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Friday 13 August 2010

A 6 Mile Stitch

But first, The Deep! Yesterday we went to the Deep with some of Mike's family, it's a pretty cool ocean life museam kind of like a small seaworld but all inside.

The Architecture
(those horrible looking clouds did indeed soak us on the way out)

An ugly fish... I'm not sure what sort!

Luminous jelly fish

Sharks

Nemo! They were so cute!
Now, on to the running!

6 mile tempo
1 mile easy, 4 miles mid tempo (8.38), 1 mile slow

My Plan
1 mile @ just under 10 minute pace
8.48
8.42
8.34
8.28
1 mile @ just under 10 minute pace

What I did
6 miles in 53.31 average pace 8.55
Mile 1 - 10.00
Mile 2 - 8.48
Mile 3 - 8.24
Mile 4 - 8.37
Mile 5 - 8.37
Mile 6 - 9.02

Why I didn't stick to the plan...
It's all well and good having plans, and I love making plans! But in running and training sometimes your body just wants something else! In the first mile I got a stitch almost straight away, this is really wierd, I never get stitches. I putt it down to the fact I'm running after a day out where I didn't plan my food or drink well. I know I was dehydrated before I left the door but it was too late to remedy, I also felt pretty full but I didn't want to put the run off any longer as we hadn't seen Roxie much all day and we wanted to spend the evening with her.

I took mile 1 slightly slower and paused at one point to try and get rid of the stitch, it soon became evident that the stitch was there to stay! I felt really defeated in mile 2 thinking I'm never going to hit pace with this stitch.. grump, grump, grump... However, just before mile 3 it dawned on me, the stitch was there to stay no matter what pace, and the faster I went the faster I'd get home and could stop running! Subsequently mile 3 felt strong and although I'd intended to go for negative splits I decided to just go with it! I pulled back a little for miles 4 and 5 aiming for pace of 8.38 and hit just under. Overall I got slightly faster than the mid-tempo pace. That just shows what the mind can do, if I'd stayed being all defeatist I'm pretty sure I would not have hit my time. My cool down mile was a bit fast too... I just wanted to be home!

Running is such a mental game sometimes, that's one of the reasons I love it!

Hope everyone's had a good week, mine's been pretty productive! I've bagged myself two job interviews and some more voluntary work. The job interviews are for working at care homes and the voluntary work will be on an acute psychiatric ward. All will be great experience for my application for mental health nursing. I will get on that course! I got feedback from my interview, apparently only 2 people from my group got on!! You had to get full marks on the interview and I was a few short, it was really competetive just to get an interview as they had a 300% increase in applicants... The lady I spoke to said I probably would have got on last year so that was kind fo comforting, at least it wasn't me, it was just that some were better. I also feel better for next year knowing they do think I'm capable. It just means a bit of waiting, but so long as it all comes together eventually what's a year?

9 comments:

  1. That's not a bad time girl - especially with a stitch. I have found that I only get stitches when I'm super dehydrated and if I'm running in a jerky manner. One thing I read that does indeed help is to exhale on the down step of the side that has the stitch (often the right side). Exhale hard.

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  2. You will reach your goal and get on the course I have no doubt! Great that you've had such a productive week, congrats on your interviews I'm sure you'll do great :-)

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  3. That's why I end up writing my own training plans. I have to take running on a day to day basis. Some days I'm tired, some days it's raining, and so on. :D

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  4. I agree, if you know you want to do something then keep going till you get there! Congrats on the interviews!

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  5. can i come visit and you can take me there?! please?! hahah congrats on the interviews as well :)

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  6. oh i've been there, it was a great day out and we still have these funky egg cups from there, one nemo one and one shark one! heh heh! x

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  7. volunteer work at an acute psychiatric ward??? good lord! That sounds intense!

    you'll get in wherever you want to after your volunteer/work experience;-)

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  8. Good job taking control of your negative thoughts :) ...it really is in the mind mostly!

    You'll get in if that's what you want...what's a year in the grand scheme of things.

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  9. Good on for doing so well in your run - would have been so easy to give into that stitch!

    Good luck on your interviews too :)

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