Out of the Ashes

A good night's sleep and a lovely day at a friend's lunch party in celebration of her daughter's 18th birthday had me feeling much better. Unfortunately, I had now got to the point in the Plan where it says "Peak Week", which was about to coincide with a very busy week of "other stuff". I was quite nervous about how cream crackered I would be by the end of it! I skipped the 20 minutes jog recovery suggested by the Plan in favour of rest on Sunday and Monday, though I did walk to work and back on Monday, just to get the legs moving again. I also walked to work on Tuesday, but got the bus home as then I really had to tie up my trainer laces again and get back on the horse (actually I think it would be more painful to ride a Marathon on a horse than to run one). This meant that it got dark while I was out - but it did also mean I could use the little light on my watch to tell me how long I'd been running! (Little things...) I was supposed to do 40 minutes brisk, so that's what I did, and it felt really great. I felt free and easy, my feet were flying and my breathing was rhythmical and easy, and I was a bit disappointed to find I'd only done 3.45 miles in my 40 minutes. It felt like I was running faster than that.

I had to switch Thursday's session to Wednesday - 60 minutes steady, which again was good, 5.41 miles - then that afternoon and evening I was at Guildford Cathedral for a rehearsal then concert with the combined RGS/GHS schools' and parents' choir, which was brilliant. The rehearsal was a bit of a car crash but the evening was a huge success, both choir masters were thrilled and it's such a lovely experience to be involved in something like that, even if I am a bit of an interloper these days as I have no school children. Thursday I went to the Ideal Home Show with my friend. I wasn't entirely sure I wanted to spend the whole day wandering round Earls Court getting tired but we had a lovely day. I told her all about my disaster at the weekend and she was hugely positive and encouraging, and even came with me to the running shop when we got back to Woking, where I had a sensible chat with the very helpful and knowledgeable staff about hydration and nutrition strategies during long runs, and the different types of products available. I had come to realise that the major cause of all my problems on Saturday was dehydration; I just didn't take in enough fluid to cope with the heat and the gel. Lesson learned. I bought a couple of different types of gel, including the Lucozade one that's available on the day, to see if I like it, and some rehydration powder - I heard the shop assistant say something about intravenous drips and panicked a bit but it turns out she just meant it's the same stuff that they use to rehydrate people intravenously in emergencies, not that I have to hook myself up to a bag to take it or anything. Mind you, having tried it, it tastes so vile I'd probably rather take it intravenously.

Friday was a rest day, and so, in theory, was Saturday, but on Saturday I went to Wembley Stadium with Rock Choir to provide pre-match and half-time entertainment at an Aviva Premiership rugby match between Saracens (nominally the home team) and Harlequins, who train in my gym so I feel a kind of affinity there. (Not that I've been in the gym for a while...) It was a fantastic day, if a bit on the chilly side. We spent a lot of time trying to get lined up and work out logistics for getting 2000 choir members into position to sing - in the end it all went out of the window and we just found the right places to stand and it all went very well. We only did three songs and no-one pays any attention anyway, but to be at Wembley was amazing.

And even more respect to Alan Shearer and Robbie Savage for their Sports Relief feat of sitting in every seat. There are a heck of a lot of seats! I tried half a dozen to demonstrate to a friend what they'd been doing, and that was hard enough work. The match itself was a bit of a disaster unless you're a Sarries fan, so we'll gloss over that bit and move swiftly on to Sunday.

The last biggie...

3 1/2 hours said the Plan. Fortunately it was much cooler this weekend but I was still not going to take any chances with the hydration so I planned to loop round via home twice this time. This does mean I can't be too adventurous with where I go as I have to be close enough to get home in an hour but if it means I don't die so be it. I was really up for this run, determined not to be scared of going out there again, not to be put off by last week's nightmare. I'd learned the lessons and I'd prepared. I had also bought, from the Ideal Home Show, a bum bag with extendable pockets into which I could fit all manner of gels, cereal bars, jelly babies, lip salve... Just like Mary Poppins (or Hermione Grainger)! So off I went. First loop was 6 1/2 miles, second was 7, and the last was a "quick" 4 1/2. I made sure to drink my bottle empty before getting home to refill, I made sure to eat en route (and wash down with water as necessary) and I felt really positive. On the whole the weather was very kind to me, until at about 16 miles it came over very dark, got freezing cold, and hailed on me! Not going to put me off though, not me, not this weekend. I even put in a little extra twizzle close to home to make sure I made it to 18 miles, in less than 3 1/2 hours (3:29:15 to be precise!). I was trialling a run/walk strategy, whereby I stopped running every three miles and put in a little walk of about 2-3 minutes. Overall there was no discernible drop in the time taken, and I did feel so much better than last week (may not have had anything to do with the run/walk strategy mind you). There is a run/walk pace group on the day but I think they may be too slow for me. And I never thought I'd be saying that!

So, that was the last really long run done. Into taper time now - for the last three weeks you ease off a bit so as to allow your body to recover and gain the benefit of the long runs, apparently. You're also allowed to carb load, although this does not (unfortunately) mean "eat as much cake as you possibly can..." You have to be a bit sensible, as too much pasta just makes you fat. Who'd have thought?!

Triumph and Disaster

Well, it’s been a while… Things have been pretty full on lately and I have failed to find time for any bloggage, for which I can only apologise, and I now have an awful lot to catch you up on, so grab a cup of tea and settle down. (Actually, to save you all losing the will to live I think I may split this into two or even three reports, so feel free to come and go as you wish.)

Where to start? After my triumph at the Surrey Half I started a new job at the National Trust, which was a bit of a shock to the system. It’s not a hugely demanding or stressful job but I still had to go to an office and concentrate for 8 hours. And now I have to fit my most demanding weeks of training in around work. Yikes! How do people do it?! I actually just did two sessions during the week – the first of which was particularly worthy of note. The Plan said 50 minutes fast. Yes, that’s right, FAST. The only session in the entire plan at more than brisk – and you know how I feel about brisk. Anyway, as I was still feeling the Half Marathon in my legs I decided to ignore the Plan and instead to substitute a session of about 80-90 minutes at my usual plod. However, once I got out there my legs just seemed to want to run, and run. I completed my (little bit over) 50 minutes and had run 5 miles, at an average pace of 10 minutes 29 seconds per mile (and the last mile in 9 minutes 57 seconds)… Knock me down with a feather! So, now I know I can run a bit faster if, say, I were being chased by a bear (although he'd still catch me pretty quickly so maybe I'd be best not exhausting myself in a futile attempt to escape and just let him eat me and get it over with quickly) but I won't be doing it again any time soon. Back to "comfortable", "easy" and "slow" on the plan for the remaining few weeks. 

The little car in which I have been riding the emotional roller coaster had been steadily climbing the last few weeks, so I guess it was inevitable that at some point I should come crashing down again. (I’m actually not convinced about the roller coaster analogy for the Marathon experience because – not that I go on many as I hate them – most roller coasters I can think of finish at the bottom… And that’s not what we want!) So, after the fun at the Surrey Half, and Wednesday’s triumphant “fast” session, that weekend’s LSR (technical term - Long Slow Run) was a bit of a disaster. Not all of it, but you only remember the bad bits. As we were due to go out for Sunday lunch I had to bring the three hour run forward to Saturday as I didn’t fancy getting up at Oh God hundred hours to have breakfast and go and run for three hours, also allowing time for R’n’R before going out and trying to be sociable while hobbling about, as is my wont after these really long efforts. We went into town as usual Saturday morning, so I planned to go running after lunch. It was a beautiful day, as had been several days recently, which makes a lovely change, but of course early afternoon is the warmest part, and it was very warm.

I planned a figure eight loop, returning home in the middle to pick up more fluid as my little running bottle doesn’t carry enough for a long hot run. The first part took me along more of the River Wey towpath, this time in the Woking direction. It was pretty dry apart from one stretch where there was a logjam of cyclists trying to lift their bikes over the bog. I just ran through it. At eight miles (1½ hours) I had a sports gel. I’d wanted to find the GU ones that I’d tried and quite liked at the Surrey Half the previous weekend, or a Lucozade one as that’s what you get on the day, but neither of my local shops do those varieties. I got a Power Bar Mango and Passionfruit one with caffeine (!) which was incredibly sweet and rich. I think I was supposed to dilute it with water but I was conserving my supply so just had a quick swig to go with it (also I had Lucozade in my bottle so the two sweet things together was a bit icky).

I got home at almost exactly two hours, just after 10 miles, swapped the Lucozade for water and set off again, trying to persuade myself that I was just starting out on an hour’s run. My brain was ok but my body was having none of it! At 13 miles I had another gel. In hindsight I think this was a mistake. It was too rich and sickly sweet, and didn’t sit well in my stomach at all. This is why we practice what we can and can’t eat in advance. By now my lower abs were cramping and my shoulders ached and my feet were killing me, but I kept going (not all running today, some planned run/walk bits and some walk up slopes bits) slowly, until I’d done 3 hours 10 minutes which turned out to be 15.87 miles, whereupon I crawled, sobbing, through the front door and collapsed (very slowly, more like a fold than a collapse) onto the door mat. Hubby came and asked if I wanted anything, I said “an ambulance…”. I know I should eat within 20-30 minutes of a long run but I felt very sick and so so tired and couldn’t face eating anything. After a while I dragged myself upstairs, stretched a bit (with a few lying curled up on the floor sessions in between feeble stretches) and crawled into the bath (having to get out again fairly swiftly to be very ill...) When I eventually got downstairs for dinner I felt very poorly, and after just two mouthfuls of what tasted and felt like sawdust, I was very ill again, but then felt a bit better and did manage to eat a little bit. The evening was spent on the sofa with my feet up, gradually feeling more like myself.

I didn’t know if it was the sunshine, or the distance, or the time, or the gels, or not enough fluid, or a combination of everything, but most definitely not a good experience. I had thoroughly spooked myself and was very scared again – how was I going to manage another 11 miles on top, what should I be eating during the race, how to carry everything etc. At that point I was never going to run again, but of course, tomorrow is another day…

I have a medal!

Phew what a scorcher! Not me, I hasten to add, but the weather. After weeks of cold, wet and windy, yesterday was an absolutely beautiful spring day, not a cloud in the sky and temperatures up to 18 degrees C. And I had a half marathon to run.

I started off with a good porridge breakfast and then walked the couple of miles or so down to the start at the Spectrum Leisure Centre, figuring that parking, or even getting anywhere near in the car to be dropped off, would be something of a nightmare. From almost outside my door I saw another person clearly heading in the same direction; the trickle soon became a stream and then a flood of people all walking towards the start. Already feeling the excitement, and funnily not at all apprehensive. I think, having done 15 miles last week, I was almost thinking that 13 would be a doddle.

At the Spectrum it was chaos, but fairly well organised chaos - just thousands of people. What on earth is it like at Greenwich?! 

I dropped off my bag then went and stood at the blue start. We had been given a colour according to the time we had estimated we would finish in - blue is for "at the back". I met up with a friend, Debbie, and at 10:00 we started to shuffle slowly forward. There was a professional Runners' World pace setter who was running at 2 hours 29 minutes, so I reckoned not to go off too fast but to see if I could keep her in my sights. Debbie disappeared off fairly quickly but I was a bit bunched in so couldn't go with her and decided I'd just keep to myself and keep steady, following the pace setter at 100 yards or so back. There were loads of people by the side of the road, including a cheerleading squad and steel band, so the atmosphere was great and the weather gorgeous. 

At 3 miles I saw hubby standing at the roadside cheering and waving, which was lovely. Then off up towards where a friend lives - there she was with her husband and their neighbours, with their chairs outside and a cup of tea! (Not for me though.) Just after that I got to the first drinks station, where I was very grateful for a bottle of cold water, and where the first runners passed me on their way back... They were proper speedy Kenyans and they were absolutely flying! (I later found out from my son, who is at Uni in Bath and had been at the Bath Half last weekend, supporting not running, that the same two Kenyans won that race too, in the same order and in almost exactly the same time!) 

After that the flow of runners returning gradually increased, until by Westfield at just over four miles (where the Surrey Advanced Brass ensemble was playing) there was a mass of them. I had gone gadget free - no watch even, and although I had my phone with me I'd given William the day off - so apart from the mile markers I had no idea how I was doing. I was feeling very relaxed though, and the running was steady and easy despite the heat. I had lost sight of the Runners' World pace setter at about four miles, so I thought I was probably running a bit slow, but I decided not to beat myself up and just keep going. 

On the approach to Woking there's quite a long steady hill which I tackled well, then under the railway bridge and a U-turn at the fire station, with another drinks station, and a GU gel. I actually liked this one a lot more than last week's; it was much thicker in consistency and tasted nicer too, and I really felt it did me a lot of good. Of course the crowd also help a lot with keeping you buoyed up (although in some parts they were beginning to pack up and go home by the time I passed!), but I was grateful for the gel nonetheless. I didn't have my name on my bright pink shirt (unfortunately the Marathon organisers had failed to return my PanCan vest from the printers in time - I hope they, or the Royal Mail, haven't lost it) but I had lots of people yelling "Come on pink lady!" at me. I'm not sure if it was my shirt or my face they were referring to! The way back didn't seem nearly as far (it never is!) and it was great to have hubby and friends to cheer me on with three miles to go. 

For the last three or four miles I was still feeling comfortable and, having run all the way so far, was determined not to stop. I passed so many people walking, including, in the last mile, my friend Debbie, who had gone off a bit too fast and was suffering for it a bit. She made me run on though, and, with the crowd getting bigger and yelling "you're nearly there!", I even put in a teeny bit of a Kenyan finish. It probably wasn't but I felt I was finishing strongly. Down the sandy path and onto the athletics track, and round to the finish. As I crossed the line the clock said 2:37:25, which I was initially a tiny bit disappointed with, but then I remembered there would be some to come off to allow for not crossing the start at exactly 10:00, and anyway, I'd had a great day out and really enjoyed my running so the time wasn't really important. And I got a medal, and Debbie came in a couple of minutes later and we got a bit tearful that we'd actually gone and done it!

In the event it turned out that I wasn't all that far behind the Runners' World pacer, and finished in a net time of 2:30:41, which I was delighted with. That's faster (although not very much, just a couple of minutes) than when I did the half marathon distance in training a few weeks ago, and it was incredibly hot. I was most pleased with the way I ran though, I didn't stop to walk a single step, and at no point did I ever feel like I was having to dig deep to keep going, or that I was really suffering. My feet were sore and so were my hips, and I was quite hobbly during the afternoon despite the stretching and the cold bath. This morning my Achilles tendons feel very tight but otherwise I feel pretty ok, and very proud. I have a Body Balance class later for some gentle stretching, then a full hour sports massage this afternoon at which the lovely April will reduce me to tears but will make me feel a lot better afterwards. And only two more really long runs (one of 3 hours, the other 3 hours 20 minutes-ish) before I start to taper. I can't believe how quickly it's coming round now. I am getting very excited. On Thursday this week I had a lovely day in London to meet an old friend from Uni, and at the end of the day, before meeting hubby for a date night dinner at Villandry in St James' (highly recommend it), I went down onto the Mall and sat on a bench just by where the finish will be. I watched the road and the traffic and tried to visualise myself running up there in triumph, with crowds 10 deep yelling... Choked up!

Oh, and I have a medal...

Map reading fail...

Far be it from me to suggest that women can't read maps! As the proud holder of a geography degree, I have always loved a good map (although there is of course far more to geography than reading maps and colouring in...), and I like to think I'm pretty handy at following them. It's not the map so much as the "left" and "right" I find tricky, so I have been known to have the map upside down if necessary. Anyway, on this occasion I couldn't - obviously - take a map with me, and I blame my menopausal memory rather than my map reading skills for getting me lost and adding more than necessary to this weekend's run.

The plan called for 140-150 minutes, taken slowly, but as I had done 150 minutes last week I thought I could quite sensibly add on an extra 10 minutes or so. I planned out a route which would take me up to Woking, along some of the route to be used next week in the Surrey Half, then head along the Basingstoke Canal towpath to St John's and Brookwood, then back home. I reckoned this was about 14 miles which would be my longest run ever. I also planned to do some nutritional experimenting en route, with some chopped up energy bar in a little bag, and a sports gel sachet to take along the way.

I got up early to ensure I'd had my porridge, and set off just before 9:00. The first six miles passed really easily, I was breathing well and smoothly and just moving along in a good rhythm, one foot in front of the other. I had some more Desert Islanders to listen to, including Sir David Attenborough who was fascinating but had some bizarre music choices - a recording of an Australian liar/lyre (?) bird and some Balinese Gamelan music among them. Jamie Cullum was much more to my taste, and he even played some of his selections on the piano, and Hugh Laurie was very funny and chose some great blues and jazz tunes. Once I'd got to six miles I was in the middle of Old Woking and had to turn off the main road, with which I am very familiar, and head up a few back roads. I knew this part of the route formed part of next weekend's race, so when I saw some "road closed, March 9th" signs I assumed that was the way up to Woking, so I turned left. Oops. Half a mile later I was back where I'd been already, whereupon I had a choice to go round the loop again and get back on my planned route, or deviate and head off somewhere else without really knowing how far I was going. I decided to stick with what I'd planned originally, and eventually got back to where I should have been. At about eight miles I slowed to a walk up a not insignificant hill, and took the opportunity to get my energy bar cubes out. I think the action of running plays havoc with your other systems, particularly your digestive system, and my stomach didn't appear too happy to have anything put in it, other than the regular tiny sips of Lucozade which it seems to tolerate quite well. I had half a dozen tiny cubes and almost immediately got really bad stomach cramps. Three minutes later though, it had cleared up and I assume the energy began to be released from the fruit and nuts as I was able to keep plodding on.

Once on the tow path I felt as if I was "heading home", which of course I wasn't yet but it felt better psychologically. Lots and lots of anglers sitting along the canal bank - why? At 11 miles I tried my gel; the first challenge was ripping the thing open! Eventually I made a big enough hole to squeeze the gloop out through, and I think gloop is the best word I can think of to describe it. The taste was fairly nondescript although it was supposed to be lemon and lime, but the texture was quite vile and slimy. After the first mouthful though it wasn't such a shock, and I managed to get it down ok, although it was very sticky and I had to wash my hands in a puddle to clean the sticky off. I don't know what I was expecting but I didn't feel any discernible boost at any point; I guess it must have been working in the background though as I was able to keep going beyond the 2 1/2 hour point that floored me last week. I got to 13 miles in 2h 33m, but I knew I was still at least two miles from home. What can you do though? I carried on, with a short walk when I thought about stopping but decided I was feeling ok enough to make it to 15. My feet were aching and my hips were sore but nothing I wouldn't have been expecting after all that distance. I did indeed stop (running) at 15 miles, just five minutes short of three hours, and walked slowly home the last 3/4 mile, just to keep loose, and to phone hubby in case he was worrying about me being out longer than expected (he wasn't). I'd also run out of Lucozade in my running bottle, which is an oval shape so it's really easy to carry but it's only diddy and doesn't hold quite enough for these longer runs. For quite a long time I had been quite preoccupied with rationing what I had left and was even looking at puddles and wondering how clean they were...! So as I passed my friendly local Honda dealers as I walked home, I popped in and asked if I could top up with some water, which was very welcome.

Fifteen miles done then. In my head that's quite a milestone; it seems a lot more than 13 for some reason, and it's what the Marathon organisers say you need to be able to do comfortably four weeks before the event in order to know you'll be able to complete it safely. So that's that ticked off, and now next week's Half should be a doddle. And I never in a million years ever thought I'd say that! (And there'll be helpful marshalls so I won't get lost...)

Catch up

I haven't posted for a little while as, to be honest, there's not much to add... All is ticking along very nicely (apart from the calendar which is suddenly whizzing along alarmingly fast - I turned the page this morning and now the Marathon's on the next page!). Six weeks tomorrow, which must mean I am 3/4 of the way through my training programme, and it's getting quite heavy duty now. My midweek run was 75 minutes this week, and tomorrow I must do 150 (2 1/2 hours), although I may make it slightly more in order to get to 14 miles if I can.

I had intended to do 14 miles last week but didn't quite make it. I know I could have carried on a bit longer but I'd already done more time than the plan said, and quite frankly I was done in (and bored). I went to Godalming and back. Now I had always thought Godalming was miles and miles away; turns out it's really not as far as all that. This is a strange thing I have discovered while planning routes that I anticipate will take me an hour, two hours etc. - nowhere is as far away as you think and you have to add bits on. Obviously a mile on your feet is much longer than a mile in the car.

Anyway, off I trotted last Sunday, road for the first part as the tow path through Guildford fell victim to the floods over Christmas and is washed away, then picking up the path through the town centre and out along the River Wey towards Godalming. I was hoping it would have dried out enough by now so as to be passable, and indeed for the most part it was. There were just a couple of muddy parts to hippety hop over and around, a fallen tree to crawl under, and a large party of ramblers to pick my way around without any of us falling in the water, and it was so much nicer than running along the roads. It was very windy (as in lots of wind, not lots of bends...) though, on the way out. At a couple of points I swear I was running backwards. Much easier coming back! I had finished my audio book during the week, and had been pointed in the direction of the Desert Island Discs podcast library as something good (and free) to listen to. It's not something I normally tune in to (more a Radio 2 girl) and I found it really interesting. For rights reasons they only play about 30 seconds of each tune on the podcast version, but it's more about the people really. Each episode is about 40 minutes, or roughly 3 miles, so on Sunday I got through Torvill and Dean, Sir Ben Ainslie, Ant and Dec (who were devastated when Kirsty told them they'd have to be on separate islands, it was quite sad!) and Clare Balding. 

I had done exactly six miles when the tow path became impassable (unless I'd been prepared to wade through the mud, which I wasn't) and I was just short of Godalming, so I turned around and came back at that point. On the whole I try and plan circular rather than there and back routes, but I didn't want to come back along the road, and anyway the view is different on the way back. This meant that by the time I'd got towards home I'd "only" done 12, but as I said, I was pretty tired at this point, so I just added half a trip around the block and came home. 151 minutes, 12.77 miles. Not even a half marathon! But I still have four long runs to go (one of which is the Surrey Half next weekend) before the pre-race taper starts. Tomorrow I am going to experiment with eating on the run, as the odd jelly baby here and there doesn't give me enough of an energy oomph to keep going much beyond the 2 1/2 hour mark. The energy bars I made last week are delicious but I'm not sure how easily portable they are. I'm going to chop one into tiny cubes tomorrow and hope it doesn't all melt and go too gooey in my bum bag... I'll let you know next week.

Oh, and I have a job! Wasn't looking for a job but the opportunity arose, so I went for an interview (something I haven't done for about 27 years) and I have a post as "Learning Assistant" at the National Trust, Dapdune Wharf - 18 hours a week from March to November, helping out with school visits and family fun days, and birthday parties. One of the questions they asked was "What experience do you have of organising children's birthday parties?". I could do that one! I start next week, although I have told them that until mid-April I may be somewhat preoccupied (and I better not catch a cold off anyone).

So, despite saying there wasn't much to say, I appear to have rambled on as usual. I do have a habit of that (I was worried I'd done it at my interview too, but they seemed very interested and pleased with what I had to say, and they liked me enough to give me the job). "Concise" is obviously not in my vocabulary!