I KNOW I have neglected the running blog lately but I promise you that I have been training for the half marathon.
In a spur of the moment decision Team Shoker decided to compete in our first ever 10k two weeks ago.
With just a few days to get some training in I thought it would give me a good taster of a race day and an idea of how much more work I needed to do.
I was a bit worried about how well I would do, and while I wasn’t so optimistic about it, others had a little more faith in me.
As race day arrived I was excited and eager to test myself. I prayed for a dry day and a bit of sunshine because I thought that would help, but typically the British summer didn’t disappoint us and the rain poured down for most of the morning. Determined not to let that put me off I just got on with it.
Until that day I had rarely managed a 5k without slowing down and walking, but I guess with the adrenaline of the day, I really pushed myself to keep going. I tried not to concentrate too much on how far I had run, and how far I had left to go but you couldn’t help but count down how many more kilometers were left to go.
Luckily there were no big hills for me to conquer on this route so it was a fairly comfortable run and there was a great atmosphere. Despite the rain, people were all in good spirits and encouraged each other to keep going when you felt like giving up. It was also a big help to have people on the side lines cheering you all the way and applauding. It gave you a real boost.
With that encouragement and in the excitement of the whole event, as soon as I saw the 9k sign, I quite literally pelted it to the finish line. Still to this day I don’t know how I managed to find the energy to sprint the last stretch and in that moment I forget how tired my legs were and how drenched through my clothes were. I just wanted to cross that line.
Beating all my expectations, and even the expectations of my fellow Team Shoker runners, I completed the 10k in 67 minutes – which was most definitely a personal best for me.
And now knowing I can do a 10k, all I have to do is double that for the half marathon, and I’ll be at 13 miles. Surely it can’t be that difficult….can it?!