Photo of the day - 18: Swim Serpentine done, and a lovely London Classics medal!

The day finally came and I swam 2 miles in the Serpentine. It wasn't pretty but I did it. Not only did I receive a medal for my efforts, but I got an extra big one too for achieving the London Classics challenge.

London Classics is a medal you get for completing the London Marathon, Ride London 100-mile cyclosportive, and Swim Serpentine 2 miles. If you have done all of these events, regardless of the year, you are eligible for a medal. I am glad they say regardless of the year, because I ran the London Marathon twice - in 2002 and 2005. I have applied quite a few times since and have been rejected. I think the times when I was accepted I hadn't realised how lucky I was. In fact in those days you would apply any time up to late September and you would get a response in mid-late November. You had around a 1:2 chance of getting a place. Now it is totally different story, with applications open just for one week a year before the event, and probably a 1:10 chance of getting a place when you factor in all the places allocated to charities. 

I have done Ride London 100 three times. That is probably my sweet-spot event, as I generally get a place given the work I do in cycling, and I can get around the route in a reasonable time without loads of training as I know the roads, and my fitness from all the other types of cycle rides and races I have done carries me through.

Swim Serpentine for me, was the sticking point. Getting a place isn't difficult as there's no ballot. However, swimming two miles was a stretch target for me. In a previous life when I did triathlons regularly I got used to doing half-mile and one-mile swims. Once I even did a half-ironman and swam a mile and a quarter. But that was a long time ago, so getting back to a point where I would feel comfortable swimming almost double the distance was going to take a bit of effort. 

This year I have probably done more swimming than I've done at any other time in my life - including thee period when I was in a triathlon club. Everywhere I went I swam: my local pools at Crystal Palace, Streatham Ice, South Norwood, then outdoors at Beckenham Place Park Lake, Brockwell Lido. Moving further out of my neighbourhood I swam in Lidos at Charlton and in London Fields. I also did more open water swimming at Royal Victoria Docks, West Reservoir in Stoke Newington, Divers Cove in Godstone, and The Haven at Feltham. On my trips up to Manchester I swam at Salford Quays and Sale Water Park. Then there were also the swim-run events at Chorlton Water Park and Box End Water Park. So yes, there's been a fair bit of swimming done this year. 

For the race I made sure to stay warm, wearing full neoprene including gloves and booties. I also had on a pull buoy to keep my legs up, and I used hand paddles. I thought I had all bases covered, but in fact I forgot to tighten my pull buoy before getting in the water and it kept swinging around my leg while I was swimming. There was no way I could have put up with that for the two miles, so I swam to the shore where the water was shallow and started to amend things. The lifeguard thought I'd gone off course, but when I explained to her what I was doing, she was okay with it. It was not a bad thing having this pause as it was also the chance to chat to the spectators and curious passers-by in Hyde Park. You don't usually get to do that while in a swimming race!

After that, everything went swimmingly (pun intended), apart from the odd moment I had to tip water out of my goggles. Sighting was not a problem (for once) as there were so many people to follow. For me, it was just a case of keeping a steady rhythm between moving my arms, rolling my body and breathing. Admittedly my pectoral muscles began to ache in the last half-mile, but it was a case of mind over matter, and staying confident.

It was great to that the marshals at the finish line were people I knew. There was a guy I had met at Royal Victoria who was there, as well as Audrey from Crystal Palace Triathletes, and Donna from South London Harriers. Thanks so much to them and all the other volunteers and the organisers for making this a fun day.

As I walked through the area to retrieve my gear from the bag drop, and get changed many people congratulated me. I hadn't realised why they kept saying it to me more than anyone else. In fact it was the effect of wearing my London Classics medal. It is an impressive looking medal, and peoeple are genuinely happy to see that folks have achieved these three big endurance events in London. And I must say I do feel slightly proud that, as per the saying on the medal (et ego Londinium vici), I have conquered London!

   

Photo of the day - 14: Blue-green algae in the Serpentine - blurgh!

Photo: Roland Turner

This little gem in central London is The Serpentine, the main lake in Hyde Park. My running club is named after this place, as Hyde Park is our home area for running. Also, I regularly come and ride laps of the park now that there is a lovely smooth cycle path all the way round. 

Folks do various other activities there like horseriding and roller skating too. And then there's swimming. There's a lido, which is a cordonned-off part of the lake where there is organised swimming, and then big events are held there where folks can swim the whole of the lake. That was the case at the London 2012 Olympics for the triathlon and the open-water swimming event. Every year there is also Swim Serpentine, which is swimming's answer to the London Marathon or Ride London. It's a mass participation event where thousands of people can swim half a mile, one mile, two miles or even six miles. 

It's meant to be taking place this Saturday, except that I have just learned that the lake has been closed to swimming since the end of August due to blue-green algae. That's quite a surprise. I have certainly heard of it affecting other swimming events I've done. But I have not heard of it in The Serpentine before. I just thought something about it being in a Royal Park meant that the maintenance would be top notch and therefore that wouldn't be allowed to happen.

There's been no official word from the organisers, except to say that they are pumping fresh water into the lake. Hopefully this will work. When I have seen places closed because of blue-green algae they didn't reopen for many months. 

It would be great to be able to swim there this Saturday, especially because if I complete the two mile-swim I will receive a special London Classics medal. These are awarded to those dedicated hard-core souls who have completed the London Marathon, Ride London 100-mile and Swim Serpentine 2-mile events. Fingers crossed that the Royal Parks Authority can resolve it and things go swimmingly on Saturday!

Daily photo - 1: Sunflowers for Charlotte Easton

Remembering Charlie Easton - She liked sunflowers

For the month of September I will be posting a daily photo, as I have done in previous years.

I took a photo of these sunflowers today that are on my allotment. It's three years to the day that we lost the lovely Charlotte Easton to cancer.

I still remember the shock of discovering she had this disease. I was in Milan at the time, and suddenly read the news in a Facebook post she wrote.

Both her parents had been battling cancer, and she had decided to run the London Marathon to raise money for the Macmillan Cancer Support. We had gotten used to seeing posts in which she documented her progress with her running training.

Charlie was known as cycle racer, and a pretty good one too. Having been an elite rower she crossed over into cycling and raced well enough to get an elite racing licence in that sport. So we were interested in seeing how she would get on as a runner. But then in 2012 she suddenly announced that she had breast cancer and would not be able to run the London Marathon. Her sister would run it instead.

We all believed that Charlie, being the determined lady she was would beat it. She did everything she could to stay healthy and try all remedies as well as accepting the harrowing treatment and surgery as someone who had the BRCA gene.

At the same time Charlie continued to do sport when she was well enough, doing a few Park runs, a triathlon, and even a couple of cycle races. So I certainly stayed positive, thinking that she would overcome the cancer. After all, her parents had done so.

But things went downhill rapidly for Charlie in 2016, and over the August Bank Holiday she made the terrible announcement that "the bitch" as she called it, was in her brain, and referred to going on "the next great adventure".....she died six days later aged 36.

I like to think she is up there winning lots of cycle races in between doing Latin and Ancient Greek - her other passion. And maybe she has even able to do a marathon. Race in Peace, Charlie. x

Charlie (2nd left), w a time trial in Regents Park in 2011. Helen McKay (left)
was 2nd, and Jo McCrae, Lydia Boylan and Astrid Wingler came 3rd equal

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Fast and Scary at Dunton

So how is my Paris Marathon training going?

Last autumn I signed up for a couple of challenges that I hope to take on this year. One of them was the Etape du Tour, and the other one was the Paris Marathon.

As the marathon is taking place in April I have been focusing mainly on running. And it has definitely been a focus!

Preparing for the Paris marathon has been a quite an undertaking, not least getting in the regular training and staying injury free.
It won't be my first attempt at running 26.2 miles (42.2km), but the previous times when I ran a marathon I was a sprightly young lady in her early to mid thirties as opposed to now, roughly fifteen years later, with joints that get that bit stiffer and creaky. Plus I need more time to recover after exercise, and am just an tad slower than I used to be.

Although I have done a lot of running in my time, in recent times my running training has just been limited to 3- or 4-mile outings, the odd Park run, and then once a year a longer event like a half-marathon or 10-mile race that I would plod round.

Running 26 miles just seems such a long way, and a long time to be on my feet. What am I going to do for four or even five hours while I pound the pavements? I might get bored! For the first time I may have to break a life-long habit of not wearing headphones just so I can get through the challenge. Yes, challenge is exactly what it will be! It's quite handy that the setting for the challenge is in a lovely place like Paris, which should make the task a less arduous ordeal!

I also rely on the fact that the two London marathons that I did were such a long time ago that if the running experience was not good that trauma has now been erased from my mind! I vaguely recall crying as the finish gantry on The Mall came into sight, but that might have just been relief that I had managed to get through it in one piece! I also recall the volunteer who gave me my medal avidly congratulating me as though I had won, when I had probably finished in around 13,000th place!

So here I am, just over one month away from the big day in Paris. Training has been going okay. I have not followed a set training plan from on-line or a magazine, preferring to start my training early - back in October - and running on feel. The aim was just to get up to running 13 miles by Christmas, and then to run 20 miles by early March at the latest.

I have achieved that, but it wasn't easy and it wasn't pretty - especially the 20 miles I ran along the River Thames a couple of days ago without properly carboloading! While doing my training I have been doing cross-country league races with my clubs in London - Serpentine RC and South London Harriers - so that has made it complicated to juggle.

A short fast run over mud, wearing spikes is just as taxing as a long slow run on smooth ground. So doing these back to back on the weekend just means my legs are shot during the week! As the long runs have gotten longer, the Saturday cross-country league races have had to be run slower just so that I could have a bit left in the tank for my Sunday run!

Since getting past the 12-mile mark things have become more sketchy for me in terms of risk of injury. Throughout my adult life I have suffered from either patella syndrome, ilio-tibial band syndrome, Achilles tendinitis or calf strains.

So as the training runs have lengthened, this has steadily become a greater and greater exercise in injury prevention and damage limitation! I am spending a lot of time (and money) at Crystal Palace Physio Group to get in regular massages and keep my muscles loose. The foam roller, a tennis ball and a golf ball have become my best friends. Yoga has also been the order of the day, though I have tended to do that at home because when attempting it in a class I felt so self-conscious at how rigid my body is compared with all those supple women of a certain age!

Then I have reintroduced the post-run sitting in freezing water routine to my regime. That moment when I hit the water is massively unpleasant, takes my breath away, makes me squeal, I worry I might get hyperthermic afterwards, but it is character building (apparently) and healing!

There have been good parts in this marathon preparation though. It has made me vary my runs that bit more and go to new places. Instead of just running the usual parks in South Norwood and Crystal Palace, I have also added in Dulwich Wood, Dulwich Park, Cator Park, Beckenham Place Park and Shirley Hills.

San Silvestre 8k in Buenos Aires 

Wherever I have travelled I have kept my trainers nearby to get in a few miles. So I ran to work when I worked in Central London, I did regular runs around the Royal Parks, including Richmond Park. Of course when I recently travelled to Argentina I ran - around Buenos Aires, Bariloche, Mendoza, even doing a running race while there.

I also did a running race in Tortona, near Milan and plan to do some running in Paris when I recce the route. I even did a run en route to join my second claim club, East Hull Harriers, up in East Yorkshire! It had been tempting to just peel off the motorway to go running around some National Trust land in a place called Sharpenhoe, near Luton!

My biggest issue now is that I will run out of time to go to some of the other interesting places I had hoped to run in. I haven't yet done the South Downs or the Box Hill area yet, and I was also hoping to do a bit more stuff north of the river like Hampstead Heath or Hackney Marshes. There's nothing like a marathon to get you out discovering new places!

The other great thing has been in this era of social media (which didn't exist when I last ran a marathon) it has been great to connect with other people. There's a Facebook group for Londoners who are running the Paris marathon, a group for all women who are running the Paris marathon, as well as equivalent groups on Strava. These are great ways to stay motivated while training, get tips and advice if you have doubts, and even make new friends.

Catching up with Mariana in Buenos Aires 

When I went to Argentina I managed to meet up with one of the girls from the Facebook group, Mariana who lived in Buenos Aires. It was great to be able to catch up with one of the Paris marathon girls on the other side of the world.

I look forward to seeing her when she is in Paris, and also when she comes for holiday in London.

So how is my marathon training going? Well, it's not too bad. I haven't had any injury or illness, apart from a cold a couple of weeks ago. There have definitely been moments where I thought this is all a silly idea and I won't get through it - particularly on those days where I felt really tired just doing a 3-mile run! But in the end I just had to really hang in there and believe in my strategy.

I have put in a few miles, so I am almost good to go. I just need to not break my leg during a ski trip that I've got planned, or pull a muscle during that final 20-mile training run! The coach trip to Paris (without Brendan!) is booked, my lodgings are sorted, so I just need to show up at the Champs Elysées on 8th April. But even now I'm not taking anything for granted!

Some might ask, why do a marathon? It's so time-consuming, there's a risk of injury, it can be painful physically and mentally. It's hard to fit around everyday life, it can be expensive when you add in the cost of equipment, travel, accommodation, entry fees and medical bills to prevent or treat injury. After all, I have done a marathon before, so it's not like I have anything to prove.

I guess the answer is that I do have something to prove. These challenges can't be taken for granted. Also my pet hate is living off my achievements from many years ago. I feel much happier celebrating something I achieved last week than trying to milk off something I did more than 10 years ago!

So as long as I am getting older the bar will naturally be getting higher, and so there will always be something to prove! Perhaps it is part of the mid-life crisis phenomenon but hey, I say if it's keeping me off the sofa, I'm happy!



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Another challenge for 2018 - Paris Marathon

I already mentioned how I have got a place in the Etape du Tour for next year. As if that's not enough of a challenge (along with all the preparation races I need to do) I have only signed myself up for the Paris marathon!

Another challenge for 2018

It's been ages since I last did a marathon - 12 years in fact, and it was the London marathon. London is the only marathon I've done, and I have done it twice - in 2005 and in 2002. I applied a few times to do the New York Marathon, and I finally got a place in 2006, but life got in the way and I ended up not doing it. Over the years injury and other commitments have meant that I just forgot about doing marathons again, but I guess that the whole "mid-life crisis" thing has got me signing up for different physical challenges.

You get to an age where you want to prove to yourself you've still got it! So here I am taking on the marathon challenge, along with other things (though I haven't bought a motorbike - yet!).

I had hoped to mark my marathon comeback by getting a place in the public ballot for next year's London marathon. But alas, when 380,000 people are applying for around 17,000 individual places the odds are slightly stacked against you!

Paris is a place where I have had a lot of good memories (I lived there for four years shortly after graduating from university.) and I always have a good time whenever I go there. I did my first ever half-marathon at the Semi-Marathon de Paris over 20 years ago. So it would only be logical to do their full marathon as well.

So within minutes of me receiving my rejection email from London Marathon, I had signed up for Paris!

Immediately afterwards you get that moment of euphoria when your place in the event that you'd been really wanting to do is confirmed. Then the feeling sinks in and you realise how much you're going to need to do between now and race day - the training, getting in loads of miles, sometimes running at silly hours of the day, or in really bad weather. But you've got to get it done if you are to hit the target and have a decent crack at the challenge on the day.

And after all that thought, you then say to yourself, "What have I done??"

Well, it's too late. I have triggered the equivalent of Article 50 for running the Paris marathon so I'd better get in, get on, and get out!

Training has been going okay so far, but I have to be really disciplined about getting the miles in. I also have to stay injury free and try not to get colds or the flu - something which is a challenge in itself when half your colleagues in the office are coughing and sneezing across the desk!

Anyway, I am going to do what I can to prepare for the marathon, and hopefully I will be able to make the start line at the Arc de Triomphe on April 8th next year. I'm going to love Paris in the springtime!