Mellow Yellow

It started well, the glorious sun was shining. I was taking in the wonderful signs of spring, primroses, daffodils, dandelions, catkins, crocus, jasmine, all beautiful. It was warm, hot even, half way round and my jacket was off and I drank all of my water.

Then I ran out of energy and enthusiasm and I wanted to stop. I struggled home. Even running downhill was too hard.

Life is too busy. My work has got too busy. I want to stop.

I want to lie on a beach where the sun is just  hot enough, where the sea is still and just warm enough to get straight in. I want to sleep and read books and stroll along the sea front. I want to sit in a restaurant open to the elements and watch the moonlight flicker across the water.

I am going to be still and quiet for the rest of the day.  

Half Term Challenge

During the last week of the recently completed half term I was asked if I had plans for the holiday week. As I hadn't, I realised I had a complete week to focus upon my running. An idea entered my head  and I merrily told my work colleagues that I was going to see if I could run further than I ever had before. I meant that I wanted to see if  could run further than 11.11 km in one go. I also wanted to see if my running would improve if I ran every day. So, my week panned out as follows:

Monday - I ran for distance, a long run to set me off.
(10.51 km = 6.53 miles)

Tuesday - I ran for speed, knocking 2 minutes off a usual time for a route and finishing within an hour. (8.91 km = 5.53 miles)

Wednesday - I ran for pleasure with my four legged friend.
(7.51 km = 4.66 miles)

Thursday - I ran because the sun was shining, even though a third of the way round the sun had disappeared and it felt like I was wading through treacle.
(11.11 km= 6.9 miles)

Friday - I ran because I'm now more than half way through my challenge and I will not give in!
(8.05 km = 5 miles)

Saturday - I ran because I have a commitment to support a friend new to running in her running training and because she's mighty fine company for a jolly good natter.
(7.88 km - 4.89 miles)

Sunday - I ran because I wanted to - simple as :-)

I did not run further than my PB of 11.11 km, but I did run every day, my legs hurt like hell through Thursday, Friday and Saturday but they have recovered, I had to walk some of the time on some of the runs, I still hate hills but today I ran the whole route and I have a massive smile on my face as i add up my total miles for the 7 days:

61.22 KM = 38.04 MILES

Eddie Izzard I am not - Happy Bunny I am!

Running For Longer

This morning Ali and I ran for 12 minutes three times! What a difference a few weeks make. I am very proud of you Ali, you're doing a great job.

Park Run here we come.

New trainers here we come.

Shopping trip here we come.

Lunch and gossip, here we come!

Oxymoron?

Man in van.
Man in white van.
Nice man in van.
Nice man in white van.

Which one is the oxymoron?

Sorry Paul, you did say you wanted to be in my blog didn't you? Shame the word sounds so unkind!

Fuzzy Wuzzy

Fuzzy Wuzzy was a bear.
Fuzzy Wuzzy had no hair.
So Fuzzy Wuzzy wasn't fuzzy was he!

Strange, the things that pop into your head whilst jogging away the miles!

Polly

Personal Trainer

"Polly, your personal trainer is here!"

This morning I was greeted with boundless enthusiasm from my running partner. She was delighted to be going running and she has really got the hang of it. She stayed right by my side and kept looking at me with love and enjoyment. She tore up the hills and was ahead of me for nearly the whole circular route of 4.5 miles. We didn't have too many stops and only walked for a very short spell whilst heading towards a flighty horse. My partner doesn't like horses. As a special treat we diverted across a couple of fields so we could just check if there were any bunnies or birds that needed a quick chase. We completed the route in 46 minutes so I was very happy.

When I left, Polly was fast asleep in her basket, no doubt dreaming about beating her personal best time for this run!