Something to smile about..

Wednesday 10th September
After the tears had dried up did double classes tonight, body pump and RPM. Not so much pressure on me to run now, at least I can relax and enjoy my training.

Thursday 11th September
Didn't plan to go out with the running club tonight but as it was just me and Terry I didn't mind - I knew we'd run at a sensible pace and have a good chat, which we did. I stressed that I have yet another half marathon on Sunday and didn't want to mess my legs up and he respected that.

6.11 miles according to his Garmin, 53 mins, average pace 8:43 per mile. It occurred to me later that a year or two ago that would have been flat out 10k pace, not conversation pace.

Friday 12th September
Complete rest.

Saturday 13th September
Ditto. Unless you count gardening as exercise, which a lot of people do. It was back to the old school as well, going to the cinema the day before a race. The film today was Rocknrolla which was good, but I struggled to follow it in places. I have had a lot on my mind, to be fair.

Sunday 14th September
Competed in the inaugural Chippenham half marathon today. This was meant to be my last hard run before Berlin (sigh).

Still, I knew that it was a flat course so there was potential for a PB if I went into it fresh (hence two days' rest). At the same time, I wanted to enjoy the run as well.

I started off at a good pace (7:40-ish per mile) but never expected to keep it up. Amazingly I was still going strong by mile 5 and the miles seemed to be flying by! Today could be my day, I thought, and for a while I was harbouring the ambition of a 1:40 finish. It was at about mile 10 that the tiredness hit me, and I started to slow down. My breathing was fine; it was my legs that had had enough.

Quite a few times in those last few miles I really wanted to stop and walk, but I kept telling myself to push as hard as I could, I had done all the hard work and that PB was there for the taking. It helped that I wore my London marathon vest with my name on, so people were shouting encouragement.

1:40 wasn't to be, but if you'd offered me my stopwatch time of 1:42:59 or the official time of 1:43:20 (I'm not normally more than a few seconds out?!) I would have happily taken it. I knew I had given it my best shot and could be proud of it. Sadly my father couldn't be there to watch (that would have been the icing on the cake) but at least my sister Fiona, her husband Rich (who finished in 2:07) and their daughter Holly were there at the end so I had someone to share it with.

Back to Swindon for a stretch and a shower at the gym before heading home for, you guessed it, quite a few celebratory drinks. As soon as I sat down in my chair, poured my first beer and tuned in to the cricket, I told myself "Enjoy this afternoon, mate, you deserve it."

I'd like to say a special thank you to everyone who has supported me in a difficult week, especially Anthony who highlighted today's PB as being a special achievement under the circumstances. All of you rock.