The wonders of the Wii

I'm really pleased that I have, so far, managed to keep up regular training on my Wii fit plus. Starting out with yoga on the nights I don't run has been great! I've started to really enjoy it and really do think it is contributing to keeping me on an upward journey back to full fitness. I do keep letting the fact that I am not getting any younger creep into my thoughts but then I try think about our veteran member Arthur who despite having a current knee injury which he is waiting to have surgery on, is still keeping very active by doing Bradford parkrun each week and also walking countless miles with Queensbury Walking Group. He also still attends club when it's a session he thinks he can cope with. Then there's fellow Eccleshill member Gill, in her 50's about to embark on he first marathon in London in a few short weeks. So you see age really is no barrier unless you let it become so.

I must admit I had to 'pass' on the hill session this week though. Following our indoor coached session last Friday I suffered greatly with Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness. The long run on Sunday, no doubt was also a contributing factor to my aches and pains. So a 3 mile recovery run it was.

I've now begun to explore the other features on my Wii fit in the hope of keeping my interest from waining. I've now discovered muscle training which is much more aerobic than yoga and also balance training. I ask myself, Why oh why didn't I explore it's features sooner, I've only had the thing 18 months!

Tonight's club run is another 10 miler. This distance seems surprisingly tame these days! Trimpell 20 on Sunday will end another week of quite high marathon (that I'm not doing!) training. Oddly I'm looking forward to it even though I know what's in store.

On Friday the lovely Lisa who left us in September to reside in sunny Spain for a while is coming to visit and run with us. Drinks in the UCC bar afterwards are enough to tempt anyone to run a few miles!

Compos mentis

I questioned my sanity a number of times yesterday, but I guess least said about that the better.

Given that I declined all suggestions that I should do another marathon in 2011 I did wonder why I was crossing the landing into the bathroom at 6.15 on a Sunday morning in preparation for an 18 mile run to Huddersfield. I then remembered the reason. All my own doing of course! Following last weeks 15+ miler with the 'marathoners' I found myself uttering words to the effect that we could probably run to Huddersfield next week in time to cheer in the runners of the Huddersfield 10k whilst increasing the training mileage for the marathon which I am not doing. I am then, of sound mind, and indeed responsible for my own actions! Make sense? No? I didn't think so either.

Anyway here I was bleary eyed and trying to focus on what I needed to pack into a bag to be left in Mick's car since he was going to be the one bringing us back. Would it rain, would I need to change my clothes, a towel, spare shoes, snacks for after the run? This felt like I was preparing to run a marathon, gels, pain killers, mobile phone??? Questions, questions, I had to take a step back and think straight. I wasn't going to be alone in this long journey since we had yet another addition to last weeks party, Alison was joining Dawn, Karen and myself on this one. Finally I managed to pack everything up, get my breakfast and get dressed.

Mick arrived promptly at 7.55 and off we went to Pudsey to meet Karen. Retracing our steps back to Eccleshill we began our journey. 9 miles in, the half way point, I again declared how, similar to last week, I felt much better running in the morning than I did on the longer club runs on Wednesday evenings. Was it the daylight or was it that having not worked all day one feels less tired? Not sure but probably a combination of the two.

After a brief toilet stop at Tesco in Huddersfield we continued on our journey, 6 miles to go. Little did we know a punishing incline lay just around the corner. We all tackled it with our own determination. Once at the top we had a steady decline down into the centre of Huddersfield. This is where it went slightly wrong. We continued on through the city centre. No sign of 'Lockwood' the place where the rugby club was situated. Apparently this was where the race started and finished from. I must admit that put a downward slant on my mood. After feeling really upbeat about reaching Huddersfield and a sense we had 'done it' my mood slowly began to take a nose dive. We asked several people for directions and each time confidently set off again only to reach the end of another road and not know which way to turn. Eventually we came across fellow ERR runner, Lindsey who had finished the race and directed us to our intended destination.

Sadly the race was well and truly over so we didn't get chance to cheer anyone in at the finish but nonetheless we had completed more than our intended 18 miles, nearly 19 and a half which can only serve to instill some confidence into the marathoners of their ability to achieve their goal which must be now firmly in their sights.

After our long run I have managed to end weeks of uncertainty in my mind and make a decision to run Trimpell 20 next weekend instead of the final Peco cross country at Otley. It has been a difficult decision as I really do enjoy the cross country races but feel that I have more to gain by going to Trimpell from a personal point of view and from a 'friends' point of view. The group will be increased even further as Mick, Sophie and Gill join our gang! I do love team spirit! Anyway who can resist the offer of a free swim after a 20 mile run? Salt Ayre Leisure Centre here I come......

Salt Ayre Leisure Centre swimming pool, Trimpell

S'now go...

Although forecast, I was surprised at the amount of snow we woke up to on Saturday morning. Would parkrun be going ahead? Should I selfishly take the 4 x 4 and leave my unsuspecting husband to travel to Queensbury in the go kart (smart car!)? I picked up my mobile when I got downstairs and saw I had a message from Arthur saying he wasn't going as it was thick snow where he lived,Queensbury! So I text him back saying I was unsure whether to go or not. I logged onto the parkrun Facebook group, nothing, signed into my email to obtain the volunteer rota and race director's mobile to try and find out if the run was cancelled. Then realised it was not Rick, who has stood in throughout Linda's absence, who was race directing this week, scuppered, I knew I had to make a decision. It began snowing furiously outside again, the roads were already covered, I knew that I would have to let Martin take the 4 x 4 in order to get him to work and back in Queensbury. Decision made.....

An hour or so later Dave was still whining - he knew he should be running round the lovely Lister Park by now, so I donned my wellies and winter attire, got him on his lead and off we set for a lovely stroll through the local woods. Not parkrun but the next best thing! I did have a few regrets when I later found out 35 runners had braved the inclement weather and I felt as though we had wussed out, slightly!

Decisions though, still had to be made about Sunday's run, my offer to run with Dawn et al to try and increase her marathon training mileage was still worrying me as she was adamant in completing 16+ miles. Could I increase to that? Would it set me back in my quest to get back to full fitness? I really couldn't muster the confidence to agree to a 16 mile run. Self doubt had reared it's ugly ahead yet again. It seemed as though it would be easier to give into it even though there was just a little ray of self confidence.

So I text Dawn to ask if she had mapped the route from Calverley to Saltaire, Guiseley, Rawdon, Horsforth and back to Calverley she had earlier outlined so that I could maybe get a lift to a point further out and join them for the latter part of their run, the top of Hollings Hill maybe? She duly emailed the exact route and upon studying it I realised I would only complete just over six miles if I met them there! Frustrated, I 'bit the bullet' and agreed to meet them at Greengates which would reduce the route by just under a mile for me. Acceptable I thought. So I made my way to Greengates early next morning and right on Cue Dawn and Karen (from Pudsey Pacers) appeared, I crossed the road to join them and we set off on our merry way towards Shipley, thoughts of the dreaded Hollings Hill lingered...

It was a real boost to be able to reassure Dawn through my experience of trying to get to grips with fuelling for the marathon from last year when Lisa, Sophie and I had taken similar routes, figuring out our fuel intake and my being able to advise Dawn in the hope of things working out well for her which it later seemed they had. I remembered getting to the same point last year, the road up to Rawdon and fuelling there in the hope of not running out of steam half way up, it worked! Dawn followed suit.

In what seemed like no time at all we were approaching Horsforth roundabout, a downhill and then a slight uphill back to Calverley was all that remained, both Dawn and I were visibly tired, Karen seemed as though she had miles left in her. One of the most uplifting parts for me though had been earlier, finding myself at the top of Hollings Hill, the half way point for me, and just another small confidence boost!
Then when we arrived at our finish point and hearing Dawn declare she had just completed her highest mileage to date (over 16 miles)! Brilliant. That's team work. For me, 15.29 miles - done.

Did I really hear myself saying we could run to Huddersfield next Sunday and get a lift back? Oh dear the route has already landed in my inbox! http://www.mapmyrun.com/routes/view/28548986

In the pink....

I was rather pink after my 10 mile club run last night but again this morning I'm feeling tip top so it's all good. I'm now trying to resist the charms of Dawn who's trying to persuade me to accompany her and a few friends on a 16 miler on Sunday - tried to convince her it is too much of a hike in her marathon training mileage but don't think I managed it! We'll see....

I am going to be in the pink from now on at races! I've supported a very worthy cause, 'Breakthrough Breast Cancer' and got myself a very limited edition Frogtrade Pink Hoodie, I love it!!!

The hills are alive...

Not though, with the Sound of Music!

I am a true champion of speed and hill work as an aid to improving one's fitness. I quite often quote my own experience to members of our club. I harp back to when (my then young son) Marc and I joined Eccleshill Road Runners, attending regularly once a week on Friday's, still in fact billed as our 'social run night'. I can't remember what it definitely was that influenced us to attend Monday's in addition to Friday's but I think it might have been either a time trial or a circuit session we used to hold at the back of Morrison's Enterprise Five, 'Enterprise Surprise'! After that we regularly attended two nights per week. I can still see from my past training logs the improvement in my running both training and racing. Although I don't profess to be Speedy Gonzales, I do know that those Monday speed and hills sessions really did help me to improve my running as a whole.

So having had a huge dip in my fitness in recent months due to injury I now feel that I can begin to work on it. Beginning last night I'm now on a mission to start and make improvements to the way I train. Meeting as usual in Fitness First reception we had yet another new comer trying out the club. Chatting about our club's training regimes Helen and I explained exactly what kinds of activities we do on Monday's. Rather worried our new lady asked if it was a competition. I explained that each one of us was competing against ourselves. 'You get out what you put in' is a familiar turn of phrase we use when describing our sessions. Lister Lane hill reps was the order of the (Valentines) day. After a fantastic warm up with Helen in the form a gentle jog around Fitness First followed by dynamic stretching, we then jogged along to the hill in question. We were supposed to aim for 4 to 6 reps of the hill which included a lovely downhill recovery before each effort. I set off on the first one with gusto, down the hill with a sharp turn to tackle the beast at the bottom. As I overtook some other club mates I heard 'show off' muttered. I smiled to myself and carried on, after all this was supposed to be about 'effort' was it not? Nearing the top I ran out of steam and was reduced to a power walk. I continued on and was soon able to regain my stride.

I was very satisfied with my effort at the end of the session as I had managed to complete 4 full reps and then finished off with two half reps with Marc. Following those I had a fast paced jog back to base with Lindsey, Nikos, Annie and Marc. I went home feeling that I had fulfilled my aim. For some time now I have not been making any attempt to put any effort into the Monday sessions, opting instead to exercise restraint for fear of aggravating my injury.

Today I have been considering the possibility of entering the Trimpell 20 in a bid to support fellow club members who have entered this race as a training run for the London marathon. Tomorrow I have a 10 mile club run to look forward to.

Now where are those choccies I got from my Valentine? I think I've earned one or two!

Reject

Yesterday I was smiling, today I am not!

Just how do you obtain a place in the Great North Run Ballot? For the 6th year in succession I have a received a rejection email. Once, just once I would like to open the email and read 'YOUR ENTRY FOR THE BUPA GREAT NORTH RUN HAS BEEN SUCCESSFUL'

Reject:
Noun: A person or thing dismissed as failing to meet standards or satisfy tastes.
Verb: Dismiss as inadequate, inappropriate, or not to one's taste.

One can begin to get a complex.........

The morning after the night before.

This is the morning after the night before. No I don't have a blinder of a hangover! I went to club last night with thoughts of joining the group doing the shorter run, partly because I could still feel sore spots from my massage with Peter on Tuesday and partly with thoughts that I didn't want to 'push it'. However, with holidays and injuries amongst club members and a Leeds University Lecture by Alistair and Johnny Brownlee - runners were thin on the ground.

Tony had turned up despite not feeling very well, then decided he would return home as he was feeling worse. This left Janice and I to 'man the fort'. Janice has been unwell recently so decided she would do the short run, so I decided I would accompany John and Alison on the longer run. Oh how the mind is changed in a very short space of time!

Anyway, we had a lovely run, I was starting to feel aches and pains on the upward climb to Five Lane Ends, Highfield Road is more of an incline than you might expect! Arriving back at club having covered a total of 9.5 miles my legs felt like lumps of lead, I began to visualise how I would feel in the morning, sore I guessed!

Upon rising this morning I felt tip top! I'm sure there's some secret ingredients in that there 'Runner's Rub'! I could of course attribute it to my Wii Yoga too!

The downward facing dog!