Running - AnnaTheApple

July 1, 2015October 28, 2016

Lordshill 10k

I think I’ve said this about a zillion times on this blog (and in person) but I truly hate 10ks. I’ve come to be OK with 5ks because mentally you can deal with that level of pain (because it is painful for me in terms of effort) for around 20* or so minutes.

(*relative time, depends on my fitness!)

But for 10ks? That’s a long time. Yes you’re going slower than you are for the 5k but you’re still working at a level that is hard effort, heavy breathing, focused attention and lactic acid.

I’d signed up to Lordshill 10k before the marathon. To be honest anything after the marathon was dream-world; I couldn’t see past it. But I needed a good 10k for our running club pentathlon (basically our league table, based on a points system for people’s performances for 5k, 5 mile, 10k, 10 miles, half marathon and marathon). I had all distances done apart from the 10k and 10 miles. Plus I hadn’t had a good 10k race where I really felt in shape and not coming back from injury since before last year.

So Sunday I woke up naturally quite early and got myself together. I had a black coffee and porridge and waited for my dad to pick Alfie and me up to go. Quite a few of my running club were doing the race too so it was going to be nice and social.

Our club has new running crop tops so I felt nice and cool in the muggy temperatures. This race is very local to me (about 15 minute drive) and is chip-timed. It was also advertised as “fast and flat”. I wanted a PB and so this seemed the ideal race.

I heard mixed reviews about the course from people though. Some saying it was lovely and flat and others saying no way was it flat. Hmm OK!

I got a nice pre-race loo visit in a proper toilet in the Ordnance Survey office that was used as the race HQ until they cordoned it off and directed people to the loos outside, of which I peed twice more (I’m not entirely sure why I feel the need to share this information with you, but I like to think of it as “setting the scene” and keeping it real!)

My dad checked the course map out and worked out where he and Alfie would stand and then we were good to go.

My goal was to keep under or around 7 minute miles all the way. I had a PB of 43:15 to beat. But I also knew how tired my legs felt in the week so I thought if I felt that pace was too hard at the beginning I’d abort it and just aim for a tempo run and hope to be somewhere close to my PB.

We set off and I felt good. Yes it was warm but not overly so and I felt comfortable in my pace.

Photo credit: Paul Hammond

The course was an out and back (thereabouts) so I just kept thinking “get to three miles and you’re going back home again”. My dad was stood at one side probably after mile one and cheered me on. Alfie was oblivious; probably watching out for squirrels.

The course was a little dull but nothing terrible; a few houses, some nice greenery, under the motorway through an underpass. All nice enough but nothing to write home about (but let’s be honest, this is Southampton we’re talking about).

Photo credit: Gary Trendell

I knew I wouldn’t achieve any significant female positioning in this race because of the high number of amazingly talented ladies who had entered so I didn’t concern myself with any near or in front of me. I just kept my pace to 7ish min/miles. With no music allowed I kept my mind focused on the task at hand. On the turn around point it got more interesting as you started passing other runners coming the other way so it was nice to wave and cheer on other people that I knew.My dad saw me again coming back under the underpass and gave me a nice cheer. He also informed me of my female positioning, bless him. I had told him there was no chance of me coming anywhere high up but, like a good coach, he wanted to keep me informed 😉 I was apparently 7th at that point (and I remained there).

Miles 4-5 were the pain train. I wished I was doing a five mile race. And near mile five there was a significant incline in comparison to the rest of the course. It made it tough work.

But a nice downhill at the end!

By mile six I was singing the Imagine Dragons ‘Warrior’ song in my head to keep me pushing. I kept thinking as well “less than eight minutes” – I’m not sure why it was eight as my miles were seven minutes and I still had the nubbin as well but it seemed like a good number to me (better than 10!).

Photo credit: Paul Hammond

Then the marshals started telling us it was 400m to go, then 300m and I knew I’d be OK. It was going to be close but I was just happy to be stopping soon.

Crossing the line in 42:50 (new PB!) and 7th female. Happy days!

We didn’t get a medal but a trophy glass thing, a bottle of water and a banana. Not too shabby for a cheap local race! Alfie thought the glass and water were excellent.

We also won the female team trophy for our club. This meant a £20 voucher for each of the three of us for a local running shop. How cool!

As 10ks go this was actually pretty good. The pain train was there but not for the entire race, just towards the end (that incline). It’s made me feel a bit more kindly towards 10ks, but not enough to want to do one again anytime soon! One a year I think 😉

After saying goodbye to my dad I got ready to head out for lunch with Ben’s mum, Di. Yes Ben and I aren’t together anymore but I’m still good friends with Di and enjoy spending time with her and will continue to spend time with her going forward (like I’ve said previously, things are amicable).

We went to a local pub and I enjoyed a chicken and avocado burger with mango relish and sweet potato fries for my main, followed by an OMG-AMAZING millionaire cheesecake.

I’m not a fan of cream (unless it’s thickly spread on a scone with jam?) so that got side-lined, but honestly it didn’t need it. The cheesecake was perfection on its own. Cookie dough pieces throughout and a delicious chocolate topping.

So a pretty good weekend all in all!

Bit of fancy pants photo-editing there 😉 (Photo credit: Gary Trendell)

How do you feel about 10ks?

What’s your favourite cheesecake flavour?

Medals or mementos?

June 18, 2015October 28, 2016

Rock and Roll Liverpool Marathon

Leading up to this race I had had a fantastic training cycle. I’ve never been in such good shape before a marathon before. I had racked up a good number of long runs and running in general has been very good.

Through this cycle I’ve been consistently running faster parkruns, I got a half marathon PB and a five mile PB. I felt pretty good. Apart from my taper panic when my shin/calf niggle came back I was fully prepared and feeling good. The niggle was a problem psychologically though. I fully admit I’m a paranoid runner and part of me honestly wondered if my niggle would blow up during the race and I would have to DNF or limp round. But when I put that worry to one side, without sounding arrogant here, I knew I could do OK barring any uncontrollable factors (because in a marathon nothing is a given).

The morning…

Race morning started at 5am. I’d had a good night sleep and was used to this sort of wake up time so was raring to go. My only one stress and, sorry if this is TMI, but I didn’t have a successful loo visit. I wasn’t too concerned as I knew I had hours before the race to get that sorted.

I made my breakfast (porridge) and we headed off. I ate it en route as I wanted to leave it as late as I feasibly could (though it was still about 6am – four hours before the race).

Oats, chia seeds and almond milk

We stopped at a services about half-way there and I got a coffee. Hilariously the server asked if I was off to play volleyball. I said no a marathon. She looked a bit blank. Ah well.

Anyway we got to Liverpool in more than enough time. In fact we got there at 7am which was a little too early. My dad, a hardcore Liverpool FC fan, suggested we drive to Anfield so he could see the stadium as he wouldn’t get to see it otherwise. In the end it was lucky we arrived so early because it was a nightmare trying to get to the car park we wanted. We parked in Liverpool One shopping centre car park which was right near the start and also near where we were going for lunch afterwards (but it cost £13!). Thankfully though they had nice toilets and my previous situation was amended 😉

At 8am I had a Beet It flapjack to keep me ‘topped up’. I didn’t want to eat too much closer to the race but knew I needed something.

In my ‘volleyball’ gear mid-mouthful

Like normal the only thing I drank that morning was a small Americano. I’m always so worried I’ll need to pee mid-race otherwise.

The weather was chilly but it was humid and ‘close’. I started to panic over what I’d decided to wear for the race. It wasn’t as warm as I thought it would be and instantly felt stupid only wearing a crop-top.

But there was nothing that could be done about it at this point. I kept my layers on though as we walked to the race village. We met up with my grandparents, who had travelled from Llandudno in North Wales, and had a mosey around.

My dad was great at pointing out the different landmarks to me and humorously explaining to me that when I’m running I was to ignore the Everton FC stadium but enjoy running near the Anfield Stadium (of which we had seen that morning) 😉 He wore his Liverpool FC shirt especially for the race.

The half marathon started at 9am so there were loads of runners and supporters heading to the start. I only saw a few other marathoners (wearing green bibs) around as we were so early. But this was great because it meant I found another proper toilet nearby and got to use it twice. I didn’t use a portable loo all day!!The start area was easy to get to and very low key. Having previously done the Paris and Berlin marathons this was SO different. Berlin and Paris were like military operated in order to get into your pen – in Berlin it was VERY strict.

We have yet to find the photo of my dad taking my photo!

Here they were very blasé and there weren’t actual physical pens. Obviously Paris and Berlin are massive races so I guess that makes sense. There were around 2.5k runners for this compared to 40k for Berlin! Your bib number corresponded to the corral area you should be and mine began with a ‘2’ which meant it was quite near the front (when I entered the race I put a faster time than I realistically expected to ensure I could run easily and not have to dodge people). It wasn’t crowded at all and the pacers basically just found the best open spaces they could without regard to the corrals. I positioned myself in front of the 3:30 pacer only because he had such a crowd around him and I didn’t want to use the pacer or get caught up.

Originally my dad and grandparents were going to leave me 30 minutes before but as it was so relaxed we found they could stand next to me (behind the barriers) and actually see me off. This also meant I could remove one layer at a time, acclimatising to the temperature, rather than stand shivering.

Just before the start I saw my friend, Matt, who I knew from the Marathon Talk weekend and Twitter so it was nice to chat to him too (he won a place, lucky him!). We wished each other luck and got ready to start (he scored a nice PB – well done him!).

The race…

The course isn’t flat though it isn’t crazily hilly either. But having only done flat marathons I knew this would add a bit of uncontrollability to my race plan.

My plan was to run the first 10 miles at just under 8min/miles, which should feel easy. I see it as a way of respecting the distance. Personally, getting in those first miles shouldn’t feel hard otherwise you’re going to blow up later. Every good race I’ve had has started slower and got faster. (This is my personal opinion, other strategies are out there!)

By and large I stuck to it. There were a few sneaky inclines but also some down hills so it felt good. Most of the time I was stopping myself from going faster. Unlike Paris or Berlin, there weren’t swarms of runners around me all the time. I was rarely completely alone but it was sparse. This was actually quite nice. Yes Paris and Berlin are amazing races and feel hugely epic because of how big they are, but it was nice doing a smaller marathon. There seemed less pressure. There were also fewer spectators, but those who were there cheered and shouted with fantastic enthusiasm.

On the first mile I felt chilly but then as I was running it got very warm. I was grateful to have stuck with the crop top…plus in my head it made me feel speedy and elite 😉 Channelling my inner Paula!

Much to my dad’s annoyance I actually didn’t see Anfield – or at least I didn’t notice it, whereas I fully noticed Goodison Stadium. I think this is because we fully ran around Goodison whereas we just ran past Anfield. He was not amused. Stanley park was lovely and scenic, though a little undulating. There was some great live music around the course as well – really fantastic! There was also a great point in the course where you could see the entire city skyline which was amazing.

I could feel my shin/calf but not worryingly so, though I did worry about it. I pushed it to the back of my mind knowing there was nothing I could do but hope it would disappear and not blow up. Spoiler alert: it did disappear after 10 miles. Other than that discomfort, everything else felt good. I felt nice and comfortable, though I was looking forward to my podcast which I would listen to after 10 miles.

I tried to split the marathon into manageable chunks so it wasn’t as insurmountable. My first milestone was 10k just because that’s a significant distance, then eight miles because that’s when I had my first gel. Handily because it was such a smaller race I had given my other two gels to my dad so I only needed to hold on to one until mile 12 where they were going to be. Then they’d give me my other two gels and by mile 13 I would take the second so I really didn’t have to hold too much the entire race.

(Source: Liverpool Echo)

At mile 10 I put the BBC 5 Live film review podcast and was (like a super geek) excited because it had the Jurassic World review (I’m a huge Jurassic Park fan). This helped the monotony of the race as the scenery wasn’t hugely exciting.

What I will say though is Liverpool scenery is really no less exciting at these points than Paris or Berlin really. I mean, there are buildings, some are significant, some aren’t. You’re still running a stupid number of miles. Paris was probably a bit more ‘pretty’ but really it didn’t matter too much to me. What was significantly different was the fact that the supporters were far more enthusiastic and supportive – even though there were less of them. For most of the time I was surrounded by male runners so it was nice to see the supporters get really excited when I passed shouting things like “you go girl!” or “do it for the girls!”. Honestly I lost count how many times people cheered something at me because I was female. I also got called “lass” a lot. This truly made the race for me. It made me feel like an individual, not just one in a huge crowd. I smiled, waved and gave thumbs up all the way around the course.

I knew there was a significant hill around mile 12, but I also knew somewhere afterwards my grandparents and dad would be there. That hill was tough and seemed to go on forever but there were lots of support and a samba band which really helped.

I got to the top and turned the corner and saw my family from afar. Ahh what a sight for sore eyes 🙂 My granddad had my gels and ran with me a little like a relay runner to hand them to me. It was lovely. I told them it was going well and off I went.

My plan for 10-20 miles had been to increase the pace to around 7.45min/miles, but I started to lag a little from 14-18 miles. I find those miles the dead miles. You’re not far enough along to be out of the woods but you’ve still ran quite a way to be tired. The inclines and the heat were taxing me psychologically and physically. I made sure to drink lots on the way round.

My last gel was just after 18 miles. The 18 mile point is great because you run a tiny out and back up Penny Lane and obviously the Beatles’ Penny Lane song was at full volume. It lifted me a little. I just had to get to 20 miles, my next check point.

When I got to 20 miles I switched the podcast to music and went into race mode. The first song was a Linkin Park track (Bleed It Out? I can’t remember now) and it was like a jolt of energy surged through me. Now was the time to increase the pace, let myself go a little. Not too soon though – 10k is still a way to go.

I found myself overtaking people and getting lots of cheers from spectators. I felt fantastic and really got into the music. I tried to smile as much as I could to trick myself into thinking there was no effort or fatigue. My soundtrack was pushing me along and I felt confident. A line of traffic was on one side of the road as we ran along it and I waved and smiled at people in their cars and some of them tooted their horns or shouted out the window – it was great!

Around mile 22 we turned to go along the river front and found the wind blowing against us. Ahh this was tough. Mentally I was in a great place but physically it was hard work. My watch seemed to be completely out from the mile markers now as well. I reckon going through all the parks and tall buildings messed with the satellites. I couldn’t take what it was telling me for certain so I just ran on feel ignoring it completely, just waiting for each new mile marker.

I expected to see my dad sometime around mile 22 but as I kept running and running along this long stretch of path along the water it was clear he wasn’t there. This path seemed to go on forever! When I got to mile 23 I attempted to work out the maths of what time I could get if I ran 8min/miles to the finish. A PB was a certainty at this point but how much sub-3:30 could I manage? My brain hurt thinking about it.

I kept pushing and finally we moved slightly off the waterfront (mile 25?) and I saw him on the road. He cheered me on and I remember shouting “I’d like to stop now please!”. I just kept thinking “8 minutes or less till I finish”. Then back to the waterfront again with the wind.

As I saw the finish ahead I surged forward. I had overtaken a number of people and ran down the finishing straight on my own. Now bear with me, allow me to have my self-indulgent moment…I imagined myself to be like Jo Pavey finishing a race, to the crowds cheering me. The only thing to kill the moment somewhat was an incredibly painful stitch in my side. It was agony! But I tried to smile and not grimace as I ran across the finish line – the announcer person saying “and she’s smiling – she certainly does have something to smile about with that time!” which was lovely.

I remember walking and feeling very dizzy and tired, and the stitch still there. But then a medal was given to me and I saw my grandparents and all was right again. It was so lovely to see friendly faces so soon after finishing!

Two different men came up to me, one thanking me (I have no idea what for!) and shook my hand, and the other said I had a great finish. Always nice to hear 🙂

I then had to head into the Echo Arena and collect my goodie bag and T-shirt.

I found someone to take a photo of me (and I returned the favour to them) and grabbed a banana, a Lucozade, the bag and my T-shirt. They had extra small!!! I was so chuffed as I was convinced it would be another T-shirt that wouldn’t fit me.

Then like a bad joke we had to walk up the steps to get out. I saw lots of people just sat down but I wanted to get outside to see my family. Those steps, I mean, come on people!

I would like to thank the Liverpool marathon for having such a great coloured T-shirt as it matched perfectly with my headband 😉

I was sore, tired and needed water as I was so thirsty but otherwise I was OK. I sat down and just smiled. My dad appeared a few minutes later (remember he was at mile 25) looking slightly harassed and sweaty, bless him (at that point he’d walked almost 30,000 steps!) He asked how I did and, do you know, I wasn’t even sure! I knew I’d gotten sub 3:30 (my goal) but the exact time I didn’t know. I checked my watch and was just so pleased!

Official results

17th female!! I’m over the moon 🙂

We headed (slowly) back to the shopping area and it was like I was walking on a cloud of happiness (a painful cloud, but happy nonetheless). I wasn’t limping, my calf/shin felt fine, I just felt general fatigue and muscle soreness.

I was going to head back to the car to change but decided I couldn’t be bothered so we headed to the restaurant of choice for the post-marathon meal.

Of course it would be Jamie’s Italian 😉 It was the obvious choice and close to the finish and our car (fate). We’d pre-booked the week before to avoid disappointment as well. It was quite busy so this was a smart move. I had a quick wash of my hands, arm and face in the bathroom and started to feel human again.

I don’t even look at the menu anymore, I already know what to have: Turkey Milanese. As I have a Gold Member’s card we got a little bruschetta starter as well for free. Very tasty: mozzarella, basil, sundried tomatoes and bread. We also shared between us polenta chips and ‘funky’ (herby) chips.

For pudding I had my usual brownie with caramelised popcorn and vanilla ice cream. Ahh heaven. I’d say refuelling was absolutely spot on – eating all this about an hour after finishing was perfect. NO HEADACHE!!!!

And then it was time to say goodbye to part of my super support crew. My grandparents were awesome support and it was lovely to see them and for them to see me run (they’re very sport-focused). I’m so grateful they came to watch!

Then into the car for a delightful four hour drive home.

My dad listened to some football, I watched Downton Abbey on my iPad – perfect!

The take away…

Training for a marathon makes recovering from a marathon easier. Who’d have thought, eh? 😉

This race was fantastic. The organisation, the course, the support, the goodie bag, the medal…all really good.

Lots of High5 goodies and the medal glitters!

My only two disappointments were that I couldn’t really smash (relative term here) the pace out more than I tried on those last four miles because of that damn wind. But I didn’t feel like it sucked my spirit as some windy races have done. I still felt in the zone and in control, to some extent. And (apart from the stitch) I felt awesome.

The second disappointment was hearing a rather lukewarm review of Jurassic World…

Have you ever done a Rock and Roll race before? It was great to have so many live bands/music round the course.

How quickly do you refuel after a hard race/workout?

Has a race ever sorted a niggle/injury out for you? My niggle seems to have disappeared (for now)! I haven’t run on it yet though…

**I feel cheeky stealing and including the official photos in this post without paying for them. I know I’ve done it before in other posts but I’m having a change of morals. If you’re interested you can look at them HERE on the website**

June 1, 2015

Ready to go and an epic fail

This weekend made me realise that I’m getting a bit tired of marathon training now. I’m so close to the end but I’m still not there. I’ve been training since February (about 17-18 weeks) and I’ve really loved it but now I’m tired. I feel drained, both physically and mentally. This could perhaps be due to the amazingness of the Cakeathon last week and running at a tough pace which left me tired, with heavy legs and then still three weeks left to go. But it’s easy going now so hopefully nothing will go wrong!

The weekend was jam-packed. On Saturday I was at the Netley Abbey parkrun. A few of us had tried to persuade the Netley parkrun gods to do the cricket pitch course (boring but flat) but after almost convincing them someone piped up to say it was their 100th and they really didn’t want to do the cricket pitch, which is fair enough. The cricket pitch is really only good for a fast time as it is so boring (five laps) whereas the other course goes up a hill through some woods and is generally more interesting and only three laps. The next cricket pitch parkrun will be the week after my marathon so I really hope I’m not broken so I can give it a good go!

I didn’t have breakfast before parkrun this week but did have a black coffee so I was curious to see how I would do. It didn’t feel quite as gut-bustingly hard as last week (and I didn’t feel sick either) but I did feel that “running on empty” feeling. Half-way through though I did want to give up, mentally I was just not feeling it. But I spotted the lead lady who had overtaken me at the start and decided to try and catch her. At the start of mile three I got past her and then pushed on harder to prevent her coming back to me. It was tough but a good motivator to keep pushing.

On the final mile someone shouted to me that the second lady was just behind me so I floored it (well, I increased my pace slightly but in my painful state it felt like flooring it) and managed to finish 15 seconds before her. I got 20:42, so slower than last week by eight seconds which I’m happy with. Still sub-21!

After a drink in the cafe with some friends from the club, I headed home to get cleaned up ready for a nice lunch out in Chichester to celebrate my mum’s birthday. It was a place called Amelie and Friends and it was lovely! I went for melon with coconut sorbet to start which was really refreshing but sweet. To be honest it wouldn’t have been out of place on the pudding menu but it was tasty. And for main I went for the lamb kofta skewers with hummus, tzatziki and chips. Very tasty.

It was a lovely afternoon spent with my mum, dad and sister, Rachel.

I spent the night at my parent’s so I could have a nice run along the sea front the next morning and I was going for lunch with friends who lived nearby to my parents, so it made sense. Plus it also meant I could leave Alfie with my parents rather than leaving him on his own most of the day.

Unfortunately the weather was terrible the next day. I woke up to rain and wind, which always seems to happen when I want a nice run along the coast!! I felt miserable before I even started. I was dragging my feet getting ready and a big part of me wanted to just not go. But I thought how well I’d done so far. I haven’t missed one long run yet and I should be grateful that I’m running without injury at the moment so I needed to suck it up and get out there.

But it was a miserable run. I felt de-motivated, tired and it was cold and wet. As I ran past the sea the waves were huge. I saw lots of kite surfers in their wet suits apparently loving it and thought how different people were. You couldn’t pay me to have been in that water! But then I suppose they looked at me in my shorts and single layer and wondered what the hell I was doing (but then I was currently wondering the same…).

At nine miles I was fed up and wanted to be done. There was no way to cut the run short as I was past half way now and I could only run the rest of the way home. I honestly did consider ringing my dad though to pick me up. The rain, which had stopped for a while, started again and I got cold. I was so thankful for the run to be over when I got home!

I really enjoyed the hot shower I can tell you!

Average pace of 7.54min/mile.

After showering I had a bit of time to chill and eat something before I was going out so I sat with some partially frozen berries and Greek yogurt and RunnersWorld magazine. I almost napped, I felt that drained and sleepy.

Not my usual breakfast at all but lunch was on the horizon shortly and I didn’t fancy anything huge. I would have had a smoothie but my parent’s didn’t have many ingredients…can’t get the staff can you? 😉

Lunch was amazing. We went to Ranchos Steak House as my friends are fellow meat lovers too. I enjoyed a half rack of ribs to start and then two racks for main – I love that this is an option there. I know, I know, I’m obsessed. But I just love ribs!

And runger was in full force! It was so good. After lunch we did a bit of shopping and I bought myself a lovely blazer from Dorothy Perkins in the sale. It was only £24.90! And then I had to head back home to deal with my garden.

I don’t do gardening. I’ve never mown a lawn before. I decided I needed to get things under control this weekend as we’ll need to start the process of selling the house and, well, the garden looks awful. It’s a jungle out there! And the front of the house there’s a bush and it’s just grown ridiculously huge and almost taken over the pavement. I know my neighbours will be looking down their nose at me as I’m letting the side down and it just makes me look sloppy. Of which, I assure you, I am not! The inside of my house is lovely and tidy and clean…it’s just the garden that’s awful.

My parents thankfully came to help me but to be honest it was a bit of a lost cause. The lawn mower (a budget one bought three years ago) couldn’t cope with the sheer length of the grass (and the fact that it was still damp from the morning’s rain) and started smoking. Epic fail! We couldn’t even do one third of it.

But we did manage to tame the bush. Though I shouldn’t have left my dad alone and unsupervised with the clippers as he hacked a big chunk out of it! Honestly, I could have cried. I was so tired and stressed by this point. Well we managed to do what we could and the bush is now a lot smaller…it just looks a bit crap from one angle. At this point though I couldn’t care!

I’m planning on seeing if I can hire someone to cut the lawn at the back and make it look presentable. I think that’s the only way forward…

How good at gardening are you?

How do you motivate yourself when you’re really not in the mood to exercise?

Are you a big meat lover?

May 28, 2015May 28, 2015

The Cakeathon

As soon as I heard about this race I knew it was for me. Running as many 3.2ish mile laps of a country park within a six hour time limit. For every lap you complete you received a wristband. And one wristband was equivalent to one slice of cake (or cookie, brownie, cupcake, etc.) that would be provided.

**This is going to be a long recap sorry**

Course map and elevation

Most runners love cake so it was no surprise that the event was fully booked with a waiting list (of which I was promptly on). Thankfully they scheduled another race and I got a place. The race is run by the marvellous Saxons, Viking and Normans marathons and I can honestly say it was one of the best races I’ve done. It also worked out perfectly for my marathon training because it meant I could use it as a long training run – my last one before tapering. I knew if I ran six laps I could accrue around 18-19 miles. And six laps meant SIX bits of cake. What better inventive could there be really??

My friend, Laura, and I travelled down the night before to Kent to stay in a hotel. The Queen Street Hotel was cheap and cheerful (I paid £50 for my room and this apparently included breakfast). But it looked like a pub and the man behind the bar was very relaxed (and not in a good way). He mumbled after we paid “it might be a little loud tonight” and when Laura asked when breakfast was he said “um yeah, I guess at 9am?”. She said she needed it earlier as we were leaving for the race at 7.30am. He told her no one would be awake and gave her a few boxes of cereal and some milk to “put next to the window” to keep it cool. Thankfully I’d brought my own instant porridge.

To be fair, the rooms were clean and perfectly fine for our one night stay. After freshening up we headed off to find food. It being Sunday evening most places were closed, but we found a lovely hotel restaurant called Dunkerley’s right on the seafront. It was so lovely and calm and the staff were lovely (oh how I longed to be sleeping there later on!). I went for a chicken Caesar salad (if it ain’t broke…) with a side portion of fries.

Lovely and tasty salad but I’m glad I got the chips as well as it was a little small for a pre-long run meal. I did look at the portion size of the chips when they arrived and thought “oh God, I’ll never eat all of those.” Hmm. I was unstoppable. They didn’t have a chance!

We chatted for a bit before heading back to get an early night before the race. It was after 9pm and the music had begun in the pub. I say pub, it was now a nightclub. I wasn’t too bothered as I had my iPad so I could watch some Mad Men and read my book. We didn’t have to get up until 7am so I wasn’t stressed. Yet.

The music (and thumping bass) only got louder. I’m not kidding when I say the vibrations were thrumming through my room. Naively I thought it might stop at 11pm. I tried to stuff my ears with loo roll. This didn’t work. I tried to use the second pillow to encompass my head. I could still hear and feel the music. I tried not to get stressed because really there was nothing I could do and getting into a tizz would only make things worse. I watched more Mad Men and prayed for it to stop. Eventually I was so tired I couldn’t concentrate. It was 1am. I decided that it was desperate times and put my headphones on and listened to Coldplay. I drifted in and out of sleep until 2am when the music finally stopped. HALLELUIGH.

Then the seagulls woke me up stupidly early, before my alarm, and I resigned to getting up. I actually didn’t feel too bad thankfully! I left having breakfast until the last moment as I was faffing about so much (as you do on race morning), which in retrospect wasn’t a good idea. The race began at 8.30am and I was eating breakfast at 7.20am.

Fail-safe easy porridge

I also had a black coffee. I made sure I was fairly loud that morning (TV on, slamming a few doors) as I’m pretty sure there were people from last night’s rave also staying. Hell hath no fury like an Anna without sleep 😉 Then we drove the three miles to Fowlmead Country park for the race.

There were only about 100 people doing the race so it had a very local and personal feel. People were very chatty and friendly and the organisers were just lovely. Our bibs all had our names written on which was a brilliant touch. It must have taken a while to do and it was fully appreciated because so many people shouted my name while I ran – either the organisers, fellow racers or just lay people in the park.

Fancy dress was encouraged and many people had risen to the occasion

Laura and I getting ready

Another lady, Julie, from our club also drove down that morning for the race with her daughter so it was nice to see another fellow Hedgie.

There was a race briefing (and a reminder of the ethos behind the race – one lap would burn 300-400 calories which is roughly a bit of cake) and then we were off. It was all rather informal, which was fabulous as it just removed any stress or pressure.

I’d gone into the race not really having a game plan. I wanted to see if I could maintain an 8 minute mile pace for most of it to give me an idea of how that would feel. I decided to not listen to anything for my first two laps and then listen to a podcast for the rest. Psychologically it was good to think about the run as six sections rather than 18 plus miles.

The first lap (3.2ish miles) went quickly as I found a comfortable pace and got used to my surroundings. I was keenly aware I’d be seeing everything five more times. There were two significant inclines on the route. They didn’t go on for very long but they were relatively steep, but the rest of the course was flat. Though for half a mile or so there was an area that was completely un-shaded with an annoying wind that blew across at you, not quite against you, but enough to increase the effort level. The course was within a country park so there was no traffic; just beautiful scenery, a pond, lovely soft trail to run on and greenery everywhere.

The second lap I managed to latch on to two other ladies who were just ahead. I was relieved as I wanted to chat a bit and not be on my own for all of it. One of the ladies had done Boston (and London) this year and so I was fascinated to hear about it from a Brit’s perspective. And she has a marathon PB of 3:21! The other lady sounded mental. OK not really mental, but she had done a half marathon on the Saturday, a 10k that evening and had planned to do the marathon (of the same event) on the Sunday. In the end she wasn’t feeling well enough so didn’t do the marathon but she was still hoping to do a 5-6 laps at the Cakeathon! She also told me about a 5k doughnut run she’d done where you literally eat a doughnut every 1k of the race. Mental and hardcore.

They stopped for a bit at the aid station at the end of the first lap (where you get your wristbands) but I pushed on wanting to maintain my pace. There were lots of different food and drink on offer but I stuck to water for every lap.

Because there weren’t many people (relatively) in the race and a lot of people were pacing for either an ultra or a marathon I eventually became the lead lady. This is a moot point though considering it wasn’t about time, it was about distance. It did mean I was consistently overtaking people (not because I’m super fast, but because I wasn’t running a marathon/ultra and because it’s essentially the same loop the entire time so it’s bound to happen). This was really nice though as it meant I got to cheer other people on, they cheered me on or I could have a brief chat. It also gave me markers to get to.

When I finished my third lap I was now listening to a podcast and felt good at my pace. The only thing that I was starting to get concerned about was some pains in my stomach. It was like “I might need to go to the toilet” kind of pains. I knew going to the loo would have to be a break from the course as it was far from the race area but there were also a lot of bushes and hidden areas I could dive into if necessary. I have never had stomach issues before and I’m pretty certain it was due to the badly timed breakfast. It was only an hour from the race start – very stupid of me. Thankfully though after about 10-15 minutes the discomfort disappeared. Whew! No bush required!

The race was easy to segment as at three laps I could tell myself I was half way, four laps meant two to go, etc.. The hardest lap was the second to last one as I was still a chunk of miles from finishing. What was nice though was that the marshals at the aid station kept saying I was doing well and running strong and making jokes like “but you only just left here, Anna!”. I know it’s a bit self-indulgent, but the praise definitely lifted me. I made sure to tell everyone I passed though that I was “only” running six laps and not the full marathon or ultra distances! The ultra and marathon guys spent more time at the aid stations and some were even eating cake! I just stuck to water and moved on to the next lap quickly.

The last lap finally came and I pushed the pace. My legs were tired though and I felt it was hard work. The sun was hot, the wind annoying on that stretch, the hills tough and the pace not as easy anymore. But as I got towards the finish I felt strong and people cheered me on until the end. Then I got to ring the bell to say I was finished.

You can see my wristbands on my right hand too

The handed me my HUGE medal and congratulated me. It was awesome. My only annoyance is getting to 19.75 miles and not rounding it up to 20 miles!!

I ran 19.75 miles in 2:35:17 (7.49 min/miles average). The results are interesting because it showed how many people did what time at what distance.

Crazy halo hair!

Laura did one lap and was very pleased. She’s been injured for FIVE weeks and the week before she’d only just started running again (for 15 minutes!) so she was aiming for one or two laps but wanted to play it safe. She knew how many laps I was aiming for though – I hadn’t just left her in the lurch. She said she enjoyed sitting in the sun and chatting to the runners and organisers so I didn’t feel so bad for leaving her so long on her own. Julie and her daughter did three laps (9.75 miles) and were pleased (apparently Julie has done over 30 marathons – RESPECT).

Hedgie photo – why didn’t I wear my HERC vest!?

After all of…oh I don’t know, 10 seconds of finishing I headed to see the cakes. The event was great because it encouraged people to make cake to bring and there was a competition for different awards (things like “best cake with marzipan” – Maria this is a race for you!). There was a whole table just FULL of cake. I was in heaven.

Because I knew how many laps I was going to do and knew it would be unwise to try and eat six slices of cake in a row after finishing a long run I had the forethought to bring a Tupperware box with me so I could take my prizes home. Everyone either thought this was hilarious or ingenious.

I’m pointing at my wristbands by the way!

And then the cake selection began…

I mean seriously, there was EVERYTHING. From cookies, to cupcakes, to brownie, to fruit cake, to chocolate cake, Victoria sponge, biscuits, tray bakes, marzipan delights, carrot cake…oh. my. lord. They even had vegan cakes because there were a number of vegan runners – how cool!

I definitely got a slice of the green marzipan covered Victoria sponge!

I can’t even tell you everything I got…so much cake!

OK there are more than six bits in there but two of those cupcakes were Laura’s…that she then forced me to take home with me at the end *sighs*.

Amazingly I did manage some self-control because I felt a little “post-long race” peaky. I drank a lot of water but I did have one cookie to celebrate because it sounded so blinking amazing: a peanut butter Oreo stuffed cookie.

I mean COME ON. That is heavenly. Laura couldn’t even finish hers but mine was gone within three bites. Salty sweet celebratory goodness.

Not only was the medal THE BEST IN THE WORLD, not only was the race so much fun, not only were the organisers legends, not only was there stupid amounts of cake BUT the goodie bag was one of the best I’ve ever had as well. And Jess, I know this will make you happy, you could request a VEGAN goodie bag if you wanted it!!

Are you joking!? How good is that! I was blown away. I don’t care that it’s all ridonkulously unhealthy because any race called the Cakeathon is never going to fill its bags with Nakd bars or fruit.

Back to the run though, I felt really happy with how it went. No injuries or niggles, just general tiredness as the run continued. I found the pace OK to maintain but towards the end it did involve more focus and mental strength. That said, I do feel I could have carried on. I felt a bit of a fraud stopping at six laps as so many amazing people were running further. The temptation was quite strong but Liverpool is the goal.

I need to think long and hard about what pace(s) I’m going to aim for for Liverpool and what goals I want and this race has made me ponder. I know whatever I decide I will aim to start slower and then (hopefully) get faster later. Negative splits have always worked for me, but it’s just working out how much to push or hold back. My last marathons were relatively easier to plan because I had quite low expectations and kept my pace really sensible. Hmmm.

Anyway, the journey home involved a celebratory Costa and medal selfie – as you do.

It was a fantastic event. I can’t praise it enough. It was a the little touches, the fantastic organisation, the amazing medal, the ingenious idea, the beautiful course, the lovely people, and the cake that made it perfect – just a few things really 😉

I’m already signed up for next year’s…

What’s your favourite medal from an event?

What makes a race good for you?

How do you pace a marathon? (not an easy question!!)

May 15, 2015May 15, 2015

Running and music

Ahh running and music, a slightly contentious issue for some. Some people look at runners who wear headphones as ‘fake runners’ or being too self-absorbed, especially in races. I fully disagree.

I love listening to music and podcasts when I run. I listen to MarathonTalk and love Tony’s Trials but I always cringe when he calls runners “headphone dicks” for listening to music in races. I also hate it when races ban headphones (but I do understand the safety element if the road’s aren’t closed). I don’t think you’re any less of a runner if you listen to something when you run – even in a race. For me it heightens my experience and can take my mind off the pain of a hard run or the boredom of a long run.

A while ago I was invited to an event held by Currys discussing the impact music has on running. Unfortunately I couldn’t attend the event but they did kindly send me some information that was discussed so I could still share it.

Source

The main speaker was Dr Costas Karageorghis, a reader in sport psychology with an international reputation for his research into the psychological, psychophysical and ergogenic effects of music (ooh err!). His music research has been featured in newspapers around the world; most recently in the Times, Independent, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post and Sydney Morning Herald.

Dr Karageorghis made some excellent points:

“Sometimes during a run, your body will be screaming ‘STOP’ but some well-chosen tunes can help you to temporarily ignore that stop sign.”
“When synching your stride rate to the beat of the music, you can increase the intensity of your run by raising the music tempo by one or two BPMs beyond your ‘comfort zone’. This will increase your stride rate with the notable additional benefit that the difference in effort will be almost imperceptible.”
“A motivational running playlist can help to ‘colour’ the symptoms of running-related fatigue, like burning lungs and a beating heart, so that such symptoms are interpreted in a more positive manner. This is why your choice of music may have a strong bearing on how long you adhere to a running programme.”

I highly agree with these points. I use a fast-paced playlist during parkrun when I want to run fast to keep me motivated and pushing hard.

I find it quite hard to push myself as hard without the use of a good soundtrack. Don’t get me wrong I can do it but certainly when I’m running intervals on my own my motivation and speed are far lower.

Yes music can take you away from the atmosphere of a race or you can lose touch of what’s happening around you, but I think on the whole music is a positive thing. According to research, music can elevate mood by some “10-15%, even at high running intensities and to me that is a huge benefit.

My marathon strategy has, and will be, that I have nothing for the first 10 miles to absorb the atmosphere and enjoy the race, then listen to a podcast for the next 10 miles to stop the tedium and keep my mind from thinking about how far I have left, and then for the last 10k put the music on and get those legs going. So far it’s worked perfectly.

I don’t mind being part of the “running with music” camp at all and I see it as running snobbery for those who look down on us. I think whatever makes things (legally!) easier, you should embrace.

THIS is an interesting article from RunnersWorld with some cool facts and THIS is a good link to some research.

**Full disclosure: Post in association with Curry’s and Joe Blogs**