Kirsty Snare, first time runner, on training for Cardiff

This week’s guest blog is from Kirsty Snare. You might remember her from last blog for us. Here, she updates on her training efforts…

It’s just over 5 weeks until the Big Day and I’m both nervous and excited. 7 weeks ago I was very motivated and pleased to have reached the 9 mile point in my training runs. Then came August. School holidays combined with working from home gave me little chance for running and I’ve lost both form and confidence. My original aim of finishing in under 2h 30m seems quite a daunting challenge at the moment.

I’m halfway thorugh a self devised boot camp training week to get myself back on track. It involves long gentle runs, alternating with long cycles, and a mountain climb or 2. It’s incredibly hard. I stood at the 2 mile mark of an 8 mile run for 10 seconds this morning with my legs wanting me to go home, and my will power wresting me forwards. My will power won, but my legs and I are no longer on civil terms.

It just goes to show how effective having an actual goal can be. If I hadn’t committed to this race, and if people hadn’t shown their faith in my by sponsoring me, I would have turned back without a second thought. The half marathon is bigger than me, and the cause I’m running for, Camille’s Appeal, is much more important than my temporary physical discomfort. Camille is reaching a critical point in her treatment where her parents need all the support, good wishes, and luck they can get. If you get a chance, read Martin’s blog,  you’ll get a uniquely personal perspective.

Physical aches aside, it’s been a real joy to be out on the trails again. The season hasn’t quite turned, but there’s a tang of pine on the air, and the sun has a beautiful mellow quality. I’m kept company by squirrels heading up and down the oak trees, which themselves are slowly letting go of their summer finery in preparation for their winter rest. The ducklings and calves of early summer, who were never far from their mother’s shadow, have grown into gawky adolescents who stand independently. Even getting caught in the rain yesterday didn’t put me off – it made me feel hard core.

Good luck with your training. Every one of the 15,000 of us who will be starting should be incredibly proud of ourselves no matter what our result. Even for an experienced distance runner 13.1 miles is no walk in the park. If it wasn’t a challenge, it wouldn’t be worth doing. Enjoy your success.

Kirsty

What do you think of Kirsty’s incredible determination? Write your comments below.

My story Cardiff Half 2009

Last year, I was absolutely thrilled to have been apart of the fantastic Cardiff half marathon. I was hoping to go under 1hr30. My PB before then was 1hr31.07, so the goal was to PB first and then go under 1hr30 second.

The weather was perfect, a little chilly first thing with a little bit of wind in parts, but nothing to really worry about. Heading towards the front of the line I noticed a friend of mine Ed, we got talking and I discovered he too was after a sub of 1hr30. We both positioned ourselves just behind the 1hr30 pace guy, the hooter went and the pace guy took off like a bat out of hell! He was going far too quick, so we let him go, we knew farewell that he would come back to us!

With Ed having his Garmin on he dictated the pace we needed to run. Soon we both caught up with the pace guy and after a few seconds of running at his pace we decided to out run him.

The pace was good and felt comfortable; however after a few miles it didn’t feel so comfortable! It wasn’t fast, but felt a little too quick too early. We got to the 10 mile marker well under 1hr30 pace and that’s when it began to hurt!

Ed seemed to be struggling a bit, but he still continued to push the pace on, still pushing hard. It gave me the motivation to continue on. We got to the 11 mile point and I decided to see what he had left in the tank, I gritted my teeth, picked the pace up and he was gone. At this point I knew there was only about 13 or 14 minutes of pain left, so pushed on knowing that a PB was within my grasp.

I pushed a little too hard! The final mile marker was within sight and I was hurting. The voice in my head was saying “Dig in Whittle!” I tried to hold my form together and just to keep moving at a reasonable rate, I knew the finish line was just around the corner, “Not far now” came that voice again. I could see the finish line now and kicked the final 100m, stopping the clock on 1:28:06. I was not a pretty sight, snot, sweat, spit, etc everywhere! I had given it my all and managed to drag out a 3 minute PB.

I was chuffed with the result! I couldn’t have done it without Ed-thanks mate! It was my great end to the season. To celebrate I decided to go away and eat my own bodyweight in fast food – I thought I deserved it!

Thanks for reading guys!

Mark

What did you think of Mark’s story? Share your thoughts here.

Pre-Race Nutrition

Good food nutrition needs to play a critical role in your preparation for Lloyds TSB Cardiff half marathon. What you eat and drink will play a key element in you successfully completing this half marathon. Here are some of my own nutritional tips for you! 

The Days Leading up to the Race 

Increase your calorie intake

As your mileage increases throughout your training so does your calorie intake. The majority of your food intake before the race should be composed of complex carbohydrates. Foods such as pasta, potatoes and rice, the amount you need depends on several factors including weight, and gender.

You can use online calculators to get an idea of your half marathon training nutrition    requirement. 

You will need a diet that contains lots of fruit and vegetable as they are a great nutritional source. Remember to avoid foods that are high in fat at all costs! All the bad things you hear about fast foods are true! Fatty foods remain in your stomach longer and can cause problems during the race.

Drink, drink, drink

Runners you need to be drinking lots and lots of water. Staying well hydrated is something vital throughout your training. Do not wait until you are thirsty to start drinking water, because this means that you are already dehydrated. If the weather is hot and humid you will need to drink even more! And remember in the days leading up to Lloyds TSB Cardiff half  avoid all alcohol, alcohol will dehydrate you!

Practice drinking water throughout your training runs, particularly your long training runs. This will help you on the day if not you will waste your time waiting to use the portable toilets along the course! 

The night before the race

Do not eat something unusual the night before, eat something you would eat on a normal day however the meal ideally should contain carbohydrates. At all cost avoid eating a spicy curry- it could end badly! 

The morning of the race

Try eating your breakfast a few hours before the race, some good pre-race food can be bread, bagel, cereal or a fruit smoothie. The more liquid and easier to digest the food, the better! 

An hour before the race

Try not to eat very much at this stage; this now would be the perfect time to drink an energy drink to get you all gearing to go! 

 

I hope these tips prove to be useful! Have you got any pre-race nutrition tips you can share? Please share your thoughts below.

 

Happy Training

Nickita

Guest blogger for this week~ Gary McCombe

 All roads lead to Cardiff

At the back end of last year, I decided to ‘give something back’ and raise some money for charity.  I decided that a sensible way of encouraging people to part with their cash was to set myself a challenge for 2010.  That challenge was to run 10 half marathons during the year, and raise money for Parkinson’s UK. The final run will be Cardiff.

So far, I have completed 5 half marathons with varying degrees of discomfort and exhaustion!  I am no running expert – just a keen amateur.  So, for those reading and approaching their first half, what have I learned?

1. In the weeks leading up to the race, practice drinking while on the move.  It is a skill that you need to learn, especially if you plan to use the water stations that hand out plastic cups.  It is not uncommon to see ¾ of the water on the floor and the rest over a runners t-shirt.
2. As Ian says in his blog post, make friends with some hills.  The Cardiff course looks to be very flat but it will be of benefit to get some hill work in. It will add some strength that could be enough to carry you when it starts to hurt.
3. At the start of the race, runners new to half marathons will tend to race off at a pace that leaves them walking by mile 7.  If you are planning to finish in a certain time, then run at the pace that you planned when you were setting your goals.  Ignore the podgy bloke that has rocketed off into the distance leaving you questioning whether you have done enough training.  You will catch him before the finish.
4. If you see a camera – any camera, smile.  Most races have official photographers and there is a good chance that you will end up on the Internet looking like you desperately need the toilet because you didn’t smile at the right point.
5. Drink.  If you do not keep yourself hydrated before, during and after the race, it can become hell on earth.  One theory for the cause of migraines is dehydration.  I know that if I don’t rehydrate properly afterwards, I can get splitting headaches.
6. Congratulate yourself at the end.  Whether you achieved the time you wanted or not, you have just achieved something that the majority of the population has not.  13.1 miles is not to be sniffed at, so give yourself a pat on the back.

Cardiff will be my third half in a three week spell so if you are somewhere near the back, please say hello to me as you stroll past?  I’ll be the bloke in a Parkinson’s UK vest trying to stay upright.

Kind regards

Gary

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Guest blogger for this week Alex MacNeil

Part 2

Rolling with the punches

Hi Guys!

Back again this week to continue with my story and explain my reasons for wanting to run Cardiff half…
1) Celebration: I am primarily running because this is the first time in all my 38 years that I have felt that I could even consider it. Last Oct I started seeing a trainer, just once a month (they’re not cheap!) and it proved to be the kick start I needed to make lasting changes and see slow and steady weight loss that I am completely confident will stay gone. The race for me is a celebration of my new found fitness.

2) Control: My mum was diagnosed with stage 4 inoperable cancer in April. Mum is my rock, one of my best friends, and all round last person in the world who deserves it … you know the type. When I allow it to, it feels as if my life is spinning out of control. So I try not to allow it – I concentrate on one day at a time. But I’d be lying if I said that the race wasn’t my attempt to control something and bring order and planning to my life at a time when I feel completely bloody powerless. And yes … I know … trying to control things is never good in the long run (s’cuse the sad runner’s pun) but I’m just being honest.

3) St Margaret’s Hospice. Mum has worked there for the last 5 years – and wants to end things there too. So I will be fundraising for them. Not that there aren’t many other fabulous causes. But this is mine. And it matters.

4) Being led astray. I should know better. My starting mate for the race persuaded me to sign up with him. This is the same mate who introduced me to Tucker’s Tango – the simply amazing and yet perfectly lethal dry cider they serve at Tucker’s Grave. The same mate who agrees to go to the cinema with me but we end up eating and drinking instead. Really, really after 23 years, I should know better.

5) The Izzard effect. Not to be underrated. Especially his explanation that he felt he’d reached 40 healthy due to luck and cerntainly not judgement, and that 40 onwards was time to pay into the health karma account. I was profoundly moved by what that nutter did for Comic relief.

I think that’s about it. I am back on the spinning bike and weights to make sure I am not wasting the time I’m ‘offroad’. And we’ll just have to see what tomorrow brings. But I won’t worry about that right now. It’s still today after all.

Cool runnings to you all.

Alex

Guest blogger for this week Alex MacNeil

Part 1

Rolling with the punches

 Hi. Me: 38 year old first time runner from Bath. You: Either bored @ work or putting off going for a run.

I have paused for thought.

This was not a choice. I have another injury.

After weeks of no running waiting for shin splints to heal, I now have a muscle pull on my lower left soleus near my achilles.

I’ve taken 2 weeks off running (no choice in that matter – muscles have a way of letting you know clearly when they need a rest. I can only liken it to having a toddler scream at you in the middle of Sainsburys – similar levels of discomfort and desire to M-A-K-E I-T S-T-O-P)

I have interesting chats about injury with folk who I love and respect hugely. There is a general, and I have to admit, fairly understandable concern that maybe I’m not cut out for running. That my body is trying to tell me something.

Like I said – understandable considering my luck over the last 3 months. But here’s the thing. I have gone to working out 3 – 5 times a week since October – from nothing. Before then it’s true – I never had shin splints. I never had a pulled soleus muscle (I didn’t even know what or where it is – frankly, soleus sounds more like a sun cream to me). But here’s what I did have; apathy, lethargy, relentlessly aching joints (especially my hips), and overweight bordering on obese. But we don’t talk about these “injuries”. We accept these as things that are an inevitable consequence of aging or things that we just don’t talk about. But these are the things that kill us. When was the last time anyone died of shin splints?!

So, blessed with the love and concern of my friends, I will continue to be sensible, take fabulous advice and do everything I can to cement running as a part of my long term plan for fitness in my life – above and beyond the Race. Injury is an inevitable consequence of getting and keeping fit. My plan is to not let it derail me.

10 weeks left of training at time of writing. I have only got my distance up to 4 miles before being stopped in my tracks.

And it gives me time to really think about why I am running. Why I feel so upset when I think I may not be ready or able to run (although my definition of “ready” is getting more and more flexible).

 To find out my reasons for running Cardiff half check back next week where I will be reflecting back on my story!

Cool running’s to you all

 Alex

This Week’s Guest Blogger – Ian Hoskins

To PB or not to PB?

The billionairess TV mogul (and marathon runner) Oprah Winfrey once remarked “Running is the greatest metaphor for life; you get out of it as much as you put in”. Rarely has a truer word been spoken.

I took up running shortly after exiting my twenties, a pre-emptive strike against the looming middle-aged spread. After a few years pounding the pavements I felt confident enough to enter a local 10K without embarrassing myself. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience of running with and against others, and felt a warm glow of satisfaction at seeing my name on the list of finishers.

It also gave me a Personal Best time to beat and thus the incentive to crank my training up a notch. Before long I was a fully-fledged PB-chaser, and in those early days, boy, was I spoilt rotten! Virtually every race I entered rewarded me with a shiny new PB to boast about to my friends (none of whom were remotely interested).

Last year I smashed my best times at every distance I ran and was soon setting my sights on a sub-90min half-marathon.

But 2010 proved to be a rude awakening. The new PBs suddenly dried up. I could get close to my previous bests but invariably fell just short, and when I did manage to better them it would be by only the slenderest of margins!

Clearly it seemed I had reached the limit of my potential under my current training regime. If I wanted to keep seeing improvements, I’d have to start getting serious! Upping the weekly mileage wasn’t an option – these creaking limbs can’t handle more than 3-4 runs per week.

Instead I decided to make each session more focussed to maximise their benefits, introducing:

Speed Intervals – these can be done in a structured format (e.g. 4 x 1 mile intervals with equal recovery times), either on a treadmill or round a track. Alternatively, you can include them in a more free-form ‘fartlek’ style simply by alternating your pace between fast bursts followed by slow jog recoveries during a normal run. Over time, gradually extend the fast bits whilst reducing the slow bits.

Hills – make hills your friend and running on the flat becomes a whole lot easier! Find a route that incorporates a few sizeable hills (and really attack them!) or, if you prefer, do a session of hill reps (sprinting up a hill of your choice then jog/walking back down to the bottom, repeatedly).

Both of these training elements will lead to increases in power, strength and speed endurance all of these combined should produce a fitter, faster runner and, hopefully, see me breakthrough the training plateau and onto the next level!

This running epiphany may have come too late to send my 5K and 10K PBs tumbling once again. However, I’m optimistic that there is still time enough between now and October 17th that I’ll have improved sufficiently to have a chance of cracking that magical 90-minute barrier in Cardiff. Only time, dedication and bucket loads of sweat will tell!

Happy training folks!
Ian

This Week’s Guest Blogger~36 year old Kirsty Snare~ First time runner

My journey started in May, when a friend of mine said “Wouldn’t it be a good idea to enter the Cardiff Half Marathon. I quite fancy it”. I agreed it sounded good, gave it some more thought, and signed up a week later. She, however, sheepishly admitted she’d decided not to, leaving me feeling virtuous and a little daunted to be undertaking it on my own.

Before I started training for the Cardiff Half, I thought I was of average fitness. 3 months later I realise that would have been a wildly optimistic assessment. On my first training run I barely managed 3km. Two months later I ran 12km, and today I managed over 15.5km.

I’m lucky to I have the beautiful Monmouthshire Brecon canal to run alongside 2-3 times a week. There’s plenty of sheep and cows to keep me company, rolling hills to lift my gaze from my shoes and distract me from my straining lungs, and a nice flat path free of traffic and kerbs for me to trip over.

There were 2 reasons I took on the challenge of the Cardiff Half Marathon:
1) I was a bit bored and looking to push myself in a new direction. 10km didn’t seem difficult enough; a marathon was too far. This distance is perfect because I know it’s within my capability, but I do have to consistently push myself to get there.
2) To raise money for Camille’s Appeal – a charity that helps young children with brain tumors.
www.justgiving.com/KirstySnare

I’ve not regretted my decision at all! A definite goal has been the motivation I needed to lever myself out of my rut and into something new. It’s also given me a way of increasing my self confidence.

Though my distance is increasing, I’m still woefully slow. I have a short attention span so the boredom can be off-putting. I combat this by varying what I listen to, and changing my normal route every now and then. It’s also hard to fit in longer runs around family and work commitments. I have to get my speed up, as I can’t find any more time to run in.

I love reading the comments from other runners on the Cardiff Half Facebook &Twitter page. Though I’m training on my own, I don’t feel isolated when I see so many others out there just like me.

Happy trails everyone. See you at the start!

 

Do you have any questions or comments for Kirsty? Feel free to leave them below.

Finding the MOTIVATION!

Say No to negative thoughts!

Blocking out all negative thoughts can be difficult, but to find the motivation you need to visualise a positive image. Visualization plays a huge role in becoming more confident. Before you start to train or go for a run try picturing yourself crossing the finish line, feeling that sense of achievement, reaching your goal. This will remind you why you are doing this and you will have a better training session.

“Spend at least some of your training time, and other parts of your day, concentrating on what you are doing in training and visualizing your success.”
-Grete Waitz

Setting goals

Set up running goals you can work towards. You can monitor your progress; it will help you to become enthusiastic to do a little bit more in every training session. Remember to be realistic and set goals that are achievable, but challenging.

Mix it up!

Doing the same old run or training session day in day out can become very boring! So why not mix it up a bit, be creative! Change your route, try running somewhere different. Set a different day challenge, adding some speed and hills to your workout.

Buddy System

Finding a partner or a group to run with will greatly improve your motivation. Run with a partner or a group, runners that you are compatible with. Running with others makes time fly by! It’s more exciting and you can even challenge one another.

Music

Studies have shown that listening to music during exercise can improve results, both in terms of being motivated and avoiding negative distractions like fatigue! 

The secret to finding the right music is all down to the number of beats per minute in the song. Running to a faster B.M.P can help you to run faster and keep motivation levels high throughout the run. 

The New York Times featured a great article on music motivation, while

Running.about.com has a great playlist that can get you pumped.

Run for Charity

A great way to get all motivated is running for a charity you’re passionate about.

Its a way to raise money for a great cause and will also keep you focused and determined to continue on. 

If you are considering running for a charity why not run for Barnardo’s and ensure some of the UK’s most vulnerable children benefit from your race.

 

What gets you all motivated to go? Have you got any tips or advice?

 Why not share your thoughts and comments below.

 

Thanks for reading! Nickita

10 Reasons- Why you should run the Lloyds TSB Cardiff Half Marathon!

1) Cardiff can act as an ideal half for beginners as it offers a flat and fast course. A perfect first Half Marathon to start of with 

2) Runner’s World readers have given the flat and fast Lloyds TSB Cardiff Half Marathon their seal of approval. They have called us one of the best UK races for achieving a personal best. Readers went on to vote it one of the top 10 UK races for beating your personal best on the Runner’s World website too!!

3) 2009′s sell-out race saw a record number of runners taking part, with over 11,000 entering the biggest road race in Wales. This year will be bigger and better with the potential of 13,500 runners! 

4) The 2010 half marathon has a new route through the lovely Cardiff Bay which has much to offer against a beautiful maritime backdrop. 

5) You will get the chance to run past some amazing scenery a stunning waterfront and lovely historical buildings like the Cardiff Castle. 

6) During the past 10 years Cardiff has firmly established itself as one of the UK’s top tourist destinations. After the race why not visit some of the tourist sites such as the Millennium Stadium or Wales Millennium Centre. 

7) Get fitter than you have ever been before! 

8)Why not run for your favorite charity? Or consider running for Barnardo’s and ensure some of the UK’s most vulnerable children benefit from your race. 

9) Get the opportunity to run alongside celebrities such as Olympic silver medalist Jamie Baulch and actor Andrew Lincoln.

10)Experience the most tremendous sense of achievement when you reach that finish line.This race will be one of the most memorable days of your Life!

I hope this helps you to decide to run the Lloyds TSB Cardiff Half Marathon 2010! 

Nickita  

Already signed up? What made you decide to run Cardiff? Share your stories & comments below.

 

PS If you are interested in writing as a guest blogger why not get in touch by contacting: Nickita.chauhan@barnardos.org.uk