Monday 21 March 2011

All the twos

I have warnings to shout from the rooftops this morning on several counts!

Firstly this blog was written last night and lost last night after I pressed the control key by mistake so be warned ctrl + d = delete! So here I am on Monday morning starting from the beginning......

However, it's not such a bad thing since I am now in a position to report about how I feel having acted like a boy (well they are often accused of acting like girls!) and after raving about my ice bath last week, I was unable to face it this week! Having run 4 miles before a race, run the Epilepsy Action Bradford 10k and then run to Bingley town centre and back - 22 (albeit fragmented) miles I got back home and literally felt wiped out, extremely cold, very hungry and fatigued, I got into the bathroom and visualised a hot, bubbly bath, considered an ice bath, no points for guessing which one won! Consoling myself with the fact that this lovely hot bath may well serve as proof that ice baths really do work (but praying that it's on the contrary) I laid there soaking up the lovely hot water.

The verdict: I have to say contrary to last week when I felt tip top on Monday morning after 19 miles on Sunday it was truly a very different story this morning. I had broken sleep, kept waking up with pains in my lower legs, and this morning I positively know how many miles I did yesterday - or at least my legs and lower back do.

I never indulged further than 20 miles in training before I did London last year so this was a (training) first for me (and Dawn) - which brings me to my second revelation, carb gels really did help in keeping me fuelled. You do have doubts as to whether forcing the terrible gloop down really does help or whether for the most part it's psychological. I think due to the fact that the mileage was going to be broken up I didn't pay much attention to whether or not I needed fuel. Didn't buy any gels and during a fleeting last minute thought I grabbed a Boost bar at the till at Morrisons on Saturday teatime after reading the word 'energy' on the wrapper, got home packed a couple of small boxes of raisins and a bottle of juice into my bag and gave it no more thought. The focus for Sunday really was on the race even though I had made the decision to run a few miles beforehand and stay with Dawn throughout the 10k so fuelling regrettably took a back seat. I have to say on the way back to the car to ready ourselves to run to Bingley I felt quite light headed, got to the car and sipped some juice and had a bite of my Boost bar, I could have eaten it all but thought better of it. I ate a small box of raisins and began to feel much better and off we set.

It turned out to be much more of a traffic fest than I had anticipated. Being an average kind of Sunday, fine and dry even though the sun wasn't out, the Sunday drivers certainly were! I was glad to see the sight of the Bradford and Bingley building towering over all the rest as we approached a slight incline to the town centre. Once there, we paused for a moment for Dawn to take fuel on board and set off back the way we came. I found myself drifting off into my own little world, focusing on every step. Getting back into Bradford along Canal Road seemed to take an age, again I think due to the lack of energy I found the last few miles really tough. Dawn on the other hand, expressed dismay at the fact we hadn't quite hit 22 miles as we approached the point where we had left our cars, she proceeded to turn around and run back out along Canal Road. I sat on the wall in disbelief, just where does she get the energy? Oh of course carb gels!

This week I hope to take a step back as I have family celebrations to attend to, a cake to make amongst other things so the mileage may drop slightly but I'll be back!

4 weeks to London and I'm nearly as excited as the runners are - just a tiny bit envious now that I am going to be on the other side of the barrier this year..... Hmmm how things change!

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