Diaries to the ready

OK so i've been off training for a few weeks now and it has taken its toll. Im now fat and unfit. More so than i have been in the last year so time to buck up ideas and get out there again. I dont know where it went wrong, all of a sudden i hadnt been to the gym or the Bowl of Hellfire in ages and i'd gained another stone... and that was weeks ago, before more gin and whiskey nights and before the unadulterated booze/burgerking exploits of Butlins!

Got dates in the diary for APRIL so calling all fat girls:

EASTER- who's free and when! Lets burn off those easter treats (that we've been scoffing since Feb!!)
Thursday 8th 7:30pm Ice Skating
Friday 9th 4pm The Bowl
Sunday 11th 10am The Bowl
Wednesday 14th 4pm The Bowl
Thursday 15th 7:30pm Ice Skating
Friday 16th 4pm The Bowl
Sunday 18th 11:30am Keddy Hall (Bluebell walk for £2.50on but great excuse to check out the terrain!)
Monday 19th 8pm Dancing wildly (but in sync) at Pipettes gig in Notts
Wednesday 21st 4pm The Bowl
Thursday 22nd Ice Skating
Monday 26th 4pm The Bowl
Wednesday 28th 7km strutt round Manc!

The journey ahead

A walk in the spring sunshine was irresistible this week despite the fact I was recovering from tonsillitis.
So with Vena in on the jaunt and a borrowed dog we set off on a little jolly. Well, not that little as it turns out. Actually near enough the 10km distance we've got to cover in the race come July.
We walked it while covering our usual range of topics (trains, Take That, old times on trains and with Take That, Richard Hammond, nights out and love lives) and we may have had a quick half in the pub midway. But now I've actually done the distance I must admit the race is feeling more daunting.
I know I have to grasp the training nettle and get on with building up my stamina and ability to actually, you know, run.
So, yes, overwhelmed by the task ahead again. It's a hell of a long way and just walking it in the sunshine, with friends, with no particular rush to get there or back left me feeling weak, tired and as if traveling around in a motorised armchair would be a pretty sweet way to live out my days.
But quitting is not an option...so on with the training. I think my overall lack of general fitness is part of the problem so I'm trying to build in swimming and cycling to the schedule as well as the walk / running. And say it very quietly - I'm giving the dieting thing another go too.
And every journey begins with the most hesitant, shaky, unenthusiastic small step right?
S C-P x

Team RFGR Loves RaceforLife

There are less than 18 weeks until race day now (18 July) and I can't say that any of us are training as hard as we should be. But our lack of physical effort is completely outweighed by our enthusiasm for taking part in Race for Life.

So when the Race for Life Get Social team asked "what do you love about taking part in Race For Life?" the team smiled and shared their reasons.

We've all got a personal reason and seen lives around us be touched by this disease. Raising funds to find a cure is obviously important to all of us and is the reason we all signed up in the first place.

Race day itself is full of emotion; that for me is part of the glory and the challenge. Reading the stories on everyone's backs is incredibly grounding, a sometimes harsh reminder that this disease is indiscriminate but those words are also an uplifting, intimate and unifying motivator to breakthrough personal barriers.

The other girls said the same, Vena Redshaw described her experience running with the Team in 2009: "I found it extremely humbling reading all the stories and felt like had actually achieved something important when I finished.

"The fact my best girls were there too was amazing, the healthy and the sick, all made me feel very proud of us as a team and friends. GO TRFGR!"

Kelly Race also joined the team in 2009. She said: "I love seeing everyone dressed up – young and old alike. It makes me smile."

So the team loves taking part in Race For Life because it bonds us as best friends together in silliness and a worthwhile cause and allows us to be with a group of amazing, inspiring and sometimes equally silly women all fighting this common foe in a way that doesn't even fill like full on battle.

In other news: We all got our numbers and packs this week and have made new resolutions to follow the training schedule included with them. In the meantime if you'd like to show me your support in a financial way you can join the fight against cancer by sponsoring me online!

S C-P
xxx

London Loves

I never thought I'd see the day when I said this but London has managed to raise itself from loathe to like in my 'favourite cities' list.

Why didn't I like it before? Well, it's the Tube you see. I am simply not a creature meant to be transported at speed, in close proximity to strangers, beneath the ground. And that can really ruddy put you off a place.

But today I did the city a different way (and there is a Team RFGR point to this!); I walked.

Arriving into St Pancras station I had an hour to get to Barbican for a workshop I was attending. TfL journey planner gave me an estimated 25 mins on the dreaded Tube while a walk was estimated to take 40. A peek outside showed a favourable Spring sky and air as fresh as it can be in Kings Cross. I loaded up iMapMyRun on the new iPhone, stuck some tunes on (somewhat unimaginative of me but went with Blur) and off I went down the Pentonville Road.

Winding my way along to Angel and then down through Islington I really enjoyed the hotch potch architecture and effect of new buildings leaning on new. And strolling through Smithfields market, although it was way past it's rush hour, was pretty cool.

My heart was thawing for this city and I admit, it was a little disappointing to reach Barbican (great, brutal, 'cities in the sky' buildings) seemingly so soon. I perked up though when I realised I was not only far more relaxed than on usual trips but that I'd completed a 1.96mile route (and only 15 mins slower than if I'd gone underground).

I was so pleased with how well this had worked for me – no panicky escalator rides down, down, down into the depths or confusion about which line I needed or pushing or getting in the way – I decided to reverse it all and head back to St Pancras on foot at the end of the workshop.

So I've completed nearly 4 miles walking today and learned to like this place a little more. I also proved to myself that being busy or away from home for the day doesn't have to mean I'm entitled to excuse myself from training. It might not have been a run but it's all counting toward being able to make it round that ten km route come July.

I'm chalking today up as a good day – and thinking about when next I can come back and explore more of the capital on foot.

S C-P x

A Cautionary Tale

DO NOT go shopping after a really long and dull day at work, you will find yourself compelled to spend money you dont really have on things you never even knew you wanted.

For example. After a long and dull day staring at code, frozen progress bars and debug messages i thought i'd pop to IKEA on the way to Sarahs. After all i need a sofa bed still and some light bulbs. Whilst i'm over that way i thought, i'll just nip into Decathlon and see if they do sports bras. BAD CHOICE.

Short of it is that i never got to IKEA. I spent over 2 hours in Decathlon and spent £70 on things i didnt even know i needed. And i forgot to even look for sports bras!

So now i have to take training more seriously because i've spent money on it, which i guess is a good incentive but one my bank balance could've done without. The only worrying thing is i need to return a few items because they were damaged (in my frenzied end of day shopping state i forgot to check for pulled seams etc) and im worried i might spend even more. It was only because i had my hands full already that i didnt come away with a HRM, GPS, bike, boots, jacket, day pack and archery set! If i can find the will power not to purchase these things when i return then maybe i can find the will power to train harder, better and faster!!

Pause

Im having a pause in training. I havent done anything since bake day. Or did i go for a 5k jog? Oh i cant remember seems ages ago now. Did go ice skating on Thursday evening and that was hilarious. Was shitting myself to start with, its been YEARS since i last went and i remember spending most of that clinging onto the sides. This time i was with Mackenzies, Tim and Nick and it was great. I fell over in quite an understated and yet really retarded fashion, i also managed to get round without holding onto the sides or stopping so quite chuffed. Sarah did really well too seeing as it was her first time ever on the ice. I think there'll definetly be other times, hopefully we'll make it a regular thing as it was really good exercise. I felt great the day after but really really aching on Sat!! Muscles that i never knew existed in my legs hurt and my arms feel like they should be black and blue. Hopefully some rowing and weights at the gym tomorrow will help me stretch out and tone up. Fingers crossed!