Thanet 20

This morning I woke up to a grey damp morning, least it wasn't raining for now anyway. The rules were strict for the race which had banned the use of Ipods and anyone found wearing one would be disqualified. So I thought I better behave and not wear one which I was quite gutted about as I always wear one on my long runs. There was a good crowd of us running today from the club which was nice and also we had supporters.  Running the first couple of miles was strange not having my music but didn't take long to getting use to running without it.  Along the way we had Dave Weekes taking our pics and giving encouragement. Hopefully I had managed to smile for all of them.  Also there was Dave Smyth cheering us on and then there was Sue, Kim and Trev also cheering and shouting.  I saw them popping up all over the course which was lovely to see.  For the first 6 miles I was running 8 min something miles which was quick for me. I got chatting to a couple who were also doing London and said that they were aiming to complete the marathon in 3hr45 which is a lot quicker than me. We soon approached Dave and I told the couple to smile and then the guy put his arms around us for the pic! I then thought, maybe I should slow down a little.  Just after 6 miles Stephen got past me.  At the 10 mile marker I got chatting to another guy and we both got a PB at mile 10, the first time ever that I got under 1hr30.  My time at 10 miles was 1hr29.  Throughout the course we had quite a few long inclines and hills.  I managed to run up all the hills and also there were some good down hills which I was able to fly down.  Also there were windy places as parts were along the seafront. The next stage for me was Half Marathon, again got another PB and reached under 2hrs, another first. My time was 1hr58. At mile 15 my time was 2hr16, at 17 miles my time was 2hr36 all quicker than my training runs.  At around 18.5 miles I started to feel something not quite right about my right thigh. It was either a bit of cramp or it was feeling tight and maybe something else but I couldn't tell what it was. So I thought I better slow down a bit.  My left leg felt fine and really strong.  Towards the end it had began to ease off a bit and was able to pick up a bit more.  It had also started to rain, it wasn't too hard so it was ok.  Running to the finishing line I could hear the shouts from Folkestone Running Club and also there was Tina, Grahame and Alison who had joined the others.

I had a really good run and was really chuffed. I was expecting to finish around 3hr10-15 but I had actually finished in 3hr05.  I was the first Folkestone lady home which is a great result for me.  A massive thank you to all the Folkestone supporters, Dave Weekes, Dave Smyth, Kim, Sue, Trev, Tina, Grahame and Alison coming all the way over to Thanet. It really helps having people you know cheering you on.

Splits 8:39, 8:53, 9:04, 8:57, 8:38, 8:55, 9:16, 9:20, 9:02, 8:57, 9:02, 9:28, 8:51, 9:49, 9:30, 9:45, 9:52, 9:41, 10:45, 9:32
Time 3:05:

When we reached Folkestone, Ian and I had a MacDonalds instant food before having a well deserved jacuzzi!