So, where are we up to?
The Justgiving site for Forever Manchester is up here, the Team Honk one is up here, and it looks like I’ll be running wearing a tea dress on 8th March. as you do.
But this weekend we had a bump. A big bump. Despite everything being on track – in fact more than on track, when I got to the 15/16km mark out on my run yesterday, I hit a wall.
Normally this wall is brick and I can keep running at it and I come out the other side. This one, however was not brick. This was stone. This was solid. And though I tried to plough through, I failed.
If there’s one thing I cannot abide, it’s failing. I can quit – if I have to. But failing? That’s not an option.
So I walked home, Mr GFB knew what was wrong by my face (and the fact that I was home an hour early) and I had a bath and cried. I really don’t know how the man puts up with me. I know I can be hard on myself, but I cannot abide not being able to do something. I never feel I’m good enough.
Part of the problem, I think is still refuelling during my run. There comes a point (and it’s different for everyone) where the distance you cover uses up pretty much all your stores of energy. I’m not talking about fat (I wish! I’d go for hours) but glycogen – sugar stores. Once you hit that point, you find stitch kicks in and/or hunger and you’ll get slower. It’s like running through mud. Sweets, gels, blocks, all these things boost your sugar levels and get you going.
I already use a hydration product – a fizzy tablet with a mild flavour and no sugar that I slip into my water bottle before I go out. It makes such a difference and doesn’t make me ill like a sports drink does.
I used to use gels – and for anyone who hasn’t had one before, I can describe the experience, but, please, the description is a bit, well rude. So if you are of a nervous disposition, please avoid the next paragraph.
For those of you not so nervous, having carried a gel in my vest, close to my skin for a couple of hours, makes it warm. And then it’s texture is syrupy and thick. It’s like squirting very sweet warm come into your mouth. And the fun doesn’t end there. Generally the taste is incredibly sweet and so a fair amount of swooshing your mouth out with water comes afterwards.
So generally, I find gels unpleasant. I’ve been trying other ways of taking on sugar – there’s the standard jelly babies or jelly beans. But I find them a bit fiddly for getting out of a packet without dropping most of them.
So I’ve moved onto blocks. These are like eating jelly, rich, squidgy, but firm. Much more pleasant texture wise. They do, however, tend to mean a small walk and some water while they settle on my tummy.
I didn’t, however, take much of a break this time while I let them settle. That and I think the weather and the fact that I decided to take a hillier run that normal (heading into Carrington) means that the toll I took on myself was much harder.
Lesson learned. Next week, I’ll try again.