100 Not Out !

I’ve managed it at last – I’ve just recorded my 100^th road race win in today’s ‘Christmas Cracker’ 20km at Moreton Morrell!  It’s been some time coming – I realised I was getting close a while ago, but injuries prevented me actually achieving it until today!  And it was made even more special by the fact my coach of 29 years, Les, was there to share it, especially after everything he has been through over the last 12 months.  He marked the occasion in style by arranging for some balloons printed with ‘100’ to be handed to me just before the finish, for me to carry and wave as I crossed the line!

 

Crossing the line with my '100' balloons (which Les also managed to colour co-ordinate with my kit!)

My 100^th win comes from a total of just 254 road races (not including all the track, cross-country and trail races where I’ve also notched up quite a few wins too).  My first road race was in 1987 as a junior and since then I’ve run over a variety of distances ranging from 5km to 100km.  In addition to my wins I’ve also finished 2^nd on 52 occasions and 3^rd on 22 others giving a total of 174 podium finishes from the 254 races!  A few facts and figures:

 

·         My first win was in 1992 in the Rugby Women’s 10k.

·         My first Warwickshire AA gold was in 1996 in the Chelmsley Wood 10k.

·         My first Midland Counties AA gold was in 2000 in the Erewash 10 mile.

·         My biggest win was the 2010 50k World Trophy Final in Galway.

·         I’ve raced in Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Lebanon, Morocco, The Netherlands, Slovakia and South Africa.

 

I’ve had some fantastic opportunities and have many great memories from my road races – winning the 2010 50k World Trophy Final and setting a national record; standing on the podium at the European 100km champs. and watching the Union Flag hoisted; the amazing atmosphere in the Comrades Marathon in South Africa; beating Berhane Adere in the Great North Run and being mentioned by Brendan Foster and Steve Cram on the TV commentary; the incredible atmosphere of the London Marathon; proudly wearing my GB vest on five occasions, including two World Championships; standing on the podium in the Amsterdam Olympic Stadium – the list could go on and on! 

 

Of course, my 100 wins haven’t come without an awful lot of hard work and dedication.  And one thing is sure, I couldn’t have done it without the support of many people – Mizuno for supplying me with shoes and kit; X-Bionic for their fantastic compression wear; The Warwickshire Golf & Country Club for the use of their gym; my physio Mark Buckingham for putting me back together when I’m broken; my club, Leamington C&AC for their encouragement and recognition in making me a life member; my family for all their support and finally, of course, Les who has been there at nearly all of my road races to celebrate the successes and pick me up when things haven’t gone so well.

 

It was a great race to achieve my 100^th victory today – superbly organised, as ever, by Raceways Multi-sport Event Management in aid of their charity ‘Kids Run Free’ (http://www.kidsrunfree.co.uk/site/index.php). The course was a two-lap undulating route through the Warwickshire countryside and was well-marshalled.  An uphill climb at the end of each of the two laps was made harder by the strong wind blowing straight in our faces, but at least the pre-race rain held off!  And despite my clocking up 254 road races I’ve never actually raced the 20k distance before, so I ended up with a PB too!  I think the celebratory mince pie afterwards was well-earned!

 

 

‘Making my century’ was a fitting end to the year and it was great to finish on a high.  After the World 100k in September I was selected as a non-travelling reserve for the GB team for the World 50k champs. in Doha, Qatar.  This meant I spent three months training for a race that I didn’t know if I would be running!  I was always on stand-by to jump in at the last minute if the girl who was selected had to withdraw, however I didn’t hear anything from the GB team management so I assumed all was OK with her.  It came as somewhat of a surprise, therefore, when I read the results of the race, to find that she hadn’t even started!  I was never called upon to take her place, despite making myself available right up to the last minute!  So much for selecting a reserve!

 

The last three months haven’t gone to waste though, as I’ve been working with one of the personal trainers at The Warwickshire, Sam Baker, on my strength and conditioning.  He’s been really great working with me on my technique, trying to get my glutes firing, working on core and upper back strength and addressing a muscle imbalance in my legs.  He’s very knowledgeable and excellent at explaining everything (and very patient with me too, when I can’t seem to make my body do quite what he’s looking for!)  I’ve also been working with my physio on addressing my ongoing hamstring tendinopathy.  He’s recently acquired a new ‘toy’ which he’s been using to give me Extracorporeal Shockwave Therapy – basically it’s a probe that pulsates on the affected area.  It’s early days yet, but fingers crossed it will start to have a positive effect soon.  I’ve also started to wear a sacroiliac support belt to see if that helps too.

 

And on top of all this I’ve ventured back to the athletics track in Leamington to start doing track sessions again, after a gap of 18 months!  It’s a vague hope that I’ll get some speed back in my legs again, although I think it’s a bit optimistic!  However, it’s been really good fun and I’ve enjoyed training in a group again; encouraging and pushing each other, as well as the friendly banter.

 

So 2015 hasn’t been a bad running year for me really.  I’ve managed to come back from my injuries last year to finish 10^th in the World 100k championships and go to 5^th on the UK All-time rankings, and to eventually reach 100 road race wins.  Here’s to 2016 – I may have reached 100 but I hope I’m not out just yet!

 

Have a great Christmas everyone, and I hope you have a happy and healthy 2016.  

 

IAU World 100km Championships 2015

What a difference a year makes!  This time last year I was unable to do any exercise whatsoever, let alone run, due to hamstring tendinopathy and a stress reaction in my pelvis.  Now, I’ve not only finished 10^th in the IAU World 100km Championships, but also smashed my personal best by well over 8 minutes.  My time of 7hrs 39mins 50secs elevates me to 5^th on the UK All-time 100km rankings and also broke my own British Masters W40 age record.  And I won the silver medal in the World Masters W40 Championship to boot.  Wow!  I really can’t believe I’ve managed to come so far since I tentatively resumed light jogging last November.  It really does go to show that perseverance, determination and hard work do pay off.  I have to say that I totally exceeded all my expectations.  Even though I always dream of winning a medal (after all, my motto is “train to race and race to win”) realistically I thought a top-10 finish would be amazing.  I was ranked about 12^th on paper going into the race and I wasn’t sure how much my lack of background due to injury over the last couple of years would affect me.  In terms of time, I thought if I could shave even a minute or two off my PB I would be doing extremely well, so to take over 8 minutes off and break that 7:40 barrier was incredible.  Given the past couple of years I'd have been happy just to be there and able to take part, so to come away with such a substantial PB was incredible.

 

For me the story really started back in November last year.  Originally there wasn’t going to be a World 100k Champs. this year as the IAU had decided to make it Biennial.  However, in the very same week that my coach, Les, was given his initial diagnosis of incurable bile duct cancer, the IAU announced there would be a World 100k Championship in The Netherlands on 12^th September.  I was just resuming light training after my injury and I remember visiting Les in hospital and telling him it was a good omen – a positive goal for us both to work towards.  And so it proved to be, as his diagnosis was changed to Lymphoma which has currently been put into remission, and I managed to build my training up to a level where I could put my name forward to be considered for selection.  I was really excited when I received my selection letter from British Athletics in June.  I always feel extremely proud and honoured to be selected to represent my country and I was also really grateful to the selection committee for showing faith in me, despite me not having run a 100k since 2013.  So three months of hard work followed in order to get me to the start line in shape to do myself, and my country, justice.



The GB team travelled out to The Netherlands on the Thursday before the race, flying from various UK airports and all meeting up at Amsterdam station.  The team consisted of three men, three women and three team managers and it was great to meet up with them all and catch up with friends I hadn’t seen for ages. 





GB team: women - Sue Harrison, Holly Rush, Jo Zakrzewski; men - Steve Way, Craig Holgate, Marcus Scotney

Team GB girls' bungalow!

 

Several hours, and trains, later we arrived in Winschoten in northern Holland, and were taken by mini-bus to the athletes’ village which was about 25km from the town itself.  We were all staying in a ‘holiday camp’, with individual bungalows comprising a couple of bedrooms, bathroom, kitchenette and sitting area.

 



 

 

Meal time!

  

 

A big sports hall was set up as a dining area for our meals.  This gave us the opportunity to catch up with friends from other countries and to check out the opposition, as well as decide which other countries’ kit we preferred to ours!  France got a thumbs up but Japan’s luminous orange was a definite no-no (we did think they looked rather like workers about to carry out some road repairs!). 



 

 

  

My day's food and drink supply!

I seemed to spend most of Friday, the day before the race, preparing my drink bottles!  I’d asked friends and family for motivational messages which I stuck on my bottles, and again this worked really well during the race – it definitely gave me a lift when I read them, so thank you to everyone who sent me a message.  As usual I’d also decorated my bottles with big silver stars to make them easier for me to spot, and then it was case of measuring out my various drinks and attaching gels and food - pieces of flapjack, energy bars, Hula Hoops etc.  Les and I often joke that running 100k is really just a 'picnic on the run'!  Luckily I’d prepared a nutrition plan beforehand so I knew exactly what I needed for each of my 19 bottles!



 

 

And thanks to the brilliant GB team management each bottle was handed to me in the right order and without mishap during the race.



Drinking on the run

 

On the Friday evening everyone was bussed into the town for the opening ceremony.  This started with various dance displays by local children and then a flag parade through the town by all the teams.

Mingling with the other teams before the flag parade



 

Team Groot Brittannie parading through the streets of Winschoten!

A local band led the parade, which also passed IAU delegates and local dignitaries outside the Town Hall



38 countries sent teams to the Championships

The parade ended up at a big sports centre where, after the obligatory speeches and official 'opening of the Championships', we could carbo-load on pasta  ready for the following day.

The best bit about running 100k is the amount of food I get to eat!
 

Final preparations before the start

And so, finally, after all the months of hard training, race day was upon us!  I felt a mixture of nerves and anticipation as I carried out my final preparations - applying Vaseline to my feet, making sure my numbers were pinned on and, of course, numerous visits to the toilet!!  On the one hand I couldn't wait to get out there running, on the other I was asking myself "why am I doing this?"!!  The answer was, of course, to burn off all the calories I'd eaten the previous day!  Oh, and also because I can, because I want to, because it's what I'm good at and because my country has selected me to represent them.  What more motivation could you need than the desire to perform well for the team?

 

 

Street party!

The weather seemed almost perfect at the start – cloudy, not too hot, not too cold, and not too windy.  This changed throughout the day – at times the sun broke through the cloud making it quite warm and the wind also picked up, making some sections of the course quite hard going.  The race comprised ten laps of 10km around the town and, as you would expect in Holland, was predominantly flat.  There were just one or two minor alterations of the course from when I last ran this race four years ago, but basically it followed the same route.  And, just like four years ago, the locals all did an amazing job of cheering on the runners.  As is their tradition they decorated the streets with bunting and balloons, played music, had barbeques in their gardens, kids were giving out sponges and there was generally a fantastic atmosphere around the course.







The early stages

I had a slight glitch right at the start when my GPS signal temporarily cut out, which threw my early pacing slightly.  I found myself running with my team-mate Jo, but soon realised I was going quicker than I’d intended so dropped back and ran in a group of girls from the USA, Croatia, Russia and my other team-mate Holly.  At this stage I was about 15^th in the women’s race. 

 

After a while this group started to pull away from me and I let them go, knowing I was already running slightly quicker than I’d intended and didn’t want to get dragged into running too fast too early.  I was feeling really good, smiling, acknowledging the crowd support and generally trying to enjoy it while I could! 
 

Enjoying the atmosphere

 

Deep in concentration!

It was great to see the friendly faces of our team managers and helpers at the drinks stations at the 6km and 10km points on each lap.  Les was also at the 2km and 7km points on each lap, giving me much-appreciated encouragement and information about where others were in relation to me.  At around the 50km mark I pulled back Meghan Arbogast from the USA and was steadily working my way through the field.  At this stage I was feeling pretty good, but was also very conscious of not getting carried away and picking up my pace too soon.  After all, I was only half-way through the race!  I just tried to stick to my plan and enjoy the atmosphere, and hope that some of those in front would come back to me in the latter stages! 

Still smiling at this point!

By 60km I’d moved up into 8^th place in the women’s race and was still feeling good.  However, by 80km it was suddenly all starting to feel a whole lot harder and I was passed by the Australian, Kirstin Bull, who eventually went on to finish just 22 seconds in front of me in a new Australian record.  At this point I was still leading the World Masters W40 age group, but unfortunately for me Stina Svensson from Sweden then passed me at 92km.  I tried desperately to hang on to her when I realised she was in the same age category as me and I managed to stick with her until 95km, but I just didn’t have enough in my legs and she started to pull away.  For the last 10km or so I was just hanging on as best as I could.  My smile had given way to a grimace of pain as my quads were screaming, but I carried on running right to the line.  As I ran down the finishing straight I could see the clock in front of me and was willing my legs to keep going as I was desperate to break 7:40.  I eventually crossed the line in 7hrs 39mins 50secs – well over 8 minutes quicker than my previous best time.

 

The end at last!

Post-race exhaustion!

The minute I stopped running my legs turned to jelly and I had to be helped to a chair!  It’s a strange feeling immediately post-race, with a whole mix of emotions – relief at finishing, happiness with my time, but also sheer physical exhaustion and not quite knowing what to do with myself to ease the pain.  As it all started to sink in I was delighted about what I’d achieved, but at the same time had a slight feeling of disappointment that I hadn’t pushed myself hard enough to hold onto 1^st place in my age group, even though I know damn well that I was giving 100% at the time!  That’s the thing with me, I’m never totally satisfied, but that’s what makes me a competitive athlete and always striving to do better.

 

It took me a little while before my legs recovered enough to be helped into the sports hall for a very welcome shower, after which we all managed to hobble a short distance down the road to a restaurant that had laid on a post-race meal for all the athletes.  After consuming nothing but sugary sports drinks, gels and flapjack for the past seven and a half hours a plate of lasagne was perfect recovery fuel.  Then it was a hobble back to the sports hall for the medal ceremonies.  If you didn’t know the Swedish National Anthem before the medal ceremonies you certainly did after it as they took six of the eight overall titles on offer (men’s World & European individual & team; women’s European individual & team).  Of the six GB athletes that started, four finished (two men, two women) and all four set massive personal bests which was brilliant.  Three of us also picked up World Masters medals in our respective age groups, and Jo won bronze in the European Championship which was fantastic.  It’s always great to be able to cheer team-mates on the podium and it was a wonderful feeling to be standing there myself to receive my World Masters W40 silver medal.  For me, it was made even more special by the fact Les was there to share it with me.



On the podium receiving my World Masters W40 silver medal

 

GB medallists



A happy coach and athlete



So, having now had chance to reflect on my performance, my overriding feeling is that of immense satisfaction at what I managed to achieve.  Just getting myself fit enough to complete the distance was a huge achievement after my injury nightmare.  After all, running 100km is no mean feat - for those who haven't worked it out, it's 62 miles, or the equivalent of running from Warwick to Nottingham, or Warwick to Reading, without stopping!  To do it wearing a Great Britain vest, in a lifetime best time and winning a silver medal in my age group - well that's something really special.

 

Of course, none of this would have been possible without the huge amount of support I’ve received from many people and I want to say a MASSIVE ‘thank you’ to them all.  In no particular order they are:

• Mizuno – for supplying me with kit and the best running shoes ever.  Their Wave Creation give me superb cushioning and support for my longest training runs; Wave Ultima are perfect for my intermediate runs; Wave Sayonara have just the right balance between being cushioned but lightweight enough for road interval sessions; and finally my trusty Wave Riders – my shoe of choice for tempo runs and, of course, the race itself.
• X-Bionic – for supplying me with their first class compression clothing and socks.  I quite simply can’t imagine running that far without my Effektor compression socks to support my calves and reduce the risk of blisters.
• The Warwickshire Golf & Country Club – for complementary membership which allows me to use the gym for my strength and conditioning sessions.  This is invaluable not only for my general strength and core stability, but also specific re-hab. from my hamstring injury which enabled to get back to running at international level again.
• Pioneer Trading – for supplying me with Blue Active Gel – a brilliant muscle rub which definitely helps my recovery between training sessions, as well as after the race.
• Mark Buckingham – my fantastic physio, without whom I wouldn’t even have made it to the start line.  The monthly trip to Northampton, and paying for 40 minutes of torture, are definitely worthwhile!
• Martin Bower – for his slightly less painful, but still very effective, sports massages.
• Family and friends – for all their support, encouragement and understanding when my training and racing needs have to come before social engagements.
• Colleagues, Managers and Councillors at Warwickshire County Council – for their support, interest and recognition of my achievements, and allowing me time off work to compete for my country.
• And last, but most definitely not least, my wonderful coach Les – for being there throughout my training despite undergoing six months of chemotherapy at the same time.  How can I ever repay that sort of commitment?  Les, you truly are my inspiration and I couldn’t have done this without you.

And just to finish - a few statistics that Les has come up with:

• This was the 28^th women’s World 100km Champs. and was the best field ever assembled with 16 athletes breaking 8 hours, more than ever before in any championship.
• My time of 7:39:50 would have won 9 of the previous championships and would have put me on the podium in 16 of the 28 championships.
• The quality of this year’s race can be seen as follows:
• 1^st Camille Herron (USA) – ran the 4^th fastest of all time
• 2^nd Kasja Berg (SWE) – set a new Swedish record
• 3^rd Marija Vrajic (CRO) – set a new Croatian record
• 4^th Sarah Bard (USA) – set a new lifetime best
• 5^th Jo Zakrzewski (GBR) – set a new lifetime best and is 4^th on the UK all-time rankings
• 6^th Marina Zgalybina (RUS) – was world champion on this course in 2011
• 7^th Stina Svensson (SWE) – set a new lifetime best and Swedish W40 record
• 8^th Kirstin Bull (AUS) – set a new Australian record
• 9^th Irina Antropova (RUS) – has been World / European medallist at 100k on 3 previous occasions
• 10^th Sue Harrison (GBR) – set a new lifetime best and British W40 record
• 16^th Mieke Dupont (BEL) – set a new Belgian record
• I would have had to have broken the British record to have finished in the top three in this year's race.

  

The Railway Ultra 2015

I fancied a change from my usual training routes along the canal towpaths and Warwickshire lanes, so decided to run The Railway Ultra, organised by ‘How Hard Can It Be Events’, as a long training run this week.  The race takes place along part of the disused Severn Valley Railway track, which runs beside the River Severn, between Coalport and Bridgnorth.  I guess a disused railway is an appropriate place for a ‘training’ run!  There’s a choice of distances – 19 miles, 28 miles or 36 miles – so, as part of my build up to the World 100km Championships, I chose the 36 mile option (which actually turned out to be just short of 38 miles by my GPS watch!). 

On the start line



As we started off I settled into my planned pace – I wanted to run at a steady pace and not get caught up in racing people, as I wanted to be able to recover well afterwards in order to get straight back into training in the following days.  This was quite hard, as I race to win, but I was very disciplined and maintained a pretty even pace throughout.  As it happened, I slowly picked people off who had started too fast.

Drinking on the run

The 36 (38!) mile option comprised four out-and-back laps with a drinks station at each end, giving me ample opportunity to try out some of my nutrition options for the 100km.  Les, as usual, did a great job handing me my drinks, as well as offering plenty of encouragement, at the far end of each lap.

 

Being an out-and-back course meant we were continually passing people going the other way and exchanging encouraging words which was great.  You got to recognise faces and everyone supported each other, which gave the race a lovely friendly atmosphere. 

 

 

 

Approaching the finish

 

As you would expect from a disused railway, the surface was quite stony and more uneven than the surfaces I’m used to running on.  I was a bit worried this might hurt my feet more, but I’d worn my most cushioned Mizuno trainers (Wave Creation) and, thanks to them, my feet were absolutely fine.  The route was very scenic, with glimpsed views down to the river below, as it flowed towards the famous Ironbridge Gorge.  Luckily, much of the route was within woodland which provided some welcome shade when the sun came out and some shelter from the breeze.  And the rain that was forecast fortunately didn’t materialise. 

 





I eventually finished 1^st lady and 2^nd overall out of the 30 finishers of the longer distance.  I was pleased with my official time of 4 hrs 51:19, especially as I ran the second half of the race around two minutes quicker than the first.

Chuffed with my 'training' medal!

It appears that my time was approximately 25 minutes faster than any woman had previously run on this course.

Added to the friendly atmosphere and scenic route was a striking finisher’s medal (that I think my Dad would probably rather like, being the Great Western Railway enthusiast that he is!), an engraved pint glass and a very yummy ‘9 Bar’. 

 

 

 

A satisfied finisher!

 

 

So, all in all, it was a very worthwhile trip to Shropshire to take part in a well organised race that I would definitely recommend.  And thanks to my fantastic X-Bionic compression clothing, and copious amounts of Blue Active Gel muscle rub, my legs seem to have recovered well enough to be able to do today’s two hour run as planned.

Fitness proved! - Enigma Running 30 mile race

Those of you who follow my blogs regularly will know that my recent Great Britain selection for the World 100k Champs. was dependent on ‘proving my fitness’ in a race longer than a marathon.  So it was with that in mind that I travelled down to the ‘land of the concrete cows’ (AKA Milton Keynes) for the Enigma Running 30 mile race.

The race itself was quite a low key affair, comprising eight and a bit laps of Caldecotte Lake.  Unusually it was an afternoon race, which started at 2.30pm, as there was also a separate marathon in the morning.  This posed a bit of a dilemma with my usual pre-race eating regime and I ended up having a second breakfast mid-morning!  It also meant that we started just as the clouds were dispersing to reveal bright sunshine and the hottest part of the day - typical!  The wind also picked up in the afternoon which, although giving some welcome cooling from the heat, was at times so strong across the open water of the lake that running into it became a real battle, especially in the latter stages.

The course was marked with flour, which wasn’t exactly ideal as by the time the marathon runners had been round a few times it was wearing away and in places hardly visible at all!  With only 35 entries I found myself running on my own from the start and, needless to say, it wasn’t long before I came to a junction of paths with absolutely no idea which one to take!  I stopped and waited for the guy behind me, but he didn’t have a clue either!  Between us we made a guess and luckily only took a very marginally longer route before we were back on course.  There were two or three more occasions where we dithered and had to look really hard for the markings, and at one point made a completely wrong turn and had to double back on ourselves!  All I can say is that it was a good job it was a lapped course - I’d just about got the route sussed by lap 3!  Added to this were many twists and turns – at one point the path was heading straight towards the lake and we had a minor panic that we were going to have to swim!  Luckily we discovered it took a sharp 90 degree turn to the left to follow the lake edge instead.  As well as route finding we also had to negotiate pedestrians, dogs, children on scooters, wheelchairs, pushchairs, ducks and geese!  I guess it all added interest to an otherwise long and lonely race.  The guy running with me, Darren, was great and ran the first two laps with me until we’d got the hang of the route before settling back into his own pace.  From then on I ran on my own and it was a case of trying to maintain my pace and count the laps down.  As ever my coach, Les, did a brilliant job handing me my drinks every lap and shouting encouragement. 

To cut a long story short, I ended up winning the race in a time of 3hrs 44.25.  Despite the weather, navigation errors and dodging obstacles I was still inside the previous women’s course best by over 2 minutes, and I’m pretty sure that’s the first time I’ve been the overall winner of a mixed race.  More importantly, the verdict from one of the GB selectors who was there to assess my run was one of total satisfaction.  So it was a job well done (providing the rest of the selection committee agree!).

I seem to be enjoying it too much!

 

Swans, sculptures and GB selection!

It’s been a few weeks since my last blog (sorry about that – I don’t know where the time goes!), but quite a lot has happened in that time.

Firstly, I had some rather exciting news when I received a phone call from British Athletics advising me I’d been selected for the Great Britain & NI team for the IAU World 100km Championships in the Netherlands, on September 12^th.  At first I wondered if I’d dreamt it, but when the confirmation letter dropped through my door the following day I knew it was real! 

I’m absolutely delighted about the prospect of running in another World Championship, and extremely proud and honoured to be given the chance of representing my country again.  I feel very fortunate that, after being forced to withdraw from last year’s World Champs. team through injury, I now have another chance and I’m extremely grateful to the selectors for showing faith in me.  They have set me one proviso, however - as it’s been two years since I last ran an ultra I’ve been asked to ‘prove my fitness’ in a race longer than a marathon - so I immediately sat down with my coach, Les, to plan a racing schedule that would allow for this.

The 100km World Championship will take place in the town of Winschoten, which is where I ran my first 100km, again for GB&NI in the World Champs., back in 2011.  I learnt an awful lot in that race, which I put into practice when I won bronze in the 2013 European 100km Championships and which I hope to build on again this year.

So it’s now down to just over two months of really hard work and, so far, my training is progressing well and my mileage is steadily building.  My long training runs have been increasing in length, taking in the canal towpaths and lanes of rural Warwickshire.  I’ve been loving wearing my new X-Bionic Effektor Powershirt and The Trick shorts – they’re so comfortable, no chafing and great temperature regulation - and, of course, my trusty X-Bionic Effektor compression socks which really seem to help my calves recover better.  My runs have been pretty uneventful really, although the other day I did have an encounter with a swan which was being very protective of its young.  I come across them regularly on the canal towpath and normally I’m very wary of them.  This time however, as the adult was only just climbing out of the water onto the path, I thought I could quickly dodge it by running up a grassy bank to the side.  I just about got past as it started to lunge for me, but in the process very nearly ended up in the canal for a swim as my momentum carried me back down the bank rather too quickly!  Luckily I just about managed to avoid testing out the buoyancy of X-Bionic kit!  Other wildlife encounters over the last few weeks have included hares and a couple of fabulous close-up views of buzzards gliding right in front of me.  It’s hard to imagine that these magnificent birds were in decline until as recently as the 1990s as hardly a run goes by now without me seeing or hearing one.

My artistic side has also been stimulated on some of my recent runs too, as one of Antony Gormley’s latest sculptures has sprung up on one of my canal routes.  It’s one of five sculptures commissioned from him by The Landmark Trust to celebrate their 50^th anniversary.  I think it’s great that such a prestigious sculptor chose a small village in rural Warwickshire, albeit with a historically important canal-side building, to site one of his pieces.  The sculpture is quite unassuming but fits its location perfectly – you can just imagine the lengthsman standing there inspecting ‘his’ stretch of the canal in days gone by!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-coventry-warwickshire-32631681

 

Running past Antony Gormley's sculpture

 

As well as long runs my training has also included a couple of recent low-key local road races which I’ve used as tempo runs.  The first of these was the Banbury 5m on a cool and blustery Tuesday evening.  This proved to be a really good race between the top 4 women at the front end of the field, with the lead changing several times.  After a “sprint” finish (well, OK, maybe more of a quickish spurt than a sprint) I eventually ended up 3^rd, which I was happy enough with, especially as I was over half a minute quicker than last year.  I must admit though, it did feel far too short and I only started to get into my running at around 4 miles – not ideal when the race was only 5 miles!  The race is part of the East Midlands Grand Prix series and I’ve run it more often than any other race, having now done it 11 times.  It makes a great mid-week tempo run on an undulating course and there’s always a good turn-out of my fellow Leamington C&AC club-mates and so is a great chance to catch up with friends.

I then followed up Banbury with 2^nd place in the Arden 9m race last Sunday, where again I was more than satisfied with my run.  Having been leading the women’s race until the last mile, I didn’t quite have the legs to hold off the eventual winner as we climbed the final hill towards the finish.  But, putting it into perspective, I had done a long run the day before and had my biggest week’s mileage for some time, so I can’t really complain!  It’s a shame that such a well organised race took four days to get the results on their website though – especially in this day and age of computer technology!

Approaching the finish of the Arden 9

So that’s a quick round-up of the last few weeks; watch this space for the next instalment!