The clock is ticking

With only 7 weeks (and 4 days) until the London Marathon, it's starting to really creep up on me & with all the plans for my supporters in place (more of that soon), it's now just a case of getting myself 'match ready'! Sounds so simple. 

The injury to my foot is now, fingers crossed, firmly in the past so for the past week it's been a case of upping my times & distances. This has been going well and I've been trying to really make the most of my rest days. 

Since I started full on marathon training, I've been seeing an osteopath every fortnight, he has been doing an amazing job of getting my limbs ready for the 26.2 miles & giving me some great advise especially when I had the injuries, this has left me feeling much more positive.

I was back to 2 hours+ last Sunday which really gave me the confidence to get another hour at least on the clock within the next 5 weeks before the tapering begins.

This is definitely not my marathon pace band,
more like Mo Farahs!!

The next area to look at is my pace for marathon day, because I run varying distances & times at the moment, it's really difficult to work out my current pace. I've been playing around with different times and I really do go from anything around 5:58km p/h to 6:20 dependant on the distance. 

It's been recommended I have a pace calculator around my wrist with my ideal pace times so I've looked at some templates and printed a few off to try out over the coming weeks.

To be honest, I think I'll just end up running my own race but it's good to try these things out beforehand just in case.

There really is so much to think about that I never even realised. 

My tip of the week came from my osteopath who suggested taking a black bin bag to the marathon start with me just in case it rains then I can stay dry at the start & dispose of it before I begin. This is something I wouldn't even consider!  



  

Today's Mantra

More waiting, more worry

After another 4 weeks of waiting on results I finally heard from the hospital on Friday. It wasn't the news I was hoping for. My case has been referred again to the board of consultants & they'll be discussing my results at their monthly meeting on Thursday. It's an odd feeling knowing that something is out of your hands & that whilst you're sat at work going about my daily routine there are strangers in a room at Southend Hospital discussing what will be happening for my imminent future. 
I'd be lying if I said I wasn't really worried and hadn't had a few sleepless nights in recent days plus I'm letting the slightest thing get on top of me. I have to keep reminding myself that I'm in really good hands & I that I'm actually very lucky. 

Onwards to the marathon training & with my fundraising now being over £3200 every pound that comes in really does spur me on. So anyone who may be reading this who has donated, thank you, it means so much to me & the charities. 

Touch wood my foot injury is now starting to ease off a little & after doing as I've been told and getting back into the training slowly, I'm now starting to get back on track. Tomorrow I'm aiming for 75 minutes as a short run & if I can accomplish that without stopping or having any pain in the foot then I'll be delighted & really feel like the marathon can be achieved! I'll have my full running confidence back. 

A bad day at the office

I've read on a number of running forums that most runners have a really bad training run before a big event, well mine was today! 

I've been feeling pretty exhausted over the past few weeks from a mixture of worry about results from the hospital, too many early morning runs, arranging fundraising events & generally doing too much with very little down time, so when the alarm went off this morning I just wasn't feeling it.

 

My good friend Dan was texting me about to do his insanity workout & he encouraged me to just go out there & run! 

I got dressed & ready to go feeling much more positive. My training plan wanted a 120 minute run which is a time I've completed a couple of times now so it wasn't like I had to really push myself to the limit - I thought! 

The weather has been horrendous lately with storms & as I run alone the seafront, it's very open to the elements & today's nemesis was wind!! 

We've been battered by these winds for days now & it's getting harder to run in them, today was no exception & worst than any of the other days. I was running into the wind & it might as well have been making me run backwards, it was awful & I used up so much energy just trying to put one foot in front of the other. 

About an hour into the run I became really emotional, all the negative thoughts in my head telling me I couldn't do it and the panic about the marathon being in only 9 weeks had literally hit me like a truck. I just sobbed. 

I kept running but with the wind, the emotion & the pain in my foot (which is always looming) I just couldn't continue. I stopped to catch my breath and stretch out my foot & that seemed to help for a few minutes. 

I decided to start heading for home & the though of a nice warm bath got me through another 30 minutes of very slow running. 

That was me done, 1hour30minutes & I couldn't do another step. It really was the worst run I've done both physically & emotionally. 

I got home feeling very deflated & frustrated with myself. 

It's left me feeling pretty low all day & thinking about what I could have done differently. 

I guess I have to put it down to experience & know that if I've hit a rock bottom run it can only get better. 

I have the osteopath tomorrow so fingers crossed the foot will be fixed & I can get back on it from Tuesday! 

Only 9 weeks to go & I really need to make them count! 

Another milestone

I've been beaming from ear to ear all day after completely half marathon distance on my training run this morning! I managed to complete it in 2hours 9 minutes which I was really pleased with. 

This is the longest I've ever run and if anyone had told me a year ago I'd be running anywhere near that amount I'd have laughed.

I have a foot injury too so that made the run all the more difficult & I've been struggling with my legs hurting since I finished the run but the main thing is I completed it! 

Plenty of stretching & ice being applied now! 

I picked up a new water belt at a local running shop yesterday which came in so handy. It has four small bottles attached so I can carry water & sports drinks with me at the same time, making a huge difference! It was really nice to have my hands free from carrying a bottle too. 

The best is elasticated so doesn't move around like most running belts as you're on the move. 

My latest running aid is banana chips! I now take a packet on every long run. I have a couple before I set off as I find it hard to eat anything much before a long run. Then after around an hour I eat a couple more & again just before 2 hours to give me that final boost! I suppose it's each to their own & now I've found this works for me I haven't looked back! 

I'd love to hear your running tips for hydration & boosting your run!