Paddy's Day, Mother's Day, Rainy Day, Sunny Day......

Leprechauns!

Green is the colour, leprechauns were the order of the day as several of us from club took part in a St Patrick's day parkrun.  The Bradford course just does not get any easier with it's teeny, tiny hill which has to be negotiated 3 times.  I hadn't realised what I looked like until I saw a photo afterwards but thought I had done very well to complete the race still wearing the silly hat Shirley had loaned me! At least it kept the pouring rain from soaking my hair! Bottle green tights completed the  look!  Shirley had professed she hoped her choice of costume would bring her luck as she chased the pot of gold! It certainly did as she finished in a personal best time, in addition to being 3rd Lady, fantastic! Easter bunnies may well be the next fancy dress parade!




The day of the Keighley Big 10k - the first race in the ERR Summer championship, which I decided not to take part in as it was Mothering Sunday, the weather was much brighter and sunnier. I was pleased to see the sun as I had made a request to my family that we all go walking in the Yorkshire Dales. Picnics packed we set off in the direction of Kilnsey Trout Farm.  I had originally wanted to walk up one of the Three Peaks but we decided against it as the weather forecast hadn't been very good. From there we went on to Burnsall where we had or picnic by the river and then set off to find Malham Cove, a little more planning was needed as our convoy pulled into a small village garage to ask for directions, turned out we were miles away and would have had to go back the way we came.  We decided to drive on and if we found a place of interest we would pull in.  Next stop, Ripley Castle, home of the Guy Fawkes 10 mile race.  Unfortunately signs made it clear that we weren't allowed into the grounds with our pooches, so we decided to go for a walk through the woods, I immediately recognised the path as the start of the race, on we walked in the sunshine, my grandsons had a ball. Rounding off the day with a Ripley's famous ice cream we returned home to have ourselves our very own Chinese buffet at home!

Me & My Boys!

Eventful, accidental & incidental!

What an eventful week it's been.  I'll keep on the subject of running otherwise I'll be here until next week!

Following a lovely Sunday and a productive Monday at work came the weekly speed and hills session at club.  I always go to these with the thought that I'll not put full effort in if I've raced the day before. However, I very rarely take my own advice and only on the odd occasion have I done something different, like running the 3 mile route we use for the monthly time trial as a recovery run for example.  I don't like doing this as it causes a splinter group which in itself could cause problems. Sometimes though, thankfully not very often, problems do arise,  I can count on one hand the times I remember incidents occurring whilst we have been on a run and all of those times we have analysed the situation and learnt from it.  Last Monday we were doing the Co-op pyramid, it's quite a jaunt now from Pulse Gym to the site of our mammoth pyramid session, but it does provide an excellent warm up in preparation.  The 9 reps which make up the pyramid actually amount to around a 10k distance.  Over the course of the evening I was mainly running with Sarah.  We steadily completed the pyramid and with one rep to go to complete the session we bade farewell to some who were going home immediately from the Co-op and off we went.  Returning to the start point there wasn't a soul in sight.  We pondered, had they decided to do another lap instead of standing getting cold? We waited, and waited, and waited.  Nobody emerged.  We then began to entertain thoughts that we had been left behind.  Sarah's intention was to return straight home and not go to Pulse since that was nearer for her. Nobody materialised so we decided we had better make tracks, refusing  her offer to run back to club or me to run to her house and she would bring me back in the car, I said to her that I would run to the top of the road and then she could go home and I might just meet up with the group as I retraced their steps back to the gym. Seemed like such a good idea at the time.

We parted company and I was alone. It felt quite late.  I then began to think about the journey ahead, I hadn't thought about the rows of shops down Swaine House Road where the kids normally hang about and quite often ridicule us or try to run alongside us.  I began to regret my decision to go it alone.  A van drove past and a kind soul hung out of the window and let out a blood curdling scream, I jumped out of my wits and my heart began to pound.  I carried on wishing I had my phone so I could phone home for a lift.  Dramatic it may sound but by now I was scared witless and even more so at the thought of having to go down past those shops to the gym! Note to self: run with phone in future! All's well that ends well, no harm done!

Wednesday's run passed without event thankfully! Another hilly 10 miler banked.

Next encounter was Friday as we undertook our 'social' run of the week.. Social was a good way to describe it, we had chatted all evening as we ran the twisting, turning route.  About 3 miles in and we turned a corner to go continue on our way, all of a sudden Gill fell to the ground.  Flat out.  My heart sank, I rushed over to her and as we all tended her, I advised her not to move and established where she was hurting, despite it looking like she had broken her arm, the position it was in, she said her ankle was hurting, we gently helped her to sit up but remain on the ground.  The swelling around her ankle was immediately visible.  Shirley immediately said she would go and get her car to get Gill back to club.  She did.  The club provided a bag of ice for her to put on it and we made her tea, allowing her to relax before making an attempt to see if she was going to be ok to drive home, thankfully she said she was.  On attending A & E later that night though they said they didn't think she had broken it but that it was unstable and so put her in a pot and asked her to return the following Tuesday.  We wait to hear  the news and hope it isn't broken.

Podium finish

The whirr of the treadmill is quite annoying as I sit and write.  I'm glad I'm not the one on it.  Martin (aka marathonman as I now like to call him) is completing his last run of the week as he gets ever closer to the London marathon and chose, on this beautiful Sunday to do it on the treadmill.  Rejecting an offer from me to do another double whammy.  Having returned from the beautiful market town of Otley, the home of the final race in this year's Peco cross country league, Spring was definitely in the air, the sun shone with only a light breeze making it feel a little cool. He refused my offer to accompany him on an outdoor run in favour of the treadmill, each to their own. The course at Otley, although a tough, hilly one, was set in the beautiful surroundings of Chevin Forest Park (although it was stated to be held in Danefield Park? 'Googling' it didn't reveal it's location so I was baffled when we arrived to find that's where it was.  I may stand corrected but I've never heard it called that before.  Anyway now it's done I can say it was a lovely race and Team ERR have pledged to come back and run round there on a training session - not sure how we'll get on without all the lovely marshals and the thousands of pieces of red and white tape to guide us!

The final Peco race also heralded the final race in the club's Winter championship.  Summer and the light evenings it brings with it really are on their way. I'm really excited and proud that the culmination of the season's hard work has yielded me the honour that I will be presented with Ladies first place for the first time ever! I've been awarded trophies for taking part, 2nd and 3rd  - never in nearly five years of being at the club, have I earned a first. I can't describe what it feels like (akin to a podium finish I imagine!) but something like 'a kid in a sweet shop' will come close.  Maybe I'll have a better description when I actually get my hands on the trophy!

                                                             My treasure trove so far

Unzipped but doubled!

In terms of achieving my 'Marchvellous' race time I'm afraid I well and truly didn't 'zip up the man suit' as much as I thought I had!  There was I boasting that I had predicted a time 4 minutes less than my time for the same race last year and although I didn't particularly have a good race for one reason or another I comforted myself with the thought that I had almost hit my target - in fact just 22 seconds out having predicted 54:19 I finished in 54:41 - however, when I logged onto the Marathon talk site to log my race time I soon realised I had in fact entered 56:19. I'm not entirely sure what happened there, whether I got cold feet or made a mistake - who knows. I could of course send a whingeing email and beg for my time to be altered or.......maybe not!  So I will be penalised for going too fast when it comes to the end of the month and my total score emerges, well at least it's better than being too slow!

That aside I was pleasantly surprised that after a mad dash from Dewsbury back to Bradford I did in fact manage the 'double' even if it was made all the more dramatic as it started to snow! It didn't dawn on me until I got back that I had just 15 minutes to dash home, get a very quick shower, change and pick Paul up as promised at 11:10 to meet the rest of the runners at Morrisons at 11:20.  Only a few minutes late I was surprised at the amount of people who turned up in the awful weather.  That's team spirit for you!  The 1 pm YVAA race at Otley was much more pleasant than the town centre Dewsbury run despite both been run in relentless rain, perhaps it might have been the absence of running past some of Batley's hot spots - the Frontier and a myriad of different shops and mill buildings. It did feel warmer in the afternoon.  It also carried so much more of a team spirit as these races usually do - along with the Peco cross countries.  It's so much nicer when the team are there cheering in each runner up until the last.  We even hung around to cheer in an Idle runner and friend Anna.  Getting home tired and weary I had a long soak in the bath and made the rest of the day a PJ day, not that there was much of it left.

                                       The famous Frontier (formerly the Batley Variety Club!)

Next morning I was pleasantly surprised to find I felt really good.  I longed to run with club in the evening but alas it was the monthly 3 mile time trial of which I am usually chief timer. I do love it though being able to announce that the runners have run something like 4 minutes faster than last month, it's such an achievement to some, it's not an easy course and has countless roads to cross too. Maybe I'll try and get a short run in today at some point, if not I've got the lovely Gaisby Lane to look forward to for tomorrow's club run.

Marathontalking.....

Two weeks have passed me by again, very quickly!  I've been so busy socially and running wise I hardly know where to begin! Thankfully I've managed to keep up with the running and fit in the socials too. Starting with son Tom's 21st Birthday, the campervan cake caused me a bit of headache and a missed yoga class on Thursday to boot.  It was worth it though as his eyes lit up as we sang the obligatory 'Happy Birthday' and he proclaimed 'it's mint!!'. Bowling and a meal ensued causing my only missed training run in the last two weeks. I forgive myself that after two tough races in two weeks, Golden Acre Park and Huddersfield but I'm saying no more! In anticipation of missing Wednesday's club run I completed a 14 mile run from Silsden to Apperley Bridge with my London marathon training husband in the morning.

The highlight though was last Wednesday evening when instead of going to club I attended Leeds University - 'Marathontalk Live', part of the 'Celebrating the Games' series of lectures.  If you haven't listened to the weekly podcasts put out by Martin Yelling and Tom Williams this will mean nothing but believe me there is a mountain of info, advice and just plain humour to be gleaned from these podcasts.  Tony Audenshaw also has a massive input in the form of 'Tony's Trials', hilarious and even more so live.  I'm now eagerly awaiting the downloadable version to listen again - it will be bizarre, I'm sure, to hear the actual conversations since I was there sat in the audience.  A small disappointment on the night was the fact that Liz Yelling was supposed to be there but due to her young daughter being unwell she was unable to attend.  She was, however, replaced by GB Olympic marathoner Tracey Morris who had agreed to step in at the last minute.  The name was familiar and I initially thought she was a Pudsey Pacer's runner.  It turned out she is actually a member of Valley Striders. Billed as 'fun runner to olympian' after she ran the Leeds Abbey Dash in 33 minutes and was fast tracked to an elite start at the London Marathon, Tracey gave us a frank insight into some of her races and a typical training week for her.  A very inspirational lady, she truly came across as just a club runner who 'done good'! No doubt I may have been on the start line of one or two local races in which she has taken part.  Listen on the Marathontalk website when it's available.  I'm sure you won't be disappointed.  You may also find yourself hooked and searching through the archives of past podcasts.  The interview with ex Eccleshill Road Runner, Diane Aykroyd (Episode 96) is particularly inspirational. Diane talks with such enthusiasm and also in a way in which 'ordinary' people can relate to. I truly admire her decision to tackle her first marathon at the age of 63.

Febulous has gone fairly well (only a small failure to hit my long run target on one occasion) and we have now moved into Marchvellous, as well as, for me, three target runs and a target long run distance each week, we now have the addition of predicting the time for a race during March.  Points are awarded for hitting the target time spot on but we are penalised equally for being faster or slower than the predicted time! Thank goodness then that my race, the Dewsbury 10k is the first of the 'double' I plan to do this coming Sunday, as I have, I think 'zipped up the man suit' and predicted that my time will be 4 minutes faster than my time for the same race last year!!  Due to Dewsbury being cancelled on 5th Feb when it snowed it now clashes with the next in the YVAA race series prompting a few of us to do both! Well there's a first for everything!

When the going gets tough

The going's got tough this last week and it's beginning to show - it always seems that if I drop down my training it has an undesirable effect. Although I've still managed to get out each training session, after proclaiming how Marathontalk's motivation tool had really helped me to get out of the door in the adverse weather conditions last week - I've just found it impossible to keep it up this week which has resulted in my having not done my long run of 10 miles and I've now gone down the league table! I'm not entirely sure just what has been the cause of my maladies but I'm hazarding a guess at it being the bitterly cold conditions we have endured on some of our runs of late. Friday's run up Westfield Lane was particularly a probable cause as I really felt the biting wind. I'm now sporting a face full of cold sores, mouth ulcers, dry itching skin and numerous niggles. At the other end of the scale, Sunday's YVAA first race of the 2012 series turned into a near mud bath in parts due to the milder weather conditions.  Most of the ice and snow had melted and although it was still quite cold it was rather wet and muddy in places.  A rather enjoyable race though.  I played a bit of cat and mouse with Helen from club, she still managed to finish a little ahead of me! A fantastic turn out for Eccleshill meant team spirit a plenty!

Today it's Peter May to the rescue, I hope, at least for the aches and pains and maybe the oil will help the dry skin! Monthly massage day seems to have come around at just the right time again!

I'm desperately in need of a little TLC I think! The choccies are already received from my Valentine and I'll have to drop some hints for some pampering I think. We are all guilty of taking our bodies for granted and then we are surprised when it comes to a head and we begin to suffer for our neglect.  I'm definitely going to try and pay more attention or at least get someone else to!

I'm booking next Wednesday off to attend a lecture at Leeds Uni hosted by the Marathontalk gang of Martin Yelling, Tom Williams and Liz Yelling which is part of the 'Celebrating the Games' lecture series.  Looking forward to that, Marathontalk Live! I just hope they don't have the motivation scores in front of them!

Well at least I'll be able to run the chocolates off tomorrow - oh I do love Valentines Day!

Absolutely Febulous!

The week that was! The Monday before last's speed and hills session (following my horrendous Brass Monkey Half Marathon) was a busy affair. Lots of members, old, new and returning turned up to take part in the 'short interval' session.  Arriving at the start my intention was to run the 12 1/2 minutes out and back steadily as a recovery run - I counted the runners down and off we went. I, though, soon came to an abrupt halt! Looking down at my watch and trying to switch it from recording miles to recording minutes I ran straight into a lamp post! I literally saw stars and shot off like a bat out of hell! Someone remarked when I got back that I had run off quickly, 'yes, due to the shock' I replied! However, I did complete the interval in 25:07, just 7 seconds out - I joked that I had spent those 7 seconds hugging the lamp post! I don't though, recommend running into lamp posts to improve your speed! I did go on to have several more mishaps that week so was glad to see the back of it!

I promised myself I would get up early to run on Friday morning as I was unable to train with club as I was visiting St Mary's school in Menston to watch my niece perform in their production of 'Sound of Music', awakening to the dark, cold morning I decided against it! Thinking to myself that I'll fulfil my Marathontalk 'Febulous' target with the Dewsbury 10k. The 'Jantastic' target for January was somewhat more attainable since you just had to state how many runs you would do each week, now we have to attain the same number of runs and in addition set a target long run distance. I had done the distance run but was still short in the numbers.

The first snow of Winter fell on Saturday afternoon, right on cue, the forecasters were right for once! Having planned to attend a meal to celebrate my cousin's 50th Birthday I began to worry if we would make it.  I agreed to drive since I had the Dewsbury 10k on Sunday morning.  The snow continued to fall but having made the decision to 'carry on regardless' we set off in earnest to pick up my Aunty who lives up one of the steepest roads around this area, long term Eccleshill members will be familiar with it, Averingcliffe Road, part of the Eccleshill Tuff 10k route - a race I only ever got to marshal. Anyway the trusty Terios got us to her house without too much trouble - even if our hearts were in our mouths the whole journey! We had a lovely meal despite the very late arrival of the Birthday Boy and being a little short of the numbers booked in to eat at the Three Singhs.  I began to wonder whether the race would be on but having checked the Dewsbury Road Runners website all day they were adamant the race was going ahead, all well and good if there was little or no snow in Dewsbury but could the runners from out of town get there? Alas, around 9:30 pm I received a text from a fellow Road Runner to say that the race was cancelled.

Getting up early on Sunday morning, everywhere was white. I studied my options, fail for my first week of Febulous or get out and run.  I decided that I would take Dave and go up to Calverley when Martin went to feed the chickens etc and then run from there or run walk whatever was possible.  To my surprise as I got dressed into my running gear, Martin pulled his out of the wardrobe and announced he would come with me.  He too was going to be short for his Febulous target.  How's that for a motivational tool! Despite thinking on many occasions that I hadn't really challenged myself - the thought lurked there in the back of my mind that I would let the Eccleshill team (and myself) down if I didn't hit the targets I had set. What a very rewarding run we had, everything is so much more beautiful covered in snow and the frozen canal looked amazing.  The ducks waddling along to find unfrozen water! Amazingly we managed over 9 miles - mission accomplished!

It's a little late to join now to score for the team but if you wanted to you can still register and set your own targets for the rest of February's Febulous and March's Marchvellous- just log on and register it's really easy! Good Luck and keep your eyes on what the team are doing!