This long weekend over New Year I have been lucky enough to be staying in Bath for a few nights. This is also great because I’m considering going to Bath uni so I can get to know the city more, to give me a better idea of what it would be like. With lots of races approaching in January, there was no pause in running on Saturday, so I headed to parkrun. I had looked on the parkruns website to try and give me an idea of what the course will be like. After navigating my way to the course... and having to tackle one huge hill to get there, I had a quick jog to look at what I could see of the course. Soon enough we were off and the course was pretty muddy and windy! The start began with a steep downhill then a big flight of steep steps. The rest was overall flat but much more muddy and I am ashamed to say, as I was going around the corner, splash... that’s me slipped into a puddle. Luckily I wasn’t that soaked all over, just two very very soggy feet! It was nice to come in with a steady time, to mix the parkrun in with my session. I did really enjoy having a navigate around Bath getting to parkrun and also the area around where the parkrun was. This weekend has consisted of lots of walking around Bath and shopping. Bath is possibly the most beautiful place and I’m certainly falling in love with it more each day! Next week I will be doing a bit of a post about 2017 and going into 2018. And of course my blogs birthday, the 12th January will mark two years of Race With Grace!!!
Love G x
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This week I have been up in London on an internship for economics, to help me get an experience of what it may be like if I pursue my economics route into university and later on in life in my job. I have learnt so much from it, although it was very full on, it was a really great experience. I have been busy with work experience pretty much since I broke up from school (apart from my holiday), so it is certainly nice to have finished it all for my summer and I can move onto my mountain of summer school work. Also I can make the most of my free time and getting some good training in. Whilst back this weekend I have managed to get an core session in for you all. I think there is so much importance in core strength as a endurance runner, and also in many other sports too. Runners are often portrayed as you need to be lean, and yes there is importance in this, however you also need to be strong. Strength is so important for your power in racing, so I thought if you are ever stuck for a routine then you can always give my favourite one a go below! Session is as followed: 1 minute plank 30 toe touches (one of my favourite core exercises) 20 sit ups 50 twists Quick stretch 30 crunches 20 renegade rows 20 hip pushes (okay I never know what this one is called, its when you lie on your back and lift your feet up perpendicular to you and then push them up and down. If anyone knows the correct name of this drill, please do let me know!) Take a 1 minute rest and repeat Once you've repeated it once you are all done! It all in all, will take about 20 minutes, so it is great for a quick core session in the week. It also involves no equipment so you can do it anywhere... no need to have to go to a gym. Anyway after having done my core workout on Friday evening it was time for me to make the most of my easy day of running on Saturday and take to parkrun with my dad. This is honestly one of my favourite things. Ever since I have started running, I have tried my best to get my dad into it, and yes it may have taken some time but I am pleased to say that I think he actually enjoys park runs now and he seems to be impressing the whole family every week by taking chunks off his pbs constantly. It was also great fun for me to get an easy run in. The weather was glorious too, however the rest of the day it has been far from pretty. I don't think I have ever seen it rain quite so hard before I have done yesterday. So, this week has been full on and I have explored many routes of blackheath and greenwich as I continued to train when I was staying away from home. This weekend, has been a lovely finish to my week and I have Sunday to enjoy too now. Sorry for the lack of racing posts lately but it is coming to the end of track season and my racing is starting to ease up. I hope you all have a good weekend, and enjoy your training you are doing or just have a nice relaxing day.
Love G x I haven't had the chance to do a parkrun for a while after having a streak of doing 5 in a row. Last week I obviously had my aquathlon and then I had a tough session on Thursday, where my legs were feeling a bit heavy. Anyway I tried to prepare the best I can for my parkrun. I wasn't going out for a pb but I wanted to put a good solid time down, around sub 22. You are probably reading this because you want to know why this parkrun didn't go quite to plan, and you are probably wondering why I'm blogging about it, if it didn't go well. I think as a blogger, you can't just blog about all the good things which happen, because thats just not realistic, I want to write about the things which go wrong as well, because thats life. At 7:00 my alarm rang and I was quickly downstair munching my porridge, to make sure I had maximum time for my porridge to digest. After a bit of time in the morning to catch up on some social media, I found myself at Dunorlan Park warming up. After a bit of light jogging and some drills, I was ready to start, however I was feeling a little weary as I hadn't had the best night sleep the night before. It wasn't that I had had a late night, I just woke up several times in the night. I soon found myself on the start line, ready to run. 3, 2, 1... we were off. I knew what sort of pace I wanted to go at and I wanted to keep an eye out to were the other women are, because I'm not going to lie but I wanted to be first woman. The start was all very busy but quickly it all spaced out and there was a bit more space. The sun was shining and it was starting to get pretty hot, which is ideal conditions for me because this is the sort of whether I need to practice in, because I seem to loose my energy extremely quickly when its hot. Here are some snaps of me coming up to the end of my first lap. At this point of the run I wasn't feeling very strong and I felt a bit sick but I was still trying to push for good time but only about 300m in to my next lap it all started to go down hill. My legs felt extremely drained of energy and I was still feeling bit sick. I decided at this point that I wasn't going to get in around 22 minutes but I just wanted to stay steady although my pace just gradually got slower and slower and more and more people over took me. When the finish line finally came into my sight, I was pretty happy as I felt exhausted and normally I can finish strong but this time there was no strong finish. I gritted my teeth to make sure I would get in under 24 minutes, but this still was nothing to be happy about. Even though this wasn't my best race, I am still pleased I did it and it has been a learning experience too, because running doesn't alway go well. Onwards and upwards. This week I just want to make sure my legs aren't getting overworked but also I want to keep up my training, but balance it key. Love G x This morning I finally did it, I was first woman and I beat my pb by 26 seconds and got 21:15! I couldn't have been happier, because I have a 10km road race next week and I have been putting in a lot of training recently, although I was knocked a bit by a sore calf, so had to take some days off, which wasn't ideal. If you follow me on Instagram (@race_with_grace), you can keep up to date with my latest workouts and runs. To have gone and run a pb today and by so much, has given me some confidence going into my first ever 10km race, next week. I got into my rhythm very quickly, for a change, only after I had got through the first 100m where everyone is knocking into each other and the fact it had just started to rain, meant that the slop down to the pond was very slippy! I knew from the start I had to go off fast, if I wanted to get a new pb, because normally my first km is slow, compared to the others. As I started my second lap, I was starting to feel tired and my legs felt like they couldn't keep going. The second lap was definetely tough, but I soon found myself running with this man and it made it so much easier and we pushed each other all the way around the last lap! Thank you to him! Without him, I probably would have slipped out of my rhythm and started to fall back. The final push up the hill to the finish was very tough on my calfs and the relief after crossing the line and being told I was first woman was amazing, as I wasn't sure when I was running around, but all I knew was that I couldn't see any women in front of me. At this point I was also dripping with water, because the rain just got heavier and heavier throughout the 5km and when I was doing my warm down, it was chucking it down, so after a quick steady jog and a few stretches, I jumped quickly into the car. I am surprised my garmin and my fitbit survived the weather, as they are only splash proof and not waterproof... afterwards they both looked like they had been in a bath. My quick cool down, and a quick snap with the parkrun sign, just as the rain started to ease off... perfect timing, just as I am getting into the car. A lovely dark, grey Dunorlan Park as people are coming into the finish. This was just as the rain was at its heaviest and I am making a quick dash to the car. Unfortunately next week RTW Parkrun is cancelled, but anyway I have my 10km race, which I will be blogging about too! My post run meal was the Mediterranean bol salad jar. #ShakeItToMakeIt It was delicious, perfect for on go! Just shake it and then open it and your fork is in there and it is ready to eat. After I gave it a quick shake, I opened it up and popped it in a bowl as I was at home, but you can easily just eat it out the pot, if you are on the go. The Mediterranean pot is my favourite bol salad jar, as I am a lover of butternut squash and chickpeas, so it was heaven on a plate for me... or should I say heaven in a bowl. it was just what I wanted as a early lunch, after my parkrun. You can find their Bol salad jars in lots of food stores, like Ocado but here is the link to their website. I will be sure to always have a few bol salad jars in the fridge from now on, and keep the jars once I'm done, as they are great for keeping anything from nuts to paperclips in. Have a good weekend! Love G x If you liked this post, you may also like...
When my alarm ran at 7:00, it is fair to say there was little motivation to get up, considering this is the same time I wake up for school. Thankfully I didn't have school today as I am loving the rewards of being on study leave! I finally managed to get myself out of bed and into the kitchen. I made myself a large bowl of porridge, with a banana on top and lots of blueberries, and not to forget the tablespoon of honey on top! I had organised my outfit last night, so I was all ready to go. There aren't any photos of me flying around the course today, unless RTW parkrun post some photos later, but if they do I will add them onto this post and put them on twitter (@race_with_grace) and instagram (@race.with.grace). Here are some photos of me warming up before it started, but it was a bit chilly because of the wind so I tried to keep moving! The whistle blew and I found myself striding down the path towards the lake, it was fair to say that it started off very quickly and it was very crowded, which I had never had to deal with before hand! I kept getting caught behind people and then having to make a sudden sprint to over take them. When I finally got into a rhythm, I found myself starting to think about what I was going to do my next blog post on, and of course I quickly decided it was going to be this week's parkrun! After being 2nd woman for the last 3 weeks, I was determined to make it to number 1 this week... this is before I realised Kelly Holmes was running. By the end of the first lap I was sitting at woman number 5, which I wasn't very pleased with but the girl in front of me, I had chased a few weeks ago and just been beaten by her in the last 1km. I managed to over take her at about the 3km stage and the next woman too, to sit me in 3rd place in the womens race. In the last 1km suddenly the girl from a few weeks ago flew past me, but I wasn't having any of it and I pushed and pushed to keep up with her. In the last 200m it was a hill, they aren't known for being my strong point but I pushed, even though my legs were burning. I crossed the line in 20th a few places in front of her, and I was thrilled. Even though I was 3rd woman and hadn't made the number 1 or even 2 place, I was thrilled, especially as I had only been 15 secs away from my pb. My time in the end was 21:56! Jumping for joy at the end of my parkrun, ready to come home and write this blog post... oh and of course revision too! A highlight for me this morning was definitely meeting Kelly Holmes! Full results can been seen here of todays parkrun. Love G x If you liked this post, you may also like:
Park runs are one of my favourite things... what better than waking up at 8:00 to hurl myself round a 5km muddy course. Unfortunetly because I have school on Saturday it does limit me to how many I can do and also when I don't have school, I normally want to make the most of my Saturday morning lie in. But the days when I am feeling bright and active, I do manage to get myself out of bed and get to Dunorlan Park by 8:55. During the winter the mud becomes very tough to run in especially when you are going as far forward as backwards just because it is so slippy. I love park runs because no matter how quickly or slowly you run it, you are always welcome and the volunteers are always there at every corner to cheer you on, which is so nice when you are covered in mud from head to toe. Park runs are free and all you have to do is just sign up on there website and bring your barcode! Every evening before a park run, I am always trying to decide what to wear because I'm known for being bad at dressing to the weather. I am either way too hot or so cold I can't feel my fingers. My latest park run (photos are below), I thought I would go with my new sale Nike Leggings and plain black top from Nike (heres on similar), I was very chilly it is fair to say, I will definitely stick to a long sleeve top for the rest of the winter season. Heres me before and after my run. The first photo, I do apologise because I look like like I've just woken up... thats because I have. The 9am start doesn't go with me well. The photo of the back of me afterwards on the right is me soaked up to my knee with water and mud, it was a bad mistake going the day after it had torrentially rained all day!
I hope I have inspired you all to get out there a Park Run! 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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