Paris marathon 2010

What a weekend!! Graham and I set off for Paris on the afternoon flight from Manchester arriving at 16:20 at Charles de Gaulle airport where we were met by Sue from the runners world forum. She had already bought our tickets for the metro and SNCF and knew how to get to the Expo.

We soon got our numbers and went for a quick look around. I bought some commemorative socks and Sue bought a hat, but there wasn't really much time for anything else as we had arranged to meet some of the others for dinner.

After checking in at the hotel Astrid on the Rue de Carnot, we went to meet up with the others at the Vesuvius restaurant on the Champs Ellysses. The others had already eaten and we just ordered chicken and chips which were scrummy. We left at about 10:30pm and went straight back to the hotel.

Saturday was spent just walking around trying to find our bearings. We found a lovely market with more fish and fruit on each stall than I have ever seen. There were fresh scallops being opened by one man and on the same stall fresh langoustines which, I have to say, I have never seen before. We got a lovely meal at a bar freshly made macaroni cheese with minced beef in it. Nothing like the heinz tinned version.

Saturday night I'd arranged to meet up with the rest of the forum at pasta papa and although I was still full from the afternoon meal, I ordered penne pasta with pesto. The plate was ginormous and I only managed to eat half of it. The company was great. I sat with Ian and his parents and Graham went to the bar next door because he really didn't want any more to eat and preferred to go for a drink.

The prices were very expensive due mainly to the value of the pound against the euro.

So, Sunday morning at 8am we all met up for the team photo before moving off to the pens. I refrained from drinking too much because the queues for the loos were too long and I knew I would need to go if I drank too much.

8:45am came and the race set off to the music "Tonight's gonna be a good night" by the Black Eyed Peas. It took a good 12 or so minutes before our pen reached the start and it was like picking your way through a rubbish tip. There were bottles, jackets and items of clothing strewn all over the road. Someone will have had a job clearing all that lot up after we'd gone.

I have never been anywhere so pretty as Paris. The run round was beautiful for the full course. Running down the famous Champs Ellysses from the Arc towards les Tuilleries, past the Louvre, the Bastille, Notre Dame, The Eiffel Tower, along the Seine and through the Bois up the Avenue Foch to the finish.

My Garmin was not in sync with the mileage on the route but that often happens when I'm in a race so I just ignored the distance on it and went by the time and time per lap. I was trying to finish in 4h45m and was on a target for that according to my garmin, but checking the actual splits from the official times I was too slow. i think though that it was due to my 15 min wait for the loo.

Just after the half way mark my hips started hurting quite badly and I had to struggle to run. A kind lady gave me some dissolve in your mouth ibuprofen and the pain went within minutes enabling me to pick up the pace again.

There were plenty of water stations, each with cut up oranges, bananas, sugar cubes and raisins. One of them had red wine as they were promoting the Medoc marathon where you can get wine or water at each stop.

I finished in 5h17min so almost exactly the same as London last year. I didn't want to hang about as I told Graham not to meet me at the finish, so I just got my medal and t shirt and went back to the hotel for a drink and some food. Graham had left sandwich making stuff for me and some very very stinky cheese which I had to leave outside on the window ledge. (I gave it to Ricky when we got back) It was lovely cheese though.

I spent the rest of the day chilling out in the room. I just didn't have the energy to meet the others at the other end of the city as my legs were ceasing up and just refused to take me anywhere else. Graham looked after me as usual making me drinks and going to mcdonalds for a take away.

Monday morning was spent going to the Eiffel Tower and the Notre Dame cathedral. Then back to the hotel to wait for a taxi to the airport.

Looking back we wasted a lot of time hanging around waiting for transport on Monday. The taxi picked us up at 4:45pm then at the airport we had to wait for 2 hours only to find the flight was delayed for an hour. That meant that we would miss our last train home from Manchester airport.

It was 10:15pm when we landed and our last train was at 10:29. No chance of catching it. We got our bags and headed off to the train station to wait yet another hour for the 0001 train to Preston and then caught a taxi home.

Great North Run 2009

For those of you who don't want to read about the whole experience I've put headings.

THE BUILD-UP

What a weekend. It started on Friday night when Graham and I went up to Lanark to take a table for my daughter. We had decided to go straight from there to Newcastle on Saturday afternoon.
So we set off intending to do a bit of sight seeing of Hadrian's wall on the way. However, I had misjudged just how long it would take to get down to Carlisle and across on the A69, so by the time we saw the turn off for Hadrian's wall, we decided not to bother - afterall it's not going anywhere and there'll be other times for sight seeing.
Of all the times to let us down, the satnav decided it needed to be updated and flatly refused to work. We tried beating it with a stick a la John Cleese, but that had as much of an effect as it did on the mini. So reliant on road maps and the AA routeplanner which i had printed off just in case, we continued into the labaryth that is Newcastle upon tyne. Came off the A1 at the wrong junction and got directions from two lovely ladies at a Shell garage.
I have to say I've stayed at better hotels. This was one of those dives intended for the drunk and unwashed. The bedroom consisted of one double bed with a bunk bed over the top of it. In the corner was a small wash basin and in another corner a TV perched on a plinth. There was one socket which only seemed to work for the kettle and that's that. The toilets were at the end of the corridor along with the shower cubicles. They were self-cleaning TBH there was more room in my camper shower than in those. In fact it was like sleeping in a caravan because of all the noise made by people walking up and down the corridors, the floor even seemed to move as they walked. Herds of elephants spring to mind. Fortunately they were all there for the GNR, so there were no parties going on.

RACE DAY

I had been talking to a really nice chap called Phil and arranged to meet up with him at 8am on sunday morning with the intention of catching the metro to the Haymarket and then after the race we were to catch the ferry to North Shields and from there the metro back into newcastle. However, when I woke up on Sunday, I got this urge to drive over to South Shields and leave the car there. I would then pick it up after the race and just drive off home. So that's what we did. packed up quickly, set off at 7am and after getting directions, headed off for South Shields.
The traffic was building up quite heavily as we got into South Shields with most of the cars going into the Leas car parks or to one across the road. However, we'd been told to go to marsden's cove which is just about at mile 12. Plenty of people had the same idea but we managed to park just slightly on the kerb so as to give others enough room to get past me.

We just managed to leg it for the last shuttle bus back to the start. I must say it seemed further than 13.1 miles!! The throngs were gathering around the Haymarket station with everyone following along like sheep towards the start. I spotted the loos and of course headed straight for one of the queues. Considering there were 54000 participants and their relatives, there were very few portaloos available and none, so far as I'm aware, had any loo paper left in them.

I had a green number so I had to negotiate my way past the elites, then the orange, white and then to the green pen where I dutifully walked in and as close to the front as I could. It was quite a long wait before the start and my eyes kept wandering to the bushes up the hill where people kept ducking in and out - should I or shouldn't I? I decided to hold my dignity (and my bladder) and carried on with the warm up in a slightly less enthusiastic manner than i would had I made that little trip up the hill.

The warm up was very good and really got us all in the mood. I'm sure the poor gorilla behind me (not Graham) was roasting under all that fur.

Off went the wheelchair race, followed by the ladies elite then the men with the masses at 10:40. I set my garmin several times whilst waiting to start but it was 11.01 before i crossed the start line making absolutley sure I touched hands with Sting as I went past (such an old groupie).

It was a slow start, only to be expected with all the runners, and I tried to keep to my pace as much as possible. The sun was out and so were the crowds shouting and cheering us on. It was quite a spectacle. I'd heard that if you keep to the right as you approach the flyover you go up and over with the possibility of seeing the red arrows, but if you keep left you go in the underpass. As a big red arrows fan, I hopped over to the right lane and low and behold there they came, right on queue. I got quite emotional.

The next landmark was the Tyne bridge. If only I'd set off sooner I would've been on that when the red arrows flew over. Now that would've been special. I couldn't help singing away to myself "the fog on the tyne is all mine all mine "as I was going over it.

The race just seemed to consist of one long hill after another and was I glad I'd done lots of hill work in my training. There wasn't a single space free for people to stand all the way along the route. The people of Newcastle were fantastic. Some kids were squirting water at us whilst others were stood there with little boxes of change for the collections going round. there were jelly babies, orange segments, hand wipes. The generosity and kindness was second to none.

I particularly liked going past the fire station with the fireman squirting the fire hose at us (it was only sprinkling, but wasn't half refreshing)

People even had their garden hoses out spraying us.

Along one of the bridges there was a poster stating " This is the run where you leave your PB's behind" and I've got to say i know exactly what they mean. It was hard work with all the hills.

There were quite a few bands en route, but my favourite was the heavy rock band who were giving it their all on a roundabout near South Shields. They were fantastic and really lifted me.

I started to get a bit tired as we got into South Shields but managed to keep going thanks, I think, to the gels I'd packed in my bum bag I also managed to stride out a bit to try to make up a bit of time.

It's a lovely sight as you get your first glimpse of the sea, but I knew that was only mile 12 and I still had another 1.1 miles to go. It was a good 1.1 miles though, with all the relatives and friends of the runners shouting a cheering. Also, the red arrows just came into sight again so I was a bit distracted watching them go through their manoevres.

400m mark (why change to metres?) I managed to stave off the cramp starting to hurt in my calf and kept on going to the end.

My watch said 2.22 but the official time was 2.24.56 - (but I did stop for the loo so I guess that makes up for the 2 mins or so).

I wasn't impressed with the goodie bag a bag of crisps or something salty would've been nice but all I got apart from the t shirt and medal was a bottle of energy drink, a sticky cereal bar and a sample of vaseline. Let's just hope the charities did well out of it.

GOING HOME

Well I had arranged to meet Graham at the Z family meet area, but couldn't find him, nor could I phone him as the lines were jammed, so I texted him to say go back to the car. 1 1/2 hours later he appeared. I was getting really cold by this time as I didn't have a key to get into the car so i was reliant on my t shirt and the foil blanket to keep me warm. I'd eaten the biscuit and bought an ice cream earlier and was getting serious munchies.

So he eventually made it to the car, let me in, and I managed to get into some warm clothes whilst he went for some hot drinks for us.

The traffic was horrendous all the way down to the A1 when we set off home and it took us 5 hours. We had to make a few diversions to get out of traffic and decided to go via blubberhouses on the A61 and from harrogate we picked up the A59 through Skipton and Bolton Abbey. a lovely route, very picturesque.

As we got through Pendle, the traffic was at a standstill and I noticed people turning round, so I did the same and took a side road which I'd spotted, leading to Barnoldswick. From there we went through Colne (stopping at KFC for some tea) and from there onto the M65 to home.

So that's it. GNR 2009 box ticked. In the words of every runner ---NEVER AGAIN!!!!

granny's bay 10 miler

16th August 7:30am and the alarm went off. I turned it off a couple of times whilst I decided if I was going to run in the race today. Afterall it was only £6 to enter.
After a cup of tea and an oat biscuit, I decided that I would run. It would be somewhere different and next to the sea, plus the dog could have a roam about in the sand dunes whilst I raced.
We set off at about 9:10am and as the directions were from the M55 that's the way I went. I really don't like going on the M55 because it's such a long way round, taking you to the North End of Blackpool via Fleetwood and the north shore.
When we eventually got to St Annes we saw plenty of runners heading towards the start, and as we were on the last minute, I parked up in a street. Who should be in the car right in front of me but Shelley from Chorley Harriers. What a spot of luck! I like to run with Shelley because she goes faster than me and keeps me going.
We did a brisk walk to the start and I needed the loo (for which there was the inevitable queue) and just managed to get to use it as the runners gathered at the start.
Once round the car park then out on to the main road. I managed to keep up with Shelley for about a mile or so, but then let her carry on ahead of me. The pace was just a bit too fast. I tried not to lose too much momentum and looking at my garmin I was doing less than 10 minute miles for about 6 miles. When we turned round at the windmill in Lytham the wind was against us and quite strong so that slowed me down quite considerably.
I was quite amazed at just how many people were behind me as I ran back down the course and started to feel quite happy that I wasn't with the back markers.
Four people overtook me, but i wasn't too worried about that as I was now going at a comfortable pace for me and I knew there was still lots to do.
As i got to the last 2 miles i spotted Shelley who was walking. She had told me beforehand that she'd been on a carb free diet all week so i was a bit concerned that she'd hit a wall.
Anyway, she started to run again and I finished only a minute or two behind her in 1hr 42 mins. that's a PB for me and I was very pleased with it.
I got some squash and a goody bag containing a small box of cadbury's chocs, some shower gel, anti perspirant and a lolly. Nice goody bag!!
Shelley and I walked back to the cars together and Graham and Chaz were in waiting for me. I had some water, my banana and a couple of small biscuits which I was given with the squash. My BTM was killing me and I was glad to stretch off. Sitting down was a bit painful, but by the time we got to Preston it had eased off.
A good morning all in all.
If anyone reads this I would recommend this race. It was well organised with plenty of marshalls, water stations at the windmill and at the finish, first aiders on bikes patrolling the route and flat and fast.

10 August 2009 Dartmouth summer camp

Just got back from another glorious week at Dartmouth. I love going to BRNC, it's a very special place. Lots of uniform changes and I usually managed to get it wrong and ended up going back up to my cabin to change, but it's nice to feel part of something special. The Royal Navy always make us feel like one of them, even though we aren't "real navy". It's great for the cadets who always manage to mix well together and by the end of the week have made new friends and really bond well.

I arrived at Totnes at about 3:10pm and got the minibus to the college. Found my cabin and met some old friends. The hike up the stairs is still quite a challenge especially with a heavy suitcase but i do try to take the bare mininum.

Sunday is an easy day as is Monday and tuesday morning. Then we get our first lot of cadets down on the river in the afternoon.

My job, as always, is instructing cadets on the whalers (officially singel screw craft). Although it gets quite monotonous going through the same thing over and over with different groups, it is pleasant to do with excellent company on the river.

Tuesday it was pouring down and I got soaked, even with my foulies on. The worst thing was getting everything wet, especially my mobile which was in the pocket which had a puddle in it when I got back to empty the pockets. One poor dead phone and panic set in. all my appointments were on it, photos etc. The carphone warehouse sent me a replacement the day after I phoned them. Good service and it only cost me £14 because I didn't have insurance.

I mangaged to do 5 runs into Dartmouth at 6am every morning except the last 3. I also took part in the annual ramp race against the cadets. Our team came 6th out of a possible 8, so we didn't do too badly for oldies.

British 10k

London 12 July 2009
We stayed at the Holiday Inn Mayfair for a change this year. Previously we've stayed at the Washington Mayfair and tbh both of them were on a par as far as facilities etc. I think I'll try a more modern hotel next time though as both of these seem a bit tired.
Anyway, I didn't sleep too well due mainly, I think, to the extra strong coffee I had at Fran's. she doesn't have de-caf and I know I shouldn't've had it, but after 3 or was it 4 glasses of champers, I'll drink anything.
So where does Fran come into all this???? Well, it was Rick's 70th birthday and Graham and I went down to help her to do the catering and to take a cake and some curry. A lovely relaxing party. Lovely to see Steve, who'd flown over from SF, Nat, Lucy and Archie.

Back to the race. Well I set off to the start at about 8:15 but as i saw other people walking back towards me I thought it best to go where I should and be "walked up" to the start with the others. That's not what I've done in the past, though, in the days when they had a wave start.
The old marine band played away to rapturous applause (or was it more like thanks -very- much -now- can- we- get- on- with -it applause?).
I got talking to a couple of people as usual whilst we waited the 50 or so minutes for the gun to go off. I started to look around and noticed the bus stop sign which was quite strange as it said people are not allowed to embark here - what's the point of a bus stop where you can't embark?
A man with a 'tach was standing on one of the balconies at the RAF club on Picadilly. There was also a couple in the same building but further up and along. I wonder if they all knew each other.
Some of the elites were warming up on the other side of the road in front of the start line - can't be long now - 09:30am 5 minutes. National Anthem then countdown and we were off.
As I ran down Picadilly I heard a very loud cheer in fact several very loud cheers coming from those still waiting to start. When i looked up there was a woman in a bath robe and i can only assume she was entertaining the crowd. Down St James Street and past the palace then on to Pall Mall and out under the footbridge to the embankment. It's funny, but I go to London because of all the sights of the capital but when I'm running I don't really notice them. Down the embankment and the elites are passing us in the opposite direction. On under Blackfriars tunnel where my garmin lost the signal and round past St Paul's (which I never see) back over the bridge and down on to the embankment again. Eventually seeing big ben in the distance and westminster bridge beckons. Over that and back then round the streets a bit and back in to whitehall and the cenotaph to the finish. I'm sure the route has got longer. The finish seemed much further past the cenotaph than it was in the past.
1hr 3 mins showed on the official clock, but my garmin said 1hr 2 mins. I think it was really 1 hr or less because it wasn't spot on time when I set off from hyde park.
I'm not going to do this race again because of the long wait at the start and the lack of goodies in the goody bag also a cotton t shirt which is neither use nor ornament.
Next race is the Granny's bay race in Lytham St Annes. I've not entered in yet, but intend to right now!

FLM 2009 half way round and finished.

Flora london marthon 2009

Part 2
The day of the marathon was very exciting. The sun was up and so was I in plenty of time. I think I’ve already told you about getting to the start, so I won’t repeat that bit.
The race started on time, predictably and as I was in pen 6 I got away quite quickly at 9:52 (or so everyone was told in a text message at about tea time).
You can’t help but go along with the crowd and I had my Garmin set for 5.5mph which I kept to. I noticed that I started to slow down after about 3 miles which was quite frustrating, and I tried to catch up, but needed a loo break so that kind of put me off. All the loos were full with a queue, so I kept going until I found one with hardly anyone outside at about mile 5.
I took small drinks at every drinks station as I was told to do by all the experts. I also took one of the Lucozade sport drinks but only a few sips just to see how it went down (I have had them before and not liked them). I also took 5 gels with me, 3 SIS and 2 Lucozade because I noticed the SIS ones only had 35g of Carbohydrate but the Lucozade had 65 (enough for an hour).
I took one every 45 mins or so with some sips of water.
I never felt completely tired and kept what I thought was a fairly even pace all the way round, but when I looked at the times, i knew I had slowed considerably. I don’t know how the elites keep it up. Still it’s their job and they don’t have to go to work all day then train at night.
The crowds were fantastic. Cheering and whistling and shouting out my name as i went past which they got from a grotty piece of paper hurriedly penned at the hotel reception.
It was a real carnival atmosphere in the blazing sunshine. I had no idea where I was during most of the race as I had to concentrate on keeping going so as not to trip anyone up or trip myself. The only time I diverted was when I heard someone mention peter andre and I turned to see him just over to the right of me, so I went over to say hello and good luck to him and gave him a high 5. He looked very happy and enjoying the experience. (can’t say I recognised the Cutty Sark when I past it because it was all boarded up but I do remember going round the boards)
Tower Bridge appeared out of nowhere and I knew I was almost half way. Wave to the cameras again in the hope someone would see me. Over the bridge and unable to see any sites because of concentrating on people around me.
There were loads of people dropping out injured or cramped up (quite apart from all the men peeing in the bushes). The smell was awful at those points.
Saw Graham at mile 15 as arranged, bless him, he’d got the camera ready and gels and sunglasses, energy bars and drinks. What a star!
Further on and I noticed a sign saying South Quay. Aha, I thought, Hilton Hotel (where we were booked in) time for a quick toilet break. I was in two minds whether to do it or not, but then thought of the alternative queue and went for it. I don’t know if I was the only one who did that, but I got a few smiles.
Onward through Canary Wharf and loads of crowds once more. Through the Isle of Dogs (apparently named because HenryV111 kept his hunting dogs there).
I saw a sign that said “You are 3 miles away from making history” and started to well up. I felt so emotional.
Through a tunnel and out into the city down the Embankment and I knew we weren’t too far from the finish. I was quite surprised we didn’t get any oggy oggy oggy’s as we went through the bridge and felt too embarrassed to start one.
Big Ben loomed ahead it was like being in the British 10k again (embankment’s part of the route). Down Bird Cage Walk past Liz and Phil’s and into the Mall for the last few hundred yards home. Masses of people watching. Finish ahead – one last push and bugger me if I wasn’t overtaken by a bloody Rhino!!! How embarrassing.
5 hours 15 minutes and 35 seconds. More than I wanted, but it was my first marathon.
I was given my medal, then shuffled up onto a ramp where the chip was removed then over to the right to have a photo taken with the medal. Next the goody bag then to look for relatives.
Nat and Lucy were there, but I couldn’t see them. Graham was on the park waiting for me but I couldn’t get to him it took me all my time to get into horse guards where it was almost as crowded as the pens at the start. I got a standing place near a kind of landmark so that i could tell them where I was. I got a big hug from Nat and we chatted for a bit. Then Graham turned up and they both took photos of me with my medal. We then went over to find Lucy, more hugs and then over to sit on the grass where we talked for a bit and I ate a bag of crisps from the goody bag and had a recovery drink. Nat had also brought me a recovery drink which was really thoughtful.
We sat under the tree and chatted for a bit then started to make our way to the subway for the trains back to the hotel. Graham had it all sorted and we got back no probs. One kind lady gave me her seat when she saw I had just finished the marathon. We chatted for a while until my stop. We had to go up some stairs to the DLR (that was hard to do), then loads of seats on there and off we went again to the hotel at South Quay.
I went and got changed and we booked a taxi to Euston. It was only £27 and he had to keep taking diversions, so I gave him £30. The train for Preston was just about to leave, but the men on the gates insisted on seeing our tickets, so i showed them to them whilst they took us to the train. I was too tired to walk all the way to 2nd class so we bought Sunday first upgrades and stayed in first class.
Got home about 9:15.
Great Weekend.
Will I sign up for the next one? What do you think??

Trimpell 20

I've just realised that I didn't post the Trimpell 20 race in Morecambe.
I got a lift there from martin and Tess harrington from Chorley harriers with johnny mac. We had a good journey there and martin parked off in one of the side streets.
There was quite a crowd there and I was very nervous as this was the furthest I'd ever run and my foot was still not quite right.
Anywho, I started off too quickly as usual, although it felt like a manageble pace. The race was flat as you would expect so near to the sea and mainly on footpaths and cycle tracks traversing the river lune.
Lovely scenery in parts and not too warm, comfortable to run in.
I started to get really tired at about 16 miles and started walk/running. I had only taken 1 energy drink and that clearly was not sufficient to keep me going for over 3 hours. Lesson learned.
A very weary soul finished the race in 3 hrs 20 mins and boy was I glad of the mars bar at the end. Tess was great, she gave me my energy drink part way round and then met me at the end. Martin drove the car to the finish and picked me up from there. I could hardly walk when I got out at home. I felt exhausted.
However, my later 22 mile runs were much better as you will see if you read them.
TTFN

London Marathon weekend

I was allowed to leave work early to catch the train at 4pm from Preston to Euston. We arrived in London at about 6.11pm and actually got an apology from the conductor that we were early and sorry for any inconvenience caused!!! I reckon he's more used to apologising for being late.
Since we were an hour earlier than I thought we were going to be, I decided to go and register so that I could have a bit more time with Fran and Rick the following day. What a journey across London!! We took the northern line and then changed onto the Jubilee line. From Tower Bridge we changed onto the Docklands light railway and got on the wrong train going towards Arsenal and Woolwich instead of Beckton. So back we went and eventually arrived at the Excel Centre at Custom house.
The centre is massive and as we had some heavy bags Graham stayed outside with them so he could have a cig whilst he waited for me.
A long walk down to the arch of blue and white balloons and the BBC marathon music. I got quite emotional going in to register through that arch. There was no-one queuing at my desk so i went through very quickly. For the uninitiated, I had to show them my passport and give them my registration form, I signed it in front of them and they gave me my race number, final instructions and kit bag. I then had to go and collect my championship chip and have that initiated. Once that was done I stepped into an aladin's cave for runners. What a good job i didn't have enough time to spend looking at all the kit. I could almost hear Graham grumbling about spending money. My credit cards certainly heaved a sigh of relief when I came out.
I did buy a small bear and some lucozade gels but that's all.
As I didn't want to walk all the way round to the exit, I left via the entrance, completely missing a goody bag. I found out later it didn't contain much anyway, just a bottle of London pride and a small bottle of Cranberry juice.
So once I'd done that we set off back across London to Liverpool Street Station for the train to Bishops Stortford. Both of us quite weary by now, but it was a fairly fast train and Rick came to meet us at the station.
Saturday morning we relaxed a bit and Rick found out the train journey over to the hotel and then to the start of the race for me.
Off again at 1:15pm to Bank and then the DLR to south Quay. We had been upgraded to Executive room which was lovely. I had a bit of a sleep whilst Graham went for a wander round.
Went to dinner at about 6:30pm and had a drink (orange for me) whilst we watched PNE beat birmingham (bonus).
Service was very slow and I wasn't all that impressed with that.
Slept well and got up at 6am for a bite to eat and a drink and set off to the start just after 7;15am. The trains were quite busy even at that time, but we managed to get to the start without much of a problem. It was a fantastic atmosphere, runners all over the place resting, talking, doing the sort of things runners do before a big race. one of the main things being queueing for the toilets. It got to the stage just before the start where you went to the loo then re-joined the queue.
i think that with it being so warm everyone was taking on extra liquid.
There was a large TV screen feeding in pictures from around the site and the announcer kept the crowd's spirits up.
Women's race started, then we were all told to get to the start pens. Lots of nervous faces around. I got into the 6 pen for the 10min milers which was the one I was allocated. The crowd of athletes slowly started moving and then all of a sudded moved quite quickly as the gun went off. Loads of men jumped over the barriers for a final pee and then rejoined the throngs.
I got off at 9:52am. More to follow.

My last long run

Sunday morning bright and early I set off on my last slow run before tapering. I can't say I was ecstatic at the thought of another 22 miles but set off on my previous week's journey. Down the A6 to Bamber Bridge and along to St Mary's Road where I took a left and continued down to Preston Road in Lostock Hall. I planned to have my first gel after 1 hour and then every 45 mins. This time I didn't bother with the bottles and just jammed the gels into my belt. The hour came just as I had crossed the by pass where the old Leyland Clock used to stand and so out came the gel and water.
It was a lovely clear sunny morning. Not many people about, but more than last week when the clocks went forward (not surprising). Two older ladies with trainers on were across the road, I think they were just out for a walk.
I continued down Preston Road and through Farington, hoping to see someone I knew, but no one I knew was around. Nevermind, just carried on to Golden Hill Lane and to the end where I turned left on to Leyland Lane, past the old Tiger (now flats). I started to wonder whether to just do two loops of this run instead of going through Euxton and Chorley as I was pretty tired, but held on to my decision until the last moment.
Worden Park for a pit stop then on up past Runshaw College and Bent Bridge. Over the motorway and then turned left to do a two lap run. I knew, at least, that if I did get overtired I could take a short cut back home, whereas if I had gone through Chorley and up those dreaded hills, I might not have the energy to continue. I honestly think that last week's effort was the peak for me.
So back around the loop and then Stanifielf Lane where I decided to take one of my short-cuts through Lever house estate. i turned up by Haydock's farm and through St Annes Road which leads out to St Ambrose Church. Turned left down Moss Lane past Smy old school St Catherine's under the motorway and up on to the A49 past Dr Shorrock's. From then on it was just up Lancaster Lane and Sheep Hill back to home. 19.4 miles. I was supposed to do 20 so that wasn't far off.
Now it's taper time and I feel like I've been let down by my personal trainer who told me not to come anymore until after the marathon. The problem there is that he used to give me loads of encouragement which I don't get from anyone else and my enthusiasm for the training is down to a real low.
Anyway, 6 slow miles tomorrow then 6 miles steady before 17 miles on Sunday.

2 april 2009

Just been trying to add a link to my new charity page and the widget isn't working
but if you go to my page on katrinabarlow1 on the just giving website you can access it from there.
On sunday I managed my longest run yet. 22.36 miles no less. I don't want to share the route just yet as I'm repeating it this week so for safety reasons, I'll fill you in after i've done my last long run.
Just less than 4 weeks left to go and training is back on track after my recent set back. The consultant gave me the go ahead to start training again, so I'm going for it big time now.
I haven't yet decided what to wear apart from the shoes and socks, but i need to get that sorted very soon. I'm not that keen on Lucozade either, but i guess I'll have to get used to it so I'm training with that this week to make sure it works for me. The gels are really good although very sticky, especially when you spill them out all over you.

Sunday 1 March 2009

Sorry folks this is out of order and needs to be before the horrid week post.
Met up with Johnny Mac at 9am as usual and the pair of us set off on an 18 mile trek. We headed down Southport Road and on to Euxton Lane where we turned left on to Wigan Road towards Coppull.
It was a fine morning and we both had tshirts I braved the capri pants but Johnny had his lycra shorts on. Brave man. I set the Garmin (or so I thought) for 5mm and we were running ahead of it for most of the way.
There's a long drag up Wigan road but we were OK with it. At the mini-roundabout we turned right past Camelot and after a quick drink continued on our merry way through Eccleston. We were still ahead of the virtual partner at this stage. Through Eccleston and on to Ulnes Walton Lane where we both had a comfort break and then continued on our way down to Longmeanygate, both feeling tired. 14 miles. I was more tired than I was on the half marathon the week before. Down Longmeanygate and through Broadfield estate to Worden park and another comfort break then onwards up onto the A49, through Euxton and back to base. Eccleston church hill gave me a sudden burst of energy but I tired 3/4 of the way up. Anyway, we managed to make it back to the club in 3h29 mins 18.36 miles done.

one horrid week

Well after 18.36 miles last Sunday my foot finally gave in.
On Monday it was hurting, but I thought that was just because of the long road run on Sunday. I could hardly walk on it on Monday all day and phoned to make an appointment at the doctor's. I also made an appointment with the physio at the gym (Clare) for Tuesday.
The doctor thought it might be fractured and send me for an xray. When I went to physio she also suggested it might be fractured and added that I should go to A & E straight away to have it xray'd and not to wait for an appointment. I went straight from there to A & E and was seen more or less straight away (lucky) The specialist nurse who saw me sent me for an xray and then confirmed that it looked like a small fracture of the 5th metatarsal. I went to the fracture clinic on Thursday and the consultant said he couldn't see a fracture!! Where to go from here? Panic started to set in and he said he would send for a bone scan for me. The soonest date is 23rd march!!! nearly 3 weeks away!!! By that time it will have healed anyway so what's the point? I may as well let some other poor bugger have the appointment.
So here I am totally depressed, unable to run because I don't know if it's fractured or not and doing my best to stay reasonably fit and healthy. Then I thought I'm not going to stand for this!! So I phoned xray and asked if they could give me another one to double check, phoned the doctor for another green card and they gave me another appt on Friday the 13th at 8.45am. At least if I get another opinion I'll feel happier about it although still in doubt.
So what have I been doing? Well I was told that I could swim, use the bike and the rower and the resistance machines, but definately no weight bearing until the results of the scan/xray come through so every day I've been down at the gym doing just that. I've also rooted out an old callanetics video which I used years ago and found very good for toning. I'd recommend it to anyone if you can keep stand the slowness of the exercises.
I've also hired a lovely automatic car because I'm not insured to drive a manual transmission one at a fairly reasonable (but still expensive) cost. At least I can get about.
The other gripe is that I have to stay off work yet again. I think the head's getting fed up with me always being off for one thing or another. I don't want to be off work. I hate being stuck at home all the time and would much rather be in work even though the kids can be little scrotes at times. I like them really.
Well for anyone unfortunate enough to have read all of this my apologies but I needed to get it all off my chest.
I've got a fracture boot on my left leg and I'm fed up.
I hope I can post something a little more uplifting next time. If anyone reading this has any suggestions I'd be more than grateful for them. Meanwhile the FLM is in abeyance. I reckon Paula Radcliffe's dropped out because there'll be no competition left if I defer till next year ;)

Tuesday 24 Feb

Went for a 4 mile fast run this evening but it ended up with 7.5 miles in 1hr 13 mins. Not bad but I'm now wishing I hadn't because I hurt my foot. Well that is I'm not sure if I hurt my foot running or it was the shoes i was wearing for work which have a higher heel than the ones I usually wear. I hope it's the latter. haven't worn them today just in case.
Went to the gym on Wednesday and started to run on the treadie but my foot wouldn't let me. Fortunately my trainer was there and he put me on the bike instead and told me not to run. I had to do 12 miles in 30 mins on level 7 hilly which I did in fact i did 14 miles. Then I had to do 3800m in 20 mins on the rower but I only managed 3600 in 20 mins then gave up (well he did say 20 mins!)
Tonight I went to the gym for my usual session and tried a warm up on the treadie whilst kieron was seeing to someone else. When he got round to me at 4pm he said it's best not to run today again and we did (or should I say I did) some work on the weight machines then some aerobiking followed by some leg strength work with free weights and abs on the ball.
He said i should treat this as a "toy day" and that tomorrow would be hard work. I just hope i can run.
I called in to Sweatshop to try out some new trainers because I worried that my old trainers might be past it. I tried on some 2140's which were comfy and similar to my old 2130's which I loved to wear. I might try the Asics trainers when I go back coz they're comfy as well.
That's it for now. Bye

NW great run Blackpool 22 feb 2009

Really pleased with this run today.
Graham and I set off with Chaz the dog really early in the morning after eating some porridge for breakie. I wanted to get there early to secure a parking spot on Gynn square. Managed to get a spot looking out to the sea which was nice. The weather didn't look too promising and it was very cold and windy. Only to be expected for Blackpool I suppose. We went for a bit of a sally round to find a newsagents and take Chaz for a bit of a walk. I also wanted to find the Hilton hotel for the start. The sound man was setting up (yes it was THAT early) Not many people at registration, just one or two probably helpers. After paying 20p at one of the extortionate loos on the sea front we found some at the back of the hotel for free. Oh well too late. Managed to find a newsagents and made our way back to the camper. Made a drink and got changed ready for the race. i wasn't sure what to wear tights and jumper or shorts and club vest? I settled for all the above but decided to lose the jumper at the start.
It was bitter cold at the start but once we got to the start mark itself with all the runners around it seemed to warm up a bit.
I found the Runners World 10min mile marker and decided to run with him but soon found that I was outpacing him so I just carried on talking to a lady named clare who was good company for a while but then I started to outpace her as well. I got a bit of a shock when someone shouted my name and when i looked up it was Louise who i used to run with round Chorley and her hubby. It's so uplifting to have someone cheering you on. Then someone else recognised the harriers vest and shouted well done Chorley. Great stuff.
The water didn't taste very good on the first lap but I needed some on the second lap and to be honest it didn't taste as bad. Maybe someone told them. It would've been nice to have some energy drink instead at some point even if they were small amounts.
It still brings back happy memories when I see Blackpool tower and sure enough coming up Queens Parade you just see it as you come round the corner and on to the prom. The second time round is even better because there's only 1 mile left to go. I knew I'd got a good time because I had the garmin on. On the first lap i was in line for getting a 2hr finish, but must have lost a bit on the second lap and finished in 2 hrs 10 mins a PB for me as the last half I did was in Nottingham at 2h 26mins but that was a hillier run.
Got a nice goody bag at the end with lots of things in it but the tea shirt was cotton. i hate cotton tea shirts for running in so I gave it to Jason for work.
Got back to the camper and had a shower whilst Graham put some breakfast on. Lovely, bacon, sausage egg and tomatoes and a cup of tea (unfortunately it was pretty horrid tea, some sort of earl grey and very weak).
Took the dog on the beach for a run since the tide had gone out and he enjoyed it. We couldn't get to the sea because of all the little rivulets crossing the sand and I didn't want to get my boots wet.
Got home at about 4:15 just in time to catch Asda before it shut at 5pm.
Lovely day out. this one's for Eve

gym

Not mentioned much about the gym lately, but still going twice a week for the torture chamber. Doing mainly hill work and speed sessions with some strength work on the machines and abs of course. It's getting difficult to fit everything into an hour so I'm going to start going a bit earlier and starting off the session on the treadmill on my own then we can get on with more cross training and core work.
Got word last week that I'd got a place in the Great North Run and I managed to get booked into a hotel. Bonus! Cheap as well and we can take Chaz. There's no food there but I'm sure there'll be somewhere to eat not too far away.
Training's going to plan and I've got the Blackpool HM on Sunday this week so I'll have a good idea of the time for FLM which is now only 60 days away.

19 Feb 2009

8.14 miles today 1hr 24 mins ave 5.8mph
Set off out of Manor Road at about 9am and onto sheephill. Past the smelly greyhound kennels feeling rather nautious at the stench. powered up the hill to the mini roundabout, trying out my new technique of sprinting up and using my elbows to help with the momentum. Continued along Lancaster Lane at a decent pace to the Hayrick and turned left. Down the hill to the Tracey's garage and then up again to the golf club. Crossed the lights in good time and continued to pack saddle bridge where a 4 x 4 nearly ran me over in his haste to beat the lights. Cheeky bugger! He wasn't even attempting to stay on the left side of the road.
Onward and upward past the Railway and on to the Bay horse. Turned left up Euxton Lane down and up again! past the old ROF munitions factory where mum used to work and is now a college and business park (hope they got all the bombs out). Uphill again to Chorley hospital and left up the A6 towards home. managed to avoid the short cut by a whisker although I was tempted. On up the hill past the Shell garage and down Sheep hill lane back home.
Post run strawberry and banana smoothie and scrambled egg on toast.
Good news on the scales. I'm down to 10st 11 now. and now a rest.

11 Feb 09

Had a rest day on Monday and thankful for it after the run on Sunday. Yesterday I did some interval training with Johnny Mac. We did 6x300m reps with about 400m jog/walk recovery inbetween. Haven't checked the Garmin yet to see the times, but wasn't sure how to set it anyway.

Today I was in the gym with my trainer. After a slow warm up for 5 mins, he put me on 5 increasing hill reps of 2 mins each with 2mins jog recovery all done at 5 mph followed by 10 mins at level 7 cardio for which I managed the hilly bit but had to ask him to bring the speed down towards the end as my legs were giving way. HR was 125 at the end. Less than it should've been so maybe I was just being soft and giving in too easily. Got home and once again made a pig of myself by overeating whilst the dinner was cooking. I ate 6 cheesy oat biscuits, then a bag of cheese and onion crisps with bread and butter, then an oat cake. It's just not the way to lose weight is it? I then had my evening meal of fish cakes, jacket potato and beans. Tut Tut!! Out for a run tomorrow.

Chorley, withnell fold, white coppice loop

If you want to see where I went here it is http://www.mapmyrun.co.uk/view_my_run_96768
Set off as usual from the club and off up Southport Road and headed off to the canal. Here we turned left and ran along the canal towpath to Withnell Fold where we came off and up to blackburn road. Crossed over and went down towards Brinscall.
At the old baths we turned right and followed the road to the river Goite. The ground was very muddy but the mud had iced over so it was hard to run on. Add to that the tree roots and you've got a recipe for broken ankles. Over a couple of fields and out at White Coppice cricket club. turned right down past the club and up and past the ford. Crossed the field with the beware of the bull sign on it and into farmland past the reservoire. Came out eventually on Eaves Lane after crossing several fields and winding lanes. Back to base via bengal Street and Park Road.
A very cold morning with snow still around on the tops. A welcome cup of coffee and a banana when I got back to the car.
13.36 miles 2 hrs 31 mins. I certainly hope I do better at Blackpool on the 22nd!!

4 Feb 2009

Gym session today. My trainer had me on the new treadmill. It's quite a lot harder than the older ones. He said it's because they haven't been broken in yet. Anyway, 5k at level 1 for 1 mile, 6mph, level 2, 6.6mph for about 5 mins, but I had to ask him to put it down to level 1 because I couldn't keep it up. He put it down to 5mph for a short time to get my breath back, but then put it back up to level 2 for a hill in the last couple of minutes. He then wanted me to go up to 3.5 miles at level 1 but I was just too tired. I feel a bit annoyed with myself, but I just didn't have it in me. Maybe I didn't eat enough today. I had 2 scrambled eggs for beef broth (yuk) an orange and some grapes. I was trying to keep my weight down for the weigh in at the gym, but it didn't work anyway so I'm not going to do that again. Still 11 st. 8 ozs. 9 more ozs will do it!!