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Following on from the last blog, the fingers eventually thawed out and so I headed off to do my GoodGym run later that Wednesday evening. Strange how I can go for a longer run and not wish it to be over, yet on the short runs, I'm expecting the distance to accrue at a faster rate? With me running in the morning, I'm keeping the miles down to about two on this run as this has a couple of benefits - I can leave a little later and I'm not as drenched in effort when I arrive. ("Effort" sounds so much cooler than "Sweat").
Thursday saw a slightly earlier start for our run and the difference was noticeable in that there were a lot more cyclists out, and thankfully, a lot less people on the prom which meant that I spent less time trying to anticipate hurdling dogs that (despite the several signs all over the place), were not on leads. It really was quiet and it was appreciated as we did our Thursday four! Even though it was only a couple of days away, I actually have no striking memories of it so I can only assume all was good and I could look forward to a Friday rest day with a clear conscience!
Really strange that when I'm in the middle of the six days of running a week, going for a run is totally normal and simply, the thing to do! Throw in a rest day and suddenly I start questioning it! With a Saturday return to East Brighton parkrun, there was no way I was missing that. Aside from the marathons (sponsorship still desperately needed!), my main goal for 2019 is to reach the 250 club and run 229 was not going to be sacrificed! Besides, there were friends coming so it was never in doubt.
East Brighton parkrun is totally on grass, with some cheeky little elevations thrown in for good measure. As I've said before, there is no current ambition to try and smash a time out (and probably no fitness to do that!), so with a 12 mile run the following day, I was always going to take this one easy. It was great that Lucy accompanied me round as we chatted the whole way and were able to see lots of folk we knew as we did. Creeping in just over 30 minutes for the event was fine in my book and it meant that hopefully, there would be fuel in the legs for the next day.
Sunday morning brought back a number of memories for sure! Up very early for porridge as I knew I was underfuelled last time, I started remembering how I feel on the morning of marathons. I don't know about you but it is a combination of nerves, worry and a smidgeon of "let's get the bloody thing out of the way". I knew exactly why I was feeling this way - mile 11 on Monday was not a good place to be. Low on fuel and constantly checking my watch doesn't make the miles go any quicker for sure. Surely, this time would be different.
Dave and I are at different places with our training; I, with two marathons to do, needed to clock 12 miles whereas Dave, being much more sensible, is training for the Brighton Half Marathon so "only" needed 11. Being the gent he is, Dave worked out the route to incorporate the extra mile for me, meaning I started early and then completed the mile at our usual meeting point. Perfect! What could go wrong? Well, me to be honest. Only a minor indiscretion but starting off on my lap, I'd decided just to use it as a warmup mile as starting going up, however slight, never really works for me! So, off I went, safely crossing the road, right at the lights and then first right to go parallel to my road. Nice and easy this, good pace...hang on, where's my drink bottle? Like a muppet I'd left it behind and there then followed a few seconds of trying to work out what should I do? Will I be ok without it or should I try and get back somehow? With the previous LSR still in the memory, I continued to the end of the road then took a right, then a right back down to home. Whilst this was annoying, it brought a fortunate meeting with Meg, with whom there will always be a finishing of Brighton Marathon together with! Nowadays, she's a bit speedy and will be home with the kettle on before I cross the line! Right, Garmin stopped, dash inside, return to same point, restart Garmin and head to meet Dave the slightly long way.
This meant of course that I was slightly out by the time we met, but with 1.15 miles on the watch, I could live with that. Our route took us on our usual 4 mile route, down to the seafront, heading west along the A259. This was my old LSR route from many a Thursday evening and as we headed out of Hove, it was strange how many memories came back, albeit the route was in daylight for once! It was a really useful distraction as at the back of my mind was the 11th mile from Monday. How would I do? Would I fade? Had my early porridge sorted the issues. Passing Shoreham Power Station was a boost - not just because you can see it right from the start of the run, but because it seemed to come up so quickly! From then on in, the old check list was being ticked off, and then on the horizon was a very familiar figure, getting closer all the time - due to her speed, not ours! Fresh from a parkrun record at Worthing parkrun. Emily decided to celebrate by running back there and was on her way home as she powered past us, giving Dave and I serious runner envy - wishing we could make it look that easy too!
Into Shoreham and over the A259 road bridge which suddenly seemed to have got steeper since my last visit there. A toot on the horn from Mark as he passed helped me refocus and before we knew it, we were heading back home. Dave had worked out a slightly different route back, meaning we crossed at Shoreham Locks. Fortunately for us, the sea gods were with us and there were no delays, and then the "road to hell" awaited. The road from the lock down to Hove Lagoon is the most mentally challenging road of the Brighton Marathon and that's where it gets it's name. No such issues for me on this occasion as I've done it several times and know just how long it is, and what little there is there!
Hitting the prom means you're almost home and somehow Dave had managed to sort a route for me that pretty much had me at the same mileage point as I would be in the Brighton Half next month. That's really useful as you can judge how you are feeling, knowing how far the finish line is. We hit our mile targets pretty much at the same time (gotta love GPS technology) and I felt good! I'm half marathon ready for sure and over the next few weeks, the mileage creeps up and up as we head towards April. Naturally, we recorded the moment appropriately!
Monday's recovery saw yours truly becoming Billy-no-mates as circumstances dictated that Dave had to go early, so I hit our usual 5k route a few hours later. I was really pleased that it wasn't as hard as I'd expected - not that I was flying you understand!! I viewed it as a success as it shows the progress that the training is having. The Monday afternoon, I barely left my bed - this time with proper fuelling and hydration, I'm still clocking the miles. Though the post run coffee was lacking a certain someone...
So what do you do when your running buddy can only do early runs? Get up and go with him! 7.15am saw me outside Chez Dave on what was actually a nice morning. Chilly yes, but no wind! Another 5k in the bag with Mr S and first run of the day all done before 8am! Result! So a short trot to GoodGym tonight and another 7.15am tomorrow and I should be approaching 150 miles for the month! No laurels to be rested on as once we hit Friday, the counter is reset to 0!
Whilst the miles are clicking in, the sponsorship isn't and I won't pretend I'm not concerned! £2,000 is a lot of dosh and I've only just crossed the £200 point. I know this is a yearly occurrence for me but I do only ask once a year. Obviously, I'm not the only one out there doing such daft races, but if anyone can help, I'd be grateful!
https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/mark-brocklehurst8
Also - any fundraising ideas would be fab! Please let me know what works for you! So instead of it being another story from me, in closing, I hope for some stories from you!