Extreme Knitting Redhead: On Being 62

Monday, June 24, 2019

On Being 62

It's just a number.
It's only 1 digit higher than last year.
It's better to get old rather than the alternative.

I ran another ultramarathon to celebrate, as you do!

This was a new event by a new company named Hit The Trail Running based in Kent. This was their 3rd event and I was upset that I'd had to miss the first 2 due to injury as I love a good trail event. It was also in areas I didn't know so I was very excited about it. I'd planned to run with Kirsty and Heather who I'll be doing the 1066 100 mile ultramarthon with in a couple of weeks (gulp!).

The only downside was that I had to drive all the way to Rochester in North Kent to get a coach 30 miles South to Haysfield country park in Tonbridge and then run back up to the Rochester! Plus, the coach was leaving Rochester at 7am to deposit us in Tonbridge at 8am and we then had to hang around for the start at 9:30am. I'm sure they'll sort out the logistics a bit better next time.

As I drove along the Esplanade in Rochester, where we could park for free and find the coach, I noticed someone familiar following me - it was Bryan with whom I ran a couple of weeks ago which was a lovely surprise. The race was named the 3 Castles as our route followed the River Medway past the remains of Tonbridge Castle, Allington Castle and finished alongside Rochester Castle, the wall of which you can see below. Of course we were too busy running to explore them but we got brief views of them all.

We ran alongside the River Medway for most of the route

When we arrived at the country park the coach driver had to ask us to walk from the road as the turn into the park was so tight he couldn't get the coach in!

We were greeted by this enormous lake

My lovely running chums! On the left is Kirsty with Heather on the right

We hung around for ages waiting for the start and then we were off. Bryan joined us which was nice. Almost immediately we were running alongside the river and it was delightful. So much activity all the way along with people camping, fishing, having a BBQ, riding bikes and just generally enjoying the lovely countryside. It was so tranquil.

One of the reasons we did this event was so that we could work out a pacing strategy for the 1066 route. Heather and I have a similar pace but Kirsty is a little slower. Heather set off like a greyhound out of the trap and I struggled to keep up with her as I was in ultra-marathon mode and was expecting to go much slower! Poor Kirsty didn't even try to keep up and Bryan very kindly stayed behind with her. Every so often I had to shout to Heather to tell her that they were too far behind and we should wait for them.

It was a very useful exercise as Heather hadn't quite thought about how slowly we need to go in the first 50 miles of the 1066 as we need to conserve our energy for the 2nd half which is challenging to say the least! This morning we had a good chat about it and worked out a pace that will suit all of us, phew!

There was an awful lot of Giant Hogweed along the river bank. It's a dangerous plant as its sap can cause dreadful burning if it touches the skin.

As we ran through Maidstone we spotted Allington Castle peeping through the trees.

Grafitti in the underpass

This large rock was placed there to mark the Battle of Medway which I'd never heard of before!

I was excited to spot this beautiful Anchusa in a roadside verge

This new waterside development had some lovely views across the marshes and over to the hills

There was a lovely wide paths with benches where one could sit and enjoy the view but the most exciting thing for me was a bridlepath all the way along.

A large sculpture on a small roundabout announced this was part of the village of Wouldham

Soon after that we had to head up a hill and it was one of those hills that seems to go on and on and on - and it was jolly steep too! Kirsty fell behind a bit on this section so Bryan and I waited for her to catch up at the top of the hill.

Then all of a sudden we were back alongside where we'd parked and we all seemed to find a burst of speed from somewhere so Heather, Bryan and I all finished together with Kirsty a little bit behind.

Bless her! She soon recovered after a cup of tea and some scrummy cake!

We got a nice medal and a useful buff

All in all it was a great little event and one that I would do again as I enjoyed the route.

Next will be our annual outing to the Summer Exhibition at the Royal Academy. We had a wonderful time and both agreed it was one of the best we've seen there.

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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.