The best laid plans!

I love my friends at tzruns!  They put on the best races, and I've had lots of fun running at their events at the Cyclopark, I've run races that I've been thrilled with  and races that I've been thrilled that I've managed to finish.  I know that, whatever the outcome, I have never regretted the decision to enter one of these superbly organised events.   Everything from the option to choose your own number to the random fancy dress, showboating competitions and professional photography included in the race entry adds to the fun and enjoyment.  This really is a race organised by runners for runners.

Arriving at the venue, I felt calm and relaxed and enjoyed chatting with friends.  The weather was warmish with a bit of a breeze and I couldn't wait to get going.  I had been feeling pretty ropey all week -  half term will do that to a teacher - and wasn't sure what to expect, but I set off with a friend and we ran at a pace where we were able to chat comfortably.  It was lovely to chat to her as I don't see that much of her as she live in the shadow of the Angel of the North!  We chatted and ran and ran and chatted and it was all going rather well.  We were averaging 8.44min/mile pace, it felt good, it felt easy.  It felt like I could run like this forever.

And then… And then something happened.  I have no idea what.  Was it the sun?  Was it nerves - I used to suffer from awful nerves to the extent that I would throw up before I had to speak to a group of people?  We may never know.  We were at about 11 miles in and I needed to be sick.  So I parted company with my friend and a pretty miserable time ensued!  I was sick a lot.  Even when there was nothing left to throw up my body tried to get rid of my stomach lining!  It seemed that if I tried to do more than take the smallest sips of liquid the result was catastrophic!

I am so grateful for the support of many friends.  I sat and cried with the support team from CPRC  who told me to remember that it was just one race.  I adopted a walk/run strategy, still throwing up with alarming regularity, but on a point of principle I decided that I would run up Tourette's Hill on all 17 laps!  (As an aside, I suggested a group of supporters who were just along from the top of the hill that their support might be more useful on the hill.  They were an amazingly vocal group of supporters and I can't thank them enough!)  I was astounded by the generosity and kindness of my fellow runners and supporters.  I burst into tears when people were nice to me!   I'd love to mention them all, but I'd forget someone!

I did finish the marathon.  4hrs and 32 mins  and some change.  There were some lovely memories: one of the loveliest people on the planet ran her first marathon (I wanted to run the last few laps with her, but really could not manage that), the fastest woman I know lapped me several times in a cow hat and cow print tights didn't get cross with me calling her a 'Fast Cow.'  There were some truly awesome marshals on the course - special mention must go to (in my friend's words) 'the two lovely gentlemen in the far corner!' who were wonderful!

I'm home now.  Via a drive in to London to pick up a stack of books.  I've walked 2 miles to get a curry  and have investigated to contents of my goodie bag - there's beer in there.  Tomorrow morning I may even be able to lift my rather large medal!

So what's next?  Well I have a few things planned, an off road marathon (yes, I am mad!) and a couple of shorter races, but the next big thing I am focussing on is the Royal Parks Foundation Half Marathon. I had a cracking race there last year, and have always loved this one!

Not the fastest, but one of the funnest!

(And, yes, I know that 'funnest' isn't a word!)

This is one of the first races I ever entered, way back in May 2010 and I have run it every year since.  It seems to get bigger and busier every year, and Green Park felt much more frantic than it had done for the Mile yesterday, with huge queues everywhere!  I bumped into some fellow FetchEveryone runners and chatted with them before heading off to the start.  From my pen, at the back of the red wave, it took only 4 minutes to get across the start line.

The route has changed this year, due to roadworks on The Embankment.  I missed running along by the river, and this year there was no run through Leadenhall Market - which is one of the most enjoyable bits of the run.  To compensate we did run past my old college, King's, on The Strand, but it is something of a mystery to me as to how the wind can blow into one's face when one runs out along The Strand and on the way back!  We also ran past several places where I used to work.  Chancery Lane is a wee bit narrow for such a huge number of runners, but it was nice to see that one of my least favourite workplaces is no longer a bank, it is now a pub!  The new route had several sections where you could see runners coming in the other direction - I kept an eye out for runners I knew and shouted encouragement at the few I saw.

I had aimed to run a little faster than my ideal marathon pace, as I have a marathon on Saturday, but found that I was running around the 8.15 min/mile mark and I couldn't be bothered to slow down.  At one point an elderly lady appeared in front of me as she stepped out from the crowd with no warning causing me to use some choice language!  I was just shocked that the space that had been empty was suddenly full of a woman in tweed 2' away from me and stepping towards me - evasive action had to be taken!  Later, coming back along The Strand, a man stepped in front of me carrying 2 large cups of coffee - that could have been very nasty!   On the plus side - it was somewhere near here that I saw the UNICEF supporters - what a lovely lot they are - and they cheered me loudly!

When I got to the 8km marker I still felt comfortable, so picked the pace up a bit.  Just after the 9km we reached Birdcage Walk - this last half mile was the same as the last half mile of yesterday's race, so I knew exactly how far I had to go and knew that I could carry on pushing myself.  I achieved a negative split for this race purely on the basis of the last mile and a bit.

Afterwards I met up with friends, one of whom had just run her first ever 10k, so of course a celebration was in order!

I've never run a mile before!

On Saturday I was given the chance to run a mile.  A late entry in the BUPA Westminster mile parkrun wave became available and after sorting out the logistics I decided that it seemed like a pretty good way of spending a Sunday while Husbando was working.   I decided to run the night before the 'big day' and so had done no specific training at all.  I had never run a mile race before and had no idea what to expect.

The atmosphere in Green Park was very relaxed, bands were playing, there were yoga classes and no queues for the loos!  I met up with some parkrun friends, met some parkrun royalty for the first time and we made our way to the start on The Mall.

Just three right turns around St James' Park, down the Mall, along Horse Guards' Parade, up Birdcage Walk and then right again to finish in front of the Palace.  Less than 7 minutes later it was all over.  I think I could have pushed harder.  I don't think I have ever pushed really hard but think that a few more mile races might help me realise what it feels like to push myself really hard.

After we'd collected our bags we came back to the finish line to watch some of the other miles - the ex Olympians wave was amazing, and watching David Weir win the wheelchair mile was fantastic.

This was a great event, lovely to run with my parkrun friends.  Definitely something to do again next year.

April in Paris

What's not to love about April in the city that believes itself to be the most beautiful in the World?   Admittedly it can sometimes be a trade off between looking at the pavement to avoid canine land and looking up to see the stunning architecture, but Paris is lovely and, on a warm spring day, it is a great city for walking, talking, eating and drinking.

I took the Eurostar out on Thursday, not because I wanted to get away from the children but because it was much cheaper to travel then.  I went straight from Gare du Nord to the Paris Marathon Expo at Versailles.  I've never done a marathon with an expo before, so I had no idea what to expect.  I thought that there would be a desk to pick up my race number and a few stalls selling stuff I didn't need, but the expo was HUGE! All the major sports kit manufacturers were there as well as several smaller ones selling interesting bits and pieces (I now own a FlipBelt) and, had I taken the time to visit all the stalls, I think I could have signed up to enough marathons to guarantee my entry into the 100 Marathon Club with events to spare!  Needless to say, common sense - or the fact that my back pack was heavy - meant that I didn't spend too long at the expo and didn't spend too much money and I didn't enter any races.

Friday was spent mooching around the Musee d'Orsay, looking at some of my favourite paintings and deciding that I really do not like many of Picasso's paintings!  From there it was a short walk over the river to the Musee de l'Orangerie for a long overdue to see Monet's Waterlilies.  I'd been meaning to go to this museum on several previous visits to Paris - but for some reason I've never managed to get there.  The galleries with the water lillies are stunning.  It was a very restful place to be - until a hoard of school children arrived and started to career around the two oval galleries.    It was a day for doing things in Paris that I hadn't done before.  I had lunch near the Grand Arche de la Défense - a structure I had only ever seen from a distance - with the friend I was staying with.  From there it was another first - a trip to Sacre Coeur.  All in all, I walked over 12 miles before heading back to my friend's house.

Saturday is normally parkrun day, but there are, as yet, no parkruns in France - so the Paris Marathon Breakfast 5k was the only alternative!  We set off from Avenue Foch with 3,000 other runners and finished by the Eifel Tower where we were treated to coffee and croissants.  I met with friends from other races and bumped into a runner from Basingstoke parkrun - I had no idea that he was going to be there!  It was lovely to run with my friend from my OTC days - as we ran with chatted with other runners, I even managed to chat in German with some runners from Barvaria.

Sunday… the big day.  Where Saturday had been chilly and overcast, Sunday dawned bright and sunny.  I packed my bag and headed for the start, dumped my bag on Avenue Foch and made my way to the start on the Champs Elysées, along with 54.000 other runners.  It was warm - which made a change from the start line of many recent races, but as it was only 9am I was aware that it was going to get warmer!

At 9.15am my wave went off.  A downhill start on cobbles in brilliant sunshine and a real party atmosphere.  It felt good to be running after the hell that is tapering!  I tried to stay in the shade as much as possible to avoid the heat and just soaked up the atmosphere.  Bands were plentiful - it seemed that the music was almost constant.  Water stations were plentiful, supplemented by the pompiers who had set up extra water stations and were spraying the runners with their hoses.

The water stations were on one side of the road only - which meant that if you didn't want water you had to run through people who were trying to cross the road to get to the water.  It was also a bit like running through a fruit salad at times - orange peel, raisins, banana and sugar cubes littered the road along with empty bottles.  We ran through the city and out into the Bois de Vincennes, here the crowds thinned out a bit, which meant that we had fewer bottle necks to slow us down.  At some points the supporters had been so enthusiastic that they took up half the road space.

My Kent Road Runner vest got loads of attention from the supporters, and quite a lot of jealousy from fellow runners.  I was lapping this up and having a ball!  I particularly remember the stretch between 12 and 13 kms where the supporters were particularly vocal.  I sang the Welsh national anthem to some supporters with a Welsh flag, high fived all the children and was laughing and smiling so much that there were tears running down my face.  I have never had so much fun running in my life.

At around 16 miles we went into a long tunnel.  The relief from the sunshine was nice, but it was muggy in the still air.  My Garmin lost satellite reception and when it found it again it said I was about 2 miles ahead of where I should be.  The pace info was also messed up.  There is no way I ran a 7 min/mile at that stage, the pace info never really sorted itself out for the rest of the run, so I covered my Garmin and just glanced at it when I passed the distance markers to try to work out where I was.

The last few miles were tough.  Not helped by my getting very confused.  At 36k I thought 'I've got 6k to go - that's 2 parkruns!'  (Because when I get to 20 miles I think that I've got 2 parkruns to go).  2 parkruns, at the pace I was going at would take me close to an hour - which meant that any chance of sub 4 was well out of my grasp so there was no point in pushing too hard.  By the time I'd realised my stupidity I had less than a mile to go, and couldn't possibly make up the time.  I did my best, overtaking people as I threw myself over the cobbles (horrible, hot, bumpy cobbles) towards the finish line on the Avenue Foch.  4hrs, 1minute and 17 seconds.  A 10 minute PB - but I was gutted and elated in equal measure!

All in all, I loved this race.  I would sign up for it again in an instant - but I worry that I might not enjoy it as much next year - especially as I would be going along with high expectations.  I think I will definitely investigate other city marathons in foreign countries.  A great way to see a city and to meet loads of other mad runners!

I am confident that I will get that sub 4 hour marathon time soon.  'All' that is required is that I run each mile 3 seconds faster than I did on Sunday.  Given the heat and the crowds, and my propensity to treat any run as a social event, I am sure that if I get some cooler weather, a clearer run and think more about running than having fun I can do it!

Hmm.

The sharp eyed among you will realise that I ran a race last weekend and did not blog about it.  Shock horror!  Had I lost the ability to type?  Was my internet connection down?  No, I just had a bit of a duff race and didn't feel that I could write about it.  Reading Half Marathon had been marketed as having a 'new route' which was 'fast and flat.'  It didn't seem that different to previous years in terms of hilliness, but I had started the race feeling a bit nauseous and as I ran I felt worse.  I threw up 4 times in 13.1 miles - classy!  By the time I finished I was dehydrated, and I swayed across the finish lines with my vision blurring.  Luckily a friend spotted me and grabbed hold of me so that I didn't add passing out at the finish to puking my guts up around Reading!  My stomach muscles ached and I was disappointed with my time.

The fact that I was disappointed is silly.  This time last year I would have been thrilled with a half marathon time of 1hr 50mins 58secs.  And a bit selfish!  I have friends who can't run because they are ill and injured - I can run, and the weather was beautiful.  I even got a fabulous race photo!

However since Reading whenever I have run, or even thought about running, I have felt sick.  Even running parkrun (about which I want to say a lot so will probably do another blog post) with Freddy yesterday made me feel a bit icky.  There is nothing wrong with me, it is all in my mind - but that doesn't make it any less annoying.  So that's why there was no post Reading blog.

Fast forward to today.  In a fit of enthusiasm earlier in the year I entered the Combe Gibbet to Overton 16 mile cross country race.  "It'll be fun!" people told me.  So I signed up.  My record with cross country this year hasn't been great, I've only done two other races, G1 and G2 - and both of them have resulted in my hurting myself and swearing a lot.  Today, with the clocks going forward during the night, I was glad of an afternoon start.  I thought it might allow the weather to improve.  16 miles in the rain didn't really seem like fun.  We were bussed from Overton to Combe Gibbet, through chocolate box villages along winding roads and arrived at our starting point in a howling wind.  It was a struggle to walk up the hill from the car to the gibbet.  It was, to say the least a somewhat exposed location!  So exposed that a few of the boys, who didn't think to check the wind direction, ended up spraying themselves, and possibly their neighbours, when having a quick pre race pee.  It was funny to watch.

Thankfully we set off down the hill we had struggled up.  The wind was behind us and propelled us forward.  It was hilly but not too steep, the ground underfoot was varied.  We had been informed that the first 5 miles were wet, the second 5 were sticky and the last 5 were bone dry.  And it had, at last, stopped raining - or at least I think it had, the wind was so extreme that it was hard to notice anything else.  I wore a running jacket for the first few miles, then got too warm and tied it around my waist where it acted as an effective sail - sadly not always steering me in the direction I wished to travel.  I threw up twice before 7 miles.  Hmm.

Some of the paths were very uneven and slippery.  At 7.5miles I put my left foot down at a daft angle and it twisted under me.  This is the foot I damaged at the end of January.  It hurt.  It hurt a lot.  So much so that I thought I would have to quit.  I thought I would hobble on to the next marshal point and see how I felt.  I don't like quitting, so I was doing the maths in my head to see if I could make the cut off (get to 12 miles by 2hrs 30mins or be taken of the course).  I could, I thought, just.

I got to the next marshal point and found out that it was a mile and a half to the next one (on the other side of the A34 after going through an underpass).  My foot had eased off by some point by the time I got there and the ground here was smoother, so I though I'd carry on.  I was mostly walking at this point, but that was OK, this section was a long gradual hill and with the wind still blowing for NATO I was concentrating on staying upright.  I chatted with a few people as we walked/ran.  The weather was improving but the wind was here to stay!  I got to 12 miles well within the cut off time, and my foot was feeling a bit better.  Still painful, still sore but not agony.  I thought it was just about possible, if I could pick up the pace, to finish in 2hrs 40mins.  The last 4 miles were more downhill than uphill, but the downhill hurt my foot more.

I pushed on.  I was overtaking a lot of the people who had passed me back at 7.5miles - which was nice - and the last section was on road, which meant I didn't have to think about where I was putting my feet.  I ran as fast as I could to make sure I could get that sub 2.40.  As I ran into the finish field there were 2 men ahead of me running together, I picked up the pace and manage to finish between the two of them.  The man I chicked was Steven King - I don't think he was the author!

I crossed the line, collected my medal and swore my way across the field to a group of friends.  "If I ever talk about signing up for another f*cking cross country race you have my permission to f*cking shoot me!"  Apparently in the course of 30 minutes I uttered one sentence that did not contain any swearing.  I hope I was polite to the ladies serving tea and cakes!  But I had done it!  2hrs 39mins and (I think) 48 secs - nothing like cutting it fine!

Would I do this race again.  Hell no!  Would I recommend it to a friend - yes I would!  From the luxury coaches conveying us to the start to the tea and cakes at the end this was a brilliant little race.   I couldn't help but think what a lovely route this would be to walk along on a summer day.

Garmin link here - for anyone who wants a giggle at my comedy splits!

Surrey Half Marathon

Now, living in deepest, darkest Hampshire means that one doesn't often see Tai Chi outside of a sports hall.  When we lived in London it seemed that alfresco Tai Chi  in Holland Park was de rigueur.  I was delighted to spot this gentleman in Woking Park this morning.  I was glad that I had arrived early and had a few moments to watch him.

The journey into Woking was easy, the race village opened at 7am and the road closures didn't come into force until 8am.  I parked easily, and followed the throng of lycra clad bodies to the venue.  I knew I'd arrived early as there was no queue for the loos!  The sun was shining and, while it was chilly, I decided that a vest top and shorts would suffice.  Having arrived early, I had no I had no problems checking my bag at the baggage storage in the leisure centre.  When I left the warmth of the leisure centre to make my way to the start the queues just to get in were huge.  I think many of them may have been late to the start.

I chatted briefly with a much faster parkrun friend before he battled his way to the front starting pen and then spent a few minutes chatting with people around me before we were off.  As will all big races, it was crowded at the start, and a fair bit of weaving around people was required before I could get into a rhythm.   It may be different if you are one of the very fast runners at the front - but, as a middle of the road runner it is always a bit of a bun fight!  It was somewhat disconcerting to run towards the start and encounter photographers with tripods facing towards one - I wonder how many surprised faces will have been photographed?  There were also several traffic islands that were not well marked - it is really hard to see a kerb at ground level when running in a big group!

There was plenty of banter between runners, and there were lots of supporters dotted around the course to cheer the runners on.  On a switchback, at about 4 miles, I heard those words that every teacher dreads - especially when wearing lycra shorts - 'Hello Miss!'  I needn't have panicked too much - it was a colleague not a student who stormed past me and is probably blaming a brief conversation with me for missing out on a sub 1.40 time by 9 seconds!

I was running fairly well until about half way.  I'd forgotten to strap my foot up and it was beginning to throb gently.  I eased off the pace.  This was, after all, supposed to be an expensive training run with a medal at the end!  I decided to run the rest of the race at, what I hope will be, my marathon pace.  9min/mile.  I didn't quite manage to slow down that much, but, poorly foot aside, I felt fairly comfortable.  The route was not hilly, but there were long gentle inclines to contend with.  The miles ticked by - rather quickly, the markers seemed to be placed just before my Garmin registered each mile.

And soon we were back to where we had started!  Running to the finish I heard my name being called out by a friend.  That gave me the spur I needed to think 'sod these well disguised speed bumps' and put on a final spurt of speed to get over the line.  While not a PB (by 4 mins) I am aware that I would have been beyond thrilled with this time last spring, and it is my third consecutive sub 1.50 half marathon.  Whether I can do better at Reading is another matter.  If I don't manage it then there is always Hackney  which I am running for UNICEF.    (I'll  be blogging about running for charity in the next few weeks - I just need to collect my thoughts!)

There was no goody bag as such - but that was no bad thing.  We could collect food (mostly nutty stuff) and a drink after being given our medals.  And goody bags tend to be filled with flyers for races that I either a) already know about and am signed up for or b) know about and don't want to run.  I grabbed a sports massage from Guildford Sports Clinic before collecting my bag and heading home - getting home took me as long as running the half!  All the roads I'd used to get there were still closed and the sat nav couldn't cope with me choosing which direction I thought looked hopeful!

(Thanks to Nick for a picture of me looking just about finished!)

Bramley. Again.

My relationship with this race is not great.  I ran the 10 mile in 2012, wimped out of starting in 2013, had a nightmare at the 2014 20 mile race and yet somehow I found myself at the start line again this morning.  Given that my marathon training had been put on hold following my tumble at the end of January, and the fact that my foot is still not fully healed I couldn't help but think that running 20 miles was a foolish endeavour.  But I'd paid my entry fees and I hate wasting money.  This is the only 20 mile race I have ever run, so I knew I could run 10min/mile pace and still get a PB.  That is what I intended to do - nice and easy.  

We had a bit of a FetchEveryone meet up before the race.  Cup of tea, gossip, proper loos - that sort of thing and then made our way a couple of hundred meters down the road to the start at Bramley Primary School.  There were hundreds and hundreds of runners!  It seemed a much bigger field than in previous years and as such there were loads of people I knew there but didn't get to see in the crowd.  It took well over a minute to cross the start line - so just as well there was chip timing.  

My pacing plan went out of the window as soon as I started running.  I felt as though I was taking it easy but was running close to 8min/mile pace.  Not sustainable, given my current level of fitness! I slowed down, started chatting to people around me.  And there were plenty of people around me - I hadn't remembered it being this busy the year before.  The water stations were frequent and the marshals friendly and the miles ticked by.  As we approached the 10 mile mark I decided I wanted to run on my own for a while.  I was aware that running and talking was stopping me from listening to any niggles that my foot was giving me.  At 10 miles all the 10 mile runners finish - which is an obvious statement I know, but it means that you are running alongside runners who are sprinting towards the finish line.  This, coupled with the slight downhill at this point, makes it very hard not to pick up the pace - which would be a really silly idea as there are still another 10 miles to go!

I got to the 10 mile mark in about 1hr 29 mins - only 3 minutes slower than my PB, and made the decision to keep on running.  I ran past the bus shelter where I'd had a little sob last year and felt OK.  The roads were much clearer now - this is, I suppose, why I don't remember it as a busy race, because the second half isn't!  Although I had dropped my pace a little, this second half felt as though it was faster, I think I'd got into the flow and the mile markers seemed to come round quicker.  It is all in the mind I know - but it did seem as though it wasn't taking long.  

At around 14 miles there was a warning shout from a runner behind me about a car.  I was hugging the verge, but a great big, shiny, black Range Rover was right on top of me.  I tapped on his window and had stern words with him as I ran along side him!  I was polite - but I am sure he is in no doubt that I have a very low opinion of idiots who drive aggressively when there are runners around!  I got a cheer from the other runners - and one of them pointed out that if I could carry on a conversation while running alongside a Range Rover then I wasn't putting enough effort into my running!

At 15 miles my lack of training kicked in.  The slope that had seemed so easy at 6 miles was sapping my strength at 16m, but I WOULD NOT give up.  The last 5miles were a testament to mind over matter.  I remember a PTI from my TA days who would always say 'Your mind gives up long before your body is ready to stop' but today I proved him wrong.  My mind is way more stubborn than my body and stopping was not an option.  I was even beginning to regret stopping at the water stations.  I can't walk and drink (let alone run and drink) from an open cup, and I'd not brought a water bottle with me - so I stopped at each station.  Now I could see that this time was wasted time and would mean that there was no way I could get a sub 3hr time.  I was still on course for a PB though (previous time was 3:27:39) so I'd have to be content with that.  

With 1.5 miles to go I passed a young man walking up a hill - I grabbed his arm and dragged him up the hill with me!  Managed to hustle a couple of people along like this.  This was the only bit of the second lap that seemed longer than the first.  The finish line took forever to materialise, but when I saw it I put on a burst of speed in sheer desperation for this to be over!  I finished in about 3hrs 1minute.  

Once I'd staggered through the finish handed over my timing chip and collected my goody bag I made my way to the Fetch gathering, where our wonderful hostess (who had herself completed the 10 mile race) was kind enough to undo my shoe laces so that I didn't have to bend over!  She also furnished us with many cups of tea, chilli con carne, jacket potatoes and cakes.  It really does make the race extra special to meet up with such lovely people afterwards.  

As to the race bling, hmm, Husbando described it as an ashtray!  A little metal dish thing.  Not sure about it to be honest.  I like a medal :-)