Finally!! 😁

[uncle_wiggy]

So after a beautiful sunny morning volunteering at parkrun I took to the back roads that follow the river Welland back to my home town to start my delayed great eastern run, and what a day to do it on! 12°ish, sun shining & a nice side/back wind, it couldn't have been more different than last weeks cold and relentless rain!

I set off at a decent, but comfortable pace & averaged 6:30km/min & enjoyed the tranquil scenery without any earphones etc, just my phone announcing the km's slowly ticking away. Feeling happy and strong all the way up to 15km 😊 💪 that's when the tiredness really started to kick in! My lack of preparation due tapering for the event and also due to my little accident 👍, meant the furthest I had continually run was my one 10 miler way back in July. I did cover 18km once in Sept. but that was a mixture of run /walk from 10km onwards. From 15km this really started to show! I managed to get through to 18km with a mixture of determination & slowing the pace, but then started to cramp a little in my left leg. Stopping to stretch & pinch it out helped, but my legs were feeling weaker with each km & by 20km they were a bit like jelly! I had to cross several junctions and roads and only felt safe to do so if I'd stopped & walked to ensure I was steady! I was very relieved to hear 'your target complete'! 🏁

I know an event can carry you a long way but I'm not 100% certain that I would have been able to complete the event in last weeks conditions!

So happy to have achieved this goal though and although I did find it struggle at the end I have felt awesome since 10mins of recovery afterwards!

Finish time was delayed by those last 3km but I am absolutely made up to have completed in 2hrs 26mins 😊

Thank you VRB's for being such encouraging supportive people, when it got tough the support from here really helped!

[Stephen_UK Half Marathon]

Wow! Well done.

[uncle_wiggy Half Marathon 10 Miles in reply to Stephen_UK]

Thank you Stephen

[linda9389 Administrator Marathon]

Fabulous! So much harder to keep pushing yourself through the last few kms without a sprinkling of race magic, with junctions to negotiate in the final metres rather than a cheering crowd calling you home. So, really well done, and a great time too 👏👏👏🥇

[uncle_wiggy Half Marathon 10 Miles in reply to linda9389]

Thank you Linda, I am really happy!

[Granspeed]

Excellent! Really hard to push through the last bit on your own, I’m sure, so double credit for that. 👏🏼🎉 Very satisfying now, I hope. You should be really chuffed. (I do rather hope your tranquil pace was min/km, though, rather than km/min 🤔 Just quibbling!🤣)

[uncle_wiggy Half Marathon 10 Miles in reply to Granspeed]

😂 🤣Good point! Must pay more attention to the detail!!!

[cheekychipmunks Half Marathon]

That certainly is a fabulous achievement uncle! Huge well done to you. I know all about jelly legs. My breathing is always ok, my pins let me down. 🙄

[uncle_wiggy Half Marathon 10 Miles in reply to cheekychipmunks]

Thanks cheeky! I've had tired legs before but jelly is next level isn't it? Horrible feeling near the roads!! Can't believe they felt OK so soon afterwards

[cheekychipmunks Half Marathon in reply to uncle_wiggy]

Shows how much baseline fitness we’ve achieved - I ran the GSR yesterday and apart from mildly aching quads I’m fine. Amazing isn’t it? 💪

[uncle_wiggy Half Marathon 10 Miles in reply to cheekychipmunks]

Well done cheeky! 👏 👏 You're right though, to think that this time last year I hadn't even graduated from C25K yet! We've all come so far, and it is a wonderful feeling!

[cheekychipmunks Half Marathon in reply to uncle_wiggy]

I know, it’s crazy to think what we’ve done. I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have come anywhere near this far without the support of these forums though. 😍

[uncle_wiggy Half Marathon 10 Miles in reply to cheekychipmunks]

True dat cheeky!

[Katnap Marathon]

😃💦 no sweat! You done it!

Now get that virtual HM badge!

healthunlocked.com/marathon...

🐱 Katnap 🐱

[uncle_wiggy Half Marathon 10 Miles in reply to Katnap]

Cheers Katnap 😸

[TailChaser Marathon]

Well done uncle_wiggy! That’s a great achievement - Katnap has been telling me all about your problems recently and this run must have taken some doing. Fantastic 👏👏👏👏

[uncle_wiggy Half Marathon 10 Miles in reply to TailChaser]

Thanks TC, it did but it I remember when that week 5 run of C25K felt nearly as tough! Maybe not quite that tough though!! The progress & believe we've all made is amazing! 👏 👏

[TailChaser Marathon in reply to uncle_wiggy]

It is, isn’t it? It’s such a fantastic programme - where would we all be without it and this forum 😍

[uncle_wiggy Half Marathon 10 Miles in reply to TailChaser]

Definitely, to both!!

[BethMay Half Marathon 10 Miles]

That’s fantastic! Such determination to do this distance on your own!

[uncle_wiggy Half Marathon 10 Miles]

Thanks BethMay, running alone is hard, especially as I was clearly overdoing it but.... I placed a lot higher than I would have done! 🤔😂

[Dexy5 10 Miles]

Very well done uncle_wiggy, that sounds a brilliant time to me. It may have been tough but you have achieved your goal

[uncle_wiggy Half Marathon 10 Miles in reply to Dexy5]

Thanks Dexy, I am super happy, with this run & the whole last year to be honest! 😁