Although this is supposed to function as my online running diary, sadly I haven't written for the last three weeks. I have run though so at least I'm doing the important things! 4 weeks away from race day and I promise I will write more regularly. Since my last post, my running has progressed from 9 miles to 10 miles to 11 - each has been quite different so let me tell you about it.
9 miles - where I hit Runner's Wall
The week after my 8-mile run, I was feeling very off-kilter. I put it down to a very close friend moving overseas and me being more upset than I thought I would be. Either that or I was channeling her stress (and she had been very stressed) after the move, hence feeling absolutely dreadful. It's usually me who does the "going off on adventures" and this was the first time that someone so close to me emigrated (to Paris). Well my friend Simone did move to the UAE a few years ago but I was living in Ibiza at the time so I wasn't so affected. I digress, I'm meant to be talking about running. So, in the days leading up to my 9-mile run, I wasn't really feeling it. Training had been going so well, I would look at my training schedule, see the distance I had to run and go and do it. Simple. Not with 9-miles. I was apprehensive in the days leading up to it. I felt tired and the last thing I wanted to really do was run. The 9-mile day came and I got up and ready somewhat reluctantly and off I went.
As this was the first Saturday in January, I noticed something - lots and lots of people out running (you should have seen how many were out and about on the 2nd January!). Good old new year's resolutions - let's see how many are still running by the end of January - apparently (according to Tony Robbins) - 50% of people have given up their resolutions by the 15th January - very poor! This meant that the place where I normally run, a place where there are hardly any people was suddenly quite busy. I realised I don't really like running in busy places (not quite sure how I'm going to cope doing the Half with all those other runners but I'm sure the excitement will take care of that). I started and it felt more difficult than normal. There used to be a point where the first twenty minutes of a run would be quite uncomfortable, it felt as if my legs and lungs needed that much time to realise what I was asking of them. More recently, I'd noticed it hadn't been such a struggle - until now. I kept running but the thought most prominent in my head was "when can I stop?". I got up to 6 miles and called it a day, feeling quite disappointed. It's the start of a new year, there's all the excitement of how this year's going to be - and then I find myself unable to do something which a week or two ago would have been possible.
As soon as I got home, I sent a text to James, Pass It On Africa charity manager and official running coach, in a slight panic. Our exchange went like this:
Me - Help! I think I've hit runner's wall. Or runner's block or whatever it's called. Meant to do a 9-mile run and only managed 6! What do I do (can you detect a slight sense of panic here?)
J - Don't panic it happens to us all and we can talk about it on Tuesday (he was coming up to London for meetings and a work morning with me)
Me - Ok. Anything I can do in the mean time? Should I try again tomorrow?
J - Yes don't worry about it, have the weekend off and we can go for a run and talk about it on Monday evening or Tuesday.
Me - Ok cool!
J - No worries, have a good weekend and don't worry. You have loads of time and you are going to be great, trust me.
Me - Thanks!
After this exchange I felt a little better and did as I was told, took the weekend off and went on a 4-mile run on the Tuesday with James. We ran the course that people will be running at the HEROES RUN in April - it was quite exciting to see what the space looks like, will be even more exciting to see it full of people dressed as superheroes, running for a great cause and having a fun day out!
10 miles - where the power of Facebook made all the difference!
The week after my initial 9 mile attempt I decided to do it again. I was a week behind in my training but I'd still have enough time to get up to half marathon distance - so long as I nailed 9 miles this time. I really psyched myself up for this one. I decided to run somewhere completely different (Dulwich Park) and to listen to completely new music, to change it up as much as I could. I also wanted to run in Dulwich Park as I can measure distance. I know that once round the main track is a mile and I had this new gadget that measures the distance you run - I needed to check it to make sure it was working properly.
The evening before the run, my status update on Facebook said "9 mile run tomorrow morning *I can do it, I can do it, I can do it!* I was amazed at the supportive response from people - it makes all the difference! This is a tactic I've used before when I started my interiors business - by publicly declaring what you intend to do, somehow you make it happen! Or maybe you know you don't want to let down the people who've shown support so you make yourself do it. Clever tactics - they work. When I woke the morning of the run, I knew I had to run the distance. There'd been more messages in the night so I woke to words of encouragement. I set off to Dulwich Park, feeling much more confident. The weather was perfect, cold, crisp and sunny - ideal running conditions for me. I did one lap of the park and checked my gadget - 1 mile exactly. I knew that was working properly, it was a case of running now. I settled into a comfortable pace, listening to classic house tracks on my iPod.
Dulwich Park isn't my perfect choice as a place to run. I find it a little claustrophobic, you're constantly dodging runners, people and dogs. Lots of dogs, usually getting in the way. I decided not to pay attention to the things I don't like about running there in case it put me off. Head down, I ran and listened to House. I thought about all the people who'd left Facebook messages for me and felt that I was doing this run for them. I started off counting laps so I'd have an idea of distance. By 4 miles, I was so distracted by the music I was listening to, I forgot to count laps, just enjoying tunes that I love but hadn't heard in a while. Some of these songs are really inspiring, they make you keep going just when you start to flag a little. I've always believed in the power of music - here I was seeing it in action when running. If a song came on that was one of my favourites or had particularly inspiring lyrics (usually inspiring you to go higher, reach further etc), I literally did pick the pace up and feel amazing for it. I was so lost in music that I forgot to count laps. I decided to check my gadget at the point where I thought I'd done 5 miles - only to discover that I was at 7 miles. I was feeling good, I'd run further than I thought and I was only 2 miles away from 9 miles. And when things are going this well, what do you do? You run an extra mile of course and make it up to 10 miles.
So that's what I did, ran 10 miles. I felt very pleased - this was the distance I was meant to run according to my original plan, the one that didn't factor in hitting runner's wall at 9 miles. I felt good, in fact I felt positively ecstatic, especially as I'd got back on track with my training plan. When I announced to my proud parents that I'd just run 10 miles, my dad decided that he'd like to take up running too! Ace - he's 83 years old and wants to start running at this stage in life. It was a good feeling telling people that I'd done it! Using Facebook was great. I had two friends want to sponsor me, one offered to be a running partner and the other wanted to know how he could get involved with fundraising for Pass It On Africa. Fantastic! A few hours after the run, I did feel incredibly tired and had to take an afternoon nap for a couple of hours but apart from that, I generally felt really good!
11 miles - where I realised I need to stretch more
With training back on schedule, I did an 11 mile run today. Generally it went well. I had no idea how many people are in Dulwich Park on a Saturday running around or doing British Military Fitness classes - perfect people to promote our HEROES RUN to. I can see that I'll probably be spending a lot of time over the next two months dressed as my Cat Woman alter-ego promoting our race all across London!
After last week's success using Facebook for support and encouragement, I toyed with doing it again but decided this time just to get out there and run. It went well. There were times early on when I needed to give myself a pep talk but there comes a point where you think "I've run 6 miles, if I stop now the next time I go to do this distance, I've got to start all over again, these 6 miles count for nothing...". That realisation makes you keep going. As soon as I was over the halfway mark, I counted down how many laps I needed to do. There was also a fun run going on in the park for the second part of my run. Even though I was running in the opposite direction to their runners, every time I went past their tent and supporters, I took all their whoops and hollering for myself - I'm sure they didn't mind! The last couple of miles I really felt it in my legs. I kept going but as soon as I'd done 11 miles and stopped, I could feel my muscles contract and get really tight. The usual stretching I do didn't make that much of a difference and I longed to soak my legs in a hot bath. My muscles felt really tight all day, I walked stiffly and it made me realise that I need to get back to doing ashtanga yoga at least twice a week, just so my muscles can get a good stretch and stop them contracting in this way.
Enormous tiredness hit me again a couple of hours after the run. I know that between now and the race I have to pay close attention to what I'm eating. I'm not eating enough carbs (or the right carbs) or protein or drinking enough water so that has to change. I'm so close to the distance I need to run, I'm not panicking about the race ahead of me. This is good, it means I can focus on things like my diet and also the fundraising side of things. I'd set up my online fundraising page at the end of December but it was only this week that I filled it out properly, with my story, and made a point of promoting it as much as possible. I've found the traditional sponsorship form a really effective way of raising money - if you put a form in front of someone and ask "will you sponsor me?" - generally the answer is yes. I even had someone sponsor me £50 the other day which I was very excited about, a few more donations like that would be amazing! I also did an interview yesterday for a Sussex-based publication, talking about my half marathon story. I talked about my intention to raise £1000 for the charity - a little more incentive, now that it's going to be declared publicly, pushes you on to make sure you achieve it!
Something else I discovered this week - I really enjoying running in the evening after a day spent in front of the computer. I was meant to do a run on Wednesday morning before I went to work. Just as I was about to set out, I got a work call which I had to take. Once that was finished, running time had gone and I had to go straight to work. When this happens, it can be tempting to forget that run particularly as I knew that I wouldn't be able to run in the day. When I finished work at 6, I was feeling fairly knackered - normal for me if I've spent the day in front of a computer screen. However I decided not to miss my run, as soon as I got in I changed and went straight out again. As it was dark, I'd have to make do with running round the local Dulwich roads. I set off on a 4 mile run and found that I really enjoyed running at that time of the evening. Fewer people around (mainly other runners), easy to zone out into your own little world and I came back feeling positively energised!
Music I've been running to - I'd been of running to the same music over and over so I decided to change that last week. Since then I've been running to The Specials (ska is good to run to) and lots of early House classics. Some songs on my playlist have been:
That's The Way Love Is - Ten City
Where Love Lives - Alison Limerick
Promised Land - Joe Smooth
Tears - Frankie Knuckles
Follow Me - Aly-Us
Let Me Love You For Tonight - Kariya
Reachin' - Phase Two
You've Got The Love - The Source Featuring Candi Staton
Lift Every Voice - Mass Order
Someday - Ce Ce Rogers
Optimistic - Sounds of Blackness
The Masterplan - Diana Brown and Barrie K Sharpe
Got To Have Your Love - Mantronix
All This Love That I'm Giving - Gwen McCrae
Let No Man Put Asunder - First Choice
We Lift Our Hands In The Sanctuary - DJ Oji and Una
Believe - Soldiers of Twilight
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