I
can’t believe we’re almost a quarter of the way through the year already! I’m pleased to say, though, that so far I’ve
enjoyed a spell of good, consistent training (hope this hasn’t jinxed
it!). I’ve been steadily building my
mileage and already have a total of well over 750 miles under my belt this year.
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| On home turf |
Back
in January I ran a couple of fairly low key races. The Warwickshire Cross-Country Championships
were possibly my last ever cross-country race (I find cross-country way too
short these days!) It was fitting,
therefore, that they were held at Newbold Comyn, my ‘home’ course and where I
ran my cross-country debut back in 1986!
I decided to run in the Senior age group rather than the Masters in order to help
my club, Leamington C&AC, finish a Senior team - and we were delighted to win
team bronze. It was brilliant to end on
a high, with a team medal with my Leamington team-mates.
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| Jumping in muddy puddles |
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| Team bronze! |
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| Back on the roads |
A
week later I was back on my preferred road surface in the Not the Roman IX 12k
race near Stratford-on-Avon. Being a
local race this was the eighth time I’d run it; having won it on all of my previous
seven attempts as well as holding the course record. This year I finished 3rd female,
somewhat spoiling my winning record, but I was happy enough, knowing I wasn’t
in top shape due to the niggles I’d had last year.
After
NTRIX I concentrated on a good block of training and building up the distance
of my long runs. I also do a weekly
track session with a great group at Leamington C&AC, overseen by my coach,
Les. It’s my favourite session of the
week – the only time I train in company with others and there is a fantastic
camaraderie and encouragement within the group.
The key during these high mileage weeks is recovery (especially as my
body isn’t as young as it used to be!) and I’ve recently started using CurraNZ - a blackcurrant extract supplement - which seems to be really beneficial and
effective at warding off DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness).
I also use Blue Active Gel Muscle & Joint
Rub and am indebted to Les for the twice-a-week massages. On top of this are monthly maintenance visits
to my physio. It can be pretty hard
fitting all the hours of training, recovery, physio, strength exercises etc.
into a 30-hour working week as a Landscape Architect, but it’s what I want to
do and I’m committed to getting the best out of myself.
There
are lots of privileges and opportunities that come with being a successful
athlete and I was lucky enough to experience one recently. I was invited to the launch event of the
cycling Women’s Tour, Warwickshire stage.
The event brought together Warwickshire sportswomen from a wide variety
of sports and was a great celebration of women’s sport in general, and
especially in Warwickshire. It was
really inspiring listening to GB cyclist Ciara Horne and chatting with so many
other girls about their own sports and training etc.
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| Promoting women's sport in Warwickshire |
I
didn’t race again until the beginning of March when I ran in the BHF Warwick
half-marathon. The plan was just to use
this as a quality training run, following a 28-miler the previous day. I ended up running a bit faster than Les and
I had intended, but I felt really easy and comfortable. Pouring rain before the start was a bit
dispiriting, but luckily it seemed to ease a bit during the race and I really
enjoyed running without the pressure of flat-out racing. I was able to chat to a few people and give
some encouragement to my club-mates. I even
had time to take in the scenery and spotted the first lambs I've seen this Spring! The course passes near to my house, on roads
that I regularly train on, which is a great advantage when it comes to racing –
especially on this occasion when I knew the best line to take through a massive
puddle / flood covering the whole width of the road!
And
then came the highlight of my year so far.
In mid-February I had received an email from the England Athletics
selectors to say that I was being considered for the England team for the
Anglo-Celtic Plate 100km in May. This is
an annual competition between England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales, which this
year is being held in conjunction with the British Championships. There was a caveat to my selection though – I
needed to “prove my fitness” as, due to injury, I hadn’t run an ultra since
2015.
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| En route to 50km |
Les and I looked for suitable
races and, with a lack of 50km races, approached the Raceways Event Management
team who were putting on their Spring Shakespeare races, ranging from 5km to
the marathon. They were extremely
helpful and accommodating and agreed I could start with the 5km / 10km runners
and run 10 laps of the 5km route, which would give me an officially timed
50km. And so it was that I found myself running
round and round a rather featureless, open, windswept, flat-as-a-pancake
disused airfield! But I really enjoyed
it! The marshals out on course and at
the drinks station were so enthusiastic in cheering the runners on, even by the
time I was on my 10th lap! The
course consists of ‘out & back’ stretches along the old runways, which
means a lot of sharp corners, but also means there are always other runners
nearby, going in one direction or the other, and it was great to exchange a few
“well done”s as I passed people. My
finishing time of 3:42:13 was comfortably inside the time the selectors had set
me, but I had an anxious few days wait before I received confirmation that YES,
I was in the team! I’m extremely proud
and honoured to have the chance to represent my country again. My time places me top of the UK 50km rankings
so far this year (although it’s nearly half an hour slower than the British
Record I set back in 2010!) For those
interested in stats my 5km splits were: 22:18, 22:31, 22:38, 22:18, 22:39,
22:18, 22:15, 21:56, 22:00, 21:20. I’d
like to say a massive thank you to the Raceways team – my selection wouldn’t
have been possible without their support and they were full of encouragement
for me both during and after the race. I’ve
run several of their races now and they’re always extremely well organised:
http://www.raceways.eu/site/
http://www.raceways.eu/site/
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| Round and round an old airfield! |
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| Crossing the finish line - job done! |
So
now it’s down to some hard training to prepare for May 21st. A double dose of CurraNZ meant I was out
running again the day after the 50km time-trial, and doing a hard track session
three days later. For me the key is
training smart and trying to stay injury-free, so fingers crossed for that!
