Couch to Ultrarunner

Happy New Year all 💕

Well I’m never one to dwell but oh my god I’m happy to move out of 2020 and I’m very focused on making the most of 2021.

This last month I’ve spent more time injured, hospital appointments, having x-rays and test’s than I have been out running, that needs to change.

X-ray revealed I have a narrowing of my inner right knee. No long drives, quad strengthening exercises and no running, pfft.

Happy to move on from all the injury nonsense and focus on some more self care.

I’ve got some grand plans of running a couple of more Ultra’s this year, upping the distance to 100K.

Managed to squeeze a 10K in last night before it got dark, rounding off the year with 785miles covered since I started my Ultra journey in April

Happy New Year 💕..

This morning I so needed a run.

The weather was perfect this morning a nice 10 degrees, slightly cloudy and a gently breeze.

However this mornings run didn’t quite go to plan, as I set off I accidentally hit the treadmill function on my garmin instead of run, Doh!!

So as I’m plodding along thinking I’ll be covering around 13 miles by the time I got home but I actually covered 8.5ish miles according to Strava.

And we all know if it’s not on Strava it doesn’t count 🤣

Went down to see the ponies, no deers this morning, a couple of doggie cuddles, one dog was truly living his best life, bounding through the heather with his tongue hanging out, happy dog 🐶.

Tackled some more muddy hills today, which always results in hysterical laughing and lots of swearing as I slip n slide my way up or down the hills.

Didn’t pick the best route home as it went across the fields which were flooded, the type of flooded that sneaks up on you, just as you put your foot down the grass swallows your trainer and sprays muddy water across your other trainer and sock.

I think there’s something rather satisfying about running with wet shoes and socks, covered in mud with mud sprayed up to your knees, or is it just me?!

Roll on Black Friday sales as I have my eyes on a pair of mudclaws - no more slipping in the mud for me 🤞

Happy trail running 💕
Have a great week 👍

Quick late afternoon run to the village post office, spotted a few deers 🦌, caught the sun setting and made a new doggie friend, a very old golden retriever 🐶

I’ve not ran in a few days as after my last run my right elephant knee decided to come back with vengeance.

I wasn’t sure if yesterday’s bike ride would of annoyed “the knee”, but this morning it was fine.

I rather enjoyed being out on my bike yesterday, I used to cycle everywhere. So I have decide to see if I can find a local MTB Dualathon event for 2021.

But for now I’m just waiting for a date for an appointment with the local hospital for an
X-ray on “the knee”.

I’m 25 weeks into my 100K ultra training plan so there’s wiggle room in the first few base weeks for some easy run days.

I’m not sure what I’m hoping that my x-ray test results will reveal, maybe a small tear that just needs some time to heal and not the other end of the scale and that I need surgery (I don’t make a very good patient)!

Hope everyone has a good week 💕

Let’s talk injuries and self care.
I’m stubborn and never listen to my own advice. Day off, sit down, ice it and feet up is not in my vocabulary as I am self employed and have been for the last few years so if I wake up and my ankles gone, my knees swollen or I have blisters the size of dinner plates I crack on!!

Self care and mindfulness, these words often grace many instagram posts but do we truly ever listen to this advice?

I am getting better at Self Care, Epsom salt baths, physio treatment when something twinges and an early night when needed.

But today I took the first step in proper self care I called my GP and I’ve got a referral to the local Hospitals X-Ray department for my “elephant” knee.

This is 6 years of on-off swelling, no pain, clicking and popping, rather like a Hip-Hop Dance move, this started way before my running journey started.

I’m on every joint care and anti-inflammatory tablet you can take, I have a cupboard dedicated to sports supplements, recovery powders and “drugs”, if you shake me I do rattle!!

I could feel the swelling coming back on yesterday, spongy and thick but no pain.

I’m too young for arthritis, apparently.
It be a could be a tear, knee cap offset, lazy quads, dominant hamstrings, I won’t know till the test is done.

As I’m planning a 100K in May and taking my training serious I thought it was about time this underlying injury got looked at.

Fingers crossed the appointment comes through soon and it’s something simple that doesn’t require surgery.

But if the consultant says no running - you know where you’ll find me 🏃‍♀️🤣🏃‍♀️

Take care 💕

Run hills you must!

Soooo. Hills are my kryptonite and I’m now covering them twice a week in my 100K Ultra training plan.

Don’t get me wrong I’ll still be running hills on my trails during the week on my easier paced runs but for two dedicated session a week I’ll be finding the hills and running hill repeats.

This morning I covered 4 miles, sprints repeats till I got to the hills, working 60/60 and 30/60, then a gentle jog down to the bottom of the first hill followed by hill repeats up.

I picked 2 different gradients of hills, covering 5 sets of 15 to 20 seconds running up.

In my head I felt like my legs would of looked like the legs of the Road Runner from the Lonney Tunes cartoons, spinning around very quickly.

To the dog walkers coming past I must of most likely looked like a crazed lady attempting to run up a hill, then for some bizarre reason jog back down it and do it all again!!

Living in the New Forest I don’t have a great elevation range, but there are a couple of slightly steeper lung busting hills that I’m saving for Sunday’s longer run.

Have a great week 💕

If you don’t follow me over on Strava then you won’t know that yesterday I got lost on my run, no biggie just an extra 6 miles added on top of what should of been a 3 mile loop from the house!

It’s not the first time I’ve taken a new path and found myself a couple of miles down a trail and have no idea where it leads too, but isn’t that part of the trail running fun, exploring new paths and seeing amazing views.

Probably just what I need to start my day and my clear my head, the opportunity to focus on the run and getting home, getting lost must of worked as I had an amazingly productive day.

Happy Saturday.
Let me know what your plans are, I’m planning a shorter run later this afternoon.

Take care of yourself, you feel alone but we’re all in it together 💕
@ New-Forest-Nationalpark

Lock down day 1 run.
I hope everyone is doing ok and taking care of themselves.

Absolutely no filter need for today’s run. Just a short around the block run testing out my legs after my 35 mile Ultra on Sunday.

If you missed my post on my DNF 35M Ultra look for my muddy bum post on my IG feed.

For the past couple of days I’ve been wobbling and shuffling around the house like one of the those old fashion wooden top toys where you push down the top and it spins around and around, perhaps less of the spinning from me but definitely the side to side shuffle as my Quads and shins start coming back to life.

After covering 2600ft of elevation on Sunday I’m be a bit more gentle on myself and allowing myself the time to heal and repair, protein, stretch and foam roll.

This morning’s run confirmed that I had set out a day too early and my left Quad quickly kicked in and seized up.

I love this time of year the air is crisp and fresh with lots of golden leaves on the ground and the heather is all starting to turn brown.

I am very lucky to live somewhere so beautiful and if I’m lucky I can often spot deer.

The beautiful New Forest serves as a distraction whilst I push on with my run determined to try and cover a 5K loop back to the house, with frequent stops to grimace and dig my thumbs into my Quad and ITB.

I’ve got my sights set on some 100K Ultra’s in 2021.

They say if you can’t go fast you go further, I don’t feel like I’m going any quicker so further I shall go.

I enjoy the Ultrathon prep and training process, then all day out in the elements as you dig deep and keep pushing.

I will be using Winter to “toughen up” more muddy puddles and boggy fields with plenty of steep ass hill repeats thrown hill.

These training sessions will be mixed in with more gym sessions to work on leg and core strengthening.

I have a home gym but I’ve not been pushing myself and often favouring a morning scroll through social media instead of squats and pushups!

Have a great Friday 💕
@ New-Forest-Nationalpark

Mud 1 - Vikkie 0
I’ve been keeping a fairly low profile the last few days as I’ve been preparing for my 2nd Ultrathon and desperately hoping my knee would let me run.

On Sunday I attempted the Dorset Hillfort Ultrathon, 35 miles across the Dorset countryside. Unfortunately I DNF around 22ish miles.

I covered around 2600ft of elevation, rain, hail, fog, wind, mud, so much mud but it was a special kind of smelly mud that type of mud where I probably should of burnt my trainers post run as I’m not sure the smell will ever wash off.

They say never anything new on race day, Sunday I completely ignored this sage old advice and rolled up-to the starting line with not 1 but 3 new things for race day!!

Poles, Vest & Socks

If you’ve never tried poles and if your worried about the knees I would highly recommend getting Poles.

I ordered the Black Carbon Z Poles off amazon and they arrived on Saturday, the day before race day and I had a quick “wizz” (obviously a technical term for pole use) around the house, jumping over dogs beds and then up and down the stairs.

Hydration vest, I own two vests already but I like pockets, more storage, I carry way to much stuff when I run, if you ever see me on a race, I am the one with everything strapped to them like a mountain climbing donkey! So a new Vest off Amazon was ordered. Happy to report that the extra pockets certainly helped and no issues.

Socks, popped over to my local Decathlon and brought a pair of their thinnest compression socks, I knew the weather on Sunday was going to be shocking so I wanted extra socks as back up, a big risk running an Ultra, even just the first leg in new socks! Happy to report absolutely no blisters!

So why the DNF?
Hills, mud, lack of hill training, tackling a hilly Ultra with 6 months run experience under my belt, no GPS watch, too slow, bad weather, losing my trainers in the mud twice - I couldn’t walk properly in some sections, there are a few reasons I DNF.

I need to give a shout out to the Sweeper runner, Ben, who become my navigator, without him I wouldn’t of been able to get past CP1.

This is my pre-race, pre-pain cave face, soggy feet, legs covered in mud, lungs burning, drenched to the bone from the rain face.

I have just received my Bib for my next 50K Ultra. I’m running the Dorset Hillfort Ultra on Sunday.

For the last two weeks I’ve flipped like Jekyll and Hyde fighting the mental battle of “I’m clearly going to win” vs “omg what the hell am I doing”.

I was also very excited to also receive an email containing the route map and course notes....which happen to mention that runners should “cross the stream as the bridge is dangerous and shouldn’t be used” soooo I really can’t wait for that!!

I don’t mind running in the rain, I don’t mind getting wet feet if there’s no option, but when you know you’ll be crossing a stream in advance of your race you can prep, extra pair of socks and shoes in a checkpoint drop bag or have my race crew meet me at the next checkpoint with a change of shoes.

If you’ve never had a set of course route notes for a countryside race they read something like this: pass the crow in the farmers corn fields, just after you take a right through the holly bush, past the mushrooms, before taking a left at the lonely oak tree at the top of the south facing hill next to the black sheep with the wonky eye.

The course will be marked out by the event organisers and I do have the option to print off the race map. I also have a GPS file so no chance of getting lost.

My taper is in full swing as I’m in active rest mode with lots of stretching. My checkpoint bag and fuel prep begins this week and I’ll be having crew meet me at a couple of the check points which will be nice so I can change out of wet gear (it’s also due to rain).

The route looks amazing and I will be taking my Go-pro to try and capture the course.

To help you picture me running the the route on Sunday: stand on top of an ancient fort hill, feet and socks covered in mud, wind blowing sideways, roll down said muddy hill, now stand in a stream, slip up all of the muddy hills, drop your phone, get lost, all whilst running in the rain and swearing at sheep.

So this week I became “that runner”
I don’t actually ever refer to myself as a runner, I have in my very short time of running (6 months) covered two marathons and run a 50K Ultrathon but I still don’t feel like calling myself a runner.

But something changed this week, it actually happened and I become a runner, actually “that runner”.

Backstory - Every day I normally have to go to the local village post office to drop off orders from my online party website.

As I hadn’t done my early morning run I decided to run to do an afternoon run and go to the village post office, I managed to packed my website orders into my hydration vest and I also needed to pick up milk and bacon one of life’s essentials!

The route to the village post office is a nice 5K running down private back roads, running past private estates, farms, fields with horses and a very nice house with a weir. Running down roads where every other house is an oh that’s nice or wow look at that view.

Arriving at the post office I got a rather bizarre look from my lovely post office lady as I was dressed in my high viz running jacket, with a buff pulled up over my face, which isn’t a very good idea when you go straight in from running, heavy breathing with a rather sweaty top lip and rosey cheeks.

I handed over my parcels, paid for my milk and bacon (nommy) stuffed them into my hydration vest and started my return run home.

I consider myself a kitchen sink runner, this is where I go on runs over prepared, with at least some water in my hydration vest bladder, a soft flask with a drink and maybe some gels or fuel depending on the distance I’m running, but this is the first time I’ve ever ran with milk and bacon 🤣

Why do I know feel like I can call myself a runner? maybe because only a runner would understand having not done their daily run, needing to do an errand and combining the two, any completely sane person would have just driven to the post office!

Behind the scenes from my Virtual London Marathon

Running the Virtual London Marathon was an unplanned event for me, I knew that the London Marathon had been postponed due to Covid and I stumbled across the Virtual Marathon being advertised on Social Media.

The Virtual London Marathon took place on the weekend before my first 50K Ultrathon. So any ideas of taking a couple of weeks for tapering ahead of my Ultrathon went right out the window.

As most of us will remember the UK had been hit by a storm and the weather was horrible over the weekend of the Virtual Marathon which lead to me having more outfit changes than Beyoncé at the Grammies.

I knew there was a reason why I need to own multiple pairs of trainers 🤪

I eventually decided on running 3 loops from my house, coming back each time to change shoes, socks and refuel.

But the day started with me following a local running club around a re-planned route, there were lots of as to my “sheer delight” when we ran though a freezing cold river.

After crossing through the burst river I decided that running another 20+ miles with soggy soaks wasn’t my idea of fun so I headed home where I would start my loops.

Would I do it again? Yes in a heart beat, I certainly won’t forget that day.

Jurassic Coast Trail Paths
I had such an amazing day, we started in Swanage, got sand in our shoes along the beach, had fish and chips in the sunshine then we ended up exploring the coastal path towards

Covered an easy 5 miles on a dog walk with the family yesterday (Covid safe).

Such a beautiful route and amazing views, I’m planning on going back to explore but next time I’ll be running the coastal paths and I’ll take out the Go-Pro.
@ Swanage

Like a teenage girl trying to impress a boy I’ve spent ages find the correct filter for this selfie 🤣

It’s an early morning run, not really, it’s gone 9am, my so called early morning runs are slowly getting later and later now that the mornings are chilly and it’s pitch black where I live, we don’t have much light pollution and there are no street lights being in the middle of the New forest and I don’t fancy bumping into cows in the pitch black 🐮 or stepping in something smelly.

I completely admire runners who are out the door at 5am when it’s winter and chilly, I’m not sure that will be me.

However this will be my first winter running, so let’s see, maybe cold frosty mornings when the grass crunches under your feet could be the perfect way to start the day 🥶

Some days I don’t have a run plan, no distance or set time, just the primal desire to move, to run.

I do have another Ultrathon in 2 weeks but there’s not much more training I can do without risking pi***ng off any existing injuries, they all seem to join in, my right knee however has been behaving, he’s given way to my left hip and a strange rib injury I seem to have picked up, it hurts to touch, as I type this sentence all I can hear are mums around the world saying “stop touching it then”!!

My first question of the day, as I pull back the covers and as my feet hit the floor and I crawl out from a snuggly warm bed in a slough like fashion, is - how are my legs feeling, will they cope with the gravel and mud covered hill that I want to speed down like a kid on a bike with my feet off the pedals, head dipped to gain max speed, whilst yelling weeeeeee,

Is today the day I need to spend a little bit longer pushing myself to clear my head, my lungs, legs and mind are in a constant toddler style strop with other - often sending the other to the naughty step or they gang up on each other and my tired legs and lungs win and I stop, taking a moment to enjoy the scenery, take some photos, breathe and off we go again.

Have a wonderful Saturday 💕💕
Let me know your running plans, do you have any races coming up??

Today I celebrate 6 months of running.

I started the couch 2 5K programme on 13th April, after giving up drinking in March, since finishing the programme I’ve gone on to run two trail marathons including the Virtual London Marathon and most recently a 50K Ultra.

It doesn’t get any easier you just get stronger, I’m certainly not getting any faster 😂


@ New Milton, Hampshire, United Kingdom

Mooning! Had a beautiful morning run, testing out my legs after Saturday’s 50K Ultrathon.

Quads & ITB are still not happy so lots of stretching and foam rolling required today.

It was just a quick 5K which feels super short after having run 31ish miles on Saturday.

Autumn has definitely hit the New Forest and I’m very lucky to live in such a beautiful place. It’s a fresh 8 degrees and there’s still a morning dew on the grass and heather.

Our neighbours are a mixture of New Forest ponies and Cattle. This is “Mrs Mummy Cow” she’s often roaming outside my driveway or in the woods opposite.

🍁🍂

Enjoying an afternoon dog walk and much needed leg stretch. 🍂 🍁 🐕

50K Ultrathon done.

Yesterday I ran my first ever 50K Ultrathon, Run to the Sea with Ultra Violet.

Running from Ringwood, via the castlemain trailway, to Holes Bay, Baiter Park then along the beach front to Hengistbury Head.

So many lessons learnt and some tweaks needed as my approach is to pack everything for checkpoints just incase. This lead to me looking like a running fridge in the second half carrying food, fuel and drinks bottles.

Had an amazing day and meet some amazing runners. Excellent event and very well organised with good course signage, friendly Marshall’s and good checkpoints stocked with snacks and drinks.

It was so nice that beach-goers and dog walkers were cheering runners on as we went past on the promenade.

Today is a rest day before I start back on my mileage and hill training for my next upcoming Ultra on 1st November with for the Dorset Hill Fort Ultra.

First ever official Race - New Forest Half Marathon
Took pace on Sunday 20th September at St Giles House, Wimborne.