Surf's up!

I'm a member of Surfers Against Sewage, a charity whose focus is on raising awareness of the state of our oceans and improving cleanliness of our beaches and seas (and therefore the safety and health of those using them). I renewed my membership in February and won the draw for £100 to spend at King of Watersports - woo!

So I'm now the proud owner of a bodyboard and my very own wetsuit! As shown...

Can't wait for Cornwall in April and September!

Support and Grace

On Tuesday night the OH and I went for a run. Running with intent, for distances over 2 miles is relatively new to the OH and as such, and with his first 10k on the horizon, he’s full of enthusiasm and motivation, which is great because left to my own devices I probably wouldn’t be doing a lot right now and in almost every instance it’s him asking me if I want to go for a run. So he’d suggested a six mile run a couple of days ago and remembering what happened the last time we went running together (I kept up for 2 miles then ended up about half a mile behind him for a further two before heading home leaving him to do ANOTHER 2 miles) I was a bit nervous. Nervous to the point that I went for a 2 miler on Monday, just to see how I might fare.

When it came to it, I managed to keep up for just under 5 of the 5.5 miles we covered. I was absolutely thrilled. It was my most consistent fastest pace over anything over 3 miles in a long time. Yes I was huffing and puffing, but I found myself with a better, more comfortable stride than my oft-used shuffle run. I know that if I’d been running alone I’d not have gone as far or as fast. OH was really supportive, shouting out our pace, encouraging me up the hills at the end. I feel I should be the one giving HIM support and advice. Actually I think I do that whilst we’re not running, around technique and kit, just not whilst running.

It’s hard to get used to him having improved so quickly whilst I’ve hit a plateau because my competitive streak comes out strongly despite knowing all the genetic advantages he has but it’s a good exercise in being graceful!

He sneaked in another 2 miler this morning after I’d gone to work and hit a new PB – I’m so proud of him!

Future Challenges

This year is going to be relatively light in terms of eventsas a lot of my time is committed to OU study, so I don't have as much time for training as I've done previously. I'm hoping to reach my target of 50 parkruns by the end of the year and so far I'm on track. I'm hoping that Shruti will continue to run these with me occasionally and it's likely that the OH will be able to join me on occasion too, should a certain lifestyle change come to fruition... I'm also struggling to get motivated for events I have signed up for. The OH is helping as I have somehow inspired him to run more often and further. We've both signed up to run the Frimley 10k in the not too distant future. I've never run a race with anyone before and I'm very excited about it. It'll be such a great thing to share. He is a faster runner than I am although arguably I can run further at the moment (this is likely to be shortlived) so I will try and keep up with him for as long as I can before he dashes off into the distance. I don't imagine we'll be too far apart over a 10k distance and seeing the other at the finish will undoubtedly be a huge smily motivator. I've got the postponed Grim challenge in May and the OH and I have signed up to a second event together, a 30 mile bike ride in the New Forest in aid of Marie Curie. I will soon be putting Just Giving links on this site (with much smaller targets than last year's Kilimanjaro challenge!). Although I love going out for a bike ride I'm not very skilled or practised. In fact when I did take my bike out last I ached a great deal so the bike ride will probably be more of a challenge than the runs this year. A few of his friends are also taking part and will probably bomb round in about 1.5 hours while I will likely adopt a more leisurely pace. Shruti and I enjoyed a walk on the Thames Path yesterday, dodging cyclists, and plan to ride/walk/run here on occasion for training. In between all this I will be walking on fire in aid of the Mouth Cancer Foundation. No training required so in the scheme of things it seems easier that anything else I'll be doing but with much more of a wow factor. Can't wait! And that's it. I'm anticpating that I may sign up for one more race later in the year, possibly with the OH again, if all goes well at Frimley.

Reading Half Marathon

On Sunday the 20th March I ran the Reading Half Marathon. Actually, "ran" is an overstatement. I did traverse much of the course at a speed greater than that of a walk but I did resort to walking pace at intervals to prevent injury (damn that right knee). The day was dry, with occasional sunshine (I'm still sporting short tan lines) and a slightly chilly breeze. The parking was not well signposted and the shuttle bus from our carpark dropped us so far from the race village we may as well have walked from the carpark instead. Likewise the walk to the Green starting area was stupidly long. In summary the start was a bit of a shambles, the warm-up was just about visible but there was no space to actually carry out the moves and there was such a long wait to start that I'd all but cooled down again. However once we were off the race was great. I was surprised at how many people lined the course all the way round. There were bands playing at ontervals and the water stations well manned. I do so hate the waste associated with them though. The course was relatively easy going although I totaly lost my sense of direction throguh town. I got cheered on at mile 6 by a friend, also supporting his other half, and by my own OH and parents between miles 11 and 13. My mother, bless her, even ran a small portion with me when I was flagging. I'm not sure she was meant to but it did help. I think my performance was hampered a little by a general lack of enthusiasm. I'd not trained as much as I'd wanted to and I knew my knee wasn't strong. Adrenaline was virtually nowhere to be found. The highlight, obviously, was finishing in the stadium. My father gave accounts of a few people taking a tumble down the slope and some heartwarming reports of other receiving huge applause and somehow managing to cross the line when it seemed there was nothing left in the tank. It was amazing. I got my first ever foil blanket and a well stocked goody bag. My time wasn't anywhere near a PB but I didn't really mind, for once. I could have done without the limp/trudge back to the bus and car but a slap up meal of eggs, chips, beans and sausages with a glass of bubbly back home quickly soothed the muscles. I'm very glad that I finally managed to run the Reading HM but I won't be tempted to do it again. Out of all the HM's I've run so far, overall it was my least favourite.

Mental Downhill Bike Race

Check THIS out!

VCA 2010 RACE RUN from changoman on

Movement and positivity

I love the song and I love the movement in the video. It's free and uninhibited.

REM - Überlin [Clip officiel]
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Success comes in cans, not cant's.

- Author Unknown