I've realised this morning that it's far more awful not being able to run when you want to, than really not wanting to but dragging yourself out anyway.
It's now just four weeks until London and instead of setting my alarm for 7am to go through my beans and toast routine before heading out for a long run, I'm sat in "runner's corner" (the part of Southbank Bar which is taken over by Lycra and fluorescent t-shirts every Wednesday evening and Sunday morning) having just waved off everyone else on what feels like the first sunny Sunday morning in bloody months.
I've somewhat begrudgingly ran in rain, snow and wind during this marathon training and when we finally get a nice Sunday I'm hobbling around on a dodgy ankle feeling jealous, annoyed and pretty deflated.
I don't know exactly what wrong with it, but since I ran on Thursday I've been in loads of pain. I don't know whether it's the pain that's bothering me the most of the accompanying panic that I needed a really good run today to put me in good stead for the 18 mile trek I've signed up to next Friday from Mansfield to Nottingham.
I've always been a worrier, so to give me some actual ammunition and a cause for worry and it's a bloody awful combination, especially four weeks before race day when I need my head to be in the right space. I'm going to have to pull out something special in the next few weeks to give me a very much needed confidence boost.
Right now, I'm trying to think about the next few days rather than the big looming day that is 22nd April, but it's just about impossible. Weeks ago I came to terms with the fact that it's going to be by far the hardest and probably the most painful thing I've ever done... now it all feels like it will be twice as hard and twice as painful and I need to be ready for it in just four short weeks.
Wish me look... I bloody well need it!
And if you could spare absolutely anything and sponsor me, I'd be hugely hugely grateful!
Sunday, 25 March 2018
Sunday, 18 March 2018
Snow joke... this marathon is getting bloody close
So I've not updated by blog as often as I'd have liked. More importantly I've not ran as much as I should have.
The last four weeks have gone by in an absolutely whirlwind - or I suppose a blazers might be a bit more of an apt description.
Not too long after I did the Turkey Trot, the whole country was thrown into chaos with the arrival of "The Beat From The East" which brought with it snow, freezing temperatures and bloody awful headwinds. In the initial stages, I did manage to keep running - I have Des to thank for that as there's little chance I'd have done it on my own. However after inches of snow covered the country, followed by that horrible slushy ice it turns in to, the days slipped by and before I knew it a week had passed since my last run. And I'd had to postpone one of the key fundraising events I had planned (more about that later!)
Despite the lack of miles, I must admit that when I got my trainers on again it was really really nice to run with fresh legs. Pretty much since Christmas, I've been in a constant cycle of pushing it and getting back out before my muscles (what there is of them) have stopped aching. For some reason late Jan/ early Feb I was suffering with particularly troublesome shin pains but hopefully that seems to be over now!
So things were starting to look up again and I had a weekend 16 miler planned in which I wasn't feeling too bad about. I was aware that more weeks had passed than was ideal since my last long run but nonetheless after a couple of good mid-length runs I was quite looking forward to it.
Then I went for the classic Kay Knowles and did a Saturday drinking session. I got (willingly, I must admit) dragged into the celebrations of Des and many of our friends who took part in a fantastic charity run from East Midlands Airport to Nottingham Castle which raised over £15,000 for Bowel Cancer UK. Quite rightfully, everyone was in high spirits and as one pint turned into two which turned into a glass of wine which turned into a bottle things weren't looking good for this Sunday morning run.
Regardless of the hazy memory of just how much alcohol I'd drank the night before and feeling the wrong side of hungover, I did manage to run on Sunday. I originally set off with two lovely ladies from my running club with a 9 mile route planned, however when we got a couple of miles in I knew it was going to be too much so I decided to head back to base. What should have been 16 miles was 4, but I wasn't too worried because my very vague training plan had allowed for a week's grace the following Sunday so I just had to do a bit of shuffling round and schedule in a new 15/16 miler for the next Sunday (18th March, in case you're having difficulty keeping up).
As the week progressed, I started planning. It was to be the first time in a long time I'd ran such a distance completely by myself which I knew would throw in an additional challenge but I was feeling confident about it as I made sure my headphones and mp3c player were fully charged and ready before I headed down south to visit my friend for the weekend.
During the last week, some news stories surfaced about the return of that dread Beast From The East but as I reached my friend's house on Friday evening in modest spring-evening temperatures I thought it was just another incorrect weather report.
How wrong I was.
I'm getting conscious that I'm going on a bit so I'll skip forward to this evening. I'm sat at home with another weekend gone by involving no long run and I feel completely frustrated, anxious and wondering how the bloody hell I'm going to pull off a marathon in just 5 week's time.
Lots of people did still run today, I'm aware of that. As the marathon draws nearer, my somewhat completely over the top and irrational fear of falling over seems to have gone in to overdrive and I just don't want to risk it. I've always been clumsy so it just doesn't seem like a great idea.
I'm hoping with a bit of flexibility and annual leave I'll be able to get today's scheduled run on Wednesday so hopefully that will give me a very much needed boost. For the first time in a while I'm feeling very nervous about what lies ahead and wondering why I ever thought this was a good idea. I'm desperate to get back on track and get my "game face" on in time for the big day. Because despite the ups and downs of training, I'm doing this for my charity, Girlguiding and I need to do it wekk.
Which brings me nicely to the other aspect... fundraising! Luckily that's going a little better than training but I've still got a long way to go to get me to the all important target. Thanks to my lovely talented Brownie pack, my sweet-trotted work colleagues and the ever-supportive work lot I'm now over the £1,500 mark. So while it's going well, any extra help at all would be so very appreciated!
If you can spare anything, https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/KayKnowles is the place to go.
Thanks for reading!
The last four weeks have gone by in an absolutely whirlwind - or I suppose a blazers might be a bit more of an apt description.
Not too long after I did the Turkey Trot, the whole country was thrown into chaos with the arrival of "The Beat From The East" which brought with it snow, freezing temperatures and bloody awful headwinds. In the initial stages, I did manage to keep running - I have Des to thank for that as there's little chance I'd have done it on my own. However after inches of snow covered the country, followed by that horrible slushy ice it turns in to, the days slipped by and before I knew it a week had passed since my last run. And I'd had to postpone one of the key fundraising events I had planned (more about that later!)
Despite the lack of miles, I must admit that when I got my trainers on again it was really really nice to run with fresh legs. Pretty much since Christmas, I've been in a constant cycle of pushing it and getting back out before my muscles (what there is of them) have stopped aching. For some reason late Jan/ early Feb I was suffering with particularly troublesome shin pains but hopefully that seems to be over now!
So things were starting to look up again and I had a weekend 16 miler planned in which I wasn't feeling too bad about. I was aware that more weeks had passed than was ideal since my last long run but nonetheless after a couple of good mid-length runs I was quite looking forward to it.
Then I went for the classic Kay Knowles and did a Saturday drinking session. I got (willingly, I must admit) dragged into the celebrations of Des and many of our friends who took part in a fantastic charity run from East Midlands Airport to Nottingham Castle which raised over £15,000 for Bowel Cancer UK. Quite rightfully, everyone was in high spirits and as one pint turned into two which turned into a glass of wine which turned into a bottle things weren't looking good for this Sunday morning run.
Regardless of the hazy memory of just how much alcohol I'd drank the night before and feeling the wrong side of hungover, I did manage to run on Sunday. I originally set off with two lovely ladies from my running club with a 9 mile route planned, however when we got a couple of miles in I knew it was going to be too much so I decided to head back to base. What should have been 16 miles was 4, but I wasn't too worried because my very vague training plan had allowed for a week's grace the following Sunday so I just had to do a bit of shuffling round and schedule in a new 15/16 miler for the next Sunday (18th March, in case you're having difficulty keeping up).
As the week progressed, I started planning. It was to be the first time in a long time I'd ran such a distance completely by myself which I knew would throw in an additional challenge but I was feeling confident about it as I made sure my headphones and mp3c player were fully charged and ready before I headed down south to visit my friend for the weekend.
During the last week, some news stories surfaced about the return of that dread Beast From The East but as I reached my friend's house on Friday evening in modest spring-evening temperatures I thought it was just another incorrect weather report.
How wrong I was.
I'm getting conscious that I'm going on a bit so I'll skip forward to this evening. I'm sat at home with another weekend gone by involving no long run and I feel completely frustrated, anxious and wondering how the bloody hell I'm going to pull off a marathon in just 5 week's time.
Lots of people did still run today, I'm aware of that. As the marathon draws nearer, my somewhat completely over the top and irrational fear of falling over seems to have gone in to overdrive and I just don't want to risk it. I've always been clumsy so it just doesn't seem like a great idea.
I'm hoping with a bit of flexibility and annual leave I'll be able to get today's scheduled run on Wednesday so hopefully that will give me a very much needed boost. For the first time in a while I'm feeling very nervous about what lies ahead and wondering why I ever thought this was a good idea. I'm desperate to get back on track and get my "game face" on in time for the big day. Because despite the ups and downs of training, I'm doing this for my charity, Girlguiding and I need to do it wekk.
Which brings me nicely to the other aspect... fundraising! Luckily that's going a little better than training but I've still got a long way to go to get me to the all important target. Thanks to my lovely talented Brownie pack, my sweet-trotted work colleagues and the ever-supportive work lot I'm now over the £1,500 mark. So while it's going well, any extra help at all would be so very appreciated!
If you can spare anything, https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/KayKnowles is the place to go.
Thanks for reading!
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