What ever the weather ....... I had to run!

As you know I was having a rare Monday off from training this week as I was working away in South Devon.

This wasn't a problem as it meant I would have a day off before going out on Tuesday!!

Ha ha ...... Barney had other ideas!!!

Barney???.

Yes, the Met. Office in their wisdom have decided to name the weather, so the latest storm was called Barney!
Yes, really!

On Tuesday we battened down the hatches and training was put on hold and cycling group was cancelled.

Apparently the wind was meant to drop over night, and then we would have a calm spell before the wind and rain returned at midday, so the plan was for a run fairly early on, on Wednesday morning, then a session on Friday and as I can't make parkrun on Saturday, a run on Sunday!

Well! The Met office got it wrong ..... it was still very windy on Wednesday morning, but ......... I had to run.

Now I don't mean that I was champing at the bit, the opposite really ....... it was windy and not appealing but I had to run.

Oh! I've just realised that I haven't told you what this weeks training plan is .....

Sooooooooo ..........

1) 8 miles at steady pace

2) 10 minute warm up then an up and down the scale hard and easy five minute segments for 20 minutes, some strides and a five minute cool down

3) 10 minutes easy, 10 minutes strong, 10 minutes harder pace

I decided to do the 8 miler ....... reasoning that on the day of the race the weather may be similar and I'd have to just get on with it! No wimping out on the day is an option!

Back to the Puffing Billy then! It was like rush hour though as I set off ....... I think everyone like us felt the need to get out ........walkers,  lots of dog walkers, a tandem, cyclists (with no bells .... grrrrrrr!! The old blokes in lycra are the worst!)

Well, it wasn't as sheltered as I'd thought and immediately
I was being buffeted by the wind. My immediate thoughts were ' Oh bugger, I better get my excuses in early with this wind so my time doesn't look too bad' bearing in mind this was to be at a steady pace! There was no way I could repeat last weeks seven mile time ......
Anyway you know me by now, after my initial wingeing and swearing I get on with it ....
........... so I got on with it!
 Running over the riverbridge at Landcross before turning round (when the bird on the phone told me I'd done four miles) to run back ........

I've since found out that this wind and running thing is called resistance training!!!

....... and yes I'm as surprised as you at my time!!!

The only downside was that despite smearing on the Vaseline I got a blister on each foot.

On Thursday evening I found out the date for the Braunton 10 miler .... 24th January 2016.

When Coach Steph sold this race to me she said there were a couple of hills.

Eerrrrrrr just wondering how '2 infamous climbs designed to test the legs and spirit' escaped the conversation!!!

Petrockstowe on Friday was my next date to do the hard and easy up and down the scale run (not necessarily in that order!)

There was a bit of faffing/fannying on my part before we left as, as soon as I walked out to the truck I could feel the blister on my right foot rubbing despite having plastered both feet in Vaseline ..........

Sooooooooo, back indoors to tape on a wapping great big pad ....... and then we were off!

There's a new sign there, which is brilliant because it gives the miles between 'Stations'

Eh voila!

I digress ....... mainly because I hate interval training .......

but ........ I have to say it does what it says on the tin and I have to admit (grudgingly) that because of it my running has improved as you can see!

I won't bore you ..... I did it, the stopwatch was being tempermental, it was hard but I felt good afterwards (Sssshhhh don't tell anyone I said that especially Coach Steph!) and my blisters held up!

Today it seemed very strange to be running for just 30 minutes and strange to think that this is what I did day in  and day out before I discovered the Bideford 10k earlier this year.
There was no specification as to what terrain it should be done on and as I was missing my hill I decided to go and pay it a visit and make the run a bit harder!

I loved it!

Under the weather this week ..... both physically and metaphorically!

In bed on Sunday night the OB and I had the following conversation .....

The OB 'Are you training tomorrow?'

Me 'Yes'

The OB 'Have you had your training email yet?'

Me ' No, but I reckon there'll be a seven miler on it so I'll do seven miles tomorrow. Probably Petrockstowe to Meeth, which must be about seven miles'

How romantic is that ....... We have such exciting pillow talk?!

Now bearing in mind that the wet and windy weather was with us
 ....... storm Abigail and hurricane Kate, both of which have been with us all week meant that running could prove to be dodgy!

I also need to add that I woke up with a bit of a sore throat but as I don't suffer from colds just put it down to sleeping with the window shut due to the wind! (Outside I hasten to add)

Sooooooooo .........  after doing all my day job prep for the afternoon we (the woofers who make out they haven't been for a run in months) and the OB and I went to Petrockstowe .......

We went in opposite directions ....... Jess doesn't like my chosen route ..... and  is quite diva ish so I do wonder by her reaction what danger I'm running into!

Almost at mile one,  I jumped out of my skin as a cyclist behind me dinged his bell ....... I was so far in La La land and with the wind hadn't heard him approach so leapt in the air and shrieked, making him assure me it was ok ......... think he was more scared than me!!

Into mile two and my chest started to feel really tight, and my nose started to run .......
.......... no tissue and no sleeves either!!!
Then my legs felt like lead and I just got slower and slower ......

I ran 5.87 miles ...... thank goodness it wasn't 7 miles because it was an awful time ....

The OB and doggens came to meet me as I  struggled  back  ....... unheard off as I'm as always back before them.

On the way home I felt really ill, although didn't let on to the OB because I'd never felt like this before and didn't want to frighten him but bloody hell, I thought I might be on my third wake up call ( you know the 'your time is up one'!!)

Once home I was so cold but the water wasn't hot enough for me to have a bath so I had to sit in my puffa jacket to try to get warm whilst we ate scrambled egg ...........

I had a bath and  went to work ....... where my legs ached, ill ache,  not exercise ache for the next four hours. 

Whilst I was at work the training email arrived ........ and yay ........ There was a seven mile run,,, plus a 30 minute enjoy yourself job plus 45 minutes of strides and running to oblivion run .....

.........well to be fair, 10 mins warm up ... the usual 5 mins strides including recovery and then five minutes of easy, medium, hard and very hard and 10 mins warm down!

And still my legs ached .......  all night and again in the morning during my four hour milk recording stint.

I decided to join the cycling group and we cycled 23 miles and I felt absolutely fine, so it must have been a blip then?

On Wednesday I felt absolutely awful and training went on hold ..........

Obviously not a blip then!

Now I'm sure you're thinking by now that I should just put training on the back burner  ...............

Of course I should, however on Thursday I felt fine and so we went to Puffing Billy as the doggens needed their run and so did I .........  

......... the agreement was (with no one in particular) that if I felt fine at mile two I'd carry on and do seven miles and if not I'd do the thirty minute run or definitely stop if I felt ill. Yes honestly, no messing. 

I was also hoping to get a photo of the landslip which had occurred overnight on the A386 which runs along side the TT.

The bad news is that the landslip was on the bit of Road that doesn't run alongside the TT, however the good news is ............ I ran seven miles ....... 

I've never run seven miles before .........

......and  I was amazed to see that I'd done it at race pace, although that wasn't in the training plan, but I'm now going to blow my own trumpet and announce how chuffed I am at running this pace and time .......

Of course I was due a fall ......

My plan for the 30 minute run was do it at Parkrun and then do the stride/hard run one on Sunday as I was away teaching on Monday so would have the day off.

Best laid plans and all that ......

On Saturday morning I woke up to the back door trots .... 

Not a good idea to go to Parkrun then! The OB was time keeper so had to go but my frequent trots to the loo meant I had to stay behind. ( No! no idea what caused it)

Yesterday morning the OB and I had the following conversation in bed ...... bearing in mind the wet and blustery weather ...

The OB ' Are you running today, it doesn't sound very good out there'

Me 'I'll see what it's like later, but I'm hoping to. I don't know which one I'll do though, depends how I feel and where we go'

That was the dilemma ...... which part of the TT was least likely to chuck bits of tree at me?

Off to Watersmeet then!

Oh dear God ..... why the road closures? After driving half way round the county and introducing the OB to a new road we arrived......

The warm up was fine, the TT at this point is down in the valley and so very sheltered The first four strides/recovery were text book but then into my fifth stride I had to plough through a load of shit/piss/mud where the cows cross  the TT. Well actually I pussy footed through it.......

Oh come on I've managed to keep my lovely running shoes clean for the last eleven months, why would I want them covered in shit now?
So after prancing through this quagmire and feeling the shit seeping into my socks I redid the fifth stride/recovery. This took me to the Puffing Billy where I started the five minute bits and the gusty wind came for me, I turned back half way through the medium five minutes and found it hard battling the wind. I kept at it but doubting that I was really doing it properly. So into the 'very hard' five minutes where we needed to 'dig in' and would you believe I managed to swallow a fly which made me cough, retch, spit and swear ...... but not necessarily in that order, and then I had to negotiate the shit pit again..........  Miss Pussyfoot did her stuff and then ran very slowly for the ten minute warm down wondering how Thursday's run had been so brilliant!

*OB - Old bloke
*TT - Tarka Trail

I did this weeks training but not necessarily in the right order!!!

Monday was a gloriously sunny day and unseasonal 17C, so I just had to take advantage of it and run, especially as the forecast for the rest of the week was for wall to wall rain!

I hadn't had a training email from Coach Steph for the week so decided to do 5 miles and just run for the love of being able to run and  hoping that when it arrived there was something similar I could match it up with and tick off!

Yarde towards Petrockstowe then .............  turning at the second white post in the middle of the track and hoping it would be the halfway mark!

Of course most of you reading this will have absolutely no idea what white post I'm talking about but just indulge me!

It was blooming hot, but lovely to be just running and taking in the sights and sounds of autumn, although the last mile is uphill and I hate it ......

Yes, yes, I know I've declared my love for running up hills and I do, but just not this one! It's a gentle incline and seems to go on for ever ........ give me a steep hill any day!

I finally got to the top and and the car park to find I'd only run 4.8 miles ..... well what's 0.2 of a mile anyway? Oh, and to find Coach Stephs training email in my inbox!

Guess what?

There was a 5 mile run on it!
 The only snag was that miles 2,3 and 4 should be as close to race pace as possible.

Do you think miles 1 and 2 at race pace would count instead??

I bet you're dying to know what the other two runs are aren't you?

First up hill reps and the other a 30 minute easy run, focusing on form, foot placement and stride.

I was dying to get stuck into the hill reps but due to time constraints on Wednesday I opted for the 30 minute easy run, taking the opportunity to stop off at Petrockstowe on my way back from one of my farms.

It was pouring with raining when I set off but eased a bit and under the tree canopy I stayed fairly dry.

My first mile was 9.57 ......whoops! Better slow down then, this is meant to be an easy run!

As I was about to turn on a bend at roughly halfway I met a lady running towards me with her dogs so we stopped for a quick discussion as to who was running the fastest and needed to go in front.......  It seemed this was me!

Despite all this I clearly hadn't slowed down as my second mile was  9.59 .......

I knew that I was still running quite fast as I went into my third mile, spurred on mainly by the thought that I might be holding up the other lady and her training, however I was amazed that my time was 9.28!!!!

And yes, the bird on my phone was actually being reliable for a change!

I might not have done three miles at race pace during my run on Monday but I sure made up for it here!!

Back at the car park I had a lovely chat with the other lady who it turns out wasn't training but runs with Okehampton running club.

The rain continued ........

On Friday morning I had a rather frustrating time with gridlocked traffic on single track roads on my way to and from a farm due to road closures and an accident so it was almost lunchtime when I got home BUT I had hill reps to do and as I don't run well in the afternoon ....  we set off to Yarde and my favourite hill (the opposite direction to Monday)

It was pouring with rain and I couldn't get GPS , no matter as the run was by time not miles and I had the stop watch for time ..... so off I went.

Apart from the OB and the woofers the only other mad people I met were a lady with a bog brush on a lead and a bloke who seemed to be lurking and taking photos of the ground ..... presumably the leaves but who knows. ( which reminds me I really must take some photo's for this blog!) I don't think he really knew what to make of me running backwards and forwards ....... however if you're reading this Mr. Lurker, this is what I was doing ....

10 minute warm up ( the first time I past you!)
5 x 20 sec strides with 40 sec recovery (you hadn't caught up)
5 x 3 minute hill reps with easy jog back (that's why I was running hard up hill and then jogging back past you!)
5 minute cool down.

I loved the whole session and didn't even notice that I'd got drenched until I dripped all over the OB's truck!!!!

*OB - Old bloke

NAKED RUN

Sooooooooo, having run six miles on Sunday and ticked it off this week's training plan I had two more runs to do but which one should I choose to do on Wednesday?

Ok, so you're sitting there saying 'yeah there's only two, just  get on with it!'

Yup, fair comment!

But .............

Well here they are, and both aren't that appealing!

First up 10 mins easy warm up then 2 x 20 sec strides (full on) with 40 secs easy
 then 4 mins hard, 1 min easy, 3 min hard. 2 easy, 2 hard, 3 easy, 1 hard, 4 easy, then back up the scale before finishing with 5 mins cool down.

That'll be 52 minutes of hell then!

Second run, run on feel  ........ NAKED RUN

Whaaaaaaaaaat?

My initial thoughts were well, firstly I'll get black eyes and secondly there's nothing like doing something to get arrested on the Tarka Trail during half term!!!

I read on ........

Start off easy for 10 minutes then do 1 mile on feel at what you think is race pace ....... time this but DO NOT look at the time whilst doing so ... cool down for the rest.

Ah so it was to see if running on feel was the same as running with a watch .......

Phew ...... I can run with clothes on then!!

As you know I don't run with a watch and rely on the app on my phone which is the bird in my back pocket when I run so I always have to wait for her to pipe up with my time at each mile, and as we both know by now she can be quite unreliable.

Anyway I went for option one on Wednesday .......

The bird on my phone lived up to her reputation .......... according to her I ran 16 seconds slower on my race pace mile than the warm up mile and then 15 seconds slower than that on my cool down mile ...... she definitely got it wrong!

......... Anyway I've started my letter to Father Christmas and first on the list is a reliable timing gadget for running!!

On Thursday I really didn't feel like running, my legs still ached from Sunday's hills, and I wasn't looking forward to all the running hard bits ....... I couldn't find an excuse to give it a miss though, especially as the OB and woofers were sitting in the truck waiting ...... soooooooo

Back to Petrockstowe then, via two diversions as SW Highways in their wisdom had decided to close most of the roads round here ........ Ah yes, it must be half term, not just road closures but hoards of people on the TT too. The trouble with other people wanting to use the TT at the same time as me when I'm trying to follow coach Stephs training plan is that I always seem to be on a run easy bit when I pass them.

'Speed up, speed up, do some more strides, look like you're a proper runner' says competitive Sarah, as I gasp 'hello' on passing them!

Oh and then there are the lumberjacks  ........ Well the two blokes chopping down trees. They're currently half a mile or around five minutes run from  Petrockstowe station so I run past them on my warm up, looking all fresh and like a proper runner and then on my way back I pass them on my warm down but gasping and huffing and puffing like a huffing and puffing type person, with a face the colour of my shirt ....... trying to look cool but failing miserably!!

I think we'll be seeing quite a lot of each other over the coming months as they have another three miles or so of trees to deal with!

Anyway back to Thursday's run. It was a struggle ....... the warm up and strides were fine but the running hard bits were difficult and I wanted to give up ...... of course I didn't I just cursed coach Steph then cursed myself for signing up to this running lark, but I did it, even if it was 52 minutes of hell!

There are hills and there are hills

I know, I know my blog posts are like buses .... you don't see one and then three come along at once!

On Saturday evening  the OB and I decided that on Sunday morning he'd cycle, with the dogs whilst I'd run a circular route complete with a hill that I've been wanting to have a go at for a while, before we went to meet friends for a pub  lunch. (For this read, must include chips!!!)

By the way, Coach Steph has said that there hills on the Braunton 10 so I'm looking for different hills to run.

It all started well, especially with the stunning weather for October then at a mile in Tilly started limping. Checked her paw for thorns etc but found nothing so we set off again and she stopped the dot and carry one attention seeking.

We started the hill climb, and the OBOAB had to get off and walk, announcing almost simultaneously that he had a puncture........ and guess where the puncture repair kit was?
Correct! At home!

This was at mile two!

So he and the woofers turned for home and I continued running up the hill. I then turned onto a lane that I've probably only ever been down three times in the eighteen years we've been here, once on a horse and the others in a car but it's been sometime ...... and I'd forgotten what it involved .........

A gentle bit down hill ...... lovely!

......... and then a really steep, potholed descent ...... definitely a first in my running career. I actually found it quite difficult to negotiate ......

Then it was back up hill, which was quite a relief to be able to get a good pace going again before another steep descent where I felt like I was almost sitting on my heels to get down without toppling over!

Then it was back up hill but this time I realised I'd made a mistake in leaving my rope and crampons at home ....... I kid you not it was so steep that I was literally crawling up it and able to walk up the last bit faster than run but failed to get up to 30mph as per the sign at the top!!!!!!

I then ran through Black Torrington, up hill again to lanes that I'm familiar with but having being spoilt with running on the TT for so many months I'd forgotten about the moron drivers ....... Oh yes, even on a Sunday they were out to get me, and I hate to say it but the women were the worst ....... Clearly no idea where the brake is (the middle peddle love!) and four times I had to dive into the bank.
The men on the other hand still kept coming but drove on the verge so that I didn't have to stop. Thanks guys!

Three quarters of a mile from home the OB and woofers met me (they'd got back to the ranch and then come back out in the truck) bearing water and encouragement which was lovely.

So, how far did you run I hear you cry?

Y'er tiz

And here are the hills ......

I didn't pause the bird on my phone whilst looking for thorns, checking the OB's tyre, grabbing dogs, or leaping out of the way for traffic and I'd gone out on this run to enjoy it and see if I could run up the hill (not knowing there were other hills) so I was very pleased with how I ran....... and then I had fish and chips for lunch!!!

Today Coach Steph sent out this weeks training email and one of the runs is a 6 miler where we need to 'work on a moderate pace and be consistent and work on any hill so that our overall pace is even' ........

......... I think I may have just got away with it yesterday!

Oh, and by the way, I really enjoyed it!!!

*OB - Old bloke
*OBOAB - Old bloke on a bike
*TT -Tarka Trail

I think I need a Garmin

Whilst I was doing my 'favourite hill run' on Monday, Coach Steph was sending out our first training email .......

My first reaction when I read it ......... oh no I'd forgotten about strides!

Yes, two of the three runs involved strides ........ but still it could be worse, we could be doing hill sprints!!! (Ha ha they're probably on next week's menu!)

So there's no time like the present to get out training, however, which one to go for?
Well I learnt my lesson before, never go for the easy option first, you never know what may happen during the week.
Strides then!

Yes, but which run? There are two with strides. Oh ok, the perceived hard one then!

The plan was to get the OBOAB* out again with the dodgy stopwatch, shouting times at me,  however this is where the plan starts to go down hill!

Normally when I run the OB*, walks the dogs, who travel in the back of the van to our start point.

So far so good, but we don't have a vehicle bike rack. This means that Tilly, Jess, and the bike would have to travel together. Not so good! The last time they travelled with company was to Parkrun in August with the apple press that we were lending to someone and when it went flying I suddenly had a collie on my lap in the front seat digging its claws in for two miles.

Leave them behind said the OB!

Not fair said I!

The dogs came and the bike stayed at home.

So on Tuesday morning I set off from Petrockstowe station on the Tarka Trail (TT) with the stop watch in one hand and a bit of paper with my instructions in the other, along with the bird on my phone in my back pocket....... Well I only have two hands and I have previous for forgetting the training plan.
Funnily enough I've never run on this bit of the TT before and only walked it a couple of times but it is flat and stone free so ideal for sprints and running hard.

I ran the ten minute warm up and then straight into 5x20sec strides with 40 secs recovery in between. Now  I thought this would either kill me or I'd mess up trying to look at the stop watch but actually it all went according to plan. Next was 2 x 1k repeats at hard but constant pace. Mmmmmmm The bird on the phone is doing miles, is in my back pocket and my hands are full!
No probs  ....... it's  .62 miles (I googled it)  ok so this is where it all goes to pot as I'm rubbish at maths and so did a Sarah mathematical  equation. I ran hard for five minutes with one minute recovery and then repeated it. As per my bit of paper I then did 2 x 10 strides with 40 secs recovery and five minute cool down and ended up back at the station almost to the second (hooray my maths works)!!!!

But ...... I think I need a Garmin!

On Thursday we were back at Petrockstowe station for the second strides session, but with the OB and woofers going the opposite way as Jess doesn't seem to like this part of the TT.

Armed again with the stop watch and run notes I set of on the warm up.........

It was almost text book other than the bird in my pocket announcing that I'd run the first mile in 8.32 mins ........... yeah right love, in my dreams!!

 Oh and  my doing an extra set of strides as I lost count/got confused with the time. (I know, I'm hopeless) I did manage to put the notes in my pocket after that and run as planned and although obviously the bird on my phone can't be trusted it looks like I was sub 10 min/miles.

I think I need a Garmin!

The third run this week was to be a 30 minute one, thinking about form, cadence and stride.

 Parkrun then!

What a soggy run this was ....... too wet to take my phone so I had no idea of how I was doing. During the third mile Shirley ran with me and said 'shall we do some strides?' Do you know what? There's no getting away from strides in this running lark!!!!

The great thing about Parkrun is everyone hangs around at the end chatting and cheering the other runners in and despite the rain, today was no exception. During one of the conversations about the winding hill to the finish I mentioned that it always makes me feel like I'm going to be sick and lose my bowels at the same time ....... seems I'm not the only one!! What a relief to hear others thought they were the only ones too!!,


On the way home the OB said ' Do we need to get you a Garmin?'

'Yes, I'm hoping Father Christmas will bring me one!' I replied!

I think he's on the case .....

*OBOAB - Old bloke on a bike
*OB - Old bloke
*TT - Tarka Trail

It's taken eleven weeks .....

Now, you can be forgiven for thinking that after my last post when I chucked teddy in the corner and took my ball home after having a bad Parkrun that I'd given up running and blogging.

Sorry, but I'm still here doing both ......

Well neglecting the blog but running and slowly building my fitness back up, although any hope of running the Bideford 10 or any race for that matter has had to be put on the back burner.

It's been hard and on more than one occasion I considered chucking the towel in and giving up for good, especially after returning from holiday having not run for two weeks and having my legs ache for ten days ......... I had thought all the swimming I did instead would help but clearly my muscles didn't!

So what made you keep running I hear you ask?

Well competitive Sarah is always somewhere in the background.........

 Seeing how my friends have improved whilst and since I was ill, running pb's at Parkrun and running half marathons means that she isn't going to let me give up that easily.

Running on different parts of the Tarka Trail (yes we're still regularly visiting, and making up for not using it over the last eighteen years!) and varying the distance is all well and good but I realised I need something to aim for in my training ......

........enter coach Steph, who suggested the Torrington Christmas Caper and/or the Braunton 10 in January. Well, the first one was out, running 10 miles through streams and mud wearing a tutu and Santa hat doesn't float my boat! However, although there are some hills I've decided to train for the Braunton race which is 10 miles.

On Saturday I ran my 20th Parkrun and had my fourth best time, which made me feel that I was getting back to form.

Yesterday I ran one of my favourite routes on the Tarka Trail (TT) 2.3 miles up hill (yes I know, hill and favourite in the same sentence!!!) and then back down again. It was a good run and Saturday obviously wasn't a fluke!

Today I checked how long it's been since I started running after Shingles and would you believe its eleven weeks!