Bristol Half Marathon

This weekend I completed my second-ever half marathon, completely by accident.

Well, I say by accident but I don’t think even I could absent-mindedly stumble into a race of 14,000 people completely by surprise. No, I mean it was very last-minute and totally unplanned. You see, a friend has persuaded me to join her in the Great South Run later this month, a 10 mile flat (I’m assured) course around Portsmouth’s historic docks.

I am by no means a serious runner and often need a steady push out of the door to encourage me to embark on the longer runs but I’ve been trying out some new mechanisms to help my mind switch off from the task at hand and get me enjoying the runs.

It must have worked, as the mileage has been steadily increasing – perhaps a little too much as my runners’ knee will testify – and as the Bristol Half Marathon approached I felt 2012, the year of the London Olympics and all it’s inspiration and glory, could be my year for completing a run I’ve wanted to do for well over 5 years but not had the time/inclination/motivation (delete as appropriate) until now.

Thanks to one of our clients, the charity One25 offered me the chance to run for them. The application pack lurked incongruously for a week or so, as I debated whether or not I could take on the challenge. I agreed with myself that if I could run 10 miles a week before the run, the application would be signed, sealed and delivered.

Thankfully(?) my feet didn’t fail me and carried me through a hilly, drizzly, steady jog. The sense of achievement at the end was overwhelming so before the endorphins wore off and I came to my senses I scribbled a hasty signature on the dotted line and hobbled walked to the post box to wave it goodbye.

 

Needless to say, race day was amazing. Granted, I’ve only done one half marathon before but the atmosphere was incredible (people of Bristol, you never disappoint), the race well organised – I swear the energy gels single-handedly carried me though the last 3 miles – and the course spectacular. As a born and bred Bristolian I couldn’t help but swell with pride running under the Clifton Suspension Bridge.

  I finished in the grand time of 2:10, knocking 5 minutes off of my Bath Half time and feeling utterly thrilled at my achievement with only 6 weeks or so of serious running. The less we say about my knees and hips at this point, probably the better but let’s just say I’m awfully glad I’m married to a sports therapist and am spending more time than is healthy with my foam roller.

 

For me, the real challenge of the longer distances is psychological. My body is willing but my mind resists every step of the way. Using distraction techniques, I managed to overcome this massive barrier and am once again enjoying the runs. If you too find yourself battling with your mind the whole way through, stay posted and I’ll be sharing my tips with you over the coming weeks. In the meantime, I have no time to relax.

Gotta keep this momentum up now for so I can fly (ha!) around that course and bag myself another medal to add to my growing collection.

Getting my sweat on

For the first time in a long time (since having babies?) I'm feeling properly fit. Not quite looking it yet but these things take time y'know?

Since running a half marathon last year and it pretty much killing any enjoyment I had for running (not that much actually, to be fair) the old exercise has been a bit sporadic, limited to cycling into work and the odd token jog or gym session when I could fit it in.

At the start of the summer though, Andy and I went to a fitness convention for work and something just kind of clicked, I went to a ton of lectures on nutrition and listened to the latest research, got tips on training and was just immersed in everything fitness for 2 days. I returned full of motivation and thankfully, it's still hanging around.

Rather than use time as an excuse, I'm actively making time for exercise, a novel concept. Luckily the gym I go to has a great creche so I'll go maybe once a week with the boys and for a longer session on a weekend when Andy's home. I cycle a 15 mile round trip to work twice a week and the rest of the time is either running if Andy's not on a 7am start or doing the 30-day shred.

And the running....finally I'm enjoying it. I'm doing the Great South Run in October and am back up to running for an hour, way more than I could have dreamed off 6 months ago. I love the flexibility and portability of it and am coming up with new ways to keep my mind off the whole 'God this is hard, when will it be over' thing which I've battled with in the past.

Rather than bore on about it, I'll do another post soon with the things I find help me on the longer runs. In the meantime, if any of you have any tips, tricks or advice on how to stay motivated, do share. I'm sure I'll need it soon as the training ramps up!