Frostbite 30

Another event organised by Rob Jarman and the team at "Never Rest Events" and one that I was really looking forward to. Debbie and I had agreed to run this one together as we hadn't done a long one together for ages. I have kind of got used to running long ones myself and if I am honest I seem to prefer it now as I can run at my pace and monitor things myself without having to think of anything other than myself. It was a beautiful morning and certainly "Frosty!" It was also very cold! Rob had advised felly type shoes so the Wave Harriers were called upon. After some gorgeous cakes (certainly one of the highlights of Rob's Events) we were ready to go! There was a good entry and lots of people had turned out to see what this event was all about. We set off near the front (as always) although I soon realised I was leaving Deb quite a way behind, I always run fast at the start and I was finding it hard to slow down. I was also getting a little frustrated that I couldn't get a good lead which is how I like to run. I kept slowing my pace down but wasn't feeling happy at having to do so. The ground was very frosty and there was a lot of ice about. After about 3 miles I had a bad fall on a patch of Black ice running downhill, my right foot slipped from under me and I thumped down very hard onto my right hip. I saw a few stars and jumped up quickly, I felt quite dizzy and every time my right foot hit the floor I could feel pain in my leg. Oh well! It slowed me down anyway so Debs could catch me up! The route so far was great, beautiful bridleway alongside the reservoir and then the gradual climb started, and kt seemed to go on and on and on! I was rather jealous to see Rob on his motorbike zooming away in front of us up one of the hills! The views over the top of the moor were stunning and it was a gorgeous day, if a little cold on the hands. My nose was running constantly too! We caught up at this point with Tim Jarman and exchanged chat with him as we ran in to the half way point. Tim was running as a pair with Vikki Butler (Team Butjar!) and they were both looking good! As we ran into the half way point cheered on by Rach and the other lovely marshals we saw Vikki briefly as she shot off up the hill into the distance! (We didn't see her again until the end!) Debs and I were doing our usual constant chatting, funny how we never run out of things to say! I was starting to have issues with my stomach and this seemed to get progressively worse. Unusually for me I had to keep walking as my stomach pains were so bad. We walked a little bit along the road by the reservoir and it seemed to improve then started moving into my chest. As we started the icy descent I was really struggling and felt really wheezy and was beginning to feel quite concerned about my breathing. I have never felt tight in the chest when I am running apart from when I had Bronchitis a couple of years ago and I wasn't happy at all. Debs was a star and stuck with me, she walked when I needed to walk and was really kind telling me we had run 21 anyway and if we needed the walk the last few well so what! I did actually end up walking for about two miles then said to Deb that she should go on without me as I was actually thinking about retiring. The route was fantastic though and I was really enjoying being outside even if I had to walk. We thought that we had about 4 miles to go and I told Debs she had to run on incase there was another female coming. Se didn't want to leave me and said she was worried I might have a "Funny turn" i reminded her that winning was far more important! Debs set off and I walked. I did a mixture of walking fast and jogging and kept looking over my shoulder to see if another female might be coming! I knew that Deb would jog back for me at the end and of course she did! She met me with about half a mile to go and jogged back in with me, I was feeling a bit better and somewhat bemused as to why I had felt so rubbish! Debs managed First lady and I was Second. I must mention the cakes at the finish! Wow! The whole organisation of the event had been top class, hot drinks at checkpoints, well marked beautiful route, amazing cakes and a lovely bunch of people to run with and to spend time with, not to mention great "Snowman" medals and a gorgeous Christmas cake as a prize too! (Thanks to Rob's mum!) I will not mention what happened to my toe on the evening after the event but it required "microsurgery" on the sunday evening and was very painful!