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Race Report: Athens Marathon 2018 – Marathon 10

23 Sunday Dec 2018

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It’s been quite some time since I’ve posted a blog.  Apologies for that.  Life got insanely busy again.

I’ve mainly been keeping quiet because I’d planned to run Athens Marathon.  I didn’t want to spend the summer worrying about my training on the net.  I have chronic fatigue, an undiagnosed bowel condition, a slipped disc that flares into my sciatic nerve, two broken toes and arthritis in my right foot fracture that I gained in 2016.   Instead I simply got down to it and knuckled in after the family triathlon in June.

I used my MoveGB membership to do at least two different fitness classes a week.  Mostly Zumba which I totally love now.  Tried out some different forms of Yoga.  I even gave Pole Dancing a go, Tai Chi and Spin Class.  I tried all sorts of things I wouldn’t have bothered with with a standard gym membership.  It’s important to find your groove for when it’s not okay to run as we all need a break and to cross train other things.  I ran two or three times a week and focused on a weekend long run.  My longest training run was half marathon distance.

It seemed logical that my return to racing start at Athens Marathon, having been twice before there is something about that race that keeps me coming back.  I travelled to Athens with my partner Jack.  I managed the race in just over 6 hours which isn’t my worst time or my best but is still a middling time and an achievement to having done my 10th marathon.  It feels pretty great to have finally got to 10 after having had to cancel Portsmouth Marathon last year.  I was ripe with anxiety and doubt!

I also raised £290 for the Wallace and Gromit’s Grand Appeal charity for the Bristol Children’s Hospital. Image may contain: one or more people, people standing, sky, cloud and outdoor

Now I have done 10 marathons the question is what next?  I’m not sure I’m built to be a fast marathon runner no matter how much training I do.  I might switch up to trying to become a faster 5k or 10k runner and make HM’s my focus for 2019.  I can’t bring myself to say the words ‘no more marathons’ and I still like the idea of an ultra.  I’d defo need to get my marathon time to a more comfortable place before I tried even the shortest ultra-distance. But who knows … maybe one day.

Happy running

Xxx

Eleanor

Trial Race Day For Portsmouth Marathon

13 Wednesday Dec 2017

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Evaluating other attempts at running marathons I decided to change things up a bit and throw in a trial race day.  Not just a long run.  Basically, just a long run in which I pretended it was the Marathon.

It was the last long run before Portsmouth Marathon.  The morning of December 3rd (yeah, this blog is late).  It was the second longest run of 2017.  The run totalled 9.11 miles.

It went like so;

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Woke up at 8am to breakfast and drink coffee,
9am volunteering as time keeper at Junior parkrun,
9:30am set off from that start line of sorts to run along the Snuff Mills trails,
2.5 miles in turned back due to a steepass muddy as fudge decline at a tremendous height that made brain nope,
5 miles in stopped at the fuel station known as the house for hydrate,
7.5 miles in best run snacks of Jelly Beans by the mega handful,
8.6 miles in … 8 point … 6 … fudge 8.6. Keep at it!
9 miles in. 9 miles. Sprint finish home. HELL YES.

I felt fantastic.  When I got home for a cup of tea, a hot lunch and a steaming bubble bath after showering all the mud off it was a relief having done it.  I know it wasn’t 26. miles.  Nearly 10 is a good bench mark of how I will feel on race day.  I felt like I could do more, indeed I considered a second lap but didn’t want to over do it too soon.

JellyBeans

I found Jelly Beans as a running snack worked better than gels with my stomach so I’ve stocked up on lots of these.

Now to rest and carboload before Portsmouth Marathon.  I’ve done nothing but walking and yoga in the evenings.  I’ve bulk bought soups and healthy snacks for my workday lunches.  Of course, the odd Cherry Bakewell is unavoidable this time of year.  However, it’s still easy to eat balanced and just add the Minced Pies in as your afternoon snack instead of because of it.

As I write this Portsmouth looms at the end of Sunday.  I haven’t chickened out yet.  There are no health excuses worth cancelling for.  The weather might be a bit of mischief.  Yet, adventure calls.  The coast and it’s gales, the roses and their dew, the Pyramid Center and it’s Expo.  The runners and their lycra.

This will now be a staple before any race taper going forward in 2018.  It’s helpful to find the zone that gets missed sometimes with ‘just another long run.’  Make your long run work for you.  Make it special.

Happy running,

Eleanor

xxx

Evaluating the Story

11 Monday Sep 2017

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“It’s a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there’s no knowing where you might be swept off to.”

― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings.

In 2013, I was an 11 stone Call Centre worker, my mind a mess of charcoal gloom and my body a mass of health issues and I stepped on my road to running.  That road would take me to a brighter future.  Four years later I’m an 9 stone Graduate myth-waffler with a foot or two on the ladder of a Creative Writing and Marketing career.  I went from no exercise since my Secondary School days of hiding from P.E. to having 9 marathons under my belt.  Over the summer various interviewers would ask me where I saw myself in five years and I’d say, ‘I’m already there.  I saw myself with a degree, starting the career I’ve always wanted.’

I have spared a few moments thought to the reason I started running.  My inspiration was sparked by Kilian Jornet’s epic run up Mount Olympus and a desire to follow in his footsteps.  I wanted to one day run the Olympus Marathon combining my love of running and Classical Mythology together in a big peaked cake dusted with icing and the seat of Zeus on top (alas, no glacier cherries here).

If I stick to that 5 year plan idea I have 1 year left in which to achieve this goal.  It is highly unlikely that I’ll run the Olympus Marathon in 2018.  Due to a crop of different health issues (the saga of my well recorded Mystery Illness Book 1 The Slipped Disc and now a joyfully new Mystery Illness Book 2 As Yet Untitled)  It is more likely that I’ll actually get in to the London Marathon by ballot and we all know how hard that is, don’t we? I know, let us not hold our breath.

Instead I’ll set a more realistic goal of my fitness and health.  If finances allow I will hike up the Olympus Marathon for charity in the early autumn of next year.  Plans will be planned.  If you’ve done this thing do please get in touch and let me know your experiences.  In the meantime I’ll be trying to put my foot on the permanent bit of the Marketing ladder and try to make the freelancing side of things more profitable.

Happy Running,

Eleanor

xxx