This week for your delight: a swift recovery, club volunteering, a first post-mara run for Claire, some intense officiating and ensuing DOMS and a long run …
Tuesday – I felt like I’d kicked the Dreaded Cold I’d developed last Thursday evening and was rotaed to tail-run for our running club’s weekly four-mile run. I knew I had support and a swap if I found I couldn’t manage, so I ran up to test the waters – all OK – and then tail ran on our Summer Route Left. I had to let our runners out in batches (we go in pace groups) so we were safe on the roads and for other road-users, and then joined in at the back. I’d thought I’d escaped the Tabard of Glory as it is light out (which is why we’re meeting in the park and doing Summer routes) but it is a good idea as identifies the club volunteers. There was no one to pass it to when I came in after a lovely run with the party pack at the back, so I took it home, posed for a hammy photo then put it through the wash. I’ll run it up to club on Tuesday although might not do the four-miler.
Ran there, round and back all in one go so no splits for there and round and back.
5.4 miles, 12:52 mins per mile
Wednesday – All congestion gone so I risked going to Easy Dave yoga today and it was all fine. Nice to get stretched out (need to do more of that now!).
Thursday – I fancied a daytime run after getting my hair cut and Claire was free, hooray! I persuaded her to run me through the rugby club and down to the canal and back so I could work out how to get back again after actually paying attention. It was her first run after her London Marathon triumph and it was great to hear a blow-by-blow account of her weekend (esp where she got new shorts from after forgetting to pack hers originally!).
4 miles, 12:42 mins per mile
Saturday – I had the excitement of my first experience of being a Starter’s Assistant, at the Warwickshire County track and field championships, held in Nuneaton. I reviewed my training notes (although there were some odd things in the kit list), bought safety pins in Birmingham and a Sharpie pen in Nuneaton, and walked from the station to the Pingles Stadium through a really nice park and a sweetly decorated tunnel.
I was working in a nice team headed by Ray the starter: there were only four of us including him, and about 30 races to look after! Our job was to check the runners for a race (heat, time trial or final) in and tell them their lane allocations, check their numbers front and back (4 safety pins, not folded or obscured), check they had a club top on, tell them the qualifications if it was a heat, or where they were to break if it was 800m plus, place them in their lanes or order along their line for the 1500m etc, get them to step back and alert the starter all was OK. Then they told them “On your marks, get set” and we had to check (one or more of us if it was a staggered start) all fingers or toes were behind the line, the gun fired and we were ready to give cards if the race was stopped (green for an issue no disqualification, yellow and black for a conduct warning, red and black for a disqualification: we only had to do two cards and I let the others do them). Then we had to pick up the stadium’s blocks (which are heavier than you think) and put them to the side or wheel them in a trolley to the next start if it was somewhere else, and move personal blocks aside. We had to let the Track Referee know if there were any DNS in a final as that’s a serious matter if you haven’t told someone about it (I think they pretty well all had withdrawn correctly). Nuneaton track has a rail around it very close to the track so there was a lot of bending to duck under it.
I managed to catch the sun and get soggy but it was a great day and I learned SO MUCH. I’d definitely do it again and have one experience for my Level 1 licence. We got a break while the 3000m steeplechase and 3000m were running and had lunch in a tent, as you do (lunch was provided).
Sunday – Woke up with DOMS from Saturday – sore elbows and shoulders and knees/sides of thighs/glutes from all the lifting, pushing and ducking under. But my cold had completely gone (by Tuesday) and I’d arranged to do a long run, so I did!
I was due to meet Trudie and Mary Ellen at 9am but woke early so was able to pop out at 8.30 and get 2.5 miles done first, effectively taking those miles off the bit at the end where I’d be alone. We started off down the number 11 bus route, as it’s so nice and safe – if you’re worried or grind to a halt, there’s a bus stop home within 5 minutes’ walk, and this also meant the other two could join me for a bit then go back. I felt OK although a bit sore of leg and I did get a bit whiny later for a while until I remembered I’d told everyone on here I was going to do 20 miles today if I was well enough!
We got to Swan Island and I thought I’d capture some urban beauty for you all, to show it’s not all canals and parks and blossom!
This is a big roundabout with shopping centre and office block.
And here we are at the Island. Weirdly, the 100-mile Velo cycle ride should have been going along the road we were going over, but we saw no sign of it!
We then continued on round a very large semicircle. Trudie had plans and left us at about seven miles, taking this great strong picture in Stechford:
Yes, I was wearing SHORTS and my shortest ones. I needed to practise with them on a long run as I will be wearing them on the mara and ultra. No issues apart from some rubbing of the back waist seam when I had a full bottle in my back pocket of my belt, but no massive effect it seems.
Mary Ellen and I continued on, I’d done a calculation that I needed to get to 11.25 miles before turning around to give me 20 back at the house. But we made it to the M6 motorway at 11.30!
Just look at the places I take my American friend for kicks and glamour! Then we turned around and ran back. I did get a bit tired and achy, all down to the DOMS from Saturday, but pushed on. It’s more uphill on the way back (which I hadn’t warned Mary Ellen about! see course profile lower down). Mary Ellen finished at a very respectable 13.1 miles even though she’d been doing a dawn chorus charity walk in London on Saturday. I left her at a bus stop and pushed on, really pleased to be past the Swan again (and we didn’t get lost in Tesco’s car park as has happened the two or three other times I’ve done this route, including my DIY marathon last year) and on familiar territory – and then her bus took ages to pass me and I played cat and mouse with it for almost a mile as it kept stopping to make up time. Thank you to Mary Ellen for taking these fab pictures of me from the bus!
I had some lovely encounters including a man offering me water as I leaned on his wall. Pretty well everyone was really kind and supportive, cheering us on in various ways. It’s always nice to have things as way points – the motorway, Stechford Cascades, where Meg lives, The Swan, where Linda lives, local MP’s office, where Ali lives, where Linda used to live, that really helps.
I was really chuffed with my time, well under 6 hour marathon time (the cut-off for Liverpool Rock N Roll is 6 hours after the last person crosses the start line). We did stop for photos / stretching / (my) whining but it’s easier to keep going in a race where there are no crossings or indeed kerbs. AND I won’t have squatted, ducked and lifted the day before. So I’m pretty confident I’ll be OK – I’d have had 1 hr 40 to do the last 6.2 miles based on this which feels OK. I was pleased with my mile splits from 15 onwards, all under 13:00 apart from one where I had to walk and stretch.
20 miles, 13:01 minutes per mile
Now, it’s time for a proper taper – sleep, gentle running, sleep, rest, um, sleep … I always get quite a lot of reading done in taper time – so watch out for some book reviews on here!
Miles this week: 29.4 Miles this year: 416.1 (for 1,000 miles in the year I need 416.6 by the end of this month)
The Weekly Run Down is run by two wonderful running women and joined by lots of other inspirational women. Kim’s weekly wrap is here and Deborah’s is here.
kaggsysbookishramblings
May 12, 2019 @ 19:00:45
Well done! So glad the cold has gone! 😀
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Liz Dexter
May 13, 2019 @ 09:13:04
Yes, I aggressively treated it with sleep, pills and gatorade and it all passed very quickly!
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Deborah Brooks
May 12, 2019 @ 19:36:05
So glad that you are feeling better this week. Running with a friend is the best way to catch up isn’t it? Definitely a good idea to practice long runs in the shorts you plan to wear for marathon. I never know when I will have chafing! Thanks for linking up today
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Liz Dexter
May 13, 2019 @ 09:14:22
Indeed – I’ve never run a race in untested clothing or with untested fuel or nutrition: not worth the risk. I have worn the shorts to run but wasn’t sure how far I’d gone. All good, anyway. And yes, always great to run with friends although some of the long run catching up was more “I want to stop now wah”.
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Kim at Running on the Fly
May 12, 2019 @ 19:59:46
YAY!! Taper time is my favorite part of training (no matter which distance). Great work on all those miles, and especially for all of your volunteer work and mentoring. Thanks for linking!
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Liz Dexter
May 13, 2019 @ 09:15:38
I was being mentored and taught on Saturday, a lot to take in so it was good to write it all down and I shared in running club in case I can get anyone else to take part in officiating! I had a terrible night’s sleep last night but hope to get some good quality resting in now.
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kookyrunner
May 12, 2019 @ 20:07:40
Woohoo! Thank goodness that you’re feeling better this week. It’s so hard to train when you’re feeling under the weather.
I admire how often you volunteer, especially with your super busy schedule.
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Liz Dexter
May 13, 2019 @ 09:16:30
Yes, I’m so relieved after missing a marathon with a cold last year! Now I just have to get through the taper. I have a feeling that my officiating helps contribute to my busy-ness, but never mind, I do enjoy it and it’s a nice day out in the open air!
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Wendy
May 12, 2019 @ 23:03:41
Nice job on that long run and what a cute town you live in! Glad you’re feeling better.
I didn’t realize you could get ballot failure jackets for London?
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Liz Dexter
May 13, 2019 @ 09:18:15
Thank you, and thank you for finding office blocks and motorway underside cute!
To explain the marathon fail jackets: we have the one ballot for London, then there’s a second ballot you can get into if you say you will donate your fee to the London Marathon Charity if you don’t get a place. And in return they send you a jacket or training top and then you spot it all around the place and know who else failed to get in. Claire failed in the ballot (jacket) but then got a charity place through her work so hence the finisher’s t-shirt.
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Coco
May 13, 2019 @ 00:11:58
Way to go on that long run! When you go that far you do see all kinds of sights. Cool on being a starter— did you have to DQ anyone? Issue any cards?
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Liz Dexter
May 13, 2019 @ 09:19:05
I didn’t personally DQ anyone or show a card, but one of my colleagues did. I am so new to it, this was my first experience of Starter Assistant at a track and field event, so I didn’t want to do something so responsible, and would rather observe.
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Zenaida Arroyo
May 13, 2019 @ 10:11:26
Great job on your 20 miles! Glad you are feeling better.
Rest up and good luck on your marathon.
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Liz Dexter
May 13, 2019 @ 10:17:33
Thank you – I’m so reassured to have got that in (and the 18, 20 and 22 before it in the training campaign) and to have the numbers to know I’m likely to complete within the cut-off time.
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Zenaida Arroyo
May 13, 2019 @ 10:26:18
Looks like you’ll have a great race!
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Liz Dexter
May 13, 2019 @ 10:27:11
I hope so. It’s likely to be hotter than I’ve trained in so I’m going to have to get out in the heat a bit during the taper. It was quite warm yesterday, which was useful.
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Lisa @ TechChick Adventures
May 13, 2019 @ 17:11:53
Getting near the home stretch now! Congrats on that long run and being a Starters Assistant. Sounds very busy!!! I have to insert a funny story here – at my daughter’s meet one time the starter shot her gun off, and shortly after that, her pocket started smoking! She had put the hot gun in her pocket and it was catching on fire. Yikes!! Luckily we noticed it and put her out 🙂 Hopefully you will have no stories like that to tell about your duties.
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Liz Dexter
May 13, 2019 @ 17:17:34
Oh my goodness! Apparently the starter I was working with surprised a pigeon at a meet the weekend before … and yes, it was a busy day – so many races! – but then doing the same thing (or similar) over and over helped me learn it!
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Chocolaterunsjudy
May 13, 2019 @ 19:37:57
Great job on your 20 miler & a great pace, too! I got really tired just reading about your officiating.
When I wear a race belt I often do get some chafing on the lower back. Most of the time when I wear a hydration vest I don’t, but occasionally I’ll get a little in some odd places; most of the time I have no idea it’s going on, though & that’s a good thing.
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Liz Dexter
May 13, 2019 @ 19:45:42
Thank you – it was very reassuring to get that done. Chafing’s sometimes almost completely random, isn’t it. I’ll be wearing the belt for the marathon so I’ll probably pop a plaster on my back, or just body glide madly. I will try to position my bottle a bit more away from me, too.
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Chocolaterunsjudy
May 13, 2019 @ 19:55:53
Yup, if I’m wearing a belt & remember, I also put some lube in that area. I’ve never had painful chafing back there, but then again, I’ve never run a marathon, either!
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Liz Dexter
May 13, 2019 @ 20:14:17
It calmed down as soon as my bottle was out of there, and I think I might be able to fill that bottle less full on the day as they promise they have water stations that stay open until the sweeper van plus I am likely to see my husband around the way. So I might risk not filling that one bottle so full.
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runswithpugs
May 13, 2019 @ 20:10:38
You’re going to do great!
And very smart practicing in your race gear – shorts are kind of a given here in Florida, but anything new can certainly take some getting used to!
Love all the volunteering you do!
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Liz Dexter
May 13, 2019 @ 20:15:39
I certainly feel more confident now and I had quite a lot of elevation in that run. The route for Liverpool has changed and I’ve not checked the elevation but I couldn’t do everything and I’ve certainly not avoided hills in training.
And yes, re shorts – I felt a bit old and flabby for them, but they’re comfortable and I care less now! I had worn them on some runs but not hugely long ones, so they had to be tested!
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Michelle @ Running with Attitude
May 14, 2019 @ 00:51:58
Fantastic job with your 20-miler! So glad you’re feeling better!
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Liz Dexter
May 14, 2019 @ 07:25:20
Thank you, it was such a relief, even though I’ve gone longer, just to get that last one in!
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Thomas
May 19, 2019 @ 00:54:48
So glad you’re feeling physically better! Love the pictures and the shorts you’re wearing in the pictures. (: Okay, I have to ask, because you mention chatting with a friend while running – can you really maintain conversations with friends while you’re running? And if so, conversations of what variety and intensity? I think I could see that happening even though I prefer to run on my own (so I can listen to my favorite artists and have me time) but I’m genuinely curious how you maintain those conversations through the physical exertion.
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Liz Dexter
May 19, 2019 @ 17:11:02
Good question. General consensus is that you should do different kinds of runs, e.g. varied effort (speedwork, fartleks) and sustained effort (tempo runs) but also long slow runs, esp if you’re learning to run or training for endurance, where you can carry out a conversation with a friend (or sing to Ariana if you’re alone!). This means you’re putting in an effort but not too much effort and training your body to burn fuel of a certain type at a certain rate, so you will do that more efficiently. What do we talk about? What we see, other people we encounter, “sets” of things (one day it’s all banana skins, one long run we spotted all the furniture for a house along 20 or so miles of street), philosophical questions, whining about how horrible it is running, discussing eye diseases (this came up when a friend was preparing for a job interview last week!), all sorts. Lots of confessional and Me Too stuff. We will stop if we’re running up a hill or start again if we drop to a walk. Hope that explains things, and thank you!
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