This time last week I was enjoying a G & T with my son at Oake Manor whilst we awaited the guests for his wedding to our gorgeous daughter in law.
This time tomorrow I will hopefully have just completed the Taunton 10k for my third time. I'm not hoping to beat any records and I know my place, I shall be towards the back happy to have completed. My good friend Fi might be still with me or she may well have finished minutes ahead. Apparently rain is forecast but I don't mind, I just hope it isn't raining whilst we wait to start. If any of my local readers can spare a minute or 2 to pop along to the route and give me a wave and some encouragement (and even a jelly baby) I would be delighted to see you.
This time today I'm taking a break in the usual Saturday chores to write this blog but the day started on a much nicer note. Ali and I had a ruffle along the river enjoying another gloriously sunny Saturday. Ali has been unwell and this was her first outing for a few days and as I'm hoping to put in a good time tomorrow we had planned a gentle walk/jog and natter.
On the return leg of our route Ali suddenly said "There's a runner coming we best run," so we did, said runner passed us with a cheery hello, we both responded with surprised hellos to him and then a surprised look at each other as we realised we all knew each other. The upshot of our conversation is that we might be running the London 10k, although I have no idea when it is, where it is or anything. Amazing what you'll agree to on a sunny Saturday morning!
Saturday 29 September 2012
Wednesday 26 September 2012
Recovery Run
Recovering from my son and daughter in law's most wonderful wedding that is. What a day. Best of all the sun shone, we were so lucky.
The day began with Champagne, smoked salmon and scrambled eggs. I arrived at the venue with Rob in enough time to give everything the once over and to sit in the sunshine and enjoy a G & T, precious Mum & Son time.
Before long all our friends and relatives had arrived and eventually Steve, my husband and Lewis our youngest son got through the traffic and arrived with my corsage.
Vicki came down the aisle to "Here Comes The Sun" beautifully played on the clarinet by her nephew. She looked beautiful, she is beautiful, all the way through, such a gorgeous girl, we are so lucky to now be able to call her our daughter in law.
Pimms and photographs in the sunshine were followed by an excellent lunch. Oake Manor did us proud. My salmon and monk fish terrine, beef wellington and profiteroles were delicious. The Pinot Grigio went down very well and the toasting was accompanied by a most delightful Prosecco.
A short gap followed before the disco began and I'm proud to say I was first on the dance floor! I danced all night, keeping my beautiful shoes on until about 10.30. I'm sure the G & Ts helped numb the pain in my toes!
Rob & Vicki left shortly after midnight to start their new life as Mr & Mrs and I fell into bed at about 1.30 a.m.
A very big brunch on Sunday finished the celebrating and now you can see why I needed a recovery run!
The day began with Champagne, smoked salmon and scrambled eggs. I arrived at the venue with Rob in enough time to give everything the once over and to sit in the sunshine and enjoy a G & T, precious Mum & Son time.
Before long all our friends and relatives had arrived and eventually Steve, my husband and Lewis our youngest son got through the traffic and arrived with my corsage.
Vicki came down the aisle to "Here Comes The Sun" beautifully played on the clarinet by her nephew. She looked beautiful, she is beautiful, all the way through, such a gorgeous girl, we are so lucky to now be able to call her our daughter in law.
Pimms and photographs in the sunshine were followed by an excellent lunch. Oake Manor did us proud. My salmon and monk fish terrine, beef wellington and profiteroles were delicious. The Pinot Grigio went down very well and the toasting was accompanied by a most delightful Prosecco.
A short gap followed before the disco began and I'm proud to say I was first on the dance floor! I danced all night, keeping my beautiful shoes on until about 10.30. I'm sure the G & Ts helped numb the pain in my toes!
Rob & Vicki left shortly after midnight to start their new life as Mr & Mrs and I fell into bed at about 1.30 a.m.
A very big brunch on Sunday finished the celebrating and now you can see why I needed a recovery run!
Wednesday 19 September 2012
Quite Possibly the Best Run of My Life
This evening I ran for the second time with the Running Forever group. We ran further than last week. I ran better than last week. I did not spend the whole time huffing and puffing at the back and I ran up the hill that last week nearly finished me off for good.
I enjoyed every minute of our 1 hour and 15 minute jaunt. Even when my lace came undone I managed to catch up again impressively quickly.
I managed to stick with Tina for almost all of the route and each time I fell back I was determined and succeeded in catching her. We even led for a substantial part of the way!
I now have a new route that I shall be able to incorporate into my solo running trips.
I even managed a sprint finish.
And between you and me, I think I could have gone further!
I enjoyed every minute of our 1 hour and 15 minute jaunt. Even when my lace came undone I managed to catch up again impressively quickly.
I managed to stick with Tina for almost all of the route and each time I fell back I was determined and succeeded in catching her. We even led for a substantial part of the way!
I now have a new route that I shall be able to incorporate into my solo running trips.
I even managed a sprint finish.
And between you and me, I think I could have gone further!
Sunday 16 September 2012
I spy with my little eye...
Ali, my Saturday morning running buddy.
Buses, delivering the early morning workers.
A cat that owned the road.
Dogs, tails a wagging, noses sniffing.
Eco art bringing a dead tree back to beautiful life.
Fog, in all its autumn glory.
Gates to be vaulted.
Houses big and small.
Inclines to be beaten.
Joggers jogging.
Kettle, my first point of call upon my return.
Long Run Meadows, nearing the end.
Miles, 5.5 covered today.
Nike, my precious chip storing the stats.
Opportunities taken to extend the route.
Pavements travelled around the town.
Queues of traffic waiting at the lights.
Roads leading to achievement.
Stiles to be climbed.
Train track to be crossed.
Underground, overground, litter waiting for the wombles.
Very well done, running for longer.
Walking for less.
eXcited wedding talk.
Yesterday's exercise.
Today's rest zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Buses, delivering the early morning workers.
A cat that owned the road.
Dogs, tails a wagging, noses sniffing.
Eco art bringing a dead tree back to beautiful life.
Fog, in all its autumn glory.
Gates to be vaulted.
Houses big and small.
Inclines to be beaten.
Joggers jogging.
Kettle, my first point of call upon my return.
Long Run Meadows, nearing the end.
Miles, 5.5 covered today.
Nike, my precious chip storing the stats.
Opportunities taken to extend the route.
Pavements travelled around the town.
Queues of traffic waiting at the lights.
Roads leading to achievement.
Stiles to be climbed.
Train track to be crossed.
Underground, overground, litter waiting for the wombles.
Very well done, running for longer.
Walking for less.
eXcited wedding talk.
Yesterday's exercise.
Today's rest zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Thursday 13 September 2012
220
I've got my number...
Yesterday I ran with a running club for the first time. My long time friend and occasional running partner Tina suggested that I and our joint friend Fi joined her and her running club as they were going to do the Taunton 10k route. Great idea we thought and agreed to met her at 6.30 at the start of the route. Fi and me arrived at the same time and both declared how nervous we were. We found Tina and the group and soon set off. Almost immediately we were abandoned by the 3 males in the group who declared the pace was slow!
Slow, I was barely able to breath and already panicking and deciding that there was no way I was going to keep up with this lot. After a brief level start an incline had me almost gasping barely able to make polite conversation with the person next to me. Inclines are quite often followed by declines and during this short stretch I was able to take off my jacket and relax a little.
Running with a group brought quite a few differences to running solo or with a partner. We were now on a stretch of road without a pavement and we were on the left side of the road, the back marker shouts out when vehicles are approaching and single file is observed. I spent quite a lot of the route in my customary place at the back and every now and then those leading and widening the gap loop back and rejoin at the back for a while. I felt quite guilty about this, after all it was highly unlikely that I would ever have to loop!
A brief stop at Stoke for water kindly left by one of the boys by now far, far into the distance, was much appreciated although the stop really broke my albeit slow rhythm, plus an incline up to the church had me once again thinking I was not going to make it back. I didn't dare look at my ipod to check how far we had gone nor to check the pace, we were definitely moving more quickly than I am used to. I struggled for the next kilometer but then seemed to have a second wind, I was right up with the front runners, apart from the whippet leading the way, and as I knew a downhill was fast approaching I so dearly wanted to overtake them but thought that might not be polite etiquette and decided to stay where I was. I was enjoying following somebody, keeping in time with their rhythm.
Only a few minutes later and I was at the back again. Fi and I ran together for a while through my most hated section, the road through Haydon. It's long and I am always slow through here. Last year during the race I had serious concerns that I would have to walk, fortunately on this outing I managed to keep going, probably because the back runner, whose name I didn't manage to find out, kept me going. She assured me she didn't mind how slow we travelled and she kept reassuring me that I could keep going.
The last incline up and over the M5, oh my, so hard, I was so hot, so tired, more encouragement got me to the other side and I was able to relax into the downhill and make some headway towards the pack, the whippet in pink was long gone but I wasn't letting the rest disappear. The back runner and another girl, who I am sure isn't normally at the back but who was having problems getting her breathing right were behind me. I had to keep going I had to keep my pace up, I was not going to be last, they were not going to catch me.
Last turn to the end, they caught me, I could hear them, I thought they were going to overtake, but they shouted encouragement, they told me to not let them catch me, they told me to run, I found something from somewhere, it burned like hell, my legs hurt, there's nothing left, I must not stop, I must not stop.
I did it. At last I could stop. I had knocked 3 minutes off my most recent time for the route and 2 minutes off my previous fastest time. And now Fi and me have to do it all again on Sunday 30th September. Tina and Fi are going with Running Forever again next Wednesday, will I join them?
Yesterday I ran with a running club for the first time. My long time friend and occasional running partner Tina suggested that I and our joint friend Fi joined her and her running club as they were going to do the Taunton 10k route. Great idea we thought and agreed to met her at 6.30 at the start of the route. Fi and me arrived at the same time and both declared how nervous we were. We found Tina and the group and soon set off. Almost immediately we were abandoned by the 3 males in the group who declared the pace was slow!
Slow, I was barely able to breath and already panicking and deciding that there was no way I was going to keep up with this lot. After a brief level start an incline had me almost gasping barely able to make polite conversation with the person next to me. Inclines are quite often followed by declines and during this short stretch I was able to take off my jacket and relax a little.
Running with a group brought quite a few differences to running solo or with a partner. We were now on a stretch of road without a pavement and we were on the left side of the road, the back marker shouts out when vehicles are approaching and single file is observed. I spent quite a lot of the route in my customary place at the back and every now and then those leading and widening the gap loop back and rejoin at the back for a while. I felt quite guilty about this, after all it was highly unlikely that I would ever have to loop!
A brief stop at Stoke for water kindly left by one of the boys by now far, far into the distance, was much appreciated although the stop really broke my albeit slow rhythm, plus an incline up to the church had me once again thinking I was not going to make it back. I didn't dare look at my ipod to check how far we had gone nor to check the pace, we were definitely moving more quickly than I am used to. I struggled for the next kilometer but then seemed to have a second wind, I was right up with the front runners, apart from the whippet leading the way, and as I knew a downhill was fast approaching I so dearly wanted to overtake them but thought that might not be polite etiquette and decided to stay where I was. I was enjoying following somebody, keeping in time with their rhythm.
Only a few minutes later and I was at the back again. Fi and I ran together for a while through my most hated section, the road through Haydon. It's long and I am always slow through here. Last year during the race I had serious concerns that I would have to walk, fortunately on this outing I managed to keep going, probably because the back runner, whose name I didn't manage to find out, kept me going. She assured me she didn't mind how slow we travelled and she kept reassuring me that I could keep going.
The last incline up and over the M5, oh my, so hard, I was so hot, so tired, more encouragement got me to the other side and I was able to relax into the downhill and make some headway towards the pack, the whippet in pink was long gone but I wasn't letting the rest disappear. The back runner and another girl, who I am sure isn't normally at the back but who was having problems getting her breathing right were behind me. I had to keep going I had to keep my pace up, I was not going to be last, they were not going to catch me.
Last turn to the end, they caught me, I could hear them, I thought they were going to overtake, but they shouted encouragement, they told me to not let them catch me, they told me to run, I found something from somewhere, it burned like hell, my legs hurt, there's nothing left, I must not stop, I must not stop.
I did it. At last I could stop. I had knocked 3 minutes off my most recent time for the route and 2 minutes off my previous fastest time. And now Fi and me have to do it all again on Sunday 30th September. Tina and Fi are going with Running Forever again next Wednesday, will I join them?
Sunday 9 September 2012
A New PB For Pace
I don't follow a running plan as such but I do log all my runs and I like to run circuitous routes both clockwise and anti-clockwise and on more than one occasion to see if I can beat my times. Having done this on all the runs on my current run sheet I decided to look for runs I have recorded that I haven't done for a while. I was relieved when the first run on old chart was a 5.8 km out and back trip to the motorway bridge.
I spent a lovely day in glorious sunshine with my Mum at Tyntsfield on Saturday. Having spent most of the day taking photographs with my new camera and once I dropped Mum home I made a flying dash to Asda before spending just a few hours unsuccessfully trying to download/upload the pictures onto my Facebook page I was very pleased to be doing a short run. I had found getting out of bed very difficult.
I set out nice and steady, and tried to speed up for every other ipod track which I mostly succeeded in doing. The lane was busy today, lots of dog walkers, cyclists and runners but noticeably no horses. I would just like to pick up on a point recently made by my running partner Ali, a brief nod of the head, a raise of the hand and best of all a smile and or a greeting would be much appreciated, especially if you're moving more quickly than me!
I was pleasantly surprised to find my homeward journey was happening quite nicely and I was still managing to push forward with extra effort on the alternative song. I even managed a longer than usual sprint finish. Sitting on my garden wall I was gasping for breath whilst my Nike chip commentator congratulated me on clocking up another 250 miles. I listened to my 37 minute achievement stats but it wasn't until I filled in my log sheet that I realised I had beaten my best pace speed.
One delighted runner!
Now, how do i get those photos off my camera...
I spent a lovely day in glorious sunshine with my Mum at Tyntsfield on Saturday. Having spent most of the day taking photographs with my new camera and once I dropped Mum home I made a flying dash to Asda before spending just a few hours unsuccessfully trying to download/upload the pictures onto my Facebook page I was very pleased to be doing a short run. I had found getting out of bed very difficult.
I set out nice and steady, and tried to speed up for every other ipod track which I mostly succeeded in doing. The lane was busy today, lots of dog walkers, cyclists and runners but noticeably no horses. I would just like to pick up on a point recently made by my running partner Ali, a brief nod of the head, a raise of the hand and best of all a smile and or a greeting would be much appreciated, especially if you're moving more quickly than me!
I was pleasantly surprised to find my homeward journey was happening quite nicely and I was still managing to push forward with extra effort on the alternative song. I even managed a longer than usual sprint finish. Sitting on my garden wall I was gasping for breath whilst my Nike chip commentator congratulated me on clocking up another 250 miles. I listened to my 37 minute achievement stats but it wasn't until I filled in my log sheet that I realised I had beaten my best pace speed.
One delighted runner!
Now, how do i get those photos off my camera...
Friday 7 September 2012
Once, Twice, Three Times A...
Lady?
No I don't think so!
I ran 8.5 km on Wednesday. I ran 5.5 km on Thursday. I ran 11.5 km today. 25 km in one week and I haven't done my Sunday run yet.
Three days in a row and I'm well happy. Apart from running into a lamp post on today's run with my new running buddy Fi!
Fi has entered the Taunton 10k on September 30th as have I so we thought we had best run together before the big day. I hope I didn't slow her down too much, she certainly put me through my paces but I thoroughly enjoyed our outing, apart from the huffing and puffing and the uphills.
Next Wednesday we are running the Taunton 10k route with Tina, a friend of ours and her running club Running Forever. I'm sure I shall keep you posted. I am quietly terrified, I know I shall be at the back.
But now I need to put the kettle on and my feet up.
Goodnight x
No I don't think so!
I ran 8.5 km on Wednesday. I ran 5.5 km on Thursday. I ran 11.5 km today. 25 km in one week and I haven't done my Sunday run yet.
Three days in a row and I'm well happy. Apart from running into a lamp post on today's run with my new running buddy Fi!
Fi has entered the Taunton 10k on September 30th as have I so we thought we had best run together before the big day. I hope I didn't slow her down too much, she certainly put me through my paces but I thoroughly enjoyed our outing, apart from the huffing and puffing and the uphills.
Next Wednesday we are running the Taunton 10k route with Tina, a friend of ours and her running club Running Forever. I'm sure I shall keep you posted. I am quietly terrified, I know I shall be at the back.
But now I need to put the kettle on and my feet up.
Goodnight x
Wednesday 5 September 2012
My Waistband's Too Tight!
Orange linen Boden skirt - not a chance.
Red linen cropped trousers - OK 'til lunchtime.
Blue Boden skirt - Too tight right from the morning.
Green cropped trousers - bearable and I only undid the button to eat my lunch and then to drive home!
Goodness knows what I'm going to try and wear tomorrow.
Can I wear my PJs?
Red linen cropped trousers - OK 'til lunchtime.
Blue Boden skirt - Too tight right from the morning.
Green cropped trousers - bearable and I only undid the button to eat my lunch and then to drive home!
Goodness knows what I'm going to try and wear tomorrow.
Can I wear my PJs?
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