Tuesday 27 May 2014

Group 0 Brave The Monsoon!

Hello Blog lovers.

Welcome to British Summer! For the whole day, the bloomin day, the rain has come down! Non stop!  The kids are on school holidays as well, and looking longingly out of the window!  So a trip to buzz zone was in order.  Not my favourite place to be during half term, so many kids!

Hence I was really looking forward to my club runs, to relieve some of the, shall we say tensions from the morning.  I sent out a text to my Group 0 Heroes, to give them some encouragement to come along, I thought if I get just one reply back saying they was going to be there then I would go.  I  had two!  That made me smile, now we have runners appearing through the ranks!

Getting out to run in the rain, for me, is really, really tough.  Just the thought of going out, getting absolutely soaked, probably cold too, as well as trying to run is just not motivational at all.  And quite frankly getting just two of my group out was amazing!  (especially as........ well I shall tell you in a minute!)

Going through the woods is just not an option, it really will be very slippery and possibly twisting ankles on the slipper roots, so I chose one of the harder winter routes to do.  Out of the gate, turn left and left again.  The undulating roads will keep us warm, and this weather will keep us wanting to move without stopping!

We certainly did that! The no stopping that is, all the way to the memorial  hall in Pettswood.  We had a quick breather, but we carried on walking rather than the stopping.  Although it is supposed to be summer, or coming up to it, it feels bloomin cold! Standing around in the pouring rain just after running a mile it's quite surprising how quickly you can cool down, and therefore more difficult to get going again.  Not to mention the possibility of cramps and stuff!

We started running again just as we got to the walking bridge and then kept it going virtually all the way until we got back to the memorial hall!  We had a bit of footwear malfunction as laces came undone, but mainly just kept running.  When we got to the memorial hall again, ready for the last push down to the rec, the rain seemed to come down even heavier! It really was just relentless!  But I know the two ladies are going to be so pleased that they came out!

And let me tell you, they were!  As we were one the last couple of corners from the rec, I head Jo saying that she thought we were running faster than usual!  Now this did make me smile! Although I hid it well under the soggy exterior, because I don't think that anybody, and I mean, absolutely anybody, has ever accused me of running faster than usual!  So, this is a first for me!  And something to cherish for a little while and bask in the glow that I felt when I was told I was running faster!

Oh, yes, the thing that I have to tell you.  Well, we ran pretty well, no warm up, and a lot faster, due to the fact that we didn't have to pick our way through muddy puddles, and roots and stuff, that we finished quite early.  After some warm down drills the two ladies went home.  Of course I was still hanging around, still thinking that maybe, as I am so wet now I could go ahead and do group 1 run.  But as I was waiting, the cold started creeping all over.  I even stood in the ladies toilets to keep out of the rain, but that chill would not leave me. 

The waterproof jacket that I was wearing was making things worse,  I didn't want to move my arms because then I had to 'feel' the cold wet sleeves touch my arms.  My legs started to cool down and now I could feel just how wet my jog pants are, and my feet! Brrrrrr, wet and cold!

I am sure if I kept going, kept moving, kept myself warmed up then I could have gone for another 3.5 mile jog, but then I would have been by myself as a solo runner!  Waiting for the 20 minutes or so made my mind up to call it a day!  Jogging is fun! And right then I felt cold, wet and horrible, but I did have a good run with the two ladies!  That's good enough for me!

How the ultra runners can keep themselves motivated to keep going when they feel like that, on top of being awake, running, walking and avoiding wildlife, I do not know, and I am thinking a friend of mine, Mr. Jerry Smallwood (aka Mr.S) who managed to do that for 100 miles over the weekend in the GUCR!  Birmingham to London!  Crazy!  And also so young people that are my daughters friend, Andy, who went from London to Brighton, also running and jogging, in one go!  Hats of to your guys!  Really!  Hats off!

Anyway geeky stats, maybe you can tell me where I was running faster!


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