Word of the week - Gardening

We've been taking advantage of the weather here in Malvern. The washing has been on the line and I've finally sorted the pots in the garden, dismantled the temporary metal framed greenhouse and it's gone to the tip (thank you Peter) 

The raised beds have been dug and are ready to plant out the courgettes and beans that I've grown from seed.

The sweet peas will be planted into the pots and can grow up around the trees to add a bit more colour to the back fence.

The tomatoes and peppers have been transplanted into individual pots, the ones in the shops are starting to flower, I must start mine earlier next year and put them on a sunnier window sill. 

The side of the house has stayed tidy over winter. I'd kept the cloche up thinking my seedlings might have been further advanced by now and planted out earlier and needing a bit more protection, so it can be packed away now.

I'm hoping to have finished the front garden by now with pruning some shrubs and getting the weeding done, but I'd rather be sitting in the back garden enjoying the warmer weather while it lasts. 

The best bits of March 2026

 In no particular order.

Pushkins celebrated her 18th birthday with a Happy Meal from Mcdonalds. She loves the fries.

Every now and then she drinks from the toilet bowl. In general she drinks the manky water from the flower pots outside. She demands fresh water daily in her water bowl and stares at you until she sees you change it every morning with her food.

She truly is a goddess.

I had a couple of days away in South Wales. Peter was in Turkey for most of March visiting friends.

I've not seen the tide in at Barry Island since the mid 80's.

I took part in the parkrun.

And won big on the 2p slots. I gave my winnings to my great niece.

It always makes me smile when I watch Gavin and Stacey as I used to work in an arcade which was owned by the Danter's who run the fun fair at Barry Island.

I went to Jenner Park to watch Barry play football. My father was their goalie in the late 50's early 60's.

I spent the second night in Newport and visited my nephew, his wife and great niece.

There was of course football at Birmingham.

We had sand from the Sahara.

The patio/undercover area was jet washed and tided and seeds were sown.

It's been extremely windy and cold and wet.

I'd walked for miles and ran a fair few more.

I completed an Ultra Challenge in Bath.

My time wasn't as fast as I'd hoped for, but I'd underestimated the elevation.

This was my last major training for the marathon. I was training for endurance not speed. I am 54. I enjoy these ultra challenges and I will be doing more of these.

It's been a fun month and I spent most of it outdoors regardless of the weather.

There was also a lot of cleaning and tidying done in March and I read a few books and uploaded the grandchildren's baby clothes on vinted with almost daily sales with some of my clothes also.

Week 15 2026 One Daily Positive and Project 365

The negatives

I'm several weeks behind with commenting and it matters to me, so I will be catching up over the weekend. It['s the same with comments left on my social media sites. whilst I've raised over £2000 over the past 6 months since I started training for the marathon, I've found this the hardest part, the fundraising

The positives

I made some time on Friday evening to read and catch up with comments and I feel so much better that it's getting done. I followed advise and waited till Friday before going out for a run and it felt good, despite the rain and I've had no aches or pains or injuries. In fact my body doesn't feel like it ran 26.2 miles just under a week ago.

Saturday 11th April Woke to the birds around 5.30am then back to sleep till 8am. I walked down the road to the East Brighton parkrun for 3 laps round the course and back up the hill to the campsite for a shower and breakfast. I've realised that I need the first 5k as a warm up and I must have breakfast and a coffee at least an hour before I run. we decided we'll stay an extra night rather than having to stress about the parking situation on Sunday and we chilled out and caught the bus into Brighton for the day to spend the kids inheritance on the pier in the 2p slots, wander around the Laines, drink coffee, have a leisurely lunch and catch the bus back to the Marina to pick up last minute food supplies for Sunday. Peter had dinner, but I couldn't eat and spend the evening prepping my clothing  and packing my bum bag and in bed after a shower by 9pm. It was a very wet and windy night, but I had a good sleep.

Sunday 12th April Woke at 7am, had tea and porridge, dressed and headed off to Preston Park. It was cold and windy with some rain and a 3.5 mile walk to the start line. I picked up a coffee on route and on arrival joined a very long queue for the toilets, explored the park, had another wee and the marathon started. I stopped at the first mile to remove my long sleeve running top as the sun came out, then ran non stop to mile 4 for another wee stop and ran again till mile 7 where I met Peter and handed over my running top and jacket. Whilst running through the city I saw my friend Jenny whose son Rob died 4 years ago from Sarcoma and her partners nephew was running for the charity. After seeing Peter the route out the cliff top to the windmill and back to the half way mark was demoralising, it was long, lonely, windy and cold, the toilets was dismal and the road never ending. The road then looped again at the pier, back towards the marina, then I met up with Peter again, but the 6 hour 30 minute pacer was hot on my heals, so I went back into full run mode for 5k into Hove and then it was run/walk lamppost to lamppost till the beach huts and once I composed myself for the finish line as I was getting really emotional, I head Peter yelling my name and I ran for the line. After collecting my medal and meeting up with Peter I spent 20 mins lying on the grass, catching my breath and we had a mile walk back to the City to catch the bus to the camp site, grabbing a coffee and a very hard walk up a steep hill to the camp site. I went straight to bed with a hot water bottle on my hips and apart from a visit to the loo, I didn't move till the morning.

Monday 13th April We packed up and after the drive home getting in at 2pm, putting the hot water on, and having a bath, we unpacked the van and I went for a short walk to post some vinted parcels, we had dinner and I was in bed by 8pm.

Tuesday 14th April Back to work. Several members of staff had tracked my Marathon and the kids already knew how I'd done and asked to see my medal. I drove the van into work to fill it up with diesel as the local garage had been named on Sky TV as the cheapest in the UK. Home, video call with the grandchildren, dinner and bed. I drive by this tank every day to and from work.

Wednesday 15th April Straight into town after work to get my nails redone. Same colours for Bowel Research and when people say they like them I casually mention that fact and shoe horn into every conversation 'I ran a marathon' I did some shopping, home, dinner, bath and bed.

Thursday 16th April Peter went to visit his mum in Keynsham. I went for coffee after work to check on my charity box, there was only a handful of coins in it. I spent some time blogging, watched TV and an early night. 

Friday 17th April Met Peter in town for a coffee. I got changed into my running gear in the car and I walked half way up the hill before running back home. No aches or pains and I enjoyed the run. Peter took the car back and made dinner which was ready not long after I got in. We watched TV for the evening while I did some blogging. After a bath I got everything ready for a full day out on Saturday and in bed around 10.30pm.

On the blog this week:

Post Comment Love - Link up with any post written this week.

Word of the week - Marathoner

http://www.chickenruby.com/2026/04/how-i-ran-my-brighton-marathon-april.html

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Post Comment Love - 17th-19th April 2026

Welcome back to #PoCoLo with Stephanie from Bosworth.Life and I.

Post Comment Love #PoCoLo is a friendly weekly linky where you can link up any blog post you've written this week. If you're new or a regular visitor we're sure you'll find something of interest.

Please leave a comment with the host you link up with and we'd also appreciate your help spreading the #PoCoLo word on Twitter/X tag us and we'll RT. You can find us here: Stephanie - @BosworthLife and Suzanne - @ChickenRuby Please also add our badge to your post.

I'll be catching up with reading your posts, sharing and commenting over the next few days. 

I hope you all had a good Spring break. Easter feels like so long ago now.

I had two wonderful weeks off to just chill out. Peter arrived back from his break in Turkey.

I took part in an Ultra Challenge in Bath and spent some time with friends. The cat had her 18th birthday. We had a day out at Countrytastic with our grandchildren. There was a rather disappointing football match, an Easter party, some days out and finally the Brighton Marathon (you can read how I got on in this weeks link up)

And now ... well I'm not too sure. I'm doing a park run this weekend and we're seeing the grandchildren and there's a trip to Northern Ireland booked at the end of May, but otherwise it's just days out, gardening and of course more running and walking. but for leisure as I'm not doing a marathon again, one was enough.

Want to find out more about Post Comment Love #PoCoLo? 

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How I ran my Brighton Marathon April 2026

Yes it is possible to run a marathon with no formal training plan, no coach, no special diet or expensive equipment.

This is what I ran in. It was what I had been training in and they say don't make any adjustments that you haven't trained in. But you'll see from the photo's it was a hot day and within one mile of setting off, I used the toilets to change out of my off running vest. Thankfully there was no rubbing or chaffing.

There was a 3.5 mile walk to the start line from the camp site near the Marina to Preston Park. It turned out to be the best warm up for me. A chance for my breakfast to be digested and to enjoy a coffee as well as walking familiar routes as I'd done as a child towards the viaduct in the background to London Road where my mums family used to live.

On arrival it was windy and raining and I wore my hat and had a disposable plastic rain mac. At the start there was a clothing bin for SHELTER where I dropped my hat before the race.

I met up with a woman in the toilet queue who had run the Brighton Marathon before who gave me a few tips for the race.

The first group went at 9.45am and they called us in waves. I was in wave 8 and we set off at 10.37am. There was a chip built into the bib that was activated as we crossed the start and I also activated the app at the same time so family and friends could follow my progress and for Peter and my friend Jenny to be able to see me on route which gave me an amazing boost to hear my name being called and get a hug.

The toilets became pretty grim as the race went on. This was my second stop around 4 miles in.

At this point mile 6 I was still running and very much enjoying myself. I had a clothing malfunction and knew I was seeing Peter at the 8 mile mark.

I saw my friend Jenny with her husband around this point. shortly afterwards the route went uphill then out onto the sea front and the wind and sun was vicious. At mile 7-8 I slowed down and walked and ate and ran a bit until I got to Peter to hand over my jacket and running top and get a drink.

And this was the part of the run I was dreading the most. We'd travelled it on the bus on the Friday. 2 miles out and 2 miles back. No crowds. At the roundabout a run in land then up the last hill to the windmill and back to the half way point.

There was another loop on Marina Parade and a shoe/sock malfunction followed by a mile to Hove where the 6 hour 30 min pacer caught up with me and there was no way she was going past me and I had a boost of speed. I threw my bum bag at Peter as I had finished my snacks. The 4 miles round Hove saw me run/walk from lamp post to lamp post. A colleague in work who is running the London and Sydney Marathon this year said he could tell I was really digging in at this point. 

It took forever to run round the lagoon for the last 2 miles and past the beach huts and that's when the emotion kicked in, when I remembered why I was doing this at the ripe old age of 54 with 26 weeks of preparation. Stephanie.

I could hear Peter yelling my name and I found the last bit of energy I had. I never once doubted myself that mentally I was capable of this, but physically I was starting to question my abilities.

I appear in this video at 1 min and 3 secs. I didn't realise I'd crossed the line and kept on running.

After crossing the line and collecting my medal, I was given some water, protein yogurt, a t shirt and found Peter.

Peter carried this bag with him for the day, plus he had my jacket which I put back on as I was really cold once I stopped running.

I had my snacks, drink, took my trainers and socks off and put on fresh socks and my crocs. I could hardly move. I just lay on the grass for about 20 minutes.

So do I have any secrets and tips to share with you?

Yes.

I wrote down the water stations mile points as well as the refill stations and toilet stops on the inside of my bib so I could refer to them during the run.

The previous day I'd done a parkrun and had skipped breakfast and hadn't warmed up. DON'T DO THAT.

Don't do anything new on race day that you haven't done before. I ran with the laminate pinned to my back. It was fine when I was running, but when I tied my jacket round my waist it was a pain. My bum bag and jacket tying didn't fit with how my bib had to be pinned on my front. I'd covered the toes and part of my feet with compeed plasters where I knew I'd had problems in the past.

Take tissues for the toilets and hand sanitiser.

What I ate and drank. I'd not tried these gels that runners use. I stuck to my ham sandwich, banana, crisps and snack bars and sweets, washed down with gaviscon. I carried this in my bumbag. I ate the banana and a snack bag before the race started.

Things I didn't use or I'd do differently although there won't be a next time.

• I didn't use the headphones but next time I'd make sure I used them on parts of the route where there weren't any crowds.
• The refillable water bottle. it didn't get used.
• I wouldn't wear the long sleeve running top. I still wear the cardigan/jacket as I'm used to running with it tied round my waist, but I wouldn't laminate the picture/story, I'd have it printed on the back instead and keep it with me. 
• The bum bag works. No mints in future, didn't eat them and only had 1 snack bar, each time I've been out I've only eaten 1.
• I didn't activate Strava and I don't care. I'm more than happy with the official time and distance.
• I would have my name printed on the front of my shirt.
• I would take more photos and videos especially at the finish line.

Word of the Week - Marathoner

Well I did it. I ran the Brighton Marathon in a time of 6 hours and 28 minutes and 6 seconds.

I am NEVER doing it again.

I will however possibly probably mention it again.

I'm 54 years of age. I'm bloody proud of myself.

The last time I ran was when I was in school. I left school in 1987.

I started with the couch to 5k on October 10th 2025 on World Mental Health Day. I completed my first 5k 4 weeks later at a parkrun in Monmouth, I'll be back there this Saturday.

I often surprise myself with my strength both physically and mentally.

It has been an emotional journey.

At 1 min and 3 sec you'll see me come into view and then cross the line and keep on running because I didn't realise I'd actually finished..

I hit my fundraising target and a big thank you to everyone who donated to Bowel Research UK.