Motivation

I set up this blog a couple of weeks ago with the idea of keeping myself motivated over the next few months building up to the November Nightmare.  The Nightmare consists of running 6 marathons over 6 days and I have absolutely no idea how I will cope with that either mentally or physically but I hope blogging about the training and planning will keep me focused on being as ready as I can be.  By taking on this challenge, I will be hoping to raise money for a small charity called A Mile in Her Shoes who, in their own words, encourage women who may have been affected by issues related to homelessness to experience running as a way of exercising, socialising, boosting confidence and raising self-esteem.

After setting up the blog, I found myself completely lacking in inspiration as to what to write - like so many things, it will probably get easier but the first step is the hardest.

Today, the hardest step was getting out the door in the first place.  My training plan, aiming for a 42 mile event in August, told me I should be running for two hours.  I'd decided to do this by running to parkrun, run parkrun at a steady pace with no time pressure and then run home.  I'd also decided to test out the new back pack/hydration pack I plan to use for the big day at Run to the Castle.

Actually, I lied - the hardest step today was getting out of bed in the first place. It was nice and warm, I was tired enough to want to sleep all morning and I could hear the rain falling relentlessly outside.  I was still half asleep as I went downstairs to feed Gitcat and make myself a cup of tea to help me wake up.  I was still trying to work out if I could rearrange the weekend and run at a different time so I could go back to bed but I knew it had to happen now or not at all. Gitcat kept asking to go out but when I opened the door he looked at the weather and thought better of it. In the end, I left the back door open so he could sit in the doorway and watch the rain. I couldn't help thinking he was being sensible and that only a fool would go out and run for two hours, even though I know I always enjoy running in the rain once I'm out there.

I posted on Facebook that I had to run for two hours - now I had to do it !

The run to parkrun is about 5 or 6 km and, after the first short stretch downhill, it's uphill almost all the way to the town park.  The first thing I noticed with the new back pack was the water sloshing around, even though I'd stuffed a lightweight jacket in there to try and avoid that. The pack was also moving around a lot but I took a few walk breaks to adjust the numerous straps and it gradually improved. The worst thing about running in the rain is that whatever waterproof you wear, you end up feeling too hot so before the start of parkrun I was down to a t-shirt and soaking wet.

This was a extra special parkrun in memory of Georgia Williams, a local teenager who was murdered just over two years ago, and in support of the Georgia Williams Trust which was set up in her memory and which aims to enable young people to participate in life-building activities and contribute to the local community.  This was the second Georgia parkrun and it was great to see how well supported the event was. Georgia's father made a short but moving speech at the beginning of the parkrun before taking part in the run itself.  You have to admire Georgia's family and friends for creating something so positive to remember the girl who was so horribly stolen from them.  It certainly puts worries about how fast, how far etc into perspective

The rain was persistent but the atmosphere was warm and friendly and after months of missing parkrun (mainly because I'd been getting so uptight about getting a PB ) it was the perfect "comeback" and summed up what it should be about, enjoying the company and just being happy to run. I look forward to the next one !

In all I covered just under 11 slow miles today, although there was a lot of walking on the way home, thanks to my cocktail of antibiotics not being entirely agreeable to my stomach. More importantly, I enjoyed parkrun, I enjoyed the rain, I enjoyed the particular shared smiles you only get in the pouring rain when you meet other people who actually like the feeling of being soaked through and looking like a drowned rat.