So with Benidorm half-marathon on the horizon as the new
year drew in, I decided to try a bit of shock tac-tics as a make or break and
signed myself up for RED (run every day) January. Running streaks have worked
well for me in the past for giving my training a bit of a boost and reminding
me that even if I’m tired/busy/hungover/insert other excuse here, I am still
able to get out and do at least a little bit.
Kicking off on the 1st January with double
park-run taking me to 10km on that first day, I was feeling positive for the
month. By the weekend I was really starting to enjoy running again – then
bloody illness struck! It takes quite a lot to knock me off my feet but when I
decided I needed to give in to it and have a few days on the sofa, I had to be
sensible and give the running a rest too. As soon as I was back ‘up and
running’ the streak started again – and so did my enjoyment of it. There was a
bit of a wobble towards the end where Des had to practically drag me kicking
and screaming into the sub-zero temperatures late into the evening but
all-in-all it was a very successful month as I hit a PB for mileage covered in
a month – just over 80 miles done!
Anyone who has done a running streak will know that the
real benefits tend to start showing once your body has had a few days to rest.
Once your body has had a few days to recover, you get that excellent ‘fresh
legs’ running feeling combined with the extra stamina you’ve built up from
getting out there and pounding the streets every day. This, for me, was
demonstrated in my 10 mile training run earlier this week.
Building up the miles ready for Benidorm Half, I have had
a few really decent runs lately. From a couple of solid 5kms at running club
where I’ve hit times I haven’t managed in a fair while, to a hilly eight-mile
trek of the city which was enjoyable and challenging in equal measure. So
setting out on Wednesday with 10 miles ahead of me felt just the right level of
daunting – enough to know it will be a test but not so much that I didn’t think
I could do it.
I’ve been going for a bit of a tactic of including hills
in my runs quite a bit just lately. Mainly because I know that Benidorm is
flat, so I feel like training good distances on hills will be a good way of
building strength to take me those distances on the kind flat terrain of race
day. So the second mile of my 10 mile run was essentially one long, gradual
hill. It’s one I know really well, so I knew exactly how much I could push
without compromising my energy levels for the rest of the long run and I’m
really pleased with how well I tackled it – it was definitely my best attempt
at that road in a good while and it was just the confidence boost I needed to
put me in good stead for the rest of the run.
The next few miles were pretty uneventful on paper, but have
put my head in a whole different place! I don’t know why or how, but they just
melted away and were completely enjoyable! I was the right level of
uncomfortable to that I knew I was working hard but felt strong in doing so, and
I can’t remember the last time I’ve felt like that consistently over a long
run. As I half glanced at my watch a few times I couldn’t believe the numbers I
was seeing for my pace, and before I knew it I’d arrived at the Southbank ready
for the last leg of the route which I’d planned to incorporate the usual
Wednesday night club run.
With about 4.4 miles to go, it was great to see lots of
friendly faces ready and raring to go, before unpausing my Garmin and heading back out myself. Again,
as the miles ticked over and six turned into seven and then eight, I still
couldn’t quite believe I was doing it…and enjoying it!!
I slowed up a bit during mile eight and had a very little
walk, knowing I needed to keep a bit back because the last bit would involve
the test of heading past the normal finishing point and looping round a bit to
get up to that magic 10 miles. But I took it all in my stride and went for the
tactic of staying one the wrong side of the road and trying not to look over at
my friends who were finished and recovering at my counter crept ever closer to
my own finish.
Bloody hell did that last mile go on a bit! Round the
corner, over the bridge, back over the road, up the other side of the bridge,
down to the City Ground, back up again… “just flipping tick over to 10 miles!” I
thought.. but with a few more expletives. Until finally it was done, my first
10 solo training run in about a year and nicely in a sub-2 hour time too. But most
of all, I’d enjoyed almost every step of it!
I’m not naïve and I do know that (for me especially) a
couple of good runs doesn’t mean it’s completely clicked back in. But I’m
feeling so much better and it’s an absolute pleasure to be looking forward to getting
out there when I get my trainers on. I am very fortunate in that I have some
fantastic people who make even the rubbish runs bearable – there’s Des who
drags me out on the run that build up the strength ready for the good ones, and
some absolutely lovely friends who make going for a run more of a social event
than anything.
So for the first time in ages (it feels like I’ve said
that a lot in this post) I’m feeling positive about running and I’m looking
forward to seeing just what I can do over the next few weeks and months!
