Friday 24 May 2013

Windermere Marathon / At least the GUCR is flat...

I started having dreams about the GUCR the other night. I was dressed as some kind of superhero in a weird electric blue leotard! And another runner lady was like ‘I can’t believe how young you look for being in your late 30s’ and I was like ‘I’m not, I’m only 26’, it was really weird.

So, Sunday was my 14th time around the lake at the Brathay Windermere Marathon and I was so happy to get back to the Lakes for the weekend. It was 4 years to the day since my first marathon and as I always say, this marathon is really special to me and all of the memories I’ve made there always come flooding back. I can’t believe 2 years have passed since my own 10in10 and sometimes I forget I really did it. And I couldn’t find my 10in10 hoodie, so I kinda’ felt like I hadn’t haha!





As I ran around Windermere, I kept thinking that at least the GUCR is flat. And another common thought was how I don’t know how I did the 10in10 because all these hills that I forget about always pop up and then suddenly all recollections come flooding back and then I start to become hypersensitive to the smallest incline. I do love this marathon though.

Having arrived in the Lakes on Saturday, we did a loop of the course on Saturday in the car and stopped at Newby Bridge. I had a little real ale and waited for some TITs to run past. Everyone looked in great shape and it was lovely to see them all on their Day 9. For the rest of Saturday, I seem to have carb loaded quite a lot on various ales and a little Guinness. Later, we went for some tea with Davey and Lesley and then some more ale...and then some water.





Sunday was a little overcast, but much better behaved than the weather on Saturday, which was pouring down as we were driving up.

All in all, I had a lovely time running one of my favourite marathons. There were also some nice supporters out on route. One particular spectator who stood out was this lady who appeared at Mile 12, who was enthusiastically screaming: ‘Wooo, keep going...this road has nothing on you and you can beat it, do it like you mean it’. To my amusement and delight, she popped up again at Mile 25 and we recognised each other from earlier on, which caused a lot of giggles from the guy that was with her. I love little memorable funny things like that.





Of course, at the back of my mind was the thought that the GUCR was now less than a week away. I think there was a 2 week gap between last year’s Windermere marathon and the GUCR. And I feel compelled to do Windermere because it’s where it all started, and I just love it.

So, with only five days to 'taper' / not do anything much and relax the muscles, I was a little worried. In actuality, I like to think that I am pretty good on the recovery front. I think I’m pretty good at recovering after events and going onto the next one. On Sunday and Monday I felt so achy and seemed to have a lot of DOMS. Obviously this was down to the hills, but I can’t help but think that it was made worse by my mind working overtime and focusing so much on any little ache. However, I’ve had a few cold baths this week and I’m happy to report that I’m feeling very excited for this.



So, I am going to go packing and getting my kit together and do some ultra-food shopping. The food shop is the best bit. Where else do you get to think things like ‘Oooh darn it, those just don’t have enough calories in them...’?

And I distinctly heard the weather lady say, this morning that it was largely going to be fine and dry at the weekend, with maybe a chance of showers, but pretty much alright. I didn’t once hear the words torrential downpour or monsoon, which is what the weather was like last year. However, part of me will miss the bin bag action.... I shall pack some just in case!

Note: As I finish writing this, the heavens have just opened...however, we are in the North West, so fingers crossed!

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