Friday, 14 May 2010

Friday 14 May: New kit, lucky kit and man flu persists!

Mileage: 2 miles

Well at least I got a 2 mile run in today, better than nothing! Tapering continues and as always it is very dull and frustrating.

I really wish I could switch off from running when I am tapering or having a rest day, but its the exact opposite. I think about it even more. I hate seeing other runners out on the street as I get very, very jealous. Last night was particularly hard as it was club night and missing it is the worst. Not only do I hate missing the running, but I miss the running banter and chat that goes with running club. I really enjoy meeting up with the club and having a good chat about what training everyone is doing, how people are getting on and what races they've got coming up or just done. Great fun. I got the club banter from Dan and Kim later, but its not the same!

When I got home from work last night I was very excited to find my parcel from Sportsshoes.com had arrived. When I came 3rd in the Baildon Boundary Way I won £65 in vouchers and I ordered some compression shorts, some ordinary shorts and some compression socks. I couldn't wait to try them on, so after tea I got changed and to complete the look I put on my club vest (see picture). It felt good to be in running kit again, so I watched TV in it for the rest of the night!

I think I am going to wear all this for the Loch Leven Half tomorrow, which I feel is a little risky. I get a bit superstitious from time to time (I'll tell you about my flying rituals some day!) and have been about my kit. I convinced myself last October that in order to run well I needed to run with my red Turbo X t-shirt on underneath my club vest, my blue Ron Hill shorts and lucky white socks (see picture below).  In fact until 2 weeks ago I ran every race with at least the red t-shirt/ club vest combo. I was convinced that if I didn't run with both combined together then I would run a slow race. Silly really, but is it? I have never run a bad race when wearing that combination... 
 
I've managed to wean myself off the red t-shirt with a 5k and 10k PB a couple of weeks ago, however, I still had my lucky shorts and socks on in those races for back-up. If I run with all my new kit and club vest on tomorrow I will have very untested kit- should I be worried or should I break out the old kit. I think I am going to take my red t-shirt for back-up and maybe wear it if its cold. I'll definitely wear it before the start in order to soak up some of its luck!!

Actually its not the kit I am worried about for tomorrow. It's my bloody man flu. Its still lingering about and I am fed up with it. Without ever turning into a serious cold my man flu has hung about all week. I've felt tired, unenergetic and had swollen glands. Today I woke up and felt tired and my throat has felt a little scratchy too. This could well affect my running tomorrow, especially in the latter part of the race when I'll need to draw on my energy reserves to keep me going. I went out for a couple of miles tonight to stretch my legs ahead of tomorrow and to try out my new kit. It was a quick jog and took just less than 13 minutes, however, it did feel a bit like hard work. On the plus side my legs felt strong and supple, which was nice, I just hope my lungs can hold out.Also on the plus side, the new kit felt good and I quite like the nice blue colour of my compression shorts!

Tomorrow's race is most definitely going to be my toughest road race of the year. Looking at the names on entry central and knowing the runners, there will be a really good top 10 field out there. There are 2 runners who will lead the way and then there are another 7 or 8 (including me, I hope) that will be fighting it out for third place. At first I was a little disappointed that there were so many good runners, as I was hoping to have a real chance of another podium, however, that feeling has quickly disappeared and I am now really excited (or at least I would be if it wasn't for the man-flu) about having the opportunity to run with a group of people at the same pace as me. For my last four races I have had to run on my own for nearly all of the race, which makes it very hard to keep going and push the whole way. I hope that tomorrow, if feeling fully fit, I can keep in with this group of 7 or 8 runners and work with them to a fast time. Although the course is a tough one, with several hills and the forecast is for it to be quite windy, I haven't ruled out the possibility of getting a PB. If I can't get a PB I would certainly like to beat a good few of those runners, so a solid top 10 finish would be a good result for me. 

If I do run well then I might have to reward myself with a beer or three.

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