I have to admit that it would have been easy for me to pull out of the Half this weekend as I have done very little serious training since I ripped my calf muscle 6 weeks ago but in for a penny in for a pound and I'm not one for letting myself down gentle! I had been given the all clear by my Physio.
I woke up in the early hours of Sunday morning and thought the roof on the house was going to blow off and then remembered that it was the Norwich Half later that morning. I prayed that the wind would drop but it was not to be and we struggled to the start line in gale force winds. Huddled together in the start pens kept everyone warm and surprisingly cheerful.
Bang went the gun and I said to my running buddy 'Don't wait for me as I'm just determind to get round - you go on ahead if you need to' which she duly did. This left me running alone but in my head I kept telling myself that I must start off slowly and let my calf warm up properly. As anyone will know who has taken part in a competetive race this is hard to achieve when it feels like every man and his dog is running past you!
To cut a long story short I bundled my way round the 13 mile course battling the wind and finished in a time of 2 hours 30 minutes. This is 8 minutes off my last time but I was happy with it considering the wind and my lack of serious training.
Will I do it again????? Of course I will - running is like a drug and the more you race the more you need to race.
I'm now wandering around work like I'm a 90 year old but with a smile on my face :D
I woke up in the early hours of Sunday morning and thought the roof on the house was going to blow off and then remembered that it was the Norwich Half later that morning. I prayed that the wind would drop but it was not to be and we struggled to the start line in gale force winds. Huddled together in the start pens kept everyone warm and surprisingly cheerful.
Bang went the gun and I said to my running buddy 'Don't wait for me as I'm just determind to get round - you go on ahead if you need to' which she duly did. This left me running alone but in my head I kept telling myself that I must start off slowly and let my calf warm up properly. As anyone will know who has taken part in a competetive race this is hard to achieve when it feels like every man and his dog is running past you!
To cut a long story short I bundled my way round the 13 mile course battling the wind and finished in a time of 2 hours 30 minutes. This is 8 minutes off my last time but I was happy with it considering the wind and my lack of serious training.
Will I do it again????? Of course I will - running is like a drug and the more you race the more you need to race.
I'm now wandering around work like I'm a 90 year old but with a smile on my face :D