It's time to sign for Rugged Radnage

On Sunday 16th November 2014 I ran the Rugged Radnage 10k a race created as a fundraiser for Radnage Primary School.

Billed as a challenging mixed terrain course in the Chiltern hills surrounding the lovely village of Radnage this was to be something I hadn't really tried before.

I had toyed with running this race a couple of time having chatted to Race Director Denis Currie-Godbolt (Denis the Menace) on line, however on previous occasions had been thwarted by injury. This year I was ready! Well actually I wasn't but I was fit enough to have a go at least.

I had checked the race web site a few times looking at the terrain and seeing pictures of strong looking hardened runners tackling the course, and the course itself? Wow! To say I was filled with a little trepidation was an understatement.

Too much thinking, not enough doing!

I believe there is no doubt that if I could think myself fit I would be world class an Olympian even, the most unbelievable 53 year old that ever walked this planet!

Sadly this is not the case and no matter how hard I think, it appears that there is no replacement for actually doing!

I have slightly fallen into the trap of thinking a lot, too much perhaps

You can hear the cogs whirring!

• Should I change my style to forefoot running and perhaps save my Achilles?

• Shall I see how close I can get to a 20 minute 5k?

• Shall I try running like a sprinter with high knees and leg extensions like my son ? I tried this in slow motion in the kitchen it felt good, the dog laughed!

• Do I start another completely new eating regime?

• Should I enter some vets track events ?

The more I think and plan, the less I actually do, in fact I now have 4 thinking and planning sessions a week versus 3 actual sessions, surely a bit of an imbalance.

I even dream some of my plans only to wake up and find that I haven't just run across the Sahara single handed.

My obvious main focus is the London marathon in 2016 which I shall run for beating bowel cancer 10 years after losing my dad to the disease, however that just seems ages away.

I have signed up to the Great South Run too, but again it seems far into the future.

Thing is too many of my ideas require different kinds of training and in comparing them all I have ended up doing none of them, what an idiot!

So time to stop thinking and just start running whenever however wherever I feel.

Why do I make things so complicated for myself !

Paul

Let me tell you a true story (A very hard post to write)

Once upon a time there was this chap. Nice enough chap, doing his best to balance the various elements of his life.

He lost his father (his hero) some years before and helped his mother cope with all of the distress and financial complications. He helped another family member through a number of years of depression. He loved his kids and worked hard to be the very best dad he could possibly be. Having a stressful job this was not always easy and as the economic climate changed, the pressures mounted, but the support diminished.

This guy had always coped, didn’t really matter what life threw at him, he had an excellent ability to suppress his own feelings and deal with whatever the current problem or crisis was, wanting to always help and protect those closest to him and do a good job.

Shortly before his 50th birthday and Christmas, this chap was sitting in his office staring at his computer doing nothing, a feeling had been building for days, an unfamiliar feeling that had begun to overwhelm his very existence. This feeling was despair, complete and utter despair.

My Sunday Run

Hi All,
Just thought I'd share a recent local run in the County of Bedfordshire.

I'm very lucky where I live to have some fantastic farmland views and regardless of hayfever it can be a real joy to behold both on a run and indeed when taking Flo for her morning walk.

Fields look nearly ready for harvest

Flo sticking her tongue our for a pic

Last Sunday I wasn't entirely sure how far to run given that my longest recent run since my half marathon has only been 5 miles and I am struggling a little with painful heels.
However I decided to set of on what could be a 10 mile circuit and see what happened.

This run is all roads and lanes with a few hills thrown in and has made up a section of previous marathon training.

Heading out of our village there is a slight rise before the joy of the hill down towards Shillington, about two thirds of the way down the hill I hit the one mile mark from home.


View from Meppershall across to Shillington and beyond

Heading left at the bottom of the hill and then right into Shillington village you reach first the Post office (two miles) and then the Crown Pub, more of an eatery now but still a nice place to pop to on occasions.

Here I head through the village and skirt around the back before picking up the road to Lower Gravenhurst, this is a flat section of the route and makes up mile three and four.

Towards Lower Gravenhurst

Upon reaching Lower Gravenhurst I head right and shortly begin a climb up past a church on the left, the lane is windy with high hedges here so very important to be aware of traffic too!

There then comes a slight drop (relax time) before the longer climb into Upper Gravenhurst with a steep right hand incline right at the end as you enter the main street past a second Church.

Here I quite often look as if I'm dying and get some sympathetic glances but to date I have survived.

After the church there is another small descent before the final little climb out of the village to some of the loveliest views.

Upon leaving Gravenhurst there is the a steady and welcome descent to Campton the fourth village on the route.

7 miles finishes here

I reached seven miles and that was my lot for the day, from here you run uphill for a further mile and do a circuit of Meppershall village to take it up to 10 miles, but that wasn't to be and I used the walk to stretch out my legs.

View between Campton and Meppershall

Despite my heels and humid conditions it wasn't a bad run.

Not so bad

Hot and sweaty

Here is a map and profile for this route which has become a bit of a staple of mine.

Local area

Elevation

I'd love to hear about your local running routes, send them to us bogplod@gmail.com and we'll post them here, happy running !

Horses welcoming me back into Meppershall

Why do you run?

I seem to be asked question regularly, although generally only by non-runners, obviously!

The last time I was asked this, it was with some concern by my Mother. She saw me tired and achey after a marathon training run, and I think she was genuinely bemused by why I would put myself through such a slog.
She knew that I liked to raise money for charity, but she’d not seen the actual physical effort that the training for such an event would require.

Rather than give one of my stock answers

‘To stop me killing my kids/To try to get rid of my baby belly/To prepare for a zombie invasion’

 I took the time to think of the real reasons why I run.

Of course fitness is one of the reasons. Running burns more calories per minute than almost any other exercise, plus it's free. What’s not to love? It’s also brilliant for managing stress.

After a difficult day with my kids or at work, the freedom of heading out into the countryside with either just my thoughts or a banging soundtrack, eases away all those jaw clenching stress niggles in no time. It’s a time to either let my mind wander, focusing on worries and teasing out a solution, or to switch off entirely, focusing only on my breathing or the next track on my ipod.

Healthwise, as a Coeliac, it’s very important to do weight-bearing exercise to strengthen my bones as I’m at high risk of Osteoporosis. I have already managed to increase my bone density from a very low level up to normal through running, and that’s a pretty good reason to keep it up.

However the real reason why I run was brought home to me the other day when I was relaxing with my kids in front of the tv. An advert for a sportswear company came on, and it was showing a woman exercising in different weathers, places and at different times of the day. It was asking if you were the type of person who wanted to be ready for anything. All my kids turned to me and shouted ‘That’s you Mummy! You run in the rain, you go even when it’s cold and dark, you are just like that!’

Ignoring the fact that they are the marketing company’s dream audience, and that I am nothing like the glamorous slim model on the tv, I was thrilled that they noticed.

That's you Mummy!

They see me running, and they think it’s normal. How great is that? They’ve often come to support me at events, but being pretty typical kids they haven’t always shown a great interest, and the lure of a lunch out generally has to be used to bribe them to come! They did give me a massive cheer at my marathon last year though, and that was the best boost ever when I was feeling exhausted. At least now I know that they are growing up with my running (and their Dad’s, when he occasionally joins in) being a normal part of life.

They’re not the sportiest kids in the world, but I’m hoping that by setting them this example they will grow up wanting to join in, wanting to enjoy sports and wanting to look after their bodies to keep them healthy and strong. My eldest has already started joining me on the occasional parkrun and has done a few 2-3k events, and he was thrilled to realise how much he had progressed when he was finally picked for some running events at his school sports day this year.

He’s not the fastest in his year, but he’s out there, giving it a go, and that’s the most important thing. I don’t mind what they do. It doesn’t have to be running, it can be whatever sport brings them joy, fun, fitness and friends.

In a nutshell, I realised that’s why I run. To not only be fit for my family, and to be able to manage my family life without killing anyone, but mainly in the hope of inspiring them to also want to incorporate exercise into their lives as a normal part of their day. So…why do you run?

Life throws challenges but you don't give in !

I used to be a really good runner.

I have a 2:44:30 PB in the marathon and 1:19:20 in the half. but in 2009, my world fell apart when I was diagnosed with cancer of the womb.

I had a total hysterectomy and went through hell with a sudden and very extreme menopause. I also suddenly developed rheumatoid arthritis as a result of the menopause, so life was pretty challenging.

Then, in December 2011, I found out that the cancer had spread to my spine and pelvis - I was devastated!! 3 years of chemo and radiation; and one broken leg in Nov 2013 later, I ran the Biggest Loser half in 2:22  

This year, I have run the Resolution Run in Glasgow in March, the Hyde Park 10k in   April, the Berlin half marathon in May, and the Rock n Roll half marathon in Liverpool in June, all to raise funds for Stroke Association.

I will be running the Vitality GB 10k in London on Sunday July 12th, which will be the last run of this series for Stroke Association.

I just want to say that, no matter what challenges you face, if you are determined to achieve your goals YOU WILL!!!
I am not running very fast these days, but I am running - and that's all that matters! my goals for the autumn are the Oslo half marathon in Sept for Team Active Against Cancer, which is the Grete Waitz Foundation.
Then I'm doing the Great Scottish Run half marathon in Glasgow on Oct.4th; and finally the Dublin marathon on Oct.26th, which will be my first marathon for 6 years - fingers crossed!! I
t's still a challenge for me to run - it hurts - but I'm so happy that I can run at all! Life without running would be unimaginable....
  

Keep running folks and good luck with all of your goals!

Hugs from Theresa @teemcgee2012

 

Sometimes running is like starting again

I started running on the 24th April 2012, I know this date as since then I have logged every run on the My Asics App.

Day One

I had turned 50 the previous December and this plus a couple of other events drove me to get off my "lardy arse" and sign up for the Royal parks Half Marathon that October.

Since that fateful day it appears that I have run 1,950 miles, nothing by some peoples standards but by mine quite a flippin few! in fact an average of 11.67 miles per week so not that shabby.

Running was a bit of a "Starting again" moment for me, starting to try and find a bit of me that had been buried under life's demands.

At times I felt like this 

 

However what I didn't envisage was the number of times I'd be "Starting again"

 

Now I really admire those runners who manage to enter back to back events and do massive run streaks but that is not me, I can't fit that in with everything else required by family and work, so my training and races have to fit around that and perhaps this is why my running is so cyclical.

 

 

I've run in the sun and crashed and burned  

I've run in the woods dressed as a Pirate

 

I've landed flat on my face at the fate of a tree root

 

Seconds before propelling myself into a mirror

 

Seconds before being squashed by a bar

Seconds before falling on my nose

 I've done lots of strange things to try and make myself stronger

 

And also run marathons, not too badly

 

In fact over my running career such as it is I have now run 3x10k races, 2 Half Marathons, 1 Trail Half marathon, 2 full Marathons and the Great South Run.

 

But my running is as stated before cyclical !

 

I can go from being "On it like a bonnet" to so far from it I can't remember why I ever put my runners on.

If you're like me sometimes you just have to be resigned to the fact that this happens

 



Resigned

 

I'm in one of those phases now, only really training three times a week, a track session, PT session and a weekend run, but I do know that will turn around and increase when circumstances allow.

I don't have any races currently planned until 2016 so there is no pressure, however I also know I will race again in 2015 just not entirely sure when.

So I'm in a "Starting again" phase as far as I'm concerned, and starting again means getting somewhere!

Is your running cyclical ?

Starting again.....AGAIN!

 Paul