My Virtual London Marathon Walk - October 2022!

So 4 weeks on from my accident up the hills I am gradually getting back to strength with my ankle. Fortunately, it wasn't a bad break and is healing nicely. My goal was just to make it to Keswick in June and I am happy to say that I feel like that is totally going to happen. I might not be able to go up all the hills I had planned but getting there and doing low-level walks will still be amazing. 

 In October Hazel and Yvonne (my wedding support crew aka bridesmaids) and I are going to walk the Virtual London Marathon (in Edinburgh) on the 2 October and I am going to do it to raise money for The Haemophilia Society. Some of you will know that Alistair had Christmas disease (which is a form of Haemophilia) and our lives were pretty much centred around making sure Ali had a full life without injuring himself (and being a mountain biker meant that wasn't always easy!). 

 I was just remarking to someone the other day that it is odd that I no longer have haemophilia in my life on a daily basis, however, our wonderful daughter Rhona is a carrier which means that she has her own trials with haemophilia and any children she may have (should she choose to have children) might well have to deal with haemophilia. 

 https://haemophilia.org.uk 

 I want to make sure that important research into treatments continues to be funded which will make the lives of people with haemophilia going forward easier. When Alistair was 2 years old he bit his tongue and at that point, his parents discovered that he had haemophilia. At that point, treatment meant a blood transfusion whereas latterly Alistair could administer his Factor 9 himself. There is also a wonderful tablet called Transexaminic Acid (TA) which can be taken orally to ensure quick clotting of small bleeds.  

I still continue to be a member of the Haemophilia Society to ensure I can support Rhona with her future as I know Alistair would have wanted me to. Alistair was very lucky to have good medical people around him who would put him back together when he broke himself! Usually on a mountain bike, coming down sideways!! 

 This challenge was planned before I broke my ankle, so currently I am just trying to build back strength before my official training starts (in a few weeks). I am looking forward to doing the training, it will be at a slightly different pace than my normal running marathon but no less physical. After all, a mile is a mile. Hazel and Yvonne have agreed to join me in my latest craziness. 

As Hazel remarked "it is the first wedding invite I have ever had where I have to do a marathon as part of it" What can I say? You know me!

The route we plan to take will involve leaving from Penicuik, over the Pentland hills and then into Edinburgh passing many of Edinburgh's landmarks Murrayfield, the Castle, Grey Friar's Bobby, the Royal Mile finishing at the Parliament passing Holyrood Palace. 

The London Marathon passes Buckingham Palace and ends up halfway down the Mall, so this will be our version of the London Marathon. 

 If you would like to join me on my journey, I am going to blog regularly to track my training. I am sure there will be a lot of laughs and moans along the way. 

 I will also post a JustGiving page soon if you would like to donate to The Haemophilia Society. 

 don't worry, be happy. 

 https://www.tcslondonmarathon.com/the-event/virtual-marathon

It isn't about when you get there it is about how you get there!

It isn't about when you get there it is about how you get there!

 Being a runner the length of time I have been (now 36 years!!!) you have the privilege of being able to reflect upon what you have done and what you have learned. And I guess the biggest thing I have learned about running is that the places you see and the people you meet are what matter the most. 

In my twenties and thirties, I took getting a personal best time very seriously and followed training plans religiously to scrape off the extra second from my previous time. I got my sub-hour 10km, smashed my sub two hour half marathon and came within sub 5 hours for the marathon by a teeny tiny margin (seconds not even minutes). But as I have grown older my 9-minute mile has slipped to a 12-minute mile (on a good day). I did go through a period of thinking I should give up as I was getting 'slow', there I said it 'slow', but then things changed and I started to just enjoy running for the great benefits that it brings.

Running has helped me deal with huge personal challenges. After Alistair died I took on the hardest running challenge I have ever done and the one I am most proud of. I took eight hours, YES EIGHT HOURS, to get myself around thirty-one miles in the Kielder Ultra. The front runners would have been home, fed and watered three hours before me, but a mile is still a mile. My body and mind got me around thirty-one miles - and I ran most of it. It taught me that time isn't the only thing you get when you cross the finish line. I had spent a wonderful day out in the wilderness, meeting and chatting with amazing like-minded people. I spent the day solving challenges and problems as they arose. I got lost at one point and instead of panicking I retraced my steps until I found the trail. I had issues with my backpack rubbing against my back, so I had to work out how to stop that from happening. I had a funny moment when seemingly in the middle of nowhere with no one around I stopped for a quick comfort break only to have another runner appear around the corner - we both just grinned and said "when you gotta go you gotta go". 

I had to dig deep mentally when the miles began to grow and the time lengthened. But crossing the finish line was a wonderful feeling. I was met by a man who I had chatted to out on the course who had been running the longer distance, turns out he was the winner. He waited on me at the finish line and bounced up congratulating me on my first ever ultra and fabulous PB. He said he won but his time wasn't all he had hoped for. So while I was on cloud nine he was away to work out what went wrong for him. That was a huge lesson learned for me.

I hear others worry about holding clubmates back, and being too slow to run with others. I am guilty of it myself sometimes. Particularly if I am injured or a bit unfit. Someone on our Jog Scotland chat said the other day that it isn't about others it is about your own running journey. That is so true.

My running journey has been long and varied. I was once a die-hard road runner but now I have fallen in love with hill running. I am definitely not quick up the hills but I get there, slow and steady. The view from the top is just as stunning if you get up there quickly or slowly, the hill is just as hard and the downhill is just as glorious. My body is starting to object a bit to running and my recovery time is longer but I am not done yet. I still have at least one more marathon in me and many many more hill runs. And when I can no longer run up the hills I will walk. It isn't always all about the pace, it is about letting your body show you what it can still do for you, it is about maintaining a happy healthy mind, seeing beautiful places and meeting wonderful people. That is what running means to me. 

Lovely shared memories at mile 10 with lovely friendly runners

And honestly, nobody else cares how long it does or doesn't take you, they are too busy focusing on how long it takes them! If you are my age, then you may well be in this frame of mind already however if you are one of my younger friends who are runners for you it will still be about the pace, but please don't beat yourself up about it if you have a slower day, enjoy the rest of it. 

And if you are one of those people who say you are "too slow" to run or go out with other people, please know that if someone faster says they are happy to run with you, let them, you are not holding them back, if they offer they want to run with you. And focus on what is right for you! I am just getting slower, occasionally I speed up a bit if I am feeling like it but I am now content to just still be able to run. 

If you are injured it can seem that the whole world is running away from you and getting fitter while you struggle just to maintain what you still have. There is no quick fix, you need to heal but know this you will heal, and you will get back to running. I broke my foot and then in less than a year went on to run the New York Marathon. Being injured is one of the times that you have to draw on the mental strength you get from running to help you through. You need to set yourself reasonable goals on the road to recovery. This will help you get back to what you want to do. But ultimately being injured sucks. 

Recovering from injury! Walking the Keswick 10km

My running buddy said she needs to get rid of the word 'slow' from her running vocabulary. I completely agree. Slow compared to who? You may not be as fast as Paula Radcliff or Mo Farah, but not many people are. You are way faster than the person who talks about thinking about starting the couch to 5km program. You are you, and you are amazing. 

As for me, I will continue to trot up and down the hills, until I am a wizened old runner walking up hands on knees, still wearing my Hokas and imagining I am running effortlessly up and down the fells in Keswick. Once pace leaves you for good, you start to appreciate all the other stuff running brings you. 

I once read an article by an older coach in Today's Runner (a magazine from long ago) who said that when you are an older runner, it is worth resetting your PB every year to get the thrill of beating your PB again. I have done this for a few years now and it is brilliant. It lets you pace yourself against yourself without the stress of worrying about how slow you are and hankering back to days when you could trot out a sub 60 10km no problem. Another tip is to always enter races that you have never done then you always get a PB!!! 

I guess what I have reflected upon is doing what works for you, not measuring yourself against others, and enjoying all the other stuff if you have a day when you just aren't running that quickly. I still love running today as much as the day I started 38 years ago, it can't all be about the pace!

don't worry, be happy.