So what have I been up to?

Yes indeed.  Well on Saturday 23 June I went running with the club.  It was so supposed to be a 'gentle' one but believe me it felt BAAAAADDD.  Talk about concrete boots.  It just felt very hard so I did my best to keep up and in the end we had done about 5 miles.

On Monday 25 June I did the Croxby Crawl which is 4.4 miles of hilly hell.  And guess what?  I did it all with NO walking.  Yay! Woo Hoo.  I was very pleased with myself.  Of course we are down to two from four on account of the two knees.  Still the two of us were feeling very smug at doing that route.

On Wed 27 June  one of the knees came running with me and oh no, the knee played up and reduced her to a walk which was so frustrating for her. So looks like it needs a bit more TLC.  So annoying for her as she has the Great North Run  in her sights.

And today I decided to try out my new trail shoes and hit the fields.  Verdict:  Yes I think they are going to be very useful.  Nice fit, lightweight, waterproof.  Watch this space...

Soaked to the skin

Decided that I needed to do a morning run on Thursday 21 June.  That's if I want to stay on schedule re training etc.  Of course the weather had other ideas.  There's rain and there's a monsoon.  And the only Monsoon  I'm interested in is this one Monsoon.  Ooh what pretty frocks!  If only I could lose a bit of weight and get back into mine.  But I digress.  Yes it was pouring down but off I went all the same and decided to do a short i.e. 2.5 to 3 miles with alternate kms at a faster pace.

It was great.  Yes I was soaked to the skin but what the heck. It's good to see that you can cope in the rain because you never know what the conditions will be like on your race day anyway.  I didn't dissolve.  Took yonks to dry out my trainers though.

Looking good

Well Monday was a great day.  Went running in the Lincolnshire Wolds
Click 'em Inn Run

It was very beautiful and as long as I can quell the inner voice urging me to stop and have a break I reckon I could have done at least a mile or so longer than the 5.7 we actually did.

I thought I'd make a note of when I actually feel good on a run because there are so many times I don't!

More like 

Than

Easy as riding a bike

So they say. They obviously haven't seen me riding a bike.  Usually with my hands gripping the handlebars for dear life.  Don't laugh.  It's a shame.  Anyway I thought I'd go for a short ride down the lane with my youngest.  He's very good and likes to "teach" me. 

I have concluded that cycling is a good thing if only I was a bit less scared and could relax a little.  It is a good alternative to running on the days when I shouldn't be running.  So I think I will persevere.

Dropping like flies

My running pals are falling apart.  We've six knees between us and two of them have given up the ghost.  And they're are not even on the same person.  So what are we to do?  One is resting up with frozen peas on it.  The other is off to see a physio. 
Knee pain

Injury: When to Run When to Stop

So it looks like I'm going to have to be a lone runner for the next week.  Watch this space...

So it starts...

OK.  So I'd better start a blog then.  There's nothing like a countdown timer on your fundraising website to give you a right royal kick up the back cheeks.

I need to be able to run 13.1 miles by October.  I feel like laughing even as I type that.  At the moment the furthest I have ever run is 7.5 miles and that wasn't all in one go.  I do two speeds:

• Speed 1: Canter along gently like an antiquated seaside donkey just heading off for its lunchtime nosebag - chatting away to my fellow runners and generally congratulating myself on being able to run at all. Face = salmon pink  Sweat level = slight droplets on nose

• Speed 2: Hurtling along like a knock-kneed wildebeest having spotted a cheetah - lungs fighting with each other to pop out my mouth and generally wheezing like a blocked hoover extension pipe. Face = Victoria plum  Sweat level = rivulets trickling down my knees

Heading for the finish line

 
So what I'm hoping to do is mostly do speed 2 whilst feeling like speed 1.  Obviously this is never going to happen so I'll settle for occasionally doing Speed 2 for longer intervals.  Then and only then may I get to my ultimate goal of effortlessly gliding along like a gazelle, drawing gasps of admiration as I pass instead of mutterings of  'call a paramedic' and 'is it supposed to be that colour?'

Ho hum.  127 days to go y'say?