A morning with Essex Boot Camp...

Half Day Essex Boot Camp 

 As you know if you read my blog, still find it odd that people do, last November I spent 24 hours running up and down the hill at Great Notley Country Park. Well today I was back on 'my hill'!

I train twice a week with Essex Boot Camp and love it, I have been a member for over 5 years and apart from a few months last summer have always gone regularly. It really helps with the running, having a strong core, upper body and also the mindset you need to get through sessions.

After my 24 hour challenge Wez and James from EBC said they would put on a half day boot camp for members and ask them to donate to Moorfields Eye Charity.

So this morning myself and 69 other boot campers arrived at Great Notley Country Park to be put through our paces. It was a brilliant, muddy, tough morning. Having been struck with a cold on Friday it would have been all too easy to ditch training plans this weekend but so glad I didn't as a good tough workout and I am feeling a lot better!

The warm up involved lots of running up and down the hill with some press ups, squats and burpees thrown in!

Warming up!

We were then split into four teams and had four sessions to complete during the morning. Our 

first one was with Wez and we were exercising with tyres and doing hill runs, the hill never gets any easier to run up, not even after 265 reps last November!

Next was onto James and some team log carries, my cold was making breathing trickier than normal, but with great encouragement form the instructors and members I was able to keep going. 

We then moved onto Glynn, more hill running with bodyweight exercises and some team trye pulls up the hill. The hill seemed to get muddier as the morning went on and staying upright was becoming tough.

Our final session was stretcher runs with Aaron, one person on a stretcher the other four carrying, we took it in turns and had to complete 5 burpees, 10 press ups and 15 sit ups at various points around the course. It was a tough one to finish on but we got it done. The whole morning went really quickly and was great fun.

Training with Essex Boot Camp is always tough but good fun. The instructors will push you to your limits and get the best out of you. They also encourage that positive mindset that is so crucial in all of my running challenges. It is true that spending your time with positive, like minded people  is so important not just in fitness/running training but in all parts of life and EBC motivates and encourages everyone no matter what their fitness level, goals and ambitions!

If you are inspired to get involved have a look at their web site, there are sessions all over Essex.   www.essexbootcamp.co.uk

Finally a massive thank you to all the instructors for this morning and to everyone who came out, trained hard, got muddy and donated to Moorfields Eye Charity, we raised over £400 which is awesome and will really help the charity with their research into cures and treatments for many eye diseases. Thank you all.

Have a good week and happy running/training xx

So that was 2015...

I had a great running year in 2015, 1700 miles covered and much fun along the way with the best friends a girl could ask for.

3 marathons - Halstead, Stour Valley and Thetford.
4 ultra marathons - St Peters Way, Saffron Trail, The Chilterns Ultra, Monster Ultra
a few other shorter races and my own Touch the Bird 24 Challenge which is really an equal highlight to finishing Saffron Trail!

Final very emotional lap of Touch the Bird 24

I had one DNF (or RTC, refused to continue, as some like to call it!) at the Chilterns, purely for mental reasons but I learnt from it and I will go back, probably not this year but one day.

As I said the highlight for me in 2015 was finishing Saffron Trail, a 70 mile overnight race that I hadn't finished the year before. I had awesome support from friends along the way and that helped enormously and thoroughly enjoyed every step!

Awesome support crew at Saffron Trail Ultra

My big sister and I!

Great Notley parkrun has also given me many, many happy memories, great runs and new friends over the last year. Tomorrow is the anniversary of my first stint as run director and joining the core team has been fantastic both in terms of my own self confidence and being able to put something back into running. An added bonus has been my sister taking up running and as a result we have spent more time together.

Great Notley parkrun Core Team

I don't have huge plans (yet) for this year. I have some races booked, I am looking forward to running St Peters Way with Richard and Len and supporting them as they run their first ultras. I am going to run the Malverns Ultra in May and am looking for something long later in the year. I need to keep the summer free in the hope a suitable guide dog is found for my son and we need to be available for training. I plan to spend more time just packing my race vest and going out exploring the countryside and  to continue to enjoy my running as I have done over the past months. Who knows what other crazy challenges I will come up with, Touch the Bird 300 is already lurking in my head!! I also aim to run 2016 miles this year which means about 40 miles a week.

To sum up 2015 was awesome and 2016 is just going to be even more epic!

Many, many thanks to every one of you who has shared a mile or more with me in 2015 and here's to many more fun filled miles to come.

First parkrun of 2016

Happy New Year and happy running xxx

Touch the Bird 24

A couple of years a go I suggested to some running friends that the hill at Great Notley Country Park would be a good location for a challenge. For example running up and down it for 24 hours, there were murmurs of interest quickly followed by maybe 12 or 6  hours would be better. Other events and challenges happened and nothing came of that plan until September this year when I was looking for a final challenge for 2015. The more I thought about it, the more it seemed like a good idea, and I had the perfect weekend at the end of November as I had the Monday off work. I spoke to the park rangers to see if they had any objections to me spending 24 hours running up and down their hill and other than them thinking I'm a little crazy they were happy, and so Touch the Bird 24 was born!

I have some lovely local running friends and was pretty sure I could persuade one or two to come out and support me, bring me extra supplies if needed. Never did I imagine I wouldn't run one minute on my own or that I would have a constantly manned base camp!

For some reason I have earned the nickname 'Bonkers' and Len designed me a great t-shirt to wear and friends bought a space on the back to have their name and help me raise funds for Moorfields Eye Charity.Many thanks to all these and everyone else who donated money, this event itself has raised over £1000 and still some coming in.
www.justgiving.com/UltraNicki





The morning of the challenge was bright and sunny, if a little windy and cold, but it was a great way to start the day. I started at 9:30am towards the end of Great Notley parkrun and finished Sunday at 9:30 at the end of junior parkrun.

The support for the event was phenomenal and a couple of weeks before the event every slot was filled, even the night time ones, with friends who wanted to come and run an hour or more with me.
The park rangers couldn't have been more helpful allowing us to bring a camper van in and have access to the car park all night so supporters could come and go safely. Nuclear Races donated a dryrobe which was amazing to snuggle into at the end of the event.

I was planning to write about every hour but I am more than likely to forget someone who came to run and I would hate to do that, so I will pick out some of the highlights, funny bits, tough times. I am enormously grateful to every single person who ran with me whether you did one lap or stayed for hours. Every bit of company and support really was appreciated and it is that side of the event that will stay with me forever.

Here I also have to mention my base camp crew, Dan Warden deserves a medal for staying for the whole 24 hours with no sleep, ordering me pizza, making coffee, stopping base camp from taking off over Essex and counting laps. Dan you were amazing and I can't thank you enough. Len and Michelle also put in many hours of being in the cold supporting me, and cooking bacon, thank to you as well  and to all other base camp supporters who dropped in.










The running went well with 16 laps done in the first hour, don't think I have any more hourly totals after that but was still managing to run laps well into the evening. Luckily we didn't have too much rain, the wind was pretty relentless but bearable. I was glad of the many extra layers I had brought, and shock, horror even resorted to long trousers during the night!!

One of many signs around the hill

The first lap was quite emotional as I discovered Mum, Michelle and Rich had been plotting ant their were signs around the hill with motivational  messages and photos, I loved the one of my Dad he would have been up for a challenge as bonkers as this!










My running support team were great, keeping me entertained in various ways, Lorraine and Rob had us coming up with interesting facts about each lap number we were on, I think John and Jane joined in on that one too. Richard made me giggle for about three laps with his ridiculous hat (sorry Rich) and kept my mind occupied by naming as many towns as we could starting with certain letters. When Lorraine came back the next morning we started naming bands starting at A and changing after every lap, that kept us amused for 26 laps, and I still don't see what's wrong with Glen Madeiros!! We sang Christmas songs because at certain times as you ran (shuffled) towards base camp it did look like a scene from the Nativity in the dark!

100 Laps in!

There were some times it was hard and I wanted to stop but a conversation I had had with James from Essex Boot Camp about mindset and mental strength early in the challenge stayed with me and really did get me through the low points.

Yet again Richard had to look on as I threw up at the top of the hill, it is becoming a habit, but made me feel much better and I was then able to eat and drink better and continue with the running/walking.

The last 6 or 7 laps were like a scene from Forrest Gump, every lap I seemed to gain more people, they just seemed to appear out of the bushes and the group got steadily bigger. I was tired and emotional at this point and withdrew a little to get to the end without being a complete blubbering wreck, but it was just amazing and I am so very thankful to everyone of you who supported me.

The final lap

So some numbers from the day.The final number of laps was 265 which was about 67 miles and I think some one worked out it was about 14,000 feet of ascent, and the most popular support runner's name was Mark, with 4 Marks joining me during the 24 hours!!!







It was one of my most enjoyable challenges, I was worried that boredom would set in but being able to catch up with old friends, get to know new friends better, and spend time doing what I love most, meant at no time was I bored, and I now have a certain fondness for my hill!

I know I haven't mentioned everybody by name but the blog will be as long as the challenge. Thank you to everyone of you that came out to help me through this challenge, you made it the wonderful and fun experience it turned out to be.

A few special thank yous to all of the core team at parkrun, the park rangers, Mark Greensides (cake baking master!), every support runner, friends, family and strangers who donated money. I could go on and on as I have special memories from all of you, that will stay with me always, and so many more photos I could share, but I will stop now and will always treasure that 24 hours as something very special.

Time now to plot and plan for 2016! Happy Running xx

Thetford Iceni Marathon

I hadn't planned to run Thetford Iceni Marathon, I was just going to support but as it turned out and after my hideous day at The Chilterns I decided a marathon with friends was a good plan!

The day started with a quick run up Castle Hill, Richard had told me it wasn't possible to run up it so I did, maybe not the best thing to do an hour before a marathon starts but it was good fun!

The race started in a pub and was very civilised, coffee, a bacon roll, got kit sorted and we were ready to go.

      Ready to go...

The race started with a couple of miles through Thetford before heading out onto trails to Euston, it was an out and back race. The weather was pleasant and I was running with Rich, Andrew and Pete. The first few miles passed quickly and we were soon at the first checkpoint, a good selection of sweet and savoury snacks and plenty of drinks to choose from at each stop, along with helpful, friendly volunteers made it a great race.

      Enjoying the running 

The route was tough going, the navigation was pretty straightforward but the sandy soil and constant tree roots made it hard on the legs. I had a few negative moments and stressed for a while that I was slowing the others down but they assured me we had started together and were going to finish together. Eventually I relaxed and really enjoyed myself. I really have to find a way of conquering my head and stop it affecting my running!!

      Half way

After the turn around point we were joined by Jake, he was running his first marathon and hadn't run further than 15 miles before. He stuck with us despite being questioned about his marital status, job and all manner of other things (Rich is on a mission to find me a husband!!!!) Apparently he said I was 'cute but run too far!' But never mind still good to know I still have it, and after being told earlier in the day that I have chunky legs and was my middle name moose, cute was a definite improvement!! 

The last few miles were slow but even with the challenging route (unfortunately didn't get a photo of Richard falling over) Andrews sore knee, and me being a bit slow we made it back to Thetford and hand in hand crossed the finish line in a time of 5:49.

       Finish in sight! 

Have to say thank you to Kathi who we met early on in the race and gave me a hair band as I had forgotten one and my hair was driving me mad.

Thanks to Pete, Rich, Andrew and Jake for great company, good banter and making it an awesome day of running.

And finally well done to Mel Floyd for putting on a great race, well organised, challenging, lovely volunteers, lots to eat and drink and a really awesome medal. I will be back to try and do a better time.

      Awesome medal! 

Happy running all xx 

 

Streaking and future plans...

I'm at the end of my first week back at work after the summer holidays and call me mad (lots do!) but it's good to have some routine back...

The summer was amazing lots of running, loved exploring new routes, still smiling about Saffron Trail and have learnt from Chilterns mistakes! So what next...

First I'm having a September run streak not massive mileage but running every day and loving it, some days it's just a mile or two with Dugs (my dog) other days a bit further. I have signed up for a couple of events this month too just to get the racing mojo back so will be off to the inaugural Thetford marathon on Sunday with friends, then a 42 mile ultra at the end of the month. Enjoyment is my running word of the month and so far it's going well!!

      Summer running fun!

As for longer term plans, I have spent some time thinking about what I want to achieve with my running and there are still long, long races out there I want to do. Next year though, I'm going to build on my successes from this year and make sure I'm confident and happy with my ability, speed and navigation etc. So at the moment (and this will be subject to change!) I'm thinking St Peters Way, Malvern Ultra (52 miles) and my long race will be The Ridgeway (86 miles). Then in 2017 I will go back to The Chilterns and I will finish it!! 

Also I am going to have a bash at getting that sub 25 minute parkrun before the end of the year!!!! 

Have a great weekend and happy running, training, racing! X 

Fun summer running and a DNF...

Not the usual way of doing things but going to start this blog with the end...

Yesterday was The Chiltern Way Ultra, 133 miles. My second attempt at the race. Well to be completely honest it didn't go well and instead of still being out there running I'm back at home writing this blog. So what went wrong...

Basically it was my head, I had been incredibly nervous to the point of making myself feel unwell all week and it did affect my running. I started off ok but it quickly went wrong. Every time I tried some speed or to power up an incline I felt I couldn't breath, my chest felt tight and it caused me a lot of worry. I got into CP1 a good half an hour behind where I wanted to be and dissolved into tears. I ate had some coke and was convinced by Maxine it was a panic/anxiety type thing and only I could sort it. So with the advice to relax and enjoy the scenery I set off again. I spoke to Richard on the phone, cried a bit and but kept moving forward, it was slow and I wasn't enjoying it. I had countless messages and phone calls from my amazing friends and family, I cried some more, kept moving, cried etc. what I couldn't do was improve my head, I had an overwhelming fear of it getting dark, relived some of my mistakes from last year and panicked some more and cried some more. I eventually made it to Cp2 way off my predicted time and told Emily and Paul I was done. They convinced me to have a rest eat and drink and see how I felt. Maxine arrived shortly afterwards and taped some blisters and hotspots that had started. I eventually and reluctantly left the CP but within a couple of minutes I knew I couldn't carry on so returned to the car park. Emily and Paul live in the same town as I do so drove me home. Do I regret my decision...

No there was no way I had another 100 miles in me, my legs and body felt worse than when I finished Saffron Trail and mentally I was a mess. Now I plan to rest, recover and look at some races for next year. 

Running and racing is my escape and needs to be fun, it's what I do to escape the stress of everyday life, it's what I love, I felt none of that yesterday, nobodies fault, it was a tough day out on the trails attempting a tough race, I was one of only 5 competitors and it just wasn't happening for me, no excuses, no regrets. One to put down to experience and move on.

     Trying to look chilled at the start!

So that's the end of my summer of running and it has been awesome, it started at the beginning of my summer break from work with Saffron Trail which still makes me smile every time I think about it and I then went on to have some amazing runs with great friends, exploring lots of new routes and enjoying some great company. 

St Cedds Pilgrimmage

This is a 23 mile figure of eight run starting at Southminster and taking in some of St Peters Way. myself, Rich, Len, Heydon and Otto (Hayden's dog) set off on a Sunday lunchtime to run this, it was my first long run since Saffron and we had a brilliant afternoon, in glorious sunshine, taking it nice and easy. It was Len's longest ever run and we ended with a drink in a pub in the sunshine. 

     St Cedds Pilgrimmage (the injury was no where near as bad as it looked!!)

Exploring Maldon.

This was another great run, Rich and I set off early to run a route he had done some years before, we took a map and my GPS. Several miles in I said I can navigate this with just the map and put the GPS away in my race vest. Well let's just say maybe I was a little optimistic with my navigation skills and our 10 mile run ended up being 15 miles! It did however make a lovely, circular 15miles run with some gorgeous trails and countryside and is a run I would happily do again!

     I know where we're going!!

Lea Valley Walk

This has to be one of my summer favourites, Richard had read about this walk and suggested we run some of it. The whole route starts in Luton and follows the Lea Navigation Canal into London and is 53 miles. We decided to start in Hertford and run to Tower Bridge, where we the. Had an invite to a party. Running 31 miles to a party is fun. It was a good route, easy navigation and in it's way very pretty, starting quite rural and ending in London was amazing and different. We even took a little detour to have a look round the Olympic site at Stratford. It was a good last long run before the Chilterns. We ran slowly, taking in the sites, stopped for a coffee, and had a really good day out. Definitely one to do again maybe next time the whole thing!

      Fab day running into London.

The summer has also been filled with parkrun, running and my stint as run director which I always enjoy immensely. Wednesday evenings have become hills night, a now quite large group of us head to Great Notley Country Park and do a hill session combined with some core/upper body exercises and quite often cake!! It is a brilliant evening with good friends and makes hill sessions much more enjoyable.

      Relaxing after hills!

This is just a snapshot of some of the runs I have done this summer, the blog will be longer that the runs if I list them all! They have all been brilliant.

So even though yesterday didn't go as planned, I won't let it spoil an otherwise brilliant summer of running. 

I have many people to thank for making this summer so brilliant, Richard your company, support and encouragement has been amazing and I will always be grateful and look forward to many more runs together while we get ready for St Peters next year!!

Len your support too has been fantastic, John Ray Walk was brilliant and again look forward to helping you prepare for St Peters as well.

Thanks to the rest of Great Notley parkrun core team, all of the hill running gang, Challenge Running for two epic ultra races and my friends and family for supporting and sponsoring.

Running is my life and I am privelaged to be able to train, race and be involved in running. This summer has been a special one that I will always remember. Back to work at the end of the week, happy and knowing that I have made the most of it with enjoyable running, great friends and beautiful trails.

Happy running all xx 

Saffron Trail Ultra take two...

I've been waiting a year for this and wow what a completely different experience! 

Last year I had my first DNF at this race, I screwed up big time and didn't enjoy it right from the beginning, my race ended by getting timed out at CP5 and although I was devastated I was glad to stop. 

Fast forward to this years race...

I was looking forward to getting back out there and trying again, I trained hard and had run the whole route in sections over the past few months including doing some in the dark, I'd hopefully learnt from last years experience, so all I needed to do was keep my head strong, focused and get it done.

Richard and family delivered me safely and unstressed to the start where I registered and then just chilled in the sunshine, I was nervous but kept calm, ate my pre race food and willed it to be 6pm! 

       Waiting to start 

After a race brief from Lindley we were on our way, 10.9 miles to the first checkpoint, my race plan was to only think about the distance to each checkpoint, not the whole distance. So a nice evening run to Hockley Woods it was. I started out a little quick but the first couple of miles are easy running so went with it, the sun was shining and all was good. I wanted to run as hard as I could till it was dark and then slow down a bit so I didn't make navigational errors in the night. I reached the first check point in just under 2:15 hours and was happy enough. Maxine offered to fill my water bottles and I realised with horror they were both still practically full, I hadn't eaten much either. I knew I needed to sort this out pretty quickly if I wanted to finish the race so tried to get back to my usual strategy of eating/drinking every 2 miles.

Leg two was just under 7 miles and again perfectly runnable, all was going well until I was struck with awful stomach cramps, I slowed down and worried how on earth I could run feeling like that. Fortunately after about 3 miles they went as quickly as they started and didn't bother me again. I reached checkpoint 2 at Battlesbridge not far off the time I wanted and feeling ok. I still hadn't eaten much and asked Maxine to fill a sandwich bag I had with me so I could walk and eat as I didn't want to stop for too long. It was almost dark by now and head torch time!

Leg 3 is where it really fell apart for me last year but no such problems this time, navigation was going well. I was on my own and had been since Hadleigh, there was three people behind me including Ian and Simon who were sweeping, so I expected I would run on my own for most of the race. Mentally I felt good and I was enjoying myself. I can't remember where exactly but a whole family were outside their house on that leg and clapped and cheered me through! I made it through the creepy graveyard and onto CP3 feeling strong. I was now well inside cut off times. 

Leg 4 would take me through Chelmsford and I was slightly worried about running through the city at what could possibly be pub/club chucking out time but all was good and I was half way into the race. I stopped in the park as my Garmin had died and I had Richard's in my pack so I swapped them over and found some different food. I was feeling a little sleepy and looked forward to reaching CP4, where my sister, Michelle, was volunteering and had lucozade for me. I really needed some caffeine. Then I had the most surreal experience of the whole race, a man appeared asking if I was ok. He'd been following the online tracker and living very close to the course was supporting the runners. He said he had coffee and gels at the next bench, as we approached the bench another figure appeared, my brain was saying 'look it's Dan' but it didn't make sense, it was nearly 3am, why were people in the park at that time? I had no idea at that time how many people were losing a nights sleep watching the tracker and supporting me, Dan thank you so much for coming out to see me it was amazing and to Andy for being brilliant, seeing I made it safely through Chelmsford and that coffee was the best coffee ever!

I arrived at CP4 about 3:15am and it was great to see Michelle and Dan. I was still feeling good and was having the best time! I did get slightly overexcited about a tub of strawberry custard, amazing what is appetising at that time of the morning, it was one of the few things I actually enjoyed eating during the whole race. I knew the next leg quite well and knew I only had about an hour of darkness left all was good and I still well ahead of cut off times.

      Enjoying strawberry custard at CP4! 

I laughed when I got to Great Waltham as I remembered phoning Lindley last year and telling him I'd had enough, I nearly text him this year to say I was having a great time but my phone was in my pack and I didn't want to stop! I sang to myself and chatted to the cows as I ran, it was only a very slow run but it was running and the miles ticked past, the head torch was put away and I was still having fun. As I ran into Felsted, John appeared to offer some support and see how I was doing, thank you John was much appreciated. I had a text from my son about 4am saying 'your legs might hurt but you're still as strong mentally as when you started' it was perfectly timed and a real boost, thanks Ben. I was looking forward to CP5 for many reasons:

    1. Rich, Len and Dan would be there.

    2. Bacon.

    3. I wasn't going to get timed out there this year.

    4. Bacon!

I arrived at CP5 at about 6:30am (I think) that was two and a half hours quicker than last year and I didn't feel I was moving very fast. It was a massive boost and just the best CP ever, the bacon sandwich was great and Rich, Len and Dan you are just the best friends a girl could have, thank you. As much as I would have loved to stay longer I knew I needed to keep moving so bacon sandwich in hand, hugs gratefully received I set off again, less than a marathon to go. A little voice in my head already saying yes you're going to do this!

     Awesome support at CP5

Next stop would be Tilty church and I knew Michelle would be manning that one, less than eight miles that wasn't much! Legs were hurting now but all was good! I ran/walked/shuffled along, it rained a bit but it was quite refreshing. The closed footbridge didn't collapse when I crossed it and it was an enjoyable leg that I knew quite well so didn't require as much concentration to navigate. Grapes and bananas was all I could manage to eat but was enough to keep me going. The weather had brightened up and there was just over 15 miles left, I really was going to do this! 

The next leg isn't my favourite though the overgrown fields weren't quite as bad as when I ran them a few weeks before. I was walking a bit more but still managing to run downhill but it just seems to take forever to get to Newport, I had known all the way if I could make it to Newport then it was in the bag. So arriving at CP7 was the best feeling. I felt as though I had blisters forming under my big toes but decided just to get through the last 4.9 miles and sort them at the finish. Chris and Liz were at this CP and there was custard (never had a thing for custard before this race!!). Was great to see Chris thanks for making the last CP a good one.

The last leg...

My feet hurt, maybe I should have sorted the blisters but I ignored the pain as much as possible, I just wanted to finish. I cursed the last few hills but tried to find some sort of speed, there wasn't much! Going through the gates at Audley End I knew I was almost done and had a small emotional moment. Just a little further through Saffron Walden to the common and there it was... the finish, Michelle, Richard, Holly, Becky and Chris had all come to see me finish, Lindley presented my medal and it was the perfect end to an amazing race.

     Finished! 

It didn't really sink in till this morning that I had done it, it was amazing, I loved it from start to finish and I haven't stopped smiling yet! 

Thank you to Lindley, Maxine and all the volunteers at Challenge Running, I couldn't have been looked after any better.

Well done to the other runners I didn't see much of you but you were all awesome. 

Sorry to those friends/family who lost sleep because of the tracker but thanks for supporting virtually!

Special thanks to Richard, Holly, Becky, James, Michelle, Len, Dan, Chris and John for giving up some/all of your weekend to support me, I am really very lucky to have such amazing friends, love you all.

Abbi, Ben, Mum and everyone else who sent messages and have sponsored me thank you too.

Have an amazing week and happy running xx 

       Awesome medal