But I Dont Have Over Two Hours of Hill Music

What are the chances of doing it on a bike????

Sorry for the long delay since my last post, its been a difficult couple of weeks for Team Little Legs. We lost our Nan-Nan, a wonderful lady who fought and ultimately lost a long battle with Alzheimer's Disease. The last few days of her life were hard and in the days since we lost her its been hard to motivate; I've found myself eating cupcakes and dodging training. However she would not have wanted that, she was a devoted lady and would want us to keep going regardless, she always did. So I am once again pulling on my trainers and hitting the keyboard, but I love and miss you Nan-Nan and this Sunday I dedicate my half-marathon to you.

My Nan-Nan (second from the left) with my Grandad, Mum and Aunt

 

So back to business. I have my first half marathon on Sunday, and to say I am bricking it would be an understatement. I had managed to lull myself into a false sense of security, I had done a couple of ten mile runs and had not died as a result, and I took this to mean that 13.1 miles would be a realistic prospect. Ha ha ha ha HA! On Saturday this week I joined the fabulous Corin, Firefighter Extraordinaire, for an autumnal run around the breathtaking Howden and Derwent Dams, a 10.4 mile run taking in Victorian dams, woodland and open moorland . As we left the Fairholmes car park the sun was shining, the water was still, and leaves were colours not thought possible in nature. I was full of confidence and looking forward to the road ahead. By the time I came to climb yet another hill at the beginning of mile six, I was sweaty, in pain, and trying to work out if I could ride one of the many sheep grazing nearby back to the car park. I was destroyed. My previous ten milers had been flat and/or down hill, with very little in the way of actual climbs. In comparison this run was what I like to call a what goes up must come down, although it has lots of nice downhill sections, you have to climb up there before hand!

The scene of my undoing

 



To make matters worse, I had in my ultimate stupidity done a five mile Fartlek the day before and a full on body pump session the day before that! As a result my quads were screaming and my legs felt so heavy I was tempted to check my trainers for lead shot.  Corin in comparison was fresh as a daisy, and I felt very much like I was holding her back (she however was a complete running gem, and never left my side or tried to up the pace) I made it back to the car park, but my confidence was by that point missing, presumed dead, and the thought of the half marathon that was only eight days away was terrifying. I have done the Worksop Half Marathon twice before, so I know what is coming. Receiving the hill profile of the race by email a couple of days later only served to confirm that my memory is indeed correct, 13.1 miles of hills await. I take some small consolation from the fact that it is a loop course, that starts and finishes at the same place, meaning once again, what goes up must come down. The race does indeed have some lovely down hill sections, unfortunately they are all preceded by a quad destroying, glute crushing hill. I have discussed how I use upbeat music to get me up hills during races, but I only have about twenty mins of hill music, on this occasion, I'm going to need a bigger play list! I have also discussed how I use race strategies, well my ideal strategy for Sunday involves a tandem and an Olympic cyclist, perhaps Bradley Wiggins is available? Alas, I feel even if I did grace the starting line sharing a bicycle made for two with Wiggo (of course sporting matching sideburns) the fellow racers would feel I was not quite acting in the right spirit. To add insult to final injury, the weather forecast for Sunday is just awful, rain and cold. But, I am a Yorkshire lass, and if I didn't run in the rain I would never run outdoors. So I have crafted the final race plan, and it lies below

 

1. Good upbeat music and a carefully crafted play list (to be completed tomorrow evening) 
2. A good running kit (happily I have now lost two stone of baby weight and can get back into most of my kit). This will prevent me from succumbing to hypothermia before the end of mile eight
3. Support. I feel weather conditions will be too unpleasant for my fellow members of Team Little Legs, however, I will take perverse pleasure in the thought that my husband will be cycling up the huge hill from Worksop to Clumber Park and then standing in the rain for an hour for me to pass him, before he cycles back down the hill to meet me at the finish.
4. NO FIVE MILE FARTLEK RUN THE DAY BEFORE (no further discussion needed)
5. Positive Thinking. I can do it! I have done it before, for pity's sake I ran from mile seven to the end in 2007 with a broken bone (thank you adrenalin) I can do it. I have put in the training, I am fit and its going to take more than a bit of sleet to stop me now!

So thanks for letting me prattle on,wish me luck and do me a favour. I take great delight in sitting and watching the Great North Run or the London Marathon with a bacon butty and a cuppa. I leave Worksop at 10.00am on Sunday, so put your feet up, get that cuppa and think of me as you watch the rain pour down your living room window. I will be out there plodding away, thinking of little Quinn and my Nan-Nan. Once again you can sponsor me at all the usual places, please help us with our cause, and I'll let you know how I got on next week.


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