In 2011 I did some ok running (nothing amazing, and still not one pb – that’s 3 years in a row now!) but I was very poor at updating this little blog. Must try harder next year. Anyway, here is how the year went:
January 83 miles
I got the year off to a great start with the NYD triple – Bushy parkrun at 9am, Richmond parkrun at 10 am and the Henty relay at noon. I even managed to help my team finish third in the Henty. The following day I jogged round Bushy parkrun juniors with Jane’s Jacob, as she wasn’t feeling well. He was great and has knocked several minutes off his pb since then. I did some reasonable long runs, up to 10 miles or so and it was great to have Orlando back running with us. I made it to most Tuesday training and track sessions, just missing a couple when I was recovering from falling off my bike. Nothing serious, just a bit bashed! I took part in two xcs, doing rather badly at both of them. The Surrey league didn’t go well due to a badly timed breakfast threatening to reappear, and i had a cold for the Southerns at Parliament Hill. Not even Alan’s coffee with brandy could save us from the cold here – it was absolutely freezing.
February 64 miles
As usual a ridiculously busy month at work, but I managed not to be ill! Still couldn’t fit many miles in though. I completely forgot I’d entered the Brighton half marathon but enjoyed it very much as a long run with different scenery. Or maybe it was the thought of the fish and chips and dolphin derby that kept me going. Apart from that I only did one long run during which I greatly amused Heather by tripping over a tree root and falling flat on my face. Oops. I finished the month off with a mob match away at Hayes, which is a ridiculous course. 11 stiles and I ran a terrible time. Enjoyed it though!
March 110 miles
I did some really good, consistent training this month and also some proper long runs. Felt like an actual runner! I did a course pb at the Clutton Cup and finished fourth. I had my first run with Sharon for ever such a long time, which was great. I came second in the baker Cup for the second row in a year which was rather frustrating, but I was beaten by a lovely youngster again which made me feel a bit better about it (Amelie this time). I ran a 24.03 parkrun, my fastest time since 2009.
April 100 miles
There was some very hot weather this month and lots of holiday time to enjoy it. Plus two marathons. To watch of course! I had a lovely trip to the seaside with the Rowes to support David at the Brighton marathon. The race didn’t go quite to plan, but as it was so hot Sharon and I had to shelter from the sun in a bus stop, it’s hardly surprising. The London marathon was during the school holidays this year, so I went to the expo to hunt for freebies. Shockingly I didn’t win the poetry competition! The London marathon was an excellent day out with family and friends as usual, and I think I managed not to cry this year! Good celebrations with Ranelagh at the Wych Elm too. Due to the lovely weather, my road bike came out of hibernation! 15 miles in Bank Holiday sunshine seemed like hard work, but I thoroughly enjoyed a buntingly good bike ride to Black Park on Royal Wedding day with David and Danny for an extra parkrun. Lovely quiet roads, and still managed to catch the ceremony on David’s iphone. Perfect. I had a good run at Kingston parkrun for a mini Straggler/Ranelagh mob match. (I think the yellows won though).
May 104 miles
The highlight of this month was of course the Green Belt Relay, one thing I actually managed to blog about! I did some good training in the lead up, including a great run to the Sutton 10k using a map and not getting lost – a good sign. I marshalled at the Ranelagh half marathon with Kath, and a passer by asked me where they could buy a chicken. As you do. GBR was a fantastic weekend with far fewer disasters than last year. You can read all about it in my earlier blog. The following day I literally felt like I’d run a marathon, but taught rather a good maths lesson all about GBR! Acouple of weeks later, before I’d really recovered properly, I had the opportunity to pretend to be elite at the Bupa 10k. I also wrote about this earlier, it was very fun. And weird!
June 101 miles
At the beginning of this month I was having a lot of trouble with some new running shoes that were giving me blisters. Nevertheless I did the Dorking 10 in an okish time, not really racing it though. June 14th was an auspicious day … the official start of marathon training! Yes you read that right. I’d decided I was physically and emotionally ready to give it another go, and had entered Abingdon in October. My thinking was that an Autumn marathon would give me lots of training time in the summer holidays. The start of my marathon training went fine except for the day Heather and I got lost in Home Park… the flower show confused us! The longest parkrun was great fun but i used marathon training and the roasting weather as an excuse to only do three. Maybe next year I’ll do the whole thing… A hardcore group of runners ran the whole thing and cycled between them all. Much respect. It was also nice to meet some people from far away parkruns who joined in too.
July 67 miles
This drop in mileage was due to the end of term swiftly followed by Woddcraft camp, pretty much putting two weeks out of action for running. I struggled through a long run due to the intoxicating after effects of seeing Take That in concert the night before. It was like an alcohol-free hangover! The 20 ponds was in pouring rain this year, that was fun! I did two races badly – the Coad Cup and the Elmore 7. I just couldn’t seem to get a decent pace going. It poured with rain at Elmore too. The weather was lovely for camping but this did not involve any running, so not really relevant.
August 116 miles
The plan for August was to get some serious marathon training done, without the distraction of work. This sort of worked, until the end of the month…I did lots of different things this month, including a MABAC race, some buggy running with Meredith and Matthew, a long run home from Clapham and the Arethusa mile race in Bushy Park. Lots of fun training. I had an excellent day out with friends and family watching the test Olympic cycle race go right past my front door and then through Richmond Park. My long runs built up nicely to 15 miles, I got up to 6 consistently paced yassos, then things started to go wrong. On the way to the Burnham Beeches half marathon I was faking illness, just a joke but I didn’t really feel like racing. I did not run at all well, finishing nine minutes slower than scheduled. Then the next day I really didn’t feel well. Oh dear. The following week everything seemed to get back on track, when out of nowhere my left hip flexor started to hurt. I missed a run and went for a bike ride instead, which seemed to help a bit. I then attempted an 18 mile run but quit after 4 as it was hurting a bit. I then foolishly took part in the TT tri, thinking ah well, it’s only a short run. My leg really hurt after that. Obviously. Not during though! I think it was the third time this year I’d been swimming – I got overtaken three times in the first three lengths!
September 62 miles
The month began with some swimming and a trip to the physio. Thankfully there was nothing serious wrong and I was ok to run, but I decided to pull out of the marathon anyway. I’d missed too much training and didn’t want to carry on worrying about an injury. Also I wasn’t interested in running a slow time. I was disappointed of course but soon got over it. I gradually got back into training but it was naturally somewhat lacking in direction. I enjoyed a trip to the first Nonsuch parkrun.
October 77 miles
There was a mini heatwave at the beginning of the moth, with the hottest October temperatures on record. This made for a great Bushy parkrun 7th anniversary (I ran with my mum) but a very strange xc experience at the Page Cup later that day. XC is supposed to be freezing, not boiling! I had a great run trying to win Old Deer parkrun (I didn’t but I came second), recording my fastest parkrun since 2008 and probably my best performance of the year. So the marathon training I’d done wasn’t wasted. There was an extra mob match in Epping Forest to celebrate Orion’s centenary and their new clubhouse. I had a great run and a great game of name that tune with Marie on the way home! I marshalled the Cabbage Patch 10 with Sharon on the day I should have been running my marathon. At the end of the month I went on a trip to Iceland to run their first parkrun with a whole group of runners. This was a really fun trip and a great experience.
November 62 miles
I really struggled to motivate myself in the cold and dark this month, and missed a few training sessions for spurious reasons. I motivated myself to run on Sundays by ending all the runs at the cafe at Orleans House which started doing great breakfasts. Having lots of lovely people to run with helped too. I went to a party to celebrate 30 years of Stragglers and was pleasantly surprised that they let me in. Ha ha. I enjoyed a mob match on Wimbledon Common, nearly as much as i enjoyed being serenaded by John Bryant and the Chastity belt song afterwards! This was less than ideal preparation for the Brighton 10k the following day.. lets just say the fish and chips were good! And the weather! The following week I caught a cold, which seemed to stay with me, developing a lovely cough too, the whole way through December.
December 81 miles
My motivation returned as soon as the holidays started and I really enjoyed running in the daylight. At the beginning of the month I was pretty rubbish. I had a great run at the Straggler/26.2 mob match and the Ranelagh Christmas Cracker relay was loads of fun. And a really hard workout too! I had a lovely evening at the Ranelagh Christmas Party. Christmas parkrun and Boxing Day CP4 were great as usual. I then rounded off the year by running my 250th parkrun on New Year’s Eve. It was great to celebrate this achievement with so many friends and family in Bushy Park. I feel very proud to be the first lady in the 250 club and I’m looking forward to getting a new shiny t-shirt on NYD! (I then *accidentally* took part in the Henty, but the less said about that the better).
So a few ups and downs but I think an ok running year over all. As for 2012 running targets, I’m not making any except the usual – just one pb? Please?!
