And now the end is near...

As December draws to a close, so too does 2013, it's been quite a year! 
I think I've blogged about most of the ups and downs that this year has thrown at us so won't go over it all again, but if I'd to sum it up, I'd say it's been a pretty good year. 
There have been lots of new friends this year, too many to mention here, but you all know who you are - most of you turn up at various places around the country to either run a few miles, or quaff a few pints, or if we plan it properly, do both!
Last year's marcothon facebook community spawned the D33 training group which in turn morphed into the Ultra Dafties and Sunday Social(ites) and it kinda went from there...
We've also lost a few friends this year too, mostly too young and this reiterates to me that we don't know what is around the corner, so live for today and carpe those diems every chance you get.
 
I planned each charted course, each careful step along the highway - at least that was the intention, but my original 2013 running goals were usurped by illness and whilst at the time I was absolutely gutted, I recovered and went on to tackle some previously unconsidered challenges, all of which I managed to succeed in and have an absolute blast along the way!
I've loved, I've laughed and cried - and for me the tears have been sad in Boston but mostly of joy.  Few of us have gotten through the year without an injury or disappointment along the way, but we are in the main a resilient bunch, we do get knocked down (and bruised!) and we do get back up again and we help each other as best we can.  If you're reading this and you're currently 'on the bench' then take strength from Nelson Mandela:

“Do not judge me by my successes, judge me by how many times I fell down and got back up again.”

 I've managed to tick off a few things on my bucket list along the way though there are still plenty in the bucket, and I for one am looking forward to 2014 and the challenges it will bring.
Apologies to Frank Sinatra for the quotes, but to finish with another one...

The record shows I took the blows and did it my way!

I was about to finish there, but one of my new friends of 2013 has just posted on facebook, and I think that this is absolutely wonderful so I hope she won't mind me sharing this with you - her timing could not have been more perfect! Thank You Michele xxx
(sorry for the huge images but I wanted you to be able to read them)

31/31 :-)

Yep that's it marcothon 2012 is over, about 40 folk and a fair number of fourlegged 'furries' (dogs) met up at Lock 27 on the Forth and Clyde Canal this morning for a group run to mark the end of this year's challenge.
Huge congratulations to the 1000+ from a' the airts who managed to complete the 31 days!  To those who had to pull out due to illness/injury, heartfelt commiserations and here's to you being there again on 1/12/13.

I found this year's marcothon much less stressful than last year and I guess that just kinda topped off my running year.  I have been really fortunate to get a PB at every distance I've raced this year, 5k, 10k, Half-Marathon and Marathon.  I've also been really fortunate to meet up with the folk from pinpoint fitness/Cumbernauld Fitcamp who have put me through my paces three times a week, in all weathers, and always outdoors, but boy has it been worth it!  I am sure that the new times are a result of being fitter, stronger and lighter than I have been for the last 30 years and I feel much better for it in so many different ways.  I have been fortunate to meet some lovely new friends this year, both through running and through fitcamp, some of them do both, they have made my life richer with more laughs along the way.
It's not all be fun and laughter, there have been some bumps in the road along the way, there have been injuries and races I couldn't start (or finish), friends and colleagues who have had to fight with illness, and some who unfortunately, lost their battle.  Work hasn't been the happiest place to be this year, lots of colleagues have retired/moved on and I'm still steering a slightly wobbly course, but ever hopeful that karma will play it's part and it will all work out in the end.  In terms of achievements, apart from running, one of the best things I have ever done was on St Andrew's night when along with some fitcamp friends I completed a firewalk - it was truly an exhilarating experience and we managed to raise over £1000 for Cancer Research UK along the way.  I'm struggling to write this tonight because there is so much wonderful stuff which has been 2012, and if you follow us on facebook well you've probably seen it all/read about it already, I think I can sum it up best by saying it's been a blast, but as we reach the end of this year, I have no desire to look back I am raring to go headlong into 2013 with all the challenges it will bring!  Some of them I have already signed up for, others will just appear one day and will need dealt with but I am sure that whatever 2013 decides to deal me, I am much better placed to deal with it than I was 366 days ago :-)  To all of you wherever you are who have played a part in making me happier, fitter, stronger, more confident, Thank You!
Love and best wishes to you all for a happy, healthy 2013 and may you all achieve your dreams...

Excelsior Amicus!!

48% almost half way...

Rain? What rain? - this is the picture I posted on the marcothon facebook page after last night's run.  After 2 weeks of cold, snowy, icy but mainly dry conditions, last night we got the rain! And the gales!  However, the runs were completed nevertheless :-)  There is something satisfying about 'giving the bird' to the weather when you're out on a run, you feel really smug when you've finished (oh and are dry and warm again!)

Today I did a 5mile run on a nice wee cycle path that I have avoided in the icy conditions, as it has a steep hill to get onto it and when I checked it out last Saturday morning it was too scary to attempt so I stuck to the roads.  It gave me a nice wee 8km route which I completed non-stop - I have to walk across 2 cattle grids as I'm not confident to try and run over them, but apart from that it was running all the way, even across the level-crossing and I got it lucky with the roads and didn't need to stop for cars either.
That's us almost half way through the month of December and half way through marcothon, I have run every day this month, and enjoyed them all to some extent.  There are none of them that I would say I had hated :-)  I am pleased with how well my legs/rest of me is holding up this year compared to last year, I have much less stiffness and aches and pains and I put this down to my weightloss and also to doing my fitcamp workouts 3 times a week, and my pilates.  I think that this is giving me more strength and more flexibility so I'm not stressing the muscles and joints as much and the extra exercise/stretching is helping with active recovery.
The facebook community around marcothon was great last year, but this year it's immense, there are heaps of posts every day relating fellow marcothoners adventures and they make great reading.  The banter is brilliant, there are some cracking photographs, and the support is immense, it really motivates you to get out and do your run so you can tell your tale :-)
We're off out tonight on a work's night out, but I will be driving so won't be hindered by a hangover tomorrow, however I will probably be suffering from sleep deprivation - I can't do late nights these days, so it might be a grumpy runner tomorrow morning...

7/31 marcothon week1 in the bag :-)

Apologies for the slightly satanic eyes in this photo, but this is Islay 'the dug'. 

Islay rose to global fame last year as the photogenic star of marcothon 2011.  Each day her slightly bonkers owner Alan posted a photo from their runs.  He also includes the number of the day in the photo in one form or another, hence the bottle of 7up in today's...
I am really pleased that we're finished week 1 and I have managed fine this year, I've completed my runs in one piece, in reasonably good humour and without any slips or injuries on the snow and ice, my legs are holding up well too, no great niggles or aches.  This may be a result of being a year more experienced, 25lbs lighter and a year more confident, or it may be as a result of my firewalk last week and my heightened levels of self-awareness and self belief... choose whichever option you please or choose to disregard them all, but as I said to John last night, something has changed and whatever it is, it's working so I'm not complaining :-)
This weekend we will hopefully get a slightly longer run tomorrow in fair conditions, and then on Sunday we will be in Glasgow for the Santa Dash, a fun 5km round the city with another couple of thousand mad runners dressed as various incarnations of Santa!  Great fun seeing the Saturday night revellers or 'jakies' who swear to never drink again after seeing the swathe of red and white wend it's way up St Vincent Street.  It truly is a sight to behold!
Monday is a day off for us so we will enjoy the city on Sunday afternoon/evening, stay overnight and then do something on Monday - including our run, before heading home.  I have tickets for the Pharoah exhibition in Kelvingrove so would like to try and take that in if possible...
To everyone who has managed to run this week, well done, who knows what the weather has in store for us in the weeks to come, but here's to good running and warm showers when you get home!
Have a great weekend folks x

It's that time of year again... it's marcothon!

 

 Yep, Saturday was December 1st so not only was it parkrun, it was day 1 of marcothon!

After the rain/sleet and ice of Friday night's firewalking adventures, Saturday morning dawned bright and cold, we headed off to Falkirk to meet up with our parkrun buddies, and to catch up again with Sue, Jim, Jordan and Keira who had driven up from Ayr specially to watch the firewalk then stayed overnight to come to parkrun.  We had a great run, the boys shot off at the start and us ladies followed at a more leisurely pace, the paths were icy and the grass was icy, hearbreak hill was icy, but the sun was shining low in the sky and it was a beautiful morning to be out...
Keira did brilliantly, she finished the 5km with a blistering sprint and earned her hot chocolate in the tearoom afterwards :-)  Running with Sue was great fun, it's always nice to finally meet a 'virtual' friend.
Special mention too to a friend whom we met during last year's marcothon, Alan and his 'dug' Islay ran every day and we all looked forward to his daily photo of Islay out on their run.  It was fantastic to finally meet him in person after a few failed attempts through the year.

For those of you who can't be bothered to follow the link to find out more, marcothon is a personal challenge to complete 5km or 25 min running every day in December.  We did this last year and I wasn't sure at the start if I would manage it but I did and it gave me a really good solid base to start my Spring training from.

The biggest difference between marcothon 2011 and marcothon 2012?  By day 5 I was stressing about getting a run, stressing about not being able to do a run fast enough, stressing that John was being a hero and putting up with my stresses and coming out with me so I would go... This year?  I am loving it and looking forward to and (so far) enjoying every run!

There is a wonderful community growing around marcothon with runners from "a' the airts" logging their adventures online and it's great to read what everyone is up to, where they are running, what the weather is like etc...
There are blizzards forecast tonight so given that we still have some ice and snow from Monday, it should make for an interesting day tomorrow, but you know what?  I've got my wee spikes for my shoes and I'm really looking forward to it - I'd run in this weather any day before the rain :-)
So, happy running fellow marcothoners!  Time for a bath to ease out the aches, and to hang up the washing - you know when you first buy a dishwasher you realise you need more dishes?? Running every day you realise you need more kit... ;-)

This will probably make my female friends smile, it may make some grimace a little inside, but it might also ring a bell with my male friends too - not necessarily the particular style of clothing here, but that being unable to go into a shop and just pick something off the rail, is a very uncomfortable and upsetting feeling.
I know I've been there!  I now get a real 'kick' out of being able to go into a shop and not have to look at the XL/outsize rail first :-)

Last night I was out for a pre-Xmas meal with some of the fitcamp crew, we had a really nice meal, lots of laughs and I looked around the table and wished that I had a photo from earlier this year when we started out on our individual journeys with pinpoint.  The 'food police' were off duty last night, so it was a free choice from the menu dinner, some people indulged in a wee tipple or two, I was driving so it wasn't an issue for me, I thoroughly enjoyed my soda and lime, but I did have Xmas pudding and brandy sauce!  I had a goats cheese & caramelised onion crostini with spinach and walnut salad, then cod loin served on a red pepper and grean bean risotto - delicious!
It was really nice to see everyone with their clothes on, we all scrubbed up well and looked great - this is why I wish I'd a photo from the start so that we could compare - not just the change in peoples' size, but more importantly the change in peoples' demeanour, there were so many smiles and laughs and banter, this all comes from the confidence that you gain when you gain control of your body.
Sorry I am aware I am rambling a bit here...

Back to the picture of the clothes shop, the other week we went into a shop and I tried on a coat which I have been coveting for a while, but am waiting for the sale, I automatically lifted 'my size' from the rail and put it on, then experienced a real OMG moment - I think I said it quite loudly!  The coat drowned me!  So I tried on the smaller size, which fitted comfortably - then put it back on the rail to wait for the sales - I'm still :-) about it...

So, I reckon it's time to stop rambling and get on with some shopping and chores, we start our final 4 week block of the year on Monday and I am really looking forward to it.  On the scales this morning I weigh 25lbs less than I did this time last year and hope that this time next year I will be able to say the same...

just a reminder that this time next week we will be into marcothon and before that - next Friday 30 November I will  be walking on hot coals to raise money for Cancer Research UK and all donations are most welcome xx

Downtime...

In his book "Everyone's guide to distance running" coach Norrie Williamson says, "The better the recovery, the better will be the quality on the other side. In many ways, recovery is the most important part of your training schedule and your training is only as good as your recovery."
So there you go that's why the only running I've done since Canada is parkrun 2 weeks ago, a wee 5km blast on the treadmill the following Tuesday, the Jimmy Irvine Bella 10k last Saturday...oh and a wee trauchle up Dumyat through the bog on Sunday morning :-)
However it's getting to that point where I need the structure and discipline again so am now counting down the days until Marcothon starts on 1st December :-)
I've been back at pinpoint fitness fitcamps again 3 times a week since I got back and that's been great, it's kept me sane, and I get my endorphin fix!  It's also helped me to shift a couple more pounds and hopefully will kickstart some more weightloss over the next couple of months which will help me with my training for the Highland Fling at the end of April.  I am hoping to start by doing a couple of very gentle recce runs on the parts of the route which I haven't run yet, looking forward to that starting soon and getting my new trail shoes on Sunday will be the start of this project :-)
Health and fitness wise, it's all pretty good at the moment, came back from Canada with no injuries and had a wee visit to the physio 2 weeks ago and he was pleased with the state of my  legs!  Just have to keep fit throughout the winter so that I am ready to take on the next big challenge.

Oh! Before that however there is one BIG challenge that I am undertaking... 2 weeks tonight I am going to do a FIREWALK - yes walking across hot coals!  Scary stuff believe me!
This has been arranged with the pinpoint crew and Tesco and is to raise money for Cancer Research UK, so if you are reading this and you agree that yes 'she has finally flipped' then if you could spare a few pennies we'd all be really grateful.  You can donate here  Thank You xxx

And now the end is near...

It is hard to believe it's now 31st December! It's been a pretty good year all round, the last couple of posts were a bit gloomy but in the grand scheme of things I guess they were fairly minor setbacks.
I managed my 5km on hug a runner day in November and then it was a case of gently breaking myself back in in preparation for Marcothon 2011. There are some who doubt the sanity of folk who do "streaks" (does not involve removal of clothing) and there were times when I doubted my own, but I am so so pleased that I managed to run every day in December - 31 days giving me just over 100 miles.
Some days were better than others, some were hellish if truth be told, we ran early in the morning in the rain and the dark, we beat "Hurricane Bawbag" by running at 6am before the gales hit - this was a particularly ferocious storm on Thursday 8 December with winds of almost 100mph! It was affectionately named by some wag, as only a Scots wag would...
Other runs were in the middle of the day in glorious sunshine and crisp white snow, others involved negotiating large icy areas - this is a particular phobia of mine :-(
Some were treadmill runs squeezed in at lunchtimes or after meetings but at the end of it all there was one run every day for the month. During this adventure we have made new friends through the facebook group, all at various stages of madness and we had runners from "a' the airts" taking part.
A particular mention must go to all the parkrun friends who took part as their encouragement and support was invaluable as well as humorous and amusing - each day's highlight was looking forward to the various posts and Alan Lindsay's photos of Islay who looks like one of the best trained dogs ever!
This morning was the finale of Marcothon, runners came along to Falkirk parkrun wearing something red and joined by Marco and Debbie Consani who are the Marcothon parents :-) It was great to see the smiles on so many faces and the sense of achievement was tangible. As always with running it changes your perspective on so many things, I never thought I was capable of running 31 days in a row, I stressed a bit at first about the logistics, but as it became a habit it just worked, it was possible to fit a run in at some point of the day, even setting the alarm clock 15minutes earlier was no hardship...
I also managed to get back to bootcamp twice a week which I am still really enjoying and which is undoubtedly helping with strength and conditioning work.
Now as the new year approaches, it's traditionally a time to reflect and at the risk of getting maudlin, it's been a great running year with loads of new friends, loads of new experiences, a PB at 5k, 10k and marathon distance and my first ultra race all under my belt, lots of new runners are joining our merry band, some more willingly than others and there are already new adventures planned for 2012.
So all things being equal and my wonderful physio earning his money, and with the support and encouragement of my wonderful husband and friends I'm looking forward to whatever it brings!
Happy, healthy injury-free year to everyone xxx

p.s. might change the title to 2012 and come back and do some more, it's been fun reminiscing and writing it all down :-)