Paris to Versailles

I'm not enjoying getting old!  My memory is playing tricks on me!  I was sure I'd last run Paris-Versailles in 2012 - I was so sure that I spent ages trying to look for my time in the 2012 results listing (tricky anyway on a mobile 'phone!)  I knew it was 1hr 26 mins and some change, and I also  knew I wasn't anywhere near fit enough to come close to that time at the moment.  When I ran that time, in 2011 it turns out, I was running really well!  I got PBs at every distance I ran that year.  I think the fact that I only started working at the beginning of September that year may have had something to do with me being more focussed on training!  

So, after a longer break than I remembered we were going back to Paris for the race with that hill!  We travelled to Paris on Saturday morning, arriving with plenty of time to pick up our race numbers and look at the stalls at the expo.  I was beginning to have doubts about my choice of running kit.  It was really warm in Paris and I had brought a t shirt to run in.  I had a look at the clothing on offer, and while it was possibly to buy obscenely short running shorts there was not one single running vest on offer because they were all showing off their autumn and winter stock.  So I would be wearing my lovely Kent Roadrunner top, as would Husbando!    Neil, who were were staying with and who had hoped to run with me in 2011 but ended up running by himself in 2013, was running with us - he had to make do with the rather nice, but much more subdued, official adidas race shirt!  My KRR top was admired by a French lady - who informed me that I must be American because I was wearing 'such a shirt.'  No amount of denial by me would convince her that I was English!

Race morning dawned bright and sunny, we had breakfast, got our stuff sorted out and headed for the station to get the train to central Paris.  In contrast to 2011 my mood was good - we chatted and laughed and talked about our goals.  Neil wanted to do better than last time, Husbando was planning to run with me, and was hoping we could run sub 1hr 30.  My A goal was sub 1hr 30, my B goal was getting round in one piece.  We were joined by a growing throng of runners - always reassuring to know that we were going in the right direction.  At Champ de Mars I sent the boys off to check the bags while I queued for one of those 'tardis loos' - the ones that self clean between each user.  I reckoned that, by the time I got to the end of the queue I might need a wee!  From there we made our way towards the start and took some photos with a famous Paris landmark in the background.  

There are no starting pens at this race, and with 25,000 entrants we thought we ought to make our way to the start areas where runners were gathering.  There was a constant commentary from the, very loud, PA system.  I understood about 60% of what he was saying.  I didn't think we were too far back from the start.  We tried to chat over the PA, and ignored the nonsensical warm up ("Jump up and down on the spot to raise your heart rate").  I was struck by the number of runners who were kitted out as though they were about to embark on an ultra.  Whilst a 10 mile race might be a good time to try out kit that you are considering using on a much longer race I don't think that it is possible that all the people we saw with Camelbaks were ultra runners, and nearly every other runner was wearing a race belt stacked with enough gel packs to feed an army.  One bloke had 12 gel sachets (yes, I am that sad, I did count them!)  TWELVE!  That is more than one per mile!  I can't imagine eating that much gel without wanting to throw up at some point.  

At 10.00am the elite runners went off, followed by waves of us mere mortals going off at 1 minute intervals.  We crossed the line at 10.17!  The first male was nearly half way through his race by then (he finished in 47mins 42 seconds).  While I was waiting I looked up and took a photo of the Eiffel Tower - I note that I took an almost identical photo last time I was here.  We were the last to be allowed through in our wave - Husbando had to say, in his best school boy French, that I was his wife in order to be allowed in.  We crossed the line and suddenly all my nerves and uncertainties faded away, I forgot my niggling sore throat and remembered why I was here.  I love to run!  I really just do.  Off I went with a huge smile on my face.  I knew I was going too fast but I didn't care!  I knew that I'd slow down later, but it felt fantastic to be moving!

Husbando had been talking about a wee stop from before the start - the queues had been to long before the start, so he joined a row of men peeing against a wall before we got the the first kilometre marker.  I carried on.  It was crowded and I had to constantly change direction to plot my way through.  Husbando caught me up at about 3k in.  It is very flat for this section, but in the back of my mind I knew that the hill was coming!

The hill came.  Husbando is much better at hills than I am, I told him to go on ahead - as to be honest the thought of him stopping every so often to wait for me to catch up was very depressing.  I plodded on.  The hill isn't hugely steep but it is very long.  At several points you think you much be at the top, but you aren't - there is more, and some of it is on cobbles.  I may have been slow, but I kept going and was even overtaking people.  A new addition to the signage this year was one saying that we were at the highest point of the run.  Lovely, there was still another uphill section that I could recall, but for now it was time to recover, get my breath back, get my legs moving again and fly down hill.

It was never easy going.  There were so many slow runners in the 16 start waves ahead of me that it was a constant case of weaving in and out.  There was a distinct lack of running etiquette - no moving to one side before slowing down, people just stopped in the middle of the road!  And faster runners used their elbows to warn that they were approaching!  The water stations, however, were well placed and the volunteers cheerful and friendly.

At around 14km I had a real conversation, in French, with some fellow runners.  There was one of those traffic signs that calculates the speed of approaching vehicles and it was picking up the speed of the runners.  It was fluctuating between 9, 10 and 11kph,  I announced that I wanted to get it to 12 - and with lots of cheers and encouragement from those around me I did it!  A much needed burst of speed!

Soon I was approaching Versailles along the Avenue de Paris, looking left and right to see if Husbando was watching.  I knew I had my sub 1:30 in the bag, so now I was just seeing how fast I could get to the end.  I crossed the line, stopped my Garmin, and saw Husbando waiting for me.  I'd run 1:26:41 - I was amazed.  Was it a PB?  It would be close…. Checking my records I found I had missed a PB by 20 seconds.  Which is gutting, but there are positives to be drawn.

When I do this race again I will get there earlier and hopefully get a clearer run.  When I ran my 10m  PB there in 2011 I was having an amazing year, this year has been a bit naff really and I don't feel anywhere near as fit as I did then - so hopefully I can take a few more seconds off my time.   And above all, we had a great time.  We spent time with friends, we ran in the sunshine and collected a medal.  What more could one ask for?

He, who would valiant be...

I am not entirely sure how I ended up entering this event again.    Indeed, if look at my blog from last year,  I find I am at pretty much the same stage in this year, new job - great but still in the rabbit in the headlights stage, tired, losing my voice etc.  At least I'm not training for an imminent marathon.  I think that I entered because I decided to do the Giant's Head Marathon next year and thought I'd need to get some trail experience.  I'm only doing the Giant's Head for the medal (go on, have a look, you know you want to!)  26.2 miles on trail is a long way for a confirmed road runner so today I was only taking on the half.  

The weather was fantastic.  I'd obviously misread the weather forecast as I'd thought the sunny, warm weather was over, but the sun was shining and clouds were scudding by as we waited for the start.  We got their early enough to see the full marathon runners off, and I caught up with friends.  I have since discovered, via Facebook, that there were several other people I know there and I am sorry to have missed them.  As they set off they were told to 'watch out for tyre girl' who had set out early for the marathon pulling a tyre behind her.  I prefer to carry my tyre around my middle!  As we had time we had lovely coffee from at the back of a Citroen van.  This of course meant a queue of the loos!  

Soon we were off, having just managed to get to the end of the loo queue and back to the start line in time to sort out  my Garmin.  As we left the start area we passed through the open gate, and my race almost ended there.  I was chatting to a fellow runner and did not see the thin, grey end of the gate pointing towards me (see photo).  I hit it hard with my left shoulder!  It wasn't marked and with loads of people all around it was not easy to spot.  Still, onwards and briefly downwards I went.  Running on the road was easy, nice and wide, easy to pass people.  I'd decided to just see how I felt and not force the pace as I have another race next weekend (and the weekend after).  Which idiot enters 4 races in the first 5 weeks of a new job, with one of them being in another country?  So I pootled along, chatting with people I knew, people I'd never met before.  I made a huge effort to catch up with one lady who I thought was someone I knew only to find she was a total stranger!  I caught up with someone I know from CPRC briefly and was introduced to his running companion.  Only in England would one turn and shake hands with someone one was introduced to while running a race!   

Once off the road it got a bit more serious.  The paths were narrow in places which resulted in having to walk for some sections and during other sections I just concentrated on keeping up with the person in front.  The hills were as sapping as last year, but I think that the weight loss has helped as I recovered much faster.  Not that you could speed down lots of the hills as they were steep and, well, trailey!  I stopped completely to check on two runners who fell spectacularly!  My automatic reaction to stopping running was to stop my Garmin, luckily I didn't stop it for long and the runners were both OK.  The highest point of the run offered absolutely stunning views, I'd say they were breathtaking, but I didn't have much breath left to take!  There was less haze this year and I could see much further.  If I can work out where it was I would love to go back and spend some time there.  

The water stations were well placed, just when I thought I was too thirsty (it was warmer than I'd anticipated) a water station appeared!  The marshals were friendly and cheerful.  I think I managed to thank most of them as I plodded past.  At one point, in the last couple of miles, I overtook someone and realised that I couldn't see anyone ahead of me.  I panicked a bit and called over my shoulder 'Are we going the right way?' and sped up so that I had someone in view.  Soon we were back on the road.  Running past the golf course and up hill to the gate to the field.  I spotted a man in a purple shirt who had passed me way back at mile 4 (in Puttenham).  I caught him up, overtaking several people in the process.  Then I carried on overtaking people as I knew that the finish beckoned.  At one point I overtook a car - shouting 'I'm faster than a car!'  Then it was round the corner and down the hill to the finish.  I heard my name called and I think I waved - but I was intent on catching just one more person.  I threw myself over the line and heard my number and name over the tannoy - a nice touch that.  I'd done it!  And 11 minutes faster than last year!  

The CPRC guys I'd caught up with briefly had finished ahead of me (it was they who had shouted as I came in), so I went to join them.  Apparently they didn't realise I was so fast.  I said I wasn't really, more a case of being too stubborn to give it!  

As I waited for my friend to come in I collected my medal and my tech t-shirt.  Then I totally messed up sorting out my 'phone to take a photo of her as she sprinted to the finish!  Sorry!   After that we went for lunch!  Steak frites and a glass of wine.  Lovely.

So, how many trail races will I have to do before I feel the love?  This was a very well organised event, the views were stunning, there was plenty of cake for afterwards (I was good and did not partake), and I am very glad I did it.  But to say I enjoyed it would be an overstatement!

Run The Vyne

I think I must have signed up for this race pretty much as soon as I heard about it.  That would account for me getting bib number 14.  I obviously didn't read the web page too closely because I really hate trail running.  When I did realise it was a trail run I thought that, as it was on National Trust property it would be the sort of paths that would be suitable for elderly ladies in wheelchairs and yummy mummies with their buggies and not 'proper' trail.  So it was with a degree of trepidation that I laced up my trail shoes and set off for The Vyne this morning.   

I got there far too early of course - I always do, but I'd much rather be early than late.  Arriving early gave me a chance to get my bearings, work out where the loos were - all those important things!  Registration was in front of the house - and seemed to work smoothly with Chineham Park Running Club members manning the desks and greeting all the eager runners.

Shortly before 10am we made our way to the start and after a short run briefing we were off.  I immediately remembered why I don't like trails.  I like to put my foot down on the floor with a degree of confidence that it isn't going to wobble and twist!  I like to run without thinking about where the safest path is going to be.  We ran across a bumpy field, through a gate and into the woods.  The tree roots were clearly marked, but this did not stop me taking a tumble before we got to the first kilometre marker.  I felt a bit stupid, so got up and carried on!  Soon there was a lovely bit of concrete path - but it didn't last long.  I was aware that we seemed to be running downhill for a large proportion of the time.   This worried me a little as we'd have to get back up to the start at some point - but I decided to put that out of my mind and enjoy the amazing marshalling stations!  We had Scots' Corner, Halloween Hill, Teddy Bears' Picnics, Legoland and what I am naming Valentine's Corner - complete with pink flamingoes and fairy lights.  I wish I'd had time to take photos and thank each marshal personally for such an amazing effort!

I didn't take in much of the scenery I'm afraid.  I was too busy concentrating on staying upright.  At the water station I decided it was prudent to stop and drink rather than trying to run down hill while drinking from an open cup!  I never take water with me on a 10k run, but somehow running past a water station always makes me feel terribly thirsty!  

There was one short, sharp steep hill - where a parkrun friend and CPRC member stood capturing photographic evidence of how hard we were working - and another longer, less steep hill.  For those of us running the 10k we had to do these twice.  I spent most of the second lap trying to remember where the hills were and failing miserably!    At the end of the second lap we turned right and were back in the field, as we did this I overtook a man from Bramley Trail Runners, thinking that we were just a short sprint from the finish line.  Funny how the mind can play tricks on you - it was quite a long haul over the uneven ground and mainly up hill too.  I managed to hold my place until we crossed the line - he managed to nose ahead of me but only just!  

I stopped my Garmin at 54:26.  My road PB is 49:16 and I haven't been close to that all this year, so I am happy with my time.  I had no expectations of how I would get on this morning, and after taking an early tumble I definitely erred on the side of caution - especially on the steep downhill sections.  I am not a convert to trail running - it requires far too much concentration for me, but I would definitely run this one again, just for…er…fun...  

I met up at the finish with various running friends.  It was a pleasure to run a race with the woman who got me into running.  She was completing her first 5k race today, and has decided that she will enter the Bupa 10,000m next year!  It was lovely to cheer people over the finish line and watch the prize ceremony for the top finishers.  That done we made our way back to collect our bags and enjoy a post race massage thanks to the guys at North Hampshire Sports Massage - they kindly plonked my sore foot in an icy boot thingy while I waited for my friends to have their turn on the massage tables.  

This was a great race, with excellent organisation and nice medals (not sure if you can call wood 'bling').  It was lovely to see so many people I know both amongst the runners and the marshals - it is such a boost to have someone call out your name as you run, and the marshals were very good at lying and saying that I was looking good!  

Thank you to everyone at CPRC and The National Trust who made it all happen.

    

Woking inaugural parkrun

In a radical break from tradition, and by prior arrangement with Elaine, I decided not to wear my 100 club tshirt to the inaugural Woking parkrun.  Instead we were pretty in pink!   Our 'Don't be sh*t!' tops were sold to celebrate the achievement of Steve Way and to raise money for Julia's House Hospice.  They come in many colours, but we'd both chosen pink.

Due to a rather late night on Friday I had not checked the directions to the start and decided to rely on my Sat Nav, which got up almost there.  We were less than quarter of a mile from where we needed to be, but the road was blocked by bollards!  Luckily we'd left enough time for such emergencies and were soon parking in the free carpark at Woking Leisure Centre.   My first impression was that there were hundreds of parkrun shirts! I then realised that I knew loads of people.  I think it is quite possible that I knew more people at Woking today than I know at my home parkrun.  parkrunners had descended on Woking from far and wide and it was lovely to see so many friendly faces.  I just wish that there had been more time to catch up with people.  

The run briefing took place at the start line.  I think the start line must boast the closest loos to a start line at any parkrun (although I am happy to be corrected) as they are just a couple of steps away from the start.  The briefing covered all that needed to be said, thanking volunteers, mentioning the sponsors etc. without going on too long.  And then we were off…. 

Three laps of the park sounds very simple and straightforward, but it was a twisty, turny route that wend its way into and out of woodland and over bridges.   Most of the course was on tarmac, with the bit through the woods being on trail.  The marshals were amazing, unfailingly cheerful and supportive as they cheered us on each and every lap.  I ran with the Fredster.  He wasn't happy as he was tired and grumpy following a very late night on Friday.  Still, thinking about how to cheer him up did take my mind off my hangover.   I got to chat to runners while I ran, meeting a lovely lady who was running her first 5k.  The twisty nature of the course meant I not only got to cheer on/hurl abuse at the the speedy runner as they lapped us, but also to see people I knew on various bits of the course as they ran around the convoluted loops.  

After scanning our barcodes and collecting bags, dealing with a fainting child and taking photos we made our way to the leisure centre for coffee.  I am not sure that the coffee shop there were quite prepared for an influx of parkrunners all in need of post run coffee, tea and cake!  

Thank you to all the organisers and volunteers who made this morning possible for me and 289 other runners.  I hope your event goes swimmingly and grows in popularity.  I'll be back soon I hope!

Chichester inaugural parkrun

'I'm doing a book fair in Lewes on the 2nd August, would you like to come along for the day?' asked Husbando about a week ago.  I thought about the two Brighton parkruns and said 'Yes!'  I haven't done either of those yet and this seemed like an ideal opportunity.   A couple of days later I remembered that Chichester's first parkrun was coming up soon….. And after a little bit of investigation I found that it was the same day.  I have probably mentioned before that I didn't do geography for O'level, and that I can at times be somewhat geographically challenged.  I thought that Chichester and Lewes were quite close together…..

No matter, Husbando needed to be in Lewes at 7am.  Lewes is about an hour and a half away from my home, which meant an early start for me, young Freddy and Husbando.  We had a quick coffee with Husbando in Lewes and then headed off along the A27 for the 50 minute long journey to Chichester.   The parkrun takes place in Oaklands Park, which is located just behind Chichester Festival Theatre.  Many years ago I saw an excellent production of 'When we are married' starring Dawn French and Roger Lloyd Pack at Chichester.   I recall that the theatre has excellent acoustics and good vision from all seats.  I must go back one day.  Anyway - back to parkrun… the Sat Nav took me directly to the free carpark at the Chichester Rugby club, and from there it was about a minute's walk to the starting/run brief area in front of the cricket pavilion.  The Fredster was desperate for a wee so I asked a volunteer where the loos were.  I was told that they were in the pavilion, but that they were mens's only, but that it was OK for women to use them too, as it was a cricket pavilion.  I did, jokingly, mutter something about the fact that women are allowed to play cricket too these days - and the England Women's team actually did rather well in The Ashes!

Pre run wees taken care of, we bumped into some familiar faces.  There were far fewer of the regular 'tourists' than usual, but it was lovely to see friends from Basingstoke, Queen Elizabeth, Reading and Roundshaw Downs parkruns as we waited for the run brief.  Event director Mike Houston struck just the right note with his briefing.  Thanking all those who needed to be thanked (sponsors, local supporters and volunteers), giving out all the necessary information and informing the many new new registrants of the procedure to follow at the finish with wit and humour and some oversized barcodes and finishing tokens.

Then we were off!  As you can see from the screenshot of my Garmin trace, it is not the simplest of circuits!  I ran to the bottom of the course (about half a mile) with the Fredster.  The Fredster was VERY TIRED, not just from his early start, but also because he had run four miles the day before.  I could sense that this was not going to be a fast run for him or a fun experience for me.  Luckily, for me if not for him, a friend had volunteered as tail runner for this event, and he was just starting the short out and back section as Freddy and I finished it - so I asked if Freddy could run with him and off I went.  I am not running well at the moment, due to carrying about a stone and a half more weight than I should be, but it was nice to be able to have a tiny bit of a burst of speed.  It was lovely to be able to work my way through the field a bit.

Most of the course is on grass, apart from the long straight bit you can see along the side of the A286 - lovely tarmac, but also a 400m long hill.  So swings and roundabouts there!   The second time up that hill was when we got lapped by the front runners.  I was doing my customary shouting of 'Fast runners coming through - keep left!' When someone asked 'Who is the girl with the lungs?'  It took me a moment to realise they were talking about me!  I guess you can take the girl out of the Artillery Regiment - but she doesn't lose the ability to run and shout loudly enough to be heard the length of a gun position easily.    By the third time round, the incline was starting to make itself felt, but I was spurred on by the sight of the tail runner and Freddy up ahead.  Not only had I worked myself a considerable way through the runners I was going to blooming well lap someone!  Hurrah!  I kept going, then slowed down a bit as I had run off with Fred's water bottle and he was hot and thirsty.  We had a bit of a chat, Fred was happy, the tail runner had to keep calling him back as he was faster than the last person, but all was good.  I left the water bottle and made my way to the finish.  Despite my slow start and slowing a few times to talk to people as we went around, I squeaked in under 30 minutes (29.19).

After collecting my token I looked up and saw that Freddy was just about to start his final lap.  I knew he could run faster than the pace being set by the final runner, so set off to run the last lap with him, because I really needed another 400m long incline!  He did pick up his pace, finishing 3 minutes ahead of the last runners, and still managing to put in a sprint to the line.  After sorting out barcodes etc. we made our way for a post run drink and natter at Bertie's Cafe.  Chichester parkrun is another of those lucky venues that have a cafe right near the finishing line - fabulous and brilliant for building a real community.  The cafe is on the first floor and has a terrace with fabulous views over the park - which was lovely, until it started to rain!  But at least the rain stayed away until well after parkrun finished.

Huge thanks to Mike and his team of volunteers for organising another brilliant parkrun!  I am sure I'll be back to run in Chichester again soon.  Oh, and I hope token number 8 found its way back to its rightful spot!

parkrun in a shopping trolley.

Finding ourselves near Tewkesbury for the wedding of friends this weekend it made sense to find a parkrun to do in the morning.   After a full English breakfast at our hotel we headed to Cheltenham to find their parkrun on Tommy Taylors Lane.  I don't normally eat breakfast before parkrun, but as it was included in out hotel room rate I thought I ought to get value for money!

It was overcast and threatening to rain as we assembled at the start.  The run brief, from event director Malc and first time run director Clark saw distribution of club t shirts and the normal pre run information was announced.  What was noticeable was how attentive the runners were.  It seemed that everyone was actually listening.  As the briefing progressed the Sun came out and I began to regret leaving my sunglasses in the car!  CLC Striders were providing all the volunteer roles this week, including pacers.

We were soon under starter's orders and we all charged across the grass to get to the path around the lake.  I had worried that this would be a boring run.  It is 3 laps which on the course page looks like it might be around a field.  In reality it was a lovely route, mostly on paths around a lake, over bridges, under trees and around a football field.  Husbando was able to run with me this week as he had taken a day off work for the wedding.  I say 'run with me' but what I should really say is 'run at the same parkrun as me' as he had a fantastic run - he spent most of the run with the 24 minute pacer.  He is full of praise for her - she ran a near perfectly paced run and encouraged him throughout, until he struck out for the finish line to complete his run in 23mins 18secs - a parkrun PB for him.  He is a little put out that this is 2 seconds slower than my PB - but I doubt that it will be long before he runs a lot faster than my PB!

My run, on the other hand was not great.  Don't get me wrong, I had a lovely time.  Wearing a 100 T-shirt at a relatively young event (the 69th Cheltenham parkrun) does attract a bit of attention, and I chatted to several people as I ran around, including event director Malc and several of the pacers.  But I was so slow!  I'd wanted to take advantage of not running with a 10 year old to really go for it, but that was not going to happen.  I think that the Ultra and the Marathon I ran last month really have taken their toll.  I just could not run anywhere near as fast as I wanted to.  And everything seemed to ache.  I've never wanted a parkrun to be over so much in my life.  This was not really helped by me starting to run a 4th lap rather than turning off for the finish.  I was a minute a mile slower than Husbando.  

We hung around for a while chatting with fellow runners while we got our barcodes scanned, enjoying the sunshine and, in my case, getting my breath back, before heading to the leisure centre to use their loos and grab a drink.  Sadly we couldn't hang around for coffee and a chat as we had a wedding to get ready for.  I am not sure that turning up 'parkrun fresh' would have been acceptable.

All in all a great little (well not so little with 350 runners) parkrun!  Maybe I'll get to do a return visit sometime soon, and at least I haven't sent myself too hard a target to beat!   If I do come back I think I will have to allow more time to look around Pittville Park - it looks much bigger than I thought from running around part of it, and I didn't even see the Pump Room!

How can you run your worst marathon ever but have the best running day of your life?

The answer to that question is quite simple.  Run a race organised by the amazing team at tzruns!  Brilliant pre race organisation which featured, but was not limited to, informative emails, choice of running number and booking of good weather, was complimented by an excellent venue, the friendliest and most welcoming volunteers at the start.  

I pitched up at the start to collect my race number and set up my personal drinks station.  I don't really know why I felt that I needed to do this as the food stations at tzruns events are excellent.  I didn't eat any of my bananas and only had a few sips of (warm) Lucozade, but it does make one feel a little bit like an elite athlete to have a bottle with your name and number on it.    After getting that sorted, pinning my number to my vest and going to the loo (twice) I passed some time chatting with friends.  Every race I go to seems to add a few more friends to my circle.  When I think back to my first race in 2010 where I knew no one I can't help but wonder why I ever went back for another race.  I turned up, ran and went home.  Now I seem to know so many people that it is a bit like going to a party!  I am, however, useless with names - so if I forgot anyone's name today, or looked a bit blank, just put it down to my aged brain not being able to cope with the sheer number of names I have to learn at work every year!  

At the start I felt fantastic.  I hadn't got any firm  goals for the day when I arrived, I was just going to see how it went.  The first few laps (of the 17) were great.   I was  ahead of where I needed to be to get a PB, well ahead.  I was smiling, confident and enjoying being back at  the Cyclopark.   I was eating up the laps, and really feeling for once as though I was born to run.    At 13 miles I was  still motoring.  It did briefly cross my mind that I had gone off too quickly - but I  still felt good, my legs felt fresh.    

Then something happened.  I couldn't feel my right foot or, I realised a bit later, the outside of my lower right leg.  I hadn't fallen, twisted it, or done anything that I could think might have caused the problem.  I slowed down a bit.  I got to the start/finish zone and sought out a running friend who was volunteering.  I wanted to get some reassurance.  MrB suggested that my shoe laces might be too tight, so I loosened them.  I could move my toes, I could feel if I applied pressure to my foot, it was just oddly numb, and was affecting my running.  I considered stopping, convinced I had injured it somehow.  I asked MrB what I should do.  He asked me what I wanted to do, I wanted to finish the race and get that bloody big medal!  "Well, get out there, but take it easy!"  We'd already worked out that I could walk the rest of the race and still not be the last finisher.  

I walked for a bit.  It was incredibly hard to walk when the rest of me felt so fresh and eager to run. I had a wee bit of a dip emotionally at this point, so gave myself a talking to.  I was kissing goodbye to a PB, so did it really matter now how long I took?  I realised that I could now approach this with a different mindset.  I could now chat to friends, pause and hug people and generally have fun.  And I did have fun.  When I managed to run my pace was still fast (for me!)  I still hated walking, but I soon realised that the heat had got to loads of people and there were many more walkers than runners in the final few laps.    

With 5 (I think) laps to go my walk a bit, run a bit, chat a lot strategy was working well.  Then my foot started to throb and itch.  I took my shoe off, expecting to find a putrid foot, or a the least some impressive bruising.  Nothing.  I looked again, and found a bite mark on the bottom of my foot and some swelling.  I can only think that something crawled into my shoe before I put it on and bit me part way through the race.  The relief at knowing I hadn't injured the foot I'd damaged 2 years ago  was great, but I was worried about causing any further injury with my strange running style.  As I got to the start area at the end of this lap I bumped into Sandra and asked if it was OK to leave the track to go and get some antihistamines, that was fine, so that's what I did.  Locating and rootling through my bag to get some drugs.  Sitting down part way through a marathon is not a good idea, getting going again was tough.  

I finished in 4hrs 48 minutes.  My slowest marathon ever but I still feel really positive about the whole day.  The first half of the marathon went so much better than I had hoped. I ran with some great friends,  the volunteers were supportive and enthusiastic, the organisation was faultless, the supporters were vocal and the bling is AMAZING!   I have no hesitation about signing up to run this again next year - in fact I am stalking the tzruns website so that I can sign up as soon as possible.   It is a real 'runners' marathon' - the support and camaraderie from all the runners, from the front runners to us slow coaches at the back is second to none, it shows the running community at its very best!