Dress rehearsal

Yesterday I did the Grimsthorpe half marathon. It was a lovely day (24 degrees I was reliably informed) and the plan was to go there and basically not have a plan! I just wanted to go somewhere that was a change of scenery, try to do some sort of trail run wearing the clothes I will hopefully wear in November, enjoy it and come back uninjured. I'm pleased to say this race ticked all of those boxes!

The setting at Grimsthorpe Castle was really beautiful, and the grounds were very picturesque. We began the run on tarmac and I had been told that the race surface was 80% road. I was gutted to hear this, as I had worn trail shoes (and had deliberately sought out what I thought was a trail run anyway). I watched everyone run off much faster than me and just plodded along in my own little word... cursing when I saw my first mile had been 9 minute something when I wanted it to be 10.30ish! I chatted to Odette for a while before going just slightly in front of her. The road quickly disappeared in favour of a grassy trail which was actually quite horrible to run on. Getting your feet planted right was difficult and it was here that we saw the first sign of the sun coming out. Just up ahead I saw Kerry and was surprised to be so close to her as she normally shoots off and I don't see her for dust. She was ahead of me for a while and I ran directly behind her as she was doing a nice pace (around 10mm at this point). It was a comfortable pace for me, however after a while I thought that if I was going to run this close to her I may as well tell her I'm here and run beside her. She immediately apologised and moved to the side saying she wasn't feeling too grand and was considering stopping at the 3 mile loop. She didn't look her usual bubbly self, and so I said I'd run with her until she saw her husband. Unfortunately, this didn't happen as I desperately needed a toilet break and had to go behind a bush, so she was long gone by the time I got back.

I saw her again up at the 3 mile loop point and saw that she must have been feeling a bit better as she continued to run towards the 10 mile loop direction. She waited a second for me to catch up and we had a drink of water (water in cups, so I knew that would be a restriction for me today). It didn't seem too long and Odette caught up and ran with us for a while. I remember looking out at one point at a big fallen tree and fields that looked like huge plains and thought I could easily be in the Serengeti or something! It was very pretty.

We ran a couple of inclines (one was a definite hill) and I was feeling really good. My toe that had recently blistered 3 times was blistering again...which was my own fault as I only had 1 gel toecap and chose to wear it on the toe where I had accidentally filed the nail too short... ouch! I'm pleased to say this toe did not bother me so I think had I been able to wear the cap on the blistered toe that would not have bothered me either. (I have already purchased another toe cap this morning for that... shutting the gate after the horse has got out however).

At one point the road then turned to horrible bits of dark gravel that was nasty to run on. Kerry almost tripped here and was looking a bit peeved off. We had lost Odette who was too springy and bouncy and had trundled off in front looking like she was out for a Sunday stroll.

So, Kerry and I carried on, running (and walking when necessary).
The race ended up being about 80% trail, so it was perfect for what I wanted. It wasn't a fast time by the time we were done (around 2 hours 24 minutes) but to me that was a perfect run... warm weather, chatting all the way and beautiful scenery. We ended up at a local pub for Sunday lunch (which was lovely) and then I drove home which took about 3 hours. I felt knackered when I got in and ached absolutely everywhere. Fortunately I am not aching at all today, and I have come to realise that I am defintely getting fitter and can cope with some awful surfaces now (much better than I would have managed 5 weeks ago before I had started running on trails). And I love it... it's WAY better than road running!