After the desperation I felt yesterday following my 15 mile run and having very little left in me (certainly not another 11 miles) today was a good day! Having woken with a heavy heart that simply wanted to throw in the marathon towel I was struggling to even see the logic. I know I am more than half way through, that I have not (so far and touch wood) experienced injury or set backs and that I only have another 5 long runs left before the big day but I just couldn't shake my grey cloud which focussed on my 30 mile minimum weekly mileage and screamed I WANT MY WEEKENDS BACK!
However, having limped into work I caught up with the Head of People and Environment (HOPE!) and was delighted that the talent evening I proposed last week has been given the green light. I am so excited that we can have a fun night at the local pub and really showcase some of the talent (or lack of talent) we have. I am thinking maybe some accoustic singing, a fancy performance of Beyonce's "Single Ladies" (check out the video and the aspirational thighs here), a "Morecombe and Wise" comedy duo or maybe a couple of rounds of Radio 4s "Just a minute". Whatever gets showcased it is bound to be fun and help raise some great funds for the onemillionpence charities which is great. Grey cloud was beginning to be blown away....
But it gets better - later in the day it was announced at the company meeting that for every penny a TMPer donates, the company will match it (up to a phenomenal total of £1000)! That is such a huge amount that I am so thankful and grateful for. It has given me the lift I needed and suddenly the pain becomes worth it and my commitment and determination comes back with a vengance.
And it gets better still; I have received the amazing news that my lovely sis-in-laws chemo is actually doing its job and the bugger is being blown away all thanks to some amazing doctors and nurses, lashings of positive thinking and some fantastic medicine combos.
So note to self: "Always look at the bright side of life!"
Bring it on!
Showing posts with label training. Show all posts
Showing posts with label training. Show all posts
Monday, 18 February 2013
Sunday, 3 February 2013
Halfway house
Today I am more than a little smug as I have finally achieved a milestone in my training. I have reached the halfway distance: 13.3 miles in 2:25 which means my original and ultimate I-am-a-supermum-marathon-running-beast target of sub 5 hours is actually possible. Tough but with a good wind, steady pacing, top notch carbo loading and a lot of cheering from the crowd, its do-able. Who knew?
I missed yesterday's first beautiful day of Spring as I spent the whole day in an auditorium in London listening to a whole wealth of specialist nutritionists , VLM directors (that's Virgin London Marathon to you and I!), sports scientists, Olympic marthonites (Liz Yelling) and celeb marathonites (Sophie Raworth) and much more. I know this is only going to compound my "running-bore" title but it was really interesting. So let me share some nuggets with you:
Well at least I'll be seen whilst training.
So with January's training completed I am feeling pretty pleased with myself. I hadn't figured that marathon training was such a gruelling regime and I being someone who likes a short cut I struggled at first to realise there is NO short cut in marathon training. Maybe this is a life lesson?
February is about building the stamina and I have to admit that I felt really good running today. The high point (in more ways than one) was taking on a particularly gruelling hill just as the MP3 decided Eye of the Tiger would be appropriate listening (check it out here it's hilarious!). Before I knew it I was on top of a 295ft hill looking across the Cotswolds landscape around Lechlade, punching the air in true Rocky style and jumping around. Thank goodness it was a deserted road, except from a beautiful red kite soaring above my head. I acknowledge that I still have a long way to with 15 miles next weekend and then up to a staggering 17 miler two weekends later but.... apparently it is all in the head!?
March then becomes about practice and my "easy" week encompasses the Bath half so I can practice my race routine and suss out strategies to help me find my cheerleaders in the crowd.
Then we hit April and I begin to taper before the big day...so that all sounds easy and as though I have an age but the reality is that in exactly 11 weeks I hope I am lying somewhere on horseguards parade, with my cheerleaders, being fed Big Macs and with a helicopter ready to fly me home... a girl can dream!
* Seriously I am already planning my running diary for next year... I got it bad!
I missed yesterday's first beautiful day of Spring as I spent the whole day in an auditorium in London listening to a whole wealth of specialist nutritionists , VLM directors (that's Virgin London Marathon to you and I!), sports scientists, Olympic marthonites (Liz Yelling) and celeb marathonites (Sophie Raworth) and much more. I know this is only going to compound my "running-bore" title but it was really interesting. So let me share some nuggets with you:
- £58.2mn was raised by VLM runners last year, that is a phenomenal £2.4K per golden ticket holder... and puts my current total £417.50 to shame!
- I really want to do the Silverstone half-marathon next year* - running around the track sounds fun and Tom would love it (although I think he would still prefer to watch Lewis Hamilton careering around the track in his go-cart!) Sadly this year it clashes with my hot date with the Bath half but a definite maybe for 2014
- This years celeb line-up includes Michel Roux Junior who's PB is 3 hours 19 - Harry Judd (he can be my pacer... I'll run just behind him!), Joey Essex (I hope he realises a marathon is not a chocolate bar?), Katherine Jenkins and Sophie Raworth (my new BFF... check out my first stalker pic)
- It can take 20 mins to cross the start line and up to 40mins to get through the finishing section... that is another hour before I can get my hands on a a Big Mac and fries!
- There are cold showers you can run through around course... must remember my shower cap!
- Despite being within view of Buck Palace you WON'T be arrest for acts of nudity so long as it is in context.... !
- It's all about cadence (!?!)
- There are 60,000 miles of blood vessels in a human body and about a 1/4 are in the ankle or below (not sure why I like this fact but hey!)
- Pretzels are a must have snacking food in the week leading up to the marathon!
- It's imperative to understand your pre-run poo regime! TMI? It was a Liz Yelling comment and she knows!
- Last year's average race time was 4 hours 22mins... I have never been average and figure for £50 entrance fee I want to maximise the experience and so will be running at a below average pace!
So with January's training completed I am feeling pretty pleased with myself. I hadn't figured that marathon training was such a gruelling regime and I being someone who likes a short cut I struggled at first to realise there is NO short cut in marathon training. Maybe this is a life lesson?
February is about building the stamina and I have to admit that I felt really good running today. The high point (in more ways than one) was taking on a particularly gruelling hill just as the MP3 decided Eye of the Tiger would be appropriate listening (check it out here it's hilarious!). Before I knew it I was on top of a 295ft hill looking across the Cotswolds landscape around Lechlade, punching the air in true Rocky style and jumping around. Thank goodness it was a deserted road, except from a beautiful red kite soaring above my head. I acknowledge that I still have a long way to with 15 miles next weekend and then up to a staggering 17 miler two weekends later but.... apparently it is all in the head!?
March then becomes about practice and my "easy" week encompasses the Bath half so I can practice my race routine and suss out strategies to help me find my cheerleaders in the crowd.
Then we hit April and I begin to taper before the big day...so that all sounds easy and as though I have an age but the reality is that in exactly 11 weeks I hope I am lying somewhere on horseguards parade, with my cheerleaders, being fed Big Macs and with a helicopter ready to fly me home... a girl can dream!
* Seriously I am already planning my running diary for next year... I got it bad!
Saturday, 12 January 2013
Little steps, big mountain
Since announcing my marathon ambitions most people have assumed that I must be an avid and long term running nut. In fact the truth is that until last July I had a lovely life where "pounding the streets", naturally, meant hitting the high street.
That was until we booked a summer holiday and I was faced with a choice familiar with women across the nation; burkini or bikini. Now whilst I respect Nigella’s attempt at making the burkini this seasons must-have-item it is, frankly, the most horrendous what-was-she-thinking outfit which probably lost her the adoration of many of her male fans. Indeed my nutritionist who was watches Nigella TV for its deep cuisine related editorial (NOT its soft porn innuendos) quickly removed Nigella from his desktop wallpaper.
So likemost females contemplating the annual summer bare-all, I resigned myself to a pre-holiday keep fit / diet regime in the hope that 4 weeks would be enough to take me from Elmer Fudd to Elle Macpherson.
So on 15th July 2012 I signed up to Map my Run and began to record and share my workouts (sharing kept me motivated and removed the ability to make excuses; no one likes a loser!). Now I have been sad enough to use the mighty excel to produce a graph which represents my, until December, pathetic running regime (both in terms of distance and quantity).
You will notice a steep step change (scuse the puns) in December. This is directly related to the phone call I received on 30th November informing me of my marathon place with Breast Cancer Care. This was no longer something to tinker with!
Now whilst I am the first to admit that most of my months are paltry, the total is a staggering 148.42 miles and 14,248 calories; See even the most small of starts can combine to make something huge. Now think of all the coppers lying around your home, in old purses and bags, back of sofas, change pots etc. Every single one of them could reduce the 1,000,000 pence total... now go on dig around and pledge some copper to a good cause. I am sure it would be happier supporting the cause than livings its life in a dark place together with odd buttons and saftey pins.
BTW: by the time I run the marathon I should have clocked up over 500 miles in training which equates to a massive 60,000 calories; that’s a silver lining of over 200 snickers bars. Now where are my trainers?
That was until we booked a summer holiday and I was faced with a choice familiar with women across the nation; burkini or bikini. Now whilst I respect Nigella’s attempt at making the burkini this seasons must-have-item it is, frankly, the most horrendous what-was-she-thinking outfit which probably lost her the adoration of many of her male fans. Indeed my nutritionist who was watches Nigella TV for its deep cuisine related editorial (NOT its soft porn innuendos) quickly removed Nigella from his desktop wallpaper.
So likemost females contemplating the annual summer bare-all, I resigned myself to a pre-holiday keep fit / diet regime in the hope that 4 weeks would be enough to take me from Elmer Fudd to Elle Macpherson.
So on 15th July 2012 I signed up to Map my Run and began to record and share my workouts (sharing kept me motivated and removed the ability to make excuses; no one likes a loser!). Now I have been sad enough to use the mighty excel to produce a graph which represents my, until December, pathetic running regime (both in terms of distance and quantity).
You will notice a steep step change (scuse the puns) in December. This is directly related to the phone call I received on 30th November informing me of my marathon place with Breast Cancer Care. This was no longer something to tinker with!
Now whilst I am the first to admit that most of my months are paltry, the total is a staggering 148.42 miles and 14,248 calories; See even the most small of starts can combine to make something huge. Now think of all the coppers lying around your home, in old purses and bags, back of sofas, change pots etc. Every single one of them could reduce the 1,000,000 pence total... now go on dig around and pledge some copper to a good cause. I am sure it would be happier supporting the cause than livings its life in a dark place together with odd buttons and saftey pins.
BTW: by the time I run the marathon I should have clocked up over 500 miles in training which equates to a massive 60,000 calories; that’s a silver lining of over 200 snickers bars. Now where are my trainers?
Wednesday, 2 January 2013
Back to work
Like most of the country I returned to work today and was more than a little heavy hearted kissing Thea goodbye at nursery. From today until April 21st most of my daylight hours are going to be spent either at work or running. Now there’s a daunting thought!
This may seem extreme but my training plan comprises of 4 running sessions per week and I only have available daylight time on Tuesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Evenings are out due to both our village location, and its complete lack of street lighting, and my irrational fear and paranoia of the bogey men who come out at night. So you can probably see why my training plan is so strict and allows for absolutely no “force majeur”.
It was whilst contemplating this that I realised how impossible this rigid plan is going to be to commit to, especially when my priority is undoubtedly being a dedicated partner, mother, daughter, employee, sister, cook, cleaner, ironer, friend, taxpayer, PTA treasurer (!)… rather than would-be-marthonite.
And so it seems my options are simple:
- Accept failure to complete training to the letter
- Join a gym
- Buy a treadmill
In true Hellie style I look at the pros and cons of each and quickly come to the conclusion that the most expensive option (ie treadmill) is the solution. My rationale is that a gym membership for 4 months would cost in the region of £150 and for “not a lot more” I could be the proud owner of a shiny new piece of machinery that I can use as and when I want without having to consider opening hours, childcare or even what I look like. I did ask a friend whether it would be wrong to use sponsorship money to fund the machine and it appears “yes it would!”. Of course I knew that but it was worth a game of scrupples just for the second!
And so I passed my well thought through, considered decision over to procurement for consideration to which I received the following response
“I think it's an OK idea to be honest… What's the objective? i.e. is a home workout the right choice for you? ….. I guess I'm concerned that we're spending cash on what might end up as being an expensive clothes horse.”
Monday, 31 December 2012
NYE = Rest day!
Having run more in the past week than I have EVER run (including a short icy run on Scotland on Christmas Day) I have managed to notch up a considerable 20.1 miles across 3.30 hours and burnt off my Christmas dinner (1689 calories). Now those stats are something I would have previously considered beyond me but before I go slapping myself on the back too hard the realisation is:
"somehow I need to be able to add another 6.1 miles and run in all in one sitting ('scuse the pun) before 21st April"
Ugh!
But today (New Years Eve) is not a day for pondering the mountain ahead. Plus the upside of having run three days on the trot I am on a rest day today hurrah. Instead I will be enjoying more than my fair share of fizz and food at the perfect party this evening; A "slob party" where I will be showcasing my festive gingerbread onesie (thanks Mum) as will Mark (a wolf - psychiatrists would have a field day about what this says of mum's relationship with Mark). For the first time ever a onesie is going to be considered over dressed and I am positively excited about the prospect. Yes this does mean I am most definitely the wrong side of 35 but I don't care cos I ACHE all over. My feet are tired and heels are a definitely no no so thanks J&S for proposing the perfect NYE party theme.
One more piece of good news... having officially launched my 1,000,000 pence last night I now have my first donation from the lovely Mary Wiltshire. I am now on the road in more ways than one...
Happy New Year
"somehow I need to be able to add another 6.1 miles and run in all in one sitting ('scuse the pun) before 21st April"
Ugh!
But today (New Years Eve) is not a day for pondering the mountain ahead. Plus the upside of having run three days on the trot I am on a rest day today hurrah. Instead I will be enjoying more than my fair share of fizz and food at the perfect party this evening; A "slob party" where I will be showcasing my festive gingerbread onesie (thanks Mum) as will Mark (a wolf - psychiatrists would have a field day about what this says of mum's relationship with Mark). For the first time ever a onesie is going to be considered over dressed and I am positively excited about the prospect. Yes this does mean I am most definitely the wrong side of 35 but I don't care cos I ACHE all over. My feet are tired and heels are a definitely no no so thanks J&S for proposing the perfect NYE party theme.
One more piece of good news... having officially launched my 1,000,000 pence last night I now have my first donation from the lovely Mary Wiltshire. I am now on the road in more ways than one...
Happy New Year
Sunday, 30 December 2012
The big realisation
So it is official. I have publically announced my quest to raise £10K in a year for cancer charities (read more about the back story to this challenge in the why 1,000,000 pence section). Shit. If you say it fast it almost sounds feasible but looking at the figures it equates to a stinkingly staggering £833.33 per month. With no fairy godmother / lottery win / sugar daddy in the wings I am going to have to think big. My friends pockets are certainly not that big (no comment men please!)
So my calculations mid run today were that the marathon and half marathon might net me £2K. But what about the other £8? Quiz nights (from PTA experience) can raise £1-2K, maybe I can get some corporate sponsporship for another £1-2K then what... ideas are running out. Maybe my adult ballet class can put on a performance... on second thoughts it would be more like a skit!
All I know is that if the half marathon wasn't challenge enough (3K has been the most I have ever run in my 37 years), then the marathon is pure idiocy. But to pledge to raise such a signifant amount whilst raising two children, running a home and holding down a full time career I must (and it has been said) be bonkers (a more polite term than was previously uttered by my better half.)
And it is at this point I think I need to mention that whilst I am gaily announcing such huge commitments there is someone without whom this would be impossible to achieve. Someone who will deserve my marathon medal more than me. Someone who will make me cry when I see his face in the crowds in London. So thank you. You know who you are and without you this is all impossible so it is our challenge and our pledge.
Now where can I find a sugar daddy... does anyone have Lord Sugars number?
So my calculations mid run today were that the marathon and half marathon might net me £2K. But what about the other £8? Quiz nights (from PTA experience) can raise £1-2K, maybe I can get some corporate sponsporship for another £1-2K then what... ideas are running out. Maybe my adult ballet class can put on a performance... on second thoughts it would be more like a skit!
All I know is that if the half marathon wasn't challenge enough (3K has been the most I have ever run in my 37 years), then the marathon is pure idiocy. But to pledge to raise such a signifant amount whilst raising two children, running a home and holding down a full time career I must (and it has been said) be bonkers (a more polite term than was previously uttered by my better half.)
And it is at this point I think I need to mention that whilst I am gaily announcing such huge commitments there is someone without whom this would be impossible to achieve. Someone who will deserve my marathon medal more than me. Someone who will make me cry when I see his face in the crowds in London. So thank you. You know who you are and without you this is all impossible so it is our challenge and our pledge.
Now where can I find a sugar daddy... does anyone have Lord Sugars number?
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