Enigma Winter Marathon

My first race of 2013 was the Enigma Winter Marathon, it was meant to be my first double but I'm not as silly as I look and I decided to pull out and not even attempt the second day as I just knew my little legs weren't up to it.

(A big part of this race and the blog is a song that is quite special to me and is the only thing that possibly allowed me to finish but at the same time nearly stopped me from finishing the race. Here is the video if anyone would like to listen to the song whilst reading, if not just enjoy the read)

Back up to the lake I went setting off at 6am, not having much sleep the night before and with a lot of things been going on in my personal life since before Christmas I was slightly dubious about how the run was going to go. Still with my race number pinned to my top and mp3 player at the ready loaded up with loads more of my favourite songs I was going to give it a bloody good go! I met up with the usual suspects, Dave, Karen, Dawn, Annabelle and Millie and was looking forward to spending some time with them all again.

It was a lot different to the previous marathon on the same course only two weeks earlier, I hit a wall at mile 1. This continued until around mile 15 not a great start and I just couldn't get going, I opted to run/walk it as I just couldn't get myself going properly into a good running pace. I started of following Dawn who I knew ran fast, alot faster than me and the first 4 miles were done at 9 minute mile pace then I started flagging bad and Dawn was a mere dot in the distance.

There was one song on my mp3 player that has held a lot of meaning to me over the last few weeks and I was determined not to skip to that song but wait patiently for it to come around and play on it's own. Having new songs  was good and I was soon pounding away to different beats though 75% of it was power walking. I was having the previous problems with my foot which wasn't helping, plus there were no iced fairy cakes to keep my brain active and for me on that day 5 hours in my own head and mind was just too much.

Karens "this is not a sponsored walk" hoody

At mile 18 'The song' came on and that was it, I felt completely relaxed, not really feeling anything but sad I guess and it made me start taking in my surroundings and set me on a bit of a downwards spiral, I continued listening to the song on repeat until mile 22 then switched to more upbeat songs and decided enough was enough I was going to finish this marathon and I was going to do the Milton Keynes Marathon in May and I was going to do the Grim Ultra in August in fact I was going to do anything and everything. The last lap was the hardest ever both feet were now suffering with this pain every time I took a step but I just had to get to the finish. I decided near the end of the last lap to put my song back on and this actually reduced me to tears, the people that were walking dogs or cycling around the lake must have thought I was a complete loon! I could have sworn I was last at this point as I hadn't seen anyone for ages, I kept looking behind me and no one, I got to the point at the underpass where the lake meets and you can see right over the other side of the course and I couldn't see any runners.

I had resigned myself to the fact I was last and everyone was waiting in the cold for me the girl who was blubbing and walking, walking and blubbing to round the final straight. I came to the final straight and decided enough was enough I couldn't cross the finish line crying so turned my music off and looked at my garmin. My last marathon time on that course was 5 hours 31 mins and somehow, god only knows how? If I sprinted the last bit I would have a new pb.

I ran for my life and finished with an amazing new time of 5 hours 20 minutes and 59 seconds! Millie was waiting for me at the finish to say how well I had done and check I was ok as she had noticed me crying. The great news was I also wasn't last! 

In 8 weeks I have ran 3 marathons and knocked a total of 36 minutes of my original time. Looking back at the garmin connect site I walk faster than I run though the first 4 miles with Dawn helped a little! 

I love running around that lake so much and all the friends I've made that comes with it that I've entered the Enigma 30 mile Ultra in July. 

Review of 2012 and my first year of running

 A little late I know but it's now been a year since I started running and my first ever race back on the 6th January 2012 at Blymhill running around for 6 miles wondering why on earth I had decided to take up running?

2012 has consisted of many races, in total 10 broken down as below

3 x 10ks                            (Blymhill 10k, Blackpool 10k and Trailblazer 10k)
3 x Half Marathons            (Worcester Half, Lichfield Half and Birmingham Half)
2 x Marathons                    (Rutland Water Marathon & Enigma Christmas Marathon)
2 x Ultra Marathons           (Grim Reaper 40mile and Enigma Gold 30mile)

I have only pulled out of two races due to injury which were Sutton Park 10k and Malvern Half Marathon and the great british weather was to blame for the cancellation of another race the Kingsbury Water Park 10k.

In all the races I have done I have met some lovely people along the way both event organizers, fellow runners, marshalls and running communities online some of whom I am yet to race with in 2013! 

I have only suffered with one injury which put me out of running for a few weeks which was Piriformis, something I hope I never get again.
 I have only DNF'd one race. Dare I talk about it?.... THE GRIM!!! but that experience taught me that anything is possible if you set your mind to it, yes you may not be able to walk for 3 days after but it was worth it as since not finishing The Grim Ultra in July I have successfully finished one Ultra marathon and three marathons with some lovely medals to show for it and lots of new friends made.

My 10k time has gone from 1:10:38 at Blymhill to 1:03:31, there was however a sub 1 hour 10k that was the first part of the Bupa Birmingham Half Marathon but it doesn't really count as a 10k pb.

 My Half Marathon time has gone from 2:31:15 at Worcester Half Marathon in April to 2:08:07 at Birmingham Half Marathon in October.

My Marathon time has gone from 5:56:08 at Rutland Water Marathon in November to 5:31:24 in December at Enigma Christmas then more recently which you will read about in my next blog I got a new pb of 5:20:59 at Enigma Winter that's a massive 36 minutes shaved off in 2 months!

Finally I ran 637.78 miles in 2012 spent 123 hours 48 minutes 59seconds on my feet with my running shoes on pounding the pavement ( you got to love the report function on garmin connect) and burnt 58935 calories in the process. My average speed over the year was 5.1mph  not fast but I got the job done!

Thank you to everyone that supported me along the way, my family, my friends, my car for getting me to the races and my legs for getting me to the finish.

I have pledged that I would like to run more than 900 miles in 2013 and conquer the Grim Reaper 40mile ultra marathon with Maureen from Run For Fun, I'm also going to join my local running group and see what else 2013 will bring.