Berlin, Valencia, and Gran Canaria Marathons!

First of all sorry there are no photos on this blogpost. I know how we all love to see them. My computer is still being repaired so I have no access to all my photos :-(

I had no idea what to call this blogpost as so much has happened and I have so much to share! I'll start with Berlin Marathon...

My training is going ok except.....I have had stomach pains for over 3 weeks but just kind of ignored them and cut back a little on my running. Last Saturday I thought it was time to have a long run so I did 25k with a 6:25ish pace. Early Sunday morning I woke up with a really sharp pain on my left side and extremely bad nausea so I went down to the ER on the Sunday. They didn't give me an ultrasund but I thought I needed one so I rang my doctor monday and had a scan. Nothing is wrong and it seems I just had a bacterial infection. So I'm now on antibiotics and am feeling the best I have for over a month.

So back to training for Berlin I think :-) I'm planning on a 17k this Saturday and next Saturday with a couple of smaller runs and some interval training inbetween. I do feel ready for Berlin and will be happy as long as my time is under 4:30:00!!

Now this is where my world gets complicated.....

As you know I have signed up for Gran Canaria marathon 2013. My good friend (lost long sister) Ciry from conquering26-2 was going to run Rome in 2013 and I was going to meet her there. I found out the other day that she will no longer be coming to Europe in 2013!! Ahhhh but I really want to see her again! I knew that she would be in Gran canaria in late November so started looking at my flights to Gran Canaria to see if I could change them.

As it happens because one of my flights down to Gran Canaria had been changed by the company and I hadn't accepted these changes I was entitled to a full refund :-) I decided to do this, then buy some flights to barcelona for November and from there take a train to Valencia and back a few days later. (it's actually cheaper than flying from Copenhagen to Valencia as there are no direct flights anyway).

You see Ciry will be in Valencia running the marathon on Sunday 18th November!! What does all this mean for me?

Basically as I am no longer going to Gran Canaria I will no longer be running the marathon there! I will try and transfer my entry to 2014 if I can.

On the other hand as I'm in Valencia to see Ciry I suppose it would make sense to run Valencia marathon together with her :-)

No times or anything just run and have fun!!

Hot Hot Denmark!!

Yesterday was the hottest day in Copenhagen for the last 37 years! Because of the 'extreme heat' I decided to cancel the half marathon training and advised everyone to run once the sun had set or in the early morning.

One of the girls still wanted to get some exercise in so biked 1 hour to my home and then we both biked to the beach and went swimming :-)
It was really great to cool off in the sea!

It's supposed to get rainy and cold again from tomorrow so it looks like our 17k run next Monday will still be on....

Berlin marathon is only 40 days away now and coming up fast!! I feel ready for it as I have done lots of biking this summer on top of my running so actually feel really fit right now :-)

I'm planning on running the Powerade half marathon as an instructor to help one of the girls round and then running home afterwards. This will then put me at around 27k so will be used as my long run before Berlin!

No photos today I'm afraid as I'm on a different computer as my one has died....as least I've got the internet back working properly again!

Running on the Beach

The other day I was going to meet up with some other runners in my half marathon training group (they are going to run the Powerade half marathon in Copenhagen on 9th September so I'm helping them get ready).

We were supposed to be running around 16k this time but it was so hot outside (yes Denmark does get hot too). Anyway I decided that a bit of variety was good for moral so we ran 4k down to the beach and took our trainers and socks off and ran 2k in the sea and wet sand! It was so refreshing :-)

We then ran the 4k back. We all agreed that this was great training and that we had all enjoyed it very much!

My plan for the next training is too run around about the 16k ending up at the beach and having a quick swim afterwards. That will be a great way to end a run I think :-)

Berlin Marathon in Less Than Two Months!

July seems to have really gotten away from me this year!

I have been on holiday for most of it so I think I've been a little lazy with my writing ;-)
I have still been out running and am really enjoying my 17:30 run every Monday evening where I run with others. We add an extra kilometer each week which is really working out well. Once we get into the middle of August I'm going to add an extra 5k or so onto the distance just for myself and use the Monday training for my long runs.

I'm nearly half way through my running coaching of my beginners group and it's going very well. They are surprised at how much fitter they feel now compared to just 6 weeks ago!

Team Hvidovre

I'm still planning on just having one longer run each week and doing some hill training too. The other days I will be doing interval training so I can finish Berlin in 4 hours and 15 minutes or under :-)

Trail Running for Beginners!

Lanzarote Wine Race

So sorry that I haven't written for a while but I haven't really had anything different to write about!

I'm still doing the running coaching and it's going very well. I come up with new fun games to play week after week and enjoy seeing the people I'm coaching improving all the time.

I've started doing half marathon training for anyone that wants to join us every Monday evening. This is really good because then I have a set time to be somewhere and a set distance to run. This will always get me out of the door, which when the summer is rubbish (like it is this year), gives me the motivation I need to keep on running.

And, of course, I am still doing my training for Berlin Marathon :-)

Trail Sierra Montsant

The big change in my running life is that I have decided to start doing some trail races in Spain from around October 2013 :-) I can't start until then as I am already committed to a lot of city marathons up to next summer.

My friend Jose from http://de10a100km.blogspot.com has recommended a few for me. They are Trail Sierra Montsant, Tarragona,  half marathon of the wine in Lanzarote, and half marathon of collserola, Barcelona.

half marathon of collserola

After reading about all three of them I'm a little worried about getting lost (or just drinking too much wine in Lanzarote) and hope that I can convince someone (hint hint Jose) to run one of them with me ;-) 


Otherwise knowing me I'll probably fall off the side of the mountain never to be heard from again!

New 5k Records for Both of Us!

Latimer and I both ran the 5k Mini Strandløb (beach run) this evening!

The sun was shining and it was really hot to run in. Latimer and I started very near the front so Latimer could just run without having to overtake or be held up by lots of people. I was hoping to get a better 5k but with the weather being so hot I wasn't expecting it to happen.

When the gun sounded and we got over the line Latimer just ran! I had lost him within 7 seconds this time! My plan was to start off a little fast and then try and run around 5.13 pace or less. That way I should beat my last 5k time.

By 3.5k I was really finding it hard going because of the sun but just put my head down and kept on running. I was looking out for Latimer but didn't see him anywhere.

At the finish I did my usual sprint even though I was almost dead and I won a goody bag :-) I've never won one before so was very happy!

Latimer was watching me finish and we high fived when I came over the line. We both had got new 5k records!!

Latimer finished in 25 minutes and 21 seconds which is over a minute faster then his best 5k before today!
I finished in 25 minutes and 49 seconds which is almost 45 seconds faster than my best!

Beginner Training Group and Other Stuff

Last Saturday I started training my beginners running group! There are over 20 beginners that I am training and most of them haven't run much or at all before. I found lots of cool running games we could play together and this seemed to work out really well.

I'm looking very much forward to seeing them all again this Saturday :-)

Today I have started some social half marathon training leading up to the Powerade Copenhagen Half Marathon on 9th September. I'm planning on running it in under 2 hours. If I can do that my goal of Berlin Marathon in under 4 hours and 15 minutes should be doable!

We ran 10k today, 11k next week and then adding on more kilometres each week until 2 weeks before when we'll drop the mileage again. 

On top of this training I will also be doing intervals once a week and hill training once a week and then another run anything between 5k and 28k each week.

I can't wait until Wednesday as Latimer and I are racing together in a 5k race! We only have 7 seconds seperating our best times right now. I'll do a write up afterwards....