I haven't posted for ages

I haven't posted for ages but I have still been running.

I did a shorter lsr on saturday as I had Bexi ill all friday and friday night and had only got 5hours sleep. I was in Asda at 6am buying soluable paracetamol. I needed to get out there though to blow away the cob webs. I managed 6.5miles so not so bad.

It has been raining in Bristol all today but wanted to get out tonight so I went out intending to only run the 3mile route but once I got up the road I decided to go the other way and do the 4 mile route. then when I finished that I felt like I could keep going and I ended up doing just over 6miles in the end. I have to go to bed shortly as I am knackered lol. 12weeks to the half now.

Personal Best!

I'd been having a good old whinge to Ali about how my times weren't improving and if anything, I was getting worse as running. On Friday I tried to go out and do a fartlek run around the rugby pitch; I had a brisk walk down, stretched, belted down the short side....and then jogged, gasping, around the rest of the pitch, and then went home and ate a flapjack. It wasn't good. Alright, it was hot; and it was still a triumph because it's the first time since I started tracking my workouts that I've done one on a Friday. But still. Not good.

So today, I tried to do everything right for my LSR. I left it until 7.30pm when it was cool. I ate a roll with honey 2 hours earlier. I drank lots of water beforehand so I was well-hydrated. I planned my route - 6 miles, from Warmley to Bitton and then back along the cycle track where it was flat and shady. I took a brisk walk to the petrol station, bought some water and stretched.

And I think a combination of all those things was why I was so successful! I managed to run the entire 6 miles, non-stop, in 1 hour and 14 minutes. I have blown my previous PB out of the water! I am SO proud of myself!! I was euphoric when I finished.

My body wasn't quite so happy, though. As soon as I slowed to a walk, my legs seized up and went really heavy, but after 5 minutes of walking that improved somewhat (although I'm pretty stiff now). But when my legs calmed down, I got the dreaded stomach cramps. I honestly didn't think I was going to make it home; it was horrible. I was really surprised because I have a stomach of steel and I never get problems with it, but I guess I never run for 75 minutes either.

But anyway....today's stats - 5.94 miles, 1 hour 14 minutes, 621 calories burned. Yey me!

Sal xx

What a glorious run!

Well it has been a very hot week so I thought it would be good to be up bright and early on Saturday and get my LSR in before it got too hot. I was up by 7am and out by 7.30 :) it was still warm, even at that time, but there was a lovely breeze which kept me cool. I did my 8.5mile route again and it was great! I started off slowly and that really helped my legs keep going, infact I could have gone on a bit more at the end but I had already said that I didn't want to push myself too far and I want to get used to these longer runs so I stopped at 8.5miles. I had no tummy problems which was really great when I got home I felt so good. It was my best run in ages and I am now so positive about the half. BRING IT ONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!!


I didn't blog my thursday run so I will put a bit here now.

I ran 4.8miles but it was a very hot run. I went at 6pm but it was still too warm really. I also changed my route a bit and the last mile was up hill which didn't really help with the warmth lol. I think that it may have helped with my long run though.

I must get some new music on my MP3 as I am getting very bored of the stuff on there now. Infact I might pop off now and order the classic euphoria cd I was after.

Hot runnings

I went running yesterday too! But I didn't do as well. I ran round the streets until I crossed my usual cycle path and then ran the last bit down there because it was very shady. I covered 2 miles in 23 minutes, but my outer thigh muscles were killing me from the circuits class I did on Monday and my feet started to hurt. I don't think I should delay my trainer shopping much longer. So, I walked home and had a really good stretch in the garden where it was cool!

I wish I could run in my Shock Absorber bra top and a pair of shorts. I am too shy about my stomach though. That is an incentive for sit ups if ever I heard one.

All those who think Ali should come to circuits with me on Mondays to improve her arm muscles, comment here!!

Sal xx

It's rather warm this evening.

Bexi was poorly at school today so didn't dance this evening. This wasn't good for Bexi but was good for me as it meant I could run. I ran for 4.8miles this evening all with no tummy cramps, YAY! It was warm though and I was sooooo thirsty when I got back. I need to sort out some new music, I am looking at the classic euphoria CD as I think that would be good stuff to run to.

No press ups tonight as I am doing it on alternate nights, I will do it tomorrow :)

My guts are blugh!

Well I ran on Wednesday and I ran 5.2miles in 42minutes. Which was really good, according to map my run was 8.5mins per mile :0 However I had meant to run further but had to stop and get Scotty to pick me up because of the awful stomach cramps :S I then had a good running break until Sunday. I had my 8miler mapped but I got one turning wrong so I actually went for 8.5miles lol. I did it in 1h32mins at a speed of 10.5mins per mile, which I was happy with. I then walked home up that horrible hill and stretched outside. Then when inside I had a few cramps again....arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh This has to stop!!

I also found this good pace calculator.

http://www.mcmillanrunning.com/rununiv/mcmillanrunningcalculator.htm

ooo forgot to say. I have started doing some arm work from tonight, I am going to try and do it every other night and I will blog it to make sure I do! I want my arms to be a bit more toned and it wouldn't take that long if I did a few things a couple of times a week.

Do I get 2 stickers?

I have a sticker chart on my kitchen cupboard and I get a sticker every time I do a workout. Today I went swimming in the morning and running in the evening. I wonder if that means I can have 2 stickers. Each sticker is £1 towards a shopping spree. I reckon I get 2 today.

I haven't been so good with the runs this week. On Tuesday I had an abortive effort on the cycle path - I managed to reach my turning-back point in under 16 minutes, which was the fastest ever, but that was all I had and I had to walk all the way back, for fear of vomiting into a bush. I blame Pizza Hut; I ate their buffet at lunchtime and sometimes too much dairy makes me feel pretty ill. Then I did circuits as usual on Wednesday but I didn't run again until today. I should have run on Friday but I was too busy eating everything.

Today's text conversation -

Me: If I don't go for a run today, and that means I won't have run for a week, does that make me a bad person? I went swimming today and can do my LSR on Tuesday..
Ali: lol what do you want me to say?!
Me: Your silence speaks volumes. I'm putting my trainers on now.

And so I was out of the house, just as it started to rain, which was fab - I love the way the city smells when it has started to rain after a few days of sun. I avoided the cycle path tonight in the interests of...well, interest...and so I got some variation in incline which was good - one long steep hill and one short very steep hill, as well as the natural ups and downs of the pavement. I ran for 46 and a half minutes in total and covered nearly 4.5 miles. According to Map My Run, I was averaging 10 and a half minute miles and burned 600 calories. I am definitely getting faster.

I ran all the way up Orchard Road (the hill) and then down towards Hanham, and then turned right past the church and came out by the Co-op, and then I ran up to the ring road and along to Aspects, and crossed there, and ran up to Wraxall road and went under the underpass, up the hill and down Grimsbury Road and home. I had a few get-outs if I was really tired but if it hadn't been for the unpleasant thigh chafing brought on by wearing too-short shorts and the burn on my foot (from the heaters in church...perhaps it's the fires of hell reaching out for me) I would have gone on for another roundabout and done a circuit around the school - my old, old route.

I had to stop twice to stretch. The first time my legs had stopped before I knew what was happening; that was at 25 minutes, and then I stopped again at 38 minutes to stretch before the short steep hill. I paused the stopwatch for the stretches though, to get a clearer picture of how fast I was running. I wish I could go further, and longer, but must take it slow or I'll end up hurting myself.

I'm off to add the stickers to my chart!

Sal xx

A bank holiday run around!

I did a 45min run on monday and when I mapped it it said I had done 4.7miles at an average of 9.5mins per mile and burned 499cals. Although I did a mini trail run on the trail which is at the back of my house so that was 10ish mins extra and must have taken cals burned over 500 lol!

It was a pretty good run and I have also mapped an 8mile run, which I will be trying this weekend.