The Autumn Shakespeare Marathon

It doesn't seem OK to go writing a post about something so trivial as running when there is so much horror going on in the world right now, without acknowledging these things. So, to reflect for a moment. The people striking terror into the world are but a few, and yet so few cause so much pain to so many. We can but continue to live our lives in the way that we wish, and not in the way we will be bullied and frightened into. And so, whilst reflecting on those who have been stolen from the world, let us be strengthened, and strive to bring goodness into the world, to far outweigh those horrors which have taken place.

"How far that little candle throws his beam! So shines a good deed."

- William Shakespeare

Winter running is essentially like winter motoring (or driving, as it's the 21st century now). In theory a good idea, but practically, several issues befall those in the driving seat. The trouble of seeing in the dark (although, obviously I suppose, legally in a car there are lights to assist with this conundrum), a puzzle which has taken much time trying to solve, all to no avail. I have tried running at 5.30 am before work, after work, before tea, after tea, but all times seem to be dark now. The most exciting route I have come up with is a 10 km straight out and back route along the main road, where cars, and especially buses, splash through puddles at 50 miles an hour making sure that if you weren't totally soaked through from the rain, you sure are now. It's a totally enjoyable experience which I look forward to on running days. 

Then there's the weather, which I can't even speak of as it's so upsetting to think of the cold and rain, and anyway I expect you're completely bored of listening to me rant about northern English winter weather, and it's only half way through November. Then there's the ground which is slippery. On last weeks long run, I chose to run to Blackburn along the canal in the rain (a decision I'm unable to justify on reflection) and ended up face down in the mud after slipping on a rock, hidden by treacherous autumn leaves. And there was still 10 miles to run home, and I used up the rest of my water trying to clean up my cut knee, and then I felt faint from lack of hydration, and then I ran out of food, and my watch packed it in, and, and, and...

And I will stop there, as I can't remember where I was going with this theme, and I expect that for those looking to read something motivating are about to chuck this out the window in disgust, if you didn't already give up. I will change topic. 

On Saturday I ran the Autumn Shakespeare Marathon with Andrew, at the Shakespeare County Raceway at Long Marston Airfield. Although this seems like disused airfield (and I don't mean that in a rude way, it just has a look of desolateness about it, with even a couple of abandoned RAF planes thrown in), I know from my Dad that it is not. It has one functioning runway, which my Dad has never managed to land on in his microlight as the weather has always been against him. So, I guess this is the only airfield in the country I have stood next to the runway at that my Dad hasn't. Although I'm with him on the weather. Dreadful. But we won't start on that.

I was looking forward to the race, of course, as I am member of the OMA group (Obsessed Marathoners Anonymous), but wasn't overly prepared. I found out the address of the hotel we were staying in while turning on the satnav in the car before I left the night before, and the address of the race even later at about 11 pm. I somehow remembered all my kit, and there was a over-enthusiastic buying of porridge by Andrew's Mum, my Mum, and me. Today's lesson: never let yourself be caught short of porridge the night before a run.

If I had been better prepared I would have read the route description before entering and noticed that it was 8 x 5 km laps around a disused airfield, rather than a scenic 26.2 jaunt around Stratford-upon-Avon in the shadow of a Shakespeare. No matter. I was in a bad mood for the first couple of laps, due to being cold and wet, being told off by a marshal for being late (which was incorrect in itself, there was good 4 minutes before the race started) and that this was irresponsible as I would miss the race briefing and fall into a pothole and break my ankle (like I ever fall over). As with all things, I eventually got over it, somewhere around lap 3. I remember, as I looked at my wrist and noticed that the elastic bands I was using to keep count of the laps were starting to look more manageable, and 15 km of running is about the time it takes for me to start feeling less angry about something.

It was great to run with Andrew again! After he came back from abandoning me for a whole month to go to New York. He ran a PB today, 3:48:24 - congrats! And without him I wouldn't have managed such a time by myself as despite feeling better in mood after a few laps, I found it a tough race. If I may mention one more tiny point about the weather, it's that 8 laps around an exposed airfield means that for approximately 1/4 of the time the wind is blowing directly in your face, and you have a greater appreciation for how the orange windsock which is blowing at a 90 degree angle to the floor must be feeling.

Other things of note from the race. I accidentally ate a banana flavor energy gel for the first time, and after a few seconds of taste confusion and panic, found that it was actually alright. I put blister plasters on for the first time at the start of the race, and these did stop me from getting blisters in the usual place, but instead I got blisters where the plasters had rubbed. But they were less bad than the ones I usually get, so overall, I think this was a better outcome. 

So there you are. Marathon #31. My years and marathons are now equal, and from now on I will be younger than my marathons, which seems a good situation to find yourself in.

Minion wisdom

The weather this week has been wonderful. Only kidding. 

I always find that the day called 'the end of British summer time' on the calendar is a bittersweet moment. The morning generally goes quite well. That extra hour a day that everyone is always going on about, well, here's your chance! Today that actually happens! Then as the day goes on, and it becomes apparent that even with the extra hour in the day you are still incapable of managing to do everything that you were supposed to do (i.e. you stayed in bed for the hour), your good mood dips a little lower, and by 3 pm, along with daylight, it goes out.

Wow, this blog is turning into a lovely little ray of sunshine. Oh no, that can't be; there will be no more rays of sunshine now until at least March.

Well, I think I've pretty much included enough negative thoughts there to send everyone running for a duvet to hide under until spring. So see you then.....

                                      

Ha ha! This means I don't have to come out at all, unless I move to the equator, in summer.

And now, this endless complaining is coming to the point....I promise.....

Once, a few years ago, whilst I was laid up with an injury to my knee (caused by tripping over a tree root during an evening run in the dark in Harringay, for those interested), I lay on the physio's table, whilst she pummeled me to a bruised and weeping heap for half an hour. All for £35 a pop. What I got from this particular £35, as well as a lot of pain and feeling quite sweary, was a nugget of information that has stuck with me since (oh, and she did fix my knee too).

I was complaining about the weather (imagine!) as it was winter, and that the London marathon is in Spring. Why can't it be an Autumn marathon, I bemoaned, then I wouldn't have to be out training all these nights in the dark and the cold and the rain. And I would have seen the tree root, and not fallen over it. Oh, how rubbish everything is.

She fixed me with a look that conveyed I that I would do well to stop complaining right there and then. You can think of it that way, she said. Or, you can get over the fact that it's winter, because you can't do anything about that (short of moving to the equator - see above). You should feel lucky that you have something to aim for to motivate you to get out there on dark nights and train. If you didn't have a spring marathon to aim for, then would you go out? Me - no. She - would you loose fitness? Me - yes. She - when it got to spring, would you then have to start again and build back up, and would that be very difficult? Me - yes.

In short, I think the message here is this. It's winter. Get over it. Get some warm and fluorescent running clothes (Hurrah! An excuse to buy more 80's style running things!). Find something to aim for (something particularly tough, so no slacking). Find a friend/ a club/ yourself. Find an appropriate selection of night time running routes (where you won't get stabbed/ trip over tree routes/ get scared/ lost). And go for a run.

OK, so that message wasn't so short, but anyway. Even the minions have come out!

Rowbotham's Round Rotherham 50 mile race

Well, as last week went on, I got simultaneously more apprehensive and excited about what Saturday would bring. Well, I knew it would bring 50 miles, but I was unsure what I would bring to the situation. This was to be my third ultra, and I'd enjoyed the first two. But the last few weeks have all been a bit of a disaster training wise. My Granny passing away, a new job and relocating, catching a cold (so bad, it was definitely man-flu), the approach of dark dark nights (although this happens every year, I am still utterly unable to cope with winter).

So, Friday night, my Mum and I set off East. To Yorkshire! We bedded down in a Travel Lodge near the start of the race, for a few short hours before it was time to be up and off. Ready or not....Round Rotherham day is here!

After a sight mishap where I misplaced my phone (the only thing the race instructions said you definitely must have to carry with you at all times) through using it as a torch in the car on the way here, as it was so early it was still dark, I met up with Beth, who I'd met on the race Facebook group, as we were planning on doing the race in about the same time. 

At 7 am we all gathered in the car park and off we went. I will say one thing for getting up before dawn has even cracked, and that is seeing the sun rise, even through the rain and cloud, it's nice to be out running and have a few miles under your belt as the new day starts. 

The route turned out to be quite tricky to navigate. By quite tricky, I mean difficult. And by difficult, I mean that if, like me, navigation is never described as one of your strengths, it was a complete nightmare. I may be exaggerating, but I was glad to have Beth to consult with at all times, for sure. The first few miles were OK, as everyone was still close together. My first test came at about 10 km when we were running through Elsecar Woods, and I ended up (accidentally) at the front of our group, and ended up leading us through the woods. What's that saying about leading someone through the woods without trees? I don't remember, in fact there may not even be a saying, but that doesn't matter, because here's the important thing, one wrong turn in the woods on a 50 miler, and you'll end up doing 60. Fortunately, a friendly Round Rotherham veteran and his posse took control, and we emerged in one piece (one piece each, not attached) at the first checkpoint at 10 miles. Snacks (yes Becka, I had some cake, despite it being not even 9 am yet) and a top up of water were welcomed, and some words of encouragement from my Mum (ta!) sent us on our way for the next leg. 

Sadly, after the cake stop, we seemed to have lost the nice Round Rotherham expert, so we were on our own, which went well, for approximately 2 minutes, when another helpful Round Rotherham expert stepped in. The race organizers provide an impressive array of options to help navigate. I went for some great strip style maps, plus written instructions. Unfortunately, I hadn't practiced much with the maps beforehand, and hadn't realised the orientation of them was a bit different to a normal OS map, so some interesting moments occurred, before we go the hang of it. Then all was fine, and we didn't need rescuing again, which was handy, as the further on you get, the less helpful people there are sauntering around the countryside. There were 16 strips of map to get round the whole race. I got into a little system of moving them from one pocket to another once we'd finished that section. Many people tell me I am mental to run long distances. I would argue that although I don't necessarily agree with this statement, a lot of running is mental. You've got your fitness through training, then you mustn't think to yourself you are about to run 50 miles. It's such a long way! I was going to run along 16 little bits of paper. Sounds much better. As my left pocket got fuller and my right pocket emptied, and the little stick person crossing the finish line on page 16 got closer, I knew we could do it.

Well, it's funny where you run (literally) into people. A few hours in and running through a field, and I saw Tanya and Nigel - I met them on the Woldsman in 2013, and it's thanks to their recommendation that I looked into doing this very race. Despite not seeing each other for 18 months, and only having met once then, we all recognized each other, and it was great to see them again.

We kept on chipping away at the distance. I kept a track of the things in my body that seemed to be going wrong, which is always an interesting little exercise on a long run. First a got a nerve trapped in my knee, but that didn't last long. Then I felt blisters starting to come. Then at checkpoint 4 I tripped over a sleeping policeman whilst I was talking to my Mum, and jarred my dodgy hip, which then niggled for the rest of the race. Then towards the end Beth's knee started playing up. Then, I started having stomach ache. I mention this only for interest, if you're interested. I was utterly unimpressed. Having taken no less than 6 years to crack what to eat and drink in a marathon, it seems that you can't just keep doing that for a longer race, you have to eat proper food and do things differently. I'll save this discussion for another rainy day. Now there's something for you to look forward to. 

Back to the race. There was some truly beautiful parts of the route. One of my favorites was Roche Abbey, a beautiful Gothic ruin, which wasn't originally a ruin, of course, but quite happy being an abbey until the lovely Henry VIII in his best tyranty-self pillaged the lotl. 

Some miles were spent choosing some posh houses in some pretty villages that we would buy if we won the lottery. There sure are some big houses around here. 

We arrived at the second to last checkpoint to see my Mum again, who had been helpfully, although slightly ominously, standing at the gate to a graveyard, and pointing 'this way' to runners. Fortunately, all made it through the graveyard to the checkpoint where there were cheese straws to be had, which reminded me of my Gran, and remained me that she is always here. Not in the form of a cheese straw, but because she has created so many happy memories that keep popping up. 

After leaving this checkpoint, a relay runner who had just finished off his leg, carried on running with us for a while, to help us through a tricky navigational bit. A mile or so later, we saw him again, after he'd driven his car up to another bit he was worried we might find difficult. And then another mile later, he popped up again to help us out! What a nice man! 

The last few miles were a bit more built up and gritty as we got back to Swinton. As we were about 0.5 miles from the end of completing our circle, a man asked us where we had run from. We pointed and said 0.5 miles in that direction....or......49.5 miles in the other...

...and 0.5 miles later we finished (although in one final navigational hiccup we almost ran through the car park and carried on for another lap) in a time of 9:46:35. 1 hour and 26 minutes faster than my last 50 race. Pleased with that. And made a new running pal, met lots of lovely people, spent time with my Mum, and saw some nice places on the way. Good times! Very enjoyable race. Thank you to Beth for running with me, my Mum for supporting us, everyone who made it happen, and all the nice people at the checkpoints who gave up their Saturday to stand in the cold and cheer tired muddy people on their way.

Well, there we go. Having a little rest for a few days now.

P.S. Bored.....have entered next years LDWA 100 miler in May.

P.P.S. I've remembered that saying. Can't see the woods for the trees. That has nothing to do with anything here. Never mind.

Life is like a box of chocolates

Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get. Well. Chocolate you'd hope. If you pulled out an orange, I'm not sure how you'd feel about that. Unless it was a chocolate orange, I guess. That would be alright.

Life is more like a washing machine. You put a neat little pile of stuff in, all in your own nice little order, then it gets mixed up, turned upside down, pummeled, and every so often, you loose a sock. The favourite sock I lost recently was my Granny, who passed away after a fight with cancer. 

She left instructions that we weren't to be too sad. For the first few days, this advice seems pretty daft. How can you not be sad! But then grieving someone involves thinking about them a lot, and when thinking a lot about someone who was fabulous, you can't help but be uplifted by it, as if simply the force of the thought of their energy is enough for it to still feel like they are here.

My Granny was a very inspirational person. In the last few years, she had a rough time with different bits and pieces going wrong. She said that she didn't mind dying. She said she had done all of the things that she wanted to do in her life, she had had a great time, and now she was happy to sit and enjoy all her memories, but as there was nothing left that she wished she'd done, if her time was up, then she was fine with that. 

Which I think is pretty amazing, to be able to say that.

I would like to be able to say the same one day. Thinking about it, I'm pretty sure my Granny didn't just wake up one day when she was 86 and have it occur to her that somehow she'd managed to do everything she wanted. I expect she put a lot of time and energy into working out what it was that she wanted and valued in life, and then going about making it happen, probably involving a lot of hard work and sacrifices on her part. So, in order to keep her energy going, I have been attempting to start this for myself. 

I haven't kept up running every day since 100 days finished. For a number of reasons, but mostly because I felt like I wasn't getting anything out of running every day any more, and was running for no reason, and not always enjoying it. Am still running several times a week, but trying to run with purpose and get something out of each run. So to help with that, I've joined Preston Harriers running club and am, for the first time in 5 years or so, doing interval training on a track. This is way out of my comfort zone in that it is both terrifying being on a track with people taking running seriously, and also in that I am not used to trying to run fast, and it hurts. But even so, I like it. 

In other news since finishing 100 Days:

• I've run a 5km PB at Preston Parkrun, beating my previous best time from 10 years ago. Ha! Who says getting older is rubbish!
• Have done two marathons (Thames Meander - where for the first time in three attempts at this race, I didn't fall over and injure myself for the next few months) and the Loch Ness Marathon (my 30th marathon), which took a wee jump to the top of my favourite marathon list, especially because my Granny loved Scotland, and it was a beautiful sunny day, and I enjoyed running around thinking about her being there having fun too.
• Am training for a 50 mile race on Saturday. Quite nervous now. Saturday only seems to be 5 days away, and 50 miles seems to be quite a long way.

But the BIGGEST most exciting and important news is that......my Aunty has gone into remission! I am so proud of her, and so happy to hear the news! She is just amazing! Wow. 

Thank you again everyone for all your support and donations to 100 days. There have been a couple of donations from people who I've not been able to contact to say thank you...so if you are reading this.....

THANK YOU!!!!

100 Days of Running: some facts

Still time to donate! Click here to visit my fundraising page and support Clatterbridge Cancer Charity, Macmillan and Jospice!

 

Well, it's been 5 days since I crossed the finish line at the Hoad Hill Marathon, and completed the final day of 100 days. It's been strange since then. Funny when something takes up so much of your focus for so long, and then suddenly stops. I miss it.

 

So I have been looking back over the time, and have found out some facts about 100 Days, to share with you (lucky you).

• Days (might as well start with the obvious) = 100
• Miles = 1010
• Pair of trainers gone through = 3
• Shortest run = 5 km (I did this on 3 of the days)
• Longest run = 30 miles (did that once)
• National Trails completed = Thames Path, Great Gen Way
• Places run = Lancashire, Yorkshire, London, Scotland
• Official races:
• Number of Parkruns = 6 (4 x Mile End, 2 x Preston)
• Number of 10 kms = 3 (Manchester Frontrunners 10km, Yarrow Bluebell 10km, Royal Mail Greenwich Park 10km)
• Number of 1/2 Marathons = 4 (Wimbledon Common, Pendle, Windmill at Lytham St Annes, Cheshire)
• Number of full Marathons = 4 (Richmond Park, Bolton Hill, Midnight Marathon Dartford, Hoad Hill Marathon)
• Most cake eaten in a day = Day 1 at the Manchester Frontrunners 1st Birthday 10km
• Biggest lie told = on day 5, promising never to complain about the weather again
• Favourite quote from a marshal who I left my jacket with at the start of Day 2 Bluebell 10 km "I can only watch it till 12, if you're back after that, you'll find me in the pub."
• Favourite conversation about 100 Days (also on Day 2)
• Marshal: "100 days of running! What day is this?"
• Me: "2"
• Marshal: "200?"
• Me: "No...2. Just 2."
• Marshal: "Oh! TWO! (pauses). Well, only 98 left. That'll be easy from now on."
• .......34 days later at the Bolton Hill Marathon I saw the same man again. He seemed more impressed that time.
• Favourite quote (from watching Wimbledon) = Keep your pedal on the medal
• Biggest medal = Windmill 1/2 Marathon Lytham St Annes
• Hilliest race = Bolton Hill Marathon.......no, the Pendle 1/2 was worse.....no no no! Definitely The Hoad Hill Marathon (day 100)
• Toughest day = day 3 (13 miles with Andrew on the canal, raining, tired from the weekends races, and behind on the miles already).....no, day 9 running 5 km with a migraine was worse....oh, no, there was that time running 5 miles on day 42 the day after finishing uni, and also finishing a wide selection off of the cocktail menu, that was pretty tough. But I suppose that was self inflicted, so can't count. Day 3 wins.
• Latest run = Midnight Marathon - finished at 11.51 pm
• Most exciting animal spotted = a warthog on day 43
• Number of DNA sculptures spotted = 21! On the Cancer Research Crick Trail in London
• Most exciting high five = high fiving a Womble on the Wimbledon Common 1/2 Marathon
• Most exciting weather = getting caught in a thunderstorm in Victoria Park out running on day 18
• Windiest run = Windmill 1/2 Marathon Lytham St Annes
• Favourite support vehicle = my Mum on a Boris Bike on day 14
• Best supporters = genuinely, everyone on every single race, and all my friends/ family/ strangers who have been so brilliant. But especially my Mum and Dad, whose constant feats of organisation and navigation ensure good cheer and support (with the odd smartie) in the most unlikely of places
• Miles run with Andrew = about 300, probably
• Favourite (well, OK only) radio interview = Radio Clatterbridge with Steve Evans on day 82! Click here to read/ listen
• Favourite (well, yes again, only) news article = Liverpool Echo - this is NEW! HOT OFF THE PRESS! Check it out here!
• Money raised so far = £520 !!!!!!!!!

And my page is still open for donations! Click here to support Clatterbridge Cancer Charity, Jospice and Macmillan!

 

100 Days of Running DAY 100! The Hoad Hill Marathon!

Click here to visit my fundraising page and support Clatterbridge Cancer Charity, Macmillan and Jospice!

 

Wow, can't believe it, 100 Days of Running is finished! I might have crawled over the finish line looking a bit homeless, soaked, muddy, exhausted, and sort of only using really one leg, but those are the best type of runs, and give the best feeling at the end.

 

The Hoad Hill Marathon in Ulverston was one of the toughest I've done, but let's be honest, that's why I entered it, so it doesn't do to complain. It was the first time that Pure Outdoors (tagline: blood, sweat, but no tears) have put it on, and it was a cracking race, so big thanks to the organisers and volunteers who made it a great event, and one which (after a couple of hours to recover) I hope will be repeated.

 

The weather was awful, there's no other way to put it really. It rained, consistently, for the first 20 miles, and the beautiful views were shrouded in a mysterious, but mostly just wet, cloud. It rained so hard that my tights started bubbling because not all of the washing powder must have come out of them in the wash.

 

The route was great. In this order: roads, trails, fields, mud, stiles, walls, gates to vault, moors, mud, beach, canal, Hoad Hill, cow poo (good bye new trainers), hills, hills, hills, wind turbines, quarry, moor, hills, hills, roads, cattle grids, hills, finish. A real adventure!

 

Fab checkpoints with lovely people manning them, I can't believe that there are people about who are just so genuinely nice that they will stand outside in the middle of nowhere in the rain for most of Sunday handing out water and food, and still be so full of good cheer and encouraging words for the runners (this also goes for the people watching - thanks guys!). This is the first race (but I do hope not the last) where there was watermelon at the checkpoints. This was like heaven, actual boxes of watermelon. It took all my focus not to sit down and eat the lot (I like watermelon. A lot). And there was flapjack. And there were two additional surprise checkpoints in the last few miles, which were like a dream had come true, as I was floating (or, crawling) along in a lack-of-sugar induced haze. I swear that the homemade Kendle Mint Cake at checkpoint 5 got me to the end. And it was delicious.

 

Another highlight was seeing my parents just over 16 miles into the race, who had brought Smarties and were shouting from slightly up the hill that I could have a blue Smartie once I got to them (see yesterdays' blog, to put this into some kind of context, so it sounds less weird). Obviously, it was very nice to see my parents even without Smarties, but it did give me a boost. It was also a very significant point for me to see them at - at 16 miles into the race I knew that I had passed my goal of 1000 miles in the 100 days, and could kick back and enjoy the last 10 miles.

 

But, you might have picked up from the odd negative comment bandied about here or there, that I did not feel on top form for a lot of the race, and the last 10 miles were tough. Whilst climbing over a gate at about 10km in I slipped and landed on my bad leg a bit funny, and my troublesome knee became trouble, so that was quite uncomfortable for the rest of the way. Despite eating and drinking as usual, I felt I hit the wall (or bonked, as triathletes say, and which sounds much more fun than running into a wall) quite early on in the race. It is a weird feeling and one that is hard to describe. It's a bit like swimming though syrup, although obviously as this is a marathon, you really should hope you're not swimming, and even if you were, I've never swum through treacle anyway, so that's a completely useless comparison. What I mean to say is, that everything slows down, it's harder to think clearly, and I make even worse decisions than usual. For example, for ages, I was sure that someone was shouting at me, but it turned out that it was just a pigeon, but it took a full minute to remember what a pigeon was called.

 

Then I had the magic Kendle Mint Cake, and things picked up a bit. And the sun came out, and then it was too hot. But eventually after what seemed like 1000 miles in one day, I limped back to the bottom of Hoad Hill and down into the park to the finishing line, to see my parents (still holding the Smarties), lots of nice people cheering, and....I'm not sure what I felt. Mostly like I needed a shower. But also happy that I did the whole 100 days and 1000 miles and have raised money for my Aunties three favourite charities and shown her I'm thinking of her at this time. And also really sad that it's over. Plus loads of other emotions that I was too tired to process.

 

And I still am. So that's enough chatter for today, time for some photos now, and I will carry on with my conclusions from 100 Days tomorrow!

 

 

Lovely day for it.

 

 

The start of a summer marathon.

 

 

Hoad Hill (hill of nightmares, but awesome checkpoint at the top!)

 

A Smartie! A blue one! 16 miles in and 1000 miles reached in 100 days.

 

How Smarties make me feel.

 

The Finish.

 

Day 100!

 

Proper proud of this one!

 

Celebrations! With my Mum and Dad, who I couldn't have done it without - THANK YOU!!!

 

Fundraising still going well (thanks all you lovely people!) and is still open, if you fancy having a look :-) :

 

uk.virginmoneygiving.com/100days

 

Final stats

Total days: 100 days

Total miles: 1010 miles

 

 

 

100 Days of Running - DAY 99, Parkrun PBs & hydration!

Click here to visit my fundraising page and support Clatterbridge Cancer Centre, Macmillan and Jospice!

 

 

Following my Dad's Parkrun/ race debut last weekend, we were back today at Preston Parkrun to break some records. Following a week of serious training, where I found out that my Dad has not one, but three (three!) running outfits, he set a PB of 29:46 knocking a solid 33 seconds off last weeks time. Very proud again! Well done Dad! Again a great Parkrun with some fab support on the way round. Preston wins for inclusion of musical instruments (a tambourine and a maraca today) and friendly supporters and marshals - thanks again Preston! Lovely morning for it too, the sun was shining and the park was all lovely, and the flowers smelt nice, and the river was shimmering. Ahhhh - moments like these are the best! A highlight of 100 Days is that I've got (well, kind of bullied) my Dad into running, and he likes it, and I've shared some of the runs with him, which is brilliant!

 

 

Home for a quick cuppa, then another quick 3.5 miler. The trouble (one of) with running is that once you start to get a bit obsessive about numbers/ miles/ times, it quickly snowballs out of control into a full blown obsession, and you can think of nothing else. I decided I wanted to finish the 100 days on a nice round number - 1010 miles, which meant that if I do the marathon tomorrow, I needed to do a bit extra today to make up the miles to that number (this could clearly go on and on and on). It was a great morning to do an extra run - the weather is perfect!

 

 

There has been a crisis in Lancashire these last couple of days - a parasite was found in a water treatment works, so we have to boil all the tap water before we drink it. My Mum went to the supermarket to get petrol for tomorrow (to get to the last marathon!) and to get a big bottle of water to take, because it's getting a bit tedious boiling the kettle every 5 minutes. They had run out of bottles of water, so she came back with wine. I was totally happy with this decision without any explanation. But just so you know how such as good decision was made, is that that wine is of low alcohol, and anyway back when water wasn't safe to drink people used to drink alcoholic drinks so they didn't get sick, so we're actually being careful by having wine. Good decision there Mum.

 

Pre-race hydration is going well.

 

So, the last day, day 100, is tomorrow! This is terrifying/ exciting/ happy/ sad/ all other emotions all at once, all in one day, which is also quite exhausting. I will be running the Hoad Hill Marathon in Ulverston, finishing on my favourite distance, on a hilly route in some beautiful countryside. And, if you believe the weather forecast, in the dry. Ha! Check back here tomorrow to find out how it went! Not sure how I will feel when I cross the finish line!

 

Thank you everyone who has sponsored me! Raising money for great charities - Clatterbridge Cancer Charity, Macmillan and Jospice, as chosen by my Aunty, is what this is all about, and you're donations are hugely appreciated - big BIG BIG thanks to you all, and I really mean that.

 

My fundraising page is here, if you'd like to take a look! It's staying open for donations for a few weeks even after tomorrow:

 

uk.virginmoneygiving.com/100days

 

Had really better boil the kettle now, and have some actual water.

 

Stats

Total days: 99 days

Total miles: 984 miles

 

 

100 Days of Running Day 98 - a time to think

Click here to visit my fundraising page and support Clatterbridge Cancer Charity, Macmillan and Jospice UK!

 

 

So the day before the day before the last day was today. Got that? Did 10 miles along a route by the canal towards Blackburn, which holds good and bad memories for running. Right in the first week on day 3 I did this run and it rained the whole time, was as cold as an ice pop in the arctic, I was sore from running 2 x 10 km races at the weekend, and I thought getting through 100 days of this seemed less likely than something happening twice in a blue moon (incidentally, there was a blue moon last month, which will teach me to make rash comparisons to things without first thinking about them properly) .

 

I've also had a few good runs along this route (at least until you start to get to Blackburn), in sunshine and positivity, when nothing could stop me reaching day 100.

 

Today was somewhere in the middle, I think because I knew it was the last time that I would run here in the fundraising challenge, and I hate things ending, so this was sad enough for me by itself. I thought about seeing my Aunty yesterday, and how positive she is despite how rubbish she must be feeling from all the treatment, and how unfair life is that it's thrown this at her, when she is such a lovely and wonderful person.

 

I allowed a few moments of melancholy to reflect on all this. Then I remembered the whole thing that made me want to do this was to do something positive for my Aunty, as she is always so positive herself. And here I was wallowing around like a pig in a great deep mud pit of negativity. What right have I got to be so negative? So I slapped myself round the face (got some strange looks from some people on a passing canal boat), snapped out of the mood, and pushed for home, in order to be one step closer to finishing this thing properly, for my Aunty, and for the charities too.

 

After some calculations I have figured out what the remaining runs will be:

 

Saturday (day 99): Preston Park run (5km) with Dad, plus 3.5 miles afterwards

Sunday (day 100): The Hoad Hill Marathon (26.2 miles)

 

This will bring the grand total to 1010 miles. Boom!

 

 

Stats

Total days: 98 days

Total miles: 977 miles

100 Days of Running Day 97 - family time!

Click here to visit my fundraising page and support Macmillan, Jospice and Clatterbridge Cancer Charity!

 

 

In preparation for Saturday's Preston Parkrun, had a training run with Mr L this morning! 3.3 miles, my Dad's longest run by 0.2 miles - well done Dad! We have 20 seconds to knock off on Saturday, to get our time under 30 minutes, and I'll bet we'll do it, with time left over for a cuppa. Bring on Saturday!

 

 

Afterwards, we went to Crosby to visit my Northern Family. My Aunty Ursula has had 8 weeks of chemo now, and its all going well so far, so all fingers crossed (if you some spare fingers to cross, please cross them too!)  that she will be able to have the last 4 weeks with no problems too. She looks great, was so good to see her! And lots of the rest of my family too. It was her and my Uncle David's wedding anniversary - happy anniversary to a wonderful pair!

 

Had a trip to Crosby Beach with my other lovely Aunty and Uncles to see Antony Gormley's Another Place. 100 cast iron sculptures of the artists own body face towards the sea, submerged and revealed with the ebbing tides. The piece is controversial in the local area (and within my family). But what is art, if not a talking point? Some people think it is inappropriate that the statues are naked, but my Mum and Aunty Ann, as fans of the sculptures, have come up with a solution.

 

 

I don't see how anyone could object to that, really. What a lovely outfit.

 

I like them, clothes or no clothes. They are thoughtful, staring out to sea. What are they thinking? The sea comes and goes, but the men stay there, although nature is sculpting the sculptures in it's own way.

 

3 days left! Big thanks to everyone who has donated!

 

There is still time! ......... :-)

 

uk.virginmoneygiving.com/100days

 

Stats

Total days: 97 days

Total miles: 967 miles

100 Days of Running Day 96 - 4 days to go!

Click here to visit my fundraising page and support Clatterbridge Cancer Charity, Macmillan and Jospice!

 

Today ran 4 miles, leg still sore but getting better. Nothing much exciting happened on the run, other than it didn't rain, which was quite different to usual, and I've seen the same man walking his dog three days in a row, which means that I must have got quite predictable in my running routine over the last few days. If this pesky knee would stop being a bugger, I would do something different.

 

That's about it for the running news today, so in order to make this a bit more interesting, let's rewind to 1996 (day 96 - this is a bit tedious I know, but bear with me here, tomorrow I promise I will have come up with some new inspiration, and stop recycling old ideas).

 

Sad news after all the excitement of Take That in 1995, they split up in 1996. Everything Changes. But the baton of feel good pop was passed to the Spice Girls, who carried it on with the eternally memorable Wannabe!

 

I wanna I wanna I wanna I wanna I wanna really really really wanna zigagzig ha!

 

(now trying to get that out of your head in the next three days)

 

Other things that happened that year: they decided on where to build the Millenium Dome. Prince Charles and Princess Diana got divorced. So did the Duke and Duchess of York.  Dolly the Sheep was born. You could by GM foods for the first time. The Ford KA was released (and 8 years later the car I just bought was made). Sad news as well, with the Dunblane massacre and IRA bombings in London happening this year.

That'll be it for the history for a while (if you get any questions on the 90s in any quizzes, you'll be laughing). Tomorrow I'll think of something original.

4 days left!

Thank you so much to everyone who has sponsored me already!!! You're all amazing and we are so grateful for your kindness. Thank you.

If you haven't, but would like to, there is still time to donate! Every penny counts, and is much appreciated for these three fantastic charities!

 

Click here to visit my fundraising page and support Clatterbridge Cancer Charity, Macmillan and Jospice!

Stats

Total days: 96 days

Total miles: 964 miles

100 Days of Running Day 95 - rewind to 1995

Click here to visit my fundraising page and support Macmillan, Clatterbridge Cancer Charity and Jospice!

I guess the countdown could start today then -  5 days left!

 

Not a lot happened today to be honest. I didn't even really enjoy the run, all 5km of it. My leg is still a bit sore, and it hurt. I feel a bit peeved about this, as there are so few days left, I wanted them all to be exciting, but alas, this is not to be.

 

Therefore, I had nothing to write about. Andrew suggested first that I write about selotape (don't ask), and then when I said I didn't think people would find that interesting, he suggested 1995, I suppose because it has 95 in it. I could also write about 1895, or 1795, or even 2095 for that matter, but at least in 1995 I was here, even if my memories are dominated by the angst of being 11, finally being allowed to have hubba-bubba and get my ears pierced, and going to high school. Now I think of it, I think it's also the year I got into cross country running, so I suppose it is a bit significant.

 

So I could talk about that for a while. How I got into running. I sort of fell into it really, not literally, I didn't fall from the sky into a pair of trainers and set off jogging or anything like that, but I kind of got into it because I wasn't good at anything else. I was quite chubby as a child (someone once told me my legs looked like sausages), and compared to my sister who is tall and graceful like a swan (no sausage legs), when I got to nearly being a teenager I started to get a bit angry about it. So when I joined high school, I resolved to become 'sporty'. I joined the netball team, but that dream was crushed (I literally did fall about in netball) and the pinnacle of glory I reached was being a reserve for the 3rd team (the last reserve). Then one day in November, our PE teacher shouted at us it was cross country season. Immediately, my competition was obliterated as half of the class brought in sick notes; wow, a lot of people have bad ankles, and bad periods (even some of the boys I think, on cross country days), and really soft parents. Needless to say, my parents hadn't given me a sick note.  I remember being fairly no-plussed by the thought of doing long bouts of exercise outside in the winter time. My parents had had us out walking every weekend since I could walk, before that in fact, in the rain and shine, in fact if it was raining it was even more likely we would go. So I didn't get what all the fuss was about. At least we wouldn't have to throw a ball into a stupid net, and worry about how many times our feet touched the floor after we caught the ball - I mean, who's counting anyway, who even cares, at least I'd caught the ball, let's be grateful for the small things.

 

So there I was, in little gym knickers, a t-shirt, and some holey plimsolls in mid-November at the start line. Where I learnt quickly the first rule of cross country running - the faster you run, the faster you're done (and if you were at high school in 1995, that means if you finish before everyone else, you get to have a shower first, and before everyone else uses all the hot water).

 

Without ever running before, I finished 3rd in my class, and the rest is history. When you've never been good at sports before, coming 3rd is quite addictive, and so here we are today. I don't think I've ever come better than 3rd, but I don't think that's really relevant here, do you. 

 

So I've been addicted since 1995 which is now 20 years, and isn't that a terrifying thought.

 

What else happened in 1995? Blackburn Rovers won the Premier League (and I still have the sticker book - completed). The Queen Mother had a hip replacement (and was the oldest person at the time to do so). James Bond came back after 6 years, in Goldeneye. 1% of the UK population had internet access. The summer was the driest in meteorological history.

 

OAnd o this day in 1995 Take That were at No 1 in the charts with that old classic Never Forget. Altogether now! NEEEEEEEEEEEE VER forget where you've come here from. NEEEEEEE VER pretend that it's all real......

 

I realised that in all these years I've only ever known those two lines. And look what the very first two lines of the song are!

 

"Been on this path of life for so long.

Feels like I've walked a thousand miles"

 

Ah ha! I'll Take That and party, thanks very much.

Stats
Total days: 95 days

Total miles: 960 miles