a wee cough

a couple of weeks ago i got a wee cough. i wasn't hugely worried - i had a Marvellous Training Plan which would get me to my marathon mileage with time to spare, so i figured a few days off to recover from what seemed like a mild spring cold wouldn't do any harm.

 

 

well, the "mild spring cold" turned into one of the most revolting, long-lasting colds i've ever had, and despite the above arsenal, my "wee cough" turned into a week off, then two weeks, and my Marvellous Training Plan rather went out the window. it's now been two weeks & two days since i've done any running at all, and allowing for appropriate pre-marathon taper time, i have exactly THREE WEEKS left to train (aaaaaaarrrrggh!!!!). since i'm asthmatic, any lung-related issues, however minor, really affect my training ability & energy levels. so until i finally shift this cough, i can't really get back into running (although i'm hopeful that it's on the way out, and i should be able to start doing small runs again in the next few days!).

 

to say that i'm a tad stressed would be a massive understatement. our JustGiving donations have now surpassed our original goal, which is both hugely exciting and hugely scary. none of us are fabulously sporty, but i'm meant to be the most "experienced" (ha!) runner, and this whole thing was my idea in the first place. we're doing it for such a great organisation, and although we really want to raise as much money as we possibly can, each donation that comes in adds that little bit of extra pressure, and raises expectations that little bit more. and i'm really worried about letting everyone down - my teammates, all you donors, and the MS Society - if i can't do this as well as i want to.

 

i do know that most of this is in my head. i'm putting a lot of pressure on myself, not just to complete my relay leg, but to do it like a "real runner" - i had visions of 8.5 miles at a consistent sub-ten-minute mile (ok, that's not super-fast, but it's fast for me!), a brilliant race day with perfect conditions, and a surprisingly athletic version of myself sailing in to my relay handover point like some kind of elegant gazelle. in the real world, though, even on my best running day, that's never going to happen - i may have been able to achieve the pace time i had in mind, but i was always going to be the wheezing, red-faced, slightly overweight, short-legged, middle-aged sweaty mess that i am.

 

so never fear - i WILL be running at the end of may, and i WILL absolutely finish my 8.5 mile leg of the relay. it may not be pretty, i may not do it in the time i expected, and i may even have to walk bits of it - but i'll get my sweaty self to that handover point no matter what!!

 

(don't forget there's still loads of time to donate & win!!!!)

 

Doing a race recce...(Six weeks to go)

There are a few things that aren't so great about being freelance: no one offers to make you a coffee at work; there's no one to pull a cracker with at your office Christmas party; and you might have to camp out on people's doorsteps to remind them to PAY you.

However, sometimes it is brilliant. Sometimes you can decide 'it's a lovely day, let's go to check out the Edinburgh Marathon route'. And if you are really lucky then one of your racemates is also freelance and you can go together.

So it was that Paula and I were able to skive off work yesterday and head over to Musselburgh to check out where the Edinburgh Marathon will be held in less than six weeks time (eek). And it's quite a good job that we did because it turns out that our parts of the race are quite far away from Edinburgh itself.

Whilst Lilith will be starting in the City Centre for the Royal Leg, heading down the Royal Mile and out to the coast along Portobello Promenade - by the time she hands over to Paula the race will be in Musselburgh proper. Armed with this map from the Edinburgh Marathon Website we thought we'd have a trial 'run' and see what we'd let ourselves in for.

The first thing to say is that this is a gorgeous part of the country to be running in. As we parked up I was thrilled to see that the traditional communal drying lines are still in use here (whereas in parts of Glasgow using these is now not allowed):

The second marvellous news is that once Lilith's initial downhill stretch is over the rest of the course is remarkably flat. The website had told us that the course was flat but you know, different runners have different ideas of what constitutes a 'hill'. Even by our shabby standards it's fair to say, this is a very flat course!

So flat in fact, I kept taking pictures of it, just to prove how flat it is. It's flat:

There's also lots of lovely public art to view along the way. From sculpture:

To painted murals celebrating the area's industrial history as a fishing port, coal mining area and producer of cooking salt:

That's alongside the beautiful landscape that surrounds the John Muir Way* which was looking particularly spectacular in the surprise April sunshine:

And if all that isn't enough to tempt you to come along and support us on the big day well, there's a pub called The Goth. 

FUNDRAISING NEWS!

It's been an exciting week on the fundraising front too as we have smashed through our initial target. With just under six weeks to go we'd love to see that total reach the £1k mark because MS Society Scotland could do some fantastic work with a cool grand so if you haven't already donated please do so and please share this blog far and wide!

Don't forget that those who donate can be entered into our prize draw -  read all about that here There are fabulous new prizes being added all the time so it's worth keep checking back for the latest news. 

*'Who is John Muir and why does he have a 'way' named after him?' we kept wondering as we wandered about the area enjoying ourselves. Well, it turns out he was a Scottish-American naturalist, ecological thinker, political activist and religious prophet. Blimey. Did he ever go for a pint in The Goth though? Wikipedia unfortunately does not tell us this but he sounds like an interesting chap and he certainly has a lovely way. 

Swapsies

Elaine here. With great regret, I've had to pull out of the marathon relay. The piriformis injury I sustained in early February is long-time injury. Despite doing the physio exercises twice a day, I am no further along than being able to do 20 mins once a week on a recumbent bike at the gym, and then suffering pain for 48 hours after.

To say I'm disappointed is an understatement. I'm devastated. Everyone keeps telling that these things take time to heal and I just have to be patient. Well I'm rubbish at being patient. I miss the burn and getting my heart up - even though I hate it too. The feeling afterwards, when you know you've pushed yourself and deserve that big slice of cake. That.

So I'm extremely fortunate that my wonderful husband Steve has been guilted into kindly volunteered to run in my place, despite doing no exercise since his 10K for the MS Society last May.

Here he is at the finish line! I spoke earlier about Steve's mum having MS. Because of this, raising funds for the MS Society Scotland gives Steve and us all in the family some way to fight back against the pain of seeing someone we love go through this. Please donate to our justgiving page - it would mean so very much!

So now I am cheerleader to Team4ply and have been busily making prizes for our prize draw