Evening all, have you had a good weekend? I’ve had a blast!
My shopping spree yesterday went better than I had anticipated (although @TheWelshWookie was driven bonkers by other shoppers barging in front of him 😮 ). We popped into the Nike store, only to find that they had a SALE on! Yes, that’s right, I accidentally walked into a sale. In the Nike shop. Oh. My. Goodness.
And so, IÂ was very controlled went a wee bit crazy, but at least I stocked up on some winter running gear, and not some frivolous stuff!
I bought two pairs of full length tights, one pair is a funky blue stripy number, and I also bought the dri-fit knit long sleeve top that  I have been coveting for months, since it was on SALE! Yay!
@TheWelshWookie also got some gear. including this rather bright number:
And, as it was the day before the Great North Run, I made @TheWelshWookie take my photo with the picture of Mo, in the Nike Store. Yes: I have no shame….
I then had a great night celebrating my god daughter’s birthday, which included a shedload one or two glasses of vino….!
This morning began with some more shopping (grocery shopping, bo-ring) and then we settled down to watch the build up of the GNR. I might have mentioned once or twice (or maybe more) to @TheWelshWookie that I really want to run it next year. It looked brilliant! I’m sure everyone will have seen the final couple of miles of the elite race, with Mo Farah just losing out on first place by one second: his sprint finish was just not enough. It was so exciting!
Congratulations to everyone who ran: I hope you enjoyed it, and are celebrating tonight.
We’ve been to a family Christening, and are now home, watching football. My team, the Jaguars, are facing @TheWelshWookie’s team, the Raiders, so tonight is going to be fun!
In other weekend news, Carolyn and Dougie have successfully completed the Beatson Challenge! They are so amazing, and I’m in awe of what they have achieved! We drove past them on our way to Glasgow on Saturday, and they managed a wave and a smile: they were looking really strong!
Now that I have a short break before my next official race, and with a week before my autumn 10k training begins properly, I’m feeling a little nostalgic and retrospect.
As part of this, I’ve dug out my bibs for my official runs this year.
Two 5ks, two 10ks, two half marathons 😉
When I think back to 30th December last year, when I decided to run my first half marathon, I had no idea how addicted to involved in running I would become. I had no idea what this year would bring, in terms of travel, runs, and such a lot of fun!
Not a lot of planning went into any of these- most were booked on a whim, and there’s no sign of this changing, since I signed @TheWelshWookie and I up for his first half marathon: the Rock ‘n’ Roll Madrid half in April 2014! It looks like autumn/winter 2013 and 2014 will be filled with similar surprises!
I still have four races this year- who knows if there will be any more?
Are you fed up with me titling my blogs with words ending in -in’ this week? I promise this will be the last. Ok, at least I think it will, so I’d better retract that promise, just in case!
After signing up for the Zombie Night Run UK event this morning, as a Zombie, I’ve been excited all day, thinking about it. Now that I know where it is (it’s still a secret, except for those who have entered early 😉 ) and I’ve decided to be a chaser rather than be chased, I’m looking forward to it! It also comes at the end of a week’s holiday for me, so it’ll be something to look forward to.
And when I arrived home from work tonight, I found that another amazing run has been announced.
Drum roll please………………………………………………..
2014 will be the inaugural Rock and Roll Liverpool Marathon and Half! Woop! Woop!
@TheWelshWookie and I have already been considering dreaming about the possibility of doing the RnR Madrid run next year. I’ll more than likely do Edinburgh, and I’d love to go back to Dublin, too!
Does this mean a possible 3 or 4 RnR events might be on the cards for us?
Ooooh, decisions, decisions! Whatever I decide, I’ll be looking to add another of these to my collection:
Today’s stats
Run: ANOTHER run-less day…. I need to get that sorted soon! Stretching (and eating) instead 😉
Favourite Stretching Track today: an old Coldplay fave
Today’s life lesson: think before you speak. That’s all.
Today, I’ll not be running. I’m going to take a day off, just to keep my legs fresh for Saturday. I’m really looking forward to the Perth Kilt Run, as I’m running with @TheWelshWookie, my bro, sis-in-law and nephew 😀
Today’s Stats
Run: no, stretching is my limit today. I’ll do NTC, probably Kara Goucher.
Surprise tune I heard at random this morning: FLC, I hadn’t heard this for aaages!
In order to free up some memory on my iPhone, I thought I’d clear out a load of stuff upload some of my pics from Dublin.
We managed to squish in quite a lot of sightseeing. On Sunday, we did loads of shopping:
We also did tour of the Aviva Stadium, aka Landsdowne Road. As a huuuuge rugby fan, @TheWelshWookie was really pleased about this!
After the race on Monday, we visited the Guiness Storehouse, which was great fun. Here’s the view from the Gravity Bar:
And then headed to the Temple Bar area of the city:
On Tuesday, before we flew home, we visited Trinity College.
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We had a brilliant walking tour around campus, then we saw the Book of Kells, which is beautiful. It was written by monks on the Isle of Iona, in Argyll, don’t you know? 🙂 The visit also includes entry to the old library which blew me away, it was so impressive. It looked like something from a film set!
And I couldn’t finish my Dublin adventure without sharing these famous watercourses:
Today’s life lesson: don’t spill baked beans down a silk dress. It’s a nightmare to get out!
Positives: good expo, great course, excellent organisation, friendly runners
Negatives: lack of support around the route, pacers (what pacers?), goody bags
As @TheWelshWookie and I were making a weekend of it, we flew into Dublin on the Saturday afternoon, giving us plenty of time before the race on Monday. We headed to our hotel which was on the outskirts of the city, as we had a hire car.
After we checked in and organised ourselves we headed into the city itself, to find the expo. We took the Luas, or tram:
We headed to the expo, which was well organised, busy, and had lots of stands. I had to pose, of course:
I collected my bib, my race pack and Tshirt. The goody bag was a bit rubbish- but that’s not hugely important to me anyway. I then collected my World Rocker medal, albeit a bit premature as I hadn’t actually run the second half yet!
We then browsed the stalls, and I treated myself to some Yurbud earphones, which lock in place and don’t fall out. They also allow you to hear what is going on around you, for safety when out running. And the sound quality is great I LOVE them! I also bought some CEP calf compression sleeves, in neon green!
We spent Sunday sight seeing, shopping and scoping out the start of the run at St. Stephen’s Green so that we knew exactly where we were going, and where would be best for parking.
On the morning of the race, we were up at 5am, had breakfast at the hotel, and drove into Dublin. We were greeted by some motorway signage 😉
We parked right at St Stephen’s Green, so we didn’t have to walk too far. @TheWelshWookie headed off at 7am to find where he’d be doing the gear check, while I waited in the car for another half hour getting more excited just chilling out. At 7.30am, I headed onto St Stephen’s Green and took a walk around, just to soak up the atmosphere, and to keep warm- it was a little chilly, given that I was wearing shorts and a vest!
The facilities at the start were great: loads of portaloos, and the gear check was easy to use, spread out well, and manned by the wonderful @TheWelshWookie amongst others!
The start itself was really good. From 8am, we were advised to go to our corrals, which was ideal. The build up was pretty slick with a very brief warm up, and the excitement built to the sounds of U2. Â I was in the last corral, so anyone slower than 2:20 were all lumped together- all slowbies together!
Here’s the map of the race:
The race started at 8.30 sharp, and the final corral (including me) headed off after about 10 minutes. We were notified that the pacers would be wearing coloured balloons, and I was hoping to track the 2:15 balloon, at least for part of the race. I only saw one pacer for each time- there were more in Edinburgh- and for some reason, the 2:30 pacer started in the corral BEFORE us? Huh? That made no sense to me, as I was running 2:20!
A sea of neon green!
Anyway, we headed out of the start, and the support for the first kilometre or so was really good. Within about 10 minutes, I had caught up with the end of the previous corral, which was great, and I caught sight of the pacer. But, before I knew it, they had raced away on ahead! So much for running at 2:30 – I’m pretty sure they must have come in much quicker than that, as I didn’t see them again! So, after such a great pacing experience at Edinburgh, I was disappointed that this pacer didn’t seem to do what was needed for us slowbies, anyway. 😦
As we headed towards Phoenix Park, the support dwindled, and that made the course pretty quiet. A large part of the race was in the park itself, which was gorgeous. It also meant that you could run on the grass, if you preferred. We ran past the zoo, and there were some families out, showing support. I got a high-5 off of a boy of about 3, at mile 4, which was great!
At the 10k mark, we began to head slightly uphill, which was a shock as it was the first hill of the race, but wasn’t too bad. There were sensors at 10k, but I haven’t been able to find my 10k split anywhere on the website. Hopefully, I’ll come across it!
As we headed out of the park, I noticed that we ran along whole streets, with no one out supporting. I thought that was odd, but maybe support isn’t as good as elsewhere? What it did mean was that I really, really appreciated the support that we did get- it was greatly appreciated!
The route wound its way back towards the city centre, and at mile 9, we came to The Hill. Now in most races, it would probably have just been a hill, but for this lovely, flat course, it was THE hill. Pretty steep! But, at the top of the hill was a water station- whether that was by luck, or by design, I was happy to see it, and to fill up my water bottle.
From about mile 10, the support began to pick up a little, with some fantastic crowds over the last mile. One of the great things about this route was how quickly we seemed to come cross the finish line- it just appeared, out of nowhere!
What made up for the lack of support were the brilliant bands at every mile marker. They were all really great, and this time, there were only two finishing  songs as I came past, so I got to hear lots of them! And, unlike Edinbugh, the mile markers were all present and correct!
As I crossed the line, I was handed my fab medal, and I managed to bag a bottle of water and a powerbar: the isotonic drinks were all finished 😦
I had to wait for @TheWelshWookie to finish giving back gear bags, so I headed back to the car, got changed, then came back to the square, where I found a wee spot to sit and listen to the bands. It was brilliant!
My stats: 2:16:04 only 5 seconds short of 2:15!! I Â have no idea how many participants there were, but I finished 3990th. Here’s the only stats I could find:
The Medal: Really good, fab, sparkly and heavy!
I also had my brilliant World Rocker medal:
Goody Bag: money off vouchers, leaflets, blister plasters & a packet of crisps
T-shirt: It’s a fab. neon green number!
After a quick shower and change, @TheWelshWookie and I headed first to the Guiness Storehouse, where we enjoyed a Guiness, for it’s restorative powers only, or course 🙂
And we finished our evening partying in the Temple Bar area, listening to some fantastic music.
All in all, we had a brilliant weekend, and can’t wait to visit again!
@TheWelshWookie and I spent the morning in  Dublin.  We visited Trinity College, where we were thoroughly entertained by  tour guide named David as we did the walking tour. We then queued, and visited the Book of Kells, and the Long Room of the old library. Both were really impressive!
We then flew back to Glasgow, and were thoroughly delighted to find that my mum had made us dinner before we headed home. Thanks mum!
So, I now find myself between races- recovering from the Dublin RnR, and looking forward to  The Perth Kilt Run on Saturday. It’s a busy week for running!
But, boy, it’s good to be home:
Today’s life lesson: people seem to leave their brains at home as soon as they get to an airport, so be prepared!
What do you look forward to most after a trip away?
I did it! I ran my second half marathon, the Rock ‘n’ Roll Dublin half, and it was GREAT! My unofficial time, courtesy of my Nike+ SportWatch was 2:16:10 which is over 6 minutes faster than my first, so I’m pretty pleased, but I’ll wait for the official time before I celebrate that!
Right now I’m celebrating finishing, feeling good, and smiling the whole way round (well, we’ll see if the photographers captured that!)
The medal’s great:
And I’m not aching, or waking oddly- yet!
At mile 11, this song came on and, cheesy though it may be, it really gave me a boost in the final couple of miles:
I’ll post a full race report later this week. For now, @TheWelshWookie and I are heading out to hunt down a Guiness- shouldn’t be too hard!
Today’s Life Lesson: get to the portaloos early, for obvious reasons….
Tomorrow is the big day: the one I’ve been working hard for. It’s my second half marathon- the Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon in Dublin! Squeeeee!
Today’s plan is to take things easy: do some sight seeing, stop for lunch and for coffee, and stretch my legs with a short two miler. I’m hoping to get a good night’s sleep too!
I’ll let you all know how it goes- see you on the other side! 😀
Positives: great course, lovely medal, fab experience
Negatives: goody bags, weather!
I was so excited about running my first ever half marathon!
Training began on 30th December 2012. I wanted to start the New Year with a bang, and so I started with some cold, wet, windy runs. Turns out that this was a good plan! @TheWelshWookie and I were looking forward to our weekend away in Edinburgh, and had booked into the Holiday Inn at Cowgate for the night before the race.
We chose that hotel because it was within easy walking distance from the start and finish. Perfect!
We had a lovely walk on the Saturday, past this aptly named pub:
I took that as a good sign! I noticed at this point in the walk that the route was going to be quite hilly, and on the cobbled streets for part of it too. Hmmmmm.
We walked past the office of the Children’s Commissioner, who is Tam Baillie, who I knew from working with Barnardo’s. I just love the pic of him on the window! Looks just like him! 🙂
@TheWelshWookie and I then headed for an early dinner to the Hard Rock Cafe, and we were seated under a cool piece of memorabilia:
After an early night, @TheWelshWookie was up and out early, as he was a volunteer marshall on the course. I was looking forward to having a supporter at some point! I headed for breakfast, to find the restaurant filled with fellow runners (and joggers like me) from all over the world! I knew, by then, that it was raining outside, but the forecast was, apparently, OK.
But nobody told the weather that….
It was wild! So much so that the T-shirt marquees blew away, and there was a delay at the start until they made things safe 😮
I was soaked through, despite wearing my anorak, before the race begun. There was little race build up (probably due to the weather) and I was in the fourth wave, just eager to get going!
Here’s the Scottish Government building- the starting point of the race:
When it was our turn to start, I started slowly (ahem… more slowly than usual), I didn’t want to get carried away in the first couple of miles! The first miles took us through Leith, and along the waterfront, to Musselburgh. The rain was pelting, the wind was blowing, and I felt good!
By the time I got to the 5 mile mark, I found @TheWelshWookie’s posting- he was the gate lock keeper, on the main road. It was a welcome wee boost to see him!
I turned left, and realised that the road ahead was cobbled and uphill. This seemed to go on forever, and was quite slippery underfoot. We made our way back to Edinburgh city, to head around Arthur’s Seat, which was both hilly and wet. And windy. So windy, in fact, that in some places I was blown backwards, and could barely make any forward movement!
Then, at around 9.5 miles, disaster struck! I had been using my iPhone both for music and for measuring my progress on the Nike+ Running app. But the battery died! Argh! I had enough juice left in it to call Tony and let him know that I wouldn’t be able to call him when I was done. Lesson learned! That was the low point in the race- but I pulled myself together, and pushed on.
Things got much better after that- though the weather didn’t change! As I reached mile 10.5, we arrived back at Cowgate, for the final run through the old town, when I slipped on a metal cap in the road, and almost fell- almost! I walked for about 1/4 mile, just to check that I wasn’t injured, and I plowed on uphill again.
The final couple of miles were great- the crowd support was good at the end of the race, and that certainly helped. There were supposed to be bands at eery mile mark, but perhaps some cried off because of the weather. Those who did perform were great, and a welcome boost for joggers like me!
The pacemakers were also good- upbeat, friendly and encouraging.
I crossed the finish line in 2:22:49 feeling really proud, elated and full of energy- not quite as shattered as I thought I would be! And I knew that this was the start of a new jogging phase for me 🙂
@TheWelshWookie was waiting for me, which was great. Can’t wait for next ear- though I see that the date has changed to June- because of the weather, I assume?
My stats:
The Medal:
Brilliant. Shiny, sparkly and heavy! I love it!
Goody Bag: there were no bags, so I had to try to pick up and balance what I could, which wasn’t much. I managed a PowerBar, an energy drink and a bottle of water. That was all. Hope the bags are available next year.
T-shirt: I love the technical shirt, so much so that I wore it for the MOK10K:
We had to queue for some time to get the shirts, but that’s because of the problems with the tents blowing away! Fortunately, the organisers were handing out foil blankets, which were essential given the low temperatures. Don’t I look fetching after all of that?
A taste + rate / debate of gluten free dining in Glasgow Scotland. By newlyweds team The Murphy’s. Want the latest on her fashion updates too ? Join writer/ blogger @cityslickerinthestix.com
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