ProSano 10km Road Race - hosted by Telkom Athletics Club

Sooo, yesterday the BIG DAY finally arrived, the day of our club race. Now, as helpers on the day, we had to get up at 4am to get ready and be there at 5am to do final setting up before people started arriving at 5.30am for registration. There were two problems with this, firstly, I woke up at 12am and couldn't get back to sleep so REALLY didn't want to get up at 4am and secondly, some peeps arrived just after 5am to register, before we were even ready - such eager beavers at that time of day LOL.

Our awesome sponsors ProSano, gave us GREAT long sleeved T's to wear, which made me very happy and a cap as well, great style, great quality. They also provided some great spot prizes for after the race. Their sponsorship helps to make this a great race, thanks ProSano :-)

I was helping out at the registration of Grand Masters - these are peeps of 60+ years who are doing the 10km run. What an inspiration they were, still running at their ages and in lots of cases getting awesome times too. One of my fav local runners, Vladimir Kotov also entered and won the race in his catagory. This guy is amazing, he just keeps going and almost seems to get better the older he gets LOL. I got my shoes from his shop in Century City and was very happy with his assesment and assistance in chosing shoes - and his prices are great too :-)

By this time I was starting to get nervous, as I was running the race too. Each person that registered at my table, was a reminder that I was going to be undertaking my second 10km race Eeeeeeekk. At 6.40am I had to leave my table to get ready for the race - it was now really a reality. So I took off my track pants and my nice ProSano T, got my USN sport drink and went to line up. My sisters-in-law, Tracy and Glenda were also doing the race, so I was chatting to them while waiting for the start.

And then the gun fired, I started my stopwatch and we were off. I let Tracy and Glenda go off in front of me, cause I'm nowhere near their level yet, they've been at this longer than I have. I had decided that I was gonna try do it in 1h20, but was a bit wishy washy in the beginning with regard to how I was gonna organize that. By about the 2km mark though, I had a plan. To get my 1h20, I knew at what time I needed to get to each km marker, so I decided that I would jog to each km marker and when I got there, I would walk for approx 2mins to recover, then jog to the next km marker.

LOL, my watch and those km markers became my friends and to get myself through it, I'd start taking to the km markers before I got to them (in my head of course, don't want those other runners to know I'm insane hehehe). So as I knew the 5km marker (for eg) was coming up, I'd start this conversation in my head "Where are you 5km marker, I know you're here somewhere. I'm getting to you, don't you be worried, I'll be there soon" etc etc. When I actually SPOTTED the marker the conversation would get more interesting hehehe "Oh there you are my angel, I see you, don't worry, I'll be with you soon, here I come..." All this said with a silly grin on my face cause I was so pleased to see the marker LOL. It may sound totally mental, but it woked like a bomb :-)

However, I have to confess, that at about the 5km mark, I was starting to think that I was seriously insane to be doing this and was really wondering if I could finish it. However, as I had a plan to get to the end, I just kept plodding on.

There was one drawback on the course though and that was running past a solid waste treatment plant (I can't remember at what point in the course it was, probably about the 3 or 4km mark I'd say). Eeeewwwww, the smell was disgusting, but on the plus side, it did motivate me to keep on running, maybe even a little faster LOL

Getting back to CPUT campus was great, because I knew that at that point I had about 2.5km more to go. All the way along, I was on track for my 1h20. In the beginning I was reaching most of the km markers BEFORE the time I needed to be there for my time, and that was great because it gave me more leeway when walking, I could relax and recover a bit more. In the last 3km's though, I was reaching the km mark exactly when I needed to so I had to make sure that I didn't walk for more than 2mins and I had to walk pretty fast when I did walk. It was back in the campus that Trevor, my hubby (who was doing marshelling inside the campus) got these shots of me running.

Thats me in the navy blue, light blue cap and black compression socks

At this point I was still on track for my 1h20, although I was VERY tired, so needed to work hard to keep it up. I was REALLY happy to see the finish line in sight and eventually finished in 1h19m which made me very happy. Having my two sil's there shouting for me at the finish was awesome too :-)  All finishers of the 10km race got a medal and a pair of socks which was great.

I was a VERY tired, but VERY happy runner at the end. The race in my opinion was very successful and it seems that ProSano and Telkom Athletics Club make an awesome team. A lot of work goes into hosting a race like this and if I remember correctly there were about 120 or so helpers on the day to make sure that everything went smoothly and it did. Well done ProSano and Telkom Athletics Club, really a job well done!!!!

Oh and well done to me too hehehehe

I'm very happ

Shin splints day 3

Well, yet another day and the shinsplints are still a problem. In all the research I've been doing and all the friends I've been asking, one product keeps coming up and thats 'a blue gel in a big tub which is for horses' that one can buy at a vet shop LOL. Well I never, runners really will do anything hehehe

I eventually found out that the stuff is called Arnica Ice and my awesome little local chemist (Bothasig Pharmacy) actually had it so I've bought a tub to give it a try. Its ingredents are: Arnica oil 1%, menthol 1% (and boy can you smell it LOL), camphor 0.6% and witch hazel 0.6% so it sounds a lot more natural that some of the other stuff. At R56.95 for a 500g tub, its not bad value either. I also checked with my pharmacist about the anti-inflamatories and I'm glad I did. She told me that I could take Inza (which I generally use for headaches etc anyway) and that I should take 1 or 2, 200mg tabs three times a day, BUT, she said that if I was running on Saturday, which I intend to, that I should only take the Inza today and tomorrow, then stop, because apparently it has an impact on the kidneys and so does running, so to combine the two would not be a good thing to do.

So, I'm now doing the anti-inflamatories x 3 daily for two days, I'm using the compression socks in the morning and will use the arnica ice afternoon and evening. Hopefullly all of that and the days rest until Saturday (I'm still not running) will make me okay to run the race.

Last night I also went to our final club meeting before the race on Saturday, I still can't get over the amount of work that goes into hosting a race and by the way LOL, I've been roped into helping too, even though I will be running on the day. Sooooo, that means that I will probably have to get up at 4am on Saturday morning to get ready and be at the race venue at 5am, ready to set up and help out. Then at 7am, I'll be running my legs off for 10km.....

Hold thumbs for me that all goes well and I'll be A-Okay to run on Saturday....

25mins :(

Well, after the Spar 10km, I was very happy with myself but also very tired and very worried about waking up the next morning with stiff legs. When I did wake up the next day (yesterday), I was still happy, cause no stiffness, BUT, a little later in the morning I realized that I might have shin splints in my left leg. I was having some pain on either side of the shinbone when walking and sometimes even when just sitting. I did some reading on the web and that confirmed it. The symptoms of shin splints were exactly what I was experiencing. It was quite a blow....

Of course the main 'cure' is rest, but thats REALLY not what I want to be doing right now, especially with my next 10km on Saturday. I really want to do this 10km for two reasons: Firstly because its my club's run and secondly to get a more accurate assesment of how well I CAN actually do a 10km. I couldn't really tell that with the Spar race, cause there were just so many people that you couldn't run the way you want to.

In looking up and asking around about what one can do for shin splints, other than rest, I found a few ideas. Anti-inflamatories can help, a horse gel called Arnica Ice (I think) is apparently also recommended (runners LOL they'll do anything to get back on the road) and then there's taping ( http://www.runnersworld.co.za/injury-prevention/treatment-room/tape-yourself-shin-splints/) . I decided that using all three might be my best bet, so decided to go out and get some tape.

I went to Sportsmans Warehouse in Canal Walk, cause I knew that I had seen some of the tape there and its the closest and biggest sport shop to me. I was helped by a very nice dude called Calvin (if I'm remembering correctly). The tape is about R119 a roll and obviously when used, its used and gone. According to the video above about taping, it will last about 5 days on your leg. If this is likely to be a recurring or ongoing problem, that will end up costing me quite a bit. Calvin then introducted me to compression socks. At R299 a pair, these are much more expensive, but have the advantage of you being able to use them over and over again, so in the long run it seemed like the better deal. I tried them in the shop and walked a bit and the effect was great. The pain was almost non existant (in hindsight, I spoke a bit too soon here, but that comes later).

I got the compression socks (Thanks Calvin) and put them on when I got home. In walking around with them a bit, I discovered that while wearing flat shoes, I can still feel the pain, but its not nearly so bad but when wearing my stability running shoes, it was MUCH better. I was so pleased by all this, that I decided that I might do a short training run today (this all happened yesterday).

I woke up this morning, still all pumped up about the compression socks, only to find that the shin splints seemed a bit worse this morning. Hmmmm, "okay (I thought), I won't know untill I try"

With that thought in mind, with compression socks on, I went for a training session. I decided to try the next Shape Challenge session, which started off with a 5min walk, then a 20min jog. I thought that i would see how that went and decide from there what to do. Well.......the 5min walk went okay, although I could feel the pain of the shin splints with every step. The 20min jog however, ended up being an 8 min jog, I just couldn't do anymore than that. I walked a bit, jogged a bit, walked a bit, jogged a bit more and then I really just couldn't anymore. My session ended up being about 25mins, with most of that being walking.....

So, with reality having kicked me firmly in the shin *SIGH*, I have decided to make the rest of the week a rest week and then try my Pro Sano 10km on Saturday. I am unhappy and perturbed about it, but what can I do. Any further training is just likely to make the situation worse and as much as I hate being 'grounded' I SUPPOSE its the best thing to do right now *HUGER SIGH*

A very unhappy Carol sighing (deliberate misspelling) out.....

Spar Womens 10km Race

Soooo, today was the Spar Women's 10km Race and my first race. My last few training sessions, which I didn't blog about, SORRY, went very well, so I was aiming to try do this race in 1h30.
(sorry, I know the first few pics a fuzzy, the light was bad and I didn't have my camera there )

My hubby in his 'outfit'

The crowd there was humungous, with just over 19 500 people entered. They had a special pen for elite runners and one for club runners, which means that you get a better start before the crowd, but as I don't yet have my club gear, I was stuck in the middle of the massive crowd. My hubby, although he was wearing his club colours (and pink tights, pink tutu and an orange wig) stayed with me as it was my first race.

Hubby & I before the race started

From left to right: Caitlin, Jane, Tracy, Trevor, Carol (me) & Glenda - before the race

When the race started, it was impossible to actually get running or even walk at a decent pace, there were just TOO MANY people walking slowly. As soon as possible I got more to the side where it was at least possible to jog. The start of the race, was also 2.5km up a hill and I had been pretty worried about it. HOWEVER, I actually ran up MOST of the hill, which surprised even me :-) The rest of the race consisted of me jogging interspersed with some walking to recover and I think I did pretty well.

I did however have a slight mental wobbly right near the end, when I mistook the entrance into the stadium. I was looking ahead at some robots, thinking they were the entrance into the stadium, and was mentally preparing myself for the end of the race, only to realize that it wasn't THOSE robots, but the next ones LOL. It was a bit of a mental letdown, but I persevered and was determined to acutally run the last bit of the race into the stadium. With all those people watching you, its a real bummer if you have to walk it LOL.

I was REALLY glad when the race was over, but VERY PROUD of myself for having done it and done it in 1h26 which was faster than the time I had hoped for.

Me after the race with my medal :-)

It was a really great race, and I'm very glad that I did it :-) Next week is the Telkom/Pro Sano run (my club run) and I'm really looking forward to that one, to see how I do without such a crowd keeping me slower. However, I do have to hope that my legs will have recovered sufficiently by then LOL.

Week 5 completed

Today I completed week 5 of the Shape 10km Challenge. I decided to do it on the treadmill for two reasons. Firstly, it was quite windy this morning still and secondly, it involved doing 4 x 4min run at faster than usual speed. On the road its difficult to judge speed and be sure you're keeping your speed constant, but on the treadmill, its easy to keep track. I normally jog on the treadmil at 5.4kph and for my faster speed, I did 6kph. I'm very happy and pleased with how my training is going. Thanks Shape Magazine for an awesome training program.

On another note, I went to my second meeting at my club last night. They are putting on a race on 16 April, the Pro Sano 10km Challenge. I had NO IDEA how much WORK actually goes into putting on a race and the amount of club members and helpers it takes. When you go to a race, you just do your thing, but you don't think about what had to go on behind the scenes to make it all happen. Believe me, a LOT goes on behind the scenes for months in advance to make a sucessful race happen. It takes a lot of time and dedication on the part of the club who's hosting it. My hat off to all those who make it happen.