Sweepstake, Six weeks and Snow!

Referring to the title, these are the 3 exciting things that have happened this week!

1. My Sweepstake is now live!!!! YAY! its taken me a while to collect and confirm prizes from all my lovely very generous friends/family and set up the webpage for you all to take part.  A huge thank you to my contributors, they can all be found next to their prize details here.

To enter my sweepstake take a look at how it works HERE.  Come on get donating and win a prize!

2. Six weeks to go!! I still have 3 big training weekends before I start tapering before the big day, next weekend sees a 16 mile training session - this will be the furthest I have ever run! as I got up to 15 miles for my 2012 training before I was injured. Then its 17 and 18 miles for the next two following weekends.  I am struggling during the week with training as I am recovering from the long runs and quite frankly I hurt! but am going to keep going with some interval and fartlek training (German for speed play) where I can.  My aim is just to keep injury free so I get to the start.

3. This weekend saw the MK Half Marathon where myself, my brother Richard and his running buddys Alan and Jen, took to the streets of Milton Keynes.  It was bitterly cold and snowing most of the way round, it made for rather a cold miserable Mothers day for me.  However, I enjoyed the race element and tried to beat my half marathon PB of 2h 22m but only missed it by 2 minutes.  I did however have a new PB for my 5k of 30 mins 30 sec.

7 weeks and counting.....

So this week saw a long run of 15 miles which I was not particularly looking forward to.  I decided earlier in the week to go to Pitsford which is a reservoir near us and is about 6.5 miles all the way round, so I knew it would be 2 and a bit laps.

So I got there at about 9.15 this morning and found I was not alone, many other runners and cyclist also think its a great place to run, plus there was an madeyarun marathon event which started at 9.30 so lots of people milling around.  I headed out 15 mins before them but soon found I was being lapped by many people.  It does nothing for your confidence when you are trying your hardest and people whizz past looking like its a walk in the park.  So I decided that I would do the 2nd lap backwards, now I don't mean running backwards 'cause that would really silly. It felt much better!

Mile 13 onwards was hard, especially as I had to run past the carpark and back out for 1 more mile to then turn round and come back again.

Just as I passed the race start for the marathon guys the 1st man was just finishing his 26.2 miles! it puts it into perspective how fast some people are........ I am not made for speed!

However all in all a good 15 miles in 2 hours 59 minutes.

So next week is the MK half marathon for myself and my brother, so only 13 to do, however that is quickly followed by the week after where I'm back up to 16 miles.  Suggestions on anywhere else beautiful to run would be greatly appreciated?

Some very exciting news to come next week on the donations front, watch out for my email/post on facebook about the up and coming sweepstake I will be running.  Win some fantastic prizes and help out my charities at the same time, what could be better :)

A couple of piccys from today :)

Half way there.............

Yesterday I ran half a marathon! 13.2 miles in 2 hours and 35 minutes and burnt 2000 calories ........

So to put this into perspective that's the equivalent of:

• Running from Towcester to Milton Keynes City centre to do a spot of shopping
• Running whilst watching the film 'The Sound of Music' although would not like to run in a nuns outfit!
• Burning off the calories of eating 100 Jelly Babies, eating the heads first obviously
• Running 52 times around a football pitch, less dull than watching a match I would say!
• Running whilst watching 7 episodes back to back of 'Friends'......'how you doin'..........
• Burning off the calories of two 'Big Mac' Meals yeuch!!!!

This time I ran with podcasts playing rather than 2+ hours of continuous music, so if anyone has any good books I could listen to or any interesting/funny etc podcasts they can think of the please let me know!

Just because I can't do anything without sneaking a little photograph in, google 'Nun running' here it is........ Nun running.... she does look remarkably happy about it! :)

Keeping me 'Appy' running - Give us a CHEER!!!!!

Okay, so I use two lots of timekeeping/distance tracking devices.... maybe its an OCD, but I need to know at all times how I am doing.... its just my thing!

Firstly I have a great little Garmin watch which has my heart rate monitor paired to it so I can see how much I am pushing myself and at a glance, distance and pace, this is great but I found an 'app' I love more!

The Nike running app I think is fantastic, its a motivator as well as a tracker and I NEED the motivation sometimes.  Okay yes the app is American and the lady (or man should you wish) who talks in my ear can some times be a little annoying, but she is positive and lets me know how I am doing.

So what features do I most like from this little app:

1. You can connect it to its online 'mummy' app at www.nikeplus.nike.com which gives you sooooo much info, stats and targets which is motivating in itself, how far you have run in total, average run, how many weeks you have been running, plus your all time records.  Obviously it maps all your individual runs via GPS with splits etc.  Your iphone will automatically sync when you get home to your computer.

2. Whilst you are running you plug your headphones in and the nice American lady will tell you how you are doing, i.e. distance and your pace per mile, I set mine to tell me every half mile but you can change this, plus it syncs any playlist you want to listen to so at a touch of a button at the start of running it sorts music out for you too!  You can set it to a certain distance per run, okay today I am going to run 11 miles, she counts you up to half way then tells you how far you have left, just before you finish she will tell you 'You are nearly at your target, keep going!' then at the end you get a random sports personality congratulating you on how you have done ~ cheesy I know but its instant gratification for a long hard run!

3. I have my app set up to sync mine with Facebook, which when you then start a run it automatically add it in to my status.  Then whenever someone 'comments' or 'likes' my status and I am out running I get a cheer and clapping in my ear!!! how great, what a lovely thing to hear that someone is rooting for you (albeit in the comfort of their homes, probably sat on the sofa, but I try and dismiss this thought!!)  So when I am in the middle of the countryside, on my 8,9,10 etc mile I can randomly get a cheer and it pushes me on! ~ you can even 'like' then 'unlike' and 'like' again just to give me more!! lol : )

So before everyone starts thinking I am suddenly employed by Nike PR! I shall leave you to download this little app, try it out for yourself and see if you like it!  Tell me what you think?

And remember if you ever see this posted on my Facebook, 'LIKE' the status, give me a cheer, keep me running!! :)

"Snow way I can run on the roads!"

What a lovely week of snow, kids have loved it and I think I could probably add in a couple more miles of hiking the kids around on their sledges.

But as for running on the roads its been too dangerous here, tried it last year and many times nearly landed on my behind!  After my injury last year I decided to err on the side of caution and if there are other options available to train then I will take them rather than risk another injury.

I approached a local Gym a while back and asked if their donation to my training could be the use of their gym when I can't get out on the roads.  They have been fantastic and agreed to help in any way, so twice this week I have been to the gym and had an hour cross training and on the treadmill, not only is this easier on my joints but I managed to wedge in a bit of hill training too!

So this week I would like to give a huge thank you to Adam from AGW fitness gym at Towcester Rugby club for their help.  Its a fantastic friendly gym with great equipment.  Join them here on Facebook.

A little motivation goes a long way......

I have been thinking recently how to motivate myself to get through the next 14 weeks of training. The thing about running is its very much a mental battle as well as a physical. No one wants to run for 2 hours+ on their own, training. So I am thinking what will help me get through the next 14 weeks. Its very personal, what motivates one person may not motivate another..... So here's mine:

1) Running with others - its not possible all the time but having a companion does mean you don't feel like you are doing this all by yourself.

2) Good music - I have tried many times running without it but it does help you get through those tough bits, having 'Greatest day' and Gary by your side does a girl a lot of good!

3) Seeing how far you have gone, how quickly and what you have left - This is one I definitely think is my OCD, I wear both a Garmin (which I can glance at on my wrist) and use my iphone with my Nike app on it, this provides my music and a American lady in my ear telling me what I am doing every half a mile and cheers from you guys 'liking' on facebook! - I am thinking of writing a post on this little app as I love it (coming soon!)

4) Telling people before hand what I am up to on that day - this means mentally you are stating that its going to happen, whether you fancy it or not! It makes it real and you feel obliged to go through with it. So sorry guys that's why I often post on facebook etc because it means I feel like I can't back out!

Am going to try a audiobook (if someone suggests a good one) or maybe a podcast (again suggestions welcome) as it does take your mind somewhere else away from your legs.

So what advice or suggestions have you got for me for the next 14 weeks?? please drop me a message below and tell me what you think!?

oh and I bought some new trainers.... : )

As always, feel free to sponsor me and I am still looking for a few more great sweepstake prizes for you lovely people to win on the big day!

stepping out....

17 weeks to the big day! I am into week six of my proper training plan, this week I should be doing approximately 19 miles in total, however I do supplement my distance with a little bit of spinning!

So today I set out to do 7 miles to get a chunk done early in the week as trying to fit it all in before Christmas is a real challenge recently.

I fancied a bit of a change of scenery so as I was in Milton Keynes decided to go to Willen lake.

 Two loops of both lakes and another smaller loop for luck = 7.5 miles, if you want you can take a look at how I did here

 As we know I am not a fan of hills, the car was parked at the bottom of some steep steps so I bit the bullet and decided to do a few reps as a challenge.

After 3 goes back and forth I was completely done in... off home for me! 12 more miles to squeeze in this week... let see how we go!