Day 620

HA! Just read last New Year's Eve blog entry and there's more than a little bit of it that still holds true!

In some ways I have come so far...  Barnardo's did accept me for a charity place, the fabric did come out of the cupboard and get fashioned into bags - which sold!  I made it round my first half marathon and a further two, and I'm finishing 2015 with a further 600 training miles under my belt and scarily 116 days to go!

Less impressive was the paragraph about my hip, knee and ankle pain which I was going to sort by paying heed to the advice I'd been given!  Could have written it today, which is a little sobering and I think has confirmed my decision that getting myself marathon fit is going to be my only goal come the start of the next 100 Day Challenge tomorrow.

I had such grandiose plans to clean and tidy and sort my life out so that I finish the marathon and use it as a spring board into the new me, not going to be much of a arrival if I don't finish, and even less of one if I can't start!

So.... looks like it's the same resolution as last year - more focussed, less stressed and take it one run at a time, apart from tomorrow when we're running two - but with the addition of GET IN THE GYM AND GET ON WITH IT!

London -115
Total Distance covered     1046.1 miles

Day 619

1.  My sister has gone home again :(

2.  But it did give Al and I the opportunity to sit on the sofa and binge watch 'The Bridge'.

3.  It wasn't how we'd planned on spending the day, but it was just what we both needed.

4.  H's birthday tomorrow....

5.  Tree down as quickly as it went up, and Christmas is over for another year!

London -116
Total Distance covered     1046.1 miles

Day 618

1.  If yesterday's run with my sister and niece was a rare opportunity it was nothing compared to the chance to go into Leeds with them and be ladies who lunched...

2.  and shopped!

3.  I have been thoroughly spoiled by my sister - thank you!

4.  That's it! No talk of running, no thinking about running, no visiting running shops....

5.  Although come to think of it, I did glance in the direction of the Sketchers shop and dream of some new trainers that I love as much as my previous pair!  Once an addict always an addict!

London -117
Total Distance covered     1046.1 miles

Day 617

1.  Keen to get back into her marathon training my sister suggested a four mile outing this morning, with her and my niece.

2.  Keen not to disappoint and very much wanting to make the most of a rare opportunity I agreed despite my leg really not being in the best of form.

3.  Very glad that we went.  It wasn't easy but I took the opportunity to try and see if I could adopt a different running style that would alleviate some of the issues I'm having with my IT band.

4.  Not sure that I really got it sussed but I didn't have to stop which was the main thing, it also hasn't seized up completely so I'm hopeful that even though it isn't great it isn't as bad as it has been before!

5.  Under the circumstances it might have been prudent to withdraw from the 'sprint to the finish' race but never one to turn down the opportunity for some healthy competition off we went.  Running along side my niece to begin with, I then felt how people competing against Mo Farah must feel when he just ups the anti and accelerates away from them! Am not even going to suggest that if my leg had been better I'd have been in with a chance!

London -118
Distance covered                     4 miles
Total Distance covered     1046.1 miles

Day 616

1.  Gorgeous morning for a run - all eleven miles of it :)

2.  Made even better by the company of fellow parkrunner! 

3.  My right leg wasn't quite as enamoured with the time or distance and really started to complain around the nine mile mark. A bit of side stepping and I managed to keep it moving for the final two miles but I have no idea how I ever run 26!

4.  But hey seventeen weeks to get to a point where I HAVE!

5.  My sister and family are here! Lovely evening en famille xx

London -119
Distance covered                 11.2 miles
Total Distance covered     1042.1 miles

Day 615

1.  Might be Boxing Day but it's Saturday which can only mean one thing... parkrun!

2.  Very very wet. Very very glad I'd already offered to volunteer.

3.  I love it. Even in the  pouring rain. I love the different perspective it gives you.  If my training goes according to plan I'm hoping for the opportunity to do it more regularly on the run up to the marathon.

4.  I say if, because my right leg really isn't right and it's starting to play on my mind.  Can't help but feel like I've a bit too much riding on this and I really don't want to be injured, not least because I've the small matter of eleven miles to run in the morning.

5.  Haven't had much chance to read but on first glances it would appear my new tidying book is suggesting a complete blitz - I would have run for poncho cover but the wool is going back (let's just say there was a reason it was in the sale! ).

London -120
Total Distance covered     1030.9 miles

Day 614

1.  Not overly impressed with my wish to have all five of us at parkrun this morning,  C would have much rather stayed in his bed. But he came and he ran and he made his mother happy.

2. Not having run in a while we all stuck together and ran with him - until the last when H beat Al (and Dougal) in a sprint for the finish - way to go H! (Sorry Al). 

3.  My mum (and she may not be alone) thinks we're mad for running on Christmas morning, Al did point out that some people go for a swim in the sea or Serpentine - so we're not as mad as some.

4.  C was given the option of switching to this activity next year if he really hates running so much.  

5.  I am hoping against hope that he doesn't call my bluff! 

Merry Christmas!

London -121
Distance covered                    3.1 miles
Total Distance covered     1030.9 miles

Day 613

1.  Getting to bed at 2am and being in the supermarket to do the food shopping with no list at 7.30 was a bit of a grim start to Christmas Eve!

2.  All day I kept thinking that soon there would be a chance for a snooze but still the jobs just kept coming.

3.  We've wrapped, delivered, cooked and chauffeured....

4.  If I just get this finished and that present I've just remembered is hidden somewhere found and wrapped I think we might be ready for Santa to arrive! 

5.  Otherwise he'll just have to wait til after parkrun!

London -122
Total Distance covered     1027.8 miles

Day 612

1.  The weather was so nice Mr L and I decided to go for a walk with the dog together instead.

2.  Slight running guilt but haven't seen enough of each other to spend a precious hour in each other's company headphones in trying to get these lazy legs round five miles.

3.  I do think my leg is getting better for the reduction in miles recently and am starting to get a little apprehensive about eleven miles on Sunday!

4.  News from FMG is that her leg is on the mend too so hopefully it won't be too long into the New Year before we're pounding the streets together again!

5.  Truly lovely evening at some of our parkrun friends. Good food, great company and a much later night than I should have had given my early morning supermarket plans for tomorrow! Thanks for inviting us SC xx


London -123
Total Distance covered     1027.8 miles

Day 611

1.  Hmmm not sure my memory of today is much better!

2.  I think it's fair to say my days are merging together in a sort of pre-Christmas blur!

3.  Slowly slowly bit by bit I think I am edging ever nearer to being ready! 

4.  But there is a real danger that I've done my usual and think I'm better organised than I am - guess only time will tell!

5.  Decided against running today, the weather was so horrid. But there is sunshine on the way tomorrow!

London -124
Total Distance covered     1027.8 miles

Day 610

1.  Writing this on Wednesday after half a bottle of Bucks Fizz and I have absolutely no idea what I did on Monday!

2.  I didn't run, I didn't go to the gym, I didn't even walk the dog but as to what I did do?! 

3.  Perhaps I spent my day foam rollering and doing my corrective exercises...

4.  I know unlikely! I certainly wasn't cooking... Al did that and he excelled himself in the master chef department!

5.  The day remains a mystery but the evening was spent with good friends, eating delicious food. We have so much to be thankful for. 

London -125
Total Distance covered     1027.8 miles

Day 609

1.  I have found a new book on decluttering which has been highly recommended and added to my Christmas list!

2. What with this, my planner and my 'Artists Way' creative block (find out what I want to do) book - there should be no stopping me in the New Year!

3.  Clearly terrified at the prospect I have also impulse purchased a poncho knitting kit so I can bury myself in my knitting and forget about everything else! 

4.  Fair enough - but a poncho?!! Who knew?!! 

5. Another year gone, another BBC Sports Personsality of the Year, another chance to sit and get emotional looking back at sporting achievements... but this time with the added edge of hoping that next year I'll be watching with my marathon medal round my neck, figuratively speaking - honest! (although  it is a nice mental image!!) AND two new mantras courtesy of A P McCoy and Adam Peaty "Make the Sacrifices" and "Let's Have This" - going to be a good year.

London -126
Total Distance covered     1027.8 miles

Day 608 - Parkrun 100

1.  HALF A MILLION PARKRUN METRES!!  I have joined the 100 club!

2.  It was a good morning.... there were three of us running our 100, two running their 100 at Dewsbury, and two joining the 50 club.  Of these six other runners, I am lucky enough to call five of them friends.

3.  In the end the rain stayed away but having tidied the house it seemed a shame not to make the most of it and so a few of us came back here instead.  More relaxed than I am in the cafe with Dougal trying to sit on my knee and H trying hard not to spend the whole time looking like he's ready to leave, it was a lovely way to mark the occasion that I've spent two days of my life running to achieve.

4.  Said it before but it needs saying again...  I am so grateful for what parkrun has brought to my life, it is the mechanism through which I turned sporadic appearances at 10K races into regular weekly running which in turn has led me to believe that I can achieve my marathon dream and notch up a trio of half marathons along the way.  But so much more than that it has brought with it the most wonderful support network of friends and I am especially lucky because Al, H and occasionally C are part of that too, meaning my family are embodied in our wider parkrun family which is a very special place to be.  The last song is for all of you, and especially Al - thank you for being there when I've needed you. I hope it's been reciprocal.

parkrun 100 - 2000

5.  Tidy house - tree's up!

London -127
Distance covered                3.1 miles
Total Distance covered     1027.8 miles
Gym Attendance = 12 (Target 20 by Christmas! Ha! Ha! Ha!)

Day 607

1.  Better day today.  Thank you Mrs J for your timely suggestion to walk the dogs together this morning.  Lovely as always to catch up, good to vent about Wednesday and get things into better perspective.

2.  The marathon will be what I make it.  I don't think I'll be attending the training day, nor will I be running the 26 miles looking forward to the Barnardo's after party, but thankfully Team Marathongirl750 will be there instead and we're going to have a great time and savour every mouthful of those marathon mojitos!

3.  The realisation that no one else is going to make this happen for me was enough to get me day dreaming of battling against the adversity of it all and hitting the gym with a new passion and focus and drive to succeed.

4.  It remained a day dream!

5.  BUT the house is tidy! In anticipation of wet weather for my parkrun 100 tomorrow I have invited our friends back here for coffee afterwards instead.  Thank you Mr L for stepping up and helping when it was the last thing you wanted to do on the first afternoon of your Christmas holidays.  I am aware that I am a nightmare to live with - I love you for coping with it so admirably!

London -128
Total Distance covered     1024.7 miles
Gym Attendance = 12 (Target 20 by Christmas!)

Day 606

 OK so about last night.....

 For the most part the 30 or so of us who had turned up (out of a possible 130) sat around the perimeter of a conference room making polite conversation with the people next to us, luckily for me this was FMG and a perfectly pleasant man who ran the Great North Run last year and who's training is going well.  Less lucky for the girl sat opposite us who was sandwiched between two blokes discussing their training at length and bestowing the virtues of a recently purchased foam roller.

After about an hour of talking amongst ourselves, oh and FMG solving the conundrum of how to get the mulled wine out of the tea urn when the volume isn't sufficient to pour out of tap and one sip later wishing she hadn't, it started.

An introduction, a pep talk from Snowy - an 1972 Olympian decathlete, previous Barnardo's boy and friend of Daley Thompson who will take the training day (which incidentally will concentrate on how to warm up properly because Snowy has never run a marathon, at 71 and with two replacement knees is never going to run a marathon, and thinks we're nuts for even thinking about it), a brief insight into the work carried out at one of their centres by an employee and fellow runner, an opportunity to write a good luck message to ourselves in a book and, approximately twenty minutes after it began, it was finished.  As motivational, get to know each other and feel like you're part of a team events go it was about as flat as the deflated balloons they had lying on one of the tables.

Bottom line, I'm going to get to run the marathon and children in need of help will have benefited because of it, but I'm struggling to disassociate last night from the marathon itself and feel that all my illusions about how exciting it will be have been shattered.  An email in from Barnardo's today saying how lovely it was to meet us yesterday (by which read hand us a name badge) and a request for any suggestions as to how they could improve the event.  In my current mood I thought it best to refrain from replying!


London -129
Total Distance covered     1024.7 miles
Gym Attendance = 12 (Target 20 by Christmas!)

Day 605

1.  Our day in London so very nearly didn't happen - we missed our train!  Luckily for us (less fortunate for others) a lorry had caught fire on, and subsequently closed, the motorway a picture of which had made it onto social media, so the very kind people at Virgin East Coast believed us when we said we'd been caught in traffic and let us on the next train.

2.  Love going away with FMG for a number of reasons, amongst which is her willingness to accompany me to whatever veggie restaurant I can find! Today's was amongst the best we've been to, and a great start to our time in London.

3.  Next up was some Oxford Sreet shopping which finally got me feeling Christmassy!  The decorations were just magical....

4.  Less inspiring was the Barnardo's Christmas Meet Up!  Of all the weird and wonderful places we would visit along our road to London 2016 who would have thought that this would have been amongst the strangest!

5.  Actually I think FMG and I had slightly more than an inkling that it might have been, given the lack of organisation to date, but I think it surpassed even our expectations! (Writing this four days later and I still words fail me!).

London -130
Total Distance covered     1024.7 miles
Gym Attendance = 12 (Target 20 by Christmas!)

Day 604

1.  On a day when the weather looks like this...

Dougal's response to "Run?!!" is 

2.  Bugg*r off!!

3.  Which echoed my sentiments entirely so we went for a walk instead! 

4.  I have convinced myself that this is in my best interests and I can practically feel my leg getting better from the rest - I can't - but I just couldn't face it after Saturday.

5. Off to London tomorrow to meet with Team Barnardo's! Very excited and also very tired! I may get onto the train and collapse out of relief at having got through the past couple of weeks - on the other hand FMG and I might just chat all the way there and shop till we drop all afternoon...

Better head for our obligatory cake fix on arrival to help with the energy levels - good job I've found just the place!


London -131
Total Distance covered     1024.7 miles
Gym Attendance = 12 (Target 20 by Christmas!)

Day 603

1.  Second only to not having one at all, our Christmas tree must be amongst the easiest to put up yet still it lives folded up under the bed!

2.  I just don't seem to be able to find the time, mainly down to the fact that I'd like the house to be tidy first.

3.  But if I stick to that plan we run the risk of not putting it up at all!

4.  Might have had more chance of being able to do something about it if I'd actually been home for a large chunk of this morning but instead I found myself going on an extended dog walk much to Dougal's surprise and obvious delight...

5.  Burst of energy? Leg feeling better? Mince pie to walk off?! Not at all (well OK yes to the last one) but much more a case of the longer I was out there the longer I could put off doing anything else!

London -132
Total Distance covered     1024.7 miles
Gym Attendance = 12 (Target 20 by Christmas!)

Day 602

1.  Slightly stressed and a tad emotional getting C onto his train bound for Oxford this morning.

2.  Picked H up from a sleepover on the way back from the station and had the pleasure of his company whilst walking the dog.

3.  Meanwhile Al was out with parkrunfastfinisher running the Leeds Christmas 10K. 

4.  Proud of you Mr L xx

5. But.... How much sports kit washing can one family generate in a weekend?! Oh for a couple of days where we could all stay in our pyjamas!

London -133
Total Distance covered     1024.7 miles
Gym Attendance = 12 (Target 20 by Christmas!)

Day 601 - Parkrun 99

1.  Running in the pouring rain at temperatures a little above freezing is not for the faint hearted - but isn't enough to deter the parkrun addicts amongst us!

2.  Nor was it enough to stop this marathon girl from running a further six miles home! But I wish it had!

3.  Early morning chauffeuring duties meant that we ran at one of the Leeds parkrun's, then dripping wet we got into the car and drove a little over a mile up the road, at which point I had to get out of the car, back into the driving rain and embark on my longest and steepest uphill ascent ever, it was just grim - BUT I DID IT!!


4.  At one point I thought I was going to have to call into a shop and ask them to tie my shoelace which had come undone as my hands were so cold my fingers could barely move - thankfully I managed it.  I did on more than one occasion think of phoning Al to come back and rescue me but I doubted my ability to both extract my phone from my 'flipbelt' and have enough warmth in my fingers for it to register a swipe (if that is how it works?!)

5.  An utter nutter?! Perhaps.... but one who doesn't have time to run at any other time this weekend and needed to get nine miles in, and also one who is on her ninety ninth parkrun and wants to run her 100th next week! And so although the title may be a little ironic given today's weather, here is the penultimate song - I hope I'm in the category of interesting middle aged people who still haven't worked out what they want to do when they grow up!

parkrun 99 -1999

London -134
Distance covered                 9.7 miles
Total Distance covered     1024.7 miles
Gym Attendance = 12 (Target 20 by Christmas!)

Day 600

1. I found my planner!! It promises much... By completing each stage I will laying the foundations to achieve self mastery, reach my goals and find and follow my purpose!! Watch this space!

2. Watch out world! If it delivers all it claims to, it might not know what's hit it! 

3.  In reality it might take more than a book - even a very aesthetically pleasing one! 

4.  But if its commitment that's required then surely I must be in with a chance?! After all it's Day 600 today and I'm still going strong(ish!!).  Thank you to all those who have read even once - but a HUGE thank you to those who have read them all. 

5.  Nice walk with FMG and sisterof today, always nice to see them, but sat at home feeling a bit like Billy No Mates this evening as Al is out with friends from work and the majority of my running friends are at their running club Christmas Do.  Almost enough to make me think about joining but the thought of being organised enough to get there on a Tuesday or Thursday evening is enough to keep me at home! Although maybe once I've got my new planner...!!
Congratulations on the silver wear fellow parkrunner x

London -135
Total Distance covered     1015 miles
Gym Attendance = 12 (Target 20 by Christmas!)

Day 599

1.  An advert popped up on Facebook first thing this morning for a rather exciting looking planner, lots of coloured sections and pretty looking pages.  By the time I had decided this was the answer to all my prayers the ad had changed and I couldn't find the company again.

2.  I then spent every available minute this morning trying to remember what it was called and typing various word combinations into google to see if I could find it, all unfortunately to no avail...
BUT I did call into our local stationers this morning and purchase an alternative.  Very functional and a bit drab but I'm hoping it will do the job - besides which I have coloured pens!

3.  So busy was I daydreaming about how productive this is going to make me, and how organised my life will become that I forgot I was supposed to be taking a friend out for lunch!

4.  This then led to a frantic rush to finish cleaning the bathroom, spilling bleach on my favourite navy top in the process, a mad three mile dash with Dougal to get his exercise in for the day (I say mad dash - it wasn't nearly as fast as I would have liked!), and an abandonment yet again of any jobs that actually make me feel like I'm heading in the right direction.

5.  I'm still formalising my goals for next year - but being more organised has to be one of them!

London -136
Distance covered                3.7 miles
Total Distance covered     1015 miles
Gym Attendance = 12 (Target 20 by Christmas!)

Day 598

1.  The 100 Day Goal has finished and I smashed my target of selling 39 bags by an additional 11 which, added to the 18 already sold when I started, makes a grand total of 68! Along the way I completed a 6 week mindfulness course, made some purses, threw a whole three bags of clothes out of my wardrobe and finally got round to tackling the blanket! Yet still I feel flat...

2.  The fact that it didn't lead on to anything is disappointing, in that there is no longevity in a business that relies on friends to purchase, and the absence of an internet sale to a randomer will haunt me either until I make one (on some different venture in the future) or as I suspect for many many years to come!

3.  That is unless I remember to start practising the self love that I learnt on my course! So it's focus on the good and learn from the bits that have made me sad! Onwards and upwards to the next 100 days which kicks off 1 Jan - for anyone wanting to join me click here!

4.  In the end I didn't get all of my jobs finished. Settling down to make cards for my dad that aren't needed till Monday, I decided that I'd had enough of my arbitrary milestones and it was time I went back to the gym to put some work in on running past some very real ones!

5.  Not sure even I can count an hour with the Biomechanics Man as a gym appearance - but at least I now know that the pain in my leg is a secondary issue stemming from poor rotation at my hip and ankle and if this time I actually do the remedial exercises past the point where the secondary issue disappears - I should be fine!

London -137
Total Distance covered     1011.3 miles
Gym Attendance = 12 (Target 20 by Christmas!

Day 597

1. My leg is still sore - so I took the advice I would have given anyone in the same position and didn't run today.

2.  Consequently this week's 'run' picture looks like this

3.  I have had a busy day trying desperately to finish my 'to do' list by the end of the 100 Day Goal by tomorrow.

4.  Going to take a bit of doing but I'm hopeful I'll get there...

5.  That said I did remove any reference to 'pre Christmas clear out' from the list a couple of weeks ago.  I think this may be cheating, so as a cautionary measure I have made sure that all evidence that it was ever on there has been destroyed... just as well I didn't mention it on here! 

London -138
Total Distance covered     1011.3 miles
Gym Attendance = 12 (Target 20 by Christmas!)

Day 596

1.  Sometimes even with the best of intentions choices have to be made.  It would appear that my attempt to get to the gym a further 8 times before Christmas is not going to happen.

2.  I've moaned far too much about going for anyone to seriously think I'm bothered - but I am. It feels like I'm admitting defeat and that if I only tried harder or was more organised or put it higher up my list of priorities then I could make it happen.

3.  But the truth is that the priorities that need my attention right now aren't mine - there are family needs which have to take precedence. I am needed elsewhere and suddenly finding the resolve to exercise that has alluded me all year isn't really fair. 

4.  Besides which there is nothing to stop me from doing my exercises at home - thereby saving travelling time - other than the fact that I can't be ars*d! Clearly my desire to be at the gym is directly related to the fact that I can't go!!

5.  As for my desire to run....well, whilst FMG is busy changing her FB profile picture to a running top that reads "I don't run to win races, nor do I run to get places.  I run to escape this world. I run to find peace within myself. I run to feel free, and I run to feel strong" Mine would currently have to read "I run because otherwise I'd have to walk the dog!" but oh how I'd like a week off from both!

London -139
Total Distance covered     1011.3 miles
Gym Attendance = 12 (Target 20 by Christmas!)

Day 595

1.  Help! I feel like December has arrived and swallowed me whole! I just need the world to stop spinning for a day or two to give me time to catch up.

2.  Actually could I make that a month?!

3.  My anxiety levels are going through the roof and poor C is bearing the brunt of it.  With so much going on that is outwith my control, I have decided to home in on those bits that are, or potentially could be, consequently I'm barking questions about whether he's done X Y or Z in rapid succession and then getting stressed when it turns out he's opted for A B and C instead!  As if an Oxford interview wasn't stressful enough for the poor boy!

4.  I have apologised and warned him that I'm likely to get worse over the course of the week and just to take me with a large pinch of salt.

5.  Al has had his head in pile after pile of books marking all weekend.  I know it's not how he would have chosen to spend his time, but headphones in, lost in his own world was possibly a nicer place to be.

London -140
Total Distance covered     1011.3 miles
Gym Attendance = 12 (Target 20 by Christmas!)

Day 594 - Parkrun 98

1.  I am starting to feel the toll of sticking to my training schedule and being so close to my one hundredth parkrun... I want a day off yet there isn't one coming!

2.  My time round the park is getting slower again and although I may well have to accept this as inevitable as the distance starts to increase it isn't getting any easier to come to terms with. 

3.  My right leg is doing its best to give me no choice but to slow down. I've done something to my hamstring and ignoring it over the past week has not made it go away.

4.  Huge congratulations to Mr L and Dougal on another PB this morning! Al is a little gutted that it is exactly the same time as C's - but not as much as he'd be if he'd been a second outside it.

5.  Didn't get the time I'd hoped for with Al today... And so for the sentiment and the dream of having some time alone together with nothing to do but be still and enjoy the surroundings here is my song for 1998 - just a shame you'll hate it Mr L.

parkrun 98 - 1998

London -141
Distance covered                    3.1 miles
Total Distance covered     1011.3 miles
Gym Attendance = 12 (Target 20 by Christmas!)

Day 593

1.  Finally an anxiety dream I can relate to.... my house is a tip and we're going to be late for school!

2.  Thankfully when I came downstairs the reality was somewhat tidier than my 'dream' house!

3.   So much so that I seem to think I have nothing to do today! I met FMG for a walk this morning, which was lovely, and I had been to the supermarket before that, but since getting home at about 11 I have drifted around not really aware of what I am or should be doing...

4.  Catching up on yesterday's blog, it wasn't until I copied and pasted the countdown from the bottom to update that I even remembered I was member of a gym, let alone that I was supposed to be there this afternoon!

5.  Busy weekend ahead of us, but I'm hoping that Mr L and I can find a bit of time to spend together.

London -142
Total Distance covered     1008.2 miles
Gym Attendance = 12 (Target 20 by Christmas!)

Day 592

1.  I don't get it! Why is my recurrent anxiety dream about being disorganised packing up after a holiday! I'm not going on holiday, it's not an issue that I'm going to have to contend with, and even when we went on holiday it wasn't a issue then!

2.  Why I'm having anxiety dreams in the first place is no surprise at all!

3.  Sitting in the cafe last weekend after parkrun we were discussing the annual 'There will be Fire' event at the park this coming Thursday, and how nice it would be to meet up and enjoy the 1000 flaming candles, 21 floating water lilies and 10 animated fountains whilst listening to the sound of harp and saxophone being played live and enjoying the festive aromas of cinnamon and cardamom from the burning spice tree...  Fast forward to today and instead of the above I find myself negotiating the joys of rush hour travel getting H to and from a casting audition in Manchester city centre at 5pm.

4.  Sitting in the waiting room and I got a phone call from C to say he's got an interview at Oxford #proudmammydoublewhammy!

5.  As the opportunities available to them just keep expanding there will be 12,000 children leaving care this year because they are too old to stay in it any longer, the majority have no families and nowhere to go.  This ladies and gentlemen is the answer to your question "Why Barnardo's?"

London -143
Distance covered                   5.4 miles
Total Distance covered     1008.2 miles
Gym Attendance = 12 (Target 20 by Christmas!)

Day 591

1.  Despite all my best efforts not to get stressed by Christmas, I'M STRESSED!

2.  For every step I take towards getting organised for it, I take another equally large step away from getting the house sorted.... there just doesn't seem to be time for both.

3.  After the high of yesterday I came down with a bit of a bump today.  It would have been very nice to have had time to sit and reflect on where I'm at and how far I've come but that would require space in my head and there's not a lot of that going spare at the moment.

4.  I hate the way that this time of year seems to gather it's own momentum. I'm not ready for the next few weeks to fly by, not least because then it'll be 2016 and the marathon will come hurtling towards us!

5.  I am already a little concerned about the effect it has had on MG150 - when asked what she would like for Christmas the reply came back as 'a running hat' which is basically combining two of her least favourite things in one!  Tell me you've given up wine sis and I'm taking you to see someone!

London -144
Total Distance covered     1002.8 miles
Gym Attendance = 12 (Target 20 by Christmas!)

Day 590 - One Thousand Miles

1.  Title of my blog is wrong. It should read "Parkrun to marathon in 735 days (a journey of a thousand miles - and counting!) as I ran my 1000th training mile today!

2.  Almost didn't go but Mr L has taken to running before work twice a week and the running guilt I experience on his return is awful!  He gets up and goes whilst I'm still best part asleep and by the time I wake up I'm already beating myself up for not having been even though I had no intention of going till later! 

3.  No playlist mishaps for today's momentous occasion - Vanessa Carlton's '1000 miles' * added to the playlist and then an order worked out so that it would play at the right point! Told you Spotify membership was a procrastinator's dream!

4. An unexpected, but very pleasant opportunity to stop and chat to Mrs J almost scuppered the plan but I managed to stop both music and runkeeper and re-start - clearly  on fire today! 

5.  Or perhaps not... All the occasion needed now was a 1000th mile selfie... 

* Click here to listen!!

London -145
Distance covered                 4.4 miles
Total Distance covered     1002.8 miles

Gym Attendance = 11 (Target 20 by Christmas!)

Day 589

1.  Note to self (and any other dog owners) if you can't face going out in the rain to pick up the poo from the garden it is your own fault if the dog stands in it.

2.  Further, if you then let said dog upstairs and onto your bed without checking his paws you have, as the saying goes, made your own bed but I strongly advise against lying in it!

3.  Needless to say my morning was quite literally a bit sh*t.

4.  But despite loosing my window of opportunity for an early morning trip to the gym (it's a close call to which I'd have rather...  gym versus jobby) I made time to go later in the day. 10 more appearances before Christmas - the challenge is on!

5.  Nothing quite like the feeling tonight of getting into a freshly made bed with crisp clean sheets - almost worth it!

London -146
Total Distance covered     998.4 miles
Gym Attendance = 11 (Target 20 by Christmas!)

Day 588

1.  On Friday I had an email from Pinterest entitled "Declutter by December"  Four days?!! I don't think they understand the size of the problem!

2. SisterofMG750 (or rather Marathongirl150!) on the other hand has had first hand knowledge and was keen to remind me of it this morning! Less than impressed with my goal for the day being to hoover the stairs I found myself agreeing to start tidying my room and vowed to throw three things out - which I was made to increase to four! 

3. Al did ask if a pair of shoes would count as two and if they were in a box was that three?! But in fact I found a whole lot of stuff bound for the charity shop which made exceeding my target easy! 

4. I have a suspicion that my actual clothes hanging in the wardrobe are next on her hit list, and I have visions of her coming to inspect at Christmas in a Trinny and Susannah kind of a way, whereby she pulls things off rail, looks despairingly at it and then me before chucking it in a 'get rid of ' pile, whilst I stand protesting about how I can't possibly face life without that particular ten year old cardigan that never suited me when I bought it yet I'm still wearing it every time she sees me!

5.   I did wonder how I was going to be made to pay for her running the marathon!

London -147
Total Distance covered     998.4 miles
Gym Attendance = 10 

Day 587

1.  Doesn't matter how long you spend constructing a playlist - if you don't select it, it doesn't play!

2.  Didn't need it anyway for the first part of today's run - FMG had leant me a book which I'd finally finished and we were happily jogging along discussing it in true book group style (she says without ever actually having been to one!) when her leg started playing up and we'd to abort our plans of running to parkrun together and call Al to pick her up on his way, whilst Dougal and I hot footed it to get to the park on time.

3.  Arrived, handed Dougal over to Al, then had to watch as the pair of them sped off into the distance and a new PB for both of them! Well done Mr L - 23.27 a whole minute quicker than H and I managed today.

4.  Hope your leg gets better soon FMG and good luck with not running on it for a while... 

5.  For all the minor set backs we've already survived and for those that have yet to come between now and April here's this weeks pick of the pops....

parkrun 97 - 1997

London -148
Distance covered                    7 miles
Total Distance covered     998.4 miles
Gym Attendance = 10 

Day 586

1.  Despite writing up my to-do list this morning I don't appear to have done very much...

2.  I've had one of those days where everywhere I turn there is evidence that I've been there as I leave a trail of half finished jobs in my wake! 

3.  A rare opportunity for a mid week catch up with fellow parkrunner providing the ideal excuse to leave it all behind for a while. 

4.  The fire lit late afternoon and the chance to curl up with Mr L - and it was left behind for the rest of the day! 

5.  I did manage to sign up for three months premium Spotify for 99p whilst being productive (!) this morning and have been busy constructing a playlist! At the moment this has just been deleting the tracks I don't like from one I've been listening to, but I can see hours of fine tuning ahead - it is a procrastinators dream! 

London -149
Total Distance covered     991.4 miles
Gym Attendance = 10 

Day 585

1.  Ran another route in reverse today...

2.  It's quite a strange experience because your favourite bits (downhill) become your least favourite and vice versa. 

3.  So much so that trotting along gathering speed on a new downhill section I was enjoying myself so much that I completely overshot the turning and had to run on till I came to an alternative which then entailed an extra uphill section to get back to where I should have been! 

4. It may be a while before I have another wrong way round week.

5.  You'll note I didn't say back to front - I feel so disorganised at the moment I don't know which way I'm supposed to be going! 

London -150
Distance covered                 5.1 miles
Total Distance covered     991.4 miles
Gym Attendance = 10 

Day 584

1.  Fifteen months ago I met a woman whilst walking the dogs who was a piano teacher and I was going to try and start playing again. I haven't, but I met the same woman again today and when I used the marathon as my excuse for doing nothing about it, she immediately asked for my fundraising details so she could donate.

2.  This level of kindness from someone I've met only once before sits at one end of the feel good spectrum today... My second meeting with the dietician sits at the other.

3.  I have no idea what I've done for her to so obviously dislike me, but fear not! When the discussion into how my milk free diet has helped but not cured the problem led onto the option of a fairly strict restrictive diet I jumped at the chance as soon as I heard the words "I'd have to refer you to another dietician...!"

4.  So for a short while I can relax my milk free status, and eat as many chocolate biscuits as I can cause next up amongst a whole list of other things is wheat! Good job I bought a jumbo pack!

5,  Because I want the day before the marathon to be 1 (as in M minus 1) today is M minus 151, but at the same time there's 150 days until the marathon! C has tried to explain the maths of this to me but I didn't really get it... suffice to say THERE'S 150 DAYS TO! Consequently the first fifty flags on my countdown bunting have been coloured in and I can report that I've run on 17 of them, been to the gym 11 times, just walked the dog 10, done exercises at home as well as walk 6, just done the exercises twice and done jack sh*t on four consecutive Sunday's! Not for much longer though... the long Sunday runs are looming!

London -151
Total Distance covered     986.3 miles
Gym Attendance = 10 

Day 583

1.  Heading out for my run this morning and I just couldn't face it. I could picture the route unfolding in front of me and I was at a total loss for motivation... so I decided to run it in the opposite direction!

2.  I know that if I start and finish at the same point then the elevation loss and gain must be equal, both in terms of the individual run and whichever way I run round the route, but it felt like a lot of uphill running!

3.  I have however convinced myself that this is really good marathon training! As I generally run on my own, or am chief route setter then I almost always run routes that I like, which isn't preparing me for the the long stretches in London that are less scenic and perhaps will be quieter on the old supporter front! Today was about finding a rhythm and just keeping going, one foot in front of the other until the hill was climbed and the route was run.

4.  Came home absolutely awash with post run euphoria! Picked up an email as I walked through the door inviting me to take part in an ultra run starting in the South Downs and finishing on the steps of Winchester Cathedral and found myself daydreaming about it in the shower! Acknowledging that next June might be a little soon after the marathon to run two more consecutively (although I can have an overnight stay in between the two if I choose!), I opted for June 2017 and started planning my trip, being reunited with my friend who works at the Cathedral as I crossed the finish line and popping to see C at University afterwards...  For someone who didn't want to run five miles I'm not entirely sure where the notion to run fifty came from, and don't worry sis I won't be asking you to join me!

5.  Took a while for me to remember that my friend works at Chichester not Winchester and with a rather large amount of relief (and the tiniest twinge of regret) I can put that particular dream back in it's box!

London -152
Distance covered                  5.2 miles
Total Distance covered     986.3 miles
Gym Attendance = 10 

Day 582

1.  The trouble with feeding your obsession is that nothing else gets done whilst you're doing it!

2.  So after finishing the blanket this morning I spent the rest of the day trying to get up to speed with at least knowing what it was that I should have been doing! 

3.  I decided that this was a higher priority than going to the gym! H agreed with me, I think mainly because having finally got round to putting the contents of his bedroom floor into the wash basket he's hoping that they might make their way back out of it before he runs out of clothes! 

4.  Determined to get as much as Christmas organised as I can by the end of the 100 Day Challenge - 16 days left it's going to be a busy couple of weeks.

5.  I am very pleased with how well the blanket - or double bedspread! - turned out, and once I take the all left over bits of T shirt to the charity shop rag collection tomorrow I will be very pleased to have my house back. Although you have to know that I did deliberate over whether or not I could find a use for T shirt scraps before deciding that they had to go! 

London -153
Total Distance covered     981.1 miles
Gym Attendance = 10 

Day 581

1.  A little word of warning to anyone reading who thinks they won't be tempted to up their distance (you'll notice I'm mentioning no names fellow parkrunner!) the response to my very first FB post about running the marathon went like this...

me: I may live to regret this.... (posts first blog)
sis:  Seriously?????
me: Yep! Figure it's now or never
sis:  Then I think that the response to your post is.... yes you probably will!! And as much as I love you the next response is.... no I am not going to join you!!!
Ladies and gentlemen may I introduce you to Team Barnardo's latest recruit for London 2016 - sisterofMG750!!!!

2.  Thank you sis! I know you're doing this for me and I love you for it, but I hope somewhere along the twenty six miles and all the training to get there you do at least some of it for you.

3.  I have a sneaking suspicion however that despite how much you love me, I might not always be your favourite person over the next 154 days! (I should also warn you that it might be 153 - I think I've got the number of days wrong, which isn't such a problem now but I'll try my best to correct before it is!)

4.  That said you'll note I've not added in any days on which you might curse me after the 24th April! 

5.  I'm not going to try and tell you that you'll get into your training, or that you'll love it in London - but I know you well enough to know that we have the same bloody minded streak and if that's all there is then that will be enough!  Besides which I'm excited enough for both of us!!!  (and FMG has more than a little to spare too! xx)

London -154
Total Distance covered     981.1 miles
Gym Attendance = 10 

Day 580 - Parkrun 96

1.  Very very cold parkrun this morning - or as coined by our friend parkyrun!!

2.  Thought I was the first lady home again but no! I was second, but so far behind the first that she'd finished, left, and was probably already home by the time I crossed the finish line! 

3.  Not that anyone will ever know - a problem with the timers meant we were all awarded a time of 59.59. Oh how glad am I that this didn't happen last week! 

4.  Thrilled to be sharing the winners podium with fellow parkrunner! Well done on your bronze medal (if only they were real!).

5.  Al spent the day at the Leeds Juggling Convention... Which makes it a year since we were there face painting and kiddy crafting FMG! Very glad that that stage of our fundraising is over and yet at the same time would have swapped my day of non stop chauffeuring for sitting adorning faces with flowers and sparkly bits! Missed you today Mr L and for that today's song is for you, but because this version was actually released in 1995 (although still in the charts in 1996) it feels a bit like cheating so I've included a second one, also for you, the first dance at our wedding albeit some 12 years later!

parkrun 96 - 1996 (take one)

parkrun 96 - 1998 (take two)

London -155
Distance covered              3.1 miles
Total Distance covered     981.1 miles
Gym Attendance = 10 

Day 579

1.  Really frustrating day - by which I mean I only managed to find one free hour to sew.

2.  Could have found another this afternoon but I went to the gym instead! 

3.  I will always be able to find excuses not to go - but they aren't going to get me round London. 

4.  So I managed 10 gym appearances in the past four weeks. Which given my previous record is pretty good going and on a previous reward scheme would have earned me a top! 

5.  No such incentives this time round - the prize this time is seeing the Mall at the end of twenty six miles still on my feet! Question now is do I set myself a lower - and more achievable - target for the next four or push myself that little bit harder? Hmm might need to think about that one! 

London -156
Total Distance covered     978 miles
Gym Attendance = 10 (target 12 by 20 November)

Day 578

1.  Having spent years avoiding making the blanket for Al's friend - I am loving it! To the extent that it has become my latest obsession.

2. Forget tidying the house I haven't even stopped long enough to clear the table I'm working on! But as it grows in size it is only a matter of time before I'll have to! 

3.  A new business venture in the making... Blankets from old running T-shirts?! I had thought about it but I don't think so! If making bags wasn't commercially viable that was nothing to the hours this is taking! 

4. Did stop long enough this morning to go for a run but I'm not sure I would have done if I hadn't already arranged it with FMG.

5.  Just realised I haven't stopped long enough to have a cup of tea which is unheard of! Time to get the kettle on me thinks - could just sew another couple of lines first though....

London -157
Distance covered               5.1 miles
Total Distance covered     978 miles
Gym Attendance = 9 (target 12 by 20 November)

Day 577

1.  C may well have given me an 'A' for attendance at the gym, but I'd have been lucky to get anything higher than an 'E' for effort from the Biomechamics Man this morning!

2.  For some reason he didn't seem overly impressed with my forty minute foam roller and stretch program!! 

3.  A trip to the post office this morning to pop the last of the 39 bags from my 100 Day Goal in the post! Whoo hoooo!!

4.  Attempting to balance the books this afternoon I spent a lot longer than I should have done trying to locate a 'lost' bag. I checked my maths, I looked back through old text messages to see if FMG had sold an extra one, I replayed conversations with her in my head about how many we had left, and just as I was about to give up and try and live with the anomaly in my spreadsheet I remembered - I took one!

5.  Made a tentative start on the blanket... 5 pieces sewn together 46 to go!

London -158
Total Distance covered     972.9 miles
Gym Attendance = 9 (target 12 by 20 November)

Day 576

1.  In a dilemma this morning about missing my gym target... I kid you not! Really wanted to make it, but there was just too much to do today that would serve me better, and so reluctantly I have let it go.

2.  C was very helpful in helping me reach this decision and running through the different options with me.  In the end I think I'll settle for 10 out of 12 (if I make it) and try harder next time! For which I will be awarded an 'A' with a target grade of 'A*' apparently!  

3.  Lovely run with Dougal this morning before the rain came.  Remembering that today was photo day I stopped to take a picture of what was at one point going to be Sid's tree only to find it's been felled! Just as well he's still in his vase! 

4.  Had a fairly productive day but seem to have only scratched the surface of what needs to be done. Writing this at 7.30pm  - let's see how much I can get done before writing point five at 10pm. Which kind of depends on whether can drag myself off the settee before I fall asleep! 

5.  Four jobs on the list.... one ticked! But it was a biggy!! T-shirts now all placed and sizes worked out and measurements checked. Now the fun (or not!) part of trying to actually make them the right size!

London -159
Distance covered                 5.1 miles
Total Distance covered     972.9 miles
Gym Attendance = 8 (target 12 by 20 November)

Day 575

1.  I have bitten the bullet! The T-shirts have had their initial cut and lay out... Had to do it in two sections having run out of floor and was relatively pleased with how it had gone until I realised that when added together it was three metres long which isn't going to fit on many beds! Think I'd better start again and try laying it out actually on our bed instead.

2.  I have sold another couple of bags! The lady who had received my bag in the £15 Swap had mentioned buying them for Christmas presents so I sent her some pictures of what I had left and she chose two.

3.  Before you congratulate me on my proactive behaviour it has far more to do with avoiding having to go back on Etsy than anything else. Still whatever works! 

4.  First gym session of the week completed... the attempt by one of the owners to high five me on the way out the door was somewhat disturbing.  I think he must have mistaken me for someone else.  As it was I had my hands full of car keys, phone, and gym bag so it didn't really work.  I don't think he'll try again.

5.  Utterly exhausted.  Fell asleep on the settee writing this earlier but didn't want another day to pass before I caught up... so here it is.  I'm up to date.  Night night!

London -160
Total Distance covered     967.8 miles
Gym Attendance = 8 (target 12 by 20 November)

Day 574

1.  Live life to the full?? I've done bugger  all today!

2.  In fact to quote a friend - I'm surrounded by can't be ars*ed! 

3.  Not all bad though! Lovely catch up with fellow parkrunner over coffee this morning. Only dawned on me that we could have gone for a run as she was leaving!

4.  Starting from tomorrow I now have to go to the gym everyday to reach my target by Friday...

5. Don't wish to sound defeatist but I'm not sure I can see it somehow.

London -161
Total Distance covered     967.8 miles
Gym Attendance = 7 (target 12 by 20 November)

Day 573 - Parkrun 95

1. GOLD! Always believe in your soul   You've got the power to know   You're indestructible....

2.  I did it! First lady home!! The gold medal is mine!!!

3.  It matters not that is was a seriously depleted field, nor that if I'd only run 3 seconds faster I could have gone sub 24, nor that it may never happen again... today I was the fastest lady!

4.  I knew when I was running that there was a chance that I was, as I couldn't see another female runner in front, and this along with a new playlist and running a lot of the way in a pack with H, Al, Dougal and (albeit a rather hungover) parkrunfastfinisher kept me going! A problem uploading the results led to a rather anxious wait until early this evening but thankfully for me and H (who got a PB) they came eventually!

5.  Finding a song for today has caused me a certain amount of deliberation when what I've written above is put in the wider context of the day we learned of the terrorist attacks on Paris.  Trying to find the words to write about why I settled on this has taken far longer than it should and I've still not come up with anything I'm happy with.  As a mum I didn't really know what to say to H this morning on our way to parkrun except to live his life to the best of his abilities, to make the most of the opportunities that come his way, to be true to himself and be happy for as long as he is able...

parkrun 95 -1995

London -162
Distance covered                 3.1 miles
Total Distance covered     967.8 miles
Gym Attendance = 7 (target 12 by 20 November)

Day 572

1.  Ha! Ha! I've sewn my last bag.... a commission in this afternoon and my ego is sufficiently stroked to make another!

2.  In the absence of a better plan of where to start with the dreaded blanket, I spent the morning ironing the T-shirts, staking them into a neat pile and photographing them! Not sure how this actually helps other than to create a sense of order before I start (I would say attacking them with a pair of scis*ors - but I've been here before and the scissor police will stop me posting this!) cutting them up!

3.  Far from the most productive of days - was too tired to go to the gym first thing this morning, didn't make it this afternoon, planned and then didn't do my exercises at home, before settling on going to the gym before parkun in the morning...

4.  Except it doesn't open in time... but I didn't check this until just before I went to bed!

5.  The day wasn't a total write off however, as well as T-shirt stacking and gym avoidance (which lets face it I achieved in style) FMG and I are off to London a little earlier than planned for the Team Barnardo's Christmas get together! Long way to go for a couple of hours, but we may have just booked our trains to enable us to get a bit of shopping in too... which is handy as seeing as my Christmas sorted by the end of October deadline has been and gone, the 16th December sounds like an ideal alternative!

London -163
Total Distance covered     964.7 miles
Gym Attendance = 7 (target 12 by 20 November)

Day 571

1.  A friend of mine once told a story about driving in California and ignoring the 'Road Closed' signs till he came to one that said 'Road Really Closed' - I could have done with a sign like that today (or perhaps just paid attention to the earlier signs?) instead of running towards the closure and discovering a little too late that they meant it!

2.  In truth they might have let pedestrians through but there was no way Dougal was going to trot past unperturbed whilst the road was being resurfaced! 

3.  Didn't enjoy the route particularly but I do love running down roads I've never been down before! I think I'm going to have to try and find some alternative routes to explore...

4.  Busy day at the sewing machine finishing the bags (for the second time!).  That's it!! I really am done now! 

5.  With the bag sewing that is... huge 'blanket from old juggling convention T shirts' project to begin once I've got my head round where to start, and caught up on all the bits I've avoided doing all week.

London -164
Distance covered                    6 miles  
Total Distance covered     964.7 miles
Gym Attendance = 7 (target 12 by 20 November)

Day 570

1.  A couple of months ago I signed up for a stall at a 'Shop Til You Drop' event at a casino in Leeds. I had heard nothing since and had been in complete denial. Neither finding out if it was still on nor deciding to cancel.

2.  Tramping around the woods at lunchtime after a particularly fraught morning I get an email saying how much they are looking forward to seeing me this evening... Oh for the blissful ignorance of my days before a smart phone! 

3.  I had at that point, 3 bags, 4 purses, a dozen greetings cards, and some half finished crocheted snowflakes! A very frantic afternoon, 2 bags and 15 finished Christmas decorations later I made it! 

4.  Among the first to arrive I selected my pitch and set up my stall, opting for a large table instead of setting up my clothes rail (in case of the need for a quick exit... must have seen it coming!). Thought I'd chosen well until Anne Summers set up next to me! Not sure how I was supposed to compete snowflake versus sex toy...

5.  In the end it didn't matter that their glittery handled whip out sparkled me there was no one to see it! Two hours I sat there and the only 'customer' was a mad old woman who came up and kissed me (for fear that her lovely kisses should go to waste), at which point I beat a hasty retreat, packed up and came home!

I'm a charity fundraiser GET ME OUT IF HERE!!!!!!

London -165   
Total Distance covered     958.7 miles
Gym Attendance = 7 (target 12 by 20 November)

Day 569

1.  Boys dropped off at school, by quarter to nine I was outside waiting for the fabric shop to open! 

2. Question is did I: a) just buy enough fabric to make the one bag I have an order for; or b) somehow come away with enough material for a further five?!

3.  Let's just say that I spent all afternoon cutting fabric! 

4.  Didn't exactly get all the housework done before I started - but I did go for a run first!

5.  Finally a break in the clouds!  Warm and very windy Dougal and I made slow progress on our five miles - but we did  it! First run of week 3 complete! 

London -166
Distance covered                 5.2 miles    
Total Distance covered     958.7 miles
Gym Attendance = 6 (target 12 by 20 November)

Day 568

1.  I can have as many good intentions as I like but if I can't actually put them into practice they won't do me any good at all!

2.  To be fair I didn't do nothing today I was just busy doing other things.  No jobs ticked on my to-do list, no gym, and guess what?! I missed them both!

3.  100 Day Goal Challenge is entering it's last 30 days... Two days to get straight and then I'm going in all guns blazing for the last four weeks! 

4.  Going to have to reassess my Goal though... 

5.  An order in from FMG this evening and I'm back off to the fabric shop in the morning!!!

London -167
Total Distance covered     953.5 miles
Gym Attendance = 6 (target 12 by 20 November)

Day 567

1.  All good things must come to an end - sister and nephewofMG750 have returned home :(

2.  But not before our Sunday morning catch up! 

3.  Having put the Etsy question to bed I think I should have spent a little longer on the answer to "What now?!" I might then have avoided saying for the umpteenth time that I was going to tidy my house and bypassed the inevitable response of  "You've been saying that for how long?!"

4.  Except this time I think I mean it!

5.  What is the point of running the marathon to end up at the same point as where I started? How good would it be to finish with all the old clutter and excuses that go with it gone?!

London -168
Total Distance covered     953.5 miles
Gym Attendance = 6 (target 12 by 20 November)

Day 566 - Parkrun 94

1.  I want a different hobby! One that does not entail getting up early on a Saturday morning to go and run in the rain! And when I say rain I mean rain!!

2.  Two weeks of going to the gym and I'm getting slower... this was not the plan! May have had more to do with my glasses being misted up on the inside and wet on the outside, with too many fallen leaves making the path a little treacherous to run 'blind' - but I'm blaming the gym. 

3.  Slower than I'd like to have been or otherwise parkrun 94 is in the bag! And for the hours and hours over the past two and a half years spent running round Crow Nest Park here is 

parkrun 94 - 1994

4.  Half of our extended parkrun family on tour, FMG poorly and the rubbish coffee at the recently taken over cafe meant that we left my sis to have a long lie and opted for the option of coming straight home afterwards. Just didn't feel right - but sitting around in very wet kit might well have felt worse! 

5.  Lovely afternoon with Al and my sis enjoying long overdue post half marathon mojitos - better late than never!

London -169
Distance covered                 3.1 miles
Total Distance covered     953.5 miles
Gym Attendance = 6 (target 12 by 20 November)

Day 565

1.  Thank you Biomecanics Man for having the good grace not to keel over at the shock of seeing me in the gym at half six this morning!

2.  It would appear that my self imposed gym attendance target is working.

3.  Wish the pre-Christmas blitz was going as well...

4.  So far I've only managed some recipe books and the aforementioned nail varnish! 

5.  But for today (and the rest of the weekend) I don't care... sisterofMG750 and the rather tall and handsome nephew thereof too are here! Smiley smiley smiley face!!

London -170
Total Distance covered     950.4 miles
Gym Attendance = 6 (target 12 by 20 November)

Day 564

1.  What a difference a couple of days and the company of FMG can make to a run!

2.  Tuesday's run was hard work and the last mile especially felt like a really long one, by comparison today's run flew by and felt like we'd just got going by the time we reached home - lets hope we feel the same way when the mileage starts to increase!

3.  Forgot to set my running app and haven't remembered to charge my Garmin in weeks so I had to map our run on the computer when we got home. Quite a strange experience, clicking my way around the map not remembering large chunks of it. This may in part be down to the fog and the fact that we couldn't see much of where we were, but I think it was far more likely to be down to the chat. Thank you for your company FMG - been far too long since we ran together. 

4.  For someone who wasn't in the mood to cook, I'm not sure why I decided to bake brownies, lentil croquettes (nicer than they sound) and Christmas pudding.  Actually I do know why, we had nothing for tea, the pudding is for my sister to take home with her, and the brownies are milk free and my alternative to chocolate digestives for our pre breakfast tea and catch up on Sunday....

5.  If it's been too long since FMG and I ran together, it is nothing compared to how long it's been since I've been able to say "SisterofMG750 arrives tomorrow!!!!" More than just a little bit excited at the thought of seeing you sis xx

London -171
Distance covered                 4.8 miles  
Total Distance covered     950.4 miles
Gym Attendance = 5 (target 12 by 20 November)