A day of lessons

So before the navel-gazing starts in earnest, the biggest kudos today goes to my cousin, shoegirl, for absolutely nailing her first half marathon. Injury niggles didn't get the better of her and she did so brilliantly!

My run was terrible, the worst half I've even done. I could probably find a million reasons (excuses) like the unexpected heat making me wilt or being too complacent in training or stupidly tired legs or too many gels. Whatever, it just didn't go right for me today. I struggled physically and it got into my head. Now I've got a marathon to train for, I know I'll go into my training on a massive low, rather than the high after Vyrnwy.

If I'm honest my pride is a little bruised too. I signed up to help pace Lauren and I feel like I couldn't even do that.

Maybe the biggest lesson of the day is learning to respect the challenge. I had to stop at about mile 11 to help a lady who was wobbling all over the place and then became delirious with lack of oxygen. It was pretty scary, especially as she kept pushing us away in her delirium, convinced that she could keep going. We had to fight her to the ground and try to get her legs elevated. I hope she's ok now.

So that's it for the year, race wise. Time to switch off, enjoy Malaysia and then get back on track for winter training.

Big thanks to all our cheerleaders today!!