So the marathons may be over (for now) but triathlon season is just getting started! Can officially call myself a triathlete now as I complete my first one last Sunday which went very well. Plenty of races coming up over the summer - one most weekends! - and a good mixture of tri's, running, cycling and walking.
Me on the bike!
Sunday's triathlon was run by my tri club, and is one of two tri's and an aquathlon (swim + run) that they hold every year for the public. Most club members marshal but as this was my first one and a new member I chose to race. It was an pool-based sprint race (400m swim, 20k bike, 5k run). Very early start on Sunday morning - up at 4am, loading the car up at 5am, to get to the venue for 5.30! It took place at the Sports Village on campus, which was very handy but also a bit weird being at work at this time on a Sunday morning.
The place was transformed with the transition area in front of the pool, and hundreds of bikes getting ready to be racked. We picked up our timing chip and tee-shirts and set up our transition areas, got changed then headed to the pool for a briefing and start.
The swim started with the first person in the water at 6.25am, and then everyone setting off after that in 30 second intervals. 400m was 16 lengths - 2 lengths of each lane, then moving up one lane until you reached the far side of the pool and got out by the exit.
As we lined up by the pool, it was interesting seeing what everyone was wearing for this leg of the race. It's a popular race for both seasoned triathletes and first timers as it's a good venue, well organised and mainly flat course. So there was a great mix of experience and skill level. Many people wore a one-piece trisuit, as did i, but saw an interesting variety of outfits put together to do the job! For girls - running tights with a sports crop top, swim suits with or without shorts over the top, even crop tops and fashionable bikini briefs!
The swim went very well, good to know all that front crawl training had been worth it. Some people did breast stroke especially those new to tri. I never realised how accessible a sprint tri is and wished I'd done one sooner, as I always assumed the only distance available was an Olympic distance, and that open water swimming, road bikes and front crawl were mandatory! So if you've ever thought about doing a tri, i'd say go for it as it's great fun and like a running race there are all levels taking part.
Transition (T1) was ok, I hadn't practiced swim to bike, but had no problems. Walk out of the pool, then run to the bike when outside, socks on, shoes on, cycling jersey on, race belt/number on, sunglasses on (smeared with water!), gloves on, take a gel and swig of water, helmet on, then grab bike and run it up to the road.
Bike also went well. About half of the route was flat but there was a fairly long slog up hill about half way through. As it was an out-and-back at least there was a nice downhill later on! The drawbacks were a couple of sharp 180 turns on roundabouts and the dreaded potholes. Our county is awful for potholes and the roads can be very dangerous for cyclists who don't watch out. The marshals were very good and pointed out the bad areas.
Back to transition for T2 - a lot faster this time. Rack bike, helmet off, gloves off, jersey off, grab water bottle and go! The 5k was 4 laps around the campus. Legs felt like lead after the bike ride!! After the forth lap you turn off into the finish line!!
Finished in 1.37 which i was very happy with for a first tri. Result here!
PICKERING , Jenna
Swim 0:09:31.65
T1 0:02:45.50
Bike 0:53:30.65
T2 0:01:00.00
Run 0:30:26.20
TOTAL1:37:14.00
So this was an interesting experience, running another marathon just 3 weeks after London. To be honest it didn't really sink in what I was getting myself into. It's like Christmas when you're really busy beforehand and then suddenly, it's Christmas Eve and you've just finished work and only now can you finally start getting into the festive spirit. To be honest it still hadn't sunk in when Alli and I were on the plane to Prague. Or when we were picking up our race numbers at the expo. It may have started to hit me while I was crossing the starting line. I probably finally felt like I was actually running a marathon somewhere between miles 14 and 20. Before that it just felt like a bit of a jolly!!
Anyway we headed off to Gatwick very early Saturday morning. The plane was full of mostly stag parties or other marathon runners - I was sitting next to two guys were were running their 10th and 11th marathons so we got chatting about our finishing times and previous marathons we'd run. Got to Prague early afternoon, managed to find our way using the buses and metro to the hotel, then headed off to the Expo. I was a bit surprised that the Expo was nowhere near the start/finish of the marathon, (and it was a bit of a trek trying to find it) but then neither was the VLM expo. After the Expo we had an Italian - plenty of carbs for the day ahead! Here I was going through the motions of running a marathon but it just hadn't sunk in yet!
Sunday we got up early and got our running gear on. I chose the loose shorts and black tank top I'd worn for London, with an charity vest from a half marathon last year, that is the most comfortable vest I own. I had a light breakfast of croissants, a banana, small cup of tea and some water (I paid 11 euros for that...) which turned out to be the best pre-race breakfast I've ever had. I am now going to stick with pastries for future races!
We found the start/finish of the race easily enough, but the baggage area was a total nightmare to find. It was marked on a map, but it was not particularly clear - plus with the start pens taking up long sections of the tiny roads it make way-finding almost impossible. We asked several people and they all gave completely different (and incorrect directions). Must have spend a good half hour literally running up and down roads trying to find out where to go. I am not kidding when I say i was panicking - it was 5 minutes before the start of the race and we still had big backpacks on and nowhere to leave them. If we left them somewhere they would no doubt get lost or stolen. They were too big to take with us. I totally wished I had left everything at the hotel and just arrived with what I was going to run in. But we finally found the place, off loaded our gear (in the rush I nearly forgot my ipod!) and ran towards the start pens. It was the worst race experience ever! Luckily it all worked out fine in the end. Although the race had already started, I was in one of the pens near the back and so there was still a good 10 minutes before I actually crossed the line. Plus there was chip timing as normal, so a few minutes late didn't matter. The only difference was we did not get to enjoy the music playing at the beginning or the airshow above (everyone was looking up watching what looked like thousands of balloons being released, but I saw virtually none of that).
Luckily the race of the race went fine. Have just run London, my plan was simply to finish in a time somewhere between 5.20 and 5.45 (expected to be towards the slower end!). I would also take regular walking breaks and would pause at each drinks station to take on water, gels and cool down using the sponges. It was already heating up to be a hot day. I set my new Garmin to the run-walk cycle with 6 minutes of running and 1 minute of walking, and aimed for a running pace of 12 min/miles. I knew it would feel very easy at first, walking within the first mile, but hopefully I would be thankful for this come mile 20!
It was mostly a great route - making the most of the city centre and including many of the famous landmarks along the way (not that we stopped to take photos or appreciate them though!). We crossed the river, back and forth, several times including over the famous Charles Bridge, which made for interesting views as you could see other runners in the distance. Much of the route was along the river bank and there were quite a few supporters out. Not as many as London, but still a good number. There were a few dull areas going out of the city through some industrial estates and alongside main roads which weren't very exciting, and roughly the first and last 10k were the same (I did not know we would be running part of the route twice, but did explain why the KM markers went 1km, 35km, 2km, 36km, 3km, 37km etc!). It took a while to get used to the kilometer markers (they did show miles, but in much smaller writing and only every 5km) but you soon get used to it and I had my Garmin set to miles anyway so always knew where I was.
Plenty of drinks stations along the way - with water, energy drink, orange and banana slices. They also had buckets of water with sponges to use to cool off - this was much appreciated! It was turning into quite a warm day, warmer than London and I was heating up. A sponge was lovely and refreshing. When I was done sloshing the water over my arms and shoulders, I tucked the damp sponge down the back on my tank top to try and keep my upper back cool. I realised afterwards that I had forgotten to wear sunscreen, and would no doubt go pink after being out in the sun for around 6 hours - but even if I had put some on, it would have all come off now from the sponges anyway!
Miles 1-6 were quite nice, a very easy pace and got to see huge crowds, good sites and a lot of the city. Miles 6-13 were getting very hot, but the pace was still fine. I even saw Alli around mile 12, as she doubled back about 2 or 3 miles ahead on the other side of the road! It was great to see her and we gave each other a little congratulatory hug to see us through the second half!
Between miles 6 to around 17 or 18, I was surrounded by the same faces all going along at the same pace. Many of them were also running and walking so we hop-scotched each other a few times. One was a guy who wore a 50 States Marathon Club tee-shirt. We chatted for a bit and turned out he'd run over 70 marathons in total, including (as his tee-shirt suggested) at least one in every US state. He;s also just run London 3 weeks previously! Impressive!
By 20 miles, my left knee, which had been niggling during London, was really hurting. I had to compensate by running slightly on my right, which made my right hip feel quite sore in the final few miles. Needless to say by this stage I was hot, exhausted, slightly dizzy and hoping it would soon all be over. My walking breaks were extending well over their minute intervals, and the running was a slow plod. However, despite (or perhaps because of) my much slower pace, I felt I was in much better shape than the equivalent mile during London, when I really was in a bad way! The marshals and crowds in the busier areas kept me going and it was fun to hear them shout in different languages. Many shouted in English, since my running vest had English words on it, and there was a small Union Jack on my running number. I'd written my name in marker pen on both my arms too - although on my right arm I'd managed to do the "J" back to front so it looked more like a lower case "t"! I did hear a few shouts of "Go Teena!"
Sadly my Garmin battery died at 25 miles, so I had to go by my stopwatch for the final mile of run/walk. Mind you by this point I was not following the Garmin that strictly anymore so didn't really matter. Just meant I would not have a GPS map of the entire route. However I was determined not to walk in that final mile, and tried to pick up the pace. There were some great crowds in the last km, especially after the 800m to go banner which went right into the Old Square. I saw the finish line in front of me and even saw Alli again taking photos! I just about squeezed in a bit of a sprint finish to make it under 5.40. Final time, 5.39.55!
Got a lovely, well crafted medal, a decent goody bag and lots of cheers and support as I finished. I love the medal as it has a picture of the Astronomical Clock on the front, one of the most interesting landmarks in Prague. I got it engraved once I'd collected my baggage with my name and time.
We got a bit lost again, trying to get back to the hotel, but eventually found it (guess what - it was now cool and raining) and collapsed painfully onto the beds! We ate our goody bag energy bars and then both ended up falling asleep for a few hours! We went out in the evening later - hobbling along, wearing our medals - and had a really nice pizza. Got chatting to a bunch of guys from the UK on a stag weekend - they even left us their bottle of wine to finish off! (They were on third third night of drinking already - they'd obviously not paced themselves and couldn't finish it off!).
We had to leave Prague the next morning, for an early afternoon flight, but it was a great weekend and very glad to have finished my third marathon, and first one outside of the UK. I was not bothered about the slow time as it gave me a chance to enjoy the race without the pressure of finishing with a PB or beating my London time. It was just good to run and to have finished another 26.2 mile run. Besides, I am sure the 50 States Marathon guy is not worried about getting a PB every time! It also let me recover a lot quicker than after London (although was still very sore that evening and most of Monday), and was back swimming and cycling by Wednesday.
Pics to follow shortly!
Thanks Alli for sharing the great weekend with me and well done on your time!
PS - The title of this blog entry, A Marathon In Bohemia, is a little nod to a Sherlock Holmes short story! (There was even a shop dedicated to the stories, called Baker Street, selling all sorts of pipes and caps and Holmes-styles accessories!)
Here are a few of my Must-Do races - my top running/tri/cycling events. SomeI have done, some I am signed up for, some are hopefully for sometime in the future! so, in no particular order, the Ultimate Race Bucket List!
London Marathon - done done done!! Would do it again for sure!
Brighton Marathon - signed up for this one for 2014
Great North Run - Did this in 2012, and have also purchased Great Run membership which gives guaranteed entry for 2013,14 & 15.
Toronto Waterfront Marathon - would love to check out this city. The medal is also a stunner! I know that's not the reason to do a race but seriously this is the most beautiful race bling I've ever seen (the organisers were at the VLM expo).
Dubai Marathon - I love this city having traveled there in 2011 and would be great to run the marathon too.
Polar Nights Half Marathon - running in Norway under the Northern Lights, cold, but wow!
Royal Parks Half/Ultra - want to do this one day, either the HM or the 50K Ultra
Ride London 100 - I didn't get lucky in the ballot this year, but would be a great one to do
Half Ironman UK - if I am ever confident of finishing this one within the time limit, I would like to enter it some day, perhaps 2015
Monaco Marathon - this race runs through 3 countries - Italy, France and Monaco. But it's said to be notoriously tough and there is a strict time limit of 5 1/2 hours so i'd need to both get my time down slightly and ensure I could tackle the tough hills in the heat.
New York Marathon - oh yes. I just need about £4500 to enter via a charity!
There are dozens of others I'd love to do or are planning on doing but these are the big ones on the list.
Ran the inaugural She Runs Windsor women only event on bank holiday Monday - first race since VLM. It was great to have a three day weekend and what better than to tick another race off the "done" list!
It was a hot day - it's been a warm weekend and Monday was by far the warmest so i knew it wasn't going to easy. I'd hoped for a good time, having got a PB at the Herts 10K last year, 2 weeks after the Loch Ness Marathon. But I struggle in the heat and even if my fitness was very good, my pace would suffer quite a bit. I decided to try and push for 62 minutes (a 10 min/mile) as a goal, but would see how it went and if it really did feel warm i would aim for 65 minutes. The last very hot 10K I did was last year's Bupa London 10K in 27 degrees C - a scorcher!
I drove down to Windsor on Monday morning and got there nice and early. It was being held in the Windsor Park, with the castle as a beautiful backdrop. The race started and finished on The Long Walk, a road about a mile long leading downhill to the castle. As we we starting the race running away from the castle, it was a bit of an uphill slog, but a great downhill final mile!
Organisation seemed very slick. It was part of the Rock and Roll Marathon series and the first of this event. So they had lots of little extras such as a band at the start (although none along the route sadly), great women's technical tee-shirt, a small Expo and a very blingy medal! If this is how they do a medium-sized 10k then I would be up for one of the or full marathons in this series!
The course was very nice, on closed roads and all within the park grounds. It was quite undulating with some long climbs but a couple of nice downhills too, which weren't too hard on the knees. It was very warm though, and certainly slowed me down. It was nice when running through the shady trees, and we did have a few clouds provide a bit of shade after about 30 minutes, but in general it was too hot for fast times. The toughest part of the course was an uphill run to the 2nd water stop - where everyone immediately started walking and throwing water over their heads! I had been following the 65 minute pacer but was really worried as she was quite a long way off now and didn't think I was going to be able to catch up - meaning my time was going to be over 65 mins.
The final 2k were pretty good, we got a bit of a breeze and cloud cover, and there more nice downhill stretches. You get a great view of Windsor Castle for a few minutes, before turning right and the woodland blocks your view again. But you know that soon you will need to do a left turn and move back onto the Long Walk where the finish line lies! Eventually we turned on to this and could see the finish line in the distance. I went right into the zone here and got a great pace going, and to my shock managed to catch up the 65 min pacer! This long road stretched out for what seemed like an age - whilst exciting to see the finish line at first, it certainly didn't seem to be getting any closer! That's the curse of finish lines like this - it is very deceptive to the eye! I focused on just looking at the castle further on and keeping the pace up, but getting ready to go for a sprint finish at the exact right moment (as the finish line looked so close, it was tempting to get the sprint on too early and drain the tank!). Finally we passed the charity stands just 200 meters to go, and then it was 100m, ready to sprint, and then the finish! Another race complete!
Took a moment to catch myself and slow down before making my way through the finisher's area and taking a nice drink of water. Received a lovely, sparkly medal, banana, water, energy bar and crisps. My final time was 65 mins - 1:05:12 - so given the heat that was pretty much as expected. Had a lovely time afterwards eating my snacks and watching the other runners come through.
I do miss the times I achieved last autumn when i was consistently running just under the hour therefore know I can do much better than 65 mins but perhaps that week was just not the time or place for it. Race day can be such a gamble! I have to be feeling 100% well, it must be perfect weather (for me, that's is 5-13 degrees C - erring on the cooler if I've been training in the winter, but can be warmer if I've trained in the summer and used to the heat - plus dry and a gentle breeze), timed so as not to be too close for another big race, a fast course which is mainly flat but I quite like a few undulations as long as there are no shocking hills, no tummy troubles, blisters or injuries while running and good organisation. Many races have been just so and I've got some nice PBs but others have been so-so for various reasons. But hey as long as they are enjoyable and worth the effort I enjoy them and wouldn't beat myself up just for not getting the exact time I hoped for!
That was the last "long" run I will do before Prague - from now on it's a couple of short taper runs, a bit of cycling and swimming and plenty of rest before Sunday.
So what have I been up to since VLM? Well, here's a short diary.
Sunday 21st April - Race day! Ran the marathon (obviously), but managed to walk around London a bit in the even to stop muscles from seizing up. Took in vital post marathon treats such as a slice of pizza and a huge bowl of ice cream at the Hagen Daaz restaurant.
Monday 22nd April - Spend most of day negotiating the Tube and walking down the stairs backwards. Probably annoyed a lot of commuters. Had to dash about 26.2 meters for the train!
Tuesday 23rd April - First bit of exercise. A VERY light walk/jog of about 2.5 miles with the Sweatshop Running Community after work. I went in the beginner's group! There were 3 of us - the leader, who had actually got a bit of an injury, a girl just starting out, and me, knackered from VLM. We were a right bunch. Legs felt a little better by the even, but sore if I sat around for a while.
Wednesday 24th April - Cycled gently to work. Legs finally feeling slightly more normal, but did feel quite stiff after sitting down for too long.
Thursday 25th April - Cycled to work again, and also went swimming with Tri Force in the evening. Legs nearly there!
Friday 26th April - Rest day. I don't think I did much today except maybe take a short walk to the shops and back at lunch.
Saturday 27th April - 5k Park Run. Struggled with this one - my first proper run after VLM! Ran at medium-low effort but it really took it out of me. Felt a bit dizzy and at the end was quite light headed. So not exactly recovered just yet. Felt fine for the rest of the day though (had a very busy day!). I wore my VLM tank top and it was good to chat to other runners about it!
Sunday 28th April - Rest day. Went to see Iron Man 3. Great film and Robert Downey Jnr is awesome! I want to see that one again!
Monday 29th April - Cycled to work, and did a very slow 2.5 mile jog at lunchtime, the same effort as what i did for the final few runs of the taper. This felt good. Went swimming in the evening and got the chance to test out my new tri-suit and wet suit! Because of the wetsuit, I got a lot of extra buoyancy so the swimming felt very easy. Plus I mostly did drills with breaks every 100m or so, which made for quite an easy evening.
Tuesday 30th April - Cycled to work and did a lunchtime run with Matt. We did about 3.5 or 4 miles - longest run since the marathon. Found it hard work and was feeling out of breath during the final stretch. Went to circuits in the evening. I would have given this a miss but it was the final one of the winter before the club switches to evening runs instead, so I went along. Unfortunately it wasn't an easy session and included short bursts of high intensity training, probably not what I really needed. Did have a good stretch session at the end though.
Wednesday 1st May - Drove to work. Felt tired and not my best most of the day. I was worried I had gone and overdone things the last few days. Even climbing 3 flights of stairs wore me out. I was planning on attending the club's first 10 mile time trial cycles of the year, but I wasn't sure if I was feeling up to it. However i spent my lunch hour driving the route that the TT takes. But by early afternoon the feeling passed, I had lots to eat and drink and was feeling fine by the evening. I decided to go to the TT. Had to grab quite a quick supper before I went out as I'd been tied up after work which was pasta, chocolate milk and an energy then geared up and cycled over to Colney Heath and met up with the others. It was a good turn out! Mostly experienced riders, but there were one or two other first timers making our "debut" as we called it! I was not sure what sort of time I would get (estimated times for the group seemed to range from 22 to 45 mins!) and was a bit worried that this was meant to be an "eye balls out" full-on, maximum effort ride. I decided I'd put in good but not max effort given the last few days and aimed for a time of around 40 minutes. I set off third, with the other beginners and slower riders. had a bit of a dodgy start as managed to hit nearly every pot hole on that road - and there were a lot. Our roads are horrendous. I paniced slightly as I hit one coming up to a roundabout and was forced to pull over for a second. After that, things were fine. It was a hilly route with some sharp climbs and very little flat. But pretty good fun! At last i was working hard but not feeling dizzy or fatigued. I finished in 40 minutes. I am looking forward to going all out on these rides in a few weeks when i have recovered from Prague.
Thursday 2nd May - Cycled to work, so mostly rest.
Friday 3rd May - Cycled to work. More sitting at desk in front of a screen. It's lovely weather and would much rather be outside! Each day I have cycled to work I have worn either my tri suit or summer cycling kit. I must look such a poser strutting about the campus in skintight lycra. Gives the day a bit of an edge, I suppose.
Tomorrow will be another workout day, with my first duathlon in the morning with TF. A 5k run, 20k bike and 3k run. Feeling rather unprepared as have not doing any brick workouts yet. Practice for the first triathlon though. Also got the Windsor Women's 10K on Monday (bank holiday!!) - it looks like it's going to be a hot day though. These two with be the only "big" workouts I'll do between the marathons and one of them will be at an easy pace (probably the 10k). Next week i will do a short recovery run on Tuesday, probably skip the TT, and do another very short, easy taper run mid week. Before another 26.2 miles of running in the Czech Republic!
So with the excitement of London settling down at last, it's now only 9 days until the Prague Marathon. Running 2 in such a short space of time feels like really bizarre! There was no feeling of "it's all over" when I finished London, and within days I have become both very exciting and nervous about doing it all over again.
Of course the two marathons are going to be very different. London was all about going for another decent time (as good as I could manage, as it turned out), running this famous route, enjoying the huge crowds and finally crossing off this major bucket list entry!
Running the Prague Marathon will be, to put it bluntly, using a tiny window of opportunity having gained extra fitness from London to bang out another marathon and get another fat medal. Really, that's what it boils down to. It will be a gamble - the miles are invested in the bank, but is it the right time to cash in yet? Will I find this easy, or have I not recovered nearly as much and will this be very tough? There's no pressure on the day to beat my time (my plan is to do the first half very slow, at least 12 min miles for a good 12-14 miles, and then see how it goes from there) and I just want to enjoy myself. There's no feeling like finishing a marathon, PB or no PB, after all!
I'm also really looking forward to visiting Prague with Alli, I hear it's a really beautiful city and a great marathon route! We're sure to have a great time. Be really good to run my first overseas marathon as well!
Anyway I have kept up some training this last week and a half, starting off very gently after London and just doing a few short, sharp(ish) workouts every other day or so keep sharp. I don't want to loose any fitness before Prague by doing nothing, but also there's a very fine line between keeping sharp and not allowing my body to recover. I also want to avoid doing too little in the first week, and then too much next week which is when I will need to rest again before the marathon.
