Turkish dinner with friends

Christmas jumper time!

Today was Christmas jumper day at work..oh what fun!

The Yaps Down Under

The Yaps Down Under

Elementary my dear...

A distinct chill is in the air in the evenings and it is now getting darker earlier and earlier. Autumn is coming - boo hoo.  So to make myself feel a little better, I bought some pretty tweed material to make a Sherlock inspired cape. It only took me a day to make and I am very proud of myself. Roll on autumn!!

Aboriginal inspired art

After my trip to Uluru, I felt inspired by Uluru and it's people/ culture. Here is my Uluru/ Aboriginal 'trippy' inspired art.

Travelling to the other side of the world to see a big rock!

Just over 3 hours flight from Sydney I arrived into Uluru World!

Flying over the desert

Uluru is a bit of a strange, well oiled tourist machine. The plane lands and you pick up your luggage. You are then escorted onto a free shuttle bus to Uluru resort where the bus drops you off at your chosen accommodation. All accommodation in Uluru is on this small resort - expensive hotels, hostel, campsite. The only alternative to not staying on the resort would be your own camper van or tent.

Everything happens on this resort. All the staff live here, all tourists and shops (one expensive supermarket, a number of souvenir shops, and a few restaurants) are in the resort. The nearest town, Alice Springs, is over 300 miles away so you really are at the mercy of the extortionate prices at Uluru World.

Besides the resort gripe, what can I say about Uluru National Park itself? Uluru is an incredibly beautiful place and I can see why so many Aboriginal legends materialised from this rock. And what a rock it is. 10km to get round the entire rock, I hired a bike and cycled around. It was amazing to see the different shapes within the rock.

What people do not know is that there is more than just Uluru. There is another big rock called Kata Tjuta. In my opinion I think Kata Tjuta is even more impressive. I think more and more people are catching on that Kata is a sight to see, so in future I think it'll gain more attention.

Sunset

Red sand

Sunrise

Kata Tjuta at sunrise

Kata Tjuta at sunrise

Canadian Night

My Canadian friend invited me out to a gig to watch a Canadian singer at the local pub. I have never heard of Hannah Georgas, but supposedly she's big in Canada (duh). She was really good. A small venue but it was a good gig. 

Run Jen Run

After many months of training, I completed my first marathon in 4:04:50. I so wanted 3:59:59 but to be honest it was always going to be hit and miss. I'm still incredibly chuffed though!

The night before I had the worst nights sleep. The hotel was so hot so I just tossed and turned. And then the alarm clock in the room went off at midnight, literally making me jump out of bed! I woke up at 6am and tried to eat my pasta from the night before. Not sure if that was a good idea, but the hotel didn't serve food till 7am and I thought that was too late too eat. I then drank lots of coffee and sports energy drinks. I also popped an expired Immodium tablet (you gotta be careful - don't want any nasty accidents!)

All week I had been watching the weather reports religiously. It was predicted rain and 12 degrees. At least it wasn't predicted to be sunny and 20 degrees (the worst kind of weather!) When I woke up the weather had changed and it was going to be grey, but dry. The best kind of running weather!!

I then had to head over to the start line. I stupidly thought I could catch a bus but the roads were closed so I had to walk to Preston Park which took me about 45 mins. Maybe the walk was good to warm me up but I still think it was a tad too far and I shouldn't have walked it. As I walked over the nerves started to kick in. The doubts begin to start. Can I, can't I?

Just before the start it started to rain, but quickly stopped. Phew.

Before the race

Before the race 2

Paula Radcliffe was the race starter. As we set off I high fived her! Awesome! What a great way to start. However, the very start was so bad and I actually had to stop and walk a bit as it bottle necked and people couldn't get through. The first mile took me 10 mins!

I can't remember much about the race. The first part started in built up areas. Then I think about mile 6 I could finally see the sea! What a sight and it gave me encouragement.

I ensured I took on water at every water stop bar the first. The water comes in water pouches so it was easier to hold rather than a bottle. I had never trained drinking so much water but I think it is necessary to keep taking on fluids.

Up to mile 13 I was still feeling good. I had taken my first energy gel at mile 11 and though my stomach felt a tad bad it settled fairly quickly. I was still under my target race time. I had banked minutes in the first few miles. Thank god I did as I started to slow and slow and slow. 

By mile 18 I was bang on target for 4hrs but realistically I knew I would slow even further thus depleting all my banked minutes. My right glute was aching pretty badly. I took my second energy gel and luckily my body didn't react negatively (no cramps).

The crowd were amazing and the cheers were great. What a boost to hear people shouting 'Go Jennifer, you can do it'!

By mile 20 I knew it was game over and the elusive 3:something was beyond reach. I then had to recalucalte in my head a realistic time I could achieve. I never hit the wall per se but mile 20 - 23 were THE HARDEST miles of my life. The route took us around some industrial park and there were head winds and it was just bleak! I could see people stopped or walking or pulling over to stretch out different parts of their legs (injuries are a bastard!)  I wanted to stop so bad.  I was calculating in my head what time I would finish if I stopped and just walked really fast. I just had to keep telling myself don't stop, don't stop. 

After mile 23 even though there were only 3 miles to go, I kept telling myself that I was never going to do this again. I had slowed so much and even with all the cheering I just couldn't make myself move any faster. My left ankle started to hurt, my glutes were burning, I wished I had paracetamol to numb the pain. I then looked at my watch and it was already 4 hrs but then I saw a chance of making it within 4:05. I was so close! I wanted to finish so badly so I could stop this self inflicted torture that I managed to get some energy (no idea where from) and began to pick up speed (not much but enough). Then I could see the finish line, I was ecstatic that I even managed to sprint across the line! 

And then it was over. Hurrah!! Then the pain just hit me and I could hardly move my legs. Ow ow ow!!! 

Official Stats

Home welcoming flowers

I cooked dinner for my friend. She bought me flowers :)

The day before the end

Got in Brighton and headed over to the Brighton Centre to pick up my registration pack. Lots of runners. The realisation that in less than 24hrs I will be running in my first ever marathon (gulp)!

Queued for a health check. My hydration levels are at 62% (recommended 50-60%). So its nice to know ceasing all booze for the past 2 weeks has paid off! I am 20% body fat (recommended 21%). So im a bit low but I cant see it hinder my race.

So im now eating my food haul from Tescos trying to carb load. I must say I am looking forward to a low carb diet next week!

I'm getting old

So earlier this week, all was normal when I got into the brightly lit lift at work and there it was, sticking up out of my head, like a homing beacon - my first grey hair! So that's it, aged 34 3/4 I finally admit I am getting old!

Pimlico

There is a website called Meetup where you can join up with different events, whatever takes your mood. I decided to join a group that was walking around Pimlico. It was such a beautiful day and it was nice to just walk around and actually be a little sociable.

Walking past Battersea Powerstation. 

A night out

I have been having a bit of a tough time of late. Just so many things happening at once. I have become a bit of a recluse of late so it was really nice to finally go out with my friend last night.

We had drinks, Japanese dinner with two random german guys, then off to see The Grand Budapest Hotel. It was really nice.

War Horse

My friends Po and James came down to London. We went to Burger and Lobster for dinner and then went to watch War Horse in the theatre. It was amazing!

Cheesy pose at Burger and Lobster as we waited for our lobster

Yvonne visits London

February 21 - 28

Yvonne came to London to visit. It was so nice to see my little sister. Such a shame she could only stay for such a short time.

sister shot outside Buckingham Palace

Sunday lunch at Hawkesmoor

Tayaabs lunch