Just a quickie after the marathon post of yesterday.......

I woke today with only minor aches, sadly these have not got any better as the day's gone on!!

Thought I'd be good and do a recovery run today, so went and ran with the Nike Town lot - 4 miles around Regents Park. Got to see some of the crazy barriers that are going up for the G20 - massive things

Was amazed that despite my legs feeling so tired I still ran at the same pace as yesterday - I thin it must be some kind of muscle memory keeping them going!!

Even better I got back to the store to discover they were giving away T shirts for the Girls vs Boys challenge that's currently going on - they're an amazing shade of pink that doesn't really come across in the photos - but you should look out for us girls - we're a fearsome sight when we're together!

Heading to bed with aching legs - fingers crossed they're fixed for tomorrow night's BMF.....

How proud am I of me??

So I woke up at 6.30am to what looked to be a very promising day - the sun was out, but there was frost on the roofs on the opposite side of the road, so it was pretty chilly

After a quick breakfast of muesli and yogurt I finally decided on long legs and short and long sleeves and headed off to the train - Finsbury Park to Kings Cross and on to Paddington - could spot my fellow runners as I got to Kings Cross by their baggage labels and as we arrived in Paddington we all realised our train was delayed - bit of a worry as it was the last one we were meant to catch to guarantee getting the shuttle bus from Reading station. Thankfully there was another train running a few minutes later so we all hopped on that, many of us with the wrong tickets, stood for the 30minute journey, but all fairly certain there was no way they were going to check tickets - and we were right, got to Reading 10minutes early and made the buses without any worry - a good sign I thought

I've never been to Reading before and the bus journey didn't necessarily take us on the most scenic of routes, but it got us to the Madejski Stadium in plenty of time - time enough to use the proper loos in the stadium, go to the lucozade stand to get my pace band and an extra bottle of lucozade to keep me going. Then the next dilemma - time to drop my bag - what to wear - just as I was going to keep my long sleeves on the sun appeared and so off came the long sleeves and on went the bin bag instead!! I put my bag in before I had time to change my mind and headed off to queue for the portaloos...... less said about those the better, and it was time to head to the start

It was at this point that I realised for the first time in a race I was not in the last wave of runners to leave - I was second to last - even more exciting was that my predicted time (around 2 hours) took me to the front of the wave - so close to being second from the front!!

There were pacesetters at 5 minute intervals, I put myself in front of the 2 hour pace setter in the hope that I would stay in front of him all the way to the end.....

And we were off - took 10 minutes to get over the line - was also at this point that my Nike+ announced it's battery was getting low - but was too late to worry about that then.

The race itself is a bit of a blur - I needed a wee from the moment I crossed the line, but it was a beautifully sunny day and the miles seemed to race by. A few mean hills, an amazing band of drummers at 6miles as we went under an underpass and headed up into Reading town centre -I'd missed the loos at the first drinks station, but saw them at the second - after a very welcome pitstop carried on with renewed energy! Then it was time to run through the University campus - again very pretty - and before I knew it we were at 10miles - only 3 to go and the big wind turbine by the stadium came into view

The last 3.1 miles were a bit of a slog - a long straight road up toward the stadium followed by a cruel out and back section where I spotted the 2 hour pace setter - they must have gone past while I was in the loo 6 miles earlier!! This spurred me on the last mile, I caught up and over took them way before the stadium, at this point I was fairly sure I'd break the 2 hour target I'd set myself, but didn't trust myself and wondered if he was doing a bad job.....

The last 100yds were in the stadium - I could see the clock and knew we'd taken 10minutes to cross the start line - in theory I had about 10 seconds to cross the line - I counted them down in my head (or maybe out loud) as I ran towards it - in true professional style I stopped my watch as I crossed the line only to realise I'd crossed the line well under the 2 hours (well, with plenty of seconds to spare!) At this point I turned into a bit of a sobbing wreck causing a lovely man to check if I was ok and having explained the cause of the tears discovered he too had just beaten the 2hours for the first time. We both chatted and stretched together, congratulated each other again and headed out of the stadium and towards the silver blankets.

It was here I got a tap on the back and discovered a fellow member of Finsbury Park BMF (another Emma) had run the race too, we had a quick chat, a very welcome hug and she headed back to her family.

Then it was time to go and get my fab medal, goodie bag (why do they give you tea bags??) and head back to get my bag.

After donning a few more layers I hopped on the bus back to the station and had what seemed a weird experience of going back over some of the route but with it looking like the run had never existed, the route cleared of us runners, all the spectators and the bottles we'd left lying all over the place.

Back in the city centre I found the coffee shops I'd spotted just after the 6 mile mark and settled down for a coffee and a great slice of cake with a seat by the window in the sunshine - what a way to spend a Sunday afternoon!!

The journey home was uneventful. Could spot the runners this time by their slightly aching gait - although the medals were more of a giveaway!!

Was tucked up in bed by a respectable 10pm - absolutely shattered and very happy - it was a great day!



The final lap of the Relay For Life in Harrow last year was walked to the song Proud

The first line of the chorus is ......

What have you done today to make you feel proud?

Today I'd have to say running the race in less than 2 hours - to me it's always been the time that a 'good' runner would run a half marathon in. I was really proud when my friend Ewan managed to break it last year in Birmingham and now I've done it - does this mean that I'm finally a proper runner? I'm still not sure - finishing the marathon last year didn't persuade me I was, maybe after all the runs this year I might finally be convinced!!

It's nearly time.....

So, in 12 hours I'll be running!!

Still not quite decided what to wear - long or 3/4 length leggings? long and/or short sleeves? We'll see what it looks like in the morning....hopefully blue sky.... but as my running vest from CRUK hasn't arrived, I'm going to be in my Hearing Dogs for Deaf People vest - I ran the last Edinburgh marathon for them and my friend Clare saw one of the dogs on her train on Friday so thought at least I could raise some awareness for them on the way round - those dogs are amazing things

Had a great day out and about in London - went to the Globe theatre this morning to learn all about Romeo and Juliet and As You Like It and after a nice walk in the rain/sun/hail along the river I finally went to the Natural History Museum to see the Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition (as ever it's amazing, closing soon, so you should go if you can).

I've not really been in the city at the weekend for ages and had forgotten what's it's like at the weekend - full of tourists looking at maps. Obviously I no longer class myself as a tourist now I've been here a year..... a sure sign appeared when I was last in Brum stood on a train waiting for the doors to open - I'd forgotten all about the quaint notion of having to press a button to open the train doors......

Any way, have had my last meal of pasta with a healthy dollop of pesto, have laid out all the clothing options for the morning, have changed my clocks, set my alarm (for a horrifying 6.30am - that's allowing for the clocks changing) so I guess all that's left now is to get some sleep!

Aching shoulders and a London moment

I'm suffering today after last night's BMF - carrying the medicine ball has certainly done it's job.... hopefully that will all have sorted itself by Sunday

Had a great day other than that - met my friend Jo for lunch at Borough Market - she has a proper job in the city, so I got to walk across London Bridge and feel like a proper Londoner amongst the suits - we had amazing falafel(?) and really yummy chocolate biscuit thing for pudding - everyone should go!!

Lots of pasta for dinner this evening, lots of water drunk, lucozade bought at Tesco on the way home, so almost set

Still not sure what time I need to leave the house on Sunday morning, but as my train is just before 8am at Paddington and the clocks go forward an hour it's not going to be good news when I look it up tomorrow is it?

Thanks go today to Erika for her support - she's going to shake a bucket at the Ideal Home Exhibition for the B Team tomorrow - hope you have a good day!!




I've never seen the Monument uncovered before!



And I've run to London Bridge before and underneath (I think) it but never been over it until today

Thursday - more BMF

So, today was my last day of exercise before Sunday, and was probably our last night of exercising in the dark before the clocks change on Sunday morning and the evenings get lighter.

Got to hang out with my favorite fellow red Peter - we cheer each other on when the going gets tough, have the same terrible sense of humor and, as he's slightly faster than me, makes me work all the harder!

We had a brilliant class, lots of running, medicine balls, piggy backs, leopard crawling through the wet grass and then the best moment of all, lying down under the stars and stretching - there were loads out tonight - I'm going to miss them now it's going to be light (am I really wishing that the nights were getting darker already??)

On the way home I saw the fox that lives by the railway line - he's so unbothered by humans you can stand and watch him for ages and he just watches you back - really lovely thing

3 more sleeps until Reading - big thanks to Nicky and Andrew for the sponsorship from all the B team x

Almost forgot - ordered some new trainers today - they're beautiful - will show you a picture when they arrive!

Disappointment and some major excitement

So the other 2 runs I wanted to do this year - the Royal Parks and Birmingham Half are both on the same day this year - 11th October

As we ran the first ever Birmingham Half last year we (me and my Brum friends) have decided to run that again - I want to try and run every one of them from now on

So will be missing out on the Royal Parks - hopefully one of them will change their date again next year!!!

On to the excitement (well, I'm excited!) - I'm getting my running vest sent out from CRUK and it comes with iron-on letters - just getting my name, but have already been told of more comedy things I should have asked for...... not sure if it will be here in time for Sunday, but fingers crossed

Really hoping to be able to raise lots of money for our Relay team and CRUK this year (www.donatetomyrelay.org/thebteam), but know it's not going to be easy. I have a friend who walks 4 marathons in 4 days in Holland - perhaps I should try that next year - up the ante a little......

Tuesday - BMF day!

So Tuesday was a much better day!

No coffee, no alcohol, but a whole new world of peanut butter based confectionery was discovered. Also, for today's food recommendation - Dough Master on Charlotte Street - rolled sandwiches - can highly recommend the Reuben

Tuesday nights are BMF nights - as it's been so dry recently, the mud has gone, so the hard ground is back - we spent a lot of time crawling between each others legs, so I now have mega bruised knees - will try take a photo later. Was a great class, it stayed light until the end for the first time this year which makes such a difference. No sign of the fox on the way home though...

Who you going to call????

So, my usual preparation for a race is to give up caffeine and alcohol for the week before - am terrible at drinking water, so removing the diuretics helps.

Sadly I failed miserably on Monday. Firstly the temptation of a coffee during clinic was too much. Then in the evening I met friends for pre-cinema drinks and we ended up in an amazing pub - the Salisbury on St. Martins's Lane - an old gin palace - the excitement of seeing Jane Krakowski from Ally McBeal was too much and a glass of wine was needed. This was swiftly followed with dinner in La Tasca - just opposite the pub and then a trip to the cinema to see the original version of Ghostbusters (not a remake as some have feared - although there are rumours of Ghostbusters 3)

One week to Reading!!!

One week to the first race of the year - how did this happen??

Training started up again properly not long after Christmas, but I spent the Winter months keeping fit in Finsbury Park doing British Military Fitness - 1 hour 3 times a week of rolling in the mud or bruising my knees on the frozen ground in snow, sleet and rain - so much fun - where else can you give people piggy backs, do wheelbarrows and forward (or as we called them now 'combat') rolls??

So this year I am hoping to raise money for Cancer Research UK and an event called Relay For Life. I helped organise 2 of these events last year - the first up in Birmingham which, in it's first year, we raised over £20,000. The second was in Harrow where, in it's 3rd year, we raised over a staggering £70,000

This year I have the very scary role of being co-chair for the Harrow Relay, but am really looking forward to being part of a team there as well - the B-team.

The event runs over 24hours, we do lots of fundraising in advance - where the running comes in - and on the day, as a team, we spend 24 hours walking around a running track, hopefully spending a wonderful day raising yet more money and raising cancer awareness.

http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/relay/venues/harrow/ - this is the link for the Relay itself, but also links through to more information about Relay For Life - they're all over the country, so if there's one near you, go take part!! Or you can turn up on the day as a spectator and see what it's all about

http://www.donatetomyrelay.org/thebteam - this is our team's fundraising page - it's looking very empty just now, but we're each hoping to raise over £200 each - we're also very aware that this year is going to be a difficult time for fundraising, but anything you can spare will be going towards a fantastic cause - it's a sad fact that 1 in 3 of us will be affected by cancer and CRUK are working very hard to making those odds better.

So on to my runs for this year.....

Planned so far are

Reading Half 29th March

Hose Half 12th April - Easter Sunday - so think of me when you're eating your eggs

Edinburgh Marathon 31st May - the biggy - hopefully will avoid the Wombles this year

Great North Run 20th September - the weekend after Relay

There's also the Birmingham Half and the Royal Parks Half later in the year


So just a quiet year really....... if you happen to be in/near any of these places please come and give me a cheer, or just meet up for lunch afterwards!

In fact after today's run I can highly recommend The Flask in Highgate and their very good burgers, and James can vouch for their roast beef......


Come back and check up on the training and maybe more food reviews!!

emma