Tuesday, September 3, 2019

Hot days and cool medals

Since I did not do a parkrun on Saturday, and therefore have no further parkrun news to impart, I thought I would provide an update on August's races. I did two races in August (parkrun is of course not a race) and both were very different and very cool.

Hart 4 Trail Relay Race - 11 August

The first was the Hart 4 Trail Relay Race, an excellent event consisting of teams of 4 running 4km laps for 4 hours. Fitstuff had 4 teams entered so we had quite a crowd of us. As the slowest member of my team "Team Gorgeous" I elected to run last so that the others would each be able to fit in 3 laps before the cut off, leaving me to run 2 or maybe 3 laps, depending on how fast we went. The rules state that as long as you start the last lap before 4 hours has elapsed, you can then finish and count that lap.

"Team Gorgeous"
As it was a hilly trail route, I had no great expectations, estimating that I would take around 30 minutes. I was therefore very happy to finish my first lap in 26:48, a pace of 6:42min/km. It was very much a course of two halves, starting with an uneven grassy stretch, then around 1km of hill climb, then from around 2km it was mostly level finishing with a lovely fast descent. So as long at you could push through to halfway, you were pretty much there.

Going into the second lap, my legs were a little tired but I knew what to expect so didn't feel too daunted. It felt like a slow lap so I was surprised and happy to complete the second lap in 26:54, only 6 seconds slower than the first lap.

As we were all running well, I had no excuse not to do a third lap, tired legs meant this took a little longer at 27:51 but I am proud to say that I still ran up the hill, even though at that point I could have taken it easy as we were outside of the 4 hours. Maybe the thought of the Prosecco waiting for me at the end helped with the motivation!

Well earned fizz!
I love how grumpy the deer looks!
This race was a real confidence boost for me as I had run 12km with not a step of walk including some rather long hills. It helped me see how far I have come over the last few months. After all the running was done, we got on to the serious business of chilling out with a picnic and Prosecco. It was lovely to be a part of the day with the wonderful Fitstuff people.

Pristine came too!

London Spitfire 10K - 31 August

I am a bit of an aviation nut, so when I found out there was a Spitfire themed 10k around the historic London Aerodrome and RAF Hendon site, it had to be done! The race started with a wiggly route around the grounds of the RAF Museum, then out to two 4km laps following the old airfield, then back to the museum to run through Hangar 1 and under a Short Sunderland flying boat before heading to the finish. Each runner had the name of a Battle of Britain pilot on their back which made the run feel very special. I had Sergeant Holmes who was best known for using his own aircraft to ram a German bomber.

I must admit, the 4km lap around paths and streets did not feel particularly special, just a bit crowded and narrow. But I did enjoy running past the Spitfire Gate Guardian and running through the hangar was extremely cool.

RAF Museum Hangar 1
I had decided before the race not to think about my time but just to run, so I did not look at my watch the whole way round. My time was 1:07:45, which was around 4.5 minutes faster than my last 10k, four weeks earlier. Still trending faster which makes me happy!

Check out the medal, the propeller actually spins!

One of my favourites so far!
The Spitfire Gate Guardian
So, overall, August was a pretty good month. Now, on to see what September will bring.