Friday 15/10 - An update after lots of walking!

What a great way to start the post! Those were some of the photos from the Turbo X at Mudgock on 10th October...I am thinking of purchasing some of the copyrighted ones as they are so fantastic!

Have been on a wee trip this week on a few outings involving lots of walking! Did 13 miles of the Cateran Trail from Blairgowrie to Bridge of Cally and back. That was a lovely walk! I must say both of our legs were a bit sore afterwards! Not really muscle pain but more strain at the back of the knee. Also did the King's view walk up to a really nice viewpoint near Birnam, that was a good walk. Did another walk round about Birnam (about 5/6 miles) and then a walk along the river Ericht.

All in all an adventurous few days and I must say I'm looking forward to letting my legs (especially my knee) heal before getting back into the training towards the end of the year. I don't have extensive plans for 2011 (yet!) but definitely planning to do the Devil in August, Loch Ness in October and (hopefully) the Salomon Turbo X in October.

As for Edinburgh marathon, I'm swithering over whether to do it or not. I have grown a bit tired of the course and my times are not getting any better. I also am really tempted by the Fling...and I am hoping to be able to combine my honeymoon in June with a race abroad somewhere.

So not many solid plans as yet! But as for the rest of this year I want to rest, cross train and get a few good wintery runs on WHW. Will hopefully take some days off work in November/December for that.

Sunday 10/10 - Salomon "Pure Filth"

As the title suggests, today I completed the last 10 miles of my "131 miles in 6 races in 2009" challenge with the Salomon Turbo X trail race in Mugdock country park.

The time was terrible - I did my last 10 mile race in 1hour 20mins...let's just say this one was bordering on an hour more than that! BUT, I ran with my dad the whole way (he isn't really in the peak of fitness) and we had a great laugh! I had expected to get a lot dirtier than I did in my upper half, but I definitely got filthy on the bottom half!

During the 1.5miles "Turbo zone" there was a big boggy mess - you came out of a river into knee deep mud - I was caught right in the middle of it and my dad had to come back to pull me out...which he did but I couldn't find my footing and just went knee-first back into it! The photographers were having a field day and I got covered in mud...felt like a kid again!

Hiked up some of the steeper hills and got caught in a big rush at the start so got held back in a couple of ways. Overall though an absolutely great race and would definitely do it again!

Here's some photos from the day:





Other workouts this week:

Friday 8/10

Time: ~35mins
Distance: ~4.5miles

An excellent run around the west end after having been sent home from work due to a power cut (luck and a half!). Was on a half day this afternoon which was good and was planning to study so this run set me up nicely for that.

Thursday 7/10

Type: Swim
Distance: 50 lengths (f.c)

Wednesday 6/10

Type: x-train
Distance: 35mins (elliptical xtrainer), 10 mins (row) + strength training


Sunday 3/10 - Loch Ness Marathon

Time: 3hours 52mins
Pace: 8.51min/mile

Ok, a long needed update. This race was brilliant. Started off a little touch-and-go as my knee was really hurting on the bus there.

On a funny note my mind was taken off of it temporarily while I was queueing for the portaloos too and one was totally wobbling against the others...only me and another girl found this as hilarious as it actually was.

Started off well, just kept focusing on getting to the next mile and not really focusing on the full distance. Also had the music on and wasn't skipping any tracks, just listened to the lyrics which kept my mind off of the distance too! I was having a few problems running down the hills - it was hurting my knee quite badly - but once I got into my stride it wasn't getting any sorer...so I just kept on going.

Race passed uneventfully until Dores - what a fantastic crowd! There were probably half as many people there as at the finish line! Derek had just arrived when I did, and since the course started a mile further from Inverness this year I realised I must have been making good time. I didn't look at my clock though as it would either have put me off or made me go too fast.

The hills out of Dores were pretty tough but I kept running. Overtook a lot of other runners but kept one woman in my sights. She sped back up on the flat and I lost her, but on the next hill I caught back up with her and overtook her. I really don't like overtaking people - it makes me feel like I'm seeming "cocky" - but over the last 6 or so miles I did overtake quite a lot of people. Susie and Derek from the Scottish Veterans' were waiting at the 23 mile roundabout which was a good confidence boost!

The new route meant that we saw the finish line from across the river, but still had another mile or so to go. That was a bit demoralising, but the new finish line was definitely faster than the old one! Sadly I missed Derek at the finish line but I was aboslutely chuffed to bits with my time!

I honestly can't believe I did better than the last 2 years, especially with my dodgy knee. It hurt quite a lot the next few days but really seems to have eased off now. I also only ran 46.8miles in September (with longest run of 13.1miles since the Devil race)...that's probably one of my lowest training months on record. That's why this result is all the more satisfying. I definitely think my breathing was helped by all the swimming I've been doing, and my leg muscles feel a lot stronger with the strength training.

Overall, fantastic! And I am looking forward to next one already (:



Pre-marathon workouts:

Friday 1/10

Type: x-train
Distance: 15mins (elliptical x-trainer), 0.85miles powerwalk

Wednesday 29/9

Type: x-train
Distance: 35mins (x-trainer) + 10min cycle

Monday 27/9

Type: Walk

Walk around "The Whangie", lovely and so peaceful.

Sunday 26/9

Time: 35mins
Distance: 4.05miles
Pace: 8.35min/mile

Friday 24/9

Time: 1hr 40mins
Distance: 10.9miles

Wednesday 22/9

Type: Swim
Distance: 60 lengths (f.c)

Tuesday 21/9

Type: x-train
Distance: 10min (jog), 20 min(xtrain), 10min (row) + strength training

Monday 20/9

Time: 30mins
Distance: 4.05miles

Sunday 03/10 - Loch Ness Triumph

The title says it all! So, I decided that I would run loch ness after consulting with the physio who said It would be sore, but I couldn't really injure myself if I was sensible. So Thats what I did.

And how glad am I?? Finished in 3 hours 52 mins!! 2 mins over my pb and my knee, although a bit sore, held up fine throughout!

A great run and will post more later.