Today's long run, mentally for me, started as soon as last Sunday's was finished. Last week I did 11 miles, increasing 1 mile from the week before, which increased from the week before (I remember that was a bad one, barely made seven miles).
Anyway, after my Wednesday blip "Court in Session" blog, and my extra cross training session, AND my make-up run on Friday morning which was I felt was a good one - I knew I was ready to put in a good long run, maybe 12 miles, maybe longer, we would see how the knees/legs/ankles and of course, the lungs felt as the run went on.
I started the day with a good fuelling up - a large vegetarian breakfast at Wetherspoons at about 10:30am.
Much later in the day after the usual hour of prevarication - "Must just check FB, must see if anybody liked my Court blog, must fold the laundry, check the chickens, oooh is that whole nut chocolate, I'll just have a few squares (and it was just a few, but it was good fuel also!) I need to fill up my waterbottle, ohh, it's soo cold out there, I need to find my long sleeved second layer"....and on and on, I can prevaricate for Scotland!
Lovely hubby sighs "Will you bugger off and get your run done?? It will be bedtime by the time you get home at this rate!"
Yep, so off I go, I start a bit slowish, but it IS a long run so I need to pace myself. Two and a bit miles in, something is going seriously wrong with my stomach...oh no, the dreaded runner's trots! Luckily I have just been on a bit of a longish loop near my house so I get to the gate, stop the Garmin, get inside, hubby looking bemused, run upstairs, do what I need to do, and get straight back outside again, restarting the Garmin as I run out the door, of course it's lost the satellite signal so it's a few seconds before it picks it up again.
On, on, on, over the Tamar Road Bridge into Plymouth and Devon, just a year younger than me is the road bridge! It appears to be wearing much better!
I have a lot of problems with my MP3 player in the first half of this run. I had put my running playlist on but I thought I had put it on shuffle. However the dratted thing keeps playing the same track over and over. I try to fish it out of the little back pocket on my capris, while still keeping up the pace, but I'm already so hot and sweaty that it's sticking inside the pocket. I end up slowing down to a walk for a few seconds to sort it out. It plays up again a short time later and again I have to stop and fix it.
I do the first 6.4 miles in the hour and one part of me is thinking, "That's too fast, I'll never last the whole long run at that speed", the other part is wondering if I can!
I haven't done a half marathon distance since the Saltash May Fair which, if you read back a long way, was my first a horrible hilly event, and a memorable one at that! I had to take two weeks off from running due to trying to run the last three miles with a knee that was shouting at me but I finished it in 2.20.
I get to mile 12, my right calf has been cramping a bit, but nothing serious, knees feel fine, ankles ok, lungs working hard but up to the job, and I am so close, SO close to getting to that half distance again, but am running it at a much better sustained pace, that there is absolutely no way that I'm going to stop now!
Down over the last incline, legs pumping hard, my mental target of 2:05 within reach, I just need to try a bit harder; what was it that Lovely Hubby shouted at me at the finish line of that Saltash Half? Oh yes, cheeky beggar "Where's your sprint finish?" Well this time I've got it, I run hard, harder, and check and recheck my Garmin - the light is fading, I have to press the little switch to turn the light on, and I'm there! 13.12 miles! 2:04:16 and a moving time of 2:03:56.
connect.garmin.com/activity...
Shove that up your gavel Judge Stern!
CaroleC
10 miles +
5K Build-up run - another cock-up! 
1st half marathon (what have i done) ;o)
Half Marathon here I come! 🏃🏼♀️❤️🙏 Long post alert! 😂
