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 🙂
Katie Rose Runs 