Having just completed my first seven day run streak in many months since illness and injury and having topped it off with marathon equivalent distance in Eastbourne, I've decided that the best thing I can do for my running today is... not run. I've cycled to and from work though, so I think I'm still safely within the bounds of Juneathon and I certainly have something weighty and running-related upon which to blog and ponder...

Eat and Run by Scott Jurek

I discovered Scott Jurek when reading Born to Run by Chris McDougall (my last review). I was delighted to find not just another runner with the belief that plant based protein could sustain an healthy, athletic lifestyle, but also one who regularly ran and won challenging mountainous ultramarathons! It didn’t take me long upon discovering that he had written a book (titled with two of my favourite activities!) promising not just a deeper insight into this character but also a scattering of recipes, to get hold of a copy and dive straight in.

The book give a very personal, autobiographical account of his life including interesting discussions on how childhood experiences and upbringing can affect ‘mental toughness’; the ability of an athlete to endure where others might not. These stories, that continue through ‘high’ school (well, he is American!) experiences, various sporting activities and the inevitable tales of loves and losses, are liberally interspersed with various recipes as well as bite sized (pun intended) hints and tips on running. Many of these are linked to aspects of the story, which I especially enjoyed as it felt almost as though I was getting an opportunity to connect with the text on a sensory or physical level too.

Jurek strikes a balance between running and fuelling as well as other parts of life that have affected his decisions and life path, and doesn’t flinch from sharing darker times as well as happier moments. I found I appreciated this, as far from expressing these in a self-pitying manner he uses them as an opportunity to discuss recovery, from not just physical injuries but also failure and personal strife.

This book is of course great for veggie runners (despite having followed a non-animal diet since the age of 10, I learned a few tricks!), but also for anyone who enjoys stories and cookery books! Though food and a plant based diet is of course important to the concept, Jurek avoids being preachy and so I am confident that proud carnivores (mostly, though not exclusively ones who run) would also find interest and enjoyment in many aspects of it.

One of the author’s favourite quotes (each chapter is sub-headed with a motivational tit-bit) is “Sometimes you just do things” (and no, he’s not, to the best of my knowledge sponsored by Nike) you could do a lot worse than following this advice when it comes to both your tougher training runs and sitting down to read this book!

So, all in all a fairly standard week and not much to write home (or blog) about really, in fact well done if you stayed awake for that bit, you must be an even more obsessive runner than I am! Things, you'll be pleased to know if you are actually reading this, got a tickle more interesting today though... I wanted to do a 13.1 miler this weekend to feel prepared for next Saturday. As the weather looks horrible on the forecast for tomorrow, Saturday (also being a full week away from the event) was definitely the day of choice... BUT... as a Saturday when I am actually home and free... I also fancied ParkRun. Whattayagonnado!? Well. (5 miles from my house to Heaton Park) + (5k ParkRun [3.1 miles]) + (5 miles from Heaton Park to my house) = 13.1 miles. Bazinga. You do both. You have yourself a Saturday Morning Heaton ParkRun Sandwich!

Well. That and the energy gels of course and today I tried out a High 5 gel from my first JoggBox. I don't use gels that often but I cracked this one open on my way out of the park as I figured I needed to use up some of my hoard and it might make the last chunk of the run a little more... zingy. I found it incredibly sweet but then I don't really 'do' much in the way of refined sugars (Even when indulging my cake habit I tend to rely on natural sweetness from fruit, etc.) so perhaps I am more likely to notice that. It did the job though; it was really windy for a lot of the way back and I'm sure I used up all that extra energy just battling into it pretty much all the way into city centre!

So there you have it! A very satisfying start to a Saturday! At an hour and 45 mins total running time, it's not exactly my best for the distance but it's not bad for a training run, especially as I've been focusing on much shorter distances lately. A week of gentle tapering is now on the cards I think (though maybe I'll squeeze in one more track session before I start that too seriously!) and then a Meander down the Thames! We've been warned to kit out in rain wear and trail shoes and that some of the path gets muddy, so I'm not expecting a PB but I am expecting to enjoy a mosey down by my favourite river and I reckon by then I should be pretty much back to what passes for normal... watch this space!

Chapter 4 of Scott Jurek's Eat and Run (which I shall soon review) is titled Pain Only Hurts. This has become something of a mantra for me since I read the book. That's not to say I am continually suffering, or make myself sound like an hypochondriac, more to say that sometimes, when things are tough, you just have to suck it up and deal with it. I felt much this way when, using a new (second hand) bike for the first time at the weekend, I failed to account for much more responsive brakes than those on the borrowed bike I had got used to and so I became more acquainted with the tow path gravel than I might have liked. Because 'Pain Only Hurts', and because I was too far away from home to be bothered with walking, I got up, got back on the bike and carried on. Until I fell off again. And got on again. I only fell off twice.

So yes. That race hurt. But, I kept telling myself, the faster I run, the faster it's allllllll over and I can sit in the bar and eat my snacks and pick up my prize for coming first last time and not have to think about it anymore. I actually tried not to think about my position in the last race, or my overall standing in the series stats (I was third overall and first lady), or seeing those achievements on two feet slipping away from me due to having been a bit daft and falling off two wheels. It was a lovely summer evening in a beautiful place with a fat, if not full, moon hanging languidly and low in the sky over a row of pine trees, I was surrounded by lovely people and was fully of chocolatey sugar. What could possibly be wrong with that? Ow. Shuttup. Ow. Shuttup. One. Foot. After. The. Other. Just another sensation, just another message to the brain. Oh. and I needed another wee. Don't drink fizzy drinks too soon before a race either, even if they do have caffeine in.

I had already seen and said hi to Autumn, an inspirational runner from Trawden AC with whom I had a very friendly tussle in the first two races of the series (see race one, two and three reports) and it was no surprise at all to see her shoot off ahead of me from the start line. That was one challenge I wasn't even entertaining. It was with some cautious shock then that I found myself on her heels after about a lap and a half (this 5k route is 5 times round a park and then a surprisingly difficult little bit). I really didn't want to overtake her. This was not altruistic, nor good sportsmanship on my part. This was self preservation. If I could sink comfortably into stealth mode just behind her, perhaps I could pull the same trick she demonstrated so impressively in the first race and save a bit of energy, just pipping her over the line by digging deep in the home stretch. If I overtook her now, so early on, she'd more than likely do the same to me. Now, I know I said I wasn't racing but in my experience 90% of success is in managing opportunity effectively and this opportunity seemed just in reach suddenly, which was more than could be said for most things in the last couple of days thanks to reduced mobility in my stupid shoulder. Well, so much for mid race strategic planning. I drew alongside her in about half a lap. Despite a bit of fun with others, I'm only ever really racing against myself anyway and I felt I could go faster. Imagine the following conversation being conducted between two asthmatic elderly ladies climbing a flight of stairs and you'll get an idea of how  hard we were both puffing.

Following what sounds like quite a lot of effort on the part of the team at Cannonball Events, we now have official times for last night's race (miraculously, mine is 19.44; spot on the same as what I recorded on the Garmin, this never happens!) and the overall series results. I was a bit bummed out to discover that I have been pushed from 3rd down to 12th but I guess I should be glad to have hung on to the top female spot. I always feel a bit of a cheat when I say 'I came first/second/third/whatever!' and then have to suffix that statement with 'out of the women that is'. Yes, I know, men and women are different, blah blah blah, but I don't want to have 'run like a girl' I want to have 'run like a human' and in this case, there were 12 humans who ran better than me. Now, I don't class myself as a feminist, mostly because I have never met anyone claiming to be a feminist who, when it really came down to it actually wanted equality rather than a veiled female supremacy, at least until it comes to things like losing your favourable car insurance quote or having dinner bought for you. BUT, I do like to think of myself as being as capable of most things as other people regardless of what they're packing in their pants, so having to 'admit' that I 'ran quite well... for a lady' just stings a bit, But I'll stop being an ungrateful so-and-so now as it seems like I'll probably get yet another, possibly undeserved prize and I'm nothing if not very grateful for that! So, thanks again to all involved in organising what has been my first race series and thanks also to all my running buddies, especially Jen and Mark for their support and motivation! You guys rock! \m/

Today was the We Love Manchester 10k, which conveniently started and finished at the Regional Athletics Track, Sportcity where the Salford Harriers meet for track sessions every Tuesday; pretty much as close to home as it's possible to be. Not quite as close as the Bupa Great Manchester Run in May but only a convenient two mile warm up from my house anyway! I had very deliberately denied myself the opportunity for any pre-race excuses in my last post (at least not without being a spectacular hypocrite!) as well as publicly declaring my intention to bring in my first sub 40 minute 10k and so I was feeling the pressure of expectation without the release valve of 'however'. I'm going to be true to my last mild rant though and tell it like it is without falling back on any buffers of 'ifs' and 'buts'.

Physically, I was in good form. Two days rest after my last race (a 20 minute 5k on Thursday) with no running (a bit of swimming and some yoga but no more than that) I felt fairly rested; loose legs, no tightness, no niggles. I've been eating very well all week (I do anyway but have been especially careful this week), ensuring the correct balance of carbs to fats to proteins. I've never been more aware of what I'm eating since I started running and I've been on a restricted (veggie/vegan) diet since I was 10! True, I'd not slept that much in the last few nights but if body wakes up after 4 hours, I assume body has had what it needs. I didn't feel tired anyway. A good breakfast, a solid warm up, every box was ticked. Physically. BUT I just wasn't 'feeling' it. I don't know if it was self-doubt, accumulated mental fatigue, the grey weather... I just didn't feel like racing.

The last issue of Runner's World had a really interesting article that I identified with totally, discussing the relationship between physical preparation (the machine) and that extra mental edge that allows you to push the machine just a touch further, the animal instinct (the beast) that pops up on race day and shaves those last few seconds off. I've had it, I'm sure most runners have, when something just clicks inside and the joy of the race takes over, a hot, hungry impulse that drives out of the chest and spurs the legs on with some kind of extra fight/flight/adrenaline cocktail. Today, my machine was well oiled, fully polished and purring like a happy kitty. Unfortunately, my beast was slumped in a corner, occasionally deigning to growl a bit but not in the mood to roar.

As you are probably gathering, the upshot of all these metaphors is that I did not achieve my sub 40 10k. I gave it a bloody good go though and honestly did run as fast and hard as I could for the duration of the course. The first mile or so of any race is always a bottleneck; it takes time for runners to settle into pace and find their 'place' in the stream so I always try and write that off as a warm up and pick the pace up later to compensate. This is not unexpected. My first mile came in just over 7 minutes. Not fast enough for sub 40 but not slow enough to write off the effort just yet. The next 6 miles I was hovering around 6 minutes 20. I had an idea I needed to be running 6 minutes 30 to break 40 but to be fair I hadn't worked it out explicitly. I was pretty hopeful anyway that ten seconds on each mile would more than account for the slow start, I felt strong and whilst it was hard work (not a comfortable marathon plod!) I was feeling increasingly optimistic that I might just do it. The beast flickered an eyelid. As we came back round to the stadium, I heard a marshal tell one runner that we were at 29 minutes on the gun time. 'Surely not!?' I thought to myself 'have I really got this in the bag!?' The Garmin beeped what I assumed was mile 6. 'Get IN!' I internally cheered until I looked at the screen. Mile 5. Ah. That makes more sense. At this little update, the beast licked it's bum a bit and curled back up in the corner, completely draining my legs of all animal instinct and reminding the machine that it had been taking a bit of a pounding for the last half hour. Of course I kept going but this little mental let down was noticeable and the last mile did not fly by as smoothly as I might have liked. I crossed the finish with a gun time of 41.05. Having not been right at the front, my chip time (how long it actually took me to run the distance with out adding on how long it took me to cross the start line in the queue of runners) was 40.30. I was basically 31 seconds off my sub 40 target. Yes, I really would have been happy with 39.59! Hey ho. You win some, you lose some. I won't pretend I wasn't disappointed but I was close enough to not feel completely gutted!

It was at this point I think that Mark pointed out that it was still a PB for me, even if I hadn't quite met my sub 40 goal. I completed my last 10k in May (Manchester Great Run) in 41.20. I hadn't even realised it was a PB. So what's happened since a year or so ago, when I  was on cloud nine for days having run my first 10k in a little over 45 minutes? Success is clearly rather subjective.

I still have a crack at sub 40 in an officially timed event in September at the Salford City 10k so I'm now going to accept this as a good result (I was still in the top ten of female finishers in 7th place) and try and be a bit kinder to my beast for a couple of weeks. I think it's fair to say I may have sabotaged my own mojo over the last few weeks by simply running too much. I've never found it easy to recognise 'enough' and am very much an 'all or nothing' person. My approach to running  is much like my approach to say beer, or marzipan it seems. I have long stated the fact that here is no such thing as 'enough' marzipan. There's not enough marzipan and then there's 'blerguh, oh my, too much marzipan'. I can't think of an area in life where I find it easy to go 'ah. there's the sweet spot'. Today, I think I have learned that with running, I am potentially approaching the line I always seem to notice in retrospect. This is great news as it means I've spotted it coming for once. I'm off 'dahn sahf' for a week tomorrow morning as I visit family in and around London. There's some lovely trail routes out around the Thames Estuary that I have often walked but never considered running and so I am really looking forward to exploring some of these. I am planning to ditch the pacing facility of Mr Garmino and just run for fun. A little bit. Not every day. Maybe I'll even go for... a.. w a l k. Reset, reflect, review and rest. I shall then look forward to revising my training plan for the September race and actually sticking to it. That is sticking to just the training plan and not doing any more than that. Who knows, maybe I will see the summer out with that sub 40 10k in the bag and maybe I won't but if I can wake that little beastie up after a probably much needed nap and start the autumn season feeling like I want to train for the 2015 London Marathon then that will be the best possible outcome!

This evening I set off with regular running buddies Mark and Jen to the second in the Todmorden 5k Series by Cannonball Events. Mark kindly drove again (I'd not be able to make these remote midweek races with as much ease if not for the driving skills of my mates!) while for Jen it was her first visit to the course. Another lovely evening, we had a good hour for a catch up on the way whilst I did a little test with one of the samples from my last Joggbox and treated myself (?!) to a Beet It juice shot which is supposed to be especially high in nitrates,  boosting performance by increasing the amount of oxygen your muscles can absorb during training. There's a lot of study and conflicting opinion on this as you might expect but I figured today was a good day to try it as experimenting on Sunday may not be advantageous to my sub 40 goal given that it could go either way!

HOWEVER I also recognise that you can't get a personal best on every race (the logical conclusion of that is what? Teleportation? Time travel!?) and that some days you just don't run as well as others, regardless of how intricately you have followed all the pre-race advice and rituals. Lucky safety pins and beet juice shots or no, sometimes you just don't go as fast. I could tell you about why my performance was reduced as I raced last night, or how I held back as I got a hip niggle on the first lap and I wanted to leave some in the tank for Sunday. I could suggest I didn't run like a gazelle because there was a vegetable juice war going on in my digestive system or blame a delayed race-start for compromising my warm-up routine. I could blame the wind, the sun, the undulating course, question the current planetary alignment or cite other runners getting in the way but the fact is I ran my best at that time and my achievement (which it still is, regardless of the specifics) is mine and mine alone. I ran as well as I could and that's enough for me! I found it a little harder than the last race and was a few seconds slower but with a respectable chip time of 20 minutes on the nose (well, there was .06 of a second but we'll call that 'loose change') I think I did pretty well. Not the sub 20 (19.54) I managed last time but not far off! What can you do in 6 seconds anyway? Actually, I think that's pretty good and as for this race the organisers had brought in chip timing, meaning I can look at my lap times too, it's good to know I did pretty well paced 3 minutes 50 (ish) kilometres. The Garmin gave me an average speed of around 6 and a half minute miles which is still pretty speedy. and the primary target of enjoying the run was certainly achieved with no trouble!

If you would like to check out all the details, you can find the results online but I am now going to chill out and take it easy for a couple of days before attempting my first sub 40 minute 10k at the We Love MCR race. Watch this space... No pre-loaded excuses, I'll just have to run my best on the day and we'll see how it goes!

Well, it's hard to believe the end of Juneathon is finally here and I am now composing my last blog of the month! It's been a lot of fun; It's played havoc with my training plan but it's encouraged me to participate in things I might not otherwise have bothered with in order to have something more interesting to say (!) and it's given me an opportunity to engage with other runners online. I'm not sure it;s done much for my fitness as I've not exactly had much rest or recovery but it doesn't seem to have killed me either, which is interesting to discover as some would have you believe that your legs would implode if you didn't take at least two rest days a week! There we are anyway, that's the end of it and what a month it's been! Going out with a bang however, I have a couple of other things to note today, not least of which is the eventual arrival and contents of my first Joggbox! Joggbox is a start up company who basically operate like a vegbox scheme... for runners. Each month (assuming you choose a monthly subscription you get a box of running related 'goodies' mostly trials and samples of things you might not otherwise try. You can then order these from Joggbox as extras in the future if you want to. It's a luxury, guaranteed, there's nothing about this which is a necessary outgoing but I was tempted and there's no minimum term so I thought I'd give it a go.

And yes, I have shamelessly 'stolen' the above image. I make no apologies for using a very low-res image of myself for non-commercial purposes that I didn't ask to have taken in the first place! I'm glad I look like I was enjoying myself as much as I actually was! I've see race photos where I look like I'm suffering when actually I was having a great time!

I will maintain the blog as I've had a surprising amount of positive feedback (Thanks everyone, hope you've enjoyed reading!) but I am very much looking forward to not having to do it every day. So much for the short updates. I just have too much to say! Well it has been a busy month... but a really exciting one. I can't wait to find out what July has in store... The Newham Anniversary Run and the We <3 MCR 10k at the very least, though I somehow expect a few other things might pop up as they seem to have a habit of doing... Watch this space!