Review of my 2013

2013 was a fairly epic year for me. Don't believe me?? Even if you've been reading other posts I've written this year? Pffft, well, read on... (Okay, seriously, it's pretty long - please do read on, but you may need a loo break halfway, and a tea break, and maybe need to stop to take the kids to school or something...)

January
Started with a 5km race (the Great Winter Run), which was wholly unmemorable but enough to get my arse moving around Arthurs Seat. Being a 'Great Run' event, the tshirt was crap white cotton, and they ran out of my size, so I got extra large, and sewed myself a cushion out of it instead. That's about as 'crafty' as I get. It's somewhat wonky.

Also in January, I was doing a 'NoSweetathon' challenge, to stay off chocolate, sweets and crisps. I just about managed it, but it drove me round the wall. Or up the bend. Something like that.... I lost quite a lot of weight in January, but as it goes with me when I deprive myself from anything, I went overboard with sweets and chocolate in February, and it was all back on in no time. Still, it was 'fun' watching the many, many ways Ian Logan could find to wind me up on facebook in the meantime, hehe. The rest of the month was largely taken up with things like playing badminton with Tor (her in a flouncy floral blouse one day, having come straight from work forgetting a tshirt...) and indoor climbing with Tor and Derry (no blouses in evidence). I also started my second term of beginner swimming classes, nervously, as the first term had been halted halfway through due to pool issues. I was the only person to come back, so the teacher used me as an example for the newbies, calling me his superstar (because I could do 10 metres of breast stroke, and hold a mushroom float), and my confidence swimming sky-rocketed.

February
This month started with a great trip to Hull, to run parkrun with Jenny and Paula - it was snowing thickly within 2 minutes of starting, but I was thrilled to run the whole 5km without walking. Despite looking a bit like a snowman for the first half, and using my fingers as windscreen wipers on my specs. :) Soon after getting home, I got a bad cold (hmm, just spotted that coincidence!) and was stopped from exercising, during which time the email arrived advising me my ballot entry to the Great North Run had been successful!!! OMG! I'd done one half marathon, sloooowly, at the end of 2012, and was due to do my second in May, but the GNR is a special event, one I'd been watching on TV since childhood. I hadn't really expected my first ever ballot entry would be successful, I'll be honest. Ooops.

A couple of days after recovering from the cold, I was hit with the Norovirus (vomiting bug), though at first I'd put it down to food poisoning, and I've never had a chicken pizza delivered since! - just in time to f*ck up my birthday plans. I was laid up for a couple of days, and really weak for a few days more. It gave me time to focus on running plans, and later in the month when I was ready to get going again, I signed up for the Southside Six race in Glasgow in November - immediately panicking about it, but figuring November was a looooong time away... I also bought a climbing harness. Just because.

March
Having lost 30kgs sine January 2010 (perhaps the last kilo or so was down to the Norovirus...) I celebrated by bench-pressing 30kgs in the gym!! Woo! :) Admittedly, I only managed 2 full reps, but I felt pretty damn hardcore all the same. I also spent some time this month discovering what all the fuss is about for steam rooms at the gym, and playing more badminton (hilariously badly) with Tor. Then, a meeting that would completely change the course of my year... (If I was a TV show, there would be an ad break now.)

I've been friends with Davie for about a year, at this point, and while supporting him I'd attended my first ever Ultra Marathon in the summer of 2012, but none since. However, I'd started joining in with some of the chat with new facebook group Ultra Dafties, and while I laughingly cried off joining in on a 10+ mile group training run one day, saying I was only up to about 5 miles in my training, Helen Munro, who I'd never met except online, sent me an inbox message saying she was recovering from D33 and Alloa HM (in the same weekend) exertions, and she'd be happy to do a gentle 5 or 6 miles with me the next morning. Before I knew what had happened, I'd agreed, and met her the next morning at Falkirk. We ran/walked a 6 mile route around the park, more than I'd done in aaaaages, and within that time I'd got a wealth of tips and suggestions for my running, and loads of positive encouragement. I was kinda hooked. (Not on running, don't be silly. But on running with someone else, which I'd actively avoided for... well... ever.) I didn't know at the time, but that meeting in a wee car park in Falkirk was fundamental in how the rest of my year unfolded...

I finished the month stood in a freezing cold park in Perth, cheering on Davie Mooney and Craig Reid at the Self Transcendence 50km. I stood with Julie, Helen and her husband John, cheering on the guys, but also a whole load of other people I had no clue who they were, but Helen and John seemed to know. (It turns out they know pretty much everyone.) There was the 100km race happening at the same time, including the National championships, so it actually got a little exciting. Albeit baltic. As the year went on, I got to know more of the runners I was cheering that day, but it was my first Ultra of the year, and a lot of the faces were new to me that day. Davie did brilliantly. surpassing his own expectations I think - Craig did really, really well considering his wife had had a baby only a week or two earlier, if I remember correctly. A comedy line par excellence came from Gerry Craig after he finished, as Craig nodded his congratulations and asked "Where did you finish?" - Gerry shrugged and indicated the large inflatable finish arch: "Over there, mate." It was hilarious, take my word for it. (Maybe you had to be there.....)

April
So, this month saw my first ever Sunday Social run at Chatelherault. Helen ran with me to help get me round what was also my first ever trail run. I had been petrified, but I survived... and subsequently went back a few more times over the year, lol. My positivity from this coincided with the mornings getting light again, which gave me a real lift as I'm definitely a morning exerciser. My self-confidence grew a bit more as I swam 1km for the first time ever, the classes having finished now, leaving me on a high. A few knocks, though, such as a bad attempt at indoor climbing, with all of my confidence shot and my brain just taking complete control over my body and stopping me from completing any of the walls. I ought to have fought this, but I sadly gave into it, and I don't think I've climbed since. I must rectify that!

I was also still meeting new people on facebook, both through the Dafties group and having joined George Furmage's "Running Goals" group (I was a wee bit intimidated by him online at first, but got totally pulled in to supporting him running the London marathon later that month, all the same!) as well. John Munro was running the Boston Marathon this month, and I was totally obsessed watching the wee stick figure on the computer screen make its way around the course in real time. At one point, I was excited to see him pass Dean Karnazes, and we were all on the Running Goals FB group cheering and whooping and generally being far too excitable. He finished a little slower than he'd hoped, but we were so proud and happy - our elation on facebook lasted less than half an hour, as the news of the explosions came through. It was like someone had flicked a switch, I've never experienced such an abrupt change of emotion. We waited anxiously for news, for John, Helen who was spectating there, and other Running Goals friend James, who we knew had also finished by then. Finally, the news came through that all were safe. Boston brought the running community together like nothing else I've ever known, that day. People due to be running at London Marathon the following week were not put off by the threat of a potential terrorist, but rather were more resolute and determined to run. A horrible event, but the reactions around the world made me proud to be part of the community.

And so April finished with volunteering at the Hoka Highland Fling ultra marathon, ran on the first 53 miles of the West Highland Way. It was a memorable day: my blog post is here so I won't repeat myself, suffice it to say that I met some incredible people that day, and learned more about ultra running and the ultra running community. Plus, Davie's pink tshirt alone was worth the trip.... ;) And a hug from David Ross. I'll drive miles for one of them.

May
This month kicked off with another Sunday Social run, this time where David Ross had hung wee cakes from a tree at every half mile to 'motivate' me round. I still think it was also a cunning 'learn to eat on the run, so you can develop ultra running skills' thing, but I guess I'll never know... ;) The sight of Helen standing up ahead of me, with my last cake tied to a stick over her shoulder, then running off with it, is one that will stay with me a very long time - just hilarious! :) I think this was the day that John asked me to join his crew for the West Highland Way race (my role, he explained that day, mainly being to keep Helen company, and keep her awake when she needed it! lol) - I was ridiculously thrilled. Then panic set in a few days later when John and Helen said that I would need to join them, with George, for a training run on the WHW later that month. Me? Run on the WHW? But... but I wouldn't be actually doing any support running on the day itself, would I??? Apparently, yes. Haaha. Yes, I spent most of this month thinking about crewing the West Highland Way... AND I had also been asked to crew for Julie Docherty for her first Ultra, the Clyde Stride, later than summer. My first 'solo' support crew gig - so exciting!! A day out with Davie and Julie driving from checkpoint to checkpoint, discussing my job, etc - it was all rather nerve-wracking and exciting! Just had the small matter of a couple of my OWN races to get out of the way first!

12th of May was the Glasgow Women's 10km, which I was running with Ianthe. I lost her after a mile or so, passing her later, and finished the race with a huge PB, utterly thrilled. I've not really done any running of that kind of speed since then, but my training had been a bit more focussed last year, and I need to get back to that. The following week I went along to run at Falkirk parkrun for the first time, and met some fab guys there, with a great 5km course. (Andrew Moodie - I'm still waiting to meeting that handsome race timer you promised me....) I've done a fair bit of parkrun 'tourism' this year, actually. It's been really fun... err, in a way that doesn't mean I find running fun.

The end of the month saw me run my second ever Half Marathon, part of the Edinburgh Marathon Festival. I took over 7 minutes off my previous time, which was good, but in general I came away disappointed, disillusioned, and dispirited. Looking back now, I can actually pinpoint this as the point my running started declining for the entire rest of the year. I got slower, my negativity took control over any possible positivity, and I generally 'gave up' in a way. It's quite sad, really, because up to this point I can really see pride and excitement in what I was achieving. It ebbs away from here.

June
I'm not saying I completely gave up on running - hell, this month started with me running on the West Highland Way!!! A couple of miles from Tyndrum to Auchtertyre and back, then up and down the Devil's Staircase. OMG. Running down the Devil's staircase is possibly my most memorable run all year. Helen and I had met George and John at the top, and after a brief photo opp, we set off down, Helen bounced off in her mountain goat style, and I just followed behind - like, running. Running downhill. Quite fast, really. I had to shout at myself to watch my footing a couple of times, and was caught swearing as John ran past me. :)

June, though, was allllll about my summer holiday. Frankly, it's the best summer holiday I can remember having. It was two and half weeks off work, encompassing three amazing weekends - the first, I supported Tamara walking the Moonwalk marathon through the night, walking the last 10 miles with her to get her to the finish line in an incredibly HUGE PB. So proud of her. Then a few days of relaxing in the summer sun, meeting friends for lunches, doing a few training runs, etc - and then, off to Somerset, to stay with Paula and cheer her on at her first Half Ironman, at Wimbleball (the toughest Ironman branded 70.3 there is) - it was a horrendous day, weather-wise, with heavy rain for most of the day, but watching all those incredible triathletes was absolutely brilliant, and Paula put in a fantastic performance to finish in around 8 hours. Then back up to Edinburgh, and a bit more summer relaxing etc. - then an early evening run up Dumyat with Helen. Bob and Moss - meeting Bob for the first time. (Finally. A Northerner.) The hill run was tough, but great company.

Couple of days later, my third holiday weekend was spent on the West Highland Way, supporting John in his first time competing in the 95 mile ultra marathon from Milngavie to Fort William. He was absolutely inspirational - I haven't really written much about that weekend (my blog post is a long poem about it) and despite being an oversharin' kinda gal I kind of want to keep bits of it in my head, personal to me, but there was so much about that weekend that was special, and will hold a place in my heart forever. My favourite moment will always be the sight of John and George running across to the Glencoe checkpoint - a very special moment indeed, given what had passed before. In all, it was simply a brilliant way to end my summer hols - and I met more ultra runners, which is always good! The month finished with a couple of reasonable runs - Angela ran with me at Strathclyde parkrun, for another no-walking parkrun (only my third, out of about 40) - and then a Sunday Social in good company, to bring an amazing month to an end.

July
July started with a summer evening run with Helen in the hills near her (John parked at the top, which meant we couldn't walk once we were in sight, lol). Couple of weeks later, and after a lovely night out for Ianthe's hen night, I was at Partick Station in Glasgow bright and early for supporting Julie at the Clyde Stride ultra marathon. My very detailed blog post is here, so I won't repeat myself, but I'l summarise that it was an AWESOME day, with some inspirational performances. Davie's PB was out of this world, Ian completing his first ultra to celebrate turning 50 was enough to bring tears to my eyes, and the ever-lovely Gannet's struggle to the finish line was inspiring in so many ways - but the wee Wonder Woman herself was an absolute JOY to support, from start to finish. She just never stopped smiling, despite running in crazy temperatures, further than she'd ever ran before. Gives me goodebumps just thinking about it. There are no more superlatives left to describe the day.

My own running this month was poor quality and wholly unenjoyable, except for those runs I did with other people. A run in the Ochills with Bob and Helen, a long run with Davie and Julie, flatter running with Bob and Helen again (when attacked by a Yorkshire Terrier), and then the same route with the same company a week later with only a couple of very short walk breaks from a 5 mile loop! On my own, running was getting worse and worse and worse. I actively sought out others instead. In non-running news, I climbed Ben Lomond with Jenny, too - a crazy hot day, but a good walk and beautiful views once we walked out of the clouds at the summit. ....oh, and I got promoted at work. :)

August
August started with my driving up to Tyndrum to be there for Bob, Amanda, and Helen, the night before the Devil o' the Highland ultra marathon. Due to my own training plans for the upcoming Great North Run, I had to do a 10 mile run the day after the race, so on race day I chose to leave Glencoe (about halfway) to go home, rather than continue on to Kinlochleven and then Fort William meaning a very late return and tiring day. I know it was the right decision for my training, but I still regret leaving them to this day, especially when Bob had such a shocker of a second half and could have done with some extra support. :( They were all awesome, though, with a brilliant strong performance from Helen (fuelled only on something like one boiled egg and a pouch of baby food?), and a great run by Katy, and, lo, presently Bob became UltraBob. (He doesn't like to talk about it.)

My own running was getting progressively worse. My long runs were about 10 miles now, but were incredibly slow with far too much walking in. This style of running had also tipped over into the short runs - my 5km times were getting slower and slower, and it felt impossible to run them without walking. Bob joined me one evening for a 10 mile run along the canal path at Linlithgow, and I think I somewhat took him aback when I had an emotional wobble halfway through. Looking back, I should maybe have thought about the races I signed up for, before signing up for them, but when you hang around with awesome runners, something rubs off on you. I kept doing my weekend long runs, and then... Well, those of you who were friends of my facebook feed at the time will remember the Hand Incident. :) I clattered to the ground, tripping after about 9 miles of rubbish quality running, scraping a large portion of the skin off my left palm. It healed slowly, painfully, and in great photographed detail so that all my FB friends could suffer as much as I did. BUT, on the day I did it, I still drove an hour across to the West to cheer Davie on at the John Lucas Memorial 50 mile ultra. Sadly, he didn't have a great race that day, and DNF'd after 40 miles, but to get that far is still damn impressive in my book, so he earned the flask of soup I'd brought him, lol. It was good to see David Meldrum taking on his first RD role so well, also.

I couldn't completely stop running (much as I wanted to) so close to the GNR, so Helen took me out for a tough wee run along the canal path (making me run fast intervals on the second half, probably my first 'negative split' run ever, hahaha), and I kept up things like parkrun (memorably standing at Falkirk for the pre-run briefing, having Douglas the RD loudly tell everyone that I had a sore hand and he was sick of hearing about it, lmao!) and managing a 12 mile run (run/walk) and 11 mile faster run/walk towards the end of the month, to make me feel a wee bit more confident about the race itself. Away from the running, this month also brought the wonderful Ianthe's wedding, an absolute JOY of a party at Johnny Fling's house (loads of spare prosecco? sounds like the perfect excuse for a barbeque), and the month finished with a meal out with the Dafties, meeting yet more new (wonderful) faces.

September
Glenmore24 ultra marathon. That is all. ....nah, not really, of course there's more to September than Glenmore. It's just by far the bestest bit. :) Support crewing for Andy Johns, meeting George Reid and Karen Donoghue, and spending time with loads of other people I have come to love - what's not to love about this weekend?!! Already excited about next year, and I don't have anyone to support yet! :)

A week later, of course, I was on the start line in Newcastle for the Great North Run. Or rather, my start position was a whole mile away from the start line, but that's what racing with 50,000 other people means sometimes...! :) A tough race, with amazing support from the locals, but my heart wasn't in it, and although my third Half Marathon was also my third PB, I know I could have done better. Still, I'm glad I did it, and it will definitely remain a race to remember - with my parents there tp support me, and the bit with the Red Arrows flying overhead, etc. Epic race. Of course, I didn't get to see the incredibly race to the finish line with the 3 elite men, but I watched it on TV later, and it was simply outstanding.

My own running took a bit of a backseat for a week or two, but I couldn't relax completely, with the Southside Six looming. Still, I was pretty down, and my running suffered. I ran with Bob and Moss at Chatelherault (they loved it, I was underperforming even by my standards), and came last at Tollcross parkrun (though surprised myself at feeling reasonably content with how I'd done), following it with a 40 second PB running it the next week with the very lovely Heather. So, why running in Glasgow two weeks in a row? Well, I BOUGHT A NEW CAR there. :) :) Oh, it was soooooo exciting. My wee blue Ka that had lovingly served me so well had started getting less and less reliable, leaving me stranded on the A9 after Glenmore, and stuck coming out of work a week later, etc. So Davie and Julie took me to buy a new one, and it's awesome, and has PB in the license plate, heeeeeee.

October
The Strathcarron 10km was kind of a last-minute decision, but for some reason I had it in my head that a good 10km result would really boost my confidence for the 16 mile Southside Six race 4 weeks later. Hmmmm. It was by FAR my worst 10km performance in a very, very long time; my heart was never in it, and everything about it felt difficult and horrible. The only positives were the friendly faces of Andy, Ali, Malcolm and Monica at the end. And the fact that I decided halfway round that I WANT to be able to run better - if that makes sense? I was hating it, but instead of thinking "I'm just going to give up at running", it was strengthening a desire to get better.

A 5am run around a dark Edinburgh waking up, with David, Kristen, and Julie, was a better run, a few days later. Then the following day, Bob met me at Chatelherault for my first ever headtorch run that evening. It was slow, not great, but wonderful company as ever, and now I can say I've ran by headtorch!! Another first. :) A few days later, a successful Southside Six recce run with Davie, but then, after that, the wheels fell off completely, and I got basically a bit overwhelmed by everything. The new job was difficult, I wasn't sleeping, I was worried about the race, and the weather turned bad - I stopped running, and disappeared from facebook for a couple of weeks. In retrospect, hiding away was probably not the best way to deal with how I was feeling, but I didn't really know how else to deal with it. October quietly and miserably spluttered to a close, though a chance meeting with David Downey after a horrible parkrun at Glasgow helped me talk a couple of things through and put a few things in perspective, which I was pretty grateful for.

November
And so. Southside Six. I don't really want to re-hash this, I said what I wanted to say here, so I'll just say this and move on - it was very much NOT the run I wanted it to be, but now some time has passed I've decided I'll return to do it again. I also want to say how much the support of my friends that day meant to me - Paula, Clare, and of course many of the Dafties - even the hug from Ian which should have freaked me out, haha, was comforting.

Later that month, I returned to running with friends. A steady, slow plod along the canal path with Julie Clarke (both of us ironically dressed as ultrarunners, hahaha) was the best quality running I'd done in months, with only one short walk break in the middle of a 4½ mile run - and then later than month, Davie and Bob came to Edinburgh parkrun to run my 50th parkrun with me, and to make sure I didn't walk ONCE. They acted as a bit of a windbreak for me, and told me to stop whinging and moaning, and lo and behold I crossed the line having ran the whole way for only the 4th time out of 50 runs. A week later, another parkrun, and then another Sunday Social - spending time with these amazing people helped me clarify I need to make some changed mentally if I'm ever to move on from the 'old me' that raises its ugly head from time to time to drag me down, and I handed my notice in at the gym and quit my personal trainer. By the end of November, I had decided 2014 is a new start, with a different focus. I was disappointed with how much weight I'd gained in the second half of the year (it ended up being 10kgs gained over 5 months) and how I was still letting silly things get to me, and getting overwhelmed in general. So, I headed into the end of the year feeling a lot more positive about 2014, knowing that despite feeling terribly lonely at times, I'm surrounded by loads of wonderful, supportive friends I can call on should I find the nerve to.

December
December contained very little activity. Oh, except another Half Marathon, hahaha. No, I have no idea why either... :) But I'm glad I did it, despite it being my worst HM race time ever, and leaving me with huge painful blisters. It was my first lap race, at Newcastle Racecourse, and I went down with Davie and Julie - the blog post is lying around here somewhere. After that, a parkrun or two, a run in the countryside near my parents' house on Boxing Day, and - well - that's about that. Year over. Looking back on it, despite the last couple of months being emotionally tough and a bit draining, and some of my race results being a lot less than I wanted, I can't help but be delighted with the year as a whole.

I've met so many incredibly wonderful, supportive, inspiring, motivating, and downright hilarious (except George F, he just thinks he is) people that I feel honoured to be in my life. And I'm excited about 2014 - I think I've learned a lot from 2013, and I'm ready to take those lessons and move forward. I'll blog soon about my goals for 2014, but I think you've earned a rest now, if you've made it to the end. To those reading that have been in my life no matter how briefly or tangentially, thank you! What a year!!


Click to enlarge.

......right, I'm putting the kettle on now....