Round & Round we go

After posting on Facebook that i was heading to Perth to run the 50k, one of my friends commented by saying "is that the same Perth 50k you said you'd never do again Sandra?" lol Indeed. And as i said in last blog after George's race last week i was thinking it was a non starter. By Friday night i was OK about it, by Saturday after chilling out all day i was happy about it and by Sunday morning i was eager to get there.

We arrived around 9 and stopped by side of park to cheer few folk as they went past, soon got cold though so we headed off to park and collect our numbers and say hi to everyone and cheer people through. Everyone was in good spirits as was i. George & Connor had arrived just before us and i told him i was feeling great and hoped i felt better after this race than after his! John K was there bright and early armed with his camera/video and was great support throughout.

I'd told Ian I'd like to beat last yr's time and i knew i was capable of it on a "normal" day.

This was my 3rd week in a row racing and I'd PB'd twice already, was i capable of a 3rd? Time would tell. Before too long Adrian gathered us together for briefing, Gavin Harvie noticed we were wearing same shoes and said in future he'd call ahead so we didn't clash ;)Then it was time for off.The sun was shining and i felt really good.

For first few laps i kept Ian in my sights, now although this concerned me at first thinking I'd gone off too fast and not learning lesson from last week i felt really comfortable so i decided to keep at same pace. I really enjoyed not wearing garmin and stressing over it and every time i passed the start again (every 1.5miles)i calculated what time I'd like to get round for next time. I'm pretty sure my pacing was spot on but i guess I'll see when the splits are published! As i passed the start line i heard Ian coughing in the loo and was bit worried as i knew that was 2nd time he'd stopped and this was me overtaking him, but i carried on trying not to think about it.

I kept on at my steady pace and eventually heard him behind me, and before too long he'd overtaken me again. Once again i kept him in my sights for few laps which was good. Around lap 13 Donald overtook me, i loved that everyone was really supportive and that even the 100k folk were saying well done to us! i felt bit of fraud and kept saying I'm only doing the wee race, you lot have been running for 3 hrs before we came along.Amazing how fast these guys were going! How very humbling. Heard loud voice behind me telling me what "he's seen that arse before" or words to that effect. It was Mark aka Gobi who was running for Wales.

Wasn't too long before he went flying past me though and i was on my own again. Gavin gave me great encouragement the (many) times he lapped me, must be his go faster shoes ;)Debs passed me around lap 18 i think and then again on next one, she was looking amazing and was making it look too easy quite frankly. Thomas just kept whizzing past as if he was out for wee jog!Paul H passed me a more than a few times and then as i neared my last few i lapped him, clearly not his day if I'm lapping him! He was still very encouraging to me though, that's what sums this race up i guess.

I Managed to catch up on Donald and he bemoaned going off too fast and said "you caught me again" i reminded him he was a full lap in front of me. He finished in 4.30 and said he was looking over his shoulder expecting me to catch him again, i usually do in trail/longer Ultras but not on "short flat stuff" Mark was soon bellowing behind me again saying he had cramp but it was fine as he was enjoying the view lol, i was on my penultimate lap by this time and i mentioned to Mark i wanted to beat last yr's time, he said i was going at a really steady pace and he had no doubt i would, we ran through checkpoint as i started on my last lap and Mark stopped to check how many laps he had left. Mark finished in 8.33, certainly not his best but was as upbeat as ever.

Have to say the support was just fantastic, i got cheered every time i ran through and considering i had to run through it 20 times this really perked me up big time.

My last lap was great, when i was halfway round i upped it a gear and really went for it, Connor had ran out to meet me and ran in last 200metres or so with me telling me to *go for it* bless him. Crossed line in 4hrs38min and 21 secs. a full 9 min PB from last year! Better still i felt good, i didn't feel like all crickety and sore like i did last week. Ian had finished very happily in 4.26 and was there to cheer me in and a couple of my Perth friends Debs & Marianne had popped down to support to which was brilliant.

George handed me his phone and Karen was on other end super excited for me and telling me I'd just had a bad day last week. We headed off pretty soon after for shower before we got chilly so missed the prize giving but we got back in time to see both Thomas & Debs finishing which was fantastic.

Both of them had an absolute stormer. Scotland winning the Men's team prize was bloody fantastic. Well done to all the Scotland Team, both boys & girls, you're all truly inspiring. So all in all i think George's race last week taught me a good lesson, we need to have the tough races & the bad days so we can experience the good times.

This is my philosophy in life anyway and i need to carry it through to my running too. I reckon my coach's training is starting to pay off, guess he knows what he's talking about huh?

<<<<<

Got home and had lovely Chinese and some bubbly to celebrate, seems i caught the sun! >>>

If you've not seen JohnK's video of the day, go watch it, it's great!

The week that was

D33 seems like such a long time ago already. When i finished that race and for at least 2 days after i doubted my ability to look forward to another Ultra!

After chatting to Ian about it i think the reason i struggled was
A. my Pb the week before, i worked hard at Inverness and perhaps legs still tired?
B. I had a target, last yr i ran the race and just went with flow with no specific targets. This time i worked hard to get sub5

lessons? maybe i should go back to my devil may care attitude and not worry about times and try and enjoy the experience? hmmm

I recovered fairly quickly, after running up Craiglockheart hill on Sunday i took a total rest day monday and got bus to work. Ran every other day though and gymmed twice.

This week has seen us planning rest of runs leading to WHW race and to make a tough decision (for me anyway) This weekend is Celtic Plate and we were heading up support so decided to run it too. Up until about Wednesday i considered lots of things , not starting, not finishing, not caring etc but now I'm far more relaxed about it and I'll go up there and enjoy it and give as much support to everyone as we can. Last yr i entered it at last minute instead of doing Glasgow half and was astounded beyond belief to come 2nd lady, partly due to Lucy pulling out :( but hey, i guess we can only beat who's there on the day etc.

Next weekend I'm up on WHW for 2 days doing a back to back. We're staying at the wigwams at Beinglas, this is under duress for me as i don't do camping and i think it's tantamount to camping quite frankly but i promised Susan id do it so i will. Plan is to do Beinglass to Rowardennan and back on Saturday then To Tyndrum & back on Sunday.

Sunday is of course Mother's day so i had to break it to Stephen that he wouldn't see me that day, he was cool about it and we decided to postpone til next again week.

So that brings yet another full on weekend of running, I'm getting used to being tired all time now lol, I'm still getting up at 4.30am mon/wed/fri to gym and run and get up 5am on my non gym days, bit of lie in, sometimes it's actually 5.15! Cant recall last weekend i had of doing nothing actually.

Which brings me to next again weekend. I've managed to get tickets to Old Trafford for Fulham game, we cancelled last tickets we had cause Stephen had important game and it ended up being cancelled due to the bloody snow. It was the 7-1 game too! Be great to get back down there again, cant wait.

So, the tough decision. I've decided (after some discussion!) to pull out of the Cateran.I loved this race last year. Karen did a superb job of organising it, we got superb momento, had perfect weather,i got great time,and we had a bloody fantastic weekend. I'm bit gutted but it's just not fitting in with training and the WHW has to take precedence. Instead of the Cateran I'll be running from Balamaha to Fort William over 2 days. I'll do the first section on my own with Ian as support. stop over in Tyndrum then he will join me for 2nd half. Ive taken the thu/fri off work leading up to Cateran weekend for this.

Karen was supercool about it of course and agreed it was too close to WHW race and that has to be my priority. She rocks.

Means we can now help out at race though so we've offered out services to Karen as marshalls as we had Hotel booked for 2 night anyway. Win win situation i reckon! So when i see the runners and say I'm feeling your pain, i *really* will be.

Now anyone who reads Dave's blog will most probably be chuckling at his gym stories. We are definitely a nation of strange behaviour. This week someone brought a lap top in to gym and seemed to be doing a workout whilst following whatever was on laptop. He had it balanced on one of those vibration plate things, the big square ones. Which begs the question, why not do you're dvd workout in the house like most folk? Miss "i go on step machine and barely move" was of course there,still not moving or sweating yet still clearly feels urge to get gym before 6am on a regular basis to not do very fuckin much. I've still resisted the urge to film her and put video on youtube but I'm going to crack one day.

I reckon me & Charlie from The Proclaimers are 2 most normal people there. Although he keeps telling me I'm crazy whenever he finds out what I'm up to of a weekend.....

Very Best of luck to the whole Scotland team this weekend, i'm really looking forward to supporting you all, must be a very proud moment to run for your Country, hope you all have a fantastic race.

D33

Set off for Aberdeen mid afternoon after stopping for quick lunch. Got there around 6.30, dumped our stuff to head back out to meet some friends for dinner.

After looking up place we were going to my phone reliably showed me a map and told me it was 1.2miles away. Cool, we'll walk says Ian. I had heels on but hey 1.2miles is nothing. If it was 1.2 miles that is. After walking for a couple of miles (i think) we asked directions only to be told we had another 15min walk :-o ffs. stupid stupid phone. My feet were getting sore and i wasn't feeling great, some heartburn thing going on, who knows.

We eventually arrived and found Jane, Soph & Alan in dining room having already eaten, we quickly ordered but i sat and picked away at my food not really feeling that hungry tbh.Thanks to Alan & Jane for buying us dinner :o) Great to catch up with everyone ,and we got a taxi back to hotel which seemed to take about 2.5mins lol

Straight to bed with alarm set for 6.30 for breakfast. Before too long it was time to go and we set off for start. Got into car park and Ian & Vicky parked in right next to us, quick hug to them and walking to register i heard a shout. It could only be Nick, my (pretend) Big bro, he pick me up and twirled me round before presenting me with a Sandra sized bottle of Champagne, bless him. He'd come all way from Lincoln for race and is part of super support crew for WHW Race.

Headed off to collect our numbers with both of us getting stopped every few mins by people we knew, this race was going to be a very social one! Huge hugs from George & Karen :o) Numbers acquired and after bit of to-ing and fro-ing it was almost time for start.

Off we walked to start where George gave us a brief briefing and off we went. Very much unplanned i ended up running as a group with Susan, Elena, Fionna & Lorna. We chatted about forthcoming races and the miles were flying by. I didn't once look at my garmin but realised i personally had gone off too fast. I was also bursting for pee, i ran on hoping it would go away but it didn't. I decided to slow down a bit and let the girls go on ahead, normally in Ultra's I'm at back for first 12miles then slowly pick my through the masses, this wasn't quite how i planned it.

By 9 miles i started to feel my legs getting tired, this alarmed me a lot. I decided to stop in wooded area for pee, ended up sitting on a tree trunk and getting twigs and all sort stuck to me. As i exited the woods Keith caught me and i ran with him whilst sticking my hand down my shorts every 2 mins pulling twigs out, not the most ladylike thing I've ever done it has to be said.

I actually was pulling things out for about 5 friggin miles, god knows what anyone behind me though ffs. Still felt tired but slogged on. Soph passed my few times on bike and asked how i was, i said i was tired lol What else could i say? I'd never felt this tired during a race, my thighs felt heavy and rest of legs felt filled with cement. Seeing the front runners flying past us took my mind off things and i tried to say well done to all, sang a queen song to Grant who was first and got high 5 off Scott who was chasing him not too far behind!

Managed to give Debs & Cairn a smile when i saw them too just as Marco came flying round corner. Great to see everyone doing so well, Ian passed me with about mile to go to halfway and l got a mile and a well done from him.

Soph had said to me "Ian looks a bit grumpy, is he always like that?" lol

Got to halfway point to find lots of smiley faced friends, and encouraging Marshall's. I think the smiles were because of the cheers and fact I'd actually made it halfway and i saw some familiar faces.

<<<<

Susan was there refilling her bottle, i had quick drink then took off and was soon followed by Susan who overtook me pretty quickly. I was tad concerned for her knowing what's happened in past Ultra's for her but had to let her run her own race. Personally I'd love to have jumped in Jule's car when i saw him at halfway but i knew i had to dig deep and get on with it or i might as well forget plans for WHW race.

Had to keep giving myself a good talking to for those last 17miles. My legs were tired and they were fighting me every single step. I did however start picking people off after about 20miles. I caught Keith around mile 25 on that long drag which i was run/walking. Passed few folk here and tried to keep running where i could. I was getting bit despondent thinking I'd have to run/walk rest of way and started to see sub5 slipping away.

Something kicked in when i passed Robert around Marathon distance and i started on my countdown from there. 7 miles to go, 7 miles to, 6 miles to go, etc. Kept saying it over and over until garmin beeped to say another one down. Passed quite few more folk on this section.

Kept getting passed by guy who was doing run/walk and eventually he said to "5k to go, if you do it in 27min you'll get sub5, i wont, you go for it" I told him he'd probably catch me again and off i went with that 27mins playing heavy on my mind and more so on my damn tired concrete legs.

2 miles, 2 miles, beep, One mile, c'mon Sandra dig deep, one mile you can run one mile tired legs or not. Before too long i saw the park and I've never felt quite so relieved. Dodging prams, dogs and kids was no easy task but the cheer i got as i turned corner and Ian shouting at me spurned me to sprint that last wee bit til i fell into George's big bear hug.And got a MASSIVE superb unique medal :o)

4hrs 58mins.

Not entirely sure where i pulled it from feeling the way i did from mile9 onwards. Yes i got my target, yes i knocked off 7mins off last yrs time but i really really didn't enjoy it. I actually couldn't move when i crossed line, never in my life have i felt so sore after a race. How can 33 flat miles make me feel worse than 55 crazy ones over Fling/Cateran?

Ian said that's the way he feels after every race and clearly I've not been trying hard enough, lol.

Watched few folk come in and stayed to see Nick come in bang on his target of 5.27 :) Susan finished a stonking 3 mins ahead of me with no meltdown! woop, so happy for her to finally complete an Ultra without all the issues she's previously had.

We couldn't hang around for too long as had to go collect Ian's son so quick hugs all round and off we went in car. At least listening to the football took my mind off the pain in my legs for bit.

Arrived at Alison's and hobbled to her lovely warm kitchen for a one of best cups tea ever, i was lovely warm and settled and really didn't want to stand back up again! Thanks Ali, it went down an absolute treat.

Back to Edinburgh, Pizza ordered and champagne chilling i went off for bath whilst Ian & Gordon took Lucy out for walk. Felt bit better after food and champagne and was utterly exhausted. How i managed to stay up and watch match of day I've no idea.

Had worst nights sleep ever and was awake at 4am on and off til 7am when i was wide awake and gave in. once i was up i actually felt ok. wtf? After telling Ian there was more chance of Newcastle winning the premiership than me even getting dressed next day i decided to join him & Gordon for a run! lol

We headed up Craighlockheart hill and Gordon on his fresh young legs took off up hill putting us to shame. Was worth climb as it was a lovely spring day and views were panoramic. Legs felt fine and last mile was done sub9mm somehow.

So on reflection. I got my sub5.Result. I've had a bad Ultra, i needed that. I needed to know how i'll cope when things get bad during WHW race,I've learnt I've got something somewhere and that ican dig deep when things don't look so good. I do hope it's a good omen.

This is no reflection on the superb efforts of George who put on a bloody fantastic race, great organisation, fantastic Marshall's, superb medal and all round bloody top notch quite frankly.

Antartic Half Marathon

AKA - Inverness Half Marathon

I'm no fair weather runner>>>>

I think anyone reading my blogs knows that but after seeing alarming forecasts for the highlands i was a tad worried. I actually dont care what the weather was like once i'm actually running, but i hate getting cold & wet at start of race.

Edinburgh was fine when i left, dry & fine. Perthshire was looking snowy but not too bad.

However the further North we got the worse it got, roads were passable but very snowy and it was very blizzardy. I thought that a good option for Sunday would be *washing my hair* instead of running 13 miles.

Once we got to Inverness however it didn't seem to lying much. It was still sideways sleet/snow and windy, and baltic, but not lying like it was on the outskirts. So at least we'd only freeze to death and get soaked. Joy.

Woke up in morning to more of the same.I was told that i wasn't allowed to say anything negative after 9am! lol I think i might've been a tad moany about the weather. Seeing as the race started in middle of night (ok, it was 1pm but you get my drift) we set off to demolish a nice big breakfast. And we did indeed, plenty time for it to settle before we ran.

We left hotel around 11 to head up and collect our numbers, the place was buzzing with folk. Bumped into lots of people i knew which was unusual, usually it's Ian getting stopped every 2 mins wherever we go. Was great to see Vicky who although is also doing D33 next week was there to pace her friend to a sub2 (she did too, well done V)here we are in matching outfits >>




I was informed after we got our numbers that we were going for a warm up run. Now there's a novelty. I tried to resist by saying "surely I'll be warmer staying in this nice warm hall?" but got told to HTFU quite frankly. :o/


So off we went, its was pretty damn cold and Ian made me run slow, then fast, then sideways, then hop. Stopped short of agadoo doo doo though thankfully. Turned a mile down road then danced, i mean ran back towards hall where we bumped into JohnK & Katrina, also bumped into Robert doing warm up too.

Quick high 5 to Robert and then back to hall to actually get warm.

Not long before i was dragged out again (under protest, there was still 20mins before race started ffs!)and i huddled and shivered behind to toilets trying to shield from the biting Antarctic style wind.


Was dragged from there soon after to "get near front and away from annoying slow runners" Bumped into John again and i thought i was hearing things when he said "good racing weather" or something along those lines. Maybe in JohnK's world it's good racing weather, in mine its no wind, no snow, no sleet etc etc I told John i was looking for a PB so i lay down gauntlet for myself by making it public. Ian had asked me my strategy earlier on in day "run as fast as i can" i said. "Good" was all he said to that.


Had quick chat with club mate and we discussed whether we were going for Pb or not as we are both doing D33 next weekend, she said she was taking it easy, i said i was going for it! Before we knew it and just as i was turning blue the countdown started and we were off. Ian had briefed me well on course so i knew there few hills to deal with. I knew some of route having done Loch ness Marathon few times & 10k once. Hills were more long drags rather than steep hills and first one was at 4miles. I amazed to see people walking at this stage! yikes, surely if you re walking at mile4 you haven't put in the training? each to their own i guess....


I was really enjoying the course and felt quite comfortable throughout, another club mate passed me around 6miles and we had quick chat. I knew Lucy had same 1/2 Mara time as me but she went off ahead few mins later and my mission was to keep her in my sights, we were both looking for sub1.45. Another guy i knew from Fetch was just ahead of me whole time too which was good to keep me going as i knew his PB was better than mine.

One guy just in front of me stopped every time he got nr a hill and started walking, actually even on slight inclines he did too, then he's pass me 5 min later. He started to do my nut in and i thought about tripping him up for a min ;) He was built like a rugby player with biggest thighs I've ever seen, maybe that's why he struggled on the hills?


Anyway, he stopped again around mile 9 and i was determined he wasn't getting me again. Mile 10, still no sign, mile 11 wooohooo, I've lost him. Spoke too soon as he flew past me just as i thought i'd lost him, damn him! So my new mission was to keep him in my sights, then poke him in eye when i got over line lol


By mile 11 i was keeping a really good pace and i knew I'd get a Pb so i decided to push a bit harder to see if i could better it. The wind was really strong against us until we crossed bridge heading towards last mile & half then thankfully it was behind us. Got into stadium and heard Ian shout out my name which made me run even faster.Had few folk shouting out my name as i came to finishing line which was fabulous!

Unlike the Marathon finish we had to run 3/4 way round track but it was lovely and bouncy after all the tarmac so i didn't mind so much. Crossed line in 1.42.44 woohoooo Super delighted!Quick hug from Paul (fetchy) who finished just ahead of me and massive hug from Ian who was probably as delighted as i was! I was 11th in my age cat, and 320 overall out of 1122 runners.

Ian had been waiting for 10mins til i finished and was shivering by now so headed off to car to get our bags, i stopped to chat to John and congratulate him on his time(hope i can get as fast as him at his age!) he was waiting for Katrina to come in.

Quick change to get warmed up and we headed back to hall to say our goodbyes. Katrina was in by now and had a cracking race, just over2 hrs for her first 1/2, fab. Took me ages to get sub2 i recall. Great results all round i reckon. Ian wasn't overly impressed by his time, i guess when your PB is 1.17 its tough to think what used to be and all that. But his focus has been on me of late, to get my times down.I'm running faster cause I'm running with him, and he is running slower.


Coaching me is taking priority over his own times and for that I'm eternally grateful, but i also feel guilty too. No way would i have done speed work or had the belief i could run that bit faster if he wasn't there to push me. Thank you x


Journey home was more of same, i was getting rather excited to see all the deer coming off the hills to find food though. There there literally hundreds, i know you can only see a few in this pic but i was in a moving car ok! Blizzards for first 15 miles, torrential rain in fife then dry as a bone once we got to Edinburgh! Mad Mad world.
Plan for this week is to take it fairly easy. Was up at 4.30 on Monday and ran to gym but took direct route then ran to work so only did 4 miles.

Gym mon/wed/fri and no more than 5 miles a day. Legs are fine, calf's were tight this morning when got up but fine once started running.
Trying to get Friday off work so i can chill out before heading up to Aberdeen.

I want a PB at D33.

If life was perfect

Then we wouldn't have anything to moan about i guess?

Tim made a comment on facebook yesterday about not putting a daffodil on his picture to support Marie Curie beause he feels all of us should have right to die at home & have free care, not just cancer sufferers.

Now i dont disagree with that in slightest. My mum chose to go to Marie Curie, she thought she'd get the best care for her last days and she was right. She came home for my 21st Birthday along with 2 nurses to care for her and went back in the evening. As i've said, she chose that and i'm eternally grateful to Marie Curie for making her last days comfortable.

My Dad however was a different story. He had lung cancer. At first he was in hospital, then home, then back in hospital when pain management got too tough. But he started acting stranglely, it was put down to the drugs they kept changing to control the pain he was in. He decided to go St Columbus Hospice, once he got settled in there and we saw his room, the staff etc it put our mind at rest that he was settled. After 2 nights there he was being disruptive and after talking to doctors it was decided to move him to dedicated oncology ward at Western General. Again it was put down to changing drugs etc.

We left him settled in and peaceful at Westrn general and i remember going home and actually relaxing for first time in weeks thinking he'd calmed down.

Hadn't long put Stephen to bed (he was 7 at time) and had couple glasses wine. Then the phone rang. It was the police. They wanted to come and collect me & take me to the hospital. Clearly i was alarmed getting call from police, and wondering why on earth they'd call me, why not the hospital? I told them i'd just put my son to bed, i was told to get him back up.

Police car arrived minutes later and we sped to hospital sirens and lights going full pelt. Exciting for a 7 yr old, very alarming for me. We arrived to find road cordoned off, 3 fire engines and several police cars blocking entire busy road. I might add it was late Oct, wet and very windy.

Turns out my Dad had jumped out a window, ran along top a connecting tunnel and climbed up a ladder and was now refusing to move. He had a big stick and was banging it against some pipe,a gas one apparently, hence the fire engines etc.

Police negotiators were brought in and we sat for hours in reception whilst they tried to talk him down. My Uncle eventually persuaded them to let him talk and he managed to get him down safely. He was up there for 4 hrs,in torrential rain and high winds in just his pyjama bottoms. We had to get him sectioned that night.

Sectioned. Funny how you think things cant get any worse then it just does. Next day i visited him, i left in utter despair. The place had holes in walls where people had been punching it, the tv had a protective screen around it. It was full of drug addicts, alcoholics and schizophrenics. This was not the place for a cancer patient. Yet this is where he spent his last 2 weeks.

Life isnt perfect, nor is it black & white. Sometimes we cant choose where we get to spend our last days.

I give to Marie Curie by direct debit, i give to them everytime i see thm collecting in the street,i did again today on way home. I wish i could give more. I also give direct debit to Cancer research, makes perfect sense to me.

In other news, i ran to gym, ran to work then came home.

Cherish the ones you love.

What a difference a day makes

Had a rest day yesterday, kind of enforced one as i had a works conference to go to but at least it made me rest/taper.

And after talking about how perfect a day it was on Monday for running i was full of joys of spring as i left this morning in my vest.

Here is pic i took on Monday as i left the gym, it was around 6.30 am and i delighted to see the sun rising behind Arthurs Seat again.

<<<<

Got 2 steps outside and swiftly put jacket and gloves on as it was baltic, and raining.Too cold even for me.

Or was it, hold on, that's not rain, it's big and fluffy and errrm WHITE. ffs. Snow!

Couldn't beleive it, i thought spring truly had sprung. But lo & behold it stopped 5 mins later and run to gym was a dry one if a tad chilly. Did usual session 30mins. Went to leave gmym and several people came in looking like snowmen, it was a total whiteout. Crazy weather.

Cant see Arthurs seat now! >>>

Was soaked through by time got to work and frozen to bone. By 9am there was blue skies and sunshine. Only in Scotland.....

Ger off ma laaaaand!

Why oh why do most pedestrians scowl at us and make us feel like we have no right to be sharing a pavement with them? It drives me to distraction! I truly hope i wasn't like that before i started running..

This morning i was running past a bus stop just as woman got off, a very fat woman i hasten to add. I had to run round her and just tutted very loudly at me! ffs, i was furious, it was 6am and there was hardly another soul around so her big fat arse had plenty space to wobble around the pavement! I shouted back at her "why are you tutting at ME you stupid cow" jeez.


Anyway,apart from that I'd already had a pleasant run to gym, got there for 5.45. Did my new workout which is tough going but i think is going to really work for me,PT Andy is there with Charlie from proclaimers same time i go(well he's there around 6 anyway) so he told me he'd keep eye on me (means i cant slack i guess!) I then ran to work and that's when i had my incident.

Somehow managed to do 41 miles last week just by running to & from work really. Went out for wee run on Saturday with Ian and came back with a haircut, don't worry he didn't do it, i stopped at a hairdressers. Was out for Lunch on Saturday which turned into a lateish one with copious amounts of champagne being forced down my throat. Linda & Graeme the culprits as usual.

Sunday i had vague ideas of running before football started, as it turned out i ended up at hospital with Stephen. I think it's only about his 3rd visit this yr! We should get a loyalty card for that place. Football again, groin this time.I did manage to get a run in though by actually running to the hospital, 2 birds, stone and all that...

Beautiful day for running today, maybe i'll not be only one in vest & shorts soon...

Inverness Half this weekend, i wonder if I'll actually get a wee taper day in?

The Hare & The Tortoise

Or is it The Tortoise & the Hare?
I am the Tortoise, i quite like watching everyone tear off in Ultras only to pass them 20miles later, but i would like to get a wee bit faster at shorter stuff.... #
.
February finished with a recovery run to work which took me to 201 miles, without trying too hard so i guess i just need to stop stressing over mileage and stuff.
.

Instead i can stress over trying to run fast. eeek.



Tuesday was my first rest day in 9 days, when i say rest day i mean i didn't run to & from work and didn't go to gym. Still on my feet all day at work of course and reason for resting was the dreaded speed session we'd planned in the meadows at the unSandra time of 7pm.



I got home and was knackered, and cold , i get cold when I'm tired. So i wrapped myself in a duvet on sofa and dozed off and on til Ian came home, dragged me by hair off sofa and demanded i get dressed for our speed session. It may or not have happened like that but lets just say it did for purpose of this blog.

After grumping that i was tired, cold and missing the football ( i might've went on a bit about that) i got grudgingly lycra'd up and trudged down the stairs. We stopped at Brunstfield links and did our warm up mile (and half, i moaned about that too) then i was instructed on what to do. ie- run fast as i could for a mile, then stop.

So i did, i watched as Ian got further & further ahead and i felt like the tortoise ala title. we stopped once got to mile then had our rest period, this time Ian set me off a minute before him, this seemed to work better for me as i was determined for him not to pass me and ran much faster (hedidn't)

Next time i was only 30secs ahead and this time he did catch me, i did think about tripping him up but thought it might be a bit unsportly so resisted temptation(this time) last mile was about same as first one. Recovery mile run back to car and i have to admit that i actually enjoyed it, kind of....

So there it was, my first ever speed session in my lifetime. And i didn't die, although I'm sure Ian would've preferred it if i was sick, at least.