7 days (1 week) until Silverstone half marathon
14 days (2 weeks) until Ashby 20
49 days (7 weeks - OMG!) until the London Marathon
Plus I have virtual races coming out of my ears, 3 for this month and 5 in April.
I have 22 days before my interview for Graduate Entry Medicine, 0 appropriate items of clothing to wear for the interview, with 0% excitement at the prospect of having to go clothes shopping.
So far this year I have run 330km out of my proposed 2015km, which is 16% of the total.
But enough of the numbers for now. It's been a bit of a breakthrough week for me. After last week's disastrous run - and I know my opinion of disastrous will differ greatly than a lot of other people's but it's how I viewed it at the time - I finally turned a corner on Thursday. I'd told TT to be tough with me and not let me drop down into a walk during our run on Thursday, because I've become bad at that recently. Even if my lungs and legs are ok, my head tells me I can't possibly run further so I slow to a walk. I've had enough of this! I knew I was better than that, but it's convincing myself of that during a run when the gremlin begins to whisper. On Thursday I cracked that egg. TT didn't get to do his drill sergeant major routine on me either. I just ran. When I wanted to stop I just told myself half a mile more, then when I got to that I did another half mile. It felt amazing!!! I didn't need to argue with my gremlin, I didn't need Sir Shoutypants to get me going, I did it all myself.
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| I hope so |
So what was so different about Thursday? After feeling so lousy about last Sunday's run, I had sat down with TT and together we devised a plan, so that I'll give it 2 weeks to see if an increased food intake makes a difference to my performance. If I'm no better I can drop back down to lower calories, but if I do significantly better, well, that'll be food for thought (no pun intended). As predicted, I ran a heck of a lot better on Thursday, not just in distance or speed but in continuity, and I was still able to do a short 13.1 miles on Saturday afternoon with my friend Sarah.
Saturday was tougher than Thursday, for the mere fact that I wasn't adequately recovered or rested from Thursday's efforts, and the DOMS had well and truly kicked in. That said though, I was able to maintain this new continuous style of running, and it was wonderful to be outside running in just a vest top (my new NWR club top in fact) and capris. Things got a little tricky when we arrived at Wollaton Park, because being the middle of the nicest day of the year so far, someone had decided to have a BBQ and it smelt amazing. From that point on I was suddenly starving hungry which doesn't really help focus the mind on a long run! But we managed 13.1 miles, which is weird because for me now, that is a pretty short run, whereas to many people including myself less than a year ago, it is a blimming long way indeed!
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| Fresh faced after a 13.1 mile run |
But with less than a week to go before my next official race, I'm REALLY bricking it. I've said before how I struggled at the GSR, I didn't have a good time and I felt my self-esteem regarding my running ability break down mile by mile. TT has worked really hard with me to repair that damage, and largely it has helped. But there is always the ghost of those feelings I had back then; the mild panic as I was swept away at the start, amidst a sea of runners all pumped with adrenaline running at speeds that, for most, were not sustainable. Then that moment of shame when I needed to break free of the mob and slow to a walk having just run 2km in a record 8.5 minutes. I know I'm a much better runner now. I know how much effort I've put in, both in training and with psychological stuff. I know how to fuel sufficiently that I can get around without feeling like the Michelin man. And yet. Still I'm scared. And as if Silverstone isn't scary enough, the following week will be Ashby 20, and this is one race I haven't been looking forwards to doing. It's a great race to do because at 20 miles long and 5 weeks before VLM, it's a pretty good dress rehearsal and will highlight to me any potential issues I need to address before London. But it's so strict, with music forbidden due to them not closing roads, and various things you can and can't do. I'm running it with my friend Sarah, as I think we'll both help each other to get around and it will stave off the loneliness that comes during long runs. But for VLM, that'll be just me and 26.2 miles of road, and the thoughts in my head.
So the plan for this week is to taper down gently, because I want fresh legs for Sunday. I'm hoping TT will give some of the issues in my legs some attention to iron out any potential problems, then I want to put the running stuff on the back burner for a bit and concentrate on my eldest son who turns 5 next Saturday, a Mother's Day afternoon tea the PTA are organising for Friday, and the many tasks that I seem to have to juggle on a daily basis, always busy but never completely free of things to do. But for now, going back to the numbers, I'll celebrate my legs having run over 20 miles in 3 days, and how fortunate I am not only to be able to run such distances, but that through running I have more friends now than I have ever had, and all of them share the same passion as myself.
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| Me and Sarah, taking it seriously |
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