The run up to the marathon

Well, so much happened last week that I couldn't keep up with it all. There were interviews with the Press, a Press Photo Call at the Thistle Hotel by Tower Bridge in London, a live interview on BBC Radio London & a filmed interview with BBC South East Today.

On friday morning, 4 London Marathoners who each hoped to get a Guinness World Record on Sunday met in the Press Area of the FLM suite at the Thistle Hotel, Tower Bridge, London. Captain Sally Orange (or maybe Fizzy Orange is a better name as she is a Physiotherapist in the army) intends to be the fastest marathoner dressed as a superhero (Supergirl in her case), Gary Speakman wants to complete the fastest marathon dressed in full fireman's uniform (this included his fireman's boots, very heavy jacket and carrying a full tank of oxygen) and Angus Macfadyen wants to complete the fastest marathon on crutches (he had a terrible accident last year which left one of his legs in plaster for many months so he is raising money for the victims of landmines).

Here we all are dressed in our costumes to face the Press photographers. We've been joined by Ian Sharman who wants to complete the fastest marathon dressed as Elvis and Lesley Isle who already holds the record for the oldest heart pacemaker (25 years).

Lesley proudly holding her certificate from the GWR people.











Here I am showing my knitting to Amarilis Espanoza, the Communications Officer from the GWR team. She was laughing loudly as we'd just had to run towards the cameras while they clicked away and it was the first time she'd actually seen me knitting whilst I ran!

Sally Gunnell, Matt Dawson and Dee Caffari pose for the cameras. It made me chuckle when one of the photographers shouted out to them "pretend you know eachother!"

There are a few more photos on the Press photo website

After the photo shoot we had a few hours to spare so I went to the marathon EXPO in the Excel centre to collect my running number and timing chip. Thankfully it wasn't too busy there so I had a little look round at the various stands and then headed off for a bite to eat.

Next it was back to the Thistle Hotel to meet up with Sally Orange so we could go over to the BBC studios on Marylebone High Street for a live radio interview with Bob Mills (standing in for Danny Baker).




Mike had gone there already and was waiting for us in the reception area. It took ages to get there as the traffic was really bad. Bob had already been talking about "marathon widows" and had people phoning in about their experiences of supporting their running spouses. As we were about to go in he was talking about a lady who had phoned in to talk about supporting her husband in the New York marathon. She said she thought she was going to NY for a nice holiday but spent all her time dashing from one vantage point to another to get a good view of her husband, pass him his special drinks and cheer him on. Bob said that the non-running spouses are the real heros and as he said that Mike was nodding and giving him the 'thumbs up' sign. Well, that served him right because he got ushered, rather reluctantly, into the studio to join in the interview. We had such a laugh. Bob was very funny and had me in stitches all the time. The 20 minute slot flew by as we all joined in the light-hearted banter. Both Sally and I were given time to talk about what we were doing and our charities and it was a very worthwhile exercise. I was thrilled that Mike got to take part in it as well as he's been such a fantastic support throughout all of this.

This article appeared on the BBC website and here's a link to the article on BBC South East Today BBC South East Today The film spot went out on the Friday morning and lunchtime news but was cut down for the evening session. One of our neighbours spotted it and very kindly recorded it in its entirety for us so we saw me and my knitting in all our glory! Another neighbour phoned to say that he was sitting having his brekkie and couldn't believe it when I suddenly appeared on-screen running along our lane!


The lady from the BBC who came to interview and film me was Susana Mendonca and she came armed with a gigantic tripod, camera and microphones. She took so many shots from different angles that I couldn't possibly put them all on here so I've selected a few from the photos Mike took. She filmed me sitting knitting outside at a table (which is where she interviewed me too).




Then again inside - I think the caption should be "oh my, that's a big furry thing!" She spent ages filming me, from every angle, putting on my running shoes and doing up the laces.

In the middle of it all I got a call from Garinda from BBC Southern Counties Radio. Malcolm Wicks, the Science Minister, had announced that he thought people with Alzheimer's should be 'tagged' and she wanted my reaction to it (I've been interviewed by them several times before so she thought I could give my gut reaction). I hadn't heard about it so I had to go off and find out what he'd said which you can read about here make some notes and be ready to do a live interview at 5pm. Whilst I was doing the interview, Susana busied herself by filming some knitwear I'd produced and a couple of photos of my mum (I really wanted people to see her because it makes everything more real.







Then it was back outside to film me running backwards and forwards along the lane. By this time she'd been with us for about 3 hours and the cats were peeping out of the windows at us because it was their teatime!






After that we went into the field again and I ran backwards and forwards again many, many times. This time I was being watched by the horses who came galloping over because it was their teatime too. I think Red's saying "Look at me, I'm gorgeous, now have you got food in that camera case?"


Next Susana wanted to do her own 'piece to camera' where she summarised what I'm hoping to achieve. She wanted me to run around in a very small circle behind her whilst knitting. It is very hard to run properly in a tight circle and I felt very silly and Mike and I were getting a bit giggly by now because it was quite surreal - it was like a sketch from Monty Python! Finally, she filmed me doing some stretches, again from every different angle.

There were articles in The Argus and the Battle Observer (with a photo on the front cover!) on friday. Both these articles lead to more phone calls and some more donations from local people. All good stuff and great publicity for the Alzheimer's Research Trust

It's arrived!

How exciting, my pattern for the glove KAL arrived this morning all the way from Kansas City. Pity the wool I ordered from the UK at the same time hasn't arrived! Actually, I did get an email yesterday telling me it's been dispatched so hopefully it will be with me tomorrow. I can hardly wait as I have so much nervous energy this week that I need something else to occupy me. I'm still crocheting the bag but I don't seem able to concentrate on one thing for long at the moment.


Also, I just popped over to see Nicki at www.laughinghens.com to get this lovely purple yarn as part of my London Marathon scarf. Purple is the colour of the Alzheimer's Research Trust so it seemed appropriate to have it knitted into the scarf somehow.

Mary Massage Lady

I thought it was about time that Mary got a mention on here because she helps keep me injury-free. She may look all sweet and innocent here but she has the boniest fingers in the world, which she uses to great effect in torturing me!

You see, Mary provides me with what's known as a Sports Massage, aka soft tissue massage. Now don't be mislead by the word 'massage' which implies something gentle and soothing - it's anything but, as anyone who has experienced it will attest. However, what Mary does is find any stiff bits in my muscles and works deep down in the tissue to loosen them off. I first met her nearly 3 years ago when I was having terrible trouble with running related injuries and she worked miracles on my tight ITB, or Illiotibial Band (which is like an elastic band running from the hip to the knee). It was the most painful treatment I have ever had but it worked really well and now I trust Mary to spot any problems before they get too bad.

Yesterday I went to see her for a general pre-marathon loosening session. She did some work on my neck and back, both of which have been very stiff lately (probably pre-race tension) and just worked all over my legs to make sure I'm in good shape for the big day. I'd recommend it to anyone and would hate to miss my sessions.

Thanks Mary, you're a star for keeping me mobile (even though I squeal and grumble when you dig deep into my muscles)!

BBC Sport and some great yarn news

Well, that's my bubble burst! On friday evening I had a phone call from a lovely director from BBC Sport who said that she wanted to come and film me knitting and running and do an interview with Phil Jones (who's a commentator on lots of the athletics programmes). She said she was also going to interview another lady who is a pensioner and is undertaking all sorts of daredevil sports so the plan was to film me in the morning and her in the afternoon.

They say that pride comes before a fall. How true! I emailed everyone I could think of to tell them about it and of course they were all excited for me. Then this evening I get the 'fall' part - Sharon phoned to say that they can't make it. Instead the cameramen have been instructed to look out for me during the race and try to pick me out. She was very kind in letting me down and said that she'd try and get me in shot at the finish and hopefully we'll meet up at the start too.

Hey ho, that's show business!

It's not all bad news though because I've just had an email from Angel yarns telling me that the wool for the Glove KAL has been dispatched. Now I've just got to wait for the pattern to arrive from Kansas City.

A new World Record?

Well, again something amazing has happened. Following the article in the Daily Express, I was forwarded an email from the people at Guinness World Records (tm) who will be present at the London Marathon. I completed their questionnaire and didn't really expect to hear back from them but today I have confirmation that I can attempt a record for a new category entitled "Longest Scarf Knitted whilst running a marathon". How cool is that?!!!!!

There are lots of guidelines to follow and my progress will be monitored by 'spotters' positioned around the 26.2 mile course and my position can be established from the micro chip attached to my running shoe. Then, when I get to the finish there will be an Adjudicator to measure the scarf, check the quality and then (hopefully) issue me with a certificate. Crikey. Now all I've got to do is run a marathon whilst knitting (whose stupid idea was that?).

I'm a Centrefold Girl

Well, at last I can claim to be a centrefold girl as the Daily Express has printed the article about me and 2 other runners on the centre pages today! The article was entitled "We're Running For Glory".

It's not the most flattering photo of me but the story is OK (albeit edited a great deal) and they give details of the Alzheimer's Research Trust and my 'justgiving' page. This copy was kindly scanned in by Ceal from the Runner's World forum.

I was pleased that they also printed a photo of my mum that was taken at her 80th birthday party (you can see half of her on the bottom right of the photo!).

Here's the text - you can read it if you click on it.

Taper Time again!

Yesterday I completed my final 20 mile run before the London Marathon on 22nd April. I was a bit sluggish because it was very hot by the time I was finishing, even though I set out at 6:30am to try and avoid the heat.

I'm finding it difficult to get my tapering and recovery just right - usually I'd have a nice relaxed 3 week taper before a marathon, but because my goal is actually the 50 miler in July I have to make sure I don't lose too much fitness in the process. Then, after the marathon I would normally take a couple of weeks to recover and just do gentle plodding over shorter distances but I can't afford to do that as I need to keep my milage base right up. What I've done so far is to taper for 2 weeks, run the marathon (or ultra), take a week of gentle plodding and then increase my mileage right up to 50+ miles again. So far my body has coped OK. Fingers crossed it stays that way!

They don't knit but they're very sweet

I thought it was about time to introduce by bunnies. Tango is an Orange Rex and Bluebelle is a Blue Rex. Aren't they gorgeous?! Their coats are very soft and they have a lovely nature. I know they have nothing to do with either running or knitting but they're so sweet it seemed rude not to include them on here.

Daily Express and Simply Knitting magazine

Now I am excited.

I've just had an email from Sarah, the journalist who wrote the piece for the Daily Express to say that the article is due to appear in the LifeStyle section on 3rd April (thankfully not 1st April or I might be a little suspicious!!!). Let's hope it doesn't get scrapped for another article.

Also, Rachael emailed me to say she's written about what I'm doing in her piece for the April issue of Simply Knitting magazine.

What a lovely day!

Never drink alcohol before a big run!

OK, I confess, on friday night I had a few glasses of a rather nice rose wine. I know it was ill-advised as I had a big running weekend ahead of me. Saturday was 10 miles and Sunday was 20 miles and you just can't do that comfortably after over-indulging! Believe me, my 10 miler was not comfortable and I really had to force myself out of the door. Today, I managed my 20 miler but it certainly wasn't easy - the first 12 miles were cross-country and although very pleasant I was going really slowly. Thankfully I managed to get my brain into gear for the final 8 miles and I feel quite positive now. I must try not to drink wine on a Friday evening!!!

The yarn for my latest project arrived on Friday so I've made a start. This is the base for the Rowan crochet bag. I wasn't sure about the colour of the yarn when it arrived (it's called 'khaki' but is more on the grey side) but I'm used to it now. The pattern is really easy so far and quick to crochet. Although the yarn is very nice and soft to handle, it is disappointing that there have been several joins in the first ball. The second ball seems just as bad. This is not a cheap yarn and it is very annoying to find joins like that. Naughty Rowan.

The Paparazzi Man

If I use this enormous lens then surely I'll be able to fit her in the frame.

(You can see Red and Kizzy, my horses, in the background)





I know she's around here somewhere.








Come back here you Diva!








Look, I can knit with my eyes closed. See how well that orange Debbie Bliss yarn shows up against my purple vest.






Ta Da! Running and knitting.







With thanks to my hubby Mike for taking these great pics. to remind us of the fun we had.

All Systems Go

Last Friday I got a phone call, out of the blue, from the Alzheimer's Research Trust asking if I'd mind being interviewed by a journalist from the Daily Express. Her name is Sarah and she'd been reading my blog about knitting my way round the London Marathon and wanted to include me in an article for their Lifestyle section. Crikey! Well, I could hardly say 'no' as it would be great publicity for the Alzheimer's Research Trust. Sarah telephoned me and we had a good old chat about how I started running and mum's illness etc. Then the Editor from the newspaper phoned and asked if their photographer could come and take a photo of me running and knitting so we arranged for him to come tomorrow. She asked that I use a bright coloured wool so it would show up in the paper.

That's when I realised I needed to get myself along to see Nicki at Laughing Hens to collect the yarn and needles she promised me. Nicki was great and let me rummage through the yarns to see what caught my eye. I knew I wanted red and orange so the Debbie Bliss 'SoHo' yarn is ideal as it will show up well when I'm running but I also wanted a contrast colour. Thankfully I spotted the lovely turquoise Colinette yarn called 'One Zero'. So here it is together with some nice wooden needles.

A massive THANK YOU to Nicki for providing me with the yarn and needles.

It just gets better and better!

I can't believe it's been so long since I last updated my progress. I ran the Hastings 1/2 marathon last weekend which was great fun - the crowd support is second to none. I still haven't received the yarn for my next project from Kangeroo.com, which is very frustrating, so I've crocheted a cushion cover for my kitchen stool whilst I'm waiting.

Here's my kitchen stool looking all sad and cold without his lovely soft cushion pad. It's very trendy and good looking but it's jolly cold on your bottom so I decided to crochet a cushion cover!







Here it is sporting a lovely new cover in various shades of red.










This is what it looks like from above. I went into my local yarn shop in Battle and picked up lots of different yarns in red. There's a Noro one which has lots of different shades in it, an eyelash yarn with lovely straggly thin bits for soft texture, a ball of 'Fizz' which has chunkier strips in a see-through fabric and a plain burgundy wool yarn. I just worked in double crochet going round and round, changing my yarn when I'd got a good block of one sort. I think it looks quite effective and it was a doddle to make.

With regard to the London Marathon, well it's great news - Stitch and Bitch London are going to join the Cast-Off knitting group for a Knit-Out at the finish. We're trying to find the best place for them to be and the nice people at Race HQ have suggested that they set up in the 'reunion' area in Horseguards Parade. I need to investigate the logistics of this as it gets really congested there with 30,000 plus runners staggering over the finishing line. I'm getting really excited about it now!

I've been busy distributing a newsletter to all my neighbours so they know what I'm up to and asking that they sponsor me if possible. They have been really supportive over the past couple of years since I started fund-raising for the Alzheimer's Research Trust and even if they don't sponsor me they always give me a cheery smile and a wave if they see me out running. It can really make a difference to see a friendly face and hear an encouraging word when I'm getting tired towards the end of a 20 mile training run. It's great to know that they're all willing me on.

This little button shows that I have been accepted into a knitting web-ring. How exciting, I've gone global!

Meet the Mogs!

Here we have Tinker, our lovely ginger boy. He'll be 11 in May. He's very pretty but not very bright!






This is Barney. He's the baby and will be 8 in June. He was rescued by the RSPCA from an animal experimentation unit and he has a number tattooed in his ear.

Knitting frustrations and the Steyning Stinger

Grrrrrr, I ordered my copy of the Rowan book and yarn I was looking at online and only the book has arrived with a note saying that the yarn is out of stock. That is so frustrating as the site said they had 'unlimited supplies'!!!! I telephoned the company and was told that as it is a new yarn they are still awaiting a delivery from Rowan. Hey ho.


Yesterday was the Steyning Stinger marathon. The weather was vile with gale-force wind and rain/hail for 21 of the 26.2 miles. I have never been so wet and cold! Also, the ground was incredibly slippery as it was chalk, flint and mud, so I decided to walk up and down some of the steeper slopes (I can't afford to pick up a major injury so have to be a bit more sensible!) which meant I was even slower than usual. Most of the time I felt like Bambi with my legs going every which way. My left big toe developed a painful blister at mile 4 and by mile 11 it was excruciating. It became a case of pain management and I found that if I kept my feet wet and muddy that it didn't hurt as much!

Many thanks to Anthony, the lovely photographer, who took this photo of me around the 4 mile mark after the first hill (I'm only slightly muddy and it hadn't started raining yet so I look reasonably respectable). He takes good quality photos at many sporting events and his prices are really competitive. You can view his website at antbliss.com

Although it was jolly tough I really enjoyed it in a perverse sort of way and I was smiling like mad when I finished. I got a cute little engraved glass as a memento and they provided a yummy meal afterwards. They even had a special veggie menu so I didn't feel like a nuisance. My final time was 6 hours 34 minutes 6 seconds which is a lot slower than I would usually manage. I suppose I hadn't fully recovered from the Draycote ultra and I was being extra careful because of the slippy conditions underfoot.

Now I've got 6 weeks to get myself together for the London marathon so I shall be taking my knitting out on my next run to get some practice in!

A couple more Photos from the Draycote Ultra Marathon

Deep in serious conversation with Ruth (aka 'Plodding Hippo' from the Runner's World forum) at the start, with 'Ultra Gobi' in the foreground (he was disappointed with his finishing time of around 4 hours 10 minutes!!!!!).

 It's obligatory to have a silly name if you post on Runner's World so you sometimes get strange looks when you're cheering eachother on in races!

Heading towards the finish line and still smiling!

I Feel Like Knitting Tonight

Well, I'll have to admit it - I've lost interest in the second fingerless glove I've been knitting for Mike so it's been stuffed into my 'work in progress' bag to be resumed in the future. So now I need a new project to inspire me and I've been looking at the latest Rowan magazine, number 41.


This caught my eye immediately. It looks like lots of crocheted flowers and rounds joined together. I haven't done any crochet for a few months so this really appeals.









Another crochet design for this rather attractive little bag. It could look really summery in the right yarn.


This wrap looks very interesting as it's the sort of thing you can pick up and do a bit on every so often. A good "summer evening on the porch with a glass of wine" type of project.

Hmmm, I can feel my credit card trembling as I type!

My First Ever Ultra-Marathon

Hoorah, that's 35 miles done and dusted in 7 hours, 36 minutes 40 seconds and I ran all the way except for brief stops at the feed station. This is me back at home wearing my bright yellow race tee shirt and feeling rather proud. I wish I'd got a medal too but they didn't give one.





























Here are a couple of photos showing part of the reservoir that we ran round in Draycote Country Park - 7 and a bit times to be precise. Each circuit was 4.71 miles so we had to run a sort of dog leg to make up the difference. The weather was kind to us and it was really quite warm for the first few hours with just a gentle breeze along one exposed side of the water. One side was undulating and the inclines felt like mountains later in the race. Sadly I didn't take the photos in the morning when it was sunny, but waited until later in the day when it went a bit cloudy and misty!

How was it? Well, it was tough, fun, demanding, exhilarating and a massive effort all rolled into one day. As it was my first venture over 26.2 miles it was a bit of an unknown entity. I got my pacing just right up to the 20 mile mark which I passed in bang on 4 hours. About 2 miles later I had a bit of a wobble and slowed right down for a few miles. It's times like that you need to dig deep and use your mental stamina and after a bit of a cry and an encouraging phone call from my hubby I managed to get myself back on track.

I learned some important lessons from the experience:

- An ultra marathon is not like an ordinary marathon of 26.2 miles with extra miles tacked on the end - it is a whole different ball game and requires a very different approach. When I do the Kent 50 mile Challenge in July I will have to run for another 17.4 miles on top of what I ran at Draycote. I think I've got some serious training to do!!!!!

- I need to do some work on my neck and shoulders as they were incredibly stiff at the end. Also, my arms ached terribly from being held in position for so long. This will be really important in the London Marathon when I'm knitting at the same time.

- My core muscles need strengthening. Towards the end I was finding the downhill sections really difficult and was getting pains in my tummy muscles. The uphill sections were fine, oddly enough.

Woman's Weekly Magazine

How exciting, the interview I gave for Woman's Weekly magazine has appeared in this week's issue. The article is entitled 'Marvellous Mum' and appears on page 24. It was about the special things I remember about mum and what I'm now doing in her memory to help the Alzheimer's Research Trust. There's a lovely photo of mum aged 77 digging in our garden when she first moved in with us. It's one of my favourites as it summed up her practical attitude to things which is one of her greatest gifts to me. There's another photo of her taken on her 80th birthday and then one of us together which was taken in the mid 1980s (please ignore my Crystal Tips hairstyle and enormous glasses!). I wish I could scan them into my computer but I haven't got a scanner.

The magazine very kindly also put details of the ART website and my fund-raising page at the end of the article, so I hope people will go and take a look at the wonderful work they do.