Back in the Groove

Almost a year has passed since our last blog so it’s time to bring you all up to speed on what’s been going on in MoJo land. The last post was on completion of the Marcothon 2012, which you recall was a struggle as a consequence of JammyJo’s troublesome ankle.  11 months on and the ankle is at last showing some signs of recovery, well training has resumed albeit a lower intensity.

Clyde Stride -VAMPs and Dream Team

Over the 11 months we have tried rest, Physiotherapist, an Acupuncturist, Chiropractors, Sports Therapists and Podiatrists – none of which have cured the problem.  Finally in October I decided to try and run through it.  The resumption of training was a real eye-opener – I hadn’t realised how much fitness I had lost.  My way of thinking was I was still dabbling in fitness so I would be fine. Looking back though I guess I always suspected that fitness was disappearing fast.  I had hobbled along the West Highland Way in April and in June I participated in the parkathon – running all 10 Scottish parkruns in a 24 hour period.  Neither of these achievements were the way I wanted them to be.  The parkathon was really a survival exercise so I planned to run each 5k in 30 minutes. It turned out to be a gruelling exercise but sheer will-power got me through the last three parkruns that day.  Over the year we have only taken part in two races which is well down in our yearly average.  The first was the Clyde Stride relay in July, JammyMo performed reasonably on leg three for the VAMPs but JammyJo hobbled the whole of leg 3 to set the Dream Team back.  The second race was Strathaven Striders Run With The Wind 10K, earlier this month, and we both did OK although a long way off our PB standards.  It was good to be back and we are planning more races next year.

Portrush parkrun

Our parkrun year has been a different story.  JammyJo clocked up his 100^th parkrun in May and Moira will clock up her 100^th parkrun on Saturday.  One of the highlights of our parkrun year was our holiday in Northern Ireland where we managed to take in the Derry City parkrun and the iconic Portrush parkrun.  Portrush was always on our radar after we had seen their homepage and the white sands stretching for miles.  Needless to say it surpassed expectations, the run along the sands that August morning will last long in the memory.

As December approaches I am giving some serious thought to taking part in Marcothon 2013, although Moira has stated she will not be taking part this year.  Currently I am down to do the double – Movember and Marcothon over the next two months. You can donate to the Mo at .

http://uk.movember.com/mospace/8804517

Over and Out!

Day 30 was an extraordinary tough one for some reason, every step required supreme effort.  We chose to forgo our usual longer Sunday run for a loop of Camilty.  Both Moira and I were struggling with niggling injuries which seemed to be curtailing our running.  Moira was still very much out in front and occasionally looping back to pick me up.  The wind and rain made for a pretty miserable mornings running.

The Other 'Nutters'  Photo by Fraser Connal

Photo by Fraser Connal

Having completed day 30 our thoughts turned to the final day of the challenge and we decided that it would be a good idea to join some our fellow Marcothoners in a spontaneous mass run in the West end of Glasgow.  So on the last day of the year, we were up early and motoring our way into Glasgow to meet up at Lock 27 on Clyde Canal for a four mile run.  Gone was the lethargy from to the day before which was replaced with a spring in the step.  For us this turned out to be the most enjoyable run of the challenge, running with around 50 other marcothoners, each having their own reason for taking part in this madcap challenge.  Everybody had a story to tell.  It was a great feeling to have completed the tough challenge which certainly challenged us in more ways than one.

After bringing in the New Year we ran Strathclyde parkrun on the 1^st of January – a great way to start the New Year.  Going into the New Year we promised ourselves some rest days ahead of the return to jogscotland duties.  The parkrun itself was largely uneventful and we were thankful to get round in one piece and in a decent time.  Moira, however, ended up limping afterwards.

After a couple of days rest I was down to run another parkrun before taking time off from running to try and sort out the troublesome ankle.  What better way to sign off than to run as 25 minute pacer, easy to remember your splits and a comfortable pace.  Job done, now for some well earned rest!  Moira was sensible and rested her troublesome knee.