PBs and Prohibition

It's been a few weeks since my last blog and there are a couple of bits and bobs I wanted to put down on paper (or screen if we're being picky about it).

Generally, it's been a really successful few weeks with my running. The Nottingham 10k gave me a real motivation boost and has made me more determined than ever to hit a sub 60 10k. My next race is five weeks away now and until the last week or so I'd been quite confident that I could do it. 

I've had quite a few PBs since my last blog post, namely:

• Completing Parkrun in my best ever time of 29.13. I've done treadmill 5ks quicker but that's my best non-interval training time
• Hit 8min mile for the first time. It was the only mile I did that day and I couldn't have kept up that speed for long but I did it! 
• Ran my longest ever run at 13.17 km (just over 8 miles) with two lovely ladies from my running club. 

I think this has been helped in no small part by actually planning my training - something which I've not massively done before. A big bit of this has been scheduling in some interval training which I've never bothered with because I always thought it seemed too much like hard work. However, I think it's finally clicking that if I'm going to improve, it is going to be bloody hard work. 

Which brings me on to the second 'P' of my blog title. Prohibition. I know I've mentioned in blog posts before that I love a drink. Whether it's a glass (who am I kidding... a bottle) of wine after a long day at work, a pint of strongbow in a beer garden or a vokda and lemonade to celebrate the weekend. 

Despite how much I love a good drink, it's becoming more and more clear that drinking and running just don't go together. It's far too easy to abandon long-run day in favour of Netflix and feeling sorry for myself after a pot or two the night before and equally, I always seem to struggle if I run within a day or two of a heavy one. 

It's now 24 days until I jet off to Benidorm with my family, and ideally I want to lose the best part of half a stone before then (well really I want to get rid of 2 but that's looking less and less realistic..). It's also car insurance month in June which is a massive burden on the old bank balance! 

So all these factors lead to one thing really. A 24 day drinking ban! I'm cheating a little bit because it's not like I had any huge social plans which I'll be rocking up to sober, but any any plans won't be involving alcohol (well, not for me anyway!). I really want that sub 60 10k and I know how annoyed I'll be at myself if I don't think I've trained my absolute best to get there. 

Here I go then, 24 days and counting!! 

Psycho, hills and a personal best!

Ever since the inaugural Nottingham 10k was announced last year I've been looking forward to it. I love the city, and the chance to run through some of its streets in the company of an absolute legend (Football legend Stuart Pearce, not to be confused with the other Nottm Legend, Robin Hood) made for a very exciting race.

Originally, I had planned to do a couple of spring races under my belt before this one, but life, post xmas poorness and that bloody injury had other ideas. So all in all it's been six months since I pinned a number on myself and set off on my merry way with hundreds of other runners.

I woke up on Sunday being about 80% excited, 20% nervous. It was a huge relief to see the weather was decent and I had all my family en route to cheer me on, yet I couldn't help being a tad nevous I'd have a repeat of last week's feet fiasco!

As I got into the city there was a fantastic buzz about the place. I don't think I've ever been into town at 8:30 on a Sunday before, but I expect it's usually a world away from the hive of activity it was this week. As usual, the pre race hour went by in a flash and it was time to get in the starting position. As I walked past the rows of runners ready and waiting I quickly noticed this was the biggest race I'd done competitor-wise, it's not a great photo but here's the gathering (and I was only about half way down).

After what seemed like an age, it was finally time to get going. It started with the normal awkward shuffle to the start line and then the attempt to break free from the crowds and set a good pace. A couple of hundred meters in and all was going well, I'd trotted up towards the castle, down into the park and was making my way though some nice leafy streets.

Then I turned a corner and before me was what felt like the biggest hill I've ever seen! Who ever had the cruel idea to put that in there is completely evil! To show I'm not being dramatic, here's the incline map...

Told you it was a big hill, check the ones at the end as well!!

One lucky thing is that as my running has progresses, I've got a lot better at running down hill, so I do find those bits quite fun now at least.

The middle 5k of the race was fairly uneventful. It was lovely how many people were outside their houses in the Meadows, clapping and cheering. There was even a drummer band at one point, I'll miss them next time I'm galloping around The Embankment. I won't miss the warm spring sunshine which was beating down, though!

As I reached the final few kilometres, I got the now familiar endorphin rush and the "Come on, Knowles, you've got this!" feeling. And it was a bloody good job because as you'll see from my earlier diagram, the last bit involved a lot more hills. Fortunately, it also involved lots of clapping and cheering (and that was just from my endorphin-drunk self...). Despite being difficult, meters ticked by quickly and before I knew it I was flying past some of my favourite watering holes and back down into market square.

I'd been avidly checking my watch all the way around, an I knew I was bloody close to a PB so, in proper Nottingham speak, I bloody 'legged it' down the road, past Primark and over the finish line.

My official time clocked in at 1:02:13, a personal best by about 40 seconds and ever closer to that sub 60 mark! Needless to say, there was lots of celebrating for the course of the afternoon.

Next event (I think) on the running calendar is the Women's Running 10k in July. I'm really looking forward to it as it will be back to where it all properly kicked off last year. It's a good, flat course and one I know back-to-front so I'm absolutely determined to get that sub 60... watch this space!!

One Kay runs more than 10k!

I didn't think I was going to bother with a blog post this week, but there have been a couple of little bits which I wanted to mark so here I go.

Firstly, one of my favourite things about Facebook is that it tells me what I was doing on any given day on each year since I joined. Mostly I look through my old posts and cringe, but now and again it has its uses (not least when I've forgotten a Birthday or similar!)

This week, Facebook reminded me that it had been a year since I first started this blog, also meaning it's a year since I decided I was going to make a go of this running thing. To be honest, at that time I had barely any intention of still running now. I signed up for that race as much to try and raise money for a good cause as I did to find myself a new hobby, but such is the running bug that I now fully love it (most of the time) and can't imagine what I'd do with all my time if I didn't run.

So here we are a year on and I'm pretty chuffed with myself on all I've achieved over the last year! Which leads nicely to the second thing I wanted to mention, I now officially need a new name for this blog as I no longer run 10k.. that's so 2015!

I set out on yesterday's long run wanting to do 9km ahead of next week's Nottingham 10k race (which I've not mentioned but am really looking forward to!). I'd vaguely planned where I was going to go, veering off slightly from my normal laps of the Embankment which I'm getting a bit bored of and heading down the Big Track following the canal path.

So I set about my business, headphones in, water bottle in hand and off I went. It was warm but not sunny so decent weather and a couple of kilometres in I was really enjoying myself, so I decided I was going to go for it and wouldn't go home until I'd passed my previous best of 10km.

It ended up making quite an interesting route with a decent mix of the calm of the canal path and the busy city Saturday morning comings and goings (that's without mentioning the strange man rolling around on the floor at one point..) However I couldn't help but notice a really uncomfortable burning on the underside of my foot.

I'm the first to admit that when it comes to pain, I'm very mardy. I don't like pain, I moan a lot when I'm in pain and I generally do all I can do avoid it. So perhaps the biggest triumph of this run is that despite being in bloody (literally!) agony by the end of it, I kept going. I even did several weird route changes, hair pins and loops until I got to my front door at bang on 11km.

Endorphins are a great thing. As I strutted thought my front door absolutely pleased as punch with my longest distance to date, I ignored how much my feet hurt while I set about messaging anyone who'd listen to tell them how happy I was with myself (I do like bragging!)

It wasn't until I peeled my socks off and saw what the damage was that I realised how in trouble my feet were. I don't have the prettiest feet at the best of times, but my God they're in a right old state at the minute!!

As soon as the post-run endorphins wore off I started moaning and I've not really stopped since (remember I said I was mardy!) I'm just keeping everything crossed I'll be ok next week as I've been looking forward to that race for months.

I think I've waffled on for long enough now.. here's a map of my longest ever route, incase anyone is interested! I've even put my splits on even though they're not my quickest (I'm not all brag afterall)

Thanks for reading, I'll be back next week with a race write up!

El runningo! (which probably isn't the Spanish word for running)

When you take the stereotypical English holiday maker (I'm thinking booze, beaches and sunburn) it tends to describe my holidays very well. I've seen Sticky Vicky more times than I care to remember, paid ridiculous prices to get into some of the world's best clubs in Ibiza and I'm embossed with a permanent reminder of a crazy week in Magaluf.

My most recent Spanish adventure wasn't too dissimilar. Despite the fact I was visiting my Nana, I still managed to put away plenty alcohol, I burnt in the unfamiliar (it's been a long winter) sunshine and I played bingo. All typical English holiday behaviour!

However, this year, another activity was added to my itinerary. Despite being hand-luggage only, I squeezed my trainers in my case quite excited at the thought of trotting around by the sea.

To be honest, there isn't a huge amount to report about each of the two runs I did. One was 3.5 miles and the other five, each one keeping fairly steady 10min-mile paces along the Spanish promenade. I was quite pleased with myself for keeping a decent pace, I had half expected to find it more of a struggle in the heat and considering I've not exactly been training loads.

It's much easier (and no doubt more interesting) to share the photos I took rather than try to describe everything, so hear you go!

Clear blue skies

Not sure who this lady is

Sweaty and with no make up, classic run selfie!

A gang of cats

Might have thought I was Rocky running up these...

Despite the heat I really enjoyed getting some miles in, my running gear will definitely be top of my list when I'm packing for the next holiday. After all, it balances out the mass of unhealthy holiday activities I take part in!

Taking it all in

It's been a while since my post, mainly because there's not really been a lot to report, and no imminent races to worry about. My injury healed like an absolute dream and within six weeks I was back to it, which I was really happy about.

What I've not been particularly happy about is how inconvenient running is in the winter. It's either outside in the freezing cold, often raining and often dark, or inside on the treadmill which is almost always boring.

With this in mind, apart from a couple of (very muddy) Parkruns, I've barely ran at all since Xmas. Instead, I've been mixing it up with weight training, swimming, or being far too busy to worry about any of it. And this was absolutely fine until last week it quite suddenly dawned on me that I only had six weeks until my next race.

I've had this one booked in for a while and it's fair to say I'm really looking forward to it. It's around the city centre of Nottingham taking in quite a few landmarks in the world's best city!

With my excitement of my first race in months, I put my thoughts to turning Sunday back into my long-run day and upping my pace to chase that magic sub-60 on the 15th May.

After a disastrous mid-week treadmill 5k, by the time I was settling myself down to bed last night I was a bit nervous for the my run this morning. I can almost cope with one bad run, but two in a row and I feel pretty miserable with myself for a good few days.  

Despite this, for whatever reason (either the sunshine or the 11 hour sleep, I suspect) I sprung out of bed full of confidence, with a really positive attitude and looking forward to a trot around the Embankment. I had decided in my head that I was taking it steady, my Sunday runs need to be more about upping the distance in my legs and less about speed, I'll save that for the boring treadmill slogs.

Normally, I'm very much a head down, ear phones in and get on with it type of runner. Apart from the occasional half smile at a fellow runner I don't make eye contact with anyone other than maybe a passing dog (I can't help but look at them).

Today was different though. I looked at everything, really taking it all in. It was difficult not to. The sun was shining, the sky was blue and the trees are just starting to look green and lush again. All up and down the river there were families, couples, people taking in the British springtime. A dozen different sporting activities, both in and out of the water. Something to look at everywhere.

So as I approached the City Ground, I couldn't help but do something I've not done before, but will definitely do again! I got my phone out and took a picture. I ended up taking quite a few on my route around, everything looked so lovely and it seemed a shame not to (I love taking photos!)

I think today, at the risk of sounding overly cheesy (just like photos, I do love a bit of cheese), I really fell in love with running again. It's been a long winter, I've struggled quite a lot with my running and I'm very scared at the thought of the half marathon looming in the distance. But today I really felt like I am capable. I went out with the intention of doing 7.5km and came back with 8.7 under my belt, which I'm really chuffed with.

So it's now five weeks until Nottm 10k, and I'm more excited than ever! And that distant yet looming half marathon is going to be no trouble!

This has been a lot longer and more waffly that I'd planned (I'm sure I say that on every post!) So as a thank you for getting to the end, here are my lovely photos from today!

Thanks for reading!

Injury time

As we enter the new year, my blog is once again set to become a training blog as well as a racing blog, because I'm officially entered into the Robin Hood Half Marathon! See, here's the proof!

It's ages away yet (262 days to be exact), but I knew I definitely wanted to do it and being the bargain hunter/tightwad I am I've got my name down early to take advantage of the early bird rate. And, as with one of my intentions when I signed up to my first ever race, it will be a good target for keeping my motivation solid.

As you may have guessed from the title, my entry into the half marathon isn't the sole reason for this blog post. Nope. The second reason is to talk about injury.

Way back when I started my blog, I mentioned being more than a little bit clumsy. I even fell over a few weeks in and had to have a week out of training. Well, in true Kay Knowles fashion I've done myself a mischief (don't let your weight lifter brother put someone down onto your foot. No, I'm not going mad, that's how my injury happened!)

The incident itself is a bit hazy, but it was all quite dramatic and involved me crying into a chicken leg for a bit. My toe and foot hurt a bit but the concoctions of alcohol I'd been drinking masked the pain a bit.

Then I got out of bed the next morning. Now, I'm not one for writing down swear words in a public domain, but insert whatever words you can think of, and that's what I said when I tried to put my foot on the floor on January 1st.

Skip forwards one week, one GP visit, one hospital visit, two x rays, several failed attempts and driving and a couple of uncomfortable painful short car journeys, throw in five days off work for good measure and that's where I am today.

It's a lot less painful now and I'm managing to hobble around pretty well. But the heart breaking thing is my GP has advised 6-8 weeks before I start running again. It really does make me realise how much I've changed in the last year, there would have been one time where and excuse to stay away from exercise guilt-free for nearly two months would have been my idea of perfection!

But not now! No way. I'm frustrated, grouchy, bored and nervous. Frustrated because I run to let off steam after a rubbish day, grouchy for mainly the same reason, bored because I've been pretty much confined to the house for a week (which doesn't help the frustration and grouchiness). The nerves are because by the time I'm allowed to put my trainers on again I'm worried I won't remember how to tie my laces and work my Tomtom, let alone put one foot in front of the other!

As soon as the pain's gone properly I'm going to get myself back to the gym for a bit of swimming and other gentle stuff so I don't lose the fitness levels I've spent the last 12 months building up. I realise, however, that I am going to have to be quite patient with myself once I'm ready to pound the pavements again!

Watch this space, I'll be sure to fill everyone in on how it goes!

Tis the season to be jolly

Just a quick one today, but I couldn't let the year wind down without one more post about my favourite run yet... the When You Wish Upon a Star Santa Run!!!

Christmas has for a long time been one of my favourite things, it is the most wonderful time of the year afterall!! I'm well known that I start the countdown at 100 sleeps to go and that my December my excitement for the return of the big fat fella is almost unbearable. So when a couple of months ago I saw the chance of comparing one of my oldest favourite things with one of my newest, I couldn't help excitedly signing up.

Not forgetting the main reason for this run, of course! When You Wish Upon a Star is a great charity which makes a difference to the lives of some very poorly children. I didn't like asking for sponsors for a 5k run as I tend to do it a few times a week now, so I decided instead that I'd donate whatever my finish time was to the charity.

In the lead up to the event, my mum decided she'd join in as well, which made it even more exciting! So when the cold, grey Sunday morning came round and despite the haze of a hangover from a day-long drinking session at the races on Saturday, I got out of bed and excitedly pulled on my best lycra and Santa t-shirt and headed off to the Forest Rec.

On hearing some of my favourite festive tunes I was soon in the Christmas spirit and ready for the special bear-led warm up, followed by a spot of Zumba! Everyone was in fantastic spirits as we danced around in our Santa suits under the magic snow!

As for the run itself, it was great to be back at the Forest Rec, and it made me really realise how far I've come in the last 8/9 months. As I trotted round comfortably, my mind wandered back to my first out-door run, which I did at the same place. When I did that, I only dared tackle the flat bits and I couldn't even manage a kilometre without struggling, walking and hating life!

Now running truly is one of my favourite pass-times and I can't remember what I did with my time before. I'm so excited for all the races I've got planned next year, especially my first ever half marathon which I'm planning on doing in September!

If anyone had have said to me a year ago that I'd love running and have a stack of bling to show for it, I'd have laughed at them. Anyone thinking of giving it a go should absolutely go for it - in fact, even if you're not thinking about it then go for it anyway! You never know, you might surprise yourself even more than I have!

The most unflattering outfits ever!

Close up

Mother going towards the finish line!

Bling time!

Made it on to the telly!