Well where do I begin? Firstly apologies it seems like ages since I last blogged, so this is going to be a long one. So grab a cuppa and pull up a chair or simply flick through and jog on (I promise I won’t be offended if you just check out the pictures)
It seems so long ago I was starting the couch to 5K and the though of running even just 5 minutes seemed so daunting and like it wouldn’t happen and yet here I am coming up 2 months after finishing it having achieved so much already and learning to be proud of my achievements.
So my first official 5K race actually turned into a 10K!
After an impromptu entry into Wellbeck 10k with my running buddies. it seemed pointless entering the 5k Nuro Care at Rothervalley the week after so I swapped for the 10K.
How did the crazy idea of running 10k come around on, May 12th at Wellbeck estate? Well that will be my friend Sharon’s idea. who messaged our group chat at 10pm that she’d found a run that looked interesting but the catch was it was the next morning. So when invited it took me all of seconds to say why not! Being a fun run / walk I knew that even if I only made 6k (the furthest I’d run so far) I could walk the remainder and meet them at the end and it would still be an achievement.
There was only one outfit for today’s run and that was the cookie monster.
We set off nice and steady feeling strong, the scenery was so spectacularly pretty it was breath taking and made the run seem so pleasant that the odd hill didn’t feel too bad and when we hit the 7k mark I was surprised I still felt so good and did a little victory punch in the air as I passed the marker, this was the furthest I’d ever ran!! 7K gone 3K to go I now knew I could do this, I wasn’t stopping now, I wanted that medal! And I wanted to say I’d ran it all. Crossing that line was amazing and I really felt like I could have given more on the day. I think this was the day that I started to realise my crazy Marathon entries may not be all that crazy.
Thank you to my crazy friends for believing I was ready to take on this challenge otherwise I would never have enrolled for a 10k so soon.
So what followed after, let me think. I feel like I have done so much!
There was the 10k neuro race at Rothervalley a fairly flat route and a route I knew so well having done most of my couch to 5k training around there. On May 19th I woke raring to go and excited at the thought of completing another 10k. After a breakfast of overnight oats and a couple of cups of tea I headed down to the registration area. This was my first chip timed event so I was starting to feel like a runner now. There was a variety of runners this morning from club athletes to fun runners. I thought lining up next to the athletic runners would be off putting but it wasn’t I know I am never going to be number one over the line and that really dose not matter what matters is I finish the events I sign up for no matter how long it takes and I take pride in each medal and goal I achieve.
So I set off with my running buddies nice and steady, lap one of the lakes went well and I still felt strong as we passed the finish point to do a final lap around the smaller lake before finishing, Sharon began to pass in front of me picking up pace. I didn’t know at the time but her though was I would either drop back if too fast and finish at my own pace or I would keep up and it would motivate me to push my self that little more. I knew I would never hit her pace but was determined to not get left too far behind so picked up my speed, I could feel the muscles in my legs being used but pushed on through. As I passed the ice cream van I could see that finish line and knew I had a little left to give so set off for the sprint finish!(It has to be done at every race no matter how tired I feel) Yay another 10k medal to hang on my board!
P.S If anyone finds the top I was wearing today can you point me in the right direction I haven’t seen it since it went in the wash after this event! and es my whole wardrobe has been emptied.
26th May 2019 was my next biggy I had started running with the girls on a Tuesday evening doing some hill work and kept my mileage up running three times a week. When they told me they were planning an 11 miler to help with their marathon training. After some thought knowing the route was mainly flat and that if I didn’t manage it all I could walk it, So I decided why not, if I wasn’t going to challenge myself who would it was all great for training.
We set off early with the sun already shinning down on us, today was going to be a warm one. When I was first invite on group runs I was a bit nervous I would hold people up or might fail at running the distances but I have to be honest I’m glad I said yes and took that step, running alongside friends having a chin way (a great way to know the pace is right when you can run and still talk) and having them to pace me really has helped me build up my distance.
Fairly flat route heading from my doorstep, down onto the trail and along to poolsbrook country park. Quick toilet stop before returning back along the trail and up. Note to ones self must master pulling up sweaty tikki’s quicker for Marathon. Didn’t go round the lake saving that extra mileage for another training day.
Heading up the last stretch of hill towards home was a tough one, legs were now tired and my muscles were definitely feeling the mileage but I couldn’t stop now not when I was so close so I plodded up to the top to be greeted with Sharon saying we were so close to a round number of 11 miles and couldn’t stop now so off around the small estate we went and into our car park circling the car park a few times. I think that was the toughest part of the morning I could see my back garden gate but knew it would annoy me not rounding off the miles and I would regret not staggering that little bit.
17.73km in the bag!!! Check out those calories burned!! I must remember this is not an excuse to over indulge.
So happy with this one. I would never have done it if it was not for the help and support of my running buddies Sharon and Marie.
So I think im all caught up apart from The race for life and training runs which I will blog separately. Hope your still with me at this point? Don’t forget to keep following I know it’s going to get tough and I have so much more to learn. I love to read others blogs too so if you blog please do share with me.
