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After asking on my Instagram what everyone wanted my next blog post to be on, majority voted for a Great South Run update. On Sunday I took part in the Great South Run in Portsmouth. It is a 10 mile run around the city and along the seafront. I absolutely loved it and I think it was one of my best races due to my PB, the atmosphere and the course. THE DAY BEFORE… On Saturday I had a relaxing day to prepare for the race. I went for a low intensity swim and then went out for hot chocolate with my friend in town.
For dinner I had a veggie curry with rice and naan which I thought would be an okay meal because we usually have that on a Friday before my long runs on Saturdays and it also had a good amount of carbs in to store glycogen in my muscles for the long race. However I think this was a bit of a bad decision because well… it didn’t agree with my stomach as much as I thought it would but luckily it didn’t affect my actual race. I went to sleep quite early because I was exhausted from the week. THE MORNING OF RACE DAY… I had to wake up at 6:45am so that we could leave at 7:30am, the race wasn’t until 10:30am but I had been put in the wrong wave for the race so I had to go and change my number which turned out to be quite a stressful experience (not what you need on race day) because no one knew where I could change my number, I did get it sorted in the end though. Anyhow… after waking up I went down stairs and made a big bowl of porridge with sliced banana, yogurt and a dollop of biscoff spread. I also had a cup of mint tea and two glasses of water to stay hydrated! After breakfast I got my kit on and finished packing my bag with water and the date, cashew and ginger energy balls I had made. It was then time to go!!!! WE HAVE ARRIVED! When we arrived it was soo windy thanks to Storm Brian which meant it was freezing, I was in my big parka coat, and jumper and t-shirt and running leggings, shorts and compression socks but I was still shivering (to be fair it was only 8am). As I said before we had to change my number so we spent about 45mins doing that and then I met Alice. @alicecoxrusbridge The perks of a big event like the Great South Run is all the freebies J we kept having protein bars, yogurts and bananas given to us, there was also free coffee and snacks in the charity tents, after the race we were given a goodie bag too! 10:20am Alice and I made our way to the start line where a warm up was being held, there were so many people. The elite men and women went first and then there was our wave. The beginning of the race was quite tough because we were going into wind but also it was so crowded you could hardly move. After about 1.5miles it began to ease off and you had your own space to run. I was really enjoying the race with such an amazing atmosphere of cheering crowds, music and lots of posters as well as hi-5s (I gave every child a hi-5). At mile 6/7 I looked at my watch and was surprised to see that I was running at a 6:45 pace, this was not what I was expecting. As we approached mile 8 the strong headwinds hit and this lasted until the finish, however this didn’t stop us, everyone had such strong finishes and I spoke to many people after who said they loved it too. I finished in 1hour 9minutes which left me in shock because it was an 11 MINUTE PB, I was aiming for 1hour 20mins so I am not sure what happened but I am very very happy. After the race Alice and I wrapped up in foil, thermal blankets because the wind was freezing. We met our parents and got some photos of us with our medals. When I got home I looked up the results which were up already due to chip times to find that I came 1st in the U20 age category which made meeven more happy, so overall it was a shocking and fun day and it was so nice to go with Alice too. I have felt the effects on that PB though because my quads feel bruised they are so sore and my hamstrings are very tight… I think it was worth it though ahhaha. My mum and I have signed up for next year already #earlybirds. So happy it is half term now, I am about to leave to go to Dorset with my family but I thought I would write this before I go! Sorry it is quite a long post but hope you enjoyed reading it… Imogen xx
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August 2023
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