training – Page 3

Scottish half marathon race report

I entered the race a few weeks before when my left calf and ankle felt fine. The 5 days before my race my calf was really tight, the foam rolled it out and stretched but it didn’t budge! It didn’t help that I worked three 12 and half hour shifts on the run up to the race.

I woke up on the day, fully aware of my tight calf but I decided to race. I stretched, used the foam roller and was quite optimistic about the race. I was willing to see how my leg would hold up and if at the start line or during race it felt bad, really sore or I was concerned I wouldn’t start or stop running. I met up with some friends at the train station to travel to Prestonpans.

We walked to the start and my leg didn’t feel too bad. My aim for the race was to complete it and not push for a personal best (PB). I had a time /pace I wanted to complete it in but also didn’t want to injure myself anymore. I warmed up and felt quite positive, not too sore. The race has a split start/finish. The race commenced at Meadowmill sport centre in Prestonpans. I entered my pen for the start and a few minutes later the gun went off and we started, I eased into the race.

The Scottish half marathon is a fairly new race; this was its third year. I read in advance this was quite a flat and fast race, great for PB’s. Last year I supported my husband and wished I had completed the race myself.

For the first few miles the course felt like we were just descending through East Lothian. I was running way too quickly, I had to slow myself down a couple of times as I knew I wouldn’t be able to keep this pace up. Once I got to the coastal road the course flattened with a few undulating sections. I was able to keep my pace much better at this point.

The course had a short out and back section on the coastal road, then it was a long run to the finish at Musselburgh. At this point around the 5 mile point I saw Gemma Hockett in her trade mark running briefs. I follow Gemma on Instagram, I plucked up the courage to say Hello (I’m such an instastalker). Gemma and I got chatting, Gemma had recently returned to running after an injury so pacing her race rather than racing. We ended up running the rest of the race together.

The race takes you through Port Seton, Cockenzie, Seton Sands and ending up at the finish at Musselburgh race course. The eight miles along the coastal road had a strong head wind and I really felt it during the last two to three miles. I was really struggling at this point due to my lack of run training over the last six months. My calf was also really sore from mile eleven but manageable, I was nearly at the finish so I wasn’t going to stop (I do not advocate this). I have to thank Gemma for keeping me going!

I was pretty pleased with my time overall 1hr 41mins 21secs. I was aiming for 1hr 45mins so better than I thought, but that was likely due to the quick start. I would definitely say if you wanted a PB this was the course to do it in as long as the head wind isn’t too strong.

Overall it was well organised, marshalled and the race didn’t feel over crowded. I would compete in this race again. Cons would be that the coastal route was lovely in some places, but quite a boring course with long periods of no support because there are no footpaths. This year the medals were not ready, even now two weeks later we still haven’t received our medals. I run regularly and not too fussed about this but for some runners this may be their big event of the year! This is pretty poor organisation by the event team.

Now race season is over my giving my calf a rest. I’m not running for 6-8weeks and focusing on cycling and swimming. I have also started back at the gym regularly aiming to do 2-3 sessions a week. Hopefully my calf will get sorted after some rest!

Jenwaar

Aberfeldy Middle Distance Triathlon

I’ve been lacking in blog posts recently apologies. Sadly, my Granddad suddenly passed away four weeks ago and my husband broke his wrist during a bike race (on the same day).

My Granddad has always been a big part of my (and my family’s) life especially over the last few years as we’ve lived so close by. I got my sportiness from my Granddad. He had always been into sports, competing when he was younger playing football, golf and badminton. He was a coach and umpired many matches. He also umpired the Badminton for the Edinburgh Commonwealth games in 1970. In his later years he took up the role of the spectator. He supported me during my first half marathon four years ago in Glasgow, and watched me in London at ITU triathlon last year. He always thought I was mad completing in triathlons! He will be so sadly missed!!

Sam is making a good recovery, is now back to work and now doing some light exercise.

As a result my training and blog writing two weeks prior to Aberfeldy was sporadic and somewhat lacking.

Saturday afternoon Sam and I drove up to Perthshire, checked into our beautiful AirBnB accommodation overlooking Loch Tay. I then went to register for the triathlon, go to race briefing and drop of my transition two bag. In the evening we went to an Italian restaurant with some friends from Edinburgh triathletes for a good carbohydrate load.

Sunday morning 4.45am alarm, triple checked my kit, ‘evacuated’ and had my usual race day breakfast porridge with blueberries, banana and cup of green tea. I was surprisingly relaxed; I hadn’t put any pressure on myself this race. I’ve had a lot of trouble with my ankle and not been running (maybe 5-6 times in the last two months) so all I wanted to do was complete the race and not worsen my injury.

I made it down to Loch Tay with just enough time to check my tyre pressures, rack up, get my wet suit on and also get bitten by a few midges! I saw a few friendly faces from Edinburgh Triathletes, managed a quick team photo and we were called to the start.

The start was in the water between two buoys, the water temperature was 13 degrees, pretty cold and clustered start! Once I got going the temperature was no longer a problem and I was able to swim away from the main group. The swim route was one lap and in a triangle. This race I felt my sighting was better, maybe because I was in the first group and there were less competitors in this race. My garmin statistics say otherwise, I swam an extra 200metres and my swim time wasn’t great for me (34minsmins 33secs) so I was a little disappointed.

I got out of the water feeling a little dizzy and ran up to transition one to my bike. I had to sit down to take off my wetsuit and put my cycling gear on. When I was ready the dizziness had passed and I ran out of transition, and started cycling. Transition time 4mins, 28secs.

The cycle route went ok; the weather was beautiful which helped. I felt alright going up Schiehallion, however I found cycling around the first side of Loch Rannoch quite hard. There was a strong head wind, my legs were pedalling but I felt like I was going slowly and lots of people were overtaking me. Once I got around the other side of the Loch and had the couple of gels and jelly babies I had kicked in. I felt stronger and my pace was better. Going back over Schiehallon wasn’t too bad either; I think I was just looking forward to the long dissent back down. I found the last 10miles after the dissent from Keltneyburn to Aberfeldy a struggle, lucky it was fairly flat and made it back to transition two in one piece. My bike time was 3hrs 15mins 7secs, pretty pleased with that as it was quite a hilly course.

Picture credit: live active sport

Transition two was fairly uneventful, apart from my dash to the toilet, I needed to go for an hour on the bike and there were no toilets at the feed stations. I didn’t want to expose myself to follow competitors on the bike route. Transition time 2mins, 35secs.

So the run was hard, very hard! My legs felt tired right away. Straight out of transition we ran up a small hill and I honestly thought ‘was I going to complete this?’ I ran past Sam after the hill, shouting and cheering, which spurred me on. The course was a there and back along a quiet road, with the occasional car passing. It was now 11am, the sun was shining and it was 18-20 degrees! Lucky I remembered to put my sunscreen on in the morning. My plan was just to make it to the end so I decided to walk at the feed stations (under a minute each time), take on a little water each time and have at least two gels during the run. My tactics worked quite well, I managed to run past a few runners. The course was quite undulating, I was aware of my ankle (not painful) between mile three and five which then subsided. At mile eight my legs felt like pure lead. At this point I started to see fellow ET’s going the other way, the friendly faces and a few high fives helped me continue on. I was really struggling the last three miles, I knew I would finish but I was so tired and frustrated that my legs were heavy and sore. At this point I was constantly looking at my watching checking the total distance. I made it to the finish and even managed a ‘sprint finish’ through the finishing tunnel. Run time 1hr 52mins 38secs. I knew my time wasn’t going to be any good due to the lack of run training however I finished and my ankle held up.

Overall it was a successful race, I finished uninjured and it was a beautiful course and day. Total time was 5hrs 49mins 22secs. I was 5th in my age group and 14th female overall. This race was never going to be my best due to the build-up, my recent training and my ankle injury. Taking the pressure off the race did make it more enjoyable. Not to have that constant stress of finishing in certain time or being disappointed at the finish if you didn’t. On reflection I need to still work on my open water swimming and sighting, be quicker in transition one and hopefully get back to regular running again.

Next challenge is the Scottish half marathon on 18th September. Since Aberfeldy my ankle has, so far, been ok and I have been running twice a week. It’s so frustrating that I’m not at my usual fitness but I’m so glad to be running again. This next race I will be doing with friends; my aim is to finish uninjured so I won’t be pushing for a personal best or a particular finishing time.

Jenwaar

Training update

Since the Ironman Staffordshire 70.3 in June I’ve entered myself into another middle distance triathlon in Aberfeldy on 21^st August. Last week I organised a recce of the bike course with some members of Edinburgh triathlon club. The course starts from Kenmore, over Schiehallion, around Loch Rannoch and back to Aberfeldy. The course is quite hilly especially climbing back over on Schiehallion road. I would always advocate doing the bike course prior so there aren’t any surprises on race day. This triathlon is not a closed road event due to the remote location so finding out about local traffic management such as when you have right of way etc, is really important. Sadly the weather wasn’t great (windy and drizzly) but the rain stayed away and we even management a short post run after the bike.

Generally training is going ok…. I’ve had trouble with my left foot, ankle and calf, again. I saw my physiotherapist post Staffordshire and he massaged my leg and gave me exercises which really helped. He advised just running once a week on the run up to Aberfeldy triathlon. The pains went away and I thought I could try running two or three times a week, BIG MISTAKE!! On Friday my leg was tight and over the weekend it’s been sore. I didn’t train at all this weekend. I’m such an idiot, I’m finding it hard not to run regularly as I’ve always been a runner it’s so frustrating! This week I’m not running at all and I will continue cycling, swimming and gym sessions. If it continues to hurt I will return to my physiotherapist for a telling off and massage. I’m not very good at being injured and also got to remember I’m lucky I can continue with the other disciplines!

On a positive note my cycling has vastly improved, I’m much quicker and really enjoying cycling. I’ve even managed a couple of Queen of the Mountains on Strava! I think I may enter a road race soon.

I‘ve also changed my hair again, it’s now silver lilac (grey). I much prefer this to the bottle blonde look but I only dyed it blonde so I could go this colour. Next time I’m at the hairdressers I will go more lilac as it fades quite quickly. This photo is me and Sam at our friends wedding a couple of weeks ago. The wedding had a festival / fete vibe and relaxed atmosphere with family and friends fully involved. I had a great time being master of ceremonies and danced and drank the night away. Congratulations Briony and Alex, thanks for inviting us to your wonderful day!!

It’s now only four weeks away till Aberfeldy triathlon! If you see me in between please remind me only to run once a week!!

Jenwaar

Beachbarre – BarreConcept by the beach

Beachbarre

I never really enjoyed ballet as a child. I wasn’t very graceful, partly because I was the tallest in my class and always got the male parts in the show as there were no boys in our class. My ballet career ended age six, grade one (or two?) with a slight complex.

I was invited to try a BarreConcept fitness class on the beach by Veronika from Edinbarre. Luckily you don’t need any ballet experience and they don’t require you to do a recital during the class, phew!

Created by Pilates master Emma Newman, BarreConcept is a challenging workout which combines strength conditioning, Pilates, yoga and ballet.

On Saturday afternoon I headed down to Cramond beach and luckily the weather was sunny. We warmed up on the beach, facing the beautiful Firth of Forth. It seemed my pirouetting days would come flooding back as Veronika eased us into the class.

We went onto the ramp and used the railings as ballet bars. I was constantly working on posture, balance and body positioning. The class consisted of basic movements, lunges, plies and leg raises. During some movements we pulsed and held static holds, by the end of the class my legs were shaking like a leaf.

To finish off we stretched to ‘elongate the muscles’. As a runner and triathlete, I have the flexibility of a brick so struggled with this part of the class. I was however pretty pleased I could touch my toes by the end.

Overall I really enjoyed the class and found it quite challenging. It was a good leg workout, my legs were achy afterwards! The setting was beautiful at the beach and Veronika is a lovely enthusiastic teacher. I would highly recommend and would definitely go again (no complex this time).

For more information email Veronika at info@edinbarre.co.uk, she has classes across Edinburgh.

Jenwaar

Photo credits Rob Tesh.

Training weeks 15-17

The last couple of weeks of training has gone well. The weather has been improving and I’ve managed to get out on the bike more, slowly getting more miles in, with both running and swimming going well.

My ankle and calf are both doing well, I’ve not had any pains for two weeks. I’ve continued the physiotherapy exercises daily and they seem to be working!

Last Friday was my birthday, my last year in my twenties! I finished nights in the morning and after a short nap, Sam treated me to a shopping spree in Glasgow. We met up with some friends for a Mexican meal and we all went to a gig to see Marissa Nadler. I had the day off training, had a few cheeky Margaritas and was treated like a princess.! Thanks Sam!! ️

Edinburgh has had amazing weather over the last couple of weeks and I’ve managed a few open water swimming sessions at Threipmuir reservoir. I was pleasely surprised that the water wasn’t that cold (once I got swimming). I’ve been trying to open water swim at least once a week in the run up to the race. I really don’t like swimming with a wetsuit, I find it quite restrictive. It usually takes me a couple of sessions each season to feel comfortable in swimming in my wetsuit. I would highly recommend and or insist on practicing before a race! During my first open water race I panicked and felt I couldn’t breath even after a couple of training sessions in my wetsuit.

On Sunday I competed in a triathlon relay race with Edinburgh triathletes. The race consists four team members completing a mini triathlon after each other. The distances are quite short; a 300metres swim, 7km bike and 1.5km run. The team consists of two ladies and two men, the order for the race is girl, boy, girl boy. The relay was at Knockburn, Aberdeenshire at a purpose built triathlon venue. We had a glorious day resulting in sunburn on my back and forehead (I never learn!) I started the race, my swim was quick, I got kicked in the head and I couldn’t get my wetsuit off my right leg after the swim but that’s racing! My bike ride was alright and I felt my run was slow but the time wasn’t too bad. I found sprinting each discipline really hard as I’ve been training for long distance (steady pace) so after 23minutes my lungs felt like they were going to explode! The race was well organised and I really enjoyed the post race food (fancy sandwich and ginger cake). Overall we were tenth out of 24 teams so pretty pleased with the result and we all had a fun day out.

Yesterday I completed a long brick session – I cycled 50miles and ran 10miles. I now feel confident enough I can complete the race. My aim in this session was just to complete it, I kept a good pace whilst cycling and ran relatively slowly. My run time was pretty rubbish but I didn’t want to push it, plus it was 21 degrees in Edinburgh! On the bike I mimicked my nutrition for the race with two gels and a porridge bar. For hydration I had one energy drink and half a bottle of water. On the run I had one gel but had to stop to buy water as it was so hot! On race day I will probably just have a sip of water every 3-4miles. When I run a half marathon I don’t usually take anything on board as it usually comes back up, so my aim is to try and take as much fluid and nutrition as I can on the bike.

I’m currently writing this blog on a flight to Barcelona. I’m away with friends for a week, we are going to Primavera Sound music festival followed by a few days in Barcelona, can’t wait!

I’ve now only two weeks away from Staffordshire Ironman 70.3 (well actually 11 days), I strangely feel ok about it. I’m now going to start tapering, in preparation for the race. Perfect time for holiday (not), I intent to stop drinking from Sunday, continue running and cycling at the hotel gym. I also intend to fully enjoy my holiday!

I’m about to two weeks behind on my blog, I wrote this on Wednesday 1st June. I’ve now completed Staffordshire Ironman 70.3 on Sunday, yippee! Blog post to follow soon.

Jenwaar x

Great Edinburgh Run 2016

Great Edinburgh Run

My first race this year, Sunday 17^th April 2016, I made my way to Holyrood Park for the start of the Great Edinburgh run. I felt a little tired when I got up however after a big bowl of porridge, honey and berries I was ready to get my game face on!

I’m lucky enough to live close by and walked to the start after meeting my friend Tiffany. I packed for the race the night before so my start wasn’t too early.

I’ve run this race for the last three years and it’s a favourite of mine. It’s a hilly ten mile course through Edinburgh city centre. Half the course is up hill and the other half downhill starting and finishing at Arthur’s seat. I really enjoy running the streets I regularly run and it’s a true reflection of hilly Edinburgh!

I got to the start five minutes before the start during the warm up so I wasn’t able to get close to the start line but still managed to wiggle past a few people. Luckily, the weather improved, Edinburgh was grey and wet all week up to the race. Dare I say perfect conditions, over cast and dry however a little windy in some places across the course.

I felt good at the start and the energy was palpable from the other five thousand competitors. My laid back approach to arriving back fired slightly as I spent the first mile running around other runners. After the first mile I was able to get settled in, my own space and start first hill run, up the royal mile from Parliament building. I unexpectedly saw some friends spectating and their cheers spurred me on up the hill.

This year due to works at Scott Monument, the course was changed, instead of running along Princes Street gardens and up the Mound we went up Market Street (another steep hill) but it’s not quite the same as the iconic Mound. To make up the extra distance they added an extra short, out and back section on Lauriston Place.

Miles three to four the sun came out and I instantly regretted not taking my sunglasses and took my gloves off (I‘m used to carrying my gloves in training so no real problem). I felt pretty strong at this point and continued my pace.

Mile five went through the Grassmarket which was well supported, thanks for all the cheers and also half way point. I looked down at my watch: thirty seven minutes, I was determined to get under forty five minutes at six miles and pushed on.

I found mile six the hardest it’s a long incline from the Cowgate, up the Pleasance to the Royal commonwealth pool. I started to dig deep, knowing once I got to the top we were going downhill again. I was picking out other runners and slowly catching them, I’m quite competitive and like picking out people at similar paces to push me further. I heard the bag piper at mile six and looked down at my watch forty four minutes, whoop!

Miles seven and eight I let my legs go down the innocent railway path and to Duddingston village. The last hill is up Duddingston Low road but totally worth it for the views. After hitting the mile nine sign its downhill with a short flat distance to the finish. My legs did feel a little tired at this point but the end was in sight and my legs went with it, I even managed a sprint finish for the last two hundred metres!

I looked down at my garmin, 1 hour 13mins and 40seconds, I was very pleased. Two minutes quicker than last year as I can’t complain with a personal best! I checked my chip time online and was the same as my watch. Overall I was twentieth woman (crazy) and eleventh in my female age group 20-34!!

I had a great race and I would highly recommend anyone to enter.

Jenwaar

Training Week Eleven

Training week eleven

Sunday 12^thJune doesn’t feel that far away….. Eleven weeks in and only 8 weeks to go!! I completed three swims and four runs this week. The weather was bad so didn’t get out on the bike; I have no excuses for not going on the turbo trainer…… oops!

On Monday I went for a long run with my friend Katrina and fellow madwife. We ran eight and a half miles up Blackford hill and around the surrounding areas. I really enjoyed running with someone else, it makes a change from running by myself. Kat had just finished nights so our pace was slow but I enjoyed the company and catching up.

On Tuesday I went swimming between my nights. I got to try out my new long hair swimming cap. I swam 3.5 kilometres in sixty one minutes and I only needed to adjust my cap once. The cap is much bigger and able to stay over my ears throughout the swim. This has made a massive positive impact in my training allowing me to swim continuously like I would in a race. I’ve now ordered more and would highly recommend if you have a big head and long hair like me!

On Wednesday I was a little tired but still went out for a run between nights. I’m surprised I kept up such a good pace; it was a usual run of mine and my quickest time to date! I feel my running in the last couple of weeks has vastly improved. My times are quicker and I feel my legs are not as heavy during the run.

On Thursday I had a rest day. I was pretty tired after my three night shifts and sometimes you’ve just got to listen to your body. Sam and I went out to Oregano restaurant on Leith Walk in the evening and I stuffed myself with antipasto and Pizza. It was delicious!

On Friday morning I ran to swim training and back. In total I ran six miles and swam 90 minutes in the pool. As you can imagine my run in was a lot quicker than the run home, but also because it’s up hill all the way back home.

On Saturday I rested, preparing from Sunday’s race.

On Sunday I ran the Great Edinburgh run over 10 miles of hilly running through Edinburgh City centre. I have run this race for the last three years and it is a favourite of mine. I managed a personal best time of 1 hour 13mins and 40seconds, I was very pleased. The race day had perfect conditions, however it was little windy in places. I felt good most of the race, and even managed a sprint finish. Overall I was twentieth woman (crazy) and eleventh in my female age group 20-34!! My full race report will be in my next post.

Overall I’ve had a good week however lacking in cycling and brick training! I shall focus more on this next week.

Jenwaar

Training Week Ten

Ten weeks of training completed and now only nine weeks till race day, it’s slowly creeping up eeek! This week I completed four runs, two swims, one long ride, one turbo trainer session and two gym sessions. On Tuesday I accomplished my first brick session, I cycled an hour on the turbo trainer and a short run straight after.

This is the first week that I felt improvements in all three disciplines. I am now enjoying training much more because of this. My swim, cycle and running times are all quicker and I can now push myself much more in training.

I am now keeping a much better pace on longer distances with swimming. My new long hair swimming cap arrived this weekend so I will be trying it out on my continuous swim session this week. Hopefully it will stay on my head!

I’m now managing at least one long bike ride each week. This week I went out with the triathlon club for 36miles after a swim session. I am feeling much stronger and faster on the bike. I also completed an hour on the turbo trainer. I need to continue increasing my time and mileage on the bike, especially now the weather is getting better.

I’m seeing my best improvements when running…. I completed four runs this week, one short 2.5miles, two medium 5-6miles and one long run 15miles. My short run was after an hour on the turbo trainer; I had that jellied feeling in my legs but after ten minutes of running it was fine. Both the five and six mile distances are regular runs of mine, I had one good and one bad run. My bad run was between nights and I didn’t have any food prior so I had no energy and was really slow and tired. The good run was the following day I ate a banana prior and ran my best time! (Lesson learnt).

On Sunday I went out for a group session with the triathlon club. We ran the seven hills of Edinburgh. This is in preparation for a race in June, seven hills of Edinburgh. We had a mixed group of abilities and we ran up each hill and stopped to admire the view at the top of each hill and wait for the others. In total we ran 15miles and ran up some steep hills including Arthur’s seat! My thighs were burning the next day!

Next week I’ll be continuing my regular training and increasing the distances during my brick sessions.

Jenwaar

Training Week Nine

Week nine has been my best… four runs, three swims, one bike ride and one gym PT session. I felt great this week even after three 5am wake up calls! My main issue this week was my swimming cap. It was rather frustrating when I was trying to do an hour’s continuous swim when every 15-20 lengths you have to adjust your cap! I have bought new swimming caps for long hair so I hope this solves my problem.

Running this week, I managed one long run of twelve miles, a club hill reps session and two four to five mile runs. My legs were a little sore before my long run (after my hills session) so couldn’t really push the pace. I hope that now I’m running more regularly this will ease and I can push more in my longer runs.

Swimming is going well, I’m noticing my times are getting quicker, I can swim longer distances with a stronger pace and I’m starting to keep up with some of the stronger swimmers during triathlon club training sessions. I’m going to do more continuous swim sessions like I would be doing during the race (Once my swimming cap fiasco is no more).

Cycling is getting better… I am managing to complete one long ride per week. I am slowly getting more confident handling my bike and cycling in different weather conditions. This week I went out with my friend Jill, it was a slow ride as it was wet but I’m getting out on the bike, training and cycling. Again, I need to use my turbo trainer more (the story of my life).

I managed to complete my goal this week, increasing my distance on all disciplines. I am going to continue with this next week and also start brick training. 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. I plan to practice cycle into run workouts this next week. Changing disciplines from cycling to running you get a strange feeling of heavy legs. It’s really important I practice this so my body gets used to the change in demand, for race day.

Jenwaar

Training Week Eight

Last week was rather good…. Two runs, two swim sessions, one gym session and one bike ride. My chesty cough continued last week. Earlier in the week I found my runs and swim sessions hard and slow but thankfully it’s now gone.

This weeks bicycle ride I went out with the triathlon club (Edinburgh Triathletes). I am now feeling much more confident in handling my bike again. I’m still quite nervous in wet weather and going down steep hills but I’ve just got to keep practising.

Both swimming and running I’m quite comfort with, my main problem is being able to maintain pace after more than an hour in either exercise. I particularly find this hard with swimming as I’ve swam most my life at short distances hard and fast for 50-200metres rather than 750-1500metres or longer in triathlons. I’m going to focus next week on longer continuous swim sessions rather than short sets during the session.

It was Easter last weekend and also the end of my alcohol free lent. I went out on Saturday night and had a few cocktails and danced the night away. It was great socialising with friends as I currently feel like all I do is train and work. On Sunday morning however I wasn’t feeling my best (hungover) and I didn’t train which I had planned (bad Jennie). That’s life and now I feel much more focused and energised on training.

It’s now only eleven weeks till the race, it’s slowly creeping up! Next week focus is on distance, I’m going to be doing longer distances on all disciplines.

Jenwaar