2013 Running Review & Happy New Year

So it's the end of 2013 and what a year it has been! I am down on miles from last year due to bad health and injury and I think another factor is I only ran 1 marathon this year and no Ultras but will be making up for that next year as I have two full marathons and two ultras booked in already!

My original target miles was 637 to match last years efforts but I readjusted this around November when I was suffering with high hamstring tendonitis to 600. I blitzed  two back to back days of 4 mile runs earlier this week to make 600 completely forgetting today was still 2013 and there was also an easy run to do on my marathon training plan so I ended up with the following statistics -

• 135 individual runs - 11 of those runs were on a treadmill
• 603.01 miles total - 44.30 were on treadmill
• Time spent running 108 hours 53 minutes 21 seconds (that's made me want a snooze just reading it)
•  Average Speed 5.4mph 
• Calories burnt 52,260 ( That's the equivalent of 177.1525423729 McDonald's cheeseburgers!)

I entered 18 races and started and completed 16 of them, the other two I am pleased to say were not DNF's, I have a Did Not Finish clean sheet this year but made up for it with two Did Not Starts! For health reasons earlier in the year I had to pull out of the two biggest races  which were the 24 Hour Adidas Thunder Run and The Grim Reaper 40 mile ultra. I'm pleased to say I'm going back for the Grim next year but unfortunatley the Thunder run sold out too fast so that will have to wait until 2015.

The 16 races I did complete consisted of -

 1 x Full Marathon
7 x Half Marathons - including 1 on a treadmill due to the actual race being cancelled due to snow.
3 x 10k's
1 x 5k
1 x 9 mile event
1 x 5 mile event
1 x 20 mile event
1 x 17 mile event which was sunset to sunrise with no given distance to complete.

My favorite race of the year by far was the Holly Challenge Sunrise to Sunset and I am going back for more next year hoping to complete 30 miles in the Summer event as lead up to the Grim.  My target miles for next year is a big increase jumping up to 1000 miles but with two marathons and two ultras on the horizon I'm thinking the miles will look after themselves.

Thank you to all my readers and supporters over the last year you won't have to wait long for another update as I am racing in Dirt Run 10k tomorrow, 2014 will be starting BIG with a little half marathon in a foreign country in 4 weeks then London it's all going on! So all that's left to say is Happy New Year everyone! For anyone that is thinking about taking up running or exercise in the new year as a resolution or just because you want to be fitter and healthier I leave you with this.....

Sunrise to Sunset Holly Winter Challenge

This was it, my last race of 2013 and I wanted it to be a good one. The day before I had gone out into the sales and bought a nice purple thermal base layer long sleeve top and a buff and I had spent most of the evening trying to construct the buff into a pirate buff! oohh arrrrrrr! I had also purchased some Kendal Mint cake as I had forgotten to buy any jelly babies and my running stash was rather on the low side plus it was all 60 miles away in Worcester. I had a little nibble of the cake with some shots of Sambucca just before retiring to bed.. now I know why I slept so bad! I woke up the morning of the 27th December and the Sunrise to Sunset challenge with the worst butterflies in my stomach I think I've ever experienced before a race.

I hadn't raced since the start of October at the Bournemouth half marathon which I will admit I struggled with a little and this was a big event so how was I going to fair at a smaller one? It was also worrying that the furthest I had ran in one go since Bournemouth was 10 miles due to injury and illness. The wind sounded terrible as I sat in my sisters spare room getting all my gear together to be picked up at 7.30am by Anjie. Still at least it wasn't windy and raining. I could barely stomach the banana I had bought let alone the oat cereal and before I knew it my mom had arrived as she was my support for the day. Just after 7.30am we set off in the car to make the short 1.5 mile journey to Lightmoor in Telford where Anjie and I would spend the next few hours running as many laps of the 0.84 mile course as we could or indeed wanted to. I had been mulling over a few goals my main one being minimum of half marathon distance I knew I could do this, the next one being 20 miles then a marathon then 30 miles... but of course all of these were just numbers. As we parked the car we had a short walk up an incline it wasn't steep but did go on abit and it was very muddy with lots of slush and puddles. Arriving at the top of the incline we found the headquarters and what was also the checkpoint it was a little gazebo, god know how they got that up in the wind at 6am that morning!

Stamper card

We had to register and get our numbers, I was number 58 and Anjie number 4, we found out that 16 people had pulled out... wimps! We had to sign a disclaimer to say we were fit and well to race.. I signed it though as per previous blogs I have doubts on my current level of fitness! I needn't have worried about not having any jelly babies with me as the supply table soon got filled with goodies from jelly babies, jelly beans, crisps, jaffa cakes, coca cola, squash, water and even cups of mulled cider! At 8.17am we had the race briefing from Denzil who may I say puts on a fantastic event and looked after everyone really well. We were given a laminated card with numbers to represent the amount of laps we had done and had to get it punched at the end of every lap. Oh god I thought this doesn't bode well as everything about the race from the weather to the mud and now the stamper card reminded me of the Grim Reaper Ultra!!

At the start

Where I spent most my time eating and chatting

At 8.20am we had a little countdown and we were off! I started running with Anjie following the other runners I think in total there was less than 70 of us, we followed a little muddy path down a slight hill that then ended up with a big puddle to go through though you could at this point just about get around the edge of it. Then we came up to a steep hill made up of compacted stones and mud, we ran up this then there was a nice little descent still muddy which then bought us to a puddle the size of a lake that spread across the whole path..we followed suit and stepped cautiously across the side of the bank but still managed to get right in the puddle and suddenly my whole right foot was swamped with water and mud and it was cold..... Then the strangest thing happened.. normally I would have been cursing a race like this with these conditions, I don't particularly like races not on pavement and I certainly don't like hills or mud or water but I just started smiling and was thoroughly enjoying myself. We then came to where Anjie had parked her car and the rest of route we had already done on the way to the HQ, it was the long incline and before you knew it we had ran 0.84 miles and were already getting our cards stamped. We set off to go around again, I think we ran the first two laps together then Anjie said I could run on as I wanted to loosen up my legs a bit, we were going to run our own races so off I went I ran up the big hill and finished that mile at around 9.45 minutes but this I decided was too fast, I then decided I was going to go for distance, time was no object to me I could run until 4.01pm when the sunset. All the way around my Nike dri fit tights were falling down or felt like they were and I was constantly hoisting them back up this was really beginning to ruin my race experience. I decided to just have fun so I started walking up the big hill and it was sociable, all the other runners were walking this hill and we all chatted to each other along the way it was like we were out on a leisurely stroll! After a couple of laps I started just running straight through the middle of the big lake/puddle and enjoyed it every time as my feet soon dried out just before running through it again. With the checkpoint coming around so often I began to stop and chat to people, whether that be the organizer Denzil, Denzils mom who was looking after the supply table and who was also keeping my mom company and my mom. I was having a good time.. no a great time and I really didn't care when I was looking at my watch and it was telling me I was running (or eating and chatting) at 30.25 minute miles. Time was no object I was just having fun. My trousers were still falling down or was it my knickers? I thought it was more likely my knickers and rather than going through the palaver of taking my muddy trainers off then trousers I called upon my mom with her magic handbag that's got everything in it and went in the portaloo with a pair of scissors and cut them off! Just under mile 10 my mom wanted to stretch her legs so I took her on a walk down to the first little puddle she made it through that part then up the big hill and I warned her of the lake I had been running through and she could see the state of my old stinkers but she wanted to complete a lap with me so we strolled on down to the lake and spotted a runner clear the puddle using the bank on the right hand side. Mom made it over problem free whilst I was still continuing to run through the middle. That was probably my favorite lap of all. I had realised however my knickers were never the problem it was always my trousers as they were still falling down.

rarrrr! 

finished!

We stopped at the checkpoint and mom had a mulled cider or two! After the 10 mile marker I felt like I had crossed a big step the next one was the 13.1 miles, the next two laps I ran without stopping at the supply table and was pleased that I had achieved my first goal. My glutes were hurting and I think they had been from around mile 8 but it wasn't a major concern to me. The next lap Anjie and I ran/walked together, there is something to be said for going slower and simply enjoying yourself, my time on this day for half marathon distance was.... drum roll please.....absolute personal worst of 3 hours 24 minutes to give you an idea that is over 1 hour over my average and 1 hour 16 minutes slower than my pb!!! but I was laughing and smiling without a care in the world the whole time and I told Anjie I felt like this race had set me in a positive mindset for the Grim, after all that has a 26 hour time limit I know knew what I had to do. I had to run/walk a lap and spend an hour at the supply table chatting. As I was coming up to the 15 mile marker and by now had ran 17 laps my sister and her partner Simon were on the phone saying they had arrived to support me and also give mom a lift home and possibly me if I was near finishing. I carried on with the next lap knowing they would all be at the checkpoint waiting for me and I had decided I wanted to do 20 miles at least, I would stop at 20 or would I? as I felt so good, I've never felt this good at a race and would I kick myself for stopping but then I am only in week 1 of marathon training after coming back from injury. Did I want to run a great race but risk ruining my training for the next 3-4 weeks. As I came through the checkpoint Anjie had finished with an amazing distance of 15 miles she did brilliant! I told my supporters I wanted to get to 20 miles and we loosely worked out it would be around 6

the old stinkers at the end

more laps, I was still taking 15 minutes to complete a mile even not stopping at the checkpoint but I told them I would be 30 minutes maximum and they were happy to stay. As I started my next lap I was kidding no one , it would be at least an hour to get me to 20 miles my glutes were hurting, my pirate buff had fallen out and I now looked like a running nun, a knickerless nun (or Knickerless Norah as my sister so lovingly named me) and I decided I had ran a brilliant race and had enjoyed it more than any race I think I have ever done so as I approached the checkpoint and had my final stamp on lap 20 I was just under 17 miles. I told the marshall I was going to double back on myself so I can come through the finish line at bang on 17 miles and that's what I did. My sister got the most amazing picture of me finishing with both feet of the ground and it just sums up my race that day.... I was absolutely flying! I then got presented with my medal and commemorative Sunrise to Sunset Challenge glass. This is by far my favorite race of my running history so far.

me flying to the finish

Marathon training day 3 intervals

So it's day three and the weather has not improved one little bit! Who's clever idea is it that typically you need 16-18 weeks to train for a marathon and they place London on the 13th April meaning there are thousands of people out there like me watching the rain thinking "I've got intervals today" Ok so they may not be saying exactly that but probably something along those lines..

To tell you abit about my training plan it consists of 5 running days per week. Monday and Friday are rest days though I've switched things around this week to tie in with christmas and the sunrise to sunset race. There is one easy run day (this to me means run however I want around 10.30 min miles as this is the pace I find 'easy') there is a recovery day which I will be sticking to by the book to make sure I'm running slow enough to recover from my long run, there's yes you guessed it a long run and two interval sessions.

Today was an interval session this to start with I dislike as I have to sort out my heart rate monitor and the shock is still there when I have to wrap a cold belt with wet sensors around my chest... Brrrrrr but I like the idea of mixing up my running as I feel that's why I have stopped improving as I just run at the same speed all the time.  This session consisted of a 10 minute warm up, then just at the end of the warm up it all kicked off! I had reached the main road it was noisy busy, Kesha & Pitbull had just started playing full blast in my ears, my coat was flapping around, my watch was vibrating and beeping at me to tell me to run for 4 minutes in heart rate zone 166-179 bpm...trust me it was all going on and it took me a few seconds to settle down. This section was followed by 90 seconds of recovery running and to repeat both sections 4 times each this led me to finish with a 3.02 mile run in 32.06 minutes.

I find intervals that much fun constantly mixing the running up within a route that I half considered setting up a 5 hour interval repetition workout on my watch and do the full London Marathon in intervals but then I had words with myself though it could be fun to try it.

My next run is the 27th December the Sunrise to Sunset challenge so all that's left to do is wish you all a Merry Christmas and thank for reading over the last year.

Day two of marathon training and what an improvement!

So it's day two.. don't worry I won't be blogging everyday but with plans to publish a book on my running in 2015 I am finding it useful to keep a check of certain things but after this week I will be blogging weekly about marathon training and of course the races I have coming up and my end of year tally up.

Where was I? Day two... before I even looked outside I could tell, as my scottish funner friends say, it was blowing a hoolie out there and after yesterdays poor effort I decided I'd give todays run a bash on the treadmill, though with the treadmill being in the spare room the scenery wasn't the best what with a clothes horse full of clean clothes to iron and put away and a full basket of clothes to wash....bah!

Last time I used my watch on the treadmill it actually worked they were totally in sync with time, miles and indeed speed this time however was a different matter, maybe this is something to do with the master reset I had to perform yesterday? Anyway if you listen to my watch it will have you believing I ran 2.88 miles in 40 minutes at around 13 minute miles.. now I know my training plan was a 40 minute easy run but seriously!? I was running at 6.4 mph on the treadmill as opposed to my usual 5.7mph outdoors and THATS 10 minute miling.

I've decided to go with the treadmill readout which was 4.01 miles in 40 minutes as I know I wasn't running or even walking 13 minute miles. With that run in the bag I felt great after the first mile with a slight twinge in my left glute that soon disappeared I actually enjoyed the run. I'm not sure I can say the same for my next door  neighbor as I don't know which was louder my thud thud shake shake of feet pounding or my ghastly very loud singing to my new favorite cheesy tune Pitbull & Kesha Timber!  Either way the 4 mile run was done, abs ripper is also done and I even threw in a weight session on the arms and of course as I'm being a good runner from now on I even did my stretches.

Let the endorphines flow.

Start of London Marathon training and since when did running become so damn hard!?

My official London Marathon training starts Christmas eve, but with not a lot happening on the running front in the last few weeks and having some hours to kill I decided to start early with a gentle 3 mile run. Thing is I don't do gentle! One of my downfalls is always try to maintain a good pace hence why this training is going to be so challenging for me to slow it right down to 11.30 minute miles....

Today though I would have welcomed 11.30 minute miles as I simply couldn't run! I started on my usual 3 mile loop but changed my mind at 1 mile to head up the canal, my chest hurt, my eyes were streaming with the wind blowing in my face, my legs ached my bum ached everything hurt but no matter how hard I tried without actually walking I simply couldn't slow my pace down! Since when did running become so damn hard?

I managed to maintain my usual running speed with splits of 10.22, 10.32 & 10.55 even when I got half a bramble bush stuck on my sock and dragged it along for a while before it broke loose leaving me with raised lumps and scratches on my right leg.  If I had gone the same way I had came I would have finished up at just under 4 miles but between trying to wipe my watery eye with my snot rag and my legs feeling as though someone had swapped my running capris for a pair of concrete trousers I cut it short and ended the run on 3.10 miles. All I keep thinking is what have I let myself in for? With this Sunrise to Sunset race in less than a week, London & Worcester full marathons entered for next year and the Grim Ultra I seriously considered the fact that I don't like running anymore...

After my run when I had time to think I realised maybe it's not that I don't like running it's more the fact I don't like the amount of fitness I have lost since the 17th November when I was running 24 miles a week and peaking with my split times at around 8.25 - 9 min miles now I am a sloth, a tortoise due to injury and illness taking hold and me averaging 3 miles per week but you know from the old kids story the tortoise wins the race.

Supporting Run for Fun at the Enigma Christmas Double Marathon

Last year I was taking part in the Enigma Double Marathon (day 1) I decided to go back up to "the lake" and support my fellow Run for Funners taking part in the Enigma Christmas Double Marathon the weekend of the 14th December. There were some funners I was yet to meet and I fancied a little run around the lake to see how my leg was doing.

I started out on my journey at 6am for the hour drive to Swindon to pick up Anjie we both felt nervous and excited as though we were actually taking part in the race, sporting our RFF tops and hoodys with Anjie in a very festive christmas hat we then started the final leg of two hours to Milton Keynes to Caldecotte Lake. We arrived with minutes to spare and followed the runners to the starting line and they were off! 

 Many were in fancy dress including Maureen in her Reindeer costume. We made the short walk back to the pub where we got a prime table over looking the lake where I devoured a full english whilst watching the runners go by each lap. I felt like a member of the Royal family in the royal box at the London Marathon watching the runners come by. We were very quick to notice how fast a marathon goes when you are watching in a warm pub rather than actually taking part!

The laps are the same as before 7 laps of 3.75 miles each and Anjie, Rebekah and I were trying to count how many laps Maureen, Nikki, Emma, Kelly and Dennis had done as we wanted to venture out and catch them on the last lap to run with them. We headed out around 12.30 and did a steady lap ourselves, it was cold, my chest was still bad but my leg is 100% better so I was pleased. As we finished our first lap we decided to head back the opposite way to catch up with Maureen and the ladies as we wouldn't be able to run quick enough to catch them up. We soon came across them at the long straight by Tesco and chatted our way back to the check point.

 

I then ventured out on the final lap with them whilst Anjie waited to take photos of Dennis and Chris finishing. The last lap we had a good old natter about running and the group and just before the final straight I left them to take their well deserved glory and headed off on a shortcut to see them finish. Never have I spent such a good day in the company of brilliant and inspiring people, they have certainly inspired me to take on the Enigma Christmas Double marathon in 2014.  They all finished the second day aswell with some big pb's in the bag and medals galore it was a fantastic running weekend and I ended up with an 8.44 mile run in the bag from the laps I completed with them.

Emma, Kelly and Maureen finishing day 1

Maureen and I

Dennis the gringo on the 2nd day

RFF hot drinks afterwards

End of day 1

To Ultra or not to Ultra?...that is the question

I have been booked into the Holly Winter Sunrise to Sunset Challenge for months infact probably since the start of the year. Set in Telford on the 27th December I thought it would be a great little race to take part in as I'm staying with family only 3 miles away. The concept of the race is to run as far as you can between sunrise 8.20am and sunset 4.01pm. The route is an 0.84 mile loop and I had heard recently there is a hill.

My intention was to go into this race with the half marathon distance in mind due to recent injuries, illness and other niggles I've not trained half as much as I would like for a half marathon let alone anything else and with the race coinciding with the 5th day of my London Marathon training schedule which starts on the 23rd December I didn't want to push my luck.....

But now after receiving my final instructions..... I am sat here thinking I should just go for it. From a previous Ultra I have done I know I can do 30 miles in 8 hours well my legs can...but can my mind as that's not had any marathon/ultra training since January this year. What is the worst that can possibly happen? I know the route is short and probably mind bogglingly boring doing an 0.84 mile route over and over and over again and the chance to drop out will come around every 10 minutes or so but really does it matter if I drop out?

Maybe it will be a good thing I just go for it, with no time to worry about it or plan for it months in advance as I have other marathons or ultras I really do think I'm just going to go for it and attempt to run literally as far as I can (in a circle mind else I'll end up practically back in worcester) between the hours of 8.20am and 4.01pm.

We shall see what December 27th brings so watch this space.......

Run For fun 5k Christmas Run

I love my birthday for two reasons, one it's my birthday obviously and two the 1st of December is the annual Run For Fun 5k Christmas Run. Another event created by Maureen in the facebook group Run for Fun, we can either run 5k on our own, as part of a training run, in an event, or a few funners that live near to each other met up and ran it as a Run For Fun event. For our efforts we were rewarded with a goody bag put together by Maureen with a christmas hat, chocolate goodies and a rudolph medal. One of the best things about these events is they are flexible, some people do them sooner or later than the 1st December, some run, some jog, some walk or a mixture of all three! As I am injured still and not running properly, I went out and ran 1 mile but will be doing the full 5k later in the week. And here I am with my ever so stylish Elf hat and medal.



And here's some of the Run for Fun that was seen across the country yesterday, the only day other than the 25th December that you will see Snowmen, Santas, Reindeer and elves causing mischief!

How many medals! Running Tattoos and Run the World with Run for Fun

With it coming closer to the end of the year and only one more race booked before 2014 I decided it was time I sorted out my medal collection and purchased a new bar to hang my haul on.

And here it is... brilliant plenty of room on that bottom bar for some new ones in 2014 starting with Torremolinos and London!
My latest addition is the Run the World with Run for Fun medal. An event created by Maureen in the facebook group Run for Fun with the amount of members that signed up we each had to run 300 miles between the 1st January 2013 and the 18th November and we smashed it!

Run the world officially finished with a total miles for the year of 60,565.8 thats 2.43 times around the world and what fun we had doing it collectively as a group being updated each month with where we had visited. My contribution to this total was 538 miles.

 

Having not ran since the 17th November now due to my injury although the physio said I can run just not as much I'm feeling like I need a break so taking another week off from running making two weeks rest in total which I'm hoping will see me coming back stronger and injury free. Taking advantage of this two week break I decided to get my second or you could call it second and third running tattoos done on the back of my ankles. In April they will be complete with my finish time and date for the London Marathon added underneath the writing. It's a great phrase because really it's simple when the going gets tough in a race just keep running same as in life whatever it throws at you just keep moving forwards and you'll get there in the end.

 

Finding out my right side if heavier than the left!

Why do people pay for sports massages is the question on my lips after last nights ordeal! I had heard sports massages hurt and can cause bruising but very good for helping reduce the build up of lactic acid in the muscles.  I am the proud owner of a foam roller which is meant to simulate the same feeling and give a similar effect in the comfort (if the words comfort and foam roller can be used in the same sentence) of your own home but I was in so much pain with the foam roller I realised after two years of running a total of 1192 miles my muscles may need a helping hand before I could fix them myself.
Couple this with the fact I've been harbouring silently an injury that simply will not go away no matter what I did or didn't do I knew physio was the way forward but with it being a costly excercise I was stuck. Lucky for me being a member of Run for Fun a very kind lady Anjie who will be running the Grim Reaper with me told me she had a very good physio who would see me for free and she would kindly give me a lift to see him in Swindon and back. Excellent...

So last night we made the hour journey to Swindon me in shorts, tracksuit bottoms, and stinky trainers thinking I will be told I can't run at all and worrying as my 'proper' marathon training starts on the 23rd December. We arrived at Dannys house and I was led into his physio room and introduced. We went through the basics of how much I run, when I run and the type of running I do and I was rather pleased with myself when I found out I was normal as I have a neutral running gait.

The normalness wasn't to last though as I was asked to stand up to get weighed. Getting weighed doesn't bother me in the slightness and I quickly pointed out I knew my weight was 9 stone 1 pound but Danny told me this is a different way of being weighed. In front of me were two sets of scales I was told to put one foot on each, stand up straight and look straight ahead. Turns out I am not normal in the slightest as the right side of my body (the injured side) is half a stone heavier than the left side! My right hip is also out of line from the left hip and at an anterior angle? Wow this stuff baffles me but I knew this would all help my road to recovery.  What followed then was eye wateringly painful (is eye wateringly a word?) Sports massages hurt! Alot!

What started with some cream being rubbed on the front of my right thigh then turned into the muscle being pressed on very hard by elbows and arms.. never felt pain like it. After a few minutes I could feel it easing off but apparently this is my body getting used to the pain rather than it not hurting anymore. The left leg hurt alot but not as much as the right leg. Why do people pay for sports massages? I think the answer may be that although they hurt like a bitch my legs felt amazing after and still do now. Danny advised my injury is a tendon injury rather than muscle so won't be a quick recovery but has let me continue to run but drop down from 5 x a week to 3 x a week missing out hills, sprints and intervals and lowering my overall mileage to 5 miles or less per run with a rest day between each run.... cue unhappy face but obviously ALOT happier than being told I can't run at all. This coupled with me stretching everyday, even at work whilst waiting for the kettle to boil on tea braeks and keeping up my stretches from now on should see me all set fit, fixed and ready to start marathon trainig on the 23rd December.

Roll on mid December!

What started with me running in tracksuit bottoms and a bog standard pair of trainers and naked (as my fellow runners call it) nearly two years ago has now evolved into me purchasing the most expensive piece of running equipment I own so far my new garmin forerunner 220 unfortunatley it's on pre-order with stock expected mid december.

Isn't it beautiful!  I started with nothing then moved to the Garmin 110 then moved to the Garmin 405 which I hated and sold again within a week and went back to the 110. But this one I chose for the amount of things it will do to help my training particulary for London... I think it does just about everything other than make you a cup of tea when you have finished your run! And yes before you ask like my dad did - it can also simply tell the time!

I have started a new training programme incorporating heart rate training and running by effort with intervals and hill work built in, the aim is to do a 5 hour or sub 5 marathon at London which will be a pb by twenty minutes....big ask? During my first interval session with my current watch I was having to keep looking at my wrist and trying to keep track of how many repititions I had done and how long I had ran and also the maximum heart rate zone I was working in. Too much going on for my little brain to compute (run for 4 mins in hr zone 135-155 bpm then run in hr zone 163 - 177 bpm for 1.5 minutes repeat 5 times) Who does Garmin think I am Carol Vorderman?

So the new watch can not only have the garmin training plan from my computer transferred to it so every day it will automatically know what I'm meant to be doing it will also beep or vibrate to tell me if I run too fast/too slow/ and when to change from running at different speeds etc. Totes amazeballs. It will also stop and start the timer itself when I stop to cross roads or tree gaze (see previous wyre forest blog) It also has a fab option of linking it to the Garmin connect app on my phone so when I get home with internet connection it will automatically upload the data from the run without me turning on the laptop or linking up manually. It's waterproof down to 50mtrs so I can either set my treadmill up next to the bath and run with my arm submerged or it will just be good running in the rain :-)  I think I'll let it off that it doesn't make me a cup of tea.

Proof will be in the pudding maybe xmas pudding when I get it delivered December and take it out or the first time.

Bournemouth Half Marathon Festival

What an amazing experience The Bournemouth Marathon Festival and my first proper Run For Fun meet up was.

The weekend started with my mom and I driving up to Bournemouth on the Saturday morning just over two and half hours drive later and we had arrived at Kings Park drive car park, this was the intended car park we would use the morning of the race and I wanted to check out how many spaces there were and payment for parking etc. We pulled up on what turned out to be the start of a football match so got discounted parking for £1 bonus! The car park was huge and I was happy that this would be where my Bournemouth half marathon journey would start the following morning. After a busy day walking around Boscombe beach and looking in the shops we made our way back to freshen up for our meal with the Run for Fun gang.

Mom, Me, Maureen, Paula, Martine, Lorna, Karyn, Rachel, Jenny, Emma, Fiona

I was so excited as I had only met three people from run for fun and not all at the same time. I only knew what people looked like from photos on Facebook. The meal was organized by Martine and we were to meet at La Strada restaurant at 5.45pm. I managed to get some good parking again (I'm getting quite good at this parking malarky) and we made our way down to the finish line for the 10k race that had started at 4pm. Looking around for the gang I spotted a tall blonde lady wearing a bright orange hoody on with Ultra Girl written on the back then spotted more ladies with the famous Ruffus hoodys on. I had found Maureen and the gang! It was so lovely to meet everyone and finally put faces to names of people who I interact with on a daily basis and also have so much in common with... finally I had found people that talk about running just as much as I do.

The evening was spent celebrating some of the ladies 10k results and some pbs and discussing what our aims were for the following days races. A few of the group were doing the full marathon and the rest were doing the half. Martine and co had already shown us how fantastic the medal and t shirts were. After carb loading on pasta we then left for an early night as the alarm was set for 5.45am to set off for the car park at 6.15am. Waking up after a terrible few hours sleep I forced down a few mouthfuls of cornflakes and a half moldy banana. The nerves were kicking in, I was unsure how my leg would hold out after not running or doing any exercise for 15 days prior to the race due to a hamstring strain. I was hoping for a pb as it was a flat course but was a 2:08 or less possible? Mom and I arrived at the car park at around 6.45 and were glad we got there so early as it was already filling up with cars queuing to get in after us. A quick sort out of bags and mom making sure she had her thermos flask for coffee and we were ready to make our way to the starting pens. I was in green which I originally thought was second from the front...first time ever I've been second from the front with an estimated finish time of 2 hours - 2 hours 15. But no, it turns out I was second from the back! We found Fiona and Lorna but couldn't see Mo or Paula. I got in my green starting pen, I got chatting to a lady who was 58 and running her first half marathon we chatted for a while and I made my way to the right hand side of the pen so mom could see me as I went over the line. A short countdown ensued then we were off to a small jog then stopped again, jogged a bit then stopped again then we were off properly running. The route started off taking us through the streets with the shops and the sun was glaringly bright! As we had set off when it was dark I hadn't got my sunglasses and had to hold my hand up to my head to see where I was going. I kept a good pace going for the first mile at 10.14 minute miles and was feeling good it was slightly congested and I had to weave my way around other runners and soon picked up the pace for the next 2 miles at 9.24 minute miles. Heading out of the shopping area we then ran along a housing estate and came out along the beach, it was absolutely stunning views all you could see was the sea for miles. At this point my music decided to start playing up so I went to get my phone out of my pocket to change it and ended up dropping the blasted thing, I was wary of not tripping up the runners behind me so tried to pick it up whilst looking over my shoulder and ended up kicking it away from me all the way down the road! It stopped near the side of the road so I could stop and collect it and luckily it got away with a couple of dents around the side but the screen was intact. Woopsie!  The route took us a mile or so along the beach then we would turn around and come back on ourselves. My motivational song came on and I was running gazing out at the sea feeling like I was on holiday. I managed another few fast miles of 9.26 and 9.12 then we headed down towards the beach so we were running just along the sand. By mile 5 my bad leg with the hamstring issue felt fine. I had noticed though that there was something jiggling around in between my toes in my sock but decided to keep running as it wasn't painful more annoying if anything. We came to the Boscombe Pier where mom and I had spent the day before and I could see runners running around it. I was looking forward to this bit but then I got diverted off to a shady path..hang on shouldn't I be running around the pier with everyone else? I continued up the shady path and came across a hill.. I decided not to risk more injury and walked it and I didn't recognize any of the runners around me anymore.. I did think I had taken a wrong turn somewhere and I should be running on the pier but carried on and tried to figure out what was going on in my head. After the hill I tootled along and at mile 8 I started to get cramp in my glutes they kept seizing up and I had slowed down now to 10.36 minute miles again but still felt ok. At mile 9 there was an awesome downhill part with lots of support and crowds cheering and I could hear the dj at the finish line cheering people through the finish, I couldn't be this close to the finish at 9 miles surely.. no I wasn't. I got within quarter of a mile to the finish line I could see people running around this pier but then got diverted off to the left and had to run 2 miles back along the beach going the way I had just ran. It was nice as I was along the sea again and there were loads of people clapping and cheering, it was a long old run though made worse by the fact that there were runners coming the opposite way. I finally figured out that I had to run ALLLLL the way back to the first pier at Boscome beach to run around it then come ALLLLL the way back again to where I had just been... so basically I had ran from Boscome to the finish back to Boscome then back to the finish again! Around half a mile from Boscombe pier I was hobbling, my glutes were really tight everything was hurting, I had a few walking breaks, ran around the pier then it was the straight back towards the finish. It took forever...literally. I came to mile 12 and was now running 12 minute miles so had slowed considerably but it was very hot by this point. I passed Lorna running the other way and gave her a big shout out and kept my eye out for Paula who I saw a few minutes later then I was nearly at the Pier at the finish. I was directed to run around it which was going well until I ran past a man who had collapsed and was receiving medical treatment this made me well up and I walked the first part of the pier then got a jog on for the final bit. The crowds were huge at the finish..
I came down the finishing straight and decided I had a sprint finish in me so went for it. I crossed the line at 2 hours 17 minutes which is average for me and only 7 minutes slower than my pb so was really pleased. I collected my t shirt and medal.. which may I say is the most amazing medal ever!!! I met up with mom and she congralutated me on my run, turns out she had a really good spot to take this finishing picture and even had a bop to Up Town Girl played by the dj! I was hurting all over and very tired and still had a three hour journey back home to contend with but I was so happy that my mom was there to share the experience with me. I told her I had something in my sock the whole run and she suggested I take my trainer off but I just wanted to get home by that point. Upon arriving back home I took my trainer off to find a blood soaked sock, I took the blood soaked sock off to find this! What on earth had I ran with in my sock

Cornflake inury

for 13.1 miles?? Well... it was a cornflake! Yes that's right a cornflake. Don't ask because I really don't know.

Bournemouth half marathon was the best for many reasons, one my amazing mom came and supported me, two I got to meet so many fantastic like minded inspiring people and three I ran a half marathon with a hamstring injury and a cornflake in my sock and still came in with a good finishing time. I finished in overall position: 1699 of 2857.
 

Virgin London Marathon

Well Wednesday was a long old day with links being put on facebook for the Virgin London Marathon ballot results. Thing is they were never set in stone 110% true... but I followed the link anyway and low and behold it asked me to enter my card details to pay for my entry.

Was I in???  It couldn't be true... no I will wait for the famous Marathon news magazine to drop on my doormat to confirm it. From then on I couldn't concentrate, with 58 notifications on facebook in the next 3 hours from people saying the link is spam, the link doesn't work. Virgin themselves also released a post stating the link isn't working so shouldn't be relied upon as being confirmation you have made it through the ballot. Argghhhhhhh I'm coming off facebook until I know for sure....

Yesterday people were then posting pics on facebook of their "Sorry you didn't make it" magazines with a blue smurf on the front. Probably the most hated smurf in the whole world by now! and others  were posting their " You're In" magazines. I felt sick, shaky and lacking concentration at work. I went home on lunch but the postman hadn't been. So I went back home after work and there it was...

OMG!!!!!!!

 

I felt like Charlie with the golden ticket for the chocolate factory! I had done it! After the dissappointment of not getting through the ballot last year my second year in and I had made it! Only three nights before I was googling the Boston Marathon as a dream race I wanted to aim for but with a qualifying time for my age and sex of something daft like 3 hours 11 minutes I knew this was an unobtainable dream...for now. So my next thought fell to the London Marathon I never in a million years thought I would be lucky enough to be chosen in the ballot. Next thing to plan was getting there, hotels, who I would go with... could I really go to the big smoke on my own?

Last night my darling sister and Simon offered to go with me as Simon knows London like the back of his hand. So coming home from relatives at 9.30pm I started reading my You're In magazine. Straight away I knew I had to be quick with hotel bookings as many people book before getting their results. Every website I checked hotels were £360 onwards for 1 night! And the cheaper hotels had no rooms available. I decided to post in Run for Fun help on hotels as let's face it I don't really have a scooby doo what I'm doing and it was all happening so fast! The London Stratford Travellodge was mentioned and with it being 1 tube station change from the starting line this seemed ideal.

My grandad was looking down on me last night and I found a family room for 3 people for only £53! I dashed downstairs in only my pants ( I had been in bed sorting this out I don't just strut around the house in my underwear) to fire up the laptop and get this room booked.. God the laptop took an eternity to boot up but eventually I got there and after reading over and over again the details, dates & times to my sister I had booked my accomodation for the London Marathon 2014.

Only the small issue of winter training to do now. I have chosen to also raise money for charity whilst taking part in this event and have chosen the Birmingham Childrens Hospital to raise funds for as my friends baby is currently being cared for there after being born premature with a hole in her heart she has undergone surgery at only a few months old and is now in intensive care with complications. If anyone would like to donate to my sponsor page here is the link http://www.justgiving.com/sarah-morris30/?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=fundraisingpage&utm_content=sarah-morris30&utm_campaign=pfp-share

Beauty & The Beast Half Marathon

This was the race of the year for me, I wanted to enter it last year but due to it falling on the same day as a family wedding I had to wait a whole year to tame the beast (their words not mine)

After recently obtaining a grade A pass in my sports psychology exam you would think that I am rather good at building up my confidence and gaining knowledge on my races...wrong! The night before I started googling details on the race and found a few things out that maybe were best left unread.
Point 1 - The beast is the large hill at the end of every lap (I had to do 3 laps) I already knew this.
Point 2 - The Beast was created by the same people that organize Hell Runner! ( If you don't know what hell runner is google it, I did and wished I hadn't)
Point 3- I read a blog from the previous year which admittidley was from a different venue but it still didn't fill me with much confidence.
Point 4 - The beast is deemed as being the toughest off road trail marathon/half marathon in the UK.

On this note I went to bed ready for the 6am start for the 2 hour drive to West Wycombe to tame this so called beast. Waking up at 6am and the fact that I had packed a towel, I must have been worried to do that? I considered not going but then came across a motivational video and listened to it, it made me cry as I realised my years dream had been to run this race and run it well. I realised that in sports psychology most athletes have a coach, I'm not an athlete and I sure as hell don't have a coach, the voice in my head is pretty damn useless at the best of times and needs to be sacked so I ripped the audio from this video and put it on my phone along with some new songs including the rather appropriate Katy Perry ROAR!!!! If you would like to listen to the video that I used to help get me around what is the hardest race I have ever and will ever do here is the link. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-jwWYX7Jlo

Arriving at West Wycombe Park I made my way to the tents to get my race number and I spotted a load of signs with motivational sentences on them. They were dotted around and I could see a line of them going up

a smallish hill..Is this the beast? I wondered.
At 10am I was ready chip timer around my ankle which I wasn't too keen on and the warm up started. I was pleased it wasn't a silly jump around dancey warm up but a proper runners warm up. Does this mean I'm a proper runner. It was led by some woman from Sky sports 1 I have no idea who she was but she seemed to know what she was on about. With a field of around 300 runners some doing the full marathon (6 laps) the half marathon (3 laps) and team events there was a wide range of runners. I got my watch ready and we were off........... running up a hill!

me at the start, check out the size of my calf muscle!

No way a hill already! This hill came to a climax with a massive sqeulchy mud fest.. I was not impressed and then we took a sharp right to...another hill on gravel and mud. I ran up this hill and at 0.6 of a mile I stopped running, sobbed abit and thought this is it, it's going to be my second DNF. I simply decided I couldn't do it and got myself in a panick. I had already started walking at less than a mile in I wasn't happy with myself at all but I just gave up. I continued to walk then got a little trot on and we were soon into some woods with a muddy track around 8 or 9 inches wide half way up a slope so you had to be careful with footing as if you slipped a little to the left you would fall down a hill. Did I just use that word again.. hill hill hill! I was quite worried I would be holding people up as you simply couldn't pass on this part I was jogging and was pleased to see a line of runners infront of me battling their own way through the branches and nettles. Out of the woods and onto more muddy track and fields we then took a sharp left into a field and I was faced with a ridiculous hill... was this the beast? It can't be it's less than 2 miles into the course.

It seemed to go up stop then veer up even higher it was around 85 degrees at the top. I was very glad when I saw everyone was walking up this one. It took me nearly 4 minutes to walk from bottom to the top and my legs were like jelly. I did a little run out the field took a left into another field then at mile 2 there was the water station. I had decided not to run with my camel bak or any form of drink for this race so was pleased to get a bottle of water. After the water station there was another hill and another, at one point i tried to physically lift my own leg up as I simply couldn't move up the damn thing. The rest of the course went through a large field with tall hard grass that hurt to run through then we came down an incline that was so steep you had no choice but to put the brake on which hurt the front of my thighs. I then ran past my car! and then thought I was going to die. This part is not a joke.. you read stories of runners suddenly collapsing after/during a race.. I actually thought this would be me. I had the worst chest pains I couldn't breathe I was holding my chest where my heart is and the only thought that went through my head was "There wasn't anywhere to write emergency contact details on the back of my race number and I don't recall being asked to give any on entering, I am having a heart attack how are they going to call my mom" I then started crying and trying to breathe and came up to a marshall. I was going to ask for a medic but something stopped me. Come on Sarah pull yourself together if you have to walk it walk it but do not give up and most of all do NOT die! I walked past the marshall and was then faced with a lake. I was directed to run through it. What? This wasn't in the programme. Good job I had put my old stinkers on.. I ran straight through the middle of knee high icy cold water and absolutely loved it!

It sorted me right out and I decided I had nearly finished the first lap I knew what to expect and I will walk all the hills. The later part of the course was lovely we ran past a large lake with swans and little bridges with waterfalls to run over and came back to the tents where supporters were clapping and cheering. The only problem with finishing the first lap was tackling the beast. The small hill I mentioned earlier with all the motivational signs running up it. Small hill more like mount Everest. It was mocking me I walked up the first part got to a brow then it went up and up and up so steep I was breathing like a 90 year old. Where was my inhaler... at home! The only good thing about the beast hill is when you have ran up and around a statue of a man on a horse you got to run straight back down and you get to see the grimace of the runners coming up the bit you've just done. First lap done, from there it went something like this for the duration of the second lap, 20 seconds feeling good, 2 minutes of feeling crap. This is a lot of feeling crap when you add it all up. In the route through the woods I got a stinging nettle caught up in my ankle tag and couldn't get it out so left it. I thought running through the lake the second time around would free it. There were many people walking at this point and my aim was just to finish, I had set out with the hope of a 2 hour 30 - 2 hour 45 min half which would be the worst half marathon ever even worse than my very first half marathon but this wasn't a race this was an endurance event. At mile 10 I got to the first big hill again and phoned my sister for a bit of motivation I only had 3 miles to go and was on the last lap all was good.

my finish picture on top of the beast

My legs and bum were burning like hell on earth I knew this race was knocking me about abit but I was almost there. I put my motivational pep talk on had a bit of a sniffle decided I was going to quit running you know the usual rubbish. Then came to the lake again and was slightly dissappointed it would be the last time I would run through it. Coming to the beast for the final time I had no energy my legs felt like they didn't belong to me, I was walking at -5mph or so it felt but my pep talk was still playing... as I got to the top of the beast there was a sneaky photographer and I shouted to him "make sure you get one of me smiling!" He didn't do a bad job and neither had I. I tamed The Beast in a personal worst of 2 hours 57 minutes! I felt a mixture of things, I was so happy to finish I was proud I guess but I had done a rubbish time and was giving myself a telling off. It wasn't until the official results were released that I was actually rather pleased of myself. In the solo half marathon event I finished 107 out of 122 runners male and female and in the solo female category I finished 28th out of 38.  We'll ignore the fact that some of the male runners finished the marathon, a whole extra 3 laps than me in just over 15 minutes more than my time.. bloody men hey.

Two days on I'm still walking like a penguin and is it any wonder looking at the elevation from the course.

I will never go back to the beast I will never do another off road half marathon but I am however building some proper hill training into my training plan. I went, I tamed the beast and got the medal, tshirt and sore quads and glutes to prove it.

Droitwich Saltfest 9 mile

For the duration of this race I had pesky little voices in my head saying "You can't do this Sarah, why are you bothering, why do you run, I think you should quit" Shut up... No not you I'm talking to the voices!

The day started off after only having a few hours sleep and eating a raw bannana for breakfast which the skin wouldn't peel off and was very bitter. I made the short drive to Cindys and we were on our way to the Saltfest. There were little market stalls set up maybe not enough to occupy Cindys children, husband and sister Wendy but they seemed happy enough. With the change in weather.. yes where did summer go? It is back to the old question of what to wear? Do I brave it with a tshirt knowing I'll warm up after a few miles but risk my garmin getting wet if it rained or wear jackets, waterproofs,hats. Too much choice! I opted for the cap and coat. The concept of the race as it was largely canal based was three runners would be free to run every 20 seconds leaving a gap so there wasn't too much congestion on the narrow parts. This I feel didn't work at all as it wasn't based on your estimated finish time or pace per mile so some slower runners (myself and Cindy included) starting near the front then just got in the way.

Off we went over a bouncy bridge which made you feel slightly drunk and onto the canal path which was very narrow with overgrown reeds that whipped in your face and some mud. Within the first mile we were overtaken by lots of other runners who had the courtesy to shout out "on your left/right" so we knew which side to move across to to get out the way. All of the runners stuck to this etiquette except one.. For the purpose of the blog I will call her Cellulite bum as well quite frankly that's what she was! Though her name will change as the blog goes on. She came up behind and yelled "MOVE" no please or even a thank you after we had moved over for her to then run I may add very slowly in front of us. At mile 2 I couldn't be arsed I wanted to give up not because I couldn't do it..heck I've ran 35 miles non stop before in worse conditions but because the voices in my head were telling me I couldn't do it. We had a stint of having to run single file so weren't talking too much I looked at my garmin at just under 3 miles and realised we were running a bit quicker than I would have liked but I didn't want to admit this to Cindy. Not to matter as half a mile on Cindy also noticed how fast we were running and said it was too fast and maybe we should ease back a little. After the canal path came the fields... lots of them big open ones filled with sheep and cow poo and even a herd of cows. There were these funny metal gates with locks on that we had to figure out you could only have 1 person go through at a time due to the mechanics of them and at one point we got stuck in a gate!! At around 4.5 miles we came across a big hill "oh god not a bloody hill" But with The Beast coming up next week which the sole purpose off is to run the hill I had to get down to it. I ran most of the way up then walked a bit and caught Cindy up at the top as she was stuck at another gate. We carried on running together at this point and all of a sudden Marathon Morris decided to up and leave and Moaning Minnie stepped right in her place. I admit I was boring myself with my moaning but Cindy managed to get me out of it soon enough spurring me on. At mile 5 we ran past a marshall who said go through the gate and up the big hill... I think marshalls should be banned from using that word. This hill Oh My God never seen anything like it! All the way up (and yes I did run it) I had that little voice telling me I should drop out of the beast next week after all that's 13.1 miles) Half way up the hill I noticed Cellulite bum in front and was horrified with the fact that she had peed herself whilst running. She had a massive wet patch spreading from her crotch all the way down the back of her thighs... So I then gave her the honorable title of Pissy Pants!

 Getting to the top we then ran into a field.  Now bear with me on this part... for those of you old/young enough to have read enid blyton books you may remember the Magic Faraway tree in the Enchanted wood? Well this field was like something out of this... it was as I called it the Never Ending Field..... it went on and on and on and on and on in the far distance you could just make out the high vis jackets of other runners and still it was going on I half expected Moon Face to come along to tell me it was a joke. We came across a lot of headwind and rain in the Never Ending Field. It did eventually come to an end and at 6 miles Cindy and I were feeling good and had reached the point only runners will understand when you feel like you can run forever. The last 3 miles took us back the way we had come along the canal and we managed to run together this time chatting away. I realised maybe the race wasn't too bad but was still pleased it was nearly over.. I wasn't impressed that Cellulite Pissy Pants had beaten us but you can't win them all.

Coming to the finish line and our little crowd of supporters were waiting taking photos and we were presented with our medals and could have free bangers & mash from the local pub. I skipped that and opted for a bag of sugar donuts 4 of them! Whilst walking back to the car with bag of donuts in hand, one being mashed into my mouth a farmer market man came across with a box of apples and said "now you look like a healthy young lady here's an apple!" Sorry did he miss the massive wedge of donuts in my mouth and hand?

It was a great day and I'd like to thank Cindy for getting me and Moaning Minnie around in one piece.