ve run five miles or further loads of times. Enjoy the spectacle, and remember you are part of it. Those inspirational pictures of thousands running across the Tyne Bridge? You’re in them this year. Yes, you’re in the Great North Run, the world’s biggest half marathon. Enjoy!
Run 2 - 3 miles (5 km). Forget the 5 behind you, they’re done. Think only of the next three. Three miles? Piece of cake, you’ve done 9, 10, 11 .. much more in training. These three are all downhill, wheeeeeee !! Great news for those of you after PBs for the event, or even if it’s your first time and you have a target. Go for it here, within reason. Unfortunately, the road narrows, so you may notice it feeling a little more congested. Be careful.
Run 3 - 3 miles (5 km). SLOW DOWN. This is where you need your mental toughness and/or your MP3 player. It’s a bit of a slog up the John Reid Road etc and there’s not much to enjoy, but hey, if it was easy, the medal wouldn’t be as important to you would it? If you’re a run/walk person this is where you may want to be taking extra walks, and psych yourself up, but don’t start thinking about the finish yet. Just get to 11 miles
Run 4 - 2.1 miles (3 km) That’s nowt! Of course you’re tired but you’re nearly there. Now, start to tell yourself that you’ve done it (almost) the goody bag is waiting for you, go and get it. The last mile and a bit up the sea front is fantastic. Huge crowds yelling at you, the end is nigh. Let your spirits fly, even if you’re knackered. You can stop soon. If you’re after a time, push, you know you are fit, you have prepared well, and as knackered as you will feel when you cross the line, the elation will speed your recovery. Well done, you’ve finished the GREAT NORTH RUN 2007
Good stuff eh? Now do I switch the garmin to miles so that I’m in-sync with the road markers or do I stick to what I know?
Popularity: 25% [?]
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Tags: Garmin, OGB, runnersworld
September 18, 2007 at 10:30 am · Filed under Equipment, Gadgets, Running, Shoes
I feel like a true Amazonian warrior while standing in these kangoo jump boots, I must be towering way above 6ft. Shame I feel like a knock kneed bambi when I’m running in them.
By popular demand, I dragged myself out of my sick bed to provide laughing fodder for the masses:
They are quite good fun actually, they don’t compress anywhere near as much as I expected but they are noticeably bouncier than a pair of shoddy knees. On todays little jaunt I felt that most of my energy went in to up and down movement and it felt as though I was jogging on the spot, a slight alteration in stance led me to move forward with a bit more efficiency.
When I’m feeling a bit better I’ll do some proper tests with them. I want to see if my pace alters over a given distance and how my heart rate responds. It felt pretty hard work today but then that is to be expected, dragging myself out of bed was tough today.
Popularity: 29% [?]
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Tags: knee
September 17, 2007 at 1:55 pm · Filed under Equipment, Gadgets, Running, Shoes
I’ve been a bit quiet over the last few weeks but fear not, I have kept up with the running. A lot of visitors have passed through the WW household recently, which tends to make training a chore but visitor no 1, Rach, always offers to be my fitness instructor for the duration of her stay. She shouted me around a full circuit of Richmond Park before her shouts turned into whines of “are we nearly there yet?” She also offered to join me for a night time assault of the park on her next visit, carrying the lights and assorted clobber on her bike. Looking forward to frightnight already.
I finally made my way to the top of an allotment waiting list so now my time will be split between running and digging.
After having spent 2 days trying to make an impact on the overgrown plot and suffering the inevitable gardeners aches and pains as a consequence I’m going to have to be careful to ease those muscles into to peak running fitness for d-day (13 days away now).
All allotment related trivia will be restricted to the new Earthwoman blog.
Third bit of news is running related, in a novelty gadget kind of way. A new purchase arrived today - a pair of Kangoo Jumps! These are running shoes with a difference.
They are built like a pair of ski boots but they have a rather strange spring like contraption on the sole which enables you to bound or bounce down the street kangaroo fashion. They look incredibly fun but on a practical front they also claim to reduce the joint impact of running by 80%. Given the state of my knee, anything that reduces impact is worth some consideration.
Unfortunately, along with all the excitement I seem to have developed a rotten cold so won’t be able to try them out straight away. Hopefully with two weeks to go til GNR I should have enough time to recover but it is going to play havoc with my training. I’d taken this week off to squeeze in a few long runs (and tackle the allotment/and play with my new boots) but now I may have to take it easy and dose up on vitamin C. Charity running carries a heck of a lot of pressure along with it, I’ll have to run regardless and 13 miles with a snotty nose will not be pleasant.
Popularity: 26% [?]
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Tags: allotment, GNR, knee
September 5, 2007 at 10:45 pm · Filed under Running
I managed to fit in a fantastic brick session last night.
I typically arrive home from my longish cycle commute feeling pretty jaded and a little less than motivated for an additional run but this weeks tube strike didn’t leave me with any options if I was going to stick to my schedule. So, before I left work I overdosed on faux red bull (ultra cheap tesco’s version) and had another shot when I made it home. Fantsatic stuff, I made it in and then out of the door again, kitted with garmin and running shoes within 15 mins, still full of beans.
I hoped for an 8-miler but the night was clawing it’s way towards me rapidly and as I was in the middle of Richmond Park it seemed prudent to cut the run short. I had my cycle escort but she was fretting terribly about the impending gloom so there was no bravery associated with numbers. Shame, because I love being in the park as the night sets in. First the cars vanish as the gates get locked up and then the bikers take over the roads, two and three abreast, fighting for the glory of the finish line. Stacks of single runners mingle with white arsed rabbits and the deer seem to get extra frisky as they regain control of the land.
This snap is heavily photoshopped - the N95 doesn’t seem to handle dusky shots anywhere near as well as the D900, oh well. Take it from me, it was beautiful and considerably darker than the shot suggests. After the abortive photo attempt I had another little stint at 6 min/km, I understand this is sloooooow for many but for me its feels supa faaaast, hands gripping the steering wheel and foot twitching over the brake kinda fast. Admittedly I was going down hill and clinging on to the back of the bike but my legs were still spinning manically. I like speed - must consider doing something about it.
Popularity: 14% [?]
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Tags: commute, Garmin, n95
September 2, 2007 at 11:00 pm · Filed under Event, Running
Isn’t it lovely when the powers that be decide to organise a running event slap bang on your doorstep? I was still luxiariating in my bubble bath as registration was opening, which has got to beat bouncing up and down with a fitness first instructor as a way to warm up…… mmmm let me see….. aerobics or radox muscle soak?
The start of the race was tucked away across Barnes Bridge in the well hidden Civil Service sports club. I arrived and immediately started worrying about my inevitable back of the pack placing. This was a small race, maybe 240 which doesn’t bode well for company in the longer distance races, not that I’m fussed about being last as such, but I would rather not finish 30 mins after the rest of the pack.
So, I started the race bringing up the rear and held onto that coveted spot right the way to first km marker where our first run/walker showed her strategy. I passed her, which immediately triggered a 10 second comeback, she passed me and stopped to walk again less than 5 metres in front of me, so I passed her again, she put on a little spurt and fell back to a walk about 4 metres in front of me. Now, I have nothing against run/walk as a race strategy but it does wind me up quite a bit to be someone’s repeated trigger, can’t you use a tree or a lamppost? I was wondering if I could possibly handle this too and froing for the next 9km but she never made another comeback after the 5th passing. The first psychological battle was won but now I had to worry that she’d actually quit the race, she can’t quit or I’ll be back to last place again!
I had an atrocious run last night, a planned 5k route that degenerated into a 1k run and 2.5k sulky walk, so I wasn’t sure what to hope for today. I set my garmin virtual partner for a 75 min target but at every check I seemed to be gaining distance on my plan. It took me about 10 mins of mental arithmetic to work out that I was actually on target for time close to my pb - 72 mins and something. I couldn’t remember what that something part was though and anyway I had my garmin set up so that I couldn’t read the seconds after it ticked past the hour.
In the latter half of the run I managed to pass a few more runners who had dropped right off their original pace and I crossed the line in 72 mins and something, I just had to wait for the official results to see if a pb was recorded.
It was a pretty good event, all the entry fee went towards Sport Aid, the t-shirt wasn’t too bad and they had a bbq at the end - a bbq with beer no less. Talking of beer, I caught the highlights of the world championship triathlon held in Hamburg, did anyone else see the huge glasses of beer the podium winners were given? There must have been about 10 yards of ale in those buckets.
Oh yeah, and they had chip timing, with the results piped down the phone line within 2hrs of finishing.
Official time: 1:12:23
11 flippin secs short of my pb and I could have had those 11 seconds if I’d been a bit more organised.
SportsAid Gyro 10k at EveryTrail
Map created by EveryTrail: GPS Travel Community
GNR Weekly summary Wk 7/10
Mon: nowt
Tue: nowt
Wed: 42 km bike
Thur: 42 km bike
Fri: 5 km run
Sat: 3.5 km run/walk disaster
Sun: 10 km run (race)
Popularity: 32% [?]
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Tags: everytrail, Garmin, GNR, GPS, t-shirt, Triathlon
