Btr Tour of Merseyside my story so far.....stage two :)

Well here we are on the next day of the Tour of Merseyside, day two infact and where will we go today? and what stage is it guys?

   It's Stage two :)

                                                                

Stage two - Thurstaston multi-terrain 6 mile run Monday 8th July 2014.


We went to the other side of the Wirral for stage two and over to Thurstaston over on the West coast of the Wirral and overlooking the lovely Dee estuary.

Weather forecast for today was pretty changing it kept going from expected sun to expected rain showers and back again but it was also showing expected temperatures of 19C which could make it difficult.

My lift for today was provided by fellow competitor and friend Mr M and as ever was extremely efficient in getting us there with plenty of time, although the car park was a tad busy but hey there's a nice little yellow box painted especially for us, so in it we went :)

It had started to rain on the last leg of the journey over so the temperature dropped to nearer 15C and the conditions underfoot were now due a little more consideration as in many parts of the multi terrain run this would change the chances of a sure grip in more difficult area's.But I was confident my trail/road Hoka's were the right choice as they have served me well on multiple terrains.

So onto the Btr tent and start/finish area we went to say our hello's to a smaller crowd today than yesterdays Southport Half as that was an event we guested at as `Tourists` for the day.

The crowd was now under 200 as several people had had injuries at the last minute prior to the start of the Tour and had deferred their places until next year.Also we sadly had a few injuries on stage one and had lost some fellow competitors.

It was time to say to hello to my fellow competitor and race nemesis Sarah and Catherine of course and to spend a while chatting and winding each other up about who was going to win this leg of the tour and indeed our little race within a race.

I did indeed need to be very careful as Catherine had kindly offered to drive me back to Southport when we were finished after the race because Mr M had to shoot off for a work engagement in another part of the country ( a very busy man). And I didn't want to find myself liftless if I won tonight's battle lol ( I'm kidding of course they wouldn't dream of doing something like that would they?).

Like butter wouldn't melt.....Sarah and Catherine

                     
                                  


Anyway it was now still raining and decisions had to be made on whether or not to wear a jacket and even a running hat, but thankfully it stopped minutes before the start so it was jacket off and hat's off and ready to go.

After a quick introduction and leaders vest presentation to the leaders by Alan the race director it was time for the off at 7pm....

So off we went, across a grassed area and then off down a country lane to a caravan park towards the beach.I was know starting to feel that my legs were actually not feeling as great and loose as I thought, as the first mile started to pump up the old leg muscles the little niggles and aches and pains started to surface as I could sense which bits had not fully recovered and repaired overnight and through the day .I slowed a little and they seemed to loosen up just in time to hit the beach.

The beach itself was not the kind of beach I was expecting. I was expecting a nice long flat sandy section that I could pick a hard or soft route over for 2 miles.It was infact pebbly, rocky and mixed loose sand and pebble, non of it easy.

This was good though, as this was a true test of runners ability to run on different terrains and conditions, there would be no sprinting off into the distance for fast runners here.

As we approached mile 2 we could hear the supporters cheering us from the hillside which was a welcome lift, although I suspect they were also laughing their a**es off at us struggling across the beach :)

I passed Sarah somewhere between miles 2 and 3 and I hadn't been aware that she was actually in front of me at that point. I slowly went past and we gave each other a mutual `blimey this is tough` comment as I went by but I wasn't exactly going anywhere fast as it was tough to get any speed at all.

After struggling on for a bit more past mile 3 we now left the beach and onto a bit of a footpath and then onto  a country lane that was slightly inclined.I had been warned there was a fairly long one mile climb up to mile 4 and the highest point of the course but I wasn't sure if this was it.

It was gradual and it did get a bit steeper and in a couple of parts a little climb and it was I think testing a fair few people, there was not a lot of people around me, with one guy I could see infront of me who I was following and a few behind further back.

We hit a few domestic area's and still climbing we rounded a corner to then see the leaders bolting past us on the return leg! wow they were fast.

We now hit some actual trail as we entered some narrow mudded path and a climb up a hill and the dreaded `steps of evil` as I heard a few call them later.They seemed to appear every time you had no energy left to lift your legs, and I was puffing and panting and at my aerobic threshold as I went up them trying to hold off any one behind.

Several turns and several batches of steps later we appeared at the top and at mile 4 and then a descent into woodland. Now this was `time to fly` as they say in Hoka land as they are indeed designed to let you fly downhill without worrying about your knees and boy did I fly. I caught a glimpse of Ian Raymond ahead of me and the back of the pack he was with so I knew I had gained a good distance on the down hill.

We came out of the hill and at some point entered a cycle trail as such, The people in front of me where roughly 20 feet ahead and I just tagged onto them. I did have to alter my breathing pattern a few times to try and maintain the pace without getting puffed out. This section seemed to go on for ever and my legs where occasionally feeling a little weak and I also occasionally felt a little dizzy briefly as I was pushing it to keep up.


Thankfully mile 5 came and went and I looked behind me as I heard someone catching up and for a moment my heart was in my mouth when I thought please don't be Sarah lol...

It wasn't it was a guy with some energy left in his tank as he sped past, but apart from him there was a nice gap behind me.

Coming towards the end now and half a mile out a nice friendly marshal advised we only had half a mile to go with just a little loop past the finish ( it turned out to be Keith Peacock, I hadn't recognized him at the time).

Ian and the others were still ahead and I didn't really feel like attempting to sprint to catch up as they would of just done it in return and burned me off at the sprint finish, so I ran in comfortably to finish.

It was a great course and tough and I enjoyed it and it was good to now turn around and concentrate on the other finishers and friends as they came in one by one.

I looked out anxiously for Sarah and she came in roughly two and a half minutes behind me, which was good going because the multi terrain suited me as I regularly run the Sefton dunes so had the advantage. A handshake mutually offered again,smiles all round and then we waited for the others and looked out in particular for Catherine as she always comes in smiling away :)

   Smiling as ever :)

                                                           


As always we clapped in and encouraged the runners towards the back as they truly worked hard over the same course as the rest of us and hats off to James and John the blind runner and his guide who did wonders to get through that course.

  James and John

                                                
                                                               


Hospitality and refreshments all round by the Btr team as we stuffed our faces with bananas and Mars bars and swigged water and Lucozade and enjoyed the friendly race banter and `get you next time` comments etc as we took the usual pictures of each other in group shots  for momentos etc.

There were now some good running relationships building as the tour progresses, some older and some newer and all giving each other friendly and caring advice where needed or requested, which is what it is all about in the end. We are all after all one big running family and community and all friends with a common link and I thank God I had the chance to meet you all and hope to call you all friends by the end of it all :)

  Adele and Catherine friends forever :)

                                     
                                            

   The Good the Bad and the Ugly or is it the Three Amigo's?

                          

   Here's to new friends

                                          

On a final note for tonight's run, I did infact manage to get a lift off Catherine and Sarah back to Southport along with some great competitive banter on the way, I had a great time in great company and wouldn't change it for the world.

My results after Day two / stage two :

47 min 14 secs chip time, 47 mins 21 sec gun time

Stage position 42 (male), Overall tour position 49 ( male and female).

.....and more importantly in the Les v Sarah battle 1-0 to me :)

Btr Tour of Merseyside, my story so far....stage one :)

Well we are three days in to the Tour of Merseyside and I'm still standing...well sitting actually but it's all thinly veiled as recovery :) and I'm feeling good I have to say and I think the worst of the runs are behind us, with the exception of the last one which will be a challenge on tired legs.

So let me introduce you to the world of the Btr Tour of Merseyside, starting with stage....

One :)

                                                                          
Stage one - Southport Half Marathon, 13.1 miles Sunday 6th July 2014.

Stage one was in my hometown of sunny Southport and it was the official Vital Events Half Marathon which is on it's 2nd year in the resort.We had a slight change of route and a different start/finish area this year and we started in the lovely Victoria Park which is a treat on a sunny day which thankfully we had on this occasion.

Start time was 9am and it was indeed warm and this was going to be a challenge for many of the tourists as we had a whole week of runs, so going of fast and heading for a PB (personal best) time was not really the best plan for the day.

Personally I had my own battle as I had struck up a good relationship with some fellow running friends prior to the Liverpool Half and Full Marathon recently whilst chatting and posting on the RDB Facebook page and somehow ended up in a friendly challenge with Sarah.

Sarah is indeed a talented and a good female runner, and runs very similar times to me so we are well matched for a challenge.The challenge being for stage one at Southport that the loser bought the winner a pint, and it snowballed onto all the other stages so we are looking at racing each other on each stage and competing for the overall lead against each other.This was rapidly encouraged by her entourage of friends who are a great and friendly bunch themselves, and many of them indeed competing in the Tour as well.

So we had kick off at 9am and a little video of it as well, see below......

We went off around the park a little and then out onto the Coast Rd towards Ainsdale for several miles, before we turned around at the Pontins roundabout and headed back down the same section again for several miles. This indeed although a long and arduous trek was actually quite nice as you went past the runners behind you, so you could say hello to your friends as you passed, and everyone could give each other encouragement.

It also gave me a chance to check on my competitor Sarah, who thankfully at this point was behind me, but there was a long way to go and when the sun was coming out from behind the odd cloud it was getting pretty uncomfortable heat wise.I had to use the water supplied to pour it over my head and neck and back in order to keep cool.

There were a couple of runners in fancy dress as well, mainly a guy in an actual Star Wars Stormtrooper costume and a guy in a Gorilla suit. kudos to those guys as they must of been boiling.

We also had a steel band trio to entertain us half way down the long stretch so we passed them twice, it went really well with the sunny weather :)


We moved on to the next section of Coast Rd and Marine Drive as we passed the Fairground and the Ocean Plaza complex and under the Pier, and then off around the Marine Lake.

One good thing about this race was all the other competitors from the Tour had a bib with the words `Tourist` on the back so we could all see who was ahead and try and keep up, or alongside them, or merely run past if possible and say hello as we did. At times I found we ran in little packs which was good.

I was from mile 7-8 slowing and struggling a little and hoping my legs would recover slowly as I went, and when we hit roughly 10 miles Sarah casually steamed passed me with a casual smile and continued to speed away. This was my wake up call to push myself more and not settling with taking it too easy for the day.I decided to stay behind her and I continued to keep her insight.

We all continued around the rest of the lake and back onto the Marine Drive and back under the Pier and past the Fairground again, at this stage we passed several friendly faces including Nikki and friends who are Sarah's friends and the instigators of the challenge.It was now a case of shouts of "he's behind you!" and mutual shouts of support for both of us lol.

Currently on the chase..

Currently happily in the lead....

Funnily enough while I was out running with a smile after hearing several people cheering "Well done Superman" and feeling really great and encouraged, I suddenly noticed that he was actually behind me and they were all cheering him not me lol.

 
We now only had a couple of miles left and as we rounded the outside of Victoria Park and a little down hill slope I managed to sprint up right behind Sarah without her noticing and stuck fast behind her.

One mile to go now and it was time to run alongside and see if she would run off ahead or slow. I was hoping for her to slow a bit knowing exactly where I was, she did a bit and I think we both mutually slowed a little to save energy, I also noticed that Rosemary who is a well established and older runner was just ahead and seeing her race times in general are very good for the Tour in particular I made a conscious effort to keep up and pointed out her capabilities to Sarah.

We entered the park still shoulder to shoulder and we pushed each other along neither one of us letting the other get ahead, and after several are `we nearly there yet moments`
we approached the final couple of corners.I was still unsure how to handle the finish, would I run of ahead if I could? or would I slow and let Sarah win? or would I continue on her shoulder and try and run in together risking her edging ahead and taking the win?

Well you guessed it being a bloke and otherwise always the perfect gentleman I decided that as soon as I heard a few cheers of encouragement of her friends ,that that was justification to sprint off over the line like a true competitive runner lol, to be fair to Sarah though I had to run my ar*e off to beat her, but a bets a bet :)

We shook hands at the end and were still all smiles so I think I was forgiven.


Next was onto the Btr hospitality tent to pick up our goody bags......

   Lots of little goodies, a Btr calender for example shown here by Jo....

                       

And a lovely tour t-shirt shown here by our Lovely Erica...

                              
Thankfully as ever Btr's hospitality was top notch as we have come to expect from Alan & Yvonne and Laura of course, and now the latest edition Erica and it was all about rest and recovery and after picking up our individual running numbers for the other stages of the Tour we were offered fruit, water, Lucozade and Powerbar snacks to help us restock while we chatted with fellow `Tourists` as we mingled around the tent and the comfortable looking grass for a nice little sit down as you will probably notice me doing in the last picture :)

Time for a few goodbye's and see you tomorrows to fellow tour runners and then if was of to the pub to meet up with fellow RDB peeps and several others invited for a couple of drinks in The Sandgrounder on Lord St, but not before a quick photo op with fellow running friend and fellow friend of Sarah the one and only always smiling Catherine :)

Almost forgot here is my results for stage one :

1 hr 45 mins 19 secs gun time ,and 1 hr 45 mins 06 secs chip time.

Position 252 for Southport Half, position 61 in the Tour results for my category (Male).

On another note you will be glad to know that as it turns out Sarah beat me on chip time,  and I beat her on gun time so we agreed to call stage 1 a draw :) see I'm not all bad.

I'm off on my jollies...around Merseyside and on foot mostly :)

Well it's finally come round to the time for one of the hardest and most unique events I have ever entered to do, the event is the Btr Tour Of Merseyside and comprises of 6 runs within 7 days in various area's of Merseyside and totaling 52 miles in total ( well actually 52.1 but don't tell anyone).

It also marks the passing of the halfway mark for my year of charity runs for Mind as I move to runs no.8 and onwards, it's been a good 6-7 months so far and I've enjoyed it all and met some great new friends along the way.

I have thankfully remained fairly injury free so far and have only had little niggles which have been dealt with swiftly.I thank God daily for helping me through this mentally and physically and for all the help and support I have had from friends and family.This has all put me in good stead for this event.

There will be a good mix of terrains at this one so it will be a test for all types of runners young or old, experienced or newbies and indeed fast or slow. Not quite sure where I fit into that but a mix of pretty old and stupid springs to mind as my category.

The event was created last year by Alan Rothwell as a Merseyside equivalent of a similar event up in Geordie land which has subsequently ceased to exist.

It started with 70+ members last year and this year will be more like 200+ so a bigger field this time round and a lot more competition, but also a lot more people to end the week with as new friends which is key to events like this as we runners are a friendly bunch you know :)

I was unsure whether I would be able to enter this event initially and whether I could afford the entry fee and justify the expense in order to add it to my 14runs charity running campaign, but true to form some good friends and some very generous people from the Running Discussion Board on Facebook took it upon themselves to pay my entry fee and I am truly thankful to them for this and indeed for Gods provision of such valued friends.

I have had to take a holiday of work in order to complete this challenge as rest is required prior to the event and indeed after each days running in order to try and prevent unwanted injury and of course serious lack of energy if I had to work as well during the week.

So I've got literally 12 days off in total so am trying to make the most of the holiday element of it as well as the running and fun and charity element of it, and of course there is always some serious medal bling and a t-shirt on offer at the end of it all :)

The week will comprise of 6 days running in total and are as follows:


Day one      13 miles at the Southport Half Marathon on Sunday 6th July.

Day two       6  miles multi terrain at Thurstaston on the Wirral on Monday 7th July.

Day three   10 miles trail at Walton on the Cheshire Lines Trail on Tuesday 8th July.

Day four     Day off...wohoo!!

Day five      5  miles at the Hale Village road race on Thursday 10th July.

Day six       6  miles cross country in Knowsley on Friday 11th July.

and finally....

Day seven   12 miles on the Wirral for a coastal run on Saturday 12th July.

Total distance covered 52 miles :)


This will be followed by the mother of all food and drink sessions at the Floral Pavilion in New Brighton where the final run ends and we will be doing some serious knackered runners celebrating, and eating and drinking to our hearts content without the worry of it affecting our next run.

This will be followed by a video presentation of the weeks events with clips of the runs and indeed the stars of the runs, ourselves. And no doubt will be one of the highlights of the week as it has been proven that asking runners questions while they are on a run or after a run that they will open up and practically answer any stupid or personal question you ask them lol

So wish us all well, wish us a week of injury free running and wish those of us who are running for charities a fruitful week of worthy donations to compensate for our pain and suffering.

Almost daily blogs for each stage will slowly appear :)

A little bit of Rock'n'Roll goes a long way...but 26.2 miles...please no!

Well here we are again, another day and another charity run. This time it was official run #7 out of 14 and non other than the first official Rock'n'Roll marathon in the good old UK and the honoured hosting city was the friendliest city of them all Liverpool.

With a cracking selection of historical and iconic sights to choose from for the route it was no surprise Liverpool was chosen, and with a cracking skyline at the start which used non other than the historical Albert Docks and the 21st century Echo Arena as start and finish points it was a great sight.

The day began at 5am for me as Mr and Mrs M were both running the event. I'm sure you will know Mr and Mrs M from my previous blogs as they are fellow runners from Southport my hometown and they kindly give me lifts to and from my charity events.

Mrs M was running the half which started at 8am as opposed to 9am for the marathoners, but the early start to the day was ideal as it gave me more time to get ready and eat, and then take more food with me to eat each hour up until the hour before the run as with a 26.2 mile run in front of me every bit of energy was a plus.

I went into the Echo arena to the baggage area etc while Mrs M handed her stuff into the baggage check and we all said a few hello's to fellow friends and runners from the RDB group, it was good to see a few others from the Southport area Vicky and Rachael in particular as I know them both and we actively encourage each other with our running.

I watched the halfers set off on their merry way at 8am and then wandered around for a bit outside the arena and absorbed the atmosphere while I waited patiently for the minutes to pass.

It was now time for me to get ready myself and dump my excess clothes etc in the baggage area and ready myself for the run ahead as I walked out the arena towards the start.

I promptly bumped into another two running friends Ben and Darren, both superstars in running in their own way, and Mr M as well who I had lost earlier in the crowds.
A couple of minutes later another running friend from Southport Mandy appeared from nowhere  enclosed in a bin bag which didn't appear to have any holes in for her arms so it was quite an amusing site.I was promptly told my lips had turned blue which was probably an indication that I wasn't particularly warm at this point as I hadn't gone for the pre race bin bag look today.

So we said our farewells, good lucks and break a legs and went to our respective starting corrals ready for the off.

9am and we were off on our way, and of out off the Albert Docks and then past the Liver Buildings and Pierhead and then into the city streets.I had decided to run behind the pacer for a 3:45 finish time so i would not have to concentrate on my pace, and it also became apparent that this was a good tactical move as we turned left,right,left,left,right and who knows where else through the streets, and I would of been lost myself if I had been on my own.

We continued on and went down Matthew street and the famed Cavern and Cavern Walks and then off out of the city towards Everton and Liverpool's respective football grounds with was quite a trek and already quite tiring at the pace we were going, but that was my chosen pace for a decent time so I stuck with it.

On our way back into the city we saw a few bands along the way but not a great many and not as many as appeared to off been promised for the event, but then again I hadn't chosen this marathon for the music as it is merely a gimmick to most runners.

We promptly appeared at a dual flyover and a very confused Police officer who couldn't decide which way the runners were supposed to go and I watched in amazement as people went over the flyover on the left and then turned around and went down the one on the right and then turned around again and went down the one on the left and believe it or not turned around again and down the one on the right ....and finally down the correct one on the left which really should of had a marshal at to point the confused runners in the right direction because the Police officer had no idea and failed to park his bike in the way of the offending incorrect flyover like a sensible person would do.

Onto mile 11 now and we were back in the city and past the town hall and through a `cheer point` where people had gathered to cheer the runners on, and a friendly face at the roadside with camera in hand was a welcome sight and non other than fellow RDB legend Martin C who is taking on the Comrades Marathon in South Africa next week all 50+ miles off it!

Martin managed an amazing feat in itself, that feat being able to get a picture off the illusive Les Jackson smile that only seems to come out at ridiculous times like when i am in severe pain for example..

We continued on past the Albert Docks again and then out to the south of the city on an almost similar route to the usual Btr Liverpool half marathon route and also the route that the Rock'n'Roll half'ers had taken before us today.

We sadly turned up Upper Parliament St which was a shock as I thought they had taken it off the route, so we had a long draining climb up this hill which was a challenge especially when the pacers were relentless in keeping the pace fast all the way up lol.

Now we were approaching the parks of south Liverpool and in particular the lovely Sefton Park, but I was now starting to seriously feel the ache and pain in my legs of the long run and we were at roughly 15-16 miles so I stopped at the next water station and refilled my bottle  and added some `tailwind` which is an energy powder with electrolytes in to help with the run.I had earlier had a stitch which I struggled with for a few miles due to the fact that I think the mix was too strong, and I had to wash it through a bit with just water which seemed to help, so this time I made a weaker mix.

I decided from now on to run my own slightly slower pace and have little stretches and little walks every couple of miles which then enabled me to speed up a little for the rest of the next mile and often brought me within a 100 metres of the 3:45 pacing group.

I maintained this strategy from pretty much there on as my legs were really suffering and I couldn't get the lactic acid build up and pain to go away, and at one point I even took a couple of paracetamol to try and reduce the pain and also to stave of a stiffening back and mild back pain as my running posture was starting to get sloppy.

The miles went on and I was now at roughly 21 miles and decided on eating half my Mars bar I was carrying as I was getting hungry.at this point the 3:50 pacing group went past me, although the pacer had lost his pacing balloon marked 3:50 which I found funny, and I tagged onto that group for a while upto 22 and the approach to the famed Promenade at Otterspool.

I decided to take my one and only gel which was going to have to get me through the final 4.2 miles off hell and mental torture and mind games you play with yourself as one part of you says "just stop and walk" and the other bit says "run or fail", needless to say I did both as I said "sod it" to the 3:50 pacing group and carried on with my stretch, walk and run strategy which was working for me and I had enough time just to still hit sub 4 hours which has always been my main target and what I've been after since last May when I failed it on my first marathon attempt.

I had to give myself a serious talking to to ensure I did enough to get me in under 4 because I knew if I failed I would have to do another marathon to try again, and I was not prepared to do that as I had now realized that I infact hate road marathons!

On I went for the final miles having little stretches and walks and then running on and watching the time go by and reminding myself that I have to get under 4.

It's the final miles and with all the pain shooting through your muscles and your mental resolve failing that you have to remind yourself why you are there in the first place.In my case it is to raise funds for worthy charities and for people who have been through real pain and torment in their lives and people who would jump at the chance to be able to swap places for the day and be in my place at that moment instead of what they are suffering day to day.

Spurred on by why I was there I was able to finally get to the finish approach and could see the welcome sight of the Echo arena and several hundred yards of supporters cheering us all on which was vital as we are all suffering by then and the cheers help us feel a hell off a lot better and help us to the end.

Finish line in sight and I sprinted in (in my mind anyway)over the finish line and a welcome sight of a clock showing me I had the elusive sub 4, infact It was in the end a welcome 3:57:30 :)

I promptly got my medal and took a welcome bottle of water and took a very very welcome chance to sit down and try and rest while I stayed and watched fellow runners come over the line one by one and observed how thoroughly proud everybody looked and how knackered they looked as they often are seconds from passing out and collapsing as they have given their all to reach the finish.

It was now time to get up and move inside to the recovery area and food station in the arena itself and after seeing fellow runners Chris and Eugy cross the line I decided now was as good a time as any, and after a couple of group shots by the official photographers we were safely in the arena.

The first sight I got was a lovely row of Lucozade, water, cereal bars, banana's and crisps and I promptly took a few of each as I was going to need a serious restock :)

Next was collect your free t-shirt time to go along with your seriously heavy bling the Rock'n'Roller medal which was the thickest medal I've ever seen.

It was time now to reclaim my bag and look for Mr and Mrs M who I managed to spot enjoying a comfortable seat in the seats that surround the arena, so I joined them for a well earned rest,recovery,relax and restock of calories while we waited and watched our fellow running friends from RDB come in one by one.

After safely seeing everyone in it was finally time to hit the good old Rigby's pub and join our fellow runners who had already done the half and the earlier finishers of the marathon.

Once in Rigby's and with a welcome pint in hand it was time to say hello to fellow friends and runners some I'd seen before the race and some I hadn't and it was congratulations all around as we rightly said well done to each other and marveled at a host of new Pb's by people and great first time marathon times for newbies.

It was good to finally meet a lot of newbies to the RDB family and to meet people I had chatted to in the group over the recent months but had never met face to face.It was good to finally meet Nikki, Sarah and Catherine and their friends ( see pic below) who I had chatted to on RDB but never met before and it was nice to meet new friends who were genuinely happy to meet me as I have never found it easy to make new friends as I'm a pretty quiet type of bloke.

So after several well earned and quite hard to swallow pints ( as post marathon my body doesn't seem to appreciate the challenge ) I decided it was time for home and said my goodbyes to whoever was left in the pub as it was now almost 9pm!! and I was pretty hungry.

So it was a train journey home and then my local pizza parlour for a well earned Calzone pizza and promptly stuffed my face.......and then asleep on Facebook at my keyboard :)

After a good nights sleep it was time to go online and retrieve my results (see below) and to look back on a great day, great event, great friends new and old and a new hobby/pastime I hope I never tire off........until the next one folks, thanks for all the help, love and support, God bless you all :) xx

Nice run down the Prom anyone?.........Ssssh...don't mention the wind.

Well the day had arrived to do one of my favourite events the btr 21st Liverpool half marathon and my third big run in three weekends.

I did this event last year and had a great time as it is easy to get to being near my hometown and I had made loads of new running friends  at the event last year due to the Running Discussion Board that I had recently joined that year as member on Facebook.

The subsequent afternoon and evening in the famous Rigby's was a hoot and one I was keen to repeat this year.

The day started at 6 a.m. on a Sunday as ever seems to be the case on a run day, I'm not a big fan of getting up early and it is quite frankly a b*gger to sleep the night before as race tactics and plans and what to wear or not wear is always buzzing around my head the night before. But I managed it.

Quick shower and start to select my running gear for the day after a last minute quick check of the weather forecast, seemed to be chance of showers pretty cold and pretty windy so it was going to be a challenge to stay warm at the start so extra clothes required which would then have to be left in the luggage storage buses follwed by 10 minutes waiting in the start area freezing my **** off.

Breakfast next which was merely 2 pieces of wholemeal toast and a cup of coffee, followed by a banana an hour later as I was keen not to forget to eat it pre race this time like i did last week in the 20 miler I did without food..oops!

All ready to go now and my transport for the day as ever was the ever helpful and fellow Southport runner and RDB member Mr M and his wife Mrs M who was also running today.

We arrived promptly as ever, and sat in the car for a while kidding ourselves that it really wasn't very windy out there or indeed cold.This quickly became fruitless as we watched car after car of runners empty out in front of us with people getting out of a warm car and rapidly showing signs of `Artic shock` as if they had indeed just been teleported to the Artic circle.

We eventually got out and headed towards the start, but not before picking up an old work colleague of mine and fairly new but successful runner Vicky. Vicky was going to be joining the 2hr pacing train that Mr M and a few fellow runners Frankie & Kenny a.k.a. `Bert & Ernie` would be leading to help people along who wanted to achieve a sub 2 hr time.

                                             World renowned Bert & Ernie.

                                     
Now it was time to meet up with a few others to say our respective hello's and for people who were running together to get sorted, in particular the above mentioned 2hr pacing train which was allegedly now up to 15 people.

It was now sadly time to strip off a few layers and put our nice warm and snug clothes back in our bags and onto the luggage buses, this was particularly difficult and felt like handing your precious favourite toy over to your brother or sister to play with when you were a child lol.

Anyway, it was finally start time and I managed to get down further in the start queue this time in the area designated for runners who are looking to achieve a 1 hr 45 min race, last year i started near the back due to being slow getting ready and I had to run through thousands of slower runners later in the race, which was a nightmare and not one I wanted to repeat.

                                             Cram packed start area area 1:45 runners.

So 9 a.m. and we were off, we slowly walked forward as we approached the start line and people started to run as they crossed the start line and chip time mat.This became a bit precarious as several inconsiderate morons had dropped their empty water bottles on the floor right in the middle of the path we were running on, and with the mass of people trying to get running from the start line and being unable to see in front of themselves and their feet this was very dangerous and I slipped on one myself which rapidly flew out from under my foot as I accelerated away.Luckily I stayed upright but I developed a seriously annoyed and frustrated facial expression for several minutes.

Onwards we went and after a few miles upwards we went as we approached and then turned up Upper Parly as the local runners seem to call it as it is a long hill that everyone seems to hate as you often find in the first two miles you have set of quite fast as you feel good, and then suddenly hit Upper Parly and discover your mistake as you crawl up the hill trying to get your breath.

Thankfully after my recent running exploits involving hills this was not really an issue for me and I appeared at the top feeling fine, a little puffed but knowing within a minute I would be back to normal.So we carried on now on a flat and even a bit of a stretch on a slight downhill which was a benefit.

I had decided as a strategy that I would have to run at roughly 7:47 minute miles to achieve a new personal best time at a half marathon of 1 hr 42 minutes, this would require me to run at my threshold pace for most of the time, threshold being that point where as you are running you are just below the point of feeling a bit too puffed out, so you are just getting enough oxygen in your system to keep going at that pace.I managed to maintain this but wasn't sure if I could do it all the way around a 13.1 mile course.But so far so good but this was only 3 miles or so in.

I was now getting quite hot as the running had obviously warmed me up so I was constantly unzipping my running jacket and removing my woolly hat every time the sun came out and the temp raised.This was now becoming my focus as it made me uncomfortable, but i would rather be hot than cold so battled on.

Soon we were now entering Sefton Park which is a huge park and running mecca I would guess for people who want somewhere nice to run on training runs.I knew from last year that we would be here for a fair while as we run around a lot of the park inside and out.It was at this park that we would hit the halfway point 10k and another chip time mat that would give us a time at that point to check our progress after the race.Soon after this point we where back onto the road outside the park and running around the outskirts of the park. It now decided to rain and cold rain at that.I now had a grin on my face as I thought `well in` as I remained warm and dry in my running jacket and promptly replaced wooly hat.

We eventually exited the area of the park and went down a slope and through a subway under a major road junction and into Otterspool Park which was another scenic change to races that are all down boring roads.At this point we were now hitting the 8 mile mark  and a water stop was coming up at 9 miles, so it was time for my one and only sports gel to ensure I had some energy left on the final miles as I knew the dreaded Prom was coming up.

After a while in the park it was water stop time and a quick drink without stopping for me and onwards to the Prom, I turned the corner on to the Prom and all I heard from behind  me was "Oh Hell!" as the full affects of the 20-29mph headwinds hit home!!

It was now head down time and plough on time as you try and plough through the wind  and try to stay as streamlined as you possibly can.This was hard and I knew we had 4 miles of this and it was going to take its toll.

My time was now dropping to roughly 8 minute miles and I was in danger off missing my target time if I could not maintain my pace for the last miles, I had built up a little bit of time in the bank as such as some of my earlier miles were actually faster than my target but I was still worried.I constantly wanted to run slower and preserve energy for the end but knew I would fail my time if I did.As ever I had to tell myself that if I miss out because I didn't try hard enough when I should of then I would indeed be very annoyed and disappointed in myself.

I managed to push on and at 11 miles was developing a stitch which can often cripple me in a run so I had to keep changing breathing patterns and also take in several deep breaths as well as if I'm honest asking God to remove my oncoming stitch.It lessened and I managed to keep if from fully developing and by now my legs were starting to struggle to maintain pace as my body was trying to slow me down.I managed to push on and force my legs to speed up as I carried on.

It was now 12 miles and obstacles galore as we avoided benches, bins and various sea related objects all of which were serious trip hazards and we were all weaving in and out of them and in and out of each others paths.

Final mile now and I was hanging on for dear life, I could tell from my watch that the last couple of miles I was just about 5 secs off my total target time but I knew I had 50 seconds spare as my last PB was 1:42:50 and my target set on my watch was 1:42:00 so I carried on determined not to slow down any more.

A couple of cobbled area's not great for running fast on and a couple of corners I remembered flying round last year as I sprinted in, but this year was struggling, I made a last dash for it and went past about 20 people on a big corner and felt great until I went round the next corner thinking the finish line was there, and no I was wrong and straight into a 100 metre stretch of headwind I went, b*gger! I slowed and got through it and the final corner approached, I was now feeling sick as I had expended all my spare energy in a sprint to nowhere, so around the corner and there was the finish I attempted to sprint but it wouldn't happen and I was quite frankly just trying to stop myself hurling as I crossed the line in a new PB time of 1hr 41 mins and 42 secs, over 1 minute taken off my previous PB 6 weeks or so back :)

As per usual it was straight to the goodie section like a kid in a sweetshop to collect my great looking long sleeved bright orange technical running shirt, a bling medal, a Lucozade energy bar and a bottle of water and some Jelly Beans :)

                                              Great tech shirt and medal.

                                                Close up of medal.


Now it was time to wait for fellow runners, after first running straight to the luggage bus and wrapping up warm asap as it was cold at the finish even with the sun out.

It was chaotic at the finish area as thousands of runners came in and idiotic spectators and people's family thought nothing of standing in the way of the knackered runners who just wanted to get out of the finishers tunnel and onto the luggage buses for their gear.I stood out the way and still had a constant stream of people pushing past me with no excuse me's or thank you's what so ever.I for one think Finish area's at events this big need a dedicated family reunion area which separates the crowds and give the runners a bit of well earned and deserved space when they need it most.

                                              Chaotic finish area.


After all the chaos it was time to retrieve the troops and head to the good old Rigby's pub which is a tradition for the RDB runners in particular and it is so near the race it's ideal.It's a traditional old worldy pub which as per usual with old pubs and in particular in the city looks a bit rough on the outside, but is nice enough on the inside.

                                             Home from home for weary runners legs.


So a good day overall, and several friends old and new met in the pub along with a birthday celebration for the birthday girl Jean :) followed by a multiple of pints which I have not had for a long time due to all the training and a lack of funds usually.

PB's were celebrated by many from the RDB group including Adele, Ben, Clare (UK PB), Denise,Jessica, Linda, Vicky and of course myself and many others.

Thanks to everyone involved in the race organization and all it's helpers at the aid stations and at the finish area etc, big thanks to the chain gang who give out the well deserved medals at the end, especially Keith a fellow runner from RDB and Laura from the headphone Police ;) thanks for a great day.

This is a great event and I would recommend it for anyone looking for a good half marathon, and the btr Liverpool events which are held in the area are always great events so I would recommend them all to you as I have done most them myself.

So whats next for me?..well next event is the Rock'N'Roll Liverpool marathon on Sunday  25th May 2014 and official 14RUNS charity campaign run #7!!

Couple of weeks rest/small runs for me and then it's straight back into marathon training with  15/16/18/20 mile long runs  for 5 weeks or so and then the big day.

Thanks as always for all your support verbally or financially, it is much appreciated and is what drives me on to raise the money for causes close to my heart.

20 is plenty......painful a week after a hill marathon.

Well true to form I did things the hard way this weekend. After trying to keep it easy run wise and only doing little 5k's on the treadmill to try and recover from last weeks Bolton hill marathon, I got offered a last minute place at the Trimpell 20 by Mr M, as Mrs M was still not well enough to run after a long period of chest infection problems.

So how far was this last minute run? 20 miles!! I thought about it for a while and tried to gauge if I could manage it injury free, as I had had a painful twinge in my right hamstring on Wed during a treadmill run.I decided the chance was too good to miss as I could use this as a new run for my charity campaign and as a free entry it would save me much needed money.

I was working Fri and Sat at work so no chance of rest, and Sat night I wasn't back from work til midnight and had to stay up to cook and eat some pasta and anything else I could manage to try and carb load my muscles with.In all honesty it was too late to try but something was better than nothing.

I managed roughly 5 hours sleep and got up, showered and changed, and had some toast and coffee as per usual and threw my stuff in my bag and I was out the door for 8.55am.

Transport as ever was provided by the ever helpful and supportive Mr M and today we had some fellow passengers and runners from SWAC (Southport & Waterloo Athletics Club) today it was Mandy and Jane.

Prompt arrival in Lancaster as always when Mr M drives, and after a bit of a queue to get through the Lancaster to Morecombe bottleneck leading up to Asda and we were there and all parked up at the sports centre.

A quick visit to the cafe area to find the loos etc and then after a welcomed pre race liquid relief it was out onto the track and onto the athletics clubhouse for our numbers.

A quick hello to several fellow runners and friends from RDB and a quick photo op (see pic below) and we were ready for the off.

So 20 miles here I come and I'm ready, or so I thought, in the rush to get our numbers etc I didn't get the chance to go back to the car and collect my running gels, water, mars bar and paracetamol.......this was a major oops!! but I convinced myself that I could manage by trying to grab anything I can from the aid stations even though it was purely some sweets and water.

So we were off and straight onto a cycle track which then lead on to more cycle track and then more cycle track ( a pattern seems to be emerging here). Then onto a flashy pedestrian bridge over the river and down the Quayside on the other side.We saw the leaders on several occasions as there were several switchbacks to and fro and as usual they were flying.

After a few side roads etc it was back past the bridge and onto the cycle path again (surprise) this went on pretty much for the entire length of the run but it was relatively quiet as such if you got ahead of the main bunches of runners, and you soon learned to keep your eyes peeled for cyclists who appeared a little dismayed at a long stream of runners on what is actually a walk/cycling path so we were perfectly entitled to use it :)

Onwards we went and thankfully there were aid stations roughly every 5k (2-3 miles) but I ignored most on the first stretch apart from when I saw sweets being offered, so I grabbed some every time at those.The challenge was trying to chew a mouthful of sweets and breath through my mouth at the same time which I have never mastered, which is exactly why I don't eat sweets and run and use gels instead.Every time I had sweets I found myself out of breath as I tried to eat while holding my breath a little, this didn't work by the way.

I ended up running fairly comfortably at 7:45 minute miles for the first 6-7 at least so was building up a little bit of spare time that I could use when I tired in the second half and would slow. I didn't really know what time I wanted, I looked for sub 3 hours as a guideline due to the fact that when I run to Liverpool from Southport which is also 20 miles it takes me roughly 3hrs but I stop for breaks on those runs and stop my watch so it's more like 3 hrs 20 mins.I set my watch for 8:30 miles because a sub 4 hr marathon is 9 min miles and I wanted to go quicker if I could.

We continued down the never ending cycle/walk path alongside the river and the views were quite nice of the river but it was overcast so not as pleasurable as it could of been as everything looks nicer in the sun with blue skies.I soon approached a timing mat at 10 miles which was the half way point and I hit a respectable 1:19 but I was now starting to feel my legs losing energy and no longer felt comfortable at the pace so I had to slow a little to try and preserve some energy, I wasn't puffed at all and could of keep it up but I knew the higher pace would waste more energy than I could afford.

Onwards again down what was now feeling like a dreaded cycle path to nowhere and finally at between 11 and 12 miles I think it was we turned round and headed back.Now I really was struggling and I was getting the odd person overtaking me and I was struggling to keep up with people in front of me.I convinced myself that these were people who had saved their energy for the second half instead of running faster in the first half like I had done.

Aid stations now became rest stops for me as I would take sweets and stand still and eat them to save choking on them.thankfully a welcome site was Frankie and Jenny fellow runners from RDB who when I mentioned I needed some food they kindly offered me a HI 5 gel :) bonus, just what I needed.I plodded on a little faster but still couldn't believe I still had near on 7 miles to go.

Aid station sweetie raids continued and sneaky rests as people passed me but I didn't care now it was all about survival.I continued on and at mile 17 and 18 I stopped and walked a 100 metres to give my legs a chance to pump some much needed blood and energy into them as running was using it quicker than my body could supply it.

This thankfully worked as I suffered through the final miles and mile 19 to 20 which felt like the longest mile of my life (26.2 miles at Bolton hill marathon felt more comfortable than I did now) last 400 or so metres now and onto the athletics track for the last 350 metres and a slow painful slog in with pretty much no sprint left in me...and over the line in 2hrs 51 mins and onto the goodie bag collection point :) a very much welcomed sandwich was handed to me and a t-shirt and in the goodie bag was a banana and a chocolate Twirl bar :) all promptly inhaled along with several cups of water.

All that remained now was a little wait for some fellow runners to come in safe, and a little chat with another member of SWAC who I had never met Paul.

Once everyone was safely home at the finish it was onto the cafe for a quick coffee and toilets or changing clothes etc and then it was time for home.

Several of us waddled over to the car and we were off home and as always arrived safely back in Southport courtesy of Mr M again (thank you Mr M).

So overall a very hard run due to tired legs but a good run for people who were using it as their last long 20 mile run in preparation for the London marathon in April.it is always good to have a long run or race as preparation to see what works and what does not on a run of this difficult distance.20 miles mean you will usually hit the wall of sorts unless your lucky so it's valuable practice and vital to prepare you for your big day the actual marathon.

Thanks to the on course photographers `Sprint finish photographers` for the great pictures on Flickr, all the marshal's, helpers at the aid stations and clubhouse etc and all the organizers, this is a good run because of them and I would recommend it.

So now I have a weeks rest and next Sunday I am onto charity run #6 of 14 the btr Liverpool half marathon.I will be attempting a new PB there so am going to try and rest this week but will still need to do a few small runs.

I hope to see some of you, runners or supporters in Liverpool and hopefully I may see some donations start to come through as this being an almost year long charity campaign donations as always are slow in the beginning, but next weeks run is almost the half way mark :)

See you next week....

Mud,mud,big hills....and yes you guessed it more MUD!

Well I survived the hardest run of my life, the Bolton hill marathon 26.2 miles of several big ups and many, many smaller ups and downs over every kind of terrain known to a runner and then some.

The day started at 6.30am after a lousy nights sleep as my stomach decided to blow up like a balloon after my late tea and it was giving me some serious stomach pains and I was starting to panic that it may of been the start of a bout of food poisoning or the like as the eggs I'd had were 2 days past their use by date.Luckily it wasn't.

So 6.30am and a quick shower to wake myself up and then start to get dressed straight into my choice of running gear for the day, which is always a challenge as I am often like a woman trying to choose a dress for a night out.

Compression top, charity vest, compression shorts and running shorts, Compression calf sleeves and a thick pair of socks all chosen eventually and my final choice and most important choice was my choice of running shoe as it was going to be wet, slippy, boggy and pretty hard surfaces at other times including an old roman road with rocks and stones jutting up all over.I chose the ultra padded Hoka One One's and a wise choice it was despite the stick I got of some of the other runners :)

A quick breakfast of porridge and a cup of coffee and I was all packed and ready to go, so downstairs I went to await my friendly and helpful runner Mr M who gives me lifts to races and events when he is also competing in them too.

After a comfortable drive and catch up on various running related things it was a prompt arrival in Bolton and at the start area for the days event.

A quick visit to the registration tent to collect our numbers and get them pinned on etc and then a quick visit to the all important porta loo's which already seemed to be out of loo paper, but thankfully I only needed a quick pee just to make sure.

A few quick hello's to familiar faces and then it was start line time, and pretty much just after 9.30am it was time for the off and off we went, firstly up through the park and then onto a road and a long slow climb for a couple of miles, and then onto another level road and then onto a footpath for a long slog up to the top of Winter hill and the highest climb and elevation of the entire run.

I surprised my self in the fact that I could infact run up the entire climb even if very slow at times as I had planned on walking up the biggest two climbs, but this one was slow and steady and everyone else in front of me was running so no way was I going to walk.

Shortly after we were at the top and onto a bit of road at last and this bit was quite pleasurable and a lot easier, at some point shortly after that we turned into a off road path which had some very wet patches and lots of mud and a submerged path at many points.I unfortunately took a bad step in what I thought was a shallow wet patch and my right foot disappeared and I went in half way up my lower leg much to the amusement of the runners behind me.

Shortly after this we hit tarmac again and I promptly managed to speed up and try and catch a few runners in front of me, and some how rattled off a 7 minute mile which is my fastest when I only do 5k so I'm not sure how that happened.

The first aid station came up at 5+ miles and a table full of goodies and smiling helpers, they were indeed a Godsend the helpers and the gels and drinks of electrolytes etc, a  quick rest while I consumed my gel and had a drink and then onwards I went after thanking the helpers.

Onwards again several miles and now we hit an old Roman road which I thought was only supposed to be half a mile long but it went on for miles.....and miles or so it seemed anyway.

Finally I saw some tarmac and a road and as I approached the smiling marshal I smiled and told him I had never been so happy to see some tarmac :)

It didn't take long to end up back at a field again and the dreaded bog field  I had been forewarned about, navigating this was a nightmare and it was basically a step and hope to see your shoes again routine as you minced across the field with your arms out for balance.

Onwards again for several miles through a very muddy path in parts and several disappearing feet moments in boggy/muddy bits and eventually some welcome road again and another aid station at 12+, smiling cheery helpers again and another selection of goodies, another gel and electrolyte drink for me and a quick paracetamol to stave off the start of the pain from my back which always starts at this kind of distance.A quick tighten of my neoprene back support which I was using to help keep my core solid and I was off again.

We now had a couple of miles of riverside trail to a check point where we turn around and head back.I was starting to tire now and wondering how I was going to do another 13 miles or so, but thankfully we headed into some woodland with some steep climbs but everyone in front of me was walking up them so I followed suit and this helped my legs recover sufficiently to go on.

Couple of miles of ups and downs and hillside narrow muddy and slippy paths and eventually we arrived back at the previous aid station which was now the 16+ mile point and this time it was `helllllo fllllapjacks!` time as I was now getting hungry so I had a gel, several flapjacks, another paracetamol and some more electrolyte to wash it all down.

Onwards and upwards and it was now several miles along a trail path alongside a reservoir and it was now again becoming a struggle but I was spurred on by the fact that no one was passing me and I was passing a few myself along the way.

After that long and tiring section it was finally road time again and a slightly nervy time of negotiating pedestrians and at times cars as it was a fairly busy area.A quick turn in to a park and a few little walks as I hit a few slightly hilly bits (ok probably slopes to be honest) and then back onto a road again and a longish run alongside a road and past a few touristy bits and loads of inconsiderate car parker's who decided to park on the pavement and make me and everyone else walk through muddy slippy areas with a barb wire fence to hold onto.

Finally a turn off road again and a trail with a steep slope so it was walk time again and I starting talking to a guy who had passed me a few minutes earlier and who had run the day one marathon at this event the day before (mad) and I ran with him from then on as he could advise me on how much incline and hills were left and where they were.

We walked up hill for a while and then back onto a road and then back onto the Roman road (my favourite,not) and promptly onto the last aid station at 22+ miles.The usual smiley faces again and a quick gel,electrolyte and little rest and then we were off again, this time up a long steep section and thankfully the last climb (whoopee!!) it was a long and hard slog even though we were walking as well and my legs were at their worst and just managing to deal with the effort required to get to the top.

Thankfully we reached the top and it was a long slow decent now off road again through rocky and muddy trail but with plenty of runnable softer parts.I was now thinking hopefully I can hang on and get to the finish in under 5 hrs, the last aid station I had hit 4 hrs roughly so was ahead of target but I wasn't counting my chickens yet as my legs may yet give up on me and make me walk in to the finish.

On we went with roughly 2 miles left and onto a road again before we hit the sign for 25 miles and a very dangerous muddy path (path doesn't really describe it really,more like a muddy trench) I had to walk several bits as I slipped all over the place and I did not want to fall over in the mud and possibly injure myself.

Out of the muddy trench and back onto the final stretch of road and back into the park, a little rise of a hill (slope) and plenty of encouragement and then a final bomb down the last grassy hill to the finish line and across in 4 hrs 36 mins and 50 seconds!!

A quick pick up of my finishers medal.......

........and a welcome addition to my tech t-shirt collection.

And then it was time to hit the coffee stall for several coffee's and a few flapjacks and then stand and wait for fellow runners to finish.

After seeing in Mr M and his co runner for the day Gillian it was time to go home, but not after changing my socks and trainers as my Hoka's were a tad muddy, as well as my socks and my mud caked calf sleeves..........

So all in all a thoroughly enjoyable day with many many people having a great but hard run, and many people saying they would do it again.It was greatly helped by the fantastic helpers at the aid stations and the friendly and smiley marshals who encouraged us along all the way, so a very big THANK YOU to all of you who made it the great experience and event it truly is.


So that's charity run #4 of my 14 run charity campaign and as ever I'm asking people to donate whatever they can afford to my two charities, as all this effort is not merely for fun (sometimes it is,but mostly it's bloomin hard work) .

Next run is #5 and is the btr Liverpool half marathon on Sunday 23rd March 2014, see you there fellow runners and supporters and hopefully see many off you at the best finish line you could wish for Rigby's pub :)