Surprising myself

Seeing as I've accidentally gotten myself into running a half marathon on October 11th I've had to do some training focussing on running. The past two evenings I've been going to the gym with the sole purpose of running. The first evening it'd been tipping down with rain all day and although I've run in rain before, I didn't really fancy it then so treadmill it was. I amazed myself by running for 60 minutes solid without getting especially tired or puffed out. I'd have liked to have gone a bit longer but the machine times out at 60 minutes and I thought that was more than my fair turn.

Attempted the same last night with reasonable success. I had to slow once or twice towards the end as my right knee started to get painful, something that happens occasionally, but otherwise I was thrilled. My pace is about 9.5kph. Obviously I need to be running for about 2 hours at this speed at least and outside before the day but I'm optimistic. Having a day off today due to the knee but should be able to fit a run in before I go off on hols. There's a plan to do some rambling during the week and I'll be doing lots of physical work so I won't cease up. Feels good to be able to justify the cake I've been eating and to feel muscles aching from running that I've never felt before. All helps with the endurance aspect of my training.

Bit worried that Shruti's disappeared off the face of the earth this week... we've got Ben Nevis to organise and I can't do it without her.

Finally, I got a £20 donation from a very kind gent who reads the parish magazine yesterday so if you're reading, many thanks indeed!

Keep on running

I've managed to fit in a fair bit of exercise this week though I've set myself some new goals and I'm not meeting them which is a bit disheartening. I had a spa day on Saturday and decided to make use of the gym facilities so spent a good hour on the treadmill and a half an hour on the cross trainer but didn't quite manage to meet my distance target. Watched a lot of Top Gear though. Ho hum. Got to the gym at work once and have been out on the bike. Cycled to the sports centre and back this morning to play badminton so that all counts.

I've got a half marathon to run on the 11th October so I'm desperately trying to get the miles cranked up. It's hard though. It's like mny body just doesn't want to run at the moment. Walking, I can do that all day long. Cycling, great! Just show me a track and I'm happy. Swimming, mmm relaxing and strengthening. Running, oh God. Have to persevere though.

Everyone thinks I'm mad, especially my dad ("you'll learn" he said to me) and at this point I'm more than inclined to agree. I can't help myself. I think it would be a lot easier if I had a training partner at this stage. So out for a run or at the gym as many times as I can manage this coming week. Feel exhausted today though...

Time to step it up

After a sluggish week or so and an indulgent weekend I'm finally raring to get back into my training with renewed vigour, not least because I got the latest Runners World yesterday and a brand new pair of cycle shorts. I'm back in the head offices now so have access to the free gym again and have booked a "gym buddy" for next Monday... no excuses now.

I've got a revision weekend coming up but there's an on site gym and a very early morning running session scheduled which I'm going to try my damndest to get out of bed for (6:30 am though!). I really need to up the pace and effort on things though so I'm hoping to head out on the bike tonight for maybe 10 miles or so and hopefully a run tomorrow. That'll depend on my ankle though which was been a bit dodgy since Pen Y Fan but if I can't run then I can cycle or swim instead. My aim for the next few weeks is to do exercise on at least 4 of 5 days.

I have even more incentive to train extra hard now because of how brilliantly the fundraising has gone. You may have noticed I've not updated my total very much lately. I will, but I want to hold out for a little longer and make it special. My Aunt has been fundraising on my behalf and raised a massive amount. I was totally stunned and I just want to publicly say, thank you so much, you're amazing! I've seen my fundraiser article in the parish magazine this week so I might get a little extra from local residents too.

I'm really excited at the moment but give me another couple of months and I'll be terrified again.