Coniston 14

The last weekend in March, I headed to the Lakes with Gareth, Susan, Scott and Ruth for the Coniston 14 - a 14 mile loop around Coniston Lake. We stayed in the youth hostel in Hawkshead on the Friday night and headed to the race the following morning. It seemed to be a really popular race, apparently 1600+ runners. The weather conditions were perfect for racing, cool but sunny. Much like the Lasswade 10 from a few weeks ago this was an 'undulating' course. I felt strong all the way round, although mile 12 was a tough one, climbing to the highest point of the route. However, we were rewarded with a steep downhill to follow and a flat final mile or so to the finish line. I was taking in the beautiful scenery on the route round and really enjoyed this course. I felt strong in the final mile finishing 8th woman in 1hr38.25. A Coniston slate coaster for finishing and a slate place set for 8th woman. Gareth was 10th man too. Scott ran a really fast time and broke his half marathon PB en route! Susan also had a great run and Ruth, although struggling with fatigue recently, had a good run and enjoyed the route. After some lunch and prize giving, we headed back to the hostel for a quick shower and rest, and then walked to Hawkshead for some well deserved drinks and food. We had a feast of local foods, including Cumberland sausage and mash and Lancashire Hot Pot - yum!

The following day the sun was shining, almost felt like summer. We headed out for a walk from Coniston to Tarn Hows - a 7 mile loop, not too taxing on our weary legs from the day before. A great weekend.

Lasswade 10

On 4th March, instead of doing a longer run, I thought it would be a good idea to try the Lasswade 10 in order to incorporate a bit of 'speed work' into my marathon training schedule. I'd heard good things about this race, a scenic route, but undulating. I headed out with Gareth in the car and we drove the second half of the route to see what we had ahead of us.

Really enjoyed this course - a few tough hills, but certainly scenic with a sprinkling of snow on the Pentlands. I wanted to try and get below 70 minutes but was just outside in 70.14! Still a big PB though so can't complain and pleased that the marathon training is going well. 5th place for Gareth - another great run from him.

2012 Scottish XC Championships

Another year and another Scottish XC Champs at Callender Park. I really enjoy this course, though it can largely depend on the course conditions as to just how much! We had 4 seasons in one day (as is the norm for these occassions). Started in sleet and wind and finished in calm sunshine. As always I set up the first hill feeling good - I was only about 20m behind Freya Murray at this stage ;-). But then the legs suddenly realise what they have ahead of them and the first lap of this course is always a shock to the system. Lots of little killer hills and mud to remind you this is indeed a cross country! Great to have CAAC guys spread all around the route though cheering us on. There was a team of 5 CAAC girls today and we were all pretty close together which meant we could work together along with some friendly rivalry!
Finished the course in 64th place, in 35min49, a bit slower than last year, but pleased nonetheless. Legs didn't feel as bouncy as usual, perhaps due to the previous weekend's half and some miles in the week. Really enjoyed watching the very large number of CAAC men running in the race after ours - great team spirit and some great performances by all.

Portsmouth Coastal Half Marathon

Yesterday I ran race number two in my PCUK sponsorship series - the Portsmouth Coastal Half Marathon. Conditions were near perfect - clear and still (very unusual to have minimal wind on Portsmouth seafront!). Although it was pretty cold and icy in places, the runners soon warmed up once we got started. The race started behind the Pyramids Swim Centre and then headed off towards Eastney along the prom. Around 4-5 miles in we headed off-road across parts of the pebbled beach, some fields and trail paths. Although my split times for those miles were obviously slower, I quite enjoyed the change in terrain and it certainly added to the enjoyment of this scenic race. Really well organised too - would definitely recommend this race to others. I noticed a few other girls ahead of me at the start, but managed to close in and overtake a couple of them by half way. At the point where I usually start to feel tired and start to slow, i.e. mile 9, on this occassion I actually felt strong and able to push on. During the long stretch back along the prom I decided to take an energy gel and just 'push on' as fast as I could. I saw my Dad with a couple of miles to go which spurred me on - then it was a couple of miles to the other end of the prom, around the amusements and my old school playing fields and a short loop back to the Pyramids centre. I looked down at my watch and I hadn't reached 1hr30 yet - could this be the sub 1:30 day?! It was starting to hurt - at times like these I just think about the important cause and people I'm running for and the pain is numbed. As I came into the home stretch I could see Katherine, Jamie, Jorjia and Pete cheering me on, which was really nice!

It wasn't the day for my sub 1:30, but I came in at 1:30:47, taking almost 3 minutes of my PB, so very pleased with that!! Also found I was 3rd woman and 52nd overall and was presented with a trophy and goody bag as I crossed the line!

I have now raised over £500 for Pancreatic Cancer UK and am truly grateful for everyone who has sponsored me so far. Next event is the Coniston 14 at the end of March, but in the meantime I'll keeping up with all that training.

Marrakech Half Marathon, Morocco

Last weekend was big event number one of 2012 - the Marrakech Half Marathon. Susan and I headed off on our flight to Morocco on Friday and arrived that evening. We were whisked away in a taxi to the Medina in Marrakech, and a man came to meet us at the car park and took us to our riad (traditional Moroccon hotel). The narrow streets were full of people walking, on bikes, scooters, the odd car! It was the hustle and bustle I'd imagined. The door to our riad was hidden away in a corner, but as soon as you stepped off the busy street you were in a world of peace and tranquility. After venturing out for dinner of tajine and couscous we headed back for a good night's sleep. The Saturday we headed to the Marathon village to collect our race numbers, and we had an explore around to get our bearings. Really enjoyed visiting the souks, but the amount of hassle you get to buy stuff is something else!! We went to a nice restaurant by our riad for dinner. We wanted to make sure we had something 'safe' and not experiment the night before the race. We had some really tasty salad and chicken/vegetable coucous - just what was needed. The mint tea which is traditionally drank in Morocco was very tasty too.

The next morning the riad staff brought us some hot water to our room and we made our porridge pots. My half was at 8:30am and Susan's marathon at 9am. The temperature in Morocco isn't actually that warm in January, and at that time of the morning still fairly cold! We jogged down to the start and I managed to squeeze myself somewhere near the front of the mass of runners. Fortunately it was a chip number so the timer didn't start till I crossed the line. The first mile was quite chaotic - lots of people everywhere. But then as the miles rolled by the field opened up a bit. There were some long, straight roads which meant I could get into a good rythmn and get some quicker miles in. I felt pretty good and considering my ankle problems in the weeks leading up to the race I was pleased with how I felt. I didn't see many other women around me till about mile 7 or 8 when I spotted a couple in front of me. This spurred me on to pick up the pace a bit and I managed to reel one of them in. It was great running in these new and different surroundings, quite an experience. The last couple of miles were a bit of a struggle as the sun was coming out, but I hung in there to finish 23rd woman (out of 603 apparently!) and in a time of 1hr34:36. Pleased with that as only around 45 seconds slower than my PB. Susan did really well in some hot conditions to finish 30th woman in the marathon in a time of 3hr59.58, so just getting under the 4 hours! Even better I'm up to £500 on my fundraising efforts for Pancreatic Cancer UK, so a massive thank you to everyone who has sponsored me so far!

The next day we headed out on a day trip to the Atlas mountains which were fantastic - would love to go back there some day and hike up Mount Toubkal!
Next race is the Portsmouth Half marathon in a couple of weekends time - hoping to go a bit quicker if I can!

2012 - the year ahead

So 2011 is well and truly over. I enjoyed a great New Year weekend with Rosie and Martyn and spent the last day of the year exploring the beautiful Dorset coast on foot, and the first day of 2012 mountain biking in some pretty challenging conditions!! 2011 has been a good one - not as many PBs as the previous year, but did manage to get my half marathon time down to 1hr33, and in the meantime got to visit another of the Outer Hebrides islands, this time in the form of the Isle of Lewis. One of the highlights of the year has to be my week of trekking in the Julian Alps in Slovenia. What a fantastic country and amazing hiking to be done. Has left me wanting to explore more of Eastern Europe. Another highlight was the Avebury - Stone Henge 26 mile trek I did with my Dad to raise money for Help for Heroes in the summer. The furthest my Dad had ever walked and a great achievement, especially in the hot conditions we had that day!

So, here I am in 2012 and I have some exciting challenges and adventures for the coming year. On 22nd December last year, I was lucky enough to win a Corstorphine AAC 'club entry' place for the London Marathon, along with Jillian Hogg. Many other CAACers have also got an entry due to having a 'good for age' or 'championship' place. So on April 22nd I will be on the start line of the London marathon and I can't wait! I'm following a 16-week training plan which started last Monday - week 1 almost done and so far so good. A long way to go though! I will be running not only for Corstorphine AAC, but also for the charity Pancreatic Cancer UK, and I will post further details of this soon. So in the meantime, I have the following plans in the coming year....

January 29th - Marrakech Half Marathon, Morocco
Susan and I are heading to Africa for a bit of a warm weather race. I will be doing the half and Susan the full marathon. Training for this is going well. No idea how the temperature will affect our running, but looking forward to a very exciting race in very different surroundings.

February 12th - Portsmouth Half Marathon
Two weeks later I'll be heading back to my home city to give the Portsmouth half marathon a go. I originally thought this might be a fast course seeing as it is flat along the coast, but have since found out part of the race is along the shingle beach. Looking forward to it though, and support from family, friends and previous training buddies will be great!

March 11th -18th - Snow shoe trek, Southern Alps, France
My legs will have a rest from running this week, and I will swap my trainer for snow shoes. Heading to the Southern Alps in France with Alison to trek hut to hut across some beautiful Alpine mountains! Haven't tried snow shoeing before! Should be great fun!

March 31st - Coniston 14
I have long wanted to give this race a go, so have decided that this is the year. Along with a few fellow runners I will be heading to the Lake District to do this scenic run.

April 22nd - London Marathon
The big day!!

16th September - Spire to Spire Trek
Last year it was 26 miles to Stone Henge to raise money for Help for Heroes, this year, my Dad and I will be walking 26 miles from Winchester Cathedral to Salisbury Cathedral. Another great challenge and a chance to explore another part of the UK. Being in September, it hopefully won't be as hot as last year's walk!




In between these I hope to have some great training runs and other smaller local races. Here's to a great 2012 and best of luck to everyone in their dreams for this year, whatever they may be! Watch out 2012 - I'm coming to get you!!

Eastleigh Parkrun - New Years Eve

I decided to give the Eastleigh parkrun a go on New Years Eve. As I was on my way to stay with Rosie and Martyn for the weekend, I did it en route to Poole. It's quite different to Edinburgh parkrun. This one is off road and is three laps of the University of Southampton playing fields. There had been quite a lot of rain the previous few days and the ground was pretty muddy and slippy. Wasn't too sure how I'd go in my road shoes! My Garmin battery had died so I was running without the aid of the pacer on my watch to see how I was getting on. I have to admit, I struggled on some sections to get any kind of grip, especially around the corners. I also wasn't feeling as sharp as previous runs. Perhaps the week of mince pies and Xmas puddings was coming back to haunt me! I crossed the line in 32nd (3rd woman) in a time of 21:39. So not the best of times, but given the conditions and my footwear, probably not as bad as it sounds. A good training session and really enjoyed a new route. I will definitely do it again when back down south!