Ok, that could have gone worse!

[Beachcomber66]

Today was a “I don’t have a clue” run, aka trying to give me a chance of running a HM sometime next week without injuring myself in the attempt. The day got off to a slow but nice start with our weekly chat to our tame psychiatrist in Australia. He is a best friend of our daughter Jill, and he has zoomed every Tuesday morning for the last 20 months to make sure that we are ok. A wonderful lad; but I digress! He is a runner too, so we swap stories. He knows a lot about running in heat!

That got me to 11:15 am Then the skies opened! Add to that the fact that my watch looked in need of a recharge and I needed to do my 15 minutes hot water bottle treatment on my knee (which was feeling a bit sore!), it was12:22 before I started running! I then got into a tangle with setting my watch and NRCHM app. I was thrown by the fact that there is no commentary with the 20k run! 🙄

My feet got moving eventually, and I set off slowly, at about 7:30 pace, on the basis that I would recognise when I had gone far enough. Coming up to 10 miles, I certainly could have run further, but I was so near the cafe (and it was almost closing time) that I thought, this was a message to quit at 10 miles while I was ahead. My post run rationalisation was that I had a better chance of running HM towards the end of next week if I didn’t overdo it this week. So that was it; 10 miles done. In football cliché terms, if you had offered me that on 27 April, I would have snapped your hand off!

Happily my knee feels ok and swimming tomorrow should loosen things up! Latest crisis dealt with….that is enough for now! Thanks to amazing VRBs for their encouragement 🙂

[cheekychipmunks Half Marathon]

That sounds like a resounding win BC. 10 miles isn’t to be sneezed at, and the fact you came out unscathed proves that Captain Sensible is always right. And why on earth would he miss out on cafe time? That would have been daft, and definitely not sensible.

So here’s to your HUHM! Looking forward to hearing how you get on. 😀

[Beachcomber66 Administrator Half Marathon in reply to cheekychipmunks]

Thanks Cheeky. It was sensible. If I had done another 3k today, I would have been more optimistic about next week….but that is probably all in the mind. I am now treating the time up to HM as a taper week; no point in trying to squeeze in another long run. It would just be good to beat Covid-19 !

[Dexy5 10 Miles]

10 miles run! Very well done Beachcomber66 , that is definitely something to be proud of when you went out just to see how far you could go. You are so close to that HM that I’m sure you will crack it next week.

I can relate to your start of day. I have all good intentions when I first get up, but the faffing just goes on and on. 😂

[Beachcomber66 Administrator Half Marathon in reply to Dexy5]

I will try my best, even if I have to crawl the last 5k! I had to laugh this morning. I was running close to another man of similar age to me, and a man on bike rode past and said that we should get a bus or a taxi! The kindest thing I can say is that the cyclist’s physique had plenty of scope for improvement. Just smile and run on 🙂

[Dexy5 10 Miles in reply to Beachcomber66]

Cheeky, I can never think of an amusing response in those situations until it is far too late. Smile and keep running is the best way I think.

[Beachcomber66 Administrator Half Marathon in reply to Dexy5]

Absolutely; they have all the problems of being the person they are. It would unkind to add to their burden.😉

[SueAppleRun 10 Miles]

Wow 😳 I can only dream of your slow pace but so pleased you can do it 😁

[Beachcomber66 Administrator Half Marathon in reply to SueAppleRun]

We all run at our own pace Sola. I wasn’t running at 7:30 pace by the end! I blame Covid.😉

[SueAppleRun 10 Miles in reply to Beachcomber66]

I blame COVID too

[Sandie1961 Half Marathon]

You really don’t need to do more than 16k to be able to complete a HM especially when it isn’t your first. I’m sure you can do it. You know what you need to do!

[Beachcomber66 Administrator Half Marathon in reply to Sandie1961]

I think that I need to run a really steady first 5k then kid myself that I am only running 10 miles! This is only my third HM. My first was really slow and the circumstances of the second had nothing to do with good running. I think this is the best prepared I have ever been in truth; just not as fit as I would have been without the dreaded Covid. I will just do my best and that will have to be enough.

[Sandie1961 Half Marathon in reply to Beachcomber66]

That’s all any of us can do BC. I’m sure you’ll be fine

[linda9389 Administrator Marathon]

That's great news BC! Your strategy is working. Don't forget you can leave your HUHM until 21st May if you wish - that's almost two weeks away 😊

[Beachcomber66 Administrator Half Marathon in reply to linda9389]

Thanks Linda. I plan to leave my attempt until the end of next week and just have a few shorter quicker runs between now and HM day. It would be daft not to try complete it having done most of the training. It was quite muddy today, so I reckon my run was ok. 👍

[misswobble Marathon]

good luck with it! 🙂👍💪.

Have fun out there 😀

[Beachcomber66 Administrator Half Marathon in reply to misswobble]

Thanks misswobble. I need to chill a bit with this now. I have made the best of a bad job (covid) so now I will just enjoy what I can do. That HM Pb is out there whether it is next week or a bit later in the month.

[Shake-and-run Half Marathon]

Enjoy your taper week.

[Beachcomber66 Administrator Half Marathon in reply to Shake-and-run]

Thanks shakes. A swim this morning should help to loosen things up.🙂

[Decker Ultramarathon]

I think you’ll do it BC. You were wise not to push it now. And anything you do this week wont have benefits for at least a couple of weeks so rest and go get it on the day! 👊👍🏼

[Beachcomber66 Administrator Half Marathon in reply to Decker]

Thanks Decker. A swim today, just to loosen up. Otherwise I will do some short runs for maintenance purposes only! Good to have all of these experts around 👍

[JonathanP 10 Miles]

I'll have my 🤞for you BC!

[Beachcomber66 Administrator Half Marathon in reply to JonathanP]

Thanks JP; much appreciated. Hoping for a cool day… or an early start I guess.