A return to Janey's Running Ramblings after a year of doing events for Two Tackle Three Take Two.
http://twotacklethree.blogspot.co.uk/
January
So just what have I been up to this year on the running front? Well let me take you back to January 2016. Starting on January the 1st with the Portobello Promethon.
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| You just meet the loveliest of people at the start of races. |
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| It was a bit chilly at the start. |
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I made it onto the TV!
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It was such a lovely atmosphere and a brilliant way to kick of 2016. Rhona and Kobi were my official supporters and tea holders.
Then a week later saw the team back together and heading to the Queen's Park for our annual Great Winter Run outing. Hazel came up, as is tradition now, and we met up with Tracey and Fiona.
It was wet and chilly but as always as always a brilliant run, with great company and a fabby afternoon of athletics in the park (watched on TV by the time we got home). So what came next? Well my early season was a little different with my training taking on a different direction because I was taking part in the Edinburgh Moonwalk. Therefore I was doing a lot of walking instead of running which made for a complete change of pace. Really tough to train for, in a way that I never thought would happen. I used different muscles, I was out a lot longer to cover big miles and my fuelling was a lot different from a running marathon. But determined to keep my running legs I kept up with a few races.
March
So the next one was the Meadows Half Marathon, although because the walking took precedent, I did end up just doing the 10K but as always it was a lot of fun.
April
Tracey and I had a mad moment when we decided to enter the Great Edinburgh Run, 10 miles. It was really tough. The run up from the bottom of the Royal Mile to the top of the Mound was a killer, but we did it Tracey! And thoroughly enjoyable too, lots of chit chat on the way around! And maybe a bit of swearing up the hills.
May
In between walks I found time to run two half marathons just a few weeks apart. In a rash moment I jumped into the car with Rhona on the morning of the Keswick Half Marathon and we whizzed down and I entered on the day!!! It was a brilliant run. Quite wet and a bit windy but a good run.
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| My trusty support team with me as always |
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| Can't remember this man's name but we had a great blether as we staggered up the huge hill in the Newlands Valley. |
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| Derwentwater from the far end of the lake. |
With one Lake District Half Marathon out of the way, you would think I had run quite enough hills for one year? No! Of course not, two weeks later we were back in Ambleside for the Brathay Half Marathon. This time it was my support team (minus Kobi) and Hazel for company. Also met up with the fabulous and amazing Chris Renton who is not content with running once around Lake Windermere but does the 10 in 10 year after year. The man is an inspiration! A thoroughly wonderful run as always.
Towards the end of May I was part of Fiona's relay team for the Hairy Haggis Edinburgh Marathon relay race. I was leg 2 and I took over from Fiona at Musselburgh and then handed over to Tracey at Prestonpans. It was a beautiful day and we had such a lot of fun. Thanks for inviting me onto your team Fiona.
June
After many miles of walking and walking and walking....
Finally the day of the Moonwalk arrived! Rhona and I had a lazy, sleepy afternoon in preparation for our long night of walking 26 miles. It was the strangest event I have ever taken part in. I am not sure I will do it again, but I am really chuffed that we did it. People had said it was a long night, I didn't find that. I found it odd to be walking when the rest of Edinburgh were asleep but it was an amazing night of laughs and struggles. The hardest part of the night was around 1.30am when my body clock was definitely screaming "why are you not sleeping???" but it was lovely to walk into the dawn just as we were heading back up into the city centre. I am really glad Rhona and I did it.
With the Moonwalk out of the way my attention turned to training for The Glencoe Gathering Marathon. This was going to be my biggest challenge. I was going to have to take to the hills. One thing I noticed with the Moonwalk was that my muscles had all changed shape and I had built up different muscles from running. Which proved to be quite a challenge when I started taking to the hills. My hamstrings were really tight which made striding out down hills a bit of a challenge. But with a boot camp in Keswick in July I really started to enjoy myself.
September
After a summer of running in the hills I tested my hill running legs in the Keswick Lakeland Trail 15K race in September. It was challenging, muddy, wet and terrific fun. I had a blast and was ready to take on Glencoe.
October
After a fantastic run in Keswick I was all set to take on the Devil's Staircase, little did I know that was going to be the least of my challenges! Hazel, Tracey and I set off in October to take part in the Glencoe Gathering. The atmosphere in Fort William was great, the weather was stunning and the mountains looked so inviting. All we had to do was get going. So number picked up and a fairly good night's sleep (hard when Tracey snores so loudly 😉) we got on the bus and headed down to the Red Squirrel Campsite which was the start of the Marathon. Tracey would join in at the start of the Half Marathon).
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| This girl was brilliant fun. |
Then we were off. It was pretty solid underfoot for a good few miles to start with then the fun started! approximately 5 miles of bogs (might even have been longer). We were up to our knees in bog! It was strength sapping. But the sun was shining and we were all strangely having fun. The views were what made it worth it, absolutely stunning. It never fails to amaze me the places I get to when I am running.
It was a stunning run, that all began to unravel when we realised that we were not going to make the cut off at the half way point. I eventually convinced Hazel that she should go on and that I was going to get myself to the half way point and pull out even if I didn't make the cut off. I didn't make the cut off sadly. I wasn't the only one. The bogs were just too much for quite a few people. I was gutted at the time, I shed a tear out of disappointment. And it stung so much to see Hazel and Tracey delighted with the finish and their medals. It was the first time in 30 years of running where I did not finish (DNF). But there was nothing on this earth going to get me up the next mountain which was almost as big as the one we had just gotten up. After a few days I began to get over my disappointment and begun to accept just what I did achieve, not everyone could run 13 miles up some of Scotland's biggest mountains, but I had done just that. It wasn't a normal marathon that one, and if I am honest I should have trained for an ultra and not a marathon. Still lesson learned, I am already signed up for the half marathon in 2017 to go and complete the half I didn't run from Kinlochleven. That way I will cross the finish line and the ghost will be laid to rest. Then I might even come back and tackle the marathon again - who knows.
With my wounds thoroughly licked I decided on the spur of the moment to enter a little race which was organised by Women Run Strong. It was a 10K trail race up Arthur Seat. I met a lovely lady who had only just started running a few months back and was doing the 5K event, we had a great blether. It was brilliant fun! Just what I needed to get my confidence back. Cracking wee event. And I won a beautiful bunch of flowers in the draw at the end.
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| I won flowers!!!!! |
And so we come to December. I have entered a whole host of events for the new year. I am starting with the usual suspects - Portobello Promathon and the Great Winter Run. Followed by a 10K trail race and a trail half marathon in February. Then longer term I have the Stirling Marathon in May and the Glencoe Half Marathon in October. And who knows what else in between. I keep thinking I will give in and not race the following year, but then the bug gets me again and I go and enter tons of races. I can't help myself, not ready to chuck in the towel yet!
So to my last run of 2016. Edinburgh Parkrun at Cramond. And what was special about that I hear you ask? It was my wee running buddy's first parkrun! My wee pal Kobi. He was a wee star. Despite a comfort break (which had to be removed before a whole load of runners stepped in it!) and a howling wind between us we toddled along at the back (dogs have to start at the back) in a fairly respectable 36 mins. He had a great time running and then playing on the beach.Then slept for most of the afternoon. Perfect last run of the year.
So that was 2016. It was a busy running year, I crammed a lot in, and as always I thank my lucky stars that I continue to be able to run in all these amazing places, meeting lovely people and sharing my running life with all my lovely friends, old and new. Hugs have to go to Rhona and Kobi as well for always being there at the end of my races with my flask of tea, without them races would be harder, knowing they are at the finish line for me gives me the push I need to get to the end. Life is indeed good. I may be a little stiffer and a good bit slower but running isn't all about getting to the finish line fast, it is about the experience you have along the way. I am truly grateful to still have my fitness and my health to keep on enjoying those experiences. Have a good and prosperous 2017.
don't worry, be happy.
