500 Miles; A Celebration and a Heat bag

This week… yesterday in fact I officially ran my 500^th Mile of the year! Whoop!

In December last year I decided to set myself a target, one that couldn’t be done in a day or would finish half way through the year but something that would make me keep going week on week and this was the one! In order to reach 500 miles I knew that I would have to do 10 miles a week, give or take and that would get me there, so that’s what I decided to do 10 miles every week of this year and this week I completed 500 miles! Yay!! Although I’m not celebrating quite yet for 2 reasons:

One – At some point in January Darran pointed out to me that he didn’t believe I could run 10 miles every week (humph!), he’s tried to explain this statement in many ways since; he means injury would strike, or that plans would get in the way or both…however I heard “You can’t run 10 miles every week”! Of course since this I have done everything I can to run those miles… I’ve got up at 4am before a 10 hour day shift to run as I was going on holiday that evening, I have ran with very bruised ribs (that was shuffling not running!) and every week I have run 10 miles. No matter why he said it and what he meant he has pushed me into this and I almost feel a sense of pride (almost as I’m 10 weeks off!), without having to prove someone wrong I am not sure I would’ve done it!! Bloody stubbornness!

The second reason to not celebrate quite yet is that I’m currently sat with my ankle elevated and a heat bag on my knee, for the last half a mile in yesterday’s run (Mile 500!) I had a shooting pain in my heel, I styled it out of course, but since then walking up or down stairs and any attempt at running have caused pain in my foot, possibly the beginning of Plantar fascia I am resting and with a mile and a half left for this week’s miles I am worried! Worried that Darran will be right and worried that if I don’t rest it will only get worse and jeopardise my marathon training and I am too stubborn to decide which one is more important! Of course the marathon is but I can’t face Darran being right!

A bit of Google research and it’s probably because my trainers are too worn, I have a problem where I run on the inside of my foot causing my ankle to roll in and my knees to come under strain; my trainers help this so if they are old (and they are!) I could be running into old habits. So a trip to Asics tomorrow, another day of rest (minus work!) and then squeeze in the 12 minutes of running to complete the week on Sunday; what a plan!

In other exciting news I received a training plan from the partners of The British Heart Foundation; Full Potential, it included a plan, information of various types of runs I should be doing, stretches, conditional training, nutrition and loads more which is fab; I’ve heard about lots of these things but never really applied them to me so I’m excited to start the plan!

176 days to go!!

 

My One Mile ‘Long Run’

Training for the marathon has, so far, been going well,*touching all the wood I can see*. I’ve stuck to my (very basic) plan and I can now run 14 miles comfortably; I am starting to throw more hill training in and next month the introduction of intervals to improve my pace; although not looking forward to that one!

When I’m not running I’m either thinking about running or thinking about fundraising! Whether its organising my fundraising night, organising raffle prizes and then selling raffle tickets or the latest selling hats my mum’s knitting! My whole life is already consumed by the marathon and we are still 6 months out!

This week I had my first marathon related dream too, it probably had a lot to do with the fact that I was reading the magazine before going to sleep but my dream consisted of me and a group of people I didn’t know in the starting pen and then being taken to the start line where I realised I forgot my shoes… then I needed the loo… then I got lost… Yes it was one of those dreams! As well as have my hair cut half into a bob (which is a little fear of mine – I want long beautiful hair for my wedding – which is not planned! I know I’m crazy!) So woke up thinking it was all a bit strange!

So with my life consumed by running; yesterday I had a long run planned, my longest to date, the next ‘milestone’ in my training 16 miles…. I woke up feeling so tired! I cancelled all my other plans for the day to simply focus on running but by 10 o’clock I still hadn’t changed out of my pyjamas! At 10.30 I decided that I would at least walk the dog and that should hopefully be enough to get me moving. It was.

By the time I had arrived back home it was gone 11 but I had decided that it was the time to get going! I left the house; it was drizzly but nothing I couldn’t handle… so she says!

½ a mile in the heavens opened and there was little old me, getting drenched! I decided this was a sign and I did not want to put up with another 3 hours of that, thank you very much.

I turned around and ran home! Spiriting through my front door sodden! Needless to say it wasn’t long until I was back in my pyjamas on the sofa having cuddles with the dog…

So my 16 mile ‘long run’ turned out to be no more than a mile! I’ve had these runs before, I’m not letting it bother me, I plan to go out tomorrow and do some hill training, at least get these weekly miles in and when the overtime dust settles and I’m a little bit more refreshed I will tackle that 16 miles again!

I am coming for you! 

O of course… if anyone want to buy a raffle ticket please contact me! If you don’t know I’m raising money for a marathon!!

I’m on my own!

Ballot results were sent this week and all of my friends that entered did not receive a ballot place… which means I’m running this beast on my own! That’s ok; I don’t think you can ever run this marathon on your own, what with the family and friends supporting you and then the thousands of strangers in the crowd. I’ve been told that the crowd will carry me through it. In the commiseration magazine there is an article about some of the signs from this year’s marathon; they include:

“If you think you’re tired, my arms are knackered”

“Just think, you paid to do this”

“Pain. It’s just a French word for Bread”

“I don’t know you but I am proud of you”

I am very much looking forward to some of the signs next year, they will be a very nice distraction!

I completed a long run last week; 14 miles, which is over half way so I’m super pleased. I didn’t feel too tired and could have carried on but I have a plan so I am trying to stick to that!

This week has been a bit odd, I haven’t felt the best having a few personal issues and that is actually when running comes in very handy, it’s not only been an incredible advantage for my physical health but also my mental health too. I use running to clear my head when the world all gets too much, I don’t have major problems, I cannot claim to suffer from anxiety / depression and I can only imagine how hard a mental illness is to live with, I see a lot of it at work but sometimes I do struggle, I feel stagnant sometimes with my life, do not get me wrong I LOVE my life. I have an incredible better other half, I love my job and this year we bought our first home but sometimes, when I cannot see any progression I get frustrated, it is minor in comparison to everyone else’s problems I know. This week is was my friend getting engaged, and although incredibly happy for her I do not hide the fact I am incredibly jealous but my other half and I have always said we would wait to be in a better financial position, but now and again I struggle with this; I want to be married to him so much! Like I said, nothing compared to real life problems!

Anyway, this week I was feeling low, so I NEEDED to run, and I loved it. I put my phone on silent, I tracked my run but didn’t have pace updates, I just put my music on and ran, I felt free and it did clear my head enough to realise I was being a little bit ridiculous! My friend has told me that when she feels like this her husband tells her to ‘just enjoy the ride’ and that is what I am going to do!

My knee has bit hurting a bit this week so I’m taking it easy, I am not going to push myself and I’m learning that that is ok (although I will still do my 10 miles this week, to prove Darran wrong – to explain he said I couldn’t run 10 miles every week this year, because of illness or life getting in the way etc (so of course I’m running 10 miles every week, no matter what! I’ve had to get up at 4am just to fit my runs in and I’ve run with a very bruised rib – that was a very slow run!! )

So this blog’s motto is that it’s ok not to be ok all of the time!

To end with my favourite sign from the article and one of favourite phrases

“When you can’t run with your legs – run with your heart”

xx