Boot Camp Day Five

Today we headed down to Branscombe beach for some tough exercise. Started off with a nice little stroll along the pebbles & jog back. Then into the grassy car park area where it was pretty much a very tough circuit training session. AAAAGH! Staff Reitze did make me scream!
All ended off with a run up the steep hill which heads over to Beer. Didnt quite make it all the way but I gave it a darn good try.

Afternoon was spent with toy guns learning a little bit about armed combat/war games. Good fun but the poor old knees didnt like the constant crawling around. Ging the holiday let owners cat found the whole thing amusing.

Totally whacked so went to bed early.....again!

Not missing the alcohol at all now - to knackered to miss anything at all apart from a lie in.

Boot Camp Day Four

Usual 06:30 rise! Getting used to this routine now. Today is Jurassic Coast hike day. Really been looking forward to this, but weather couldnt really have been worse! Cold, cloudy & mizzy rain. Total YUK! Mini bus took us all down to Seaton where we spent the next 6 hrs or so walking & a little bit of jogging to Budleigh Salterton. A total of 16.3m. I was originally put into the medium group but after a bit of protesting from the "elite group" & myself was moved "up". Thank goodness. Ann due to a leg problem was in the medium group but said they were so slow it was driving her up the wall - they all got so cold & wet. I certainly dont think I held the elites up, & if anything was generally one of the front runners!

Had lunch in a grim cold bus shelter in Sidmouth, after which the sun made an effort to come out & we managed to see some of the views.

Really lovely day.

Boot Camp Day Three

Again, up at 06:30 for stretches & a bit of jogging before breakfast. Actually, the whole day was pretty much dedicated to running in some form or other ie fartlek apart from a boxing & lunge walking session. YUK!! . I really enjoyed the running part but many totally hated the whole day! Its the exercises & boxing I decided I hated the most.

I found I had a little sparring partner in Ann Gilchrist. 40year old who is great fun. Pushed each other to work hard on the running which was brilliant.

Boot Camp Day Two

Woken up by Kate, the camp rep at 06:30 & a swift change into gym gear for our 06:40 start! This involved a fitness test: 1min of press ups, 1min of sit ups then 4 timed circuits of a field! From this they assess which group we will spend most of our time in. I was pretty crap to say the least on the press & sit ups!!

Group is made up of 26 girls ranging from ages 20-50something! Also varying degrees of fitness ie. never done a thing to fitness instructor level! Also to my surprise, they come from all over the UK plus Spain, Jersey, Germany & the USA!

Rest of the day was made up of boxing, excercises, running up & down hills & all on rations! I felt starving, but it was swiftly pointed out to me by Staff Reitze that Ethiopians are starving & not me!!!

Bed early as totally knackered!

Boot Camp Day One

Arrived at around 4pm & met my room mate for the week. She is a very nice American lady who has lived in Paris for the last 20 odd years. Camp is based at a beautiful series of converted barns, which are usually holiday lets. We were around 10m from Honiton in the lovely Devon countryside! Pretty much as soon as we arrived it was change into sports wear & get our vital statistics measured plus a weigh in. This is to assess our progress/or lack of by the end of the week.
Dinner was at 6pm & a pretty meagre portion of tomato soup, tuna steak & vegetables. Totally delicious but enough to feed a baby! :-(
Had a quick talk on rules & what to expect by the camp staff then a 30min walk around the field. Due to early start tomorrow, most of us were in bed by around 10:30pm.

Prestige Boot Camp - August 2010

Most people go to the beach for their hols! Me? Decided to spend £1000 on a week of ladies bootcamp in Devon! I spotted an article in the Elle magazine about ladies bootcamps & after doing a bit of web searching decided that Prestige was the one for me. It came out as best ladies bootcamp in the UK! Also liked the fact that I didnt have to travel far from home.
Everyone thinks I am mad, but I thought it would be a good way to really kick my large arse into gear, lose a bit of weight & learn a bit more about getting my very weak core a little stronger. Also suspected that like minded ladies would be attending!

25 July: Seaview 17

17? Its actually 21m!!!! Hilly coastal path from just outside Lynmouth to Minehead. Hip a little achey, but I managed OK with my good old walking poles to help me drag my hefty arse up the hills! Pretty slow, but I was relatively pleased with my efforts.

5 August: Haselbury Plucknett 10k

Wednesday evening 10k. Nice weather & a lovely cross country course. Tried to beat my time from 6 years ago when I last did this run but missed it by 6 seconds. Not to bad - that equals a second for each year older!!!

Photos were taken after the race & are of me Mel Mundy & Liz Martin for our efforts! We won ladies 1st prize for the Crewkerne 9! Amazing as I was hurting with my hip. Maybe we were the only ladies team in the race?

11 July: Wellington 10m

Managed the run just fine. Had forgotton however what a hilly old race it is! Still managed to run the whole way including all the hills & the weather was baking hot! Did it in an OK 1hr 49 mins which I was pretty pleased with considering my lack of training.

Training

Well, I have now had just over 5 weeks off running! Have done a very small amount on the treadmill (run walk) & this week have done two, 4m runs. Both felt OK although hip area still niggling. Foot however is still aching almost constantly. My chiropractor/sports therapist has referred me for an MRI as he still suspects a stress fracture! Not good.
Am doing the Wellington 10miler this weekend with Tanja & supposed to be doing the Seaview 17 (20m cross country) run in a fortnight. Think I probably will come last!!

Torn muscle

Well with 3 weeks of enforced rest due to this blasted torn muscle in my left hip area, I decided to go for a slow 2mile trot. Hmmm. Started aching after 1.5m so decided to quit. Very frustrating, especially as I really do need to up the serious training.

MdS 2011

OMG! Had the email for Sarah at BOM & I am definately in. No more wait list & no more returns of deposit if I pull out.
How exciting.
Also good news that Tanja has been added to waitlist in 90th place. Sarah reckons she may just about squeeze in too. Both have to pull fingers out & start proper training (well when hip sorted anyway!!)

Crewkerne 9

Been a bit slack with the old blog! Had an aching feel in muscle around L hip for around 6 wks. My treatment of ignore & ibuprofen kept it at bay for around a month. During the Crewkerne 9 on 25 May, things decided they had had enough. Got to around 7miles & pain in area not good. Managed to hobble the last 2 miles & a bit gutted as time wise I was doing OK. Got around in 1:29 & got a spot prize too for my efforts!
Pain no better next day & especially hurts when L leg leads going upstairs, turning over in bed, standing after a long drive & cant cross legs either. Hmm.
Saw Mark Copp (chiropractor) & he diagnosed torn muscle!!! No running or striding out for at least 2 wks when he will reassess! Gutted. Had to pull out of Dartmoor Discovery & cant do the 26.2m part of the walking festival. AAAGH! Gonna get fat!!!

1 May - Salcombe Coastal Marathon

Sue Staddens 40th, so we arranged to head off for a long weekend. As I had already entered the Salcombe Coastal, this was obviously the destination of choice. Arrived Friday evening & as usual, had the obligatory umpteem bottles of wine - those girls leading me astray!
Saturday morning bright & early after another of those disgusting packet of porridgey gloop, Alf dropped me off at Torcross. Felt a little sick! Not sure if it was the wine, porridge or nerves. Legs a bit tired still from last week, & the prospect of 26 miles of coastal path was a little daunting!
Met Kerry Venn at the start & we headed off at around 9:05. All very relaxed as the runners are pretty much responsible for own times. Sun was shining although it was pretty cold! Loads of very odd "hashers" running & using their equally odd nicknames! We met: Sneezy, SnowWhite (ugly as!), Rambo, Cowpat, Shatnav & Zorro amongst others! Very odd bunch!!! Had a good trot to the ferry at Salcombe where the gang met us & fed me sandwiches. Off again along the path to the end. Felt fine apart from the last 3 or 4 miles where my legs just didnt want to do anymore! Good old Kerry pushed me along. Did feel I was really holding her back although she didnt seem to mind. It was only at the end that I realised she was also carrying a back pack which weighed an absolute tonne! Mad women. At the end our garmins only measured the course as 25 miles so we duly decided to do an extra mile to make it the obligatory 26.2 m & therefore official marathon distance. All uphill of course. Our 26m complete time was approx: 6 hr 43 mins.
Still, celebrated with a shed load of wine in the evening. Next day my mate Tanja Britz came around for a braai & several more gallons of the grape juice were consumed. Damned embarrasing having to put out the recycling!!!

Sunday 25 April - Virgin London Marathon

Went up to London for the weekend for the marathon. Made it to the expo on Friday evening with 2 mins to spare for registration. If I hadnt made it, it would have been a fight across London tomorrow, when we had a picnic in the park planned!

Stayed at Hoxton Hotel & had a lovely steak dinner on the Friday with a bottle plus of wine! Me in true training mode!!!

Saturday morning we headed off to M&S to buy wine & picnic food, then off to St James's park where we had agreed to meet friends for lunch before heading off to the theatre to see "Billy Elliott".

Great day. After the show found a fab Italian restaurant near Covent Garden. Owner even gave us a glass of wine each while we queued to get in on the pavement. Back to the Hoxton & bed for me. The others headed off to the pub & hotel bar.

Up bright & early to force down a revolting freeze dried pack of porridge! Like eating flavoured glue. Could only manage half of it! Alf then dropped me off at Charing X station where I caught the train to Blackheath.

Heavens opened as I reached the park - very cold! Usual queue for the loo before heading for the "pens". Gun went off & as I approached the start line, I decided with loads of others to take a detour again for the porta-loos before my timing chip kicked in!

Rain stopped pretty much after the start gun. Bumped into Jenny Byrom at the 4 or 5 mile mark. Crowds as usual fab! Felt fine all the way to Tower Bridge where I spotted Alf, Lesley & Steve. Still OK until 18mile mark where thighs as tight as a drum. Had to stop a couple of times to stretch out! Managed to keep running, all the way to the finish line. As approached the end, spotted Richard Branson so thought I could get him included in my finish pic!!

4 hours 52 mins & 17 seconds. Not to bad as I stopped 4 times for the loo after activating my chip. Did trot slowly the whole way.

Eventually found Alf & the sod made me drive half the way home!!!

Training Continues

Oh Dear! Following JCC, very sore left foot. Mark Copp the sports therapist thinks I may have a stress fracture & suggests an X-ray!
I duly did head off to Musgrove Park Hospital, however, X-ray showed nil. 12 year old doctor told me to rest for a couple of days & take anti-inflammatories, so that is exactly what I did!
However, almost a month on, top of foot still not right! Still, at least I am able to continue running.

JCC Day 3

OMG! I sometimes wonder why! Still stiff as a board & day 3 is supposed to be the toughest! I again joined the walk group with the aim of running when I could (legs & hills allowing). Mini bus took us to Lulworth Cove. Started off in the local hotel loo & only just made the start whistle!! Faced with a mega hill straight off - thank goodness for my walking pole! I was huffing & puffing after 5 mins. But... what goes up, must come down! Bliddy heck! Them there steps really hurt the already stiff quads! :-(

Didnt know what was worse, they ups or the down. Still the view were stunning & it was relatively warm.

Nessa was feeling pretty good & I was struggling, so I pushed her on after around 10k. Met up with Heather again & we stuck together until the final check point. I heard at the 2nd last check that James was pulled off the course due to missing the time check. Apparently he was struggling with blisters too!

Weather started closing in & it was getting v.chilly & misty. We were all pulled off the course at the final check point & told that the coast gaurd were going to make a decision on whether or not we could complete..gutted! Only 7 or so miles to go. After an hour of getting cold & stiff we were told we could continue but only providing the 30 or so of us stuck together til the finish. Hurrah. 7 or so folk then just took off & left the rest of us to it. Camaraderie was brilliant & we were all in great spirits which made the final few miles really really good fun. Too misty to see "Old Harry", and we had to get the maps & compasses (not me) out to find our way. Coast guard counted us all in & off a couple of times too!

Finished eventually after around 10 hours. Cold, tired & very happy. Ben from VOTWO met us at the end to give us our nice little momento. Hot soup & mini bus back to Weymouth. Met with Pip & Jilly before saying goodbye & driving home. Bloody hell my legs ache!!

JCC Day Two

Nice & warm last night & used sleeping bag & duvet! However, legs vv stiff when got up. Didnt know how was going to manage today, let alone tomorrow! Still, onwards & upwards!!! Decided to join the walk group so I had a little more time to finish! Set off from Chesil holiday park at 8:30 & the walk group almost started jogging off immediately! Due to stiff legs I walked the first 4 miles until the top of the cliff in Portland then walked jogged to CP1. Saw Jilly & Kerry there, but they soon left me in their dust! Lovely scenary & weather good albeit a little chilly. Walked jogged everywhere I could & met a lovely lady called Ness at CP2. We laughed & jollied each other along. Saw Dr Hickish out running in Weymouth & had a little chat with him. Ness & I decided to do an Eddie Izzard & had an ice cream on Weymouth beach front - very nice it was too. Made it to Lulworth Cove after 8 hrs & 47 mins. Total mileage today was 27.76 miles according to my garmin. Actually enjoyed the day more than yesterday. Far less mud & hills, although tomorrow is yet another day! Again enjoyed a few glasses of wine & also had a sports massage on my poor stiff leggies!