Wednesday 9 September 2015

3 down 4 to go

Day 3 of the Tour of MK completed.

It's really late and I'm splatted.

My legs are miserably sore despite this morning's massage. I'm tired and not having fun running.

Monday was 6.77 miles. I did quite like this race because it was a long enough distance for me to get some speed and simply enjoy the feeling of running fast. I took 40 seconds off my 10k PB and finished 6th lady, 35th overall. I think I could even have gone a bit faster but I'm very happy with that unlooked-for time.

Tuesday was an old-school sort of cross country race. Now I love off-road running but this wasn't fun at all. It was brutal and there was no pleasure in it for me.

A little under 5 miles of going as fast as I could over horrid terrain whilst trying to stay safe and not break an ankle. Considering I hated every step of it and my legs were tired from the previous evening I did ok finishing 9th lady and just about in the top half of all runners.

This evening it was a 1 mile track race. So completely not my thing at all. I had already decided not to take it seriously and given how sore and bruised my legs were feeling (despite a massage this morning) I knew trying to go flat out would be a mistake. I got to the track, all morphsuited up only to discover I'd been running well enough to be in the 3rd group of runners so I was with speedy people who expect to run sub 6 min miles. I've NEVER come close to that! For the first time I was actually in tears I was so scared of racing. I so didn't want to be last and end up running the last lap on my own.

Well, I have no idea how I did- I ran without the pink Garmin device. But I didn't come last. I didn't puke, my legs didn't actually give way. I survived and so it's all ok. It was even better when I got to the pub to meet the usual Wednesday woodland bimble crew; they hadn't arrived yet but the landlord recognised me and gave me a free half of Guinness! Hugs from my two best running friends were much appreciated too. Even if I was teased mercilessly about the morphsuit and how it does make me look like a boy.

Tonight my legs and ankles are just a bundle of pain. They are sore, aching and feel bruised. Just a 5 mile race to get through tomorrow- laps of a park with big hills; a tough but short race in the woods Friday; 6 miles or so around some other park in MK and then a half marathon on Sunday...

Next week I need to do things that remind me that actually I love running.

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