Another busy week with a good amount of running and one strength training session (OK, so I’m getting there with consistency, right?
Tuesday – Club run night so as usual I ran up, ran round club run and ran home again. It had been a bit dimpsy-dark through the park last week and, although on this route (we have two summer routes and two winter ones that alternate) we were going through the park first, I didn’t take any chances and wore my flouro tabard (It was still pretty warm, so I was in short sleeves still and I think capris). I was quite tired and Trudie and I had to make each other NOT peel off (on this route we can turn right rather than left after the park and just go home again!) so we did well.
5.4 mi 12:37 mm
Wednesday – I swapped Dave Yoga for my Paul Circuits again as that worked well last time. I did it on the ground floor this time, as the thuds of the burpees and squat jumps were A Bit Much in the guest room last time! Here I am doing a plank next to Birmingham History, Cook Books, Running a Hotel books and oversize in our downstairs through-lounge. I was more prepared this time, and also making less noise and having not bothered to have my shower first so I was OK to have a big sweat meant I tried a bit harder. So I did the same or more on all of my exercises (hopefully you can see the sheet below) although my right hip hurt when I was lying on that side. I warmed up with going up and down all the stairs four times and doing skips with no skipping rope top and bottom and a full 10 minutes of yoga for a warm down, including a minute of lying flat and still. I was dripping with sweat after this, which makes me feel a bit feeble, but hopefully I’ll get fitter with time.
Thursday – My friend Sara had been asking about speed work so we went for a daytime session, running to the park to warm up then talking about and trying fartleks, surges, intervals and tempo work (we only talked about tempo work!) and then running back. Sara picked it all up quickly and I think found it useful, and it was fun doing it together. She’s faster than me but I got under 9 mm pace briefly on some intervals!
5 mi 12:05 mm
Friday – Quite a challenging Claire Yoga class (I got to cheer Claire on at parkrun the next day!) but it felt good and was relaxing. I’d cleaned the house before I went (cardio! squats!) and had a bit of a headache, but that dissipated.
Saturday – I did parkrun volunteering in the morning – my 120th volunteering stint and my 100th at Cannon Hill parkrun (the rest have been at Cannon Hill Junior parkrun). My friends Andy and Greg turned up with matching umbrellas so there had to be a photo, obviously.
I was stationed as a marshal at the MAC, which is a complicated junction where runners arrive and leave in three different directions and have to be kept out of each other’s way. But it was all good, everyone was very well-behaved and it only rained a bit (I won parkrun by getting my flourescent gilet off, getting my pacamac out of its bag, getting it on and getting my gilet back on between the start and the runners reaching us! Then I helped lead Run and Talk – it was raining properly by then so we just went to the cafe and chatted, so all good.
Sunday – Mr Liz went off with his birdwatching club and as I’d arranged to meet a friend to run fairly early, I got up with him just before 5am and had my breakfast. We’d gone to bed early in preparation so I just stayed up until I left at 8.15 (sometimes I get some more sleep between breakfast and running). It was a nice day but a bit cool and windy, so I went for a tight under t-shirt and my teal hoody (the sides are mesh so it’s not that warm) and long but thin tights.
I didn’t meet up with the original friend as she had a tweaky foot, so changed the route and met Sara for a 10-11 mile run she needed to do in preparation for the Birmingham Half-Marathon next month. I have a 10-mile route that goes up to the suburb of Northfield, takes a turn by the big shopping centre, runs down to the cricket ground then back up our way – a simple if a little hilly route. Here we are, succeeding at getting the shopping centre into our runfie.
We took it fairly gently – walking on hills, for example. No one wanted to be tired for the afternoon of the next day and I just wanted to get some miles myself and get the other ladies round happily. After some complicated directions, we met Sonya in Selly Oak and were trying to get a photo including their matching half-marathon tops from last year when a passer-by took pity on us and snapped a photo! This is on one of the main roads into the city centre – still plenty of green and it’s a lovely route with lots of trees.
What’s going on with my hair, though?
We got back – I ran out of energy at about 10 miles and the culprit on that would be the fact that I had a home-made veggie pizza (OK, a few pieces of ham on there but not much) and some low-fat ice cream for my dinner on Saturday night – usually if I’m planning to run long, I will eat some brown rice or pasta and have more protein and then a carby pudding. So I know that does actually work: however many Shreddies and oats I ate for breakfast and the two gels I consumed did not give me enough to get round energetically. I did whip out a tiny burst of speed at the end: I left Sonya and Sara to run to the park (they were very happy with their 8 and 11 miles) and I went down the high street and rounded mine up to 11.6 to bring the week to a round total.
11.6 mi 13:13 mm
I was pleased with this week. I have to say, I’m really liking not having something to train for and being able to just run whatever I want to run, pause and help someone else learn about something or support friends, and not be constantly tired, cranky, etc. I don’t think I’m losing fitness – in fact, I have the energy to think about doing other things and I’m going to try to build in another strength and conditioning workout. I love having that neat line on my Strava of 20-27 mile weeks from 07 May until now and feel well and reasonably strong. Do you like keeping to a particular base when you’re not training for anything in particular?
Miles this week: 22
Progress towards 1,000 miles in the year: 725 miles (only 25 to do in the whole of the rest of the month to hit my target!)
I take part in the Weekly Wrap run by two wonderful running women and joined by lots of other inspirational women. Wendy’s weekly wrap is here and Holly’s is here.
Sep 09, 2018 @ 19:51:11
You make me feel so lethargic Liz!
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Sep 10, 2018 @ 07:05:24
Oh dear – I don’t mean to make anyone feel negative about themselves, just trying to share what it’s possible to do as a middle-aged non-super-athlete and the benefits it brings. I’m sorry!
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Sep 09, 2018 @ 21:28:56
I love that you do so much volunteering – that’s awesome!
Your circuit workout looks great! I’m trying to incorporate HIIT into my weekly workouts and I would definitely use that circuit workout.
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Sep 10, 2018 @ 07:06:30
Thank you – I get a lot out of it – I far prefer volunteering at parkrun to running 5k, for a start, and it’s a lovely feeling of community.
And thanks for the vote of confidence on the circuits, as it’s something I’ve come new to although I’ve done all the parts of it over the years!
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Sep 09, 2018 @ 21:42:19
I do keep a base when I’m not training for a race, but it seems like this year, I’m always in training for a half marathon. I’ve been running one every 2 months, I think. The nice thing about that is it’s always pretty easy to stay half marathon ready.
I didn’t know that the Run and Talk was a real thing! I did that last Monday. LOL!
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Sep 10, 2018 @ 07:08:06
Yes, I know a few people who do that and it seems quite a good idea – I know I could put in a half marathon race if I chose to at any point, which seems useful, although I’m not sure why!
And yes, indeed, the official Run and Talk programme builds on the fact that talking openly is often easier when you’re side by side and engaged in a task, and the value of talking and being outside and exercising. I did a fair bit of it yesterday, putting the world to rights with my friends!
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Sep 09, 2018 @ 22:37:34
You had a great week!! Normally, I love trying to keep a base when I’m not training for anything but it’s been a while since I’ve done that. We’ll see what I decide to do after this 50k.
I think your circuit workout looks amazing! Also, keeping a log is an excellent thing to do because you can see how you’ve improved AND you can learn more about how you are feeling as you log more.
What’s Run and Talk?
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Sep 10, 2018 @ 07:11:48
Thank you! It’s hard to know what people maintain as their base these days as everyone seems to be training for something!
Run and Talk is a programme run by England Athletics and the mental health charity, Mind, it aims to get people out and about, chatting while exercising, to promote the mental health benefits of exercise. More info here https://www.englandathletics.org/clubs–community/mental-wellbeing/runandtalk – there are two runs within our club per year for which I’m one of the Mental Health Champions, but we and two other local clubs run a session after parkrun twice a month, too. Aimed at everyone from mental health services users to an athlete who wants to meet new people, very welcoming and friendly.
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Sep 10, 2018 @ 13:05:18
I. Love. That. ❤️ I need to see if we have something like that here. I would totally be a part of that.
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Sep 09, 2018 @ 22:42:38
I usually try to keep a 10-mile base, so I’m pretty much always half marathon ready. Yes, I do enjoy not having a major event on my roster (like a marathon, requiring lots of lengthy training runs), but I also like the discipline they require of me. You do so much volunteering 😉 Good for you (and all the many runners who benefit from it).
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Sep 10, 2018 @ 07:13:30
I feel a 10-mile base is benefitting me, too – I could ramp it up when I had that canal canter and can always be ready for a sudden half marathon (if such a thing happens!). And thank you. I really enjoy volunteering and sharing my knowledge and experience to help others, to give back something of what I get out of running. I wish I had the time to train as a coach, but I don’t, so I concentrate on doing what I can, and not having races to prep for does help with being available for that!
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Sep 09, 2018 @ 23:09:03
Great week for you Liz! I typically keep a 6-mile long run and build from there. I’m kind of looking forward to marathon season ending because just the thought of super long runs makes me tired.
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Sep 10, 2018 @ 07:14:18
Yes, I don’t miss marathon fatigue, although I am in the ballot for London and need to decide whether to go in the running club ballot as I would like to do it and my base is nice and firm at the moment!
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Sep 09, 2018 @ 23:27:22
Nice week. I hate doing hills too. I have a big race coming up that has a lot of hills in it that I will probably be walking up as well.
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Sep 10, 2018 @ 07:14:59
I don’t mind hills as such but it was definitely a day to reduce the effort down so everyone was OK for a busy afternoon and for today! Walking up hills is never a problem.
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Sep 09, 2018 @ 23:29:24
Your friends look quite sharp for race volunteers! You are so generous with your time — what a great support and friend.
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Sep 10, 2018 @ 07:15:46
Yes, they are a bit over-dapper for parkrun at 8.30 on a Saturday morning, I did giggle. And thank you for your kind words. I get a lot out of helping other people achieve, too, and I have quite a lot of experience I can share.
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Sep 09, 2018 @ 23:30:14
That’s quite a demanding strength programme. Did you create it yourself or base it n something you found online etc?
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Sep 10, 2018 @ 07:16:36
We’re lucky enough to have three trained coaches in our running club now, and Paul, one of them, designed this for me. He measured me on quite a few of the elements a few weeks back and will do so again in about 9 weeks to see what the improvement is (eeps).
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Sep 12, 2018 @ 19:55:04
How wonderful. I’m a long way off being ready to do that kind of program but it does sound very well balanced
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Sep 13, 2018 @ 07:47:50
Well although I’m running fit I’ve proved (look for a photo next Sunday!) that doing these circuits DESTROYS me. I wish I’d started earlier, so it’s never too early, you just have to do as much as you can, and the less you start on, the more room for improvement there is, right?
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Sep 20, 2018 @ 16:21:06
Right. the body is an amazing thing too, it wants to improve and does respond quickly to challenges. the reverse is equally true – once you stop, it goes into decline fast
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Sep 10, 2018 @ 03:36:29
120th volunteer stint – wow. And I love the hair dos. Spiffy!
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Sep 10, 2018 @ 07:17:16
Thank you – I hadn’t realised it was my 20th Cannon Hill one, either – I’ve run 20 parkruns, too, although three tourist and 17 at CHP. And thank you – spiffy … or fuzzy.
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Sep 10, 2018 @ 13:52:01
What are tourist park runs, just not your home park? I saw Stacey mention that too this weekend
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Sep 10, 2018 @ 13:53:28
Yes, that’s right, so I’ve done CHP the most, then Perry Hall, Bournemouth and Highbridge and Burnham.
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Sep 10, 2018 @ 23:35:50
Volunteering 120 times is quite amazing! Obviously you enjoy it and I’m certain the people participating appreciate it. Great job on your circuit training this week. My left hip hurts when I lay on that side. I assume there is inflammation in it and I sure wish I could get rid of that. I usually stay half marathon ready, but dropped down for a bit this summer. Thanks for linking!
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Sep 11, 2018 @ 07:54:12
Thank you and yes, I do enjoy it and, like the white polo shirt of track and field protection or my many coats of endurance officialdom, it protects me from having to run 5k (not my favourite distance!). Tht’s interesting, and if you find out how to get rid of it, please let m know!!
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