Today I drove down to Preston so that my son and I could take part in the Race for Life 10k event - as children aren't supposed to run over 5k too often it was an opportunity for him to test out his stamina!
My daughter brought her friend along to keep her company and assist in taking photos of the event in Avenham Park. We knew we were in the right place when we spotted all the pink:
Our arrival was timed to perfection as there weren't huge queues for the portaloos so we were very quickly ready to go:
This Sunday I got to put all my running training to the test in an organised event the Winter Run in Manchester. Very early in the morning I got on my race number and dragged my daughter down the motorway to Manchester:
When we got to the Eithad Stadium there was plenty going on to entertain the runners and their supporters:
My daughter took a chance to pose on the "winner's" podium (there was too much of a queue at the end for me to have a go!):
A combination of teacher training, school holidays and being ill had pushed my running fitness right back. At the beginning of September I couldn't even run 5k without lots of rests and I was 7-8 minutes off my PB. So I started trying to run every day once the children had gone back to school. Most days this was 5k and I found that eventually I could run the whole distance without needing a break but I was still well off my best...
Therefore I needed to try and gain both speed and stamina. I did a couple of days using the 10k runner app and ran 6k or more on both days. However I had pushed myself too hard too fast and when my leg hurt for an entire 5k I decided to take a few days off.
This Monday I felt fit again so thought I would try out Jeffing (Jeff Galloway run-walk) as some of my online running friends had found that it worked to speed them up. I set an interval app to 5 minute:1 minute sections and headed off for a 5k run... it seems counterintuitive to walk to go faster but it works! I ended up just over 3 minutes faster than when I first did the route:
I managed a similar run and time on Tuesday with which I was very pleased. On the Wednesday it was my son's fell training on the Helm so I was helping out so didn't do a long run but there was quite a lot of elevation:
Then we came to the start of the month and the Ron Hill Challenge to run at least 1 mile every day for the whole month. It was nearly a bad start as yesterday I was at work all day and then couldn't out until 7:30 PM. I didn't have long so I thought I would just try and find a mile long route and leg it! Of course I had no idea where to go to achieve this but luckily I found a way to do a mile and end up back close to home. I went off like a rocket and was briefly under 5 minutes per kilometre pace. I knew that was too fast to keep up but I managed to average under 6 minutes per kilometre to get my second faster 1 mile time!
Today is the only chance of a long run so I wrapped up in my hi-viz jacket and headed out towards Sedgewick along the road. It turned out to be a lovely route and with the odd minute of walking every couple of kilometres I reached the river and the 5k point in 33 minutes and 15 seconds - nearly faster than my flat 5k in town! Then it was an off-road route reversing the walk we had on Sunday.
It was interesting having to negotiate stiles with tired legs! When I got back to the start my phone said I had run 8.5k and I decided I felt good enough to carry on to complete my Run Mummy Run She Cracked It virtual 10k. I quick diversion up Natland Mill Lane and back down Burton Rd and I did it:
According to Strava my 3rd fastest ever 10k although I know that 3 of my races have measured just under the 10k and were a little bit quicker! Afterwards I found myself contemplating the Brathay Half Marathon for May 2016... Meanwhile will my legs work for Parkrun tomorrow..
