9.22 miles

Only 4 miles off the full course.

Can I do it? Still not sure.

It hurts. My hamstrings aren't very good.My right foot hurts (have mashed my little toe). My shoulders ache. The list goes on.

And my ipod's not working properly - I blame the radio add-on.

But, in truth, I have run over 9 miles and it took an hour and 35 mins (still on approx 10 minute miles, which means a slower 1/2 marathon time than last time...)

And when I get back I wonder if it's worth the effort. I can't imagine setting off and doing it again and I am still overweight. And I have to fit in runs around work now which means setting off about 6am to get it done before work - and possibly cycling in to work to add on to the training effort.

But, I did do the hard uphill bit round the downs and thought my heart was going to explode - but then that feeling went away and I began to feel very good. Endorphins perhaps...

I don't know. Should I go for it and expect to do it more slowly than last time and to struggle to finish? Or give in and just drink wine and accept the ageing process...

Well, at least I went for a run.

Didn't much feel like going (no change there) but heroically forced myself into the old lycra and headed off into the morning greyness. Regretting, I might add, the wine I had last night. Never a good preparation for a run as I don't believe wine drinking can be classed as carbo-loading.

So I did a far from impressive 3 and a half mile run. Didn't enjoy any of it as I was so tired and lethargic.

This week I have to get up to 10 miles and next week it'll be 12. Chances of that happening seem to be getting ever more remote.

OK it's been a while since I last ran (5 days in fact) but I did major cycling and walking at the weekend and I think they should count.

However. I have just 'treated' myself to a run along the towpath alongside the Avon which is something I've wanted to do for a while - after all, great scenery, flattish path, what could be better???

So I looked up on the map an 8-mile route (as in found the 4-mile point where I could turn round) and went for it. And it was good - a change from the route round the houses and downs I've been doing so for that reason it was a success.

But - I was struggling. Whether it's cos I overdid the cycling and walking at the weekend, or the major part of a bottle of wine last night, but by half way back, I was having stern words with myself to keep going. I had to fight the urge to let myself go all floppy and middle-aged and to keep strong. I tried to get hooked onto a horizontal wire pulling me forward over the ground and that seemed to work for a while but it made me run too fast and I could feel the energy running out...

My left hip was aching a lot and my feet weren't too happy either.

When I got back to the car I saw I'd been out about an hour and a half which I reckoned made this a 9 mile run - hurrah. Except when I looked it up properly it was only 8.55 miles. Not much more than my last run around the downs which I felt much happier doing.

1/2 marathon? Who am I kidding?

Oh good grief

I did a 8.2 mile run around the downs and it was mainly ok. The secret is to keep in the moment - the second you think about finishing, getting home for a cup of tea etc, you're lost.

So I did the whole thing, trying not too be too bouncy, to keep shoulders and elbows down, don't lean back etc etc and I know it's the right way to do it, cos it feels more efficient, even though it's much harder work at the time. I need to build up the muscles which allow me to do that - when I was getting tired and I started running like a middle-aged woman it uses up far more energy.

And now I am in a quandry - yesterday I was all for not doing the 1/2 marathon - who am I kidding? Too old, too fat. But today I am more confident (even though I'm still 4 or 5 miles off the distance) but it means I will have to really be determined and focused and I don't know if I have it in me...

Hmmm

Jeez
Am very tired - I thought I'd added on a huge loop around the downs onto my normal 10k-ish run. But then I did the mapometer thing and found out it had added about 1/2 a mile.
Must do better.
And faster, longer etc.

Moti rang me on Friday to see if I wanted to sign up to a 1/2 marathon weekly training session. It is tempting but it's £15 a pop and it's at 11am on Sunday by which time I would prefer to be home, washed and fed.

No, I think I will have to battle on and just accept that I will have to run twice as far, in public, as I have been. But this will take place on one particular occasion and time not of my choosing.

It's a test of character and determination, of drive and chocolate.

And it's in 5 weeks.

Can I fartlek? Can I heck as like.

Really didn't want to go this morning but bravely got over myself and went for it.

And now I hurt: there is something wrong with my right leg, I'm sure. It's probably a consequence of IT band crapness but I can't seem to run with my feet going in a straight line - the right one kicks out. It's making my legs ache as I run and after as I was walking into work both legs felt really tired and achy.

Perhaps I will concentrate on stretching more - I did an extreme stretch in yoga at the weekend which really hit the spot (maybe I overdid it???)

I am doubting my capabilities of working up to the 1/2 marathon over this - I think I can do the fitness side but if it's going to hurt so much it feels like an injury - where's the point in that? Feel a bit down to be honest.

It's becoming routine - get up at 6, run 10k, ache, have breakfast, ache more at work. Collapse when home from work. Neither particularly interesting nor particularly dreadful.

It was hard work this morning for some reason. I set off with my laces tied too tight which made my feet ache so I had to stop and sort that out, but then it was ok.

However it was lovely and sunny this morning which always makes it a happier experience. And it meant the ipod didn't play silly buggers for being damp. Mind you all I listened to was Chris Moyles who is 50-50 irritating and funny. Far funnier than Today, and I can't bear listening to Wogan (sorry but I was brought up as a kid listening to Wogan and there is something unnatural about still listening when you're knocking on the door of middle age) (or indeed well along the hall of middle age and progressing towards the kitchen)

So another one done - can't quite bring myself to work out how long I have left before I have to actually do the 1/2 marathon - I have yet to steel myself for the longer training runs - possibly the first one this saturday???

It's been a while, almost a week, since I last ran. But it wasn't quite as bad as I thought it might be.

I did the usual 10k sort of thing in just under an hour so that's all OK.
My big worry was I went to yoga yesterday and I am very stiff from doing that - but once I got going it didn't seem to make any difference to running - and I felt very good from going to yoga, so I ought to continue with that.

But, hmm, ipod. I do not like the thing. OK it's very clever and all that, but useless when it comes to trying to change from radio to songs or anything which needs the touchwheel - it there is any dampness on the thing it does not work. Nothing. Bloody useless.

Can't imagine running without it though - I would continue my paranoid nightmares which keep me awake at night - I need something to take my mind off reality.

And can I double this distance to get into the 1/2 marathon in 7 weeks, 6 days???

So I did the 10k this morning.
Nothing unusual happened.
It rained a bit but that wasn't too bad - more worried about the ipod getting damp than frizzy hair...
Roll on the next time. ha ha ha :)

So achy.

I don't know where the pain is exactly, that's the problem. I think it's coming from the top bit of my hamstrings, but right now it's in the bit above the back of my knees on the outside. Possibly IT band again? I did the stretch where you cross one leg behind the other and bend forward and that hurt a lot so I guess the problem might be there. But is the solution there also??

This morning I did the 10k up to the downs and round the water tower and although I don't feel I'm progressing all that much I know I put in more effort than usual. Did it pay off? Really can't tell, other than the increasing ache which may be a good thing. The run took just under an hour (which is the same pace as my 10k run in May) so there's nothing exciting happening in that department.

I guess I am aiming for finishing the 1/2 marathon rather than coming in under 2 hours. I think deep down I can do it, but it will kill me. Perhaps I shouldn't be such a wimp??? (I am seriously beginning to believe I really do need the go-faster shorts and hat)

I am trying to convince myself that I went through the same feelings last time I went for a 1/2 marathon, namely that despite putting in more effort on runs, I don't seem to be improving. As in they're are still as tough as they ever were, and I don't feel I'm going faster or futher.

However, I know I'm going faster cos I'm pushing myself harder, so I must be improving, the trick is to improve until I can run 13 and a bit miles in under 2 hours. And there is only 8 weeks to get there...

Hmm

Even the purchase of new shorts or a hat isn't going to make that any easier...

This morning, up to the downs, the 10k route, felt good. Legs are a bit stiff and heavy (hence the feeling of no improvement) but other than that it was all fine.
I have to come to the understanding that I can improve - I do run faster for a time during these runs, and it's not impossible (even though sometimes it feels like I'm going to expire) and, if I get my head around it, I know I can run further. The question is, am I up for the challenge?
And will it continue after the event? I do hope so (as well as all the other promises of yoga and body pump - life's too short to do everything (or should it be life's too short not to do all that???))

10k
1 hour(ish)
enough calories for a super sarnie lunch!

Round the downs, plus camera obscura - a little under 5 miles but by golly there are some hills in there.
Not too painful - the shoes seem to be working as my left hip isn't giving me the grief it has been doing - hurrah. It was quite hot which made it harder work that it merited but hey ho, job done.
Then I went home and ate biscuits which totally ruined any weight-loss effect the run might have given. Stupid really cos if I could lose the weight I would be able to run better. Simple.
And I would like some new shorts to run in - ones which are slightly baggy so they don't ride up my tree trunk thighs. I have a number of crosses to bear, physically.
Apart from that, it was OK and managing to get up the hill to the camera obscura is always a thrilling achievement!

After the disaster that was the run in my new shoes on Tuesday, I wasn't holding out much hope for this morning's efforts, and promised myself a curtailed run just as far as Waitrose and back.

But it was fine. It was still really far too hot and I had to keep crossing the road to get into the shade, but I had plenty to drink, plus a dollop of sugary cordial for an energy boost and I ran all the way around the 10k route.

Hurrah for me, eh.

I know the key to a lot of this is stretching - my arse bits need loosening up - is that Glutes? Outside bit of lower hip area sort of place? Whatever they're called, they are tight, man. It comes from sitting down at a desk all day and rarely going to yoga any more.

Another key is the core strength to stop my back aching like an aching thing and pushing everything off-kilter.

So basically I have my work cut out if I'm ever going to get around the 1/2 marathon, let alone manage it faster than last time (2h 5m 55s) let alone getting under 2 hours.

But I'll give it a go!!

Next daft purchase - hat.

Bubble well and truly burst...

So I'm out there this morning, the rain's stopped, it's not too hot, new shoes raring to go... and from the off I felt pooped. Heavy, sluggish, wrong. I blame Andy Murray for making us stay up too late watching him get through to the last 8 at Wimbledon, but I wouldn't have changed that outcome even if I thought it might have made this morning's run more pleasurable... (I am quite altruistic like that)

So I struggled up to the downs and realised I was going to walk. I was tired, possibly no more tired than I've been a million times before, but there was nothing else for it, I was going to walk. Felt a bit sick actually.

It was nice to walk. It was dreadful having to start running again. And of course once you've done it once, there is nothing to stop you stopping time and time again. Which I did. Very, very hard work and a rather disppointing debut for the new shoes.

I'll try again in a couple of days. And I thought this Sunday I might go for race timing - as in breakfast at 630 and run at 930 to work out what it's going to be like on the day.

The other thing about today is because it's so hot and muggy at the moment, there is an enormous sweat issue. As in issuing copious amounts of sweat... Probably hadn't drunk enough this morning which wouldn't have helped. But another side effect of this is that I chafed - front of bra and left leg where a short rode up a bit - having flabby thighs is never a positive. So next time I will have to apply vaseline or savlon or something as it's very painful (Cannot imagine how painful runner's nipple must be...)

So that's it - bit disheartened frankly, but not totally dejected. It's too far away from the 1/2 marathon to be seriously worried about not finishing, but I would like to feel I'm generally getting better and enjoying the training more. Which I'm not at the moment.

But I will.

I've got new shoes! They make me feel like Tigger. Should have got them months ago.

But I have yet to really try them out - tomorrow morning I reckon. Got to be early cos it's sooo hot - 28 degrees today and muggy. There is a chance there'll be another enormous downpour early tomorrow - will have to risk it.

Aching legs, feet, ankles, upper left back area, bits of knees.

Apart from all that, a glorious run this morning - the full 10k in full sunshine - really really good.

It's quite a come down having to then go to work and face the day as usual. Perhaps I need to change my job and then I could come back from a run on a high and continue to feel like that for the rest of the day.

Well, I've managed to talk myself out of feeling good about going for a run, haven't I. Or perhaps inspired myself to look for another job.
Glass half full today I feel.

:)

Stats
6.26 miles, 10.07 km
584 calories (= large olive and hummus sarnie from Chandos deli)
0610 - 0710 starting with Today followed by Chris Moyles at 630

Another early morning 10k.

There was a time in my life when I would have laughed my socks off if someone had suggested that phrase would accurately describe my morning...

It wasn't so bad - lovely clear blue sky, several other joggers around, I even raced the milkman a bit.

Of course now I'm at work I feel pooped and just want to sleep - but no change there.
I know this routine does me loads of good and the endorphins are there giving me a boost. I have to stick with it.
I didn't get the aches and pains so much this time - I've either turned a corner there or else it's been so long since my last run they've healed and are about to be triggered once more. I'd prefer to think I've overcome them and am now a honed and prepared athlete.
We all have our dreams...

Haven't run since the last time. Obviously. Really ached afterwards - back problems. Is this just another sign of getting old?

I have started a body pump class which I'm hoping will beef me up a bit as I am feeble, especially in my upper body. But I wobbled so much doing the arm exercises (and the shoulder ones) that I could barely lift the barbell, let alone the weights. Today my forearms ache, my thighs and bum are beginning to hurt and as for my chest, well, it doesn't bear thinking about how bad it's going to get for the next 24 hours. Painkillers, I think. I guess you have to stick at these things: roll on next week...

But the running - I'm seriously doubting if I will get through the 1/2 marathon at this rate - I'm 3 years older, 10lbs heavier than last time I did it and then I had the motivation to do something I've never done before. Dedication, again.

Another step along the way to half marathon glory.
Or something

Another early run cos I couldn't think of a reason not to go and and least my fuschia pink top got its first outing albeit underneath a warmer cosier black one.

And omg my legs hurt. I think I have a lower back fused vertebra problem sort of thing cos a bit of my upper lower back is all over the shop and the lower lower area seems rigid. Just a thought.

But I did do 10k which isn't bad before breakfast. How I will up that to 20 I have no idea at all.

This is really not very exciting.

I have a new running vest. It's fuschia pink.
Hopefully it won't make me look any redder in the face than I do normally. It's very pretty.

It's part of the psychological build up to running - if I've spent money on something then I am obliged to make use of it.
I'm also considering getting a hat - a baseball cap sort of thing - to hide my horrible fringe: if I pin my hair back off my face I have a SJP-style horse-face and I think a cap might disguise that.
I might be wrong and the whole running in a cap thing could backfire disastrously and I end up looking like a nit.
No change there.