Double run weekend

So this weekend I ran on the Saturday and on the Sunday!!  I think the realisation that the Liverpool half marathon is next weekend has kicked in and made me panic!!

Saturdays run worked out being 4.22 miles. I got my boyfriend to drop me off up by blackmoorfoot reservoir and then I ran home. It was a miserable day but luckily I managed to miss the rain showers and got back still dry! I even did a hill sprint in the middle which I was quite proud of! 

Sundays run was a slower 3 miles with Claire. She met me at mine and we just did a loop down to the gym and back. I ran the first mile too fast for me as my legs were aching from yesterday so the other 2 miles were slow with walk breaks. However I still went out and ran so it’s better than nothing! 

Bank holiday Monday run

Met up with Claire this morning and did one of my loops around blackmoorfoot. It was a really good run, we didn’t go fast but we talked the whole time which made it easier to keep going till we did 5 miles. For most of it, it was like being in a wind tunnel!!  Felt like we weren’t getting anywhere!! 

We saw some lovely views and met a horse, a few dogs and these sheep!

Only 4 weeks till the Liverpool half so really need to sort myself out and get running regularly otherwise it’s going to be horrible!

Making progress

I’d done a couple of strength sessions during the week but hadn’t been running so on Saturday morning I decided I needed to get out there. I got my boyfriend to drop me off 4 miles away from home so I could run back. The run was great!  I kept running the entire way and from looking at my garmin stats, I managed to keep my pace steady instead of the usual fast then slow. The third mile was my slowest and I think I was overthinking it too much and it was messing my rhythm up. I got to 4 miles a few mins away from my house and then walked as a cool down past the lake where I managed to snap a few great shots of a heron taking a quick dip! 

Once I got home, I checked my garmin and saw that my average pace was a minute faster than my last 3 runs and each mile was in the 11mins!!

Really happy with this and feeling a lot better about my next training run. Trying to build up slowly and enjoy it rather than go out for a long run when I’m not ready and hate it!

Running in the rain

Just got home from a soggy 3.5 mile run with my friend Claire. We met at our usual spot by blackmoorfoot reservoir and did a slow run together in the rain, most of it spent avoiding the massive puddles all over the paths.

I haven’t done much running or any exercise really in the past 2 months but I have eaten a lot and managed to put on nearly a stone!  The realisation that I’ve got to run a half marathon in 9 weeks has kicked in and made me get back on track. Having to start again building my base is frustrating but only got myself to blame!

Today’s run is the second one this week and the fourth day of exercise so feeling positive that I can do this and hopefully still achieve my goals; sub 2.30 half marathon and to be at my goal weight by my birthday.

My new moto:

Training Plan

I’ve made a 17 week training plan for me and my friend to follow as we are both aiming towards a sub 2hr30 half marathon when we run the Liverpool half. I was meant to be doing this race last year but due to a back injury, I had to cancel. Really looking forward to it and to start training at the begining of Feb.

New Year Run!

Start the year as I mean to go on. Parkrun was at a 10am, slightly later time which was needed as I didn’t get to sleep till around 3 ish! It was freezing and icy outside and the course had to be changed as parts of it were too icy to run on. The course is normally 2 laps wiggling around in the park with ups and downs all over but it was changed to 3 laps round the edge of the park which meant there were a lot more uphill bits. I had forgotten my garmin and didn’t have a pocket big enough for my phone so I ran tech free which was actually really nice. I had decided just to enjoy the run and not go for a PB as my legs were sore from yesterdays final day of a squat challenge I had been doing throughout December. I actually enjoyed the different course as it was a change however the second lap felt really hard. My official time was 32.46 which is 59 seconds slower than my PB but is much better than I thought it would be.

I’m not one for new years resolutions but I really want to get my 50 parkrun t-shirt this year so aiming to try and do it nearly every week when possible.

Great North Run 2015

I’m currently sat on the plane to Amsterdam and realised I hadn’t written a post in ages so decided to do my race recap of the Great North Run.

My training before the race had been sporadic but the final 5 weeks before, I did stick to regular running and followed a plan I had made.

I went up to Newcastle on the Friday with my mum, brother and sister-in-law and spent the weekend in a flat we had rented. My friend Claire was living in Newcastle at the time so came and met us.

On the Saturday we went to see the city games and went to the pasta party. Unfortunately it was horrible weather and we got soaked but was still good fun! That night we went to an Italian restaurant and carb loaded and tried to have an early night.

The flat we had rented was in Whitley Bay so the morning of the race, after arranging to meet the family at the end, Claire drove us to her house where we planned to leave her car and get on the metro into the city centre.

We got to the metro station with plenty of time and chatted to a few fellow runners. The metro was an absolute nightmare!!  The first 2 trains missed and then the third one was that full, no one could get on it. By this point we were starting to get really stressed as the race was due to start in 30mins! We managed to squeeze onto the next train and made it into the centre but by the time we had queued for the toilets,  the race had started!! We managed to find a gap in the fence and get in with our colour bibs and began the walk down to the start line.
It was incredible!!  The amount of people all wearing different charity t-shirt was such an emotional sight!

I ran the first 2 miles with Claire and then I told her to go ahead and we would meet up at the end.

The entire race route was lined with people cheering and handing out jelly babies. I’ve never seen anything like it. The atmosphere was incredible!!

I spoke to loads of people along the way, especially other Parkinson runners. At around mile 12 I saw a guy wearing a parkinsons shirt walking so I started chatting to him and he told me he had packed the wrong trainers and had blisters. I stayed with him for a while before he told me he was going to have to walk again and that I should keep going.
The last mile was along the seafront and I have never seen so many people cheering and shouting,  it really kept me going through to the finish line.

The finishers area was so busy, people and charity tents everywhere!  Somehow I bumped into Claire when I was having my finishers photo so we got one together and then headed down to the Parkinsons UK tent to meet my family.

The guy with the blisters came up to me and thanked me for keeping him going which was really nice.
My time wasn’t the best but to be fair my training hadn’t been the best so I didn’t expect much.

The whole experience was amazing and one of the best things I have ever done! Cannot wait to do it again next year!!

It’s been a while…

So it’s been a while since I last posted. I have been running on and off and have done a race which I will write a catch up post on later.

Just got back from a run which went better than expected!  I did parkrun 2/3 weeks ago and hated it! I don’t know why but it was horrible and my time was rubbish!  Since then I have been avoiding running as I didn’t want it to be like that again. However,  I have the Great North Run in 6 weeks so really need to sort myself out and get back into it. My friend messaged me last night saying she was running today and made me realise that I should go out as well so I did.

I was aiming for 3 miles and was running an out and back route so was planning on turning back after 1.5 miles. I got to 1.5 and thought I could probably keep going a bit further so ended up in total doing 4.5miles which I’m really happy about 😀 my time wasn’t anything impressive but I’m aiming for mileage and hoping the time will improve from that.

It’s like a light switch moment as now I can’t wait to go out and run again this week!!  I should definitely have not let one bad run affect me so much!!

GNR training has finally begun!! 

Lost the ability to run!

So there’s only 18 days to go till my next half marathon, The Liverpool Rock n Roll Half. I am really looking forward to it and have booked a hotel room for the Saturday night so I can go to the expo on the Saturday and don’t have to get up too early on the Sunday.

There’s one problem tho… I’ve lost all ability to run! Since the Leeds half, every time I have tried to run, after 10/12 mins I feel really sick. I’ve hopefully narrowed down the problem to that I haven’t been eating very well, have gained 7lbs in the last month and haven’t been doing any cross training. Since Saturday, I am back on track. I went to spin on Monday, pt session on Tuesday and my diet has been really good (Sneaky look on the scales and its already down 3lbs)

So hopefully when I go to parkrun on Saturday, I wont feel sick and then I can get back on track for the final two weeks before Liverpool.

Leeds Half Marathon 2015

I did it!!

I finished my first half marathon!! It was the hardest thing I have ever done!

The day before I wasn’t feeling too good but I put it down to nerves as I hadn’t been sleeping well either as I kept waking up thinking it was race day and I had slept in. The day of the race arrived and I woke up on time, managed only a few mouthfuls of granola and yogurt and set off with plenty of time. The race start was very well organised and even though the toilet queues were massive, they went down very fast! I was running the race with my friend Claire who had agreed to do it with me after we did the 10k last year. We were pretty scared before we started as  we both felt very unprepared.

We did a quick warm up and then our colour bib was called down to the start.

The first 2 miles were great, I managed to keep quite a fast average pace for me but around mile 3, I started to feel really sick. I had to run walk for the next mile and then from mile 4 to 5 I basically walked it all. Every time I started to run, I was nearly sick! It was horrible and I even contemplated dropping out!! I decided to keep going even if I had to walk, I was going to finish. I then managed to jog for a while at a slow pace. The course was really hilly, the first 7 miles had quite a few steep hills in it which made it even worse. I don’t think it helped that it was so warm, the sun was very hot and the majority of the course had no shade. However the people who had come out to cheer everyone on were amazing and really helped me push myself and before I knew it, I had made it to mile 8 and then it was mainly downhill or flat from then on.

It went really fast and I made it to mile 10 which was the furthest I had run during my training. The sickness kept coming and going and made running for longer then 10 mins at a time really hard so I had to run/walk the last few miles. I got to mile 12 and saw my pt Jenn had come to cheer me on and she really helped me speed up for that mile by running next to me for about half of it. The final 600m were uphill which was so hard. I really wanted to sprint towards the finish but I literally could barely keep jogging. I saw my family and friends just before the finish line which kept me going till finally it was over and they handed me my goody bag and medal. I then burst in to tears. I think it was from shock that I had actually finished a half marathon. My back and feet were killing me and I still felt really sick but managed to have a drink and a mars bar in a local bar with my family before I went home.

The goody bag had a really nice t shirt in it, in fact I think its my favorite race t shirt so far, a mars bar, a rocky biscuit and a sports drink. The medal is amazing and I love it!!!

My time was not so good, in fact it was rubbish!! I had high hopes and wanted to be between 2:30 and 2:45 but with having to walk a lot, it ended up being 2:53 which was a bit disappointing but under the circumstances of feeling so ill, I still finished which I’m really happy about. Plus now I have a time to beat at the next one.