Fighting Freya

Maybe the 10 mile took a lot more out of me than races used to do....or maybe it's the added stress of work and travel (I've been doing 50 hour weeks recently) on my "delicate" endocrine system, but I was floored this week. By the time I got home on Wednesday, I could hardly bring myself to climb the stairs in my house.

I'd like to say that I listened to my body and rested, but I could hardly do anything else. All I felt capable of doing on Thursday and Friday was going to work, eating, and sitting watching tv/playing on the Internet (though I did do a token 30minutes if leaf clearing in the garden for some fresh air).

With the Galloway Harriers

On Saturday morning, I felt a lot more human, and as the day seemed bright and sunny I decided to drive over and support everyone running the Stranraer half marathon. As I've been working on Stranraer for most of the last 6 weeks, I knew several people running it, and I've been to the odd Tuesday night run with the local Galloway Harriers, a few of whom were targetting the race.

By the time I got to Stranraer, the weather had completely changed.....Storm Freya was approaching, and so the wind had picked up and the sky turned heavy and grey.....not ideal for standing around watching. I decided I would run instead of hanging around getting cold and so although the only shorts I had in my car were loose flappy ones, I found myself pinning a number onto a vest and tying a chip onto my shoe.

Working my way through the midpack
as we left the school

Having committed to it, I then started to question my decision as the temperature dropped and it started to spit with rain. It was nice to chat to so many familiar faces as we gathered on the track but, although we all had chips on our shoes, there was not a start timing mat, or even an audible countdown. I was talking to the girl next to me when we suddenly noticed that the race had started, so it was actually an accidental mid-field start.

Through the "scheme"

There were people of all speeds and abilities (the associated 4 mile race started with us) ahead of me, but just meant that I could spend the first half mile meandering round people, as the route took us round a section my housing scheme. The next mile and a half were through the town centre (not on closed roads so the police and marshals helped out with the traffic) so I did get a shout out of "Go on, Dr Jo". 

It turned out that Dumfries Running Club were also using the race as part of their Grand Prix so I had familiar vests ahead of me, and I managed to catch up to and chat to one of the DRC guys (Kevin) as we left the town and heading out onto country roads via the Industrial Estate. The route was already starting to become rather "undulating" so having puffed and panted my way past the 3 mile markers, I was very tempted to just follow the 4 mile course back to the school. I gave myself a little mental shake and crossed the road instead (taking care to look for cars) to head off uphill on the half marathon course. 

Moving away from Kev and Euan
(though it doesn't look uphill for some reason)

At this point I moved away from Kevin and a young Galloway Harrier who was running his first half marathon and had set off like a bat out of hell, and into a lonely space. I could see a man I recognised from the local running circuit (Ian) up ahead of me......and that was where he stayed, coming in and out of sight as we wound round corners, up hill and down dale (well, it was all on road but some were very rural....ie covered in mud from tractor wheels). The wind had really picked up and some of the gusts made me almost stop in my tracks (others said afterwards that they when they looked at their watches, they couldn't understand why they were working so hard compared to the pace they were actually running).

Not a flat course then....

I wanted to get beyond the 7 mile mark before giving into to that urge to slow to a jog, just so that I could say I'd made progress from the previous weekend, but the wind did rather make my pace rather random. It was also raining much more heavily (flappy shorts were definitely no longer flapping).....and, depending on the wind direction, the rain (which bordered on hail) was rather painful. I would sometimes think that Ian was stretching away from me, but then the gap would close back up to how it was, and I used this to make myself keep moving (yes, I was finding it very tough, but clearly he was as well).

I nearly kissed the marshal standing at a junction not long after the 9 mile mark, not because he told me that I was actually doing well overall, but because he told me that we had to turn back towards town and that it would now be a tail wind all the way. He wasn't telling complete porky pies, as the next mile and a half were more sheltered (I'm not saying that I ran faster with the the tailwind, but just that I slowed less that I might have done). Ian told me that I motored past him, but actually I think he just slowed briefly to take on a gel. This meant that I was ahead when we suddenly ran round a 180degree bend and back into the full force of the wind. 

Looking soggy at the finish

A short sharp climb and turn (another 180) and we were running down the side of the main road into town past the 11 mile marker. We then had to wind around the industrial estate back to rejoin the 4mile course and it was at this point that I felt like I'd lost the will to live. Ian came past me again on the "little inclines" and tried to encourage me, but I told him I "was done". He was having none of it and tried to keep encouraging me. I managed to stay within touching distance of him for the next mile but as we hit the edge of town he could smell the finish. I had nothing left and so the gap opened. The police ushered us across the main road separately but luckily I didn't need much concentration to see the way into the school  carpark and onto the track. 

Some nice spoils...

Having revived!

Ian was away near the finish as I hit the track but I tried to muster up a tiny bit of effort to make the line. (I think) I managed a soggy smile and wave to friends but it wasn't really the weather to hang around though I did grab some waterproofs out of my car and jog back to encourage a couple of friends in. Hot showers, chocolate Freddos and coffee revived us all, and although I had thought about pulling out several times, I was glad I'd manage to complete the distance without disgracing myself (yes, I know it's only me that cares!) but more than that, I had another lovely weekend catching up with friends.