How do you pick which marathon to run next when you just want to run them all?!

On June 5, 2013August 7, 2017 By Girl Running CrazyIn General, Marathon Chat5 Comments

So I wasn’t accepted for the New York Marathon through the ballot. Given the $347 price tag for the entry fee alone I’m starting to think this was a good thing. I mean, for $347 I expect a solid gold diamond encrusted medal that weighs so much it’ll take me over my luggage limit on the flight home…

A few months ago, running more than one marathon in a year seemed slightly ludicrous to me, it’s just so much time and effort! But after London (where I failed to hit my PB let alone any other targets I set myself) I was keen for another challenge, especially as I now have the support of the Chasers (which I absolutely LOVE being a part of).

It also got me thinking, how much extra effort is it really? Really? I’m already pretty fit and I run on a regular basis, often clocking up 30+ miles a week outside of marathon training, so I just need to throw those extra long runs into the mix… What with the longer days and warmer(?) climes it’s got to be easier than training through the Winter. Hasn’t it?

So I now need an Autumn marathon to train for and my sense of adventure takes me outside of the UK. Like most marathon runners I have distant dreams of completing the World Marathon Major series, but it’s now June, Chicago has sold out, Berlin has sold out and New York were unaccommodating. What next?

Amsterdam was my back up if I didn’t get a place in New York, a guaranteed flat course, short flight and it’s a lovely little city…but then I found out the Chasers ‘official’ Autumn marathon would be Frankfurt…

I’ve been to Amsterdam before and I liked it. I’ve never been to Germany, what if I didn’t like the food? What if there was no pasta? What if it’s a city where no one understands me?! All these thoughts were going through my head and I struggled to make a decision, do I pick the ‘safe’ option in Amsterdam? Or do I sign up to a marathon in a country I’ve never been to before with a group of people who, although friendly, I don’t actually know at this point? What if they all finish an hour before me (likely) and I’m left in a post marathon daze on my own in a strange City?

Obviously I didn’t pick the safe option, that would be too easy. I’m going to Frankfurt with the club…

So I’m now entering my 4th marathon and I will still have only ticked one of the World Majors off the list. How many marathons am I actually going to run? The wishlist keeps getting longer… At what point will I break? How do I know when I’ve reached my peak? What if I reach the point where I never want to run again and get really fat and become a couch potato watching back to back soaps?

I don’t know the answers to these and I may very well find that 2 marathons in a year is one too many for me but, for the mean time, I’m fit, I’m healthy & I’m able and I fully intend to embrace that while I can.

I don’t speak German and I don’t like Hot Dogs, but I shall run the Frankfurt Marathon and celebrate with copious amounts of Jagermeister and pretzels, even if I am the last Chaser home!

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!

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