Extreme Knitting Redhead: Sky 30 and time to taper

Sunday, September 18, 2011

Sky 30 and time to taper

Oh boy was I lucky with the weather for my last long run on Sunday! I was out by 6:30am and it felt autumnal - fresh and bright. I was a bit chilly for the first 10 minutes until I warmed up but then it was perfect weather for running.

I plodded for around 18 miles and loved every minute of it as there was lots to see; buzzards circling overhead, a herd of red deer, a weasel, horses, cows, sheep, blackberries to pick from the hedgerows, a lane I hadn't run down before to explore. Heaven.

At one point I passed another lady runner and she stopped and asked me how far I was running and then commented upon my Alzheimer's vest. I explained that I raise money for ARUK and she thanked me. Apparently her husband suffers from a rare form of dementia and he can't speak or understand speech any more. He is only 62 and she said that life is hell for them. My heart went out to her and it made me even more determined to carry on.

The hours flew by and I was back home for some well-earned breakfast. I'd only been home for about 15 minutes when the sky went black and the heavens opened. It rained until mid afternoon so I was very lucky indeed.

Now it's time to reduce my mileage and let my body recover from all the hard training before Liverpool.

It was a very dramatic and moody sky last night.

Big black clouds swirled downwards as if to engulf the trees.

As the sun disappeared over the horizon it shot bands of gold and apricot at the oppressive clouds as if to try and hold them back.

The clouds darkened in response and continued on their mission to blur the edges of the skyline.

2 comments:

Shan said...: You know, I have to say again that I really admire you. I haven't been on the internet much in the last year, and every time I come back, here you are carrying on, enjoying your life, keeping your cause in mind, and finding good things about your running every day. You come across as a very composed and serene person. I don't know if that's the truth about you or not! but it's how I see you. It's very restful coming here and reading about your miles and your personal bests and your fields and horses and sunrises, trees, birds, windows of churches...

Thank you Susie.

(And I think you might be right about the pockets!); September 19, 2011 at 12:41:00 PM PDT
Susie Hewer said...: Hi Shan, how lovely to hear from you and thanks for your kind comment. There have been many traumas throughout my life and, whilst I'm not sure I could be described as serene, I do find peace and comfort in the natural world. I suppose it's about noticing the small things and taking pleasure from them.; September 21, 2011 at 2:06:00 AM PDT

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Mum's Story

In 1997 my mother, then aged 81, had a series of minor strokes. Shortly after that we started to notice behavioural changes notably memory loss and confusion over everyday items. We thought it was just old age finally catching up with her. Then she started wandering and had violent mood swings. Although she already lived with us it became obvious that she couldn't be left alone for long and so I left my job to care for her. The next few years saw a gradual decline into the blackness that is 'vascular dementia'. My normally placid mum became violent and aggressive. She had psychotic incidents where she would see imaginary people (children hiding in her wardrobe, Russians sitting on the stairs, women stealing her clothes) and she would shout at them and sometimes throw things too. She was so convincing that we used to go and check that there wasn't anyone there! When my sister died mum did not know who Judy was or that she was her daughter. There came a point when I suddenly realised she no longer knew that I was her daughter and this was a terrible time for me. In the last 2 years that she lived with us, life for us all became almost unbearable as she needed 24 hour care - she couldn't be left alone at all because she would either wander off or hurt herself, she never slept for more than 30 minutes at a time during the night, she became incontinent and incapable of doing anything for herself. Finally my husband and I realised that we could no longer provide her with the care that she needed and she went to live in a special care home where the team did a splendid job caring for her in the last few months of her life. There she lived a zombified existence unaware of who she was, what she was or where she was. It was heartbreaking. She died in March 2005, the day after her 89th birthday.

Thank you for taking the time to read mum's story and I hope you'll dig deep and sponsor me using the link below to help find a way of beating this destructive disease.