This is a blog post that I have been thinking on doing for a few months, as lots of people have asked me about whether I'll be doing any tri's this season. As you know last year I participated in lots of triathlons and was keen to try and improve all three disciplines, although running has always been my favourite and I had always heavily prioritised it training wise, but I was enjoying the diversity of triathlon. After going on the England trial weekend (link to my blog post from it) a lot of things went through my head afterwards. Something that was clear to me, was that my swimming and cycling were far too slow but my running was the only thing that pulled me back into contention in the triathlons. The decision had to be made where I needed to go down one route or the other, because I just wasn't getting the all around training I needed for triathlon or benefits of committing to running fully. After thinking about everything there was a clear path that would be best for me to take... and that was the running one, and I haven't looked back since. As much as I enjoyed swimming and cycling it didn't fill me with joy, half as much as running did. I still swim and cycle now, but as cross training to help me with my running fitness and I really enjoy doing this. Don't get me wrong I still don't enjoy the 5:30am wake up for early morning swimming, but I just like to think about how I feel at 8:00am when I have achieved so much in my day, before most people have got to school. In addition to just preferring running over swimming and cycling, there was also the small... okay maybe not so small, issue of time. I am heading into my last year of school, where time is slightly tight and even writing blog posts is often something which is squeezed into an hour or two of free time, on a Friday or Saturday evening, but I certainly wouldn't change it for the world, because I love it. I was managing to fit in most of my swimming, however cycling I needed another 100km each week and I just had no where to fit this in. Cycling is my least favourite out of the three and there is something about being on a bike which makes me feel vulnerable. I think if there were cycle highways everywhere and if you didn't hurt yourself when you fall off, I would love it, but unfortunately it does not work like that. So, my bike remains in the garage and comes out for a slow cycle at quiet times of day, and I love that. Since making this big move to commit to running more, my love for running has grown and grown. I would now say I am definitely obsessed and striving to be better ever day. Some goals I make are realistic for each season and others seem crazy, so now I feel it is appropriate for some of my favourite quotes.
"Set a goal that makes you want to jump out of bed in the morning" "It always seems impossible until it's done" "It's going to be hard, but hard is not impossible" I am now looking forward to cross country season, having come through summer with lots of pbs on track and I hope to improve my season this year from last year. I hope you have enjoyed this blog post and answered lots of your questions. Also I hope you like my new design of my blog, after trying lots of different themes I have settled with this one. Love G x
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Wow, what a fun first track season I have had, even though I have only clocked 6 races, 3 in each event 1500 and 3000, I'm happy with how my first track season went. Previously before this season I had raced one 1500m before and that was about a year ago, and wrote a blog post on it, and my previous 3000m was from over two years ago so not much to go from. Every race I managed to squeeze a pb (minus kent 3km champs when it was the hottest day in 40 years...). In this blog post I am going to look back at each race and evaluate what I thought of it, and I'll also put the link to my blog posts on each race too, so you can look back for more detail if you fancy. TONBRIDGE 1500M OPEN MEETING This was my first race of the season and I didn't have huge expectation and just wanted to kick my track season off well. I got a huge pb from my one and only other 1500m I did... however more importantly it made me realise that the sub 5 minute 1500m was definitely something on the cards this season. LUTON 3000M YDL This was certainly not my most enjoyable race, with such a tiny field and windy conditions, it wasn't in my favour. In addition the long day of hanging around and long bus journey didn't do my legs any favours either. Lap after lap my legs felt just as rubbish as the previous lap, however miraculously I came across the line with a half decent time and a pb of over 1 minute form my previous 3000m two years ago, so I was actually really happy with the outcome and was just keen to see what more I could bring to the 3000m in the rest of the season. KENT CHAMPS 1500M This was an exciting race for me and I had been looking forward to it for a long time. However timing of it wasn't in my favour. It sat right in the middle of my exam week and also a couple of days after my birthday. I stood on the start line worried about what the outcome will be considering I recognised everyone to have beaten me all through xc season, but I pushed that out of my head and raced with everything I could. After pushing myself to my limits on my final lap I just missed out on a podium finish and a sub 5 minute 1500m, although I was still pleased to come away with a pb and definitely come higher up the field than anticipationg. MILTON KEYNES BMC 3000M This time it was off up to Milton Keynes for me to race my first BMC and a good quality 3000m and I was keen to improve my time from before. After the race being brought forward ten minutes than expected, it didn't have the ideal start for me. With not the best warm up, I was still feeling a bit tight before we started. After staying on my target for the first 1km I was soon loosing seconds on each lap and falling away from my target time, but my legs just couldn't give it anymore. I crossed the line with a new pb, which I couldn't complain about but I was hoping for more. KENT 3KM CHAMPS After holding a slight injury for a week or two, I had to miss the south of England track champs unfortunately, so I was hoping to make up for it at the Kent 3km champs. However again there was a slight issue. It was the hottest day in 40 years with temperatures exceeding 30 degrees and peaking at 5pm with my race start at 7pm... Anyway after chasing down second place for the entirety of the race I just lost her in the last 800m and had to settle with third. Surprisingly I was actually only about 5 seconds away from my pb in the heat... and my first Kent medal! WATFORD 1500M Watford was a new experience for me, having heard so much about their open meetings I was keen to try this one out and make use of their large competitive fields in search of a pb and to get the big sub 5, which I had set out most season to get. The field was large and I was anxious having put a fairly low target time down to chase. The first 2 laps I felt if I was just clinging onto the pack for dear life, being right at the back, this continued throughout however what happened on the last lap I was not expecting. My legs felt fresh still and I gave the last 400m one last push and I went from the back to the front of the pack on a painful sprint for the line. I'm not sure how quick my last lap was, but it certainly felt painfully fast. At the finish line my legs had nothing in them and all I could do was just sit down for a bit. I was chuffed though to have seen my time and taken 11 seconds off my pb from just 4 weeks ago and to finish the season on a time of 4:50, way below my sub 5 target. My season finished earlier than expected but with a holiday and school finishing, I became pretty tired quickly so just needed a rest. I felt I wouldn't perform to my best if I continued my season on any longer so it was appropriate to ease down. Now I am looking forward to xc season, which still seems far off but an exciting prospect for me as I head into this season with more experience under my belt, from my first xc season last year. I am really excited for what this season has to bring and I am hoping to improve on last season and I have a couple of clear targets I am hoping to meet. I hope you have enjoyed my season summary and I would also like to say I have some exciting blog posts to be sharing with you in the next few weeks.
Love G x |
HelloI'm Grace, a 18 year old runner, and fitness fanatic. Join me on my crazy journey through life, squeezing in an adventure in every second of spare time I have. Archives
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