Lawrence, Lily and The Green Berets

I'm proud to present to you my son, Royal Marine Commando Gordon J Cruickshank of 101 Troop, The Kings Squad who will be, in about 4 hours, drafted to Fleet Protection. All mothers are proud of their kids achievements and I have been of all four of my kids but in each of their lives there have been milestones - receiving his green beret was Gordons and if I ever stop blubbing it will be a miracle :)

My middle son Keiran and I spent a few days down south visiting family in Gloucestershire, Manchester and attending Gordons passing out parade in Devon. It was great, if emotional and tiring, and wouldn't have missed it for the world. It was also scorchingly hot - 34 deg C on Friday. We stayed with my aunt and uncle in Cirencester a stones throw apparently from Lily Allen and Lawrence Llewellyn Bowen. They live in this lovely area that backs out onto savannah-like grassland and its like being on permanent holiday!Was lovely to catch up with everyone as its not often we get to be in the same place at the same time.

Dad, Cousin, Aunt, Mum, Me, Uncle and Lola the dog

I have though, despite packing my running shoes, not done any exercise since Wednesday and boy do I feel it. I feel fat, bloated (though to be fair, that could have been the three family packs of sports mixtures Keiran and I managed to eat over four days..). I tried but every time I thought I had 30 minutes for a run, something happened and I was diverted. Or I found myself driving round Manchester at 2am looking for sodding Travel Lodges.

Kieran at Exmouth

So this morning (my first back at work), I took the hardtail in. It was a gorgeous morning but the rain from the past few days up here has left everything very muddy so I was clarted by the time I got in. I got new Marazocchi forks for it today. They're lighter than the old crap forks but still quite heavy but bombproof. I've been after a pair for ages but they were always so expensive until I landed a pair cheaply. So now, with the exception of a set of new wheels, the hardtail is nearly rebuilt. Looking forward to giving it a good test out on wednesday!

Sidmouth by night

Tomorrow though, back to 6am runs! I've lost a week out of The Plan and its going to be hard enough keeping to some semblance of it whilst on holiday in Menorca as it is! Tonight in Mahon (just a few km from where we stay) its 25 deg C so I reckon I'm going to be up at 4am running before it gets too hot! Daytime temps are 30 deg + so I will mostly be spending the days in or under the water :)

Well, back to the packing and washing for me. Its such a glamorous life :)

Gordon and Me

Swimmin' and a runnin' round Loch Muick

Its been a wearing week. Loooong days at the shop and almost constant gale blown rain has put a dampener on my cycling as I'm on my summer wheels (Pro3's and semi-deep section rims which is a recipe for disaster in that kinda weather) still. I've made up for it by getting out for one or two runs pretty much every day which has kept my head and mood in check I've also given myself some targets to work towards to keep motivation up - four UK & two Norwegian races spread out between here and January - the longest single discipline is a half marathon as I cannot afford any time to train for longer distances if I am to keep to The Plan.

Today I seriously needed to blow some cobwebs out - and as my long early morning roadie outing with Lesley was cancelled due to local torrential rain we headed towards blue skies on the horizon and Ballater/Glen Muick in the shadow of Lochnagar. It was windy but warm and while N and Jnr toddled about, I ran round with Mollie  - stopping periodically to let the others catch up and for Mollie and I to have a dip in the loch itself.

She (the dog) goes back to her owners (my boss - returning from the TdF) on Tuesday night and I'm not afraid to admit, I'm going to seriously miss her company.

Big Fun Run, Aberdeen

It has to be said, its not been the best week. However I have stuck doggedly to The Plan and pleased to report I see improvement in both running and cycling. Swimming is still proving to be a pain in the butt due to rubbish access to a pool - Banchory Public pool isn't really for the public unless you're a Beaver (don't ask), a school kid or ready and waiting to jump in for the 30 mins twice a week at 9.30pm that it opens its doors to the real public. Oh, and as long as there's a W in the month and three frogs have croaked in unison under a full moon. However, having spoken to the lovely L, I now have access to a loch....

This week ended with the Big Fun Run in Aberdeen which I was running in aid of the RNLI (being a water baby and tragically bad surfer, one never knows....oh ok, plus I know a few of the Aberdeen lifeboat crew and how much it costs to keep them trained, kitted out and ready). So you kind souls (especially the ones who effectively donated to train themselves :) thank you for your money, it will go to very good use.

So it wasn't a marathon but it was the first competitive event since I decided several months back that people, Toyota Aygo's, the world and especially competitive events were devil-made and went all reclusive. So kinda a big deal for me. I didn't die. I didn't come last and the world did not end. I did get a medal, a goody bag and though it was for FUN, a half decent time (24:04 for 5km)

Which is all rather well really as I've gone and entered a few more....

I still hate Toyota Aygo's though....

Run Barry Run!

Once upon a time about 6 months ago there was a Baton called Barry. It had been Barry's dream since he were but a twiglet to run round the coastline of Great Britain with fellow runners just for the sheer hell of it. And so, with this dream in mind, he approached a crack team of organisers who began to er...organise a lot of runners and volunteers to help make Barry's dream come true. Coasters GB was formed and 56 days ago, Barry left Blackpool bound for Gretna and then followed the coastline all the way up and round past Wick arriving in Aberdeenshire yesterday.

Today, transported by my support team, I met a very sodden Stuart (human) and Barry (Stick) at a church in the middle of nowhere and was presented with  Barry (and flag) to take on his next part of this epic journey. It was blowing a ferocious gale and raining like you'd never seen rain before and for the first few miles it was purely a head down and get on with it/pray for mercy run. I had to take the long and winding minor roads to Stonehaven for safety reasons - the A90 dual carriageway is not a place you'd want to run really....

Soggy handover from Stuart

And then, like Barry had spoken to 'im upstairs, the clouds began to part and tying my jacket round my waist, completed the last 5km in glorious sunshine! Running along the beach at Stonehaven was pure joy! I rounded the corner to the Old Pier and spotted someone in running gear waving at me...surely this must be Gary, the next runner?....and indeed it was - along with Nick and Jnr and Garys family...and some other people who just happened to be there :) We chatted, posed to official handover photos and then waved Gary off as he began his 10 mile leg to Inverbervie (apparently 5 miles down the road he ran into a thunder storm..).

Sunny handover to Gary...

I'm still grinning. I'm hugely happy to have been able to help Barry try and achieve his dream, and I got a brilliant run in to boot! Official stats  - 7.21 miles in 1:05:21, 329m of ascent.

Good luck for the rest of your journey Barry, I'm rootin' for ya little guy!

Easy like Sunday...um...Friday afternoon?

The scorchingly hot day promised by the weathermen failed to materialise until late afternoon so plans for the beach were postponed. Instead Jnr and I took off on the bikes early this morning and I am pleased to report Jnr has, at last, overcome his fear of descending 'hills'. His bête noire and own version of the descent from Col de Tourmalet to Argeles-Gazost, the Col de Bushes and descent to the 'turny corner" (length - 200 feet, av gradient -1%, possibly -2% in parts) was overcome in style this morning during a 6 mile toodle along the Deeside Way.

I spent the afternoon pottering in the sunshine and making flapjacks, housework (yuk!), catching up on emails, making soup, lunching with mates etc etc. Very therapeutic and I'm pleased to report the first signs of potential produce from the greenhouse, which will of course ripen to perfection the day after we leave for Menorca....

This evening I've been out for a short easy spin on the roadie (20.52km, 51 mins, av 23.9km/h) on the flat followed by weight sesh. Tomorrow is a rest day - well, a go-to-work but no exercise day.

And finally, my lovely friends...I want your money :) Okay, more accurately, the RNLI need your money and I'm running on Sunday 11th July to raise money for them so please, visit my JustGiving page  or click on the link below and donate what you can even if its just £1. Please :)

Cooler temps at last!

6am this morning I set out for my run in mist and cooler temperatures which, to be frank, was a sodding relief! I upped the pace - the imapmyrun app for iphone says 7:12min/mile but I am not believing that. I don't run that fast.  Will recalculate another day with garmin. Speed aside, its an extraordinarily pretty run and I had it all to myself today!

Legs feeling good, lungs feeling good. Plenty of stretching after the run and all of today at work to stave off stiffness. Its been a bit frantic in the workshop today with six bikes arriving to be built for the weekend plus the usual repairs coming in but we got through most of it today bar two of them so not much for the guys to do tomorrow.

I have a day off however and shan't be caring one bit what goes on at work :) Planning a proper girlie day with my mate down the beach and I'll get a gentle swim in before resting completely on saturday (except for work) before Sundays event. Excited now :)