Hill Repeats

Last week I was doing speed intervals on the flat, today I've been doing hill repeats. After a warm up and an easy jog I arrived at my hill (see photo). Starting about half way up, I had to run for 30 seconds up as fast as possible and then walk back down for a minute, repeating that 10 times. Not so long ago I couldn't have run up a hill at all, so I was pleased to find that I could actually sprint up a hill. I'm not saying it was easy, I was tired at the end of it and glad to get it over with, but I still managed an easy 10 minute cool down jog afterwards. My heart rate which is always high wasn't too bad considering what I was doing, with a max of 183bpm (I can get it up to low 190's doing a Parkrun!). My legs were definitely the weakest link.

#firelighter #fitness #heartrate #parkrun #running #training #hillrepeats #sprinting #runningandmovementhub #coach #speedintervals

Forest Runner, Sherwood Forest 10k

I'm working towards a half marathon at Carsington Water on 2nd December.  As part of my training I've entered a couple of races.  I say 'race' but I'm not racing with anyone. I have my own agenda and a time that I would like to achieve. 

So on the 1st October I ran the Forest Runner, Sherwood Forest 10k, my first proper timed 10k. I completed it in 1:20:40 which is a little slower than I wanted but I ran the whole way (ie no walking) which I'm claiming as a win. The race is on forest paths and rough tracks, which I enjoy, but it is much harder to run on those surfaces than it is on the road. You have to pick you feet up and watch where you are running! There are also quite a few hills which are always challenging.

We started the race in fine weather but by the end it was raining so I finished in an unattractive hot wet mess!  The compere tried to engage me in conversation but I had no energy to stop and chat! I had to go and sit down for a moment as I get a little wheezy at the end of a run when I've pushed myself. Then I headed to the cafe for a well earned cup of tea and something to eat. While sat in the cafe, my Garmin watch gave me a high heart rate alert (twice) but I don't think I need to worry, it was because my heart rate hadn't yet returned down to normal levels.

My next event is the Rasselbock Roliston Rumble on the 17th November. It is a looped course and I plan to do 4 loops which is approx. 17km or 10.7 miles. I hope to complete this in around 2.5 hours.

Withdrawn

I’ve made the sensible decision to withdraw from the Firelighter Race as I just wasn’t ready for it. Hopefully someone else will be able to take my place in the race.  

I’m still working towards completing the Firelighter, but it might take me a while to get there.

So, I’ve started a new training plan and entered the Carsington Water half marathon in December. Until I can do a half marathon in under 3 hours I won’t progress onto the next stage. This means I’m not putting myself under too much pressure. I will concentrate on increasing the distance and getting faster at my own pace.

Although I won’t be doing the race, I will be at the finish line to cheer along the finishers. 😃👊

       

#Carsington Water  #Firelighter Race  #Anglesey  Half Marathon  #Running  #Training

Walking

I'm taking a two break from training while I'm on holiday. It's not a relaxing beach holiday though, I'm walking a section of the South West Coast Path.

I naively thought this would be good training as I'll be walking every day on steep rugged paths with a heavy rucksack. Despite working very hard in the heat with poor sleep due to camping most nights, my Garmin says that my training load has been low but my fitness is holding steady. I now realise that walking isn't good training for a run. 

#SWCP #training #walking #Firelighter #fitness

Firelighter 2022 statistics

In last years Firelighter Race there were 79 entrants (the maximum number of entrants is 150).

17 did not start so only 62 attempted the course.

21 did not finish.

6 timed out with one poor soul completing in 9 hours 6 minutes - they were so close to completing the challenge :-(

3 received a 3 hr penalty presumably they didn't collect the honesty book pages.

Only 32 people finished the challenge within the 9 hour time limit.  Gulp.

The fastest female and also the overall winner finished in 6 hours 23 minutes. Fabulous achievement!

I would be happy to stagger across the finish line with a few seconds to spare but I have a lot of training to do before 1st September and even then its a big ask.

#firelighterrace #anglesey #racestatistics #fastestfemale #honestybook #timedout #didnotfinish

Getting help

I realised I needed some help if I was to complete the Firelighter challenge so I've enlisted the help of a running coach who was recommended to me by my sister in law. First task was to analyse my running and walking style - that's me on the treadmill below. Although I wasn't too bad, I need to work on my arm drive, contralateral hip drop, overstride, posture and eventually leg cycle and heel height. There is a such a lot to learn! I also now have a new 20 week plan that I access through the Training Peaks app which will take me up to the race day on 1st September. The plan involves training 6 days per week and compared to my original plan, has less running and more cross-training, strengthening, mobility exercises, stretching and even some walking. Rachael, my coach at the Running and Movement Hub is also my accountability partner which will really help to keep me focused. I'm only a week into the new programme and I'm already feeling the benefits and enjoying the process more. It's still hard work and time consuming though and the workload will increase as the weeks go by.

"When the student is ready the teacher will appear"

 

#Firelighter #Anglesey #over50 #running #trainingpeaks #runningandmovementhub #challenge 

Weight

A mini challenge within my bigger challenge is to lose a stone before the 1st September.  My current weight and body fat percentage is 10st and 30%. My target is 9st and 27% body fat.  Its 22 weeks till the 1st September so that equates to losing .64lbs per week.  My methods are to do the occasional random 800 calorie fast days, some 1200 calorie counted days and generally just trying to avoid the carbs. All of these have worked for me in the past and in combination with the increased exercise, it should be a piece of cake! 

Not a picture of me but kinda sums up how I feel 

#loseweight #firelighterracetraining #running #firelighter #ultra

Image credit - www.freepik.com

History

 I hated PE at school – I really was rubbish at everything! 

In my 20’s I briefly joined a gym and maybe did a little bit of running (around the block was about all I could manage).  I did like getting out into the countryside but easy poddles in the peak district were all I could manage.

Then in January 1999 aged 29 I met my husband who was into all things outdoorsy – mountaineering, climbing, kayaking and I did a lot of activities with him.  I certainly upped my game, but just went along with whatever he had planned and didn’t really take much of an interest in the what, when, where or how.

Moving along years 14 years, something changed.  I decided I wanted to get to the top of Ben Nevis.  Rather than go up the boring tourist path, I was convinced to go up via the Càrn Mòr Dearg Arête.  After a false start due to bad weather, I made it to the top and was rewarded with a fabulous view of a temperature inversion.

My holidays usually involved a lot of walking - I ticked off the Dales Way, Pennine Way, Coast to Coast, Cumbria Way to name a few.

But I wanted something different - something with a set time and distance to work towards - so I chose the National 3 Peaks Challenge.  As part of the training I did the Yorkshire 3 Peaks Challenge and the Welsh 3 Peaks Challenge.  The National 3 Peaks Challenge was finally completed in 2018 at the 3rd attempt.

In 2019 I did the Lyke Wake Walk - which is approx. 40 miles with 5000ft of ascent and the challenge was to complete this within 24 hours.  It took me 16.5 hours. For comparison the Anglesey Firelighter Race is 35.7 miles with 2880 ft of ascent and the challenge is to complete this within 9 hours.  Tough but do-able!  I hope :-)

#ultra  #angleseyfirelighterrace #2023  #challenge  #running  #3peaks   #lykewakewalk

 

Blisters

I've got my first blister 👎  Very sloppy of me.  My feet are not the best specimens, but it's usually my little toes that get the blisters first as they are curled under, so a blister on my second toe is unusual. I've done quite a few long distance walks and have tried lots of methods to prevent blisters. My usual arrangement is to tape up my little toes, apply 2 Toms blister prevention powder, put on a thin pair of Injinji liner toe socks followed by a pair of Bridgedale Coolmax socks.  This worked well with walking boots but I'll be wearing trainers for the Firelighter so I'll have to relook at my blister prevention stategy.

For now, the training must go on though. So plaster on, toes socks on  - and I'm off to the gym for a slow 10 mile run/walk.

#Injinji  #2Toms  #Firelighter  #Blisters  # Bridgedale

Shoes

For running shoes, I always used to buy Asics then I discovered Hokas.  I don't know how or why, but I swear they make me run just a little bit faster.  However, due to the very muddy Parkruns I've had to buy some new shoes that are just for the gym and chose some Brooks.  I'd not heard of Brooks before but they are perfect for treadmill running.  I bought them from a lovely running shop, Metres to Miles tucked away in Epworth along with some long Ronhills for those long cold runs.

I'm assuming that I will run the actual Firelighter race in the Hokas but maybe they will be worn down by then.  I'm not sure how many miles a pair of shoes will last, I've certainly got a lot of miles to run before the 1st September!

Parkruns

There aren't many things that will make me get out of bed on a weekend, but I do make the effort to join our local Parkrun.  Although, sometimes I wonder why I do it when its cold and wet - and I oftern get passed by 5 year olds and 80 year olds!  The last 3 Parkruns have been very muddy which slows me down quite a lot and one week my feet got wet 😒. Thankfully the course has been altered a bit to avoid the worst bits.

I've just completed my 25th Parkrun in a time of 36:26 which is 7.29 mins/km.  My fastest time is 33:50 (assisted by the pacers) and my average (mean) is 36:03. I think these times aren't good but I did come 3rd in my age category of VW50-54.  Although this time isn't very fast it is still faster than I need to complete the Firelighter which I'm aiming for 8.48 mins/km which will give me around 50 mins spare time for checkpoints etc.  I hope that will be fast enough to complete the 57.2km challenge within the 9 hours time 😬

Training Programme

I've been given a couple of books by relatives who have run marathons in the past.  The training programme I've chosen is taken from the book Marathon! by Jeff Galloway, its even a signed copy!  Various programmes are outlined in the book and the one I've chosen is the "To Finish" Programme which requires running 3 times per week.  For me, that means doing one 5k at the gym on the treadmill, one 5k parkrun and one long slow run each week.  I've also had to extend the programme to meet my 57.2km goal rather than a marathon goal of 42.195km.  

    Original "To Finish" Programme

My Programme:

 

THE CHALLENGE

So, I might have been a bit hasty - I've entered an ultra marathon.  That might not be a big deal to some people but I'm 52 and at this point in time, I can barely shuffle around a parkrun. 

The race I've entered is the Firelighter which is the first day of a larger, 3 day ultra marathon, - the Ring of Fire which follows the beautiful Anglesey Coast Path.   

Race stats: 35.7 miles (57.2km) - time limit 9 hours - elevation c2,880ft (877m).

I read somewhere that, a challenge is only a challenge, when there is a chance of failure - so my personal challenge is just to finish within the time limit and trust me, that will be difficult enough! 

Race date is 1st September 2023 - 37 weeks 4 days from today.

This blog will chart my progress, follow the ups and downs and document my learning process.  Feel free to add helpful comments!