South Coast Run 2013

Last year I took part in the South Coast Run at Seaford.   Because I'm a glutton for punishment I entered this year too, hoping that as it was a month earlier it actually wouldn't be as hot as last year's!

It all started earlier in the year when I shared a video of part of the route the event covers on Twitter.  A couple of Twitter followers immediately said what a lovely area to run.  My response - you can, come join me at the South Coast Run in July!   So that's how it started - a run with a massive tweet up over a weekend.

On Saturday Shaun had volunteered to marshal at the Tri event so got up early to get to the seafront to get into position.   I followed later after walking the dog.   When I got there he was in transition on the swim in and run out gate, all very confusing with people going in and out all at the same time!  It was brilliant to see the event from this angle - last year we spectated.   I'm definitely going to marshal next year, it looks great fun - and you get a lovely pair of sports sunglasses for all your hardwork!

In the meantime Matt, Dawn & Kiernan were making their way to Seaford to spend the Saturday night and Sunday with us.   We all met for dinner at a local chain pub and had a lovely evening with lots of chatting and laughing.

Sunday came all too quickly - a hot sticky day was forecast!  Quick breakfast of bran flakes and banana, a gel and lots of water and we were off to Seaford, picking Matt up on the way.   My parents and brother and girlfriend had also come down to cheer us on together with Kiernan's two aunts who live locally.   The race started at 9am on the dot and followed more or less the same pattern as last year.   The two fellas were running the Half and I was running the 10k; Dawn had come down to support.

Dawn

Kiernan

Matt

Me !

Appreciation for your cheerers - even if they are a bit loud 

 I kind of knew it wasn't going to be a good run, I've had terrible problems with my lower legs and cramp and I had prepared myself for a personal worst.

I finished in 1 hr 15 mins - not last by any means  - 3 other ladies came in after me and 2 men!   I'm pleased with how it went considering the heat although could have done with more vaseline on my feet - I've got some lovely blisters on the soles of my left foot!

Matt and Kiernan did really well with their Halfs - Kiernan came in 30 something and Matt came in 63 out of 80 male runners.  Also got to meet fellow Bosher Richard Wilkins.

Rich

An amazing cheering team - so much appreciated!

Once the Matt and Kiernan had finished we headed to the beach to cool off

A quick dash home to shower (dropping Matt off at his hotel first) and then back to where Dawn had stayed overnight for some lunch and watch the tennis.  We didn't last long in the pub, we were all knackered - at 3 we left to go our respective ways.

It's been a great weekend and I hope we can all get together again soon!

Not sure what happens now, I've got my holiday to Tunisia on the 25th for a week and then back to training.  Danni and I have signed up for the Color Run 5k in September and I'm building up again to the Brooks Brighton 10k in November.  Hoping I can get some more races in between those, but I'm going back out on the trails for a while.

A Lazy Weekend

The weekend just gone was a very lazy affair.   After the past two weekends involving some very early starts waking up at 8am on Saturday morning felt quite pleasant.

The day of Bedgebury was an early start and the Sunday after I got up to walk the dog to Seaford to support everyone taking part in Seaford Half Marathon.

The previous weekend was far from relaxing.   On Saturday we were all up early - Shaun to walk the dog before he left for work and Dani and I were off to spend the day in Canterbury looking round Christ Church University.  Whilst Dani has already made her mind up that she wants to do her Psychology degree at University of Brighton we have already visited Reading and Royal Holloway but we needed one more to give her an idea of different accommodation should she decide to study away from home.  Whilst Canterbury isn't overly difficult to get to by road the University made it quite clear that we should not take the car, or if we did to use the Park & Ride facility.   I hate driving and will avoid it at all costs.   Because of this we had to catch the 7am train from Newhaven!  Changing at Lewes and then again at Ashford International meant a train journey of 3 hours.   We had no idea which way to go when we came out of the station, there were no signposts so we decided to head to the city centre and go from there.   Once we'd walked through the centre we found some student helpers who were dressed in eye catching red t-shirts and were very helpful in getting us to the right place.

First on our agenda was to visit the Psychology Department to get some advice on the course and to have a walk round the campus.    After some lunch in the campus cafe we headed back into town to find the University library to attend a talk on accommodation.  Canterbury is a totally self catered affair, unlike Reading and Holloway which also have catered.    The accommodation is also dotted around the City but nothing is too far from campus.   We both liked the rooms we visited and surprisingly, after Dani had said totally outright she was studying from home she was now beginning to think with an open mind and quite liked the size of the rooms and how they were set out, and was planning how she would cope on her own.

After we'd seen all we could take in we walked back through the City Centre and did a bit of shopping, sussing out places she might be able to get part time work and eating places for the days when she couldn't be bothered to make toast or pot noodle.   We both absolutely loved Canterbury and it will be going down on her list as a possible if she decides not to go to Brighton.

The train journey home was easy too - all the changes in reverse but this time it only took 2.5 hours!

Thankfully my parents had come down to dog sit and they ordered a takeaway for tea which arrived in good time after Shaun had got back from work.

Sunday was another early morning - Shaun was taking part in the London to Brighton Bike Ride.  I hadn't quite envisaged being woken up at 2.30 on Sunday morning by a phone call about changing the van they were using for transportation; and at 4 when he got up to get ready to go; and at 5 when he was picked up by our friend Lucy who was taking the "team" to Clapham Common.  I went back to bed and slept til 7!  I had planned to take the dog out for a long walk over the hills as I didn't know what time I would be back from Brighton but it started to rain and Archie doesn't "do" walking in the rain!   I had planned to get the bus in to Brighton at about 12 in the hope that Shaun wouldn't complete the course in less than 5 hours.   It took a while to walk down to the finish and in the process of moving around we completely missed him crossing the line at just before 1pm.   It had taken him 5 hours and a bit.  I'm so proud of him, after all he's been through with the leg over the last few years it's good to see him enjoying cycling.  The rest of the team came over the line 30 minutes later.  Some other friends and my brother were also taking part and came through just before 3pm!   They all had a brilliant day and can't wait to do it again.

Friday just gone turned out to be quite stressful.  We received an email on Thursday evening from Alpha Rooms to say that our BA return flight from Tunisia had been cancelled.  On Friday Shaun spent the whole day on the phone re-arranging our return.  Unfortunately we have to come back 2 days early.  We've lost £180 worth of accommodation plus a night's stay at the Travelodge which we had to rebook. On the upside I'm not changing my holiday from work so will have a few days at home after to spend with Dani before she flies off to Bulgaria for her holiday.  Thankfully it's all sorted now but for one minute it looked like we may lose the whole holiday.

What's next?  Next weekend is a lazy one too, apart from a bit of running and dog walking, and it's our 24th wedding anniversary.   The following weekend (6th & 7th) is the South Coast Triathlon and South Coast Run which I'm running 10k and also meeting up with some twitter friends.

Trailblazer Bedgebury 10k

I had an absolutely brilliant day yesterday - well by my snail runner standards anyway!   Yesterday I ran the Trailblazer Bedgebury 10k at the Bedgebury Pinetum in Kent.   Shaun took these while I was out running.

Excitement had been building all week, not sure why I was so excited, I went out for a couple of runs during the week and felt good, and also had arranged to meet with some fellow twitter runners and BOSH members.

It was quite warm when we left home, by the time we got to Bedgebury it was 2 degrees less and quite windy.  The Event Village was filling quite quickly with only an hour to the first wave leaving.  I signed my waiver and headed to the registration tent to collect my number and wristband.   Whilst writing my runners info on the back of my number Katherine  text me asking where I was.  Tweetup number 1 was brilliant.  Kath and I have been twitter friends for a while now, so it was lovely to finally meet her. 

Shaun and I then had a bit of a wander, checking out the different things available.  The Runners World tent were offering £15 subscription to include a free Camelbak - was very tempted but not really sure I wanted to sign up for another mag so we left it.  Also in the tent were all the leftover goody bags contents - boxes and boxes of all sorts of things.  Photo later to see what we managed to collect!  There was also the Rat Race shop, with some really good deals on all sorts of kit.

Shaun fancied a bacon sarnie and a cup of tea so we visited the food tent, later on they were serving paella!   We watched the first warm up and the first wave went off to the start at 11am.   

A trip back to the car to drop off all the stuff we didn't need and then back to the Event Village to await the return of the first group. We headed to the point which is about 200m from the finish and after 30 minutes the first two men appeared from between the trees, followed closely by the first female.  I had a bit of a 'moment', wondering if I could actually do this run, everyone coming through looked exhausted!

Back to the Village to queue for the loo.  Not sure why we can't queue in front of each portaloo at events, a long, slow moving single line was the days offering.  Following that delight we went up to the finish line.   The last thing I needed to see before I left for the start was someone passed out on the finish line.  The medical team were doing a great job of looking after him.   He was eventually brought back round and led to the first aid tent.  I hope he's feeling ok this morning. 

I then spotted Terry another tweeter and Athon participant who had done Bedgebury the previous year and had just finished.  Tweetup no 2! Unfortunately one Tweet up and Bosh meet didn't happen - the phone/internet signal was pretty dodgy so I didn't get to meet Helen Reardon (@hcrreardon) or Mary from Bosh.

In the meantime the other 6 waves had warmed up and left and it was finally my turn.  There are loads of photos of me doing the warm up but I've chosen a few for this post

After the warm up Wave 8 was led to the start line.  I'd had a couple of nightmares in the run up to the race that I was the only one in my wave and that Shaun had to rent a mountain bike and come round with me.  Luckily Wave 8 was quite big and I wasn't alone, well at the start anyway!

We stood at the startline for a couple of minutes and given a safety talk by the lovely Helen (Tweetup 3).  Warnings of fallen trees across the trail and keep an eye out for mad MTBers and horses.  At 12.45 we headed off - uphill.  I tried really hard not to stop and walk and kept telling myself to keep going.   It was very hot, not a lot of shade even within the tree lined trail parts.  The trails were very dry and dusty in places.  The scenery though more than made up for it.   I reached 5k in 37 minutes which I was really pleased with as that's only 3 minutes slower than my PB which was set at Eastbourne parkrun.  It all went a bit to pot after that, especially having to limbo under the aforementioned fallen tree (yes I was singing the tune!)  Despite the challenging terrain I was still really enjoying myself.  One girl was playing cat and mouse with me which was a bit annoying - she'd run a bit, and then walk a bit, I managed to overtake her a couple of times in our little game.  Unfortunately she made the mistake of stopping at the water station at 7k and I didn't - hah job done, no way I was going to let her get in front of me again.   At about 1.5 k from the finish Shaun appeared with the camera, it was lovely to see him, and he ran a bit of the way with me (in his walking sandals & backpack!), trying to encourage me to keep running and telling me where to go etc (bless him).

 and he decided to run backwards in front of me!

 He then disappeared to wait at the 200m to go point

 It was a bit dark in there, but at least the ground was nice and soft with pine needles.   I threw passed Shaun my water bottle and carried on for the last 200m to the finish line, a bit more uphill and the official photographer sitting in the long grass.

 and sprinted crossed the line in 1hr 17 mins 59 secs (chip time was 1hr 18.06) .

In the run up to the finish I was spotted by the lovely Paul (twitfam and Athoner) who took some  photos and put them on his Flickr account (tweetup 4!)  The only reason he thought it was me was because I was wearing pink! Lovely to meet him at long last, we have some lovely tweet conversations.

I also spotted cat and mouse girl cross the line after me - she came over and gave me a hug and said thank you for keeping her going (blimey not used to that)!

It was a shame we couldn't hang around, it would have been a lovely afternoon and a chance to see a bit more of the pinetum and have something to eat.  When we got home we sorted out the goody bag/freebie haul

All in all I'm very pleased with how the race went, apart from the wobble before the start at no point did I feel I couldn't do it.  I smiled all the way around, although sometimes it might have been a grimace. It was very hilly course (by my flat running standards).  I think Paul said there were a zillion uphills, Terry said he thought there were lots of downhills.   Everyone did agree though it was a brilliant and challenging course.    It was a lovely day and a brilliantly organised event.  The marshalls around the course were very encouraging which was great, there aren't many places that supporters can cheer you on so having great marshalls was important (for me anyway).

I will definitely be doing it again.

Busy week this week - some early morning dog walks, holiday jabs, runs and I'm starting back at the gym on Wednesday.  I took advantage of a 10 day pass from Groupon at LA Fitness.  I'm really looking forward to going and hope it will help shift some of the weight I've put on.   I've got to shift it now, apart from looking like a blip I'm getting slower and I'm not having that!  Shaun is also doing his London 2 Brighton bike ride on Sunday!   

I Heart Running !

Last night I spent about 30 minutes working out a route for my run this morning.  According to My Asics training plan I needed to do 8k and as I'm doing Bedgebury Trailblazer in a couple of weeks I'm doing all my runs on grass/dirt.   I'd worked out a nice route from Newhaven to Southease along the banks of the River Ouse - the flat route gave me the option of turning back at 4k or carrying on to return home via a bridge crossing the river and running back home for a massive 11k, with a lovely hill between 8 and 9k.

I was quite excited this morning when I got up, Shaun had said he wanted me to take my phone so at least if I got into trouble or broke my ankle (thanks for the vote of confidence) I could ring him and he could pick me up at the bridge at Southease.   I set off towards the incinerator where the footpath begins, the first 1k-ish is on road and in trail shoes felt a little weird.  When I got to where the footpath crosses the railway line I was a bit pissed off to see that the footpath had been closed - flipping big padlocks on the gates and a Notice from the Local Authority advising that the footpath was closed!  Great, now what do I do?  Go home and sulk and change into my pavement pounders or find a different route to suit my new trail shoes?  After a bit of a dither I decided to head to the hills which are a bit further on.  A bit more running on tarmac and uphill!   I had forgotten about the current planting on the surrounding hills and was met by this sight when I got to the footpath

An asthmatics/hay fever sufferers nightmare!  Things were not going well were they?  Oh well just had to get on with it, so that's what I did.   I just ran (well run might be an exaggeration, there were a couple of walky type bits).  At the top of hill is a nice flat bit, a bit more of an uphill and then a lovely sweep downhill.   It was at this point that I started to chuckle to myself and was really enjoying having to concentrate on where I put my feet.  I had a huge grin on my face too, thankfully there was no-one around to see or hear or I think I would've been carted off to the loony bin. 

After the sweeping bit down there's another uphill and having tried to run up most of the hills already I stopped to take in the view - luckily I had my phone on me so I could share these

 and a picture of myself!

I went a bit further along before dropping down back into Denton - the road going down is pretty steep, glad I didn't run up it!  Nowhere near a quick 8k but who cares.

I absolutely love runs like today's, especially finding a whole new route that I can improve on over the summer, and I will be doing that riverbank run too.  

Here's to more giggly, smiley runs!

Being Heroic !

On Sunday I ran my first 10k event of the year - Heroes Brighton.   I've been a bit excited about doing this event, not sure why because as usual my preparation for the event was shocking, but it was billed as a "fun run" so with that in mind I relaxed, no pb chasing, just go out and enjoy!

Alma had entered as well so we decided to go dressed as Batgirl.  The first thing was to find something comfortable to run in.   We decided to go for a simple vest top with the batman logo on the front with a cape attached and an eye mask each.  I think we both look brilliant!

Heroes is also a great opportunity to support a different charity, this time Pass It On Africa which is currently working on school building projects in Ghana, Kenya and The Gambia.

I got to Hove Lawns dead on 9am.   It was great to see the little ones dressed up in superhero outfits.  They have their own 500m Dash, which is lovely to see them charging along.  It was starting to get very busy and Alma was running late thanks to the trains.   Soon after she arrived we were making our way to the start area.  We stood near the back, knowing that everyone in front of us would go charging off.   Apparently there was a warm up going on, but being at the back we had no idea what we were supposed to be doing!  Here's a video of the start 

We started off at a gentle pace, I didn't want to wear myself out before we reached halfway.

What I hadn't taken into account was the fact that the race route was two 5k laps (have I ever mentioned how much I dislike laps?)  The route headed west from Hove Lawns along the prom - nice enough but the memories of the Brighton Half and the flipping endless line of beach huts was rather fresh in my memory!   At 2.5k we headed back up on to Kingsway and headed back to Hove Lawns for the turn around point

Getting ready for the turnaround!

Here we go again!

We hit the 5k point at 35 mins (the fastest I've run 5k in a very long while).  The second lap wasn't so bad, being with Alma makes the time go really quickly!

Clark Kent/Superman!

 Alma just happened to mention that we were currently on target to finish at about 1hr 8 mins but only if we sped up slightly.

I was nearly dying and gasping for breath when we crossed the line at 1hr 8mins - the best I've ever run 10k since I started running!

Celebratory hugs were exchanged and Alma left us to go home.   I headed to Brighton Marina with Shaun and Mum & Dad to have a yummy lunch of ham, egg & chips and a Stowford Press!

All in all I loved this event, despite the laps and not because of the pb.  The atmosphere was brilliant and it was great to see so many different costumes.  It was nice to have a relaxed attitude, no timing chip and no expectation of finishing fast - just what I needed, even if we did "leg it" to finish!

Next stop is Bedgebury 10k on 8th June so from tomorrow onwards I'm hitting the footpaths to break my trail shoes in properly.

I'm not taking part in Juneathon this year.   With everything going on at home at the moment and my stress diagnosis earlier this year, I've decided putting myself through the stress of daily running and blogging will be too much.  If I did it I would want to run further than I did last year, and with two more running events to get through next month and in July I want to concentrate on training for those.

Fingers crossed for good weather in a couple of weeks time!