Vegan Runners and Running in Dublin

For a long time I have been running as an unaffiliated runner, which basically means I don’t belong to a specific running club. My job as a freelancer can make it difficult to join organised groups as I am often working in the evenings and on weekends, when group training usually takes place. This is also the reason I can hardly ever take part in Park Run, as I tend to work on a Saturday morning.

However, in nearly every race I have taken part in I have seen runners wearing a Vegan Runners’ vest, having chats with a few of them in some of my longer races. So I recently came to the conclusion that as I am vegan and a runner, I should be part of this club. I signed up via their website and bought a vest from their online shop. There are branches of Vegan Runners UK all over the country, including a large London branch, of which I am part of the Facebook group. During the summer the London branch train together on a Tuesday evening at the Regents Park Running track, so when I finally had a free Tuesday evening I made my way to my first club track session (rocking my new green and black VR vest of course). I met a number of great people at this session, runners of various abilities and speeds. We ran a variety of intervals and did some strength work at the end of the session. The weather was very muggy, which made for a difficult session physically, however it was great to meet like minded individuals with a similar passion for running and veganism. I have been to a few track sessions since and enjoyed meeting more people each time.

What was really encouraging is how all the runners I have spoken to have said that eating a vegan diet had only improved their athletic ability, something I often find myself defending when people question my dietary choices. Since becoming vegan my recovery time after difficult workouts has improved, alongside my stamina, speed and heart rate. It is encouraging to see groups like Vegan Runners representing at many events throughout the country, both big and small. I am looking forward to representing the group wearing my VR vest at future events.

 

Being a vegan runner and blogger has also led me onto doing some more magazine writing, which I really enjoy. A new publication called Simply Vegan features a two page article I wrote called Get up and Running in their inaugural issue. This article featured a 9-week beginners running plan that I put together, alongside vegan nutrition advice for runners and what vegan running gear I recommend. I am currently doing some more writing for future editions of Simply Vegan.

In other running news, I recently returned from Dublin, where I was home to see my family and friends. Whilst in Dublin, I decided to take part in a 10K race in the grounds of Malahide Castle with Born2Run events. I did this race with an old school friend of mine, who is also a keen runner. It was a hilly course on a mixture of grass, trail and road and instead of trying to race, we took our time to catch-up and enjoy the beautiful scenery of the castle grounds. We luckily sprinted over the finish line just before a torrential downpour (it is Ireland after all), where everyone in the finish area struggled to squeeze under one small tarpaulin, which was amusing, if not a little too cozy in our sweaty post-race state. I am happy to have a bit of bling to add to my medal collection from my home country.

In the weeks since the Manchester Marathon I have been busy personally, doing very grown up things such as selling/buying a house and getting married. Therefore my training and nutrition has taken a bit of a negative hit. However, things are starting to settle down and I have recently joined a new gym to try and get back into doing some strength training to compliment my running. My next event is the Maccabi Fun Run 10K, which I am running as part of a team to raise money for The Together Plan. If you would like to learn more about and donate to this great cause, then check out the following link:

https://thetogetherplan.com/en/events/2018/06/maccabi-fun-run/

VLM 2018 and #FinishforMatt

Two weeks after the Manchester Marathon it was yet again time for the London Marathon. I remember from running last year how brilliant the crowd support was on route and I wanted to be part of the crowd this year. I had a number of friends running and was keen to cheer them on.

The 2018 London Marathon was the hottest on record, with temperatures over 20 degrees, not ideal conditions for marathon running. Tom and I set ourselves up between miles 23 and 24, as from experience this is when crowd support can make a huge difference. We were warm as spectators, so I can only imagine how hot the runners must have felt.

We saw lots of experienced runners clearly struggling in the heat, some looking quite unwell. I brought along lots of satsumas to give out in segments, which were gratefully received by many runners. I was tracking a number of people I knew running the race, however as there were 40,000 people running, it was quite difficult to pick people out. I did manage to see my friend from Ireland, Katie who ran over for a hug and some satsumas before going on her way. Katie is an experienced marathoner and looked to be enjoying the race.

We cheered people on for just over two hours before making our way home, it was inspiring to see people persevering in such difficult conditions and I was very proud of all my friends who ran. I did notice how many runners looked unwell from the heat and worried that many would end up in hospital, it was extremely sad to hear that there had been a fatality. Tragically Matt Campbell a 29 year old chef (who was on Masterchef) collapsed at mile 22.5 and sadly passed away. Matt had run Manchester Marathon two weeks previously and had run other marathons before that. The running community was deeply affected by Matt’s death and a social media campaign called #FinishforMatt was created for him. Runners from around the world ran the final 3.7 miles for Matt and donated to his Just Giving page, raising money for the Brathay Trust.

I donated to the trust and ran my own 3.7 miles a few days after the marathon where I had time to reflect on what happened. I also joined a big group run (arranged on social media) on Sunday morning (one week following the marathon) where hundreds of us completed the final 3.7 miles of the London Marathon route. It was wonderful to see so many runners out there to remember Matt and the sense of community between everyone was brilliant. We all clapped and high-fived as we ran down the Mall and pictures of this were printed in the press. I will never forget the feeling of community that day and the realisation of how lucky we are to run another day.

 

Matt’s Just Giving page has now raised over £340,000 and the figure continues to rise. How poignant that out of something so tragic, something very powerful has emerged. Matt will be remembered, his legacy living on in the people who love him and in the Brathay Trust.

You can donate to Matt’s Just Giving page using the following link:
https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/mattcampbell-londonmarathon

Manchester Marathon 2018

This day last week, Sunday 8 April 2018 I completed my second marathon, the wonderful Greater Manchester Marathon.

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The lead up to this marathon felt different to my first, the London Marathon last 2017 this year (other than a few little niggles) I managed to stay uninjured, I didn’t stress as much the distance (as I knew I had done it before) and I didn’t feel as guilty if I didn’t stick exactly to plan. When I got to the taper stage of this training cycle I felt pretty calm and only had a few “maranoia” episodes in the final week leading up to the event. I had a busy few weeks during my taper phase, which was probably good as it distracted me from stressing about running.

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I made my way up to Manchester after work on the Saturday afternoon, Manchester Marathon doesn’t have an Expo, therefore I didn’t need to get there much in advance. I stayed with my friend Sally in Bolton, who was running Manchester too, her first marathon.

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We had the untilmate carby meal the night before the race: a large portion of pasta with potatoes, cauliflower and breadcrumbs and a piece of banana bread for dessert. As we had to leave for the race at 6.45 the next morning, we went to bed at 10pm (after posting the obligatory flat-lay picture on Instagram of course). I had the usual pre-race inability to sleep, however I managed to drift off by using a guided sleep meditation I found on You Tube.

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Even though I only had about 5 hours sleep, I felt relatively rested when my alarm woke me up. We had a big bowl of oats, peanut butter and banana for breakfast before getting a lift from Sally’s very kind fiancé Adam to the event village at Old Trafford Cricket Stadium. We immediately joined the first queue we saw for our first pre-race portaloo visit (standard). We were very lucky to have near perfect weather for running a marathon, about 11 degrees, overcast, dry and no wind, therefore we decided we would run without long sleeves and put our bags in the bag drop area. Sprits were high as we made our way to the start line.

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The start area was much more relaxed than the London Marathon (granted there are fewer runners to manage in Manchester). We found our starting pen area, F Pink and waited with anticipation. Once the gun went off it took us about 11 minutes to get over the starting line. I had decided in advance to run the first half of the race with Sally and then reassess how we were both doing.

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As with any big race, it was very congested at the beginning, however we found a comfortable pace and chatted our way around. The first 10K went by easily and we enjoyed talking to some other runners on route. One of the most memorable encounters was with a group of men who were laughing at someone wearing a Vegan Runners vest. I turned around, telling them that I am vegan and it had improved my running. As one of the men ran by me he shouted back “if vegans are so great, shouldn’t you be ahead of me?” and I promptly replied that I would overtake him later, to which he laughed.

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I had planned my nutrition in advance: take my 33 Shake Chia gel at 10K, then a torq gel every 30 minutes until the last 18 miles, when I would have a Clif Shot Blok with Caffine every 15 minutes, this strategy worked very well for me. I avoided taking too much water, just a few sips every 2/3 miles as I wanted to avoid having to use the toilet if necessary.

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As we ran past Brooklands we saw the faster runners making their way back on the other side of the road, it is always inspiring to see athletes pushing themselves to their full potential, seeing their determination spurred me on. At around mile 11 we arrived in Altringham, to yet more brilliant crowd support. We passed the half way point and I told Sally that we could start counting down miles. Sally was beginning to struggle with her legs and I began to feel very torn about leaving her. At about 16.5 miles Sally told me that she needed to slow down and that I should run ahead. I said we would run to mile 17 together and then I would go ahead. It was a difficult decision to make as I know from past experience that the second half of the marathon is much more difficult than the first, however I was feeling strong and knew I could pick up the pace to run a sub 4.30 race, my original goal.

I ran ahead at mile 17 and felt comfortable at a 9.30 per mile average pace. At mile 18 I clocked the man who made fun of me being a vegan runner to my right and I had a great laugh saying “I told you I’d see you later”, we both had a laugh at our mid-marathon banter. I was also able to help a fellow runner at about mile 19 who was suffering terribly with bleeding nipples, I gave him two of the plasters I had in my back pocket and he was very grateful. One of the reasons that marathons are special is the comraderie that you give and receive to other runners on the course, there really is nothing like it.

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I was starting to need the toilet, however I really didn’t want to have to stop as I was feeling strong. I promised myself that once I got to mile 20 I could put on my music to help me through the last 10k. The miles ticked away and I got to mile 20 without too much trouble. I remember this point well from my first marathon, when you are into the 20s but you still have another 10k to run. However my legs felt able to keep running this time and at mile 20 I put on the Hamilton soundtrack and started singing/rapping along as I went (which earned me some very amused looks). I kept going at around at 9.30 pace and said I would reassess how I felt after each mile marker, this strategy worked well for me and I seemed to be passing lot of people who were walking the final few miles. I used some of the extra energy I had to give words of encouragement to other runners who were struggling in the last few miles, I remember how helpful this was to me in the final stages of the London Marathon last year. By mile 23 I had to stop (with much frustration) and use one of the portaloos on route, which cost me a few minutes, however I wanted to be able to concentrate on the last few miles without worrying about my bladder.

At mile 25 I saw Red Faced Runner, otherwise known as Becca (from Instagram) and a friend Rachael from Manchester, I was so happy to see their friendly faces and gave them both hugs before dashing off.

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The final mile was tough, the finish line is in your sight the entire time, however it never seems to get any closer. I focused my attention on the blue finish area and ran with steely determination. I managed to encourage one man who was struggling near me to run the final mile and he ran near me the entire way. I pushed the final 300 meters and was pleasantly surprised to see the final few minutes of my race were at 8.47 minute per mile average. I ran over the finish line smiling and with my arms in the air, stopped my Garmin and saw 4.19.21 for 26.34 miles (so slightly over marathon distance). I couldn’t believe it, my goal was sub 4.30 and I smashed it with energy to spare. I could only thank Sally for keeping me at an easy pace for the first 17 miles, which meant I could really speed up for the final 10 miles. My chip time came in at 4.20.45, which (with a 2 minute toilet stop) I am pretty happy with.

I made my way to the finish area and collected my finishers bag and medal. I rang my friend who had just run an amazing PB in Paris and I rang Tom and mum. I had an alcohol free beer and protein bar as I stretched in the meeting area whilst I waited for Sally. She finished about 30 minutes after me, in tears, I was so proud of her. We enjoyed more beer as we waited for her Adam to collect us.

 

 

Generally my legs felt ok, obviously they were tired but stairs were much less painful than I had expected. My feet were relatively blister free and unlike last year I managed to avoid black toenails. The only major pain I was in was from the chafing on both my arms from where my t-shirt was rubbing, which was pretty horrible (and still looks pretty horrendous).

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We celebrated that evening wearing our medals, eating pizza and drinking prosecco with Adam and our friend Nicola back at Sally’s house in Bolton.

 

 

Over the past few days I have enjoyed looking at the photos from the race, showing my medal to friends and generally being proud of myself. I went for my first run on Friday, 5 days after the marathon and it felt great. I met my friend Laurie who ran the Paris Marathon on the same day and we proudly showed each other our bling as we sipped on prosecco. Today I am having a sports massage to iron out my muscles, I think my calves will be particularly grateful.

 

 

I am not planning any future marathons as of yet, I want to improve my performance over the half and 10k distance, but I am definitely not closing the door on marathons in the future. As Lori Culnane quotes “Everything you ever wanted to know about yourself you can learn in 26.3 miles.”

 

 

All Weather Running

I am finally into taper time for the Manchester Marathon. The past few weeks have featured highs and lows in my running journey and every type of weather in the space of a few weeks.

In mid-February I ran my first 10k race in a long time, Chase the Moon at Queen Elizabeth Park with Run Through events. It was a Valentine’s Day race and I was looking forward to receiving my love themed medal which featured Cupid and hearts. To be honest I have been neglecting my speed work over the past few months and my legs had been feeling sluggish from the long runs on my marathon plan, therefore I wasn’t expecting to achieve a new 10k PB.

 

I woke up on the morning of February 14th and the weather was horrendous, lashing rain and high winds. I had to fight the urge that evening to abandon the race and go home to spend a night in my PJs on the couch. I arrived at the event quite late and struggled to get my number pinned on before the gun went off. I really wasn’t expecting to run well, I had run 18 miles three days previously and the hideous weather did not bode well for a quick time. However as I made my way over the start line I realised that my legs were feeling pretty fresh and that the faster I ran the sooner I would be out of the freezing rain and wind. I had to use all my will-power to stop myself veering left after the second lap to finish with the 5k race, I forced myself to keep right going after to complete the full 4 lap 10k course. On the fourth lap I was feeling strong and realised that I was on for a PB, I pushed hard through the head winds and with a sprint finish managed to knock nearly 2 minutes off my previous 10k PB, I was thrilled! So I came away with a new 10k PB of 52:54 (nearly 10 minutes improvement from my first ever 10k race) and a great new medal.

My marathon training continued after this race with my first 20 mile run of this training cycle, I completed this is just over 3 hours and actually didn’t find it too difficult, if only all long runs could be like this. However a painful hip and the infamous Beast from the East scuppered my next two weeks of training. I do not like running in snow at the best of times, however snow paired with -8 degree wind chill meant that outdoor running was a no-go for the first week of March. I did a few pathetic sessions on the treadmill whilst my hip recovered, but other than that I pretty much missed a week of training.

The Beast from the East also caused a lot of weekend races to be cancelled, I had signed-up to run the first ever Big Half Marathon and had my eyes glued to their social media in the snowy week leading up to the event to see if it would even be on. My friend Micha was flying over from Germany especially for this race and we were worried that A) it would be cancelled and B) her flight would be able to land in London. Her flight did manage to land in the UK on the Friday prior to the event, however it landed in Manchester. Poor Micha’s journey to London ended up taking over 12 hours, however she made it to London in one piece. Amazingly the weather decided to cooperate and the ice departed overnight on Saturday meaning the Big Half Marathon could go ahead on the Sunday morning. I decided to run this race with Micha and not worry about racing it, my fiancé Tom also ran the first 5 miles with us before running ahead. We had a great time running at an easy pace and chatting to other runners. The route covered some of the London Marathon route, however other than running over Tower Bridge it was a bit of a boring course. I suffered a bit with foot pain on the ball of my left food during the race, which was very frustrating, however looking back I think this was caused by wearing too many pairs of socks and squeezing my feet into my shoes during the cold snap. We received a unique medal on completion of the Big Half and celebrated our run with a tasty pizza and visit to the cinema.

To my annoyance I developed a bad cold a few days after the Big Half, just in time for my visit home to Ireland. I manged a few short, slow runs over the weekend, however a long run was out of the question. I was feeling a bit better on the Tuesday so tentatively went out to attempt a second 20 mile long run – this was a mistake. Even though I ran at a very easy pace and fuelled myself properly, I hit a HUGE wall at 14 miles; I felt weak, was struggling to breathe and was very light headed. I called Tom in tears, I hadn’t given up on any of my long runs in this training cycle so far, however I had no idea how I would manage another 6 miles. Tom advised me to take a breather and then attempt another mile, which I did. At 15 miles I decided that I could not complete the 20 miles whilst feeling so unwell, so I made my way back home. This was the right decision as it was another 4 days until I felt in any way recovered from my illness. It is so important to listen to your body when training, I think this is something I need to do more of as my stubbornness has caused me to push through illness and pain in the past to my detriment.

I managed to complete another 20 mile run yesterday, which was much tougher than my recent run of the same distance, however psychologically it was important for me to get it done. My friend Alice reminded me that the next time I run over 20 miles I will get a shiny medal for my efforts, which makes all of this worthwhile.

So now I am into a much needed taper for Manchester Marathon, which is less than 3 weeks away. I am nervous about it, but have to remind myself that this time last year in the lead-up to my first marathon I was injured and unable to run for 5 weeks (touch wood I have avoided any serious injury this time). The countdown is well and truly on!

Running Down Under

I am back to the grindstone with marathon training, Manchester Marathon is in just over 10 weeks and I need to get the miles in my legs.

My 16 week training plan was meant to start on December 17th, however that happened to be the day that I flew to Australia for a month. I decided that although I may not manage any long runs whilst abroad, I would endeavour to keep my fitness up and keep running on my travels.

We flew to Perth, where my brother was living and settled into our apartment. It was amazing going from winter to summer, however I had become complacent with running in the cold weather and running in the Western Australian summer heat came as a shock. I used jet-lag to my advantage and went out for my first Southern Hemisphere run at 5.30am along the stunning WA shoreline. The sun rose fully by 6am and I struggled back to the apartment. 5 miles done on my first day, but wow it was difficult running in the heat again.

Despite the heat I really enjoyed running in Western Australia, the coastline paths are perfect for runners, and there were A LOT of runners. Along the coast there are water fountains, outdoor gyms and beautiful views, so no excuse not to get up at 5.30am and get a few miles in.

Another great running right-of-passage happened in Perth, I took part in my first ever Parkrun, the Cottesloe Parkrun on Christmas Day. Usually I cannot take part in Parkrun back in the UK as I work on Saturday mornings, so I was so happy to be able to finally experience the fun and inclusive environment that Parkrun creates. Considering it was my first Parkrun I didn’t choose an easy one, by 8am it was already very hot and fair section of the route was on sand. However everyone was in sunny Christmas spirits and I had a great time chatting to various runners on route. There was a strong Irish contingent there, including my brother’s housemates Elle, Ian, Ciara and Charles. I finished the run in about 29 minutes (not too bad considering the heat and terrain) and we spent the rest of the day on the beach, not a bad way to spend Christmas.

After a week in Perth my parents and I made our way to Melbourne. Melbourne is a buzzing city, however its weather can be very unpredictable, one minute you are boiling hot and then suddenly you are shivering in a rainstorm. For this reason and the fact that we were located right in the city centre I decided to utilize the hotel gym and pool for the four days we were there. I did a few easy treadmill sessions, but mainly made good use of the beautiful pool and kept my fitness up with swimming.

Our final stop on the trip was Sydney and the Blue Mountains. In Sydney we stayed with a family friend in the beautiful eastern suburb of Vaucluse, with its gorgeous beaches and coastline over-looking both the Pacific and Sydney Harbour. Although it was hot it was a dream to do some slow runs in such a beautiful part of the world. I didn’t do any running when we were in the Blue Mountains, however my brother and I did an 8 mile hike through the rain forest, where we even came face-to-face with a huge black snake!

 

I had the most amazing 3 weeks in Australia and loved exploring the areas I was staying in by running. It was however somewhat of a relief when I got back to Dublin and had a run in the cold (so much easier than the Australian summer). The one problem with having a long holiday at the end of December/beginning of January is that I missed the first 4 weeks of my marathon training, it was impossible to do long runs when I was away and the longest I managed was 5.5 miles. However now I am back to my normal routine I have thrown myself head-first into my Manchester Marathon training. This Monday I ran 14 miles, my longest run since the 2017 London Marathon and by ensuring I kept my fitness up with shorter runs and swimming whist away I don’t feel like I have fallen behind too much.

I now have 10 weeks until Manchester, with one half marathon (the Big Half) 3 weeks beforehand. I just need to be smart with my training and make sure I look after myself, I do not want a repeat of last year by getting injured weeks before the big day (touch wood).

Woman’s Running 10K

On race day morning I am often a barrel of nerves with numerous thoughts circling through my mind: will my legs feel strong? Will I be able to push myself? Will I be able to beat my PB. However on the morning of the Woman’s Running Race Series Finsbury Park event I was calm. Yes, I would be running a 10K that day, however this race I was running with my friend Micha. I wasn’t running for a PB or to push myself, I was running to have fun! Honestly it was one of the best race experiences I have had, I enjoyed every minute of it and have so many wonderful memories (and a new sparkly medal).

The race started at the later than usual time of 10:00, therefore I didn’t have to wake up until the lie-in-worthy time of 07:30. I had my usual banana and porridge before we made our way to the tube. We arrived at the park and picked up Micha’s race number. We then spent time sampling some of the goodies on offer in the race village. This was a smallish event compared to the last few races I have done, therefore there wasn’t a huge queue for the porta-loos and there was plenty of space for the group warm-up.

The race start was a little confusing, there was no advice on lining up at the start according to pace and all the pacers were starting at the same point. When the race started Micha and I went off at a leisurely pace, smiling for the photographers as we went. Unfortunately a badly placed cable (leading to the circus) on the path meant that I had to stop to help a lady who had a nasty fall right at the beginning of the race, luckily she was ok and kept going.

We took our time going around the course, enjoying the sights of the park, the sunny weather and company. It was a hilly course, much hillier than I expected, however we ran up all the hills with gusto. The course consisted of two 5k laps. During the second half of the second lap I said to Micha “I reckon if we keep the pace up we can sneak in a sub-hour time”. So we pushed a little bit for the last 10k and enjoyed a fun filled surge to the finish line to finish at around 59 minutes.

We held hand and whooped at we crossed the finish line, it was the most fun filled finish I have experienced in a race. We received the BEST goodie bag and medal at the end of the race.

Running a race to enjoy it and not for a PB is certainly something I want to do more of in the future, I spent the rest of the day with a huge smile on my face and an urge to sign up for more races (which I am going to do as soon as I am back from working in Italy next week).

Ealing Half Marathon

On Sunday 24 September I completed the 6th Ealing Half Marathon. This event has been voted the UK’s Number One half marathon 3 years in a row, which is one of the reasons I signed up.
The sun was out but it may have been a little bit warmer than most runners were anticipating. Although my training had generally been on plan unfortunately I had suffered a bout of food poisoning on the Friday prior to the race, so I was disappointed not to be in tip-top condition. However I decided to embrace the sunny skies and race atmosphere and enjoy the event.
The race starts and finishes in Lammas Park, there were plenty of portaloos, so I didn’t have to wait too long for a pre-race pee and the bag drop was very efficient.
I took part in the group warm-up at 8.30 before making my way to the start pens. I have run sub 2 hour halfs previously, so I ambitiously placed myself in a sub 2 pen.

I’d heard two things about this race, the spectator support is brilliant and it’s a hilly course, both of these are true. Right from the offset the crowds were amazing: cheering, holding up signs, giving out sweets and high fives. The residents of Ealing are obviously very proud of this event and it has a real street party feel to it.
The course goes through leafy suburbs and parks, there are quite a few twists and turns but generally the roads are wide, which prevented too much congestion. Then there were the hills, oh the hills. I will be honest and tell you that I had neglected my hill training as where I live is very flat, therefore my legs were not prepared for this undulating course.

The crowd support really helped push me forward in the last few miles to sprint my way to a sub 2 hour finish, which I was thrilled about (see photo evidence of me approaching the finish line).

Would I recommend Ealing Half Marathon? Definitely! It may be a bit too hilly and twisty for an easy PB, however the slick organisation, beautiful route, super spectator support and marvellous medal certainly highlight why this half has been voted Britain’s best year after year.

Holiday Running

I have done it again and left it so long in between blog posts, whoops!

However I have had a lot going on in my life, all good things. I had a wonderful time in America, I spend 12 days there. It was incredibly hot when I arrived late on Saturday night (3am UK time) and I was shattered. However due to jet-lag and excitement I woke up at 5am local time and couldn’t wait to go for a run in Central Park. I waited for my cousin Sarah to get up and at about 8am we went for a 5 mile easy run around the reservoir in Central Park. There were lots of runners out (you have to run in anti-clockwise around the lake – very efficient). We also ran by the athletes taking part in the New York Triathalon running through the park, it must have been tough in that heat.

I found the run really invigorated me and helped in getting me over my jet-lag. That afternoon I got a lift to a town in upstate New York called Kerkhonsen where I was taking part in a Jewish Choral Festival (the reason for my trip). Kerkhonsen is in an area known as the Catskills, a mountainous region with woods and lakes (incredibly beautiful). I had great intentions to stick with my training plan whilst at the conference and my first morning started well with a 6.30am run around the resort golf course. However my first session at the conference every day was at 08:15 and I didn’t finish until 11pm, which meant I was absolutely wiped out. I had to make the decision that if I was to get the most out of the conference professionally, I would need to have the extra hour’s sleep I would lose by going for a run. Someone also told me that there are bears in the Catskills, which clearly put me off running alone first thing in the morning.

However I am glad I managed to squeeze in one good run and I took some pictures of the beautiful environment to show you all.

When I got back to Manhatten I was able to get a few runs in, mainly along the East River. I only did one speed session due to the heat and the amount of walking I was doing every day was also using up a lot of energy (one day I clocked-up 28,000 steps – run NOT included). Manhatten is a wonderful city to walk around however and I was glad to have my strong running legs to help me.

I also spent a day and night in Conneticuit with my family, which was a much hillier environment than Manhatten to run in. I went for a 6 mile slow but enjoyable run around the lake where my great aunt lives, we also did some good long swims in the lake.

When I returned from America I was worried I would have gained weight from all the amazing food I ate, however I did that much walking that I actually lost a couple of lbs!

 

I only had two weeks back in London (where I managed to stick to my training more easily) and then I was off on holiday with Tom to Split in Croatia. I packed my running gear with good intentions, however we arrived in the middle of a heatwave, the first three days were on average about 37°. Although we were not running we were getting lots of exercise doing walking tours of Split and the surrounding areas.

On the fourth day it was cooler and overcast, I took this opportunity to get up early and run for 40 minutes along the coast, which was hilly but beautiful. I saw plenty of other runners out, who were obviously taking advantage of the cooler weather. That was the only run I managed in the 6 days we were there, but in extreme heat (and whilst on holiday) one shouldn’t feel too bad for missing a few sessions.

I’m back in the UK now and back to my training, I have also been incorporating more strength work into my training. I have downloaded a weights programme and have been incorporating this into my day when possible.

I had a pretty crap long run yesterday, which got me down a little bit, however I have decided not to put pressure on myself to get a PB at Ealing in a few weeks and just run to enjoy it. The busy upcoming High Holy Day period at work means I want running to be an escape not a stress.

 

 

 

British 10k

As usual I have been terrible at keeping up to date with my blog, life just seems to get in the way. However I have let life get in the way of my running.
June and July have been hot, very hot. Sometimes it’s been lovely to run in warm weather, especially when I was at home in Ireland and running by the coast. However running in London in the heat is tough. I’ve been doing my best to get up early to beat the sun, however many days it has been 26° by 9am.
The past few months have been focused on training for the British 10k (which I got a free place for through Virgin Sports). I was initially worried that no longer having Richard as my coach was going to stop me training as diligently, however this hasn’t really been the case. My intermediate 10k plan included lots of speed work, intervals and progression runs mainly. These type of sessions never seem to get any easier, however my legs are starting to go faster. When I started running my threshold for intervals was around 8.50 per mile.  At the end of my British 10k training plan I was running 7.40 intervals when I pushed myself. During one of my longer interval sessions along the coast in Dublin I managed to log a 7.52 mile, my fastest so far.
The week leading up to the British 10k was not ideal to say the least; I spent the week on tour with Lost Chord in Sheffield and did 15 concerts in 5 days. I did taper slightly however I was spending a lot of time on my feet during the concerts, therefore my legs didn’t have much time to rest.
The day before the 10k was spent in Kew Gardens with Tom, my brother and his friend, I accidently ended up walking about 8 miles overall that day, whoops.
The weather on the day of the race was far from ideal, by the time the race started at 9.30am it was 25°. Although it was warm it was an amazing route, including places such as Regents Street, Embankment, Westminster Bridge and finishing outside Downing Street.
I was aiming to average an 8.30 per mile pace, though I set off a bit quickly and did the first two miles closer to 8.20. I realised my mistake and my 3rd mile was 9.30 per mile. I got to the half way point in around 26 minutes and was really struggling with tiredness and the heat. Luckily I ran into Tommy (who I met via Instagram) who kept my spirits up for a few miles. With the intense heat and numerous hairpin turns I just couldn’t keep up an 8.30 pace and I realised that I was going to struggle to beat my 54:11 PB (which I set in January).
I stupidly missed the 2nd water aid station, so by the time I got to the final water station at 8km I was desperate for water. I was extremely grateful for the water mist showers dotted along the course.
I pushed myself for the last few KM over Westminster Bridge and grimaced my way to a sprint finish (with my proud dad cheering my on at the finish line).
My Garmin watch logged my 10k time as 54:18 (just 7 seconds over my PB), my chip time was about 10 seconds slower, however according to my Garmin I ran 10.2km (which was probably from some weaving).
Although it was a tough run for me I had an amazing time and came away with a brilliant medal. The organisation of the race was wonderful and the atmosphere electric. The photographers got some wonderful shots and they were free to download (thank you Virgin Sports).

I celebrated at my brother’s moving away party that afternoon and enjoyed a well earned lunch with my family.
My next race is the Ealing Half Marathon on September 24th. As I write this blog I am sitting on the tube on my way to Heathrow Airport to fly to New York for a music conference. I have my running gear in my suitcase and a new plan (from the Garmin website) in my diary. I know the next few days are going to be hot, busy and tiring but I will try and fit in some runs (early morning before the sun hits). I still have 10 weeks to go until Ealing, so if I don’t train as much as planned in New York it’s not the end of the world.
I’ll try and get some good pictures in America for my next blog post, which I will write once I’m back in London.
Until next time x

New Plans and New Tattoos

In my last post I promised to keep up blogging my running adventures, however I have realised that it has been a month since my last blog posting… whoops.

In exactly a month today I will be running the British 10k through the streets of London, for the first time it is being run by Virgin Sport and I have free entry to the race (as a thanks for volunteering at the Hackney Half). As it is a 10k I am really focusing on my speed work for this race, which makes a big change to the long slow marathon training runs.

I found an intermediate training plan on Real Buzz, which I like as it is time based rather than miles (the same as my marathon training with Full Potential Coaching). I have to admit I really miss working with Richard, my running coach, however maybe in the future when I have a race I really want to do well in I will pay to have him as my coach again. I am now two weeks into my plan, it’s nice to have a plan to follow again as for the month following the London Marathon I was just going out for relaxed easy runs.

My new plan includes lots of interval training, progression runs, bursts of speed during longer runs etc. It is daunting as I am not naturally a fast runner, however the more I train this way , the more natural the speed feels. I know that it is harder to shave time off a 10k then it is a longer race, however fingers crossed I will be able to get a new PB at the British 10k. It looks like it will be a great event no matter what my time and a wonderful way to celebrate London in the wake of the awful London Bridge attacks last week.

I was in Manchester the weekend following the attack at the Manchester Arena and caught the start of the Great Manchester Run. So many people were wearing yellow ribbons and there was a minutes silence before the start of the race, which was incredibly moving. It can be a bit daunting taking park it big events like races in these turbulent times, however being at the start of the Great Manchester Run, seeing all the charity vests, supportive banners in the crowds and the Mancunian pride made me remember how much good there is in the world.

Some other exciting running developments are that I have started doing a bit of running with a club, the Dagenham 88s, I have only done two runs with them so far, however it is really great to be running with a local group. On Tuesday this week I took park in the inaugural Secret London Run’s club night. The weather was absolutely horrendous, which meant a lot of people didn’t turn up, however I had a great time running around Soho with 3 new running buddies looking for the hidden noses and ears on the walls. It was fab to do a run and not worry about speed, just to run for the fun of it as part of a game. I will try and go to their club night next month, hopefully the weather will be better.

Another exciting piece of news is that I got a new tattoo! I planned to get this tattoo once I had completed my first marathon and I got it done about 3 weeks afterwards. The tattoo is a bow and arrow with the arrow being pulled back in the bow. It represents the saying “whatever pulls you back can drive you forward”. I was very low place emotionally when I started running, my marathon training propelled me into completing a challenge that I never thought I could have achieved and has given me a new passion in life. The tattoo is on my ribs, it did hurt a bit, however it was nothing compared to how my feet/legs felt at the end of 26.2 miles!

I also finally put together a London Marathon 2017 collage, I now just need to find a good place to hang it 🙂