If You Can't Move It, Climb It

September

2011-09-01T12:00:00.000+01:00

School starts
Early sunsets
Picking berries
Trees transforming
Eerie mists
Migrating birds
Bonfires burning
Evenings snuggling
Rustling leaves

Danny MacAskill - Industrial Revolutions

2011-09-01T11:36:00.002+01:00

I will never, ever get tired of watching this guy. I love the music too. Ben Howard - The Wolves.

I Run

2011-06-13T16:24:00.001+01:00

Very much enjoyed this video. You may recognise the guy from the cycling video I posted recently...

Bike Lanes

2011-06-10T09:27:00.000+01:00

This video is a truly brilliant response to attitudes to cyclists in some parts of the world.

Firewalking Fairies

2011-05-25T20:27:00.004+01:00

I'm the one on the right. Alex recently dyed her hair and now we look quite similar. Oops!

Firebed

2011-05-25T19:06:00.001+01:00

Hot to Trot

2011-05-25T18:07:00.001+01:00

Saturday just gone was the day I did my firewalk for charity. The Charity in question was Mouth Cancer Foundation and the firewalk took place in Ipswich as part of a bigger fundraising event. It was a chance for me to meet up with some friends and do something outrageous. Normal people just meet for coffee.

I got into the swing of things by donning a tutu and some wings to become one of the “Tooth Fairies” for the evening; a lot of the girls taking part work for a dental practice. 30 were meant to take part, 15 dropped out and 4 were recruited on the night. We had a briefing session lasting an hour and a half which really only needed to be 30 minutes, tops. The chap leading the session took us through a number of body language exercises that really wound everyone up. By the time we actually got round to seeing the firebed being lit I think we were all just itching to get on with things. Nerves were nowhere to be seen. Maybe that was his strategy. Another half hour of exercises including talking ourselves down such that we supposedly became weaker (raise your strong arm and someone else presses down on it) and then stronger and we were finally allowed to do the walk.

I had no fear, after the part of the talk that explained how it’s possible to walk on hot coals, despite the heat that was coming off the bed. It was 20 feet long and the part we walked on was only about a foot wide. I didn’t manage to get many good pictures but I have got a bit of video of me doing the walk. A couple of people got tingly blisters, and I did get a couple but I didn’t even notice them until much later that evening. A few of us wanted to do it again right away but they were a bit swift about putting it out.

Certificate in hand we made a beeline to the bar for a well deserved bottle of wine, a burger from the BBQ and a boogie to the band. I raised £221.66 through Just Giving and a few more pounds in the collecting tin at the local dental practice.

If you ever get the chance to firewalk I highly recommend it!

Grim injuries

2011-05-23T12:01:00.001+01:00

Parkrun & Grim

2011-05-23T11:29:00.000+01:00

I’ve not parkrunned for a while. Mostly this is because I’ve had other places to be on a Saturday morning but one occasion was due to the fact that Frimley parkrun got cancelled for a week. I’m still not sure exactly what’s been going on but Steve seems to have been asked to step down and it’s now being run by someone else. I was really upset and I’ve yet to go back there, even though I’m sure it’ll be just as friendly.

I have reached 22 parkruns now though which means I may just make the 50 by the end of the year. I signed OH up to parkrun and we both tried Basingstoke on Saturday for the first time. OH achieved what I have yet to which is 5km in under 25 minutes. On his first parkrun. Hatehatehate. I had a bad run and was convinced that I came in around 35 minutes. I was therefore disproportionally happy to discover my time was only 31 minutes. Still not good but better than expected. The course is 2.5 laps of rather undulating parkland. It's a pleasant enough course but not being familiar with it, it felt very long and I'm not good with hills (yet). So all in all I was in a fairly black mood afterwards which probably spoilt OH's morning a bit, sorry sweetie, I'll try not to take it to heart so much in future.

The last time I ran before that, and I use this word in the loosest sense, was at Beast in the East the weekend before. I was woefully underprepared having done precisely no hill training but my confidence was buoyed by my cheerleaders. I was in no way aiming for a time, just to get round. I fully expected it to take an hour and a half and surprised myself by crossing the line in 1:19. This was put into perspective by the winning time of 37 minutes, faster than the winner of the Frimley Park 10k! The course was brutal, 1.8km of motocross track start and end with gradients so steep I had to scramble up and slide down. My favourite part was the forest trail, a single track that was very peaceful, accessed after the cargo net which provided little challenge given that the marshalls were holding it up for us!

I did trip and fall on the single track resulting in grazes and vibrant bruises (photo to follow). My knees ached so much afterwards that I didn’t run all week afterwards.

I think this was one of my favourite races. The organisation was great and the sense of camaraderie was wonderful; lots of encouraging words and helping hands meant very few people didn’t cross the line. Every single marshall had a smile, a clap or an encouraging word. The announcer name checked almost every single participant and the motocross course was designed such that spectators (of which there were far fewer than at other races I’ve done, save the Forest 5) could follow the runners almost all the way round. There’s a lot of footage of me tramping round so I’ll try and put some up later.

The t-shirt was pretty cool and the goody bag as good as any I’ve had anywhere else. I didn’t expect it to wipe me out as much as it did and the afternoon was pretty much spent sleeping. I’m almost certainly going to sign up again next year although I don’t think I could hack the Winter version. This is mainly due to having chatted with a girl on the Monday who did do it… I’m going to try very hard not to let my competitive side get the better of me.

PT2 and Surfing

2011-05-21T08:45:00.000+01:00

Continuing with the updates, the week after the VLM I had my second PT session with Jo from Funkfit. I was thoroughly looking forward to this as the first one had been so much fun. I was anticipating a repeat session but it was all change.

I cycled up to the playing field to meet Jo who proceeded to put my through my paces with the ViPR and a BOSU ball. There was a great deal of flipping the ViPR and balancing on the BOSU ball whilst doing various exercises such as squats, deadlifts and bicep curls. The killer was the plank whilst circling the BOSU with my hands.

I was expecting a real hard sell at the end seeing as these were discounted sessions but Jo was terribly laid back about it all and it made me feel more favourable towards using the company again sometime. I probably wouldn’t be able to afford personal sessions very often but will try the fit camps for sure. I know that Jo will offer me advice if I need a boost or a kick start which is great.

I wholeheartedly recommend Funkfit if you live in the Reading area. It’s fun, effective and interesting. With my next spare £20 I’m buying a kettlebell!

It did all stand me in quite good stead for the Easter break when I took a trip to Cornwall with my mum. We stayed at the amazing Scarlet spa and eco hotel for two nights before moving on to Boscastle. In an attempt to combat the effects of all the delicious food we consumed (lunch at Fifteen was a particular highlight) I did some body boarding. We managed to get my board in the back of the car and my wetsuit withstood the 10 degree water well enough to allow me to mess around in the sea for several hours each day.

Wetsuits are so unflattering.

VLM Helpers medal

2011-05-20T14:59:00.001+01:00

The pallets of Lucozade we gave out

2011-05-20T14:58:00.000+01:00

Virgin London Marathon Volunteering

2011-05-20T14:56:00.001+01:00

I can’t believe that it’s been over a month since I last blogged. That’s, frankly, unacceptable. I’ve not been idle though (heaven forbid) so I’d best give you a run down of what I’ve been up to over the course of the next few blog posts.

On the 17th of April I volunteered at the VLM which was hugely rewarding. I was assigned to the Blue start to hand out Lucozade to the participants. I was joined by a dozen hugely enthusiastic school kids and Jackie who I chatted to most of the morning. I bumped into my friend Sarah who ran last year and was aiming to improve her time this year. I’d not seen her for several months since we left the company we worked for so that was a lovely surprise. The atmosphere was amazing and I got to see the tail end of the Red start. It’s all very slick and once the runners are away you’d hardly know anything had been going on save for the giant balloons.

For a couple of hours of my time I got a Lucozade t-shirt and cap, a VLM Staff t-shirt, a volunteers medal and as much Lucozade as I could walk away with. The sense of community was astounding. On my way back from the station I got chatting to a couple who had also been helping out and the seed of an idea to run abroad got planted. Paris and Rome Marathons were sold rather well.

My mum had recorded most of the coverage so I got to see it later over a glass of something cool. Special thanks go to my dad who drove me to Blackheath that morning after my train got cancelled. Thank you Daddy!

FunkFit Personal Training

2011-04-15T17:36:00.002+01:00

I have never had a personal training session before but it was one of the most enjoyable things I've ever done, fitness wise. I put this down mostly to Jo, from FunkFit, who is my trainer. She's great, down to earth and she put me at ease straight away. We met at the Pinewood centre in Crowthorne and found a corner near the balance beams to work out. We did a short warm up run and some dynamic stretches then got stuck into some proper stuff. I don't really know what I was expecting. Something akin to BFM possibly. Instead we took our time and I was instructed in the way of the ViPR. This unassuming bit of kit is used a little like a bar bell but is much more versatile. I did lunges, squats, clean and press and my heart rate rocketed. After that I used a kettlebell for the first time; swings and clean and presses. Finally I did some boxing which, after the day I'd had, was SUPERBLY liberating. The time flew by and I felt as though I could have done loads more. Two days later and I'm still aching in my glutes, hamstrings and shoulders. But you know what, it feels GREAT! The point of this is to get me stronger to get me faster (and burn a little weight in the process). I've got my second heavily discounted session next Wednesday and I'd love to continue afterwards but it's pricey. I may, instead, go to the bootcamps in Reading. I'm also thinking of investing in a kettlebell. The OH fancies a run tonight though I'm not sure if I can or want to do 4-6 miles so I may cycle beside him instead. Parkrun tomorrow and Zumba on Sunday after helping out at the VLM. It's going to be ab awesome weekend.

Frimley 10k

2011-04-14T21:26:00.000+01:00

Wow, well quite a lot has been going on lately. The last time I posted was April 1st so here's what's been going on since then. On April 2nd I ran my 19th parkrun in about 30 minutes. I really thought I'd run faster than that so I was a little disapointed. This week will be my 20th! I feel slightly under pressure to get a new PB as Steve keeps telling me I run too slowly, plus I got a good time at the Frimley 10k which makes me think I could get a new PB, PLUS I had a PT session yesterday so I should be ever so slightly stronger... I will update next week.

On the 6th I ran 4miles with the OH as a last run before the Frimley 10k. It was one of the best runs I've done. I think it was for him too. We ran an average of 9:30 per mile and I kept up the whole way. I didn't even feel too puffed out at the end of it all - felt like I had plenty left which was exactly how I wanted to feel at the end of the last run before the event.

Sunday 10th April was the aforementioned Frimley Park 10k. You can see the route here (with optional altitude graph). It was the OH's first race and we were both aprehensive. It was a good one to start at as it was relatively small but still extremely well organised. We both saw people we knew and it was a gorgeous day. A bit too hot perhaps but some kind soul had her sprinkler going just over half way round which was very welcome indeed. There were two longish hills at 3 and 5km which I opted to walk up. It was at this point that the OH decided to power up them and we ran our own races from that point onwards. I didn't mind at all, I wanted him to have a good race and I know I'd have been worse off for running those hills. The k's clicked past pretty swiftly and for the last one I almost passed a girl who was being coached by her OH. Instead of passing her he encouraged her to stick with me and I took advantage of his motivational words in the heat of the home stretch. We stuck it out and I crossed the line in one hour. OH beat me by 4 minutes. We were both pleased with our times and not too sore afterwards and now I have something to aim for next time :)

Tune in next time for news of my first PT session with FunkFit!

2011-04-01T18:06:00.001+01:00

This morning I had my first session with Jo of Funktional Fitness. Thanks to an offer from Groupon she is my new, though perhaps temporary, personal trainer. We met in a coffee shop at 7am to discuss what I wanted to get out of the session and to go through my food diary. This session was all about nutrition and chatting. I was already armed with a Chai Latte (a real treat as I rarely buy anything from coffee shops) when Jo arrived and I realised that she’d been involved in the Reading Half coaching session at moti> in Reading. I was expecting someone super svelte and exasperatingly perky but Jo is really down to earth and we got on a treat.

I told her that my aims were to:

lose half a stone

run 5km in 25 mins

reduce wobble on my thighs

And she added:

run a sub 2 hour half marathon

improve strength (glutes especially)

complete a triathlon

Apparently this is all very do-able.

My food diary stumped Jo a bit in as much as there weren’t many tweaks to make. It was a real boost to find I’m already doing lots of things right. For example not bothering with “low fat” products, eating good cereals like porridge, shredded wheat and weatbix. Did you know that organic apples can potentially reduce cellulite? My nutrition improvements are:

Up my protein intake. Try to get some protein into every meal. This will include eating more things like quinoa and buckwheat.

Water down my morning fruit juice to reduce the acidity

Switch to full fat milk as it contains more protein and good fats. Raw milk would be even better.

Avoid cooking with nut and seed oil if I can

Drink more water (I currently manage around 1.5 litres a day)

I intend to also:

Eat more wholegrains. 50% of the pasta and rice I eat is wholewheat or wholegrain and I can switch to wholegrain cous cous too.

Pay more attention to portion sizes. 80g or the size of a fist is about right.

Limit my alcohol consumption to around 3 drinks a week. Spirits are best but white wine is better than red which is better than beer.

I’m having my first training session on the 11th. I have to find a location but we’ll be doing things like sprints, fartlek, and strength building. In the meantime I’m making a copy of my booster bar recipe for Jo and she’s digging out some more information relevant to the vegetarian diet for me. It’s been a real boost so far and I hope that I come out of this with a bit more confidence and the motivation to keep up the good work.

Surf's up!

2011-03-31T18:44:00.000+01:00

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

2011-03-30T18:12:00.000+01:00

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

2011-03-28T17:49:00.001+01:00

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

2011-03-23T17:49:00.002Z

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

2011-03-11T13:32:00.002Z

Check THIS out!

VCA 2010 RACE RUN from changoman on

Movement and positivity

2011-03-08T13:29:00.000Z

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

REM - Überlin [Clip officiel]
Uploaded by Warner-Music. - Explore more music videos.

Success comes in cans, not cant's.

- Author Unknown

Persuasion

2011-02-28T18:28:00.001Z

This past week has involved a certain amount of persuasion. Badminton on Thursday was great fun but persuading my muscles not to ache afterwards was futile, as was persuading myself not to eat cake. I persuaded myself to enjoy a gig on Friday and persuaded myself to do parkrun in the mud and rain yet again on Saturday. I wasn't able to persuade myself to run 10miles in the rain on Sunday but I did manage to persuade the OH that he really needed new running shoes. I would have classified his current ones as "fashion trainers" and it was not wholly surprising when he announced that a 4 mile run had left him with a blood blister the size of a twopence piece.

So off to Moti it was, followed by a second opinion in Sweatshop then back to Moti to actually buy a pair of Saucony Progrid Triumph 8's. This was followed by a trip to Decathlon to buy some sportsocks that didn't have holes in. I almost managed to persuade him he needed new shorts and a long sleeved top too but we couldn't come to an agreement on that. Apparently his Hawaiian shorts and cotton t-shirt will suffice.

Today's quote...

The question isn’t who is going to let me; it’s who is going to stop me.

- Ayn Rand

Rocks

2011-02-23T18:39:00.000Z

I have really enjoyed the climbing and bouldering I've done (which isn't much) and am in awe of people who have this kind of strength and belief. I couldn't do this, I don't have the coordinated strength or lack of fear of falling. But I very much enjoy watching other people do this sort of thing.

Better Than Chocolate : quick peek from Haroun Souirji on Vimeo.

Old shoes

2011-02-21T13:28:00.001Z

Old shoes are hazardous. I went for my long run on Sunday and frustratingly not only had to cut it slightly short at 7.5 miles but also had to walk a good part of the last mile and a bit home due to my trainers creating a blister under my left arch. Very sore indeed. The rest of the run was pretty awesome though, having people ahead of my to follow on my route, managing to run up hills/inclines I'd previously struggled with and maintaining a ten minute mile for the majority of the distance. I do wish I'd take a) a plaster and b) gloves. Next weekend I plan to do 8.5 or 9 miles.

Parkrun on Saturday was at Reading, despite Shruti wussing out because it was "raining and muddy". It wasn't raining but it was muddy. I managed to come 95th with a time of 34:37 compared with 111th with 28:18 previously. Running on grass does leave me feeling rather as if my energy has been sapped. I feel that I at least get some of it back from pavement. I slipped around and got horribly muddy though. My trail shoes and running socks are actually still in a bag in the boot of my car because I've not been brave enought to deal with them yet. Shruti was kind enough to let me get her shower temporarily muddy before we went out for brunch though.

So my runs have left me feeling a bit frustrated as I've still had energy left at the end. Also feeling bloated. I blame the OH's chocolate and ginger cookies yesterday. The food diary continues to be enlightening! I shall leave you today with this quote...

Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

This week I have mostly been eating...

2011-02-14T12:55:00.002Z

I've started keeping my food and exercise diary, in paper format, since I went to the Moti session last week. It's quite eye opening. I wouldn't say I eat badly but there are certainly things I can cut out that will help matters. For instance I probably eat a couple of biscuits and/or a piece of cake everyday. I could cut those down and eat more fruit. Easy! There are things I eat that aren't bad but could be better. It's an exercise I shall be continuing.

Speaking of exercise it was the Frimley parkrun anniversary and Valentines event on Saturday. It was also my first OU tutorial in Reading at 10.30. It takes an hour to get from Frimley to Reading. The announcements at FLP took until 9.20. You can do the maths. I wasn't able to run. I go to hear all the announcements and see the crowd, witness the lanterns being sent up, see the prize giving but I'm unable to run 5km in 10 minutes. If I'd known it was going to be like that, sad as I'd have been to have missed the event I'd have run at Reading instead so as to clock up one more in my tally towards the 50 marker. I did do intervals when I got back from class though.

On Sunday I went with mum to a Zumba class. It was my first ever but I've some history in dance so I found I was able to follow the moves pretty well, and although I got pretyty hot, I didn't feel exhausted in the way I do after running. It was great fun and best of all the mirrors in the studio made me look thin! I do actually think my thighs are getting slimmer which makes me very happy (I know I'm not fat by any stretch of the imagination but there are parts of me that I don't like).

So this week I'm planning intervals, hills, parkrun (my "tempo run") and a minmum 6, possibly 8 mile run. Let's see how I manage.

TED: Talk Christopher McDougall: Are we born to run?

2011-02-10T18:03:00.000Z

Moti-vated

2011-02-08T22:31:00.001Z

Last night I went along to the Reading Half Marathon coaching session at Moti. I wasn't exactly sure what to expect, whether there'd be a proper run involved but I went kitted up in case. Just as well as there was about 20 minutes of technique coaching at the start which involved us running around in the space outside the store and concentrating on exaggerated arms, upright bodies and cycling legs.

After that we had advice about injury prevention, types of training we should be doing, nutrition and stretches. We got the chance to ask questions and chat to the team afterwards about specific things. I asked for more advice about my knee which was really helpful. I came away with a little goody bag of sports nutrition and leaflets, some stretches and exercises to address my knee and the idea of keeping a written food and training diary. I've started these before in soft copy but I like the idea of using one of my many many lovely notebooks for the task, especially as they were trying to flog skinny versions for a fiver last night.

I've written in my stretches and technique notes at the back and am dedicating a page to a day for food and exercise notes.

Tonight I did my 6 miles. OH came over and ran too but he doesn't reckon he can tackle that sort of distance yet so we set off at the same time but in opposite directions. Felt a bit strange doing that. On Sunday I ran possibly the darkest run of my life so tonight I took my head torch. It's pretty bright but I didn't think it was bright enough to blind motorists... in any case a couple of them flashed me. I Audiofuelled with Adrenaline Junkie and then Rollercoaster and for some tracks I tried practicing the techniquies from Monday. It did feel a little odd but I'm pretty sure it helped. I got home with an average pace of 10:12 and feeling as if there was a little more in the tank which is exactly the sort of run I *really* enjoy.

Even better OH had made dinner!

Hommmmmmmmmmm

2011-02-07T12:56:00.000Z

Last week was a bit of a non-event in terms of exercise. Apart from the run with OH I didn't do much despite having signed up for 3 lunchtime classes at the gym. Due to weekend plans I didn't do parkrun but did go out for the darkest run of my life last night. It was only about 6.30pm but it was cloudy and so even though I was running on main roads, in the areas where there wasn't any street lighting it was pitch until a car passed, and even then that was sometimes unhelpful, blinding as opposed to illuminating.

But it was an excellent run. I did about 4.3 miles and plugged myself in to AudioFuel's Rollercoaster. Or Rocks Off. I can't remember. It's the one that has two sprints in it which I didn't do. Anyway I was going to try and do 6 miles but my leg started feeling sore so I didn't carry on after the first loop (I have a second I add on to form a figure of eight). I did my minimum though and I felt so zen. If it hadn't been for the leg I'd have gone on for ages more.

This week I will do a 6miler by hook or by crook (and possibly by headtorch) plus parkrun at Frimley on Saturday as it's the anniversary run. Wet wipes, fresh t-shirt and school books at the ready to dash to my first OU tutorial of the year directly afterwards.

Must try harder

2011-02-03T12:11:00.000Z

Well Janathon is over and the winners have been announced, congratulations to you all, I'm most impressed. I'm not regretting having dropped out. There's no way I could have run enough to have got a prize and really think it would have been very demoralising to have run every day and not stood a chance of getting anything. It's not as if the winners were anywhere the same league as me.

I'm really happy for those people who exercised every day, that was a sterling effort and I know that the motivation for a lot of people was to lose weight or hit a personal achievement target but I couldn't find my motivation there, not strongly enough. In fact motivation all round is dwindling at the moment.

I went for a run with the OH last night and did ok seeing as we both got stitches and I was still quite sniffly. I ran in new shorts (Howies) and discovered the pockets NOT to put my keys in. We were only a bit slower than the last time we ran. I'm scared about distances still and I know I have to get over this and back up to substantial miles. I think the thing is that I lack time to just take my time. I've got training runs on Sunday and Monday so I'm really going to make an effort with those.

ViPR

2011-01-25T13:10:00.000Z

Well that was horrible. Last night's ViPR class totally wiped me out. I clearly had my expectations all wrong. For those of you not in the know, ViPR (or at least the version they run at my gym) is like circuits but using these weighted tubes to do exercises with. You get a rest from those only to do gazillions of pressups.

I sweated buckets and worked through the oh-my-god-I'm-going-to-faint feeling. I do ache quite a bit today, but not quite as much as after LBT. Or maybe it's just more distributed. I had intended to do hills on the treadmill last night but I was too wiped out after the class. I may try and drag myself out after work for a run tonight.

I'm signed up to classes every lunch time this week now which is good and although it doesn't look as though I'll be parkrunning at the weekend, I have time for a medium run on Sunday. Rock on!

Buck up your ideas girl

2011-01-24T12:27:00.000Z

Well here we are at the start of another week. I failed to go to the training run on Sunday and instead met friends for lunch, which was lovely but not really helping matters with regards to races. I stayed out much later than I intended to on Saturday night but did remain sober. Also cooking experiments haven't resulted in increased speed or weight loss.

I came into work to the news that N ran 13 miles at the weekend. Bummer. Tonight I am going to my first ever ViPR class at the gym and might do some additional hill work on the treadmill before going home to a healthy dinner of reasonable proportions and an evening of study.

By the end of February I want to have completed at least one 10 mile run and be down to 60kg. That's uppping my mileage by about 6 miles and 3kg to lose... as I appear to have put weight on this week. Bummer.

Stats:
Weight 63kg (bummer)
Fat % - 25.7
Water % - 54
Muscle % - 70.2
BMI - 19.8 (boo)

New adventures in parkrun

2011-01-22T16:06:00.002Z

This week has, once again been fairly light on the exercise front. Work has been manic, leaving little time for lunch breaks until Thursday when I did a legs bums and tums class that left my glutes aching. They're still aching, for the record, and prevented me doing reverse curls in the lounge last night.

However this morning was a parkrun morning and Shruti made the decision to come along and see what it was all about. I probably bore her to tears about it! Actually I probably bore most people to tears about it. Anyway she lives near Reading so it made sense to try that one for a change. I felt horribly disloyal to Frimley as we wandered to the start line but the crowd were friendly, slightly more in number than Frimley, and I really enjoyed it. The course is a little easier than Frimley, there being less inclines, less narrow parts and less dogs and buggies. It did start raining half way around but thankfully stayed a drizzle rather than anything heavier.

Shruti ran in 34:49 (great first effort) and I managed 28:18 (woo! still in the 28 zone!) With any luck and a bit of work I can push into the 27 range in a couple of weeks. I think I have a spa day next weekend so won't be parkrunning (sorry Shruti - but go anyway, be brave) but will be back to it as soon as I can.

Going out for dinner with Shruti and friends tonight so must try not to consume too many calories. The jury is still out on whether I'm actually going to make it to the training run tomorrow (alcohol will NOT be a factor).

Encouragement

2011-01-17T16:02:00.003Z

I've been following the Janathon Bloggers with some interest but haven't really been keeping up with my end of things. I did do parkrun on Saturday which I thoroughly enjoyed. The course is still pretty muddy and slippery but the rain held off and I ran in 28:15. Not a PB but close enough to it to feel happy that my average times are improving despite unruly labradors, head winds and narrow courses.

I gathered up all my 170BPM Audiofuel music and chose a chap who seemed to be running at a good pace and tried to keep feet to the beat and keep up with him. I'm not sure he entirely approved but it really helped me. I wasn't running with my Garmin but there's a particular volunteer who shouts out your times as you approace the halfway point which is dead helpful and meant I knew I could possibly get a PB. I always run the second lap slower though. Steve gave me a shout out mid way as well, claiming that I was getting faster (I might just about believe him now).

They were handing out fliers for the Frimley 10k in April which I'm tempted to sign up for as it seems like a nice little event. Especially as I'm going to be rethinking Tough Guy. Don't ask. I've still got Grim and the Reading half. One year I'd like to do the Chicago half as it falls near my birthday. And the Vegas one would be great as I think I've mentioned before. Not in the same year. Lots of finding pennies to be done before I can think about those.

I've tasked the OH with limiting the amouont of things I sigh up to. In the course of one weekend I talked about swimming lessons, a running club (he wants to join one so why can't I?) and getting back into cycling. There just isn't time for all that PLUS study PLUS actually having a relationship. I just need to spread it out a bit :)

This week's stats!
Weight: 62kg
Fat %: 25
Water %: 54.5
Muscle %:70.8
BMI: 19.5

Easy does it

2011-01-12T13:17:00.000Z

I got looked after by the OH on Sunday night, after declaring myself out of Janathon. Lots of water, blankets piled on my on the sofa, soup, DVD and some good quality sleep. I know I'm not going to win one of the prizes for Janathon now as I missed a day (not even a press up, I'm not going to lie. I can't possibly count "wandering around Bath in the morning") but I'm still going to try and do something each day, as much for the weight loss as anything.

Unfortunately I'm not managing too well. It's all excuses of course. I was meant to do a ViPR class (first ever) on Monday night but a meeting seriously overran and I missed it and I was tight on time to make my evening plans so couldn't fit in a run either. I did run yesterday though. The OH has suddenly gotten all keen on running (we were going to go on Sunday) and thought we could run my 2.3 mile route in under 20 minutes so that was the challenge.

Whereas I was the pace setter last time I could barely keep up with him this time, lagging behind almost all the way. If I'd been out on my own I'd have had a walking break or not run so fast. I set off a bit too quickly, a fault of mine if I don't have "feet to the beat". Garmin reported 20.04! So close! But something's still not right with the GPS as it only reckons we ran 1.73miles, and not the 2.3 I know the route to be. It always *used* to record it as more. Anyway, we'll crack it next time.

Need to get over to the gym and sign up to a couple of classes. I'll attack the abs when I get home tonight.

Day 9 - All out

2011-01-09T19:57:00.002Z

WellI've felt the last 36 hours feeling decidely rubbish. I've felt tired and run down beyond belief. I normally get a B12 jab every 10-12 weeks and I'm due but the way I'm feeling seems to be more than just tireness from that. I've been feeling queasy and unsteady and foggy in the head. This sounds like a lot of excuses but I'm not generally one to be beaten or wuss out.

The OH came over about an hour ago ready to go for a run, which would have been great but I think I'd either fall over or throw up.

Bottom line is I've not done anything today and I therefore I guess I'm out of Janathon.

Day 8 - Mud, mud, glorious mud

2011-01-08T10:43:00.002Z

Well we're into the secnd week now! I'm quite astonished that I've managed to run every day for 8 consecutive days. I'm not sure I've ever done that before. I need to watch out for my right knee though, it's feeling a bit wobbly.

This morning was parkrun. My 12th I think. The results are yet to come through but I'm not anticipating an PB. There were several points where I couldn't overtake people and the mud and headwinds made for a bit of a battle. The trail shoes were great though. I know if I'd have run in my normal trainers that my feet would have been cold, sodden and very miserable by the end of the course. As it was I stayed mostly dry, allbeit with large amounts of mud splattered up my legs. I managed to step in a very large puddle on the way back to the car though, resulting in very wet feet indeed. Typical.

There were more people at parkrun than I've seen before. All those new years resolutions. I saw Stefan who is a regular there, he's now done 25 runs and keeps improving my his PB. I didn't see my pacer friend but Steve the organiser said hello and asked if I was geting any faster yet. Regrettably I had to say no. Although that's the aim this year I know it's going to be a real struggle. I chose to run with music today, as I have all week. Yesterday I ran to Audiofuel's Juneathon track from last summer. Will we get a Janathon track? Please?

Here's my vitals after week 1. Improvement all round but there's still a way to go to shift the Christmas weight (regardless of whether my mother reckons it shows or not).

Weight: 63kg (hmmm, I'd like to get to 60)
Fat %: 25.6
Muscle %: 70.3
Water %: 54
BMI: 19.8 (improvement)

Day 7 - Head, shoulders, knees and toes

2011-01-07T19:21:00.001Z

Or day sevERRRRN! As some would say.

Thankfully the only parts of me that ache from the above list are my toes (although my shoulders ached when I ran yesterday). After the treadmill session on day 5 my feet were feeling a bit sore. I've also noticed that my toe nails are looking a bit delicate. Not a nice thing to discuss but there it is.

Yesterday I ran with the other half and got one of my best times. Could possibly have pushed harder but I'm quite sure I worked harder than normal because I didn't want him to think I was rubbish. Apparently he thinks I run quickly, which is nice. I think he'd run with me again and he reckons we could do it in under 20 minutes. I was so thrilled that he was so supportive, even going as far as to say that he would never have tried to "win" because it was my "arena". I did wear the Garmin but there was some sort of malfunction and although it recorded the time correctly it didn't record the distance and hence lap time properly... it skipped half a mile at least.

Today it was raining, raining, raining and I thought it might be a treadmill evening. But I was brave and went out for a run round the block. I've found the key to going running when you really really don't want to is to not give yourself time to think about it. Parkrun tomorrow. Meh.

I'm glad I've been able to run at least 2 miles everyday, my mojo's returning and I've started to notice physical improvements too. Next week I will try and increase my overall distance a bit. We start with parkrun tomorrow morning and new trail shoes. I'm not expecting a PB, I anticipate being a bit groggy and achey. I'm also expecting it to be wet. It'll be a short post tomorrow as I'm off to Bristol as soon as I'm run and changed.

Day 6 - plus one for two

2011-01-06T10:31:00.002Z

Well I managed the 4 miles on the treadmill last night, by hook or by crook I was going to do it. Quite a few brisk walking breaks but I covered the distance and I'm glad. I even got a few words of congratulations from a woman in the changing room afterwards. I'd have chatted longer but I've never been very good at talking to women in states of undress...

Was absolutely exhausted last night, especially after taking the decorations down. Down but not packed away... that was too much effort. Managed to whip up some noodles and veg with Nigellas sesame noodle dressing (peanut butter, soy sauce, chilli sauce, sesame oil, garlic oil and lime juice) - bliss. Left overs for lunch today!

The OH has said he'll come running with me tonight. He's a "seasonal runner", from about May to September usually. I'm really nervous because I have only ever run with someone once before (excluding races) and I don't know what it's going to be like. Also he will be seeing me at my sweaty, lycra, out-of-breath worst. He's nervous because he thinks he won't be able to keep up with me (HA!). Our relationship may not survive the trauma. I plan to take him on about a 2 mile run. Of course he may wuss out if it's raining.

I've clocked up 14miles so far this month. Rock on!

Also, Robert Palmer's Greatest Hits make for a good soundtrack to core work.

Day 5 - feeling positive

2011-01-05T13:09:00.002Z

Feeling very good today. My energy levels are rising and I'm feeling totally capable of running the planned 4 miles on the treadmill after work tonight, hopefully I'll do even further. There will also be situps etc. I'll detail it all on running free this evening.

All my team are back in the office and we had a bit of a chinwag this morning about running. Four of us run at the moment. G and I are the "runners" (he did 10k on the beach on boxing day) and N and J are the "triers". N, J and I are running the Reading Half in March. I know I'm capable, having run 4 before but I've got a way to go at the moment. J does lots of gym work and cycling and N has a personal trainer. They're both ahead of my in the miles stakes at the moment; N admitted to having run 8 miles the day before yesterday in the morning and then a further 4 with her PT in the evening. 12 miles! They still think I'll be way ahead of them though which is nice :) I brought cakes in today to sabotage them ;) Orange and cranberry muffins... seem to have been a hit.

I think it's great that so many people have got new cook books for Christmas. My OH is most enthused... he's a big fan of food and my cooking. I tried a new soup last night (not from River Cottage) that tasted delicious and virtuous (and was only so by virtue of being packed with veg): Spicy spinach and chick pea soup. I'll definitely be making that again.

Day four - Hullo Jim

2011-01-04T19:17:00.000Z

First day back at work today. Somehow I managed to drag myself out of bed at 7.30 (yes I know, the shame of getting used to sleeping late over the holidays) and get into work. I can't believe I used to get up at 6 some days just to get into the gym. I seem to be developing into a nocturnal creature which means getting up early is a real struggle. Think I'll have to change that.
Aaaaanyway. I almost feel as though I've not had a holiday. We've got a new starter who is a lovely girl, I've been eased into work itself and I'm devouring a punnet of grapes. I feel semi-healthy. I had lunch with the new girl so I went to the gym after work instead and did a gym session with intervals... Was ok but not a patch on where I was before Christmas. Also did 70 crunches on the swissball with 2.5kg, 20 jack knifes and 30 pressups on the swissball. Oh and some leg extensions and back extensions.

I was reading through my new River Cottage Everyday cook book last night and getting very excited about the new recipes. The smoothies and breakfast ideas particularly excite me. One of my resolutions is to cook something new at least once a fortnight and though I won't be starting with this book I think tonight will either be a new soup or a noodle concoction. YUM!

Day three - slowly but surely

2011-01-03T16:00:00.002Z

Had big plans today. Then I woke up at 10am. I am building my distances very slowly. I'm trying, honest I am. It's just so much more difficult than I expected it to be. I guess the extra holiday weight and the lack of exercise before Christmas has just decimated my fitness levels.

Hey ho. Almost 3 miles today. Tomorrow, to ring the changes, I'll be going to the gym after work. I'll do a bit of weights work and try and do my intervals session. That's 20 minutes, 1 minute at 6.7kph, 1 minute at 13 kph, repeat. Before Christmas I was doing 3 of the recovery periods at 9.5kph. Let's see if I can do that tomorrow.

It tried to snow when I was out today. Blimmin' weather. As I was running down the hill before I turn into my road I got to thinking how cool it would be if someone managed to take a picture of me as I pass the automated "slow down" traffic signal, just before a car comes into shot... just a thought.

Day two - ooof

2011-01-02T11:10:00.001Z

Dragged myself out first thing this morning and did the same route as yesterday. I'm clearly an evening runner, somehow it felt even more difficult this morning. How is that possible? Will do more miles tomorrow. Today I'm off to wander around the grounds of waddesdon manor.

Have fun!

Day one - Bleurrrrgh

2011-01-01T18:53:00.002Z

I think the first day of Janathon has got to be the hardest. You've partied hard the night before, maybe drunk a little too much, had some sort of sleep and woken up at 1pm feeling sluggish, hungry, dehydrated and not in the best of spirits for stepping foot outside into the cold day.

Or was that just me?

I finally dragged myself out at 5pm for just over two miles. I was happy with that quite honestly. It's a fair start. I ran the whole way at my normal pace (so not slowed down by last night's festivities). I'm sure amongst the 170 odd of us taking part, there will be some mentalist who ran 14 miles or something. Basically this is the shortest run I do and I intend to build it up over the month.

Sigh.

In preparation

2010-12-31T11:17:00.000Z

So, tomorrow it starts. New year, new ridiculous challenge. Garmin is charged and linked to runningfree (just need to work out how to change the time on it... seems to have gone weird and thinks it's November). iPod charged and loaded with my best running music (also on iPhone in case of failage). Running kit at the ready. Choice of three routes for my first run, depending on how fragile I'm feeling.

I've not run for about 2.5 weeks which is long enough for me to be feeling as though I need to but past the point that I've got itchy feet about going out and doing anything. Plus it's cold, foggy, wet, blah blah blah.

Dug out my body fat monitor. Thought it'd be good to track how I'm doing that way too. So here are the vitals as at T-1.

Weight: 64kg (yikes!)
Fat %: 26
Muscle %: 69.9
Water %: 53.7
BMI: 20.1 (yikes again)

Runners Unite!

2010-12-24T10:58:00.003Z

I went to my other half's work Christmas party last night. As is often the case with these things, I knew no one and I forgot the names of half the people I was introduced to. I spent a lot of time admiring the other women's dresses. There was one particularly slim woman in a chic black sequinned top who I was about to compliment, that is before she asked me "You're not the girl who runs at Frimley parkrun are you?"

Cue surprised pause...

Turns out she's my pacer from the last couple of weeks who was also geared up for Grim! Her hubby works for company and is also a runner. The know me as the Girl In Pink. Turns out the big boss man (who's completely lovely) is also doing Grim and was trying to persuade me to run the Fleet half marathon with him. Unfortunately it's the same day as the Reading half so I'll have to bow out, also I'm doing Grim in May now and not January with the other three. We all had quite a chat about running to the extent I think the OH felt slightly left out.

One of the reasons I love running... it's a great leveler and really does unite people. Even at office Christmas parties.

Janathon will be a shock to the system

2010-12-22T09:46:00.001Z

It's December. It's cold. There's been some amount of snow. I've been for a run outside only twice in the past two weeks and I'm not sure if I've been to the gym more than once. Much to my shame many others have been running regardless of the weather and parkrun went ahead Saturday just gone (although I was on babysitting duty so couldn't have gone anyway). I'm trying to stave off a cold at the moment and at least three other excuses mean I'm losing fitness at a rate of knots. Colleagues of mine have been going to the gym or exercising every day and I feel quite guilty that I've not.

My first event next year is the Reading half so I should be training but I've lost momentum and some motivation. It is with joy and trepidation then that I acknowledge the approach of Janathon. Over 100 people are now signed up and much as I would adore to win a prize I don't think I stand much chance. What I am hoping is that the camaraderie will help to kick start 2011 fitness regime. I will be logging my runs on the RunningFree website and trying to support fellow Janathoners.

Why have I suddenly lost motivation for running? Can't all be Christmas related surely?

Polar Circle marathon

2010-12-14T12:02:00.000Z

An article that piqued my interest about the Polar Circle Marathon, and the accompanying pictures. Just another daft event write up you may think, until you read that the author dropped over 4 stone from 18 stone 9 pounds and was tough enough to complete 4 3-month marathon trainin schedules back to back. I hope he goes on to run that sub-3-hour marathon.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2010/nov/22/running-polar-circle-marathon

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/gallery/2010/nov/11/polar-circle-marathon-2010-greenland

Dark Side of the Lens

2010-12-11T10:49:00.000Z

This gave me shivers, and hope. This sort of dedication and passion is what I aspire to.

DARK SIDE OF THE LENS from Astray Films on Vimeo.

There are no words

2010-12-10T10:22:00.003Z

Tim Knoll BMX from Tim Knoll on Vimeo.

Grim revisited

2010-12-09T18:46:00.000Z

It's all been sorted. The new dates for Grim have been announced (15th and 16th January 2011) and I can't make either of them. Luckily the organisers have considered this and are offering people the chance to defer entry to Grim 2011 or transfer to Beast in the East which is in Swanley in May.

After some consideration I'm transferring. I don't really want to wait a whole year, it'll help me stay focussed on training for my other events and the weather will be nicer. That said, the course is supposedly tougher although it's only 10km. I'm going to have to start embracing hill training.

I think huge thanks have to go out to the Grim organisers. They've handled this all extremely well and even though a lot of us have been whinging and whining about it, we're very grateful.

Micro Adventure - Al Humphries and the Fosse Way

2010-12-09T11:57:00.000Z

The Fosse Way - a microadventure from Alastair Humphreys on Vimeo.

Danny Macaskill

2010-12-07T17:28:00.000Z

This just blows me away. The things that people can do! It's just amazing. The first then the new video from the aptly named Danny Macaskill...

Grim Challenge

2010-12-03T15:15:00.000Z

Well as the counter on the right says, Grim is tomorrow, except now it isn't.

For days and days, ever since the snow started, I've been battling with my conscience as to whether or not to go ahead with this. There were concerns about the state of the course, whether it would actually be dangerous for me to try and compete, whether I could get there safely and whether mum and dad would be able to get to me to support me, because if I'm honest there was no way I was going to attempt to do this without support in case I did injure myself or suffer from hypothermia or something.

I was still toying with trying to get there because a) I'd paid b) I'd run in minus temperatures and know I can cope c) I knew other people were all geared up and ready to go and I'd feel like I'd wussed out.

This morning I made a decision not to go ahead with it, and immediately felt rubbish. So it was with joy that I saw the recent announcement on their facebook site that it's being postponed, probably until January, land bookings permitting. FAN-tastic! I can relax, train some more, and enjoy my Christmas now.

They're coming to take me away hee hee haa haa

2010-11-28T15:53:00.001Z

So in case you hadn't been outside at all in the past week it's now properly Winter. Minus temperatures, ice, frost, snow, the lot (ok not snow in Berkshire, but in other places). And yet I am still going outside to run. I went out on Thursday night and ran possibly my best ever 2.5 miler route. It was cold, sure, but I felt so invigorated and it gave me confidence that my gym programme is helping me to improve. Unfortunately I can't confirm it was my best because I went out without my Garmin. But wow.

And so this morning I got out of my lovely warm bed, steppedinto my running gear and without trying to think too much, went to Frimley parkrun. It was my 10th, which means I'm 1/5th of the way to a t-shirt! Anyway I digress. Just before we started I saw a guy in a Grim 2009 Survivor t-shirt so I asked if he was doing it this year. He's done it 5 times but won't be taking it on this time, however as we set off I overheard him talking to a girl beside me, saying that they'll break the ice and if the pools aren't waist deep then they'll fill them up with a hose pipe... WAIST DEEP! That sort of caught my attention so I had a chat with the girl. Turns out she's doing it Sunday (I'm on Saturday) and now we're both pretty scared.

I over took her fairly early on but I've got into the habit of taking a walking break at the start of the second lap, especially just before we get onto the tow path as there's a little steep bit I don't like. I'd slowed down and this girl caught me up, touched me on the arm and said "Come on". And that was it, I decided I was going to keep pace with her and if possible beat her. I got a couple of feet in front so I could still hear her footsteps and kept it that way the rest of the course, even putting on a small sprint finish to pip her to the finish line. It was great! If it hadn't been for her I'd not have run so well and I told her so. I ran 28.03, just 1 second off my PB!

And I didn't even remember the cold! But I still don't want to do Grim next weekend.

Glass

2010-11-27T12:54:00.000Z

It’s not glass ceilings that bother me
It’s glass walls that infuriate
Glass walled meeting rooms
Glass walls dividing departments
Glass walls keeping me from the world outside.

It’s there, I can see it, but it’s just out of reach. I imagine the sun on my neck and the wind in my hair, the feel of the ground under my feet and dirt under my nails.
I dream of running as far and as fast as I can until my lungs feel like they’re going to burst, moving with abandon the way I did when I was a child and didn’t care about cuts and bruises.
I have a desire to be mountain biking through forests, making new bruises and aching muscles under dappled sunlight.
I think of being on the beach, sea salt coating my skin, wrapped in sweaters but barefoot, shoes neglected in the dunes, watching the waves and the sunset with chips and a bottle of beer, after a day of playing in the surf. In my imagination I’m surrounded by friends. We dance on the sands and collapse into each others arms giggling.
We have pitched tents but have no intentions of sleeping. As we lie in the entrances to our tents, our playful murmuring is the only sound for miles under the stars until the sun starts to rise.

I can feel my soul swelling with wellbeing and contentedness. It’s a blissful feeling.

Give me land, lots of land, under starry skies above. Don’t fence me in.
Give me a mountain and I’ll climb it.
Give me a road and I’ll walk it.
Give me a field and I’ll be happy.
Give me the sea and I’ll be lost forever.

Ugly Gear

2010-11-26T10:38:00.001Z

I particularly like this article in The Guardian today about the design of technical clothing. The last sentence, I think, really sums up a lot of people's attitude towards outdoor activity.

November

2010-11-23T12:24:00.000Z

Nocturnal creatures
Over eating
Velvet nights
Earmuffs rediscovered
Mornings frosty
Bonfire smoke
Embers glowing
Radiators on

Snowdon 3.0

2010-11-20T11:52:00.006Z

This weekend just passed I went to tackle Snowdon for a third time. I went with the Outdoor Duo group, of which a friend of mine from the recent National Trust holiday is a member. I was effectively gatecrashing their Christmas party (but I did pay).

After a night of cider and Karaoke at one of the pubs in Llanberis we set off up the Ranger path at about 9.30am, bellies full of porridge and toast. The weather was mostly fine, windy and cold but pleasant enough in the sun. I'd been down the Ranger path before but going up was tough. We hit the summit at about 1pm during the only half hour that it was sat in cloud. There were patches of snow all around and frost on the grass but it was still an achievement. I'd thought I was fit, but not compared to some of the people in the group!

After obligatory photos and a quick scoffing of sandwiches behind the now closed cafe (shivering set in within about 4 minutes) we descended via the Llanberis path, a longer but gentler route down. The group seperated a lot more on the descent as it's an easier path to follow and those who were more able put best feet forwards and got a shift on. I was towards the back but only because we had opted for comfort breaks. The rain set in during the last 45 minutes or so but it seemed a bit pointless putting on waterproof trousers at this point so I suffered wet legs and bedraggled hair whilst enjoying the comfort of my Berghaus waterproof jacket.

The dry room was made good use of back at base camp (the wonderful Boulder outdoor centre who looked after us extremely well and provided a superb Christmas Dinner). The following day some of us decided to do a "short 2-2.5 hour walk" beofre setting off home. This turned out to be a 4.5 hour jaunt up a slightly smaller hill but with added confusion where the path wasn't where we thought it would be. I can't say that we were all especially chirpy about this and I do feel a bit sorry for the leader who had obviously put a lot of effort into all this and was doing a grand job of encouraging everyone and keeping us together (even if our route did take us along the back of a farm were deceased sheep had ended up). Still, it was a beautiful walk, if slightly more slippery than the previous day. My legs were damn sore by the time we got back to the car. And we'd been stepping out because we had places to be!

So two days of walking under my belt I was looking forward to some rest and recouperation in Dorset which admittedly I did get... I'm not sure I saw a morning in those three days, but they did feature a beach walk from Sandbanks to Bournemouth and a short walk at Lulworth Cove. The beach walk was especially lovely and I was brave enough to remove my shoes and socks, paddle in the sea and feel the sand between my toes. Very refreshing. Another 4 hours I think. Lulworth Cove was barely a walk at all but I awarded myself the prize for Most Inappropriately Dressed Hill Walker of the day (a game my friends and I play whenever we engage in this sort of activity) wearing as I was knee high boots and a denim mini skirt.

So now I'm enjoying not walking much place. Parkrun resumes tomorrow and gym resumes next week.

Janathon

2010-11-19T11:30:00.001Z

Remember how back in June I took part in Juneathon? Well I'm going to be doing it again in January with the aptly named Janathon. I'm registered participant number 29 and during the month opf January I will be once again attempting to run and blog every single day. It's going to be horrible :)

Pine Ridge 10k

2010-11-18T15:16:00.001Z

I've been a bit slcak with my posting of late. I'd scheduled a few bits and pieces for when I knew I would be busy but suddenly realised I'd not updated you about the Pine Ridge 10k I did back on the 6th November.

Well it was a superb morning for it, cold and crisp but sunny. There were about 1200 participants of all abilities and a few dogs as well. The course was a bit slippery and muddy but very pretty and not so bad that I noticed anyone stack it. There were a few hilly bits that I wasn't really prepared for but I decided to walk those and run a bit faster down hill. Generally it was all very well organised except that they should have started herding people over to the start a lot earlier. We ran 15 minutes late because people were still making their way to the start line which was a good 10 minute walk from the car park and area where we collected out timing chips. Either that or we should have just started without them. Harsh but fair on those of us who got there on time and had warmed up.

There was some good comaraderie and I was quite amused to find myself playing tag with a chap in a yellow t-shirt who seemed to run for a while, then walk and wait for me to catch up or over take before sprinting off again. I completed in 1:06:47 and wore my green t-shirt with pride the rest of the day. I think the course was slightly longer than 10k but all in all, a great event, well organised, enjoyable and I'd recommend it to people for next year. I probably won't be doing it again, but only because I've other events to try :)

Sonnet in C

2010-11-06T12:56:00.000Z

I sit in this office of glass and grey
Pretending to type and email and file
When all I want is to escape and play
Out there; to cycle, swim and run for miles

The sky is clouded and grey as the walls
That contain me from nine to five each day
But the lure of wide open spaces calls
And I find it’s all I can do to stay

One day I’ll escape from here to the wild
Feel sun on my skin and wind on my face
Be as carefree as I was as a child
Run far away from this time and this place

And I’ll breathe this motto when my lungs hurt
Of all the paths you choose let some be dirt

Bunnies in bags and Grim Challenges

2010-11-03T13:36:00.002Z

I just had to point you in the direction of JogBlog's post today (note, those who are especially fond of Bunnies may find this upsetting). I love her writing style which makes me laugh almost every time.

I hadn't realised that she was also doing Grim Challenge (which I need to do a bit more training for) so you never know, I might see her there.

This weekend I've got the Pine Ridge 10k. I should be ok. I've done one of my new super-brutal gym workouts this week already and I'm headed for a double whammy of gym classes today plus one more tomorrow. Awesomeness!

Halloween 5 Nite Run

2010-11-01T17:15:00.000Z

Yesterday I ran the 2nd Halloween 5 Nite Run in Reading. It was a 5k race (as the name suggests) and a fantastic alternative way to celebrate Halloween. It took place in Thames Valley Park at 8pm and fancy dress was strongly encouraged. We had a lot of rain over the weekend but the evening was thankfully dry. I was glad I turned up early to take in the atmosphere. Jack-o-lanterns lined the path from the car park to the race HQ, there was spooky music being played (everything from the Munsters theme to The Automatic's Monster and more) and punpkin soup for sale. A lot of people had gone to some effort with their costumes. I hadn't given it much thought but found some white face paint in my makeup bag so at least looked somewhat ghoulish.

It was an off-road course, flat but slick with mud and wet grass. As we set off I knew this wasn't the evening to be attempting any heroics or PB's. Staying on my feet was challenge enough! Every one of the 480 runners had to wear a headtorch which made for some pretty spectacular sights as we rounded corners and could see the trail of lights behind or ahead. The marshalls did a great job of warning of slippy spots, sharp bends and generally being encouraging. The course was well marked with signs and yellow glow sticks, tree roots painted white and other obstacles marked with orange glow sticks. There were "sheet ghosts" in the trees (very effective) and a drum band dressed in black with skeleton masks playing, which could be heard across the whole course.

I had such a brilliant time. I managed 29.38 which I was pretty happy with, but I now realise that if I can do that in those conditions I have no excuse for poor times at parkrun any more. Also I could really do with some trail shoes. Everyone got a souvenir mug and I'd bought one of the skeleton race shirts too as seen below in the very unflattering photo I took of myself post-race.

Brilliant event, thanks to the organisers. Might well do it again next year!

October

2010-10-26T12:20:00.000+01:00

Orange sunsets
Crisp mornings
Turning leaves
Ovaltine evenings
Blankets unfurled
Experimental baking
Red-cheeked children

Cardiff Half Hobble

2010-10-18T17:43:00.000+01:00

So two half marathons in as many Sundays... yes I think I am mad. But I do like a challenge and I don't give up easy so yes, there I was, on Sunday, in Cardiff Bay with 15 thousand other people at the start line. It was 4 degrees, sunny and mayhem. this was the biggest race I'd ever turned up to on my own, with no supporters; pretty nerve-wracking. I'd been bouldering with my mate Ry the day before which , with hindsight, probably wasn't very wise although thoroughly enjoyable. It resulted, thankfully, only in achey arms but meant that now I ache EVERYWHERE as I carry quite a bit of tension in my shoulders when I run (although the mantra "run tall, run free" did help a lot). Ry turnedout around the 6 mile mark to shout encouragement at me which made all the difference. Thanks Ry!

My leg didn't cause me any real issues and I came in at 2:12 which I was pretty pleased with, it only being 2 mins off my HM PB. Thanks Sean for giving me the chance to run it in the first place!

Good points about the race:
- The baggage was very well organised, as were the medal and goody bag hand outs
- The course, very pretty at the start, scenic all the way and about as flat as you could get
- Plenty of water stations
- Plenty of loos

Bad points about the race:
- The warm up wasn't very well organised, it was hard to hear and follow if you weren't up the front.
- Not enough segregation between runners and spectators at the start
- No mile markers until mile 3

I now have a couple of weeks off before the next event which is a cruisey 5k night time Hallowe'en run in Reading... dressed as a skellington :)

Royal Parks 2010

2010-10-11T11:58:00.003+01:00

Yesterday I ran the Royal Parks half marathon. Actually I use the term "ran" loosely as around mile 6 my right leg started falling apart. Not literally, but things started going wrong. I used to have an intermittant issue with my right knee which my Physio pretty much sorted out for me. Idf I do my stretches properly I don't get any trouble. So I duly did my stretches and warmed up thoroughly before the event but I felt something wasn't perfect with my knee. I hoped it would pass as I got into my stride, which does happen most times. At mile 6 I started feeling something in my hip, presumably an over compensation for the altered biomechanics of my knee, though why it'd never happened before during my long runs is a mystery. Anyway by mile 8 I was run/walking and although I managed a sprint finish I was 18 minutes behind my last year's time (completed 2010 in 2:28. I reckon I'd have beated 2:10 injury free). I did an awesome sprint finish though :)

It was a brilliant day though. Highlights included the BMF warm up, Ben Fogle starting the race, passing Big Ben at 10am and hearing the chimes, getting high fives from the stewards, collecting a stupid amount of free food from the stands (place your bets on how long it'll take me to eat 16 mars bars) and finishing on a high. It really is one of the best organised races I've ever done and the route is full of London landmarks which keep it interesting.

Huge thanks to my mum and dad for getting up early, ferrying me there and back and cheering me on. And also for putting up with my weariness immediately after the event. If this has inspired you, you can register your interest for 2011.

In a moment of madness I decided to take on the Cardiff Half Marathon next weekend. I'm running on behalf of Sean of AudioFuel who's ill and I'm very grateful to him for giving me the chance to run this event which I've been pondering for two years now. I've never signed up before because it's always been "too close" to another event. Well that excuse has gone right out the window. Can't wait but am aprehensive (my hip will be fine, my hip will be fine...). I hope I do myself proud.

Revitialised!

2010-10-07T17:57:00.000+01:00

Since my holiday, where despite a fairly active regime I managed to put on several pounds thanks to the abundance of food, I’ve found a new reserve of energy and determination. This is in part to do with wanting to shift the extra weight but also from having had a complete break from my normal routine.

I was getting pretty disheartened before I went away. The 5k times were rising, I felt sluggish and as if I had no time for anything expect work, sleep and training. I realise that routine is not always your friend. There are still mornings I wake up and wish I had a personal trainer to tell me exactly what I should be doing with my day, take me through yoga and a training programme. But alas I can’t afford one in terms of either time or money so I must persevere.

I’ve signed up for a few more races, I’ve discovered that I can run for almost two hours with just short pauses without suffering too much, that I rather enjoy running in the rain, that I still want a 25 minute 5k PB (and that I could probably do it with some more speedwork), and that I really really miss climbing and dancing. I used to do modern jazz and tap at a friend’s dance school but she no longer runs the classes for adults so I think I will have to find somewhere else that does the modern jazz/street/hip-hop styles because I loved it so much. I might see if anyone wants to come climbing with me when I head back to Cardiff in a week’s time.

So mixing it up is the order of the day. I reckon if I do 2 out of the 3 classes at the gym at work every week for core and cycling, a long run, parkrun and a speedwork/intervals session and then a cycle/zumba/yoga/climbing or swim session, that covers most bases and keeps things interesting although I do wonder if that’s asking too much of myself. I’m considering investing in a pull up bar and “borrowing” my friends dumbbells to work on my upper body strength at home.

I’m so positive at the moment that I’m considering signing up for a full marathon in Vegas in December 2011 rather than the half I was thinking about before…

Surfing in September

2010-10-04T16:27:00.005+01:00

Has it really been an entire month since I wrote last? I can hardly believe it. Where has that time gone?!

I've certainly not had a lack of things to write about, I've been doing the gym classes and going on runs and getting steadily worse at parkrun it would seem, but I guess it's because I've been so busy I've not stopped to write about them. I've just spent a week in Cornwall on a surf and conservation holiday which was absolutely brilliant. We got a couple of days of glorious sunshine and then it mostly rained which isn't really an issue when you're being dunked in the sea every 10 minutes or so. After 2 and a half days surfing I was able to stand up on the board for a couple of seconds at a time and had wonderful friction burns on my hands from the foamie board. I'll never look at the sea in the same way again and I will definitely be hiring a boad and wetsuit next time I'm near the beach.

Next weekend I'm running the Royal Parks half marathon. I'm very excited. Yesterday, after about an hour of dithering about whether to go out or not, I did 10 miles in the wind and rain so I think I'm mentally and physically prepared. I'll be doing a couple of short runs this week, packing the bag and heading to mum's on Saturday night in preparation. I will therefore not be running parkrun this week, but volunteering instead. Having had a week's break and reflection I've come back all refreshed and revived and convinced that I can run a 25 minute 5k (which I've never managed yet). You never know! Maybe the aim is to do that before Christmas.

I've not got a place in the Virgin London Marathon so instead I've signed up for the Pine Ridge 10k and the Reading half. As I said, feeling refreshed and revived...

The Next Challenge (don't panic, it's just a blog)

2010-09-02T20:20:00.001+01:00

This week's been pretty good so far. Dominic still isn't back from holiday but we've had the lovely Mark instead holding the fort at the gym. I had my own personal Spin class on Tuesday as I was the only one with enough will power to get up at that time on the first morning after a Bank Holiday weekend. Wednesday I did Abs then ran the 3.15 miles to Jo's to collect my bike. I really enjoyed having a destination as opposed to going "round the block" and it was a gorgeous Autumnal afternoon. Somehow I managed to arrive in a non-hug repellant state. An hour of chit chat and a glass of elderflower coridal later and I rode home very happy.

Today I did LBT at lunch and then put a new AudioFuel interval track to the test. I've not smiled so much whilst out running in ages, felt really energised and have decided that I enjoy running in Autumn sunshine. Maybe I'll start cycling to work next week.

My internet find of the week is the inspiration for the title of the blog, namely The Next Challenge website. Tim Moss writes a superb motivating blog about adventures big and small. And it's not all mountains and extremes, there's a lot here that's very accessible and aimed at the everyman looking to break out of the routine every once in a while. It's well worth a look and I'm sure you'll find something there to appeal. He also provides advice and guides to helping you plan your own adventure (however great or however formed the idea is) but that's not part of the blog.

This week was also marked by the arrival of the Howies catalogue. I've mentally bought about half the catalogue already (the mens jackets and fleeces are sooooo nice). Where'd I put that lottery ticket?

Squelch

2010-08-26T18:02:00.000+01:00

Last night I went out for a bike ride with my friend Jo. It had been drizzling all day and in most circumstances I'm a bit of a wuss about cycling in the rain, I pretty much wouldn't ever consider running in the rain, but for some reason neither of us wanted to let a bit of water stop us going out so I kitted up, dragged out the Howies waterproof and merino top and set off. It was actually rather pleasant as the rain had a cooling effect and I was nice and dry apart from my legs (which were sporting my usual cycle shorts for padding on the basis that skin dries faster than fabric and my legs don't tend to get cold). Of course I did drip qiute a bit on Jo's front door mat when I first arrived. Our aim was to try out a cycle route to my new office. So map encased in sandwich bag and Jo's saddle wrapped in clingfilm (very fetching) we set off to the bemused headshaking of her husband. Our rides aren't fast but we chat a lot and just enjoy exploring our neighbourhood.

We made it, more by luck than skill, to my office in about 30 minutes (3.2 miles). It wasn't the route I thought we'd take and I'll probably never be able to find it again. The rain wasn't letting up at all so we didn't hang around but turned straight back to try a slightly different route on the homeward leg. It all started out ok but 2 or 3 wrong turns and 2 drippy map consultations later and we were almost in sight of Jo's again. The rain had become harder, my socks were sopping and my jacket was turning out to be slightly less waterproof than previously believed (the state of Jo doesn't bear mentioning, poor girl) so we sheltered in an underpass and put in a call to Mr Jo requesting buckets of tea and warm towels. 3.5 miles in 50 minutes... hmmm... I shall definitely be trying out the route again sometime (before I do it for real).

Despite sogginess we both had a brilliant time and would probably go cycling in the rain again. I was so drenched that Jo wouldn't hear of my cycling home so put me in dry clothes and drove me back while my bike is having a sleepover at hers until Saturday. It was hot shower, toast and bed for me!

Mad girls cycling in the rain: 2
Mad people out running in the rain: 1
Youths encountered sheltering in underpasses: 8
Items of soaked clothing: 9
Items of borrowed clothing: 6
Illnesses as a result of mad expedition: 0 as yet
Cycle routes to work known: 0

No Substitute

2010-08-24T17:48:00.000+01:00

I had a weekend of excess and no ParkRun. I failed to go for a run yesterday, instead opting for feeling sorry for myself, eating cake and pickling runner beans. Oh how thrilling my life can be. I did get up and go to Spin this morning but walked out half way through because I couldn’t hear the substitute teacher over the music and she refused to keep to the rhythm of the music. I do not feel the least bit bad about this. I had a short run on the treadmill instead and missed the rush for the showers.

I will see how she is at the Abs class tomorrow followed by a bike ride in the evening and will be forcing myself to do a pyramid session, ParkRun and a Long Run during the rest of the week. Once Dom’s back I might ask him for a weights routine. Or I might just buy some dumbbells and a pull up bar…

2010-08-23T17:18:00.000+01:00

Priority entry for Reading Half Marathon is now open and normally I'd jump at the chance of entering (especially as I had to miss out this year) but I'm feeling very sluggish today and the thought of a half marathon makes me feel tired.

This is not good news as I have Royal Parks coming up! I was going to go for a run this evening but it's been raining today and I think it's going to be very very hard to motivate myself to go out. I have spin tomorrow which should get me back into things. I have birthday cake to work off!

Running Trax

2010-08-21T10:53:00.000+01:00

As you may know, I am a bit of a fan of the AudioFuel music and coaching tracks. I use them a lot and it's very rare I run without any music at all. But sometimes I need a change and spend quite a bit of time finding tracks from my own collection that have the right sort of beat. So I've welcomed a triple disc collection from the Ministry of Sound especially designed for running - Running Trax. It's great for running when I've not got a particular schedule and for getting me up and going in the early mornings when I don't really feel like it.

I almost feel like a traitor but if you're looking for something different and enjoy your dance music, then this might be worth a try.

Midlife Crisis?

2010-08-17T17:51:00.000+01:00

I seem to almost be making a habit of getting into somewhat intimate situations with men I barely know of late. First there was Neil and last weekend it was Jimmy. All completely innocent honest Guv! Jimmy was my instructor on Sunday as I did my first ever skydive (in tandem). Although they brief you on what to expect nothing really prepares you for just how close you're going to get. You start off sitting between your instructors legs in the plane (you will never complain about leg room ever again), then move to sitting in his lap, before being strapped very very tightly to him. Jimmy had a pretty good day of it actually, 5 or six tandem jumps and all of them girlies! Anyway to cut a long story short, Jimmy somehow managed to qwell all my fears and I thoroughly enjoyed the jump. And no new injuries!

Let's rewind a little bit. After spin on Tuesday, abs on Wednesday and LBT on Thursday I ached BAD, and I believe I owe my new Parkrun PB of 28.02 entirely to working so hard during the week. Despite only 5 hours sleep. Hurrah! It was a good feeling :) While I'm happy with my improving performance I've yet to get anywhere close to my mate Guy's times (although I'm catching up on age range %). I won't get to do Parkrun this week as I have birthday plans (my 30th, does that explain my recent behaviour?) so I reckon with two weeks of hard gym classes before the next one I should smash 27 mins. I did spin again this morning (it never gets easier) and will be doing abs tomorrow.

I'll have to try and ramp up the runs again soon in preparation for the Half Marathon in October which will just be a case of giving over a couple of evenings to longer runs and some technical work. I'm trying to decide whether or not to sign up for a 10k in November and/or a cross country 8 mile in December... I think I'm feeling too tired today.

Let's twist again

2010-08-10T17:34:00.001+01:00

Parkrun last weekend was a little disappointing. My general aim is to try and get a new PB, even if it's just a few seconds off, each time but it was very slippery on the tow path and I felt heavy with tiredness and didn't push as hard as I should have done so just missed out. Ho hum.

Sunday was my introduction to Mountain Boarding which was immense amounts of fun. I fully expected to be the eldest there by a long shot but on my 11am session the only other participant was Mark who was a wonderful 32 years old. God bless you dude. He had snowboarding skills on his side so wiped out far less than I did but both of us sort of gave up after 2.5 hours of hurtling downhills, tramping up them and colliding with them. I got pretty freaked out by the perceived speed at which I was travelling which lead to quite a few aborted runs as I slid my way, on my backside, into the nearest overgrown patch of ground. I probably achieved as many injuries on the lift as I did on the hills, it being so uneven that my board would get caught and I'd end up in a sprawling heap wondering which way was up (a common theme of the day).

By the end of it I was having a blast, ok at turning and stopping, even tried an up-and-down run. But I was also covered in sweat, dust, grazes and bruises (including one on my backside!). I was also the proud possessor of a twisted ankle, the severity of which only became apparent later that day as I'd clearly done it early on but kept using it. The verdict: I'd go again, but with more padding and once the memory of the pain has subsided.

So running's probably off the menu this week. I shall volunteer at Parkrun instead if I can make it at all.

Not one to be sat still (actually I was surviving on caffeine and sugar for a large part of the week), I tested out the ankle last night by way of a brief cycle around my immediate neighbourhood... in my PJs and flipflops (it was late, and I couldn't be bothered to put on sensible clothes). All seemed well so I threw myself into Spin class this morning. Dominic had very kindly put my name down... yeah, thanks. I was determined to do better than before and I think I did. I didn't swear so much but that was possibly because I was out of breath and exhausted. Legs felt less jelly-like and I seem to have a remarkable ability to recover quickly even when I feel like throwing up during the exercise. I definitely made more effort to use harder resistance but I noticed that I really struggle with peddling quickly, as I do with running fast. This leads me to believe that I am made for endurance, not speed but have arranged to have a chat with Dom about how I might improve.

Abs class tomorrow followed by a leisurely bike ride in the evening with the lovely Jo to try out my route to work in the hope of starting to cycle in at least one day a week from next week. Here's hoping for a speedy ankle recovery to allow for running next weekend.

Triumph!

2010-08-04T22:49:00.002+01:00

First off, a report back on that spin class I did yesterday morning. To summarise... Spinning is a whole new level of Hell. I coped with the getting up early, coped with being shown how to set up my bike and thereby declaring that I was a n00b and managed to mostly keep time to the fantastic music that the class was set to. What I hated was that the instructor kept cranking up the resistance on my bike mid-flow!

Now I'll admit I wasn't pushing as hard as I could have done because I wanted to gauge how the class would pan out and not ruin my legs for tonight's race. I wanted to enjoy it rather than die. And ok I did enjoy it in the end despite jelly legs, practically melting off the bike, swearing profusely and the evil Dominic. I'm even fully prepared to give it ooooo maybe an extra 10% (oh go on then, 25%) next time. This might just be the key to improving my performance at running and will certainly help for triathlon.

And on that note... to tonight's activity! The Yateley 10k! I pretty much went into this blind, with no idea of the course and barely any idea what the weather was going to do. I didn't even get my race number before the event. But it was well organised and a pretty good course; all road and undulating but nothing too extreme. I'd decided to try not to pay too much attention to my garmin to start with, I think I only looked at it 3 times in the first 5k, and just run and enjoy it. And I did, I really surprised myself by not stopping at all until about 7k where I had to check out my shoe as the joint on my big toe felt as though it was rubbing on a seam (there are no seams on my socks). Even though my legs were in a really great rhythm the last 3k were pretty uncomfortable because of the toe which is blistered and sore. I'm blaming old shoes but my new ones would probably have been worse... this will be sorted in the next week or so.

Moment of truth... my chip time was 59:03!!! Average speed of 6.3mph, max 9mph. I'm sooooo happy. I've finally cracked that sub-one hour PB. And I got a spot prize! A water bottle, great, like I don't have about 6, but very nice all the same. I saw my physio before we started but didn't get to say hi and I couldn't find him after which was a shame (though this is probably because he was aiming to run 20 mins quicker than me) because I wanted to say hi and thank him for helping me get back on track. I think I owe it a little bit to spin class too...

I am a very happy girl.

Spin Spin Sugar

2010-08-02T19:01:00.002+01:00

I'm feeling rather good today. Yesterday, despite immense amounts of procrastination, I went out for my 4.5 mile run in my new trainers at about 8.30pm. I was pleased with the amount I ran but know I can do it a bit quicker. That is something I'm really struggling with these days, increasing my speed, but I've just today signed up for the gym at work and will ask for some advice on that.

And when I got in tonight I pulled on my trainers again and went out for my shorter route which I did in a good time (despite a walk break). Again, although I ran at about 9.30 mins a mile (as opposed to 10.30 yesterday) I still don't feel quick. But I really did enjoy it. I think a couple more runs need to be done in the new trainers to really figure out if they're right for me. I've had a few knee twinges in both knees which is unusual but I'm not ready to blame it on the shoes just yet. However I will probably wear the old ones to race in on Tuesday.

As I've signed up for the gym I've also signed up for my first class - Spinning! I've never done a spin class before and fully expect to come out of it looking like Simon Pegg in Run Fat Boy Run. And this is before work at 7:15! Hum. In for a penny! Incidentally the gym manager, Dominic, is rather lovely. So instead of Charasmatic Chris, I now have Dishy Dominic ;)

Nettle Warrior Update

2010-07-30T13:32:00.001+01:00

You may remember me mentioning something called Tough Guy and the fact that I was interested in having a go next year. I heard about it because of an article in The Guardian and recently there was a follow up article from the woman who competed in it. It's a good article. I enjoyed picking up some tips and a bit more perspective, but this has sort of put me in two minds. There was someone who *said* they'd do it with me, but I'm not sure if he meant it. I'd be nervous of going on my own though I'm sure I could rustle up a few spectators...

I've started planning next years events in earnest (because if I don't do it now, between events, I get put off) and at the moment it looks as though there could be an event every 2 months or so which would work quite well. This would probably be the first one to get booked just because entries are open already and it's £94 before March 2011. A lot of money... but worth it I think :) plus planning this far in advance means I have plenty of time to plan and train.

I will be getting a day-to-a-page diary for next year so I can detail my training and study (oh yeah, OU again) properly. It's all very well having a list of things I could do during a week or having training plans pinned to the fridge but I find that I don't really stick to anything. My "training plan" at the moment seems to amount to "do as much as you can", when you can, but I need to concentrate on proper progress with so many new and longer events in the pipeline. Oh I will manage the longer runs for half marathon training but without much attention paid to fartlek or hillwork. I appreciate I may need to take a step back while I build up some of these basics I've neglected but I think it will help me lots in the long run (ha ha!).

Hopefully detailing exactly what I need to do in my diary will mean I actually do it as time will get blocked out. "No I can't come out before 8, I've got hill reps to do". Either that or I need someone to poke me in the right direction with a sharp stick on a regular basis.

As I enter my 30th year I'm going to be fitter than ever!

Fast Slow Fast

2010-07-29T21:53:00.000+01:00

On Wednesday I had arranged to go for a bike ride with my friend Jo. She lives on the way to the forest where I go mountain biking so the plan was for me to ride over to hers, go for our jaunt and then I'd cycle home again. Jo's not been riding in a while, and no discredit to her at all, but our ride was really leisurely by my normal pace. I enjoyed having a chat and exploring the local cycle paths and just did my "hard work" to and from. We have plans to try and do this weekly so between her and Phil I might manage a weekly longer ride. Jo and I will be trialling my cycle route to work soon. Would love to get started on that!

But in the mean time, here's the stats:
On the way out
3.32 miles
21.47 mins
9.1 mph av
16 mph max
243 cals

Mid section
4.19 miles
49.17 mins
5.1 mph av
11.4 mph max
345 cals
many pauses :)

Way back
3.34 miles
23.39 mins
8.4 mph av
17.2 mph max
479 cals

Getting back into it

2010-07-27T21:33:00.001+01:00

I felt exhausted when I got in tonight. I really didn't think I was going to go out for a run but then I thought, if not now, when? So I pulled on my trainers (new ones on Saturday) and stepped out the door with an on-the-go AudioFuel playlist including the 160 BPM track I'm raod testing.

I did not feel energetic. I only ran 2.3 miles. I didn't run fast. I didn't run continuously. But I did run and I enjoyed it. The new track was pretty good too :) I felt better the minute I started and although I've regressed a bit, hopefully it won't take too much to get back into the swing of things again. Definitely going for a run on Friday and Sunday now I've got my mojo back.

And a healthy dinner helped. I tried a risotto with half arborio, half bulgar wheat, with broad beans, yellow courgette and a huge handful of spinach, all home grown. Delish! Hopefully now the belly will begin to vanish, I'll start sleeping better and the energy will return :) Oh I've missed this!

Out of Practice

2010-07-26T21:24:00.003+01:00

I've not done much for a couple of weeks due to changing jobs and going on holiday. Ok I did quite a bit of walking but it didn't feel like much, not when you take into account the cream teas and wine that was consumed. I've started to feel quite lethargic and not my svelt self for a while so now I am very keen to get back into things. I'm going cycling with a friend on Wednesday, signing up for the new gym at work and for at least one run this week. I can't do Parkrun yet again thanks to what will be a very enjoyable theatre matinee in Regent's park.

I do miss it though. Can't wait to get back into a routine of sorts or to get out for a run because I've got a new AudioFuel track to trial. It's been a trial to drag myself out this weekend though. Must make real effort tomorrow. I've got the Yately 10k next Wednesday and no matter how much I run between now and then I'm not really going to get any fitter so I'm just going to give it my all and try for that sub 1-hour PB again. I'm sure I can do it this time! At least I haven't regressed in the meantime...

Weight - (61) 61
Fat - (24.5) 24.6
BMI - (19.2) 19.2
Water - (54.9) 54.8
Muscle - (71.3) 71.2

Thames 10k

2010-07-07T21:51:00.003+01:00

Just done it! 1:04:20

I'm actually quite pleased with that given I really wasn't in the mood and I felt pretty tired but with the threat from a friend that if I didn't go and at least try for a PB she's make me drink my body weight in vodka I dragged myself there and somehow made it round. It was new terrain too. The event was in Beale Park near Reading which is a really pretty area and thankfully it was mostly flat, allbeit uneven ground. I was dreading there being proper hills when someone told me it was in a valley. Most of it was on trail but some was on tarmac. I hated the transition to tarmac, I found it really jarring. I think I actually went faster on grass! I got an achey shoulder but it went after 5k. I did have to walk a bit but I owe a strong(ish) finish to a lady runner who saw me walking around 8.5k and told me that there was only a little bit left and I could do it. Without her I don't think I'd have found the strength. Oh and Axel F really helped too.

Just out of interest I took my measurements again and here are the results. The previous ones are in brackets. Making progress...

Weight - (62) 61kg
Fat - (25) 24 .5%
BMI - (19.5) 19.2
Water (54.5) 54.9%
Muscle (70.8) 71.3

Mad dogs and Englishmen...

2010-07-05T13:09:00.003+01:00

... go out in the midday sun. But runners go out in the early morning heat and still risk heatstroke. I made it to my second Parkrun on Saturday morning and not only made a new friend, first-timer Sarah (who is currently faster than me but never mind), but got a new Saturday PB of 30:50 which I'm relatively happy with given that the knee started playing up again and I got bad pains in my shoulders. I'm now also on the volunteer list and have made use of the Sweatshop vouchers we got to get myself a new pair of running shoes (to be collected in the last week of July).

Next week I've got the chance to go waterskiing through work so if I'm lucky enough to get a place (only 8 available) then I'll forgo Parkrun for a week. This won't become a habit.

The results for Juneathon are in and I'm not a winner. I may have been amongst the 13 who exercised and blogged everyday but I don't thikn I was as the chap said the final 13 all ran everyday, which I didn't. Bit disapointed but guess I'll just have to try next year.

I've just done my Monday Swissball class but have skipped Abs as I was feeling a bit queasy.

Measuring up

2010-07-02T13:04:00.001+01:00

I have a new gadget. It's a body fat percentage measuring device. I've been interested to know what percentage of me is fat for a while and was going to go to the see Gorgeous Chris at the gym to get measured but first time I bottled it and second time I missed it due to a meeting anyway. So now I have a reasonably nifty handheld device that looks not unlike a PlayStation controller which, with the input of some simple data, measures my body fat %, muscle %, BMI, total daily energy expenditure or TDEE (the number of calories I need per day) and water %.

Most data is easy to determine.
Height - 178cm
Weight - 62kg
Age - 29
Gender - female

The two points I was unsure of were whether I'm an "athlete" or "normal". The criteria seems mostly based on resting pulse. Athletes qualify for 60bpm or less and mine's pretty much 60bpm. Alongside this I had to choose between "Very active" (intense exercise everyday) or "Moderately active" (moderate exercise with sports 6-7 days a week). I decided to take the readings with both though I suspect I'm normal and moderate.

Athlete/Very active
Fat % - 19
BMI - 19.5
TDEE - 2505
Water % - 59.2
Muscle % - 76.8

Normal/Moderately active
Fat % - 25
BMI - 19.5
TDEE - 2129
Water % - 54.5
Muscle % - 70.8

Not too bad methinks. I prefer the athlete reading but think that'd be something to aim for in the normal setting. A mate of mine who's a personal trainer recons women should aim for 15-20% body fat So. Let's see if I can get down to 20% body fat by the end of August.

Difficult decision

2010-07-01T09:22:00.002+01:00

Yesterday I went to see a chiropodist. For a while now I've had what I suspected to be an ingrowing toenail in my left foot which is starting to cause loss of feeling in the side of the toe. This worries me a bit so I thougt I ought to get it checked out.

According to the chap I saw, it's not strictly an ingrowing toenail but a similar condition caused by over-curvature of the toenail, more common in women thanks to our tendancy to wear silly high and pointy shoes. In extreme cases the toenail can actually grow to become a tube - youch.

As I have no infection I have two options. I can leave it and see if it improves on its own (and wear better shoes) or have an operation. The proceedure involves removing part of the nail and preventing it from regrowing by applying a chemical. It is done under local anaesthetic and is 90% effective. So far so good. But what worries me is the recovery period. I'd be effectively chair bound for two days and there's about a 6 week healing process with dressings ever decreasing in size. I'd need time off work and I'd not be able to run or do anything too active for probably 2 months.

I've got a few things booked up like the Yately 10k, Royal Parks in October, Surfing in September, Mountainboarding in August, which means that I'd not really be able to consider doing it until mid October if at all. I'd hoped to do Hellrunner, Tough Guy, Run to the Beat and Triathlon next year so will this affect that? Will I e able to get enough training ing? I'm really not sure what to do right now. I'm not optimistic that it'll improve on its own...

Juneathon Day 30 - Done!

2010-06-30T22:32:00.002+01:00

Well that's it! Juneathon is over and I managed it! I really didn't think that I'd make it. I rounded it off with a nice intervals session on the treadmill in the gym after work with some jack knives and free weights to round it off. For the first day in a while I felt like I wanted to do more but was meeting friends so had to cut it a bit short. Just can't seem to get the balance right.

After complaining that I want a break then I bet I feel like going for a run tomorrow ;)

Juneathon Day 29 - Penultimate

2010-06-29T22:24:00.002+01:00

I actually got jealous of someone having the time to go to the gym today. How sad. Thanks to a team dinner at work (I like to think I was restrained) I once again struggled to fir anything in but I've just done half an hour of hula-hooping 50 crunches, 40 pressups and 5 minutes of glute bridge work. I'm taking the gym kit into work tomorrow in the hope of fitting in either a session after work or a run back home before seeing a couple of friends for a drink.

I'm going to draw up a proper, SMART, training plan going forwards. I need rest days. Please no Julyathon!

Juneathon Day 28 - Intervals

2010-06-28T20:35:00.002+01:00

I'll be so glad when this is over. I'm feeling more and more tired by the day. However I did go interval training tonight, and didn't do too badly. Took me about 20 minutes and I almost managed to keep pace the entire time. I still only manage to walk between sprints though. Somehow, someway I will get faster and stronger. If only I could stop feeling so tired.

I need a training partner. I have determination, I just need a little bit of help. Aside from the magazines ;)

Juneathon Day 27 - Freedom Run

2010-06-27T22:22:00.002+01:00

Today was another beautiful day, well up into the 30's and barely a cloud in the sky. Therefore it wasn't until 8pm when the temperature had dropped to a mere 27 degrees that I got over to Frimley Lodge Park and did my freedom run that I'd planned to do since getting that competitive feeling yesterday. I'd previously been up to my allotment in my sports kit to water everything so I ended up with shoes full of dust and dirt which I had to brush off and empty out before running. There's few things more uncomfortable than running with shoes full of grit.

So I completed the course in 27:23 (although my Garmin recorded the distance as 5.29km). My average pace was 8:20 /mi which is probably my fastest yet since recording my runs. Let's hope I can maintain it. Once again I recovered quickly and feel like it's not my legs that are the issue but the upper body, breathing and general lethargy. Hmmm.

I bought Runner's World and Women's Running today. Looking forward to reading those! Is that sad? Probably just a bit. Only 3 more days of Juneathon... phew.

Juneathon Day 26 - Just

2010-06-26T23:42:00.002+01:00

I've just got in from a day at Wimbledon. It's been a very long day and I didn't get a chance to do anything this morning so I'm now going to do at least 20 minutes of hula hooping in front of Glee with a decaff hot drink and maybe a chocolate cornet.

Tomorrow, seeing as a mate of mine from Cardiff has done his first run (under duress for footy training) and ran it 9 minutes faster than I did fist time, I'm going to do some serious running training and maybe a freedom run (parkrun on a day other that Saturday at 9am). I'm getting all competitive on his ass! Hell yeah!

Juneathon Day 25 - Frogger!

2010-06-25T18:57:00.002+01:00

Another beautiful evening! I could quite easily have spent all evening cycling around but I have a friend coming for dinner (which I've yet to start cooking - eep!) so I made do with a half hour or so partially exploratory ride. I started off going gown the track I went downt he other day when I came off after ending up on a main road, and just explored a few of the side tracks. It was really quite lovely.

I encountered a lorry coming towards me so I had to squeeze into the bushes and I almost ran over a frog who was blending a bit too well into his sandy surroundings.

I did just over 5 miles at an average of just under 9 miles an hour. I reached a max speed of 17mph! Now to go make that weight watchers no points curry :)

Juneathon Day 24 - I'm Meeeeeelting!

2010-06-24T18:44:00.002+01:00

Now I know what ice cream feels like. Got home, trainers on, out for a run in 25 degree + heat. I'd only gone with the intention of doing 2.5 miles, as I'm expecting vistors soon (who've still not arrived - glare), and I just about managed. My legs felt pretty heavy today and Garmin tells me my pace was somewhere between a fast jog and a slow run so I guess I didn't do too badly. Average pace was 9:47 per mile which is really pretty good for me actually. There's hope for further improvement yet!

Juneathon Day 23 - The Wheels On The Bike...

2010-06-23T21:37:00.002+01:00

... go round and round. Tonight I have been out on the bike. Trying to get back into a once a week over at the forest with my mate Phil. We haven't been for a while. It was a lovely evening for it and I wore my Garmin on the bike for the first time. I didn't quite capture all of it and there were plenty of pauses as we use this as a catch up session too but overall I did about 12 miles, burnt about 1200 calories and didn't come off. I wasn't feeling as brave as usual so we didn't do too much track but I enjoyed it. I hit max speeds of about 15mph but averaged about 7.5 given how much we stopped to chat and decide which way to go next.

Feeling good about it all and am definitely improving my strength and stamina. I wonder what it would be like if I really pushed myself!

Juneathon Day 22

2010-06-22T15:23:00.003+01:00

I've clearly eaten far too much in the way of cream teas and donuts over the weekend because I've got a bit of a tummy so I'm trying to work it off... unsuccessfully so far. Today I got back from work at 7:45 so I immediately pulled on my trainers and headed out for a 2.5 miler in the evening sun. It was still pretty warm and I tried out a couple of the beta Audiofuel tracks I downloaded ages ago. I really enjoyed two of them but found one a bit monotonous so switched to my "Running Track Of The Day" which is Pendulum's Propane Nightmares which really got me pumping the legs and saw me through the last part of my run.

Downsides to the run were my Garmin dying as I stepped out the door so I've no record of my progress and almost stepping on a decomposing rat wasn't all that great either.

Tomorrow... mountain biking!

Juneathon Day 21 - Not A Very Manic Monday

2010-06-21T15:23:00.002+01:00

Today was a beautiful day, sunny, warm, and the longest one of the year to boot! It was too warm to go running when I first got back so I did half an hour of hula hooping in the garden whilst listening to some of the new music I bought at the festival. Then I did a lot of lying around but this evening I biked up to the allotment (about a mile away) and then when I'd almost worn myself out with watering plants (those watering cans are heavy you know), I went for a longer bike ride home, about 4 miles in the glorious sunshine. I would have stayed out longer but it was 8:45 and I'd not eaten since midday so I was quite keen to get back and eat food.

I still have excess energy. All this exercise (allbeit small amounts each day) is really giving me new levels of energy and while it's hard to do a bit every day, it would be even harder if I pushed myself to the max every day so I think it's good I'm doing little and often (and then lots infrequently).

Juneathon Day 20 - Lazy Sunday Afternoons

2010-06-20T22:23:00.000+01:00

It has been a glorious day. Stayed up far too late at the festival last night so didn't manage to summon enough energy to get out for my run before breakfast but instead revived something I've not done in ages which was yoga. I used to love doing yoga and would go to classes at least once a week. In fact it's something I should probably try and bring back in on a regular basis as it's great for stretching out the muscles and improving flexibility, which thanks to my increased running habit has suffered terribly these past few months.

So I did several rounds of salute to the sun, some hunter poses, downward dogs (almost heels to floor), cobras and several other poses whose names I've forgotten. I threw in some pressups (20), tricep dips (20) and glute work for good measure too. It was really invigorating. I'm sort of glad it was the last day of festival today because it's been so difficult to fit in exercise, I'm looking forward to getting back to everyday life and more scheduled fitness.

A few less donuts and cream teas will help too!

Juneathon Day 19 - Walking on Sunshine

2010-06-19T15:22:00.001+01:00

Today we have been a-wandering. We went to Bosham and had a brisk walk around the village and water line. I didn't take my garmin with me but I estimate we did about 2.5 miles. We're off to check out the first band of the day but later on I shall be doing my routine of tricep dips, pressups, crunches, lunges and glute work in the safety of my room between acts. Admittedly it's not as energetic as yesterday but it's still exercise that I otherwise wouldn't be doing. A run again tomorrow I hope, and definitely a bike ride to break the monotony of running on Monday.

Oh and it's not all that sunny, which is a shame.

Juneathon Day 18 - Field Work

2010-06-18T15:22:00.002+01:00

Well despite being fuelled up on bubbly, cheese and half a box of chocolates I managed to do a 2 mile run around some of the emptier fields at the festival. I have to say my heart wasn't really in it and running on stubble was hard work but I didn't stray too far below my race pace (which probably means I should try to up my race pace). I think we're out of bubbles now so tomorrow might be easier.

I did do some wandering around the shops today but I don't think that counts, even if it did include a visit to the Adidas outlet store and the procurement of a couple of new zip through tops and a new vest. Yum!

I'm feeling pretty fat now so when the festival is over it's onto a low fat, veg heavy diet. I'd like to stay a size 10!

Juneathon Day 17 - Down on the Farm

2010-06-17T18:22:00.000+01:00

Today I have mostly been sipping bubbly whilst lazing in the sunshine whiling away the time until Blues on the Farm festival kicks off. I've been feeling pretty good since yesterday's race, not experienced much tightness in the muscles or anything. I did pack my running kit for this weekend however I intended to take it wasy today so I've done 40 triceps dips, 100 crunches and 20 press ups. Given that things don't start until 7.15pm tomorrow I'll have plenty of time to go for a long walk or a bit of a run.

But for now I shall leave you to go and get my groove on to Virgil and the Accelerators. Peace out ;)