The one where I ran a half marathon..... and ate enough food to fuel a full marathon .....

Hi Birdies

I hope you've had a great week.
This week has been a busy one as always, with football fever and then the inevitable depression hitting the Birdie house on Monday it wasn't the best start.
Before that I went on a last ditch run with my sis in law Nicki to get some miles under our belt before the dreaded half on Saturday. We did 6 miles in what turned out to be very humid, warm conditions. the pace was good and I felt ok which was the main thing for me as I needed a good run mentally so it was mission accomplished.  
So back to the football, I didn't watch it myself as I find the whole thing way to stressful so I took myself off to my usual Monday event - bingo.
We started going to bingo in January after our return from holiday. My mom was staying with us due to 2 hip operations in 4 weeks and both her and the Mr's mom are widows now so we decided to find something to do to get everyone out the house a night each week.  I have to say from the first visit, where we had no idea what we were doing we now love it and go every Monday.
So Lin my lovely mother in law (my mom who incidentally has a blog right here is back home now) and I took ourselves off to bingo and let the boys scream and cry at the TV.
We didn't win but we had a good night anyway, until I got home was was told all about what is wrong with English football....

This week as been not so great on the food front I have to confess. Monday was completely on SW plan and I came back from my run to SW freindly hunters chicken cooked for me by the Mr.
Tuesday was a meal out at Prezzo with some customers from work, there may or may not have been a glass of wine too but I couldn't possibly say!
We had some sharing flatbread to start and I opted for pasta in the end after a tough 10 minutes pouring over the menu. The Pappardelle Gorgonzola and it was really nice. 
Now i'm sure you are all aware of the pudding pocket, that little space you have left in your tummy no matter how full your "main" tummy is, reserved especially for something sweet. With this in mind I opted for the Amaretto Trifle which was on the specials board. What I didn't do which I must start remembering is to take pictures of my food for the blog. Always learning !
On Wednesday as we both got home after 7pm we found ourselves at Chiquito's... this was a bit of a disappointment to be fair. The prices seem to have all increased by a few pounds and the portion size was not as generous as it used to be - well on the Chicken Fajitas anyway. The Mr had chicken and pulled pork which didn't really live up to the menu description although the service was good and fairly quick. We really wanted to go to TGI Fridays as i've never been and i'm keen to see what the fuss is, but there was a one hour wait for food so.... maybe next time :)

These 2 nights aside i've been fairly good since then helped by the Mr being on cooking duties this week in the main due to my work schedue...well good until the weekend that was....

Friday afternoon found me in Peterborough by Stamford and I found an amazing place called Burghley House. I'd heard of it but never been, so passing right by I had to take the chance to park up and have a peek at the House. I was not disappointed at all and spent a lovely if short time there. Its definitely worth a visit with a picnic and blanket.
   
So Saturday dawned along with the realisation it was race day ahhhhhhhhh.
The usual nerves kicked in along with major doubts that i'd even be able to finish due to the short notice and lack of miles in my legs.
The weather was fine, not too warm and some cloud which threatened rain on a few occasions - which would have been very welcome - so the stage was set.
The start was  a little unconventional in that we went through a door one at a time in various waves of around 100-150 people, someone put our number into a laptop and then said..GO ! It took me about 10 seconds to realise that was it ! 
and I was off. My sis in law Nicki and I had agreed to run together the whole way as she was carrying an injury and I was not really fit. Nicki is quicker than me usually so we were pretty evenly paced together and trotted on into the morning along the Birmingham canal. the whole race was run along the canal from Wolverhampton to Birmingham centre and so was a nice enough flattish (they lied) route. At 4 miles there was the Coseley tunnel which was pitch black and 329 meters long. There was a strict instruction not to overtake in the tunnel which I am pleased to say was observed even if we did hold a few people up, and in our tradition Nik and I had a rendition of oggi oggi oggi half way down..hehehe.
I have to say the organisation was great, the volunteers at 3,6,9 and 12 miles with electrolite drinks and water off barges were a welcome sight and much appreciated.

We were steady up to 8 miles and commented on how well we both felt , then 10 miles came and we still felt fairly well. I can honestly say its the best i've felt at 10 miles in a half. Miles 11 and 12 started to make themselves known in my knee and calves and I can only say pure faith, adrenaline and each other got us through mile 13 and the last bit. We went over the line hand in hand and actually had a really good experience. The route ended up being long at 13.25 miles so I stopped my GPS watch at 13.1 to get a true time for the half and was over the moon to have finished in 2.22.26 which is a whopping 3 mins 50 seconds off my PB. It was not flat.....they did lie. The elevation was low at 131ft compared to my previous half marathons, Brum 473ft and North London at a whooping 536ft. The elevation came from the locks and bridges and this was the cause of my knee issue, the rise up was short but very sharp with an almost immediate steep decline which was difficult on the both knees and calves but I survived. So much so that today (Sunday) I was out again taking part in a Colour Blast run for Compton hospice. A group of us ran, hobbled, limped round and we had a fantastic morning. I have to give a big shout out to my sister Angela who ran a 10K over 12 months ago and hasn't run since and decided to take part. she committed to running the whole 5K and she was fantastic. I am so proud of her and her determination. Go Angela !! 
 
Also a big massive, no, huge, no, enormous mega holla shout out to Livewell Health who were offering 10 minute massages at the end of the half. It's something i've never done before but took up this time as my calves were almost crippling me after cooling down. It was THE best £10 ever spent. He made me cry, swear and scream but boy did he work his magic on my legs and I could actually walk after 10 mins on the bench when I was barely crawling onto it.
Also thanks to Guiness (and Nicki) for the traditional pint after the half oh and also check out Nosh + Quaff in Brum by Centenary Square. We popped by for a cocktail on the way home and the



Expresso Martini was as yummy as it was lethal and I'll defo be going back , hopefully dressed more appropriately next time. The building itself is worth a bespoke blog post so stay tuned.....
So Saturday was alcohol fuelled - well that's a lot for me and Sunday may have included a trip to Burger King on the way home purely down to the fact I was STARVING. My first BK in around 10 years and it filled a hole but I won't be running or crawling back soon, although going through the drivethrough covered in colour run powder paint was amusing so hey I win. 

So that's all for this week, its been a busy one again. Mainly squished into 2 days but i've been a Bizzie Birdie all week and I'm excited to see what the next week holds me. Life is good at the moment and next weekend is shaping up to be another bizzie one, with my sisters buffday do in Brum on Friday and a trip to Liverpool on Saturday already planned. 

I'm off to watch Pitch Perfect to round off an amazing weekend, so be good birdies and remember....
Make good choices.....

BB

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