Day 6: A rainy day back in Yorkshire

RUN: 2.9 miles

I arrived home from Ibiza at about 5.30am and slept until lunchtime, but still very tired today.
Had a little nap this afternoon before my run and was woken by the sound of heavy rain on the roof.
Great.



But actually the wet weather it is preferable to the Ibiza heat (for running purposes only), so off I went.

I set off towards Menston, through High Royds, down to Menston Station and up the main road past St Mary's school and back home. Just a little 2.94-mile route for a rainy, tired day. Made it home in just under 33 minutes - a slower time than I was doing before my 'shins' rest, but a sub-half hour time is something good to aim for on this route I guess.

Turning a corner on my way through the High Royds estate, I was greeted with this... not such bad conditions after all.

In other news, I have changed my comments settings so anyone can comment on my posts (subject to my approving the message) and I've also added some photos to the Ibiza posts.

I can now use MapMyRun too, so I'll post a link to my run information on there from now on, in case anyone's interested.

Click here to see the map and stats for today's run

Day 5: Last day in Ibiza sun

RUN: 1.8 miles Well today is our last day in Ibiza and again we got up early to beat the heat. Yesterday was the hottest day of the summer so far here, so running is definitely not high on the agenda for most people. Today we set off just after 7am again and ran through Cala Llonga, up the hill to the main road. Another short one, as I´m concerned about my shins, but hillier than yesterday. The route was 1.8 miles long. I'm rounding down my distances, by the way, to the lower tenth of a mile. So 1.86 miles counts as 1.8 miles. I'm sad my holiday is over, but a bit relieved that my runs will be in a cooler climate from now on - and that I won't have to get up at the crack of dawn to run! Sky News this morning was showing torrential rain and floods in England. This could turn out to be one extreme to the other... Hasta la vista, Ibiza!

Day 4: Short run to beat the Ibiza heat

RUN: 1.7 miles

This morning we were up and out a little earlier than the past few days (only by minutes) - about 7.10am.
I decided on a fairly short, flat route to the Amante Beach Club and back - 1.74 miles.
The road there is a bit boring, but the view once you get to the clifftop above the beach and the club (posh restaurant place for weddings and things), there is a beautiful view that more than makes up for it.
So just a short one to try to give my shins a break of sorts.

Here is sweaty me and some of the lovely view...

Day 3: Lost in Ibiza

RUN: 3.1 miles

Today we decided to tackle the steep hill on the opposite side of Cala Llonga bay to where where staying (Fiesta Cala Llonga). Except we couldn't find the steps that we can see from our hotel... so we turned back and did the Day 1 route backwards. Much better - tackling the steepest hill first and then gentle downhill (mostly) for the rest of the way. 3.1 miles overall.
Here's a pic I took of the empty beach as a jogged past...

It´s been quite a bit warmer the past two mornings than on Day 1. Maybe we´ve been slightly later setting off and those few minutes make all the difference.
We've seen quite a few people running in the midday heat over the past few days. They must be mad. Any later than 7.15 and I´d be collapsing I'm sure!
Might try a shorter run tomorrow because my shins are suffering a little bit.

Day 2: A hot morning in Ibiza

RUN: 2.6 miles

Hola! Got up at the crack of dawn again today (well, 7am) and took a different road out to another bay.
I took a pic, which I´ll post when I get home. It was beautiful.
I did 2.6 miles and it was WARM! Very sweaty and much harder work than yesterday.
It does feel good to be out and about early, though (although we were still beaten to it by all the cheeky sunbed reservers and their pesky towels!)
Here's me on the start line. These are not the clothes I ran in, obviously (!) it's just to show where it all started.

Day 1: Running in Ibiza

RUN: 2.8 miles

My birthday is finally here and I´ve done my first run!
I ran (with my boyfriend Andy - since it´s my birthday and I´m in a 'strange' country) a few miles around Cala Llonga.
We headed out about 7am, while the shadows were long and the pavements were still relatively cool.
A few stretches by the pool and off we went, out of the town away from the beach down a dirt track for a mile or so, looped round to the main road, up the hill and back down towards the beach and the hotel.
Cooled down next to the pool and got ready for our birthday boat trip.
I´ve looked on Google Maps to see how far we ran because I can´t use MapMyRun out here. I´ll do that for every run once I'm back in England though. We did 2.8 miles today.
It was warm work indeed and I can tell I haven´t run for a little while, waiting for my shin splints to heal, so it was quite hard work for just my first few miles, I must admit. Thought I´d start with just a shortish route for the first one though.
Shins feel ok though, which is good news *Touch wood*.
Here's me resting and cooling down by the very empty pool after my first run...

Only minutes to go until Day 1!

So there are just a few minutes to go until my birthday... or maybe it will already be here by the time I post this.
I´m still in Ibiza so I´m going to get up early and run before the heat kicks in. Plus we´re going on a birthday boat trip so I need to get a few miles in before the bus picks us up!
I'll take some photos and maybe a video so you can see how pretty it is here. A lovely place to begin my challenge.
I´ll post the first of my daily run blogs tomorrow and let you all know how it goes. Wooo!

Smile Train fundraising pack has arrived

My charity - Smile Train - has sent me a nice fundraising pack with some leaflets, booklets, posters, DVDs and a T-shirt.
When I get back I´ll post some of that stuff up here to give a better idea of the work they do and why it´s so important to me to make a big effort to support them... and why I´d love you to support me in doing that.
I watched the DVD - Smile Pinki - the other day.
It´s about a five-year-old girl from a village in the Mirzapur District, India, born with a cleft lip into a desperately poor family, and how Smile Train´s work helps to transform her life. It won an Oscar for Best Short Documentary in 2009 and is well worth a watch because it really demonstrates how cleft lip and palates affect children and their families in a society very different from ours.
The lack of awareness, the attitudes and experiences, not to mention the level of healthcare and opportunity, are world away from everything I experienced growing up with exactly the same thing as some of these children.
It is beyond belief the social isolation and stigmatisation these children - and adults - have to face because they have a facial deformity that is so simple to correct with the right skills and funding. It´s something that has never held me back and I would like to give others a tiny bit of the opportunity I have had.
Anyway, here´s a little bit of the film.
If you´re interested in watching the whole thing, let me know.