First ever non school-related running event...complete :)

Nearly 4 months of training leading up to the race for life, running 3 times a week (most of the time) reaching a 5k personal best of 30.59 at the parkrun a couple of weeks ago. Was it worth it you ask?...totally!! It was race day on Sunday and to be perfectly honest I was genuinely nervous. We all really wanted a pb and I was desperate to say I'd done it in less than 30mins, but I didn't think I was upto it yet and dreaded the disappointment of not quite making it on the day.
Typically it was a roasting hot, muggy day...just what you want for running :-/ We all met up and followed the crowds. People had turned up in the thousands to run,jog and walk to raise money for cancer research and there were some tear-jerking stories and reasons for participation pinned to peoples backs. We decided to join the joggers, thinking that it might be nicer for us to be overtaking people than being overtaken constantly! However, when we started the race, we weren't sure if we regretted our decision...it was chaos! There were people sprinting one minute and walking the next, which caused a few near collisions and we must have spent the first 2k weaving in and out of everyone trying not to get tripped up. Getting personal bests seemed like a bit of a pipe dream though as we couldn't find enough space to pick up the pace at all. It settled down after a while and finding a bit more leg room was manageable but I didn't want to push too hard, too soon and not be able to finish the race running! So I kept a steady pace until I saw the 4k sign and then I tried to pick it up a little bit, saving as much energy as I could for a sprint finish. The whole run didn't feel spectacular, or very fast at all so when I crossed the finish line after 27.25 I was in shock but total relief!! I had completed my own challenge and not even just by a little bit! I had smashed my pb by 3 and a half minutes and as you can see, completed 5k in under 30mins for the first time!! Helena, Fi and Chrissie all got under 30 minutes and Emma achieved personal best as well at 31mins! I'm so very proud of all of the 'couch potatoes' and I reckon we have officially outgrown our name ;-)

Time to race for life!

So the time has come for the race for life tomorrow... 5k around sheepmount/bitts park. Now it has come to my attention since we've started running that in the running world, 5k is generally seen as a short leisurely warm up run, a distance for when you're short on time but want to get out running anyway. So I feel I need to stress the point again...this has taken 3 months of training, a lot of red,sweaty faces, some injuries, some frustration but mainly a sense of achievement. When we started out I struggled to 'run' (I use the term 'run' very lightly, as it was definitely not much faster than walking pace at the beginning and its not a great deal faster now!)for 1minute, the thought of running for 5 worried me, and now we are running more than half an hour! This is genuinely the most I have ever run in my life and I'm proud of myself and of Chrissie, Fi, and Helena...we stuck with it and we are finally putting our training to use! So the last time I blogged I had reached 4.7k in half an hour. Since then I have been going to an event called Parkrun, which is a free 5k run every Saturday morning, which is timed and results are logged and published later that day. Its a great event and they regularly get over 100 people turning up to take part. It was on one of these that I have got my current PB for 5k...30.59! Which means it has come right down to the day to see if I can make it in less than 30 minutes and with the weather forecast saying tomorrow will be hot, hot, hot...a challenge it will be! Check back tomorrow for the results! :-)

Personal best today :-)

So I've officially completed the NHS podcasts but have been carrying on doing 30 mins of running 3 times a week whenever possible! Its definitely harder with a gap of more than 2 days between runs and on Sunday, Chrissie and I went out whilst visiting the family in yorkshire and it was so hard! It didn't help that it was warm and I'd got my layering totally wrong! We managed 4k in half an hour. So today, back on home turf I went out after putting Peyton to bed. I knew where I had previously got to, so knew that I had to at least get to the same point but preferably further. I managed to get the layering just right today with a couple of new purchases and with chase and status playing in my ear...off I went. I was feeling confident and was tracking it on 'strava' on my phone so I could see how far off 5k I was. 4.7km in half an hour so not too much more to go before we reach our target of 5k in half an hour! Hopefully I'll get out again on Friday and let you know how I get on :-)  bye for now x

Run for half an hour...DONE!

Well we have reached the final week of the podcasts and I went out last night to complete the first half an hour run :-) I went out by myself due to the time we ended up getting Peyton to bed and then I needed some fuel in my body too. I knew my target of where we'd got to with 28 minutes so I knew what I had to beat, and I did it :-). I surprised myself with a slightly faster than normal pace, which I managed to keep up all the way. Recovery time is getting less and all in all I am proud of myself so far! I've still got a long way to go to reach the half marathon mark, not quite covered 5k yet, but almost. After I've completed this week, I'll work on covering more ground in the half hour. Well I won't manage to get out until Sunday now I don't think so until then....ciao x

Last 28 minute run...done!

We have just completed week 8 of our 'couch to 5k' podcasts and now only have one week left!

Running with a pram = owww!

On Thursday, Chrissie and I had been into town together in the morning and on the way home we were talking about the logistics of going running again, and it wasn't looking promising with time and childcare. So we came up the genius plan that we would take the babies with us and do as much as we could. Thursday was a boiling hot day, (or at least it felt like it whilst running with a pram!) and we were due to run for 28 minutes. Set an alarm for 14 minutes and we set off. It was so much harder and I reckon it had a lot to do with not being able to use your arms to help pump. Kept having to remind myself to loosen my shoulders so I was pushing with my body not just my arms. We had to stop and walk a few times, but I am still proud of us, as we ran further than we ever did to start with and when we did stop it wasn't for very long...and Chrissie also challenged me to a race at the end which definitely finished me off! We had lots of comments while were out, I guess seeing two mums running with pushchairs and not trying to catch a bus, must be an unusual sight! Well done Chrissie...but definitely making sure I have a baby sitter for the next one!

Last 25 minute run done...now for 28!

I completed my last 25 minute run on Monday night, with my sister-in-law, Chrissie after the kids had gone to bed. Normally we have had a bit of interval walking throughout the workout and that has been our time for a natter, but now we've started doing nonstop running we've had to learn how to run and talk! (It would just be antisocial to run in silence after all!) I've never really been able to hold a conversation whilst running before, it takes up too much breath and energy, but we managed to talk for the full 25 minutes without collapsing...not bad hey?! It actually felt easier because we weren't concentrating on how far we'd run or how long we had left. Recovery time is also getting shorter and its after runs like that, that I'm encouraged to keep going, and that this challenge might actually be possible...?! Time will tell!

I'm thankful for my legs, so I thought I'd better use them!

I decided this year it was time to set myself a challenge, a hard one...one that people who know me might not think I could complete. Not just for myself, but I wanted to do something worthwhile in raising money for charity and I figured if I chose a hard challenge then people might be more willing to sponsor me.
So here it is...I think I better set the scene first before I tell you what I'm doing...
My history of running is well...0, apart from the compulsory bits of P.E that I couldn't avoid, and even then I was the one walking at the back and taking sneaky shortcuts through trees when it came to long distance around the school field...there were no shortcuts I didn't know about! I attempted to run for a train a couple of years ago, almost collapsed after 100m, if that, got shin splints trying to power walk because I couldn't run and missed my train, resulting in a very large taxi fare!
So to sum up...I am most certainly NOT a runner!
With that in mind, here is my charity challenge...
Complete the Cumbrian run in October... All 13 miles of it, preferably without walking!
I have been following the NHS 'couch to 5k' programme and have completed week 6. There are a few of us training together, some are aiming for the race for life and some for the Cumbrian run...none of us were runners before we started.
The plan started with 5 minute walking warm up, and then 1 minute run, 90 seconds walking, repeated 8 times and then 5 minute walk to cool down. If I am totally honest...I was willing the lady on the podcast to tell me I could walk each time and was genuinely dreading the thought of running for a full 5 minutes never mind 30 (which is how long you should be running for by the end of the 9 week programme)
Well as I mentioned earlier, I have just completed week 6 and am now running for 25 minutes with no walking in the middle! I went out with Fi this morning and although I have done two 25 minute runs before, I found it really hard, my legs were like lead and within the first 10 minutes I think I might have struggled to keep motivated without Fi running behind me! But we did it! I now feel like I can definitely achieve 5k...but that's not my challenge! I will be updating you as I try to make it through the rest of my training, a daunting thought. But for now, I will concentrate on the first sub-challenge and hopefully keep surprising myself :-)