For Grandad:
It's been a while since my last races in the North Staffs Road Runners - Cheadle 4 and Berryhill 10k back at the start of July. Since then, I've run in the Olympic Stadium; made a pilgrimage to the home of parkrun at Bushy parkrun, where we met up with the Holmes family and had a lovely run with over 800 other parkrunners, and also made a return visit to the Olympic Park for the anniversary games (and what an experience that was)!
Over the last few weeks my running mojo has been returning slowly - kickstarted by the Olympic Park Run. I've gradually been building up my weekly mileage, adopted a new training geared towards a half marathon at the end of October and decided to run two NSRRA races 4 days apart - the Staffs Knot 5 on Wednesday evening and the Leek Half Marathon on Sunday morning... I'm not sure this was a wise plan but the comeback trail has to start somewhere.
I set myself two very different targets for these races: I was going all out for the Staffs Knot for the best time I could do on the day. For the Leek Half, a notoriously difficult hilly run, my target was to complete the distance in a respectable time (Sub 2hr15) - it would be my longest run since my challenging day at the Potters 'Arf in June. Two tough races, two different targets. How did I get on?
The Staffs Knot 5 is a 5 mile multi-terrain course on Cannock Chase - quite a distance from home and a traffic challenge to get there in time for the 7.15pm start. Fortunately, running buddy Liz S was on the case and we made it with plenty of time to register and do a gentle warm up. Mr T was there to support too, which always helps as he manages to pop up at several points around the course to cheer me on.
From post-run discussions and social media updates, it seemed that most runners had a similar experience of this race:
The main challenge for me was the almost constantly changing terrain under my feet - paved roads, gravel paths, woodland trails, grassy banks and lots of stones. A couple of times, I almost lost my balance and slipped on the rocky sections - some of which were also relatively steep downhills. I could feel the effort in my calves and ankles by mile 4. At times, this took me back to some of my cross country experiences of last Autumn (some of which were positive) and was not a classic road race. But I enjoyed myself nonetheless - I worked as hard as I could and finished with an official time of 44:11 (although I thought I was a little bit quicker than that by my watch) and unofficially first of the Ws again. First challenge of my comeback completed... not a PB but a comeback PB. And our reward - a Staffs Knot 5 towel!
And so to Leek - as the race got closer, my trepidation grew and it seemed everyone was talking about those hills and just how tough this race was going to be. There were definitely less runners taking part - just 3 from Potters Trotters and a few that I recognised from other clubs. Catching a lift with fellow runner / blogger Andy, who was tackling his first half marathon, we arrived early to pick up numbers and pace nervously.
The start was a little bit confusing - nobody really seemed to know where the start line was positioned, some of the much faster runners ended up at the back and there was a bit of a scrum as we got underway. After a gentle downhill to lull us into a false sense of security, it wasn't too long before the real challenges began. I tried to relax my running style, staying strong for the uphills and catching my breath on the downhills (when they came). As the elevation chart shows, the first 8 miles of the route take you up and up... going through Meerbrook and Upper Hulme to the highest point on the course where you get close to the spectacular rocky outcrops of the Roaches. On the way, I passed dog walkers, ramblers, climbers, inviting tea rooms, Duke of Edinburgh expeditions and a couple of families of geese/goslings in one of the villages - spotted by me and the runner behind me and we both said "aah" at the same time.
The views on the way up and down were fantastic and a good distraction, as were the occasional pockets of spectators and marshals, all offering encouragement. I was cheered on by Sue and Ken Rushton as we completed one of the climbs. The route briefly skirted the A53and this was really the only part of the course where I was conscious of traffic.
The climb was hard and just as we left Upper Hulme at about mile 6, I found myself walking for the first time. It was incredibly hard to catch my breath and taking a short break from running of perhaps 50-100 metres was just enough of a respite to keep me moving - I repeated this three more times at various points in the second half of the race, including that last mile. I think a lot of other runners at my pace used this strategy too - I ran for quite a few miles with the same people and we almost all slowed to walking pace at the same points of the course. I think miles 6 to 8 were the toughest - I could see the road below the rocky crags of the Roaches snaking upwards out in front and the only way was up.
After mile 8, we finally had a prolonged stretch of downhill and my breathing returned to normal, even if my knees objected a little bit. But the downhill didn't seem to last that long and there were several more challenging climbs as we came into the last mile. By the end of the race I was absolutely exhausted and found myself walking up the final steep incline just at the 13 mile marker - to be walking so close to the finish felt like a bit of a failure but I just couldn't keep running.
As I came through the gates of Brough Park in Leek, with just 50 metres to go, I heard a couple of people shouting "come on Liz" and focused on running to the finish - I'm not sure it counts as a sprint finish but I did run. My official time was 2:10:13, finishing 181st out of 225 finishers, 7th in my age group and 32nd lady. The Potters Trotters also came third in the ladies team competition too - with Kate Geary and Anne Davies making up the trio of runners.
I definitely think this was the toughest race I've run, including my marathon in April. To put the 2,300ft of ascent at Leek into perspective, the Ashby 20 mile race in March had just under 2,000ft of climb, the Uttoxeter Half was 1,900ft and the Potters 'Arf was 1,700ft (according to my Garmin). The day after the run, my arms and upper body ache almost as much as my legs - running up and down those hills was a full body workout.
It was tough, but I'm really glad I did it. I feel like I've kick-started my running again with these last two races and look forward to more tough workouts over the coming weeks - I need to complete at least one more race to reach the magical 12 for the NSRRA and that will probably be in September.
Happy Running (especially on the hills)
LizT
 |
| Bushy parkrun pilgrimage |
Over the last few weeks my running mojo has been returning slowly - kickstarted by the Olympic Park Run. I've gradually been building up my weekly mileage, adopted a new training geared towards a half marathon at the end of October and decided to run two NSRRA races 4 days apart - the Staffs Knot 5 on Wednesday evening and the Leek Half Marathon on Sunday morning... I'm not sure this was a wise plan but the comeback trail has to start somewhere.
I set myself two very different targets for these races: I was going all out for the Staffs Knot for the best time I could do on the day. For the Leek Half, a notoriously difficult hilly run, my target was to complete the distance in a respectable time (Sub 2hr15) - it would be my longest run since my challenging day at the Potters 'Arf in June. Two tough races, two different targets. How did I get on?
 |
| Relaxed at the Start |
The Staffs Knot 5 is a 5 mile multi-terrain course on Cannock Chase - quite a distance from home and a traffic challenge to get there in time for the 7.15pm start. Fortunately, running buddy Liz S was on the case and we made it with plenty of time to register and do a gentle warm up. Mr T was there to support too, which always helps as he manages to pop up at several points around the course to cheer me on.
From post-run discussions and social media updates, it seemed that most runners had a similar experience of this race:
- Start out fast - my first km was under 5 minutes and I reached 5km in 26 mins which was a minute faster than my Hanley parkrun time on Saturday
- Hit a tough patch as the uphills appear - I ran 2kms at an average of 6mins each but didn't walk up any of the hills
- Hang on for the finish - my last km was almost as fast as my first along the flat straight finish road and I focused on catching up with the runners ahead of me if I could.
 |
| Grimacing at the Finish! |
And so to Leek - as the race got closer, my trepidation grew and it seemed everyone was talking about those hills and just how tough this race was going to be. There were definitely less runners taking part - just 3 from Potters Trotters and a few that I recognised from other clubs. Catching a lift with fellow runner / blogger Andy, who was tackling his first half marathon, we arrived early to pick up numbers and pace nervously.
 |
| A steady pace to start! |
The views on the way up and down were fantastic and a good distraction, as were the occasional pockets of spectators and marshals, all offering encouragement. I was cheered on by Sue and Ken Rushton as we completed one of the climbs. The route briefly skirted the A53and this was really the only part of the course where I was conscious of traffic.
 |
| 2,300ft of ascent! |
After mile 8, we finally had a prolonged stretch of downhill and my breathing returned to normal, even if my knees objected a little bit. But the downhill didn't seem to last that long and there were several more challenging climbs as we came into the last mile. By the end of the race I was absolutely exhausted and found myself walking up the final steep incline just at the 13 mile marker - to be walking so close to the finish felt like a bit of a failure but I just couldn't keep running.
As I came through the gates of Brough Park in Leek, with just 50 metres to go, I heard a couple of people shouting "come on Liz" and focused on running to the finish - I'm not sure it counts as a sprint finish but I did run. My official time was 2:10:13, finishing 181st out of 225 finishers, 7th in my age group and 32nd lady. The Potters Trotters also came third in the ladies team competition too - with Kate Geary and Anne Davies making up the trio of runners.
I definitely think this was the toughest race I've run, including my marathon in April. To put the 2,300ft of ascent at Leek into perspective, the Ashby 20 mile race in March had just under 2,000ft of climb, the Uttoxeter Half was 1,900ft and the Potters 'Arf was 1,700ft (according to my Garmin). The day after the run, my arms and upper body ache almost as much as my legs - running up and down those hills was a full body workout.
It was tough, but I'm really glad I did it. I feel like I've kick-started my running again with these last two races and look forward to more tough workouts over the coming weeks - I need to complete at least one more race to reach the magical 12 for the NSRRA and that will probably be in September.
Happy Running (especially on the hills)
LizT
Comments
Post a Comment