Robin Hood Half Marathon 2017

After missing my normal Sunday evening post-race blog writing slot, the last few weeks have absolutely flown by and it's now over five weeks later and I'm only just getting around to it. And because of the time lapsed and the somewhat heavy post-race drinking session my memories of the race are a little hazier than normal which will mean a less long and waffley write up. 

Despite the now very familiar race morning routine, I set about my day on the 24^th September extremely nervous and tetchy. That’s not to say I wasn’t looking forward to it, but I was really struggling with the “what the hell are you doing?!” thoughts. This didn’t really melt away until I made my way thorough the crowds and waited for what seemed like forever to get over the starting line.

Once you get going, it’s virtually impossible not to get swept up in the atmosphere as you break into a job heading through the crowds and over the starting line. Listening to the cheering and clapping as I made my way out of the embankment and out onto London Road, I felt strong, positive and ready for miles which lay ahead of me.

For a late September’s day it was really warm, much more so than any of the recent training runs I’d done. The low autumn sun beating down wasn’t too much of a hindrance for the first couple of miles as I kept to a decent pace, passing the train station and making my way with the runners up towards The Park.

I’d purposely included some hills on my long runs leading up to the event with the distant memory of last year’s Park section at the back of my mind. However this distant memory was definitely fogged by rose tinted glasses – those Park hills were so much more brutal than I remembered! It took some serious pushing to get to the top and tip over onto the extremely welcomed Derby Road downhill. 

The next mile or two was fairly uneventful, the atmosphere was too good, my legs had just about forgiven me for the hills and – despite being passed by a juggling tiger – I was comfortable with my pace. 

For some reason, I seemed to slam into a wall at around mile five. I can’t remember it as vividly now as I did then but I bloody struggled for some reason. Try as I might, I couldn’t get a decent rhythm going – it was hot and hard and I was quickly going into full running-strop mode. It seemed like a complete battle shifting myself down over Crown Island and on through the wonderfully picturesque Wollaton Park. I was really having those “What the bloody hell made you think it would be a good idea” type runs. Awful!

Although this eased up slightly from mile eight onwards, I was still struggling a lot more than I’d have liked and wasn’t happy as the confirmation that there was no way I’d be hitting my target time dawned on me. I did a lot of watch-checking and even more “Come the fuck on, Knowles” chuntering under my breath. 

It was passing the 10 mile marker that I had a good word with myself. I was going to do this, and being mardy about it wasn’t going to make it easier so I may as well get on with it. Skipping though my MP3 player for some of my best motivational music, I sorted my head out and off I went.

Before I knew it I was turning back into the Embankment which seemed even more heavily spectated than when I’d left it a couple of hours previously. I felt my pace picking up as I dashed nearer to the finishing line – waving at my Mum and Nana on the way – and at long last over the finishing line.

All in all I came in at just over 2:33hrs. Not where I wanted to be but I’d done it… again! I had the familiar feeling of pride and relief as I battled through the crowds to find my Mum and Nana and show my medal off. 

The uncharacteristically warm late-September afternoon made for a perfect setting for lots of post-race celebrating (hence why this post didn't get written in the normal Sunday evening slot) which all rounded off another great event day. And there will always be another opportunity to run a PB, let's see what the Turkey Trot has to offer in December!

I'm in!!!!

Today I got a phone call I never expected. Months ago in a moment of madness I decided to fill in an application to run the London Marathon for Girlguiding. I can't even really remember what I wrote on the application, only that afterwards I thought of a million extra things I could have talked about. That was back in May and I've not thought too much about it since then.

That's not to say I haven't thought about the London Marathon, of course! Anyone who has anything to do with the running community will know about that early October anticipation, will it be a congratulatory magazine or the disappointing email? This year 380,000 runners applied for one of the extremely sparse ballot places, so I wasn't at all surprised to find out I wouldn't be one of those running once of the most iconic races in the world next April.

That was until this voicemail message popped up today, a lady from the Girlguiding fundraising team asking me to call her back. I panicked a bit, it couldn't be... could it?!

Well it was!!

I must admit my initial thought was "What the hell there's no way I can run a marathon and raise about £2k. But after a split second I knew I couldn't possibly turn down what may well be a once in a lifetime opportunity.

I know it's going to be hard, no doubt the hardest thing I've ever done! But Girlguiding has been such a huge part of my life since the age of 4. It's given me so much... experiences, memories and friends just to name a few so I'm absolutely honoured to be given this opportunity to combine two of my most treasured hobbies in such a fantastic way!

So once again my running blog becomes a training blog. When I first started it as my 10km training blog, never in my wildest dreams would I have thought it would become a story of my London Marathon training experience.... here goes!!  

Taking it easy... it's taper time!

I remember the first time I attempted a 10 minute mile. I can't remember how long I'd been running, I reckon it would have been a couple of months. I was on a treadmill as at that point I hadn't worked myself up to running in the great outdoors. I set about it not really knowing hat number I needed the still somewhat unfamiliar device to be set at, just upping it until I was going as fast as I could then pushing it until I was sure my legs would fall off and my lungs would burst.

I hit the mile in 10:11, and I still think that was perhaps the slowest 11 seconds of my life. I can't even really remember the first time I hit the 10 minute mile if I'm honest, I wouldn't have thought it would be too long after. But for some reason that one failed attempt really sticks in my mind.

Skip (or run...) forward two and a bit years and I'm just entering the taper period for my second half marathon. I always think a lot while I'm running and my steady three miler around Colwick Park yesterday lunchtime was no exception. As my trainers got going, so did my brain and my thoughts trailed to just how far I've come since those early treadmill days.

Strangely, despite all the long run miles I've put in over the last few weeks in preparation for the upcoming race, it was a short run that made me think a lot about the progress I've made. Yesterday, my little trot around the park made me realise the one mile time I was once so desperate for is now something I class as a 'steady' pace for a short-ish run.

I'm not saying it's easy, but instead of feeling seconds away from cardiac arrest I felt strong and in control and just the right amount of uncomfortable.

I know I'll be running a slower than that round the 13.1 mile route on 24th September... but, thinking about how far I've come makes me all the more excited for where I can still go if I keep pushing!  

Sun, sand and slacking off

I never normally follow an 'official' training plan in the lead up to an event, I tend to find them too tricky to fit into my already packed schedule. But I've looked at lots of them for tips etc and not a single one has ever included having a week in Benidorm eating the wrong things, drinking everything and dancing through to the early hours as part of race day preparation.

However, being an avid sun worshipper with an annual pilgrimage to Benidorm on the calendar, I had to add this slightly unconventional week into my training plan.

So months ago when the holiday was booked I pencilled in all my weekend long runs so I'd be sure to get enough miles in to be comfortable that my half marathon training progress wouldn't be completely messed up just a few weeks before race day.

In the couple of weeks post-birthday pre-holiday things were going great. I hit 10+ miles, had a good routine of a couple of short runs in the week complimented by a long one at the weekend and finally hit the sub 30 5km for the first time in many months. So as I packed my trainers and running club top along with my passport I set off on my travels feeling relaxed and without and pressure to fit in any serious runs while away.

I managed two runs while I was there. One hot and sweaty canter up the promenade then down the backstreets to keep out of the 28 degree sun. The other was still hot and sweaty, this time up the practically deserted promenade which was being completely pounded by warm rain. Neither were far and neither were fast but both enjoyable.

Arriving back in England a couple of shades darker and almost certainly a couple of pounds heavier but feeling happy and relaxed, the sensible thing to do would be to hop straight back onto the Slimming World plan I've been hopelessly following for years and get myself back in prime training position.

It appears I'm not very sensible.

What I actually did was carry on the holiday (with a couple of days at work thrown in) culminating in a night going 'out out' with my best pal and biggest drinking partner. So long run Sunday soon rolled round, my sleeping pattern non-existent and apparently my motivation out of the window with it. I got up and made my breakfast, as I have done pre-long run loads of times then I headed up to my room to get ready. Except instead of getting ready I got in bed and went back to sleep, something I've never done before!

As the day went on I thought of every excuse to postpone my run. I'd already decided I didn't have the 10km I had written in my diary all those weeks ago in me but I knew that after pretty much having two weeks off I couldn't afford to skip another run altogether.

Eventually, after countless episodes of Big Bang Theory I begrudgingly pulled on my lycra, tied up my laces and off I went. To be honest it wasn't really as bad as I thought it might be. I managed 4 miles (one of which almost all uphill) in a fairly consistent and not too slow pace so by the time I got home I was feeling much better than before I left.

So now I've got three weeks to go. That'll be one long run and one long-ish one plus quite a few smaller ones to keep the legs ticking over. It's too late in the day too worry about boosting my speed much now (especially as I've also got a weekend away the week before the Half) but I'll be happy if I can reverse the Benidorm based damage and get myself confident that I'll manage to whip around the course in around the same time as I did last year... 2:22 if you're wondering.

I've got my various sessions planned in the diary, written in pen and not pencil as they're non-negotiable and I can't let myself get distracted with social plans, rainy routes or any other excuses I can think of. This time in three weeks I'll (hopefully) be writing a post about my second half marathon experience with a picture of a shiny new medal.

Let's see how it goes!

10 doing 10(ish) at 10(ish). My Southbank Bar Running Club story... so far!

For the last two-and-a-bit years I've been running (how has it been that long already?!) I've been very much a solo runner. Perhaps surprisingly considering how sociable I am in general, I've liked being an anti-social runner. Phone away, music on, pounding the pavements on my own.

That's not to say I've not got involved with the social side of running. I'm on several Facebook groups and a member of one of East Midlands' biggest running clubs, Notts Women Runners who I've had a couple of lovely runs with. But on the whole, when I ran I ran alone and that was how I liked it.

Until recently.

 My first run with the Southbank Bar Running Club was earlier in the year when the nights were still dark and the air cold. I went, I ran, I came home again. It's no secret that I hate running in bad weather and equally at that point I was generally running round like a headless chicken trying to fit far too much into each day so had no time to hang about for a drink with a bunch of strangers.

So now it's light, warm and I have time on my hands I decided to try it again. The first time I went back I was really in two minds but a kind lady from Notts Women Runners assured me she'd trot along with me for company so off I went. The club had a lovely atmosphere so with a few less nerves I went back a couple of weeks later 'by myself'.

It's strange really because I'm not a nervous person so I don't really know why walking through the doors of a pub (my natural habitat) to meet a bunch of fellow Lycra enthusiasts seemed like such a challenge.  But as I pulled pub a chair over and joined the pre-run chatter any doubts I had before melted away as I bravely declared I could probably drink six pints of wine (turns our my mouth was running as well as my legs!)

Anyway, without dragging it out and making it a boring blog post, several Wednesdays have passed by and I've had some brilliant runs with lots of new friends over a sunny Nottingham Embankment. And it's not just the runs that have been brilliant, the general ethos of the group has too. We run, we chat, we laugh, we drink.

So naturally, on the first free Sunday morning I've had in ages I headed down for a Sunday session with the 'Southbank Squad' this morning. I needed 10 miles to get my confidence in place for the rapidly approaching Robin Hood Half Marathon, and being able to run it with such a friendly, welcoming and inclusive bunch seemed perfect.

So 10 of us set off at just gone 10am to trot our way around 10 miles. Fairly early on in the run I fell nicely into pace with two ladies - Hannah and Erica - and we managed to encourage each other around the whole (slightly adapted due to a missed turn) route. Despite being one of my longest ever, it was one of the most enjoyable training runs I've ever had.. I didn't even turn my music on until the last mile and a half when I really needed a Calvin Harris based kick up the arse!

The three of us made our way back down the familiar banks of the Trent to our base with three huge smiles and were greeted a whole bunch more, congratulating us on our achievements. And the best thing about being based at Southbank Bar? I bloody enjoyed that pint at the end of the road!

I can't get to this point (I'm almost at the end) without a special mention the fella who kicked all this off back in February, Des Oldham! He's genuinely so friendly and encouraging, and his attitude really does radiate across the whole club. I think I can safely say everyone is proud to be a member and proud of each other every single Wednesday and Sunday... long my it continue!

So in summary, if you run (or even if you don't), get yourself down to your local running club. If you love it half as much as I do you'll be in for a treat!!

This week's Sunday cohort!

Women's Running Nottingham 10k... take 3!!

The Women's Running Race Series will always be a special for me as it was my first 10k two years ago and as a result its annual visit to Nottingham remains firmly in my race calendar.

Last year I had quite a bad experience, I went at it chasing a time that wasn't realistic so ended up shattered, achy and disappointed. Despite running a PB!

Since then, my attitude to running has changed a fair bit. I don't beat myself up (too much) after a 'bad run' for one thing and I see every race as an experience as I do a chance to chase a PB. If anything, my average speed is a bit slower than this time last year and I'm behind where I was at this point for building miles up in training for the half but, for the moment I'm quite relaxed about it all. Which is unusual for me as I normally like to worry about everything all the time.

So anyway, back to the race. As my alarm went off and I began to panic about my lack of clean running club shirt and sports bra it dawned on me that spending the day before sharing a bottle of wine, cocktails and three bottles of Prosecco with my best friend might not have been the most clever plan. Luckily (and by some small miracle) I wasn't hungover, but I had enough to flap about that I was bloody relieved by the time I made my way past the portaloos and into the familiar race village on the Nottingham Embankment. 

There's always a lovely atmosphere are the Women's Running races. I really love how there is such a diverse bunch of ladies all ready and raring to go by the time the starting horn sounds at 10am.

I'm pretty sure they were a new addition this year, but for the first couple of hundred metres after the starting line there were tiny cones everywhere ready to map out the path later on in the race. Add this to the normal initial crowds and it was a bit of a nervous trot by myself and my fellow runners not to trip over and end up with a tour de France (or alternative cycling race) style pile up. Because of this, as soon as I was past them my race pace brain came into force and I knew I needed to leg it for a bit to make up some time.

So I ended up doing the first few miles at a much faster pace than I normally aim for on long runs (9:30min/mile as opposed to 10:30, if you're interested) until my legs and feet started to really bloody hurt. I think this was in some part as a result of being on them all day the day before bopping around town rather than taking it easy as I should have done.

For some reason, I really struggled to bring my pacing down to what it needed to be if I was going to avoid completely doing myself in before the last few miles. So I decided the best thing to do would be have a little walk and start again.

A little walk turned into a series of little walks as my leg ache continued under the ever-increasing heat which was proving to be a hindrance. By the time I got to about 4 and a half miles in I gave myself a right talking to as I knew that the much reduced pace I'd taken on would lead to me being disappointed with my finishing time so I picked it up again and settled into a nice trot through the embankment taking in the views and the race day atmosphere.

The last bit was fairly uneventful, although I do want to point out the great comment I had from a fellow runner who said I had really good pacing and that she recognised me from other events. Ironic considering the ups and downs of this race so far!! Just the words of encouragement I needed as I entered the last mile and saw the faces (and huge banner) of my spectator fan club.

I really do love the last bit of every race, the bit where the "I got this!" feeling really kicks in. With great words support from the marshalls cheering us though those last couple of hundred metres I was ready for my finish line sprint through the cheering crowds!

I came in at a respectable time of 1:03:34 and was handed a fantastic medal, along with a lovely technical t-shirt and the best goody bag I receive each year.

So another one done and dusted! If I'm counting correctly that's 12 10km races now since my first one two years ago. At the time, I'm not sure I'd have believed it if someone told me everything I'd achieve in the last two years. And I've no plans of stopping yet!!!

Rach, Rach's banner and me!

Club photo of the lovely Notts Women Runners

A very smudged make-up finishing photo with a great sparkly medal

More finishing celebrations

June.. the fun run month

The last month has gone by in a complete flash! It started with a streak (as I spoke about in my last blog). I was really going strong until day 26 when unfortunately I had to abandon the running streak because of the necessary 14 hours at work or doing Uni work streak I had to pick up.

However, while I might not have completed that, I did complete three races very different to any I've done before, all of which had been on my running bucket list for a while.

Colour run
If you've not heard of a colour run this might sound like a strange concept... you run around while people throw powder paint at you. I did this one with my two friends Hayley and Sarah along with Hayley's six year old daughter, Faye. It was great fun doing a run with my friends and was a lovely atmosphere made all the more exciting with it being Faye's first race!

We soon laughed our way around the lap of Holmes Pierrepont reaching the finish line all colours of the rainbow and collected our medals all with huge smiles which got even wider at the sight of our friend with a cold bottle of Prosecco waiting for us (I've not mentioned that it was 25 degrees!)

So all in all a lovely race with a great family atmosphere. And any thing that involves colour, glitter and Prosecco is going to go down well with me!

Happy smiley run!!

Sunrise 5k
The clue is in the title with this one! 1,000 people trotting around the streets of Nottingham at 5.30 am. I'd been looking forward to this race for filling in the gap last year's Nottingham 10k left behind with the big market square finish.

The whole race didn't disappoint and was well worth the 4am alarm call! Maybe it was just the giddy mood I was in from finishing my CIM but there was a bit of an exciting air as everyone congregated on Long Row ready to get started. I think it really added something all having the same t-shirts on and I even considered shopping a couple of times en route to get some photos.

A couple of big hills in the route added in a good mix and before I knew it I was legging it down hill back into market square.. all by 6am!! A major good point of this one has got to be the medal, the photo doesn't do it justice but it's all purple and lovely and even spins!!

Obligatory medal shot!

Race For Life Pretty Muddy
Another one where the clue is in the title a bit! This time a woodland ramble with a variety of wet and muddy obstacles. All women this time and all to raise money for cancer research. I was part of a team for this one, 11 of us formed the "Fuddy Muckers" and I really liked the new dynamic being part of a big group at an event brought.

We head off onto the 5k course which started with some giant inflatable hurdles and several bits of tunnel and muddy/wet nets crawls with a few hundred women and again the atmosphere was good, despite the bit of chill in the air from numerous warm-up water pistols!

Despite not being the most adventurous person in the world I went under, I went over and I went through the obstacles, ending at the last big one, a huge inflatable slide before dashing over the finish line to collect the all important medal!

Once again, there was Prosecco at the finish line, something I could get used to!!

Before and after (yes I had Prosecco before too)

What next?!
So now the time for 'fun' is over! It's been great enjoying different races and taking part in some of them with lots of friends and family. But now into the 12 week countdown stage ahead of the half marathon so that's what I'm working to. I've already done the big units switch on my watch so I'm working in miles instead of km and my main long runs between now and then are all planned in.

Next Sunday it will be back to where it all began with the Women's Running 10km which I'll be taking part in for the third time this year and I can't wait! Then it's gradually increasing my distance with a few interval sessions thrown in for good measure and I should be good to go by 25th September! Watch this space!
 

30 in 30.. my June cancer research challenge

I'm on the charity trail again!

Ages ago, I signed up to Race For Life's pretty muddy 5k with a group of friends as a fun challenge to hopefully raise a bit of money in aid of cancer research. Last week, being the kind of person to never just do on thing at a time, I decided to tie in another running streak with my fundraising efforts.

Why? Well there's a couple of reasons. Some selfless and charitable, others not so much:
1) I'll start with the selfless and charitable one. Basically, I felt a bit of a crook asking people to sponsor me to do a 5k when I regularly do them already. To me, sponsoring someone is done because they're challenging themselves in some way.

2) I think this is a two-fold fairly valid reason. I've got my final Uni deadline coming up and I can't afford to let my training slip the way it did with the last deadline. Especially when I need to start building up my stamina and mileage for the proper half marathon training to start once I've handed my assignment in. Plus when I'm all wrapped up with Uni stress it will do me good to being committed to getting out for at least 20 minutes every day.

3) This is entirely vain but... when I did my running streak at Christmas it had definite advantages to my muscle definition and, well... it's legs out season!

So lying in bed the other night I decided it would be a great idea to do a streak and finish it off with Race for Life on 1st July.

I've set a couple of little rules for it because I'm slightly obsessed with structure so these are:

• Run or swim every day (I'm including swims because when I did my advent streak my legs were constantly sore so I'll be kind to them at least once a week
• Each run or swim must last for at least 20 minutes
• I don't have to run on the 10th June as I'm in London all day visiting my friend. But I do have to make that run up another day.

So far I'm on day four and I'm doing alright, yesterday I managed to head to the pool even with an almighty hangover which I'm pleased with myself for. Here's to the next 26 sessions!

If you've got this far down my post you must be somewhat entertained by it... therefore please support me by heading over to my donation page!

Nottingham 10k 2017

With the 2016 Nottingham 10k being firmly one of my favourite races ever, I signed up for the 2017 one months ago and immediately began looking forward to it.

Disappointingly, a little while after the event organisers sent out an update announcing the race wouldn't be returning to the city centre location which really made last year's race so special. After a torrent of negative social media posts, a further statement was released putting it down to Nottingham City Council rejecting all proposed routes and making it impossible. I'm still disappointed in NCC for that.

But with promises of excellent on-route support and a new start and finish at my beloved City Ground I decided to stick with it and still take part.

Race day crept up quickly as it always seems to do and I felt a bit unprepared as I've not managed as many long runs as I'd have liked but I was excited all the same and this was really fuelled by the race-day atmosphere as I milled around in the race village.

As we lined up on the start line, hundreds of us joining thousands of runners up and down the country wearing yellow ribbons in solidarity with Manchester and we all fell silent for a minute in memory of those who didn't make it home. I think that set a bit of a tone for the race really.

Setting off over the start line I was really wary of setting off too quick. I've done quite a few fast, short runs and needed to keep in mind that this was going to be my furthest run in a long while. The first couple of miles were fairly uneventful to be honest, there was good spectator support and a nice route. Heading up onto the Regatta lake at Holme Pierrepont I was a little apprehensive remembering the bloody awful wind from last time but luckily instead of awful headwind there was just quite a refreshing breeze.

As I got toward the 6km mark I was starting to struggle, my legs ached, my feet hurt and my breathing wasn't as nice and rhythmic as I'd have liked. I stopped for a bit of a walk to gather myself a bit. My endorphin fuelled mood start plummeting a bit when just as the right time two ladies from my running club came past and asked if I was ok. Using it to spur me on, I quickly fell into a nice rhythm with them and stayed with them until the last mile (at which point I hit a 5 mile PB, I'd like to add) but then for some reason as the metres ticked away I hit a wall again at about 9km.

I was finding it really hard, my legs were heavy and I had some weird pins and needles thing going on that I didn't like at all. After what had been a decent race so far I was bloody struggling.

Just under half a mile from the end of the race the crowds of spectators were thickening and one bloke on the side saw my yellow ribbon, must have noticed that I was struggling and shouted "come on get find the yellow in you!" and that was exactly what I needed to get me running again. My legs work, I had air in my lungs and I'm alive.

So running past the flags marking each of the last sets of 100 metres I thought of those affected by what happened in Manchester and used it to get me ever closer to the finish line. Then just when I thought I didn't have my usual sprint finish in my a familiar face in the crowd cheering me on gave me that last burst I needed, I bloody legged it over that line!!

Feeling quite emotional after the race, I hung around afterwards to cheer other racers over the line as spectators were invaluable to me. Clapped and cheered until the very last runner came back, all the while with a beaming smile on my face.

So all in all it was a great morning. Despite being displaced from the city centre and having a less interesting route than last year, I really enjoyed it. Well organised and great support from both other runners and the spectators, it shaped up for a good, if not slightly emotional morning.

Time came in at 1:02:34 which I'm really pleased with considering the walking and the lack of distance built into my training over the last few months. Let's see what the next race brings!

Back in training

It's been a while since my last post (again)... but you can't really write a running blog when you're not really running.

That's not to say I haven't ran - it's just been a 5km here and a couple of miles there whenever I get the chance here and there to keep the legs ticking over. But with the race season just around the corner and the definite decision that I'll do the half marathon again in September, I need to up the frequency and distance I'm running or instead of having a (hopefully) a summer of PBs and good race memories I'll have a summer of panicking about DNFs and giving up.

So doing what I do best and being over-organised with military style planning, I've just got the old week-to-view out and mapped out my training for the next two months, taking me through a couple of races and up until the end of the absolute madness which will be my final Uni hand in when I can start really focusing on running again.

For the next 8 weeks I know when I'll be running, when I'll be resting, when I'll be studying and, most importantly, when I'll be partying!

And with all that will no doubt come more blogging! Here we go then...

Clough Taylor (and a bit of Doris) 10k

So my last blog post turned out to be a bit of a fib. No running streak happened, in fact very little running has taken place at all since my last post. A fairly last-minute decision to move house, thrown in with a busy time at work and Uni and some rubbish weather added for good measure, all mean my lovely new trainers haven't seen many miles at all.

As a result of this, and heavily influenced by Storm Doris's rain, wind any everything else in between, I came the closest I've ever came to sacking off a planned race. I hadn't done nearly as much training as I wanted to, the course (two laps of Holme Pierrepont lake) wasn't very exciting and I don't 'do' cold and rain so by mid-week I was all but ready to cancel my 7am Sunday alarm and be done with it.

But I didn't. Spurred on with some encouraging words from the ladies in my running club and not being one for giving up, I thought better of it. And as the weekend ticked round and I began that familiar pre-race routine I even started to feel quite excited.

One of my favourite parts of any race is the buzz on the start line and the Cough Taylor 10k had a really friendly atmosphere as everyone huddled in the wind making small talk and getting ready to go.

I set off surprised at how strong I felt, my feet fell into a good rhythm quite quickly, it was a flat course and that great atmosphere from the start line was continuing through the first couple of miles. Lack of training at the back of my mind, I had this.

Then I changed direction at the top of the lake.

My God the wind! I honestly don't think I've ever ran in wind like it. It was like running through a horrible two-mile wind tunnel and it was bloody hard work. Everything ached, my ears were ringing, and eyes and nose streaming. I did not have this.

Things didn't get much better after I finally turned into the second lap of the course and away from the wind either. As if I didn't have enough to be dealing with, a flipping massive attack of stitch crept up on me, making to slow to a walk for about the 5th time in the race. It was at this point, as I awkwardly walked around holding onto my side that I even started thinking along the lines of "If I threw my myself onto the floor and hurt myself, I'd have to pull out of the race"... I think the only thing stopping me was the worry of ruining one of my favourite pairs of capris.

Persevering through I trotted into a run again and ended up falling into pace with a lady who was running beside me nicely in time for that evil second half of the lap again. Able to speak just enough to get a few words out, we both agreed that it seemed to be even worse this time, it was fully evil.

But we plodded on, offering a few words of encouragement here and there until we were into the last mile-ish when another woman came up and started with the "come on ladies we're nearly there" etc. And we were!!

Once again I started with the "I've got this, I'm doing it" thoughts, we were round the last corner and the end was in sight! I'd used absolutely everything I had in those bloody winds so there was no sprint finish this time but I finally crossed the line and I'd done it!!

Time-wise, it was my slowest race ever by a good couple of minutes. But I really did like it. I liked being with other runners and that excellent sense of community and the contrast it had to the friendly rivalry between those of us in red tops and those in blue. All in all, a decent morning and a good first race of 2017! 

I do bloody love medals

 

 

Two laps, not a bad pace overall really, and looks like they threw in an extra 230m!

Streaking again!

Not much to report about my running so far in 2017.. I haven't really done that much but most of what I have done I've really felt the benefit of my advent running streak now the constant aching in my legs has calmed down.

The most exciting thing regarding running so far this year is that I got some beautiful new running shoes yesterday! I've had some money set aside since the summer and never fully got on with my old ones but wanted to wait until I'd got a decent mileage on them, so having some new ones which (hopefully) won't decide to rip my feet up every now and again is a really exciting concept.

Which leads me (somewhat tediously) to my plan...As I was bouncing along on the treadmill tonight I started thinking about how I should just do loads of short runs this week to make sure my lovely new shoes are nicely broken in ready for a long run next weekend.

Then my brain carried on ticking over and thinking to all the benefits I had of my Advent Running streak. Ok, so I'm almost definitely looking upon it with very much rose tinted glasses, but overall I did enjoy getting out there every day and getting the miles in.

Considering this, I've come up with a training plan which should hopefully break in my trainers nicely then help me start building up my fitness etc for my next 10k on the 26th February which I'm struggling to get into some form of training routine for.

So my plan is, every other week I'll run every day then use the non steak weeks to build up my distances. I've checked my diary and it fits in well with everything else I've got planned in for the next six weeks so I think it seems like a good idea.

Give it a week and I'll probably remember everything I hated about 'runchtime' and 'first thing gymming' but I've always been a very much all or nothing person so here we go.. the new concept "every-other-week's-a-streak"

Wish me luck!