Wednesday 18 April 2012

Edinburgh Rock & Roll Half Marathon Race Report

Hello Fudgey Friends,

How is everyone? I'm good taking a few days to rest & recover from all my recent running & various aches & pains.

Half Marathon Expo
On Saturday afternoon Mr Fudgey & I had to head into Edinburgh to collect my race number for Sunday. For us this was a bit of a pain in the backside as we live a 45 minute bus journey from the centre of town but as the organisers wanted an extra £5 to post race packs out I opted to make the 25 mile round trip to collect!

I have to say I was a little disappointed with what was on offer at the expo - compared to the amazing Expo we'd been at in Dublin.


I received a tiny envelope with my race number & chip, then to another tent to collect my tshirt & gear bag which simply contained several leaflets that will all end up in my recycling bucket.

There were a few stalls & I loved the Bond Band stall though & fabby hubby got me a pink ponytail hat, a band for my good friend smurfy & this band for me.

I also got a couple of energy bars at the Run for it stand but other than that there wasn't much for me & very little in the way of give aways, competitions etc.

I know that all sounds quite negative but it's not meant to be I'm just being honest. On a positive note it did psych me up for the run on Sunday - seeing everyone collecting their numbers & walking about with their gear bags started to get me in the mood.


Race Day

It wasn't as early a start as my 2 other recent events - a start time of 9am meant I was able to get up at 6.45am.
My usual pre race breakfast of Marks & Spencer Apple & Sultana Instant porridge - I think if they ever discontinue this I will cry - it's now seen me through 2 marathons & 4 halfs :-)
Plenty of water to drink to hydrate. Feet taped up - though touch wood I've not had any foot / blister issues in a long long time. Kitted up & ready to go at 7.45am.
Massive Thank you again for Dad Smith for running us into Edinburgh - very very much appreciated - it really took the stress out of getting there on time.

As usual first stop was the queue for the portaloos. Sorry another criticism but for the number of runners there were not enough toilets especially compared to other events I've taken part in with both a lot more & a lot less runners. By the time I finally made it to the front of the queue & went to the loo & came out they were announcing that there were 15 minutes till the start of the race & could all runners make their way to the starting areas.
At this point I said goodbye Mr Fudgey as he headed off to find a good photo spot & I went to my start area. The 8th section back from the start.
It was fantastic to bump into Jonathan Sherman also making his way to his start area & to say hello & then to find the lovely Sarah Burgon - so we had a good old natter while we waited the 11 minutes it took us to get over the start line from the gun. Though there was quite a wait it was good as they were waiting a minute or so between each corral so there was no problem with congestion on the course which can be frustrating.
The Red Hot Chilli Pipers played Flower of Scotland at the start but as we were so far back we couldn't see anything.

Once across the line I settled in a nice steady pace - I knew this wasn't going to a PB in fact I expected a personal worse with all the aches, pains, niggles, moans & groans I've had recently. 4 races in 4 weeks certainly took their toll & I know that since the start of the year I have overtrained & not rested as much as I should have. I should practice what I preach on to others about all the time!

Saw fantastic Mr Fudgey so gave him my customary wave & focused on what lay ahead. I was running really great for the first 5k better than I've run in a wee while but it started to get warm as we passed along portobello & I could feel my pace slowing. I still felt OK though & kept going. The music at each mile was really good especially if you missed the mile marker you knew from the entertainment you'd passed another mile :-) I kept drinking enough to keep me hydrated & took on an energy gel after each 6k.

The pace really started to drop a lot after 10k especially climbing some of the hills & a few times I had to slow to a walk. Though I have to admit the downhills were more painful that the uphills. They really made me grimace at some points, especially coming down the mound. My right leg & groin wanted to divorce me & find a new body At around 11 miles I was finding it really tough going it was so hard as the mind was willing but my body just wasn't so I decided on a tactic of allowing myself to walk for 1 minutes & then run for 3 minutes - this got me through miles 11 & 12 & then I knew I was nearly at the finish. Checking Mr Garmin I knew I could make the finish under 2 hours 30 which though a personal worst for me was the pace I had hoped I could manage & I didn't want to be over 2hrs 30. Practically cried up the last incline of Jeffrey Street, but when I got to the Ragamuffin shop at St Mary Street & the Royal mile I knew it was all downhill & I was adamant & sheer bloody minded that I was running all the way to the finish........Which I did:-) I've never been so glad for a race to be over. 2 hours 28 minutes a personal worst but I'm so incredibly proud of myself for sticking with it & finishing.

Other than my Lockie sheer bloody mindedness & stubbornness, these last few runs have been to raise funds for The Prince & Princess of Wales Hospice for my Gran Margaret Lockie who they took such great care of. I know I've said this before & my regular followers will remember but my Gran was the most amazing, strong, & dignified lady I know & seeing the way she dealt with her terminal Cancer will inspire me for the rest of my life. If you can spare a couple of quid please please please donate here

At the finish area I got water, a powerade, a banana, a pack of crisps, a frusli bar & a mini bag of haribo - which I think Mr Fudgey has eaten or are still in his bag. There was no race goody bag but there was a pretty awesome medal.

So would I recommend this race, for the route, the on course entertainment, marshalling, the medal & the tshirt absolutely. A bit pricey, & next year they need to revisit the packet pick up & the number of loos. Also disappointingly the results in the Edinburgh evening news are gun time not chip time so a good 10 minutes slower than actual time.

So what's next?
I'm signed up for a 10k in 4 weeks but at the moment my main focus is on getting all my wee niggles recovered & my body properly rested.

I'll be back soon with an update on how I'm getting on

Take Care all
love
Fudgey xxxx

Sunday 1 April 2012

Kilomathon Scotland - Race Report

Hello Fudgey Friends,

Well it was another early Sunday morning start in the Fudgey household today - though not quite as early as last week. Massive Thank you to hubby for his constant support & for not moaning about having his Sunday lie in stolen 2 weeks in a row. Thank you also to Dad Smith for the lift to the start at Ocean Terminal.

My running hasn't been great recently. My pace just isn't there & I'm struggling a little with a niggle in my groin & have had some heel pain the last couple of weeks but I'm determined to make it through to the Rock & Roll Half marathon in 2 weeks time & hopefully raise funds for The Prince & Princess of Wales Hospice in Glasgow - you took such amazing care of my Gran in the last weeks.

Please sponsor me here if you can - every penny very very very much appreciated.

So it was up at 6.30am on fuel with my usual pre race porridge. I really struggled to eat it this morning but forced myself & the 2 wee kitties Beau & Dora enjoyed the last wee traces in the bowl.

Out of the house at 7.35am and off to Ocean terminal for an 8.30am start.

We arrived at Ocean terminal & I had to make my last pre race visit to the toilets. What a nice change to have real toilets instead of portaloos. With proper running water & hand dryers. I never even had to queue this morning.

At about 8.20am everyone started to make their way to the starting area. I've taken part in the last 2 kilomathons & whilst they haven't been massive there were certainly a lot less people today. I was worried about being left behind as everyone else looked so fit & like real runners!

It was pretty cold first thing even though it was really bright - I'm really glad I had my trusty bruised & battered £1 baseball cap.

8.30am and we were off. I was really pleased to see that it was a nice steady start and I must have placed myself just in the right area as no one was flying past me - in fact I was doing all the passing.

The route was pretty much all on cycle paths & was really lovely. The only thing was that as there were not so many runners I felt I didn't push myself as hard as I could have, but this is a good thing as I needed to treat today as a regular Sunday training run and not overdo it before the half marathon.

By the time I got to the water station at about 5.5km I was pretty glad as it was getting very warm in the sun.

I struggled a little between 7 & 10km to keep up my consistent pace, but found it again for the last 3km & sprinted into Murrayfield Stadium. What an amazing place to finish and as the runners by this point were pretty spaced out - every runner was getting their own cheer as they crossed the line.


Through the finish area to receive my medal & goody bag & 2 bottles of water.

The goody bag contained: an eat natural bar, , lo salt, raisins, sample of biofreeze, sweets, mini deodorant, spatone liquid iron supplement, high 5 sports drinks tablets & a sports watch.

My official time 1 hour 26 minutes 35 seconds.
Delighted with this given my time for the full kilomathon last April was just under 2 hours 50 minutes & I'm not in the shape or fitness I was then.
I now have something to work on & will be going & signing up for the September event.

I actually really enjoyed the smaller race today & the fact that it was on the cycle paths rather than roads. It was also really good value for money at only £15 for the 13.1k distance. There was also 6.55km & 2.62km races. I'd really recommend this to anyone who fancies giving it a go on 30th September.
I'd love it though if the full Kilomathon was reintroduced at some point too though.

I'll be back soon to catch up on the last few weeks including Sports relief.

Til then Take Care everyone

lots of love
Fudgey
xxxxx