Final Training session for London Marathon - Blindfolded

               

I travelled up north over the Easter weekend to have one last training run with my friend, Abbie, who will be my guide for The London Marathon. I was unsure that we would get another chance to run together, but I needed it, to feel confident with 3 weeks to go.

When I left London at 10:00am it was cloudy, pretty dull and quite chilly.  When I stepped off the train at 1:00pm at Middlesbrough, it was really sunny and quite hot. I really hadn't banked on the weather being like this.  It was Easter Sunday for god sake! It usually rains, rains and rains some more.  I was hoping for the park to be quiet, but it was far from quiet and in actual fact it was what I needed to experience.  The London Marathon is hardly going to quiet is it?!

This training session was the total opposite to the one we did a few months ago.  The obstacles that we faced where nothing like it.  It was very wet and cold the last time we trained together, and the park was very quiet as it was during mid week. Today the park was completely full of people.  Full of families enjoying their Easter Sunday.  Kids on bikes and scooters, old folk on mobility scooters, dogs of all varieties running riot, and parents with prams and buggies. We had our work cut out for us. Oh and there was a fun fair on too. Needless to say, as true northerners, we got on with it.

I had bought a new blindfold.  The one I used during our last run was no good, as the material was too thin.  The new one is much thicker and has padding a.  This was the first time for me trying it out.  It is much harder as it puts my eyesight into complete blackout.  The old one let in a little bit of light. This is so much more frightening. I can literally see nothing now.  We had to begin with a gentle walk just to get use to the swing of it.  I felt so scared, that I was unsure I'd be able to go from walking into running.  I had to just trust Abbie's voice and pick my feet up.  If you would like my professional analysis on what it feels like to run blindfolded, well this is it.  I feel like a Thunderbirds puppet!  If you imagine how they walk, well that is how I feel like I look when I am running.  I feel like Abbie's puppet, being controlled by a bit of string.  When she tells me we are turning right or left, it is such a bizarre feeling.  My brain is telling my body to turn, but I don't feel like I am turning at all, when in fact I am.  I really do not like it when we have to turn a corner. I am happier with a straight long path.  Then I am guessing it would too easy then.  Who needs easy!  

This park is not the flattest and does have quite a few cheeky inclines.  It was interesting not being able to see when they were coming and Abbie purposely didn't tell me when they were coming.  I could feel it in my legs when we started running up a hill.  I could feel my carve muscles working harder, but not being able to see the made it easier for me to run up them.  I think what I have taught myself here is that I can run up hills.  I need to stop being so scared of them.   

We did 2 laps of the park. We managed to pick up the pace on the second lap.  I stupidly wore socks that are on their way out, and they were rubbing very badly on my feet. I could feel the blisters knocking on my door! So we had to slow it right down. I can't have my feet full of blisters ahead of Brighton next Sunday! 

I can not tell you how much I appreciate my sight.  I am so grateful that at the end of my training session I can remove my blindfold.  There are so many people who can not do this and have to live this way every day of their lives.  Doing this is just making me want to do more to raise money for Sense, or even volunteer my time to help people who have a sensory impairment.  We can all lose our eye sight or sound at any time in our lives, especially in older age.  

So this calls time on our training.  We have done all that we can.  In 3 weeks time we will do this. We will not be looking to finish it in any kind of time.  We are prepared that it may take over 6 hours, but we will not give up until we have both crossed over that finishing line.   

See you in 3 weeks time Abbie!! eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek!  
   

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3 Marathons in 3 weeks

It seems that running 15 marathons in 15 months just isn't enough of a challenge for me!  There are many more challenges within the 15 marathons.  Now that April has arrived, I find myself staring at the biggest part of this challenge. Running the London Marathon blindfolded?  Well that is not even the half of it.  I have decided to run 3 marathons over 3 consecutive Sundays!!  Brighton, Manchester and then London blindfolded.

When I woke up on the first morning of April, the first thing that popped into my head, was the fact that I would be running 3 marathons this month. I mean, who the hell do I think I am? Can I even manage to run 3 marathons in 3 months?  Let's not forget that I only completed the Barcelona Marathon 4 weeks ago. Technically my body is still recovery from this.  Yet there is something inside of me that is screaming at me like a wild animal that I will not fail at this. I know there are a few people who are a little bit concerned for me taking on these three marathons, in such a short space of time, but I don't doubt for any second that I can this.  Just because I am not the fastest runner, or the greatest runner that ever ran, does not stop me from taking this on.  

I remember being at mile 10 last year, during the Brighton Marathon, there was a guy running next to me with a huge tiger (not a real one!) strapped to his back.  He told me that he was planning to run the Manchester and London Marathons as well.  I remember thinking how insane he must be, not for just running with a tiger strapped to him, but that he was doing all 3 marathons.  I distinctly thinking to myself, there is no way I would ever be able to do anything like that.  Well I must have grown the biggest pair of balls in just under a year, because here I am, about to do those very same marathons, and one of them I am going to be running BLINDFOLDED.

Scared

Yes I am very confident that I will achieve this goal, but I can't lie and say that I am not scared because I am shitting myself.  I'm not really that scared of the physical pain because I am use to it now.  I have learnt how to deal with it.  It's the mental pain.  I suffered so badly during the week after Barcelona with mental exhaustion.  I found myself crying over the most ridiculous things. I ran out of milk for my breakfast, I cried about it.  I couldn't find my stapler on my desk, I cried about it. I pierced a hole in my shoe, then had to bin them, and boy did I cry over that.  I know that this was partly because of getting sunburnt, and having to fly back straight after Barcelona and going back to work Monday morning. It did take me a whole week to actually start feeling myself again.

I think the best thing to do is just take it one marathon at a time.  I have to put Manchester and London out of my head and just focus on Brighton.  I am not running for a PB on any of these races, just to finish happy, injury free and continue to raise the money for Sense.

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Marathon number 4: Barcelona Marathon

It has taken me a week to sit down and write about Barcelona.  I have had such a mental block about it, mainly due to exhaustion.  What's funny is, while I was running the Barcelona Marathon, I kept thinking to myself  "Oh I must remember to write about that", I had so many of these moments, and yet it's taken me a whole week to drag it all from the depths of my, tired running memory. So here goes....

I was so excited about doing this marathon. Mainly because the last 2 I have done have been so low key. Don't get me wrong, I really enjoyed running them both, but I missed the streets lined with thousands of people shouting my name. I missed running along side thousands of other runners. I never realised how much until my foot stepped over the starting line.

I travelled to Barcelona, on my own, Friday night and arrived into the early hours of Saturday morning.  I set my alarm nice and early to get up, have breakfast and go and collect my race number.  I had picked my hotel well.  Not only was it really nice, with really helpful staff, who I pestered quite a lot for help, but it was so close to the marathon expo, which was also where the start and finish of the race would be.  As I approached the expo, the marathon excitement started in pump into my veins. The whole area was manic with runners of all nationalities.  It felt like I knew them all.  It felt like they were all my long lost friends. I just wanted to hug every single one of them with excitement. I rushed inside to collect my race bib.  Then I realised that as I was on my own, there was no one to take the standard race number holding picture for me. I had to find a willing Spaniard to do it for me. Picking someone who is also on their own is the key, as you can offer to take one for them too (I sound like such a loner ha ha).

So I had my number, and my free t-shirt (which wasn't all that exciting), and made my way into the arena.  I then wondered to myself, "why I get so excited about this part?" They are never that exciting in reality.  I didn't need to buy anything (does anyone?), but I ended up buying myself 2 more official t-shirts, and some gels and got the hell out of there fast before I bankrupted myself. Plus outside was BARCELONA!! Why be stuck inside when I could be outside exploring this amazing city.

Race Day

Before I knew it, it was race day. I set my alarm for 5:30am (now remember this time, as it plays a huge part in the story down the line). The start of the race was 8:30am. This gave me 3 hours to get my shit together. Loads of time. I spent 45mins battling with my hair. Trying to plait my hair with stupid bits of orange ribbon was a bloody mistake. Though, somehow I was changed into my running gear, checked out of my hotel and was walking up to the start by 6:30am. This was the time the race village opened. I thought it would be nice to just be there to soak up the atmosphere and chill out. As I approached the baggage drop, I couldn't help notice how super busy it was. I remember thinking, "oh god, people are keen, so early". The penny hadn't dropped. I got into the very manic, long queue to hand in my bag and got into an even longer queue for one last toilet visit. Again, everyone was rushing about, as if the race was about to start any minute. My phone was saying it was 7:20am, I had plenty of time. As I made it outside to find my starting pen (at the back as usual), they were playing Queen's song 'Barcelona' really loud, and a huge confetti bomb went off. I thought "this is a lot of fuss before the start of the race" (penny still hadn't dropped). After a struggle of squeezing passed hundreds of panicked runners, I finally made it to pink starting zone. As I go there, it starting moving forward, then another confetti bomb went off. Penny dropped. "Oh FUCK!!!" the race HAD STARTED!!! I suddenly realised that my phone was still an hour behind. So in actual fact, I didn't set my alarm for 5:30am, in actual fact, it was set for 6:30am. Can you imagine if I had over slept a little. Oh it doesn't bare thinking about. I had no time to stretch, nor get mentally ready. It was time to go, go, go!

I was almost in a daze for the first 3 miles. I wasn't mentally ready at all. Then I started to focus on the crowds. This helped me get myself into marathon mode. Hearing all the Spanish people shouting "Go!!, Bravo", "Go Kerry" was what I needed.  I was in control now. Enjoying every mile. The sun was shinning, the sky was a beautiful blue colour.  I was loving life. I was loving this marathon.  Other runners where running passing me by and making comments on my 15 marathons challenge, as it is written on the back of my vest. This was brilliant.  People taking the time to congratulate me on what I am doing, while they are running, was truly humbling. A lady from Florida made a huge effort to run over to me, just because she wanted to shake my hand. 

Meltdown

What I have loved about running Paris, Berlin and now Barcelona, is they mark the race in Kilometres. I prefer this, as it feels like it's going quicker. In the UK they are marked in miles. Waiting to hit the next mile sign seems to takes ages. Especially when you are mile 20. Boy does every mile after that seem to take forever.

I was doing so well. My body was strong, my legs were strong.  Then, just after 29k marker, my mind started playing silly buggers. I started thinking about all the people in my life that I loved. Friends, family, work colleagues, the Chinese delivery guy, who brings me my food when I am having a lazy day! I started thinking about how they all contribute to my life and how much I love them all for it. Even the delivery guy! I suddenly felt lonely. It quickly dawned on me that I had no support in the crowd. No familiar face to give me a pick me up.  No one at the finish to give me a hug and say well done. I grabbed my phone from my pocket to read a few good luck messages to get me through this mental fail.  The first message I saw, was from someone very special to me, that said "good luck, I am so proud of you xxx" This was it. I ran for a good mile crying my eyes out.  Here it was, my meltdown! I have one every marathon. I can never stop it from happening.  It comes on unexpectedly. I usually have a good cry, get it out of my system and snap out of it. 

The sight of the sweeper bus put a quick stop to it. (sweeper buses pull runners off the course if they are running too slowly and falling behind on pace)  Even though it was a good mile away, the sight of it was enough to get my mind focused back on the race. I got to 35k before my legs started to feel really heavy.  I really had to slow it down. I was now running along a road lined with palm trees, with the sea on my left.  I can't tell how beautiful it looked. The sun was so bright, shining down on the sea, made it look like sea was full of crystals all sparkling away.  I had to pinch myself to remind myself that this was happening. So beautiful.  I turned my head over my shoulder to look behind me, and saw the sweeper bus every so close. Too close in fact!  I had slowed down more than I had realised. I had to keep telling myself to stop looking behind me, and to just run. The sweeper has never caught up to me, and 35k into the race, there was no way I was getting pulled out of this race.

I suddenly met a Greek runner, who ran with me for a few kilometres. He was my saviour. He chatted to me which helped pass some time, he then ran on, and left me comfortably running behind. Now at 38k, I turned to my right to see that the sweeper was right by my side. How the Fuck did that happen?  I felt sick. Please, please PLEASE do not stop me. I looked at the driver, who looked me straight in the eye and signalled his hand, in a gesture of RUN RUN RUN. I had an Ultimate warrior moment. "THIS IS NOT HAPPENING, I WILL NOT BE STOPPED" I took a huge deep breathe, turned up my music, looked straight ahead, dug deep down for every bit of strength I had left in me and ran for my life.

Let's finish this

40k. Only 2k to go. This is it. I have done it (all most). I had ran the sweeper off my back. Too far behind to stop me. Nobody was stopping me. Every inch of my body was hurting. I was sunburnt to buggery, but I had to block it all out. I had to finish it strong. The crowds where amazing during the last stretch. Cars were honking their horns, people where ringing their bicycle bells at me, people waving their Spanish flags. It was incredible. It was like I was winning. I was using the pain I was in as my power for finishing. 500 yards to go., then suddenly 100 yards to go. One last deep breath, I closed my eyes tight, squeezed my fists together tight and ran to the finish with tears of happiness streaming down my face. I opened my eyes to see my feet crossing over the finishing line. I has so happy. I had beaten the sweeper. That is all I could think about. To me, I had won. I walked over to the ladies handing out the medals, and as one of them went to hang the medal over my neck, I grabbed her and hugged the life out of her, and sobbed like a baby on her shoulder. She had no choice but to hug me back!! I wasn't letting go. I cried with relief and happiness, and the world of pain I was in. I had pushed myself so hard, but it was worth it. I am a person. I will never doubt this. When the going gets tough, I know how to fight on.

I really feel like I did SENSE proud in Barcelona.  I was proud to be wearing my Sense vest, and proud to be running for them.  So that makes it marathon number 4.  Still a huge amount of marathons ahead, and it is about to get ever so tough for me.  I can't allow any doubts into my mind what so ever that I can't run 3 marathons in one month.  I appreciate that it is going to be very hard, but I am ready to take it on, Marathon number 5 will be in Brighton, which is only 3 weeks away. So let's 'av it 

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Milton Keynes Half Marathon

There is something about this race that makes me keep coming back to it.  This is the third consecutive year I have done it.  I can't even quite put my finger on what it is.  It's in Milton Keynes, so it's not the most glamorous of half marathons.  They aren't thousands of people lined up in the streets shouting your name, and I have always been very disappointed by the medal.  There is however a lovely lake to run around, and despite all the concrete and roundabouts, it is actually quite green. The first time I ever did this I got a PB and I have not been able to get anywhere near it since. 

I arrived in Milton Keynes for about 9:30am.  The race wasn't starting until 10:50am so I had plenty of time. I casually strolled up to the race village, to suddenly see a herd of runners coming down along the start. The race had started!! Well, don't panic, it hadn't! It was the 20 mile runners start.  I didn't know there was an option to run a 20 mile distance. Totally gutted as I would have loved to have done it.  I have noticed this year that there is a lot more 20 mile races to enter, so I need to remember this for next year!  

Got myself into what was a bloody freezing cold starting line, and was feeling pretty confident. I was looking forward to doing this race.  Off went the gun and off went.  I felt great. My body was playing ball. Found a nice comfortable pace really early.  It usually takes me a good 3-5 miles to feel relaxed into my pace. Then just passed mile 5 and I felt like someone had jabbed my in the stomach with a knife.  I had the worst stitch.  I tried to walk it off and every time I thought I had got shot of it, and started to run again, it would come straight back. Why? I have never experienced this before. This was it for the rest of the race.  Annoyed is not even the word!  I got to about mile 9 and I found myself running alongside a guy that I know from Instagram. I just love meeting other runners I follow from Instagram. It was just what I needed. He talked and walked and ran and talked a lot more with me until the finish.  He was great support.  We managed a sprint finish too.  Probably wouldn't have managed that if I was finishing on my own.

 I really thought I was in for an over 3 hours half marathon and was feeling so gutted about it, but I was just under 3 hours so was not all bad. Well, still got great, but better that I was dreading.  Next stop BARCELONA :-)

Bake Sale Fundraiser

My fund raising is just going from strength to strength now. I'm stunned and completely overwhelmed with people's kindness and generosity.

My school kindly allowed me to have a Bake Sale Yesterday. I've done them for the last few years and usually raise around £100- £120 pounds. I did everything in preparation as I have done previously. Sent letters out to parents, kindly asking for cake donations, and inviting them along, and posters in the staff room asking staff for the same.

The day arrived. I'm always nervous to see if I actually receive any donations, and not only that but people actually turning up to buy them.  Sure enough, 9.30am on the dot, one of our school governors arrived,  bought a whole box of cakes and had to shoot back to her office. Then they just starting arriving in their dozens. It was insane. People buying cakes, people arriving with more cakes, it was completely manic! Then the kids and staff came at different times To buy cakes. People were just giving me money left right and centre. I was sure I'd made about £200.

Before I knew it, it was 11.30am. I did my raffle and packed everything away. I just had to count it straight away. I can tell you that it was above and beyond £200. I can announce that the grand total raised was £350.55. I can't say thank you enough. I don't care if I'm starting to sound like a broken record. I'm so grateful to everyone for supporting me.  I'm ever so close to reaching the £2k mark. This is the most I have ever raised for charity. 

I have one more event coming up, Charity Bingo on 21st March. Then I will be having a break from fund raising until May. My marathon schedule is so heavy, I need to be looking after myself, and resting in between races. So I'm counting on people donating for now.  Which is easy to do, just click on the link below. Thanks again.

Please sponsor me at by clicking here!

Bingo Night Fundraiser

Last night I held a Charity Bingo Fundraising Night at Carlin How Working Men's Club, in the North East of England. I am aware that I need to start working hard now on getting the money rolling in. So I really needed this to give me a boost!  

I first held my Bingo Night in The Avenue Bar, in Glasgow in October last year.  I took it there first to see if it would work.  People seemed to enjoy it.  It gave me the confidence to want to do more.  It is not just your standard number bingo night!  I have put my own twist on it. There's five rounds, each with a different theme. 

1. Movie Bingo

2. Famous People Bingo

3. TV Theme Intro Bingo

4. Standard Number Bingo

5. Music Intro Bingo

Each winning prize is related to each round. So for example, Movie Bingo prize was a £20 Cineworld Voucher.  With the TV Theme Intro round, I played 20 seconds of a well known popular TV tune, so the players needed to identify the tune so that they would mark if off their bingo cards, if it was on there! Tricky, but a lot of fun.

I was taking a HUGE risk doing this bingo night.  People in this village take bingo very seriously! I admit that I was shitting myself on how they'd react.  I wasn't even sure if anyone would turn up. I had been harping on about it on Facebook for weeks, and getting very little response back.

I'm very pleased to say that was such a huge success. I raised a fantastic £500.75!! I was so scared it was going to flop, as so many were pulling out of coming. Though, new I could rely on my army of a family to come up trumps. Soon as I arrived at 6.30pm to set up, there were people already sat waiting to play. Then people just kept arriving. I really cant keep saying thank you enough to the people of Carlin How, and the Club, especially my Uncle Steve. What was also fantastic, was I had from 2 dear friends of mine that turned up to support me. 

So the verdict? THEY LOVED IT. It worked. They have even requested I go back and put another bingo night on. Gotta give the people what they want. 

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Got a lot of fundraising ahead of me over the next few weeks. A bake sale at my school, and another bingo night in London. The money is coming in now. Which is what it's all about.  I can look towards bringing my bingo night to London.  A soon as I have confirmed a venue, it's on!! Will keep you posted. 

I would just like to thank everyone that donated prizes towards the raffle we put on. There was so much of it. I have to personally mention Sound it Out Record Shop, in Stockton-On-Tees, who very kindly donated a £15 voucher!  I can't forget me Mam' too. She organised the raffle and a 'Name the Teddy' game which raised a lot of money too. 

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5k Training Run Blindfolded

Myself and Abbie had our first run together today. Well, not really our first run ever. I did the Stockton River Rat Race with Abbie a good few years ago. We jumped in swamps, scaled bridges and was very bad at canoeing round a river. She won't dispute this 

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This would be our first blind training run. I wasn't sure how far we'd manage, as Abbie has just recovered from a torn ligament and I was totally and utterly out of my comfort zone. Within an hour of arriving into Middlesbrough from London, she picked me up and we headed over to Stewart Park. Haven't been to this park for about 15 years. So I have little memory of it. This meant I was unable to use my memory of the park as a security blanket. I had to completely trust Abbie instantly to guide me safely. As soon as I put the mask over my eyes I felt very scared. I was scared I would fall over, scared of potential people walking passed me. I just had to block all my worries out and just try and concentrate on Abbie's voice.  We must have walked for only a few short minutes before I had to take the plunge and start running. We were met with a few obstacles. Very uneven surfaces at times, lots of leaves and sticks on the floor and a few little inclines. 

One silly thing I have to admit, is that I was so worried about other people staring at me, even though I couldn't see them staring. I know that may sound ridiculous. Well, of f course people are going to be bloody staring at us! The park isn't exactly full of people running around it blindfolded!! We ran passed a family, and as they were behind us, I heard a little girl in a strong Boro accent say "Dad, why is that girl running like that with that thing on her face?" It was as clear as if she had been standing right next to me and said it, but in fact they were quite a distance away from us by the time she had said that. It still amazes me how sharp my hearing becomes when I am blindfolded.

We had very quickly completed a lap of the park. We had gotten so comfortable with each other that we talked for England.  So it just made more SENSE to do another lap. So we did, much faster and would you believe it...we did a 5k completley blindfolded the whole way. I am so happy I chose Abbie. She's a marvellous guide and i trust she'll keep me alive and in one piece. I still believe running 26.2 miles blindfolded will be the hardest thing I have ever done but I am more confident than ever that we will do this. 

One thing I got Abbie to do before we finished, was to walk back to the car blindfolded herself, so can can get a better understanding of what I am going through.  This will help her more with guiding me.  It also gave me an understanding on her role too. Thank you Abbie for keeping me alive.  

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