And i'm back...

My lack of motivation over the last couple of weeks has been pretty disconcerting, and on Saturday, the evening before the Billericay 10km, I was feeling it acutely - to be honest, I wasn't sure if I was going to turn up at the start line. However, I didn't burn my bridges - before going to bed, I set my alarm and plugged in my Garmin, deciding to see how I felt in the morning.

When I got up on Sunday, the rain was torrential...biblical even! It was very cold, windy and decidedly miserable.  I was seriously considering a DNS for the race. I sat on the sofa, looking out of the windows onto the garden for a bit, and had a good hard think. I've only had two DNS's before...one for a half marathon because I had bronchitis, and for the Kent Roadrunner marathon which was 17 laps - after recceing the route the weekend before, decided that many laps of that course would drive me insane ;)  These were, in my mind, legitimate reasons for not running those two races.

I considered what my reasons would be for a DNS at the Billericay 10km. I couldn't think of a single good one - I just didn't really fancy it and couldn't be bothered with it - but I knew that if I didn't go, especially after not having run for a while, it could be the beginning of things going very wrong with my running. I knew I had to just pull myself together, and run.

So, I got on with it.  I dug out some kit, checked where the race HQ was, and jogged down there, arriving about 15 minutes before the start, already absolutely drenched to the skin. I  picked up my number and timing chip, and then went and stood in the rain just to get a bit more wet, jumping up and down to try and keep warm, until the starter hooter sounded and we were off.

This is the report I wrote on dailymile:

My first mile was very slow (9:38) partly because of the crowd and partly because my legs just didn't seem to remember what it was all about. The second mile wasn't great either but I was faster, and after getting beyond a stretch of narrow path where we were single file, I felt I was able to get a bit more into my stride and my legs seemed to realise that it was a race! ;) The rain was still torrential and as we got into the country lanes near the River Wid, it turned out that the road was flooded in lots of places - in the first place it came as a surprise, and the water was up to mid-calf...but we all ran through it, with shrieks and giggles at the shock of the cold! On we went though, and eventually found a bit of pace, and did the last half a km in an average pace of 6:43. Shame it was only a 10km, I think I could have done with a half marathon today, but I do think having a race was exactly what I needed, and I'm hoping that next week my training will get back to normal and my mojo will have returned!

This morning I'm feeling pretty good about the race. I'm a bit disappointed to have got a pen instead of a medal (yep...a pen - what's that about?!) and my trainers are still wet, but I can't tell you how glad I am that I went. I would have felt so awful if I'd not turned up, and I'm not sure how I would have made myself get back into training mode, but when I finally found my legs at the end of the race and got a bit of speed up, I really felt that I'd remembered that I love to run :) Roll on the Luton Marathon in two weeks....

Bloody wombats

For as long as I've been running, this has happened every so often but I wasn't expecting it at all this time...out of the blue it's happened again...I've totally lost my running mojo! :(

Morning after morning, and night after night I'm not going out to run. My schedule has gone out of the window, with only 23 miles banked last week, and only a gym session this week - no running at all so far!  I came home early from work yesterday because I felt so out of sorts, probably not helped but the fact that I'm eating terribly at the moment which is also making me totally lethargic and exhausted, which then turns the situation into a vicious circle.

Every day that passes I know I'm getting further away from managing a good performance at the Luton marathon that i'm due to be running in a couple of weeks.

I know this will pass - it always does - and tomorrow morning I will try again to get up, out and to shake this off...I'm still calling myself a runner, but to make that true, I do actually have to do a bit of running!

The photos

The photos from the Stort30 race are up now and you can see the full gallery here: http://www.challenge-running.co.uk/gallery/

Here are a few of me from my new favourite race! :)

My prize for first woman home.
Can not believe I have my eyes closed!! Typical

I only went and won it!

I ran Challenge Running's inaugural Stort 30 race yesterday... a very pretty out and back 30 miler along the River Stort, with some lovely tree-covered sections, views across fields, lots of locks, and a bit of street running at the beginning and end.

I had been really looking forward to this race for ages, and when I heard about it thought it'd be a good one because of the route and location, and because the race director was Lindley Chambers who's a very experienced ultra runner. I was so enthusiastic, I was the first person to sign up!! This afforded me the privilege of wearing number 1 for the day but also of having everyone joking with me that I'd have to win it now because of my number! ;)

I told Lindley that I was going for a sub 4:45 (a 5 minute PB for me at 30 miles) and so he could forget about me placing anywhere near my race number! 

The night before the race, I'd been reading the twitter reports about that day's route recce that had been done by Allan Rumbles (who'd supported me at the Challenge Hub 50 miler in the summer) - he said it was slippery in the muddy sections from all the rain there'd been and someone was likely to end up in the river! ;)  Unfortunately it then proceeded to rain pretty much all night, so by the time I got to the race I was ruing not having any trail shoes & convinced I'd be the one who'd be taking a swim! Nevertheless, my trusty Brooks road shoes were going to have to do as they are all I have!

The thing I'm really enjoying about running these small ultras is the community aspect of it...and it's really nice that I'm starting to recognise and know people at the races.  I hadn't met them before, as I know them through Twitter but I caught up with Conrad and Kate before we started who were both running their first ultras - so nice to put a face to the name and meet people in real life!  I ended up running the first 5 miles with Conrad and it really does make such a difference running with someone - definitely makes it easier! Unfortunately we went out much faster than we'd planned. In my mind, I'd decided to keep my pace below 9:30min/miles, and Conrad had planned on 10min/miles but I think we did those first few at about 9min/miles which goes some way to explain why the wheels came off a bit for both of us during the latter part of the race! 

Anyway, despite forecasts to the contrary, the weather held for us all day, and it was cool and cloudy but with no rain. As expected though, it was ridiculously muddy in a few sections, and I lost my feet from under me many times where it had got very slippery...I am amazed that I didn't fall over or end up in the river. I had one ankle turn but only very minor and after hopping about for a few seconds, the pain disappeared quickly.  A lot of the race was on hard path with a couple of sections on tarmac thankfully, so it wasn't all hard work! I definitely felt the effect of the mud though - I found my legs and back aching much more than I'd expected, and think it was because of all the sliding about and zigzagging!  

There were 5 checkpoints out on the course, and the marshals were all lovely - really enjoyed my brief chat with them, and the food and drink provision was excellent.  The morale boosters from them all was even more appreciated...I passed the second checkpoint to be told I was second woman! Never happened before (the benefit of the Stort 30 being such a small race with so few female entrants) and unlikely to happen again, but I was very pleased.  After that, at each checkpoint, I was reminded I was second woman.  At mile 20, they told me I was still in second, but I should go after 1st place.  I told them I was slowing down, and it was getting hard, and the girl in front just seemed to be disappearing from me, but they were very persuasive and confident, and told me to go for it. So I did.

At some point, I managed to catch up to the girl in 1st, who stood to the side and wished me luck as I passed. How awesome is ultra running...no one would do that in a marathon!! She was running with (I'm assuming) her boyfriend - we had a chat after we'd finished, and it turns out he runs 100 milers and she's an Ironman, training for a double Ironman next year - incredible! This was her first ultra though so she did incredibly well.

Anyway, after catching up, I carried on, but was getting slower and slower, seeing my time goal slip further and further away :( I kept walking when I should have been running, and stopping to stretch when I know I didn't need to. I'm not sure what was going on in my head, but it certainly wasn't my best performance in that respect.

Unfortunately as I slowed, I got overtaken by lots of guys coming up through the field who had been able to maintain their pace, and I was definitely disappointed with my last 10 miles, but I finally made it to the finish line...1st LADY!!!! Yep, I won (the women's race) and it's the first time that's ever happened! 

I'm very pleased, and am really looking forward to seeing the photos from the race as I think there will be quite a few and without a doubt, this race is now going to have a special place in my heart, even though the time was way off what I'd hoped for - 4:57:38. I will be back next year and I'm determined to do much, much better - I doubt I'll be able to place again, but I'm will get a time I can be proud of!

I stayed at the finish for an hour or so, having some of the lovely cake and supplies that were provided at what was essentially a final check point but with hot drinks too (why don't more races do this?!) chatting to people.  I got presented with my prize for first lady (still totally unbelievable) and waited to see Kate finish which was brilliant, and then made my way home.

It was a very good day! :D

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Reflections on my running

I find myself in a reflective mood about my running at the moment, and this is, I'm afraid, a bit of a self-indulgent post.

I've been spending quite a lot of time tinkering with my training schedule and race plans for the next 12 months, as I work out how to best prepare myself for the 10in10 and beyond, but it's struck me that I'm getting so involved in my schedule, planning for the next race and filling in spreadsheets, that I've lost touch with what I've actually been doing.

I've had a brilliant six months - better than I think I'd hoped for - with PBs at the half marathon and marathon distances, carrying the baton for a solo-marathon stage of the RelayGB world record attempt, and then discovering the wonderful world of running ultras, with 30 miles in July at my first Enigma race, followed a couple of weeks later with the Challenge Hub 50 miler, and then completing 90 miles along the Thames Path at the Toad two months after that.

I'm also really lucky to have been able to share the success and progress of so many of my friends as they've taken on their first attempts at distances, achieved fantastic PBs, set records and recovered from injury. It's been a privilege and a joy to hear about how everyone has got on in their most recent endeavours, and I hope I've been able to support those who have had set-backs too.

All in all, it's been fantastic and I can't quite believe what I've achieved recently.

So, just for once, I'm going to take a moment to really remember those awesome races, the people I've met through them and the friends I've made, and how much I'm really loving being a runner at the moment!