Why do I find my Canal Run with Kathryn Such Hard Work?

On the training calendar today was an 8.5 mile ‘fast’ run.  Yesterday Kathryn had asked if I fancy a run along the canal today though and I thought it seemed like a good idea because it beats going for a road run on my own at night but the problem is, there isn’t enough time to get 8.5 miles in during lunch.  I decided to do the 5.5 miles with Kathryn and then go out for another three after work.  It’s not quite the same as doing it all in one go but it’ll do.

As mentioned in previous posts, I find running with Kathryn along the canal really hard work.  She’s much faster than me so I get pulled along but I don’t really run any faster than I do when I’m doing fast sessions on my own, yet I don’t find them quite as hard work.  It really must be the chatting which throws my breathing out of sync but conversely you’d think that chatting away would take my mind off the hard work and make it easier but it really doesn’t.  Though looking at my Strava trace now, we were going much faster than I expected… an 8.11 minute mile pace, which is quite impressive considering I had to stop to stretch at one point because my leg was really hurting and I also had to stop for traffic along Canal Street.  

My second run tonight was just from Anglezarke car park, along The Street, to the Bowling Club and then I turned round and ran back again to take it up to three miles.   

Total distance – 5.6 miles + 3 miles – 8.6 miles

Vernon’s 5k – Race 4 – I won a Trophy!

Finally, the last race in the series has arrived. 

My aim for entering this series of 5k races was to see how much improvement I could gain through hard training and the plan was to get progressively faster throughout the series, however it didn’t quite go to plan.

To recap:

At the first race back in April, I managed a time of 23.21.  This was a minute off my 5k PB so I was over the moon and didn’t expect to get to a time like this until the last race. 

On race 2 I was full of a cold and had a bad back so my time was incredibly poor compared to the first one and I came in at 24.27, over a minute slower!  

At race 3 in June, where I was joined by Erica, I had another poor run but had no real excuse for this one.  My time was slightly better than in race 2 but still a lot worse than the first race at 24.14.

Erica joined me again for tonight’s final race and was second lady in 21.54.  I had a much better run tonight coming in at 23.47.  It was still a little slower than my first race but I was pleased with it as I had measured the distance a little further this time so my average pace was pretty much the same as the first race.  I wasn’t too disappointed with the fact that I hadn’t got faster though, despite the hard training, as I know I could have done better.  I felt quite comfortable throughout the race but was too scared to push faster in case I burned out and ended up slowing right down.  Hindsight says I should have just gone for it.

I have to wonder whether the fact I had done so well on race 1 got me complacent for the other races in the series.  The goal for the series was to get to a sub 24 minute time by the end of the four races, but I did this by quite a long way in the first race so maybe subconsciously I wasn’t bothered what happened after that.  Who knows how the mind works!

After the race, I went into the club house to put on a top with a view to then doing a cool down but I noticed that the free pie and peas were already being served and I was ravenous so the cool down was quickly dismissed.  I sat with a bloke called Nigel who has been at all four races and we were soon joined by Erica who, being a true athlete, had gone for a cool down. 

Shortly after the pie and peas came the presentation.  Erica had come second tonight and won a bottle of wine.  I had come third lady overall in the series which I was over the moon about, especially because there was actually competition and I didn’t just win by default like when I win the club champs.  There were at least ten other ladies who had competed in all four races so I was really pleased that I got third place and a lovely little purple and gold trophy.  This is the first trophy I have ever won which I don’t have to give back after a year.  

Erica said she was gutted that she didn’t do the whole series.  I’m not gutted.  If Erica had done it all I wouldn’t have won my little trophy.  Sorry Erica, remember that word I taught you – schadenfreude!

Photos by Erica Booth

Total distance – 3.1 miles plus warm up of approx. 1.5 miles

Bouncing Along

Just an easy pre-race run tonight through Rivington.  A short while in, whilst I was still running along dog poo alley, I sensed something was wrong.  At first I couldn’t quite put my finger on it but I quickly realised what it was.  I was unsupported.  Yes, I had forgotten to put on my sports bra.  I couldn’t be bothered going back home so the rest of the run was spent constantly trying to tighten up the straps of my regular bra to try to keep the bouncing to a minimum. 

At one point, as I was crossing the road from one side of Rivington to the other, Albert came past in his van and waved at me.  If he had been a split second earlier he would have caught me with my hands down my top making adjustments. 

It could have been worse, at least there were no big descents on my run tonight.

Total distance – 3.25 miles

Coope's Dozen 2015

I took a break from my training schedule today to instead run the Coope's Dozen.

I went to the meeting point at the top barn at 9pm and was quite surprised by the turnout.  I wasn't expecting many as all the people I had asked if they were doing it had said that they weren't.  I'm not sure exactly how many did it but hopefully there sill be some pictures for me to add later which might show this.

I've have had a tough week training-wise, with the shoe test on Tuesday (which was hard work for me - I'm sure Albert will say it was a walk in the park!), a speed session on Thursday and a run plus a spin at altitude class yesterday.  I had really struggled with the spin class, especially the 'climbs' so I wasn't very hopeful of having a great run this morning, however it turned out that I really surprised myself.

I set off up front, mainly because I wanted to get that first climb up to George's Lane over with because it's my least favourite part of the run.  As you probably know, I don't like going uphill straight away so I find this bit really tough.  Ian Charters soon caught up with me as we climbed upu through the plantation.  Then it was up to the first summit, Noon Hill.  We were all still close together at this point so we waited for everyone to reach the summit.  At this point, another figure came running up and a nifty pace and it turned out to be Andy Ford, who had arrived late.

We then headed off towards the Pike, one of my favourite bits of the run.  It's always boggy running across here, although it was much better today than it usually is.  Ian and I seemed to get ahead of everyone else again so once we got to the top of the Pike we just ran straight down rather than waiting and continued along George's Lane to the kennels, then up to Two Lads.  Ian commented that he was surprised that Andy hadn't caught us up yet but it soon became apparent that Andy had opted for the cross country route from the Pike to Two Lads, arriving there at the same time as we did.  

We continued on our way, taking the cross-country route across to the shooting hut and up to Smithills Reservoir.  When I have done Coope's in the past, we have taken the road route to this point, cutting across through Roscoe's Tenement so it was nice to go a different way for a change.  After passing the reservoir we were then onto another of my favourite bits, the run along to Whimberry Hill and Egg Hillock.

The best part is then followed by a horrid part though - the climb up to Counting Hill.  There is no easy path up and no matter which way you go, you have to fight your way through lots of vegetation. We dropped down to Shaley Dingle and went up from there.  It's a long slog but we eventually made it and then carried on from Counting Hill up to the trig point on the summit of Winter Hill, the highest point on the route  Somebody had been up there with a can of paint and had drawn a red rose on two sides of the trig point.

Photo by Andy Ford

We started our descent to Hordern Stoopes and Andy had to shout me back as I got carried away and started running down the path towards the wooden bridge, rather than the steep path down to the road.  Wishful thinking I think as the path to the bridge is much nicer.
 

Photo by Andy Ford

On arrival at Hordern Stoopes we were greeted by John Coope and a very well received boot-full of jaffa cakes, biscuits, water and juice.  Pauline Charters was also here as she had missed out some of the route and come straight here instead.

Andy left us at this point as he never had any intention of completing the full route as he was doing a BG support later in the day.  I told Ian that I didn't mind if he wanted to go on ahead of me so I wasn't slowing him down but he said he was happy for us to carry on together which was good for me as, even though I have done it a few times now, I'm still unsure of the way to Old Adam's Hill.

As usual, the route to Old Adam's Hill was overgrown and hard work but it's not too far so we were soon there and then heading back up towards Spitler's Edge. 

From Spitler's it's an easy run up to Great Hill, where a bloke who had walked up told me that I had just demoralised him because he had thought just walking up was an achievement never mind running up.

Next came Round Loaf and Ian then showed me a way off Round Loaf to Healey Nab, without ending up in White Coppice, which is the way I have always gone on the Coope's Dozen in the past.

It involved going across to a cairn on another hill which, looking now at my map, I believe to be Hurst Hill.  From here we carried on through the moorland, eventually coming out onto the road between Jepson's Gate and Waterman's Cottage.

We ran down the road to Waterman's Cottage where again John Coope was waiting for us with some refreshments.  He was really surprised to see us as he hadn't expected us to get there so quickly.  Even though I had originally decided that I would just be plodding round today, at this point I started to get a bit competitive and wanted to finish in a really good time, perhaps within four hours.  I looked at my watch though and decided this wasn't going to happen as we'd have to complete the run in 25 minutes to do that and that was never going to happen.  I decided to aim for 4.15 instead.

After a brief stop for some biscuits and drink, we carried on to the cairn at Healey Nab, the final of the twelve summits.

From Healey Nab it was an easy run back in with very little climbing left.  Ian showed me a different route off the cairn but it wasn't very obvious so whether I'd be able to find it again at a later date I'm not sure.  It eventually took us out onto the track and we then ran along to Heapey Fold Lane.  We turned off and ran though the fields, coming out at the stile opposite the end of The Street, then ran up 'the slipway' and down the path, along Dean Brook, up the steps and out into Rivington Green.  We then ran up Sheephouse Lane before turning off and starting the final few hundred meters back to the top barn.

I finished in 4.21.25 with Ian finishing slightly ahead of me.  Pauline came around the corner about 20 minutes or so after us as she had decided to carry on from Hordern Stoopes but had gone straight to Great Hill, missing out Old Adam's Hill.

Great run out and I'm really pleased with myself as I found I had much more energy than usual.  I really didn't expect to get round so quickly and be with the front group, although I have no doubt whatsoever that Ian and Andy hung back a lot for me.

Thanks again to Ian and Andy for the company and massive thanks to John Coope for providing the support.  Thanks also to all who organised the day and to all who turned up and ran it.

I'll update this blog as and when new pictures are added by people (I didn't take any of my own).


Total distance - 17.8 miles 

Resistance Training???

Just an easy run up to Two Lads and back with Ruby this morning as a first test for the shoes I'm trialing for Inov8.  I'm going to be wearing them for an 18 miler tomorrow so wanted to make sure they are comfortable enough first.  They are so job's a good un!

On the way back down from Two Lads, Ruby had slowed so much that I felt like I was doing some resistance training.  It was as though I had a tyre attached to my be a rope which I had to drag along.  For such a small dog, she's pretty damn strong!

Total distance - 3 miles 

Locked Out!

Tonight I drove over to Horrobin Lane for what can loosely be described as a speed session.  The reason I say loosely is because my heart wasn't in it tonight.  My quads are still sore from Tuesday and I'm trying to save myself for Coope's Dozen on Saturday and have to run in the morning and go to spin at altitude tomorrow evening so I didn't want to wear myself out too much tonight.

I warmed up for just over a mile and then did three sets of one mile reps at a quick-ish pace, then cooled down until I reached 6 miles.

Splits:

Mile 1 - 7.44
Mile 2 - 7.33
Mile 3 - 7.32

I drove home feeling like I'd actually had a pretty good workout and was looking forward to settling down for tea and chilling out.

When I got there, however, my key didn't seem to want to go into the lock.  I tried for ages, knowing full well what had happened but hoping I was wrong.  Duncan had gone out on his bike through the garage and had locked the front door from the inside and left the key in it!  After wandering around the back to see if there was anyway I could get in, I gave up and got back in the car as, by now, I was getting quite cold having not taken any top layers out with me.  I decided to drive up to George's Lane to see if I could see Duncan out on his bike anyway.

Good luck was on my side as I saw him and Barry crossing the road by the Jolly Crofters so I flagged them down and got the key.

Flippin' idiot!!!

Total distance - 6 miles

Inov8 Shoe Testing – Red Screes

Finally my big feet have come in handy.  Usually I hate the fact that I look like a golf club and that when I see a lovely pair of dainty shoes on a shelf and ask for them in my size, the shoe which is brought out looks like it was made for a drag queen, however today they have made me a very happy girl.  I was selected by Inov8, thanks to Adrian Hope, to go to the Lakes for a day and do some shoe testing but to get on this trial you needed to have size 8 feet.  I am a size 7 to 8 depending on the shoe but as my X-Talons are an 8, as are my Mudclaws, I asked if I could be included on the test and I was fortunate to get through.

I drove up to the Inov8 offices in Staveley and met Adrian and Albert there, along with all the other staff and shoe testers.  There were eight of us testing shoes altogether and I was mortified when I was told that before we went out, we would all have our feet measured for scientific accuracy of the testing.  My feet are a disgrace!  There’s the odd black toenail, a weird bloody blistery type thing under a big toenail, not to mention the week old blister plaster on the bone at the base of my big toe, which is now all black round the edges (the plaster, not the toe) and flapping about the place.  Yuk!  My feet measured at size 7.75 for the right foot and 7.5 for the left.  I don't think a single person there measured at dead on an 8 which was quite surprising given that we all wore size 8 Inov8 shoes, including the only other girl on the test, Charlotte, whose feet measured at a size 10!  

After the embarrassment of the measurement exercise, we all got taken up to the car park at the top of the Kirkstone Pass.  As usual at the Kirkstone Pass, the clag was down and it was raining.  A course was flagged out taking us part way up Red Screes along a rocky path and then we had to turn off the path for a short grassy loop before coming back down again on a grassy slope by the side of the rocky path, although you could go down the path itself if you so chose but it was incredibly slippery so nobody opted for that route.  As evidenced by my Strava trace, I appeared to go down a different way almost every time.  

We had eleven pairs of shoes to test in total, so that would mean eleven times of running up and down the hill.  They were a mixture of Inov8 shoes and other brands, for example La Sportiva, Salomon and Asics.   We had to answer some feedback questions about comfort, fit, appearance, etc. before we ran in them, then answer the same questions, plus extra ones, i.e. grip, performance, etc. when we came back from the run.  We also had some jackets to test which were all really nice and flattering.

The first pair of shoes I wore, in my opinion, had poor grip (not Inov8 shoes I feel I must add!) and my feet rolled inside them.  This resulted in me slipping… a LOT and so I really lost my confidence on the descent.  The next pair were far better though but I was still quite tentative after the amount of times I slipped on the first loop.  I tensed up every time I put my foot down on a rock because I was scared it was just going to slide out from under me.  I was running like a big girl! 

After testing five pairs, it was time for a break and so we all went over to the pub for lunch.  I opted for soup and a roll because I didn’t like the thought of running straight after eating a heavy meal but I got huge food envy when others' meals arrived, particularly the curries people were having.  They looked delicious and I was still really hungry after my soup.  How people can eat all that and still run comfortably though I don’t know.  I would need a couple of hours for it to go down. 

I’m sure that between the time we went into the pub and the time we came out, the temperature had dropped a few degrees, it felt freezing!  My teeth were chattering away and I couldn’t wait to start running again to get warm. 

One of the shoes I tried on this afternoon was the most comfortable shoe of the lot.  It fitted really well and felt lovely.  If I had tried this shoe on in a shop I would have bought it.  Good job that didn’t happen!  Whilst it was fine going up the hill, I absolutely hated it coming back down.  My ankle was going over left right and centre and I ended up pretty much walking down for fear of breaking my ankle.  Just goes to show that a shoe you think will be great can turn out to not be suitable at all.  

Very soon I was on my last pair.  By now I was so tired that I didn’t even bother trying to run any of the up, I just walked the whole thing, save for a couple of flatish bits.  I was quite gutted when it was all over though as I’d really enjoyed myself, as had everybody else.  Hopefully the guys at Inov8 will have got some useful feedback from it too.

The only thing I would change about the whole day is that I wish I’d worn a different pair of shoes on my first test.  Because I had slipped so much in the ones I had on, it knocked my confidence and I was really tentative coming downhill for the whole test.  I can be a bit wimpy coming downhill sometimes, depending on the terrain.  A lot of you know that I’m a pretty quick descender on the hills near us, particularly the Pike for example, but the reason for this is that I don’t really have any fear.  If I fall coming off the Pike, it’s nice and grassy so is unlikely to hurt much but the terrain we were on today meant that a fall could be pretty painful.  So basically, I’m a wimp, it’s just that I hide it well when running on the hills near us but get me onto a ‘proper’ hill and the cowardice shines through.

HUGE thanks to all the guys at Inov8, particularly Adrian, for an amazing day out and thanks for lunch and all the goodies!  

Photo taken from Inov8 Facebook page

Total distance – 7.1 miles

Struggling!

On the training calendar today was a 14 mile road run, comprising of 5.5 miles ‘fast’ followed by 8.5 miles ‘comfortable’.  All I can say is that NONE of it was comfortable.  I was struggling.

The first 5.5 seemed to take forever to get through.  I ran from home, along Lever Park Avenue and out past the Millstone towards Adlington.  I then carried on along all the way to where the road meets the A6 and then turned back on myself along the A6.  The 5.5 miles ended just as I had passed back through Adlington and was climbing the small hill just before the farmland before the Cherry Tree pub.  I was so relieved when that initial 5.5 miles had passed thinking that the next 8.5 would be really easy but it wasn’t.  I was really tired.  Maybe it was the tough spin class last night, coupled with the half bottle of wine?  Even my energy gels weren’t helping and I was struggling just to keep up a nine minute mile pace.  The time was dragging so much.  Why is it that 14 miles on the fells, even though it takes longer than on the road, seems to go much faster?  The answer to that is obvious – because it’s much more fun!!!! 

I carried on along the A6, turning off in Westhoughton onto Wingates Lane and heading towards the Middlebrook.  I’m ashamed to say that when I was running around the Middlebrook, I actually stopped to ring Duncan to see if he would be on his way home from work soon and could pick me up because I couldn’t bear the thought of running that last two miles home.  I was struggling to hold back the tears at this point.  Pathetic as that may sound, I was just really upset at the thought of being defeated by such an easy run.  I didn’t understand why I was finding it so difficult, spin class or not.  How can I expect to run 26.2 miles in under four hours if I can’t run 14 at that pace?  Duncan told me that he wouldn’t be finishing work for a while and that I should pull myself together and man up and just get home so I did, albeit at snail’s pace. 

It was awful and I spent that last two miles thinking about whether I should just pull out of the race altogether.  It wasn’t until I got home that I started thinking about how detrimental the spin class could have been because all the other regulars there have said that they feel really lethargic and energyless the next day.  Nadine won’t do spin on a Friday anymore because it’s so detrimental to her weight session on a Saturday morning so maybe I should just give myself a break?

Total distance – 14 miles

Jog to the Barn

As the title says, today’s run was just an easy jog to the barn and back with Ruby.  This used to be my staple easy short run but I haven’t done it in a long while.  Nothing of interest to report today though.

Total distance – 3 miles

Run to Limbrick

I wasn't looking forward to today's session.  I'm now in the 'going further' stage of my training plan (the last stage was 'getting faster') and the first session in this phase was an 8.5 mile 'fast' session.  The goal pace for the session was 8.21 to 8.48 minute mile and I'm sad to say I didn't quite make it, managing an 8.58 pace overall.  However, it's not all doom and gloom because most of my miles were within the specified pace.  The reason the overall pace was slow is because 1) mile 5 involved a big hill that took me completely by surprise and it slowed my average pace right down (that mile took just over 10 minutes) and 2) my last mile and a half through Rivington were really hard work and I was getting incredibly tired by this point.  All other miles were really good and broken down as follows:

Mile 1 - 8.38
Mile 2 - 8.40
Mile 3 - 8.54
Mile 4 - 8.10
Mile 5 - 10.07
Mile 6 - 8.43
Mile 7 - 8.40
Mile 8 - 9.29
Last half mile - 9.44

The last half mile is really bad because I actually stopped dead for about 20-30 seconds trying to stop myself from throwing up.

The route I took was through Rivington, along Horrobin Lane to the top then turning right and following the road into Limbrick.  I then turned right after the Black Horse in Limbrick and followed the road back to the Yew Tree.  The bit after the Black Horse was the bit with the big hill that I hadn't bargained for when I chose this route which I had thought was pretty flat.  From the Yew Tree, I ran along The Street, back into Rivington and then home by the side of the reservoir.

Total distance - 8.5 miles (+ short warm up and cool down, approx 1 mile altogether) 

Going to be a Shoe Tester!

I couldn't believe my luck today when I received an e-mail from Adrian Hope telling me that I had been chosen to take part in the Inov8 shoe testing next week.  I never get picked for anything so was really over the moon.  Really looking forward to it, just hope the weather is good.

Today was just a three mile easy run with Ruby.  My default three mile run with Ruby now is up to Two Lads which is the only place I can think of where I can let her off the lead for a decent length of time.  Nothing to report really on the run, other than that I was feeling pretty good running up to Two Lads and got my second fastest time on Strava for it.


Total distance - 3 miles

Fun on the Hills

On the training calendar today was a comfortable 8.5 miles.  The target pace was supposed to be between 8.50 and 9.45 minute mile but I decided to go up onto the hills instead, meaning that my pace would be much slower, however it would still be as good a workout because there would be far more effort involved.

It was amazing! I've really missed running on the fells because for the past couple of months the most I've done up there is my once or twice a week easy/recovery run with Ruby to Two Lads.

I firstly ran up through Wilderswood and along to the Pike which I climbed with ease for a change.  I then ran cross-country to Noon Hill which, as usual, was incredibly boggy.

From Noon Hill I ran down to Belmont Road and then up the diagonal to the trig point.  I climbed there pretty well too which I was pleased with.

I then ran to Scotsman's Stump and along the flagging and up to the 'secret' reservoir.  After running to the other side of the reservoir, I turned right down the hill, coming out onto Coal Pit Road and then ran along through the farms out to the Mast Road.

It was then up to Two Lads before dropping back down through Wilderswood and home.

Great run, felt amazing to back up on the hills.  Much more fulfilling than road running!


Total distance - 9 miles

Gluten Free Trial

As you may already be aware (especially if you're close enough to me to have to listen to my constant moaning about lack of cake), I have recently been trialling a gluten free diet.  I have always had quite a few stomach issues which, if I went to a doctor, I’m sure they’d put under the umbrella term of IBS so I thought that going gluten free might help with this as many people have said it does. 

I started the gluten free trial in April and, to begin with, the results were pretty good.  The main thing I noticed was that I wasn’t bloated at the end of the day.  Usually, the difference in my body between first thing in the morning and last thing at night is quite substantial – I like it in the morning, I hate it at night!  However with the gluten free thing, the bloating was gone and my night time body looked pretty much the same as my morning body.  Happy days! 

I also did lose a bit of weight in the first couple of weeks which is probably more because I was consciously eating healthier and cutting out cakes and biscuits. 

I had also heard and read about it being good for athletic performance but I can’t really comment on that because it has coincided with a total revamp of my training plan and I’m doing a lot more structured training now so the improvements I have felt are probably more attributable to the better training than the gluten free.  To test it properly I would have to do it whilst not changing anything else. 

Unfortunately, going gluten free hasn’t helped my stomach problems at all, which is what I wanted it to do more than anything else.  Amongst other things, I still have a lot of belly ache, especially when running.

Overall, the benefits of going gluten free, for me personally, don’t outweigh how much I love cake so it’s not something I’m going to stick to although I am definitely going to cut it down a lot more than I used to and stop having sandwiches every day for lunch. 

I'm not saying don't give it a try yourself but I just don't think it works for everyone and, to me, life's to short to cut out things in your diet that you really like if it doesn't make you feel any better doing it. 

Turning to today's run, it was just a really short easy one tonight with Ruby.  It was only just over three miles long but took me 48 minutes!  This is because I spent half my time gabbing to various members of Horwich RMI I bumped into en-route.  They were all out tonight! 

Firstly, there was Sean M who was walking his multitude of dogs up by the water tanks near Two Lads.  We chatted for a whilst Ruby played with her old housemates.  She must remember them because I didn’t put her on her lead as I approached like I usually do when I see dogs up ahead and, even though she ran up to them, she didn’t bite any of them like she normally does.

We then went up to Two Lads and down to the dog kennels, turning left onto George’s Lane.  That’s when I bumped into Steve P who appeared to be running all over the show before taking the hill session later on.  I ran along with Steve for a minute or so and then Steve turned to go up to Two Lads and I turned for home.  Sean was just coming through the gate onto George’s Lane so Steve stopped to chat to him and, as I turned the bend, there was Colin J.  Obviously I had another quick natter before making my way through Wilderswood back home.

Total distance – 3.15 miles

How Much Energy is Spent Talking?

I ran along the canal at lunch with Kathryn today and towards the end I was feeling really sluggish and couldn’t wait to stop.  When we had finished, I looked at my watch to find that our pace had been pretty slow, i.e. 8.40 minute mile pace.  When I run at this pace on my own I feel really comfortable and could run at it for a good length of time, however during the 5.5 miles I run with Kathryn I find this pace much harder.  Is that because I’m using up all my energy chatting?  You’d think that running with somebody else would take your mind of the pain/tiredness, which it does to an extent however I have found that overall I run slower when I’m with somebody else than I do on my own.

Since originally typing this I have spent the afternoon feeling really ill so that may account somewhat for my poor run however I still maintain that I find a comfortable pace much less comfortable when I run with somebody else than when I run on my own. 

Also, Strava is a liar as it shows Kathryn ran half a mile more than me! 

Unless she sneaked back out and did a little extra???

Total distance - 5.3 miles 

BBC Weather - You Are A Liar!

When I set off for my run this morning, it was quite dull outside but was dry.  I checked the BBC weather forecast for Horwich on my phone and it assured me that it wouldn't be raining until this afternoon.

It lied.

A lot.

Not only did it rain whilst I was out on my easy run, it was torrential!

I had to get out of my clothes as soon as I walked through my front door and the amount of water I wrung out of them was ridiculous.  I was only out half an hour!

The run itself was just an easy one from home, down to the school, though the terraced gardens onto George's Lane, along to the dog kennels then back home via the Two Lads race route.


Total distance - 3.45 miles

Double Hangover

As you may have noticed from my previous blogs, I was out both last night and the night before so I was feeling quite tired and lethargic this morning.  I had hoped to get out with the Lostock lot at 8.00 but it soon became apparent that that was never happening.  I emerged from my pit just before 10am and went for a run pretty much straight away.

At first I was feeling really sluggish but soon I started to feel a bit more fresh and the run wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.

My training plan had only given a 'comfortable' pace for this run and suggested 8.52 to 9.47 minute mile pace.  I managed a 9.39 pace so I'm quite content with that, given that I was hungover and running off road and on a few small hills.

Total distance - 11 miles

Easy Run to Two Lads with Minor Hangover

Just an easy three miler was on the training plan for today, which I was really pleased about given that I was feeling a little delicate from last night's summer party.

I just ran up to Two Lads and back down again to burn off a few calories before going out for a second night on the run tonight.

It was actually a really nice sunny run and I wanted to go further but I was still up on George's Lane at 6.30 and the party started at 7 so I had to make my way back home.

Total distance - 3 miles

3 x 1 mile at 7.35 pace with 1/2 mile jogs

Whilst I really like the idea of the speed sessions recommended to me by Gareth, I want to stick to my original training plan at the minute, rather than start going down a different route mid-plan so I'm going to save Gareth's plan until after my event and use it to attain my next goal, whatever that may be!

Today I went back to the speed session from my original plan, which involved a warm up then 3 x 1 mile reps at my goal 5k pace of 7.35 minute mile, with half mile jogs between each rep, followed by a cool down.

I managed the reps as follows:

Mile 1 - 7.17
Mile 2 - 7.34
Mile 3 - 7.37

I'm actually really pleased at how consistent they were and that the last one wasn't a huge amount slower than the first.

Total distance - 5.7 miles