Stop Wobbling

Wooooooooohoooooooooooo! So this is my post Liverpool Half Marathon entry. Didn’t get round to it earlier because I’ve been busy since.

So, the big question, and my one sole aim, is: did I finish?

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5.75 mile run after work. w00t! It’s weird, I’m starting to notice I feel lethargic during the first mile or so of a run but then seem to get into it.

Plan on a similar run tomorrow and then a shorter run on Friday. Travel over to my family on the Wirral on Saturday. Then… Liverpool Half Marathon on Sunday!

The problem with following a lot of fitness tumblrs is that when I log on to look at my dashboard in work I have to be damn careful who’s around. To the untrained eye, it looks like my dashboard just fills up with softcore hard-body porn.

Sad face…

I totally forgot about posting maps of my runs until this weekend which is why they’re popping up again. So for posterity’s sake, this is the long run I did last Sunday (4th March) for half marathon on Sunday 18th. Still chuffed with myself!

Even a few months ago, a 12 mile run seemed beyond the realms of possibility. I know I’ll be able to squeeze out that final 1.1 miles on the big day. I think it’s safe to say that I’m officially now more excited than nervous!

Did a 4 miler in the other direction today. Little bit nicer route due to the parks, but enjoyed going a different way yesterday.

Left hamstring hurt again on todays run. Not too bad but a bit of a pisser, nontheless.

On that note, does anyone know a good way of sorting hamstring pain?

Nice little 4.5 mile run this morning. Reasonably strong head wind but hey, it’s Manchester! 42 minutes to go around.

8 days til the half marathon in Liverpool! Very excited/nervous.

Have to admit though, I am starting to miss the gym a bit. I’ve been so focussed on my outdoor running that I haven’t been to the gym in a while. Looking forward to being able to add it to the exercise mix again after next week.

Yeah, I’m going to be doing my first trail run on Sunday 17th June! Registered for it.

Very excited about this as it is in the beautiful Lake District so should make a lovely difference to all this urban running.

I’ve gone for the 10K option as I’ve heard trail running can be a bit more taxing so thought this was the more realistic distance for a first trail.

Plus June 17th is my dad’s birthday. He died 4 years ago, when I was 26, so it will be nice to be doing something on the day.

So, I did it! Did my 12 mile run yesterday as planned. I now at least know I am theoretically capable of finishing the half marathon.

The weather conditions were perfect in that it sucked balls. Big balls. It was raining, cold and windy. The reason I say this is perfect is I ran (and walked in places) 12 miles in horrible conditions and spent most of that apparently running into the wind. There’s more potential for it to go wrong if my 12 mile run had been in beautiful conditions and I then found the full 13.1 miles in Liverpool were in less than ideal weather. This is quite likely in that we’re in the North of England and right next to the sea.

I was properly psyched up for the run yesterday. As soon as I got out and started running it just seemed to go well. I felt good. I actually felt like I was bouncing in my stride which made it easier. All in all it was probably one of the best runs I’ve had so far.

That said, I think I crashed a little bit at about 10.5 miles. I suddenly could only really run for short periods of time before it felt like my muscles were burning. Then my Achilles’ tendon started aching but not too badly.

I did have a bath with Radox when I got in. As I mentioned previously I haven’t taken a bath in years. I have to admit, it felt f-ing great! It was so nice to get in and just relax in the hot water after all that. I even let myself feel like a proper exerciser by reading Runner’s World whilst in the tub.

Today I feel surprisingly good. The only thing that niggles is a bit of pain on the left side of my left knee. Hurts a bit, but not too bad.

Not running tonight but I am playing badminton for the first time in a while.

Last night’s 4.5 miles was probably my most painful run yet. About 10 minutes into the run my left hamstring suddenly went extremely tight and it was very hard to run on. I ended up having to do a very stop/start type run. I’d run for 5 or 10 minutes then have to stop and stretch off my hamstring.

Still, it was a beautiful evening and I ran through a lovely park I’ve not been in before, so that was nice.

Plus I get to have a lazy(ish) Saturday without feeling guilty. Planning on a long run tomorrow. I think I might actually invest in some Radox or something for tonight in prep and tomorrow after the run. I haven’t had a bath in years (I only shower) but I’m told baths are very good for sore muscles, so I’ll give it a go. Don’t know why, but I’m almost squeamish about me being in a bath.

Didn’t do much running last week. I decided to go retro and get tonsillitis, which I haven’t had since I was about 10. On 8 antibiotics a day at the moment, which is just what I need! It seems to be going around in work though, so I’m not the only one. Doctor told me not to run whilst throat still hurts as it will impact on my immune system.

Regardless, I’ve done more running this week. Gave myself a few days off with tonsillitis but I can’t just sit around this close to the half marathon. The run last night was awful, but great. My legs were incredibly stiff and painful from some earlier runs this week. I really didn’t feel like I had the stamina to keep going and I kept trying to justify cutting the run short. But I didn’t. I forced myself to keep going and I did.

Amazing, in spite of the pain and slog I actually ended up having a better pace than my other runs this week, which completely surprised me.

Planning on doing one more run tonight. Then I’m going to rest tomorrow. I’m going to attempt a 12 miler on Sunday, which will be two weeks to go until the real thing.