FOMO? Oh No!

So we are in the month of February (just) and all my running buddies are clocking up the miles, the long mile runs are getting longer and I'm in a reflective mood thinking about last year when that was me and I can't help wonder if I'm suffering a little bit of Fear Of Missing Out (FOMO)? 

But as my "long" run of 10 miles loomed yesterday and the snow, sleet, rain and wind battered my window I decided that NO, there was definitely no FOMO. There was even some bargaining with myself that, as next a half marathon was not until May my run could even be shorter, as there was no 'real' reason to run 10 miles!! 

The miles ticked by, the weather was still deciding between snow, rain, sleet or all three and then the turning point loomed on my run, I could either turn for home (with 7 miles in the bank) or carry on and get the 10 ticked off... Being type A,  already being wet and cold, I thought how bad could it be!! 

10miles later, with the help of a great audiobook the 8th instalment of the Peter Grant series and quite smug of my multitasking by ticking another book of my 20 books in 2020 challenge,  I was back shivering at my front door dripping all over the mat and looking forward to a hot, steamy shower and a nice cup of tea! 

Finally, I thought it would be a good opportunity to update on how my Dad is doing for anyone who has either followed by rambling for the last year or had the pleasure (cough) of running with me in the last couple of yeats will have known that my dad was diagnosed by with Bowel Cancer in late 2018. He went through very tortuous treatment with enduring both radiation and chemotherapy, which was why I decided to run Edinburgh marathon last year to help fundraise for Bowel Cancer UK. 

His initial scans after the treatment were encouraging and he was put on a watchful waiting list; this means scans every 3 months to ensure that cancer remained in remission. 18 months on Dad is star patient, he remains cancer free and back to his usual fit, healthy and of course annoying self and we would not want him any other way!! 

Both him and mum are looking forward to the weather picking up a little so they can get back in the van and touring around the UK and Europe chasing the better weather. 

Thanks for turning in to my ramblings

Well I really enjoyed the majority of that..

Edinburgh has come and gone, all over in the blink of an eye! scary really after 16 weeks of training where every run felt tough, then slowly as the runs got longer they started to feel a bit easier and dare I say a little more enjoyable. Having said that I was really pleased to be done with the 2+ hour runs.

I had set my goals for Edinbrough which were twofold:

a) finish time with 4 at the start

b) still have the desire to put my trainers on and run again

To help me enjoy the run I had created an awesome music playlist, that I was really looking forward to listening too. It was an interesting mix of songs that I love both listening to very loud and singing along to in my car very badly! I'd purposely not listened to music too much in training and my long runs have mainly been listening to podcasts to distract me so listening to my mix was going to be a real treat.

Before my race, my training had really been turning a corner, with dropping around 10kgs and actually enjoying my running, my speed has started to pick up. So many people had started to question my seemingly soft target of a 4 something marathon.  

Did I achieve my two goals?

Goal 1: Finish time was 4:05 ✔

Goal2:  I really enjoyed the first 22 miles my songs where awesome, each one was a joy to listen to not quite singing out aloud but there was a lot of smiles, air guitars, air drumming and plenty of dancing hands. 

The weather had perked up which was brilliant as conditions at the start was awful, downpours and heavy drizzle then as the start got underway the rain dried up and it stayed dry for the entire run (despite the advanced weather warning!!) and finally the crowds where brilliant out in there droves clapping, cheering and telling everyone how brilliant they were.

But a marathon is 26.2 miles so what about the last bit….. last 4.5(!) miles were tough, it felt like I'd been handed a piano and to run into a headwind all the way to the finish!! 

There were a couple of walking breaks but I soon started running again. It helped to remind me that although this was tough, this was nothing compared with what Dad had to go through during his treatment.  When his last few rounds of radiotherapy were well and truly kicking his arse (excuse the Bowel Cancer pun), he continued to get himself to the hospital have his treatment because he knew that was what he needed to do to beat cancer.  

I also remembered telling him that his last few treatments were like the last 4 miles of the marathon, tough but you know you need to carry on because you don’t want to waste the first 22 miles…….

Eventually, I rounded the corner and the finish was in sight, halfway down the white runway to the finish I threw my hands in the air and even tried to smile a little!

I'd finished and yes I do want to run again, but just not marathons!

May means marathon month!!!

I have arrived in May with more me miles (677) under my belt than the total sum of the miles run last year (663) !! 

My last long run of 20 miles was over two weeks ago and the taper is upon me, this is where I start saying “yeah I only have 14 miles for my long run this week”. It always amazes me how I go from ugh 7 miles is tough to running treble the distance in a couple of months, but needless to say I got there. It's strange that the long runs are getting shorter, I'm finishing them really knackered!! 

Although I’m enjoying the thought of the mileage dropping, maranoia is upon me;  I’m already thinking that I should carry on running 20 miles just in case I forgot how to or that all of my fitness will disappear. Which is ridiculous and many a marathon runner can testify they will have had the same thoughts, I just need to keep reminding myself that the hard miles are done, the training is been successful as I’m still in one piece and slowly getting quicker.

There is around 2 weeks to go now until Edinburgh, my Bowel Cancer uk vest has arrived and I need to iron on my name, which is more taxing than running the marathon 😂😂

Marathon training has begun!

As you may know, I have been preparing to train for my marathon for the last couple of months. It all started in December with running every day to 25^th and also trying to increase a single run to 10 miles.  All was achieved and I have been steadily running 4-5 times a week since the beginning of January 2019 and increasing my long run distance.

So 4th Feb signalled the start of my 16-week training plan; which does feel long but I’ve built in some wriggle room and factored in a week in Mexico🌞. I have still not managed to really get in much quality work, reps on the treadmill are hard work and no one really fancies a tempo session unless you have company😒 .  

But I did get my longest run for 2 years done a whopping 14 miles last week and followed up with 13 miles this week.  On both runs, I was feeling the effects by the end and none of it was particularly quick.  

I like to reminisce about my long runs, of the past when I could run 14 miles at 8:30 min pace and question whether I will be ever that quick again…..but then I remember that I’m older,  that style of running hurt and I didn’t really enjoy it.  So I will carry on with my plodding miles and hope that the pave does quicken a little.

You do have a lot of time during your long run and I used to decide which charity to run for. I'll be fundraising for it's Bowel Cancer UK and my link to my just giving page is here I had originally thought perhaps I could run for all the B cancers; Bladder, Bowel, Balls and Breast, but I don’t think that there is such a charity out there yet!

Bowel Cancer UK  provider expert information and support to patients and their families, they campaign for early diagnosis and treatment, they support and fund research to help stop people dying of bowel cancer and they educate. To find out more check out their website. https://www.bowelcanceruk.org.uk/about-us/what-we-do/

Cancer has struck my family again; my Dad survived his last bout with Bladder cancer and has been fit and healthy for the last 8 years.  Then last year he started to get some symptoms, which made him book an appointment with the GP and following that he was put on the cancer two-week pathway and had a battery of tests. 

The outcome and diagnosis was not what any of us wanted but in the grand scheme of things it was in the early stages and he had stood a good chance to win in this battle too.  

His treatment plan was an aggressive one of combined radiotherapy and chemotherapy, neither were very pleasant and towards the end of the treatment, they were beginning to take their toll on him.  However, after 5 weeks his treatment stopped and although the treatment effects continued they didn’t get any worse and they even started to lesson week by week.  By week 5 after he finished treatment he was back to his chipper self….all be it a lot thinner than when he started. 

Now for the next barrage of tests again to see how things are going….and it was good news treatment had gone well the tumour was now a distance memory.  Although things don’t stop there, because of his previous cancer and the treatment he was unable to have the usual next stage in traditional treatment pathway which was an operation to remove the site of cancer, which meant there were several options to him. 

As it stands, 4 months after he finished treatment,  he is now on a watchful waiting list, where he has regular scans to ensure he remains cancer free and the second anything changes we face a new decision which is knife or no knife…..

It is a tense time for all of us, but I think that it is the Owen way to feel invincible and that we will defy the odds, so let’s keep our positive pants on and keep moving forward.