It’s now February and there’s just over ten weeks to go before the marathon. Things are going well, I’m still keeping to my schedule and enjoying my running but I haven’t made a lot of progress with my fundraising campaign. I keep putting things off but time is running out so I need to be focused and get things sorted out. I need to confirm the date for an Extendathon and get some publicity material printed and put up in the local area. I plan to remind everyone I’ve sent a sponsor form to and to basically ask everyone I know to sponsor or support me in some way. So if you are reading this please make sure you have got a sponsor form and have pledged to make a donation or else I’ll be nagging you to do it soon!
Tig and I have met up at our local Park Run event which is held at Tredegar House every Saturday morning and organised by my running club Lliswerry Runners. One week we did the 5k run then met afterwards and ran around the course again….just to get the miles in! This week we went for a steady run after the event and I discovered a part of Newport I’d never been to before and so did Tig. It was a cold and frosty morning but the sun was shining and it was great to have some company for a change as most of my training is done on my own. The mileage needs to be increased gradually each week and the schedule also mentions lots of hills and intervals. Park Run is a good place to chat with other runners and get some advice and compare training and mileages, the problem is you can be left with a feeling of panic ………am I doing enough?.........my schedule seems wrong should I change it? The Brighton marathon starts at 9 am so I am using Park Run as a race simulation as that also starts at 9am, it’s important to get your body and its functions used to that routine. I have a long way to go with this though as I had an unplanned toilet stop on the way this week that made me late for the start! Running does some strange things to your body but as the saying goes…when you’ve got to go you have to go!

I tried a bit of cross country last month on another cold
morning, it was great fun sloshing through the mud….but it wasn’t so great
trying to get rid of the mud it seemed to get everywhere and my shoes haven’t
been the same since. One member of our team tried to wash her shoes in the
shower! This is seriously not to be recommended and I don’t know what she was
thinking of! I’m trying another one this weekend, my hope is that it will help
with my strength and endurance and make running along the sea front at Brighton
seem a piece of cake.  The photo above
shows myself and the rest of the club
posing before the start, as usual I can’t resist the opportunity for jazz hands
and extra quadriceps strength training! I’m trying another one this week but
this time I’m wearing my special black socks that hopefully won’t get ruined by
the mud. (Didn’t get the chance as it was cancelled due to the snow and ice!)

Had my first hill training session this week, where I live
there’s no shortage of suitable hills and I was soon panting away while doing
the first part of the training session-running for 20 minutes uphill at an easy
pace, then came the difficult bit –hill repeats where you run up a hill for one
minute then jog back down and do it again, and again and again etc etc. I
enjoyed it in a masochistic way although my legs were burning by the end! The
scenery made it worthwhile the wintery sun, the snow covered hills and the
bemused looking sheep watching some mad runner go up and down the road without
seemingly getting anywhere! 

I am getting to the stage where everything seems to be about
running, I’m either doing it, thinking about it, talking about it, dreaming
about it, reading about it, I even included running in a painting I did in my Art class! I’m not even doing large mileages yet
that’s still to come! Even though its hard getting out to train in the cold
it’s great when I actually get out, after only a few minutes you feel lovely
and warm and you can really feel close to nature, I saw a fox in the distance
last weekend on my long run, its’ red fur really stood out against the frosty
landscape.  Mileages need to increase
next week and I will need to try to run for two hours. I will keep an eye on
the weather forecast and hope it’s not too icy it can get dangerous as well as
really hard going on the frozen ground not ideal for the joints!

Our vests and shirts
have arrived. Wore one to class and everyone wanted one!

I've managed to do all the running I was supposed to do this week according to my marathon training plan so I'm happy. Running is full of terminology fartlek, tempo, threshold, intervals, cross training but what really counts is how it makes you feel and whether it does you good. It was great to actually run in the dry this week, didn't get wet feet at all and the sun came out a few times which makes everything seem easier. Last Sunday morning I had a great run and it really cheered me up to see lots of families enjoying the fine weather together walking or cycling, there were children trying out their new bikes/scooters etc and parents and grandparents trying to keep up! It was great.

I'm now debating whether I should add to my marathon challenge by trying to get as near as possible to the time I did for my first ever marathon.......thirty years ago! I may be mad but it is not impossible and would link in with Extend's aims of making older people still feel that they are capable. I may think about this challenge.....or wait until I do some more training to see if I could really do it.

Had three classes this week but am waiting for them all to settle back in after the Christmas break before I launch into a full scale sponsorship drive. I'm trying to organise an Extendathon and an Olympic themed fitness challenge event have found a good source for myself and Tig's running vests and other assorted Extend logo'ed attire. We haven't joined up for training yet but that will happen soon and we have also both entered the same half marathon. We are due to meet up soon for a fitness challenge, the highest number of star jumps done in a minute...those photos should make interesting viewing! Will build in some running themed music into my classes in the next few weeks to keep them focused on the goal i.e raising loads of money for Extend.

I need to sort out accomodation for Brighton and ask HQ what they need me to do for the EXPO on the Saturday before the race. Any locals teachers get making some banners and pick a good place at around 22-23 miles and give me lots of vocal support.....jelly babies....anything that will make me carry on to the finish and give Tig something to aim for in London.

I'm doing a local cross country race on the weekend so that will be fun I promise you some mud splattered pics next time.

SPONSORSHIP TO DATE £75

I had a few weeks off to recover from my last epic marathon experience at North Wales and am now planning my attempt on Brighton!

I have managed to put together some sort of training plan and have some events in mind to do prior to the event itself.  I’ve started to think of some ideas for fundraising and attracting sponsors and got together with Richard Bigmead who is also raising money for Extend through running the London Marathon. The only thing that’s missing is actually running! Haven’t managed to do much……aaah, help panic!  Too early to panic yet I do need to start getting in some base mileage. The week started well but then got hit by a cough, sore throat, tight chest etc so am taking the sensible route and refraining from running for a bit. I’m still thinking ahead though and have started some strength and conditioning exercises which will tide me over until I feel ready to run again.

I usually enjoy running this time of year as its generally soft underfoot…..often a bit too soft, and you can keep warm and cosy…as long as you keep moving.

I recovered from my cold and things are a little bit more settled now with my family routine so I’ve managed three runs this week. My favourite routes are really muddy and slippery after all the rain but it’s still been fun although I think I may be in danger of getting trench-foot.

 Had some great running related Christmas presents socks, a fantastic purple Helly Hansen base layer and a very useful long sleeved running fleece in day glo yellow. Also some new trainers, can’t wait to try them all out but time seems to disappear at this time of the year, visiting relatives, giving children lifts etc so will need to be disciplined and try to fit in running as well! 

The holidays are over trimmings have been taken down, settled back into some sort of routine and have started getting sponsors. Running going well and so far I am enjoying it. Classes started back this week so am going to incorporate lots of running themed music to keep participants focused on sponsoring me. Found inspiration in an article in the Mature Times about lady who covered marathon mileage by doing laps of her local village hall and who has now been nominated as an Olympic torch runner!  

Brighton Marathon Blog Hello fellow Extenders.

My name is Carol Woodford and you may have heard that next April I’m running the Brighton Marathon to raise money for Extend.

I have been an Extend teacher for just over a year having qualified in June 2010. I started teaching in September 2010 and now have three regular classes one of which is an open one and I regularly cover for other teachers’ . I was previously a Civil Servant for many years and worked in Cardiff, Newport, Gloucester and Bristol. I was lucky enough to be just old enough to qualify for early retirement in December 2009. Extend has therefore become my new career so to speak and it is a very rewarding one.

I have been running regularly for three years and the Brighton marathon will be my fourth marathon. I started running to combat the problems associated with the menopause and when I was found to have high cholesterol, prior to that I had done the occasional Race for Life but nothing regular. My main exercise prior to this was dancing. I found running to be great for relieving stress especially after a day’s work spent talking to customers and doing other energy sapping tasks that my previous job entailed. I struggled a bit in the beginning and would often return home with my face a lovely shade of purple after my exertions. I joined a running club in October 2008 and started taking part in the evening group runs and enjoyed meeting new people who were supportive and encouraging. They used to make fun of me for turning up on a cold winters evening in a short sleeved cotton t shirt but as I said I used to get so hot and bothered when I first started! The club nicknamed me “Smiler”.

When I heard about my retirement I thought great now’s my chance to complete another marathon after a twenty eight year gap (my first was way back in 1982!) and I would have no excuse not to have time to train. Foolishly though, I chose to enter one that took place in April 2010 and didn’t really give myself time to train properly. I did complete that marathon but was disappointed as I went off course and blew a gasket at 22 miles ending up at the finish sick and in floods of tears! I was finding that being retired I preferred to run in the daylight hours rather than in the dark and cold so the winter of 2010/2011 saw me doing my running training alone without the club. I also started doing park runs in Cardiff as well as volunteering which put me in contact with other runners instead. I managed to keep running despite the snow and cold weather and tried to only enter events where the scenery was good or if it was a race I’d always wanted to do. My regular Extend classes were making me fitter and I was incorporating specific running exercises in my daily routine alongside lots of yoga so I was getting leaner and stronger.

Having failed to get a London Marathon place in the ballot or a club place I looked around for a suitable marathon for 2011 as I wanted to do one again with proper preparation. I noticed an advert in an Extend newsletter for the Brighton marathon for 2012 so sent off an application. I gave myself more time and build up and entered the Snowdon marathon which took place last October . I had always watched the coverage of this race on the television and had been inspired by runners from the club talking about the extreme weather and terrain. I thought this would be the ideal challenge! I sent off my entry early in 2011 and built my racing and training calendar around this race.

I enjoyed running around some hilly circuits close to my home as preparation and managed to improve my times in a few events so my morale was getting good. I completed a twenty mile training run without too much difficulty and actually started to feel like a runner rather than a plodder.

The month before Snowdon I found out that I had got a place in the Brighton Marathon for Extend and had also got a ballot place for London 2012! The marathons are only a week apart so I was put in a panic about what to do. To attempt the two would be a challenge but I’m not Eddie Izzard and don’t want to put my body under too much pressure I have to think of my Extend classes! I decided to take up the Brighton place and do all I can to raise funds for Extend.

Snowdon went well, despite the horrendous weather I managed to complete it in under five hours and crossed the finish line with a smile rather than tears and with no sickness or toilet trouble either! The fact that I couldn’t take off my soaking wet shorts for about an hour due to really bad cramp still didn’t wipe the smile off my face. I had achieved my objectives and had even improved my time from the year before. Now I can focus on Brighton 2012 and try to do even better as well as thinking of every opportunity to raise both funds and awareness of Extend.

I haven’t started a training plan yet as I’m making sure that I’m fully recovered first but I am excited by the prospect of a new challenge as well as looking forward to spending time in Brighton again.

I was there back in 1990 for an Open University Summer school and also had an enjoyable weekend there in 1997. Will be updating you soon on my training and fund raising efforts. Please support me any way you can.