I'm sure there are people here who aren't surprised that I jumped at the chance to do the VLM here in Oslo. It has been 2.5 years since I did the distance (London), and even though my mileage all through the spring and summer was low due to injury, I wanted to give it a go.
I decided to try something new, and charted a course that had me doing four loops fairly close to home. I did a 17 k test run the week before, and things looked promising.
Like you in the UK, the forecast was horrendous, and I didn't feel in shape to do the bulk of my running in the rain, so I managed to get out in the dark around 7 am, as the rain wasn't supposed to hit properly until the afternoon. The lack of sleep due to maranoia also helped. Hubby was out of town, so I got my boys to run a bit with me on loops 2 and 3. My daughter was the crew boss, and met me at a central location from loops 2 onwards, and refilled my water bottle and fed me cheese. I also got a cheer from a good friend who lives along the course.
The app worked really well for me, so I made a point of not looking at the time until the end, and listened to my music and podcasts, and just concentrated on my loops. They went surprisingly well. Of course I walked a bit, but I expected that. I wasn't very warmly dressed, so I needed to keep moving to avoid getting cold.
I finished in 5:59, and got a 34 minute PB, compared with London 2018. Not bad, considering the lack of training and twice the elevation!
This has convinced me that I finally have a decent training base, and has given me quite a confidence boost. Imagine what I could do when I actually have the time to train!
roseabi , could I have my marathon badge back?
Back In The Groove
