March 31st saw me apply my last 3 satchets of Sandrena hormone gel for the next 8 to 10 weeks. I've been using the hormones for 3 years so it will be interesting to see how I cope, at least for the next week because I've arranged with my GP to have a Zoladex implant to tide me over the next month. Zoladex should stop my testosterone levels from climbing and help me to keep the calmness that I've had since shortly after starting on the hormones.
I'm hoping that the Zoladex will ensure that any negative effects of coming off the Sandrena will be minimised. I've enjoyed feeling fairly stable emotionally over the last 3 years, I certainly don't want to go back to being all over the place for the next 6 weeks.
Things have been interesting over the last month or so. I'm not going to go into details at the moment because the time isn't right but hopefully some point down the line I will be able to share some of it.
Sunday saw me complete what I believe is my longest run ever while training for a marathon. I'm pretty sure that I have only ever managed to achieve 16 miles in a single run before, Sunday saw me cover 18 miles, admittedly with a slight break between the first 13 miles and the last 5. Less than an hour break so it still counts towards a single run because the recovery time was negligible.
The first 13 miles were at our local half marathon. Weather conditions were far from ideal. It was very windy, hefty gusts from time to time, and it poured down about 5 minutes before the start. I'd planned on jogging over to the start and then jogging back but in the end decided to take my car so that I could sit in it until the last possible minute and stay reasonably warm.
Before the start I paid the obligatory trip to the toilets. Normally there are portaloos scattered around the venue, on Sunday none, however, all of the normal toilets at the football ground where the start is located were open.
Finding one of the quieter ones I had to join the queue of one other lady. This was actually a first because to date I've never had to queue, go in, find an empty cubicle, do what needs to be done and then leave (after washing hands of course). On Sunday both cubicles were occupied so it was wait my turn. The other lady glanced at me briefly but no other attention.
Finishing my turn another woman came in as I was washing my hands. As she stood looking at what appeared to be two occupied cubicles I gestured at the one I'd just vacated and said it was empty, a quick thanks and she went in.
With about half an hour to the race start I decided to go and hunt down a friend who I'd agreed to run with. I found her with her running club. As she needed to use the toilets I accompanied her to the nearest and waited outside for her.
While I was stood there a guy went past with a camera followed shortly by two other men. As I was stood waiting one of the guys came up and said "excuse me love, could you take a picture of us". Taking the offered phone I framed them in the screen and managed after a couple of presses to take a picture of him and his friends. Chalk one up to the decision to wear a pink running jacket.
At 9am the race started and my friend and I joined the 1061 other people making their way around the town and surrounding countryside. Starting at the back we were soon caught up with the guy that was acting as sweeper, not for long though as we eventually left him and the other back markers behind.
As we made our way around I was greeted with lots of encouraging comments from marshals ans spectators. Every single comment making it clear the person offering it saw two girls running. Ok, in my case the foundation, eyeshadow, blusher, lipstick and earrings helped. In my friends case the fact that she is a cis-female was obvious.
My finish time was just under an hour slower than my PB, and about 20 minutes slower than I would have been aiming for if I'd not been running with my friend. Still the point of running it with her was to make sure she had some company and got to the finish without any mishaps, and also to get me through 13 of my planned miles while ensuring that I didn't get bored and had enough energy to complete the remain 5 miles to hit the upper of my planned mileage.
With that 18 miles out of the way all of my remaining runs are a lot shorter and will feel a lot easier. This coming weekend is a mixed bag with an 8 miles run, a couple of shorter runs and then a 10K race on Easter Monday, my birthday. That one is going to be the most interesting run for a while as it will be the first road race that I've done which I also did pre-transition and pre-hormones. It will be interesting to see how my time compares to my previous time.
I'm hoping that I'll post a bit more regularly over the next few weeks. Not all will be about the upcoming surgery, some of it will be running related, some dance. Everything seems to be coming together at the moment.
To quote my electrologist "the timing is just right, we've got where we needed to be".
In fact I'd say that its almost Perfect.
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