WEEK TWELVE

Highlight – Another Race, well run. Another PB!

Lowlight – None!

Inspiration – Kara K & Ellie D (Junior VARR) super efforts and superb PB at park run in recent weeks!

Day 77 Monday 22nd March 2010 - Groundhog Monday returns

Get up (somewhat groggy) go to work, go swimming at lunchtime, back to work, take work home with me. Have tea with kids, potter, don’t do work, go to bed tired! Like I said groundhog Monday!

I did get a call this morning to say I have got a place on the ILM 5 Course! It starts about 3 days after the Marathon. . . . . . I was wondering what I would do with all my free time! lol

Day 78 Tuesday 23rd March 2010 - Ticking off my to do list

Feel quite good today, tired but good! Got a few of my bit & bob jobs done, pay bill, pick up mandate, post parcel, see mum, ect

Dentist this afternoon for another hour in the chair, but this time I didn’t fall asleep and no pain once injection wears off, yippe! Told Mr Woods I hoped I would not be seeing him again for a while, at least not till August when kids and I have a check up!

Cold sores are beginning to heel as well so hopefully by weekend my Mouth may be back to normal!

Run club, not as many turned up tonight, was rather wet, though that nice kind of rain that you often welcome in a hot run! So just 6 or 7 in group two tonight, the group ran well and they certainly pulled me along at the end. Brought my coaching course in to action and had them running in a single line with the runner at the back sprinting to the front, nearly killed me off but the group seemed to enjoy it!

Have felt quite hungry through the day and so was glad I had put a jacket spud in the oven on a timer for when I got home

Day 79 Wednesday 24th March 2010 - Am selfish and sticking to my training

A busy but good day at work, not the day I planned which is why I probably enjoyed it! Really trying hard to eat well this week, so was good and took tuna and some couscous salad and plenty of fruit to work for my lunch but left it in my base and found myself elsewhere at Lunchtime starving with only biscuits and such! Not good!

Nearly wavered and stayed late to catch up (not that I ever will in my job) but in end stuck to my training programme. 40 min session on tread, warm up then intervals, finishing off with 2 @13 followed by Nicks Body Pump Class.

Day 80 Thursday 25th March 2010 -

Another busy day at work, can’t really remember much about it other than that! Finally managed to speak to Daniels Head of English about his report that stated “serious concerns” for his English, she was puzzled by this as says have had supply teacher after supply teacher so doesn’t know who would have written this as none of them would have known Daniel well enough! NOW I HAVE SERIOUS CONCERNS!

Arrange to meet Nicky for a run after work, can tell its one of those days, if either one of us had said shall we have a cuppa, cake and chat instead, then the other would have agreed straight away. But never of us did and our effort was repaid by what turned out to be a lovely run along canal and round abbey. We got wet but both felt better for it!

Day 81 Friday 26th March 2010  - I want to spin!

Really want to go to spin am missing it and I find it helps get me through my Friday morning team meeting. But I know I need to have at least one rest day before Sunday Half Marathon and so I miss it again.

The dreaded Friday am meeting starts at 8.30 and is still going when I have to leave at 12.30 to attend a S&M Training course (that’s Statutory and Mandatory before you get the wrong idea!). My car is just about out of petrol, I cross my fingers and coast as much as i can to the petrol station hoping I can pick up a sandwich for my lunch as well. Turns out to not be the sort of garage to do sandwiches and so lunch is a grab bag of cheese Doritos! Arrive a little late for my course and spend the next three hours on a conflict resolution training course in which I learn absolutely nothing, ah well at least I’m up to date, ticked the box, and the trainer was quite entertaining! Have to fly back to the office as not been anywhere near my email or post today. Adele rings me as she is waiting for me to shop so that she can make cookies and biscuits for the Rugby tournament that her team is hosting tomorrow.

Finish up as quick as i can, home, pick up Adele, supermarket, home, baking, finally sit down grumpy and tired with a cup of tea at some point in the evening. Give Trevor a quick call about tomorrow. Give up on my day and go to bed without having a proper tea!

Day 82 Saturday 27th March 2010  Mr Dooley nearley laps me twice at Park Run!

Dan is up before me but seems reluctant to do park run, persuade him to come by telling him that when he gets a sub 30min I’ll give him £10. Vikki is running with Kara today and asks to borrow her Garmin as Kara is going for a PB. Feel naked without it!

Event is a little short of Marshall and Mr Dooley starts proceedings.

Dan only manages a few steps before stopping saying his foot still hurts (I had forgotten that he had dropped a hand weight on the other day)

Mr Dooley must have joined in the race a little after everyone else started as he passes me on the first corner of the first lap.

I carry on in my own little world at a relaxed steady pace, I’m in no rush today just want to loosen my legs up for tomorrow.

As I pass the finish line for the first time (for those of you that don’t do Park run you pass the finish line 2 before finally crossing it after your 3rd lap!) the lead man passes me, gosh either he is going super fast or I am going super slow. Begin to wonder if Mr Dooley might even lap me a second time. And indeed as I pass the finish line for the second time I have a quick look behind me to see Mr Dooley storming home, 30 seconds faster and he would have lapped me twice!

I finished in a very relaxed paced in 33+ mins and Kara flew home with an outstanding PB

Stop at up and running to get gels for tomorrow then home to start what I like to call the transformation process for lunchtime drinks.

Am just about ready when Trevor calls to pick me up, he enjoys a couple of glasses of red wine while I pull faces at my rather tart traditional lemonade with more than a hint of ginger! But if I’m going to race well tomorrow cant indulge in a glass of vino so settle for a cappuccino! I’m promises that a bottle of chilled champagne will be waiting when I’ve done the Marathon!

Spend the evening with Daniel, buying some CD which has the words “bass” and “addicted” in the title! Emmm ear plugs will be required I think! I finally get a new mobile phone hand set the nice red one I have wanted for so long, not only do they give me it at no extra cost but give me a discount on my monthly rate! Well happy!

Only as I don’t know the phone I don’t know what time to set the alarm for, as I’m not sure if the time will automatically update or not, decide to go for the option that may wake me up two hours early rather than the one that may wake me up an hour late! But was so worried that i wouldn’t wake up I didnt go to sleep!

Day 83 Sunday 28th March 2010  Liverpool is very windy!

At four o’clock old time and five o’clock new time I crawl out of bed! Make porridge, just doesn’t taste right at this time in the morning! Have most of my kit ready, just need to throw things in a bag and set of shortly after 6, stop for a cappuccino and go for Vikki, get to Julie and Davids just as Julie is getting home from work! Don’t know how she does it! David is more groggy than I am but we are soon on our way to Liverpool.

As we get to Liverpool we seem to have loads of time and I am bursting for the loo so we stop at Macd’s and I have a second cappuccino! Then we try make our way to the race only we get stuck in traffic, finding some where to park is a nightmare and we end up in a multi-storey. As we get out of the car and start to hurriedly get ourselves ready Paul Warren pulls up next to us. He too has been stuck and struggling to find somewhere to park. After a lot of messing about and a first (Vaseline my bits up in the middle of multi storey car park) we set off to find the start. There is only 10 min till the race starts and I’m desperate for the loo again but don’t want to be late, we pass a hotel and Paul tells me it will be fine to go as will take time for crowds to get to the start line and as we are wearing timing chips it doesn’t really matter! As we come out someone tells us the start is delayed any way and feel so much better. We actually get to the start line about 10 minutes before the race starts. There is a cold wind coming of the Mersey and I worry that I might be too cold in my vest . Look out for Harp, Kate and Michael but don’t see them, David and I join in the crowd just before the pacer for 10 min miler passes.

Now when I had meet with Tom a few weeks ago to talk about race and pace strategy for Liverpool half, tom had simply said – GO FOR IT – only I wasn’t sure I was able to go for it today, think not fully recovered from Trimpell, feel my training has taken a little dip and think I might be fighting off a little virus, so I was happy to see how it went. I would quite like to get a 2hr12 min as iI missed out on this by just 4 seconds at Brass Monkey !

I don’t remember much about the course, there was a hill early on which slowed my pace a little and the 10 min milers passed us, but I wasn’t aiming for that pace so that was ok, I felt I was running comfortably, not talking much, but seemed to settle into things quite quickly. As we entered the park David disappeared to see a man about a dog and said he’d catch me up. Now I have to confess a small part of my brain did click in here and said, No you wont and my pace picked up. I found myself with the 10 minute milers and thought i’d try running with them for a while to see if I fancied doing this in London. But I hated it! I felt traped and as if I was going to trip up so I did a quick side step and sprinted passed them till I had space in front of me, checked Garmin way too fast, slowed and settled in to my pace again! 10 mins gone and no sign of David catching me, I smiled to myself relaxed and enjoyed things, checked garmin and was surprised to see how far had already run, felt strong and comfortable, still no David! Then a voice says “so as I was saying . . . “ . . David was back! Dam it! He asked me if I had picked up the pace, no no not at all I lied!

I couldn’t tell you how long David stayed with me but he did push on in the end! I wasn’t feeling in the least bit hungry but had a gel at about 8 mile, I heard myself think “its over half way and don’t feel like I have been running for long, only 5 miles to go that’s easy” Excuse me is that really my voice I can hear inside my head!! “Oh look there is a bit of a uphill in this path, never mind slow the pace, little steps up you go” i begin to think my mind has been taken over by a being from out a space!

9 mile - check my garmin - a PB is on the cards unless the wheels come off! Then at mile 10 we rejoin the walkway running alongside the Mersey for the last three miles, the wind blowing off it was a shock and took your breath away and sapped your energy! I pause for 30 seconds to fill my water bottle, off again, start to struggle with my breathing, but im having this, a PB is in site! The 10 min milers catch me back up and pass me, i stick with them a while but they take the whole pathway up and i feel cramped in again and so drop back. I instantly regret this as i hadn’t realised how much shelter they were providing from the wind! We moved away from the front a little and ran through some kind of warehouse car park and I thought this would give some relive from the wind, but in fact it was worse as it seemed to be coming from all directions, back on to the front I check my Garmin, have slowed its going to be close but can still get that PB, want to go for it but have just over half a mile left so pace, steady my pace, see Vikki get ready to pick my pace up, pass a group of scantily dressed roman soldiers, very nice, sense I’m close and start to pick up my pace to find I’m actually already at the finish line! So yes I get my PB, 2.09.29 but am cross with myself as if id know was so close and picked up the pace earlier id have got a 2.09.00 and if it wasn’t for the last 3 miles of wind I think I would have got a 2.08.00. Vikki tells me off and reminds me I have actually taken 2min 35sec off my PB on a harder course!

So yes Tom I Kind of went for it, think I could run it harder, but not to day, but I feel fine after which makes me think could have given more! But as I sit here reflecting on it I’m well pleased, my first half Marathon just four and a half years ago took me 2hr.27min and I felt very ill afterwards!

When I got home Adele asked me if how my run had gone and told me she thinks it’s amazing that I can run for 14 – 20 miles without stopping! So Do I, blooming amazing!

Ps  a few of you said struggled to leave a comment so I have reset the settings so if you want to leave a comment you should now be able to do so much easier by doing annoyminously!