Week Ten - Getting Serious

Week ten klaxonnnnn.

I'm aware I have said this before, but it's getting serious now kids!

So much so that the BQ NEEDS YOU marketing campaign has begun. Phase one consists of plastering my face around work (my favourite one is right above the microwave so everyone warming up their lunch has my face right in front of them, ha), whilst phase two is likely to be a cake sale the week before the marathon itself. I am in talks with the very best bakers at work to get them involved and spare the masses from rows and rows of my banana cake.

Such a persuasive marketing message has already bared fruit and, as ever, I hugely appreciate all the support I am getting. It would be a million times harder without you. Trust me.

The page can be found here or just search 'BQ Run Club' on Just Giving - YOU DA BEST!

Run #27 - Tuesday 7th March

Relatively speaking, after the 16 miler on Sunday, my body has felt pretty good. A bit slow getting up and about but what's new? I had a day off yesterday nominally on puppy watch, but it was nice to lie down most of the day (watched Titanic - what a film, btw) and eat chocolate. It turns out those chocolate digestives balls are like crack once you've opened the bag.  

Once I had spent about an hour stretching my legs in to something remotely capable of anything resembling running I went out for a very steady, nine mile, daylight drenched five miler.

All good.

Run #28 - Friday 10th March 

Talking of daylight drenched, look how light it was at 6.33am this morning! Pow. Hello spring. Today was an important edition of Run Club as it brought up the 200 miles for the year. Hence the peace signs in the photo. I'm all for peace too, obvs, but this was all about the big two-oh-oh. 

The run itself was fine, a nice hour warm up for Silverstone on Sunday at a tick over seven miles. Not much more to say on this really, other than the fact I had scrambled eggs and a fried egg on toast for breakfast after this - if you think this is 'strange' or 'wrong', I am afraid it is you who is missing out #doubleeggsyaaaaassssss

Run #29 - Sunday 12th March (Silverstone Half Marathon)

So today was my first Half Marathon since June last year and eighth overall which is all a bit mad when you consider I was a right fatty who didn't move quickly anywhere three or four years ago.

Today was very much a 'dry run' for London - the distance is three miles less than I ran last week so it was more about running at the target 8.30 per mile, getting used to consuming more fluids as well as the gel packs. I have been hitting the distance at around 1hr 53 over the last few weeks so I knew what sort of time I was looking at. 

In terms of the key parts of the 'dry run', I had a bit of a mare. For some inexplicable reason my watch decided for the *first time ever* to flick in to kilometres rather than miles. 

YOU WHAT?

WHY? WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME?

No idea. But I rely quite heavily on the watch to keep around the 8.30's so this was a problem. I am not good at maths, this is a well known fact, so trying to convert it to kilometre's was completely out of the question. Turns out finding the setting to change it to miles is ridiculously tricky. Especially when running in the middle of hundreds of people. By the one mile marker I had worked it out. 

Cheers Garmin.

Secondly, I massively ballsed up on the playlist. I made a new, updated version last night - happily updated my phone but didn't select it on Run Keeper. Idiot. I'd always check this normally so no idea why I didn't. Good job the original playlist was there still and 100% bangers.

But still - good things to remember on the actual day. Check the watch. Check the playlist. Don't be a knobhead.

Great to bump in to avid reader of the blog and old Uni housemate Chris just before the race. Welcomed him in to Run Club, gave him his membership card and everything.

I reckon our five-a-side team circa 2008-10 would be a lot better for the increased level of fitness the two star men of the team now have.

The course was weird. The time spent on the actual track was probably about six miles and pretty good, the rest was d-u-l-l weaving in and out of the centre of the course and out back behind the grandstands. 

There was a lot of standing water on the track which would definitely have called for intermediates, whilst the rain didn't really stop until mile nine or ten. But it was fine and would you believe it... a 1hr 53, so great work on the pace and something that I will continue to work on in the next few weeks. 

Whilst it's never nice to see people struggling near the end and walking it is a good boost to me to be able to glide past them and feel pretty good still. I know I will hit the wall, and hit it hard - but it won't be at 13 miles. 

I spent the last mile or two fuming at the knobheads who did have to walk (completely fair enough), but WHY DO YOU INSIST ON WALKING ON THE RACING LINE? Get out the way you dweebs.

*Rant over*

This week's 'absolute-banger-when-I-really-needed-a-boost' is this at about nine miles, somewhere off behind the grandstand in the puddles.

HEY!

I had a great drive back where I took on my energy supplements...

... and began to start thinking about the next three big runs. 

Sixteen.

Eighteen.

Twenty Two.

It's getting really, really serious now.