Mums Running Club

gorgeous picture and I love the name combo too. Glad it all went well.

Boo to poorly wee ones with eating probs, dodgby bulging discs, buggered popped calf muscles, continuing feeling yuck (EF) and that sounds like a hideous course you are doing!

Yay to successful trip to Chessington (with separate beds), interviews for jobs, weekend in York (really must go), new clothes in Fat Face and lots of great racing today if FB is anything to go by - Lotte, Sonja and MM.

FANTASTIC ski holiday here but I managed to pick up some vile coughing germ thing at end of week and felt pants yesterday (at least was day travelling home and no skiing missed), still feel grim today too but hopefull will have passed by Tues when kids back at school ... ankle feeling better now though and some self-administered chiropractic treatment (wiping out in some kind of half-pipe I was following hubby and son down at end of day, resulted in a horrible crunching sound which seems to have got rid of the damage from falling off my bike the other week!!!).  Skied all day every day, S went into childcare in the afternoon where she went sledging and generall had lots of snow fun with other 5 & 6-year-olds; J stayed with us and blimming heck, can't believe how well he did - so he's been down blue runs, red runs and in off-piste powder; waaaay more than if he'd been stuck in ski school all week for sure. Have never skied powder before but this stuff was awesome - perfect snow conditions all week, all though not an awful lot of sunshine so lots of skiing in flat light which is pretty hard work - some afternoons it was white-out conditions.  Was freezin too - I wore every layer I took with me and still regularly lost feeling in my hands etc.

Epic travel though but finally home and have first of many washing loads on. Back tomorrow - need to go and phone hubby. So nice having a family week, boo to being back to weekday single-parenting though 

So I haven't run for three weeks, have done just one long run this year of 18 miles, I have 10 weeks to get prepared for a 53-mile race - am I having a laugh do you reckon??? Am going to have to bail on the 33-mile race I had planned for mid-March, no WAY I'll be ready for that.  Ummmm this years racing plans are so NOT going to plan ... sigh

Wowee, congratulations Anj, lovely news, hope you are all well. Looking forward to the race report!

Glad you had a good hol  CC, sounds awesome (apart from all the airports!). I thought you were back yesterday and I was stuck halfway down a huge queue at the flybe desk when I heard the easy jet arrival announced and I wondered if you were on that one. I did wander over after I got checked in but no sign of you.

So I had a successful weekend away. Flew down to Edinburgh on Friday, megabused up to inverness Saturday then took me as long again to get to Lossiemouth (bus to Elgin then another to Lossie) and stayed overnight in a dodgy wee hotel near the start of the race. After the race I missed the only bus to Elgin because I waited for the prize giving but luckily I cadged a lift to Elgin with a minute to spare for the inverness bus and then had to get another bus from inverness to airport. Just in time for check in, only for my flight to end up 2 hours late! Man I have had enough of public transport to last me a long time! Was good to get home, I miss my babies too much when I am away! Hubby had coped just fine although mil seems to have spent most of the weekend here or with them at hers! My house smells of her which isn't supposed to sound horrible, just she wears a strong perfume which seems to linger!

So the race was brilliant. A lovely dry bright warm day. And one of those few and far between races when you just know as soon as you set off that it is going to go well. Legs felt good and head was in the right place. The course is good, a couple of small hills but otherwise pretty flat. There was one lady in front of me and I sat behind her for a bit but overtook her at about 4 miles and she just tucked in behind me. I kept imagining she was just about to storm past again and that kept me pushing on! I pulled out a bit on her up the hill at about mile 9 and then daren't look back!  Went through the first 5k in about PB time, 10k in 40.xx and crossed the line in 83:59 for first lady and I think 14th overall. (About 200 runners in total) Was a super race friendly and well organised. Delighted to get some reward for the winters training. My only plan had been to try and hang on to 6.30 pace and see if I could sneak a 1.25 so absolutely delighted with a 4 min PB. Splits 6.19/6.29/6.23/6.26/6.29/6.44(hill)/6.27/6.21/6.39/6.35/6.18/6.27/6.21. (Average 6.28mm). And my prize was £25 cash!

Only bugbear of the weekend was had a very heavy period all weekend. Woke at 4am to find I had flooded and then couldn't get back to sleep for hubbys snoring so here I am, off for a run in a bit, just thought I'd catch up first!

I killed the thread!

At work just now, clock watching and its a lovely sunny day out there, could do with some chat ladies!! 10 miles run this morning. Feeling good, no soreness in the legs although balls of feet are slightly achey from running the half in my lightweights which I usually only wear at the track or for short races.

Well done Lotte!  Did you get a prize?  Brilliant start to half term here as its sunny and we have had an hour in the playground and I'm washing the curtains before we move out midweek!

Well. as you asked so nicely Lotte! Was about to do some work but it can wait   Gorgeous sunny day here too, hubby has the day off to look after girls (childminder off for halfterm) and wish I was off too!

That is awesome running lotte! Just amazed by those splits, Loved the photo on FB, looked like you were leading a pack of blokes all desperate to catch you up! Shame about the public transport but good to stay for the prize giving!

Unlike you I'm giving my legs a day off after my race effort. Was so close to pulling out, still had a chesty cough on Saturday and hadn't done any running for over a week due to general flu type weakness. But then finally decided I might as well go do it even if just for a training run as wouldn't get my money back anyway. So in bed by 9, alarm went off at 5.30 (I know this is normal for lotte ) and I was in the car on the M25 by 6.15 heading to Brighton in thick fog, still considering turning around! Poor hubby not particularly impressed as my lightsleeping daughters both woke up before I left. So, I'm not sure if it was the beautiful weather or my very well rested legs, but after having a nice hacking cough session I was keeping up with the 1:45 pacer guy then overtook him and that was it. Felt fine and probably could've done better if I hadn't been worried about my illness (and the annoying headwind for the last 3miles down the seafront). Did 1:43:24, a whole 6mins faster than my PB and 10min faster than last time I did Brighton 5yrs ago! Having children has made me faster! Was 1500 out of 8000 so respectable My first experience at going to race on my own so was a bit lonely and have a sore calf from the hour drive back home. But I am not complaining about only having to drive an hour to do a race...!

CC- your holiday is making me very jealous! Sorry you have succumbed to the general coughing lurgy that the whole country seems to have! So J didn't attempt any black runs yet? maybe next year... Do you think this was the first year they were both old enough for a ski holiday? Hubby desperate to go again but next year Maggie will be nearly 4 and Rosie will be only 2. So stuck in a creche all the time I assume? I'm no expert but surely 10wks is enough as you're not exactly starting from scratch!

Camlo- sounds like your training is going well! Doing 17milers already is great, going to attempt a 16 next weekend now I'm feeling more confident that I'm not following the wrong marathon schedule.

EF, well done! Are you starting to feel pretty human again? Works sounds tough atm for not feeling great.

Right, now I really have to go. Kept getting interruptions as writing this from people asking me work questions, can't they see I'm busy

Great racing from Lotte and Sonya then. Those are awesome splits Lotte, let alone the 10-miler you knocked out this morning very easily by the sounds of it!

Lotte - we were on the Flybe flight back from Birmingham (drove up to FIL in Coventry after getting back to UK on Saturday evening). We got tipped out at far end by bus station so was by different carousel and very wrapped up in retrieving two large bags and getting our car parking ticket OK'd so was very distracted!  Local buses on a Sunday are pants, such a shame I was away otherwise I could have saved you a whole lot of bother, glad you managed to stay for the prize-giving.  Nice to give some of the lasses of Inverness Harriers a run for their money as some of them are waaaaay too comfortable taking the wins

Sonya - great run for you and yay to fab shiny new PB and faster mummy legs!  Re the skiing - I'd say that this year (S will be 6 in March) is the first that she has lasted more than a couple of hours on the slopes. When we took her last year locally she was frozen  and tired in a v short time but that is Scottish skiing conditions. There were lots of wee ones on the slopes but not for the whole day, definitely just a bit in the morning. They DO pick it up scarily quickly but realistically you'd want some childcare options, otherwise it's an awful lot of money to pay if you don't get any kind of skiing in yourselves.  Black runs - well the first bit of powder we went down was off the side of a black run - you should have seen Js face - was a total picture - 'I am NOT going down there - it's BLACK' however it was very easy and you couldn't fall down anything as the powder was so deep!!!   J did fall of a trail we were on somewhere else - just toppled sideways and fell in a bit of a hole - hubby had to dig out the skiis and they had to crawl back up onto piste whilst I was wetting myself videoing it all!!!

Yes, is the cough thing the whole country has so am resigned to getting over it. Heaps better today but still not up for a run for sure.  Ankle is not 100% but waaaaay better so whatever I do this week is experimental and hopeful!!

I have just entered the Lairig Ghru race which is on my birthday http://www.scottishhillracing.co.uk/RaceDetails.aspx?RaceID=RA-0067, 27 miles I think and is the first stretch of my own run I want to do in the autumn and requested details for the Two Inns Race http://www.scottishhillracing.co.uk/RaceDetails.aspx?RaceID=RA-0256 which is in August.

If ankle holds up I will build up to some long runs again and do the Fling for the fun of it ... won't be a PB time but I do enjoy that race and the guy I did the Northumberland Ultra with a couple of years back (another one which was an epic) is just coming back from injury and planning to run it so we can hobble round together and have a good old catch-up!

Camlo - like you I've done races on that sort of training!!!  My first longer ultra (46 miles) was done on one 26 mile run and lots of 13-milers and I was second lady (shows the field wasn't that impressive that year but even so!).  Well done on the 17-miler, I bet it wasn't over easy terrain?

Looks like MM and Minks are having good London training success at the moment too.

Thats a mighty hilly birthday treat CC! Thanks for info re skiing. Hadn't really considered the cold actually so thats a good point! I guess if we want to go skiing next year we'll need someone to have the kids for a week....

Or even a long weekend ... we reckon that four days of skiing is plenty actually (if you like to ski first lift to last lift that is) ... based on that, I usually find by  Wednesday I need an easy day so I can survive the last two days skiing.  It's easier to ski hard if you don't have to worry about logistics of childcare.  We managed to get on slopes by 9.30 each morning and skied until 12.30 with s, at which point we'd drop her at a meet point for childcare and then shovel our lunch down ourselves and then hubby, J and I would ski until about 4.15 in time to get S back at 5.  Kids actually didn't get as cold as I did and were wearing less layers than me but in Scotland the wind is more of a problem. If you went for March-time skiing it tends to be less chilly too.

Tangy - was it you who recommended Calcium supplements for cramp? I am getting it almost continually in my feet at the moment - just awful, take my B vits anyway which include magnesium but it's getting worse.

Wow, some really impressive stuff going on over the weekend - congrats Lotte and Sonya on your shiny new PBs.  Very impressive time from you Lotte - all those winter miles are really paying off.

CC, holiday sounds fab.  And yes, you probably could pull an ultra out the bag on hardly any training - if anyone can it's you - but it may not be a pleasant experience!

Congrats to Ang - what a gorgeous name, glad it all went well and looking forward to the "race report" at some point.

Well done on the 17 miler, Camlo - imagine around your way there are not many easy routes so that's a respectable time.

MM did well at Bramley from her FB post.  I did my second 20 of the marathon schedule yesterday - 20.3 in 2:40.  Lots of 7:40 splits but did get slowed up in the last 3 miles as I ran a new stretch of the canal and man, it was MUDDY!  And uneven and rutted, not to mention the fact I headed down a farm track and then found I couldn't get out at the end on to the road as there was a massive iron gate in the way!  Just contemplating what to do when I spied an elderly couple walking along a path to the side of the one I was on, and managed to find a little side gate that I hadn't spotted before.  Having to backtrack at mile 18 of a 20-miler would not have been good psychologically!  A beautiful dry, sunny and virtually windless day - not the sort of conditions I've become accustomed to of late - I evenleft my hat in the car, although it was very icy first thing.

Boo to calf tear, CM, but glad Chessington was better than expected!

JG - that's the sort of thing I do (buy two things to choose between and end up keeping them both!)

Congrats Lotte and Sonya!

Hoggle we all get to do it at some point!  Look at me, the three month marathon hacking monster with a six month run up to the infection!  Hope it starts to improve, it sounds horrific.

Congrats Anj!  Gorgeous name.

Lotte and Sonya  cracking running, what a brill PB Sonya! That must be bout a 5% imrpovement!

CC - your holiday sounds amazing...  Absolutely love skiing and our last trip was naff as I got gastroenteritis for four days (bet that doesn't surprise you though).  Just a thought with your cramp, it's not being caused by the Seretide is it? I had terrible cramping when I was taking Seretide (but random places, would be side one minute and foot the next) and it is a known, fairly common side effect.  Since taking Budesonide and Formeterol it has improved massively.  Might be worth a chat with your asthma nurse if it is?  Symbicort is available in much lower doses than I'm taking.

By 'Eck, how scary.  It was bad enough with being referred for reflux, let alone when they don't know the reasoning.  Hope they find the cause soon.

CM - sounds like a cracking weekend, you look after that naughty calf of yours though!

Sounds like there's some great training going on, hope you all get what you hope for.  Must admit, as much as I'd like to be running at the mo, I'm not envious of you on your 17 milers etc!

Well, what a few days! Had a great couple of days with my sister, hit Parc the outdoor play centre and Techniquest the local hands on science museum.  I then managed to lose my phone by driving off with it on the roof of the car (we heard it ring before we left so fairly certain I know how it happened), and then lost my car keys (only one key) for the car this morning!  Thankfully keys have turned up, Dad is sending me his old phone, but for goodness sake, get a grip woman!

Anyway, have Turbo trainer on order, so training will start in earnest soon and we succeded on the potty training so not all bad!

Oh JT - lol (not) and the gastro on ski holiday - hubby has had flu twice when we've been on ski holidays so we are not always best blessed!  Was glad my germs waited until Friday to start kicking in at least so only one day where i wasn't on form!! But will be pleased when it's gone - This year I have done a whole two weeks of proper training so far ...

Interesting re the asthma meds - I'm on Fostair (Beclometasone/Formoterol), will mention it but I've been getting them off and on for the last year really but just seem especially bad at the mo .  Was thinking about us and all the coughing - was last March when I started my marathon coughing that ripped all my intercostals ultimately!!!!

Not good re the phone and keys though - oh my - so much like what I would do though!!!  Sounds like fun days though and yay to the turbo trainer too.

Hoggle - please do come and rant - sometimes its the only place you CAN rant and get guaranteed sympathy, at that sounds absolutely awful tbh, can only imagine the pain. I hope you get some relief very soon  ((()))