I shall start way back in time when I was probably around 13 or 14 years old.
I quite liked athletics - I've never been much of a team player, (and that has never changed) I never quite got my head around the rules of netball, rounders, hockey and the like but I did quite enjoy running - but only in short bursts - 100m was my favourite. I did try 200m a few times but didn't do very well at that and any further than that and I was pooped!
So, fast forward to January 2011. My 50th birthday was looming and I looked in the mirror and thought
"Netty - you have to get a grip of yourself! Your arse is starting to look like it's the size of a small country and those tree trunk legs are really....well... hmm... yeah, they really would look better on an elephant!!"
So, what to do about it? I decided I'd try the Slim Fast diet - and found myself on the Slim Fast web site. That in turn led me to My Fitness Pal via a link that another dieter had posted, raving about this wonderful MFP site!
Not long after I joined My Fitness Pal I was looking for ways to work off a few calories through exercise so I could "buy" myself some extra calories of food each day - 1200 calories a day isn't much and you do have to be quite imaginative about how to spend those calories so you don't go hungry! While I was poking around the community area one day I spotted some chit chat about something called C25k - and was interested to know what it meant. That'll be Couch to 5k some helpful person told me. Hmmmm..... I thought - 5k (let me google that...) Blimey - that's just over 3 miles! Eep! I popped over to itunes, did a search and came up with a free c25k workout to download and away I went - never for a moment believing that I could jog that far but willing to give it a go to burn off those extra calories!
At some point during the first few weeks of C25k I "met" my lovely virtual running buddy Janet and we started to help each other along. We were both at the same point in the workout and it was so helpful to have somebody to "jolly" me along when I was flagging. I never thought I'd graduate the C25k program but together Janet and I did it!
So that's the "history" part of the day!
Now to the Race For Life......
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| Running Gear Hanging At The Ready |
She had a very valid point.
So, I hassled my daughter and her girlfriend and clicked on the Join the Race For Life and started fundraising (aka pestering the living daylights out of everyone and anyone I know) and that brought me very swiftly to 9th July 2011 - Race For Life day here in Lincoln
Race Day Dawns....
I woke up at 5am - and couldn't not off again.. I was far too excited and nervous about the race! I took my dogs out for a short warm up walk before having a light bite to eat and did some stretches. 3 last minute visits to the bathroom later and we were picking Leigh and Hayley up before setting off with Long Suffering He Who Must Be Ignored for the Lincolnshire Showground.
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| Getting Ready - now where's my phone..... |
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| Does my tum look big in this..... |
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| Pin it on, put it on - wear it with pride! |
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| Put your arms in the air like you just don't care! |
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| Hahaha - great fun - I love you daughter of mine! |
And then it was time for the serious business of the day as we were marshalled into groups - Walkers, Joggers, Runners and chaperoned towards the start..... Endomondo logging started at this point - a few minutes before the race began as it took a little while to get us all started....
The ladies who were running were the first to go, then my group - the joggers, followed by the walkers.
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| You can just about spot my hands raised waving - mid picture |
Polar HRM logging began as I went under the Start Line.... so although Endomondo has times on it this isn't accurate as I'd started it early so I could get my phone tucked into it's wallet before I started moving - AND it took an age before we actually got moving - after all, 1200 to 1300 of us needed to pass through the start....
The Race.... how it went
Before we were even 200m into the race some of the ladies who were jogging in front of me were slowing to a walk and falling by the wayside. (please ladies - next time - be sensible and line up with the walkers - no shame in that - and that way you don't get in the way of the ladies who really can jog more than 200m)
For the first half mile or so Leigh and Hayley were with me, jogging like good 'uns. Proud of you girls! They haven't trained for this race and did really well but not too far into the race I found that I was going it alone. Only, I wasn't going it alone because all those wonderful ladies where there with me, working so very hard to raise money for Cancer Research UK - and then I discovered that Janet and Adrian were right there with me too - sending me pep talks via Endomondo.
I can't even come close to telling you guys just how very welcome those pep talks were and how important they were.
When I was getting tired they gee'd me up and when I was flagging your messages gave me inspiration to push onwards. Adrian gave me details of the distance I'd covered and how my lap times were going - fantastic! Very helpful. Janet encouraged me all the way with words of inspiration. Amazing! And with each new pep talk the ladies around me were given cause for concern as I laughed out loud with the sheer joy of having friends along side me even though I looked as if I was alone. They must have thought I was barking mad!
Thank you Thank you Thank You for those pep talks - they were a Fantastic!
Not only did I get pep talked - Janet took some screen shots via Endomondo - and reported that she was watching me LIVE as I ran - that was such a thrill for me! The next few pictures are courtesy of Janet
Before the race started I noticed that my heart rate was somewhere up near 95 beats per minute - where it would normally only be around 75 - probably because of the stress of the day. Not only running in front of people for the first time, but also the pressure of earning that £600 that's been pledged to me in sponsorship money. I'd promised to JOG JOG JOG and really earn that money - never mind any of this walking lark!
The first half mile or so wasn't too bad. My legs protested a little at being asked to jog after almost a week off but I just told them to quit complaining as this was happening whether they liked it or not. At this point there were quite a large number of "joggers" who were starting to drop down to a walk so I had to concentrate on dodging round them, as well as having to keep an eye on the ground to make sure I wasn't going to stumble on uneven ground!
My Heart Rate Monitor also decided to start beeping very early in the race as I went over my suggested beats per minute. ( I forgot to change it from Treadmill to Outside - outside being much more taxing on the heart) As I had my earphones in so I could hear my pep talks it really didn't bother me at all but I did get a few strange looks as I jogged by and when my earphones fell out now and again I realised that my HRM was set to very loud! It didn't shut up until I finished the race which was a bit distracting.
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| Round the Racecourse - rough grass and against the wind |
The terrain was quite rough - part of the course was an old racecourse - when I saw the first hurdle I thought Yee Gads! They're not expecting us to go over those are they...... but we were eased around them and continued on our way. We were running into the wind at this point and going uphill slightly (not many hills in Lincolnshire thank goodness!) so it's no wonder my HRM was going off at an alarming rate. I did consider switching it off but thought sod it! My dealy-boppers got blown about in the wind and I decided it was probably a good idea to just carry them rather than loose them. I had a special ribbon on them which I didn't want to loose.
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| After the Racecourse it was onto a roadway - 2 miles and onwards! |
By the time I reached the 1 mile point the course changed direction - so the wind was to the side of me rather than having to run into it - which was bloody hard work I can tell you running against the wind. Even though I was getting it from the side I was already pretty tired from the up-incline against the wind effort! I watched a few more people drop down to walking, saw a few people push a little harder and pass me and saw one youngster sprint past me then start walking, jogged past her, saw her skip past me later on (that made me smile) and passed a few more people who were dropping down to a walk, or who were jogging even more slowly than I was. That's a great feeling, knowing that I'm not the slowest person there. I was scared to death of everyone being so much better than me!
By the 2 mile point I was jogging on a roadway - much easier than the grass (which was rather heavy going due to all the rain yesterday) I jogged along side a lady for a short while who was having hamstring trouble. She must have been a serious jogger as she knows what a hamstring is. I know it's in your leg somewhere but that's about it!! She must have dropped back at some point as I found I was jogging on my own again....
Still noticing people dropping down to walking and wondering if I was going to have to take a walking break. My Heart Rate Monitor really was winding me up at this point and I wanted to stop still long enough to jump on it to shut it up! I was determined not to do that as it meant stopping and kept reminding myself that I was going to damned well earn those £600 for Cancer Research UK and not wimp out and walk or stop for any reason at all!
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| Going downhill at this point with the wind behind (and not my farts I might add!) |
By the time I was at this point (3.91k) I could see that the course zig-zagged along - I wondered if anyone would notice if I took a short cut across the grass - it looked like a mighty tempting option. I could see some of the ladies who were ahead of me on the return part of the zig-gaz and felt very envious of them but knowing that there were lots of people behind me who must be looking at me with envy spurred me onwards. The wind was behind me which made things easier. I slowed my pace just a little as I was really hot. My legs felt fine and my breathing was ok too. However, my HRM continued to complain that I was working too hard and I was just so hot I thought you could fry an egg on my head! It ocured to me that I really should have carried a bottle of water along with me and I wondered if I'd get chucked off the course if I mugged a fellow runner for her water....?
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| Short chat as we turned into the wind again - and wished for rain! |
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| Looking for Leigh and Hayley at this point |
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| Spotted Neil - My hero! |
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| On the home straight - almost there |
It's so uplifting to run down that final part of the course - everyone is cheering you on, everyone is clapping - I kissed the ribbon in my hand "Please God, Don't let my dad have pancreatic cancer" Even though I've done this run for my mum, when it came to the final 100m it was thoughts of my dad which spurred me on. With the finish line in sight I actually found some reserves of energy and stepped it up a gear to pass the finish line in style!
Awesome! Finished! My first 5k! My First Race For Life! A job well done!
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| 34.44 minutes later - and I'm at the finish line!! |
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| Passed the finish. Few mins before I remembered to stop logging! |
So, what were my vital stats for the day?
| Duration | Calories | Av. ♥ | Max ♥ | Distance | Average Pace for the Race | * | ||
| 34.44 | 437 | 167 | 179 | 5k Race For Life | * | 10.35 minute mile | * | |
Well if you've made it to this point you certainly have got some stamina! Well done!
I know this posting is very VERY long winded - but I wanted to be able to look back on it in reasonable detail and remember this day. After I hit the Post button I'm going to head over to My Fitness Pal and mark my desire to finish the Race For Life at a JOG and not a walk as completed!
