Running For Runnings sake?!: Half Way There!

Hello Blog lovers.

I finally broke the half marathon distance! It was bloody tough! But so glad I did it! This is how it all panned out.

Wendimoo was busy with her own planned half marathon today, the Wimbledom Common half. I still have to go out there and do my thing, whether I have company or not! So I was quite pleased when Hilary said that she wanted to join me somewhere on my route to do at least 6 miles. So, at the Tigers Head in Chislehurst we planned our meeting point.

I was going to be running solo for the first part of this long run today. Nearly half of my route was just me and my iPod. Will I stick to my planned 1 mile jog, 1 minute of walking. I do tend not listen to myself when I am alone. But I also didn't want to be too exhausted by the time I met up with Hilary either. Mainly because just after that we will be running down and up Summer Hill! I really want to run up it all the way to Blackbrook lane. I need to do it!

I started off, I could tell I was already running just a little bit faster, so I pulled myself back again. After all, I have 13 and half miles planned today! Crazy woman! I feel sure this will be the last marathon I take on! So now, running up Hollingworth I was feeling pretty good! I was hoping the feeling will stay with all through this run today.

I do like my solo runs, but usually maybe over a 3-6 miles. I can cope with that, so I am so very pleased that Hilary will be joining me after I have done my first 6 miles! Perfect! I had my music, the first 6 will be ok, I can sing and dance my way round. So you can imagine when my iPod stopped working, how I felt about that!

I had charged it up, it was working, there are hundreds of songs on there, but it stopped! I was a bit miffed, I think maybe its where I keep it! I don't have an iPod pouch thingy that I can use, so I store it where its a nice tight fit, in my Shock Absorber! It did restart again, so I decided that maybe in my back pocket of my jog pants. That lasted about 5 minutes before it turned off again.

I was not looking forward to running the next four miles in silence. I fiddled and pushed and held buttons to try to get it working again and it did! I was so very pleased. At least I won't have to sing out loud to help me get through.....hang about, I normally do sing along with my tunes anyway! My iPod remained in my hand for the rest of the time. I need to be able to sing along, and I need some other noise other than the traffic. Oh I do miss Wendimoo!

I found I was not quite sticking with my plan, I was running slightly longer than the 1 mile and walking when I felt like it. I am so going to have to try and discipline myself to stick to a plan. But I am just like a kid, if no one is watching I misbehave!

All through Place Farm Estates (I have be calling it Palace Farm estates) I kept up with my defiance and not sticking strictly to my plan, and then on to Crofton Road and turned right to go over the bridge. My thoughts are on getting up Cardiac Hill go in one, with no Wendimoo to help it will all be down to me. I used my walking section wisely, and probably a bit more than planned, just before I got to the hill. I took a deep breath and then started to run up it.

I did it, with two walking steps before I got to the road, which I was really annoyed about, but I did tell myself off to get going again. I ran along towards Chislehurst, when I was at Birchwood Road I text Hilary to let her know that I will be about 20 minutes away. I was hoping to be at the Tigers for then anyway! it's not that far surely!

I was still feeling pretty good, and still not really sticking to my plan, but I was taking some walking breaks, I finally got to the road that the Tigers Head is on and as I turned the corner I saw Hilary waiting there. "Wow that was quick" she said. I think I was about 5 minutes early thanI said I would be!

Hilary will be doing the rest of the run with me, all the way to my house! I put away my iPod and was chatting away to Hilary. Normally she runs in the faster groups on club nights, I just hope she was not going to feel this run will be too slow. She did say to me that this will be her longest run altogether. So maybe a slow run is what is needed.

We were pretty close to Summer hill! The run down it was pretty good, I slowed to walking pace when I got to the bottom of it. "I want to get to the top" I said to myself more than anyone in particular, but this was my plan. Last time with Wendimoo I didn't manage it, Wendimoo got further than me, up to the direction sign. I wanted to get right to the top, adjacent with those giveway signs painted on the road, before the roundabout! I did it! I flipping did it, and so did Hilary! We were pleased with that.

My water was virtually out after I got to the top, I thought I would have to just wet my lips to see me through to when I get home, but as we were running on Blackbrook I saw a couple just getting out of their car, they had been shopping. I thought I would be really cheeky and ask them if they could refill my bottle! They were very obliging and filled it up for me!

The rest of the route was the same as I had been doing with Wendimoo and Bims. Through the park and along the A21 to Hayes Lane. It was lovely listening to Hilary chat away, the miles under my feet quickly disappearing! But I was feeling very tired now. Crazy Lady! I think this will be the last marathon I do! Crazy Lady! Who decides to do marathons after they have reached 50? Crazy Lady! As you can guess I was feeling tired. But I was still enjoying it! Which is the thing that I want to keep hold of throughout my training and through the marathon as well.

It's good to challenge yourself, and running is something that I can do, obviously not very fast, and I won't be making a living from it! But it's something that I can do. It's keeping me fit, it's keeping me away from the t.v. which is just full of crap these days anyway! And it is also helping me raise money for St. Christopher's Hospice! Win, win, win all round in my eyes.

We were soon running down Hayes Lane going to the entrance to Norman Park. There, is where I mentally start to focus on the finish. I will be heading home once inside the park! Those first few steps will be heading towards my house. Hilary did say earlier that really as soon as you leave your house then you are already one step close to home. That scenario doesn't work for me, not while I can see my house, not while I am still freezing cold after leaving my warm house! No, now I can say I am on my way home!

The plan of 1 mile run and 1 min walk was totally out of the window now, I was running as much as I can, then walking then running after short recovery. I felt I was still on target for a sub 3 hour half, but who knows how 'lazy' I will become with these last two miles to do. Turn around Lamppost was introduced to Hilary, and so that half mile home was firmley in my thoughts. "Would that be enough today, could I just run on home and pretend that I had forgotten to run around the field!" No, I would only be cheating myself! I explained to Hilary that we had to do this last bit of field.

We were running around it when the 13 mile 'beep' on my Garmin went off. "Oh thank goodness" I said, "That's the 13 miles done, just the little bit extra to do" I said that we would walk just for a little bit and then run all the way once we got on to Whitebeam Avenue! Which we did by the way! We turned on to my road and then ran along to my path where I said goodbye to Hilary, she had to now make her way along to Southborough Lane to get a bus. I did offer to drive her but she is a serious Tea Drinker and she knew I was in desperate need of a cuppa! Anyway, I think in the end she called her mum to see is she was in who then came and collected her en route and took her back for her own cuppa and a nice slice of cake!

A great run today, not particularly fast but objective achieved! Well done Hilary on your longest run so far, I think she managed to do about 9 miles in all!

This is me, the Old Boy decided to take a picture of me of what I look like once home!