It's been a couple of weeks since I announced the start of Chapter 2, and things are starting to change for the better. I've made it back into work which is a good start, and got back into running again. I even managed a Personal Best on the "Dorney Dash" a couple of weeks ago of 54:28 for 10km!.
It was strange to be running back at Dorney Lake again post marathon, yet also safe territory as I've been there before. I found that the mentally it was a much easier to run that distance as I knew I could run so much further and reminded myself of this as I ran ... and that worked (weird huh).
During the week I also ran with the local running club for the first time as I'm starting to prepare for the Basingstoke Half Marathon in October, it was like an overgrown ParkRun with all the benefits of running in a larger group - it was nice to compare notes on races and they suggested I take a look at the race route to be prepared.
So, today I did. I went for a cycle around the route and boy are there some grinding hills through the countryside - I logged the profile below for anyone curious to see what the route is like. As a comparison the London Marathon has about a 40m height difference at mile 3 and that's about it (check the link to see what I mean).
However, it's not all doom and gloom as its going to be a very challenging yet rewarding race - the trick will be not to over do it early and be prepared to run a slower pace - so probably not a chance to get a new PB, but for many of my friends who are running their first half - this will be a very rewarding personal best.
Gorilla Organization
 | The Gorilla Organization, the international charity led by experienced African conservationists dedicated to saving the world’s last remaining gorillas from extinction. Our award-winning community-based approach to conservation promotes sustainable livelihoods, nurtures young conservationists of the future and empowers local people to tackle the main threats to the gorillas’ survival.   |
