Vision2Run returns

 Greetings all

Now I know we’ve been silent for a while. Partly down to Brighton Recovery, and partly down to both Peter and I taking big international holidays (more of that to come in future posts!). We have some news to share though   We are probably biased but we think this one is way more exciting than the oasis pension come back tour!

Some of you are already in the know but for the rest of you beautiful people following our socials here it is…..

 

The dynamic duo are back! Twice the fun, or double trouble, (I’ll let you insert relevant ending!).  Either way, another marathon is in the offing and this time it’s the big one….. I’m delighted to say that Peter and I will be taking part in the 2025 TCS London Marathon, running to support the Royal British Legion.

 

We are delighted to have this opportunity, and we are honoured that RBL would like us to join their team. Now I know lots of you will be reading this thinking ‘really? What happened to ‘never again? What about all that winter training?’

And you’d be right, I’m asking many of those questions too! I’ll address some of them over the coming weeks, but beneath all of them, there is no denying that running events are amazing, addictive and London IS the big one. The one so many people dream of and it was definitely one I wanted to add to my notch bracelet! So I’m absolutely buzzing and can’t wait to get started!

 

Just like all big announcements, there is a ‘but’, and no marathon is ever run alone!

We are doing this for charity, and so we would really appreciate your help. Peter and I have committed to raise £2000 to support the incredible work RBL do, supporting former and existing forces personnel with everything from food, housing, mental health support, and so much more. Any donations you can spare will enable us to take part in this amazing challenge, but more importantly, will go a long way to supporting this invaluable work. If you can help us, please visit: https://2025tcslondonmarathon.enthuse.com/pf/ruthandpeter

Even if you are unable to donate, you could help us massively by sharing our story and our link with your family, friends and via any social media pages you are part of. Over the coming months, we’ll share our stories of training, fundraising, failures, successes, and lots of post-training pizzas; it will all be here! Thank you for all your support with our adventures so far, and we hope you can join us on this next (and possibly the last), large marathon challenge.

Till next time, big love,

Ruth and Peter xx

WE DID IT!

So, … we made it! All 26.2 miles of it….in the bag! It’s still quite hard for me to believe I actually completed it! I was so nervous, stressed, even slightly unwell the week before. Even though I couldn’t wait to get going, I don’t think I fully understood what I was taking on, let alone whether or not I was capable of it! And it didn’t matter that Peter and many more of you told me I could, I didn’t believe it because I couldn’t really feel it! I reached half way with some still left in the tank and that felt spectacular! But around 30K the wheels began to come off, 1 by 1!

I began to walk and run, and ask Peter over and over again if I’d make it. My steps became laboured…it wasn’t pretty! And when I met family at mile 24, I cried and told them all I couldn’t make it! It’s amazing how long 2.2 miles becomes after you’ve done 24 of them! But we made it, and the joy, the celebration, the disbelief of that is something I’ll never forget!

 

Running a marathon is by far and away the toughest thing I’ve ever done, but its also the most rewarding thing I’ve ever completed and by far my proudest achievement!

Nik and I had coffee this week and we talked about this a lot. What is it that makes running a marathon so special? We’ve both run halves completing GNR together and we both ran a marathon. We agreed that the training and the events themselves are another level entirely!

I think this is to do with the intensity, the hard work and the fact that while you are participating in a race, you are ultimately running against yourself. You’re raising the bar for yourself. Regardless of what you might prove to the world, what the marathon is really giving you is that space inside yourself. That space where you face the fact that you trained to become one of that very exclusive 1% club…the 1% who have completed a marathon! You worked and cried and pushed to finish when every cell of your being wanted to stop!

It took me about 30 minutes to stop crying when I finished; I was tired, emotional, cold, overwhelmed, and so utterly proud of myself. As I sat there eating chips through floods of tears, it was Nadiya Hussain that came to mind. Her beautiful victory speech on bake off where she says ‘I’ll never again say something is too hard, that I won’t, or I can’t, because I can, and I will’!

This marathon feels like a life altering event somehow, and I’ll treasure every last memory of it.  From the people we met, the laughs and deep chats Peter and I had on our training runs, all our fundraising missions, all those who supported us (before, during and after the event), you have all contributed to something so incredibly special for me.

If anyone had told me after my first parkrun that I’d run a marathon one day, I’d have laughed silly and probably not come back! But that is the magic of our parkrun family/community and I am truly blessed to be a part of it. Thank you Peter, from the bottom of my heart, for being my eyes for 16 weeks, and for giving me such an effortless, easy run that I didn’t have to think about! You are a true legend and a beautiful soul that I’m blessed to call a friend.

 

Lots of you have been asking ‘what next? Well, I’m quite happy to stick to parkruns and cake for a while (my physio says it’s all part of my recovery!) only, …, while I was finishing off an Easter Egg earlier, I discovered a few guide runners in the South West who support ultras …, #JustSaying

Who knows what’s next; for now; I’m just blissed out wearing my medal with pride and milking the magic of Brighton for as long as I can! Thank you all for tracking us, supporting us, and sending the love, your energy, prayers and kindness all carried us over the line and contributed to an incredible day that I’ll never, ever forget!

 

Reflections on the wall (and how to get over it!).

 

This one goes out to all those of you who are training for, or even contemplating a marathon at the moment.

Marathons are tough (no surprise there, I know!), but one thing people don’t always tell you is, while the physical training is super important, it maybe accounts for 40% of the work you need to do. The remaining 60% is all about mental strength! As a yoga student, I know all too well how powerful the mind is, and how good it is at telling us stories! It will tell you that you’re not strong enough, not disciplined enough, not slim enough, not this, that or the other enough, to complete the challenge, and as it repeats these stories on a loop, they sometimes take route!

Its important to challenge these stories before they take hold of you. The best way I find to do that, is challenge them head-on, and with a pro-active approach.

 

When I began my marathon training, I started to have pain in my left leg. Some of you will remember, I got an injury just before the Great North Run in 2022. In my mind, this pain was the re-activation of that injury, and I wouldn’t be able to run at all! Thankfully though, while rehabilitating that injury, I had the support of Heather over at @next_level_performancegla

While Heather still offers physio, her focus is much more on preventative techniques. When looking at the pain in my left leg, she helped me realise it was less about stimulating an old injury, and more about building strength on the left side, following a movement pattern that had contributed to weakness there.

 

Over the subsequent weeks, we began undertaking strength and conditioning work. Its been tough, and the pain hasn’t fully gone, but it has reduced, and strength has grown. I’ve learned how to manage my energy, and balance different forms of cross-training in order to maximise my runs, and overall well-being. I think its easy to watch social media, and think that, if you adapt your approach to mirror another person’s running technique, or follow the same training programme as someone you admire etc, that you’ll have the magic bullet. The truth is, we’re all different, and we bring our physical and emotional histories to the challenges we undertake. We can either see them as obstacles we need to ditch or change, or we can view them as assets, or at least, core parts of our complete being to work with. It is certainly possible that my lack of sight has lead me to over-compensate for a physical weakness I sense, on one side of my body. I can either get hung up on that, or see It for what it is, and gently challenge the movement pattern to build strength, and alternative muscle memory. I can also be hugely grateful to the body I have, that intuitively works to keep me safe in every situation; how cool is that!

 

Heather is keen to support any readers of @vision2run who would like to explore physio or movement challenges of their own! So, if this feels like something that might serve you, do connect with her, and don’t let the great wall of marathon take over your mindset. Any obstacle along the way is just a challenge, waiting to be overcome.

It’s the final countdown!

 

7 days to go!

 

With the last long training run done and the final countdown in full swing, Its fair to say I’m spending most of my time torn between major excitement, and cold, fearful sweats! Can I do this? Will the wheels come off? Will I make it within the 8-hour cut-off? .., we’ll soon find out!

Until we do, lots of you have been asking me questions about our marathon effort, from the deep to the practical! So, I thought I’d cover some of them here, in case they offer wisdom (or even a few laughs), to anyone else embarking on a marathon journey of their own!

 

Q: why Brighton?

 

A: Well; that was my cousin Drew’s fault (bless him!). Like most marathon hopefuls, I stuck my name in the London ballot, and didn’t get in. When Drew heard, he suggested Brighton. We had planned to run it together, however we quickly realised that wasn’t going to work, given we’re at opposite ends of the country, with busy jobs and lives, making joint training almost impossible. I probably would have dropped out at that point, but the amazing Peter Williams stepped in; and we’re running it together! We’re excited though; Brighton has an amazing vibe, so we’re hoping for seaside breezes, great music, banter and crowds to get us through the course (and some great food at the other side!).

 

Q: Can anyone guide run a marathon?

 

A: In theory, yes! But ideally, you’d want to know each other, be able to practise together in advance to build the trust and partnership you need to get through a marathon. I’d also suggest doing some larger races together in order to get used to running in crowded spaces. Also, while it may seem obvious, but your level of fitness needs to be somewhat in sync. A guide runner might be fitter/stronger than you (definitely true in my case!), but you both need to be able to cover the marathon distance, and agree how you’re comfortable doing that (running/walking, combination of both etc).

 

Q: what have been the best/worst parts of marathon training?

 

A: everyone says marathon training is tough, but nothing prepares you for how tough it is! Training takes over your life, you’re exhausted, sore, and if you’re not running, you’re working! I’d say that’s been the toughest part about it, having to run in wind, rain, snow, run when you have nothing in the tank, run when all you want to do is lay in bed with a chocolate cake! However the flipside is you discover strength and resolve you didn’t know you had. Seeing my strength grow and my parkrun times improve has been a tremendous boost and really helps me believe we’ll make it, along with the incredible support of all the parkrun family and all those who have donated to us, it’s a trust and a responsibility I take really seriously, and want to make them all proud.

 

Q: what’s something no one told you about marathon training that you think others should know?

 

A: Your female bits hurt! Amazingly so after a long run! (can’t comment on male bits for obvious reasons!), not much you can do about this, other than buy yourself buckets of Vaseline and bathe in it!

 

Q: What are you most looking forward to after the race?

 

I know it’s a cliché, but there is nothing like crossing the finish line! I know we’ll be tired, drained, cold, filthy and overwhelmed, but the joy of knowing we made it and the relief of being done will be so special. That is closely followed by the joy of the pizza we’ll hoover as soon as we’ve recovered!

 

Q: Do you think you’ll do another marathon?

 

That’s quite easy to answer: in short, no!! mind you, like any savvy media person, I say no with a caveat! While I can’t see myself doing another one, if @stevehellercornwall ever wants to run the Eden marathon as my guide, I’d be 200% up for it! I think running around Cornwall singing some of his Cornish bangers would be a perfect fit for my Cornish language journey and overall madness, and a great way to raise funds for a good cause, but that really is the only exception! Its just such hard work; and I’ll be more than happy to enjoy my local parkruns for the time being, with the odd bit of touristing and 10K events thrown in.

The next challenge: vision2run returns!

 

Well hello there, 

 Here we are again… I never quite thought I’d be here! (and for anyone not yet in the know, here is just weeks away from the start line of my first marathon)!

 

You might be wondering how that happened; I know I am!! Lets rewind; all the way back to the Great North Run! Along with team Rikabel and a group of amazing parkrun pals; we completed that challenge! We had an amazing, fun, emotional weekend that I can never forget, and an incredible journey getting there! It was tough though, the training, the injuries, the self-doubt, and I had no plans to do anything like it again; my parkruns and the odd 10K would do!

But just weeks later, on my 40th birthday, the amazing Nik and the parkrun family organised a beautiful surprise birthday party for me (my first surprise party as it goes!). Among the beautiful and deeply personal gifts they gave me was a Notch bracelet already marked up to reflect all my runs so far! As I wore it, loving the tactile nature of the notches on it, the fact there wasn’t a marathon on there began to eat away at me! Would I ever have one? Could I do it? Would I be brave enough to try?

Over the year that followed, my studies ramped up, and I had to focus more on work and less on the fun stuff, but I watched friends take on new challenges (Nik succeed at her very first Marathon in Manchester with an incredible time!), and the challenge continued to call to me!

Later that year, I did what anyone with Marathon ambitions does and stuck my name in the London ballot (I didn’t get in of course!). Soon after that, my cousin asked me if I’d consider doing the Brighton Marathon with him. He lives there and fancied a bit of a challenge himself! I agreed but he quickly did the sensible thing and decided it was a bit too much/not the right time etc. I could have done that, however, I mentioned it to the parkrun family, and was quickly met by willing volunteers from all sides! To my delight, among those volunteers was Peter Williams! Peter ran my first ever parkrun with me, and given his wealth of pro running experience and a multitude of marathons to his name, not to mention his extensive guide running experience, I felt completing a marathon with him would be a dream! His wife gave us the green light (partners of runners put up with al lot!), and the rest, as they say; is a work in progress!

 

Right now, we are 7 weeks away from the big day and I’m terrified! But I have a great guide beside me and the wider parkrun family supporting our every step! Team Rikabel remains at centre stage, with Isobel taking me to spin classes for cross training, and Nik updating the social media channels for us! So, over the next few weeks, we’ll keep you updated on our triumphs, PBs (there have been a few at parkrun lately!), blisters, chafing, cakes; the full marathon experience!

 

Finally, as with our GNR challenge, it remains very important to me to try to give back to the blind community I’m part of so for this challenge, I’m getting behind Blind Veterans UK, who do incredible work supporting service men and women rebuild their lives after sight loss, whether in active service or beyond it. These are difficult times for all of us, and so there is absolutely no pressure to donate, but if you can help, anything you can spare will make a massive difference to this amazing cause: do give what you can, and share the link as wide as you can too!

https://2024brightonmarathonweekend.enthuse.com/pf/ruth-forrest

 

Most of all, keep us in your thoughts, prayers, and surround us with good vibes, this is the toughest challenge I’ve ever taken on, but its definitely exciting; especially seeing how strength and endurance really start to build. I’ll share more about that over the next few weeks; but for now,  many thanks; and wish us luck!

Reflecting on the year that was 2022

My parkrun Birthday (yes, it IS a thing!)