One weeks time I will be contemplating how my first Marathon of the 4 went. I do seem to swing from moments of extreme confidence to feeling I ought to say my goodbyes in case I collapse on an Irish road and get nibbled to death by sheep.
Next Thursday I will be running here:
http://www.extremenorthevents.com/images/uploads/documents/2012-Quadrathon-Day-1.pdf
And this is the course profile (gradients):
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| Quad day 1 course gradients - first and second half |
Yeah...... so I never said they would be FLAT, did I?
This morning I went to H's husbands funeral. I don't think a detailed description is really appropriate for this blog but I will say two things:
1. I hope when I go, people will be fighting for space - no seats left and we were pretty much standing squashed around the edges of the chapel (that is a GOOD thing!) I hope she gets some comfort from how popular he was.
2. Go and hug a loved one NOW and appreciate them because things can change so quickly. Being in a Premier Inn in Bristol and no teleporter to Cambridge I don't have that luxury, and frankly I could really do with a hug today. I could hug the man on reception but I fear he may like it too much.
Anyway, the subject of hills.
The first 3 days of the Quad are quite hilly. With that in mind, the slightly sadistic side of me has been winning the battle recently, I've been throwing in some quite hilly bits on my long runs, particularly the bits at the end of a 20 where say I've done 10 with the girls and then 10 on my own - I try and find a few ups and down in that last 10 so I'm running the ups and downs tired.
I think there are 2 races that are responsible for curing any "hill fear" that I did have. Mentally I hope I've got the hill battle won.
1. The Rhayader 20 - a lovely Welsh race usually in March. You start off in the town, and fairly soon are running up a 5 mile climb. It starts off gradual but miles 3-5 are quite steep and you end up quite high up - a noticeable temperature difference at the top. On this first epic climb, depressingly there is a false summit - you think you've got to the top at about 4 miles in, and then you realize there is another mile to go. Then eventually.... hooray, not a mirage but at the actual summit there is an ambulance(!) and a drinks station. Following this there is a massive downhill (which sounds easy but it it can wreck your quads if you're not careful) where the people in front of you look like little ants snaking round the hairpin road bends. The rest is undulating - so if you can finish the following 15 miles and still feel OK you haven't done too bad. Below is a photo of me doing my normal cheezy photo arms in air pose about 2/3 of the way up the first climb - note I am still running!
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| One woman Mexican wave on a Welsh hillside |
2. The Connemara Ultramarathon. Quite frankly if I can get up something called "The Hell of the West" after 37.5 miles of running, all other hills are pancakes in comparison. I found this "flypast" on Google Maps which is quite cool http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3fHzFs7rAc and also this one from someone's car http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQeIoWl6bpY&feature=related .Happy days.
So we will see what Ireland has to throw at me in the hill department next week
Bite Watch - the swelling practically non existent, I still look my legs are covered in some huge weird love bites. Classy.
Lovely 10 miler tonight, didn't get out of work till late (not that I really minded), got back to the hotel and again robo-Nat just kind of took over. I ended up going down to the Portway and under the bridge and back for a change. Can safely say 10 miles doesn't seem very long any more - an evening spin or a lunchtime jog-ette. Cool!!! :)
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