Garioch Half Marathon Race Report

I was a bit unsure about whether to run this, what with the dodgy knee-ness of the previous week or so, but on the other hand I really wanted to do it and the knee seemed a bit better on the Saturday, so I did. And yes, I am an idiot and yes, I am suffering for it now, but apart from a couple of sore spells the knee held up pretty well during the actual race.

It's put into perspective anyway by the horribly sad news that a 34 year old man collapsed and died after running the 10k which was also held on the same day. There's nothing really to be said about this which doesn't sound completely futile, but thoughts are with his friends and family.

The race itself was the first running for the half marathon, although a 10k has been held for several years. I did the 10k last year (only the second one I'd ever done) and it was a hot day then but yesterday was, I think, even hotter with several people apparently suffering from dehydration. Met up with various pals and people I knew from different places (Fetch/work/nursery), some of whom were doing the 10k and some the half. The half marathon started first and followed the same route as the 10k for a couple of miles before diverging at a junction. My fears about going the wrong way were unfounded as it was pretty clearly signposted even for someone with my legendarily poor sense of direction.

The race was mainly on country roads and was pretty hot and undulating, especially in the second half (killer hill at about 10 miles!), and there didn't seem to be a lot of shade. Given the temperature I decided to carry a water bottle with me and was glad I did. I later heard that quite a few people had suffered from dehydration. Knee held up pretty well until about 5 miles when it suddenly launched an unexpected attack and I had to stop and walk for a minute. This eased off quite quickly though and I was able to carry on running. The same thing happened twice more (downhills seemed to aggravate it which was annoying as I normally struggle through the uphills looking forward to the downhills, but I couldn't really do that!) but the pain never lasted long and apart from a couple of miles I managed to make quite good time for most of the way, finishing in 2:05:50 - a PB. Hopefully on a less hot and hilly course and without a sore knee, I could manage a quicker time, given that I ran the first 10k in not far off my 10k PB, and the first 10 miles seven minutes quicker than my current 10 mile PB! Shame I can't count it as an official PB.

I think the heat and difficulty of the course knocked a bit off everyone's potential times, but nevertheless everybody did really well.



Splits: 9:27 9:04 9:27 9:00 9:37 9:52 9:45 10:43 8:51 10:44 9:43 9:22 9:27
Average pace: 9:36

Long run reflections

Week 3 of Edinburgh marathon training and longest run so far yesterday – still only 11 miles, but that’s the furthest I’ve run since, well, the last marathon (Loch Ness in October). It turned out I picked the right day for it, since on Monday it was snowing and today, while not too bad, it’s pretty damp and drizzly. Yesterday was cold and dry and not too windy, pavements OK apart from a couple of minor icy patches, good running weather for me and I really enjoyed the run. News Quiz followed by Marathon Talk on the MP3 player for entertainment purposes, and I was pleased to manage the distance without stopping (apart from at traffic lights a couple of times) or really being tempted to do so.

Points from today’s run:

- I have still not got to grips with the concept of a long SLOW run, as despite consciously trying to run more slowly I actually seem to be running faster (average pace of 9:44 today when the schedule says 10:40-11:20). I know I’ll almost certainly have to run more slowly when the miles start increasing to HM distance and beyond, though. Does it matter if I'm running "too fast" at the moment, if I feel comfortable at that pace?
- I need to get decent gloves! Since accidentally leaving my old gloves at the side of the road a few weeks back, I’ve been wearing some grey woolly ones and spent the entire run taking them off because my hands were too hot and putting them on again five minutes later because my hands were too cold.
- New batteries probably needed for HRM since it was all over the place again, up to 200 (?!) at one point and down to below 100 for no apparent reason. I really don't believe my heart rate is fluctuating that much when my pace was relatively consistent. Or if it is, there must be something wrong with me.

I was having a think while I was out about reasons for running (listening to a bit about "motivation" on Marathon Talk). There are lots of reasons why I’ve taken to running in a big way since first starting in 2009, enjoyment being the main one, but one I’ve never really put into words before is something to do with being an "older" mother. I’m not *that* ancient – 43 with a 4-year-old daughter, as well as a 19-year-old son – but equally nobody would refer to me as a young mum any more. I want to stay fit and healthy, and as young as possible for as long as possible, for my children/future grandchildren (!) and also hopefully provide a positive role model in some way, especially for my daughter. If I can give her the message, as she gets older, that sport and exercise can be enjoyable and positive pursuits for women and girls (even if you’re not particularly good at them, like me), that you can achieve something satisfying and worthwhile through persistence and hard work, and that there is far more to life than shopping, television and what you look like (because I’ve seen girls even at primary school for whom these are their major preoccupations), then I will be a happy mummy.

Distance: 11.01 miles
Time: 1:47:13
Average pace: 9:44

Splits:

10:12
10:10
9:48
9:51
9:55
9:29
9:28
9:42
9:38
9:30
9:25

Back on the track

My second ever interval session on the ASV track today, and my first one on my own... I was literally on my own, as except for a couple of magpies and the odd seagull, the place was deserted! Marathon training schedule today dictated 8 x 400m intervals in 2 mins each with 2 mins recovery. After a mile's warm up, I did the 8 laps slightly quicker than the schedule said, though slightly slower than last week:

* 1:55
* 1:51
* 1:52
* 1:50
* 1:53
* 1:52
* 1:49
* 1:47

I was just aiming for under 2 minutes per lap so that was fine.

It was cold and very wild and windy especially on the "home" straight where I was running directly into a very strong wind! I have to say running laps of a track is not the most exciting activity. I had to distract myself by pretending I was a top affleet secretly training for a major event. Maybe next time I'll take my MP3 player for more realistic distraction. How does anyone manage to run a marathon on the track?! I worked out that on a 400m track it would be 105 laps... I did 16 in total today.

Then I did a timed mile just to see how fast I could manage it, I'm not letting on how fast that was though :P

The End.

It's the end of Janathon! (Boo!) And the beginning of my marathon training! (Yay!)

Janathon has been an enjoyable and enlightening experience. I've loved reading people's blogs and have learned many new and interesting things, particularly about squirrels. I've marvelled at the amazing mileage achieved by some people. And I've loved running every day. It's been easier than I thought, actually, although there have been a few late nights hitting the treadmill when I couldn't get out during the day. But I've managed without *too* much difficulty (admittedly the last couple of days of feeling ill haven't been great) and I definitely feel stronger (even, maybe, very slightly faster) as a result of running every day.

I won't be continuing with daily runs - long-term, they're hard to fit in, and I think once I get well into my marathon training I'll be needing the rest days - but I can honestly say I'll miss them. Even the treadmill ones.

A million thanks to Cathy for superb Janathon organisation, especially as it has expanded so dramatically from previous Juneathons! I think Janathon can definitely be pronounced a success :)

Because I am an idiot, I looked at my marathon schedule this morning and immediately noticed that rather than being for 16 weeks as I had previously thought, it is in fact for 17 weeks. Oops. After a moment's panic I figured out this problem is easily solvable by simply beginning at week 2 instead, especially as week 1 called for a 7 mile run and an interval session, both of which I actually did anyway last week. Phew. Got off the mark today with a 30 minute easy run.


Today's stats:

Distance: 3.18 miles
Time: 30:24
Pace: 9:34

Dull Janathon statistics:

Total miles run: 131.07
Total running time: 21:12:05
Average pace: 9:42
Races: 2
PBs: 1
Calories burnt: 14,340
Elevation gain: 4,762ft
Longest run: 9.09 miles
Shortest run: 2.22 miles
Janathon days completed: 31/31 yippee!

Still lurgified

Still not feeling fabulous today (sore throat, runny nose, blah blah blah) and was hmming and ha-ing about whether to go for a run. I had 10 miles planned for today and I kind of wanted to do it because it was bright and sunny out, though cold, and a lovely day for a run, but on the other hand I kind of didn't feel very energised what with the sore throat and blah blah blah. But then I thought well, it's the second last day of Janathon and it would be a shame to break the streak now, and I don't have to do 10 miles anyway since marathon training hasn't even started yet so I decided to just head out and see how I felt and maybe just do 2 or 3 miles.

Felt OK initially but I noticed my heart rate was right up and thought ooh, maybe that's because I'm not well, only then during the second mile it dropped right down and was much lower than usual, so I thought either I'm so ill I've actually died or else my HRM isn't working properly, and the latter seemed more likely (since I still haven't replaced the battery). So I disregarded the HR info after that and trundled along feeling not too bad really, along the road and up the hill and along the railway line (where I saw LOADS of other runners) and onto the main road and along the main road and down the steps back onto the other bit of railway line and thence home, and finished up doing 7 miles.

Day 30 stats;

Distance: 7.07 miles
Time: 1:09:38
Splits: 10:44, 9:46, 9:49, 9:53, 9:50, 9:3, 9:23
Average pace: 9:51

Total Janathon miles so far: 127.89

Lurgified

Quick gallop (OK, trot) around somewhat undulating local 5k route today, as that was all I had time for due to impending tea-time visit of mother-in-law - am hoping to get out for 10 miles tomorrow, though. I woke up with a sore throat and runny nose this morning (I blame last night's red wine, which has clearly poisoned me), which has got slightly better over the course of the day but is still there. Felt OK during run, but very tired and lacking in oomph this evening. Am hoping missing energy has returned by the morning.

Day 29 stats:

Distance: 3.23 miles
Time: 30:16
Splits: 10:22, 9:09, 8:58, 1:46
Average pace: 9:22

Total Janathon miles so far: 120.82

Eat, drink, run

Janathon day 28 was a day of much eating and drinking and not much running, since I went out both for my lunch (to Nando's) and my tea (to the local hotel) which is practically unprecedented in one day, and also during the latter had the biggest glass of red wine I've ever seen, which may not sound much to the hardened Janathon drinkers out there (I know you exist) but I am exceedingly poor at drinking these days and felt quite peculiar as a result. Anyway in between these mad whirls of social activity I managed to squeeze in a trip to the gym, which was quite busy, probably because I was there in the early evening rather than at dead of night (10pm) when I usually go, and ran yet another 5k-and-a-bit on the treadmill.

Day 28 stats:

Distance: 3.29 miles
Time: 30:17
Splits: 9:35, 9:07, 9:00, 2:34
Average pace: 9:12

Total Janathon miles so far: 117.59

Incidentally have now surpassed previous highest mileage month of 116 miles which was, amazingly enough, during Juneathon last year.