Road Runner

The run I love

2009-01-07T22:41:00.003Z

I haven't run since October 08 and heck I miss it like crazy. Though whilst there's plenty of pregnant runners in the world, I don't think I could do it. Half the fun of a run is pushing myself...seeing how far and how fast I can go this time. However, that doesn't mix with being four months pregnant. Nor does running and a creaky back, all them hormones are doing strange things to me. So I wait, and do yoga in the warmth and comfort of my living room...waiting for the warmer weather when I can go walking without slipping on ice and the birth of my baby when I can dust off my running shoes again.

Huzzah!

2008-08-31T20:14:00.002+01:00

I did the 10K...in the rain though. However, I much preferred the rain to the heat we had yesterday. And it wasn't heavy rain so my iPod stayed pretty dry and survived to log my run. I feel sorry for those that chose to go to London to the Wembley Stadium event because if it's pissing it down there anything like it currently is here they'll be soaked to the bone. According to the website, my time is ranked 12344 in the world lol. Though nice to see two brits currently placed silver and bronze in the rankings.

Just 10 minutes.

2008-08-29T22:52:00.002+01:00

That's all I need. I ran for an hour last Sunday and that took me 5.3 miles (yeah, I don't do speed alright). Just 10 more minutes and I've done a 10K. The Nike+ Human Race 10K is this Sunday and adding an extra ten minutes is certainly do-able. Either way, I'm not stopping.

I'm noticing a weird thing lately though...5K's hurt, longer runs don't *touches wood* Each 5K I've done lately seems to hurt more than the longer runs, I think it maybe a speed thing...I run 5K's a little bit faster.

Bugger!

2008-08-15T22:35:00.004+01:00

So, I ran yesterday...just a short, quick run (2K) because we'd had a carpet fitter round and I didn't have much time. Well I didn't walk after my run and as I'd had dinner before I ran, I only ate a bit of yoghurt ice cream afterwards and also skipped out on a protein shake. I think the combination of those factors and the speed (my aim was to run short but fast...or at least what counts as fast for me!) led to the achy muscles I had today.

Today though, I planned a slow 5K and figured the sore, stiff muscles would be fine given some stretching and slowly easing into the run. Erm...I was wrong. I ran about 1.5K before I found that every time a foot hit the ground my knees were buckling slightly. In the end I had to stop before I fell over and I began to walk the rest of my 5K route. I did walk it and get home ok though there were some rather hairy moments when I thought my legs were going to buckle underneath me and leave me in a pile on the floor unable to get home.

I'm a bit miffed about what happened...my legs just seemed so dead. They don't feel injured...the soreness was just normal day-after-exercise stuff. They were just dead. I can only hope it was just because I ran yesterday and didn't re-load afterwards...i.e. body with worn out muscles and nothing to repair them with. I hope it was just that...I've got a 10K in two weeks time and I need to run 20 minutes more than my longest run so far to complete it :S

Back on track

2008-07-27T01:18:00.003+01:00

I felt soooo good today after my run. Until today, I hadn't run more than 5K straight since the hip flexor injury. Today, I not only ran 4.5miles (plus about a mile walk back from my end point to home) but I set a new PB for the mile. It was very hot out there today but it still felt like a pretty ok, comfortable-ish run. So I'm chuffed...the 10K at the end of August seems very do-able now and I feel a step closer to the half-marathon in October.

I also checked for photos of me at last weeks Race for Life. Since they had the marathon foto guys there, I thought I might as well see what shots they got of me. They got two and amazingly, whilst the pics are taken near the finish line, I don't look beetroot red! So I've ordered one print of each pic. I really need to get an album or something sorted out for storing this stuff nice...I've got one certificate, 5 medals and one race photo (soon to be three) now. I've thought about displaying them somehow rather than just having them stuck in a cupboard but I'd be happy with just putting together a little running album. Either way, they deserve more than a dusty box or cupboard.

New shoes are good shoes!

2008-07-22T20:05:00.002+01:00

They fit like a glove and are so light, it's as if my feet are nekkid!

Race for Life and new shoes

2008-07-21T21:35:00.003+01:00

Well the Race for Life 5K was yesterday. It was my fourth time running it and whilst it wasn't the sub-30min that I hoped for this year (which I was unable to even try to attain due to the hip-flexor injury) it was my fastest Race for Life yet at 33minutes and felt quite comfortable. Though the Nike+ doesn't register it as a 5K (it says it was 2.95miles not 3.1...it's not 100% accurate) so it won't count as my fastest 5K on my log but I know I did it.

I also bought some new running shoes on Saturday. An no, I didn't break the cardinal rule of not wearing new gear on race day. No...they're still in the box and waiting for my run tomorrow. Essentially, after the hip-flexor got better I went back to running in my New Balances rather than the Nike Air Pegasus I bought at the beginning of the year. I figured that since it's been pissing about since around the same time I got the shoes that it might have been them. Seems I was right because I've had no trouble with the New Balances (well I little post-run soreness when starting back after time out but that was expected and no where near as bad as it was before). However, the New Balances are over a year old, seen a good few miles now and whilst they're super stable they seem to be so at the expense of cushioning and hence they can give me sore knees from time to time. And so, with my new shoes I decided to go back to Asics and bought a pair of Asics Gel 1130's. I loved my first pair of Asics shoes (1100's) only reason I tried NB was because the Asics started giving me a blister on my left heel as they aged. Other than that, Asics were great. Hopefully, the 1130's will live up to expectations when I run in them tomorrow.

w00t!

2008-07-11T21:40:00.000+01:00

I'm in! It let me register! It wanted a US shipping address for the t-shirt but I just left my address in there so that there was something in the required fields. But yeah, I'm in...it shows up as an event in my account so come race day I'll be added to the finishers gallery. And the registration fee goes to the Leukaemia and Lymphoma Society so this one's for you Grandad...but then again, they always are.

Decision time

2008-07-11T09:30:00.001+01:00

So...I think I've decided what I'm going to do, though I found something out last night which might bugger up my plan.

I've decided I will run the Nike+ Womens Half Marathon. As it can be run "anywhere" (more on that in a second) it means I can plan a route around my town and not have to spend £170 on a weekend in Peterborough. Also as it's not a big event with road closures that'll need re-opening thus I can run it at whatever pace I like...i.e. no pressure on getting to the end before the race organisers pack up and go home basically because I'm my own race organiser. However, this is assuming that the Nike+ Half can indeed be run anywhere. Because last night I realised I was viewing the US Nike+ site instead of the UK one and that the physical half marathon events are all in America. So I checked the FAQ on the matter and found that whilst you can sign up and run anywhere, you have to give an American address during registration in order to receive the finishers T-shirt and keychain. A bit of a bugger but I figured that I'm not that bothered about getting a t-shirt and a keychain...I just want to go the distance and can celebrate in my own way at the end. However, it has dawned on me now that maybe the website won't even let me register without a US address...so I will try and register tonight and fingers crossed it'll let me in.

But yeah, that's the plan...run the Nike+ Womens Half and to differentiate it from any old run I may raise money for charity and I'll definitely celebrate in my own way at the end...hubby says he'll buy me a medal and then I'm thinking a big dinner and some wine might be needed! But that's if it'll let me register...

I'm so there...

2008-07-09T22:25:00.002+01:00

Whilst I'm not sure about whether to run the virtual marathon or not, I'm definitely running The Human Race 10K. It comes at a good time in my training plan and it will give me a kinda "dummy run" (no pun intended!) for the virtual marathon if I decide to do it.

Going good...

2008-07-09T22:08:00.003+01:00

Training is going well. I'm now running several 5K's a week with no problem and have started a training plan to up my mileage for the half-marathon. I'm signed up for the Great Eastern Run, which is in Peterborough, though I've been trying to work out the best and cheapest way to get there. See there's always the risk that it'll go horribly wrong and I'll end up injured. Therefore, whilst my race pack comes with a free parking pass, driving there and back on race day may not be the best idea else the hour+ drive home could be rather painful if I do get injured...I'm probably sounding pessimistic here but I'm just trying to plan things out and the fact is if I drive and then get injured we'd be stuck.

The other option is to get the train, however on a Sunday there's no trains that'd get us there in time for the start so we'd have to go up on the Saturday and stay the night. Then there's the issue that if we stay one night, check out will be at 11am (race start time!) so we'd have to check out before and hubby will be left hanging around Peterborough city centre with our bags. The best option would be to get the train up and stay two nights, take the Monday off work and come home then. Thing is that option costs £170 for train fare and a cheap hotel. We've also looked at driving up and staying two nights...that still costs £170 because we have to pay for petrol and a most expensive hotel as the cheap one doesn't have a car park.

So I thought running the half-marathon would be the difficult bit...seems just getting there may be a pain in the butt. So a couple days ago I looked at other halfs in London...it's easier to get to, just one train...as long as there's no maintenance going on it'd be cool. There's two halfs around the same time as the GER...one is on the same day even. However, both are now full. So I'm now seriously considering running a virtual half-marathon...the Nike+ Womens Half-Marathon to be exact. With my Nike+ gear, I can register and then run it anywhere I like. So long as I run and sync my log on the race day I'd be a race finisher and get a t-shirt and keychain for my efforts. Whilst I like the idea of simpler travel arrangements (I could just head out the door and start running!) I'm not sure I'm sold on doing it alone...I think I might miss the atmosphere of a proper race and the sense of achievement that comes with it, just stepping out the front door and running the distance might seem like too much of a normal training run rather than the big finale to all the hard-work and training I'm doing now.

Woohoo I can run again!

2008-06-13T21:38:00.006+01:00

After over a month off due to hip flexor trouble and moving house I decide to try a short run on Wednesday. There was a couple of soreish moments, bit of a tight left hamstring too. I worried that the old trouble hadn't healed after I got back and had that all too familiar pain on lifting my right leg...however it felt fine after an ice cold shower. Both hip flexors were slightly sore the next day...which is perfectly normal for me. What was abnormal was just the right hand side being incredibly painful for days after...that didn't happen this time.

So to prove to myself that it wasn't just a fluke I ran today as well. About ten minutes longer this time....boy did that blow away the cobwebs! After I got past the "OMG! OMG! MY LUNGS ARE GOING TO EXPLODE" stage it felt pretty comfortable and pain free. This tim there was no pain once I'd gotten home either but I aimed an ice cold shower on it anyway, just in case.

So it looks like I can run again! Which is good because I've got a 5K in just over a month, doing the Nike+ 10K at the end of August and a half marathon in October. The 5K and 10K don't bother me so much though...if I had to not run or just walk them then no biggie, but I'd be severly disappointed if I couldn't do the half marathon. That's the finish line I want to cross this year.

Bugger

2008-04-20T10:58:00.003+01:00

Today it hurts...my poor, poor hip flexor. So I'm onto the vitamin I (ibruprofen!) and rest. I plan on total rest for the next few days and will start stretching my hip flexors daily. I've been trying to work out why it's just on that right hand side...I think it's partly because it's my dominant side and also the flexors are shortening due to sitting all day at work...shortening even more so on the right because I cross my right leg over my left. So that has to stop.

So I'll rest completely for a few days and see how it is after that. If no more pain then I'll start doing yoga again and incorporating stretches to loosen up the muscles. I'm not going to do any strengthening exercises for at least a week...just start stretching. Next weekend I'll swim rather than run or cycle and then the week after I plan on attempting one short (say a mile) run/walk with my old pair of trainers...just to see how that goes and see if it's a shoe problem.

So that's the plan...I'm not sure how long it'll be before I can get back into long runs again. Taking two weeks off obviously hasn't made a blind bit of difference. It's so frustrating...injury can happen so quickly yet take so long to get over. Though on the bright side at least this happened 5 months before my half and not a few weeks.

Ice, ice, baby

2008-04-19T16:33:00.003+01:00

Ran this morning...well it was a run/walk really. After running I've been getting very sore hip flexors, mainly just the right hand side. So I took a couple week break from running. Instead I've been doing yoga workouts with a few moves thrown in to help strengthen core and hip flexors...particularly loving boat pose at the moment. Then last weekend instead of going out for a long run, I got my husband out with me by going for a 10 mile cycle.

So today, I ran/walked for 7 miles...alternating 5 minutes of running with 5 minutes of walking. It felt pretty good and I think it's helped me understand more about the cause of the problem...I think my running form is off and the imbalance is causing the pain. I've noticed this before when out for a short run down the road. The path is paving slabs and of course there's lots of curbs where I cross roads. I notice that my body seems to adjust my footing so that it leads with my right hand side up all the tough bits of the run...up all the curbs, any slopes, bridges etc. So I think that side of my body has been working harder and led to the hip flexor problem.

Anyway, so today was good...some pain during the run but as I was only running short segments I could play around with my form and adjust so I was running better by a process of trial and error. When I got home, it was out with the ice...well actually it was a bag of frozen sweetcorn. I iced the area for a while, showered and then ran a cold bath. I didn't go so far as throwing a bucket of ice into the cold water also...I'm not that brave yet, plus I didn't have any.

So yeah, it feels a bit sore right now but I'm not limping around like previous weeks and we'll see how it goes this evening and tomorrow...whether there'll be any improvement or not because of the ice and less intense workout. Next weekend, I'm planning not to do a long run and instead cycle or swim. I'll then do shorter runs throughout the week, again maybe also a run/walk.

Carried by music

2008-04-18T19:30:00.003+01:00

I always listen to music when I run now. When tiredness kicks in music carrys me to the end...the adverts are true! So what's on my playlist and why's it there...

First thing I hear when I set off for a run is It's My Life by Bon Jovi, this one's for those that think runners are nuts. It's that "I just want to live while I'm alive" line...the "I'm alive, I'm having fun, I got this body and I'll bloody well use it!" thoughts.

Now after a song by Athlete and another Bon Jovi, we're into cheesy-pop territory with Stronger by Britney Spears and Fighter by Christina Aguilera. In the former, the line "Stronger than yesterday" just helps set your mind in the good place despite the cheesiness whilst the latter helps kick in some determination to not let yourself be beaten...to not let the distance, the run, yourself beat you and make you give up.

Then once we leave cheesy-pop land we're onto a bit of Muse before Coldplays song Fix You. Now this...oh this is sooo depressing at the start, I mean just take the first line "When you try your best but you don't succeed". But it's one of those songs that eventually gets to you and it's one of those songs that makes me think about why I started running in the first place...to raise money for cancer research after my grandads death. It makes me think of him, makes me think of my early running days and makes me think of taking one shot at a finish line and how disappointed I'd feel if I didn't reach it. It makes me want to run each training session and each race as if it's my last.

After that song spurs me on, we're onto the beat...Numb by Linkin Park, Lose Yourself by Eminem, Bring Me To Life by Evanescence, Starlight by Muse....and the rest of the playlist follows a similar theme really, beats and songs about not giving up and seizing the moment.

And then, if I'm feeling like I'm flagging and need an extra boost...I hit the power song button to be treated to the voice of Freddie Mercury telling me "the show must go on".

5 Years On - Why I Run

2008-04-13T22:51:00.003+01:00

Some people think I'm crazy. My husband jokes my running is "self harm", my mum thinks I'm nuts. But I like to think that some people, deep down, know why I run...who I run for. Monday 14th of April...five years on, it was a Monday those five years ago too.

Lights will guide you home.

Woot

2008-04-12T15:51:00.001+01:00

Just been for a cycle with hubby...9.44 miles, 7.12mph average speed....not bad for someone who hasn't been on a bike in about a year and couldn't even cycle a mile or two back then.

Yeowch!

2008-04-04T22:19:00.002+01:00

Oh dear God..it hurts! I ran earlier today...fast. I thought I was heading for my fastest 5K and maybe it was...certainly Lance Armstrong informed me over my Nike+ gear that I'd set a new PB for the mile. I ran so fast I felt like I was going to throw up. In terms of cardiovascular fitness, my past few runs have been slow and easy...I've focused on increasing distance rather than speed. Today, I wanted a short run and thought I'd up the tempo. I did well but I'm paying for it now...my husband and I just had to cut short a meal out at a local restuarant because of my dicky tummy...the runners squits strike again. We skipped dessert! Never, ever been known to happen for us but we skipped it tonight because I figured any more dairy and I'd pay for it later. Ugh!

Yumminess and stingyness

2008-03-22T19:29:00.005Z

This is a very yummy birthday cake...

Aside from eating some of that, today I went shopping with my birthday money...got some new shoes, Francis Collins book The Language of God and some new tracksuit bottoms. When we got back and had some lunch I went out for a run. Attempted to run in a dry spell between the snow/hail showers we've been having all day but it didn't work and I got pelted by hail twice. I shielded my eyes and kept running but eventually it got too heavy and was stinging my face so I stopped and turned my back to it for a few minutes.

Talking of running. I plucked up the courage to tell my mum that I'm running a half-marathon in October. Her response was the melodramatic and pessimistic response I expected..."You can't do that"..."Oh you'll put yourself in hospital...people collapse doing these things". WTF!!! I'm a fit and healthy, 25 year old...just 'cause she's incapable of doing it doesn't mean I am. I think she also struggles to understand why anyone would want to run...personally, I find it a fun, challenging workout for body and mind. But yeah...she would hate it. She's just nervous because of the foot injury I got in 2006...before I told her how far it was she was saying "Oh but you hurt your foot when you did two things in a year before"...so what?! I happened to sustain a foot injury in my second 5K race of that year...thing is I run 5K more than twice a year, almost every weekend in fact and I've increased my mileage without any foot problems at all *touches wood*. The fact of the matter is that I shouldn't have ran that London 5K...I had niggly foot pain for a few days before it and I ignored it and ran through it when I shouldn't have done. Mistake made, lesson learned. But anyway, by the end of the phonecall she seemed to lighten up a bit. She just needs to trust me...if running made me feel like utter shite I wouldn't do it.

Powered by caffiene, carried by music...

2008-03-15T16:14:00.004Z

...and now in pain. My legs hurt...but I ran 5 miles :D A total of 6.4 miles if the warm-up and warm-down walk is included. My left hamstring felt rather tight after around 2.5-3 miles and I stopped at 3miles to stretch and then carried on. It feels fine now...I think it's probably just a little sore from the yoga I did a couple of days ago. My ouchies now come from the area where my right leg joins my hips. It's somewhere that always has hurt whilst I'm getting back into the swing of things or increasing my distance. Though I might incorporate some more weights into my training once it's feeling better in order to strengthen that area. I'm just glad that I've now got two 5milers under my belt...means the first one wasn't just a fluke!

Slacking

2008-03-12T21:57:00.003Z

Well...not really. I have good reasons for not running the past two weeks but even so I feel like a slacker. The first week was spent recovering from running in bad shoes...whilst I had shiny, new ones, my poor muscles and joints needed time to recover from running in the knackered, old ones.

Then the weekend came and it was poor weather on the Saturday and Mothers Day on the Sunday...so we went to my parents house, had a house viewing in the afternoon and managed to arrange another one also. After that lot running was the last thing on my mind. On Monday we viewed the house again and made an offer. It was dark and I was hungry when we got home...likewise on Tuesday when we spent two hours after work talking with a mortgage broker after our offer was accepted. Wednesday and Thursday I just crashed out...enjoying just being able to veg and then Friday we spent another two hours with the mortgage broker, getting everything sorted.

Saturday came and we popped into town to finish off the mortgage stuff and then spent the rest of the day looking at furniture and paint colours. On Sunday, we took my mother in law to see where the house was and then treated ourselve to a roast dinner and a bottle of wine.

Busy times. So whilst I feel guilty for not getting out there and running...there wasn't really much opportunity when I look at it now. Still, I dug out my yoga mat again today and we should be able to get any house stuff sorted before the weekend so I hope to easily find some time for some "self-harm" (that's what my husband calls running!)...I think another 5 miler should do it.

My new shoes

2008-02-24T13:49:00.005Z

As expected, sore muscles today. Knees don't feel too bad but I did ice (well frozen peas!) them last night. They've been playing me up for a while now though...fine when walking or doing yoga but as soon as I put my trainers on and start running...well "owww!" about sums it up. It does ease off during the run...it's just initially. But yeah, I've been thinking I'd need new shoes later in the year but after this decided to get them earlier.

I've gone for something slightly different to my usual stability shoe...so I hope they're ok. My first pair of running shoes was bought when I knew I wanted to run but knew nothing about shoes. Consequently I bought some Adidas shoes which were very cushioning when I needed support and stability. Not only that but the design of the shoes around the heel just shreded my feet. Blisters, blood and shin splints later I bought some Asics GT-1100's...these were brilliant. Support for my mild over-pronation and super comfy. My next and current pair of shoes were New Balance 680's. Again they're supportive but I think too supportive. There's just no give in them...very stiff, more like motion control than stability. However, they've been pretty comfy and given me no problems until now when the cushioning in them is knackered.

So I've been after some new shoes and have bought some Nike Air Pegasus +07.

These are not stability shoes...they're neutral, with maybe some *slight* over-pronation support. It's just from the wear patten of all my shoes, it suggests I'm a neutral runner. Plus with the foot test (wet foot on paper to see the shape/arch) again it shows normal arches. Nothing leads me to think I need stability shoes. I think I did when I started out running because the muscles were weak. Near the end of the Asics lifespan, I started getting a blister on my heel caused by the denser material on the inside of the heel. I just think my gait seems to be pretty neutral and if it ain't broke don't fix it. So that's why I opted for these shoes rather than Asics GT's or Nike Triax's. If worst comes to worse and they do end up being no good, they'll go on ebay and I'll be back done the sports shop trying on stability shoes again.

I still feeling sore but I sooo want to try these shoes out. So I'm planning on a short run/walk. I'm thinking 1 mile walk followed by run/walking the way back...possibly alternating a minute running with a minute walking. Just to try these out and get me moving a little so I don't stiffen up completely!

I am addicted

2008-02-23T15:04:00.000Z

Half a half-marathon

2008-02-23T13:51:00.003Z

Wow...so yesterday I did some intervals after taking 5 days off running and just doing some yoga. I did 3x400m with 1 min walking recovery in between...they worked out as being around 6min/mile pace. Felt pretty good...didn't feel as fast as my first interval session last week but when I got back home and looked at my Nike+ data they were the same. I think they didn't feel as fast because they didn't feel as hard...they felt easier but I didn't want to push myself too hard and do more because I wanted to complete a good long run today.

Which gets me onto the title of this post...half a half marathon. I've been running 5K for years and never ran further than that...just maybe half a mile of walking each side of the run for warm up/down so 4.1miles including the walking has been the longest I've gone. Today...after a great 5K run last week I planned to run 4 miles and include approx 1 mile warm up and some warm down bringing the total to over 5 miles. Well....I didn't stick to the plan. I did 0.7 mile warm up and then started running. I got to 5K and thought "Great! Now just keep going for one more mile!...or maybe I should do two?!". Once that thought was in my head I couldn't let it go so I kept going for another 2 miles making my run a fantastic 5miles long! My lungs felt excellent...they could have kept me going for much longer but near the end of the 5 miler soreness in my legs started to kick in so I decided I'd definitely call it quits at 5 miles. I then walked 0.7 miles back home for the warm down...bringing my total workout to 6.4 miles or just over 10K...double 5K distance! w00t!

So yeah...that works out as almost half a half-marathon or quarter of a marathon! Now I don't feel so crazy for signing up for a half-marathon in October...it seems totally do-able now. But boy do I feel sore!

Wow

2008-02-17T10:14:00.004Z

It's been freezing here lately...temperatures dropping to -6C at night and not getting much above 2C by lunchtime. So I didn't think I'd run at all well yesterday. I'd planned to run another 5K as I've planned that distance for a couple of weekends before starting to increase it...just wanting to make sure I was quiet comfortable running it before pushing further.

Well yesterday, as it was sooo cold and the last time I ran in the cold my throat seized up for a few days later (cold air + deep/quick breathing...throat goes "OWWW"). So I altered my plan and decided I'd walk 1 mile for a warm up (I don't usually bother with such a long warmup...naughty me *slaps wrist*) and then only run two miles. Well I did that...but once I was 1/2 a mile from the end of my planned run I realised I felt so bloody brilliant that I'd do another mile. So I did...I ran my most comfortable 5K *ever*. Seriously in all the years of running that distance it has *never* felt so good!

Which surprises me because running is both physical and mental...it was cold so tough physically and I went into that run with such a negative attitude ("oh it's freezing...I won't be able to run more than 2miles...this is gonna hurt"). So it seemed things were stacked against me...the weather on one hand, me on the other but my attitude switched right around once I reached that 1.5mile mark.

I've been trying to work out how the heck I managed to pull off such a good run...I can't put a finger on it because there's been many changes since last weeks run..I've continued strengthening my legs and core through yoga, went out on my first interval run session and chugged down some Lucozade sports recovery drink powder before yesterdays run. So who knows whether it was one of those or a combination which had the effect...either way I'm doing something right!

Oh bollocks...

2008-01-27T23:12:00.000Z

I signed myself up for the Great Eastern Run half-marathon! It's in October so plenty of time to train...I hope.

Yeouch! That feels gooood!

2008-01-27T11:07:00.000Z

Went for a run yesterday. My first run for about six months. Last year I trained for and ran the Race for Life 5K and then suddenly stopped running. I had another 5K race planned but it was all the way down in London and maybe there was also a niggling fear I'd do my foot in again as that London 5K was the one I got injured in when I ran it in 2006.

This year my plans have changed somewhat. I don't just want to run a couple of 5K's. I want to run a sub-30minute 5K and then go onto run a 10K or possibly a half-marathon. I'm feeling very positive about running 5K in under 30 minutes after my run yesterday. I started off slow and just ran one mile...but I ran it in 9 minutes. My pace surprised me and makes me feel confident that I can complete 5K (3.1 miles) in under 30 minutes.

Now about those longer races...a 10K is basically doubling my race distance...runnning a 5K twice in a row seems do-able. A half marathon, is four times 5K distance! I soooo want to run one but it seems so far out of reach right now. Still, to quote Bruce Lee "Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars"...maybe I should aim for a half marathon and even if I don't race it I'll be able to do a cracking 10K race.

All The Lost Souls

2008-01-13T21:03:00.000Z

Going to see James Blunt tomorrow...woohoo! It'll be the second time we've seen him live...first was at the O2 Wireless Festival in 2006. That was in Hyde Park, London. Tomorrows show in the Hammersmith Apollo in London. Since we didn't want to rush for the last tube train (last train is at midnight) and go to work the next day, we've got Tuesday off as well and staying overnight in London at a nearby hotel.

I was wishing I had a cool Blunty t-shirt this morning...so I decide to make one with glitter t-shirt transfer paper...it turned out pretty good!

Funeral

2007-11-22T16:32:00.001Z

The funeral went well. It was a nice send off...very, very sad though. The first part of the service was in a small Catholic church...just family, even the priest who did both of the services was family. We then went onto the crematorium for the second service, this time family and friends. Afterwards, off to the local club for the wake.

It was nice to see everyone again, even if it was a sad occasion. I'm also happy to say I survived all the driving which included my first time driving in a city and only my second time driving on the motorway (and first time without a driving instructor). I did well though I don't know what'd I'd done without the Sat Nav! So yeah, hubby and I are just going to relax now, order pizza for dinner and drink a few beers...it's been a loooonnnggg day.