On the Other Side of the Fence....

Packing again...

After having no event in 2017, the World 100k championships were back for 2018.....this time being held in Sveti Martin na Muri in Croatia. As the only female to have run under the ladies' qualification time, I had a difficult decision to make this spring when selections were being made. I could take a chance on my leg healing and be able to compete, or I could ask to be considered as part of a team (as 2 ladies had run the team standard).....but I did not want to put myself under pressure to run before I was ready and I also did not want to let the other ladies down. Luckily, British Athletics was able to use the "wild card" rule and enter a team without all of them having achieved the required standard and I was asked to go along as a team manager.

I wasn't sure if I could do it....help and support the others without just being plain grumpy at not running "my" event (in 2016 I was the sole representative of GB),  and also see all of my 100k friends from other countries, but once I'd agreed I threw myself into it. It wasn't easy as I just tried to remember what I'd wanted to know/not know prior to attending events myself, without ever saying "in my day...." or "when I ran the 100k..." to our current athletes.

There was a lot to do before the event....contacting the athletes, setting up group chats, ensuring flights and transfers suited everyone, getting the right accommodation arrangements, dealing with kit issues, working out how to include family/friends coming along, discussing race plans and nutrition, dealing with dietary requests and also any injuries arising (I liaised with both individual doctors and British Athletics to see if any TUEs were required....and luckily they weren't).

Team GB on parade

I flew out a day early (as I did not want anyone to have to go through the sagas I had in 2016....finding myself on my own at the race venue with the accommodation having been booked for the wrong dates, so I had nowhere to stay and was in danger of failing a drugs test) but I think I had enough travel dramas for the whole team (a cancelled train, a lady collapsing and fitting in the scanner queue in front of me in the airport and then a very delayed flight so I arrived at 2:30am).

My "feed station"

Once the athletes arrived there were accommodation glitches to sort, race and nutrition plans to revise, the course to be reccied, shopping to be done, technical meetings to attend, numbers to be collected, masters' entries to be paid (and then I had to work out whose number was whose and what age group they were, so that I could attach the right stickers to the right numbers), and the opening ceremony to attend. Add into this, an athlete missing a connection so having to stay a night courtesy of an airline and arriving (without his luggage) just as the opening parade started. I managed to get enough gels and drinks for him from various sources (but it did involve donating some of my GB clothing to other teams for goodwill purposes).

The race started at 7am and consisted on 7.5k out and back loops from the hotel. I was manning the GB aid station (well, I had a chair at the side of the road) at the far turnaround so I had to leave prior to 5am to get up there with everyone's drinks, gels and chews before the road was closed. It was still rather chilly and dark as I hung my flag up in the trees behind me.

Drafting Lisa in to help out

Lisa was "allowed" to offer her husband
more encouragement than the others

During the race I kept in touch with the feed station at the start/finish point of each loop, and we let each other know how the athletes were feeling and if they wanted extra things not in their race plans (which did involve begging, borrowing and swopping from other nearby country teams - I was between France and Germany). I would spot my runner coming, cross to the centre of the road to check what they wanted, and then be back at my chair ready to "stand and hand" while they went the extra 50m to the turnaround and back. It was easier at first when the lads came along followed by the lasses, but as they started lapping each other it got more complicated (and so Lisa, the wife of one of the runners, came and helped "spot" for me).

Catching up with Nikolina pre-race

Supporting Nikolina

I had caught up with several friends before the race and explained to them that although I would do my best to cheer them on during the race, my priority was the British team and so they'd have to excuse me if I ignored them on the day. Luckily, I managed to see (and shout to) my Croatian friend Nikolina (she was second and I was 3rd in Spain .....no further mention of the rule breaking we saw on that day) on every lap, as she led the ladies' race practically from start to finish finishing in a well deserved new Croatian record.

Feeding Sue on the run..

I couldn't abandon my post to see anyone finish but did run back alongside our last runner (a good friend who I've been fortunate to have run with for years), trying to encourage her for the last bit of what had been a long day out, and then whipping a Union Jack out of my bag for her to raise aloft as she ran in.

Our runners were fantastic and I felt so proud to have been able to be a part of it, even if not able to run. My job was still not done as I spent the rest of the day trying to offer individual congratulations, support, encouragement etc as it was wanted/needed.....and then making sure people felt well enough for the closing ceremony,only and that transfers and flights were all sorted for the way home.

I "think" Ant was happy with his run!!

After the race, I managed to sit down and grab a drink with a couple of our runners, and celebrate Ant's huge new PB and V40 win, but I needed to go and check up on all of the others (some were feeling a bit low as they'd found it a tough day out and one had had to DNF due to injury). I spent the rest of the day trying to offer individual congratulations, support, encouragement etc as it was wanted/needed.....and then making sure people felt well enough for the closing ceremony, and that transfers and flights were all sorted for the way home.

I took the bad luck on the way back as my airport train morphed into a rail replacement bus but I finally made it back to Scotland and fell into my bed. I'd averaged 4 hours of sleep a night since leaving home, but it was worth it as I felt I'd done a decent job (though it's a steep learning curve and so I've asked for both positive and negative feedback to improve for the future) and had been able to help share some of the enjoyment of the event. I have always run for the love of running, and so if I can help smooth the process for others so they enjoy it as much as I have done, then that's good enough for me!

Another week......another Sportive....

My non-changing X-rays 

The results are definitely in.....my leg isn't healing. I'm not sure whether to be impressed with the NHS or just its level of IT, but it did seem slightly weird to be sitting having a coffee with an old  friend (as in we've been friends for years, not as in he's in his dotage) in his kitchen, while looking at all my X-rays on his laptop. It does rather help that he's an orthopaedic surgeon (www.williamhage.com) and so has been great for discussing different treatment options. Option A was to offload the leg, rest and fix the REDS and hope for healing , but as that hasn't work, he suggested Option B ("that you might like more"). This was pretty much along the lines of what I'd been thinking.....if to gradually introduce running back in again, but be very alert to any worsening of the leg, ie more swelling or pain (Option C would be surgical fixation but this would have its own problems, eg 30% of people get anterior knee pain after tibial nailing, or large scarring and metal reactions after plating/grafting).

The main thing is to look out for my bone health, ie trying to limit/reverse the osteopenia as much as possible but keeping the REDS at bay. I think I've been managing this element quite well......without going into too much detail, I didn't have a "period party" at the end of my amenorrhoea but it almost felt like I should (the first time you think it's a fluke, but then a month later you realise you might actually be on top of this, and then another month down the line you start to relax.....well, except for remembering just what a nightmare periods and their associated pain can be every month!). 

You might think that after being told to start running, that I'd go out for some crazy long run to celebrate, but if I'm honest, I'm scared to run. Not only do I think that I've actually forgotten how to run, and I'm too unfit anyway, but I don't want to cause more harm. I think it will be difficult to work out if any "pain" that I feel is real or psychological/paranoid pain. However, I've bitten the bullet and been for a gentle run. To be honest, a lap of the grass near my parents' house (all of 5 minutes) was enough for me, as although I was barely going faster than the dog walkers, I was puffing and panting, but at least it felt OK.....and I "refuelled well" afterwards!

I will gradually try to build this back up, but not push it, so I must still look to other ways to regain my fitness. Hence this weekend saw me try another Sportive. This one was a 50 mile loop from Lanercost Priory called the Crossborder Raid as it dipped into Southern Scotland. 

The start was rather a shock to the system with a 15% climb up onto Hadrian's Wall but I really enjoyed the ride after that. Although it certainly wasn't flat (my glutes and vmos are definitely telling me that now!) the roads were practically car-free and totally new to me. We had some decent views.....though the Scottish ones weren't so impressive (but that was due to the weather as we had more rain the further north we went...and then returned to sunshine in Cumbria).

I could have done with a feedstation before the 30 mile point, but when we got there it was great...with sausages, sandwiches, cakes, crisps, fruit and hot/cold drinks. Unfortunately there wasn't any at the end, but there was a lovely cafe just nearby so a hearty meal was possible (and I had another one as soon as I got home......as I, taking the refuelling seriously). My friend Doug and I had a lovely day cycling together and chatting all the way round, but other people really didn't seem to be getting so much fun out of it. They would pass us in single file with their heads down (usually on the descents......well they'd pass me as Doug isn't a scaredy cat like I am....but then we'd almost always go past them again on the climbs) and not say a word either to us or the rest of their cycle club mates strung out behind them. It certainly didn't make us want to join a "cycling club". 

It was nice to spot the priory
and know we were almost back!

I'm no cyclist....though at the minute I'm no runner.....but I do enjoy a day out with friends (especially if there is cake involved at some point) so I think I'll keep doing it my way :-) Onwards and upwards...