Monday 17 August 2015

Week - I don't even know anymore!!

Recently I posted about giving myself a massive kick up the behind as i'd fallen off the running wagon in a big way.  I revised my 10K plan and decided to increase my times rather than my miles as there is a HUGE difference between adding a mile a fortnight and adding 5 minutes a week in my head.  A mile feels like a huge obstacle, but 5 minutes seems perfectly fine and this needs to be enjoyable and manageable in my opinion!

So revised plan in the bag and motivation levels high, I planned for a 20 minute interval run on Monday to help me increase my speed, weights and core/Sargent Mack's Field Fest on Tuesday, 35 minute on Wednesday, Step-up on Thursday, rest day Friday, cycling Saturday and a 45 minute run on Sunday.  Annnd then I got sick and spent much of Monday throwing up which left me exhausted, weak and grotty for the rest of the week.  Bah!

So today is a new week and there are just 5 short weeks until The Big 10K!   Eeeek!!!  Can she do it?!  I'd like to shout back "Yes, she can" in a rousing Bob The Builder stylie, but instead I'll whisper that i'll give it a ruddy good go and make no further promises!

Watch this space.......



Monday 6 July 2015

Week 1 - Goal 10K

So officially this is week 3, however, due to a virus and a manic week i'm starting week 1 today.  Although the big-picture is the 26.2, my focus at the moment is a 10K (6 miles) in August.  I've run with the Monday evening step-up group for a few months now and cope pretty well with it but a few weeks ago, I pulled my "Rectus Abdominis" (central core stomach muscle to you and me and christened The Dinosaur by my daughter) painting the bannisters and it gave out on me completely during my second outing with the Social group, meaning a slow and slightly humiliating plod back to base with tears of self-pity along the way..  Doc advised 6 weeks of rest, I tried a little 2 mile trot after 7 weeks which went well then I nailed 4 miles straight off the following week BUT it's been 10 weeks since I've been near the club so i'm quite nervous...

Monday
I set off with the group, it's SO hot and for the first 15 minutes or so my legs feel like lead and my breathing isn't great.  Fabulous start!!  Then legs fall into place and I manage to regulate my breathing and I feel pretty good for about a mile before the heat starts to get to me and I think I feel my dinosaur twinge a bit - it isn't, I tell myself, it's just my head saying it's happening again.  I push on but am gutted when I have to have a little walking break.  I don't do walking breaks so feel disappointed with myself.  Running on for a bit I have to walk again and then I get cramp in the underside of my foot, which is pretty painful.  I manage to stretch it out a little and limp on, even nailing the very mean canal bridge towards the end of the run and make it back to base.  I'm shocked to see that we only ran 3.5 miles - I struggled so much and I've done so much more in the past.  I'm  starting to feel like I've underestimated the task and overestimated my ability.  Why can't I do this anymore?!  I'm feeling pretty rubbish and incredibly worried about the whole thing now but I know I must not let it knock me back as that will be detrimental to my training - a positive attitude helps enormously!   

Breakfast: 2 white toast, butter & marmite
Lunch: Pastrami & tomato sandwich on white with mustard.  L/F natural yogurt with melon and grapes.
Pre-Run Snack: 1 white toast with almond butter
Post-Run Dinner: Tuna, egg and butter bean salad with watercress, red onions & green beans and a warm crusty roll with butter - because carbs are good and warm bread always cheers me up!

Tuesday
Still feeling flat about last nights run, but this morning I do 30 minutes of light weight exercises and 30 minutes of core strength yoga/pilates stylie exercises, then take my usual 2 mile walk.  It's nice to stretch my legs out a bit as they are aching from last nights run.  This evening it was off to Sargeant Mack's Field Fest, which I really love and will miss loads when it stops in a couple of weeks.  I work hard tonight as I want to get as much benefit as possible from the sessions, but I really struggle with the stomach stuff - sit-ups etc.  Maybe it's because of the dinosaur?  Hopefully I can improve on this in the next couple of weeks!

Breakfast: Special K fruit & nuts with milk
Lunch: Pastrami & tomato sandwich on white with mustard.  L/F natural yogurt with nectarine and honey.
Pre-Sargeant Mack snack: Banana
Post Sargeant Mack dinner: Big Mac meal -_-  I know, I know....

Wednesday
Everything hurts today, especially my legs and hips, plus it's ridiculously hot and humid.  I have a bike ride planned as I've read somewhere that cycling is brilliant cross training for running but wait until the heat drops in the evening and get in about 2 miles.  It's not much but I hate my bike and haven't cycled anywhere in years so the plan is to build it up slowly.  Owww my poor legs...  Dreading tomorrow a bit as it's a 4 mile run and i'm worried about coping with it.

Breakfast: Special K fruit & nuts with milk
Lunch: Tuna salad sandwich on white with salad cream.  L/F natural yogurt with nectarine & honey.
Dinner: Veggie burger in ciabatta with spicy pesto, mozzarella, semi-dried tomatoes & red onion, oven chips & lots of salad
Snack: 1 biscuit - how good am I today?! ;)

Thursday
Dreaded run day is off to a great start due to a hayfever medicine shaped crisis which means I miss breakfast.  After a quick banana and a glass of water, I set out.  My posture has been a bit off lately, I tend to slump forwards, so I make a pact with myself to check on that occasionally.  I also decide to tackle the distance mile by mile instead of the 4 miles as a whole.  Mile 1: Leaden legs and raggedy-breath - posture not bad.  Mile 2: Feeling stronger and increasing speed. Rocking the posture too.  Mile 3: Getting tired and start to check the distance too often.  Posture-Police constantly pulling me up too.  I know I can do this, so do this I will but to be honest it's a struggle then BAM cramp in the foot again.  I try to run through it but the toes on the other foot join in and I limp into a nearby park at 3.67 miles.  Note to self - sort out those new trainers, these are terrible!!!  Grrrr!  When I've had breakfast and recovered, I meet Mum at Willen Lake and walk almost three miles with her before stopping for a latte.  Leg-ache factor: Epic.  I'm SO looking forward to my rest day tomorrow!

Pre-Run Breakfast: Banana
Post-Run Breakfast: Porridge with raisins & honey
Lunch: Chicken, avocado & salad sandwich on white and a peach
Dinner: Homemade ham & mushroom French bread pizza with a salad
Extras: 2 custard creams - but I deserve them :P

Friday
Rest day finally!!  2 mile walk this morning but other than that I have really made the most of it, haha. 

Breakfast: Special K fruit & nut with milk
Lunch: Chicken salad sandwich & a muller rice
Dinner: Smoked haddock fishcakes, new potatoes with herb butter, broccoli & peas.  "Accidentally" washed this down with a bottle of wine then scoffed too much Terry's Chocolate Orange -_-

Saturday
As Sean is working this morning, there's no park run for me (I'm yet to do one!) but I have planned a bike ride on the Saturday's that I can't make it.  The afternoon is busy and Mum invites us to an impromptu BBQ so I get home mid-evening having had two glasses of her lethal homemade Sangria and really just want to lay on the sofa with chocolate and maybe a glass of wine BUT I get my bike out and rope Sean into riding with me.  I'm really proud of myself for not making excuses and getting out there and return 45 minutes later feeling smug - that is until the wine hits the glass anyway....

Breakfast: Granola & milk
Lunch: Beef salad roll and a muller rice
Dinner: BBQ chicken breast, a hot dog, jacket potato, salad and a slice of millionaires shortbread tart.  Sangria and wine.  Ooops!

Sunday
Sunday is supposed to bring my long run of the week (5 miles at the moment), but after a dodgy night (I suffer with insomnia but can't take pills as I also have sleep apnoea) an extra hour in bed chilling with tea seems far more appealing.  I half-heartedly promise myself i'll go later in the day or this evening before dinner but I don't.  I'm thinking I should change my rest day perhaps, I seem to be more motivated during the week.  We shall see!  Still week 1 done!  Woooo! 

Breakfast: Pancakes with Nutella & fruit
Lunch: Naughty pub lunch featuring a pulled pork flatbread pizza & salad
Dinner: Sticky bacon chop things from M&S, chips & coleslaw
Extras: Couple of biscuits.  Or maybe 4..  Oh, and more wine...






Monday 15 June 2015

Picture the scene if you can...  It's a damp, dark and cold February evening and i'm in my default position - on the sofa, wine in hand and chocolate by my side.  On the telly-box Davina McCall is putting herself through what can only be described as sheer madness, testing every limit she has on a one-woman cycle, run and swim mission for Sport Relief.  It's emotional (it damps my eyelashes anyway) and one of the most inspiring things I've ever seen.  Over the following few days, I think about Davina.  We all know Davina is pretty great, I own more than one of her DVD's and sporadically have a go at them - she's no stranger to fitness and clearly lives healthily but for Sport Relief she overcame her in-her-head limitations, faced the fears of "can I can't I, will I won't I" that plagues us all and went and did it.  On a massive scale.  And i'm impressed.

I look at myself in a more-critical-than-usual way over the following few days.  I see a married woman, a mother of two who's pushing 40 who put her career on hold to play house and bring up babies and who lost her independence (and confidence) in the process.  A woman who's children perhaps don't really see anything to be inspired and motivated by.  A woman who wants to be a good role-model for them but feels that she falls short.  Health-wise, I've always been a healthy weight and I have a keen interest in nutrition and healthy eating, but I had developed a cold trickling sensation down the back of one leg (diagnosed as a nerve issue), some days I ached terribly all over and was shattered constantly.  Doctors threw scary words like ME, Fibromyalgia and even MS around and I had lots of tests but they never pin-pointed anything.  Stress was given as the final cause, but I couldn't help but wonder if my almost sedentary lifestyle was a big factor.  With all this going round in my head, I make a decision.  It's only a tiny one really, quite unassuming and meek (a little like it's divisor) and that is to start taking a longer route on the walk back from school.  And as the saying goes, "Mighty Oaks From Little Acorns Grow".

I like the walking, I start to feel fitter and the walks increase in distance and speed and eventually become twice a day too.  My mind often wanders to Davina and her epic adventure as I walk, then one raining day in early March I see an advert for the Race for Life for Cancer Research and in a moment of bravery, decided to enter.  I really want something to challenge me like my new hero Davina, so I decide to run the 10K and manage to rope my poor best friend Mel in to run it with me.  As novice runners, the fear was immense but the determination was more immense and I knew the sense of achievement would be phenomenal.  Perhaps it would make me even fitter, make my children and husband, Sean, proud and I liked the fact that a charity would benefit from it too - what I would be going through would be nothing compared to the wonderful cancer-warriors of the world.  They deserved me to nail this and nail this I would..

I download the couch to 10K training plan from the Cancer Research website, buy myself new running shoes and throw myself into my challenge.  It's a walk/run combo to begin with, which I find pretty tough to be honest.  Then one drizzly morning my plan says "20 minute continuous run" .  Eeek.  I take my daughter, Amelia, with my on her bike and I do it.  I actually do it!!  I'm elated and so proud of myself.  From there, I progress to running a whole 5K and it's incredible and maybe i'm a runner?!  I find myself enjoying it more and more, i'm running in the pouring rain some days and enjoying that too!  A few days before the race, I run 7K - it's tough and takes more determination than I feel I have, but I do it and promptly burst into tears as I finish.  It feels massive, but i'm aware I will still have 3K to run to finish the race itself.  And i'm worried.

Race day arrives, I feel nervous.  It's warm and i'm concerned so sip at too much water before we set off.  The start is slow, too many people = lots of shuffling, but we soon find an opening and find a steady pace.  3K disappears in no time at all, so much so that I consult MapMyRun as I think the markers are incorrect, but it's true, we've done 3K and not broken a sweat.  Wooo!  5K arrives and brings with it my Mum and Step-Dad David waving flags and cheering.  I'm starting to feel tired so it's a welcome boost.  At 6K I begin to feel a little sicky which worries me and I slow down, but a group of random spectators shout my name and words of encouragement as we run under a bridge for the second-to-last leg and I nearly cry.  If people who don't know me, think I can do this, then I better do this!!  7K and i'm really queasy.  I'm still sipping the water and my determination levels are being tested.  8K - i'm still really queasy and now I need a wee.  I am also so tired and I resort to running past the hoardes of burnt-out runners chanting "we are having fun", "this does not hurt", "I don't feel sick", "I don't need a wee" and "we are going to do this".  The humour has a positive effect on how I feel and suddenly the 9K marker is in sight!!  Excitement overtakes the sick-feeling in my stomach as I realise that I AM going to do this, I really am!!!  The count down markers begin and i'm trying hard not to either stop, walk, throw up, wee myself, faint or do all 5 of those things at once.  Annd nooooo..  The final push to the finish line is the biggest hill I've ever seen :O  It's lined with people wearing giant foam hands, wanting to Hi-Five us as we pass - but i'm literally screaming with the effort and pain of getting to the top and (sorry hand-wearers) although the support is appreciated, I just want to smack all of them in the face.  Then somehow we're at the top, i'm sure i'm going to be sick and have to face a massive machine blowing horrible strawberry scented foam into our faces (WHY?!).  But the home-straight and finish line is in sight.  I see my Dad in the crowd and the tears threaten to wash my eyelashes again - i'm looking for Sean, Alex and Amelia, but can't see them and then next thing I know i'm over the finish line and have DONE IT!!  I ran the entire 10K!!!  I get my medal and it's something I treasure.  The achievement I feel is immeasurable and everyone is so proud of me - kids included.  Huge credit to Mel too, I couldn't have done it without her support.

I think nothing can top that 10K adventure.  Ever.  Until I get home and the "Maybe I could run a marathon" thought pops in.  And repeats itself very frequently.  So (and with roping poor Mel in yet again), I sign up for a "Zero to Hero" marathon training programme with the running club, Redway Runners, that I joined a few months after completing the 10K.  I haven't run 10K since that amazing day in June, although I do run around 10ish miles a week in small chunks.  I'll be writing a full and frank diary of my training including daily food plans and probably way too much information about wee and i'd love you to share the journey :)  As I keep telling Mel "It'll be fun, right?" ;)