Taper time!

It's the final countdown!
Ok, hands up, who's singing this song right now?!
https://youtu.be/9jK-NcRmVcw

Two weeks left to go! In two weeks I will have run in my first marathon, I will have been part of one of the world's most iconic marathon's history, and I will have life membership into one of the most elite clubs that only 1% of the world's population ever joins.....I will be a marathoner! All that stands between me and the finish line is 2 weeks of tapering and fuelling. Oh yes and 26.2 miles....

This week was the first week I've properly been able to get back into training since my tonsillitis and Ashby 20. It started off on Easter Sunday with a "gentle" 5k around Wollaton Park. I don't usually post Garmin pictures, but I am today because I was properly proud of that effort. I was still not back to full health and had eaten an Easter roast only 2 hours before, so a 27 minute 5k is pretty awesome, and check out my final speed of 7 minute miles! It was on completing that run that I realised I'm back in the game. The following day I did body combat then headed out for a run, but it turned into a walk because I wanted to appreciate the beauty of Darley Park in the spring sunshine. Everything looks so much better in the sun, and sometimes it's good just to slow down a bit and take it all in. It was a day for quiet contemplation on Monday.

Tuesday was super mega exciting; I got a train down to London and met my mum at St Pancras, then went to find the London Marathon Store. I've been wanting to visit that ever since being accepted as a Mind runner for VLM. I had 2 opportunities to go to a Mind training day which would've had me go there much sooner, but I was unable to make those days. It didn't disappoint. Although not as big as I'd anticipated, it was like going into a sweet shop for runners. There were shoes of every different colour imaginable, and normal Sweatshop clothing along with VLM15 branded clothing. They had a wall containing all the medals that have been produced since the London Marathon began on March 29th 1981, and a big display outlining the route the marathon takes. Along with a very effervescent sales lady who proudly told me she was running this year with a Good For Age place, it was a wonderful experience. It feels like I have ventured into another world. A year ago I was dabbling about in running, I don't even think I'd signed up to Race For Life yet, but then flash forwards to now and I'm tapering for my first marathon. It's just bizarre!

On Wednesday I had my PT session that was postponed from the previous week when I was poorly, and although I was initially worried that I wasn't yet back up to par after being unwell, I stormed Toton hill and managed to impress TT, so that's always a good sign you're doing something right! That was a really good session for me, because I'd been worrying that even if my body recovered from the tonsillitis, all the progress I had made psychologically at Ashby, such as my belief in myself, would have backslid a bit. And I probably do worry too much about everything, but when something is so close you can almost reach out and touch it and then an obstacle gets shoved in the way, that's when I really struggle mentally. But doing better than ever on those hills reaffirmed that I am on the right track, which if nothing else is a really good thing for TT because I won't be flapping at him for the next 2 weeks about time running out! Friday saw me doing a quick kettlebells session - my first of that kind in almost a year - and then relaxing and stretching with the new body balance release.

Saturday dawned somewhat more cloudy than the week, but I was up and out of bed quickly because it was the day of my final long run. 22 miles to be exact. Sarah was coming over and we were going to tackle the miles together before we could start to taper. I was aware that my food intake the previous few days had been abysmal, my sleep had been poor, I ached from the kettlebells, and my  stress levels in general were high. But that wouldn't be a problem, right?! I've done it all before, my body knows the distance, and it's not as though we were racing it, it'd just be nice and steady.

Idiot.

To start with, despite asking TT what he recommended I wear, I thought I knew better when I popped outside and it seemed quite warm, so I went for a vest top and not a short sleeved one. As we left the house it was a bit brisk in the wind, but all in all I was happy enough.

20m up the road, so far so good...

We warmed up then started off in a trot. I was immediately aware that my legs were very unhappy after what I had thought was an upper body workout with kettlebells, but I'm now realising involved more lower body than anticipated. But I'm stubborn, so I ignored them. 2 miles up the road I started to get a bit whingy; my legs were murder and I was FREEZING. Why oh why had I not listened to TT's advice?! After a quick call home, we decided to turn around and go back so I could take more painkillers and put on something warmer. As soon as we turned around I felt better, which really brings to light the whole homing pigeon instinct I have (along with many other runners I expect). There is something psychologically lifting about running towards home. But on reaching home we'd already notched up 5 miles, so only 17 left to do. A quick clothes change and refuelling with some lucozade and an energy gel later, we were back out the door, this time to Wollaton deer park as I reckoned I needed to run in a place that relaxes me. Besides, I had to introduce Sarah to Bambi's family!

Mmm sugar!

It was on approaching the park that the full sugar hit of the energy gel reached my brain, and I was back in my wappy, sweating sparkles, jazz hands sugar high. Things started to get easier then! For one thing I had Sarah in stitches which certainly lightened the mood and made the run more enjoyable. I have no idea why I adopt a "Russian" accent when under the influence of vast amounts of glucose, but it's sure as hell entertaining! We stormed round the next few miles, slowly notching them up. Sarah decided to turn off her Garmin and just run, so I took on the role of time/distance checker. I don't mind doing that, it doesn't fill me with anxiety like it does to some people, and I'm too much of a control freak to not know how we're doing. It was hard in one respect though, because I was acutely aware that my children would be getting home shortly after 5 days with their grandma so I was time watching, but I was also aware that this was my last chance to run this distance before VLM itself. As it happened I barely got a second glance for the kiddlywinks when I finally did arrive home, so it was right to stay out, however difficult and distracting it was at the time. 

All in all it was a fairly non-remarkable 22 mile run. We didn't race it, we had to walk some especially when Sarah hurt her leg, but that didn't matter; we were out there, doing the distance, ticking off that mental check list in our heads. It wasn't an essential run to do, but I needed to do it to be ready for taper. I did get really close to a deer though, within touching distance. It's so incredible how tame they are, so amazing to share their world for a fleeting moment. So yeah, we bumbled round 22 miles, not setting any records but it was fun, and more to the point, it was 22 miles in the legs.

Damn you lorries!

This morning I woke up and holy hell, I didn't just feel like I'd been run over by an HGV like it often does after a mega long run, it felt like that HGV had brought all his HGV friends along for the ride as well! My hamstrings in particular are murderous; I am currently less flexible than TT in that department which is saying something!! I cringe every time I have to sit down and stand up, and the thought of body combat tomorrow makes me wince a little, but it's a good kind of pain. It means my muscles have worked and will be stronger as a result, and I will be glad of that running 26.2 miles.

So today wasn't just the start of my tapering and fuelling prior to the marathon, it was something else entirely. It was the day of Brighton and Paris marathons, and I knew a lot of people taking part in both. My lovely, lovely friend Caroline was running Brighton for Hope For Children, and I have always been a staunch supporter of hers. She always impresses me, she's always inspired me, plus she gives me a much needed kick up the bum at times. A load of the Mind team were running Brighton also, so we Londoners were glued to the app which tracked their progress, sending out virtual cheers and encouragement and just cementing the already-tight bonds within the team. There was such a lovely feeling of camaraderie, and as someone who has spent so much of her life feeling on the edge of everything, it was wonderful to feel like part of such a great team.

But more than just the wonderful sense of being part of something today, I saw first hand how eating disorders can dramatically affect performance in an endurance event such as a marathon, and I've decided to give it everything to get as well fuelled as possible in the next 2 weeks. I'm fully expecting to be miserable a lot of the time; I feel like a beached what after one day of "bordering normal" intake. That's not anywhere near pre marathon requirements, but it's better than my usual intake. 2 weeks of feeling disgusting Vs a lifetime of feeling proud......I've got to do the food thing really. I don't want to come away from my biggest ever sporting achievement feeling ashamed of my performance or - even worse - knowing I could've done a lot better had I only eaten.

However, in seeing all the photographs of people pre and post race and all the lovely comments, I have come to a decision about 2016: I want to run Brighton marathon in the April, then run (if I am so blessed as to get another place) VLM the following week. Had Brighton stayed 2 weeks before VLM it would've been less chllenging, but I'm stubborn and I'm determined, and if some people can run a marathon back to back over 2 days, what's to stop me running two a week apart?! And yes, I am aware that it's probably insane and totally overly ambitious, but back in October I called this blog "Dream the Impossible" because the concept of me running a marathon seemed about as likely as my horse being a unicorn.....2 weeks to go and it's not looking so impossible now. I want my children to grow up knowing that, no matter how big their dreams may be, if you really work hard at it, anything is possible. As TT says, there's no such word as "can't".