I imagine you are home,

In your room, all alone,

You open your eyes into mine,

And everything feels better.

Cos I hate it when people quote lyrics ;-D right.

I am trying to remember what I've been up to.

*thinks really! really hard*

Hmmm. Oh yeah.

I don't think I did much last weekend. Oh well parkrunned. Wanted to see where I was. 21.55. That's ok, was sub 22, I need to remember that this time last year I couldn't do that with any regularity at all. Then body balance. I'm getting worse at it. I'm not sure how that works, but hey ho.

(As an aside, I'm listening to Beady Eye as I type. Love it!)

Sunday I meant to do an amazing athletic feat or other, as I am of course famous for and so of course I spent the day mooching about the house being useless. I did pack for my course away. A whole week of Proteomics and bioinformatics at the Wellcome Trust in Cambridge. I packed my running gear.

I got there at about 10.30 am. At 11 we were ushered into our classroom for the week. We finished in there at 7 for a poster session outside it where we all introduced ourselves to each other and talked about what we do. At 8 that finished and we went to dinner. After that we checked into our rooms and I was I bed by 9!

I woke at 6 next morning and it was dark. I hadn't seen anything of where we were staying as it was pitch black when I went tomy room so I made a decision then and there. No running all week.

That was a good plan. Lectures started at 8.30 and the earliest finish was 7.30. 

It was good of course, but so intense. There were people from all over.....Australia, Hong Kong, Brazil. Lots of European countries. About 40 in all. Some I never spoke to, a number I spoke to a lot. Some didn't seem to speak all week. I always mean to do that. Never happens :-D

Anyway, despite the lack of running I was really tired when Mr H picked me up on Friday afternoon. We went to a hotel in Tonbridge and I flaked out for a while before we went to Claire and Andrews wedding reception. Which was lovely.

Saw people I hadn't seen for ages, talked a bit of rubbish, you know, the usual. Collapsed into bed after so tired!

Proper brekkie in the morning then off home. Chucked my gear in, got ready for Survival of the a fittest. I will be honest, I wasn't really looking forward to it, I was tired and shaky. But, I knew it would be ok once I started. Took a hundred trains to get there, but we finally did and I wandered about a bit, saw the wall at the end. 8ft. Fuck!

Soon enough Cristina my friend text me to say she had finished and we found her. She was on an endorphin high and had loved it. This cheered me and I went off to get warmed up in one of those aerobic style wave start things that are popular in the big events. I will admit when the fun went I was all RARRRRR!

First thing was 10m from the start. Hay bales that you had to get up onto and over. Bizarrely this was really hard on the quads! And the already bruised knees.....ouch!

However once I got over them I got into a fairly good rythym and the running bits I felt good. I can't now remember all the obstacles but I will try to list some

Walls to get over, tyres to run through, car to get through, lorry to run through, skips to get in and through and out of, run round running track carrying cone, run round track doing steeplechase, lots of slippery ramps to run up and then grab top before you fell back down, monkey bars, parallel bars, endless clambering up ramps along boards down ramps and reapeat (lots) large pool of water to run through, inflatables to force your way through, carry beer barrel through beer tent, and the worst, the very last obstacle, the 8ft wall. Obv I needed a leg up, but the worst bit is dropping down the other side....hideous!

But I did it. In 1 hour 4 minutes something. Felt amazing when I finished :) managed to inhale a curry when I got home and fell into bed :)

Fall out? Bruises from knees down on both legs, massive bruise on left thigh, and most strangely a huge bruise on my wrist where I had a paper wrist band that was a little too tight.

Nope, it wasn't handcuffs. Seriously I was so tired no restraint was required :-D

Anyway, up fairly early Sunday for xc at Gloucester Park. In short, it felt incredibly hard, my legs had little in them, but I was third lady scorer and as a team we won the match divisional prize. Nice :)

Got home from that and had to read to ensure I was ready for my talk the next day which had been cancelled a few weeks before. It went well, I felt happy. I enjoy public speaking when I've prepared properly and it's cool to be able to talk about your research.

So I felt that was a long long week. Which maybe why I only just finished the blog.

Everything that kills me.....

Makes me feel alive...

Well nearly kills me :)

Recovery from Tuesdays marathon hasn't been too bad. Proper aches on Wednesday, a really sore arch of foot......which I just think is an overuse injury.

It's my foot saying, 'you do know you're a fucking idiot don't you!'

So I laid off the exercise for the rest of the week. Work is  busy enough and obv I was tired too.

Friday night I didnt know whether I wanted to run parkrun or not, I certainly didnt want to run to Harrow Lodge, my foot was just too sore............ but then Barking PR tweeted me that tailrunner was available.

Sold!

So I tailran, it was ok, well I failed really as I left someone behind. I swear she didn't start the race with the others, she just seemed to come out of nowhere. Oh well!

Rest of the day usual stuff hair, shopping and the like. Wasn't feeling amazing so went to be early in prep for Sunday.

My third obstacle race of recent weeks. Lactic Fallout in Kelvedon Hatch, Essex.

Mr H took me as it was near and he was quite intrigued. I met up with a group of D88s who were all doing it too.

Possibly the worst thing about the whole race was waiting for the start in what was a stiff cold breeze. Me and Jen had decided to run together and pushed up to get off as quick as possible. Soon enough we were away. Across a field into the woods Jen a few steps in front of me. Down a steep hill and through a stream, then up again and into a field. Bit of a run then the first proper obstacle a really deep ditch I had to slide on by bum into, then wade through prop knee high water and then there were ropes on the other side so you could get up the bank.

50m after this was a wall which actually wasnt as bad as I feared, then these barriers that you had to climb over and get in before you could get out the other side.

I have no idea what was in the bottom of these but the smell made me retch :-/

Another run from there and what felt like millions of ditches. I think I lost Jen at one of these as she said she was sure I was behind her up til a ditch and then after it she looked behind her and I was gone. I think I know which one. I went to jump a ditch and land on my knees on the other side......on the soft mud. Well there was a rock disgusing itself as mud in there and I landed on it taking the brunt just under my knee.

I actually was unable to move for a few moments. A couple of people asked if I was ok but I couldnt really speak. Eventually I got up. I expected to see loads of blood, but there was only a little trickle. Better man up I thought! But I felt sick for a while after that. My bruise off photo shows it, all the bruising down that leg is from that fall I think.

Anyway, highlights I remember are, cargo net where you basiclly had to get facedown in soupy mud, a lake where you slid down into on plastic so fast you just submerged, then walking across the lake was a nightmare cos with each step you were either up to your knees or your neck.....

a load of plastic tunnels to go over or through, I watched people going over, sitting astride them gripping with their knees and went cold. Decided to go through, nearly went mental when I got halfway and couldnt seem to push myself any further....obv I eventually did but it was claustrophobic and not nice, not nice at all.

and all the ditches were filled with water all of them, it was constant sliding and climbing and never knowing when your next step would leave you completely underwater!

By 5 miles (there were markers) I was knackered, completely done. There were a couple of walls where I couldnt even reach up to pull myself up, so I went round. I needed to be done now.

Bit more running then into the woods for the last few obstacles, one I hated, an A frame where you grab a rope to walk up the practuically greased surface and then quickly grab the top and athletically flip yourself over.

Yeah right!I grabbed the rope, walked up the side, decided to try and sling one leg over the top, the other slipped and did the splits, then fell back the way I had come. I am sure it was quite elegant really but being on my own I decided I had tried it....and hurt my adductor, I would go round.

I really had hurt myself too, the rest of the race was finished holding my groin and honestly i dont normally go round like that.

The last obstacle was another crawl through a tunnel in the mud job, so that when you finished you were as mucky as possible. You then pass through a tent where they give you a cup of tea and a t shirt which you try to hold in your teeth because your hands are covered in mud and shit!

Mr H hosed me down after that so i could at least put some dry clothes on. We found Jenny who had finished 7 minutes before me (I have seen the results) and walked back up to take photos of the rest of the Daggers finishing, which they all did with smiles (mainly)

Anyway, I'm a bit achy today but my adductor doesnt seem bad so it was just a tweak, my foot is no more sore than it was. The bruising is a bit painful but that will clear.

I think I am ready for the next one!