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