Half marathon PB!
Well I didn’t think I’d be writing this today. Yesterday and I suppose the weeks leading up to this race I hadn’t given running a PB any thought, in fact I didn’t expect it at all. I did hope to be under 1:40 as my PB was 1:30:32 when I ran the same race last year. My main reason for thinking this was my lack of run training. I’ve been focusing on triathlon the past few months and that only involved running a 5km. I’d kinda forgotten about this half marathon until finishing the sprint triathlon back at the start of the month.
So this morning came, I said to myself, just enjoy this and run at a steady pace that you can maintain. This was all well and good for the first 3 miles which are mainly all downhill. Running along the prom, just after mile 5 I got the beginnings of a stitch, in the usual place, just at the bottom of my right rib. So again, I thought better not push myself and just enjoy this steady pace.
I don’t wear a GPS watch but I do use runkeeper on my phone but this lives in my pocket so usually I have no idea what time I’m running and just go how I feel. This was doing me OK today. It was about 6 miles that I thought, ‘well I’ve been taking it easy, so lets try to do a negative split’. A negative split for those not conversant with this is where you run the second half of your run faster than the first half. So this gave me some extra power and motivation to keep going.
So about mile 9 you pass the finish on this course and you run away from the finish to a turn around point and then run back the way you came. I realised that I wasn’t seeing any elite runners or any other runners coming back the way which I deduced must be because I was quite far up the pack. I asked a lady at mile 10 as she was glancing at her beeping watch what time it was. She said 1:06! I quickly deduced (and I’m not good with min/mile as I work in kms) that it was 24 mins left so a 7 min mile steady would give me 1:30 but if I could do faster then I would be able to get a PB. This is when I put the foot down (or so it seemed). I pulled away from that nice lady and started passing loads of people that up until now I was happy just seeing the back of and following at their steady pace.
I raced up and got to the turn around point, all the time thinking about this 1:30 PB and how I could actually beat it! I kept going but the pain was increasing, stitch in my right rib, spiking pain in my left shoulder. I started to slow, I could feel it but kept on pushing but there was no more energy. That lady who gave me the time passed me and was about 30m in front so I was using her as a pace maker, and trying to catch up.
The long stretch along the race course came and all the time I was pushing harder and harder, ready to give up. No indication of time but I knew I was going at a good pace. The finish had been moved from the previous year to be in the park but this meant it was a sharp right angled left turn into it and not until then did I see the time. I turned the corner and there was the finish, 100yards in front! I was the only one on the final stretch and I started to sprint. Arms at right angles, hands flat, pumping out for each stride- for a moment I felt like Ussain Bolt on the 100m. I heard the tannoy man say my name and I crossed over the line. 1:26:58 was the official time!
I can’t believe i got a PB, knocking 3min 30secs off my previous and all this without proper run training!
Awesome.
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- Sprint finish
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- Looking very red in the finish funnel!
Open Water Swimming – the first time!
I guess this was the next step after completing the sprint triathlon. If I was going to proceed to the next level I would need to get out there in the open and out of a pool.
The local triathlon shop runs a guided swim at the local reservoir up in the Pentland Hills. After popping into the shop musing about buying a wetsuit they told me I should go along, try a wetsuit on they supply for free to try and then see how I felt after a first outing. This is what I did.
It was cold, slightly damp and a bit of a wind up there at Threipmuir but nevertheless I turned up and tried on a wetsuit. I had not been told to bring a hat so I was hatless which was a bad idea according to the saftey guy but I persevered and entered the water. The water was freezing cold on my toes but the wetsuit was nice and snug so that I couldn’t feel any water getting in, not until I took my first stroke! First stroke in and a wash of water went down my back following the depression of my spine down to the bum. Brr! It was enough to take my breath away. Not good, however, I carried on swimming around the course they’d laid out with buoys.
I managed one lap, keeping my head out of the water by doing a breast stroke and a bit of front crawl. My hands and feet were freezing and numb, it was time to get out after a quick spurt!
Even with the cold and the lack of hat, I actually enjoyed myself and vowed to get a wetsuit so I could do it again!
I bought a wetsuit (online after getting a right size from the tri shop – a bit cheeky but they’re £60 cheaper on line at wiggle!)
The next Wednesday came and I was all up for going again, but this time it had been warm and sunny. The weather had improved a lot and this had warmed up the shallow reservoir. It was a beautiful sunny evening in the hills this time around. It was great swimming in a place where i’d always run around. The swim was better this time as I had a hat, I wasn’t catching my breath because of the cold and I felt a lot more comfortable.
It took a while to get used to swimming in a wetsuit and also the fact that when you’ve got your head in the water the visibility is poor as the water is brown and murky, though tastes a lot better than council pool!
It was so good, that since Wednesday, I’ve been back again twice! There’s some photos below:
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- The borrowed wetsuit!
Midlothian Sprint Tri
My move into triathlon has gone well of which I didn’t have much doubt. The only doubt I had was the swim section but my training for that went well in the weeks leading up to this triathlon.
The day started early with us getting to the venue early and we went straight to registration. This was handled well with numbers being given out and written on your arm and leg in permanent marker. The chip was fastened around my ankle and I quickly forgot this was there as I had wondered if it would become annoying. Thankfully it didn’t.
Being a complete novice at the transition I stood there looking a bit lost and started to copy one of my neighbours. I didn’t know the etiquete of the transition area, was I too close to the next person? Was I taking up too much space? Did i hang my bike to the forward or rear of the bar? I decided that I couldn’t do too much wrong so opted to hang my bike by it’s saddle with the front wheel touching the ground on the other side of the bar and I set up my stuff under the rear wheel. I chose a spot right next to an upright pole with the thought that it would help me find my bike when the racks were all full up.
I’d laid out my trainers with socks already in them on top of a small towel to dry my feet. I also laid out a jacket and gloves in case I thought about wearing them. My mate watched as I set up and immediately told me to ‘Man Up’ and not to use the gloves or jacket as ‘it’s only a sprint’. The weather was cold, with sunny spells but some clouds looked ominous.
Transition all set up it was time to chill out and watch the initial heats so i could get an idea of what to expect. Time for the heat and it was the first time I had worn a swim cap which was actually quite tricky to put on and then realised goggles go on after! I had initially put down a swim time of 16min but in training I had done a 14:50 so I knew I was going to be fast for my heat, and not only that I was the last to go in the lane so I had some over taking to do.
I kept behind the pack for two lengths to get into the swing of things, one guy had waited to get to the back so I only had to get passed 3 others. This took some effort, as someone didn’t want to get out my way. I had touched the mid leg as I was right up the toes of this person but they wouldn’t let me pass. In the end I had to grab as hard as possible and eventually they let me go.
This was the first time I’d managed to count the lengths correctly as normally I would forget so right on time I got tapped on the head and that was 2 lengths to go. Jumping out the pool, then running outside was a strange experience. But I had no time to think too much about it and got to the transition area. Dry feet, put socks on, slide shoes on, put helmet on, unrack bike and run with bike. Jumping on the bike wasn’t that graceful so there is room for improvement there.
The route was a bit brutal in that it was straight into a hill but this went without too much bother as much of the rest seemed downhill! This is where my nerves took me as I’d only been on the road bike three times previous and only one of those was on a long route. I didn’t have the confidence to go downhill full steam, high gear and pedalling so I kept relatively fast. I also was missing glasses which meant my eyes were watering and I couldn’t read the road which made me extra nervous. Turning the corner, halfway into the first lap, my mate passed me who started in the same heat as me. He was good on the bike, skinny, less wind resistance. I managed to pass him again as he was taking a sip from is bottle but he soon went passed me again and into the distance.
On the second go of the uphill I managed to overtake a guy who had all the expensive gear but no power in his legs to get him up! He did, however, pass me on that downhill but I managed to get passed him again before turning into transition.
I’m not really that competitive and I really was just going around at my own pace for me but I did want a good time.
Transition 2 was funny, I racked my bike, threw off my helmet then stopped wondering what was next! It all seemed too quick but realising that all I needed to do was run, that is what I did. The sun had gone by now and there was ominous black clouds above. I started out on the railway path and in the distance I could see a familiar figure – it was my mate who’d passed me on the bike – he mustn’t have got too far in front. So I pushed on to pass him. By this time I had the beginnings of a stitch in my rib and my feet were numb and legs were weird. It is the first time I experienced the cycle to run leg strangeness. I kept saying to myself..”I know how to run, so just do it!”. It felt slow but I was making progress on passing my mate.
I eventually did and said, ‘hello, i’ve got a stitch’ he replied ‘so do I’ and kinda felt bad for running faster than him with a stitch. The course was 5km, out and back and the turn around point seemed to take ages to arrive. It eventually did and I was glad to see my mate not too far behind.
It started hail stoning at this point and boy was I glad not to be on the cycle part of the course! It would have been brutal speeding down that hill into hail! And the hail was big! It was quite nice though for the run.
I picked up the pace thinking that I could run OK with a stitch and it was OK to push myself. Running over the line was great and I did feel tired.
1st triathlon done: 1:15:05. Not a bad starting time for a novice. 
Cake and refreshments were great. I hung around a bit watching the guys in the later heats and trying to spot some tips for the next race.
here’s some pics… some courtesy of Ian Rob.
Day before the tri
I’ve had a good week of training (bad week otherwise) and managed to get swimming twice with about 3000m total, my technique has improved a lot. I also managed to get out on the road bike and did a few laps of a 7km route which meant I got a good attempt at a 20km cycle. My running has dissipated though to only being able to do two runs this week and they weren’t good runs either, actually the second one was OK but the first was a measly 4km.
All in all, I guess you can call it a taper of sorts as I haven’t done anything yesterday and I’m not doing anything today either.
I have woken up with achy legs and what feels like doms in my shoulders and arms which is strange! I’ve also been dreaming of the transitions, mainly between swim and bike. What to put on first, what to put on second. What will it be like putting socks on wet feet, what will it be like running out of the pool and straight outside into 5C and the threat of rain! 
Yes the weather isn’t going to be the warmest so I have had to change the plan slightly. I will put on a jacket and also gloves for the cycle, I had planned on just wearing a tri suit.
Today I think I’ll go over the transition and do some light stretching to get rid of these weird DOMS!
Trying 3 new things for my first tri
It’s been a while since I posted. I can’t remember what the last post was about but I’m going to write about my move into triathlon training. I’ve also tried three new things because of the tri training which I’ll recommend any new triathlon athletes do the same.
As an intro, I was kinda persuaded to do a triathlon by a colleague and I have to say that it wasn’t on my radar of something that I wanted to do. I guess the reason for that is probably the swimming part.
I’ve never been a strong swimmer or a good swimmer at that. I’ve been able to swim though for most of my life and had training when I was a kid. This was lifeguard training rather than any specific speed sessions. I hated swimming really as I was always uncomfortable and I can’t explain why.
So I entered a sprint triathlon and I knew the first thing I had to do was to get swimming. My first jaunt in the pool didn’t exactly go well. I think I wrote about it. I was all over the place. Now a few months has passed and I am doing OK. I’m much more confident in the water. I have started lessons and also joined a tri club. This makes me swim twice a week and this is good motivation.
I did my first 750m non-stop swim the other day and it felt good. I managed 14:49s which isn’t apparently all too bad, to which I’ve been accused of hustling. But in reality I think I just had no clue of my ability.
The lessons are good, although I’ve only had one. Breathing, head position and kicking are all areas that I need to work on and I’ve been given the tips and drills to practice that will help those areas.
The second new thing I’ve done is buy a road bike. I got a second hand road bike and I’m really pleased with it so far (only had it 3 days). I went on a 60km ride yesterday with the Tri club, first real outing on a road bike and it felt good, though sore back and sore neck. I can see that the speed I get from using that compared to the hybrid I cycle to work on is going to improve my cycling times.
The third new thing is buying a tri suit. Not the most flattering item of clothing but it does help me in the swim I have noticed it seems easier to swim in and I wore it on the bike ride and felt good. The real test will be the run.
So if you are new to triathlons I’d say get swim lessons if you’re not a good swimmer, get a road bike as they hybrids will make you slower and get a tri suit as this will mean less changing and maybe a faster swim.
Last day limbo
It happens every time on our holidays that waiting around for your holiday to be officially over. Picture the scene, you’ve spent ten days in a wonderful resort town, surrounded by mountains, snowboarded them, took a gondola up them, photographed them countless times and even stayed up in them. You then get to your last day after seeing all that there is to see and you have to wait til late afternoon before your journey home starts.
You’ve been kicked out your hotel room and bags are in storage. That limbo of not knowing what to do is ever present in this holiday as it was when travelling Australia, staying in Rhodes or even on a weekend retreat up in the highlands.
Here we have found ourselves taking it very easy today, slept in, packed slowly, had late breakfast and checked out as late as possible. Now we’re cruising coffee shops and stealing free wifi for as much as the staff will allow us to. Just whiling away the hours before the bus picks us up to start the long long long journey home.
I think I’ve been on Facebook and twitter too much today already and read the news on various sites and apps and played snappers as well. Boredom is one word but really we’re on holiday so should be enjoying this relaxed time. Instead it feels like a drag and in reality cant wait to leave which is too bad as this place is awesome and part of me doesn’t want to leave.
Oh well. Now writing this blog is going to end and will need to find something else to do until that bus arrives.
A run in the dark
I took a run in the dark last night. You probably have been doing similar over the winter months but this was different than any other as I decided to run where no street lights were. I chose this as I wanted to use my new head torch that I’d been given at Christmas. I’d not had the chance so I took off en route to Corstorphine Hill. This is an old wooded area on the outskirts of Edinburgh where there’s an old tower, a folly which in the dark adds to the mystery of the place. Edinburgh zoo shares the south face of this hill where zebra and gazelle graze the slopes.
I entered at the zoo end and put my head torch on that I’d rather vainly hid in my back pocket until the street light lights fainted from view.
The torch was bright with a tight fit on my forehead, the band soaking up the light sweat and drizzle. Immediately I was thrown into a different world. The bright light shone and lit up a circular area as far as 10ft in front but left a sharp darkness below my feet as if I was shielding my periphery view. The light followed my eye tracking. But was covered by the mist from my heavy warm breathing condensing in the cold night air. Not only did this cover my field of view on every exhale but the light drizzle was being lit up brightly and coming at me at a horizontal direction that I could only liken to that of heavy snowfall flying toward your windscreen when driving a car. The drizzle disappeared before hitting my face as I couldn’t feel the force I expected from this just like the windscreen wipers clearing the view but you can’t help but flinch and squint.
Losing half your sight and being alone in a wood isn’t for the faint hearted. I purposely didn’t tell my partner what I was planning as I knew he’d tell me it was a daft idea but he has no idea. He’s not got the running bug as I have. He’d also tell me I was stupid as the area has reputation of funny goings on after night fall. This did not deter me only made me run faster!
It is true though that every broken tree stump I’d divert my attention to, every bird I spooked up above made me a little bit more alert. Moving so quickly in low light the eyes can’t pick up features as easily as they can during daylight and so wet mud patches, the odd exposed tree route would be seen last minute. The path ahead looked like a river of black tar until the light lit up the way.
After a while I got used to the feeling and the sounds. On the down and uphills an adjustment of the light to deal with the angle of viewing meant constant thought and attention.
I didn’t meet anyone in the dark, and I’m not sure what I would have done if I had, and how they would have felt as they would probably thinking the same as me. What nutter is out here in the dark!
I started dreaming up odd situations of rabbits and foxes enjoying the time they’d be safe from human interruption for a few hours. Perhaps the zebra escape the zoo for the evening and roam the paths? Maybe the pandas have made their way here in search of China? Who knows. All I know is that I exited the wood unharmed and unscathed even if I did have the music “in the hall of the mountain king” in my head and my pace was fairly speedy!
Next time I think I’ll go for a run in the pentland hills in the dark. A great sensory experience!
PBs and wetness
So this week has been a bit of a mixed bag. It started well then a disastrous start to my swimming career made me rethink but after a days rest on Wednesday of not cycling or running or swimming I came back with an epic run on Thursday. Epic because I felt good, I felt it was an easy pace but shocked to realise it was 4:37 pace and some faster. It was a good 8km. Then cycling in on Friday, puncture. The third in as many weeks! Not to worry got it fixed at lunch then went for another swim though this time with a bit more of an idea. Managed an hour in the pool and did probably 40 lengths a bit better than last time but feeling relatively ok.
Then unexpectedly after wanting to lie in I was wide awake on Saturday morning so thought I’d do a parkrun. I’d only been once before so thought it was time to go again.
It’s only a 15min cycle away downhill. The weather was perfect. Cool and no wind. The course is flat and the last time I did the same course was a year ago so I was expecting to beat the 20:21. I went out hard and fast, too fast but kept it up. Didn’t really get into a stride and was above the threshold for most of it. Getting to the 4km mark I’d slowed down and people were starting to overtake. I kept saying to myself that I only has 4 min max left to run so keep going. Huffing and puffing I made it to the end. I had no idea what time it was as I didn’t clock it but asked the guy who’d got in just before me and who I’d been battling for a place for the last 500m. 18:11 he had it as so it was a defo PB. Then me and the guy started chattin and he said “I think I know who you are”. Immediate thoughts of worry came into mind. I had no idea who he was. But then he revealed that he knew me from online and then it clicked. runners forum. It was good to meet someone from a forum that I’ve been on for a while.
Anyway official result came through and a PB of 18:13. Dead chuffed! Rest tomorrow maybe.
I’m not an amphibian
Tonight I went swimming. It was tough. Tougher than I thought it would be. I mean, I’ve swam before, I’ve been swimming since I was 5 and even had lessons but this was different. I actually have a goal and that is to do a triathlon. A sprint tri, of 750m swim, 20km bike ride and a 5km run. I can run 5km, and I’m sure I can ride 20km but after tonight, the swim seems like it may be impossible.
This has come as a bit of a surprise to me, I didn’t think 30 lengths was gonna be that hard but after tonight’s debacle it might be!
First of all it’s the effort of getting into the pool. And tonight being the first time in that pool I had to get over the newbie mistakes, finding the changing room was difficult, I was expecting it to be a male changing room but when confronted with a woman you suddenly get second thoughts, so I turned around and walked out. Only to find that it was unisex so I must have looked a bit daft. Next task was working out where the lockers were and how they worked. Then getting the getting changed bit. I don’t know what it is but I never feel comfortable getting changed into swimming stuff. Self conscious maybe but it’s more than that. Then making my way to the pool, working out what the lanes meant was a bit difficult too. All in all it was a bit of an effort but glad the first time is over.
Then it was swimming, not that difficult but length after length when you’re not used to it, it is. I was in the middle speed lane (the only lane that wasn’t been used by swim lessons) and I was getting lapped by a middle aged woman. That wasn’t that good, but the kids (16ish) who were having lessons were doing 3 lengths to my 1! That was disheartening but I carried on.
I did 10 lengths, then had a rest. Then did two more and felt knackered. Then I kept going and lost count of how many I had done. I started feeling dizzy with all the head movement to breathe, then kept of sniffing up water for some reason and it’s just all wrong. I had a plan in the water and that was to just see how many lengths I could do to gauge pool fitness. Not very clearly. Also I tried to breathe properly, every three breaths is supposed to be optimal but it didn’t seem natural and I was always getting caught short on oxygen that two sometimes seemed a better option.
So I stopped, after I don’t know how many lengths and got out dripping wet in chlorinated water. I’m not sure how you’re then supposed to just jump on a bike but I guess I’ll worry about that later. Then it’s the next cufuffle, getting dried and changed (obviously I have opted not to just jump on a bike, as the thought of going out in freezing temperatures in dripping wet clothes doesn’t seem appealing)
Let it be known that putting a baselayer top on when you’re damp is difficult. It went on all weird and I couldn’t get it back off so I had to live with it being twisted and preventing me from having full motion of my arm and shoulder movements. Then the seemingly easy tasks of putting shoes on, zipping zips and packing up was taking all that little bit of extra energy and it just seemed like this was more effort than it should have taken. Why was this? Oh yeah, I was tired, hungry and grumpy!
But what an effort, compared to running! Swimming takes a lot more preparation and clearly it takes more out of me than a 25min run does! Am I really a water based athlete? Should I just stick to running?
Anyway with a slight comfort in the back of my mind that earlier I had thought 750m was 50 lengths not the 30 it is, I can rest assured that it isn’t that far and in 4 months I’m sure i will get better.
Let’s hope so anyway!
Just not feeling it. Sluggish of late.
I’m not sure what’s up but I’m feeling like my training has been suffering lately. Not sure why this may be. My cycle to work is becoming a drag and feels like my front wheel’s brake is permanently pressed. My runs haven’t been without a stitch for over a week.
This weekend, I didn’t train from Friday morning til Monday morning but it seems I am still feeling rubbish.
Sluggish is the word I’d describe everything right now.
Food is normal, sleep is excellent so I can’t blame that.
On top of all this, my back has been sore but I’ve attributed this to my tight hammies and glutes which I’m stretching every day.
So no clues, just hope that it fixes itself. Could be the winter blues.
Anyway in other news I’ve had some great comments on a runners forum regarding the video of my first three years running so that has cheered me up and gave me a boost.
Oh and I’ve also entered my first tri but have’t stepped in a pool yet so will talk about that when I have something to talk about!
