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.



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