Hanger to Happiness...

It’s been a long week and I finished work later than planned tonight so the last thing I wanted to do was get ready and go to Bootcamp. I was tired and hungry (and probably a little bit Hangry!) but I ate a banana and got my running clothes on before I could change my mind. I haven’t done any exercise all week and I have another busy week ahead. I made every excuse possible not to go for a run last night (and even got lost looking for the Polling Station!) so I knew I had to make the effort tonight.

It took every ounce of will power within me to get ready and go out the door. But I did just that. I knew it would make me feel better and I know that if I have any chance of crossing the finish line of the Great North Run then I need to keep training.

Within 5 minutes of starting Bootcamp I knew I’d made the right choice. I then spent the next 50 minutes wondering why I’d chosen to put myself through the pain, especially when the midges started to attack and the grass left a rash on both legs. But then I felt happy again during the last 5 minutes and proud of myself for making the effort.

Pretty Sping flowers

 

 

I’m generally a positive person and sometimes feel like I don’t want to blog about the negatives, but then I think I need to keep it balanced. It’s about ensuring that I look for the positives in the bad days and that’s what I did tonight. I knew that I would feel better after I went so I made myself go. Exercise is such a feel good factor and I for one never thought I’d be so addicted to it (even though I had to all but kick myself out the door tonight).

Life is rather busy at the moment, quite a lot busier than usual and the next couple of months show no signs of slowing down but I will try and fit as much training in as possible to ensure I can cover the distance!

 

I am looking forward to doing another (different) Parkrun in the morning with two of my friends from work.

44, friends and counting!

Last Saturday I introduced one of my friend’s, Kim, to Parkrun. I’ve done a few Parkrun’s in Leeds with my friend Maria and we’ve been encouraging Kim to join us. We were all free last Saturday so decided to try a route which was new to us all. I am counting down to my 50^th Parkrun and Saturday marked 44 – not long to go now!

We met nice and early at Oakwell Hall Parkrun and as the sun was shining I’d chosen a t-shirt and shorts. The sun was deceiving. It was cold. Much colder than it looked. But at least it wasn’t snowing! I spent the time before we started, jumping up and down on the spot trying to keep warm. I’d told Kim I would run with her as it was her first time and she was feeling nervous. I always enjoy doing Parkrun with other people as it’s a much more sociable and happy experience!

Oakwell Hall

Just before we set off we saw our other friend Laura who was also new to Oakwell Hall Parkrun last week. The route was pretty and is a 2 lap course. The marshall’s were super friendly and we were made to feel both welcomed and encouraged. There were lots of lovely printed signs of encouragement and I stopped to take a photo of this one (it made me smile!!).

 

 We felt like it was lying to us the first time round but more encouraging on passing it on the 2^nd lap. The course was challenging with zig zags, mud and trail paths.  We run walked the course and as I still didn’t have my Garmin, I just enjoyed chatting to Kim and Maria and taking in the new surroundings.

Kim and I crossed the finish line together and Maria, Laura and her friend were waiting to cheer us on. Kim enjoyed her first Parkrun and says she’ll be returning for another – she also got a 5K pb! Well done Kim! It was an enjoyable morning and we had some chocolate before heading our separate ways to enjoy the rest of our Saturday (which for me may have involved some wine tasting!!)

Me, Maria, Kim

 My Great North Run training has not been productive at all this week. I had a brilliant week last week, 2 bootcamp sessions and 2 runs but I’ve not done anything since Saturday (oops!). This week has been spent celebrating some good news and preparing for our Speech and Language Therapy pantomime.

Tomorrow I am doing Sunderland 10K for the third year running. I am looking forward to seeing the new start and experiencing a new route.  Two years ago, Sunderland 10K was the first 10K race I ever entered and it was only the second time I’d even ran that distance. Hopefully the next few weeks will see me regaining some motivation and training a bit harder.

I’m off to sort my things for tomorrow. I know I can cover the distance tomorrow as it wasn’t too long since I last ran 10K. I look forward* to increasing my distance over the coming months towards my journey to the Great North Run.

*I am trying to remain positive, I use the term ‘look forward’ quite loosely but I’m not dreading it which is progress on a couple of weeks ago (and indeed the last 18 months since the last time I thought it would be a good idea to subject myself to running a Half Marathon!)