Thursday 7 November 2013

Not Today Punk

How my day began, Let me set the scene.........

It's 4.15am I haven't slept, hubby has been snoring almost non-stop I say 4.15am but it 
may have been later it's just that was the last time I remember looking at my watch and
thinking.........I could put that pillow more comfortably round his head!  

I had an important project at work to do today and was feeling more than a little stressed. This was not helped by knowing that before I could even go to work, the dog needed to go to the vets for some blood tests oh joy.........the vet was delayed and so by the time I got to work I was running very late, tired and to cap it all when I dropped the dog off at home,  I had forgotten to change out of my jeans into my office clothes.

As the day dragged on I was really ready to just go home and curl up in front of the TV but I knew I needed to go out and run the week 6 repeat 2 session or I wouldn't get the last run of 25 minutes in for week 6 this weekend. I didn't want to run in the dark on my own, so headed to the gym, the treadmill would have to do. 

Arrived only to find that the gym was full of 14-15 year olds  It must of been some school fitness incentive. I almost turned around to leave, but groaned inside and headed to the treadmills. Most were already being used so I ended up over by several young lads messing around trying to walk backwards, or get two of them on the same treadmill. After a quick glare at them as only a mother can, I set my ipod to the highest volume and started my warm up walk, out of the corner of my eye I could see the lads taking the mickey out of me they were obviously feeling a bit put out that I had taken their treadmill. Laura (the podcast voice) told me I was going to be running for 10 minutes then walk for 3 mins then run for another 10 mins. After last weeks 20 minute non-stop run I knew I had this in the bag, no problem

As Laura said it's now time to run, The lad on the next treadmill broke into a run at the same time with a sideways smirk in my direction, his mates were making some kind of gesture that I only caught a glimpse of in the reflection in window infront of me, but it made the lad giggle and just for a moment I knew that it was game on!

I had been running for just over 8 mins and feeling really good, the lad along side was starting to sweat, so when Laura announced that I had 60 seconds left to run before walking for 3 mins, I just answered her in my head "Not today Missy" and just kept on running, she soon announced that it was time to run again for another 10 mins, but I was still going strong and now I could see the lad was really starting to struggle. A quick calculation in my head I knew if I could run till Laura said I had finished and then still run for another two minutes I would of run for a full 25 minutes which is what I would need to do for the next week 6 session anyway, so I just kept going. 

The minutes ticked by and as I looked at the lap counter and distance on the treadmill, the lad gave up at just under 3km sweating buckets and gasping for breath, his mates now had another reason for mickey taking..........Laura announced that I was done for the day, So I ran for another two minutes picking up the pace just a little and then finished with a walk.  As I sipped my water I casually stepped down from the treadmill and walked past the group of lads, I had a big smile on my face and a voice in my head saying "Not Today Punk"

And for those of you who already know me, you will be pleased to know that I returned to the changing room, opened my locker and guess what I found? that's where I had left my Tiara!

Friday 1 November 2013

From There To Here

Ok I know it has been a while since I last updated my blog, but life sometimes just gets busy!
 

Have I been sitting around doing nothing? certainly not! 
The Color Run was great fun
No record breaking times, but that really wasn't what it was all about. 

Tomorrow it will be 4 months since I started my running journey.
After that first night out with Mark, only being able to run for just about 30 seconds with lungs screaming and legs like lead, I had no idea if I would survive this long. But we kept on going out each week and slowly I could run just that bit further before having to take a short walk break. 

Although I was making progress, by August I knew that If I ever wanted to really be a runner I needed to increase the amount of times I ran each week. So I started doing some extra sessions using the NHS podcasts, I haven't always been able to complete the three  runs required in the same week, but have taken my rest days and then fitted them in around my runs with Mark. By doing this I quickly saw the benefit of these extra sessions, I was able to keep running further each time Mark and I went out, not much faster, but he assured me that speed will come with time and not to worry about it, that just time on my feet and miles on my legs was all that I needed to do. 

And so to today where I had to face a really big challenge on my journey, a milestone moment that is week 5 repeat 3 of the couch to 5k plan, just another podcast, just another run for the week.......but this one has been looming up for a while now, making me nervous with the words "Run for 20 mins" no walking......Hey where did that come from last week we were only running for 8 minutes then walk, then run again........gulp can I really do this, have I put in enough effort? when I am out with Mark we don't time my running or walking just the overall time it takes us to do 5k I run till I can't run anymore......walk till I get my breath back.......run some more.

All through my morning at work I kept thinking, it's just a number, your going to be on a treadmill, you can stop and walk if you need to. You can always try again next week or the week after. No one is going to be upset with you, but you. All these thoughts just kept going round in my head................Then just one thought as I changed into my running gear and headed to the gym.............

STOP being a bloody princess, get in there and DO IT! 

So I Did  

5 mins brisk warm up walk and then I ran for 20 minutes without stopping, 5 mins cool down walk and do you know what? I haven't stopped smiling since................It wasn't fast.......It may not have been pretty for spectators but today I feel like a runner!!!

One last thought before I sign off for today
A Thank You 
To Mark 
for changing my life forever
for the second time