Hey all!

I’ve been away in the lovely Cotswolds with the family and I did plan on doing my last long run there of 7 miles, unfortunately I only managed 4 miles as a few of my niggles were still there and I didn’t want to push it and injure myself before this Sunday.  It was still a great run though around a beautiful lake, while the kids were cycling, it just felt like a lot more than 4 I’m just hoping Sunday will be different.

I’ve also been having really achy legs especially of a morning and they are aching that much it is waking me up, which isn’t good at 5am in the morning and you need your sleep.  I’ve looked in to it and it looks like it could be a number of things, bad circulation, to much strain on the legs throughout the day or nutrient deficiencies.  Hopefully it’s just to much strain and once this half is over I can rest for a little bit and it will ease.  It probably didn’t help we did a 10 mile cycle ride whilst we was away as well ha ha!

I did my last run today before Sunday, just a really easy 3 miler it felt good and fingers crossed no achy legs this afternoon!!

In a strange way though I am looking forward to Sunday, finally getting my head round the distance of a half marathon I think and plus the fact I am in a relay team for a half ironman with my husband!

Wish us luck and I’ll keep you updated with how we get on!

 

 

Hey all!

My 10 mile race went well, it was great to be back running with Michelle and getting each other round as it was a hot day and a toughish course, but a great course it was nice to run somewhere completely different.  We did it in 1 hour 42 mins, which I was pleased with!

My legs felt fine the next day, but I am being really strict with my stretching at the moment as I have had a few niggles in my left leg and the only way they are going to get any better is with me stretching.  It’s annoying as when I finish work all I want to do is chill out with the family, but I know it helps.  I try and do it for an hour a night and roll any niggles out with a foam roller, which hurts as the one I have has nobbles all over it and has left me in bruises ouch ha ha!

I will be doing a 7 miler this weekend, as it’s a week on Sunday that I have my next half marathon, the bonus of this run is that it will be in the Cotswolds so I get a nice run in with some beautiful views.  For this half marathon I’m part of a relay team for a half ironman, so my husband is doing the 1.2 mile swim and the 56 mile bike ride and I am doing the half marathon, I think it’s going to be a great atmosphere and looking forward to being part of a team with the hubby!

Take care, speak to you soon.

 

 

 

Hey all!

So it’s been a week since my last half and what a week it’s been, such a different recovery after this one.

Monday I woke up and felt exhausted, no energy and my mood felt very low.  Just thought I needed a bit more sleep, but Tuesday and Wednesday I felt the same.  I couldn’t lift my mood and the thought of running or hitting the gym just wasn’t appealing and god knows where I would have got my energy from!  I don’t think I’ve ever felt like that after a half before, I really can’t put my finger on why it was so different this time.

I have been questioning myself am I doing to much, but then I went to the gym on Friday and then went for my first run yesterday and had a great run and felt great after the gym.  So I am just putting it down to a one off I hope, as it wasn’t nice feeling like that and not being able to go and exercise to lift my mood.

I have a 10 miler booked for next week with my running friend Michelle, I’m looking forward to it only being 10 miles ha ha!

Have a great week!

Hey all I haven’t managed to write anything for a while, busy, busy, busy.

I have my next half marathon tomorrow and I’m feeling a bit nervous as this is the first time that I have done a half without either someone starting with me, running it with me or waiting for me at the end.  I’m all on my own!

The last long run I did was 10 miles which was over a week ago, I had the rare occasion of running it with my husband, it was great doing a long run together.  We don’t get to train together very often as we’re always training for something different.  I felt great on the run again and I’m hoping this will mean I’m feeling good on the run tomorrow (here’s hoping)!

All I have trained up to this time is 10 miles, I’m sure I’ll be fine but there’s always that nagging at the back of your mind that you haven’t done enough.

I had a great sports massage on Wednesday in preparation for tomorrow and did a short run on Tuesday, only 3 miles just to keep my legs ticking over while I’m tapering, so today because I haven’t ran for a while I’m eager to get out, I’ll be like a bottle of pop tomorrow on the start line.  I must tell myself not to go off to fast, which I usually always do ha ha, I must be strict!!

Wish me luck and I’ll update you all tomorrow with how it went.

 

Hey all!

I finally got round to starting my stretching this week and went for a sports massage, both has really helped my bloody horrible niggle in my IT band (side of the thigh), which is causing a niggle in my knee!!  The good thing is though the niggle isn’t there when I’m running it’s just after, so I’m hoping the stretching and regular sports massages will get rid of it!

I had a fantastic 10 mile training run today, it helped that my fab friend Michelle did it with me as well.  We did 5 miles on our own then joined our running club to do the next 5.  Why doesn’t it ever feel that good on the day of the race though!!  Most of the run was off road in the park, which was a nice change as I usually always do my long runs on the road.

Since starting my eating plan I have stopped having my porridge for breakfast in the morning for my long runs, it was hard to get out of the habit at first as I was worried I needed the carbs from the porridge for fuel, but I actually went out and ran 10 miles on just 2 scrambled eggs, an apple and some figs today.  I felt great and didn’t feel like I was running out of fuel, I did have some glucose drinks with me, but it just shows me that my body doesn’t need carbs as much as I thought it did.

It was weigh day today and the scales were definitely not on my side, I put bloody 3 pound on in a week!!!!  The holiday and to much chocolate and wine over Easter is now catching up with me ha ha, but hey it doesn’t hurt to relax once in a while and I’m back on the healthy train now (although the porn star martinis probably won’t help tomorrow night when I’m out with the girls ha ha)!

Have a great weekend!

 

 

Hey all!

I am really struggling to get back in to the routine of everything since getting back from my holiday, work, running, gym, food, it’s so hard!

I got out running today though, with two of my fab running friends and decided to do a bit of a long one to get myself out and back into the routine of my long runs again. It’s only 3 weeks until my next half so I need to get my bum in to gear!  I love going out running with them, it just makes it so much easier, having a good gossip the time flies.

I did 7.5 miles in the end, which I was pleased with, although my legs do feel tired today and I have a bit of a niggle in my hamstring, I need to get back into doing my 20-30 min stretching again of a night time and get a sports massage booked in when I can, hopefully this will help.

I saw this picture today and thought it was so true for me ha ha.

I really think if I couldn’t get out and run I would go crazy!  It is the perfect therapy, it clears my mind and makes me feel good about myself.

Just remember we all have negative thoughts when we’re doing some kind of exercise, you feel like you can’t or don’t want to do it, but always remember how good you felt after your last session/run.  I go through stages of not wanting to run and I have to make myself go out and literally just keep running through this stage, until I’m feeling it again.

I’m sitting here writing my blog with a lovely glass of chilled white wine, even though I do like to be strict with my food a treat of a glass of wine is what is needed on a Friday night!

Happy Easter everyone, have a lovely long weekend :0)

 

 

 

 

 

Hey all!

After my half marathon last week I really feel like I have recovered a lot quicker than ever before (must be the sea air) managed a 6 mile run on Wednesday and a 5 mile run on Saturday.  Let me tell you it’s not easy running abroad though, with the heat and humidity especially after a few glasses of wine the night before ha ha!! But got my stuff on and went for it, this time it’s a run with an amazing view though, which helps!

I don’t think I have done anything different this time, hopefully it’s just my body getting used to the half marathon distance.  I do think though after a half it’s great to get back out there to do a recovery run as soon as you feel ready.

The only thing I haven’t been doing since my half is stretching properly, I need to get back in to my routine of doing this when I’m back home but hey I’m on holiday so I’m not going to beat myself up!

Some people might think it’s mad that I’m taking my running stuff on holiday with me (I thought that once upon a time ha ha) but it’s a way of life now and I feel as long as I do it early before the day starts with the children, it doesn’t take up any of my holiday time with my family.

I think I’ve just been talked into doing another half at the end of May arrghhhhh that means 5 now before the end of July! But I know it’s a good thing as the training for my marathon will start soon, so I need to get used to the long miles!

If you have any questions you want to ask or you’d like me to add anything to my blog please let me know.

Hope you all have a good week!

Hey all, hope your having a lovely weekend.

So it’s all over with, I did my first half marathon of the year in Liverpool in 2 hours and 12 mins.  I was really pleased with my time after not running properly for 4 weeks with my bad toe.  It was a fantastic route and was very well organised I would definitely come back and do it again.

If it hadn’t been for my amazing friend Michelle (on the right) running with me I don’t think I would have made it round.  I really enjoyed it up to 10 miles and then I started to really feel it.  I felt sick and my legs were heavy, but with the support of Michelle I ran all of it.

Now it’s time to chill and enjoy Liverpool with the girls, I think there will be plenty of cocktails and food later, a day off eating healthy for me, we all have to have a treat every so often ☺

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

 

 

Hey all hope you have all had a good week!

So my week started off ok, Monday I went to the gym and decided to try a run on the treadmill to see how my toe felt, I managed 10 minutes and had to come off (think it was more in my head than anything else).  I was really disappointed and felt a bit down about it, but went on some of the other cardio machines and felt like I had a good session, which lifted my spirits a little.

I did a good weights session with my friend on Tuesday and felt great after, so decided to do a run on Wednesday in the pouring rain and got soaked ha ha!!  I managed 4.5 miles, my toe felt ok on the run but was quite sore after, so I had 2 days rest so not to push it to much.

I went to a concert on Thursday night and some woman ended up treading on my bad toe (typical)!!  It hurt really bad and I haven’t done anything since.  The girls went running this morning for their last long run before our half marathon next Sunday, I saw them briefly before they went, I was so p’d off as I really wanted to go with them, but didn’t want to make my toe worse for next week.  I ended up going to the gym instead and taking it out on the bike and weights ha ha!

This week one of the school moms approached me and said she was loving my blog and found it motivational, I was really pleased.  She asked if I could put in my blog what I was eating and the best way to train for a run, as she’s doing a 8.5 mile run in June.

I follow a plan called the Tri-Plan, it’s an online eating and exercise plan.  You make a one off payment for a 12 week plan and can go back to day one whenever you want without having to pay again.  It gives you three meals a day with recipe ideas and some snacks to eat throughout the day, I love it as I really struggle sometimes to know what to eat, so this gives me lots of different ideas.  The exercises are great as well, they take about 10-15 minutes to do and are really good for toning.  Because I do a lot more training than what the plan says I do add a few more snacks and sometimes sweet potatoes as my carbs if I have done a long run.

Basically the plan is no white potatoes, bread, pasta and no sugary treats, instead lots of fish, white meat, a little read meat, salads and vegetables.  Sounds boring I know, but the recipes they give you make it interesting and personally I needed that change as all of the white potatoes, pasta and bread I was eating was making me bloated, leaving me feeling like rubbish and not helping me get to my goal weight.

What I would say if your starting out running or want to train for a particular run is take it slowly, you don’t want to push yourself and get injured or end up not enjoying it.  Start with a couple of miles and add a mile each week if you feel like you can.  Another good thing to do in between the days your not running is trying the exercise bike in the gym or doing a bike ride on a road bike or swimming, just to mix it up a little if you don’t just want to run all the time, this will help keep your fitness up for your training.

Have a great weekend!