2012 was a truly Olympic Year in every possible way: 3 jobs. 3 homes. 12 challenges for 2012. One big charity fundraiser. The Queen's Golden Jubilee and the ACTUAL Olympics and Paralympics right here in London!
January
My memories of January are of the Boris Bike Challenge, freeeeeeezing fingers and desperately holding my nerve as I swerved London traffic and one-way networks on a hired bicycle (more often than not with dodgy breaks or semi-deflated tyres). Cycling in London was something I promised myself NEVER to do in the pursuit of actually reaching my 30th Buffday: Over the years reading dozens of articles about cyclists – mostly women - tragically killed cycling in London traffic, I’d associated woman + cycling + London = Not on your Nelly. But I did it and I actually enjoyed it once I was assured I didn’t have frost bite. Acquainted with all 350 Boris Bike Stations and still able to dock, unlock, adjust the seat height, be saddle bound and escaping a hoard of tourists asking directions in under 3.2 seconds is an invaluable life skill in London – I tell you.
February
The first of the flat moves of the year as I swapped West Hampstead for the beautiful flat in Barnes. After years of dodgy flats, some slightly dodgy flatmates and some of the dodgiest of landlords possible, overnight I literally WON the flat lottery, even if only temporarily. Oh happy days.
March
Still saddlebound – this time for a 45 mile cycle ride on supposedly flat route around Cambridgeshire. I can still VIVIDLY REMEMBER THE EPIC HILLS which on Monty – the slightly rusty, beloved Mountain Bike I borrowed - was probably not quite the tool for the job. This became obvious when I was overtaken on one such epic hill by a cyclist riding low wearing one of those futuristic cone areaodynamic helmets whilst in contrast I swerved my merry way across the road with every huff and puff. I learned that day just HOW seriously people take their cycling! Oh the Mountain Bike shame, the butt pain BUT the UTTER delight of completing my first ever long distance Cycletta. Let’s just not talk times mmmkay!
March was also the month of the Beast – the Jurassic Coast Challenge; 3 marathons in 3 days.
As a seasoned marathon power walker I really didn’t appreciate what I was letting myself in for with this (I actually thought this would be one of the easier challenges of 2012 – hahahahhahahahah!). Being dropped off by the mini-bus on the first day in front of the biggest, steepest hill imaginable for Britain essentially set the tone of the next three days. Up and down hills with alarming and heart-attack inducing frequency, scrambling along the coast – sometimes literally holding on for dear life and limb, whispering my last will and testament to AJ. Delightful pit stops at the fuelling stations. Hopeless map reading. Numerous checks to ensure you were carrying everything including the kitchen sink. But my resounding memory is of walking/hobbling in GLORIOUS sunshine for three days straight – in hindsight – those three days were sunnier and warmer than June! Bliss(ters)! We didn’t quite vanquish the Beast in the end but we accomplished so much in three exhausting days.
April
Joined in the Do Life: UK Edition Run followed by Charity Frock Shop Event frenzy. Definitely stepped out of my comfort zone with this one – says the girl who owns more drifit lycra than dresses. But somehow the frock donations flooded in from near and far, the plan for the day came together, I BUILT A WEBSITE!!! and I cashed in a lifetime supply of favours: Cue an AMAZING team of brilliant volunteers who made the day totally glorious. Dresses were bought, much delicious cake was inhaled, calamity was avoided and we raised £1000 for HOPEHIV. Huzzah!
May
Drawing a blank for Mighty May but waaaaaaaaait just a tutti fruity nanosecond. Wasn’t this the month I donned the glorious wetsuit, bumped into my High School Biology Teacher just as I was looking my most fabulous self (as you do), and then proceeded to force my wobbly kneed self into the Thames (in hindsight for the first time that year – for my sins)? Why yes, yes it was:
I crawled my way through the choppy waters to the one mile finish line and literally crawled out hallucinating with exhaustion. May was the month I killed the front crawl and swam 1 mile non-stop (in the pool): Front crawling in the Thames was a whole other experience I learned as I fought not to suffocate mid swim in a giant plastic sheet that I’d become wrapped in. The wavvvvvvves, the complete lack of visibility and the cooooooold were bonus highlights. Personally I still believe Tooting Bec Lido was colder than the Thames in May. I have never experienced cold water like it. I feel like a bonafide Artic Explorer just thinking about surviving the 11 degree Tooting Bec Lido water acclimitisation exercise. Utterly horrendous.
June
Started a new Job. Became bikeless as the beloved Monty was returned to his owner. Faced up to my ‘slight’ food obsession.
Moving on quickly…..
July
Ahhhh July. After running the British 10km in 1 hour 8 mins despite zero run training (seriously not recommended). This month I headed North to brave the thrills and spills of Fort William, accompanied by my rocket lilo – as you do. First up was climbing Ben Nevis solo (we’ll pretend for a second that there wasn’t a bonafide trail and about 100 other climbers ascending that day). Climbing Ben Nevis is one of my absolute favourite highlights of 2012, if not my life. I truly tested what I was capable of that day and came out on top. :-) Heights are not my thing, map-reading isn’t my forte and being up a mountain in fast-changing weather on your own (when you're essentially a total wuss) is not to be taken lightly. After a really fast non-stop climb for 3.5 hours to beat the incoming weather I was the highest up a mountain I’d ever been without the assistance of a ski-lift – 1334 meters high to be exact and I felt on top of the world. A truly amazing feeling and view – I can totally comprehend the fascination with climbing Mountains. Everest here I come!! There were parts that we’re spine tingling close to a sheer drop in high winds and moments where I really didn’t think I could go on especially as the weather turned and the clouds dropped – but I did. Overcoming moments like this, for me is what these challenges are all about. I LOVED the feeling of utterly exhausted, 100% shaking legs when I finally reached sea level again. I have complete and utter respect for my 12in12 teammates who went on to complete 3 peaks in 24 hours later this year. One (albeit the highest peak) was quite enough for me.
The following day it was time to put the lilo to use and descend those rapids. Unfortunately despite flooding in many parts of the UK – Fort William was experiencing a ‘dry spell’ and the water level was almost dangerously low. Lucky old me was given the number one race position (Seriously HOOOOOOOWWWWW?!?!) so it was my job to jump off the cliff top first. The girl who’s beyond petrified of plunging to her death also had to cope with the peer pressure of 100 or so other River Racers waiting for me to kick off proceedings chanting Jump.Jump.Jump. I still have no idea how I managed to leap off that rocky outcrop. No. Idea. (The power of peer pressure is mighty indeed!) This race was a) death defying and b) an arm killer. There were some great rapids and spine chilling ‘will I/will the lilo make it drops’ up top but my resounding memory is launching off one rock sans lilo only to be marooned 0.00001 second later on another rock and scrabbling on my knees through 3 inches of water. It was completely hilarious if it hadn’t been totally exhausting, not to mention soul destroying to travel approximately 5 meters a minute. A race that should have taken 20 mins ended up taking 2 hours as I became one with being a pooh stick bobbing helplessly along on my raft, like a 3 day old ship marooned sailor. Definitely an experience!
But wait there's more, unbelievable July brought EVEN MORE excitement as I made my Olympic Torch Running debut. A 100% AMAZING DAY. The sheer excitement, the attention to detail from the organisers, the contagion of their delight in just being involved, the crowds all wanting a photo with the torch (and me) (the one and only time I am papped is whilst I’m wearing a polyester white and gold tracksuit – go figure!!) and the experience of carrying the Olympic Flame for what felt like an age – thankfully I narrowly avoided having to run the flame up Blackheath Hill. Phew! Literally I have never smiled so much in my life as I did that day. I get major jaw ache even just reminiscing about the experience! Thanks to everyone who nominated me to run and for my family and friends who came from near and far to cheer me on. Such an honour.
August
Back on the bike again this month (and this time a bike of my very own and a hybrid racer!!) and averaging 70miles a week in order to prep for the mammoth 100km cycle around Brittany (yup my first International Race!!!) despite being saddled ;-) with the mother of all chest infections, I went ahead with the race (very ill advised).
It was slightly mad and unbelievably tough and that’s if I’d been able to breathe normally. With a chest infection it was bordering on lunacy. The number of insane climbs and the wind factor of the coast road made for an interesting 6.5 hour cycle ride. Completely and utterly bonkers.
We also had the most memorable Sunday Run Club of the year this month – running in absolutely torrential rain and refusing to quit despite all of us agreeing we would and should!!
September
An eventastravaganza and the month I became a Triathlete (twice)!! The month started off sanely enough running Iron Girl around Richmond Park on the hottest day of the year.
Then I completed my first ever Triathlon – the BananaMan Tri and relished in swimming in something other than the Thames. Dorney Lake is mermaid swimming heaven with 100% visibility :-). LOVED my first Tri experience.
Practise Triathlon complete, then came the real deal: The London Triathlon and whoa what a shock. Such a mammoth impersonal event and once again I found myself jumping back into the Thames, this time complete with bleeding hand. Yikes! This was probably my least favourite event of 2012 - it’s ambition to be a profit-making machine rather than a fun fitness endurance event was a bit too overt for my liking. Plus doing laps of a carpark on bike and then on foot was totally uninspiring. A Trial rather than a Triathlon!
Fortunately September ended on a high as I accompanied Laura (Marathon Virgin) in the Shine Marathon. So I may not have done quite enough training for this and my lower back gave out at the 18 mile mark but it was a fun and inspiring night and we both made it over the finish line despite some very sore legs. Shine On!
October
Real Life slightly overtook my events calendar this month: My Dad got remarried with just two weeks’ notice. Surprise!! Plus the job hunting and flat hunting began in earnest as I was realised that my flat contract and job contract both concluded the following month and within the same 48 hours. Simultaneously Homeless and Jobless = slightly knicker-twisting prospect if you’re not secretly a Millionaire (I wish!), otherwise I’d have been off to explore South America like a shot. One day soon though (fingers crossed).
Despite the chaos, in an attempt to keep up with the 12in12 mission, I plunged once again into……. (yup you guessed it) the Thames, this time for a two mile swim. My main recollection was the absolute freezing cold. I was shivering with cold and my feet were blue even before I’d climbed into the Thames and I was legit scared, totally unsure how much harder it would be to swim two miles as the furthest I’d ever swam was a mile. However it was easier than I expected (thanks to a helpful current) and I was rewarded with a delightful ‘brown Thames beard’ and a lovely warming drink at the finish line for my efforts.
November
After 10 months of events I decided that it was probably time to do some ACTUAL training and with a mammoth 120km run challenge finale planned for December, I took the plunge and signed up for my first ever course of Personal Training. Oh and I got myself a run coach as well. Mostly to distract me from the prospect of actual homelessness as I packed all my worldly and not-so worldly goods into storage and said a sad goodbye to Barnes.
But I started a new job this month = proof I’m not a totally hopeless case. :-)
December
Finally moved into a new flat :-) but sadly no big 12in12 120km run finale happened. This month was a slight disaster as I was totally preoccupied fighting stomach plague and keeping abreast of the official Hope Tour: 12 Marathons in 12 Days via FB. Really emotional times. In more time than it took 4 hardy souls to run 314 miles each, I finally won the fight – and recovered my appetite just in time to eat Christmas Dinner. But I missed out on ALLLL the Christmas festivities and long awaited Paris was viewed only from my hotel room. Sadness personified.
2012 In Review
Although I may not have got discernibly fitter, trimmer or completed the much lusted after half-marathon this year (Me + Running + 2012 = SHAMBOLIC) as I was desperate to do – oops, I did get on a bicycle and into cycling in a big way, not to mention swimming in OPEN WATER and doing some crazy events that I never imagined I’d ever have the nerve to do. All seemed to involve cliff tops!
So my 12in12 plan wasn’t a total success BUT I ended up undertaking:
a massive 14 events this year!!!!
running with the Olympic Torch
pulling off my first ever Charity Fundraiser
raising over £1200 towards the 12in12 total for HopeHIV
Not too shabby. Other than my hair in evvvvvvery single photo this year. Whoops.
**Plus if you’ve been meaning to donate and just haven’t got round to it over the last 364 days (totally understandable) – Nil Desperandum – there’s still time: Just one day left before my 12in12 JustGiving page closes and we say goodbye to the thrills and spills of 2012 forever**
Plus my 12in12 hard work isn’t quite complete yet – since I was totally out of action in December - I'll be completing my 120km running mileage in January. Just bring on the snow!! Then seriously. I'm done. At least until March 2013 ;-)
Thanks to everyone who’s helped me survive what has personally been my toughest year to date – there were many occasions even despite, or maybe because of the pressures of 12in12 when I felt more than a bit stupid, more than a bit purposeless and mentally debilitated by the challenges (fitness and otherwise) I was faced with. But with the immense support and kindness of friends old and new, internet buddies and strangers, I somehow kept dusting myself off and going headlong into the fray once more.
Somehow I survived EVERYTHING that 2012 threw at me. I truly, truly cannot believe it.
So long 2012 xx