Howdy, howdy guys. Happy Friday. And I forgot to say in my last post, happy 4th July to those celebrating it. Do you know, it’s slightly depressing not celebrating a holiday that 80% of the blog world seem to be enjoying. Just an observation.
It’s been quite a busy week here. On Wednesday night Ben and I went to a great running event called Mile of Miles with our running club (did I mention Ben had joined the running club?? Well, he has…). It was at our local track and it was basically teams of 10 people running a relay.
So each team member would run just one mile. It was a beautiful evening and there were quite a lot of teams and running clubs involved.
I was fairly nervous and not particularly looking forward to it if I’m honest. I don’t tend to enjoy 5ks (3.1miles) so one mile was going to be worse. OK it goes quickly but it’s still painful. In my head I just kept thinking at most it was going to be 8 minutes worth of pain.
I was a little worried about only just being recovered from my previous leg issues. And I was on the fast team! Though the team were lovely and reassured me I didn’t need to go full out and to put my well-being first.
I warmed up and got ready to be tagged in. I was number six and so far our team were flying. Miles ranging from 6.30 minutes to 5.48minutes!!
Then I was off! I could feel my heart beating stupidly fast to begin with as I was so nervous but then I got into it and it honestly felt good. I couldn’t even really look at my Garmin because you literally don’t have time. It’s four laps around the track and I thought this would drag but it zoomed by. And the best part was passing the supporters on each lap.
My running club and team cheered me on loudly and it honestly put fuel to my run.
My mile came in at 6.12 minutes!
The fastest mile I’ve ever done! I was so pleased. And Ben, who was on a different team, got a time of 6.25minutes. My team ran our 10 miles in 1hour 1minute. I mean seriously, that’s pretty impressive!
And how do you celebrate a good race?
Check out my Inspector Gadget coat
By cake. Obviously.
The next day though I knew I hadn’t done my leg any favours. *Sighs* So I took it easy at running club the next evening and then enjoyed endured an ice bath afterwards.
It was painful I’m not going to lie. But it did feel pretty damn good. Perverse, I know.
Afterwards I decided to put my new compression socks on. It was so hard. I just couldn’t seem to get them over my ankle, and then when I struggled away I got the worst case of cramp in my calf that I have ever had. I literally screamed the house down.
Ben ran upstairs wondering what the hell was going on and went to touch me and I screamed at him “Don’t touch me!! Don’t come near me!!” as I feared it would only make things worse. Then Ben started laughing (don’t worry I’m currently filing for a divorce) and said “this will be like childbirth”. I then started laughing, then immediately started yelling at him to stop as all my muscles tightened when I laughed.
God. It went on for hours a good few minutes. And I didn’t even get a baby out of it.
In the end, Ben had to put the socks on for me. It was like that scene from Disney’s Cinderella when the guy is trying to cram the glass slipper on one of the ugly sister’s feet.
Then I slept in the damn things because, seriously, I wanted my money’s pain’s worth out them.
Runners, do you prefer roads, track or trail running? I was pleasantly surprised at how good track running felt. Nice and springy and the laps went quickly. I doubt I could run 10 miles on it. Or even three. Too boring.
Do you get cramp a lot? Thankfully I don’t. And after the other day, I never want it again,
How do you recover after a hard run? I’m all about icing and compressing now.
I get really bad calf cramps on a regular basis – mainly at night. If I don’t spring out of bed as soon as they come on (and wake me up in excruciating pain) then my leg locks up! I’ve never been able to work out what causes it.
Glad you got yours sorted though. And well done on that amazingly quick mile! 🙂
Ahh that sucks about getting cramp regularly 🙁 I’ve heard not having enough salt in your diet can be a cause if that helps!
That club track session sounds fun – I like that you had supporters for each lap! 🙂
I used to get the worst calf cramps all the time, mainly in the middle of the night and would wake my boyfriend up by screaming and repeatedly kicking him when my leg spasmed across the bed! Luckily by the morning he would have forgotten I disturbed his sleep!
Support at races/events really helps.
Ahh middle of the night cramps are horrific. You don’t know what the hell is going on as you’ve just woken up!
That sounds like fun although I think I would be super nervous about something like that- those mile times are so speedy!
Poor you with the cramp too- I don’t get it really, maybe a handful of times in my life- was it dehydration do you think? I always used to sleep in my compression socks too- otherwise when I took them off my legs ached and I couldn’t sleep.
I don’t think I have ever run on a track. When I was at school I am sure the track was on the field, painted on the grass. I think trail running is prettier, but road running feels easier and faster.
It’s amazing how well you can push yourself when you know it’s just a single mile.
Our track at school was a field too I think. Running on the track was really fun. It felt so flat and springy. Trail runs are definitely more interesting though!
Ive never gotten a cramp. During highschool I was playing soccer and literally 3 girls dropped to the ground with leg cramps AT THE SAME TIME! I was freaking out. I thought for sure I was next lol
Omg, you are SO lucky then. Cramp is just the worst pain. Haha oh dear about those girls – how random though!
Wow that is awesome time! I went on my first little run, well more of a jog, and I was worried it was going to be so tough but it wasn’t, it feels nice to surprise yourself sometimes 🙂
Yay for your run :)) Such lovely weather for it, though a bit too warm at the moment for anything other than morning runs!
Awesome time on your mile! That’s fantastic!
Thanks, Lora 🙂
“…And I didn’t even get a baby out of it.” <– I'm seriously dying from that line. You crack me up girl!
Haha well I felt like I should have considering all that pain!
I’ve been thinking of buying compression socks as I get really tight calves after running – would you recommend the ones you’ve bought?
Yes definitely. They measured my calves beforehand to make sure they were a good fit. I love love mine. They wash well as well.