Worthing 20

Yesterday saw me undertake my biggest running challenge to date – the Worthing 20 mile road race!

It was a bitterly cold and very windy day, and I have to admit that I didn’t wake up in the most positive running mood, but once I stood on the start line I decided to put all of that aside and just go for it.

 

The race consisted of 4 x laps of a 5 mile course, and was completely flat., which provided a great pacemaker for the marathon.

My race plan was to take it really slow on lap 1 and build up speed for the other 3 laps. The plan started off well as I came through lap one in 50 minutes, and as I came through lap 2 at 1hr 42mins I felt really good, and positive. I picked the pace up and at the end of lap 3, went through thinking “only one lap to go”. And then something changed. As I went through 17 miles I think I must have hit a ‘wall’ as my legs started to feel really heavy and there wasn’t much left in the tank – not good with 3 miles to go! I managed to compose myself, take on some gels and pick myself up to complete the race. But it wasn’t easy.

 

I’ve come away in 2 mind sets: positive that I’m able to run 20 miles (this was my longest run to date), but also nervous with the fact that I still have another 6.2 miles to go on marathon day! All I can do now is put in another few long runs and then start to taper off – I’m sure I’ll be fine!

I finished in 3hrs 14mins, I originally thought it was 3hrs 12mins, but my Garmin was slightly ahead of the chip time for some reason.

 Stats

Chip time: 3:14:38

Pace per mile: 09:44

Category position: 46/79

Gender position: 103/1077

Here’s the latest medal in my collection.

 

 

Next stop the Cranleigh 21!

Longest run to date - my own half marathon

With it now only being 3 weeks until the Brighton Half Marathon, I woke up this morning ready for my early run and decided to see if I could run my own 13.2 miles at slow pace.

It's always much better to have a goal at the start of each run - something I never used to have - it was just a 5k here, 5 miler there. But now I ask myself before each run: "What do I want to achieve from this?" and it really works.

So I set off just before 8 and completed 21.55k (13.4 miles) in 2:13:04 which I didn't think was too bad. It was SO good to be back out on the roads after the nightmare snow week last week, and I actually felt like  had a bit more in the tank at the end which surprised me.

Pleased with today's run!

I'm still finding that it takes me around 1.5 miles to really settle into my rhythm though - I hope when it comes to London I'll be able to settle down and not get too wrapped up in the spectators and the excitement!

Next week I'm aiming for 15 and then push for 18 the week before Brighton. I do need to start planning some different routes though as am getting bored of my usual one.

Let's just hope we don't get any more snow!!!

Riddlesdown Park Runs - 5 consecutive PBs!

I've been running the weekly 5k Riddlesdown Park Run since the end of October, and love it! It's a free event run by volunteers (you have to volunteer 3 times a year yourself) and is just you against the clock running 3.2 miles.

More information can be found at http://www.parkrun.org.uk/

So far I've been running at the Riddlesdown event, as it's closest to me, but am looking to try Bushy Park and Banstead Woods soon for some variety.

I was a bit nervous when I ran my first race - I didn't know the course and thought I'd be the last one round! I soon learnt to pace myself as I shot off way too early and got a huge stitch halfway round - not ideal. I managed to get round in a respectable 28:36 but knew I could go a lot faster.

Since then I've run another 4 races and each week have been getting faster and faster, setting a new PB each week. I'm really pleased, and it's proving that all my other training is making me faster and stronger. The mid-week hill runs with running club are really helping me!

My results so far have been as follows:

Week 1 - 28:36
Week 2 - 28:20
Week 3 - 27:20
Week 4 - 27:06
Week 5 - 26:36

To be honest, today's run was really tough - the mud was ridiculous after all the mid-week rain we've had, and there was a strong headwind throughout the race. I definitely didn't think I'd get a PB, but I'm now confident I'll be hitting the 25 minute mark soon - something to aim for!

Here's me battling the mud at last week's event! Great fun all round and it really sets you up for the weekend!

Beddington Park 10k

Today I undertook my second 10k of the year in Beddington Park, Wallington.

This race was a lot smaller than the Croydon 10k a few weeks ago, with only 200 or so runners taking part.

The course wasn't the most exciting I have to be honest, consisting of 4 x 2.5k laps of the park's perimeter. There was a small incline at the end of each lap, but it was predominantly flat - good news for me!

Despite having to weave around people walking their dogs on the run route, I managed a really good time - 52:11! I was aiming for the 54mins mark and so this shows that my training is really paying off! It's a 4 minute improvement on Croydon a few weeks ago - can't complain at all!

Roll on the next race!

Here's me with the latest medal for my collection...