Getting closer

Gosh a lot has happened since the last post.  Firstly I went out for a nice little run on the Monday after that 10k race.  I meant to do about 3 miles but ended up doing 5 miles and that was a mistake.  I was too tired really so the last two miles was more of a run/walk with the emphasis on walk and basically it served me right. Stick with what you know.  Consequently I didn't run again till Thursday and did 6 miles with my friend and that was very pleasant  as we chatted all the way. However, later that afternoon I noticed my lower calf and Achilles was aching.  Strange.  That evening I decided to go to the club's beginner group as it is very nice to meet all our new starters and join in a gentle trot/walk with them. The next day the leg was still aching.  Oh oh.  I couldn't really pinpoint it but it was certainly making me concerned especially since I had a half marathon on Sunday to look forward to! You may recall I was supposed to do this half marathon 'The Stanford Hall Half Marathon' last March but it was cancelled because of the snow! Pretty different to this year, eh? Being as I was worried about my leg I decided to rest completely and so that was it for me running until Sunday.

On Sunday we all had to get up very early.  Getting my family up and out at the best of times is a little like getting an oil tanker off to sea.  Overcoming the inertia is almost impossible.  This is, of course, very stressful.  Plus the weather looked hideous - cold and windy.  We had a two hour journey ahead and the start was at 10.15am. Somehow I felt very out of sorts.  It seemed like a very long time since I had done a half marathon.  October in fact.  A race is very different to me doing a long run on my own even though I have been doing long distances. What I didn't realise was that this race was very hilly! I certainly realised quite soon into the race though. There's just something about the extra effort of going up inclines when you're tired.  If think bubbles could appear above your head they'd be saying "What the ...?",  "If you think I'm...",  "Why I oughta..." everytime you get to another.  It was a strange kind of a race, quite a small turnout, very few supporters, very widely dispersed marshals.  At the end you were taken back into the grounds where you snaked about, looped back on yourself and basically wanted to shriek "Where the heck's the Finish line!!!!".  But when I did eventually cross the line I found out that my time was 2:16:03 which meant I had bettered my best time by 4 minutes.  Wow that was a good feeling! Plus the leg which had started to pain me at the beginning of the race had once again calmed down.  The medal was pretty good too as was the commemorative buff.  I'm quite partial to a buff these days - keeps my hair under control plus is invaluable for wrapping round your wrist and using to wipe your face as necessary. 

Running in a buff as opposed to running in the buff which would be a totally different matter!