30 in 30.. my June cancer research challenge

I'm on the charity trail again!

Ages ago, I signed up to Race For Life's pretty muddy 5k with a group of friends as a fun challenge to hopefully raise a bit of money in aid of cancer research. Last week, being the kind of person to never just do on thing at a time, I decided to tie in another running streak with my fundraising efforts.

Why? Well there's a couple of reasons. Some selfless and charitable, others not so much:
1) I'll start with the selfless and charitable one. Basically, I felt a bit of a crook asking people to sponsor me to do a 5k when I regularly do them already. To me, sponsoring someone is done because they're challenging themselves in some way.

2) I think this is a two-fold fairly valid reason. I've got my final Uni deadline coming up and I can't afford to let my training slip the way it did with the last deadline. Especially when I need to start building up my stamina and mileage for the proper half marathon training to start once I've handed my assignment in. Plus when I'm all wrapped up with Uni stress it will do me good to being committed to getting out for at least 20 minutes every day.

3) This is entirely vain but... when I did my running streak at Christmas it had definite advantages to my muscle definition and, well... it's legs out season!

So lying in bed the other night I decided it would be a great idea to do a streak and finish it off with Race for Life on 1st July.

I've set a couple of little rules for it because I'm slightly obsessed with structure so these are:

• Run or swim every day (I'm including swims because when I did my advent streak my legs were constantly sore so I'll be kind to them at least once a week
• Each run or swim must last for at least 20 minutes
• I don't have to run on the 10th June as I'm in London all day visiting my friend. But I do have to make that run up another day.

So far I'm on day four and I'm doing alright, yesterday I managed to head to the pool even with an almighty hangover which I'm pleased with myself for. Here's to the next 26 sessions!

If you've got this far down my post you must be somewhat entertained by it... therefore please support me by heading over to my donation page!

Nottingham 10k 2017

With the 2016 Nottingham 10k being firmly one of my favourite races ever, I signed up for the 2017 one months ago and immediately began looking forward to it.

Disappointingly, a little while after the event organisers sent out an update announcing the race wouldn't be returning to the city centre location which really made last year's race so special. After a torrent of negative social media posts, a further statement was released putting it down to Nottingham City Council rejecting all proposed routes and making it impossible. I'm still disappointed in NCC for that.

But with promises of excellent on-route support and a new start and finish at my beloved City Ground I decided to stick with it and still take part.

Race day crept up quickly as it always seems to do and I felt a bit unprepared as I've not managed as many long runs as I'd have liked but I was excited all the same and this was really fuelled by the race-day atmosphere as I milled around in the race village.

As we lined up on the start line, hundreds of us joining thousands of runners up and down the country wearing yellow ribbons in solidarity with Manchester and we all fell silent for a minute in memory of those who didn't make it home. I think that set a bit of a tone for the race really.

Setting off over the start line I was really wary of setting off too quick. I've done quite a few fast, short runs and needed to keep in mind that this was going to be my furthest run in a long while. The first couple of miles were fairly uneventful to be honest, there was good spectator support and a nice route. Heading up onto the Regatta lake at Holme Pierrepont I was a little apprehensive remembering the bloody awful wind from last time but luckily instead of awful headwind there was just quite a refreshing breeze.

As I got toward the 6km mark I was starting to struggle, my legs ached, my feet hurt and my breathing wasn't as nice and rhythmic as I'd have liked. I stopped for a bit of a walk to gather myself a bit. My endorphin fuelled mood start plummeting a bit when just as the right time two ladies from my running club came past and asked if I was ok. Using it to spur me on, I quickly fell into a nice rhythm with them and stayed with them until the last mile (at which point I hit a 5 mile PB, I'd like to add) but then for some reason as the metres ticked away I hit a wall again at about 9km.

I was finding it really hard, my legs were heavy and I had some weird pins and needles thing going on that I didn't like at all. After what had been a decent race so far I was bloody struggling.

Just under half a mile from the end of the race the crowds of spectators were thickening and one bloke on the side saw my yellow ribbon, must have noticed that I was struggling and shouted "come on get find the yellow in you!" and that was exactly what I needed to get me running again. My legs work, I had air in my lungs and I'm alive.

So running past the flags marking each of the last sets of 100 metres I thought of those affected by what happened in Manchester and used it to get me ever closer to the finish line. Then just when I thought I didn't have my usual sprint finish in my a familiar face in the crowd cheering me on gave me that last burst I needed, I bloody legged it over that line!!

Feeling quite emotional after the race, I hung around afterwards to cheer other racers over the line as spectators were invaluable to me. Clapped and cheered until the very last runner came back, all the while with a beaming smile on my face.

So all in all it was a great morning. Despite being displaced from the city centre and having a less interesting route than last year, I really enjoyed it. Well organised and great support from both other runners and the spectators, it shaped up for a good, if not slightly emotional morning.

Time came in at 1:02:34 which I'm really pleased with considering the walking and the lack of distance built into my training over the last few months. Let's see what the next race brings!

Back in training

It's been a while since my last post (again)... but you can't really write a running blog when you're not really running.

That's not to say I haven't ran - it's just been a 5km here and a couple of miles there whenever I get the chance here and there to keep the legs ticking over. But with the race season just around the corner and the definite decision that I'll do the half marathon again in September, I need to up the frequency and distance I'm running or instead of having a (hopefully) a summer of PBs and good race memories I'll have a summer of panicking about DNFs and giving up.

So doing what I do best and being over-organised with military style planning, I've just got the old week-to-view out and mapped out my training for the next two months, taking me through a couple of races and up until the end of the absolute madness which will be my final Uni hand in when I can start really focusing on running again.

For the next 8 weeks I know when I'll be running, when I'll be resting, when I'll be studying and, most importantly, when I'll be partying!

And with all that will no doubt come more blogging! Here we go then...

Clough Taylor (and a bit of Doris) 10k

So my last blog post turned out to be a bit of a fib. No running streak happened, in fact very little running has taken place at all since my last post. A fairly last-minute decision to move house, thrown in with a busy time at work and Uni and some rubbish weather added for good measure, all mean my lovely new trainers haven't seen many miles at all.

As a result of this, and heavily influenced by Storm Doris's rain, wind any everything else in between, I came the closest I've ever came to sacking off a planned race. I hadn't done nearly as much training as I wanted to, the course (two laps of Holme Pierrepont lake) wasn't very exciting and I don't 'do' cold and rain so by mid-week I was all but ready to cancel my 7am Sunday alarm and be done with it.

But I didn't. Spurred on with some encouraging words from the ladies in my running club and not being one for giving up, I thought better of it. And as the weekend ticked round and I began that familiar pre-race routine I even started to feel quite excited.

One of my favourite parts of any race is the buzz on the start line and the Cough Taylor 10k had a really friendly atmosphere as everyone huddled in the wind making small talk and getting ready to go.

I set off surprised at how strong I felt, my feet fell into a good rhythm quite quickly, it was a flat course and that great atmosphere from the start line was continuing through the first couple of miles. Lack of training at the back of my mind, I had this.

Then I changed direction at the top of the lake.

My God the wind! I honestly don't think I've ever ran in wind like it. It was like running through a horrible two-mile wind tunnel and it was bloody hard work. Everything ached, my ears were ringing, and eyes and nose streaming. I did not have this.

Things didn't get much better after I finally turned into the second lap of the course and away from the wind either. As if I didn't have enough to be dealing with, a flipping massive attack of stitch crept up on me, making to slow to a walk for about the 5th time in the race. It was at this point, as I awkwardly walked around holding onto my side that I even started thinking along the lines of "If I threw my myself onto the floor and hurt myself, I'd have to pull out of the race"... I think the only thing stopping me was the worry of ruining one of my favourite pairs of capris.

Persevering through I trotted into a run again and ended up falling into pace with a lady who was running beside me nicely in time for that evil second half of the lap again. Able to speak just enough to get a few words out, we both agreed that it seemed to be even worse this time, it was fully evil.

But we plodded on, offering a few words of encouragement here and there until we were into the last mile-ish when another woman came up and started with the "come on ladies we're nearly there" etc. And we were!!

Once again I started with the "I've got this, I'm doing it" thoughts, we were round the last corner and the end was in sight! I'd used absolutely everything I had in those bloody winds so there was no sprint finish this time but I finally crossed the line and I'd done it!!

Time-wise, it was my slowest race ever by a good couple of minutes. But I really did like it. I liked being with other runners and that excellent sense of community and the contrast it had to the friendly rivalry between those of us in red tops and those in blue. All in all, a decent morning and a good first race of 2017! 

I do bloody love medals

 

 

Two laps, not a bad pace overall really, and looks like they threw in an extra 230m!

Streaking again!

Not much to report about my running so far in 2017.. I haven't really done that much but most of what I have done I've really felt the benefit of my advent running streak now the constant aching in my legs has calmed down.

The most exciting thing regarding running so far this year is that I got some beautiful new running shoes yesterday! I've had some money set aside since the summer and never fully got on with my old ones but wanted to wait until I'd got a decent mileage on them, so having some new ones which (hopefully) won't decide to rip my feet up every now and again is a really exciting concept.

Which leads me (somewhat tediously) to my plan...As I was bouncing along on the treadmill tonight I started thinking about how I should just do loads of short runs this week to make sure my lovely new shoes are nicely broken in ready for a long run next weekend.

Then my brain carried on ticking over and thinking to all the benefits I had of my Advent Running streak. Ok, so I'm almost definitely looking upon it with very much rose tinted glasses, but overall I did enjoy getting out there every day and getting the miles in.

Considering this, I've come up with a training plan which should hopefully break in my trainers nicely then help me start building up my fitness etc for my next 10k on the 26th February which I'm struggling to get into some form of training routine for.

So my plan is, every other week I'll run every day then use the non steak weeks to build up my distances. I've checked my diary and it fits in well with everything else I've got planned in for the next six weeks so I think it seems like a good idea.

Give it a week and I'll probably remember everything I hated about 'runchtime' and 'first thing gymming' but I've always been a very much all or nothing person so here we go.. the new concept "every-other-week's-a-streak"

Wish me luck!  

25 in 25... advent running complete!

Wanted to post a quick summary of my final week of Advent Running while it's still fairly fresh in my mind.

Really, it was quite uneventful - a couple of early morning treadmills and a couple of lunch time runs took me up until the 23rd and before I knew it I was finishing work and packing to head home. Just because it was uneventful doesn't mean it was easy though, I don't think I stood up all week without moaning about being stiff, my legs had officially turned to led. It was weird really, because towards the end I could really tell that my fitness had improved but many legs just couldn't keep up with what my head and everything else wanted to do. But whether a plod or racer pace, I managed to bash out some good 5km runs throughout the week.

Christmas eve came round and with it what I was classing as my last "proper" run of Advent Running, knowing full-well that Christmas day would have to be a little hangover pootle to visit my grandparents. I'd been looking forward to this run for a while, I'd decided I was going to just about round off Advent Running with a local Park Run.

One of my key aims of Advent Running was to chase the sub 30 5k which I've not managed since my half marathon training in the summer, so Parkrun seemed like the perfect setting to really go for it. I always love the friendly Parkrun atmosphere and find I normally perform a bit better than my average solo run pace so was really motivated and ready for it.

Unfortunately it didn't quite happen, I came in about 30 seconds over the mark... but never mind! I had a great run, and after not running that route for a while I'd forgot just how bloody hard the hills are! So, unusually for me I didn't beat myself up for not getting to where I had wanted to be. I'm confident I'll crack it in a week or two when my legs are fresh again.

Really, I can't finish up without a brief mention of my Christmas day run! In the familiar Christmas morning hangover haze I really contemplated just not bothering - I was already proud of what I'd achieved already and I was pretty sure I'd end up seeing some of the previous night's alcohol on the way round. But I talked myself round, got out my Advent Running t-shirts and my trainers, made sure I had plenty water and off I went. 2.5km done and dusted... and with it the entire challenge done!

So, what has Advent Running taught me?

• Running at lunch time is brilliant and great for clearing the head after a rubbish day
• First-thing gymming isn't quite as enjoyable, but not as bad as I expected
• Similarly, hang-over running isn't great, but isn't too awful
• Planning and organising laundry takes a huge amount of effort when you run every day
• You get bloody sick to death of washing and drying your hair
• Despite fitness increasing quite a bit, led-legs make some of the last runs bloody difficult

All in all, I think I can quite safely say I've enjoyed it. Although some of the days I really dragged my heels and didn't want to go, I never came back from a run wishing I hadn't. So I suppose that counts as a success!

Final stats
Out door distance covered: 73.61km
Treadmill distance covered: 40.55km
Total distance covered: 114.16km / 70.93 miles
Time spent: 12:40:52

Now to start looking for the next challenge!

I am lucky

I did a lot of thinking today, as I ran for the 17th consecutive day. The last week has been full of ups and downs with the old Advent Running. Some days it's been easy, others it's been a huge struggle. It's been a busy week and some days it would have been so easy to give up, not least at 5am yesterday when my alarm chimed to send me off on my first ever pre-work gym session (early morning sessions are weird and I'll definitely do a blog featuring them in detail at some point!)

So naturally, I've done a fair bit of moaning this week. I do love a good moan and running has given me plenty to moan about over the last 7 days... "it's cold" "I'm too busy" "I'm too tired"... the list goes on!

Today while I was running, I started to think about how really, I shouldn't moan at all (or at least not as much). This train of thought began when I was thinking about my route. I'd already ran through the crowds who were starting to gather for football, soaking in an atmosphere that I've only ever experienced during the pre-match buzz. Then I started to head out of the city on a long, tree-lined stretch of road. 

I wanted to bank an extra mile or so today, in anticipation of tomorrow's inevitable hangover so I added in a bit of a loop around the park. It was gorgeous, quiet and peaceful and that's what made me start to think about how lucky I am. I can go from being in an urban centre which I love, being surrounded by people to being by a tranquil lake with only a few ducks for company, which I also love.

Then I started thinking about all the other reasons I'm a lucky runner.

I'm lucky that I can run pretty much whenever I want. I'm lucky that even at night, I can run by myself in the dark knowing I'm pretty much as safe as anyone can be. I'm lucky that I can run on roads, by rivers, over bridges and through the city. I'm lucky that I can afford to go to a fancy gym when I don't feel like running outside, or if I fancy a swim instead.

I'm lucky because of the people who support my running - I've got a fantastic family who have made sure I've never crossed a finish line without familiar faces clapping and cheering. I'm lucky to be part of a brilliant running club which means I'd never have to run alone if I didn't want to. I'm lucky to be a member in several online running groups, thousands of people at my fingertips to give advice, encouragement and inspiration. I'm even lucky for the fantastic friends I've got who listen to my regular conversations about running.

And, I suppose when it all comes down to it, I'm lucky that I can run at all.