Cranleigh 21

Apologies for the delay in blogging but my recent holiday to Dubai got in the way somewhat :)

On Sunday 24th March I ran my longest race, the Cranleigh 21.

It was a bitterly cold day (zero degrees when we left home at 7am) so I made sure I had plenty of layers on, including gloves, which I'd learnt the lesson from after the Worthing 20. When we arrived in Cranleigh I headed for the band room to meet some of the other runners, and mostly keep warm before the 9am start!

It was a strange race in that there was no obvious start (it was literally on a side road, with no apparent signs), but that didn't matter - once the race started we headed out towards the countryside anyway.

The course included a few surprise hills, and was a 9 mile circuit with 2 additional 6 mile loops. Basically you could choose to run 15 or 21 miles on the day. I went through 9 miles fine, and as I was wearing my St Catherines marathon vest with my name printed on, lots of people were shouting support through the high street, which was much appreciated.

I then completed my first 6 mile loop, going past the 15 mile finish. I must admit, a teeny part of me said that I should just finish at 15 miles! It wasn't that I was exhausted...I was so cold! I literally thought my face was going to fall off, it was horrible. But I dug deep and saw it through. The last 2 miles were a killer though - my legs were a bit sore and then there was that awful hill climb to the finish.

At one point another runner told me that I shouldn't have my headphones in as I wouldn't be able to hear the traffic, and I snapped back at her that I couldn't run without music. I honestly don't know how people can do that - music is the only thing that keeps me going!

I was very glad to finish in 3hrs 22mins, and I knew then that I was definitely ready for Dubai and to start my taper!

Christmas Day Park Run

Whilst most people were enjoying bubbly in bed and opening presents on Christmas morning, I decided to partake in my first Christmas Day Park Run at Riddlesdown!

With the weather in Surrey having been rain, rain and more rain for the few days leading up to the event, I was constantly checking the Twitter feeds for confirmation of the run going ahead, and was actually surprised on Christmas Eve when they announced it was on, sludge and all!

So 8.30am came and hubby and I drove over to Riddlesdown where slowly but surely another 30 or so runners all wearing Santa hats or costumes arrived for the 9am start. I'd expected the course to be muddy, but it was beyond that - the only word I can use is swampy!

Here is us all at the start line - you can see what I mean!

Muddy start!

We all jogged off and I managed to get round the course in under 30 minutes in one piece. The problem was that in the woodland section, you didn't know how deep the puddles were - you just had to jump in them and hope for the best. Some were knee deep but this just added to the fun - it was like an assualt course!

The rain beat down on us but I just grit my teeth and got on with it, looking forward to some home made mince pies at the end which went down a treat.

The finish is in sight!

There's an event taking place on New Years Day - we'll see how jaded I am after an evening drinking with friends the night before :)

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!