The Road to Recovery

Is a long and painful one, so it would appear!
However, if there is one thing that doing the marathon has taught me, it's that I am a pretty determined person when I need to be, and it's just as well!

I haven't run a single step since marathon day.  In fact, I have barely done any exercise at all.  It soon became quite clear to me that the hip injury wasn't going to miraculously heal itself, and after an unsuccessful attempt to go on a little walk in Wales a few weeks later (which resulted in me turning back after half a mile and literally being in tears from the pain and frustration by the time I got back to the cottage) followed by a few physio sessions, I gave in and saw a specialist.
I had x-rays, CT scans and an MRI, and the conclusion of those left me in complete shock.  Turns out I need three operations - two to fix the injuries I was carrying and one to fix the underlying cause.  I needed my knee cleaning out, and also have a labral tear in my hip joint, caused by the ball part of my joint being worn into a slightly deformed shape meaning it tore the cartilage in my joint.  Then biggest of all, I need an operation called a tibial osteotomy, which essentially means breaking my tibia in order to re-set my leg at a different angle so that it will be kinder to my hips and knees going forwards.  Turns out my leg is all out of alignment which places too much stress on those two joints!  I was a bit of an emotional wreck after hearing this, probably compounded by the fact that the pain I was experiencing in my hip was making it almost impossible for me to get a decent nights sleep.  It seems to be my default sleeping position to end up on my right hand side curled up, which results in a very deep aching sensation right inside my hip strong enough to wake me up.  The act of moving onto my back and straightening my right leg out to ease the pain would often cause so much discomfort it would take me a good hour or so to settle down afterwards.

All of the specialists (not only the surgeon but also the various physio's and radiographers I saw) were quite shocked when I told them that I had picked the labral tear up before the marathon, but had done it anyway.  I'm not sure if that is a good thing or not but I do seem to have a high pain threshold, which can only be a good thing given what I have ahead of me!  The specialist I saw was also quite shocked when I told him that the previous knee specialist had chosen to do nothing about the floating bone in my knee, which if you recall from my previous post on the matter, I had pointed out to him as he hadn't even spotted it from the scans.  Hindsight is a marvellous thing, but you would not believe how much I am kicking myself, because if you read that post you might recall that I was uneasy about his lack of action but chose to just trust him and go with it.  It is entirely possible (quite likely in fact) that if I had sought a second opinion and had a knee arthroscopy back then, I would not have picked up the hip injury at all.  Basically, my hip has been compensating for my knee which has been a major factor in where I find myself today.  When I get my act together I am contemplating making a complaint against him to be honest.  I felt brushed off at the time, but as I didn't like his bedside manner very much and was worried he hadn't spotted the bone chip, I was relieved to not have to go back and see him again.  I am too emotive on the subject now, but lets just say it feels a bit like he played a part in altering my London Marathon dream from one of running the whole way and aiming for a specific time, to finding myself with a serious injury which should have led me to withdraw two weeks before.  I always knew the marathon would be a painful experience but there was no need for it to be quite as painful as it was!!!

Afterwards and the Aftermath - Part Two. Nothing's ever simple!

This is why I have not been running since the marathon...........

A selection of photos

A random selection of photos from the day, in no particular order.  Mainly because I can't work out how to swop them into the right order.....

Me walking up to Big Ben

Big Ben

The London Eye

Had to be done really!

Proud to finish!

The Medal

Lucozade Tunnel of Yes!

Me in the Tunnel

Proud lady and her medal!

This mile marker took its time to appear!

Welli in the Tunnel

My Running Companions

I thought I should let you see all the costumes I saw along the way (yes, even the bluddy rhino's!!).  It's hard enough to finish a marathon in normal clothes, I don't know how these guys do it.....

One of the rhino's, ever present companions

Saw this guy near the start, everyone was cheering for 'Chef' and I thought it might have been Gordon Ramsay!

These complete nutters were carrying a cider press.  Saw them near Deptford.

This costume was quite tall!

This one was quite scary!

Jamaican Bobsleigh

Another bluddy rhino!

This was the biggest and scariest costumer I saw....

Shark Man

Storm Trooper.  My brother and Kate informed me he was bleeding by the time he made it to them at 23 miles....

Rotary Club 

FA Cup?  Got lots of cheers from the kids....

Afterwards and the Aftermath - Part One

Nearly six weeks have flown by!

After I had caught up with everyone at the end of the race, we stumbled along to All Bar One on Villiers Street near Embankment for a celebratory gin, and also to get me warm as I was starting to shiver.  I briefly contemplated a visit to Gordons but decided the stairs were going to be a bit much for me, however it turned out that the only place to sit in All Bar One happened to be....you guessed it....upstairs!!  With a helping arm from my Dad I managed to get up and with much relief, plonk myself into a seat.  To be honest, I had expected my legs to feel worse than they did, although looking back I think I might have been a bit out of it as I was feeling emotional and elated (and had also had a fair few drugs and some gin during the race!).

Pete went off to move the car as it was still parked at the hotel, and my brother appeared with a nice cold G&T for me - it almost looked as good as the one Mykey handed me at Fetchpoint 22 miles into the race, but to be honest I don't think any other gin will ever taste quite as good as that one did!!!

We were sat around chatting for a fair while (another gin) and I was managing to keep it together quite well, although I was feeling really emotional (by that read tearful).  I had a few texts to read so I was doing that and replying, and then I saw one from Zeph saying well done and that she was proud of me.  We had a little back and forth conversation and the messages she sent me were so lovely it completely sent me over the edge!  I remember being mid-sentence and just having to stop and bawl my eyes out because I couldn't keep it in anymore!  I had my second much needed hug from my brother and that helped to sort me out!

We left my brother and Kate to catch the tube home, and my Dad once again helped me walk to the car that Pete had managed to park literally around the corner from the bar.  A quick drive to Maidenhead to drop my Dad off and also to see my Mum and Grandad who had been patiently waiting!  When I walked into the lounge, my 89 year old Grandad was sitting on the sofa with his arms out for a hug.  As I hobbled over I was thinking there was a distinct possibility that bending over to give him a hug might not actually be within the realms of my capability, but I did manage it!!!  I did think to myself it may have been easier for him to get up than for me to bend down, such was the amount I had started to stiffen up by then!!  I managed to shovel some dinner into me that my Mum had made, despite not really feeling very hungry, and then I just crashed.  I had that feeling you get where you would give anything to just be at home in your pyjama's in your own bed, and so we didn't hang around for much longer.
When we got home I managed a shower and I even managed to bend down and say hello to the cats who were very pleased to see us, and then I pretty much collapsed in a heap into bed (after carefully placing my medal under my pillow!).

I spent the next morning in bed.  I could feel how sore my legs were and the prospect of moving was not appealing to me a great deal, so I literally didn't get out of bed until 11am.  And it took two attempts!!  The first time I managed to get to standing position, I literally fell back down again as my legs were having none of it, and even when I did manage to get up I couldn't walk without holding onto things.  Oh the pain!!!  I hurt in unexpected places too - my ribs were agony and I had a bit of sunburn on the backs of my hands.  I spent the day shuffling around the house rocking my pj's and my medal and just chilled out.  Caught up on the hundreds of messages on facebook (often in tears) and had a look at my photos, those sorts of things.  I was really overwhelmed with how many messages and posts and texts and so on I had received during the day.  To all those people who tracked me or took the time to post to wish me luck or anything, thank you so much.  It means a great deal to me it really does!

I was booked into a spa the next day with Sarah and Sui and I did wonder how on earth I was going to manage it as walking really was a struggle, but the more I did, the easier (!!) it got, and when I got up the next day I could just about waddle about inconspicuously!  We were blessed with gorgeous weather so not only did we have a blissfully relaxing day, we even managed to sunbathe outside for a while.  Sarah kindly paid for me to have a floatation treatment, which essentially involves getting into a pool of salty mineral water which you can relax and completely float in for half an hour.  Apparently if you fall asleep for that half an hour, it is the equivalent of 3 hours deep sleep.  I didn't fall asleep, but suffice to say that all of my limbs enjoyed the feeling of being completely weightless immensely!  Once I had got over the slight stinging sensation caused by the chafing under my arms that is!!

Wednesday I was back to work, and I took my medal with me to show everyone.  It was a shock to the system to be back into work after such a life-changing experience, but the first week was good as I was still on a real high, although still finding walking quite painful.  If you can picture an OAP cowboy style of walking, that was me!! :-)

On the Monday after, the ballot opened for the 2014 London Marathon.  Despite saying all along that I only ever want to do this once, and despite still not being able to walk (or sleep) pain-free, despite saying never again during training and the day after, and despite regularly using the phrase 'a marathon is a half marathon too far' I entered.  I only went and bluddy entered.  I have literally become certifiable!  I am comparing it to childbirth.....there are so many similarities!
Seriously though, I know I did it and that is a massive achievement (although when the blues hit afterwards I took some reminding of that) but I am gutted about the fact that I picked up an injury with two weeks to go which meant I had to abandon my hope of finishing in 5hrs 30minutes, and relegate my plans to just finishing at all.  I am gutted that it was so painful, and that I couldn't run it all.  I know I shouldn't be, and I am proud of myself for the achievement - perhaps even more so given the added difficulty level!  I know that I wouldn't have met Welli without the injury, and I am pleased I did and was so happy to run with her - I wouldn't change that for the world.  But it still feels a little bit like unfinished business.  So, you never know, I might be doing it all again next year!  And if I don't get a ballot place?  Well then I will be standing at Fetchpoint with a few tins of G&T and a bag of jelly babies, holding my hand out for high-fives and shouting in my best cheering voice to repay the kindness I got from the crowd every step of the way this year.

Virgin London Marathon 2013 - Part Two (The Big Day)

We were up bright and early (ok, just early!!!) to get ready.  Room service arrived whilst I was in the shower, and consisted of porridge, toast, tea and orange juice for me.  I forced down most of the porridge, the orange juice, and a cup of tea but that was it.  I didn't eat the toast, nor the banana I had taken with me, so I packed a banana into my kit bag with some lucozade to have on the way.  I had a small panic when I put the whole outfit on and realised that my bum bag was not sitting very well with my number, so a bit of re-jigging was required.  Pete had to do it for me, I was flapping too much and being around safety pins was only going to end in tears!
All sorted, we made our way to the tube station.  We met a couple of other runners there, but there were no guards to let us through the barriers (runners get free tube travel by showing race number).  It turned out the gate was open so we just went through anyway.  I needn't have worried too much about how to get to the start - we could have just followed the crowds!  So many people carrying bright red kit bags and eating banana's all over the place - not to mention the waft of Deep Heat to follow!
Once at Blackheath it was a short walk up a slight hill to the entrance to the Blue Start.  I already had pains in my hip despite having taken two co-codamol tablets, but I put it down to paranoia!  I had to leave Pete at this point and just go straight in as there were no loo's outside and I was desperate, having drunk most of my lucozade and some water by this point.

Red kit bags galore!

As ready as I'll ever be

Once inside I immediately dumped my heavy kit bag and made my way to the first loo's I found, which just happened to be female urinals.  Honestly, that has to be seen to be believed - lots of ladies bottoms lined up and everyone trying to work out how to use the she-pee thingy correctly!  We were all having a bit of a laugh about it but at least there were no queues!  Hands washed and rinsed with leftover water and I mooched around a bit looking for my start pen (number 9, right at the back with the fancy dress folk) whilst eating my banana.  With banana eaten, lucozade finished and rubbish disposed of, I had nothing left to occupy my mind.  I was standing near my start section, probably staring at everyone with scared goggle-eyes.  I felt like crying and being sick all at the same time.  It didn't matter what I tried to do to calm myself down, nothing was working - I've had nerves before a race before but never like this.  And then I got a text.  It was my cousin Nic telling me she was at the blue start to see her colleague off, and wishing me luck.  Hmm, the blue start you say, I could see spectators and thought maybe I would be able to find Nic.  A few texts later, I established that she was very close to where I was, so I strolled along and there she was!  I can't tell you how much I needed that familiar face and the hugs.  We admired a few costumes (Jamaican bob-sleigh, Storm Trooper, shark and man with a surfboard all spring to mind).  The next thing I knew it was almost 10am and time to head off.  I lined up as far back as I could, and then they were off up ahead.  I'm afraid back where I was, we didn't hear the silence for Boston, but I was silent and thinking about it anyway I promise.  We seemed to be walking forwards fairly smoothly without the usual stop/start you get, and I started chatting to a couple of guys next to me.  They had the same goal as me - one foot in front of the other until you cross the finish line.  As we made our way closer to the start, we passed an announcer standing in the middle of the road with a microphone, and he did a shout-out for me!  "And here goes Katy, number 18006, running for Cancer Research".  What a buzz!  And then we started jogging, and suddenly there we were, across the start line!  All I kept thinking was, you've got to take all this in Katy, you're actually doing this now, you're actually running the London Marathon!  I felt like I needed to pinch myself or something, to make sure this wasn't part of some crazy dream, but no, I was actually doing this!

I soon settled into a comfortable rhythm, with a massive grin on my face, and the first mile was done before I'd even noticed.  I quickly realised that sticking near to the edge meant I was out of faster peoples way, but with the added bonus that lots more people shouted my name to encourage me and I was getting a lot of high-fives, so I spent the first five miles like that - sticking to the edge, grinning like a loon and giving high-fives to anyone who wanted one!  I also remember in that time a couple of things happened that I'll probably never forget - a lady standing a mile and a half in holding a sign saying 'not far to go' or words to that effect.  Yeah right love!!  And then about three miles in a little boy about 7 or 8 put his hand up for a high-five, then jokingly moved it away as I went to clap it - literally had me laughing out loud, what a character!  Then passing a church, a man rushed over to me to shake my hand, and he ran alongside me for a few paces, just thanking me.  I'm not sure if he was touched by my charity vest or what, but he nearly made me cry!

I'd had a vague plan about refuelling that I would take something on every three miles.  I had read a lot about the dangers of over-hydration and so was actually incredibly paranoid about that, so I had decided I would only take on water every six miles or so, and maybe the odd drop of lucozade as and when I fancied it.  And I had three gels and some sweets on me too.  Well at mile five I realised I had totally forgotten to take on anything at all at mile three, but I felt fine anyway, apart from my hip injury was flaring up in a big way.  It had started hurting pretty much straight away, but I think by 5 miles in the painkillers I had taken before the race had started to wear off and I was feeling thirsty as it was actually quite warm.  So I grabbed a quick swig of water on the go so as not to lose my rhythm and resolved to actually stop and take some more painkillers and a gel at mile 6.  This was the point where I had my first wobble.  I had been so caught up in the atmosphere up until then that I had managed to block out the encroaching pain, but now I had the first negative thought.  What am I doing, I'm only 5 miles in and I'm already in a lot of pain, how am I going to do another 21 miles?  Luckily I'm stubborn and I soon found myself at mile 6.  The water station was shortly after the mile marker and so I made my way to the side of the road, and took on a whole bottle of water, a gel and two co-codamol.  I then started up at a fast walk and then when I was sure everything had settled, started running again.  It was incredibly painful, and I could tell I was limping a bit, but the more I kept moving the more the pain faded into the background.  And then the road seemed to narrow a bit, and suddenly there was Cutty Sark!  What a sight, and we ran right around her, what an awesome view!  I kept my eye out for the cameras as I knew there would be some here, and waved when I saw them, and it worked like magic to take my mind off the pain for a while, long enough for the painkillers to kick in and take the edge off, and for me to get back into a nice rhythm.  The next thing I remember is going past Deptford fire station, where we had a welcome shower from the fire engines which made me laugh again - the water was so cold but it was so nice!  I knew both Nic and Pete had said that they might be around this area anywhere up to about mile 9, so I kept searching for them, but to no avail.  I do remember seeing a Cancer Research cheering point though - or should I say I heard them, as they cheered me past with such enthusiasm that it definitely gave me a lift!

The next landmark I really remember was passing Bermondsey tube, which made me think of Pete.  I remember feeling a bit sad that I hadn't managed to see him or Nic yet, but I knew then that I wasn't too far from Tower Bridge, where I knew that he was going to be.  Before I knew it, the course turned right and there it was.  Tower Bridge in all its glory!  I had picked up some water and still had the bottle, so I decided that I would walk across the bridge so that I could finish the water, and also just so that I could take it all in.  Much like when I passed Cutty Sark, it was a sight that really took my breath away and I wanted to savour it.  I was also busy scouring the crowds for a sight of Pete.  As I got to the middle of the bridge, I broke into a run again and then turned right.  I was now looking out for Fetchpoint which I knew would be on the other side of the road from me, aswell as Pete, but I saw neither.  What I did see though, was all the runners going the other way who had already clocked up 22 miles by this point.  It was the lowest point of the race so far for me, not seeing my supporters, struggling with pain and seeing all those people and knowing it would be a good couple of hours before I would be where they were!  As it happens, both Pete and my Dad saw me, and were screaming out for me, but I just didn't hear them!!  When my Dad explained that he had been near a red open-top bus close to the bridge, I even remembered seeing it, but I just didn't hear them shouting for me!  At mile 14 I stopped and took more painkillers, a gel and more water.  It was a real battle of wills to start running again, especially as I saw a friendly looking St Johns Ambulance crew, but I knew then that there was no way I was going to give this up, no way.  I couldn't picture myself explaining to all those people who had believed in me how I had pulled out, all I could picture was the finish line and the medal and finding my supporters at the end.

The next few miles are to be honest, a bit of a blur for me.  I wish I could remember more!  I was having to take occasional walk-breaks, but was still mostly running.  The one thing I do remember becoming aware of was the ever-present Rhino's.  There were several of them that would intermittently overtake me, then I would overtake them back.  I can't remember their names now (perhaps I should have written this blog sooner!) but they were ingrained on my mind at the time.  If you want the loudest and most enthusiastic cheers, wear a big costume!!  Speaking of which I do also remember seeing a huge scary looking pink nurse costume, a gingerbread man, a beer bottle and a fire extinguisher type thing.  A quick google and I can find pictures of most of them so I will add them to a separate blog post at some point so you can see my running companions!!

At mile 17, I hit the wall big-time.  I stopped, turned on my phone and sent Pete a text which said At 17 miles.  Walking more than running (which was more a statement of intent than a fact).  Pain indescribable.  Will finish but even slower xx  He replied to say he would see me at mile 20, was trying to find my Dad and that he had seen me come over Tower Bridge.  I also posted on facebook to apologise, such was my feeling of disappointment at having to walk.  It felt like giving in and I didn't want to give in, but I just had so much pain.  I actually took two more painkillers.  Those beady-eyed amongst you may notice that takes my total up to 8 co-codamol already, on very little food and a lot of exertion!  Anyway, the thought that I would see Pete in a few miles seemed to spur me on, and I ran all of the next mile.  I remember passing Surrey Quay tube and seeing a train above me (please tell me that wasn't the drugs?!) and at some point I remember taking a sharp right turn and in the bend there was an amazing steel band.  Google tells me they are called Ebony Steel Band - they were amazing and I clapped as I ran past.  Then I looked up and there was Canary Wharf, another wow from me!  

Shortly after that I stopped for a walk break, at the same time as a girl who I had been running close to for a little while.  She asked me if I was OK, and I remember saying yes just a bit of an injury slowing me down.  She said she had pain in her right leg and was getting cramp in her right foot.  We walked together for a bit chatting, and then we started up running again together.  About half a mile later she stopped to take her trainer off and stretch her foot, and told me to go on, but I replied that I could do with the company, and so maybe if she didn't mind, we could make our way along together for a bit?!  And so we did, Welli and me :-)  We would run as far as we could (which seemed to be about half a mile) and then take a walk break for a bit, where we would power walk as fast as we could.  It started to feel good again!  I only then realised that part of my battle had been that despite all of the crowd support and all the other runners, I had begun to feel a bit lonely.  I think compounded by the pain which was making my inner monologue a force to be reckoned with (not pretty at all) and not managing to see my supporters.  Run/walking with Welli was keeping me focussed and keeping my mind off things and I started to enjoy myself again.  We still had a bit of energy at this point, but we held back.  We decided that it would be really bad to not save the energy to use at the end, to make sure we ran across the line in style, and so we continued run/walking at what was mostly a 50/50 ratio for the next few miles.  

I didn't see Pete at mile 20, despite searching again.  I sent him at text at mile 21, then again at mile 22, and he replied saying We're next!  Not far now.  I had been looking forward to mile 22 for weeks!  I knew I would be meeting some of my Inspire friends for the first time, at Fetchpoint, and I also knew that a fellow Fetchie was going to be there with some coke and some sweets for me.  So that became my next focus.  I'll never forget seeing Sian and Kerry in the distance, surrounded by red and yellow fetch balloons!  I broke into a run and ran straight into a huge hug.  I introduced Welli and to be honest the rest is a blur, but I remember Mykey and his smiley eyes opening a can of G&T and passing it over to me.  What bliss!!  And I think it was Bethan, very enthusiastically offering me Jelly Babies and telling me to take more than one.  I then went to see SherryB, the faithful Fetchie who had waited all that time to hand me my coke and sweeties, and whose daughter very excitedly told me about her pet rat who was also called Katy and was her favourite rat and very lovely!  I had a few more hugs and sweets and then Welli and I set off again, significantly buoyed by our Fetchpoint experience.  I only had to go a few yards up the road before I saw two more familiar faces - my Dad and Pete!  I almost burst into tears (as my Dad's video of the moment shows) but surprisingly I managed to keep it together.  After more hugs, I handed Pete my coke can and sunglasses and Welli and I were off again.

As we were coming up to mile 23, we saw the Gherkin in the distance and our last snippet of Tower Bridge to our left.  The views from here on were classic London, with the Tower of London on our left as we began our way up the Embankment.  Around mile 23 there was a lucozade stop and we went under an underpass with all these giant lit-up balloons inside with motivational quotes on them - Pain is Temporary, Glory Awaits, Dig Deep, etc. It was called The Lucozade Tunnel of Yes.  On emerging from the tunnel, the views opened up and it was just amazing all over again.  Here we were, running along the embankment, with the London Eye to our left.  And suddenly there were two more familiar faces, my brother and Kate.  This was a huge surprise as I hadn't managed to find out where my brother would be, and so thought I had probably missed him, but there he was.  Two of my most favourite photo's from the day were taken at this point, so I've shared them below.

As you can see from the second photo, we were still running a bit at this point, which was just shy of 24 miles.  The distance was taking its toll, but we were still enjoying it and smiling in pretty much all photo's from the day!  Not far on from here we got our first view of Big Ben, which we ran up to before hanging a right and making our way down Birdcage Walk.  We decided to run to the end from here, and the crowd noise was amazing!  I remember seeing Buckingham Palace coming into view, and really struggling to keep a lid on the emotions and keep going.  I remember seeing the infamous '365 yards to go' sign and stifling the urge to stop and take a photo.  It felt a bit like being in a movie, the images are so iconic, including that sign, and therefore so familiar, but I couldn't quite believe we were there, we had made it!  We hung a right and there was the finish line, and I am yet to find a word to describe the emotion I felt.  It was almost an outer-body floating type sensation, but just know it was pure bliss, but my poor tired body was struggling to express it.  I wanted to cry so badly, but I just couldn't (probably dehydrated aswell as dog-tired!).  We ran across the line, arms aloft in triumph!  We hugged and then stumbled along to receive our medals and (heavy) goody bags and have our timing chips removed.  We collected our bags and mooched about a bit, and then we had to go our separate ways to meet our family and friends so we hugged again and exchanged details so that we could share our photo's from the day.  I stumbled my way towards the 'S' and let everyone know where I was, and as I stood there waiting I somehow managed to take my trainers off and swop them for flip flops, and then put on my jacket.  I was very emotional whilst waiting for everyone to come and find me, but when they all got there I think I was just so happy to see them all that I managed (still) not to cry.

This turned into a massive blog I'm afraid, but the more I wrote the more I remembered and wanted to share!  There is so much else too but the only way to truly experience it is to go along.  Either run it, or go along and cheer people on!  It's an experience I will never forget so long as I live!

More to come......

Virgin London Marathon 2013 - Part One (sorry it's going to be long and rambling!)

I can't believe it's been almost three weeks!

I've been meaning to write this blog for a little while but I haven't got around to it for various reasons.  Immediately afterwards, it was all a bit of a blur.  It really took about a week for it to all sink in!  I was pretty overwhelmed with everything in the days leading up to the race, and the days afterwards I spent catching up on all the messages of support I had received, and trying to recover from the experience!  Then came the inevitable - the post-marathon blues.  I didn't think they would get me, I felt on top of the world, but a few days back at work and it soon hit me - I'd spent well over a year building up to this, and now it was all over.  I felt like I had changed in a massive way, I wanted to shout at everyone "little old me finished the London Marathon you know" and I spent a lot of time looking at the medal, the photo's and the comments.  I was tempted to just wear the medal all the time, if only just to help explain to people why I was walking like I was! Between you and I, I actually still take the medal with me everywhere even now, although I no longer sleep with it under my pillow....

I'll start by saying, the Friday before the marathon was one of those days that really dragged.  I actually felt more calm than I had all of the week before, which is not to say I wasn't still panicking, but the panic was mostly replaced by emotions, a complete rollercoaster of them.  I felt like an emotional wreck!  In the three days leading up to the marathon, and on the day itself, I received half of all of my donations, and that in itself made me alternate between feeling elated and feeling tearful (I can't even explain it).  I think the day dragged because then I had the time to keep checking my lists over and over and over - what to pack, what to put in my kit bag, what to carry around the course, the different tube & train journeys required, and of course what I was going to wear.  I know you won't find this hard to believe if you've read my previous posts, but I actually took three pairs of running trousers with me.  And I still just wore the same ones I have worn for every long training run, in case the others would rub!  You might remember me saying that I seemed to be ignoring the big tasks in favour of the non-important things, and that is how I found myself sitting in bed on Friday night, sewing the last few buttons onto my vest.  With that done, I actually managed a decent nights sleep.

Saturday morning flew by, last minute packing and OCD list-checking, definitely brightened by the beautiful bunch of flowers that arrived to wish me luck from Sarah and family Walker.  Sui popped round too with a Good Luck card and a beautiful bracelet for me.  We set off into London and arrived at the hotel in good time, and what a beautiful view we had too.

From there we headed straight to the tube and made our way to the Expo, where I was lucky enough to meet one of my fellow Inspire runners Paul, who was running for the same charity as me, and for whom it was also a marathon debut!  It was so good to meet him and have a hug and wish each other luck, he's been such a great help to me both before and after the big day (thanks Paul if you are reading this).  We made our way into the Expo and luckily there was no queue at all for me to pick up my race number, timing chip and kit bag.  Next up, the chip activation point, and once through there we found ourselves in a massive Adidas outlet with hundreds of VLM 2013 branded items.  I bought three t-shirts, telling myself this was a once-in-a-lifetime experience and so I was going to make the most of it! Beyond that, and a few other bits and pieces (see photo's below) I was a little disappointed with the expo.  Just basically lots of stands of people selling things and somewhere to buy pasta (did I miss something?!).

Can you spot me?

Can you spot me again?!

He spotted me, pointing a camera at him ;-)

INSPIRE! 

Had to be done!

From leaving the expo, we headed back to the hotel for a bit of chillout time before dinner.  I packed up my little bag to carry around with me, and sorted all my kit out ready to go.  I also attached the chip to my trainers and the number (including black ribbon for Boston) to my vest.

When we got to Zizzi's, we sat at a table for two, which was in a row of four others.  It turned out that two of the other tables were also occupied by a runner and their supporter, and so we exchanged a bit of chat and wished each other luck, which was nice.  I was already liking the VLM vibe!

We were back at the hotel and getting into bed by about 9pm, ready for a super-early start the next day (room service ordered for between 6-6.30am).  I had a couple of phone calls from some of my best friends, and settled down to sleep (YEAH RIGHT!!!!).

An overdue catch-up

As I said in my last post, I have lots of things I have been wanting to blog about - problem is nobody told me that my brain would turn to complete mush the week running up to the marathon (running, see what I did there?!!?!).  I literally have started to lose the plot - left my handbag round someone's house, couldn't remember the items on a shopping list (there were only 5 of them), couldn't complete a simple sum to work out how to tip my hairdresser, in fact had a complete mental block on how to even get to my hairdressers yesterday (yes, I have been there many times before!).  Also nobody mentioned the paranoia - every time I walk down stairs (thankful to live in a bungalow) and also when I was in the car on the way back from my hair appointment, I remembered that last time I made that journey someone crashed into me and gave me whiplash - cue the most trepidatious driving past the place where the crash happened!

Whenever I think about Sunday I am hit with butterflies and a slight feeling of nausea.  Which is a shame, as it enters my thoughts approximately every 10 seconds or so!  So much so that I am struggling to eat, and every good marathon runner knows that I should be carb-loading right about now.

I think what would calm my nerves would be to have myself a bit more organised, but whenever I think of the things I need to do (sew on buttons, pack bags, wash running kit, sort out trains and times etc.) I find myself painting my nails, or epilating my legs or some other such activity.  Which whilst nice to get done, is not critical to my marathon success!  In summary, when it comes to getting myself organised, I appear to be doing a damn good impression of an ostrich.

So anyway, I do actually have some things to share with you!

First, I promised a picture of my marathon outfit (no, it isn't an ostrich costume!), and I have finally got around to sewing on buttons and ironing on my name!  I have a couple of more buttons to add, and the trousers may change to 3/4 length if the weather is looking warm enough, but you get the general idea.  Please note the optimism implied by the fact that I am wearing sunglasses....

 

Secondly, I do have a little bit of not-so-good news.  I saw the physio about the sharp pain I experienced after my aborted run, and had some massage and was shown some stretches and exercises to do.  I then went for a run with Sui at the weekend in glorious sunshine.  It was originally going to be around 10 miles, but even before we set out we had decided to make it more like 8, just because at this point I don't want to risk anything.  The pain came back pretty much the moment I broke into a running stride, and lasted for the full 6.5 miles that we covered.  Significantly worse going uphill, so I'm grateful to learn that there won't be too many inclines in London, however generally it has slowed me up quite a lot.  My target had already slipped from 5hrs 30 to 6hrs.  Now, I just don't have any target other than getting around.  I know I can grit my teeth and keep going, and I will also be taking painkillers to try and take the edge off, but there's not much more I can do.  Seems my body has decided it has had enough and needs a rest two weeks too early.  I have seen the physio twice more this week and we have tried everything - massage, assisted hip/pelvis stretches to try and re-align, acupuncture, and a LOT of taping.  I have almost enough tape on my right bum cheek and hip to get away without underwear!  I just have everything crossed that all of the things we have tried will go some way towards making Sunday a little less painful.
In order to cheer myself up a bit, and as a memento of the day, I made a completely frivolous purchase from the Thomas Sabo website, and have the below charm to carry around the course with me.  After the race I will hopefully get it engraved, and it will serve as a lasting reminder if times get tough that I am capable of achieving more than I ever thought possible, and that you should never give up!

Thirdly, due to the generosity of my friends, family, colleagues and even people I don't actually know, I have already smashed my fundraising target!  Not only that, but I have been pretty overwhelmed by the support, encouragement and kind words I have had from all over the place.  I have had texts, emails and facebook posts, and special mention to Kate for the beautiful hand-knitted arm-warmers I received in the post yesterday.  It may well be too warm to wear them when I run, but I am going to wear them to the start line anyway and pack them in my kit bag before I head off.  So I wanted to take an opportunity to thank you all. It means the world to me!

Finally, I wanted to take a minute to say a huge thank you to my lovely Pete.  I am well aware that the training schedule for a marathon is a pretty selfish one, especially when you are as slow as I am!  I feel a bit like this year has been on hold - there are so many things we have said we will do 'after the marathon'!  As the runs have got longer, and my recovery time from them has increased, there have been whole days that have had to be written off because I was incapable of doing anything.  And Pete has just been there for me - running a bath for me before I even get home from a run so I can get straight in and warm up, going out to get shopping and cooking me dinner when I have been too tired/needed to train/couldn't walk after a long run, rubbing my shoulders when I have been in pain from the increased mileage combined with the whiplash, booking the hotel for London so I didn't have to worry about it.......I could go on but I'm sure you get the idea!  I have no idea if Pete even reads my blog, but if you're reading this Pete, YOU ROCK and I love you.

The best of humanity

When I got home from work yesterday I sat down to write a blog post.  I had lots of things going around and around my head that I wanted to get out - good news and not so good.  But my thoughts and emotions were all a bit jumbled and I sat with an empty draft blog open (that I couldn't even come up with a title for) for quite some time before I just gave up and got on with my preparations.
For a first time marathoner, there are lots of unknowns, and therefore lots of seemingly ridiculous preoccupations - I have been worrying about when to cut my toenails, and making sure they are painted (you'll be relieved I'm sure to know that I did that last night!), which sunglasses to wear and which trousers.  In fact what to wear full stop to be honest!  Worrying about the small details has become a way of taking my mind off what is coming I am sure!

As I sat down to try and eat my second carb-loaded meal of the day, I saw the news about the explosions at the Boston Marathon on the news.  My immediate reaction was one of utter shock and disbelief.  And when I say shock I do mean that in a physical sense - I felt sick and started to shake (still shaking a little bit as I write this post), and tears started falling.  The running community is quite a close-knit one, with a significant online presence which is used to inspire, motivate and support one another, and this attack immediately sent shockwaves amongst us all.  I have running friends online who were trying to account for friends they knew to be running.  It felt very personal to me that such an event was targeted.  An event which brings together people of all ages, nationalities and faiths.  Running is a sport that has no boundaries and makes no such exceptions.  It is a sport that celebrates achievement at all levels - those who win, those who finish and those who simply give it their best shot are all respected within this community.

There is a saying, which I had shared on facebook a few days ago, that if you are losing faith in humanity you should go and watch a marathon.  That an event such as this was targeted is beyond belief for me and my heart goes out to those in Boston who have been affected.  When I line up at the start of the London Marathon on Sunday, those people will be in my thoughts, and I will be wearing a black ribbon as a mark of solidarity and respect.  From what I know of the running community, I have no doubt that many others will be doing the same, and I am proud and honoured to be a part of something that represents the very best of humanity.

Given the Elbow!

I'm pleased to report that I managed 50 minutes in the gym yesterday!

10 minutes on the rower (no hip pain), 10 on the cross-trainer (some pain but not too much) and then 30 minutes personal training (let's not mention pain here!).

Rocci, my PT, concentrated mainly on my upper body/shoulders, but also showed me a very good stretch which seemed to get the exact spot.  So I did circuits of upper body, deadlift, step and Russian medicine ball twist, followed by a rest and repeat of the stretch.  The twist also stretched the painful area and by the end of the session there was much less pain doing both the stretch and the twist.

But being the nice guy that he is, Rocci also got the foam roller out to have a go at my ITB and also the piriformis issue, just to make sure!  Once he had found the painful bit in my hip he stuck his elbow in, and purely on reflex I nearly hit him!  I'm glad I didn't as he is an experienced MMA fighter!  It felt like a red hot poker being shoved into my hip, and was the sort of pain that was difficult to tolerate, however since he did that I have had no pain at all so I guess it worked.
As a result of my various injuries (broken wrist, dislocated knees etc) I have been told that I have quite a high pain threshold by a few people, including the physiotherapists I have seen.  Even so, I am not so much looking forward to my physio session on Friday morning now - I have a strong suspicion that a similar amount of pain may be inflicted!

I know it's all worth it though.  To think that on Saturday I couldn't walk, and that now on Wednesday I am mostly pain-free and my dream is still alive is pretty amazing and not something I am taking for granted.  Zeph had her operation today, and so is one step closer to leaving cancer behind.  We exchanged a couple of texts and she told me she was proud of me and honoured that I was doing this with her in mind, and also hoped that I was ok after reading about my injury.  If ever a bit of perspective was needed, that was it for me!  To know that people are proud of me, and to know I am raising money to help the diagnosis, treatment and ultimately, hopefully, a cure for cancer is massively inspiring and motivating.
Between now and race-day, the strategy is rest, gym, one last 10 miler at the weekend, maybe a short 3 miles or so next week and that is about it.  Oh and eat!  Bring on the carbs!

Zizzi Strozzapreti Pesto Rosso

Not so much 'Keep Calm and Run a Marathon', more 'Try not to panic too much'

After the last long run, I have been taking it easy.  Given I have a few niggles going on in my left ankle and knee, it is taking me a good couple of days to recover from the longer runs.  At this point it is officially taper-time, and so I have really laid off and just planned on going to the gym, one last long run of around 16-18 miles and then a 10 mile run the weekend before the race.

If I'm honest, I have developed a bit of a fear of running, and I really don't know why.  It could be because of the pain, it could be fear of getting injured, or just not wanting to run on my own (which used to be a highlight for me!), who knows.

Anyway Saturday morning came around and fair play to the weather, it really seemed as though spring had arrived!  Warm sunshine meant that I felt confident enough to try out my marathon kit (albeit with a windproof over it which I hope not to have to wear on the day).
I haven't really mentioned this in my blog yet, but the issue of what to wear on marathon day has become a sort of obsession for me - I think it is diversion from thinking about the big issues, like the fact that I am about to do a marathon!!  I have ordered about 5 different running tops, all of which were hopefully going to be 'the one' to wear on the day under my charity vest.  The problem is, the weather has been so appalling and cold, that I have been struggling to decide whether I will need long sleeves or short sleeves, or even a full on ski jacket (only a little bit joking!!!!).  So imagine my happiness when I discovered these little beauties;

These are arm-warmers, so if you get too warm, you can simply roll them up/down.  And better still, you can have a funky slogan on them to cheer you up if you are flagging - mine say 'If found on ground, please drag across finish line'.  They are super-soft and well worth the money it cost to get them sent from the States (almost the price of the arm warmers themselves!).  So I have now decided on my final marathon outfit (obviously still slightly weather dependent) which I will post a picture of in a couple of days when I have added the finishing touches (need to iron on my name and sew on my buttons).

Anyway, I digress, back to Saturday morning and the 16-18 mile run I had planned with Sui.  Glorious weather and up early to make sure I was properly fuelled, meant that for a change I was in a positive frame of mind as we set off to Green Park to start running.  We set off and within half a mile or so I was feeling a bit of pain in my right hip.  I often get a few aches and pains when I start running, which settle down as my body settles into a rhythm, so I wasn't too worried.  After the first lap, around 2 miles in, I realised the pain was getting worse and so decided to stop and have a quick stretch to see if I could work out what was going on.  We ran another half a mile after that and to begin with it felt ok, but the longer I continued the more it hurt.  And so for the first time ever in my life, I had to abandon the run.  Less than three miles covered, and actually I struggled just to walk the last half a lap back to the car as the pain was so intense.  It felt like someone had punched me in the outside of my hip and I had a sort of dead leg, but with sharp intense pain all over the top of my leg and hip area.  I was gutted!  However after the short drive home, walking from the car to the house was OK, so I began to wonder whether whatever it was had already started to resolve itself.  I got in the bath and spent some time massaging the painful area, and stretching as much as I could, and was having no problems walking around the house at all.  So Pete and I headed off into Newbury as I needed to visit a jewellers there.  We don't know Newbury at all, nor did we know where the jewellers was, so law of sod dictated that the car park we found was literally at the opposite end of town to the jewellers!  The further I walked, the more intense the pain.  I was grabbing onto Pete and was really quite close to tears on several occasions, but short sitting down breaks would ease the pain for a couple of minutes.  Once we had been to the jewellers, we decided to sit down and have a coffee so I could have a proper rest before the walk back to the car, which again helped for the first couple of minutes of walking but by the time we were back to the car I was in agony again and very tearful.

Pete was off out that night and I was feeling pretty distraught about the fact that with just over two weeks until the marathon, I was unable to walk, let alone run.  I have always said that at the very least and if all else fails, I know that I can walk 26.2 miles, and here I was struggling to walk from my house to my car.  It has to count as a real low-point not only in my training but just in general for me.  That might sound overly dramatic, but for me this marathon isn't just a race, it is a dream that I have worked hard to achieve (and one I never thought I would) and it is an emotional journey, as I'm sure everyone who has read this blog will know.  Injury put me out of the running last year, and you can only defer your place once, so it feels a bit like now or never.
Thankfully, I have wonderful people in my life, who came forward in my hour of need to sort me out!  Sarah not only invited me round to spend the evening with her and family, but she even came to collect me and dropped me off again so that I could have a glass of wine!  That's really going above and beyond, and I felt so much better to have some company, have a laugh and watch a movie.  OK so I didn't watch all of the movie, because Doug Bug is just too cute and I couldn't stop staring at him sleeping next to me or in my arms!
Add to that my running friends who came out with advice and encouragement, including specific stretches to try, and by Sunday morning I was feeling much more positive.  Still in pain but nowhere near as much, which made me realise how much actually resting is key to this.  Resting and stretching!

Today I have sorted myself out with a physio appointment and will be stretching and using my foam roller before bed again, and then tomorrow I will brave the gym for personal training and hopefully a quick go on the cross trainer as a little test.  I have everything crossed and feel positive that this will not stop me, but I know I need a little bit of luck too, so once again, please wish me luck!!!!

Number 18006, it's time for your Taper!

Imagine my surprise when Good Friday came along, and I got up for my longest training run for the marathon to a morning of glorious sunshine.  No rain, snow or sleet, just a few fluffy white clouds surrounded by blue sky, and the welcome return of the big yellow ball in the sky!  A positively balmy temperature (well, one in the positive end of the scale anyway).  Basically, exactly what I ordered from the weather fairy in my last blog post!

Sui and I set off to GP and parked up, and then off we went with the aim of covering 20 miles, or 12 laps.  There was a bit of a breeze and it was still a bit chilly at times, but after one lap I ditched my hydro pack in the car as I was overheating with it on (in hindsight, too many layers of long sleeves).  We set into a nice little routine - the back part of the loop along Longwater Avenue was sheltered from the breeze and warm, so we would both unzip our tops, then running along Brook Drive was into a breeze and thus a tad cold, so up would go the zips again.  Given I am going to go for a run/walk approach on race day, we decided on a short walk every two laps (approx every 3 miles).  I stopped a couple of times to go to the car for gels and water, and on other walk breaks I had sugar tablets (or sweets that Sui had) and a mouthful from her bottle.  It felt good not to have the hydro pack on so I think I will leave it in the car again next time rather than lug it about.  I do like it for slightly shorter runs but I have been really struggling with neck and shoulder pain on these longer runs and I don't think the hydro pack has helped.
Anyway, about 6 laps in, half way round, I was really struggling.  Struggling to settle my breathing (and a stitch that started after about two miles), struggling to pick my feet up which meant lots of stones in my shoes (three on one lap!) and extra walk breaks.  No idea why, although I think maybe I need to consider a bit more food early in the morning before long runs.  My legs always felt like they could keep going (even when they were hurting) but the rest of my body was not so sure!  I felt a bit better after a few more laps, and then suddenly it was three laps to go.  Last time I did this, I only managed to run that far before heading in to the treadmill, but I was actually feeling ok this time out.  With Sui's considerable help, I managed the last three laps, which took us up to 20.53 miles in 4hrs 35 minutes!  The longest I have ever run and the peak of my marathon training, but best of all, run with a friend in glorious sunshine and without getting wet or snowed on!

I spent the rest of Good Friday pretty much horizontal!  Spent over an hour in the bath (another first for me!) and then the rest of the day with my feet up and occasionally with ice on either my knee or ankle.  Walking was a painful shuffle, but to be honest I had about as much pain across my shoulders and I really think that is going to be a consideration for me on race day.  Sui had me rotating my shoulders on the walk breaks and that did help to relieve the tension a bit but the pain can be quite intense at times!

Since the long run I have been feeling really quite emotional about the race.  Now that I have hit the 20 mile barrier, I guess it brought home to me firstly how tough this is, secondly how far I have come, and thirdly, the race is now less than three weeks away.  Three weeks which officially means time to taper.  No more upping the long run distances, but plenty of time for worry and doubts to creep in, and plenty of time to start fretting over all the details.  During the week before Easter, my registration pack arrived, and I was literally shaking reading it.  Worse still, I read it cover to cover but seem to have taken absolutely none of it in (bar my race number which seems to be ingrained on my memory - maybe inspiration for another tattoo?!).  I couldn't tell you which colour start I am (possibly Blue) or what tube station that entails getting off at.  I have asked Pete about the hotel several times, and several times he has told me, but I still don't know where I am staying.  I am stressing over what to wear on race day and have just today ordered yet another running top (short sleeved this time) to try out.  If it isn't comfy when I wear it on my last longish run (18 miles or so this weekend) then I will probably have some sort of meltdown!  I have yet to decide whether to carry some gels, or whether to take sweets or sugar tablets, and indeed how I am going to carry them.  All of these things I really should have thought about some time ago, but I think I have been in some sort of denial?!  Sometimes I really feel utterly terrified!  I don't even really know why - I have trained (could have done more short runs, but the long ones are in the bag) and have also accepted that for me the goal is just to finish.  I know I will be run/walking, and hell I don't even care if I end up walking all of the last six - so long as I finish in under 8 hours I will still get a medal and it will still be an achievement that I can be proud of.  I have placed absolutely no pressure on myself, and neither has anyone else, but I am shaking even typing this, just thinking about the big day!

Is this the madness of the taper, first timers nerves, or a combination of the two?  Or am I just a little bit unhinged?!  Who knows.  But what I do know is that I will do everything I possibly can, and give everything I have within me, to ensure that I make it from the start line to the finish line.
26.2 miles.  Bring it on!

Dear Weather Fairy.....

.....When I said in my previous blog that I thought I would have preferred snow to the awful conditions of the Reading Half Marathon, I didn't expect you to take me so seriously!

I had my longest run to date scheduled in for Saturday, an 18 miler which I planned to run with Sui who is an expert distance runner and has offered to help me get through my next few long runs, as I have been finding the going tough.

The plan was to start out running at 8.30am on Saturday, knowing that the run would take about four hours, and Sui was going to visit a friend straight afterwards.  On Friday night Pete and I cooked up a massive pasta feast and I was tucked up in bed before 10.30pm, with an early alarm call set to allow time for breakfast.  At 6.30am I got up to let the cats out, and peered out into the back garden.  It was snowing, and a very very fine layer had started to settle.  I got back into bed for an hour, and then a text came from Sui saying the conditions were not looking great for running.  I got up and looked, and lo and behold the garden was covered in a thickening layer of snow, which was still falling heavily and which showed no signs of abating.  Arse!
So, we had to admit defeat.  The only benefit of this was I got back into bed and had a nice lie-in!

This meant that Sunday morning came, and I found myself once again up early in order to get a quick breakfast down me before heading to work to run laps around Green Park on my own.  I planned on running 11 laps, which would take me to around 18 miles.  The rationale for running around work was that the footpaths are gravel and therefore would not be icy, and also the route is mindless and quiet, meaning I could try to take my mind off the distance by running with music playing (for the first time ever).
When I got to work the temperature gauge on my car was reading -2oC and it was snowing.  The first three laps felt a bit of a struggle to warm up (despite three layers of long sleeved tops) and I had to stop once per lap to remove stones from my trainers, but after that I settled into a nice rhythm.  I saw a couple of other runners, and some cyclists who were also doing laps in the opposite direction to me (saw them several times, which we laughed about each time they went past and said hi!) but most of all what I saw was snow.  Blowing in my face.  A lot.  I started to struggle around 12 miles in as it began to feel like wading through treacle and so I stopped for a short walk/water break.  I put my hands on my thighs to stretch my calves out a bit and realised that my thighs were numb.  I literally could not even feel my trousers against my skin I was so cold.  I ran for another couple of miles, however after 14 miles I found myself sitting in a bus stop having a gel and a drink, sheltering from the wind and snow, and I had a real wobble.  I wanted to cry and I wanted to stop, purely because I was so cold I couldn't face leaving the bus stop!  I decided that the best thing for me to do was to run back to the office completing the lap I was on (lap 9 of 11) and then get on the treadmill to run however many miles were left.  You know things have to be bad if I am preferring the idea of running on the treadmill to running outside!
So I set off from the bus stop and ran back to my car, picked up my pass and lucozade, and ran all the way into the gym up to the treadmill.  I looked at my Garmin and it said 15.48 miles which I was pleasantly surprised about.  The treadmill is set up to record distance in kilometres, so I knew I had to run somewhere between 4-5km in order to make the distance up to 18 miles, so off I went.  I found the treadmill running hard, and yet I was really really slow somehow.  It didn't seem to matter how much effort I put in or how much I upped the speed, the distance didn't seem to be ticking over any quicker!  I had to slow to a walk at one point early on so that I could remove two of my three long sleeved tops, but after that I just took it steady until the distance was just under 4km.  As I have said before, I struggle with treadmill running partly because I can't stop myself constantly checking the dials, and so I was using music to stop me - I was only allowed to look at the dials each time a song finished.  As I got close to 4km, I decided that I would just run until the current song had finished and then stop, which happened to be at 4.04km.  It was with some relief that I hit the stop button and stumbled off the treadmill to start gathering my stuff together and head back to the car!

When I got home, I really struggled to walk from my car to the house, and so I didn't even sit down before getting into the hot bath Pete had all ready and waiting for me.  What a relief to finally feel the warmth creeping back into my bones!!
I then logged my two separate runs on Fetch, and discovered that I had covered a distance of 17.99 miles in total.  I think that's close enough to my 18 mile target, don't you?!!

So, Dear Weather Fairy, as you seem to be taking my weather requests quite literally, and since I have my longest training run of 20 miles to come on Friday, do you think you could do me a favour and dig out that yellow ball I seem to remember seeing in the sky a long time ago?!?  Also, if you could hold back on precipitation of any kind, and let the wind die down for a few hours, I would be eternally grateful..........

Yours Sincerely,
The Ice Road Runner.

PS.  When my iPhone started playing 'Walking in the Air' from The Snowman on random shuffle last Sunday, I didn't skip it because it seemed so apt.  Perhaps this Friday we could have a spot of 'Walking on Sunshine' instead?!