How to race with Flu and Bramley 20/10 Review

Piece of advice no. 1 - don't..

but if you're super stubborn and refuse to waste your money here's how it turned out for me.

First of all lets get my symptoms clear. I hadn't been to a doctor to confirm I had flu, but compared to just a cold, this came on pretty rapidly and I had a fever 2 days before the run, which to me says flu.

To get into the gory details my nose had been streaming for 3 days, my sinuses were very sore and on the day of the race my chest just hurt when I woke up with a feeling of constant compression and acheyness. 

Despite this I woke up knowing I probably shouldn't run but knowing I still would. That's just who I am unfortunately and often won't give up, even though that's definitely what would be good for me.

I started making sure I was hydrated the day before the race as this is crucial when you're healthy and running and even more so if you're a bit under the weather.

So pre-race, around an hour and a half before running, I had around 600ml of smoothie consisting of banana, mango, berries, two handfuls of spinach and some water. I also necked a double espresso before hopping in the car to get to the race.

When I woke up I had a couple of ibuprofen and around half an hour before the run I took some cold and flu caps with some water (again I know you shouldn't take pain killers before a run but needs must).

So to the race : Reading Road Runners Bramley 20/10
The race was held on Sunday 19th Feb 2017 and is a road race around the small village of Bramley in Hampshire. The race is a 10 mile loop and has two distance options for the race; the single loop at 10 miles, or you can opt for two loops for 20.
The longest race for me before this was a 10k and I had regularly been running 10 miles for over a month prior to this race but no further, so I signed up for the 10 mile. Here's me at the beginning - smiling but inside just super anxious genuinely thinking I might not make it around a run for the first time.

Arriving at the event was really straight forward. Directions to the parking was very easy, we pulled into the parking area handed an attendant £2 and were directed to pull into our spot. We arrived just after 9 and had no problem getting a space but I imagine it was pretty packed when everyone had finished arriving.

From the parking area it was a gentle 10 minute walk to the race village and we just followed the steady stream of runners already on the way over. The atmosphere on arriving to the race HQ was friendly with what seemed to be a large amount of club runners. I thought I would find this a little intimidating as I'm not affiliated to a club but felt none of this on the day.

Tip 1: get in the queue for the toilets early. 
There was a really good number of porter loos for the amount of people around but the queue still took around 10 mins to get through before the start.

The race started off really promptly at 10:30, for some reason taking me by surprise as I thought 'what was that noise?!' swiftly followed by 'aaaah.. I'm meant to be running!'.

The entire run was around narrow picturesque country roads with the odd busier road. Although not closed to traffic the amount of cars was really small and management was great when there were any crossings or cars trying to get past. The mass of runners was so dense that for most of the race I don't think any cars would have got through anyway. For the 20 milers the field reduced significantly so I imagine for the second lap cars may have become more of an issue.

The drink stations were a good distance apart for me. There were three water stations at 3, 5 and 8 miles with an option of an isotonic drink at 5 miles (which I gladly took as by mile 5 I was definitely starting to feel light headed). There was also another water station with isotonic drinks just after 10 miles for the 20 milers. The water & isotonic drink were served in cups which I still haven't mastered drinking from while running which resulted in my throwing a lot of water over myself... but lets put that down to experience :P.

Bramley 10 route

Bramley 10 elevation profile

There were inclines at around 6 & 8 miles on the course. I wouldn't call them considerable inclines but I imagine for the second loop the second hill at 8 feels a lot bigger than it does the first time around. I was slightly concerned the inclines were going to be a killer, but weren't really anything to get too upset about. You can find the Strava segment for the Bramley 10 here for more details.

There was an official photographer there on the day but also an additional photographer who provided free photos for the race. This snap was taken at 8.5 miles, just after throwing my 3rd cup of water over myself. Definitely a good look. I knew at this point that I could finish the race so almost even mustered up a smile ;)!

photo credit: Barry Cornelius

Tip 2: Don't wear too much. 

On the day it ended up being a bit chillier than I had expected so opted to run in a thin hoody. This was a big mistake and I felt like I was over heating from around 2 miles. Although it was chilly waiting at the start line I think the mass of bodies running closely together means when we set off it warmed up considerably more than on normal runs by myself (and I'm a living radiator).

The last mile seemed to drag a lot, but I imagine if I had been 100% that it wouldn't have felt quite so bad. There were markers every 1/4 of a mile for that last mile, and for me I think that made it worse, not a criticism as I'm sure it's good for some people, but every time it marked another 1/4mi I just felt like I should be further than that. Coming into the finish there was a nice crowd and two funnels, one to the left for the 10 milers finishing and the 20 milers keeping to the right and going off on their second lap. 

Chip timing was provided by reusable chips secured either to your shoe or around your ankle with velcro that had been provided with the chip. These were handed back immediately to people waiting at the race finish. Provisional chip results were up the same evening.

After handing back the chip I went to pick up my race memento & medal. We were handed a draw string Bramley 20/10 cotton bag which contained the medal and just a load of snacks including pistachios and a mars bar - the perfect post race pack for me! I was really pleased with the additional bag too - a bit different to a T-shirt or other memento.

Despite feeling my worst ever during a run I still completed the race in 1:28:46 which I was happy with considering how I felt on the day. It was my slowest 10 mile and I was hoping for 1:25:00 but in all honesty I was just happy to complete it. During the race I knew I was running slower than my normal pace and tried to push it a bit back to my normal 10 mile pace but when I tried this I immediately became light headed and just couldn't do it. This was a completely new sensation for me as I normally just run at my comfortable pace and have never felt that kind of barrier before.

All in all I think this was a great race - I wish I had been concentrating less on finishing and had taken in the scenery a bit more as it really was a nice village to run around. It's quite a calm, remote run that seemed very friendly.  

So after running with flu how was I feeling post race?

Initially when I stopped I felt pretty faint and went straight over to the water table to have a couple of glasses. After cooling down a bit I felt a bit better but probably just from the adrenaline of the race. I then went into Reading to have lunch, at which point I just rubbed my neck and realised my glands were huge - I mean you could see a ball sticking out of my neck from across the table.

While sitting at lunch I felt fine but around half an hour after leaving the restaurant started feeling really, really, really rough (around 2 hours post race). I felt like I was going to pass out and felt very queasy and like I was going to have to run to a bathroom AS SOON AS HUMANLY POSSIBLE. I quickly got my hands on a lucosade and some flu caps and shortly afterwards started to feel a bit better, luckily with none of the above happening.

For the rest of the day I was just very tired and still felt worse for wear for about 48 hours after the race. A week on though the flu has now passed apart from a slight cough. I have to admit that I definitely think recovery took a lot longer than it would have had I not raced but in the long run I don't think I've done any long term damage.

In summary, I ran the race with flu symptoms, it was significantly harder than normal, I was slower than normal and I definitely couldn't enjoy the run as much as usual, but I still completed the race and my overall time was not drastically worse than I was hoping for.

My advice would be to really assess how you're feeling on the day of the race if you're concerned you're not well enough. If you have any sort of fever don't run. If the symptoms are above the chest I think you're probably fine to run, but take it all in your stride and don't hesitate to drop out if you need to. 

I hope this review was helpful for someone and please come back for more :).

#runyourmindfree

So here it is, my first blog post.

I should probably start at the beginning, with the title.

What does it mean to #runyourmindfree?

For me it's simple. It all started one summers day in 2015 when I realised I needed to make sure I can run when I had been convinced to sign up for a Tough Mudder a few months away. I had no idea if I could even put one foot in front of the other continuously for a reasonable interval of time (hopefully not at snails pace) and not die.

At the back of my mind before that first training run was regret at signing up for the Tough Mudder (the reason I was having to start training in the first place), a complete lack of faith in my ability to run, climb and conquer and a general apprehension at even attempting a first friendly 5km run with my friends. Luckily the person that had convinced me to sign up was a regular runner, knew what they were doing, and had no doubt that that first 5k run to start training was just going to be a definite. I don't think she ever even considered I wouldn't be able to do it, and that kids, is the kind of confidence we need sometimes.

It might sound a bit dramatic. All I was planning to do is meet two friends and go for a run for around half an hour. That was it. But it seemed so much bigger than that.

At this point you may think starting a fitness journey is difficult and daunting and everyone feels like this at the beginning. The thing is, I wasn't 'unfit' I did several hours of power yoga a week and cycled 15 minutes too and from work everyday as well as walking everywhere else (I still can't drive at the age of 25) and having a favourite recreational sport of hiking means I was definitely at least your average fitness level. I enjoy sports. I enjoy the outdoors. I enjoy being active. So why the anxiety?

Anxiety is my crux, my enemy, by unrelenting demon, my oldest friend and my biggest foe. 

I don't think I ever remember not being anxious. I was always a bit different, a bit weird, awkward and generally the odd one out, so just daily communication, socialisation and getting on with things has always immediately brought me anxiety. Will I make myself sound stupid? Will people like me? Will people want to hang out with me? Will anyone make rude comments? Will I have anything to talk about? Will I stumble on my words, say the wrong words, or say something to be funny that's just a bit weird? 

All of the above probably happened the majority of days in my younger life. The anxiety just exacerbated my slightly unusual way of thinking and communicating.

Although now in later life I've managed to contain my weirdness, I'm still awkward, say the wrong thing and people don't really get me, but now at least in adult life it's more accepted and rather than being rejected I guess people just accept that I'm slightly odd. 

Despite this the anxiety is still there, and controls a considerable portion of my daily mental capacity. I think I'm quite good at concealing it - but it gets very overwhelming and causes me to have a short attention span and I'm constantly in my head over thinking. 

That is until I run.

My mind quickly becomes focused and calm, almost emptying itself of the build up of thoughts tumbling around, and genuinely becomes free, open and spacious (imagine a new white unfurnished room, or a grand empty cathedral, or a peaceful meadow in the dying light of day). 

Running is my safe place, and I am always happy there. 

I never expected to find anything in running. I'd never found solace in anything else, so why would I think pounding the streets would do any actual good? I expected to hate it. It is after all pretty hard work. The key for me I guess is from that first run, and increasingly on every run since, once I start running, once I manage to persuade myself to make that step out of the door, it isn't really work anymore. The serenity and freedom I get from running is unbelievably liberating for me. Allowing me to relax and return to me. That freedom outdoes any negativity, any muscular twinges, or breathlessness caused by running to the point that compared to the cage of anxiety, running is childs play. 

I think I almost forgot who I was and running helped me find me again - and its a good me. A happy, healthy, smiling, grateful and ultimately free me.

And that for me is the meaning behind #runyourmindfree.

I've started this blog in the hope to share my experience with running, what it has done, and continues to do for me, and share a bit of myself (which has never been my strong point). 

I'm not miraculously anxiety free. In truth I'm far from it. But, I want to use this space to share what I learn with you. I'm currently training for my first half marathon and I hope to be writing regularly with my running goals and endeavours. Talking about how I approach my challenges and what my weekly training has looked like, as well as race reviews from the point of view of a pretty average amateur runner. I will also be reviewing other new techniques I hope to try and use to further develop my running and what I gain from it both physically and mentally. 

I hope you've enjoyed this blog, and please come back for more.

Share your stories of how running, health, fitness or anything has liberated you and helped you find yourself again in the comments down below and use the hashtag #runyourmindfree on social media. I would love to hear from you.

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