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.