On Sunday I ran the Birmingham Half Marathon. I’ve not been able to train this year really due to an ongoing cough that has really affected my ability to do cardio, so I went into it really very under prepared. In reality, if it had been someone else I’d have suggested they drop out, but I counted on being able to depend on a little muscle memory from my past fitness and training to get me through.
It did, and I had a good first half, albeit by mile 10 I had mentally checked out. My breathing wasn’t controlled and my legs were tired. I’m used to tired legs by that point in a race but my heart rate normally feels steady so it’s fine. Unsteady breathing and tired legs combined is much harder to fight through mentally!
I’d gone out for a few drinks the night before and whilst normally I’d say that’s not the best preparation for an event it probably served me well because I relaxed and wasn’t thinking about how hard it was going to be all night and worrying and fell asleep pretty easily.
Recovery wise now I feel pretty fatigued. In reality though, do I feel worse than if I’d gone in more prepared? Probably not. I’m signed up for another half in two weeks. I am seriously considering whether that’s going to be doable right now. Getting round once underprepared is one thing, doing it twice might be a bit of a push and I might end up risking a injury. What I don’t want is to end up not able to train for parts of the rest of the year because I’ve not been smart about my own health.
For now though I’m just pretty proud of myself that i managed to get round in one piece and not give up!
Heather Sherwood Fitness 