Pootling along

I've just been pootling along with things for the last few days. A bit of knitting, a bit of walking, a bit of cross-training and rather a lot of running.

I'll start with the knitting as a friend emailed me to ask how she could check if a jumper she was knitting top-down would fit. She's just started knitting again after a long break and has joined a knitting group to give her confidence but they aren't very beginner-friendly and she was too embarrassed to ask. Please find yourself another group!

In the meantime here are some photos to help guide you:

Find a nice blunt needle with a large eye

Select a long length of yarn of either the same or slightly thinner weight and thread the needle.  Remember that when you try the garment on your knitting will be stretched so be sure to allow for this (you could leave it attached to the ball if you like but make sure the cats are nowhere around when you try it on or chaos will ensue!). Using a contrast colour  is a good idea 'cos you won't get confused when you come to put the stitches back on the needle.

Insert the needle into the first stitch. You can slide each stitch off individually.....

.....or wait until they are all safely on the spare thread.  Try the garment on and when you've finished put the stitches back onto the needles and pull out the contrast thread. You'll soon get back into knitting and get your confidence back xxx

Whilst we're in the knit zone I'll just show what I started on Saturday night when my marathon brain needed something easy-peasy. It's Carbeth by Kate Davies and as soon as I saw it I knew I'd have to make it as I knitted a sweater in the same shape about 25 years ago and I loved it. My original was a pattern from Vogue International magazine. The sleeves were slightly different but it hung in the same 1960s way and looked fab on when I was nice and slim. I gave it to a charity shop when I put on weight as that sort of boxy style does not look good on a larger frame. I'm hoping it will look OK on my current shape!

This year I am definitely not going to buy any more yarn and am sorting through my stash with the intention of donating some to a Charity Shop or to a group who knit for charity. So I rummaged around and found some lovely aran-weight yarn by Artesano. Sadly the company ceased trading in 2016 which is a great shame as it's a lovely soft alpaca/wool yarn.

The true colour looks nothing like this!

I swatched using an aubergine colour then decided I'd knit using the cream as it's more versatile and wearable.

It has good stitch definition too.

Let's take a short walk

To make sure I'm in the best shape possible for my next my charity challenge, I'm doing lots of strengthening exercises along with Bootcamp nearby and weekly yoga sessions. On Bootcamp day I run the 2 miles there and back and last week there was a mist hanging in the valley so I took some photos on the way there.

My route takes me along a 'holloway' which is a sunken track lower than the land on either side. This particular one was once a bridle path, or so I'm told.

As I headed downwards the mist swirled upwards to meet me.

The colours seemed to be intensified by the strange light

The orchard of bare cider-apple trees looked rather eerie!

A blanket of mist had settled in the valley

As I passed the sheep I met a man and his dog, a lovely friendly black German Shepherd cross. We exchanged pleasantries and went our separate ways. About .25 mile later the dog appeared beside me and wouldn't go back no matter how much I tried to send him home. I looked back for his owner but there was no sign of him so I assumed he must be just out of sight around the bend. Then I started to wonder if something had happened to his owner and he needed help so I turned to head back and just as I did the man drove along the track in his car. He apologised and said the dog had never done that before. Perhaps I'm turning into a dog-whisperer!

Bootcamp was tough, as you'd expect and I really felt some of the exercises in my legs and bum and did wonder if it was wise to do that sort of workout the day before 2 hard ultra marathons. After a short warm-up we did 'circuits' of various exercises for 1 minute on each mat before moving around to the next mat for some different torture eg squats (ouch), press-ups, walking lunges (ouch), sit-ups, planks, bicep curls, plus several more things which I seem to have blanked from my memory! Then we got a 2 minute break before we repeated the whole process. Then the others did burpees which I can't do 'cos of the arthritis in my wrists so I had to do some jump squats in which you do squats with a weight (ouch and double ouch!). We finished with some gentle stretches and then I trotted off home. No, that's a lie, I walked!

The ultra marathons (the Cakeathon & Chocathon Challenges)

My weekend can be described as eat, sleep, run, repeat! I'd prepared our meals in advance, baked the cakes for the first event which was another Cakeathon and made sure Mike was OK with Esther's evening meal 'cos I knew I wouldn't be back in daylight. Both events were held over at Betteshanger country park, same as on NYD, but this time we were running on the trails which is always a bit tougher especially after rain. However, the weather was kind to us on both days and the trails had dried off completely by Sunday.

As we set off on Saturday my whole body said 'OUCH' but after about 20 minutes of gentle running the niggles disappeared and I settled into a nice comfortable pace. There were several of the 'usual suspects' there but also lots of new people which was nice. It's wonderful to see people achieving things they never thought possible.

I was trying out a different fuelling strategy and had filled my bottles with Tailwind which is used by lots of marathon runners. Did it make a difference? I'm not sure but I'll keep trying it for a few more to see.

I didn't stop at the aid station at all and just had my card punched after each lap and headed straight back out again. It was 8 laps for a marathon o 9+ laps for an ultra marathon. After I'd completed my 9th lap I still had enough time to go out for 1 more complete lap but instead opted for doing half a lap to make it up to 50k, which is 31.1 miles, as I didn't push myself too hard given that I had to do the same again the next day.

On Sunday morning everything hurt and I was not hopeful of a good time. However, once I'd started running and the niggles had eased out a bit I settled into a decent enough pace and was delighted to finish just 9 minutes slower than the day before. I even managed a sprint finish for the last .5 mile as I didn't want that pesky Nick, see below from a different race) to catch up with me. Go leggies!

I really must write about Nick as he's been doing the most amazing things since he last made an appearance on my blog.

All in all that was a very satisfactory weekend of running and it's given me some confidence for the task ahead.

I got a trophy for both my cakes - my usual banana loaf and 2nd prize for my vegan banana cake which I've perfected at last.

The ladies got sparkly cake medals whilst the men got a more manly version.

Sparkly cakes!

My finish times were 6:20:17 for day 1 and 6:29:24 for day 2 so only 9 minutes slower which was very pleasing indeed for 50k. 

Next weekend will be the same sort of thing only on a course which is not my favourite as I've fallen over there several times and it's hillier too. I shall be taking my walking poles with me just in case.

Happy News

Several years ago the charity I support re-branded itself from Alzheimer's Research Trust to Alzheimer's Research UK. This left me with a large quantity of tee shirts in various sizes that I couldn't donate to charity as they had the logo on and I had no idea what to do with them as it didn't seem right for them just to be recycled.

Then I met a fellow runner who collected tee shirts and took them to a Christian charity in Kiyindi, Uganda so I gave them to her. The other day she sent me this lovely photo and I was delighted to see them put to good use.

Marathon 72 of 100

Well actually it was what's known as an ultra-marathon of 50 miles. But who's counting - me!

It wasn't my first outing at this distance but this time the cut-off time for finishing was a strict 12 hours rather than the previous one which was 15 hours and I had been worrying about that for months. I found the cut-off time more scary than the distance and so had been pushing the pace in several of my marathons beforehand to get myself into the right frame of mind. I was physically and mentally prepared for this event so whatever happened I knew I'd done everything I could for it to be successful.

There were 2 events running simultaneously - the 50 miles challenge and the Fowlmead challenge, both with a 12 hour cut-off. This meant if you were struggling with the 50 miler you could drop down to the 12 hour event and still get a medal, although not as magnificent as the 50 mile medal. Plus, some people would be experimenting with increasing the distance they ran either as a build-up to marathon distance or perhaps going that little bit further into ultra territory.

There was to be a special celebration too - lovely Lisa was celebrating her 100th marathon. Now I've seen Lisa at lots of events and each time she has been wearing a flamingo hat. (you'll see it later!). She had asked that people wear pink, black or white for her theme and so a new hat was required!

But it looked far too boring for my liking and so the day before I got out my crochet hook to embellish it.

I started with a central motif and then added squares either side

Mike suggested I should finish it with a couple of triangles at each end which really finished it off nicely

A feather boa completed my look along with black long-sleeved top, Quest for the vest tee shirt and black leggings. I also added a couple of black beads to 2 of the squares to look like Flamingo eyes.

The weather forecast looked quite promising and I was relieved that the rain, which had been torrential for a few days beforehand, had abated when I left home at silly o'clock to drive the 1.5 hours to Betteshanger Country Park where the event was being held. Several of Traviss and Rachel's events are held there so I know the route quite well now which takes the stress out of searching for the venue. I arrived safely and pulled into the car park behind Kat and Jools and we trotted off to collect our numbers together.

They've got  a new barrier-less parking system in place called Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) technology  so there's no barrier to go through and you don't get a ticket. You can pay at the beginning of your visit, if you know how long you're going to be there, and so we did just that as I was worried that I'd forget to pay on the way out or the next day! All you had to do was enter your vehicle registration number, then select the length of your visit and then pay the fee. I wondered how this system would be administered if someone didn't pay? Do they have some sort of arrangement with the DVLA whereby they can obtain the details of the registered owner of a vehicle in order to contact them for payment?

I was a bit nervous and so went into hyper-active mode snapping photos of people at the start to distract myself.

Liz and Somei in the pink

Maryanne and Scotty. Although this was Maryanne's first time at the distance but she had only recently completed 7 marathons in 7 days so I knew she'd be fine (but in the end she was much better than "fine"!)

Lisa battling the breeze to set-up her gazebo

Becky (James's mum) and helpers getting the aid station ready

Kat's outfits are always this jolly and colourful

We were running on the cycle track, going round and round in circles of 2 miles so that meant 25 laps for the 50 miles. When Traviss did the briefing beforehand he told us to follow the line to get the correct distance but of course that wasn't always possible and me being me (and a bit of a Nature Nerd) I deviating a bit to look at pretty flowers and fauna. More details later.

These 2 photos pretty much sum up the track. Not glamorous, so you needed to adopt the right mindset, buckle down and just grind out the miles making sure you just keep moving forwards.

Here's Lisa in all her sparkly flamingo-pinkness! She had to run slightly more than marathon distance to claim her 100th marathon and then there was a presentation and celebration after the event. She had lots of friends and supporters to share the day with her and they seemed to have a fun time.

Before the run.......

.......and after (I love her flamingo hat!)

Lisa is an author and has just published her latest book entitled Your pace or mine and she'd generously brought some copies with her for us to buy at a reduced rate. She also signed everyone's copy with a personal message; here's mine:

The chocolate smear, from Lisa's fair hand, is proof that there was cake to celebrate even though it had all gone by the time I'd finished. 

Now for the running part. I mentioned earlier that I was worried about the cut-off and my training had been geared towards finishing in 11 hours although I hadn't shared this with anyone in case I jinxed it (yes, I know that's silly but that's how it was!). I was aiming to get to 25 mile mark in 5 hours or less as I would be slower in the second half.

We all had a card with 24 numbers on and each time we did  a lap it was punched through to show that we'd completed that lap. It looked quite daunting at the start but became easier when you'd got a few holes punched.

It was rather cool when we set off and I had my feather boa wrapped around my neck to keep me warm. However, I seemed to be losing quite a few feathers leaving a trail  behind me and I kept seeing fluorescent pink feathers blowing away! There were several people wearing them and so more and more feathers escaped into the wild so after 5 laps I took it off and stuffed it into my bag. I tried to pick up as many as I could on my last lap but I'm sure some must have escaped into the wild.

There was plenty of banter en-route but people were mostly in their own personal zone as you really needed to focus on getting the job done without too many distractions. Mike phoned me after 4.5 hours to see how I was getting on and he was amazed and delighted that I was  feeling strong and  approaching the halfway point. I reached halfway in 4:45 and marathon distance in just over 5 hours. My Garmin at this point was showing and extra mile and Traviss told me off for deviating from the line. In my defence I had spotted a grass snake taking advantage of a bit of sunshine and there had been a couple of interesting flowers to investigate and I was powerless to resist.

James was on a roll and was knocking out the laps at an amazing rate. His target was to finish in 7.5 hours and he was so far ahead of schedule, and well in the lead, that he jogged alongside me and we chatted for a while. As we we were heading up the slope at the end of his last lap there was a shout from behind and the runner in second place was catching us up so James put on a sprint finish and beat him by 8 seconds. Phew. His time was a stonking 7:20:39. That boy's on fire at the moment! He's such a lovely person and has some fantastic personal challenges going on this year and I feel privileged to share some miles with him.

Mike phoned me again mid-afternoon and was very pleased at my progress. We didn't chat for long as I didn't want to lose momentum but it was lovely to hear his voice and it gave me a nice boost.

The weather was mostly kind to us, overcast with bursts of sunshine but with a slight breeze. In the later stages the wind got a bit stronger and on one section, before the end of each lap, we were running into it. I noticed that my breathing was getting a bit laboured and I developed that stupid dry cough that fellow asthmatics know only too well. I decided to walk that section on the remaining 5 laps which didn't really make much difference to my time as I'd slowed down by then anyway. There was a short rain shower at one point which had me reaching for my jacket but it didn't last long. Overall we were very lucky with the weather.

On my last lap I decided to walk more just to soak up the atmosphere. My Garmin beeped at 50 miles and when I looked it was showing 10:17. Oh my goodness, I was so excited I forgot to take a photo of it but managed this shot at 50.50:

 

My final time was 10:39:53 and my Garmin told me I'd completed 51.37 miles. Oh my goodness, that was a pb by 2 hours 40 minutes. Not only had a smashed my previous time but I was comfortably under 11 hours. I never expected to do quite so well and I'm absolutely over the moon.

There were many outstanding performances on the day but inevitably some people didn't achieve their goals and were disappointed which is always a shame. It's wonderful to see everyone pushing themselves to do better and forcing themselves to carry on even when they're nursing an injury which would have most people sitting at home resting (Philip!!!).

This fabulous medal has been given pride of place in my ever-growing collection of medals. Thank you to everyone for sharing some of my journey to 100 marathons.

How's that for an awesome chunk of metal!

Now I've got a few days rest until my next marathon.

Marathon 67 and when being wrong is alright by me!

Good news alert - contrary to the prognosis of her surgeon, Denny has pulled through the really awful time she had last week, when we really did think we might lose her, and has now been removed from the 'critical list'. Although she still has a long way to go, and her time in hospital can only be measured in weeks/months rather than days, this is excellent news and I have breathed a huge sigh of relief. Thank you so much to everyone who sent her positive thoughts and prayers.

Now it's time for another race report for my 67th marathon. This was The Good, the Bad & The Ugly marathon celebrating 50 years since the release of the film of the same name and with a suitably themed medal (which you'll see later). Traviss had encouraged people to wear a cowboy hat and/or poncho but it was too windy for the hat and so I stuck with my usual cap and I even had to hold on to it several times as I felt the wind lift it up!

A splendid hat which was quickly replaced with a woolly cap once we got outside!

Greg rocked the Clint look…...

…whilst his lovely bride-to-be Janet came dressed as a saloon girl

It was Gary's 100th marathon so we all signed his race number

Gary was too busy pretending to do Tommy Cooper tricks to notice what I was doing!

I missed his 100 club presentation but caught up with him the car park where he struck a pose.

Well done Gary!

Traviss gave us a briefing outside the cafe then we headed up to the start.

Maryanne and Scotty were out all day supporting us - I took some photos of them inside but they didn't come out very well. Thanks for all the hugs Maryanne (I loved seeing Scotty taking the doggies for a walk too and Katie is really sweet). 

The park is being redeveloped to include a new Visitor Centre

The route was quite different from the trails we've used there before as it was being held on the cycle track which Traviss had hired for the day.  The reason I wanted to run this marathon was that I shall be running a 50 mile ultra there in April so I wanted to get a feel for the route and the surface. Also I wanted to experience the loops, which were very short at only 2 miles each, and the elevation of the site. I'd prefer longer loops for an ultra so this was as much a test of my mind as of my body/pace.

Traviss and Rachel were using a band system to count the laps we'd done and when we collected our race number we were given a carabiner (a clip) with 12 bands on. Each time we completed a lap we had to throw a band into a box and when they were all gone we had to pick up a flag and carry that for our last lap. I did struggle to get my bands off the clip each time which caused much hilarity for the marshalls as I was concentrating so hard trying to get each band off that I zigzagged all over the place!

As always, I'll start with the weather. It was WINDY and the forecast was for gusts up to 50mph. Deep joy, at least it wasn't raining this time I visited Betteshanger Country Park. The temperature was OK but the strong wind made me keep my lightweight jacket on for over 1/2 the marathon.

I'd heard that the track was fast and people who'd run another marathon there the day before had recorded good times so my plan was to go out as fast as felt comfortable (within reason of course!) until the halfway point and then do the remainder at my ultra pace.

I was running really strongly for several laps and then was joined by James who was taking things easier because he'd won the marathon the day before. Chatting always helps pass the miles. As usual there was lots of banter and fun with fellow runners and plenty of hugging too. Paul, aka Mr Ambassador, was busy walking around and high-fiving us and waving a flag.

The wind was really gusting on a couple of the exposed sections of each loop; sometimes from the side and sometimes we were running into it which really sapped your strength. I spent a lot of time with my buff (the purple thing round my neck which you can see in the photo above) pulled over my nose and mouth as the wind really affects my asthma and my breathing can become very laboured.

I reached the halfway point in 2:08 but did I slow down then? No, of course I didn't, I decided to push on a bit longer for a couple more laps and when I found I was in potential PB territory at 20 miles (3:25) I had another dilemma - slow down and be sensible or push on regardless bearing in mind I do not want to pick up an injury as I have 2 marathons next weekend!

Well, common sense prevailed and I tried out my ultra pace for the last 3 laps to finish in 4:56:12 (I did actually have a few minutes break at the aid station where Dee had saved me some of her amazing brownies with cream eggs in - oh my, it was wonderful. It was so wonderful that I knew I had to save half of it for Mike so I wrapped it up and kept it safe in my pocket for him (believe me, that took an awful lot of willpower and love!!!).

Another massive chunk of a medal for my collection!

After I'd finished Rachel asked me what I thought of the course as she knows my aim is the ultra there and I said I thought it was good and it's given me confidence for the task ahead so I'm really glad I did it.

I've jotted down my thoughts to help me focus:

- I think the surface is good as the tarmac has a degree of springiness to it so it's not too hard on your feet.

- It's a safe environment, there's no navigation and there's a super aid station every 2 miles manned by wonderful supportive people who will gladly hug sweaty runners when needed and administer cake/chocolate/biscuits/drinks as required.

- The laps are short. This is either good or bad depending on how you view it. Ideally I'd choose longer laps as starting with 25 bands (?) might make it seem rather daunting. Having said that, it's just the same as the Kent Roadrunner marathon where you get 20 bands just for a marathon and I haven't had any problems with that!

- The long drag of an incline, which seemed like a slight undulation after 26 miles, will probably feel like a HILL after 40 miles.

- The weather will play a part for sure. It could be windy as the site is exposed or it could be baking hot, either of which could have a bearing on my time (there is a 12 hour cut-off).

- I've been there so many times now that there isn't much left to see. Oh quit whingeing Susie, you always find something to interest you whether it's flora, fauna, patterns or people!

Will you still need me, will you still feed me…...

…..when I'm 64? Not my age in this case, just marathon 64; or rather, another Ultra.

Yesterday was the Chocathon Challenge over at the lovely Betteshanger Country Park which has changed its name from Fowlmead Country Park when I ran it the first time back in 2014. This was my 2nd visit this month but this time the conditions underfoot were not as bad thank goodness - although it was wet and a bit slippery in places this time we didn't have to wade through massive puddles. It was dull and drizzly for the most part with a strong wind whipping up in the last couple of hours.

The day before had been spent mostly preparing home-alone-husband fare:

Don't worry, he didn't eat them all in one day!!! The cake was actually for the race but didn't make it to the event but it didn't matter as there was plenty of cake leftover from the previous day's Cakeathon.

The weather forecast didn't look as bad as the last time I visited and although it was drizzly for most of the time, with the wind whipping up for the last couple of hours, conditions underfoot were much better. Last time there were massive puddles to wade through or go around but this time they were much smaller although some parts of the path became quiet slippery after we'd run over them a few times.

It was difficult to gauge how many layers to wear and so I put 2 on with a view to removing one if I got too hot, which of course I did after just one lap!

…and they're off.

Although a few of the usual suspects were taking part, there were lots of people I didn't recognise who were attracted by the fun nature of the event. Out of the 136 people taking part, 4 of us did an Ultra, 43 did marathon distance, 14 did between between 1/2 & marathon distance, 35 did 1/2 marathon distance, 20 did 2 laps & 20 did one 1 lap so there was a real mix. Some people were building up to marathon distance and others just starting running in a safe and supportive environment. 

The only downside to this was that the field really shrank as people finished and at one point it felt as if there was only Gary and me out on the course - we ran past eachother at different points on the loop without having seen anyone else inbetween even though I knew there were others still out there!

I had a plan on how I was going to run this event - start strong and run at a good pace for as long as it felt OK, slow down to recover and take photos then speed up for the last lap. Why speed up on the last lap? To train myself to run hard on tired legs. Once your legs start to tire it's all too easy to settle into the 'shuffle' but as I'm training for the 50 miler with a tough cut-off I need to be able to dig deep and put on a bit of a spurt if need-be. I've also altered my mind-set so that 13.1 miles is no longer my halfway point and 26.2 miles is not the end. This is really important as your mind can play all sorts of tricks on you during an ultra.

Each lap was 4.37 miles so my target was 45 minutes for as many as I could muster. That all went out of the window when I hooked up with speedy Ellan on the first lap. She was doing 4 laps on the day as she needed to get home early. Our chatter completely took my mind off the fact that I was going a tad too fast and when we reached the start/finish area we'd done it in just under 40 minutes - oops! I stopped to take off a layer and have a drink/eat chocolate/cake before heading off again.

As always, there was plenty of banter with fellow runners on each lap which is one of the beauties of an out and back loop. Everyone is so friendly and it's wonderful to see people achieving their own goals.

For the marathon it was 6 loops and I wanted to do 7 loops for an ultra. At the end of each loop I stopped briefly for some water and cake (Jackie, your mum's gluten-free orange cake was my favourite!) or chocolate and I managed 4 laps in bang on 45 minutes apiece and took 3 hours to get over halfway which really pleased me. The next 2 laps I slowed down a bit and took a few photos for my Fair Isle project (see below) then on the final lap I upped my pace and ran it much harder. I was delighted that my legs responded well and I crossed the line in 6:09:01 which is 26:09 minutes faster than 2 weeks ago!

Happy to finish

Mike couldn't believe it when I phoned him much earlier than expected and I had a big grin on my face all the way home.

Yay, a PB! (thanks to Philip and Dee for the photos)

Now this being the Chocathon and a Traviss event, it was no surprise that the goody bag was exceptional. Just look at all these goodies:

Mike soon polished off the chocolate stout.

I got another piece of fabulous bling complete with special badges for doing an ultra and getting a PB!

My next event is in 12 days time so I'll be putting in some quality training runs in the meantime. Now for some photos, mostly focused on my Fair Isle project.

This beautiful lake always catches my eye as the water is this amazing turquoise colour. On this occasion I loved the turquoise set against the beige of the reeds, the darkness of the evergreen trees and the silver/grey of the Birches standing in front. The ripples on the water also made a pleasing pattern.

More Silver Birches but showing the twiggy branches which are a rusty/pink colour. The bright green grass in the foreground really zings and I like the moody sky behind the upper branches.

There was an abundance of  Buddleias which self-seed like mad and my eye was drawn to the dark brown seedheads:

A rather moody image of the dark brown stems against the grey sky

Look how the rusty brown stands out against the green of the grass and moss whilst the leaves don't show up very well…..

…..whereas this little beauty had silvery-blue leaves and shone!

Moss and lichen were in abundance and their yellowy greens really zinged:

Coppery leaves on the ground here

The grey-black of the old slag heaps  seemed to intensify the colours and would make a good background for colourwork knitting.

On the craft front I'm still doing Mike's mittens when my fingers work properly, working on a Bargello sampler and preparing for the start of my crazy quilt.