Decisions, decisions.

Had I been the type of person to believe in signs and omens I probably wouldn't have left the house this morning, or at least I would have turned back before I got 3 miles from home.

A squabble between child number 4 and child number 5 resulted in child 4 falling (or was he pushed?) off a chair and getting a black eye.  I decided to leave the house anyway.  I got about 2 miles from home and realised that I hadn't got my Garmin with me.  This wouldn't have been an insurmountable problem if I had been wearing a watch, but I wasn't, so I turned back and went home to get my watch.

I wasn't stressed, I still had plenty of time.  I got further this time.  And then I hit black ice.  I tried to turn left and the car slid across the road.  I braced myself for an impact as the car slid, sideways, into the verge.  I was driving a Volvo so there was no harm done to the car!  A wee bit further on I had to divert around a road closure (a fallen tree was being demolished), yet still I was determined to get to Bramley for the 10.30am start!

I last ran this race (the 10 mile version) two years ago, and remembered that one of the car parks was some way from the start, but arriving with very little time to spare I felt I couldn't risk driving to the closer car park, finding no spaces and then having to drive back again.  I parked at 10.10am and had to run the mile and a half to the venue, I got there with a few minutes to spare, dropped my bag at the baggage drop, realised I'd left my Shot Blocks in my bag so had to go back and get them, then I dashed to the queue for the loos and made it to the start line with about a minute to spare.

So, we were off.  The weather was fabulous, blue skies (if you can remember what they look like) and lovely and warm.  A bit too warm really.  I was wearing a long sleeved top under a t-shirt and the long sleeved top had to go.   It is quite a faff to remove one top from under the other while running, but I managed it!  It was all going quite well at this point, and at about 4.5 miles I caught up with some friends I know via Basingstoke parkrun and ran with them for a few miles.  At 5 miles everything started to hurt.  Or rather, everything down the right hand side of my body started to hurt.  I think the adrenaline from the near miss in the car and the aggro of getting to the start had worn off and the earlier impact was taking its toll.  I told my friends to run on, and said that I was going to stop at 10 miles.  I meant it.  I limped past friends from parkrun and Fetcheveryone who were there supporting the runners, assuring them all that I would stop at 10 miles.  I still meant it.  I'd forgotten that the course seems to be almost totally uphill, apart from a nice little downhill to the finish.  I really couldn't face running the second lap.

At the 10 mile point the runners were directed to the left if they were finishing the 10 mile race and to those running the 20 mile race to the right.  I knew I wasn't eligible to finish the 10 mile race, so I carried on, thinking that I would pull up soon after.  My training plan stated that I should run 15 miles today, so I had it in my mind that I would get to 12.5 miles and then turn round and come back.  At about 11 miles I stood by the side of the road and updated my Facebook status to say 'This will be my first DNF.  Entire right hand side of body is agony - I blame the skid earlier.  11 miles done and I'm heading back to the start.' And I meant it, I really did.  At this point, a friend passed me, and told me I should head back, so I ran with him for a while instead and decided to see if I could get to 15 miles.  I adopted a 'run/walk' strategy, running for 4 minutes and walking for 1 minute and struggled on.  And I do mean struggled.  I had no power in my right leg, but the further I went the less sense it made to give up.  15 miles came, and I realised that even if I walked the rest of the away I would finish before the 4 hour cut off time.  So on I went.  I was encouraged by fellow runners.  Spurred on by setting myself small goals (one of them was to get away from the woman with the jangley coins in her pocket) I eventually found myself at the sign saying 3/4 of mile to go - the end was almost in sight and the last half mile is gloriously down hill.  I had nothing left, I just wanted to get this over with.  I managed to cross the line, and then grabbed railing and hobbled though the finish area, waving off some concerned questions from the first aiders and collecting my goody bag.

I was about to head home when I head someone call "Hello Fetchie" (I was wearing my Fetch hoodie) and turned to find myself being invited back to a strangers' house for 'Tea, cake, chilli...'  Now, much as I would advise my children not to go home with people they have met on the internet, I have never been much for following my own advise, and was reassured when I heard that mutual friends were already there.  Tea, cake and a bit of chat in a very comfy chair followed.  Thank you to 'Ironmum' for making me feel so welcome - it might even make the prospect of running this race again a bit more inviting.  

I staggered back to the car, turned the heated seat on, and drove home without incident.  It took me a while to get out of the car when I got home, and even longer to get up the stairs to the shower, where I discovered that yet another pair of running tights have started to chafe.  I am going to have to have a clear out of worn out running kit if I want any skin left on my back!  

So, not a great day, but beautiful weather and a time (3:25:55) I can aim to better if I ever run another 20 mile race! 

Gosport Half Marathon.

I had a lovely curry last night with some lovely friends.  We had been trying to get a date in the diary for months, so the fact that I was running the next day didn't really factor greatly when I booked the table.  I just decided that I wouldn't try anything new and I would not drink too much.  The food was great, the company was fun, I had a couple of beers and we got home fairly early so that I could get a good night's sleep.

I didn't sleep well.  I am normally very good at sleeping, so this was something of a surprise, but I didn't have to get up too early so it wasn't a big deal.  What was a bit more of a big deal was my rather uncomfortable stomach!

The journey down to Gosport was uneventful.  Parking was a bit more stressful as I searched the car for loose change to pay the hefty pay and display charge.  Soon I was making my way, via the toilets, to the race HQ.  I bumped into several friends along the way, sorted out timing chips, dropped off baggage and walked to the start.

I was still feeling a little bit delicate.  But, in for a penny (or about £14 in this case), in for a pound, and once lined up at the start line there is only really one way you can go.  I had no expectations of running a PB, I decided to enjoy my run and just see how it went.  The course isn't hugely interesting.  It is flat, that's true, but with a few exceptions it is a bit boring.  We had a couple of convoluted loops of the airfield which could have been mind numbing apart from the fact that the numerous switchbacks meant that we could see faster/slower runners coming past in the opposite direction.  I spent most of this time spotting friends and shouting encouragement when I saw them.

There were some lovely bits, running along the promenade with the beach to one side and jauntily coloured beach huts to one side was very memorable, and we were lucky to have a virtually wind free day.  I should imagine that it would have been a different story running into a headwind at 12 miles.  The marshals were unfailingly cheerful, and the on course support was good.  Overall it was a very well organised event with a pleasingly octagonal medal and a well filed, reusable goodie bag.

At around 8 miles I got chatting to a girl who was really struggling.  I ran with her briefly, encouraging her as best I could.  I decided that if I couldn't run a PB I would try to help other people make the most of their race.  There was another lad, who at about 13 miles was stumbling along saying 'I can't do this!'  I fell into step with him for a while, and bullied him into pulling his socks up!  I told him to concentrate on how far he had come, and how well he was doing.  He soon pulled ahead of me, and despite the fact that I had lost a few seconds by talking, talking, talking I was just so thrilled to see him cross the finish line with an exhausted smile on his face.  Both these runners sought me out afterwards to thank me for helping them finish their first half marathon.

I ran a good, evenly paced race.  In the final reckoning I finished in 1hr 53mins 05secs.  Less than a minute slower than my PB, which gives me great hope for next year.  It was also faster than my last half which I ran last month.  I'd felt much fitter and stronger then, and have run a full marathon since then.

I did a lot of thinking while I was running.  One set of thoughts were related to teaching and may result in a separate blog post if I get time, the other was about this running nonsense.  I think I have come as far as I can in terms of improvement by myself.  I think I need to join a running club.  I have resisted so far because I'm not sure how well I'll respond to being told what to do and beaded through drills!  I hated PE in school and I really hated PT when I was in the TA.  I was always the slightly uncoordinated one who couldn't keep up with everyone else, huffing and puffing at the back of the group and trying to find every possible excuse to get off games.  I guess I dread feeling like that again, but at the same time I know I have take that risk if I want to improve.

So, now I have to find a running club that has training nights I can get to and who are happy to have me.  Wish me luck!

The first York marathon

I've been to York lots of times, but I always seem to forget just how far away it is from my house in Hampshire.  This was definitely the case when entries for the inaugural York Marathon opened back in January.  Luckily I remembered soon enough that I would need to book a hotel room.  That was all done way back at the beginning of the year and then, what with changing jobs and a million and one other things to do, I put it to the back of my mind.  When you have five children going away overnight is not a simple matter.  Taking them with you makes any hotel stay rather pricy (especially as all the hotels in York seemed to have hiked up their prices for this weekend), you can't leave a 16 year old in charge of his siblings for that long, so arrangements must be made.  Our arrangements this time saw the two youngest going to stay with my mum (who we met at a service station on the M1 for the handover), the two oldest ones staying with friends, and the middle one coming with Husbando and I.

The journey up on Saturday afternoon was uneventful, and we checked in to a Travelodge near the University campus where the race was to start.  I'm a Premier Inn girl myself, but there was no availability so Travelodge it was.  The beds aren't as comfy in a Travelodge.  After a final carb load at Pizza Express we returned to the room for an early night.  This was a marathon where I'd actually be able to get a lie in as my alarm was set for 7.30am.

We got to the campus at about 8.30am.  It was somewhat confusing walking in as the signage seemed to be set up for the shuttle buses and drivers rather than pedestrians.  We walked through a warren of university buildings, along the way we found a very rare thing - a ladies' toilet with no queue!  Then through a few more warren like bits and we joined the baggage queue - possibly the longest queue I have ever been in and moving so slowly.  I did a rough calculation that there was no way I'd get to the baggage drop before the starting pens closed, luckily I had Husbando and middle child with me, so they could take my bag.  I said goodbye to them and then joined the masses at the start.

I bumped into two fellow Fetchies there - lovely to put faces to names.  I have yet to meet anyone wearing a 'Fetch' shirt who wasn't friendly and happy to chat.  The 9.30am start was a little delayed and took me a few minutes to get across the start line, but it was good to be moving!  The first stretch was down hill.  Quite a steep downhill, which was worrying because I knew we had to come back up that road at the finish.  I tried not to think about it.  We ran into the city centre, through the main shopping centre, passed Betty's Tearooms and York Minster before heading out into the countryside.

The support was amazing.  Not just in the city centre but in all the villages (it isn't every race where you get to high 5 a lady vicar who is standing outside her church in her Sunday best) and at random points on country lanes.  You'd be running along, hoping that you'd reach a point where you could die quietly around the next corner (or dip behind a hedge for a comfort break) only to find a group of people cheering!

This marathon was billed as being a flat marathon.  It is the hilliest 'flat' race around!  The hills were accompanied by unexpectedly dry weather, but it was very windy in places; especially as we ran up a hill past a garden centre called 'Breezy Knees Garden Centre!'  At 20 miles I was starting to wilt.  I had a brief walking break, but it was so hard start running again that I decided not to bother with that again. I did have to slow down to text Husbando so that he knew when to get to a spectator point, much hilarity ensued amongst spectators in the village at 23 miles about me texting while shuffling along.  I said I was calling for a taxi.

It was around this point that I realised I could get a PB if I pushed a bit.  I'd turned up at the start line thinking that this race was about just getting round.  That I'd be happy with 4hrs30mins.  I was only going through with it because I was doing it in Ali's memory and because it was the first.  I was frankly shocked.  I started to push myself a bit more, and was overtaking people all over the place, including people who'd overtaken me when I walked and when I had a 'comfort stop!'

At about 25.4miles I got to 'the hill.'  I was desperate now to get this bloody run over and done with, so I just kept on running,  I don't think my pace dropped at all in that mile, but I was overtaking people left, right and centre, which felt great!  And then we were at the top of the hill and it was about 0.3miles to go.  It was a gentle downhill, but my knees were tired and there was no way I was going to throw myself down the hill at full pace.  I'm glad I didn't as I might have missed seeing Husbando and my son in the crowd.  I did manage a fairly strong finish - concentrating on form as I crossed the line.  One lady near me did one better - crossing the line with a cartwheel!  I'd seen her do several cartwheels as we'd run around the route.  I have no idea how anyone could manage that after 26.2 miles - I can't do one at all!

I'd crossed the line in 4hrs 11mins 40secs.  A new PB!  We filtered through to the finish and collected our goodie bags (medals, tech t-shirt and various other bits and pieces) and I met up with Husbando for the LONG walk back to the car (parked at the Travelodge).

It was a good race with excellent support and beautiful scenery.  If it wasn't so far away (it took 6hrs to drive home) then I'd definitely consider doing it next year.

Royal Parks Half

I very nearly didn't bother.  Travel arrangements were a nightmare, I was tired due to a new job and marathon training, but when you've paid £46 to enter a race you may as well make the effort to run the thing!

It was chilly when I set out at 6.30am.  The first chilly morning in a long time, but by the time I got to Hyde Park, having parked my car outside a hotel in Hammersmith and cheekily ducked in to use their loos, it was getting warm.  I'd taken the tube up to Knightsbridge, and at one stop a group of 6 Italians got into my carriage.  They had lined up at the start with me either last year or the year before.  I was hoping/planning to meet up with a friend, with a view to running together, but while I managed to bump into Italian strangers I failed to track down my friend before the race.  Facebook/Twitter/text and mobile 'phone messages were just not getting through as 16,000 runners and their supporters were all Tweeting and texting.

I queued to drop of my baggage, I queued for the loo - the nastiest, smelliest, gag inducing loo I have used in a very long time, and then made my way to the start.   It felt like perfect running weather, a slight nip in the air and clear, blue skies.  I had a plan in my head, this was a training run not a target race, and I planned to run 9min/mile pace and finish in 2hrs - 8 minutes slower than my PB time, and, I thought, a bit ambitious given how exhausted I felt as I stood at the start.

Once we crossed the start line I realised I had made the mistake of starting among faster runners.  But I felt good, and the first few miles felt really easy and comfortable, so I just ran.  At around 3 miles I gave myself a strict talking to and made myself slow down a bit, but if felt good to be running well.  Running around London, not having to watch out for traffic is fantastic, especially on a bright Autumn morning. As we came around the bottom of Trafalgar Square before heading through Admiralty Arch to go up The Mall on our way back to Hyde Park the bells at St Martin's in the Field were ringing - truly magical.

The supporters were fantastic.  I ran for UNICEF again this year, and they had teams of supporters at various points - normally just when I was flagging.  They cheered so loudly and enthusiastically that they must have been exhausted by the end of the morning.  As you run back into Hyde Park you hit a wall of noise, with supporters lining both sides of the route - if feels as though they should be cheering you over the finish line, but this is only the 6mile point!   Once back in the park it is a case of looping around to make up the mileage!  I know this park well having lived nearby for years, but if you stopped me at any point in the last 7 miles I'd have been hard pushed to tell you where we were.

The weather had got much warmer.  So much so that it was a relief to find a bit of shade - although I did get hit on the head by a falling conker a one point.  At around 10 miles I got bit disheartened.  I realised that although I was going to come in well under 2 hours I was going to be way over my PB.  I hadn't been planning on getting a PB, but that didn't seem to enter my head at that point.  I wondered if I could up the pace enough to get close - but a brief attempt at sustaining a faster pace soon convinced me that this wasn't going to be possible.   I missed the mile marker at 12 miles, my Garmin was measuring too long so I couldn't rely on that to calculate how far I had left to go and given that a marshall* had told us at 2 miles in that we were 'nearly there' I didn't really trust the marshall who was telling us that we had less than a mile to go!  (*I didn't shove his megaphone up his arse for such a silly comment!) But soon we were making that sharp left hand turn to run back past the Albert Memorial to the finish.  This bit always seems interminable.  You go from running lots of 'twisty turny bits' to a long straight 1km run.  In my mind the race should stop at Alexandra Gate, but it probably goes on for about 700-800m after that.  I saw 3 people collapsed in the last 800m, including one in the last 20m.  So gutting to have got so far and then not to finish.  I guess the weather was just so much warmer than anyone had anticipated.

I didn't have much energy for a final sprint, mainly because I'd upped the pace for the last kilometre, but I did get over the line in, more or less, on piece.  It was the longest distance I had run without any stopping for a very long time, so I was pleased with that.  I clocked in at 1hr 54mins 32 secs, and I was 690th woman to finish (out of 7192 women), not sure where I was in my age category, but I did overtake some pretty young things.

After the race I managed to meet up with my friend.  We'd first met a couple of years ago at the start of the Bupa 10,000m, and hadn't seen each other in person since then.  It was great to chat and have lunch, and laugh at her exploded voltarol tube.  We talked about our race, our children, our jobs, our running shoes - all that girly stuff, over a lovely lunch before she headed back up to the North East.  Hopefully we'll meet up again soon at the York Marathon.

I want to run this race again.  It is a hugely popular race for very good reason (best goodie bag, interesting medal, great race village and food festival in addition to a stunning route) and entry is by ballot.  I've entered three times and not got a ballot place, so have had to run for charity.  Maybe next year I will get lucky.

Farnham Pilgrim Half Marathon

Until yesterday morning I was considering not going for a long run today.  My training plan said that I should run 15 miles, but I was tired and achey.  A new job  and marathon training will do that to you.  The new job is great, but I am still at the rabbit in the headlights stage, where lots of things seem to take longer than normal.  Until this weekend I  hadn't been to bed before midnight since the beginning of term.   Then, at parkrun yesterday morning, we talking about autumn marathons.  'You could do the Farnham Pilgrim tomorrow if you were feeling really keen,' said a friend.  I said, that would be nice but the Farnham Pilgrim wasn't until next week, and I knew that because I was signed up for the half.  Turns out that he was right and I was wrong.  

I don't do trail running.  I like a nice bit of tarmac.  I don't mind hills, but running through mud, dodging puddles, avoiding tree roots is too much like bloody hard work if you ask me!  But... I'd paid £21 to enter the race, and I was supposed to run anyway, so scratching my head and trying to recall why I had signed up, I went to dig out my trail shoes.  My mood wasn't improved by the weather forecast.  Heavy rain and gales.  That made up my mind, this wasn't going to be a race, it was just going to be a run with a medal at the end.   I would wear 3/4 length running tights and a t shirt rather than a club vest and shorts, and take my 'phone with me so that I could stop and take pictures if the mood took me.  

The weather this morning was lovely, but I didn't really take that on board until I arrived at the venue.  I got there early enough to see friends who were running the marathon off on their way.  The start area was well organised, and I met up with various friends and chatted and passed the time for an hour until it was time for the half marathon to start.  The first mile was downhill and on tarmac.  Lovely!  I knew that there were hills aplenty coming up - see my Garmin thingy for confirmation - so I didn't go hell for leather. 

We were soon off road, and uphill!  For lots of stretches it was strictly single file, which was nice as it meant that you could just relax and run at the pace of the guy in front.  There were also stiles and gates, lots of them.  These involved standing in a queue, which was either quite nice because it gave me a chance to get my breath back after a hill, or a real nuisance because I'd just got into a nice rhythm and knew that it would be hard to get going again.  Also, I hate stiles!  Was jealous of the long legged men who seemed to jump effortlessly over them while I struggled.  Running through one village (ah tarmac!) we had the added obstacle of trying to pass a group of riders on skittish horses, and at another point we encountered a group of motorcyclists we had to weave our way around - it seemed that everyone was out to enjoy the sunshine today.

I'd been warned about a hill at 8 miles, that was steep and on sand.  8 miles came and went without much of a hill, but I did see an old friend who was marshalling and managed to lose a contact lens!  Running with only one eye functioning properly is interesting.  The blur is oddly distracting, and loss of 3D vision means that depth perception is non existent.  That's fine on lovely smooth tarmac, but a bit tricky on uneven trails.  This slowed me down a bit. 

Then came The Hill.  I tried to run all the way up it, I really did.  But it was a fairly steep hill (between 9 and 10 miles on the Garmin trace I think) and it was on sand.  I really think that I might have been able to run all the way up the hill, albeit very slowly, had there not been people walking all around me. It was almost as though it was OK to walk if they were.  I didn't loose too much time, and I had time in the bank.  I had a time in mind that I would be happy with.  A friend, who is a much better runner than me, said she had run this race last year in 2hrs 24mins.  I wanted to do better than that time.  (She ran again this year, taking nearly 26mins off that time).   The views from the top of the hill may have been lovely, if I'd had two eyes to see them! 

The downhills were steep and slippery, so no going full pelt to make up time.  The final 2 miles of the race were a steady, but not steep, uphill drag.  The last 3/4m being on tarmac.  I was amazed that I was overtaking people in the last 2 miles.  Running up the road through the village meant dodging some impatient drivers, one of them pulled right across the road forcing me to squeeze myself through an impossibly small gap - I bashed his 4x4 with my water bottle as I passed him.  

And then we were turning into the field we'd started from.  Not quite a sprint finish, but I did up the pace a bit.  As I crossed the line my name was called out - I do like that, makes me feel like a bit of superstar.  At the finish there were lots of people to place medals around our necks, so much nicer than having to dig around in a goody bag to find one.  There were soft drinks, and a vast array of cakes for finishers.  I bumped into the person who, I suddenly remembered, was responsible for me signing up for the race (doesn't take much - just wave an entry form in front of me), he was handing out cakes.   

In addition to a fab medal (on a purple ribbon!) we also got a great t-shirt and mug.   I am still a Road Runner, I am afraid of the woods, and can't say I 'enjoyed' today's little run.  It was a brilliantly organised event though, there were loads of helpful, friendly marshals, more water (and cake) stations than I have ever seen at an event and the Start/Finish area was superbly organised with a great atmosphere.  The countryside is stunning, the entry price is reasonable, I got to see friends I haven't seen for a while.  All in all a good morning out - and it didn't rain until after I finished!

Run, run as fast as you can!

Saturday was a much anticipated day in our house.  My 9 year old was going to run his 50th parkrun.  He ran his first parkrun in October 2011 and, after a bit of a rocky start, he really knuckled down recently and started coming to every parkrun with me.  Obviously he is dependent on me to get him to parkruns, but on a couple of occasions he has persuaded friends of mine to drive him over and, as his 50th loomed ever closer he got Husbando to drive him to Alice Holt parkrun and run that parkrun with him.

When he ran his first parkrun it took him 43minutes and 37 seconds to complete 5k.  He'd got progressively faster over the 22 months, but we'd been stuck at around 33minutes.  His PB was 32.51, which he set a couple of weeks ago.  As we drove to War Memorial Park we talked about maybe trying for a PB. Wouldn't it be nice to get a PB on this special day?

We lined up at the start.  I was chatting with a much faster running friend who was recovering from injury.  The three of us set off running at a nice, easy pace.  An easy pace for my friend and I, but a little ambitious for the boy wonder, or so I thought.  He just kept going!  He didn't whinge, he wasn't grumpy, he just kept going, and going, and going.  Just as we got to the 'bus stop' (that's what it looks like!) on the last lap I looked at my watch.  28 minutes.  I turned to my friend and asked quietly, so that my boy couldn't hear, whether we could do sub 30.   We thought it was possible, if not probable, so pushed him on a bit.  He powered on through the woods, up hill and along the twisting path, overtaking people as we went.  As he came out of the woods, with the finish funnel in sight, loads of people started cheering.  He shouted out an alliterated phrase that he'd obviously been planning for the entire route and sprinted to the finish - crossing the line in 30 minutes and 1 pesky second! As we chatted on the way home he did point out that if we had started at the front he'd 'easily' have been sub 30.  I said that if he'd started at the front he'd have been flattened!

I'd made cakes to celebrate - cakes and parkrun seem to go together very nicely.  It was lovely to sit around in the sunshine chatting with friends, catching up with a lovely parkrunner who was running her 150th parkrun.  There is no parkrun shirt for 150 runs - but it is a fantastic achievement non the less, and was marked with a certificate made by our Event Director.

I am incredibly proud of my boy!  He has worked so hard and Saturday's run really showed him that a huge factor in running well is deciding that you are going to run well.  He has a real runner's attitude, he will finish a run whatever it takes.  He is always up for a run with me during the week.  He may not be as fast as some boys his age, but he can keep on going, and going and going!  And he will improve over time.  He'll be faster than me one day!

Today saw me heading on up to Bushy Park for the first Run 10 for Mo race. I was glad that I had been to the Bushy parkrun a few weeks ago as it meant I knew where I was going, where I'd park etc.  The event was smaller than the parkrun, limited to a maximum of 500 runners, the entry fee was a very reasonable £5, but every runner was expected to raise £75 for the Farah Foundation.  I would be surprised if there were more than 300 runners.  I'm not sure what happened.  Maybe they didn't raise the sponsorship, maybe the fact that the race was starting at 12 noon in the middle of summer put them off.

A shower of rain at about 11am made me pretty sure we were going to have some nice cool weather.  The clouds vanished just before 12 and the temperature started to soar.  After the usual pre race announcements we were off.  The route was totally flat, and on a mixture of grass, gravel and a little bit of tarmac.  I am not a fan of gravel or grass, and had decided before I set out that would not be getting a PB today.  Doing this of course meant that I was not in the right frame of mind to get a PB.  I ran the first mile too fast, hated mile 2, 3 and 4.  I was doing maths in my head, working out how slow I could run and still finish in under an hour!  (My PB is 49.16).   The heat was sapping, it wasn't a busy race, and the supporters, whilst enthusiastic, were thin on the ground.  I just wanted it all to be over.  I normally feel like this at some point in a race, normally really early on, before I've settled into a rhythm, but that rhythm never materialised today - despite what one of the runners said about my 'lovely, even running rhythm.'  Even with less than half a mile to go it wouldn't have taken much persuasion for me to quit.  Still, needs must, and you can't run a race without a sprint finish.  I managed to put a brief spurt of speed on, and overtook a couple of runners in the final few metres to finish 9th lady and 61st overall.

After getting my breath back and chatting to a few people, I ran back around the course to find a friend and run in with her.  It was lovely to see her and encourage her to the finish - and boy, does that girl have a turn of speed when it comes to a sprint to the line!   (Time 52:38)

We collected our goodie hags - nice quality bag with tech vest, running socks, pencil and wrist band.  No medal, which is a shame, because I do like a bit of bling, but nice to get a vest rather than a tshirt!  Last time I was at Bushy Park I had to dash home, but today I had time to linger and have a late lunch at The Peasantry Cafe.  What a lovely place!  Great company - meeting runners from Reading parkrun, good food, lovely park setting - what more could one want?

Of course, those of you who know me will be aware that I am training for a marathon, and that a 10k/6 mile race does not constitute a long slow run.  So more miles were required.  When I got home I went for a run with my 9yo, then after a short break and an iced coffee, a run with Husbando to take the total mileage up to 13.7 miles for the day.  The last run was really hard.  Alice Holt Forest seemed to have an awful lot of hills, and a lot of gravel.  And my legs were very tired.  Still, I did it.  And a Sunday where I only wear pyjamas, running kit and pyjamas again can't be bad!

#backtothestadium

Way back at the end of 2011 I entered a ballot for a race that billed itself as being a 'once in a lifetime event,' and was fortunate enough to get a place in the the The National Lottery Olympic Park Run.  The experience of running around the emerging Olympic Park with 5,500 other runners was amazing.  It did resemble a building site in some areas, but it was a hustling, bustling building site that was full of promise.

A few months ago I got an email or saw a Facebook status (I can't remember which!) that advertised the National Lottery Anniversary Olympic Park Run.  A similar run, 5 miles, finishing in the stadium, to celebrate the anniversary of the start of the 2012 Olympic Games.  This time it wasn't a ballot for places, this time there were 10,000 places up for grabs on a first come first served basis with a price tag of £27 (compared to last year's entry price of £15).  That's quite a lot for a 5 mile race, but the experience from last March was so amazing that I signed up and got Husbando to sign up too - he'd not managed to get a ballot place last year.

We travelled up on the train, when we boarded at Woking we joined a throng of runners that I know and a party atmosphere ensued!

This year, of course, we knew what the stadium would be like, there wasn't the novelty factor that we had experienced last time when we first walked into the stadium.  We had 'been there, done that and bought several souvenir t-shirts' over the course of several visits to the Olympics ask Paralympics.  It was a shock to see how much has been dismantled as we walked to the stadium.  The airport style x-ray security machines were gone and, despite dire warnings to arrive 2 hours before the start of the race, we got through security pretty quickly.   The stadium itself was as imposing as ever, the aquatics centre was still there, but with loads of scaffolding, the Orbit was in place but with a huge pile of rubble in front of it.   The boys were most disappointed to dissever that the MacDonalds had vanished!

We settled the boys in their seats and Husando and I made our way to the start.  After a week or two of really hot weather it was overcast this morning.  We waited at the start area, half heartedly took part, along with 12,500 other runners (2,500 extra places had been released as a ballot) in a mass warm up, and after a short delay Sir Chris Hoy sounded the claxon and there first wave set out.   We were in the second wave, so we had to wait a little longer - watching the big screen to see if we could spot people we knew!  We saw several people stop just after the start, mobile 'phones at the ready to grab a photo of themselves with Sir Chris!

Soon it was our turn to cross the line.  I was raring to go.  The early stages of the route were very narrow with lots of twists and turns, so there was little chance to get into a good pace.  We ran on every kind of surface: tarmac, grass, sand, gravel!  There were lots of runners wearing headphones who seemed to have absolutely no awareness of what was going on around them.  As soon as we started to run we realised that it was actually still rather warm!

It was an odd run.  Constantly looking for space to run into, wondering where Husbando was - we were running together, but it was hard to keep track of him as most people were wearing their blue t-shirts, keeping one eye on the uneven surface underfoot while trying to work out where we were in the park and what had been demolished!  We crossed the first mile marker in 8mins 31 secs - so at that point we mentally kissed a PB goodbye.  We just couldn't get a good run of speed, so thought we would just enjoy ourselves.

At three miles we were on an out and back section and we saw a dinosaur running back towards us.  Husbando decided that he was going to 'take the dinosaur.'  I thought this was ambitious, but hey - at this point I was just about hanging on, going through a mid race lull with a foot that was giving me a bit of bother (my 'good' foot which was worrying!)  As we got to the 4 mile marker the 'Asthma dinosaur' was in our sights and we passed him very soon afterwards.  How he managed to run in that costume in today's heat is beyond me - it was hot enough running in a tshirt!  

The end was now, if not in sight, but within contemplation.  I picked up the pace.  I kept thinking that Husbando was ahead of me so speeding up, when actually he was behind me!  The tunnel into the stadium was a sweaty sauna - music blaring out and a 'last lap' bell ringing as we approached the track.

And here we were, back on that track.  Husbando said 'Let's run on the outside so the boys can see us and get photos.'  I was doing some running maths (always a bit dodgy) and figured that there was, miraculously, a chance that I could better my time from last year, so wanted to run on the inside.  I compromised and ran in the middle while Husbando ran nearer the outside.   We'd talked about crossing the line hand in hand, but when Husbando took my hand about 60m from the finish I am ashamed to say I shook him off.  There were vital seconds at stake and I couldn't run holding hands - I said 'Too soon!' and fully intended to grab his hand again as we crossed the line.  I didn't quite manage it, but we did cross the line together.  And I did get a PB!  By five whole seconds!

Paula Radcliffe was still at the finish line, shaking hands and signing autographs, there were also paralympians forming a sort of honour guard that we passed through on our way out of the stadium.  A nice, chunky medal and a goody bag were very welcome, as was the breeze when we left the stadium!

Photos will follow soon.  We had to dash back, have a quick shower and change before going down to Cowdray Park to watch the finals of the polo!  What a day!  The team we were supporting won, lots of champagne was consumed and a jolly good time was had by all!