Evolution of a mini runner

In 2022 I had the parenting moment I'd dreamed about. I pinned minipixie's first race number onto his little shirt. Kids age 6 are permitted to race FRA Junior races, and our local Lantern Pike Dash   allows any age kids to run , accompanied by an adult. 

Here he is with his wee running clan from Glossop and Hadfield

We also took him to a local Junior Parkrun, 2km around a well-marshalled course in Brabyn's park in Marple Bridge , as well as occasional Mum/son runs around the fields and sometimes the fells at weekends. As 2023 arrived, I got injured and oddly, that changed more than just my own training plan

A week before Christmas I took a standard spin up to Wormstones one evening and came back with a sore heel. A few days later I couldn't walk on it - Plantar Fascitis had come to town. 

This photo was Christmas Eve 2022 - he'd asked to run a "lap or two" of Parkrun (5k version) with us in festive attire so we obliged .Fox completed his second full parkrun, and slept in til 8.30 on Christmas Day 😄

mind that T-Rex lad! 

I was very down in the dumps about what's probably one of the most feared foot injuries, and then we all caught Covid again for the holidays. This time it was even worse than last year and I was wiped out for almost a month, and very miserable about it too. In Feb I gingerly began a recovery plan for both foot and in general, with 1k jogs around the local rec. Then it dawned on me that I had a perfect training partner. So at weekends when he wanted to, we ran together. Without planning to , I was building a race fitness base for my son whilst trying to keep my own training intensity down to a manageable (pain wise) level. I had no great aims, just to be able to run as far as possible without hurting. in Feb it was 5k, in March it was an hour, by April I did the Kinder Downfall race (hurt like heck by the end but really enjoyed doing a classic route) 

up to the cabin and back - march 2023

In May I asked the small boy, now 7,  whether he'd like to try some "real" kids fell races, the FRA English Junior Series.  He did. I couldn't take him to the required 4 fixtures to qualify in his age group but I knew we could enjoy a bit of real racing. My highlight was our trip to Ambleside one weekend with a stopover in the delightful YHA Windermere. The race was super well organised and the little ones (under 9 age group) got to run on a "real" high fell complete with kit  -another emotional parenting moment in fellrunning when my son presented at his first FRA kit-check..! By July, he had completed more races than his Mum. [3 I think..] We pegged a BOFRA race in the Dales onto the end of a half-term trip to Scarborough and got the BEST kids running photo of our family album 

Kettlewell U9s race June 2023

As my own fitness very slowly returned, I found myself favouring events and trips which had kids races. We both raced at Lantern Pike Dash of course, but my injury scared me out of doing any of the summer "family style" fixtures. He wants me to come to the school charity jog soon, to "run more laps than Mr Doyle " ...! 

What I love about his racing is that he's proud of his run, wherever he finishes in the field. He isn't that  suited to the shorter distances which the rules limit his age groups to - he happily runs 3-5k on the fells with me, so he's not warmed up by the end of the 1k the kids fell routes offer. Not to worry, he loves to cheer on the other kids and help his dad with his camera during the other groups races. I know that in a few years, he'll not want to follow his mum's hobby. So for now I am happy to be chaffeur and kit carrier if and when he likes to race, and sacrifice some of the events I would usually like to run. 

And me? I am over the injury ,it took 8 months or so. I'm running in the FRA Relays and have signed up for a winter of "chasing teenagers round the park in the hail" aka "cross country league" 

Family club vests at Glossop Parkrun

Home and Away - a late post about my 2022 season.

 2022 started with Covidmas fallout. I think most, if not all, the runners I know have now had the conversation which goes "how long after recovery will I feel OK to run again"? The answer, like with most things which set you back from running, is to listen to your body. I was fully 15 days with symptoms and then took it VERY easy before doing any running at all, perhaps day 24 or 25 when I started running again. This , coupled with the fact I'd broken a finger in late November meant I had a bit of a hill to climb to regain any fitness. My plan for 2022 was to get racing again, after a bit of an epiphany at the Roaches race in November, where it all fell into place and I realised how much I'd missed it. I can't Fishwick it, as I love spending time with Minipixie (and sometimes even his Dad too haha ;) ) so one a month is about as much as I can fit into my calendar. One Away Trip, that is, and any Home races which can be fit in, come as a bonus. 

Race 1: the Trigger , 9th Jan - withdrew due to very recent Covid infection. Hiked up to Higher Shelf checkpoint with a backpack full of pizza , Christmas Cake and goodies for the racers and gambolled about gleefully in a blizzard with Kate B as the racers passed through. 

Race 2 : Long Mynd Valleys, 6th Feb  - what a weekend! I arranged a Glossopdale Harriers trip away and we did both races in the excellent winter weekend in Shropshire. A long awaited experience with 8 or so of us at a hostel and making the most of the racing and recceing opportunities. The main event was tough for me, a Personal Worst but I LOVE the route and wouldn't have wished it any other way. 

Me loving it at a Wet and Wild Long Mynd Valleys race

Race 3 : Chicken Run, 2 April  - they changed the route and Peatpixie is not Impressed. Much more trail-driven than the previous route however I ran well, came in fifth female and got a surprise WV40 prize. I felt the fitness returning, after struggling somewhat at the Long Mynd in Feb 

Race 4 - Guisborough Three Tops, 30 April (Eng Champs Counter) . I had to give it a go, I have to get back to the Championship series of races which I loved so much in the years I now refer to as my "prime" . The social side is brilliant, meeting so many runners from other clubs and parts of the country, being inspired to take on new challenges. This race was another one with "too much trail" and a very warm day. Felt a lot longer than it's advertised distance. It was brilliant to have a day trip to the North Yorks area and a chippy tea on the seafront at Saltburn after. Oh and I went crazy at the Pete Blands van and bought Minipixie some shiny new Walshes. 

***xxxx

LIfe Got in the Way in summer 2022. We found a house which could heal the pain of our failed move in 2021 and efforts focussed on getting us moved in, and letting out the house we left. The plan was a bit of a squeaky-bum one financially but sitting here in 2023 with it all behind me, I'm glad Alan and I took the risks. The move dropped a bomb onto my mental health which running helped to rebuild. 

I actually finished three FRA championship counters. I even got a 3rd in category at a blazing hot short fixture at Bradwell . But my brain and synapses disagreed with the joy, and winter was hard. Here I am pre stress-bomb, at the Tebay based Medium race, an absolute joy of a route which I was too nervous and injured to attend in 2023. I promise I'll go back. 

a New Type of Nav Eventing

Keen to get some practice at navigation, and interested to see what kind of format the Orienteering Club events followed, my friend Kate and I travelled through the clag and out the other side to Totley Moor area for a South Yorkshire Orienteering event on Sunday morning. Sorry no photos...we were a bit late and had to concentrate on the maps  

We chose the Score format - 90 minutes to visit as many controls as you like.  

The hardest part was the pre entry system, which seemed to require a degree in Orienteering Entry Systems to navigate. Registration was simple and no kit check. 

We fought through a small brambly wood to the start area , where we saw a lot of keen competitors lining up for their maps. Not much additional info was given but on explaining we were novices, the volunteer explained the basics of the control descriptions and the map. The scale was a whopping 1 to 10,000 which neither us had ever used before. After the traditional false start and ditching trying to find our chosen first control, we got into our stride and had a fun hour or so finding flags around the course. Weather was clear and lots of it was on paths and some in woods.

We decided on our route back to the finish with around 30 mins remaining, and then made a small error which meant that the last control was a bit "ambitious" to reach,  but I encouraged Kate to follow me up a gently rising moorland track to visit it. We only had 5 mins to return and that's where I realised the end was back through the brambly woods , not in the start field. Mega D'OH. 

A haring descent back down the moor path (proper fellrunning, that!) and a painful dash through the woods.. we lost 50 points each. But there was tea and cakes and friendly chats. 

We both learned a lot, there's no better way to improve your nav in my book. Oh and to the man who bluntly told us "it's bad etiquette to stop at controls" , I hope you tore your best coat on a bramble. Everyone else we met did the cheery hellos, and he could've been kinder as we were clearly less experienced. 

"Novice leg" - shouldve worn longs..or those horrific calf guards 😜

The Old Ways

 The Old Ways - Navigating without tech

Challenges for 2021

Oh gosh where to start. The running year in 2020 was full of difference, and the "home life" year was just FULL. So no time to blog. Minipixie's school is open for all again, so the balance (of sorts) is returning to the household. There is some kind of light at the end of some kind of tunnel, hopefully in the early Summer, so along with most of the fellrunning community, I am planning some Big, Fun Days Out this year. At the start of 2020 I took part in a fun "chat and learn" event which my club Glossopdale Harriers organised. I spoke about my Bob Graham Round experience, and did my best to give some useful tips and answer questions for aspirant contenders.  I made "being in the Lakes as much as possible and supporting some of these lovely people on their attempts" my goal for 2020. Then...well, you know what happened next. 

 Ambitions , for many , were put on ice. I managed to get to the Lakes a few times in 2020 during the "free times" in the summer/autumn.

Showing Ian and Lance Leg 5 of the Bob Graham in August

My own ambition has grown quietly over the past 12 months, ignited mainly by a day trip in August to support a clubmates last-minute Paddy Buckley Round. I won't embellish with details yet, as much is unclear for 2021 but in the main, my ambition is the same as 2020, which is to tread on the routes of the UK Big Rounds as often as possible. 

Not to mention, take the Small Boy up some Larger Fells

Some "tough" weather conditions at Latrigg Summit in October. Fox's first Lakeland fell at age 4

A Grand, Local Day Out - Reccying for the Kinder Dozen

Spin on to March 2021. A lot of running of Kinder and Bleaklow has been done over the last 12 months and it's been wonderful to extend my knowledge of my local hills. I still have a lot to learn. It's been a year of being cautious, not pushing my luck with my general wellness, staying reasonably close to my comfort zone whilst building fitness and experience. I think quite a few runners I know, may identify with the "cautiously pushing the boundaries" mode of training, running and exploring during pandemic times.

Each weekend in winter I tried to run a long route, with the permitted "Covid safe exercise buddy".  A couple of weeks before Easter , I fancied a recce of the North -Eastern corner of the Kinder Dozen route. Freedom beckons and it's time to commit to a challenge , both to test fitness and push the boundaries, both geographical and figurative. 

I asked some good friends for advice on the route, obtained a list of "checkpoints" and grid references, a gpx trace and some useful commentary. I don't use anything which can read a gpx trace and so , with familiar but comforting nerves, I pulled out a map and began to mark the points out. For those who haven't competed in some of the "old school" Mountain Marathons, your first challenge at such events 

was to mark the control points onto your map. So this is what I did. I knew that whoever came running with me that weekend would likely use Viewranger, a Garmin watch or other such "instant route finding" tech but I wanted to go back to basics. I was fortunate to get the company of Wiola, who is something of a Map and Compass Jedi. 

Compass Buddies! 

We had a brilliant morning out from Snake Inn layby.  We deftly skipped out of the clag as we drove over Snake Summit - always a good sign for a recce day. Wiola had marked up a map with the line taken by Ian C (more about him later!) though we agreed that as this was a recce, we'd decide on our own lines based on the bearings and the visible options on the ground. We were pleased to make a good first descent down to Blackden Brook, almost accidentally picking up a fence-line to handrail us into the stream/wall junction we were looking for. On the climb up to the edge below Kinder East trig , I was once again pleased to see Wiola relying on the bearings she'd taken on the trig to guide us up a rough-ish climb - we popped out on the edge, to a little trod bringing us straight to our destination. The day progressed in much the same manner, with my confidence in my own decisions backed-up by the fact that Wiola was proposing much the same ones, each time we had to pick our method of finding the next "control". I made one daft error, wrongly identifying a barn as a farm and dragging her down a rough, shin - shredding descent about 200m east of a wonderfully wide and grassy trod. 

Realising the sweet trod I had completely overlooked

For a couple of the "low point" checkpoints, we did rely on some technology - the OS Locate app. WE wanted to check that we were hitting the correct points described on the route as eg "stream/fence" so we opened the app to ensure that we were standing where we should have been. As for finding the "summit" of Nether Moor, we deployed both the OS Locate app, and my fancy new altimeter. 

Our return route was one we'd decided to make deliberately a bit challenging. We climbed directly back up to the plateau from Nether Moor to the East Trig and then took a due-West bearing to tread a little of the line taken by Ian C's "Kinder Bastard" route. Ian spent the summer of 2020 and beyond, hoovering up the Dark Peak challenge routes like the 15 Trigs, the Kinder Dozen, Kinder Killer. Not content with these tortures, he devised a new challenge for Kinder-lovers , both devious and simple. So we decided to see what kind of an experience it might be, by taking a roughly straight line West from the trig, for around a kilometre, before finding a route back towards Seal Stones where we'd been earlier that day, to then return to the start. 

We trod dry-ish ground for a few minutes after leaving the trig on our bearing, but soon came to the deep groughs the plateau is famed for and began traversing them whilst trying to assess whether any of the high-lines would keep us going in the right direction. Around the third or fourth grough-edge, I spied a runner coming towards us. Who could be so lost, or as plateau-obsessed as us on a day like this? Into the next "valley" we plunged, only to meet Sue Richmond of Pennine fellrunners, a fine navigator and much-missed adversary in fell races. "What are you doing over here then Sue" "Ahh, just bimbling about"  - an exchange which warmed me to my toes.  We chatted about our lockdown experiences, tipped her off about the Bastard route and went our ways into the peat. A magic "meeting of fellrunners" moment, that. 

After this, both Wiola and I began to tire of the grough-strewn maze, never mind the goodly amount of ascent and descent we'd already run, so pulled off to the Edge path again to get down and home. One day I shall try that Bastard line.  I've recce-d a little of its Western aspect which has a similarly maddening lack of places to run in any kind of direct manner, so I shall definitely need to pack my sense of humour as well as the grough-hopping legs.  

This day out really got me fired up to have a go at the Dozen Route, even though I hadn't recced every section. I would lose a little time, checking bearings and ensuring the right points were reached however this recce day gave me confidence that I'd hopefully not mess it up by going on map/compass and mainly Navigating Without Tech  

Peatpixie versus the OMM

Blog break

Where have I been? Why haven’t I blogged? The answer is simple – life got in the way. Minipixie is loads of fun to hang out with, even with chickenpox. Spare time taken up with visiting family and friends, making the most of the last summer before we are sucked into the school term shackles, work being hard, and with trips away to reduce my time even further. Oh and running, and racing, gradually being pushed up the priorities. I toughed out a brutal Trigger and made myself a promise to get to the Lakes, to train there and race there, as often as I could, which in reality I guessed would be once every couple of months. By May I had made good on my word and had been up to Langdale on a blustery damp weekend and slogged through an Old County Tops recce with some ace mates, returning damp and jubilant that my legs , trained on nothing but peak district weekend days, and the odd lunchtime hill dash, still had something of my old form in them. Jubilation was squashed when I returned a few weeks later to do Fairfield Horseshoe, and sprained my ankle a few metres away from the summit. Summer was cancelled.

I don’t panic about injury time-outs any more, I am too old and grizzled. So I re-set my goals and looked to Autumn to be my time for racing in fun places. Raced a little over summer, the short and not too gnarly variety, quietly notching up points in Glossopdale’s fell championships. Then opportunity knocked when new mum Alice proposed an OMM team. Yes, a thousand times yes! Who better to do this event with than another running mum needing to keep true to fellrunning alongside the circus of parenting. What better time to peak than late October, after the FRA relays which spurred me to train to be fit, fast and navigationally competent, Everything fell into place and then fell apart when poor Al got a beastly chest infection the week before the FRAs, meaning both our outings at the relays and the OMM were not possible. Alice’s husband , Tim, promised to go easy on me as her replacement and then 2 days before the OMM, called me to say it just wasn’t possible for them both to travel. I was gutted for them both. Then suddenly realised I could try to find a partner. Social media connections in fellrunning run deep and I messaged Josie G, last seen at a race in the Lakes before I even knew what “parenting” meant. Thankfully she is both an avid mountain marathoner and on half term break, and accepted my offer. Back on…but with an added dose of being responsible for the driving,  and making sure I gathered enough kit together. Tim and Alice magnanimously lent us their tent (Josies awaiting repair) and some other kit and bits and off we set for Largs, Ayrshire on a drenched Friday afternoon. Last minute but very enthusiastic

OMM arrival

The OMM is the more commercial of mountain marathons so it didn’t surprise me , on arrival, that the shop was the first thing I saw after registering in the big marquee. I did buy some ¾ leggings tho cos they were cheep! Josie had the sudden realisation that she’d packed shorts, and would likely be needing more leg cover due to the expected vast swathes of heathery moor to cross. She also purchased some ¾ length leggings. We then spent lots more time than planned chattering and socialising, Josie knowing a LOT of people and me playing “can I spot anyone I actually know” – Sarah and Robin from Glossop arrived but Immy had been and gone. We repaired to the Premier Inn about 30 mins drive away.

smile, for you know not what lies before you 

OMM Day 1

In no time at all we were back in the parking field in the dark, hurriedly checking all kit, food etc were in order and packs were not too lumpy. I was wearing the dibber (little device to poke into a hole to log your presence, for those who don’t know) on my wrist, so without further ado we headed off at a not-too-fast march to the start, which was billed as “1.8 mile uphill from the marquee”. I have to say I was more nervous about getting to the start, than the event itself. So off we went.

I fell instantly into the trap of trying to figure out which other teams were in direct competition with us, which is more than worthless in a MM because there are 5 different races, routes all varying, although some control points are shared. We did get the distinct impression that there were a fair few fresh-faced teams in our category. After a short time of getting used to the map scale, terrain etc we felt comfortable, though the heather was beginning to scrape Josie’s ankles and she’d even snagged her new kecks on a fence. We ran alongside a team of two young ladies who were both wearing proper short shorts earning them our nickname of “brave-shorts”  - I hope they didn’t suffer too badly! The big bonus was that visibility was amazing, so some controls were just a game of spot the crowd, and we swore blind we showed Jim Mann and Nic B a good line off along a ridge.

Photo R&R images

Soon the heather became a bit ridiculous and though we did a really efficient job of the section of the course where you have to pick your own route, there was a long pull through unforgiving heather and the pain became rather awful for Josie. She put on waterproof pants which helped, but progress was still a trudge and with regular tumbles for both of us into what would become the most shouted word of the weekend “DITCH” (or just “BITCH!!”)

We made it into the camp in around 7 hours which I think , given the terrain, was pretty respectable. Good fortune had us camped next door to 2 mates of Josie’s and both Glossop pairs close by too. We started to compare notes and then rain began, so a mass dive into tents was required. My feet were dull blocks of ice, the toenails looking a bit battered. I had my two dehydrated meals (boy am I glad I packed 2) and went off to sleep. My feet sprang into painful life at around 0100 and the throbbing and aching was so violent, I thought that was my chances of rest gone. Taking off my socks seemed to do the trick. 

OMM Day 2

Rain and strong wind awoke me at around 0500 (0600 on the watch, daylight saving starts)  and gradually the sound of vehicles at the camp marshal point and people around us stirring, made it necessary to wake up and face the (wet) music. A hardy bagpiper was also making the rounds of the camp, along with an overly cheery man with a megaphone.

I was in a blind panic because I couldn’t find my waterproof trousers. I realised they had likely dropped out of the pack whilst I was fishing for some gloves or a snack earlier the previous day ,and sunk unnoticed into the heather. If I tried to run more than a few hours without them in the rain, hypothermia would become a real risk. I made a plan to use my survival bag as a plastic “skirt” but couldn’t shake off the worry, never mind the worry that we may be randomly kit checked and disqualified for not having the required items.

We started at a wooden bridge, and I know we both were dreading any more heathery hellholes. Thankfully most of the ground was boggy grass which was a veritable treat compared to ankle-clinging ditch dodging. 

photo R&R Images

We did make our one big error which was to misjudge our pacing and ran past our first control. Josie really impressed me with her quick planning to regain the situation but we knew that we’d become distanced from other competitors in our category. It did have the benefit of there being a number of trodden paths leading to various places we needed to visit, so running rather than marching was much easier than on day 1. We caught a number of other teams, after doing a really decent job of the choice section of the route even if I do say so myself, and were rewarded with a grassy (if tussocky) descent down to a road checkpoint where all the day’s routes were converging on the final hill , beyond which the finish, a brew, and food,  lay. The final track down through forests in the estate were well-worn by studs of faster teams, parts of which resembled a steep bank in an XC race, and down, down we dashed, with weighty packs helping/hindering our hurtle. We did both remain mainly upright, then joyously ran to the finish.

Map brain

Both days, as time progressed, the land “came into focus” on the map-  that is the best way I can describe the feeling of finally being able to look up, and look down to the map, and see the connections without having to stand and scratch my head. The buff-coloured wiggles became more meaningful and I started to be able to say things like “there will be a little lump here and then it’s about 300 metres further”. I can honestly say that the amount of information on maps is pretty terrifying to me, a lot to try and process all at once. In the past, I’ve felt pressure to just move fast, and tried either make things fit, or look for something blindingly obvious like a summit or a fence to aim for, and wasted loads of time going uphill or over rough land. This time I was able to think it out more clearly, and overlay all the hard lessons of the last few years onto my decision making, Josie is clearly very good at all this and was very patient and polite, when I made a couple of silly suggestions. One thing we both found hard was the colouring on the race map. Pale grey gridlines made taking bearings harder.

Bring on the one-day mini mountain marathons and Praise Be for Josie Greenhalgh!

As a wise man once said "avoid races with bagpipes, they're all shit" 

The other 90 percent

Inspired by reading a part of Jonny Muir's book "The Mountains are Calling" where he describes the agonising choice between staying at home to care for a sick child, or depart for a race, I am writing this long overdue post.

What happened next, since my last post when I triumphantly declared myself back to racing, happy, working and loving parenthood? Well, more of the same really. End of post, go and have your tea/go to work/ get off the bus.

The point I actually wanted to make, is that for every photo like this

reunion with family after the Trail Marathon Wales - June 16th 2018

There are 5 like this

Sick child on sofa, winter 2017

And for every Jasmin Paris, there are hundreds of running Mums, Dads and carers who make choices every time they lace up their Mudclaws or throw their kit into a boot recently vacated by a buggy, wellies, nappies and small bikes. Or in my case I drive off to Snowdonia with the buggy still in the boot (sorry, Him Indoors!) 

I am lucky to count Jasmin a friend . Her talent is unique, her physical and mental capacity to race to such a high standard even whilst breastfeeding and tending to the usual night-time antics of a child under the age of 1, is a beacon of hope. Her humility and willigness to be open about her experiences is a boost to mums everywhere. But the mid-pack plodders experience will remain the same, and more power to us for sharing our stories and supporting one another in this big family we call fellrunning

So here is a quick, and probably incomplete list , of my racing or near-racing experiences of this years Spring/Summer season

• Doctors Gate (start is 10 mins from home): Raced. Did OK and got a T Shirt for being Old 
• Kinder Downfall: Didn't race due to Storming Cold suffered by Whole Family
• Old County Tops: Didn't Race due to Minipixie having such a high fever 2 nights before, he had a seizure and had to go to hospital. There was no way I was going to a valley with no mobile coverage even if he had started to get better (he didn't!) 
• Lantern Pike Dash (replacement for previous race and is also 10 mins from home): Raced and came second female. Nothing like a bit of disappointed rage to propel you up and down a steep climb rapidly. 
• Trail Marathon Wales (enlisted grandparents as babysitters and formulated family holiday around it) : Raced and did OK
• Friends Paddy Buckley Round attempt, supporting Leg 5: Had scorching day out in Wales and felt as though I had finally paid back into the Rounds Support account after a long hiatus. PS I am available for BGR duties, night time legs preferred as for some reason I am good at nights
• All the Summer Evening Races: No Chance. When both parents work 5 days 9-5 these races are a practical impossibility.  *weeps* 
• Holme Moss AL race Raced. DNF'd due to being generally exhausted and a bit poorly

Take what you want from that, but the theme seems to be 'stay close to home' and if not, plan up to the hilt. Be prepared for DNSs, DNFs and Disappointment. Don't forget to be grateful for every racing day out you get. 

As you were

Fox is one. I’m back racing and running, but am I back where I started? Of course not. But the feeling I have right now is just of happiness I am happy that my body has created a human, and then recovered from that, and the invasive surgical procedure by which he was born, to be able to continue to follow the pastime which defines me. If you met me in a lift, I would still announce myself as a fellrunner before saying I am a parent. When he grows up, he’ll know that my getting out running in the hills kept me a happy and even-mannered mother.

Fox learning about sand on Anglesey 

I haven’t posted for a few months. Work happened. I returned to full-time work in April. It was a transitional time in Fox’s development, he had just started to sleep better at night and feed mainly on bottled milk. These two facts alone made both working and trying to run so much easier. I was however exhausted for the first month or so, learning to fit everything into the day, dealing with the minor illnesses he picked up at nursery, adapting to the new routine. I also think it was like when you stop work for Christmas, and with no pressure to be ‘on point’ , you flake and get ill. Someone else was caring for my son for 40 hours of the week, and I let go of a lot, and flaked…! After the second month though, I managed to start to feel in control again, and more able to commit to going to club runs, or weekend races. All the time, Fox grew up more and more, becoming more independent and more used to time without me – I did my first night away to attend a meeting in Glasgow, and have since spent a few nights away for work.

So normality crept back, but there is still a lot filling my days and nights. It’s hard to motivate myself to go out and train in the evenings when I’ve been up since 5am. I’ve started trying to fit lunchtime runs in, when I work from home. If Him Indoors has social commitments then I have to stay put. I am however very happy with what I’ve been doing over the last weeks – and I have pushed myself to a couple of Long races. I had decided that this would be my goal this summer, though I had no idea whether I would actually be able to achieve it. I did the Kinder Trog (16 miles, about 1000m ascent) in June, and the Holme Moss race(18 miles, 1315m ascent) this month. Both were tough, both showed me what I am still missing in terms of fitness, but the experience of the races themselves were the same. A lot of it is in the mind.

Physically ..I’m back to my previous weight, I don’t have any niggles other than an ache on the scar from the c-section when I run for a few hours. This does and doesn’t surprise me, and I’m making sure I take rest days off after long stuff. Stopping breastfeeding was a big milestone, more for the mental side of things. It honestly changed the way I see and relate to him and to being away from him, because he’s not going to demand access to me at feeding times or if he feels rough. It feels as though we have a freer way of interacting with each other and it’s great. I’m doing personal training sessions to strengthen myself, hopefully injury-proof myself and maybe even get a bit faster.

Next goals are to race , or just run with friends ,in the Lakes, and then to be part of my club’s team at the FRA relays in October.

I guess this blog will be less of the mummy stuff and more of the running now. As you were.

running with clubmate (and BGR supporter Alice at Holme Moss