Tuesday comes along and I'm like yeah, let's get this 10miler under my belt. I decided to wake up with Jake, a lot earlier than usual, as I wasn't due in uni until 2pm, which meant I was on a 1pm out the house thang.
I was umming and aring about this run, having a tight left hip flexor. But thought, okay I'll do the route backwards, if it gets too painful I could cut it to a 6, 4 or even 3 mile if I had to. I was aiming for a 1hr 45 finish at the most. So off I snailed.
I started at, what I thought, a slow pace as not to set out too quickly. I had packed a SIS gel for around mile 7. Going up the Tamworth road with the route turning off at Hollyfast Lane (where my Mum’s horse is kept).
Little did I forget to ask my mum whether the trees had been moved out of the road due to, was it... Storm Imogen hitting? I thought no, I'll keep on going. I was already hurdling full on trees that had been just brushed off onto the pedestrian walkway! I knew for a fact that this would add at least another mile onto my suspected journey.
I felt suprisingly pleasant, considering the elevation gain. I started to get stomach cramps at about 6 and half miles- nooo. I went to the toilet before I left, damn you mother nature. I thought to myself, it was only about another mile to the nearest toilet stop. Yeey.
By the time I got there, my cramps had siezed so much so, that I just carried on. At around mile 8 I was feeling the fatigue. I hadn’t taken my gel at 7 miles, For fear if it upsetting my stomach. I gave in, thinking I was only 3/4 miles from home, and slurped the gooey gel into my system.
Coundon Wedge Drive is always difficult for me, coming at it from either way always proves a challenge. By the time I had gotten to the end of this road my right knee decided it was randomly going to hurt. The pain! I know why, it's because I didn't put my runners knee supports on my right knee, only the left- these supports have proved to help significantly on my longer runs.
I persisted with the pain, mentally envisioning the route downhill for about a mile or so. The pain subsided a fair bit, causing me to think maybe I had slightly over used it when going up on the inclines. Who knows. Since becoming a runner, I have concluded that the body, bone, muscles, ligaments and tendons work in mysterious ways.
Mile 9 onwards were tough. I doubted if the SIS gel would even have chance to be put to good use, because I’d taken it a mile after I'd planned. It says it can take up to an hour to have an effect. But lone and behold, it gave me that extra boost for the last 2.5 miles.
When I arrived home, the pain in both of my knees were as if I had no patellas. My body was aching in all ways possible. I sat down and drank some pepsi combined with an additional glass of water. But overall, I was glad I finished and enjoyed the vast majority of this run. I clocked in at 1:59:22 for 11.50 miles. Not bad. After comparing this to a similar route from the past, again for my Great Birmingham Run training back on 11th October, it apparently took me 2:12:53, now that's some impressive improvement. Taking into consideration that time my groin went entirely. I had a bit of runners knee this time and that was it really.
You know what this data suggests? Providing all goes well (touch wood) this would be an estimated 2:16:?? Half Marathon time. After estimatingbthis I was exceedingly happy. Can I do it on race day? Coventry Half sees a fairly consistent incline for the first 8 miles, with a downhill shuffle back down into the city centre. Stay tuned. XD!
The following day, I decided to have a rest day as well as finally getting my fiancé for a whole day to myself! We watched that Everest which was so good. Yet, so sad.
Thursday, Jake planned to leave mine at 3:30pm. So I thought YOLO. Mum will be resting before work. The majority of school kids will be home etc... So I may as well leave and go on my run when he left. So I did, I said my farewells to my fiancé, not knowing when we'd see each other next and started my snailtastic 6 miles. As I snailed up Tamworth Road however, my right Achilles tendon was giving this dull aching pain, as if my ankle couldn't support my chunky monkey self. I was past the point of no return as it were. So I solidered on and thought, if worse came to worse I would go see my Mum’s horsey and ask my Paps to come and grab me. But again, the pain just magically disappeared as I started a decend. The rest of the run felt fantastic. I clocked in at 59:26. With hardly no fatigue from my 10 miler 2 days before.
Friday. My weekly dinner with my Paps was due. I'd ordered two different sets of Achilles' tendon supports. I didn't even care if I was being to over the top. I want to avoid injury before race day at all costs. I decided to run to our local Toby Cavery as I was due to run a 4 miler. I put the support on one ankle and the other one on the other. Bad mistake. Ones like a sock, it had incredible support. But, too much support caused a lot of discomfort. I would go as far as to say it put me in quite a bit of pain. Maybe I ordered the wrong size? The other provided a little less support, but was definitely the one to wear whilst running. The other I will leave for home use. With all this taken into account. This run wasn't great. My wireless headphones decided to die on me before 2 miles in (I hate the sound of my heavy breathing whilst running!) and my TomTom was on low battery so I used Strava on my phone- just incase.
The run proved a great uncomfortable struggle. To top it off I'd only hit 3.10 miles as I approached the pub- damn it!
I just wanted a cold drink of Pepsi and a Eat a Sunday dinner! In the end, I just had to run down and back up Holyhead road to build up the last 0.90 miles. It was quite funny actually, my Dad was standing in the car park waving at me like an egit as I ran past, attempting to talk to me. Knowing full well with it being a main road, I wasn't going to hear him. Bless! With that I clocked in at 38:32. 9:32 min mile. Me likey. My last 4 mile came in, a couple of weeks ago at 38:55.
I need to conclude this week with another 4 miler and decide what my long run will be for the forthcoming week. Leading to the week after next being a taper week, which will hopefully include some cross training in the gym.
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