Mum on the Run

Tuesday P.M.

A few recovery laps of Griffith Park after work before physio appointment where I was told off for doing 2 runs the day of a treatment. Oops. Body turned out to be in worse shape than I thought with everything very tight, especially hamstrings which kept cramping during the session. No surprise really after two 50 mile weeks but I thought I'd got away with it :rolleyes:.

• 3 miles @ 8:54 (path, undulating)

Wednesday – S&C

No running today post physio, just walked to and from Pilates. Can’t stop eating at the moment, I’m blaming the taper madness. Eat ALL the things!

I have a soft spot for this race – and not just for the muffins as I may have lead people to believe . This was my 4th time to do it and it was the light at the end of my base building tunnel. I threw in a 10Km pace session earlier this week but other than that I had no idea how it was going to go after 2 months away from racing.

I chased after caught the D.3 bus driven by fellow racer Murph_D, with annapr and aquinn along to cheer. If Carlsberg did cheerleaders…..

We arrived in plenty of time, met Firedance, Dubgal and several clubmates. It was chilly enough so we hung out in the car for a while before warming up then lining up in our pace zones and strolling to the start at the bridge. I was busy nattering and the gun caught me by surprise so I was late starting my watch. Oh well :rolleyes:.:rolleyes:

Technical issues meant there was no chip timing but we didn’t know this at the start. As a result it was all very civilized with no real congestion so it was easy enough to get into a rhythm from the get go, compared to most races where you’re weaving for the first mile.

Settled into target pace with Murph_D and we had a couple of clubmates just ahead and it felt comfortable enough. Conditions were perfect for running: cool with a bit of a breeze but not freezing or windy. First 3Km were bang on then the pace slowed for the 4th Km, not sure if there’s an uphill drag here but no one was overtaking at this point, everyone seemed to slow simultaneously. Decided then to try to get back on track so HTFU’d the next couple of Kms. The watch time was misleading given that I’d started it late but at least I was getting pace readings so I knew I was there or thereabouts for a PB anyway and probably a bit quicker. There was a water stop at 5Km and I had a few sips before chucking some over my head. Lovely . Just after the 6Km mark the ascent started. I still felt good, breathing under control, so I worked hard here, knowing that the last 3Km was net downhill. It’s a loooong hill though, taking up most of the 6th Km. I knew if I got to 7Km in reasonable shape I’d be on for a good time. I’d lost my clubmates at this point so was on my own for the downhill stretch. Passed the 9K mark and while there was no sign of our cheerleaders, I could hear them screaming their lungs out even though it took another 500m to reach them. Was delighted to see them and it gave me a real boost. Almost there. Had the prescription sunnies on so could see the clock as I approached the finish. It was still 43:xx and I picked it up as much as I could and crossed under the gantry at 44:12 gun time. My watch said 43:49 but I didn’t know how much time I lost starting it. Thought I’d be a couple of seconds either side of 44 mins but without the chip timing it’s all guesswork. As it turned out my chip didn’t register at the finish either so I gave the timing guys my gun time as per the finish clock and gave them an estimated time of 44:00 (which they then uploaded as my gun time which makes me look further ahead of Murph_D than I actually was, oops). My watch gave me an average pace of 4:24/Km over 9.97Km so I reckon it must have taken 30 metres for the Garmin to get going. 30 meters at 4:24/Km pace is 8 seconds. Which gives me 43:57. I will never know :rolleyes::rolleyes: I think 44:00 is fair though, given I probably would have run slightly longer than 10K. Gosh I’m rambling. And over thinking it. It’s almost wine o’clock and time to celebrate .

Huge congrats to Murph_D who ran a PB and thanks for the company for more than half the race, to Firedance on clocking a PB despite the breathing issues - deffo more to come there missus!, Dubgal on a PB and a placing within the top ten, Chickey2 on what seemed to be an effortless PB. PB City is right!

And the final word has to go to our cheerleaders who would rival the Dillon Panthers in their enthusiasm and vocal reach. Thanks for a job well done, girls!

• 8.1 miles incl. 10KM @ 4:24/KMm (44:00, PB ) + warm up / cool down

Splits: 4:24, 4:25, 4:28, 4:32, 4:24, 4:14, 4:53, 4:09, 4:15, 4:06*
*(.97Km)

yaboya1 wrote: »

Well done on the pb BG.

Thanks yaboya, very happy with it

FBOT01 wrote: »

Good job. I knew those motivational words from last week would work

I don't know if 'motivational' is the word I'd use...

That said there are 2 new PBs you can claim part credit for

FBOT01 wrote: »

Glad the return to racing went according to plan. I hope you didn't over do it on the muffins, you have a big rematch to prepare for in 2 weeks time

Hmm, let's see there were muffins, aquinn's flapjacks, (most of) the contents of the goody bag, wine, more wine. There may also have been wine. Too soon for carb-loading ?

Murph_D wrote: »

I'm playing a longer game. It took the tortoise a while to figure it out.

So I just have to remember not to have a nap half way around and I'll be grand ?