Pushing out the Push-ups

How's everyone's week going? I bet you're all glad it's the weekend tomorrow. I'm working Saturday but I can't wait for my day off on Sunday! So ready for it!

Thanks everyone for the input on my half marathon query. I got the advice I was hoping to hear, I'm going for both of them.. Just need to convince my dad he wants to be my taxi/cheerleader for the first one as it's a little far away!

We went to do intervals after I finished work on Weds and I wore a tank top and shorts, yes shorts! We've been having a mini heatwave. Unfortunately I think the lovely weather is about over :-(

I realised while I was at work that I'd forgotten to check my plan to see what I was meant to be running... duhhhh As Mike was out at uni and meeting me at the track I couldn't get him to check either so I had a bit of guess work and decided to go for 10 x 400m 60-90s rest, all the first 5 were 60 and almost all the rest were under 70. My pace according to my new times was 1.42 and I accidentally smashed that. It was tough though and I'm still feeling the effects of such a kick ass workout today!

1 - 1.24
2 - 1.35
3 - 1.35
4 - 1.36
5 - 1.42
6 - 1.42
7 - 1.36
8 - 1.39
9 - 1.41
10 - 1.35

Who am I? I had no idea I had those times in me. Especially as it was so hot, I hadn't had a sip of water all day, not at home or at work and it had been rather a long time since my last meal. Just proves how much a good mental attitude can help you push through.. Sometimes that just doesn't work though, not sure why! I did feel the effects of poor fuelling though, round about halfway I was balking as I was running. That coffee I had at the end of my shift was not happy in my tummy... Should have known though, why I thought drinking coffee at 2.15pm then running intervals just before 3 was a good idea I'm not sure... Why didn't I go to the water cooler?? Really no excuses haha

Good news, no shin pain during the run, my left knee felt tight on the walk home but I often have tightness in my knees so I don't think it's much to worry about, just need to be careful!

And loooooooook I finally started my push-ups! I did these on Wednesday too, now I just need to keep up with them!

10-12-7-7-max(12)

Today
10-12-8-8-max (12)

The push-ups hurt so much today! My body feels really achey lately! Still, glad I bashed them out, I feel better for doing them.

Inevitibility

I wrote this a few days ago now but instead of editing it all I'm just gonna tell you all it's old writing!

After all my recent fab runs it was inevitible that I would at some point have a bad one.. That bad one came today! I planned to do 5 miles at mid tempo pace which was a terrifying 7.59 per mile.. My plan was to use the first mile as a warm up and average 8.30 for that mile.. Started off as per plan. The second mile I could not get my legs to pick up. They just weren't listening to my brain! My breathing was laboured and it just didn't feel good. Then my right shin started hurting.. ironically my left leg was causing me bother on Monday, maybe I overcompensated and put too much on my right leg... I dunno.. I ran another half mile and decided I should probably stop. It just felt bad and I was limping a bit so I thought even if it isn't an injury I might cause one by having odd running form... I stopped at just after 2.5 miles walked about half a mile and then decided to try jogging again.. I jogged to top it up to 3 miles and then decided it was best to call it a day... I iced it when I got home.. I hope I haven't done any real damage!

Ok, back in the present.. I haven't run since but I think I will be ok to run again tomorrow. I think I might have been showing the beginning signs of being overtrained too. I was getting really overtired and rundown. Of course I could just be being a drama queen! Who knows?

Question for runners: I have my eye on two half marathons I want to do, one on June 5th and one on June 26th... Are they too close together? Will I have time to recover? Am I crazy?... I believe Mike thinks the answer to that last question is yes which is why I'd like some more opinions! Also doing the half on the 5th would mean my training plan would be cut short... bad idea? Overthinking it? I feel like such an inexperienced runner sometimes!

Right, I'm keeping it short and sweet, I'm off to watch Supersize vs Superskinny kids... I'm not sure whether I think this show is a good idea, I loved the adult version but is it a good idea to do it on children? I guess I'll have a better opinion after the show! Anyone else watching?

Intervals

Well I successfully completed my new speedy interval times!

1200m - 5.02 (5.18)
1000m - 4.19 (4.22)
800m - 3.23 (3.28)
600m - 2.37 (2.35)
400m - 1.36 (1.42)
200m - 0.41

= 3.6 miles in total

And.... I tested my push-ups!! Finally... My max has halved doh! But it's a starting point.. now I've finally got round to testing them I can start the program. I think I'd partially been putting it off 'cause I knew my numbers would be down but partially because of the other stresses which have been going on in my life recently. Sadly they're still a problem but I think I've got my eating more under control.. I almost skipped breakfast today but I thought about going for a run and went to the kitchen and made my porridge. I'm going to head out for 5 miles soon.... Mid tempo pace... absolutely terrified haha! Wish me luck :-)

Half marathon training just got so much harder...

How is everyone? I've had this post in draft for almost a week now! Dear me!

I ran intervals last Sunday, they ended up being a bit rushed as I had to do them and fit in a shower and a food shop before work! I was supposed to be doing 800m intervals but decided to do 1600m intervals to lessen the rest time! I also kept the warm up and cool down short to save time. It's better than not doing anything right?

400m warm up
1600m - 6.59 (7.47)
1600m - 7.13 (7.47)
800m - 3.28 (3.44)
400m cool down

1.30 RI

3.5 miles in total

Now, pretty much same thing happened with my tempo run.. It was supposed to be 2M warm up, 3M short tempo and 1M cool down. Well I totally ran out of time before work to fit all of that in and get a shower... Much as I'd love to skip the shower it would be unkind to my colleagues so I decided to do a 5k time trial instead. I was feeling stressed out and I knew a good fast run would make me feel a bit better!

0.5 mile warm-up (a little fast at 9.03 pace!)

5k time trial
Mile 1 - 7.18
Mile 2 - 7.39
Mile 3 - 7.28
0.1 - 0.42 (7.13 pace)
=5k in 23.08!! 7.28 pace :D
Also 2 miles along the way came in 14.57 so that's another goal ticked off! woop woop!

Funnily one of my colleagues said to me the day after 'I think I saw you running near my daughter's school' which was right near the end of my run.. I said did I look like I was dying and she said yes! Haha I always think I must look awful at the end of a really tough run and now I've been spotted!

Now, whilst I'm ecstatic to have shaved 1.43 off my previous 5k time I am now dreading the rest of my half training plan. The times of my long runs, tempo runs and intervals are based on my 5k time and I'm not sure I can acheive them anymore. I'll try though :-) And if it gives me a super speedy half it will be so worth it!

New interval paces
400m - 1.42
600m - 2.35
800m - 3.28
1000m - 4.22
1200m - 5.18
1600m - 7.11
2000m - 9.04

ok, they're probably just doable....

Tempo paces
Short tempo - 7.44
Mid tempo - 7.59
Long tempo - 8.14
Easy - 9.19

ummmm.... help?! Even my easy pace is scary haha! Time will tell, I'll give it a good go! Maybe I'm faster than I realise... I suspect that's wishful thinking, I think I'm just faster over shorter distances..

This plan puts my MP at 8.36.... My HMP which is what I'll be using for long runs as it stands and plus 20-30s per mile depending on the week is 8.16. I would love to run a half at that pace but I don't feel like it's possible at the moment. We'll see. I'd still be ecstatic to break 2hrs and that remains my main goal I doubt whether that's possible on the course I'm doing!

After all that speed work recently intervals x 2 and my fastest yet 5k being my last three runs I was somewhat relieved that my next run was 10 miles, easy, at no specific pace. I did my best to include hills, ignore the pace on the watch and run slowly. I even stopped a few times to pet some horses. I wish I'd had my camera there was a very cute black foal and a really loving black and white horse who snuggled her nose right into me ahhhhh very happy pit stops!

I structured my run in a way to include a long hill twice - basically I ran up and down one side then I ran up and down the other side to try and make it slightly more interesting!! This took me almost 5 miles. Then I ran another 5 mile loop which was flat. Surprisingly it felt ten times harder but I think this was due to the wind becoming strong towards the end of my run.

10 miles in 1:36:09 average pace 9.37
Mile 1 - 9.17
Mile 2 - 9.38
Mile 3 - 9.17
Mile 4 - 9.53
Mile 5 - 9.22
Mile 6 - 9.51
Mile 7 - 9.56
Mile 8 - 9.27
Mile 9 - 9.53
Mile 10 - 9.35

All in all this slow run felt so much harder than my 9.7 mile run of last week where my average pace was 8.57.. It wasn't my lungs as it usually is that lets me down it was my body. I just felt achey the whole way, my shoulder was stiff and sore every time I moved it and my lower back begun to ache in the latter half. I'm guessing those few recent speedy sessions have caught up with me. I almost waited until today to run but I changed my mind. I was feeling low yesterday and I thought a run would boost my spirits a bit. I'm still glad I did it yesterday. The weather is grey and drizzly today! I also might have been a bit overdressed for the run as it was lovely and sunny yesterday. I wore a jumper which was quite obviously a mistake from 0.5 miles in! Oh well, I told myself it would be good practice for coping with the almost inevitible heat of the half I'm doing!

Hope everyone's enjoying the weekend I'm doing as little as possible today after tidying the whole house, sorting out a mountain of washing and running 10 miles yesterday, what are Sundays for!

A Day in the Life...

Work day edition...

0800 - breakfast porridge with PB&honey, glass of water, large black coffee
0845 - walk Roxie
0915 - sit down with laptop and green tea and Roxie
1100 - tweet my lack of motivation to go run... get some positive responses, thanks Jo!
1105 - get ready to run
1115 - off I goooooooooooo

Before the intervals....



800m warm up
400m - 1.46 (7.10 pace) (1.51)
600m - 2.45 (7.28 pace) (2.48)
800m - 3.43 (7.27 pace) (3.45)
1200m - 5.33 (7.25 pace) (5.44)
800m - 3.48 (7.38 pace) (3.45) - I spent most of this interval scoping out places to puke.. not good!
600m - 2.40 (7.16 pace) (2.48) - back in the game!
400m - 1.40 (6.41 pace) (1.51)
800m cool down

400 RI

Total distance covered = 5.5 miles

Sporting the sweaty tomato look.. complete with steamed up glasses... Oh dear.. This is my new neighbours first impression of me? Unfortunate haha!

I folded down my intervals after I'd completed each one, it was a good way of visualising how much or how little I had left to do!

1200 - get home, meet new neighbour for the first time looking like a sweaty tomato.. doh!! Run bath, drink green tea and eat nakd bar in bath. Ahhhhhhhh relax for 20 mins before work. There is nothing better than a red hot bath after a run... Don't think I'll ever be one for ice baths!

The nakd bar was taken from our rather awesome nakd bar stash... They had a great offer on last week, all of that cost us twenty pounds! Bargain!! I was gonna link it but sadly I think it's finished.. I was going to get some more too.. Oh well, knew I should have bought two lots of it, they've gone down fast!

1230 - make lunch to take to work, snack for before work, put on some mascara - I'm not a big makeup person but I like a bit of mascara!
1320 - sit down with snack and more green tea and type up some of this whilst eating snack... work days call for multi tasking! Upload pictures taken earlier on...
1355 - Set off for work, I walk there today but sometimes I bike. It's probably just under a mile.
1415 - Arrive at work have handover then start my shift. Unfortunately do not arrive in time for a coffee before the start of the shift :-( Oh well!
1550 - First break at work, 10 mins for a coffee.
1750 - Second break, 30 mins have all my food. I took the pictures before I went to work as I didn't want to explain why I was photographing all my food to my colleagues!

I've photographed both the tupperware boxes next to the teapot so you can see how mega my salad and fruit boxes were!

I started with one of my favourite salads, it's kind of a cross between a nicoise and a greek salad, more info if you click salad!


gratuitous close up shot!

Finished off with an entire small melon

And I couldn't resist packing my fave sneaky treat. Twirl chocolate, so bad but so good!
2200 - Finished work and went home, I got a lift home. My dad's been picking me up since the attacks, usually I bike. Also usually I have something to eat when I get home but today I had a glass of wine instead (or 3...ooops!)... probably not the best decision but I couldn't quite bring myself to eat anymore.. I want to add a disclaimer to this post - I think I probably usually eat a bit more than this. I'm doing a lot better but looking at it I'm not totally there yet.. So maybe I'll do another day in the life post when my eating is a bit better.. actually I kind of enjoy doing these posts but I couldn't do it every day! Hope everyone has a great weekend!

February Recap

Well February is over and we're already into the third month of the year, how on earth did that happen??

February goals
Push-up challenge
Run 3 x weekly
Start half training plan
Would love to do 45 miles in Feb

February Acheivments
Miles - 33.1
Push-ups = fail I didn't do much other than run in Feb...
Tried Body Pump

Not a great month but as you all know I've been struggling with my eating so I'm not too disappointed with my month. I'm disappointed I was struggling again but I think I coped fairly well. I would like to say I'm past the worst but I don't want to jinx it!! Lets just say I hope March is a much better month!

March goals
Start that blasted push-up challenge - no more putting it off!!
Run 3 x weekly
Would love to do 50 miles in March, I think that's possible..

I've seen this around on a few blogs now so I'm gonna hop on the bandwagon! If you're not interested in the ABC's then feel free to skip the rest as there isn't anything else on this post :-)

A. age: 26... Feels the same as 21 tbh.. not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing!

B. bed size: King, it sleeps me, Mike and Tia

C. chore you hate: I don't really, really hate any of them, I just wish I had a bit more time for them! I hate the fact they take up valuable time haha

D. dogs: I loooooooove dogs! I love my Roxie dog! In fact, I think it's been too long since she made a blog appearance!


E. essential start to your day: Coffee. Don't try and get me to do anything until I've had my large black coffee. A bowl of porridge wouldn't go amiss either... only if it's got PB in though ;-)

F. favorite color: probably purple, or lilac, or pink...

G. gold or silver: Can I say white gold? My engagement ring is white gold and I'd like my wedding ring to be too.

H. height: 5’8" getting up to 6' in my highest heels!

I. instruments you play(ed): Clarinet, saxaphone, I used to sing a lot too but not anymore.. I'm going to learn the piano... I just need to get one first!

J. job title: personal carer, music teacher and loads of other stuff.. always driving Mike nuts by signing up for too many different things..

K. kids: not for me, at least not now.

L. live: life to the full.

M. mom’s name: Susan

N. nicknames: don't really have any..

O. overnight hospital stays: I had my adenoids out when I was teeny tiny and had one or too stays in A&E when I was younger due to ED complications but nothing really major.

P. pet peeve: People who are lazy and avoid doing work. There are some people at my place of work like this and when you work a shift with them you are constantly having to pick up their slacking. I also hate it when people leave work early, you have to wait for the other shift to arrive before you leave but some people b*gger off as soon as it hits 2.30/10.00 and leave you hanging for the others. It's just inconsiderate. I don't mind it when they ask or say do you mind if I get off but just leaving without any regard for the other people really bugs me. Okk rant over! I'm sure I could think of a few more though.. I must be a closet grump!

Q. quote from a movie: I wouldn't say it's my favourite quote but this did make me laugh today!


R. right or left handed: right

S. siblings: A little brother who's not so little, Jonathan 23

T. time you wake up: 5.30 on early shift days, 7-8ish on days off or late shift days.

U. underwear: Bhs cleavage enhancer bras to help my rather inadequate bust! Incidentally one of the residents at work has taken to calling me tiny tits... wonderful!!... (She has dementia, she's not just rude!)

V. vegetables you dislike: I can't really think of any, I'm not a huge fan of rocket though..

W. what makes you run late: Not realising how much time I've spent doing something.. Like writing this or faffing about tidying or cleaning when I should be getting ready.

X. X-Rays you’ve had: dental is all I can think of

Y. yummy food you make: I make rather yummy brownies, homemade nachos, healthy baking...

Z. zoo- favorite animal: All of them!! I'd love to cuddle a monkey though!


Here's to a good March!

A Few Long Runs

Well my eating has been a bit better these past few days and that has resulted in some pretty strong runs! I'm feeling much better about my half marathon training right now. And my eating but I don't want to jinx myself, last time I said I thought I'd sorted things out I lost it again so now I'll be careful what I say!

I ran 8 miles about a week ago now, or just under a week probably.. I was really surprised to see I'd completed it with an average pace of under 9 minute miles. It felt really good, my breathing was controlled, my legs felt good until the last mile when they got a bit tired and I felt like I could have pushed through more. Yippeeeeeeee!

8 miles in 1:11:39 8.58 pace

Mile 1 - 9.33
Mile 2 - 8.55
Mile 3 - 9.08
Mile 4 - 8.52
Mile 5 - 9.03
Mile 6 - 9.02
Mile 7 - 8.46
Mile 8 -8.21

plus a little bit to get home 0.2 (8.35 pace)

On Monday I took Roxie out on an attempted 5 mile mid tempo run, proposed time per mile of 8.35-8.45... Ohhhhhh no. This was just not going to happen. I just can't run fast with Roxie. She pulls me, she trips me up, she generally drives me batty. I almost took her home but decided to carry on as she hadn't had a walk and I didn't have time to run and walk her before work. I decided to cut a mile off as I was not enjoying it and just getting really frustrated. I don't think I'll take Roxie out on any proper training runs only recovery runs now. It just doesn't work! Overall we covered 4 miles in 37:28, average pace 9.31.. I won't bore you with the splits on this one!

Now on to yesterdays rather awesome long run!

9.7 miles 1:26:31 8.57 pace
9 miles in 1:20:55

Mile 1 - 9.26
Mile 2 - 9.07
Mile 3 - 9.01
Mile 4 - 9.06
Mile 5 - 9.11
Mile 6 - 9.09
Mile 7 - 8.43
Mile 8 -8.37
Mile 9 - 8.37
Mile 0.7 - 5.35 (8.25 pace)

If I'd realised how close I was to 10 I would have probably finished. Especially since I would have got 10 miles done in under 1:30 something I tried to do for ages last year! Oh well, next time! I actually ran this rather a lot faster than I should have been doing.. It was supposed to be HMP+20s which would be around 9.20 per mile but I just felt really good. My legs were ok and my breathing was really controlled. It was tough to slow down. If I can run my half marathon like this I will be so happy. I don't know if I can though, it's a hilly course and it will most likely be red hot! I can dream! I should be practicing more hilly routes at the moment but the hilly route I like to run is a bit secluded and there have been 3 sex attacks on women very close to my house and this route over the past month so I decided sticking to a crowded but flat route was definitely my safest option. You can't be too careful can you there are some awful people in our world. We're considering buying a treadmill so we can run when it's dark and for hill work... I'm not sure how I feel about long runs on a treadmill but it's better than not at all I guess.

Are you a treadmill lover or a treadmill hater?

An Accidental Tempo

Eight miles turned into a short tempo run when I realised I couldn't find my Mp3 player and Mike's ipod was out of battery... Music fail!

Tempo run 4.5 miles in total
average pace 9 min/mile
1 mile warm up 10.20
3 miles at short tempo (8.20-8.30) 8.28
0.5 mile cool down 4.13

Tempo portion ave pace - 8.28
Mile 1 - 8.38
Mile 2 - 8.34
Mile 3 - 8.11

It took me so long to warm up into this run. I don't know if it was the lack of music or if my legs were a bit tired but it was just one of those runs which felt really laborious. It didn't help that I had a pesky stitch for the first 2+ miles. Oh well... I got into it eventually and somehow came out with a tempo portion which was actually as it should be, I honestly thought as I was running it that there was no way I was getting my planned time. That faster last tempo mile paid off!

I was supposed to be attempting my 8 mile long run today. It didn't happen. I had another eating slip up yesterday and didn't manage to sleep til 4am which meant I just couldn't bring myself to run 8 miles before work today. It means I won't hit my February target mileage but I guess I'm ok with that. Well I kind of have to be hehe!

I'm not sure what to do about everything at the moment. I wish I was writing a positive post about the wonders of eating disorder recovery for NEDAW (national eating disorders awareness week) but I'm just not in the right place at the moment. It's really frustrating! Sorry for all the downer posts lately but thanks for sticking with me. I will get out of this!

Back on Track

I'm feeling good... my eating is working it's way back on track and I've been eating pretty much back to normal the past few days. I'm so glad that blip didn't last too long. I know it could easily drop back to bad eating habits but hopefully I can keep a hold of things.. The other issues that were affecting my eating haven't been completely sorted but they're getting much better. Hopefully they will stay that way so I don't take another knock! Sorry for still being so cryptic by the way it's just things I don't really feel too comfortable discussing on the blog plus they affect other people and it's not really my place to write about them on here!

Ok. Onwards and upwards!

My first workout back was just a quick one. I was struggling having only just started eating more again with major bloatedness and that feeling of lead in your tummy... I was going to run but Mike was doing this so I just joined in with him instead. Since my first week of half training was such a major flop half training is beginning again this week.. I had a few spare weeks in case of injury or tiredness I just wasn't intending on using one of them up so soon.. Oh well, that's life isn't it!

Anyway - here's Saturdays workout.

5 x 3 min rounds containing

30s burpees
30s constant punching 1-2
30s screw shots
30s burpees
30s constant punching 1-2
30s shadow boxing

30s rest, repeat until flopped in a sweaty heap on the floor... or 5 rounds...

Now, on to yesterdays run. It was exactly what I needed. Good fuelling and better sleep meant I was able to run double the miles I ran on my last run at over a minute per mile faster than last time.

6 miles in 50.44
ave pace 8.27
Mile 1 - 9.01
Mile 2 - 8.35
Mile 3 - 8.32
Mile 4 - 8.26
Mile 5 - 8.23
Mile 6 - 7.48

Score!

I really needed a confidence building run after my last flopped run and just after having a rough couple of weeks. This run didn't even feel too hard except for the last mile when I really just took off I was breathing fairly heavy for the rest of it but it was reasonably comfortable.. Yay! I real ready to take on my half training and rock it :D I totally gave it my all in that last mile and couldn't speak when I got in I just sat on the floor for about 5 minutes trying to catch my breath I love that feeling where you've left it all out there. I know you can't run like that all the time but it feels great to do it once in a while!

What races are you training for at the moment? Got anything exciting fitness-wise on the cards? Tell me, tell me!

Half Training Begins..

...badly... but it begins nonetheless!

My eating is still pretty iffy but I decided I had eaten enough to go for a run... this was supposed to be a tempo run at about 8.20-8.30 pace... Total run fail. I skipped the warm up and cool down miles and just went for it as I didn't have my headphones and I'm not good running without headphones, I also took Roxie who puked at the top of the hill... poor Roxie.. I think it was just that she'd eaten something funny off the floor.. I hope I didn't work her too hard anyway! I managed just over my planned 3 miles... only 'cause I was a little bit further than home and figured I might aswell jog it!

3.3 miles 31.31 - I seem to have an odd habit of getting numbers like this.. spooky!
Average pace 9.33
Mile 1 - 9.03
Mile 2 - 10.18 (uphill mile - in case you couldn't guess haha)
Mile 3 - 9.13
0.3 - 2.57 (9.52 pace)

So lack of sleep and poor fuelling = poor run. I knew it was coming so I'm not really disappointed I just hope I can get myself back to normal soon. I'm hoping to run again tomorrow but I'm not sure if I'll be able to as I may have to work late... Wasn't thinking about my run when I agreed to that one!

Anyways, I'm going to keep it short as I'm really tired and not sure I'm making much sense!

Thank you all so much for the supportive comments on my last post, I really appreciated every single one.

Windy Intervals

Sorry I've been a bit MIA, again.. I've had a really rough week..

I did do some fab intervals at the beginning of last week though. They were TOUGH!! You know that really strong wind we've been having, well nutso over here decided it would be a great idea to run intervals in it. They were immensly hard. Mike was running too and we both almost gave up more than once. I literally felt like I was running on the spot at times. I was amazed I finished them in times close to my goal times though, that felt gooood! I had 400m RI in between intervals...

200 - 0.40
400 - 1.48
600 - 2.46
800 - 3.52
800 - 4.04
600 - 2.58
400 - 1.58
200 - 0.43

I felt pretty hardcore after finishing them! Especially since I struggled to walk accross the field back to the start line hehe

Anyway I've had a pretty awful week. I don't want to get into details on the blog but it's affected my eating.. I'm trying hard not to relapse at the moment but I'm struggling.. I just have no appetite when I'm feeling like I am at the moment so.. I dunno! It's hard to explain being so cryptic.. Anyway I'm not sure when I'll be back with another workout post... I've not really been eating enough to exercise if I'm honest and I'm trying to stay as sensible as possible and not make things too bad. I'm supposed to be starting my half program on Monday so hopefully I'll be back on track by then but I honestly don't know if I will. Hopefully this is just a blip.. I considered myself to be fully recovered so to be struggling like I am at the moment has come as a bit of a surprise..

Hope you're all good and hope I'm back soon :-) I'm still reading blogs I'm just not feeling much like writing! Plus, the way I'm feeling = depressive posts which aren't much fun to read!

Homemade Sugar Free Granola

2/3 cup honey
1/3 cup applesauce
4 TBS oil
4 cups oats
1 cup chopped nuts/seeds
1 cup cranberries/raisins
4 TBS xylitol
1/2 tsp salt

Directions

• preheat oven to 160c
• mix the honey, applesauce and oil in one bowl (or jug)

• mix the dry ingredients except for the dried fruit

• mix the wet with the dry
• spread thinly onto two baking sheets

• bake for 45-60 minutes until golden brown (I stirred mine several times during the baking too)
• break up and add the dried fruit

• Try not to eat it all at once ;-)

Body Pump and Hill Sprints

I went!! Woohoo! All on my lonesome, thanks for all the encouragement, it was worth it, I went on Wednesday morning and it still hurts to sit down/raise my arms/move, but especially my triceps. man they're painful, I must have overdone the weight on something.. maybe the bench press that one seemed the one I was closest to failure on! yowza! I was quite pleased with how I estimated the weights choices though as I could finish each track but it certainly didn't feel too easy either.

Yesterday after work Mike and I went and did our favourite horrible running workout... hill sprints! We did 20 x 50m with 50m RI going back down.. Including the warm up and cool down we covered about 3 miles. Not bad since we were both so close to talking each other out of it. It was really, really windy and we went at 4.30pm after being up since 5.30am and all I'd had to eat was a bowl of porridge and a slice of toast. Not good and I really felt the lack of fuelling as I got a stitch as soon as I started the warm up. It was just one of those things though, I'd intended to go right after work but I'd got home and Mike had moved my only clean sports bra so instead of drying whilst I was at work it was still soaking. Could have been worse though as since he'd moved it we ended up running together! I was really pleased as I only ended up 1 rep behind him and he is a speed demon!

I wish I could have bottled how I felt after I finished. I love the runners high! It's even better when you almost don't run and then end up going as you feel doubly awesome for persuading yourself to go hehe. I need to remember this feeling next time I'm feeling a bit crappy and not like running!

I'm taking a rest day today, and probably tomorrow too. My arms are so painful and I'm really tired. Definitely ready for some rest!

Have a great weekend everyone!

January Recap and February Goals

Well January hasn't been my greatest fitness month but it's been good. I got out of it a bit towards the end of last year and I feel like I'm getting back into the swing of things. Everything is not where I want it to be but it's going in the right direction. I've had a really good week this week fitness wise and I just hope I can keep my motivation up when I'm tired..

Miles in January = 36

February goals
Push-up challenge
Run 3 x weekly
Start half training plan
Would love to do 45 miles in Feb... that would put me nicely on target for my yearly goals... we'll see anyway, I'm going to be careful with my increases, don't want an injury!

I had a good boxing workout back on Tuesday. I was a sweaty mess at the end of it haha. We used one of our favourite workout planning tricks and pulled out the deck of cards. It helps keep it fresh and keeps us on our toes 'cause we don't know what's coming next! Each round consists of 30s heavy bag followed by 30s random exercise repeat x 3. Exercises picked from deck of cards and included 2 x star jumps, 2 x burpees, 1 x mountain climbers and 1 x split jumps.. Luckily there wasn't a round which included both burpee cards with the mountain climber card 'cause I think that might just have killed me! My legs were dead after two rounds after the previous days 7 mile run so my punching got pretty rubbish towards the end but I finished it!

In total we did 7 x 3 minute rounds/1 minute rest

After this we did 10 minutes continuous core, including a 1.30 plank, which is pretty meagre compared to what I used to be able to do but good compared to my recent plank times which have barely got to 1 minute! It's amazing how fast you lose fitness when you're not practicing it regularly.. I need to get my core back into my routines!

A Day in the Life

Well in one of my recent posts I talked about different directions and one of the things I would never do full time but a few people seemed interested in was a daily eats post with reference to refuelling exercise. So, here goes! My diet is far from perfect but I like to think my attitude towards food is healthy now, I try not to get too obsessive over things which is why you'll see some white flour and white rice noodles, both of which were banned from my diet for several years when I was suffering from anorexia and in the early years of recovery. I feel totally exposed posting this random days eats so please no judging! It's a day off from work today so I've been fairly sedentary apart from the run and Roxie's walks.. I'll perhaps post a work day as a comparrison at some point...

0830 Breakfast of porridge with peanut butter, xylitol and honey, topped with homemade granola, recipe to come...




0930 Take Roxie on a short walk to go to toilet

1130 Set off for my run it takes ages for my breakfast to digest enough for me to feel like running. Was planning on taking Roxie but she was in a naughty mood so decided to leave her at home as I can't control her when she's not behaving, especially not on a run! (She has come on heat today for the first time so that might explain things...)

I set out to do 6-7 miles at a pace which felt fairly comfortable. I was really hoping for 7 but I wasn't sure how my legs would hold up due to my low mileage of late. Luckily at the 3rd mile I felt strong and decided the 7 was well within my reach! My pace is all over the place due to hills and wind...

7 miles in 1.05.00 ave pace 9.17
Mile 1 - 9.33 uphill and some downhills towards the bridge
Mile 2 - 9.53 uphill onto bridge
Mile 3 - 8.44 flat!
Mile 4 - 9.10 downhill off bridge
Mile 5 - 10.10 uphill back onto bridge
Mile 6 - 8.54 downhill off bridge
Mile 7 - 8.37 started this mile off at 10ish pace while it's up and down for the first half then was helped by a nice downhill

I felt really good when I got home from the run, the distance didn't feel like it was my longest run since last September... I only just realised it was that long ago when I checked my blog posts! Wow.. I may not be able to walk tomorrow!! (ETA My legs feel great today! Amazing!)

1240 Get home, stretch, start running the bath whilst microwaving last nights curry.. this isn't a typical days eats but it was in the fridge calling my name and it was worth every bite! Probably not the best recovery fuel but at least it was full of veg right...? It was a veggie rogan josh with rice and vegetable stuffed naan bread.


1400 After a reeeeeeeally long soak in the bath (what are days off for?) Mike and I sat down and watched some comedy DVDs Lead Balloon was the choice today. It's kind of like Curb Your Enthusiasm only with Jack Dee instead of Larry David. I also had some unpictured grapes here... I totally forgot to photograph them.. only doing it for one day and forgot... but you all know what grapes look like so I'm sure you'll forgive me!

1500 Still watching Lead Balloon we both had a sandwhich, mine was cheese, tomato and some salad cream on a crusty granary roll, I put some nuts on the plate for crunch and protein but unfortunately they were stale... guess I didn't tie them up properly..


1530 I took Roxie for a longer walk to make up for this morning.. She decided to poo right near the persons drive who'd put literally 10 signs saying to clean up dog poo (our council lend out the yellow spray paint and stencil to anyone who wants to use it) and I almost didn't notice!! I hate dog poo as much as anyone but 10 signs is so excessive so I had a silent chuckle about her choice of poo area!

1700 Come Dine With Me... ahhhhh I love this program, it's the narrator who makes it for me, and the absolute loons it attracts to go on it! Anyway, the woman cooking today made brownies for desert and jogged my memory that I'd been meaning to make some sugar free brownies...

1800 We went in the kitchen and Mike cooked tea whilst I made brownies. We had a vegetable stir fry with tofu, rice noodles and black bean sauce. Really quick and easy one pan meal. I might have pinched a few bites of brownie straight from the pan too...

Sorry for the terrible picture... I hate taking pictures of food without natural light.. it looked nothing like that!!


1900 Tidied the kitchen then played Mario on the Wii... told ya it was a lazy day today!

2100 Begun my Monday night TV marathon... Biggest Loser UK and Glee accompanied by nachos! The nachos were good but a bit too rich too late at night, made my tummy feel a bit iffy! I make my own tortilla chips by baking wraps in the oven with some salt, they're almost as good as the real thing but a lot healthier. Be careful when you're cooking them though as they go from uncooked to burnt very quickly! We had them with sainsburys basics salsa which is actually really good, I always keep some in my cupboard, from memory it doesn't have added sugar in either which a lot of salsas do!



Well I hope you enjoyed reading this! It wasn't a completely typical day I just got up and decided why not do it today! It looks like an awful lot of food written down all together but I guess that's one thing running does is make you really hungry! I also want to add... I didn't document drinks which in hindsight was a bit silly... I made sure to rehydrate with LOTS of green tea and water... My hand was rarely without a mug of green tea! I like to brew a pot and keep topping it up with boiling water until it's gone too weak, then I brew another!

Going to a Regular Gym

Thanks so much for the input on my last post. I was really interested to hear what you all had to say. There will definitely be some more food posts in the near future.. The blog is called box, run, eat.. should have more eating involved really hehe! I'll definitely be bringing more photos back when my laptop is fixed too.. Also there will hopefully be more boxing soon as we will be going back when Mike is fully healed. I was kind of worried that my running posts might be getting a bit boring as my blog used to be a bit more varied..

Frustratingly I've not trained much in the last week, I was struck down by yet another killer cold, I seem to get better for a few days and then get ill again this winter. I don't know if it's to do with the type of work I am doing now or if my immune system has been really low all I know is I'm really losing my patience with it haha

Back to the title, as most of you probably know I don't usually frequent a regular gym, I run, train at home or go boxing, but when a friend at work gave me a free weeks pass to her gym I certainly wasn't going to turn it down! I decided to try it out yesterday. Mike didn't come with me so I was a wimpy loner and I didn't know where to start or what to do!

I started off with something I always prefer to do outside, mainly because I got in the gym and was totally overwhelmed by all the choice... should have gone in with a plan!! I did a 1 mile warm up on the dreadmill with 5 incline, good for hills though which there aren't many of round here..

Then I attempted the stepper but for some unknown reason I couldn't get it working.. I decided to save embarrassment and hastily left the stepper for the cross trainer... I did 1 mile on the cross trainer, not sure what time I did it in, I must remember a notebook next time! By this point I had my eyes on the rowing machines but I would have had to row next to some men and I didn't really want to so I was willing them to get off soon!

Next I did 0.5 miles on this floaty trainer thing... yeah I'm not sure either... it just kept telling me to float with my knees?! I didn't spend long on there 'cause frankly, I wasn't sure what I was doing! It did seem to be working my leg muscles though...

Finally the rowing machines came free so I did 3 x 500m row intervals ala Alison! About 2.30 per interval with 1 min rest. Those intervals are tough!! Alison, you are hardcore!! Before I left I had a quick go on this arm machine..not sure what that was either!

I quite enjoyed going but I wished Mike had come, all the machines looked a bit daunting and the free weights section was full of beefy men so I chickened out of going in that bit! I was hoping it would have had an assisted pull up machine and one of those climbing treadmills, I really want to have a go on one of them!

Anyway, I'm hoping to persuade the girl from work to do a body pump class with me before the pass runs out as I'd like to try one of them out... If not I'm going to have to man up and go by myself!!

So, how do you like to train best? At home, at the gym, at a weights gym or any other kind of gym or sports club?

Some Fun Runs

I've got a lot of admiration for people who work full time and stick to a good exercise regime. It takes so much dedication to haul your arse out there for a run when all you really want to do is fall into the sofa and stay there! I'm still not fitting in as much as I used to when I was at uni/unemployed but I'm working on it!

After my early shift on Tuesday I definitely felt like slumping down into the sofa and staying there. Instead I quickly said hello to Mike and went upstairs to put my running gear on. I knew I'd feel better once I'd got out there.

6 miles in 54.17 avg 9.03
Mile 1 - 9.23
Mile 2 - 9.06
Mile 3 - 9.05
Mile 4 - 8.58
Mile 5 - 8.58
Mile 6 - 8.47

I wish I'd managed a slightly faster pace, would have been nice to see the average beginning with the number 8. I'm happy though.. I need to remember it's not all about going as fast as you can it's building endurance and getting time out there on my feet! I also managed a negative split... I'm getting better at those! It's just having the patience to go out slowly. I'm not a particularly patient person!

My legs felt mega sore at work on Wednesday but it was that good kind of soreness. The kind where you think yeah I ran x miles yesterday, go me! haha

I also did a music-less tempo this morning. Do you like to run with or without music or aren't you bothered? I cut the last mile as I really hate running without music and I was just getting bored! I was feeling surprisingly good during the tempo portion though, my legs and lungs felt pretty happy once I was finished with the first mile which seemed to shock the system a bit... Think my body was ambling along quite happily at my warm up pace then in the first tempo mile it was like errrm.. What's this? I thought we were takin' it easy, nah... I'm not playing.. Come the second tempo mile things eased up a bit and I was able to start pushing the pace a bit. And yay again for negative tempo splits! Huzzah!

4 miles, 3 miles at ST pace

4 in 35.46 8.57 avg
3 tempo miles in 25.22 8.27 avg

Mile 1 - 10.23
Mile 2 - 8.44
Mile 3 - 8.26
Mile 4 - 8.13

It feels so good to be running regularly again. Although I think I might have lost some speed the rest was probably needed if only to remind me how much I miss it when it's gone!

On a totally different note I wanted to ask everyone, is there anything you want to see more of on the blog? More boxing workouts, more food, healthy desserts, veggie stuff, anything you want to ask? I might do an 'ask me anything' post if people do have any questions you can find my email on the top right hand corner of the blog! I wouldn't ever start posting my daily eats I like reading those blogs but I would not like to have my daily food out there for scrutiny, it would make me way too nervous! But if people were interested I might post a sample day.... Interested in your ideas, I always want my workouts documented but would love to know what else if anything people want to see!

Hope you're all having a good week!

Unexpected Blogiversary

Earlier on today whilst reading Laura @ Keeping Slim and Getting Stylish's blogiversary post I wondered when I'd started my blog.. As it happens I started mine exactly a year ago today! What a coincidence! Unfortunately I've not been organised enough to organise a fab giveaway like Laura (go check it out!) but I felt it was definitely worth a blog post! I feel like so much has happened in a year. I've completed my first race, first half marathon, got engaged, bought a house, beaten my running times, had so many ups and downs with boxing, done some great sparring and tried out gymnastics. Although I started this blog as a way of documenting my workouts for myself it has become so much more than that. Thanks for being there with me, reading and commenting and giving me such a great community to be part of!

I had to go out and buy some new glasses on Friday, something way more stressful than it should be! My face is apparently very narrow and most glasses look too wide and weird on it.. After trawling round specsavers, trying on and disregarding half the shop then going to boots and doing the same I ended up with a pair a bit more expensive than I would have liked to spend and a cheap and nasty pair to wear to work (as a lot of the residents hit out I wanted some cheapo ones where it didn't matter if they got broke). While I was in specsavers getting my cheapo glasses ordered Mike popped to the bank and on his way back he got bit by a dog outside. Some idiot man had left his dog tied up outside there while he went for an eyetest and in less than 10 minutes it bit Mike and another man. The man whose dog it was was quite rude about it too. We didn't end up reporting him but I'm not sure if that was the right decision. I know the other couple called the police so I don't know if anything was done. It makes me so mad. The poor dog might end up being put down as it had an irresponsible owner who was not looking after it properly. Anyway, I digress!

When we got home Mike suggested doing some yoga and core to relax as I was a bit stressed and stroppy and he wasn't feeling too happy either. Even though Mike was ok we were upset about the dog incident and not sure we had done the right thing about it. I was also wishing I'd remembered the mans name when they called him out for his test, we were both a bit shocked by it all.. digressing again.. The yoga was nice and relaxing! Mike lit loads of candles in the lounge and we just chilled out doing it.. Who says exercise has to be tough all the time :P

I made up for an easy workout by doing a killer boxing and circuit workout which has left me unable to move without pain and desperate to get back in the boxing gym... I was dreaming of being in the ring the whole time and thinking about winning a fight... I hope that happens one day! I think we've made our decision about going back to the gym anyway... Time is a good healer!

Boxing x 20 rounds
30s heavy bag/30s rest

Circuit x 2 rounds
Burpees
Shrugs
Push-ups
Star Jumps
Upright Rows
High Knee DB Press
Chair Dips
Lunges
Mountain Climbers
DB Punches
Leg Raise
Clean and Push Press
V-Ups

That was tough!

Maria @ Running Cupcake tagged me in a little quiz which was fun to do...

Four TV shows I watch.

Glee

The Walking Dead (zombie series.. check it out)

Come Dine With Me

Not Going Out

Four things I am passionate about

Being healthy

Vegetarianism

Running

Promoting recovery from eating disorders and being against pro anorexia, an eating disorder is not a choice.

Four words/ phrases that I use too much;

I say 'like' a lot more than I should, in that annoying way.. 'and she was like....'

I swear more than I should..

I have no idea what else I can put for this one... unfortunately Mike is being no help! He did however just look over and said I don't say like very much.. that's a relief!

Four things I’ve learnt from the past;

What other people think about me doesn't matter if I'm happy about myself and my decisions

The number on the scale does not matter and the lower it is is not equatable to happiness or self worth

I'm very determined

If anyone tells me I won't be able to do something or won't be good at something I won't rest until I've proved them wrong. (I'm stubborn)

Four things I am looking forward to;

Running the Humber Bridge half again (hopefully beating last years time....)

Getting married (this won't happen until we can afford it)

Getting a promotion.. (the sooner the better please work.. it will help with the above item haha)

Going on holiday (also probably won't be for a while but never mind!)

Four things I love about winter;

Feeling totally hardcore when I go running in the freezing weather! - (stealing this one from Maria I felt totally hardcore, and mental, running/trying to run in the knee deep snow)

Wrapping up in really warm clothes

Being inside in said warm clothes with a big cup of coffee snuggled up on the sofa

Christmas!

I think most of the blogs I read have already done this but if you haven't consider yourself TAGGED!

Lots of Runs

Goodness me, this post has been in the making for over a week now, please excuse any incorrect tenses I may have missed in the edit!! Plus, I hate his keyboard, it's as if someone moved all the letters so half the stuff I type is gobbledygook... Not good!

Good news on my laptop front, my clever dad had a brainwave last night! My brother has the same laptop so we're going to swap batteries, backup all my precious pictures then send it back to Dell so they can fix it again. It breaks every few months. I will NEVER buy Dell again. My laptop is a nightmare!

I went out for my second run of 2011 last Thursday, as Mike was coming we decided to do intervals. Totally flunked it.. in my third interval I felt really dizzy again and had to stop. I was so frustrated, sometimes it feels like my body just won't play ball.. I just jogged slowly until Mike was finished.. This cold I've got has really taken it out of me. That and I guess being tired from work..

I ate a bigger breakfast before my next run to see if it could be poor fuelling... I always want to know the reasoning behind why things don't work out. I did 5 miles and the breakfast seemed to make a difference as I was still tired and the cold was still being persistent haha!

5 miles in 44.30
Mile 1 - 9.19
Mile 2 - 9.04
Mile 3 - 8.47
Mile 4 - 8.39
Mile 5 - 8.42
Avg 8.54

Score!! Comfortably in my long tempo pace of 8.48-9.01. So happy to get a run which felt successful in! And almost all negative splits, double score!

After that successful 5 mile run I set out for a 6 mile run, rather stupidly on an empty stomach. I've been struggling with a few old demons lately.. guess it's the January weight loss kick and feeling like I should be losing some too. That's a whole post in itself though..

I took Roxie out with me and started off slow.. got to the bridge to find one side was closed and the other side had big flashing lights saying 'danger high wind' I promptly wimped out and changed my route.. I don't like wind at the best of times and strong wind on a bridge... not feeling hardcore enough for that!

We ended up covering a slow 3.5 miles in 34.32... I gave up partially due to my lack of fuelling and feeling really sluggish and partially due to the rain and fogged up glasses which was making it almost impossible to see.. It didn't really feel too safe and I just wasn't in the mood I guess.. Oh well.. it's still 3.5 miles more than nothing I guess ;-)

Ahhh finally I'm starting to get up to date!

Yesterday Mike and I went out for intervals. 5 x 800m 90s RI. They were so tough!! The odd pacing is due to them being run up and down one road which had a slight incline and wind resistance on intervals 2 and 4, meaning 1, 3, and 5 had a slight decline and a little wind help!
1 - 3.18 Oh my god, I'm going to be sick, I'm definitely going to be sick.. Why did Mike want to come out so close to breakfast.. stupid Mike... bleughhhhhhhhh...
2 - 3.46 OK don't feel quite so sick but I didn't realise the wind was going to be so horrible... please hurry up and end...
3 - 3.33 Back on the slight downhill... This should feel easier surely?? Oh well, over halfway now.. keep pushing!!
4 - 3.59 Nooo dizzy again. My legs feel like they're going to give way and I hit pause and sit on the pavement for 20 seconds. Think I'm not giving up now. Not again!! (reading this back I'm such a drama queen but that's what I felt like haha) And get up. Plod along to the end and think thank f*** that's over! I took an extra 30s rest before tackling number 5, figured it's better to have a slightly longer rest and finish than do the proper rest and bail halfway through.
5 - 3.38 Still dizzy but not quite as bad.. just trying to get to the end... Finally see Mike and Roxie in the distance and try to speed up... not terribly successful but did a little! Collapse into a heap on the pavement, unable to talk for a few minutes... Successful intervals!

When we were stretching afterwards I told Mike about having to stop in the 4th. He said I was just about to tell you the same thing!! So we both struggled in the fourth, how strange.. He said at least we both finished though, better to stop and carry on than stop and give up (unless you need to, of course).

It does get me thinking though, what should you push through? Should I have pushed through? At the time I felt like I couldn't so I guess I did the right thing but I always feel bad for stopping... I'm sure I've debated this on here before anyway! I guess we have to just trust our own judgements!

Hope everyone has had a good start to the year.. I hope to get my laptop fixed ASAP and resume regular posting! I miss blogging, both reading and writing!

Hello 2011 and 2010 in Review.

Hope everyone's had a great christmas and new year!

My laptop is well and truly broken so I'm pretty much unable to blog, or read many blogs very often at the moment. I'm hoping to get it fixed soon... Unfortunately I fear I may have lost all my photos, including all Tia's kitten pictures and Roxie's puppy pictures and pictures of my four hamsters who have all sadly died now... I'm so sad. It should teach me to back my stuff up though. I've also lost my electronic copy of my masters dissertation and all my uni work... I feel pretty silly, everyone knows you should back your stuff up. Do it now if you haven't already!

Anyway, back to the post.. How did I do with my 2010 goals... Well, not too bad in running but not too good in other news!!

2010 Review and 2011 Goals.
Running/conditioning
Complete half marathon Done 2.25.21. At the beginning of 2010 the furthest I'd ever run was 4 miles, that seems insane now! Distance PB is 13.8 miles.
One mile in >7.30 This one I'm really proud of, my current fastest mile is 6.43 which I did in October. at the beginning of the year my fastest time was 7.55!
Two miles in >15.30 minutes Done in 15.24 back in March (16.23 in 2009).
Three miles in >24.30 minutes 3 miles done in 24.04 (25.25 in 2009), 5k in 24.51, done in September.
Four miles in >35 minutes 32.48 (from 37.50 in 2009) done in September too.

Running goals for 2011..
Beat my half marathon time on the same course.
Fit running in around work and other commitments.. You all know I've struggled transitioning into full time work, I hope to get my balance right in 2011.
Keep working on, and improving speed and endurance.
Improve on pacing and ability to get negative splits.
Get my 1 mile time under 6.30.
I did 468.6 miles in 2010. I would like to do 621 in 2011 which is 1000km.

Strength
Hold a plank for 3.30 minutes 3.53 - acheived in May from 2.30 in 2009.
3 pull-ups in a row Never managed to do 1 from dead hang. Flunked this goal. Best try again this year...
5 chin-ups in a row Managed 5 but not from dead hang..
30 push-ups in a row (current 10) I got up to 30.

Strength goals for 2011..
Do the 100 push-up challenge in its entirity.
Work on chin-ups from dead-hang, do 2 in a row
Keep on top of core work. Get plank back up to where it was and up to 4 minutes.

Boxing
Improve hooks and uppercuts – practice in sparring
Improve stance so weight is spread more evenly
Win my first fight!

My boxing goals still stand, I've definately made improvements on them but still not had my first fight due to many things which you're probably bored of hearing about! Maybe this year?

New Years Resolutions
Do core workouts twice a week I lost motivation with this with the boxing drama(s) and didn't acheive it.
Neck exercises once a week Same. I stopped these hated exercises when we stopped boxing.
Wrist curls once a week Same as other boxing ones.
Isometric punches once a week Same as other boxing ones.
Boxing three times a week Same... did well at first though, like the others!
Running three times a week (distance, sprints and intervals) I've pretty much stuck to this one barring the last three months when I wanted a break. Then the snow ice came and lack of treadmill forced a break!
Follow pull-up/chin-up plan This kind of dropped off when we stopped boxing too..

New years resolutions for 2011..
Looking realistically at last year I want to set goals I can reach.
Core at least once a week
Running three times a week
Follow 100 push-up plan three times a week. If I reach 100, maintain strength.
Do chin-ups every week.

Weekly Totals back for motivation!

I've already done my first run... The snow came back today (It's not too bad though) I'm hoping it doesn't freeze overnight, I have 5 miles planned for tomorrow and I intend on doing them!

My first run back was a tempo run. It was not a great run to be honest. The first mile I was like hell yeahhhhhh I'm running yippeeeeee.. Then the second mile which was my first tempo mile I was thinking ok, I can do this I'm on pace and it isn't too bad... Third mile (2nd tempo mile) was just awful. I was really slow compared to what I was supposed to be running and I'm just not sure what happened. I got really dizzy and had to stop three times to regain myself. I think it's 'cause I've had a stonking cold and sore throat since New Years Eve and I've been working a lot.. Guess it's just took it out of me a bit. I'm hoping tomorrow is more successful!

Mile 1 (warm-up) - 9.16
Mile 2 (tempo) - 8.29
Mile 3 (tempo) - 9.01
Mile 4 (cool-down) - 10.06

36.52 average pace 9.13

I'm following the 5k plan from Run Less Run Faster until mid February when half marathon training begins eeeeeeeeeeee!!

I hope I'm back sooner next time, I miss reading blogs and blogging!