Preparation

it's all in the details

It is a rare occurrence for the four of us to go out for the day together.  Too often we're too busy, or have things we would rather be doing (C&H), but today we all went to the coast to take the dogs for a run along the beach.

A couple of nights ago when planning our trip I was organised enough to look up the tide times and decided that rather than head east we would be better going west - living in the middle of the country we are fortunate that there is very little difference in travelling time, but unfortunate that either way is about an hour and a half drive.  Armed with this information (and the name of Trip Advisor's top recommendation for fish and chips) off we set for Lytham St Anne's.

Schoolfriendof750 we should have consulted you before we went! We might have had the tide times and lunch sorted, but what we didn't have any idea of was where to go once we got there! Following signs to the town centre we turned off too early and missed the beach altogether, ending up instead looking out at mile upon mile of mud flats! Not convinced that we had come to the right place I did ask a local where the beach was, only to be told it was about half a mile away. Half a mile - no problem!

Half a mile - my arse! We walked and walked but the headland we were walking towards just never seemed to get any nearer and in the end we had to turn back without having ever seen the beach or the sand dunes. I've just been on gb mapometer... 2 miles we walked trying to reach the beach and then two miles back to the car. Apparently we'd parked in Lytham and not Lytham St Anne's and I can't help but think that perhaps after going to all the bother of researching our day on the internet it might have paid off to look at a map!

It was our intention to go, walk the dogs, eat Fish and Chips and come home again, all of which we did and had a lovely time doing it, but it wasn't quite the day out I was envisaging!

We might not have seen the sea, but the sea air has certainly done it's trick, blown away a few cobwebs and tired me out in a way only sea air can. But exhausted after four miles? Heaven help us in Brighton girls after thirteen!


M - 556
Brighton Half - 114
Glasgow Half - 338
Total Distance covered      320.6 miles

PS Happy Birthday sisterofMG750 hope it was a good one x

Ye cannae change the laws of physics

I think it's rather aptly called destructive interference!

A rare lie in until half past eight this morning, and our morning run was not quite as early as I would have liked it to be! Nevertheless Al and I did force ourselves to go out despite the slightly dreary weather and ran the required four miles.  The first three of which I hated, the last one I was awash with running joy!

Trundling along several paces behind Al for most of the way, I really was beginning to think that it was yet another typical Thursday run which never seem to be my favourite when, admittedly running downhill and on our way home, I started to feel a lot better about the run, my fundraising worries, and just life in general.  Running euphoria (when it comes) is the most wonderful feeling, suddenly the world was my oyster and I was filled with optimism.

Coming back downstairs after my shower to be greeted with the reality that was my day, that rather than sewing I had a long list of domestic chores that really couldn't wait any longer and I was hit by a wave of pessimism equal in magnitude to the one of optimism, but for the physicists amongst you in opposite phase, so the two cancelled each other out and sitting in the middle of the point of collision I was left with nothing, my mood as flat as the resultant wave pattern! So much for having a better day.

In the end I came to the conclusion that really there was nothing left for me to do but put all ideas of fabric, sewing and the possibility of branching out from peg bags aside and just get on with the jobs. I do however rather like the idea of thinking of it as destructive interference in the otherwise nice day that I had planned (although in fairness it has been fairly constructive, we now have clean bathroom, a clean kitchen floor, and some clean clothes for the weekend).

Fingers crossed we are off to the coast tomorrow with the dogs, perhaps blowing a few cobwebs away as we battle against the wind whilst walking along the sands will see me return refreshed and inspired (oh and ready to run eight miles on Saturday morning!).

M - 557
Brighton Half - 115
Glasgow Half - 339
Distance covered                    4 miles (in record time - thanks for pushing me Al!)
Total Distance covered      320.6 miles

What next?

Who knows!

For the past few days I have been having the odd thought about my fundraising, as in occasional not as in dreaming up anything weird and wonderful! Having reached a bit of a lull after an exceptionally busy few months, I'm not sure quite where my next fundraising ventures are going to take me (shhh I'm still in denial about the afternoon of face painting ahead). Clearly this is starting to play on my subconscious because I woke up this morning after dreaming about hosting an event which no one came to!

I think a lot of this stems from news that the café we go to after parkrun is not going to be closing this winter as by then, it will have been taken over and understandably it would be a strange way to start a new business by shutting up shop till Februrary. Whilst this is good news for our post run catch up, it has, if not entirely pulled the rug out from out of my feet, then certainly made me lose my balance albeit momentarily.  For months I have been toying with the idea of having the post parkrun café at ours over the winter, trying to work out if it's feasible, how many we could fit in, what would we offer by way of food and drink etc., and now I'm questioning whether it will work at all as I'm not sure people would choose to drive to mine for a cuppa when they could have one there and then in the park.

My intention when I started out trying to raise the money was to try and offer things that people would be spending money on anyway and to try and spread my net a bit wider than my immediate circle of friends. But it is proving far from easy.

My Etsy shop has all but dried up and has categorically failed to generate a sale from someone who doesn't know me. I have had a couple of items 'favourited' which is nice but it's kind of meaningless if it doesn't then lead to a sale.  My items on there will all come to an end in the new year and I'm trying to work out if it is worth putting any more on, I will be really sad if I've to close it down, but I have to face the reality that already out of pocket I can't keep funding it nor have card sat unused on the off chance that I make a sale.

So I need to have a think about where I go from here, but in the meantime I do have an order for a couple peg bags to be getting on with (thanks HMG), perhaps a day at the sewing machine will bring some inspiration! And perhaps a lighter mood for what's left of the half term holidays - you can but hope Al!

M - 558
Brighton Half - 116
Glasgow Half - 340
Total Distance covered      316.6 miles

Reaching my limit...

but is it all in my mind?

When talking with HMG about the psychological effect of running further distances I often try to argue that it is like when you are on holiday and you know you are coming home. If you go for a week you start thinking about home towards the end of that week, if you're away for a fortnight then it generally takes longer before the thoughts start creeping in.  Likewise if you know you are running a set distance you will become jaded and ready to finish towards the end of that distance.

Running five miles with Al this morning, I am not at all convinced of my theory! Yes I was fatigued, and definitely ready to finish at the end of it, but I genuinely don't know if I could have kept going if I'd had to run an additional three at the end - even if I'd known that I was running eight at the outset! Although that said if I'd known I was running eight I would have run slower and paced myself better - so maybe my theory holds up after all!

What is not in any doubt today however, is how tired and achy my legs are from yesterday's mini workout - I can't help but think that even when I have been doing my exercises I must have been a lot kinder to myself than the Biomechanics Man was yesterday!

I hate going to the gym, I have only been a member once in my life, when the boys were little and the lure of a crèche and an hour to myself was so precious I'd have happily spent it anywhere! But there is a part of me that wishes I could afford a personal trainer to put me through my paces and help get me to the level of fitness that the BM clearly thinks I should have attained by now! And for whilst it's not a reality and I won't have to put my money where my mouth is I'm going to sit and daydream for a while about how fit I would be if only I had someone there making me do it!

Actually what would be better still would be the dedication and strength of character to get on and do it by myself, but I seem to be struggling with that one!

M - 559
Brighton Half - 117
Glasgow Half - 341
Distance covered                   5 miles
Total Distance covered      316.6 miles

Girl on film

I'm dreading seeing the results!

There is a belief that every thought you have shapes your reality - I'm not entirely convinced but if yesterday is anything to go by then perhaps I should pay it a little more heed in future! I'm talking in particular about my thoughts regarding my legs not feeling like I've run eight miles, and those regarding my apparent need to eat copious amounts.

Last night, sat curled up all cosy in front of the fire, I received a text from the Biomechanics Man. He is in the process of re-launching his business and as part of that is putting together a new website, the photographs for which were being taken today, but one of his (and I use the term loosely) models had let him down and he wondered if I would be prepared to help out.

Available at the allotted time and always keen to oblige I said yes without really giving too much thought to what it might entail! By the time I was getting ready this morning I was beginning to question my decision, I had no idea what to expect nor how to look! Going anywhere let alone to the gym with a full face of make up really isn't my style, but then arriving looking like it was some sort of extended no make-up selfie probably wasn't the best option either. In the end I went for somewhere in between and just hoped for the best.

I had pictured a few photos of me midst biomechanics session - couple of leg raises perhaps, but most of them lying down with gravity taking it's course and flattening out my stomach...  and yes, these shots were taken, but so were more than several others of me in the gym! If you can imagine the indignity of having what amounted to an induction session being caught on camera you won't be far off the mark! Treadmill, squats, lunges, pelvic lifts and some hideous leaning back thing whilst holding onto a rope with one hand and then pulling myself up to reach the top of the rope with the other, all whilst trying to hold my tummy in and not grimace!

With the benefit of hindsight if I'd known what today was going to entail I wouldn't have eaten a thing yesterday rather than appeasing myself with some tale of refuelling every time I reached for something else to eat, and I wouldn't have been so smug about my legs not hurting - half an hour in the gym and my backside is killing me! Can't help but think that the Biomechanics Man might have been under the misguided impression that I've been doing my exercises daily when he asked me to help out, he's under no such disillusion this evening!

Run five miles tomorrow? I'll be lucky if I can walk!

M - 560
Brighton Half - 118
Glasgow Half - 342
Total Distance covered      311.6 miles

Sustenance

and lots of it!

It took me until lunchtime to realise that I didn't have any pain in my legs from yesterday - at which point I started to feel much more positive about the whole experience! What was much more apparent however was my body's need to refuel... all I seemed to do today was eat!

Having commented in my six month round up that I'm happy with my current weight - or rather I'm clearly not prepared to do anything about changing it - I do hope that this latest development will be run off in the next week or I may have to revisit that one. Al is fond of saying that he runs so he can eat what he likes, and for whilst I'm not sure it's my motivation for running, it is a handy side effect!

Brighton Half Marathon have sent a link to a virtual tour of the route! (I'll try and post it on FB and Twitter). Seven minutes of sped up footage taken from a cycle cam... it made me feel a little bit motion sick watching it, not something I'm going to experience on the day! But it was interesting to watch and have a look at where we'll be running. It's a beautiful town and the route takes you out and back along the sea front between Brighton and Hove. This looks all very nice in the sunshine - not sure quite how it's going to be in February! Pictures from last year not helping as it was a lovely sunny winter's morning, but I'm sure at some point in the twenty five year history of the race there has been a few run in the midst of a haar! Nevertheless I am looking forward to reaching those beach huts in Hove and the finishing straight back into Brighton...

Talking about it with sisterofMG750 and she quite rightly concludes that sped up or otherwise it looks like a long way! But we have an added bonus that we pass a friend of ours house twice en route, and although I'm not sure if she's going to be at home that weekend perhaps we will be able to persuade her to leave some sustenance in the hedge for us! I was thinking food, or possibly even a wee nip of something alcoholic (for purely medicinal purposes of course) but my sis has a much better plan, A SCOOTER! I love your thinking sis, but looking at the picture we may yet need skis!

M - 561
Brighton Half - 119
Glasgow Half - 343
Total Distance covered      311.6 miles

Furthest yet...

But don't feel like shouting about it!

I've run eight miles today, my furthest ever... I should be over the moon and at the very least post run euphoric but for some reason I just feel a bit flat. The way we ran it was a bit fragmented and I'm wondering if that's what's to blame.

Our training plan had us running an easy mile to begin with, six fairly fast ones, and then a slow one to finish. Incorporating parkrun this meant we ran a slow mile to start, three quicker ones to get us to parkrun, had a ten minute break before setting off on our second three quick ones (parkrun), and then another short break before the final mile to cool down.  So yes I've covered the distance but I can't say I feel particularly ecstatic about it, when I had hoped to be jumping for joy. I'm still having issues with my Garmin and can't get the data onto my computer to analyse, not that it would make a lot of difference, but I have been able to manually compare this weeks stats to last and can confirm what we already knew HMG - we were running faster this morning!

Further and faster and still I'm not happy - perhaps it's nothing to do with the run and far more to do with my mood! Bit of an odd one today, can't seem to settle at anything and have pottered about for the rest of the day leaving half finished jobs wherever I've been! Quite why I then chose to start tackling the dresser in the back room is open to debate - all I've managed to do is empty the top shelf, open a box of old photographs, newspaper cuttings and letters lose myself in them for an hour or so before putting them back unsorted in the box, but not back in the cupboard!

And following on from yesterday's interesting topic of appearance enhancing attire... it wasn't the best day either for trying to find my new winter coat to replace the one I 'sold' for a few pence earlier this year as part of the great old clothes weigh in! Five contenders arrived this morning from my latest online shopping spree, but I'm not sure any of them are keepers! There was a lovely one which looked great, and very streamlined until I pictured it with pockets full of dog treats, poo bags, house keys and a phone! Trouble is most of the others made me feel like I looked like the Michelin Man! Before you feel the need to phone me from where you currently are in the States sisterofMG750 - don't panic they weren't puffa jackets! Nothing wrong with them on the right person but any kind of padding and I feel like the side of house... the search continues! Good job it's been a mild autumn!

M - 562
Brighton Half - 120
Glasgow Half - 344
Distance covered                 8.1 miles
Total Distance covered      311.6 miles

Be seen be safe

or run where there's street lights?!

Never to miss a marketing opportunity I have been inundated with emails recently trying to sell me high viz running gear to keep me safe this winter, and I found myself the other evening filling up my virtual basket with various items 'guaranteed' to do just that!

By the time I had finished there was a thermal top, snap wrist band and beanie all in a delightful shade of fluorescent yellow just waiting for me to hit 'purchase'. The old free delivery if you spend over a certain amount trick saw me return to the shop to see what other items I could possibly need.  Thankfully this delay was enough time for me to message sisterofMG750 (rarely to be seen out of black and certainly never in any kind of brightly coloured sports kit!) and I began to see sense -  firstly I don't have thirty pounds to spend on running gear and secondly I managed to run quite safely last winter without it, so I'm not sure why I was allowing myself to be sold to this year. My basket was duly emptied and I have deleted all such emails since!

I am glad that I did.  Today's visit to the audiologist has resulted in me being fitted with a hearing aid. I have no idea what the purpose of the consultant commenting on my reluctance to one on my referral was other than to prime the audiologist! When I arrived the unit was ready and waiting for me, and her opening gambit was "you need a hearing aid". No offer of counselling, cognitive behavioural therapy, or tinnitus support group (all of which I'm quite relieved about) but apparently I need to increase my hearing in an attempt to let the tinnitus calm down, but it will be a long process and I may well have run my marathon before it does!

I think I'm OK with it. The National Health Service Hearing Aid and Battery Issuing Record Book looks like something out of the 1950s but thankfully the unit itself looks much more modern and is fairly discrete. Luckily I can hide it underneath my hair and if it encourages me to make a bit more of an effort with my appearance, perhaps it won't be a bad thing. I'm thinking maybe contact lenses, or eyelash extensions (my friend had them recently and looks good!), a long over due haircut or even a new hat... but on no level is it going to be enhanced by a belisha beacon running outfit!


M - 563
Brighton Half - 121
Glasgow Half - 345
Total Distance covered      303.5 miles

Call that a training plan?

"Err... call that a walk?!"

Email in from Brighton Half Marathon this morning letting us know that it's four months to go and the official count down has begun - some of us have been counting down for months!  Included with this was a sixteen week training schedule to see us reach our goal on the 22 February next year... a quick glance at it before I went out with the dogs this afternoon and I am less than impressed! According to it, week one comprises of two fifteen minute runs and a long slow run of two miles or thirty minutes... this is not what I call a training plan.

Walking round the fields with the dogs this afternoon, our route altered by the appearance of a group of horses that like to chase Sid, I was about to set off round a field again when I took one look at Sid dragging himself along and decided to call it a day and go home. When we got to the last stile however Dougal clearly had different ideas and point blankly refused to come, his walk clearly not over for the day! In the end I had to strike a happy medium and go round a small field to appease Dougal and not exhaust Sid, but my mind started to wonder to an analogy between the dogs and the training plans, one is clearly slower paced than the other! There is also the fact that ours is over twelve weeks and their's sixteen so really I ought to look at the equivalent of where we are at the end of week four with the end of week eight if I want to compare the two. Even doing this it still makes the tortoise plan look like hard core!

I started to think that perhaps I've been over billing the achievement in running a half marathon. Clearly if in week one all you have to be able to do is run for fifteen minutes we'll be laughing! We're way ahead of that! Slowly however the realisation began to dawn on me, that there is every possibility that this particular training schedule has been sent to me specifically based on my estimated finish time. I have no idea what I wrote, but clearly I didn't set my sights particularly high! I can picture it now, lining up in my muster station with - or heaven forbid behind - all the fancy dress runners, feeling out of place because I'm the one not dressed up - perhaps I should contact WaterAid and request one of their tap or comedy toilet costumes after all! HMG and sisterofMG750 you better both have the same colour bibs as me this time!

What the email didn't say, and perhaps it should was "Well Done for signing up, here is your training plan, and PS you do realise you'll be quicker walking!"

M - 564
Brighton Half - 122
Glasgow Half - 346
Distance covered                 3.3 miles (nice to have your company again Mr L, been too long!)
Total Distance covered      303.5 miles

Cherry Picking

but I'll pay for it later!

I've had a good day today - not entirely sure why but just going to enjoy the feeling whilst it lasts! Although thinking about it I don't think there was any part of it not to like!

I spent the morning making cards, the afternoon walking the dogs with a friend and any time in between ticking off as many little things as I could from my to-do list.  I appreciate that cherry picking off the jobs I want to do now is only going to leave me with a list of things I REALLY don't want to do later, but firstly I'm sure I'll be able to add some more fun things to the list when I reach that point, and secondly it's half term next week so perhaps I'll be able to give some of the things I don't want to do a gentle steer in Al's direction!
Then again if he's at home and able to walk the dogs I'll have more time to get on and do the jobs myself, or alternatively we could bin the whole idea of a job list until the week after and have some time off.

Already I can hear him saying "All right, I'm in! Lets go with the third option!"  But I think he knows me well enough to know that it's much more likely to be a mixture of one and two. Although that said what I am looking forward to is having some time to spend in each other's company! Perhaps we could have a bad day, hide from the supermarket and curl up with the dogs together, now there's a plan I'm already looking forward to!

Still have quite a lot to do this evening which is a shame as yet again, I'm already falling asleep! I seem to be getting worse and am happily dozing off by half past seven on an evening, beginning to wonder if in a previous life I was some sort of creature that hibernated for winter... maybe the tortoise training plan is more apt that we thought!


M - 565
Brighton Half - 123
Glasgow Half - 347
Total Distance covered  300.2 miles

Three Hundred Mile

and somewhat Turbulent Tuesday!

There are two things I think I should have done differently yesterday. Firstly I should have looked at the weather forecast and chosen today as my stay at home day, and secondly I should have thought a bit harder about how Al might respond to reading yesterday's blog! (Apparently avoiding the supermarket, curling up with a cup of tea and the dog does not constitute a hard day, and if I want a difficult morning I should meet his year seven's, or ten's, or form class!). Still perhaps it was a good thing to be found out, as it kept me from curling back up there this morning, although wasn't quite enough to send me out running in the rain! 

I couldn't face getting wet, having to come home dry off and then go out and get wet again when I walked the dogs. So I decided that I would run this afternoon after walking the dogs when it wouldn't matter so much if I was wet as I was only going to go straight back out in it. As it turned out the sun was shining by then so it was just the gale force winds to contend with, little did I know they would have me feeling quite so nostalgic by the end of it!

Running into the wind was like trying to run in water, running with it behind me made me think of the barrels in our village park when I was growing up! I loved them... for those of you who missed out on this childhood treat, they were barrels that rotated on a horizontal bar, which you ran and ran on (holding on to two side bars for balance) until your feet couldn't keep up with the speed of the barrel and you had to lift them off... there was nowhere to lift my feet off to today but the feeling of moving faster than my feet could run whisked me straight back to Eaglesham park and the hours we've spent there Al, sis, and schoolfriendofMG750! 

Clearly all that extra effort in getting up the hill has taken it's toll however and I am, not for the first time, falling asleep writing this! But it was worth it, as I have now reached the 300 mile mark! Too tired to work out how long it should take to get to four hundred, but I have a suspicion it's going to come around a lot quicker than the last hundred did! 

M - 566
Brighton Half - 124
Glasgow Half - 348
Distance covered              4.1 miles
Total Distance covered  300.2 miles

Miserable Monday!

So much for starting as I mean to go on...

Having reached the six month milestone yesterday today had a bit of a "the start of the rest of your life" feel about it, shame then that it was such a write off of a day! Although 'rest of your life' may be being a bit dramatic, perhaps 'next half year' is more accurate but the outcome's the same! Yesterday when I had the opportunity to lie in, I was wide awake - today I couldn't seem to get myself going and the day never really seemed to get any better. 

Having spent the past week or so religiously planning food and menu's, shopping for ingredients and baking I appear to have reached saturation point as far as food is concerned and decided not to go to the supermarket this morning, opting instead to come straight home after dropping the boys off and curl up with a cup of tea. Dougal and I would have happily stayed like that all day, Sid was having none of it, jumping up any time I dared to move and staring intently at me in between.

I did try to pull myself round at lunchtime by starting to construct a to-do list, you know that fail safe plan guaranteed to spur me into action! Went for a new tactic of writing down all the things I want to do and those that I don't but need doing anyway, and then picked a few off that I could reasonably get done today. I can report that I've done just over half of them and bumped the others on to tomorrow, mainly because they involved going out and as we've already ascertained that really wasn't what I wanted to do.

Unfortunately chauffeuring duties meant that I did have to venture out this evening and although I came very close to driving straight home, I forced myself into the hell on earth that is IKEA in search of some more coat hangers for new peg bag orders! Clearly having spent too much time there in the past... ten minutes and eighty pence later I was on my way home again, to see if there was anything I could concoct out of Mother Hubbard's cupboard for tea...

Things were worse than I thought and poor Al who wasn't due in until half seven anyway was given the somewhat loaded option of baked potatoes with not a lot else or calling into the supermarket on his way home (would that make it 'the somewhat loaded option of unloaded potato skins?!') Thankfully he 'chose' the supermarket, but I think we're both hoping I'm back in a better head space tomorrow!

M - 567
Brighton Half - 125
Glasgow Half - 349
Total Distance covered  296.1 miles

SIX MONTH SUNDAY!

Somehow we've made it this far!

I'm not sure how we've done it but we've reached the six month milestone! That's one hundred and eighty two blogs, two hundred and forty five cards, one thousand one hundred and fifty pounds, four thousand eight hundred and fifty eight page views and oh so nearly three hundred miles! (If I'd worked it out sooner I may well have been tempted to don my running shoes for a four miler today instead of my much cherished day off!).

It was lovely coming downstairs this morning to a tidy house (or rather tidy downstairs), made me wonder once again why we don't keep it looking like this more often! But as the day wore on, more and more of the stuff that we had hidden out of the way of our guests yesterday reappeared in the house and by this evening it was looking much more familiar!

I'm not entirely sure that tackling the ironing mountain constitutes a day off, or was really a fitting way to celebrate six months as marathongirl750 but I did get to luxuriate in the bath afterwards which is a slight improvement on ironing but a bit of a poor show - sisterofMG750 you presence is requested at the earliest opportunity to get the party started! Although if I'm as sleepy as I am today I may still opt for a cup of tea curled up on the sofa!

Overall it's been a good six months, I am now running longer distances (relatively) pain free which I think was the intention when I started! I think there was also some plan to loose weight but I seem to have become less focused on that (especially with all the left over baking in the house from yesterday!), I am drinking more water on a regular basis although it never did quite have the ten year younger effect that was promised (albeit from a dubious source) at the outset, I've learned lessons, forgotten them and relearned them all over again, lost my hearing and gained good friends.

In the past week my blog has been read in Argentina, Indonesia, South Korea, Poland and Venezuela such is the wonder (and mystery) of the internet! Clearly some people read once and never again, others for a few days, some when they get the chance, and then there are a few for whom reading has become as much a part of their daily routine as writing has become mine! Thank you.

M - 568
Brighton Half - 126
Glasgow Half - 350
Total Distance covered  296.1 miles

Super Saturday

(hopefully to be followed by Sleepy Sunday!)

HMG arrived bright and early for our pre-parkrun run! Not sure either of us were completely convinced as to whether or not it would turn out to be a good idea, but the thought of a Sunday off (and not adding an additional three miles to our weekly total) was just too tempting...

It was a nice route, slow steady climb to begin with, followed by a long downhill stretch, before a nice flat section which very conveniently saw us reach the target four mile marker and allowed us to walk up the incredibly steep hill at the end - perfect! (if you ignore the fact that actually we had another three miles to run when we got to the park - we seemed to keep blocking that bit out!). It was lovely having your company on the run HMG - the time and distance passed almost without noticing it as we chatted away, such a different experience from Thursday!

Having run a really nice steady and fairly relaxed pace to get there I was hoping to continue in the same rhythm at parkrun, but no - couldn't help but charge off up the hill as soon as I heard the word "go"! Accompanied round the course by fellow parkrunner we were clearly running faster than on my way to the park, as there was no way I could have held a conversation - but I enjoyed our run, you definitely kept me going, and.... I am happy with our time despite it being my slowest one for months! Perhaps I've taken a small shift into the mindset of a longer distance runner - which in a strange way really would be progress!

Seven mile euphoric I breezed through the preparation for the afternoon tea party, and sat at the table surrounded by friends later I even had the audacity to think to  myself how well I'd done organising everything and how it had all just come together, when I remembered poor Al slaving away in the kitchen - writing this the following morning and I think my guests would still be here waiting for their cup of tea if it hadn't been for you!

The afternoon was a great success and I am very lucky to have such lovely friends and a wonderful husband supporting me.  C&H might not be feeling quite so blessed with their luck in having me as their mother after I insisted that they come down and say hello to a room full of a dozen ladies, but there is a price to pay for taking your lunch up to your bedroom's boys!

M - 569
Brighton Half - 127
Glasgow Half - 351
Distance covered              7.2 miles
Total Distance covered  296.1 miles

Calm....

.... but starting to get stressed over why!

Finished my baking by lunchtime and have had a relatively relaxed afternoon, even finding time to make a birthday card (thanks for the order fellow parkrunner). The day really has gone too much to plan, and those bits which didn't have ended up working in my favour - it's an odd yet at the same time unsettling feeling and I'm starting to wonder if I've mislaid a job list somewhere!

I'm not sure what is to blame for my new found sense of calm, when the frittata stuck to the pan this morning, instead of panicking I just thought "oh well that's our tea made", and decided that we don't really need it for tomorrow anyway.  I'd like to say that it's my new relaxed approach to life, but I think in all honesty I'm just a bit jaded with the whole fundraising thing, it'll be what it'll be whether I get stressed over it or not!

I have mapped out a four mile route to parkrun for the morning and am actually looking forward to it especially as I've just heard that HMG is joining me, but also because it will mean that come half past nine my running will be over for the weekend, then I've the small matter of afternoon tea to get through and then that's it! A day off on Sunday! I can't tell you how much I am looking forward to this, but know that the reality will never live up to my expectation, as Sunday's are invariably a never ending stream of cooking,washing up and chauffeuring but no running or dog walking!

There was a momentary blip in my relaxed state a few minutes ago when the TV program we were watching finished and we ended up catching the end of some Great British Bake Off Master Class.  Oh dear, nothing that I have baked for tomorrow comes even close! I can picture the horror on Mary Berry's face were she somehow to be presented with a plate of my baking....  I don't watch the show, but if my guests do and are picturing anything like what I saw this evening they are going to be disappointed! Perhaps I shouldn't have drawn such a delicate tea cup on the invitation, but I think they all know me well enough to know that things may be a little more on the rustic side!

M - 570
Brighton Half - 128
Glasgow Half - 352
Total Distance covered  288.9 miles

Technological Breakdown?

Oh no, this is the road to hell....

Week three of training and already I'm looking forward to being the other side of Brighton so I can have a week off! Four miles this morning, and every step of it was hard going.

It didn't start off well, my Garmin which uses GPS technology to track my pace got stuck on the 'locating satellites' screen yet didn't seem able to find any! I stood outside the house for at least five minutes in the hope that it would start working, attracting comments from one passing dog walker about me waiting for a bus (there is no route on our road), before finally deciding that I would have to run without it.  When it did finally start working after a couple of miles it only confirmed what I already knew (that I was running slowly today) before it gave up the ghost completely about five minutes later and went into power save mode.

Meanwhile my ipod wasn't behaving much better, for some reason unbeknown to me it decided to go on repeat, ashamedly it took me a while to realise that I'd heard the song before and had to stop to reset it.  It did however stick with me for the duration of my run before instructing me to 'connect to power' almost as soon as I'd got home.  It seems that the technological pieces of my running kit are as exhausted as I am! And we've got so far yet to go...

I hated (almost) every minute of this morning's run, perhaps because it felt like more of a plod. But an impromptu dog walk with HMG this afternoon raised my spirits somewhat, not least because she too hadn't enjoyed her run this morning, and we've come to the conclusion that perhaps it's a Thursday thing! But has left me wondering if perhaps I could combine parkrun and my 7 miler so I could have Sunday off! I'll see if I can map a possible route and then consider it nearer the time. But I am tempted...

So which step of my run did I not hate? The one where I was wolf whistled at! Sisters I'm sorry! I know I should be complaining about the objectification of women and about how it's unacceptable and degrading, but standing at the traffic lights with about a mile to go, feeling like I'd been wading through treacle for the past half hour and wondering if it was worth putting myself through this it made me smile! Thank you 'Know How' Van Man! Although perhaps if you'd actually seen me shuffling along you might have just driven past!

M - 571
Brighton Half - 129
Glasgow Half - 353
Distance covered              4 miles
Total Distance covered  288.9 miles

Waiting for tomorrow

but there's probably loads more I should have done today!

Today was one of those days that will probably just be better when it's over. It has rained all day, the sky is grey and all I really wanted to do was light the fire and curl up in front of it, not trudge four miles round the woods and have to come home to deal with two very wet and muddy dogs. Especially as every bit of mess they make is something else that I'll have to tidy, clear up, or clean before Saturday.

I am back in that period of limbo where it's too soon to do so many of the things that need doing, but the longer I leave it the less time I have to do it all! It's a fine line that I'm walking and I don't yet know if I've got it right. But I think it's fair to say I'll be running round like a headless chicken on Saturday regardless!

Naturally I haven't exactly helped myself by deciding to bake some date and orange malted oat squares, which required a special trip to the health food shop this morning to buy the malt extract (I'm not sure she'd ever had someone waiting on the doorstep for her to open up before!), but for some reason they were the only thing that would do, although baked and tested I can report that they are as good as I remember.

My Afternoon Tea Party is decidedly easier to organise this time round having been through it once before but, that said, I'm hoping that I can think of some alternative fundraising ideas so I don't have to do it again. There is, of course, always the face painting at the Juggling Convention to look forward, how could I forget? Actually I know exactly how - it reminds me of Westival and I'm trying my very best to eradicate all memories of that from my mind! The box of left over craft bits to take with me to the Juggling Convention has sat in the back room for over a month now and I can't even bring myself to open, let alone sort, it!

Perhaps one day when this is all over, I'll look back and reflect on how the fundraising was far harder than the running - but that may be wishful thinking.

M - 572
Brighton Half - 130
Glasgow Half - 354
Total Distance covered  284.9 miles

Reprieve

Butter, Yogurt, Cheese, Toast, Biscuits, Granola Square.... the list is endless! 

Al was a little surprised to see my up and in my running gear before he left for work this morning, firstly because I'm normally still hiding under the duvet, and secondly because he'd looked outside and seen the weather! With all the blinds down upstairs I was completely oblivious to the howling gale that was blowing outside! Not to be deterred I set off anyway, although my choice to run along Windybank Lane was perhaps not the best plan - it certainly wasn't named at random.

I had a good run and enjoyed being out, even if it was hard being buffeted from the side as the wind gusted into me.  Thankfully however it wasn't raining, although I have a feeling that there may be at least one occasion in the next few months when I won't be so lucky.  I was spotted by one of my dog walking friends as he drove past, and he was kind enough to say later that he thought I'd looked the part, although thinking about it he may have been asked a rather leading question.

My head has been a bit all over the place today, putting clean washing in to wash and exploding a jacket potato (nice mess to clear up!) but I don't care - I have been offered a reprieve! My request for a referral has been accepted,  better still it's not for another five weeks and my GP's advice is to eat as normal a diet as possible between now and then! Never have I been so pleased at the speed of the NHS...

I do however have to keep a food diary but I think I'm going to start that on Monday so I can indulge at Saturday's afternoon tea party and not have to document quite how much cake I can consume in one afternoon!

M - 573
Brighton Half - 131
Glasgow Half - 355
Distance covered 5.2 miles
Total Distance covered  284.9 miles

The Vampire Diaries

(come to think of it I'm not very good at crossing running water either!)

Today has been a difficult day.  My on going issues with digestion have not resulted in a positive diagnosis which means in the absence of anything else it is most probably a syndrome relating to irritability and a particular organ of the body that deals with the digestive system (she said whilst trying to maintain a modicum of dignity).

This is good news, it means there isn't anything 'wrong' with me, and bad in that it is a very long and somewhat complex road that I now have to go down to try and ascertain which foods are causing me a problem.

Based on the advice of a nursing practitioner I have for the past week been avoiding dairy. By Friday I had seen no change so added wheat to the exclusion list, by this morning with still no improvement I decided that I needed to take a slightly more systematic approach before all I was left to eat was a dry oatcake, on the very day I was trying to plan which culinary delights to make for my guests on Saturday!

Sometimes I love the internet, sometimes I hate it. Today it was the later. There is just too much information out there and too much of it is contradictory.  I am completely overwhelmed and confused and am awaiting a telephone call from my GP tomorrow to discuss a possible referral to someone who actually knows what they are talking about and might be able to help navigate me through this latest minefield. In the meantime I have had a look at some of the foods that it is suggested I avoid - practically everything I eat is on the list (including garlic -which I thought was supposed to be good for digestion - has to be avoided entirely). I then concluded that it is too much to take on board and have eaten some cake to make me feel better - albeit only psychologically!

What  however is common to all the websites I looked at was the importance of relaxation - why do all roads seem to lead here? Am I really such a stress head that it's affecting everything I do ("YES!!!"). Pondering this whilst out walking the dogs and I had a sudden moment of realisation that it probably is... after all I've even taken my hobby and supposed method of relaxation  - running - and turned it into something to get wound up over!

Perhaps more interestingly however is the list of symptoms, which include dizziness and ringing in the ears! Could this be the cause of my tinnitus? Could there be a way for it to stop without resorting to pink noise therapy?! How good would that be?! Which just leaves the small matter of my hearing loss to explain - don't anyone mention the home hot oil treatment...

M - 574
Brighton Half - 132
Glasgow Half - 356!!
Total Distance covered  279.7 miles

One way or another

If I can't get my head round changing my priorities at parkrun then perhaps my legs will do it for me!

Today's run on our training schedule was a six miler at a slow pace, I did it, but my legs weren't happy, nor were my chaffed bits of skin (clearly I need to replace a particular item of kit!).  I don't think I did myself any favours pushing myself yesterday and then heading out for a long run today and I'm going to have to have a rethink about how I move on from here.

Our training schedule is for three runs a week, and does not take parkrun into account.  I am therefore left with two options either I find a way to incorporate it into the schedule or I have to stop running on a Saturday. Given that not running at parkrun is not my most favoured option (!) I am going to have to look at ways to work my training around parkrun.

As I see it, I either run my long run on a Saturday either ending up or starting off at parkrun and so the three miles becomes part of the total distance, or I have to run parkrun slower so that there is less for me to recover from. I haven't made my mind up as to which yet, but if I incorporate it into a longer run I'll be running it slower anyway so perhaps I'll try and run it slower as an additional three miles and see how I get on. Which I think is where my head got to yesterday before my legs caught up!

Set off for my run this morning without really knowing where I was going and ended up trying to make up a route en route - not something I would particularly recommend! I knew roughly where I was going, but hadn't looked at a map, or made a note of any of the road names, I just had a vague idea that a cycle path I turned down would somehow link up with the Greenway at some point.  I think the painted bicycle and arrow pointing to the right might have been a bit of a clue, but with the memory of last Sunday still fresh in my mind, it went against my inbuilt bearings and I couldn't bring myself to turn in the opposite direction to the way I knew was home, so attempted instead to find my own route to the Greenway by turning left! I eventually made it, but it was a bit hit and miss and I felt rather conspicuous running along streets that clearly don't normally see Sunday morning jogging traffic!

Oh well next week is another Seven Mile Sunday - at least I know where I'm going for that!

M - 575
Brighton Half - 133
Glasgow Half - 357!!
Distance covered           6.3 miles
Total Distance covered  279.7 miles

Come back Al

it's not the same here without you!

Beautiful autumnal morning for parkrun - sunny with a discernible nip in the air - and I had a great run, or at least I thought I did.

I was flying! So much so that I had only the occasional glance at my Garmin to check my pace, and when I did it didn't give any indication that I wasn't on course for smashing through my PB. However, I must have read it wrong because I came in twenty seconds slower than last time I'd run at parkrun and no where near my PB!

In the absence of any other more reasonable explanation I'm blaming the weather... without a shred of technical knowledge I have decided that the cold air made me work harder aerobically which made me feel like I was trying harder than normal, which made me think I must be running faster!

Not for the first time I am being drawn to the same conclusion that chasing my PB on a Saturday morning is something that I am going to have to let go.  Not for the first time I am unconvinced of my ability to do this.  I was making murmurings about trying instead to run the course at a constant pace and see if I could set myself a new challenge of getting as close to a pre-determined time as possible but I already know how hollow that 'victory' will feel.  Giving up before I've even tried, I really am my own worst enemy.

Al is away at a juggling convention this weekend, felt odd being at parkrun without him and stranger still spending the rest of Saturday as a single parent family! Had so many plans for what I might do today, how organised I was going to be, how productive, motivated and efficient - quite why I thought I was going to get more done, when all the dog walking, cooking and clearing up jobs were mine and mine alone is unclear. I miss you on so many levels Al, not just for all the things you do on a weekend, but walking the dogs post parkrun was hard!

M - 576
Brighton Half - 134
Glasgow Half - 358!!
Distance covered             3.1 miles
Total Distance covered  273.4 miles

Will I eat breakfast...

before the Glasgow half?!!

Busy morning helping a friend with a job application (always amuses me slightly when people ask me for help with this, when I have to be on everyone's list of  people you know who've never really worked for a living, let alone got their career off the ground!).  But it kept me focused on something else for a change and stopped my mind from wandering back, or rather forward, to Glasgow! Walking the dogs later in the day I caught myself ruminating about the half marathon, today's issue being would I be able to eat or drink anything before I run... I don't usually but the half doesn't set off until eleven o'clock so it will be pushing it a bit!

Starting to get a little bit panicky about next Saturday's afternoon tea.  I am trying so hard to be more laid back about it this time, but I have a feeling that could all change during the week! I need to spend the weekend working out exactly what we're eating and making a shopping list, and then working out a schedule of when I'm baking what.  I did have the foresight to keep my notes from last time which I was rather pleased with myself for, until I looked at them today and discovered they were sketchy to say the least! But at least I get to write out another planning sheet tomorrow which always ranks highly on my ways to waste time!

I have also just had a look at our running schedule for next week... five miles on Tuesday, four on Thursday and seven on Sunday! Yikes! Still could be worse - I could have been chosen as the Face of Oxford Half and I'd be running thirteen this Sunday! I am SO glad that they didn't want me! But I think I'd better enjoy my three miles tomorrow and six on Sunday as the last of the 'easy' rides!

Etsy favouriter came for tea this evening. Lovely to see her and have some female company back in the house, not quite so lovely to have to report that I've had one view on Etsy this week! Actually I've sold myself short, I've just checked and it's two.  One shop view having searched on the word 'marathon', one search for a 'peg bag'. I'm not sure that either of them were looking for me! Which in a way is a good thing, means at least my 'peg bag' tag is working but it still didn't result in a sale. One day!

In the meantime I need to remember that the reason's EF is here is to mark the one thousand pound milestone and the celebratory cake has indeed been baked. Time I think to get the kettle on and enjoy a slice. Lovely as this evening has been however, I can't help but wish it was this time last week and we were heading north. Only another 51 weeks to go... best add it to the countdown clock!

M - 577
Brighton Half - 135
Glasgow Half - 359!!
Total Distance covered  270.3 miles

Struck

But the iron's feeling a little luke warm!

I was awake at half four this morning and foolishly looked at my ipod, only to discover that both my sister and HMG are up for running the Glasgow Half Marathon next year. This is good news, but I think at least one of you was supposed to talk me out of it!

I then lay awake trying to work the logistics out.... is it feasible to get there by train, how could we stay an extra day if H comes with us and needs to be in school on the Monday, was the drive really that bad that it's worth the hassle of being without a car in Glasgow, could we stay in the centre - but then I'd miss not being at my sisters and where will we go for lunch this time? So many different permutations for a trip that's fifty one and a half weeks away! Thankfully I managed to put it to one side long enough to get back to sleep, but it was back again on waking! I haven't come up with any answers, but I HAVE REGISTERED and am hoping that my running number will reflect my eagerness in signing up four days after the last one!

As the day has wore on I am less convinced of the merits of signing up, especially as I decided to postpone today's run to Saturday! But there is still enough method in my madness to convince me that I'm doing the right thing.  If I am going to run a half marathon in Brighton and then not run the full marathon until the following year, I need to keep myself half marathon fit, and I need to make sure that I finish one race able to run another.  In terms of this week's training, today's run should have been three miles at a fast(ish) pace so it is easily transferable to parkrun.

All makes perfect sense on one level, yet at the same time a bit fool hardy on another! Oh well if all else fails at least we'll have lunch to look forward to... 3rd October schoolfriendofMG750 get it in your diary now!

M - 578
HM - 136
Total Distance covered  270.3 miles

Strike

whilst the iron's hot!!

I didn't lose chunks of today, I just chose not to do very much - same outcome as yesterday, but I feel much better about it knowing exactly where the time went! I also feel better knowing that our outside drain is now clean and flowing smoothly before the onset of winter, and better still because I got a company in to do it!
(small aside but I have never met anyone who has come to do a job at the house looking as dejected as the drain man, he definitely looked like he had had enough for the day, but I found it somewhat strange that he felt the need to comment on it being a smelly job... and am now curious as to which drain he has unblocked that wasn't?!).

I might not have done a great deal but I am starting to think about my afternoon tea party next Saturday and even managed to do a bit of procrastibaking towards it! C and I have just sampled the outcome and I am rather impressed with the result even if I do say so myself! Perhaps inspired by my trip to Glasgow, I have made Empire Biscuits (shortbread type biscuit with jam in the middle and icing on top to the uninitiated) but unfortunately there was only enough for one each and the rest have been put in the freezer. Al and H better come home soon or I might have to tell them that unfortunately "Dougal" ate theirs!

I have also started to think about which other two (if I'm sticking with my original plan of three) half marathons I want to run next year. I'm thinking of one May/June time and then, after such a nice time last weekend, I am very tempted to go back up to Glasgow. That said I've just looked at the route, it looks like an awfully long way compared to Sunday! But entries for next year are open so perhaps I should just bite the bullet before I talk myself out of it, and definitely before I run Brighton, after which I may never want to run again!

M - 579
HM - 137
Total Distance covered  270.3 miles

Rain

but unfortunately no sparkle!

If it hadn't been for our training schedule I wouldn't have run today, mainly because it was raining this morning. I'm a bit of a fair weather runner who doesn't mind if it starts to rain mid run, but really struggles to start off in the rain.  Being splashed by passing cars was a particular low point and the rain stopping after I'd got home really just added insult to injury!

What was nice however was to know that I wasn't alone! HMG completed her four mile run under very similar circumstances this morning, whilst sisterofMG750 was enjoying her run so much that she miscalculated her route and ran an extra mile!  I'm glad that we're in it together and it has really helped having a plan in place in terms of motivation, and knowing what I've got to do this week.

Ha! Ha! Ha! I've just read back what I've written - a plan helping me, just like a to-do list and structure for my day might?!!

I've had a dreadful day, mainly because I kept loosing chunks of time without any knowledge of what I'd done with them! I know from my Garmin that I ran at half ten for forty minutes, and that I came home and had a shower, but why it took me an hour to get back downstairs is a mystery! I wouldn't mind so much if I'd been for a wee lie down, but I hadn't (I don't think!).  That said I might have had a better afternoon if I had done, I am so tired I think I must have subconsciously taken ten minutes to stare off into the middle distance at regular intervals throughout the day, and without anyone to snap me out of my 'trance' they may have slipped into being half hours!

But at least if I was staring off into the middle distance my eyes were at least open, which would be a vast improvement on how heavy my eyelids are now! Four runs into our training plan and already I'm exhausted!

M - 580
HM - 138
Distance covered                4 miles
Total Distance covered  270.3 miles

Heating's on!

Which isn't doing anything to help keep me awake!

Woke up this morning and winter had arrived! Gusty wind blowing the rain horizontally, thankfully it wasn't a run day, and really there was only one thing to do - phone the chimney sweep so we can relight the woodburners after their summer off!

A cancellation meant I was in luck and he was able to come this afternoon. Perfect! Unfortunately by the time he arrived I had spent rather a long time sat squished up next to Dougal on the sofa catching up with my weekend blogs and consequently could barely move when I had to get up to answer the door.

Pleasantries exchanged I felt the need to explain how I had aged so much in the year since he last saw me. I told him about running yesterday in Glasgow, and then pounced on his comment about possibly running a half marathon next year and was in full parkrun sales pitch mode before it dawned on me that I was perhaps the least likely advert for physical exercise in my current state of old lady-ness! I have then spent the rest of the afternoon trying to establish a mental image of what he looks like, he's only been to do the chimney's three times and I'm just not convinced I'll recognise him out of context at parkrun!

Why when we've just had the chimneys swept have I finally relented and put the heating on is a good (if not overly interesting) question, the answer to which has something to do with me needing to get on this afternoon and knowing I wouldn't have been able to tear myself away if we'd lit the fire. It may also have something to do with the desire for a warm bathroom after a weekend at my sisters!

The difficulty about having Glasgow as the end of our first week of half marathon training is that we've got to crack on now with week two and the scheduled four miler tomorrow... forget carb loading, based on how sleepy I've been today I think I need an early night!

M - 581
HM - 139
Total Distance covered  266.3 miles

Glasgow 10K

55.03 minutes!

I loved being back in the centre of Glasgow, although in the twenty three years that I lived there I'm not sure I ever saw it quite so early on a Sunday morning! What I am absolutely clear on however is that I absolutely and without a doubt never once contemplated standing in George Square and running up St Vincent Street, let alone a further five and half miles around the city. But I loved it, every one of the fifty five minutes it took me, well almost every one....

The trouble with running in your home town is that you have bearings. You know exactly where you are in relation to the start and more importantly the finish! I always struggle around the half way point, mentally knowing I've got the same distance to run again is hard, however turning us and making us run in the opposite direction from the finish line shortly after the half way point was just cruel!

It was an emotional run, full of nostalgia and I have to admit (much to C's disdain) that a wee tear did trickle down my cheek a couple of times, already a bit on the emotional side I approached the Great Wall of Support with caution... it was both on and working (if not particularly great?), and I did manage to read a couple of messages as I ran past which almost set me off again, but we were approaching the final kilometre and with it the usual rush of adrenaline that sees me wanting to sprint to the finish.

We had spent a lot of the run up to the race discussing tactics and ideal finishing times and I knew that I wanted to run slower than Edinburgh, and really I wanted to try and run a steady pace or even a slower than average start, average middle and faster than average end pace, but in the end I couldn't stop myself from just running! I did try to listen to my legs and not push myself too hard, but I'm completely useless at sticking to any type of plan, and I am really going to have to work at this.

I am pleased that my time is marginally faster than either of the 10K's I ran in York several years ago, and yet the difference is at the end of this one I WAS ABLE TO WALK!! Driving for five hours later the same day however, was almost enough to change that! HMG and I had to haul ourselves out of the car at the services and hobble our way to the cafe as we slowly got our hips and legs to function again. Which was such a shame as up until this point we'd been congratulating ourselves on how well we'd done!

I had a great weekend and it was horrid leaving. I miss my sister and so wish we lived nearer each other, but I got it wrong sis and HMG, it's twenty weeks till Brighton when we'll all be together again :)

However hard it was leaving it was lovely to see Al, C, Dougal and Sid again and it must be said that an equally warm welcome awaited us on our return, although come to think of it, no Prosecco.... That said I'm not sure I'd have been awake long enough to drink any of it!

M - 582
HM - 140
GLASGOW minus nothing! Been and gone... next stop Brighton!
Distance covered 6.2 miles
Total Distance covered  266.3 miles

Food

And lots of it!

There are so many times that I wish I could pop round to my sisters house for a cup of tea and biscuit but the five hour drive between us kind of renders it impossible. Forget parkrun there was only one thing for it this morning... We also have a tradition of full sugar Alpen eating, the croissants were, however, a new and very welcome addition to the proceedings. All of which had to be wound up in enough time for us to get up into Glasgow for lunch with schoolfriendofMG750.

We haven't seen each other for over eight years or seventeen in the case of my sister! (HMG it was a pleasure to introduce you). Under no disillusions as to the seriousness - or lack thereof - of our pre race preparations we settled down as four ladies who lunch (in considerable style at the House For An Art Lover) and whiled away three hours as if none of the intervening years had taken place, especially as none of us look a day older than when we last met!  It was so lovely to see you again G, and I really hope it won't be so long until next time...

Back home for a cup of tea and rather delicious Granola Square (shhh don't tell anyone about the additional chocolate biscuits I tucked into) before going out for tea en famille (carb loading - it's important!) followed by an earlier night than last night!

I had a lovely day, but didn't feel quite right somehow not being at Dewsbury parkrun. We were clock watching around ten to nine, picturing everyone on or near the cafe steps before making their way up to the monument in time for the start.  A read through of the results later (well done on your PB Mrs Motivator!) gave us a better picture of the morning and made me feel slightly less out of touch, but no less far away. Missing Al, C, the dogs and my parkrun family, but loving being home in the land (not) of my forefathers!

Race day tomorrow... getting a little jittery!

M - 583
HM - 141
Glasgow  - 1
Total Distance covered  260.1 miles

The Long and Winding Road...

(sisterofMG750 you live too far away!)

Taking H with us to Scotland (to see his cousin, not as chief or any other kind of supporter!) we weren't able to leave until after school, and despite requests to get home as quickly as possible he didn't actually arrive until later than normal! I'm not sure it would have made all that much of a difference as the traffic getting around Manchester was horrid and I don't think setting off half an hour earlier would have helped in any way other than perhaps psychologically!

The journey north was long and, in the dark and driving rain, a bit perilous at times. However we finally got there about half ten and I think we were all somewhat relieved that the journey was over (albeit for different reasons) - for me it meant no more driving, for H that he could escape from his five hour confinement with his mother and her friend, and for HMG that finally there would be an end to me trying to point out landmarks and describe the scenery in the pitch black!

There is always the warmest of welcomes awaiting me at my sisters house, and tonight was by no means an exception! With the race early on Sunday morning, it was decided that this evening was really the only time to celebrate, accordingly the Prosecco was poured, the crisps were opened and our 10K preparations began! When, at around 1 o'clock some sandwiches appeared it was clear that we were taking our carb loading seriously, besides which it would have been rude to do anything other than tuck in!

A far later night than I think any of us intended, yet still not long enough to spend in each others company after what has been too long, we retired to our beds, thoughts of going to Greenock parkrun in the morning having long since gone out the window, although discussed at one point to at least make it feel like we were considering it!

M - 584
HM - 142
Glasgow  - 2
Total Distance covered  260.1 miles

Simple Minds

Perhaps come Sunday we will Sparkle in the Rain!

Taking a leaf out of Tuesday's book, I ran this morning before I had chance to change my mind.  At a distance of two miles it was, as I remarked to sisterofMG750 barely worth putting my running kit on for, but hastened to add that I wasn't planning on running kit off! Heaven forbid... but it has jolted my memory back to Edinburgh and that awful moment when I realised that the most fundamental part of my running kit hadn't been packed and am pleased to report IT IS ALREADY IN MY BAG! There will be no under wired injuries this weekend!

Despite the glorious weather I didn't enjoy the run much.  Sluggish, laboured and leaden I dragged myself round the shortened route, glad to be home and in the shower within the half hour.  Not sure what was up, but I did suggest to Halfmarthongirl (who had also had a bad run this morning) that perhaps the distance was just too short, and that we'd no sooner started to warm up when it was time to cool down! SisterofMG750 also dragged herself round today, and I'm hoping that Sunday is better for all of us, like a bad dress rehearsal foretelling a good opening night.

After posting my blog yesterday I went on the Great Scottish Run site to submit my message of support, and thanks to those who did likewise.  I am not sure if you wrote your own or used their 'Inspire Me' button which brought up a suggested message, one of which was about chaffing (quite literally a bit too close to the bone!).  But it has got me thinking about what to say on my message to Halfmarathongirl.

I think there is a bit of fun to be had here.... because there is also a half marathon being run on Sunday, one of two things (or possibly both) could happen! Firstly, if I reference you by your pseudonym you may well attract either some interest from the spectators and other runners as they look to see who it is that's done so well to get round the course so quickly (the half marathon sets off after us) and why you're not Jo Pavey! Secondly it might cause a moment of panic by the organisers of the Great Wall as to why your chip is picking up messages for a half marathon runner!

Puts me in mind of the time that Al and I ran the Jane Tomlinson 10K in York way back in 2010 and I was very tempted to swap our running chips over so that he'd get my time and I'd get his! What is it they say about simple things....

M - 586
HM - 143
Glasgow  - 3
Distance covered 2.6 miles
Total Distance covered  260.1 miles

The Great Wall...

... of Glasgow?

I have received an email from the organisers of Sunday's race advertising the latest technological breakthrough, whereby messages encouraging runners to keep going can be submitted in advance and will be displayed on a big screen for the runners to see and spur them on as they run past. The really clever bit is that these messages will be triggered by the running chip on our shoes so they will appear at the right time for the runners to see their messages.  I am actually quite impressed by this, but can't help feeling it might have warranted a bit of a better name than The Great Wall of Support!

They have sent me a link to post on Facebook and Twitter, but I can't actually see how to do this without sending myself a message, which makes me wonder if I'm missing something or if the technology isn't quite as cutting edge as perhaps it could be! However, at the risk of feeling like Billy No Mates I will send myself a message so I can post the link.

What is less clear even than this, is whether or not the wall will be switched on in time for the 10K race which sets off first or saved for the main event, the half marathon.  I'd like to think that they are going to be supportive of those amongst us who haven't quite made the step up to half marathons YET (although we will be on day seven of training by then), but the information that messages can be submitted up until 2pm on the day of the race makes me a little skeptical.... my start time is 9.40 and even at our best brisk walking pace I don't think we'll still be on the course by two o'clock sisterofMG750.

But it has to be worth a go, and might even raise a smile in place of my usual running grimace, but having seen the weather forecast it looks set to be wet so I might not be able to see it through my rain streaked glasses... unless of course it really is a Great Wall and the letters are HUGE and I can read them without the need for specs! I'll keep you posted!

M - 587
HM - 144
Glasgow  - 4
Total Distance covered  257.5 miles