Tunbridge Wells Half Marathon

On Sunday, I ran the Tunbridge Wells Half Marathon, organised by the Tunbridge Wells Harriers.  It's a great race which takes a hilly (yes, hilly..not undulating!) course through some of, what must be, the most stunning countryside and picturesque villages you'll find in Kent.

I was determined to finally get my half marathon time under 2hrs, but unfortunately it wasn't to be...I ended up on 2hrs 3 mins and 23 secs, which I'm actually pretty pleased with as it was still a PB, and the hills on the course definitely made it a challenging run for a runner with my level of fitness.

I would definitely recommend the race to everyone who can get to that part of the world though - as pretty much every review I've read says, the race is incredibly well organised, it's a lovely route, and there's an astonishing level of support from the local community.  I think pretty much every section of the course had people lining it, clapping us along and calling out encouragement...and the number of people with jelly babies was impressive too!  The race really did tick all the boxes including having Olympic athletes taking part which was really special - Liz Yelling won the women's race with a course record and Dame Kelly Holmes started the race and amazingly hung the medals round our necks at the end!  And what medals - they're huge, and every runner also got a great technical shirt, which I actually ran the race in, an absolutely packed goody bag at the end. There was a mini-expo in the sports centre at the start, lockers or a well run baggage centre, an indoor area to warm up...the list of positives for this race goes on and on...

There were also some awesome downhill sections where I got to run very fast and easily, and get that exhilarating rush you feel as your legs run away from you.  I really love that feeling!  To counter those sections though there was THAT hill.  Between 6.5 and 7.5 miles, the never ending hill was hard...really hard.  Many, many people around me gave up and walked it, but I fought through the pain and the burning desire to stop too, and I ran all the way up that bloody hill, and I'm very proud to say I did.  I had to take my headphones out, concentrate totally on my breathing, and really focus - it was the hardest mile I've ever run, but getting to the top, (having a gel at the next refreshment station) and then starting to feel the strength return to my legs as I ran on, was incredibly satisfying.  

What I was also really pleased with, was that my last mile was my fastest mile of the whole thing...this bodes well for my marathon efforts and all in all, it was a thoroughly lovely way to spend a Sunday morning! :D

I've found my miracle cure

So, another day, another run, another bout of calf/lower leg pain.  This is getting boring now and I really need to start proactively trying to fix it.  I must drink lots of water, eat the right food, stretch on the days I don't run....However, while I do all of these things (or not, as the case may be because I'm quite self-destructive sometimes) I have found a miracle cure to deal with the immediate pain.

Now, every runner must know the smell of Deep Heat.  When you're at a meet, it can be overpowering as apparently every runner uses it, and for me at least, it really is the smell that I associate with a race.  Unfortunately though, I can't use the stuff - the smell of it really irritates my lungs, and I can't breathe properly whenever it's sprayed near me, and I find the burning sensation it creates on the skin quite painful. As a result, I've never really thought about using any products to help with injuries, other than taking a paracetamol or ibuprofen.

My miracle cure!

Today though I remembered that stuffed in the back of my cupboard somewhere out of sight, was a can of Deep Freeze spray, which my mum bought me while I was preparing for my first marathon in 2008 but which I'd never used - I was going through a bit of a downer with an ankle injury and didn't think anything would ever help me recover and didn't want to try anything.  However, being in a bit more of a positive frame of mind these days, I decided it would be the perfect thing to try.  It essentially works by cooling your muscles, I suppose just like icing them - but is very quick, easy, and much more intense than any ice-pack I've ever used.  It was an amazing success.

The menthol smell is innocuous enough (a world away from Deep Heat) and it didn't set me off coughing or spluttering, so it cleared the first hurdle.  I used the spray very liberally for about 30 seconds, and it did feel like my legs were being frozen off for the next 5 minutes or so, but the beneficial effects were remarkable and rapid - I couldn't feel any pain any more (due to the numbness I guess!) my muscles felt much more relaxed, and even now, hours after application, I have much less tightness, hardly any pain and increased mobility in my ankles. Although I know I still need to treat the root cause of why my legs are cramping up so badly, using the Deep Freeze is definitely going to be a more regular thing for me....I might even buy some of the cream to give that a go, and maybe some of the little travel canisters that will fit in my waist bag so I can use it when I'm out on a run too!

Not another injury?!?

I went out for an easy 4 miles yesterday...and half way through started really suffering from terrible cramps in the back of both my lower legs and across the tops of my feet.  I tried to stretch out, to no avail, so ran through the pain, and as soon as I got home could do nothing other than lie in a hot bath.  Possibly not the best way of dealing with it, but it helped ease the pain, and stretching was making no difference.

This morning I was still experiencing the same pain, so, very worried that this was some issue related to my achilles injury that I thought I'd recovered from, I spent some time consulting Dr. Google to find out what might be wrong...and the conclusion I came to was that was probably a nutritional & hydration issue.

It seems that calf/lower leg cramps are very common amongst runners and other athletes, and are often caused by a mixture of dehydration, and a lack of potassium and magnesium.  As this has happened at the end of a week when we happened to run out of bananas in the fruit bowl, I've barely eaten any salad, and I know I've not been drinking enough, this sounds pretty likely!

So, I had a decent breakfast, including the all important, potassium rich banana, and more to drink that I usually have in a day, popped a multivitamin, as well as some ibuprofen & paracetamol, and an hour or so later headed out for my long run of the week.

A mile in, I still had a fair bit of pain, but stretched out again, and went on.  Amazingly, during the run, the pain definitely eased, and at the end of my 10 miles, the cramping has completely gone, and now I'm not in any pain at all.  I really need to be so careful with my diet and hydration, particularly as my mileage increases as the marathon draws nearer - something so simple can make such a big (painful!) difference.

It's feels like Groundhog day....

Bill Murray in the movie Groundhog Day

It's a getting a bit predictable...

The alarm rings at 5.30am. I get up, have some cereal for breakfast, go for a run/do some exercise, update blog, twitter & facebook, have a yoghurt & banana, leave for the station, spend the day at work, come home again, log-on to the internet, have dinner, fall asleep in front of the tv by 10.30pm.  

Or alternatively,  

The alarm rings at 5.30am. I turn the alarm off and oversleep, eventually wake up & rush around getting ready for work, run for the train. Spend the day at work, come home, have dinner, check-in on blog, twitter and facebook, go out for a run at 10pm, go to bed at gone midnight.

Obviously this isn't all I do, and my boyfriend and I do go out, have fun, friends come over, etc etc...However, I am feeling a bit bored by the routine, maybe I need to throw something different in there, like taking up ice-hockey, or judo, some totally random new hobby...or maybe I just need a holiday! ;)

...and that guy's name was Pheidippides

This is a sticker you can buy from Cafe Press The slogan made me laugh....I must have said these things a thousand times to people!

Cafe Press have loads of cool stuff, and I could spend a fortune there on clothes, mugs, posters and all sorts of other things that I don't really need, all emblazoned with running slogans (although I always hope that I'll get given them for gifts instead!)... Think I must be really quite sad ;)