I've been keeping up a regular running/gym pattern (around 6/7 hours of fitness a week) since I was basking in the self-congratulatory sense of achievement when brandishing my first 1/2 marathon medal in September 2011. I've been increasing the intensity/duration of my runs over the last few weeks, and adding more resistance training in the gym to strengthen my upper body. I know I'm fit, if not fitter than in the lead up to the Bristol 1/2, but for some reason, I can't quite strike the same note of utter dedication - can't quite loose my body's gripes in the total mind-over-matter mentality. Perhaps, like with everything in life: your first time is always the most special or memorable. It's impossible to recreate that moment of euphoria.
I know I can try harder with fundraising, but I needed an extra push to remind me why I'm putting myself through this again. For a start, to see my mum positively brimming and buzzing with enthusiasm after her three day residential course at the Penny Brohn Centre in Pill helped me to understand the ethos of the charity and gave me a greater insight into their work with cancer sufferers. Penny Brohn's ethos is to help cancer suffers live with cancer - 'live' being the operative word. The NHS or 'sausage factory', as my mum and her best friend (who has had both breasts removed due to cancer) call it, remove the life-eating cells, but Penny Brohn Cancer Care enable cancer sufferers and their families deal with life once they've been spat out of that machine - lost, confused and emotionally weak.
The number of caner sufferers is predicted to steeply increase and although more efficient treatments and procedures are also increasing- there needs to be more of a support network to make sure cancer sufferers can readjust to life after invasive surgery. The Penny Brohn method has been practiced here for thirty years, and though the charity was founded in Bristol - the team are currently setting up outreach centres, which will meet the needs of patients around the country more directly.
I'm so glad I took up the offer to go along to a special 'Runners Day' at the Penny Brohn Centre (6 miles out of Bristol) on Saturday - an opportunity to meet other runners raising money for Penny Brohn, tour the facilities at the centre, be given expert tips from a physio, a nutritionist, and training expert and also use the day as the perfect opportunity to try out a new running route that encompassed 12.34 miles along the estuary between Pill and Leigh Woods.
I set off in the sunshine, with iPod tuned to a new training playlist, with just a roughly written set of directions in the pocket of my Fred Perry tennis shorts, hoping that the weather would be kind to me. It was a beautifully warm day, and I was fired up - excited about the new route and having a meaningful interval to look forward to. I made it to the centre in 48 minutes, covering just over 6 miles.
As per usual, I strode in looking like a punched beatroot, and was greeted by Andrew, the fundraising manager - who had been at the finish line at the Bristol 1/2 marathon, and was probably not surprised to see me in such a state, as I'd been in the same condition then too. The centre is part Georgian mansion, complete with cedar trees lining the drive and sandy stone walls glowing warmly in the early spring sunshine. There are additional wings surrounding the old chassie, tastefully and complementarily fitting in, with ornate but unpretentious landscaped gardens dotted around the expansive grounds.
We were offered all sorts of holier-than-holy ethical teas with no less than three milk-but-not-milk alternatives to cows stuff. Impressed - they take nutrition very seriously, as was represented in the gluten free/wheat free mango and pecan squares smuggly waiting to be consumed. Yumm, probably tastier (and much less calorific) as a ten kilos of butter-type recipe from Nigella. I opted for two glasses of water to cool myself down a bit, followed by a Chai with Organic Manuka honey and rice milk.
Even though I was the only one who looked the part of the dedicated runner - I was the novice of the group. The trainer who talked us through race-day kit and trainers had done about 6 full marathons, 12 1/2 marathons and countless ridiculous rough-challenges for those runners who have to have pain as their companion at all times. The other runners where all either seasoned 1/2 marathon runners or in training for the London Marathon this year. I was slightly in awe... never been much of a running geek, but being in a room full of pros for the first time made me excited about running again - I wanted to learn about their experiences and how they get through the runners 'wall'. (Which I think is the technical term for my lack-luster.)
After a demo by a physio on how injuries are picked up from dodgy running technique, and how to prevent this, we then talked carbs, sports drinks (which I detest and will not be adding to my routine) and pre/post race day eating plans. I learned a few surprising facts about energy expenditure and the importance of eating protein to rebuild muscle after training. Aside from that, we discussed trainers, kit and looked at a whole bunch of scarily expensive 'tights' which apartently help circulation and support the flabby bits to decrease wobble and make you more aerodynamic... I will not be convinced to part with £62 for a pair of glorified leggings. No thanks, I'll stick to my hotch-potch approach to attire and avoid cotton, which I totally agree is the runners worst enemy when it comes to sweat-entrapment.
I gulped down an extra half of too-good-to-be-real cake and a tour of the centre commenced with Andrew taking us top to bottom incorporating treatment rooms for reiki, massage and contemplation, an art room, nutritional demo kitchen and group-therapy rooms. The art room is apparently the least used room in the centre which I found surprising and a great shame to see all the new resources sitting dormant in a light-filled space facing the formal gardens.
I thought the centre felt like a luxury spa crossed with a hippy commune - minus the hippyish pretensions/procrastinations and not a whiff of incense to be made drowsy by. Oatmeal carpets, warm oaty-coloured walls, calming lighting, floods of light through generous windows, and quiet aside from the faint sound of the water features outside: the Penny Brohn Centre would make anyone feel instantly at home.
The centre used to be £900 per resident for a three day retreat, but the team recently decided to loose the exclusivity tag, making it is free to anyone suffering or in recovery from cancer. Before I set off, Andrew and the runners discussed why more people don't know about Penny Brohn - there are hundreds of cancer charities, but none of them take the same approach to non-invasive therapy: bolstering the body by teaching sufferers the importance of using a strong immune system to fight again the alien cancer cells attacking their bodies.
I hope that the emergence of more Penny Brohn Centres around the country will create awareness and drum up more support from independent donators, corporate sponsors and government agencies. In the meantime, I'll keep trying to spread their good work - I've seen such a positive change in my mum's attitude to life after cancer, she's still brimming from her time at the centre over a month ago, and is looking forward to returning again soon for a week's retreat - where I know she'll try and get that art room full of people creating pieces of work that address their worries and release some negativity and apprehensions.
Back out in the sun, a little after 2pm, I hit the tow-path, following the meandering estuary back under the suspension bridge and back up to Clifton - clocking 6.34 miles in 50 minutes - head up, powering through, hitting my stride. Nothing like a dose of inspiration to fuel one's personal motivation.
Please donate to Penny Brohn Cancer Care and support my marathon effort here: http://www.justgiving.com/Holly-Wicks0
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