Runs Writes Code

The Loch Ness Marathon is a medium-sized event following the roads to the south of the Loch into Inverness. Around 4,000 runners did the marathon this year, with a further 5,000 in the shorter events. The event village has a festival atmosphere complete with a mini 'expo'. It is picturesque and undulating. A great course to run steadily: when I ran it in 2008 in 4hrs 9 I loved it. This year, racing as part of Fife AC's marathon team I was to have a very different experience! Having had a three-week cold I had tapered too deeply. This might not be a problem for most people but it's not great for a runner with mastocytosis! On the morning of the race my skin flared red in the shower and I realised I had let too many mast cells build up. People with mastocytosis are advised to avoid exercise, especially intense exercise. However I have discovered (through sheer bloody mindedness) that regular training - in my case - reduced the excessive number of mast cells by d...

The Great North Run has been in existence as long as the London Marathon. With 56,000 runners, the field outnumbers the marathon. Both though are truly iconic races in British distance running. This was to be my first GNR. My excitement was dulled slightly by the yellow weather warning decorating the Met Office page for Newcastle. Strong winds and heavy rain don't make for the most ideal running conditions. My mast cells don't react well to running in the cold either... The Saturday before though was beautiful and the Just Text Giving Fittest Fundraisers headed over to the pasta party where we met Spice Girl, Mel C. She looked super fit and was clearly going to run well. She was also really chatty and friendly. In fact, I've learnt over this weekend that celebrity runners generally are very nice. There really aren't that many unfriendly runners, celebrity or not. On race day morning Dan and I joined the stream of runners heading for the start on the dual carri...

Ceres 8 is an eight-mile race with 545 feet of elevation. Most of the elevation comes in the first two miles... I hadn't run this before so asked Ron how to race it. He told me it was a tough one because you couldn't afford to overcook the first part but also couldn't afford to get left behind on the first climb. I think the bit about not getting left behind was me-specific. I'm not good at hills, at least not the going up part.  The weather was pretty much perfect for an evening race: 18℃, a light westerly wind and 64% humidity. Yes, my numbers obsession is getting worse. We had run 2 hrs 45 minutes on the Sunday and my Monday fartlek had been pretty sluggish (7.35 miles in 60 minutes) so I made sure to get in at least 1500 calories during the day. My morning 20 minutes was incredibly slow... The race started on the village green before heading out the back of Ceres and onto the long, long drag up to the two-mile point. Nicola Duncan disappeared ahead ve...

The Fife AC midweek series includes five races with four to count. St Andrews 5K: a flat 5K on grass Strathkiness-Blebocraigs: an undulating, 4.5-mile trail race Hill of Tarvit: an undulating 5.5-mile mixed terrain race with a climb to the top of the Hill of Tarvit in the middle Newburgh: an undulating, 4.23-mile race overlooking the Tay. Balmullo Trail Race: a race over tracks to the top of Lucklaw Hill and back I wasn't yet well enough for the St Andrews 5K so needed to run the rest. Through the series I have been able to compare my times with 2011 (prior to 18 months of being too unwell to race). At Strathkiness I was 44 seconds slower, at the Hill of Tarvit I was 11 seconds faster, at Newburgh I was 69 seconds ahead of my 2011 self. So I was really keen to see what I could do at Balmullo. Balmullo was also the chance to secure first place in the series overall. I had to beat my nearest rival and finish in the top four to win. After 18 months off racing I had a heavy e...

The last two (numbers two and three) of the Just Text Giving Fittest Fundraiser races could not have been more different. I took the train to Gateshead the day before and met up with Grant (JustTextGiving Fittest Fundraiser), his wife Helen and their friends Dave and Kate. I had to pick up my number on the day, which dawned cold and rainy. My warm up was perhaps a bit lacklustre and I got into the start pen a bit early. When we finally got going I set off too fast, not helped by the early descents. Hindsight is not a wonderful thing. Maybe these factors contributed to the mast cell degranulation, maybe they didn't. Anyway, my mast cells began degranulating and the familiar sense of dread overwhelmed me. I could feel my blood pressure dropping, my hands began to swell as the fluid began leaking from my blood. I was picked up by a man just before halfway - a friend for twenty minutes or so. He tried to encourage me to keep pace but I was beginning to get a bit disorientated. Th...

I won't say the last few months have been easy... However I have been lucky to have people around me  who have thrown inspiration my way just by getting on and doing what they do. People who have 'excuses' not to exercise but who have taken responsibility for their own health and done it anyway. This is the first of a series of posts about those people. If you're looking for excuses not to exercise, look away now! If you're looking for inspiration I present you with my secret stash :) Becka in her own words: When you find yourself in a situation that impedes your health, be it a serious disease or a long-term medical condition, it is easy to succumb to the opinions of the general public. “Poor you”, “you should not do this”, "you cannot do that”, “Don’t travel there”, "Don’t eat that”. However, it is important to learn to listen to your own body (in combination with a sound, knowledgeable physician). I went through a double ...

5th June 2012: Diagnosed with mastocytosis and told that I would never run again. 5th June 2013: Race number four since diagnosis.  Photo by Peter M Bracegirdle Before the Hill of Tarvit I hadn't quite had the courage to push myself into the red zone before the final 800m. Pushing myself means mast cell degranulation. Mast cell degranulation means narrowing of the airways, itching (skin & eyes), leaky cells (swelling and lowered blood pressure) and stomach cramps. If there was a night to test myself it had to be a year to the day since the 'specialist' (not my current consultant) informed me that running would be dangerous and make my condition worse. I was extremely careful in the lead up, restricting all high histamine foods and keeping my fluid intake high. Two hours before the race I stopped eating (small snacks of slow release carbs all day!) and took only sips of water. This was a big change from previous races where I had given myself a sugar boost ...