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 dragging around lead legs and someone was stabbing me in the ribs. But I pushed on and managed to finish the race in 27:52 which was actually about 1:40 quicker than the last Parkrun I did in January. So its not all bad news and I’m hoping that it wont be as painful doing the marathon as I will be running at a slower pace (I realise I’m kidding myself here as running a marathon with no injuries will be painful). I continue to be stubborn and ignore advice from others and I can assure you that I will cross that finish line next Sunday even if I have to crawl across it! Wish me luck!

Thank you to my sponsors from the past two weeks who have pushed me to 33% of the way to be target. I would love to be nearing 50% by the time I run the marathon. Thank you to:
Viv St Leger Moore, Carol McCartney, Sarah Devenport, Emma Arnett-Davies and Dan Kent.

If you can support me on this journey then please visit my fundraising page on

https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/HelenFrancis10

This Weeks Sponsors!

KM Complete 83
KM To Go 217

Comments

It's Been Tough!

Finishing the Great North 10K in Gateshead Stadium This is a belated entry for a number of reasons. Firstly, with my deployment on the horizon I feel like I didn’t have any time to sit down and write the blog. I was either away on courses, spending time with the family or running! And I was exhausted! Which leads me to the second reason, that I needed a break from this challenge. Whilst I was enjoying running races on both days of the weekend, I was so tired and by the time I got to the Falklands I needed a rest. So a rest is what I had. What I intended to be for about 4 days turned very quickly into 4 weeks. I did no physical exercise and ate what I wanted which seemed fun to begin with until I realised again that I love running and wanted to get back out there. I am back training now; running, swimming and cycling 5-6 times a week and am loving it. But more on that later. It is now time to catch up on the events I crammed in before I deployed. After enjoying a weeks holida...

Park and Cakes

A sunny Bedford Parkrun Another Saturday meant another Parkrun for me to add another 5k to my total, and what a lovely Saturday it was too. The sun was shining and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. The race went well and I managed to finish in 26:42 which is another PB for me and knocked 1:10 off my previous PB. I finished very red faced and sweaty but happy that my fitness seems to be getting back to where it was in February before I had all the illness and injury. It has given me a bit more confidence going into the Sunderland Half Marathon on Sunday that I will hopefully be able to get a decent time and not get left behind by my sister who is running it with me. This week also saw me host a coffee morning at RAF Henlow where we had lots and lots of cake available and a guess the name of the teddy bear and guess the amount of sweets in the jar competition. The morning was a great success and we raised £217 for Dementia UK which will help fund Admiral Nurses to support familie...

It was raining.....

I completed the first 5k of my challenge on Saturday at Bedford Parkrun. It was raining....a lot! So I managed to drag my freezing cold and wet behind around the course in 29:24 placing 233rd out of 418. Not my best time but definitely a good place to start. I am planning on doing the Parkrun every month this year and hopefully with some more training and some better weather I will look less of a mess than I do in this picture! Please visit my fundraising page and help support me in this challenge. I am still looking for that first donor to get me started. Will you be the first?? https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/HelenFrancis10

300km for Dementia UK

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