My 3 hour Pants run!

I am feeling really low today after yesterday's pants run. Yes I did have pants on but that's not the reason it was pants, that is a word I have adopted from Lisa after yesterday setting off down to Apperley Bridge to complete a 30 minute run up through Woodlands before returning to meet the girls, Lisa, Jo, Sophie & Sarah for a 2 hr 30 min run along the canal towards Leeds. Sophie on the other hand was joining us to complete only 90 minutes ahead of her last week of training before Paris next Sunday, she was positively buzzing and looked stunning as she had turned out in her shorts in the sunshine having just had her hair done - the excitement was contagious!

So 4 miles done I felt relatively good and ready for the off safe in the knowledge that this was the very last long run on my training plan, I was hoping to cover at least 18 miles in total. However, it cant have been more than 3 miles along the canal and I really started to feel fatigued. I ran through the options in my head, go back now, go back with Sophie? Hmm I figured I would 'come round' if I carried on. Sophie departed and then there were 4. It was very humid, one minute really sunny, the next overcast, it felt like a storm was brewing, we all agreed that the combination of the humidity, the route and anything else we could add to that of our own, and I certainly had plenty, was making this run unpleasant, I, on the other hand felt way beyond unpleasant, I have never before felt this bad on any run, my stomach was cramping, I started to feel sick, I just had nothing in the tank. Getting back to Rodley nature reserve and having a sense of how much further I had to go I did my utmost to tell myself 'head up, shoulders back, relax', which usually works, but not today.

I was ever grateful to the girls as they ran back occasionally to try and spur me on but I knew their efforts were in vain and nothing was going to help me, I just needed to get this over with. Despondent and feeling really sorry for myself, the girls did their utmost to comfort me when I finally dragged my sorry self back into the car park at Apperley Bridge unable even to feel glad that I had finished it. I did take on board their advice though that this is my first bad run, and I can run the marathon, put it behind me and look forward to my three weeks of tapering. After sleeping most of yesterday evening, unable to even eat except for a mere morsel I still don't feel much better today, so again on Jo's advice I am going to rest until Wednesday, try and analyse where I went wrong and hope that gets me back on the right track.

Meanwhile, I am wishing 'Bonne Chance' to Sophie who will be setting out on her journey on Friday and returning a few days later with the fantastic achievement of completing the Paris Marathon! Go Sophie!