Run | Number 21 & 22

Thursday 21^st:

I managed to make it to Bushfield even though I really didn’t want to go due to my hacking cough. We had a slow run which felt good but I really just couldn’t push myself due to my cold. We managed 3.42 miles in 46.53 minutes. Pretty slow, but still an improvement on my last 5k time so always a good sign.

I decided to let myself have the weekend off to recover, I managed to squeeze in a kettle bell workout on Sunday morning, which made me feel good and my muscles didn’t ache too much the next day.
Tuesday 26^th:

Back to Bushfield again and I was feeling good. After having a rest weekend I was feeling pumped and ready to go. I really need to invest in a Garmin as map my run is really not very accurate let alone consistent. We ran the same round as the week before but pushed ourselves further than before. When returning to Bushfield map my run told me I ran nearly .5 mile left L WHHHYYYY????

Oh well…4.87 miles in 1 hr 4 mins. Not my fastest but I’m pretty sure it was further than that. I really don’t want my phone app to trick me into thinking I’m doing further than I actually am.

On Thursday I want to get another solid 5 miles in, and try to reduce my time slightly. At the weekend I am going to attempt 7 miles at a really slow pace. I might try and do this as a 4 min run/1 min walk, as I don’t think I’m fully ready to progress up to 7 without stopping yet.

Run | Number 20

On Tuesday night I really wasn’t looking forward to running, I felt tired and my legs were in absolute agony from the kettle bell workout I had done the night before. I was so tempted to sack it off and go home to my warm bed BUT something stopped me. On Tuesday I entered my first 10k race at Thorney on the 24^th March. Now I know there is a high possibility that I will come last but that is fine as long as I can run the whole way without stopping, that’s my personal aim. With only 4 weeks to go I decided it would be stupid to slack off now so I pushed through and went.

My partner had run on Sunday at the Brighton half marathon so was also feeling a little delicate so we decided to take things slowly and see where we end up, if we have to walk we have to walk so be it.

We actually ended up doing 5 miles, which I’m pretty impressed about. I’m averaging 5 miles every run I do which is a pretty nice feeling. Especially knowing in 4 weeks I need to run 6 whilst being timed, but as long as I finished I will of set myself a PB, I’m going to try and not worry about it.

Tonight I am off to Bushfield again, although I am full of a cough and probably shouldn’t. It may be best to see how I feel later.

Workout | Kettle Bells

Last night I really wanted to get out and run as the evenings are starting to get lighter. Unfortunately by the time I was home and changed it was dark again, I really wanted to get some sort of training in so decided to get my kettle bell's out of storage and give them a go.

After looking through different internet work outs I decided to stick to this one. Found here: http://www.shape.com/fitness/workouts/killer-kettlebell-workout

I did all of the above exercises in reps of 20.

I also included:
20 x bicep curls (each arm)
20 x tricep curls (each arm)
50 x crunches
50 x press ups
5 x 10 sec plank

All of the above took me around 30 minutes to complete and by the time I had finished I had a sweat on. This morning I woke up feeling stiff but well worked. Now lets see how far I can run tonight with legs that feel like concreat.

Run | Number 19

Saturday came around quickly again this week and with my alarm set for 7:30am I was up and out for my run pretty early. I decided to stick to the same route I have done previously but to add on an extra loop which would put me up an extra mile.

This started off really well until I came to the embankment which was completely water logged and there was no way I could get down there. So onto plan B. Behind where I live is called the Green Wheel cycle path, it runs all around the city, so off I went. Oh my, the path is raised and goes straight through fields proved to be the most boring run I have ever had. Every time I thought I had made some distance I realised how much further I still had to go. I realised I had no idea where I was going to end up so a quick phone call was made to my Dad to reassure me I wasn’t going to end up in the middle of nowhere. I did, I ended up in Whittlsey, I made it across the millennium bridge knowing I still had about 4 miles ahead of me to bring me round in a big circle. All was going well until I was faced with the above photo. The river had burst its banks and there was no way I was getting through. I ended up with very wet feet and had to give in and just turn back the way I came. Along the very boring straight path, it has got to be one of the worst runs ever, I couldn’t get my breathing right, my mind was wondering everywhere and to top it off my legs felt like stone. I powered through only walking when I had to but I really didn’t enjoy it. I ended up being out for 1 hour 20 minutes, which is the most amount of time I’ve managed so far.

Map my run says it was 5.31 miles, but further down where it shows your splits is says 7.32 miles, so I have no idea which one is correct. I have decided to take the smaller millage as I don’t want to trick myself into thinking I managed 7.32 when I didn’t.

This does put me up to 31.92 miles clocked this month so far which is pretty good for me.

Run | Number 18

So last night was the worse run I have experienced ever, my club put on a chase me event last night. For anyone who doesn’t know what that is, it’s a race between the members of the club with a staggered start i.e slow members (like myself) start a certain amount of minutes before faster members and the idea is for the faster members to chase us, the idea is everyone finished roughly around the same time.

3 of us started off together, my usual partner and I and another woman recovering from injury, rookie mistake I took off far too quickly as I was paranoid someone was going to catch up with me within 5 minutes. The chase me took part over a 5k route, considering I’ve been running nearly 10k in trainer you would think this would have been ok, oh how wrong I was. A mile in I was knackered, this week has really taken it out of me, after a longer run then normal on Tuesday and my body recovering from what it was put through at the weekend I was really struggling. We made it to 2.5 miles before people started to catch up with us. But we were soon last in the race, the main point is I finished and that’s enough for me to be proud of and I didn’t come last, 2^nd from last is a slight improvement on last.

At least I’ve gained some experience and now know not to push myself coming out of the start but to start at a comfortable pace. I also have my first pb for a 5k. 42 minutes 42 seconds, is slow to most people, but at least I did it and I know have something to work on and a time to beat.

Run | Number 17

After my disaster of the weekend I was looking forward to getting back out running on the roads. Last night, I went out with my club again and followed the same route as last week, this week however I decided to push myself even further than before. We carried on going up to the nest turning including another hill (therefore another challenge), but I made it and I felt bloody good for getting up there without stopping.

Unfortunately my GPS tracker (map my run) has only logged this as 5.04 miles, when last week it was 5.38 miles. Pretty annoying but at least I know can say I can run 5 miles (now I’ve managed to do it 3 times). I do think it’s time I invest in a GPS watch, unfortunately I’m pretty poor at the moment so I have no idea how to go about this.

Not much else to report, my knee has been a bit achey the past few days so I’m trying to rest it when I can and ice pack it as often as I can. Also I’ve decided I’m going to enter my first 10k race, set for end of March, fingers crossed I can do it.

Eat | Thai halloumi burgers

Last night I played around with a new recipe. After my tests at the weekend I've been feeling a little under the weather, I've lost my appetite but I desperately need to keep eating as I lost so many calories at the weekend whilst fasting. If I want to keep my training schedule up this week, I need to replace everything that I lost.

Therefore I made Thai spice halloumi burgers.

 

I was lazy and used a pack I had picked up in Sainsbury’s last week. They had a great selection by Simon Rimmer, of vegetarian packs. I also picked up some gluten free pitta’s as I am trying to cut gluten out of my diet as often as I can.

 

I added the thai spice potato cake mix and chopped up halloumi into a bowl.

 

I added 220ml of boiling water and stirred.

 

 

Ensure mixture is bound together into dough. If needed add more water.

Form into patties and shallow fry in a wok.

And here was the finished result. My pitta’s unfortunately weren’t open in the middle otherwise I would have packed them with the burgers and lots of salad. So instead I served them alongside strips of pitta and some low fat over chips and salad (bowl not pictured). I really enjoyed these and the pack made enough for 6 patties, so I have frozen some for quick and easy meals.

 

Run | Number 16

A bad run.

I was a little stupid on Saturday morning. Without going into too much detail, on Sunday I had to have tests at the hospital for my stomach pains. Therefore Friday I could only eat a low residue meal (Bread, plain chicken, plain potatoes etc) and on Saturday I wasn’t allowed to eat anything. On top of this I had to take medication to flush out my system, meaning essentially I was empty.

So, already bored of being stuck in the house & fed up of being hungry I decide to go for a run. Now I realise how stupid I was, my body couldn’t run on empty. I managed a mile and a half before I gave up and walked home.

Moral of the story, listen to your body, you don’t always know best.

Run | Number 15

Last night I had another really successful run out with the joggers again. We ran the same route as Tuesday but I successfully completed this without stopping, even the hill. Another guy came out running with us last night (the chairman) and boy did he push us. At first I really didn’t think I could keep up or even make it round a mile without wanting to cry. But I did it; I kept my head held high and took a lot of deep breaths. I was so proud when I made it all the way round. When we got to the hill that defeated me on Tuesday, I knew I had to get up there. Chris was really supportive and talked me through my breathing the whole way up.

So that makes it another 5.14 miles in the bag. Putting this month’s total up to 18.23 miles.

Run | Number 14

Have you ever had a run when all of sudden you feel like a runner, I have, last night! Normally I’m coughing and spluttering, looking further ahead to see if we’re nearly back yet. But last night something felt different. We took off on the same route as Thursday (Lynchwood business park), I sailed up the blue bridge (my arch nemesis or so it seems), and I felt really proud of myself when I passed the point in my previous run I had given in and walked. After making our way at a steady pace round the business park I found myself wanting to give up, I was tired, my legs hurt and I was out of breath. But my legs kept going, it was as if they ignored my brain and did their own thing. It wasn’t until 45 minutes in I realised I was still running (well jogging at a slow pace), but all of a sudden I didn’t feel tired, I didn’t want to stop and I certainly wasn’t praying to get back quicker. I am assuming this is what it feels like when you hit the wall, and I’m hoping this means my mental ability is getting stronger, to push through and just keep going.

Anyway onto the run, I managed 5.38 miles in 1 hour 8 minutes. Meaning I had a pace of 12 min 45 seconds. This may seem really slow, but the above proves when I slow my pace down I can actually keep going. At the moment I feel like I’m really making progress which is keeping me motivated.

So far for February I have clocked up 13.09 miles.

Eat | My Progress

 

At the weekend I took myself off to the supermarket to stock up on healthy clean food. I also for the first time took full advantage of the large gluten free section which Sainsburys has to offer. I made sure I only bought healthy and naturally occuring foods and tried to steer clear of any packaged foods. 

 

My first good meal: Glueten free pitta bread, salad and Sainsburys green vegetable risotto and mozerella balls (Ok, I know these arent strictly clean eating, but they needed eating up and they are low in calories and fat)

Review | Nike Flex Experience

Last week I treated myself to some new trainers as a reward for achieving so much in such a short space of time. Don't get me wrong I love running in my Mizuno Wave's but I just fancied a change and something a little lighter on my foot. After reading numerous reviews online I decided to go ahead and order the Nike Flex Experience in the charcoal/pink colourway.

When they first arrived I couldn't believe how much lighter they were then my current trainers and how much more stylish they look (I know this isn't the most important factor but it is a nice touch). I slipped my feet in and they are seriously comfotable, it honestly felt like I only had socks on. I found the shoe to have medium support, considering I normally go for something fully supported I felt this held my ankle well and supported my foot correctly.

I ran in these on Saturday after breaking them in on Friday and I have to report no blisters or sore spots. These were brilliant, they will take a little bit of getting used to as they are so much lighter then my previous shoe, but I think they will be great for shorter distance runs.

Run | Number 12 & 13

Saturday: On Saturday I found myself up bright and early at 7:50am and out the door for an early morning run. I was feeling really inspired and really looking forward to going. I enjoyed my run, but I find at the weekend when I run by myself I struggle to pace myself correctly and can't run continuously for half as long as I can when I run with my training partner. This is something I really need to work on, I have found that now, when I feel I need to stop I either try to slow down the pace or only walk for a few seconds at a time as to not lose the momentum.

I managed 3.65 miles in 52 minutes - I was sure this route would be further but unfortunately not.

Sunday: Now Sunday was probably a mistake, I didn't set an alarm and decided I would let myself have a lie in and let myself recover, but my stupid body woke up at 8am regardless so I decided I would make the most of the time and take myself out for a run/walk. I actually enjoyed going out on the pretence it wasn't a full on run and I could enjoy walking for longer periods of a time and really just take in what was around me. I went a little further and found some places which I never even knew existed.

I managed 4.06 miles in 1 hour 2 minutes

Today however I am done in, my legs ache so much, they don't hurt like an injury pain they just ache, I've obviously put alot of pressure on them the last few weeks and they need some recovery time. Tonight I'm going to rest them with some ice packs and hope that they ease up as I really don't want to miss my run tomorrow.

Do you have any advice for this?

Inspiration | Keep Going

I first found this quote on this Tumblr, the owner is really rather talented and writes everything her self, her skills are amazing.

I just wanted to show you this as this is a quote I tend to live my life by. When things ever get though I always tell myself to keep going. Sometimes (most of the time) it's easier said then done, but sometimes we just have to suck it up and keep going with our lives.

This is something I have continued using during my running journey. Whenever I feel tired or feel like I want to give up, I picture this in my mind and it helps me to push through the wall that I've built up myself. I find that most of the time its a mental block which makes me want to stop. It's not that I'm out of breath or that my legs hurt it's normally my mind telling me to stop. Trying to become mentally strong is something I'm finding really difficult but I guess thats all part of the journey isn't it?

Run | Number 11

Last night saw my toughest challenge yet, I was tired, having had a tough week at work and fitting runs into my already busy schedule, I was feeling a bit blah about going out last night. After numerous times saying I wasn’t going, I decided to suck it up and get out there, and I tell you what, I’m really glad I did. The group I run with are so supportive, and its times like this when that is exactly what you need. Some members I hadn’t seen in a week and telling them my progress was the boost I needed to realise ‘you know what. I can do this & I’m gonna’.

We set out to achieve a slightly further route then Tuesday. Unfortunately this only turned out to be 3.25 miles, slightly disappointing, but 3.25 miles more than if I had stayed at home. This actually felt really comfortable and I can feel my fitness increasing daily. Really slowing down my pace has really helped me to increase my distance, although I find when I’m running on my own I still try to sprint down the road. I really need to learn to slow down and enjoy my running whilst I’m on my own. This is my task for Saturday. I never thought I would say it but I’m actually looking forward to an early morning run tomorrow morning. Crazy I know.

On a slightly different note, although this isn’t about losing weight (that is just a nice added bonus), since I have been making the changes to my diet as mentioned below I have lost 9lbs, since the 1^stJanuary. Pretty good considering I haven’t lost weight in years…only put it on. Therefore I will be keeping track of my weight and logging it weekly to see if there is any difference, I might even start posting some recipes if I manage to make anything tasty.