Parklands Relays – My 1st competitive run for the Chasers

On May 25, 2013June 18, 2013 By Girl Running CrazyIn Race ReportsLeave a comment

The Richmond Park Hare & Hounds Relays was my first opportunity to sign up for a competitive event with the new club. The teams would be made of 4 people for the boys and 3 for the girls and each runner would cover about 5k. Easy run with some beautiful scenery right?

After the 1^st track session (you remember, where I was trying not to vomit at back of the pack?!) I was a little worried about my time. However, I was promised a fun evening that was open to everyone and all you had to do was indicate your current 5k time when you signed up so they could match the teams accordingly.

I can’t remember the last time I ran a 5k so I took a punt with 23 mins assuming, if anything, I would be faster. Turns out that was a pretty good punt, I went through 5k on Saturday Nights’ race almost bang on 23 minutes and that was with 5k left to go so I was confident I hadn’t oversold myself.

I was excited, but nervous, not made any better by having to get a bus to the South side of Richmond Park, buses in London can be tricky if you don’t know where you’re going. Luckily I spied some fellow Chasers on the bus so I quickly made friends so we could all get lost together!

Richmond Park is stunning, even more so on a sunny evening in May. We arrived and set up camp near the start as more Chasers started to arrive. There were several local clubs involved, including the Sheen Shufflers where I finally got to meet fellow blogger and tweeter Cat Simpson (who is so speedy she came 3rd in the Richmond Marathon just 2 weeks after smashing the London Marathon!)

Naomi & Rob, who had done an awesome job of sorting out all the teams, gave me my race number and I met Jos & Ruth who made up my team. They both looked pretty fit and fast…I was pretty sure I was going to have to run until I felt like my heart was going to explode just so I didn’t embarrass them.

I was on the 3rd leg, not really what I wanted but, in hindsight, it was better than the 1st where everyone was on top of each other. Then they were off! Now, these are club runners, club runners are fast and the boys (and some of the girls) practically flew, I don’t think I could ride a bike that fast! The 2nd boy on the first lap was a Chaser, awesome work!

Jos put in a good run and was the 2nd girl Chaser to come through, a tap of the hand and Ruth was on her way. It was pretty chilly in the wind so I did a bit of jumping around trying to get my nerves under control, it’s only 3 miles, it would be fine.

Ruth was quick and she was the 1st girl Chaser through on the 2nd lap, ohhhhh the pressure! I know we’re not competing against each other but I still wanted to do a good job. She tapped my hand, wished me luck and I started moving my legs as fast as they would carry me. After about half a mile I reached the ‘feeling like I was about to have a heart attack’ phase so I knew I was on pace…

The course was well signposted which was helpful as I couldn’t see many people around at all. There were a few runners heading back the other way, I’m not quite sure what they were doing but they all gave me some encouragement which is always nice to hear!

It was obviously a trail run, and fairly hilly, so it was tough to keep a strong pace in places but it was a beautiful place to run, especially through the pond area. Somewhere towards the end I was overtaken by one of the girls from our club, she’s a pretty speedy mover so I wasn’t surprised, she shouted some encouragement and flew by. Unfortunately she pulled over to be sick for a few moments which meant I ended up finishing a few seconds before her. I felt bad, she ran the route about 2 minutes quicker than me so deserved to come in first.

Despite not wearing a club top, the Chasers recognised me and started cheering as I came through the finish, first Chasers team home for the girls!! I measured 2.75 miles on the Garmin and finished in 21.16, it wasn’t fast but it wasn’t bad and I didn’t feel like I’d let the team down. My first competition for the club and I had really enjoyed it!

Come on Chasers!

Final Result? We placed 14 of 37 (Ladies) and our fastest boys came in 3rd overall!

The Night Paula Radcliffe Ate My Dust – We Own The Night

On May 19, 2013July 12, 2013 By Girl Running CrazyIn Race Reports5 Comments

Nike’s women’s only night time race, We Own The Night, was one of the best races I’ve ever run and most definitely the best 10k I’ve ever run. I cannot fault the organisation, enthusiasm, location, value for money, sponsor freebies, entertainment or facilities. Respect Nike, I’ll be back.

Turning up at Victoria Park at 6pm we immediately felt a festival atmosphere. Tents were set up around the park with various things going and there was stage complete with Kiss FM DJs knocking out some tunes. The place was buzzing.

They were handing out wristbands for different start zones but this was a bit odd as no one seemed to know what finish times the zones represented. Blue was for ‘professional athletes’ or people who ‘thought they might win’, orange was for people wanting a PB and pink for those who wanted to get round. Obviously I’m not a professional athlete so so I took an orange band. However, this bothered me, there were at least 3 people each with big bags of blue bands, seriously, how many professional athletes are you expecting? I stood there pondering for several minutes over which start zone I should go for, why did no one know what the expected finish times were? At this point I thought Zoe might get a bit cross with me. She didn’t, she simply told me to put the orange band in my pocket, go and get a blue band and then I could decide at my leisure. Fair point. I did just that.

We went into the Elle tent where we were offered a free mag, coconut water and bags of various dried fruit. Then someone asked if we would like a free Nails Inc manicure? Ermm, yes, yes please! We put our names down and went off to explore the rest of the ‘race village’. There was a caravan offering tea & crumpets, a delightful little meringue stall selling all sorts of different flavour meringues, including gin & tonic, cookies, coffee, more coconut water and a large tent selling Nike gear (obviously!) We took a seat on the large comfy bean bags and waited for our manicures. I went for a bright orange colour (because I needed to make sure my nails matched my race t-shirt), & we found out Paula Radcliffe had been in not long before us getting her nails done too, Paula was here!

We headed to the bag drop off, participated in a little warm up and then it was race time! I stuck with the blue band but I was more than a little concerned that I had only seen one other person with a blue band and she was the rather fit looking girl being interviewed…in all fairness she looked like she could win it. Uh oh.

I have since found out the fit looking girl was Perri Shakes-Drayton!! She didn’t run, she started the race but my quick evaluation of her was correct!

They asked people with the blue bands to wait behind and I was relieved there were at least 25-30 of us. We were then directed to a different area and I found myself walking to the very front of the race, on the start line, where you usually find the elites, how exciting! Whilst waiting there I spotted Paula and I was even more excited, I didn’t know she was going to run and, not only that, but I was literally on the start line with her, amazing!!

I have actually beaten Paula in a race before. OK, it was the Battersea 5k Race for Life and she was doing it with her grandma, but she crossed the finish line after me, I beat her, and that’s fact!

In all seriousness, it was an honour & a privilege to line up next to Paula Radcliffe on the start line, when does that ever happen?! I mean, there was me, and there was the female marathon world record holder that no one has even come close to beating in over a decade. What a women, what an inspiration.

The countdown hit zero and we were off, I was expecting Paula to zoom straight off so was surprised to find myself immediately running around her. That was weird, I guess she wasn’t racing after all, laters Paula!

All in all I ran a good race, it was fantastic to have a clear start, there was great support from both marshalls & spectators and it was a beautiful evening in East London. Special mention to Run Dem Crew who were owning their own night somewhere around 4 & 9k cheering everyone on. I felt the love, I high fived you, you were awesome and thank you!

I usually cross the finish line desperately looking for water and being made to wait, today water was in my hands in seconds, followed by 2 bottles of coconut water then a glass of prosecco. Yeah, the water can wait, I want the bubbles! It was like walking into a party where the waiters greet you with glasses of champagne on a tray, except I wasn’t looking so glam, and the glasses were plastic. Fabulous, fabulous, fabulous!

I finished in 47.06, not a PB but a good effort so close to the marathon, I was pleased.

I got my bag back and found out Paula wasn’t planning on going the distance due to injury, so I had beat her, again! In the last month I have raced Mo Farah and Paula Radcliffe and beaten them both!

I found myself a comfy bean bag to kick back & relax on with my bubbles while I waited for Zoe. I had no idea what time the race had actually started in the end so I wasn’t sure when to expect her. She showed up pretty quickly with smiles and we sort out more prosecco which went down oh so very well. Shall we get some more? Yeah let’s do that! I was drunk after 4 glasses so it was only wise to knock back 2 more. Hey, give us a break we had just run 10k, it was Saturday and we owned the night!

People seemed a bit confused as to why I was spending my Saturday night running…running? Well, you know what, I spent my Saturday night with one of my best mates, doing the thing I love the most, with a manicure thrown in, beating Paula Radcliffe and finishing off by knocking back several free prosecco’s. Yep, that was one of the best Saturdays nights in a long time. Winner!

Freebies!!

My First Ever Track Session

On May 8, 2013July 12, 2013 By Girl Running CrazyIn GeneralLeave a comment

Tuesday night is track night. This involves different combinations of speedwork round Battersea Park’s 400m track and last night it almost killed me.

This week’s schedule was 4 x 1 mile reps with 75-90 second recoveries followed by 8 x 60 sprints on the grass. I may have been unfortunate to start on a night that involved mile reps, or I may have been lucky that the reps weren’t shorter and therefore faster, I’m currently undecided…

Again, we were split into 3 groups and I chose the ‘third group’, note not ‘slow group’ but the ‘third’. As the group started the pace didn’t feel too bad, but as the laps continued I started to fall behind, by the time we’d finished the 4^th lap and completed the first mile I collapsed on the grass. That was one of four done, I barely had a chance to catch my breath and we were off again. The second mile was awful, I wasn’t sure whether I was going to pass out, vomit, have an asthma attack or an unfortunate combination of all of the above. As a result I only ran 3 of the 4 laps, what a complete loser. Mile 3 was much the same but I was determined to complete all 4 laps on the final mile and promised myself a nice little lay down on the grass afterwards.

The little laydown didn’t last long as we finished with our 60m sprints, but these actually weren’t so bad, almost enjoyable compared to the mile reps!

I finished my first track session in bits, having pretty much come in last, having only completed 14 of the 16 laps and this morning I was walking like a penguin again.

On the brightside, we were supposed to be hitting our 10k pace, possibly 5k if feeling strong. This would put my 5k time at 21.44 and 10k at 43.29, both of which I would be more than chuffed with so it’s not all bad!

So that’s track then, same again next week yeah?!

Me. Walking

My thoughts on VLM’s GFA changes…

On May 3, 2013July 12, 2013 By Girl Running CrazyIn Thoughts1 Comment

Shortly after the London Marathon finished the organisers took down the Good For Age table on the website. From that moment it was clear there were going to be changes but what would they be and when would they come into play? There were various rumours circulating, but the truth was it was the day before the ballot opened and no one knew what the GFA standards were. This was poor, very poor.

The new GFA times were announced when the ballot opened. Unsurprisingly, for the most part, they were tougher. This directly affected me, my 3.49.14 Paris time no longer gave me an automatic place in 2014, I now needed a sub 3.45. This, however, is still relatively easy in comparison to the under 40 Men. I feel for them the most; their time goal was moved from 3.10 to 3.05. I cannot tell you how many men I’ve seen tweet/blog etc about training specifically for a sub 3.10, with the goal of achieving a GFA who have now missed out. Their achievement is now redundant.

I wouldn’t classify myself as good for age, in all honesty when I ran Paris I didn’t even know what the qualifying standards for London were, but the fact remains that I got my 2013 place through the good for age system and I was proud of that.

The actual time changes aren’t an issue, and some would claim are long overdue, the problem lies in the lack of notice. Assuming the deadline is still July, as it has been in the past, people don’t have time to achieve these new standards. The Spring marathon season is almost over, even if there was an opportunity to race, there wouldn’t be enough time to train or recover sufficiently from an earlier marathon to race hard again.

It isn’t about the time, New York is tougher, Boston is tougher (or now the same), but we know what these standards are and what we would need to do to achieve them. What it is about is expectation, it’s about knowing where you stand, it’s about slogging your heart & guts out for months, even years, to achieve a goal and then find out it stands for nothing. Actually, you failed, sorry about that. And that’s what isn’t right, that’s where London have got it so very very wrong.

The London Marathon drives a huge amount of revenue & support for charity, I get that, and I fully support it. But the London Marathon is also part of the World Marathon Majors Series and with this comes a certain level of responsibility and respect for runners. On this occasion I think it’s let us down. On this occasion I think the London Marathon has failed.

Joining a running club

On May 1, 2013May 1, 2013 By Girl Running CrazyIn GeneralLeave a comment

My parents have been on at me for years to join a running club. In all honesty I’m not sure why it has taken me so long but tonight I bit the bullet & turned up for my first run with the Clapham Chasers!

As promised on their website, they were a friendly bunch and very welcoming. There was a brief welcome chat to the Monday night ‘social’ run and we were offered a choice of 3 pace groups, Fast, Intermediate and Novice. I decided to join the intermediate group. The leader was adamant that he would be sticking to a strict 8 minute mile pace and no one was to run faster than him, perfect. Anyone that wanted to run faster should go with the fast group, I didn’t think that would be wise on my first session, especially a week after running a marathon, 8 minute miles would do just nicely…

We set off on our run into Battersea Park; it’s a favourite and familiar running area of mine so I immediately felt at ease. The pace, however, felt rather punchy for 8mm. At first I wasn’t sure if it was my heavy post marathon legs that made it feel tougher than expected but then I clocked our second mile at 7.32! I was quite relieved we were running at a quicker pace rather than issues with my form.

We were running faster than I would on a solo training run but this was a pace I could keep up with and one that was going to make me a stronger runner. By mile 2 of my first ever club run I knew this was the place for me, and I was going to enjoy it!

So, I am now a fully-fledged member of the Clapham Chasers and I can’t wait for next week’s track session!

The day I ran a marathon and beat Mo Farah. 21st April 2013

On May 1, 2013August 7, 2017 By Girl Running CrazyIn Marathon Chat, Race Reports10 Comments

The alarm went off at 5.50am but I didn’t mind, it was Marathon Day, the day I had been waiting for and training hard for since Christmas and I was so excited! Marathon day is a funny day, it’s a day of possibilities & hope, of nerves & excitement, anything can happen.

Mum & Dad had been staying with me so they were already up & getting ready for their day in the crowd to cheer me on. My kit bag had been laid out the day before so a bowl of porridge & banana later and I was ready to go. Final check of the important things, race number, timing chip, black ribbon, Garmin, gels and I was out the door.

Walking towards the start line, which incidentally was up a massive hill which didn’t seem to end, I got chatting to a couple of friendly girls who were clearly experienced marathon runners. I asked them if they would be running with music and they both said no, they didn’t want to miss the atmosphere and the crowds. That was my decision confirmed; I would be running my first marathon with only crowd noise for support…they were going to have to be good today!

I was in the green start, the smallest start reserved for GFA and celebrities. It really was small, all the runners around me had also earned their place on the Good For Age start line and I felt privileged to be there. Runners at the green start are given as clear a start as possible, without getting in the way of the elites, champs and fast GFA’s who were at a separate start area. I kept an eager eye out for some celebs but didn’t catch sight of anyone, at least no one I recognised in lycra. Myself and Marie, one of the girls I had been chatting too, queued up for the toilet, sorted out our kit and fuel belts and headed to the baggage lorries. This was it, no turning back, nothing left to do but grab a bottle of water and head for the start line. It was really happening, marathon round 3.

The start line itself was tiny, I’m not sure where I’ve seen a start line so small and I’ve run a lot of races! I waited at the front of my pen for a while before spotting the RW 3.30 pacer, Matt Dunn, heading for the back of my pen. Decision time; I had been toying with the idea of trying to run with him part of the way, I knew I couldn’t go the whole way with him but if I could at least get half way I would be in a strong position and could then drop off. At this point I figured I didn’t have much to lose, if I couldn’t keep up I’d drop back, no problem. I know it’s not an ideal strategy, and one that would not go down well with Paula, but this was my race and I had to do it my way, even if I failed.

Before I knew it they were introducing the elites on the big screen, starting with Mo. There’s been a lot of controversy around Mo’s decision to run the first half of the marathon and my thoughts on this are probably worthy of seperate blog post, but in short, he’s a double Gold Olympic medallist, let him do what he wants, he’s earned that right.

Then there was the 30 second silence in memory of those who died at the Boston bombings just 6 days earlier. The bombings hit everyone pretty hard, but it struck deepest with runners. This was an attack on our community. This was an attack on a day that should have been filled with happiness & achievement, of celebration & joy, a day that brings people together. In the heart of runners, all around the world, we felt it, and it was still raw.

The silence was pretty moving with everyone falling completely still. There were some tears in peoples eyes. A few moments after the clock struck 10, the gun went off and we were on the move, we were ON THE MOVE!!

We started off pretty easy, the course was crowded but not so much that you couldn’t move through people and I kept steady with the pacer. By mile 2 we seemed to be dropping pace, I think he was having trouble getting through the crowd with the group around him so I started to just run at my own pace. Looking back this was an error, I accidently clocked mile 3 at 7.44 and mile 4 at 7.52, what the hell was I thinking?! I needed calm down.

I managed to keep a steady 8mm pace until around mile 10 when I felt a twinge in my right calf, I guess it was telling me to slow down but I wasn’t too worried, I hadn’t had a problem with this calf before so I had faith it could go the distance. I wouldn’t say I was starting to flag at this point but I was fully aware there were still another 16 miles to go and I couldn’t go on at the current pace, I had to drop it.

Although I dropped my pace, I kept fairly steady and took in the sights. One of my favourites was the magnificent view running across Tower Bridge just before the halfway point, especially as this is where the crowds start to thicken and are going crazy. When I say crazy, the crowds were immense, absolutely fantastic. There’s constant cheering, noise, whistles, ‘go on Kat, you can do it’. Don’t ever underestimate the power of your words to a marathoner runner. We hear you. We’re listening. You really do keep us going!

It wasn’t until mile 16 where my earlier miles came back to haunt me, I knew I was going to struggle. What a surprise. The sun was out, it was too warm, my calf was aching and I was losing energy. I tried not to be too hard on myself, I knew the risks going off at that pace and I was fully aware of the consequences, time to suck it up and power on.

The miles started to tick by quite slowly but people kept shouting my name, telling me I could do it, offering me jelly babies & smiles, telling me that I was nearly there, and all those things that you just want to believe at that moment.

Mile 20 was a welcome relief, it was just 10k from here, my family & housemate Zoe would be at mile 22, friends from work would be there with a big ‘Go Frenchy’, banner, other various people I knew would be in the crowd, and I knew the finish line would be there…somewhere.

Mile 22 passed and I knew I had to keep on the right if I was to see my family, the mile went on and on, 22.1…22.2…22.3…finally, at 22.6 I saw them, they were there! My Mum, Dad, Aunt, Uncle & Zoe had all got up at the crack of dawn and stood for hours on end just to see me run past, just to support me in this moment! It’s an amazing feeling.

I remember Dad standing there with a camera pointed at me and Zoe shouting ‘you’re awesome’ and I grabbed her hand. It’s such an unbelievable lift to see friendly faces when you’re so tired, struggling, wondering if you can actually do it. After that I knew I was so close, the crowds were absolutely insane, relentless, loud, shouting, willing you to succeed, to get to the finish line, how can you not find strength in that?

Finally I was almost there, mile 25 had passed and I’d even seen my friends Theresa & James in the crowd shouting at me which was a great surprise. Then the finish line was in sight, I’d rounded the corner on The Mall and there was one final stretch to go. Glancing at my watch I knew I’d missed my PB but I was already over it, it didn’t matter, it really didn’t matter, I was about to finish my third marathon!! This didn’t stop me attempting a bit of a sprint finish though, there was no excuse for a weak finish in my mind.

I went over the finish line in 3.50.39 and ran straight into Dickie. You know, Dickie B? OK, you might know him as Richard Branson but me & him are mates now you see. He shook my hand, smiled and I even thought of giving him a big sweaty hug…don’t worry, I didn’t!

The rest was pretty smooth, tag comes off your shoe, medal goes round your neck, goody bag, photo and then you find the baggage truck with your belongings. It didn’t take long to find my fabulous supporters, they were waiting in the ‘F’ section, as promised, with hugs and smiles and we all went to the pub. A champagne cocktail, a chicken salad, a massage and I was happy!

So that was it. I had run marathon number 3. Not only that, but I has raised nearly £400 for my charity, The Stroke Association.

I ran for Boston. I beat Mo Farah. I had a bloody brilliant day. And I knew there was more to come, I’m not hanging up my marathon shoes yet.