Another Milestone in Training
Last Saturday was yet another milestone in my Great South Training. Me and my esteemed running partner had our 14k run planned for Saturday morning. We figured we'd do pretty well as we'd done 12.59k just a couple of weeks before so 14k would be a piece of cake.
The preceding weeks have been exceedingly stressful so Friday night, I eventually sat down and relaxed without mapping the extra for our route. So I figured we'd wing it. We were meeting at 8.30am and so after a restless nights sleep I got up dragged on my running gear, necked a cup of tea, and got my ass over to meet my running partner.
We had a rough idea of distances from previous routes we'd run and decided to add on a section we'd run before but do it in reverse. We started with the 'in town' run, the traffic, the scenery not so nice, heading passed the hospital and into the woods around the golf course. Both of us doing well. Gem's trainer squeaking as she ran in front of me (now there's an incentive to run faster).
Lost in the Woods
Going into the woods from the other direction provided it's own challenges, like, navigation. Clearly being girls we were missing this crucial part of that bit of kit in our fluffy pink minds. So we scrambled up and down hills, through vast swathes of mud, until eventually we found our way back to the edge of the golf course and civilisation.
Golf Course Road
Anyone who knows Southampton might well know, Golf Course Road. Nothing particularly special about it. It does of course take you to . . . yes, you've guessed it. The Golf Course. It's a plain road, houses back onto it on one side, it's got road bumps in it, it's not big enough for two cars. But. It's bloody steep. Our last push before pretty much downhill all the way home. And so, a bit tired, I was still not going to let a little steep hill get in the way of my progress. And so we pushed, we swung our arms, we panted and we got there. We'd made it, now we just had the easy bit home.
Last Stretch Home
We ran, we visualised the crowds cheering us on either side, we visualised the finish line. I imagined oxygen flowing easily into my muscles, making the last stretch easier. And so we got back to where we started. Big high five, another EPIC run and we'd made it back safe and sound, despite getting lost and being covered in mud.
Wow, We'd Run Further
A few cups of tea and a shower later I checked out our route on Map My Run. I mapped, as best I could, well, we did get lost in the woods. Until the route joined up from where we started. And I was quite surprised. We'd run 14.42k, which is near as dammit 9 miles. Bloody hell, my feet, my legs, my lungs, my mind had carried me that far. Without wheels, without a car beneath my arse. And I was OK, I wasn't writhing on the floor in pain, or laid out on the bed with exhaustion. I was OK. And so yet again I'd surprised myself and what my body and head could achieve. And if I could do that, then the Great South was going to be a piece of cake!
Apocalyptic Storm Stops Run
We had planned a run on Wednesday, maybe five or six miles. But weather stopped play. The rain was coming down in sheets, rather than drops, the sky looked liked it would murder anyone who dared look at it, and the lightning was fabulous. Unfortunately this resulted in rather a lot of flooding on the roads and paths. We made a joint decision to give it a miss. The last thing I wanted was to fall over whilst running through a deep puddle and get an injury so close to the race. There would be a few expletives flying around if I'd got an injury.
So the last long Run
Today I ran 10k, on my own. My last long run before The Great South Run. I get moments of extreme nervousness but mostly I feel excited and am really looking forward to next Sunday and seeing my smile as wide as the moon.
So if you'd like to sponsor me, I'm running for Mind, you can at www.justgiving.com/Claire-Lincoln, Mind would really appreciate it.
We had a rough idea of distances from previous routes we'd run and decided to add on a section we'd run before but do it in reverse. We started with the 'in town' run, the traffic, the scenery not so nice, heading passed the hospital and into the woods around the golf course. Both of us doing well. Gem's trainer squeaking as she ran in front of me (now there's an incentive to run faster).
Lost in the Woods
Going into the woods from the other direction provided it's own challenges, like, navigation. Clearly being girls we were missing this crucial part of that bit of kit in our fluffy pink minds. So we scrambled up and down hills, through vast swathes of mud, until eventually we found our way back to the edge of the golf course and civilisation.
Golf Course Road
Anyone who knows Southampton might well know, Golf Course Road. Nothing particularly special about it. It does of course take you to . . . yes, you've guessed it. The Golf Course. It's a plain road, houses back onto it on one side, it's got road bumps in it, it's not big enough for two cars. But. It's bloody steep. Our last push before pretty much downhill all the way home. And so, a bit tired, I was still not going to let a little steep hill get in the way of my progress. And so we pushed, we swung our arms, we panted and we got there. We'd made it, now we just had the easy bit home.
Last Stretch Home
We ran, we visualised the crowds cheering us on either side, we visualised the finish line. I imagined oxygen flowing easily into my muscles, making the last stretch easier. And so we got back to where we started. Big high five, another EPIC run and we'd made it back safe and sound, despite getting lost and being covered in mud.
Wow, We'd Run Further
A few cups of tea and a shower later I checked out our route on Map My Run. I mapped, as best I could, well, we did get lost in the woods. Until the route joined up from where we started. And I was quite surprised. We'd run 14.42k, which is near as dammit 9 miles. Bloody hell, my feet, my legs, my lungs, my mind had carried me that far. Without wheels, without a car beneath my arse. And I was OK, I wasn't writhing on the floor in pain, or laid out on the bed with exhaustion. I was OK. And so yet again I'd surprised myself and what my body and head could achieve. And if I could do that, then the Great South was going to be a piece of cake!
Apocalyptic Storm Stops Run
We had planned a run on Wednesday, maybe five or six miles. But weather stopped play. The rain was coming down in sheets, rather than drops, the sky looked liked it would murder anyone who dared look at it, and the lightning was fabulous. Unfortunately this resulted in rather a lot of flooding on the roads and paths. We made a joint decision to give it a miss. The last thing I wanted was to fall over whilst running through a deep puddle and get an injury so close to the race. There would be a few expletives flying around if I'd got an injury.
So the last long Run
Today I ran 10k, on my own. My last long run before The Great South Run. I get moments of extreme nervousness but mostly I feel excited and am really looking forward to next Sunday and seeing my smile as wide as the moon.
So if you'd like to sponsor me, I'm running for Mind, you can at www.justgiving.com/Claire-Lincoln, Mind would really appreciate it.
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