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Free places for first time runners at Bupa Great Run events

If you are (or know someone who is) a new runner thinking of entering your first race then this is the opportunity you may have been waiting for. Bupa, sponsors of my favourite 10K, the London 10,000m, is offering free places to new runners at their 5K Great Run events…. See their press release below or find Details here.

Thousands of first time runners are being offered free race places by Bupa as part of its quest to inspire more people in the UK to be physically active. There are 2,000 free race places being offered across the Bupa Great Run 5km events. This includes the Bupa Great Edinburgh 5km (Sunday 14th July), the Bupa Great North 5km (Saturday 14th September) and the Bupa Great South 5km (Saturday 26th October).

The race places are being targeted specifically at first time runners of all abilities who have never previously taken part in a Bupa Great Run series event, to help prompt them to get and stay active. Regular runners are also being encouraged to sign-up friends and family members who have previously spoken about their desire to start running to inspire them to get started. Healthcare company Bupa, have supported nearly 2 million runners since 1993 when their Great Run series sponsorship began.

Paula Franklin, Bupa Medical Director said: “Running can have a very positive effect on both your physical and emotional health. We really want to encourage as many people as possible to try running, as lots of people experience great joy and reward from it. A 5km event can be a great place to start and has a relaxed and friendly atmosphere. There is no pressure to run and those who prefer can walk some or the entire race. Either way we believe that taking part will give you a general feeling of wellbeing. We hope that by providing free places for first time runners we will encourage more people to be active going forwards.”

Individuals can apply for a free race place by visiting www.bupa.co.uk/myfirstrun and submitting their personal details, with 2,000 winners being selected at random by Bupa.


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Inspiration

What is it about May that dampens my mojo? Is it the long anticipated arrival of spring and summer that never happens? Or is it that I wake up and find myself almost halfway through the accelerating year with all plans and deadlines squashed up against the long summer holidays. Panic!

So here we are in May again and I’ve lost my way with my running a little and have no enthusiasm for work, blogging or domestic organisation. This year I’m also a bit of a cat on a hot tin roof with elder son home on ‘study’ leave whose idea of revision is a little short of mine. I guess he’s no different from me at that age and my source of stress is seeing him make the same mistakes as me. I just need to take a chill pill and leave him to choose his own path, it’s his life.

It’s another May when my Bupa London 10,000m race pack lands on the door mat and I think ‘Oh hell, I’m sure I was going to do some focussed training and for that’. I’ve run this race since it started in 2008. The first 3 years I got progressively faster with my 10K PB in 2010. Since then it’s become a bit of a pyramid and I’m going back the other way! I really hope I don’t complete the pattern for the 6th race next week.

Fortunately I got lots of inspiration at Write This Run on Sunday. A super day with great speakers. I was inspired and moved hearing about their experiences of Ultra Running, overcoming debilitating illness to compete at triathlon and setbacks to run a marathon a week and raise awareness of mental health. I am inspired to ‘get on with it’, run further, smarter and get back to parkrun. I was inspired, informed and encouraged to write and blog more, follow my instincts and have picked up new ideas and confirmation of things I am already trying to do. We had an informative and entertaining day and then we went for a run with an Olympic marathon runner! Well done and thanks to Laura and Liz.

It’s a great morning here today, there is a beautiful blue sky and I think I’ve shaken off my cold. I even managed to drive all the way around Shepherds Bush without stopping (small pleasures from simple things) which must be a good sign! Time to dust myself down and act on my inspiration.

Thank goodness that Juneathon is around the corner.


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It worked

Since I wrote about hating long runs earlier this month, most of my running has been at flat-out pace or at least one that requires a lot of effort.  From running a half marathon to bashing out mile or kilometer intervals at BMF run club. I’ve also pushed myself back up to the faster group for BMF classes where they take off at a hell of a pace with my little legs screaming ‘whatever happened to the warm up?’

This Thursday, half way around my second mile repeat at run club, I turned the corner into the wind, and thought something like ”this is blooming hard work” and “wouldn’t it be nice to go for a nice easy long SLOW run on a warm evening instead!”

My calves and achillies are aching and definitely telling me to ease off all the high intensity stuff and add back a few easy paced runs.  I’ve also found myself adding songs to my iPod shuffle because I thought they’d be great to listen to out on a long run.

Looks like I have invented my cure.  Just as well because I have entered Brighton Marathon 2014.


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Running Analysis

Back in Action UK kindly offered me a complimentary Running Analysis at one of their London clinics last week. A quick read of their website beforehand and I realised that this was just what I needed after the poor start to the year that I’ve had with endless niggles.

‘Frustrated by that nagging injury that’s stopping you exercising? Well, it could all be down to your running style, the way your feet hit the ground, or as simple as a tight hip flexor.’

We started by talking about my running, previous injuries, current niggles and discussed hip flexors,  glutes and ITBs, stretching and foam rolling.  Julia observed me standing and doing single leg calf raises and squats checking my balance and hip stability. I generally have tight calves and achilles, because I midfoot strike, and we discussed the need to strengthen my calves and achilles by doing these exercises regularly.  She examined my legs, particularly the side of my left calf and knee which I had pain and cramp in on my recent race and answered my questions about the proper use of heat or ice in recovery.  Julia advised me to engage my leg and glute muscles before exercise by doing squats, lunges or a bridge with good posture.  This will fire the right muscles for running and promote good form when running.

I was then observed running on the treadmill.  Some of the feedback for improving my form is,

  • Work on a ‘parallel foot strike’ (as if running on tram lines) as I tend to run as if on a tightrope and this movement of my legs across my body can put strain on the ITB.
  • Slightly increase my stride length so my foot hits the ground at a good angle.
  • Keep my shoulders down and arm movements back and forwards and not across the body twisting my torso.
  • Be more aware of my left side as my right leg leads. When I concentrated on my left leg my running did become smoother and more efficient.
  • Making sure I ’kick up’ my legs a bit more behind me to gain momentum for the forward stride so I don’t rely on my hip flexors to propel my legs forward.

I’ve also come away with a mental list of  key exercises and stretches to support my running, some like squats, lunges, calf raises that I know I should to be doing.  In addition the bridge for glutes and hip flexors, with a ball between my knees to keep hips knees and feet in line and to roll down from the bridge vertebrae by vertebrae to release tension in my back.

A very useful, informative, fact packed session from a friendly, professional physio practice with lots of running and sports expertise.  Some new information gained as well as useful reinforcement and reminders of things I should do for strong injury free running.

Hopefully I won’t be in need of physiotherapy for running injuries too soon but if I do I know who to call.

backinaction


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East London Half Marathon

A race in two halves. A race I didn’t enjoy.

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The first half (and lap one of the two lap course).

I started a little fast but then, although slowing with the increasing heat, was working well to maintain an overall average pace below 8.50. I found the course convoluted and a little dull. Much of it was on a cycle track the Greenway. This was the part I liked least. It wasn’t very green, all I remember is concrete and discarded water bottles. We started in the middle and did an ‘out and back’ in each direction with runners going both ways next to each other on the narrow course. At one end there was an extra out and back on a bit of dual carriageway (right next to a queue of buses and cars) and under a flyover.

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Back to West Ham Park and on to the second lap.

Can’t I just take the 10K finish funnel and call it a day? I can’t face running that over again. My mind is weakening and I’m sure I’m not feeling at all great. Is there anyone else running this race feeling the same? Fancy a trip to the pub instead?

But I had got up at 6am and travelled across London. I had to finish what I’d started and get the damn medal. If I left it as unfinished business I’d have to come back and do it again. That would be far worse than a second lap! I forced myself on but once the mind has lost its determination, holding pace is impossible and all the niggles surface. I stopped looking at my watch, it was hot and I was thirsty but drinking water made my stomach ache and my left calf and knee were cramping badly. I dragged myself to the end and for the first time ever didn’t raise a little sprint to the finish.

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The race, organised by the Tessa Sanderson foundation had some organisational issues. Most were due to the increased scale of the new Half Marathon this year. We queued for 30 mins to put our bags into the baggage drop and then more than 30 mins to retrieve them. The Marshalls were friendly and willing but it was obvious that those manning some of the water stations had no experience of what works and what doesn’t. A little briefing could have made a big difference.

On balance I had a bad day which I contributed to myself. I was probably too optimistic in my starting pace for the warmest day in over 6 months and for my recent training. In hindsight I wore the wrong shoes which had made the outside of my knee and calf a little tight when I wore them over Easter so it’s not surprising I suffered over 13 miles. I also got my hydration and fuelling wrong for the hot day.

On the day there just wasn’t the atmosphere or environment to help me push through regardless. I won’t be back for another run of this race, mainly because I didn’t enjoy the course, but I suppose I’m glad I tried it once.

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I hate long runs!

I have been thinking recently about how I feel now that Spring Marathons are in full swing and that I have pulled out of the Milton Keynes Marathon.

I am full of admiration for everyone who has made it through marathon training this winter. The weather has been foul and the cold has certainly contributed to some of my niggles.  How anyone finished a 20(+) mile run in the sleet this March with the added wind chill is amazing.  I didn’t even manage to get out for one lap of my 20 mile race let alone 5!

I am a little envious of everyone’s successes so far and that wonderful feeling of achievement that many friends will get when they complete their marathons over the next few weeks. It all takes hard work and putting the hours in on long runs. It was trying to fast forward and catch up my long run distance after injury that made me admit I was over doing it and postpone my marathon number 2.

I am tempted looking at other marathons later this year or for next and still hold ambitions of improving my marathon time but I think too much about the ‘whens’ and ‘ifs’ of the training and best timings with other commitments.

So my thoughts always come back to long runs and I have to admit that I just don’t like doing them. I can’t help but think that maybe if I liked them a little more I might not have been so quick to drop out of my marathon training.  I am happy to run 8 or 10 miles (and race a half marathon) but over that and I get a bit of a mental block and dread them before I start.  It was at the 12 mile point (or maybe it’s the magic 2 hour curfew) of a long run when I admitted to myself I was bored, cold and fed up and probably trying to push myself to hard too soon after injury (so got on a bus) and made my decision.

I then had a bit of a running slump week.  I cross trained and went to BMF where the runs are short before picking myself up with thoughts of shorter races.  I did manage to force myself out for a long run last weekend because the odd long run is still a necessary evil for half marathon training.  However even with a pre planned 12 mile route my legs somehow brought me home after 10 miles!  I dragged out another mile looping the block before I had enough muscle aches and pains to justify calling it a day.

Fortunately my recent saviour of my running mojo has been BMF run club.  I’m lucky that BMF Hyde Park is one of the BMF parks that holds a run club for members.  I’ve meant to go ever since I’ve been a member and after 6 or 7 years I finally ran out of excuses! (Dark won’t kill me and being home at 7pm for dinner and bed time for my sons, now 16 and 14, isn’t an issue anymore.)   There I have really enjoyed running some fast intervals.

It’s hard to describe the buzz I get from it which I don’t get from long runs.  I know it’s going to be hard work beforehand but don’t get that feeling of dread.  It’s amazing how you can blast out a km or more at best effort, thinking you’re ‘all-in’ but after 90 seconds recovery bounce off to do it all over again, and again. Running in the dark doesn’t bother me and it’s great to be running at my pace but within a group.  Fortunately both times I have found myself well placed mid-pack where there is the challenge to chase the front-runners and comfort of not being at the back.

The tired feeling after speed intervals is better too!  I sleep so well afer a tough speed session and my muscles feel happily tired rather than being painful and stiff after long runs.  Speed is giving me a spring in my step.  It’s great to find some pace again and my legs are feeling lighter now that I am leaving the slow shuffling heavy legged long slow runs behind me.

Good luck and well done to everyone who has or is about to run a marathon in the next few weeks.  If like me it’s not happening for you either this time, our time will/may come!  Or maybe as with many things in life, each to their own, embrace our differences and maybe admit we are more suited to other distances.


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I have been reviewing the situation

and have made a grown up decision… I am not running my second marathon at Milton Keynes on 6th May this year.

I am just not prepared enough. Several small niggles and silly injuries have made an impact on my mileage since Christmas and although now back into training properly, I realised this week that my plans to increase my long runs in time to be marathon ready are too optimistic.  I was pulled up sharply with ITB pain on Tuesday after my long run this weekend. Too much too soon without a solid base of a couple of months good running behind me. Just comparing recent mileage with my monthly totals in the 4 months before I ran Rutland Marathon last Autumn is enough to show me what’s missing. Cross training has kept up my fitness levels and started to improve my all over strength but neither can help me go from 0 to 30 miles running a week quickly without getting even more injuries.

I will continue with my planned build-up races, dropping back to the 16 mile option at the Hyde Park 20 and look forward to racing the East London Half in April and then move on to some 10K races after that. I will also be continuing with my TRX training and plyometric exercises which I’m learning with my PT and really enjoying, especially as I can see the start of some noticeable toning effects!

I suppose I could, having already entered the race and with no deferral option, still go ahead and run it with less training and a get round run-walk strategy. I would however like to go into number 2 marathon at least as well-trained as I was for the first. I’m not such a seasoned marathoner to be able to take part for the ‘fun of it’ or ‘on a whim’ without any impact on my body not to mention the fact it would take a bloody long time!

In addition I now discover that race day is the day before my Son’s first GCSE exam. Not that I’m much use to him revision wise (he’s been educating me about 20th century european history) nor nagging! But there are times, as the parent of a teenager, when you just need to be boringly there, available, in the background, doing nothing much.

Marathon not quit, just postponed.


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Long Runs and Buses

londonbusesbyadam.zenfolio.com

At times my long runs are much less reliable than buses but when I’m marathon training I (usually) manage to do them a bit more often.

Sometimes frequent buses are just what you need when fatigue sets in, it’s getting late, cold, you’re feeling knackered and just want to get home.

That’s what happened to me on Sunday. Thirteen plus miles on my feet and I had just plain had enough.  Trouble was I was at least 3 miles from home.  Stagger on? Walk and take even longer? or phone a friend (OH)?  A that moment a bus came round the corner.  I have never ever been so pleased to see a 295 bus in all my life! (and for my habit of always carrying my oyster card and some cash).  And so I was rescued from deepest Fulham.

After last weekend’s Half Marathon I had gone out on my planned long run.  It turned out to be a step up in mileage too far having had time out with injury and 16 miles was just a bit too much for only my 3rd long run post injury.  Either that or I have thought too much recently about Half Marathon being the perfect distance and my current favourite race.

So I have had to make a few more adjustments along the road towards my marathon.  I will do 16 miles next week and not run the first of my 20 mile races on Sunday as it just feels too soon.  I will save that distance for the week after and maybe again during April.

Top tip for other would-be bus hoppers during long runs.  You can’t stay on the bus too long before you cool down and start to get chilled.  I did get off the bus in traffic nearer home and run (at a much faster pace) most of the last mile home rounding my run up to 14.4 miles.


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The thing about marathon training

The thing about marathon training is that just getting through to the end of the training plan is as good a mental preparation for the race itself than anything else I can think of.  What with injuries, bad weather, colds and flu to mention but a few and I haven’t started on the list of things day-to-day life can throw in our way.

I’ve had to be adaptive, realistic and strong to keep going with strength work and cross training (I nearly came to like spinning) and not give up and sulk.  Fortunately Milton Keynes marathon is a few weeks after many of the other marathons so I have a little more time than others to play with.  I have jumped from week 6 of 16 week plan A, to week 2 of 12 week plan B and after 3 weeks off running, nursing my painful piriformis (backside) I’m back!

I missed a Half Marathon the week before last and was getting anxious about the Bath Half Marathon next weekend.  However I’ve built up my mileage over the past 10 days and managed a good steady 10 miles on Sunday so Bath is on, albeit with a new game plan, (based on 2 weeks training and a 10 mile longest run), to get round and enjoy it rather than chasing a PB.


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No running, no blogging

Oops it’s been a while since I last blogged.

It’s because I haven’t been running and when I can’t run I get grumpy and listless and don’t feel like writing, nor much else for that matter.  Anyway, if I did blog it would be pretty dull and all about my whinges, whines and injury woes so you haven’t missed much.

So I’m all cured and back running?  Not quite.

I haven’t run for over 2 weeks and a painful test mile last weekend made it clear that I shouldn’t run 3 miles let alone 13.1.  No Portsmouth Coastal Half Marathon for me this weekend.  I had hoped to be able to run it slow as a training run but there’s a big difference between being under trained and unable.  This race must be jinxed for me! I entered it last year and never made it because of family commitments.  Better luck next year – I really do intend to run it one day!

I’ve kept busy with cross training to keep up my efforts to lose weight as well as keeping up some level of fitness.  I’ve swum, had some  TRX PT sessions and made it to my first ever spin class.  Now I know why I run and don’t cycle! I’m uncoördinated enough on a static bike!

I’ve treated my injury, (piriformis pain) with sports massage, ice, heat and stretching plus my PT sessions have concentrated on stretching and strengthening my hips, glutes and legs.  The exercises have certainly helped. The day after a particularly tough PT session I foolishly took my wobbly legs to a spin class.  Afterwards was agony! However the more all the other muscles in my bum and thighs hurt the less pain from my piriformis.

My next Half Marathon is now Bath in 2 weeks.  I was beginning to panic about being ok to run this one as well, especially after a bad mile run test on Sunday.  Today, however, suddenly the dagger pain in my bum has been replaced by a dull ache.  I don’t know which of the various treatments has been useful or even if it is just my piriformis has finally relaxed after time but for a few easy warm up runs things felt better and I’m feeling optimistic.

Don’t worry I won’t do anything foolish, like dashing out a 10 miler or anything.  I still plan to swim and spin this week and start building up the running slowly.

Hopefully for the second time I will learn my lesson and start doing all my stretches and strength exercises regularly. AND keep doing them when I get back on form and not waiting until I’m injured again.

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