Well the Colchester half marathon is done and dusted and the hard work starts now. We have just eight weeks to step it up to double what we did yesterday. The stats for yesterday were chip times of 2:24:31 for Teresa and 2:24:32 for me, seven seconds quicker than Bristol, but as in most things they are just numbers and don't really paint the whole picture of improvement.
I mentioned last week that although we wanted to improve our time (by more than 7 seconds!) the aims of yesterday were really to (1) measure improvement (if any) since September, (2) to learn more lessons that would help in preparation for Edinburgh and (3) to gauge just how much work we need to do in order to be ready for a full marathon. (We also had two further aims- to not be last, we weren't, yay!- and to not be lapped by the winner- we weren't, just. The winner finished in 1 hr 9mins. What a weirdo :S).
(1) Well there was definite improvement in terms of fitness and recovery. Physically I felt really good. Mentally I got a little bit bored and I'm sure that the mile markers towards the end were wrong. Between miles 10 and 11 and 11 and 12 was definitely more than a mile and they should invest in a new trundle wheel for next time. Although interestingly miles 4 to 5 and 5 to 6 of the two-lap circuit were measured correctly. Weird eh? I don't think I could have done another 13.1miles yesterday but could probably have pushed to 15 which is encouraging. However...
(2) That was because I had had a week of carbo loading etc and was fully fuelled. I think Teresa would agree that she probably didn't eat enough in the run up last week and therefore yesterday was a bit of a battle for her. But mentally she is so strong and a complete inspiration to me and I'm certain that had we been properly fuelled we would have been even more encouraged by our performance. However, we are still on a learning curve and I think when the actual marathon comes round I will painstakingly plan out every meal for every day rather than just eat as and when I feel like it without guilt. 'Fail to prepare and prepare to fail' as my lecturer used to say :S Mentally it was very different preparation to Bristol as it was local, we'd already concluded we would be somewhere near the back of the field and it just didn't have the same big event buzz of our first half marathon. And again, because it was 'just' a training run, we weren't as up for it as we perhaps could have been.
(3) So there is still a long way to go. We have pencilled in some long runs in the lead up to the marathon but even our small runs need to be challenging us. My default 'small' run is now 7 miles. Which is a far cry from when I started! But if I only have time for a small run I need to be pushing the pace and trying to get round in near to an hour to really push my body and improve my cardiovascular fitness for the longer runs. Now the half marathon is gone it'll be 3 runs a week. One short, one long and one more either short or intermediate for the first 3 weeks then up it goes again. In between this probably 2 gym session and maybe a swim with one rest day. I will apologise now to friends, family and significant other as you may not see very much of me for the next few weeks. I'm still not quite sure when I'm going to make time for this amongst other commitments but I do know that I need to prioritise this now if I want to finish. And I really do want to finish!
We seem to have come away from yesterday without injury which is a blessing! I am stiffening up a bit now, particularly my back, and I suspect I may need to get rid of some more tummy before Edinburgh to give my back a break! ( But I made a good start this morning by not buying Milk Tray which was on offer. Still celebrating the small victories!).
I was really surprised by the breadth of people racing yesterday. We had expected it to be mainly club runners as there were only 1000 entry places, hence the pessimistic forecast of how we would do. And there were a lot of club runners. But we were very encouraged when, as we lined up to start, they asked anyone expecting to complete it in under 70 minutes to line up behind the first lamppost (like the school playgournd!) and under 90 minutes behind the second lamppost. There was quite a lot of laughter and a general shuffling backwards as a few brave souls put their necks on the line and headed for the front of the pack.
We started out fairly slow and steady and stayed that way! It seemed to me that person after person was coming past and neither of us dared look behind for fear of seeing tumbleweed and the lorry collecting cones that Teresa had nightmares about before the Bristol half. Some people were kitted out in matching running gear, others looked like they'd stumbled out of bed after a night on the town and decided it would be a laugh to go for a run. One guy ran it in plimsolls. I also enjoyed reading t-shirts to keep from boredom. My favourite was probably the one that read 'Pain is just weakness leaving the body', although I did wonder if the owner actually believed that or whether it was just bravado. We didn't pass them slumped over in a ditch anywhere so I can only assume they pushed through the pain and posted a good time.
The marshalls on the whole were superb and really encouraging. Not quite sure what they made of this crazy lady who smiled pretty much the whole way round (see Facebook pics for evidence)- I think I was just in a whole other place yesterday! One marshall helpfully encouraged us to 'break through the wall'. Easy for you to say. We'd already run 11 miles by that point, you've stood and clapped for 2 hours :P Still, we did appreciate them and everyone else who came out to support and encourage.
The slightly disappointing bit was the 'quality goody bag' promised to every runner. It consisted of a hand towel with the half marathon logo (ok, so that is cool and will undoubtedly be used at the gym and strategically placed on machines so my fellows gymmers stand in awe and wonder :D), a key ring, some sugar free mints and some promotional leaflets. To be honest I'd have been happier with a mars bar and a bottle of coke but each to their own!
Finally (thank goodness, I know this is the longest blog post in history) a huge thank you to everyone at AFC Sudbury who gave to our bucket collection on Saturday 26th March and who have already pledged to formally sponsor me in the marathon. We're unsure exactly how much we raised but many of you were very generous and knowing we are raising money for such a good cause is motivation enough to lay off the mini eggs and put in the time pounding (and it really does take a pounding!) the pavements of Sudbury!
No comments:
Post a Comment