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!

Ta da!

I decided I should get Mike to take a photo of the finished item even though I'm not looking my sparkling best - wadd'yamean that was 30 years ago?!!!!  The colours aren't very vibrant in this photo but in real life the deep purple and sharp green combo really zings and I love the brooch as a closure.

The finished shawlette

Next time I wear this I want to be feeling really good.  I've got until I get up at 4am tomorrow to decide whether I'm fit to do the South Downs marathon as I still can't make my mind up.  It's a 2.5 hour drive there as it's a long way away.  I really don't want to let people down by pulling out even though I know I could just reschedule my marathons and do an extra one in the Autumn.  Decisions, decisions.  I'm sure I'll know what to do when the time arrives.

Another moody sky at 8pm last night

When we opened the local paper today we had a laugh as there were photos from all the local Jubilee celebrations and this photo of me appeared with the caption "Every village needs a Princess"!

What an expression!

You can see Mike behind me on the left wearing a grey jacket and carrying an umbrella.  He too was dressed in red, white & blue - red tee under a white shirt and blue trousers.

May I present Turbohaler

Turbohaler in all his glory

Well, here's a photo I never dreamt I'd be posting, that's for sure!  The previous inhaler I'd been given to help me breath did very little and I've felt really grotty for 2 weeks.  Unable to run up hills I had to run the flat bits and downhill bits of my routes and then walk up the hills as I simply couldn't get my breath at all.

So off I trotted back to the quack who said that although my spirometry test had been inconclusive, my breath-flow chart did suggest that I have asthma.  Deep joy.  Enter Turbohaler, an inhaler containing a delightful  mix of steroid and something to help open my airways.  I also have a follow-up appointment at the asthma management clinic.  Poo.  Although this is a blow it makes sense of some of the breathing problems I've had over the years and have just carried on without worrying.  It's just that now it has a name and I am feeling somewhat under the weather.

Turbohaler is certainly more effective than the previous one and I managed a good run the other day but, and it is a big 'but', I have a marathon scheduled for this weekend.  It is a tough one (why do I always pick tough off-road marathons?!) across the South Downs and there are many hills to traverse.  I would probably walk a lot of the steep uphills anyway but am I in good enough shape to last the distance? - I'm not too sure.  I have 2 more days to make my decision and if I do decide not to do it then I shall have to find another marathon in the autumn to make up my total of 5.

My Harlequin shawlette is finished and I am very pleased with the result.  I've made several modifications to the pattern to suit my yarn and how I wanted it to look.  

Untidy edges

I felt the finished edges looked rather untidy and it's not just because of the yarn I used - I checked out the photos in the book and all the edges look decidedly wavy, even in the thick yarn that was used.

Tidy edges

My solution was simple - a row of double crochet all the way round.  It really has made it so much neater and unified the colours.

My first attempt at entrelac

You will notice that it is not just a rectangle like a scarf as in the pattern.  I wanted a more fitted shape that would sit comfortably on my shoulders.  So I used 5mm needles for the bottom half and then went down to 4.5mm for the rest and it's worked out really well.

Possible fasteners

As a closure, the pattern uses a button with a crocheted loop so I had a rummage in my button collection and found this lovely old  floral button (left).   Although I love it I think I prefer the square brooch on the right.  It's from the 1950s and belonged to my mum and I think it looks good with the squares of the entrelac.  The bonus is it has matching earrings.

I'll take a photo of me wearing it when I'm feeling better as it's so pretty that I want to do it justice.

Allium Christophii

As I wandered round the front garden this morning I couldn't resist snapping this beautiful allium.  The metallic purple star-shaped flowers are so lovely.

Plebejus argus (aka the Silver-studded Blue)

They are also very popular with butterflies and this Silver-studded Blue gave me a wonderful display of the underside of its wings.  I actually thought it was a Common Blue until I checked in my butterfly book.

Sunset 7/6/12

I'm loving the dusky mauves against the apricot glow in this sky photo.

Emergency Crochet

On Friday I looked at the weather forecast for Sunday in dismay - cold, wet and windy.  Not really what we wanted for the day celebrating the Queen's Diamond jubilee!  Nor was it what we wanted for our village meal.

With a theme of red, white and blue I had chosen a long tee shirt dress bedecked with union flags.  This would have been perfect on a lovely sunny day but not so comfortable in the cold and wet.  So I had a mooch around online to find a quick crochet pattern and found this super quick and easy free pattern for Kirsty's Granny Shrug

Perfect!

Jubilee bolero

So I rummaged around in my not inconsiderable collection of yarn and found 4 x 100g balls of dark blue acrylic yarn for the main body of it.  This yarn is the remains of a batch that was given to my mum by a neighbour for her to knit my school cardigan when I started at Grammar school which means it is at least 44 years old.  See how good it can be to hoard?!!!  You never know when things will be of use.

The white yarn is another really old treasure - a really thin, bobbly terylene yarn left over from a summer top I knit.  I had to really search hard for the red though as I don't use it often.  Thankfully there was a full ball of Rowan cotton glace from a Jean Moss intarsia cardigan I knit years ago.

The pattern uses a chunky yarn so I just worked with 3 strands held together.  As I had such a limited supply of red and white I started with a hexagon knit it all three colours and then did the main body in blue.

It's such a simple idea  with simple construction - it's just 2 large, floppy granny hexagons which you fold in half then seam up the top of the sleeves and join in the middle back.

Back view

To finish off I edged all round the bottom, sleeves and neck in double crochet then did 2 rows of trebles on each centre front.  I attached to sets of ties; one at the neck for decoration as I liked the top folded back, and then one at the bust to hold the edges together as it gaped a bit otherwise.

It really was  a quick and easy project (it took no more than 4 hours in total over a couple of evenings) and I'm going to share it at our next knit and natter in the village as one of our group is just learning to crochet and it would be a great project for her to try.  I'll probably donate it to a charity shop because it isn't a colour combo that I wear but I think I will crochet another one in a summery yarn as it's a pretty little cover-up.

Classy hey?!!!

So here's my finished outfit complete with stripey tights and boots (in case the ground was muddy).  Sorry, I don't have the software to turn it round so you'll have to crane your neck to see it.

Young at heart

On the way home we stopped for a swing.  The seats were wet and I so got  wet bottom but I didn't care!

In garden news, I was annoyed to discover that my beautiful prostrate rosemary had been attacked by something.  Half of the foliage was all brown and crispy.

Prostrate Rosemary

Then I spotted this this little beetle nearby on a sage leaf.  The culprit was a Rosemary beetle.

Rosemary beetle

He may look pretty with his metallic body with beautiful stripes but they are a pest that can devastate crops of rosemary, sage, thyme and lavender.  I'd never seen one before although I knew that they had arrived in the UK, specifically London, in the 1990s but obviously they have spread.

Now I know why one of my sage plants died right back last year and why sections of my large rosemary bushes went all brown and crispy last autumn.  I'm now doing a beetle patrol each morning but the grubs are just starting to appear now too and they aren't as easy to spot.

27th May

To finish off, as I haven't posted a sky photo for a while, here's a lovely sunset from the end of May.

The sun has got his hat on!

Everything in the garden has suddenly spurted upwards, including the weeds which is hardly surprising given the amount of rain we've had in the last few weeks.

Angelica Gigas living up to its name!

Granny's bonnets (not the crocheted ones)

The exquisite flowers of Quince 'Vranga'

Acid yellow spider

Friend and foe hiding together in the undergrowth - how come the toad hasn't eaten the slug?!!!

Of course now I'm complaining that it's too hot and our clay soil will soon be like concrete and impossible to dig.  We Brits do like to complain about the weather - at least it takes one's mind off the gloomy economic outlook!

Entrelac test

I decided to have a go at the Harlequin shawlette from Jean's book.  I've never tried entrelac knitting before and so it's interesting to try a new technique.  As I had some Rowan Summer Tweed lying around I grabbed that and some 4.5mm needles and started to play.

Concentrating hard on entrelac

As you can see, I had to concentrate quite hard to begin with!  However, once I'd got the basic concept into my head I relaxed into and found it very absorbing.

Purple and green Harlequin in progress

 From the test piece I knitted I worked out how many base triangles I needed and off I went using one of my favourite colour combinations - purple and green.  As it's going to be quite drapey it will have quite a different look from the one in the book plus I've got some ideas for embellishment.

Blocked grannies

Finally, here are the grannies all blocked and ready to be sewn together.  You can see what a difference blocking has made and thankfully they all fit together OK (phew!).

The good, the bad and the ugly

The good

Good thing number 1

Sweet Shawlettes by Jean Moss

I won this fabulous book as a prize in a draw at This is Knit's blog.  This is very exciting as I am not known for being lucky in draws!

There are some lovely designs in here just asking to be knit even though I have several projects on the go as usual.  You can see the whole collection here on Jean's page and the ones I really like are Evergreen (a string of dangly leaves), Harlequin (knit in entrelac, which I've never tried before), Penumbra (an interesting looking cowl), Ceilidh (I just love tartan), Mantilla (such a pretty lace pattern and I have a selection of Kidsilk Haze colours in my stash to choose from).  I just know that I'll end up being naughty and starting something before the other things are off the needles!

Good thing number 2

A tower of grannies

Still continuing with my cushion theme I wanted to make a couple of cushion covers for use outside on the sunloungers.  I used Rowan Summer Tweed again and chose a granny pattern from one of my crochet blocks books.

The fabric that inspired them

I found this piece of fabric in a charity shop and it looked so summery that I thought it would be ideal as the backing fabric.  I took my palette from the colours in the fabric and just added a bright pink and a dark green to make the design pop.

Arranged on the cushion pad

I didn't want a conventional granny square look so I made lots of different sizes based around the measurements of the largest square.  I just made fewer rounds on the smaller ones.

Blocking

Here are the granny squares blocking ready to be sewn together.  It is so important to block this type of design, especially when using a yarn made of cotton and silk, as I have seen so many misshapen granny squares joined together and it really spoils the finished effect.

I'm going to join them invisibly and then crochet around the edge in a few different colours.

Good thing number 3

A beautiful Bumblebee in a rhododendron flower

We've had more rain.  Lots of it in fact.  So much that I wanted it to stop so I could get out into the garden and deal with the weeds!  Then the sun came out and everything seemed so alive and vibrant.

Wasp on my gardening gloves

There was a gigantic hornet in my shed but in the time it took to get my camera it had disappeared.  This little wasp took a liking to my gardening gloves.

Horses with jackdaws

The horses are getting help from the jackdaws with shedding their winter coats!  There must be lots of nests around here lined with soft hair from Esther and Kizzy.

The bad

I've got a health problem.  For the last couple of years I've been troubled with an ongoing sore throat and runny nose.  Sometimes my throat swells up and I can hardly swallow.  On several occasions I have been unable to breath which is very scary.  Last year I finally went to see the doctor he told me that it was probably just the remains of a cold.  Really?  I think not!

Then this year I had a eureka moment - the really bad throat closing up episodes happen around March/April when the tree pollen is about thus suggesting it could be hayfever.  More specifically, it's when Salix caprea, aka Goat Willow is producing it's copious amounts of bright yellow pollen.

I didn't seem to react quite as badly this year but then over the weekend I had another scary throat-closing up incident without any tree pollen in sight.  What was around though, and in great abundance was Oil seed rape.  Horrible, stinky stuff which I try to avoid as the smell of the pollen always gives me a headache.  This time though I felt really ghastly all evening and the following morning I felt no better so I took myself back to see the doctor.

The ugly

The doctor listened to my symptoms and agreed with my self-diagnosis, prescribing antihistamine tablets to help with the hayfever.  I also told her about my marathon running and that afterwards I feel as if my chest is a bit gunky, as if something's been shaken up inside my lungs (yuk!).

However, she also felt that I might be asthmatic.  What?  No way, that's not part of the plan at all thank you very much.  She made me do a breath test where I had to exhale into a contraption that measured my exhalation rate.  Then she made me do it several times more because she was very surprised that my reading was so low, especially for someone who runs marathons.

Flow measure and inhaler

So instead of just a remedy for hayfever I came away with an asthma inhaler, a flow measure, a chart to record my breath flow and an appointment for a Spirometry test next week.  Fantastic!

Three Forts Challenge

The weather had not been good all week.  It rained, then it rained and then it rained again for good measure.  It was, therefore, no surprise to find that on the morning of the Three Forts Challenge it was raining.

The good news was that it was nothing like as heavy as the last time I'd run it.

The bad news was that the tracks would be slippery and I was a bit anxious as I had a nasty fall in the final couple of miles the last time I did it.

In common with most trail marathons it's a lovely friendly sort of race with runners of all abilities.  Being a back-of-the-pack runner I enjoy seeing the speedy whippets dash off and on this course there is an out and back section so you get to see both the people in front of you and those behind too.

I'd taken a variety of outfits with me so that I could make a final decision when I saw the conditions.  It was cold and wet so I opted for long tights and long-sleeved top and I didn't regret that decision at all as it got quite cold up on the hilltops.  Someone told me that the total ascents were around 4000ft.  

Here I was snapped by the lovely Anthony from Sussex Sports Photography as I ran up one of the many hills!

As I'm not a sure-footed runner I took great care on the slippery bits.  Even so I managed to do the splits on one of the claggy uphill sections.  I chatted to several runners en-route which always helps to pass the time.  The marshalls were very friendly and supportive and provided us with water, squash, cake and biscuits.


Although I was aiming to beat my previous time I wasn't unduly concerned as I was feeling strong and when I reached the last 2 miles I still had 45 minutes in which to beat it.  However, there was no time for complacency as these 2 miles were all downhill and I was scared of falling over again.  So, I let the cluster of 5 runners who were around me go ahead and I watched them hurtling down with gay abandon.  I didn't!  I picked my way down really slowly and still managed to slip and slide although I didn't go right over again.  


However, my extra caution meant I took 30 minutes for that last section and one of the ladies I'd told to go ahead without me had waited around to check I was OK as she was worried that I might have fallen over again.  How kind!

Still smiling after 27 miles of mud, grass, loose flints, chalk, rutted tracks and a few hills.

My time?  

Oh yes, 6:07:03 - 14 minutes faster than before.  

Hoorah!

Marathon 26 done and dusted.

Now for marathon 27 in a few weeks.

Cushion craft

At last, the finished cushion for the dining room. I used a beautiful suede effect fabric as the base and attached the crochet front to it which has made it nice and firm.

I decided on a knitted i-cord edging as everything else looked too fussy. I used a strand of each of the back-ground colour yarns held together.

Here it is against the curtain. I'm really pleased with the finished cushion.

Another room and more cushions. One bargello, the other patchwork. I'm really having a cushion phase at the moment and I think it's because we've been renovating the house for so many years that now it's finished it's a relief to be adding some finishing touches!

I've got another cushion cover on the go but this one's for the sun-lounger and was inspired by a piece of fabric I found in a charity shop. I'm crocheting squares in different sizes using the colours in the fabric. I've only got a couple more squares to do.

This weekend is marathon number 2 of 5 and so far the weather forecast has been dire so I expect I'll be getting wet for 27 miles up on the South Downs!

Time is on my side

In our London marathon race packs this year there was a fridge magnet, the idea being that you peeled off the black bits to reveal your finish time.

I'd saved it and visualised it reading 4:45:00.  In my heart I really wanted it to read 4:40:00.  As you can see, it doesn't say either of those!

It will remain on the fridge as a reminder that sometimes things don't go quite as we'd like but also to annoy me and spur me on to get that elusive pb later in the year.

To put my disappointment into perspective, I mentioned yesterday that a young girl, Claire Squires, had died during the marathon.  I read about her death early in the morning and when I checked out her charity page for the Samaritans it was showing around £1000 as lots of people had been to make donations in her memory (before the marathon she had raised around £500).   Her sudden death has really moved everyone across the globe and donations, of mostly small amounts such as £5 and £10, have been flooding in to make her total a staggering £245,000 last time I looked.  My thoughts and prayers are with her family at this sad time.

To pb or not pb

What is it they say - pride comes before a fall? 

Well here I am! Looking happy and relaxed at the start of the London marathon, my 25th and the place I was going to get that elusive pb time.

My training has been hard, focussed and has produced great results at 1/2 marathon distance.

I was well rested and raring to go, armed with a carefully thought-out strategy for pacing myself throughout.

You can see where this is going can't you!

The weather forecast was in my favour - cool and bright with showers. Just what I like. How do they get it so wrong? Apart from the first 30 minutes when it was coolish it was HOT and this is never good news for me as I just don't perform well in the heat.

The race started and I was relaxed. I was on a mission and I concentrated on my pace, maintaining an average of 10.5 minute miling to arrive at the halfway mark in 2:18:51, almost exactly what it should have been. But there was a problem; I was feeling a bit sickly from the heat and maintaining that pace was taking its toll. My head started pounding and my tummy felt ghastly. I was well hydrated and sipped my sports drink at regular intervals but I could feel myself struggling.

I could see a lot of people struggling and there were many people receiving medical attention at the side of the road. I remember seeing one young woman lying in the recovery position with a team of medics around her and I noticed how young she looked. I later learned that a young woman had collapsed and died just near Green Park, which is nearly at the finish, and I wondered if it was her.

I won't do a blow by blow account of my race as that would involve a lot of teary moments, struggles and self-pity, suffice to say that I struggled on and on and even at the 22 mile mark I could still have gained a small pb if I could have maintained 12 minute miling but I just didn't have it in me. Even with just 800 metres to go I was still fighting as I noted that if I upped my pace I could make it home in under 5 hours.

I asked my legs to go faster but they were dying and I just couldn't muster any more energy. This is the first time that I haven't sprinted down the Mall to the finish line. As I finally shuffled across it all I wanted to do was crawl into a corner and sob. When Mike met up with me I was a sobbing wreck who sobbed even more when he hugged me! For some reason I didn't want to have my photo taken - another first as even if things have been tough I usually feel proud and manage a big smile. Not this time.

So, with a finish time of 5:00:47 I was 10 minutes the wrong side of my best time for London.  To make myself feel better I noted that my time 5 years ago was 5:45 so technically I'd beaten that.  But I'd really wanted to beat my long-standing pb of 4:50:55 set in 2006.

At least I got another nice medal and a goody bag and today I'm feeling much more positive about it.

I've got 4 more marathons to crack this year but only 1 of them is a road marathon so I shall have to attack my pesky pb in September at Thanet. Unfortunately this is an undulating route so my task will be harder.























To make myself feel today better I've been out for a 2 mile plod and I really don't feel as if I've just run a marathon

That's given me a great boost. I will beat my pb, I will beat my pb, I will beat my pb!

Fumbling along

The cushion front is now finished and waiting to be attached to its backing.

I outlined the flowers and leaves in the same colour that's on the curtains and then created the background by following the same outline in a lighter colour to give it a sense of flow.

The backing fabric needs machining together and then I can attach the crochet panel to it. I've chosen a suede-like fabric which was leftover from another project and matches the background of the curtains perfectly.

I think I might create a crochet border once I've attached the panel but I don't know quite what just yet - perhaps leaves or maybe a daisy chain effect. I'm sure I'll find the right thing when I need it.

In the meantime I'm trying to get to grips with a new crochet stitch and I'm not getting to grips with it at all!

It should look beautiful but I definitely haven't mastered it yet.

Hey ho.

A shiny new pb - no fooling!

If I'd posted this on All Fools' Day you could have been forgiven for thinking that it was a joke!

My training for my 2012 challenge has been tough, especially the speedwork side, and I was bitterly disappointed that I didn't do as well as I'd expected at the Tunbridge Wells 1/2 a few weeks ago. However, on 1st April I ran the Paddock Wood 1/2 marathon, smashing the pb of 2:06:39 that I set there back in 2005 to finish in 2:00:59.

I had a big smile on my face for the whole day and we went out for a lovely meal in the evening to celebrate. It's really given me a boost and I just hope I can use this success to spur me on to a faster time at VLM in just under 3 weeks.