Guess I didnt Need Wiggo Afterall!

The Halloween Half turned out to be not so scary

Well I did it, and to say I was pleased with myself as I crossed the line at just before 1pm on Sunday afternoon would have been the understatement of the century.

 

One last push to the finish

 

 

I arrived in Worksop and spent a panicked five minutes in the car searching for my arm band, essential as it would hold my ipod and the all important playlist. I had done my kit check in the car before we pulled away and it was there. I was sure I had seen it as I pulled out my hat just moments earlier. I pulled everything out of the bag; bottle, hat, change of clothes..no armband!!! It was only then I realised that I was in fact already wearing my armband. I took this as pre run nerves. I said my goodbyes to Chris and the Girls, who were off for a much more sensible stroll around Clumber Park and toddled off to get my race number.

 

As I queued I pondered that I really, REALLY didn't feel nervous, and this was completely unexpected. I had been bricking it the night before the Great Yorkshire Run, and here I was, lining up for a very hilly half marathon, more than double the distance and triple the hills, and not a butterfly to be found. As I took my place with the other 2hr+ runners I took a little look around me, there was a man to my left who was 80 if he was a day, and on my right I had almost the full complement of the Mystery Machine; Scooby, Shaggy, Daphne, Velma and two ghosts (Fred was clearly missing in action) and I made a silent vow, I don't care what my time is, as long as I finish ahead of my elderly gentleman and Mystery Incorporated (the day I cant beat an octogenarian and a man in a Scooby Doo costume is the day I hang up my trainers for ever!) However, vow or no vow, as we set off and turned left up the hill towards Clumber Park, Mr Octogenarian (Barry as I later discovered his name was) and Mystery Incorporated left me for dust. Depressingly, over the course of the next ten minutes I was passed by many, many runners. A look behind me at about one and a half miles showed that there was perhaps only 20 people behind me, and they seemed to be closing fast. Glancing at my watch revealed I was running at slightly faster than my target pace, so going any faster would be pushing it. I had a choice to make, did I speed up to avoid the risk of being last over the line, or did I stick to to the planned race pace and give myself more chance of getting round? The ten miles round Derwent weighed heavy in my mind, and I reminded myself that I had not run a half marathon distance in four years. Sensible Rachel won the day, and I stuck to the race plan. Happily, by mile 2 people had stopped overtaking me and I settled down and began to really enjoy the run. It was beautiful! The Nottinghamshire countryside was in full autumn glory, and the views took in farmland and the edge of Clumber Park. After the very up and down first four miles were behind me, we turned to enjoy four miles of running through the park.

Entering the park looking fresh as a daisy

 The rain held off and as I left the park at mile eight I was amazed, I still felt good, not fresh by any means, but I was still enjoying the run.  I even found the energy to have a little joke with the marshalls, asking to take a short cut back into town, I was refused and the photo shows my obvious devestation! I was slowly but surely starting to overtake people, including Mystery Inc, however Mr Octogenarian still eluded me. The comedy signs on the way down to the sponge station were an hilarious interlude, although as I women I feel I have to object to the one that read "90% of women running this race should be home cooking Sunday dinner" and the one which warned "Danger, Rabid Squirrels" had me slightly on edge. As I passed the 10 mile marker I was elated, only 5K left and I knew there was a good downhill section to come. However, all of a sudden I was in trouble, it was like my legs realised they were in new territory, 10 miles+. My quads contracted, my hamstrings pulled and I was in a lot of pain. This continued for the next ten minutes and I honest to god felt like giving up and walking back. Only stubbornness kept me putting one foot in front of other, and thankfully, as I passed the 11 mile marker it eased a great deal. I looked at my watch and was flabbergasted to see I was coming through 11 miles in just less than 2 hours, if I could do the next 2.1 miles in less than 21 minutes I would come in under 2hr 20min. Did I dare push? Could I push? I was going to give it a go! I went up a gear and headed into the grounds of Worksop College. As Eye of the Tiger (I swear its true) came on I had come through the first mile in 10 mins 20 seconds, some very speedy mental maths told me I had to cover the last 1.1miles in 10 minutes 40 seconds. Not possible I thought, my legs hurt and I was tired, but it was down hill all the way so I went for it. As I reached the bottom of the hill, Mr Octogenarian was in my sites and I claimed him with 600m to go. As I rounded the final bend I knew I had fallen short, but I gave it one last push down the hill and crossed the line with a huge smile on my face.

  My split times proved how hard I worked, I did the last two miles quicker than the first two, but alas, my poor legs just had nothing left, and my time was 2 hours 20mins and 20 seconds, slightly dissapointing at the time but far far better than expected.  Had it not been for the undulating (to put it mildly) course, I may have been a shade faster, however, had it been a flatter first few miles I may have gone off too quickly, and found myself in the position of many of those I passed in the last couple of miles, good runners capable of fast times who had just gone off too quickly and paid the price. The only down side to my unexpected good time is I beat both my play list and the my family to the finish line. Charitos of Fire didnt reach my ears until I hobbled to get my t-shirt and collapsed on the floor to attempt to stretch my now screaming leg muscles. It took ten minutes before I was able to make it to the car.

 

 

A good stretch, a hot bath, a cuppa and a jacket potato restored me to full health, and I sat back to enjoy a smug sense of satisfaction. So, next stop London Marathon. I have decided to fit a few more races in between to help keep things interesting, another half marathon, ideally in February or March,  and a couple of 10K's. Any suggestions and offers of companionship gratefully received. However, the next big challenge is the Marathon. Still a daunting prospect, if you had asked me to turn around and do the race again on Sunday, I would not have got very far! But in my first training session in late April I couldn't run for more than two minutes and on Sunday I ran 13.1 miles. As it took me six months to get from 0 to 13 miles, I feel confident I can get from 13.1 to 26.2 in the next six.

 

Wish me Luck and follow Team Little Legs along the way.

http://www.facebook.com/TeamLittleLegs

http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/RachelMarsden1

 

But I Dont Have Over Two Hours of Hill Music

What are the chances of doing it on a bike????

Sorry for the long delay since my last post, its been a difficult couple of weeks for Team Little Legs. We lost our Nan-Nan, a wonderful lady who fought and ultimately lost a long battle with Alzheimer's Disease. The last few days of her life were hard and in the days since we lost her its been hard to motivate; I've found myself eating cupcakes and dodging training. However she would not have wanted that, she was a devoted lady and would want us to keep going regardless, she always did. So I am once again pulling on my trainers and hitting the keyboard, but I love and miss you Nan-Nan and this Sunday I dedicate my half-marathon to you.

My Nan-Nan (second from the left) with my Grandad, Mum and Aunt

 

So back to business. I have my first half marathon on Sunday, and to say I am bricking it would be an understatement. I had managed to lull myself into a false sense of security, I had done a couple of ten mile runs and had not died as a result, and I took this to mean that 13.1 miles would be a realistic prospect. Ha ha ha ha HA! On Saturday this week I joined the fabulous Corin, Firefighter Extraordinaire, for an autumnal run around the breathtaking Howden and Derwent Dams, a 10.4 mile run taking in Victorian dams, woodland and open moorland . As we left the Fairholmes car park the sun was shining, the water was still, and leaves were colours not thought possible in nature. I was full of confidence and looking forward to the road ahead. By the time I came to climb yet another hill at the beginning of mile six, I was sweaty, in pain, and trying to work out if I could ride one of the many sheep grazing nearby back to the car park. I was destroyed. My previous ten milers had been flat and/or down hill, with very little in the way of actual climbs. In comparison this run was what I like to call a what goes up must come down, although it has lots of nice downhill sections, you have to climb up there before hand!

The scene of my undoing

 



To make matters worse, I had in my ultimate stupidity done a five mile Fartlek the day before and a full on body pump session the day before that! As a result my quads were screaming and my legs felt so heavy I was tempted to check my trainers for lead shot.  Corin in comparison was fresh as a daisy, and I felt very much like I was holding her back (she however was a complete running gem, and never left my side or tried to up the pace) I made it back to the car park, but my confidence was by that point missing, presumed dead, and the thought of the half marathon that was only eight days away was terrifying. I have done the Worksop Half Marathon twice before, so I know what is coming. Receiving the hill profile of the race by email a couple of days later only served to confirm that my memory is indeed correct, 13.1 miles of hills await. I take some small consolation from the fact that it is a loop course, that starts and finishes at the same place, meaning once again, what goes up must come down. The race does indeed have some lovely down hill sections, unfortunately they are all preceded by a quad destroying, glute crushing hill. I have discussed how I use upbeat music to get me up hills during races, but I only have about twenty mins of hill music, on this occasion, I'm going to need a bigger play list! I have also discussed how I use race strategies, well my ideal strategy for Sunday involves a tandem and an Olympic cyclist, perhaps Bradley Wiggins is available? Alas, I feel even if I did grace the starting line sharing a bicycle made for two with Wiggo (of course sporting matching sideburns) the fellow racers would feel I was not quite acting in the right spirit. To add insult to final injury, the weather forecast for Sunday is just awful, rain and cold. But, I am a Yorkshire lass, and if I didn't run in the rain I would never run outdoors. So I have crafted the final race plan, and it lies below

 

1. Good upbeat music and a carefully crafted play list (to be completed tomorrow evening) 
2. A good running kit (happily I have now lost two stone of baby weight and can get back into most of my kit). This will prevent me from succumbing to hypothermia before the end of mile eight
3. Support. I feel weather conditions will be too unpleasant for my fellow members of Team Little Legs, however, I will take perverse pleasure in the thought that my husband will be cycling up the huge hill from Worksop to Clumber Park and then standing in the rain for an hour for me to pass him, before he cycles back down the hill to meet me at the finish.
4. NO FIVE MILE FARTLEK RUN THE DAY BEFORE (no further discussion needed)
5. Positive Thinking. I can do it! I have done it before, for pity's sake I ran from mile seven to the end in 2007 with a broken bone (thank you adrenalin) I can do it. I have put in the training, I am fit and its going to take more than a bit of sleet to stop me now!

So thanks for letting me prattle on,wish me luck and do me a favour. I take great delight in sitting and watching the Great North Run or the London Marathon with a bacon butty and a cuppa. I leave Worksop at 10.00am on Sunday, so put your feet up, get that cuppa and think of me as you watch the rain pour down your living room window. I will be out there plodding away, thinking of little Quinn and my Nan-Nan. Once again you can sponsor me at all the usual places, please help us with our cause, and I'll let you know how I got on next week.


http://www.facebook.com/TeamLittleLegs

http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/RachelMarsden1

 

 

The Cupcake Conundrum

Does the running cancel out the cupcakes or do the cupcakes cancel out the running???

Team Little Legs has alot of money to raise, and this week I received the email equivalent of a kick up the backside from the fundraising manager at Tommy's. It was a reminder that half our fundraising total needs to be raised by Christmas, and of this £1250 I have currently only raised about £450. This is not an amount of money to be sniffed at, but I have only 10 weeks to make up the difference. To add to the pressure, it seems the whole world wants to do the London Marathon next year, so there are lots of people waiting in the wings to take my charity spot. So, we put on our collective thinking caps on, and then it came to me, CUPCAKES! After I had gone to the shop and eaten all the cupcakes I'd bought, I began to think we might have a go at baking some to sell. I have done a fair bit of baking in the past, how hard can it be? The answer to this question is Very. I had no idea how many nozzles, bags, icing recipes and cupcake recipes there are out there. The only way we are going to get to a vaguely professional standard is practise, practise. So, after I had done my long run (a very nice nine mile run in the beautiful autumn sunshine) Rebecca, Evie and I made our way to the kitchen.

Evie made a simple batch of vanilla cupcakes, while Rebecca couldn't resist whipping up a batch of chocolate. In the last week or so I have made some lovely recipes, including choc-orange and a truly scrumptious caramel cupcake, but for today's cakes we kept it simple. While the cakes were cooling we made a batch of icing and coloured it up. Evie picked pink, Rebecca a baby blue, while I opted for a dusky pink colour.



 I was really impressed by my ladies piping skills. As you can see Evie got stuck right in. I used a recipe I found on the internet that called for milk, but I found it a little runny. Even though the piping was not spectacular, we had an army of glitter and sprinkles to rectify the situation.

 



The girls were very happy with their creations and they certainly passed the taste test. I think that we will need a whole lot of practise before we get something that looks good enough to sell. I am a little worried however that having all these cupcakes in the house will spell bad news for my diet. Perhaps my running will cancel out the calories, but I cant help but think that it may be that having a house full of cupcakes may cancel out all the good work done by the running, only time will tell.

Once again please consider following us on Facebook and if you can spare a little bit of dosh, it all goes to a good cause.

http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/RachelMarsden1

http://www.facebook.com/TeamLittleLegs

Please Dont Stop the Music

How do you craft the perfect half marathon play list?

Good News! I survived my ten mile run on Saturday. Not only that, I did it in a fairly good time and could almost convince myself that I enjoyed it. With this in mind, I have come to the perhaps mistaken conclusion that I may indeed survive the Worksop Half Marathon on the 28th October. Don't get me wrong, as I finished my ten miles I was tired, but if you had told me that I had another three miles to go, I would not have wept (if you had told me that I had another 16.2, like I would have done in the marathon I would have had a breakdown, but lets worry about that another day) So now I have to plan for my half marathon, covering race tactics, what kit I am going to wear, and most importantly, the play list. How do you select the music that will help the miles fly by? In my peak running days I would have needed around two hours of music, however now, realistically, I am looking at around two hours twenty ish. There is a whole industry based around finding the perfect music for you to run to. Websites will use your average km/mile split times or those that you aspire to to tell you what bpm (beat per minute) music you need. I am a much more simple creature though, for me running music falls into three categories, Get Moving, Keep Moving and Inspirational.

Depressingly, my current race pace gives me a bpm of 156

Get moving music is what I use at the beginning of races. These songs bring catchy beats and dance and rock feature heavily. I always start my play list with Fatboy Slims Right Here, Right Now. After all, all the training has been building up to this moment. Other common songs for the early sections are Muse's Supermassive Black Hole, Voodoo People by the Prodigy, and Lets Get it Started by the Black Eyed Peas.

Keep Moving songs are key for two sections of the race, coming through halfway, and the second to last mile/km. By halfway your just starting to feel the faster pace, but you still have as much road in front of you as you have left behind. You need up-beat music with lyrics that spur you on, a musical kick up the backside if you will. Black Eyed Peas Pump It, LMFAO's Sexy and I Know It and Florence and the Machine's Spectrum, are all songs I am using at the moment, but other songs that grace the mid section are Chemical Brothers Galvanise, and the slightly cheesy but highly obvious choices of Run by Gnarls Barkley and Moving by Supergrass. As you come towards the end of the run but still await that first glimpse of the finish line, your legs are really feeling it, as often you've not pushed this hard for this long before. What you need is a good beat to lift you towards the end. Two firm favourites I have used in the past are Marilyn Manson's Personal Jesus (the only reason I made it up Snig Hill without tears)  and Madonna's Four Minutes.



So now we come to Inspirational. These are songs with lyrics that speak to me, or more often than not, they are songs that just happened to be playing during a perfect running moment. For example, Speed of Sound by Coldplay, which was playing as I ran over the Tyne Bridge with the Red Arrows flying overhead during the 2005 Great North Run, or Robert Miles Children, which I listened to during a run round Rother Valley, enjoying probably one of the most beautiful sunsets I have ever seen. These songs evoke good running memories and give a little shot of endorphins, and I like to dot them around the play list.

 

A picture taken by my father in law as he waited for me at the 2005 finish line

Before I tell you how I end my play list, I have to admit to being a bit OCD about the whole thing. No, seriously, my husband had his head in his hands the whole time I compiled my last list. I work out my pace for each mile, then I write the songs out and how long they are, before compiling the final list so the right songs come on at the right time. Then I have the same two songs at the end. Vangelis, Chariots of Fire is always playing as I should be crossing the finish line. Cheesy, Moi? Guilty as charged, but it makes me smile and I love coming through the last 200m to the sound of the orchestra. But that's not the last song on my play list, that honour goes to Proud, by Heather Small. I play that to remind myself that although I didn't make my time, I should still be proud of my achievement. So if its Heather and not Vangelis serenading me over the line on October 28th, I will not lose heart, because 13.1 miles is a long long way, and I will definitely have done something that day to make me feel proud.

If you have any suggestions for my play list..please feel free to post them on the comments or on the Little Legs Facebook page. I am always on the hunt for new music and for another one of those block rockin beats!

As ever, I am prattling on to try and raise dosh. You can support us on the usual links below. Thanks for listening. You can text LEGS55 followed by the £amount to 70700 or


htp://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/RachelMarsden1

http://www.facebook.com/TeamLittleLegs