Happy Christmas

Christmas is nearly upon us, what an amazing year it has been;  for me it has been one of recovery, adventures, new friendships and amazing races.

2011 started out slowly, having broken my toe in the first day of my treadmill World Record in October 2010, I had to take 2 1/2 months off running as the break was so bad (silly me!!) I continued to cross train after about 6 weeks but my running really suffered. Finally in the 2nd week of January 2011 I was allowed out to run – HURRAY! however, I was under strict instructions to take it slowly.

My first run left me feeling very despondent, just 5 miles, my breathing was awful and I had to run/walk, but got home, pulled myself together and set off on the road to recovery building up my distances slowly, listening to my foot which was still causing pain and doing a lot of cross training.

My first few races of the year I had to cancel as I certainly wasn’t in any fit state to race.  In February I travelled up to Edinburgh and took part in the Glasgow to Edinburgh 90k, this was my first test and although I wasn’t pleased with my time, my foot held out and I managed to get a podium place, now time to improve.  In May I went out to Spain to take part in the Rhonda 101k trail race, I wasn’t planning on racing this event as it was another test for my foot.  I had been pain free for two weeks!  The race was fantastic and beautiful, very Spanish and approximately 2,000 competitors.  On one section I remember going up a hill and there were loads of people coming the other way clapping and cheering me on, I had no idea what they were saying but somewhere heard 4th woman – how could I be 4th woman with so many people in front of me?? it was of course a loop – silly me!!  I finished the race with my foot in one piece and again another podium place so more than happy, now I could focus on my Double Badwater.

I was nervous about Double Badwater mainly because I had never climbed a mountain before and had no idea how my body would cope with the altitude, luckily for me I managed to pace myself well during the actual race leaving enough in the tank for the climb, which went extremely well, plus we were blessed with the most fantastic weather, the views from the top were out of this world.  The run back down to Badwater was the most wonderful experience, more highs than lows but none of this would have been possible without my amazing crew, Becky Healey, Katherine Hay-Heddle, Matt Nelson, Brad Lombardi, Will Glover and last but not least Scott D’Angelo who took me up the mountain, they were quite incredible and the reason I smashed the record by over 21 hours is down to them.

At the beginning of September myself and my husband went up to Scotland for the Glenmore 24 hour trail race.  Tim came with me as it was a good excuse for him to squeeze in a bit of salmon fishing afterwards!  A wonderful race, well organised and lots of fantastic support, however I didn’t really feel that my body was ready for racing and hit a really low point in the early hours of the morning so after much blubbing took 45 minutes off to try and sleep.  This did wonders for me and I finished the race in good spirits and happy with my place.  Tim had a fantastic couple of days fishing on the Spey afterwards while I sat and enjoyed the beautiful setting – there is nowhere quite like Scotland.

At the end of the month myself and Tim headed out to Greece as I was taking part in the Spartathlon.  I had put off taking part in this event for years as I never thought myself as fast enough, so you can imagine I felt extremely  nervous, especially when you look at the other competitors who were very fast! GULP!  Tim and a friend Bridget crewed for me, they weren’t allowed to help me until after the 81km CP and even then could only help at certain Cps.  The support from fellow Brits and the people at CPs was fantastic.  My aim for the race was to firstly try and finish in under 33 hours and if that wasn’t possible just to finish, but I had to run my own race and stick to my plan.  It was a great experience, I thoroughly enjoyed the whole race and didn’t have a bad point at all during the event.  I finished in 32hrs 33 minutes coming in 37th overall (285 starters) 3rd Lady and 1st Brit, not bad for someone who thought they weren’t fast enough!

October was the best month, my eldest daughter gave birth to her second Son Fin, she has made Tim and I extremely proud Grandparents and we adore our two marvellous grandsons who give us a huge amount of pleasure and joy.

At the beginning of December I headed off to Wales to take part in the Beacons Ultra a 45 mile 2 looped race organised by Likeys.  I definitely wasn’t ready to race and had been struggling to control my body temperature and asthma since Spartathlon.  I did one loop, then retired which was absolutely the right decision for me.  A great weekend catching up with friends and having such a laugh, it was a wonderful tonic and just what the doctor ordered.

I am now nearly recovered, my training has eased right back until after Christmas when I will start again ready for a very busy but exciting 2012.

A huge big marvellous to my fantastic sponsors who have supported and believed in me, you guys have been great.

I would like to wish you all a very HAPPY CHRISTMAS and may 2012 be a fantastic one.