Yasso 800s

I wish there were more things in life like Yasso 800s. Things that are actually 'one amazing trick to success'. Like when the internet tells you to click on this link to find out the one crazy thing to do to get rid of belly fat - only for real.

Yasso 800s are a running training regime which can predict your marathon time. If you run your Yasso 800s in 4 minutes, you can finish a marathon in 4 hours. If you for Yassos are 3 mins 30 seconds, your marathon time will be 3 hours 30 minutes. Crazy but true (by all accounts).

The 800 refers to 800meters, half a mile or two laps of a running track. Run that as hard as you can, ten times over, with one lap (400m or a quarter of a mile) between each set for recovery and collect your times. The average is your marathon time.

Last year when I was training for the Loch Ness Marathon, the Yassos defeated me. I don't regularly run on the track and doing the session was nerve-wracking. I usually run first thing in the day, and you can't do that at my local running track. I felt anxious and uptight throughout and didn't peform well at all. After that, I decided to throw in the towel on my sub 4-hour marathon hopes for Loch Ness in 2013.

Today I was really anxious about the Yasso 800s my coach had set for me. Combine it with husband going away for work for 2 nights, son leaving on a three-day school skiing trip (first time away alone!) and I was almost hysterical. It troubled my sleep and left me really uptight all morning before I got to the track.

However, I knuckled down and got on with it. The track was cold and windy but at least I was alone (unless you count the people in the gym who have a birds-eye view of the track while they're on the cardio machines!). The last two sets were performed in sleet which at least made sure I didn't linger on the track!

My average time was... (drum roll...) 3 minutes 48.7seconds!!

I am over the moon! I was exhausted for the rest of the day and my glutes are killing me. I don't think any of my previous Yasso 800s were this good - plus I ran 20 miles five days ago, so I'm not what you'd call fresh. It feels great to know I'm at the top of my game!

My next marathon is 2.5 weeks away at The Meadows in Edinburgh, and I'm getting my fundraising going. I am now REALLY excited that I can finally beat four hours!!

Running plans and running problems

I'm training for the Baxters Loch Ness Marathon.

It's taken me a while to be able to say this, because I've been injured - but I'm determined now! It won't be fast and it won't be pretty, but I'll do it.

Shortly before the Edinburgh Marathon in May I developed plantar fasciitis. I've never had any running-induced injuries before, other than twice tearing ligaments after falls, so I decided to ignore it. I still don't know if this was the wrong thing to do - I'd trained hard for the Edinburgh marathon and I'm glad I saw it through, I'm really proud of my 4 hours and 12 seconds. But subsequently I've read that taking a break as soon as possible is the best thing to do for plantar fasciitis, and maybe if I'd done that, I would be pain-free by now. Which would be nice.

I think the fault came from a pair of 'real life' trainers - not the shoes I ran in but the shoes I wore to college. They were pink Nike pegasus 29s and they looked really lovely. I got them in John Lewis, and even though they are officially running shoes, the man in John Lewis was obviously a suit salesmen and didn't even ask if I was a runner, let alone probe me about my tendancy to pronate or weekly milage! Never knowingly undersold, but also a bit shit.

Because I didn't run in these shoes I didn't click that they could be causing the problem, so I wore them until a few weeks ago when the podiatrist pointed out that they're really quite minimalist, which she demonstrated by being able to wring them out like a dishcloth! This is just not possible with the Asics I run in. The difference in stability really took me by surprise. So, without the Nikes, things aren't rosy yet, but I do feel a bit better.

I saw a sports therapist who suggested lots of calf stretching and quad stretching - which of course will never go amiss - but it wasn't making much difference. At the end of July with a heavy heart and an aching foot, I told my running coach Angie that I was going to take a break. It was a one-month break where I tried to do only low and no-impact activities. After the initial few days of misery, it turned out to be okay. I went to the gym every day, did cardio for up to 90 minutes with the intention of not losing my fitness. I still don't like the rower and the bike, but I have grown to feel fond of the eliptical and some of the free stepping machines where you get to leap like a gazelle.

So, after a month off, I really didn't feel any better. I saw a podiatrist. I'd avoided seeing a podiatrist because I suspected I'd be told to stop running long term and I didn't want to be told that. So when I saw Jacquie I was very surprised when we got to the end of the consultation, and that advice had never come. I agreed to be fitted for orthotic insoles, and asked her if I should stop running? She said she wasn't going to advise that, because I love to run, and the chances of tearing my plantar fasciia or my achillies (which is playing up on the other leg) were no higher than they would be if I wasn't injured. So basically, as long as I could put up with the pain, I could keep running. Basically, if I was tough/nuts enough. Great news!! I am both tough and nuts, so there's no stopping me!

I went back to running and although the first week was truly horrible and made me wonder why I ever began running in the first place, I've been back for two weeks now and it's not too bad. My foot still hurts, but last week I got my orthotics and they difference they've made has been quite incredible. Even after a few minutes in them the pain I have on standing up (when my muscles have shortened and need to work again) was dramatically reduced. This really cheered me up and made me feel very excited! I haven't run in them yet but I'm looking forward to breaking my feet in enough to do that.

The worst thing is that I seem to have lost all my speed. Before I took the break, my easy pace was about 8.30/M, and now if I manage a mile in under 10 minutes, I'm doing really well! I'm shocked at how much speed I've lost, especially when I worked hard not to lose my cardio fitness. Even my ten minute miles make me feel like I'm giving everything I've got and have my heart rate at 160+.  But I'm grateful to be running again and looking forward to completing my third marathon, even if it does turn out to be my slowest.

Marathon ranting

I had a marathon moan a few weeks ago, and now I'm going to tell you about my marathon rant!

Yesterday I had the chance to bore the pants off my classmates about my marathon training. It was (for me) brilliant.

As part of the HNC course, we do a unit called Personal Development Planning. We each select five goals (academic, professional, or personal) and track our progress towards them. Theoretically it's a helpful skill to aquire, but it's impossible to make people achieve goals if they're not motivated towards them - which frankly is the main problem with the course. "You WILL achieve your goals, or else!" - it's not the best approach.

So anyway, part of the course was treating our classmates to a five minute presentation on the progress so far we'd made towards one of our goals. Looking at my goals and realising that there'd been a distinct lack of progress on four of them, I sighed deeply and opened PowerPoint to write about my marathon training.

My goal is to run this year's Edinburgh Marathon in a personal best of less than 4 hours.  Cue a SWOT analysis of the goal, photos of last year's race and details of my training programme.

The truth is that once I got going, I really enjoyed telling everyone how I was getting on. Perhaps all I really wanted was the chance to share how my training was going - I don't really have anyone to bore with the facts of my training, and these guys had to listen - or at least, they had to not fall asleep. I finished off by giving them a jelly baby each - after all their are the secret of my training success. Why was I surprised to get the bag back afterwards to find all the black and red ones gone?

(red and black ones still shown)

It also gave me the chance to look at my statistics and realise that I'm making progress.

• My average speed for my easy runs has increased by 36 seconds per mile
• my average speed for my long runs has increased by 18 seconds per mile, and 
• my 20 mile run time predicts a marathon finishing time 3 hours and 55 minutes.

Marathon moaning

Today begins week 8 of my 16 week marathon training programme. My marathon training takes up the single biggest part of my brain at the moment. At the moment I have to confess that I'm getting a bit fed up of it.

When I finish my Monday run, I start thinking about my Wednesday speed training session (tempo run, hill run, mile repeats or Yasso 800s) - how fast will I go? will I manage it? how much will it hurt? Then, even when I'm stretching after Thursday's recovery run, I'm already thinking about my Saturday long run - what other workouts will I have the energy for before it? what will I eat on Friday? what will I wear, what fuel will I take? what's my route going to be?

And when I'm recovering, I'm thinking about what I'm eating (and wishing I wanted to eat things that aren't just chocolate), procrastinating about stretching, and contemplating which part of me is aching most at that moment in time - usually a choice between my hip flexor, my anterior deltoid, and my foot. Although right now my throat's pretty sore too.

Everything I do, I see it in relation to my marathon training. Does my college class in Current Exercise Trends work my legs too soon before my long run? If I work on Tuesday night, will I be able to run on Wednesday? Should I visit family the day after the tune-up half marathon race, or the day of teh 20 mile training run? It feels like I'm programming my life round my training programme. 

Last year, my marathon training only lasted for 8 weeks - this year it's 16. So I've never had to work my body for this long before. I need to find new resolve - mental strength is required, because this is something I've never been through before.

I'm not considering quitting, I still want to run this marathon (Edinburgh on May 26th) and I want to finish in under 4 hours. But unless I continue to remember that really, really want it, my body's probably going to quit on my brain's behalf.

The hideous weather isn't helping. It's the middle of March and there's been snow every day for the last week. I ran in a full-on blizzard a fortnight ago. Yesterday's 18 miles had to be run on the relatively tedious cycle paths and when I was done, I didn't feel joyous, I really  just felt relieved.

Right, that's enough moaning. The more I talk up the down, the lower I'll get! Sunday is recovery day and it's all right to feel tired today.
Tomorrow I'll be back on the pavement.
Tomorrow I'll feel better about myself again.
Tomorrow I'll try again to stop eating sweeties and chocolate like Augustus Gloop.
Tomorrow is the first day of the school holidays so hopefully I'll have a fortnight of better rest, more foam rolling and a general bit of R&R.

If you've got any tips to help me find the mental strength to get through this wobble, please share them with me!

My 2012

So, the challenge is twelve months, twelve sentences. Punctuation is positively encouraged.

January: In a month where I went on a family holiday for a week and still didn’t eat any chocolate or drink any coffee, I discovered Change Your Life is 7 Days by Paul McKenna which changed my life, and also fell in love with hooping (that's not me in the vid btw).

February: it was a bellydance month when I performed with the Baladi Blues Band, my first time ever dancing with a live band which I LOVED; was invited to compere the annual Edinburgh University African and Arabic Dance Society hafla; and for the first time in a while, ran 13 miles without injury or too much ill effect.

March:  I got my act together to apply for a college place to study fitness, ran the Meadows Half Marathon in 1hr 45m, which was a good time despite sleet, and won a place in the Edinburgh Marathon courtesy of the ESPC!

April: I learned a lot about myself as I began my marathon training; had an excellent weekend of rehearsals with our bellydance troupe, The Peacock Project, working towards and completing the choreography for our entry to this year’s Shimmy in The City competition; and had an interview at Jewel & Esk college for a place on their Fitness HNC, winning a place despite there being 5 applications for every place.

May: I completed my first marathon in 4 hours, 19 minutes after only 8 weeks of training, on a really hot day, as well as rehearsing hard for and performed in Club Bellydance at The Pleasance, with the Bellydance Superstars, the biggest bellydance gig I’ve ever been involved in.

June: I enjoyed seeing the Olympic Torch at Holyrood and I lost my toenail after the marathon! But also there were lots of bellydance highlights this month, including teaching children’s classes, organising and running both the Leith Festival Hafla and the Musselburgh Hafla, and performing in Glasgow.

July: Brought the summer holidays and the brilliant Big Dance weekend where I organised four performances, a bellydance flashmob and performed with The Peacock Project for the first time.

August: I Ran the Coach & Horses 10M race in Lancaster, went for an induction day at Jewel & Esk College and got offered the chance of a last-minute place at Telford College, which I accepted, and started full-time education for the first time since 1996 eek!

September: I completed the Glasgow half marathon, found it difficult and learned that caffeinated energy gels make me terribly grumpy; held plank for four minutes, leading to ‘not disgracing myself’ in a team challenge at college and a whopping increase in my personal college confidence; started training in earnest for the Jedburgh Half Marathon, following a training programme to improve my speed and hopefully do a PB of 1hour 45; competed at Shimmy in the City bellydance festival in London with the Peacock Project which was an amazing, challenging, growing experience, and I survived the terrible disappointment of not winning.

October: I had a rubbish experience in the Dunbar 10M hill race, involving my first ever “getting lost in a race” incident; got sick and injured and failed to PB in the Jedburgh Half Marathon, learning that the training programme I’d chosen had too much running and not enough cross-training, but still finished Jedburgh in 1hr 54 and really enjoyed it; attended a brilliant book festival event by Dr Andrew Murray, ultramarathon runner and public health fitness champion; enjoyed a 7-day pass to Edinburgh Leisure, passed my first aid qualification, quit booze until my birthday, and continued to do fine at college, but realised that I had a long way to go when it comes to gym instruction and remembered how rotten it feels to be rubbish at something.

November: I won a free gym membership in a raffle and enjoyed adding gym work to my workout routine, and improving my gym confidence; I made my tenth donation of blood; I decided to lose 3kg before my birthday.

December: Held plank for 6 minutes, completing my November plank challenge; and hit my target weight in time for my birthday!

Race calendar update: new training schedule!

For over a month now I've been swithering about training for the Liverpool Marathon. After running Edinburgh I don't want to lose my newfound abilities for distance running! But my main concern was that it might interfere with my college course - or rather, my college course might interfere with my training. I didn't want to be pushing myself hard in the gym at college and finding nothing left for training.

Well as it happens, it turns out that an HND in Fitness Health & Exercise should not be expected to be remotely physically arduous (so we were told today by the course leader). But that's not really what swayed me against running Liverpool. It's only five weeks away now, and in two weeks time I'm competing at Shimmy in the City, a bellydance festival in London. This has involved months of training by my troupe, the Peacock Project. What's the point in putting in months of work to turn up at the competition tired from running, and thinking about having to get my 20 mile run in that weekend too? I've decided, with a heavy heart, that I won't be running another marathon this year.

Instead I'm aiming for a PB at the Hawick Half Marathon on 28th October.

The Glasgow Half was so tough, tougher that the full marathon. Perhaps the difference was following a real training programme for Edinburgh. So I'm going to follow a programme for Hawick. This has given me the same excitment and motivation that I expected to get from deciding to run another marathon, so I'm feeling pretty good.

Training day 1 was Thursday, starting with a 40-minute tempo run. Three jelly babies before I started and I felt set up! Now, I've never bothered about speed before, apart from the occasional set of intervals, so this was a departure. Thumbing through a copy of Runner World I found in the loo, I read this:

"On good form: Your trailing leg should bend swiftly. A long lazy trailing leg tilts the upper body forward."

The phrase "long lazy trailing leg" kept running in my head as I warmed up. "Lazy"! So pejorative, so motivating. I know that I don't bend my trailing leg swiftly, I've seen pictures of myself running. So for this run I worked my hamstrings like a beeatch and lifted my heels. It was effective - running "comfortably hard" in that style for me turned out to be about 8.5min/mile, which was faster than I thought it'd be.

I ran 5.39 miles in 45min18s, average pace was 8.24/mile.

Tomorrow's 8 miles, shorter than my usual Saturday run, but with renewed motivation I'm really looking forward to it.

My First Marathon - edited highlights

I finish my first marathon in 4 hours, 19 minutes. I am extremely proud of myself. The stats are here!

It was hot but after a while I didn't really notice too much. It was hard for a whole number of reasons and the heat was just one of them!

I did a little dance at the start line and continued it at the finish line. I finished strong (doing 8.21min/mile!) and ran the whole way, even through the water stations.

The route was flat, pretty and included my home turf, which was brilliant - high fives with friends and shout-outs from my neighbours really made me feel on top of the world!
I had a few niggles but most of them came and went - hips, lower back and IT band aches were all overtaken by the pain in my thighs after about 16 miles.

My podcasts were great diversions, especially as, despite the beauty of the East Lothian coast in the sunshine, it is fairly repetitive view!!


I carried my water bottle and refilled it at the water stations, and consumed 7 energy gels.

My mum and her boyfriend Robert were there to cheer me on at about mile 13. That was lovely and lifted my spirits - in fact it made me quite emotional and I was choking back the tears!

I was so excited to see the big orange 25-mile sign and find myself still going strong. I knew that whatever happened I was going to finish the race now. And then I saw my husband and children!! What a thrill - they weren't sure they were going to make it! They gave me a big wave and took my picture - but now I was sprinting with joy! I still had about three-quarters of a mile to go though!!

3/4 mile from the end, grinning like a nutter and FINISHING STRONG!! (Note the non-chafeing bumbag.)

When I saw the finish line it gave it everything I had left, overtook everyone I saw and crossed the finish line with a massive shout of "YES!!", loud enough for race compere Bryan Burnett to comment on! The time on the gantry was 4 hours 36 minutes - the time on my watch was 4 hours 19 minutes!!

I was so happy to get my medal, I fixed my eyes on the medal lady and dipped my head to get her to put it round my neck. She gave me a big smile and said "well done, hen", and I was ridiculously, hysterically grateful and happy.

One I was out into the reunion area, I burst into tears. I'd done it! I'd completed my first marathon! After only 8 weeks of training (albeit after 15 years of building a solid running base!) it had taken me 4 hours 19 minutes to run 26.2 miles.  I could not have been any happier.

I did that little dance I'd started at the starting line (Paulo Nutini's 10/10 was the tune - it had been on the PA but I also had it on my ipod!) and tried to find hubby and weans. It took a while but we were reunited!

"Mum, can we go home now? it's too hot..."

I tried to have a shower but they were freezing! So I had a bit of a douse and put on my clean clothes. I realised my toes were hurting. "Well", said a lady in the changing room, who was a veteran of 5 marathons, "you can't do a marathon without expecting to lose a few toenails!", and she showed me the toes she'd lost nails from she'd lost in the last few years! I was unprepared for this - Marathon Training Academy, you should have told me!

Next stop was the Well Hung & Tender stall for a deluxe burger - featuring onions, bacon and cheese, accompanied with a cup of milky tea. It was so unbelievably good, I can hardly begin to tell you - but my face should give you a hint:

Nothing could have tasted better!

We had a long, hot, uphill walk back to the car, and I had to carry a nearly-five-year-old on my shoulders for most of it! It was possibly the hardest part of the day. But it was closely followed by meeting up with the other Leith Primary running parents in the pub. I was cheered when I arrived, and then hugged, congratulated, quizzed and bought drinks!

Eight weeks ago, I wasn't remotely confident I could run a marathon. I registered for the event thinking that I might well change to the half marathon. I knew nothing about fueling, or the wall, or what I was capable of. I feel like a wiser, better person than I was 8 weeks ago. I feel confident, creative and like I can do anything. Anything I put my mind to. I always knew I could, in theory. Now I have proof.

It remains to be seen if I lose toenails. It remains to be seen how much sponsor money I've raised for the Leith Primary playground fund. It remains to be seen whether I'll do it again next year (although I suspect I'd like to!). But I ran my first marathon in 4 hours 19 minutes. I do have what it takes to run a marathon and change my life. And I ROCK!!!

My First Marathon - full disclosure

Good news - I'm still alive to tell the tale!

Edinburgh was hot on Sunday 27 May 2012. When I got up at 0630 to eat breakfast (porridge, nuts & seeds, green tea, mint tea and a bit of pineapple, plus my supplements - iron, B vits, co-enzyme Q10 - all 3 hours before the start line, as recommended by Marathon Training Academy), the haar was thick and Leith was cold.

The haar had burnt off by 9am, but I was determind not to let my calm and relaxed attitude go with it! Dressed in my running kit, I kissed goodbye to my family and caught a bus up Easter Road (bus driver: "is it not cheating to get on the bus?"). London Road was busy with runners and the public toilets there were quiet - AND they had hot water and hand driers, what a luxury on race day!

I walked up to Regent Road, chatting to a girl from Southend who'd come up for her first marathon too. It calmed me down to be a welcoming local! The queues for the loo were pretty long, but the stewards directed us to about 60 loos in the car park of St Andrew's House, where the queues were long, but moving. It was quite depressing to see a security officer from St Andrew's House catching a couple of women who'd relieved themselves round the back of a stack of stone blocks instead of waiting the queue. They looked quite shamed, and I know nerves make you do funny things - but St Andrew's House didn't *have* to give up their car park for the day, they'd done us runners a good turn - and they get repaid in widdle. [sigh.]

I'd never before found myself in the loo queue with just a minute till the starting gun. But the race was so massive that I knew I wouldn't miss anything, and I wasn't alone. I was amazed at how calm I was! I took my first energy gel (topping up the glycogen stores) and did a little dance as I waited to get to the start line - which happened about 1008. One of my running friends saw me dance and said "you won't be doing that at the finish line!". Which of course was a gauntlet, thrown down!

It was hot but there was no point in worrying about it. I was confident there would be a coastal breeze, plenty of water stations, and that the residents of East Lothian would be out in force with their garden hoses. I'd put on sun cream and carried my running water bottle, and my kit was as planned - capri leggings and a technical t-shirt from last year's EMF half marathon.

It was hard not to take off fast, especially as the course is downhill for the first few miles, but it was so busy - by far the biggest race I've every done, surely - that I managed fairly steady 10 minutes miles. Mile 3 was my home turf, which was brilliant - high fives with friends and shout-outs from my neighbours really made me feel on top of the world!

By mile 4, my hips and lower back began to ache, but at that point we found the first of the impromptu showers on the route, courtesy of the carwash on Seafield Road. Hurray!! I found someone I knew who was in the team relay, and chatted a bit. He told me later that I spurred him on - he thought that if I was doing 26 miles and he was only doing 8 miles, he really ought to be going a whole lot faster than me. That, and he's at least a foot taller than I am!!

I had a few niggles but most of them came and went. I was pretty aware of my IT band for a while, but new trainers are waiting for me anyway. At about mile 16 my thighs took over pain duty.

There were no absolutely terrible moments. Yes it was hot, but apart from feeling my cheeks burn a wee bit, I didn't really notice after the first few miles. No point in thinking about what you can't change - I think I spent more time wondering whether to stop for a pee!

I listened to a variety of podcasts - there was a very interesting episode of The Food Programme about the soya bean, a dose of Wittertainment from Mark Kermode & Simon Mayo which is my regular Saturday morning long run listen-of-choice, the News Quiz, and a very long Marathon Training Academy podcast about marathon success stories, where I learned that George W Bush and Oprah Winfrey have both completed marathons - helpful to know as I didn't really want them to do better than me!! The podcasts were great diversions, especially as, despite the beauty of the East Lothian coast in the sunshine, it is fairly repetitive view!!

I had a range of things to think about when the going got tough. My kids told me to listen to Katy Perry's "Firework", one of their favourite songs,  and remember Scott dancing to it at school assembly. There was to be a pizza for dinner when I got home. There was meeting up with the Relay Team members in the pub in the evening. These were images to keep me going reserved for when I needed extra motivation. And d'y'know what? I didn't ever think about them. I never hit the low point I expected. It never got as bad as I'd feared it would.

At about 20 miles, people around me started walking. It seemed like everybody was walking through the water stations, and I was the only one not stopping! That was a bit of a spur. After all, by 20 miles, you're almost done, why stop?! I was well aware that "The Wall" could hit me at any moment - after all, I'd never run beyong 20 miles before - so if *that* was going to get me, or indeed, if I was going to get heatstroke or hyperthermia, I really should get as far as I could before I needed to take a rest!

Speaking of which - I'd never seen so much runner carnage in a race before. So many people getting first aid, including being put on drips! and lots of people in the recovery position on grass verges. Also, I passed rather a lot of people who'd, erm, passed rather a lot... judging by the smell and the state of their legs! I'm pleased to say that the worst I did was burp (which I did quite regularly!), which I'm putting down to sensible eating last week and my 7am brekkie.


Water stations were all well organised and sometimes we even got the choice of a bottle with or without a lid! I was pouring the water into my running bottle and emptying the rest on my head! I liked always having my own water with me, and in the third quarter of the race I was really glad of it - the longest section without a water station was also the hottest, with the least shade, least breeze, and least crowd support.

I had a Science in Sport Gel about every 40 minutes. My training has really helped me to notice when I need to take on fuel, when I start to get a bit tired and 'itchy'. I had a fetching bum-bag to carry them in which, I'm glad to say, didn't chafe!

My mum and her boyfriend Robert were there to cheer me on at about mile 13. That was lovely and lifted my spirits - in fact it made me quite emotional and I was choking back the tears!

I was so excited to see the big orange 25-mile sign and find myself still going strong. I knew that whatever happened I was going to finish the race now. And then I saw my husband and children!! What a thrill - they weren't sure they were going to make it! They gave me a big wave and took my picture - but now I was sprinting with joy! I still had about three-quarters of a mile to go though!!

3/4 mile from the end, grinning like a nutter and FINISHING STRONG!! (Note the non-chafeing bumbag.)

This last section of the race was a bit deflating. The centre line had been taken down, and the public were wandering along the same part of the road as the runners - it felt pretty disrepectful, as if we were stragglers, but there were still loads of us! But frankly I was giving it my all, thinking "this is it, I'm finishing strong - get out my way, pedestrians!"

The crowd were thick as we got to the finish line. I overtook everyone I saw with my final energy burst and crossed the finish line with a massive "YES!!", loud enough for race compere Bryan Burnett to comment on! The time on the gantry was 4 hours 36 minutes - the time on my watch was 4 hours 19 minutes!!

I was so happy to get my medal, I fixed my eyes on the medal lady and dipped my head to get her to put it round my neck. She gave me a big smile and said "well done, hen", and I was ridiculously, hysterically grateful and happy.

One I was out into the reunion area, I burst into tears. I'd done it! I'd completed my first marathon! After only 8 weeks of training (albeit after 15 years of building a solid running base!) it had taken me 4 hours 19 minutes to run 26.2 miles.  I could not have been any happier.

The stats for my performance are here, as tracked by my Garmin.

I did that little dance I'd started at the starting line (Paulo Nutini's 10/10 was the tune - it had been on the PA but I also had it on my ipod!) and tried to find hubby and weans. It took a while but we were reunited!

"Mum, can we go home now? it's too hot..."

I tried to have a shower but they were freezing! So I had a bit of a douse and put on my clean clothes. I realised my toes were hurting. "Well", said a lady in the changing room, who was a veteran of 5 marathons, "you can't do a marathon without expecting to lose a few toenails!", and she showed me the toes she'd lost nails from she'd lost in the last few years! I was unprepared for this - Marathon Training Academy, you should have told me!

Next stop was the Well Hung & Tender stall for a deluxe burger - featuring onions, bacon and cheese, accompanied with a cup of milky tea. It was so unbelievably good, I can hardly begin to tell you - but my face should give you a hint:

Nothing could have tasted better!

We had a long, hot, uphill walk back to the car, and I had to carry a nearly-five-year-old on my shoulders for most of it! It was possibly the hardest part of the day. But it was closely followed by meeting up with the other Leith Primary running parents in the pub. I was cheered when I arrived, and then hugged, congratulated, quizzed and bought drinks!

It remains to be seen if I lose toenails. It remains to be seen how much sponsor money I've raised for the Leith Primary playground fund. It remains to be seen whether I'll do it again next year (although I suspect I'd like to!). But I ran my first marathon in 4 hours 19 minutes. I do have what it takes to run a marathon and change my life. And I ROCK!!!

Taperama

Two weeks till the Marathon, and the taper's kicking in. Tuesday was 4 miles, today's was 6, and tomorrow's is 3 miles. Three miles? Is that worth getting out of bed for?!

It is harder than I thought. I need to practice tapering!

Yesterday I supplemented my run with 19 lengths (not quite a kilometer, bah!!) of the Commonwealth Pool while daughter was in her swimming lesson. Today I ran another 2.5miles in the gym at Meadowbank while daughter was in the gym class (I had new trainers to try out and Run4it will give me a new pair if they don't work out, as long as I only use them on a treadmill.)

Otherwise this week I've been really fatigued - with rehearsals every weekend in addition to my marathon training I've been working my body really hard. Three early nights in a row and I feel much more human.

The visit to the gym at Meadowbank was really good. I don't like gyms much - the last time I went to a gym was the last time I had new trainers! Running on a treadmill takes a bit of getting used to - the first miles felt tedious but I got used to it.

After my run (trainers felt okay but my left wee toe got a bit tingly after two miles - need to examine my lacing options!) I had a wee shot on the PowerPlate. Ryan the Gym Guy was really helpful and I was really impressed. As well as showing my how it worked, he gently but *extremely* effectively tweaked my posture (well, he does teach pilates too) to make sure I was working properly. He went on to show me improved technique for a hip flexor stretch, which was reveleatory!! So, all in all, well worth the £3.50 for the visit to the gym.

Tomorrow... three miles... and maybe just a wee teeny bit of hooping after??

Oops I seem to have entered the Edinburgh Marathon.

I got an email on Tuesday to tell me I'd won a place in the Edinburgh Marathon.

To say I *won* it makes it seem like I was awarded it on merit. In fact I entered a draw in the ESPC which I found while I was waiting for me daughter to finish her gymnastics class. So it's nothing to do with my running prowess, and everything to do with the fact that most readers of the ESPC are probably too busy buying or selling property to enter competitions with silly prizes.

And today I redeemed the code I was sent and entered the Edinburgh Marathon on 27 May, just 8 weeks today.

What have I *done*?? My stomach is in my mouth just thinking about it.

I was not sure I wanted to do a Marathon, but when, a few weeks ago, I found out that it was full, I had a bit of a twinge of regret. And that seems to have developed from a twinge to an ache to a proper strain. And here I am, stomach in mouth.

My safety net is as follows: entries for the half marathon - on the same day, which I did last year -  should close on 19 April. So if I start training and it's really looking like I won't be fit enough for the marathon, I can enter the Half, and it won't have cost me any more because I won the Marathon place for free. So I could still back out and thintgs'd still be okay.

But there are a couple of things spurring me on. Firstly, I just called my blog "Anything You Put Your Mind To". So, how can I wimp out when there's a chance, an opportunity, to do this?

And also, I want to show my kids that it's all right to try, even if you're not sure you're going to succeed. A breakdancer came to my son's school assembly on Friday, trying to drum up interest for his dance classes (don't start me on advertising in schools, that's another rant entirely).  The kids all clapped and cheered, and I wondered what my son was thinking. I worried that he might be thinking "I won't try that class because I don't think I'll be able to do it." And then I realised that this was exactly what I was feeling about entering the Marathon.

I'm off to read training programmes now, excited and nervous.