Double Trouble

I like Tuesdays, I get to run twice! Woo hoo! (Now there's a sentence I thought I'd never write).

I did 4.2k on the treadmill this morning (on hills! I don't normally do hills, and deliberately choose the flatest races I can, but I've decided it's time to face those demons), then met up with my running group for about another 4 miles this evening (well, 2 with them and 2 to get to the meetup point and back). I'm amazed at how much easier I find a 4 mile run now I go on longer ones regularly, it feels like I'm just warming up when I'm done. (Another sentence I never thought I'd write).

Anyway, I now have a target for February. It turns out I ran dot on 96 miles in January. So 100 miles is a nice looking target for a slightly shorter month (and believe me, if I'd totted that up earlier this month I'd have found an extra 4 miles from somewhere!)

I'm in!

Good grief, I never realised that signing up was so complicated. What a list of options. Do you want a running shirt, a finishing t-shirt, an engraved medal, bus tickets, tour tickets, how many plates of pasta? The list was endless. I hadn't realised the whole thing would be so complicated. There am I naively thinking pay your 50 euros and that's it, but there's such a choice of options.

In the end I restrained myself. In a fit of optimism I decided to get a finishers t-shirt and my name engraved on my medal. Then I can't be accused of stealing someone else's. This does show a degree of optimism that I'll finish, but hey, optimism needs to rule round here or I'd get too daunted by the size of the task.

Repeat after me, I will finish, even if I have to crawl over the line several days later.

I'll leave the rest. I'm sure that I'll be able to buy most of it (and more besides) when I get there if I decide I want it, and the important thing was to get the registration fee paid rather than worrying about the details. I don't want to buy a top to run in that I only pick up the day before and don't wear on runs before the big day, and I don't want to commit myself to sightseeing tours when all I might want to do is sit down somewhere and rest my legs (before AND after). I may never want to see Berlin again once I'm round!

So I'm signed up and the flight's booked. I guess that's me in then.

Meanwood Valley Trail

I had a good run this morning, after an unpromising start. I'm not normally one for a lie in, even at weekends, and run early if I can. But after Friday night's adventures and a relatively early (and completely sober) night last night, I still managed to sleep in until just before 9am. I really didn't feel like dragging myself out of bed, but knew that if I didn't run then I wouldn't run.

The sensible voice won out, thankfully.

I decided to try a new route again today, and to try to up my mileage again. Even though it's still a month or so til the half marathon, today is the last Sunday when I know I'll be able to get a long run in. Next Sunday and the Sunday after that are definitely out, Sunday is my grandfather's 80th birthday party, for which I have to pick my parents up at Manchester Airport at 6am, drive them to Leeds, change, take them to the opticians and then over to my grandparents house for lunch. The weekend after I'm in France. Then the weekend after that my parents are staying again, and the Sunday after is the race. So I really did want a good long run.

And I got it. I headed over towards Headingley again, but this time instead of going into the city centre and back I doubled back on myself on the Meanwood Valley Trail. I'd never been down it before, and it felt really nice and green and rural (for the city). I even ran past a farm or two! On the down side, the path was very muddy and slippy, and for the middle part of my run (from about 50 minutes to 90 minutes) I was alternating between running and walking because it was just too slippy to run without risking injury. But still nice, and a change from running on pavements.

I eventually emerged back on to the roads after an hour and a half or so and headed home. This time, despite having my bus pass in my pocket, I actually ran the whole way, and then carried up to the garage to pick up my Sunday paper (the joy of a jacket with zip pockets to put a bit of money in!). The best thing about this is that on the last spell of about a mile or so I saw someone running ahead of me and, even after an hour and three quarters of running I managed to overtake her! Speed queen!

I've not been able to track my distance accurately because it was on paths that don't come up on google maps, but I'm guessing somewhere between 10.3 miles and 10.8 miles. The 10.3 figure is taking a pretty straight route from where I headed onto the trail and where I headed out from it, and the path did double back on itself and go round a bit, so I'm tempted to add a little more. Either way, it's between 10 and 11 minute miles which will do me for a long run (particularly on that sort of terrain) and gives me lots of confidence about the half marathon. It seems that a lot of the beginners training plans don't actually ask you to run the 13.1 before race day anyway, so if I can do a long run on Saturday (before my parents arrive) and a couple of 10ks on the treadmill, I should just about manage it even if I don't get as many long runs in as I'd like before the big day.

Then it's time for a bit of "rest" before moving onto training for the big one!

Kitted Out

I went out yesterday lunchtime and bought some more running gear, another running top, a jacket and some more socks. The trainee said "don't you have enough exercise stuff yet?". This isn't vanity though, I've come to realise that the reason people wear specialist running stuff isn't because it looks better or makes them look like more of a runner, but because it actually does a specific job. I love running in my proper running top, but there's only so much I can do with just one top, particularly in winter when I need more than just that one layer.

So now I'm all kitted out. And I suppose it's not just purely because it makes me feel better when I'm wearing it. It does help me feel like a proper runner, rather than just someone who throws on an old t-shirt and collapses after a mile or so. One thing I've learned is that it takes more than just doing stuff to believe that you're the sort of person who does it. I need to believe that I run as much as I need to actually run. I'm getting there, and hopefully looking the part will be another piece in the jigsaw.

The other thing I've been playing with today is the Running Ahead website. I've entered most of my exercise from this month into it so I can track how my training is going, and if I've set it up right, you should be able to view it by clicking on the link to my training log in the sidebar.

No running yet today. I went out last night for a former colleague's leaving do, she's going down to London. I only intended to stay for two drinks or so, but she was late, and then I was having great fun discussing my skinniness with people I haven't seen for a year or so so those two glasses of wine turned into four.

I just can't handle my alcohol any more! I keep forgetting I've got less body to absorb it into... I got home, although I don't remember getting onto the bus I do remember getting off it about a mile from home because I felt queasy. I then walked the rest of the way home and threw up in the toilet, tried to stand up and fell over backwards into the bath. Oops! I'm a big believer in throwing up when I get in - it seems to get rid of the hangover inducing potential of the alcohol, and this morning I'm fine, although a little tired and with strange bruises.

But I will run later, I'm meeting up with one of my new running buddies from Tuesday at 3 for a quick potter round the park, and I get to wear my new stuff which is the main attraction! Then I'll do my long run tomorrow. I was considering doing it today but I'm not so sure that's a good idea even though it's lovely and sunny.

Ah well, I may get more drunk than I used to, but at least I don't do it as often.

Speeding up

It would help if I had looked at my half marathon training schedule on the internet before logging off to go to bed last night, so I ended up making something up. Recently I've been doing roughly 4 miles on a Thursday, with short bursts of speed. Today I decided to carry that on, making the bursts another 30 seconds longer (I've gone from 30 second bursts to 90), and by making the recovery period a little faster (and shorter by those extra 30 seconds).

Today I managed 4 miles in 36 minutes, which is my fastest yet and gets me to 9 minute miles. I've definitely got faster since I started adding more structure to my training, which can only be a good sign. I'm not claiming I'd be able to sustain a 9 minutes per mile pace for that much longer at the moment, but maybe one day, who knows? (If I could sustain it for 26.2 miles I'd break 4 hours, but I'm not convinced that is going to happen!)

I do like doing my speed runs on the treadmill, as I can keep an eye on exactly how fast I'm going and for how long, and it's a softer surface than the road. The only problem is that the New Years Resolutioners are still clogging up the gym and this morning I had to wait for a treadmill, then felt guilty for going over the requested 15 minute maximum. Still, if I'd stopped I'd have been the only person to pay attention to that, so I just kept on running.

I'm busily planning out a route for my long run this weekend. Typically, the next few weekends before Blackpool are relatively busy and I might find it harder to fit a long run in, so I want this to be a good one. I've found a couple of possibilities depending on the weather and visibility (I'm not running down country lanes in fog or rain, but if it's bright I've found a nice looking route out of town) which should put me just past the 10 mile mark. I'm actually looking forward to doing a long run, as 4 miles is starting to feel a bit short, like I've only just got going when I need to stop! Is this me?

Reasons

Why Berlin? Why now?

I know that at some point over the next seven months I'll be asking myself why I decided to do this. At the moment it feels like an entirely logical progression, so I need to write it down now, to remind myself.

Why run that far at all? Simply because I always wished that one day I'd be able to, and because I want to prove to myself that I can. It's one of those dreams that has never really gone away. I used to only dream it one day in April, but it's been getting more and more persistent as I've got more into running. I've worked so hard to get this body and this level of fitness that I want to see how far I can push it. I want to test myself to the limit. And I know that I can do it.

Why do it in Berlin? I want to run a big city race. I want a course where there are crowds and bands and support every inch of the way. I need them to get me round. I looked at doing a September marathon in the UK, but it was a full/half event, and all the reports I saw about the full race were that once the half marathoners leave the course it gets very lonely out there. I don't want lonely. I might be running alone, but I need to be able to see other people, run amongst them, and be running in something that's the focus of the city for the weekend. I want to run the race for the experience rather than for a good time, so I want to run something that's worth experiencing rather than a pure "runner's race".

Why Berlin and not London though? Simply because of two factors. London is ballot entry, and I don't know if or when I'd get a place. Maybe next April, maybe not. Certainly not this year (and I wouldn't really have enough time to train for it anyway). Berlin is (as far as I can tell) guaranteed entry once you've paid your registration fee, and flights over there are cheap enough to be on a par with the cost of a train ticket to London. I'd need a hotel if I did London anyway, so even though I'm going abroad it doesn't work out any more expensive or complicated really. There is the small problem that I don't speak a word of German, mind you. The timing also works out well, it lets me train over summer when there are lighter nights and mornings, and when I should find it easier to fit the training runs in.

Why do it now? Because I believe I can. I've always wanted to do it, and I would always be aiming for it, consciously or subconsciously. I've been looking at training plans and they are achievable from where I am now, in the time I have available. I have the base mileage that I need to launch into a three or four month plan, and I have seven months to go so can even afford to take some time after the half marathon to relax a little at the level I'm at at the moment before starting to build my mileage up again. No-one can run a marathon straight off, it's not like I should be able to do it tomorrow. Most training schedules build up from precisely what I can do at the moment, and I can do it relatively comfortably. The whole point is that you build up to a peak. I'm fit enough to do this now, so why shouldn't I? I'm not going into this blindly, and there is absolutely no reason, NONE, why I can't do this.

If I don't do it now, what if I never get the chance again? The date works. The flights work. I have someone who's volunteered to come with me and support me while I do it. I want to do it, and I'm going to do it.

A new challenge

Why do I keep on making these challenges harder for myself? I was horribly overweight and decided to get fit. I spent a year or so losing six and a half stone and getting myself remotely fit.

I achieved my big goals. I got to a normal BMI. I've almost lost 100lb (and I'm sture I will before long). I got fit.

But that wasn't enough, oh no.

I'm a girl who likes a challenge. I'm also a girl who tends to have dreams about the impossible and then impulsively decide to chase them.

So, what started as a spark of an idea becomes a fully formed plan complete with flights and its own blog the next.

In 2005 I lost over a third of my body weight.

In 2006 I lost my sanity.

I'm going to run the Berlin Marathon!