Supermarket Sweep

The Central Lancashire Half Marathon is a great run to start the year with. I have done it for the past 3 years.......though admittedly the first time I did it, it was delayed until March due to ice and snow!



Race Route



It's a good fast course if conditions are favourable as it fairly flat, though there are some inclines due to the road crossing the motorway on 4 occasions......and a cheeky sharp humpbacked bridge to finish off tired legs in the last half mile of the race.

I was hoping for a good solid run to see where my fitness was at, but I really had my doubts as I drove up from Manchester through thick fog - the visibility got down to about 30m on the motorway - but luckily it cleared before the 10am race start. Paul Carroll (from Clydesdale Harriers) and I went for a warm-up jog and debated our prospective race positions. He had beaten me in the 2011 race, but I'd pipped him last year, so today was anyone's race. We both hoped that feeling tired and sluggish in the warm-up would lead to a good race, but weren't too confident as we took our places on the start-line.

The race had sold out in early December and the field seemed much larger than usual, so I had to concentrate in order not to get dragged out too fast. The field stretched out straight away as the race winner disappeared off ahead, and I gradually moved up places over the first few miles. It was quite flattering when the "lead lady's cyclist" caught up with us saying he'd had to chase me down! I felt quite comfortable running along and, as the conditions were favourable, suddenly found myself in 2nd position overall after 4 miles. I wondered how long it would take before all the men shot past me, but didn't expect it to be natural obstacles that caused the biggest upset to my run!

After the finish!

The race is all on open roads, so we made sure we kept as tight as we could to the left-hand side of the road, but after about 9.5miles, there was a 90 degree right-hand turn at a t-junction onto a main road. My cyclist told me to keep to the right-hand side to avoid crossing over directly in front of an oncoming van, but the main problem soon became apparent. Behind the van were 4 goats running towards me in the road. The cyclist said he would deal with them, so I could just ignore it and get on with the race, but the goats had other ideas. As he tried to head them over to the left away from me, the goats wheeled around and headed straight across in front of me. I had to significantly shorten my stride and shout at them in order to get past without running into them, but then they started chasing me......and one even headbutted my back leg. I didn't realise how much such an interruption would affect me, but I found it hard to get back into my rhythm for the next mile and started to struggle. Paul shot past me at the 11mile mark, looking as strong as if he was running a 10K, but I tried to ignore that and focus on finishing my own run. I had wanted a strong run, but at this point I thought that as long as I could keep my legs turning over well, then I'd be close to my PB.

In the last halfmile there is a steep sharp humpbacked bridge over the canal, but as I knew the finish was close, I unconsciously relaxed. Unfortunately this meant that my stomach muscles started to spasm, and so I was unable to push at all in the last 200m as I thought I was going to end up depositing my breakfast in a hedge. It's never nice to be overtaken at the death of a race, but there was nothing I could do, and I later apologised to both the man that sprinted past me, and to my cyclist for my dry retching.

I got the shock of my life looking up at the clock over the entrance to the carpark (though it did turn out that we had to run down the length of the carpark to the hall to finish) as it turned out that I'd taken over 20seconds off my PB!!

Kitchen appliance anyone?

Paul and I ran back down the course to cheer his clubmates in and reflected that we were spot-on in saying that a rubbish warm-up DID indeed foretell of a good race, and what a great start to the year it was for both of us (with new PBs)....and I congratulated him on the well-deserved victory over me! 

OK, OK so it's not quite Supermarket Sweep, but the prizes for the race have always caused amusement back at my club.......as they seem to be trying to stock up my kitchen. In the past 3 years, I've won a mini-cooker, a sandwich toaster and an electric mini-chopper.......and this year I added a handblender to the collection.........smoothies anyone???

Looking Back.....

In most walks of life, we are encouraged to keep looking forward, driving towards the future, and not to look back........but in some situations it can be beneficial.

The Festive Period, for most people (even if, like me, you only have the Public Holidays off work) gives you the chance to step back from the pressures of work, spend time with family and friends, eat, drink and sleep well, and think about the year that has passed as well as looking forward to what is to come.



Gateshead Event Director pointing out the course



I managed all of these, from going to a local parkrun (Gateshead parkrun in Saltwell Park) with my dad on Christmas morning (though admittedly it was more about enjoying the mulled wine, mince pies and chocolate brownies afterwards than it was about the run) to discussing (with my 4 year old nephew) the differences between him trying to run "farrrst" (long southern vowels) and me trying to run "fast" (short northern vowels) to learning about "Superworm" from my 2 year old niece, to eating all 4 different types of cake that my mum made (both Polish and English).



Vests of the year



Whilst catching up with friends old and new, I took the time to reflect back on 2012, which was a very beneficial experience. If you'd asked me what I remembered of my year in running, the initial things that sprang to mind were quite negative........developing plantar fasciitis and struggling with it for several months, forcing me to pull out of target races.......then some tendinitis interrupting training......and a "far from ideal" 50k.......but on thinking more deeply I have actually had a year that I can rightly be proud of.

I've travelled and raced well overseas (including in Warsaw with my family there) proudly worn several different vests (Dumfries Running Club, Nedbank International, Scotland, and the Scottish Vet Harriers), lowered several PBs, won some odd prizes, recovered from significant injury, but far and above it all......I've enjoyed my running and made many new friends! If 2013 has even half of these features, it'll be a great year and I look forward to meeting it head on!



Wigilia!!

Wigilia is the traditional Christmas Eve vigil supper in Poland, held on December 24. The word "Wigilia" derives from the Latin verb vigilare, "to watch", and literally means 'eve'. The feasting traditionally begins once the First Star has been sighted in the heavens at dusk (around 4-5p.m.) although we started slightly later than this as I had to drive over to Durham after finishing work.

A bundle of hay is placed under the tablecloth to symbolise the fact that Jesus was born in a manger. As a game, pieces of straw are drawn out from under the tablecloth to tell your fortune for the upcoming year, eg growing strongly, branching out, fruitful (though my mother is the best at turning her piece round to "help" predict her fortune! 

Another tradition is to leave one extra place-setting for an "unexpected guest". This is to celebrate the tradition of hospitality and inclusion. The empty seat is left open just in case a traveler, family member, or a friend knocks on the door, so there would be a place for them to join in the celebrations..........which our neighbours have learnt and profited from over the years!

The wafer

Our celebrations begin with a glass of vodka (modern technology is amazing as skype let us share this with family and friends in Scotland and Poland) and the breaking of the Christmas wafer (opłatek - a rectangular unleavened wafer, blessed by a priest, embossed with Christmas images to symbolise the bread eaten daily) and wishing each other good fortune in the upcoming new year. The opłatek is broken by the eldest and the youngest and pieces are given to everyone, who then break off a piece of their opłatek, and share it with everyone else, wishing them luck, joy and good fortune in the upcoming year (finalising the wish by a kiss on the cheek).

Barszcz with uszka

The awesome salmon

A traditional Christmas meal in Poland starts with czerwony barszcz (beetroot soup) and uszka (ravioli). Fish provides a main component of the Christmas Eve meal across Poland as Wigilia is observed as a Black Fast (meaning that most Poles abstain from eating meat on this day). Traditionally the fish is carp, but in the Zakrzewscy household we tend to prefer salmon. My mother excelled herself this year, and had the nicest salmon dish I think I've ever had......full of flavour and so moist. Other dishes include the compulsory sauerkraut and cabbage (kapusta), and walnut/potato croquettes.  

Makowiec

For dessert, there's makowiec (poppy seed roll), babka (panettone), piernik (honey-spiced cake), fruit compote and pierniczki (gingerbread cookies). 

The number of country courses is traditionally established to be twelve (symbolic of the number of months in the year as well as to celebrate the twelve disciples) in a similar manner to the British tradition of eating 12 mince pies over the festive season, so if we've not yet got to twelve, we make it up with dried fruit, nuts and chocolates!!

Running for Fun



Lovely new snow!



This is a great time of the year....no, not for the weather.....or for the fact that it's the season of overeating and overdrinking......but for the fact that for most people the race season has come to a close! Instead of hard training and worrying about times and distances, you can kick back, reflect on the year gone by, start to plan for the year ahead.....and just run for the love of it!



For me, it has meant a chance to get out on the hills without worrying about injury, a chance to play in the snow without worrying about slipping, and also a chance to enjoy catching up with friends on nights out.



Running past the neighbours

 

My "prize"



Starting the Christmas handicap

I have just kept my running ticking over.....when I want to (especially nice to run easy in the crunchy new snow), and where I want to (out in the countryside or the woods)......though the club Christmas handicap was a bit of a shock to the sytem. We all run a 5 mile route (almost the course of the Holywood Stroll) , but start times are staggered according to our race results over the past 6 months. Everybody brings an anonymous present worth about a fiver, and then people choose one in the order they cross the finish line (except that the winner gets last choice as they also get a trophy). It was nice to see everyone.....but my aim was to get back as quickly as possibly in order to get a present that looked like it might be chocolatey. I started 4th from the back but managed to work my way up to finish 11th out of the 30 runners, though my plan failed as the prize I chose turned out to be a box of crackers that may just have come out of the Ark! Still, I made up for it with a mincepie fest and a trip to see The Hobbit afterwards (though sitting still in a cinema seat for 3 hours was almost more painful than the 5 mile effort)!!

Hexham Hobble - a fell race or an ice skate?



Trying to stay upright on the driveway



I am sure that I am not the only person who feels that they ought to show their appreciation for their parents more often, so it was nice to go across to Durham this weekend and spend some time with them. My parents seem to realise that a weekend without any type of running makes me poor company, so my mother did wake me up on Saturday morning by asking if I was going to go down to the local parkrun. Not wanting to run it hard, I thought it would be a good opportunity to give something back to the local running scene by going to volunteer. Luckily, I found out just before leaving the house that it was cancelled due to sheet ice....which was just as well, as I couldn't even get down the driveway in an upright position (and the driveway is rutted to help in icy conditions).

Sunday dawned clear and sunny but very cold........so I did wonder what on earth had possessed me to go and take in a fell race  (the Hexhamshire Hobble) on the way back home, as it was bound to be colder higher up in the hills. True to my prediction, the temperature gauge dropped to -3 as I drove to a friend's house so we could go to the race together. He had done the race several times before and so explained the course to me - road sections at the start and finish, with bits of rough fell and runnable wider trails in the middle. We headed off up round the route backwards as a warm up, so that I got a chance to see the run into the finish. It was incredibly icy just crossing the carpark to the grass, and a lot of care had to be taken to avoid slippy patches running down the road, which was a  real shame, as I had thought that the final road section would be my secret weapon.



Route and course profile



As we headed back, it seemed unnaturally quiet, and we realised with a shock that everyone was gathered at the start a full 5minutes early. We had a slight panic, hurdled a stone wall, skidded across the ice back to the car to ditch our jackets and pick up our bumbags containing the FRA (Fell Running Association) compulsory kit (full body waterproof cover, map, compass, whistle and emergency food) and made it to the start just in time. Well, when I say just in time, I was still bent double tying my laces when the gun went off! After leaving the field, the first mile and a half were on road - initially slightly downhill and then a steep climb up onto the fells. I knew that this would be a strong section for me, but the ice on the road meant that it was difficult to pass people safely.

When the marshall directed us off the road onto the fells, that was when the fun really started. It was a beautiful, sunny day, crisp and clear with great views (though I couldn't really appreciate it as I had to spend most of the time looking at my feet to avoid the ice). The snow from a couple of nights prior to the race had almost melted, and what was left had frozen, along with the bogs due to the flooding and rain of the week before. I actually found myself sitting on my backside in the middle of a 2m stretch of sheet ice at the 3 mile mark, but managed to get up and start running again without really noticing. I managed to catch up with the 2 men in front of me on a lovely stretch of wide runnable trail, but they moved ahead again as we queued up to have our numbers stamped before turning back onto the rutted icy rough moorland. This section was a long one and so several of the true fellrunners shot past me in their shorts (!). I actually really appreciated that, as it meant I could follow their line rather than try to pick out the best route, and hence avoided crashing through  more frozen puddles to soak my feet. I recognised their vests and so knew they had local knowledge, regularly training on those fells, so I tried to keep them in sight.



"Keep" trophy as I had to give the large gold one back!



Another road section meant I soon caught them up again and we then had a bit of friendly banter negotiating ice and they encouraged me to push on away from them. The last push up off the road and across the icy tops flew by as one of the marshals had told me that I was the first lady and also that there was cake and tea at the finish........I certainly wasn't keen to let anyone get at the cake before me!

Our recce of the finishing mile was brilliant as it meant that I could speed down that last bit of tarmac, knowing exactly which bits of road to avoid. I felt great, and flew into the finish at my road 10K pace, though did wait to cheer my friend in before hitting the cake.

Not being a natural hill runner, I was amazed to see the results and find out that I had finished in 12th position overall, over 7 minutes ahead of the 2nd lady, and only 2 minutes slower than Angela Mudge's 15 year old course record........though at the prizegiving, the announcer gave up and didn't even attempt to pronounce my name!

Illness - a blessing in disguise?

Clubmate Alan and I made it up the hill at 3 miles

The 10mile Brampton-Carlisle race is usually the last roadrace in our club's Grand Prix series, and this year was no exception. I don't have the best history of this race, having started it twice......the first time being the only time I have ever DNF'd in a race (I collapsed with chest pain halfway due to being grossly anaemic) and the second time was when the course was shortened due to flooding. For the last 2 years, I have just supported club mates running it and so I consider that I've never really run the full race. It looked like this year was going to be no exception, but after enjoying the Belfast weekend, I decided to give it a go and enter it.

It was difficult to work out what pace to run at, as it's a fast, net downhill course, but I hadn't been training in the past few weeks, so didn't feel on for a particularly good time. As the weekend approached, it looked like the decision was out of my hands anyway, as I spent most of Thursday night awake with some version of the local bug doing the rounds! I dragged myself into work on Friday morning as we needed to pack up the surgery (as well as seeing patients), but by lunchtime I was back in my bed......and woke up 5 hours later still in my work clothes! Even my famous appetite had disappeared, so it didn't bode well for the weekend.

In the now-famous skirt at 7.5miles

Another day of recovery (and unpacking at the new premises) and I felt like giving it a go on Sunday. After the previous two days, there was absolutely no pressure on me to run a good time, so I could just relax and enjoy a fun day out with my clubmates. 16 of us went down together on the minibus from the club, though we had 25 clubmembers racing in total, and 3 others were there to give their support (2 on their bikes). Bearing in mind how my racekit affects my mental attitude, I further took the pressure off by wearing my club vest and running skirt, rather than club croptop and shorts (though I did query this decision when I felt some drops of rain/hailstones and dreaded the thought of long wet kit - luckily this didn't amount to much).

It was still quite chilly, but the early morning ice/frost had gone by the time we set off at 11:30am. There was little wind so some fast times were on the cards, so I made sure that I was several rows back at the start. Many people are taken unawares by the fast downhill start and so the field becomes rather mixed with runners of varying speeds then jostling for places as they head uphill again out of Brampton.

Team DRC at the pub (after the race!)

Having decided that I was in no shape to go for a time, I ran without looking at my watch for most of the race. Until I looked at my splits later, I didn't realise that I'd gone out as fast as I had, but at least this meant than when my legs ran out of energy with a few more miles to go I had still done enough to run a good time - in fact my second fastest 10 mile time. Luckily for me, the ladies' field was not as strong as usual, so I managed to sneak in a cheeky win, though the main celebrations in the pub afterwards were for the multiple PBs achieved by my clubmates. All in all, it was a great day out for the club - we all had so much fun and I'm really glad that I went (and could almost thank the short illness for taking the pressure off me, making me enjoy the run and see how bad my natural pacing mechanism is!!!).

Into the Northern Irish mud



A slight running influence in my pumpkin carving!



My two week "non-running" holiday was over too quickly and I had to return from sunny California (where I'd cycled to the beach, been wine tasting, carved pumpkins, trick-or-treated, and eaten pancakes practically every day for breakfast) back to chilly Scotland - having to scrape the ice off my car at Glasgow airport was rather a shock to the system!
The return was made easier by the thought that, in my absence, we would have moved into our shiny new purpose-built premises. Unfortunately, due to various factors outwith our control, this had not happened, so I was back at work, trying to find everything that had been packed away into boxes. Luckily this took my mind off the approaching weekend - I was due to go to Belfast to run in the Masters International Cross-Country as part of the Scottish team. I had not run any cross-country this season, and indeed hadn't laced up my spikes since having PF (plantar fasciitis) at the start of the year. Having not really run properly since the 50K, I was glad that the event was described to me as more of a social weekend than a serious "goal" race.
My clubmates (Lisa and Sian Finlay) and I had decided to travel over together on the ferry from Cairnryan, though we almost missed it entirely as road flooding caused big diversions en route. It was odd to be travelling as friends but know that we'd be running as rivals the following day (Lisa and Sian were both running for Northern Ireland, whereas I was representing Scotland) - and it certainly caused much hilarity and talk of "taking out the opposition" on the ferry when I was locked into the toilet, and Sian almost tripped over in the cafe.



Sian, Lisa and I when running as a team



The evening was spent getting to know other members of Team Scotland over dinner, catching up with my room-mate and friend Avril (debating how weird it would be to run a short XC after all of our distance training), and trying on “race outfits“ for the morning.

Our hotel was so well heated and insulated that it was rather a shock to the system going outside to walk to the bus station, in order to catch the bus to the venue. I find that the clothing I wear to run in tends to affect my mindset, so I had decided to wear my vest teamed with a running skirt. I don’t like wearing anything under a vest if it’s a short race, but unfortunately I could have definitely fitted a few layers in under there without worrying about tightness. I had asked for a smaller vest but was told that I had been given the smallest available and that anyway “you’re one of the biggest here“...... I’m still not quite sure whether I should have been offended by that or not! The temperature wasn’t quite equal to the californian warmth I have become used to, so I was also glad of the extra skirt layer.

Team Scotland

Some light rain was an added bonus (not!) as we watched the local parkrunners come by, and then hung around for our team photos. Team NI had a slight home-turf advantage for the race, as they’d run their trials on the course, so Avril and I headed off with Fiona Matheson for our warm-up on the course itself. The venue had been changed from Stormont to the Queens Playing Fields a few weeks earlier, due to waterlogging, and the new course really didn’t sound as if it would suit me (we were told that it was a “fast, flat, hard surface“). Our race was 3 laps of 2000m each, and although there were long straight stretches to pick up speed, there was also a nasty, slippery cambered hill soon after the start, a nice little incline halfway round, and 2 distinctly boggy bits.



Getting stuck in....



All too soon, the thermals were off and we were racing, 165 of us in total as the race was for all the ladies and the V65 and V70 men (2 of whom were racing barefoot – bet that was a little chilly). Knowing that I’m a slow starter on the best of days, I was about 8 rows back at the start and so had difficulty working my way past people before the first muddy climb. This meant not being able to choose the best (?grippiest) line up and so required some digging in with the spikes in order to stay moving in the right direction. I was definitely out of my comfort zone but kept working my way up the field as my went round the first lap. Places around me changed little on the second lap, though I found that I could power past some ladies on the inclines as I have strength in my legs even if not out and out speed. It was great to hear everyone cheering us on, and we really appreciated the men delaying their pre-race warmup to encourage us.

All the way round I had heard Irish accents encouraging a girl called “Lisa“ to chase me down, and so I was convinced that my club-mate was running a blinder and was just on my shoulder. On the last lap I realised that it was a totally different Lisa (running for RoI rather than NI), but she was still being encouraged to overtake me. There is nothing like hearing from a bystander that you “look finished“, are “exhausted“ and can “easily be outsprinted“ to make you dig in, so I have to thank that unknown Irish supporter. He made me dig in, and think about using my arms and my body position to really drive for the finish line. I tried so hard that I was nearly ill after crossing the line, but opened up a gap of about 10 seconds on “Lisa“ and a good 3 on the lady that crossed behind me.

I didn’t hear about the dramas that occurred at the finish to the podium ladies (the leading lady stopped just short of the line thinking that she’d finished and was then passed by 2 runners), but did see Fiona running in ahead of me to retain her V50 title in style – she was 5th overall!. I was the second Scot home in 9th place, and although my team didn’t win any medals in our category, we realised that if there had been no age groups, Fiona, myself and Sue Ridley (V45) would have been the 3rd team home!



The Scottish Ladies celebrating after racing!



The camaraderie of the day was great as we rounded it off with drinks, dinner and dancing, but I met so many lovely new people that I seriously doubt my ability to call them all by the right names when we next meet at races).

As the baby of the squad, I really enjoyed the whole weekend experience and surprised myself with my performance (a former British record holder said “Top 10 for an endurance athlete over 6K of grass is impressive“ and that meant a lot to me!), but still.......bring on next year and an “undulating course“!!!!