Keep on running…

So here we are, in France, with 39 days to go.  Crazy.

I managed a good run on Sunday at 9 o clock in the morning, no less.  It was nice actually I had a running buddy for the first time for a while and did a good 8.5 miles or so running to Waterbeach and back.  Having someone else there definitely made the time fly and although I’m not usually very good in the morning, I found it OK.  I have to admit, everyone was really friendly too.  More so than usual. We didn’t meet a single person who didn’t say ‘Morning’ or greet you and all the cyclists were apologising for one thing or another.  I think it probably helped that the sun was shining on a glorious spring day.

I am now in France. Colmar to be exact, and had my first taste of training over here.  It was quite difficult as I’m busy all day and therefore have to go running after I get back around 6.30pm.  I was aiming for an hour run tonight but ended up only doing around 45 minutes and not going very far.  As with most things in life, when you don’t really know where you are going – or you don’t have specific goals, you tend to get complacent and are less effective.  This was certainly the case for me.  I didn’t want to get lost so kept going back and forth rather than find a route and then wanted to make sure I could get some food so came back early.  It’s a sleepy town and there’s no guarantee of food after 8.30!! 
There were also a large number of roads to cross, which really slowed me down and were quite frustrating towards the end. 

Anyway I managed my first run and will keep up the hard work.  After all, only 39 days to go…

A bientot.  CJ xx

Muy cansada

Today is going to be short because I am, as I write in Spanish, ‘very tired’.  It’s been a long week, I went down to the runner’s reception on Tuesday at St Peter and St James Hospice – the charity I am running the marathon in aid of.  It was good to meet some of the other runners and exchange tips but driving down to Sussex and back in a night really took it out of me.  It also meant that I couldn’t do my running Tues so I did it yesterday instead.  It was quite late by the time I got out so I only went round the block and having eaten before I felt rather bloated.  When I got in I looked like I had a food/running baby but thankfully back to normal today.
In fact, I did my 40 minutes quite comfortably today – it’s going to be interesting fitting everything in this weekend. An early start on Saturday, methinks, to get a run in before  I go down to London.  Only a week till holiday – I wonder how I will fare in the warm Egyptian sun…

Anyway enough for now, I must put the recycling out.  Laters CJ xx

There’s no business like snow business

In fact when the snow comes there is no business. Everything grinds to a halt. I’ve been doing my best to carry on as usual, apart from being a tiny bit late to work a couple of days that’s not been a problem.  Running, however, is very difficult in the snow – I went on Tuesday and was due to go again Thursday but there was a fresh laying and in the dark and extreme cold I wasn’t sure it was a good idea to go running.  I also had an invite out but that, honestly, didn’t have a bearing on the non running.  The night out was good, dressed as Supergirl.  Did have some issues with staying on my two feet though, stacking it 3 times across the evening and now having a very sore and bruised elbow and bum. Not great for keeping up the training but the legs are OK at least.

I braved it today and managed to get a reasonable run in. There was a bitterly cold wind but when that died down and the sun shone it was quite warm.  Unfortunately that didn’t happen very often and I came in with frozen hands and face even though I was wearing gloves.  I think I left my hat down at my parents, which is a pain because it really makes a difference. I would be going down there today for Mother’s birthday, so I could pick it up but due to the snow I shall not be making the journey.

Hoping to be able to do another run tomorrow – 45 minutes solid I’m due to do but really depends what the weather’s up to!

Hasta Luego,

CJ xxx

Slacker

I’ve had a weird week this week, and it’s meant I’ve been a bit slack with my running and my blogging. I had my Tuesday run as I wrote, then on Wednesday I did another run, which was just under 4 miles – my longest yet! My legs felt much better, although achey on Thursday after running 2 days in a row.  So I decided to not play football on Thurs, which was probably a good idea as it sounds like it was quite a boisterous game.  Two guys got injured, one hurt his shoulder so badly he’ll be off work for a week – apparently it was caused by our HR Director, so much for looking after your assets! haha.  Still, even though I avoided getting injured at football I did manage to hurt my arm when I was out and about in Newmarket – I shan’t go into it too much but basically something was digging into my arm and I couldn’t let go for fear of injuring my professional sportswoman legs so had to grim and bear it.  So then I had a dent in my arm and it felt really dead. Still sore now and a little swollen but at least it doesn’t affect my running abilities.

I went for a run today too, a bit earlier than usual – at 10. There was some sort of racing event on the Cam so I saw a lot of the boat clubs setting up and getting ready for the race later on in the day.  I didn’t go as far as I probably should but I felt better than usual on a Saturday. I think I’m really going to have to start to step up the training soon, it’s been nearly two months now, can you believe? I do feel like I’m getting somewhere but it’s slow and I’m not sure what sort of effect Christmas will have on the training schedule. The adverse weather isn’t great either but I’ve still been lucky and not really been caught by the rain yet! I’m sure that will soon change!

Anyway going to make a nice casserole come stew now, aren’t I a ‘Domestic Goddess’?

Keep reading, CJ xx

Shocking weather!

Dear me, the weather today is seriously horrible.  I can hear the whooshing of the wind bending over the tree outside and the rain hammering down, as I write. Luckily when I went for my run earlier it wasn’t raining but was still incredibly windy. At one point I felt like I wasn’t going anywhere just jogging on the spot! Again my calf muscle or ‘gastrocnemius’ to be precise were feeling a bit tight so didn’t manage to run as far as I wanted to, I think the weather had an adverse effect too.

The weekends seem to go so quickly these days, I don’t know where the day has gone – I guess it feels later too because it’s dark outside. But having gone for my run and done a bit of cleaning etc it’s nearly 17:00.  Still trying to decide whether to go out tonight or not, had a couple of offers but because the weather is so rubbish part of me just wants to stay in!  England vs Brazil now so will see how I feel after a cup of tea and some football!

Hope you don’t get blown away. CJ xx