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'To Run For ... all you need is a Sign'

4/28/2014

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2014, is proving to be a crazy year. I have had it in my focus since I ditched the wheelchair. I gave myself 5 years. Here I am.  I have truly found my 'running legs' and thanks to lots of new opportunities and meeting new friends, I have been inspired to take on new adventures...

I have just come back from a weekend of exciting trail running in Helvellyn in the Lake District that I was privileged to be shortlisted for, along with 100 other runners, by The Trail Team 2014.  

We all stand a chance to WIN a 3 day training camp in the Alps as well as £1250 worth of kit from Berghaus.  GULP!

That would be something, no more being wet and cold in the winter with some decent all weather lightweight gear …


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"Everyone attending  the Trail Team weekend had a story."


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I always believe everyone has a story; we just need to pause to listen more, take an interest more, just like sometimes we need to pause to take in a view more instead of just running past...

PictureThis is what it is all about. Capturing the moment, whether with a camera, or just a memory. There is such a thing as a 'runner's high'.
















I was lucky enough to be sharing a room with a lady called Lotty (and two equally lovely ladies). I was rattling on about my back, moaning how crippling the long 10 hour car journey to get there had been. They all patiently listened to me. I became aware of what a bore I was sounding. Stop whinging I thought, who doesn’t get back ache at some point in their life?  Somehow, the conversation led on to hospital experiences.

Lotty, with her nimble ability to climb up to the top bunk in our room, had told us she hadn’t long started trail running. She was acting very modest. The conversation led on to the lack of support in the NHS for rehabilitation. We all agreed it was crazy that patients only get 15-20 minutes of physiotherapy, something Lotty seemed to know a lot about because she worked for  the NHS, but when she casually announced how she had suffered from a stroke only a few years ago, there was a stunned silence. 

We all looked at her, and I was aware that I was staring at her trying to spot for lingering signs or left over side effects.... and that is the trouble, we always want visual evidence.

When someone has made a recovery we don’t think about the sacrifices they are still making just because they don’t carry with them a stick, or walk with a limp.  In Lotty’s case, she could no longer ride her mountain bike, her first passion, without feeling she was putting herself at risk because her balance had still not fully returned. 

 Yet, here she was, through her own determination, running on trails because it was the next best thing, it was humbling. Everyone here had a story. I wish I had had more time to hear them all as well as run with these amazing people up the steep mountain climbs.

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Me
Quick Random Tip: Michelle, my other roommate, had brought with her, an ULTRA BOX! What a brilliant idea, it was a shoe box filled with goodies you need for Ultras, such as a massage ball and those emergency items us women always need. I am definitely going to make myself one of those and fill it with micropore tape, iodine, superglue, spare batteries, for my head torch,  recovery drinks, torq gels, the list goes on. What would you put in your ultra box?

PicturePhoto from http://www.dragonsbackrace.com











As if making new friends wasn’t enough in itself, we met representatives of Berghaus and Torq, and also were incredibly lucky to meet with running legends Steve Birkinshaw (winner of last year’s Dragon Back race) and Helene Whitaker (outright winner of the first Dragon Back race in the Welsh Mountains in 1992) who both gave us a captivating talk of their experiences. 

We also watched the video of last year's race and  had a chance to win a Berghaus Vapour Storm jacket, a LED Lenser headtorch or 'LIKE THE WIND' magazine. The magazine is full of all sorts of brilliant running stories guaranteed to inspire and entertain you.  I had come across it before at the Trail Ferret Trail Camp Weekend and loved it. 

"It was like Christmas for runners."

Of course, now I have sent my registration to the Dragon Back Race (oops!).

And yes, I only ever race in hot countries, so it is with a bit of luck I had a chance to test out Berghaus’ Award Winning vaporlight smock (weighs 86kg) that had been developed for Berghaus Athlete, Philippe Gatta for his 40 day 1700km trek along the Great Himalayan Trail, so I have some idea of the sort of clothing I will need to invest in.

We were also given Torq gels and bars to try out. Ben from Torq shared with us his immense knowledge on nutrition and suggested that thanks to the development of Torq gels that use a 2:1maltodextrin:fructrose mix, you could take up to 90g of carbohydrates an hour which is equivalent to 3 gels, without getting an upset tummy, and so preventing fatigue.

Be interesting to try this out the next time I do a run over 3 hours, besides the apple crumble flavour is ‘to run for!'. Tastes really just like apple crumble!

PictureTorq gels. Featuring Apple Crumble. Definitely 'To Run For!'
Lastly, something particularly memorable for me this weekend I would like to share with you, whether or not you believe in destiny…

I
 broke my back in December, 2008, but earlier that year I had completed the Marathon Des Sables. The training for this is what I believe saved me from permanent paralysis, so there has always been in the back of my mind a wish to one day do the Marathon Des Sables again but return stronger than before, to prove myself capable, a minor bit of unfinished business to see if I can come in the top 100 at least. I just needed the time to be right to enter it.  

And sure enough …

It was on first day of the Trail Team weekend. A few of us had opted to be part of a photo shoot for the organisers. Whilst I was waiting to be called to run past the camera (this is harder than is sounds) there was a tap on my shoulder.


Out of all the hundreds of people that could have been at this weekend, was someone called Graham Kelly who remembered me from the 2008, MDS.  Someone who knew me from before my accident.

And what did he ask me?

“Ever thought about doing the MDS again?”

“Well, you know who is going to be doing it with me then”, I replied.

His smile said it all. Well, all I needed was a sign...
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I am so lucky. I can run.

4/22/2014

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I run because it makes me happy. That is an answer I have to give nearly everyday. The conversation may go something like this, and if you are a runner, you will be familiar with these questions.

Question from well meaning friend:

 "But why? Why would you want to run when you can drive?"

Me: "I like running, besides, I hate driving."

Friend: "Yes, but why do you have to run so far?"

Me: "Because I can run so far. Why stop at 10 miles if I can run 30 miles?"

Friend: "But how do you have the time, don't you have time off?"

Me: "That is what I do in my time off. I could run a short distance, but I use my time off to run a long distance. Think of it in your world as not just watching one episode of 'Friends', but watching the entire box set in one go"

Friend: "Oh yeah, I do that... but don't you get bored?"

Me: "Don't you get bored of watching repeats of "Friends?"

And so on.

Running makes me happy also because no one makes me do it.  I feel free and I feel alive. Everyone runs for different reasons. Some enjoy the competitive side, some like the way their body gets in shape, some do it for health reasons. I run to explore and I fulfil my childlike curiousity to follow a path that leads to who knows where and with the confidence that  I have the energy to run back if I get lost.

But most importantly, running is a healer for me. It takes my mind off my back pain. Yes, I still get back pain since breaking my back and I have suffered with some form of nerve pain every single day since 23rd December 2008.

Some days, I wake up and I have a pain which feels like my right shin bone is being repeatedly snapped in half. Over and over and over. The pain is so strong and so real. I have a mantra that I recite to myself, over and over;

"It is only nerve pain, it isn't real ....it is only nerve pain, it isn't real".

And that way I deal with it, and the pain dims. It is more of annoyance, because it makes me late for work, I have to get up early to walk off all my different pains and sorry to be crude, the bowel problems that are associated with my nerve damage.

It makes me so slow in the mornings, everything is a real effort and very tiring. You would think the last thing I would want to do is go for a run. But I look forward to it. I am so lucky.

I know my senses will be excited by different sights of the early morning sunrise as the stars disappear and the smell of morning dew evaporating. I will have fun bounding over stony paths and dancing over gnarly  tree roots hidden beneath the leaves. I will laugh at myself trying to be clever and leaping over muddy puddles almost slipping or satisfied as I run balancing on cambered surfaces whilst still maintaining a nice gliding speed. I will love the trickling feeling the sweat makes as it drips down my back as I conquer a hill without stopping.

I will  be happy, immersed in my own world concentrating on my breathing so that it remains calm despite my feet quickening. I will know I am truly alive  feeling my heart pounding and my legs screaming in defiance when I don't give up. All these things I look forward to. All these things I can do.

I am so lucky. I can run. I am so lucky.

I have no excuse not to do it. I know how good it makes me feel after, how much stronger I feel. I won't ever let it get taken away from me.

Which is why I was delighted when 'Wings for Life Spinal Research Foundation'  invited me to run in the Wings For Life World Run on May 4th. The run is unique and will start at the same time in 35 locations all over the world.

In the UK it takes place in Silverstone and you will run for as long as you can until a catcher car that is accelerating at a fixed rate, overtakes you, then you are out.

The entire entry fee goes to Wings For Life, which is a non profit spinal cord research foundation seeking a cure for spinal cord injuries. Their motto is ‘Running for those who can’t’. I was nearly one of those who couldn’t run. I am so lucky.

 I am looking for other people to enter and join me. Not only will you be running for an amazing cause, but you will get a goody bag and an invitation to the after party at the F1 Paddock at Silverstone. The final male and female runners in the World will be crowned the Global Champions. Their award will be a once in a lifetime, round-the-world trip, to the next Wings For Life Run. Entries must be by 27th April. You can join me as part of the team 'The Wanderers' or enter as an individual.  


Are you lucky enough to ‘run for those who can’t?



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    Wanda Summers

    Wanda Summers is Personal Trainer who loves what she does. 

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