This could be quite a long post but even so I'm bound to forget some of it.
The evening before the marathon we met up with 8 members of the extended LERC family for a pre-marathon pasta party, it was a lovely evening and good to get some last minute advice. We headed back to our hotel so I could get all my kit out ready for the morning, nerves were really starting to kick in-no backing out now. I'd been warned that I probably wouldn't sleep that well but actually I was so tired that I slept brilliantly.
I woke up at 6.30 on Sunday 28th April, also known as my 38th birthday and got into my running kit. The weather was perfect-overcast and cool, absolutely ideal. Breakfast was revolting-instant 'just add water' porridge but it's food. I left Pete in the room and went off to meet up with the rest of Team LERC on tour, we made our way to Old Trafford together and did the usual pre-race faffing. I was on a different start to the rest of them so we said our goodbyes and good lucks and I made my way to the start area. As I got to the start I was anxious to get going, it was really going to happen. Yikes. At 9am we started to move towards the starting mats and within about 5 minutes we were off. As I started I heard "Laura" and there was Pete waving me off, he often feels like a running widow so it was lovely to have him there.
I wanted to finish in under 5 hours, or maybe 4.45 if it all went my way but above all I wanted to enjoy it and do it right. I set myself a maximum pace of 10.15 a mile, any faster early on then I'd be bound to struggle later on and 26 miles is a long way to struggle! The atmosphere was great, plenty of people to talk to (obviously you can run faster if you don't talk but it's nice to chat) which really helped to settle me down. The first 4 miles were a sort of loop so Pete was at mile 4 with his camera again. I couldn't really tell you much about the actual route, there were some out and backs so I could spot my clubmates and give them a shout. The support from the locals was amazing and having my name on my vest meant that I got lots of shouts.
After a few miles warming up I just relaxed and enjoyed it, keeping an eye on my Garmin to make sure I wasn't going too fast. There were lots of water stations and I stuck to taking a gel every 4 miles as I had in training. I'm not going to talk too much about the mile by mile, the splits will do a better job than I can (10:17 10:19 10:18 10:24 10:12 10:14 10:17 10:28 10:15 10:25 10:20 10:47
10:37 11:00 10:28 10:56 10:34 10:22 11:01 10:23 10:41 11:07 10:35 11:16
10:36 10:09) the ones that start with 11 are where I had to walk for long enough to drink the isotonic drinks. I wanted a consistent pace and I'm pretty pleased with how that turned out.
The LERC on tour support crew were at about 9 miles, fab to see them. I went through halfway in about 2.16 so more than on target and feeling absolutely fine. After about 19 miles the route took us away from the towns and up a long, windy country lane with very few spectators. At 20/21 miles I rounded a corner and heard the unmistakeable sound of cow bells, Jane, Maz, Carrie & Adam with a supply of Jelly Babies and a massive 'happy birthday Laura' banner. Jane's rendition of happy birthday rounded it off perfectly. I felt sorry for the 7,990 who didn't have a LERC support crew, they are amazing and always seem to be at just the right place. So just a 10k or less to go, I was prepared for it to get a lot harder here and hoping to avoid the dreaded wall. It did get harder but not to the degree that I wanted to walk or wished I wasn't doing it. 22/23 miles I got a bit emotional thinking that I was going to do it and I still couldn't quite believe it. Mile 24 was the slowest of the whole race, I was feeling it by then but still felt pretty good considering. Miles 25 and there was Pete again so I knew I was near the end.
The approach to the finish was something I will never forget. All I could hear was people cheering and shouting my name, incredible. I crossed the line in a time of 4.35.53 which was far better than I'd ever hoped. I did it, I ran a marathon and I ran it well and I'll certainly do another one. As birthdays go it was certainly a memorable one and rounded off perfectly with a glass of fizz with my clubmates and very proud husband.
Tuesday 30 April 2013
Friday 26 April 2013
Almost there
Where does the time go? My last long run was last Sunday, I did 8 miles with 3 clubmates and it was great. The pace was quick and the run was really enjoyable. Since then I've done a 2 mile and a 5 mile and that's it. No more running until Sunday morning when it's finally marathon day. 16 weeks and 400 miles of training and the day of reckoning is now just 36 hours away. I've almost packed and I don't even think I've forgotten anything-I've definitely packed my trainers anyway.
The standard advice is to take it easy and have a relaxing week with plenty of sleep in the week leading up to your marathon. Sadly that's not quite how real life pans out, I've had a busy and stressful week, nowhere near enough sleep and I am totally knackered. Today hasn't really been anything like ideal but it's nearly over. Hopefully I'll catch up on some sleep tonight and fingers crossed I won't get woken up at 5.20am again tomorrow morning (thanks son). I have a sore leg but that's shin splints/tendon ouchiness due to 4 months of road running, it just has to cope with a few more hours then it's back offroad where legs are happy.
I've had some lovely messages from my friends, including the most fantastic card from Anna (see the pic on facebook, it's amazing). You really are a lovely lot and your support has really kept me going, you need someone in your corner for a challenge like this. So although most of you won't be with me on Sunday, you all helped to get me there. It's up to me to get round and I hope I can do it. I'm nervous and I don't usually get pre-race nerves, maybe it's the fear of the unknown as I have never run more than 21 miles before. I'm so nervous I've even forgotten it's my birthday on Sunday, I was really surprised when my workmates came in to sing Happy Birthday!
I have 3 aims for this marathon. Bronze- to finish and still be alive at the end. Silver-to do it in less than 5 hours. Gold-to do it in 4.45. You can keep an eye on my progress on the Greater Manchester Marathon website, kick off is 9am Sunday morning. Fingers crossed I'll do it, I'll let you know.
The standard advice is to take it easy and have a relaxing week with plenty of sleep in the week leading up to your marathon. Sadly that's not quite how real life pans out, I've had a busy and stressful week, nowhere near enough sleep and I am totally knackered. Today hasn't really been anything like ideal but it's nearly over. Hopefully I'll catch up on some sleep tonight and fingers crossed I won't get woken up at 5.20am again tomorrow morning (thanks son). I have a sore leg but that's shin splints/tendon ouchiness due to 4 months of road running, it just has to cope with a few more hours then it's back offroad where legs are happy.
I've had some lovely messages from my friends, including the most fantastic card from Anna (see the pic on facebook, it's amazing). You really are a lovely lot and your support has really kept me going, you need someone in your corner for a challenge like this. So although most of you won't be with me on Sunday, you all helped to get me there. It's up to me to get round and I hope I can do it. I'm nervous and I don't usually get pre-race nerves, maybe it's the fear of the unknown as I have never run more than 21 miles before. I'm so nervous I've even forgotten it's my birthday on Sunday, I was really surprised when my workmates came in to sing Happy Birthday!
I have 3 aims for this marathon. Bronze- to finish and still be alive at the end. Silver-to do it in less than 5 hours. Gold-to do it in 4.45. You can keep an eye on my progress on the Greater Manchester Marathon website, kick off is 9am Sunday morning. Fingers crossed I'll do it, I'll let you know.
Thursday 18 April 2013
Put some fun in your run
Another very late blog! The 5 and 8 went well and it's lovely being able to run in the light evenings. This week's long run was 12 miles which is relatively short compared to the very long runs. I'd arranged to meet some clubmates to run with on Sunday morning so I knew it would be fun. I jogged the 2 miles from home to the Navi to meet everyone else, I think it was a record turnout as there were 12 of us. I really do belong to a very sociable club with some lovely people. We ran along the cycle path again to Elvaston castle and then did a nice big lap of the country park. Being the very serious athletes that we are we made sure we had time to stop on the playground for a quick climb of the climbing frame (and probably my favourite ever running photo). Then a nice run back with plenty of chat to a variety of people, we do cover some very diverse topics. I'm going to have to find somebody to talk at in Manchester :-)
Week 15 should be 3,5,8 although I'm sneaking in a 5k on Friday so Sam can do a fun run.
The taper is properly underway, I feel fat, sluggish and underprepared. Normal for tapering I believe. Hard to believe that in 10 days time it'll all be over (and I'll be 38!).
Week 15 should be 3,5,8 although I'm sneaking in a 5k on Friday so Sam can do a fun run.
The taper is properly underway, I feel fat, sluggish and underprepared. Normal for tapering I believe. Hard to believe that in 10 days time it'll all be over (and I'll be 38!).
Saturday 13 April 2013
The last long one
Once again I'm very late with this blog but week 13 is worth blogging about.The two 5 mile runs were both fine and not much trouble, it was the 20 mile run that I was worried about. Sunday morning was coolish but dry and sunny, perfect running conditions. I ran the 2 miles to the Navigation by myself and met up with four of my clubmates for a long Sunday run. We ran along a cycle path (route 6 for those of you in the know), along the canal and onto Elvaston castle country park. We did a lap of Elvaston and then Kev guided us through villages and eventually back to the river. The run was beautiful (being mostly offroad), the weather was perfect and we had some laughs and plenty of chat.The miles just notched up easily one after another until we got back to Breaston after 16 miles (for me, 14 for them). The 16 miles were really no trouble and I thoroughly enjoyed it all. I went the long way home to take me up to 20 miles, the last 4 were a lot harder as I was on my own but looking at the pace they were consistent with the other 16 so I think that's just a mental thing.
So that's it, the final very long run done. I'm still unsure how I;m going to manage another 6.2 after the 20 but I've followed the plan so in theory I should be able to do it. It just doesn't always feel like it but the crowds and the occasion will really help. I'm not feeling fit but again I think this is normal, as is the feeling that I'm piling weight on. It's the early days of taper madness.
Week 14 (almost over already!) is 4 miles, 8 miles, 12 miles. The weather is set to get warmer which could cause me problems as I've trained through a very wintery winter and much prefer cool running.
So that's it, the final very long run done. I'm still unsure how I;m going to manage another 6.2 after the 20 but I've followed the plan so in theory I should be able to do it. It just doesn't always feel like it but the crowds and the occasion will really help. I'm not feeling fit but again I think this is normal, as is the feeling that I'm piling weight on. It's the early days of taper madness.
Week 14 (almost over already!) is 4 miles, 8 miles, 12 miles. The weather is set to get warmer which could cause me problems as I've trained through a very wintery winter and much prefer cool running.
Saturday 6 April 2013
A change of scenery
A very late blog but I've been away and then very busy since we got back, just time for a quick round up of week 12 before week 13 finishes tomorrow.
Week 12 was a good one, I did my 8 mile run all by myself and it was really very enjoyable (for a road run). The 7 mile coincided nicely with club night so that really took care of itself.
The main event was the long run. The plan said 8 miles so not that long a long run. As it was Easter we were on holiday in the Yorkshire Dales. The weather in the dales was really snowy, snow you measure in feet rather than inches. The roads were clear though so I could have done a nice 8 along the roads, I didn't though. In Reeth there is a brilliant shop called Swaledale Outdoors, they sell all sorts of fantastic running/walking/cycling gear and every Saturday they lead a run taking in the amazing local scenery. I showed up at 9.30 to find a group of very fit and experienced fell runners, as you often seem to find with runners they were all very lovely and welcoming. We covered the planned 8 miles, it was amongst the toughest runs I've ever done but I thoroughly enjoyed it. I fell over lots of times, sunk into snow over my knees too many times, kicked steps up a mountain and shared an Easter egg with my new friends. Without the snow it would have been a technically tricky fell run, with several feet of snow it was verging on the mental. But bloody brilliant.
I'd love to upload some photos but I can't make it work, there are a few on Facebook which are well worth a look.
Week 13 is two 5 miles (done) and 20 miles tomorrow morning. That's a long way and I think I'm a bit scared.
Week 12 was a good one, I did my 8 mile run all by myself and it was really very enjoyable (for a road run). The 7 mile coincided nicely with club night so that really took care of itself.
The main event was the long run. The plan said 8 miles so not that long a long run. As it was Easter we were on holiday in the Yorkshire Dales. The weather in the dales was really snowy, snow you measure in feet rather than inches. The roads were clear though so I could have done a nice 8 along the roads, I didn't though. In Reeth there is a brilliant shop called Swaledale Outdoors, they sell all sorts of fantastic running/walking/cycling gear and every Saturday they lead a run taking in the amazing local scenery. I showed up at 9.30 to find a group of very fit and experienced fell runners, as you often seem to find with runners they were all very lovely and welcoming. We covered the planned 8 miles, it was amongst the toughest runs I've ever done but I thoroughly enjoyed it. I fell over lots of times, sunk into snow over my knees too many times, kicked steps up a mountain and shared an Easter egg with my new friends. Without the snow it would have been a technically tricky fell run, with several feet of snow it was verging on the mental. But bloody brilliant.
I'd love to upload some photos but I can't make it work, there are a few on Facebook which are well worth a look.
Week 13 is two 5 miles (done) and 20 miles tomorrow morning. That's a long way and I think I'm a bit scared.
Sunday 24 March 2013
Write your goal in concrete and your plan in sand (or snow)
Here we are at the end of week 11, just 5 weeks to go. I'm a planner, I like to have a list and I like to tick things off my list and that's how I've approached my marathon training. If I do all the training and tick it off then hopefully the race should just follow on naturally.
I started the week feeling the effects of the Ashby 20 last Sunday, heavy legs and with various aches and pains. I did bootcamp on Tuesday which helped get me moving again. Wednesday's run went well, 6 miles at 9.32 pace although the first 3 miles were tough. Thursday was 7 miles so that was to be covered by a 6.8 mile club run, I wasn't expecting any problems with it. The weather was cold and I ran so badly and found it so difficult that I may as well have had a blue rinse and changed my name to Doris. It was like I'd never run in my life but had decided to borrow the legs of an octogenarian to give it a go. Undaunted I looked ahead to Sunday's 16 miles.
I'd like to say that Sunday dawned bright and sunny like a typical March day, but that would be a lie. Sunday dawned with a temperature of -2, 4 or 5 inches of snow and a wind direct from the North Pole. Despite the weather 11 of us met up for a nice relaxed long run of around 15 miles. It went wrong from the start, my Garmin had died, the weather was difficult and then there were snow drifts up to my knees. It was beautiful though and it's always fun to have a run and a chat with my clubmates, it was just the actual running that didn't seem to work. We all agreed that it was difficult and ended up calling it a day at 10.5 miles. It was the right thing to do as I couldn't have managed another hour out there running but it means I can't really tick my 16 mile run off with a clear conscience. In 'normal' conditions I could have done it without any problems but today just wasn't the day for it. It's the first week that I haven't done it properly and hopefully it'll be the last.
Next week holds a 7 and two 8s. I'm not going to predict how they'll go after this past week. Sunday's run will be happening in North Yorkshire, possibly up hills with some local runners which will be fun. I'll report back when I get home on Tuesday.
I think I need to address my diet now, I'm putting weight on which slows me down. I know what to eat but I eat too much of it and supplement it with far too many extras as I'm marathon training. All I need to do is be a little bit more sensible (or eat a bit less cake).
I started the week feeling the effects of the Ashby 20 last Sunday, heavy legs and with various aches and pains. I did bootcamp on Tuesday which helped get me moving again. Wednesday's run went well, 6 miles at 9.32 pace although the first 3 miles were tough. Thursday was 7 miles so that was to be covered by a 6.8 mile club run, I wasn't expecting any problems with it. The weather was cold and I ran so badly and found it so difficult that I may as well have had a blue rinse and changed my name to Doris. It was like I'd never run in my life but had decided to borrow the legs of an octogenarian to give it a go. Undaunted I looked ahead to Sunday's 16 miles.
I'd like to say that Sunday dawned bright and sunny like a typical March day, but that would be a lie. Sunday dawned with a temperature of -2, 4 or 5 inches of snow and a wind direct from the North Pole. Despite the weather 11 of us met up for a nice relaxed long run of around 15 miles. It went wrong from the start, my Garmin had died, the weather was difficult and then there were snow drifts up to my knees. It was beautiful though and it's always fun to have a run and a chat with my clubmates, it was just the actual running that didn't seem to work. We all agreed that it was difficult and ended up calling it a day at 10.5 miles. It was the right thing to do as I couldn't have managed another hour out there running but it means I can't really tick my 16 mile run off with a clear conscience. In 'normal' conditions I could have done it without any problems but today just wasn't the day for it. It's the first week that I haven't done it properly and hopefully it'll be the last.
Next week holds a 7 and two 8s. I'm not going to predict how they'll go after this past week. Sunday's run will be happening in North Yorkshire, possibly up hills with some local runners which will be fun. I'll report back when I get home on Tuesday.
I think I need to address my diet now, I'm putting weight on which slows me down. I know what to eat but I eat too much of it and supplement it with far too many extras as I'm marathon training. All I need to do is be a little bit more sensible (or eat a bit less cake).
Sunday 17 March 2013
Don't trust the weather forecast
Week 10 has been what you could describe as a peak week. An easy start to the week with a 3.5 run on Wednesday, this turned out to be pretty quick and so I've reclassified it as a speed session.
Thursday's plan was 8 miles so I got to club early and did 1.5 miles before the 6.5 mile club session. Bearing in mind that I'd done Grindleford the week before I'd say I'd recovered pretty quickly and both midweek runs were pretty good.
Today was the Ashby 20, which was to be my longest ever road run. The weather yesterday was appalling, Sam's football match (25 minutes each way) seemed to last a good 4 hours in the wind and rain. The prospect of 20 miles in those conditions really didn't appeal. Every weather forecast I could find was promising cool, dry conditions with a gentle breeze-perfect running conditions. It was great to get up and find that the forecast seemed to be right, when I and the rest of the mighty team LERC arrived in Ashby it looked like a great running day. The first mile or so was lovely and I was getting nicely into my 10.00 mins per mile planned pace. I was running just behind two runners from another club when all of a sudden the man's legs buckled, he collapsed and started to shake or maybe fit. His poor clubmate was shouting "somebody, help me". I have no first aid knowledge at all but thought I should stop but as I turned round I could see that the marshall and another runner was already there so I carried on. At that point I was thinking "bloody hell, poor man. What the hell am I doing even attempting this?". It did unsettle me.
After another mile or so I heard the welcome sound of the travelling LERC supporters club complete with flags and cowbells, I belong to the most supportive running club in the world. It was about then that the drizzle started, I can deal with drizzle. Then the rain started, and the wind so that the rain was blowing directly into your face. In case that wasn't making it difficult enough we had some snow next, then finally a full on blizzard. I was actually glad when it went back to 'just' raining. Running wise it went fairly well, first mile 9.45, average pace 10.15 and last mile 9.58 with most miles in between close to my planned pace. Could I do another 6 miles after that? No way. Just 6 weeks until I have to though. Today's run took 3.27 so a 4.45 marathon might be possible, if I can just do those last 6 miles.
Next week is easy by comparison, 6 miles, 7 miles, 16 miles. Hopefully no snow, hail or locusts.
Thursday's plan was 8 miles so I got to club early and did 1.5 miles before the 6.5 mile club session. Bearing in mind that I'd done Grindleford the week before I'd say I'd recovered pretty quickly and both midweek runs were pretty good.
Today was the Ashby 20, which was to be my longest ever road run. The weather yesterday was appalling, Sam's football match (25 minutes each way) seemed to last a good 4 hours in the wind and rain. The prospect of 20 miles in those conditions really didn't appeal. Every weather forecast I could find was promising cool, dry conditions with a gentle breeze-perfect running conditions. It was great to get up and find that the forecast seemed to be right, when I and the rest of the mighty team LERC arrived in Ashby it looked like a great running day. The first mile or so was lovely and I was getting nicely into my 10.00 mins per mile planned pace. I was running just behind two runners from another club when all of a sudden the man's legs buckled, he collapsed and started to shake or maybe fit. His poor clubmate was shouting "somebody, help me". I have no first aid knowledge at all but thought I should stop but as I turned round I could see that the marshall and another runner was already there so I carried on. At that point I was thinking "bloody hell, poor man. What the hell am I doing even attempting this?". It did unsettle me.
After another mile or so I heard the welcome sound of the travelling LERC supporters club complete with flags and cowbells, I belong to the most supportive running club in the world. It was about then that the drizzle started, I can deal with drizzle. Then the rain started, and the wind so that the rain was blowing directly into your face. In case that wasn't making it difficult enough we had some snow next, then finally a full on blizzard. I was actually glad when it went back to 'just' raining. Running wise it went fairly well, first mile 9.45, average pace 10.15 and last mile 9.58 with most miles in between close to my planned pace. Could I do another 6 miles after that? No way. Just 6 weeks until I have to though. Today's run took 3.27 so a 4.45 marathon might be possible, if I can just do those last 6 miles.
Next week is easy by comparison, 6 miles, 7 miles, 16 miles. Hopefully no snow, hail or locusts.
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