Catch Up; February Summary and the Nike+ Milton Keynes Half Marathon

I haven't posted for a little while but I do have lots to report, so please bear with me for the long post!

February Summary

Firstly I need to report on my overall running for the month of February; probably the best way to describe it is 'steady progress' which I am very happy with. I have continued to move forwards; I am definitely getting fitter and faster and my longest run to date now is 15 miles. I feel confident that I have got a steady base with which I will hopefully improve on even further in March. My mileage was pretty much the same as January, although obviously February was a shorter month. I did a total of 76 miles, with 12 hours 4 minutes 2 seconds 'time on my feet'.

In picture views the following is a graph of my running in February:

Milton Keynes Half Marathon

Yesterday I did the Nike+ Milton Keynes Half Marathon, this was my first race in approximately 5 years, so I was a little nervous and anxious at how it would go. In all honesty I had forgotten the routine and the drill of racing and this did play on my nerves before the race began and I need to apologise to my husband and daughter for being a complete pain during the morning – so, "sorry sweeties and thank you for putting up with me!" Anyway, as with most things that I worry about I needn't have worried at all as it all turned out really well, in fact better than I could have hoped for. I did a reasonable time for my level of fitness at the moment (1:58:07). I was pleased that I was able to finish strong and I ran all the way – I couldn't have asked for any more. The best thing about the race was the feeling that I got at about 7 miles; it was if the old running me had kicked in, I felt the exhilaration that I used to feel when I raced a lot (this was way back between 2001 and 2005!) and this if nothing else was worth battling with the crowds and the windy conditions. In fact I felt on a 'high' but without the drugs or after effects – wonderful!

This has made me feel a lot more confident about next week's race (Silverstone Half Marathon) and hopefully I will be a lot easier to live with because of it ;o)

This morning as I write this I am also pleased to report that I don't feel too achy or stiff; my legs know that they ran yesterday but they don't feel any worse than they normally do after a long run, so this is a very good sign. Some may say "well you didn't push yourself enough then"; which is possibly correct, but after all this race and next week's race are just part of a journey and the end race is the London Marathon so I have to be careful that I don't get carried away and get an injury.

Anyway, a good few weeks and a really good race under my belt, all I have left to say is "why, oh why did I ever stop"...it's wonderful!