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I've finished! Thank goodness!

Sorry for not posting an update already, to be honest I’m not sure I would have had the energy to type Sunday or yesterday, but yes, I did finish the Bristol Half Marathon.

I was a bit disappointed with my time of 2 hours, 20 mins and 21 seconds, and I’m almost embarrassed to say that there were a few occasions during the last four miles when I did drop down to a walk. I’ll happily admit that it was harder than I expected. Despite running upto 9 miles in training, as I struggled through the last couple of miles I couldn’t help feeling under prepared; I know that in the last few weeks the intensity of my training has dropped off, and I don’t think its a coincidence that I have been struggling since the Dartmoor Trek. Maybe in hindsight I shouldn’t have been so foolhardy when it came to joining in with that fundraising event as well!

Still, I can officially say that I have finished my first half marathon, and despite thinking several times during the race (and for the first half an hour afterwards) that I would never do it again, I have tentatively set my sights on next years Bristol Half Marathon, as I am keen to complete all 13 miles without having to walk, and in under two hours. So you never know…..

It sounds like all 15 that took part on behalf of Secret World completed the event, in fact a number of them gave me a cheery wave as they overtook me, so now its just a case of collecting up the sponsor money.

I need to thank all of the runners who took part on behalf of Secret World, everyone who has sponsored any of us runners, and Lisa and Simon at Secret World for providing me with very willing training partners.

If anyone reading this has been inspired to take part in a fundraising event on behalf of Secret World, please do not hesitate to contact us!

Many thanks

Jamie

So here we are then, in the next 48 hours, providing there has been no disasters, I will have finished the Bristol Half Marathon.

I’m going to admit that training wise the last couple of weeks have been very light. This was always going to be part of the plan, but was confirmed when a couple of niggles started to emerge in some short runs I was doing. So now its just a case of getting Sunday out of the way as well as I can, and then hanging my trainers up for a complete rest for a couple of weeks.

Unfortunately Lisa, our hardworking vet nurse and my training partner over the last few months, has had to withdraw from the half marathon due to illness. I know that she is gutted as she has trained so hard, but its the best decision as she really isn’t well enough at the moment.

Despite Lisa’s bad news, we do have 15 people taking part in the half marathon on behalf of Secret World, which considering this is the first time that we have bought bulk places for a running event, we are very pleased with.

So good luck to everyone who is taking part.

Anyone who wants to sponsor me can do so securely on line by clicking the button below.

So on my last entry I told you all how I’d volunteered to tag along on the Dartmoor Trek…. and boy was it an experience! The walking itself wasn’t too bad, although I think I’ve got my training to thank for that, but Dartmoor did do its best to make it a true challenge by throwing some pretty horrendous weather at us.

But I’m happy to report that everyone made it home safely, and we think around £3000 will have been raised for Secret World. Big thanks to Simon and Danni Perrot for organising it, and for the excellent support of Beryl, Bob and Simon.

Training for the half marathon has been kept light around the Dartmoor Trek, and this week I’m thinking a little 3 or 4 miles to get me back in the groove, and then a 9 or 10 miles on Thursday. After that I think it will be a case of tailing the training down to make sure I’m as fresh as possible for the 6th September….

It’s less than 6 weeks to go until the half marathon, and so the training has been stepped up a gear. We’ve done the Brean run again (blimey those are some steep hills!), and I’ve also done a few 3 mile runs with the emphasis on incerasing my running speed. Innitially I wasn’t too concerned about what time I ran the half marathon in, but now that my confidence is on the up in terms of completing the run, my attention has turned to the fact that in the last twelve months two of my friends have run a half marathon and both have finished in times of less that two hours. So of course if I can come in with a comparable time it will be a nice bonus!

I'm hoping the half marathon will be less painful than the JOGLE!

I’ve also done the five mile run again, this time in 48m30 which is a good sign in terms of my speed increasing. But, the highlight of the training so far came last night, when both Lisa and myself set of on an 8 mile run!!!!!! And we both finished it! I was really pleased to finish the whole thing without having to stop running at all, and my approximate time was 1hr 13 mins (I say approximate as I didn’t remember to set my stopwatch but I did check the time before I started my run). The time is pretty pleasing for my first 8 mile run, and at that pace (assuming I could maintain it for 13.1 miles) would be 1hr 59mins 30 secs…. so it’s there or there abouts!

I think the plan for the next few weeks will be one 8 mile run per week, and two other runs of between 3 and 5 miles… and then I think I’m going to try and complete at least one run of 10 miles before the half marathon on September 6th.

The other important update is of course that my justgiving page is very much live – thank you so much to anyone that has sponsored me already, and to anyone else who is thinking about it, even if you can only spare a couple of pounds it will make a difference to the animals that we are caring for.

If you would like to sponsor me, please click the button above.

Thanks

Jamie

Thankfully there are no hurdles to jump in the Bristol Half Marathon!

Okay, so I know that I haven’t written for a while, but believe me, I haven’t stopped running! It’s just that either side of the Badger Bonanaza Open Weekend I’ve not had a spare moment to sit down and update this blog!

Since writing the last entry I have done a few runs, including;

A nice easy 2 miles, run pretty comfortably without any walking, stopping or pain.

A cross country 3 miles, that was the worst run I’ve done so far; it was wet and miserable, my body just wouldn’t warm up, and I ended up walking a lot of it nursing a sore back.

Another easy two miles, run with Lisa the Animal Care Manager (who’s own training is coming on very well), again competed without stopping.

Continue reading 3 miles!!! Without Stopping!!!!