It’s taken so long to get this recap up, so I do apologise- but it has been a very busy few weeks! I’m actually properly working at my new job now, which is ace (I even received my first pay cheque the other day, very welcome indeed), plus school and Chika-issues (she’s up for sale and I am more than a little bit gutted, but more on that another day).

But anyway! Remember 2 weeks-and-a-bit-ago, when I ran Brighton marathon!?

My mum and I drove up on Friday, so we had the whole of Saturday to settle and chill and relax and watch the Grand National and be Brighton tourists. We were super at that last job!

We hit up the pier, I spent all my money on some crazy upside down ride (£5 – for one ride. Not cool) – though instead of screaming in terror, I had hysterical laughter. As you do. We also went to The Lanes, which has loads of little quirky shops and a few vegan cafe places. Vegan food – a tofu-miso sandwich for me – and cute shops = happy campers. The evening was spent carb loading and watching The Voice / Britain’s Got Talent, and not sleeping. Grrr.

My alarm went off at 6am on Sunday and I practically bounced out of bed! I was so excited!!

5k splits written on my arm in black marker pen. And also note my immense biceps. I should be a body builder with those guns.

I was feeling really positive and confident. I’d seen my coach at the expo, and she was full of cheer and really pumped me up. The start was only a 20-30 minute walk away, so were out of the door by 7ish, and headed on over along with a few other runners. I spent 40mins in line for the toilets, and then at about 8.40, I left my mum and went into my corral.

I was shaking so much – partly cold, partly excited, partly absolutely freakin’ terrified. I put my headphones in and listened to some music to try and zone out whilst we were all waiting. Weirdly, the corral was the only time I ever listened to music – I didn’t need to listen to it once during the rest of the race.

And then, bang on 9am, the gun went off!

Mile 1 – 8.34 Slightly slower than goal pace because of all the crowds (18,000 people) and the fact that it was all uphill!

Mile 2- 8.05 Wheeeee! I feel great!

Mile 3- 8.06 I am awesome.  (*hello MAMMA! I didn’t expect to see you so soon!)

Mile 4 – 8.07 I’m going to WIN the marathon.

Mile 5 – 8.05 The officials won’t even be at the finish when I arrive, I’m that fast. (*HELLO MAMMA again!)

Mile 6 – 8.07 Man. 20 miles to go.

Mile 7 – 8.06 Maybe I should slow down…? I’m not at goal pace….

Mile 8 – 8.13 Much better. Those pacers in front of me are HOT. I think I’ll follow them for a bit.

Mile 9 – 8.16 Goal pace: owned.

Mile 10 – 8.13 Cruisin’.

Mile 11 – 8.22 I really, really need to pee. Like, I really really really do. I don’t think I can hold on for 15 more miles!

Mile 12 – 8.57 <—— this mile INCLUDED a pee break in one of the portaloos! I pee fast, I run fast to make up the time. I also knock small children out of the way to get into the portaloo (true story).

Mile 13 – 8.12 Halfway, wahey! (*Hello step brother who spotted me and shouted my name! And hello Dave from Vegan Runners who I also spotted!)

My mum snapped that picture of the end of the course, before all the runners arrived. You can just about see the pier in the distance [not the bigger thing nearer, it's the bit further away], which was where the finish was…about 3 miles away!

Mile 14 – 8.16 My chest really, really hurts – I want to be sick / it feels like there’s a brick in my chest blocking everything. I’m going to have to slow down Weirdly, I wasn’t out of breath and my legs weren’t tired – it literally felt like a brick or a bubble was in my chest, and it was so painful! It was the same feeling I’ve had loads of times towards the end of strenuous long runs & at the Brighton half in February. Weird.

Mile 15 – 8.21 Conscious decision made: slow pace to 8.25.

Mile 16 – 8.23 My gosh this part of the course is dull.

Mile 17 – 8.22 Clif Chomps + me do. not. mix.

Mile 18 – 8.29 Oi! Why is my pace slower!?

That is me about .5 mile from the finish line! Being hotly pursued by three men….

Mile 19 – 8.27 SPEED UP WOMAN.

Mile 20 – 8.29 GET A GRIP.

Mile 21 – 8.34 Okay….NO slower than 8.40!

Mile 22 – 8.38 eck. This is hard, I’m tired, I hurt.

Mile 23 – 8.39 I’m still tired, and I still really hurt. I can see the finish….THREE MILES AWAY.

Mile 24 – 8.53 30 second walk.

Mile 25 – 9.02 30 second walk.

Mile 26 – 8.54 SPEED THE EFF UP, YOU’RE ALMOST HOME! EVERYTHING HURTS. I F****** HATE MARATHONS.

.2 – 8.31 pace FINISH FINISH FINISH FINISH……

Total: 26.36 miles,  8.25 average pace

As soon as I crossed the finish line, I burst into tears.  I was SO happy, relieved, and exhausted – just overwhelmed with emotion! I walked slowly over to find my mum, but by the time I found her, I felt quite sick. We found a bit of concrete, and I sat on the edge, wrapped in my foil blanket. I nibbled the corner from a Clif bar from the goodie bag, and immediately just wanted to be sick, so my mum made a pillow using her rucksack, and I lay down for 10mins. After that, I felt much better!

I ate the rest of my Clif bar, and a banana about 30mins later as we were trying to make our way out of the finishing area. We had to walk back into the centre of Brighton anyway, and so made a 2min detour to go back to the lovely vegan cafe for lunch. I had a carton of strawberry soya milk and the delicious tofu-miso sandwich again. I had to eat it in tiny bites because I still felt pretty queasy! But, I did feel so happy and awesome sitting there with my medal:

Nothing compares to that post-amazing-run feeling!!

I was just so thrilled with my final time – 3hr42. I know I ran a pretty crap race, tactics wise (ie the second half was much slower than the first, and I probably went out a bit fast), and I didn’t quite make my golden time – 3.35. I did get my silver though – 3hr45, so I’m thrilled. Looking back, I couldn’t have gone any faster, given how my chest felt. I wish more than anything I knew why I keep getting that horrible feeling, because I really can’t describe how sh!t it is, and it’s ruined a lot of runs for me! Gah. If anyone has a theory, please share!!

This race meant so much to me though – I was so gutted with my Marine Corps in 2010 time (4h53 – 30mins slower than the goal); just hugely disappointed in myself. But I knocked 1hr11 off of that time, which I think is pretty cool! I’ve certainly redeemed myself :p

My mum is freaking awesome! I’m so grateful she came with me and cheered me on; she’s been an incredible support for this whole marathon journey

So, what next?

Well..I’ve got Edinburgh marathon on May 27th (my birthday!), less than 4 weeks away!! I ran 13 miles last Sunday, in horrific rainy, windy weather, and I’m planning 15-16 this Sunday, then 18 or so, then a 10, then the marathon. I’m not aiming to PB at Edinburgh, I just want to have a good time, no pressure. Chester – this October – will be my PB attempt!

I’ve been taking running easy – after Brighton, I had 3 days off totally, then did a few shorter runs and then an 8 on the Sunday after the marathon. I’m being very careful – on Thursday last week, my shins hurt (first time since before the marathon), so I stopped the run halfway through, walked home (in a gale!), and had 2 days off. On Sunday, I was good as new for my 13 miler!! I’m such a wise runner now : – D

Anyway..that was Brighton! I thoroughly recommend the race, if you’re looking for a spring mary..great course and very well organised. I’m already entered for next year!!!

xo

f

I’m going to do a proper post soon – promise! – but I just want to tell the world that I ran Brighton Marathon today, and PBd with 3hours 42 (Garmin time, with a course length of 26.36miles – not sure of the official time yet). I’m absolutely thrilled, and I want to say a big massive thank you to everyone who has said lovely encouraging things to me, on here and on Twitter. The marathon was absolutely amazing, and a total contrast to the slight disaster that was Marine Corps in 2010 (4hr53). I’m just…in a daze!!!

Hooray!!

xo

Oh I haven’t blogged in ages…life has just kind of got in the way! Lots has been happening, but the main and most awesome points are..

- I AM GOING TO BE A PRIMARY SCHOOL TEACHER! Yes, I got onto the SCITT course (school centred initial teacher training), which begins this September. It’s going to be a long, intense training year, but I am so excited. I finally have a career path, and it’s like this big weight has been lifted off my shoulders.

Lies! It’s all lies!

- Marathon training is going really, really well. I had a slight shin blip a couple of weeks ago, but last Sunday, I did my longest run since the Marine Corps Marathon in October 2010: 19.1 glorious miles, completed in bang on 2hr45. It was one of my best runs ever, and I didn’t have an ounce of pain, stiffness, or soreness. My last 6 miles or so were all ran at 8.05 pace too! This weekend coming, I’ve got my final long run – 3hrs – before the taper begins – which means that my marathon is just over three weeks away. THREE!! It’s come around so fast, and I have enjoyed training so much. I don’t want it to end!

Hellz to the yeah!

If you’re feeling really generous and lovely and beautiful and so on, please do feel free to donate to my JustGiving page – I’m running for the Brooke Hospital for Animals, and believe me – they are an AMAZING charity, and deserve every ounce of your support. They’re ‘the animal charity that helps people too’.

Anyway – lots of other things have been happening, school is going great (I had the best day in the forest with all the Year Two kids yesterday for a school trip!), I’m blogging weekly for Women’s Running still (lookseehere), and Chika looks like a fat fluffy lump. Iz all gooood!

I don’t know when I’ll next blog – but I will obviously be back to tell all about how the marathon went!!

xo

It has been a week since we last spoke! Again! Oh, what has become of me!? I used to blog seven times a week…alas.

I’m not really going to do a proper post today; I did start writing one – about my butt, amongst other things – at the back end of last week, but then I got sad because my shins hurt and I had flashbacks to January last year (shin splints destroyed my life), and I stopped writing it. Then, I was going to finish it today, but I’m actually pretty zonked out. Either way, here’s some quick bits about what’s been ‘appening my way over the past week:

- I found out I got to the final stage of the interview process to get onto the training to be a primary school teacher!  Which means I survived the initial application, and survived the big scary interview, and now I have the dreaded Task Day. Maths, literacy, and science tests galore!

- I was running at 6.45 pace on Thursday! Okay, so it was just for 2mins at a time ( 5 x 2mins at 5k pace), but it was still an achievement! The running-numbers geek in me got a little bit squeal-y at those stats.

- I saw my lovely physio last Wednesday – y’know, the nice one who treated my shin splints last year? Yeah, he’s still cool.

- I cooked an artichoke from SCRATCH last week! Have you ever done that?? It’s very satisfying, although the actual artichoke takes about 15mins to eat, you end up with a huuuge ass pile of artichoke-debris, and really only get one decent bite of artichoke. Very peculiar. I have photos to illustrate the magical journey, but they’ll have to wait. Try not to get too overexcited…

- My shins & hip didn’t hurt at all today – hooray for sports massage and stretching! – which meant that I did my longest run since the marathon in 2010 – SEVENTEEN MILES! Yeah baby! It was a 2.5 hour run, with the last 45mins at MP and the first bit a minute slower than MP. I felt so incredibly strong during it, and I even did my last mile, mile 17, in 7.51! BOO yeh.

- I’m away this weekend on another Women’s Running / Project 26.2 training day, and the weekend after that, I’m doing another half marathon. It’s gonna be fun – I have to race the half, have a 5min breather, then go and run for another 45minutes! Yep, I’m going to be that person. I can’t  wait!

And there you have it. I’m sorry for the wordy post, but that’s all I got in me right now!! I really don’t have the pizzazz to load up all my photos and then wait ten trillion years for them to export into WordPress…if only ecto worked.

Anyway! If you fancy seeing a video of my big sweaty face straight after Brighton half marathon last week, go check out my Project 26.2 blog on it! [click HERE]. The lady with me is Coach Phoebe, and she is super awesome!

Have a faboosh week, my lovelies xo

Wheeee!!! On Sunday, I ran Brighton Half Marathon, and I smashed my PB and it was incredibly hard and it was awesome and I cried a lot [from happiness] at the finish and I wonder how many more ‘and’s I can fit into this sentence….

My mum and I drove up Saturday morning, which took three hours, and we arrived just after lunch time. Brighton was not feeling particularly cheery though…in fact, it was downright miserable! It was absolutely freezing, raining hard, and there was a really strong coastal wind. Ideal. My mum and I really wanted to scope out the start line though, so we donned our thick coats, grabbed our umbrellas, and ventured out…

Our hotel – a dated, cheap little place – was right by the seafront, and a 15minute walk from the start, which was pretty perfect. After we’d worked out where we would be going, we decided to do the tourist thang, and go visit the big Brighton wheel! It’s like the London Eye, except smaller, so small you can’t even stand up in the capsules.

Pretty decent views, but the wind was making the whole thing sway a little bit, which gave my mum a serious case of vertigo:

She had to stay focused on the floor..so funny!

After four (!) spins on the wheel (we thought it would never end), we went to Brighton Pier – home of candy floss, fish and chips, beer, and a massive arcade/casino.

If I was a billionaire, I totally would’ve blown half of my fortune on the crappy games in that room…but alas, I am not. I just posed for a picture and dodged small, screaming children and nerdy teenage boys.

When we got back outside, we wanted to go get our future read by a tarot card reading stall, but then we realised we’d have to stand in line, outside, and so we scrapped that idea. Too friggin’ wet and windy! In fact, the weather just got worse and worse, and the walk back to the hotel was hell. My hands hurt from the cold, and the rain turned into hail, with a strong headwind. We were both drenched when we got back inside:

Note the wetness of my leggings. it. was. foul.

After we’d dried off a bit, it was time to venture out to dinner. Fellow Project 26.2-er Cathy had told me that Brighton is awesome for vegans, so after some googling and Happy-Cow-ing, we decided on Aloka, a cool vegan cafe, restaurant and ‘health and wellness shop’.

It certainly did not disappoint! In fact, it totally and utterly exceeded our expectations. I ordered a pear, fennel and something else juice, which I actually didn’t like very much, so I swapped it for their special Vitamin C Detox drink (apple, ginger, carrot etc), and that was DIVINE! We were then brought out a free / complimentary amuse bouche (have I spelt that right!?) – it was vegan and raw, and was a cracker-type base with a delicious walnut cream thing on top:

AMAZING! I wish I could remember exactly what was in it, because it was seriously fabulous. We ate it all

We also shared two starters:

Raw flax crackers and dip (coconut, carrot etc):

And the beetroot focaccia with chestnuts and globe artichoke – saute of globe artichokes, chestnuts, button mushrooms and sweet potato, served on a soft beetroot focaccia, with a miso onion butter and a shot of pineapple jerusalem artichoke cream

Um, wow. My mum dominated the shot, and I dominated the bread!

For main course, I had the Chef’s Special: tempeh and preserved lemon ‘pastilla’ served with a warm quinoa and kale salad, pomegranate glazed parsnip and a Medina spiced carrot cream

My mum had the Individual Baked Casserole: button mushroom and chestnut bourguignon ‘st germain’ shepherds pie, oven roasted grapes and a seasonal vegetable stir fry

Seriously, there are no words to describe how delicious the food was! It was incredible, one of the best meals I have ever had in my entire life! My mum absolutely adored it too, and it was so lovely to introduce her to such amazing vegan cuisine!

We had a lovely talk over the meal, made even better by the table next to us being four vegans running the half too!

—–

Race day dawned bright and sunny!

It was still freezing cold, and my mum and I both had an awful night of sleep (darn cheap lumpy bed), but I was pumped. The hotel’s breakfast selection was awful – Cornflakes and tinned mushrooms summed it up – but thankfully I’d brought some banana oats in a jar with me. It pays to be prepared!

I ate a mini Clif bar a half hour before the start whilst we were hanging around, and then: the race began.

In the pen: I was with Coach Phoebe and Keith (a Men’s Running Project 26.2-er), and I was absolutely freezing. I was shaking like a leaf!

Miles 1-3: I. felt. like. junk. My runs on Friday and Saturday were not good, and the first three miles felt the same. Phoebe and Keith seemed to be ahead of me by about 3m, which isn’t far, but they might as well have been a mile ahead. All I could think was ‘I can barely keep up with them, I’ve lost them already, I’ll never PB, moan moan moan’. I didn’t feel good!

Miles 3-8: Keith went ahead (he was aiming for 1hr35), Phoebe dropped back with me – and I found my stride! The course was undulating but I felt great, and we settled into a comfortable 7.30 pace. I kept missing the mile markers though..the Garmin would vibrate, but there were no mileage signs.

Miles 9-11: I finally clocked that whilst my Garmin read 9.4miles, we’d only just passed the 9 mile marker, and we were running at a 7.15 pace. Uh..say WHA-!? It was at that point that things started to get really, really tough. It just hit me like a hammer – I was breathing hard and had felt ok, but then suddenly I was so demoralized at being half a mile behind where I thought I was, so much so that I started to have a kind of panic attack! It started with me sobbing a bit – out of frustration and effort – but that totally blocked my breathing. I then started to panic because I couldn’t breathe, and Phoebe actually had to stop me! Yep, at mile 11, we stopped. Completely. Phoebe just told me to ‘BREATHE’, which I did, and 25 seconds later, we were away.

Mile 12-13: I can do this, I can do this, I can do this….

Mile 13.1: Holy heck, I’ve PR’d! 1hour38 and 30 seconds!

Mile 13.2: ‘WHERE’S THE F****** FINISH LINE!!??’ Yelled to Phoebe!

Mile 13.3: There it is!!!!!!

Mile 13.4: I sprinted the last bit…and…

Mile 13.51: I’VE FINISHED!

As soon as I’d stopped running, I burst into tears and Phoebe and I had a massive hug! I could not have done it without her and she was so incredible. As we walked back to the start, I downed a whole bottle of Lucozade (I’d barely drunk anything running), and went to find the VIP tent where the team were camped (heck yeah, we were VIPs!). As soon as I saw my mum, I burst into tears again!! My mum cried too, and I was just a blubbery mess…at that point, Women’s Running editor Chris whipped the camera out and interviewed me for the magazine (you can see it h e r e), then I phoned my lovely sister – and cried again – and then we just spent the time talking with all the other guys. I was absolutely beaming.

My chip time came in at 1hour41 something, but the course was definitely long. I lost count of the number of people who came up to Phoebe and I as we were walking back, saying ‘was that long!?’ Phoebe and a bunch of her runner friends have run Brighton lots before, and they all knew that the turnaround point was in the wrong place, plus her Garmin – and everyone else’s – all came up saying 13.5 miles – not 13.1. Tsk!

Top: Fellow Project 26.2 lady, Claire. / Claire, Coach Phoebe, and me / Men’sRunning Project 26.2-ers Keith, Ray, and me / Project 26.2 lady Cathy, and me

There were two other of the Men’s Running guys there too, one of which ran 1hour48 – barefoot. Not with socks or minimalist shoes, but 100% b a r e f o o t. He is a hero!

My wonderful mamma!!

After a while, my mum and I set out to go back to Aloka to get some lunch – it was only a 5minute walk from the start, and it’s a lunch spot as well as a restuarant. Lunch was incredible – they had a salad bar (kinda like Whole Foods), with so much choice: I loaded my plate with brown rice, this polenta thing, a seitan curry thing, a delicious coconut-quinoa salad with loads of cashews in, kale salads…I’ve lost track!

I also got another Vit C detox juice (heavy on the ginger!), and had a pear & lime sorbet to finish. Oh my. What a brilliant lunch! I also ran into a whole bunch of Vegan Runners in the cafe, and had a long chat with them – the two guys I chatted with finished in 1hour 32 and 1hour 37. I guess we vegans aren’t such pasty wimps after all!

After that, my mum and I drove the 3.5hours back home – we stopped halfway at a service station so we could get cappuccinos and I could stretch my legs (believe me, 3hours+ in a car isn’t comfy after pushing myself to the limit for 13 miles!), and we shared some delicious vegan cake we picked up at Aloka.

It was such an amazing weekend!! I feel so much more positive now, especially after Phoebe told me I have a 1hour30 half in my future!! I just want to pinch myself – this race meant such a huge amount to me. It wasn’t the first, the longest, or the hilliest race I’ve ever done, but I have never given so much. I was grimacing in those last miles, but it was so worth it. I am in love with running! I am also so incredibly grateful to Women’s Running magazine for giving me this opportunity..I could cry just thinking about it!

Anyway – this post is quite possibly the longest post I’ve ever written, so i’ll stop…butttt…

It just goes to show what you can do when you really dig deep and push yourself though! BRING ON BRIGHTON MARATHON, APRIL 15TH!!!