Planking and Burpees!

Hello blog lovers!

It's Thursday so therefore it is training time! Core training, and faster running! I know, it don't seem possible to be seeing that in my blogs, does it, faster running!  But that is what Thursdays training is all about. 

Jenny and our Illustrious leader were taking lead today, and what fun we had.  First off was, as always, a warm up lap.  It was a rather bleak looking grey evening, a bit  chilly and damp.  We definitely needed to warm up first.  Then it was straight into our drills .Jenny was leading the first half of todays session. Skipping, knees up high, and the crossing over leg thing which I managed to do without getting tangled up in my legs.

Then we had a relay race! Two lots of six cones stretched out in front of two teams.  It was a race, a very friendly race, was the first order of the day.  First team member runs to the first cone and comes back and tags second team, who then runs to first cone and back. We do that until all five members of the teams have done all six, and then have to start working back.!  Great fun.  And the teams were very evenly paced with each other.  It was a virtual dead heat when it was all done!

After that it was the core training. Sit ups, press ups, planks, V sit ups and star jumps (or burpees, which ever you felt moved to do)  I did my usual two sit ups in the allocated 30 seconds! I looked like a tortoise trying to right its self! I really did!  I am seriously doubting if there are any muscles left in my abdomen! Or if there really have all been eaten up by the spare tyre monster that is now hanging off my ribs (and chest, arms, thighs, calfs, and I am sure even my toes!)  Maybe I will be able to train the fat to think it's now muscle!

When all that was done it was down to I.L. to do her bit.  We were put into three sets of teams, and we had our Fartlec running.  I do like this sort of running. You run at 90% of what you normally do, till you get to you no.2 team member and then rest, until team member no.3 tags you to go to the beginning again.  It's a great way of running as fast as you can.  Just thinking of that little rest at the end of the fist leg is enough to get you running fast.

All in all a very good session.  Oh I must say this, one of the ladies bought her son along and their dog, (who had tons of fun by the way) and the little lad joined in with all the activities! He was even on the first relay team! And managed to keep pace with his counterpart in the team I was in!  How cool was that!

Anyway, I remembered to take my Garmin and heart rate monitor

Time To Leave Grasshoppers!

Hello blog lovers.

Beginners Group Run

Legend tells of great runners whose running skills were stuff of legends. Their identities hidden under the robes of running athletes. At the given hour each week the running warriors begin their ritual, until that time when the need to encounter the mere mortals is upon them. To face up to the challenges that is beyond the gates of the safe ground. That time is now!

Grasshoppers, when you can walk for 2 minutes and jog for 8 minutes it is time to encounter the pavements!

Ok, so we are not shaolin running monks! But it really did feel quite special to be able to lead the beginners out of the recreation ground and do their first 'proper' run around the streets of Pettswood, next week, weather permitting, then we can lead them through the woods!  I am sure we will inspire all who run through there to just want to run and run forever!

What made it even more special, for me, is that PhysioMike asked if I would be able to lead out a group.  PhysioMike was going to lead the faster ones, Peter the slightly slower ones, me the next slower ones and then Anne taking the slower group.  As it turned out, as PhysioMike was putting all the beginners with their respective leaders, I had the second fastest group! How did that happen?!

I just hoped that I wouldn't be too slow for them, as usually I am at the back of the beginners encouraging them all from there.  The route was just a tad over 2 miles, with just one section of off road, and that was up the path from Little Thrift. 

I think I did ok with the group that was allocated to me, there was only one young lady that I lost to the next group down, but she was suffering with her calf's.  Peter actually said to me "Goodness Old Girl, I have never seen you run so fast"  Well, it is very unusual for me to wear out anyone who is running along with me!

But it really was fantastic to be be able to lead them all out and back again.  I think the ladies were definitely ready to get out on the streets, after all, there is only so much laps you can do!

Group 1 Run

Illustrious leader was leading the run today. It was to be on the streets! When will our summer continue for than a few days at a time!  I won't go into a sulk about the weather! I actually wore my wet weather coat, because it looked quite dark outside when I left, I just thought it was about to tip it down.  But as it happened the rain stayed away and the humidity was just awful! 

Our route was towards Crofton, around the twiddly bits of Palace estates.  I do believe I.L. volunteered me to do the extra fast bit, around the green, while she took the ones that didn't want to do that bit down the straight.  As it happened the other young lady that was sweeping today, Emma, decided that she would do that bit.  Yes! I carried on with J.J. and Janet up the straight.

We got to Crofton road and I was.....glowing......tons of glowing!  "Why do you run in a hat" says Janet, "It must be quite hot" "It is but it helps to me see where I am going! It stops the sweat... er....glow... from going in my eyes"  Mind you, if I slowed down or we stopped for a regroup I had difficulty seeing anyway as my glasses steamed up!

From Crofton we headed back to the rec.  The best bit, the down hill bit! We all stayed together as group until we got to the railway bridge and Beaumont road.  The I.L. said that we can go as fast as we want (or slow) as long as we don't change the route, and to get back to the rec.  With that the front runners of the group took off, as well as Emma as I.L. will be taking over sweeping role now.  I kept to the same pace, waiting for Crossways to do my bit of sprint work. I still blame Nagging Sister for that! It was her 'training' that made me sprint the last bits of any run! 

It wasn't until I became a PWR that I was told that the last bits of runs should be just  nice gentle run out! The complete opposite of what I have been doing!  Never one for doing things easy!  Starting running at the age I did proves that!  Never having run before in anything, even managing to dodge running at school!, to now being a marathoner (Oh yes, she gets it in one more/last time[?]) is a miracle for me!

Anyway, geeky stats for you.

Club run - Welcome Back Goss Hill!

Hello blog lovers.

I helped out the beginners group again today, and there were lots more today that last week! Three PWR helpers today, Peter, SingstarJo and me to help PhysioMike shape up the the would be marathon runners!  Well, you never know! There could be plenty of marathon runners in among this group, after all, I was a total novice, never ran before, and I ran the VLM........Ok, I am sure I will stop bragging about it soon!

Today the group was walking for 2 mins and then running for 6 mins! It seems a big step up from last week. I guess they were all waiting for the 5 min running!  But they all did it, kept up their own pace as to where they felt comfortable.  With the warm ups and the stretching exercises, which by the way, PhysioMike has on our backs on the grass!  A great session though, watching as all the beginners start to push themselves even harder, and succeeding at it as well.

After that it was the club run of course.  Illustrious Leader is leading the way again today, and me and another young lady took sweeper roles.  SingstarJo took some wise advice and decided to rest her back and go home after the beginners session.  Sometimes we do need to be told not to run but to rest up, even though we think we can do it.  Just like my first run after the marathon (Groan....not the marathon story again!) I was planning on doing the 3 mile loop, but just getting to the end of Faringdon had me changing me mind!  We may feel like we can and think we can after injury long distance running, but it is also very wise to sit down, chillax heal and rest up.

Our route was going through the Jubilee park, covering some of the Pettswood Runners 10k route, This includes Goss hill!  When I.L. was speaking of the route today, she looked directly at me and said "This is the Old Girls favourite hill" It seemed that only I.L. and I knew the 'in joke' there. 

When we got to that hill I said to some of the back runners "just get up there at your own pace, no need to race it"  I think most of the group started off really well, with only a very few walking some of the way, including me! Well, you all know how much I love hills!  It felt great to get to the top, even though I walk most of it!

The next part is of course all down hill, and we were going down Botoney bay.  The last time we did this way, in the opposite direction, it was still a tad wet underfoot.  But this time it was just fine.  No sticky puddles at all.  But we didn't go through the last bit of the woods, no, we were going up and over the remaining two bridges to get to the place where we first went off road, Little Thrift.

From here I.L. took the sweeper role and then said to the group "Run as fast as you want or as slow as you want, just don't change the route, bake to the rec" she continued "The first one back starts the stretches!"  So I decided to run this bit at tad faster.  Sweating like I just walked through Niagara Falls, I started down the hill.  The weather by the way was very very warm, no wind about at all it seemed.  If it wasn't for a couple of the other ladies saying they felt it was quite warm today, I could have put it down to the start of those hot flushes I have heard about!  I think I underestimated just how far the rec is from Little Thrift, and so flagged a bit before getting to the end!

But still, it felt good to have a quick blast.  As soon as I got to Crossways I took off.  The short run down to the gate, keeping the pace going.  Under the sign, stop the clock......and breathe!

A great run today, it always is going through the woods! Can't wait till next week, more of the woods to get through, hopefully!

Geeky stats.

Cor!!!! Training!

Hello blog lovers.

Today is the first week for the PWR's core training sessions. I thought I would be a perfect candidate for this sort of training, as my core is somewhere under all the cuddly stuff, and is probably as weak as a fluffy cloud! 

DiscoRich is taking the first of these sessions, until the other two ladies take over next week. Apparently they are aerobics trainers and they bring sticks! Surely not!, the sticks that is, not that they are not aerobics trainers.  I know Emma D totally exhausted another PWR with a spin class!

I decided to ride my bike to the recreation ground. Doesn't that sound like a joyous place to be, a recreation ground, for the purpose of.....recreating. A tennis court, a bowls green, a cricket crease, and even a play park for the kids.  So why was I feeling like I was wandering into a lions den!

As I tethered my steed, ok, locked my bike up (on the new bike stands!) the rest of the group were just starting the first lap of the warm up jogs. After that it was drills. Drill Sgt DiscoRich put us through some bouncing on the spot, (hurty calfs), butt kicks, (hurty thighs) sideways stepping or some sort of cross over running (tripping up and doing damage, so I don't think I should attempt that, I did the sideways stepping thing) Can you tell I don't like things that push me too hard!  But that is why I am here, to be pushed and to push hard!

Then it was into some core stuff, planks and push ups and sit ups! 2 reps!   Now this particular activity had quite a few moans and groans going on, as Emma (not Emma D) noticed.  I can't remember the last time I tried a push up, either girly style or macho style.  The first one of my pushups had me groaning like anything, and I still couldn't lift my self of the floor!  The planks were interesting.  I have done some of these recently, when I managed to do a core workout using my abs app from my phone! I am sure I did pretty well on those!

After that it was the running part of todays training. 3x100 metres running fast! Yup thats right, running fast, me, in the middle of a training session, trying to run fast. The only time I run fast is when I can see the finishing line! We were allowed 10 sec stop at each 100 metres point before running again at 90% speed! "It's good fat burning stuff" said DiscoRich.  Well I certainly have a couple of pounds of that to burn off, could probably even heat the hot water for a week if I could gather the fat in vats!

Now all of this was done before some paarluufs. For those who don't know what that is, it's actually relay running! We managed to have two and a two thirds of a team! So the two thirds team kind of tagged on to the fastest team. I was in Illustrious leaders team with Emma. Emma is a pretty fast runner! I think we needed another group 1 member to be on our team! We continued with those for about 12 minutes, about twice around the green I think, or was it thrice! Who's counting, eh, when you're having such fun.

It all went really quickly. I couldn't believe that we had done all of that in about an hour!  Maybe I really did have fun! So, here's to next time, with the two lovely ladies that will put us all through our paces again.

I took my Garmin with me, the bit that I should have put on, (but neglected) was my Heart Rate Monitor! Next week, I am sure I will remember.

Geeky stats.

Wet Soggy Club Run!

Hello Blog lovers.

Well, there is no need to tell you what the weather was like today, just reading the sub title will give you that much information!  But that didn't stop me from getting out there, and helping with PhysioMikes beginners group.

Now, I know, when the 'running bug' takes a hold of you, it does make you do strange things, as I have described in a few of my previous blogs. For instance, it makes you hang around running shops cooing over the latest running fashions, it has you parting with your money on said running fashions, especially for winter running gear, which in itself, is another strange thing that the 'running bug' does to you, it makes you go out in winter, in the snow, sleep etc and run. So you see, running in the pouring rain, is just nothing now, almost a pleasure! Ok, maybe that is going a little too far.

But the beginners, their 'bug' is just started with them, will it be strong enough to get them out here in the soggy rec, running around a sodden green! And it was a tad chilly too. So you can image my surprise when I saw there were about 12 beginners still there, ready to walk for 2 minutes and run for 4 minutes! Ok, so originally there were about 30 that started, but hopefully they will continue with the homework and then come back again next week.

After that it was our club runs. I am not ready to move up to group 2.....now what is my reason this week....my ankle! (Still)  That's it. And it's true! The bruise came out over the last week, and it's still a little sore.  (It's hasn't stopped me from wearing my heels though). Illustrious leader was taking the lead today, we are going on one of our winter routes. The run through the woods last week seemed just like a teaser of what summer used to be like.

Our route, after leaving the rec, was pounding the pavements to the 'Cinder Path' At least we can get the 'feel' of what running through the woods is like.  But to get there we had to run down the very wet pavements and cross over the main road. It seemed like a river was following us as we jumped over or splashed through puddles. Just a week and a bit ago I was sunning myself on a beach in Weymouth! And this evening I was wrapped up in waterproofs and long jog pants, wishing I had my gloves on as well!

I was at the back, today, (of as usual!)  sweeping with SingstarJo.  She and I.L. had ran 10K at the weekend, it was her longest run since her back injury, and she felt that sweeping today was a much better option than running up with the front runners.  And also she had been helping the beginners as well, along with another 3 PWR's. 

It was a nice steady plod along. It was a smaller group than we have had, but the weather is so off putting, the draw of Pj's and hot chocolate is probably more appealing that splashing around the streets of Pettswood.  We soon got to the best bit of the run, and that's the path through the woods.  It's like the best of both worlds, woods and tarmac!  At least there is no danger of me spraining my sore ankle on tree roots and things like that!

I was going to do the little bit of loopy loop with the rest of group 1 today, only if there was no one staying behind. But Singstar Jo wasn't quite feeling her usual self and decided that she was going to be resting for this bit.  It's not good to leave just one person standing around by her self so I stayed with her.

After they came back we quickly got into the next part of the run. A downwards run, all the way back to the rec.  The rain continued, soaking us all. It wasn't even the gentle rain, you know the stuff, when it feels like a delicate mist gently cooling you down on a summers evening run.  No this was heavier stuff, pouring down, making my peak on my running cap look floppy! And I'm sure there is plastic in that part! I was looking forward to getting home, I think everyone was! Yes, its good to get out, and even to get out in the rain. It's good to socialise with all my running buddies, and to be part of a great club. But this evening, its good to get home, hot shower and a cuppa!

There is no geeky stats today, Hitchy was leading group 3 this evening, and to keep an eye on her pacing she needed my Garmin, her one seems to be having some sort of hissy fit, and refusing to wake up!

Get On Old Girl!

Hello blog lovers.

I really must get on. It's been a while now, since the M....... run on the 21st April, 2013! And it's time to stop thinking about what I did, and concentrate on what I need to do.

I couldn't understand the whole concept of the Marathon lows, the 'Ok, I have done that, now what' syndrome. But I think I may have a touch of that. Yes I went to club runs, and I have ran a couple of extra runs in between, but that only amounts to 5 runs since then!  I really must get my mojo back. I must get my love of 'running for running sake' back.  It's there, because I still love running! I just haven't done enough of it.

Today it's Sunday. I have asked my daughter and grandson and my son's girlfriend to dinner! Is this another ploy to stop me from running today? I know I want to run! So I made a plan.  Ok, so this doesn't include getting up early in the morning! My mojo is going to take some while to get out of the duvet! But I will make time to do my usual route. Turpington and back. 

Even taking my grandson to church this morning wasn't going to affect my plans to run today, nor, indeed, the need to go to the shops to get more 'tatoes for dinner! I am going to run. Life had a way of getting in my way during my run up to the m....... big run that I did last month, and the weather tried to stop me as well.  But with planning, it can be done.

So my plan

1. Get up, breakfast, dress and collect child.
2. Church, biscuits and/or tea chat.
3. Shop for said 'tatoes.
4. Drop of child to his mother.
5. Home, peal and prepare food ready from slamming in the oven after run.
6. Out for run.
7. Slam in lamb, shower and enjoy rest of the day with family.

Seems simple enough, even for me. And it was! And also an added chore, the  doing of the washing, yet still I was wasting time.  After a quick nag to myself I got on with no.6 in my list of things to do for this afternoon. (this evenings list is just one thing. 1. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz) I got into my running gear, feeling very confident that I will do an excellent run today.  The weather was not as bright as it has been.  The sky looks a bit grey and the wind is reminding me that it's still around. 

But there I was, Garmin on wrist, connected to the satellites and ready to go. I set off, destination......well home obviously.....but first Turpington lane.   I got to .....wait for it.....Birch Row and my arms, thats right, my arms and shoulders started to ache! What is all that about?! I put it down to just plain too little running lately.

I soon got into the groove and ran towards Turpington.  I ran to the first mile marker (I think now I should have just ran somewhere different) and took at walk.  11.08 min for the first mile! Not fast I know, but for this Old Girl yes, it was a tad faster than what I have been used to, you know, the whole 12 min/mile.  I know I need to work on the speed part of my running, and that is to be done over shorter distances.  I think a word with the coaches, some......dare I say.....homework type of runs will be required by me!

I had noticed that my breathing was slightly off as well. I deffo need to do more running.  The run back home was......boring.......sigh. I need to look for new routes.  That's what I like about our club runs. Each week its a different route.  I need look around for for shorter, more interesting runs.  Now that the summer is here, the woods is always a great draw for me, so I may just take a few runs in there to find my mojo!

I did the usual sprint(ish) back to my home. Not a great time, but it's a start. Mojo, I am coming for you!

So Geeky stats.

Beginners and Club Run!

Hello blog lovers.

It's week three for the beginners group, but this is only the second time I have helped out. And today the beginners were walking for 3 minutes and jogging for 3 minutes.  The group seem to be a little less today, but hopefully the other people will rejoin again next week. I know work commitments get in the way of jogging.

But I was glad to see my sister-in-law and her friend still there with a smile on their faces and my friends from my estate still there as well.  And they all really enjoyed it and still looking forward to next week. Always good to know that!  I am still enjoying watching them all get fitter, even though they don't think they are.  Just think about it. Some of them, admitted they had not even ever ran for a bus! And now, here they are, 3 weeks in, running around a field for 3 mins, walking for 3 mins, and doing that 5 times!  Yep, I am in my element again, feeling inspired just watching the beginners start on what could be life changing activities. 

Life changing, yes, that is what I said. In my case, for instance. My usual day back in the couch potato days, was, get up, shower, dress, eat breakfast. Work, and even that was delievered to my door! So no walking to work for me, let alone even thinking about running for a bus! Work was not that energetic either, it was a case of walking to schools, or even taking the car! Come evening time, it was eating dinner, and that could have been one of the 3 takeaways I used to eat during just one week! And then settle down to watch my soaps! I used to watch them all! Corrie, Emerdale, Eastenders, Holby City, Casualty. I knew all the characters.

But now, those days have long gone. Well, maybe we  treat ourselves to takeaways still, but not like we used to.  Do you know, I watched Eastenders for the first time in literally ages yesterday and I saw Sharon back in the square! How long she been back, and to which brother is she with?!

Anyway, on to my group run.  Our illustrious leader is leading today. Oh before I forget, well done Hitchy on your debut leadership of group 2 today!  See what I mean about jogging can be life changing!  One minute she was just jogging along nicely in group 1 and now Hitchy is leading group 2! Anyway, IL is taking us through the woods today.  I have been waiting for a long time to be able to run through our gorgeous woods again. Its been a long cold winter!

Today, however I knew I was going to struggle just a little with the the route.  I had a very good weekend away, which included beer. But also, being in 'going out' mode the high heels came out. A few glasses of amber nectar and those shoes had me tripping up and clinging on to the Old Boy for dear life, twisting my ankle!  Today it was still a little sore, but at least I wasn't limping. I thought it would be fine to go for a nice gentle jog.

The woods have all dried up leaving hard ruts and footprints on the paths. I was very conscious of where and how I was putting my feet down.  Even so, it felt great to be in the woods again.. I kept up with the main pack.  Singstar Jo and Nanny Mcfee were sweeping today.  They have both just come back from injury, so were happy to sweep along together. 

Botney Bay was our first stop.  I managed to jog right up to the top of this hill.  The satellites still hadn't found me! I was wondering how long it is going to take before it picks me up.  Still, at least I had pushed the start button at the beginning. It would have been nice to see the pace up the hill though. 

We were going to carry on straight up until we reached the road at the top, and head towards the pub. Again I managed to keep on jogging up this bit of hill too!  I think the marathon has helped with the whole endurance thing! (oo look, I mentioned my marathon again! how long can I get away with this?) I know last year I used to struggle getting up both of these hills! Maybe be I should make sure I have at least one hill in my mid week runs, to keep the stamina up! I can't believe I am thinking that!

Going through the woods along the main road at the top and David lost his keys!  The light was gradually fading, and we maybe had about 20 minutes of light left. After waiting a few minutes for David (he went back by himself at first) we all decided that maybe 15 pairs of eyes would be better than just 1 set.  We saw David coming back, still without his keys!  So we all carried on walking along the path looking for them, they were on this part of the route, because this is where he pulled out his hankie.  Just a little further on and he found them! See, it works using 15 pairs of eyes!

We ran back to the main road, and then along the road to the bridge.  From there our Illustrious leader gave the orders. "Ok, from here its run as fast or as slow as you like, until Crossways and then into the rec." Of course I did my little sprint, even though the last bit of a run should be a nice slowly paced end! But it seems I have been doing it for too long now, and I do like that little blast at the end of a run! (I blame my nagging sister for starting that little tradition)


So my geeky stats, oh and the satellites did eventually find me after about a mile and half into my run!

Mob Match And Survival Lessons!

Hello blog lovers.

An extra club run today! And what a run it was. Such fun, such camaraderie. It was a four way mob match between  Pettswood Runners, Orpington Runners, Bexley and Old Elthamiams! Hotsted by Cook and Mathews at the Old Etonians club house!  It was like a party atmosphere! There were running 'stuff' to look at, try on and even run with, to see if you like them! I tried a pair of mizuno shoes. I would have probably liked some sort of chocolate manufacturer to have turned up as well, to see if I liked their goodies, that would have made it perfect!

Any way, to the mob match. There is in excess of 200 people in their 'colours' (its seems there's far too many yellow shirts as usual!) and we all have registered and were raring to go. The beginning of the run is about three quarters of a mile away! A nice gentle jog is required over the main road towards Scadbury Park.

A chap in a yellow shirt stopped me, and asked me if I was friends with Janet at PWR, well I know a couple of Janets! Once established which one it was he told that he was one of the baggage marshals at the VLM (see how I got my marathon mention in again!) and Janet told him to look out for me! But we must have missed each other. Maybe the night shift had come on by the time I came in!

I digress again, as usual. The race was a 6k route through Scadbury park, and then along to the underpass and back again up the the Old Etonians for pasta and beer or soft drinks! And also some prizes! Goodies from our hosts.

It was a formidable site, all the runners crossing the road together and heading to the park.  Once huddled at the start of the race, the route was explained. "Just stay on the main path, don't deviate, there are flags and marshals to direct the way, just stick to the path and head straight" Seems simple enough, even for me!

"Erm, Karen, what if I get lost" I said to her just before the off, "Oh that won't happen, DiscoRich is last runner sweeper, and he is picking up all the orange flags as he sweeps along" she assured me.  I felt a lot better, still, I was wondering if I should have actually brought my phone with me instead of leaving it with the PWR Nanny Mcfee (formally known as Mrs. Hippo).

I was at the back, as usual and there were two other runners running along at my pace, both of them were Orpies.  As long as I keep one of them in my sights I can't go wrong. But if the worst happens then I shall just head for the traffic noise, I thought to myself flag down a taxi!  The Orpie ladies were running well, at my pace thankfullyand I kept up with them. Then one must of got into her zone and took off, so I was left following the other Orpie lady. Then there was a little slope up. I decided to try and get up in front of her using the hill. I had noticed that she is not that keen on hills either!  I did over take her! but it didn't last long she edged her way back in front of me again.   I decided, then to keep her in my sights and maybe blast past her at the finishing point, on my sprint home. It's always good to have a race.

A marshal pointed us up to yet another hill and then once at the top of this it was a nice slope down. We both had to take a little walk up the hill. I started chatting to her and found out her name is Ally, and we stayed with each other for the rest of the way. It was just as well, the sight of the other runners was no more. Not even any 'dust' to follow. But still, not to worry, DiscoRich is behind, and the path looks like it is the main path, so no worries. 

But  then came decision making time. The path broke into two ways, left or straight on. There were no flags around, no tape, and no marshal to direct the way.  Well the straight on option looked fairly good. The path was wide and it still looked like it was the main path. Makes sense to this Old townie to keep going straight! They don't have signposts country parks for some reason! Ally and me decided that was the way. We started to run up yet another hill, this a 'lovely' undulating mob match! For some reason, this way didn't 'feel' right.  I could hear the by pass to our right, and there was a path leading that way. But then there was also another path leading straight up again.

All the t.v. programmes that I had watched in the past, came flooding to my mind, how to make fire, what berry's I could and couldn't eat. How to catch and skin a rabbit! I was glad that Ally had some water! Who knows, we could be lost in the deepest darkest Scadbury all night long! Could I remember how to make a shelter?!

But this path didnt look like it was the one used by 200 other runners! We had a discussion between the two of us decided that maybe we should go back and look for DiscoRich! I did my whistle but there was no response. Then Ally called out when we got to the first path where we had to make a decision, the path that bared to our right, (left when we ran passed it earlier) There was a couple out walking and they told us that they all had run up this path, and he was kind enough to run with us to point us towards the right the way.

We popped out of the woods and looked down to the right and saw a mulling of marshals! They were a bit worried about where we were. Apparently DiscoRich had already passed them and couldn't understand why the other marshals hadn't seen us! From this point we should have turned right to go down to the underpass and then back up the same road, we both decided that we would just run back to the club. It's not as if we are in the scoring positions anyway! And besides, there's pasta and stuff to get to.  I might even buy myself a shandy! Well, I am driving!

"I am not going around the field" said Ally. "Oh yes, you got to do the field" I said, and so did the marshal that was running along with us (Who by the way is another inspiring person, being just under 80 years young, I think he said, and still running!) "Oh go on then" she said, "and we shall cross the finish line together". I think that is a most fitting end to a brilliant fun run.  Even with the getting lost bit, its always fun when there is two or more.

We got back to the club and we exchanged our survival stories with our fellow club runners, how we had to find out way back to civilisation. I explained it to DiscoRich and then he explained to us that some of the flags had been stolen! At least 10 of them, even though they had put them out as late as possible!

So no need to rub sticks together to make a fire, no need to catch a rabbit for dinner, no need to make a shelter out of logs, mud and leaves. I wished I caught the rabbit though, I missed the pasta!

So geeky stats, and you can see where we dithered. The bit we ran was not quite the same distance as going to the underpass, but it was up hill, does that count?