Phoebe's blog

Ouch……… cross country is definitely upon us, my legs certainly had that ‘first race of the xc season’ feeling about them on the track last night. Yep, it may not have been muddy on Saturday but the cold and drizzle certainly arrived bang on time for the Met League XC at Claybury. It was a cracking race, a bloomin tough hill but very dry under foot…. a kind introduction me thinks as we all know that a mud bath at Parliament Hill is imminent! I was pleased with my time and positioning, well within the top 5th of the race. It was a much stronger field this year, for a start we had the one and only Lorna Russell, Dee ‘the Lobster’ Allen and the lovely Hayley Munn running second claim for our club Enfield and Haringey at the front end of things. They positioned 3rd, 4th and 6th. So doing it for the girls was the theme of the day! Along with some other strong runners the female race was certainly of a higher standard this year.

As always I saw some familiar faces and caught up with running friends of old and new. Needless to say I left in bits but with the XC glow about me and I am now looking forward to the muddy season of racing ahead. Time to really work on those hills and some VO2 sessions…….. ouch!

Andrew Orr had a cracking race and proved he is certainly the tough Scotsman he professes to be. There was no stopping his determination to destroy as many vests in front of him as he possibly could.

Our younsters all had a strong intro to the XC season…. the infamous Asgodom twins placed Paulos 1st and Petros 2nd in the U15 race. Hassan was a stonking 4th in the U17′s. A great race for all. Mo had to step things up to the senior race this year, his face fell when he realised this but he certainly stepped up to them mark. All of these boys are now training with the seniors and executing big sessions….. I’m already looking forward to their track season next year.

So if you haven’t donned those spikes yet but want some good quality races that are going to build strength and stamina for those spring goals then find a club and get stuck in….. go on…. you know you want to!

Yes, it was definitely in the North….. I could tell, as on the Saturday night after we had finished dinner with Cancer Research we walked back to the hotel, stood on the bridge (in nervous anticipation at knowing how I would feel when running over it the following day) and we could see our breath in the night air as we spoke. So yes…. we were up north!!!

Well, it was a great weekend in all. It was a return to form for myself clocking a 1.28 …. which i’m pretty damn pleased with considering I have been out of the game for a good while. It has certainly left me mega motivated and excited about the coming race season. There were the predicted mixed emotions over the duration of the race, I felt great in the first half, skipping along at tempo, drifted a bit for 2 middle miles (a lesson learned and it just shows how doubts can creep into your head in the middle part of the race even when you are running well)…. I then got back on track and as we hit the final 400m nick screamed at me that I was going to miss my pb by seconds if i didn’t commit to the last push. I literally didn’t have the capacity to shout the 2 words to him that I wanted to but luckily a guy in the crowd took it upon himself to speak up for me shouting at Nick “Give her a break mate’…… priceless.

I was proud to be there representing Cancer Research with my ambassadors hat on and we had a nice little celeb team running for Cancer Research UK including some of the latest Apprentice candidates who had fallen down under the scrutiny of Mr Sugar………. Now, unlike in business, they were rather inexperienced in running, so Nick of course thoroughly enjoyed taking advantage of this and winding them up with moments like ‘oh, you’ve gone for the sticky toffee pudding have you?….. mmmm, really? are you sure that’s a good choice? well, it’s up to you, but you do know what happens if you try to run a half marathon the day after eating that for desert don’t you????’………. the look of terror in Leon’s face (the one who refused to spray paint a man) was quite amusing…….all in good spirit of course and all in all, for guys who hadn’t really trained, they had great (no pun intended) runs, finishing in sub 2hrs. Which really isn’t too shabby.

I was 2nd celeb home behind the infamous Nel who had a stonker and ran 1.25… So although those Apprentice boys may be able to whip butt in the boardroom, us girls definitely proved we can whip their butts over the 13.1 mile distance!

The crowds, atmosphere, organisation and precision of the race were, as always, superb. At the elite end of things there was, as well publicised,  a course record and 4 mins further down the road Mr Keith Gerrard, advised by Nick, was 1st brit home. A quick hello to Mo on the start line who Nick knows from old, was inspiration enough for me to go out and whack it…. and that I did. No excuses now, i’m back, let the racing commence. Ouch.

Well………… the Great North Run is upon us once again, a whole year later….. every year i find myself wondering whether the trek to Newcastle is going to be worth it and then every year Cancer Research UK ask me to run for them once again and I find myself visualising the crowds, the atmosphere and I can’t help saying YES.

After a long time out from running (with various issues still yet to be fully resolved) I am back and training again….. which is always a good thing when one is about to embark upon a half marathon……….! I am by no means fully on target, in fact I probably feel the least prepared I ever have done for a half, however sometimes you just need to get out there, whack it and see don’t you? i

t’ll certainly kick start my racing again and I am going to love being back chasing vests (whilst having northeners waving pints at me shouting ‘not long now’…………and that’s at the 3 mile mark….. you’ve got to ask how long they’ve been in the pub for…… ).

The lovely Nick Anderson is running with me……..so over the 13 miles the emotions within the relationship will essentially pan out as follows: I’ll be slightly prickly on the start line, the gun will go, i’ll have a mini panic and i’ll question why we are running so fast, i’ll then settle into the pace and be pretty content, by 10miles I’ll hate him, there will be 3 miles of abuse and by the time we are in the VIP tent afterwards we will have made up and he’ll be the best boyfriend and training buddy in the world.

Whether its a Pb or not, that is pretty much what Nick should expect………….

Seriously though I really am looking forward to racing again. Many of our London based runners have been coming to our Tuesday night club session…. I join in with this and as painful as those sessions are, I know they will pay off!  I was also massively inspired by all of our guys who did the Bristol Half last weekend. Some fabulous results including Naomi Korn who completed her first ever half marathon. A truly inspiring story…. she has fought the battle with cancer and is now embarking on a journey to fitness. Bristol was a mere stepping stone to bigger things, a spring marathon awaits and many more pbs over shorter distances to come in the coming months! Thankyou to Sue and Rachel for making her a real part of the runningwithus team at the race. No doubt you will all catch up again in the sunny Algarve on our spring focus week!

Well done also to Luisa on her strong 1.38 run (she surprised herself i think!) Stuart on his 1.39 PB and Vanisha for smashing the 2hr mark even though she has been injured and was only running easily….. great results. Congratulations also to Sue Watson and her new heart rate zones, clearly the investigation and science is working as she broke 2hrs and is on her way back to fitness. Chris Summerfireld had a great run despite a difficult build up, narrowly missing a pb but looking in great shape for Amstedam marathon. Lara, Helen, Tom and Audra all returned to form posting times that clearly show autumn personal bests are just around the corner. A magnificent return to racing from Richard Gregory with a brilliant 71 minute half. Another PB for Chris O’Hara on his road to Amsterdam and a solid controlled marathon pace effort from Steve Watmough.

At the elite end of the day Martin Williams ran exactly his marathon pace for Berlin (2 weeks time) and recorded 67.30 looking great and our very own coach and gunslinger Lucy McAllister finshed third in the Women’s race and took a stunning 2nd in the UK Womens Championships.

Good luck to all of our runners and charity athletes taking part in the GNR this weekend. we look forward to seeing you there!

I’ll let you now how i get on………. keep training well guys!

Did you burn up the course or did you simple get burnt at the London Marathon?….. Well, yesterday proved to be another example of the good old UK throwing some unpredictable weather at us considering the time of year. Although we had some great PB’s we also had some near misses where the heat really did catch people out……… but hey, for those who didn’t quite make the target, it is another marathon in the bank and the experience and training effects of the 26.2 miles can only leave you in better shape for future marathon/running targets. Some truly amazing results at the front of the field with the course record being broken in a little over 2.04 and some great British female performances. A particular well done to Louise Damon who ran 2.30 on her marathon debut. But these guys start earlier and aren’t out for as long.For us in the masses the second half of the race proved to be a little too hot. Well done to all of our guys at Brighton, Paris and London. Lets not forget our very own Lucy Macallister who came second at Brighton in even hotter conditions than yesterday (check out her blog). So guys, post marathon, lets enjoy some rest both physically and mentally – eat, sleep and be merry and then we can start focusing on those future goals!

Well done Indie Lee for running a stonking 5k track pb in California of 16.55….. woop woop! 3 scoops on us!

Well here i am…. a total virgin to blogging. I’m not a virgin to many things but blogging is definitely one of them. Nick has just told me off for a smutty start… must do better.

I suppose i should be telling you all about my 60 mile weeks, marathon pace runs, threshold sessions and which gels i tested on my long run last Sunday. However, the truth is, i have picked up a niggle and am having to x train.

Like all runners i was initially a very moody, very self indulgent, very firey (or is that just the read hair) human to be around but actually having got over the initial anger at being injured i am now, as always with x training, really enjoying myself!

Doing some great sessions on the x trainer and bike and reminding myself of how much strength and conditioning work i really need to do to support the marathon miles. Should be back out in the parks next week all things going to plan.

Right, that’s definitely a long enough blog for… i’m feeling dizzy and think i’ve hit the wall already.

Back with some serious running chat and something a bit longer soon.

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