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My Last Run
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GD, that Hove Hornets race sounds like a very challenging course. Consequently I've avoided it since it was introduced into the WSFRL calendar.
Hazel, how many weeks to go before your race?
Interval session today: 2k brisk (4.30 pace), 1 minute rest, 20 x 30 seconds sprints, 1K (4.36 pace).
Same as last similar but without a rest after the sprints so a tad more intensive. 5k in all and 24.36 time taken.
Slow 6 mile plod yesterday, then Chalkwell Beach parkrun today (with my customary one mile warm-up). This is a lovely flat, fast, out and back, and very close to Chalkwell Station on the line out of Fenchurch Street. The course takes you almost down to Southend Pier before you turn around and go back up the prom.
A very friendly parkrun - not just the runners but the locals (a huge number of dog walkers) all seem very welcoming. I actually met a cockerpoo called Honey I'd also patted at Wickford Memorial two weeks ago...I guess the two events aren't too far from each other but it's still quite a coincidence.
There are also a number of hare statues painted in different designs and patterns along the prom, so I enjoyed spotting those.
Unfortunately I wasn't in the kind of form to do the course justice - I think I still have a bit of the Wednesday race in my legs, and mentally I wasn't up for pushing myself into the pain zone (and, well, I have a 10K tomorrow, so there's that). So a pedestrian 27:14 - slower than last week, but at least it was quicker than Wickford and Dartford. Another parkrun logged...the next one will be my 80th different event.
I did Bognor, which I'd recommend but it's probably too long on the train (Victoria). It really is a delightful park and the locals are very friendly. Not really PB territory though. However, although near the coast (right by Butlins!) it's shielded from the wind which makes a nice change.
Anyway, 21.48 which was about right for me. 18th across the line (higher than my usual placing) and the 77.68% Age Grade gave me 3rd overall place in the field of 200 or so.
Mrs JB crossed the 60% Age Grade threshold and won her category.
Well done to you and Mrs JB. I just looked at the journey - nearly two hours but just about doable. The standard ticket is over £30 but there are advance tickets cheaper so...it's not as crazy as all that. Still, it's a long way to go for a four lapper around a park.
Quite a heavy racing schedule this week Cal. Wise not to push all 3. Did you get a chance to paddle post parkrun today? Good luck with the 10k tomorrow.
Nice parkrun tourism from you and Mrs JB as well JB. Well done to Mrs JB on her improving AG threshold and the category win. And another good time and excellent age grading for you too.
Night HM for me on Thursday - 5th lady of 68 and 1st F45 of 8 with a time of 1:38:43. I think the course was a bit short but as it wasn't a PB attempt I'm not that bothered. No prize this time unfornately.
Copy of the report from the daily training thread below. Sorry for the length:
Bieler Lauftage HM
2021 saw a return of this event after 2020 was cancelled. A different date – September rather than May and a different location – still Biel, but away from the city centre. Normally the HM takes place on the same day as the 100k on the first part of that race's course, a big loop wandering off around the Swiss countryside. With ongoing Covid-19 restrictions the event was spread over 3 days with the 100k on a 5 x 20k loop Friday to Saturday and the HM and a shorter 8m run taking place on Thursday. Start and finish was at a big sports complex to the side of the city, the 20k course taking in a loop to the East and back on a mixture of minor roads, field tracks and the odd bit of tricky trail with a loop stuck on for the HM. Approximately 150m of ascent / descent, mostly in two nasty bumps and a few rolling bits on the final quarter.
With the start at 9:15pm and not being confident about public transport on the way back at past 11pm I opted to drive and found no issues with parking close by. I immediately got a chance to practice my language skills first being asked if I speak English (errm, yes) by an obvious particpant and then having a brief waffle in French with a lady interested in what was going on. (sorry about any grammatical errors). I thought I had got to the location in plenty of time but with the certficate checks, handing over baggage (didn't really need to) I didn't actually have much time to spare and only put in a brief warm-up – legs felt fine and didn't need a longer wake up anyway. As it was I lined up a bit early – the numerous speakers on the start/finish straight were very loud and I spent most of the wait with my fingers in my ears. I placed myself a bit far to the front – nobody seemed that keen to do so and got caught up in the initial charge following the American football guys off the line. 4:16/km – whoops.
Quite a few people overtook as I calmed down a bit for the next few km listening to my breathing which felt fine. I had noticed that two ladies had shot off from the start and disappeared up the road and did briefly think about trying to keep up with lady no. 3 who came past at some point, but decided against it though. She was happily chatting away at that speed and it was pretty obvious I wouldn't keep up.
First hill at around 5.5k – only about 25 m of ascent over one km but noticeable so I let the pace drop keeping in mind the distance left to go. Took a drink at the first aid station – the waiting volunteers called out their wares – WATER!! ISO(star)!! I caused a few laughs by calling back BEER! BEER!. Walked through to take on a few sips and got going again. I didn't bother with drinking at the next two water stations. Another lady passed at around 10k putting me down to 5th where I stayed for the rest of the race. Until the last 3k or so she was only ever about 20-50m up the road from me and I did think about starting an attack but she was stronger over the last few km finishing about a minute in front of me.
I kept working well until the second hill at just over 13k on which I lost a bit of time as my legs suddenly reported they were working a bit hard. I also didn't enjoy a series of short rollers. Now it was a case of ticking off each km to the finish. A sign next to the path announced 20k – just one and a bit to go, this seemed to take forever – I could hear and see the finish line from quite a way out but to make up the distance the route swung away and took in a few meanders across what might well be an overflow carpark – gravel surface with potholes – not nice on tired legs. I also had a couple of moving obstacles to negotiate – the tail runners of the 13k, this race had started 15mins after us. Those I was overtaking kindly let me me past though. Over the line in 1:38:43 chip time – possibly the course was a bit short with GPS measuring 21.05k.
Brief recovery – even drank some Cola which I normally hate, before setting off home. I must have been a bit tired as I shot off down the wrong motorway – I was able to rectify that at the next junction just a couple of miles down the road though. At home I made sure to wind down a bit but it still took me hours to get to sleep. A disadvantage of racing at that time of night.
The conditions were as good as perfect – maybe a bit warm but the wind had dropped down considerably by the time the race started – a good thing as the outbound leg would have got nasty otherwise.
Race organisation was good and the course well marked. I was pleased to see quite a few spectators out despite the time of day.
It was interesting to run a late race again – no hmm – I wouldn't mind going to bed soon feelings this year. Running in the dark means you can't see how far away you next goals are, often an advantage and are often running in a fairly small world represented by a small puddle of headtorch light. The trail bits were sometimes a bit tricky though as my night vision isn't the best.
No prizes for 5th lady or the category win. Finisher goodies - decent technical T-shirt and a pouch on a belt thingy which I could do with – hope it works well.
5 Km splits from the watch:
5: 22:42
10: 23:30
15: 24:10
20: 23:38
Finish: 4:53
I didn't go for a paddle - it was a pebble beach (and also not the sea...the Thames Estuary) but I enjoyed watching a few dogs splashing about despite a notice banning them from the beach. Also saw an egret.
Cal,I should have listened to my own advice about a 10k following a 5k! Tried this today and was on target pace for a decent 10k. However, I had nothing in the legs and conked out just after halfway. I hope yours is more successful.
I would think Bognor PR isn't worth that sort of journey, especially when you have so many more convenient ones to choose from. However, if you did do it you really could have a paddle in the English Channel: Bognor has a very decent beach only a 100 metres or so from the park. (We have some egrets - Little Egrets? - nearby. I'll never forget seeing a colony of Parakeets a bit further down the Essex coast, near Clacton, as long ago as 1974. I think they are quite common now.)
Today's race was the postponed Winter Summer 10K. It was initially postponed from February 2020 due to one of the wind storms with a name (I forget which) and then again due to Covid, but finally they've managed to get it done. It's certainly the most expensive 10K I've done (over £40 at the time of entering, which I certainly couldn't afford now) but is well liked for its entertainment - people in polar bear costumes, snow blowers and so on. Of course they had to retheme it a bit so the polar bears and penguins got sunglasses, a few people were dressed as sharks and flamingos and there were some water sprinklers at one point...eh. Anyway, it's mostly a fun run but there were some more serious people in fast shoes pacing around the start area like caged tigers.
What I found annoying was that, as someone in the second wave, I was asked to get there for 8:20, but once I'd arrived I found the race didn't even start until just after 9:30 so there was a lot of waiting around. I wouldn't call that Covid-friendly, exactly, although I did make friends with a lady from Poole Runners and she was nice enough to wait for me at the finish.
Start shambles aside, I had fun - it was nice running through the heart of London on closed roads (even if the buildings made a nonsense of my splits). The route goes from Trafalgar Square to the city and back so takes in Bank, St Pauls and Aldwych.
I gave myself the modest target of sub-55 (I did a bit over 55 at Battersea a few weeks ago) and after a slowish opening mile (legs took a while to get moving after standing around for so long) I started to move a lot better. I went past the 5K marker quicker than any of the parkruns I'd done recently, which was pleasing. As I said, not sure what my real splits were as they were a bit all over the place, but I started to find it tough after four miles. I guess I must have exceeded my lactate threshold as my legs felt a lot heavier and breathing was getting a bit harder but I kept telling myself to relax my shoulders and land on my forefoot so that my expensive shoes could do their job (I was wearing my old 4%...I still haven't dared wear the Alphas).
I knew the finish was on Whitehall but as went around the corner I realised the extent to which my GPS was out as the finish was a lot further away than my watch thought it should be. I figured my target was gone but kept pushing anyway and was delighted to come in at 54:23.
So still a long way from where I was, but getting back there slowly. I guess the two half marathons I have lined up will give me a better idea. I still feel Manchester is too soon (just 5 weeks away), I just don't feel ready.
After a week that was more speed than distance, I knew I needed to get a long run in somehow so I decided (as legs weren't too sore) that I might as well get it done today. 20 would have been ideal but after parkrun followed by a 10K (and also the 6 miles on Friday...I hardly ever run four days in a row) it would be OK to do 16-18. In the end I did 18, though the big hill I ran up at 13 miles nearly finished me off and my hamstrings were fried by that point, but I pushed on until I made it to 18. Not remotely fast but given I did three fast efforts last week, I'm not worried about that. Main thing is miles in the bank.
Weirdest thing spotted today was the corpse of a pet rodent (possibly a small rat but might've been a big mouse or a hamster - white with a black head) in one of the cracks in the ground on Pollard's Hill (the steep, grassy one). Not sure if it was an unfortunate escapee or a piss poor attempt at a pet burial - I ran up the thing twice so I saw the poor bugger both times.
Good Bognor run, john, and well done to Mrs JB for getting to 60%. Haven't done Bognor so may have to stick that one on the list sometime. Hopefully your legs have recovered from the 10K effort as well.
Great race, Hazelnut, and a really good report. Well done on the position and also the time as well. And to get a 21 miler in as well yesterday.
Good 10K race, Cal, sure you're really pleased to have beaten your target time. Strange how running in cities plays havoc with the GPS. We we did the Love Run in Philadelphia a couple of years back my watch was posting 6 minute miles, which really threw me. Sounds as though you're getting back in to form.
PR on Saturday was the 9th in the club grand prix series (which started at the beginning of 2020 - wonder why it's taken so long to finish). This was in Uckfield, which appears popular with those doing their PR A to Z, starting at the rugby club with a lap round the pitch before heading off on a trail run. Very similar to the WSFRL races in terms of terrain and also that in some places overtaking is nigh on impossible. 14 of us ventured over - nice even split between men and women - and I started off with the key thought of finishing in front of as many of my fellow club runners as possible, specifically two of my fellow Tuesday 'middle group' runners. As such I was more interested in tracking them than going all out for a time. I was a place behind one for the first 2K, which with the number of times he looked round I think unnerved him. My second target was about 20m ahead and as both of these guys had been doing far quicker times than me recently I was glad I was keeping up with them. We both overtook the chap further ahead on the long hill the course has and I went past the guy I'd been following on the downhill part, knowing once we were back on the trail he'd find it difficult to overtake. As such I knew I could slow down a bit and recover. I could hear him behind me as we got to the last 200m, but figured I had the better sprint and in the end pulled away, eventually finishing 3rd male in our little club race - although the time was a touch over 25mins. But as the course wasn't a quick one I was happy with that. It just reminded me how much I'd missed racing as opposed to just running. I really do love that tactical element of going up against someone else.
Sunday was a 10 miler from Henfield along the Downs Link. This was designed to build my partners confidence up after the last couple of weeks, which she passed with flying colours. I, on the other hand, felt my left calf start to tighten at 8.5 miles so slowed right down to try and ease it off. Very warm day and glad of some of the shade on parts of the trail.
Hopefully the ankle isn't causing too many problems for you, Hazelnut. Shade is very welcome at the moment, it really did get very hot and sticky yesterday.
Very hilly 10K last night with the club run. After spending the day literally sweating over a very hot laptop and having had a disrupted night's sleep I have to admit I wasn't too keen on going, but actually in the end I'm glad I did. If just for the fresh air. Rather a warm evening and stupidly didn't take any fluids out, having not really drunk much during the day either, meant that by the time I got back and weighed myself I'd lost 5lbs since the previous day, so probably a bit dehydrated. Really need to get into the habit of drinking more during the day.
Will try to get out today but Mrs JB is giving me a hard time about training in this weather, but it's hardly the Marathon des Sables!
I've had a few easy 10k type runs and my first night time run for quite a while. Local council has done something useful and put some lighting around the local park which will be really useful with incoming nights...
Switching between a progressive run or hill sprints for today... Will decide later
Glad you like my dog/cat petting log. My flat is too small for an animal so I have to enjoy other people's pets.
GD, unfortunately I do see the odd dead animal - foxes and sometimes cats that have been hit by cars. Always makes me sad. Still, that's nothing compared the roadkill I used to see during the three years I lived in Oxfordshire. The worst was a dead sheepdog that never got cleared away so it just eroded over time until there were just two sad little ears that used to flap in the breeze as you drove past them.
Today's effort was a 9 mile run with a section I call Alphabet fartlek (there's a series of roads in Tooting with alphabetical names, running from Ascot to Jersey, so I do a zig zag sort of thing, with short jog recoveries at each end). Rather enjoyed it as it hadn't got hot yet.
After breakfast I then went to the gym for some upper body weights. I am still no nearer to being able to do a pull-up, but never mind.
That sheepdog is a very sad story...
Wish I'd have known about the Alphabet streets during my time in Balham...
Today was indeed hill sprints, they felt really hard this time. Much harder than the same effort 4 weeks back
Cal, I didn't know there was such a thing as a hydration tablet. Pull ups are the hill repeats of the gym! I'm OK with these and used to be one of the show-offs who did them with a weight attached. Not now! Love the alphabet idea. (You must be near completing the Parkrun alphabet without setting out to do so?)
The weather is much cooler today if still very humid, so I can't deploy my recent excuses for not running i.e. I've been out on the bike and/or it's just too hot. So I did my 5k session today - 1 x 2k; 20 x 30 sprints; 1x1k. I managed to knock 30 seconds off my previous effort.
Planning to revisit a local Parkrun on Saturday: Lancing Beach. This is a (another!) prom course and at one point you have the sea on one side, a lagoon on the other and a wonderful view along the Sussex coast towards Brighton and the '7 sisters' cliffs beyond in front of you. For some reason. it's not as fast as other similar courses. Hence I tend to avoid it. However, it looks tempting to register a decent time in my newish category. (PS Cal - Lancing station is a 15 minute walk.) I suspect Guarddog has had a crack at it (?).
John, I'm missing a J, U, Y and Z. The Y requires a trip to Devon or Yorkshire while the Z means a trip overseas (Poland, NL or Germany) so I'm in no hurry.
Lancing sounds nice. I'm off to Hazelwood, the home of the London Irish rugby club. It's a field, so not very exciting, but it's my NENDY (well, technically...a new London one is starting on Saturday too but I am holding off from doing that one for a bit to let it bed in).
Hydration tabs are just fizzy tablets - SiS and High 5 make them (and I'm sure others too). I had a stash of the High 5 ones from various goody bags.
Very unhappy to find my start time for Manchester Marathon is 11am - I didn't realise they are also running the half (the marathon is usually April and the half in the Autumn) and the idiots are sending that off first instead of the other way around, which would be the sensible option. Almost tempted to bin it off. I don't think even the elites start until 10:30...some of the slower people aren't going until midday! Madness.
Awful, awful sleep last night so only able to summon up the slowest of recovery paces (12:30ish) for a four miler today. Was hoping to do six but no sense in flogging myself for another two miles when the body doesn't want it.
I did drag it to the gym for some rehabby stuff, but nothing too energetic.
My sister got a "rejected" German Sheppard from the army/police force, forget which. Kody is a daft as they come and a magnificent dog, if a little too big for me ! She is really strong as well...
Easy 10k in the legs today. My easy pace seems to have dipped below an hour for a 10k where last year it was more 1h 8min at worse which is good. Slightly rainy here today but still quite hot and humid...
Well done on the easy 10K, hamster, and good luck with the dog search. Likewise we'd love a dog so the option of a rescue dog may be one we'll investigate. Although with two cats it's probably going to be a while before we get one as there'd be major noses being put out if a dog was brought in.
I've run Lancing Green a few times, john, and it is a lovely, friendly event and certainly not as crowded as Worthing. We've done a volunteer takeover there before as well. I think the reason why it's not as fast as Worthing is that you have the start on the grass to begin with and it's also quite a tight path so overtaking can be a challenge at times. I remember we were there a couple of years ago and I think it was for James' 50th, so my partner had made cake to mark the occasion and to share with others from the club. At the end we had coffee at the Perch, sitting on the benches at the back on the beach and chatting to a guy who merrily helped himself to cake and seemed to know a couple of our group. When he'd gone we asked who he was, "No idea, we though he was with you!"
Hopefully you get a better night's sleep this weekend, Cal. It's a bit cooler now so that should make it a bit easier. Does seem a bit mad to start the half off before the full. Certainly when we did Goodwood before Xmas they had the marathon going first which, as you say, is the sensible way to do it.
Off to the National Running Show in Farnborough tomorrow and hoping to get some inspiration for a birthday present for my partner. We have tickets for both days and a couple of weeks ago I had the thought we could stay up in a hotel and make an evening of it. Checked availability on the Saturday with rooms available, discussed it on the Sunday and went to book and they'd all gone.
Did the "5.30 at 5:30" this morning. This was postponed from last year, so the t-shirts were all for 2020, and it also should have been held in June so that we were running in a lighter morning. However really nice to see so many people out, even if it meant getting up at 4:30 and having a head torch on (which I didn't actually use). The t-shirt is cotton, so not great for running in and with the warm morning and humidity was somewhat damp (i.e. completely soaked) by the time we finished. The run starts outside the Theatre Royal near the Royal Pavilion and then heads off into The Lanes and out on to the seafront, going west towards Hove before looping back. What we'd intended to be a gentle jog seemed to get quicker as we passed others and my partner reminded me it wasn't a race. Which was fine until we got to the last 200m were she obviously changed her mind and started to sprint off!! Good atmosphere at the end and bumped in to an old friend who used to throw me around quite a bit when I did judo.
Hamster, we used to have a GSD but she was the runt of the litter (we had that in common). Very intelligent (we didn't have that in common), and a lovely dog. Good luck in your search.
G'dog (could you be the answer to Hamster's search?) I'm always impressed that you (and Cal) both exploits your locations so fully. You must know the greater Brighton area like the back of your hand. The Brighton Marathon on Sunday will close large parts of the city down. You must know folk who are doing it? Will you pop along and take a look and give a cheer?
Hazel, very impressed (I spend much of my time being impressed!) that you can monitor (and adjust) your foot strike whilst running! It's hard enough for me to put on foot in front of the other.
So, I didn't do my planned seafront Parkrun. This was because I cycled it yesterday and the wind battered me (G'dog might well sympathise). It's actually less windy today but I was so fed up with it that I decided to head in-land today. Actually quite a lot in-land: 45 miles to be precise in Woking.
I knew it was quite a fast (flat) course. It's in a lovely park and the weather was perfect. (No wind!) Managed 21.42, which was good enough on a course which had (I was told) 45 corners! Also, a bit of mud and quite a lot over overtaking (3 laps). Age grade was 78.03% was was the 3rd best (of 290) on the day. My time is 4th best in my age category since the event began.
Even better, Mrs JB won her category.
Away from boring running stats, Woking is the home town of HG Wells and Paul Weller - but neither of them turned up.
Well done on your intervals.
John, I've got four Os...you need to come to London (I recommend Osterley, it's beautiful)! Only had one D for ages (Dulwich) until I did Dartford recently, so that one's a bit tougher. No U yet - Upton Court is my nearest but haven't got around to it as it's a bit of a faff.
That's a good time at Woking...that one is on my list as it's not bad to get to. A couple of my clubmates moved there and are regulars.
Hazelwood parkrun today...this one is a bit of journey as it's just out of London past Bushy Park, but not as far as the two in Essex I've done recently. I didn't want a long journey the day before a half, or a hilly one. It takes place at the London Irish RC so it's almost all on grass and is flat, which makes it a bit easier on my legs.
I was pleased to see my old parkrun friend Tunde there (I met him on the tram to South Norwood a couple of years back and we've done a few parkruns together since). I'd not seen him since before the pandemic so it was good to meet up again. He also gave me a lift home which was nice of him and meant I didn't have to get the train back (although I'd already got a ticket).
The parkrun itself was pretty standard for my current form - made it 27:01 on my watch but it was upgraded to 26:58 in the results (I was slightly annoyed as I need a :00 for my parkrun bingo - part of the tourist running challenges - but it's nice to get a sub-27 anyway). It's not an especially busy parkrun so I also nabbed first in my age group and 7th lady.