A few of the Hubbers (and Host Holly lambert) are training for the Virgin London Marathon 2010 in April. We were really inspired by Debbie from Kids First Trust (www.kidsfirsttrust.org) who has recently completed a 10k while training. She blogged this:
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There is no shame in an eleven minute mile
Rainforest Foundation 10k
A soggy finish
It has been a whole month since my last post but the training for the 2010 Virgin London Marathon continues.
So, what’s changed? Not an awful lot if I am honest. I am still managing to get out three times a week and have even managed some hills which I had previously gone out of my way to avoid. I am not really getting any faster but I am still enjoying it. Now that the autumn has rolled in and the weather is ‘changeable’ the kids are bringing a different cough or cold home from school for me to catch every week. This is hampering speed but not my enthusiasm so surely that is half the battle.
Last Sunday I reached another milestone; my first organised 10k. I had trawled the internet and found that the Rainforest Foundation had one scheduled for 1st November. The date was right in terms of increasing my distance so I booked myself and Karl on to it and arranged for my Mum to have the kids, the intention being that they came along and watched.
For those of you with a keen interest in the weather you will remember that the 1st of November turned out to be London’s wettest day of the year so far. When I first woke up last Sunday morning it was still dry and a little bit sunny, things were looking hopeful and I just figured that the met office had got it wrong. However, by the time I had been bullied out of bed and down the stairs by Violet in need of her breakfast things in the sky had taken a turn for the worse. The clouds were thick, the trees were waving around like mad things and the rain was pelting down on the flat roof of our kitchen making those LOUD pitter patter sounds associated with many a British caravan holiday.
Suddenly, getting to and running around Finsbury Park seemed like a bit of an effort. I fed the kids, my mother and myself and then sent the small people up to jump on Karl and find out if he was up for this run or not. His reply, expertly delivered by Alfie, was “he’ll do it if you are doing it, are you doing it Mummy?”. The rain was louder now but my beans on toast had set me up for the day and being put on the spot like that made my mind up for me. “Tell Daddy, yes I am” I yelled up the stairs.
The weather being as rubbish as it was, it was decided that Alfie and Violet would remain at home with Granny so Karl and I set off up the road to catch the train to Victoria and then on to Finsbury Park. By the time we had reached Kent House Station my feet, arms and legs were all ready wet through but it was too late to turn back, the decision was final. On arriving at Finsbury Park 50 minutes later it seemed much wetter and windier than it had been ‘down sowf’ and although 2ooo runners had been expected it looked like we were 2 of about 12 that had turned up! By the time it was warm up time at 10.50am a few more had made an appearance and we all gamely stretched and jogged on the spot in our rain coats.
The hooter went off on time at 11.15 and I set off next to Karl but to be honest, it wasn’t fun. The rain was honking down heavier and heavier and although I had shed one layer I was still in my rain coat which soon became quite heavy. After about 2k it was clear that Karl is faster than me. This was annoying because he hadn’t run for ages but I am much happier at my own pace so let him trot off up the hill in front of me. I hadn’t realised quite how small or hilly Finsbury Park was and whilst size isn’t everything doing circuits of a hilly park on a very yucky day felt a bit frustrating.
By the time I saw Karl for the second time I had shed my rain coat and was just ahead of the halfway marker. I wasn’t best pleased at that time and seeing as the half way mark was the same as the start and finish of the race I did consider giving up. But being a Taurus, that is not an option so I finally got into my stride and by about 5 1/2 k I started to enjoy myself. I still didn’t enjoy the many hills that were now covered in slippy leaves but as the cliche goes, what goes up has to come down and the thought of the down bit kept me going. On the last 2k of the race we had to run up and down the same bit of road three times but at least it was familiar territory. I eventually finished, soggy right through in 1 hr and 5 mins. This is not as quick as I would have liked but considering the strength of the wind on the final (3) home straits and the constant rainfall I was pretty pleased that it wasn’t longer. Plus, the fastest woman was only 18 minutes quicker and Karl was only 7 minutes quicker so all in all a good mornings work and a nice distance to have under my belt. As it happens I was 416th out of 550 so must do better next time.
For the last couple of days I have been suffering from a nasty cough which doesn’t help the asthma so I hadn’t run since last Sunday. But, I must have the bug because I have missed it. So tonight I went off down the garage (in these dark nights the treadmill is my friend) and did a 5k with one stop for a quick cough. I feel good for pushing myself today and although I was nearer to doing 11 rather than 10 minute miles, with a mild chest infection, where is the shame in that? You can support me at http://www.justgiving.com/thehoods
Its that afternoon slump time, as Holly mentioned in her post yesterday…though I don’t think we’ll be creating any human pyramids today…but the good news is that it’s Friday (dare I say it – Friday the 13th…ooooh!), and Wine Friday is just around the corner! Phew!
We did nothing really, had glorious food (Fish N Chips thanks to Synnove’s friends mum shop on the Island) and lots of nice wine. Heaven!