Juneathon Day 4: Staying out for the summer

Well if the weather carries on like this....

Evening run for me today at about 9pm, it was just the way the day went. 5 miles fartlekky style on undulating-ish route - first half mostly uphill, second half mostly down. I say fartlekky but the fast bits weren't particularly fast. Listened to the latest parkrun show (always fun). I do love my parkrun but not as much as some of the people on the parkrun show love theirs. (And I am a person who has not only a 50 shirt but is also the proud temporary owner of the female points trophy - the only running-related trophy I'm ever likely to win.)

5.2 miles in 52 minutes anyway - 6 days into a streak which started on 30th May, and feeling pretty good so far.

Juneathon miles so far: 24.4.

Juneathon Day 3: Here comes the sun

Well, today, anyway.

Just a 3 mile recovery streak-saver today, squeezed in between finishing work, going to Sainsbury's and picking the little one up from school. It's a bit warm. I'm not complaining. I think I need to get some sort of moisturiser with sunscreen in it, though. Also, I have one of those runner's tans on the back of my legs that starts at my knee and stops at my ankle. We runners are easy to spot.

I felt a lot better than I usually do, yesterday and today, after a longish run yesterday. Dunno if that was down to the For Goodness Shake that I drank as per yesterday's blog, but I've bought some more anyway while the half price offer is on. (Half price is only on the chocolate flavour. Not a problem.) No aches and pains today and none yesterday even after scrambling over slippery rocks and fishing my phone out of rock pools. And none of the sick/dizzy feeling which plagued me after marathon-training long runs last time round. Let's see how it goes when the long runs get longer.

Juneathon Day 2: So long, and thanks for all the fish custard

Sorry, I just had to get that in there. I won't mention it again.

*weeps uncontrollably*

I ran 11.15 miles today along the old railway line, out and back, with a negative split of nearly 2 minutes! This is the longest run I have done for a while (did 10 last week). It was lovely. A bit warm on the unshaded bits. Listening to Big Finish Short Trips which kept me going nicely. I saw loads of people, including an entire family out running (dad pushing double buggy, followed by child on bike, followed by mum with dog). Lots of people on bikes. Girl wearing Where's Wally style woolly hat (?!) taking her pony for a walk.

Now that I'm marathon training again (Loch Ness on 29 Sept) I thought I'd better get a bit more organised on trying out different fuelling options, because during my last couple of marathons I have suffered what is politely termed Digestive Discomfort, including vomiting profusely during Loch Ness last year, feeling awful and walking most of the second half. I wouldn't necessarily take anything during an 11 mile run normally, but in the interests of research I tried a SIS lemon gel at half way, which was OK. Also took a bottle of water (in my waist thingy) with a Nuun tablet in it.

Earlier in the week I noticed For Goodness Shakes chocolate recovery drink milkshake fancypants whatnots were half price in Sainsbury's, so I bought a couple, and took one when I came back from my run today. It was really rather nice. Whether it makes any difference, or any more difference than a large glass of milk might, I don't know, but having spent the rest of the afternoon scrambling over rocks and peering into rock pools with the little one (we found starfish but no crabs), my legs feel pretty good, so maybe it does. (Also managed to drop my phone into a rock pool, which weirdly seems to have actually improved its performance.)

Stats: 11.15 miles in 1:57:24 (10:32 pace). Last 4k at marathon pace: 6:04, 6:11, 6:18, 6:15. (Have new watch and haven't figured out how to change it from kilometres to miles yet. But I rather like the kilometres, they pass quicker.) Happy with that.

Juneathon Day 1: Basically, RUN!

I'd forgotten about Juneathon till somebody mentioned it at parkrun this morning, then I hmm'ed and ha'ed a bit and thought oh, what the hell. I'll give it a go. I've done month-long streak-a-thons a couple of times before and it's been a positive experience. My running needs a hefty kick up the backside at the moment so maybe this will provide it.

Off the starting blocks with parkrun this morning. My parkruns have not been great recently. My PB is eighteen months old and I am nowhere near it. 27:36 today on a warmish day down at the beach - nearly three minutes away from my PB and a minute slower than my year's best time which I set last month. I'd really like to get the parkrun time down a bit. I've been doing intervals and everything. But I just don't seem to get any quicker.

This morning's parkrun was enlivened by a bunch of people in fancy dress (not runners) who were walking up the prom in a big group for reasons as yet unexplained.

Anyway today's scores on the doors: 5 miles exactly (parkrun plus warm up and cool down, not planned as 5 miles exactly but that's what it added up to!).

Such stuff as dreams are made on

I wasn’t there, at the Olympics, although I think one of the places I would most like to have been, ever, would be in that stadium on the Saturday evening when Mo won his second gold. Instead, I was watching the race in a caravan in the Lake District, where the gentle evening peace of the quiet caravan site was shattered by screams (mine) of COME ON MO COME ON LAD KEEP GOING KEEP GOING OH NO HE’S CATCHING UP COME ON COME ON YOU’RE NEARLY THERE YES HE’S GOING TO DO IT COME ON COME ON YEEEEEESSSSSS!!!!!!!

 Anyway. As I was saying. I didn’t see lots of the Olympics (missed nearly all the cycling, for instance), due to the unfortunate necessity to do holiday stuff rather than spend all my time in front of the telly, but I did see quite a lot of it and I found there were many things to love.

Some of the moments I will remember: -

The complete unapologetic bonkersness of the opening ceremony.

- The gloriously multicultural nature of the GB medal winners – summed up, perhaps, on one memorable Saturday evening when a long-jumping ginger bloke from Milton Keynes, a mixed-race golden girl from Sheffield and an awe-inspiring Somalia-born black guy called Mohamed all scooped gold. To coin a phrase: Nick Griffin, Aidan Burley, the Daily Mail - your boys took one hell of a beating.

- The reactions. Chad LeClos’s dad; Felix Sanchez crying uncontrollably on the podium; Gemma Gibbons’ heartbreaking “Love you Mum” moment; Mo crossing the line, arms wide, eyes popping; an exhausted Alistair Brownlee finishing the triathlon at a walk, Union flag draped around his shoulders; super smiley Nicola Adams saying winning the first ever women’s boxing gold has “made my day”; Andy Murray playing out of his skin, burying his demons, lifting his face to the sky in the sweetness of a long awaited victory; Bolt and Farah copying each other's trademark celebrations; the BBC commentators going mental for Mo (special mention: Denise Lewis); Louis Smith's graciousness in being pipped to a gold medal when he'd scored identical points to the winner......

- The firsts. Sarah Attar becoming one of the first two Saudi Arabian women to ever compete at the Games, finishing a distant last in her 800m heat while wearing approximately eight times as many clothes as the other athletes, but receiving a standing ovation from the crowd who warmly cheered her home. Women’s boxing being included for the first time. David Rudisha's amazing world record. The surprise win for Stephen Kiprotich in the men's marathon, the first Ugandan gold medal in 40 years. Bolt's double double, of course, but who could really have doubted it?

- Horse dancing

 - Some proper inspiring role models for our girls and boys. Dedicated hard working individuals who were, for the most part, humble in victory and gracious in defeat. Proper coverage, for once, of women's sport - the refreshing change of women being celebrated in the media for their speed and strength and skill, rather than just for being pretty and thin.

- Silly comments from my husband. Random selection: “What’s Usain Bolt’s real name?” “How long do women’s football matches last?” Daughter shouting "Come on Great Britain" at everybody regardless of nationality.

I've forgotten lots of moments, I'm sure. Others I never saw in the first place. Several made me cry. Sometimes I wondered if I was actually dreaming. But these are some of the things which will stick in my memory. What are yours?

There and back again: D33 race report (My first ultra!)

The D33, an out-and-back course from Duthie Park in Aberdeen to Banchory, along the Deeside Way, and back, was an obvious first ultra choice for me, what with it going more or less past my front door. And while 33 miles is still a terrifying distance, it isn't *as* terrifying as some of the longer ones... Knowing the terrain really well also felt like an advantage, though it might not be for everybody, but I guess I just like the reassurance of knowing what's ahead... It's a pretty flat route, a few undulations but nothing drastic at all, mostly on trail or quiet country roads.

I really wasn't worried about time, my aim was just to complete the distance, 7 miles further than I have ever run before. Preferably without dying at the end. I was hoping to enjoy it, but secretly I wondered how realistic that would be... I fully expected to be suffering a fair bit towards the end. I did have a notional target of 6:30:00, which I thought should be achievable, but I wasn't going to worry too much if I missed it. My plan was to mentally break the distance down into 8-and-a-bit mile sections (i.e. between checkpoints) and not think about the total distance any more than I could help!

As D(33)-Day approached the nerves were building, and by Saturday morning I was just about ready to explode. I was excited, looking forward to giving it a go and to seeing everyone who would be there, but also wondering what on earth I had taken on and whether I would be capable of seeing it through. The morning dawned blue and cloudless, which was not entirely good news as I was worried it would get too hot and I don't do well in the heat! Still, there was no point worrying about that. I ate some porridge, refrained from my usual cup of tea (just in case it might be implicated in the stomach/bladder problems I've had on previous long runs), filled my Camelbak, gathered together all the necessaries and headed off to the Duthie Park for the back of 8 (9am race start). There were loads of people there already and the atmosphere was brilliant. Said hello to all the people I knew (runners and volunteers and supporters), jumped around excitedly for a bit, went to the loo, and before I knew it we were lining up for the start... a race briefing from the RD, George (most of which I couldn't hear as I had made my way to my rightful place at the back), and we were off....

I had my strategy in place - run 25 minutes walk 5 minutes, eat every 45 minutes whether I felt like it or not (I knew this would be important, as in retrospect I have been woefully underfuelled in the past and suffered accordingly), and most of all DON'T RUN TOO FAST AT THE START. Of course it's hard not to as adrenaline takes over and you can be running faster than intended without realising it, but I was determined to keep my pace down and I did, quickly settling into a position near the back as the runners poured out of the park and onto the old railway line where most of the race would take place. I chatted to a few people, including a lady in a yellow top who was just doing half due to foot problems. She went on ahead when I slowed for the first of my planned walk breaks, and a bit further along I noticed a grey pouch lying in the middle of the path, which I was sure I had last seen attached to the lady in the yellow top. So I picked it up and carried it along with me for the next couple of miles until I finally gradually caught her up! Although it was getting a bit warm, I was feeling very comfortable (as one should be in the first few miles of an ultra!), sticking to my plan and keeping my running pace down to around 10:30. I look to be running fast in this picture at about 6 miles in, but I really wasn't!



It was lovely running along the familiar path in such beautiful weather. As it was such a nice day there were quite a few passers-by around, at least in the more populated areas, and quite a few smiled and clapped and said well done, while others looked understandably alarmed at all these dangerous lunatics who had invaded their quiet Saturday morning stroll!

The first 10 miles or so were very comfortable, and the Fetchpoint and quarter-way checkpoint were a huge encouragement, but by 13 I was feeling my legs slightly and it suddenly seemed like a long way to the halfway point! (I tried not to think about the fact that I had 20 miles in total left to run.) Not helped by running out of water! (the downside of the Camelbak - I had no idea how much I had left until suddenly there was no more.) However I got a huge boost when first a trickle and then a flood of runners started coming the other way, on their return leg. I loved seeing all the faster people coming past, and most had a smile and a friendly word. I really enjoyed this aspect of the race, although I was still very happy to see the beautiful halfway point (16.5 miles) and its lovely volunteers appearing mirage-like in front of me!

The halfway point gave me the welcome opportunity to replenish water supplies, eat a jam buttie, babble on deliriously and drop my Nuun tablets all over the ground (I may not have been entirely compos mentis at this point). Then it was back on the road for the homeward leg, always an important moment for me psychologically, knowing I have less distance to run than I have run already and every step is bringing me nearer to the finish. Nevertheless I think this was the toughest section of the race for me, retracing my steps along the route I had just traversed, and it seemed like a very long way to the next aid station at 25 miles. I was running very much on my own for most of this, with nobody in sight in front or behind me. However I had my Talk Ultra podcasts to keep me company and I really don't mind running on my own - I just go off into my own little world! I managed to keep going reasonably well, stuck more or less to my 25/5 run/walk strategy, and even passed a couple of people. I knew the longish "hill" (not much of one, more of a slight uphill gradient, but it felt like one) not long before the three-quarter point would be tough, and it was, but not as bad as I thought. I was also cheered up by the elderly couple walking the other way who encouraged me that "there's a fine wee tuck-shop when you get to the top!". "I know, I'm looking forward to it!" And I was indeed very glad to reach the fine wee tuck-shop a.k.a. the three-quarter point with its lovely helpful volunteers (you know who you are ;-)) who were taking time off from chatting up men and photographing everything in sight to help me refill my Camelbak and feed me biscuits and generally be helpful and supportive. After that it wasn't too far to the road crossing and Fetchpoint - also a very welcome sight, not least because it meant I was really onto my home stretch, the 6 miles I have run so many times before, and I could start thinking I was probably, definitely going to finish...

I was so relieved not to suffer the stomach problems which have plagued me on other long runs from about 20 miles onwards, as this was the main thing I was dreading happening. I think proper fuelling and hydration, as opposed to my usual hit-or-miss approach, definitely helped. I had a strategy planned of taking Shot Bloks/gels every 45 minutes whether I wanted them or not (and I never do) and I was determined to stick to it, and did. I also kept well hydrated thanks to the Camelbak, even if I did run out three miles before the halfway point! I think these factors really helped me to feel much happier and more comfortable than I would have done otherwise, as although I was certainly feeling tired towards the end, I didn't feel any tireder than I would normally feel on a much shorter long run, and managed to keep running most of the time.

With about 2 miles to go, two people on bikes appeared on the horizon and lo and behold, it was Maz and Erin, who I was very happy to see :-) Maz then gave me a bike escort to the finish, which was brilliant and really helped me to keep running for the last 2 miles, as if left to my own devices I probably would have walked a lot of it. I felt like I was running reasonably fast but whenever I looked at my Garmin it was around 11:45 pace! The perceived effort was definitely higher... Not least due to the effort of not colliding with all the people who were out on the path enjoying the sunshine...

As we got near the park we saw a group of 3 brightly dressed runners up ahead and Maz suggested I could possibly pass them :-) I said no way, then thought ah, what the hell, let's go for it, and managed to increase my speed enough to get by. Then we were in the park and I was weaving through the Saturday-afternoon families and children and suddenly I was sprinting (felt like it anyway - probably wasn't!) to the finish line and people were cheering, and my family and friends were there, and George in another epic t-shirt was giving me a hug and a medal and a goody bag, and there were hugs all round and it makes me smile and cry a little bit just thinking about it :-)



All in all I just totally LOVED this race. Yes I had to dig deep a few times, but overall it was not as hard as I thought it would be (as shanksi later, and correctly, pointed out, this clearly meant I wasn't working hard enough :P). But I enjoyed it loads. And hell, I've got to give myself an achievable target for next time - right?!

All the very important statistics:

Total time: 6:24:25
Fastest mile: 10:07
Slowest mile: 16:12 (included five minutes faffing about at aid station)
Total time spent faffing about at aid stations: 15 minutes (approx)
Food consumed:
Shot Bloks - 15 (in batches of 3)
Horrible tasting gels - 2
Jelly beans - several
Custard creams - 1
Jam sandwiches - 1
Hula Hoops - half a packet
Nuun-enhanced water - lots
Flat Coke - a bit
Al fresco toilet stops: 2 (not bad)
Small flying beasties launching themselves into my eyes/nose/mouth: lots
Small flying beasties actually swallowed: several
Excellent medals and goody bags: 1
Organisation: Fantastic
Volunteers: Awesome
Feelgood factor: Priceless!

Ultra training: the good, the bad, the ugly

The good:

I've managed all the scheduled long runs so far (longest to date: 24 miles. Still to come: 27 miles), and they haven't even been that painful, in fact I have largely enjoyed them. Well, to be fair, during both the 20 and the 24 my legs did start hurting towards the end, but the length of time before that happens seems to be getting longer, which I suppose is the point of training, really. The run 30/walk 5 strategy seems to be working well, my only reservation being that it can be hard to get going again after a 5-minute walk break, especially later on in the run when legs seem to stiffen up as soon as I stop running. I know I'm not going to run 33 miles without stopping, though, so walk breaks have to be had, and the consensus seems to be that taking them from the start is best.

My 24-mile run was lovely, for the most part. I ran along the North Deeside Road, out through Peterculter and onto the largely uncharted (by me) territory of the country roads near Drum Castle, until I got to 12 miles at which point I turned around to run back. Weather was lovely, and although I was running mainly on roads it was quiet and peaceful with hardly any traffic. Took it nice and easy, waving to the occasional cow, with my Garmin set to show time rather than distance or pace, but was surprised on later inspection to find a couple of sub-10 minute miles slotted in quite late in the run. It did all start going a bit pear-shaped from 20 onwards, of which more later, but an overall pace of 11 m/m was quite satisfying. If I can maintain that over 33 miles in the race, I'll be happy - but I know the last few miles (at least) are going to be a struggle.

Also to my surprise, I've suffered from hardly any post-run soreness so far. Legs were a bit achey the evening of the 20 (though not really in a bad way, more in that kind of pleasantly-tired way), but were fine the next day, and even after the 24 there was very little in the way of after-effects. So I must be doing something right.

The bad:

I've been running, which is the main thing, but I haven't really been doing anything else, though I know I should be. I planned on all sorts of cross-training and strength training and core work and all that but to be honest just finding time to fit in the runs is challenging enough. So I've done a *bit* of core stuff, but only a very tiny bit, like this video about twice (though I can't keep up the exercises for as long as you're meant to, mainly because they're murder) and I've also bought the 30 Day Shred DVD which everyone has been going on about, but I haven't actually got as far as taking it out of the wrapper, so big FAIL as far as that's concerned. I will do it, though, I will, I will...

The ugly:

was my very sore and achey stomach over the past few miles of my 24 mile run... I haven't figured out a reason for this yet, although it has been suggested that inadequate hydration may have been a factor... Basically I spent the last few miles feeling like I really needed the loo, but actually going to the loo didn't alleviate the feeling at all. Rather worryingly, the symptoms persisted for the rest of the day even when I wasn't running any more. I'm a bit concerned in case this happens in the race... however, I have one more long run planned, a 27 with Rhona , so I'll be able to see how that goes.

27 sounds alarming, being further than I've ever run before and venturing for the first time into ultra territory, but I figure if we've done 24 we can do 27. Will just have to take it slowly and not think too much about the distance!

Ultra Training 101

So I'm doing this little small ultra in March, a mere 33 miles, just a jog around the block really *cough* Actually, being very local, it kind of *is* a jog around the block and back for me, except that "the block" goes on for 16.5 miles...

Anyway I have put together a wee training programme, cobbled together from various others and drawing heavily on the 50k one in Bryon Powell’s book “Relentless Forward Progress” (a useful read even if the author can’t spell Brian ;) ). It basically involves 5 runs a week, building up to a longest single run of 26 miles *eek* and some back to back days.

Yesterday I ran 20 miles, which is the furthest I’ve run since the Edinburgh Marathon last May. Knowing a run/walk strategy will be needed during the race, I’ve decided to practise this in training as well and for my last two long runs, have adopted a run 30 mins/ walk 5 mins technique, which seems to work well. The 5 minute walk break is long enough to eat, drink, readjust my clothing, check my phone for messages, etc, and breaking a long run up into 30 minute segments feels psychologically very helpful. I set my watch to show elapsed time only rather than distance or pace, only checking distance occasionally, and with the walk breaks making every third mile slower, seemed to fall naturally into an overall average pace of 11 min/miles, with the run segments being about 10:30 pace and the walk segments about 15:00 pace, which seems OK.

The thought of adding on another 13 miles is scary though. Legs felt very tired by the end. And 30 minutes running did start to feel a lot longer than it had at the beginning! The only problem I’ve found with walk breaks is that it can feel difficult to get going again by the end of the 5 minutes as my legs can stiffen up a bit. This usually resolves very quickly, though, but I wonder if it would get worse on longer runs?

I really enjoyed this run, though, on the whole. I’d been a bit iffy about going out at all since I woke up with a sore throat and blocked up nose, and consulted the wisdom of Facebook where I was basically advised to HTFU and get on with it ;) Started with a few miles bug- and coin-collecting around the local area, then headed out up the North Deeside Road towards Peterculter. I’d been planning to divert onto the old railway line for the bulk of my run but decided not to do that and instead ran through Peterculter, out along the main road till I ran out of footpath, and then down some previously unexplored country roads for a few miles until it was time to turn back and retrace my steps, running the last few miles home from Peterculter along the railway line as initially planned.

So far so good, I think, but I'm getting scared about what I have taken on....

Race Report: Fraserburgh Half Marathon

First I was going to run this race and then I wasn't and then I was again and I'm really glad I eventually did because it is a really great race :-) Basically I went off half marathons a bit after failing to get a PB at Crathes (not the race's fault, it was lovely) but I didn't enjoy it much on the whole, and first I thought I would target Fraserburgh for a PB, then my training went a bit to pot, and I thought sod it, I won't bother. Then my friend Maz said why didn't I run with her and try to pace her to a sub-2:15 (her PB being 2:17:59), and that sounded like a good idea so that's what we did.

We headed off on the Fraserburgh road trip in the Maz-mobile complete with Scott aka Tall Loon aka Mo Bro who was doing his first half, and Annie who wasn't running it but was going along to support and do a 4 mile run around Fraserburgh while we were racing.

We made good time to Fraserburgh and went to register in the manky pavilion with the horrible non-working toilets (the only downside of the day really, and not much of one all things considered), and met up with various folk.

The race started in a field and then headed out along the road and doubled back on itself for the first wee bit, which was a bit odd but gave us a good chance to survey the rest of the field as they ran back! Maz, TL and I all set off together and were very near the back at this point. TL got a "go mo bro" shout-out :-) Then headed off along the main road for a dull but short slightly uphill drag, and after that we were into country roads, parks, trails etc which was lovely. It was quite flat, but with some up and down undulations but nothing long or major.



(I am actually in this picture, just hidden behind the extreme tallness of Scott!)

I was supposed to be pacing Maz but she didn't need that much pacing really, so my pacing mainly just amounted to the occasional "Are you sure you want to be running this fast Maz?" :-) and boringly regular updates on how far we'd gone and at what average pace. Between us however I think we paced it pretty much perfectly and had the satisfying experience of picking off runners one by one over the whole second half of the race, I don't think anyone overtook us the whole way except for one girl at a water station and we soon caught her up again :-) We didn't walk at all apart from a short bit at the top of a hill for Maz to catch her breath, and a short stop at a water station in mile 7 (when my Garmin went onto auto-pause which perhaps thankfully put the kibosh on my pace updates! Note to self: turn off auto-pause for races!). And we actually managed a negative split :-)

At 9 miles TL went ahead a bit and we shouted at him to go on, he protested a bit but was soon persuaded and zoomed off into the distance never to be seen again (well, not till the end). We last saw him as a tiny fluorescent speck way up ahead. He finished in 2:08 having made up loads of time in the last 4 miles.

The last few miles back into the town were great as we kept a good pace, continued overtaking folk (lots of whom seemed to be really struggling by this stage), as soon as we saw anyone in the distance we knew we would be passing them. Back down the hill we had gone up early in the race, across some roads and roundabouts, bit of confusion at this stage about exactly where to go but we made it back into the field, saw 2:13 on the clock and ran for the finish (nearly missing the funnel in my case but let's draw a veil over that). :-)






Maz had a little cry at the finish line, and who wouldn't after 13 miles of my company ;-)

Lots of PBs and lots of fantastic running from all concerned. Maz ran really well and was very strong and great company throughout, I have no doubt she would have managed a PB anyway but it was nice to be a part of it :-)

Mile splits:
# 10:25
# 10:03
# 10:11
# 10:02
# 10:24
# 10:07
# 10:25 (this was actually 11:25 due to stopping at the water station)
# 10:07
# 10:19
# 9:55
# 9:57
# 10:20
# 9:27

Final time was 2:14:06 although it wasn't chipped so probably should've been several seconds less!

Fraserburgh Running Club who organised the race really pushed the boat out and it was the most amazing value for money, for my £14 non-affiliated entry fee we got: a long-sleeved technical t-shirt (admittedly my "small" t-shirt was more the size of a small tent, but hey), a massive spread of unlimited gorgeous free food and drink after the race, a goody bag with medal, sports drink, banana, crisps and chocolate bar, loads of fantastic high-quality pics on the website and Facebook which were free to download, etc.... Hats off to Fraserburgh Running Club, you are brilliant!

I might EVEN go back next year to try for a PB :-O

Pictures courtesy of Fraserburgh Running Club.

Book Review: The Ghost Runner by Bill Jones

The mystery man threw off his disguise and started to run. Furious stewards gave chase. The crowd roared. A legend was born. Soon the world would know him as "the ghost runner".

Bill Jones first heard of the "ghost runner" in 1984, nine years after John Tarrant's death; researching a documentary about the Salford Harriers, an interviewee pushed a slender, battered paperback into his hand. The book, an Athletics Weekly publication, was John Tarrant's hastily written autobiography, also entitled The Ghost Runner. Unfortunately John's literary talent did not match his running talent and the book was not well written, but the story was absolutely compelling and Bill Jones quickly became haunted by this "ghost", determined to learn more about him, and ultimately to tell John's amazing story as it deserved to be told.

Subtitled "The Tragedy Of The Man They Couldn't Stop", it is a moving and inspiring story, yet the character who emerges from this book is not always easy to like - "self-centred, destructive and lacking in emotional intelligence", driven by anger and a burning sense of injustice. But John Tarrant had much to be angry about. Born in London in 1932, due to his mother's illness and later death and his father's conscription in 1940 he spent much of his childhood in a brutal children's home, his only companion and support his beloved younger brother, Victor. It wasn't until 1947 that the brothers, now 15 and 13, finally left the home, moving to Buxton in the Peak District with their father and newly-acquired stepmother.

There wasn't a great deal for young men to do in Buxton and when a new craze for boxing swept the town, John took it up with alacrity. Although he was never destined to be a particularly successful boxer, his years of surviving the harsh regime and defending himself and Victor against the bullies in the children's home had toughened him up and taught him to fight, and he participated in several matches over a couple of years, receiving a total of £17 for his trouble. This paltry sum was to prove his downfall. Discovering on the fells around his home an abiding love and talent for running, when John wanted to join a running club and enter races, dreaming of the success he was sure he was capable of, he was forbidden by the authorities to do so. Thanks to that seventeen pounds, honestly if naively declared, his amateur status had been compromised; he was banned for life, at home and abroad.

Confident that reason must eventually prevail, John embarked on a campaign of letter writing to the relevant authorities, only to be met by rejection after rejection. By this time married (in 1953) to the unswervingly supportive Edie, and working as a rather inefficient council plumber - the first in a succession of jobs which always took second place to running - John, aided and abetted by his brother Victor, embarked on a drastic course of action. If he wasn't allowed to run officially in races, he would run them unofficially, heading to the start line in disguise aiming to jump into the race at the last minute, where he would quickly speed to the front and stay there until he either won or collapsed of exhaustion. His intention: to show the powers that be just what he was capable of, and his genuine desire to run for the sake of it rather than for reward. Thus the ghost runner was born, quickly seizing the imagination of the nation.

Though officialdom refused to recognise his existence, John was welcomed and warmly supported by his fellow athletes, most of whom understood and sympathised with his predicament. (Former international athlete and main rival, Arthur Keily, even wrote repeatedly to the AAA pleading John's case, without success.)

The Ghost Runner is an incredibly good read, following John's running career from his first "ghost" outing at the Liverpool Marathon, to setting world records at 40 and 100 miles, and to South Africa where he ran the Comrades Marathon - a race which became an obsession for him - as a "ghost" and later defied apartheid as the only white man running alongside the black and Indian athletes who, like him, were barred from official races. In the process he earned himself the love and respect of many who were battling for equality in South Africa.

Although Bill Jones never, of course, met John Tarrant, in researching his life he received full and warm co-operation from John's family - his long-suffering, ever supportive widow Edie, son Roger, and indispensable brother Victor, all of whom deserve medals of their own - and found that many others, including John's running contemporaries, were only too happy to talk to him, and indeed believed the telling of John's story was long overdue. Hence, a clear picture of the man and his remarkable, if all too short, life emerges from this gripping book.

You would need a heart of stone not to be moved by this story (the last few pages had me in tears), which can also frequently make the blood boil. John may have been "the man they couldn't stop" but he was also engaged in a fight he could never win, constantly knocked back by the intransigent authorities, who refused to accept that £17 earned as a not particularly good teenage boxer did not render him a money-tainted "professional" for ever after. (Ironic, when money was the one thing John never had.) John wasn't the only person to fall foul of the elitist "cult of amateurism" which was unforgivingly enforced by the upper echelons, but he was probably the most determined to resist, and became a constant thorn in the side of the AAA.

The Ghost Runner is a great read, packed with fascinating incidents and characters, and extremely evocative of the post-war social and political period it describes. There are some extraordinary descriptions of races, including an attempt at the 50-mile world record which took place on a dilapidated Durban track periodically illuminated by flashes of lightning while rain lashed down flooding the track knee-deep in places, fighting broke out between rival gangs, and a local band continued playing regardless.

I would recommend anyone to read the book; it’s a terrific and thought-provoking story of a man whose life and achievements deserve to be more widely known.

Traffic

Not the kind that threatens the lives of innocent runners minding their own business at the extreme edge of the public highway, although I could easily write a blog about that too. In fact just the other day I was thinking how entirely the roads now seem to belong to the car (and the white van and the giant articulated lorry), except for the one near us which currently seems to belong to the students who blithely mill about in the middle of it at all hours of the day and night having never, apparently, been taught the Green Cross Code.

Anyway, I didn't mean that kind of traffic, but the quieter, if no less dangerous, sort which takes place on this here internet. Much to my delight, I have just discovered the "Stats" section on my blog account, which tells you, among other things, from whence my visitors are coming. The blog isn't widely publicised, since my posts are sporadic to say the least, and I'm always vaguely amazed when anybody apart from me reads it, but evidently a few occasionally do, and this stats thing tells me how they get there. Quite a lot are from other blogs who have been kind enough to list me in their "blog rolls", and a surprising number are from Neal Jamison's ultrarunning blog on which he kindly linked to my review of his book, which is quite exciting, though I didn't realise until I looked at the traffic thing and noticed how many hits were coming via Neal's blog...

Most interesting however are the Google search terms which (often mysteriously) lead people in this direction. These include "prom sport" (okaaaay), "bad run before half marathon" (fair enough), "for her new wellies" (????), "giant inflatable Nessie", and my personal favourite, "people walking out of river" (??????). It also shows, along with really awesomely interesting stuff like which browser they use, where readers are from, with the UK unsurprisingly topping the list, the USA in second, and honourable mentions for Germany, Russia, France, Netherlands, Canada, Ireland, Australia and Japan! I had no idea I was so international.

In other news, it's Aberdeen parkrun number 2 tomorrow... I wonder if we will get more or less peeps than last week's inaugural 99? And equally fascinating, to me at least, I wonder if I can (a) beat my PB, and (b) retain my coveted crown of first over 40 woman at the Aberdeen parkrun?

Not exactly my name in lights on Broadway but...

.. something even more exciting... a mention in the back pages of Monday's local paper under Local, National & International Athletics Results, admittedly in very small print and thanks to a somewhat undistinguished 5k time in a field of 99 runners, but hey, first over 40 woman at the first ever Aberdeen parkrun, it's better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick, innit? :-)

A small thing but it has made me happy today.

Thanks to Vikki for pointing out my brief moment of running "fame". :-)

It's a mad world inside my head

I was looking forward to the new-this-year, National-Trust-organised Crathes Half Marathon, as it had the potential to be (a) a lovely race on country roads, starting and ending at Crathes Castle, and (b) a reasonable PB opportunity. It was allegedly flattish, unlike any other half marathon I have done previously, and weather permitting, I thought I had a good chance of taking a few minutes off my PB, maybe even achieving the coveted sub-2. I'd trained assiduously and I felt in reasonably good form.

Rocked up to the castle about 11am and caught up with various Fetchies, including Ultracat, weekatiepea and family, Mother Duck, Nywanda (resplendent in skull print leggings) and family, AngusClydesdale, JohnRitchie, and Corrah and Duckinator who were on Fetchpointing duty.

The weather was pretty good, certainly compared to the previous day and night when it had bucketed down ceaselessly. Maybe a smidgen warmer than would have been ideal, but certainly nothing to complain about (or use as an excuse).

Everyone milled around the start line and the pipers piped and the announcer announced and we were off. I set off with a determination to stick to my pace. The beginning was fairly narrow and congested, but soon spread out and I ran the first mile in a pace-perfect 9 minutes. The second one was 8:32. Oops. But it did contain a fair bit of downhill. Third and fourth were 8:50 and 8:48, and I was ahead of where I needed to be for sub-2. Maybe I'm going a bit quick. But I felt comfortable enough and was thinking (oh fatal error!) that a bit of time in hand may stand me in good stead for the later sections of the race.... Thinking, I might actually do this. Just got to keep going at 9-and-a-bit mile pace. I can do that.

However. Miles 5 and 6 were getting slower - 9:20 and 9:46. Mile 7 was slower yet at 9:52. I was still just about on target overall, but no longer ahead of it, and the splits were deteriorating. Maybe I set off too quick. But it wasn't that quick - it's not like I was doing 7-minute miles. I know I can run at that pace for longer than that. Still, something wasn't right. Mentally, I didn't feel good. I had half the race still ahead of me and it felt like a long way. Why? I can run 13 miles - I can run considerably further. But I was bottling it. I knew if I started to take walk breaks, it would be fatal. I started to take walk breaks.

The remaining splits make painful reading: 10:10, 10:35, 9:29, 11:17, 10:54, 10:17. Not only was I way off sub-2, I wasn't even going to get a PB. I needed to HTFU but neither brain nor body were co-operating. Around 10-11 miles I started thinking Dark Thoughts, along the lines of "Why am I doing this when I'm clearly rubbish at it? I can't run fast and I have no endurance. I should give up trying to do half marathons and marathons. In fact I should just give up running altogether and concentrate on something I'm actually good at. Tetris, or crosswords, or something. I'm never doing another race." I did snap out of it somewhere between mile 12 and the finish line. But quite clearly, I need to work on my mental toughness.

That said, it was a lovely race in many ways, even if I spent a lot of it head down, just concentrating on putting one foot in front of the other. It was well organised and the location was fab. I spotted various local landmarks en route, eg Claramac in multiple locations, MikeR on his bike at mile 3, and Duckinator and Corrah Fetchpointing just before mile 10! I didn't register till later that Duck was videoing throughout... Also heard someone bellowing from behind at me to get a move on at around the 11 miles, which turned out to be Sophster! She came breezing past shortly after. Chatted with various folk in the second half, mainly about the not-quite-as-flat-as-we-were-led-to-believe-ness of the course, although to be fair, looking at the elevation profile afterwards, you could hardly call it hilly. I got a rather too late second wind at about, er, 12.75 miles, spurred on by the proximity of the finish and the final downhill, and coasted back to the castle with a disappointing 2:07:03 - over a minute outside my PB, which was set earlier this year on a hillier course and hotter day.

Everyone else did well - PBs for Mother Duck (2nd lady), JohnRitchie and weekatiepea, and much all-singing all-dancing entertainment was evidently had en route by Nywanda (doing it as a marathon-training long run) and AngusC (doing his first half in 20 years).

All in all, this would have been a great race if I'd just been doing it for fun and not worrying about a time, but given that I was hoping for a PB, it was a bit of a disappointing day for me. People keep telling me it's mental. (Or maybe they're saying "You're mental".) Either way, they're probably right. However, it's made me more determined to crack it next time, and my plan of campaign is, in a nutshell, "train like mad" ahead of the Fraserburgh Half on 20 Nov. I'm thinking a lot more race-pace runs to give me confidence....

And I have no doubt I will be back to Crathes next year for another crack at this race and another very nice t-shirt :)

Ballater 10 Mile Race Report

A quick Ballater blog while it's fresh in my mind and before I go on holiday....

This was my second attempt at this race, after a fairly horrific effort last year. (It was a warm day. There were hills. I was slow. I finished in 1:43:47 and swore never to run it again.) Oh.... Well, I had one more PB to get to complete a clean sweep of PBs in 2011, and in the absence of any other handy 10 mile races, it looked like it had to be this one. Anyway, the horror had faded slightly in my memory and I was very confident of a PB this time round, even if not a huge one, given that the hills were likely to be still there.

We managed to get there on time (always a challenge) and I even managed to get registered and go to the loo without too much of a rush, although the little one then decided to have a fit of "Mummymummymummy" clinginess and I wondered if I was going to have to run the race with a four-year-old attached to my leg. Finally managed to disengage her and head to the start, where we lined up and were sent on our way at 12pm.

It was still warm, and the route was still undulating (very little of it seemed to be flat), but in a direct reversal of my experience at the Stonehaven Half a few weeks ago, the hilly bits weren't as bad as I remembered them. The first 6 miles is on country roads, and yes, they undulated. There were up bits and there were down bits with rather more up bits in the third mile (9:36) and rather more down bits in the fourth (8:44), but none of it was dreadful. Having spent the first few miles dreading a remembered hill at around 5 miles, which had achieved Everest proportions in my mind, the reality was less than I feared. I still walked a bit of it, but managed that mile in 10:02 compared to last year's, er, 11:45. The 6-mile marker took us off-road onto a rutted track, another bit of the race of which my memories had not been fond, and I was starting to feel a wee bit tired at this point, but decided to hang on to the back (not literally) of the guy in front of me who seemed to be going at roughly my pace, although his occasional groans of anguish were a bit off-putting. At about 7 miles, actually I can't remember where it was, we had to cross a bridge, which everyone walked across, I'm not sure why, perhaps we were not allowed to run it? Soon after, we were back on to the road again, and the anguished groaner decided to have a little walk, at which point I went past him.

The route is a pleasant one, quite varied, shame about the number of squished rabbits, or rather ex-rabbits, along the way but I tried not to look at them too closely, though narrowly avoided treading on, or in, one. I also seem to remember a "Caution - Squirrels Crossing" sign at one point, though I may have hallucinated that.

I was quite glad I'd decided to take water with me in my Camelbak waist thingy, although I normally wouldn't bother for 10 miles, but it was warm and thirsty work and there was only one water station at about halfway. I got through most of my bottle. The 8th mile, on a busy-ish road where several vehicles seemed to come perilously close, felt quite tough, but the 9th was largely downhill and I ran this in my second fastest split of the race - 8:54 - though it probably should have been quicker. By the 10th, we were heading onto the narrow path amid long grass which I remembered from last year, and I was flagging considerably, but the sums I'd been doing in my head all the way round assured me I was on for a good PB and on I plodded. Heading back into the field, I saw husband and daughter by the playpark, and a few moments later Mother Duck, who naturally had finished some hours earlier, shouting encouragement. The final lap of the field (having already passed behind the finish line) was painful, but I managed to put on a sprint at the end and overtake the woman in the blue top who'd been close to me for most of the way.

The result: 1:33:52 - a PB of very nearly 10 minutes. I was very happy with this since I had predicted 1:38. Would have liked to have finished a bit stronger, but I ran every mile significantly faster than last year, which is satisfying. It's a challenging course, but it felt easier to me this time despite being another warm day, which reflects my increased fitness (I hope). I may have to go back next year and try to knock a bit more off.....

Goody bag was OK, with a humongous blue cotton t-shirt, bottle of Lucozade, banana and the ubiquitous cereal bar, but sadly no chocolate this year, much to the disappointment of the little one who last year had polished off the lot in the car by the time we got home.

Mile splits, with last year's splits in brackets just for the hell of it - what took me so long last year, especially in miles 4 and 5???

* 9:01 (9:34)
* 8:58 (9:45)
* 9:36 (10:49)
* 8:44 (10:00)
* 10:02 (11:45)
* 9:04 (9:51)
* 9:47 (10:53)
* 10:20 (11:07)
* 8:54 (9:25)
* 9:24 (10:41)

Mile Magic

When I first started running (run-walking, if we're being precise, back in those long-ago days of, er, 2009), a mile seemed like a long way. Running a whole one seemed like a distant dream. Nowadays, of course (now that I'm a super-duper experienced runner *ahem*), a mile sounds like nothing much, but it can still on occasion feel like a long way when you're in the middle of it, and it certainly looks like a long way when represented by four laps of an enormous outdoor track at the Aberdeen Sports Village.

The third Aberdeen Fetch Mile was chilly (where is the summer?) but had a great turnout, with several excellent newbies attending (many of them lured in by Mrs Shanksi, who wasn't even there!) and PBs galore. Due to the numbers and the logistical issues of having enough people to time, etc, we finished up having three mile races. (That's "3 x mile races" not "three-mile races", obviously.) Having knocked 49 seconds off my previous time at the last mile for a PB of 7:30, I knew there was no chance of doing that again, and was hoping just to more or less equal my PB or, hopefully, shave off a second or two. I haven't been doing a lot of "fast" running lately, though, and having attempted some 400m intervals on Thursday at 7:30 pace, had found it pretty arduous, so I wasn't very confident of a good time.

After some cracking running in the first and second miles, we were off in the third one. I got off to a hesitant start as I fiddled with the button on my Garmin. Hamster 1207 and Nywanda were off like rockets, with the rest of us a bit slower - I slotted in behind weekatiepea and plodded along the first couple of laps at around 7:15-20 pace, I think. Woodland Warrior came zooming past at one point quite early on - no idea what took him so long! The wind was strong along the back straight and it did slow me - and everyone - down a bit. I managed to get past Katie near the beginning of the third lap, then noticed my shoelace was partly undone, oops. Well, I wasn't going to stop and fasten it, and I wasn't actually tripping over it, so it just had to stay that way. Nywanda was slowing down by now (no wonder, as she'd done a hellish sounding hill race a couple of days earlier) and I managed to overtake her around 100m into the fourth lap. Hamster and Woodland Warrior were way ahead! Although I was huffing and puffing and generally feeling like I was about to drop dead, I managed to finish the final lap strongly and clocked a time of 7:11 - a PB by 19 seconds - which I was delighted with. It also boosts my WAVA up to over 63% - pretty meaningless really, yet strangely satisfying.

The 100m relay which we finished up with was fun, although my baton-handling skills clearly left a lot to be desired. Mother Duck did manage to get it off me in the end.

A successful morning all round, with lots of excellent running, but special mentions for Duckinator who logged the fastest time of the day with 5:41 (a big improvement on his previous time), Halfpint who knocked an astounding 1 minute 9 seconds off her previous time to win the "most improved" trophy, and Corrah who deservedly won the prize for the best sprint finish with a heroic final 50m.

Now turning my attention exclusively to HM training..... well, after Sunday's 10 miler at Ballater... I have a score to settle with that race.

Sub-2 RW schedule experiment, week 2...

Week 2 of my RW sub-2 half training schedule experiment is done, and I've been following it to the letter... well, kind of. I've been doing the speedwork and the long runs (oh, and the other runs) slightly quicker than designated, but I'm hoping that's OK, as long as the long runs and easy runs are at a conversational pace, which they are, or would be, if I had anyone except myself to converse with.

Tuesday's 5 miles easy was OK, but I really didn't feel like going out to do some one-mile intervals on Thursday night, because I felt tired, so tired in fact that I fell asleep while putting the little one to bed and only the discomfort of being squashed into a toddler bed unable to stretch out my legs forced me to get up again. Even though I didn't want to go, I followed the time-honoured tactic of putting on my kit anyway and of course it worked, as it always does, and I headed out of the door at 9pm to run 5 miles including 2 x 1-mile intervals at 8:25 pace. Actually at 8:06 and 8:07 pace. I was quite pleased with this, particularly as the second one was on a slight uphill gradient.

Friday we took the little one swimming and I ran back 4 miles from the pool, which felt like much harder work than it should have done, given that I did far more splashing around pretending to be Nessie (under instruction from the little one, I should add, not by choice) than actual swimming. My swimming is hopeless anyway. I can just about manage the world's slowest breaststroke but I'm not even sure I'm doing it properly. "Learn to swim better" is on my to-do list, but if I'm honest I've never liked it much, although maybe that's largely because I've never learned to do it properly...

Sunday's long run - a mere 8 miles at this stage - was much better. I got him indoors to drive me to Drumoak and ran back along the old Deeside line. It was lovely, if a bit hot in places. I barely looked at my watch and just tried to keep my pace at a slow, comfortable level and later found I had done the 8 miles at 9:53 pace rather than the plan's 10:30. Oh well. The first mile was the slowest at 10:19, but by about mile 4 I was well and truly warmed up and had that lovely feeling of being able to run forever. I had to stop once, on a narrow bit of path when a whole load of cyclists came past, but otherwise plodded on very happily with remaining mile splits of 10:00, 9:38, 10:00, 9:58, 9:49, 9:43 and 9:36.

I will get this sub-2!! Although even more than that, I want to get the coveted 60+ half marathon WAVA to go with my 5k and 10k, which in my case I think is about 1:58:something. Hmmmm, better check that....

RW sub-2 half training schedule experiment

I'm running my 4th half marathon, the inaugural Crathes Half, in 10 weeks, and, as if by magic, this month's RW has a 10-week sub-2 training programme which is, it assures me, failsafe, foolproof and WILL get me to 1:59:59. (Faster would be nice. But 1:59:59 would do.) I'm not sure if this plan will really work, but it does look eminently doable so I might as well give it a go.

So, my cunning plan is to stick to RW's allegedly failsafe foolproof sub-2 schedule to the letter and see if their claims prove true. Place your bets now. (Not literally, it's obviously far too early....)

The same article has a little table with indicators as to what you should have already achieved to stand a good chance of breaking 2 hours... a current PB of 2:04-2:06 (favourable conditions) or 2:08-2:12 (not so favourable conditions), a 10k time of 52:51-53:56, etc. With a HM PB of 2:05:50 set in March on a warmish day on a hillyish course (we'll draw a discreet veil over my most recent attempt at the distance in Stonehaven) and a 10k PB of 53:16 set in June, I should, in theory, be on track.

Anyway, that's the first week done and dusted. Two easy runs of 4 miles each on Tuesday and Friday (Friday I went to the gym first and ran home), 5 miles on Thurs with 3 at 8:54 pace (I did them just slightly quicker in 8:52, 8:49 and 8:38) and an 8 mile "long" run today at 10:30 pace. I was determined to stick to this pace as best I could, because I do often tend to go a bit quicker than I probably should on long runs, and accordingly set up my Garmin to show average pace only. After a slowish uphill first mile, I pulled it back to 10:30 in the second and tried to stick to that, finishing with an average pace of 10:24, so not far off.

It being the first Crathes Half, I don't really know what it will be like, though they maintain it is "quite" flat. Of course, "quite" flat could mean almost anything. There are also a couple of off-road bits, apparently. So it might not be the absolute perfect choice for a PB, but then again it can't possibly be worse than the others I've done so far (Stonehaven twice and Garioch once). Fingers crossed.

Personal Worst

Before running the Stoney Half for the second time (the first having been last year), I was blithely telling anyone who asked, or even didn't, that it really wasn't that bad and the hills weren't as awful as they were cracked up to be. I was hoping for a PB, but at the very least I was hoping to beat my 2:10:20 from last year, when it was my first half marathon. I'm a good bit fitter now than I was then, so it seemed a reasonable ambition.

I should have known that misplaced confidence would come back to bite me on the backside. I can only assume that either the hills have grown since last year, or (and this may be the more likely explanation) that my memory had conveniently blocked out the reality. Rather like childbirth - if you actually remembered what it was like, you'd never do it more than once.

The day was a hot one, which did not bode well. However, I told myself hopefully that I'm better at running in the heat than I used to be, having forced myself to do it on the rare days when we get the sun. I was a bit worried, but not that worried. After all, there's nothing you can do about the weather. Apart from apply sun lotion in plenty of time. Oops.

I reached the park about 10.30 for an 11.15 kick-off, and met up with lots of Fetchies, including the Shanksis on the organisational side (Mrs S was doling out the numbers), Torry Quine, Halfpint, Maz 1974 and Erin on the Fetchpointing side, and Holburnmum, Redwinerunner, Woodland Warrior and MikeR on the running side. (Sorry to anyone I have missed. Brain may be suffering sun damage.)

We lined up for the start and once again the gun going off took me by surprise, but I set off fairly smartly and ran the first two miles in a not quick, but not too bad given the undulating-ness 9:45 and 9:15. The only "issue" I had at this time was that I was still carrying the water bottle I'd set off with - it was nearly empty and it was getting on my nerves, but I couldn't find anywhere to dump it. I disposed of it at the first water station, though only to replace it with a full one. Actually I was lucky to get water from that station, as apparently they ran out shortly after - I can only surmise that either there weren't enough bottles for all the runners, or thanks to the heat some people were taking more than one.

The hills proper started around this point and things began to go a bit pear-shaped. I did a bit of walking. Actually I did a lot of walking. I palled up around this stage with a girl in a red top called Susie, and we ran together for a bit until I decided to do a bit more walking and she went ahead. I kept her in sight for most of the way but didn't quite manage to catch up. It was REALLY HOT, and flies were buzzing around my head - very irritating. A man came past in a van checking people were OK and asking if anyone needed water (given the lack at the water station) which was nice. By this stage I was going so slowly that I knew unless I made up a hell of a lot of time in the second half, there was no way I was going to PB or even beat my last year's time. I got to 10k in 1:06:10 - that's the slowest I've run in quite a long time!

The 6 mile point was however enlivened by arriving at Fetchpoint :-) with water sprays (heaven), jelly babies and Eye of the Tiger! It gave me a boost but unfortunately all too quickly receded into the distance and I was left to my own devices again! However there was a bit more shade for a while, and running felt easier when I wasn't in the full glare of the sun. We then turned onto the main road and a long downhill stretch, where I didn't manage to make up quite as much time as I'd hoped (I ran even this stretch quicker last year). The road was open to traffic and quite a lot seemed to be coming past. I got to 10 miles in 1:43:58 - pretty slow. There was downhill but also some uphill (nothing major, but it felt like it) and the Run Walk Strategy again came into play.

Finally we were heading back into the town, past the Academy and across a roundabout. I began to feel slightly better and overtook a few people who had overtaken me earlier. At last we turned a corner to see the sea ahead and a kindly marshal assured me it was all downhill from here. "I've heard that before!" I said. No, she promised, it was true this time.

I caught up with Susie with about half a mile to go. She was struggling a bit, and we stuck together to the finish, managing to encourage each other to keep going! We ran into the park and along the path and when the finish line was in sight I said "race you to the finish" so we both managed to put on a bit of a spurt. I think I finished one second in front! And promptly got my medal draped round my neck by Mrs Shanksi :-)

My chip time was a disappointing, but unsurprising, 2:14:01 - 4 minutes slower than last year, and 9 minutes outside my PB! However my hopes of sub-2 had evaporated in the heat very early on, and even sub-2:20 was starting to look unlikely at one point, so I was relieved the time wasn't worse! I think there were a few DNFs and I know at least one person who collapsed after 10k and had to be taken off in an ambulance (she's OK), so I'm glad I finished.

My next attempt at this distance will be in 10 weeks time at Crathes in September (since we'll be away for Dyce in August) and as luck would have it this month's RW has a "10-week sub-2 hour half marathon plan" in it so I might just give that a go....

Well done everyone :-)

2012

Kind of wishing I'd signed up for Loch Ness Marathon this year, though it's too late now. I loved it last year and I keep getting little pangs when I hear about other people doing it, like, "that's MY race!". Next year, for sure. Running Edinburgh in May kind of reinforced for me the things I liked about Loch Ness, because it was a... DIFFERENT experience. Not an entirely bad one, and many of the things that were bad were not the fault of the organisers, but Loch Ness was just - better. It was smaller, the route was nicer, the finish was much better. My husband and daughter were there to cheer me on a few hundred metres from the end, and I was able to find them straight away afterwards. People handed you things/said well done/hung your medal round your neck, as opposed to the whole mill around aimlessly/rummage in boxes/not know what the hell was going on experience which is what I mainly remember from the finish area at Embra.

Admittedly, LNM does have that whacking great hill just exactly where you don't want a whacking great hill, and I'm sure if I do do it again I'll be swearing at (a) the hill and (b) myself for having conveniently forgotten how bad it was, but hey, a hill's a hill, get over it. There were compensations. Going downhill, for instance.

I suppose you could argue that going back to the same event denotes a lack of adventure and that would probably be true, because the other big thing I have my eye on next year is D33 :-O a race which practically runs through my backyard. The route may be (is) familiar - I've run it, or sections of it anyway, many times, yesterday for instance - but the distance, 33 miles, certainly isn't. Familiarity may breed contempt in some cases but there's also a sense of reassurance, for me, in knowing what lies ahead - in terms of terrain, if not how I may be feeling at 26+ miles. I guess I was at the back of the queue when senses of adventure were being handed out. Admittedly, the temptation to take a detour to my house and a nice cup of tea on the sofa at around 29/30 miles when my legs will doubtless be in bits may be strong... can only hope the lure of the finish line/medal/beer/ability to say "I've done an ultra" will be stronger.

But when a race you really want to do is right on your doorstep, it would be rude not to. Wouldn't it?

Blowin' in the wind: The Running Shop Aberdeen Beach 10k Race Report

It’s always, always windy down at the beach. Or “Es ist windig”, as we would say in our house, since for some mysterious reason ever since son did his German Higher, we always have to converse about the weather in German. Es regnet. Es schneit. Es ist neblig. Etc.

Anyway, last night was, as ever, a windy night down at the beach, though a warm and sunny day in general. (Es ist sonnig. We don’t get to use that one much.) And I was running a 10k, and I was determined to get a PB, not least because a whole load of points had been bet on me to do so :-O My PB was 56:55, but I was aiming for sub-55 – a 25:02 5k last week indicated that this should hopefully not be beyond my powers. I think this is the fourth time I have run a 10k along the prom and the weather has been uniformly horrible every time, but last night was actually pretty nice apart from the aforementioned wind, which I’m sure I shall be mentioning a few more times before the blog ends.

These 10k along-the-prom races are fairly low key affairs with the start and finish lines being slightly nebulous concepts. None of your fancy timing chips or anything like that. However, it was the fullest I’ve ever seen it (the first one I did, in Dec 2009, only had about 80 people, probably because the ground was covered in snow and ice...). I’m very bad about estimating numbers but there seemed to be a few hundred people all milling about last night with loads of people I knew running – lots of people from Fetch, two of the mums from nursery, etc.

I positioned myself near the back and the race unexpectedly started before anyone was ready. Oops! Off we went along the upper level of the prom. Very congested for the first 100m or so but it quickly thinned out and I settled into a slightly-too-quick-probably 8:10-ish pace. The two mums from nursery were just ahead of me – one, Nicola, I knew to be slightly faster than me (sub-2 half marathon, and she ran 54 mins at Balmoral 10k when I only managed 59 thanks to That Hill). I figured I would try and keep them in sight for as long as possible.

The route consists of a lap and a half of the upper and lower prom, so obviously it’s very flat. The first 2k felt fine and I went through the first mile in 8:11. I thought this might be a bit quick, but actually I was quite glad to have gained a bit of time as when we ran down the ramp and turned onto the lower level, the wind hit me full in the face and running suddenly became much harder work. Second mile was 8:33 and third, which was all on the lower level, a lot slower in 8:50. It was a relief to turn onto the upper level again (and out of the wind) at the 5k mark. I’d got to 5k in 26:31, though, so was well on target for my sub-55 goal.

As I ran up the ramp to the upper level I passed one of the nursery mums who had slowed to a walk, having probably gone off a bit too quick. I gave a few encouraging (I hope) words and managed to pick up my pace a bit now the wind was behind me. I could still see Nicola up ahead. I went through the 4th mile in 8:34, passed TQ and Corrah who were cheerleading opposite the Leisure Centre, got a bit of a second wind and ran the 5th mile in 8:11. I passed a few people at this point and caught Nicola up at around the 8k mark, and had a wee chat. She later said I had spurred her on as she had been tiring at that point! I was feeling quite good at around 8k but I knew we were doomed to turn back onto the windy lower prom for the last 2k and sure enough, down the ramp we went and into the gale again. I really struggled in the last mile, and it was my slowest in 8:54. Nicola was coping with it a bit better and had gone ahead. However having got to 8k in 42:04 and to 9k in 47:32, I knew that short of a complete disaster I was definitely going to get a PB and be well under 55 minutes.

The last bit always seems really interminably long, when you can see the people at the finish but it seems a long long way to get there (even when it’s only a couple of hundred metres). I was going pretty slowly, but could hear shouts of encouragement as I got nearer and one of my speedy Fetch friends then ran alongside me for the very last bit, shouting at me to get a move on as everybody was waiting! This gave me just the kick up the backside I was needing to get to the finish! I didn’t notice the official time on the clock but I had 53:16 on my watch :-):-):-) so not a bad PB, three and a half minutes off my last one (set on the same route in January!). Think official time will be a bit higher as I started near the back and started my watch when I crossed what I thought was roughly the start line rather than when the gun went off.

I was happy with my time, a bit disappointed that I faded badly in the last km – the wind certainly didn’t help, but I was tiring by then also. However I don’t think my pacing was too bad all in all. I had initially thought I would aim for around 8:45 miles but now think that was unambitious as without the wind factor (sorry to keep going on about the wind factor) I would have been below that the whole way. My overall pace was 8:33. Conditions are very rarely ideal though, this is a flat but windy course, other times the weather might be perfect but the route hillier, it’s not often everything comes together to provide dream PB conditions. I’m happy to be steadily reducing my 10k time! (And to have achieved another WAVA of over 60%.) Maybe one day I will run a 10k time beginning with a 4, you never know…

There were lots of PBs last night, wind notwithstanding, but good running (and supporting) all round, well done folks :)