Recovering week.....and jog on!

For the last week I have been making the most of a ‘recovery week’ by having plenty of rest, and feeling pretty good for it now.

Mon 22^nd: rest

Tues 23^rd: 4 m run, 36:46, 8’57 pace, 348kcal

Wed 24^th: rest

Thursday 25^th: 5 m run, 45:49, 9’06 pace, 427kcal

Fri 26^th: rest

Sat 27^th: 5.5 m run, 58:54, 10’09 pace, 470kcal

Sun 28^th: rest

Mon 29^th: 4 m run, 33:19, 8’45 pace, 323kcal (Before work! Bring on the week!)

Tues 30^th: rest. OK, it wasn’t meant to be. But Andrew has bought a house! So we cycled on Boris Bikes to see it. Which equals about 50 minutes cycling in central London, which is a good workout, and even better, am still in one piece. Bonus.

Taking it easy means time for other stuff, including camping in the van! Camping trip involved a run which was really pretty, only 20 miles away from London but felt really far away, running through fields of flowers and along bridleways in the woods. Campsite didn’t have a shower, so I now consider myself a proper camper, after washing in a washing-up bowl behind a windshield in a field. Haha! Worth it for staying somewhere beautiful and having a campfire at night :-)

And now to jog on ...I need to get a good weeks training in...10 miles home tonight.....

....in new shoes!

Marathon #8: the made-up one

Just to clarify for all those people who say I am mad, there were no suitable proper marathon races this weekend so I had to make one up! I have called it 'The Putney Potter'.

The advantage of this madness is that you can start the run when you like. Which is useful during the hottest week in recent times! So, 7am start anyone? Surprisingly, my parents (who have come to offer encouragement and refreshments) and Andrew (who is even madder to run his second ever marathon as not even a proper one) all agree! So, it's up at 5am...

The start. Fairly unglamorous at the traffic lights by Putney bridge at 7am on a Sunday, but who needs glamour, really, when you have a goal, a passion to get there, and like minded people around you? We are here to run a marathon, so let's go!

 

It's nice and cool to start with and it was worth getting up early to beat the heat. I love this run so much, it's one of my favourite places, anywhere. So we start in Putney and run along the Thames path to Richmond, one lap of Richmond Park and then back again, to finish by Fulham Palace:

My Mum and Dad have been very kind and carefully arranged to meet us at two places, first at 8 miles and then again at 17 miles, to cheer us on and top up water bottles and sweet supplies. here they are in action:

Very good. And they both claim they don't like running.

As I've been struggling with bad headaches after the last few marathons, I am trying especially hard today in the hot weather to drink more. Following advice from my running guru Susie, I am trying out some new electrolyte tablets in my water for the first time (which is exactly what you shouldn't do on a race that matters, but luckily I like them and they seem OK). I actually feel much better for them, maybe it's psychological but I feel more thirsty and keen to drink them more than water. I chose strawberry lemonade flavour. Andrew said it tastes pink. So?! At least it's not BLUE! I boycotted blue powerade (well, there was none left in the shop) but this backfired as the red one is even more vile. Really. Never thought it possible. But got us through the last few miles I suppose. Still, bleugh. 

So really the whole run was beautiful. I enjoyed the whole thing and didn't have a bad moment the whole way around. This was the same route I did back in March, when I had a terrible run, and can't believe how different it feels today! 

I think the differences between this time and last time are 1) having someone to run with the whole way around 2) being fitter/ more accustomed to the distance than last time 3) the weather, no rain, nice and warm! 4) drinking and eating better 5) knowing I could do it on a really bad day, so if could do it then I could do it anytime 6) not being ill beforehand 7) having nice people cheering you at well place points 8) having nice people run the last few hundred meters with you and take photos!

Only thing I need to change are my trainers, my feet are ruined by the end! Still, who cares, blisters heal, and that is marathon # 8 - DONE!!!

Off to celebrate with roast chicken and apple pie and wine, while the sun heats up! Perfect Sunday :-)

Venice: the land of dreams!

So the last couple of days in the IoW were spent chilling out at the campsite, eating lots of camping food and flying a kite. Kind of nice to wake up late and not have to put my rucksack on! 

Even nicer to come home from holiday to know that you have another holiday to go on tomorrow!

On Friday morning we went for a pre-holiday 2 run in Wimbledon which was supposed to be a big 13 mile run (to create a calorie deficit in time for all the Venice ice-creams), but I fell over a tree root after 3 miles and cut my right leg all the way up, so now my holiday legs which I was pretty happy with are ruined :-( and so is the run - thanks Andrew for putting me on a bus back home :-) I would still be lying there in a wretched heap if I'd been on my own. On the bright side, nothing seems to have been permanently damaged!

After a shower I cheered up and en-route to Venice! I could seriously get used to permanent holidays. 

The 'Easter Crew' are all there! Caroline, Malcolm, Penny, Paul, Sue, Annette, John, Andrew, me. We rented a huge period apartment with high ceilings and marble floors and old furniture - beautiful. Marvelous time relaxing and exploring the city and catching up with friends. Much ice-cream, delicious food and gin-and-tonics are consumed, so a couple of early morning runs are included to keep things in balance (ish). 

Nice to see a different view of the city early in the morning, it's enchanting in the early morning light before it gets too hot and busy. Running up and down the bridges and through tiny streets is certainly different to a normal run and lots of fun, and picking up pastries and coffee for breakfast for everyone on the way back is definitely a good incentive to run quickly!

Isle of Wight Run #4

Day 4 (9^th July 2013): Totland Bay – Cowleaze Chine (11 miles)

Best day by far! Early start and running by 8.30am. Set off from the pub from yesterday, up through the woods onto the cliffs and then up Headon Warren which is full of history as well as being very beautiful with great views – there is a Neolithic burial mound, and people used to mine here in the 19^th century. At the top you can see Alum Bay and the Needles, great to see this on the last day!

Ran though the Needle amusement park, and then past a wonderful house with a garden filled with ornaments and trinkets a the sweetest dog called Milly.

Up to the top of the cliffs and we went to the Needles viewpoint which is a by the rocket launch sites from the war. Fantastic views!

Then we ran up West high Down to the Tennyson Monument at the top, then a great downhill section to Freshwater Bay. From there it was up and down along the cliff path back along the south coast of the island with stunning views all around. So pretty, wild flowers all around, and butterflies, and where the cliffs have started to fall into the sea, grass and plants have started to grow where the cliffs have fallen and it’s as if watching a new landscape form.

The van comes in to view (as our campsite is right on the coastal path)! Brilliant feeling! 4 days ago we set off in the other direction, and now we’ve made it around the whole island, back to where we started. Now for a well earned rest.....and finally an ice cream!

Isle of Wight Run #3

Day 3 (8^th July 2013): East Cowes to Totland Bay (21 miles)

All taxi drivers on the IoW are mad. In a nice way. In London taxi drivers don’t often talk much, but here it’s like they are just waiting for a conversation!

So back to the glamorous start line at the petrol station, then 1 mile downhill to the floating bridge at Cowes. Ran through Cowes and the nice sailing shops and boats, and then out onto the promenade for a nice while with views over to the mainland and the Solent.  Then up onto the cliff top path and running along a rough track in the scrub, then back down to the beach. The main part of the run is all inland today, as a lot of the coast is owned privately. Cold lemonade stop at the New Inn Pub in Shafleet – delicious! Then we ran through the prettiest field in the world, tiny blue and yellow and pink flowers with a stream at the bottom and the sun shining. Next up were some pine woods which was nice and cool in the shade, and running over wooden causeways over some march land. Picnic stop on the beach = tick!

Then back into the woods and got lost again around an enormous farm house and made a swift (ish) getaway before being eaten by the guard dog.

Then, easily my favourite bit of running yet! Bouldner Copse is set on a slope, which fortunately we were running down, so over a mile of easy running and really just a beautiful peaceful place!

Reached Yarmouth. Really wanted to stop there, and have an ice-cream. Dreams shattered...must crack on! Onwards through the Victoria Country Park which is great running though the forest. Then down and around an enormous holiday park (really I think that path could go through the middle of it), on into Freshwater, where we were planning on stopping, only we didn’t realise that Freshwater wasn’t on the coast, so we ran past it....

...and into a closed section of the coastal path where the cliffs had fallen in! Oh well, we kept going, but it was quite intimidating, thinking of how small you are in comparison to the massive cliffs. We made it to Totland Bay where we had cold drinks and crisps in the pub.

Quite tired but really loved today’s running. And now only 11 miles left!

Isle of Wight Run #2

Day 2 (7th July 2013): Shanklin – East Cowes (21 miles)

Tough day! Thanks to top tip from Alan the anxious taxi driver, we started along the sea wall instead of running up and down the cliffs, along to Sandown which seemed a sleepy town at this time of morning. After that we climbed up Culver Down, and then up to the Earl of Yarborough Monument. After reaching the top, it looked like the next few miles might be quite nice and easy as everything looked downhill. But then we got lost in a field of cows coming down the hill and finished up in a wood of where the path disappeared into millions and trillions of huge stinging nettles. At least as tall as me. Very brave. Fought through them with bare hands and a stick. Low Point :-(

Found path again and ate some sandwiches to celebrate. The next place we reached was Bembridge where there is a harbour full of house boats. At Seaview we ran along the beach by mistake. Luckily the tide was out so we didn’t get stranded on a rock. Climbed over rocks and some trees and found a nice picnic spot on the beach. This is totally the way to run, lots of sitting and eating and looking at the sea.

Next we arrived at Ryde which was pretty busy with tourists and a bit of a shock after  not seeing many people for a while. Speeded up for a bit. Big climb out of Ryde where it got nicer with big houses and a golf course. Then we passed Quarr Abbey which is an amazing really unusual building. Then we reached Wotton Bridge where we totally missed a turning and ran the next few miles on the main road until we reached 20 miles, which was today’s target. Then we walked and walked and kept walking trying to find a good place to stop, but the village we were planning on stopping in didn’t seem to have a centre. In the end we found a spot in an industrial estate outside a petrol station opposite Osbourne House. The glamour.

Most of this run involves hills and getting lost so far. The sign posts are a bit rubbish sometimes and the directions seem to be quite old. Obviously if I was properly organised I would have brought a proper map along, but it all adds an extra dimension of excitement, and is something else to moan about when tired.

So today was quite difficult and feeling a bit low at the end. But feeling more optimistic about tomorrow when we start at Cowes and in my mind that’s the top of the island, and now we’re pretty much half way.

Spicy sausage pasta for tea!

Isle of Wight Run #1

IoW run

Day 1 (6th July 2013): Cowleaze Chine – Shanklin (14 miles)

5.30am alarm! On holiday!!! Cripes. The campervan is broken and the AA man is called to fix it. Fixed. Coffee and bagels for the road....holiday time!

Take the ferry from Southampton over to Cowes and then drive to the south of the island to the campsite at Cowleaze Chine. Amazing camping spot by the cliff edge! Refuel with coffee and fruit and nuts then set off on run number 1....

First impression = harder than it looks! A chine, I soon discover, are the bits that go in and out all along the coast, making the route along the cliffs much further than it looks from a quick glance at the map. And they go up and down. And I’m hungry, and it’s hot, and I’m tired, and we’ve only done 4 miles and there are 63 left. How will I do this?! The first afternoon is spent in a deep despair.

On the plus side, the scenery is really very pretty. Blue seas and blue skies and the sun beating down on the cliff tops we are running along. We reach Blackgang Chine where some of the houses have fallen away into the sea where the cliffs are crumbling. Took a wrong turn and climbed carefully through a barbed wire fence, and then was bitten by a horsefly on the other side. I’m allergic to horseflies, so now my hand will swell up. My, this is going great. Soon reached the top of the cliff at St Catherine’ Point where you can see back along all of the south coast of the island, which momentarily cheered me up. And definitely now we’ve reached the top of a cliff it must go down for a bit. Right? Then we reached Niton and according to the map it said we’d only run 6 miles, which definitely is wrong, because I’m done for already and can’t run another step.

No, the map is right, so better get on with it. Come on cliffs! At the top of the next one there is a reward of Ventnor Botanic Gardens, which is shady and cool, and is like the Botanical Gardens we used to go to with my Auntie in Southport, but a slightly more exotic location. From Ventnor we followed the sea wall to Bonchurch. Wish the sea wall went around the whole island, much better than these cliffs. Cliffs won out after a mile though, and we climbed through some tiny streets to an ancient church, and took another wrong turn a climbed another hill for NO REASON! Then we made it to Luccombe village and got lost again in a field, and gave up in Shanklin where we rehydrated with cool water and chocolate milk, an ice cream and hailed a cab from surely the most anxious taxi driver in the world, who needed a minute to ‘restart’ his heart after Andrew approached to ask for a lift. Anyway, after his heart started ticking again, we headed back to the campsite. Nicest shower ever (despite the crowd of daddy-long-legs in the shower block. Gross)!

Campervan tea! Rice, ham, cheese, onion, pepper = nom nom!

Marathon #7: the Lancaster Marathon...the one with the hills

Wow that was easily the toughest marathon this year! I was a little (OK, very) apprehensive beforehand as it has a reputation for being very hilly. I was right to be worried about it......

The race being held in Lancaster I had the opportunity to go home for a long weekend, which was really nice. Wedding dress shopping for my best friend on Saturday, lunch in a cake/chocolate shop (marshmallow and strawberry chocolate kebabs!), and dinner for my Mum's 60th birthday at a local Italian restaurant in the evening = well carb loaded and relaxed in time for Sunday :-D

Sunday dawned bright and sunny. Whatever! Overcast, windy and a bit nippy more like, but can't complain, better for the running and at least it's not raining. The race starts and finishes at the Lancaster Brewery (a genius stroke of planning!) and it was a nice place for a pre-race cuppa...

It's a really small race, only just over 100 people ran it, and it started on a small country lane, among some fields of cows and sheep.

The race started and finished in the same place, but there were more uphills than down for sure, and the hills were also much steeper on the way up, the upward trend beginning after approx 1 meter and continuing for 26 miles. I'll stop complaining about the hills now, just for the moment....

...look how STEEP it is!

I met a nice guy called John quite soon after starting and he was the most cheerful person ever, and was so optimistic climbing the hills! His enthusiasm was contagious - so thank you!! We both figured out that even though we were both hoping for around 4 hours, you just had to see how it went with the hills, and enjoy the run without focusing too much on time. 

My Mum and Dad and sister all came along to support me which was fantastic. They drove around the course in the car, stopping every few miles to shout encouraging things and hand out cakes/drinks :-D My Mum even ran with me for a little while at the top of a particularly unpleasant hill...thank youuuuu! It was so nice that they were there the whole way around the route, it really helped me to keep going, thinking I would see them again soon. They drove past me and waved going up the hills a couple of times (in what, 1st gear?!), which was quite depressing. They could have given me a lift. I'm taking skates next time, then I can hitch a lift on the back. 

The route was completely enchanting, along little country roads, in the fells and through tiny villages, it was well worth all the work, and sometimes I even forgot I was running I was so distracted by the scenery (well, OK, not completely forgot, just less aware).

I surprised myself by finishing in 4.08.39, which is pretty close to my usual times this year! I felt worst between about 14 and 20 miles, when I started to feel quite vague and a bit woozy, but sadly not quite vague enough not to notice that the hills were getting harder. I tried to drink more, but the only water was in cups every few miles, and there was Lucazade in bottles, but I feel quite sick from drinking that, but I decided eventually that that was less bad than getting even more dehydrated, so I drank just over a bottle in all, and a few cups of water, and a few sweets and a piece of flapjack. Which isn't enough I  know, and I paid for it again afterwards with a bad headache. I never learn :-( but next time I have promised myself I will, I promise I promise! 

At the top of a very step hill, there was a farm, and a bit of their machinery had 'Marshall' written on it, which was my Auntie's surname, and I thought to myself that that was exactly the kind of place she would have come to watch if she had been there, right at the highest point, sitting with her face in the wind, and loving it all. And then I remembered why I was doing it, and it seemed to get easier again.

My eye started bleeding the day after, which is AWFUL!!! Ewwwww. I though it might be from all the effort I put in going up the hills so fast (ha!) but apparently it's more likely that something blew into my eye, from all the wind, and burst a small blood vessel. It really looked quite dramatic though and is my most unusual injury yet! 

My sister is a trained massage person, and she gave my legs a proper sorting out afterwards. They feel amazing, not stiff at all! THANK YOU sis!!!! 

The finish was great, even though it was a little race, the other runners and the people who came out to support us, and the marshals, were so much fun and really kind. I really really loved this race, and you know what, without the hills it wouldn't be so good, so there, I'm converted! Fabulous day, thanks to all involved!

xxx