Vital Statistics!

So what does a girl do during 10 weeks of injury-enforced rest from running?  Well, normally I’d say cross-train like crazy – aquajog, swim, bike, gym etc. – but this time I was told I needed to avoid any traction at all in my hamstring, so basically it was total rest!

So, one of the things I’ve done to fill my time is to compile spreadsheets of all my race results (& field events too!), going back to 1985 when I first started running 800m and 1500m in area and County schools events (I then joined Leamington C&AC in 1986).  Sadly, I don’t have any records from before this time, although I did compete for my Primary school in area schools events, in sprints and long jump!

I guess many of you will think I’m rather sad and need to ‘get a life’, but for those who are interested in my vital statistics, here are just a few.

 

• Total number of races competed in (all surfaces):  648
• That breaks down into:  257 track; 129 cross-country; 9 indoors; 8 multi-terrain; 245 road.
• Track races include all distances from 100m to 10,000m, including road relay legs and both hurdles events (but I've never done the steeplechase).
• Road races include all distances from 3km to 100km, including road relays legs.
• Of those 648 races, I’ve won 209 (32.25%) and finished in a podium position in 393 (60.65%).
•  I’ve competed abroad (outside the UK) 21 times in 11 different countries.
• Of those 21 races I’ve been on the podium 11 times (9 individual and 2 team).
• The country I’ve raced in most (outside of the UK) is Holland (7 times).
•  I’ve represented Great Britain & Northern Ireland 4 times (all road); England 6 times (road & X/C); Midland Counties AA 18 times (road, track & X/C); and Warwickshire AA 18 times (road, track& X/C).
• The road race I’ve competed in the most times is the Banbury 5 mile (10 times; winning it 6 times), followed by the Leeds Abbey Dash 10K (8 times).
• International championship medals won:  4 (all road, incl. 1 team one), split into 1 gold, 2 silver, 1 bronze.
• National championship medals won:  3 (track & X/C, incl. 1 team one), split into 1 silver, 2 bronze.
• Midland Counties AA championships medals won:  5 road; 9 track; 4 X/C (incl. 1 team one); a total of 18 medals split into 8 gold, 2 silver, 8 bronze.
•  Warwickshire AA championships medals won:  30 road; 15 track; 24 X/C (incl. team); a total of 69 medals split into 46 gold, 14 silver and 9 bronze.
• Records held: W35 World Best 50km; English National Record and UK best 50km; W40 UK best 100km; UK W35 20 mile best.
• Number of course records set (road races):  32
• Number of field event competitions competed in:  43 (every event except pole vault and triple jump).

I could go on, for example a breakdown of how many races I’ve done at each distance, or how many races I’ve done each year, but I won’t bore you any more than I already have!  Hopefully I'll soon be back running again, and able to actually run races rather than count them!

I’m off now to go and get a life!!!

“… … in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment, I still have a dream."

It’s with a heavy heart that I write this blog as my excitement about representing my country in November’s World 100K Championship in Doha has suddenly been shattered.  I’m devastated that the injury I had last winter (hamstring tendinopathy and a stress reaction in my pelvis) has returned – confirmed by another costly MRI scan.  Even more worrying is the fact that the inflammation seems to be worse this time, and is on both sides too.

Prior to this training had been going really well and I’d done a couple of 40km + runs and was looking forward to increasing these over the coming weeks.  I was also looking forward to running in the British Masters Marathon Championships, but sadly that wasn’t to be either.

Following the MRI scan I had a long consultation with my physio, Mark Buckingham, to assess the extent of the injury and come up with a rehab plan.  He said that if I tried to train for, and race, 100K I risked doing much more damage and ending up with a full blown stress fracture.  His expert professional opinion was that it was more a case of ‘when’ rather than ‘if’ that would happen.  Basically, I had no option but to withdraw from the team – a heart-breaking decision but I respect my physio’s advice and really had no choice.

Added to the disappointment and frustration is the realisation of just how bad the injury seems to be.  Mark’s advice of TOTAL rest for at least 2 or 3 weeks really brought this home, especially when he added “in an ideal world – bed rest” – though he did concede that probably wasn’t practical!  This was also reinforced when he said that if I’d got the same injury in my foot I’d be in a boot and on crutches now!  The only reason I’m not is that it would still be difficult to immobilise the hamstring / pelvis even with crutches, as the problem is due to hamstring traction rather than impact – i.e. just lifting my leg will aggravate it.  So, no exercise at all for me at the moment, and minimal walking about but plenty of sitting and lying down!  So can anyone recommend any good books or films?!!

The next step is to try and identify why the problem has returned, and why it’s on both sides this time.  One of the things we’ll look at is whether my running gait has changed at all.  Mark also had a good look at my training diary to see how I’d built my running back up after the last episode in case we might have tried to do too much too soon, but he couldn’t find any fault with it.  One of the worst things about injuries is not knowing the cause and therefore not knowing what to do to prevent a recurrence.

I know I should be positive; I know there are plenty of people in the world who are much worse off than I am; I know I should count my blessings and be thankful for what I have, and I am trying – honestly!  It’s just that it’s so hard sometimes!  Everything had been geared to this race since coming back from the injury last winter, and my ambition to run in Doha was made even stronger by the fact that last year’s Championship was cancelled and the year before I also had to withdraw from the team due to injury.  Although I won a bronze medal in last year’s European 100K Championships I haven’t had the chance to test myself on the World stage since my first attempt in 2011.  When you want something so desperately, and work so hard for it, then it’s suddenly taken away from you – it can be hard to come to terms with.  I guess emotionally it will become easier over time, though I’m not sure the disappointment will ever heal completely.  I just hope that I heal physically and can get back to the sport I love.

So, in the words of Martin Luther King Jr. “… … in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment, I still have a dream."

Blue Active Gel muscle & joint rub

I'm delighted to say that The Pioneer Trading (Lincs) Company have agreed to support me with a supply of Blue Active Gel.  This is a fantastic muscle and joint rub, made from entirely natural products, that does a brilliant job of soothing aching and sore muscles.  I've been using it after training and races for several years and it really does seem to make a difference to my recovery.

The gel is made up of a long list of ingredients, including Aloe Vera, MSM, Glucosamine Sulphate and the acclaimed Golden Emu Oil used by many of the World's top sports people due to its deeply soothing and healing properties.  You can almost feel it working as soon as it's rubbed in as it gives an instant cooling, almost tingling sensation.

I'd like to say a huge thank you to Pioneer Trading for supporting me in my athletic ambitions.  As my event (ultra-distance running) doesn't benefit from Lottery funding I'm extremely grateful to all those who feel able to support me in whatever way.  Adequate recovery from the physical stress of training is fundamental, and Blue Active Gel is a vital part of my recovery.

http://www.shopforhealth.co.uk/product_info.php?cPath=31&products_id=20677

Exciting news - GB selection!

I had some great news this week when I was named in the Great Britain and Northern Ireland team for the World 100km Championships in Doha, Qatar in November.  Needless to say I was over the moon when I received my letter, and am very proud to be representing my country again.

We have two very strong teams, both men's and women's, and hopefully we can challenge for team medals.  I'm joined in the women's team by Ellie Greenwood who won the 2010 World 100km Championships, and this year became the first British woman to win the famous Comrades Marathon in South Africa.  Also in the team is Jo Zakrzewski who won silver in the 2011 World 100km and who recently ran for Scotland in the Commonwealth Games marathon in Glasgow.  I've been selected on the basis of my run in the European 100km Championships last year where I won the bronze medal in a time of 7hrs 48.12 which ranked me 4th in the 2013 world rankings.

I'm really excited about the race and very grateful that I've been given the opportunity to run, especially after all my injury problems over last winter.  So it's now down to 3 months of hard training in order that I can do myself justice on race day and not let the team down!

http://www.britishathletics.org.uk/media/news/2014-news-page/august-2014/12-08-14-world-100km-team/

'Hooky 6'

If I was a beer drinker a 6 mile race by a brewery could be quite an attractive prospect, but as I'm not the 'Hooky 6' didn't have quite the same appeal!  This wasn't helped by the alternating steady rain / heavy downpours thrown at us by ex-hurricane Bertha.  Apparently it hasn't rained at the Hooky 6 for at least 9 years - until the year I turn up to run it!  I will admit that my motivation was definitely lacking as I went through my warm up and race preparation routine.

If it hadn't been for the weather it would have been a very picturesque course, through the village of Hook Norton, with its honey coloured Cotswold stone buildings, and out into the surrounding countryside with views over the rolling landscape (had they not been obscured by low cloud!)  The course was two undulating laps of 3 miles, starting and finishing at the Sports and Social Club.  As I stood on the start line I tried to ignore the weather and get my racing 'head' on.  We were all poised and ready to go, waiting for the bang of the starting pistol ... ... but all we heard was a pathetic little click!  After a few more failed attempts it eventually fired and I got off to a fairly decent start.  However, it wasn't long before two other ladies passed me.  As usual I was struggling to get my legs going, despite a fairly long warm up, and I was unable to go with them.  After the first couple of miles I started to get into my running and saw that I was closing on one of the girls in front.  I managed to latch on to a group of men and used them to help me close the gap to her.  Despite being on the windiest, most exposed part of the course, I went straight past her and pulled away from the group, and then started to work on pulling back the next person in front of me.  I felt quite strong in the second half of the race but unfortunately I wasn't able to pull back the leading lady.  At least I managed to hold onto my second place in the women's race, (and was 22nd out of 213 overall).  This was my highest finishing position so far in my injury comeback, so I was satisfied with my morning's work.

As soon as I'd crossed the finish line I felt like I'd only just started to get going!  There were times while I was running when I questioned why I was doing such a short race (the reason being to try and get a bit of speed back in my legs), but there were also times when I was glad it was only 6 miles!  I did think that all the swimming I'd been forced to do over the winter would have stood me in better stead for today's race! 

I have to say, though, that the biggest praise should go to all the organisers and marshals who braved the horrible conditions to make sure the race went ahead smoothly and safely.  I take my hat off to them.

And despite my lack of motivation beforehand, and the mountain of sodden kit and shoes afterwards, I did enjoy it in a funny sort of way.

Oh yes, and guess what my prize was ... ... a bottle of Hooky ale of course!

Racing at last

Firstly, welcome to my new blog!  For those who were following my previous blogs on the Runnerslife website I'll start here where I left off there!  As a quick recap, I'd been gradually increasing my mileage after my hamstring / pelvis injury and had just done 10 days training in the fabulous scenery of the Brecon Beacons and Pembrokeshire.  I'm pleased to say that training has been progressing well since then and, at long last, I'm back on the racing scene again.

I've actually progressed quite quickly on that score, with no fewer than four races in the last month, over 5m, 9m, half-marathon and 10k!  I must admit it took until the fourth race to get back into the mindset of competing again.  I suppose 8 months without racing is quite some time and I had almost forgotten what it was like to be truly competitive.  The fact that I knew my fitness levels weren't at their best didn't help either, as I've just been using these races as part of my comeback.

The 5 mile and 9 mile races were fairly low-key local races and I finished 5th and 4th respectively.  The Arden 9 was particularly frustrating as I was pipped on the line in a sprint finish!  Definitely more speedwork required!  I then travelled down to Devon for the Torbay half-marathon - 2 laps out and back between Paignton & Torquay.  You might think that a coastal route around the bay would be fairly flat, but oh no, this wasn't!  Again, it took me until the second half of the race to really get going and I did struggle a bit on the hills due to my lack of specific hill training recently.  However I moved up from 8th to finish 5th in the women's race, behind a Kenyan and a contingent from Bristol AC, so a satisfying result.  For someone who lives slap bang in the centre of the UK it was lovely to be able to run by the sea, and even better to be able to go and stand in it afterwards for post-race recovery for sore muscles!  It was quite amusing as gradually more and more runners made their way into the sea after they'd finished the race, and one man said to me "have you just run?" - I'd have thought it was pretty obvious as I stood there in my sweaty crop top!!  Probably the highlight of this race, though, was refuelling with a Devon clotted cream tea afterwards!

So that brings me on to my most recent race - the Northbrook 10k which also incorporated the Warwickshire County 10k Championships.  My race rustiness again showed at the start when I was almost tripped from behind in the mad dash, and I had to remember how to use my elbows!!  I soon lost sight of the 3 leading women as my legs felt incredibly heavy going uphill almost from the start.  However, once over the brow I immediately picked up and then felt really strong for the rest of the race.  I had a much more positive attitude which is so crucial for a good performance.  I continued picking people off for the rest of the race, even up the hills, moving into 3rd in the women's race at about 5km.  This was by far my most pleasing race of my comeback so far - but my coach and I both knew it would take a few races to get back into the swing of it.  It also meant I added to my Warwickshire AA medals with a bronze - taking my total of county road race medals to 18.  (In fact, I think I've medalled in every county road race championship that I've contested - the first being way back in 1992!)  I was also really chuffed with my time of 37.22 which, although a long way off my best, was only 2 seconds slower than the time I ran to win this same race last year!

So hopefully I can now build on this positive start over the rest of the summer / autumn.

On the way to the finish of the Torbay half marathon