Ho Hum

Too much time on hands doing nothing much productive is not good for the soul.

Not been a great day. In fact it's been rubbish.

but as the song keeps telling us, things can only get better.....

Article in Herald

I now have the link thanks to Friends in the know... :)
http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/scottnbn/Herald%20Article.pdf



Still poorly, Doc says it's a virus and i've to ride it out, rest, fluids etc. Ie- everything i've been doing.

Someone told me i was damn lucky yesterday. To have done 8 Ultras this yr (and a half & a 5k, both PB's btw) and come through it all with no injuries or sickness

fair point i reckon oh wise one

:o)

Woe is me

I've been poorly since Thursday night, not good. I dont get ill, ever. Started off with my head feeling really heavy and hurty so i went to bed. Was still feeling ropey in morning so didn't run but still went to work (i need to by dying before i let folk down!) Luckily it was quiet at work and i just did some baking (rocky road, tiffin and Cherry & almond flapjack for those interested)

left work at 3ish and was home and in bed by 4. Head exploding and stabbing pains all over body. Thoughts of Roger's party long gone. Slept for about 3 hours the Stephen brought me drugs and ran me bath. Felt slightly better after bath so decided to go to party for wee while. Place was lovely, we didnt stay too long with me being poorly and Stephen working the next day. Think only had 3 drinks.Roger's new girlfriend was there, she has long blonde hair... go figure... When i asked if he was taking her to Loch Lomond next weekend to meet his Dad (he has a timeshare log cabin at cameron house, we used to go every yr, lush) he said "god no, Dad wouldn't like her (he loved me) she is a bit dim!" lol too funny.

We went for chips on way home as i'd not eaten since day before, chips never tasted so good! Until the next morning when i was woken by stabbing stomach pains and running to loo :(

Decided to spend day in my dressing gown and threw spare room duvet downstairs so i could enconse myself on sofa and watch the football. So that's how rest of day was spent. Got cheered up by fleeting visit and bunch flowers which was quickly dampened by Everton bloody scoring twice in last 10mins ffs.

Day was kept interesting by regular txt from Jen's race (SDWR) i was following on twitter and getting txt from Allan & Phil on thier progress.Phil very sensibly pulled out at 20miles when his foot started to niggle. Jen pulled out when she missed her own deadline cut off but i think she was releived, meant she could get on with the job in hand.

Stephen appeared got washed & changed the disappeared out for night. Realised hadnt eaten since the chips nght before s ordered chinese, managed to eat half of it and although i also poured a vodka, i couldnt finish it. Yes i *was* that ill!

Woke up once again by somoene stabbing me in stomach at 5.30am, so i txt Allan to see how he was doing. He'd got lost and was thinknig of pulling out, i told him to wait til first light and take it from there, he did and is now nearly done wooop! :)

oh how could i forget? I got PDF from the reporter from Herald, star that she is, so if anyone who hasnt seen the article wants it, just give me a shout and i'll mail it to you, dont think i can upload it here...

oh and last but not least. I've decided against Loch Ness.

:(

Perth Aftermath

I actually did expect to be hurty after this one, i usually am after a marathon. It puts a different kind of strain on body i guess. And i did run all the way, well except to pick up drinks and when i was hugging folk ;)

Anyway, i wasn't sore, legs bit tired yes but no soreness. Yes I'm a weirdo, or once again did i not try hard enough?? Anyway. We were up with lark as Phil had his first open water swim race, not being one to pussyfoot around it was a 2k race ffs lol. Seeing i was ok, i decided to wear running gear and run to start to see him start, then back to finish.

Halfway there i realised i'd forgotten my camera, supergutted. Phil wouldn't turn back though, no matter how much i moaned (and i did) We arrived there before 9 where registration was meant to be open (it wasn't) in fact there wasn't *that* much evidence expect for 2 buoys in the sea really.

It was then that i found out Phil's race want til 12.30! it was only 9 o'clock, i know he was nervous but for fucks sake, i could've been asleep for wee bitty longer at least! We got cuppa Tea and sat waiting on news from Perth, cant believe I'd had full nights sleep yet they were still running, i guess i should stop moaning then huh?Spoke to George and got full lowdown on everyone, was very proud and kinda wished was there to hug everyone but hey ho.

Phil slipped (ok, struggled) into his wetsuit which was more than a bit amusing (damnation's for forgetting camera!) and i laughed a bit. (pics were taken on phone later)There was a *warm up* race of 400m first and headed to race briefing. What a bloody shambles. The buoys they were meant to swim around were blowing away! lol they had guys out in speedboats trying to pull them back from seafield practically, piece of nonsense really! They ended up not using them and pulled them out water,instead using the *gates* to swim around. Phil did really well and finished in middle of field instead of last like he thought he would!

Another cuppa T and Phil was getting bussed to Musselburgh for the start so i ran there. Nice and slow and legs felt just fine. Got there ages before him and sat on seafront enjoying the sunshine. Soon enough the buses arrived and the first wave set off, as did i back to portobello.I had my phone out to take pics and stood patiently waiting at finish line. Thing is they all the same! lol, lots of wetsuits and green hats, i had nofriggin clue which one Phil was and ended up missing him coming in! numpty.

When i eventually found him he was buzzing, he'd done brilliantly and i was dead proud. I have absolutely no desire to follow in his footsteps, quite frankly i think he is mad. :o) once he was changed we headed off home and i cooked roast dinner before phil headed off with his tent (told you he was mad) and his mountain bike on a bit of an adventure, he had no idea where he was heading. I gave him Soup & (his birthday)cake to take with him so at least he wouldn't go hungry.

Back to work Monday, hey ho. Ben having bit of ponder about the 3 Marathons i had planned and I'm thinking of pulling out of 2 of them. One reluctantly the other nt so much so. Loch Ness is my favourite Marathon, i love it. I love the course, the organisation (the medal!)and most of all i love the weekend away in Inverness. But so many people have pulled out for one reason or another that i don't really want to go now. I pick races that I'll be away all weekend for the social aspects really and no point if all my favourite(well nearly all) have pulled out.

As for Abingdon, well i did it last year and it's a long way to go for a race i don't *really* need to do. Still doing Newcastle, that much is certain. Final decision over other 2 by weekend methinks.

Oh, joined gym. Got induction yesterday from Pasquale.I told him from word go that i had no intention of using the treadmill/bike etc etc as i did plenty cardio already. There was another guy there too, what a numpty. He said he didnt want to do any cardio, he only wanted to see the machines that worked on his abs. I said i was there for free weights, kettle balls and perhaps few circuit classes. Then did 30mins in gym, followed by a vibration plate workshop. lol I was also getting shown how to use the kettlebells, its all in the hip action apparently! I'm booked in for personal session with Pasquale on Saturday again so he can make me a training plan.

I'll be a lean mean running machine by next yr! (hopefully)

Got Roger's Birthday party tonight. He is having a Bond Theme, i'm just going in long dress, ie- Bond Girl glamour.. Would've been nice to have a date to take but hey ho, still manless so going with Stephen & Kelly.

Running Naked @ Perth50k

So i ditched Glasgow Half at last minute & decided to do Perth 50k. Why not, never done a 50k before, guaranteed PB etc

Got picked up by the lovely Chris & Caroline in morning and headed up early as Chris was doing 24hr race.Arrived to find Karen & George were well sorted with Bongo and 2 tents already pitched, Ian was next door so we had a good neighbour at least.

Tony arrived, he was doing 100k, his first crack at that distance and was little nervous.

Time flew by quickly and before too long it was time to wave of the nutters doing the 24hrs race. had 2 hours before mine started so spent it sunbathing, collecting chip & number, losing my chip, Me, Toney, Karen & Vicky searxhing for chip, getting new one and heckling the poor 24hr people as they ran past, all still smiling i have to say ;) I kept shouting "well done, you're nearly there..." expecting someone to stop and give me a slap, but no one did. Must try harder next time... Donald once again made a surprise appearance to support, bless him :)

2 hrs flew by and soon enough we were lining up. We were told at race briefing that because it was a Scottish championship race we werent allowed garmins. :-o oh my god, i cant remember last time i ran without mine! Naked running? eeep, rely on my own body to tell me what to do? eeep, it usually tells me to stop and have a drink... this could be tough. No ipods allowed either but mine is still stuck on the takethat/oasis loop from Devil so i wasnt bothered about that!

I nervously glanced around at the people lining up with me, the 100k was starting at same time. Lucy Colqhoun, Scott Bradley, Grant Jeans, Gail Murdoch to name but a few. Fuck, what the fuck was i do here? This is where i seriuosly started to doubt myself and wish i'd chosen The Weej over Perth! Too late, the hooter went off and so did everyone in front of me, like a shot. fuck.

I decided to just try & enjoy it, that would come back and bite me on bum. I *really* was enjoying it at first, what a lovely course. Nice wee breeze as we approached the water, really pretty park. Lots of folk to chat to, nice people all way round giving encouragement and best of all you get to checkpoint every 1.5miles. I ran about 4 laps altogether with Paul Houston , 2 of them too fast. Him being a 2.42 marathon runner his bimble was me trying hard! lol

Another great thing was no need to carry anything,not that i needed anything. I ran right through for first 4 then took a wee cup of whatever energy drink they were offering for rest of race,sometmies every lap, sometimes every 2nd one. that did me fine.

Was super srprised to see Lynn & Kev appear and ran and hugged them,then later equally surprised to see Vicky & Iain so did same again! lol yeah, i know, timewasting etc who cares, i was happy to see my friends :)

I was counting the laps backwards and by time i had 11 left i started losing will a bit. I think this pic probably captures that lol

I was getting plenty support & encouragement though and it did keep me going. I think i was finding it tough as it's my first time n tarmac this year really, everything i've done has been traily hilly stuff. I was used to getting walking breaks and taking pics ;) This is what i meant in my last blog about Ultras making me lazy. I needed a good boot up the arse quite frankly

No way could i do the 24hr race, these guys are hardcore, even the100k i think i'd struggle with. Round & round & round.nope. I think everyone who finished that 24hrs race truly amazing. I'm in awe of the guys like Paul Hart who just make it look so easy!

I tend to go through a mini bad patch around 15-20miles and soon snapped out of it after Ian laughed at me for being overtaken by a 24hr runner (him) & Richie telling me " i wasn't trying hard enough"

It was true, i wasn't so i bucked up my ideas and stopped whinging and got on with it it. Karen & George were superexcited as i got on my countdown to 3. When i got to last lap George told me i was 2nd lady. I said "why? has everyone else dropped out?" lol He ran a wee bit with me and told me to go for it, to go kick ass. And you know what, i did. I ran as hard as i could and was flying (well for me, anyway) past folk with smile on my face. Before too long the finish line was there.

4hrs 44mins 48secs mins. 2nd Lady, 1st FV. fuck! Got big announcement as i came over line and i couldnt stop laughing! George picked me up twirled me round til i was dizzy, Karen hugged me, Donald hugged me and i got hugged to death,too funny. I just couldnt beleive it.

I got back to tent and fished in bag for vodka, ran back and got coke from drinks station and soon had that down my throat.This was quickly replaced by an ice cold crabbies courtesy of Karen.

was soon called out to go get our prizes, i nearly peed myself when i got 2 medals, 2 trophies and £25 of vouchers for Run&Become.

i'm such a medal whore as you all know ;)

Phil arrvied not long after so missed me finishing but i soon forgave him as he arrvied with 2 bottles bubbly, i love that boy.

Debs arrived too , twas great to see her. Isnt it fab that all these folk just come along to show their support?

Paul had bit of rough time and took decision to pull out @ mile45, he was gutted. I persuaded him to stay for drink though and he was soon smiling again>>

Rest of evening was spent drinking and supporting all the 100k folk and crazy 24hr nutters.I managed to get pics with nearly everyone before leaving. Phil had his first open water swim race early the next day so we had to get back. I was sad to leave everyone.

But Karen promised to txt me regularly and i was keeping an eye on facebook too.

How good does Jane look 9.5hrs into the race! :)

Here is a blurry pic of race HQ working hard, sorry it's blurry, i was kinda drunk by then.Many thanks to them all, they were brill.

Can barely remember journey home but remember getting in and finding

a candle for Phils Birthday cake !>

He made me share a bottle of wine with him too lol

Once again Karen, George & Phil surpassed themselves, cant thank them enough.

I think it's fair to say i ended my first Ultra running year on a high with some very special people.

And now, the end is near...

After Speyside we hung around for an hour cheering folk in until i was shivering like a loon, then we headed up to community centre for much needed cup tea.

Great to see everyone and see some stonking performances. Stayed there for another hour hoping to see Vicky &Ian S but it wasn't to be. The chilled bottle of veuve cliquot nestling in Jane's fridge was calling us home... Got txt from Karen on way home asking how race went, this is typical of Karen, worrying abut others when there she was over for biggest race in her life, i told her how it went and said never mind me, what about you?? It was we found out she didn't start the alternative race, me & Jane were truly gutted for her :( She promised to keep us updated on George & Richie who had started though..

Had really lovely evening. Jane's bath is so big i could easily drown in it, my feet couldn't touch end lol, yeah i know that's not hard! i spent a long time soaking in the bubbles, drinking bubbles ;) chilled out evening of plenty more bubbly, great food and great company. Many thanks to Jane & Alan for superb hosting once again.

Lovely journey home on first class, helped by lots txting, Facebooking & twittering! That is until they ran out of alcohol! :-o ffs. I shuld've preempted that and got it before i got on but hey ho. Got off train and headed straight ot M&S for nice chilled bottle of pink bubbles. Home, Chinese, bubbly. Done.Oh, got home to very clean house, cushion covers in wash, extra drink in fridge and one straggler in spare room. Looks like i wasn't invited to party...

Had day off because of bank holiday on Monday so took it as opportunity to try get dress for ball, major fail. Saving grace was lovely lunch thankfully. Then i headed down to my Big Brothers for my nephews Birthday party. Back to work Tuesday booo.

I had no aches, no pains no after effects of Speyside at all, this either means my body is getting used to such silly nonsense or i didn't try hard enough, funny how i always think i didn't try hard enough! Anyway, i ran to work with no issues, had really busy day and on feet all day. Once i was home after going up & downstairs couple times i started to get pain in front of my knee, most odd! Seemed to get worse as night wore on and after a sleepless night i finally caved in at 3.19am and got up for some drugs, and some ice.

Couldn't find any ice so i used frozen mash, put it in freezer bag and held it round knee with compression bandage. Kicked it off after about an hour as it was annoying me and not helping anyway. Then i stood on it when i got up, luckily it was still in bag, felt icky though :o/ Anyway. long & short of it is it was really sore on Wed, a wee bit sore yesterday and ok by last night. Mental.

So, one more Ultra left this year. Taking my total to 8. Wow. Yes i know some people think that's too much, but personally i think we all know our own bodies and our own limitations. I'm a believer in listening to your body and if i don't feel like running, then i don't. Just like today actually, was going to run in but woke up and decided not to, so I'm not.

Perth50k tomorrow, just going to enjoy it with some lovely people.

Ultra Good Weekend

See what i did there? ;) After Thursday's shenanigans til the wee small hours i got up packed then headed off for very lovely leisurely lunch, think barely had time to sober up.. Then it was off to station to catch train. Stopped off en route to buy Jane some beautiful white roses, not cleverest idea! I then had to fight my way along the hell that is princes st during festival with huge bunch flowers, a case and a handbag! doh

Uneventful journey except for woman next to me who kept offering her daughter a tissue, when it was declined she would snap at her *then stop bloody sniffing* i was scared to sniff after that and ended up moving across aisle when i got chance lol

Jane picked me up from station and had a bottle of bubbly open by time i was shown to my room lol. That was quickly finished and we went of out for dinner, more wine was consumed along with some food of course!Was very excited to get first txt from UTMB about when she got to checkpoint, this was soon followed by txt from Soph to tell me it had been cancelled! Txt both George & Karen to see if she was ok and eventually got confirmation she was safe. There was still confusion later into night as to whether George's race was going ahead or not at that point.

Got to bed fairly earlish but didnt get to sleep til after 12...

Up again at 4.45,checked facebook & twitter to see that George & Richie were heading off to race start, thank god they got to race after all that!

Got dressed, breakfast and off we set for Buckie. Picked up number then headed off to Ballindalloch. Arrived to find midgies in full force, bloody evil little fuckers. Luckily Jane had some skin so soft in car and that seemed to do trick, no bites anyway.. Jane set off for her marshaling and i had wander around talking to Vicky, Paul, Karin and few others waiting on buses to arrive. Which they did before too long then it was hug city. Great to see everyone again.

Sarah shouted us over for race briefing which i listened to intently after thoughts of Clydestride! She promised we wouldn't get lost and had been out in bike with Sean for 6 hours the previous day marking course, i felt confident but made note to look carefully for the signs, it really spoiled my race time and i didn't want repeat performance.

We had a piper to set us off which was nice and off we went. My first thoughts were of how pretty the route was and that didn't alter for entire race.

Was caught up with my club mate's Fionna & Iain and we had bit of chat. Iain soon took off but me & Fionna ran for wee while together, it was her first Ultra and she was doing great. I let her go on though as i was quite happy to conserve energy for later.
It was flat for first 10miles or so, i stopped occasionally to take pics, all the tracks/trails were very runnable, after the devil this felt like running on marshmallows! lol

It had been raining on and off all week i think so it made it a bit muddy & slippy at times but nothing to stop us from running

Then we came across this sign. The UTMB clearly think it's all abut them when it comes to mudslides, we had our very own ;)

We crossed a few bridge, 2 of them extremely wobbly! i yelped like the big girl that i am, the more folk who got on it the wobblier it got haha, freaky. This bridge was tad more stable and stopped to take pic of river which was sparkling in the sunshine. Guy next to me told me it was River Spey and that was only time we crossed it

I had got a headache around mile 6 and i couldn't shake it, it started to make me feel sick and it lasted for next 15 miles :(
Iwas actually thinking about packing it in when couldn't shake sick feeling, then i had bit of word with myself. My focus is on WHW next yr, i'm sure there be plenty times when i feel sick during that so i got a grip and got on with it.

Got to Jane's checkpoint and gave her a wave and ran through, got to first checkpoint and just ran right through as i didn't need anything. I rarely stop at first checkpoints but i know the one time i don't leave anything I'll want something... lol

Had bit of chat with guy who'd done race before. Check it out, no top, and he no socks on ether. I dread to thin of chaff age issues by end of race! ouch.Thankfully he had shorts on!

Caught up with Robert & Penny the dog on first climb and he thankfully gave me some headache pills,was nice to have company and we chatted for next few miles as he told me about the hill race that takes place on the hill were on at that time, don't ask me to name it! We even passed a few cyclists struggling up! :)

Views like this are so worth the climbs!

missed out quite few pics this time as I had to keep putting my camera away as as we would suddenly get deluged in a downpour! we'd get dried out and then it would start all over again, monsoon proportions!

I was most impressed by how easy i was finding it, even in partsthat potentially you couldve got lost there was either a very clear sign, or a marshall. Great stuff. The diversion was just as Sarah had described it ie- nasty. Very overgrown (but pretty!) in parts,there was a very narrow path here and one wrong foot meant you slipped down a wee ravine, which i did several times. very tree stumpy on other parts

I was starting pick people off now, saw someone in distance and realised it was Simon, he's kicked my arse in Devil so i hadn't expected to see him but he was struggling with knee :( i made sure he was ok and left him with Robert & Penny and ran on.

Got to last checkpoint and just grabbed stuff and ran on, Vicky was there as was Alan who started chasing me shouting at me(abut grapes lol) then singing to me at which point i accelerated ;) worked in fling that did too, anyone needing a wee boost get Alan to sing and you'll take off into the night! hahaha Caught up with Donald, another teamate and he kindly fixed my bag for me as a keyring was bouncing around doing my nut in. I took off again and didn't see either of them til end.

Passed another marshal who gave very specific instruction towards a big white house, got round corner to find these!

what an amazing, special touch and i was filling u reading them all. I walked the entire length reading them all probably wasted good 5 mins but i couldn't not!

When i thanked Stephen for my message he said *eh? that was months ago!" lol

Saw Jane just up road from here and gave her my bag but I'd forgotten i was going to change into my harmeny vest before i finished, och well.

It wasn't long after her that Vicky caught me in the forest, she was flying! We had bit of chat about times and reckoned we'd both sub6 hrs if we kept at it. I stopped to tie my lace then carried on, then stopped again to bloody tie it, i have lock laces and just not got round t putting them in yet, must get it done"! Anyway, i ran on and couldn't see Vicky, crikey, she really mustve had put on a good sprint i thought. I got back down onto seafront to see Paul there. I said something about Vicky flying past and he said she'd not come through yet, i actually thought he was joking but he said he'd been there for an hour. Fuck, poor Vicky, she'd taken wrong turning, was gutted for her.

Last few miles were along coastline and i *thought* i was still on for sub6, of course if I'd read instructions properly I'd have sen it said 36.5 miles not the 36 i had in my head. My garmin beeeped at 36miles just i got to Murdo who was as cheery & smiley as ever,he told me it was just up into town and I'd be done. Cruel wee hill at corner and finish line was in sight. wooop, I'd done it. 6hours and 1 min! lol

Great finish with al the flags, Fab medal! i love medals i do :o)

Cant praise this race enough, Huge well done to Sarah and all the fabulous marshalls. Superbly organised, gorgeous route, what more could you ask for? Thats it for me in the SUMS series and it was quite frankly a perfect end to a pretty damn good year!