What's Pink and Hard?

...a jelly bean!

I have to say that after a few months of being remarkably disinterested in FLM this year, getting ready to go I was all a-quiver! The journey up was a nightmare, as the railway peeps seemed to have picked one of the busiest Sundays of the year (around 1 million spectators) to do repairs and shut down half the lines into London, the Northern line, and half of the DLR. Tragic really, as it meant that many people trying to get to the start near Greenwich were stuck north of the river, and ended up running the couple of miles to the start – not the best preparation!

Anyway – I eventually arrived at the station before Mudchute (the train didn’t go all the way) and walked down the mara route to the RW supporters’ point. All the memories (and goosebumps) came back as I passed under the 17 mile arch. “Next year”, I told myself.

Then down to meet Moo, Plummie and various others who were busy setting up, and I set to work helping Plummie with the balloons. In spite of the heat there was quite a strong wind, and we had to use masses of gaffer tape to stop the balloons blowing across the course. More people turned up, along with masses of jelly babies, bananas, oranges, jaffa cakes, plus all sorts of other goodies for the runners.

Then the giant 26 mile long carnival arrived – first the wheelies (well done to Shelly Woods!) and then the elite women. I couldn’t help but think how much faster Paula looked when I saw her go past in 2002. The elite men went past in a group of about eight, and looked considerably faster. Then onto the fast club runners. It’s all a bit bland at this point, because you don’t get the real human interest stories until the “ordinary” runners turn up. We saw our first costumed runner (an Elvis), at about a 3 hour equivalent, and then a few pirates – Cougie, CRAB (I think), and shortly after the bright raspberry hair of LP! All were welcomed with massive cheers and waved jaffa cakes.

I really can’t remember the precise order of everyone who turned up, but one by one they came to hugs, cheers, and more waved food items. Great to see everyone again, pretty much without exception suffering in the heat and behind their target, although Wumbly seemed quite happy to just be getting round (and impatient for the report :-P ).

Then finally the numbers started to thin, and it was time to get extra loud. A lot of people had started to leave the side of the road, and I imagine there’s nothing worse than feeling you’ve still got nine miles to go and yet everyone’s heading home. Lots more immense gratitude for a sticky jaffa cake (they were melting in the heat), and a few people in outlandish costumes. One person particularly stuck in my mind – she was looking okay physically but saw us and burst into tears. While I’ve never quite been at that stage at mile 17, I can in many ways identify – it’s a weird mix of emotions, particularly in the heat and if it’s your first time, and the wave of emotion generated can be overwhelming. Anyway – she saw us as friendly souls, Heebs gave her a massive hug while I gave her a pep talk about how incredible the crowds were in the last few miles, to take it one mile at a time, and to remember that the pain is short lived while the memories of the day when it’s all over and you have the medal will last a life time. I was getting quite choked up saying it, but the unknown soul headed off, not exactly with a spring in her step, but she started running again. I watched her as she disappeared round the bend, to vanish as quickly as she came, and yet somehow I felt an amazing connection. For me it summed up the marathon. If you’ve done it you have an immediate bond with anyone else doing it. If, by some small chance you’re reading this and that was you, let me know you got the medal :o)

A bit more of a wait, and then the girls of St Trinian’s form 3B turned up – KKD, ST and Ginger Loon, all looking happy as anything even though they were pretty near the back. They were obviously having a ball, and by the look of the pics, continued to do so. Just a shame that Arty had to drop out.

A bit more of a wait, and then we headed to the pub. Great to see everyone at the finish, but not quite as good as the usual place as we were a bit spread out. Very cheap rounds though – how can pubs charge £3 for lager when in this pub it was under £2?? It was a nice place too, not a dive at all. New social location anyone?

And then, after a few pints, I headed home. I’d started the day in two minds about the day – I really haven’t got into FLM mood this year, and yet it was such a great day. It brought back all the fantastic memories of previous years, and of course all 36,000 runners will have their own amazing stories to tell. And that, in a nutshell, is what makes FLM great. It’s a 26 mile long carnival, it’s a day when London lets down its hair and drops the unfriendly façade and parties. But above all it’s made up of individuals – each with their own goals, each with their own mountains to climb, and each with their own personal victory. It rocks!!

Eve of FLM

Well - it's FLM tomorrow, and for once I'm not that excited about it. Don't get me wrong, I'll be going up there tomorrow and cheering on all the peeps doing it, but somehow I've just not got caught up in the buzz of the event and everything on RW so much.

Not sure why - even when I've been injured before I've been very much into it. Maybe it's just that this year I have lots of other things to think about, such as study, which I'm doing in a reasonably decent fashion, although perhaps not as well as I'd like.

Would I like to be running tomorrow? Well - if uninjured, and I'd had a good build up, then yes! The atmosphere is still fab even having done it four times before, but tbh it's probably a good thing I'm not. I think the level of training necessary would have distracted (along with the part time work) from my main priority for this year - getting onto the physio course.

All in all - that's going well. I had the MMR jab yesterday, my module mark has been put up (not as much as I'd hoped, but I've heard via several sources that they are being ridiculously pernickety with the wording of answers), and just have to figure out how not to stuff up the wording next time round. There's about six weeks until the first exam, so I'm trying to do general coverage of stuff for the next few weeks, then will hit the exam papers more solidly. Thing is - we're doign new material still, so it's quite tricky!

Got earache today, and I'm trying to get an appointment to see a doc! Not sure how antibiotics will itneract with the MMR jab but I need something to kill the pain and let me concentrate. I've also got two whacking great forms to fill in to apply for the bursary for next year. All that and various adminn tasks. I'm getting through them but there always seems to be some mundane but essential task on the "to do" list before I can focus entirely on study.

I've Been Running!

Wow - amazing - someone from a running site goes running, but it's been a few weeks! It wasn't a pleasant run tbh, way too polleny and I had streaming eyes and my throat was a bit gunky, plus my quads really played up for some reason - maybe lack of practice! However, the knee seemed okay, unless the quad thing was a referred kind of problem. Good to do something outside of the gym.

Bear's aren't that keen on treadmills, as this video clip shows ;o)

What else has been happening? Got loads of stuff sorted out - having my jabs on Friday (MMR anyway - leaving the rest until I get to George's as they cost a fortune and they were a bit iffy about adult meningitis). I was warned and told that Occy Health at George's would do it.

Just back from the gym where I did body pump and have just started to get the nice aches. Shame the spin class was full :o(

Looking forward to a grand day out at FLM on Sunday :oD

Medically In The Clear

Phew!

Went to see the doc - nice lady, had a very informal chat about my history and I think I managed to get across that none of it was serious. She suggested I got a medic alert bracelet for the epilepsy even though it was well controlled, and also that I stayed on the prozac for the duration of the course as it could be quite stressful. I could have taken issue, but there really wasn't any point. She also said not to worry about the jabs if the GP wanted money for them - they could be doen when I got to George's. So - all good stuff. I'll go and see what my GP says about jabs tomorrow, but either way it isn't going to be an issue.

That means - all I need to do is score a B grade and I'm actually going to get to St George's!! I got another huge buzz walking the corridors today, and in fact deliberately went via the med school rather than take a short cut, just so I could bathe in the atmosphere :oD

Had a good day "admin"-wise - doen the shopping, got some info on ISAs for the new tax year,a nd also chased up my insurance from just over a year ago. The good news is that the car driver's insurance company (the twat who drove into me) have finally admitted responsibility, so that means I should firstly get two year's no claims bonus (this year plus the year prior to the accident), which reduces my insurance for next year, plus I should get some money back for the year about to end, when because it was in dispute I didn't get any NCB. It may even pretty much pay for the year to come! :oD

Studying's not been going badly - there's still gaps in my knowledge, but I really need to do past papers and practice questions, as I've gone through all the notes and just need to see what gaps there are to fill. I've done the exchange surfaces and circulations practice questions, and am now onto reproduction. Shut it Wumbly and Benzy!! :-P

Born to be Wil-i-ild!!

That was a fun day - rather tedious in a way but I managed to make it fun. Spent the day re-doing my CBT test as it's nearly two years since I originally did it and it would have run out on Tuesday, and I need it to ride into work. Shame I didn't plan a bit more in advance, else I could have fitted in all the other bobbins and got my full motorcycle licence done. Hadn't given that any thought really, but suddenly thought "this doing it every two years is a pain, why not kill it off once and for all, plus be able to go on motorways?". Anyway - it's bad timing, need to be studying biology text books, not the Highway Code! It'll wait for the summer.

The guy doing the course today was a real old school looking biker guy - tons of facial hair, weather beaten face, and smoked roll ups. Lovely guy though. He even organised things so I got to have a go on a bike with gears, which was great fun. Wish I'd realised I could do that earlier - I'd have booked it and spent an extra tenner to hire one for the whole day. Not sure why but even on a 125cc geared bike, it still feels more like a "proper" bike. Wonder how much a decent one is second hand, and how much the insurance is?

Anyway, in a way it was tedious, especially the first bit, but it was good practice - slaloming in and out of cones and practising turns on a bit of waste ground. Then back to base for lunch, and then an afternoon spent out on the roads. All pretty routine for me, tbh, a lot easier than riding into work, but I did pick up a few reminders on roadcraft and stuff.

All in all then not a bad day. Got to get the insurance sorted out as that runs out in about 20 days, so I'll start that Tuesday morning, and then hopefully get the medical out of the way and cleared for go ahead with the physio course in the afternoon.

Studying is going well - really enjoying genetics in particular! Thinking baout it though I don't have to do too great - assuming my re-mark doesn't go down, I have 170+ points in the bank, and only need another 250 from the remaining possible 400. The two projects are worth 100 maximum, and the first one seemed to be pretty much top notch. The second one is good, but probably not as strong - say 70%, but that still gives 85 more marks overall, which leaves 165 to get out of 300, which is only just over half marks! I want an A of course, but the B I need for physio is looking like it's a fairly soft target. Not going to let up though!

I have more teaching hours after Easter - we get some year 10 students coming in for the last term. I've actually taken on a smidge more than I meant to, but it fits in well with my existing timetable, so it shouldn't take too much time away from me - and most of the preparation will be the same as for year 11 so no extra work there.

I must get back to some more exercise - I think it helps lift my mood (not that it's been bad!) and provides a work from all the academic stuff. I've got a spin class booked for tomorrow morning already :o)

Fingers Crossed

This morning I kicked off the re-mark. Now the wait begins! To be honest I'm not that bothered about the result, ideally I'd like it to go up lots but as long as it goes up one mark I get the £37 back! Ultimately I'm going to redo it in the summer, but if I get the five extra marks my tutor thinks I'm due then that'll translate to nearly eight or more once it's scaled up.

We went through it on the phone yesterday - have to say they really have been horrendously mean in some places! When asked to compare results, I've said "A produces less X than B", and the mark scheme says to give credit for "B produces more X than A" - which is equivalent obviously, but they haven't given the mark. FFS! There's several more of similar (seeming) stupidity, plus Derek has pointed out where I went wrong on a few, and I'm kicking myself! Good to know that the exam was pretty much as I remembered it - although some of the things I did were so daft I'm still kicking myself!

Been revising the rest of the day and I've finally figurd out female hormones - that's got to be worth a nobel prize at the very least! ;o)

Eeek! Fret fret fret!

Just back from the Occy Health appointment - had hoped to blog on the next hurdle being cleared, but they said to get cleared I'd have to see the doctor and come back next week. Rather annoying really, I didn't tell them anything that wasn't on my form, so I've had rather a wasted trip, and am now wibbling a bit in case they say no.

It may well just be a formality, but the nurse said "because of my history", I need to see the doc. Ah well - fingers crossed.

Bit of a wasted day - slept late, must have been the after-effects of this cold, and didn't get into Croydon to kick off the re-mark. I spoke to my tutor by phone and he's gone through where I lost marks too, which was helpful, I made some howlers!! Anyway, I can go in and sort that tomorrow.

Think I'll leave kicking off the jabs (I need them BTW) until after Occy Health have been seen again - if they do say no then it'll be a waste of everyone's time. Hopefully this time next week I'll be in the clear, and will still have a few days left in the hols to get the jabs sorted. I need MMR, meningitis and HepB apparently.

Curses - was hoping to kill a lot of stuff off today.

Have been studying reproduction but would rather be doing a practical ;o)