Slight return

A bad workman blames his tool and a bad athlete blames her sports bra. And her stupidly thermal jogging bottoms. And possibly the contents of my Shuffle too.
But these are but excuses and things that I mutter about, barely keeping my angry ramblings out of ear shot of other gym goers. The truth is, and this I must face, is that I was not born to run. I'm not even sure I was born to jog. I may be destined for more of a stumbling pace and gait.
I've not trained since Lauren and I (with honourary Fat Boy Michael and the toddler) braced ourselves against the elements of HellFire around a month ago. Life has conspired to make it far to easy for me to find a reason to duck out.
This morning though I forced my Fat Girl ass out of the house, through the sunshine and into the artificial ambiance of the gym.
I then proceeded to walk / run / jog / wheeze for 15 minutes in which I completed a paltry 1.6km. Using my (shaky at best) mathematical skill I calculate that this still brings me in around the 50 minute mark for the full 5km (ok, you got me, I didn't calculate that at all I guessed). I rate myself Poor to Lame.
Race day is eight weeks today (which means I hit the big 3-0 nine weeks today - there is nothing positive about this post). I'm not sure how I will manage to get any faster or any more stamina but I'll give it my best.
If you sponsor me I will try to be better than my best.

Tactical training: Liverpool

Team Run, Fat Girl, Run Tactical Team Training Liverpool

This was the training session which nearly wasn't after much trouble with original plans, coordinating the diaries of eight social butterflies and then last minute illnesses.
But in the end, half of us got there. And we had a wonderful time!
Toni, Lauren, Kelly and Sarah headed up to Liverpool with the sunshining and the laughter filling the car. We managed to get to a car park without much trouble and headed into town and straight into Primark.
We checked out options for race day outfits and think we have finalised the theme but then the shopping was verging on the practical rather than the tactical. So, off we headed, down Matthew Street where we were enticed into Reminiss - the '90s bar. Neither the music or the decor was from the '90s so it was all a bit odd. One quick (soft) drink and off we went again.
A brief, lustful, glance in the window of Vivienne Westwood and then comedy photos with the statue of John Lennon before wombling off in the direction of Pier Head. We admired the architecture, we wondered at the marvellous weather and how quiet it was down there. Then we realised we were hungry so headed down the waterfront to grab some nosh at Albert Dock.
Here some serious team work went into devouring scrummy food and chatting away as a Fat Girl supporter (hello Sefton) put in a cameo.
Then we were off again and took in the culture of the Tate (not all rules were obeyed): a forthcoming team activity to look out for is our entry to the Turner Prize, we could so win that baby.
We all enjoyed the Saturday Night Fever-style dancefloor in one of the exhibitions, especially as we were given headphones and encouraged to dance! There is no greater joy for a Fat Girl than a dance and certainly training would not be real training without it.
We headed back out of town through the revamped streets distracted by spotting Lauren's sock soulmate and some amazing shoes.
Then it was back in the car for a candy cigarette and a game of top trumps and home.
A long but lovely day in Liverpool. We just wish the other Fat Girls could have come too...next time ladies!

Support Katie's Midnight Walk!

All our Fat Girl followers have been very generous in supporting us as we undertake Race for Life but we also want to remind you we are supporting Katie's Midnight Walk.
The walk takes place on Saturday 20 June in Somercotes, Derbyshire and is memory of Katie Taylor and raises funds for research into Malignant Melanoma.
Katie was my husband's cousin and died last June from this form of skin cancer. She was 15 years old.
Research now shows that one in 50 people will contract a melonoma during their lifetime and so this research and quest for a cure is invaluable. It may one day help you or someone you love.
If you'd like to join us on the walk we'd love to see you there! It starts at midnight (you might have guessed from the name ;-D ) from St Thomas Centre in Somercotes. If you're unsure then get in touch and meet up with the Fat Girls first (our team theme is neon so we're easy to spot wombling about in the dark).
Or, even if you can't join the walk, please consider making a donation. You can do this online through the Katie's Midnight Walk Just Giving page.
You can read Katie's story, and the story of her family, on the website they set up.
Cheers muchly,
S-CP x