LDWA 100 recce weekend (03-04.05.24) + Milton Keynes Marathon (06.05.24)

End of May is the LDWA 100, this year The Speyside 100...so it was time to recce some of the route and a trip up to Scotland to see family. Thank you to Andrew's Mum for putting us up, and driving all around random places!

Friday 03.05.24:
Route: We did 4 sections of the route, from Dufftown - Aberlour - Tamdhu - Advie - Cromdale. Lots of the route was along old railway routes and along the Speyside Way. Very beautiful.
Distance: 29 miles.
Weather report: Sunny! Hot!
Distillery count: Literally lost count.
Wildlife: Escaped cow (this is the second bolting bovine encounter I have had of late). Highland cows! Lambs.
Snack of choice: Vegan nutty choc balls (from my birthday bag, thanks Ruriadh and family!). Starbursts and mini Pringle (aka Twingles) bags (thanks Tricia!)
Bog report: Nil - woo!

 

The gate the cow broke through!

 

Saturday 04.05.2024:
Route: We did another 4 sections, from Grantown-on-Spey - Cromdale - Balcorach - Tomintoul - Glenlivit. Much hillier and wilder than yesterday.
Distance: 29 miles
Weather report: Misty, but mild
Distillery count: 2
Wildlife: Lambs, deer, distillery cats
Snack of choice: Vegan chocolate (next treat from my birthday bag), peppermint slice in Tomintoul!
Bog report: Radioactive looking bog! A keeper for my Bog Calendar 2025, for sure.

Monday 06.05.2024 - The Milton Keynes Marathon
Route: 2 different laps around MK, starting outside the MK Dons stadium and finishing with a lap inside it.
Distance: Marathon
Weather report: Warm and overcast, nice to run in, with some showers at the end
Distillery count: Nil, but alcohol free beer stand at the end!
Wildlife: Moo Farah (got a hug!) and the other MK cows
Snack of choice: Veggie Jerky (thanks Alan!)
BLOG report (as NO bogs): Loved to see so many running friends out today. It was a brilliant atmosphere for sure. Congratulations to Steve and Theresa (Team Edwards), on the new World Record fastest 1000 marathons!! I ran the first few miles with Craig and had a good catch up, which also resulted in having Beyoncé's "if you liked it then you should have put a ring on it" song in my head for 26 miles. TWENTY SIX. Just that one line. I enjoyed the run very much (other than the broken record in my head), which I was pleased about, following a bad experience here last year. The MK marathon has the best supporters and motivational signs - my favourite sign was "your feet hurt because you're kicking so much ass!" And my favourite cheer from the crowd was " GO, FLOWERY PERSON!" (I was wearing my flower top), and second favourite "YES! GET IN! LET'S AV IT!" Great to catch up with Alan afterwards with coffee, snacks, and a chat in the rain! A fabulous day all round.

 

The Madrid Marathon, 28.04 2024

Girls weekend to Madrid!

On Friday morning, Sarah and I set off from Gatwick, headed for Madrid to run the marathon (and have a mini-break). We flew with Air Europa, and everything went smoothly, the flight there is so quick!

We arrived, figured out the Metro, and got to our hotel, the One Stop Fortuny by late afternoon. I highly recommend this hotel! It's staircase alone is worth staying for...

...and it also is beautiful and very quiet, and has bathrobe and slippers. We spent the rest of the day walking around the centre of Madrid, seeing some art, and had dinner (the world's biggest tapas) in the Playa Mayor.

Saturday morning, went to the Marathon Expo to pick up our running numbers, via getting caught in a downpour. The Expo was fun and we found our names on the wall!

After drying off at the hotel, we headed out (via a few other, less dramatic, soakings), to do 2 laps of the city sightseeing bus tour with Big Bus (with broken windscreen wiper). We also practiced our new hobby (inspired by Jack) of collecting drain covers.

Then we fuelled up for the marathon at Poke Friendly La Latina (which I give 6 stars out of 5).

Our hotel turned out to be 2 minutes from the start, so it was a pretty leisurely start on marathon morning. We actually arrived far too early, so went back to the hotel for safety wees to avoid using the portaloos - luxury!

The race was a 10km, half marathon and marathon, and had different starting waves depending on your pace. Our wave was stating at 9.35, but the start wasn't very well organised, and no one was checking who was in what wave, so it was a bit of a free for all. Once it got started though, it was a brilliant event - one of my all time favourite marathons! 

The route was really excellent, a bit undulating and winding all around the whole city, and was so varied - city, old buildings, parks, cathedral, palaces.... everything! It was good having done the sightseeing tour the day before, as we recognised things, and it was like doing a second sightseeing, there was so much to look at. Also fun being "confetti-ed" under a bridge, watching the temperatures in the bus stops (ranging from 8 to 30oC), hearing the bird/laser beeps of the road crossings, and looking out for all the giant statues of men on horses, and spotting parakeets. Not so fun was having to avoid lots of men spitting and peeing everywhere. Someone's spit actually hit my leg!! What is it about big city marathons that mean that so many people are suddenly unable to manage their body liquids in a normal way? 

My favourite part of the route was the bit about 3/4 of the way through, near and through the Casa De Campo, the absolute most beautiful of parks! I felt really good throughout the whole run, and loved every single step. We finished in 4.06. The finish along the tree lined Boulevard by the Musuem de Prado was excellent, and it was nice to stay around and soak up the atmosphere and see people finish. 

Afterwards, we braved the epic 2 minute walk back to the hotel, to freshen up ready for an evening of the important tasks of refuelling...

and celebrating....

Monday morning we had Churros for breakfast at Churrería Santa Theresa - outstanding churros!

Followed by a trip to the Real Jardín Botanic.

It was an altogether brilliant weekend! Thank you Sarah for four days of fun and chatathon-ing....there sure was a lot to catch up on!