Runners United: Where we support each other through the good runs, the bad runs and everything in between.

[Themasterandmargaritas]

15/10/11 - Donadea Forest Trail 10k - rhetorician
16/10/11 - Abingdon Marathon: MoshiMoshi
16/10/11 - Aviemore 10K: Piffpaffpoff
16/10/11 - Richmond Castle 10k: Stickylittlefingers
22/10/11 - Shockabsorber 10K Richmond Park - sfx
23/10/11 - Thruxton Mass Attack Duathlon- DebitheScot
23/10/11 - Big Fun Run 5k Edinburgh Holyrood Park - Bumply
23/10/11 - East Coast Run 10k - Ibbydibby
30/10/11 - Great South Run: Wheely, squix
30/10/11 - Nairobi Standard Chartered Half Marathon - M&M
05/11/11 - Glendalough Trail Run - rhetorician
06/11/11 - Lancaster Half Marathon - Fannybanjo
06/11/11 - Bonfire Burn 10K - Futurity
13/11/11 - Stebbing 10 Mile - bonkers20
19/11/11 - Maasai Mara Half Marathon - M&M
20/11/11 - Leeds Abbey Dash (10k) - DrNortherner
27/11/11 - City of Norwich half marathon: ibbydibby, MoshiMoshi
27/11/11 - Bicton Blister (10M) - RunningAllDay
22/01/12 - Four Villages Half Marathon (Helsby) - Fannybanjo
19/02/12 - Brighton Half marathon - Wheely
04/03/12 - Milton Keynes Half Marathon - pawsnclaws
11/03/12 - Cambridge Half Marathon - Futurity, Runnerstipple, Cherry (what have I done??)
25/03/12 - Edale Skyline - (21 miles. 4,500 ft climb) Hatwoman
10/03/12 - Blackpool Half Marathon - DrNortherner, Fannybanjo
01/04/12 - Reading Half-Marathon - RunningAllDay
22/04/12 - VLM: ibbydibby
29/04/12 - Shakespeare Half Marathon - FairyBasslet
27/05/12 - London Bupa 10K - Futurity
09/06/12 - Blenheim Sprint Triathlon - Cherry

Hmm, a lot of lipbiting and eyerolling goes on with the MIL. My BIL/SIL and family were also there, she finds it very stressful too (BIL once overheard his mother whispering to herself that SIL was a "dirty bitch" after MIL had found some dust on a shelf at their house!) so it's all pretty tense.

Ds3 just has pretty basic food, we buy everything from Sainsburys which is good for labelling, and avoid all sauces, gravies, chocolate items, cereals, biscuits and cakes, and anything from the deli counter or bakery in addition to anything obviously nutty. Lots of home baking for biscuits and cakes, which is no bad thing. It's all straightforward and the only fly in the ointment is eating out, which we no longer do with ds3 - except for yesterday.

What about Edinburgh, fanny? Meant to be a good one and fairly flat. I know what you mean about the time, but you're doing really well. One of the mums at school did her first half in 1.49 and the VLM a few months later in 3.49 (the cow ), so I think your target is do-able.

futurity we are on week 2 of half term - oh yes, deep joy ....

Well done Fairy and bumply, on the Edinburgh fun run, you both did great. That hill doesn't sound like much "fun" to me!!!!

Debi, am in awe, that sounds really tough!!! It also sounds quite "professional", am sure I would have been Intimidated, but sounds like you were brilliant!!!

ibby, congratulations, and that is fantastic about your prizes, how lovely!!! So glad you went back for prize giving. Poor DH, he mustbe feeling very sheepish!

cherry, my Runner's World Complete book f Running describes Tempo runs as those which "start easy, build up to a steady speed, and then finish at an easy pace", so the way I understand it if you were say, training for a sub 25 min 5k, you would want to be running 8 min miles to get that. If your steady pace for longer runs was 9.30 min miles and you were going for a 5 mile tempo run you would do the first couple of miles at 9.30 min miles then run an 8.30 min mile then another 2 9.30 min miles. Then you build up to doing 2x 8.30 mins miles in the middle, then 3. Once this was comfortable you might do the middle miles at 8 min mile pace. Hope I haven't made that sound more complicated than it is!!! That is the way I do tempo runs anyway!

monkey (love the name btw!), your MIL is unbelievable! I mean snide/nasty/racist comments are one thing but playing fast and loose with your son's health is quite another. You did very well not to stick an epipen in her head!!!

Was shattered after jouney back yesterday and didn't get best nights sleep as DD had a cough and temp so was up with her for a bit. DP had been up with her on Saturday night too. Decided to lay low today while she, and I, recover. In fact she is still in her PJs and lying next to me on sofa.

sfx, yes dad's wife seems more concerned about making sure everyone else is ok, than worrying about herself. She has two children (and 3 grandchildren). Feel really bad for them as they have already lost their dad to cancer and now this is happening to their mum. Just awful.

Had lots of Braxton Hicks yesterday. Didn't have them with DD, god they are really uncomfortable! As a result of which have got finger out and packed (most of) my hospital bag. My DSIS is hopefully coming down the day after my due date for 4 days then we'll have two days on our own before MIL arrives (they are on holiday on due date), which makes me feel a little easier as worried how DD will react being turfed out house to a chum's at short notice. Hmmm, must pack bag for her too!!

Anyway, apologies for gargantuan post!!!!

Hello all, I'm still here. Just popping in, I'll catch up with the race reports later. First day of half term is a bit hectic and DS is a bit poorly .

Bit tired today as I managed a horrible hill session on Saturday and did 10 miles yesterday, woohoo. Feeling it today though, as well as a certain amount of lack of sleep and I am feeling a bit jaded. Not sure when I will have the opportunity to run again this week, might have to squeeze is a couple of short ones in the evening ...ooh and I get scared of the dark!

monkey I am astounded at you MIL's attitude. Our DD is allergic to nuts, and touch wood has never had anaphylactic shock. Did you know about your DS having an allergy before then? It is my constant fear despite being careful. For DD's birthday a friend gave her a bird feeder complete with a packet of peanuts, and they know about her allergy. It really scared me how easy it is for people to forget, and how we have to monitor everything. You have my sympathy.

peach so sorry to hear about your Dad's wife. Wish there was something more I could say. Thinking of you.

peach so both your dad and stepmum lost their spouses to cancer? (have I got that right, apologies if I haven't)? That's so sad and unfair. I don't know what to say. Bloody bastard cancer . I'm glad she's bearing up ok and has her family around her.

I had lots of BH, scary at first aren't they? We are also House Of Cough And Cold this week, and currently enjoying a pyjama day watching Alice in Wonderland.

strangeways how old is your DD and how did you find out?

We found out a few months back when ds3 put a cashew in his mouth, spat it straight out, and collapsed. His lips and mouth blistered up and his face and throat started swelling, and so it was 999 and straight to A and E. By the time we got there his blood pressure was dropping and his heart was going at twice the normal rate. Luckily they stabilised him really quickly with adrenaline and steroids, but it was very scary and not something I ever want to repeat. That was the only plus, that the docs and nurses we dealt with were just amazing - calm, professional, caring, everything you could wish for.

We're not sure yet what other nuts he might have problems with as he needs to see the allergy consultant, but we've just been told at the moment to avoid all nuts and seeds. Oh and if in any doubt epipen first, questions later!

I think even people who know about allergies don't think through the contact issues and/or realise how drastic the consequences can be - hence the bird feeder incident you mentioned. My MIL clearly sees this as some kind of fad - I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. We are so careful but as you know the risks are always there.

Sorry for the waffle, people. Am feeling grumpy and introspective today.

Yes monkey, that's right. I think that is why she has decided now she has this dreadful prognosis, she just wants to go, as she and my dad have both been through this before and know how grim it is. I really don't know how my dad's going to manage on his own again, he was pretty lost after mum died . Another reason why I hate living so far away...

Goodness paws, you and strangeways have my sympathy on your DC's allergies, must be so scary. I think you are right, people who haven't experience of it probably don't take it seriously enough. Btw, this doesn't excuse your MIL, monkey, she is plainly mad. One of my friends has it, as far as she is aware it is peanuts, but she avoids all nuts and we all know her epipen is in her bag when we go out.

Arrrgghhh I mean monkey, of course! [hblush]

Glad your back peachs, its just awful. Wish there was something better to say. Glad she bearing up ok. Hope dd feelng better soon too.
at your mil Monkey. I just dont get people sometime. I cant imagine how scarey must be for your child to have severe allergy.

good grief monkey mad and dangerous

put a link on FB to an article about Saturday, you can see the deer and the runner taking pictures, obviously I was not with the group taking this that seriously

peach that's terrible for them, but I suppose they do at least both know what they are facing. DD's grandad was here at the weekend - his prognosis is quite good, but he is pretty freaked out and scared (which doesn't let him off the hook for his appalling opinions, but what can you do?).

We have had torrential (and I mean torrential) rain here all day, pretty much. I have been soaked to the skin twice, and the roof is leaking - all the roads in Dublin have about 3 inches of surface water. Suffice to say I didn't run today - wouldn't have had time today in any case. Desperately hoping it will clear overnight - I'm fairly hardy, but really, you'd be drenched walking to the car.

I am very sorry for those of you with dcs with nut allergies (or other allergies) - it must be very frightening and you must always be contending with other people's complacency...

Gosh Monkey it sounds like madness. After all your comments on here about MILs I have realised just how lucky I am with mine, she is super and lives 20 mins away, does her bit but isn't in my face.

Peach, stay strong I think you are being super supportive, I'm sure your family really appreciate it.

I did 7k tonight in the almost-rain. My big race is on Sunday but I'm getting quite nervous, not about the running, more about the increasing security risks in the country as the Kenyan military up their attacks on suspected Al-shabaab (Al Quaeda) militia just over the border in Somalia, we have had two grenade attacks in town in the last 24hrs, with it predicted to get worse. . I'm a little concerned that a gathering of some 14,000 people in one place on Sunday is a sitting target. Ho hum the joys of living in Africa.

Rhet, you are living in Waterworld! Wonder if it's headed this way? Good luck for your mother's visit. Teeth gritting if necessary! Ha ha

Master, that is very worrying. Are race organisers good at taking advice from police/millitary on these things? How long have you been out there?

Spent whole day on sofa with DD which was nice, she seems a bit better. DP on a rare night out so watching repeat of X Factor as didn't see it on Saturday, and eating some very strong cheddar which PILs brought us.

Goodness master - that is a concern. Dear me, I was faffing about where to stay in Newcastle for the GNR, you are having to worry about militia attacks. in general, how do you find it living in Africa? Only place I have been is Jo'burg and that was a disaster as caught an awful flu and had to stay in hotel BUT the staff were absolutely amazing, such nice people. Humbles you when you tip £5 and they are so thankful.

peach I have no words, your poor dad. You being a wonderful daughter will help though, times like these are when you need your family.

rhet have you started running club yet?

Just made some choc chip flapjocks(!) and lemon biscuits and last night made Banana and Pecan loaf. DH is a bit gobsmacked, he thinks Delia has been replaced in the shell of his wife! Kids demolished Bacon and Pea risotto which gobsmacked me, something I haven't made for them before as they can be fussy. Day one of half term been hard though, DD1 VERY tough to deal with, I flipped in the car on our way out before, turned it around and came home and refused to take them out as she was back chatting and generally talking to me like I was a piece of crap. She soon saw her arse! Any tips on how to deal with a 9 year old who is hyperactive and very vocal about EVERYTHING would be greatly appreciated...

I'm also wondering if this torrential rain might be heading our way - I hate to say it but the ground here is really dry and could do with a soak (famous last words .....).

Rhet good luck with your mum's visit, I have a degree in lipbiting and counting to ten - comes in handy.

master that's worrying. How close is the Somali border? I guess all you can do is take sensible precautions and keep alert. I notice there's been complete media silence over these recent kidnappings, presumably "stuff" is going on behind the scenes. These are such dangerous times .

fanny ds1 is pretty easygoing and ds3 is too young to be trouble yet, but oh my goodness ds2 .....he's 7 going on 13. That boy is just never wrong and will argue black is blue, wind everyone up then sit back as if he can't make out why he's in trouble. He's utterly bloody minded. Not so bad with me, but he clashes with DH as they are so similar - both Aries, like two rams butting heads! Then he can be an absolute sweetheart - today he decided to Hoover the kitchen without being asked, brushed the dog, and cleaned ds3's potty (urgh!) after ds3 had deposited a giant poo there. Honestly I wish I had the answer.

wench (trust me to use the latter part of your new name ) - I think, when you have 3 DC, you get the hard one (DD1), the easy one (DD2) and a middle of the road one (DD3). 3 x easy would be preferable.. DD1 was hard work from day one. It's how they're born isn't it? No matter what I do for her, it's not enough. She's ace though! I'm an Aries and she's a Scorpio so both fiery. The pair of us baking together before was more like Battle of Hastings. . .

That sounds frightenng master. Have they upped security?
Now mine were the opposite Fanny ds1 so easy slept through a two weeks old and a very easy baby and pretty good now. But ds2 came out screaming and never stopped, only ever slept in 10 min slots and was such a hard baby.
Had a good day managed to get a good swim in this afternoon. Been to gym this evening an did some intervals on the treadmill and went on summit trainer which was blooming hard work but surely must help with dealing with hills. Did some on the rower and some weights . The intervals seem to go better on the treadmill than outside. So I have decied every second week (other week doing hills as advised) going to just go to gym and do intervals there instead of trying to do them outside,a bit hard as I have no garmin or anything. Not sure why I am telling you this but nevermind I have typed it now.

seemingly the whole city is virtually under water (we live on a slight incline hill) so not sure how feasible it will be to run along the canal to work tomorrow. Am dying to get out too.

fanny have decided to shelve it until DD2 is here - I also think that I need to work on base miles for a bit. But will do it early in 2012 - it's actually like an outdoor gym, but the woman specialises in training women, mostly for running. It sounded like a good stepping stone - to see whether I like being told what to do training this way

Ah the rain is here. Did a lovely tempo run this evening, and the weather was mild and breezy - poor DH has just stepped out into the pouring rain with a very very pissed off looking dog .

It is a big concern, security has been upped all over town. Al shabaab announced they would target the heart of Kenya in retaliation for Kenyan military action in Somalia. We have been advised against going to shopping malls, restaurants, nightclubs (like that applies to me anymore!),which is quite tricky as all the big supermarkets are in malls. The attack last night was at a very busy bus terminal. Scary stuff especially when you think it is likely we shall have a big attack happen in the next few months. Otherwise Kenya is a fantastic place to live . After 12 years in Africa you have learn to take the bad with the good.

Now onto naughty children, fannys dc mirror mine, dc1 is a pain (takes after her mother and is another Scorpio) dc2 is laid back, dc3 just gets on with life.

hello

master that is worrying seems to be all over the world now, London seems to have settled onto an uneasy quiet more or less as always although after 7/7 it was very freaky on all sorts of ways, was reading AL Qaeda by Jason Burke and it interesting to see the real problem as opposed to the war on terror business . I hope it does not escalate

not much rain here weather seems ok will be outdoors with dd for most of the day
who btw is 6 going on 16, we have stomping off to bedroom, plenty of talk back and obviously whatever I say is likely to be wrong
she is also delightful and clever in many ways but the every so slightly hormonal behaviour is wearing and dh gets totally baffled by it

No rain here. Getting rid of the boys for a coupleof hours as they are goingto a friends, so I'm getting th ironning out . Feeling a bit sore after mygym session last night

Fabulous race reports debi and ibby . well done for breaking two hours debi that sounded really tough, it must be hard swapping from running to bike and then doing it all over again! How exciting about your prizes ibby, I secretly dream that maybe one day I will get a prize .... Maybe if I maintain my current levels until I am 70 I might stand a chance [ wink]. Brilliant, you should be so chuffed and so lovely you were there for the prizes.

monkey we found out about DD when she was 1, she's 5 now. I gave her a peanut butter sandwich and she gagged straightaway. Her face, lips and tongue swelled up, as did anywhere she put her fingers with any trace of peanut butter on. She didn't swallow any as the reaction was instant and thank god her instinct was to spit it out. She wheezed but stayed alert, whereas I panicked. I sloshed some anti histamine down her and drove her to A&E myself, I just couldn't sit and wait for an ambulance, but saying that although wheezing she wasn't in severe distress. She didn't need adrenalin as the anti histamine stopped the swelling. She has since been tested and is allergic to peanuts only. I always carry her epipens and some antihistamine with me all the time. The school have been very good and are trying to make the school a nut free zone. That is so scary about your DS, it must have been so terribly frightening. Medical staff are amazing aren't they. Fingers crossed they grow out of it.

Anyway peeps, can I have an opinion on something? AIBU to run a HM on DH's birthday? The quandary is that the race is a new one and is so local it passes the end of our road . It starts at 9.30 so I hope to be done and dusted, home and showered by lunchtime. He said he wouldn't mind if I do it, but when he saw me fill in the application, he said, " so you're doing it then", in that tone IYSWIM . he didn't have much fun on his birthday this year because I had had DS 7 hours earlier and all the attention was on me!! It's not until March but there are limited spaces. WWYD.....

Strangeways think I would be tempted to enter now at least (is it v expensive if you then decide to drop out?), and plan some lovely things for the rest of the day, if possible. Difficult one though. I have similar(ish) dilemma - someone at running club is organising a pre HM training run in Nov. Will cover the full 13.2 miles and I really want to go - but it is also DS1's birthday. If he were 5 or 6 I would probably forget it, but he will be 15. Still a bit dubious as to whether or not to go, as it is not an actual race, and I will need to get up to that distance myself anyway...

Monkey sorry about MIL's comment. Awful. My MIL is mainly lovely, but has come up with a few gems in her time. The best being when she asked me whether my mum would like a ladyshave for Christmas to deal with her moustache...that's something I will not be repeating to my mum!

Master sounds very tense and scary.

Rhet hope all ok. Have seen a few pictures and looks very frightening.

Fanny your baking sounds delicious. Just 2 boys in this house (3 including DH!) so no experience with DDs. Though I used to find with DS1 particularly that if he was naughty then I would tell him off, but talk through it once we had both calmed down. He is (fingers crossed) lovely now - is almost 15, and is becoming a very caring young man. Though puberty does not seem to have hit yet, so wondering if his loveliness is about to change.....

Peach glad that your visit went well and was so much appreciated. your poor dad and wife though.

Debi your race sounds really tough, well done Don't think I could ever do that, the bike to run transition would turn my legs to jelly I think. I have once been at the back of a race, my friend and I came 73rd and 74th out of a field of 75. Well someone has to take these positions.

Thanks for kind words re my prize and medals at weekend - I have to confess that had I been in the next age-group (ie 50-54) I would have come away empty handed, as there quite a few in that age category faster than me. So I am feeling just a little fraudulent!

ibby thanks, we're fine, but transport all cocked up so confined to barracks for the day, I think (I have a class on Tuesdays, but we all decided that it was best to reschedule it). But it's not raining much now, so I am hoping to get out for a bit of a run - I had been planning 15k today, but I'll try and do it later in the week - probably not until Monday, realistically. No matter.

Am feeling a bit nervous about all the chat about troublesome children - DD1 is generally speaking, pretty easy (she has her moments), so I'd say we are due a small bundle of trouble (i.e. we never really had to do much baby-proofing as DD was quite good about that kind of thing). DP just made her hospital bag list [hshock]. peach how are you doing? I think we will just ask DP's mum to come over - she only lives about 10 minutes away by car. If worst came to worst, one of the neighbours would watch DD until nana or one of her aunties got here.

Strangeways, would you mind if he did HM (or similar) on your birthday? That's how I'd decide it.

not quite in the masters league but had a bit of a shock this morning when I saw a man with a gun sitting in a hedge. He smiled and said hello, so I guess he was after rabbits rather than runners!