Hands up I did plan to run every day in January for Red, but I think that he already become be active every day because I have really struggled to commit to it. By the time I had written my Motivation post I had already made the change and to be honest I do think it is more realistic for me seeing as I am also trying to challenge myself more. In fact the day after the Kelston 10K I was surprised I could even walk never mind attempt a run – and so I don’t think it would have done my body any good!
My Activity for the First Week in January
Anyone who knows me will know that getting stinking drunk the night before isn’t generally a reason not to run. Stupidly I had ended up drinking on an empty stomach New Year’s Eve and so wasn’t feeling it New Year’s Day. My husband told me just to do double on the second but there was no way I was going to start the New Year with an excuse. So off I went attempting to just run a mile. Bu half a mile my stomach was having none of it! I carried on with a mix of walking and running until I reached one and half miles before literally going straight to the toilet! (sorry tmi but I am telling you do not go running after drinking too much on an empty stomach the night before!!!)
Monday 1st January
Hungover Run:
- 1.53 miles
- Time: 18 minutes 49 seconds
- Average Pace: 12 mins 16 seconds minute/mile
- Best Pace: 7 mins 55 seconds minute/mile
Daily Steps: 8,741
Total Calories: 2,268
Total Distance: 4.5 miles
Tuesday 2nd January
Club Run:
- 4.8 miles
- Time: 50 minutes 58 seconds
- Average Pace: 10 mins 37 seconds minute/mile
- Best Pace: 8 mins 39 seconds minute/mile
Daily Steps: 15,975
Total Calories: 2,483
Total Distance: 7.9 miles
Wednesday 3rd January
Daily Steps: 12,147
Total Calories: 2,152
Total Distance: 5.5 miles
Thursday 4th January
Quick Run:
- 1.5 miles
- Time: 15 minutes
- Average Pace: 10 mins minute/mile
- Best Pace: 8 mins 39 seconds minute/mile
Daily Steps: 9,770 (I think I had planned to run at night but the whole back to school thing just wiped me out!)
Total Calories: 2,080
Total Distance: 4.7 miles
Friday 5th January
Daily Steps: 11,541
Total Calories: 2,071 (note that this is less than calories burnt for yesterday despite the fact I had taken more steps. This is probably because these were walking between pubs steps so a lot slower!)
Total Distance: 5.3 miles
Saturday 6th January
Park Run was cancelled due to flooding (and we hadn’t had a lot of sleep because I got in at 3am, then husband’s Nan’s smoke alarm kept going off so she rang in the night for us to turn it off for her).
Daily Steps: 12,623
Total Calories: 1,904 (again after drinking these steps taken wouldn’t have been very quick)
Total Distance: 5.7 miles
Sunday 7th January
Kelston 10K Run:
- 6.6 miles
- Time: 1 hour 23 minutes (according to my Garmin which kept pausing as I slowed to go down the hilly rocks, official time was 1 hour 26 minutes and twenty-one point four seconds.
- Average Pace: 12 mins 34 seconds minute/mile
- Best Pace: 7 mins 04 seconds minute/mile
- Elev Gain: 786 ft
- Burning 981 Calories
Daily Steps: 19,345
Total Calories: 3,419
Total Distance: 9.3 miles
Kelston 10K 2018
I thought it was a good idea to set myself a 10K race a month to keep me motivated without having to push myself too much. I was looking at local (or so I thought) races and came across Kelston 10K which was described as hilly and undulating. To be honest I didn’t know what the latter meant but I knew that I HATE hills and am no good at them. So of course this was the perfect way to start my New Year – pushing myself, and everyone knows that hills are good for you – right?
I first really saw what I set myself up for when I was looking on Social Media the night before – instead of seeing keen people ready for the next day I saw last year’s runners (who didn’t seem to be repeating the experience lol). I also discovered that it wasn’t quite as close as I thought (over an hour’s drive away), mean we had to get up early to get there before registration. Then at registration people were talking about the “hill” and that actually only the elite run it! Well I thought at least I can take my time. I joked along with others that as long as I did it in an hour and a half (the last 10K I ran I did on my own took me in 56 minutes and 51 seconds).
We went out in waves and I was in the last before one. I am glad as some of it was very narrow and you could only go at the speed of the person in front – so I would hate to have slowed anyone down. It was all rather friendly, well laid out/sign posted with plenty of very good and supportive marshals (and a tail runner who I was pleased not to see!). Not to mention the humour of things like Billy the Bull being in the first field with us!
As we went up the first incline there was a sign saying that it wasn’t a hill it was a flat on an angle. Funny as it seemed at the time it wasn’t wrong because compared to the rest of the uphill it was nothing! I had so much admiration for the people running past me. To be honest if I knew the route better I may have attempted a bit more of a jog but my aim was to finish the course, and with so many others walking it was easy just to walk too. Once at the top there was some fantastic views, as well as places to run. As we splashed through mud, later and leaves, in and out of trees, up and down little hills before what I thought would be a fast downward run (it took me around 45 minutes to do the first 5k and I do Parkrun hungover in around the half an hour mark!). But alas downhill wasn’t my friend either as it was icy and there were rocks, after falling on my backside twice (thank you to all the runners who stopped to ask if I was ok, and the marshal at the first fall) I took things very slowly, with lots of runners overtaking me. Again at the kissing gate at the end was a big squelch of mud and I only just stopped myself falling into it.
I came 199th out of 221 finishers (which included an 80 year old man, hats off to him!!) and 44th in my category out of 51 finishers. It was all very friendly and at the end a lady came and thanked me for rescuing her trainer out of the mud.
My next 10K isn’t until the end of February but it is flat (and apparently very fast) so now I need to work on my speed endurance. How is your 2018 going? Have you set yourself any challenges?