Houston, we have a problem

The problem knee

If you read last month’s blog you will know training isn't exactly going to plan. Bashing my knee in one of those stupid home accidents, it is, I’m afraid to say, still causing major havoc to my training schedule. Serious doubts have started to enter my head especially when I’m struggling to walk let alone run. I won’t bore you with all the details but I’m having endless physio sessions, strength exercises have been increased and a visit to my GP has been booked to see if knee steroid injections can be administered as a last resort.

I’m not making any of this up by the way; trying to make the blog a bit more dramatic with the lead up to the Marathon. Trust me, this is the last thing I really need at the moment and feel completely stressed with the whole situation. I can’t explain the agonising pain that shoots through my right leg. It’s times like this I really wish the world of Harry Potter did exist and a magic wand could be waved over the offending knee to make it all better. But unless you have a wand or superpowers it looks like I’m going to have to rely on pain killers. My next official race before the Marathon is on Sunday 4th March. The new "Big Half" where you run some of the London Marathon route backwards towards Greenwich. The jury is still out as to whether I will be running this one. So watch this space. 

In the meantime, here is the second part to my interview with author Neil Bailey:

What are the most important lessons you've learned from your running coach?

I’ve learnt that correct posture is vital for running. Making sure you’re standing tall and looking ahead, not down at the floor. By standing tall you get more oxygen into your lungs making breathing easier so you can happily clock up more miles.

Which professional athletes do you most admire and why?

80s Legends - Ovett, Cram and Coe

Your probably expecting me to say someone like Mo Farah. An amazing athlete and currently a national treasure. But I want you to cast your minds back to the 80's with three amazing runners - Steve Ovett, Steve Cram and Sebastian Coe.These three seemed to be forever breaking each others records and won endless medals. To have one great middle-distance runner could be deemed fortunate, to have three circling the track made us the envy of the sporting world. They were celebrities in their own right, attracting millions to watch their latest race and to see who would win - Ovett or Coe or maybe newbie Cram? Who couldn’t admire those guys? 

My Games Maker days at the
Paralympics London 2012

I’ve also had the great pleasure of meeting Sebastian Coe on several occasions. The Bank I was working for sponsored a running event and the then Mr Coe came along to give out medals. I just thought, ooh, you’re quite diddy! He was a lot shorter than I was expecting. And then I had another chance to say hello, albeit briefly to the then Lord Coe at the Paralympic Games at the Olympic Stadium in Stratford, London in 2012 whilst I was working as one of the Games Makers. 

From what you've posted on your website we can see that you consider diet a critical component of your training regime. As the big day approaches are you making any additional changes to your diet?  

I qualified in nutrition and weight management a few years ago. I've made plenty of unhealthy choices over the years but eating correctly is now a bit of a passion and I'm always researching new and healthy ways to eat. You’ve heard the expression, “You are what you eat”, well if you’re going to fuel on chips, chocolate and booze then I don’t think you’ll get very far in a long race. If you swap those for brown rice, raw cocoa and low sugar intake, i.e. no booze, together with lots of fresh vegetables, nuts, pulses and lean meat then you’re onto a winner.  I’ve ditched the alcohol. Unfortunately, there is nothing good in alcohol, it’s just unnecessary sugar intake. And yes, even G&T has been banned!

Do you 'carb-load' before running longer distances in training? 

When I trained for my first Half Marathon I increased in weight by 7lbs. I was eating way too many carbs all the time. It’s a myth that when you are training for an event that you can eat whatever because you think you will just burn it off. The only time you need to start increasing what you eat is when you are training over 90 minutes. So to make sure I don't increase in weight I keep my portions sizes the same. Generally I try and make sure most of my plate is vegetables so I'm getting plenty of complex carbs. If I know I will be training for more than 90 minutes than yes I'll increase my carb intake. However, sometimes I end up on a long run when I wasn't really planing to. It just sort of happened. On those occasions I've noticed I get very hungry after 15 miles and then re-fuel on sports drinks or sports jelly beans for a quick fix carb intake. You hear the expression “Hitting the Wall”. In general, hitting the wall refers to depleting your stored glycogen. Glycogen is carbohydrate that is stored in our muscles and liver for energy. When you run low on glycogen, even your brain wants to shut down which leads to the negative thinking that comes along with "hitting the wall". I definitely don't want that happening on the big day but to be honest I’m still working out what works best on the fuel front. I’ll be increasing my healthy carbs the week before the race and have worked out I will need to take on extra carbs every hour during the race itself, like a sports drink.

Have you found the training affecting your every day activities, e.g. sleep patterns? 

Sleep has actually improved since training. I was once a suffering insomniac but now I’m so tired by the end of the day I’m happily tucked up in bed by 9pm and usually sleep through. Social life on the other hand is now completely out the window. There have been a few events I've had to send apologies to recently, so once again, Sorry!

If you had to list your three main concerns for the big day, what would they be? 

• First concern is actually getting to the start line with this blasted injury. My pain threshold is pretty high but I do have limits and the thought of running 26.2 miles in agony is not very appealing.
• That being said, 98% of people who do start the marathon go on and complete it. I don't want to enter that 2% club and not finish which is concern number two.  
• My last concern is one no-one has control over being the weather. I just hope we do not have one of those out of the blue hot spring days. Really couldn't handle that. I suffered with dehydration during the Hackney Half Marathon which was at the beginning of May in 2016 and it was one of the worst running experiences of my life to-date. I do not want a repeat experience of that. 

Your running times in recent months have been very impressive. What is your target time for the big day?

Prior to the knee injury I was training for a sub 4 finish i.e. to complete the marathon under 4 hours. Post knee accident I just think it’s going to be a miracle to get round!

How do you plan to celebrate completing your first marathon?

To have an extremely large G&T followed by another one and then some champagne just for the hell of it.  

Have you given any thought to entering another marathon after the London one? Or maybe a Triathlon??

HELL NO. I need my life back. And I don’t think Mr P could handle me whinging about any more injuries!!!!

One of my strength exercises
squat hold with band

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uh-oh INJURY!

Don’t fret, we are nearly at the end of this bleak month which feels as though its been dragging on forever. Good riddance to January is all I’m saying. My training hasn’t exactly kicked started as I planned and has been blue for another reason. 

A few weeks ago, I carelessly bashed my right knee into a kitchen draw handle. How amazingly stupid, but it was also so amazingly painful.Training was going so well up until that point. Hill and speed sessions were added to my schedule, all important to increase endurance pace. So when this incident happened I was not best pleased.

So there I was on a sunny but cold Sunday morning, 7th January to be precise, all ready to go for a 9 mile run.This was going to be my first long run of 2018 and I was really looking forward to it. As I started I could feel something wasn't quite right and after three miles it was really twinging.There is always that dilemma when you feel something is not quite right in training as to whether you should carry on or quit? I was running on a flat surface and decided to carry on and go for the full 9 miles. It was only on my return journey when I had to run down some steps that a shooting pain went from my right kneecap all the way up my leg. And that was it, running over and I had to limp home. Bugger or much bluer words to that effect! I realised that the bash the previous evening was a little more serious than I first thought. 

Gym session

Over two weeks has now passed. I’ve tried a couple of times to run but not with much success. I’ve carried on my fitness regime in the gym resorting to pedal power on a racer bike and lifting weights. A trip to the Physio has also been made and now with structured exercises to strengthen the knee I think I’m turning a corner and will soon be back to pounding the streets of London. So not the greatest start and perhaps I need to bubble wrap all sharp corners so I don’t make the same mistake!

Whilst boring friends with the woes of my lack of training, a writer friend, Neil Bailey (very good books by the way, When she was bad and Bad for Good) come up with the great idea of interviewing me so you, the reader, can get to know me a bit better. “No dodgy questions!” I said to him. So over the next couple of blogs you will be able to read this interview. 

Here is Part One: 

Did you run competitively at school?

Ha ha ha haha, sorry I just need to stop laughing. That’s a big fat NO to that answer.  As soon as I hit my teens I hated running. In fact, hated any type of sport to be perfectly honest unless it was Hockey and that was only so I could get my revenge on anyone that had given me grief during the week with a nice little whack to their shin - accidentally of course. “Sorry Miss, didn’t see her leg there!”

When did you start running as an adult?

I started running in my late thirties - around 38 I believe so I really am a late starter to all this running malarkey. And I would only run on a treadmill at the gym. I couldn’t bear the thought of anyone I knew seeing me run outside. I just thought everyone would fall around laughing seeing my huge rear wobbling down the road. I was extremely body conscious so treadmill it was, and I tried to time it when the gym wasn't that busy. I remember the first time I managed to run 20 minutes non stop and I was so proud of myself.

And why did you start running?

Well, I’ve just mentioned I was body conscious. Throughout the majority of my thirties I was undergoing IVF treatment. The gruelling schedule of hormone injections played havoc on my waistline. I also had been through a pregnancy and birth and I just struggled to shift the baby weight. But the main reason to be perfectly honest was for my own sanity. I struggled with depression very badly after the death of my daughter and exercise was my way of keeping sane. I still have dark days but I find a nice long run gives you plenty of time to think and work things out in your head. When the endorphins kick in you end up feeling on top of the world.

Why did you decide to run a marathon? You’d previously suggested you were happy running 10k and half marathons.

Richmond 10 mile T.Shirt

I’m still asking myself that question to be honest! When we moved to Greenwich, over 6 years ago, that is when I finally started to run outside - and really enjoyed it.  My fitness had improved and I had shifted the excessive weight. September 2013 was my first half marathon and then I just started signing up to the odd 10k here and there. 2016 I ran two more half marathons, both with their own problems - either too hot or believe it or not I had a dodgy knee - the same one as now!  I then signed up to the new Richmond Park 10 mile race. I had never been to Richmond Park and couldn't think of a better way to see it. I was told the course was hilly so that's when I joined Greenwich Runners to help me with hill training. There was quite a few members training for the London Marathon when I joined and I was basically so inspired by this running group that I entered the 2018 London Marathon ballot but also approached Tommy’s to see if I could run for them - and the rest, as they say, is history! If I never joined Greenwich Runners, I wouldn’t be running the 2018 Marathon! 

Have there been any moments when you’ve had second thoughts?

Only recently, when I haven’t been able to train. I do get a bit down when I can’t keep to the correct training schedule. But I’m extremely determined and I’ve raised a lot of money so basically I can’t entertain any second thoughts. 

Do you have a regular route you run in training or do you like to mix it up?

I have lots of different routes of all different distances but I never run the same route each week. I would find this a bit tedious but also if you stick to the same training regime your muscles just get used to it so your not giving your body any new challenges. You need to mix it up to get the best benefits out of training.

Do you prefer running on hard services (roads, pavements) or soft?

Well lets be honest here, hard services aren’t great for your joints especially long endurance runs. I think 10k is OK on a hard service but for longer runs I would prefer a softer surface. I do enjoy trail running in the countryside or beach.

What are your ideal weather conditions for running? 

Perfect conditions would be a dry cool sunny day. When the sun shines I always seem to run faster.

Is there any weather you won’t train in?

I’ve trained in most types of weather now but wouldn’t train in extreme conditions, i.e. ice or snow on the pavements or if it was scorching hot. Absolutely hate running when it is too hot.

You have mentioned joining a running club. Do you prefer to run on your own or with others?

In a race I prefer to be on my own. I don’t have to worry about keeping to someone else’s pace. Otherwise, it’s always nice to run with someone else and have a good chat. The miles seem to clock up a lot a quicker that way!

This was my first session with the Greenwich Runners in March 2017

The second part to this interview will be next month.

Remember to visit my Virgin Money Giving Page to read my full story

A little festive cheer

As 2017 is drawing to an end I just wanted to say a MASSIVE thank you to all of you - yes YOU. The support I have received since starting this Marathon quest has been fantastic. So far I have raised a huge £2,271.00 and that is all because of you - yes, YOU again. Without your help I wouldn’t be writing this and by help, I don’t just mean donating sums of money (althougth that does obviously help), but if you’ve had to endure yet another running story without falling asleep, well that is really much appreciated!

furthest run so far

My participation in the London Marathon is extremely important to me and since discovering my application to run for Tommy’s was successful I’ve changed the way I run and train. I’m pleased to say that all my additional efforts at strength training, speed sessions, pilates and yoga are all helping. My pace on long endurance runs is faster, completing a whopping 19 mile run earlier this week in 2 hours 49 mins. My longest and furthest run to date. Not a bad way to end 2017.

Welcome Speech at Bingo Night

I was also pleased to host a Charity Fund Raiser held at my local pub earlier this month, The Ashburnham Arms, where a fun night of Bingo was had. Apart from my dodgy bingo calling accent a great evening was had by all with a request for another Bingo Night in the New Year, probably before Easter and before the big Marathon itself. 

So there you have it. No mince pies or quality street will be passing my lips this year, just the odd G&T obviously for recovery benefits of course. I’ll be continuing my training over the festive period but before I go I just wanted to say, 

Have yourself, 

a 

Very Merry Little Christmas 

and 

Best Wishes for a Wonderful 2018

Remember to visit my Virgin Money Giving Page to read my full story

HELLO KNEBWORTH !!!

Start and finish line in front of Knebworth House

Open air concert at Knebworth

Sunday 19 November was a beautiful crisp sunny morning and I was participating in the very first Hertfordshire Half Marathon. Starting and finishing in front of the iconic Knebworth House which has featured in many films including The King’s Speech and Harry Potter, but probably more widely known for playing host to open air rock and pop concerts for the likes of Robbie Wiliams, Oasis, Led Zepelin and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. In fact it was at one of those open air concerts, to see the then very young Robbie Williams dangling upside down in front of a crowd of thousands and singing “Let Me Entertain You” and “Angels” - which took me to Knebworth for the very first time a mere 14 years ago! Probably under the influence of a few vino’s I couldn’t really remember the countryside, so when I signed up for this little jaunt I really didn’t know what I had let myself in for.

Training run on 7th November

Feeling slightly confident following my triumphant run at Royal Parks on 8th October and a mammoth 15 mile run up to the Olympic Park 2 weeks previous, I was perhaps a little cocksure of myself and thought this would be a doddle. 

The day before the race we went on a little recce drive to see how long it would take us to get to the grounds from our rented farm barn. Only a 20 minute drive - perfect. From there we went to Hitch Wood famous for its bluebells in the Spring so Vinnie the dog could have a lovely Saturday afternoon walk. It was around here that I suddenly noticed mile markers along the road. No lie, there was a very long stretch, nearly 2 miles all up hill and I just thought “oh no, I’ve got to run up that tomorrow”!

So back to Sunday morning. As already mentioned it was a stunningly bright autumn morning but extremely chilly with frost on the ground. At the last minute I decided to wear two long sleeve tops - big mistake. Off we all trot to the car for our short drive to the grounds. I wanted to get there around 8.30am to give myself plenty of time to warm up, stretch, last minute loo etc. All was going well until we were two roundabouts away from entering the Knebworth grounds, approx 2 miles and should have taken about 10 mins. The traffic was totally gridlocked. All this traffic couldn’t be for the race surely? We could see the A1 from our static position and the slip road joining us was also completely at a standstill. After 20 minutes of only shuffling a few feet I de-robbed my winter coat, said farewell to Mr P and Vinnie the dog and got out the car to join fellow runners walking along the busy road to get to our start line. So with a 2 mile warm up walk I had a nice little chat with a local who couldn’t believe the chaos this race was creating. The one benefit of a traffic jam was when I finally got to the race village the queue’s for the loo weren’t that bad - silver lining and all that!  At 9.25am I go to my start position and just after 9.30am the race was on.

The Route

The first couple of miles was within the grounds with a nice downhill incline to start. It is always nice when supporters cheer you on but when you have only literally started and someone shouts out “well done, keep going” you think, give us a chance it has just started.  Then there is always that one person who thinks they are really funny by saying “Nearly there” when you haven’t even ran a mile!

Waving at Vinnie and Mr P.!

After 2 miles we exit the grounds and hit the narrow Hertfordshire country lanes. Passing a fabulous looking pub and thinking we need to check that out later, I was struggling to find my stride. The pack had started to thin out slightly and my pace quickened but my legs just felt really heavy. OK, I thought to myself, this is going to take to a least mile 4 to get going. It’s cold and your body is not enjoying this. I was also struggling to keep my breathing under control and instead of breathing through my nose and out through my mouth, I was breathing in and out through my mouth making me extremely thirsty. Right, I thought, at mile 3.5 there is a water station, I’ll grab a bottle and then I can sort this breathing out correctly. I grabbed a bottle at the water station but the water was so cold I’m amazed it hadn’t turned to ice. Drinking ice cold water and running was just making me burp and hiccup and didn’t help the breathing. It made it worse. Despite this I held on to the water hoping it would start to warm up. Now I knew from our recce trip the previous day that from mile 4 the road gets a bit hilly. My legs still didn’t feel great and now I had the added discomfort of overheating as I stupidly put two tops on. I carried on, up and down those blasted hills but by mile 7 pulled over to take layer number 2 off. I just couldn’t handle it any more. Ditching the freezing cold water bottle I decided to swing some of my energy drink instead which I was hoping would finally get those legs going.  On I go, and the rolling hills just do not stop. Despite the hills, the views were stunning and I seriously thought about just stopping and taking some pictures to share with your all.  Miles and miles of rolling countryside with that undoubtedly fresh countryside smell - cow sh*t!  Mmmm, just breath that in, I don’t get that in London.

Running to the finish line

As I passed mile 10 I peeked at my watch. I had given up on watching what pace I was doing miles ago as downhill I was running super fast and then uphill super slow so trying to work out an average was far too complicated. But I was just curious to see how long I’d been on the road. When I ran Richmond Park back in June, which was a 10 mile race with numerous hills, I finished in 88 minutes and was pretty chuffed. So when I peered down at my watch and it said 80 minutes at mile 10, I thought, either the mile markers are all wrong or I’m going faster than I thought. Just after mile 11 we had a heavenly downhill stretch and I really went for it here, trying to gain back some valuable time I lost on all those up hills. By mile 12 we are back at Old Knebworth and I decided to put my second layer back on so finishing photo's will show my race number. Finally back in the grounds and then we have another blasted hill. The last incline before the finish line. I mean seriously, who wants to run uphill after running 12 sodding miles! So up I go and then just near the top I notice a familiar little dog in his cosy winter jumper together with Mr P.  I shout and wave at them and Vinnie whimpers and barks as I run past. And then I see the clock and realise I’m going to beat my Royal Parks time, so with one last push I run over the finishing line. My official chip time was 01:51:01, shaving 1 minute 54 seconds off my personal best time. 2069 people completed the Hertfordshire Half Marathon and I'm glad to say I completed within the top 10% of female runners.

And over the line

Despite achieving a good time, I didn’t  feel I ran particularly well. Whereas the last race everything seemed to come together,  on this occasion I just never felt I found my stride. Every mile was a bit of a struggle and I really had to keep my inner mantra going “I can do this, I can do this!”. And usually after a good run my endorphins kick in and make me extremely happy but on this occasion they obviously decided to pack their bags and go to sunny climes as they were nowhere to be found.  In fact, I felt pretty low.

The medal

So what have I learnt from this race.

• Don’t be over confident - having nerves is actually good for you.
• Don’t over compensate for cold weather - I get seriously hot whilst running.

But most importantly

• Don’t beat yourself up over a run that didn’t go to plan.

My legs felt heavy and I just couldn’t find that comfortable stride but I carried on and somehow, still beat my previous time. So endorphins, you go on your holiday because as I’m writing this, I’m saying to myself "Well Done"!

In front of Knebworth House with Vinnie the dog

Robbie Williams, Let Me Entertain You, Live at Knebworth 2003

Remember to visit my Virgin Money Giving Page to read my full story

Six months to go.......!

So I know I’ve been banging on about this forever already but the clock is well and truly ticking - six months to go until the London Marathon. Yikes!

October has been an extra special month with Baby Loss Awareness week but I just wanted to do another quick blog update to tell you about my amazing Half Marathon experience a few weeks ago. I didn’t intend on running the Royal Parks race this year so didn’t enter the ballot or request to run for a charity. Having run it last year - on a dodgy knee injury - I thought I would let this one pass me by. But whilst attending my Saturday running club, coach Ellie mentioned there was a spare place and would I be interested? Oooh, I thought, shall I put my money where my mouth is and actually run a half marathon instead of just saying to friends, “yeah, if I really had to I could run a half marathon tomorrow”. 

Hyde Park Race Festival

So that’s what happened. On Sunday 8th October, with less than 24 hours notice I was making my way to Hyde Park for the Royal Parks 10th Anniversary Half Marathon. My first half marathon this year. I’ve run a few of these races now and annoyingly I have never completed one sub 2 hours. I was running under someone else’s name (shhh I know your not supposed to do that) and Richard (that's who I was for the day) had stated a slower predicted finish time than I would've liked and was supposed to start in a slower start pen. Egged on by coach Ellie, who was running it as well, I didn’t go to my allocated start pen and just went in the faster one instead (shhh, I know I know, you’re not supposed to do that either, but I wont tell if you don’t). So not only was I running under the wrong name I also started in the wrong pen!  

16,000 runners in this 10th Year
Royal Parks Half Marathon

Now, as usual with these blogs, I mention there aren’t enough loos, and boy there really wasn’t enough. Half an hour queue to spend a penny and then another half an hour to drop our bags in. The race actually started whilst we were still at the bag drop and had to race over to our start pens (although the wrong one for me) to join the thousands of other racer’s - 16,000 in total. At 9.07am I finally cross the start line and we were off; and then disaster. I can feel my running belt is too loose. “Bo***cks” I rant, as I try to tighten the belt whilst running. Then the damn thing came off. So there I am, cursing and trying to run in a straight line whilst tightening the clasp and trying to put the blasted thing back on. My running belt was a key part of my kit for this race whereby I had two small bottles that fitted snuggly into the belt which I had filled with an energy drink to give me that extra boost as and when needed. Finally I get the belt securely in place and I could up the pace and get this race started for real. 

Running Belt finally in place

I do love the beginning of this race, running through Wellington Arch, past Buckingham Palace, St. James’s Park, down Whitehall past Downing Street, up and down The Strand, round Nelson’s Column before you hotfoot it back to Hyde Park for the next 7 miles. Despite having less than 24 hours notice I felt very strong and kept a pretty steady pace, weaving my way past fellow runners when they were too slow. By mile 8 I felt I needed that extra little boost so reached down to my running running belt and grabbed one of my energy bottles. Within a few minutes my legs felt recharged and I was happily striding through Hyde Park once again. The miles were steadily going past and despite the many runners I didn’t get tripped up this time. Royal Albert Hall was within site and I knew the end was near. At the 20K marker I decided to up my pace. Lets get this done. 800 meters and I’m still striding even faster. 400 meters, 200 meters. The crowds are cheering, the clock is counting down and I knew I was in with a chance to finally nail a half marathon under 2 hours. I upped my pace for the final leg and it felt like I actually flew over the finish line. It took me a while to stop as my legs wanted to carry on!  Wow, I thought, that was the best half marathon ever. My official, or should I say, “Richard’s” official chip time was 1:52:55.  I’d shaved a massive 13 minutes off my best time. Hopefully Richard was pleased with this time as well. 

And I'm over the finish line

First sub 2 hour half marathon

My next official race is the new Knebworth Half Marathon taking place on 19th November.  Can I do a repeat performance?  Oh, and this time I will be running as Tina and not Richard!

Remember to visit my Virgin Money Giving Page to read my full story