Extreme Knitting Redhead: A course pb

Monday, February 16, 2009

A course pb

It was the Tunbridge Wells 1/2 marathon yesterday and I was using it as an exercise in pacing. I haven't run this 1/2 since 2006 as I didn't like the route and there was way too much traffic on the country lanes but the route has changed for the better and they closed some of the roads during the race so it was much better.

Last time I did it I came home in 2:12:30 so I'd given myself a target of 2:10. It's strange doing 10 minute miling again as for the past 3 years I've plodded along at marathon pace which is either 11 or 12 minute miling so it's a bit of a shock to my system to be doing 9 and 10 minute miling again!

I met up with Johnny J (who's 68 and annoyingly speedy for his age!) and Digit Eyes who I hadn't met before. What was really nice was that a lady passed me en-route and said "hi" adding that she'd met me at the Christmas Pudding Dash a few years ago and has been following my running/knitting antics. Thanks Pauline, it was so nice to hear from you and I hope you did a good time.

I was feeling good when I started and ran the first 1/2 in bang on 60 minutes. It's an undulating route with a sneaky hill at mile 7. It isn't a really steep hill, it's just one of those that goes on a bit further than is comfortable! Anyway, I got to the top feeling OK and spied the water station. Now I usually carry my own water bottle but for some reason I hadn't yesterday. Bad move!

We runners sometimes suffer from demons in our heads and mine is the 'water station demon' who rears his ugly head if I take a walk break to sip the water. It's not as if I ever come to a standstill, but the act of walking for those 30 seconds awoke the little blighter and he was in really good form. This time his voice was that of Gollum in the film version of Lord of the Rings and he kept saying "fat hobitses, you're too old and fat to run this hill" etc etc. The hill still had a little way to go and my mental stamina deserted me and I took a walk break for 2 minutes whilst I regained control and kicked the little blighter into touch!

This little walk break meant that I had to up the pace a bit which is a good exercise in itself as it teaches your body to push forward when tired. I sprinted over the finish line in 2:09:02, over 3 minutes faster than last time and a minute faster than my target time so I was a very happy girl. My next target race is the Lydd 1/2 in 2 weeks so we'll see if I can do any better on a flatter course.

2 comments:

Carol said...: Woo Hoo! Good for you!; February 16, 2009 at 9:27:00 AM PST
Shan said...: Great job!

I really admire you, running in long races...I can do a hundred meters, but after that....

:); February 17, 2009 at 8:41:00 PM PST

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Mum's Story

In 1997 my mother, then aged 81, had a series of minor strokes. Shortly after that we started to notice behavioural changes notably memory loss and confusion over everyday items. We thought it was just old age finally catching up with her. Then she started wandering and had violent mood swings. Although she already lived with us it became obvious that she couldn't be left alone for long and so I left my job to care for her. The next few years saw a gradual decline into the blackness that is 'vascular dementia'. My normally placid mum became violent and aggressive. She had psychotic incidents where she would see imaginary people (children hiding in her wardrobe, Russians sitting on the stairs, women stealing her clothes) and she would shout at them and sometimes throw things too. She was so convincing that we used to go and check that there wasn't anyone there! When my sister died mum did not know who Judy was or that she was her daughter. There came a point when I suddenly realised she no longer knew that I was her daughter and this was a terrible time for me. In the last 2 years that she lived with us, life for us all became almost unbearable as she needed 24 hour care - she couldn't be left alone at all because she would either wander off or hurt herself, she never slept for more than 30 minutes at a time during the night, she became incontinent and incapable of doing anything for herself. Finally my husband and I realised that we could no longer provide her with the care that she needed and she went to live in a special care home where the team did a splendid job caring for her in the last few months of her life. There she lived a zombified existence unaware of who she was, what she was or where she was. It was heartbreaking. She died in March 2005, the day after her 89th birthday.

Thank you for taking the time to read mum's story and I hope you'll dig deep and sponsor me using the link below to help find a way of beating this destructive disease.