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

Good Times Bad Times

[For the purpose of the following statement i need you to assume that training now consists of whiskey monopoly, Wii fit games a la whiskey, takeaways post whiskey and sleep deprivation]

It's been an awesome weekend of training!

Hmmm so maybe the training has taken a bit of a back seat to fun this weekend but I'm back on track now. In Fridays post i said I'd go to the bowl again that night but work scuppered my good intentions and i stayed at my desk till gone 6:30pm. I had been to the gym at lunch and done a bit of rowing and walking but found it surprisingly frustrating that i couldn't go jogging. Being a Fat Girl it's obvious these periods of enthusiasm don't come often and I'm only too aware if i let it slide it'll be harder to get off my fat arse the next day. Then came the weekend of anti-training and plans of a Sunday jog fell to the wayside. However i think if giggles and guffaws count then I'm ready for a marathon!

Monday was a total exercise fail as didn't get to gym and traffic stopped me getting to Sarah's in time for a jog. I did however have a good session of bopping and clapping at a really really great HotChip gig in Notts.

So with a steely determination to get this fat arse moving I went to the gym at lunch on Tuesday. Only to suffer another fail as it was closed! So Jane and I went for a brisk walk into the village instead, not much of a workout but better than vegging at my desk. I followed this with a 5k jolly round the Bowl later that night! I'm really getting into sunset jogging, it's really beautiful and if i didn't have to focus all my attention on keeping my legs working I'd take my camera along and show you. The skies were an amazing display of burnt amber and crimson, it would've taken my breath away if i had any left. The setting sun also helps keep me going because i don't want to be caught out in the dark half way round a big hole of water, that would be bad times!

So my 5k time on Tuesday wasn't anything special, but i did find it easier going than last week which must prove the faffing about in the gym is doing something. That or being sleep deprived and trying to hold a convo with your mum whilst jogging is the way forward. So even though my speed leaves something to be desired I'm pleased I'm getting out there and staying motivated. I just need to keep it up and hopefully I'll start feeling the benefits soon. That and some of my winter blubber should start shedding in time for a lean mean bikini summer!

P.S Tuesdays walk/jog was brought to you by the music from Maximo Park and the company via mobile of Mrs Mack and Mum!

Don't let the sun go down on me

Stupidly i weighed myself at the gym the other day. First time back to the torture chamber since Christmas and it showed, i was bloody knackered and the scales said FAT. This didn't help my mood, in fact i think it broke me. After a bit more melodramatic 'woe is me' tantrum i decided to pick my self up and shut up. Crying wasn't going to help anything and tears don't weigh enough to make a difference on the scales. So last night i laced up my running shoes and went to Holme Pierrepont for a jog after work.

It was a beautiful evening and although there was a freezing wind i soon warmed up after 5 minutes of fast walking. I even broke into a jog a few times and made it round in a time of 45 minutes. This was the time i managed a year ago when training started for the 5k. Since then I've lost 1.5 stone, got fit, got healthy, jogged 5k in 28 minutes, then stopped. Winter has been miserable, with darkness coming so early and crap weather i've done nothing. Im back to square one with an additional 0.5 stone to weigh me down. Oh well we all have to start somewhere and if i have to start from the beginning again so be it. Will power growing and stubborn determination back on track.

I'm planning to go to the Bowl of Hellfire again today, but I'll time it so as I'm not walking into the setting sun. The burning amber sky made the water look like the fiery pits of hell and running with bleeding retinas isn't too pleasurable, although that did take my mind off the fire in my lungs and the burning in my knees. And it's soooo much easier to keep good pace with pumping tunes, praise be to the Ministry of Sound and HotChip :D

Oh and I've just found out there's going to be a Race For Life Charity Single, if you want to be part of it and literally sing for your life go here, they're recruiting folk to sing on it all over the UK so take a look for when RFL scouts will be near you!

Exercise down south

So while I haven't been to the gym today i did walk from Dover to Folkestone and back again, i'm predicting that is about 8 miles in total. Im not saying i jogged it or walked any quicker than a stoned snail but it's better than nothing i say! I also went swimming.... well i ran in the English Channel, dunked my shoulders in, three breast strokes and then flapped out as fast as my frozen body could manage. Ursula Andress out of Bond it was NOT. Oh and i do have slight sunburn from today but compared to after the Hellbowl last year i'm still anemic !!!

Hopefully im going for another few walks this weekend and im staying off the booze so i should be able to hold my head up high and tick the 'exercise' box off my list of thing to do! Also looking forward to trip to Bowl of Hellfire on Thursday with Sarah (queen of all things), anyone else coming??

Katie's Midnight Walk - 20 June 2009

A little reminder about the other event the team is taking part in - Katie's Midnight Walk II.

Katie Taylor died in June 2008 from malignant melanoma, a form of skin cancer. She was just 15 years old.

She and her family and friends were already campaigning to raise awareness and fund research into the disease when she died and the first midnight walk took place just days after her death. More than 200 people took part and raised a phenomenal amount - more than £8,000. This is an important cause to the whole team but particularly to me (S-CP) as Katie was my husband's cousin.

This year the walk will be held again on Saturday 20 June - the first week of Melanoma Awareness Week and a few days after the first anniversary of Katie's death. Many of Team Run, Fat Girl, Run will be taking part and we'd encourage you all to come and join us if you can or consider making a donation.

The five-mile walk is in Somercoates in Derbyshire and begins at midnight - to follow the theme of melanoma awareness of going from dark into light.

Please take a moment to read Katie's story and find out more about the walk and how you can support it on Katie's website.

If you'd like to come and join us on the night walkers meet at St Thomas Hall, Somercoates at 11pm with the walk getting underway at 12 midnight. Team Run, Fat Girl, Run will be rocking a neon theme so we can be safe while walking about in the dark so feel free to neon-up and join our gang. We hope to see you there!

You can also join the Facebook group if you want to show support and get hold of a paper sponsorship form!

S-CPx