Week 11 – 1st April – 7th April

Training runs

Last week was a 40 mile week with 30 miles done over the long Easter weekend. I was feeling OK after the long miles though so let’s see how I got on in week 11.

Link to my JustGiving page for Motor Neurone Disease Association #runforafriend #runwithafriend #runwithfriends.

MNDA Fundraising page

Reminder – this is not intended as any kind of recommendation, it is purely my own thoughts and comments on my weeks training. You should seek professional advice for correct marathon training tailored to you. However I hope it gives you some kind of inspiration to try something different yourself.

Monday 1st April

Not only was today April Fools Day but it was also Easter Monday. As it was a public holiday the group run was in the morning rather than evening today. There were 2 runs, one trail heading into a very muddy Hawthorn dene and a road run round Seaham.

We started from Noses Point and ran down the front to Tempest Road, all the way up Tempest Road and then along Princess Road to the Green Drive and then back down to Noses Point. Nice little run to ease into the week.

Wednesday 3rd April

As usual for a Wednesday there were a number of options at group. I wanted to do Progressive Mile repeats, Intervals in effect. The idea was to do a short warm up then 0.25 mile at a steady pace of around 11 min/mile, then another 0.25 mile at an increased pace of around 10.40 min/mile. Step up again on the next quarter mile to 10 min/mile and then the last quarter mile at 9.40 min/mile. Take a 2 minute rest and then do the same thing again 4 times.

There were only a handful of us doing this session, most people opted for the longer runs.

The warm up looped around Vane Tempest car park which I did with Nev and Lee. When we got to the entrance of the car park we started the quarter mile sections. The first mile was steady, breaking down into 4 sections at the Aged Miners homes, then Bath Terrace, next break was just after Costa and then finally the bus stop after ASDA. We then took a 2 minute rest, turned around and did the same on the way back. Then we did it twice more. Each quarter mile getting a little faster each time. The fourth mile was difficult to maintain the pace but as you can see from the pace below, I managed to do it.

After the first mile, I ran with Lynne below, I hadn’t ran with Lynne before so it was good to get to meet her and chat (although mainly on the first quarter mile section only, the others were too difficult to talk :-))

Saturday 6th April

So Saturday had been planned for a while. I had even created an event in our Facebook group for it. Apparently this is the first event created by someone in the group actually for themselves! No I am not needy, I just seek to be relevant!! Or maybe I am needy ha ha!

I even called my event “Run with a Fox” and labelled it a “Foxtrot”, yes I am that conceited ha ha!

So the plan was to do 20 miles and a load of people were going to run some of it with me or all of it with me. I was really excited about the run for weeks ahead but as it got closer the demons got into my head.

What if I let people down?

What if I can’t do it?

This niggle in my foot doesn’t feel good.

I have backache.

You know the kind of things, anything and everything was talking at me and in a louder and louder voice.

I got this message the night before the run and it really relaxed me, it was from a legend of running and a real fave of mine so it meant a lot and the voices started to quieten.

Arriving at Dalton Park for the start of the run was a little overwhelming to be honest. To be greeted by all these friends was amazing but also scary. Now clearly they were there just to have a run with mates and I just happened to be one of those mates but in my head they were doing it for me and all of a sudden the voices were screaming at me now.

“What are you doing running with these proper runners?”

“You can’t do this”

“You have no business being here”

“You will let these people down”

All these thoughts seemed valid at the time. For the first time I can remember I now had hamstring pain, where was all this coming from?

So we set off from Dalton Park and ran round the back to add some extra miles before we got to the seafront. We were going to meet up with some more of the group down at Noses Point as they started their usual Saturday group session. Some people were going to do a few miles, some half marathons and some the full 20.

First people we met were Claire and Jen who were doing their own long run. We would meet them later on in the run too. Always a huge boost seeing these two.

We got to the entrance to Noses Point and met up with the rest of the group doing their usual Saturday run.

Just after 5 miles in we were starting to say goodbye to some friends who were turning back or stopping at this point.

One of the great things about today was some people doing their own longest run. Amy and Sophie above went on to complete their longest run to date. Well done faves! Nev also turned back at this point but we didn’t get a photo.

We were now approaching 10 miles moving from Grangetown into Hendon. It was already starting to hurt and I was only around half way. As we got into Sunderland and crossing the Wear bridge the pain in my heel was increasing, I actually felt a little dizzy as we crossed the river. It just wasn’t feeling great.

We carried on into Roker and made it to the marina. We stopped on the front for a few minutes and I really struggled to get going again. My heel was aching and I still had 6 miles to go.

I had to make a decision at this point, do I stop now and come back another day or do I limp on and maybe do more damage. I went with option A. It was just one of those days, I was gutted not to finish but knew that it was probably for the best.

I mentioned Christine earlier, I was delighted that Christine was just about to complete her longest run. Even more delighted that her husband was on his way to pick her up and that there was room in the car for some of us.

I have to say a huge thanks to Kathryn and Sally who ran all the way with me to this point too and also decided to jump in the car to go back to Seaham. Really appreciate you running with me. It was at this point that I bumped into Michael Dixon an old friend I hadn’t seen for a while who was running in the opposite direction. Good to see you Michael.

We got in the car and left 4 legends to finish off their runs. Amazing work Laura, Lee and Dawn. Also Claire, who also did her longest run so far. All these people doing their longest runs was so inspiring, well done to everyone who ran today.

So as the above caption says, I’ve got to be happy with 14 miles. If you had said to me 5 or 6 weeks ago that I would be doing 14 miles, I would be delighted. This was also my 5th Half Marathon or more in 6 weeks, that’s not too bad at all.

Nutrition

I took the usual fuel on the run but a couple of things I did different this week which are notable.

1. I didn’t eat well through the week. Too much junk food, too much eating for convenience rather than fuelling correctly.
2. I didn’t fuel at the right times and regular enough on the actual run. I need to stick to fuelling every three miles to make sure I don’t run out of steam.

Progress to Plan

For the first week in the plan I was a little behind the long run. This week should have been 18 miles and I only did 14. However again I have been ahead on every week so far so I do have miles in the bank.

Key Learning

Some major lessons learned this week.

1. Correct fuelling – that includes eating healthier through the week and ensuring it’s good fuel for the long run. Also on the long run make sure that I fuel every three miles.
2. Listen to your body – don’t push on unnecessarily. There is always another day and better to live to fight another day rather than be injured.
3. Run your own race – I was too hung up with what I thought other people expected of me. You have to do what you can do and not what you think others want. In reality they only want what’s best anyway.

Fave of the week

Loads of contenders this week including Lynne on Wednesday night keeping me company on 3 of the 4 mile repeats. Also the very kind fave who sent me the message on Friday night. I also got so many private messages on Saturday and Sunday checking in on me which I really appreciated.

However on balance I can’t give it to one person this week. Everyone who turned up for the Foxtrot or who wished me well on the back of it, you are all FOTW this week.

So this weeks post was quite hard to write hence the delay in posting. I didn’t want to post a negative week so have been looking for the positives in the week and I think I have found plenty. It’s important to remember that I reached 19 miles the week before, 40 miles for the whole week. I still managed over a half marathon this week. So it really wasn’t a bad week and I have miles in the bank from earlier weeks.

Lots of positives. 22 miles overall this week. See you next week.