Come Fly With Me (Photos posted under June 9th Entry)

Today was a very exciting day.

At Christmas I bought the other half a voucher for a flying lesson as he is a complete planespotter.

Today he finally took his first flight and I was a passenger!

We went to Edinburgh Flying Club and had a briefing about how to control the plane and then got on board a 4 - seater Piper Archer, the instructor handled the take off and then did a demo before handing control to the Other half.

We went out to Stirling via the Falkirk wheel and then back to Edinburgh via the Ochils and the Forth Bridges. The sights were beautiful and I took loads of photos (published later) from the back seat.

When we got back down to earth it was off home for some lunch and then back on the treadmill - I had speed reps - 1 mile jog and then 6 lots of 5 minutes at 10mins/mile pace with a 1 minute recovery in between and then a final 1 mile jog. It was bloody hard but I think the jolt of adrenaline I got from the flight helped me finish ok.

See June 9th Entry for photos from todays adventure.

Lesson learned - Rest day means REST (See June 9th for Photos)

Oh I felt sooooo good this morning after my 20 mile mammoth run yesterday.

Legs felt good, really strong and overall I felt well rested.

As it was a sunny day I convinced the other half to take me out for a stroll around the Loch with the camera to take a few photos of the birds building their nests.

I did have a lovely time of it - saw a few moorhens, coots, great crested grebes and fed the swans (wholewheat bread as white apparantly gives them rickets). I posted photos from this visit on June 9th's blog entry.

After that we went to watch Wigan RL play against Salford City Reds - the first game with new coach Ian Millward. Finally there was a win for Wigan - 20-34 but it was a close shave of a match and was one of the most exciting I've seen for a while.

I still felt good after that so agreed to go out for another walk - still feeling strong.

After dinner however it all hit me like a lead balloon - I am shattered, completely exhausted. I couldn't get up off the sofa without a great deal of effort. I'm now off to bed to recover, cursing myself for failing to follow the rules - rest means rest!!! But I felt so good - deceptively so obviously.

Next Monday I really will rest up - it's my first day back at work anyway so I have no choice but to wade through emails and make phone calls all day.

20 Miles and a record breaking number of bowel movements

Today was hard.

After last week's 18 miler I decided to stick to the 6 mins run/1 min walk strategy and stock up on bananas for the journey.

I knew it would take a while but not quite as long as it did - 4 hours and 28 minutes later with 3 toilet stops en route.

Now I know that seems excessive but I didn't drink any more than usual AND I went to the loo right before leaving the house but after about 2 miles I desperately needed the loo, so I nipped into the local supermarket which I was running past and used the facilities. Thinking everything would be ok after that I went on my merry way, however another 6 miles on and I needed a pee, off into the bushes I went while the other half kept watch.

I managed to get to 15 miles before I needed to go AGAIN, this time I managed to find some public toilets on the route.

At about the 17-18mile mark my hamstring started to feel tight so I had a slightly longer walking spell but managed to pick it up for the last 2K and ran back into the town.

I was totally bushed when I got back and in a bit of pain, took 2 ibuprofen but after about an hour I was still suffering so I opened a merlot to go with dinner and felt better in minutes. I'm now basking in the post-run bliss of achievement. Apparently if you can make 20 miles you can make the 26.2, I remain dubious about this but I am at least 20 miles down.

Saturday nights alright

It was a pleasant day today.

This time we went shopping for running shoes for the other half. Although he is unable to run outdoors he is ok to run on the treadmill and I have been badgering him for some time now to get a decent pair of shoes to run in.

So we went into town and found a good pair for him at a pretty reasonable price.

I loaded up on pasta salad at dinner and then we watched the second part of the Dr Who episode we had seen the week before - very freaky and disturbing but I liked it.

We then took part in the test the nation quiz and got 59 right out of 70 which wasn't bad as the other half was well on his way to being inebriated before the quiz even started - I remained sober as I have to run tomorrow - 20 MILES!!!!! ARGHHHHHH.

Need to go get a good nights sleep before the BIG effort tomorrow.

A day off

Well today was my first real day off.

I was in a bit of a state - having gotten so used to going training I felt a little lost when I woke up and had no running to do.

It took me ages to figure out what I wanted to do with myself as the weather was wet and miserable so the obvious choice of the Zoo was out of the question.

In the end I went shopping for some new shoes - shoes are great things to shop for, no matter if you put on or lose a few pounds - the shoes still fit you and if you take good care of them then they will last for a long time - I still have shoes that I bought over 10 years ago sitting in my wardrobe. I only managed to find 1 pair I liked which was a bit of a let down but it was something.

In the evening the other half and I kicked back with a glass of wine and some chocolate and watched the latest "victims" enter the big brother house. The producers have excelled themselves this year - a fine bunch of misfits have gone in tonight.

As usual I'll let a few evictions go by before I get addicted to it, thats when the real dynamics are in place and you see the alliances and feuds start and everyone has picked their hot favourite.

Another 6 miles - eventually

Managed another 6 miles yesterday, with a few interruptions though.

I was meant to do 1 mile jog (12 minute/mile), 4 miles brisk (about 10-11 minute/mile) and then another 1 mile jog to finish. I got 1 mile jog done but then needed the loo urgently so I hopped off the treadmill and went to the ladies and jumped back on, got 2 miles brisk done and dropped the speed a bit so I could have a rub down as I was getting uncomfortably sweaty so I took a 2 minute walk break and started again. I got another 1 mile brisk done and then I needed the loo AGAIN! So I hopped off the ladies again and came back to do one more mile briskly and a final 1 mile jog. So I did eventually do the plan in one go (ish)

When I came back I had a lovely brie and cranberry sandwich (mmmmmmmmmm) and had another nosy at the Runners World Forum to see how everyone else is getting along and then tried to figure out what I wanted to do for the rest of the day.

In the end I decided I needed a rest so I nipped out to the shops for a few groceries to see us through to the weekend and kicked back with my new book "Mostly Harmless" by Douglas Adams - it's the fifth part in the "Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy" series of novels and I'm loving every minute of it, the only down side is that it reminds me once again how much the world misses Douglas Adams, I was truly gutted when I heard of his death.

So today I have a completely free day - no work, no running. I am debating whether a trip around the galleries at Glasgow would be a pleasant way to while the day away.

Best Day Yet

Wow yesterday was excellent!

Despite the pouring rain I had a great time.

I went to the gym as planned in the morning and rattled off another 6 miles at a slow pace (about 11.5mins/mile) which went really well.

I then came home for lunch and went out the Dobbies Butterfly World in Lasswade, Edinburgh. It's the perfect place to go on a wet or cold day and it's open all year round. I have been going there once or twice a year for three years now and it gets better every time.

I took the digital camera and my manual focus macro lens and got a few decent pictures which are posted below. I tried in vain to get a picture of the humming bird that they now have but it was too quick for me, still it was beautiful to watch it flutter about.

After dinner the other half and I met up with some pals at a local club to watch the Champions League Grand Final, what a match - it was AMAZING! I was totally spellbound. Such a shame though that it ended in penalties - at least it was a British team that took the trophy though.

This morning everyone is celebrating the win but also debating the fact that despite winning Liverpool have failed to secure a place in next years tournament as they finished fifth in the English Premiership and only the top four from each country can qualify. I do think it is a shame but then it's hardly fair for a team that qualified to lose their place to Liverpool and UEFA (The European Football Association governing the Champions League) can hardly allow an extra English team to join as this is an unfair advantage over the rest of Europe. It's a debate that will rage on and I just hope it doesn't overshadow the fantastic achievement they made last night.

Butterfly 4

butterfly 3

Butterfly 2

Butterfly 1

The holiday goes well

Today was the first training day of my "holiday" and it went well.

I got up reasonably early - 8:30am and had the usual porridge brekkie, tidied up a bit and headed straight for the gym.

I did 1 mile warm up in 12 mins then 4 sets of 10 minute miles with a 2 minute recovery in between and a final 12 minute mile jog at the end. I was starving and covered in sweat when I finished but glad that it went so well, especially on the back of a 18 miler only 2 days previously.

After showering and lunch I went for a spot of window shopping in town and ogled a few pretty skirts I fancy for my holiday in September (a real holiday in the sun for 2 weeks) I am doing my best to resist buying too many new things as I still want to shift another 7Ibs and I just know that the week before the holiday everything I have bought will appear in the sales anyway.

When I came home I chilled out with my new Nick Hornby book (first time I have ever read him actually and it's pretty good.) "A long way down".

18 miles of rain, sun, blood, sweat and tears

Today is the first day of my "holiday" - I say this in inverted commas as I am not exactly sunning myself for 2 weeks or putting my feet up.

As usual any time I take a break in Britain it's raining and today is no exception - it's heaving down so I am catching up on my reading after my wee spree the other day and trying to bring order to the chaos that is our blank video collection and just generally trying to chill after yesterday's mammoth effort.

I had been dreading the arrival of my 18 miler, no idea why I as I went through both 14 and 16 with no problems, I guess there was something about the idea of being on your feet for 18 miles that was sending my brain into panic mode.

As it was heaving with rain yesterday (as it has been most of the week in fact) I decided we may be safer taking the bike on the back of the car to the local canal and running out along the canal for 9 miles and then back. My theory was that the canal path drains well and given the weather it would be light on traffic. I was wrong about the traffic, it seems I am not the only nutter in the world.

Despite raining really heavily it had stopped by the time we were set to depart and was actually boiling hot when we left the house.

We parked in a quiet spot and set off westwards, I got about 2-3 miles along when I lost it, I have no idea why as usually this is not that bad, granted the first 3 miles are the worst but once you get through them it usually cools off and you find your "mojo". Not yesterday though, I was losing speed rapidly and in pain. I had to stop and I did stop. The other half asked me if I wanted to quit and try again the next day but the thought of being alone for 18 miles immediately put me off not to mention the fact that the training plan would be completely out of kilter.

I walked on for a few minutes and decided to try the 5min run 1 min walk method for a few miles and see how it went, well it went REALLY well. I was faster run/walking than I had ever been walking - at one point I managed a 10 minute 4o second mile (for me this is fast ok). There were a few set backs to it though as we had to cross a aqueduct which was cobbled so I walked over it despite it taking longer than 1 minute, it was painful enough to walk let alone attempt running, it was also very narrow and there was 2 -way traffic to boot.

We also hit a problem about 6-7 miles along, there had been an overflow of the canal and it was gushing today (thanks to the week of rain we have had) fast and deep, the other half offered me a backie on the bike but the side was a bit steep as it flowed down into a gorge, somehow I just didn't fancy taking us both to our deaths on that particular day so I waded through it and came out with soaking wet and freezing cold feet.

Just after that it started to rain really heavily - painfully in fact. The other half again offered to quit and turn back but we were barely another mile to the turn point so it seemed pointless - we would get just as wet turning back as we would if we continued so onwards we went.

The rain stopped again after only a 5-10 minute shower and the sun came back to beat down on me once more, drying my feet off just in time for me to wade over the overspill again and give them another soaking.

As I continued on the way back it got harder and harder to start running again after the breaks and I found myself needing a 2 minute break as opposed to 1 minute. As I approached the final 2 miles I had a major wobbly moment and wanted to cry. Unfortunately I had to walk the last mile entirely - I had nothing left to run on, I was feeling incredibly hungry and getting a headache. I tried a couple of times to run again but I could barely manage a power walk.

When we got home I felt sick and dizzy and had a smashing headache, as the other half was in a non cooking mood I relented and went for a curry at the local Indian - it was divine as usual but not so good for the weight management. The other half said I deserved it though.

Rest before the big one

I slept in until 10am this morning - just goes to show how tired I must have been this last week or two.

We had a fairly easy day of it - went out to the supermarket for the weekly groceries and some beer for the other half to watch the FA cup final - what a result! Who would have thought it would go to penalties! The other half was very disappointed, he was sure Man Utd would win and to give them credit they should have done the way they played during the 120 minute match time, bad luck to them that they missed a penalty.

We then watched Dr Who while enjoying a magnificent "mediteranian-style" spread that the other half put out - lovely pasta salad and red pepper salad mmmmmmmmmmmmm. Dr who was a fab episode, REALLY creepy.

Planning on an early night to save up energy for the 18 miler tomorrow - everyone tells me this in where I really feel it.

An end to the Work/Training slog

Ahhhhhhhhhh a half day today, and more importantly a half day Friday before a 2 week break!

Not exactly a typical break though, I plan to take the next 2 weeks off to concentrate on my Marathon Training without the distraction of work and the heavy travel associated with it.

I'm really looking forward to knuckling down to it and getting some quality sessions.

I've sent an email out asking people to sponsor me - I got my justgiving web page together and have emailed everyone in my address book. Some people have already donated which is brilliant, it will give me something to focus on during the heavy training days.

Finding inspiration everywhere

I went to Dundee today - an easy appointment but a long day. I really didn't feel I could drag myself around for 10 miles tonight so I came online to chat to some of the other "forumites" on the runners world forum pages for the Blackpool Marathon they really are a great crowd there and there are some wonderful stories.

Mick N Phil AKA the Marathon Lads are great and always have a cheerful word to say.

Can't wait to meet everyone on the day.

I also found out they have reopened the Dr Who exhibition in Blackpool - I first went there back in the 80's as a little girl and it was amazing, I can't wait to see it again.

Only a short day tomorrow - I finish at 1pm - woo hoo!

A personal worst time but still a winner

It took me ages to find my result in last nights Evening Times souvenir pull out.

I knew that it had taken at least 9 minutes to cross the start line and when I reached the finish the clock said 1 hour 13 minutes and some odd seconds so I was looking at somewhere between 1 hour 3 and 1 hour 5 for my finish. I started with the worst possible finish time and worked back - a psychological ploy to make me feel better, when I found my name at 1 hour 4 minutes 15 seconds the ploy failed. It took 2 chocolate mini rolls to stop me wanting to burst into tears, I was 3 minutes 34 seconds slower than I had been at the Grangemouth race in March, an all time worst time.

I took heart in the improvement I have made in weight lifting - I am now comfortable shifting 7kg on bicep curls and have moved the chess press up 2 notches since I first started, but none of that could move me from feeling fat and slow.

It wasn't until this morning when I took a gander through the rest of the Evening Times and I saw a side bar note in the comments section that I felt better - right at the bottom of the "In our Opinion" bar was the heading "Salute to Winners" and the entry read as follows

"The record breaking numbers who took part in yesterday's Britannic Asset Management Women's 10K in Glasgow is testament to the event's growing popularity.
And the sweltering conditions faced by the competitors made their many personal achievements all the greater.
Quite simply, every one of the 12,612 women who crossed the line is a winner"

Those few lines really moved me and took me back to a time when I couldn't even mange to run for more than 2 minutes without having a near death experience. I really have moved on, I really have made an achievement. The fact that I can finish a 10K race at all is a massive achievement compared to where I used to be. I may not be able to ever be as fast as the elite runners but I can be the best I can be and if that's a 60+ minute 10K then so be it. Sometimes it's not the finishing time that is important it's the fact you entered at all, or in the words of John "the Penguin" Bingham "The miracle isn't that I finished. The miracle is that I had the courage to start."

I have started to re-read his best selling book "The courage to start" and I am finding the renewed inspiration and wisdom in his words, thanks John.

Tan-tastic post race blues

I am eagerly anticipating the results being published from yesterdays race although I don't know why, I'm pretty sure the performance was lousy and I have quite possibly hit a new Personal Worst time.

The other half keeps reminding me that it wasn't the kind of race you could expect to do well in unless you started at the front with the elite folks. I just keep remembering how far I am from the elite runners.

In the meantime I have discovered an excellent race souvenir - a very hard tan line on my legs. I wore my 3/4 length running pants which come to just below the knee and I have developed a very deep tan on the calf which stops dead just below the knee and includes the lovely V shape where the pants cut in at the outside of the knee, it looks stunningly embarrassing. The other half reckons a half hour of sitting in the sun in a pair of shorts will even it out, unfortunately today is very much overcast, no chance of sun worshipping today.

At least I can hide it tonight as it's my weights work out night so I can wear my trackie bottoms.

Prodded, pushed, shoved and kicked - a typical women only race experience

What a nightmare!!

There were 14,500 women in today's race!

I love a good turnout but unfortunately that number of women on a hot Sunday morning meant the race quickly became hell-like.

We got there in good time but of course the queue for the toilets was massive so I just about got to my start point in time. It took 10 minutes to cross the line as they did a pulse start system - letting the elite athletes go first then the 40-50 minute runners and then the 50-59minute runners and then my group - the 60-70 minute 10kers.

The race started up a hill so within the first few minutes some women flagged to a walk and despite the fact that there were a number of reminders to move to the left if you needed to walk at any time women were stopping dead in front of me with no warning or waling along hand in hand in the middle of the road.

Even though all this chaos was going on around me I still managed to get to the first Km marker in 6 minutes 20 seconds. The next Km was slower - I got there at 13minutes, 19 minutes for 3km and 25 minutes 30 seconds for 4km then 32 minutes for 5km at which point I relaxed a little - it's always a good feeling when you know you are more than halfway and every step after the 5km marker is more than half way around and so much closer to the finish. Unfortunately the route narrowed quite a bit after 5km and the jostling and elbowing got worse. It was very difficult to get past anyone and due to the heat more and more women were giving up and stopping dead. I got to 6km in 38 minutes and then we were in Pollok park under some shade but also going uphill, between 7km and 8km we climbed constantly and it was hard going. At some point just after 8km another woman elbowed me and managed to catch my stop watch button it took me a while to realise it had stopped and by the time I had noticed it was too late to restart it as it was completely out of time so I just pushed on for the last leg - about 1.5km to go.

When I did hit the finish line it seemed to take longer to get through the finishers funnel than it did to run the 10Km!! I had to collect my goody bag with my medal in, which was soon out of the bag and around my neck. Then I got a fair trade banana and then had my chip removed - another mess up area as some women thought it was a good idea to remove it themselves to hand in rather than let the organisers cut it off, of course this meant loads of women bending down to remove shoes, take off the champion chip, get up again, put the shoe back on, drop the chip, bend down to look for the chip and then get up again. I just despaired.

I found the other half easily enough and we decided to quit Glasgow and head off to a local Loch for our picnic lunch as it was too busy in Bellahouston Park. When we got there I decided I was fit enough to take a walk around the loch - it's only 3 miles after all. I am glad I did though as it loosened me up a fair bit and we saw a pair of great crested grebes, a coot building a nest and a Swan sitting on some eggs, all in all it was a magic walk.

After that we went home, I showered and we went off to the other half's folks for tea and watched a breathtaking rugby league match between Wakefield and Widnes.

A new garden in only 5 hours!

I am ecstatic this evening - the garden is really taking shape and even though it is in a transition phase I think it looks better already.

We didn't quite finish the major work but we did manage to get the new footpath in pace from the front door to the road and removed one section of hedge. We still have to lay a path under the window and then remove the front hedge and conifers. The conifer removal promises to be fun as conifers are the most hardy plant ever to inhabit the earth, I swear if we ever have a nuclear fall out that conifers will become the dominant species, they can live anywhere very successfully.

After calling time on the garden we went out to the supermarket and got in some shopping to try out the new Gillian Mckeith cook book "You are What you Eat Cookbook" I decided to give a couple of the recipes a whirl to see if they can help me get stronger for the marathon and cure my chocolate addiction (which I have to say has got better - only 3 small choccy biccies all week!).

I now need to go get my kit together for tomorrows big race.

Stiff, tired and sore - Hooray for the weekend

I am so glad tomorrow is Saturday.

I was up fairly early this morning as I had a 150 mile drive out to the customer site I was visiting today. I drove all the way there without stopping as there were a few traffic hold ups on the way. When I got out of the car at the site I could hardly move! My legs had seized while driving for so long (Oh how I long for cruise control!). Once I moved around for a few minutes I felt much better but the same thing happened on the way home.

I decided to try to re-do the 7 mile run I had meant to do last night as tonight called for 5 miles which is the approximate distance covered collectively last night.

I told the other half I needed a partner so he got the bike out and we decided to take a loop nearby 4 times over to make 7 miles. Unfortunately the intensity caught up with me again and after 2 laps I was tired, sore and starting to limp. The other half called it off and I hobbled homewards after managing about 3.5 miles.

Tomorrow we start the transformation of our front garden - the other half's cousin is coming down to lay a new footpath and help clear the hedge. I'm actually very excited about it - the other half thinks I'm mad or sad.

A run with the Demons

In hindsight it was probably way too hot to run in the gym tonight but I was keen to keep a half share of mileage between the road and the treadmill.

Unfortunately it went very pear shaped tonight.

The weather had been really good all day so the gym had been heating up like a greenhouse all day long. I was scheduled to run 7 miles slowly which I estimated to be about 80-85 minutes worth of running.

I managed about 1.5 miles before I had to quit for a toilet break. I came back and managed another mile before the heat got to me and I had to take a walking break, just as I was about to start running again the treadmill cut out - some of the treadmill will cut out after 20-30minutes or 1 hour to make sure that when it's busy there is a healthy turn around of people on machines. When that happened I lost all interest in starting again and decided to quit and run home from the gym.

I gave my kit bag to the other half to take home and then set off on the 3 mile trot home.

I got about 5 minutes in when the Running Demons arrived.

The Running Demons are pretty unpleasant running partners - they come and run alongside you and start to badger you and try to put you off with comments like "Why are you bothering with this? You'll never be any good at it." Their sole purpose is to get you to quit and feel sorry for yourself by making you feel like you are pursuing a futile goal, "You may as well give up, you'll never be fast, you'll never loose that weight, you'll never be pretty/clever/good."

Sometimes you can ignore them or put a bit of speed on to get away from them, leaving them standing uselessly by the road, other times such as tonight you can never quite get rid of them, despite positive affirmations and blocking off the negative thoughts they somehow manage to stick by you till the end, trying all the time to get you to give up, "Go home and get some chocolate and sink into the sofa - you know you want to, your wasting your time here, go home."

Tonight they followed me for the whole journey home but never once did I pay them any heed - I just kept repeating the Demon-Killer phrase, "but it doesn't matter".

Whenever they say "You'll never be a fast runner." I say, "Probably not but it doesn't matter, I enjoy this, that's why I'm here." I repeated this all the way home, despite it getting darker and colder I kept holding on to the phrase "But it doesn't matter" and although that 3 miles felt like the longest run I've ever done I still made it all the way.

I beat the Running Demons.

Back into the heat

WOW, that was a HARD work out tonight.

Despite the horrific heat of the gym I am glad I went in there to do the workout as it involved some serious pounding and I could do with getting my legs back into good nick for the Britannic Asset women's 10K on Sunday.

The plan tonight was for long speed reps - 1M jog, 3 x 1.5M (or 11-14 mins) fast with 400m (or 3-min) jog recoveries, then 1 mile jog. I did the 1 mile jog at 12 minutes per mile and then did the 1.5 mile fast at about 10KPH although I wavered between 9.8KPH and 10.3KPH.

I just hope this helps bring my speed on this weekend.

Catching up on the ZZZZZ's

I was pretty tired last night and took a fairly early night after my weights workout.

I still haven't quite caught up on the sleep front yet and have decided to postpone tonights work out and do it tomorrow instead.

My legs are still a little tight and I feel pretty tired.

Arghhh the pain of being faster

I didn't sleep too well last night. I could not get my poor aching body comfortable for longer than 10 minutes so I was stiff, tired and sore this morning.

I had a 6am start to get to Glasgow for an expo that my company was attending, it was hard work getting up so early on a Monday and even harder keeping up the "Happy Face" all day in spite of the pain I was suffering.

I managed to drag myself to the gym for my weights work out this evening and I feel better for having done it - I need to build strength and I have to also admit that I like the shape my arms are taking on.

16 miles in 3 hours 10 minutes - YAY ME!!

Well what a day!

The weather was as good as it could be (for Scotland) in that it was sunny and dry but there was a strong wind whipping up every now and again which made me struggle to move forwards.

However I did better than I could have expected - I not only ran the 16 miles but I ran it faster than my projected time!!

When I did the 14 miles in 2 hours 53 minutes I had been running approximately 12 minute 20 seconds per mile so I should have achieved 16 miles in something like 3 hours 20 minutes or more. So when I completed 16 miles in 3 hours 10 minutes - 10 whole minutes faster than I ought to have done I was ecstatic to say the least.

That result meant I had been running an average of 11 minutes 55 seconds per mile nearly 30 seconds faster per mile than two weeks ago and over a longer distance to boot!

I also made a new half marathon record for myself - passing the half marathon point in 2 hours 36 minutes and beat the 14 mile time I had previously recorded - I passed the 14 mile point in 2 hours 45 minutes ish (ish because we had to guesstimate where the 14 mile mark would be but even if we were out by a few hundred meters I was still faster).

It looks like the treadmill may have played an important part in the result as my speedreps were more accurate than if I had run them outside and I also reduced some of the impact on my legs by running on a softer surface which meant I was in good condition today.

I have another dip in mileage next week as I take on the Britannic Asset Women only 10k Race in Glasgow

Feeling better after some quality runs

I did my Yoga last night - in an attempt to chill out before the big run on Sunday.

I'm fairly confident that I can do it and I have given up worrying too much about the time it takes - I've had to quality sessions in the gym now so I know I'm up for it. The other half keeps telling me I have the stamina to take me through which is a better position to be in than having the speed but lacking the stamina to make it to the end.

The warm indoors

Due to the weather being pretty awful I decided to go back to the gym again for my 6 mile run.

I was a little worried about the boredom factor of "running on the spot" but each of the treadmills has a TV attached so I flicked through a few MTV and VH1 programs to keep me amused.

The run was easy but then it would be - the treadmill is smooth and flat - no nasty cracks or potholes and no hills. I did the 6 miles in about 68 minutes which was dead to the training plan.

I have a 16 miler ahead this weekend, no way I could do that on the treadmill so lets hope the weather holds up for me.

A good session changes everything

Well what a difference last night made.

I wasn't entirely sure about going to the gym last night but it really did help!

The speed reps were pretty easy going and the final 1 mile jog was a breeze.

I even woke up this morning with no pain!! Wahey!!

Tonight is a 6 miler and I am weighing up the pros and cons of the treadmill versus outdoors - it's meant to be a slow one so either would be good, I guess it will come down to the weather in the end.

One thing I must do is get myself down to the polling station sometime today, its election day and I think it's really important to exercise my democratic right and vote, after all there are people in other countries with dictators who would die for the right to have a vote.

Time to get back to it

Well that was a hectic day - I felt like I was being pulled in a million directions.

I haven't got much on for the rest of this week as the bank holiday curtailed everything but next week looks like being mad - I'm meant to be all over the place in the space of 5 days with people asking me to be in other places on the same day. Manic. It will probably take me most of tomorrow to figure out what I can and can't actually do.

No excuses for not being out tonight though - its a simple speedwork session of 1 mile jog followed be 10 speed reps and another 1 mile jog. As the weather looks a little inclement I have decided to take the session into the gymn and do it on a treadmill - at least that way I can better time the reps as it will save me trying to check my watch every 10 seconds.

It will make a nice change to be indoors for a change although I expect it will be very sweaty as the air con is rubbish.

Fine line between Fit and Fail

Not feeling too marvelous today.

I went out to Dundee and then Aberdeen in the middle of an electrical storm. It was quite an exhausting drive home as there were lightning strikes going on all around me - 8 of them were scarily close to the car and sent the radio wild.

I ought to be out for a speed session tonight but a combination of tiredness and depression over my 10K performance has put me off going.

Instead I have been dwelling on whether I am capable of this training plan, the prerequisite for the plan was a 10K of 59 mins or under and a 10mile time of less than 1 hr 37mins. At the time I felt capable of a sub 60mins 10K and I hadn't done a 10miler. The next schedule down - "get you round" schedule looked too basic for me so I went for the sub 4 hours 30mins schedule. I now wonder whether it was a good idea or not. I have been consistently 15 minutes out on my times compared to where they predict you should be on the schedule but I have also struggled at times to keep up with the sheer volume of running.

It's too late now to switch the schedules so I will continue with it but I'll have to make sure that I fulfill the quality runs and if necessary shelve some of the extra runs.

Bank holiday shopping

We are being a typical middle-Britain couple today - off to the DIY store on a Bank Holiday Monday.

Most people struggled to think of something to get for my Birthday so I ended up with a load of dosh instead which suited me rather well as I have been trying to save money in order to do the garden up for ages. I have now decided I have enough and am off to get the goods to make my patch of land beautiful.

As usual I plan to visit every DIY shop to evaluate all the goods on offer and will then most likely revert to the stereotypical female and get the stuff from the first shop I visited.

Ah well, it will all be fun in the end.

A Big effort but a poor result

Well the 10K was pretty disappointing today.

I set off feeling good and managed the first couple of K's pain free, the weather was wet but not too windy so I wasn't battling too much. The pavement was pretty waterlogged and muddy and I had a little dodging to do at times as some of the puddles were pretty deep and I couldn't see the bottom of them - a dangerous thing to step into in case there is a hidden pothole there that could lead to a broken ankle.

I got into a really good rhythm early on and even had enough left for a sprint finish.

Alas all was in vain. The other half made a bit of an arse of timing me after he reset the stopwatch by accident so I had gaps in my split times, even so it was clear from the times recorded that I had taken over an hour to complete the 10K.

I came home covered in mud and feeling very low.

As it's a bank holiday tomorrow and there is no work or training I plan to kick back with a bottle of wine and some chocolate.