Day 181: Into the gym for an early Christmas 'treat'

RUN: 6.2 miles (10.04km)

This morning the rain was incessant. This afternoon the rain was incessant.
I had been hoping to do a longer run today after being rather stuck for time and having had to squeeze in some woefully short runs of late. So after 180 days of resisting the lure of the cosy gym, I finally gave in.

As an early christmas present to myself, I took to the treadmill in the gym. I wanted to make it count, so I aimed for 10k, which I ran on the street in less than an hour a few weeks ago.

The treadmill wasn't quite the 'holiday' I'd imagined - I must admit it was pretty difficult.
Compared to outside, the gym was very warm... too warm. I couldn't work the TV on the treadmill, so spent about 40 minutes staring at a wall, a blank screen and the digital display, watching the time and the metres sloooowly tick up. All the while I was surprised how much I wished to be back outside.
Towards the end, things brightened up a bit when I worked out how to get the TV back on, so I had a bit of a distraction for the final few minutes.

 

The treadmill shuts off after an hour. As you can see from the photos above, the first 9.07km took me the hour, plus all but nine seconds of the five-minute 'cool-down'. Then the 0.97km took seven minutes. A poor performance.

If you can't stand the heat, get out of the gym! I shall not be back in a hurry.

Running a bit behind on my blog posts

Just a little apology for those keeping up with my blog and wondering why I haven't given an update for a few days.

The running is certainly still going on and I won't miss a day, even though my blog might seem to tell a different story. I usually type a little note on my phone and then add it to my blog when I get chance. All this running and blogging takes rather a long time, so with the added business of Christmas preparations I'm falling a few days bit behind.

I'm very grateful to those who bear with me and keep checking my blog. Marathon training begins in early January, so I'll be picking up the pace and making a New Year's resolution to do daily updates. Keep watch this space!

Here's my sophisticated admin system - a list of each day and the distance run on my phone, and a calendar print-out to check the day number and date!

Day 180: Hooray... Winter Solstice is here!

RUN: 2.2 miles 

At last! The darkest day of the year has arrived. I'm looking forward to seeing the evenings get lighter and lighter. The good thing about running in the dark is that not many people are about to see you, but it's definitely much easier to go in the light. Plus you don't have to stick to the main roads and you can go down all the footpaths that are all too dingy and creepy in the dark.

So now the shortest day is behind us, it's all downhill from here... in a manner of speaking.

Here's today's run

Day 179: Another lazy run in the mud and rain

RUN: 1.2 miles 

I've had a rather lazy week this week, I'm afraid. I've been super busy getting everything ready for Christmas - buying presents, making presents, wrapping, preparing for Christmas dinner etc etc - but I've also been giving myself a little festive 'break' now I know I'll reach my halfway point with a respectable mileage. I'll hopefully be fresh and ready to start the marathon training schedule, too.

The miserable weather hasn't helped matters either. It's very wet and muddy. Here's another little run for today.

Straight through the middle it is, then

Day 178: Bit of a delayed reaction on the scales

RUN: 1.2 miles

I've been running for almost six months now. I'm doing it to raise money, not lose weight, but being a bit fitter and healthier is no bad side-effect and I imagined that I'd probably shed a few pounds along the way. Plus, people always ask me if I'm losing weight with all the running. So here's the answer...

Up until recently the scales have not budged from my original weight of about 9st 10 or so. I'm a healthy size 10 so wasn't bothered about losing weight. "Running isn't a good way to lose weight,"..."You're looking slimmer,"..."Muscle is heavier than fat," says everyone. But I didn't notice any difference, in myself or on the scales.

But over the last couple of weeks I've stepped on the scales out of curiosity and I've seen a rapid change. Now I'm 10 pounds down! I took some photos just to record the miraculous event, because I'm sure it won't last long with the big Christmas eat-off just around the corner (excuse the manky toe in the pics).

Here's today's run

Day 176: Turning on the waterworks after two miles

RUN: 2.2 miles 

A very strange thing happened this evening.

I did a bit of Christmas shopping (that's not the strange part), then squeezed in a quick run before tea. Just a two-miler.

The weird part was that as I finished my run I burst into tears. Luckily nobody was around or they would have thought I was a nutcase.
I wasn't upset or anything. I didn't feel particularly emotional at all. I felt like some sort of physical, chemical response. Then I couldn't stop!
I am a bit of a cry baby sometimes, but this was weird - so I Googled it. Turns out it happens to other people. But normally after 10, 12, 16 miles and marathons... not two miles! Bizarre.

This whole challenge - or 'journey' as I would call it if I was an X Factor contestant - has been rather more emotional than I expected.
Not through the effort of the running, but because the level of support and the number of people who wish me well, want to see me succeed and even sponsor me to make my efforts worthwhile makes me feel very loved and lucky.
Then there's the faces that we're all trying to fix. Mine's fixed already. Very lucky me again.

Here's today's run

Day 175: Squeezing a run between Christmas gatherings

RUN: 1.2 miles

Running is taking a bit of a back seat at the moment, thanks to Christmas activities. We had two social engagements today - a family Christmas lunch then straight to an evening gathering with friends - so just a short one this morning. It's a hard life with all this fun to fit in.

Here's today's run

Day 174: Making an effort to reach the average

RUN: 3.1 miles

With a series of too-short runs in the bag, and no doubt a few more on the cards before Christmas I thought I'd make the effort to do the three-mile average distance. How heroic of me (!)

Here's today's run

Day 172: Minus five - the coldest run so far!

RUN: 1.4 miles

It is VERY cold tonight. Freezing fog has been hanging around all day and it is really not weather to entice you out for a run.
Here's the scene - although I must say it doesn't look as foggy as it was - so you can see why I only did 1.4 miles. My fingers were very numb! Here's tonight's run

Brrrrrrrr!!

Day 171: Pre-run bath motivation

RUN: 2.2 miles

It's very cold again tonight. A pre-run bath was a good motivator, though, and the thought of a lovely soak after a long day was just what I needed to keep me going. Here's today's run.



Day 170: Christmas dinner + late run = bad combination

RUN: 1.1 miles

Not much time available today as I went out for a Christmas meal. Due to a bit of bad planning I ended up stuffed full of festive food plodding up the road on a bit of a late one.
Thinking ahead to marathon training again, I'll have to be much stricter with myself come January and plan my social life around my running rather than the other way round.

It's very frosty tonight. It's not too slippy on the pavements, luckily, but the ground is very sparkly so I was treading very carefully. I'm still not taking to the treadmill though!

 It's not too clear, but this is the pavement/road all sparkly with ice

Here's today's run

Day 169: Recovering from a tiring weekend

RUN: 1.2 miles

Just a little recovery run to stretch my legs after yesterday's big one. It's quite a scary thought that yesterday's distance will be practically a short weekend run once marathon training starts next month. Yikes!

Here's today's run

Day 168: Blown off course on an 11.6-miler!

RUN: 11.6 miles

Boyfriend Andy and I set off for a ten-mile run early doors, on a route which he had worked out and explained to me in case we had to separate at some point.

I was determined to stick with him to prove that my speed and fitness has improved. However, I think he was more determined to shake me off as quickly as possible because we started at break-neck speed (8 min mile), which I think is very fast, even for him.

So almost three miles in I told him to go ahead and carried on with the route alone as he sped off into the distance. I'll catch him one day!

As I climbed up through Yeadon towards Leeds Bradford Airport (getting attacked by a dog which I accidentally startled along the way!) it became very windy.

I almost took off, too, at windy Leeds Bradford Airport!

I cleverly decided to stray from the recommended route and ran a further mile before realising the pavement ended along a 50mph stretch, so had to turn back and go back to the original plan. Gah!

I finally made it home I had clocked up 11.6 miles in just under two hours. I'm pretty impressed with that, actually. My longest run yet and almost a half marathon. This bodes well for a sub-two hour run for Liverpool Half Marathon in March. Bring it on!

Here's today's big run

Day 167: Struggling with the heat while running an errand!

RUN: 2.3 miles

Well the weather this evening was practically tropical compared to the recent frosty conditions - seven degrees!!
I must admit it was a bit too warm for me now I'm used to the colder evenings. Phew!

Hot, hot, hot(!)

I killed two birds with one stone this evening and ran to boyfriend Andy's parents house in Menston to pick up his inhaler - we're planning a long run tomorrow so he'll probably need it. About 10 miles - wish me luck!

Here's today's run

Day 166: Leg hurting so just a little one for Friday

RUN: 1.0 miles

Just a short one today. My right leg has been pulling and twinging a bit again so I'm making sure I stretch it off properly, but it's a slight worry. Let's just hope it sorts itself out like it did before. Best get the compression socks out again.

Here's today's run

Day 165: First snow, let's hope it's the last

RUN: 3.1 miles


Rather windy and cold tonight. I tried to make it out inbetween sleet showers, and luckily managed it for the most part. It did start snowing at one point - still not enough to force me into the gym, though.

Here's a photo of the snow... good ey? Hehe.

With only 17 days to go until the halfway point of my challenge, I've done some calculations and worked out that if I ran 4.5 miles each day, then I'd reach 500 miles by December 23.

But realistically, the next few weeks are going to be pretty busy for me, so I think even the three-mile average run will be a stretch. There could be quite a few short runs on the cards.

Here's today's effort

Day 164: Still up and running with the hardcore few

RUN: 2.2 miles

A run round the block today.

Since the weather - and especially the temperature - has taken a turn for the worse, there has been noticably fewer runners on the streets of Guiseley. The runners that I do see these days tend to be the same hardcore few - the funniest thing is I'm one of them!

On the 'home straight' tonight I got a bit ambitious and decided to catch up two women running on the opposite side of the road. I caught them up, overtook them and... almost threw up. I think I'll stick with my own pace from now on.

Here's today's run

Day 163: A morning run of two halves

RUN: 2.5 miles (1.08 + 1.43)

Another morning run today ahead of a day of Christmas shopping with my mum.
As you might know from my previous whinges, I am no fan of morning running, and today was no exception.
Even though I only managed two and a half miles, it still feels like quite an achievement.
Luckily the icy patches are getting fewer, but I'm still watching my step very carefully.

Accidentally managed to save my run again, while deciding which route to take - so the link is in two halves. Oops! Here's the first half of today's run and the second half!