Tag: runner

May Training update

May Training Update 

May has been a busy month! Big birthday, big training sessions and weekends away! I’ve been a very lucky and busy lady.


Big Birthday….So a few days ago I turned the big 3 0! I’m excited to be in my thirties, just worried how quickly the last few years have gone! I’ve been spoiled rotten with a surprise trip to Copenhagen with one of my close friends Naomi, trip to Las Vegas, LA and San Francisco in June, meals out and my birthday party at Musselburgh races last week. I’m so lucky to have such wonderful friends, family and husband. Thank you for all your love and generosity!!

Big training sessions… less than two weeks to Celtman, I feel ready to race, I think training has gone well, my fitness has vastly improved over the last few months and I just want to complete it now!

Over the last few weeks, once a week I have a long brick session usually consists of a bike ride followed by a run. Progressively over the weeks the distance and time has got longer and longer. During the longer rides and runs I have been asking friends to come along with me for support. A few members of the triathlon club also have upcoming Ironman or long-distance events and have been keen to join me, thankfully! Although on the race day I will be by myself, during training it helps to have a friend to keep moral and make the training more fun. Thanks for the support everyone especially Sam, Zoe, Laura and Carrie!

At the start of May, I finally got time trial (TT) bars on my bike and a bike fit with Edinburgh Bike Fitting. I don’t know why I was ever scared of getting TT bars, I find the position comfortable and not as unstable as I thought. I feel I am faster on the bike especially with a head wind. I may even buy a TT bike in the future. 

In May, I have been trying to focus on doing my long runs on trails and hills and at least one open water swim a week. I have been running mostly on the Pentland hills or up Arthur’s seat to try and mimic race conditions. I’ve also managed to keep up my open water swims every week, even on holiday in Copenhagen without a wetsuit in fourteen degrees sea dock water (it wasn’t a long swim)!

Early May I went up to the north of Scotland to Sheildaig, to recce some of the Celtman course with my husband Sam. I met up with other competitors over the weekend, Robin, Kevin and Andrew. On the Saturday, we cycled the bike route (plus a little more), my longest bike ride to date 135miles! On race day, it will be 127miles. Sam joined us for the first hundred miles, and Robin for the first forty due to work commitments.

We were very lucky with the weather with only a sprinkle of rain but mostly a cloudy dry day.  The first part of the route takes you along the west coast, it’s a beautiful coast, and we even spotted seals sunbathing on the beach! After mile 75-80mile the route takes you back inland, it is less hilly but we were hit with a brutal head wind for about 20-25miles. Kevin’s wife Louise was practising supporting Kevin driving the course and stopping at lay bays. We were fortunate to be able to give our drinks and food to Louise, and top up when we stopped. I was able to practice eating and drinking regularly on the bike. We stopped three times in total to refuel, it took us just over eight hours in total. 

On Sunday early morning, I had a quick dip in the sea at Sheildaig with Andrew and Kevin. This is where we will be coming out of the water on race day. The water was cold but once I was fully submerged and swimming I warmed up. The water temperature was cold but living in Scotland I’m used to it, so not too shocking for me. I have been told about jellyfish during the race. That morning there were no jellyfish but I have been warned they come in June. I will definitely be wearing gloves, I really don’t want to touch their slimy bodies!

After breakfast, we headed over to transition two (T2) to complete part of the run course. The first section of the run is called Coulin Pass, its 18km. This section starts with a gradual hill for the first few kilometres, followed by a downhill and fairly flat to Transition 2A (T2A). From T2A the run starts climbing up Beinn Eighe. Unusually, there are two transitions on the run T2 and T2A. The second transition you are checked to see if you’re fit enough to go over the mountain and also a time limit cut off for the race. The first limit is 11 hours (blue t-shirt) from race start to completion of the full mountain course and 13 hours (white t-shirt) for the lower mountain course. After 13 hours, you have to stop the race. We took the run fairly leisurely, my legs were very tired from the ride the day before. After the run, we headed home. Ideally, I would have gone up Beinn Eighe to get an idea for race day but didn’t have enough time. Thankfully I have a support runner to help read the map and guide us up the mountain on race day.

It was a successful weekend and it was great meeting fellow competitors, Celtman triathlon has a real family feel to it, supportive rather than competitive. It gave me a real confidence boost, I now know I can complete the bike course (my biggest worry). Being faced with Beinn Eighe Mountain however, looked very daunting! I am fully aware I will be walking some of the marathon on the climb up the mountain.

With only two weeks left, I’ve now started my taper before the race. Tapering is basically when you reduce your training load over a period of time leading up to a race. Aiming to recover from training fatigue and maximise race day freshness.The key is to cut back your mileage, but to maintain training intensity (not to stop or relax). I am actually finding it strange reducing training but enjoying the extra time. However, that is being filled with race preparation, ha!

Overall, I am excited about the race and looking forward to putting the last seven months of training to good use!

My next blog post should hopefully be me celebrating finishing the race. Not long now, eeeeekkkkkkk!!!

Jenwaar

April Training update

It’s actually quite scary how quick this year is going! I can’t quite believe it’s May and only six weeks till Celtman! I am excited, worried and scared – all at the same time. It’s the final push and my training swims, rides, runs and brick sessions are getting longer and longer!

 April’s distances: I swam 22.3miles, cycled 207.5miles (not including turbo sessions) and ran 99.1miles. During April I swam and ran more and cycled less but I think that was down to racing twice in April. This will certainly change in May, looking at my training plan!

I completed a couple of races in April; East Fife Sprint triathlon and Great Edinburgh Run, (see my previous post for the race reports), I now have no more races until Celtman so I will be concentrating on the long-distance training.

In April, I went back to blonde, the blue has gone (for now ha!). I prefer being lighter but not really sure what colour I will go next!

 I’ve been reading lots of blogs from previous competitors of Celtman, and trying to find tips about the course. I’ve been really inspired by all their posts and it’s spurred me on in my training. Many people have mentioned the jelly fish in the Loch, I am dreading touching their slimy bodies on race day. Throughout all the posts I’ve read, everyone has thoroughly enjoyed the race and highly recommended doing it, which is reassuring.

I have been buying kit for the race, and starting to use them in training. Due to the nature of the race, I am required to have mandatory kit. During the run I have to run with a bag containing kit, food and water. I’ve been practising running with my bag with full kit, in preparation, and practising eating and drinking whilst running.

 Training has gone much better now the weather has improved. Last week was my first open water swimming session. I organised a social swim with members of Edinburgh Triathletes at Threipmuir reservoir in the Pentlands. It was a very windy day. The normally calm reservoir was very wavy, with almost sea like conditions! Lots of club members came and managed a short swim, it was very cold, I’m glad I had my extra heat vest under my wetsuit!

May training is getting quite intense, lots of long brick sessions, increasing every week. I’m practising what I plan to eat during the race, I’m awful at eating and exercising but definitely need to eat as I will be exercising all day!

Jenwaar

 

Great Edinburgh Run Race Report 2017

Great Edinburgh Run Report 2017

The Great Edinburgh Run is one of my favourite races. It’s my fourth consecutive year completing the run.  I may be a little biased, as I live in Edinburgh, but the route is a scenic hilly run through the heart of this wonderful city.

Sunday, I woke up feeling fresh after a good night’s sleep. I had my usual pre-race breakfast (porridge, blueberries and golden syrup / honey) and left the house. I’m fortunate to live close to the race and walked to the start line, meeting my friend Tiffany along the way. The sun was shining and I then realised I forgot my sunglasses. It was too late to go home to retrieve them, the same error I made last year!

We managed to get to the start line with a few minutes to spare and joined in the group warm up. We were in separate waves and parted ways. This year the run had a shorter five-mile route as well as the usual ten-miler. The short run had an earlier start at 9.30am and 10.10am for the longer route.  We were penned in our waves on the grass and when the start was ready, moved onto the road. I found this difficult to work out how to get near to the front and ended up nearly at the back.

I had no plan or time in mind for this race… my training has been focused towards long distance, keeping heart rate low and slower pace for Celtman (think Duracell bunny). I decided I would just run how I felt on the day, practice pacing and try and get close to last years’ time.

My start wasn’t great, the first couple of miles I was running around other competitors. The roads and paths in this section are quite narrow and it was hard to pass. Once I got to the first hill up the royal mile from the Scottish Parliament building, many runners started to space out and slow pace so I was able to get pass and settle into my own race.

After the first hill, I was so relieved that I decided to wear shorts instead of tights, the sun was shining and I was already feeling hot. The course no longer goes along Princes Street up the mound. Instead you go up Market Street, a steep hill by the mound. To make up the extra distance, the race now has loop through the meadows. My friend Eilidh was cheering me on at this stage, it was great to see a friendly face.

The half way point mile five goes through Grassmarket, lots of supporters and bemused tourist were cheering and clapping everyone on. I felt really good at this point, I looked down at my watch and I was keeping 7min 15secs pace I decided to try and keep this pace. I knew the next hill would be tough, it’s a steep start followed by a long incline up The Pleasance to the Royal Commonwealth pool. I got to the mile six sign and looked at my watch 44minutes.

After the long incline of mile six, you are rewarded with couple of miles downhill along the railway path to Duddingston village. I kept my pace steady, ready for the last hill of the course. From Duddingston village, the hill commences with wonderful views across South Edinburgh. At this point a few fellow runners around me started flagging and I encouraged them to keep going.

The last mile is downhill with a short flat dash to the finish. I just let my legs go and ran my fastest mile on my Strava! I finished strong with a sprint finish to the line.

My time; 1 hour 12minutes 5seconds, a personal best, 1min 35secs quicker than last year. Not much difference but last year I really pushed it and felt it! This year I finished feeling fresh, comfortable and I felt I could have run further after the race. I was pleasantly surprised I was 11th Female overall and 8th in my female age group.

Tiffany also did really well, with a personal best. We celebrated after by having a roast dinner and a catch up!

The Great Edinburgh run again this year was well organised, with a good atmosphere and well supported along most of the course. This year I noticed they stopped the iconic bagpipers at each mile, I missed them and also the finisher’s bag didn’t have any solid food just water and a yoghurt breakfast drink. I need some sort of substance after a race. Overall I would definitely recommend this race, hopefully next year I can get below 1 hour 10mins.

Jenwaar

East Fife Sprint Triathlon

East Fife Sprint Triathlon

I woke up Sunday morning feeling tired, and with a sore tummy, not a great start for a race! After breakfast, I did feel a little better, I worked Friday night and I hadn’t quite caught up on sleep. My husband Sam wasn’t feeling great either but that could be down to race day nerves. It was his first ever triathlon!

We arrived in Cupar early, registered and racked up in transition. This was a pool based swim, unusually the swim heats were not in the traditional slowest swimmers first to the fastest in the final heat. They changed the format, the fastest two heats went first followed by the two slowest and then the two heats in between. Sadly, this meant I wouldn’t see Sam swim but I would see him finish the race.

Photo credit; Mac Images Active Lifestyle Photography

After race briefing, I went straight to the pool as I was in the first heat. Pool side nerves kicked in especially when everyone else about you is wearing Scotland and Great Britain age group team tri suits! Once I started I felt fine, the lanes were pretty crowded with 6 in each lane. The swim was a bit of a disaster, I was third in my lane it took a few lengths before I was in front. The swimmer behind me touching my leg and I moved over (as per race instructions) but then she would swim slower after that, basically kept swapping between 3-4 of us. Some of the athletes got a bit vicious with the leg pulling and I didn’t want to go all out on the swim so dropped to second or third in the lane and drafted. In hindsight, I should have gone a bit faster to begin with, then settled into the swim rather than swim at my long-distance pace in preparation for Celtman. Swim time 11mins 50secs but I was aiming for 11mins, but considering what happened I was pleasantly surprised it wasn’t slower.

  Photo credit: Chris Wallard Photography

Out of the pool and into transition when it got was a pretty heated between two athletes in my swim lane. I kept my cool and got out of transition as soon as I could. T1 time, 1min 35secs.

Photo credit; Mac Images Active Lifestyle Photography

I felt pretty fresh after the swim, and jumped on my bike out of Duffus park. The first part of the bike race was on a gravely path before getting onto the road and straight up a long steep hill. The course has a two loop around Moonzie and then back down the big hill at the start. I really enjoyed the course, mixture of hills and flat sections, apart from the strong head wind on the A92! I passed a couple of people cycling up the hill and kept my pace. No one overtook me, which is really unusual! I definitely feel I have made vast improvements on the bike and managed an 18.9mph average! My bike time 47mins 54secs- super pleased. Transition two was uneventful, T2 time 52secs.

Photo credit; Mac Images Active Lifestyle Photography

The run course was one lap, 4.7km. Out of the car park and up a long hill for the first couple of kilometres. Surprisingly, it was sunny in Scotland and I actually felt hot in just my tri suit! The run route took us through a farm and along a closed road back to Duffus park to the finish. My legs were pretty tired, one of my club members overtook me towards the end and I couldn’t keep up with him. Run time 20minutes 55secs.

Photo credit: Rose Campbell

After the race I got to see Sam finish his bike leg and cheer him on during the run and finish. He did really well and I’m super proud, however I don’t think I can convince him yet to compete in another triathlon anytime soon.

Overall my race went well… I was fifth female and second senior female! My first ever podium and most likely last, total surprise! My total time was 1 hour 23minutes 7secs. The race was well organised, the volunteers and marshals very friendly. I have a few areas for me to improve on but overall the race was a success. My next race is Edinburgh Great run on 23rd April.

Jenwaar

March Training Update

March Training update

Less than 3 months away from Celtman (OMG!!!).  I’m starting to get excited but on the whole a nervous wreck! Race day is slowly creeping up, I keep wondering why I even entered? I do know why… I love a challenge and to push myself (maybe too much). I am really enjoying training (most days), but keep having moments of self doubt.

This month the volume of training has increased. In March I swam 16.2 miles, cycled 325.3miles (not including turbo sessions) and ran 82.8miles.

Run and bike sessions, especially, have been further and longer. Swimming is the same, one to three sessions a week. I have noticed I am swimming slightly slower and weaker in the pool but I will be cycling and running much longer during the race so need to concentrate on these disciplines more.   I’ve been having a mixture of mainly good but a few bad or tired days/sessions.  I am feeling a lot fitter, I’ve lost weight and my times in training are getting quicker.

My main problem is getting the right balance between, work, training, and sleeping. Shift work can work in my favour sometimes, such as having more days off from work. It can also work against it as 12.5 hour shifts, mean I can only do a short session that day. My shift pattern is irregular and I can work a mixture of nights and days in the same week, with interrupted and little sleep. Not so great with training. I am trying to get more sleep, with at least 6 hours but aiming for 8 hours most nights or days.

In March I have been starting brick sessions, doing back to back sessions to imitate the race. Brick training refers to the stacking of two disciplines during the same workout, one after the other with minimal to no interruption in between. It is really essential to practice this prior the race. The brick sessions so far have mainly consisted of long bike ride followed by a short brick run. Over the next few weeks, the bike and runs will be further distances and also adding in a swim session.

This week I bought some trail shoes, I will start running on trails and hills to mimic race conditions… two Munroes, I’m sweating just thinking about it! I’m quite excited about getting out and exploring hills and trails, rather than running on roads and urban areas.

In April training sessions are longer and more brick sessions. I have my next triathlon at East Fife and would like to improve from Tranent triathlon. Now the weather is starting to get warmer, I hope to start open water swimming sessions.

 

Jenwaar

Tranent Sprint Triathlon

Edinburgh University Tranent Sprint Triathlon

Tranent Sprint Triathlon is a popular race which sells out each year with a long waiting list. Finally, this year I got my act together and entered as soon as entry was live. It is a well-established race hosted by Edinburgh University Triathlon.

First race of the season, I was excited and little nervous at breakfast. My wake up wasn’t too early as the race is fairly local. I really didn’t have any expectations, time or goal for the race, which maybe I should have… I kept having random thoughts such as; I’ve been running at zone two pace (running slower for aerobic endurance) and heartrate for most my runs the last three months I wondered if I could run faster? Should I go all out at the swim? Will I be able to sprint the whole race when I’ve been training for endurance? I think it was just race nerves but having some sort of plan may have helped. I decided to see how I felt at the start and have fun.

Being so close to home, lots of the Edinburgh triathlete club members compete. I think we had a head count of about twenty-ish of us, all in purple. Seeing so many other club members always puts me at ease on race day. I can talk over my race day nerves, discuss the course, kit and tactics etc. The support is also great, cheering each other on and celebrating PB’s and podium places.

I arrived at Tranent for 8am to register and set up in transition, briefing was at 8.30am and the race started at 9am. The swim is in a pool, you are placed in heats on your predicted swim time. The longer swim times swim first with the quickest in the last heat. There were eight heats, I was in heat seven which didn’t start till 11.25am so had a long wait. I just relaxed, chatted with other club mates and cheered on others who started before me.

When my heat was called up, I was quite relieved and just wanted to get on with the race. 750metres in a 25metre pool, 30 lengths in total. Each lane had five swimmers, each of us had a coloured cap to wear. The caps represented which order in the lane you started in. I was the fourth swimmer in my lane. From looking at my heat prior to race I noted my whole lane had the same predicted time. I usually put a slower time, so if I wasn’t feeling great on the day I don’t feel overwhelmed by my predicted time. Once we started I felt at ease and within four lengths of the pool I was the first swimmer in the lane. After a few lengths I lost count, I looked down at my watch and realised it was in open swim mode, oops. Luckily there are marshals counting for me but I couldn’t really predict how fast I was swimming so I went at a comfortable pace until I was told it was my last two lengths by the marshal and sprinted the last 50 metres. I jumped out the pool, and cautiously ran downstairs and outside to transition. Swim time; 11mins 41 secs, little disappointed as I know I can swim faster but a solid time.

Transition one was quite quick for me; helmet, shoes, socks and bike on and off I went. Transition one time; 1min 33secs.

The bike course is 12miles, fairly hilly route through Elphinstone, towards Cousland and Ormiston, back to Tranent. I did a recce of the bike course in the run up to the race, unfortunately, it is not a closed road event and there are two sets of traffic lights. This year at the four-way traffic lights (second set of lights) organisers arranged to have the path over the bridge reserved for competitors so you didn’t have to stop at the lights.

Sadly, in addition to the one set of permanent traffic lights, the local council had commenced some roadworks with temporary traffic lights in Ormiston. Marshals were at the roadworks, if you got stopped, they took down your number and deducted the time of your wait at the lights from your total cycle time. I got stopped at the roadworks for about 60-80seconds, at this point I got cold from the wait and it did interrupt momentum somewhat.

When I started on the bike, the heavens decided to open and as I am quite a timid cyclist at the best of times I went as fast as I felt safe. Once I got back to transition my hands and feet were numb. Why did I think competing in just a tri-suit in March was a good idea? I was fairly pleased with my bike ride as I’ve improved so much in the last twelve months however my bike time wasn’t amended! Bike time; 38minutes 16secs.

Transition two was uneventful, T2 time; 1min 5secs.

The five kilometre run route was a double loop of the local housing estate. I was pretty cold after the bike so was looking forward to warming up on the run. I managed to keep a steady pace and my feet warmed up quiet quickly. I was pleasantly surprised I could keep up a faster pace despite my zone two worries. Run time; 22mins 50secs.

The race was a success and it was nice to get back into racing. I was fourth female overall and third in my age group, my total time was1 hour 15mins 28secs. Looking back at my previous results my last sprint triathlon was at Hawick 2015 and my overall time was 1 hour 25mins 15secs so a massive PB, super pleased.

I really enjoyed the race, it was well organised and had a very relaxed atmosphere. All competitors, volunteers and marshals were very friendly and encouraging. Apart from the wait to start the race (unavoidable) and my bike time not being amended, I would highly recommend this race especially for your first ever triathlon. Well done to all the Edinburgh triathletes especially Eilidh Yates for winning overall female and Lynn Hanley for winning female super Veteran.

My next race is East Fife sprint on 9th April. This will be my husband’s first triathlon, so really, I’m supporting him but hopefully I can improve my times.

Jenwaar