Some More Photos and Films

This was just passed the 6 mile mark (it took a lot of effort to put that smile/grimace on my face!)

This was just after I crossed the finish line, and the floof gates opened!! See the pain on my poor face! I've never felt pain and exhaustion like it!!
Videos on You Tube:

Warming up: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=zUQmx5BdAH8

Getting ready: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=ja4DwaJPJHA

Starting off: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=ChEn8DEjVh4

6 mile mark: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBpkqON91iY

Finished!: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=T31IaPCqftQ

I RAN IT NON STOP!!!!!

I've done it!! I can't quite believe it's all done and dusted (although each time I want to move, the pain which is consuming my whole body quickly reminds me of what I've just achieved!).

And how did I do?? I did GOOD!!! I ran it all, NON STOP. It was amazing. Horrifically painful and exhausting, and by far the hardest thing I have ever done in my entire life. But I did it; in 1.48 minutes.

Official stats:

Overall Position: 8997

Age Group Position: 4193

Gender Position: 3024

Age Group and Gender Position: 1537

Finish Time: 01:48:22

5k Time: 00:32:55

10k: 01:06:43

15k: 01:40:40

So when you consider 19,500 people were running it, I did pretty well. AND I was literally one of the last people to cross the starting line. There were some Army guys pulling a range rover right at the back, and I was just in front of them when I crossed the start. So to finish in overall place of 8997, means that I overtook almost 10,000 people during the run! Which doesn't sound possible, but it is! 

The whole thing was horrendous. The first couple of miles were okay, but tricky because there was such a high volume of people, the hardest thing was to keep a steady pace because you kept on getting stuck in bottlenecks. Then after about 3 miles I got a really bad stitch, which lasted until about the 6 mile mark. 

Then I passed Tom who was cheering for me at 6 miles, which was really nice, but the last four were so, so, so hard. I wasn't ever out of breath which was good. It was just the pure exhaustion, and pain in my legs, specifically my calf's. I kept on running and realised that actually, although I was in so much pain, I had reached the pain limit. At 7 miles I thought I couldn't go on, but then it dawned on me that actually, yes I was in horrific pain, but it wasn't actually any worse than it was at the 6 mile mark. So at least it wasn't getting any worse.

The last two miles were mentally the hardest. Mile 8 was tough, but you knew the end was in sight. Then mile 9 came around and I was able to tell myself that I wasn't running for the next mile marker, the next mile marker was the finishing line. But it was during mile 9 that I almost stopped running. It was weird, it was like my body decided it was going to stop. I hadn't been thinking about stopping, but suddenly my mind realised that my legs were about to stop. So it was like my body was doing it on it's own accord, then when my mind realised what was about to happen, I was able to give myself a good talking to! Very strange. I knew that I didn't want to stop running. I wasn't bothered about the time I did it in, I just wanted to run all 10 miles without stopping. And I did!!

I had to REALLY dig deep though. From mile 6 onwards I had to give myself little pep talks, telling myself to keep going, keep running, and come on! Unfortunately, the only way these had any positive effect was if I said them out loud, so I think some people around me must have thought I was mental. But it helped.

Then when I saw the finishing line it was amazing. I didn't think I could do it, then when I realised I was actually about to finish it, after running non stop, I got a little bit emotional. Then I finished the race and stopped running and oh boy, that's when the real pain kicked in!! I could barely walk. And then the tears started. Proper floods of them. I couldn't stop them, I was just so proud of myself.  

This whole thing has shown me that you can do anything if you put your mind to it. I hadn't done nearly enough training, and if I had done more, it would have been a lot easier for me. But the fact is, I wasn't physically ready for it, but mentally I decided that I was going to just keep on running. Just keep putting one foot in front of the other. And that's just what I did. The pain I was in (and am currently in now) will fade, but this feeling of accomplishment will be with me forever. It was definitely worth it, although I will be in no hurry to do a race like that again. But I will keep up a bit of running. I want to be able to do 3 miles easily now forever. 3 miles is just enough to get your heart going, but it can be done in 30 minutes so it's not long enough to bore you to death.

So if we look at my reasons for doing this from my first ever blog post. They were:

1. To cure my lazyitus: Well I think I can say that this has definitely got my bum off the sofa and has stopped me from being quite so lazy. I don't think I can say I'm cured as I'm a lazy sod at heart, but it's shown me that if I want something, even if it's hard (and I hate it), I can do it if I put my mind to it.

2. Getting fit and having a nice trim body: Well I've not been mistaken for Kylie yet, but I have definitely increased my fitness. When I started I couldn't run for 3 minutes without getting out of breath, and now I've just run for 1hr 48 minutes non stop. So yep, I can say that I am a lot fitter than when I started. And trimmer? Yes I think so. More toned for sure.

3. Personal achievement: Yes. This goes to the top of my list of personal achievements. I didn't honestly think I could do it. But I did!

And actually, I think writing this blog helped a lot. The fact that I knew people were reading it and following my progess meant that I couldn't just quit. It was also thinking that I would be able to write here 'I ran it non stop' that kept me going. I knew that as soon as I stopped, then I wouldn't be able to do that, and that was someting I really wanted. 

So thank you to everyone for all your support, advice and just for reading this blog. I couldn't have done it without all your help.

And I will soon start a new hobby (when I've recovered from the pain I'm in at the moment), which I'll be blogging about. I'm not sure what it will be yet, but I will keep you posted.

I will also upload some videos when I can figure out how to do it! I might have to put them on You Tube then just link to them. I'll also add a link to the official photo's when they've been uploaded.

Less than a week to go!!!

So my minging gym reopened last week. And I've been doing well. Even though it smells like a chimney and only half it is actually open to the public (the rest I'm guessing was too damaged from the fire - inc. changing rooms - there are now portacabin type things outside. And no loo's! Not nice). Anyway, so the last couple of training sessions have been pretty good(ish).

I was on the treadmill for 1 hour ten minutes the other day, completing a total of 6 miles. But I probably only ran 5 of those. My gym has no air con, and I think parts of it must still be on fire, because it is hot, hot, hot! That's the main problem I have - not getting tired or out of breath, which is good. I stop running because I'm sweating so much that I'm in danger of dehydrating and dying! But I checked the weather for Sunday, dry, coldish and cloudy. Perfect!!! So I won't have to cope with overheating hopefully.

Then Sunday I went running in the gym again, and ran solidly for just over 5 miles I think, when my treadmill suddenly stopped. And it wouldn't start again, and there were no other free ones. Which was very irritating because I was actually doing pretty well. However, I don't know whether it's because I stopped so suddenly, or because I've upped my training recently, but my calf muscle on my right leg is really, really sore and tight. But I'm going running again tonight so I'll see how it goes, and then Thursday, then that's it until Sunday!!!!!

I've got some podcasts called PodRunner, which are set at a certain BPM. So the 165bpm one's are at the same pace that I run at. I have two which are an hour each. So I've started listening to them. Although they're not as entertaining as Mika or Girls Aloud, because they're at a constant pace, and at the same pace as I need to be running at, it helps me keep going. So I'll be listening to those while I run round.

So I'm feeling quite upbeat about it at the moment. I'm nervous about it, but although I would really love, love, love to run it all non-stop, I've realised that I might not be able to. So although I will try my very hardest, I've taken some of the pressure off, which means I'll hopefully enjoy it a bit more. I do start to feel a bit sick when I think about it though. But it's just nerves! If I can do it in under 2 hours, I'll be happy.

I got my race position through - there's a wave start - all the fast people (Paula Radcliffe, etc) at the front and slow coaches like me at the back. Each wave (orange, white, green) has 3 sections A, B and C. Guess what I am?? Green C!! The very back of the slowest wave!!! I'll be last to start, and there's a very good chance I could be last to finish!

I also realised that I'll only be updating this blog another few times. I need a new hobby to blog about. I'd like to do something that I actually enjoy this time. As much as I'm very proud about how far I can now run non-stop (at the beginning I couldn't even run for 5 minutes without stopping!), I still actually, really dislike running. It's boring, and painful and just horrible!!! I'm going to carry on doing the gym and a bit of running, but I feel this will probably be the one and only long distance race I ever enter!

So if you have any suggestions for new hobbies, please let me know!

xxx

Don't Panic Mr Mannering!! Fire Fire Fire!!!

At last!! I have a legitimate excuse as to why I cannot go training.

My last excuses were:

1. Louise didn't have proper trainers, so I needed to wait til she bought those so we could go running again

2. I got a cold, and running would only make it worse

3. It was getting dark in the evenings, and so I needed to go running in the gym again - as opposed to Southampton Common (fyi - Lou didn't buy any new trainers - naughty naughty!).

4. I went to the gym - but it was closed. Why?

MY GYM BURNT DOWN!!!

What a brilliant excuse. Even better - it's true!!

I got there and it was all dark - the car park was empty. Which was pretty suss. So I after a bit of private eye sleuthing (looking at the signs posted up), it appeared that the gym had suffered a fire, due to 'member error'. Which strikes me as strange. I'm not being funny, but when I'm pumping iron (faking obviously) in the gym, all I have is my water bottle, towel and little old me. Last time I checked, I left the matches, fireworks, cans of petrol etc, at home. So how a 'member' could accidentally burn the place down, I don't know.

Anyway... so I couldn't go running (shame) so I came home and stuffed myself full of marathon fueling foods (like Cherry Coke!). So overall, it was a good training session!

Apparently, this burnt down gym of mine will be reopening this weekend (God knows how long it's been closed for!), so I will attempt to attend and re-start my training from Monday onwards. I am busy this weekend celebrating Nick and Jules wedding, so will be in no fit state to be running!!

Good luck to Nick and Jules (and good luck to me too!! I need more than luck... bring on a miracle!).

Roger roger.

xxx

I'm getting nervous

Or to be more acurate, down right scared! I watched the Great North Run this weekend on TV and it just made me panic!! I feel sick now whenever I think about it.

There are now only 18 days to go. I'm not even going to mention how many miles I can run now because I fear that if I actually admit to how few it is, I'll probably run (walk) away and come back on the 27th, just in time to miss the race!

I also haven't been running in a while (again, I'm not going to say exactly how long ago I went running last), but this is because I have been suffering from a cold. And there's no point making myself even more ill by trying to push myself.

But I am now all healthy (ish) and will start running again from tonight. I'm going to go to the gym and just not get off the treadmill until I've done 6 miles.

And I've found out that Paula (as in Radcliffe) has discovered that I'm running the race and has decided to run it too, just so that she can beat me and gloat. But that's fine - she'll finish it in under an hour I'm sure. I'll be passing the finish line about 40 minutes (hopefully) after that. You'll be able to track all of this on TV because they're showing it on channel Five.

So I should be getting my race number and stuff in the post any time now. I will update you when it arrives!!

Aarrggghh!!!!!

Oh Poo!

Oh poo indeed...poo all over my BRAND NEW EXPENSIVE TRAINERS!!!!!!!!!!

And.. even worse - ALL OVER MY BUM!!!

And no - it wasn't my poo...

Some idiotic dog owner let their dog do their business in the park, then didn't clear it up. So some innocent runner (i.e. me) went running in her brand new (still blindingly white) trainers and ran through it all. But unfortunately she didn't realise, so when she finished running and did her stretches, she ended up getting the dog poo, which was all over the sole and heel of one of her trainers, all over her bum (luckily she was wearing posh running shorts - she's not the kind of girl to go running in public naked!). But she still didn't realise, so got in her boyfriend's car, with poo all over her shoes and bum and sat there all the way home. It was only just as they got back to the flat that the smell alerted the unsuspecting couple of the horrific incident that they had been so unaware of. It was like a poo massacre!! It was everywhere, and it was soooo smelly and disgusting!!

Why can't people be more responsible. It's really not on. Although it's really my fault - I told two people at work yesterday that they smelt of poo (yes, I am super mature I know!), and then karma went and gave me a big old heap of smelly poo myself!! What out what you do people, because it'll come back to you threefold!

On a plus note, me and Tom ran another 4 miles yesterday quite easily. Things are slowly getting better...

New Gadget!!!

Hello all, checkout my new gadget: a Garmin Forerunner 305. This spankingly excellent piece of technology has been loaned to me by my lovely sister Anna - the girl in charge of payroll and benefits at Garmin (don't get a job at Garmin if you want to be paid correctly each month!!).

So Tom and I went running round Southampton Common last night. We ran 3.72 miles in 37 minutes - averaging a 10 minutes mile, which is 6 mph. The Forerunner, which is surprisingly comfortable and light to wear, beeped after each mile and also gave me a warning beep to let me know if I was going too fast or too slow (as per my instructions to it before I went out). It is really quite a fab bit of technology. It tracked our laps, so now we can do it all again, but run against ourselves to see how we're improving.

There' also a heart monitor which I've not used yet. It doesn't look too comfortable, but then again, neither did this brick of a watch, but it's actually okay. I think I'd like to check out my heart rate as I run, as sometimes it feels like my heart is about to explode in a dramatic and disgusting fashion, straight out of my chest and onto the grubby common floor, pulsating and throbbing slowly to its death.

I think you can upload your details onto the computer and it'll match where you've run onto a proper map, so I'll do that later on today. There's loads of bits and bobs you can do with it, but I've not had a proper chance to look at them all. The instruction book is rather boggling, so I think I'm just going to have to play about with it.

But overall - verdict is a cool 10/10!

New Running Buddy!

I went running last night with my new running partner. Louise couldn't make it yesterday as she fell over at the weekend and grazed her knee (she claimed it wasn't drunkenly related...), so instead Tom offered to come with me.

'Excellent' I thought - payback for the Itchen Bridge Debacle. I am now obviously a seasoned, professional athlete, and little old Thomas hasn't done any exercise (apart from dragging me over the Itchen Bridge) for two whole years. So I was expecting to run circles round him and run him into the ground, crying like a little girl!!!

However.... the boy did annoyingly well. He kept up with me, for the whole 4 mile run, and even made me sprint the last 100 meters. And he really quite enjoyed it! So he'll be coming with us in the future. We'll be running round the common again on Thursday (he has a small-ish beer belly and moobs to get rid of!).

And, in keeping with the advice of the lady at Up & Running, I'll be attending a lesson of 'Yogalates' tonight - a cunning mixture of yoga and pilates! My hip is a little bit sore after yesterday's run, but not as bad as it normally would be after a run like that, so I think my trainers are helping. And my knee was starting get stiff after previous runs and it's absolutely fine now. So the pink mega trainers are earning their keep!

How much!?!?!

Thanks to my bro's mate Jez who suggested I go and purchase myself some fancy running trainers - that's exactly what I did this weekend. They were £70, but actually I was pretty much willing to spend up to £100. But still, that's way more than I've ever spent on a pair of shoes ever!! I know I'm probably not a normal girl in saying that, but I'm really more of a hand bag girl than a shoe girl...

Anyway, so little sis Anna and I trotted off to Up And Running in Chandlers Ford on Saturday (took us about an hour to find it - and that was with a sat nav!), armed with my old rubbish Reeboks. They made me run on the treadmill and told me that I run like a dainty little woman (in the way that it looks like I'm running along a straight line). They said I need to start running with my legs spread a bit wider (ooh-er missus!). And I need to build up my hip/thigh/bum muscles a bit more - she said pilates would be good for that. Plus my left foot is about half a size bigger than my right (considering my right foot is pretty big in the first place, you can imagine how huge the left one is!), which caused a few problems in getting a good fit. AND my left foot is a bit flat too (it's not holding up well under the weight of being such a large foot!!). So I got some trainers that have a bit more support in the arch of the sole.

And they're pink which is nice too!!

I went for a test run with them on Sunday, and so far so good. Although I say 'so far', I didn't actually go too far!! The carnival was in Southampton Common, so it was full of kids, people with dogs, roller bladers etc.. all rather annoying, so I ran for a couple of miles, and went back home. Back to being busy sitting on the sofa playing my Nintendo DS, which frankly, even with my new snazzy pink trainers, is a lot more enjoyable than running.

That's another problem I'm coming up against now. Now that I can run for more than 10 minutes without wanting to die due to the sheer pain of running, it's now the threat of boredom that's trying to slowly kill me. Seriously - running for 40 + minutes is just dull!! I downloaded a Russell Brand podcast to run with when I was in the gym, which helped a bit, but not much really. I think a nice three mile run for 30 minutes is more than anyone needs to do. It's long enough to be getting a good dose of exercise, but not long enough to make your brain start to shut down! But unfortunately, I don't think I'll be able to squish ten miles into 30 minutes....

Aerodynamic Cankles Pushing Me On!!!

Louise and I went running yesterday and we did GOOD!!

We ran one lap, then the mini lap round the Cowheards pub, then a second lap (but missing out the pond bit) and managed to run all the second lap and back to the beginning. A massive 4.52 miles!!! And we did it all in 42 minutes, which is an extremely good time!!!

The middle bit was hard, getting up the top of the hilly bit, but the last section was mostly downhill, which helped us get through it to the end. It was WAY more than we both thought we could do, so we were extremely proud of ourselves!!

However, recently when I've been running quite far, my left hip joint has been hurting quite badly. Not the muscles - but the actual joint. And this morning it's really painful and weak - I can't really lift my leg up. And as well as that, my left knee is now quite stiff and sore. So I'm a bit worried about that actually. I'm going to go any buy myself some proper running trainers, as at the moment all I have are normal gym type ones. But I don't know what else to do about it really. It's not the muscles that are hurting - we always make sure we do proper stretches before and after. It's the actual joints. But I don't want to rest them and not run, because I only have 11 weeks to get up to 10 miles!! (I'm trying quite hard to not panic!!!). I might ask someone at the gym for some advice maybe. Does anyone reading this have any ideas? Please leave me a comment if you have.

Other than the general aches and pains (and blisters) things are good.

And in reference to the title of my new fabulous aerodynamic cankles (I don't have ankles, my calf's and ankles have merges to form a chunky, unattractive pair of cankles!)... so anyway, I went out and treated myself to some 'Ladies Elite Running Nike Socks', and one of the features of these fabulous socks is that they make your (c)ankles all aerodynamic. Which was obviously the main factor in Louise and I being able to run for so far yesterday!! They're my new lucky socks!!

Oh, we're doing so well....

Righto, no major news to update you on. Other than the fact that myself and Louise are doing very well with our running.

We amended our Common lap this Tuesday - where it used to resemble a figure of 8, with the bottom loop being quite small, we have now cut that out and just do the big main loop at the top (if you see what I mean...).

Anyway, so on Tuesday we did TWO laps of the Common. It was, as usual, very hard. The first half is uphill, so when we came round to doing the second lap, running uphill was very tough. We actually had to stop and walk for a bit, but then carried on running for the second half (which was downhill). We did both laps in just under 40 minutes.

So I got home and measured the lap using that running map thing (link on my link list) and found out that one lap is 2.02 miles!! Which means that two laps are...yep - 4.04 miles!! So I'm really chufffed about how well we did. Taking into account the bit that we walked, I think we probably ran a good 3.5miles. Looking at the map the first mile is the uphill bit and the second mile has a bit of a hill and all the downhill bit. So if you imagine us running two laps - the first and third miles are uphill. So it's really tough - the first mile is always hard because your body is adjusting to the running, and the having the third mile as uphill is really tough too. But hopefully we can keep on at it and do the whole two laps non stop.

In order to be ready for the Great South Run, I really need to be able to run at least 4 laps comfortably. So I'm halfway, and we do push ourselves and progress quite far with each training session. So I'm confident that I'll do well.

We're still running at an average of 6mph which is good. If I ran the whole Great South Run at that point then I'd do it in 1hr 40 minutes!

And my blister is still here!! It heals, then I run and it flares up again, then it heals, run, flare up... evil cycle!!

But apart from that it's all good. I'm quite enjoying it. And now, I don't feel guilty for eating chocolate/wine/various other naughty foods, because I know I'm being all healthy and running lots!

It's been a while...

Apologies for not writing for a while, I've been a bit of a busy bee recently and just haven't had the chance!

So anyway, the running is still going very well.

My running partner, Louise and I are both running round Southampton Common on a regular basis. And we're both quite enjoying it. Each time we add an extra bit onto our lap so that we're constantly going a little bit further each time.

Each of our laps of the common is 2.7 miles. And at the moment we're just managing one full lap. If you look at the map below of the common, the lap is pretty much the same as that, except now we run round the little lake on the straight bit on the right, and we finish where we start up by the paddling pools.

So if I can manage three laps before the Great South Run in October, that'll be about 8 miles. You shouldn't train to run the full lot anyway, as they say you can do the last few miles on adrenaline.

We did one lap last time in 27 minutes, so we're going further each time, but also faster. Although I was about to die - it was really hot on Tuesday as well, which really made it so much harder!

We're going to be training each Tuesday and Fridays in the common. I also need to start going back down the gym. Since I've taken up running outside I've more or less stopped going to the gym, which isn't really good. I need to be running outside about twice a week, and going to the gym twice too.

And that's that really. Nothing particuarly dramatic to report.. it's all going rather well at the moment!!

By the way - my blister is STILL here. It's never going to heal. Each time I run it comes back. But I'm used to it now..it's almost like my little jogging buddy!

32:32

Thank you to everyone who voted in the poll as to how quickly I would run the 5km in the Race for Life. I ran it yesterday so the final result is now in.... 32 minutes and 32 seconds. So thank you to everyone who said I'd get carted off in an ambulance!! How wrong were you?!

Myself and my darling little sister Anna ran the whole thing nonstop. And as many of you may know, our lucky number is 32, and by complete coincidence, our finishing time was 32:32. Very strange - I pressed start on my stopwatch when we started and didn't look at it again until I pressed stop as we went through the finish. I couldn't believe it when I saw it! Not only is it our lucky number, but it's a damn good finishing time too!! I honestly thought I'd do it in about 40 minutes, so I was really happy with 32 minutes.

And I don't feel too bad today either. I don't really ache. I think I'm coming down with Tom's cold (sorry, Man Flu) though. My throat is all sore and itchy.

So I'm going to have a day or two off from the training, then will get back to it on Wed probably.

Me and Tom's sister Louise will be running round the common every Sunday morning and Thursday evening. We managed just over 20 minutes last Thurs, so we'll move it up to 25 mins this week. Even though I know I can do 30 minutes now, it was really the crowd spurring me on. I'd rather increase my training slowly but surely.

So overall I really enjoyed running the race. There was a great atmosphere and it was good fun. 10,000 women were racing!! Obviously not all managed to sprint through as quick as me though!!

And thank you again to all that sponsored me. It was all for a very good cause.

xxx

I've quit the gym!

Well, I'm still technically a member, but I've taken my training outside!!

I figured that since I was doing so well on the treadmill, it was really time that I started to take my training outside. It's a well known fact that running outside on tarmac is a million, zillion times harder than doing it on a cushioned treadmill, in an air conditioned gym!

So this Saturday I donned my gym clothes, grabbed my iPod and hit the streets. I thought that since I was soooo brilliant at running now, I would run over the Itchen Bridge and back 3 time (yes, that is a 3 there - not a typo!). So off I went...however..even though the 'Debacle of the Itchen Bridge' has been well documented, I somehow forgot just how steep and horrific it is. So I got to the base of the bridge and it all came flooding back. I managed to get halfway, but then I turned around and ran all the way back. But it was also seriously windy on Sat morning, and I didn't want to risk being blown off and into the waters below (yeah right, because I'm such a waif!!!). So anyway.. I ran off of the bridge and trundled along around near where my flat is. I say trundled, because I can't honestly say it was running.

I came home 19 minutes after I left. And I was probably only running for 10 of those minutes. I was such a pathetic, wingy, whiny moose. I came back thinking 'I can't do this..it's too hard..I don't want to do it anymore'.. blah blah blah.

Seriously - when you're whining so much that you actually to annoy yourself, it's time to take serious action!

So, yesterday I went out and bought myself some new spanky jogging legging things (£34 reduced to £12 - bargain!), and so to celebrate (or justify the purchase, depending on your outlook on frivolous spending) I decided to hit the road again.

This time though I went far, far away from my front door, so that I couldn't give up and go home so easily. I went to Southampton Common. And told myself that I would run for at least 10 minutes without stopping. And since I can do 3 miles in 31 mins on the treadmill, I knew that I would have to be a mega wimp not to be able to do 10 little minutes in the park.

Off I went.. running away. It was hard. Very hard, but I didn't stop. I kept on thinking to myself 'you can stop when this song (on my iPod) finishes' or 'you can stop when you reach that dustbin' etc. But whenever I reached that point, I told myself I could go on for just a little bit more. And before I knew it I had run for 20 minutes 53 seconds!! I was shattered when I finished and my legs were really sore from running on tarmac, but I did it!! I was uber impressed with myself (I did actually give myself a pat on the back!! Loser!).

So it's now given me the confidence to know that I'm not rubbish at running, I'm just very good at giving up when the going gets tough!! I need to carry on running, even when it gets too hard.

The map to the right plots where I ran. A total of 2.24 miles.

I have the Race for Life on Sunday, so I'll fit in another couple of runs before then. I'm hoping to run it all non stop!

Retraction...

In my last entry I was very proud that I'd run 3 miles straight in 30 minutes.

Well I went to the gym last night and attempted to do the same as I did on Monday. So I did my 5 min walking warm up, then stopped the machine and restarted at 6mph ready to run for 30 minutes. But then I looked down and realised that it hadn't reset the time, so it already had 5 mins on the clock, which means when I ran for 30 minutes on Monday, I actually only ran for 25. If I had looked at the distance (which I didn't because I knew that 30 minutes at 6mph was dead of 3 miles), I would have seen that it would have been just over 2.5miles, and not 3!!

Oh disaster! When I realised this I was gutted! There was no way I could add another 5 minutes onto what I did on Monday (to take me up to 3 miles), I wasn't even sure that I'd be able to do the 25 minutes again!

So I started running, after 12 minutes I was having troubles, but I carried on to 19 minutes, wich was when I had to stop and walk for about 40 seconds, just to catch my breath back. Then I ran to 25 minutes. I was going to stop because technically I had pretty much done again what I did on Monday, but then I figured that I was only 0.5 miles away from getting up to 3 miles. So I started running again (but at about 7.7mph to make up for the walking that I had just done). Then after a minute or two of fast jogging, I brought it down to about 6.5mph and ran until I'd hit my 3 mile target.

So my final result was: 3 miles in 31 minutes exactly.

Admittidly it wasn't running non stop, but the short bursts of walking I did helped me to complete the 3 miles. I must have been running at an average of about 5.8mph which is pretty close to the 6mph I'm aiming for.

So I'm going to do another 3 miles on Saturday, then next week move it up to 3.5 miles. Each week I'll do 3 training sessions, then bump it up by another half mile for the next week. If I do that I'll be running 10 miles each time by the beginning of Oct. The race is at the end of Oct so it's quite good timing.

I'd also like to thank everyone who sponsored me. If you haven't sponsored me yet - why not!!!
Sponsorship needs to be in before the 12th July (even for the race in Oct) because I'm not being sponsored seperately for the half marathon. Everything is going to Breast Cancer Research.

Sponsor me here.

Thank you!

Sponsor Me!!!

I've now launched my Race For Life sponsor page.

Click here to view it and to donate to this very worthy cause.

I won't be getting sponsored seperately for the Great South Run so please give me a big lump sum to cover all the races I'm doing!

Thank you very much for your support.

Victoria, xxx

She's Back!!

Back from my holiday, back in the gym and back into my training!!

I spent a wonderful week away in the South of France. Click here to look at the photos! I did actually pack my trainers and jogging gear in good faith that I'd have a bit of a run around, but it was just sooooo hot, that it would have been an awfully traumatic experience, and since the nearest hospital must have been about 2 hours away, I didn't want to risk keeling over and dying! So instead of donning my jogging gear I donned my bikini and sat by the pool for the whole week. It was heaven!

But now I'm back and I've not been running since the Itchen Bridge debacle. I was actually a little bit worried that I would be rubbish (even more than normal) and would have to start my training from the beginning again.

So I went to the gym yesterday and thought that I'd just test myself to see where my fitness and stamina levels were. I've got the Race for Life coming up which is 3 miles, so I thought I'd just run that and see how quickly and easily I could do it. I'm hoping to run the half marathon at an average of 6mph which means I'd run a mile in 10 minutes. So for this 3 mile run, I thought that if I managed it in under 40 minutes then I'd have done a good job.

So I selected '3 Mile Run' on my treadmill and I was off. The first few minutes were pretty tough and I was worried that I wouldn't be able to do any of it. But I carried on and after a while found that I was finding it all okay. So I ran and ran, not looking at how long I'd been running for. Then when I did look I saw that I'd been running for 23 minutes!! Non stop at 6mph!! I was very, very impressed and very happy that I hadn't found it that tough. So I carried on running - the last 5 minutes were hard (especially as my iPod decided to pack up and switch itself off - I rely on having upbeat, motivating songs keeping me going, so running in silence for the last bit was horrible). But none the less, I carried on running and managed to run all three miles in 30 minutes flat!!!!

YEAHY!!!! GO RIA, GO RIA, GO GO, GO RIA!!!! WHOOP WHOOP!!!

I was really very happy indeed. I don't know if it was because I hadn't been running in a while so my body had had a good break, or if it was because I was on a treadmill and in an air conditioned room, but either way, it's the most I've ever run non-stop in my whole life! Maybe it's just because after about 5 weeks of training I'm starting to get okay at running. Who knows? Who really cares, as long as I can get back in the gym and do it all again but a little bit further on Tuesday.

Lazyitus relapse..

Well I haven't actually been out running at all since my last post. It's not that running over the Itchen Bridge was so horrific that it put me off (it was bad, but not that bad!). It's more because I've been busy busy!!

So I went to the Isle of Wight festival this weekend. It was brilliant fun!! But I didn't sleep (thanks to a lumpy, corrugated iron type bed and freezing cold night temperatures) for 4 days straight, and I came home all tired and full of horrible cold sores. So I'm still really quite tired now, and I don't want to get even more tired by running, because then my cold sores will never heal. And at the moment I look like a real dirty minger. I would put a photo up on here of them, but it is really soooo gross that I wouldn't want to inflict it on you people.

And on Saturday, me and Tom are going to France for our summer holiday. We've rented a converted windmill in the South of France. It's set in 4.4 acres of countryside and has no neighbours or anything. It's going to be lovely and relaxing, I can't wait!

But I will be bringing my trainers and I do plan on doing some running whilst I'm out there... so come back and visit my blog from the 30th onward to see if I've updated it with any foreign running!!

p.s. thanks to all the people who voted that I'd get carted off in an ambulance at the Race for Life. Your support means a lot...

The Itchen Bridge Debacle

Well, yesterday, the lovely Tom decided that he was going to join me on one of my runs, to try and keep me motivated, and to make sure I didn't give up to easily (as if I do that!!). So we both put on our running gear and off we went.

We ran over the Itchen Bridge and back. But the Itchen Bridge is probably like a lot of bridges in the world - you have to run up to the middle then downhill to the end, then turn around and do it all again to get back (this picture above doesn't do the steepness of it any justice!!). Running up hill is not something I'd recommend. It was pretty tough. Halfway through I passed a sign saying something like "Desperate? Suicidal? Feel like you can't go on anymore?", I was like 'yep - all the above'. I think it was an advert for the Samaritans, rather than an indicator of a good place to jump. I would have stopped to call them as I was in a desperate state and could have done with a little pep talk, but I don't think Tom would have let me stop and make the call. Meanie.

So that was that. Last week when I said I'd 'found my stride', I must have just been in a temporary jogging zone. I've so not found my stride. I've found more blisters, heartburn and general pain. I'm starting this think I've bitten off more than I can chew! This is the girl who gets out of breath getting out of bed!

Oh well, at least I have a weekend of relaxation, drinking and partying to look forward too (not that it's going to help at all with my training, but I signed up to the IOW Festival way before I lost my mind and decided to sign up to a half marathon).

New addition to my training!

I got my birthday present from my lovely boyfriend Tom this weekend!! A bike! And one that I really wanted - I don't like moutain bikes; I prefer sitting upright. So I got this lovely one pictured here. It's so brill - I was cycling around all weekend.

On Sat I went jogging out near where I live, and it was a really hot, sunny day, and I was supposed to run for two miles, but I only managed about 1. It was really difficult running in the sunshine. Plus I hadn' t really eaten anything and I wasn't really motivated as I just wanted to get back and ride on my new bike! So I got home and cycled to Halfords to buy some elastic bike strap things, to make sure any bags I have on the back stay put.

Then on Sunday I cycled to the common and sat out there relaxing with Tom and my friend Rach and her man Matt. It was lovely! Cycling home was much easier as it was mostly downhill!

So I'm adding cycling to my training to try and build my stamina. As I'm still finding it really difficult to run for any long distance.

I'm going to the gym tonight, but I really can't be bothered. My gym doesn't have air conditioning (I know! It's a rubbish gym), so it's going to be hot as hell there tonight. I might just go, do my running and get out. Plus I'm off to the IOW Festival on Thurs, so won't be doing anything remotely like exercise (apart from lugging all the beer from the car to the campsite - does that count??!!).

Then after the gym tonight I'll go home, have my dinner and watch Prison Break Series 3! Me and Tom managed to get it from Blockbuster (at last!), and it's fantastic!! Soooo exciting!

Wine + Chinese Buffet = TTS (Traumatic Training Session)

The scientists tracking this blog as an experiment into curing Lazyitus may be interested in the startling* discovery I made last night..

..drinking copious amounts of wine and champagne and stuffing yourself silly with all you can eat Chinese will not make your training any easier.

Yes, it was my birthday on Wednesday and I went out with Tom and my family to Pilgrim House; a wonderful all you can eat Chinese restaurant. I had a really good night - needless to say we all drank and ate rather a lot! (apart from poor little sister Anna who was the designated driver for the night!).

I woke up yesterday morning with a bit of a fuggy head, but nothing too major so I thought I'd escaped a hangover. So when I went to the gym straight from work (this time I remembered my socks and hair bobble) I got straight on the treadmill, ready to do my 5 minutes running, 3 minutes walking x 3. I assumed that since I had a good time doing it on Tuesday, that it would be just as easy again, if not easier.

But oh no. I was straight back to wanting to curl up and die after 3 minutes. It was such hard work that when it came to the last set of 5 min running, I only managed 3.5 mins and had to stop and walk the rest. It was horrendous!! In the whole 4 weeks I've now been training, I've never been able to not complete it properly.

It's not like I've never drank and gone to the gym before, but I think that because I now have such a strict training plan, where it's progressively getting harder and harder, that's why I really felt the result of the drink and stodgy food. Normally I would have just subconsciously taken it easy, so I wouldn't have ever felt the effects. I now know why athletes are on such strict diets.

You'll see to the right there's now a list of lessons I've learnt so far. No doubt this will increase as I make more silly mistakes!

Oh, and the blister looks even worse now. It's a nasty shade of red and yellow now. Which I'm assuming means one of two things. Either its healing nicely, or it's infected and I'm about to drop dead. I'm sure we'll find out which one it is soon enough.

So that's it for now. I have my timed two mile run on the weekend (FYI: I'll be doing it on Saturday morning - before I go out to celebrate my birthday celebrations in the evening, giving me all Sunday and Monday to recover!!!).

* Startling to me anyway, although I have a feeling this may already be quite a well known bit of trivia!

I've found my stride, but it came at a price.

I've now started Week 4 of my training. This week I am: running 5 mins, walking 3 min x 3 = total 24 mins.

Last week I was running for 3 mins, walking for 3 mins x 5, and I found it very, very hard. So I was dreading this weeks sessions as the length of running has increased by quite a bit.

So I got to the gym straight from work, and had forgotten to bring a hair band (running with long hair, is like running with a carrier bag on your head. It's really not nice!), AND I'd forgotten my socks. But I battled on. And actually, I was able to do all the running quite easily(ish). I didn't even walk for the last 3 mins, but carried on running so actually finished off with a 8 min run.

I covered 2.1 miles in 24 minutes, which I'm quite happy with. I was averaging 5 mph. I'd like to do the whole half marathon at 6mph, which would give me a time of 1 hour 40 minutes (FYI - Paula Radcliffe averages about 11mph! I don't think I can run that fast full stop, let alone for over 2 hours straight!).

Now going back to my forgotten socks. At first, running without them was fine, but after I hit 20 minutes, my right foot started to rub, just on the arch. And it got worse and worse. I should have probably stopped, but I was so chuffed with being able to run without wanting to curl up and die, that I didn't want to stop. And this is how I got my first blister. It's really very sore now. I came home all wimpy and limpy, but didn't get ANY sympathy! Huh! How rude.

So my new blister is the picture attached here. I'm sorry if I've made any of you feel sick. Finger's crossed it'll be better by my next training session on Thursday.

Lazyitus and how to cure it...

As many of you know, I am inflicted with a terrible disease; lazyitus. It's difficult to live with, and affects all areas of my life.


As there's no known cure, I have taken on the task to try and fix myself. Any scientists out there may be interested in tracking my progress, as I have high hopes that my home grown remedy will work.

So what is this remedy? It's easy (ish). Just sign up to run a half marathon. I figure this will help cure my lazyitus in three ways:

1. I really don't want to pull a 'Jade Goody' and get carted off in an ambulance halfway round the course. I can imagine that's pretty embarrassing, so in order to avoid such shame I am training like a trouper.


2. One of the side effects of running lots is getting fit and have a nice trimmed body; I figure I'll soon be getting confused for Kylie very soon. Although technically she's old enough to be my mother, I'd still be up for having a bottom like hers!


3. I think it'll be a great personal achievement. For someone like me, who has a serious bout of lazyitus, running a half marathon's pretty good I think.

So this blog is to keep you all updated on my training. As well as signing up to do the Great South Run (Oct 26), I'm also doing the Race for Life in Southampton in July.


And, depending on how this half marathon goes, I may sign myself up to run a full fat marathon next year (or maybe the year after). It's on my list of things to do before I'm 30, and as I'm now 26 (well still 25 until about 7:30pm tonight..) I'm running out of time!