Race For Life 2013

The day started bright and breezy, which to be honest was a bit of a relief considering the night before had been a major thunderstorm with plenty of rain. We all considered ourselves lucky. Joining me for todays event is my daughter, she will be running, and my sister who will be walking. Also walking with us will be my Cavalier King Charles Spaniel called Alfie. We have our own cheering squad, both my sons and their respective partners and my hubby.  Kitted out in our Pink t-shirts and armed with enough safety pins to hold all our race numbers and messages of who we are dedicating our run to, we set out.

We were instructed to arrive about an hour before the start so that we could take part in the warm up exercise routine, however when we arrived at the grounds there was such a long wait to the car park we decided to go and find somewhere else to park. This worked out well but it did mean that we had about a 1/2 mile walk to the starting line, oh well just meant our total for the day would be closer to 7K

There's not much really I can say about the event itself, no major dramas, just a nice steady 5k walk with Alfie taking a minor detour for a quick dip in the lake. I guess the real important thing about this was this time last year my sister would not of been fit enough take part at all, but thanks to Slimming World she is over 3 stone lighter than last year. I did do the race last year I too was nearly 2 stone heavier then.

Our times for the race...........my daughter ran with a couple of quick walks on the more hilly parts and finished in an amazing 29 mins. We finished in 1 hour and 4 mins my time last year was 1 hour 11 mins so all in all a really pleasing
result.

We have all signed up in advance for Race For Life 2014 and I have promised myself that I will be fit enough to run the whole distance.........so watch this space

It's All In The Shoes

Training Session

 A few little lightbulb moments for me this week, just small moments where I have found myself thinking about my training and feeling more like I can really do this, I can call myself a runner. I may never be the fastest & I may well stick to 5k but there is nothing wrong with that. I can still achieve that and work towards getting better at that distance, and not get hung up on needing to do marathons etc. 

I am doing the Race For Life at the weekend with my Sister and my Daughter. My Daughter will run, but we will walk with my wonderful dog Alfie. But there is that small bubble of excitement in me knowing that next year I will be able to run the complete distance, I can almost sense how brilliant that is going to feel.

Training session this week got off to a good start, the weather was a bit cooler and with a nice breeze. For this run I am wearing (this is getting to be a bit like a fashion show) Nike Free 7.0 with my Nike anti-blister socks. Now to be honest I was really hoping that these shoes were going to be The Ones, because lets face it just how many pairs of running shoes will I have to cram into my already over crowded closet. Now don't get me wrong I love my Vivobarefoot, you can really feel like you are connected to the ground you are running on, however this can also be a bit of a disadvantage when you are running on pavements, especially as a beginner like me. I will need to have much better form and lightness in my step to avoid the shin pain I am currently getting from roads and pavements. So back to the Nike, they fit very well in width and have a good size toebox. They didn't feel overly heavy, and more importantly I had a quick run around outside my house and my shins hadn't screamed at me, but even before leaving for our run I was wondering if all this comfy padding and squishy feeling was really going to suit my running style. 

Off we go for our warm up walk then through the woods and out into the fields, we do 30,60 and 90 second repeats with 90 seconds or so walk in between, I can feel that I am quicker tonight, but the ground feels muted, I can still feel larger stones and sticks but with a kind of dull sensation.
 
On our way back home Mark says to me we are now going to have like a play session for the final 10 mins or so before we reach home, the idea is to just run or stop at random times and speeds to suit myself, we have a quick race to the bus stop, then a bit of a walk then a steady but speedy dash across a bridge I actually ended up running for just about a 3 minute stretch without being out of breath.  All in all a really good session. And the verdict on the Nike Free 7.0 the jury is still out. While they are very comfortable and I certainly could run on the harder surfaces without any shin pain, to be honest I am still not convinced that that is such a good thing compared with actually feeling the ground you are on.

I have read a lot on the Runners World forums about one of the most important things when you start to run is to get a pair of the right running shoes for your style of running, I have decided that  I am going to go to a sports shop and get a gait analysis done. Lets hope there will still be some space left in my closet for the right shoes!

Stats for 23rd July 2013

 5k = 55mins 8 seconds my Personal Best (PB)
Gear: Nike Free 7.0 and Nike Anti-Blister toe socks

Third Times The Charm

Training Session

 

After last weeks longer training session I had a few aches, nothing too major but enough to make me realise that we needed to dial it back a bit and stick to

our plan of 5k distance, at least until after I have done the Race for Life on the 28th July.

Tonights plan was to just have a nice stroll as it's also only been 3 days since the 100k Race To The Stones which Mark completed in just under 22 hours, he did the whole race in his Lunar sandals and still only ended up with Two blisters, I have done more damage to my feet in one night in a pair of fashionable shoes!

But still to show some respect to Mark's well used muscles, we decided to leave out the big hills and change our route to go through a nice wooded area and then follow a path beside the train tracks which has more gradual inclines.

I am again wearing my Vivobarefoot shoes but trying out some Nike anti-blister socks, these are also toe socks which I think I might do a full review of in a later post, but for now lets just say it took me a while to get them on and comfortable. I am also trying out a heart monitor, I thought it would be good to see if I am keeping within safe limits for my not so young ticker or at least it will give me accurate information if I need to go see my GP.

We stuck to 1 min running 90 seconds recovery for most of our session, even after just these few weeks I am finding this much more achievable and even my breathing seems more controlled until we go uphill then I lose my rhythm. Once the breathing goes astray there just seems to be so much to think about, feet, posture, arms, head, and still breathe, a bit overwhelming at times. Thankfully Mark is there gently reminding me to relax. 

We reach our half way point and I am happy to see that my heart rate is fine and that even on the tougher parts I am still in the 60-75% of max rate. The alarm for the upper limit only went off once and that was running uphill.

All in all a very enjoyable session, I am really having fun but sometimes feel a little sad that I didn't discover running 20 years ago, I could of been really good by now..........

Stats for 16th July 2013

5k - 59mins 42 seconds = 19.16 min/mile
1 min runs with 90 seconds walk repeats
Gear: Vivobarefoot with Nike Anti-blister toe socks



Till the next time...............................................

Ding Ding Round 2

Training Session

Due to the weather finally getting warmer we started out later for our session, which was at least a little cooler.

The plan was to do the same basic route we did last time, but as Mark was also preparing for Race To The Stones (100k Ultramarathon) at the weekend we decided that we would go out a bit further than 5k. So Mark added a wooded trail around a lake before heading back, making a total of 8.8k about 5.5 miles.

Off we go up & over the big hills, strange they feel easier tonight. I am wearing different shoes than last time, I have on my Vivobarefoot with ToeToe socks. Can this be making the difference? When we reach the field Mark again gives me my instructions , he wants me to try again for the 1 minute run then 90 seconds recovery repeats. This time Mark calls out the seconds on his watch......20, 30, 40 hey I'm still running 50 still going, now he is counting down 8,7,6 and finally I've done it, I have run for 1 whole minute. Totally elated, it suddenly occurs to me just how amazing this feels & how in awe I am of my son. There's me grinning because I ran for 1 minute and there's Mark preparing to run 100k non-stop in sandals, which will take him in excess of 15 hours. I was starting to understand the respect marathon and ultra runners show each other........With my 90 seconds recovery up we run again, 1 minute done almost as easily so we up it to 90 seconds running and 2-3 minutes recovery this time it was downhill - done no problem, during this session my longest run was 2 mins. We finished off with a stroll around the lake and then the walk home

I finished tired but feeling fantastic at the same time, I really think the Vivobarefoot made a big difference, I will be using them again.

Stats for 10th July 2013

8.8k 5.5miles = Total 1hrs 50mins
5k = 1hrs 2mins
1 min run 90 seconds - 2 min walk
90 second run - 2-3 min walk
2 min run - 5 min walk
Vivobarefoot shoes with ToeToe socks (very comfy)

To read Mark's review of Race To The Stones Click Here

Till the next time...................................

The Beginning of The Mummysaurus

Where to begin.............well the aim of this blog is for me to be able to have a place to record my journey from near total couch potato to being able to run 5k without needing hospitalization at the finish line! so lets start with a bit of a basic profile:

• I am female
• 54 years young
• Married with Three grown up children (One of which Cardiosaurus is responsible for my current training, but more of that later)
• I have a wonderful dog, which I am hoping is going to be my running buddy for the next few years.

I had been pretty overweight and out of shape for some years, then last year (the royal jubilee to be exact) I joined Slimming World along with my sister, to get help to finally shed the extra pounds. A little over 6 months later I hit my target weight and have managed to maintain that since thanks to continuing my membership with Slimming World and going to the group meetings each week. But now having lost the extra pounds I thought it was about time to start getting a bit fitter. Like most people my age I have had a few health issues and I have my fair share of cracking and creaky joints and a couple of bunions just to round off the package.

I didn't want to just dive in and join a gym and commit to the monthly fees, which so many people do but end up never using, I didn't need the guilt trip not just over fitness but also over the money being wasted.
So I started going along to my local swimming pool and doing an Aqua Aerobics class for the 50+. This I really enjoyed so much that I also encouraged my daughter to come along to an Aqua Zumba class, Which is not only a really good workout, but also somewhere to have a really good laugh and mummy/daughter time.

Now talking about Mummy/child times brings me back to my son Cardiosaurus you see he is an Ultra Marathon Runner, Ultra's are races that exceed the normal marathon distance of 26.2 miles and can be 50 miles, or even 100 miles or more. But rather than taking up all my blog space telling you about his adventures in running these mega distances I will just give you a link to his blog http//:cardiosaurus.blogspot.co.uk so you can see for yourself.

Back to my own story..............In casual conversation at a family gathering I mentioned that I was going to walk the Race for Life with my sister and my dog at the end of July but that my own personal goal was instead of walking the 5k Race for Life I would really like to be able to run it by next years event July 2014 I expected to hear laughter or rude comments about my dodgy knees or my advancing age, but to my surprise and shocked ears all I heard from my son was "Challenge Accepted"

So here I am, now known as Mummysaurus with a running story of my own.



................ to be continued