New Shoes, in the news, racing blues.......

My new marathon training partner arrived in style and in double quick time! I was astonished when I logged onto my Fetcheveryone account to add my shiny new and very pink Nike Air Pegasus 29's to my kit list, I had logged well over 800 miles in my 28's - no wonder it felt like I was running barefoot on the pavements! With 13 weeks to go I'm sure they will serve me well!

Fame at last! I featured in a headline in our local paper the Telegraph & Argus' Running Log which ran a report on the Muddy Fools 2 race at Golden Acre Park, it caused quite a stir amongst family and friends as people scrambled to let me know that I was in the paper!

Mother nature has tried her utmost to scupper training and my Jantastic targets of late but I'm pleased to say that although she nearly succeeded I have managed to keep on track one way or another! Beginning with last Monday - ok, so we were unable to carry out our speed and hills session but a hardy few of us did manage to brave the icy conditions and carry out a short recovery run which was adequate since the Peco XC at Bramley Fall Park had been a rather tough affair the day before. Wednesday was a different story however. More snow had fallen. We set off from club intending to do 6 miles in light of the fact that a lot of us had the half marathon at the weekend.  Two miles into the run and I couldn't get my hands warm, we stopped to regroup and my head spun, I felt as though I was going to faint, be sick or both. I sat on a low wall and put my head down. Starting to feel better I stood up, the same happened again so I sat down again.  I asked the group to go on without me. Marc stayed behind and before long suggested we ring home for a lift.  Getting home I felt much better but worn out and deflated.  Was it a recurrence of my low iron levels of some 7 months ago - a visit to the docs for me! I kind of hope that it is iron so at least I can correct it, we'll see. Friday she nearly thwarted me again but I still got my run in on the treadmill. I was quite pleased that I managed 4.5 miles.

The Brass Monkey had been in doubt all week but understandably Knavesmire Harriers didn't want to make a decision too early and get it wrong.  It was no surprise then on Saturday afternoon when the news we were all dreading came, the race was cancelled. I consoled myself with a lovely home cooked meal,dreadful Saturday night television and the promise of a Sunday roast next day, something we don't often get to do since races or other activities get in the way.

10pm I noticed I had a text message on my phone.  It was from club mate Dawn, did I plan to run Sunday? No I hadn't not at all, I took full advantage of the race cancellation to do nothing and have a lazy Sunday, or so I thought.  I immediately got back into training mode and weighed up all the benefits of replacing the cancelled race with a run.  Instructions with the boys on when to put the roast in the oven and 10.5 miles later it was done to a turn! I know I felt so much better lazing on the sofa for the afternoon than I would have done had I not run! It also completed my 4 runs for my Jantastic target too! Result!

 Friday's run on the mechanical excuse for a road has made me determined to run outside this evening - time will tell - the holly berries on the tree in my garden are still visible, just!

And the winner is.........

The organisers of the Peco XC races decided they would stage a 'Muddy Fools 2 race' (Muddy Fools was originally held on April lst last year as part of the Peco presentations). We were told that runners were to be handicapped according to their Peco race finishing times for race one and two of this year's series.  Totally unaware that this would impact on my handicap I ran the first XC race hungover following my Great Nephew's 18th Birthday party, I decided it was better to plod around with Dawn who was doing her first race back following injury than sit at home nursing my hangover. On turning up to register for the Muddy Fools a few weeks later I learnt that my handicap was slightly less than it might have been had I run race one at my usual pace or indeed had I been able to run race 2! Slightly embarrassed I was set off in the second wave, I'm not totally sure but I think the fastest runners were set off some 20 minutes after me with various time delayed waves in between. I was soon in the lead having overtaken the first wave (Hilary).  I drove on, putting all I had into the race.  I do not find it easy to run at Golden Acre park, aside of the uneven, muddy and hilly terrain, I have great difficulty navigating the place, thank heaven for marshals! Glancing at my Garmin which read 2.5 miles I immediately heard footsteps behind me, a pleasant rather fast looking athlete said 'well done' to which I replied 'well done you'! Mentally writing my blog I 'wrote', "I stayed in the lead for 2.5 miles", with that more and more speed merchants passed me by, I surged on thinking I had done well to stay in the lead for so long.   Round and round the park I ran, through the bogs, up the hills and through the woods as fast as my legs would carry me. Coming up a hill the lady marshal shouted at me "keep going, you're still in the lead". I was puzzled to hear this when suddenly I heard a familiar voice (that of Liz Jones of HPH) shouting at me to 'do it for the girls' and that I was doing brilliant.  I knew now that I was heading to the finish and with renewed vigour I bounded up the field and then down to the start area, around the perimeter and then up the finish funnel. I had 'won' the race and into the bargain there was nobody else in sight! It was a good five minutes before the runners started to come in thick and fast.  I was totally amazed.  On the one hand I knew that I had received my handicap by default but on the other hand I also knew that I totally gave the race all I had in order to finish where I did so I'll wallow in the glory a while longer if you please!  That's quite likely the first and last time I stand amongst the prize winners!

Race to the finish!

Prizes!

Thankfully I seem to be finally getting my head around the fact that I really do need to start thinking about marathon training or should I say getting a plan - whatever level - I realise that it really is a necessity to have some sort of plan in place to guide you through the process of increasing your mileage or the time you are going to be spending on your feet.  I have come to the conclusion that I will be more than happy if I can get to the start line in London once again and feel satisfied that I have done the preparation to the best of my ability and of course, if I can shave anything at all from my 2010 time I will be ecstatic to say the least. I have also joined Marathontalk's Jantastic Spring motivation challenge, setting up a club team, Eccleshill Eagles, join in now by clicking on the link.

All that in mind I happened upon a tweet from Martin Yelling recently which mentioned VLM training and in a light bulb moment I decided to tweet him and ask his assistance in finding a suitable training plan to which I was surprised (not sure why but felt a little star struck!) to received a reply enquiring as to my level.  I replied that I had completed London once, ran three to four times per week and wanted to try and beat 4 hours 30 minutes.  He pointed me to an 'improvers' 16 week plan on the Marathontalk website.  So a week or so in and I'm feeling much more positive, new trainers are ordered and should be here any day now so onwards and upwards.

I received my Brass Monkey number yesterday, on reflection the race doesn't really fit into the marathon training plan so I'll do my best to hold back and not over do it.

Happy New Year 2013!

Well that's the Christmas and New Year celebrations out of the way! I really don't think I've let my work and social life get in the way quite so much as I have over the last month or so.  Happily I seem to be back on track. Oh wait.....I have another 18th Birthday party tomorrow.....Hopefully then I will stay on track.

Dazzled on our ERR Christmas lights run 21/12/12

I have though, run twice this week already, clocking up almost 17 very wet and windy miles with the lovely Dawn for company.  Despite missing tomorrow I will achieve my three runs this week as I am planning to race the Muddy Fools 2 at Golden Acre Park on Sunday.  Sounds like a bit of fun.  Apparently only those who have taken part in one or both of the recent Peco XC races can take part in the Muddy Fools 2 race since we are to be handicapped based on our time for the XC. Thus, there are to be teams A through to J and we are to be placed into said teams which will determine our set off position, therefore, allowing a head start for us 'slower' runners. Should be interesting. Golden Acre Park is not one of my favourite places to run, I don't mind a training run around there but races always seem to be much tougher, maybe it's a state of mind but alas I will be giving it a go for the sake of the Eccleshill team spirit!

I'm guessing our visit will be a little more muddy!

Marathon training is now on the agenda for Marc and myself, I am currently studying training plans to find one I think we can realistically stick to - no point whatsoever in having my head in the clouds and trying to follow something which may turn out to be impossible, so I'm not rushing into anything just yet with 16 weeks last Sunday to go before London I figure we've got time to tap into something in the next week or so, being regular runners we aren't complete beginners and I for one know what is expected of me. Marc on the other hand, may be in for a shock!

Shell shocked!

Well, well, well! Our club AGM incorporating Summer championship trophy presentation and London Marathon draw had been on the cards for quite some time.  I didn't however, give too much thought to the question of  'what if I get a place?'

The week leading up to the get together had been a pretty ordinary one.  Training is plodding along nicely.  I avoided the 'Hill from Hell' that is Carr Lane on Wednesday by opting for the shorter of the runs on offer and since I was leading, stayed at the back and frantically ran backwards and forwards to the last runner, giving myself a really good workout! So said meeting meant no run on Friday, I couldn't fit it in earlier since I had to dash from work to the meeting.  I thought about doing parkrun on Saturday but that was out since I had to be at the vet for 9:10 - the runners would have been over a mile into their run whilst I was down the road in Shipley and oddly enough there was no race on Sunday either so I have had a really relaxed week (or should that be lazy?!) Anyhow the formal business was taken care of, onto the trophy presentation:

First Place and very pleased!

On to the Marathon draw, club had two places, first out 'Julie Steele', second out 'Marc Steele'! We were shell shocked to say the least! We are now on the look out for a training plan, I wonder what time Marc will be aiming for. I'm so pleased and proud that he is going to get a chance to do the marathon at such a young age and hope that it will keep his thirst for running alive and perhaps inspire him. And me? Well I'm just hoping I can get to the start line unscathed, again, and perhaps take a few minutes off my 2010 time.

The YVAA Awards Dinner at Elland Road on Saturday evening was just the ticket to celebrate my successes and a really good time was had by all.  I certainly made up for my lack of running with a night of dancing!

ERR partying at the YVAA Awards Dinner

Mud after the party!

Oh dear what can the matter be?! The relentless rain is causing havoc!  Not least with the poor people further down the country in places such as Northampton & Devon.  The horrors of what the floods have caused portrayed on the news make our moans about running in wet conditions pale into insignificance.  My heart goes out to them. However, last weekends downpours made for terrible conditions at the first of the season's cross country races hosted by Ackworth Runners within the grounds of Fitzwilliam Park.Trawling through flooded roads to get there gave us an insight into what the running conditions were going to be like. It had, thankfully, ceased raining by the end of our hour long journey to reach Fitzwilliam.

People were seemingly undeterred by the weather, the queue for registration was very long and continued to get longer behind us. The wind whipped around our legs as we patiently waited to hand over our entry fee. Were we really standing in a queue to pay to be subjected to these adverse conditions?  Doubts began to surface as I yawned for about the hundredth time, having been out partying the night before at an 18th Birthday party, sleep had evaded me for the most part.  I had also done something I have not done a very, very long time, which is consume copious amounts of alcohol knowing I was going to do a race the following morning.  I had taken the fact that the race start wasn't until 11 am to be confirmation that I should be ok by that time, paying no attention to the fact that club members had agreed to meet at 9am to care share and travel over.

Thankfully club mate Dawn had expressed a wish to run a really steady race since she has been injured on and off of late.  I took the opportunity to keep her company, providing me with the perfect antidote to my 'hangover'.  Despite the most boggy, muddy and wet conditions I have ever had the pleasure to encounter during a run (beaten only by the conditions of the Three Peaks in July), we really enjoyed ourselves once our feet were well and truly soaked.  The initiation ceremony is always met with screams of fear, maybe we think our feet will fall off if they get wet! Wearing my new trail shoes for the first time caused me to shriek even more as the lovely pink decor and laces disappeared under the cover of mud!

Before.............

After....

Hope of ever getting those socks back to some form of white seem very remote! As Christmas is well and truly looming I think maybe I'll put that old favourite 'socks' at the top of my list!

Wading in butter!

With the blink of an eye a couple of weeks have passed me by, a culmination I think of being busy with work (not complaining!), family and running.  Training has continued with our usual mix of sessions since the Guy Fawkes 10 mile and on Remembrance Sunday weekend I took part in the last of this years YVAA races at Spenborough, which, at least since I've run them, the last race has always taken place here.  It's usually a big turn out from all the clubs possibly because it is the last one.  A very cold and frosty but bright morning meant I hoped against hope that it wouldn't be too bad under foot, since I had demoted my cross country trainers to the bin and failed to purchase any more, the only alternative I had to my usual road shoes was my Nike Lunarglides, I chose these simply because they are black! However, they were a very different shade of black when I had finished! Having negotiated mud which I likened to wading through butter - extremely slippy - my shoes were unrecognisable as shoes let alone what colour when I emerged back onto the track to the finish.  It felt like I had a whole field attached to them, much of which was deposited onto the track by mine and previous runners shoes!

We observed a minutes silence before the race

I really enjoyed the race and have to chuckle to myself as I recall the moment when having just exited the railway bridge (a highlight for me as not only are runners turned around and sent back from whence they came we are also treated to the now familiar sight of the metal sheep!), I came down and under a bridge, spying some spectators on my right out of the corner of my eye but concentrating so hard I wasn't listening properly to the marshal who was frantically shouting (I thought) 'Dan's here, Dan's here' - turned out he was shouting 'darn here, darn here' in his southern accent, actually meaning 'down here' - by this time I had completely missed the turn off and had to turn round and run back up the hill! Ha well it provided me with an excuse for being marginally slower than the same race last year!

So with the YVAA series over for another year we 'welcome' the start of the Peco Cross Country League next Sunday with race one at Ackworth, before that though the Abbey Dash which was the next race in the club championship.  For me though, it was to be as cheerleader yesterday, I missed out after leaving it too late to enter and upon logging onto the Age Uk website read 'RACE ENTRY IS NOW CLOSED'.  Sadly I have also missed entry into the Chevin Chase on Boxing Day - I find it financially challenging - if there is such a phrase - if not I've just invented it - to enter races so far in advance - meaning popular ones sell out fast.  It beggars belief how much we runners must spend from year to year on race entry and with rising costs for those hosting them these have to be passed onto runners, this one though will have to be selective in choosing which ones to enter with a factor being the entrance fee. I have also now got Marc who has stepped up to senior level running and can be part of the club championship so if he wants to enter too it's double bubble!

Party season is hotting up with invitations flooding in! I have a sneaking suspicion the social life is going to start getting in the way again! The YVAA Awards Dinner at Elland Road along with numerous coming of age (friends, nephews, neices) and (over the hill cousins, brothers) party invites and the club AGM on the 30th falls right in the middle of it all. Party on my friend........

Frosty Fawkes

Training is back on track after the Bridlington Half marathon.  I had a few aches and pains but as they say 'no pain, no gain'! I feel I am really back in the swing of things and am really enjoying my running at the minute.  It's always a breath of fresh air when the lighter nights come along but this year I feel exactly the same now the darker nights are here since the clocks have gone back an hour. We don't seem to get so much hassle as we run around slightly more anonymously! No doubt as it gets colder and colder I will long for the Summer months to be back with us but for the moment I'm happy!

The Guy Fawkes 10 mile race at Ripley proved to be an extremely cold one, I must learn to assess what to wear beforehand.  Arriving in the beautiful village all shrouded in heavy fog and a severe frost covering everything in sight, I began to shiver at the thought of having to remove my outer layers leaving me scantily clad in my club vest! I comforted myself with thoughts of being able to leave my gloves on, cold hands seem to be my worst enemy and have given me some funny turns over the years!

As us ERR girls tried in vain to warm up before the race we found ourselves at the start line, and a huge throng of people came up behind us - time to assemble for the start then! Stood amongst all the bodies, respite from the cold was short lived as the crowd began to move forward and off we set down the rocky road that is the unmistakeable start of the Guy Fawkes race.  Half a mile in and I began to feel out of sorts, I was extremely cold and finding it difficult to breathe, it was like an icy blast as we ran forward.  Thankfully after about a mile and a half I began to settle into my pace, my toes and arms though, were still numb.  Thank heaven for the gloves.  A short while later I felt much better as signs for Birstwith came into view.  Reminding me of the first hill of the race at around the four mile mark, the 'Birstwith Brute'.  I began to entertain thoughts that today I may well have to walk the hills at some point.

Reaching the top of the first hill I felt a sense of great achievement, it may well be the case that some feel they can walk it quicker but when I turned left at the top it felt like a weight had lifted from my shoulders and off I ran as fast as my legs could carry me! This was also the case after the next two 'named' hills. My efforts reaped me a course pb by a sizeable margin and the satisfaction that I hadn't walked at all, but not a 10 mile pb but that is to be expected on such a hilly course and my Askern 10 pb will take some beating even on the same course!  It's amazing what we'll do for a bit of chocolate, my goodie bag contained 4 Kitkats, 2 Aeros, a Yorkie bar and a Milky bar and with a bottle of water and a technical tee shirt thrown in I'd say we got our just desserts!

A foggy uphill finish!

Attending a bonfire tonight will round off my plot weekend a treat, a recovery run will have to wait until tomorrow!