M's Masters' Medal

What another fine running weekend it's been. First of all a morning trip to the track yesterday resulted in another great quality speed session in the bank for me; 6x800m at a good lick saw me running faster than ever despite the blustery conditions. M was stand-in coach and was conscientious and dedicated in his whistle blowing to keep me even paced through the effort. The speedy strategy is working well; my recovery run later in the day saw my old lady legs turning over quicker than ever, if only my lungs could keep up!

Today was M's last day of racing for a few weeks; a team effort in the British Masters 5k Champs at Horwich. Though not a race he'd planned for it was one he was happy to turn out for to complete the Bingley Men's V40 team. The event is a blistering three lapper around Horwich town centre including a not-so-nice hill, painfully situated at each lap end, including the final run into the finish. The course is fairly tough, particularly on a warm day but M ran strong despite the challenges of the course. Close rivals for the team prize were Salford, another strong road club with a killer V40 team. 

The Bingley boys ran strong with Andy Peace finishing first in 16.02 closely followed by Stewart MacDonald in 16.13 , Simon Johnson in 17.08 and M in a fine time of 17.17. All four Bingley boys made up the prize winning Bingley team, finishing second V40 team and swooping silver medals. M's form held well and suggests a sub-17 on a flat course is well within his grasp so watch this space! Many other fine performances were had on the day and after all the excitement I'm off out to do my long run now; I hope to be back before dark... 

BMAF Relays

After a very easy couple of weeks trying to get the mojo back it was all too soon time to travel to Sutton Park for the BMAF Road Relays this weekend. A Friday night drive, a truly huge pub meal and a bad night's sleep in a B&B somewhere near Keele weren't enough to put M off a fine run, running down one age category for our V35s team. Determined to get a run but with no team mates to join him, M ran a great first leg finishing in a fine time of 16.40 on this almost 5k course. Even if there was no man to take the baton, what a hero!

The relay course is a toughie, 2 out of  3 miles being uphill to meet swirling winds before the final mile chasing team places and trying to keep the veteran legs turning over at a good pace. I ran leg 3 in the Bingley LV35s, defending the title we won last year. I set out taking over from leg 2 in 7th place and 2 mins behind the leaders but managed to chase down enough places to hand over just 2 seconds behind the leading lady. A bit too much pressure for our fourth and final runner who managed to bring us home to win bronze. I also got a hefty silver for second fastest ladies' leg of the day in a time of 16.57. A nice little sharpener and a relief to know there's still a bit of speed left in the old legs yet. Results here.

XC Is Back!

Well, its the night before the night before and M is readying himself for his big relay tomorrow, the BMAF XC relays at Mansfield. Its a stunning boys team and they will no doubt do some damage on the loveliest of of XC courses at Berry Hill. This is my favourite ever XC course, usually multi-laps over undulating and soft, grassy terrain with a very fine patch of woodland for some good chasing, particularly in team relay competitions.

I'll be standing at the sidelines feeling a tad jealous, mixed in with a few guilt pangs for not running with our ladies team & of course trying to put those red pants to the back of my mind. M is fit and hungry for racing so can't wait to see what he and team mate Tricky can pull out of the bag for the team performance tomorrow.

Then its a hurry back up the motorway for my overnight bag and a last cuddle with the furry feline kids and then back in the car for the trip to Warrington & the team meeting at 7pm. Another night in a Premier Inn, counting down the hours in a strange bed until race day. Its a 9am race start (yuck) so am hopeful I can swallow some breakfast early enough to avoid any repeats of the Nottingham experience. Wish me luck. I may nor may not post some race pics depending on the state of me in an England 'bikini'. Until Sunday then.. all pinkies crossed.

Some pics of the Relays... Results here.

Champions & Shiny Things

Just a quickie to report on the trip to Sutton Park yesterday. Bingley ladies are now the new V35 British Champions! And what a day it was. In a context of continual worry for M and his health, the event at Sutton Park had to work hard for my attentions. The day proved to be more than a little intense with its own dramas. The fact the club managed to get any teams out was a minor miracle with the number of injuries and members crying off from the event at the last minute. I'm glad I'd made the trip down and M was gutted that he'd missed out; he was really looking forward to his first run out in a Bingley team. The boys still did well with Tricky running strong despite tired marathon legs and a 5k still lingering from Wednesday. Kevin O also did a fine job of impersonating a V35 and pretending to be M on the start line. The ladies however, did us all proud. Helen L ran the first leg securing us a solid top ten position, nicely held on to by Ruth W on leg #2. At this stage we hadn't dared to hope to be in medal contention. I ran cautiously from the start knowing much of the route was uphill but managed to pull back several places on leg # 3 to get us into gold position handing over to Sue B, who then maintained this brilliantly on the final leg despite still recovering from a cold. The course was hilly and exposed to the elements but never dull. I really enjoyed being part of a lovely team and now have some nice shiny things to show to M to put a smile on his face.

M is stable and in much less pain but the day has been a draining one; waiting since the early morning for news of when he'll be taken into theatre. Between visiting hours this morning I managed to get a 14 miler in with the bubbly Josie H for company; the run was a great pick me up and helped to ease the tension a bit. I was grateful to be able to see M for an hour before surgery tonight just for a last minute cuddle. No real clarity yet about what might be the problem as it could be a number of things; exploratory surgery will hopefully get to the bottom of it all.

Can't wait to have him home and am hoping I can sneak in to the ward late tonight to say goodnight. It's all come as a bit of a bolt from the blue. I guess we're never quite prepared for these things. Poor M's been NBM for the last 36 hours. I've taken a choco softie supply for his bedside though this might be sheer torture until he's actually allowed to eat anything. He's being very pragmatic as always and viewing this as a chance to reach his optimum race weight...fingers and toes are all crossed that he'll back with me tomorrow.

Thinkin' of you darling M X

Cross Country Runners Do It In The Woods

The sun shone brightly for our early morning start out to Ruthin this morning. The four of us were tucked snugly into our tiny tin can of a car with our spikes at the ready for what was the final race of a very long cross country season for us all. The British Masters XC Champs at Ruthin was held in a really beautiful setting; the lush flat course was set to lovely mountain scenery in the impressive grounds of Ruthin school. Despite a heavy training week and tired legs I felt a bit fresher than anticipated though M's very blue (and possibly broken) toe was a bit of a worry - it's a long story but involved a pair of very baggy trousers, a flight of stairs and a flamboyant mouse rescue from a hungry cat (don't ask). My race was the first of the programme, and started at a blistering pace set by Tara Krzywicki of Charnwood. I struggled to decide whether to go with her but the pace just seemed too fast for the 6k course so I opted for a steady start with the hope that she'd suffer burnout halfway. This tactic was a bit ill conceived as she established a great lead and was pretty much unreachable as the race progressed. I managed to maintain second place pretty comfortably taking the Silver individual medal. Am left feeling pretty happy with my run after the heavy training week and was also v. chuffed with my first ladies team turn out for Bingley (following transfer ban expiry in March). Club mates Sue B and Andrea D also came in strong to secure us a ladies team Gold in addition to my Silver. The medals are pretty hefty and mark a nice and jangly end to the season. Well done to Kevin O on his superb return to the XC scene after a bit of a long break and also to my darling M who hobbled bravely around the course despite his purple toe.Thanks to all those team mates who offered support and shouts of encouragement around the course. Particular thanks to Tricky Ricky who came to support club mates without racing himself and made good use of himself as club photographer and coat handler. Best wishes to him in the Hull 20 tomorrow. Feels great to be back home and know I've an easy off road training run tomorrow. No hard sessions left with the ease down to Wilmslow HM next weekend. Feelin' a bit wrecked after the early start and long day out today - looking forward to some hard-earned kip. Night, night.

View more XC race pics here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/36582880@N03/sets/72157615749647688/detail/