Skip to main content

Half Marathon Success

Slightly red faced after the Hampton Court Half Marathon

This morning I had the pleasure of getting up at 5:30am and travelling to Hampton Court  for my first half marathon of the challenge. It was absolutely freezing when we arrived but by the time the race started the sun had come out and it was perfect running conditions. Despite arriving only thirty minutes before the gun went off and navigating my way through the insanely long lines for the toilets, I was ready to go at 8:30 am and start my run around the Thames Ditton area accompanied by a slightly wheezy Batman and a gentleman who loudly shouted encouragement to himself when things got tough! The first half of the race was fairly sedate but I managed to push through the second half and storm down the finish coming in at 2:03:32 which was over ten minutes faster than my current PB. Woo hoo! It only got better when I looked into my goody bag and discovered a Tunnocks Caramel Wafer! That made all the pain worth it. The hour and a half journey did nothing to ease the stiffness and I am now relaxing in a Mickey Mouse onesie with a well deserved glass of wine. Cheers!

If you are able to support me on this journey then please visit my fundraising page and donate:
https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/HelenFrancis10

And if you would like to know a little bit more about the charity I am fundraising for then please visit:
https://www.dementiauk.org/

A big shout out to my sponsors from this week who are edging me so close to being a quarter of the way to my target. Thank you to Katie O’Brien, Kate Stewart, Tracie Pickett and Lea Walker. Your support is very much appreciated!

KM Complete: 46
KM To Go: 154







Comments

Popular posts from this blog

For Grandma

Running 21km with my big sister                                                                                         This race, the Sunderland City Half Marathon was probably the most important race of this challenge. I got to run in my hometown with my big sister by my side and the majority of Grandma’s family were there to cheer us on- 10 adults, 6 children and 2 dogs to be exact! It was the first time we had all been together since her funeral and I like to think that it was a happy and proud occasion to remember my Grandma and support the fundraising for Dementia UK. The race itself was ok, the massive amount of hills was not! I definitely do not remember there being so many long hills in Sunderland and the looping nature of the course was a bit demoralis...

Running Through the Pain to a Parkrun PB

Bedford Parkrun I took ten days off training after the Bedford 20 in the hopes that my rib injury would heal in that time.....it hasn’t. I think it actually might be a bit worse. Every time I laugh or cough (or cry at this point) it exacerbates it. So what to do now? Drug myself up at every opportunity and continue like nothing has changed! Granted this isn’t the greatest of plans and I will probably be in a world of pain after the marathon but I don’t feel like I have a choice. The marathon was the beginning of this challenge; where it all stemmed from and I feel like if I cant complete this marathon then it will all have been a failure. So yesterday I headed to Bedford for another Parkrun in a bid to convince myself that running 5k will be about the same as running as 42k. So I lined up at 0900hrs ready to start and when I started running I felt pretty good. A bit of pain in the ribs but overall very good. That lasted for about half a mile before I started feeling like I was...

That’s a Bit More Like It!!

Love Welwyn Garden City 10k This morning was my second 10k of the challenge and was a world away from the mud bath of two weeks ago. The sun was shining and there was minimal mud and hills which suited me down to the ground! It actually felt pretty easy and I was surprised how quickly I was getting around the course and was so excited to cross the finish at 55:32; a full 7 1/2 minutes quicker than Harpenden two weeks ago and an all time 10k PB! I have been suffering with shin splints in the past week which has me worried when I have so much distance to cover but it was great to see that it didn’t bother me too much in the race. Onwards and upwards to my first half marathon which is next Sunday. Eek! It has been fantastic watching the sponsors mount up so a big thank you to Laura Mackay, Claire Anastassiou, Ashley Berglund Buscanera, Wilf Francis and Brenda Francis. Your donations are ensuring that Admiral Nurses can continue to work with those suffering with dementia and prov...