Eureka! 20 miles!

This is the post I have imagined writing with an equal sense of anticipation and dread. I was hoping to be able to say "hurrah, I managed 20 miles, yippee" and that kind of thing. I was dreading having to write "tried and failed to run 20 miles". I'm not sure when my head is actually going to come to terms with the fact that, in all truth told, I'm a "proper" runner, and a pretty decent one at that, because I totally nailed yesterday's run. It was the longest run I've ever done. Hell, I've never walked that far, not even as a Girl Guide (and I went to a pretty active Guide company!).

"The Higgs 20"

Sarah C and I set out from my house at 10. Initially we spent a fairly decent amount of time waving at the satellites in the sky to get a Garmin signal, which almost certainly looked crazy to anyone watching but is an essential part of using a GPS device! We pootled off up through Beeston towards Chilwell, having a good chat as we went, and I was surprised to see we were going between a 9 and 9:30 minute mile, which was pretty good going considering we were holding back somewhat. Chilwell was insanely busy for that time on a Sunday morning, and it was annoying having to slow at the big junctions, which seemed to take an age to cross. We got through Toton and hit Long Eaton more or less on schedule. However I hadn't anticipated the sheer amount  of time it would take to find our first pit stop, my lovely friend Sue's house. It really shouldn't have been hard; all we had to do was stick to one main road from Beeston right up to the turn off to Sue's, but I still had the antsy need to keep checking we were on track and hence slowed us down. But soon we were at Sue's, our first stopping point and where we were meeting Sarah A. 5 miles done.

Me, Sarah A and Sarah C

I absolutely love Sue Woollett, she is one of the world's genuinely nice people. Even when she has her own problems she is kind, thoughtful and generous, and she draws people to her. She introduced me to TT incidentally, something I am most grateful for. Sue met us with an open door and a big smile, and ice cold bottles of Lucozade sport. She did also have a chocolate cake cooking in the oven which smelt amazing, and I'm grateful that I wasn't hungry by that point or that would've been exquisite torture! It was incredibly reluctantly I left her lovely house to continue our journey (next time Sue you're coming with us!), but to stop for too long would be to stiffen up and get cold, which would make the remaining 15 miles pretty miserable.

The next town was Breaston. Sarah A turned round to me and Sarah C and said we're doing 5km non-stop. My first thought was "arghhhh I can't do that!" but I got my head down and surprised myself. She then became known as "Drill Sergeant Sarah", and we meekly followed her. I asked if it was ok to keep taking pictures of the town names as we went through and was told "only if you can do it running". To be honest I quite like being bossed around a bit, it makes me confront my own (usually wrong) beliefs about my ability, and I often surprise myself in the process. The next few towns seemed to go past in a blur of the constant pounding of our legs, and interesting sights including the world's most awesome treehouse and the hugest hare I've ever seen. After running that far you'd be amazed about what strikes you as fascinating! We passed through Draycott, Borrowash, Risley and Sandiacre, and that is where we said goodbye to Drill Sergeant Sarah, and Sarah C and I stopped at a newsagents for a bottle of water. 

At that point we had travelled 14 miles and were beginning to go a little wappy. Everything seemed funny and we were a bit silly. Fatigue was beginning to set in, but whereas a couple of weeks ago I was absolutely shattered by this point, I could still keep things going and keep the pace up. At 15 miles we hit Bramcote, and I felt relieved to see familiar ground. I decided to take Sarah around the park through the woods at the back, not just because I though some steep hills and steps would be just what our legs were craving at that point, but also because I thought it would do us some good to have a completely different change of terrain. With a number of squirrels that TT would've been jumping about with joy over, we hit the trails, not bothered if we weren't running much, just trying to allow our legs to recharge. Once out of the park we hit the roads again, this time headed for Wollaton. It was at this point that I pulled out my iPod and let the music give my exhausted legs a second life. And it really did help, I felt partially renewed and able to continue. At 18 miles I decided to try a gel for the first time. I've had dextrose energy tablets before, jelly belly sports bean and gel bloks, but never a gel. I know they can give you nausea, diarrhoea and/or stomach cramps so I wanted to make sure I was close to home before trying one. I opened it up, swallowed it down, the most revolting sweet, gloopy muck I've ever tried, then waited. A few seconds later it was like, PING!! Sugar hit extraordinaire!!! I felt like someone had plugged me into the mains, and suddenly my legs felt powered up. 

Holy sugar hit Batman!!!

Digging as deep as I've ever dug, I managed to get through the final 2 miles until we'd got back to my house, having run 20 miles in 3 hours 55 minutes. There was only one thing to do after a celebratory hug with Sarah, and that was to go home and see my ever-patient husband who had waited all day for me to complete my run, down an ice-cold can of diet coke (this is always my post long run ritual), then enjoy an ice bath to reduce inflammation in my poor hard-worked legs. This time I was so tired I stayed in the ice bath for a lot longer than usual; it took way more effort to get out than it does to stay in it, so I just sat there!

To say I'm proud of my efforts yesterday in an understatement. I am very grateful to the Sarahs, especially Sarah C who stayed with me for the full 20 miles, because the company distracted me from my usual running gremlins who tell me to stop running and head home. I genuinely thought I would need to walk most of the way, so to have run at least 80% of the distance is an amazing achievement. I think a big part of my success was down to fuelling better. I struggled so much on Friday and Saturday to increase my intake, especially the carbohydrates, and I still could've had more than I did. But for me that was a major effort and achievement. I'd like to say I'll be able to maintain an increased intake permanently from now on, but I know that is a bit too optimistic for me at present. However, maybe for long runs such as yesterday's I will be able to confront my demons and pollute my body with food in order to get the best out of it. Maybe.

In all my preparation for yesterday's run, I hadn't anticipated how I would handle the post-run recovery stage. I was absolutely famished when I got back; having missed lunch and burnt off 2000 calories during the run I pretty much inhaled my dinner. With the children away for the week and Larry at work for the evening, I fell asleep in front of the TV and woke up at 9pm dribbling onto the cushion, deciding that an early night was best. 

Completing 20 miles was a major milestone for me. Suddenly completing the London Marathon seems doable, and getting a decent time possible. I am less scared of my forthcoming races the Silverstone half and Ashby 20, and my self-confidence has sky-rocketed. I wish my success wasn't so closely related to eating more food, because that poses a greater dichotomy in my head. But success is success, and right now I'm flying because of it. Thank you to my lovely friend Sue for being so lovely and welcoming to us, and thanks also to the Sarahs who kept me company. Thanks to Jane who always believes in me and whom inspired me to run in the first place.A big thanks to TT who prepped me brilliantly for the run and patiently listened when I worried that I wouldn't be able to do it, then reminded me how far I've already come and got me thinking more positively. But a big thank you to my husband Larry who has to manage without me every Sunday when I do my increasingly-longer runs and never moans, and listens to all my prattle about running and never begrudges me from entering races. With a team like you guys behind me, how can I possibly fail?!

20 miles: done! Time for feet up now...