Janathon 2012 - DAY 5

When I woke up this morning to another horrendous downpour an idea came to mind, instead of my daughter having her 16th Birthday party on Saturday I was going to amend the invitations to read:


"Ark building party at my house! Bring two of your favourite animals!"

I was at work until 3.30pm, and around about lunchtime we all had a bit of a shock - there was a big yellow thing up in the sky and it was sending weird heat through our classroom window. It was so bright that I have had to turn the light off for the first time since starting back at school. We asked the kids "Does anyone know what it is?".  Funnily enough they were slightly unsure as this is such a rare occurrence in Cumbria!!!  

Once home and after completing my usual chores I felt excited about going out for my run - WITHOUT getting wet!!  Someone up there must have been listening to me!

A running friend said I needed to push myself more to gain speed and challenged me to run 6 miles in an hour equating to a 10 minute mile.  This might not sound much to many of you reading this but for me this is FAST!!  Bear in mind that I only started running in May 2011 and my pace for my first 3 mile run was an embarrassing 12.01 minute mile (average!).

Anyhow, In high spirits from the afternoons crisp sunshine and buoyant blue sky I set foot out the house and immediately shivered as a frost chill hung in the air, but as I was well wrapped up and it was dry I wasn't fazed at all!  I had purposefully selected a flat route to give me a sporting chance of achieving the set goal and felt motivated and determined to succeed!  Ask anyone who knows me - I love nothing better than being challenged, well actually that's a lie - I love succeeding at a challenge better!!

I set off at a slow pace to warm up and slowly increased my speed to the required pace.  By 4 miles I was doubting my ability to maintain this pace for the final 2 miles but kept thinking about failing this challenge - not an option!

I was delighted when my house came into view, and I didn't have soggy feet for the first time in weeks, although I was still wet through - this time by sweat, perhaps I'd overestimated how many layers I needed!!!  I'm on a learning curve - not used to training in the winter!

I excitedly stopped my Garmin watch and viewed the average pace!  I was ecstatic and the running  endorphins had obviously been released as I was experiencing euphoric feelings!!!  The watch confirmed I had succeeded - I had managed 6 miles in 56 minutes 43 seconds, an average pace of 9.31 and speed of 6.3MPH!

My non-running friends and family don't understand how such a simple accomplishment can cause such an uplift in mood!!!   I have even stopped posting my runs to my facebook timeline, and instead post them on the FB plodders page because I am beginning to be called obsessed by those who don't have a clue!  I will stick to sharing my experiences (and hopefully get encouragement and motivation!)  with those who are on the same page as me!!

View my run on: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/139136472

Janathon total to date:


Running  -  21.92
Walking  -     5.71 miles


Total Janathon Mileage - 27.63