Blue Peter in the 80s and Marcus Rashford in the 20s

Never underestimate the power of Kids TV, as I attribute an awful lot of how I see the world today from being very bought into watching Blue Peter as often as I was able to.

I remember watching in utter disbelief as a child about the crisis in Kampuchea in 1988, I've had to rewatch a bit of it on YouTube to remember the details of the appeal as all that had stuck with me was that many people had died at the hands of Pol Pot's  cruel dictatorship and that the images of starving children had really upset me.  The amazing thing about Blue Peter back then (and from what I've seen from clips is still the case today) is that it communicated with children on a "grown up" level, explained the issues and importantly gave some empowerment that things could be changed for the better and showed them how they could help.  It was the 1988 Bring and Buy Sale Blue Peter Appeal.

In 1988 I was 8 and went to a small C of E Primary School in Kingston Upon Thames in cold Victorian buildings with separate outdoor toilet blocks that on at least one occasion froze in the winter.  The intake of children was quite mixed in pretty much every sense and reflecting back on the small school with only 6 classes to cover 7 years; I'm impressed at how the teachers managed to educate a wide range of abilities from the very precocious and bookish kids bumped up one or even two year groups to those struggling to keep on track with multiple challenges in their home lives. 

For a large portion of my life (probably until my early 30s) I struggled to make friends easily, but for at least 4 - 5 years at that school I had a firm group of friends (Sarah, Karen, James and Matthew).  We all watched Blue Peter and would talk about it the next day at school.  We were all affected by the news of the appeal and decided that we could do something about it and asked our teachers if we could do a cake sale to raise some money.  

I remember bits of the organising and the sale itself (the school secretary Mrs Browning in complete delight eating a rock cake) and from memory I think we raised around £40 which back then was more money than I think any of us could imagine having need to spend.  Later at secondary school we'd nominate a charity every term as a form and would raise money each term and again would always passionately have a sense of wanting to help others.  As lacking in self awareness I was as a child, I'm sure it wasn't just me who felt that way.

Blue Peter, along with other programmes such as Really Wild Show also started off my interest in nature, ecology and looking after the planet.  I even won a prize for a poem that I'd written about global warming when I was 11.  I had wonderful Grandparents on both sides who were also interested in nature and would take me on walks, tell me about birds and help me gain an interest in gardening.  My parents would also accommodate my geekiness when it came to birds and took me to various nature reserves and YOC events.  I won a pencil for knowing some bizarre fact about how much the average mute swan weighs.

I guess all these things helped me form my opinions as I grew up in the world.  As a child I was extremely fortunate, my parents always made sure that I was never hungry (well other than for my Nana's pickled onions or penny sweets and pic n mix!), I always had clothes that fitted me, I wasn't cold.  We lived for my first 14 years in an slightly extended Victorian two up two down end terrace house with a garden in Kingston.  To give an indiciation of how things have changed, I recently looked up on Zoopla and it's now estimated to be worth an eye watering c£750K whe it was sold by my parents for less than £100K in the mid 90s.  I was able to get a good education all the way up to studying English at the University of Leeds as well as attending a very good non fee paying state grammar school.  I check my privilege very regularly and recognise that the very comfortable and fulfilling life I have now is very much down to the good start that I was given in my childhood by my family and teachers.   

I am old enough to remember drinking a tiny bottle of full fat milk with a straw poked through the silver foil lid, although I also remember the disappointment when they were taken away.  I'm almost 100% sure I'd have never received a free school meal as a child, although I do have a vague recollection that we had some "family allowance" that we'd collect from the post office (I think this is going back over 30 years of memory now!)

I also remember when I went to secondary school the feeling of shame when I realised that in the state selected grammar school, in comparision to my previous primary schools I was at a from a much lower income point compared to many of my classmates.  I never wanted for anything as a child (except never getting the Al La Carte Kitchen I was desperate for!), but I was now head to head with girls (all girls school) who had very large houses with very well to do parents with better cars, holidays, clothes etc.  In general it was never an issue and the school was great at making us all feel empowered young women who could "achieve anything we chose should we choose to work hard enough", but I was bullied at times for living in a smaller house.  I remember when my parents were selling our house when I was 14 some of my "friends" found the listing in the paper and crossed out and added words such as "poky" and "rubbish" before putting it in front of me at registration to see how I'd react.  This isn't about trying to gain sympathy for the my previous self, but more a very tangible realisation that kids can be cruel and shame of income status is very hard for kids to overcome.  I don't think I'd have been strong enough to ask for help as a child if I was ever in a desperate situation and so I fear that the problem of kids living in poverty is probably far greater than we'll ever really know.

Rolling forward to the present day and I have seen so much debate and argument about the Free School Meals issue and I so firmly believe that whilst I absolutely expect and hope for every child to have parents who feed them, clothe them and bring them up to thrive.  I also know that not all of these children (or parents) have been afforded the privileges in life that I have and so sadly may be struggling.

School Uniform is encouraged to allow children to concentrate on learning and provide an even playing field for everyone attending school.  I appreciate it's not a perfect system, but it allows for a minimisation in shame and stigma of different incomes in the same year groups.  Why not have the same elimination of shame and stigma for free school meals?  I get that it might not be appropriate and indeed necessarly for many or indeed all children and in an ideal world most kids wouldn't need this, but it's 2020 and we are in the midst of a global pandemic.

We can demonise parents because either they read it in the newspaper or some friend of friend knows some parents with 5 kids who have a crack habit and a 50" telly, who gets fillers in their lips, their nails done weekly, fake tan, nice car, Sky TV, smokes etc etc and yet doesn't feed their kids properly.  I ask you, do you *actually* know this to be true?  Have you met this person, have you seen their bank statement?  Or is it just a convenient way to blame someone else because you've heard about it in the media?  And if any of those things *are* true, there is likely a (forgiveable) reason for them to be in that situation.   Typically people wouldn't choose this, but may have had a poor upbringing themselves, poor mental health, an abusive relationship there are so many reasons.  

Many people have massively struggled through difficult situations for years and still managed to "feed their kids", but I don't believe it's appropriate to see struggle as necessary a "rite of passage".  In the last 40 years we've made so many technological advances that it's easier than ever to access food, you can literally not move more than your hand and a smart phone and have food to your front door in a couple of hours, less if it's a takeaway.   I agree children deserve good parents, but those who haven't been blessed with them don't deserve to starve when we have so much more capability at our fingertips to solve poverty.  

I have read from an international food poverty charity website that there are 7 billion people in the world and we have enough food to feed 10 billion people so it's the most solvable problem in the world if we can just work together as humans.

Commenting about how "cheap" healthy food can be is incredibly patronising, we should focus on how to make healthy food accessible beyond price.  People on lower incomes are likely to be time poor as much as the are financially poor and may not have the resources to prepare a vegetable soup from scratch after a long shift at work.  Education on cooking and nutriton would be a good help, but like any problem it's about doing lots of different things regularly to eventually solve it, but right now families face the hardest few months as we go into winter with Covid restrictions and a recession.  At least free school meals help those hardest hit survive and those not hard hit live a little more comfortably.

If you have managed to get through this pandemic without losing a job, losing a family member or indeed losing control of your mental health you're doing well.  I know personally some people who have been unable to work since lockdown and because they maybe are self employed, but also had worked on zero hour PAYE contracts haven't been able to access any financial support.  I also know that not one friend has asked me to help them out with food etc (and I'd like to think I am approachable if anyone does need anything) I think that it is because as a society we are often too ashamed to ask for help and actually I know that to truly help some people you need to just do something without being asked.  

I see people copying and pasting messages on Facebook with lovely sentiments about "just privately message me if you need anything" but the reality is that they either haven't asked the direct question in private to those they are worried about, or indeed those who really do need help are far too proud to ever ask.  I don't like demonising this type of "social media awareness" as awareness and normalisation of things this way can be useful, but slactivism is one of my frustrations with the world.  The feeling that you're doing "something" by sharing a post so you don't need to donate money/time/care to the actual cause.  

I don't claim to be perfect, I'm sure I could be accused of woke virtue signalling if I share a donation link, or talk about things that I'm doing to help, but I do it in part selfishly because I enjoy helping and feeling like I am making a difference.  I also try and help because I'm grateful that I'm in a position to be helping and not needing help.  Is sharing and retweeting the Marcus Rashford campaign posts slactivism - I'm not sure as I think at least normalising the fact that people need help 7 months into a global pandemic is going to help proud parents make their lives easier to be able to feed their children.  I have really liked the interactive map produced where people can access free school meals during half term from hospitality venues, charities and local authorities - this is definitely social media for good and will have a  knock on (secondary) positive effect of publicity for those establishments.  It's just disappointing that they are having to step in.

"But what about Universal Credit" this one has me feeling a bit torn.  I like the idea of people having financial literacy and independence to be able to manage their finances and rather than the old system it seems like this should help them, however I know a few anecdotal stories of where it falls down for both the claimant when delays push them further into financial difficulties, but also for us all as housing associations estimated that it would cost an additional £10 per tenant per year to collect the arrears generated by this new "method".  Watching I, Daniel Blake will give you some insights of the complexities and flaws in this system if it is something you are not familiar with.

I have close friends who when they grew up had parents having to rely on food parcels because of miners strikes (an alien concept to me as a child growing up in Greater London, it was just something that I watched on Newsround, it didn't seem *real*), friends who had to use free school meals which just about kept them topped up during difficult times.  All who I know of these friends are now very successful and contribute to society, I'm sure there may be more who I meet in adult life that may not be comfortable talking about what they might have gone through.  None of them seem to desire for anyone to have to "suffer" because they had to.

Some (mostly baby boom) generation seem to think that kids need to pipe down as they've never had it so "easy".  I would counter that "easy" is relative and not necessarily the reality for all kids certainly.  Kids now have never know a world without technology, WIFI, Smartphones and Social Media and have far more access and instant gratification.  I was bullied at school, but I could come home and go to my room and read a book and be safe, Kids don't have the luxury now.  I felt fat and ugly as a young child and teenager and I was comparing myself against at most probably 150 girls my age; Instagram magnifies this to millions of constant comparisions, filtered images, I bet no girl finds it easy to feel confident in her own skin until she's much older - it took me to be in my 30s!  And now there is Covid, yes I'm sure rationing, war babies etc had it hard, but those that remember are few these days as to be around 10 years old when war ended you'd be in your mid 80s now and I think most of the "complainents" of the "kids have it easy" theory are in their 60s and 70s mostly.   Many have been retired on decent pensions since their 50s and may even live long enough to have fewer years of work than they do of non work through pension.  I'm not sure anyone of my generation or younger will have the luxury.

I've got lots more to say, but this is now at least a week in the making and it's now becoming out of context, so I'll leave on one consideration.

Children don't choose to be born, if you consider yourself in anyway pro life/pro children or just not an awful human being, make sure you support initiatives to feed children, they don't get to choose their parents, but we can choose to look after them.

Virgin London Marathon 2015 - The PB to beat all PBs!

Again a bit of a gap on this blog as life takes over, but I like to try and pick things up again if I'm feeling especially inspired and what about another marathon for inspiration?

I last wrote about running back in April last year when I took on my first London Marathon and whilst it was an amazing experience and my training had gone pretty well, I was a little bit disappointed with my time on a flat course being 4 minutes slower than my previous PB on the hilly Eden Project Marathon back in 2011.

This was a bit of an "accidental" marathon as I wasn't sure I wanted to do another one as my training was tough and time consuming last year and around mile 17-18 I said to myself "never again!"  Then as I ran through the finish line feeling massively emotional I thought..."just put in for the ballot again, you probably won't get in" and then before I knew what was happening in October I received the "Congratulations you're in" magazine.  

Around the same time my Grandad sadly passed away - 33 hours before he turned 100.  I was always both inspired and in awe of my Grandad.  He was an ex RAF Squadron leader, retrained as a teacher when he left the forces, had 5 children (my Dad is the oldest), was always active and fit making me and my brother run for buses when he was taking us swimming.  My memories of him are of him with his Chinese friends (He decided to learn Mandarin Chinese in his 70s!) and being the man he was, didn't just sit in a classroom - no he decided to pretty much befriend the entire Chinese community of Birmingham. In fact one year he invited them to a bonfire party and about 100 people turned up (the carpet in the lounge was threadbare and needed replacing afterwards!).  He also taught "old" ladies to swim and swam twice a week until his mid 90s.  I found out during the eulogy that his philosophy to a long and happy life was simple "Find Love, keep active and keep your mind active.  I am a little short on the first and last one, but it seemed like a fitting tribute to be able to run my next marathon in celebration of such a wonderful man and to raise funds for his chosen charity SSAFA.

This is not the most recent photo of my Grandad, but sadly Alzheimers meant that this is probably one of the last times I remember him being "my Grandad" back when I got married in May 2008 when he was 93.  A lot has changed for me since then - I've run 5 marathons, had a lot of interesting positive and negative life events and am no longer married.  It's been a challenging few years and I have to say that running has probably been the best "therapy" I could ask for and has kept me sane even through the tough times.

So at the start of the year my marathon track record was as follows:

2010 - Edinburgh - 4hrs 54 mins 32 secs 

2011 - Brathay - 4 hrs 57 mins 9 secs 

2011 - Eden Project - 4 hrs 47 mins 51 secs 

2014 - London - 4 hrs 51 mins 12 secs

Once again I decided to use the Lucozade Sport training plan as it worked really well last year and so I started off in earnest in January with my first 15 minute run on the plan.  Unbelievably I've not been ill or on a significant "holiday" so I've managed to complete every single run on the plan - with a bit of jigging around of days.  I've also combined this with 1 - 2 sessions of Yoga each week and strength training sessions.  One of the biggest boosts was that my BFF (yes we have named it so!) Jenny Cantrell offered to train me as her "guinea pig" whilst she was re-training to be a personal trainer.  Jenny devised me a marathon training plan combined with a weight loss plan which set sensible and achievable goals - I think I was extra motivated too as I wanted to do well for her!

Since January I've lost in the region of 7kg and it's meant that I can run a lot faster!  In fact I knocked 15 minutes of my half marathon PB in March at Kingston Half Marathon with 1 hr 53 mins and 28 secs on top of a PB a couple of weeks earlier at Bath Half which was 1 hr 57 mins and 41 secs.  

I've also joined a running club - after running for 11 years it's crazy I've not done it before, especially after I was mugged in September 2013 which meant I hated being outside by myself and a lot of my training for the marathon last year was completed on a dull treadmill at the gym.  I had previously compensated for this by doing lots of park runs and races within the Leeds Race Series - basically I went to races to run "with" people.  My biggest issue with joining a club has always been time as I work long hours and already have most Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays tied up with other commitments.  I took the plunge after catching up with a chap called James I knew through work at an NHS conference who invited me to try running at Hyde Park Harriers.  This fits in really well for me as they meet at 7pm in Leeds City Centre on Tuesdays.   It's been great - running and chatting and meeting new people whilst fitting in my training and enjoying the fresh air!  I've met lots of friendly people and heard some inspiring stories as well - I've even got a proper club running vest now!

So marathon weekend began with a mere 5 hour drive down from Leeds to my parents accompanied by Marla my cat who is a bit poorly at the moment.  I set off fairly early, as I only had until 5pm to get to Exel in London to pick up my race pack.  I get why they do this as they want you to walk through the Marathon Expo, but it's a bit of a faff really if you are coming from a long distance away.  I arrived at my parents just before 1pm, got Marla settled in and my Dad dropped me off at the station to head into London.  

I was exhausted on the way back and that morning I'd realised that one of my toes on my left foot was pretty sore - one of the nails had started to fall off (grim I know!) and I knew that if I tried to run 26.2 miles as it was it was going to be agony by the end.  I popped into Boots and bought a special bandage thing to pop over it and got the train home.  Walking back from the station I felt like I was going to fall asleep - I'm not quite sure why I was so tired, but I got home and ended up having a 3 hour nap!  My Mum made me amazing aubergine stew and pasta for dinner and I got everything ready with my race kit, choosing my final race outfit, writing my details on the back of my race number and getting my post race bag sorted with what I would need after completing the marathon.  I got into bed as early as I could around 10pm and probably got to sleep about 11pm waking up about twice in the night with odd dreams - probably far too excited!

I woke up about on time and ran around in my usual panic getting ready, eating porridge with pineapple, putting on compeed plasters and my toe bandage and copious amounts of vaseline. I had decided to wear my SSAFA charity vest and had ironed on my name from when I'd run the Bath Half, but as the letters were falling off I also wrote it in pen - sad I know, but I need the boost sometimes of getting cheered on!  My Dad dropped me off at the train station and I took the train to Waterloo.  Gradually people with the red marathon drawstring bags joined the train and we smiled at each other with a knowing smile that we were all about to take on a very special challenge.  

I realised when I got on the train that I had forgotten my pre race banana!  Disaster!  I had some nakd bars, but I always have a banana and felt extra nervous - however disaster was averted as a nice lady called Dani was offering a spare banana to another runner so I did a swap for my nakd bar.  We got off the train at Waterloo, followed all the other runners to Waterloo East and hopped on the train to Blackheath after starting to chat to another couple of ladies who were from Ilkley!  

After a busy train journey during which I played a message from Hannah and Alex wishing my luck, we got off at Blackheath and followed the hoards of runners to the start.  Dani was at red start and so she broke off in a different direction, but Abigail was at Blue start with me so we became race friends and negotiated our way around the start area.  We both decided to use the facilities as a first priority and were treated to the bizarre experience that I can't quite explain of the "female urinal".  Now I have used these before, but only at a festival an only after several drinks...sober and with race nerves it's not the best experience and it was a baffling scenario for all concerned!  

The weather was perfect running conditions - i.e. overcast and actually a little bit cold so I popped my hoodie into my red drawstring bag and left on the baggage truck and shivered looked enviously at those runners sensibly in bin bags and old clothes...  note to self to not forget to bring a foil blanket etc in the future! I was well prepped with a camelbak, 15 carb gels, extra vaseline, money, cashcard, oyster card, contact lenses, glasses and earphones!  Abigail and me were nearly in the same starting pen so we stuck together and joined a massive queue for the toilet cubicles.  I ate my banana and had some water and it was about 10.05 by the time we got out of the toilets and we walked over to the starting pens to reach there at 10.10 - official race start time, but it took at least 16 minutes to get over the start line.  Abigail wasn't feeling great about the race so was aiming for 12 minute miles so we swapped numbers and wished each other luck and then I ran off with the crowds feeling fresh on my legs.

The first 3 miles went past in a flash as it did last year and I barely realised I was running - focusing more on dodging my way in front of the slower runners and trying to get some room to focus on a decent pace.   I was aiming for sub 4 hours 30 as that was on my bucket list and so 10 minute miles was my initial plan, however in training I'd managed 20 miles in 3 hours 12 an improvement of 24 minutes from 20 miles last year which had been 3 hours 36.  I had my nike plus switched on and a spotify playlist to keep me going if I needed it, but the atmosphere was immense by itself!

As the red start runners joined up with our green and blue start runners in a massive burst of coincidence I found myself behind Dani who had given me her banana - I wished her well and ran on.  I hit some decent times, but hadn't gone mad on the pace averaging 9 mins 20 per mile - faster than I'd planned, but I felt good so I kept going.

Last year I completely self sabotaged my race by drinking too much and convincing myself that I needed the toilet...3 times!  This time I was stricter trying to sip rather than gulp and also resisting the temptation to take water at each station and not go mad and gulp down the Lucozade sport on offer.  I was sensible with my gels taking one for every 3 miles as I'd practiced during my training runs.  

Up to mile 11 I felt strong and enjoyed the atmosphere, the roar of the crowds, the sound of London accents cheering my name with "go on girl" following it.  I grinned from ear to ear and smiled back at everyone who cheered me and high fived the kids as I ran along.  I ran past a giraffe, T-rex as well as a cool runnings team at this point.  There's always so much to look at and the bands along the way are great too - the noise is overwhelming, but amazing!  

I hit Tower Bridge where I knew my friend Lauren was likely to be - I took out my headphones and looked out, but couldn't see her, but enjoyed soaking up the atmosphere.  Once over tower bridge you shortly hit the point where the mega fast runners are already on the home straight - last year it was a bit tough as I knew how far there was left, but this year I whooped and clapped them on inspired by how fast they were running!

I hit the half way point at 2 hours 2 minutes which until earlier this year would have been a half marathon PB and still felt ok, if a little tired.  At this point  I started to feel like I might need the toilet despite my attempt to discipline my drinking!  Every toilet I ran towards seemed to have a massive queue so I just kept going until in a tunnel at around 25KM there was a fairly short queue.  My app stopped timing at this point and I looked at my watch and counted 3 minutes of toilet and queuing time which in the scheme of things wasn't bad.  I managed to start running again straight away and didn't stop until I'd crossed the finish line!

Running towards Canary Wharf the crowds start to get intense and really loud and it really pushed me along - I'd spotted the SSAFA cheering point on the other side of the "out and back section" so made a point of running close to the crowd so I could get some extra cheers to boost me along!  As I found last year - running London Marathon is emotional for the point that you are running with people with very poignant stories on their backs and messages to loved ones - at several points I'd read a dedication and well up - it's a very strange feeling of being simultaneously elated but melancholic.

The miles between about 18 and 23 are pretty tough as things start to hurt, but I was determined to keep my pace and not walk!  I was really looking forward to the Lucozade tunnel again and at mile 24 it was there!  As I ran into the tunnel "Titanium" by David Guetta was playing and I ran through the tunnel practically dancing punching the air as the beat pounded.  I'm not sure what everyone else thought, but I definitely sped up loads for the last 2 miles and at 5 mins 13 secs per KM it's about as close as I'm ever likely to get to a sprint finish for a marathon!  In fact according to the exciting stats the the marathon provide you with afterwards during my last 7.2KM I was overtaken by 4 people, but I overtook 2014 people!

Usually all my run photos are so dreadful I don't want to even contemplate buying them, but each time I saw a camera this time I felt so triumphant that I held both arms in the air and grinned - so I'm vaguely tempted to part with the extortionate amounts of money to buy one or two photos this year!  They're not all great, but certainly much better than any other race pics!

As I passed all the exciting sights of the Houses of Parliament and onto the Mall I saw the exciting sign of 800m to go!  I'd been checking my time and knew I was on track inside 4.5 hours, by a fairly large margin, but I was determined to run as fast as I could.  I remembered last year the boost I'd got from someone tapping me on the shoulder when I was walking at this point and encouraging me to run so I did the same to a chap who was looking tired - not sure if he appreciated it, but I hope that it helped in some way.

As the finishing line was in sight I remembered that this year to celebrate 35 years of London Marathon they wanted to encourage finishers to finish #handinhand so I grabbed the hand of a lady and ran over the line together triumphantly - again not sure if she appreciated it, but hopefully she did!  I had a feeling that I'd run a good time - around 4 hours 15 maybe, but I wasn't sure due to the toilet stop!

I picked up my medal and goody bag - the t-shirt is much better than last year! And I could see my parents through the fence where we'd agreed to meet - they weren't really paying attention so I used my usual "oi!" so I could pass my stuff over and not have to carry it through the crowds to get to them.  

A facebook messaged popped through from my friend Lauren telling me that she'd seen my time and was impressed that it was 4 hours 9 minutes and 25 seconds - 42 minutes faster than last year!!!  I knew that it felt good running, but I'd never for a minute expected to be that fast and I was completely delighted!

I changed into warmer clothes and then we slowly hobbled out of St James Park and made our way to a Pret a Manager and I ate a sandwich and drank some coconut water.

We took 2 trains and a bus back home and I had some more marathon chat on the way back with a lady who had been with her son and his girlfriend who had run the marathon.  

Again it's a feat of sheer organisation and good will on the part of London that this is such a smooth race.  There are no grumpy volunteers whether they are handing out water or pointing out "humps" at the start of the course.   I saw very few "ill" people and of the 2 I saw they were being well looked after by the numerous medical staff.  Not to forget the supporters who roar and cheer the runners on for literally hours!  

Whilst the supporters on the day are important, the support of my family and friends can't go without comment.  So thank you to my parents for putting me up and looking after me after I finished, Hannah and the boys for the motivational messages and park run junior warm ups and her own inspiring running and finesses challenges, Alex for caving into my relentless Facebook requests for a running buddy and joining me on my last 9 mile long run, my new running friends at Hyde Park Harriers, Jenny for her amazing personal training, Hayley, Sam, Zoe and Tana for their supportive messages,  Emma for her own incredibly inspiring marathon journey, my work colleagues for putting up with my marathon chat for the past 4 months and anyone who has sponsored me and anyone else who I've forgotten as well as to my Grandad who still inspires me and is missed!  A big thank you! 

At home I showered and sunk into the sofa to watch the BBC coverage that my Dad had recorded and enjoyed curry for tea.  I had sore knees, but was elated with my time and still overwhelmed with the amazing atmosphere and experience.  Each year I say - no more marathons...but it's just a little bit addictive and I'm not sure I'm ready to give up yet...at least not this year, I run Marathon Du Medoc in September although I'm not sure my training or time will follow quite the same pattern!  

Oh and the ballot opens again on Monday...

London Marathon 2014

So I've been a bit rubbish at blogging - it's nearly a year since I last updated and I've got all of my Nepal entries to write (wrote them down to type up when I got home!), but I've reviewed lots of races in this blog and London Marathon is a pretty special one to blog about I feel!

This is the 4th full marathon that I've completed - I've run and blogged my experience of Edinburgh Marathon in 2010 which was my first full marathon and I then ran and reviewed 2 marathons in 2011 - Brathay Windermere Marathon and Eden Project Marathon.

My marathon times until yesterday read as follows:

Edinburgh - 4hrs 54 mins 32 secs
Brathay - 4 hrs 57 mins 9 secs
Eden Project - 4 hrs 47 mins 51 secs

I had been planning on running York Marathon last year in October after taking 2012 off from long distance running, but even though my training was going ok I was mugged in September and then got tonsillitis and so I had to withdraw.  Fortunately around this time I found out that after my 4th attempt I'd secured a ballot place for London and was really excited to be able to train for the most prestigious marathon.

I decided that I would start my training after Christmas which was a good thing as I had to fit in a trip to Nepal and then another few bouts of illness.

I downloaded the Lucozade Sport 14 week Marathon Training plan for 4 - 4.45 hours which is the best training plan that I've tried so far.  Previously I've had training plans that only have 3 runs per week and really the difference I've found shifting to 4 runs is huge.  The training wasn't without challenge as I missed out 4 of my long runs (one due to holiday and one down to realising that I'd trained for 9 days in a row and needed a rest and the others were illness - cold/flu.  In general I was tracking really well for a 4 hr 30 minute marathon - 20 miles I managed in 3 hours 36 minutes 2 weeks before the race.

The biggest challenge is that after being mugged I was quite scared of running outside so most of my training was on a treadmill other than a couple of Park Runs and also my final long run I forced myself outside for 17 of the 20 miles.

It was important that the charity I ran for really motivated me to overcome my fears and so I chose to run for Joseph Lillywhite an amazing cause to inspire me through my training and the race itself - my donation page is here if you want to add to my total.

This is an overview of how my preparation went!

I'm one of those people who always gets things done, but I'm not the best at planning in advance, so I actually managed to read through my marathon instructions to work out what I needed to do about a week before.  The organisation of the London Marathon is great right from the minute that you find out that you have a place and the magazine that they send you with your letter notifying you of your running number has really comprehensive information for both runners and spectators.

My original plan was to drive down to my parents who live 30 minutes away from Waterloo on Friday evening, but I was exhausted when I woke up on Friday morning with only 4 hours sleep so I decided to get up early on Saturday and head down on the 4.5 hour drive (I even managed to pick up a TV for my brother that he'd bought off Ebay and meant a detour to Nottingham)  I got back home around lunchtime and my brother dropped me off at Surbiton Station so I could get straight up to London to pick up my race number.  

I'm not 100% sure it's necessary to travel to pick up your number for a race, but the atmosphere was good and the exhibition was interesting, but I could have benefited from it being posted to me!  

As soon as I had my number I relaxed as I'd already worked out which trains I needed to get the morning of the race, although travel logistics always make me a bit nervous.  I packed up my kit the night before and even wrote my medical details on my running number that evening and pinned it onto my shirt ready - very organised!  I then stuck 6 medium compeed (3 on each foot arch) to my feet - sounds excessive, but I've run enough races to know what happens to my feet over distance - huge blisters!

I like to be self sufficient when I run and so have a Camel Bak that can hold 3 litres and I add some zero highs to the water to ensure I have a good balance of hydration and electrolytes.  I also use energy gels and this year had some from SIS and some from High 5 - not sure which I prefer - SIS are thicker, but High 5 are more pleasant to taste (even have mojito flavour!)  I got dressed after applying liberal amounts of petroleum jelly to any area of my body that I tend to get blisters/chafing.

 I got the 7.30 am train up to London from Surbiton which was busy and then an even busier train from Waterloo East to the start at Blackheath!  I arrived in good time with over an hour and a half to wander around the start area (I was blue start).  It was very easy to navigate where I had to go - I just followed all the runners with their red kit bags!  

Once I got into the start area it was so warm and sunny that I decided that I could get rid of my kit bag fairly quickly and not get cold!  So I put my jogging bottoms and hoody in my red kit bag which also had a change of knickers, flip flops and a mars bar in.  It was really well organised and I handed my bag over into the baggage truck which matched my race number.  

I made my first trip to the toilet - hardly any queues with an hour still to go until the race start and then soaked up the atmosphere and watched the big screen, I also stopped off at St John Ambulance as they had sun cream on offer which I was sure I would need!  I then decided to queue up again at about 9.20am for my second toilet break - spotted my friend Gemma in a parallel queue and then wandered down to starting pen number 8, which she was also in, but it filled up quickly and I couldn't see her.  

10am came and went and we started to walk down towards the start line and I started to really need the toilet again!  I agonised for a few minutes before deciding to sprint out of the pen and to the toilets before re-joining the queue with some of the slower runners.  I was really pleased that I did otherwise this would have been a major worry throughout the whole race.

I think it was around 14 minutes past that I actually crossed the start line and switched on my Nikeplus on my work phone to track my run.  Ideally I wanted to switch it on on my own phone to have the option to listen to music if I needed, but I got my headphones all tangled and so just ran on and hoped the atmosphere would mean I didn't need music.  

I wasn't disappointed the first 2 miles went in a flash - the crowds at the start were great and cheering everyone on - I made sure I had my name on my vest as at any point it's an amazing feeling to hear complete strangers cheering you on by name.  I also overtook a marching brass band which was pretty awesome.  I went under a bridge which had a drumming band combined with a cheering crowd - the roar and the noise was just amazing.

The first 6 - 7 miles were great, I was averaging my target of 10 minute miles perfectly and felt great.  The crowd and participants gave me lots to look at and I hardly noticed that I was running.  I ran past the crochet lady and a guy dressed as a Rhino and then when I ran past the Cutty Sark I saw a guy carrying a fridge on his back!  One of my work colleagues wanted me to take a selfie at the Cutty Sark, but I was running well - I didn't want to stop!  I even caught up to the Runnersworld pacemakers for 4 hours 15!

Miles 7 - 13 were a bit of a blur - lots of amazing support and great signs like "Chuck Norris never ran a marathon", "Mo Farah never ran a marathon" and my favourite which made me choke up "I don't know you, but I'm proud of you".  Running over Tower Bridge was amazing - I don't think I've even walked it before despite being born in "Greater London" and living here until I was 18!  Unfortunately this is where I saw the first collapsed person on the race, although the marshalls and first aid were doing a great job of looking after her.

I hit the halfway point reasonably on track at about 2 hours 12 and was well on track for my 4 hours 30, but then felt very much like I needed the toilet.  I spotted some, queued up and added about 5 minutes onto the time which was frustrating as I actually didn't need to go.  At this point I switched Nikeplus onto my other phone so I could have music if I wanted, but more importantly I could broadcast it on Facebook and my friends could virtually cheer me on - it helped!  I caught up with the Runnersworld 4 hours 30 pacemakers which was a bit of a boost.

The mile markers for London were great - huge, balloon arches so you can see them from a way off and have the elapsed time on the clock.  You also have markers every 5KM so you always know where you are.  

The water stations were really well manned, they weren't just grumpy folk handing over bottles, they were actually cheering everyone on.  All the instructions stated not to pour water over your head as it's a waste so I was conscious of not being wasteful, but I did need some water to cool down my swollen hands, some for a good glug and the rest I emptied on my head - I would only have thrown a half empty rather than an empty bottle away.

Lucozade is an interesting thing for marathons as I don't normally drink any of it in training, but to stop me rooting around in the back of my Camel Bak for a gel I do take the occasional bottle although I only ever drink about a quarter of the bottle - it's so sticky to run through these sections as everyone else generally does the same I think!

At about mile 15 I needed the toilet again - or so I thought - another queue and another 5 minutes added to the time for no reason - it felt a bit like cystitis it was really odd and not very comfortable to run.  This is when I started to slow down a bit and did bursts of running with some sections of power walking.  The sights were interesting and we went through the Canary Wharf business district which I've never been through before and the crowds continued to be amazing.  Before the race I had said to myself that this would be my last marathon and at this point I was convinced of my opinion.

At about mile 21 I think I had my final toilet stop and again it was pointless - I decided that really I needed to get on with it, I'd worked out that my 4 hr 30 goal was out of the way, but that sub 5 hours was still feasible.  I did my best to keep running, but at points it was really hard so I set myself little targets like running to the next mile markers, running whilst people were cheering me on.  I think that it's around mile 23 that I went through a huge long tunnel that Lucozade had put lots of balloons with inspirational messages on - like "You're awesome" and this you tube video gives you a feeling of what it is like to run and the support that you get.

I have to thank the guy though who at around 24 miles tapped me on the shoulder and said "come on it's only another couple of miles to go" and then at that point I pretty much managed to run the rest of the way.  I then ran shortly past one of the London Marathon Ever Presents  - (people who have run every single London Marathon since 1980) who I've now worked out was David Walker and that certainly spurred me on as well.

Seeing Big Ben and The Houses of Parliament close up was brilliant and distracted me a fair bit and then the last couple of miles were painful, but amazing, I knew I was going to finish and I spotted the 4 hours 45 pace makers (weirdly I'm sure that the 4 hours 58 pacers had overtaken them?!?!) and I knew if I kept running I would be close to my previous marathon times.

Running along the last 800m is pretty special, there are amazing crowds smiling and cheering you, and you are too embarrassed almost to stop and walk.  Turning the corner and seeing the finish line was such an incredible feeling, I really wanted to sprint, but I just didn't have it left so I keep running and crossed the finish line realising that I'd managed a sub 5 hour time, but no idea as to how much!

I'd been feeling a bit emotional at quite a few points and choking up when I saw an emotional sign or thought about what I was doing and why I was doing it and then when I crossed the finish line I nearly lost it and completely broke down.  All the different charities around the course was a great inspiration - so many different and worthy causes.  I'm proud to be raising money for a charity that I don't think had enough resources to have a cheer point.

I walked on and had my timing tag snipped off, received my amazing medal - definitely my favourite I think and was given my goody bag.  I ate the apple in the goody bag and drank some water and picked my kit bag effortlessly easy and no queuing.  I'd arranged to meet my parents at the South African War Memorial and my Dad spotted me through the fence after I'd put my flip flops on and the only queue I experienced really was to get round the corner into the park.

I sat down for a rest, changed into my jogging bottoms and put my marathon t shirt on and then we wandered back through St James Park and crossed the Marathon Route through the elaborate crossing where the marshalls tape off alternative sides of the road.  As we waited to cross I cheered on the runners that were heading past as I knew how much I'd appreciated it.  I also walked along the road to the Tube Station to cheer them on as well.

My friends helpfully texted me my finish times and congratulated me before my phone batteries died and I found out that I had managed 4 hours 51 minutes and 12 seconds - only 3 minutes and 21 seconds slower than my PB - if only I hadn't stopped for those loo breaks!

I think with all the weaving around slower runners at the start, detours to the toilets and not following the blue marker line the whole way I managed to do an extra bit of running - here is my route according to Nike Plus and my official running time.

So all in all, an amazing experience, ridiculous support at every step from the supporters and the runners and the crowd, Thank you Virgin Giving London Marathon I have a strong suspicion that you will see me again.

I've just found this on YouTube - even speeded up it feels like a long way - gives a good indication of the route and how far it is!  http://youtu.be/WmabgZ_0SbU