Bit of a scary weekend!

Well I survived the Weekend!

There was times I honestly thought I wouldn't as I felt so ill!

I had such a bad cough I was struggling to breathe!

Back to work this morning feeling depressed after a totally wasted weekend - and not in the good sense either!

On a positive note I am very proud to announce that my friend became an Ironman yesterday in Mexico - awesome lady!

I survived the day and even managed to force myself to do a WOTR club run this evening despite not feeling in the mood for it! I really didn't want to let the Ladies down as we only have a couple of weeks before our planned Parkrun! Luckily the pace was very leisurely so it didn't affect me too much!  We did 4.22 miles at a 14 minute mile pace.

Thankfully I am starting to feel slightly better so the worst must be behind me now!

Not a happy Bunny!

I had high hopes that I would feel well enough to go for a run today!  My body had a very different idea!

It has taken me all my energy just to get out of bed!!

4 days now of not running - I'm going to be back to square one with my fitness, or lack of!

What a week!

I haven't been in the mood for blogging this week!

I haven't been in the mood for doing very much this week!

On Monday evening I had a great run with the Ladies from Women On The Run who managed their longest run and fastest time yet of 4.92 miles at an average 12.57 minute mile pace - and in torrential rain! I am so proud that they have the commitment to keep turning up despite the awful weather!

On Tuesday I went out for a run on my own and found it incredibly hard!  

Yet again it was raining and I felt wheezy and out of breathe for most of it so not my best running experience.  I managed 5.59 miles at an average 9.32 minute mile pace! 

Since then I have done NOWT except work ...and cough!

I have had an incredibly bad cough all week and have felt dreadful!  
I really should have phoned in sick but being a stupid woman with a strong work ethic I didn't, but every other bugger in my class (literally) did!  This put even more pressure on me and then I didn't feel able to ring in sick later in the week because they were so short staffed!

I have been barking like a seal and haven't had the energy or inclination to lace up my trainers and hit the streets ... or the water!  
I thought I had best avoid Open Water Swimming until I can at least breath normally again!  

I have coughed so much I now have sore muscles!

Everyone is back at work fighting fit today and I'm approaching the weekend feeling like CRAP!

Who is the stupid one?

I am feeling really fed up to have some big red crosses on my training plan!

Its not like I'm just being lazy!

A Sunny Run!

Despite enjoying a Chinese Takeaway and a few wines last night I felt quite enthusiastic about going for a run this morning.  It was a bright sunny morning and a lot milder at 5C compared with yesterdays chilly 1C!

This morning I set off to do a 5.5 mile "progressive" run.  
This is where after a 1/2 mile warm up I am supposed to slowly get faster! 

This run highlighted that I really need to work on my pacing!

However, in my defense I don't understand how you can successfully progressively get faster when you live in an area full of hills!  It's obvious that I am going slow down going up the hill and speed up coming down!

I set off and tried to do the 1/2 mile warm up slowly before concentrating on my pace.

Mile 1 I did at a 9.10 minute mile pace
Mile 2 at a 8.24 minute pace mile which I realised was way too fast when I was supposed to be concentrating on progression so tried to slow it down for mile 3 which was 8.47, mile 4 was way too slow at 9.12 and finally for mile 5 I tried to speed up slightly and managed a 8.31 minute mile pace. Altogether I ran 5.5 miles at an average 8.54 minute mile pace.

So as I said I'm slightly useless when it comes to pacing myself!

Something else to concentrate on!

I will to try and improve the next time the plan states a "progressive" run and perhaps select my route more carefully!

This Morning's Swimming Pool!

Yesterday after work at 3.45pm we all went for "a drink" to start the Weekend off!  The weekend definitely started with a bang when one drink turned into several and we ended up going home at 8.30pm legless!  I'm blaming the lack of food!

Anyhow I had already arranged to meet a friend at 10am this morning to swim in Lake Windermere, and I didn't think a hangover was a good enough excuse to cancel!

It was a fantastic morning, rather chilly and there was snow on the fells but the sun was shining!  

For the first time since May I decided the time had come to dig out my wetsuit gloves and socks!  I didn't want my fingers and toes dropping off!


My friend who I swim with goes in in just his trunks - mad man that he is!

After all the torrential rain and floods the jetty was still underwater, which made it a little more tricky getting in and out!

I was amazed that I didn't get thet "OMG" feeling I usually get as my wetsuit fills with ice cold water!  It's probably due to the fact the air temperature was so cold my body was already in shock!

Despite it being a beautiful morning the lake has a habit of being choppy whenever I get in and today was no exception!  My goggles were also not playing nicely either and kept leaking and sliding!  I realised when I got home what the problem was!  I had committed a silly school girl error and had used face cream this morning!  Obviously the oil in it was making my goggles slip slide all over my face!  Lesson learned!

We didn't stay in long or swim very far as my body is still acclimatising to the extreme water temperatures!

When we did emerge from the lake there was a group of 4 people watching us, they came and spoke to us.  Apparently they were film makers from America here for the Kendal Mountain Festival with Swimmer Sean Conway and they asked to take a photo of us!  Lord only knows where that will end up!

Anyhow by the time we had finished talking to them I was feeling slightly chilly and was pleased to get my clothes back on and a drink my flask of Hot Chocolate!  

There is a little bit of an uphill walk to get from the lake to the car park which is quite good for getting the circulation going and warming the body up slightly!

My toes were the only part of me that were suffering - the tingling pain as they warmed up was not very pleasant!

I have no idea how far we swam as my Garmin obviously didn't appreciate the shock of the cold and went doolally! According to it we were in the water 13 minutes and swam 9.29 miles!  I can guarantee you I did NOT swim that distance - it was more like 250 metres!

The jetty under the water!

The walk up from the lake to the car park!

A Dry One!

For the first time in what seems like a very long time I managed to enjoy a dry run this evening!

I had spent the day at a Conference in Huddersfield, where I sat all day which is very different to my usual sort of day when I barely stop!

I had also enjoyed a rather large 2 course meal at lunch time, Coffee with biscuits this morning finished off with Coffee and Cake this afternoon so I was feeling rather stuffed too!

By the time I arrived home at 6pm I was itching to get out and stretch my legs! 

The plan said a 3 mile slow run.  I didn't mind the 3 mile part but I needed to expand some energy so I went a little faster than the 10:47 minute mile pace suggested!

I really enjoyed this run and didn't worry about the pace until I stopped my Garmin. I was surprised to see that I had actually done a "progressive" run, where I got faster each mile.  Whenever I usually try to do this I fail!  I did the first mile at an average 9.13 minute mile pace, followed by mile 2 at 8.54 and mile 3 at 8.51. Not the equal increments you are supposed to do but progressive all the same! 

I had run 3.11 miles at an average 9.03 minute mile pace!

You can view my run here!

I'm feeling good!

After the recent torrential rain and floods we now have snow forecast for this weekend - that could make running tricky!

Swimming!

Tonight I went to Tri Club Swimming in the pool!

I'm not feeling very fit at the moment so was quite apprehensive about it, but once I got going I really enjoyed the session!

We swam 1600 metres including sprints and drills so feeling rather tired now!

I was supposed to be swimming in the lake tomorrow night but unfortunately the pier we swim from at Millerground is underwater, so we have cancelled.  Hopefully if the rain stops I might get in the lake over the weekend!

The Parkrun at Fell Foot was cancelled last week and is cancelled again this coming Saturday as that too is flooded!

I wish this rain would go and do one!

Fell Foot

Fell Foot!

I think my Mojo is back!

The last few months have been tough going and in amongst it all I seemed to have lost my running mojo!

On Sunday whilst I was "suffering" running a race I hadn't trained for I decided that I was no longer going put work before my life ... I was going claim my life back again and find the time and energy to RUN! 

Since my injury at the beginning of the Summer my love of running, enthusiasm and the ability to run whatever life threw at me has deserted me. My mojo seems to have been on strike! I have been running but not with consistency or of any quality, and definitely not with any enthusiasm! 

I have felt like I have been lacking in goals and a focus!

So on Sunday evening I sat down and decided what my goals for 2016 were going be!

I flirted with the idea of another marathon but have decided to put that one on hold for now!  

Instead I am going to focus on getting a faster Half Marathon, 10K and 5K time, and plan to do the HM and 10K courses where I have previously run a PB, with the intention of beating it! I would also like to beat my 1 Mile Open Water Swim time!

That means I am definitely running Liverpool Rock n Roll Half Marathon in May and The Windmill 10K in November, as well as swimming in The Great North Swim again in June - all now booked!

I will also try and find some "tester" races to allow me to see how close I am to achieving my goals in the target races!

I am feeling quite excited now and have even started on a training plan to improve my HM time!  

I do love a plan to follow! 

I know May is a long way off but it gives me plenty of time to slowly improve my fitness - with no excuses acceptable!

When I got back from work tonight it was raining and I was tired but I had the training plan staring at me stating I was to do 5.5 miles at a "jog".

Before I could change my mind I was togged out in my wet weather running gear and hitting the streets! 

My plan stated a "jog" was at a 10.45 minute mile pace, which seems very slow to me so I selected a hilly route to slow me down and it worked a treat!

I can't say I enjoyed it or that it was easy but I did it!

I ran 5.63 miles at a average 10.19 minute mile pace.

My second tick on my training plan! 

I think I might have got my mojo back!

Bring it on!

So Proud Of My Ladies!

Tonight at running club I decided to push them a little by throwing in a hill or 2!

Luckily the rain had stopped but it had turned very cold!

They did fantastically well running up the hills with only a little moaning and groaning!

However, we were on our last 10 minute run interval and I was so busy chatting to one of my ladies that I didn't hear my Garmin Beep to say the time was up, so I kept on running!  I even extended my planned run because I thought we hadn't done the full time.  It was only when I glanced at my watch and saw we had been running for over an hour that I realised my mistake! 

Whoops!

I apologised profusely and told them it was good to push themselves!

They ran the furthest they have run yet - 4.8 miles!

They have come on immensely since we started running 8 weeks ago!

I am very proud!

Kendal Survived the Floods!

Hundreds of people were evacuated last night as the Environment Agency thought the River Kent in Kendal was going to break its banks! It's good to be able to report IT DIDN'T although it did get very very close!

This meant that today I was able to compete in the Brampton to Carlisle 10 Mile Road Race. 

You can read how I got on here!

Flood Alert!

I am meant to be running in the Brampton to Carlisle 10 Mile Road Race tomorrow but I am not sure whether:

a) it will be on - heavy rain is causing flooding and the race might be cancelled!
b) if I will actually get out of Kendal - the whole town is on flood alert and already 100's of houses have been evacuated!
c) the roads will be passable to get to Carlisle!

If I do get there and it is actually on it looks like it's going be a wet one!

I have had my Spaghetti Bolognese and I have stayed off the wine this evening - I'm ready, it's up to the weather now!

Children in Need - a good end to a bad week!

I haven't run or done any exercise since my WOTR run on Monday, instead I have gorged myself stupid on junk food and alcohol ... WHY? ... the stress of a little visit from OFSTED!

The big worry is I have a race on Sunday!  The 10 mile Brampton to Carlisle Road Race!

I am usually guilty of not tapering for races!  

This time I have most definitely tapered although I don't think I have done it in quite the right way!

It would be helpful if I could turn into a Super Hero like I did today and FLY instead of run!

Its a little damp out there!

Its wet, its windy, its cold, the river is high and near bursting its banks, some roads and paths are flooded ... but being a running club leader means one things ... the show must go on!

This is the path we usually run along at running club - taken 3 hours before we went running, so funnily enough we avoided it tonight!

Only the hardiest turned up, just 7 tonight but to be honest it was more than I expected considering how bad the weather was!

Despite the weather we had a really good run and managed 4 miles.

The ladies are actually beginning to get the bug and are finally enjoying it!

I have converted them!

There is nothing else for it .... it's got to be cake!

After doing the Helvellyn 10K Trail run yesterday, it was thankfully a rest day today!

If is at all possible the weather today was worse than yesterday - cold, wet and very windy so luckily I wasn't running!  

Instead I lazed around for most of the day until I went out to a local cafe for tea and cake!

I also wrote my review about Helvellyn Trail Race which an be viewed here! 

So so so tired!!

After a particularly stressful day at work I came home to a pile of ironing!  By the time I had finished it was 6 O Clock and I was so tired all I wanted to do was sit down and cry!

After a few minutes sitting down feeling myself sinking further into a hole I decided that despite the exhaustion I would feel better if I forced myself to go for a run.

It was raining heavily but I didn't let this deter me!

I got changed into my running gear and headed out the door.

One thing I hadn't taken into consideration was the fact it was the 5th November!  As I was running along there was fireworks going off left, right and centre!  It was also fairly difficult running as there is a lot of fallen Autumn leaves on the paths at the moment and the rain had made them extremely slippery. Not exactly the most relaxing of runs!

However, I managed 3.62 miles at an average 9.42 minute mile pace.

I also felt 100% better afterwards!

Back to the safety of the pool!

Tonight I finally made it back to the Tri Club Pool Training Session, the first I have been to since 22 April 2015, which means over 7 months of avoidance of drills!!

Tonight I got my comeuppance! I had to suffer an hour of drills, and boy did I suffer!

All the Open Water Swimming has obviously played havoc with my technique and I felt like I was back to square one!

However, I survived and after doing every drill imaginable (and a few more!) I had swum 1550 metres, which is just under a mile.

Despite it being hard work I really enjoyed being back in the fold and will make sure its a regular occurrence once again! 

Cold, dark and foggy!

Tonight I went out in the cold, the dark and the fog!

 If I was going for a run I would think this was pretty acceptable, however tonight I went for a swim in Lake Windermere!  

What is normal about that?!

David, my swimming friend keeps convincing me to go for "one more swim" before I retire my wetsuit for the Winter!  

Amazingly it is not the cold that gets to me but the dark!  

Tonight it was so so so dark, with a little fog lingering over the only lights in the distance I wasn't sure I could survive!

For the first 25m or so I felt totally stressed!  I ket my beady eye on David's blue light on the back of his goggles and was determined to keep up with him!  I wasn't going to be left alone tonight!

Before getting in David had given me a little pep talk about there being a lot of leaves and twigs etc in the lake at the moment due to the recent weather so if I swum into something or something touched my face I was not to panic!

That is very easily said ... not so easily done!

It was pitch black and I was just praying it was in fact just leaves and twigs surrounding me!

Amazingly by the time we were heading back to the boathouse (which was lit so we could see the way!) my eyes had adjusted and it didn't seem quite so dark or quite so scary!

My first Open Water Swim this year was the 3rd May, so I am feeling very proud that I can say I have swum Open Water for 6 months now - only 6 months to go before I am REALLY hard core - or insane I'm not sure which!

Another foggy one!

Tonight was Women on the Run Club night and it was a foggy one!

We are now up to 8 minutes running and 1 minute walking and the group are totally A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!

They are doing all the runs set for them in the week and due to this are progressing fantastically well!

Tonight we did a 4.57 mile run at an average 13.46 minute mile pace.

Here's some of the Ladies sporting the Reflective Bands kindly donated by Pete Bland Sports to keep us safe whilst running in Winter!  Some opted to wear them on their ankle and others on their arm!

We were very visible - even in the fog!

Lost in the FOG!

This morning when I woke up my chest felt slightly better so I set off with the intention of running the Kendal Mountain Festival 10K Trail route!

It sets off with the first mile being on the old black stuff before going onto Scout Scar! The first mile was constantly uphill but I was feeling quite chuffed with myself that I managed to keep on running!

However, although I knew where I was heading by the time I got on to the top of the Scar it was incredibly foggy.

Then I came upon a herd of cows so went off track to try and avoid them - this is where my problems began! By the time I got round them the fog was so dense I couldn't find my way back on track!

My Garmin watch has a "live tracker" facility on it so I wasn't too stressed as I knew I could phone home and get directions!  After running a little further I decided that there wasn't anything else for it I would have to phone home just to see if I was actually going in the right direction!  Alas, this wasn't any help as the link hadn't loaded properly so I was on my own!

In the end I decided to keep running and when I heard traffic I headed in that direction knowing that once I hit a road I was safer than being stuck up a mountain!  I was beginning to feel ever so slightly stressed about being lost in the fog when I finally came to a road and I knew where I was!

I ended up doing 6.71 miles which can be viewed here!

Note to self - don't run in the fog and if I do don't go off track to avoid cows - BE BRAVE!

This afternoon I had a relaxing time watching The New York Marathon on TV!  It was very strange seeing the places I had just been to a few days ago, especially the finish line as I had actually run through it earlier in the week whilst on holiday!

This has left me feeling very unsettled and I feel the urge to book some challenging event for 2016 - I just don't know what!