So what now?

So 2 weeks on and how do I feel?  Well to be completely honest I still don’t feel like I actually did it.  It’s been a very strange few weeks!

In the few days following the race I had a good rest and enjoyed being a lady of luxury with some time off work.  I went and had a much needed sports massage on the first day, then a pedicure and some handbag shopping therapy on the second…  I had been planning these treats for quite some time and they didn’t disappoint.  I didn’t know it was possible to love a handbag so much – even though it’s not quite the life-long coveted Mulberry!  I settled on a Longchamp black shopper and am proudly carrying it around with me daily as a constant reminder of my achievement.  

I actually didn’t feel too bad in the days following the race.  Going down stairs was a bit of a problem for a few days, but on the whole I was a lot more mobile than I had expected.   Perhaps this is what I had been training for all along?  Train properly and you have a much quicker recovery??  I feel almost gleeful when I’d heard stories of people unable to walk nearly 7 days later, still with bruised toes and lost toenails.  The worst I had was a little blister on my big toe and the pedicurist saw to that – ouch! Tuesday morning, was far worse than Monday which I hadn’t been expecting.  I got up in the morning to discover someone had removed my legs overnight and replaced them with lead (or that’s what it felt like) but after a bit of wandering about I soon felt mobile again.  More than anything I think I was just a bit tired, and constantly hungry too – woah!  I had 2 breakfasts on those days!

Wednesday it was back to work, and Thursday back to Kettle Bells before the long Easter weekend which would be another 4 days of rest.  It felt great to be back at Kettle Bells and get moving again.  Post the Easter break I have been back at Kettle Bells a few times again and so far so good.  I’m still feeling like the high fitness level I’d peaked at is present and I really don’t want to loose it.  I haven’t’ actually been running yet and am hoping to do that soon, I’ve missed the headspace of being out on my feet!  When I was cursing my training a few months back I honestly never thought I’d say that.

The ballot for the 2012 marathon came and passed, and whist I did for a nano second feel tempted to enter, my sanity took over.  I do not doubt that i’ll run a Marathon again in the future, but I’m not ready to give up 6 months of my life to train so hard again quite so soon.

So what now???  I’d been warned about PMD (post marathon depression), and to a certain extent I think I’ve got it!  I want to talk about 17^th April for ever and that’s quite hard to do when all your friends family and colleagues have quite understandably moved on.  My post marathon diet has been quite frankly appalling (a hideous amount of chocolate and cake consumed just because I could) it’s been hard to be healthy when my reason for eating so sensibly has gone (that and Easter and Royal Wedding parties).   I’ve even missed writing my blog (though I’ve still a few more posts up my sleeve)!  However as I’m signed up to do the Bupa 10k at the end of May, and with countless weddings and hen do’s over the next few months I’m sure I have enough on my plate to keep me busy.  But I have relished this challenge and I’d really like to have another one, though that doesn’t necessarily need to be an athletic one… I’ll keep thinking…

It’s Marathon Time

Well this is it. Race time!  It’s been 5 years since I started running, 3 years of failed ballot spots so I guess you could say that my Marathon journey started way before my hard training commenced 5 months ago in November.  The last 5 months have been blooming hard work – a combination of sensible(ish) eating, raging appetites, reduced alcohol consumption, incredibly long distance weekend runs with ridiculously early starts, shorter interval spurts, kettle bell weight training, a lot of experimentation with energy gels and recovery drinks, fundraising, cake-sales and all of this with a full time job.  However the question which has bugged me all along remained – will it all have been worth it?  Only one way to find out…

I arrived in Blackheath on Saturday evening as my 2 lovely friends Hayley and Rik very conveniently lived about 100m from where I had to be on Sunday morning.  This was a complete luxury for me.  I’m a terrible traveller as I always allow too much time to get anywhere when public transport is involved, but with only 100m to walk I didn’t have to worry! I had a lovely chilled evening with Hayley and Rik – a light dinner followed by a film and bed.  They’d even given me their bed and instead slept in the lounge, I insisted this wasn’t necessary but they wouldn’t have it any other way.  Thank you guys – it really meant a lot.  I even slept for most of the night!

Race day, which also happened to be my 29^th Birthday, my alarm went off at 6.45am.  First things first – breakfast!!! I then nervously dressed, smothering my arms in Lanacane chaffing gel, my feet in Compeed, and my arms and heat in factor 30 suncream.  I then packed and re-packed my bag a 100 times whist watching the Marathon coverage on BBCNews 24.   I could hardly believe all of this was happening just down the road from where I was.  I had to get down there!

A few posed ‘before’ pictures which I immediately posted to Facebook for my friends and family who weren’t able to make it down today – technology just astounds me these days!  Then at 8.30am it was time to leave and Hayley and Rik walked me down to the start area.  A few almost teary (me by the way) goodbye hugs and I was off on my own!  I was in the green start which was for the celebs, and anyone associated with Virgin Money (since I’d won my place in the marathon through a Virgin Money competition).  I felt incredibly lucky to be in this special start area.  There were a mere 3000 of us rather than about 15,000 in each of the red and blue starts.  Bag in, and time to join the long loo queue.  I chose the queue next to the celebrity pen so I could get a good glimpse of who was about – my spottings included; James Cracknell (swoon), Matthew Pinsent, Cheryl Baker, Sophie Raworth, Mike Bushell, Jamie Baulch, Iwan Thomas, Nell McAndrew and Agyness Deyn. Not a bad set, but I really wanted to see Will Young…

Anyway… at 9am we saw the elite ladies set off on the big screen, I was really routing for Liz Yelling having met her twice at the Virgin Money training days I’d been too.  Not long after we were ushered into our pens.  I was in the back one.  Most people were quiet and contemplating the race ahead.  I’d expected people to be really chatty but maybe it was just nerves.

At 9.45am my worst fears were upon me.  Oh yes they were playing that blooming M People song “What have you done today, to make you feel proud”.  I don’t even like M People and I can’t stand this song, but the mere sound of it, especially on a TV montage usually leaves me drowning in a pool of tears. However thanks to the poking fun in my current favourite comedy show Miranda all it did was make me giggle.  Accompanied to the bellowing sounds of Heather Small I crossed the start line a mere 2 minutes after the starting gun – I really couldn’t quite believe it only took that long.  Here’s my mile by mile account of the epic journey from Blackheath to the Mall….

0 – Leaving Blackheath:  Soon enough we passed Hayley and Rik’s house where they were waiting for me with a huge ‘Ceri’ banner.  I wasn’t quite expecting that.  They bellowed at me and also shouted Happy Birthday, which got quite a few looks from the rest of the crowd and runners too, made me feel really special.  Slight pain started in my right shin.  Was hoping I just needed to warm up and it would go away…

1 – Converged with the blue start:  Because there were so many more runners in the blue start most of the runners at this point of the field were faster than me.  Was a little disconcerting to have so many people passing me, but I tried to put it out of my mind.  I then saw my friend from work Natasha with boyfriend Matt in the crowd.  It was great to have support so early on.  I think I saw them before they saw me though which startled them somewhat!

2 – Charlton:  Strong South-East London accent hollers “Go on Serrri”.  Oh dear, it starts….Was it really a good idea to put my name on my shirt in big bold letters, knowing that most of my life I’ve had problems with the pronunciation of my name?  (Welsh names in Surrey – a big no-no!). There were lots of shameless men peeing up against various walls at this point – I had started to need the loo again and this just made me a little jealous that women just couldn’t get away with this!  Cue lots of tut-ing women!

3 – Woolwich:  Here we converged with the red start, resulting in a lot of booing! I’d read that this usually happens and all contributed to the fun and friendly atmosphere.  A lovely stretch downhill eased the pressure a bit, trying desperately not to run too fast.  I was starting to feel really hot, and I wasn’t sure if this was because it was actually hot, or whether the dense field of runners added an extra few degrees to the temp.

4 – Crowds really building now and along with that the volume of the cheering.  Lots of supporters were already drinking pints along the route (It was 10.30am!) Thirsty work cheering??? – try running! I was still feeling good, and enjoying the journey so far.  Trying to ignore how much further there is to go.

5 – New Charlton:  Now just a mere 21 miles to go.  In my head was trying to think of the last 5 miles as a warm up with the 21 ahead being the race (21 miles also equal to the furthest I‘d run before today).  Here we passed a Lucozade station, and as well as almost getting my feet stuck to the tarmac with all the spillage everywhere I also narrowly avoided being knocked out by an idiot runner who lobbed a finished bottle within a hairs breath of my head..

6 – Towards Greenwich:  I’d been in Greenwich last weekend and also Friday night so it was comforting to be somewhere familiar.  The town centre was packed with supporters and the cheering got quite deafening.  I randomly saw a girl I was at school with in the crowd who looked quite startled to see me!  First slurp of my honey energy gel – it was rather warm…

7 – Past Greenwich: Was a shame that we didn’t get to go past the Cutty Sark – such a landmark from all the years of watching on the TV.  Apparently we have extra steps to fit in around Canary Wharf instead, will look forward to that later…

8 – Deptford:  Strong smells of Chinese food (why do I remember that?) and some awesome London Fire Brigade showers.  The heat was really beginning to rise and they were very welcome.  There were lots more showers on route and I managed to navigate  myself through every single one.  What on earth I must have looked like!

9 – Surrey Quays:  My sister Rhian, her fiancé Barry and my Brother Rich were going to be in Surrey Quays and I was both excited about seeing them and nervous that I would miss them.  I scanned the crowds for about a 10 minute stretch and then out of nowhere I heard a familiar scream as I saw them and grabbed my coconut water drink that they had carried for me – nice work guys!  It was warm but really refreshing and I hoped it would give me that extra hydration I needed.  I hardly had time to say hello, but then I was running a race so I’m not sure stopping for a chat and a cup of tea would have been the order of the day.  Took the drink in over the next 10 mins but it did make me want to pee… Thought best to avoid the next few water stations, just in case…

10&11 – Rotherhide:  Trying desperately to avoid all thoughts of needing the loo I bargained with myself that if I saw a loo with no queue that I would go, but in all reality I knew this probably wouldn’t happen.  I was so desperate to complete the race without stopping, and after all my preparation I didn’t want this to get the better of me.  Maybe if I sweated a bit more I wouldn’t need to go…

12 – Bermondsey:  A few runners had already started to drop out and the St John’s Ambulance crew were doing a fantastic job of massaging cramped up calf muscles and nursing dehydrated runners back to health.  They were also on hand with pots of Vaseline.  I saw an opportunity to take a scoop and smothered it all over my arms just in case, but then I had Vaseline all over my hands – yuck, not even a swish of water or wiping my hands on my trousers could get rid of it!

13 – Tower Bridge: This was just awesome, and I had been really looking forward to it, signifying almost half way as well as being one of my favourite London landmarks, which I had passed so frequently in my training.  Just as I turned the corner onto the bridge had a holler of “Ceri” which I recognised as louder than a general cheer, so turned my head just in time and caught my work friends Megan and Ingrid jumping up and down screaming and waving at me.  This put a huge smile on my face as I crossed over the bridge.   I was half way at 2hrs 18.  Not quite the 2hrs15 I was hoping for but by this point I was so hot and bothered I was just glad I still felt good and had more to give!

14 – Shadwell:   This is the part of the race that you get 2 parts of the race in different directions – with the other side already at 22.  Just a little bit jealous of all the faster men who only had 4 miles to go.  Oh well, I’d be there in 9 miles time a mere 90 minutes from now… By this point the mispronunciations of my name (Cherie, Seri, Cherry, Sherry, Geri, Teri) were starting to drive me crazy so I moved to the centre of the road to avoid the crowds.  Rather annoyingly this meant that I missed my siblings, but I hope they’ll forgive me for that.  Having people constantly shout out your name is a really strange feeling – it makes you think that everyone in the crowd knows you, almost a little like being famous, and they really are willing you along wishing you a champion journey and that was such an awesome feeling, I wish I had been prepared for how to react to that as It caught me by surprise!

15 – Canary Wharf:  Had the promise of my school friends Alex, Gems, Hayley & Rebs somewhere around this point.  Just after the tunnel I heard a familiar whoop and was greeted by screams, purple sparkly banners and a rendition of Happy Birthday.  Wow!  I was absolutely touched with their effort and this really spurred me on.  Then 2 minutes later I saw university friends Fi and Ioan who had come all the way from Cardiff to see me.  Brilliant!  I knew they were both planning on also being around mile 19 so I just had to keep going for another 40 minutes till then…. If only my supporters knew how much their presence had motivated me from one spot to the next! (well secrets out they know now – thanks sooo much guys!)

16 – Isle of Dogs:  Uh-oh the roads around here were rather narrow and keeping up my pace was becoming more of a challenge.  There were runners stopping all over the place and this was a really difficult mile, not least because I thought I was at 17 but then I saw the 16 mile banner.  Pants.  Then to make matters worse out of nowhere I got a cramp on the left side of my tummy.  Hoping this was a phase I did lots of deep breathing and it eased slightly.

17 – Millwall: Still struggling and it was getting really really warm and with no shade to hide behind.  Salty sweat crystals all over my skin.   Crowds offering bananas, haribo and even chocolate biscuits left right and centre – very kind but think I’ll pass.

18  – Are we still in Canary Wharf?  This section of the course was going on forever!  Though as I knew I would see my girls again soon, I really didn’t want them to see me struggling.  I concentrated hard on lots more deep breathing, taking on plenty of water, and keeping as upright as possible as my drooping posture was starting to give me backache…

19 – Hooray, saw both the gangs again.  This pulled me together and I found the strength from somewhere to keep hanging in there. My 4hrs30 goal was rapidly disappearing but I kept telling myself that as very few people ever run a marathon, I really shouldn’t be so hard on myself.  Just being in the race was an amazing achievement, one that just 5 years ago I would never have dreamed of.  Then there were all the many people who had sponsored me and had faith in my abilities to nail the race, not least my Mum who’d been singing a song from The Producers down the phone at me all week #“You can do it”.  I still actually have no idea what song she is talking about but it kept me going nevertheless. No way was I going to let anyone down now.

20  – Almost out of the Canary Wharf peninsular at last with just 6 miles to go!  Hooray that’s just the same as mere 10k race which meant just an hour of running to go.  Keep plodding and remember that running is simply the art of putting one foot in front of another.  That is all.

21  – Limehouse & heading back down towards Shadwell:  I was so relieved that the miles were ticking down.  Just 5 more, just 5 more.  I felt very sorry for the walkers on the left side of the barriers who were only just past the 13 mark – it must be so soul destroying.  I was greeted to my right by Rhian, Rich and Barry accompanied by shouts of  “you’re doing really well”.  Yes I am!! Must keep on going.

22 – Tower hill:  That’s more like it, back with the familiar sights of the London I know well.  “Just pretend this is your Tower Bridge training run” I kept telling myself, not long to go now.  Then the unbelievable happened.  I realised I had run further then I’ve ever run before, I hadn’t yet hit ‘the wall’ some uplifting loud music was playing and that wonderful feeling of euphoria washed over me.  About blooming time – it had only taken 4 hours!

23  – Canon Street:  With the euphoric glow still all over me I glided down Thames Street and really believed that I could up the pace a bit.  Just Final slurp of my energy gel which coated my throat in a really unpleasant way whilst I desperately tried not to choke.. 3 miles to go – just 30 mins – come on!!

24 – Blackfriars Tunnel: Usually reserved for cars Blackfriars tunnel felt dark and long.  There were runners walking everywhere and a few who’d collapsed on the roadside.  Must keep going.  Do not stop now.  Legs please do not fail me.

25 – Embankment:  I was expecting Mum by Embankment Bridge and frantically scanning the crowds kept me going all along the Embankment.  The crowds were so thick and the cheering so loud it was almost impossible to notice the Thames and all the sights of London I usually love to absorb.  I spotted a green crowd of ladies (the Epsom Allsorts in their matching jumpers) and there was Mum, practically hanging over the railings waving and cheering, it felt amazing to see her and to be able to wave and actually smile “See you at the end” I shouted, and with that I knew I had a mere mile to go.  Oh goodness – I was actually going to finish this race!  It finally felt real.  Then as I turned the corner into parliament square, I saw Megan and Ingrid, and then the girls again.  You CAN do it –  just a little bit more!

Well that little bit more went on forever.  I really wanted to find the power within to up the speed into St James Park but I just had nothing left to give.  800m to go then 600m to go, then the 385 yards to go sign as we turned into Birdcage Walk.  I don’t remember seeing a sign for 26 miles – perhaps I was deluded at that point or maybe there wasn’t one?  Feeling a little light headed I ploughed on determined not to stop and facing just a little bit more… Goodness this was the longest 385 yards of my life.  The crowds were screaming but all I could focus on was the end.  Nearly there, nearly there… I didn’t even notice Buckingham Palace.  Then low and behold the most amazing sight was before me – the finish line!  Hooooooorrraaaaaay!!!!  I crossed the line at 4hrs44 and knowing I was 2minutes ahead of this I realised I had achieved my goal of completing the race in between 4hrs30 & 4hrs45.  True, it would have been truly awesome to be nearer to 4hrs30 but given this marathon lark was unknown territory for me, and territory not that many people ever cross I was just plain glad to have finished! 4hrs 42 minutes and 28 seconds.

My legs turned to jelly as I finally stopped and was ushered into a queue to have my tag removed and to get my medal.  I then did the most stupid thing and kissed my medal.  It just felt like the thing to, I mean did I think it was an Olympic gold or something?  Well to me it might as well have been.  I did it!  Surreal and beyond all my belief I’d run a whole marathon.

I’d almost forgotten it was my birthday, and once I’d picked up my bags and found my friends and family I was treated to an embarrassing rendition of Happy Birthday – I loved every second of it.  Everyone was telling me I looked so fresh and at that moment I actually didn’t feel too bad.  The human body really is an amazing machine!

Anyway, it was off home for a shower, some birthday presents, some fresh clothes and straight out to the pub for a large steak, cake and a few drinks (mostly water mind) to finally celebrate my birthday.  I still couldn’t believe I’d run a Marathon, someone pinch me please because this is one surreal dream!   Would I do it again??  You bet I would, but just not for a bit… I’d quite like my Sunday lie-ins back.

It couldn’t have been a more perfect way to run a marathon – staying in Blackheath, starting in the exclusive green start, amazing weather, a huge crowd of personal supporters and all of that on my birthday.  I felt like a very lucky girl.

To date I have raised over £5,000 for Mesothelioma UK and the Mick Knighton Mesothelioma Research Fund, and I couldn’t have done this without the amazing support network of my family, friends and colleagues.  Whilst I felt like a very lucky girl on Sunday, beneath it all the fact remains that my mother has an incurable cancer which isn’t very lucky at all.  I just hope that by doing something positive for these charities and raising such a phenomenal amount, one that I could never have dreamed of, will in turn make someone else feel lucky for a bit.

Race week – Training summary. Bring it on!!!

The week started full of a combination of fear and excitement at the week ahead.  Didn’t sleep so well in the early part of the week, and have had some very strange dreams – the worst was when I dreamt I was so knackered after the race that I forgot to go to my birthday drinks, and I woke up bitterly disappointed and sad about that.  Hooray when I realised this was a dream… although maybe its a good sign that none of my panicked dreams involved broken bones or missing the race.  As the week has progressed the fear has moved into pure excitement and the trip to the Expo on Thursday to pick up my number made it all feel so incredibly real.  With just 2 short runs I almost feel rested and wanting more – the way it should be.  Have a slight fear that I’ve forgotten how to run, but this is common and I’m putting it to the bottom of my mind until 9.45am on Sunday 🙂

Monday Rest day

Tuesday 3.5 miles from Embankment to Southwark Bridge, The wobbly bridge and back.  It was a glorious morning, and I had one of those magic moments as I crossed Southwark Bridge in the sunshine and a favourite Stereophonics track was blasting in my ears.  It was very hard to control my pace and keep slow!  Got very emotional knowing next time I run along the Embankment will be during the race – I wonder how much harder that will feel?

Wednesday Rest Day.  Woken up by cramp in my right calf.  Very odd.  Felt slightly tender all day, then words of wisdom from Mum explaining that this might be cos my muscles are relaxing with the lower volume of training.  Phew!

Thursday. 3 miles from the house to Westminster Bridge and back.  Very slow, which again was hard to do. Then off to the Expo to collect my number, get my name printed on my shirt and also do some shopping….  For someone who was considering giving up running post Marathon I did a pretty good job of buying some new kit…  Got a Sports Bra from Less Bounce, a gorgeous purple fitting ladies running vest from Thoosa (pic below), and a purple (spot the theme) Addidas wind Jacket from the Sweatshop.  All with discounts of course so it was perfectly justifiable.

Friday Rest day.  Trying to keep sane at work, whilst literally everyone I speak to asks me how I’m feeling and wishes me luck.  Phantom calf pain thankfully disappeared. Religiously watching the weather and trying to ignore all the last minute advice across the media as it’s making me panic!

Saturday Rest day.  For a bit of distraction planning to hang out with my bro, do a bit of shopping and lunch in Brixton then & pack for this eve and tomorrow.   Staying with some friends who live near the start line in Blackheath this evening  – whoop get in, no ridiculously early start for me.

Sunday ……. Report to follow…..BRING IT ON! 🙂

Check in for a full report on the race when I’m recovering on Monday!  I literally can’t wait.  The support I’ve received from absolutely everyone has been so amazing, and really I cannot thank every single one of you enough 🙂

What I talk about when I talk about running

Nope, not another long rambling blog post from me about running, but this time about a book.  I’ve wanted to read this book by Haruki Murakami for a long time, but never quite gotten round to it.  It’s now taper week, and with less ridiculously early starts, Ive had the opportunity to read in bed, and on my commute at the more humane time of 8.45am.  I picked up a copy in my local library, and thought it might provide some inspiration and words of wisdom heading into my final week.  I did wonder if my brain was going to go into running over drive and if I’d be better off reading some hideous chick-lit to take my mind off things, but knowing what my concentration levels are like at the moment, I’d probably skim read the entire thing and not weven notice the words passing, so it would probably be a wast of time anyway….

It took me 4 days to read (I haven’t read a book for months) and is a perfect summary of how I feel about running  – although the author is far more obsessed than me and does veer over into the world of triathlons towards the latter end of the book (I would never!) Murakami rambles with such ease across the subject and from the moment he started talking about the fact he has no idea what he thinks about when he runs I knew we were kindred spirits and I’d enjoy reading his ramblings.  Murakami is a novelist, but this short book is a series of articles written between 2005 and 2007 on his experiences of running throughout his life.  Ever since he started running he has committed to a Marathon every year.  He’s certainly no elite athlete (although his times are very credible) but he just loves to run, the freedom it gives him, the endorphines, the self-competition, the thinking time, the empty brain time, the physicality.  Brilliant.

Highly Recommended!

 

My outfit for the big day

So after weeks of training in the freezing winter and wondering what on earth the weather would decide to do in April, we’re finally here and have a forecast for the weekend. Though it’s changing on a daily basis (not that I’m obsessively checking of course…) I now know it will be vaguely spring like up to 17 degrees C and most importantly dry! Weather aside other outfit related dramas including worrying about chaffing, blisters, tummy aches and wobbly breasts! However I have now settled on my outfit, and unless winter makes a swift comeback I’m good to go!  I do remember is snowing just before my birthday a couple of years ago, but also remember my 5th Birthday party in 1987 when all the girls had to borrow my pretty summer dresses to wear because it was so warm. Not the boys though they escaped. Luckily for all our sakes I can’t find a photo!

Here is my outfit.  The funny little pink and blue bottles are my gel holders

+ my running number 28829!

Trainers – my Saucony Omni 8’s. These are truly tried and tested (see old post). I’ve been wearing this particular pair since Feb, and this make and model almost since I started running in 2005.  This pair were bought from Runners Needs in Oxford Circus, but you can buy them in almost any runners shop or on-line.

Socks – plain cotton trainer socks from Lillywhites! Yes there are lots of pricey padded socks about but I’ve always been happy in plain cotton ones and to this day have only ever had 2 blisters, likely caused by running too far in new shoes before they were worn in.

Trousers – knee length capri running trousers by Nike – also from Lillywhites. I’ve had these for about 18 months and wear them often definitely the most comfortable of the trousers I own, nice comfy waistband and back pocket for my gels. I did buy some new ones a few weeks ago but something just isn’t right about them in terms of complete comfort. Weird!

Bra – turquoise shock absorber bra. I’ve got this in 3 different colours but I’m going to wear the turquoise one as its the best fit and my most recent purchase, plus I love the colour. You can buy these everywhere but this one came from ‘Run to live’ specialist running shop in Ashtead, Surrey.

Vest – given to me by Mesothelioma UK, thanks guys!

Hair – still debating about this (I am a girl after all) might be silly and do some french plaits – and they do keep my hair off my face!

I’ll also be smothering my feet in Compeed anti blister stick which helps prevent against blisters and Lanacane on my arms to help with the chaffing (nice!)

That’s it – hope that will help you spot me!

1 week to go – Training summary. Final hard week

This was my final hard week of training before the 1 week countdown and full taper takes over.  I’ve spent most of the week feeling sick with nerves, even at this far out, whilst also feeling relieved that I’m nearly there as well as sad for it to be over – such a rollercoaster!  I’ve had such a busy week at work (6 days on the trot) so it’s actually passed quite quickly.  I had a couple of friends running Brighton and Paris Marathons this weekend, and now that they’ve finished their journey’s I’m jealous!  Can I bear another 7 days of this bottom of the stomach sick-with-nerves feeling? I guess there is only one way to find out…

Monday Rest day

Tuesday Kettle Bells, my last Tuesday hard class. Been debating for a while when to do my last classes and finally decided to do the 2 this week as normal and have next week off Kettle Bells totally. I just can’t risk accidentally straining a random muscle! Even so, I went lighter on all my bells today just in case, still blooming hard work though!

Wednesday last 5 mile Thames Tower bridge run.  The weather has been beautiful this week and it makes running along the glistening river such a delight. I blogged separately about this here as was so overcome with the love for running that day…Yep total looserville I know.

Thursday. Slightly shorter kettle bell class as hardly anyone at the gym today (must have all been sunbathing (at 7am??) or hungover from beer garden drinking me thinks) so I decided to add in my intervals run at the end so I could have another lie in on friday (much needed due to hideous 4 x 12hr working days).  So after the class I hit the treadmill for a pyramid intervals. 1,2,3,4,5,4,3,2,1 mins at 12kph interspersed with 1 min recovery at 7kph. VERY sweaty. Covered 3.5 miles.

Friday Rest day

Saturday I was at work managing events all day today, but had a 3 hour gap in the afternoon so I used this for my run.  According to Liz Yelling and Sophie Raworth (through twitter conversations no less) I had established that I needed to run for about 70 mins today.  Phew – my training plan had 10 and to be honest I didn’t quite fancy running that far in the heat.  I set off from my office in Kings Place, King’s Cross and took the Regent’s Canal all the way up to the far corner of Regent’s Park a lovely run along the water, well apart from the hideous 5 minutes passing through Camden lock on a sunny Saturday afternoon.  I then looped around all the sunbathers in Regent’s Park and back through Camden, joining the Canal after the hideous busy bit and back up to Kings Place.  7.5 miles in 80 mins.  Shower then concert. Job done.

Sunday Rest day

So, here I am one week to go.  Next week I’ve just 2 short runs to fit in.  Think I’m going to do these on Tuesday and Thursday, perhaps 4 or 3 miles to keep the legs ticking over.  Over than my rest week I haven’t trained this lightly in a LONG time, so I’m quite looking forward to allowing my legs to fully recover, having more lie-ins and coming back up to full strength to tackle the big race with full vigour!  With training much less I won’t need to eat so much with I think is going to be hard.  The last thing I want is to arrive on the start line feeling bloated and overstuffed.  I’m going to have a chocolate and alcohol free week so I can really focus on that as a prize during the race.  Last bit of Green&Blacks 70% this evening.  Thursday I’m off to the expo to pick up my number so it’s all getting very real!!!  ARGH!!!!  Thursday also is the official start of my carb up.  At least I have a Birthday to look forward to as well, then 2 lazy days off work, which is really keeping me going 🙂

 

 

The hardest thing I’ll ever do?

With just 9 days to go, and now that I’m fully in the taper period, I’ve been thinking a LOT about the race.  Some people say that running a Marathon will be one of the hardest things you’ll ever do.  I was contemplating this on one of my long runs a few weeks back, and came to the conclusion that actually it won’t be.  I mean the race itself will be VERY hard, I’m sure of it but I do hope to enjoy it and I have enjoyed all (well most) of the training too.  I have no idea what childbirth is like, although thanks to some graphic explanations from close friends it doesn’t sound like the easiest of rides… But at the end of childbirth you get a child, and at the end of the Marathon I will have a medal and a great feeling of achievement.  I choose to enter the Marathon, it didn’t choose me and therefore it can’t possibly even compare to other hard things in life which get forced unwillingly upon oneself.

Nope, the hardest thing so far (I’m only 28…) I’ve ever had to do in my life was get out of the car at my Dad’s funeral.  It was a week after my Dad passed away and I’d had 7 days to get used to the idea that my Dad was gone forever.  I’m not sure I really took the enormity of that fact in that 7 day period which passed in a haze of sadness and relief (Dad had been ill for many months).  The day of the funeral felt incredibly alien.  Getting into the vast black car at Mum’s house, following the hurse to the crematorium, and then the worst bit, getting out of the car after having driven past the vast line-up of guests who were there to support and share the event with us.  They all looked so sad, and they were all sad for Dad, and sad for our loss.  I remember turning to my siblings and Mum and we all said to each other “I can’t do this”, but there was no option, we had to do this, and we did it together.  Now that was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do in my life.  What with the inevitable circle of life, I know this won’t be the only time I’ll have to face it, but for now the memory lasts.

Running a mere 26.2 miles with crowds of people cheering in support, and with the backing of virtually everyone I know behind me.  A walk in the park in comparison.

Apologies for the over-sharing and personal slant to this post, but it’s been brewing in my head for such a long time now (possibly due to my run past the London Welsh Rugby club a few weeks back and also more recently the Crematorium …) and I just wanted to co-ordinate my random thoughts into something succinct (?!) on paper.

So…This morning’s run made me smile for a number of reasons…

It was the most glorious morning in London (22 degrees this afternoon and it’s only April!) and as today was my last planned 5 mile jog of the Tower Bridge route it just couldn’t have been more perfect.  My favourite London route and I have shared some good times (and also many not so good times) over the last few months and it has served me well as the staple part of my mid-week training.  I really felt quite sad that it was my last time, and have even wondered whether when the marathon training is over I should continue to give it a whirl every now and again.  2 months ago I said I would not train for long distances ever again, but I’ve enjoyed the last few months so much, and have really seen an improvement in my training that now I’m not so sure.  Perhaps this wont be my only marathon, I can hardly believe I’m writing this….

I sat off from The Strand at  7.15am warm (!) in my vest (yes vest!!!!!) top.  The hopping around to keep warm whilst my GPS signal located me, and the numb fingers and toes I got used to putting up with over the winter months felt such a distance memory.  As I reached the Thames the early morning Sun was glistening along the river, and with my favourite tracks blasting in my ears (today’s favourite track was Footloose) I just couldn’t fail to smile.

As I approached and ran over Tower Bridge it dawned on me that the next time I’d do this would be race day itself.  I have butterflies and feel sick even writing about this… Everyone says that as Tower Bridge is about half way round the course that’s where the real race begins.  A 13 mile warm up then a half marathon race – I like the idea of splitting it up like this.

I also used today to road test my “Mesothelioma UK” charity vest. It’s way too big but at least it didn’t chaffe so I think ill just put up with it! I felt proud to take it around the streets and wondered if the people who I passed along the way (mostly tramps, runners and head-down-do-not-make-eye-contact businessmen on their way to work) would know who or what Mesothelioma UK are.  I hope I’ll manage to raise awareness by representing them on race day.

As I passed Blackfriars and approached the Embankment – mile 23 in the actual Marathon my pace felt easy and comfortable and I glided up to Waterloo Bridge before heading back to The Strand.  I hope it still feels this easy by this point on race day.  I tried to visualise all the crowds being there and cheering us on – it’s going to be one heck of a ride.
I love euphoric runs like today. Remind me why I do this and put myself through all the crappy runs!

April 17th – 11 days away.  Bring it on

Revisions To My Homemade Energy Gel

In a previous post  I wrote about my recipe for a homemade energy gel.  Due to various reasons I don’t think my body is designed to take in dates whilst running.  They just don’t agree with me (see post on fibre related discomfort… I decided to do a bit more snooping on the internet after after googling ‘natural energy gels’ I found a commercially available Gel product by Mule which I thought I could work on adapting myself.  All the ingredients are completely natural, and so I though it was worth a try.   I tried this out on my 18 miler at Dorney Lake last Saturday, and also my last long (ish 13 miler on Sunday) seeing as it is a bit runnier than the date mixture, it is much easier to squeeze out through the Superdrug 60ml travel shampoo bottle I’m using.  One bottle fits in the back pocket of my trousers, and I’m all for that, as I discovered at Cranleigh wearing a bumbag for 4 hours tight around my tummy is not very comfortable!  I’ve thought about wearing an armband to carry the second bottle (I’ll need 2 for the whole distance) but can’t find one the right size.  Someone (a helpful shop assistant in Runners Need’s near Oxford Street) also suggested to me sowing a small childs sock into the waistband of my trousers and sticking it in that – what a genius idea!  Or even a sun glasses case as the material is all silky…

Here’s my new recipe

– 25mls of Raw Honey (currently using this one)

– 25mls of Sweet Freedom (this is a fruit sugar based syrup)

– 1-2 tsps of lime and lemon juice

– a little lime and lemon zest (gives a great flavour)

– 1/2 tsp ginger (I used powder but finely grated whole ginger would be better)

– a pinch of himalayan salt.

Approx calorie and carb info per squeezy bottle;

153 kcals, 39g Carbs.  This comes mainly from the honey and sweetener, I presume the ginger, lemon and lime have negligable values…

By comparison one Mule sachet is 113 kcals, and 28g Carbs or a Lucozade Gel is 123 kcals, 30g carbs (1-2 of these gels per hour are recommended).  I plan for 2 of my bottles on the big day.  In my last long run I took in a big squeeze at every 3 mile mark, but starting after 9 miles – one bottle does 3 squeezes.  So for race day a slurp at 9, 12, 15, 18, 21, 24 miles should do the trick!

NB I’m no nutrition scientist, and as my scales aren’t entirely reliable and gooey syrup is difficult to weigh, please don’t take this as gospel!

Perfect!  Completely low fibre, high energy, and natural.   It tastes pretty good too.

Tastes better than it looks...

p.s. when a runner said to me that it looked pretty vile,  they then retracted the comment when they realised that we have no idea what the commercially available products look like as they are in sealed packages!  So there!

2 weeks to go – Training Summary. Paranoia and the taper…

So… After months of hard work and increasing mileage with each week, it’s finally time for the taper, hooray!!  There are so many different schools of thought on the taper – how much, when to start etc. and it’s all gotten rather confusing.  However the general idea is that training gets less in the 3 weeks up to the race so that the body has time to fully recover from the last few months hard work, in preparation for race day.  It’s really normal for runners to get paranoid in this stage that they’re not doing enough, and that their body will forget how to run, so some people quite often over do it.  Not me – I’m really going to enjoy this.  If I look at my training schedule I haven’t run less than 18 miles on a weekend for a very long time!

It’s also very normal to get paranoia about being ill or injured and having to pull out of the race.  At a trip to the theatre this Wednesday the air con was so strong I developed a bunged up nose throughout the evening – cue panic that I was getting the flu.  Plus read on for a hideous Monday morning hiccup….

Monday.  Today was going to be a lovely 5-6 mile easy run (couldn’t quite decide length before hand) up to Tower Bridge and back.  Rather clumsily I lost my footing and I fell down some stairs on Waterloo Bridge about 200m into my run…  The whole fall went in slow motion and I literally zoomed through the entire 26.2 miles of the race in my head as I fell – Cue serious panic attack!!!  Serves me right for jogging down the steps.  Lucikly I managed to stop myself a mere 6 steps down (the staircase was rather much longer).  A kind passer by stopped to check I was OK, I sat for a bit, checked out my school-girl grazed knees, then decided that as surface damage was the worst of it (I am SO lucky) then I was fine to carry on with my run, all be it at a gentler pace.  Lesson learnt….. DON’T RUN DOWN STAIRS!

Tuesday.  Kettle Bells.  Today the class included Sprints, along with some hard swinging and squat circuits – can I include the sprints in my weekly total?

Wednesday. Rest day.  Oops.  Was meant to go to a Yoga class, but decided when I was woken up by my alarm by that it was just too much effort and as a 1 hr yoga class wasn’t exactly going to help me run the marathon faster at this stage then I’d be best to have some more sleep.  I only wish I’d decided this the night before so I wouldn’t have been woken by an alarm!

Thursday. Kettle Bells.  I felt really good, today, and for the rest of the day afterwards – sometimes that just happens – can I can it, and store it for later?  Today’s class was really heavy on arm and core work so that gave my legs an extended time to recover.  Thanks Adura, it was as if she knew my legs were screaming at me “Oi Ceri, leave me alone and no more squats today please”

Friday. Intervals day.  Following taper advice I’m keeping up the intensity but not the distance, so I did 10 x 400m, with 100m recovery at 13kph and 7kph respectively.  The first few and the last few were tough!  With warm up and down I covered just over 4 miles.

Saturday.   Rest day

Sunday. 13.2 (don’t forget the pedantic .2 it made it half a marathon!) miles with the Epsom Allsorts.  My last chance to run with the Allsorts before the big day and I’m so grateful that I’ve been able to share some runs with them over the last few months – especially as they’ve done all the work planning the routes.  It was quite a hilly run over Epsom Downs, Headley and Walton on a beautiful warm Spring morning.  We were out for 3 hours but ran at a gentle pace, particularly up all those hills – ouch.  I especially loved seeing the view over London from the top of Headley – The Shard looks so small from far away.  Last time I’d run over the downs was on frosty Boxing Day – what a difference!

Next week is my last full on week, 2 kettle bells and 2 runs, though I’ll make them all a little shorter.  I can hardly believe it’s just 2 weeks to go now.  Excited more than anything now, I hope that doesn’t turn into insane fear…