Preparing for Bournemouth

So it has been a while since my last blog post. Over the last month I have been in the process of changing jobs, which is great, but I am in the handover stage in my old job and inevitably this has meant things being busier between July and August. So a lot in terms of my running training has taken place, but frustratingly I have not been able to write about it. So this post is really a catch up on my activities in July and early August.

The main race I did in July was the Wimbledon Half Marathon. The course was relatively difficult, as there was a tough incline verging on being a hill for the first 1.5 miles, and the weather was awful. Rain and wind turned the dirt/ gravel foot path into a mud bath, where I competed with fellow runners to avoid puddles and seek grip with my lightweight shoes. The key positives to take from the race is that my resolve stayed intact pretty well throughout it, there was a slight wobble in my mentality just after coming up to half way through the race. Having the wind and the rain there gave me a good preparation to how things could go at any of the marathons I do in October, which was helpful. Also I came in at only 11 seconds off my personal best- that was on a completely flat course; coming in 16^th place on my chip time.

I have been on holiday in Greece that has been very relaxing and done me a great deal of good in getting away from London. It’s allowed me to not only catch up with writing about my running, but also to think about where I want to take my blog in general. It’s something that I want to discuss in my later posts. When Gem and I were packing for Greece I was initially sceptical about how I would fit in my running training around the hot days, as well as thinking that it might be better to relax rather than push myself in the Greek heat. Luckily I packed my running gear, as I was surprised by how much I enjoyed the training in the heat as well as another country. I managed to fit in three runs- an interval session, a recovery session (including swimming) and a tempo session- over a seven day holiday period. I am not going to tell you that it was easy, but it was certainly worth it and I feel more confident about continuing my marathon training when I return to the UK. My main piece of advice for anyone training in a place where the daytime gets extremely hot is to do your running early in the morning. 

It’s from this positive training that I have been doing in Greece that I finally made a decision to apply for the BournemouthMarathon. It has been a harder decision than the other three marathons that I have applied for. I don’t know if anyone has had this problem, but essentially I had agreed with a friend that I would run the Cologne Marathon with him in Germany. The problem was that he just didn’t seem that up for doing a marathon in October, whereas I had been following my marathon training plan pretty consistently since early June. At the same time the standard entries for Bournemouth had closed and after contacting the race organisers found out that the Good for Age places (that I was eligible for) could close around or at the end of August. So I made the tough decision to enter Bournemouth instead of Cologne, as well as booking my accommodation at the same time. It’s not that I don’t want to run with this guy, it’s just I had come to a point where I could lose any chance of having a place at Bournemouth and then not go to Cologne; thus having all my marathon training wasted. After making that decision I looked at the reviews for Bournemouth and noticed that the marathon had only started in 2013, but it seems fairly similar to Brighton and that gives me quite a bit of confidence in breaking my three hour record. The organisation seems to be rated highly by a lot of reviews. When looking back at how I did at Brighton in 2015, one of the things I could definitely have been better at was visualising a more positive finish to that marathon. In aid of that I have bought an engraved insert for my medal, which shows your name and time on the medal. Some people may think it is a bit of a gutsy more, but I see it as a way of spurring me on to break the three hour mark.

The major piece of good news that encouraged me to finally go for Bournemouth is that I had my Good for Age place accepted at the London Marathon 2016. This was a massive boost to my marathon training, as it is never easy just going out to do a 20 mile run without any real goal to aim for.  When I received the confirmation what dawned on me was how far I had come with my marathon training. If you had told me in November 2013, the date I decided to apply for the 2014 Brighton Marathon, that I would get a Good for Age place at London I would have laughed. It’s one of those things that every time I look back on my training, makes me feel proud about what I have achieved with my running to date and what I can potentially achieve.

Once it had finally sunk in that I was going to be running in London and that I had my October marathon secured. I began to turn my attention to what I would race in late 2016 and then in early 2017. It may be the exhilaration of getting into London- that may also have gone to my head- but I think my aims for running a marathon might have become a little bit lofty. The provisional aim would be to run the Loch Ness Marathon in September 2016 and then depending on the time I get at London to then see if I could get an entry place at the Boston Marathon 2017. At first I thought I was being a bit silly, but then I thought why not just go for it? You have nothing to lose by trying to train for these events and times and you never know…  I may just do it.