3 down and I’m getting slower!

Plymouth Half Marathon today.  A 9am start saw me leaving the house at around 7.15am after being woken (the first time) at 4.55am by a hungry Amy!!

This is the biggest, in terms of number of runners, that I have competed in and it took a full 5 minutes for me to get to the start line from my position in the 2hr plus area.

The day decided to be a hot and sunny one – not great for running a long distance but I felt OK.

That was until around the 5.5 mile mark when they decided to throw in a killer hill.  It sort of went pear shaped from there on.  I think that again I ran at least 10 of the 13.1 miles.  But the time of 2 hours 29 minutes is my slowest ever half beating the last one!

Fantastic athmosphere at the finish with people lining the streets.  At one point it resembled the finishing stages at Tour De France mountain stages with runners trudging uphill and spectators only a foot or two away and shouting encouragement.

All in all, it was a well organised and well marshalled race.  Plenty of goodies at the end including pasties and chocolate muffins.

Next one is around 5 weeks away – hope my sunburn feels better by then.

Number 3 approaches and getting back on the horse

Half marathon number 3 is just around the corner and yet again my training has been pitiful!  Looking after a baby is hard work!!

I have never competed in the Plymouth Half Marathon before so this will be a course where I will need to keep an eye on the signs and marshals so that I don’t get lost.  Looking at the snazzy brochure that I received recently, there are mile markers at each mile which will be very useful for my planning.  Also a good number of water stations – which we will need if the weather continues as it is (although the latest forecasts, thankfully, show the temperature falling over the week).

As part of the training that I have done, I decided to run straight after work.  Last time I attempted this 4 mile route, I ended up hobbling the final mile back to the office with my right leg numb from mid shin down and my left leg not much better.  At that point I decided that my shin splints had ‘grown’ into something more serious – which was true.

I set off with some trepidation given the proximity to the next race.  It was a warm evening so by the time I had finished I was sweating buckets.  I also managed to set off at an odd gait and ended up with my left shin aching – as if I had been running without putting the toes of the foot down and therefore attempting to kill the muscles!

But I got to the end and the nightmare hill close to the finish felt easier than it had done in the past.  No problems followed so I am feeling much better about the race.

Again, I am not going to run the whole way – I know that and am not afraid to admit it.  I am hoping to again run at least 10 of the 13 miles and hopefully by the end of the 10 I will be able to make the whole distance.

Sponsorship still welcome at www.justgiving.com/10halfmarathons2010.

Two envelopes

I arrived home from work yesterday to find two envelopes with my hand writing on them waiting for me.

After a momentary panic of  ‘You idiot you put the wrong envelope in the wrong envelope and have sent your entry forms to yourself’, I opened them.

One exciting piece of news and one quite sad.

I am officially entered in the White Horse Half Marathon on 11 April 2010 (as you can see from the picture).

This will probably be the only time that I am Number 4 in a Half Marathon!!

I did get my cheque back from the organisers of the Torbay Half Marathon as it has been cancelled for 2010.  Very disappointing as I was looking forward to doing the big 3 Devon races.

I now need to find another race to have a go at as well.

A bit more detail – and a request

OK, the ‘What’s the deal’ page tells you a bit more about what I am doing and why and I will use the posts page to keep you up to date.

This is my first blog and if just one person finds it interesting then I will be happy.

For those who can’t be bothered to look at the other pages, here is a summary

• Turning 30
• Not given much back to society
• Going to run 10 half marathons in 2010
• For charity

The chosen 10 are on a page aptly titled ‘The chosen 10′ although at the moment there are only 9!!

The request bit? This is where you come in.  It’s the last bullet point above.

I want to do this for a charity/collection of charities and I am looking for suggestions as to which charity or charities I should raise money for.

At the moment, I am leaning towards a charity connected to Parkinsons disease as one of my uncles has it but I am open to suggestions.

So, please, suggest away.

The start

More to come – check back for updates.