Day 6 of Run December

Today the weatherman said it would be a minimum of -8C. Liar, liar, pants of fire. It was at least -72C when I walked home from work (give or take a degree or 5), so the freezing fog and the fact that I had a vouchery thingy from the Council to use the gym and pool free for the next 12 days, meant that I was a namby-pamby and retreated to the sweaty hell of the gym.

It was actually quite weird to be in the gym again after soo long, and I enjoyed a 3k slog on the rower as well as an eye-popping leg press session. I was especially pleased when the gentlemen using the leg-press after me had to lower the weight by 20kg. Bloomin' southerners. Anyway, the mileage is completed for day 6 and I'm feeling good.

Tomorrow I have a lunch and an evening date, so the mileage has to be done post-work and pre-dinner. Which means I'm off to pack a bag for a cold run, a shower and going out. Think I might need a bigger rucksack...

Run December - Day 6
Distance: 3.12 miles
Time: 28:53
Weather: Baby, it's cold outside
Surface: Bouncy

Here's mud in your eye.

Day 3 of Run December

The snow has finally stopped and the sun has finally come out (altogether now... praise the lord, hallaluah). As a result, the hard packed snow has started to melt a bit and refreeze into ice. So for the first time in 2 years, I have retreated into the air conditioned hell of the gym.

I've done the induction, where a nice lady who looked incredibly bored demonstrated random machinery, most of which I'll never use in my life and then let me just get on with it. It's a council gym, so I can PAYG and only use it when the roads are too bad. And I have to admit the gym equipment is rather flash. Ipod compatible, with TV and radio screens on all cardio machines. They even have a games setting, so you can play mah jong while you work out (surely you should be working too hard to do that, right??).

Hopefully I'll be back on the road tomorrow though.

Run December - Day 3

Distance: 3.12 miles
Time: 31:13
Weather: Air conditional hell
Surface: Moving

Here's mud in your eye.
 

Normal people spend Saturday mornings in IKEA

I'm not sure when I realised it. It might have been as I slid down a huge hill into a rowing lake while being soaked by a sadistic fireman, or as I posted myself feet first through a giant inflatable. I'm not really sure. But whenever it was, I suddenly thought "if I was normal I'd be buying a purple coffee table in IKEA right now".

But hell, who wants to be normal, right?!

So instead of spending the morning deciding which size of yellow spatula to buy, I went and covered myself in mud and bruises at the Men's Health Survival of the Fittest race in Nottingham. The race is one of a series of 3 around Britain over successive weekends. The format of each race is the same, but the uniquely sadistic obstacles each race includes are dependent on the topography of the city. So in Nottingham the lovely race organisers use the Holme Pierrepont National Watersports Centre, the muddy riverbanks and the stairs in the Nottingham Forest football ground. In order to cover all these, the race is slightly longer than Cardiff or Edinburgh at 11.5km.


Runners are set off in waves of 250, with coloured wristbands denoting your wave. You pick up your wristband and your race t-shirt the day before and all runners must wear their t-shirts on the day. Colette and I were in Wave 8 and lined up with our dayglo pink wristbands and shiny white t-shirts (WTF?!?! Seriously, white!?!?!) with about 4 other women and 244 testosterone filled, gung-ho guys. As you can see, we were rather nervous, but very clean and shiny.

We set off at 11.45am and immediately hit the Hay Bale Wall. 8ft of hay bales made into a wall. You get the picture. A couple of miles later there was a bit of parkour, involving running along planks (arrrr Jim Lad), jumping off platforms and hoisting each other over walls, then it was off down the Trent to the first of the mud - the Army Assault Course. Huge, slippery, climbing frames, monkey bars and a seriously muddy cargo net. The mud didn't last long though. It was a quick dash past some very confused looking kayakers and senior citizens walking their dogs and then into the rowing lake firstly via a muddy bank and then via a massive hill slide (with the assistance of Nottinghamshire Fire Brigade). A breath-taking (literally) swim across to another muddy riverbank (are you getting the gist of this yet?) found us on our way back home.

Obviously the home route wasn't going to be easy, and I needed Colette half dragging me along for parts of it. Obstacles on the return included the Men’s Health at Work (clambering over safety barriers, another scare-filled climbing frame and a massive slippery slope to head up), the Urban Jungle (running up and over skate halfpipes, shimmying under park benches, through cars and more bike barriers to try to get over), the inflatables (posting yourself through a large red inflatable... weird) and finally up, down, up, down through Nottingham Forest’s Riverside Stand.
By this time, the finish is in sight (behind the infamous 8 foot MH Wall of Fame). With the assistance of about 3 guys pushing my enormous butt I just about managed to scale the damn thing, then helped haul Colette to the top as well. Scariest thing of the whole race? Jumping off the top of that thing onto a crashmat which make my duvet look plush.

10foot later and we were over the line! I'm a Survivor, I'm gonna make it, I will survive, Keep on survivin'. Don't think my t-shirt will be ever be white again though.

Race report - Survival of the Fittest
Time: 1:31:29 (creditable)
Organisation: Can't fault it... but then it is by Rat Race, so its bound to be slick.
Course: Awesome, crazy, sadistic.
Would I do it again? I'm saying no, but you know what I'm like. Expect me to be out for a PB next year.
After effects: 3 showers later I was still a bit pongy. Oh yeah, and even my mum can't get my t-shirt clean.

Here's mud in your eye (and your ear, your toe, your nostril....)

Tweets, Beats and a lack of sweets

Me again!

Errrm Dobby... you remember? ... the idiot doing marathons and burpees and mud and stuff?

Yes! That Dobby!

No, no, I haven't been ignoring you, I've been busy. Or lazy. Honest. What?? What crazy-ass stuff have I been doing now? Well nice of you to ask...

September - Tweets, Beats and a lack of sweets.

You may recall that September was my Month of Half-Marathons (if you were born when I last did a blog post anyway), and what a month it was.

I'll get this out of the way early on, so you can tut and sigh and say 'serves you right' and all that. My training over the summer consisted of one 10k race, one 5k Race for Life with the flatmate and several British Military Fitness classes. That is all. No running. You are now up to speed with why pain is involved so heavily in the following.

It started with the Rodley Run, a lovely (but painful) 13.1 miles meander by the Leeds/Liverpool canal. it's organised by my twitter buddy @nimblerunner and there were only about 100 of us taking part. You can walk it, bike it or run it. The flatmate and Mr Flatmate decided to bike it, while Hughesy and I ran it.

The course starts under a bridge just outside Leeds. And this is where we found Stephen (Nimblerunner), with a clipboard, a worried expression and Suzanne Shaw. I hadn't seen Stephen since the kilomathon and it was lovely to meet up again, even if only for a quick hello. He even introduced me to Suzanne (what a lovely lady).

Mr and Mrs Flatmate headed straight off on the bikes at the start and Hughesy soon left me for dead as he legged it off into the distance closely followed by my 'save me a burger' scream. But being left alone for the run was actually quite nice. The event is so small that everyone chats, and you run with first one person, then another. I even spent the last few miles walk/running with a lovely lady called Jill who was suffering as much as I was. We crossed the line together with big grins on our faces and hearty back slaps for helping each other along.

Race report - Rodley Run:
Time: 2:38 (eeek!)
Organisation: Excellent
Course: lovely, mostly flat (beware 5 Locks!) and not too crowded.
Would I do it again? Oh yes.
After effects: Walking downstairs backwards for 2 days.




Run two was the long-awaited Run to the Beat in London. I was looking forward to not only running this race, but also meeting up with loads of my Twitter buddies who have been so brilliant, encouraging, funny and inspirational over the past year. A few of us were staying in the same hotel the night before and more were meeting up for a pasta party at Canary Wharf as well.

It ended up with 20 of us signing Happy Birthday to @jamesthekat while he blew candles out on the best Pacman cake I have ever seen. Huge respect to @TARDIS900 for his excellent skills with an oven and many packets of jelly tots and I mean it - adopt me Michael.

The next morning we donned special Tweet to the Beat t-shirts designed by the ever-bouncy @raywise and headed off through the tube-cancelling chaos to the O2 Arena. To say it was cold is an understatement (as the photo above will attest to). Most of the crew set off (over 45 mins late) from pen 2, including @nuddypants and @runningfairy trying to run/stalk the luscious #902... God help him if he ever goes to another race with any of us. He'll be bundled into the back of a van and delivered to @runningfairy before he's passed the 3rd mile post.

Hughesy and @jamesthekat legged it past me from pen 3 10mins later. I saw @TARDIS900 disappear in pen 4 soon after. I however, got right royally stuck at the back of pen 5 and crossed the line 39 mins after the gun, freezing cold and with literally 12 people behind me. As a result I did nothing but pass people the whole way round and hardly ever got overtaken. Race tip: it's very good for the ego when you start in the last 20 and finish in the last 1400. Go me.

All the twitterers did wonderfully well with special mention to @raywise for a storming 1:30 (were do you get the energy Mr Bouncy?!?) and @ScotLassRuns who despite recovering from a serious back injury managed the whole race in a cracking 2:16.

Race report - Run to the Beat:
Time: 2:20:51 (PB!)
Organisation: Delayed start, confusing pens and not enough music for a music marathon.
Course: Boring and the race profile is just a plain lie.
Would I do it again? Probably not.
After effects: Exhausted, but very happy.

So there you go, all my September races accounted for.

What's next? Well I've joined a running club and this Saturday I get to nearly kill myself at Men's Health Survival of the Fittest in Nottingham. But more about them when I've got something to tell.

Here's mud in your eye.

Hi Honey, I'm home!

It's been a while since I blogged. This is mainly due to the fact that I managed to get my life back after the months of agonising training and partly due to the fact that I actually haven't been doing anything worth blogging about. I doubt you'd be interested in what I had for lunch (pasta with out-of-date chicken).

But my Year of Crazy has taken another turn and not satisfied with a marathon, I have set myself a few more challenges. So here we go!

September
This is now known as 1/2 Marathon Month. I have 2, Hughesy has 3 (yes I know, but he wouldn't listen).

The first is going to be the Rodley Run. This is organised by one of my twitter buddies @Nimblerunner. He's quite an inspirational chap having lost nearly a Dobster in weight and raised over £25,000 for Cancer Research UK in the process. The Rodley Run is quite a small, friendly event. It hasn't got any marshalls or big inflatable start line. It won't have a grandstand finish either, just a BBQ and hopefully a few of my other twittery buddies eating burgers and downing a few beers. This one is going to be a warm up for the rest of the month...

The next weekend, I'm off to get slightly squiffy at The Wedding of the Year and Hughesy is off to do the Great North Run. Bit sad I can't be there to cheer him on as he's been such a great supporter for my runs, but I shall be thinking of him as I down my 4th champagne and bust a move to the grease megamix.

The weekend after that is the biggie - Run to the Beat in London. There are a whole load of us going as a Tweet to the Beat group, in twittery tshirts and possibly garish pink leggings if @nuddypants has her way. I've challenged myself to do this in under 2 hours. So that's what my training is going to be working up to over the summer.

October/November
A few 10ks planned around Nottingham during these months in prep for the new year and...

January 2011
Run Rampage!!! Yes, the twitter mafia has struck again and I am now part of a 3 woman team ready to compete on a xc, muddy, hilly, off-road vehicle-testing track on Bagshot army barracks. Oh yes, in JANUARY. Lots of hilly, fast runs and lunges required for the training for this one. @Harerunner, you have a lot to answer for girl!

March 2011
Probably do the Beast again. Be rude not to. Oh and the Kilomathon if its happening.

April 2011
The pain has subsided, so the new year will be spent on 20mile training shuffles again for the Brighton Marathon. Hoping for a sub-5hr on this one. We'll see.

So there you go, a full run down of my racing year. Looking forward to 1/2 marathon training where my long runs can actually stay within one city, nevermind one bloomin' county. And hand weights have been purchased to help build up my leg strength for all those hills.

Will keep you posted on the way with anything that is vaguely interesting and feel free to tell me when I ramble on inanely.

Here's mud in your eye.

The_sobster

Well, it's over. The Edinburgh Marathon has been completed and I can actually feel my legs. Result. On the down side my face appears to be glowing in the dark.

After months of training and hours of planning and organisation I was ready for this weekend. All my kit was packed. I had a folder full of confimations, maps and forms. I was Miss Organised 2010. Unfortunately fate had different plans. Firstly the hotel kicked both me and my friend Collette out due to double booking. Then I managed to nearly die driving around Edinburgh trying to find Hope Street (note: it's pedestrian. #Fail). I also managed to get the wrong bus and ended up in Leith at 10pm with no idea where the hell I was and no further buses, and finally the weather forecasters all lied like flatfish and instead of 19 degrees and overcast/showers, we had 27 degrees of sweaty, burny sun. Rant over, back to the race.

26.2 miles is (by definition) a buggeringly long way. Nibbling anything more than a biscuit and my fingernails the night before was pretty much impossible due to extreme nerves. I went to bed with my RNLI vest, leggings and trainers laid out on the table waiting for my alarm to go off and me to leap out of bed and attack the day. I didn't wake to the alarm, I awoke to a troop of howler monkeys in the zoo next door at 6am. I was having a dream about cycling around Bournemouth at the time, so the inclusion of a pack of rabid monkeys on rollerskates was an interesting image. I believe I'd even put a tutu on one of them.

I tried to eat some brekkie, which didn't go too well and then headed into the city to met up with Collette and walk down to the start line. The start was 9.50am and we got there at 8.30am. It was deserted. I found this very odd as most races I have been to, the loo queue forms at least 3 hours beforehand and grows exponentially by the hour. By 9am Regent Road was getting busy and I was busier trying to spot some of my Tweeting buddies. Sadly I didn't spot any :o( Hope to catch you next time guys x

The start was good - all downhill for the first few miles, although it was very, very, VERY warm. I was feeling fine and was on schedule for a 5 hour finish. At mile 10 we passed Musselburgh stadium and the finish line. I waved and told it I'd be back round in a few hours. About half a mile later the lead runner went legging it past on the other side of road only a mile or so from the finish. Not only did he have about a 6 mile lead, but he also managed a joke and wave with some bystanders. Freak.

I was going OK and passed the half way point at around 2.30hrs. But after this the shade stopped and the sun came out in full and nearly melted me. The rest of the route was out and back along the coast path. There were lots of supporters for most of it and the people of Edinburgh were brilliant. Many of them had hosepipes out to give us 'field showers' as we melted past. One of the good things about running for the RNLI is that any kid with a hosepipe who saw my immediately tried to "sink the lifeboat!" If it wasn't so hot I might have actually drowned.

Miles 16-18 were utter hell. These were spent running around a park with no shade and away from the coast there was no breeze either. I was suffering quite badly at this point. Passing one or two of the other RNLI runners at cross over points was a highlight as we high fived, punched the air or shouted 'Go Lifeboats!' With so few of us (I only saw 3 others running, and a couple who had done the half marathon), it was a big boost every time we saw each other and could have a litte chat.

Miles 18-21 were better. The aches and pains had eased slightly and the clouds briefly appeared to give us some respite from the heat. I managed to run quite a bit of these miles and although I knew I wasn't going to hit my 5hr finish by then, I hoped to be quite close to it. Alas no. At mile 22 the sun reappearred hotter than ever. By now it was after 2pm, I was sunburnt, my head was on fire, my feet had swelled so I'd had to stop and loosen my laces and my sportsbra had cut off my circulation to my back as my skin swelled up.

Only the Rocky music someone was blasting out from thier garden, blind determination, stubbornness and the knowledge that all my friends were willing me on got me over those last few miles. The shuffling run from mile 25 to the finish line was agony, and I apologise to all the crowds at the finish when I appeared, sweat-stained and grimacing with tears streaming down my face. But you know what? I was an emotional wreck and you didn't help by shouting my name and cheering me on. It was just too much for a The Sobster to take.

Official time: 5.39. Collette did a fabulous time of 4.10, and my twitter friends did amazing runs and got times from 3.50 to 4.50. We are all marathon runners guys!

Huge thanks to all the people of Edinburgh who were amazing, the organisers and marshalls who made sure we all got water and cheered so well, and the wonderfully lovely ladies of the RNLI charity tent who repaired Collette and I with sandwiches, coffee and massages. They are the reason I can still walk today.

A massive, massive thank you to everyone who has sponsored me for my year of crazy, you are all stars xx

Finally, this is not the end of the craziness, I have other things planned, but that's for another blog post. Right now I'm off to the pub for my first pint for 5 weeks. I think I've earned it.

Here's mud in your eye.

Sad afternote: Just heard the news of the runner who fell in the first few miles and sadly died. I had passed him at mile 7, surrounded by paramedics giving CPR. I know it shook everyone and my thoughts are with his family.

Tick, Tock

85 hours to go. That's right, I've resorted to hours, rather than days.

The training has all been completed and I am now sitting around, bored witless while I build up my energy reserves and allow all those niggly little aches and pains to settle down.

My lovely (but rather bright!) running vest from the RNLI turned up last week and my official marathon pack plopped on my mat the following day. So it's all rather real now. In 85 hours I'll be standing on a start line with a few thousand other maniacs feeling a bit nervous and needing the loo for the 6th time that morning. And (hopefully) in 90 hours I'll be an emotional wreck hobbling over the finish line with mascara streaming down my cheeks and a frizzy afro.

Unfortunately my hotel (which I booked over 6 months ago) has kicked me out for 'maintenance' and moved me 1 mile away to a "fabulous hotel with free use of the gym and pool". Oh excellent. I can do a few miles on the treadmill the night before *sigh*. To add insult to injury my mate, Collette, who is running as well, hasn't been moved. So the logistics of driving up the Edinburgh, dropping off at 2 hotels, getting into town for a tweetup, meeting my friend (whose birthday it is!), getting back to 2 hotels, figuring out where to leave the car during the race, getting back to the car afterwards, and then driving all the way back to Nottingham is giving me a headache.

Never mind. The weather is supposed to be perfect and I've just stuck my name onto my vest. So if you see me on the day, give me a wave. I'll be the only one in yellow who isn't a daffodil.

I'll let you know how it goes, after I get back, recover a bit and break my month of 'on-the-wagonness' with a day in the pub. Apparently alcohol numbs the pain. Honest.

Here's mud in your eye.

Hell and back

OK, so Beeston may not strictly be hell, but it feels pretty diabolical by mile 15.

Tonight I did my last long (long) run of 19 miles. It was long, painful and slow, but very very useful. And did I mention long?

A lot of training plans advocate one peak mileage run of 20 miles about 2-3 weeks before the race. Mine advises 2 at weeks 5 and 3 and is one of the reasons I choose it. As a complete novice to marathons I knew I'd have a lot to learn, and needed the extra run to sort out any problems.

So this run involved the testing of new socks (dual layered - essential), new running tights (Nike capris and excellent), new bottle holder (room for sweeties and keys) and new fuel (Tooty Fruities). Although the tights and bottle holder were useful, they were nothing on the Tooty Fruities!!

When you are expecting to be on your feet running for 5 hours, you are going to need fuel. The body uses up the easy-to-convert, glycogen stores in your muscles as energy first. However it is finite and once used up the body turns to its fat reserves. Fat metabolism is not as quick and easy, and when this happens you Hit the 'infamous' Wall. The only way to delay or avoid the wall is to make sure you have more glycogen than you'll use by carbo-loading and taking on carbs during your run. During the run you can use drinks, gels or food to take on carbs.

I have been using Powerade for runs over 90mins for a while. It is tasty, gives me enough energy and electolytes to keep me from passing out and doesn't upset my stomach. But I was going to need something for extra quick energy en route. I'd tried gels (bleurgh), and jelly beans (not too bad) and was willing to try something else. Cue the Tooty Fruities. 2 fruities per 30mins gave my legs that little bit of extra energy needed to stop me running out of muscle power by mile 13.

So it looks as if I have sorted out most of my strategy and kit for the big day. Onwards to the day now. Only a bit of training still to go:

• 5x British Military Fitness sessions
• 3x interval speed sessions
• 2x 4 milers
• 1x 15 miler
• 1x 10 miler
• 1x 8 miler

Easy peasy, lemon squeezy.

Here's mud (sweat and tears) in your eye.

Challenge 2.5...

Hello blogville.

It's been a while and I haven't really felt like blogging. 'But why??' I hear you cry? Well I have been slogging my way around long runs and knackering tempos feeling like I'm getting nowhere (not very) fast and generally not feeling very good about my running.

So it was with a bit of trepidation that I set off on Sunday for the Derby 10k. The last 10k (and only my 3rd ever race) was a hilly, x-country style race in Wollaton Park, Nottingham. I did it in 58:30 and had to have a little sit down afterwards. The lovely Hughesy had entered me in the Derby 10k with an estimated time of 55mins making me a bit nervous. 3.5 mins off my PB was a challenge which I was not sure I could meet. But he had faith in me, so off we set.

The Derby 10k is rather a bigger event than the cosy Wollaton 10k. Instead of 400 runners, I found myself in the midst of thousands all penned up under their expected finishing time in the shadow of Pride Park, the Derby FC stadium. He had warned me about 'undulations' at 3-5km, but apart from that I had no idea what the route would be like and as the gun went and the strungout line edged towards the line, my nerves rose. Everyone looked like they could run me into the ground before breakfast. But as I headed off into the city centre, I found myself sprinting past professionally kitted out runners, who were walking, panting and sweating it out at 2km. Why the hell were these people ahead of me?!?! What time did they put on their application forms?!?!

The route was actually a pleasant amble around the city centre, taking in the sights, before heading back along stretches of the river. It is not in the slightest bit hilly, but has a couple of little undulations, including a couple of bridges to negotiate. Many seemed to find these difficult, but after 18 months of being beasted up hills by camo-clad British Military Fitness instructors, I managed to take them (literally) in my stride. The start was a bit sparse on spectators, but by halfway, they had crept out of bed to wave and cheer us on. Always nice. I would seriously recommend this race to any newbie runners as their first 10k. It was well organised, easy and fun.

I was attempting to work out my times at each km marker, and not do my previous mistake of setting out too quick and regretting it. I hit 5k at around 29mins, which worried me... a lot. At that rate I would be lucky to beat my PB. However the second 5k was flatter and more strung out, so no fighting my way past pink tutus and bananas. I also felt quite good. True I was puffing like a steamtrain, but nothing compared to many around me.

At 7km I passed the Thunderbirds. After losing the Kilomathon to a banana, this felt good.

By 8km I was utterly convinced I was going to take over an hour, so it was with elation that I entered Prinde Park to a roar of spectators and music and saw the clock at 54' 12". I sprinted to the line. My gun time was 54' 42", but once the time to cross the line was factored in, my chip time was a staggering 53' 42" giving me a chip position of 1525 out of 2993. Well happy. Add to that, I was 84th home out of 380 in my category and I was even well happier.

The lovely Hughesy did a chip time of 48' 13", shaving 6mins off his PB for the race and coming in 181st out of 454 in his category. There was much celebration that night *pop* *fizz* *glug*.

All in all, it raised my flagging spirits hugely and gave me a much need confidence boost - that I wasn't getting slower, I was capable of running well and I wasn't going to be the last finisher on this marathon.

20 miles are beckoning ths weekend. Bring 'em on!

Here's mud in your eye.

Challenge number 2 *tick*

I am blogging this sitting on a sofa and desperately hoping I don't have to stand up or sit down any more tonight. Yesterday I Kilomathoned and today I am paying the price!! My quads had seized up this morning and it's made stairs, chairs and automobiles rather difficult. It's quite a problem when you wake up, need the loo and realise you are on the 3rd floor...

Anyway, back to the race. The Kilomathon is number 2 on my challenge list for the Dobster's Year of Crazy. It was the inaugural UK event and started on a very, very, VERY cold morning in the grounds of The University of Nottingham. In case you are not sure how cold it was, here's a picture of my mate Keith waiting for the bus to take us from the Park and Ride to the start. There were 5,500 runners signed up to do the race, with 4186 actually starting it. I think they were all in the queue for the toilets just ahead of me. The start line was awash with survival blankets, tattered tshirts and bin-liners donned by desperate runners trying to keep warm for the 45mins before the gun. But eventually we were off and starting the first Kilomathon! Or rather 9:38mins later, when we finally crossed the line, we had started.

The route took us out of Nottingham, through some nice countryside (especially the lovely Elvaston Castle), but unfortunately through more industrial estates and long, boring roads. At least the range of runners I was passing (and even more who were passing me) kept me amused with their tshirts, weird conversations (always fun when you half hear a sentence) and dodgy range of leggings.

By 10miles I started to really suffer. Jim (God bless him), had joined me around mile 4 and he was my constant companion for the rest of the race. He brought a friend in the shape of Bob, who decided to make a home on my right big toe and poke me every time I stepped on him. Nice. So there were a few walking breaks and energy-drinking stops to keep me going. But eventually, I saw the sign declaring we had entered Derby! I think my "Woo Hoo! Derby" startled the girl in front of me. I doubt anyone has ever been happy to enter Derby before.

The 24Km sign beckoned, and the lovely people of Derby who had come out to cheer us all on and tell us we were nearly there, made the last couple of miles a bit easier to take. The sight of the finish line, as I turned the last corner to a wave of cheering and clapping was extremely welcome. The slight downhill run-up to the finish line was even more welcome and probably the reason I now can't walk. Who can't resist a sprint finish past all the cheering crowds??

I finished just before the clock hit 3hours, with my run time confirmed as 2hours, 51mins 18secs. Not as fast as I had hoped, but at the end of the day, I beat the Sweeper Bus Of Shame, so I'm happy with that, and the lovely @Hughesy2103 was there with a Diet Coke and a comfy car to ferry us all back to Nottingham. What more could a Dobster possibly want from a race :o)

My various twittery friends: @WorTony, @nimblerunner, @becbostock, @neilrostance and BritMilFit and dive club buds, Sarah, Keith, Claire and Kev did their own cracking times. Well done everyone who took part.

Pictures are up on the website soon. I'll post a few if I don't look too bad ;o) and please remember why I'm putting myself through this agony!

At the top of the blog you'll find the proof I did it (no, not a picture of Jim), my number and Jim'll Fix It style medal. And I'll leave the final word to the Kilomathon organisers who gave us this nice little voucher in our goody bags and the perfect bit of advice which every single runner no doubt ignored completely...I know I did.

Here's mud in your eye.

Nothing to wear...

It's less than 48hours to go to the start of the Kilomathon and I have a dilemma. I have nothing to wear. Now, stop panicking and bear with me. I'm not going to post pictures of me in various flourescent leggings and ask if my bum looks big in them. I'm not that stupid.

Like most runners training over the winter I have been battling the freezing temperatures in 23 moisture-wicking, air-flowing, wind-stopping layers, 2 pairs of gloves, a thermal hat and a pair of woolly knickers so big I have to cut eye-holes in them to see where I'm going. That means I have had numerous pockets to secrete gloves, ipods, keys and jellybabies in. I have therefore not thought about race day, assuming I'd run in my trusty wind-stopper. And then it happened... THE SUN CAME OUT!

The weather forecast is not helping. On Wednesday it was forecasting sun. Yesterday it forecast rain. Today we are splitting the difference with sunny intervals. What will it be tomorrow?? Snow? Heatwave? Typhoon? WHO KNOWS!!

The thought of running without a pocket is causing me some disturbance. The 9am start is going to make it cold to begin with, so hat and gloves may be required. But 20mins into the run, I'm going to warm up and by the time I crawl over the line gasping for oxygen it's going to be closer to midday. I can't add a pack, or new top at this point without the risk of serious chaffing (ouchy). What to do with all the paraphanalia you accumulate on your run?!!?

For layers I have a cunning plan and will be starting the run in an old t-shirt I can dump on any unfortunate passerby (or use to trip up rude runners) as soon as I need to. I may be able to slot my gloves down my ipod armband at strategic points. I'll carry a water-bottle for the first few miles, which I can dump at the water points. The jellybabies days are numbered and they're getting nommed before I even start. Which leaves the hat. Might just have to get cold ears :o/

And as soon as it is over? Well, I'm off to get a top with a pocket ready for the marathon. Lesson learnt.

Here's mud in your eye.

The Kilomathon, a medieval siege weapon

The shivers have stopped and the bruises have started to go that horrible yellow colour after last weekend's Beast 2010, so it's time to start looking forward to The Kilomathon!

I can't help but pronounce it as the KILOMATHON, in a bottom of your boots, Die Hard trailer kinda way. It sounds like a medieval siege weapon. "They've pulled up the drawbridge Sir. We'll never get in the castle now." "Don't despair Fortesque, bring out the KILOMATHONS!". In reality I'm expecting it to be a instrument of torture rather than a siege weapon.

So what is a Kilomathon? Well it's a marathon measured in km. That's 26.2km, or 16.2 miles in old money. It's run from the University of Nottingham in... Nottingham (surprise huh?!) to Alvaston Park in Derby. It's going to take in some lovely countryside, including Elvaston Park. And some not so lovely A roads. But hell, 26.2km of countryside may just kill me.

I've been training hard with long, boring road runs around the long, boring ring road near my house, culminating in 13.14miles last week. That's as far as I'm going to run in training, so I'm tapering down now with shorter, interval training and medium distance runs of 8-10 miles. Tapering down your runs a couple of weeks before a race means that your body gets a chance to recover from your training and lay down stores of energy in your muscles.

Recently I've been working more and more on my nutrition. This is going to be a surprise to anyone who knows me... my diet no longer consists entirely of McCoys crisps and cheese crackers. And one of the best things about prepping for a race is carbo-loading! I've been introduced to a new breakfast by the running machine Nimblerunner and have swapped takeaways and fish fingers for wholemeal pasta and rice. It's an interesting subject and one I may well get more into in the future. look out for a nutrition blog :o)

So there you go. The KILOMATHON... ("NOOOOO! We surrender!"). 10 days to go and I'll let you know my progress. If you're around on the 14 March, come along and cheer us all on - look out for 3217 and give me and Jim a bit of a cheer. He'll appreciate it. And don't forget why I'm doing this please.

Here's mud in your eye.

The Beast has been tamed, chained and stuck in a petting zoo

Challenge number one *tick* !

The Beast2010 has been tamed, caged, had a nice pedicure on its claws and been escorted to a little petting zoo in Hampshire so 10 year olds can pull its tail.

Here's a lovely picture of me and my BMF buddies freezing slightly before the race started. As you can see, there are plenty of layers going on at this stage. It was at most 2 degrees with a wind chill factor of about -35 (give or take a degree or two). The layers were soon dispatched to a car with one of our non-runners and we were off for a slippery, soggy, shivery race with an extra water feature this year and our lovely BMF instructors to 'cheer' us on.

Now, I know a lot of people have trouble figuring out what I mean by water features and jumps, so here's a couple of examples to give you an idea. There were 2 main water features (ie water above the waist) and about 32 different jumps involving huge logs of various heights, small ditches to jump, oversized vaulting horses, piled tyres and large wooden steps. With wet trail shoes and cold fingers, they can all be a bit tricky.

I can confirm I am a complete quitter... and only did the first 5mile lap. About half of our crew (and my twittery friend @WorTony) went the distance and 'did the double'. I can't even imagine how difficult the second lap must be with the course churned up by everyone else. So a big hearty blog shout goes out to them.

Highlights of the race??

• Hearing a squeal at mile 4 and turning round to see my friend Helen sliding gracefully sideways down the slope into a thornbush *snigger*.


• Getting a PB for the course at 56mins 54secs (1hr, 1min last year). YAY!

Bad points??

• Getting suspected hyperthermia, so sacking off the pub and spending the entire night shivering!


• The state of my trainers and socks afterwards :o/ (they were sparkly white at the start!)


• Slipping on one of the first jumps and getting a rather large bruise on my shin. However, we were armpit deep in ice cold water 2 mins later, so at least that kept the swelling down. Result!

All in all, it was a fabulously fun event which I am already looking forward to doing again! There's talk of a September event, and I'll be the first in the queue.

Well done to all the Pure Personal Training crew who put the event on and the British Military Fitness boys for screaming at me to get up that hill (love you Vinnie and Gaz!).

Thanks to everyone who has sponsored me, and if you haven't so far, hopefully now you've seen what I'm putting myself through (!) you might consider giving.

Onwards to the next event (which couldn't be more different) - The Kilomathon!

Here's mud in your eye, but more in your trainers.

Half marathon down... horse jump to go

My tactic of carrying a backpack with kit around with me has paid off and I took advantage of the snowlessness to put in a long run after work this week. A very long run. 13.14 miles to be exact. Now this is the furthest I have ever run in my entire life. I did a half marathon in December 2004 and although I wasn't last, I could see it from where I was.

I did my long run in 2 hours 7 mins 13 secs, which you might think is rather slow, but bear in mind that my half marathon in 2004 was 2 hours 37 mins 6 secs and you can see how far I've come in a relatively short period.

Just a short 3 mile tempo run (fast pace) tomorrow to keep the legs and lungs going before Sunday's crazy Beast run! I'll let you know how that goes...

BTW, Jim says Hi.

Here's mud in your eye.

6 days and counting...

It's only 6 days to the Beast 2010 and guess what?!? It's snowing again. Oh joy. The thought of doing the Beast in sub-zero temperatures is bad enough, but this also means that my marathon training is going a bit awry. With only 20 days until the Kilomathon as well, this is a bit of a disaster.

So far I have managed a 12 mile long run. I really want to do at least 13 miles before the event - more for my confidence than my pace. Knowing I can get to 13 miles means that (if necessary) I could walk the last 3 miles and still get to the finish line before the dreaded Sweeper Bus!

So for the next few days I'm carrying my kit around with me in the hope that at least one unsnowy night I can strap on those trainers and do a long run after work. If not, I can at least get some short, sharp tempo runs in so I'm not the last Beast home!

Wish me luck.

Here's mud in your eye.

The Beast!

It's only 12 days to the first of my challenges this year - The Beast 2010! So I thought I would tell you a bit more about it.

The Beast is a double or quit race, which means it is two 5mile laps of the course and you can choose to 'Do the Double' or be a quitter. I'm a quitter! It is run over an equine x-country route, where we have to leap horse jumps, squelch through muddy pools and navigate fiendish obstacles being provided this year by those nice chaps from British Military Fitness (yes, them again!).

Last year it took me 1hr, 1min 1sec. So this year I'm aiming to not only beat that, but smash it into little pieces and bury it at the bottom of a water jump. By the way, this is a typical water jump...

There are quite a few of the BritMilfit group doing the run this year and apart from the fun of trying to get dry and get changed in a field full of runners afterwards (you end up in muddy water up to your armpits), I'm already salivating at the thought of the soup kitchen and beer tent being up and running again this year :0)

And why am I doing all this? To raise money for those wonderful RNLI people, who risk their lives every day on our coasts and waterways. Please consider sponsoring my challenges at www.justgiving.com/dobby.

I'll keep you posted of my time and might even post a picture of my trainers after the event. Last year they went in the bin within 3 mins of returning home due to the whiffiness!

Here's mud in your eye (and probably everywhere else)...

The Dobster is fundraising for RNLI - Royal National Lifeboat Institution - JustGiving

The Dobster is fundraising for RNLI - Royal National Lifeboat Institution - JustGiving

Yes, I am. So please by nice and sponsor me a little bit.

WHY!?!?! I hear you cry...

Well for one thing I'm a diver. For another I grew up by the sea and know the hard work the staff and crew of the RNLI put in every day of the year. But mostly its because they get no government funding, their lives are in danger on almost every call out and (as the recent floods prove) we all need their help, no matter where we live.


Up until now I have done a couple of minor runs, the odd 10k race and one (painfully slow) half-marathon, which involved more walking than running. So this year is going to be a bit of a challenge. But then if you have read my previous posts, you'll know my thoughts on challenges...

So what am up to?

28 February - The Beast. 5 miles over a x-country horse run, complete with (horse-sized) jumps, thick mud, hills and water-features rather deeper than is healthy for a 5ft 6 woman.

14 March - Britain's first Kilomathon. Its a marathon, but its in Km instead of miles. So thats about 26.2km to you and me. Its from Nottingham to Derby. I'm just hoping we don't have to walk home afterwards.

23 May - Edinburgh Marathon. The biggy. Its big. BIG. Never done a marathon before and this one looks great. I'll give you a wave when I pass a tv camera.


So, I hope you can help me get to my fundraising target, and if you specifically sponsor my blisters I'll post you pictures of them as proof. No really, I will.

Here's mud in your eye.



Posted using ShareThis