The last few months have been quite an adventure -I would like to think that I have learnt to drink less gin, not live like a student and stay out of trouble but alas not and all my claims of going on the wagon from mid February were as everyone expected a complete joke! Wine and cheese is good for you and that's that! This time tomorrow we will be very drunk, relieving the race and what brought us here and i am sure we will be quite gutted that its over.....yeah right!!
As we sat in the hotel bar tonight pondering on our reasons for running I got a call from Matt to tell me that my total was now up to £4950, significantly more than I ever thought I would raise. Looking at the recent entries I find one from Ann's family and also from Trina, both of whom were a major factor in me deciding to run for Breakthrough Breast Cancer and therefore a reminder of what its all about. I do hope that Ann is up there having a bloody good chuckle tomorrow morning as i stagger through the streets of London although I hope her time keeping doesnt rub off as i want to finish before Wednesday! I will do Ann and Miss Trina proud in the bar tomorrow night....cheers ladies :)
Thanks to everyone who has sponsored and supported me. To Jamie and Keith the best fundraisers in the world and of course to my running/fashion buddies who have got me to the start line. To them I promise that I will not call the boredom card too early!!! Sweep stake on the first bowel movement anyone???
Mase xx
Saturday, 12 April 2008
Wednesday, 9 April 2008
Spring Fashions in London!
Well, in the final run up to the big day, I thought I'd take this opportunity to show you all what the trendsetters are stepping out in this Spring!
April is a time when all designers are thinking about how to make the most of the gradually improving weather, in terms of their latest leisure wear lines.....
So lets start with Lisa and Siani, running for Breakthrough Breast Cancer
Awareness. Based upon the Stade Francais RFC kit, we have bright pink vests, modelled beautifully by the ladies here. The colour is designed not only to be highly visible, but also to tone perfectly with sweaty red faces circa the 18 mile mark. Its bright, its bold, and it shouts "look at me! I'm a runner, AND I'm glamorous!"
Again, please note the extremely sultry catalogue pose from our model here, complete with highly suspicious looking jar of vaseline in one hand......
April is a time when all designers are thinking about how to make the most of the gradually improving weather, in terms of their latest leisure wear lines.....
Or, in other words, since lots of you have expressed an interest in making your way into the Big Smoke to support the Crazy Ladies on their Sunday Fun Run, we decided it would be a good idea to get the girls to show off their respective running gear, so that everyone has a chance of spotting them in the crowds!
So lets start with Lisa and Siani, running for Breakthrough Breast Cancer
Awareness. Based upon the Stade Francais RFC kit, we have bright pink vests, modelled beautifully by the ladies here. The colour is designed not only to be highly visible, but also to tone perfectly with sweaty red faces circa the 18 mile mark. Its bright, its bold, and it shouts "look at me! I'm a runner, AND I'm glamorous!"Top marks to both ladies for their posing skills. A future series of Britains Next Top Model surely beckons both of them....
So, next up, what is the chic Scot around town wearing for this years Marathon? Well somehow, Sue has managed to get a very Scottish white and blue into her uniform for the Herts Community Foundation. The clean crisp white of the vest is surely the best way to show off a Celtic tan, with the light blue piping just enough to add a certain je ne sais quoi to the whole ensemble.
Again, please note the extremely sultry catalogue pose from our model here, complete with highly suspicious looking jar of vaseline in one hand......
Last but by no means least, lets see how the hip young things running for the National Autistic Society are dressing this year. Mint Green seems to be the colour in vogue for the NAS, clearly designed to stand out from the crowd, but also to present an exceptionally cool image. I'm sure Liz will be feeling cool calm and collected throughout the race with the aid of this gear.
Once again, our amateur model has risen to the occasion with her posing skills, with a beautiful smile, and a helpful, double handed reminder of what her name is!
So, ladies and gents, with this bit of high fashion editorial, hopefully everyone who is brave enough to come in to London and cheer our ladies on will know what to look for! I will try and send out some more e-mail confirmations of where to go on the big day, and it would be fab to see some of you down there.
On a personal note, can I just say how much I am enjoying these last couple of weeks of training, mainly because pasta and pizza are favourites of mine, and they currently form about 75% of mine and Liz's diets! Awesome. I may need to start hitting the road myself soon though.....
Take care one and all.
JW
The Ladies Get Emotional!
This afternoon Sue, Lisa and myself went to ExCel in Docklands to pick up our race numbers and timing chips.
All was calm until I entered the building when I began to shake uncontrollably (Sue was obviously feeling it too as she headed straight for the loo). I have never been so nervous in all my life, in one single moment the saying "we are running the marathon" turned from a dream into a reality.
I went up to my registration area and was greeted by a couple of really cheery people who gave me some positive words of encouragement and told me that the hard work was done and now all I had to do was enjoy it (neither had ever run the marathon). I was a little disappointed not to have be registering with the elite runners, but I have been led to believe that the numbers start at 38000 so my 38235 must mean I am special!!!
Once registered we were guided towards a wall covered in messages, a lady approached with pen and paper and asked us to write down our reasons for running the marathon. Without thinking I wrote "I got drunk at my own wedding and agreed to run the marathon" - quite true although there is also the issue of raising lots of money for The National Autistic Society - a charity close to my heart. Lisa and Sue took more time over their messages and as soon as I read them I was in tears - yes, the emotions had started to take hold.
I felt compelled to read a few more message on the wall but soon found it all too emotional. So many people running for so many worthy charities, all with their own stories and motivations. I realised then how proud I was to be part of this wonderful event and very privileged to be sharing the experience with some good friends (Yes, I was in floods of tears - both then and now)!
I looked at Sue, my crying buddy and sure enough she hadn't let me down - she too was in tears. Lisa helped us through this moment by suggesting that we did some retail therapy - so off we trotted to buy the customary T-Shirt and some "gel" packs.
This whole journey has been a very emotional experience for me and it is now only 4 bedtimes until the day is upon us. Lets hope I can hold it together long enough to get across the finish line without losing to much vital water though tears!!
Hope to see lots of you on the day, either along the marathon route or joining us for a celebratory beer later at The Beehive. Thanks again to all of you for support up until now.
Liz x
All was calm until I entered the building when I began to shake uncontrollably (Sue was obviously feeling it too as she headed straight for the loo). I have never been so nervous in all my life, in one single moment the saying "we are running the marathon" turned from a dream into a reality.
I went up to my registration area and was greeted by a couple of really cheery people who gave me some positive words of encouragement and told me that the hard work was done and now all I had to do was enjoy it (neither had ever run the marathon). I was a little disappointed not to have be registering with the elite runners, but I have been led to believe that the numbers start at 38000 so my 38235 must mean I am special!!!
Once registered we were guided towards a wall covered in messages, a lady approached with pen and paper and asked us to write down our reasons for running the marathon. Without thinking I wrote "I got drunk at my own wedding and agreed to run the marathon" - quite true although there is also the issue of raising lots of money for The National Autistic Society - a charity close to my heart. Lisa and Sue took more time over their messages and as soon as I read them I was in tears - yes, the emotions had started to take hold.
I felt compelled to read a few more message on the wall but soon found it all too emotional. So many people running for so many worthy charities, all with their own stories and motivations. I realised then how proud I was to be part of this wonderful event and very privileged to be sharing the experience with some good friends (Yes, I was in floods of tears - both then and now)!
I looked at Sue, my crying buddy and sure enough she hadn't let me down - she too was in tears. Lisa helped us through this moment by suggesting that we did some retail therapy - so off we trotted to buy the customary T-Shirt and some "gel" packs.
This whole journey has been a very emotional experience for me and it is now only 4 bedtimes until the day is upon us. Lets hope I can hold it together long enough to get across the finish line without losing to much vital water though tears!!
Hope to see lots of you on the day, either along the marathon route or joining us for a celebratory beer later at The Beehive. Thanks again to all of you for support up until now.
Liz x
Sunday, 6 April 2008
7 More Sleeps to go
Well that is assuming we manage to sleep for the next 7 nights !!!
Who would have thought it eh - one week to go and we will actually be running the London Marathon - that sunny day, wine and a general conversation when the plan was orignially hatched now seem such a long time ago. The first route that we trained on - twice round a 1.5 mile circuit from the gym to where we are now, hopefully ready to tackle the 26.2miles that London will present us with next sunday. I don't think I actually believed we would get this far and I am now so excited about next week but also very nervous as well.
We will try and keep you up to speed, no pun intended, on how things go this week in the run up or run down !
Obviously we are now at the "tapering" stage, where we should be cutting down on our milage and the speed we run at. Unfortunately on our last long run yesterday, planned for circa 5 / 6 miles, I managed to take Liz, Lisa and myself on a really lovely scenic run through beautiful Hertfordshire countryside. It was a long time, circa 6 years, since I had done this route and underestimated quite how long it was - so returned to chez Lewis 1 hour 45 minutes after we left -oops , that was not the plan. The three of us were all feeling quite lethargic yesterday with heavy legs so think rest is now needed. Lisa has had her hip "put back in" this week, so she was really feeling the pain from that - not helped by the rather chilly nip in the air on the day we also decided to try out our running vests with no other long sleeved tops underneath them - glad we tried it yesterday and think they may be going back on for next week. I also dispensed with my trusty woolly tights that I run in under my shorts - not comfortable at all so they will be back in place for next week along with my just about holding together cashmere socks - no blisters for me to date so far with that combo so plan to stick with what has worked so far. No one will ever mistake me for a serious, proper runner as no aerodynamic, go faster leggings for me !
Back to the important stuff, the remaining training plan for this week is two x 3 mile runs on tuesday and thursday and that is it.
Focus should now be on rest and balanced nutrition - haven't got the food part off to a flying start this week though. 18 of us gathered at the Lewis household this morning for brekkie of rolls on sausage before we all piled over to Watford for the Saracens vs Ospreys game - if anyone has ever grilled square sausage and has seen the amount of fat that comes off of them then you know this is not the healthiest breakfast possible - Glasgow is not coronary heart disease city of Europe for no reason you know. It does make a great breakfast sandwich though!
Many thanks to Liz for sorting out all of the tickets for this game and to Shirty for borrowing the Tabard minibus to transport everyone over - also to Jamie for supplying the whisky / whisky mac for the hipflasks and to Keith for co-ordinating today and keeping everyone topped up with tea / coffee over breakfast. This "event" was done as a bit of a fundraiser for our charities but I think everyone will agree that it was a great morning /afternoon. Ok the Welsh supporters may not have been too happy with the final result but it was a good game and well done to Saracens for their 1st semi final place in the Heinekin cup and their first sellout game. Also well done to both teams for turning out some fine looking lads and for putting an Argintina rugby team beside us - happy days all round !!
The boys had a great journey back over to St Albans and went off for a sunday roast and to watch the second quarter final - Lisa, Liz, Nicky and I had decided to go by car, rather than in the minibus and took at least 40 minutes to get out of the car park watching some fantastic examples of carpark rage going on during this time. Hint for the future, if Lisa Mason gives you THAT stare, don't even think about trying to pull out in front of her cos it is sooo not happening....
We have had some piccies taken of us in our running vests and these will be posting up on the blog over the coming week so you will know what to look out for if you are going to be down in London next Sunday.
As I said at the start of today's post, who would have thought it???
Well, here we are, we have all achieved the fundraising targets for our charities and all we need to do now is get out there and run next sunday..........
At the risk of getting caught up in another one of my oscar speeches, I would just like to say that I genuinely do not believe that we would have got to where we are in our training preparations without the incredible support we have had.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR EVERYTHING YOU HAVE DONE TO GET US TO WHERE WE ARE NOW AND FOR YOUR ON-GOING SUPPORT THAT WILL HELP TAKE US ROUND THE COURSE NEXT SUNDAY.
Lots of Love, the Crazy Ladeez xx
Who would have thought it eh - one week to go and we will actually be running the London Marathon - that sunny day, wine and a general conversation when the plan was orignially hatched now seem such a long time ago. The first route that we trained on - twice round a 1.5 mile circuit from the gym to where we are now, hopefully ready to tackle the 26.2miles that London will present us with next sunday. I don't think I actually believed we would get this far and I am now so excited about next week but also very nervous as well.
We will try and keep you up to speed, no pun intended, on how things go this week in the run up or run down !
Obviously we are now at the "tapering" stage, where we should be cutting down on our milage and the speed we run at. Unfortunately on our last long run yesterday, planned for circa 5 / 6 miles, I managed to take Liz, Lisa and myself on a really lovely scenic run through beautiful Hertfordshire countryside. It was a long time, circa 6 years, since I had done this route and underestimated quite how long it was - so returned to chez Lewis 1 hour 45 minutes after we left -oops , that was not the plan. The three of us were all feeling quite lethargic yesterday with heavy legs so think rest is now needed. Lisa has had her hip "put back in" this week, so she was really feeling the pain from that - not helped by the rather chilly nip in the air on the day we also decided to try out our running vests with no other long sleeved tops underneath them - glad we tried it yesterday and think they may be going back on for next week. I also dispensed with my trusty woolly tights that I run in under my shorts - not comfortable at all so they will be back in place for next week along with my just about holding together cashmere socks - no blisters for me to date so far with that combo so plan to stick with what has worked so far. No one will ever mistake me for a serious, proper runner as no aerodynamic, go faster leggings for me !
Back to the important stuff, the remaining training plan for this week is two x 3 mile runs on tuesday and thursday and that is it.
Focus should now be on rest and balanced nutrition - haven't got the food part off to a flying start this week though. 18 of us gathered at the Lewis household this morning for brekkie of rolls on sausage before we all piled over to Watford for the Saracens vs Ospreys game - if anyone has ever grilled square sausage and has seen the amount of fat that comes off of them then you know this is not the healthiest breakfast possible - Glasgow is not coronary heart disease city of Europe for no reason you know. It does make a great breakfast sandwich though!
Many thanks to Liz for sorting out all of the tickets for this game and to Shirty for borrowing the Tabard minibus to transport everyone over - also to Jamie for supplying the whisky / whisky mac for the hipflasks and to Keith for co-ordinating today and keeping everyone topped up with tea / coffee over breakfast. This "event" was done as a bit of a fundraiser for our charities but I think everyone will agree that it was a great morning /afternoon. Ok the Welsh supporters may not have been too happy with the final result but it was a good game and well done to Saracens for their 1st semi final place in the Heinekin cup and their first sellout game. Also well done to both teams for turning out some fine looking lads and for putting an Argintina rugby team beside us - happy days all round !!
The boys had a great journey back over to St Albans and went off for a sunday roast and to watch the second quarter final - Lisa, Liz, Nicky and I had decided to go by car, rather than in the minibus and took at least 40 minutes to get out of the car park watching some fantastic examples of carpark rage going on during this time. Hint for the future, if Lisa Mason gives you THAT stare, don't even think about trying to pull out in front of her cos it is sooo not happening....
We have had some piccies taken of us in our running vests and these will be posting up on the blog over the coming week so you will know what to look out for if you are going to be down in London next Sunday.
As I said at the start of today's post, who would have thought it???
Well, here we are, we have all achieved the fundraising targets for our charities and all we need to do now is get out there and run next sunday..........
At the risk of getting caught up in another one of my oscar speeches, I would just like to say that I genuinely do not believe that we would have got to where we are in our training preparations without the incredible support we have had.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR EVERYTHING YOU HAVE DONE TO GET US TO WHERE WE ARE NOW AND FOR YOUR ON-GOING SUPPORT THAT WILL HELP TAKE US ROUND THE COURSE NEXT SUNDAY.
Lots of Love, the Crazy Ladeez xx
Friday, 28 March 2008
20 Miles - Easy now....
First of all, I should apologise for not having updated for a while - its been a busy couple of weeks....
However, I would now like everyone to know how close the ladies now are to achieving Marathon perfection! Sunday 16th March saw 3 of our 4 plucky girls (Sian is still recovering from injury at this point) attempt the biggest challenge of their training regime so far - a full 20 mile run organised by the Gade Valley Harriers in Hemel Hempstead.......
Its the same course as the 17 mile run they did a few weeks back - only a bit longer, obviously - and all the runners needed to do was turn up, pay a fiver, and line up with the other runners. They even provide you with tea and cake at the end of the run - as so glamourously demonstrated by Lisa in this picture!
I have to say, the weather on the day was absolutely atrocious, and probably added another 4 or 5 miles to the course....the poor runners had to try and dodge huge puddles all the way along the towpath part of the course, with the wind adding to the very real danger of falling into the canal!
They had to wade through waist deep mud across the fields (NB may be an exaggeration), and all in the face of driving rain.....
Still, they ploughed on like the brave soldiers they are, and all came home together somewhere around the 3 hours 40 minute mark. Fine work indeed. I should probably put out a special word for the supporters as well - particularly Liz's mum and dad, who with perfect timing, managed to 
pop up at three different points around the course.
pop up at three different points around the course.Myself and Keith just about made it to the finish to cheer the girls home in a blanket sprint finish (sort of). Sorry for pointing this out, but I actually only just made it, having stepped off a plane from Jamaica earlier that morning! (I know, I'm sorry). Actually, the biting wind was a good thing for me, as it whistled around my trousers and helped to sooth my atrociously sunburnt legs......
I will not confirm or deny the rumours that the only reason the girls are smiling in this picture is that there was half a bottle of rum spread between their cups of tea. Still there is certainly some confidence showing in their faces....
The girls were so happy with their run, they then proceeded straight to the Spotted Bull for a Sunday Roast (very good), and at least 6 bottles of red! Obviously much refuelling was required - a lot of calories had been burnt.
Not long now till the big one, and hopefully all four of our girls will be smiling at the end of it......
See you all soon.
Jamie
Monday, 10 March 2008
Charity Pub Quiz! Come and join us.....
Ladies and gents, just a very quick entry today to say a quick good luck to the girls this weekend as they go for their biggest challenge yet - which is a 20 Mile training run around Hemel.
But also, it is an opportunity to tell everyone to come and see us for our Charity Pub Quiz! Details as follows......
But also, it is an opportunity to tell everyone to come and see us for our Charity Pub Quiz! Details as follows......
Crazy Ladies Go Running Present
The Great Big Charity Pub Quiz
Thursday 20th March
The White Lion, St Albans
8.30pm Start
Prizes! Spot Prizes! Charity Raffle!
£4 per person, teams of 4 or 5!
So come on down for some great causes and have a bit of a giggle, and maybe win some prizes.....as always ALL the proceeds will go towards the ladies 3 charities - Breakthrough Breast Cancer, The National Autistic Society, and The Herts Community Foundation.
Hopefully see you there. In the meantime, good luck to the ladies this weekend.
JW
Monday, 3 March 2008
Born to Run continued.....
Following the ladies' fantastic run in Hemel last weekend, the Associated Press of Hertfordshire have been searching for suitable photographic eveidence of their latest achievement in preparation for April 13th. Well finally, the wait is over, and we have the first exclusive pictures of the event.
Captured by Marathon fundraiser and consumate mobile phone photographer Keith Lewis, this image captures the essence of the girls' marathon effort.
Notice Sue grinning as she finishes a nice warm cup of tea, whilst the lyrics to "Born to Run" continue to roll around in her head. Liz looks ecstatic as she realizes that they've made it round in under 3 hours and she is actually still alive! Lisa on the other hand, made the mistake of running this race WITHOUT a hangover, and is clearly paying for it after the finish.Definately a fantastic run from all concerned, and a great performance from the supporters too - Keith, myself, and Sian all continued to applaud the runners coming across the finish line despite the biting cold making our hands sore.....
Whilst we are digging out the photos by the way, I thought it would be good to share a more informal image of the ladies during a training "rest" period.
I believe the night in question was a Fundraising planning night, and it was clearly decided that a medicinal glass of wine would help the thought process...
Once again this fine photo was taken by Mr Lewis, and the slightly dazed grins are due to the fact that the girls had just realized that they only had seven weeks to go!
By the way, to the more observant of you who may be looking at the bottles on the table - I can confirm that there IS a bottle of Jose Cuervo in front of Mrs Lewis, and yes she did put the Eagles on the stereo as an accompaniement!
Next up for the four sporting beauties is the gruelling 20 mile warm up race once again around the Hemel course. With the prospect of more tea and cake at the end, I'm sure it will be another breeze for them, and let's face it - if you can run 20 miles, you're in good shape for the big one.
Please visit again to see how they are getting on, and to find out what other fun filled fundraising stuff is going on (full details of the Charity Pub Quiz - watch this space). In the meantime, good luck girls, and take care one and all.
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