Jane - Red Rocket
After the race!!
Well I did it it was very hard work, very hot, very sweaty, very emotional, very exhausting, very tiring, very inspiring, very fulfilling and very much fun!!
I have to say the fun bit was at the end! The actual running bit, after the first 8 miles was exhausting. I had to let my friend Lutzy run on as she had a lot more stamina than I did. I finished with a time of 2hrs 37 mins, which I am pleased with. I don¹t know about trying to better next year the way I am hobbling around the office today I don¹t think there will be a next year!!
What a fantastic day though very well organised. And what a fantastic crowd to support us all!! I had jelly babies offered to me, water, even a hose pipe on Pinhoe Road!!
The live bands on High Street were great and very moral boosting!! Lutzy and I have raised over £3500 for our chosen charity, Powerpack. They will be able to buy some specialist sports equipment now to use with the wheelchairs. Thanks to some of the children for coming along to cheer us along it made all the pain worthwhile!!
I am signing off now to put another ice pack on my knee maybe next year I can better my time...
Cheers
Jane
April 24th
Richard, my instructor, says it is time to chill down slowly now with the running, 4 miles tonight, 4 miles next Tuesday and again next Thursday and that will be it!! I can’t believe the time has come round so quickly - I feel I could do with another 20 weeks of training!!
My run tonight was good though and I felt like I could have run much further - but of course I need to!!!!!!!!
April 23rd
I decided last night I had to get off the running machine and actually hit the pavements of Exeter!! Went from my gym, Studio One to One, with my running partner in the Great West, Lutzy (she has a tea/café shop on the Quay). We set off on what we thought was the route!! But ended up going round it the wrong way!! Not quite sure how that happened actually, but we managed to run for 1 1/2 hours which was probably about 7 miles in the end. I felt fine, it was much more fun than the running machine and we kept running by loads of others obviously in training (of course they were running the opposite way to us!!). Brian and Robin from the Gym did it much faster - but I think I am just aiming to complete it now!!
We got back to the gym and did a warm down and I felt OK - can’t say I was raring to run another 6 miles, but I am hoping the adrenaline on the day will kick in!! We have actually got over £1000 raised now for Powerpack which is fantastic. I am hoping that a few of them can come and cheer us along next Sunday.
Got my number through as well - number 42 - I can’t help but think that I have been given the wrong one - sounds a bit like an elite number to me!!! Lutzy has number 43 so at least we look like a team. It is all looking a bit scary now - too late to back out!I need to think about food for the morning of the race and health stuff in general. I found the Ironbridge Runner website very helpful - including a great little movie of the event - Pete Ferlie, Race Director, looked very professional. It is worth checking it out if you are unsure of what is going to happen on the day. At least I know that St John Ambulance will be there - must warn them to get enough oxygen ready for me at the end!!
April 16th
Went on the running machine last night with a very positive feeling. Had a long day in work, but was raring to go!! I pod working great - plenty of "running music"!!
5 miles into my run and I felt like crap!! All my positive thoughts gone and a constant thought in my head "stop running and go home or down the pub!!" I have not felt so bad in a long time!! I didn¹t get off though and carried on for another 4 miles and then fast walked 1/2 mile and then finished with a last 1/2 mile run what hard work.
I don¹t feel that I am at all prepared for the great day I did manage to do the 10 miles that I wanted but not with the easiness that I thought I would. How can I do a further 3 miles?????????
April 9th
Well it is still too cold outside for me to venture out!! I don’t know what I will do if it is cold on the day of the race!! You won't catch me running in the hail and snow!!
I ran another 8 miles last night on the running machine. I found it hard on my leg muscles and knees, but thankfully my back pain has gone. Thanks to all the stretching I have been doing! Once more the chicken legs for lunch and bananas and nuts in the afternoon helped me out!!
April 4th
Had a long day at work again, but felt really good during my circuit training in the gym. I did a minute on the cross trainer bike (a big bike with wobbly handlebars) and then 40 reps on the mat, a minute on the bike and 40 lifts on one of the weight machines, a minute on the bike and then 40 reps on the mat, a minute on the bike!!! an hour later I thought it was more exhausting than running. I think because it uses up different muscles than I have been used to using lately. Normally at the gym I do a two mile run followed by a cycle ride and then the weights. With the Great West Run I have altered my regime and am, obviously, concentrating on the running. I have just got to be careful that I don't get bingo wings because I have stopped using the weights!!!!!!
Everyone in the gym is very supportive of those who are doing the race. We have several members who are doing the London Marathon - maybe one day I will attempt this!!!
Lutzy and I are now collecting sponsors for the run - we are raising money for a group called Powerpack - you can see them on Powerpack.uk.com. A very worthy cause. I think she is doing better than me - but I have sent my sponsor form - up North! to my family and they haven’t yet let me down!! We are hoping to help raise some money to get some sports equipment for the children in Powerpack so that they can enjoy sports whilst in their wheelchairs.
April 2nd
Really stiff this morning!! Need to do even more stretches after a run!! Can barely get out of bed, let alone move around the office. Everyone in work tells me that I am like an old woman and that all this healthy keep fit stuff is obviously not working!!
Next work out will be Thursday evening. I think I will concentrate on doing some circuit training. It is important to build up other areas of your body as well as the running bits - particularly muscle strength in the back area and in arms. I will let you know how I get on!!!
April 1st
Woke up today feeling really positive. It is my gym night and I mean to run a decent mileage. I have a long day in work though - lots of meetings and payroll type stuff. But I have a sensible lunch (chicken, baked potatoes and baked beans) and during the afternoon I have a banana and some brazil nuts. Richard, my gym trainer, says that the correct food is vital to a good work out.
I get to the gym at about 6.30pm and after a good stretch (I have actually been stretching every morning for about 20 mins to try and make my sciatic leg pain feel less painful and it seems to be working). I get onto the running machine. I have set up my ipod with fast, ‘beaty’ type music - Adam and the Ants, Squeeze, INXS, and lots of Robbie Williams make up the bulk of the tunes I have picked (you can tell I am an eighties child!!). I have found that running with music makes me feel more positive and also helps to make the time pass more pleasantly. If you think about it a mile is about 3 tunes, so after 10 tunes I have normally covered about 3 miles!!
Success!! I manage to do my first 8 miles. It takes me 83 minutes, which I am delighted at. I do a long cool down and lots of stretches at the end - hopefully to stop me from aching in the morning. My legs feel tired - I couldn’t have run any further, but at least I know I can do this distance - only another 5 miles to the finish of the run!
March 27th
Had a lovely break from running over Easter - I told you that I wasn’t a natural!! Now, though I have realised that I only have about 4 weeks left to up the ante on the mileage if I am to have any hope of completing the run.
I also need to work off all those Easter Eggs that I managed to eat over Easter. Including a lovely one from Hotel Chocolat!!
Because I have had a week off I can only manage 4 miles on the running machine - but I follow it with a 12 mile cycle ride and a circuit round the gym and I feel more confident. My gym instructor, Richard, says that I really need to be thinking about completing 10 miles very soon just to get a feel of what it is like to run for that length of time - I can’t imagine it myself!! My running partner, Lutzy, has now run 8 miles and has been out on the open road!! I must gear up a notch.
March 18th
Well, got back on the running machine last night at the gym after a week of not running at all! I have trapped the sciatic nerve in my hip and needed to concentrate on lots of stretching. It felt easier last night so I managed 3 miles which I was chuffed at. This morning it is a bit sore, but with lots of stretching it should ease off. I have now got a running partner to train and run the race with so I am pleased. She is a lady from my gym - she seems to run at the same speed as me and we should be able to support each other.
I am going to try and run another 3 miles tonight and hopefully get back on schedule to do a 10 miler before the end of the month. I haven’t actually run on the pavement yet, so I have that joy to come!! - any tips for this will be greatly received!!
I find that the lunch that I have at work (I work full time) is important to how I run in the evening. I seem to have more energy if I have chicken, baked beans and jacket potato!! I think food is important when training and I have been doing a little bit of research into what are the best things to eat!! Mind you, if I have a large meal at lunch times I do tend to fall asleep at my computer at about 3.00pm!!!
I might go along to one of the Women’s Running Network meetings just so that I can get the experience of running outside. At the moment, because I can only train in the evenings, I don’t feel safe running on my own in the dark. The clocks are changing soon though so that problem should be sorted!!
Well, ta ra for now.
March 12th
HI, my name is Jane and I have been asked to add my diary to the site - I think I was asked so that I can give hope to all those that are struggling with their training!! I am not a natural runner and have found my training for the Great West a struggle. I do go to the gym twice a week in the evenings (never at weekends!), I also enjoy walking on Dartmoor (but this is not useful for training at all - and can have an adverse effect on knees - probably because I like to climb tors and act like a child!!) My normal training is a bit of weights, stretching and a short burst on the running machine. So my training schedule has now changed to run, run, run!
I have so far managed to run a total of 7 miles which took me 71 minutes to do and nearly a week to recover from!! The actual run itself was OK - I felt good whilst I was doing it, but my knees struggled the following days. I have looked at several diaries/blogs for runs and knees do seem to be a problem - and I don’t think it is anything that gets easier the more runs you do! Age may not help (I will be 47 in July) and I think rheumatism could be setting in!! Still, I see lots of older people running, so I must get some inspiration from them!!