Race: MyProtein Preston 10mile
Distance: 10miles
Date: 19th November 2017
Supporting Runners: none, but Mum, Andy and Tom were cheering me along.
Fundraising to date: £619
Finishing Time: 01:32:22

Once everyone had left following an evening of prosecco and chicken nuggets to celebrate what would have been Adam’s 29th birthday, it suddenly dawned on me that 30for30 had officially began and I now had 10miles to face the next day on my own…

This would be the first race of the 30 on my own and a lot different to the crowd I had on day one.

Now, anyone that knows me well will know these 2 things about me:

1. I LOVE sleep – any weekend where an alarm needs to be set on both days, usually makes for a pretty bad weekend
2. I HATE being cold – and I am always cold. I’m the girl in the office that wants to close the window when everyone else is boiling

My running training in the past has usually consisted of me training from March, running a half marathon in May and then cooling down and hibernating for the winter.

You can imagine my joy when my alarm went off at 07:30am and it was so cold the car needed to be defrosted. Today was going to be my coldest run to date, and I wasn’t looking forward to it.

Thankfully, I was given a really fashionable headband/ear warmer on the previous day’s MoRun which I could reuse for comfort, and Mum was coming along again to play cheerleader/coat-holder.

Note to self: must buy stylish and sporty ear warmer.

After complaining to Mum, Andy and Tom for about an hour and getting there, seeing everyone in shorts and vests, I knew I just needed to get on with it and enjoy it.

And what do we know?! Like every time I go for a run that I really don’t want to go on, I ended up really, really enjoying it and doing better than expected. I warmed up within about 30seconds of moving and really got into it.

I used my new found technique of starting further back as for me, it feels better mentally to be an over-taker, rather than the overtaken.

The course was nice and flat – the weather pretty perfect being cold yet dry and really bright. The course was 2 laps, so I got to see my family and Tom (another of Adam’s friends-now my friend) at the half way point and nick some jelly babies for energy. Again, it felt so special to have them there and I’d love to say that seeing them spurred me on to go faster, but instead I ended up really hitting a wall in lap 2 and it wasn’t long until I became the overtaken.

This was the longest race I have done on my own where there was a strict headphone ban. Usually there is a friend to talk to or music is allowed. I was worried about this initially but it really didn’t bother me in the end, and ultimately stopped me from being hit by a bus. In fact it felt a lot better and I really enjoyed spending the whole race counting to 4 repeatedly 🙄 (any tips on how to pass the time would be great).

I plodded across the finish line in 01:32:22 and got another really nice medal for the memory box. Really pleased with the result and would definitely recommend this race. 10miles is a nice distance and it’s flat enough to go for it and get a decent time – well organised too.

2 races down on my first weekend of 30for30 – I have had so many nice messages saying that Adam would be proud, and I really hope that he would be. I have thought about him every step of the way and mustn’t forget the reasons why I am doing this – when it is cold and I am tired and really can’t be bothered, it will all be worth it to raise awareness in his memory. I have also had a message to say that one of my blogs about my chosen charities have particularly raised awareness to this person, so please read those if you haven’t already, and find out why I am doing this challenge.

Thanks again for everyone who has sponsored so far. This weekend has been challenging but fun at the same time, however I won’t be in a rush to do 2 races in the same weekend again. I am very much looking forward to an alarm-less sleep next Saturday!

Visit the Virgin Giving fundraising page >>