Tis the season to be jolly

Just a quick one today, but I couldn't let the year wind down without one more post about my favourite run yet... the When You Wish Upon a Star Santa Run!!!

Christmas has for a long time been one of my favourite things, it is the most wonderful time of the year afterall!! I'm well known that I start the countdown at 100 sleeps to go and that my December my excitement for the return of the big fat fella is almost unbearable. So when a couple of months ago I saw the chance of comparing one of my oldest favourite things with one of my newest, I couldn't help excitedly signing up.

Not forgetting the main reason for this run, of course! When You Wish Upon a Star is a great charity which makes a difference to the lives of some very poorly children. I didn't like asking for sponsors for a 5k run as I tend to do it a few times a week now, so I decided instead that I'd donate whatever my finish time was to the charity.

In the lead up to the event, my mum decided she'd join in as well, which made it even more exciting! So when the cold, grey Sunday morning came round and despite the haze of a hangover from a day-long drinking session at the races on Saturday, I got out of bed and excitedly pulled on my best lycra and Santa t-shirt and headed off to the Forest Rec.

On hearing some of my favourite festive tunes I was soon in the Christmas spirit and ready for the special bear-led warm up, followed by a spot of Zumba! Everyone was in fantastic spirits as we danced around in our Santa suits under the magic snow!

As for the run itself, it was great to be back at the Forest Rec, and it made me really realise how far I've come in the last 8/9 months. As I trotted round comfortably, my mind wandered back to my first out-door run, which I did at the same place. When I did that, I only dared tackle the flat bits and I couldn't even manage a kilometre without struggling, walking and hating life!

Now running truly is one of my favourite pass-times and I can't remember what I did with my time before. I'm so excited for all the races I've got planned next year, especially my first ever half marathon which I'm planning on doing in September!

If anyone had have said to me a year ago that I'd love running and have a stack of bling to show for it, I'd have laughed at them. Anyone thinking of giving it a go should absolutely go for it - in fact, even if you're not thinking about it then go for it anyway! You never know, you might surprise yourself even more than I have!

The most unflattering outfits ever!

Close up

Mother going towards the finish line!

Bling time!

Made it on to the telly!

A freezing cold cruise around Batman's garden.

So, despite claiming in my last blog that the Thoresby struggle would be my last 10k of the year, last weekend the running bug got the better of me and I signed myself up for Nottingham Mo Run.

I'd saw the run advertised a while ago but didn't really fancy it, but last weekend (with just seven days to until the race) I had a stroke of madness and decided to go for it. There are a couple of reasons for this:

• I wanted to get rid of my demons from how badly Thoresby went
• Everyone on Notts Women Runners (NWR) seemed to be signed up for it and it sounded like it was going to be a great event
• The medal is cool! 

So in a wave of excitement I signed myself up, and then within seconds wondered what the hell I was thinking. I've been hammering it at the gym just lately, but I hadn't actually ran more than five kilometers since the horror of Thoresby. So I set about the treadmill and did 8k that afternoon in a good pace of sub 50mins and by that evening I was raring to go and looking forward to the race.

Unusually for me, this feeling of confidence and excitement lasted all week, no nervous wobbles or 'what have i let myself in for' moments at all! Again, I think this feeling was massively spurred on my the buzz on NWR's Facebook about it!

As the weekend approached and the weather forecast came in, it started to become clear it was going to be a cold one, but flipping heck I was not prepared for quite how freezing! Getting out of bed was a real struggle on Sunday morning and I was properly cursing myself for such a crazy idea!

But get out of get I did and, still feeling slightly excited, went through my pre-race routines (beans on toast and flapjack, if you're wondering) and got in my car ready to go. Now, I've lived in loads of different places around Nottingham over the last few years, but I've got a shocker of a sense of direction so the journey there was interesting to say the least. By the time I got to Wollaton Hall there was a good gathering of racers and the atmosphere was really building. 

For anyone who doesn't know what Mo Running is, it's a series of events organised by the popular Movember charity to let the moustache growers show off their recently acquired by taking part in either a 5k or 10k run. People fully embraced the theme and I was gutted when I realised I'd forgotten to draw myself a Mo!! 

Before I knew it, it was time to peel of my hoody and part with my scarf and head for the start line. The atmosphere was great and I was more than ready and raring to go - even when faced with an absolute bitch of a starting hill that dominated the start of the race! I followed the crowd, though and headed up the hill, around the corner and set about tackling this 10k.

By around the 2,5k mark I could finally feel my feet again, just in time for one of the many hills! I can't remember who it was, but when I was contemplating this run someone told me Wollaton Park was fairly flat.. If I ever remember who they are they'll no longer be my friend! Just look at this for an elevation map! 

Despite the plentiful hills, by the end of the first lap I was still thoroughly enjoying the race! I hadn't hit my usual 4k wall and was looking forward to the second lap. The support from the spectators and marshals was like none of the other races I've ran, I don't think I've ever high-fived so many people. I knew I needed to up my pace a bit for the second half to come in at a decent time as I'd held back for the first few km's in fear of a Thoresby repeat. 

So I kept an eager eye on my watch as I trotted my way around the beautiful 16th century hall and the kilormeters seemed to fly by. As I came up the final hill and caught sight of my Dad I was almost a bit disappointed I was reaching the end. 

As I made my way towards the finish tunnel I was quite nervous, it was steep, slightly slippy and I'm not the most steady on my feet. So instead of my normal full-pelt finish, it was more of a delicate (well as delicate as I get..) jog down the hill. 

Unknown to me, as I did my delicate jog, there were camera there recording my face - fortunately for me the photos are subject to copyright so I've got a good excuse not to post them here, but here are a few of the better photos (taken by the talented Katie Wright from my fan club!)

Final timing came in at 1:03:14, which is only 20(ish) seconds behind my personal best so I'm absolutely delighted considering the hills! All in all, my favourite run so far and has absolutely restored after the Thoresby struggle.

Next plans are for the Santa run which is in three week's time and I'm really really excited!! 

The Thoresby struggle

Here we go again then!

I had mixed feeling leading up to this race. My training's been a bit of a mixed bag over the last few weeks thanks to these bad boys!

My beautiful new shoes!

Now, when I say bad boys, I don't mean bad in some young hip way of meaning good - I mean they bloody killed me! I won't traumatise you with pictures of what they did to my feet at first, but mangled would be a good description...

So my training plan over the last few weeks has massively revolved around running as much as I can before it got too painful, which was often not very far as I'm really mardy!

I managed to pack in a few decent runs mixed in with a few rubbish ones so I really wasn't too sure how I felt about today's race. I decided around a week ago that I was going to give it a good go and try not to worry too much about the clock (knowing damn well that as soon as I set off the clock would definitely be at the forefront of my mind!)

The day started dull and dreary and hadn't really changed by the time we made our way from the carpark and into the grounds of the hall. It's easy to say today's run was in the most picturesque setting - here a photo of my ready and raring to go!

The time came to get going and I set off in good spirits, the weather was perfect, the atmosphere was great (I've not even mentioned the purple army that was Notts Women Runners!) and it was generally shaping up to be a good race. 

Keeping one eye on my pace, I set about the first few km with the usually early-distance enthusiasm. Until around three and a half km in it was going well, and then I don't really know what happened, it all just started to unravel and I forgot how to run! 

I kept trying but I just couldn't get my feet to go how quick I wanted to. By the 4th km it was awful, I'd come to the conclusion I would just have to walk for a bit. Anyone who's listened to me this week has had the pleasure of me moaning about 'not quite feeling right' so I don't know if that was it, but every time I tried to break from a walk into a run it just wasn't happening. 

I crossed the 5km marker and gave myself a bloody good talking to. I could do this, I was more than half way and I was only running about 5 mins behind where I should have been for that distance. 

The next few km were fairly uneventful, infact I'm really glad I had the walk in the middle because it helped me keep a fairly even pace afterwards, I glided (I like to think I'm that graceful) past the 8km marker and soon saw the beautiful 19th century mansion up ahead. My motivation was the highest it had been and I set about sprinting (well running a bit faster) towards the finish. 

Friendly faces really are invaluable encouragement, and seeing Dad in the distance made me run a bit faster, I even offloaded my water bottle and iPod with him as I got to the final 250m, thinking it would make a massive difference to my speed. 

I don't need to talk you through the last 200m because for the first time it's recorded! It's not pretty, it's sweaty and wobbly and not half the picture I had in my head for what I look like when I run, but here it is! 

Me proudly holding my medal

My number and a close up of the medal!

So there we have it! The Thoresby 10 done and dusted, which also marks the end of my 10k runs for the year! The last run on the calendar is the Santa Fun Run, which I'm really excited about, especially as my mum is joining in!

I've already got a jam-packed plan of races I want to do next year, which is the reason for the name change which the eagle-eyed of you readers will have noticed (all five of you!)

Again, I didn't think I had much to write today, so thanks for sticking with it if you've made it to the bottom!! 

Until next time! 

Kay xx 

Third time's a charm!

First thing's first, to round off the last blog, the Mansfield race was short!!! It took the officials a few days to confirm it, and they never confirmed exactly how much by, but from the comments of other people, it was around 400 metres. All in all, I'd judge the whole inaugural Mansfield 10k as alright, but with a lot of lessons to learn for the organisers.

One good thing did come of the disappointment of the time being void for Mansfield 10k though - the following Saturday I set about Parkrun and managed my best ever time of 29:32! Shaved nearly a minute and a half off my previous PB and broke the sub 30 target too!

So in the next couple of days I started browsing around for my next challenge. I saw a few that looked sort of alright and mentioned it at work, to which my colleague eagerly decided we should definitely sign up for the Crossdale 10k. So we did.

Not much to tell about the training in the weeks leading up to the race really. Done a lot more outside running compared to treadmill running now that I'm living over the river in a more scenic area. Also, brought myself one of those fancy watch things that track how far and fast I go, which I found very exciting (yep, I've turned in to one of those people!)

Skip forward to race day and I wasn't feeling too bad. The weather was decent, I had my fan club on hand to support me, and I was only slightly apprehensive about the unfamiliar trail terrain as opposed to the road running I'm used to.

Then we started the walk to the start line and the apprehension started to merge in to more of a blind panic.

I've mentioned in previous posts that I'm fairly unsteady on my feet. So it didn't bode well for me that the ground was uneven and a bit on the slippy side. As Dave (my mate from work) and I walked down the starting point we started to seriously question what we'd let ourselves in for. The starting horn went, I stuck my headphones in, set my watch off and set about running down the steep hill stretched out in front of me.

Once I'd set of I realised that I was actually quite enjoying this trail business. The scenery was lovely, and it was great to be out in the open in the fresh country air. Things could have been much worse!

Then I got to a puddle and nearly died. Well nearly fell flat on my arse but it's just about the same things. I was a bit on the cautious side for a while after that, but on the whole the trail was fairly easy going. Kilometres four to six were a bit boring and tedious, but I think that seems to be a bit of a pattern, I set off well, get a bit bored, then get excited when the end is in sight.

So I passed the 9km sign with the excitement that I'd be crossing the finishing line soon, went under a nice little bridge thing and came out again with the finish line practically in sight. There was just the small matter of the massive hill I'd absent mindedly ran down without a care in the world less than an hour earlier standing in my way.

I got to the foot of the hill and was determined to run up it, it was only a hill it looked like this...

About 50 metres up and I started to I was climbing a hill into the clouds. It was bloody hard. I chickened out of the running and thought I'd have a little walk. But seconds late I spotted my brother and his girlfriend so thought I'd better show willing and start running again. This lasted about five steps. This pattern pretty much continued until the top of the hill, walk a bit run a bit until the bitter end. It was flipping hard but I got there at the end, Dad cheering me on from the top and Simon and Katie willing me on alongside me. Just a bit of another hill and a sprint to the end and I'd done it! Race number three over and done with, crossing the line exactly three seconds quicker than my previous PB!

As much as I've waffled on about the hill, I really can't do it justice with words, so here's the elevation graph from that fancy new watch I mentioned:

Unfortunately, there was no fancy medal this time, which means we completely forgot to take sweaty finishing photos!

Despite the hill, I really did enjoy this one, it was a lovely atmosphere (I've not even mentioned the kids' fun run!) and it's definitely one I'll be pencilling in next year - maybe I'll even run all the way up the hill!

So that's it, race number three done! Got a couple lined up over the next few months, including a Santa run which I'm extremely excited about, watch this space!

At it again!

Soon after signing off my last blog with the idea that my running would turn back in to being more of a social stroll on the treadmill a couple of times a week with a parkrun pb attempt here and there, the inaugural Mansfield 10k was announced.

Still slightly buzzing from the memory of the WR10k, I signed up immediately. Yes, I had a holiday and numerous birthday plans coming up, and yes the Mansfield race included lots of hills, but I'd really surprised myself with how much I enjoyed WR so I didn't give it a second thought as I filled in the form and booked my place.

To be honest, even before signing up for my new race, the post-race high from WR meant I was absolutely smashing the running thing, and (to my surprise) enjoying it as well! My first session back at the gym after it went like a dream, I hit my fastest mile time by far and felt like I could do anything. I whizzed round the following Parkrun like nobody's business. It was going great.

Then I made the mistake of going on holiday. Well, it wasn't a mistake at all, I loved it. But lots of alcohol and only some mad tearing up of the Benidorm dancefloors do not make for the best training regime.

By the time I made my return to the gym, nearly two weeks had passed since I'd last ran, and the vodka, wine, sangria cocktails and rubbish food had taken their toll. That was a hard two miles. Panic stricken and with the Mansfield race only 18 days away I knew I needed a plan.

It turns out, the really good plan I made for myself was about as useful as the revision timetables I used to spent hours making and colour co-ordinating when I had exams coming it. The plan did not go to... well... plan.

Due to my good friends Smirnoff and sauvignon, the 7.5km and 8.5km runs I had planned for the two Sundays leading up to the race did not happen. I managed to bang in a mid-week 7.5 at one point but other than that I never went above 5k in training.

Despite this, I still wasn't too worried. Until about 5pm yesterday. That's when it properly started to kick in. What was I thinking, why hadn't I been more strict etc etc. After a somewhat sleepless night, my alarm went of at 7am this morning and it was time to get ready.

Forcing down my pre-run breakfast, my stomach was in knots and I couldn't stop thinking about how the rising temperature outside. I'm a natural worrier, so give me something to actually worry about and I'm a snappy, stroppy nightmare (ask my parents how delightful I was this morning if you don't belive me!)

We parked up and made our way to the park and I got in the queue for registration. Not being a regular race runner, I didn't realise how unusual it is for numbers not to be posted. I got there really early (part of my worrying ritual) and got my number pinned on and ready and then sat and watched the queue grow and grow and grow. With the clock ticking it was starting to be obvious we wouldn't be crossing the start time until way past the advertised time of 9.30.

After what seemed like an age, we were off! You can clock my mug running through the start line about 22 seconds into this video. The first lap wasn't too bad, it was hot, I was sweaty but it was alright. Then I seemed to hit a bit of a wall. I was shattered, my legs hurt, my head felt a bit weird and my now-warm energy infused drink was not helping at all.

I was trying my hardest but I was struggling massively. I had one of the biggest arguments I've ever had, with myself, in my head. I had a little walk and told myself I wasn't going to hurl my guts up on the street and carried on running for a bit. Then I walked for a bit again. Then I ran again. I was almost certain I was going to collapse and probably die.

Then I looped back round to the market place for what was probably the last 2km of the course and I started to realise I was nearly there. People were clapping and cheering and the finish line was within reach.

After learning on my first journey via the water station that it's impossible to drink from a cup and run, I did my last  power-walk striding break while I got some water on board and then this was it. I was going to do it.

I set about the final bit of the course with a new determination, who cared if my time was going to be terrible, I was going to cross that finish line whatever it took. Even the last hill didn't seem so bad.

Seeing the sign saying "200 meters to go" spurred me on no end, and as I ran through the crowd into the market place I forgot all about my aching legs and blistered feet. Running past Mum and Dad with a big wave and a smile on my face, I was on cloud nine. And then I saw it. The timer - telling me I was well on schedule for a comfortable PB. As I crossed the finish line I was such a mixture of happy, tired and relived that all I could do was burst in to tears when I found my parents.

It was an emotional rollercoaster of an hour to say the least, but I'd done it! And I've already spend a fair bit of time looking for what to sign up to next.

Unfortunately, since the race I've seen a few comments on social media saying people's Garmins (fancy tracking devices) have measured the race as short. Apparently this could be down to the hills or something. I'll be absolutely gutted if the organisers did balls it up and measure it wrong! Keep your fingers crossed and I'll keep you posted.

If you've got to the end, thank you very much for reading my massive waffle!

Kay :) xx

Mission complete!

I DID IT!!! It's now nine hours since I crossed the finish line and I'm still absolutely buzzing - if it wasn't for the fact that I was a sweaty mess I reckon I'd still be walking about in my t-shirt and medal.

I set off today hoping to come in at around one hour ten minutes, that's sort of what I had in the back on my mind. Anything could have happened, and I'd have been genuinely happy even if I strolled over the finish line at about two hours. 

So I was absolutely ecstatic when I got my results message telling me I'd completed the race in 1:02:51! I've even got a dodgy, Microsoft-Word-based certificate, look: 

I'm surprised by how much I enjoyed myself as well, the atmosphere was great, the route was lovely and I had some of my favourite people there to cheer me on. I can't believe how quickly it went by as one km turned into two then three and so on, before I knew it I was sprinting up to the finish line with the biggest smile I've had one my face for a long time. 

I'm not sure exactly what my total raised is yet, I've still got some bits and bobs to add up but it looks like it will be around the £175 mark, which I'm thrilled with. I really can't thank everyone enough, not just for the donations but for the continued support over the last couple of months. It's meant so much having you all behind me! 

If if you've still not done that donation you've been meaning to, it's not too late! Get yourself over to www.justgiving.co.uk/kayk10k and I'll be eternally grateful! 

Who knows what's next on the agenda, looking back at my old posts tonight has made me realise how far I've come since the start of the year. I genuinely do enjoy running now and will be carrying on with it. Maybe I'll be back next year with a marathon mission... maybe!

All that remains for me to say is thank you again for reading my weekly waffling on, hopefully you might have even slightly enjoyed it! Here are a couple of photos of me looking a sweaty mess to sign off with! 

Immediately post-race, fresh sweat and all!

Alzheimer's soc t-shirt, nffc sweatbands. Latest fashion! Still pretty sweaty here!

Modelling my finisher's t-shirt, slightly less sweat!

Final photo from my first (potentially of many!) race!! 

Thank you, and goodnight! Kay xx

The calm before the storm

One week until race day! After the sheer panic and worry that's set in over the last few weeks (I've started dreaming about it now, sure fire way of knowing I'm worrying about something), this evening I'm feeling weirdly calm. 

I'm not expecting it to last, since I signed up for this race I've had more ups and downs than Blackpool Pleasure Beach! My mindset has flickered between being completely convinced I'll massively fail (or potentially even die) one minute and then feeling positive, confident and like I'll smash it the next minute. 

Maybe I'm feeling so calm and positive today because, one thing I have smashed thanks to loads of generous donors is my fundraising target! I really do appreciate every penny! I'm not planning on stopping there, and hopefully by the time my race comes I'll have raised well over the £100 mark! 

The plan for the week ahead is to have a couple of gentle jogs and then enjoy a bit of a carb-fest (and probably a very early night) on Saturday!

Nearly there!!! 

The Final Countdown...and other popular motivational songs!

In tonight's blog, I don't want to talk about how there are only two weeks until race day. Nor do I want to talk about how that means I'll have eight practice runs at the most until the race. I'm not even going to talk about the fact that I'm still not even half way towards my fundraising target.

This evening I'm going to talk about music.

For me, a big part of my motivation when I'm running comes from having some music on while I'm doing. There are a couple of ways it helps me. I run faster when listening song I really like that has a good 'drop'. When I'm getting near the end of the distance I'm running that day I encourage myself by thinking 'two more songs...'. Also, I think it generally just helps to make it more interesting, especially on the treadmill when there's no nice scenery to take in (well, apart some of the men!)

Generally, I just stick on a 'running trax' album and off I go - they're simple effective running songs. But out of the whole album I probably only listen to about seven songs. So as part of my final preparations (have I mentioned there are only two weeks to go?) I've decided it will be a good idea to put a raceday playlist to keep me going for the whole 10k route (which I'm still no where near being trained enough to do, in case you were wondering).

So I'm appealing for help! I want your suggestions of good, motivational, upbeat songs to keep me going. I'm not fussy about genre, however I've recently discovered dubstep can be quite difficult to run to! What would be great is if you've got a song that has a memory with me attached to it (for the extra motivation when that memory pops in my head while I'm running round!)

As ever, please don't forget the whole reason behind my blog is that I would love to raise a good amount of money for Alzheimer's Society!

Panic (v) sudden uncontrollable fear or anxiety

I received a parcel this week. Normally, when I get any form of mail I find it a bit exciting (needless to say that's because all my bills are emailed to me..) But my parcel this week is something I'd been expecting to come any day. The thing I'd been so eagerly awaiting was this (excuse the creases!):

I've always been a worrier and this weekend has proved to be no exception. As soon as the excitement of ironing the letters on (yes I ironed them on and neglected to iron the rest of the top) the panic started to set it.

Race day is bloody close now, and I can only just about manage half the distance of the 10k route. I did improve my Parkrun time by a good minute this week, but I need to be able to run twice that distance in what is now less than three. weeks.

Added to that, I'm moving house this week, which means training might get a bit difficult. I'm not saying I won't be doing any, but it's likely to be more frequent, shorter runs.

Only 21 days to go, and while I'm not saying I don't think I'll be able to do it (I'll crawl over that finish line if I have to!!), I'm really really worried that I won't be very good at it. And those of you who know me well will know that I don't like to be not very good at things.

I'm also worried that I've barely had any sponsors yet! I'm hoping that as next week's end of month pay day comes and the days to the race get nearer, then people will start to donate.

In summary, this weekend I'm panicking. I'm panicking about running, I'm panicking about sponsors and I'm panicking about moving house. All these things combined mean that Aldi definitely need to start panicking about their wine stock reserves...

If you're one of those people who don't have too much month left at the end of the money, please drop by my Just Giving page and donate a little something, I really do appreciate it!!!

Soggy Saturday

I've never been one for huge lie-ins at the weekend. Not because I don't want to stay in bed for a good few hours longer than during the week, but because I've got a finely tuned body clock that refuses to let me sleep past 7am most of the time. 

So naturally, when I needed to be up at about 7.45am yesterday to take part in my first ever Parkrun, I was still sound asleep when my alarm went off. Hearing the rain hammering on the window really wasn't encouraging me to get out of bed, either. But I'd decided beforehand that I was going on this run so I dragged myself out of my pit and got my running gear on. 

I'd seen a few things about Parkrun on Facebook and via a massive banner on my running routes so I gave it a Google last week to find out exactly what it is. In short, it's a 5k, timed run and it happens up and down the country at 9am on Saturday. 

For the last week or so I've been getting a bit bored of my training routines again so I thought I'd give it a go. I also thought it would be a good idea to have a go at running with a big group to get some experience of it ahead of race day (which is four weeks today...) 

I'm not sure why, but I was a bit nervous as I made my way there. I needn't have been though! There were around 80 people at the start line and everyone was lovely and friendly. There was a quick welcome/safety speech and then we were off! 

Despite the absolutely shocking British summer weather and the steep hilly bits (which I normally avoid), I really enjoyed myself! It was nice to be running with other people and getting to the end was really satisfying! I  was near the bottom of the finisher's table but I'm fairly pleased with my time of 32:47 mins.

I'll definitely be going back next week!! If you want more info on Parkrun, have a look at parkrun.org.uk 

As I mentioned earlier, there's now only four weeks until my race!! I'm not even half way to my target sponsorship yet, please give generously! www.justgiving.co.uk/kayk10k  

#thisgirlcan

Once again this week I was starting to worry I'd not got a decent topic for my weekly blog. Then I wore a close-fitting vest to the gym.

Aside from the 10k mission I'm on at the minute, I'm also on a mission to lose a spare tyre or two from around the waist. All my life my weight's been something that has been a bit of a battle (to say the least). After re-joining Slimming World for the what seems like the millionth time a couple of months ago, I'm starting to win that battle again.

So, feeling great after getting my stone award last week, I decided to ditch my usual gym attire of a hugely baggy t-shirt and trade it in for a more sleek, fitted garment.

Big mistake.

Walking from the changing room onto the treadmill was fine. My two-minute power walk warm-up was sort of alright. The 30 minutes that followed were not good.

As as my power walk turned into a jog and then to a run, my top rode further and further up my mid-riff.

However discreet I tried to be while pulling it back down to hide my wobbly bits, I'm pretty sure I failed. As my top continued to creep up over itself, removing the 'it' from a well known sports brand's slogan I was feeling completely and utterly self conscious.

But then, as the endorphins started to kick in, my thoughts turned to some adverts I've seen recently. Going under the mantra 'This Girl Can' the point of the campaign is to break down a lot of the common barriers women feel stop them from exercising. It encourages us to embrace the bits that jiggle when we run and get on with it. So that's what I did, and I managed to shave nearly a minute and a half from my 5k time!

And as for the vest? Well, I'm just going to have to keep running until it fits properly!

It's a fantastic campaign, have a look at their website for more information.

And once you've been on that website, maybe pop across to my Just Giving page?

Pushing it

After last week's injury based training blip, I got my trainers back out this week with a new sense of determination. I can't believe how quickly the weeks are going by (six weeks and seven days now) until race day, and I was really starting to panic last weekend about how little my training was progressing.

So I did my little run (outside for the first time) last Sunday to check my knee was back up and running (apologies for that shocker of a pun) and then set about this week's training plan determined to start making some real progress.

And it worked! I've had a great week which has included hitting 5k for the first time and getting my best time so far for two miles. My 5k took a couple of minutes longer than my 30min target, but I'm hoping to get that sorted and tightened up a bit over the course of this week.

I'm also relived that donations have started to trickle in now, very appreciated! If you would like to sponsor me, please click on the link below.

Fingers crossed for another good week this week! 

Back on my feet and doing something new!

Not much to report training-wise as a result of last week's knee injury! Turned out I was in a fair bit of pain with it for a good few days so I didn't end up doing any running until today.

With Dementia Awareness Week starting today, I thought I'd dedicate this blog post to the cause of all my running and talk a bit more about the charity I'm hoping to raise a good bit of money for!

To be honest, I don't know huge amounts about it, so writing this week's blog has been a good chunk of motivation for me as I've been reading up on how my fundraising could help.

So a few things I've learned are:

• 850,000 people in the UK are currently living with Dementia
• Too many of these aren't enjoying the quality of life they could/should be
• 7 out of 10 people of these are also living with another illness
• Dementia costs the UK £26.5 billion every year, but a huge chunk of this is the cost to unpaid carers and their families
• There's a massive spending gap on research, much more could be done if the money was available
• Roughly one person every three minutes develops Dementia

This year's Dementia Awareness Week centres around the #dosomethingnew campaign, with the sentiment that just because a person has been daignosed with Dementia, it doesn't mean they can't carry on living as 'normal' and exciting life possible. There's some interesting stories here all about this. 

I did something new today - I did an outdoor run for the first time! It wasn't too bad - once I got through the paranoia that everyone was looking and laughing I actually quite enjoyed it. It wasn't easy, my fitness has definitely dropped in the last seven days with the lack of exercise!

Please don't forget that these blog posts aren't just a jolly bit of reading every Sunday evening, I'd really love it if they made you want to sponsor me! Race day is eight weeks away and it's safe to say I'm starting to get scared! 

A spanner in the works

I was starting to think I wouldn't really have anything to write about this week. Training's going pretty well and as such there isn't anything particularly exciting to write about. 

Then I went out last night.

Now, last week you might remember I briefly mentioned my often-scabby knees. Well today they're in a pretty poor state as a result of lots of cocktails, some lovely pastel pink wedges and a particularly troublesome pavement. 

This throws a bit of a spanner in the works for the old training regime. I've rested it all day today but it's feeling very sore and I don't think it's quite finished swelling up yet. I'm wasn't planning on going to the gym until Tuesday anyway, but I'm trying to decide whether I think I'd be better powering through and risking more damage, or having a good few days off but risking my fitness taking a nose dive.

Heart-breakingly, I've come to the decision that the nights out are going to have to take a back seat until after 12th July! Not only does it bring the risk of further injuries, but I'd realised already that I struggle twice as much at my first gym session after a heavy one. I'm not saying I'm going tee-total, but for the next nine weeks it will be strictly a glass of wine after a long day instead of mad weekend rampages! 

The offender

Don't forget to visit my Just Giving page and sponsor me! 

Start of the mission

Just after Christmas I stepped foot in the gym for the first time in nearly a year. It was one of those post-Christmas "let's shift some of this weight" type decisions and for the first couple of weeks I embraced my inner Jessica Ennis and really got in to it.

Now, when I say I got in to it, what I actually mean is I spent a bit of time half heatedly peddling on a bike and then sat on some mats for a bit pretending I was doing sit-ups and the like. This quickly got quite boring.

Whenever I've been in gyms previously, watching people on treadmills has given me cold sweats. Not because of the exercise but because they genuinely terrify me - I honestly could never understand how there aren't more fatalities linked to them. Anyone who knows me will know I'm not always the most stable on my feet - I'm 23 yet still spend a lot of time with scabby and bruised knees like a seven year old who's fallen down in the playground. (Admittedly, much of this has something to do with trading in playgrounds and plimsolls for killer heals and nightclub dance-floors!)

So after getting increasingly bored of my gym routine I gave myself a good talking to and decided I had to conquer the irrational treadmill fear. Clinging tightly to the bars on one I managed about two minutes on some kind of weird fast walk pace before I decided that was more than enough for one day. But most importantly, I didn't die.

A few of these awkward fast walks later and my confidence in the treadmill was high enough for me to give it a go without holding on. I still panicked and grabbed the sides every now and again, and I had to keep my head perfectly straight and still while I was moving, but I was doing it!

Fast forward a few weeks and the novelty wore off and I started getting bored again. I decided I needed some proper motivation before I slowly packed up with this gym business altogether. So the obvious thing to do would be sign up for a 10k race, obviously.

I'm now at the 12 week countdown stage and starting to think seriously about not only the training but also the fundraising. I've always fancied doing a blog but never really had anything worthwhile to write about, so thought this seemed like the perfect opportunity!

For the next 12 weeks I intend on posting around once a week with an update on my training and fundraising, I'll try and keep it at least marginally entertaining, and not slightly overly long and waffly like this one! I thought it would be something a bit more creative than the re-posting of "Kay Knowles is fundraising on Just Giving" on a daily basis (not that there's anything wrong with that!)

So, here we go, wish me luck!