Welcome to our post marathon blog

Jane, Ian, Brian and Theresa have completed (well all accept Ian who did not start due to injury) the Palma Marathon. All survived and are still running. This is our continuing thoughts. Milly has now started her own blog.

Sunday 29 August 2010

Theresa and I did the Paisley 10K today which does not really feature in our marathon training. I've had a very low key week so I have treated it as a 'rest' or 'easy' week......Theresa had a really good run at Paisley and I recorded a PB, so a 'result' nevertheless.

We had a really nice afternoon at Ray's barbeque in Haddington, though having 3 too many strong quality ciders post race has left me a bit tipsy-.......ach well.

Here is a link to Sandy's Orkney report on the Portobello website - I did the 2 mile and 10K race featured and Theresa completed the 10K.






Friday 27 August 2010

Millie

Millie here. Not been on many long runs recently which is a bit of a bore. They bought me a running harness which is red. How stupid do I look in that. Have tried to chew through the harness and am nearly there - next time think I will manage it. Also she is keeping me on the lead as I keep chasing other runners and cyclists - only want to play but they don't seem to like it. Bags are being packed at home so think we are off to the cabin this weekend. Can't wait. No cats about though - which makes it a bit boring as I like annoying them.

7 weeks to go

Think the girlies training is on target. Both of us are having an easy week this week as Saturdays long run ending in walking and Jane felt ill for the rest of the weekend. Seem to be tired all the time now and eating all the time. Motivation not bad but fed up of having to run ALL THE TIME. Hip sore again after track session - obviously not good for me. Off to Kippford this weekend and dont plan to run any more than 10 miles. Jane

Tuesday 24 August 2010

Bamboo gobbledygook



53 days and 18 hours to go, apparently. Better get moving. The Palma Marathon finishers T shirt is apparently made of 49% bamboo carbo (whit??). It will complement the Dunbar RC green shorts.

Legs felt not too bad after 17 miles on Sunday. My race motivation has come on leaps and bounds once i saw the finisher's shirt (honestly).

Brian



Monday 16 August 2010

A better week...

I've managed to get off my backside this week and get about 50 miles under the belt.......mixed enough to be interesting but I still need to consider doing fewer but longer runs. The two longer runs were 13 or so, the second one being the Haddington Half Marathon on Saturday which took place in the hot and sultry conditions we have become accustomed to with this race. I was very pleased with the outcome, though, I thought I would not have a hope in hell of bettering my PB from Loch Leven in May of 1:36, but I surprised myself with a time of 1:33.

This week is quite a busy one, I had hoped to have a 9 mile lunchtime session done today, but forgot to pack that rather important racing apparel - a pair of shorts. So it will have to be tomorrow lunchtime. Then we have the Carfraemill - Gifford 11 mile run (I am told it is not a race) organised by HELP and to which an invitation to Dunbar RC is extended annually. Thursday evening is the final East Lothian summer series followed by a Bar B Q so my options for a proper long run are confined to the coming weekend.

The girls obviously had a good run approaching 20 miles on Saturday despite Theresa falling into some bushes and losing her bottle.......

Saturday 14 August 2010

Big Long Run

Saturday 14th August
Theresa and I did our first really long run (just short of 20 miles). We started at Theresa's house and ran down to the coast at whitesands, round the golf course through Dunbar round another Golf course through John Muir, along the river, up to Smeaton and then to Haddington via East Linton and Hailes castle. Was a fab route, both on and off road (thanks Theresa). We both had a great run and I finished feeling stronger than I have for weeks. Have found the last month really hard and had lost alot of motivation but have had a good week and feel much more positive. Theresa and I have not managed to run together much over the last month due to holidays etc and it is great to get back to running together (what a difference).
We finished the run just in time to see the boys at the 1 mile mark of the Haddington Half and it was great to see them start just as we had finished. Just time for a shower and something to eat before cheering them over the finish line.
Milly has not being doing much running over the summer as the miles are too big for her now. But comes out for some nice short recovery runs which she loves.

Saturday 7 August 2010

A mixed week

Two short mid-week races really hampered my distance miles, it was fun doing the East Lothian Summer Series stint in Musselburgh on Tuesday followed by the next evening's North Berwick Law Race. The latter is a particularly fantastic event, really great atmosphere, lots of crowd support and the route, well, is self explanatory. I remain amazed at the speed and agility that some of the seasoned hill runners take the descent from the Law......

I'll be brutally honest, these two events were really a convenient excuse to avoid having to do any distance - I'm having a little problem with distance running motivation at the moment. I'm enjoying short races just now and my speed is picking up nicely, but this is all too much of a distraction from the task in hand - marathon training. With two months left, I do have the time but there is now no room for further procrastination!

I had made a mental committment to doing a longer run this weekend, I hummed and hawed all day, finding other stuff to do, but by 6.00 I decided enough was enough and just got out there. It was a beautiful, still summers evening, and when I was out running I felt that I sometimes have to pinch myself to remind me how lucky we are - the countryside around here is simply amazing. We live on the eastern flanks of the Lammermuirs, with ready access out of the back of the house to hills, secret tracks, woodland, moorland with superb views across the Borders, then over the Forth, to Fife and beyond. Really made for running and walking, and with little in the way of traffic on the many minor highways and byways that cut into the hills.

My route took me from our house over Doon Hill, down to the Brunt, headed over to Innerwick via Woodhall and then to Thorntonloch. Unfortunately, the last few miles of my route took me via a more industrialised viewpoint, passing Torness and Dunbar cement works. This was necessary, as I had elected not to go deeper into the hills, wanting to keep my distance to around 14 miles. Mercifully it was no more than that as my legs had decided to give up, yet my lungs still had plenty of go in them.