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/

They say (whoever ‘they’ are!) that you learn something every day and yesterday was no exception as I rocked up at the Salford Harriers club house for their ‘Summer Handicap’ race. Aside from a vague understanding that there was some sort of specific event going on, and that I had to bring a bottle of wine and some safety pins (runners are so boozy, the pins come as standard…)

It hadn’t particularly occurred to me that it might affect my running; I was able to do a track session on Tuesday as normal and if I’d felt tired at all from that I’d have thought it was a mild after effect from Saturday’s half marathon more than anything else. Perhaps however, a couple of days can make a difference as I realised as soon as I’d got to the Blue Bell that I was pretty low energy with what I call ‘butchers window’ legs; you know when you see those dead legs hanging up on hooks? Yeah. Like that. I’d not had time to re-fuel between work and legging it out again either but dinner was in the fridge waiting for me and I was visualising it at the end of the run like the carrot on the stick it was. There were some other veg involved too, and some tofu but when you’re vegan, describing dinner as a carrot on a stick isn’t a million miles off. ‘Never mind’ I thought to myself just take it easy, it’s less than 4 miles apparently, just a pootle round ‘The Clough’ and be done.

I also now know what a handicap is. Not sure how much I’m looking forward to the Christmas one, it gets a bit icy in The Clough apparently! I’ll probably get the train that day either way and do some strides before we start. Maybe I can ease my (only mildly!) wounded pride in so doing!

Now here's a stroke of luck; at the race on Thursday, as I was getting ready to warm up, I managed to accidentally hit a random setting on the Garmin that offered me an option to 'ride'. I didn't have time to investigate that any further at the time but before setting out on Friday, I did a bit of research and discovered that Garmin have recently released an update for my model (FR620) meaning I can use it to track cycling too!  Talk about serendipity! Aside from this, my main discoveries have been that whilst I dislike running on cobbles, I really hate cycling on them, however it is more convenient in that I can easily carry a bag. You really notice the hills and any uneven ground far more though. I am not currently on first name terms with my posterior. Having said that, I had such a good time that when the possibility to go for a gentle evening run with a friend popped up the same day, I decided to cycle to her house. The long way... and back! I'm so glad I've finally done this and I really think it's going to open up a lot of possibilities! Days off in the hills, cycling to nicer running routes, getting about more cheaply and of course faster in some cases too. I'm away again next week but I'm very much looking forward to getting my own and really getting some practice in. I think I've already started getting my head round traffic a bit more and I'm certainly learning when to stand up in the saddle! *bump_wince*

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!

This evening I went to the 8th Royton Trail Race in Tandle Hill Country Park. Sponsored by Up and Running Manchester, where I work the odd shift on Saturdays. I had initially thought I'd not be able to make it as it looked very difficult to get to on public transport. Luckily, Martin and Steve, managers at Up and Running were both racing and Martin had space in the car. Cinderella, therefore, went to the ball!

The results don't appear to be online yet as I write this so I'm not sure what my 'official' time was but I'll find out no doubt, soon enough! According to Mr Garmin I completed in 39.47. I'm not sure if that bodes well for Sunday or not; t's a shorter course by 0.7 of a mile but certainly slower than the road with a lot more hill work. We shall just have to  wait and see!

Unfortunately, this means that I am again left wondering what could have been if I had pushed harder, but I must remind myself that the A race of the week is on Sunday when I hope to achieve my first sub 40 10k. Eek! Fortunately, It does mean I have at least circumnavigated the theoretical question posed to my mangers on the journey in; 'what would happen if a member of Up and Running staff won an Up and Running sponsored prize!?' Well, I wasn't given an answer but then I don't think we realised how close we might come to finding out! Of course Steve; 15th in 35:33 and  Martin; 25th in 36:37 (A PB for that course) also did well and much faster than me but then I do have a gender advantage in coming closer to prizes in a smaller field of competitors! Well, I am still buzzing from a great run last night and now looking forward to the second in the Todmorden 5k series! I'd like to say I won't be racing it but I don't think anyone would believe me if I did and I'm starting to disbelieve even myself when I make such assertions. The game plan however, will simply be what it always is; settle in, see how I feel and then just enjoy the ride!

On the last Run2Work Day, I wondered what it would be like to approach a run-commute from the other end and run home. Today seemed as good a day as any and being a Tuesday, this would take me past the athletics centre at the Etihad Stadium where the Salford Harriers would be meeting for their weekly speed interval session on the track. As such, the other half of the experiment was what it would be like to do a speed interval session off the back of a six to seven mile 'warm up'. Always up for a challenge and being the sort of runner who naturally runs negative splits I figured this wouldn't be too strenuous, since I always run the two miles there and back from my flat anyway.

Apart from a couple of light showers (not really any bother) the run down went well and I was pleased that I managed to time it exactly right to arrive at the centre for 6.40; the time at which I get a slightly reduced entry rate! I felt warmed up after 6.74 miles and good to go. Unfortunately, the others had also gone out on a warm up and we didn't get started on the speed work until about quarter past 7 by which time I was well and truly cooled down and starting to flag. I did complete the session (6 sprinting reps each of 300, 200 and 100 meters) but I wasn't running at my strongest. In fact, I might even have walked home if I hadn't been quite hungry by then and just wanting to get back as fast as possible!

To conclude, the experiment was semi-successful. I got more familiar with the run to work route, still did the session anyway and demonstrated that I can pace accurately when needed but I might not make a habit of it as it did affect my track performance I think. If I do that again, I think I'll leave later and avoid the big long cool down, or maybe take a gel with me so I can re-fuel quickly before the session!

The best bit about the evening was getting my official club kit shirt! I'm looking forward to wearing that soon and "representin' my bredren, yo!"  though we'll have to hope I go a bit quicker than tonight or else they may not want me on their stats anyway!

Today was the second national Run2Work Day and I was very pleased that the weather, whilst not as nice as yesterday, which would have been perfect for running to work, was a great deal nicer than June the 5th, which had been decidedly wet and muddy! I am extremely lucky in that it is less than a mile from my house to the Ashton Canal, on to which I can easily drop down from the road and whizz along to... erm... well, Ashton. Which is where I work. Wouldn't really be running to work if I didn't now, would it? It turns out public transport isn't the only thing you can 'miss a stop' on though and aside from all the mud, the hiccup last time was that I turned off the canal a bit too early, confused myself and got ever-so-slightly-lost before eventually finding my way. It wasn't a huge diversion but not the sort of stress you want before a full day of teaching... It also sent me off onto a route where I'd had to run up the central reservation of a dual carriage way, which is less than safe. This time I was feeling very proud of myself when I kept going past the point of confusion, only to discover that I had then gone too far instead and was well on my way to Stalybridge! One day, I would like to run to Stalybridge, but not when I have arranged a 9am meeting with my new manager. Thankfully, Northern Folk are a friendly bunch and I was able to get directions which took me back onto my planned route thus avoiding scary roads and getting to work with enough time to shower, breakfast and still have time to check emails! I'm not sure if it was the impending meeting or the breakfast calling that encouraged me to run an average of about 8 minute miles but that seemed a reasonable speed for the distance. I love the bemused manner in which people give you directions when you're out running, especially when to their mind you're quite a long way away from your destination. As it is, I'm used to people thinking I'm a bit odd so this doesn't phase me, otherwise I might have ended up in Huddersfield. It finished up being 9.44 miles today thanks to that little diversion but that's OK, I wasn't late and it was an enjoyable mile!

Last month, I was a lot more worried about actually making it to work; the fact that the students have finished now and it's only staff development, meetings and planning (Hah.'Only.') made it lot less stressful. It being my second time on the route helped too so it felt like much less of a mental challenge. Because of this worry on June 5th, I completely forgot to take any photos (I don't really like stopping anyway) so the only visual records of the event were a rainy pre-run view of Manchester from my flat and a couple of euphoric if muddy selfies (ugh) in the college gym shower room! This time you get some snaps to illustrate exactly why I think I'm so lucky with the route. Though admittedly I elected to avoid the more industrial sections of the canal, they are still just as interesting to run past! Maybe I'll get some of those next time! All in all, A pretty text book run, all things considered, though I became a little concerned at about 10am when I realised I'd been so busy getting to my meeting that I'd not stretched! I took a 15 minute walk at lunchtime though which seemed to help loosen up what had become 'joint of ham' legs. I forgot to leave my compression socks at work too so I went hard core and left it to chance! Having said that, in June I'd come second in a 5k race the night before and this time I actually took a rest day (well.. I did a yoga class but that doesn't count, right?) so I probably had less to recover from anyway.

So an interesting experiment that paid off. That's the first time I've covered more than 17 miles on a work day! I am also quite pleased to find that my legs feel less tired after the evening run than they did before (or for that matter during!!) it. I think I get now how the whole running twice a day thing could be beneficial. Not sure it'll become part of my training plan though!

Hill Rep Friday tomorrow, but  I'm wondering if I should sneak in another speed interval session instead in preparation for the next 10k race in just over a week! Decisions, decisions!

It was a real relief to feel like I could manage a proper run today following a couple of days of an upset tummy and just as well too, as I had agreed to head out and participate in the first of Todmorden 5k Summer Park Series by Cannonball Events. I had only been to Todmorden once before, a good couple of years ago but I remembered the park well and the race took in 5 laps on a very pleasant summer evening. Given that I have my first trail race on Saturday and haven't been too perky this week I was not planning to race the event, just enjoy myself. Yeah right. That's like putting a sausage in front of a dog and telling him not to drool. On the fourth lap, when I realised I was running roughly six and a half minute miles and that I had been consistently overtaking people I realised I was doing well enough to give a bit more welly and started to pick off the ladies. on the last half lap I happily cruised past a couple in black and white striped club shirts but sensed that wasn't the last I'd be seeing of them. Never the less, I bobbed on up, slipped past a couple more and headed in for the home straight in what I thought was second place (ladies, that is!). I then heard what can only be the sound of sheer determination rapidly approaching from behind and sure enough, a black and white striped club shirt smoked past me and over the line, rendering me to what I judged to be third. I then happily discovered another example of why I love running. The very first thing she did when she crossed the line, OK, not the very first, the very first thing was to punch the air and shout 'YES!', the very next thing she did was to turn straight round and shake my hand. I was honoured to receive the most glowing, if sweaty thanks, which I quickly reciprocated! What fun, a proper little in-race tussle!

On returning to the pub/Race HQ, I was told that actually I was in fourth place, which I think relieved my kind driving friend as that meant we didn't hang about for any prize giving and could start the hour (ish) drive back to Manchester. I just downloaded the results though and I was third! Dammit! I wonder if I can still get my prize!? Fair play anyway to Autumn (so that's why I kept thinking I was hearing people calling out my surname!) and much kudos for a well earned second place! Maybe next time though... watch your back... there are still three more races in the series and only 2 seconds between us! ;)

My official time was 19.54; not a PB for the distance, but not bad for 'meh, I'm not racing' and only my second ever sub 20 minute 5K. Also my first official race for Salford Harriers! I'm a teeny bit disappointed I didn't stay for the prize giving but as same kind driving friend is also providing a chauffeur service to Nottingham tomorrow night for the Clumber Park Runner's World Trail Blazer 10k on Saturday I think it's for the best he gets an early night! In fact I should probably aim to achieve the same! That's enough excitement for one evening!

A frustrating one today as I forced myself to barely jog round a mere two laps of Boggart Hole Clough on my second club run with the Salford Harriers. Since slipping at the weekend I've been feeling a lot of tightness in my left Iliotibial band and having injured it before I really don't want to risk it flaring up again, hence the cautious, very slow sub 5 miler. Frustrating, because I want to run, frustrating because I felt self-conscious about going so slowly amongst my new running-peers, many of whom were belting along at a good speed. Thankfully it was a shorter, easier session than usual anyway as most people wanted to get back to the Bluebell to watch the World Cup! Hey Ho, You can't always run at your best!