Day 37

Week 6, Tuesday 21st August

Oh, no, I got an IBS attack today.  All the usual symptoms: stomach cramps , nausea, diarrhoea and extreme bloating.  I thought I got it well under control but remembered that I hadn't taken my medication at all on Sunday.  I knew I couldn't take it in the morning because you shouldn't have fibre before a run and then straight after we went on a family get-together and I forgot to bring some.  Oh, well, it could have been worse; I could have had the attack on Sunday instead.

Today's run should have been 5 miles but Anne advised us to just do 3 on the canal to allow our bodies to properly recover from Sunday.  I, however, decided that we were going to stick to the Training Schedule and suggested we do the route that Charlotte mentioned on facebook which Sam and Kath agreed to do.

We started off going up the bank on Bucknall New Road and I could tell straight away that something wasn't right.  I don't know if it was because it was up bank straight from the start or because of the IBS but I struggled to keep moving.  We then proceeded up Potters Way towards Vale Place and up Waterloo Road to Cobridge.  This was all a struggle for me but then we finally had a lovely down bank towards Festival Park roundabout but followed by an uphill on Etruria Road, past Sainsbury's and Stakis.  From there we turned left on Stafford Street and down Broad Street and all the way up Potters Way back to Bucknall New Road.

Sadly, I couldn't manage to get up the last bit of Potters Way (the steepest part).  I was disappointed but I was thinking that some people probably wouldn't run if they felt ill so maybe I didn't do too bad after all.

We got back to Northwood but again I had to walk the last few yards.  It turned out to be just 4 miles but we all said we would try to make it up on Thursday.  I felt absolutely shattered and did wonder if I wouldn't have been better off following Anne's advice.  I always prefer to finish when I feel like I have done well, not when I feel like I have failed in my task.  Then I reminded myself of the fact that we already do extra by running the park run which is additional to the Half-Marathon Training Schedule and felt somewhat better.