December & Early Jan

Pootled around in the snow & ice which was actually most enjoyable. Also started training with the backpack which isnt so easy. Early Jan picked up a nasty cold which seems to be going around. A little gutted as now have not run for a week & Chris wants me to have another week off until I am totally better. Met up with him yesterday to go through my pack. He is not keen on my Aarn but thinks the rest of my kit this far is fine! Gonna meet up again next Sat to pack bag properly & run with it stuffed to capacity for a couple of miles. Should be fun! Not.

My new years resolution is no alcohol on a school night & I am determined to stick with it for the next 3 months.

Read Rachpops blog again today & found it inspiring. I think she was probably at the same level of training as I am at the mo & she finished MdS. Lots of self talk & mind games involved I think! I feel a little happier now. I watched the Ben Fogle DVD the other night & it really scared me!

Am off to Manchester for cycle brief all week - oh deep joy so no training will be done so cold came at a "good time" really. Hope to do a nice long run next Sunday.

Just heard that my mate Jess slipped on ice & broke his ankle today. He is going to theatre later & will be in plaster for 3 months. I am so gutted for him (and me) as we were doing MdS together. Boo Hoo!

Full Monty - 5 December

Training been going pretty well & to plan. Discovered the Polden Way near home & ran it a couple of times in recent weeks. About 12mile along the ridge between Street & Hurcot. Had a weekend organised with the Sues begininng of December at which there is always far to much alcohol involved! Had entered the Full Monty - a hilly 10miler around Ham Hill. Of course this happened to be the day after a wine fuelled evening of Xfactor & Strictly!

Arrived at Ham Hill a little hungover but ready to clear the cobwebs! Freezing cold day with plenty of ice on the ground. Hills awful - first major hill had a rope handy to help you drag yourself up. I had a helping hand from James too! Needed it. Still managed to drag myself around the whole course in 2:10:07 which I was reasonably pleased with. Also got a spot prize to boot!

Beacons Ultra - 20 November

Another marathon another day! Was a little concerned about this race, only being 5 days after the Druids though....hmmm! Had booked into the bunkhouse in Llanberis through the forums. Drove up after work on the Friday. Was great seeing Sue & Martin Like again. Met Jill at the bunkhouse & being the only 2 females staying over, we had our own room & pretty much our own shower & loo - sheer luxury!!! Rab & Mike B also staying over. Met Carole (Perks) & she had made a chilli for dinner for all. I discovered I had left my sports bra behind, & Carole, bless her, took her bra off her back & lent it to me! Amazing. Met a smashing guy from the forums called James (uglyjess) & he appeared to be the same level as us & decided to join us tomorrow. Had too much wine & headed to bed around 11pm.

Up very early & strolled up to the rugby hall for the start. Pretty chilly so keen to get going. Start was fine - 3 or so miles along the canal - lovely & flat. We were pretty much at the back where we intended to be! Then the ups started: bit through the woods then up up up through the fields. Dont know why but my left knee was in agony! Everytime I had to push up on the hills I got a sharp pain. So much so that I thought I would have to withdraw. Jess also struggled a bit on the hill whereas Jill took it all in her stride! Another disaster - wondered why I couldnt get any water out of my camlbak - it had emptied itself & I had nothing to drink! Also when we got to top of hill I decided to don all our clothes in the wild wind - I had left my fleece behind. It couldnt really get much worse. AAAAGH!!! This if nothing else, would certainly keep me moving! Anyway, once at top of hill, pain in leg disappeared. I decided to keep on going hoping there wouldnt be to many nasty hills & just grit my teeth for the second round!

Fog hardly lifted all day so we couldnt see all the apparently beautiful views, but we still had a thoroughly enjoyable day. Lucinda even came down to cheer us on just before the halfway point Got to the halfway make after 5:52 and finished the whole thing in 13:03. Second part of the second round was pretty challenging. We couldnt see our hands in front of our faces, very cold & windy plus pitch dark. Got through it fine but last 2 or 3 miles along the canal went on for ever & ever. Back to the rugby hall for hot tea then to the bunkhouse for some reheated chilli & a few glasses of wine. We even managed to talk Jess into reinstating his entry for next years MdS. He agreed that Jill & I could probably pull him round. Excellent. Another jolly camper in our tent! :-)

Good nights sleep before heading home & for a pub lunch at the Dev...perfect! Another 45.71 miles done.

Day 3 - 14 November

Lousy nights sleep. Hall very noisy & lights were on bright for most of night. this was despite me wearing ear plugs & an eye mask! Still, last day today & yesterday was such fun, I am actually looking forward to it!

Minibus took us to the start line in the dark! No rain at moment but it is forecast for later. Start gun went & I immediately had to dive into bushes for loo. Took about 10mins to catch my mates up. We trot/ran for a fair few miles of the Ridgeway. Pretty easy going really. Kerry once again was champing at the bit to keep us running up the hills too, but again we manage to hold her in. We practiced lots of animal noises (not sure why) all the way around & laughed loads. Got lost once which added a couple of miles to the day. Never mind. The finish line crept on to us quickly & because we arrived earlier than expected, we had to wait an hour plus for Alf to collect us. Thankfully there was somewhere to change & plenty of hot tea & gingerbread. Nice casserole & plenty of wine in the fridge at home which Jill & I tucked into with gusto that evening. :-)

Oh yeah, and we completed 26.2miles today. Hurrah. Another 3 marathons done this year.

Day Two - 13 November

Slept pretty well considering conditions: snoring, lights on, constant coming & going. Was pretty relieved all the same when it was 05:30 & time to get ready for the day ahead.

Jannine looked like death & couldnt wait for Carl to collect her. We all set off after porridge gloop for brekkie. Weather was fine but dull. Steve Strange, Jill Tina, Kerry & I being the intrepid 5 for the day. All in high spirits & ready for an easy day. Had a great time - lots of laughs, bit of jogging, walking etc. Kerry tried to drag us into constant running but with 3 others for support we managed to reign her in & she kept to our level of walk/running. Far more pleasant for me! Completed the day smiling & happy - 27miles.

tongihts accomodation a sports centre hall. Water again was cold by the time we got back. We decided to go to the bar instead & have a few whilst we waited for the water to warm up. Good plan. I felt a bit pie eyed after 4 large wines but hoped it would help me to sleep well. Hmmm! John joined us in the bar too. Rory Coleman did a talk on the MdS & informed us all that we were "elite athletes". This proved to be the motto of the next day & gave us many laughs & kept our spiritis lifted!

Day One 12 November

Up bright & early to get ready to catch taxi to local train station, where a minibus is due to pick us up & take us to registration & start line. A little apprehensive as the Ridgeway map I ordered from Amazon never arrived, Kerry is far quicker than me, and I didnt want to get lost on my own! Nice sunny day but very windy. Hmm Think mileage for today is 30 miles. Lovely.

Got on minibus without problems & met John Adams (FB friend & mate of Quentin, who is also doing MdS this year). Chatted away to him. He is a pretty quick runner and should be in the runners group, not walkers but due to an admin error will be starting with us today.

Arrived at IvingHoe Beacon carpark & it seems someone has taken my number. A new one was cobbled together and I was promised a goody bag (all I really wanted was the buff) at a later stage. We walked to the top of the Beacon to the start & bliddy hell its cold & windy. Got all my coats, gloves, hat etc on, took photos & set off with Kerry. Majority in our group were actually real walkers but we set off at a nice slow pace. Within a mile we had gone wrong - missed the well sign posted path! Luckily we hadnt gone to far off course, realised the mistake only when someone shouted at us. whew! Back on track & off we went. Lovely course, good company & a pleasant pace. All good until the last 8 or so miles. Rain came down, blinking cold & endless paths of mud. To make matters harder, it was by now pitch dark. We had joined a really nice chap called Malcolm who is also a previous MdS competitor too & the 3 of us soldiered on together. Kerry remained upbeat & tried her darndest to keep me trotting. No mean feat. I was cold, wet & very tired. Found running through mud with only the narrow beam of your headlamp to follow pretty tiring to. Anyway what seemed like hours later, we arrived at the school which was to be our luxurious accomodation for the night! Floor space only in a large hall. Cold showers & very average food. Hmmm! Jannine & Jill came in not to far behind us. Jannine feeling very feverish & unwell. She decided to ring Carl who was to collect her in the morning!

Druids Challenge - 12-14 November

Have actually been looking forward to this event. 3 marathons in 3 days (again). Must be mad! This run/walk is along the Ridgeway (Iving Hoe Beacon nr Tring to somewhere outside of Swindon!

Carl was taking me, Kerry, Tina & obviously Jannine to a hotel near Tring & Alfie was to pick us up at the end. Our original hotel was cancelled at the last minute & they checked us into their sister hotel which turned out to be extremely posh & out of our price bracket. Fantastic!

I shared with Kerry. Met Jill & Jannine in the very glamourous dining room for dinner. Had to laugh when the nouvelle cuisine sized portions arrived for 4 hungry "super athletes"!!!

A good night was had by all, of course fuelled by the 3 large glasses of wine - my typical training prep!!

Not a late night as Kerry & I had a relatively early start to join the "walkers".

Ilminster 10k - 7 November

Quite a short race for the training I have been doing, but really enjoyed it last year & I thought I would go for an official 10k PB as opposed to the club time trial. Donned my super duper fast shoes that give me aching calves aka Newtons, and drove the 30mins or so to Ilminster, picking Jean up on the way.

Bit drizzly & cold but fine nevertheless. Met Jannine at the start, but she is a bit of a racing snake, so I didnt expect to see her until the finish - and yes I was correct, off she shot!

Really enjoyed the race & pushed myself as hard as I could. Finished in 52:51 which I was dead chuffed with.