Oh.

So, you know when you have a lovely little blog about running and training, then have a bad experience at a race and that knocks your confidence for a bit so you fall out of love with running and stop doing it for a little while and have nothing to blog about? And then you're bullied into starting training for that half marathon you signed up for because all your friends had but had no intention of actually running because you hate running now? And you know when time runs away from you and all of a sudden it's 11 weeks later and you're almost ready to jump on a plane to Berlin and run the thing, and you realise that you probably should have blogged about the last 11 weeks?

Well, THAT.

Hi you guys, I've missed you.

Kaye v Run To The Beat 2011

Yesterday I was one of the 10,754 runners who took part in Run To The Beat. My first half marathon in my home city with my favourite runners. It had taken me a while, but just as race day rolled around I was finally looking forward to it. But it didn't go exactly to plan for me. Here's how it went down:

[A bit of background: As you may know, I was aiming for a sub-2 PB (my Paris time was 02:03:21), and with the help of a brilliant pacer in the form of the legendary Charlie Dark of Run Dem Crew, I knew I'd do it if I stuck with the group.]

Miles 1-4: Always the hardest in a long run, right? And bloody hell it was hot. But we started at a comfortable pace that was slightly faster than the 08:46 minute miles that we'd need to bring us in at 01:55:00. I think the hills started at Mile 2. I kept my eyes on the ground, telling myself it was flat. Before I knew it, we'd passed the Mile 4 marker in 35 minutes. And then I felt a twinge in my knee. Nothing painful though, so I plodded on.

Miles 5-8: I finally stopped noticing the heat and accepted my sweaty fate. We'd dropped a few RDC members (some had sped off, some had dropped back), but I still had Charlie in my sights and the fabulous Peigh by my side. We passed over the halfway checkpoint and rounded a corner to a delicious downhill section. And then I looked up. Holy. Jesus. The hill. I will be forever grateful to Peigh for getting me to the top with (false) promises that we were totally there already. All I remember after the hill is people handing out Vaseline, and the pain.

Miles 9-10: For some reason (more Peigh lies?), I already thought we'd passed Mile 10 when I saw the Mile 9 marker, which was quite disheartening. But then the lovely boy reminded me we were almost at Greenwich Park, and once we were there, we may as well have been at the finish line, right? But the painless knee twinge had now become a massive stabbing pain whenever I landed or took off on my right leg. Not handy. So I slowed to a walk and lost all of my pacers. I tried to run again, I couldn't. I continued like this for a couple of minutes, trying to figure out whether this was the end of my race. I did manage to hand off some Skittles to a girl who had stopped and said she felt too faint to go on - I hope she made it to the finish line.

After yet another attempt at running, I gave in. I found a lovely steward, who fetched the St John Ambulance people for me. Once I'd explained my injury, they sat me in a mini wheelchair, draped a space blanket over me, strapped me in and wheeled past the Mile 10 marker to the ambulance. I looked like I was being taken into an asylum, I wish I had a picture for you. Also, I did ask whether Callum the first aider wanted to wheel me a further 3 miles - he didn't. They sat me down at the roadside, gave me an ice pack for my knee and strapped it up. Meanwhile I watched everyone run past, and wanted to cry. Thankfully for the lovely St John volunteers, I saved the tears till I was on the phone to Al, who was waiting for me at the finish line.

 

The finish line: I got back to the O2 on a bus (a lesson in why you should always carry your Oyster Card, Londoners), where I promptly burst into tears all over Al, who hugged me even though I smelled like a zoo - that's love right there. At the Nike tent, I was reunited with my gorgeous Run Dem Crew-ers, full of post-race euphoria and ready with hugs and kind words for me. Cue more tears. I am so proud of all of them, and over the moon that the crew members who stuck with Charlie crossed the line in under 2 hours.

If you've ever been to Run Dem Crew, you'll know what I'm talking about, but if you haven't, let me tell you - Run Dem Crew is SO much more than a running club. It's the most amazing family, and I'm honoured to be a part of it. The encouragement, unity, concern and love I experienced yesterday (which continued long into the day) is something I'll never forget.

I'm not sure whether I'm smiling because of the RDC love, 

the Al love or because I'd just been reunited with my deodorant.

Well done to everyone who made it to the end of Run To The Beat, especially those of you who battled through the heat and the hills and still came away with PBs. It was a tough race - if you're thinking of doing it next year, hill training is your friend. You might want to bring your iPod too if you like running to music - I think the whole musical element of the race was massively oversold (is that just me?). But please don't let that put you off, it was well organised and the stewards were fabulous. If you ran, let me know what you thought!

On to the next

Quick Operation Abs update: Two weeks in. No bread, no pasta, no rice, no chips, no Desk of Filth [edit - I wrote this post before I ate a packet of peanut M&Ms yesterday. I fell off the wagon, but I've been punished with a gigantic spot]. And it's surprisingly easy! I did have to extend PT's list after about 5 days to include prawns, avacado, beetroot and, um, lobster (I took Ma for a lobster birthday lunch, but kindly donated the accompanying fries to Al), but I've managed to stay away from all things flour and sugar with minimal pain/tears/tantrums. I see no abs as yet, but it's been said that I'm feeling noticeably less squishy in areas (said by Al, I hasten to add. Not a lot of other people comment on my squishiness). I just need to step up the exercise and I'll be there in no time.

But Operation Abs isn't what I'm here to tell you about today. I want to introduce you to my new fitness challenge. A marathon.

Now, before you get all 'WTF are you doing that for?!' in the comments box, let me clarify. I will be walking this marathon.

On 14 May, Team Freeney Sweenstone (that's myself, Charlotte and Gemma) will be taking part in the Moonwalk London - a 26.2 mile walk around London, starting at night and finishing (hopefully) in the early morning. Oh, and we're doing it in bras. Why? Because we want to raise money for, and awareness of Walk the Walk - grant making charity not only dedicated to raising money for vital breast cancer causes but is also passionate about encouraging women and men to become fitter and healthier and take control of their own wellbeing.

I'm going to be honest with you here - I've done no specific walking training for this yet. I'm not entirely sure how to slot 5/10/20 mile walks into my current life/work/fitness schedule. But fear not, I will come up with an answer, and when I do, I'll let you know. Also, if any of you have walked the Moonwalk or similar before, and have any training advice for us, I'd love to hear from you!

In the meantime, if you'd like to sponsor our little team as we walk a combined 78.6 miles in 7 hours or less, the magic of the internet allows you to do so here.

Janathon: Day 16 - Back on track

After the completely failing to do anything Janathon-related yesterday, I knew I had to go all out on today's long run. So after sitting around on the sofa in my running gear, watching Bride Wars for longer than was necessary, I dug deep for some motivation and went out. It was another beautiful day, which definitely helped as I plodded up to Hyde Park. I decided to try a new route, which took me from the Marble Arch end of Hyde Park to the Bayswater end, down past Kensington Gardens, along the bottom of the park, past the Albert Memorial, then out of Hyde Park at Hyde Park corner, around Green Park, then back into Hyde Park and up to Marble Arch, then home.

It wasn't the easiest run, and it certainly wasn't non-stop. I mean, I had to stop to take these pictures for you:

13.57km later (according to my Nike+ sports band - 12.87km according to Nike+ Map It, must calibrate it on a track), I got home. I looked down, and saw this:

'Maybe I stepped in something?' I tried to rationalise. 'Maybe someone dropped something on my foot and I didn't notice?' 'Please don't be blood. Please don't be blood.' I willed. It was blood. And a very grim situation involving a toenail. I'll spare you the details and photos.

See how hard this training malarkey is? I'm not the only Team Bangs on the Run girl to suffer this fate (see how I'm not mentioning it?). So if you can spare a couple of pounds to support us and Refuge, you can do so on our JustGiving page.

Run Sweeney Run: The Challenge

Last month, my dear friend and fitness buddy GG launched this across the Twittersphere at me:

Obviously, I assumed she was drunk (she's Scottish and it was 6pm on a Saturday):

And then:

I took this as a promise that she'd buy me Louboutins if I agreed to do it (you see how I got there, right?), and I'd be stupid to turn that deal down - I was in. 

As it happens, GG wasn't drunk, and I'd just signed up to run the Semi Marathon de Paris - that's the Paris Half Marathon to you and me. 

Since then, 16 other amazing women have signed up to be part of Team Bangs on the Run, headed by the fabulous Bangs and a Bun. We're running for Refuge, an incredible charity who provide emergency accommodation and support for women and children experiencing domestic violence. 


Now, dear strangers/friends/family, this is where you come in. The lovely Muireann (aka Bangs) clearly has a lot of faith in us all if the fundraising target she's set us is anything to go by, and we'll need your help to smash it. Please take a minute to visit Team Bangs on the Run's JustGiving page and donate anything you can. And if you have been kind enough to donate, don't forget to drop me a comment so I can let the world know how fabulous you are!


If you haven't already, you can meet Team Bangs on the Run and our fearless leader here.