So my 10k is tomorrow morning, and really I should be sitting here confident that I have done everything in my power to prepare both my body and mind for this race, instead I am sitting here watching family fortunes and thinking about how much I would like to have a drink tonight.
I will get off my bum (in fact my fat bum) in a minute and get things ready for tomorrow, you know sort out my music selection, get my running kit organised, put my bits together in a small bag and re look at the race information to make sure I know where I need to be and what the logistics are for this run.
This is a bit of a ritual that I go through the night before each race, just to put my mind at ease. There was only one time that I didn’t do this and actually when I think about it, the outcome wasn’t as bad as it could have been.
The race was the Lea Valley 10, and it had been in my diary for a while, but then it turned out it was also a friends birthday, so I decided that I would go to the birthday BBQ the day before but not drink. The not drinking turned into an…ok I will only have a few, and that soon turned into a “I can’t remember how many I had”.
By the time I got to bed it must have been close to 4am, and I was woken up at half eight by my mate Nat asking “are we still doing it?” to which I replied “fuck it, why not?” I must have still been drunk. So in the space of twenty minutes I go up, brushed my teeth, took off last nights make up and put my running kit on.
So there we were, me and Nat amongst about 500 other runners in scorching sun, not a bit of shade to be had, waiting for the run to begin. To make things worse I soon realized that I was wearing running trousers with no pockets, and had my phone, purse and keys with me…this would be interesting.
I shoved them down my bra and hoped for the best. The race went off quick and it didn’t take long for Natalie to speed off ahead. I knew I was towards the back of the pack, but I really didn’t care…I had decided my main aim was to just get round in one piece…I’d also decided for some reason that I wasn’t going to stop whatever happened. This was actually the first time I had ever completed a 10k without stopping to walk. I just plodded along, listening to a strange selection of r&b and reggae that had been on my iPod from a few nights before. I didn’t care about my time or the people on the route that looked at me with pity in their eyes as I struggled to breath…but funnily enough there was no pain…the remnants of last nights alcohol made sure of that.
I hour and thirty five minutes later I finished, and without stopping once. I was extremely dehydrated and absolutely starving hungry… Other than that though I felt ok! As I claimed my medal and desperately tried to rehydrated myself a lady come up to me and said “Thank You”, apparently her and her husband were running the whole way behind me (so I wasn’t last) they had made a deal that they would only stop if I did, and seeing as I didn’t they too had run the whole way without walking…a first for both of us then. Its crazy to think that in that state I had managed to motivate someone else.
I wouldn’t recommend running in that state to anyone though as it can’t be good for you but I think the point here is that you can be as prepared as you like and have a bad run, and then you can do no prep at all and be ok…it’s just the way it is. Let’s just see how I get on tomorrow hey?
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- The Wasp that Saved the Day (thefatgirlsguidetorunning.com)
- Flexitarian (thefatgirlsguidetorunning.com)
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