Extreme Knitting Redhead: No. 16 done and dusted

Monday, December 15, 2008

No. 16 done and dusted

Thanks for the good wishes!

The weather yesterday was near perfect for a marathon, being dull and cool (perhaps a bit too cold, especially for the spectators) with a slight breeze coming from the sea. It was a very jolly atmosphere and I met loads of people I knew at the start and during the race. I also put some more faces to names from the Runner's World and Fetcheveryone websites.

Ordinarily I don't like running on roads with heavy traffic but I felt confident as the marshalling was excellent and there were loads of signs out warning drivers to slow down. The organisation was superb as Eric Hardwick has been running the Hastings 1/2 marathon for 25 years. All the marshalls were friendly and encouraging and remained so right until the end (and some of them were standing out in the cold for over 5 hours!).

One of my favourite bits was heading into Battle where a convoy of bikers dressed as Father Christmas drove by!

I ran with many different people en-route, Cathy who's just returned from a 100 miler Himalayan challenge, Captain Wonder Pants who I last saw at Beachy Head, Plodding Hippo aka Ruth (who's now lost 2 stones in weight and doesn't plod any more!) who was running her 90th marathon, a man from the 100 marathon club who was running his 475th marathon (!!!) to name just a few.

I wasn't aiming for a specific time and just wanted to finish inside the 5:30 cut-off so I felt very relaxed with no pressure. I finished in 5:12:46 which is a pb for the year so I'm happy with that. I did the first 1/2 in 2:20 which I thought was quite good but I slowed down on the long flat bit from Bexhill and I walked the bit across the shingle as that had massive trip potential for one as clumsy as me! I really don't like long flat sections where I can see exactly where I'm heading. The horse brass we received at the end is gorgeous and has gone to join my other prized medals on the wall of my office.

Although I enjoyed the marathon very much it has confirmed that I much prefer the off-roaders.

I'll put some photos up tomorrow, including my progress on the Oregon cardigan. The good news is that the yarn I need for my lace project is now in stock and should be with me soon.

The other news is that I wore my Autumn Rose jumper the other evening to a very respectable gathering of the local Horticultural Society. I was careful to wear a camisole underneath, the same as in the photo, and Mike did a respectability check before we left home to check there wasn't a huge expanse of chest showing. Imagine my horror when I arrived home and caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror displaying a massive amount of cleavage! The stupid camisole had worked its way down leaving the ladies on full show.

"Has it been like that all evening?" - I asked Mike.

"Yes", he replied. "I didn't think it looked like that when we left home".

"Why didn't you tell me?", I asked.

"I didn't think it mattered", he replied.

MEN!

2 comments:

Shan said...: Firstly, congratulations on your personal best. That feels great, I know.

Secondly, MEN! Prolly thought it was an improvement - my one always figures if the girls are on display, life is gooood.; December 15, 2008 at 10:55:00 PM PST
Marina said...: Congratulations on the run! A little rest before you begin again next year? That was a very nice photo of you in the magazine.

Speaking of photos, no pictures of you displaying your wares ;-); December 16, 2008 at 3:27:00 AM PST

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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.