Racing on the sidelines

As a runner, it’s never easy to know when to say No to a race (actually, it’s easy to know when, it’s the actual saying No that’s the problem!)

I’ve been sidelined for the last few weeks (and will be for the next who-knows-how-long!!!!) due to my hip injury (tendinitis) so have had to just watch two races that I would have normally run in 😦

I thought I’d share these race experiences with you (including my morning out at the Dubai Marathon) to a) make myself feel better by remembering the fun that I had while watching them; b) help any of you injured runners out there… know when to say Yes to Rest and take a moment to enjoy it from the other side 🙂

• Dubai Marathon – 26 January 2018

There was no forced sideline watching of this race; I’m still undecided as to whether I’ll ever run a marathon or not. But that didn’t stop me from heading out bright and early on this morning to go support friends and team mates, smashing out their races!

Watching the elite ladies smash out a 2-ish hour marathon!

Team mates having a great time!

Looking strong with big smiles 🙂

Always the happy runner

“Shut up – I’m not almost there!”

• Mushrif Park 2XU Run Series – 3 February 2018

This was another race that I managed to get a bunch of my colleagues entered into – they’re really enjoying this ‘fitness’ thing that I’ve brought to the company 🙂 Unfortunately though I had to pull out, but I went along in the morning anyway to get them sorted out and to show some support – which was totally worth it as we got 4 podiums over the different distances and age categories!

Work mates!

• RAK Half Marathon – 9 February 2018

Well this one just brings tears to my eyes 😥 This was to be my sub-2-hour half marathon. I was soooooo close in December and I know that I would have smashed it on this flat course. But the running gods obviously have something better in store for me (can only hope, right?!) and this year I watched from the sidelines, once again supporting my team mates and watching the elites just smash out some incredible finishes. At least I still got to enjoy a lovely weekend away 🙂

Elites smashing it home

Elite lady with her pacer

Bringing it home!

Week 6 – RAK staycation

A while ago I booked a hotel for the RAK half marathon, as one does otherwise they fill up super fast. I decided to book it for the whole weekend so that J and I could enjoy a whole weekend there and make a bit of a staycation out of it after the race.

Then my plans were shattered when I was told NO RUNNING 😦 , but I was not going to let that stop me enjoying a weekend away from Dubai… so we still headed out to RAK for the weekend! Off to Double Tree Hilton Ras al Khaimah we went!

As miserable as I was that I wasn’t there to be racing the next morning, it was actually really enjoyable knowing that I could enjoy a beer (or two) with dinner, and not particularly worry about what time I went to bed… which meant that we sat around enjoying a lazy evening 🙂

Nighttime view from the rooftop bar

Friday morning was up a tad early so that we could head out to the race and watch. It was a great morning out (albeit I was a bit emotional and miserable that I wasn’t running). There was some amazing running on the morning, and it was great being able to support friends and team mates!

RAK half marathon finish line

After that we headed back to the hotel. We thought about finding something to do for the afternoon – maybe being tourists or something – but in the end we both thought that a nice relaxed day would be much more fun. And so we just chilled around the pool and did very little else!

Lunch!

Sunset 🙂

Full rooftop view

But in order to make it so that we weren’t total hermits, we did actually leave the hotel that evening and went and had dinner at the Double Tree Hilton Marjan Island 🙂

Double Tree Hilton Marjan Island

Dinner!

All in all a great little break and weekend out of Dubai – both Double Tree hotels were great and I would definitely recommend both of them, depending on your budget and needs.

And just a little something extra for this week: I watched my first-ever superbowl on Sunday night (er, make that Monday morning, 4am!)

The Superbowl!

What fun it was meeting up with friends at a pub in Dubai at 4am, cheekily enjoying a beer, and then some McDonald’s for breakfast! And at least the team I was told to support won, so it made for a really fun morning out 🙂

Stoopid Leg – Update

Hazy is unhappy 😥

I had my first physiotherapy session yesterday and things are not looking good for me! The physio thinks the pain is tendinitis… which some people tell me takes ages to fix! The physio hasn’t given me a definitive answer yet if I should (could) be running in RAK in 16 days’ time… my heart really wants to, but my head thinks that it might be a silly thing to do.

I think I’ll be leaving this decision to the very last minute.