The Limassol Marathon, Cyprus, 14.04.2024

Best weekend! My first time to Cyprus, and I loved it. The marathon was on my birthday, Sunday, so we travelled out on Friday and arrived in the afternoon to the hotel (Crowne Plaza, Limassol). 

Straight away, we had a dip in the outdoor pool (chilly!) then headed over to registration (which was out of town) to collect our running numbers. 

From here, we walked back, stopping along the way at the Marina for some amazing food!

Saturday was given over to exploring. With the marathon registration, you got free bus travel over the weekend, which was great, and we travelled on the #30 bus up to the Amathous ruins, which are around 3500 years old. We spent the morning walking around and marvelling at the magic of the ruins in the sunshine. 

 

 

After a spot of lunch (with some motivational drinks) and a nice walk....

 

...the rest of the afternoon was dedicated to trying to acclimatise to the heat in the sauna and steam room, as I had noticed from walking around, that the temperature appeared to be around 20oC higher than it was at home.

On Sunday, the marathon started at 07:30, so it was an early start (up at 04:30, but really it felt like 02:30 with the time difference). 

Walked the couple of miles along to the start in the Molos Park, and saw the sunrise on the way. 

Then bumped into Karl at the start which was a nice surprise!

There were around 800 people doing the marathon, but over the weekend there was other events going on too; 5km, 10km, children's races and a half marathon, so there were around 17000 participants altogether, which made for a great atmosphere.

The marathon route itself was a coastal route, the first 10km or so going west towards the docks, reaching a tree lined road which was nice and shady and filled with the fragrance of the flowers and trees. Then it turned round, all the way back past the start and all along to a little way past the Amathous ruins (that we'd visited the day before), before turning back westwards for about 7 miles to the finish. Apart from a mile or so on the tree lined road, there was no shade at all and it was HOT, HOT, HOT! I wilted quite badly towards the end, and my pace graph is hilarious and can be pasted straight into a text book as a perfect example of exactly how not to pace a marathon. But I manged to hold on to finish in 3:56, which was my 40th sub-4 marathon finish on my 40th birthday. This is completely irrelevant and not even a "thing", but it did cheer me up a bit about turning 40. 

 

 

Afterwards, we relaxed with sorbets to cool off, then more nice food and drinks to celebrate.

 

 

 

Later on, Andrew also proposed, so that cheered up even more, and it was altogether a memorable birthday and weekend altogether, and I love Cyprus forever! 

Phienix Running - Trinity Run, 06.04.2024

After seeing that my Mum and Dad were happily at the start of their LDWA Capital Challenge event (28 miles from Waterloo, to Stratford), I ran into my Auntie at Waterloo, who was headed to meet my parents to set off all together. There was a then a brief interlude to the day, at Waterloo, as my train was cancelled. I filled this by getting coffee from Pret, which resulted in another brief interlude whilst the barrista dealt with two blokes who were high on some kind of exciting stimulant, and had hidden chocolate mousse and crisps down their trousers. After all the excitement, a train turned up, and I finally made it to the start at the Phoenix Aid Station at Walton-on-Thames just after 9 am, and got going.

I had another bit of a difficult run. There is a distinct lack of anything in my tank at the moment - my legs felt simultaneously heavy, but also empty, which I'm not sure is possible, or even makes sense, but hey ho. I still enjoyed it, and tried to do my best. It was nice and friendly, and plenty of friends and new friendly people were out on the towpath.

I completed 9 laps, for 29.5 miles. A lovely warm day for running along the Thames - the first time this year that I have felt too hot running! The blossoms are all out, the trees are turning green, and it feels like spring is finally here. Hurrah! Still nice and muddy though, so best not get too excited. 

I didn't see Dimitri today, as the route was the other way on the towpath, but on my walk back to the station he wasn't around either. I did learn though, that chickens can swim (in shallow water, with supervision), so perhaps he was in the leisure centre doing some lengths.

Thanks Rik and Team Phoenix for a lovely day.

Then back to Stratford to witness the epic Capital Challenge finale! 

March Marathoning

Running Miles Ricky Races 2, 21.03.2024

Some runs are just difficult, and that's all there is to be said 🤣 Well, I could say a lot more, of course 🤣 But, you know, it just was. I was in the wrong headspace for it, and it was a fight to hang in there, and keep my inner demons from being too demonic. But, I'm happy that I did that. 

11 laps and a bit around the Rickmansworth Aquadrome, the place with the highest dog/walking pole to people ratio on the planet on this particular day. It was nice and sunny though, and although I was having a bad day, I do like it there, and big thanks Noel for some laps and chats, which took my mind off things for a bit! 

Afterwards, it was back to inner demon combating, to finish my marathon.

Thanks Rik and Runnings Miles, and especially Beryl and Liz for being so kind 💕

Phoenix Running, Ten in Ten Day 1, Fortitude Scroll, 23.03.2024

After Thursday, I was ready to quit marathon running forever (which would be a shame, really). So, apart from looking forward to seeing Sarah for a chat-athon and to seeing her and all the TiTs/TweTs set off on their epic ventures, I wasn't altogether sure about going running today. But, in a fine example of how two days doing essentially the same thing can actually be completely different, it was an excellent day and I loved every minute. Thank you Sarah (princess twin), for always making it fun! Got to pick up our 100 Ultra Marathon batons too! Back to enjoying it again.

Phoenix Running, Ten in Ten Day 7, Intrepid Scroll, 29.03.2024

Back to join in the TiTs and TweTs on day 7 of their journeys. All of them being awesome, and looking strong.

A day of all four seasons....sun, rain, wind, cold, warm, sun, wind....wind, wind.....

...more wind....

....baubles, Dimitri, freshly caught shrimps, laughs, happy dogs, swans, chocolate cake, coffee and post run chats. 

A good day! 

Good luck for the rest of the 10 and 12 days....go be awesome, and catch your dreams!