Again, there has been complete radio silence on here for a couple of months and for that I apologise. But this summer has been extremely busy. And I haven’t even been away!
I have, however, been swamped at work and been awarded a promotion, have welcomed a new nephew, celebrated my dad turning 70, plus don’t forget we had the olympics, Brexit and the Euros to get through! And I’ve completed a fair few races as well, so I certainly have been busy.
I thought I would get back into the swing of things by posting a bit of a review of my summer running since I last blogged.
29th May – Rock n Roll Marathon, Liverpool, England
This was a very, very hot day and I didn’t realise that the course was as hilly as it was. I was happy to come away with a 5 minute PB despite the conditions, but a bit sad to have missed a good for age time for London by less than 3 minutes. I know I could’ve done it if it was either hilly OR hot, not both. But still, the medal and post-race beer made it all better.
25th June – Lee Valley 10k, Lee Valley, London, England
A difficult 10k due to being extremely hungover. No PB. Nuff said…
17th July – Great Newham Run (10k), QEOP, London, England
An unexpected addition to the race calendar as a friend of mine had a spare entry a week before the race and asked if I wanted it – hence me running in a bib which said ‘Paul’ on the front. This race takes place at the Olympic Park and finishes with a lap of the stadium, crossing the finish line previously graced by the likes of Mo, Jess and Usain. Great goody bag but the t-shirt is massive!
30th July – Wimbledon Half Marathon, Wimbledon, London, England
Quite trail-like terrain and a rainy but muggy day made this race challenging. However, I did get to high five a Womble and got a cool t-shirt and medal (it’s all about the bling!)
3rd August – Chase The Sun 5k, Hyde Park, London, England
A sneaky, last minute addition to the calendar again. This time it was because I had a panic that I wouldn’t be able to complete the ultra on 14th August and therefore would not earn a medal for August. As this has been my resolution for 2016, I wanted to make sure the medal was in the bag and so took part in this mid week 5k. I was 32 seconds off my PB so was very pleased with that as I was doubting my fitness at the time. As with all ‘Run Through’ events, the medal was brilliant and the novelty of a mid week race was nice, too.
14th August – The Richmond Ultra (50k), Richmond, London, England
A 5am departure from home and 4 buses across London doesn’t really set you up in the best way for an ultra! But I thoroughly enjoyed this race. It was small and there was a lot of navigation, even though it was along the Thames Path there are times when it comes away from the water completely. At two points – one near Tower Bridge and then again near the end – I got completely lost and so what was supposed to be 28 miles turned into 31, or pretty much a 50k. Despite that I finished in 4th place overall and was the 2nd female to finish, so I was very happy with a lovely, scenic jog through London.
27th August – Chase the Pace 5000m, London, England
This event was to celebrate the 30th anniversary of my running club, the Mornington Chasers, and so we had an afternoon of track events and cake. It was a lovely, sunny Saturday on our club track and I had no idea how I would go in a 5000m on the track. I came 7th in my heat and was oddly 40 seconds slower than my road time for a 5k. I had no expectations beforehand so would’ve been happy with just not being last. I did learn that tactics matter in track races like that and I should’ve thought about it beforehand. Still, it wasn’t the olympics…
4th September – Harlow 10 Miler, Harlow, London, England
This event was so much fun! I travelled to this event with two good friends from running club and we ran in our club vests. As I was never part of any sports teams growing up, it feels really special to me to be part of a team – even if it is a self-assembled team! The course however was very hilly and there was a long, open stretch with a massive headwind. I’d been told there were no medals to be had and so went to the trouble of ordering some and having them engraved, only to find that they did have medals after all! So we ended up with two.
18th September – Bury 10k, Bury, Lancashire, England
I was going back to my home town of Bury for my dad’s 70th birthday party on the 17th and happened to see the first EVER 10k was being held on the Sunday. It was fate! I had to take part. And I am so glad I did. It was the most well organised race I have ever taken part in, everything about it was spot on – course, marshals, started on time, great medal, fab goody bag. 10 out of 10. To top it off I finished as the 12th female out of 594 and 164th overall out of 1301 runners! Very happy with that but would’ve liked a PB too. But you can’t have it all.
But growing up is optional 