Good days, bad days

I still don't think I've come back down to earth since finding out last Wednesday that I'll be running the VLM next April. It's taken excitement to a whole new level! The other night my husband and I settled down to watch 28 Days Later, and this time I watched it with different eyes. Rather than just enjoying the film, I couldn't help but think, "ooh I'll be running over that bridge", and imagining myself running through the London streets that feature during the earlier part of the film. Thankfully no "infected" people will be chasing me as I run, though I'd imagine that would certainly shave some time off my finishing time if there were!

Empty streets of London as depicted in 28 Days Later

The lovely events team at Mind sent me a link to "SamCam". A lady called Samantha ran the VLM for Mind this year, and she had a camera attached to her as she ran, giving a fantastic insight into what it's like to run the marathon. The link to the footage can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXN-0Bkd77s

It completely captures the feeling of this amazing marathon, and I can't watch it without getting a lump in my throat and prickles in my eyes as I, too, will be involved in this amazing event. 

Friday was my short run day before I did body balance, and, to be honest, it wasn't my best run ever. I did 5k, but it was so start-stop, and felt so inconsistent that I felt thoroughly disheartened afterwards. I hate bad runs, they have the power to rip apart your confidence and make you begin to question what you are actually doing. But as a good friend once told me, a good run usually follows a bad one, and they were so right because yesterday I stormed an amazing 12 miles. From the moment I left my walking warm up and started running I knew it was going to be a good run. I felt strong, my breathing was steady, and it just all came together. The best bit was that I didn't get my usual blisters, so the Compeed blister stick really seems to have worked. I'll certainly be using it again. 

It's now less than 3 weeks til the Great South Run, so I'm at the peak of my training for that, then afterwards I plan to work on my running base before beginning to increase distance.