RACE SEASON BEGINS

So February has been a crazy month for me as I had a race every weekend. 5 races in total all running going further than I have ever run before and pushing new boundaries.

Events
Caythorpe Trail half marathon 1:38:19
Rauceby Ripper 8.7miles 1:00:28
Stamford 30km 2:13:56
Sleaford half marathon 1:27:00
Belvoir Challenge Trail marathon 3:47:38

It's been a long hard month, training when I can but not really much threshold work. Just a lot of steady tempo work to make sure that I stay injury free and that I'm ready for my next race.

I couldn't be happier with how this month has gone I have had a lot of support from friends and family. I have had a lot of nice messages from people wishing me well and congratulating me on my progress.

Caythorpe half marathon was the first race of the month. It was a cold morning and I had heard that this was a tricky course with hills and mud. Very enjoyable run and with it being my first race of the season It was a good test to see how the training had been going over the winter. The head wind at the beginning of the race was horrible, but once we turned out of the wind it was brilliant.

Most enjoyable race for me during Feb has to be Sleaford half marathon. It was my first half marathon that I had ever done last year and this year I knew I would better my time. All the marshals I have managed to get to know throughout the year as they are either member of the Sleaford Tri Club or members of the Sleaford Striders Athletics club who I have run with on training runs a few times. So it helped me push on harder as I had some great encouragement from them all as I ran round. Also at the end of the race everyone cheers you back in with so much enthusiasm.

Hardest race has to be the Belvoir challenge marathon, this is purely for the distance of the race and the terrain and the hills that were involved in the race. Probably not the best marathon to do as your first, but I do like a challenge. It was very muddy from the start and there were some nasty hills that just sap the legs of any energy you have. I remember getting to the 17 mile mark and just thinking why am I doing this, I had hit a bit of a wall. I then got to another hill and that was it, I started walking and was talking to myself out loud using quite a few naughty words. It didn't take me long to get going again and then getting angry with myself for walking and wasting valuable time. I was just very thankful for the next food station a mile later where I was able to get some drink and more importantly some JELLY BABIES.

The Rauceby Ripper is a great trail run, its a really good course. very well organised and the finish is great as it mostly downhill. I hope they never changed that. There was a great turn out by Sleaford Triathlon club as last year it was the first event that members of the club attended. I'm already looking forward to this race in 2016 as I hope to break the hour mark.

Stamford 30km was a tough event and I only wanted to take part in this just to get that distance under my belt. Very well organised, the course was quite challenging with a few hills thrown in to mess around with your pace. The marshals on this race were full of life and were very supportive to all the runners.


Caythorpe Trail half marathon 1:38:19
 

Rauceby Ripper 8.7miles 1:00:28






Stamford 30km 2:13:56
 

Sleaford half marathon 1:27:00 PB






Belvoir Challenge Trail marathon 3:47:38
 

So February is over and so is this crazy month. Not sure if I will do a heavy race month like this again as my body took a proper beating over the month, my feet have never looked so good. I have been so pleased with all my race results and setting new PB's that I never thought I would be able to achieve.
One thing I have learnt, I don't know how to use a race as a training run, I only know how to race a race and I put everything in to it.
With this year being the year that I hope to complete the full outlaw I have put a massive tick on my check list, which was to be able to run a marathon. Some people said I was crazy for picking the Belvoir challenge as my first marathon but I wanted to try a hard marathon that would push me physically and mentally. I'm sure it will be a race I think about when I'm running the marathon at the Outlaw. I hope to use the Belvoir challenge as memories of a hard race and hopefully give me the strength I will need on the inside to get me round the full Outlaw triathlon.