Long time no speaky!

Well hello everybody. It's getting closer to the holiday season and I for one am all set for a good old fashioned Christmas having bought the majority of my gifts last month!

I know. I'm awesome right?

I've yet to wrap them and a little part of me wants to keep one or two of them for myself as opposed to giving them to the intended recipient. But I guess that would be wrong wouldn't it.

Selfish Santa!

I'll have to be a little bit more strong in my resolve if I'm gonna get my share of goodies this year won't I. Oh well.
Speaking of Santa and all that jazz I took part in the London Santa Run in Battersea Park with my better half and a few friends this weekend. Over 1600 Londoners turned up and donned a Santa outfit to run 2 laps of nice, flat tarmacadam roadway in support of Disability Snowsport UK
The morning started with the threat of showers and as we alighted the bus by the Eastern gate of the park we got a thorough lesson in appropriate outerwear selection as the heavens opened, albeit briefly, and made us question our decision to participate at all.

Thankfully by the time we reached the Santa Convention (as it appeared) the rain had eased off and the sun began to warm us up.

After the event, be-medalled and high on endorphins, we set off in search of a pub to celebrate our victory and take some pictures of us all (still dressed as Santa no less!) in varying jolly poses. Much to the amusement of both the bar staff and passers by. One of whom stopped to take a quick snap of our secret Santa drinking club.

This ended a fairly busy month or so for me as far as jogging in the cold is concerned. Late last month I was dragged into a cold and fog-laden Finsbury park early one Sunday morning on a promise of mince-pies provided I ran four laps of the road around the park.

My friends call me Geoff. Geoff Rudolph.

Wearing reindeer antlers and a flashing red nose.

Of course I agreed. I mean come one! Mince pies are at stake here!!

The race was very cosy with barely a hundred people/reindeer all running for the RNLI in their annual Reindeer Run. The fog meant visibility was a few hundred metres at best for the whole morning but I got my mince pie and managed to escape the local parking regulations with minutes to spare so I reckon it was WIN all round. Plus we got a cool t-shirt with some reindeer on it.

The two weekends prior to this I had put my name down for a couple of cross-country events closer to home as my better-half was away visiting friends.

And she hates hills and mud so I took the opportunity to indulge in a bit of both.

The Tidworth 10k was a lovely little jaunt out on the Army training area of Salisbury plain just North of Tedworth House. Heading up hill out of the back gate of the camp we entered the training area and at the crest of this hill we had a water stop and admired the view.
Of the shortest, ugliest looking hill you can imagine.
Rising exponentially some 200m out of the ground just over a km ahead it was small but deadly.

Only the craziest ran up it.

I tried but by the top, despite swinging my arms like a deranged nutter, I was barely jogging.

After the downside of this mini-behemoth the last hill was a silent killer, winding endlessly round corner after corner. The end seemingly far beyond your grasp and last gasps of chill air. Until one last corner and then the home straight and the smell of burgers :)

After this, my first 10k proper, my other race that week was a multi-terrain 12k with far more hills and mud and potential for broken ankles than this one. But I was now prepared and was beginning to find my rhythm.

I also realised after I'd finished the 12k that I LOVE running on grass. I can grip so much better and run a lot faster.

The Over The Hills 12k was in the lovely old town of Bradford on Avon and despite starting 5 minutes after every one else I soon caught up with the rear pack and went on to have a jolly good time. There was even a 'river crossing' to contend with but it only came up to my knees though I had to run the next 3 miles with wet trainers.

So now I'm just resting my feet and sticking to cycling indoors with an occasional outing weather permitting. I have booked my next event. A duathlon no less.

Race 1 of the Maxifuel Winter Duathlon Series will see me take my trusty steed and head over to Eton College to take part in my first sprint duathlon. It's still bloody cold at this time of year to go for a dip in the rowing lake so this makes the most sense. Depending on how I fair at this I may attempt the Olympic length at the remaining events in the series.

Until then I wish you a very merry Christmas and all the best for the new year.

PhysiotheraYAY!

Hello all.

I trust the approaching first frost of wintry times has got you all excited about treading softly on crisply muddied leaves and thinking about putting on more layers in the evenings.

It has me.

Not only that but we'll soon have even less daylight to watch our footing in as this weekend sees the end of British Summer Time officially.

This week I've been mostly...

                                                                                            

                                                                                                            ...cycling.


Not outside obviously. It's bloomin' windy this time of year. I've set up my turbo trainer two feet away from my TV so I can pedal away and watch anything that takes my mind off how boring it is not doing this cycling thing for real.

Outside.

Did I mention it was windy?

The reason I'm staying indoors, besides being a bit of a girl when it comes to cycling in the windy, rainy, yuckiness of autumn, is that I need to lay off my feet for a while until my new custom orthotics are ready!

I saw the physio this week and he told me what I already knew. I have 'special' feet.
After some walking about and a bit of bending my knees and ankles at funny angles I stuck my feet in floral foam.

Now I know my feet are pretty smelly but hopefully they'll come up smelling of roses after a little time in prime flower arrangers material.

Unfortunately they were in just long enough to make an impression and had to be removed!

Bad jokes aside it was far quicker than my last experience which involved plaster of Paris and an overly long wait while the stuff dried during which time I was to remain totally still.

Which I'm not know for.

Now I have but a few weeks to wait before my new, improved orthotics are ready and I can jump up and down to my hearts content thereafter. I can't wait. Though there'll probably be less jumping and more jogging as I've got a 10k in two weeks time.

See my earlier blog entry here for details.

That's all for now really, I'm looking forward to another delightful run along the Thames this weekend, hopefully the wind won't blow the pleasant stench of sewage into my face as I breath it deeply into my lungs for the duration as happened last week.

Lace up folks :)

Remember, remember...

The 5th of November.

Because it'll be the only day off I get this month.

I'm going to be dressing up as both Father Christmas and a reindeer, on separate occasions I hasten to add, for charity runs in London in which my ever-willing training partner has managed to convince me (and others) of participation.
But since the aforementioned training partner is going on a little pre-holiday holiday I have two other weekends to fill.

So I entered into a couple of local events as well.

The events in London are:

The London Santa Run which has you donning a one-size-fits-all Santa suit to run 6K in Finsbury Park raising money for Disability Snowsport UK.

I loved skiing after only 1 week in the mountains! The crisp mountain air, the fresh morning snowfall, the thrill of rushing headlong down a ridiculous slope.
Disability Snowsports enable winter boardsports for people living with disabilities in the UK.

The RNLI Reindeer Run turns all it's runners into Rudolph for a morning as they try to get to the mince pie at the finish line wearing antlers and a red nose (and suitable running attire as well so I'm told). This event can be run as 5K or 10K to increase funding for the Royal National Lifeboat Institute.

These guys and gals brave the high seas to rescue the likes of stranded windsurfers (like my Dad was once) and shipwrecked passengers and crew.

In the UK they're all VOLUNTEERS.

My other two events (I can't really call them races as I'm nowhere near fast enough) are the Tidworth 10K and the Over The Hills 12K  both of which are cross-country. I can't wait actually. Running in winter must be one of my favourite times of year. You know no-one else is mad enough to brave the cold so you can almost guarantee plenty of quiet solitude wherever you venture.

The two charities I'm supporting for these events are the Salisbury District Hospital Stars Appeal and Alzheimers Support respectively.

So that only really leaves me one weekend free so I think I'll be putting my feet in a bucket of ice.

I shouldn't complain really. The same weekend I ran the Royal Parks Half Marathon a colleague of mine ran a full marathon and he's building up to run a 100kM event next year. Visit his charity page here.


Incidentally I got a certificate for my participation in the half marathon I ran.

2' 22" was just over the 2' 15" I'd said I was going to complete in and if I'd maintained my first half pace for the second half I'd've come in under 2 hours. But I think my legs and feet might have severed themselves from my body and gone off for a sleep had I tried that.

Next time.

I'm just really chuffed I finished despite wanting to quit at the 10 mile point and every 5 minutes subsequently.

There are some official race photos but they cost too much money so you'll just have to believe me that I ran it.

So that about wraps things up for now, I hope those Brits amongst my readers will find it in their hearts to sponsor me in one of my upcoming events. I say that because all the charities are UK based. Perhaps you international types can recommend a good global charity that's close to your heart.

To donate just click one of these links:

Disability Snowsport UK.
Royal National Lifeboat Institute
Salisbury District Hospital STARS Appeal
Alzheimers Support

Thank you to everyone who has sponsored me and donated to a worthwhile cause already. Keep up the good work :)

So what now?

Hello and welcome kindly visitors to my humble blog. I've done my half-marathon, raised some money for a great cause and now I have to look to the future.

For those who don't know I'm currently serving Her Majesty as a member of her Armed Forces. However I've handed my notice in and will be a fully fledged civilian in less than a year! I can't wait.

The military life requires a certain level of fitness which, now that I'm leaving, I'm a little concerned may slip somewhat when I re-integrate into polite society.

And so...

After training long and hard on my own as well as with my long-suffering training buddy Kate (see her running blog here) I feel that I shouldn't let up in the slightest (don't tell her I said so though!).

I'm going to try and enter some event or other every couple of months and hopefully have a lot of fun doing so. Maybe even a proper, full on marathon next year some time. The two I have in mind are the RNLI Reindeer Run in November and the London Santa Run in December.

Fun being the operative word here.

Military fitness, whilst pretty extensive, ain't that fun I can tell you. Especially if you show up late for a Physical Training lesson.
I must admit I am a little saddened this week as I'm engaged in the LAST EVER fitness assessments of my Army career. I passed my Personal Fitness Assessment today beating my last time for the mile-and-a-half run by 17 seconds and I'm getting ready for tomorrow's Combat Fitness Test. An 8 mile march carrying a 40Ib backpack which must be completed in 2 hours.

The mile-and-a-half test is a simple test created by Kenneth Cooper at The Cooper Institute many years ago and is still used as a benchmark assessment by the military. We soldiers must be in the top 20th percentile to pass.

As for the loaded march only Satan can explain that one!

Right that's enough chit-chat for one night.

Goodnight everyone :)

2' 22"

It's all over and a little piece of me wants to do another one already!

Thanks to everyone who has donated their hard-earned cash to The Stroke Association. I hit my target and your money is now well on its way to doing wonderful things and improving lives.

All that remains for me is to have a bath and then maybe have a little snooze.

And apply to run another one...




You can still donate for the next couple of months though. Just click on the link above. Or if you'd rather text Mack80, followed by the amount you wish to donate, to 70070

i.e. Mack80 £10


Thanks again everybody you got me round the last few miles :)

Half Way There

Thanks to some more generous donations I'm at the half way point in my fundraising. All the money you've graciously pledged or given will help support a thoroughly deserving charity.
The Stroke Association has already conducted research into the effects of immediate surgery on constricted carotid arteries in asymptomatic patients and found that, compared with delayed surgery, the chances of stroke are reduced by 50% after 5 years.

Now the researchers need to obtain 10 year results to determine whether the carotid endarterectomy operations are cost-effective.

http://tinyurl.com/6fpey55
 
Research costs money and without donations from charitable people such as you and me studies like this would take so much longer as the fight to win grants is a tough one indeed.

Thank you to everyone who has given already. Keep it coming.




You can also donate by text now. Amazing huh!

Simply text MACK80 £2 to 70070

If you want to donate more than £2 then just amend the number after the £ sign to reflect your intended donation.

Texts are free to send on any network. Only the cost of the donation will be charged.

WOW!!!

Hello again and welcome to another installment of my increasingly taxing training regime in preparation for a half-marathon. There are only three weeks between now and the day itself and I've yet to breach the 8-mile mark.

However I'm in South West Wales right now and have been making the most of the ridiculously beautiful coastline down here.

Last week I just ran up the road from my hotel to the top of the hill and round and back for between 3 and 5 miles of tarmaca-be-damned!

I learned the hard and frequently painful way that in order to ascend so rapidly one must warm up and stretch thoroughly before making headway into the clouds. I've got the hang of that now let me tell you!

I'm staying just shy of a lovely little bay in the town of Aberporth which is one town along from Cardigan (of Cardigan Bay fame) and sitting right on the Cardigan Coastal Path.

Last week I ventured out (on a colleagues recommendation) to the next bay over along the path.

The path itself has been upgraded to allow wheelchair access and as such is hard underfoot. Only a mile and a half to Tresaith bay with a demon of a descent (and subsequent return ascent) to the bay itself.

I duly found myself hitting this section twice last week. The view out to the Atlantic is fantastic and you can see dolphins about half a kilometre off-shore doing whatever it is that dolphins do.

This week, on the same colleague's recommendation I decided to venture to the next bay over from Tresaith.

You can see the long, untouched beach of Penbryn, from the bay at Aberporth, nestled between two large cliff faces. A not undaunting looking hill standing in the way of you and the golden sands that lie in plain sight just over 2 miles away (as the crow flies I hasten to add!).

It is this hill which is quite the taskmaster. With it's barely kept singletrack path overgrown by gorse and bramble, and wooden steps on the parts that only mountain goats would dare ascend without firm footing, the path winds across and up the hill before contouring around the seaward side just shy of the peak.

Up here you can see a great deal more yet only grazing cattle have the luxury of this view for the majority of the year.

Another killer, woodland descent down muddy paths that would surely get you down a whole lot faster when wet, though not on your feet, and you arrive at a long, secluded stretch of beach. A couple of caves at one end that beckon invitingly at low tide and only the sound of the crashing waves is equalled in magnificence by the vision of the burning sun sinking behind the cliffs to your left.

With a dusky orange glow guiding me Westward back to my little piece of Wales I turn around and set off once more back up the hill which nearly took its pound of flesh coming down.

Six or so miles in all. As the crow flies. But over a hundred metres to climb and not much space to do it in. A very satisfying pint was had over dinner I can tell you.

Maybe I can recommend to my colleague the NEXT bay on from Penbryn. See how he likes that.

If you're ever in this part of the world I wholeheartedly recommend getting your boots on and dusting off your hiking poles for some amazing views and exhausting climbs. You needn't run as I did. In fact you'd be mad to.

Till next time.

Mwahahahahahahahaha.