Robin Hood Half Marathon - Sunday 28th September 2014 - Training

The first and only half marathon I ran was in 2010 and it was the Robin Hood Half  MarathonNottingham. It took me 2 hours and 35 minutes and I considered it a fail, I didn’t put enough effort in on training, no hills or speed work nothing, I barely covered enough distance week by week. I was surprised to be feeling so tired at just 7 miles in. I almost gave up and walked home as I passed the nearest point to my house. The only thing keeping me going was I had driven to the start so fetching me car would have been a pain. 2010 still included Wollaton Hall and this was about the hilliest section.

Most of the spectators stood along the track here and so as I walked most of it made me feel like an extra special looser. I ended up running/walking with a lady who appeared to look like I felt and we got through the final sections together. I’m running this years (2014) half marathon as part of my 5k a day challenge for Nottinghamshire Hospice. This year I have 2 things to worry about; 1. Can I complete the race? Well since they ditched the wollaton section its flatter so that’s one in my favour, I have ran an awful lot more recently (obviously), I have run a lot more hills and speed runs too, so I’m in much better shape to finish. 2. Will I be able to carry on running the next day? This concerns me more than the actual race. I have managed a couple of longer runs during my challenge so far as much as 20km so not much short of the 13 miles I  need to cover on the day. The first time I tried it I picked up an injury,

 just a small niggle in  my right calf that bugged me for about a month. Never the less I managed the distance with not much trouble. I’m going to try and run one more longer run before the day and perhaps a few 10kms as well as quite a bit of hill work just to make sure I’m as ready as I can be. There are lots of training schedules out there for half marathons but if you can spare the time there is nothing better than a daily 5km run to get you round. I am hoping to finish in 2 hours this time, that is a huge difference to the last one, if I manage it I’ll be knocking 35 mins off the time! Don’t forget I’ll be running everyday as always before and after the race so there will be no room for ‘tapering’. Tapering, for those not in the know, is a clever way of saying running less as the race day looms. The way I will do it is just run slower and walk a little bit during the days leading up and then  the opposite after the day. As far as energy drinks are concerned, I’m not going to bother, just water for me and then plenty of protein after to help my muscles repair quicker. The last time I ran 20km I went after a busy day with a 500 ml bottle of water. It was no way near enough but I got round, the worst bit was getting in to trouble for being out so long and not helping with the bedtime routine! Oops Sorry!

Fingers crossed I’ve done enough to manage a good run and maybe even a good time too.

As always your donations will help me along as they have so far in the challenge www.justgiving.com/5kaday