Blog 9
Mon 13/03/2017 - Sun 19/03/2017
This week I ran Mon, Tues, Sat & Sun
Mon- Today I ran a longer run in the morning, about 13 mile, it started off a cool wet morning, but soon it dried up and the sun came out. Off came the jacket and through the lanes I headed. There were still puddles everywhere. Down through Gleaston, along to Urswick and back towards the road to Stainton where I headed up the long climb, past the farm and church hall, over the brow past the Stagger inn, then more climbing to the top before heading up and down the winding lane to the back of Dalton. From there I went straight on and joined the main road back to Barrow and home.
Plenty of time today to have a really good stretch out. Later I went to boot camp with Jordan.
Tues - This morning I dropped little man Byron off at nursery and popped into work to print something. Just as I was leaving I bumped into the Cunning stunts a group of friends who run from the leisure centre in the mornings so I asked if I could tag along. It was a great little run about 6 mile out past the train station, along the Abbey path and through the Abbey, the Abbey ruins looking eerie and magnificent at the same time. It was pretty quiet too, except for us lot chatting away, it was nice to catch up with everyone. At lunch time I went along to Barrow rotary club to do a presentation about my Brathay journey, I was really nervous, but the guys were great they made me feel really welcome. After this I went home to pack for a trip to Edinburgh with Dave a little bit of time together on our own before my eldest daughter has the baby. Its due anytime now and I'm her birthing partner so things are gonna become hectic soon and its sooo exciting. Especially as we don't know what its gonna be.
Sat - After a few days off running it was time to put my body and mind to the test. My good friends Malcolm and Yuk-lam Collins organise a double marathon called the Gin Pit double in Manchester. The lovely Trudi Dewer and 1 of my team mates for this years 10 in 10 gave me a lift down and right from the outset I knew it was gonna be tough. The weather had turned nasty over the last few days with heavy rain and strong winds right across the country. This was going to be a mud bath.
We set off and within a few strides we were in the mud trying to dodge puddles to keep our feet dry, It wasn't long though before we were on solid paths made from tiny little stones alongside a bus track. At first glance I thought it was tram tracks and then a bus appeared. It travelled along smooth paths with raised sides. On the front of the bus there were bumpers to keep it on the smooth path. you had to be alert when you crossed the path because they were really quiet. We followed this path along the busway for a while then crossed a road onto another path that was the weirdest feeling ever. You could smell the rubber in it as you bounced along, ab bit like running on a track. This didn't last for too long before we were back in the mud and puddles. It was impossible to not get your feet wet. After a while we were back on a solid path and heading towards the canal. Then it started raining, then the wind got stronger. Oh boy this was gonna be tough. Up to now I had been running with Mark Bradshaw 1 of my Brathay family, his lovely wife Anna and son had come to support him it was great to see then again. I said to him that if he wanted to go ahead just go although I was hoping he wouldn't as I didn't really want to do 11 1/2 mile of canal running in the rain against the wind on my own. Luckily he stayed. For the 1st few miles we were running on solid path and then it turned to a mush of snippy slimy mud yuk. we weaved in and out of the trees trying to avoid getting too wet to no avail but eventually we were on the other side with a few mile to go to get off the canal. Once we were off the canal and running through a place called Platt bridge I found that as we got to the hills my legs felt heavy, all that energy zapping mud was taking its toll, I walked for a while up the hills then got back into my rhythm. At this point Mark had gone ahead and I was on my own. I found a comfy pace and kept going. After a while I caught back up with Mark and we ran together again towards the bog of doom. When we got to it there was no way round, just straight through the middle. My feet felt minging after this full of grit, more puddles, more mud lol all the way to a park. We ran through the park and joined the bus route again for a while before heading down a path that was full of mud and puddles again. We turned into some woods and had to climb over some fallen trees, my quads screamed as I lifted them high up to get my leg over the tree. we then ran back across the bus route and turned into the home stretch. A very welcoming sight.
It was my dads 70th birthday too so I had to go back to Barrow. It was a really good night lots of family came from away. I left at 11:15 so I could get some sleep ready for the marathon tomorrow.
Sun - I felt so tired when I got up this morning. Like I'd had no sleep. Jenny and Dave picked me up about 7 and I had a kip in the car on the way. We got down to gin pit village and I didn't feel any better. I thought to myself "its gonna be even tougher today" maybe I didn't eat enough. Anyway the plan was to get out there and get round in 1 piece. By the time we set off I was feeling a bit more awake and motivated. catching up with some of my Brathay family again helped. About a mile into the run. I started talking to a guy I was running next too and as it turned out we were following each other on strava, but never met in the flesh. We ran the whole marathon together, chatting together, he was from the area so he gave me some history about the places as we ran round. It was still a very tough run but today I ran through most of the puddles instead of trying to negotiate round them lol. the wind wasn't as bad and again the energy sucking stuff let me know I'd been through it when I got to the road at Platt bridge which I was informed is named Platt Vegas by the locals lol and a bit further up the rd. Alan informed me they had found a dead body in the wheelie bin of a house we were running past, bit gruesome. From here we turned down the twice as muddy track, we splashed through huge puddles and out onto the road then towards the Lake of doom lol as I found out yesterday, no way round just wade through. The puddles along the tracks to the finish were definitely more wet and muddy than yesterday. Another marathon down, mentally I'm stronger after recovery hope my legs will be stronger. I am totally gonna do this.
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