Birthday Mile Run

Today is my birthday, and so that I could treat myself to my favourite pudding later (Ben and Jerries ice cream, of course!) I wanted to go for a run.  Friday is meant to be rest day though, so i just wanted to do something either short or easy.  It ended up being the Birthday Mile run! Basically, I had to run a mile as fast as I could.  I really hoped to do it in under 9 mins 20 sec as I have been doing a bit of interval work (better late than never) to try and build up some iota of speed (since my normal pace right now is about 11.20 min/mi!).

I got to the gym at about 7.50am, thinking that luckily it was only a short run or I'd be late for work!  I'd not want to leave the house too early as there were plenty of birthday wishes coming my way and I didn't want to set my alarm TOO early either.

My first route that I had planned - a simple out and back along the old airport runway in the fields behind the Uni campus - was flooded!  So I abandoned that plan and decided on a short loop round the business park.  It would be slower though, as there were roads to cross and a lot more corners to slow me down than a simple straight run.

The run was tough!!  I was so knackered even about 2 minutes in!  Lungs were bursting and I thought I had gone off way to fast and there was no way I would be able to carry on at this pace.  I did have to slow down a little, but was pleased to see that at half a mile my Garmin said 4.20.  
The second half mile was slightly slower (so yes I did start too quickly) and felt like it went on forever - all I wanted to do was stop and collapse!  Luckily it was a very easy straight push to the finish with a slight downhill with 0.2 of a mile to go so finished fast.  In 8.51!  Yay!  Very happy with that.  Was much better than the 9.20ish I hoped for!  Ok there was NO WAY that right now I could have done anything further than a mile at that pace right now but I was very happy.  I did once managed a parkrun PB at that pace back in 2012 so maybe I just needed a little reminder of what i used to be able to do.

Quick shower and into work, knowing that I had earned my ice cream (and cake, wine and chocolates!) later on!

Just a little #healthieselfie (sorry, I don't usually post these but could not resist!!)

Fred Hughes 10 Race Report

It’s mid-January now so the running season is well underway!  Hopefully new runners and those committed to new year’s resolutions are sticking with their plan, as there seems to be no shortage of runners out on the streets and entering races.

This weekend was a busy one for me.  Parkrun on Saturday morning  - we did the off road course again as the lake is flooded! – and then an hour of Zumba in the afternoon, followed by 40 minutes less-vigorous dancing.  Knowing I had a long run the next day, I took the parkrun easy, but then really go into the Zumba (I hadn’t done it in about 2 years!) so maybe not the wisest thing to do before a long run!  In between parkrun and Zumba I went into town, as I’d ordered a really nice workout top from Sweaty Betty.  It is pink and purple with a big print of the Aurora on the front!  They were also selling boxes of Hugh5 energy gels in TK Maxx very cheaply so I stocked up on those.

On Sunday, I had a race 10 mile planned, the local Fred Hughes 10, but also had to work in a long run of at least 15 miles.  I haven’t really been focusing on the mid-distance runs since last summer, so my times for anything between  a 10k and half marathon are pretty slow right now!  If I’d trained specially, I could have done the 10 miler in around 1h 40m but that’s a bit of a pipe dream at the moment.  Most of my runs have been at long-run/recovery pace and I think my body is used to that comfort zone and doesn’t want to go any faster, even for 6 miles!! It’s a bit of pain during the mid-week week runs of 4-7 miles and I should really be doing more interval/speed work but I seem to lack the discipline to do that as well as the long runs.  If I want any chance of surviving 5 marathons in 2 months I’d rather put my energy into the long runs which include at least three 20 milers and a double long run weekend to get used to running on tired legs.

So I kinda knew from sign-up that the race would have to be a training run.  I decided to do a further 6 miles afterwards to make up the distance and try and get the whole run at or faster than my long run target pace (around 11.40-11.50 min miles) with a bit more emphasis on the race as a) it was a race and I didn’t want to come last and b) there was a 2 hour time limit anyway (12 min miles).

My dad dropped me off at the race HQ on Sunday morning.  I dressed ready to run (no baggage) so I could head off immediately afterwards for the final 6.  Met up with quite a few people from Tri-Force and parkrun, some who were marshalling and others who were running.  The race was organised by the local running club, St Albans Striders, so quite a few friends were involved in some way or another (I am not a Striders member – partly because the mid-week sessions clash with triathlon sessions and partly because I have not got round to thinking about doing the weekend runs with them).  I picked up my race number and then we walked to the start line for 10am.  I think there were about 700-800 runners.

The organised had needed to change the route at the last minute, due to flooding, so it was now 2 laps of a short route rather than one long loop.  I recognised a lot of the route from the St Albans Half Marathon that I did in 2012.  It was fairly undulating, with one hill that wasn’t particularly nice, but also some good, gentle down-hills.  Shame to say I got lapped VERY early on by the lead runner!!  It was great to see my marshalling friends 4 times who cheered me on, it was very good encouragement!  The race went ok, but like every time I have done a race as a training run (which, considering how many I do is most of them!) I am in 2 minds!  Part of me sees it as a race so wants to do well, and is disappointed by my pace.  But the other part of me knows it’s a training run and therefore as long as I finish in under 2 hours then no need to be worried.  It was a bit depressing getting to mile 8 and thinking I’m nearly done for the race, but only half way through the total mileage of the day!  It went ok, got round it in one piece and my average pace was 11.34 min/mi.  I am not sure what my official finishing time was, but my Garmin says 1.55.57 (and I was not last!).

I really, really, wanted to go back to the HQ for cake and coffee, and to warm up!  But I had to keep moving!  I collected my finisher’s tee-shirt and thanks the marshals, and forced myself to get really for the final run home.  I decided to wear my finisher’s tee-shirt which was a nice technical top in women’s fit.  It was pink for the women (black for guys) so teamed up with my bright pink running tights I did look like some kind of pink candy cane!  I also took off my race number (didn’t want anyone thinking I’d got lost out on the race course), took another gel, and headed off.

The final run was fine, a bit slower (11.44 min miles average) than the race but quite enjoyable as the pressure of the race environment was over and I could just zone out, listen to my music properly and run the majority of the route along the flat, traffic-free cycle path.  I wasn’t actually sure how far it was back home, having forgotten to measure it properly the night before, and there were 2 routes home with one ending up shorter than 6 miles and the other would be about 7.  I decided to go for the slightly longer route and have a cool down walk after I hit my target.

When I hit 16 miles (at long last!!) I was half way down a hill.  No point stopping halfway down a hill as I had a good pace going on!  So I decided to run to 16.2 as that would mean there would be LESS than 10 miles of a marathon left to do!  But at 16.2 I was crossing a road so missed it, so decided to do a nice round 16.5 – which I did.  I then walked the rest of the way back (about half a mile) to cool down.

I was very pleased overall with how the long run went, and feel well on track for the marathons now.  Apart from the heavy rain and flooding, we’ve been very lucky with the weather as it has been quite mild and no snow so far.  Last year the FH10 was called off due to snow and ice, and my long runs suffered as back then I did not have any trail shoes and found the snow very tough to run on.

In the afternoon my family must have thought I was ill as I spend all afternoon lying on the sofa knackered, watching a whole series of The IT Crowd, drinking recovery shakes, napping and having a bath!

3 Months til London

I’m now counting down the days til the marathons start!  It’s 3 months today for London, which means less than that for Brighton!  Training seems to be going fine, and I’m just getting back into the long runs (I count a long marathon-training run as anything over a half marathon).  So on Saturday I managed 14 miles.  The plan was to run 5.5 miles to parkrun, then do the parkrun, and finally run home the same way.  So early start first thing Saturday as I had to be out early enough to get to the park for 9am, but not be too early so I would have to stop and hang about.

It was a cold day, so I opted for long sleeves which I rarely do unless it’s hovering around 0 degrees!  Plus my hydration pack which carries a few essentials.  It was a nice morning for a run, crisp and clear.  I knew the parkrun was going to be the off road course – but the run there would be mostly on tarmac paths - so I was in a bit of a dilemma about whether to wear, trail shoes or road?  In the end I opted for trail and would run on the grass verges where possible.  Plus there was a good chance the Alban Way which leads to parkrun would be covered with leaves and mud anyway.

First part of the run all went fine, think my body struggled for the first 10 minutes or so, but then I reminded myself never to judge a run by its first mile!  It always feels hard before you get going and your body just wants to go back to bed!  Once I was up past the first hill and seeing other runners around I felt much better.  But I got to parkrun 15 minutes early and wasn’t sure what to do – I didn’t want to stop as then it would break up then run, but if I carried on running I would mess up the distances and maybe even get back to the start line too late!  In the end I decided to do a few laps of the field and a bit up near the woods where a lot of parkrunners were warming up.  It added over half a mile to the garmin so I would just carry on running until 14 miles then walk/jog the last bit home.

Parkrun was good fun, very busy but that’s all good!  The lake that we usually run round was flooded, so we did the off road course, which has a hill in it that you do 3 times, so is tougher.  It was also really muddy, sliding about on the muddy inclines!  As you can imagine my 5k time was pretty lousy – sandwiched between two 5/6 miles runs but I would rather do it this way than a solo 14 miles.  There was a also a bit of a wait while I got my barcode scanned, so I opted to pause my garmin and jog on the spot to I didn’t cramp up, as I still wanted an accurate measure of my pace over the whole run. Luckily a friend knew I had a long run to do afterwards so took mine to scan with his so I could head straight off!

The final part of the run was also fine, my pace was on or slightly slower than marathon pace and I felt strong and steady the whole way round.  I had a couple of new gels along the way, a Maxifuel lemon gel, which did the job but didn’t taste very nice, and a High5 Apple gel which was very good.  I need to stock up on gels again – I’m running very low and am having to resort to using ones given to me in goody bags which I’ve not had before!  As predicted, I did get to 14 miles a bit early due to running round the field before parkrun, so I thought it would be useful to finish there and walk the rest of the way back as a nice cool down.

When I got back, there was just enough time to have a quick shower and lunch before heading into London.  I had heard that the new London Marathon store had opened and to celebrate they were having a 26.2% off sale!  I was really tempted by this year’s VMLM adidas range (despite my mum saying I did NOT need yet more running gear!) and had my eye on a fleece and a couple of their tops.  The shop itself was a lot of fun to walk around as they have done it all up to celebrate the marathon, including a huge map of London on the ceiling with lights marking the route.  My favourite was the display of the past medals from 1981 to 2013!  There was also a new empty box with a red cushion, which will soon house the 2014 medal.

I did splash out a bit and bought a fleece, long sleeved running top and a tank top – all for a bit of extra motivation as to what I’m aiming for this April!

Finally in the afternoon I took a walk along the Embankment.  It was great walking over Tower Bridge (mile 12 of the marathon!) and I got some good photos as it was such a nice day.  I walked back past the Tower of London then followed a bit of the Thames Path towards St Pauls Cathedrals, and finally got the train back when it started to get dark.  I think all the walking did me good as I was not aching the next day!

Virtual Races

Shortly before Christmas, I discovered a new concept that looks like it's been popular among US runners for some time - Virtual Races.  I had never heard of them before until they started showing up on my twitter feed and even then it was some time before I bothered to read up on them.

This virtual race organiser, Will Run for Bling and Charity describes a virtual race as "A virtual race is a race that can be ran at any location. You can walk, use the treadmill, run outside or participate in another race.  You can run your race at your pace wherever you like."

You sign up in the same way as a normal race, entering online and paying your fee.  You choose your distance (usually anything from 5k to marathon or over).  You get an email with a race bib that you print off.  Then, you run (more on that, later!).  At the end you submit your time, usually with proof such as photo of your watch, a Garmin upload screenshot, smartphone app, or just a photo of you looking hot and sweaty with your race number pinned on to your top.  Social media is a big part of the race, and everyone is encourage to get online and meet their fellow runners around the world.  Finally, there is often a theme, whatever the organiser decides will be fun and popular!  Monthly races are usually based on the season, such as February is valentines themed and December is Christmas themed.  Or there are movies and TV shows – there was even a Doctor Who 50^th Anniversary race!

Well at first I was definitely in two minds about the whole concept and wasn’t surprised I hadn’t heard of them in the UK yet.   I thought, well may be they are great for new runners or those who don’t have the money or time to travel to an actual race and just want to grab their friends together for their first 10k in the park.  On the other hand, the event itself is the best bit, and virtual racing cuts all of that out!!  Plus if you want anything tangible – usually a medal, they cost money, and some of the US races seemed very expensive for what is essentially a solo run ($25-$40!).  But then I discovered that most of the payment went to charity, and that nearly all runs were set up in order to raise money to begin with, which made it a bit better.  Obviously I can’t see the majority of runners deciding to go and pay money to do a run by themselves but there is a growing community out there including one or two UK communities.

I have a very strong feeling that the main two reasons for doing these are for a small group to run together and motivate each other in the same way they would a race, and secondly for the medal.  Most of the websites have no shame in saying their runners LOVE bling, and by rewarding entrants with big, shiny medals then the runners enjoy coming back for more.  I have to admit, some of the medals are quite awesome and it’s no wonder they are often sold out.  But does it count if they are not part of a “real-life” event?

So instead of thinking about it, I decided to enter one and make up my mind.   Two in fact – a well-established looking US virtual race series, and a smaller UK series, one of which I’ve finished.  The other I am yet to do!

The first was a movie-themed race with Will Run for Bling and Charity and was based on Top Gun.  There was a choice of 5k, 10k, or half marathon and you had to do your run within a 4 week window.  I submitted my entry as the 10k, as I was literally just about to do my 26.2 Roman Run and wasn’t sure I was up for a half marathon within 4 weeks, but secretly I thought to myself I would like to do one of each distance in that timespan (although you only needed to submit one time).  The medal was very eye catching, an awesome-looking fighter jet with the words “Top Gun Run” in the famous movie font beneath, and 5k/10k/Half Marathon below that and also printed on the ribbon.  If people only do these for the medals, I can see why, but I was still a bit apprehensive as I entered my credit card details for an amount slightly more than what I would pay for a small, local 10k.  At least the profits would go to charity – the American Diabetes Association.

So mid-December, I set a date and went for my virtual 10k.  To be honest, it was just a normal run, but I did print out my bib and wear it so it felt a bit more special.  It also felt like I was making myself more accountable – I knew I had to do this, as it was “race day”, and although I was tired from the Roman Run I still wanted to try and race myself!!  When I got back, it was quite fun going on their facebook site and sending in a screenshot of my Garmin upload then commenting on each other’s photos/posts.  There were loads of other runners around the world, plenty with photos of themselves holding their medals or back from their own virtual run wearing race bibs.  This was actually the best bit about it, and gave it a good community feel.  The results also go up on the site (they use an honour system) so you can see where you came and congratulate your fellow racers.  Some time later, the medal did indeed show up, and it’s rather stunning!  No wonder so many people take part in these!  I guess if the only real expenditure for the organiser is getting medals made and shipped out, and no costs in actually organising an actual event, you do get some special bling.  It is by far the biggest medal I own.

The other race is with Virtual Runner UK, and this time it will be fun to run with other Brits.  There was a 5k and 10k option here, so I chose the 10k.  I do usually find these distances tough unless I’m doing an easy run – I prefer either a shorter, sharper 5k or a slower, tempo 8 or 10 miles.  So this is again making me accountable for doing a fast 10k – they are good training!  The medal is much more modest, but it was a very cheap race to enter, just a few pounds and again goes to charity.  Let’s see how it goes when I set a date for sometime before the end of January!

At the end of the day, I expect it won’t hit off with most runners as it is basically just paying money to do something you normally do, without the benefit of being in an organised race.  I can’t see myself doing one very often, but I might sign up for one for a few special occasions.  I can't be spending £5-£15 every few weeks just for this reason - although at least there's no travel and hotel costs involved so might work out a lot cheaper than doing actual races every other weekend!  Some other reasons I thought would be a benefit would be if you have a distance race in the future, and want more motivation for your training runs.  So if you have a marathon coming up, and need to do a 13 mile run in the training plan but there are no races around the correct time, a virtual race might be more motivating than just another long slow weekend run.  Especially if it’s your first time hitting that distance, then the medal will really feel worth it.  I am thinking I might sign up for a marathon-distance virtual race before my ultra, so I can be more motivated for the really long final runs and have a mini-reward along the way to see me through.

If you have friends doing the couch to 5k, and want to run together then a virtual race could be a great gift for them if they can’t or doing feel ready to do a race yet.  Or if you’re really competitive with friends who are at a similar standard but live in different parts of the country, you might decide to enter a virtual race and race each other that way.  Finally there are races which reward you for not just doing one race, but committing to a series of runs over the year adding up to a total number of miles or runs.  This could be a great way to celebrate a personal target with others, the popular one at the moment seems to be “14 in 2014” – 14 races of a chosen distance in 2014.  Or 2014 miles in 2014.  At the end you order your medal.  Ok so anyone could just buy one and say they have done it, but I can’t imagine non-runners are going to have much of an incentive to pay out money (and it’s not pennies, either) and just pretend to do a run that anyone can do at any time.  I suppose the cynical among us could also argue that it’s just making our sport into a spending/consumerism spree with more emphasis on shiny, glittery trinkets and less on actual running and fitness.  I’ll let someone else argue that though since I love shiny glittery things! 

And finally, if you really want to celebrate a special day, there’s always the Birthday or seasonable virtual races, where you commit to running on your birthday, Christmas, New Year’s Day etc and have a fun medal to show for it, even if there was no real race you could take part it.

Best of both worlds?  Get together a group of friends, sign up for a virtual 5k with the blingy-est medal you can find or a charity that is close to you all, head a popular Parkrun on a Saturday morning and all try and run a PB :)

Some websites offering virtual races:

http://www.willrunforbling.com/

http://fullmedalruns.bigcartel.com

http://www.fit4liferaceseries.com/index.php

http://www.virtualrunneruk.com/about

Polar Night Half Marathon

Had a very exciting half-marathon last weekend, up in Tromso, the very north of Norway!  I’d always wanted to go to this city, and the race there is quite a big one, so it was a good excuse.  Plus, with the solar activity of the sun being strong this year, there was no better time for a chance of seeing the Northern Lights!

I flew up, via Oslo, on Friday, and checked into the hotel.  It was quite late by then, so I just had a simple dinner in the hotel restaurant which was not too expensive.  Mind you, everything in Norway is expensive – the cheese and tomato pizza I had was around £15!

The next morning I made the most of the included breakfast and eat my fill, both to fuel me for the race and so I wouldn’t need to buy lunch.  The race was not until 3pm, so I could get away with a big breakfast.  I ventured out into the city and had a walk round the town.  It was dark, but there were actually a few hours of lightness every day, and although the sun never came up fully, the sky was a beautiful blue-pink and made for some lovely photos as it reflected off the water.  It was lighter than I expected actually, and warmer too – we got very lucky as it was around +2 degrees during the day, and 0 in the evening, down to -2 at night.  It could well have been well under 0 during the day and -10 in the evening for the race!

I had to go and collect my race bib at the city hall, and this was a good opportunity to meet other runners.  Over 60% of participants were from outside of Norway, including quite a few Brits.  There’s not many races where you get a chance to run a half marathon 200 miles into the arctic circle, but still enjoy a well organised running event and short-haul flights from the UK, so this explains why it’s so popular!  Major bragging rights, but without the huge time and expense of travelling to a remote polar icecap region!

We lined up at the start just before 3pm.  It was dark by then, but the streets were well lit and the crowds were excellent.  I wasn’t sure what to wear, as it hovering between 0 and -2 degrees and I have run in -5 in the UK several times.  In the end I went for a long sleeved running top, light high-viz jacket, thermal tights, thick gloves and a beanie.  I also took my new hydration pack.  This turned out to be fine.  There were about 1000 entrants, including a small field of 10k runners.

The first mile was fairly easy, as it was on the main road – which was closed – and it had been cleared from snow and well gritted.  It was slightly uphill, but it did ease us in gently.  We left the town centre and went onto the pathways into the neighbourhoods.  There was a lot more snow here, and the paths were much icier, although they were generally very well gritted.  Further out though, there was more ice and it was quite undulating.  It got colder too, as we ran out towards the airport which is quite open, so there was a very biting cold wind.  The route was a simple out and back, with a small loop around the airport.  There were plenty of water stations, one of which gave out sports drinks.  It was really surreal, running in the dark alongside water, while just about making out the mountains surrounding the city.  Although it was very hard work, I really enjoyed it.  The buzz among runners was also brilliant, with faster runners on the “back” encouraging us slower ones on the “out”!  There was a reasonable 3 hour time limit, which for some runners was certainly needed given that these were hardly PB conditions to run in!

The last few miles were hard work, as they were mostly uphill, plus the snow had been compacted a lot more so was even more slippery.  I felt like I spent a lot of energy just trying to keep my balance!  The roads were re-opened too, apart from a very short stretch coming up to the finish line, so it was back to running on the snowy paths when we got back into the city.  I wasn’t sure what finish time I had in mind when I started the race, if there had been more snow I would have predicted over 2.40, so at the half way point having judged the conditions I went for a time between 2.30 and 2.35.  In the end I just about got in at 2.29 having exhausted myself in the last 2 miles, which I was very happy with!

We got a lovely medal with an engraving of snow flakes, plus drink, bananas and a foil blanket.  No hanging around though, I cooled down very quickly so went straight back to the hotel for a very hot shower!

That night I was in for a treat as I was booked in for an aurora trip.  We took a boat out into the fjords and we ended up watching the beautiful lights for well over an hour!  They were amazing and I am so glad to have seen them that weekend.  Half marathon followed by an aurora sighting is the perfect way to spend a day in the arctic circle!  I am not sure what was more fun – or more surreal – it was a truly unforgettable experience!

If you get the chance to do this race I really recommend it.  Pics below!
1. Banner at the race start
2. Tromso high street
3. Tromso high street shops
4. Midday over the bay

Happy New Year!

Ok so I think it's time for a blog update or two!!  Firstly, hope you all had a great Christmas and a very happy New Year.  And now it's January, which means Marathon Season is upon us!  I had a tweet last week reminding me that it was only 100 days until the London Marathon.  Plus Brighton is a week earlier so  we really are counting down the days. 

So it's 2014, and all across the land, folk are getting their gear on and making those resolutions and training for their next goal.  I love seeing loads of runners, cyclists and walkers out on the streets at this time of the year, whether they are first timer joggers or upping the mileage again for a spring marathon.  Even better is when the new runners stick through the first few weeks and keep going well into spring, as we all know how difficult it is to keep resolutions in dark, cold January.  Although it seems to be mild (I ran today in shorts and a vest) much of the UK is still very wet and flooded.  I do feel for my friends in the US though having been hit by terrible winter blizzards.

So what have I been up to?  Well – I carried on running over Christmas!  Although I did treat myself and probably eat enough carbs to fuel a 100 mile ultra, plus the triathlon sessions stopped for 2 weeks so I have only been running and trying to keep active during the days off by walking and the odd swim.  I’m pleased, as I ran not only on Christmas Day (2 miles to church!) but on New Years Day (St Albans Parkrun) too!  I’ve also done a couple of races, the Pednor 10 – the last of 2013 - and the Polar Nights Half Marathon (which I’ll do a separate post on) which was the first of 2014.

I got some awesome new gear for Christmas.  A Nathan hydration backpack, which is much for comfortable than my old one, and some insanely bright pink running tights which I love.  Plus some money from my brother to spend on new gear so I bought a hi-viz run jacket in the sales.  He also got me a very interesting book on low-carb diets for athletes.  He and my parents are all low carb and have done very well on it, but I’ve always stuck to the traditional marathon runner’s diet of pasta or potatoes before the long run!    I won’t review the book here nor go into a debate about it, but I did find it very interesting and strongly considered following it, weighing up the pros and cons.  In the end I decided to stay with the traditional carb-burning methods rather than convert my body to a fat/ketone-burner, mainly as I did not need to lose any weight, but also because it would mean several weeks of very difficult training and poor performance while my body converted to fat burning.  Plus, I LOVE carbs, and I don’t want to be guilty about still having them in my diet!  I did make me decide to review my sugar intake though, which I admit is rather high.  Not only do I treat myself after running but I tend not to think twice about snacking on cake or chocolate in the day either.  I need to cut down on all the random sugars and unnecessary carbs I eat during the day when I’m not training, and replace them with healthier snacks – which, I’m glad to read, can include cheese, eggs and cream and not just celery!  I will also make the effort to enjoy a small, half-sized bowl of Ben & Jerries after running too as I have been known to eat most of a tub after a long run (it will save me money as well!).

While I was deciding, I did have a few days where I really cut down the carbs, and I felt it during my running.  I did the Pednor 10, which was my PB for the 10 miles in 2012, but this time really struggled.  It was a truly horrendous time, just minutes off 2 hours!  Luckily, it was a gorgeous day, and when I gave up pushing myself I enjoyed the event a lot as it’s in an attractive part of the county and has a small, friendly field.  On new year’s eve I went out for an 8 miler, and I almost hit the wall at about mile 4.  And by the time I struggled round New Year’s Day Parkrun – having been sober the night before! – I’d had enough and literally wanted to have my cake and eat it too!  I did expect this and know with time I could have adapted to fat-burning eventually but I’d only try again it if I did not have any races coming up (and did not have a sweet tooth).  Are you on a low carb diet or sticking with the good old carb-loading?  If so I’d love to hear about it in the comments!

One more January race lined up – the Fred Hughes 10 (another local 10 miler).  Last year it was snowed off, so hopefully it will go ahead this year.  In the meantime though, I’ve got to start getting the long runs in again, so have a 14 miler planned this weekend, which I’ll try and combine with parkrun.  Means my parkrun times will start getting very slow again and I won’t be able to go for the traditional coffee and cake every week, as I’ll have to run 7 miles beforehand, do the 5k, then run 4 miles home!  Tri-Force sessions have started up again now, so we had a HIIT session in circuits on Tuesdays which was a bit of a shock to the system, and swimming yesterday.