Pitchcroft 10k (Race 2 of 2)

After Fridays jaunt up and down the mountains I was looking forward to a flat race around Worcesters race course Pitchcroft, definitely no hills there. The 10k would consist of 3 laps around the perimeter with another kids fun run starting just before.. this time I knew the medal I was looking at was mine as the fun runners were being awarded with certificates. I ended up going out in town drinking the night before which didn't help with my organizational skills the morning of the race as when I arrived at the car park I realised I didn't have my hat with me nor had I bought or put on any suncream oh well I'll finish like a lobster.

I made my way to the start line with Cindy who was running this as her first race and we positioned ourselves near the middle of the pack with the hope of not getting too caught up with the front runners. An announcement at the start made us aware that there were some competitive runners in the field today, we were also given a safety talk on running in the heat and told if we start to feel faint and need to stop don't worry we will still get a medal (Oohh I wish I had  paid attention in drama class at school!) We were off and like a fool I started running too fast not gaining a steady pace I ran the first mile in 9:10 minutes a lot faster than my usual 10:30 and far to fast considering the heat, time to slow it down by the second mile I was running along side a man who introduced himself to me as Tim this was his first race and he had no idea how well he was doing or how fast he was going, he said he liked the pace I was running maybe a bit slower. We ended up chatting for a while and we ran the second mile together in 9:57 so a little slower which was good. I had no intention of going for a pb today I just wanted to finish but knowing the course I was slightly disappointed it was so hot as it's got serious pb potential. By mile 3 Tim and I had settled into a nice pace and he was happy pacing himself with me to get to the finish.  We had the odd walk breaks to cool down and had a natter with Cindy who would come past every so often. We ended up getting lapped by around 7 people all of whom would run up behind us really quick and shout "LEFT" I had no idea if this meant I was too move left or they were coming down the left so I ended up getting in the way more than they would have liked!

At the start of the second lap and drink station I promptly threw a cup of water down my back to cool down and carried on running, the next few miles we slowed down more with a 10:31 & 11:03 minute miles but were still running faster than Tim is used to so kept it nice and steady. Running past the drink station for the last time on the 3rd lap and I simply threw the cup of water in my own face I was dripping with sweat and although I was now soaked through and probably going to end up with a frizzy fringe it was more than welcome. With the finish in sight with all the crowd cheering and clapping on the stands I decided I had a little bit left in me and went for the sprint finish though I wasn't in competition with anyone this time I still went for it. My final time was 1:03:58 and I was delighted when I got home and uploaded the route from my garmin that it was a pb! How I managed to pull a pb out with two races in three days one of them being really tough and both being extremely hot I do not know.

I'll definitely do Pitchcroft again next year and see if I can shave some more time off. All in all a great racing weekend.

Dirtrun Summer Sizzler 6.5 miles (Race 1 of 2)

Who runs on a friday night? Answer.. a lot of people and Dirtrun summer sizzler was the most fun I've possibly had on a friday! Considering I was falling asleep at my desk at work from 3pm onwards I was wondering how on earth I was going to finish a whole day at work then run 6.5 miles in 27 degree heat.

Getting back from work I put my old stinkers on as it was called Dirtrun I didn't want to take a chance taking the new beauties out and getting them muddy. Car loaded up and off I went to pick up running buddy Luke who I may add has just sauntered out the pub from a pre race meal and beers! We made the short drive to Top Barn Activity centre in worcester it was beautiful scenery and I felt lucky to be able to go to events like these and take in different surroundings. There were lots of people milling around registering for 

the race and lots of children as they were doing a fun run before the main event. We watched the kids off and I spent some time eyeing up the medals which looked very nice I couldn't wait to get my hands on one to add to the collection. After around 30 minutes the front runner was finishing in the kids race and we clapped them all through then made our way to line up at the start line where a short race breifing took place. It went something like this.... for those that did the race last year you will remember the mud, well there is no mud this year (so I was wearing the old stinkers for no reason) you follow the lake round then go into the forest for the up and down up and down bit then the steep bit then the really steep bit then down again then the big hill......... At this point I stopped listening I don't want to know about hills and steep bits I just want to get it done.

The whistle blew and off we went I didn't want to hold Luke back but we ran together around the lake and down a slight hill across a field all was well I was rocking my sunglasses, legs felt good it was all good until we ran into the woods. Suddenly it was pitch black and I couldn't see a thing so whipped the sunglasses off and could see what was next. The biggest hills I have ever ran up along the side of one massive hill routing and weaving it's way up like a dirt track that mountain bikers would go on. The part to run on wasn't all that wide initially and the footing was very loose due to dry twigs, pine cones etc so I was very careful to slow down and take my time. Rounding a corner I was then faced with what can only be described as a full vertical climb (imagine the drop on Oblivion) well I was running up something like that, it was so steep the organizers had tied rope between all the trees for people to literally pull themselves up.

This isn't what I signed up for at all! Luke had to start pushing me up from behind and when we reached the top it appeared we were making our way out of the woods...yippee.. but then runners were coming from the opposite direction on the other side of some red and white tape. They had tricked us! We ran out of the woods then straight back in for some steep descents and more steep inclines. For the purpose of this blog I will replace the word F**K with the word fudge. Fudge this and fudge that, this is so fudging hard I can't fudging believe it, I was ranting to myself. Finally out of the woods and having to jump through stinging nettles was next then out to some nicer parts running through fields and on pavements. We ran past a pretty church and the first drink station and started talking to some runners from the black pear joggers group in Worcester we bimbled along with them for abit chatting and another girl also called Sarah. By mile 5 we were run/walking and there were more hills to come.

Finally we came out by the lake and myself, Luke and Sarah had discussed sprint finishes and no one said they were going for it. Liars! On the final straight Sarah booted it and I decided to take her on. I have never felt competitive in a race until now, it made me feel like I was back at schools sports day. She beat me only by 2 seconds but still I could of had her if i didn't have a stitch...honest.

Crossing the finish line I was presented with a medal the size of a fifty pence piece... eh? This isn't the medal I saw before. Turns out only the children got the big medals!I did however get a free burger from the bbq so this kept me happy.  I said at the end I found the Dirtrun summer sizzler 6.25 mile race harder than any marathon or Ultra I've done before and not sure I will go back next year unless I'm allowed to enter the kids race and miss out the hills and get the big medal.

Mission Imbloggable

It's been so hot but you have to be ready for any race conditions so I have been running in the sun mainly trying to stick to the woods where it is shady and also running late at night when it's cooler.

I got home from work feeling run down, tired and not really wanting to run but pulling up on the drive at 5.15pm with the temperature gauge showing 29 degrees I realised I had to take a dvd back to Blockbusters in town before 10pm, here presented an opportunity to run and save petrol.

So my Mission Imbloggable if I chose to accept it was to run what I thought would be 2 miles into town drop dvd off at blockbusters and run the 2 miles back. I accepted the mission. It was never going to be easy due to the heat, the fact I was running in work traffic direct to the centre of town and the shortest route was going down and up Tolladine Road....it should be called Tolladine hill!

I put my ultra vest on and the back pocket was large enough to fit a dvd in it snuggly so packed up and off I went. Straight away at half a mile in I was beginning to think it was a bad idea there was very little shade anywhere but where I could I tried to run on the side of the road with shade. Approaching the top of Tolladine I was looking forward to this bit as it's just under 1 mile of all downhill yippeee. Now I know it's summer and I know I was running through a chavy/rough part of Worcester but is it really necessary for people to sit at bus stops on their own with shirts unbuttoned all the way down., beer belly hanging out drinking cans of special brew?

At the bottom of Tolladine road it leveled out back to flat and I checked my garmin I was already over 2 miles in and not at blockbusters yet so my 4 mile Mission Imbloggable run was actually going to be more like 5 miles. Arriving at blockbusters I had a quick pit stop and found some jelly babies in one of my pockets from a previous race... mmm... yummy I scoffed two of them ready for the climb back home. I had already decided to walk majority if not all of the hills on the way back as it was still so hot and still little shade along the way. It was a case of stop startng with the traffic at road crossings but I was soon halfway up the hill and even managed to run / walk it all the way up. From here it was going to be easy I was 1.3 miles from home it was flat I had however ran out of water but started a sprint back and managed a mile in less than 10.30mins not bad considering I was running at nearer 11 -12 min miles with my run/walking.

At 5.5 miles I arrived back home dripping with sweat, tired, thirsty, hot but happy that I had accepted the mission and succeeded!