zaterdag 31 mei 2014

Waddinxveen mile repeats

18.16k
Start 7.37

vrijdag 30 mei 2014

Lost 2k

12k
Start 18.00
 
 

Accidentally stopped the Garmin for (what I later measured to be) 2k.  Took a detour through the allotments on the Gouderak side of the river where the flowers were fairly riotous.

dinsdag 27 mei 2014

Drizzly Dawn

25.08k
Start 4.25
 

zondag 25 mei 2014

Early Long Run

35.15k
Start 4.22
 

 


vrijdag 23 mei 2014

Sluggish Mile Repeats

13.07k
Start 20.53
 

donderdag 22 mei 2014

Cuckoo and scurrying beasties

20.23k
Start 4.13
 

dinsdag 20 mei 2014

Goats, geese and mile repeats

16.66k
Start 20.01
 

My mile times were down about a minute on recent runs - but it was warm and humid so I'm assuming that was the cause.  A couple of families of very agitated looking geese (lots of half grown goslings) charged across the path in front of me at one point to get to the river.  I'd just been watching a hawk of some sort hovering above the field - I suspect the geese had spotted him too.
I saw regular flashes of lightning in the distance on my way back through the polder but it wasn't till I was almost home that I could first heard the thunder, so quickly found Thunderstruck on my iPod for the last few hundred meters then jumped up and down (my idea of dancing) on the raft next to the ark for the last bit of the number. I think it was just dark enough that not too many folk could see me...

maandag 19 mei 2014

Gouderak sunrise

30.20
Start 4.25
 
 



zaterdag 17 mei 2014

Goudse Houtloop

14.61k
Start 10.00
I was under 1:25 this time! 
 It was (according to my Garmin stats) 15 degrees, so perfect for running really. My speed gradually slowed a wee bit with each 5k circuit but I think that that was inevitable - in the last circuit there were hardly any other runners (most did the 10k option) so I put one of my iPod earpieces in and had an injection of AC/DC to get me to the end in as good as possible a time. 

But it did feel good, not easy exactly but very doable, not a struggle to keep going. It's like all the speed training I've done recently is like money in the bank that I can draw on when I need it in a race. 
A few people commented on my running style - apparantly I look 'fast' (which I'm not, obviously ;-) because of my quick turnover forefoot landing. 

donderdag 15 mei 2014

20 sec repeats

5.10k
Start 20.30

woensdag 14 mei 2014

Short and fast(ish)

4.77k
Start 19.15


maandag 12 mei 2014

Recovery Rainbow Run

6.28k
Start 20.10
 

zondag 11 mei 2014

Beemster Marathon

42.2k
Start 11.00

                                                                                                                   


4.44. I think... 
Bit of a messy organisation and a few things went wrong at the catering stations and I ended up running a bit further than I should in 2 places 

BUT 
main news is that I felt absolutely brilliant at the finish - I've never felt like that at the end of a marathon - as if I could do another one straight away (or a half at least ;-) 
Weather was wet and windy. Very wet and very windy. Horizontal hail stones at one point and at least a bit of drizzle for practically the entire route. 

And I was a superhero cause I was one of only 3 women running the whole distance as a lone runner (rather than as a bike-and-runner duo). So I had a great day on the whole despite a few annoyances. I actually can't wait to go and run a 'proper' (ie larger, with chip timing and not so much emphasis on the feeding stations and 'gezelligheid' along the way) marathon soon to test the Yasso 800 theory properly - I suspect the prediction of 4.37 could have been pretty accurate for me if some of the technical details had been more accurate.
_________________





I could write a whole treatise on today's run - full of 'metaphor of life' clichĆ©s. There were moments when I was well-irritated at the bits of sloppy organisation that caused me problems and was ready to drop out ('cause I'll never get the time I was aiming for now and it's Not Fair and it's Not My Fault!') but by just taking a deep breath and realising that it wouldn't actually make thAt much difference to the end result I got over myself and realised that I was actually enjoying the run and was more than capable of just keeping going. I felt strong - I was Actually Overtaking Other Folk towards the end. And these were people who'd alternated cycling and running along the route (and even a few of the solo men). Hahaha, you might have guessed - this wasn't exactly an elitist event. It was of course, great for my ego - the couple of small scale marathons I've done before I've been trailing at the end. In the big city ones it's easier to blend into the crowd if you're not so fast. This is the first time I've practically felt like a sub-elite myself ;-) 

Few practical points (possibly tmi...) - in my hot bath I felt a slight friction irritation between my buttocks - when running in wet clothes for hours you really should remember to put some vaseline on such places. I had dealt in good time with the bits under my arms that sometimes produce friction burns where my bras rub but hadn't thought about Down There. 

My iPod died before the half way mark - doesn't do well in too much rain - hopeully it will revive when dried out, it has before.



Day after report - very mild feeling of 'have done some work' in my calves but no pain as such. And my iPod has revived too so all is well in my post-marathon world. 

Another technical point I forgot yesterday (I'm trying to note down everything I did so I can possibly reproduce it again next time.) I took 2 paracetemols at about the half way mark. I've heard of a lot of distance runners who take painkillers beforehand as a matter of course and while I'm not really keen on this idea I have started to think 'why have pain if it can maybe be avoided?' And I have had some back and shoulder pain towards the end of previous marathons. And I remembered to take a snort of my 'serious' (ie for use during attacks rather than the preventative one) asthma medication beforehand too, which possibly helped open up my lungs a bit. (I sound like a right junky runner here...) 

vrijdag 9 mei 2014

Last Training Run

7.52k
Start 20.43
Good last run between downpours with a mile in 8.48 and 600m in 3.06.

woensdag 7 mei 2014

1 lost k

8.60k
Start 17.42
 Pressed the wrong button on the Garmin so 'lost' about 1k so added it on to the run.  This tapering is cutting my runs so short I suspect it was some sort of unconscious decision to allow me to run a bit further...

maandag 5 mei 2014

Liberation Day Run

9.03k
Start 14.30

zaterdag 3 mei 2014

Yasso 800s

16.74k
Start 16.37
Predicted finishing time now...4:37:12