Looking Back.....

In most walks of life, we are encouraged to keep looking forward, driving towards the future, and not to look back........but in some situations it can be beneficial.

The Festive Period, for most people (even if, like me, you only have the Public Holidays off work) gives you the chance to step back from the pressures of work, spend time with family and friends, eat, drink and sleep well, and think about the year that has passed as well as looking forward to what is to come.



Gateshead Event Director pointing out the course



I managed all of these, from going to a local parkrun (Gateshead parkrun in Saltwell Park) with my dad on Christmas morning (though admittedly it was more about enjoying the mulled wine, mince pies and chocolate brownies afterwards than it was about the run) to discussing (with my 4 year old nephew) the differences between him trying to run "farrrst" (long southern vowels) and me trying to run "fast" (short northern vowels) to learning about "Superworm" from my 2 year old niece, to eating all 4 different types of cake that my mum made (both Polish and English).



Vests of the year



Whilst catching up with friends old and new, I took the time to reflect back on 2012, which was a very beneficial experience. If you'd asked me what I remembered of my year in running, the initial things that sprang to mind were quite negative........developing plantar fasciitis and struggling with it for several months, forcing me to pull out of target races.......then some tendinitis interrupting training......and a "far from ideal" 50k.......but on thinking more deeply I have actually had a year that I can rightly be proud of.

I've travelled and raced well overseas (including in Warsaw with my family there) proudly worn several different vests (Dumfries Running Club, Nedbank International, Scotland, and the Scottish Vet Harriers), lowered several PBs, won some odd prizes, recovered from significant injury, but far and above it all......I've enjoyed my running and made many new friends! If 2013 has even half of these features, it'll be a great year and I look forward to meeting it head on!



Wigilia!!

Wigilia is the traditional Christmas Eve vigil supper in Poland, held on December 24. The word "Wigilia" derives from the Latin verb vigilare, "to watch", and literally means 'eve'. The feasting traditionally begins once the First Star has been sighted in the heavens at dusk (around 4-5p.m.) although we started slightly later than this as I had to drive over to Durham after finishing work.

A bundle of hay is placed under the tablecloth to symbolise the fact that Jesus was born in a manger. As a game, pieces of straw are drawn out from under the tablecloth to tell your fortune for the upcoming year, eg growing strongly, branching out, fruitful (though my mother is the best at turning her piece round to "help" predict her fortune! 

Another tradition is to leave one extra place-setting for an "unexpected guest". This is to celebrate the tradition of hospitality and inclusion. The empty seat is left open just in case a traveler, family member, or a friend knocks on the door, so there would be a place for them to join in the celebrations..........which our neighbours have learnt and profited from over the years!

The wafer

Our celebrations begin with a glass of vodka (modern technology is amazing as skype let us share this with family and friends in Scotland and Poland) and the breaking of the Christmas wafer (opłatek - a rectangular unleavened wafer, blessed by a priest, embossed with Christmas images to symbolise the bread eaten daily) and wishing each other good fortune in the upcoming new year. The opłatek is broken by the eldest and the youngest and pieces are given to everyone, who then break off a piece of their opłatek, and share it with everyone else, wishing them luck, joy and good fortune in the upcoming year (finalising the wish by a kiss on the cheek).

Barszcz with uszka

The awesome salmon

A traditional Christmas meal in Poland starts with czerwony barszcz (beetroot soup) and uszka (ravioli). Fish provides a main component of the Christmas Eve meal across Poland as Wigilia is observed as a Black Fast (meaning that most Poles abstain from eating meat on this day). Traditionally the fish is carp, but in the Zakrzewscy household we tend to prefer salmon. My mother excelled herself this year, and had the nicest salmon dish I think I've ever had......full of flavour and so moist. Other dishes include the compulsory sauerkraut and cabbage (kapusta), and walnut/potato croquettes.  

Makowiec

For dessert, there's makowiec (poppy seed roll), babka (panettone), piernik (honey-spiced cake), fruit compote and pierniczki (gingerbread cookies). 

The number of country courses is traditionally established to be twelve (symbolic of the number of months in the year as well as to celebrate the twelve disciples) in a similar manner to the British tradition of eating 12 mince pies over the festive season, so if we've not yet got to twelve, we make it up with dried fruit, nuts and chocolates!!

Running for Fun



Lovely new snow!



This is a great time of the year....no, not for the weather.....or for the fact that it's the season of overeating and overdrinking......but for the fact that for most people the race season has come to a close! Instead of hard training and worrying about times and distances, you can kick back, reflect on the year gone by, start to plan for the year ahead.....and just run for the love of it!



For me, it has meant a chance to get out on the hills without worrying about injury, a chance to play in the snow without worrying about slipping, and also a chance to enjoy catching up with friends on nights out.



Running past the neighbours

 

My "prize"



Starting the Christmas handicap

I have just kept my running ticking over.....when I want to (especially nice to run easy in the crunchy new snow), and where I want to (out in the countryside or the woods)......though the club Christmas handicap was a bit of a shock to the sytem. We all run a 5 mile route (almost the course of the Holywood Stroll) , but start times are staggered according to our race results over the past 6 months. Everybody brings an anonymous present worth about a fiver, and then people choose one in the order they cross the finish line (except that the winner gets last choice as they also get a trophy). It was nice to see everyone.....but my aim was to get back as quickly as possibly in order to get a present that looked like it might be chocolatey. I started 4th from the back but managed to work my way up to finish 11th out of the 30 runners, though my plan failed as the prize I chose turned out to be a box of crackers that may just have come out of the Ark! Still, I made up for it with a mincepie fest and a trip to see The Hobbit afterwards (though sitting still in a cinema seat for 3 hours was almost more painful than the 5 mile effort)!!

Hexham Hobble - a fell race or an ice skate?



Trying to stay upright on the driveway



I am sure that I am not the only person who feels that they ought to show their appreciation for their parents more often, so it was nice to go across to Durham this weekend and spend some time with them. My parents seem to realise that a weekend without any type of running makes me poor company, so my mother did wake me up on Saturday morning by asking if I was going to go down to the local parkrun. Not wanting to run it hard, I thought it would be a good opportunity to give something back to the local running scene by going to volunteer. Luckily, I found out just before leaving the house that it was cancelled due to sheet ice....which was just as well, as I couldn't even get down the driveway in an upright position (and the driveway is rutted to help in icy conditions).

Sunday dawned clear and sunny but very cold........so I did wonder what on earth had possessed me to go and take in a fell race  (the Hexhamshire Hobble) on the way back home, as it was bound to be colder higher up in the hills. True to my prediction, the temperature gauge dropped to -3 as I drove to a friend's house so we could go to the race together. He had done the race several times before and so explained the course to me - road sections at the start and finish, with bits of rough fell and runnable wider trails in the middle. We headed off up round the route backwards as a warm up, so that I got a chance to see the run into the finish. It was incredibly icy just crossing the carpark to the grass, and a lot of care had to be taken to avoid slippy patches running down the road, which was a  real shame, as I had thought that the final road section would be my secret weapon.



Route and course profile



As we headed back, it seemed unnaturally quiet, and we realised with a shock that everyone was gathered at the start a full 5minutes early. We had a slight panic, hurdled a stone wall, skidded across the ice back to the car to ditch our jackets and pick up our bumbags containing the FRA (Fell Running Association) compulsory kit (full body waterproof cover, map, compass, whistle and emergency food) and made it to the start just in time. Well, when I say just in time, I was still bent double tying my laces when the gun went off! After leaving the field, the first mile and a half were on road - initially slightly downhill and then a steep climb up onto the fells. I knew that this would be a strong section for me, but the ice on the road meant that it was difficult to pass people safely.

When the marshall directed us off the road onto the fells, that was when the fun really started. It was a beautiful, sunny day, crisp and clear with great views (though I couldn't really appreciate it as I had to spend most of the time looking at my feet to avoid the ice). The snow from a couple of nights prior to the race had almost melted, and what was left had frozen, along with the bogs due to the flooding and rain of the week before. I actually found myself sitting on my backside in the middle of a 2m stretch of sheet ice at the 3 mile mark, but managed to get up and start running again without really noticing. I managed to catch up with the 2 men in front of me on a lovely stretch of wide runnable trail, but they moved ahead again as we queued up to have our numbers stamped before turning back onto the rutted icy rough moorland. This section was a long one and so several of the true fellrunners shot past me in their shorts (!). I actually really appreciated that, as it meant I could follow their line rather than try to pick out the best route, and hence avoided crashing through  more frozen puddles to soak my feet. I recognised their vests and so knew they had local knowledge, regularly training on those fells, so I tried to keep them in sight.



"Keep" trophy as I had to give the large gold one back!



Another road section meant I soon caught them up again and we then had a bit of friendly banter negotiating ice and they encouraged me to push on away from them. The last push up off the road and across the icy tops flew by as one of the marshals had told me that I was the first lady and also that there was cake and tea at the finish........I certainly wasn't keen to let anyone get at the cake before me!

Our recce of the finishing mile was brilliant as it meant that I could speed down that last bit of tarmac, knowing exactly which bits of road to avoid. I felt great, and flew into the finish at my road 10K pace, though did wait to cheer my friend in before hitting the cake.

Not being a natural hill runner, I was amazed to see the results and find out that I had finished in 12th position overall, over 7 minutes ahead of the 2nd lady, and only 2 minutes slower than Angela Mudge's 15 year old course record........though at the prizegiving, the announcer gave up and didn't even attempt to pronounce my name!

Illness - a blessing in disguise?

Clubmate Alan and I made it up the hill at 3 miles

The 10mile Brampton-Carlisle race is usually the last roadrace in our club's Grand Prix series, and this year was no exception. I don't have the best history of this race, having started it twice......the first time being the only time I have ever DNF'd in a race (I collapsed with chest pain halfway due to being grossly anaemic) and the second time was when the course was shortened due to flooding. For the last 2 years, I have just supported club mates running it and so I consider that I've never really run the full race. It looked like this year was going to be no exception, but after enjoying the Belfast weekend, I decided to give it a go and enter it.

It was difficult to work out what pace to run at, as it's a fast, net downhill course, but I hadn't been training in the past few weeks, so didn't feel on for a particularly good time. As the weekend approached, it looked like the decision was out of my hands anyway, as I spent most of Thursday night awake with some version of the local bug doing the rounds! I dragged myself into work on Friday morning as we needed to pack up the surgery (as well as seeing patients), but by lunchtime I was back in my bed......and woke up 5 hours later still in my work clothes! Even my famous appetite had disappeared, so it didn't bode well for the weekend.

In the now-famous skirt at 7.5miles

Another day of recovery (and unpacking at the new premises) and I felt like giving it a go on Sunday. After the previous two days, there was absolutely no pressure on me to run a good time, so I could just relax and enjoy a fun day out with my clubmates. 16 of us went down together on the minibus from the club, though we had 25 clubmembers racing in total, and 3 others were there to give their support (2 on their bikes). Bearing in mind how my racekit affects my mental attitude, I further took the pressure off by wearing my club vest and running skirt, rather than club croptop and shorts (though I did query this decision when I felt some drops of rain/hailstones and dreaded the thought of long wet kit - luckily this didn't amount to much).

It was still quite chilly, but the early morning ice/frost had gone by the time we set off at 11:30am. There was little wind so some fast times were on the cards, so I made sure that I was several rows back at the start. Many people are taken unawares by the fast downhill start and so the field becomes rather mixed with runners of varying speeds then jostling for places as they head uphill again out of Brampton.

Team DRC at the pub (after the race!)

Having decided that I was in no shape to go for a time, I ran without looking at my watch for most of the race. Until I looked at my splits later, I didn't realise that I'd gone out as fast as I had, but at least this meant than when my legs ran out of energy with a few more miles to go I had still done enough to run a good time - in fact my second fastest 10 mile time. Luckily for me, the ladies' field was not as strong as usual, so I managed to sneak in a cheeky win, though the main celebrations in the pub afterwards were for the multiple PBs achieved by my clubmates. All in all, it was a great day out for the club - we all had so much fun and I'm really glad that I went (and could almost thank the short illness for taking the pressure off me, making me enjoy the run and see how bad my natural pacing mechanism is!!!).

Into the Northern Irish mud



A slight running influence in my pumpkin carving!



My two week "non-running" holiday was over too quickly and I had to return from sunny California (where I'd cycled to the beach, been wine tasting, carved pumpkins, trick-or-treated, and eaten pancakes practically every day for breakfast) back to chilly Scotland - having to scrape the ice off my car at Glasgow airport was rather a shock to the system!
The return was made easier by the thought that, in my absence, we would have moved into our shiny new purpose-built premises. Unfortunately, due to various factors outwith our control, this had not happened, so I was back at work, trying to find everything that had been packed away into boxes. Luckily this took my mind off the approaching weekend - I was due to go to Belfast to run in the Masters International Cross-Country as part of the Scottish team. I had not run any cross-country this season, and indeed hadn't laced up my spikes since having PF (plantar fasciitis) at the start of the year. Having not really run properly since the 50K, I was glad that the event was described to me as more of a social weekend than a serious "goal" race.
My clubmates (Lisa and Sian Finlay) and I had decided to travel over together on the ferry from Cairnryan, though we almost missed it entirely as road flooding caused big diversions en route. It was odd to be travelling as friends but know that we'd be running as rivals the following day (Lisa and Sian were both running for Northern Ireland, whereas I was representing Scotland) - and it certainly caused much hilarity and talk of "taking out the opposition" on the ferry when I was locked into the toilet, and Sian almost tripped over in the cafe.



Sian, Lisa and I when running as a team



The evening was spent getting to know other members of Team Scotland over dinner, catching up with my room-mate and friend Avril (debating how weird it would be to run a short XC after all of our distance training), and trying on “race outfits“ for the morning.

Our hotel was so well heated and insulated that it was rather a shock to the system going outside to walk to the bus station, in order to catch the bus to the venue. I find that the clothing I wear to run in tends to affect my mindset, so I had decided to wear my vest teamed with a running skirt. I don’t like wearing anything under a vest if it’s a short race, but unfortunately I could have definitely fitted a few layers in under there without worrying about tightness. I had asked for a smaller vest but was told that I had been given the smallest available and that anyway “you’re one of the biggest here“...... I’m still not quite sure whether I should have been offended by that or not! The temperature wasn’t quite equal to the californian warmth I have become used to, so I was also glad of the extra skirt layer.

Team Scotland

Some light rain was an added bonus (not!) as we watched the local parkrunners come by, and then hung around for our team photos. Team NI had a slight home-turf advantage for the race, as they’d run their trials on the course, so Avril and I headed off with Fiona Matheson for our warm-up on the course itself. The venue had been changed from Stormont to the Queens Playing Fields a few weeks earlier, due to waterlogging, and the new course really didn’t sound as if it would suit me (we were told that it was a “fast, flat, hard surface“). Our race was 3 laps of 2000m each, and although there were long straight stretches to pick up speed, there was also a nasty, slippery cambered hill soon after the start, a nice little incline halfway round, and 2 distinctly boggy bits.



Getting stuck in....



All too soon, the thermals were off and we were racing, 165 of us in total as the race was for all the ladies and the V65 and V70 men (2 of whom were racing barefoot – bet that was a little chilly). Knowing that I’m a slow starter on the best of days, I was about 8 rows back at the start and so had difficulty working my way past people before the first muddy climb. This meant not being able to choose the best (?grippiest) line up and so required some digging in with the spikes in order to stay moving in the right direction. I was definitely out of my comfort zone but kept working my way up the field as my went round the first lap. Places around me changed little on the second lap, though I found that I could power past some ladies on the inclines as I have strength in my legs even if not out and out speed. It was great to hear everyone cheering us on, and we really appreciated the men delaying their pre-race warmup to encourage us.

All the way round I had heard Irish accents encouraging a girl called “Lisa“ to chase me down, and so I was convinced that my club-mate was running a blinder and was just on my shoulder. On the last lap I realised that it was a totally different Lisa (running for RoI rather than NI), but she was still being encouraged to overtake me. There is nothing like hearing from a bystander that you “look finished“, are “exhausted“ and can “easily be outsprinted“ to make you dig in, so I have to thank that unknown Irish supporter. He made me dig in, and think about using my arms and my body position to really drive for the finish line. I tried so hard that I was nearly ill after crossing the line, but opened up a gap of about 10 seconds on “Lisa“ and a good 3 on the lady that crossed behind me.

I didn’t hear about the dramas that occurred at the finish to the podium ladies (the leading lady stopped just short of the line thinking that she’d finished and was then passed by 2 runners), but did see Fiona running in ahead of me to retain her V50 title in style – she was 5th overall!. I was the second Scot home in 9th place, and although my team didn’t win any medals in our category, we realised that if there had been no age groups, Fiona, myself and Sue Ridley (V45) would have been the 3rd team home!



The Scottish Ladies celebrating after racing!



The camaraderie of the day was great as we rounded it off with drinks, dinner and dancing, but I met so many lovely new people that I seriously doubt my ability to call them all by the right names when we next meet at races).

As the baby of the squad, I really enjoyed the whole weekend experience and surprised myself with my performance (a former British record holder said “Top 10 for an endurance athlete over 6K of grass is impressive“ and that meant a lot to me!), but still.......bring on next year and an “undulating course“!!!!

The Italian Job

Sometimes it just isn’t your day……….and Saturday was just that…….but the main thing to do is learn from it, focus on the positives and move on!

A 12 hour journey from cold, wet Scotland (via England and France) to the hot sunny Italian Riviera, arriving in the dark 14 hours before you race, may not be the ideal pre-50K preparation, but some things cannot be avoided.



The "commonwealth" roomies!



The Lungo il Mare in Vallecrosia-Bordighera was the race chosen for the 9^th World Trophy 50K Final and so I headed out as the lone Scottish representative in a field that included 8 English vests. It was not the easiest place to get to out of tourist season, so my trip there involved driving down to Liverpool (picking us Russell Maddams in Cumbria on the way) and catching a flight to Nice, then getting a bus to the train station, and finally a train along the coast into Italy. The others were flying out from London, they all arrived at lunchtime and so got to check out the course – complete with hot sun and strong winds. We arrived after dark and so all we had time for that night was to load up on pasta and find out about the feeding stations for the following day. It was great to see my room-mate Emma Gooderham again - we’d met at the same event in 2011 (when Emma won in a fantastic 3:17), and last saw each other out at Comrades.

The race was due to start at 10am, so we had time to sort out our gels and bottles of water after breakfast before heading down to the start. Having been spoilt by a great course in 2011, I didn’t think I was going to enjoy the run as much this year. The route consisted of 8 there-and-back laps of 6.25K along the beachfront promenade/road, with very tight corners at each end (round a cone in the road). There were many speed bumps across the road ready to catch runners out if they had a momentary concentration lapse.



The lone Scottish vest almost swamped by 8 English vests!



It was quite warm when we started – about 22 degrees – but the wind was blowing across us out to sea and so didn’t really affect us much. Despite the travel and a relatively sleepless night, I was feeling good, and so happily set off at the pace I’d planned. On paper, the Japanese lady had looked like she would be one of the fastest in the field, and so I expected her to have been leading us out, but over the first few laps I gradually built up a lead of a few minutes.

Nearing the end of the 3^rd lap is about where “my day” ended, as a knee problem forced me to stop at the feeding station. I thought that was the end of my race, and cheered Helen on as she ran past to take the lead for England. After about 5 minutes, Walter and Andy (the UK support team) encouraged me to “jog it out” and suggested I do it along the course to cover some distance while doing so. It had heated up to about 26 degrees in the shade and the wind had strengthened to become a strong head/tail wind and so people were starting to drop from the race. This meant that even after jogging round a 6.25K lap, not many ladies had passed me, though I was not really paying attention to the actual race. Andy worked on my knee again for another 5 minutes when I got back to the feeding station and it didn’t feel any worse that the lap before. With their support, I decided to continue running and take it one lap at a time, having decided to stop if I felt any more pain. It was impossible to get the adrenaline flowing and my “race head” was gone for the day, but it was good to be able to continue and encourage the others as they passed by. The conditions were tough - even running with a tailwind didn’t feel great due to the heat from the strong sun, so runners had to pour a lot of their drinking water over themselves to prevent overheating. To give you an idea of what it was like….I actually developed tanlines from my underwear through my vest!

I was really pleased that I’d managed to continue (so avoiding a DNF against my name) and worked my way back up the field to finish in 5^th place. A more impressive performance came from Steve Way, winning the race in a time that was within 20 seconds of the British record! Helen and Emma took out the first 2 places on the ladies’ podium, and Emma made sure she was there at the finish line to give me a much-needed hug.

Unfortunately the long time spent with the hot sun beating down on me took its toll, and I wasn’t very well when we got back to the hotel, but I managed to perk up enough to go and take photos at the awards ceremony and drink some celebratory wine!



Looking across the yachts at Monte Carlo casino



The trip home was amazing, even if it took 14 hours from door to door. Having not seen anything of the scenery due to the lateness of the train ride on the Friday evening, I was stunned by the beauty of the coast. Several of us decided to leave early on the Sunday, so we could spend a couple of hours in Monaco looking at the boats, watching the changing of the guard and eating ice cream in the sun. Magic!

All in all, it may not have been the perfect race for me, but I finished it, learnt about the courage and strength of character it takes to keep going when you know that you will not finish in either the time or position that you might have been capable of, and above all else, I had a great weekend with lovely friends in a beautiful place!