Day Before GMR

Saturday: Last run before the big race. A major change in the weather, it was cold and wet - fantastic for me, I hope it stays like this for tomorrow. I covered 2. 24km in 15mins 27secs, a slow pace to allow the legs a stretch and still hungry for tomorrow. Very nervous today, as usual with me the day before the race. An argument with the other half didn't help matters. My late cousin occupied my thoughts a great deal today, his passing having motivated me to make running a part of my life. My injured friend tried to keep me motivated for tomorrow and I think I am fairly prepard. I pinned the www.uknetnames.com poster to the back of my top and the race number to the front. I tried to keep hydration levels up, despite the weather looking cool for tomorrow. Today's running drink was SiS GO which was awful to taste, though it did help, especially in taking my mind of running when it got hard. The 'hint' of lemon and lime was more like being strangled by the taste (lol) but I felt it helped with keeping hydrated, so will use it tomorrow, especially incase it gets hot. I am looking forward to the race, though apprehensive, as expected. The idea of 10km is still daunting, is that normal even though I did one already. Nervous but ready as I'll ever be.

Tapering; Rest 2

Friday: Another day of rest, though the body itched to run when I looked out the window. It was cloudy all day and cool, slightly chilly - close to perfect running conditions for me. But I stuck to the plan and didn't run, saving the legs for tomorrow's short pre-race run. The right heel was aching again, intermittently, but I am not overly concerned about it, as the marathon socks cushion the feet so well, worth every penny indeed. Focused on keeping hydrated, as usual, though balancing that with salty crackers, to keep the blood pressure normal. Giving in to curiosity, I rang the doctor's for my blood test results but the line was constantly engaged, so I am still in the dark about them, though I am pretty optimistic they will be fine. Water and salt are helping me get to normal. Also, having found SiS a great help, I went to Asda today and bought 2 sachets of SiS GO. The GO is designed to help athletes during hot weather and that is more suited to my needs than the PSP22 (for general situations). The sachets are a lemon and lime flavour, I have been reassured that the flavour is just a hint and I hope so, as I do not normally like that flavour. Still, I plan to try it tomorrow then again for race day. Runners World had an interesting article abut running in hot weather, how it affects runners and how to deal with it. It was interesting though not overly revealing. I signed up to Runners World a few days ago, subscribing to the 3 copies for £3 offer; I often get articles forwarded to me by my friend and it made real sense to just subscribe to it. As well as the GO sachets, I bought a cheap digital watch to time me for the race and general running. It doesn't have a lap timing facility (it was that cheap indeed) but I am more concerned that it times me. The mobile, though equipped with an easy to use stopwatch and lap time facility, let me down at GER, or perhaps I inadvertently pressed a button as I ran. The watch timer is easy to use and the buttons won't be accidentally pressed by me during a run. I am quite pleased with it, it's a lilac and grey colour, a little bulky, but should do the job, and for very little money. Just a couple of days to go now, I think I have everything I need for the race, just need to make sure I don't have hairy legs (lol) but apart from that, I am fairly organised. I will be attaching an ad for www.uknetnames.com to the back of my race top for my friend, hopefully it will attract a lot of attention for the site. The weather will determine whether I add sunglasses/a hat to my race attire. I did enjoy wearing my big sunglasses for my last run, and I wear a hat for every run anyway, but I shall see how the weather fares. Feeling nervous, not overly so yet, but a little apprehensive. The other half seems quite reluctant to make GMR due to the early (?) time and car parking problems, so I am preparing myself for dealing with the day on my own, as I depended a lot on my younger brother at GER. For instance, I wasn't worried about my bag since he looked after it for me plus took pics. So, I need to make sure I am familiar with the baggage areas and ask a stranger, who I think least looks like likely to run off with my mobile, to take some pics of me pre and post race. I am quite familiar with the city centre anyway, so the nerves are so-so, I do feel excited about the whole day. I won't be getting a lift so need to check bus timetables in advance; it will be nice to see other runners on their way to the race. I am strangely more excited about this race than GER; I think I was quite down just prior to GER on learning about my friend's accident and it wasn't possible to look forward to racing so much on hearing such news, though I did go on to enjoy most of the day. Knowing my friend is recovering well is hugely reassuring and I am getting a lot of support for my race. This was the first race I signed up for, it feels quite final doing this, as it marks the end of 4 and a half months of training, everything was leading up to this. I just hope I can do myself justice. But I am relieved I have already made plans beyond this. It will be a wonderful feeling to reach my birthday having done a hat-trick of races; I will then look forward to organising a programme which will lead me to a half marathon in September. Knowing that I have a goal beyond my current one, will reduce anti-climactic feelings on Sunday night. It is a strange feeling, to go into my bedroom and see my 2 race medals draped across the mirror; I look forward to adding a 3rd to my collection :o)

Tapering; Rest 1

Thursday: A rest day and the body was glad of it. It didn't ache so much in that it felt tired and heavy. I looked over race day details to familiarise myself with it all. Despite 2 races under my belt, the nerves are still there, but that is a good thing, I think. Some nerves are good. I do feel more confident about certain aspects because of the (albeit little) race experience I have. I am not feeling so intimidated by the thought of thousands of runners, that is actually quite an exciting thought. I know there will be lots of bands playing music, a real carnival-style atmosphere is promised. A fellow parent has told me she won't be doing the race due to her period (she refuses to run in a 'nappy' and gets hit severely with it anyway). She is really disappointed she can't do it with her mates. I am not worried about that situation for the race (not that I would let it stop me racing anyway), just got to stay injury-free and hydrated and so on. I felt rather sleepy today, the body seems to crave sleep more lately. I am sure this is due to the low blood pressure more than actual lack of sleep. Today felt like a deserved rest day after running for an hour yesterday; another hot day today, though cooler weather is forecast for race day, and my fingers are crossed for that.

Mind vs Body: Hitting 60

Wednesday: The personal trainer set a target of 60mins for today's run, though I went to bed last night in two minds as to whether today would be a rest or not. Despite a good sleep, I awoke feeling tired, but keen to run. Breakfast was difficult, since the newly opened milk bottle smelt off, for some reason, and there was very little cereal left. I made toast and ate a couple of dates, as well as drinking some Lucozade original. I saved the remaining SiS for the run. Today was another rather hot day, with a cool breeze. I set off at a controlled pace which I managed to hang onto for a while. The body seemed reluctant to go fast, acting as if rather annoyed with my mind who ordered it to move. Very much a battle between the two and it worked well; the body stayed so slow, thus I ran for longer and felt better, to the joy of the mind. My right calf ached again and my left thight felt twinges, initially strong but later barely noticeable. Initially, I thought 30mins was a realistic target, and once I got there (more ups than downs getting there), I thought 'halfway there', thinking of the 60min target. The body wanted to shut down at that thought, crying out that it couldn't do another 30mins. I told myself to try to make it to 40mins, just a bit more, and again, to 50 mins, then going for the magic 60min target. Thinking like this made a huge difference to me, I felt less pressured and more relaxed. I covered 8.81km in 60mins 55secs, which really pleased me. I was really happy to have run for so long non stop, which I could not manage at GER. The SiS and Lucozade in combination worked well, I am sure, and I plan to take SiS with me for race day. After the run, I felt a little dizzy, but my run stopped very close to home so I wasn't too worried about the dizziness. I felt a lot better today, it went much better than some recent runs. I found any signs of faintness were quickly combatted by drinking, slowning down and deeo breaths. At home, I found my right heel was aching again, I was nearly limping when bare-footed but this pain eased off throughout the day. I am now supposed to be tapering, 2 rest days then a short easy run on wednesday. Today's run felt great, running was generally more like fun, much easier to do. I am hoping this wil translate into good results on Sunday.

Giving SiS A Go

Tuesday: Awoke this morning with the body begging for more rest and no running. Tough, I told myself, I need the training. I made up the SiS drink last night and put it in the fridge to keep it cold for the run. A hot day again but with very cool, refreshing winds. I sipped the SiS before and during my run. The orange flavour was tolerable, better than the berry-flavoured Powerade. I covered 3.04km in 20mins 51secs; today's run felt okay, partly due to the SiS, partly due to the cool breeze. My body felt heavy at intervals, even though I did very little uphill. The run ended with me exhausted and sweaty but to a lesser extent. Slow pace today but the main thing is to focus on endurance - feeling exhausted a third of the way through the race is not reassuring. The right calf ached intermittently, my mistake not to have applied calf gel before the run. It was a generally better run, in how I felt during and after. My friend thinks my body is struggling with the recent hot weather and I am inclined to agree, which is what the doctor implied. The SiS drink is designed to replace essential salts/electrolytes lost during running and I am sure it helped today, not sure how much, but I will be trying it again before the race, then possibly for race day. I hear the forecast is cooler temperatures for race day, which would delight me, my training log tells me I run better on colder days, even rainy days. I am looking forward to Sunday, my 3rd race, I don't feel the level of nerves I had with the first two, I think. Perhaps slightly nervous about the volume of runners on race day possibly being a bit overwhelming (3 x the number that did GER) though I thoroughly enjoyed the atmosphere at GER. I won't have my brother or someone with me pre-race as with GER but I know and accept I will do most races on my own. The main nerves centre around my performance, the desire to run the whole race and not walk any of it. I'm hoping to find time to drive around the race route tomorrow, something that I like to do now to help calm the nerves and increase my confidence. Anxious to know that doing 3 or 4 km tires me out in training, wondering how I can hit 10km non stop on race day. Sometimes best not to think too hard about it, the stress is no good for hair loss. Good to know I have support in running from my brothers, though my mother and mother-in-law have begun to stress themselves unnecessarily, convinced I am 'over-running' and endangering my health. I think the low blood pressure issue and blood tests have triggered this, they were previously fine with my running. That, however, is something for them to deal with; time is ticking for GMR and my focus is on that. I have all my running gear for the race, race number has arrived, as has the timing chip. The only thing I need to do is perhaps buy more SiS for the race. I have an assignment due shortly after the race, which is a good distraction for me right now, if I can stay awake long enough to do it. My son is currently going through the potty-training process which is another useful distraction for me, keeping me busy and not thinking/stressing too much about the race. A few days till the hat-trick.

6 Days To GMR

Monday: A planned rest day. I went to hospital, waited a couple of hours to do a blood test that took 5minutes. The results are due Friday, though I may wait till after the race to hear about them. I am sure it'll be fine but I know hearing anything negative may put me off on Sunday, and I need all the positivity I can muster right now. After the hospital, I went to Asda's to get a SiS powder drink sachet. They didn't have the GO one that I wanted to try, I bought the PSP22 instead which is still supposed to be helpful. I will try this for tomorrow's run. The legs felt a little heavy today, not stiff but heavy, and the body seemed glad of a rest. Tomorrow's run will be interesting to see if SiS can help with performance and controlling the faintness. I received an encouraging fmail from a fetchie, which was nice, the fetch community in general is a supportive and friendly one. Getting nervous about Sunday, less than a week to go, and the underpreparation is occupying my mind.

Better, Stronger, Anxious

Sunday: It was a late night and a difficult one, unable to sleep due to it being so warm and also just rather stressed with running. Eventually got some sleep, and awoke early, determined to get running. Big bowl of cereal and some water for breakfast, gel applied, I set off. It was another rather warm day, which makes my heart sink a little. I miss the cold winter mornings for running. Today, I warmed up with a longer walk, having more time on my hands, and began my run concentrating rather hard on maintaining a slow pace. This worked for a while, later I was unable to resist speeding up, but I am pleased I began rather slowly. I had quarter of a bottle of Lucozade isotonic with me which was sipped at regular intervals. Today's run felt better, owing to many factors, probably: drinking lots of water, increasing my salt intake, keeping a controlled and slow pace as I started running. I didn't set a target time or distance, though I of course hoped to beat yesterday. I managed 31mins 09secs, covering 4.99km; I run faster than I realise, but I would happily substitute some speed for real endurance. It was my limit to do that much time, which is worrying when I have a 10km race to do a week today. Mixed feelings about the run at the end of the day. I felt a lot better today, sweating like the proverbial animal still and some weakness but a great deal more like 'normal' than I have been in recent training. It was a lot better in general, I guess I need to focus on that positive for GMR. My friend has recommended trying SIS go energy drink to help with the low blood pressure and general dip in energy levels. I plan to go to Asda tomorrow to try some before my next training sessions. I am supposed to be tapering off this week but I need to try and find a balance between light and heavy running, considering my underprepared situation. It's very unwise to try something new on race day so I will see if SIS go suits me during the sessions I have left. Also, I've been reminded to focus on eating sensibly for running, putting aside weight issues (pics of me from GER were far from flattering and perhaps contributed to some unwise decisions about my diet at present). Just a week to go and the targets are set as follows: a) 60mins b) 65mins c) 70mins. My GER time was just over 71mins, so these targets are based on that, recent training and dare I say, blind optimism. I have been assured this is a flatter race course, which is uplifting, now all I need, apart from a miracle, is cold weather and GMR should go smoothly for me... One can wish...

Fears And Frustrations

Saturday: I awoke this morning, in no mood for a run, switching off the alarm and going back to sleep. When I eventually got up, quite rested, I noticed the weather was cooler, it even rained a little. This spurred me on to go running, but the other half was about to go and study at the library. Just managing to negotiate some training time, I hurried, though remembering to have a good breakfast, plenty of drink, and applied calf gel. I didn't take a drink with me, as I knew this would be a short run due to time constraints. I kept the warm-up short and set off a hastily planned route. It was tough, fatigue set in quickly, but I tried slowing down, which helped now and then. I covered 3.08km in 18mins 58secs, a lot faster than I realised, which is no wonder I am getting all puffed out too soon. Finishing my route was very tough, I struggle much more than I should but it was pleasing I finished and wasn't in such bad shape that I had to stop. Post-run, I felt rather dizzy and had to hold on to railings for balance as I walked home, but it was manageable, I made sure I ended my run close to home incase I felt faint again. I was sweating a huge amount today, really dripping with sweat which surprised me, and I was drinking lots of water for the rest of the day to make up for it. I later went for a walk with the kids, but when I came back, I felt very faint and light-headed, so had a lie-down. It is frustrating right now, feeling like this, almost like being stuck in someone else's body and I am screaming from inside to the body to behave and be normal. The lie-down was a very long one, I had no strength to get up. I eventually stumbled to the kitchen to make tea and toast, which helped. Feeling quite worried about the race now, especially after looking at my training log on fetch. I am not running enough, my mileages/times are too low; my energy levels have dipped dramatically, at the worst possible time, so damn close to the race. I had a dream the other night, that I did the race in 44mins, including having walked which I apparently planned as part of my race strategy. There is no word for how strange that dream felt. I just feel so annoyed right now, the running isn't going as well as it should and there is little time left till GMR. I forgot to have the blood test done today, that is a priority for tomorrow, though the results will come after the race. It's an awful feeling, knowing I am underprepared and that the body isn't doing what the brain wants. I had over 2 litres of water today but still felt weak. Really hoping that things will get better and fast; I set off for every run feeling optimistic, determined and as focused as I can be, but lately, the body seems to be turning against me, and it's very isolating and stressful. There is no way I can't do GMR, I have to do it, got to find some way of dragging this stupid body through 10km, by hook or by crook.