Extreme Knitting Redhead: Marathon 27

Monday, June 11, 2012

Marathon 27

Another medal for my collection

Well I did it after all but first I must recount what happened the night before and it is not a happy tale!

I'd been nervous about this anyway and when Mike and I talked about it the main worries were; would my breathing be OK on the really steep ascents (nearly 5000ft of ascents and a couple of them are real lung busters)?, did I feel confident that my right leg was going to go the distance (more on that later)?, did I want to travel a round trip of 5 hours if the weather was as grotty as it had been all week?

So, throughout the day I'd gone from yes to no and round and round in circles. I'd reasoned that my breathing would probably be OK as when I've run the hills round here it hasn't been any more laboured. It's just that having a name, ie asthma, associated with how I'm feeling has had a really negative effect on my confidence and that is not good for a marathon runner plus I have another ongoing health issue to worry about. The travelling, well I've done it before and it's OK on a nice day but not so good on a wet and windy one but the forecast was actually good so I couldn't use that as a valid reason to pull out.

Then there was my right leg. It's been behaving very strangely of late. In my last 2 marathons I've been having issues with the hamstring and Mary Massage Lady has done lots of work on my hip flexors etc to sort it out.

Anyway, the night before we'd decided that I'd make my final decision when I got up the next morning. Then there was the incident.

We'd both drifted off the sleep when all of a sudden at just after midnight I was awoken by a searing pain in my right calf. My whole leg was rigid and the calf felt as hard as iron. I tried to stretch it out but it felt as if someone was twisting a knife into my leg and I screamed in agony. Poor Mike leapt out of bed and ran around, bashing his ankle on the bed in the process and drawing blood. He tried bending my foot and pressing on the leg which is what you do with such a cramp but it just didn't relieve it for ages. After more screaming and stretching it eventually calmed down thank goodness but I hardly slept after that as I was worried it was going to come back.

When the alarm went off at 4am I was not in a good place mentally but Mike helped me make my mind up and I decided to go for it. The calf felt sore in one particular spot so I was prepared to have to walk more than usual if need-be.

I won't do a blow by blow account of the marathon but some photos of the wonderful views are here from my account of when I ran it in 2007. Suffice to say that the whole of my right leg was sore all the way and I struggled more with the downhill sections as they really hurt. Also, I'd forgotten just how steep some of the climbs are - they are unrelenting!

Apart from a naughty leg I had a lovely sociable time and chatted to lots of people en-route, including Carol Ann who I hadn't seen since 2009 when we ran the Abingdon marathon which was her 100th (nutter!). I could hardly believe it when she said she was intending to do Abingdon again this year as her 200th marathon. That in itself is an amazing feat but when I tell you that back in 2007 when we both ran the South Downs marathon she had 'only' done 31 marathons you can see that she will have run 169 marathons in 5 years. Oh my goodness!

The weather was lovely all the way round; sunny but with a gentle wind to cool us off. There was one worrying moment when we had to run through a field of oil seed rape that was still flowering in part. It was this horrible crop that caused me to struggle with my breathing several weeks ago and sent me off to see the quack so I was horrified when I saw it. As luck would have it I had a pair of gloves with me and so I put them over my mouth and breathed through them to stop any pollen getting in. Thankfully it worked although I probably looked rather strange!

Despite running in a very awkward manner and walking all the really steep hills I still managed to get round in 5:52 which is just 2 minutes slower than 5 years ago. Technically I should have beaten that time but given the calf/hamstring problems I shall have to be satisfied with that result.

Now I just need to sort out my leg. I feel a trip to the Physio might be required. At least I've got until 2nd September until my next marathon but I really want to be fully fit and well for that one as I want a pb!

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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.