RUNNING IN THE RAIN

It hasn’t stopped raining since I got back from sunny Vancouver on Friday. All my good intentions of starting a new running routine have been washed away and I’ve hardly left the house. But then the cover of the November issue of Runner’s World caught my eye with an article on the 8 Best New Trail Shoes.

One thing I noticed running last winter was how wet my feet got in normal trainers and so trail shoes seem the way forward and are on my shopping list. RW suggest that I look for trail trainers with weather-proofing and the article tested the trainers for how they functioned on wet grass (my usual running surface). RW say the best all-rounder is the New Balance 876 and the best for wet conditions is the Salomon Speedcross 2 GTX. Armed with this new-found knowledge I’ll be off to my local Runner’s Need – as soon as it stops raining!

CITY SKORT

Our new collection included a running skort (skirt with integral shorts) called the City skort. We introduced it to see whether the UK was ready to follow in the footsteps of our American sisters who consider the skirt a running wardrobe essential.

To be honest, I had my doubts and I have been proven completely wrong. They have flown off the shelves and after it was featured in the May issue of Runner's World, we sold out within a week!

In one sense this is fantastic news but I am also very sorry to disappoint so many of our customers. Our new stock is not due to arrive until the Autumn and although we are looking into whether we can bring this forward at the moment the signs are not good.

So to all our disappointed customers out there, you have my sincere apologies for being too conservative. We will make sure that it doesn't happen again.

TRAINING RUN 1

I, along with two girlfriends, have places in the Paris Marathon on 11 April 2010. If I’m honest I can’t recall why we decided to enter. I’m laying the blame firmly at Claire’s door. I ran my first marathon with Claire in 1997 and we always look back fondly on our training (which to be fair we took seriously) and the event itself. Fast forward 12 years and our lives have changed considerably but the desire to run remains (although the time for training seems to have all but disappeared!).

Having researched which events we could do between now and April I found (via the very helpful race directory section of Runner’s World) a series of marathon training runs organised by Gade Valley Harriers in Hemel Hempstead. The first one (which was yesterday) was 12 miles and there are two further runs of 17 miles and 20 miles at the end of February and March respectively.

Early yesterday morning Claire and I made our way to the event. Sadly our third runner is currently injured and so couldn’t join us. The journey from Euston was easy and we were pleased to see a number of other women on the train who were clearly running too. Registration took all of 2 minutes and then we were off at 9.30.

Despite the cold (and it really was freezing) it was great to be out running in an organised event. The club do an amazing job marshalling the course which had mile markers and water stations (at miles 4 and 8). The first 3 miles were along the Grand Union canal towpath, the next 8 miles along quiet country roads and the last mile back along the towpath. What their website didn’t mention were the hills which came as a bit of a shock. Miles 4 to 5 and 7 to 8 were up-hill and were surprising steep in places. I just kept thinking that what goes up must come down and was very relieved to find mile 10 to 11 all down-hill.

The run was a huge wake-up call for both of us because although we’ve been training, our legs just weren’t prepared for that distance. From about mile 8 everything started to hurt particularly my hips and knees. The mental preparation is just as important and I was disappointed at the voice in my head telling me that it would be ok to walk for just a bit.

On a positive note, we both kept going and finished in respectable times. Our efforts were rewarded with a warming cup of tea and mammoth slice of cake!

In a nutshell:

Highlights
• The friendly atmosphere
• Spotting someone at the start looking great in her Chill hoody
• The famous Jelly Baby station at mile 9
• Finishing without stopping (because I really wanted to)
• The number of women running of all shapes, sizes and abilities
• Cake!

Lowlights
• The cold
• That voice in my head

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