My first DNF

Yesterday was the Braintree Boggle Marathon, a small affair organised by a few members of the Springfield Striders and the Mid-Essex Casuals running clubs. It's a cross-country run around Braintree, and totally self-navigated, which I was very nervous about, with only marshals at the four checkpoints out on the course. The forecast had been terrible too - heavy rain for most of the morning followed by heavy snow. It didn't look like it was going to be much fun!

However, I sent off bright and early on Sunday morning, despite my trepidation and was looking forward to trying out a different sort of race which I thought would be a great training run in advance of the St Peter's Way ultra which I have in a few weeks.

We started well - gripping the four sides of A4 route instructions in a plastic pouch, 100 or so of us ran off up the road and soon got to the fields. I don't think it'd started raining at that point, although it was definitely very cold, but the weather certainly wasn't as bad as I'd expected - unfortunately though, an awful lot of rain had already fallen, and the ground was either flooded or very muddy and slippery with the Essex clay! My feet were quickly drenched from the puddles, but soon afterwards my shoes filled with mud which at least helped to keep my feet warm ;)

Before too long the field started to thin out, and although I ran for a fair while with a lovely guy (who's name unfortunately has escaped me) who was running his (i think) 280ish marathon that day, there were also lots of miles run on my own, when I had to put my navigational skills to the test where there wasn't another soul in sight! I was pretty pleased with how I managed to be honest - although those instructions look scary to start with, once you start getting through them, they made sense and were pretty each to follow.  What was less easy, was staying upright!

I was in my road shoes (I only own road shoes) and the route really was very hard work - without a shadow of a doubt I should have been in trail shoes and I think I was the only person who wasn't. I was slipping and sliding all over the place, and it was slow jogging or walking for most of it, as I couldn't get up any pace on that terrain. There were a few sections of concrete track, tarmac path and even country road, and although they were few and far between, they were absolute god-sends for me as I really was struggling!

By about 15 miles, I had something else to content with...the niggling knee pain that I've had for the last few weeks really started to develop, and soon because agonising to the extent that I couldn't run on it at all and could only walk. I initially thought I'd walk for maybe 5 or 10 minutes, but each time I started trying to run again, I'd find myself yelping in pain.  So, I resigned myself to walking.

So, walking.  Not that much fun to be honest. I was dressed for running and in the incredibly cold conditions and with a biting wind I soon started to lose heat, particularly in my hands. I was lucky I had a buff to protect my face but wished I had another layer to put on.  Anyway, walk I did, on my own, for three freezing miles until the checkpoint, where I declared that I'd had enough and I was pulling out. My first DNF.

The ladies at the checkpoint were lovely, with offers of coffee, and homemade flapjack, which was very gratefully received. I sat in their car until someone was able to give me a lift back to the start, and although I had a blanket, I unfortunately started to get incredibly cold, shivering quite violently. But as soon as I got into the heat of the car on the way back to the start, with the heated seats (wow - bliss!) I soon felt much better...although my knee was still complaining and I was limping now even when I was walking.

But I made it home. RICE followed with lots of ibuprofen gel. This morning though I'm really not able to walk without significant pain, never mind run. Not good, and so for the first time in a couple of years, I called in sick (well, injured) to work, and am spending the day resting my knee and will hopefully get to see the physio in the next day or so to find out what's wrong.

I feel a bit weird about not finishing the race but I know it was the right decision. I couldn't run, and there would have been absolutely no point at all in walking another 8 miles, even if I did have the mental strength to do that, which I don't think I did.  Besides, walking a third of the course just isn't what the marathon is about. I always told myself I would never have a DNF on my record, but you can't control injury, and sometimes, you've just got to be sensible.

Me, David Weir, some food & football

This week I've had a couple of pretty unusual but awesome days. On Tuesday, it was Franc's birthday, and after work we went to the Rhodes 24 restaurant at Tower 42, which was a real experience. We had a lovely time, with amazing views across London at night with all the twinkling lights and fantastic service! He had lots of presents and loads of cards from friends and family, and I think he really enjoyed his birthday.

On Wednesday, though, I easily topped Tuesday, with the most brilliant day. One I'll remember for ever.

CNN run a programme in the US called Fit Nation, to help people get involved in sporting events they would never have considered they would be capable of. CNN is part of Time Warner, who decided they wanted to launch the same programme in the UK for Time Warner staff, where people would be encouraged to make a life change, and to start getting fit, by signing up for a running, walking or triathlon event with the Fit Nation team who would provide the same education, support and training programmes as they do in the US.

Wednesday was their launch day, and there was an event held in a hotel in London, attended by Time Warner staff. The event was led by Dr. Sanjay Gupta who is CNN's chief medical correspondent and a neuro-surgeon, who talked to the audience about the Fit Nation programme, and then hosted a panel of guests who were there to inspire the audience.

So, who were the guests on the panel? A sorts psychologist whose name I can't remember, CNN correspondent Nic Robertson, the amazing Paralympic wheelchair racing champion, David Weir CBE and....me!!

Couldn't believe they'd asked me to be on a panel with David Weir, but the 10in10 and all my marathon running was enough of a story to make them want me to be there and I'm absolutely honoured to have been involved. I was terribly nervous beforehand, but once we got going on the panel, I really enjoyed it, and meeting David Weir was incredible! They showed a clip of him winning the 800m race which was spectacular and he also brought his gold medals from the 2012 Paralympics. It was fantastic to actually touch one, they're beautiful! :)

After the launch event was over, someone asked to take a picture of me and David together, which was surreal to say the least, and that's the photo below - I asked her to send it onto me!

I'm still waiting for the official photos to come through, pleased to have these ones as a memory for the time being. It really was a fantastic experience.

To top off the day, that afternoon I was taken out for lunch by a contractor of ours, to Sushi Samba restaurant in Heron Tower - it's on floor 38 and again, amazing views across London and absolutely delicious food! As if that wasn't enough though, that evening, Francis and I went to Wembley to see the England v Brazil football game!!

It really was a ridiculously awesome day, even without any running! ;)

Watford Half Marathon

On Sunday, I ran the Watford Half Marathon, which was the first half I've run since last summer.  I was sure this was a race I'd run before, but on Saturday night I realised that I'd been thinking of a totally different race, and had no idea what it was going to be like, so turned up without any real expectations.

It's a decent enough race, and one I might do again...although not sure how I much I like a half anymore - it's just short enough that I seem to spend half the race warming up and as soon as I hit my stride it's finished ;)

The start (and finish) is in a local park in Watford. Local parking was a bit of a nightmare, but otherwise it was very well organised with changing areas, loads of toilets, efficient baggage drop and even massage available! However, I was totally perturbed by the fact that there were two starting points - one for men, and one for vets and women! What on earth was that about?! Not impressed.  Fair enough have two starts divided by your anticipated finish time but such incredible and blatant sexism and ageism was a surprise.

Anyway, once both groups get going, you spend the first 3 miles running through a housing estate. It's a pretty big race (1699 people finished) and the more of the smaller races I do, the more annoying I find it running in a crowd, and I wasn't impressed with the suburban route - I was starting to get very worried that this was what the whole run was going to be like and that I wouldn't enjoy it. Thankfully though, after those three miles, the rest of the route was lovely and we all started to space out. Running through country lanes that were closed to traffic for the race was an absolute delight - it's been ages since I've run on traffic free roads in a race! Then the last couple of miles were through a track in the woods which was fantastic.

There are a few challenging hills on the course, but as I ran them, I just kept thinking about how much hillier it is at Windermere and that kept me going and was pleased not to stop. I had decided to try and run at 9 min/miles and when I started, and found myself running at about 8min/miles so quickly reined myself in and slowed down as I didn't want to blow up later. As it turned out, this was very effective, as towards the mid-way point, once I was warmed up, I still felt really strong, and reminded myself just how much fun it was to run fast! Seeing 7min/mile pace on my watch always really makes me smile!! :D

I certainly didn't maintain that though, especially with the uphills, but was happy with my average pace of 8:45min/mile, giving me a chip finish time of 1:55:32. I'd been aiming for a sub 2hr training run and it worked out well - 7 minutes off a PB time but more than enough for how things are going at the moment! However, the one thing I was moaning about on Sunday, and that I'm still a bit annoyed about, is not getting a medal. For £20 entry fee, I honestly think there should be a medal for the finishers - I don't need t-shirts that I'll never wear - I want a medal to hang up in the hall! Oh well....mustn't grumble....

Next up is the Braintree Boggle Marathon on Sunday which is going to be an entirely different race. Only about 100 of us I think, all cross country trail and probably very muddy, and we get route instructions when we pick up our numbers.  This only cost £8 to enter, so I'm not going to moan about not getting  a medal for this one...assuming I actually finish it! ;)

We all have bad days

I've been a bit demotivated for the last few days. I went out for a 6 miler on Thursday which I cut short, making it just a 3 miler, because I couldn't get myself to do any more than just shuffle along, and then didn't manage to get out at all on Friday or Saturday. I knew I couldn't let the week pass without a decent long run, and so on Saturday night found myself looking for a race to enter on the Sunday, just to give myself a reason to get my trainers on!

I had a great offer of joining Emma at the Canterbury 10 miler, which I could have entered on the morning, followed by tea (and I was hoping biscuits) back at hers, but unfortunately didn't even manage to get up in time to drive down there! After such a poor week, I knew I couldn't just let it go, and had to bite the bullet and go for a long run regardless of whether I wanted to or not. So, I got my gear on, and eventually headed out of the door, with a plan to run 20 miles, during which I was also going to trial a High-5 carb drink with some High-5 gels to keep me going, from the race pack that we were given during the Brathay training weekend.

From the minute I started, I didn't feel great. Lumbering might be the word ;) About a mile in, I stopped to take my coat off...it was much warmer than expected and I was cursing the long sleeve top I had on. Another mile in, the pain in my foot and shin was getting too bad to ignore, and I stopped again, realising that I couldn't flex my left foot. I took of my trainer, stretched the elastic on my sock, and spent a few minutes inexpertly rubbing my shin and ankle, trying to loosen off the tightness. It seemed to work, I relaced my trainer (less tight this time) and carried on.

The next 8 miles or so were equally annoying. Aches and niggles kept bothering me, and the voice in my head kept up a tedious commentary abut how painful running was, wondering who had thought it was a good idea in the first place, and what on earth was I doing. It wasn't fun.

I was pretty much on the road for the first part of my run, and I don't think that helped - I've been getting much more used to cross country stuff recently, and the unforgiving (and frequently flooded) tarmac did nothing to improve my mood.

I had to keep telling myself that I may well hate running half of the time, but the other half I enjoy it so much, that it balances out, and that this was just one day.  I know a good run comes after a bad one...

After about 10 miles, things got marginally better, as there was a pavement to run on away from the traffic and I managed to lose myself thinking about something other than the run. Another eight miles or so passed relatively painlessly and I managed to get in a bit of a rhythm  The High-5 products had actually worked very well. I was having a mouthful or two of the carb drink every 2 miles, and a gel every 6 miles, which kept me totally fuelled - a bit of a revelation to be honest. I've tried the gels before while drinking Powerade, and it made me feel very sick, so good to see they'll work for me if I use the right drink.

By the time I got to about 18 miles and I was nearly home, I was cursing running again. Why was I putting myself through this, I kept asking. What made me think I could run the 10in10? I must be insane was the only answer I could come up with, as my calves were burning and my knee started feeling like it was disintegrating below me! But on I went, because what else was I going to do....

I had to go and pick up my coat from where I'd dropped it off, so added a bit of a detour to my route, and by the time I eventually made it home, I'd done just over 21 miles.

Once I stopped, I realised quite how painful my calves were - horrendous searing pain that I don't remember ever having had before and I felt exhausted.  I laid down for a bit, then stretched, and had the final stage of my High-5 nutrition test, the recovery drink.

I went up for a bath, and although it's something I never do, I ended up running the cold tap over my legs, just to try and get some relief! Luckily, the pain seemed to pass quite quickly, and before too long I was feeling pretty much back to normal.

This morning, other than my knee still being sore (pass the ibuprofen gel!) my legs are fine and I'm really glad I persevered and got the miles done. It was hard to keep going but I've had loads of great motivational comments from friends on Twitter (just a few of which are below) which reminded me it was worth it!

Jezza S ‏@UltraKent

@naominf Well done Naomi, I know the feeling, I did 20 yesterday & 9 today barefoot and I am sore. These are the runs that make a finisher.

Martyn Fisher ‏@_martyn_fisher

@naominf The important bit is that you came through the tough bit and finished with a big mileage. Good training for #10in10. Well done :-)

Kevin Betts ‏@52marathonman

@emjs81 @niwise @naominf A run is infinitely better than no run, no matter how far it strays from your plan

Graeme Hackland ‏@graemehackland

@naominf It's the horrible runs that we persevere with and don't quit that make us stronger! Well done!

I don't know what when wrong yesterday, but it really wasn't good. In a bid to explain it away, I've decided that my shoes are probably worn out - I usually change them every 450-odd miles, but counted up the miles I've done in my current ones and they total just over 550, so am blaming my trainers for the leg pain. Don't know if that's accurate, but it's what I'm going with. I'll but some new ones today and hopefully this week everything will be back to normal....

Yaktrax Run review

As we’ve still got a lot of snow around our way, I bit the bullet yesterday and forked out for a pair of YakTrax Run. I could have bought them cheaper online but needed them yesterday to be able to have a go at running outside, rather than retreating to the gym and the treadmill, and didn't have time to wait for delivery, so at lunchtime headed to Sweatshop and bought a pair.

If you’ve not heard of them, YakTrax Run is a contraption that you pull over the sole of your shoe to give you traction on snow and ice, using wire coils and spikes. You can get more basic ones if you need them for walking around which just have the coils over the whole foot, or (the much more) expensive ones if you’re going to be running.  I’m sure the walking ones would cope with running too, but I decided to go for the Run ones to give me the best chance of completing the mileage that I had on my schedule. 

I was a bit nervous about running last night because of the amount of compacted snow there was around, but after tweeting to everyone that I’d bought my YakTrax and was going to give them a go, I couldn’t back out!

As soon as I got home from work, I got ready and then set about putting them on my shoes.  It was a mission! The first shoe took me ages, and seemed like a work-out in itself, but once I realised how to do it, the second one was easy enough to get on. It felt a bit odd to stand in them but only momentarily and I soon got used to it, and once I started running, I knew that they had been a worthwhile investment. I only ran on the road or pavements (as it was dark and I still haven’t got myself sorted out with a headtorch) so don't know what they'd be like cross country, and although some community minded people had cleared a few sections outside their houses, which meant I had to clatter away on the tarmac, most of my 6 mile run was on compacted snow or icing up slush, but I didn't slip at all.

I did find that my gait changed, although I’m not sure if that was just because of natural caution, as opposed to wearing the YakTrak, but my stride was definitely shorter, with my feet landing more under my body, which is closest to the ideal way of running anyway (or so they say). I was able to run at a normal pace though, and other than the clattering on the occasional bits of cleared pavements, I didn’t notice I was wearing them, they were comfortable and gave me so much confidence in the conditions. I was able to run up and down the hills, and was also able to enjoy the looks of astonishment and incredulity from the few people who were out tentatively walking home! So, all in all, a great purchase. I doubt I’ll have to use them very often, but it does mean that I don’t have any excuse to wimp out of a run just because the weather has got a bit wintery!