Atlantic Coastal Challenge - Day 3

Day 3 broke tipping down with rain! Around 40 competitors decided they had had enough & the rain was the last straw! We however, donned our wet weather gear, picked up the mini bus to just outside St Ives & set off. Within 30 mins the rain stopped & we had lovely weather for the rest of the day. Kerry was in an awful lot of pain from her badly blistered arch & pretty much limped her way around. Scenary amazing. Some parts of the course dangerous, but then we realised we had gone wrong. Didnt think clambering over rocks with sheer drops 20m down into the rough sea was an approved route! Due to all the recent rain, what should also have been a simple jump over a small stream, was more like cross fingers & hope you dont fall in! 3 of us used walking poles & helped each other across. Took Kerry & I absolutely ages to complete due to her foot. I dont know how she made it. Made of very tough stuff & she will certainly breeze the MdS. Hot cornish pasties at the finish line were very welcome. We even got a ride back to base in a converted hearse, complete with coffin!

Atlantic Coastal Challenge - Day 2

Coach dropped us off bright & early back at Perranporth. Kerry & I had a nice wee trot off. Kerrys foot very sore where she blistered yesterday. Took it steady & had an enjoyable day out. Once again scenary lovely. Worst part of the race was the last few miles again on the beach & around a very ugly Hayle! As our garmins said we had done just under 26.2m, Kerry even had me trotting around the holiday park to make up the marathon mileage! AAAGH...especially as we did over yesterday. Hey Ho!

Atlantic Coastal Challenge Day 1 - Oct

Another 3 marathons plus in 3 days. In fact the total for the 3 days was 81 miles.

Day 1: We started just south of Padstow & ran the coastal path to Perranporth. Really enjoyed it apart from the 2miles of beach at the end. Makes me dread the soft sand in the MdS.

Weather was OK apart from some light rain. Scenery stunning. Nowhere near as tough as the JCC. Accomodation rather good to! Holiday park in Hayle. Sharing a chalet with Kerry & Tanja. Plenty of wine. In fact we shared a couple of bottles the night before day 1.

SLaMM - 10 Sept

Our clubs very own marathon. Boy did I struggle! Ended up with a real pain up the bum for the first 5 or so miles. Heard her life history - gory bits and all. Got fed up so dived in bush for a wee to mainly get rid of her. Hurrah!!!

Caught up with Zoe, Kerry, Tina & Jannine at the halfway mark but they soon shot off again.

Jannine struggling near the monument so she got lift back to finish. Kerry & I stuck together but I was really struggling by the time we got back to Langport & had to head over the levels & back to Bowdens. Still, soldiered on & finished in: 5:27.

MDS training plans with PT - 17 Sept

Met with Chris this week in order to run through my hill training regimen. Ouch! This involved a 50m length up a hill. Lunge, side skip, jog x 6.

Bloody hell, tight bum muscles day after. One day my "bum wont look big in this!"

couple of other short runs this week. Feeling good.

Newton running Shoes

Ongoing foot problems since Dorset doddle. GP referred me to ortho surgeon with an interest in sports medicine. After mri scan it seems I have degenerative disease of the bones in the foot. Probably due to high shoes & over use ie. running!!! He suggested I try Newton shoes (the barefoot running style) & also referred me to podiatrist.

Tried out the newtons this week & lo & behold, got a 10k PB. 51:21:42. Chuffed to bits. Shoes do make the old calves ache though. Sure they will toughen up eventually!

Coasters Relay Race - 9 Sept 2010

Jill Holliday told me about the Coasters Relay which is an attempt to take Barry the Baton round the whole perimeter of the UK. After a quite a bit of logisitics , I picked up the Baton from Burnham on Sea, & myself, Dave and Mike Parr from the running club did our 6 mile or so stint along the beach. Most pleasant, although the dam camera decided to die before we could get a photo of me at the end with Barry.

Power Pilatez

Met with Chris Edon (PT) and am starting Power Pilatez classes to improve my core fitness & general strength. Had induction & first class this week. Its fun & another challenge. Bring it on....one day I will have a 6 pack.

22 August - Dorset Doddle 33.25 miles

Tanja came up for the evening before we headed off very early on the 22nd Aug down to Dorset for the LWA 33m "Doddle".

Tanja not feeling all that & the weather is pretty grim. Cold, grey & threatening to rain. Great. It is going to be a very looong day! Drove to Swanage where we picked the coach back to Weymouth. Pretty cold, so had a hot chocolate before the start. Route almost identical to Day 2 of the Jurassic Challenge. Pretty much walked the whole Weymouth promenade which was a shame as this was going to be the flattest part of the course. Tanja, due to feeling unwell, needed time to warm up!

Headed up hill at prom end & had a nice gentle undulating trot for a few miles. Tanja still unwilling to run, so I had to leave her behind. Enjoyed running where I could & striding up the steep bits. Stopped to take a couple of piccies at Durdle Door & there met a nice girl who I spent the rest of the day with. She was a pretty keen runner prior to a nasty illness, & was just getting back into things. Still a lot fitter (and younger) than me!!!

After Lulworth, the weather decided to close in pretty horribly & we could hardly see our hands in front of our faces. Both made a decision to follow the JCC course & were both wrong. This added a couple of unnecessary hills & a mile to an already long distance! Coming out of the gloom & contemplating our error, we bumped into Tanja! 3 of us toddled off for a couple of miles, before Tanja again decided that walking was more for her today!

Ran walked for the rest of the day until believe it or not we got lost again in Swanage town centre. So close to the end but so far. Very frustrating as our final time was 11 hrs 3 mins. BUGGA! Still nice hot meal & plenty of hot tea at the end. A good day but hampered by poor weather. If I decide to do this event again I WILL NOT GET LOST!!!

Boot Camp Day 7

Home Day!! Sprint session before breakfast. After that it was weigh in measurement time. I lost around 7" plus 7lb so was pretty chuffed. Hard part is going to keep it off!

Fantastic week although jolly pleased to be going home - it was a lot tougher than I thought it would be. Great people & good fun.

Have decided to do the follow up day in Bristol later on in the year.

Boot Camp Day 6

Final day at camp. Today was dedicated mainly to the team excercise of getting an "injured" plank around a long hilly obstacle course in as quick a time as poss! Around 10 per team & 6 have to carry plank at once. Great fun, especially as we won....just!!

Evening was dishing out the T shirts & staff giving us our complientary comments plus a glass of bubbly. Boy did that hit the spot & the head!