You ran on Christmas day?

Yes I did, I was volunteering at parkrun so ran to parkrun on Christmas day, I ran to pick the car up on Boxing day and finally will be running a long run on Sunday with my fellow club mates.

Those who don't run say that we are mad, surely we should be be chilling out, taking time off having a rest, but what happens if this is our rest? I have still spent time with those that I love, I have been able to make my running functional incorporated it in to my daily life.  So my running has had a purpose getting home from work or going to pick up the car after having a drink in the pub.

I was thinking this morning it is each to their own... I didn't get up at 2 am or 3 am to go

to the next sale neither did I spend Christmas day looking online at the Christmas sales, but I did get up and run so perhaps we are not so different after all.

Recycle or start a fresh ?

As December roles around, I'm already thinking about next year's goals and what should they be. This got me reflecting on those goals I had set for this year and I can't actually find any! 

I was convinced I had set some but it looks like I never committed them to blog paper.  So, is this like the tree that falls in the forest if no one see's it does it make a sound?  As I didn't write them down, was I really committed to them?? 

Ok so my unofficial targets were:

1. Set a new PB for the Marathon
2. Get a qualifying time for automatic entry in to London (GFA), 
3. Silver medal at the Potters arf, which means finishing under 1:45 on a very very hilly course
4. Go under 23 minutes for Hanley parkrun 
5. Set a shiny new half marathon personal best

Did I achieve all or any of these? 

Well, I set a new marathon PB of 3:43:28 ( goal 1) which gained automatic entry to Virgin Money London Marathon 2015 (goal 2).  Read all about it here

The rest sort of fell by the wayside, but perhaps we have unearthed the reasons why I didn’t achieve them because I did commit them to my blog, which meant I had nothing to prove and no-one to hold me accountable!

So my the big question is do I a) recycle these goals for 2015 or b) set these to one side and think of some new ones? It is clear I need goals but perhaps it would be an idea to stage them, rather than setting them all out in one go, use them to build on and improve my running??

Best get my thinking cap on

Time to stop

After a week off running following my sinus surgery, I went out for my run last Tuesday and as the 1st mile clicked by I could see that my pace was low and my mind went straight to all the excuses I could prefix my run with when I uploaded it to strava later.  

This then got me thinking when we upload our runs to the world wide web, via Garmin Connect, Strava, Fetch etc etc you see people prefixing their run with #recovery or #feelingtired or #heartratetraining as if we are trying to excuse our time or pace.

Perhaps it is just me but I spend too much time during my run thinking about what is this going to look like on strava,  to my running friends that it takes the enjoyment of the run and my run falls in to two baskets good / bad.  This is all based on what I think other people will think of my pace rather than if I am actually enjoying my run. 

When I started out running I enjoyed running; lacing up my trainers, getting out in the fresh air after being couped up  in a stuffy office all day and having some time and space to relax was just bliss, but in the last few months  I have lost a little bit of the sparkle. 

I know I could give up my Garmin (other good running watches are out there) but I feel it is a set too far and I'm a sad stato so instead I have decided to stop  prefixing my runs with anything other than good, bad, I needed that, now where is my cake/wine/chocolate.  I 'm also going to try to start to log more sensory information about how I felt during the run, which should service to help me understand my body a little. I am sure it will make me more happy, bring a spring back in to my step.

On another note 

You may have noticed that I had sinus surgery which meant that I had to take a week of running while I recovered from surgery, which means I couldn't take part in Go-vember this year. 

I am still taking part in XC and Saturday was my 2nd one of the season and I have to say it was a toughie course hilly and quite technical and you can tell from my face that I was not really a fan, but now and again we need to get out of our comfort zone now and again!

Any excuse to shop

This week it is clear that the weather has definitely turned autumnal and someone is arsing around with thermostat; one minute it's hat, gloves and long tights weather and next it's shorts and t-shirt weather again.  

One thing is for certain the wind and rain is back! I heard the other day that one town in England had a right down pour and had as much rain in 12hrs than they would have expected in the whole month! From one extreme to the other; driest September since records began and now wettest so far.....

The best thing about the change in the weather is that we get to buy new running kit, which helps us both stay warm and stay safe. I never need

an excuse to buy running kit and the new seasons kit helps to fuel my addiction.

Social media was all a buzz the other week with the launch of the Aldi kit and I for one was waiting at the door at 8am the other Thursday. Armed with base layers, compression tops, black socks and flashing lights I made my way to the till.  My next biggest challenge was where on earth was I going to put it all, perhaps it is time to sort out my running draws, switch over my summer running kit to my autumn/ winter kit. Gone are the shorts and vest tops and in come the long sleeve tops, 3/4 tights and full length tights, gloves and buffs are the new standard.

As well as an opportunity to shop and buy new kit, here are my other reasons to like autumn/winter running:- 

• Running in the cold/wet and dark makes you feel hard core 

• How amazing you hot shower/ bath feels after your run 

• Cozying up on the sofa after your long run feels more justified 

• The natural rosy glow you get after your chilly run

• Running in the snow makes you feel especially hard core

My parting shot is that no matter what the weather; red hot or pouring with rain, it is definitely getting darker so make sure you can been seen. The best quote I heard the other day was "your never heard of a Christmas tree getting run over" well they do have a point. 

So remember be bright and be seen

Can you fool yourself in to being positive

So it has been a while since my last blog; NO I have not fallen off the face of the earth, NO to a life changing lottery win and NO I have not found my fame and fortune on Britain’s Got Voice Factor. The past couple of months have been a little be meh’ when it comes to running and finding things to blog about.  I normally come up with my blog titles and themes during my runs, but I have been drawing a blank recently. 

At last tonight’s running club post run 'chippy tea' a fellow runner asked me if I have been injured as they had not seen in a while, I thought about this for a minute; said no the physical injury but yes to a MOJO injury!  Can you injure your MOJO? I am not sure if it is burn out, fatigue or just simply a bit of a slump but when I’m not running I think about how great it would be running but then when I’m running I just want to stop and crawl under a rock. Strange but true, having said that I have just recently run the Great North Run and the Nottingham Half marathon, so although my MOJO is telling me to stop, my iron will is keeping me moving forward! 

Something positive

can you see us ?

I really enjoyed the Great North Run (GNR) this year; this wasn't a target run for me, that was Nottingham, so I had offered to pace Emily to a personal best, Sharon who was also running GNR had said that she would jump on the pace bus for fun.  Everything was going well and we were hitting the splits, but it was getting hotter and hotter, unfortunately this was not suiting Emily and she was struggling.  So we decided to change tack and we slowed down a little and made sure that we catered to her every need, raced off to water /refreshments stops and making sure she was hydrated, keeping up her spirits with lots of positive re-enforcement and generally enjoying our run with those around us! It was fab, we all crossed the finish line holding hands and with smiles on our faces. I have to say that I was one race I thoroughly enjoyed for the 1st time in a long time! 

Something else positive

Nottingham was going to be my target, but my training had not gone well with self-sabotaging thoughts. I reassessed my goals and went out for a  personal best this year, but the mojo deserted me 3 miles in and my mind started to go off on one about how crap I was and why didn't I give up!  Well I didn't I carried on a ticked off the miles, the splits were not what I was after but, hey I was moving forward which was good.  

It was a good job I carried on as I helped a distressed runner; between 9/10 miles, saw this chappy running and he was running very strangely, leaning back and looping very slowly, so I stopped and went back to have a chat with him.  He assured me he was fine and for me to carry on, so I asked him “if he always ran like this”, “no” came the reply, “well you are not fine then”, then two other runners came to my aid and we escorted him over to the side of the road.  I shouted for the runners going past to send back a marshal and a lady got him a chair to sit on.  Fortunately but the time we left him he was looking a bit brighter and I hope that he got the medical attention he needed. Then I carried on my run, my goal had gone out of the window but you know I didn't care, I helped someone out in need and that was more important!

Something productive

With all my negative thoughts I am trying to do something’s to put the spring back in my running step;

1. Tackling cross country never done it before, hated it at school but hoping the club and team environment will help me get my MOJO back
2. Reading (or listening to) Chimp Paradox by Prof Steven Peters, if it is good enjoy for the GB cycling team it is good enough for me
3. Scaling back the running during the last few months of the year
4. Contrary to point 3 looking to take part in Go-Vember again trying to run at least a mile every day during November 

Something to look forward to

• I have got my good for age place at London, this time I want to enjoy it a little more. My first London, I was so in awe and focused on getting a good time it took all the fun out of it.  So next year it is all about enjoying it and the time is irrelevant.

• I have booked my races for Feb, March and May and I am looking to do some different ones that in the past, so we are off to Blackpool half and a 20 miler, Milton Keynes half and I am hoping to do Ashby 20 as well.

• I am part of the Team behind bringing back the Potteries Marathon, which is fun, exciting and exhausting all the same times…not sure what the Potteries Marathon is all about click here.

• I;m doing the Thunder Run again next year with a large number of my club mates which is going to be awesome, fortunately not the 5 laps like this year (I don’t think that it helped at all).

Well that is my lot, again apologies for the lack of posts over the last couple of months, fingers crossed normal service aka bad grammar, spelling and general confused posts will resume soon!

My whistle-stop tour of June and July!

Gosh it's really had been a long time since my last blog!  There are no good excuses to give you!  However let me catch you up; this is what has happened since 1^st June (grab your hat for a whistle-stop tour!)

I have finally finished my HNC course in Sport, Health, Fitness and Exercise however I am still awaiting my final mark!! I am free again from study, all this free time what should I do??

I have become a run director at my local parkrun which is Hanley and I have to say it is the most friendly parkrun there is around Stoke on Trent (ok ok it is the only one around Stoke on Trent) so far I have been RD 4 times and I am notorious for a) not needing to use the mega phone and b) counting up rather than down on the starting line…. Well it adds to the excitement.  

Don't we scrub up well    

Being part of the parkrun family I,  with my fellow directors and a few lucky parkrunners, attended the Stoke on Trent Personality of Year awards evening, we were nominated for the Sport in the community award. Unfortunately we didn't win, but we had great fun during the evening ( I believe there may have been some wine drinking going on!) and it was strange seeing everyone in there proper clothes for once! 

I have been away on holiday to America, we drove down Highway 1 (Pacific Coast Highway) from San Francisco down to Venice in Los Angeles.  We had a great time visiting the sights of SF Alcatraz, Napa Valley, Lombard Street, China Town, traveling on a tram to down town and of course Sports Basement to name a few of the sights we saw. Whilst we were there we also ran the See Jane Run Half marathon which gave us great views of the bay area.  

Then we started to travel down the PCH to Santa Cruz for couple of nights, Malibu and finally stopping the last few nights on the Boardwalk In Venice Beach.  Where we also finished off the holiday with the Red White and Blue Half Marathon run along the Santa Monica Boardwalk.  

All in all we had a great holiday not what you could call relaxing but it was still fun all the same.

Trentham encampment 

I managed to get a late entry to the Thunder Run 24 race at Catton Park and pulled together a team of 5 fellow Trentham running mates.  I was a little daunted as we got a team place 2 weeks before the race and also our team only had 5 people in it!! Although we had all said it was for fun…..the pressure was on a little.  I was team captain and organised the team and the timings of the laps, at my initial calculations we would all be running 4 laps of the 10k course with the men in our team running 5.  However it soon transpired on Saturday that my timings were way out and we would all have to run 5!! So this last weekend I ran 50k which makes me a ultra runner!! I know it wasn't all in one go, but I am still taking it!   

All in all we had a brilliant weekend, alongside our team of 5, there was another Trentham Team of 8, a couple of Trentham Solo runners and finally two club mates running with other teams.  It was and is a truly amazing event, like glasto for runners, the camaraderie is brilliant not only cheering on your team, any other local teams and also cheering on the runners who ran past our camp at all times of the day and night over the weekend! 

Thunder Ru 2014 DONE!

We had some brilliant results, our fellow runner Janson Heath won 1^st solo male, and Jill Phillips came 3^rd in ladies solo.  Our team of 8 finished 6^th and our little team of 5 finished 17^th in our category, not bad off no training and only 1 hour sleep in 36 hours!! 

The only downside was the lack of internet (although hardly surprising as we were in a field!) but a lot of my twitter friends were running and it would have been great to catch with them, oh well may be next year. 

And with that I think we are all caught up, I will try not to leave it so long next time I promise, however I do have a couple of busy months with, training for Great North, Robin Hood Half, Amsterdam Marathon and also Rewind 80 festival in August all to look forward to. 

Kirsten photo bomb

Edinburgh Marathon done and dusted

This is the short story…

So after all my worry about my fitness before Edinburgh Marathon and my resetting of my goals, I only went and got a new marathon personal best and a London Good for Age (GFA) and Boston Qualifying (BQ) time.

This is the long version – stop and grab a cuppa before you start.

In all honesty my training in between Manchester and Edinburgh had felt like an uphill struggle, I felt very disappointed that I had not bounced back as well as I had last year between London and Edinburgh.  I had such high hopes of achieving a London Good for Age (GFA) time, but each time I laced up my trainers my stepped out, it turned out to be another disappointing run and it was really knocking my confidence.

So the morning of Edinburgh came around all too soon, I had reassessed my goals and said that I was happy with a sub 4 hour marathon, well sort of happy! It is safe to say that the weather matched both my mood and prospects, the rain has started to fall and it steadily got worse.  Sean was happy and looking forward to his half marathon, he told me to go off and find somewhere warm to wait until the start of my race ( I think I was killing is pre-race buzz)

Firstly I found shelter in a bus shelter, but soon got bored and thought I may as well  head to my starting pen and then there glimmer of light in the distance “Starbucks” sign shone out like a beacon. As I pushed through the door, the warmth hit me and the queue was small and free WIFI RESULT. Twenty minutes later after a couple of trips to the facilities and a full fat tall latte with a caramel shot I felt ready to tackle to walk to my pen and bonus the rain had stopped!

My plan was to set out and run 8:30 for the entire race, this should get me a 3:44:30 marathon time and a London GFA  – what is that I was meant to be going to a sub 4 hours, well yes but you know how it goes…… the 1^st couple of miles would be the determining factor.

As it was the I found my pace which was around 8:15 which was well ahead of my required pace, now here is the problem the rule of thumb with marathons is start slow and get quicker (this by the way had been my strategy at Manchester).  The worry with going to fast at the start is that you can blow up in the last few miles, really fall apart and up losing your race goal.

However I felt good and I decided I was not going to over think it, just go on feel and see how things pan out. As it was I was having  a really good run, feeling surprisingly strong and focused.  Before I knew it we were heading passed Musslebourgh Race course and off up to the BIG Stately Home, it was at this point I saw Sean coming back long towards his finish and I gave him a shout out and carried on.

Now this is a LONG stretch not a particularly bad part it is just a little long, the only hope on the horizon is that you often get to see the race leaders coming back the other way, which helps to take your mind off things. 

Head down and concentrated on each mile I was in, trying hard not to over think about my pace, how much further I had to go or if I would run out of energy. 

Before I knew it we were running in to the Gosford House grounds and I focused and made sure that I didn't drop the pace (which happened last year), so my plan was to work on catching the people in front of me to keep me going.  Passed the home and now back out on to the road and the end was really in sight and all I had to do was keep going.

As the final miles ticked by my pace did start to fall off to around 8:30 ish, which was the pace that I should have been running all along, so all was good. There was time banked and this was my safety cushion just in case my pace really fell away, in the later miles.

It was around mile 23 that I decided it was time to break out the emergency jelly babies, I slowed to a walk and crammed in jelly babies like a woman possessed and washed them all down. Using visualization technique I imagined the release of sugar being turned into energy and making it was down to my legs and powering them along. 

Mile 25 and unlike Manchester nothing hurt, I was tired but nothing really hurt, the crowds started to get thicker and then the heavens opened and the rain started, but I didn't care I was on target to finish under 3:45 and I just needed to keep going and if possible speed up.

My only grumble is that my garmin and the mile markers didn't seem to want to sync up, so as my watch clicked over to 26.2 miles I was still 0.24 miles away from the finish…….GFA was still on the cards but there was no taking my foot off the gas, I  had to keep going as we turned on the to the grass I could see the finish gantry and clock, time was clicking down and my legs where feeling really heavy but there was no stopping… my mantra “just keep going” “keep going!”

With a small raise of my hand I made it over the finish and my official time 3:43:28! Looking at my photos on the home stretch it’s easy to see how tired I was, tired but elated. As I made my way out of the finishers enclosure Sean was there waiting for me, a little soggy around the edges but a very welcome sight, he congratulated on my time and my finish.

My words to him “now I have achieved a London GFA and Boston Qualifier, I never want to run a marathon again!!” Oh yes and I did remember my bra ;o)

Stats

Edinburgh on my mind

Since my Manchester marathon Edinburgh has been on my mind; 

"will I get a good for age time, how can I change my training to improve my time by 2:30 minutes"

I developed my training plans and reflected on my experiences from last year and I hoped that my fitness from Manchester would sustain me through. I was aiming to change my diet to help drop a few pounds and turn me in to a fat burning machine, however with Madrid half marathon in the middle it is fair to say that my plans did not go according to plan.

In fact I have really struggled, struggled with finding my pace again after Manchester, struggled with having the energy to run struggled with running under 8:30 minute miling for any length of time and struggled with motivation.

To top that off last week I was floored with a sickness bug which started on Thursday  and I have only just started to feel better (Thursday), the only silver lining to that story was that it helped me to achieve my new racing weight, but it is not a healthy way to do it!!

Now  Edinburgh is on my mind and it's only 3 days and I really don't hold out much hope for getting a good for age qualifying   time for London or Boston which is sub 3:45 however I am going to still run.I am feeling much better and I am going to be using UCAN nutritional supplement that should help with to sustain my running during the marathon and just hope for a good run, I tried it this week just before my last set of reps and it worked well, just tastes usual (lets say!)

The big debate now is Garmin or no Garmin, part of me wants to wear the Garmin for the stat porn but will I beat myself up when I fall off the pace? Although one thing is for sure, this year I will make sure that I pack my running bra! 

Decisions decisions 

Trentham on Tour

Trentham on Tour

This was our motley crew the morning of our trip to Madrid Rock and Roll marathon, it has been a long time in the planning and it was finally here! There were 38 running the race and we had a number of supporters coming  along for the occasion.

  

Our flight passed without a hitch and we were in Madrid 2.5 hours after leaving the sunny shores of Liverpool Airport. Following a detour to the Metro station to collect our travel cards, which is no mean feat when there are forty people to keep track of, but our trusty Trentham on Tour T-shirts helped us keep together, we made our way to the hostel. 

With regards to the days before the race itself, there was an agreement that "what happened in Madrid stayed in Madrid" although having said that here is are the highlights

Hydration is important

Thursday: TOTs descended and caused chaos at our lovely hostel of the weekend, then we found a great Irish bar Blood Brothers which we drank dry of both wine, larger and very nearly rum, needless to say it was a 2:30am return to the hostel!!

Photo bomb

Friday: Morning Run, with a few die hard runners, even with a hangover they were ready for a run at 8am, the obliquity photo bomb!( photo). Expo, bib and t-shirt pick up via a unnecessary detour via the Zoo! Visit and re-hydration stop at the square and then finally the evening activities with far far too much red wine.

Bib pick up

Friday night

Saturday: Very much a quieter day  mainly due to my massive hangover, Sean and I had wander round Madrid and finally got served at the HARD ROCK Café and finally I started to feel like me again around 4:30pm in the afternoon. 

Some of the group had also managed to get tickets for a little game that was taking place locally ;o). For Sean and I it was back to the hostel to meet up with the rest of Trentham crew and more party games, but very much dryer and more civilized  than the night before!

Madrid the run itself

For some strange reason this year is have really become very lax in my research and pre-race prep, I had not looked at the course elevation, or even where the start and finish was. So when asked "where are we starting and finishing" I would waved my hand in the general direction of over there! But safe in the knowledge that as with any large scale race you know how to get to the start by following the masses and this was no different.

Green Army ready for duty

One of our group was going to be running in the 10k and was focused on getting a good time, so much so he left well before we made it down for breakfast to get in to his pen and also in the zone! As we wondered past the start we saw him and yelled like lunatics until he acknowledge us,  thus undoing all of his mental preparation (oh well), he still looked focus and was in a good position as the gun went off.  He also finished 35th overall and 1st Brit home.

Lets rock and roll

After we saw him off we wondered down to our own pens, this's is where we all got a little more split up but the majority of the army girls & boys were together. Once we we in our pen there was an attempt made to look for our missing friends, much to the joy of our fellow runners. 

someone embarrassed?

Once Jodie's cheeks had calmed down, we waited for the gun and then we were off....well we were eventually, you never really get over the line that quickly and with having both marathoners and half marathoners starting together there we over 22,000 people crossings the starting line.  We were all in high jinx, which was my downfall as 0.25miles into the race I fell over! I would like to say that I commando rolled and jumped back up unscathed but it would be a lie.  I did fall straight on to my knees and elbow which was an attempt to save both my face and my camera, oh my poor poor knees :o(

My race strategy had always been to enjoy the race, I was not going to time, with this in mind and my previous struggles with my performance since Manchester I had made a mental note to run with Emily and accompany her around the route (regardless to whether she wanted company or not!).  Both Emily and I could not understand why we were finding the 1st 3 miles so tough, were we that unfit? had the drinking taken that much of a told on our bodies? should we give it all up and find a bar?

Fortunately we there was a water station looming on the horizon so after hydrating it felt a little easier and we agreed that we would carry on to the finish as we were now already quarter of the way through the race and with mile 4 coming up shortly we would soon be third of the way through the race, which always helps.

Emily on the run

The rest of the race went with out a incident, especially as Emily kept highlighting all of the pot holes in my path to make sure I avoided these and remained vertical for the rest of the run.

We soon approached the end of the race and there is a cruel trick, they had something that looked like a  finish gantry which made you think it is within touching distance and the you have to turn right, now that is MEAN. 

After that disappointment the finish seems to take ages but it was approaching and both Emily and I enjoyed the crowd support and seeing our friends in the crowds lining the finish runway.   With a finish time of 2:18 it was a personal worse in terms of times but personal best in terms of enjoyment and have a fab run, thanks Emily.

So soon met up with the others for a team photos and hearing about how everyone's run had gone, not forgetting we still had some fellow runners out there both finishing the half and the full marathon.

Say Cheese Green Army on Tour

I went back to the finish straight to wait for Sean to finish and the others went off to find hydration and a much needed sit down, but they were soon back to see the others finish too.

Once everyone had finished we wondered back to the hostel for a quick shower and change before heading off for more hydration at our new found gem 'euro bar' . Later that night we had a celebratory meal at Italian buffet were Emily and I found out that the 1st 3 miles were all up hill, ah all makes perfect sense now! 

And after

It wasn't long until we were preparing for the journey back to blightly, interestingly the journey back was a lot more subdued that the journey out! Not surprisingly as there was a lot of very tired and possibly up hungover people, in addition to the realisation that the fun was over and we need to head off back to our lives and jobs :o(

 

Where next! LISBON

However one of the main topic of discussion was what next.....Lisbon 2015 watch out we could be very well on our way to see you

Onwards and Upwards

Yesterday was all about spectating and tracking my friends running the London Marathon, repaying a favor to all those who did the same for me when I ran it last year. Some running their 1^st Marathon, other running their 1^st London, handful of old vets and those trying to break records.

I woke early and took little Roxy (our temporary) lodger for a 40 minute run around ‘Lightwood’ Mountain out the back of our house. I was still in recovery and having only run twice since Manchester I thought there would be a spring my step and I was concerned about my little companion’s legs. However I needn't have worried, it would seem that my legs had still not really forgiven me, although we were back on talking terms. 
Forty minutes later and some very pitiful looks from a my four legged friend we made it back in to the house, I consoled myself with the fact that one of use was allow to sit on the sofa and the other wasn't 

Quick shower, change for me and a quick drink for Roxy and we were set up; cup of Tea, laptop, list of runners, phone and BBC One on the telly.  Everyone had been warned, DO NOT COME round, DO NOT Call and DO NOT expect a response.  In fairness I do not watch any soaps and telly during the week is normally watched when I am ironing, so I am pretty flexible really, but in order to help some of my none running friends and family who might call I explained it like 4 hours’ worth of Emerdale* (or insert the soap of choice or sport of choice in here).

The build-up was the usual BBC series of this is the route, some of the elites and personal stories of some of those running for some very good causes. We saw the wheelchair athletes off, then the IPC athletes were off, next the elite women and FINALLY the elite men and the masses!

The telly at this point became secondary to me watching my computer screen my friend trackers were moving off their lines, I felt like a mother hen counting all her chicks off in the water, when the last one had crossed the finish line I was able to watch the telly for a bit.  

After the first 5k we were treated to estimated place on route, my screen was a live with little running men moving through the route with times updating and changing, it was so exciting to watch.  Seeing how all my friends were getting on, how close they were to their expected finish time they were going to get, then before knew it some were over tower bridge and others where still around the 15k mark. I didn’t move for hours with watching the elite race and trying to catch my friends running past the camera.

Going off track here slightly but I have to say I thought the elite race was a good one, it really does go to show that it is really the last 5-6 miles that the race really takes place. Mo had a great run and I was getting a little frustrated listening to the commentary about the BBC woulda, coulda shoulda. 

Personally I think to have a GB athlete to achieve a sub 2:10 is bloody brilliant, the last time a GB athlete got a sub 2:10 was 2005 by Jon Brown. To date we only have had 15 runners go sub 2:10 and Steve Jones record has stood since 1985!!! Don’t believe me check it out here.

Back on to Sunday fortunately my little men were heading toward the finish line, so I switched the RED button where we were treated to cameras on the finish line.  So we were able to track our runner’s right up until they approach the finish line and watch them over the line.  It was truly epic and such a good way of being there and not being there. I counted them out and then counted them back in, it was such a great feeling and so motivational for me to tackle my next marathon in Edinburgh next month.

Today is all about action so Operation 4 starts commences……

• 4kg lighter
• 4 minutes quicker
• 4 inches lost waist, hips 
• 4 posts a month

On a sad note 

My thoughts do go out to the family of person who collapse at the finish line, thinking of you at this sad time. 

Manchester 0 Kirsten PB 1 Part 2 - Race Day

RACE DAY

Getting up wasn't a problem, with waking a little before my alarm, I  slipped out of bed and got dressed and a coffee, with a whisper of good bye to the other half, I snook out of the house.  My friend Lisa and her daughter had agreed to give me a lift as they were coming to support the runners from the club, which really took the worry out for me. 

Before you knew it we were at old Trafford (notwithstanding the problems with parking) and meeting up with the rest of the members of the club and those that would be supporting on route, we exchanged hugs of good look to each other and wished each other well out there. With two loo trips and a baggage drop off later meant I had to jog my way to the start which helped to warm me up.

The race start was a little chaotic and the pens were not so stringently marshaled like London or Great North Run, but I managed to find my way in to the middle of blue zone and just in front of me was the guy who was trying to beat the world record of the fastest marathon dressed as a beer bottle (note to self must get in front of him before the cameras). I chatted to those around me while they were making announcements about the front runners and the conditions on route and then we were off…. well nearly it always takes a while to get over the line (around 2mins which isn't too bad)  

The route heads off around the roads of old Trafford now, it wasn't the most inspiring of routes to begin with but it was nice because there were two switchbacks which meant that you got to look for fellow club runners, which help to concentrate your mind on something other than the 26 miles ahead of you. I managed to clock nearly all of my Trentham, the best club in Trentham, and give them a shout out, the crowd support was really great as well because they didn't have far to go to catch you going past in a couple of places.

Next you head out of Old Trafford and this is when it really starts, the street still had people on them, but it was a lot quieter and helped you get your head down and focus on the run. Catie, a fellow cub mate had made loads of signs for the ladies from the club and did a brilliant job about getting out along the course which was a nice touch!

The run itself was OK, my plan was to start at 8:30 pace, then in the second half drop down to 8:20 which a target of a  sub 3:45.  However it never happened, I started to lose focus it around 8-9 miles into the course, I saw the front runners coming back towards us.  I keep thinking that it was going to be a another short switchback however it seem to go on for ever, perhaps I should have studied the course before the race ?!?!? (note to self study course)

The switchback was ALL around Sale! which signals half way and my pace was still good, but I could feel things beginning to slip. Looking at my stats my pace really fell away at 18 miles and I couldn't seem to get below 9 minute miles, I seem to be putting in the same effort but it was not showing in my pace. 

Having said that I did managed to pull off an 8:25 between mile 20 and 21! although it wasn't sustainable, I soon fell back to over 9 minute miles. But at this point I just wanted

it to be over, my hips decided they had had enough and started a petition, which was soon signed by my knees and ankles….. everything below the waist working but mainly to rule and complaining about it every step of the way.

So I did what most would do, 24 miles in I had a little walk, but they didn't like that either!! They was simply no pleasing them, so I  zipped up the man suit and reasoned that running would get me to the finish quicker and then I could sit down, everyone seem to be in agreement with that proposal and we are off again!

The crowds in those too last miles where great and when I happened across a group of friends spectating it was deafening but real fuel for the legs and heart and spurred me closer to the line and the finish. 

Crossing the finish line, I knew I’d not quite made it sub 3:45, but then again I did get a Personal Best knocking around 55 sec’s off! Which is great and hopefully I can build on these solid foundations a for my next marathon in Edinburgh and sub 3:45 will be mine