Day 104: Another 10k in the pipeline - Abbey Dash 2012

RUN: 5.3 miles

Today my boyfriend Andy and I signed up for the Age UK Abbey Dash 10K in Leeds next month.
It's six-and-a-bit miles, from the centre of Leeds to Kirkstall Abbey and back.
So after that I must have been feeling quite energetic because I ran five miles.

36 days to go until the Dash, then, so only a few weeks to try to get my speed up to try to beat my last time of 1hr 3mins. I'd be pretty pleased if I did, but just looking forward to doing the run really - it's a strangely nice experience to run with 8,000 other people.

Here's today's five miles

Day 102: To be sociable or run all alone?

RUN: 4.0 miles

Today is dry. Hooray! So I made the most of it with a four-mile run. I'm busy tomorrow evening, so I'll have to go out running in the morning, which will most likely be a short one given my dislike of morning runs - and mornings full stop, actually.

This evening on my way home I saw a group of runners on their way through Shipley, and I thought it could be the Saltaire Striders.

A few months ago a man jogged past me on the canal and handed me this card for the running group. He said: "Be sociable, come and run with us."

It wasn't too appealing back then, but now I think I would probably be able to keep up with at least some of them, it's seems like a better idea. Perhaps I'll give it a try sometime soon.

Here's my run for tonight

Day 101: Short, soggy jog in the pouring rain

RUN: 1.2 miles

I was planning a longer run for tonight, but by the time I got home from work it was lashing it down, really raining hard.
So I headed out for another quick one. This was the rain as I opened the door...

listen to ‘Rain’ on Audioboo

Not the most inspiring sound.
I was soaked to the skin before I'd run quarter of a mile. That treadmill in the gym is looking rather appealing at the moment.
It's only going to get worse, though, so I think I'll have to man up.

Day 100: ONE HUNDRED days of running for a great cause

RUN: 1.6 miles

I was hoping to do a decent run for my 100th day, but, true to form, I was running short on time.
So here's today's unremarkable run out for a milestone day.

I found this little video on the Smile Train website, which appropriately enough made me smile.
The little baby is so cute. More surgery and expertise funded by Smile Train - how heartwarming.

Day 99: Some tunes to keep me going

RUN: 4.0 miles

Tonight I tried to get out before it got dark. I did my route backwards to leave the main road bit until last to do in the dark, even though it strangely seems more hilly that way.

Anyway, I didn't really feel like running tonight, but luckily I have a bit of an eclectic (dodgy) taste in music and I put some old tunes on to keep me going.

Here's my playlist of songs from tonight, mostly from way before I was born. My plan worked - running along to these made me feel like I was in some sort of training montage from a comedy film set in the 1970s or 80s.

Thanks to my retro playlist I managed to muster enough enthusiasm for four miles. Here they are.

Day 98: Frog-shaped leaf or leaf-shaped frog?

RUN: 2.6 miles

With the nights drawing in and damp autumn well on the way, it's difficult to see what's going on around your feet among the fallen leaves.
I've been a bit paranoid that I'm going to stand on something, particularly a frog, even though I haven't actually seen one... until today!
This little froggy friend - or is it a toad? - posed for my picture before hopping off into the darkness.

So now I'm even more paranoid that I'm going to squish something - slug, snail or amphibian. So if you see me hopping around like a nutter, I'm trying to avoid the slimy pavement creatures.

Here's today's run. It starts and ends at different points because I was picking up the car after it was abandoned for alcohol.