A soggy red nose

... well, I should have had a red nose, I suppose, but I looked enough of a clown as it was!

This was the Sport Relief Mile Day. You could choose to run 1, 3 or 6 miles, so I reckoned that 3 miles was reasonable; because of the length of the loop chosen, the actual distances were 1.05, 2.85 and 5.55 miles.

When I woke, it was tipping it down. Not only that, but a high wind - not fun. Leaving my visiting friends in bed (very wise of them), I drove into Norwich, met up with Elaine and her son Peter, and Kim (not running this time, but was there to cheer us on and took lots of photos - thanks, Kim!), and lined up with vast numbers to run round the city centre.



Whatever bright spark (Noel Coward, actually) said Norfolk was flat had clearly never been to the centre of our county town. The hills around the centre are noticeable, to say the least! The route took us down the side of the marketplace, along to Chapelfield, around the Chapelfield Park area, and back round to the Forum. After my third lap I was more than ready to stop - the thought of doing the six mile version didn't bear thinking about - but at least I was OK with doing more than a mile.



Peter, being a fit teenager, was far faster than us; like an eager labrador, he effectively ran much further than we did, as he kept running ahead, then turning back or running on the spot to allow us to catch up! I knew from our training runs that Elaine would have no problem with the distance, and as she has the light frame of a runner, rather than a plodder like me, I wasn't surprised when she and Peter vanished in front of me during the last half-lap or so, and came in exactly a minute ahead.



However, I was pretty pleased to find that I'd maintained at least a sub-11 minute mile throughout - the photo of me crossing the line proves my timing(see clock top right)!



Aching a bit, but not too badly; very, very wet (I was glad I'd brought a change of clothes, and especially shoes - my trainers were twice their usual weight by the end with the water, or that's what it felt like); and very hungry, I was glad to go off with Kim to meet Malcolm & Sue for tea & a scone in Jarrolds. The post-race photograph with Elaine & Peter is perhaps the least flattering photo of me I've ever seen, but at least I look happy!



With a bit of luck, by my next outing (Race for Life, May) it will be (a) in better weather and (b) I'll be nearer to the fitness point I left last November!

What a crappy week for exercise

A wonderful visit to the gym on Sunday was followed by the worst aches in the legs and the butt that I've felt since I started exercising - I think it was that darn' stepper machine. I could hardly walk up the stairs, never mind run. The only thing to be said for it was that it made me forget about (and also rest) the hip and hamstring that have been causing so many problems.

Today I woke up feeling more mobile than I have for days. Great, I thought - I can get out for a run at last. (The last run was last Tuesday. A week ago. A WEEK AGO!!)

And what did it do? Not just a shower, but torrential rain all day. Even if it had let up before dark (which it didn't), all the country lanes have turned into paddling pools. Just great.

So tomorrow is the day. And then it's back to the routine. But I am getting SO crabby... (waddya mean, "getting?"...)

It hurts when I stop

A book I had some years ago about health & fitness, headlined by Ruby Wax and Dr Alan Maryon-Davis, made the great comment about exercise "Think how great it feels when you stop", to which Ruby replied "It does! I must stop more often..."

I'm finding the opposite. Felt great when running, but crocked now.

A run with Kim this evening down the road through Easton village, exactly 1.5 miles each way, in the dusk, the rain and the wind... not as safe a run as we thought, as only the first half of it has pavements. The rest is verges and grass banks. All that hopping on and off different levels to avoid the cars - despite our luminous yellow tops - was tough going.

Each half of the run - 1.5 miles - timed out at 15:15 or thereabouts, with a 4 minute break at the halfway mark (so this gave me a much improved mile pace of 10:10). For about 75% of the run, I actually felt pretty comfortable, too. However, by the last bit, the omnipresent pull on the left lower thigh/hamstring was overtaken by a greater pain in the upper right front thigh/hip. By the time I'd driven home, it really was feeling very painful, and still is now - despite some frozen-pea treatment.

I am very proud of the fact that I've done 3 x 1.75, 1 x 1.95, and 1 x 3 miles within the last 7 days - just over 10 miles. Given that my average weekly mileage has been around the 5 mile mark for months, this is quite an achievement. But if I want to get to a comfortable 4 miles by the end of October, 5 end November and 6 end December, that pace might have to slacken off just a little; or at least, make sure there's a bit less hopping about to jar the muscles that were, just eight months ago, used for nothing more than driving to the supermarket and back...

Darn fool hobby

It has been "windy and raining all getout" pretty much all day. (It took me a while to pin down where that phrase came from, but eventually the mental filing cabinet turned up that it's a quote from The Tin Drum by Günter Grass.) When it was pouring around 5pm, I sent Kim a text: "Can we go to the gym instead of for a run? It's HORRIBLE out there!" she came back and insisted we run anyway. "I don't want you being put off if New Year's Day is wet and cold!" (This was the line she used on my first ever run, by the way. Actually, I'm glad she's a bully.)

In the event, it wasn't actually raining all that much by the time we went out around 6:30 pm, and wasn't yet too dark. However, having found on yesterday's run that the track under the trees to Morton Hall is just a bit too pot-holed for comfort (the last thing we want is a sprained ankle right now), we decided to do our usual run but stopping at the cottage halfway down the track before the trees, back to the top of the drive, then repeat the drive down and back before going home. This turned out to be just slightly short of two miles, instead of our usual 1.75; we did it in 20:15 of running time (with two lots of two-minute breaks).

We skipped puddles, splashed, got muddy, jumped from road to grass and back again... and it was great fun!

Better still, even given the daft conditions, the time and distance gives a pace of 10:23, which was very encouraging; I felt able to put on a bit more speed in a few bits (although the breaks, which I don't usually take on my own, probably helped!).

Seeing the ridiculous sight we made as we went to go out of the door, my husband took before-and-after photos. In neither case was this glamour (well, I think Kim still looks pretty cool, but I look like a demented frog with a tomato on top**). Photo #2 - see muddy trousers. My laundry quantities have increased no end since I took up running!

** or possibly a traffic light with the middle bit missing

OK, I'm addicted...

... judging by how much better I felt after today's gym session.

Yesterday, as you'll have gathered, was a complete washout - torrential rain at frequent intervals meant that a run was out of the question, and the A47 accident proved to be dreadful enough to keep the A47 shut for hours, preventing access to the gym (not that my gym session is what you'd call important in the larger scheme of things).

Today saw me at a women's networking event in Norwich - Women on Top - which was great fun and very helpful. It was pouring with rain as we finished (there's a change), but eventually I made it back to the car park in one piece, and got to Carrefour.

I realised with some horror that it's ten days - ten days - since I was at the gym - although I console myself with the fact that there have at least been three runs and two long walks in that time, not to mention two decluttering sessions with all the physical work that implies. However, it's also four days since my last run (Friday), so I was eager to get back on track. Ten minutes' warmup, fifteen on the Nautilus, fifteen running at 8 km/hour on the treadmill, then a full 45 minutes of weights programme. Strictly speaking, I think I'm best keeping the gym for weights, and the running for CV - as I really was flagging by the end - but oh dear, that was better.

I couldn't face getting back into tights and a sharp skirt suit* after my workout, so froze to death walking round Sainsbury's in my jogging bottoms and sleeveless top...

* which I can now wear with confidence for the first time since July 2003

Infamy, infamy...

(altogether now) they've all got it infamy...

After a weekend of rather hedonistic overeating and socialising, I was so ready for some exercise this morning. (Admittedly, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the 146 lb weight is still the same - I felt as though I should've put on at least three pounds.)

My original intention was to go to the Pilates class, but then I decided that I was craving (craving!!) a more energetic workout, so was really looking forward to some CV and weights, a quick visit to Sainsbury's to pick up some groceries, and home.

Visitors from the weekend all gone yesterday, house tidied up, ready for next visitor (yes, really) to arrive this lunchtime. Left husband in charge, loaded gym kit and shopping list into the car, set off for the A47. And stopped. And waited. For about 20 minutes. Turned on Radio Norfolk.

It turns out that there has been some sort of serious accident actually on the junction where I turn off for the gym - and the road is closed! So I turned round and came back to the house, muttering "well, at least I can go for a run"; and, of course, the heavens have now opened.

Our visitor, of course, is probably stuck in the backlog of traffic; I'd better go and get on with some other work...

I wanna do some exercise, and they won't let me! (throws tantrum...)

Somebody's on my side

A busy day at the desk, on the PC and in the house. Originally due to meet Kim for a PT session this evening, but she had a diary clash and had to cancel. "That's alright - I'll go on my own anyway", I said.

Suddenly it was after seven o'clock, and we hadn't thought about eating yet... and the weather was dreadful. Damn. I don't want to skip a session, but I just don't have time to spend two hours getting down to the gym and doing a workout - and I don't fancy running in a torrential downpour. A drizzle I can cope with, but this would be real masochism.

And suddenly, the rain stopped; the sun came out; the clouds were still there, but that fabulous effect where steel-grey clouds behind a sunny field look almost blue; and it was a glorious evening. On went the shoes, and two miles non-stop gave me my buzz for today.

(I didn't have the mobile or camera with me, but this shot out of my window just now gives a fair idea.)



For this relief, much thanks.

Running in the rain

April and May have switched places this year. After the hottest, sunniest April on record, every day this month seems to have been wet. Not that I mind - the garden is very relieved.

It's given a new running experience, however. Kim came over to have a run with me this evening, and it was very, very damp out there... a constant drizzle. But it didn't matter - it was actually a really nice run, and doing the two-mile route down to Morton Hall and back meant that we were under trees half the time anyway. We didn't time ourselves, but my pace is certainly faster now, and sometimes it really feels like running - a marvellous feeling.

Next time we run in the rain, though, I must make sure I wear my contact lenses and not my specs - I couldn't see a thing...

The First Run: 24/03/2007

Kim phoned me in the morning. "We're meeting at the gym this afternoon; but I think we ought to do our first run today." I looked out of the window. "Kim - it's filthy weather out there!" "Yes, I know - that's why I want to do it today. I don't want you being put off if the day of the Race for Life is like this! Just wrap up warm. I'll bring you a hat to wear." Right.

We met and warmed up in the gym, with a few minutes each on the bike and the rower, plus some stretches. Then we went outside.

The gym isn't in the most picturesque setting in Norfolk; it's part of the Longwater estate, which contains a huge (and very useful) Sainsbury's, a Staples, the Range, and a few other shops. Oh, and a Kentucky Fried Chicken opposite the gym - great planning!

However, it's not a bad place to start jogging: even pavements, plenty of space around the car parks, logical stopping points for walking or stretching, and a couple of small hills leading back up towards the roundabout.

I wore my new frog green top and hoodie; Kim pitched up in a luminous yellow top. With little beanie hats on, we looked a hysterical sight - two-thirds of a traffic light. The Saturday shoppers looked at us as though we were mad. The weather was pretty grey and damp, but at least it wasn't raining.

The route we took was about 0.9 miles, when Kim clocked it in her car. We went round it three times, with probably 1/3 to 1/2 jogging in short bursts. My HR went up to around 160 by the end of a long (i.e. 2 minutes!) jog, but recovered fast. The little hill felt like a mountain, but we managed it.

I jogged today for the first time...

and I loved it!