Yorkshire Coast 10k Recap

On Sunday 30th October I got up, had a pre-race breakfast of two slices of brown bread covered in peanut butter and topped with sliced banana.

After that I sat around for a few hours chilling out before heading to Scarborough Spa Complex on the South Beach. The Complex was busy but well signposted and it was easy to pick up my timing chip.

After that we lined up on the road outside the complex. Looking north along the Marine Drive which snakes around the coast and forms the majority of the race route, I could see Scarborough seafront with its arcades, cafes and fish and chip shops, the harbour, and the ruins of Scarborough Castle perched high on the cliffs. It was sunny but a touch hazy and a naval ship was anchored in the South Bay. It felt good to be out there at 10am on a sunny Sunday morning waiting to start a 10k race.

The race was very flat but I allowed myself to be pulled along at the start by the people around me, something I paid for later on in the race. Running along the seafront was easy but we encountered a slight headwind once we rounded the headland. However it was a gentle breeze. After running along the Marine Drive we headed into a park then back out on to the shore promenade for a few hundred metres before turning around at the Sealife Centre and heading back toward the Spa Complex.

Chip Time: 51:03
Gun Time: 51:37
Garmin Time: 51:04
Split 1: 7:53.8
Split 2: 7:53.5
Split 3: 8:06.0 (This is when I began to pay for starting too fast)
Split 4: 8:13.2
Split 5: 8:08.7
Split 6: 8:25.7
Split 7: (300 m) 2:23.0

So I've got a new PB - frustrating just out of the 50s but I've proved to myself that a sub-50 10k is there for the taking provided I keep training and shift the 5lb that have glued themselves to my hips over the last few weeks.

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So what next? I don't have another 10k planned but I've decided to continue following training plans as if I were.  I'm continuing to go to the running club and have signed up for a winter cross country league. This and parkrun should keep me ticking over throughout the winter.

I've decided to declare a temporary truce on weightloss. I don't discuss this much on my blog but I'm at the high end of a healthy BMI and body fat percentage for my height and would like to lose about a stone by cutting my fat percentage further. I'm not going to try to do this over the holiday period, though, because I've got a couple of birthdays, work parties and weekend away visiting my best friend between here and January which I know will stymie any weightloss. So I'm declaring a temporary truce and I'm going to lose 3lb to get to 10.5 stones then seek to maintain until January. In addition to this I'm tired of constantly dieting and getting nowhere, so I'm going to take control and decide to go nowhere.

So there.

And now I'm going to bed!

Lots and Little

The Yorkshire Coast 10k is tomorrow.

I've checked out the weather and it will be sunny/overcast with a 12-13mph SW wind. Hopefully the cliffs will shelter us from most of it and I'm very very grateful it's not a NE wind howling straight off the North Sea! The course is along the seafront in Scarborough and makes a small detour into a park on the return leg, so it should be incredibly flat and could be a good candidate for a PB.

I don't feel particularly well prepared as I only decided to do the race 5 or so weeks ago and had to take a week off due to unhappy knees and a stomach bug. Since then I've been mostly sticking to the plan.

I'm looking forward to getting this race out of the way because I've been finding it hard to run after work. I don't usually get back till 6. While I'm not afraid for my personal safety bombing around the streets because it seems less likely you'll be attacked in the cold dark nights of late autumn than any other time, I am a little concerned for my physical safety because the other night I was running along a street and almost tripped over a discarded hubcap. So after this race I'm going to reduce my running to club runs and Saturday and Sunday.

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Aside from running lots I've been cooking lots. I bought Appetite for Reduction a few weeks ago and it's quickly become my go-to book for quick and healthy meals. So far I've made Chickpea Piccatta, Ginger Bok Choi with Soba Noodles, Garlicky Mushrooms and Kale, and Pasta e Fagioli with Spinach. All of the recipes are quick and tasty and more importantly they work. The only change I'd make to any of them is to reduce the amount of water required for the Chickpea Piccatta because there was a bit too much sauce.

Brilliant book.

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I've been very busy at my new temporary job and have an hour's commute each way which is why I haven't been commenting as much as usual. I'm still reading!

Harder Better Faster Stronger

Last week was an awful week concerning running. I was resting on Monday due to achey kneecaps from the weekend before. Then I eased back into exercise with a gentle 30 minute cross training session on Tuesday... Then I got a stomach bug and couldn't run until Sunday.

On Sunday I decided to do a tentative 6 mile run instead of the 7.5 miles on my 10k training plan. I didn't want to strain my knees again, and I wasn't sure if I were totally over the stomach bug. It was a beautiful late autumn day with a gentle wind, bright sunlight and blue skies overhead. I found a long, straight run along a disused railway line near my parent's home with a gentle ascent for the whole length of it. I planned a basic 3 miles out-and-back.

I passed dog walkers, walking walkers going down the track as it stretched out through the village where I grew up and beyond. I passed where my friend used to live and the farm where another friend used to keep her horses. I passed the lane you take down to a rocky inlet which has the best rockpools in the north of England, although not the best fossil-hunting - that honour belongs to another rocky cove further north of where my parents live. I passed a cafe where my mother and I once waited an hour for sandwiches and never went back again. I passed new houses creeping into the fields as the village has slowly expanded. I caught my first glimpse of the North Sea, blue-grey in the autumn sun. I passed one of my favourite pubs, which is conveniently located 100m from the track. I passed wooded valleys and rolling green fields.

At 3 miles - the point where I should have turned back - I felt great and decided to go the extra 0.75 of a mile that would expand the run into 7.5 miles. I stopped at 3.75 miles next to a house that was directly adjacent to the track. It was a former railway station. This was the end point of the bi-annual sponsored walk my secondary school used to do. Every other year the whole school would walk along the railway track from the town the school was in to this station. I stopped in the sunshine to catch my breath then turned back for my parents house.

I felt wonderful.

Ice, Ice...

I've done something quite stupid and something that you should definitely not do while training for a race. Two weeks ago I went from running 15-20 miles a week over the last month to running around 26 miles a week in order to jump into training for the Yorkshire Coast 10k halfway through a schedule. This is what everyone tells you not to do. Increasing mileage by more than 10% a week is foolish and you risk hurting yourself.

I think I have hurt myself. I think the extra miles coupled with a 6lb weight gain, and mainly the extra miles have made my knees a little cranky.

So my kneecaps started feeling a little stiff while running earlier this week. I ignored it thinking it was one of those niggles that would go away but now they feel a little stiff all the time and with a vague ache while running. I was supposed to do a long slow run of 7.5 miles today which I had to abandon at 4 miles because the ache and stiffness was increasing. I wasn't in particular discomfort nor experiencing any sharp pains, but that couples with my shorts chaffing me made me decide to abandon the run and return home. I'm icing and resting and I'll see how I feel tomorrow. If my knees are still aching and stiff I'll have tomorrow and Monday as rest days.

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If you're interested in the story about Paula Radcliffe losing her world record (it's now merely a world best) due to a ruling from the IAAF check out Episode 90 of Marathon Talk  where they discuss the rule change, particularly in reference to Radcliffe and also in reference to the use of male pace-setters at the recent Berlin Marathon. The presenters do explain that the IAAF ruling was intended to be a positive one recognising women's achievements without men being present in the race, but make the entirely sensible point that it could lead to unnecessary specialisations in marathon records. To quote: What next, the world best for fastest downhill marathon? The fastest marathon on a Saturday?

Intervals

I've had an ok week so far. I'm back on track with running regularly and have started training for the Yorkshire 10k at the end of October.  I did 10x1 minute interval session yesterday and a 4 mile run today. The intervals went better than the 4 miler even though my iPod started playing silly buggers yesterday a few minutes into the session.

Work-wise things are ok. As of mid-October I'm unemployed. I've decided to take a month or so off actively job-hunting after I finish my contract to complete my Citizens Advice Bureau training and get some other work experience under my belt. I've been ringing companies to ask if I could do some work experience to find my CV vanishing into the ether more often than not after they've told me to send it to them.

Until last Friday when I emailed a company and pretty much got a response straight away. I have a week organised for mid-November, which is awkward but do-able. I checked my inbox this morning to see an email from the company which was sent yesterday afternoon. They were asking if I were available to do a paid admin job for 4 weeks from October 10th, and could I answer ASAP? I sent an email saying I was very interested in the opportunity but unfortunately not available until 17th October. I asked if I could start later and just do 3 weeks.

I haven't heard back. So for a few hours I was over the moon and dreaming of them extending the temporary position forever, naturally. However now I'm getting a bit worried. It's not been that long in the grand scheme of things, but considering how prompt the company was in responding on Friday I'm not very hopeful.

Shoes!

First I was like, 'These trainers don't look that bad. They're 18 months old and have done hundreds of miles but the soles are still good and they still give loads of support.'

Then I thought, 'Well this isn't good, especially with winter coming...'

Good Life

Love this song. So uplifting and joyous. It's a song that makes you lift your head and chest, stand up straight and push yourself harder, if only because you're going to leave stress behind you.

Today was another club run. I was told it would be 10 x 1 minute fartlek sessions. I've never done fartlek before so I was looking forward to trying something different. It started with a 10 minute jog, then fartlek along a trail, and then when we were done ended with a 10 minute jog up a huge hill. In the end we did just over 6 miles, longer than the easy run on Tuesday. I was too out of puff to chat mych but it was great fun. However I struggled to keep up and didn't pace my speed intervals well. Sometimes I didn't push myself; sometimes I pushed myself too hard. I've never done speed intervals off the treadmill before so it's definitely a skill I need to work on.

I was also held back due to suffering from stomach cramps. Yup, the stomach ache when running fast is back again. :( One of the club runners who's a physio said this was due to not having a strong core. In laymen's terms this is due to the stomach muscles over-compensating for the extra movement in your legs and arms when you run fast and contracting aggressively in order to keep your internal organs stable and to provide a tighter base from which the rest of your body moves - I think! 

I've been doing 2 sets of 12 pushups a week over the past few weeks which might have aggravated my core muscles. I've stopped doing that in favour of yogalates so I hope the yogalates is gentler on my core muscles. If I don't notice an improvement I'll try dropping the number of sessions to one a week. The physio also said I don't need to go crazy about this and that doing a plank stretch during an ad break while watching TV a few times a week would also help. So if I continue to suffer I'll drop the yogalates and do that until I increase my core strength.

After the club I came home and defrosted a quorn spag bol sauce to eat with macaroni. When my food baby's gone down I'll be doing a yogalates session to stretch out.

Mowgli's Road

I couldn't find a version of the original song I wanted to feature, Je ne suis pas ta chose by Camille, that was still available on youtube. All the ones I found were pulled by the record company. Check it out anyway, it's a great song.

Mowgli's Road is also brilliant, with a bouncy rhythm that was great for my interval session today. Plus the video is simple and trippy. It reminds me of making paper figures at primary school with long trailing legs and arms made by crossing two strips of paper over each other again and again, plus its a pop song that doesn't rely on dressing the female artist like a stripper and casual misogyny.

Gym wise I went to a step class on Monday for cross training and my calves are protesting. Yesterday I ran 3.5 miles, and today I did some intervals. Blargh. I hate intervals.

Alive and Amplified

Due to work commitments I'm doing most of my running at the gym and it sucks. It's boring. There's nothing to look at aside from the TV and it's always on some rubbish reality TV show or MTV. I find myself thinking about how many more minutes I've got left to go 1 minute into the run. It's not as good as running outside in terms of technique,the difficulty of propelling yourself forward versus keeping up, not to mention fighting strong winds or dodging around people going slower than you are. It's hotter than running outside with no wind to cool you down and I get really sweaty. :(

Still, it's always there. It's never raining inside the gym. It's never sunny inside the gym - although sometimes in summer the AC does sometimes fail. It's never windy inside the gym. There are no jokers telling me I should be running when I'm walking to cool down after a 4 mile run. There are no hecklers at all in fact. I'm not going to be run over by someone on a school run. I'm not going to get overexcited Jack Russels running up to me and doing circles around my feet.

Today's run was a 35 tempo run. I intended to do 10 minutes warmup, 20 minutes at 85% of HRM, and 5 minutes cooldown. But I forgot to set a custom 85%, thought Garmin Level 5 corresponded to 85% when as far as I can tell it's closer to 90%. I should have known something was up when I was running at suspiciously close to race pace, but I kept up anyway. I know better for next time. It was a good run, and despite the dull surroundings I enjoyed it and felt knackered but energised at the same time by the end of it.

What a Difference A Day Makes

Ahh... Today's gym session went better than yesterday's. I had a better (but still not great :( ) night's sleep and two days of eating healthy and balanced meals at the correct times under my belt. Following Hal Higdon's plan  I had to do a 3 mile run at an easy pace. I set the treadmill to do a hill session at no more than level 3 to mimic running outdoors and used my Garmin to keep my heart rate under Zone 4. (I've just realized this is probably closer to 80% instead of Higdon's recommended 65%-75% so I need to set a custom max for my next run.)  I did the same yesterday and finished the 3 miles in 30:22 with an average heart rate of 161. Today I did it in 28:35 with an average heart rate of 161 as well.

I really love being able to do this.

São Paulo

Well I failed the fit test with a measly 6 push-ups and 15 sit-ups. At least I know what I need to work out. I've started and stopped the 100 pushups challenge twice now, but I'm going to start again and continue. I'm also going to do the 200 situps challenge so I can get fitter and hopefully pass the test in a few months or so.

I aced the run, however, running 2 miles in 15:06.

We did the fit test before work at 7.30am, and I did what I usually do when I exercise in the morning - ended up sleepy by 11am despite having refueled after the test on a healthy breakfast of porridge, fruit, and a boiled egg washed down with black coffee then overeating at lunch time. It was very hard not to stress about not losing weight this week.

Even though I was careful at dinner and ate well I managed to only go slightly over my daily calorie limit I got obsessed with going to the gym to burn off enough to bring me well under. I found myself thinking, 'If I jog for 30 minutes then go on the elliptical for 30 minutes I could easily burn 500 calories'. Even writing this out has woken up the antsy worried voice in my body that is saying I need to exercise like crazy even though my hamstrings and my sciatic nerve in my right bum muscle is aching like crazy so I've had to take ibuprofen today to dull the pain and I need let my body recuperate. Yes, I'm a wimp! I keep telling myself it'll be ok, I can eat well and work out tomorrow and I don't have to risk injuring myself.

The songs from an album I adore, by Guillemots. It's one of those rare albums where there are no filler songs and every one is a gem.

Walking on the Sun

I mentioned in my last post that a song by Amr Diab had started my gym sessions for what seemed like forever so I offered up the song and its video in all it's cheesy mid-nineties habibi pop glory to the gods of my iPod. It worked! Smash Mouth started this one and I was instantly transported back to being at secondary school. Looong time ago now.

Anyway, today I did a hill run at 6.5mph for 35 minutes. It wasn't that hard at all, but then I wasn't pushing myself either.

I've agreed to go to the gym with some colleagues tomorrow and do a fitness test. The easy level involves running 2 miles in 20 minutes 30 seconds, 17 push-ups within 2 minutes, and 45 minutes in 2 minutes. I could do the run easy-peasy since it's no faster than a slow jog, but like most runners I have zero upper body strength and haven't done a sit up in yonks. I could also do the elite test, which is 50 push ups in 2 minutes, 82 sit-ups in 2 minutes, and 2 miles in 15 minutes and 48 seconds.

I'll let you know how I get on tomorrow. :)

Oh, I keep getting aches after running in my leg muscles - one developed in my right ham-string after today's run - so I'm thinking about getting a foam roller to use for stretching. I know I've had the princely sum of 2 comments, but if anyone sees this post and has used a foam roller could they let me know what they thought of it?

What Else Is There?

I needed a good run, something I could do and afterwards feel like I'd achieve something, a distance and speed I could run and get into the rhythm and remind myself why I enjoy running: my feet tearing through the miles while I let my mind wander and relax. So gave myself a break. I ran 4.5 miles for my distance increase run today in 41.14 with an average pace of 09:10 or thereabouts.

While I was running What Else Is There? came on my iPod and the chilled out vibe suited the way I wanted to feel when I ended my run.

I think I had an easier run today because I've consciously eaten more. I'm trying to lose weight so am restricting calories. I think I found Thursdays and Friday's runs so hard because I'd been eating barely over 1000 calories net on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. I'd had a bit of a binge on Monday so even though I hadn't eaten healthily I had more fuel for my Tuesday run. I'm going to try to not restrict how much I eat to stupidly low levels and give myself a break on the food front as well.

Jimmy

So I found it hard to do my allotted 20 minute interval training this afternoon. Going over my blog just now I realise it's because I set my jog pace too fast - 6.5mph instead of 6mph. No wonder I couldn't recover after running for a minute at 8.1mph. Either way I'm going to downgrade my aim for the 10k to running it in under 55 minutes, because I really doubt I'll be able to complete any runs if I keep trying to train for a sub-50 minute 10k.

Ride

I need to stop whining and finding excuses for why I can't run. Today the reasons were: I forgot a second hairtie and couldn't tie my hair in a bun so it was left in a pony tail to flop around my neck and drip sweat down my back and irritate me, the almost-new earphones on my iPod shuffle broke the other day so I had to use my normal headphones and couldn't use the special toggle on my special iPod headphones to adjust the volume or skip tracks, I'd quickly bought some new running shorts and when I wore them today I realised they were far too short for my fat legs, a colleague got back from holiday so we all caught up on the gossip and the situation at work pissed me off all over again.

So what I'm trying to say is I failed to run a proper Race Pace Thursday again. I'm beginning to seriously doubt if I can manage the 10K in 50 minutes or even an hour. You know what's the most irritating? I started running 7.5mph on the treadmill, dropped to 7, then dropped to 6.5mph after I was finding it hard to breathe. And I still couldn't do it. I had to stop at 2 miles (instead of the planned 3) . And only the other day I had comfortably done 4 miles on the hill programme on the treadmill at... 6.5mph. So today I failed to do something easier than I did on Monday.

I have no idea what to do. Part of my thinks I should aim at a sub-55 minute 10K, part of me thinks I shouldn't be discouraged and still aim for the sub-50 minute 10K, or simply train for it and take what comes on the day.

I've signed up for a 5K a week on Sunday. A couple of us are running together and aiming for a sub-24 5K, so whatever happens I'm going to try to keep up.

Ambling Alp

About a year ago I was getting a lift home with a few colleagues when this song came on. It blew me away, I loved it. And I was introduced to the genius that is Yeasayer and a song which is named after an Italian heavyweight boxer Primo 'Ambling Alp' Carnera, references the German heavyweight boxer Max Schmelling, and American heavyweight boxer Joe Louis's fights with them which came to symbolise the fight against fascism, although Schmelling wasn't a Nazi and emigrated to the US. It went straight on my gym playlist.

So today I did cross-training. 30 minutes on the elliptical and 30 minutes cycling.

I've heard about a 5k on the 15th which I'm going to enter to see if I can break 24:30 to gauge how well I've progressed on my aim to run the 10k in 50 minutes. I'm feeling confident, to be honest.

La Ritournelle

I first heard La Ritournelle in a Cath Kidston shop in York and yes it is just a bit twee. Not that there's anything wrong with Cath Kidston (I have a very nice red bookbag with white stars from there, thank you very much) but I haven't worked out how I feel about the fetishisation of feminine domesticity the brand seems to push yet. Plus the clothes look pretty but hang on me like a bin-bag and make me look twice as big and twice as old. They're just so mumsy...

It's a very laid back song, but the driving drums and piano just make me want to stretch my legs out and sprint. Today's run was a gentle 3.5 miler.

Anyway, talking of feminine domesticity I did an olive oil-sugar body scrub today. I have dry skin that seems to mummify at the slightest hint of cold weather, hot weather, wet weather, wind, dust... so I do these as often as I can. It's simple and cheap. Do it in an empty bathtub or shower because it does tend to fall off and you don't want sugary olive oil staining your carpet and you need to be able to wash it off when you're done.

Anyway, pour granulated white sugar into a bowl, pour on enough olive oil so the sugar is translucent and no longer white but is not drowning either, stir, scrape bit into your palm, rub your hands to coat your palms and slap on to your feet, legs, or elbows and give it a good rub. Don't use too much or spread it too thickly it will all just fall off into the bath or shower however some will fall off anyway. Shower it off when you're done, and slip on some old jammies or jogging bottoms before making yourself a cup of tea and putting your feet up. :D

I've never used it on my face, and if I'm honest I wouldn't recommend using granulated sugar as an exfoliator on your face as it's probably too abrasive and harsh. Don't use it if your allergic to olive oil or sugar, obv.

Time 2... Get serious?

After a few years of tramping on treadmills I've gotten serious and entered a 10k in mid-July. It'll be my first 10k and the longest race I've ever entered. I've done a couple of 5ks, a 4.46 miler (was supposed to be 8k, but it wasn't), and have run 5 miles on the treadmill before but 10k will definitely be the furthest I've ever run at once. I could run a 10k tomorrow, but am training to run it within a time I can be proud of. I'm not a fast runner, and if I'm honest I hate pushing myself really hard so I'm never going to be a speedy fifi, but I'm aiming at 50 minutes or so because it dovetails with my goal of a 5k PR under 25 minutes.

So, on to the workout. Today was cross-train day. I ellipted? for 30 minutes at level 10 on the elliptical trainer covering 4.3 miles, then I cycled for around 25 minutes at level 6 covering 7.78 miles or thereabouts.

This song is by a amazingly talented guitarist called Ewan Dobson. A colleague passed it on to me a few days ago and I knew it had to go on my gym playlist as soon as I had heard the first few notes. Whenever I listen to it while running I feel energized and when it's over I'm like, 'It's over? Was that really 3 minutes? Already? I want it to go on for at least another few minutes...'

Which is how I feel after a really good run.