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Saturday Sep 27, 2008

Run, Carrie, run - the re-run

I cannot believe I'm doing this.  Really. 

I got a sense of exhilaration simply from filling in the online form and paying the entry fee, but now the realisation is creeping up on me - in six months' time, I am going to run 13.1 miles. 

A half-marathon.

Seriously.

As you know if you've read any of my blog before, I've run two 5ks and a 10k, so a half-marathon is the logical step.  I say "logical", it's not logical at all.  The 10k was a dreadful, dreadful experience; admittedly mostly because it was bucketing with rain and I was horrifyingly cold and miserable the entire way round. 

So I guess the thing to do is to keep my fingers crossed for sunshine on March 29th.  And to keep training.  Wish me luck.

Posted by Carrie ( 10:15 PM )
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Sunday Sep 07, 2008

A personal best!

It seems a bit ludicrous to say that I've run a personal best when I've only ever run two 5ks, but I have!

I thought it was going to rain again today, and my friends and family were understandably cautious about coming to stand in a downpour after their drenching on Bank Holiday Monday, so I was planning to go alone to Hyde Park.  Then I realised that the instruction booklet for the course tells you not to bring bags with you, but leave everything with your supporters - or better still, leave it at home. How was I supposed to run 5k with a bag containing my change of clothes, my keys and my travelcard?  In the end, I decided to take my chances with the rain, run in my fleece, put my travelcard in my iPod armband, and hook my keys onto my stopwatch cord.

And then it didn't rain, so I was sweltering in my fleece.

And then the tannoy announcement indicated that bags could indeed be stored in changing areas.

I was a little annoyed, to say the least - especially since I'd been invited into the VIP area but wasn't sent my wristband to access to the tent, didn't have my mobile with me to ring the PR people. and really didn't think the likes of Goldie Sayers, Christine Ohuruogu, Liz Yelling and Heather Fell would want to meet me post-race all sweaty and without a change of clothes.

Anyway, the course itself was surprisingly easy.  I'm not sure if it's because I've run 10k since last year, or just because I've run that course before, but it didn't seem to be as gruelling (even though it's a source of constant torment that it's not being out of breath that forces me to slow down, it's the agony in my calves and ankles).  I finished the race two minutes 19 seconds faster than I did last year, which is a good slice, so I'm quite pleased, even if I would like to be nearer to 30 minutes than 35. 

Maybe next year.

Posted by Carrie ( 8:00 PM )
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Wednesday Sep 03, 2008

What time is it?

The thing about doing a 5k again is that I desperately, desperately want to run faster than I did in my last one.  This is mostly because I have a dangerously competitive streak.

I did a practice 5k tonight, and wasn't running flat out at any point, and came in about 45 seconds per km slower than I ran this time last year, which I guess is a good sign.  Now I'm putting together a playlist of good, fast music for my iPod ready for Sunday's adidas Women's Challenge.  If anyone's got any suggestions of appropriate songs, do let me know!

Posted by Carrie ( 9:27 PM )
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