100 Days of Running: Day 5

Day 5 dawned bright and sunny. Just kidding. Studied weather forecast last night, and the least terrible option seemed to be to get a run in early and cling to the hope the rain might come late. I made it to the end of the drive. Then it rained the rest of the time. Conquered another 10 miles in it though, not bad.

"There's no such thing as bad weather, just soft people" - Bill Bowerman

I disagree.

"There's no such thing as bad weather, just inappropriate clothing" - Sir Ranulph Fiennes 

I kind of disagree less, but, if it wasn't for the bad weather, you wouldn't require appropriate clothing, therefore there's got to be some bad weather in there, somewhere. 

However, a bit of wind and rain is not the end of the world, and is not even worth mentioning, when you think of what a lot of people have to deal with weather wise. Therefore, in very un-British fashion, this will be my last weather rant for the next 95 days.

I won a prize for coming 3rd in The Cake Race! £25! Totally made up with this news. This will go towards my sponsorship total.

Macmillan have sent me a sponsorship pack. Been reading about what they do. Sounds silly, as I know they are a charity, but didn't realize what that really meant I suppose. Over 98% of their income in 2013 was from voluntary donations/ fundraising - that's £186.9 million! That's a lot of money to raise to do their work. And fundraising events raised £37.2 million of this! 

And I found out that £27 can pay for a Macmillan Nurse for an hour, so they can give essential medical, practical and emotional support to people living with cancer and their families.

What a great charity!

uk.virginmoneygiving.com/100days

100 Days of Running: Day 4

15 miles today along the canal, same as yesterday, but a bit further. Back on track now with my average mileage (10 miles/ day) and feeling good, better than yesterday which was quite difficult.

Have got Spotify on my phone now. One of the questions that people ask me the most about running is, what do you think about when you do long runs? My answer is quite rubbish, as I am genuinely not sure what I do think about most of the time, from which I conclude that I must think about not a lot. Which is boring, and quite worrying. What a waste of time. So in preparation for the next 97 days I this morning got Spotify, so  at least I can listen to a wide variety of music, and by the end of the challenge be able to answer quiz questions all about music. So today I listened to a single Lord of the Dance album, for the entire 2 hours and 16 minutes of running, and for about the last half an hour, listened to The Lord of the Dance theme song over and over on repeat.

I know. That's embarrassing. I'm not sure why I've written it down. I defy you though, to listen to that song and NOT speed up as your Riverdance down the tow path, faster and faster as the song goes on, finishing with a final over-enthusiastic heel kick and scattering the nearest group of ducks flying into the sky.

Got some more donations in - THANK YOU all!!! Very touched by the kindness of everyone in donating, and by the things people have told me about how cancer has affected their family too, which has moved them to donate.  The world is full of positive and kind people - thank you, thank you, thank you for supporting us :-)

Geek stats
Runs: 4
Total miles: 40

uk.virginmoneygiving.com/100days

100 Days of Running: Day 3

Day 3!

First half marathon today!

Just Andrew and me today, down the hill from my parents house and along the canal towards Blackburn and back.

Sun shone for the whole time, for the first time!

Enjoyed the 10kms at the weekend, but have done some maths (so having a lie down now) and have concluded that if am going to get to 1000 miles, am going to have to run more than 10km a day....so am having a catch up few days. It's more complicated than I thought, figuring out how far to run each day. Off to make a spreadsheet.

Having put in what feels like 3 solid days work, I don't seem to have got very far. Feeling disheartened, I searched for inspiration. And! I remembered! Running legend Ron Hill is 76 years old, and his running streak is now in it's 50th year and he has averaged 7 miles per day over that time (a "run" for him is at least 1 mile and he has continued his running streak during times with a broken sternum and then following foot surgery, when he ran 1 mile on a crutch). True legend indeed!!! 

Geek stats
Days: 3
Total miles: 25

uk.virginmoneygiving.com/100days

100 Days of Running: Day 2!

Day 2 = The Bluebell 10 km, Yarrow Park, Chorley. Organised by Mad Bull Events, whose moto is "Take the race by the horns".

Alrighty then. This is proper cross country! Mud, hills, bluebells, woods, lodges and 2 x river crossings (but no bridges)!

Very beautiful, the bluebells were just coming out and carpeting the woods in a deep velvet blue. The paths were muddy and steep and riddled with tree roots. So lucky to run in places like this, feel completely immersed in the beauty of the world. At one with nature.

My parents came to watch and got recruited into helping marshalling -  jolly good sports!

Apart from seeing them twice, favourite moments were the two river crossings - the river was about 2 feet deep, and we went straight through it, holding onto a rope. Exciting! And cleaned the trainers. I also saw a photographer walking right up the middle of the river, which is pretty dedicated to the job.

Favourite quote of the day from the nice marshal at the start who looked after my jacket for me, with the warning "I can only watch it 'till 12. If you're back after that, you'll find me in the pub."

And another from the marshal at the end:
Marshal: "100 days of running. What day is this."
Me: "2"
Marshall: "200?"
Me: "No....2, just 2"
Marshal: "Oh! TWO! (pause) Well, only 98 left. That'll be easy from now on."

Yes. Well. Day 2 complete! Although Andrew beat me. Well done, and all that,....it's not the winning but the taking part that counts etc etc blah blah blah.  It's 1-1 now. Rematch tomorrow.

 

Only kidding! Great running.

 

Fundraising has been going well, and a massive thanks to everyone who has donated :-)

 

uk.virginmoneygiving.com/100days

 

 

Thanks for reading :-) x 

 

100 Days of Running: Day 1

So, day 1 of 100 Days of Running started yesterday!

100 Days of Running is an fundraising event I am doing to show support for my Aunty Ursula, who is currently having chemotherapy treatment. She is amazing, she has had cancer several times, but is so positive and strong. I know that chemotherapy makes her feel rubbish, and I know that there's not much you can do to stop that. But I thought that if I could raise money for charities she supports, that would show that we are all thinking of her, and might help a bit in that way.

So, from 02.05.15 - 09.08.15 I am going to run 100 days in a row, and hopefully raise sponsorship for the following charities along the way:

• Clatterbridge Cancer Centre: The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre in the Wirral is where my Aunty has treatment. Money raised for The Clatterbridge Cancer Charity helps them offer the most up-to-date treatments and equipment, undertake research, and provide support services that wouldn't be available without them.
• Macmillan Nurses: Make sure there's always someone there to support people affected by cancer.
• Jospice (St Jospehs Hospice): Is a hospice in Liverpool and one which my family have always been involved with and supported...even when I was little I remember my Nana was always knitting blankets for them to send overseas, as they also have hospices in Honduras, Guatemala, Peru and Equador

FANTASTIC CHARITIES.

Here is my fundraising link: uk.virginmoneygiving.com/100days

So I started with Day 1 yesterday = a 10 km Cake Run with the Manchester Frontrunners at Boggart Hole Clough Park : http://cakerace.uk/ which was celebrating the clubs 10th birthday - Happy Birthday Manchester Frontrunners!

I'll be honest. It was the mention of cake that first attracted me to this. But I'm glad it did, because it was a cracking race, with the friendliest marshals and runners and supporters I've ever seen!  Loved every second! It started around the athletics track with lots of hooting and cheering and then off around the park three times (beautiful park, but big hill x 3). Andrew did it too, so we had a bit of a (fairly healthy) competition going. And had a bit of a sprint finish at the end with a fellow runner which is always fun! Then we got a goody bag, which was awesome - medal (!), chocolate buttons (!!), OJ and a banana (for a balanced post run diet):

And then there was cake:

(Note: obviously that wasn't all mine. Promise promise promise)

Got some positive comments on my fundraising top!

Day 1 = done! Hope the rest of the runs are as good as this! And hope this race is on again next year. Will definitely be back, and I recommend it to everyone!

(this was a "1" to symbolise the first day, but the bottom bit fell off/ got eaten - can't confirm which, or who was responsible).

Just in case you missed it, here is my FUNDRAISING PAGE again! uk.virginmoneygiving.com/100days

Thanks for reading :-) x

Memories...of the Lyke Wake!

Guess where I stayed this weekend...

 

...half a mile from the end of the Lyke Wake Race! Obviously I miss the race, and am gutted not to be doing it again with the fabulous CAR team this year, and so I went back on little pilgrimage to Lyke Wake times. Also, there are many great races in this lovely part of the country, and I was going to do another one with my parents this weekend, called the Falcon Flyer, which is a 20 mile route, starting just down the road in Ravenscar.

Bad times - gutted to clock my first Did Not Start on a race sheet this weekend! After the stomach bug and not eating properly for a few days just didn't feel strong enough to get round. But hey, worse things happen at sea. My parents were on top form though, and kitted up and set off for the start. It was great to go down to the start and see them off.

Off they went!

Alone at the start and feeling a bit lost, I went for a slow 5 miler along the cliffs, which was beautiful but incredibly windy, and my legs felt as energetic as if small sacks of potatoes had been tied to both ankles.

The last hill back to the cottage slap bang into a headwind pretty much finished me off for the day. I spent the rest of it indulging in the restorative powers of tea, biscuits, and napping in the sun in an armchair looking at the beautiful view. 

My parents sauntered home looking fresh as daisies in the speedy time of 6 hours and 28 minutes. Job well done!

We watched the athletics, which on the one hand inspired me to want to get back out training and be that good (or, let's be realistic, just the best I can be) but at the same time depressed me that the closest person there that I resemble was Krtek the giant fluffy mascot. And that's not even an actual person. Later on we watched the darts, and I felt a bit better that here was a sport that might better match my current level of energy. Until I clocked it involves mental arithmetic, precision, and keeping cool under nerves. I will stick to running.

Sunday I felt better and we went for a 7 mile walk up Roseberry Topping. I can see this in the distance from my bedroom in Middlesbrough, and every time I see it, I just want to go up it, so this was a great day!

View from the top:

 

Beautiful! Feeling drunk on nature and on top of the world looking out at the view. It was quite steep though, and so appetites were worked up. Fortunately, soon it was lunch time, a gourmet picnic al la Mum complete with coffee, two types of butty, and fruit pies. My actual favourite meal in the world might be a good picnic:

All too soon the walk was over, but, good news! An ice cream van awaited in the car park! This is good on two counts. 1. There is ice cream. 2. Spring must be here if the ice cream van is out. Hurrah hurrah hurrah!

Finished off the weekend watching more athletics (feeling less like Krtek all the time) and a giant roast dinner.

Today I ran 10km in the sunshine and for the first time all year was too hot. Things are looking up. 

The Lurgy

The last two weeks have been a complete disaster! The Monday after the 15 miler I ran in the last blog, when I thought my cold had got better, I woke up. The Lurgy had revisited in the night. I went to work, but came over really sick when I went to the wards and had to come home. My first sick day on my whole course! Gutted! Felt quite rubbish for the rest of the week. Tried an 8 mile run with my flat mate Louise on the Wednesday, but she was sick too, and we both ended up coming home early and feeling rubbish for rest of the evening.

But, by last weekend, I thought I had shaken off the darned thing again. Busy weekend visiting friends in London/ Newbury. 6am start to run 16 miles with Andrew from his house to Greenwich, Backheath Common (where the London Marathon starts) and back. Felt on fire (metaphorically - physically of course, it being England and February, it was freezing). Brilliant run, no problems. Then had great weekend in Newbury with the lovely Childs family zipping on zip wires, walking though snowdrops and eating fabulous food. 

 

I thought everything was better. The last three weeks I must just have been getting used to the new placement, and working up an immunity to Middlesbrough, and now I would be strong like an ox for the rest of my time here. 

Then, Monday night I was sleeping. Something woke me at about midnight. It took me a while to realize what it was. Sickness. I never feel sick, literally, never. So I was unsure what to do. I lay still. Perhaps if I don't move, it will think I'm not here, and leave me alone. Nope. Oh no. Wow. OK, you don't need details. Two more days off from placement lying around feeling sick and useless. Thursday I thought I was better so went in, but felt sick again when I got there, so had another useless day, getting further and further behind. It felt like it was never going to go. I just wanted to leave, quit everything, it was a waste of time and I was going to fail it all anyway, because I couldn't manage to be well enough for enough days to actually go in and get it all done.

Fortunately, having not eaten much for a few days, I didn't have the actual energy to get out of bed and do anything to follow that through.

Then on Friday as soon as I woke up I knew it had gone. Hurrah! Up yours, sickness, ha!

There's not a lot to be said, but I will say one thing for being ill. You realize once you're better, how pretty damn good you feel most of the time, without even realizing it. And that you are SO lucky to feel so good, that most of the time you don't even notice. Health is something I take forgranted most of the time, but I shouldn't. Feeling bad for just a little while makes you realize how different things would be if you weren't lucky enough to wake up every day and be able to carry on, not restricted by your body, and do the things you want to.