Running, It's the future

So in the past month things haven't been too great (again) for my lil running legs! I was struck down with a chest infection and a cold for 2 weeks and I am now recovering from a torn intercostal muscle (rib muscles) and infection on the lungs. It is utterly excrutiating and I am once again supplementing my diet with Ibuprofen!

All is not lost though. When I am poorly or not able to get in the fast or long runs I tend to focus a lot more on the future and finer details of running.

So I've not been running an awful lot but the runs I have been doing have been slow and I've been really working on my gait. In the past few months I have felt my gait has been getting sloppy and I was getting a few twinges but I have been tidying things up there.

As a result of these shorter runs I have felt like i'm not running enough but my rib injury can't cope with much more than 5 miles so I have been introduced to the world of 'doubles'. For those not down with the lingo this basically means running 2 shorter runs a day as opposed to 1 longer run. The way I have been doing it is running with the dog in the morning (up to 3 miles) and then a slightly longer and faster one in the evening on my own. This way the dog gets his joggies and I get a quality run and still get to eat dinner at a reasonable hour. At the moment it's working well for me and it's apparently excellent for burning fat so hopefully I'll shed the few inches of winter padding I've acquired!

With being ill for almost a month now my long runs have been neglected and whilst I could still run a half marathon the pain in my ribs is not yet fading and with the race getting ever closer I have made the (hopefully) wise decision to pull out of the Norwich Half Marathon at the end of the month. It does mean that I will not crack one of my targets for the year but I will now focus on getting my sub 50mins 10k for now. I'll see how I feel once my ribs are better but half marathon's are few and far between in December so I will be focussing my energy on the Grantham half in March to really smas that PB, it's a LOVELY race and close to my heart being my first half!

So future planning is underway and I have now decided to run a marathon in Spring (as well as Istanbul in October 2011). Despite being offered a place in the London Marathon I have opted for the Edinburgh Marathon. I've not yet registered. Waiting to get better first. Other than that, I am yet to sort out my race diary for next year but I am aiming for 4 half marathons, 2 marathons and perhaps 4 or 5 10kms (maybe 11 for '11). Also hoping to do a triatlon (sprint) with the Husband in June. Busy busy but it's good to have these targets to keep me going, especially when training isn't going your way!

Now I can't wait to get better and go out and do some proper running and hopefully come back stronger. Despite my short distances and slow paces I have still clocked up 24 miles this week so the doubles certainly get the miles in :)

New 10k PB

So after this weekends race I thought it was about time I updated my blog.

So for this race I travelled down south to Surrey for this race. I felt like a change to the normal Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire scenery and fancied a visit to the family so in true slightly obsessed runners style I thought I'd squeeze in a race whilst I was there.

So after 2 races where the temperatures were soaring I was slightly lacking in confidence for this race. I have really put in the training but I still prayed for a cool day. And so the morning was overcast and crisp and perfect running conditions but I still felt anxious about this race. I didn't know if I could handle another disappointing race!

So the target was sub 53 and on a perfect day 50 mins (optimistic) and I was determined to get at least a PB! So the we set out, as usual I took the first mile easier and despite it being a little congested at the start myself and my Brother in law weaved our way past the slower runners and settled for 5 minutes or so. At this point I subconsciously took it up a gear and realised 2 minutes later I had lost my running buddy (I am useless running with others, sorry Dean..lol). So what next? I wanted to get at least a 9 min first mile which I did.

At this point I had found my groove, I had the bounce in my knees and I was raring to go. I started to overtake people, one at a time. As I worked my way through the field, my anxiousness returned, was I doing too much? On reflection I was running well and comfortably but at the time I eased of a bit. Even then I was still overtaking people and not being overtaken, this has never happened to me in a race, usually finishing in the bottom half of the field.

By the time i reached mile 3 I was brimming with confidence, I had overtaken loads of people, this is when they usually over take back!! So we hit the canal path which was fairly traily, muddy and rocky... thank god for training I put into running trails in barefoot shoes. I noticed that people had started to slow down at this point and once I had a feel for the ground I was manoeuvring over the stones and whilst people were slipping on the wet stones I was gripping the stones with my feet and bouncing all over the place, barefoot+trails= good fun! By mile 4 I had overtaken another chunk of people as I ran straight through the mud and right across the stones instead of dodging them!

By now I was so glad I was running 'barefoot', this is what it was designed for, OK it was a clear path but a slightly unlevel one and it suited me just fine. I saw my sisters and niece at about 4 miles and as they cheered me on (asking the whereabouts of my brother in law...oops) I got a new lease of life just when my legs were starting to tire. I started to enjoy the scenery and pin point the next person to overtake. By 4.5 I seemed to have settled behind similar paced runners so I decided to stay there until the final mile when I would speed up a little and then really kick in the final km. I overtook (with greater difficulty, these people were far more competitive...damn!) a few more people and spotted my target for the final KM.

At the final KM, as I promised myself, I overtook this woman who seemed to take it as a personal insult that I dared do such a think when I wasn't even wearing running shoes! 30 seconds later she shoved me out her way (complete with her nail digging into the back of my arm) and overtook me, BITCH! I was furious, there is just no need to be like that amongst our running comrades. I let her through and stayed at her ankles until the final 200m.

This is my forte, my sprint finish so I sprinted past her but no she was sprinting back past me, did I have anything left.... just when this scuffle was looking to end in her favour in the final 75 I found another gear, family cheering I raced past the woman who I will only refer to as 'the bitch that tried to mess with Gemma' I beat her by about 5 metres, how the hell did I sprint that fast? I guess I should thank her for making me angry.... although she may of regretted it!

I got a PB of 52.28 and came 77th out of 300! No wonder I felt like I was overtaking loads of people, I was!!!

Overall it was such a positive race that has made me realised I am a serious competitor. No I will never be running it in 35 minutes BUT I can certainly try and be amongst the best of the 'quite good' runners in the future!

I will update again tomorrow with some big running decisions I have been making! All very exciting!

Running rocks my world, especially with Brian

So I haven't written much lately, mainly because I haven't ran much.

So what can I tell you? Well about 4 weeks ago I acquired a minor injury which put me out of training for a week and I went away and whilst I had every intention of running whilst away, I had no room in my luggage for running gear. :(

So I thought maybe a break from running would renew my love for it a little and get me fired up again! Whilst I was away I was still walking around 3-4 miles a day and swimming so I suppose that could be classified as cross training. By the time I returned I was so excited to go for a run I felt pretty insane and after a lacklustre 4 mile run I was disappointed. I think I was just exhausted from travelling. For the rest of the week I made as many excuses as I could (rather than face up to the fact I was just exhausted) and only managed 2 more little runs with the dog.

Running with the dog is a fun way to run. It's slow so I don't time it and I try and incorporate playtime in too so he doesn't get bored. When I first ever took him for a run he seemed to not enjoy it but now he just absolutely loves it. Everyday when I put my running gear on he waits in anticipation to see if he's joining me today. When he does join me he bounds around like a fool and I do to.... we go out cross country, wade in the rivers and play chase me. It really is the best time I ever have with him, it's our bonding time.

And once we are sufficiently muddy and we can't sprint anymore we plod home. Whether we've ran 1 mile or 4 miles when we reach the 200 metres from home mark he goes into 'I can't possibly walk another step' mode. He isn't tired, I know he isn't, as I said its just a certain point he does it whether we've covered a mile or 5.... so everyone looks at the poor dog who is utterly exhausted! What a cruel owner I am! I personally think he does it to keep our fun run times our secret. So when we get home he bounds to life again for a few minutes to thank me and get exciteable when I do my lunges then he passes out for the evening a very happy dog.... now we just need to get my husband to join to make it perfect! I wholeheartedly recommend running with the hound (or Joggies as we like to call it) it's fun, no timers, no pacing, no seriousness, just good old playtime and covering 3 miles whilst you are at it!

So after a week of fun running I'm back on the serious stuff now. Inspired by the Great North Run I'm now craving a new challenge, I have a 10k in a few weeks and another half marathon end of November in which I hope to nail my target times for the year (sub 53 10k, sub 1:55 half). After reading a few articles about marathon training I have discovered that if you are running what I am on a good week (20 miles in the week with a long run of 10-12miles) and you are consistently doing this it is possible to run a marathon with extra training over 4 weeks. Now I wouldn't go that minimalist I think the commitment to marathon training wouldn't be anything like it was last time as I have the fitness to run 13 miles at the moment (maybe more). Being so injured last time I was constantly playing catch up. So I think I may do a marathon in Spring with the hope of just upping training for 6 weeks and see how that works for me..... I have nothing to lose really. My London Marathon experience was hampered with injuries and my time, whilst ok, was disappointing to me so now want to prove to myself that I am a sub 4:30 runner because I know I am! So It's safe to say, I have a renewed zest for running again :)