Some days you don’t get up when the 0630 alarm goes off… and you don’t feel like going for a run in the wind which is howling past the open window…   and when you nip to the loo you peek out to see the dark clouds looming heavily on the horizon threatening rain in heavy showers before you dive back under the warm duvet for a heat! (September brings with it autumnal temperatures in Scotland!)

But then, I remembered why this training was important!  Not only was it essential to get a 3 hour / 18 mile run in before the marathon scheduled in 4 weeks but the whole reason for doing it in the first place came to mind.  It’s all about helping raise awareness of domestic violence and other problems faced by vulnerable women and raising money to allow them to do activities which will improve their self worth and confidence and ultimately to help provide funding for a safe house for those in desperate situations.

So I changed my attitude, sang to the dogs as I got ready (they loved this and tilted their heads from side to side to get a full understanding of the meaning – generally lyrics such as “are you ready to join your mum? in the park to have some fun, we’ll all go for a little jog, and the dogs can swim after a log!) then we all (me and the dogs) headed out to the car and drove to Pollok park via the garage for supplies of pain killers and Mars bars to add to my carbohydrate and electrolyte (SIS Go Electrolyte drink) I’d prepared earlier.  I’d had bran flakes, strawberries and raspberries for breakfast but I knew that 18 miles ahead would require more sugar so I forced myself to eat a Mars bars at 0930… yuck!

Having a great reason to run didn’t make it easy!  It took me a few minutes to get my running iPhone arm band on (with the Strava app) and another couple of minutes to get the dogs out, lock the car and stash the iPod in my back pocket with the car key. [NB -the iPhone 4s battery life is a stretch at the best of times never mind playing music at the same time so two devices are required to sustain the whole distance].

As I headed off at a slow marathon paced jog, my legs felt tight and tired.   I jogged from the cricket car park along the river to Pollok House.  The the wind wasn’t too fierce to begin with so the path was fragrant from the delicate lilac flowers next to the water.

I certainly didn’t feel as good as I had the week prior but I managed to get up over the first couple of hills reasonably strongly, then headed past the pond, through the woods, along the Burrell Collection exit and up the path past the main exhibition building then down the road and back to the cricket car park.  The first lap was painful, the last mile of it made me think I should give up and go home! I stopped at the car ditched the water bottle, put the dogs in the car boot and lowered the windows as I didn’t want them doing the whole trip.  Then a quick cry for help to my mum “I don’t think I can do it!”

With some encouraging words I set off again on lap two, I was about 5 miles in and spotted my sister-in-laws best friend with a new baby and was glad of another excuse to stop!

Off running again, I had a quick drink back at the car at the 6 mile mark then changed direction and went the other way for the next 3 miles passing a small group of people walking in aid of leukaemia.

When I reached the car at the 9 mile mark I really was for giving up – my right hip and my left knee were really sore!  However, I knew I wouldn’t get the chance to make another attempt on 18 miles so it was then or never…  I ate another Mars bar and took some painkillers with aspirin, paracetamol and caffeine and resumed my original direction of running as the steep hill seemed to be easier to deal with than a longer lower incline.

At 12 miles I thought I’d better extend myself past the previous weeks achievement and there were only 2 more laps to do, so against my will to stop, I forced myself on.  I couldn’t face another lap and the hills after that so I jogged out and back along the river with only one short hill up and over the M77.  It was a real struggle to keep jogging as my left knee felt very sore by that point.

But in the end I did it! At my lowest points it really helped when other people jogged past and I tried to follow them at a distance as they kept my focus.

I’m really looking forward to jogging with other people on the day of the marathon and I know from doing 10K’s and half marathons, race day really lifts your game and your spirit.  Here’s hoping it goes to plan!

Fragrant flowers along the river path