PB = Painful battle!

6th November was the date, Plymouth 10K race was the event. It had been in the diary for a while now and as it was the first ever Plymouth 10K, I was very much looking forward to it.
Myself, Mrs www.daytodavis.co.uk and Mrs C (my friend and my pilates teacher) had decided that the 8.15am start would mean one thing, a night away in a hotel in Plymouth so as to avoid a 1 and a half hour journey on the morning of the race. A great excuse for a girlie 24 hours away.
We booked into the Future Inn, just on the outskirts of Plymouth at around 6pm on the evening before the race. We booked a table in the restaurant to ensure we carb loaded, which we did in fine form with the help of a chargrilled chicken burger and fries, mmmmmmmmmm.

During our conversations over the meal, we discussed the element of pain that you experience whilst running a race. Well, I must admit that I really had never pushed myself to the point of pain in a race before and have always found myself giving myself a bit of an easy ride. It was rather like a light bulb moment for me, I think I just expected to be comfortable in my runs no matter what. Don't get me wrong, I give myself a push and look at my pace regularly, incorporate technical sessions such as speedwork and hills to push my body to become stronger. I have never got to the point of "pain" in a race before and this got me thinking. What could I achieve if I gave myself permission to feel a little pain.
Well the answer was a PB!!
My sleep that night was sporadic to say the least, I had a lot to get nervous about. I was going to experience pain tomorrow and knew I would have to dig deep to get through it. Nervous but ultimately excited!!

The morning came, we gave ourselves time to have breakfast and made our way down to the city centre to meet up with Lenny, a friend from way back who was also running. It was a cold, crisp morning which was a beautiful way to start the day, the potential for the sunshiny day ahead was already apparent. We took the short walk over to the start area, where we deposited our baggage in the Guildhall and then took the opportunity to warm up with a short run around the start area.
We had the inaugural photo:

Before

We also met up with fellow Bude Rats runners, Jo and Tina. These lovely ladies were with Mrs D and myself when we were leaders of the Bude Womens Running Network and had since joined the Rats when the WRN went into receivership.

1200 runners lined up at the start line at 8.15am and Katherine Endacott (GB sprinter based in Plymouth) started the race. The first section was a loop back, which I have to say doesn't do much for my motivation. With my new found need to push myself to the max, funnily enough the second loop back hardly registered and I was just concentrating on keeping up the pace I had maintained throughout. Throughout the course there were friends encouraging their club mates, people running together and marshals who were giving us support. At one point I saw Tina and Jo, was great to give them a wave, Mrs D was close by within the race and Mrs C was ahead after about the 2k mark. As our finishing times prove, Mrs D and I were only seconds apart, she is my role model when it comes to running as her attitude is so positive, she pushes herself to perform to her best and has such a healthy attitude to the sport. Was great to see Lenny and Mrs C at the end as well, cheering us in. Mrs C time was 49.25 Lenny came in at 46.48, my time was 52.13 and Mrs D was 52.16.
Jo and Tina came in at 1.03.57 and 1.06.17. Suffice to say we were all very happy with our times.
Yes, there was pain, but ultimately I beat my last 10K PB by 3 minutes.

As I was constantly being assured by Mrs C and Mrs D over our evening meal the night before, "pain is just weakness leaving the body"!

Does it look like I had been in pain - hint check out that red face!!!

After!!

BIDEFORD BELTER

Bideford was the location, 10.30 hours was the start of the race and 1200 runners were warmed up and ready to hear the starting gun. We were off!!

I travelled to Bideford with Mr and Mrs Davis to take part in my second Bideford Half Marathon, the duration of the journey was only 40 minutes but I am sure Mr D was very glad when we arrived at our destination. Nerves always creep in and that in turn seems to enable my words per minute to double, poor Mr D!!!

5 of the Bude WRN ladies were also in attendance for their first half marathon, all of them trained together for this event, keeping each other going and motivating each other when the training was getting harder. Even on the day itself, Andrea injured herself around mile 7 and was walking and hobbling along until she caught sight of the rest of the crew. In her words, they helped her carry on and even with a horridly injured and painful knee, she crossed the finish line within 2 and a half hours. I watched them come in and I must admit I did feel emotional. I know how hard you have to train to be able to run these races and the ladies have been nothing other than committed to their challenge. They train 2 nights a week with WRN then are out on a Saturday morning getting their long runs in. Dedication has paid off, it was great to see family and friends supporting them and cheering them in.

I had a great day with another PB 1:56:58 felt very strong and went with the intention of trying to beat my Exeter time. I managed to run alongside a friend from around mile 5, we found we were running at a very similar pace and intended on keeping that pace up throughout with a possible top up at the end if we had it in us. Once we hit the mile marker for 11 miles, we kicked our 9 minute mile pace into touch slightly and were averaging around the 8.30 minute mile for the last 2 miles. When I saw the 800 metre mark I knew I just wanted to get back as Mr T and the boys were waiting at the finish line. There is no better motivator at the end of a race than knowing your children are going to be there. A sprint finish was the order of the day and it felt great to know I had run it within my goal time.

As I was pounding the Tarka Trail and roads around Bideford, my niece was swimming like a fish in Bodmin. She came away from her first weekend at the County Championships with a GOLD, a BRONZE and 2 PB’s. She is 9 years old and extremely modest about her achievements, it was fantastic to hear her news after having completed the race.

She is back for more next weekend, luckily for me I will race again in May, so a slight tapering in training for me for the next week.