The Bupa Great Edinburgh Run

Hello Fudgey Friends,

How is everyone? Enjoying this bank holiday weekend?
Before I get into a review on today's race I need to apologise for not posting since Tuesday, I'll do a catch up on last week tomorrow, work has been busy and my mojo also went MIA....thankfully it decided to spring back to life today!

The Bupa Great Edinburgh Run

Preparation
I was up before 8am this morning to fuel up on the luscious Marks & Spencer's instant apple & sultana porridge along with 800ml of water, half a cup of tea & 500ml of maximuscle viper. Next was the ritual taping of my feet - I use zinc oxide tape on the arches of both feet to prevent blisters & it seems to work for me so I'm sticking with it! Bag packed and off out just after 9am.
I felt really nauseous on the bus on the way into Edinburgh, I think it was nerves and all the fluid working it's way through my system. I had a text from KMac arranging to meet at 10 & Mr Fudgey as always kept me calm. A quick stop into Starbucks to use their facilities and seeing all the other runners & supporters & hearing their chatter made me start to feel better.
I just wasn't in the mood for running today, had resigned myself to just finishing the course & definitely not beating my Dublin time.
After meeting Kmac & Rob, we headed into Holyrood park, seeing a few people from work on the way. Edinburgh seemed so much more organised than Dublin had, though as with all events not enough toilets.
We stocked up on freebies from Eat Natural & Powerade. There were also freebies from Marshalls pasta though we didn't try any. There was also a sponsor village of tents for the various supporters of the run, eg: eat Natural, Powerade & Run for It and of course being just at the bottom of the Royal Mile plenty of places for supporters to go for a cuppa while the runners went off to complete the 10k.

The Race
After a stop at the portaloos & some banter with the boys, KMac & I headed off to our start point. Again I felt this was better organised than Ireland, they had each wave going off at 6 minute intervals & this really helped ease the congestion on the course. Kmac & I found ourselves at the very back of the green wave, but this didn't phase me, in fact I took a positive from this as I knew I would be moving up the field from the start line, which can be very motivational rather than starting at the front & feeling like everyone is passing you. We started pretty dead on the stated time 10.47 for the green wave & of course being a chip timed run you get your exact time as the chip records as you run over the start and finish mats.
So we were off, me resigned to just plodding out a steady run, no heroics, no PB's in me today. The first 2km were pretty much uphill, in fact you could describe the course as undulating, but it was a brilliant course - I can't tell you how much I enjoyed it - I smiled the whole way round....well apart from the last 100m when I gritted the teeth & went for the sprint finish!!!
There were supporters along every part of the course, the marshalls did an amazing job as they always do. The water stop at 5k was well organised and the guys there did a brilliant job. It was just a pleasure to be part of today.
So how did I do......Mrs Fudgey pulled something special out of the bag today....1minute 30 seconds of my Ireland time.....yes Mrs can't be bothered / hormonal / no PB today set a new PB.

Official chip time 56 minutes 55 seconds
Thank goodness by the time Mr Fudgey met up with me afterwards I had calmed down a little & there were no tears but I was grinning like a Cheshire cat.....so so so incredibly happy :-)

Mr Garmin
Mr Garmin of course made me realise from 5k onwards when I was pacing well that I might just do a good time. My Garmin time was 56 minutes 56 & distance 10.27km and broke down as follows:
1st km 6:02
2nd km 6:05
3rd km 5:33
4th km 5:25
5th km 5:35
6th km 5:31
7th km 5:36
8th km 5:32
9th km 5:21
10th km 4:59
268m 1:13

Kmac - her first ever 10k
I'm sure Kmac will fill everyone in on her race via her blog so I'm not going to spoil it for you, but what I want to do is very publicly tell her how proud we all are of her. Kmac has had a very busy & stressful week - including 4 performances in Jesus Christ Superstar on Thurs, Fri & twice Sat ahead of today's run. Mr Fudgey, Mr Fudgey's Mum & I saw the show yesterday - it was outstanding. Anyway in spite of having a full on week & a little wobble at around the 6th km (will let Kmac fill you in) she completed the race in a really good time and she should be very proud of herself. She could have quit at that 6th km but she didn't - if she shows this much determination in September Kilimanjaro better watch out....Kmac's coming to conquer you! WELL DONE HONEY. Mr & Mrs Fudgey are incredibly proud & we know Rob is too.

The Boys
Thanks to Mr Fudgey & Rob for coming along to support us today. Mr Fudgey as always was official photographer & took some great photos. Thank you both so much x

The Goodie Bag
Today's goodie bag contents: medal, t-shirt, foil blanket, bottle of powerade, eat natural bar, herbal drop, power bar & nature valley bar & of course a bottle of water. Water & foil blanket not pictured as I drank the water & was getting cold waiting for KMac, Mr Fudgey & Rob, so I used that too.

and that my friends brings me to the end of a great day's running.

Half Marathon - 3 weeks today
Only 3 weeks now till the half marathon and I'm feeling positive.

So the Stats for Week 9
Distance run this week 22.58km / 14.03 miles
Time running 2 hours 19 minutes 56 seconds

I'll be back tomorrow for a quick update on the rest of this week.

Take Care everyone

love
Fudgey xx