I got sidetracked yesterday evening watching Mountain: Life at the Extreme on BBC2, would recommend if only for the bits about Mira Rai (though the other elements were very good too!). That's her there in the picture, she's a Nepalese ultra runner. Here's some blurb I lazily copied and pasted:
Mira Rai hails from a remote village in Bhojpur, in the east of the country. Growing up, her family struggled to meet everyday necessities through farming. She left school at age 12 to help her parents in daily household chores, and because her family could not afford her education. She regularly walked up and down the mountainous terrain to collect water and go to market. At the age of 14 she left home in the middle of the night, without telling her parents, to join the Maoist insurgency when they came recruiting through her village. When the civil war came to an end she was disqualified from the Maoist reintegration programme, as she was a minor. After returning home she dreamed of doing something more with her life to support her family, and traveled to Kathmandu to pursue karate and running.
She speaks about her first ultra-marathon in the doc--she already knew she was good at running but had never considered running that sort of distance before. By chance she bumped into a Himalayan 50k race just about to start one day, so joined in. She only had a pair of plimsolls with a hole on one of the soles, no technical clothing, no water or fuel. She won the race anyway. In fact she's pretty much won everything she has entered since then, and has something mad like 50% more haemoglobin in her blood than regular runners because of her mountain upbringing. Most recently she ran the 120 km Ben Nevis Ultra Trail Race round my way, where she not only won the race but set a new course record in a time of 14 hours and 24 minutes.
Look her up, it's inspirational stuff!
Aaaaaaaanyway, sometimes we don't feel like putting a whole post up but just want to share something small, so this is a great place for doing that during the week. Please join in the discussion 😊
If you're new or a lurker this is a great place to say a little hi without the pressure of a full post.
Happy running, gang!
Ju-Ju, Sqkr, and roseabi
XXX
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Sqkr
Half Marathon
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This week I will mostly be winding both up and down for the Eastbourne HM on Sunday. Couple of short runs, plenty of rest, etc. not to mention developing an obsessive interest in the weather forecast.
Still riding the high from a much better 22k run on Saturday - strategic pacing clearly pays off. I managed a slow start and kept the bulk of the run to target pace or slower because my intention was to do a long slow run to prove I could RUN the full distance. By 16k I felt strong and decided to speed up a bit, see if I really could. End result - average pace just 1s per km slower than my target pace (and a finish time still inside my 2h30m goal).
Thanks to everyone for their advice after my walking wobble a few weeks ago. Starting slow and having fixed pre-defined short breaks to walk while drinking (coinciding with where the water stations will be for my actual HM) turned it into a really enjoyable run. Did end up with a blister on each foot, but didn't really feel it during the run so that's OK, but nasty chafing from my hydration vest on the inside of my arms where they rubbed against the straps (I only had short sleeves and must run with my arms tucked in tight!).
So this week I just have an intervals run and a 13K pace run - hopefully a relatively straightforward week, especially with this big smile still stuck on my face
Hi all! I was on the Isle of Wight last week, and managed one run plus parkrun. It was great to run into aliboo70 there. Despite only running twice, they were both the "easiest" runs I've done in a long time - as my legs felt just right. And parkrun was my fastest pace since June, so I'm thrilled.
Ooh I do like a running documentary. I by chance watched ‘Running for Good’ about the amazing Fiona Oakes last week. It is incredible what she is capable of every day looking after her animal sanctuary and holding four world marathon records! My week was not so good, with some lurgy and then just as I was starting to feel better I stepped onto a blooming great thorn (on a tiny twig!) that when straight into my foot 1k into my long run! Ouch! 🙁. Long run abandoned but back on the speed-work with a nice track session today 😀
Have to look up that documentary, sounds very interesting indeed! My week will be spent basking in the glow from yesterday's 22km run And then (once my legs have stopped aching!) I plan to consolidate with 1-2 short runs ahead of a 15k or thereabouts on Sunday.
Wow she is incredibly inspiring - I can hardly wait to do another ultramarathon as it is!!! Thanks Squeak xx
I have been on holiday at Center Parcs with a very random group of family and friends. During the weekend I managed to do: horse riding, power yoga (omg I am so sore from that!), lots of walking, tennis, squash, and copious out-of-control sliding down various wiggly tubes of water 😊
I planned to do my pace run for HM training on the Saturday, but it transpired that I was too tired, hungover, and saddle sore - so I just went for a 5km jog instead. It was very nice though - we had fabulous weather! Interesting too, because it was the first time I've ever run an unplanned route.
Back to it now, catching up on my admin posts, and have put off today's 21km trail run until tomorrow because I am pooped!
Will have to track that documentary down on t' interwebs!
Had a 4 day lay-off due to our local Parkrun having been cancelled again, so the legs are feeling quite fresh and springy for once. Might just do a few short jogs this week to give my legs a proper extended holiday.
Trying to arrange flights to Spain to fit in my planned Camino de Santiago run/walk odessy. I walk/ran Pamplona to Leon last June, so plan to do Leon to Santiago this time with more of a run/walk than walk/run approach, i.e. a half marathon per day mostly by running (except the mountain climbing bits and too steep decents etc). I figure early season is cool enough for distance running. Last June was touch and go temperature wise. Trying to outsmart the discount airline algorithms is fun! The price of a few flights I've had an eye on have been going up and down like a yoyo for the last few days!
I watched that programme too - amazing. It's put me off climbing Everest though now that I know jumping spiders live near the top.
This week is business as usual for me although I might try and sneak in an extra run on Weds of at least 10km as I failed to do the distance last night.
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Weekly chit chat 28th to the 3rd of February :)
