Dirty Masochist Vampire Hunter

Yep, FraidyKat is a dirty masochist.

I come to this conclusion having seen these events:

• Mudderella
• JCB Mud Run
• Mucky Races

And gone "Yes, that's for me!"
But I am sure there is more than a touch of sadism there too because the very next thought was "who can I con into doing these with me?"
Dearest partner must have a bullseye painted on him, he was the first victim. There will be more. Mauwhahahaha...

So, mud, obstacles, running, pain, blood, sweat and tears.
No, not chasing a toddler round the garden (although the description fits), running in one of the above events and the of course in the Tough Mudder in October.
Does anyone else think they sound fun or is it just me? I hope it's not just me.


Beyond the thoughts of future pain, there is much less present pain than I expected. I must be acclimatising to the DefenceLab workout; it's still kicking me but it's producing less gremlin food - must try harder.

I will be heading out for another run this evening. Is it weird that my aim for today is to get passed the Cemetery?!

My next aim will then be to choose my next pair of trainers. My poor old Asics have finally given up, I have now worn through the heels.
Not looking forward to getting a new pair, they're so expensive, but it needs doing.
To get my last pair I went to Coventry runner, a little shop on an uninspiring parade but the man there who served me got it exactly right. He got me on the treadmill for a gait analysis, measured my feet and then climbed up a ladder to find the trainers among a box of hundreds that I have spent the last two years wearing.
It turns out I'm an overpronator and my feet are so wide it's a waste of time even looking at ladies shoes (girls aren't allowed big feet apparently).
On the very first run in my £100 (eek!) shoes I was converted. I haven't had shin splints since then and it's bliss.


We have established beyond doubt (?!) that nano-gremlins love the taste of lactic acid and zombies hate it, but does this work with vampires?
Just wondering...
It's nothing to do with those strange noises in the night or the fact we are now sleeping with the window open (our little saviour moggy likes hunting mutant killer mice at night and keeping the world safe from their designs on world domination), or on how tired I feel in the mornings even after a full night's sleep.
But if they didn't like the taste why would they enjoy the hunt so much? The tormenting of innocents (and not so innocents) with blind panic and much running.
Hmm, perhaps they actually love the taste of adrenalin and endorphins.
Maybe we should all be running with neck protectors and collections of stakes.
Think about it, every runner is a brave vampire hunter using him or her self as bait to lure out the beast and keep everyone else safe.
All hail the runner.


FraidyKat Runs - with Van Helsing

Spinning around

The weather forecast for tomorrow is: outbreaks of gremlins, followed by scatterings of zombies and the occasional shower of agonised whimpering.

My head is spinning and I'm only just sanitised following another good workout out that left me bathed in salty goodness.

The spin is due to a wonderful thing ominously known as "the mechanic". A mind boggling defensive move that doubles as an attack. Done well you're just likely to mesmerise your attacker as you are to break quite a few bones in his hands when he (or she) throws that punch.
This evening though I think anyone attacking me would be incapacitated by falling to the floor in fits of giggles. It was not a graceful sight!

On the plus side, I am tolerably sure that by the time I wake up tomorrow I will be totally impervious to Zombies :-)
Those nano-gremlin colonies are getting a feast of lactic acid and rapidly multiplying, especially in my poor abused shoulders.
-Quick madness of FraidyKat back track: Nano-Gremlins inhabit exercise addicts and live on lactic acid. They're the real reason you hurt after working out. They also taste really bad and combined with the acid make a person really unpalatable to Zombies.-
Survive the apocalypse, exercise to exhaustion!

Ahem, back to slightly less insane musings.
The Toddler Snot Bug has all but gone and I am determined to get back on track with the running.
I have also been inspired for the Race for Life - I shall be running in costume as a Predator (Hunting down cancer and all that jazz).
Currently still figuring out how to make said costume but the plan is taking shape.
I also now have a confirmed team of 4 for October's ToughMudder. Insanity likes company.

Brain fried by conspiracy theories? Confused by alien encounters and ghostly visitations? Cure that mental disturbance with a regular dose of the miracle drug "Cynicism".
Available in most good educational establishments and reputable websites.
Beware imitations, "Paranoia" is a dangerous drug and unscrupulous dealers are packaging it as seemingly healthy Information Injections.
Stay safe, keep a pack of Cynicism in your medicine cabinet.

FraidyKat Runs - for cover

Brawling with drunks

Yesterday FraidyKat had a fight on a train, brawled in a pub and punched her darling partner on camera (didn't enjoy that bit - too much).
Yes, she was at Defence Lab again *big big grin*. We had a special extra fun class learning how to apply our self defence in real situations. Then we had some silly class photos just to round it off.

Not as Nano-gremlin infested as I expected to be and currently feeling surprisingly good.
Owing to beer' I don't intend to run today but will definitely give it a go tomorrow and I will be getting used to running with a backpack.
I now have a hydration pack (not a Camelbak - they are good but just too expensive for my taste) with a 2ltr bladder so now I don't have to choose between carrying a bottle or going thirsty.
I chose the backpack because honesty my hands get sweaty enough as it is and the thought of having to carrying a bottle is just off putting. I suppose the belt packs would be possible but surely that just invites chaffed hips.
The other advantage of a backpack is space for extras - energy gels, shewee etc. Just have to resist the temptation to treat it like a handbag at fill it with stuff I don't need.
So far I'm not really running far enough to need much but I figure it's easier to get used to carrying the backpack early.
As to stuff I need with me, at the moment I'm guessing it's:

• Drink (flavour to personal taste, just squash for me right now)
• Energy gel/banana (for staving off those shaky emergencys)
• Shewee (great for rural moments when caught short miles from home)
• Emergency money (for a taxi if you really can't make it home due to turned ankle or exhaustion)
• Phone, doubling as MP3 player and gps run tracker.

I shall try the backpack (bright yellow to scream to traffic - I am here!) on my run tomorrow and see how I get on.

Bored of the zombie apocalypse?
The wanton destruction of former friends and colleagues paling?
Try random genetic mutations for eons of fun and frolics.
How can you ever get bored with bat-winged Chihuahuas going for your jugular?
All you need is a genetics lab and a mad genius for all the fun and mayhem to cure post-apocalypse melancholy.

FraidyKat Runs - from mutant Chihuahuas

Dillusions and caffeine

Welcome to the wonderful chronically chaotic and fantastical world within FraidyKat's frazzled mind.

Today has been spent mostly in a semi-conscious daze from which I have briefly risen with the aide of near lethal injections of caffeine to sustain me.

Last night sleep did not happen. The whole family was awake, coughing, crying or meowing and treadling, and all timed superbly for maximum sleep disruption. We are therefore all extremely cranky and looking forward to a good night's sleep tonight.

It's all the more galling when I have a copy of the latest instalment of the Hobbit waiting to be watched but I am too tired to enjoy it tonight and tomorrow night it won't happen because due to reorganisation from Easter I will being doing a special two hour Defence Lab (I expect to be held for an inordinately high ransom by the Nano Gremlins this weekend).

On the plus side, the worst of the Toddler Snot Bug has been defeated - aside from the annoying lingering cough - no more bulk buying of tissues required, yay!

On the negative side, today I have had to avoid mirrors for fear of breaking them with the bags under my eyes. My make up free face is bad enough that even zombies would step back and groan "hey, you need a spa day" (oh I can only wish for such luxuries).
A ghoul might think I look okay, but then they're not very choosy about their meat, they even eat from the Chinese in the cheapest part of the town; they even eat kebabs when they're sober and that's just plain crazy.


I think we have now cracked the zombie proof home, basically build a castle on an island and you're pretty safe. Now to figure out how to defend against a Dracolich. First instinct says I need to make a scarecrow of some kind, perhaps I should dress one up as a dragonslayer and equip it with an undead slaying artifact...
Maybe the easiest option would simply be not to set up home in a Dracolich's territory. Hmm, sounds a bit to sensible to me.


FraidyKat Runs - for Zzzz

Miraculous Monday

Incredible.
It's the Easter Bank Holiday Monday, I am at the seaside and it's NOT raining. I even have proof...

 

See from the photo, it's a little overcast but not a drop of rain.

- who says the British are obsessed with the weather? -
 

Who ever they are I think they're right.

Of course, it would have been more of a joy without the bugs.

As grotty as I feel however, I must give note to the propensity of such bugs to mutate in the prensence of the XY chromosome from a mere annoyance of snot and throat gravel to full blown near fatal man flu.

Poor darling partner was therefore near death on Saturday and retired to bed during the early afternoon with two duvets and a mug of Lemsip.

I am happy to say he recovered, at least enough to be allowed out of duvet intensive care, to valiantly return to the land of the living and resume family activities without any fuss (at least no more than the average ill XY - and all XXs should know what I mean by that!)

Needless to say, once again no exercise occurred beyond the compulsory holiday walking.

And, it being Easter, I relaxed my no chocolate rule to join in the egg-stravaganza. I discovered that while I can tolerate chocolate enough for only minor discomfort after eating it, Creme Eggs are a definite no no :-(

Following earlier conversations we have both agreed that the best type of house for zombie proof accommodation is probably the traditional castle - thick walls, small windows and few doors.

But if you look again at the photo of my pleasant seaside view, you will see a fort perched out in the Solent. A wonderfully defensible location, assuming zombies don't swim, although I suspect you would soon get sick of living of fish and seagulls.

Hmm, if fish nibble zombies do you get zombie fish? Does it cross to other species?

FraidyKat Runs - from ManFlu

 

Evil bugs

They have done it to me again!

They have waited until I am already at a low ebb and then leapt on for a ride.
Despite waking with a sore throat this morning I was determined to go for a run.
Now gloriously on a long weekend away, I had intended to use the run an excuse to explore the holiday park.
I even remembered to pack my running gear. but now my sore throat has developed into a cough, that horrible industrial illness wheezing kind making it hard a draw a deep breath.
Compound that with Wednesday's conversation with the GP "I'm afraid the only way to deal with your pain is surgery to remove the gallbladder". Sigh, this is not turning out to be my finest year.

The evil Bile Daemons have cursed my digestive system and now the Toddler Snot Bugs have migrated to my lungs and are dancing through my windpipe with gravel lodged in their boot treads.
If Calpol can knock them flat on their tiny backs I wonder if Lemsip can manage the same?
And I wonder if I will be brave enough, or stupid enough, to hold the delayed exploration run tomorrow morning before we go out?

Today's in car topics were "how to build the perfect zombie proof fortress" and the perenneal favourite  "can zombies swim?" Theoretical discussion proved inconclusive; although we agreed that for ammunition purposes the most logical ranged weapons in the zombie appocalypse are the catapult or the sling.
The next task is to work out what traps and containment methods are best the catch the zombies we need to test the above theorys.

FraidyKat Runs - from Toddler Snot Bugs

Story Time 1.6 Heir Hunt

WARNING: The following is not edited and there will be spelling and grammar mistakes. Sorry.
Please read forgivingly (and if you have the time corrections are welcomed).

 

Chapter 4

The cadet hut was little more than a log shack put up lovingly three summers before by the cadets with help from their doting parents and it was completely deserted when the marines arrived in the early embers of morning light. The wood for the hut came from trees felled in the clearing so there was an open space around it, minimising the effort that went into the building and giving the cadets a good space for their exercises and games. It also made it easy to see that all around was empty of bodies living or otherwise.

Chase made sure a thorough check was made in the surrounding area before heading inside, but Se-se could have told him there was no one there even as it came into sight.

She moved to walk into the hut, but Chase held her back. “Me first, you stay with Felton.”

Felton, knowing exactly what the Captain was thinking, placed a gentle hand on Se-se’s shoulder and moved her to one side so she would have no view inside once the door was opened.

Taking a deep breath, Chase opened the door.

The single large room was empty.

Along the left wall, lined up neatly and precisely, were a series of slug thrower hunting rifles beside what looked like an older model M82, the military standard assault rifle the marines were all carrying, and an L84, it's heavy energy cousin. On the other side were benches and tables pushed up against the wall to make space and on the far wall was a clean whiteboard.

Chase let his shoulder’s drop with relief. “Clear.”

Se-se pushed her way inside before anyone could stop her. She stopped beside Chase and looked around. “Chakua.” She muttered.

Behind them, Braddow coughed. Of all the soldiers he was the only one who understood what Se-se had just said and even though the language was the one his parents spoke, he was sure he had not learnt that word until he was about twenty years old.

“Something went wrong here.” She then said so everyone could understand.

“What? It looks fine to me.”

Se-se rolled her eyes, it was obvious. “Castleman would never let us leave rifles like that. Propped up against the wall still loaded? It wouldn’t happen, we never leave our rifles behind. And the whiteboard is never clean, ever.”

“Check the room.” Chase ordered.

Se-se undertook the order even though it was aimed at the marines, carefully checking each rifle over. The magazines were all full, without exception, and there was a round in the breach. They were also all in perfect working condition, even the energy rifles were fully charged. She stared speculatively at the whiteboard. Surely one of them would have left a message. Why would they have left without their weapons and not said anything, unless of course they had been forced out. Castleman would never let any of the cadets be harmed so if they had been given the option to surrender without a fire fight he would have taken it, but they had killed everyone else so why take the cadets alive? Except both her Aunt and Uncle had been convinced that people would look for her and all the squad were within a few years of her age. She should have been with them, and would have been if Bella had not been having a difficult time with her first calf.

The whiteboard was never clean.

She reached up and pulled, but Castleman had made sure it was not coming down in a hurry. “Someone help me.”

Jona and Shaw both jumped to help, taking a side each and pulling.

The whiteboard came down with a crash, and a small polished stone rolled away.

“There’s nothing here, honey.” Jona shook his head.

Se-se ignored him and picked up the stone. “Seesna la tak eem-a.”

Again Braddow coughed. “Erm, who’s the smart arse?”

Se-se blinked, she had not thought anyone would be able to understand her. When she swore she habitually did it in the most obscure language she knew. “This is Dosser’s lucky stone, he picked it up when we went on a trip to the mountains.”

“You think he left it there for a reason?”

“No, I think Castleman did, and he thinks I’m a smart arse.” Se-se looked at the stone, her expression locked in a deep frown. “Those so called aliens who killed everyone else have taken them to the mountain caves.”

“Right.” Chase found no reason to doubt the girl, she had been trained by the legendary Colonel after all and if the man thought she was a smart arse then she had to be good, he was reputed to never settle for second best. “Tell us how to get there.”

“No, I’ll take you there; and if they’ve hurt anyone in Babel squad I’ll kick their testicles out through their ears.”

Chase opened his mouth to berate Se-se for her language but then thought better of it. It was probably better for her to be angry than scared. “How far away is it?”

“Erm, we normally do it in a two day march but if we don't stop we'll be there before midnight.”

Chase nodded. “Could you find the place in the dark?”

“I could find it blindfold.”

“Right. Felton, we’ll rest here for a an hour, then we'll just have to march in the dark again.” He walked over to one of the benches and gestured for Se-se to join him. “Why is it called Babel squad?”

Se-se smiled slightly as she sat down. ”Our families all speak a different first language so when we were younger we developed our own language which is a mix of everything. The Colonel always complains that it’s like being in the tower of Babel,” she shrugged. “Hence the name.”

“So how many cadets are there altogether?”

“There are seventeen, no eighteen now Liz has just joined up in Nova, that’s for the younger ones, but when the ships came it was only Babel who were training and there are twelve of us.”

“How old is everyone in Babel?”

“Joe’s the youngest, he only turned thirteen two months ago and came up from Nova. Mike's seventeen and apart from him I’m the oldest.”

“How many of the local teenagers joined the cadets then?”

“Pretty much all of us.”

“All?” That made a terrible sense, the missing older children were all taken by the Colonel, they were the cadets who would have been with him when it all kicked off.

Se-se nodded agreeably. ”Our families like it because they can get us out of the way two evenings a week and we like it because the Colonel teaches us all sorts of stuff that our families would hate if they knew.”

“Like?”

Se-se grinned. “Mobile shooting, fighting, trap setting, picking pockets, computer hacking, pretty much anything we want to learn that we know our family won’t teach us.”

“Picking pockets?” Chase found that one hard to believe. Colonel Castleman was a decorated war hero, what would he be doing teaching children how to steal?

“We have to be prepared to survive in any situation by any means, therefore we must be able to acquire anything we need.” Se-se spoke as though quoting from a well read manual. “He’s taught us some of the finer points of burglary as well.”

“I see. Maybe I should be checking my pockets more often.”

“You don’t have anything I need.” Se-se shook her head.

“How would you know that?”

“Because I checked last night.” She was quite happy to admit this. She had been unable to resist the temptation to check the Captain’s things when remembering her Uncles last words to her. She was growing increasingly sure that this group of soldiers were the ones looking for her who would do anything she commanded, if she were to believe that, but she still had to be certain. Chase’s pocket contents had revealed nothing useful to ascertain that fact or supplement the equipment her Aunt had given her, but the chocolate had been a nice bonus. She was still wondering whether she should tell the Captain the code her Aunt had given her, she had no idea what it meant and if he would understand it or not. The chances were it was something that would need to be verified and that could not be done when they admitted they had lost their ship and with it all of their off world communications. Quite apart from that it was nothing Se-se had heard before and she knew all the standard military codes.

Chase gave the girl beside him an appraising look there was something about her that he couldn't put his finger on, something strangely familiar, but they still had to get to Castleman, that was their priority. “Rest whilst you can. We’ll have to travel at a quick march so you might want to leave behind anything you don't need.”

“Yes, Captain.”

Chase resisted the urge to pat his pockets as he walked away.

Knowing they were heading into the mountains, Se-se reluctantly removed everything she could bare to be parted with from her pack but knowing the marines were giving up nothing, pride would not let her rely on them. She was only a child but she was determined to not be helpless.

She returned to the hut then to take what ammunition she could for her rifle and pick up any other useful items she could find.

The marines were also scavenging for equipment and Shaw had his eye on the L84 propped in the corner. The heavy rifle was a favourite of his but they had not broken out their own from the ship before heading out to explore the colony. Before he could reach it however Se-se picked it up.

“Stick to your hunting rifle, lass, leave that to thems as can use it right.”

Se-se treated the marine to a blank look. “I can use it right and unlike you I have the owner’s permission to use it.”

Shaw was not put off. “I like your spirit but you’re not trained or strong enough.”

Se-se hefted the weapon. “1. I am trained, 2. I’m more than strong enough.”

“Let her keep it, Shaw.” Chase spoke from the door. “I’m sure she can handle it just fine, after all she has been trained by Colonel Castleman.”

“Yes, sir.” Shaw was reluctant but he backed away and began searching the rest of the hut.

Chase ambled over to Se-se as she slung the heavy rifle. “You are trained in how to use that, aren’t you?”

“Of course, 0.76 scoring average.” Se-se quoted her official training score for the weapon, a score well above the standard military 0.65 requirement to be allowed to use it. “Are we ready to go yet?”

“You’re sure you know where we’re going?”

“Positive.” Se-se looked out of a window. “Castleman's always says I'm a natural leader, but I don’t think he meant it this way.”

This prompted a look from Chase but no comment. He straightened and whistled. “Break’s over. Shaw, Jona, on point. Haddson, at the rear. The rest of you spread out, just like we’ve been practising. Jump to it, this isn’t a picnic.” He turned again to Se-se. “Direction, Sergeant?”

Se-se pointed.

Promptly, Shaw and Jona disappeared into the forest.

Over the next long hours Se-se led the marines through heavy forest with the confident steps of one who knew exactly what they were doing. She wished she did. Getting to the caves was no problem, but what to do when they got there was. Castleman had invested many lessons to teaching all of Babel about tactics but Se-se was very much aware that the marines would have ideas of their own and they might not be as benign as they were acting even if her judgement was telling her to trust them. There had to be a way of getting to her friends without needing the assistance of the marines but she could not see it, any more than she could see exactly where in the caves her friends were being held.

“So how extensive are the caves?” Chase broke the silence as he marched beside the teenager.

“They go on for two or three miles, but most of that is small and narrow. Only the first few hundred yards is really usable in any way.”

Chase looked off into the distance, he had been hoping that caves meant one or two holes going maybe ten metres or so, but miles would make things far more difficult for them. He could hardly go charging in hell for leather, guns blazing, when there were children being held inside, especially with what children were being held in there, they were the only survivors of a terrible massacre. He needed to find out exactly what was happening and figure out some sort of plan to free them and hopefully capture at least some of the ‘aliens’ alive so they could be questioned.

“How many ways in are there to these caves?”

“There’s only one main entrance.” Se-se paused. “There is a back way, but you’d be too big to get in, I can only just fit if I lose everything but top and trousers.”

Chase shook his head, useless. He found his eyes drawn back to the just visible Felton, she was barely bigger than Se-se and Chase knew for a fact that she could handle herself. In the past more than one burly soldier had made the mistake of thinking they could get one over Felton just because she was small in stature and the realisation of that mistake was mostly bruising at best. “How many people know about the back way?”

“Only Babel, and you, it took us two months to track the route, but not even all of us can fit through, Mike and Jay are just too big and Jayne’s too top heavy now, and of course the Colonel would never get through.” As Se-se spoke she knew it was the way she was going to get in. The back way was perfect, it came into the cave system at the back of a dead end passage that was never used for anything because it was so low. It was a slog to get through and there were lots of confusing twists and turns but she was sure she could navigate her way through. Then it would just be a case of getting Babel out and dealing with the killers.

There was the plan. Chase felt a lot better knowing he had a way in, even if it would just be for Felton to evaluate the situation in the caves. From there he could form a real plan and hopefully get away from the planet with his life and career intact and some survivors in tow.

FraidyKat Runs - from reality

Roar!

Roar!
That's all I'm hearing from the hyperactive dragon obsessed toddler in my home. Dragons on the brain, they're everywhere, even in my dreams. No where is safe.
I pity the animals in fields around us, at any minute a dragon could swoop down and take them back to the nest!

Ahem, tuning back in to Sanity FM...
I am still not feeling great but I am determined not to mope around feeling sorry for myself.
Yesterday, despite feeling sick after dinner, I dragged myself to DefenceLab (high intensity martial arts training - read circuit training meets self defence). The warm up nearly killed me but it felt good to be moving and having to concentrate on not getting hit made me forget the nausea.

I used the same logic today when skipping to week 3 of the master training plan and doing 3 minutes running to 1 minute walking x 6. It was a hard and tiring run, I felt like I wanted to be sick afterwards but instead I had to cook the family dinner - such is life.
It felt good though, following the plan and getting back on track.
And I got to see the calves, only just separated from their mothers, still so young. I'm not sure if they're going to be veal or dairy providers but they are lovely young things to watch grazing while I thump and wheeze on by their field.


Those dragons need to be taught a lesson. It's not rustlers in search of cheap meat that keep stealing sheep and cows. It's the dragons taking them for their young. Why can't they just go to the supermarket like everyone else? Although that said, where to dragons keep their money? You don't see them carrying handbags and I don't think wings come with pockets. Hmm...


FraidyKat Runs - away from Dragons

Proton!

I didn't want to post anything until I had something positive to say, so here it is :
PROTON!

Unfortunately that's about it, everything else is distinctly electron in my life - good for electricity but not for stability.

Diet and exercise currently out of the high rise window and heading rapidly for the hard pavement below.
Firstly, I have been feeling nausous non-stop for several weeks and it's not even thinking about going or improving. Then I get told that I could be anaemic too.
Oh supreme being of choice give me strength!

The second week of my training plan has therefore been replaced with moping around and feeling sorry for myself.
I think a week of that is about all I can afford. I have weight loss goals to attain and running distances to make.
At the very least I shall have to run...

This is the long haul, everyone gets ill sometimes, everyone gets to choose whether to give up or get on with it. From this point on I shall choose to be in the latter group.

You can either be like an Eagle soaring high and seeing every detail in your life or you can sit at the bird table and eat fat like a Tit.

 

FraidyKat Runs - for protons

 

Story Time 1.5 - Heir Hunt

WARNING: The following is not edited and there will be spelling and grammar mistakes. Sorry.
Please read forgivingly (and if you have the time corrections are welcomed).

No one spoke as they walked through shadows, none of the marines wanted to think about their lost friends or wonder what they were going to do next. They instead concentrated on the march, paranoid that the killers were following them, watching all the time for any sign of attack.

Chase could not help but think about it all. They had lost a lot of good men but they had also lost their only way of getting off the planet or even contacting anyone off planet. Now their only option was to find Colonel Castleman, he was the planet's military liaison so if anyone would know how to get a mayday out it was him. He could only hope the Colonel was still alive and the young cadet was taking them in the right direction to find him.

“Se-se,” When they stopped for a short break, Chase called her over to sit beside him on the trunk of a fallen tree.

For several hours Se-se had been walking near the front of the group with Sergeant Felton, learning what she could about the marines and what they knew about what had happened to her world. If the Sergeant was being honest with her there was very little either of them knew and if they wanted to find out they had to survive long enough. She was subdued when she answered the Captain's call and sat down with him.

“Are you doing okay?We're not going too fast for you, are we?”

“We're only walking,” Se-se dismissed the concern. “We can run the rest of the way if you really want to get there quickly.”

“How far away are we?”

Se-se frowned. Castleman had taught them all to use their own sense of direction, not to rely on personal computers but she was used to heading out from town not from the farm. “About twenty miles, I think.”

“You could run that?”

“Sure, why not?” From early childhood she had joined her Aunt and Uncle on daily runs and later Castleman had encouraged all of the cadets with timed orienteering and assault course competitions. She had no way of knowing quite how fit she was compared to the average person.

“How sure are you that the Colonel's going to be there?” Although the hut had been described as a base it did not sound very defensible.

There was a shrug. “I'm pretty sure he went there at the start, I don't know if he'll still be there, but he'll have left a message if he's gone somewhere else.”

“That's good enough for me.” It was all they had to go on so it had to be. “So what were you doing in that barn? If you were hiding in the forest, why come back there?” Chase was careful to ask gently, he did not want to demand information and make the girl upset, not when he was relying on her.

“I was looking for,” Se-se stopped, shutting her eyes tight against the tears. “For anyone who was alive. “
“I'm sorry.”

“We knew something was wrong. A ship came and everyone went to town, then there was shooting and, and the forest was the safest place to be, but I couldn't stay there forever, I came back. Everyone in town they're all,” she had to stop again.

Chase did not know what to say. Nothing he could say would make it better.

“We have to find the Colonel, he'll know what to do.”

What would they do if the Colonel was dead? Or if they simply could not find him? Chase was not about to voice his concerns in front of the girl, she was upset enough already. He tried to speak to her a little more about the attacks but she did not know much and he hated to push her.

When they set off again she drifted to the front of the group with Braddow and Chase found Felton walking beside him.

“How much have you got out of her?” Felton asked quietly, her mike temporarily switched off.

“Very little, but that's no surprise.”

“She's holding out. She knows more than she's letting on.”

Chase looked across at his Sergeant in surprise and unhooked his own mike. “She's just a girl who's been incredibly lucky, what's the problem?”

“There's luck and there's luck. She's tooled up for survival, she didn't just run into the forest and she's far to good with that rifle.”

“This is a rural colony, they all know how to use a gun.”

“Back at the farm she killed that guy without any hesitation and it didn't phase her.”

“Are you saying we shouldn't trust her? Because she was being shot at by the same bastards attacking us.”

“I'm saying she's not all innocent, that's all, and I think she knows more about what's going on than she's admitting.”

“I don't think any of this is straight forward. I know she's not telling us everything but can you really blame her? If she can get us to Colonel Castleman it doesn't matter what secrets our cadet is keeping.”

“That might come back and bite us in the arse.”

“Let's hope not.”

Felton treated Chase to look, rehooked her mike and returned to her place on the march.

They continued for hours, until it was full dark and the marines glasses had switched to low light vision. Even then Se-se led them unerringly through the forest without the benefit of light enhancement.

“Are you sure this is the right way?” Shaw asked as Se-se strode on.

“If you don't trust me find it yourself.”

“We don't know where we're going.”

“I do. This is my home.”

“Then find us somewhere safe to camp for the night.” Chase did not want to stop but he knew they had to get some sleep or they would be no good for anything productive after all they had been through already.

Se-se turned to look back at the Captain. “You want to stop?”

“No, but we need to at least for a couple of hours.”

“Alright, I'll go ahead.”

“Braddow, go with her.”

Se-se rolled her eyes but accepted the bodyguard, she suspected the Captain had no intention of letting her go anywhere on her own. It would be easy to slip away, to leave them at the mercy of the forest but while she did not need them to find the Colonel she had no idea whether she might need them later. They had been as surprised as her when those aliens turned out to be humans and they were being shot at just like her, both things that were incredibly hard to fake.

Their camp for what remained of the night was a clear area in the rift made by two mature Steran trees as they fought to deprive each other of precious topsoil by pulling their roots like scoops to form mounds around their trunks and over long years leaving a trench between them. It was large enough to hide the marines from casual view and the last rains had been long enough ago that it was dry.

As they settled down there was a resigned feeling from everyone, they knew they all had to rest but none of them felt like sleeping. Se-se had cried so many tears already she did not dare cry more now in front of the marines. The marines did not want to show their own sorrow in front of each other or the girl but they were all feeling the loss of their comrades.

Chase spent the time reviewing his helmet camera's recordings, searching for clues he might have missed the first time. There was nothing left in the town or at the farmsteads but death, all caused by the same heavy rifles that had been used against them where they had found Se-se, their lone survivor. They had been led into the trap, had Se-se unwittingly been bait? Only when they had been close enough to the farm had Se-se come under attack and their transport was destroyed at the same time. Their attackers had made sure the marines were dead no matter where they went and young Se-se should have been just as dead. How long had they been tracking her before making their move? Were they all still being tracked or had they really escaped? If Castleman had escaped with other survivors and the attackers knew it could they be using Se-se to find find him just as he was? It was so easy to get paranoid in the dark forest, to see those alien faces in every shadow and behind every tree, to see plots at every turn. Should they have stopped or should they keep going? They needed to rest, no matter who was after them it was stupid to run his men ragged, especially when they had already spent the last few weeks on an endurance exercise; they were starting on empty.

He was so consumed in his worries that Chase did not notice Se-se rise from her roll mat and drift silently across the rift until she was beside his discarded backpack.

Chase may not have noticed but Felton had taken it upon herself to keep an eye on the young colonist and watched unmoving while she lay supposedly asleep only feet away.

That little madam was brazen enough to go through the Captain's pack while he was inches away. What was she looking for? If she went for any of the munitions there would be hell to pay. It was a thorough check, each compartment was examined. Felton held her breath as the girl opened the compartment she knew Chase kept a 'slap-stick' breaching charge in, but Se-se only looked at it for a moment before putting it back and locking it away. Only one thing from the Captain's pack was kept and when Felton saw what it was she relaxed. It looked like Se-se was just another colony brat after all.

Whenever the marines landed on any colony worlds on exercise they were always mobbed by the children for their ration pack chocolate & caramel bars, available only as a rare treat outside the core worlds. Felton remembered chasing after soldiers when she was just a child and begging for the bars but she knew plenty of her friends attempted, with mixed success, to purloin them by other means. She would not say anything and make Se-se give it back, that would be heartless, she doubted Chase would even notice the loss and the girl would enjoy her acquired treat.

Felton made her decision shortly before closing her eyes and willing herself to find some badly needed sleep.

FraidyKat Runs - to exhaustion and beyond

Week 1 Complete-ish

That's right, week1 of training is done and I almost completed it to plan.
This is what actually happened: -

Week	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
1 31/03/14	Defence Lab	Run 1min Walk 90 secs x8	Cross-train Jillian Michaels DVD	Run 1min Walk 90 secs x8	Cross-train JM DVD	Run 1min Walk 90 secs x8 2.6miles walking	Run 1min Walk 90 secs x8
Missed the DVD on Friday – had a blood test in the morning and then had to pack and travel to Norwich in the evening. Also moved the Saturday run to Sunday, although I had a long walk around the dinosaur park on Saturday.

Not far off, so all in all a happy beginning.

There are plus sides to moving the run to Sunday. It's quieter and feels so much more relaxed. There's also the view.

 They ran away the instant I stopped, but that field is full of tiny lambs. Spring has spun, the flowers are in bloom and the lambs are fattening for mint. Sorry to any vegesaurous readers but most of those pretty little woolly jumpers will end up in someone's oven, only the lucky few are to avoid that fate.
It's definitely been worth all the upheaval of moving home to go from running through suburbia to running through beautiful villages and pastures. The only downside is now playing chicken with cars driving at 60mph (I'm being generous here assuming they are not breaking the limit) on lanes without paths.

That in mind, a word on rural lane etiquette.
Walkers and Runners - please travels so you are facing oncoming traffic, it avoids sneak attacks and shows an awareness of the world; and if you can move to the side when a vehicle gets close it's a good idea.
Cyclists - yes, it's the good old rules of the road, obeying signs and road markings (ad nauseam). What this boils down to is the law of superior tonnage: If it out weighs you by a factor of ten don't assume it's going to stop when you pull out because if it doesn't you'll be the one who comes off worse.
Motorcyclists - It's not the TT. There could be a tractor round that blind bend and even the humble pheasant can cause quite a mess if you hit it, not to mention a pedestrian or a loose bull. (I speak as a biker here who hates to see ruined leathers)
Horse riders - You're really well behaved where I live, you wear high vis-vests (some of the horses wear them too, very flash) and travel in single file. Sadly not all riders remember that their horses have minds of their own and can get spooked by the weirdest things.
Cars, Trucks and Tractors - Yes of course you own the road, I know, you pay a huge a huge amount of road tax (I own a car too, I pay half the Highways Agency's annual budget!) but please allow others to occasionally bask in your glory and if you don't hit anyone you won't get dented body panels and the need to wash the blood and gore off your metallic paint.

There are off course other interlopers into the road network, aside from stray animals. Near me it's crashing Gliders or Hot Air Balloons, I once lived in a place where the hazards were Tanks and marching soldiers (and Army Guard Dogs if you were really unlucky).
What's your weirdest road hazard?

In the invisible section today I had small trolls peaking out from behind the hedges as I ran. They aren't dangerous. not unless you're a Goat or a Shetland pony (a delicacy). It's the Kobolds you need to watch out for, they're weak and small singly but in packs you don't want to mess with them. Avoid stopping by ditches if you run in the early morning or at night after dark.

FraidyKat Runs - for the views

Eek and oops

Well that didn't take long. I have already done an oops and missed a days training.
Flimsy excuse follows:  On Friday I had to go to the Doctor for a blood test and then I had to pack for a trip to see the family. Not much chance to get the exercise in.
Saturday, no run (the plan is to do it tomorrow instead) but I have spent the day at a Dinosaur park and according to the S Health app I have walked 2.6 miles.

I have realised that a plan is simply an ideal situation to aspire to, not a set of commandments that must be followed or suffer the wrath of God.
If I don't manage it perfectly there is no point beating yourself up or, worse, giving up.
The plan is a living document - subject to change and never ever set in stone for anything but the end goal, race day.

As for the diet, fasting days have been a little chaotic  although I have been doing them but disappointingly I have not actually lost any weight. On the plus side I have lost inches round my waist so I can only guess the exercise is giving me muscle - yippee!
I shall therefore continue with the fasting because the weight has to start dropping again at some point soon.

I shall be seeing dinosaurs everywhere for the next few days. But of course they hide among us, they have hung on for millions of years, they are not stupid they know how not to be caught.
Who wants fossils when you can hunt a fresh T-rex? Bring on the big guns

FraidyKat Runs - from Velocaraptors

Independence or busted

Three days into my training plan and my resident colony of lactic acid munching Nano-Gremlims are about to stage a vote on whether to declare my thigh muscles an independent state, and with them vastly out numbering the native FraidyKat muscle cells I think they have a good chance of carrying the vote.
If I wake up tomorrow unable to walk I will know the vote did not go in my favour and I will have to hire in mercenaries to get the foreign immigrants removed.

I hear that hot water bottles and ice-packs are good at holding the invaders at bay, but while they work for a mere pittance they are only good at guard duty.
Paracetamol and Ibuprofen are cheap soldiers and noted for their steady progress but the real shock troops are Voltarol, their battalions come by tube and squads are squeezed out to parachute directly into hostile territory and decimate the enemy.

For those opposed to chemical warfare, both heat and cold therapies (whichever feels best at the time) are renowned for their bringing of aid - they are the Red Cross care package of bodily recovery.
For combatants with time on their hands, a long soak in a hot bath liberally sprinkled with Epsom Salts is reputed to do a world of good.
For the time short and the masochistic a little recovery exercise gets mobility back. Not for the faint hearted, it takes a lot of will power to get started but Nano-Gremlins don't like heat so tend to avoid warmed muscles at least for a little while.


Ignoring the minor power struggle currently on going, I will admit that my first proper run in a year (which I acknowledge was very short and more walk than run) was much easier than I expected it to be. I felt  comfortable and easily within my ability level. This came as a huge surprise when the first time I set about running, the 1minute run / 90 second walk routine felt like horrendous torture.
Perhaps this is proof that there is such a thing as residual fitness or maybe my body just knew what to expect this time around. Either way I am encouraged into thinking this may be possible after all.


The seasons are dancing their handover, Winter is quite graciously giving way to the brighter and bolder Spring but we must be vigilant in case he pulls a sneaky frost out of the bag. Just case my warm jumpers are staying out of the wardrobe for a little longer - they give +3 protection from Cold spells and when combined with a woolly hat their protective qualities are more than all but the very worst mid-Winter chills can defeat.


FraidyKat Runs - to keep warm

Training Begins

That's it, I am now committed.
Day 1 of week 1 has been completed. Who knows where such humble beginnings can lead, after all everyone has to start somewhere.
Even Andrew Jordon had to drive on L plates once! (if you don't know who he is look up BritishTouringCarChampionship )



To keep me on the straight and narrow I have entered a short race for an intermediate challenge. To make sure I am doing something good it is the Pretty Muddy Race for Life, a 5km run with obstacles to raise money for Cancer Research.
See my begging page for the shameless money grabbing sponsorship request that goes with running for such a good cause.As always there is no obligation on anyone to follow the link but the warm fussy feeling that goes with generosity is priceless.

It's not until 28th June so I have a little while to settle back into running but I am sure time will sneak up and ambush me in a lightening fast attack, such is times way of behaving.

If you have any suggestions for an appropriate costume for FraidyKat please do comment - the theme is traditionally pink but after that anything (within the bounds of UK law) goes...


Now I just have to get a running playlist put together. FraidyKat has decidedly dodgy taste in music so it could be interesting.
Let's see now, what's currently on my phone?
Lady GaGa, Pink, Thunder and Blues Traveller. Hmm, I'm running light on tunes.
Dance music is good to run to when you're flagging, it provides a strong beat to get your pace.
Rock provides the anger to light the flare when you have to dig deep to get to the finish.
Pop for the cheerful runs in good weather.
Audio comedy (Goon show is my non-PC favourite) to keeping you smiling in the wind and rain.

The calibrated mark 1 weather detector (also known as the window), shows blue sky and sun so perhaps some pop or dance. 


The weather is turning for the better so now we are entering dragon season.
Those pesky invisible dragons are small but painfully effective if you forget your anti-dragon clean. Cold blooded reptiles, they need the sun to help them take flight and the only evidence of them is the faint shimmer in the air that most of us know as heat haze. Their breath weapon is a clear flame whose poisonous touch turns skin a painful red and melts icecream.
Ever wondered what the sun factor rating on creams means? It is the number of dragons the cream will defeat before becoming ineffective.


FraidyKat Runs - to beat cancer