WEEK TEN – DONE

Highlight – Trimpell 20 Mile

Lowlight – Feeling ill for a lot of the week

Inspiration –  Listening to Tom Williams

Day 63 Monday 8th March 2010

Up, bath, work, meeting 1, meeting 2, meeting 3, chat with work colleague, buy lunch, meet boss, go buy boss lunch, meeting 4, 1:1 with boss, home, hug kids, head hurts glands feel sore, cup of tea, bed, (kids make own tea) do work emails, post blog, chat to Trevor, view blog, blog is broken, chat to Vikki, get up, make cheese on toast, back to bed, read book (Julie Walters biography), sleep.

No swim – didn’t have time for a proper lunch break and too tired after work.

Day 64 Tuesday 9th March 2010

Yippe finally going back to the Dentist today and he is taking the nerve out of my bad tooth!

Spent an hour in the dentist chair and despite having a mouth full of mental drills plastic tubing and a sterile gum guard I started to fall asleep as he worked! I was obviously tired! After my little nap I went back to work and all was good until the injection wore off and then OMG my mouth is very sore, I cannot bear the slightest pressure on my tooth and I just can’t eat!

Still I manage to get to The Edge where run club has been invited to look round this evening. I’m not sure I’ll run but am keen to look at the facilities and meet with the management. I did run in the end and felt better for it. But when I got home and searched my cupboards for something I could manage to eat without chewing the only thing I could come up with was porridge, but even this was a challenge and I couldn’t eat much. I take comfort from the fact that at least I know when the swelling has gone down I will be free from the horrible pain I have been having!

Day 65 Wednesday 10th March 2010

Wake up feeling below par, my mouth is still sore; eating is too painful all I can do is suck on my cereals! My head also aches I feel like the dentist drill is still rattling around! Go to work because I want to do my interval training session at lunchtime and body pump this evening!

Feel off colour all day and fatigued because of a lack of food. Have a coaching session with Tom this evening and decide not to train because I just don’t have the energy. Will do intervals tomorrow.

Talk to Tom about pacing and miles for Trimple20 on Sunday, agree goals are

• Don’t race it but run it as if it is a marathon (ie at mile 20 feel I could run more)

• As it is flat aim for a more even pacing of approx 11.15 min miles

• Run it all, no walking if possible

Get a text to say Hotel for London is booked. One less thing to worry about!

Day 66 Thursday 11th March 2010

Training doesn’t happen I allow work to get in the way and so I have a second rest day, mouth still sore though I am able to eat a little more.

Day 67 Friday 12th March 2010

Today I had planned as a rest day but as I haven’t done anything for two days i’m not sure what to do! But I don’t manage to get up early don’t have a lunch break and have to get straight home after work as Dawn is popping round. And so I have my 3rd day rest in a row.

When I get home Adele has done more baking, buns, biscuits and something she has adapted from a recipe that she calls “Lumps” and I wonder why I can’t lose weight. The baking is in honour of Dawns visit,  but Adele presents me with a lovely card she has made me for mothers day.

Day 68 Saturday 13th March 2010

Get up early to do a few chores and have porridge before Park Run, finally feel I can eat and tooth no longer sore! Daniel takes a lot of getting up this morning. I put on my new trainers which I need to break in before Marathon day, they are exactly the same model size and colour as my others just very bright and very white!

Get there in time to do just a half lap warm up and then I chat with Nicky, Barbara and Stu at the start line. I already know I want to run this slowly, and set off very leisurely chatting to Nicky, Dan is soon in front of me. But all of a sudden for no reason I can fathom my lower back goes and I am in pain each footfall agonisingly jarring. I have to stop and walk, Nicky runs on, I try to stretch, consider stopping altogether but know if I do ill lose a point in my race with Russell to 50 Park Runs and my prize of a Hot Chocolate! Somehow I manage to finish but my back is so painful after I struggle to move.

Wasn’t planning on doing body pump today but there is no way I could if I wanted to! On way home I need to nip to up & running to buy gels for tomorrow and get out of the car like a 90 year old!

By the time I get home I also feel quite nauseous and don’t know what to do with myself, start my Saturday must do chores but only the barest minimum gets done. I put Marathon Talk on to listen to as I soak in the bath. Begin to wonder if this is just another of my pre race nerve episodes that I get, but how would that make my back so painful? Panic about tomorrow, should I even think about doing Trimpell 20 feeling like this, how can I? But I have to, its on my programme, David is doing it because I recommended it and Julie treated me to this race entry for my birthday, so I just have to do it! No way am I backing out! Feel like I could just soak in the bath all day but Trevor is calling round so have to drag myself out of the bath and struggle to get dressed.

Trevor takes my mind off how ill I feel and helps me to relax and I begin to think I will be ok to do Trimpell, that is until he goes and I try to stand up but my back cease up and for a moment and I can’t move, I see a look of worry on his face and he suggests maybe I shouldn’t be racing tomorrow. Somehow I get myself moving again and pretend i’m ok, but i’m not and I can’t muster the enthusiasm to go out and look at his shinny new car.

At tea time I go visit my mum then call into the supermarket and by the time I get back home at 7ish I feel absolutely dreadful again! But by now I do think that my symptoms (except the bad back) are pre race nerves. I don’t feel hungry but force myself to have my now ritual pasta chicken and veg.

I take some pain killers before going to bed and do manage to get some restless sleep.

Day 69 Sunday 14th March 2010

Alarm goes off at 6am, back feels easier but am careful not to make any sudden movements, another soak in bath a bit of stretching, get kit ready, porridge, dressed and off to Julie & Davids. Race isn’t till 11 so I buy a cappuccino on the way. Get to J&D by 7.35 (only 5 min late which for me is good), Julie drives we take the more scenic route and chat as we go, I have had some pain killers before setting off and my back is comfortable. After about an hour I start to feel sick again but I think this is motion sickness and when we get there about 9.30 I feel much better.

I go to get my race number and realise I have forgotten my confirmation email but am not worried as you don’t normally need it at such events. I go to the table, “Fawcett, please” the man looks “Adele Fawcett” “Eer freaky, thats my daughter but no” we look again i’m not on the list! Panic starts I haven’t got my email! “ which site did you register through” he asks getting his lap top out “I don’t know!” then as he gives me a, what a blonde look, I explain my friend registered for me! “John Schofield” I remember, Julie joins me and I tell her I’m not on the list, someone else approached the table and starts to go through some numbers to retrieve his . . “your there” says Julie noticing my name on the back of one of them! “No that’s Kay Jefferies” says the guy at the table . . . “yes yes that’s me” he gives me another you really are a blond look “it would help if you knew your own name!” “sorry . . . mid divorce I mutter” make a note I really must get that sorted now!

We have over an hour before the race starts which is just as well as I change my mind and my kit 3 times as the weather warms up and the sun comes out. Sip water eat malt loaf and two bananas, hoping this will be enough to top my porridge up without causing digestive problems!

I see Michael then am surprised to see Chris and Liz, Chris has taken Gills Number so there are 3 of us from VARR running. It may be a small team but its a VARR team non the less!

VARR MARATHON BLOGGERS

And so to the race . . . the start line is on the track and I catch up with the boys my nerves disappear, the sick feeling goes and even my back feels ok, I think this is because I can’t do anything else now but run it. Whatever decisions I’ve made, food, gels, kit, music it’s too late to change it so I stop worrying. Now it’s all about the pacing and i keep going over Toms words 11.15, even pace, fuel at 8,10,12,14,16, even pace, run it all, even pace to the end, feel like you can run further!

And we are off, a circuit of the track followed by some back and forth round a cycle course and then on to the cycle/foot path. David and I ran together chatting some and listening to our music, my garmin bleeped at me constantly telling me to slow down and I kept trying but my legs were still in their warm up mode and wouldn’t do as they were told!

Quite quickly we were faced with the lead runners going back at us in the opposite direction quite worrying at only two miles into a 20 mile race! But soon we also came back round this first loop and headed back the way we came. And here was a classic moment as we approach a small group of supports (now remember we had probably only been running about 30 min at this point) David spotted Julie waiting to cheer us on then as he noticed the large shopping bags around her came a cry of “what on earth have you being buying now?” Brilliant, he couldn’t do or say more as he had another 16 miles to run and by the time we got back he was too tired to care what Julie had bought!

David stayed with me till about mile 8 or 9 sometimes chatting sometimes not but when I slowed to have my 2nd gel David pushed on worrying that I was going too fast to run at his pace. But I still kept a steady pace though I did speed up just a little. But according to my Garmin I was still going to fast. A little after this I saw, first Chris and then Michael, both looking strong, pass me as they head on the return journey back. I cant remember where, but I stopped to fill my water bottle but wasn’t more than 30 seconds and then I was off running again.

I kept checking the garmin and my lap times were pretty even though i was still going faster than my target 11.15. I was conscious of having gels regularly which I managed to do as I ran only tried to time them so that I could leave the wrappers at the water stations. Even dumped one on a spectator at one point saying I hate to litter!

At mile 14 I had another 30 second stop to fill up my water bottle and then after I started to run again my hip suddenly started to hurt which took my breath away and slowed me a little but i knew that if I stopped even just to walk one step I would not be able to get running properly again so I tried to block the pain out and kept running. This was really hard as at this point there were times when i couldn’t see any other runners and it felt more like a training run than a race. But gradually I gained on runners in front. It wasn’t my intention to do so but very gradually I gained and over took about a dozen runners in the next 5 miles. My hip continued to bother me to the point where at the last water station I gave someone my bottle to fill up ran on and then ran back to collect it as i knew if I stopped even for 30 seconds I would not be able to run on!

At mile 18 I had to fight back the urge to speed up, two miles is still a long way – but I must have speeded up or at least maintained speed as when we renetered the cycle track I found myself amongst many runners and continued to slowly overtake a few more.

This part of the race was mentally tough as you could see the track where the finish line was but the garmin said still another mile to go round and round the cycle track and then a very cruel 2 laps of the track. But I did manage to sprint across the line!




Had been chasing these gents down from about mile 17 and took them in the last mile!