Countdown

Well, as I write there are only “two more sleeps” until my first charity race, the 10k Great Forest Run at Bedgebury, and I am feeling a little nervous. Not about the distance, as I know that will be no problem, but I really want to complete it in under 60 minutes and the pressure is on. My last three 10k training runs have all been sub-60, but I have since found out that the course at Bedgebury is very hilly, and that may possibly be my downfall… we’ll just have to see. I have my race number now: 5116. I prefer my numbers a little more symmetrical, but there you go.

The good news is that the fundraising has gone well, and my original tentative target of £200 pounds has been well and truly smashed, with the current total standing at £335. Thank you to everyone who has sponsored me!

Tomorrow I’m going to officially “rest” before my early start on Saturday morning, but here is how my last week of training has shaped up:


Saturday 4th September

Only time for a quick 5k (3.1 miles) run around Rochester and along the river, but disastrously I am feeling tired and out of sorts and the hills get the better of me. A terrible time of 29.52. Not good for my confidence at all.

The following evening is traditionally Sunday-evening-running-with-Anna, but unfortunately my jet-setting friend is in California this time, tackling Half Dome at Yosemite National Park and visiting San Francisco among other places. So I planned to go for a run by myself.

I really did.
But I fell asleep.
Oops.

This was not like me at all, but I think the six weeks’ school holidays just totally caught up with me and there was nothing I could do about it.


Monday 6th September

Zac went back to school this morning, and I’m not sure who was happier about that fact… him or me! School holidays are certainly tough on autistic children, who live and thrive on routine and structure.

So my day was spent trying to restore some sort of order to the house, after six weeks of chaos. In the evening I went to the gym for a quick 5k run on the treadmill. Better than nothing, I suppose.


Tuesday 7th September

Katie Burtonshaw, my official/unofficial training coach emailed me today, saying: "it's totally normal for you to feel absolutely crap this week. You will ache in places you've never ached before! You will start to think you are getting a cold, that you've got no energy etc etc but DON'T WORRY!! Try to relax and save as much energy as poss. You've done more than enough training... you can do the distance 'no probs' so we can now look forward to a run that is going to be really enjoyable, great fun and all for a very good cause."

Very reassuring, as I wasn’t feeling my best, especially after my disastrous run on Saturday, and my aborted run on Sunday!

So, back to the gym this morning, with Lily-Rose booked into the crèche, and my plan is to run 10k. Having been away from the crèche for 6 weeks, Lily-Rose is very unhappy to be left there and I feel quite guilty. And after running only 1 kilometre the crèche staff come and get me; she has worked herself up into such a state that she has been sick, and I have to take her home. (Of course, she is absolutely fine as soon as she sees me!)

I return to the gym in the afternoon for Luca’s swimming lesson, but there is not enough time for a run.

So, back to the gym for the THIRD time in the evening, and I finally get to run my 10k, in 58.02 (oh, how annoying those 2 seconds are!).


Thursday 9th September

My final training run before the actual race! I decide to run my 5 mile Viaduct route – a familiar, spectacular and very hilly circuit. Not the full 10k (6.2 mile) distance that I will be running on Saturday, but challenging enough all the same. I decide not to push myself too hard as I don’t want to get injured, so I stick to around 9.5 minute miles and complete the 5 miles in 48 minutes 11 seconds, and without slowing down or walking at all, which is good for me, on this particular route.


So that’s it! Training all done. A rest day tomorrow. And the big race on Saturday.

Full report on the race in my next blog post. And of course, it’s not too late to sponsor me, at www.justgiving.com/KatieBarrettRuns.


Distance run (in miles): Saturday 3.1, Monday 3.1, Tuesday 6.2, Thursday 5.0
Total mileage this week: 14.3
Total mileage for September: 23.4
Total since starting blog (21/6/10): 221.9