Jeffing your way to the finish line.

Without a doubt the worst thing about getting older is you get slower. Some people who are blessed with amazing running genes don't but most of us do. I found myself most definitely in that place in the last few years. I usually don't care about how fast or how slow I am but It was beginning to get to me a bit. I just could not make any progress despite working away at it. I was starting to think I would just have to accept that i would never get any faster or stronger, and resolved to just enjoy what I could do. But then I found Jeffing! For those of you who don't know Jeffing is a run/walk method which combines running and walking in the same run session. Jeffing is an affectionate term that recognises US Olympian and author Jeff Galloway, who is a firm advocate of the run-walk method.

My understanding of it is that most people will at some point on their run end up having a walk. Be it up a hill, on a long stretch but usually it is when you are tired. The idea behind Jeffing is that you walk before you are tired and store up energy. When you start to Jeff (if you have never run before) it is wise to build up. You could start by walk/run/walking say 60 seconds walk then 30 seconds running but gradually you should aim to switch that around to run/walk/run. My preferred timing is 90 seconds running and 30 seconds walking. Jeff Galloway's book goes into great detail about it all, which if I am honest I gave up on the technical stuff but what I did glean was that 30 seconds walking is the best interval as it is enough for you to get your breath back but not too long that you will start to cool down. I tried 60 seconds and 30 seconds and found that I wasn't running enough to get anywhere fast, the 90/30 split works well for me. What I find is that I have a pretty regular pace if I am jeffing. For example when I ran in the New York Marathon with Mark we jeffed the whole way. And I pretty much sat around 14/15 min mile pace (with the exception of when I was sore - found out afterwards i ran it with two broken ribs!) for 26.2 miles.

I use an interval timing app (F.I.T. Fitness Interval Timer) which I can set the timing on and it beeps away at me when I have to stop and walk/run. This loud beep can be a bit annoying so if I am in a busy race I will put it on my headphones so only I can hear the beeps, but out on the trails I just let it beep away. When I returned to Hawkshead this year to take part in the Lakeland Trails Coffin Trail 10km (aka 7.5 miles) I challenged myself to climb the coffin trail, 1 mile of very steep ascent, in less time than I had on previous occassions. I decided to Jeff it up and trained on really steep hills in Sherriffmuir. I decided to swap the timing around for the hill and did 30 seconds running 90 seconds walking and it worked I managed to take 2 mins off my previous best time by jeffing my way up it. It takes a while for Jeffing to get under your skin and for you to stop beating yourself up that you are walking. Once you trust the method, and really get that, despite you stopping and walking as the rest of field runs away from you, you will catch up with people it becomes a real joy. Most people run off quick at the start and then end up walking, meanwhile you are gradually working your way to the finish line in an even paced way. You will catch people up, just trust that this will happen. I have seen my pace with jeffing going down from 13.5 minute miles to 11.5 (when I put the effort in). Jeffing isn't about running slowly, it is about evening your pace out. It can work for someone who is running 15 minute miles to someone much faster. It is about conserving energy. Much as I would love to be able to still run the whole way, I am realistic in the knowledge that I can't. However, Jeffing has definitely improved my pacing, my speed and has made me feel more like a runner again.

The road back to New York

 

It is now less than two weeks to the New York Marathon and I could not feel less prepared. Earlier in September I caught covid, although didn't know I had it at the time, but my asthma sure let me know after the event. It took a few weeks of recovery to get over that and then I was back on form. Managed several long runs and then did my 20 mile training run on the 9 October.

I felt brilliant, had a great run. Beautiful day along the Hillfoots road and in and out of the Hillfoot villages to Alva. I have been using the Jeffing method of running. Which is Run/Walk/Run based on a method developed by Jeff Galloway. It took a bit of getting used to but it has been amazing. It has really helped regulate my pace, keeping me trotting along at an even pace the whole way.

But then, BAM, I got a cold, out of nowhere. The cold then turned into a chest infection and then I pulled a muscle in my side coughing. The last week has been a combination of coughing and yelping with the pain in my side.

So right now I feel like running a marathon might be a challenge (or more of a one that it normally is). But as my best mate, Yvonne said to me "the trouble is your mind is stronger than your body" so I will be on that start line. It is what I do, I start. I know I can walk it if I have to and I will not go all the way to New York and not take part in one of the most amazing marathons in the world. 

Today is the first day that I would say my side has finally stopped hurting as much as it had been. So I am going to look back on some of my training and the amazing runners I have shared the training with. 

Earlier on this year we all headed down to the Lake District to take on the Keswick trail races. It was a Kilted Lassies (me, Hazel and Yvonne) day out with Rhona and Mark joining in. It was the usual mix of bogs and hills. Brilliant fun as always. 

Having left Penicuik in March I was missing my Jog Scotland buddies so Mark and I decided to go find out about the Jog Scotland Stirling Striders. What a great bunch of people. It has been so much fun finding new places to run, meeting new friends, and having fun at races and Parkrun with our new Jog Scotland family.

Before I got ill with Covid I managed to jeff my way around the Glasgow Half Marathon. I had a really great run. It wasn't the most exciting route (a bit of a route change due to road works) but as always it was a brilliant day out. I had a look at my medals from over the years and since I started running I have run Glasgow half 15 times. It has always been one of my favorites and I am glad it is still as much fun as it always was. 

After I had done my 20-mile training run, the cold kicked in and I got a sore throat. I made the decision to go to the Lakes to take part in the Dirty Double (Helvellyn 10km and Ullswater 10km) as it is the end-of-year party at the Lakeland Trails. But in all honesty, I was not really well enough to do it, but got around. It was the usual mix of fun, mud, trails, singing (thanks to Pete Lashley), and photography japes with Jumpy James. I think the best bit was being able to sit in the hot tub under the stars with a glass of wine and good company. The Lakeland Trails big bobble hats were also the perfect headgear to go with the hot tub wear. 

I have also been trying to keep up my yoga every day in the October Strava challenge. Which I have done, it has been tough with all the illness but with the odd 10-minute session I have managed. I do think it has really helped maintain my fitness and strength. My brilliant yoga teacher has classes recorded on her website so between her and Adrienne they have kept me going.

So with less than two weeks to go to the start line, will I make it? I damn well hope so, even if I have to walk most of the way. New York is one 26.2-mile party that I don't want to miss. 

And the medal looks pretty fancy too!

Going to trust in my experience, trust in my ability to get around, and trust in my mind to have the strength to make it to the finish. I can't wait. 

Watch this space for more.

don't worry, be happy :)

Thank you and cheerio to my Jog Scotland Penicuik Family

 

 In Feb 2018 I sent an email to Jo Stevens enquiring about going along to meet up with the Jog Scotland Penicuik group. Despite having been a leader for several years at Edinburgh College I was still nervous going along to another group, meeting new people, and hoping I would keep up with them. 

I have absolute confidence in myself as a runner, I don't care one jot about the fact that I run much slower now than I did in my younger days. But I often find that new people I meet worry that I am not keeping up and that it might be bothering me. That is until they find out how much running I have done in my days and then they get it. I run to enjoy life, I run to meet people, I run to see new views, I just run, that's me. Won't stop until I genuinely can't run another step. I love Jog Scotland because no one is too slow, there is always someone to run with, it is a genuinely inclusive running club, and it is for everyone. 

One of the things I have enjoyed so much about being a leader is inspiring and supporting people to find the joy and love in the past time that I have enjoyed for most of my life. I started running at 16 years old and have not stopped. I don't see myself as sporty, running is just what I do. I get so much out of meeting someone for the first time and hearing their worries about starting jogging and how they don't think they will be any good at it and then week by week they gain confidence and strength and before they know where they are they are running a 5km and completely hooked. Two beginners I have supported at Jog Scotland Penicuik have gone on to run half marathons and even become a leader. I could not be prouder. 

In my time as a leader at Jog Scotland Penicuik, I have met loads of lovely people, not least two of who have become my best friends, Norrie and Yvonne. All the leaders I have had the pleasure to work with are amazing and I will miss them so much. And our joggers, all with their own inspirational stories. Jog Scotland makes athletes out of people who would never have believed it of themselves.

We have had so many adventures along the way, too many to mention. But to name a few, we did Strava art in the dark once Christmas, we have had Halloween fancy dress 5kms, team events, Penicuik 10km trips out, and fantastic Christmas nights out. 

A particularly memorable weekend was the weekend we went up as a team to run the Aviemore Half Marathon. The run itself was brilliant, we had so much fun. It was a tough route, lots of hills and mud (right up my street). But the best bit was probably the meal we had as a team in Aviemore. Kieran got us into trouble as we had a long wait for a table so he went out and got us all McCoy's crisps. The next day a notice board appeared outside the pub saying that you weren't allowed to eat your own food in the bar! 

The support I received from my Jog Scotland family when I ran the New York Marathon was nothing short of AMAZING. I entered as a treat for my 50th birthday and it was one of the best experiences I have had in 30 years of running (so much so I am going again this year!). On my longest run (20 miles) the gang all turned up to train with me. We did loops of 4 miles from Tesco to Gowkly Moss and back. I had 4 different teams of people keeping me going - with a 2 mile run on my own to the start. We had loads of fun and it was so good to have people to keep me going. It was easily one of the best marathon training runs I have ever done. 

Then on the day, the team sent me loads of support postcards which were up on big screens in Central Park, it was awesome. My daughter Rhona manned a hotline between New York and Penicuik keeping everyone up to date on where I was on the course. Knowing I had my team following me from Penicuik really helped motivate me around the course. I had such a brilliant time. I was so proud to wear my Jog Scotland Penicuik vest and hoodie around New York, lots of people shouted "go Janey from SCOTLAND" at me. It was the best experience ever. 

Jog Scotland is a partner with SAMH, and supporting our members' mental health was never more crucial than during the Covid-19 pandemic. In 2019 we weren't allowed to meet up as a group in person anymore, but that never stopped us. The leaders set members' fitness challenges every week and we had zoom get-togethers. And then I started running in my garden, which started as a way of getting me out of the house but it grew into me running 50 miles over three months culminating in a half marathon in my garden one sunny day in May. I ran it to raise funds for SAMH and my Jog Scotland family joined in, in their gardens and on a rota system outside my garden gate throughout the morning. 

The thing that I am most proud of was my nomination to Jog Scotland Leader of the Year. I was surprised and thrilled to receive the email saying I had been nominated and spent a wonderful night in Glasgow at the Scottish Athletics Awards event. It is a pleasure to turn up to support people with their jogging journeys and to be recognised for doing it was just the icing on the cake.

Another thing I am very proud of in my time at Jog Scotland Penicuik was being part of the Menopause Campaign. We had an inspiring night discussing Peri-menopause and the menopause, it was really great to see everyone come together and bring what is perfectly normal out into the open, not sure the young guy behind the bar was quite as comfortable as we were mind!

We have had so much fun over the years, not to mention the night we celebrated Jog Scotland's 20th Anniversary by going to the park and making 20's on the ground with us! We had a great cake that night too, courtesy of Yvonne. It was a special cake as it had 20 on one side and 8 on the other to celebrate 8 years of Jog Scotland Penicuik! 

Jog Scotland really is a brilliant organisation, and I will be continuing as I have been finding out all about Stirling Striders but Jog Scotland Penicuik is very much part of me now, and to all our Couch to 5Km group, you have arrived in a very special place, lots of friendly, enthusiastic people to support you on your running journey. I can't wait to see you graduate as you run 5km on the 27th of March. You are all amazing.

There are lots of names I should mention but I would no doubt leave someone out so I will just say I will miss you all. Thanks to Jo, Billy, Norrie, Susan, Donald, Clare, Lyn, and Lyn P for being a great team of leaders to work with. 

I won't say goodbye,  just cheerio as the Jog Scotland world is a small place and we will no doubt cross paths again very soon. 

don't worry, be happy x

Jane

My Virtual London Marathon Walk - October 2022!

So 4 weeks on from my accident up the hills I am gradually getting back to strength with my ankle. Fortunately, it wasn't a bad break and is healing nicely. My goal was just to make it to Keswick in June and I am happy to say that I feel like that is totally going to happen. I might not be able to go up all the hills I had planned but getting there and doing low-level walks will still be amazing. 

 In October Hazel and Yvonne (my wedding support crew aka bridesmaids) and I are going to walk the Virtual London Marathon (in Edinburgh) on the 2 October and I am going to do it to raise money for The Haemophilia Society. Some of you will know that Alistair had Christmas disease (which is a form of Haemophilia) and our lives were pretty much centred around making sure Ali had a full life without injuring himself (and being a mountain biker meant that wasn't always easy!). 

 I was just remarking to someone the other day that it is odd that I no longer have haemophilia in my life on a daily basis, however, our wonderful daughter Rhona is a carrier which means that she has her own trials with haemophilia and any children she may have (should she choose to have children) might well have to deal with haemophilia. 

 https://haemophilia.org.uk 

 I want to make sure that important research into treatments continues to be funded which will make the lives of people with haemophilia going forward easier. When Alistair was 2 years old he bit his tongue and at that point, his parents discovered that he had haemophilia. At that point, treatment meant a blood transfusion whereas latterly Alistair could administer his Factor 9 himself. There is also a wonderful tablet called Transexaminic Acid (TA) which can be taken orally to ensure quick clotting of small bleeds.  

I still continue to be a member of the Haemophilia Society to ensure I can support Rhona with her future as I know Alistair would have wanted me to. Alistair was very lucky to have good medical people around him who would put him back together when he broke himself! Usually on a mountain bike, coming down sideways!! 

 This challenge was planned before I broke my ankle, so currently I am just trying to build back strength before my official training starts (in a few weeks). I am looking forward to doing the training, it will be at a slightly different pace than my normal running marathon but no less physical. After all, a mile is a mile. Hazel and Yvonne have agreed to join me in my latest craziness. 

As Hazel remarked "it is the first wedding invite I have ever had where I have to do a marathon as part of it" What can I say? You know me!

The route we plan to take will involve leaving from Penicuik, over the Pentland hills and then into Edinburgh passing many of Edinburgh's landmarks Murrayfield, the Castle, Grey Friar's Bobby, the Royal Mile finishing at the Parliament passing Holyrood Palace. 

The London Marathon passes Buckingham Palace and ends up halfway down the Mall, so this will be our version of the London Marathon. 

 If you would like to join me on my journey, I am going to blog regularly to track my training. I am sure there will be a lot of laughs and moans along the way. 

 I will also post a JustGiving page soon if you would like to donate to The Haemophilia Society. 

 don't worry, be happy. 

 https://www.tcslondonmarathon.com/the-event/virtual-marathon

It isn't about when you get there it is about how you get there!

It isn't about when you get there it is about how you get there!

 Being a runner the length of time I have been (now 36 years!!!) you have the privilege of being able to reflect upon what you have done and what you have learned. And I guess the biggest thing I have learned about running is that the places you see and the people you meet are what matter the most. 

In my twenties and thirties, I took getting a personal best time very seriously and followed training plans religiously to scrape off the extra second from my previous time. I got my sub-hour 10km, smashed my sub two hour half marathon and came within sub 5 hours for the marathon by a teeny tiny margin (seconds not even minutes). But as I have grown older my 9-minute mile has slipped to a 12-minute mile (on a good day). I did go through a period of thinking I should give up as I was getting 'slow', there I said it 'slow', but then things changed and I started to just enjoy running for the great benefits that it brings.

Running has helped me deal with huge personal challenges. After Alistair died I took on the hardest running challenge I have ever done and the one I am most proud of. I took eight hours, YES EIGHT HOURS, to get myself around thirty-one miles in the Kielder Ultra. The front runners would have been home, fed and watered three hours before me, but a mile is still a mile. My body and mind got me around thirty-one miles - and I ran most of it. It taught me that time isn't the only thing you get when you cross the finish line. I had spent a wonderful day out in the wilderness, meeting and chatting with amazing like-minded people. I spent the day solving challenges and problems as they arose. I got lost at one point and instead of panicking I retraced my steps until I found the trail. I had issues with my backpack rubbing against my back, so I had to work out how to stop that from happening. I had a funny moment when seemingly in the middle of nowhere with no one around I stopped for a quick comfort break only to have another runner appear around the corner - we both just grinned and said "when you gotta go you gotta go". 

I had to dig deep mentally when the miles began to grow and the time lengthened. But crossing the finish line was a wonderful feeling. I was met by a man who I had chatted to out on the course who had been running the longer distance, turns out he was the winner. He waited on me at the finish line and bounced up congratulating me on my first ever ultra and fabulous PB. He said he won but his time wasn't all he had hoped for. So while I was on cloud nine he was away to work out what went wrong for him. That was a huge lesson learned for me.

I hear others worry about holding clubmates back, and being too slow to run with others. I am guilty of it myself sometimes. Particularly if I am injured or a bit unfit. Someone on our Jog Scotland chat said the other day that it isn't about others it is about your own running journey. That is so true.

My running journey has been long and varied. I was once a die-hard road runner but now I have fallen in love with hill running. I am definitely not quick up the hills but I get there, slow and steady. The view from the top is just as stunning if you get up there quickly or slowly, the hill is just as hard and the downhill is just as glorious. My body is starting to object a bit to running and my recovery time is longer but I am not done yet. I still have at least one more marathon in me and many many more hill runs. And when I can no longer run up the hills I will walk. It isn't always all about the pace, it is about letting your body show you what it can still do for you, it is about maintaining a happy healthy mind, seeing beautiful places and meeting wonderful people. That is what running means to me. 

Lovely shared memories at mile 10 with lovely friendly runners

And honestly, nobody else cares how long it does or doesn't take you, they are too busy focusing on how long it takes them! If you are my age, then you may well be in this frame of mind already however if you are one of my younger friends who are runners for you it will still be about the pace, but please don't beat yourself up about it if you have a slower day, enjoy the rest of it. 

And if you are one of those people who say you are "too slow" to run or go out with other people, please know that if someone faster says they are happy to run with you, let them, you are not holding them back, if they offer they want to run with you. And focus on what is right for you! I am just getting slower, occasionally I speed up a bit if I am feeling like it but I am now content to just still be able to run. 

If you are injured it can seem that the whole world is running away from you and getting fitter while you struggle just to maintain what you still have. There is no quick fix, you need to heal but know this you will heal, and you will get back to running. I broke my foot and then in less than a year went on to run the New York Marathon. Being injured is one of the times that you have to draw on the mental strength you get from running to help you through. You need to set yourself reasonable goals on the road to recovery. This will help you get back to what you want to do. But ultimately being injured sucks. 

Recovering from injury! Walking the Keswick 10km

My running buddy said she needs to get rid of the word 'slow' from her running vocabulary. I completely agree. Slow compared to who? You may not be as fast as Paula Radcliff or Mo Farah, but not many people are. You are way faster than the person who talks about thinking about starting the couch to 5km program. You are you, and you are amazing. 

As for me, I will continue to trot up and down the hills, until I am a wizened old runner walking up hands on knees, still wearing my Hokas and imagining I am running effortlessly up and down the fells in Keswick. Once pace leaves you for good, you start to appreciate all the other stuff running brings you. 

I once read an article by an older coach in Today's Runner (a magazine from long ago) who said that when you are an older runner, it is worth resetting your PB every year to get the thrill of beating your PB again. I have done this for a few years now and it is brilliant. It lets you pace yourself against yourself without the stress of worrying about how slow you are and hankering back to days when you could trot out a sub 60 10km no problem. Another tip is to always enter races that you have never done then you always get a PB!!! 

I guess what I have reflected upon is doing what works for you, not measuring yourself against others, and enjoying all the other stuff if you have a day when you just aren't running that quickly. I still love running today as much as the day I started 38 years ago, it can't all be about the pace!

don't worry, be happy.

The Two Railways Marathon - June 6th.

I'm not sure quite when Yvonne and I dreamt up the Two Railways Marathon. But I do know the idea came from a run we did down to Musselburgh where we were running down the Loanhead railway and as we passed Dalkeith we were musing whether it would be possible to run down one railway and back up the other.

Turns out you can, with a bit of planning. 

We decided on a date close to mid-summer and started training back in the winter time. As part of our training we set about training for a half marathon in March. We decided on a route in Dalkeith Country Park. It was a two loop route around the perimeter of the park. The first loop was great but on the second loop Yvonne started to find it tough mentally. I think running twice around the same loop on a half marathon was just really hard. But we did it and that reassured us that we were at the half marathon point in our training.

The next stop was getting up the distances. On one of our longer training runs, Yvonne and I were slogging our way along a main road on route to Carlops. I saw Yvonne ahead of me look into the bushes and then move on. When I got to that point, I looked to see what it was she was looking at. A wee pink teddy had been discarded/lost at the side of the road. He was dirty, his head was hanging off and his stuffing was coming out at his feet and arms. I picked him up and popped him into my bag. Later when I showed Yvonne she laughed and said that she had seen him but never picked him up. From that point onwards he was named Ron (after Ron Hill) he has his own Instagram page @ronthehillrunningteddy. And he has now become our wee running mascot.

We gradually got ourselves to the point where we were ready to run 20 miles. Yvonne suggested a route from Callendar to Killin that she had done for her previous marathon training. So we planned our day up in the highlands. Mark dropped us off at Calendar and ran the first 3 miles with us then he left us at Loch Lubnig and we headed off further into the hills. 

It was a great day out in the hills, although very tough. Yvonne kept apologising because she had forgotten how hard the route was. But I loved it, just my kind of route. 

Finally, we got to a stopping point just outside of Killin, where Emily and Norrie met us. We stopped at 20 miles and sat and had some lunch. So that was us at 20 miles.

As marathon day approached, the nerves kicked in. Although it wasn't an official marathon because of Covid-19, it was just ours the whole day had grown arms and legs with Tracey joining us as our bike support crew, Norrie met us at Musselburgh with water and food, and then Elaine, Norrie and Kirsty joined us at Loanhead to take us back to the finish line at Roslin. At the finish line, Rhona, Ethan, Mark and Arwen were there to meet us. 

As with every marathon, the day started with getting my kit laid out and eating breakfast. I hate bananas but they are good slow release food so I choke one down before a marathon. Not sure if it makes any difference.

And off we go!

The run itself was really tough. The day was the hottest of the year so far. We started off really early to try and miss the heat of the day, the irony was that was the hottest part of the day. As we got ourselves into Dalkeith, Tracey came cycling back to us saying that the route we had planned through Dalkeith Country Park was closed and that we couldn't go that way, which meant we had to go round the road adding a mile or so onto the distance. From that point onwards we had to change our route finishing at Roslin instead of Penicuik. 

The road around Dalkeith Country Park was brutal, the sun was baking us both as we ran with the pale coloured stone wall of the park to our left the whole way. By the time we both got out the other end we were absolutely roasting and exhausted. But we were still not even half way. The sun continued to beat down on us, we walked and ran, to just keep moving forward. We ran out of water really quickly, so having Tracey there was absolutely brilliant. 

We changed our route slightly going into Musselburgh so that we could run along the coastal path with the sea breeze cooling us a little bit. Seeing Tracey and Norrie at Musselburgh harbour was both tough and great. Great because it meant we were half way and they had fresh water and snacks but tough because we had to leave them and head off on the second half of our marathon. 

Thankfully, the clouds came over a bit and the second half was not so warm. I think we would both have given up if it had stayed the same as it was so hot. As we moved further on up the railway we both started to get tired, each taking it in turn to motivate the other. 

Tracey gave us a bit of light entertainment (and heart failure) as she stopped on her bike (because I had stopped) and promptly just keeled over bike and all - she forgot to take her feet out of her clipless pedals (a rookie error from a non rookie). Her head bounced off the ground, in slow motion, and Yvonne and I just looked on in horror not quite sure what to do. Once we knew she was okay we all had a laugh but kept checking on her as we went. 

As we got nearer to Loanhead we knew that our running support crew would join us soon. Norrie, Kirsty and Elaine were on their way running from the finish point in Roslin to meet us. It was so nice to see them, but so odd to see them so bouncy and full of energy and us plodding along, 20 miles already in our legs. Kirsty took my back pack for me as my back was getting really sore with it, I was so grateful to her. It was nice to have them with us but I knew that Yvonne and I needed to keep together to keep each other going and there was a short moment where we felt we needed to be social. After a while though we gradually came back together and got on with the job of getting to the finish line.

As we got closer to Roslin we knew we were not going to have enough distance left to the finish line to make it 26.2 so then we began to have to start working out where to go in Roslin to make up the miles. We ended up plodding around Rosslyn Chapel and up the Main Street, then we did a few loops around a housing estate and then another wee loop around the nature reserve. Finally, we were at the distance and we could head to the finish line. Rhona, Ethan, Mark and Arwen were there waiting for us. We ran in with our support crew following behind. 

last wee bit!

The Two Railways Marathon was finished. Rhona gave me a massive hug and then Mark moved in to hug me too. Norrie hugged Yvonne and then directed her and I to Mark. Rhona, Mark and Arwen were excitedly handing us bags. We were so tired it took a while to realise they had all colluded and Mark had put together finishing bags for us. Inside the bag was the most amazing wooden medals with our names on them and the t-shirts I had gotten printed. And the bags had our names on them and were full of the best finishing pack goodies I have ever had. Including a lovely bottle of fizz. 

It may not have been an official marathon, but the distance was just the same, it was just as hard, if not harder because we were the only two doing it but it is definitely up there as one of my favourite races. 

Massive thank you to everyone who made it the day it was. And to my running buddy Yvonne and of course wee Ron.

Was that hard work Ron?