10k for a takeaway

The title as above pretty much sums up my evening. Following a misunderstanding with Lee last night (he said 10k, I thought he said takeaway) we agreed I would do a run and then we would have a Chinese. It’s all about balance!

Positively glowing!

Lee did a 'do shoe up' action shot

It was a mild evening so I opted for shorts and t-shirts with the all important reflective bands now the clocks have gone back.

Before leaving I have the aim to go for 8:30mm, hoping for a big PB, it had been a while since I had done a 10k run.

Just as I left I grabbed a water bottle, quickly filling it and screwing the lid on as I left the house. I headed off with a route planned and confident I could get into my pace quickly and maintain it.

FAIL

Just as I set off I realised that I hadn’t screwed the lid properly on my water bottle and with every arm movement, water was sloshing everywhere. I decided to plough on and hoped that as the water in the bottle lessened, less would end up on me.

Getting to around a mile my shins were starting to tighten and burn. I started wondering what the hell was going on, I did a half marathon 11 days ago and now I’m struggling with a mile?! I completed my first mile in 8:37 but the way things were going there was no way I could maintain that pace.

It wasn’t until I was well into my second mile that I realised that instead of focussing on my form and breathing I was instead concentrating on holding my bottle as straight as I could to stop the water going everywhere. The result was a Phoebe-esque running style and I knew if I didn’t stop and sort this out or I wasn’t going to finish my run.

Mile 2

A quick stretch and a re-screw of my bottle lid I finished my second mile in a slower 9:14. If I wanted to PB, I now needed to pick up my pace again.

From that point on I relaxed into my stride and managed to progress each mile from that point on.

8:51, 8:47, 8:36, 8:28 and the last .2 at 8:15

Completing my 10k, Strava told me I’d succeeded in my PB attempt- 54:31!

Now, where’s my takeaway…

Gaining some perspective

So this post isn't running related as such but I definitely believe it is part of my journey so I'm going to include it.

I think we all go through stages of stressing or come across a problem that needs resolving. I've found myself overly stressing recently. Not so much just one problem but the thought of work, money and bills have seemed to dominate most conversations I have had. What is worse is I don't think I've realised how much I've let these concerns take over.

Today Lee went to work. Sunday is a day for Isabella and me so I decided we should do something fun. We took a walk into town and picked up some paper, finger paints and Peppa Pig cookie mix so we could get back in the warm in the afternoon.

Having called by to see Lee at work, I bought some sandwiches and we went and sat in the square before we headed back home. There were two benches available. One next to a lady with two little dogs and the other next to a man lying down with his dog next to him. I took the bench next to the lady with the dogs.

I gave Isabella a sandwich and she pulled it apart demolishing the cheese and having a nibble at the bread. She can be very picky- definitely my daughter!

As I was eating, I kept stealing glances of the man on the bench, he had now stood up and was counting some change out of his pocket; he didn't have much and his clothes were shabby. It was clear he was homeless. I don't know why I was so fancinated by this man but I had a real urge to help him in some way, just to do something. Having given up with her own lunch, barely half eaten, Isabella made a start on my lunch because it obviously would be better than her own.

Her left over sandwiches would soon be stale and would go in the bin.

The man with the dog was still there, I bundled Isabella into her pram with the rest of my lunch and made a beeline for the man. As I approached him, I called 'hello' to get his attentioned and passed him the sandwich I had left. I can't even tell you how grateful he was and I hoped I saved him some of the little money he had. Walking away I was shaking slightly. I didn't want to cry and I also wasn't overly happy but I really hope I made a bit of a difference to that man's afternoon.

Walking back home I was lost in my thoughts and realised how much time I had lost stressing over things this week. I don't always enjoy my job, but I do have a job. I'd like to make more money, but I do have enough money to put a roof over our heads and hot meals on the table every day. I will always strive for better, for myself and for my family but I think I was losing sight of what I do have. As well as a great family, I also have amazing friends.

If you do see someone on the side of the street, maybe just give them a little smile. They aren't all bad. After all, so many of us live one paycheck away from homelessness.

I may not have lots of money but I am most definitely rich in other ways!

Shrewsbury Parkrun #50

Before yesterday I hadn’t done a Parkrun since around April! I can’t actually believe where that time has gone.

It was to be the day of Shrewsbury’s 50^th Parkrun and also a Halloween special. We got up for the morning with the full intention of dressing Isabella as a bat in her pram (cruel parents I know!) but there was a definite chill in the air so we instead wrapped her in her coat and pink cat hat. Lee and I were both wearing our Shabba tops and boosts of course.

Getting to the start line, it was clear there would be a lot of people running. We bumped into Fi in her devil ears and Gavin who would be running. Fancy dress ranged from pumpkins to ghouls to devils. It was nice to see people had made an effort.

The start of Parkrun is definitely the best, the community feel is so lovely and its great to see familiar faces from Twitter and the town in general. We all clapped the first timers, the birthdays and the RMR’s and the claxon sounded.

Rewinding slightly, on the way to Parkrun Lee decided for me that I should go for a PB. How kind of him! I was a bit apprehensive about this as I’ve never felt that 5k is ‘my distance’. I find I normally take a couple of miles to get into my stride and find it difficult to start quickly. Deciding I had nothing to lose, we agreed Lee would start near the back with the pram then catch me up and pace me through what was left of the course.

Setting off I straightaway headed off the track and onto the grass to get ahead and save weaving through people. As the start is a downhill I made the most it and let me legs carry me down. Getting back on the pathway, the numbers had thinned and I started trying to find my pace glancing at my Tomtom now and then to check I was on course.

Lee soon caught me up and we were pacing just below 8mm. Completing the first mile Lee gave me a thumbs up and we ploughed on. Having done a few sets of hill sprints in the weeks before, I found I didn’t lose much pace on either of the climbs we did and had a lot more control of my breathing.

The second mile went by, slightly slower I thought but we hadn’t lost much time.

We completed the final lap and headed onto the straight to the finish. Approaching the bridge near the end Lee told me there was a 100 meters to go. I kicked and went into a sprint taking over someone just in front. Lee caught me up and I pushed again. As I caught sight of the finish flag my legs started burning but I carried on sprinting all the way to the end stopping my watch at 25.08! I was over the moon! My last Parkrun PB had been 26.36 so I’d shaved well over a minute from my time.

Heading on our slow walk back we bumped into some fellow runners for a chat and Isabella stopped to clap as some more finishers past us heading to the line.

We’ve decided to try and go most Saturdays now; not just for the run but the community spirit on a Saturday morning is just fantastic.

The Half Marathon and the Acorn

Sunday 19^th October came round a lot quicker than I hoped! It was the day of Bupa Birmingham Half Marathon.

I got up at 6.30 in preparation to shovel in some porridge and get to the train for 8.10. The porridge was a no go as the nerves were kicking in.

Lee and me headed to the station- we were child free for the day- that doesn’t happen too often!

Arriving in Birmingham with Lee and a number of colleagues running the race for Hope House Hospice we joined the crowds making their way to the Library where the race would begin.

Sending Lee ahead to get into his superman costume and leaving my colleagues queuing for the toilets, I ended up taking an unexpected detour and found myself surrounded by elite runners about to start their race! After a girly scream and on- the-spot- panicky- dance, I found a gap in the barrier and squeezed through to avoid the lyrca stampede.

Finally meeting up with Lee we found Sarah so I could grab my new Shabba shirt to wear for the race. We headed down to the baggage area and for a quick toilet stop bumping into a few RMR’s including Fiona who is now an Community Ambassador (well done!).

After a short walk and wait, the green wave set off! Lee and Sarah had managed to join the greens as it didn’t appear everyone was sticking to their waves.

Lee soon flew off in a superman blur and Sarah and I wished each other luck before parting ways.

After leaving the crowds and music, I plugged into my iphone selecting the Rudimental album to get me around the course.

Having not taken part in such a large race before I wasn’t prepared for how difficult the first few miles are. The sheer volume of people around me meant there was a lot of ducking and weaving around to find space and having to judge whether to overtake or move to the side. Getting to about 4 miles the runners started to thin out as everyone got into their pace. I could tell from the pace on my TomTom I was going slower than my training run the week before but so far I had been consistent. Having crashed and burned at mile 12 the week before I knew I had to keep it steady and save something for the last 3 miles.

Hitting the 10k mark I knew it had taken me about an hour. I was slightly disappointed with this as that was the slowest 10k I had done in a long time but the course had been unexpectedly undulating which I hadn’t been prepared for.

Right up until about mile 8/9 I had felt comfortable in my pace. It was then that the lack of a decent breakfast hit me and I felt drained coming into Cannonhill Park.

To add to my distress, a sudden gust of wind which had been picking up swept past a nearby oak tree, dislodging a large acorn which hit me straight on the forehead! Thankfully I avoided serious injury and concussion to round a corner and find the jelly babies waiting! It was such a relief to get a sugar kick which spurred me on.

Getting past the mile 10 marker, I had a rough idea what was ahead. The main topic of conversation before the race had been ‘the hill’.

When the steady climb appeared ahead I took some deep breaths and ploughed on managing to keep a slower but steady pace all the way, round the corner, carrying on up…

Hitting the flat and the last mile I got a new spurt of energy and set off at a faster pace, it had been wise to save some energy for the end. I didn’t worry about the final steady incline knowing the finishing line was not far away. The energy I had saved earned me my quickest mile of the day! Seeing the finish I stepped up the pace again and sprinted through stopping my watch at 02:07:08.

After some minor spatial awareness issues, I found some Shabbas near the finish line cheering on the runners and stopped for a chat on my unplanned detour. Finally finding my way to the baggage area I found Lee and we collected our bags, snapping a quick medal selfie on our way out.

A quick drink before we headed home was well deserved and brought the day to an end.

It was an all round fantastic event with a great atmosphere. See you next year!

Now to find 26.2 miles in 6 months…

Chester Marathon Weekend Away

Saturday 4th October

My Boosts arrived! We couldn't go away for the weekend without me first trying my new running trainers out. I've been in my New Balance's for a long time, too long. They are now looking very sorry for themselves so a new pair was long overdue.

I set out deciding to do a 5k as we were too short of time for me to do anything longer- especially as I hadn't even packed.
As soon as I had my music on I knew I was going to have to do better than that- I'd go for a quick mile all out, just to see what I could do after a severe lag in my training. The difference in my trainers was hugely noticeable. I suddenly had a bit more bounce in my step and my ankles felt more solid- I normally get some sort of twinge.

I was very short of breath and really had to push myself to get round the last lap of the park finishing in 8:15. This is 20 seconds off my best mile time- its amazing how quick you can lose it when you don't keep up the training so I was reasonably pleased with this. I finished off with a recovery mile of 9:15 which was still above average for me- overall good start to the weekend!


We then headed to Chester that afternoon and spent our time relaxing and I helped Lee with his carb loading...

We were all up early on Sunday and Lee headed off to meet everyone on the race course. I found myself a spot in town to catch him and the other Shabbas at around the half mile point.

The atmosphere as the runs went past, all 4000 (ish) of them was electric. Everyone cheered and were really behind everyone who was taking part; including the giant banana, a couple of spidermen, a gorilla, and a barefoot man in just a pair of shorts (brr!).

This was Lee's third Chester marathon so purely for traditional purposes I headed off for pancakes and hot chocolate with Isabella to kill some time before the shops opened. Checking my facebook, the first update had come through- Lee had done 10k in 48:32 in a pace of 07:49mm!

I won't bore you with a list of my purchases, we'll skip to the finish line.

Having got the update through to say that Lee had an estimated finish time of 12:27 I headed down to the racecourse. The support was fantastic with people cheering all along the course.

Crossing the line in 3:26:48, Lee completely smashed his last marathon PB and really proved to me that it can be done!


I don't know what I thought women atheletes looked like but I seemed to have a picture of thousands of Paula Radcliffes in my head since getting my VLM place which was worrying me even more. Obviously I was completely wrong and found myself thinking 'if she can run that far, surely I can too!'

We all had a wonderful day and it was great to meet some more of the Shabbas. Most definitely inspired!

First Run- Post VLM place

Thursday morning was my daughters first day at nursery and after dropping her off, Lee and I had a few hours alone. This almost never happens so in a most romatic gesture Lee propositioned me....to a run.

We set off for a 10k aiming for 9:30 mm. I was feeling confident (perhaps overly so, still on a high from getting my VLM place). The first mile came and went quickly in 9:16. On hearing this time I panicked slightly- this was quick compared my usual first mile pace. Had I set off too quick?! Lee was pacing so I decided to stick with it as best as I could.

I quickly discovered this run was becoming more of a mental battle than anything else having not run 10k for a while- my own fault! For the first few miles I managed to keep my breathing in control and my pace quite steady.

Getting between mile 4 and 5, I started to struggle. I was really forcing myself to keep pace and kept dropping back slightly. It was then that Lee noticed my posture. My shoulders had rounded, I'd hunched over and my breathing had quicked. He told me to straighten up so I put my head back and took some deep breaths with helped open my lungs and got a new surge of energy.

Finishing the run with an 8:51 mile really gave me a boost and I proved to myself I can do more than I thought.

Saying that, the thought of 26.2 miles still remains a daunting prospect. Watch this space!

1st October- You're in!

Hi everyone!

So this is my first post at the very beginning of my marathon training journey in the hope this will help keep me on track.

#yourein

Today is 1st October and I found out this morning I have got a place in the Virgin London Marathon through the ballot! This is HUGE and I don't think it has properly sunk in yet.

Anyway, I want to share this roller coaster with you all, the highs, the lows and that totally amazing moment when I cross the finish at the Worlds Biggest Marathon.

The next few days will be spent putting together a plan leading up to the 16 week countdown. I have my ultra running fiancé to help me so lets go!!