End of the month ...

Well it's got to the end of the month again so how is 2012 miles in 2012 going?  


I haven't been very motivated with running this month - the Keswick to Barrow walking event seemed to take over, and then since completing that I have been using the excuses that I am recovering/resting aka slobbing!


This became apparent last night when I ran a 10K race I had entered whilst full of enthusiasm and found it excruciatingly hard!!! It proved that I need to commit to running more to succeed as I ran just this race slower than my last 10K, and didn't achieve my goal time of a sub 0.54 minut  Times are supposed to come down not go up!


Anyhow I have Juneathon to inspire me starting tomorrow and two 10K races booked in June to train for so here's hoping I get back into full training mode!


May Running Total: 41.48 miles
May Walking Total: 104.02 miles
May Cycling Total: 67.73 miles


To be on Target= 838 miles for the year so far!

Actual Mileage Achieved to date:

         3 sports (Run, Walk & Cycle) =  946.23 miles    =  1065.77 Miles Remaining

                            2 sports (Run & Walk)  =   792.70 miles     = 1219.30  Miles Remaining

                            Just Running =  438.08 miles  =  1573.92 Miles Remaining    

As you can see from my totals I haven't a hope of achieving running alone, but I may just scrape through if I try harder running and walking!!!

So I will set myself a running/walking/cycling target of 280 miles!  Did I really say that many?  Not sure whether this is realistic or not but hey-ho I will give it a go!

I will be blogging (hopefully) every day in June to successfully complete Juneathon so keep tuned!

K2B 2012 Photo's

https://picasaweb.google.com/116171786732551603487/K2B2012

Cycling to suss out a run route!

I am doing a 10K run next week and decided that I would cycle the route to suss out the hills etc so I knew what to expect!


I cycled to the village where the run is starting and found the starting point no problem at all! I thought I followed the instructions but before I knew it I was back to the start line after doing a small circuit of the village!  I had a little chuckle to myself and set off again ... I thought I knew where I had gone wrong and went a different way! However, before long things started to look familiar and yet again I was back at the start! One last chance to get it right and then I was giving up! Thankfully I was third time lucky (I think!) and rode the 10K route before arriving back at the start!  I hope none of the villagers were watching me as I had a very distinctive Union Jack cycling top on and there would be no missing the fact I'd ridden around the village 3 times in a fairly short time!  One positive came out of it - the run didn't go up a huge hill I thought was included in the route (I don't think!), I will  be dismayed next week if I'm wrong and I do HAVE to get up the big hill!


I was enjoying the ride so much in the beautiful warm sun I decided not to go straight home after sussing out the route but extended my ride!   I am falling back in love with my bike!


I did just under 30 miles tonight and it can be viewed here!

My first Runniversary!!

A year ago today I started running ...


I was bored with life after accomplishing the Keswick to Barrow walk and wanted a new challenge. I don't know why but I came up with running a half marathon!  I have never been a runner, have always hated running and have never understood those who enjoyed running.  So... why did I start? Well, I think primarily it was to prove those around me wrong!  When I was batting ideas around for my next challenge I was greeted with "you can't even run a mile, never mind 13!" so this made me all the more determined and before I could come to my senses I  managed to confirm a charity place for the Great North Run in September!  I downloaded a beginners half Marathon training plan and I was on my way ...


My first run was a fairly flat 3 mile circuit which nearly killed me!!  I plodded around cursing under my breath and regretting booking a half marathon so hastily.  It was a windy day and I was not a happy bunny!  I'm convinced if I hadn't booked the GNR that would have been the end to my running career!  However, determined not to fail I continued on my journey and in a remarkably short time I started to enjoy myself and actually started to look forward to going out for a run!  I followed my training plan religiously and before I knew it I was nervously standing on the start line of the GNR!  I found this run extremely difficult and challenging but was delighted to have finished it! My immediate words were "That's it, I've done it, never again!".  However ... a few days later once my legs had forgiven me I was biting at the bit to hit the road again! 


And one year later I am still running!  Tonight I did the same 3 mile route I did the very first day I ran, exactly a year ago today,  to see how much I have improved!  I am delighted to report that I have gone from a 11.14 min/mile pace to 8.20 min/mile pace! Dead chuffed with that especially since it was boiling hot!! (and no I'm not complaining!!!).


You can view my run here and compare the statistics! 




Over the past year, I have:


worn through 2 pairs of running shoes.
spent a small fortune on running gear.
enrolled with a monthly running magazine.
run in snow, rain, sun, wind and cold.
run off-road and on-road.
improved my pace from 11.14 to 8.20.
logged 826 RUNNING miles.
made best friends with forefoot running.
discovered the joys of owning a Garmin watch.
finished 2 half marathons and a 10K race.
improved my half marathon time by 23 minutes 56 seconds!
entered a full marathon.
completed the Janathon challenge (Running every day in January!).
blogged about running - OFTEN and had 3717 page views!
laughed, cried, sung and shouted -  sometimes all in the same run.
sweat more than in all the other years of my life combined!
made lots of new running friends.
become very determined to succeed.
and finally 
amazed myself and my family.


I now RUN FOR FUN!

Run, eat, sleep & repeat!

The sun came out to play...!

At long last the sun decided to shine down on us, and after another long day doing "home visits" I decided to go for a spin on my bike in the sun!  What a lovely ride it was too - although a lot of it was spent avoiding many 100's of pot-holes, hens and rabbits with death wishes and idiotic car drivers!  Car drivers fit into two categories from a cyclists point of view, they either a) fly past you so close to you your elbow brushes the side of the car OR b) they follow behind you at a ridiculously slow pace waiting for a personal invitation to overtake!  I experienced both of these tonight - several times! Not wanting to generalize but young people and men usually fit nicely into category A, whilst old people and women fir into category B!! What's wrong with being NORMAL - overtaking at a reasonable speed giving adequate space to the cyclist!!!  I'm a very considerate car driver when I see cyclists and give them space so why can't people give me the same honour? Anyway, sorry rant over ...

I have heard about sheep jumping walls but I have never seen a sheep walking along a wall like I did tonight!!  It was such an unusual sight it made me do a double take!  Perhaps he was practising his balancing skills so he could run away and join the circus before he ended up in the oven...!


I managed 20.75 miles and you can view my ride here,


I expected to see zillons of cyclists out tonight as the weather was so nice but the roads were surprisingly quiet (except for hens, rabbits and idiotic drivers that is!!!) - perhaps after all the rain and cold weather its now too hot for "most" cyclists!!  Hey ho there's no pleasing some folk!

Oh I do hope the summer continues, it makes me feel so much better! 

87.40/71 walking miles, 28.34/100 running miles, 55.26 MILES REMAINING

Another cold and windy day, and another busy day at work with home visits for the new September intake!


However, my running buddy Vicky was home for the weekend and asked me out for a run - it would be rude not to, so I did!


We caught up with all the gossip and even managed 6.50 miles whilst doing it! Our run can be viewed here!


Here's hoping the weather improves sometime soon!

Back in the saddle ...

I didn't run tonight, I went for a teeny tiny walk and then got on my bike and went for a ride.   Brrrrrrrrr, it was chilly!  Even though the sun was shining there was a sharp wind that made it extremely cold AND I was kitted out with over shoes, thermal base layer and Gloves, will someone please tell him up there it's May and its supposed to be warm!!  Apart from the cold I really enjoyed the ride and managed 17 miles which can be viewed here. My Teeny walk was only 0.48 miles which takes my mileage for May up to: 87.40 walking miles, 21.84 running miles and 17 cycling miles!

I got the overall results today for the K2B walk and was chuffed to be 362nd out of 2303 finishers.

86.92/71 walking miles. 21.84/100 running miles. 62.24 remaining.

After a couple of days rest I had planned to go to my usual steps class this evening but unfortunately I had a meeting at work which clashed so I couldn't go.  I was busy convincing myself that another rest day would be good for me and was planning on doing nothing!  Then at lunchtime I was checking my emails and I had a email about participating in Juneathon, which is basically the same concept as Janathon except its exercising everyday in June instead of January!  Anyway, I signed up for it and then felt motivated to actually do some exercise!  So once I finished work, I went home, quickly got changed into my running gear and hit the streets! My body was NOT impressed!  My legs were shouting "What do you think your doing, we ran/walked 40 miles for you and now we deserve a rest!",  My stomach was making some horrendous sloshing sounds (rather like I had a hot water bottle up my T shirt!) and my heart felt like it was trying to escape out my chest!  Luckily I had planned just a short run and managed to get home without any problems!  I ran 3.65 miles in 33 minutes. The run can be viewed here!.  I then had to have a quick shower and be back at work for my meeting, but I felt better for it!

I mentioned entering Juneathon earlier, and whereas I ran everyday in January during Janathon, my plan for Juneathon is to do both cycling and running on alternate days since I am training for both running events and cycling sportives!


I ran 158 miles during Janathon, so based on that total I am setting my Juneathon goals as being 80 running miles and 200 cycling miles.


Why don't you join me in this next challenge?  Enter here! You know you want to!!

Another Day of REST...!

I have decided to give my body a well earned rest ... I don't want to jeopardise my fitness by overdoing things and then have to pull out of  future events, so for the sake of a couple of days I am taking things easy!


I thoroughly enjoyed the challenge of the K2B at the weekend, but I can honestly say it is the most tired I have EVER felt.  I was fine whilst I was doing it, and even immediately after (I think the adrenaline must have kicked in!) but about 6 hours later I was absolutely, frighteningly exhausted!  I was thinking I would never recover enough to exercise again!  


However, little old me has bounced back and after feeling extremely fatigued yesterday I have felt fine today!!  There's life in me yet! Now onto the next challenges! A sub 50 minute 10K run in June and a cycling sportive in July! Need to get back on my bike!

Whatever happened to Mayathon...?

Oh Dear, I promised to walk or jog and blog every day in May but I've failed big time! 


I was successful up to Day 7 then I started to feel ill and a little stressed about the Keswick 2 Barrow Challenge, so I decided to give myself  some recuperation time ... 


However, here's a quick update and its not all bad - I have done the following mileage:


Day 8 Mayathon -    Rest Day
Day 9 Mayathon -     0.77 Mile Walk (every little helps!)
Day 10 Mayathon -   Rest Day
Day 11 Mayathon -   Rest Day
Day 12 Mayathon -   40 Miles Walk (although part run for this challenge I will says its a walk!)
Day 13 Mayathon -   4.52 Miles Walk


Total Mileage to add to my previous total = 45.29 Walking, 0 miles Running!


So May totals are currently: 


86.92/71 Walking miles - smashed my monthly target on this one!
18.19/100 Running Miles - a way to go!


105.11 miles total - 65.89 Remaining!


Today's walk was primarily to view the cyclists taking part in the Fred Whitton Challenge -  a gruelling 112 mile sportive challenge cycle ride! I wanted to see what the riders looked like as I am considering it for a future challenge!   Hummmmmmm, they all looked rather professional, and first person home was in 5 hours 59 minutes, incredible achievement when you consider the elevation's involved too! I would definitely be one of the last if I did participate next year - but does it matter if I do my best and FINISH?!


I will consider it further, and decide when the entry for 2013 opens!

K2B 40 Mile Challenge

I DID IT!!!

Click this link here to read all about it!

K2B 2012 - IT'S TOMORROW!!!

Well the training is over and the event is nearly here.

Timing tags have been collected and distributed.to other team members!

Small waist bag packed with energy bars and drinks etc.

Clothes selected and laid out!

Garmin fully charged!

I'm carbo-loaded with Spaghetti Bolognese!

Alcohol is off the menu!

Wish me luck folks and look back tomorrow for how I got on!

Time to test my Determination and Endurance!

41.63/71 walking miles. 18.19/100 running miles. 122.17 go!

I have a problem ... my marathon training is supposed to have started today BUT I'm also supposed to be tapering for the Keswick to Barrow Walk AND it is Bank Holiday Monday!  So now I have listed all my excuses I must admit to not running today but I did go for a walk with the dog! I didn't want to fatigue my body by doing too much so I decided to just swap days and  take today as a rest day and start tomorrow with the 2 mile run (tomorrow is supposed to be a rest day!) and then I will be back on track! 


Fingers crossed I will be totally into the programme next week when I don't have anything else to consider!  On a positive note I have just checked the forecast for Saturday and so far all looks good - fingers crossed it stays that way as last year was a bit of a soggy affair!! 


As already mentioned I went for a 4.13 mile walk with the dog and even managed to avoid the heavy rain!


Day One Marathon Training - Rest Day - Achieved!

Day 7 Mayathon Achieved!

37.50/71 walking miles. 18.19/100 running miles. 126.30 go!

Last night we went out for a meal with friends to a restaurant in a nearby town.  We drove there but to enable us all to have a few drinks we left the car overnight and got a taxi home.  In fact we had a few too many, and I didn't feel my best when I woke up this morning.  My legs felt heavy after the long walk yesterday, my stomach was churning from too much rich food, and my head was throbbing from the vast assortment of alcoholic beverages consumed! However ... I still decided it would be a good idea to run the 7 miles to get the car! So off I went thinking I can always walk if it gets too bad! Talk about hard work!  It was made harder by the fact there was hills to negotiate too!  But did I walk?  NOOOO! I was running and in my head when I'm running walking is out the question so I soldiered on in the beautiful morning sunshine, although there was still a nip in the air!

Once I got to Milnthorpe I had the added complication of not actually knowing where the car was parked!  (When we got to the restaurant last night the car park was full, so us ladies went into the bar area whilst the men went to find a parking space!).  I had been given fairly woolly directions about where I would find the car, but was apprehensive about actually locating it!  (I wouldn't know if it had been stolen or I was looking in the wrong place!).  I found it without any problem and had even remembered the key!


However, on opening the car door I looked down at my legs to tie my shoe lace and was greeted with a not very pleasant site!  Last night (as I was wearing a dress) I had used fake bake tanning lotion and with me sweating profusely whilst running all the tan had slid off down my legs leaving a nice streaky pattern pooling nicely at the top of my nice white socks - which now looked like they had been tangoed! I inspected my arms and was greeted with the same sight but luckily I had a fluorescent orange T shirt on so it wasn't obvious!  Note to self - DO NOT RUN WITH FAKE BAKE ON!!

I managed to run the 7.48 miles in 1 hour and 10 minutes and I can honestly say that once I'd had a shower and something to eat and drink I felt like a new woman!  Obviously as well as sweating the tan off I sweated the toxins out too!


So after suffering more football on the telly we went for a walk with the dog (the sun was still shining surprisingly!) clocking up more walking miles for the month too!


So how does Mayathon look now?


I ran 7.48 miles today and walked 3.51 miles, so the miles are creeping up!


Day 6 Mayathon ACHIEVED!

Well readers, my Marathon training commences tomorrow! 

 I trawled the internet looking at various training plans before finally settling on one from the "Thrive Advice" website. What did I like about this one? It attracted my attention because firstly it includes cycling in its regime (I love cycling and was worried with running so much I wouldn't fit it in, so this is perfect!)  and secondly it doesn't just have you aiming for your main goal "To run a Marathon" but the plan is made up of mini interim goals to keep you on track!  I thought this would be beneficial to me as I like to have things to aim for but October is such a long way off!    So as well as my marathon goal I have the goals "To run a sub 50 min 10K" , "Complete a 3 hour run", "Run a sub 1 hour 50 minutes Half Marathon" before the final "Run a sub 4 hour 30 minute Marathon". 


Kick off is tomorrow with a very short run to build on base fitness and a monthly goal of  "to work on running form and to become accustomed to the plan!".  I think I can manage that!

Follow me on my journey to my first marathon!

33.99/71 walking miles. 10.71/100 running miles. 126.30 go!

After quite a few drinks last night I got up with the aim of going on a 20 mile walk, being my last long walk before the tapering commences for the K2B next Saturday!


The sun was back out again so I seized the opportunity, organised my bag with snacks and drinks and thought about what I would wear!  I decided that I would wear the clothes (socks, bra, knickers etc!) that I planned to wear for the real thing just to make sure that everything was comfortable, worked together and didn't chaff! 


It was very chilly albeit sunny when I set off at just after 9.30am, however by 10.30am the chill went and the sun shone brighter leaving me rather warm!  Perhaps I had too many layers on - this is a problem I will have to contend with next week as setting off at 5.30am it IS going to be chilly but then later on it could warm up!  Oh problems, problems!!  


I set off with the aim of doing 20 miles in under 4 and a half hours, since my goal for the full 40 miles is under 9 hours! This equates to a fairly fast walking pace of just under 5MPH.  However, I soon realised that this just wasn't happening - once my legs got to a certain pace they wanted to run!  SO ... I started running whenever there was a downhill section initially, and noticed my Garmin was registering around 6MPH on these sections so I thought up a new strategy instead of just running downhill's!  I decided that I would walk until the Garmin registered an average pace of 5MPH and then run again for half a mile or so to increase my average pace, then walk until the pace dropped to 5MPH again and then run ...!  I kept this going for the entire 20 miles and it appeared to work - it kept me entertained and gave me something to think about!  At around 16 miles I was walking happily along when I came across a swarm of horrible big fly type insects (Hover Flies?!) which I had no alternative but to walk through!  

At this point with arms flaring I decided it would be a good idea to get the hell out of there and run! I managed to shake off the majority of them but a few insistent buggers decided to follow me!  Eventually I managed to outrun them - horrible things they were - I was expecting to be covered in bites or something similar but I appear to have escaped unscathed! 


I managed 20.40 miles in 4 hours 11 minutes, now its whether I can continue the same pace for an additional 20 miles as well as building toilet stops and food/refreshments in too to enable me to achieve my sub 9 goal! Hey Ho I have done all I can and will just have to do my best next Saturday and see what happens on the day but I will definitely be using my new run/walk strategy! Apart from being slightly too hot I had no other problems with my attire so at least I have my wardrobe sorted now too!


After having a shower and some food I took the dog out for a little 1.27 mile walk to aid my recovery!!


So all in all a good day for Mayathon - 21.67 walking miles in the bag!

Day 5 Mayathon Achieved!

12.32/71 walking miles. 10.71/100 running miles. 147.97 go!

The sun didn't shine for long - it has retreated again and we were left with a very cold windy day!  However, I was meeting my running buddy Vicky for the last time (for the time being!) as she is moving to Brighton on Sunday, so it was a quick in from work, change and out again!  No time to deliberate on whether I could be bothered in the cold!  I soon warmed up and enjoyed the run and the company!  We managed 6.37 uneventful miles whilst putting the world to rights and then said our sad farewells.  We will have to keep in touch and motivate each other via cyberspace with Facebook and Runkeeper!

Day 4 Mayathon  ACHIEVED!

After feeling proud of myself for completing Day 4 I got thinking to the week ahead and any plans which might try and trip me up in my goal ....OMG there on the calendar for Monday in big red letters are the words "MARATHON TRAINING BEGINS!"  and then just to add insult to injury on Saturday it states "K2B WALK!" - I'm double stressing now!! EEEKKKK!  Did I really enter or did a pseudonym take over my name?!!  Too late now - I just need to get a grip!  I am going to take my marathon training really seriously as I truly want to be able to say "I did my best!" even if I hit the wall at 20 miles or end up collapsing!  Luckily for me (with the K2B walk coming up) the marathon plan starts off very, very gently with just 2 or 3 mile runs next week which I can easily integrate into my tapering plan!  So... that's my summer sorted!

My Husband got me this mug for my Birthday - it shows what he thinks of me!!

12.32/71 walking miles. 4.34/100 running miles. 154.34 go!

Well today is my Birthday and I am pleased to report I felt quite human for the first time in a week!  I didn't walk to work today as I has birthday cakes to take in (Strange tradition at our work is that when its your birthday you provide the cake!!) but when I got home I felt fairly energetic and the sun was shining so I decided to go for a early run as we were off out for a family birthday meal later and  it would work up a good appetite!  


As I said the sun was shining but I am so used to cold weather I didn't even think about a drink - BIG mistake, and I'm not talking wine here just boring old water!!  I set off and after a very short distance I was gagging for a drink!  Anyhow, I persevered and not long after a car pulled up alongside me and an old dear had her head out the window so I stopped thinking she wanted directions, but then she turned away from me and I said "Oh sorry thought you were wanting to ask me something!" to which the old dear replied " I am, just wait your turn and don't be impatient!"  If I wasn't such a polite good little girl I might have told her where to go and continued on my way but instead I did as I was told and waited!   When she had finished her conversation with her husband/lover/brother she granted me her attention and I nearly laughed when she asked for directions to Grange, locally known as God's waiting room!!!  They definitely needed to be there but I'm not so sure they should have been driving!   I gave short sharp directions and continued on my way!  The rest of the run was uneventful and I did 4.34 miles, just enough to get me back home in time for a shower and be ready for the off again!!

Day 3 Mayathon  ACHIEVED!

12.32/71 walking miles. 0/100 running miles. 158.68 to go!

I don't know why I'm bothering to blog cos I haven't jogged and I have only done a little walk BUT I did say I was going to blog everyday in May so I'm keeping my promise!

I walked to work and I had planned to extend my return walk home to get some extra miles in, but after feeling not so good all day and then enduring a meeting until 6pm my only goal was to make it home without collapsing from exhaustion!


A slightly disappointing day 2 with only 2.89 miles in the bag!

Day 2 Mayathon Achieved!

9.43 / 71 walking miles. 0/100 running miles - 161.57 miles to go!

I am trying a new motivational tool to see if it helps me keep on track better than I have been doing for my challenge 2012 miles in 2012!  Instead of waiting until the end of the month to see how I'm doing I will keep track on here by posting mileages achieved as I do them!!! My May goal is 100 running miles and 71 walking miles so lets see if this works.  Since jogging and blogging worked for me in January - Mayathon here we come!! I will jog or walk and blog everyday in May!


I set the ball rolling tonight with a walk (well half walk, half run!).  I have had really bad tummy pains for a couple of days and wasn't really in the mood to go out especially since it was cold and very windy, but the thought of the K2B being 11 days away and I didn't want to fail on Day one of Mayathon so off I went! Once I got going the weather wasn't the only windy thing but god did I feel better for it!! 


I walked for the first 5 miles, but then it started to get dark and the clouds looked like they were hiding alot of rain so I started to jog to try and avoid getting wet! I was pleased I did as I came across a man lurking by the side of the road which I was slightly nervous about and when I passed him he was actually having a wee on the grass verge!  NOT behind a tree, hedge or wall but in my full view. I'm glad I was running so I didn't have to stay around long!  I wondered if he was a flasher and picked up my pace just in case he turned out to be a nutter.  I had just started to relax again and had my heart rate back under control when I came across ANOTHER man doing exactly the same!  Why can't men keep it in their pants?  Why do they feel the need to flash it to the world! I wondered whether they were together and the first man had text ahead to his mate to give me a second thrill - NOT!!!  From this point onwards I ran all the way home - I didn't want any more sightings!!! I walked/ran 9.43 miles in 2 hours 4 minutes!

Day One Mayathon  Achieved!