My first attempt at: Crossfit

"It's not a cult. Well, if it is it's a bloody good one!" 

These are the words spoken by Nigel, one of the trainers who took me through my paces at Crossfit Bold in Earlsfield on Tuesday night. 

I was invited down to the 'Box' (Crossfit terminology for 'gym') on Tuesday night by Laura, as part of the Sport of Fitness event. The Box is actually in a warehouse in an industrial estate just 5 minutes from the train station and easy to miss if it's your first time so don't be afraid to call for directions! 

There were supposed to be about 6 or 7 of us there, but it turned out to be just me, the lovely Leah (who I ran with in the most horrible weather at the Garmin Kingston Run Challenge last weekend) and one other blogger. Three of us against two of the trainers = no slacking off! 

I have to admit, I've heard a lot about Crossfit over the past year or so - some good, some bad - but I've always been a little intrigued given that most people I know who do it are addicted. But it's not a cult you say? Well, I'll be the judge of that... 

Before I regale you with the highs and lows of a Crossfit class, let me just say that our instructors were great - really knowledgeable,  helpful and encouraging - and I appreciated that Helen (the second of our instructors) took the time after our class to sit down with us and answer our questions about Crossfit. Leah and I were particularly keen to know how Crossfit could benefit our running and it seems that they have trained numerous endurance athletes and triathletes to reach PBs. I'm sure that strength training could save me from injury too, so my mind was put at ease by their reassuring words. 

The other question I had was about cost. I won't go in to too much detail as each club is different, but Crossfit isn't cheap. After attending the class I can see why: as the class sizes are small you have in-depth training and on average 3-1 coaching. There's a lot of focus on learning the right technique: it's almost an education in fitness form! So yes, it is expensive, but until you go down for a trial session (many of which are free) you wont know if it that cost is value for money for you. So why not give it a shot!

Meanwhile, back in 'the Box'....
Some workouts were already going down, and there was lots of throwing around of medicine balls, which, I have to admit, looked quite fun! Okay, so they were GIANT medicine balls, and doing it was probably less fun than looking at it being done, but still - I was optimistic.

Scorpion stretching

Crossfit chat

After a 200m jog and some stretches for warm-up we started by learning the proper technique to squatting. Yes, there is a proper technique, people! I discover that I have a problem with keeping my chest up and getting low enough for it to 'count': you see, all Crossfit moves have standards that would have to be met in a competition scenario - if you miss the required standard then it doesn't count as a rep. Better get this technique down then! A few adjustments and I was there. Slow squats, then fast squats, then faster squats with a wee jump in between. Easy peasy. Lovely (sort of).

Learning the technique...

...putting it in to practice!

Then: box jumps. Now, I haven't had the need or desire to jump on boxes since I was in primary school. Here I was, feeling like a 12-year-old, tongue out, concentration face ON. The instructors said "two-feet jump & land, then lock out your legs at the top". Again I thought: easy. Hmm. Not so easy when you're actually 29 and not a lithe and nimble 12-year-old! But I managed, and actually once you get in to a rhythm it's not too bad. 
Jump, lock out, step down, repeat. Sorted. 

 


Next: Kettlebell swings. I've done a few kettlebell classes so had the technique for Russian swings down - albeit that the kettlebell was a bit heavier than my usual 3-5kg! American swings are a different story: you have to take the kettlebell up above your head and stop it there before swinging back down. Now that's tough! 

Russian swing - half way up

American swing - aaaaallll the way up! Loving Leah's face here :)

But again, we all got there. See - the instructors were right - we can do this stuff!! 

Finally: the dreaded burpees. Burpees are the bane of my life. They were sent here by the devil himself to train you for hell. Because that would be my hell: never-ending burpees. Not that I'm dramatic or anything... So we got down (literally, flat down on the ground before leaping up again and clapping) with burpees - if you don't know what they are then look it up, do three, and I DEFY you to disagree with my earlier sentiments. E.V.I.L. 

A little rest ensued. Hurrah, she thinks, class over: high fives all round! This Crossfit malarkey is fun! Eh, no. The writing is on the wall...

"OK, so 21 of the first, 15 of the next, 9 of the last - totally do-able," I think. 
Again: WRONG! 21 of EACH, 15 of EACH, then 9, you guessed it, OF EACH. Oh, and as fast as you can, please. GO! 

Death by burpee is not how I want to go, but I came close. I had to take a few deep breaths between the burpees and the box jumps, but the coaches encouraged me on, and all three of us worked our asses off and finished in just under 10 minutes. Yes, that's right. Just 10 minutes of flat out effort and I almost died. 

Then I smiled. 

Then we stretched. Ahhhhhhh! 

Then the penny dropped. 

This is what Crossfit does. High-intensity, controlled-technique training: it pushes you (safely) to your limits and then, when you think you're done, pushes you to give that little bit more. That 'little bit more' is why you will see changes - it's where 'change' lives. Reaching that point hurt, and I wouldn't have done it by myself in the gym. It took someone standing over me telling me to keep going, that I could do it, not to give up. 

And the trainer's statement at the start was right. I wasn't 'brainwashed' into thinking or writing this, it just all of a sudden made sense! I get what the Crossfit masses see, I really do. And, while I'm sure it's not for everyone, I think I've got that competitive spirit and drive to be physically fitter, which means I could get addicted and love it and believe that it's totally worth the money. I'm just not sure my bank manager will be too happy about that...

One thing he does like is when I get some lovely goodies for my efforts - so thank you to Laura for arranging these Pure Pharma and Rock Tape goodies for us. 

Almost want to strain a muscle or two to be able to tape myself up in the cow tape. It's the simple things, right? :)

Are you a Crossfit lover or hater? Has it improved your fitness or running pace? I'm tempted to try out the beginners course and if I do you'll be the first to hear how it goes. If I survive...

Katy | City Girl Fit

A marathon runner in the making? The September-October round-up

It’s been all quiet for the blog-life of City Girl Fit recently owing to various goings-on, but that doesn’t mean it’s been all quiet in real-life – oh no! Here’s a little round-up of events:

Wednesday 11^th September – Cyclebeat vs SportPursuit Challenge, London

I headed down to Cyclebeat, a new spin studio in Central London, with a host of fitness bloggers to take on the SportPursuit team in a cycle to the death! It was also my first experience of the mighty Beatboard: read all about it on my guest blog over on Be Pretty Fit.

Sunday 22^nd September – Teach First 10K, London

Over on Twitter, Jen announced that she couldn’t run this race due to a dodgy knee and offered her place up for one lucky person. I was quick off the mark to put my hand up – I normally run 10K on a Sunday, so why not do it for a good cause (and a medal!)? Starting down by Camp Bo-Jo and the Tower of London, the route took us a loop around the Thames with lots of pretty sights to see:

 

It was an open course, so lots of tourist dodging involved, but came home in just over 52 minutes – my new ‘official timed 10K’ PB, knocking 2 mins off my last one in 2011, and earned a well deserved chocolate cake slice :) Hope I did Jen proud! 

Nevetheless, a sub-50 10K race still eludes me, so have signed up to speed and hill sessions to see if I can remedy that next time... Will keep you posted!

Thursday 26^th September – You’ve got mail!

After a long day at the office I came home to this little bit of mail. Yes, that’s right, I’M RUNNING THE LONDON MARATHON NEXT YEAR!! Ahhhhh! I now have a sound understanding of what combined terror and sheer delight feels like. Can’t quite believe I got in, and it’s now starting to sink in how much work I have to do to be fit enough to not only get round the course, but also to finish in a time I’ll be happy with while managing to enjoy it! This also means that over the next 6 months you, dear reader, will be subjected to many a blog post of ups and downs on my VLM journey. Lucky you, eh?!

Thursday 3^rd October –#CHOspin with Chobani and BOOM

Another day, another spin class - spreading the spin love! - this time organised by  the lovely peeps from Chobani UK and in collaboration with BOOM Cycle in Shoreditch.

My love affair with spin actually began at BOOM just over a year ago: I signed up to a ‘5 classes for £25 deal’ assuming that I would go once, be completely out of my depth, hate it, and never go back, only having lost 25 bucks in the process. How wrong I was! BOOM is a different world of spin. It’s fun, energetic and atmospheric – the darkened room means you cycle in candle-light and the shiny disco balls give a nice touch – and the instructors are super motivating, friendly and approachable. There’s also a variety of classes to suit your needs and goals, including experts in fat burning to teach you the best way to lose those belly rolls... After just a few classes you will feel like part of the BOOM family!

And can I just say, I’ve always had fairly big thighs and assumed that spinning wouldn’t help my situation; however, since starting to spin I’ve actually reduced my thigh circumference and even have a tiny wee gap between my legs! If I’d known that through exercise on a bike I could reduce thigh chaff-age (yes, I have known the pain of walking quite far while wearing a skirt with no tights on a hot summer day: ouch!) I’d have been spinning long ago. Anyway, I digress...

Chobani were kind enough to set us up with a BodyBOOM class (taught by the lovely ab-tastic Tara, this class provides an amazing full-body workout – where else would you get hand weights with spinning?!) and they served up some delicious strawberry Chobani smoothies afterwards. I also took home a pack of passionfruit Chobani – delicious! – and a handy new Chobani tote bag for my working lunches, as modelled here on my way to work.

On another note, BOOM have just signed the lease for a new site over in Holborn so you should be able to check the new digs out soon!

Wednesday 9^th October – Elle’s Supple Strength Class

Last week, I was lucky enough to get a place on ElleLinton’s tester session of the Supple Strength Class. I first met Elle a few years ago while at the NTC classes in Clapham Common, and enjoyed her laid-back (in terms of attitude, not exercise!), fun approach to exercise. 17 fitness fanatics met with Elle at the O2 workshop space on Tottenham Court Road - I didn't know this place existed; it’s a really cool spot to book some meeting space, complete with free coffee! 

Some new faces, some old friends – we all got set up with our yoga mats and started the class. The class combined yoga and pilates moves with strength moves to give a full body workout – boy did my arms and abs hurt the next day! For more info and a full description check out Elle’s blog, where you can also find classes that you too can be experience 'the Elle effect' :)

What next?

I've got more fitness adventures lined up for the next few weeks and I'll be in touch with more details soon. Today I ran an 8 mile race followed by a game of touch rugby in the driving rain, so I'm off for a well earned bath! Next time, let's not leave it so long to catch up, yeah? ;)

Katy | City Girl Fit

Living in the trees with peacocks: a secret country hideway

After my half marathon adventures I headed out to East Sussex with the boy for some country-style R&R! Being Scots we miss the green stuff and fresh air, and need our regular fix or we resort to Mel Gibson-esque blue-face-painted warriors screaming something about freedom. Not pretty for anyone...

We had booked one of the eco lodges at Fair Oak Farm after reading a great review online, and we were not disappointed. Our home for the next three nights was small but perfectly formed wooden lodge on stilts, built in to the trees and situated on an ancient tree line.

Eco Lodge at Fair Oak Farm. Boy not included.

Not only was it absolutely gorgeous inside and out, but the farm had some lively residents in the form of five or so peacocks, one of whom had just had three chicks! When Penny, the owner of the farm, showed us to our lodge she mentioned that we might hear some tapping, but "that'll just be the peacocks!" haha - we laughed - very funny! She wasn't wrong... before long we had these two guests at the door:

Darling, there's some peacocks at the door...

That view (sometimes with peacocks, sometimes without) was what we woke up to every morning. Some mornings we just sat in bed with a coffee marvelling at the view, it was so beautiful.

The weather was fairly grim over our stay - typical after the glorious summer we've just had! - but we managed a few country/hillside walks in the area, and there were some paths with signposts around (although without a map it's not that intuitive, so we will definitely take one next time!). We also ventured to Bodiam Castle, a 14th century moated castle that's only a 30 minute drive away from the lodges. It's quite something to behold...

The lodges have a small but perfectly formed kitchen for all your self catering needs, but we ate out one night at the nearby (10 minute drive away) Middle House Hotel - a perfect, traditional country style pub with a great atmosphere and rustic, hefty portions of locally sourced food. What more could you ask for?

We loved our stay, and are already planning our return trip. With various self-catering options from the lodges to 6-person barnhouses, we might even let our friends in on the secret and invite them along! These lodges really are a hidden gem, so shhh!, don't tell anyone...

Katy | City Girl Fit

We paid for our trip to Fair Oak Eco Lodges and all opinions are my own.

A half-marathon monster is born!

Last Sunday I ran my first half marathon. After 13.1 miles of weaving through a sea of green Run to the Beat t-shirts I was sure I'd say never again! Why, then, am I planning my next half already?! The bug has not just bitten; oh no! It has chowed-down, torn off a chunk and spit it out with gusto!!

Readers of my previous posts will be aware that I only had 4 weeks to train for Run to the Beat (RTTB) after winning an entry from Vita Coco. I only managed one long run of 11.5 miles in training, but having a base level of fitness would (I hoped!) see me through... Despite surviving (evidently, as I am writing this post!) I do recommend that you give yourself at least 6 weeks to train for a half and, ideally, don't get drunk too often during that time. As mama says: do as I say, not as I do!

When I rocked up to Grenwich Park last Sunday the first thing I saw was the 12 mile marker and the long 45degree incline hill beyond it. I was already panting a bit after just walking up it to the event village!! That hill was going to hurt, and proved to be the nail in the coffin for many later in the day. At least I knew it was coming now, and so I stored my lucozade gel pack in my zip-pouch ready with a mental note to take it at mile 11 for a pre-hill boost!

        Lining up in the pens at RTTB

After a delayed start, we were on the move and my aim was to keep a steady pace of 9.15-9.20 per mile for the first few miles to ease myself in. It was a perfect crisp but sunny day and I trotted along feeling fine. Until mile 4...

In their infinite wisdom, the race organisers decided to set up one of the rehydration stations on a 400m loop inside a car park for which there was only one entrance and exit gate. Now, I'm pretty sure that a high school maths student could tell you that fitting 20,000 people through a 6-foot wide space would be a logistical nightmare. And they'd be right!! We were in a mass ball of people queuing to get in for about 3.5-4 minutes and again for 2 minutes trying to get out the other side. This really knocked my pacing off, and so I tried to speed up a little to get myself back on schedule - I'd now lost sight of the 2-hour pacemaker. After the rage subsided I pulled myself back in to a rhythm and settled in at a slightly quicker pace than planned for the remaining 9 miles.

Some parts of the course were a bit derelict but by the time we hit 8 miles in the crowds had begun to gather and the cheering was a real motivator. Parts of the route were a bit narrow, only space enough for four people side by side, which made overtaking difficult and dangerous - I witnessed a few jostles and falls, but managed myself to pass by without taking anybody out!

Just after mile 10 I spotted the lovely Leah, handing out jelly babies and words of encouragement in spades! Seeing a friendly face really lifted my spirits, and knowing I only had 3 miles left (in my head I was saying: it's just a 5K. Man up!!) I guzzled my gel down and pushed hard. Talk about keeping some in the tank, my fastest mile was mile 11!

Entering the park, I knew that hill was coming so I got my head down, pumped the arms and willed my legs to keep going as gravity started to pull on the up-hill. Most people had stopped to walk by that point, so the hardest part was keeping moving while weaving in among everyone! 

At the top was a cruel teaser: like at Disneyland, when the entrance of the ride seems really close then they send you round a winding queue system for an hour, the finish line was about 200 meters away from the top of the hill, but we had 1 mile of winding course to go before glory!

Although the legs were quickly jellifying (a real word?) I managed to kick hard and finish with some sort of sprint-flail finish, coming over the line at 2h10 - I crossed at the start at 0h07 so completed the race, with set-backs and all, in just over 2 hours.

That's me crossing the line with my sprint-flail on the far left, behind the girl in black shorts. Flail!

Anyone who knows anyone who did RTTB last week will have heard the grumbles about delayed start times, huge bottlenecks at 4 miles, and the hill of death. Yes, these things were annoying (bar the hill, which is just part of a course and to be expected at some point!). Yes, I had a mild tantrum when I was forced to queue for 5 mins at mile 4 and then crossed the finish line 3 mins over my 2-hour target. But y'know what? 'Official time' can take a long walk off a short cliff - according to my Nike+ app I nailed that 2-hour target by a good 3 mins!!

   Glory!!!

And despite it all, and people telling me that it was a hard course and not the best half event, I had a ball!! I really enjoyed the distance, loved the atmosphere and was chuffed to bits with my bling:

Only one conclusion can be reached, therefore: If this wasn't the best half marathon then how much will I love other half marathons?! So I am now planning 2014 - a year of half marathons (and triathlons, of course!). And yes, I will be back at RTTB. Like your first love, your first half should always have a special place in your heart. 

Thanks again to Vita Coco, Women's Running and Nike for the competition that enabled me to run this race. But know that you've created a monster - a half marathon monster!

When life (and knees) get in the way

Half marathon in t minus 13 days. 

It was all looking good: training was going so well, was feeling strong. Then... a new job! 

This week I took the first step on my new career path, which is great, exciting and interesting. But boy has my training for the half marathon suffered! There is nothing - nothing - that kills your energy and drive to run like 6 hours a day of online policy learning. I barely managed a 2 mile run round the common during the week! Eugh. 

On top of that I knew my Saturday was going to be a write off as it was the touch rugby end of season party on Friday. On a boat. If anyone knows my team, Magic, then they know that our nights out are carnage. And it was supreme carnage, but great fun! (Yes, we were the only people wearing stupid hats on the boat... it's not a Magic night of there isn't fancy dress!)

That's me, front right, with my umpteenth G&T. Saturday morning: definitely not a run day for me :( 

Fortunately it was the bank holiday weekend - hurrah! - so I had earmarked Sunday morning for the biggie (I need a day of recovery before going back to work!). The longest run to date, and probably my longest run before the half marathon. Dun, dun, duuuuuuuun! Saturday's weather was a washout (as anyone who was at whatever rave party was going on at Clapham Common will testify to - welly sales in SW London must've been through the roof!), but Sunday morning brought the sunshine - it was a sign: this was going to be a good run.

I had mapped out a 10.5 mile route which would take me from home to meet the boy at his tennis club. Shoes laced up, tunes on: off I went. As usual, the first mile felt like hell - does anyone else have the same problem that in the first 10 minutes of a run you feel like your legs are filled with lead? Anyway, by mile 2 the legs started to lighten up, and with the sun on my back I was feeling good. 

I hit Battersea Park and crossed the river at the 5 mile point, heading along the embankment towards Chelsea and Putney. Running through an area I'd never really seen before definitely distracted me, and a few more miles passed without me even noticing. Then, the 8 mile stage: the point where my knees say "hey, it's been fun while it lasted, but we've had enough, thanks!" Ouch, step, ouch, step, ouch, step. And still 2.5 miles to go (so I thought!). No, knees, I will not give in!!  

Then came what could perhaps be described as a saving grace - I realised I was lost. Nothing distracts you more from the fact that your knees are killing you than realising that you are going the wrong way. Hmm. I fought on, aimed for the river, and managed to find my way back on track - just a 1 mile detour then! Blocking out the knee pain, I surged on, and even managed to lift my pace for the last mile. I pulled up at the tennis club and saw the distance on my Nike app - Distance: 11.4 miles. Time: 1h40min. Happy days!

On the whole I'm feeling confident that I can hit the 2 hour mark on race day, and anything under that time would be a bonus. It's my first half though, so my main goal is to enjoy myself - it might be the first, but I'm pretty sure it wont be that last, and I'll have time to improve on my pace in the future.

Nothing left to do after that run than to rest the knees - thanks for keeping going knees! - and chill out by the outdoor pool at the club. Bliss!

Hope your bank holiday runs/swims/spins were successful too!

Lesson learned this week: even if you get lost - be it with your training plan or while on a run! - keep going. Never give up. 

Katy | City Girl Fit

New shoes, first long run, and a shed-load of coconut water

The best thing about getting in to some serious running? The need to buy new shoes! And no, I do not mean of the high-heeled kind, I mean of the best kind.

On the quest for new trainers, I trotted down to Runners Need in Clapham Junction on Tuesday (was hoping to cycle there, but the boy helpfully took the keys for our bike locks to work with him...). The girls there were very helpful, and suggested some video-based gait analysis to work out what level of stability I need in my running shoe.

In a pair of 'neutral' shoes, which give no support across the arch of the foot, the slow-mo video showed that I overpronate on my right foot. My left foot, however, gets a gold star as it showed "beautiful balance": I'll take the compliments where I can! I suggested to the lady that perhaps this unbalance had something to do with my left-handedness - cue strange look and a 'quickly moving on' change of subject. However, the scientist in me had to do some research (thanks, Google!) and there may be something in it after all! Go science! I digress...

Shop lady (sorry, shop lady, I forgot your name) suggested I try some 'mild support' shoes, and brought three pairs down to try. A bit like goldilocks (but without gold locks. Or porridge. Or, come to think of it, bears.) the first two just weren't quite right, but the third pair fitted a treat and corrected my silly right-foot and it's overpronation: my shiny new Nike trainers are born!

New shoes!

After dancing around the house to check that the newbies were comfy and fit for purpose (that's the way to check, right?!), I decided to try these bad boys out on my first 'longer than 10K' run since... since... The Edinburgh Marathon Hairy Haggis Relay Race 2008! Jeez - it's been even longer than I thought, and quite a daunting prospect. 


Fortunately, I had a read of Liz Goodchild's blog today on 'How to keep working towards your goals even when they scare you'. Her question to the reader was: Is there a small step you can take, today, towards your goal? A small step that feels less scary for you? I took Liz's advice, weighed up what was reasonable and not too scary, and aimed for a sensible 8 miles today.




So, with the phone armband strapped up and the keys stored in the little back pouchy thing of running capris (does it have an actual name? No? 'Pouchy thing' it is.), I stepped out boldly in my shiny new shoes and began on my 'little step' journey. Despite the mild panic of my Nike+ running app having a meltdown at 1.29 miles and having to restart the bloomin' thing, I managed a grand total of 8.35 miles (13.5K) at an average pace of just over 9min/mile: pretty chuffed with that! 


The legs felt like lead on the last mile and a half, so I will need to get in a few more long runs before the half marathon to be sure that I've got the distance in me. On the whole I felt good, and the beautiful sunny day helped a lot - scenery running across Battersea Bridge was amazing, but I was too focused on the pace to stop for a pic! Sorry! Next time, promise...

Then, to top off an already awesome morning of running in the sunshine, I had a delivery: my month's supply of Vita Coco that I won along with the Run to the Beat entry! Plus a lovely wee message from the Vita Coco team. Ahhh! 

The fridge is stocked, and ready for rehydration...

Right, need to shoot, I'm off for a 7.5 mile cycle to Regent's Park for my touch rugby team's final games of the summer season. Nope, never do things by halves! 

Katy | City girl Fit

Can you train for a half marathon in 4 weeks? I hope so!

I've never won anything. Well, nothing that counts; a tenner on the lotto doesn't really count as 'winning' - you need the whole £7.5 million-odd in my eyes. So, yeah, nothing. I enter competitions fully expecting never to hear back again, which is exactly what I thought when I entered a Women's Fitness competition by VitaCoco UK to win entry to the Nike Run to the Beat half marathon - London's 'music marathon' - and a month's supply of coconut water. 

Lo and behold: I won! This means that I have exactly 4 weeks to get half-marathon fit from never EVER having run further than 15K, and that was 6 years ago. Oh. Dear.

Fortunately, before I even knew I'd won the competition, I'd been offered a place at a Run to the Beat track-training session at Battersea Park Arena on 10/08/13, which was organised by Nike Running UK and advertised on their Facebook page last week. 'Perfect way to kickstart the training!

I'd been pre-warned by Nike Master Trainer Gil Cramer (Coach G) that it was going to be a tough session *gulp!* but I thought, what the hey: what doesn't kill you makes you stronger and all that...

I cycled down to the track  - which, as will be come apparent, was a bad idea - on Saturday morning, raring to go. Seeing a lot of fit-looking (and I mean that solely in the fitness sense. honest.) people hovering around a track that is a lot bigger than I remember from school days, the butterflies began. 

Battersea Park Millenium Arena

What was I thinking?! A track-training session with no half-marathon training whatsoever?! Fortunately I started talking to the lovely Josie, who it turned out also won a place on RttB thanks to VitaCoco, and we calmed each others nerves a little. 

Gil and some of the other Nike trainers, including the awesome Gemma (aka Good to Tone PT. Ladies: if you're looking for an inspirational fitness role model, then look no further!) talked us through the plan for training. We got in to a 'warm up' of dynamic hip-flexor stretching (ouch! but in a strangely nice way), planks, sprints, high-knees, squat-jumps and a 3min tempo run. No, your eyes do not deceive you,  I did say 'warm up'.

We were then split into Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced groups. Although I'd normally be the first to throw myself at the beginner group, 'sprints' was mentioned a lot, and I have a strong aversion to the 's' word. So I opted for the Intermediate group as the word 'pyramid runs' sounded much more fun. 

Wrong! This is what a pyramid run involved:

200m sprint, 200m jog
300m sprint, 100 walk
400m sprint, 400m jog
200m sprint, 200m jog
400m sprint, 400m jog
300m sprint, 100m walk
200m sprint, die on grass at side of track.

Despite feeling like my heart was about to explode out of my chest and my legs jellifying on the second 400m sprint, I managed. The training I did as a teenager for 400m and 800m really came back to me, and I actually sort of enjoyed it. Albeit only a tiny little bit. And only well after I'd stopped running. Specifically, when I was at home with a glass of wine and feeling smug.

Cool down time (thank god!) and a chance to guzzle some VitaCoco and some snacks provided by Kaffiene. Josie and I also got chatting to some other girls at the session including the lovely Jen, and Em of lunges & lycra, about training, running and triathlons. We chatted to the organisers of Run to the Beat, who were telling us about the training runs on a Monday night in Box Park: info can be found on the Run to the Beat Facebook page. 

Jen, me and Josie at the track

I also spoke to super-coach G about my 4-week training plan - or lack thereof. His advice at this late stage was to get in long runs on a Sunday, as that's the day I'll be racing, with maybe one or two shorter runs in the week, but also to mix my training up with a bit of swimming and strength training (specifically, only running 3 times a week). I already do 10K most Sundays, so I just need to extend that out over the next few weeks and hope for the best!! It's slowly starting to sink in that 4 weeks today and I'll be running my first ever half marathon... *deep breathing to avoid panic attack* 

Oh yeah, the cycle home was pretty painful! I really need to rest my legs tonight so I'm ready for Gemma's NTC class at Clapham Common tomorrow morning. Given the way that the past week has gone, 'Jump in at the deep end' should be my middle name!

Thanks to Vita Coco again from Josie & me - we are really look forward to it despite the mild panic of last minute training!

Katy | City Girl Fit