When do you declare Game Over?

On May 27, 2016 By Girl Running CrazyIn General6 Comments

Katherine French. Liverpool Marathon. DNS. That’s what it will say next to my name this weekend. Another marathon, another fail.

After falling some way short of target in London, I wanted to give it another go whilst I was still marathon fit because, quite honestly, the thought of another season training for an Autumn marathon simply makes me want to throw allllll my trainers in the bin and swear a lot. But it’s quite evident that I just don’t have that kind of speed in my legs at the moment. Entering Liverpool and thinking I could smash it really wasn’t my brightest idea.

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It was all a bit too perfect. 5 weeks after London, a large UK marathon, a friend with a flat I could stay in, I’d even managed to wing a lift there and back. But my heart and my body had a full blown argument that only my body could ever win.

I know exactly what would have happened.

Turn up at the start line
Full of hope, but knowing I probably wouldn’t make it
But maybe, just maybe I could make it?
Purposely set off just behind the 3:30 pacer and hang on for dear life
Curse the sodding hills that I was warned about
Fall off the pace
Get angry
Walk
Hate everyone overtaking me
Hate myself for being rubbish
Hate life
Be the the very last person to finish the Liverpool Marathon in the slowest time on record. Ever
Cry
Still not get into Boston
Hate running

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It might sound silly, but I know myself well enough to know that would be the most likely outcome right now. It wasn’t worth it.

Last week someone said to me, in reference to London,

‘Remember when you spent 6 months training for a marathon and then jogged it?!’

Whilst there was obviously an air of jest, it doesn’t change the fact that it is indeed true. I trained really hard for London and still didn’t have what it takes to achieve what I wanted to. I just can’t get that out of my head. When it came to game time, the really serious-poker-face-hardcore bit, I jogged.

It’s definitely game over for this season. But is it game over for good? I don’t know. How do you know? I’m not sure I have any coins left to play again.

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Annoyingly, I had cancelled all my fun weekend plans to go to Liverpool so I’m now plan-less for the Bank Holiday. But instead of killing myself on the streets of Liverpool on Sunday, you’ll find me bumbling along the North Downs Way eating Jenn’s Jelly Babies (and other nutritional snacks), and talking to Barry about alarm clocks (and other important things). I’m much happier about that. I think.

When I finally made the decision to pull out I felt a huge sense of relief, I didn’t have to actually run another marathon! But the dark cloud? That hasn’t shifted yet.

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Green Belt Relay – Round 3!

On May 26, 2016May 26, 2016 By Girl Running CrazyIn Race ReportsLeave a comment

Last weekend was the annual Green Belt Relay, it’s one of the Chasers favourite events of the year and never fails to be an awesome weekend away.

At the start line

The Facts:

GBR is a 220 mile running relay around London’s scenic Green Belt
The race is made up of 22 stages over 2 days
Stages differ in length, terrain, elevation, and navigational difficulty to allow everyone to participate
Teams of 11 race 1 leg per day across the 2 days
A record 40 teams entered the GBR this year, Chasers made up 3 of them
Although the routes are marked, you are reliant on your own navigation to make sure you don’t get lost
The smooth running of the event relies on participation from all teams to help marshal each stage and provide water stations
It is not flat!

Marshaling duties – Chasers this way, Serpies, errr, that way…

The Highs:

Chasers took 9 stage wins in total
Bryn smashed the leg 17 course record by over 3 whole minutes!
Leg 3 and Leg 14 were lovely routes
There was a pub right next to where Graham and I were marshaling (phew)
We got to stay at the high class Miami hotel in Essex again
I got to spend the whole weekend with Gemma
I didn’t crash a minibus!
It was Nathalie’s 30th birthday so there was lots and lots of cake
We rescued 2 injured runners from leg 10 and safely got them back to their friends and relations

The Lows:

I had a bit of a breakdown on not just one, but both of my stages
My legs didn’t work
My lungs didn’t work
I was a little bit sick in a bush near the River Lea
We accidentally forgot to pick up the leg 10 runners at the end of their run – sorry 😦
Sleep. There was none
A Serpie on leg 17 rudely told our helpful marshals to ‘get out the way, I know where I’m going’ – Simon Barrett, shameful & unnecessary, you give Serpies a bad name

The Learnings:

There’s a possibility I still haven’t fully recovered from the London Marathon
It’s easier to write the route on your hand than look at a map
No matter how many times Gemma tells you how pathetic you are, it won’t make your legs move faster
No matter how pathetic you actually are, Gemma will never leave you
It’s much more fun to cartwheel and pirouette at the finish line than run sensibly
No one can beat Bryn
You can always count on Ross to run an extra leg if there’s an injury
You can also always count on Ross to wear very tight shorts
No one enjoys Ross’s very tight shorts as much as our Barry. He even has a special dance
You can’t wash your hair with a bar of soap no matter how hard you try (and Jenn really did try)
The Green Belt Relay was, as it always has been, a very well organised, fun and all-round brilliant event

Huge thanks to the Stragglers, and everyone else involved in organising the GBR, and Bryn for organising the Chasers. Until next year!

The Finish Line

The only real trouble with the Green Belt Relay is that there is no down time, no time for a drink, and definitely no time to pop into a cactus fair…

Review: Best’s Bootcamp

On May 1, 2016May 1, 2016 By Girl Running CrazyIn General, ReviewsLeave a comment

I always have good intentions of giving my tired limbs a whole week off exercise after running a marathon, but I’m shamelessly addicted to sweat drenched workouts so, when I was invited to be one of the very first people to try out London’s hottest new bootcamp since Barry’s on Thursday, I really couldn’t say no!

When I turned up to Best’s Bootcamp’s brand new swanky studio in Charing Cross, it was clear this was going to be a tough workout, the trainer’s were all ripped and the studio, complete with DJ, looked serious…perhaps not the gentle return to exercise my body had in mind!

The dimmed room is lined with 22 treadmills facing floor length mirrors, with each having a workout station behind it so you can switch between running, and strength based exercises throughout the class. I was given a treadmill (a treadmill complete with a personal fan no less) to start on, so my legs would just have to deal with what ever was coming their way!

Named ‘Tread Army’, we were given the choice of starting on 8, 10 or 12 kph which steadily increased by increments of 2 throughout the 7 minute warmup, before I knew it I was up to 14 and hoping I wouldn’t fly off!

We then switched to the floor station where we were now the ‘WorkerBs’ for 7 minutes of squats, lunges and jumps on a soft box which, handily, you can flip over for a choice of 2 heights, I took the lower option, don’t judge me!

The studio has a unique Trainer Cam on the wall so, wherever you are in the room, you can always see what you’re supposed to be doing and focus on form rather than straining your neck to see what’s going on. I though this was a great addition because, with just 60 seconds or so per exercise, you don’t want to waste any time.

Already exhausted, I was back in the Tread Army again, increasing both speed and incline for some lung busting hill work and speed intervals, the legs were coping well. Back on the floor we performed various kettlebell moves to work on the arms, back and glutes, I’m not used to kettlebells so this was hard!

The final sweat session on the treadmill involved more speedwork and hills, but also involved some downhill running (who knew treadmills could go downhill?!) This felt really odd to me and I couldn’t quite get used to it so I went back to zero (I kept the speed the same though, I promise!). We then moved on to the last section of floor work to attack the abs, and attack we did with a mix of weighted sit ups and planks.

Aaaandd finally the 50 minute workout was over, the very first Best’s Bootcamp class complete – ouch! On leaving the studio we were treated to a post workout shake from the Blend Bar. I chose the Berry Blast which was a mix of strawberries, blueberries, cranberries, almond milk and vanilla whey, perfect recovery, it was delicious!

The face says it all!

I thought Best’s Bootcamp was a pretty fantastic workout, intense, tough, sweaty and a good mix of cardio, strength training and HIIT. To make the most of it, I would recommend having a good base level of fitness beforehand or you might struggle, but otherwise it’s a workout that delivers on everything you could want from a bootcamp, with some pretty top notch equipment, in a stylish studio, and changing rooms stocked with Kiehls, hair dryers and GHDs. And how did I feel the next day? Errr, it hurt, but that’s the only way I would have it!

Best’s Bootcamp is just a 2 minute walk from both Charing Cross and Embankment station and opens on 9th May, with individual classes priced at £20. I highly recommended you check it out, I have a feeling it’s going to be very popular very soon! #BeYourBest

Many thanks to Marcel Grabowski Photography for all the great photos and Best’s and Action PR for having me. I was invited as a guest to try out Best’s Bootcamp. As always, all opinions are my own.