Woo-hoo! I've got my first ever tag from another blogger - thanks Amy!
So here, as requested, are 7 facts about me:
1. I'm a terrible swimmer. I love being in the water, but I hate putting my head under, which means that the only stroke I can manage is doggy paddle. I hope I'll get over my fear one of these days.
2. I'm a bad loser. Pete loves board games, so we play quite a lot, and I hate to admit it, but I don't really enjoy it if I'm losing. It just makes me cross.
3. I'm a good teacher. I fell into teaching English as a Foreign Language after university, but in 2004 I did a Diploma in teaching adults and I got a distinction in all 3 parts - exam, teaching and extended assignment. I was only the 3rd person worldwide to get a 'triple distinction'!
4. I'm allergic to nuts. I found this out when I was 19 and ate a whole brazil nut. Within a few minutes I couldn't breathe and was rushed to hospital. I have an injection to carry around with me (but generally I find it easier just to not eat nuts).
5. I've kept a list of every book I've read since 1997. I write down the start and finish date, and give each one a mark out of 5! I don't really know why I do it, other than to remind me of books I've forgotten.
6. The best holiday I've ever had was our honeymoon in 2008. We went to New York for 5 days. It totally lived up to its rave reviews and I'd love to go back one day.
7. Robbie is a kind, sweet-natured, happy boy, and a protective big brother. Emma is a stroppy, stubborn little madam. Guess which one takes after me? Luckily she's also funny, intelligent and it's a constant source of amazement that I ended up with two such incredible kids...
I'm reposting this as some people have had trouble reading it...
Warning - long post ahead
At the start of this year I was toying with the idea of doing a marathon before my 40th birthday (December 2012). In February, I heard about someone who had a place at Edinburgh but wanted to transfer it. I realised that if I didn't take this chance, I might never do it. So I signed up.
I only had 14 weeks to train, but before I could launch myself into a training plan, I got an injury which limited my mileage for about 3 weeks. Once that had improved, I got through some good long runs and a taper, before finding myself at the start line on 23rd May.
I had put my predicted time at 4h50m, and I definitely wanted to get under 5 hours, and preferably run the whole thing. As far as strategy goes, I wanted to pace myself and not go off too fast. My longest training runs had been 20 miles, so after that, I had no idea what might happen. I lined up in the purple group (the last group of all!) at 10am and we were off. The people around me started jogging before we reached the start line, so I did too, but I was thinking 'this bit doesn't even count!'
The first couple of miles were downhill, and I knew I was going a bit too fast. I tried to slow myself down a few times with little success - the first 3 miles were all well under 10 min/mile pace. The weather forecast had been confused - some predictions were for heavy rain or showers, but in fact there was not a drop of rain. It was scorching! The route along the seafront was quite pleasant, and there were a lot of supporters cheering us on. At about 6 miles, a man called out 'Come on Liz', which was the first time someone had read my name off my t-shirt! That happened a lot more later in the race, and was a real boost each time.
Miles 5-12 were at a fairly good place of around 10.30m/m, and I was feeling comfortable. Just before 13 miles, I saw my 'support crew' of Mum, Dad, Pete and the kids, which gave me a big lift. Mum said afterwards she couldn't believe how good I looked after 2 hours of running! I was feeling fine at that point.
I kept taking sips of lucozade and water, and had a few jelly babies. I felt thirsty the whole time, so kept trying to drink more water, but then that gave me a stitch.
Around 14-15 miles, we saw the leaders coming back towards the finish. They ran past us and they looked all hot and sweaty too! There was a great atmosphere as we slow-coaches cheered them on.
As we headed out of Edinburgh, we got to a turning where we had to run up a road, round a cone and back down again. I found this bit really hard as I was expecting it to be much shorter! Halfway up there though, I saw my support team again, which was great. They seemed to be enjoying the sun, unlike us poor runners. After the turn I came back and saw them again. Just after that I turned a corner and started to walk for the first time.
This was not my plan! I had run 20 miles 3 times in training, so I knew I could run at least that far. But I had never run in this sort of heat and I felt so dehydrated. I started to worry about heatstroke and resolved to drink more water. I couldn't remember where any of the drink stations were though, so I just had to wait for each one.
I picked myself up and jogged slowly to the end of the outward route and started to head back towards the finish. It was tough to keep running as almost everyone around me seemed to be walking now. Got to 19 miles and saw my family for the last time on the route. I high-fived the kids and tried to look fresh although I felt far from it. Pete jogged along with me for a minute, and I told him I was struggling. He said I looked great - haha!
From then on it got harder and harder. I was already disappointed that I had been walking before the 20-mile marker, and I was getting fed up that my Garmin was always about 0.2 miles ahead of the mile markers. I remembered hearing that if you walked, you shouldn't just walk aimlessly, but have a plan to get going again, so at that point I decided to walk the first 0.3 of each mile, then try to run the rest. I did that for the next 6 miles.
I saw my friend Amanda around 21 miles luckily I was running (-ish) at that point! It was great to see another supportive face before heading to the final stretch. those last miles were scalding hot and there was absolutely no shade. Thank God for all the kind spectators who sprayed their hoses on us - you were invaluable! Every time I walked my body felt more painful, but when I started running I just wanted to stop. There was no escape!
Then my Garmin read 26 miles - I looked ahead and the 26 mile marker was way in the distance. This moment almost killed me! I stopped running and almost sobbed 'I've run 26 miles already, why is this happening?'! It was hard to take.
Eventually I saw the finish. I started to jog, and gradually increased my speed as I approached. I knew I was very close to 5 hours and just wanted to beat it if I could. As I crossed the line the Garmin read 4h59m, and I later got a confirmed chip time of 4h59m25s - made it!!
I staggered out and wandered round until I met up with my family, and finally collapsed in a sweaty sunburnt heap on the grass. I was just so glad to have stopped!
So, final thoughts:
Not so good I'm a bit disappointed with my time. I'd have preferred 4h45m. I'd wanted to run the whole thing. I'm cross that I walked so early. I probably could have been tougher in the last 6 miles. My mental state let me down!
Good I finished a marathon without any major damage! I have a time to beat next year. I know I could do better in cooler weather and with better training. Overall I really enjoyed the whole experience and can imagine doing it again!
At the start of this year, I was toying with the idea of doing a marathon before my 40th birthday (December 2012).In February, I heard about someone who had a place at Edinburgh but couldn't run and wanted to transfer it. I realised that if I didn't take the chance, I might never do it. So I signed up.
I only had 14 weeks to train, but before I could launch myself intoa training plan I got an injury, which limited my mileage for 3 weeks. After that, I got through some good long runs and a taper, before finding myself at the start line yesterday.
I had put my predicted time at 4h50m, and I definitely wanted to get under 5 hours, and preferably run the whole thing. As far as strategy goes, I wanted to pace myself and not go off too fast, and get to 20 miles in about 3h30m. Then I had no idea what might happen. So I lined up at 10am in the purple group (the group at the back!), and waited for the off. The people around me started jogging before the start line, so I did too, although I was thinking 'this bit doesn't even count!'
The first couple of miles were downhill, and I realised I was going a bit fast. I tried to slow myself down a few times with minimal success - the first 3 miles were all well under 10min/mile pace.
The weather forecast had been confused - some predictions were for heavy rain or showers, but in fact there was not a drop of rain. It was scorching! The route along the seafront was quite pleasant, and there were quite a lot of supporters cheering us on. At about 6 miles, a man called out 'Come on Liz!', which was the first time someone had read my name off my t-shirt!
Miles 5-12 were at a fairly good pace of around 10.30m/m, and I was feeling comfortable. Just before 13 miles, I saw Mum, Dad, Pete and the kids, which gave me a big lift. Mum said afterwards that they couldn't believe how happy I looked after 2 hours of running! I was feeling ok at that point.
I kept taking sips of lucozade and water, and had a few jelly babies. I felt thirsty the whole time, so tried to drink more water, but then that would give me a stitch.
Around 14-15 miles, we saw the leaders coming back towards the finish. They ran past us and they all looked hot and sweaty! There was a great atmosphere as we slow-coaches cheered them on.
As we headed out of Edinburgh, we got to a turning where we had to run up a road, round a cone and back down it. I found this bit really hard as I thought it should have been much shorter! Halfway up there though, I saw my support team again, which was great. They seemed to be enjoying the sun - unlike us runners. After the turn I came back and saw them again. Just after that, I turned a corner and started to walk for the first time.
This was not my plan! I had run 20 miles 3 times in training, so I was determined to run at least that far. But I had never run in this sort of heat, and I just felt so dehydrated. I started to worry about sunstroke, and resolved to drink more water, but I couldn't remember where any of the drinks stations would be, so I just had to wait for each one.
Picked myself up and jogged slowly to the end of the outward route, and started to head back towards the finish. It was tough to keep running, as almost everyone around me seemed to be walking. Got to 19 miles and saw my family for the last time on the route. High fived the kids, and tried to look fresh although I was far from it! Pete jogged with me for a minute, and I told him I was struggling. He said I looked great - haha!
From then on it got harder and harder. I was already disappointed that I had been walking before the 20-mile mark, and I was getting fed up that my Garmin was always ahead of the mile markers, which were about 0.1 of a mile late. I remembered hearing that you shouldn't just walk aimlessly, but have a plan to get going again, so at that point, I decided to walk the first 0.3 of each mile, then run the rest. I did that for the next 6 miles.
I saw my friendAmandaaround 21 miles - luckily I was running (-ish) when I saw her! It was great to see another supportive face before heading to the final miles. That last stretch was scalding hot and there was absolutely no shade. Thank God for all the kind spectators who sprayed their hoses on us - you were invaluable! Every time I walked my body felt more painful, but when I was running, I just wanted to stop. Then my Garmin read 26 miles - I looked ahead and the 26 mile marker was way ahead in the distance. This moment almost killed me! I stopped running and almost sobbed 'I've run 26 miles already, why is this happening?!' It was hard to take.
Eventually, I saw the finish. I started to jog, and gradually got faster and faster as I approached (or so I imagine). I knew I was very close to 5 hours, and just wanted to beat it if I could. As I crossed the line, the Garmin read 4h59, and I later got a confirmed chip time of 4h59m25s - made it!!
I staggered out and wandered round until I met up with my family, and finally collapsed in a sweaty, sunburnt heap on the grass. I was just so glad to have stopped!
So, final thoughts:
Not so good
I am a bit disappointed with my time. I'd have preferred 4h45m.
I wanted to run the whole thing. I'm cross that I walked so early.
I probably could have been tougher in those last 6 miles. My mental state let me down there!
Good
I finished a marathon and can still walk afterwards!
I have a time to beat next year.
I know I can do better in cooler weather.
Overall, I really enjoyed the experience, and will enjoy it more with better training.
Today has been the hottest day ever since we moved to Scotland (that's how it seems anyway). I've tried to sit down and laze about as much as possible, but did go into Edinburgh this afternoon to meet up with some fellow marathoners, most of whom are also doing it for the first time. It was great to just talk about running with runners and immerse myself in the atmosphere.
Tomorrow I will try to run further than I have gone before. Everything beyond 20 miles is unknown, so I can only hope that the training and tapering will get me to the end.
This time tomorrow I'm going to be knackered and aching all over, but hopefully I'll also be feeling happy! Hasta luego!
Last night was Jog Scotland night and although I didn't want a hard run, I decided to go along for social reasons rather than for training. I had read somewhere that in these last days before the marathon, I shouldn't do any run further than 4 miles. Of course, marathon training is like parenting in that the more advice you seek, the more conflicting opinions you get. I'd mentioned the 4-mile rule to Pete though, and he took it to heart. As I left for the run, he was shouting out the door 'Don't do more than 4 miles! Don't screw it up now!'.
As luck would have it, we just did a straight run, so I jogged along at the back for exactly 2 miles, then left the group, turned around and ran back. I stopped the Garmin at 4.01m, keeping everybody happy. That will probably be my last run now, as I've got a little niggle with my back.
After a sports massage last Thursday, I felt fine until I did a spot of hoovering and housework on Friday. I had a bit of backache after that, and sciatica, which was quite painful on Saturday. After a gentle jog and swim on Sunday it eased up, but it worried me that it might have been caused to some extent by the massage. Just to be safe though, I've regretfully sworn off all housework until after the marathon. :)
So I had another appointment this morning. When I told her about my back, the physio decided to give me a physio session rather than a massage. She has diagnosed a sideways curve in the spine, leading to tightness on the left side of the back, and putting pressure on the sciatic nerve all down that leg. She thinks this was the cause of my calf pain, which has never completely gone away since it started about 3 months ago. She did some work on my lower back, keeping it light enough so as not to disturb the marathon (I hope).
Before I left, she stuck some tape on my back which has fibres in it, and will apparently help to ease the tightness there. Great, I thought, until I got to work and realised that under a thin pale shirt, I now had 2 visible strips of bright blue tape. Not a good look (see below).
I'll see how the back is, but as well as abandoning housework, I think I might not run anymore from no until Sunday. Eek!
Meanwhile, the long-awaited warm temperatures that we've been expecting in May have finally arrived, just in time for the marathon. I've trained in snow, rain, wind, cold and even mild weather, but never in heat. It's so humid today too. Typical British weather - unpredictable and annoying!
As well as sexy blue tape, you can also see how my waist goes in on the right but straight down on the left. This is because of the curved back. 37 years and I've never noticed that before today...
I've been taking the 'resting' part of my training very seriously over the last few days. As Pete was away on a work trip, I missed my usual Friday morning run, then somehow didn't get around to it on Saturday either. I was just too busy having a nice weekend.
On Friday night we had friends round for pizza and I drank more wine than I'm used to these days (2 glasses - but they were big glasses, ok?), and went to bed late and a tiny bit drunk. Then on Saturday, Robbie had a 5th birthday party to attend. We went to drop him off, but ended up staying for the whole thing, and Emma managed to wangle herself a place at the food table in her inimitable way. They had a great time as there were loads of games, and a huge party feast. Then we spend the afternoon out in the garden in the sun, and went for a short ride on our bikes. Robbie's cycling is definitely getting better since he got his new bike!
Then I even went to the cinema! We used to go twice a month or so before the kids arrived, and we haven't been now for about 18 months. Pete still hasn't in fact, but I went with friends to see Robin Hood, which was pretty good fun. It was great to have a night out anyway.
On Sunday, I finally managed to fit in a run! Last 'long' run before the marathon, so it was just 5.6 miles. I went just a little bit faster than marathon pace, averaging about 9.40 min/miles. Funny how I spent months building up to that distance when I started running, and now it feels like a short, easy jog. Anyway, then it was off to the cinema again, this time to the kids' morning version. We took them both to see 'Cloudy with Meatballs' which was really funny. Emma had to leave for a little roll-round-on-the-floor-and-scream in the middle, so I missed a bit, but she calmed down after a while. At 2 years 4 months, this was her first trip to the cinema, and she's too young really, but as it was less than half usual price, it didn't matter so much.
After that we went out for lunch, and then to the swimming pool. Robbie is doing really well with swimming now, unlike me he is fearless, and happily throws himself in the pool, sits on the bottom, does backwards somersaults etc. Thank goodness neither of them have inherited my terror of going underwater - they have learnt from Pete, who is similarly unafraid. Freaks.
So it was a tiring but fun weekend, and I've remembered what Sundays are like when you don't have to fit in a 3 hour run! Next weekend I'll be busy on Saturday panicking, and on Sunday the small matter of 26.2 miles will occupy us all. Meanwhile, Emma is showing signs of wanting to follow in Mummy's footsteps (literally)...
Last night I went out with the Jog Scotland group and it was great. Instead of the usual intervals or hills session, we just did a 6-mile run. The sun was shining and there was hardly any wind - not conditions I'm used to. I found myself with a group of slightly-too-fast runners, and only just kept up for the first few miles. But when we got to mile 4, I knew I could maintain the pace (it was downhill around there which helped), and I kept up with them to the end. We did 6 miles in 53 minutes, which meant my overall pace was only a little outside my 10K PB! Once I've got this pesky marathon out of the way, I'm definitely going to be looking for some faster PBs on shorter distances...
It was a beautiful route too - mainly off-road, through park and trees, past a lake with some ducks and ducklings - very picturesque, and a place I'd never run before. Incredible how you don't know what's on your own doorstep sometimes.
This morning I had another sports massage, which was good. It didn't hurt too much, but I could feel which areas were tight - most of my left side, which may be why I had some calf trouble in my left leg. My legs felt tired afterwards, but not sore. I've got another one booked for next week, so I'm hoping this will get my poor legs into good condition before I pummel them into the ground.
A few people have asked me if I'm starting to get nervous yet. So far, I have been feeling pretty excited, but today I had my first panicky wave of 'OhmyGodwhatamIdoing?'! I presume this is normal behaviour? The strange thing about this race is that everything after 20 miles is unknown and unpredictable. I just don't know how my body - and maybe worse my mind - will react to going on another 6 miles. I'm (sort of) looking forward to finding out though...
It's been a funny week, this first week of taper. On Wednesday I posted that my legs were aching badly, and that evening I had a pretty rubbish run. We did intervals at Jog Scotland, and I really struggled to speed up on the 'fast' sections. My legs just felt like lead.
On Thursday I didn't feel great either, and I was due to run on Friday morning. However, a combination of staying up late to watch the Election coverage, and Emma's surprise appearances in the early hours, persuaded me to postpone to the evening. I planned to do 3-4 miles, but once I got going, I felt really good and ended up doing 4.1 miles in 35.12 mins (average pace 8.32 min/miles). That's quite fast for me! It was great to have a decent run at last.
Then today's goal was a much reduced long run of 10 miles. The idea of the taper is that you cut down on mileage in the weeks before the marathon, so your body can recover from the heavy training in time to feel fresh at the start line. Oh yes, I'm not just doing these runs according to any old whim - there is planning, structure and science behind it!
So today's run was fine. It was nice to run in the sun for a change, and I didn't need my jelly babies or lucozade this week. I felt a bit crap for the first 10 minutes, but then it was alright. Pretty uneventful actually, in fact I'm struggling to remember much about it. The statistics are, I did 10.8 miles in 1h44m05s. Average pace was 9.36 min/miles, which is just over a minute faster than the pace of my 20 mile runs.
This afternoon I had the novelty of not being sofa-bound after a long run, and we went swimming with the kids, which was great. My legs were still tired though, and my right knee is not at all happy - it really doesn't feel like bending today.
So it remains to be seen how effective these training plans will be for me. I can't help but feel that I could have done more training, and more effective training, but now I can only keep rested, keep healthy, and keep my fingers crossed for the big day in 2 weeks' time. Suffice to say, I have done the research (see below), and hopefully used it to my advantage. Yikes.
We had a busy Bank Holiday weekend. On Saturday we drove nearly 400 miles South to meet all of Pete's family for his Grandma's 90th birthday party. After a social stop in Manchester, a toilet stop on the M6 Toll and an emergency petrol stop 5 minutes later, we arrived at about 5.30pm. Then it was straight off to a fancy restaurant for dinner. The food was lovely, but I was aware that I didn't want to overdo the gluttony, as I'm about to cut right down on running mileage. I've been eating like a pig for the last few weeks, and have managed to put on a couple of pounds, despite each long run burning about 2,000+ calories! Our usual holiday custom is to stuff ourselves with cake and chips while proclaiming '..but it is a holiday...' over and over again, so I knew I'd be up against it.
Anyway, the party on Sunday afternoon was a good old family knees-up. Robbie and Emma had a great time with their cousins, Pete had a few drinks with his siblings, and I even had almost 2 whole glasses of wine before going back to the hotel with the kids. Here they are in their party clothes...
On Monday morning, I got up before breakfast and snuck out for a 3-mile jog. It's always nice to run somewhere different, and there were lovely views of fields and farms. Then it was an all-you-can-eat breakfast, so again, I tried to reign in my greed. I did have 3 sausages though - delicious! Another 6 hours or so in the car, and we were home!
So I ran 20 miles last Friday, and 3 miles on Monday and today is Wednesday. Why are my legs aching so much then? My thighs are killing me, and I really don't know why. It's Jog Scotland tonight, then a short run on Friday, and this weekend, I'll just be doing a tiny 10 miles or so. Shouldn't even break a sweat after all those long runs. I'm quite looking forward to 3 weeks of taper (as long as I can eat reasonably healthily), I hope the reduction in mileage should leave me feeling fresh (and non-achy) for the marathon. Fingers crossed...
