Extreme Knitting Redhead: Brighton

Sunday, November 17, 2013

Brighton

Lovely city - yep

Interesting and eclectic mix of shops and buildings - yep

Good food - yep

Good weather for a 10k? Oh yes. 'Twas the perfect weather for a 10k!

First things first. A nice Americano to give me a caffeine boost

Then a pose in front of Brighton pier

Time for a warm-up before Mike headed off for a wander whilst I got on with my pre-race routine

How did I get on?

52 minutes 48 seconds since you ask and a new personal best time. Mike managed to snap this photo as I was sprinting towards the finish line and I managed to give him the thumbs up sign to say everything was OK.

Apparently he was a bit worried because he saw the time clock was showing 54 minutes as I passed him and he knew I was aiming for sub 53 minutes. But my time wasn't based on the clock time but on my chip time which was only activated when I crossed the start line so I was quicker than he thought.

Even my watch time, which I'd started just before I crossed the start line, was 3 seconds slower than my actual time!

I only had one dodgy section in the race at around mile 4 when we turned and had to run into the wind. It wasn't a strong wind but it did manage to take my breath away a bit and it took a while to get it back under control. It also meant that I had to up my pace considerably for the last mile and then sprint for the final 800 metres.

I had the biggest smile ever on my face when I crossed the finish line.

More photos to follow soon.

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Mum's Story

In 1997 my mother, then aged 81, had a series of minor strokes. Shortly after that we started to notice behavioural changes notably memory loss and confusion over everyday items. We thought it was just old age finally catching up with her. Then she started wandering and had violent mood swings. Although she already lived with us it became obvious that she couldn't be left alone for long and so I left my job to care for her. The next few years saw a gradual decline into the blackness that is 'vascular dementia'. My normally placid mum became violent and aggressive. She had psychotic incidents where she would see imaginary people (children hiding in her wardrobe, Russians sitting on the stairs, women stealing her clothes) and she would shout at them and sometimes throw things too. She was so convincing that we used to go and check that there wasn't anyone there! When my sister died mum did not know who Judy was or that she was her daughter. There came a point when I suddenly realised she no longer knew that I was her daughter and this was a terrible time for me. In the last 2 years that she lived with us, life for us all became almost unbearable as she needed 24 hour care - she couldn't be left alone at all because she would either wander off or hurt herself, she never slept for more than 30 minutes at a time during the night, she became incontinent and incapable of doing anything for herself. Finally my husband and I realised that we could no longer provide her with the care that she needed and she went to live in a special care home where the team did a splendid job caring for her in the last few months of her life. There she lived a zombified existence unaware of who she was, what she was or where she was. It was heartbreaking. She died in March 2005, the day after her 89th birthday.

Thank you for taking the time to read mum's story and I hope you'll dig deep and sponsor me using the link below to help find a way of beating this destructive disease.