only one slice of fruit cake... I did go back for a piece of apple cake but the person in the queue in front of me took the last piece

Yep . . the cakes were back . .

there's not much I can add after Trin's excellent report. The last time I did this race was back in 1988 when it was a Half Marathon . . now they've halved the distance but I haven't halved my time

I did something to my back on Friday and although it only seems to hurt when I get out of bed I didn't want to push too hard in the race. So I started off fairly gently at the back and let the endorphins kick in and sure enough, I soon forgot about my back (and it was only a tiny bit sore afterwards . . phew!) . .

the good thing about starting at the back and picking the pace up gently is that you can't go off too quickly and you pass people most of the way . . and that's exactly what I did. I did start to struggle after 8k but pushed in the last k as I knew it was mostly downhill. I was pleased to finish in 50.45 as I've hardly trained all summer. But I'm starting to feel like a runner once again . .

the prize giving seemed to take an age to start but obviously was well worth the wait, with Trin picking up 2nd place in her age group . . she was 106th overall, I was 205th, and there were 376 finishers . . I was 36th in my category so I've got some improving to do before I start taking up room in the trophy cabinet!!

and this Sunday we're off to Burnham on Sea for the Beach 10k . . I'm hoping to get a lift for part of the way on a donkey

Oh I do like to be beside the seaside...
yes I do like to be beside the sea.....

we're off to the seaside for our next Somerset race and before you ask...yep, I've got my bucket and spade packed

Good luck today Trin!!

Thanks Hayley... your good luck vibes must have helped coz I won another prize

It was the Burnham Beach race today.

#Didn't we 'av a luverly time the day we went to Burnham...#

After winning at the Battle of Sedgemoor last week... we went to Burnham to fight them on the beaches

The start was on the beach just across from Brean Sands holiday park, (which I have to say is pretty grim).

It was a tough race, the first 3 miles or so were on the beach, including up and down sand dunes. Then it was onto bridle paths and over a golf course, more paths and another stretch on the golf course before heading back to the beach, via some more sand dunes, for the last mile along the beach to the finish.

I did struggle with the terraine, even in my off road shoes, but felt that I'd finished strongly, and as I came through the finish at 44.07 I was told that I'd won 2nd lady overall!

But in the excitement of winning a trophy I forgot all about my bucket and spade

Great results Trin.

I think I might have had to rugby tackle the person who was in front for that last piece of cake though...

__________________
A loser is not the one who runs last in the race. It's the one who sits and watches and who has never tried to run.
Bird in Boots Oh what have I done FLM09

Brill result, weather was o.k to, bet you dead proud

Thanks TT and Hayley

We continue our tour of Somerset this Sunday with the Ash (most) Excellent (dude) 8

The competition is hotting up with only 5 races left in the series...and I'm still leading my age group

Do you get anything exciting should (when) you win.?

Oh... I don't know, probably something like a trophy, and everlasting mortality

I think you'd be happier with everlasting immortality, Trin

combined with some kind of never-ageing process of course, so that you retain your incomparable good looks


anyway . . the Beach Race last Sunday . . I really enjoyed it. The long stretch from the start along the beach didn't seem to take forever, as I had feared it might. It was tough on the dunes of course but fortunately we didn't spend too long on them . .

the last run along the beach into the wind was hard work but I seemed to have sufficient strength to push all the way to the finish . . even when I got to where I thought the finish was, only to discover that actually the finish was still a few hundred yards away at the next breakwater and I had to keep going for just a little bit longer . .

I have to agree with Trin that the Holiday Camp where we parked up was grim . . I fell into a deep depression whilst there as I looked around at our surroundings (we arrived there far too early for the race and had too much time on our hands) but this feeling was soon dispelled when we got onto the beach and were surrounded by sea, sand and runners

at the end of the race I wished I had carried some cash with me because there was an ice-cream van parked almost on the finish line . . but I didn't . . so we couldn't

it made a nice change to race along the beach beside the sea, and it's a shame to read that the race may not take place in the future because of the low numbers participating - see http://www.burnham-on-sea.com/news/2...03-09-07.shtml for more, and some photos from Sunday . .

Trin forgot to mention that she was 18th overall, but then quite rightly she was so excited about being 2nd lady so who can blame her? I was 27th overall, which sounds great, and I was pleased with my time of 48.34 . .



tomorrow morning we're off to Ash (looking for Lil), somewhere in Somerset, a bit north of Yeovil. 8 miles off road, with a couple of hills, and we're looking forward to it because if we're to believe everything we read, there will be cakes

so we'll be back tomorrow evening, if we can get our cake-filled stomachs close enough to the keyboard . .


. . and it's goodnight from me!

Thanks Rich... I suspected I'd got my words mixed up


Yesterday was race 12 in the Series... the Ash Excellent 8
I don't particularly relish off road races so this was another race that I was a little nervous about. I'd also not had much sleep the night before, and somehow put my back out while brushing my teeth in the morning

So that's the excuses out of the way

I grabbed another hours sleep in the car on the way, and by the time we got there it was a turning into a lovely day.

We'd worked out that, to better my point score for the Series, I just needed to finish higher than 12th lady, so that's all I was going to try and do.

There was a 5 mile race too and we all started on a field together, so there looked to be quite a lot of ladies.

The race started and we ran out of the field and on to a stretch of downhill road, the same downhill that we would have to run up to the finish.

Then on to some very rough ground that was near impossible to run on, and I was glad that I'd put on both of my ankle supports. We ran on dirt tracks, up and down grassy banks, over styles, across little bridges and around the edge of a golf course, with the odd little bit of road linking the various parts of this off road course. I remember thinking that this was a little more 'undulating' than we were lead to believe...but isn't that always the case!

A couple of miles in to the race I had no idea how many ladies were in front of me but I thought I was quite far down the field. Just before where the 5 mile runners turn left and we go straight I was really hoping that the lady I could see a couple of hundred yards in front would turn left...but she didn't. It took me a while to catch her and a bit longer to catch my breath. I was running across another field and I was fairly close behind another lady as we ran past some marshals. I'm sure one of them said something about 1st lady, so I asked the lady runner if she had just been told her position. She said that they told her she was 1st lady, and that she was really surprised! I was equally surprised to be just behind her!! I told her that I only wanted to finish higher than 12th so not to worry about me.

I stuck with her though, not daring to look back in case there were other ladies coming up behind us. The lady in front was running quite well, but struggled more than I did on uphills and I caught right up with her. She was working so hard that I kind of wanted to let her win, but on the first part of the last hill up towards the finish I overtook her. As I went past she said "well done", to which I replied "it aint over yet". The road became less steep for a short way and I tried to push on but she had more left in the tank than I did and overtook me. The hill got steep again for the final part but she stayed in front as we ran to the finish. I finished just 5 seconds behind her in a time of 64.01 according to my faithful Garmin.

But I was really happy to be 2nd lady, and able to drop 10 points from my Series score, which pretty much guarantees me winning my age group for the Somerset Series. I don't really need to show up for any more, but I will of course, it just means that the pressure is off and I can just and enjoy the races

Fantastic effort as always - well done Trin !!

Thanks Granty

[quote=Trinity]
I'd also not had much sleep the night before, and somehow put my back out while brushing my teeth in the morning :confused


Great stuff Trinity and you Rich.

A strange injury to say the least trinity! Where do you keep your teeth exactly?