Our Visit to the Hearing Dogs Training Centre

Yesterday we went on a bit of an adventure. We went on the train to Saunderton in Buckinghamshire to visit the Hearing Dogs for Deaf People training centre. It was an organised get together for all the people running the London Marathon for Hearing Dogs. After a quick but delicious lunch in the local pub (where we were temporarily adopted by the pub dog, Rufus, a giant golden labrador), we walked the quarter of a mile to the Hearing Dogs centre in the pouring rain. A warming cup of tea later, we were ushered into the "Puppy Hall" to watch demonstration dog, Teal, and his handler, Tom, show us how Hearing Dogs help their recipients every day. When a household noise occurs, such as an alarm clock, the cooker timer or the phone, Teal places two paws on Tom's leg and then leads him to the sound. Teal had a "senior moment" (he is 12!) when he led Tom to the cooker timer, but it was the phone making the noise. He got it right the second time! When the noise is an emergency sound, such as a smoke alarm, Teal still places his paws on Tom's leg, but instead of leading him to the sound, he drops to the floor, so as not to lead Tom to the danger.


While some assistance dogs, like Guide Dogs (for blind people) need to be big and sturdy, many different types of dog are suitable to be Hearing Dogs - Teal is a Nova Scotia duck tolling retriever cross (try saying that after one Tizer too many) and one of the most popular and receptive breeds used is the cockerpoo. Yes, I know you're wondering what a cockerpoo is now. It's a cross between a cocker spaniel and a poodle, which conveniently inherits the poodle's non-moulting properties, making it suitable for some people with pet hair allergies.

After the demonstration, we had a surprise visit, which turned out to be the highlight of the day. We were all told to remain in our seats while several volunteers came in with armfuls of puppies. There were about ten in total, seven cocker spaniels and 3 labradors, all the cutest things ever and incredibly lively. We had a good quarter of an hour cuddle time, followed by a site tour led by Hearing Dog Molly and her recipient, Jenny Smith. Before we went on the tour, Jenny thanked the runners for running to raise money for Hearing Dogs. Having Molly has clearly changed her life for the better and James and I both felt a lump in our throats when we realised how much difference to someone's life we could be making.


The tour took in the various buildings of the former stud farm, including training houses, where the dogs learn to deal with the sights and sounds of the home, and the kennels, where we met our first cockerpoo, who was called William and was, of course, adorable. It was there that I really appreciated the huge range of dogs that can be trained to become Hearing Dogs - as well as little William, there was a ginormous black German shepherd called Blue, who was very, very hairy and had orange eyes which gave him the look of a hungry wolf. Turns out he was a big softie though!

After another cup of tea, we were given a talk on nutrition for marathon runners by Jenny Tschiesche, a nutrition therapist who actually has real qualifications and isn't afraid to include proper science in her materials. It was refreshing to hear someone not just telling us what we should and shouldn't eat while training, but also telling us why. You can find Jenny's practice at www.eatlivedo.com.

During the day we also had the pleasure of meeting Hannah Phillips, Hearing Dogs' events coordinator. Hannah has the unenviable task of finding and then organising all the Hearing Dogs marathon runners, as well as coordinating the people who support Hearing Dogs in myriad other challenge events, from cycling to firewalking.

The Hearing Dogs' training centre is a fantastic facility. It has everything they could possibly need, but without any frills or frippery that would be unbefitting of the organisation's charitable status. The thing they really need cash for is the maintenance and staffing of the facility to enable more Hearing Dogs to be trained and paired with deaf recipients. We've been stuck on £1,475 for a little while now - could you be the person to take us over the £1,500 barrier? Sponsor us at www.justgiving.com/bbjamarathon. Please! Pretty please!!!

Sussex Beacon Half Marathon

On Sunday, we braved the wind and the hail and the rain and the cold and ran the Sussex Beacon Half Marathon in Brighton. I can honestly say I have never been so wet and cold in my entire life. For anyone who was out and about in Hove on Saturday and saw a bedraggled woman clad in black running gear stomping down the seafront by the lagoon singing the song from the tabacalera scene in Carlos Saura's Carmen at the top of her voice, yes, you guessed it, that was me. I have to admit it wasn't the most tuneful rendition, but I was pretty much on my own at that point and the hail was getting to me at around 7 miles in. My great aim for the day was to get around in one piece (which I managed) but it would be dishonest to say I hadn't hoped to do it in under three hours - which I didn't manage; I made it over the line in 3:01:50. At least I have something to aim for next time. "Next time?" you say. Yes, next time. I actually found the half marathon distance easier than the 10k, so now I have high hopes that the marathon will be easier still. I feel I may be disappointed there. James fared slightly better than me and finished ahead of his target in 2:08:59 (though about 20 seconds of that was waiting in the queue to get over the finish line!)

I hate the first 2 miles

Went out and covered 5.2 miles today, as usual the first 2 miles were hellish. Thankfully after a January of not being able to run properly, I get into my stride now after the first couple of rather horrible miles. Shin splints, random pains, excessive effort to keep going forward; but after the 2 mile mark it all seems to click. Hopefully on Sunday it will all be fine after those most hated 2 miles.

As I was saying I went out and covered 5.2 miles today. The first 4, at hoped for half marathon pace, involved running: round the back of the prison; up the hill to Tuffnel park tube station; then up the hill again, to the pub where we turn down towards the heath; into the heath; up parliament hill, back down to the duck ponds; round the duck ponds and back to Tuffnel park, all in 40 min dead on. I was very impressed I had managed to average 10 min/mile pace the whole way; in the drizzle that would be more appropriate in Manchester. The 10 min/mile pace was important today as that is the pace at which I hope to complete the Brighton half on Sunday. If I can do this then that means 11 min/mile pace should be achievable for the marathon.

I then did a few stretches to revive my legs. When I looked down at my legs there was a haze rising from them due to the humidity in the air and the damp clothing; it was a most strange sight. After the stretches and the marvelling at water vapour I headed back home at 11 min/mile pace for the last 1.2 miles.

I have often said that I hate running in the rain, but today running along the top of parliament hill in the rain in a mostly empty park was a great feeling. Probably linked to oxygen deprivation and beta-endorphins, but whatever the reason it felt nice for a few seconds, then the reality of the pain and the rain crept back in round the edges.

Marathon update with inane rambalings about tea and oranges

We are now 73/2 days, depending how you count(correctly or not), away from marathon day. At this point on marathon day I expect to be hating the world and wishing I had never got a place. If I am on target for 10 or 11 min miles at this point on marathon day then I should be ....(let me work this out)....about 4 hours 15 or ~ 24 miles in and about to go down towards the finish. The thought of all this still fills me with a kind of fear nay dread, yet the excitement won't go away.

On Sunday we ran 16 miles, which reminds me I have to grab my tea and an orange, in separate containers; I am not that wyrd. But they could be great together....? Back in a bit. While carrying those back to the laptop I navigate my way round the hoover and countless other things I had foolishly left in the middle of the floor. Anyway back to what I was saying.... On Sunday we covered 16 miles, both of us in new trainers, me because the merchandising at Meet The Experts worked on me and BB because her last pair died, a most terrible death. Mine gave me a blister and BB's were great.

In other news we are a couple of weeks away from running our first proper half-marathon, the Sussex Beacon Half-Marathon. And a bit more away from running the Kilomathon which should be fun/painful. Nom, Nom, Nom orange washed down with tea is really tasty. If exceptionally sweet, I got some tasty oranges form the Cypriot shop in Haringey.

16 miles last week, then 6 next week; before the half marathon, then back up towards the 16, 8, 16.3 (kilomathon), then 18, 10, 20, 12, 8, !!!!26.2!!!!

I will try to keep things updated here.....

Also our new bed arrived and it is great :)

Benito's Hat

Does everyone remember how I said last week that long runs were a joy? Well they're not. Yesterday we traipsed (that's the only word that can really describe it) around London for hours on end in order to clock up our 14 mile quota. We went from base camp in Holloway to Angel, along the Regent's Canal all the way to Limehouse, through Wapping, across Tower Bridge, along the South Bank all the way to Westminster Bridge, through Parliament Square to Whitehall, then through Trafalgar Square and up Charing Cross Road and Tottenham Court Road to finish at Benito's Hat on Goodge Street.

Benito's Hat is great. They sell burritos and tacos and not a lot else, but you can have all the fillings in the world inside them. And, best of all, they make your burrito or tacos right in front of you, so you don't need to wait for ages (which is really important when you've just run (traipsed) 14 miles).

During the run, I managed to sustain my first real injury of the training campaign. I can almost hear you thinking "knee? ankle? hamstring?" No, don't be silly. I managed to injure my left arm. That's right - I injured my arm while running. You are now thinking "how could she possibly injure her arm while running?" Well, I did it while trying my hardest not to fall into the canal. We were on a cobbled humpbacked bridge that takes the towpath over the entrance to a canal basin. I caught my toe on a cobble and did that uncontrollable-staggering-forwards-while-trying-not-to-fall-over-and-trying-not-to-look-too-stupid thing, paying special attention to changing my course sufficiently to avoid going head first into the canal. This resulted in my careering into the back of James who, luckily, had realised I was about to fall over and had braced himself for the collision. Not so my arm, which got itself twisted up. It felt OK for the rest of the run and it wasn't until bedtime that I realised I'd done something quite nasty to it. Getting dressed this morning was quite tricky.

On the bright side, my horrible deal signed late on Saturday night, so this week I should be able to get back into the swing of the mid-week running, all in preparation for next week's 16-miler.

Long Hard Slog

When I tell people that I'm going to run some insane distance of a weekend, they usually raise an eyebrow, mutter something about the state of my mental health and then ask me if I "feel better" for all the running. Well, here's the answer to that question - no. No, I don't feel better. My legs hurt, I've had a cough since Christmas that won't go away and I'm being shafted at work which makes getting up in the morning to go running all the more difficult. However, going on a long run at the weekend is a joy. Getting out of the house and running to some random place or other (OK, so it's not literally random, we usually have a destination in mind before we set out) is incredibly motivating - you get to see new things and places you haven't been before and, best of all, if you are running somewhere new, you don't know where all the mile markers are!

Our midweek runs are a different matter. As I already alluded to, getting out of work before midnight is a challenge at the moment, and that's making getting up before noon even more of a challenge! James and I have discussed our lack of motivation for midweek runs at length. We think that following the snowy and icy period over the New Year, we haven't managed to quite get back into the swing of things. As the long runs have got longer, our enthusiasm for a 3-mile morning saunter has dwindled and we're trying to find ways to pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off and sprint off into the distance. So far, we've determined that we need to sort out our nutrition (yes, 60-65% of a training diet should come from carbs but no, the carbs shouldn't all come from wine gums, cola and chocolate) and we think we need some new routes to run on our shorter runs - as they say, variety is the spice of life.

Another thing to try that I found while traversing the Internet the other day is a new type of interval training. I say new - it's probably been around for donkeys' years, but its new to me, and it's so simple (when you know how) that I'm slightly concerned that I didn't think of it myself. It's called Pyramid Intervals and the idea is that after a 5 minute warm-up jog, you run hard for one minute, easy for one minute, hard for two minutes, easy for two minutes, and so on up to five minutes (but keeping the recoveries at two minutes), and then back down again to one minutes. As sad as it sounds, I'm actually quite excited about this newfangled idea and can't wait to try it out - it can't be any worse than repeating the same intervals (4 mins hard, 2 mins easy) over and over again... can it?

Another thing that appears to be stagnating at the moment is our fundraising total - we hit £1,245 over a week ago and haven't raised a penny since. If you'd like to help us get out of a fundraising rut, please go to http://www.justgiving.com/bbjamarathon to give us a hand!

On parks and insatiable hunger

So we did make it to Sarita's house two weeks ago, and how wonderful it was to be greeted by a glass of champagne! Eleven miles is a very long way and it was still a bit icy underfoot in places. The next week was a cutback week, meaning we had to run "just" 8 miles at the weekend; we finished that run in the excellent Lockside Lounge in Camden Market - they do the most wonderful chicken, chorizo and olive pie with mashed potato and gravy (a recipe I'm happy to say we've stolen for home, but we still go there to have someone else make it for us once in a while!)

This past weekend, we ran to the Coal Hole on the Strand. We couldn't decide which park to run around, so we ran round all of them - Holloway to the Coal Hole via Hampstead Heath, Regent's Park, Hyde Park, Green Park and St James's Park. Hyde Park was the low point, mentally, but after a quick stop to get some Sprite we were on our way to the finish line. As the crow flies, it's only about 4 miles from Holloway to the Strand, so it was amazing that our winding route had taken us 12 miles. TWELVE MILES! I can run TWELVE MILES!

Today I have been contemplating the insatiable hunger that seems to go along with the long runs. After our 12 miler on Saturday I had a cottage pie at the Coal Hole (the pub is in the corner of the Savoy building, and it was not lost on me that they served the pie with Savoy cabbage!) and chips. Then I had pasta and sauce for dinner. I was monumentally hungry all day on Sunday (and ate enough to satisfy that hunger on a normal day) and now writing this close to lunchtime on Monday, I find that I could eat a horse (if I had one, which I don't).

A post-run cup of tea has become another institution (apart from eating pie) we seem to have adoped on our weekend runs - we were sitting in the Coal Hole on Saturday having drunk some soft drinks, wondering why we didn't really feel any better, when I remembered the restorative qualities of tea. After just about every other run we have had tea and I'm not sure whether it is a Pavlovian response or whether it really does make everything better, but either way it does the trick!

We are now up to £1,245 in our fundraising, so just about a quarter of the way to our target - please help us to get there by sponsoring us at http://www.justgiving.com/bbjamarathon

Thanks!