Team Player......

See, I can be, when I want :)

So yesterday was the National XC Champs at Parliament Hill. I have pretty much avoided doing XC for the last couple of years due to it not fitting in at all with my plans. If I want to do a long run then travelling for ages to do 8k isn't ideal.

Which is a shame. It really is, because I actually do love it, and I always have. It was better at school when I was one of the quick girls, but then xc was all I did and I probably weighed as much as a twig ;-D

Anyway I agreed to do this to make up a team, and people had said it is great event to do. As previously discussed I have no speed and in fact since the quad I had only run 30 minutes, so I didn't expect to be troubling the leaders, in fact having heard about the first hill I was wondering if I could actually run it at all.

So, arrive on the train at Gospel Oak (this is no where near Barking even though I always thought it was) and you are there, no messing, it's as easy as that! See the hill.

Blimey, SEE THE HILL. See a sea of juniors take off up it, and it seems to take them ages to dissapear from view, and all the while they are going up. That''ll be me soon.

Have a wander, find a loo, find our coach who has the numbers and chips (ankle chips not real ones, which was a shame cos I was really hungry), start getting ready and meet @Shazmo, who is down with Bournville Harriers to support them. Oh and I bought a t shirt too. Feel really quite happy to be at this event, I can feel my love for running return before I've even started.

Line up with my team in pen 46. Caroline, me, Caroline and Timi. In order as we are instructed by a scary lady in high viz. If there is any form of racing that makes you feel like you are still at school then it is xc.

And we are off, and I start running in a sea of senior women. I focus on the ground in front of me because that is the only way I am going to run all the way up this hill. And I just keep on and on wondering if it will end. Obviously it does, and at some point after this but not long I look at my watch because I am sure I have been running for 20 minutes. I am shocked to find out it is only 7 :-D However having managed that hill I am determined to run everything and I settle in. I know it is laps but I didnt look at the map so I dont have a clue how they work I just follow the girls in front of me. None of the course appears to be flat and some of the ups are quite steep and my run probably isn't faster than a walk but I dont care I WILL NOT STOP.

Just before half way, I think I am am roused by this shout 'GO ON AMANDA, DO THEY KNOW YOU JUST DID 4 MARATHONS IN FOUR DAYS' and even though I was pretty knackered that made me smile for ages thanks to @LeeHODster for that :)

The second lap had us zig zagging and crossing each other around the place and I was never really sure where I was until suddenly you appear at the top of the hill where you run down and turn left to the finish straight. Got a nice shout from @Shazmo on my way down and then concentrated on trying to over take any of the 3 women in front of me. I got one, nearly got another and then it was the line and I nearly was sick. Ha! Gave my chip in and went to find my gear.

Proudly sported my new t shirt......the wrong way round I discovered when I got home (why does no one ever tell me?) and went to watch the men come down the hill.

All the Dagenham runners finished ok, and I found out later that we have never fielded a full ladies team before, so it was really nice to have been a part of that.

I also now remember why I like running, and that I can enjoy the short stuff just as much if not more than the marathons and ultras, and despite the fact that I didnt feel particularly fast (I wasn't) I did feel quite strong, and I can build on that.

and for a change when I'm running lately, it wasn't fucking cold.

Sometimes you have to be this.....

So that you can change things and get back to this.........

That first picture is day 3 of the quadzilla this year and yep I am crying. And I'm not even finished.

The second one is shortly before I started the JW Ultra in 2010, and I dont think I stopped smiling all day.
(there are other photos of me looking cheery since then, I haven't been depressed for 18 months or anything, but I really like this photo ((thanks Ruth)) and it's an example of me really looking forward to a race)

So 1 week on from the Quad, and a bit of a toys out the pram moment, I need to say that I am very happy with the decisions I have made and I know this because I am looking forward to stuff and I haven't done that for a while.

Different stuff though. After idling through a thread on Fetch I downloaded part 1 of the 30 day shred workout thing with the fit american woman in it. I did it this morning and it was great, ie it hurt a bit but it was a good hurt. I shall give the whole 30 days a go, though I will admit that one knee is never really going to be brilliant at the squats, and my weights are tins of soup. Beetroot and butternut squash today in case you were wondering. I shall not be phoning it in :-D

Then at lunchtime I did my favorite spin class so far. The instructor was a bit like an evangelical preacher and I understood little of what he said but I had a good time and nearly lost my lungs. This has got to be good for you!!!!!  I felt the abs bit afterwards as well, cos my poor stomach muscles had already been assaulted at 7am.

THESE ABS DONT COME FOR FREE! (Thats what the woman on the dvd says, currently I would probably have to pay to have mine taken away).

Anyway, a stronger core and a work harder ethic can only do me good in the long run, on the long runs (DYSWIDT?)

So what about races. Well, this Saturday I am taking part in the National XC at Parliment Hill or fields or somewhere. 8k as hard as I can. That is all I can promise.

Then I am tail running at the following weeks Parkrun, which should be good fun. The week after that I am intending to go to the Triathlon show and do the Sunday 10k. It has been 2 years since I did a 10k, and that was my PB at Battersea Park I think. I am in no shape to get that time 46 something, however I want to see where I am in relation to it, to give me a target to aim towards.

That's as far as I have looked forward at present, and I am excited about all these things (can you tell?) and that makes me HAPPY!!!

PFA...........

Here goes..... Jan 2011: winter enigma marathon,  Gloucester marathon Feb 2011: moonlight challenge 32.75,   Parkrun 5k Mar 2011: Orion 15m Apr 2011: good Friday enigma marathon, Virgin London marathon May 2011: Stratford marathon, Windermere marathon x 10 June 2011: BAD 5 miler July 2011 : Kent 52.4 mile, Tri relays (sprint distance tri) Aug 2011: NDW 50 mile, Barking park 5k Sep 2011: BRAT Olympic distance tri ( actually I did a bit long on the bike :-D), RG active aquathlon 1.5k swim, 10k run, JW ultra 30 miles (and unofficially the day before too) Oct 2011: I ran 30 miles of the Caesars camp course, I didn't enter but good god did it knacker me. Nov 2011: Poppy day enigma marathon, Parkrun 5k Dec 2011: ilford 10 mile xc, Xmas enigma marathon Jan 2012: New year enigma marathon Feb 2012: moonlight challenge 19.6m, Quadzilla marathon x 4. These are all the events I have done since Jan 2011. They include a total of 36 races, 22 of which were marathons and 4 were ultras. There's a little bit of other stuff there too. That doesn't take into account the hours of training, be it running or cycling. Couple of minutes swimming I reckon too. When I look at that, I can only conclude one thing...... I am PRETTY FUCKING AWESOME :-D And I'll fight you if you wanna disagree. (leave it till next week though as I have a cold and am feeling a bit delicate at the mo)

Quadzilla day 4 and coming to terms with things....

After having such an awful run on the previous day there was no way I wasnt going to finish this now.

The night before I had a nice meal with Mr H and a very early night as I was so dispirited. I decided whilst lying awake at 2.30 am that I would go for the early start to get it over quicker ;-D

So we got up early and strangely in the Furzton Hotel you can have brekkie from seven, so I had scrambled eggs and beans on toast and we set off.

It seemed most of the field had gone for early, I guess because most of us needed to get home and the psychological reason that if you did this you would surely never be alone on the course. So 8.30 am we start. Not as desperately cold as it had been but I could still feel it in my chest.

My aim when I set off was to find a bit of space. When I am in a not so good mood I find being crowded difficult so I know the first couple of miles were fairly quick in order to get out of the group. I then know that all the miles up to 10 were sub 10 minute, but I also knew that they were slowing every mile. Although I felt a lot better than the day before I was still tired and now had 2 painful feet.

Still, I knew I would do better than the day before and kept ticking off the miles, mentally crossing off all the milestones, and listening to the same playlist on my phone because I wasnt sure if I could change it whilst I had the nike+ GPS thing going. Bonus though I got to listen to my ice cream hill song about 6 times, and that always makes me smile :)))

Mr H was busy ticking off laps and helping out today but I know he was relieved to see me smiling when I passed the CP each time. Well as he knows me and long as we have been together, dealing with me when I am in the mood I had been in the day before is not something he enjoys :-/

Anyway long story short (have you ever said to someone when they are going on and on telling you a story....'yeah, but IS there a point to this?' to get them to hurry up? I have, apparently it's rude!)  I finished in 4.38 something, my quickest day of the 4.

Was I happy? Yes I was. I had finished a challenge smaller in miles than the 10 in 10, but to my mind bigger in terms of personal resilience and getting yourself to the start line. I also (and if you could look at my training diary you would agree) have been utterly rubbish at training........which leads me to......

I have pulled out of the hundred miler.

I reckon mentally I pulled out of it before xmas. Piriformis issues are a part of it. Getting my head round it is a huge part of it. I think I am tired of challenging myself. The last 3 years have all been about doing BIG things and to be honest I have stopped enjoying it. This is making any small niggles impossible to ignore and it impossible to convince my husband to support me in endeavours I don't believe in myself.

Tbh running longer is depressing me. I am slower, I hate being slower, I really fucking hate it, so I am going to do something about it. For the next few weeks I am going to arse about doing exactly what I please (spin, swim few 30 minute runs) then I am going to think about London and what I need to do to do a run that I am happy with.

Note, I. If I still feel as jaded I will go for a fun run and target something else for GFA.

In the meantime 100 miler binned, Enduroman half binned, Outlaw binned and prob good friday binned.

Hello parkrun :-D

Quadzilla day 3

Bad sleep, bad stomach, too cold.

Utterly shit run.

5.20.

Day 3 done.

Quadzilla day 2

Basically, it snowed overnight and everyone got very excited about it.

It turned out to be an inch thick and fairly pleasant to run on.

My foot was bloody painful until about lap 5 when the snow turned to slush, made my foot wet and caused a blister by my big toe. The pain from this made me forget the pain in the other foot......you tell me if that is good or not.

Finished in 4.50, not too unhappy with that.

Retired to the bar to wait for Mr H. Duly he arrived and we had burger and chips and had a drink and a chat.

Quadzilla day 1.

Last Thursday I set off to Milton Keynes to take part in one of Foxys events, the quadzilla. 4 marathons in 4 days round Caldecotte Lake. A total of 4 small laps and 28 big laps.

I arrived at Mk station to be picked up by someone I didn't know in a blue car :-D he got stuck in traffic so it was a bit tense but he did arrive, and we made our way to the Lake where I had time to dump my stuff by the tent pin my number on and get set off at 10am.

I never remember that much about a run tbh, but what strikes me about this one is how stiff and tight my hamstrings feel. I attribute this to the cold, it means (same old same old) I cannot stretch my legs as I'd like but I do get into a rhythm and start to break down the laps into bite size chunks, and promise myself things at the checkpoint (sadly these things are only jelly babies and cola but hey ho).

The good thing about the laps is that although you often find yourself running alone, you often have company too, everyone says hi, even the fast guys steaming past you and likewise if someone is walking you know (or don't know even) its nice to stop and walk a few steps with them and see how they are doing.

One thing of note is that 3 laps from the end the bridge (?) of my left foot starts to really hurt like I have my laces too tight.

Anyway, I finish in 4.41, which I consider ok for 1 of 4.

I go to the pub and get some soup and then a lift back to my hotel from David (Fenland Runner). Turns out he has gone to the wrong hotel (!) but I haven't so I shower and wait for Liz who is staying with me.

Then I meet Jim and Liz in the bar for a large carvery :))))

Day 1 done.

I'm running away with you......

From, yesterday's news
Let's leave it all behind
Help me back, to my mind...

Well, what I really needed, was a run that made me glad I was running.

I got it :-)

Last night I went to do the Moonlight Challenge. A favourite event of mine which consists of a run of 6.55 mile laps (2 miles Tarmac, rest farm tracks). The maximum distance is 5 laps, but it is up to you how many you complete. The previous 2 times I have done all 5. I knew last night would be different.

On Friday night me and Mr H had a few words about it. He had been looking at the forecast and was dead set against us going, with the usual good sense that he is famous for, and I am not.

(feel free to be shocked by that)

In true AJH fashion I sulked for the rest of the evening, and announced that if we didn't go I was going to go out in the dark to the chase and do laps there on my own. Sometimes, even as I hear the words coming out of my mouth I want to slap myself :-/

Anyway, we got up Saturday and Mr Peacemaker said we could compromise. We could go, but if the weather started to close in I would stop at the end of the lap. I agreed, that was more than fair :)

So all kitted up with flasks of tea, warm gear and some rock salt (I am not sure if this was so I could run in front of the car and grit the motorway as we travelled, but I said nothing) we set off. We were a bit late really but still got there with 20 minutes to spare before the start and it is so relaxed it didn't matter. Said hi to Mike and picked up my number. Met Eszter (Caesars camp) and Pat from last year and lined up.

First alp passed fine. There was quite a thick covering of ice and it took me a while to get my head torch sussed, but as long as you kept looking down it was fine. I didn't really speak to anyone, I think we were all keen on not going a over t. At the 3 mile station the water was actually slush and I don't like really cold drinks so tbh hard hardly any for the whole thing.

Second lap was uneventful but I was aware of really feeling the cold especially in my legs and I had thermal tights under my compression ones. It was on this lap I decided that in order to be ok for the quad I really ought to consider finishing after 3. I was ok with that it seemed a really sensible thing to do.

I told mr h this at the checkpoint and he said fine, but I mustn't stop if I didn't want to.

So I set off. I am not sure if it was getting colder but I really felt it on this lap and was feeling achy and sore across my shoulders and midriff, I was hunching against the cold and I couldn't relax. I relaxed even less when I met someone coming in the opposite direction who shouldn't have been coming that way.

'have you gone wrong?' I asked him
'I think we've taken a wrong turning somewhere' he replied
'no' I said 'it's you who's going the wrong way, not me!'

And then I ran on because I knew he would meet the organiser just back the way I had come who would put him right. It didn't stop me stressing that it was really me who was wrong, which just shows my navigational confidence :-D

I was right though and when I got to JB corner and 1.5 miles to go I thanked the marshalls there because I knew I needed to finish.

When I got to half a mile to go I rang Mr H, he was very pleased because he had found out about the snow in London that was heading our way and was anxious to leave.

So I signed in for lap 3 and got a certificate and a medal. I protested that I hadn't earned a medal but Mike said anyone who had come out and run any distance in that weather deserved one. You see why I will support his events :)

Anyway, homeward bound and initially it wasn't too bad, but 20 minutes in it went white and suddenly the lanes on the motorway were guesswork and a lorry next to you made you need the toilet real bad :-///. Going on to the A13 was worse and we were very very pleased to get home.

So I ran 19.65 miles. I found out how to use my head torch and supported an event I love.

I even regained some of the brownie points I lost on Friday.

I won.