708.64 - 729.92KM: The Greatest Half Marathon in the World? (Great North Run)

September was always due to be a big month for me this year, not just because it features Jenny's birthday and National Eczema Week but also because it sees me enter some high profile races as marathon season began to return. After breaking an 11 week streak of races every weekend how else would I mark the occasion of my 35th race of the year than the biggest and 'best' Half Marathon in the World, the Great North Run?

I mentioned in my previous post about how last weekend I was suffering with what I was hoping at the time would only be a brief cold. This however continued into the next week and along with a stress induced tension headache, complete with random nosebleeds on Tuesday, meant that when the weekend came I wasn't feeling as fresh as I had hoped.

The forecast before the race wasn't pretty; with torrential rain, low temperatures and 40 m.p.h. winds it's safe to say I was a little bit anxious about the weather on Sunday. The signs were there the day before as we were heading up the A1, once we passed Junction 49 the weather changed and started to get a bit 'grim' up North.

The North/South Divide

Going 'home' for the weekend was a big deal for Jenny, her health has hardly been good recently so it was never 100% certain whether or not she would be able to make the trip. Obviously being her birthday meant that she would be much more determined to get home, but with essentially being allergic to her mum's house and after only being able to last make the trip up North 4 months ago it always felt like it would be a case of being a flying visit if anything. Fortunately I am pleased to say that there was no significant reaction, whether this is simply luck or because her allergies are decreasing is unclear.

After taking to the roads of Lincolnshire on my own last weekend for my first Solo Run in 12 weeks, the 56,000 or so fellow runners I would have with me on Sunday would be a stark contrast. I didn't realise it at the time, but to try and give you an idea of the scale, the London Marathon, the largest Marathon in the World has around 20,000 less competitors. Despite being in Zone B, the furthest forward general entry participants could hope to be, behind the 'proper' runners and the 'celebrities', it still took me a good four minutes to cross the line. 

The Biggest Half Marathon in the World

I had no plan in place for how I was going to run the race, but once the race started I found myself keeping pace with those around me, so my legs had obviously decided they wanted a good workout. As ridiculous as it sounds I knew little of the course beforehand other than I would be running across the Tyne bridge, something I was a little apprehensive about. I make no secret of my fear of heights, or rather my fear of falling from them, crossing a bridge in a car is normally bad enough, so naturally running across it increases this fear exponentially. At London I had the same issue and almost ended up sprinting across Tower Bridge to get across it as fast as possible. As I crossed the Tyne bridge on Sunday the images of me falling off it 'Final Destination' style flashed in my mind more than once. Yes I know, I'm ridiculous.

Around the fourth or fifth mile I began to feel a little rough and ended up throwing up a couple of times, not for the first time this year. Was it my breakfast? Probably. I'm sure a can of Relentless and a Mars bar wasn't what Mo Farah had in the morning but I'm also sure the illness I have been carrying for the past week or so also had a big part to play. This then naturally had a big knock on effect for the rest of the race, I was reluctant to take in any more fluid or a gel as my stomach felt on the edge at all times. At various points I felt like I needed to step to the side of the road and sort out the disagreement I had with my stomach, but naturally I saw I was on for a good time, so tried to 'power' through it.

Breakfast of Champions?

As I came down the hill towards the coast for the final mile, I encountered the infamous winds that I had been anticipating for the entire race. This wasn't enough to stop my final push for a PB as as soon as the sea came into view I received the final needed boost to get me to the finish line. Conditions aside I knew it would be difficult to get a PB in the run as with each mile I could see the course measure 0.10 - 0.20 miles longer than my watch. I kept an eye on my watch as I edged closer to the finish and saw that when my watch measured 13.1 miles I had set a new (for distance) PB by 3 seconds before ending crossing the line with an official time of 1:37:39.

There was a huge sense of relief when I crossed the line, despite vowing to start approaching races sensibly a few weeks a go, yesterday's race was a very much impromptu attempt at a PB. Given my diet of fizzy drinks, cake and pizza the few days beforehand, illness and generally rubbish weather conditions shooting for a PB was perhaps a little unrealistic, but it's good to know that without much effort I could probably at least shave a few seconds of the time set in Sheffield. After the race I shuffled along in the cold to collect my medal and goody bag before then diving (or rather falling) into the car to warm up.

Standing still in the car park

Now for the really bad. The car park situation at the end was nothing short of diabolical. I had been warned prior to the race to expect queues, the signs at the car park advised runners to avoid leaving at 'peak times' (between 1400 - 1600), which we did. We were sat in a queue not moving for 30 minutes before this 'peak time' started and then continued to sit in said queue for another hour and a half moving at a rate of a car's length ever 20 or so minutes. Gradually more and more car's started to jump the queue and drive round to the front, until eventually one driver decided to make his own exit and moved some barriers to allow access to the road. Cue mayhem and hordes of cars shooting across from every possible direction, a horde we were unashamedly a part of. Had that one guy not decided to make his own exit, we'd probably still be sat in that queue now.

If after 33 years of running the event the best solution they could come up with to ease the congestion of runners trying to leave is to appear to have no organisation at all, then I worry what the alternative would be. On top of all that, to pay £5 for the privilege of being sat in such a queue is shocking. In fairness the weather didn't help the situation, had it been a nice sunny day I'm sure less people would've been in such a hurry to leave, but it shouldn't take me less time to run the 13.1 mile race than it does to try and get out of the car park.

Finally, this week is National Eczema Week (14th - 22nd September), every day I will be sharing a post from either myself or Jenny on her condition, take a look down for the previous posts. The big feature of this week though will be the Bake Sale I'm hosting on the 21st at ASDA Living in Lincoln, where I plan to have dairy and gluten free bakes, alongside what people would consider the 'normal' stuff. So if you're in and around Lincoln this weekend, please pay us a visit. We will also be very grateful of anyone willing to bake some cakes for us to sell, if you are interested feel free to get in touch.

As always, please visit http://www.justgiving.com/shanes1000km and donate what you can and please share news of what I am doing with others.

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Distance: 21.28km | 13.22 miles
Time: 01:37:39
Official Time: 01:37:39
Average Pace: 04:35 min/km | 7:23 min/mi
Playlist: Masterplan
Goody Bag: T-Shirt, Medal, Powerade, Bottle of Water

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National Eczema Week: Giving Up Is For Life - Not Just For Lent (Guest Post)

This week is National Eczema Week (14th September - 22nd September). To mark the occasion I will be posting a series of posts every day of the week, either from myself or from my partner Jenny. Today's post is from Jenny's blog earlier in the year when she talked about the impact her condition has had on her life and the things she has had to give up because of it.

Giving Up Is For Life - Not Just For Lent (originally posted on 16th February)

My friend Hannah found herself inspired by my blog and recently created her own to raise awareness to chronic illnesses in general, and to discuss her own conditions. You can find her here: http://theretiredbridgeburner.blogspot.co.uk/

She made a post yesterday talking about the things that she has had to give up doing or have restricted her from being able to do. Instead of writing a comment, I thought I would talk about things that have impacted my own life from having severe eczema.

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Socialising

This is one of the things that has affected me the most, and is especially bad during periods where I'm at my worst. It's also these times when you find out who your real friends are as when you're on your own for what feels seems like a constant basis you become incredibly lonely and this can be self destructive if you let it be. A simple "how are you today?" suffices, as although you know you'll probably not be alright, having someone asking means the world, as it means they're thinking about you.

Akin to this, when I am at my worst and unable to leave the house but have made plans for certain events, having to cancel can be excruciating. It causes worry on my behalf that I'm letting the other people down, which in turn makes me worse, but if I do go to these events when I am experiencing a flare I know that it will cost me days to repair myself again.

Since having become allergic to fur bearing animals this can also be difficult as well as it means I am unable to go to other people's houses for fear that I will suffer a severe allergic reaction. Many people don't seem to consider the idea that I may require hospitalisation if a reaction was to occur and so I tend to have to skip events or ask for a more neutral setting which can cause unnecessary stress on both parts. It's also a real shame because I love animals, especially cats :(

Exercising

I've never been big on exercise but having heat induced urticaria has made it so much worse. Even walking around can be difficult, especially if I need to go up a hill. (I'm looking at you Lincoln Steep Hill!) Even swimming, which I used to do a hell of a lot of as a child, is out of the question as the chlorine affects my skin something chronic. It actually feels as though I'm having acid chucked at me and the drying-out of the skin affect is tenfold. Not ideal.

Going to Gigs/ Festivals

This is another one that saddens me. I used to give my all, sing and dance along to my faves like a complete loon, often while getting drunk. This just can't happen any more. Gigs are such hot and sweaty environments as it is without adding extra annoyances to my skin. So nowadays I tend to be selective of the gigs I do attend. Not just because of the effects on my skin, but also the driving factor... I get so tired, not necessarily because of the medication I take, but because of the level of bad health I have anyway.

Festivals are also a complete no-go for me now. Or at least the camping side of them. I've been attending Bloodstock Open Air since 2006 with 3 of the years being bearably fine to not have a shower everyday. Since my eczema took hold I can't even go a single day without washing the build up of skin and such off my body. I was fortunate to find a cafe nearby that offered a shower, albeit a rather disgusting shower, but it was still a step up from the portable ones at the festival. The lady who worked in the cafe was completely understanding about my condition and allowed me to have my showers for free. She is a complete sweetheart and I always attempt to pay her a visit for a nice cooked breakfast!

It's not just the shower aspect that does me in, it's the heat and humidity of the tent that also messes me up and the fact that I can't stick to strict routines with my skin. I mean, it takes me hours to get ready when I'm bad anyway so to add all the festival factors into the mix just isn't possible.

I now stay in a hotel.

Intimacy

I find intimacy to play a huge part with my skin. The heat of another person, even just sharing a bed with me is often too much to bare. Luckily we now live in a large enough house that if I am having a bad turn, which seems to be at least once a week right now, then Shane has somewhere else to sleep.

Work

When I was younger I was pretty manic. I woke up at 6am every day, went to college for 9am, picking friends up on the way, where I did an intense Foundation Art course, finished at 4:30pm, and worked until 10pm most nights of the week. Now I'm lucky if I can get through a 6hr shift at work. It really saddens me that I'll probably never be able to carry out a full-time roll again as I'm not one to want to sit on my backside day in, day out. I want to be out there making my own pennies, getting the most from life... but it just isn't meant to be :(

What I Can Wear

Back in't day I used to be somewhat of a Goth. I used to frequent corsets and long floaty skirts, adorned in black and dark colours. I had black hair and a face full of make up. I miss that version of me. I was a shy girl but my clothes didn't say that at all. Ah well.

Nowadays, although I still have something of a penchant for black clothes I tend to avoid them unless I'm having a good skin day because the skin dandruff can be pretty damn embarrassing. I also find that I can't wear scarves or necklaces because they irritate my neck something chronic. Annoying because I have a massive collection of gorgeous necklaces that I just stare at in wonder and lust! I also have to avoid light or pastelly colours generally as these also highlight my condition which is annoying because they'd mask the dandruff!

I also can't wear much make-up any more. Liquid liner and eye shadows are certainly out of the question as they now cause burning and weeping of my eyelids. Foundation just clings to the flakes and exacerbates the situation so that is also a no-go plus I think it is better for the skin to breathe. Nowadays I will wear mascara, brow pencil and a teeny bit of eyeliner at the edges of my eyes, but even then sometimes I can't do that either.

Crafting

I absolutely love crafting. I have so many creative ideas that I'd love to carry out but can't. I have an entire room dedicated to crafts in the hope that one day I will be well enough to do stuff. When I am experiencing a flare up crafting tends to make it worse. Doesn't matter what I do, it just causes me to flare. So sad as I have dreams of creating a business fueled by handmade goodies... Definitely still just a dream :(

Cleaning

My dermatologist actually wrote me out a certificate last June to say that I am unable to carry out household cleaning. As you can imagine everyone has been wanting to photocopy that and put in their own name. But the things is, I would clean if I could. Hell, my first job was cleaning my school for nearly 3 years! My allergies to dust are so severe that it brings me out instantly. Recently I've had to stop hoovering because it has created more dust settlement.

Travelling

This one also takes it out of me probably due to the stress of the situation. It can take me days to recover. I'd love to go to America but I honestly don't know if I could do it without scratching myself to death by the time I got there. Similarly, hot countries are out of the question because of the heat induced urticaria. It often annoys me when people say they're dreaming of sun bathing on a beach in *please insert hot country of choice* because I know that would actually be my worst nightmare.

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Wow. This post ended up being incredibly more lengthy than was intended but hopefully it gives more of an understanding as to why I can't do certain things. If anyone needs more of an explanation I'm more than willing to give it. You can also see how my condition has completely warped my identity, who I was, and the steps I have had to take just to cope, and why I am how I am now.

If you're an eczema sufferer what things have you had to give up?

Jenny

National Eczema Week: Living with Eczema (Guest Post)

This week is National Eczema Week (14th September - 22nd September). To mark the occasion I will be posting a series of posts every day of the week, either from myself or from my partner Jenny. First up is both parts of Jenny's 'Living with Eczema' posts where she talks about how much her condition affects her day to day life.

Living with Eczema (originally posted on 8th February)

Part 1

As with any illness eczema can range from mild, moderate to severe but not many people seem to realise this. Here, I'd like to make a series of posts to talk about how eczema as a condition can be debilitating; making leading a "normal" life difficult.

I'll start off with my daily routine. It consists of waking up, often having to pry open swollen eyelids that have wept and become stuck together during the night, deciphering how much agony I'm in, and looking in the mirror to see the extent of the damage. The looking in the mirror part isn't the most constructive thing to do, but helps me to understand why I'm experiencing a certain amount of pain.

Next I'll pill pop some antihistamines and hop in the shower after I've slowly prised clothing, and even my hair, off my body that has become stuck to weeping sores. Depending on exactly how my skin is, a hot shower might be necessary to get rid of the stinging the water creates as it hits open sores from nightly scratching. Doctors always advise against this as hot water dries out the skin, but I find it helpful to give me some form of respite from the pain. It can take me hours just to shower when I'm in a bad way. Not just because of the pain or the worry of the pain, but because being as relaxed as I can be is beneficial for my skin. I find my only way to truly relax is to lay in the bath tub with the shower on my feet. Not exactly the best when the water bill needs paying, but I find bathing doesn't quite work for me.

After liberally applying Hydromol I get out and after getting dry enough, immediately slather my skin in white soft paraffin. It can take hours for the white soft paraffin to soak into my skin but I find that if I don't apply enough it just gets so sore and dry. Given the thickness of this ointment is a bit worrying that it still dries out my skin! If it's a particularly bad day I'll just whip out some Hydrocortisone, Eumovate or Betnovate steroid cream and even have to apply this to my face on a very regular basis. I haven't experienced any thinning of the skin per say, and have been doing this for more than 10 years.

On the days that my skin is so bad I often find that I can't actually get myself dressed because it is so sore, and covering myself up with clothing just exacerbates this. Instead I find I heal faster if I stay naked in a regulated temperature, applying white soft paraffin regularly throughout the day. Because I have to do this to cope, I find myself becoming increasingly lonely as I can't have visitors seeing me in this way. It also means that I am often off work ill due to my inability to get dressed, and the soreness would obviously prevent me from going.

Work have luckily been quite understanding and allow me to take shift swaps or holidays if I need it. This does however mean that I will never be able to withstand a full time job because I would require far too much time off. I'm happy with working short hours at one end of the week as the time around it allow for more recovery periods as it can take me hours and hours just to get myself ready to go somewhere.

I miss the days where I could get up at 8am, take a quick shower, or not even shower at all, just have a quick wash and be able to be ready to be somewhere for 9am. Nowadays I tend to wake up at 5:30/6am to ensure I can be ready for such a time. I envy those people who can just pop to the shop for some milk first thing in a morning, it just wouldn't be possible for me to do this. And it's such a simple thing. People take their quick routines for granted, not having to worry about the implications things can have on their health. I have to think about how I will dress that day not because of the weather, but what my skin dictates itself to feel most comfortable in.

I thought I'd also include this extract I wrote in an email to a friend when I was feeling particularly down as it gives an even better stand point:

"I just really am coming to the end of my tether with all this. One day I'll wake up and be absolutely fine, the next without warning I am so ill that I need emergency medical help. I'm not sure how much longer I can go on with this for. It impacts every single aspect of my life. Getting washed and dressed on a bad day can be one hell of a chore, not to mention time consuming and completely energy-zapping. Then there's work. No one wants an unreliable colleague, no matter how much they say they've got your back and wouldn't want to see you have to leave because you're a hard worker and you do a good job of it. But you're only a hard worker when you are well, that is the fine detail. My love life suffers greatly as well. Most days I can't even let Shane get close to me, or even to brush passed me accidently because it can trigger my skin to flare up, which sometimes means he will sleep downstairs, despite us having a king size bed because I just can't bare the extra warmth. I can't see my mum as often as I'd like because of my severe allergies to the animals. I can't even enjoy my hobbies any more because I'm allergic to textiles and of course, dust. Which in turn means, all my dreams and ambitions have had to come to a complete halt until my health improves, which seems ever unlikely with each passing day. I have to cancel so many plans and trips, which has meant losing many friends along the way as well.

I do try to keep optimistic with everything by being realistic but it is so terribly difficult when your illness defines you because there's no way you can bypass it. It can only be managed and coped with so much until you lose your motivation for everything, which I have done so many times now."

It's a tough life when the hard times take over.



Part 2

The thing that people don't seem to realise with eczema is that it really can be so severe that it is classed as a disability.

In my individual case, my skin gets so sore and weepy that I can't put clothing on because it just makes it all the more worse, in both the sense of heat, and also because it irritates and dries out my skin further. When the skin weeps it often dries with fibres stuck inside it, which is not exactly helpful to the wounds to have a foreign body lodged within them. So I find my best way to deal with a bad flare is to just spend the day being naked. This itself causes a whole array of problems with health and safety and the fact that I cannot leave the house, or generally carry out day-to-day activities. Walking about can also be difficult if it is bad on the backs of my knees and bending down and such is even worse.

It isn't just because of the fact that I need to remain naked that it causes problems. When I am in such a bad state (you must have seen videos of little children on Youtube crying because of the itching and pain) I am going through the exact same thing. I am in torment because of the itching and pain as at the time there is just no escape, once it has you in its grips, it has you good. It means I am unable to summon the will or the physical ability to do anything because it has such a hold over me. Now for many people who simply say, just don't scratch, or whatever... it just isn't that simple at all.

From what I can assume, and from how others have described how they think it is, a lot of people have the belief that it must be similar to a rash, or insect bite where you can't stop scratching it. In a way yes, it is like this, but at the same time it's so much more complex. Firstly, the itch isn't confined to just one area, it spreads like wildfire all over your body. Secondly, their scratching usually won't cause deep gouges, scratch marks, weeping skin or scabs; it will just remain as a red rash.

The other thing people, friends, acquaintances, even close friends, do not realise is how long it will actually take for me to get up and ready. I know I touched on this briefly in Part 1 but I didn't go into its full extent as much as I intended to. A day where I know I will have work, for example a 5pm-9pm shift, will have me waking up at around 8am, showering and spending the entire day slathering myself in moisturiser just so I know I can be comfortable in my clothing. That is an entire day completely wasted because of my extremely necessary routines which is incredibly scary to think about.

Coming home from work is no different. As soon as I walk through the door I'm in the shower, spending a large amount of time just laying in the bath tub trying to relax myself. I then cover myself in moisturiser for the rest of the evening and turn in for bed. The next day is either usually spent carrying out the exact same routine, or as a recovery day, where I will spend the day trying to preen my skin to a comfortable state for work the following day.

It ain't a good way to live, but it's how I have to live unfortunately. The days where I have to quickly carry out my routine are the days where I definitely pay for it later on. I generally end up spending days and days trying to recover again.

So there you have it. Those who don't have eczema or a chronic illness may consider yourselves so lucky that you are able to work a full time job and balance your busy social and family life. I know that I took it all for granted at the times when I was well enough.

x

Jenny