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Anna's challenge – Race for Life, Part 2

Time has flown by and my Race for Life is very nearly here. Training has gone well, by my standards, and I can actually say I’ve enjoyed it. For the last few weeks I’ve been taking part in my local parkrun which has enabled me to test myself over the 5k distance.

race-for-life-vest

Going the distance

Having never run this far before I didn’t want to go into the actual race not knowing what to expect, or whether I could actually complete the 3.1 miles and still be in one piece at the end.

Turns out it’s not all that bad.

parkrun has made me realise that I’m competing just against myself and I can go at whatever pace I like. I was worried about finishing last in my first parkrun – but I didn’t. And it wouldn’t have mattered if I had; such is the nature of parkrun.

My time has improved steadily over the weeks and I’m hoping that come Saturday I’ll be ready to push myself again. The other week I was pleased to find myself running alongside a lady whom I recall I’d finished behind just the week before.

We had a bit of chat along the way, then I started flagging and she began to take a lead. But I managed to find a bit of a sprint at the end to catch her and we ended up finishing with the same time – a pb for both of us.

The Race for Life App

Using the Race for Life app has been good fun too. I’ve enjoying seeing the number of participants gradually increasing since I signed up. I’ll be one amongst 1800 women, probably all dressed in pink. (I’ve got a new vest to race in by the way – check out the pic.)

The milestones linked to how much sponsorship money I’ve raised put it all into perspective and remind me why I’m doing this at all. It’s a cliché but every little helps.

Taking it easy

I’m into the final countdown and I’m in rest mode.

I do feel like I should be churning out the miles still, but experienced runners tell me that’s not the way to go about it. In fact, I did feel the effects of the mums’ race at my daughter’s sports day last week so maybe taking it easy this week is a good idea.

So all that’s left is for me now is to get my race gear together, finish my back sign, and make sure I know the route to the start line.

I’m looking forward to sampling the atmosphere and running alongside so many other women, in aid of such an important cause.

Bring it on.

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