Post Marathon Blues!

I should be feeling relief that all the hard training miles are over but in reality I am sat here twiddling my thumbs thinking ... What now?

4 days post marathon I am still professing to be recovering but in reality my legs feel great - it's just my head isn't in the game!

Will I ever want to run again?

The end of my marathon career!

On Monday I ran in my third and final marathon!  EVER!

I had a fantastic few days in Dublin and love the city and it's people!

You can read my race report here!

Dublin - We are coming to get you!

Tomorrow morning we will be leaving Kendal and heading off to Manchester airport to catch our flight to Dublin!

Then on Monday morning I shall be starting on the 26.2 mile journey to the marathon finish line!

I am feeling a mix of nerves and excitement, and trying to think positive thoughts!

Marathon Number 3 - Lets make it a good one!!

OMG What have I done?

I truly think I have finally lost the plot!

I already have a few races booked for 2015 including a trail half marathon, a road half marathon, a 60 mile cycle sportive, a Sprint Pool Triathlon, a Sprint Open Water Triathlon, an Olympic distance triathlon, 2 Open Water 1 mile swims and to make matters worse tonight I booked to do ...

BORN SURVIVOR!

The question is will I survive 2015?

The way I'm going I will have an ironman booked by the end of the year!

Park Run Excitement!

With just a week to go to Dublin Marathon my motivation and enthusiasm for running has been running low in recent weeks hence the lack of blogging!

However, yesterday I got some enthusiasm back after I did my first ever park run at Fell Foot Park, Newby Bridge which was also it's first park run!

When I woke up it was a wet and dreary morning and I very nearly decided not to bother!  My thoughts were along the lines of "What's the point in getting wet for 3 miles".

However, I gave myself a good talking to and got in the car before I could change my mind. 

Newby Bridge is about a 25 minute drive from where I live.  I arrived early at around 8.25am but I am pleased I did as already the car park was very nearly full.  If I had left it much later I would have struggled to park.

Luckily by the time I got there the rain had stopped and I had a wander down to the start line feeling stupidly nervous for what was supposed to be a fun 5K run.

I was surprised how many "serious" runners were about and also surprised how many avid park run fans were there - those who travel around doing different park runs each week!  Locals were definitely in the minority but what a fantastic turn-out for the first park run here!

I managed to locate some friends from the tri club and we stood and passed the time of day until 9am.

Just as the start of the race was announced the heavens opened!  It was too late to put my waterproof on, so off I set in my T shirt!

There was a bit of a bottleneck initially as over 200 runners tried to negotiate narrow tracks and paths but the field soon opened out making it easier!

The route was well marked out and was mainly on grass with a couple of hills thrown in for good measure!  With being wet the grass was slippery and by the second lap slightly muddy!

The route was very scenic going along the shores of the lake and around a field.

I thoroughly enjoyed the friendliness and camaraderie that surrounded the event and felt quite emotional cheering in other runners once I had finished. I witnessed varying emotions coming from a range of runners from very young children, to the elderly and larger runners! What a fantastic inclusive event which encourages everyone to get out of bed on a Saturday morning and enjoy running!

I finished in 27:43.  As this is my first officially time 5K event I have nothing to compare this with but considering the weather and the undulations on the course I am happy with this and because it is my first it is also a PB.

I was even happier when I got an email from Park run confirming my time:

"You finished in 105th place and were the 32nd female out of a field of 247 parkrunners and you came 5th in your age category VW45-49"

This has really spurred me on to do more Park Runs in the future!

Just the small matter of getting a marathon out the way first!

 

Despite the cough I survived!

Today I ran The Great Cumbrian Run in Carlisle!  

Read how I got on here!

Where did the last 2 weeks go?

Although I haven't had the energy or inclination to blog in the last 2 weeks I have still been running!

During my absence I have had some good runs and some disastrous runs!  I just have to keep reminding myself that I have more good runs than bad so they don't loom large in my head and become the tormentor! Dublin marathon is only 3 weeks away so its important to remain positive! 


I have also been rejected yet again by the London Marathon which I have mixed emotions about!  Part of me is happy as I really want to concentrate on triathlons during 2015, but part of me is disappointed as I really want to run the National Marathon!  

After receiving this knockback what did I go and do ...

No I didn't make the same mistake of booking a different marathon as I did last year ... 

instead I did something even dafter and booked Windermere Tri, an Olympic Distance Triathlon consisting of a 1500 metre (0.93 mile) Open Water swim, a 43K (26.7 miles) bike route and a 10K (6.2 miles) run! 

I must be mad!  

I also booked The Great North Swim - the one mile route as a training swim for the triathlon. I am also looking to book some sprint triathlons and cycle sportives as training events!

Tomorrow I have my last race before the marathon!  I am running The Cumbrian Run (Half Marathon) starting at Carlisle Castle!  It could be a chilly one looking at the forecast!