1 Mile of Pain and Determination

Friday night was the first of the Cardiff Summer Series races. For those of you who don't know what this involves, it's 4 races during April - July and start off with 1 mile then the next race is 2 miles then 3 miles and then 4 miles. These races are very fast and the elite tend to run them so I've always avoided doing it as I don't think I'm quick enough to take part.

This year I decided to kick self-doubt out of my head and try it. I told myself that coming last was inevitable but that's only if I'm competing with other people instead of competing with myself.

I was full of nerves when we arrived and wanted to run in the other direction when we all walked to the start line. I kept telling myself it was just a mile then it would be done and I could go to the pub with my Pegs family.

Team huddle and trying to stay warm

8 Pegs... 1 Mile...

#PegsBums

I wanted to do a sub 9 minute mile and thought that would be touch and go as I've hardly done any speed work since coming back from injury. As I ran I kept telling myself to just hold on, to just keep going and ignore everyone around me. This was my race and I was doing it to challenge myself, I wanted to see what I was capable of.

It hurt. It hurt a lot and I couldn't even get the breath to thank the marshals who cheered us on and made sure we ran in the right direction. So, thank you marshals!

We couldn't race without you!

As I approached the last few hundred metres I could see (and hear!) my Pegs family cheering me on and then someone from another club overtook me. Usually I wouldn't be bothered but my brain just said "NO!" so I pulled out everything I had and chased her down. I could feel my legs giving way and I just willed them to keep me upright and running forward as quickly as possible, I honestly don't know how I did such a strong sprint finish when I was burning with pain.

Side by side...

Overtaken...

Determination AKA sheer bloody stubbornness...

Side by side again...

Somehow I managed to get past her...

The relief at entering the finish funnel

As I went past her I heard her say something but it didn't register what, I could barely hear anything above my gasping for breathe. She finished within a second of me and straight away apologised for swearing at me which really made me laugh. My reply was "fuck, that hurt!" We are now friends on Facebook.

So it turned out that I finished 107 out of 119 runners which I am bloody proud of. My Garmin time was 8:25 but the official gun time was 8:28. I wanted a sub 9 min/mile and managed to pull off a sub 8:30 min/mile!

I woke up on Saturday morning aching as though I'd run a lot further but I never run that fast usually so I pushed my body harder than normal. I forgot to foam roll when I got in so that won't have done me any favours. It's a nice ache though, it's the 'I worked my butt off' kind of ache that I enjoy.

Friday night taught me to stop doubting myself as much, to push myself and just see what happens. I will always have self-doubt but I'm happy with that as long as it doesn't prevent me from challenging myself and pushing myself out of my comfort zone. I'm looking forward to the next 2 mile race in a couple of weeks or at least that's what I'm telling myself anyway!

Turning 40... Hell Yeah!

Today I turned 40 and I am ridiculously excited by this.

Baby me being all adorable

I am also very excited (and shattered) after spending the day at Harry Potter Studios with my Besty Lynn.

I'd be awesome at quidditch!

The one on the right looks well dodgy!

I think the main reason why I'm so excited about turning 40 is because I spent most of my 30s in an unhealthy relationship with a man who had a knack of putting a dampener on my birthdays. 2 days after I left my marriage and moved to Cardiff, I turned 37 and although I didn't really do anything big to celebrate, it was a great birthday because I felt free and able to enjoy it in the way I wanted to.

I suppose I feel as though my 40th birthday is the beginning of a new milestone in my life. I've never been this fit, healthy or happy before in my whole life and it feels as though anything seems possible.

My life has changed so much in the last 3 years; I'm now a runner and with that I've increased in confidence, my self-esteem is pretty high and I'm learning to love myself and my body. I'm finally realising my worth and won't accept people or situations in my life that don't contribute positively towards it. I've run a full marathon, 4 half marathons and a bunch of other races. I've also made a lot of new friends, joined a running club, changed jobs twice and I discovered what I want to be when I grow up so am being brave and will be completely changing my career this year. I've also lost my lovely dad and decided to have counselling to help me to deal with the grief that felt as though it was consuming me.

My dad was a badass!

I can't wait to see what happens in my 40s, I know they'll be filled with highs and lows but each experience will teach me something new and add to my adventure. Bring it on!

I Survived The Newport Half Marathon

On Sunday I joined a bunch of Pegasus and SMR runners at the Newport Half Marathon. I'd signed up at the end of last year and didn't want to let a little thing like being injured and hardly running since January put me off.

I had done a few 3 mile runs and a 5 mile run since end of January and that was about it. I decided to run it anyway and told myself that I would run/walk or just walk if my glute/hip started hurting again. What's the worst that could happen??!!

Obligatory pre-race bid on vest photo

My running buddy Sarah picked me up and we set off in the pouring rain for Newport. We were following her tomtom which seemed to want to add a bit of drama and mystery to the route so took us through the lanes, this was fun until we got to one part that basically had a lake in the middle of it. Swear words happened. We looked at each other and decided to just slowly drive through and keep everything crossed. It worked! We didn't kill the car or drown. Bonus!

Only exaggerating slightly...

We got to Newport, parked the car and joined the Pegs in the leisure centre for pre-race chit chat and about 3 visits to the toilet.

All smiles and nerves ready for the start

We all said good luck to each other and split into 2 group: the speedy-pants-Pegs and the not-so-speedy-pants-Pegs.

Luckily this wasn't the queue for the bathroom

I started the race with Sarah, Wendy and Clare as we were all going for about the same finish time.

We seem to have lost Clare...

The start of any race or run for me is the worse part. It takes about 3-4 miles for my body to settle down and find its stride, add recovering from injury into the mix and I was seriously doubting my bright idea to run this half marathon.

Always playing up for the camera!

Clare and I got into a nice pace together and around mile 8 we rounded a corner then I shouted "PIGS!!" On the side of the bank were 2 big pigs just going about their pig business while nearly 2000 people ran past them. We decided to stop for photos.

Because pigs like selfies too

We carried on along the path and as we were coming up to mile 10 I could hear bagpipes. I said to Clare "can you hear bagpipes?" and luckily she said yes, I was a bit worried that I was hearing things due to overdosing on energy gels and jelly babies.

We decided to stop again and have a selfie. Clare also did a bit of a Scottish jig which he seemed to very much enjoy and it also entertained a few runners who looked at us like we were crazy and didn't realise that we were running a half marathon.

Bag pipe man!

The last 3 miles of the race were a bit of a blur. My legs were on fire and I don't actually know how I kept going but Clare and I dragged each other through it and finally we were very nearly at the finish. A marshal shouted "sprint finish" and off we bolted. We were lightening quick. Or at least that's what I felt like I was doing. I was probably only going slightly faster than a shuffle at that point.

It's finally over!

We managed to meet up with Sarah just before the finish which was lovely and we came through within a few seconds of each other. Once finally through the finish arch we all hugged, congratulated each other and held on to each other for dear life and fear of falling over.

I'm sure this is what I looked like when trying to walk

We walked through the runners village and collected our goody bag, medal and finishers t-shirt. We were also handed a foil blanket and a chocolate bar, or maybe I just mugged someone. Who knows.

The Newport Half Marathon medal is MASSIVE! It's slightly bigger than my Manchester Marathon medal and I only had to run half a far to get this bad boy.

Check out my bling!

We were one of the last of the club to finish but somehow were the first ones back to the leisure centre so compared race stories and took some photos.

Exhausted and happy lady-Pegs

It wasn't a long wait until a load more Pegs and SMR arrived so we huddled together for a group shot.

My running family

Now no race day blog would be complete without a picture of my boy Winston and my bling, so here it is...

Bling bling!

I am very happy to report that my injury seems to have settled and I didn't get any pain at all during or after the run. The worst pain I had was the general aching all down my legs from running 13.1 miles when I'd hardly trained for it but that's nothing a few painkillers and a hot bath followed by yoga the next morning didn't fix!

By 4pm I was on the sofa wanting to go to bed but I managed to stay up until 8.30pm when I admitted defeat and took myself off to bed. I was exhausted.

Zzzzzzzzzzzz

All in all it was a great day, the sun made an appearance a few times and the rain held off. I couldn't have asked for more. My finish time was 2 hours 34 minutes and 6 seconds and I am very happy with that. It's not my fastest half time but is 10 minutes quicker than my first half marathon and only a minute slower than the Severn Bridge half marathon that I did in August 2016.

So what next I hear you ask... well I've just signed up for the Swansea half at the end of June with a finish time goal of sub 2 hours and 15 minutes which will knock nearly 10 minutes off my PB. It's an achievable goal but means I need to focus on my speed work, hill work and I need get my long run distance back up into the double figures again. I'm totally up for the challenge and very excited to start my new training plan.

Wish me luck!

The Lliswerry 8 Road Race Blog... Finally!

I'm ever so slightly (very) late posting this blog about the Lliswerry 8 road race which was on Sunday 29th January. The truth is that I was injured before the race so just wanted to test out the injury as I'd been struggling with it since New Year. Basically it hurt like a mofo for the whole race and I haven't been allowed to run since. Bring on the sulking!

Until this morning! I did a slow and steady 2 mile run and had no pain for the first time in ages so I'm a happy bunny again. I need to be sensible and slowly increase my mileage for the next few weeks then hopefully I'll be injury free and able to take on my half marathon sub 2 hour goal.

Ok, enough about that - here's the Lliswerry 8 blog (finally!!)

The race is organised by the Lliswerry running club and based in Newport, it has a limited number of participants so sold out very quickly. I'd never done this race before but there's always a lot of buzz about it so I thought I'd give it a go. I didn't manage to get a place but luckily for me Sarah from Pegs got a place but couldn't go so transferred it to me.

We all arrived at the Newport stadium on a very wet Sunday morning and were eager to start the race. We came well prepared with the latest hi-tech running kit to ensure we stayed as dry as possible until the last few minutes.

Pegs sporting the latest in bin bag fashion

It's never too cold to whip out our Pegs vests

Everyone discarded their bin bags hi-tech running kit and the (very soggy) race began. Luckily we have quite a few Pegs who are a dab hand with a camera. 

And we're off...

I really enjoyed starting the race with these ladies, it's not often I get to run with them as they're speedier than me so this was fun.

Not loving the rain!

It wasn't raining as hard as the forecast predicated but it was still very soggy and cold. I also forgot my gloves which didn't help.

All smiles for the camera!

Rear view Pegs *wolf whistles*

After the first half a mile I could feel my hip starting to twinge a bit but was hoping it would settle down as the race went on and I warmed up. I decided to just take it easy and try to last the 8 miles. Usually I can distract myself in a race or run with the scenery or I'll just let my imagination run riot but the discomfort in my hip kept me in the moment and it was all I could think about. I threw a big pity party to keep me company throughout the race.

The race is 8 miles of flat road except for the one "hill". Luckily it was downhill and basically a small bridge.

This Peg loves a downhill!

I watched the miles tick by and couldn't wait for it to be over. I was cold, wet and in pain but I knew there was cake at the finish line!

The finish line is in sight. Lead me to the cake!

The amazing thing about being in a running club and the fantastic running community is that there is always someone to cheer you through the finish as well as waiting for you after the race to tell you that you did well, even when you don't feel like it.

We all walked back to the stadium to get warm, grab a cuppa and scoff some cake. 

A warm Peg is a happy Peg

Usually after a race I come home and take a photo of Winston wearing my medal but the Lliswerry 8 race doesn't give you a medal. Instead you get a long sleeve technical t-shirt and this is a big reason why a lot of runners love this race. Every year the colour of it is kept a secret so there was much chit chat about what colour people thought it would be. Luckily for me it was white, I had been shopping the previous day to buy a white long sleeve t-shirt to wear under my Pegs vest but couldn't find one.

Back to Winston. I tried to get him in the t-shirt but I lost the wrestling match, it would have made a great photo but I decided it was much better to keep the t-shirt in one piece. I took a photo of my cupcake instead. 

It tasted great by the way

I now understand the hype about this race, it's a lovely nice and flat route so you can really give it your all. I'm hoping that next year the weather is kinder and I can see the sights a bit more, it was wet and grey so the view wasn't the best this time.

Next up for me is the Newport half marathon on Sunday 5th March and I'm hoping that I'll be injury free. I know I haven't got time to get my mileage up so am relying on my fitness to get me through it. I'll take it nice and steady and just listen to my body on the day. Wish me luck!!

The Year of the Half Marathon!

2017 is all about the half marathon!

My running goal for this year is to complete the Cardiff half marathon in under 2 hours. Yep you read that right, I'm going for a sub 2 hour half marathon!

My last half marathon was Cardiff in October 2016 and took me 2 hours, 23 mins and 28 seconds so that means I need to knock about 24 minutes off my race time. Ok then...

That about sums it up!

In order to achieve this I am going to have to push myself harder than I usually do. I'm going to have to get comfortable with being uncomfortable and with it hurting. When my brain says "WTF are you doing? Stop!" I'm going to have to find the strength to tell it to shut the f**k up and just keep going.

I know I can do this, I know I can push myself further. I've been smashing my PBs since last August, I'm getting stronger and faster so this is doable. I just need to face the fear and not let myself get intimidated or defeated before I give myself the chance to try.

I'm signing up to do 4 half marathons this year so I can keep an eye on how I'm doing as I go, the races are:

Newport on 5th March

Swansea on 4th June

Severn Bridge on 27th August

Cardiff on 1st October

I'm also going to try to blog more often as it's a good way to keep myself accountable and on target. I should probably also draw up some sort of training plan then not really stick to it and end up drawing all over it when I don't follow it. That sounds sensible.

Wish me luck!!

Doing The Parkrun Double on New Years Day!

Wow what a start to 2017!

I woke up at 7am on New Years Day and decided I was going to go to parkrun - start the year as I mean to go on! It was raining outside so I very nearly changed my mind but I was determined to do it. I knew a few of my club Pegasus were going to 'do the double' and also run at Barry Island or Newport afterwards but I was just going to do the Cardiff parkrun. Well, that was the plan anyway.

I arrived at Cardiff parkrun and chatted to my running buddies who tried to convince me to 'do the double' but I was cold and wet before we'd even started so didn't want to."Not this year" is what I said. Last year I couldn't do it because I was injured and promised myself that I'd do it this year but I "just wasn't feeling it". 

That lasted about 400 metres then I turned to John and said, I'm going to run Barry Island parkrun after this! John ran Cardiff parkrun with me and kept me going when I wanted to slow down, he didn't leave my side and laughed when I said I wanted to curl up and die. It hurt. It really hurt.

I didn't beat my PB but I ran harder than I have in a long time and felt great afterwards. After we'd had our barcode scanned, we headed off to our cars and made the journey to Barry Island. I hadn't run the Barry Island parkrun before so was excited and a bit nervous. It's 2 laps (and I hate laps) and it's not exactly flat. I expected to hate it but I loved it! I was knackered from my first parkrun of the day but I just kept going. The marshals were so supportive and encouraging even though it was raining, cold and windy but they kept cheering and smiling as we passed.

The route is mainly 'out and back' which I love. I have such a good time looking for familiar faces and cheering my running buddies on, it's a great distraction and really keeps me going. The last stretch along the promenade was looming and my legs were giving in, then out of nowhere Ally appeared by my side. She kept me going until the end and I am so grateful to her. That's the amazing thing about the running community, we might only see some people a few times a year but it's as though we run together every day. They are supportive and encouraging of each other, I haven't met a community like it before and I love being part of it.

I completed Cardiff parkrun in 29:40 and Barry Island parkrun in 31:21. I expected the Barry run to be slower than that so am very pleased with my time.

Soggy Pegs plus our friendly Les Croups photobomber

After the run I went for a cuppa tea and a bacon roll with Sarah, Rosie and Helen. We chatted a lot about running and exchanged our goals for 2017. We've all decided to do more parkrun tourism this year and are putting together a list of the races we want to enter and/or support our Pegs at.

Wet, freezing cold and pre cuppa and bacon roll photo

I'm so glad I 'did the double' today, it feels like a massive achievement and a wonderful way to start the year.