Achievement Unlocked!

At the end of my last blog, I said I would achieve a sub 32 minute parkrun time by the end of August. My last parkrun in July had an official time of 33:33 so I was looking for a reduction of 1 minute 34 seconds over the month.

I am pleased to report that my last parkrun time was 30:38 - an improvement of almost 3 minutes! If I can keep this rate of improvement up for another four months I will be the first female finisher at Guildford parkrun. If only ...

So, what has caused this improvement?

Firstly, not working is great. It means I have a lot of time to exercise and be generally more active, as well as to plan and prepare healthy meals. I am also a lot less stressed and therefore far less prone to entering a "sod it" state of mind where I want to eat all the food. When I go back to work in November, the real challenge (apart from the whole new job thing) will be to maintain all this healthiness whilst working full time.

I have also got myself a personal trainer called Jack. I have had six training sessions with Jack so far and am having a lot of fun being back in the gym and playing with all the weights. Before I started running, strength training was my passion, so it is great to be getting back into it. I even once entered a Strongwoman competition, but that is a story for another blog. Jack has one task which is to devise exercises and workouts to help improve my running whilst not actually breaking me. After one session, he described my body as "complicated", I think he now knows that the real challenge is my mind! He has lost no time in pushing me to do exercises I didn't want to do (but that would be good for me) so I think the signs are promising that he will have a good effect on my running. Plus, did I mention that lifting weights is so much fun!

I lost some more weight - another 2.5kg - just 6.6kg to go to reach my parkrun PB weight.

And, I confess, I have started trying harder in parkruns. At the end of the July, a friend (she knows who she is!) commented that I don't push myself when running. Of course I was quite offended and thought it was terribly unfair of her at the time. But her comment lodged itself in my brain so at the next parkrun I thought I'd try a bit harder, resulting in 20 seconds off my previous week's time (a time I had been very pleased with). So, it seems my friend has a point.

The next Saturday I took it a bit easier as I had a race the next day (the excellent Hart Relay - to be covered in a later blog) but the following week I decided to see what I could do if I really went for it, resulting in a 32:03 time, a reduction of 1 minute 10 seconds. Awesome, I thought, except that I said on my blog I would do sub 32 by the end of August and only had one parkrun left in which to achieve this. Stupidly, I mentioned to a few people that I was going to try to take 4 seconds off my time to get sub 32 by not drinking on the Friday night and going to a flat parkrun, thereby putting quite a lot of pressure on myself.

A grumbling hamstring on Wednesday did not help my confidence but a sports massage from the wonderful Philippa (ouch!) sorted that out. Jack was told on Friday that I wouldn't be doing any exercises that stressed my hamstring as I needed fresh legs - he did as he was told, focusing on upper body exercises, meaning that I was amazed I could even move my arms on Saturday!

I duly turned up at the wonderfully flat Brooklands parkrun on Saturday, after a wine-free Friday night, wishing I had kept my mouth shut. Not helped by seeing some lovely friends from Fitstuff who had come to support me! I won't lie, I did not enjoy the parkrun and was very glad when I crossed the finish line, but all the effort was worth it with a reduction of 85 seconds rather than the 4 that I needed. Rob, Alexandra, and Abi ran with me for the last 100m which was very sweet of them although I did not acknowledge them at the time as I was focused on finishing and nothing else.

Team Fitstuff before the run

After the run with Debbie - happy but sweaty!

So, my sub 32 is done, sub 30 is my next goal but thankfully my self-imposed deadline is 2 months away.  I miss the parkruns where I take it easy and walk up hills when I feel a bit tired. Maybe I'll treat myself to a lazy parkrun from time to time so that I can enjoy the run. Although for now I think that chasing PBs may be a bit addictive.  Of course, my overall PB of 28:13 is still some way away but now starting to feel achievable.

Trending faster

Somehow we are at the end of July so it is time for another instalment of my blog. My big news is that I have left my job and don't start my new job until November - with three months to play with I am hoping to make some significant progress towards my weight and parkrun PB goals.

July's stats:

Weight loss: 1.2kg (9.1kg to lose to get to parkrun PB weight)
Holidays: 2 (so weight loss is an amazing achievement!!)
10k races: 1
10k races with hills and no walking: 1
Minutes improvement in 10k time: 7
Minutes improvement in parkrun time: 5

This month I have been practising the art of moderation. I have no natural ability in this area so I have joined a Facebook group with like minded people to help keep me honest. It probably sounds a bit odd but we share details (and pictures!!) of what we are eating and this somehow helps us make more healthy choices. Of course, whilst on my holidays (Inverness and Copenhagen) it is true to say I was not an active member of the group. 😕  However, it did help me get back to a healthy lifestyle more quickly post holiday than would usually be the case.

We may have indulged a little in Copenhagen:

Yum - just yum.

The beer was as big as Rob's head!!

Drinking in Freetown Christiana - we resisted the herbal offerings!!

Both holidays involved a parkrun, and both were flat, which made a nice change from Guildford. This helped me to get out of my habit of walking when tired which now seems to be paying off as there was no walking in my last Guildford parkrun or the latest 10k (did I mention the 10k had hills?!). The parkrun was helped by an unspoken race between me and my friend Debbie - she beat me in the end but both of us had our best times for a while. Amazing what a bit of healthy competition can do!!

Inverness parkrun is a five lap course so lots of overtaking and being overtaken which kept it interesting - it also meant you had to keep count!!  Copenhagen (Faelledparken) was twice round a park so very straightforward. It was also a small field allowing me a top 100 finish!! Both parkruns were very friendly and are highly recommended.

A tiny finish funnel at Faelledparken parkrun!!

July's 10k was Run Richmond Park, which consists of two undulating laps. The weather forecast was dreadful and there was torrential rain on the drive there but we got lucky as it didn't rain during the race. This is lucky for me as Rob gets grumpy if I make him run in the rain. 😜

I saw a beautiful herd of deer on the run but I couldn't take a photo as I couldn't stop running!! This is a sign of progress as I would have totally used it as an excuse only a few weeks ago!!

So my challenge for August is to keep improving but not get so carried away that I break myself - more of that "moderation" thing. I would love to get a sub 32 minute parkrun by the end of August and sub 30 by the time I go back to work.

Progress at last!!

Here I am fresh from my 21 day blitz - 21 days of clean eating, drinking lots of water, getting lots of sleep and, most importantly, no alcohol!!  And the result of all of this??  I feel great, of course!!  So I should probably keep it up …

So what does this mean for June's stats??

Weight loss: 5.7kg!! 😃
10k races completed: 3
Minutes improvement in 10k race time: 0 😶

I won't lie, the first week of the blitz was not so great.  I cut my calories too much and practically eliminated carbs and the upshot was that running got really hard!!  OK, it's always hard for me, but it got even harder.  I increased the calories a bit in the second and third weeks but was probably still too low on carbs so I need to do some figuring out to find out what works for me.  But I am happy to take a few slow runs in the meantime as the best thing I can do for my running is to lose weight.  Hopefully the speed will come later, as if by magic!!

Here is this month's bling:

Bushy Summer 10k - this race series always has great medals making it a favourite of mine.

Weybridge 10k - this was a slog as I was really feeling the lack of carbs.

The ice cream at the end totally made up for the effort!!

Martian Race on Horsell Common.  This was the location of the first Martian landing in H.G. Wells' novel The War of the Worlds.  So of course I had to run whilst listening to Jeff Wayne's musical version.

It was a tough and slow run but I really enjoyed it.  I tried to imagine I was being chased by a Martian fighting machine to help me speed up but it didn't work.  Clearly, my imagination is not that good.


Being an extremely goal focused person, I have set myself the challenge of completing 250 parkruns before my fiftieth birthday.  This is achievable but doesn't allow me the luxury of a Saturday off the day before a 10k race, which means I am starting each race with tired legs.  Something else I need to figure out!!

I am pleased to say that I have a four week break before my next race.  The novelty of three races a month has worn thin and my dodgy hamstring is starting to grumble so I am planning for July to be a bit less intense.

This is my fourth blog, and finally I am making some progress.  I have 10.3kg to lose to reach my parkrun PB weight so am going to keep up the clean eating but allow a few more indulgences.  Those who know me will know that I am great at the extreme quick fix diet regimes but pretty rubbish at the ongoing moderation.  Let's hope that the desire to get faster will help me to make better choices and prove that a leopard (or tortoise in this case) can change its spots!!

A busy month!!

The sun is shining as I write this, it is Friday evening, there is a sleepy dog curled up next to me, there is Prosecco in my future, and life is good.

I felt compelled to research what better writers than me have said about the month of May - my favourite quote is from Fennel Hudson:

“May, more than any other month of the year, wants us to feel alive.”

Feeling alive sounds pretty good to me.  Much better than the alternative.

So, enough of the musing, I am sure you want to know how I got on in the wonderful month of May??

This month’s report card:

Weight loss: 0 (more about that later)

Weekends in Prague: 1

Trdelnik with ice cream - so naughty but so good!!

Birthdays: 1

10k races completed: 3!!

Minutes improvement in 10k race time: 1

In my last blog I mentioned my goal of completing one 10k per month in 2019.  But recently I thought, why stop at one??  Why not do a 10k as often as possible/practical??  Surely doing three a month will be better than doing one a month - well, we shall see!!

The benefits of my new obsession with entering 10ks is firstly that I am running a lot of 10ks, and secondly, there is so much bling!!  The downside is a reduction in lie in opportunities, but no pain no gain, right??

The three May races were:

Frimley 10k - 1 hour 13 - a bit of a slog and a not very exciting route.

Royal Berkshire 10k - 1 hour 14 - a great race.

We earned these ice creams!!

Vitality London 10,000 - 1 hour 10 (no walking) - a fantastic event, if you haven’t done it then you should!!  After all, if it is good enough for Mo then why not?!

So the running is going pretty well.  Although I do need to start pushing myself on parkruns as I did the first 5k of my last 10k faster than my usual parkrun pace which isn’t how it is supposed to be. (Since writing the above yesterday, I definitely did not push myself at Wimbledon Common parkrun this morning. 😳  Even "Mean Monica" nagging and pushing (actually pushing a couple of times) me all the way round didn't help.  In my defence, I refer you to the earlier plan to drink Prosecco and the fact that it was very hot!!)

But the weight loss is non existent (even, dare I say it, negative) so I need a new approach if I am going to beat my parkrun PB by next April.

With this in mind, I have signed up to a 21 day body blitz programme starting on 10 June.  It will be brutal but effective, and should help kick me out of my bad habits and towards some good ones.  I’ll let you know how it went next month but hope to report some significant progress at last.

Now I am off to enjoy the sunshine.

It is a marathon not a sprint!!

So, nearly four weeks have passed since my slog around Alice Holt which was the subject of my last blog.

Here is my progress report:

Weight loss: 0
Lake District holidays: 1
Easter eggs consumed: classified
10k races completed: 1
Minutes improvement in 10k race time: 5
Hamstring status: still irritatingly niggly

Starting with the highlights, on 14 April I ran (yes, I ran!!) the Bushy Spring 10k.  Not one step of walk and 5 minutes faster than my Alice Holt slog.  I must confess, knowing I was going to write this blog definitely helped me to resist the little (loud) voice in my head that kept suggesting how lovely it would be to walk for a little bit.  And it was all worth it because this was the medal!!

I do like my bling!!

I should perhaps mention that I have committed to completing one 10k race per month for the whole of 2019.

This is because the "race effect" allows me to silence or at least ignore the "why don't you walk" voice which accompanies me on all my runs.  One day I hope to be able to leave that voice at home, but that day is still some way off.


The next "official" 10k is the Vitality London 10,000 on 27 May so over four weeks to start whittling away at those kilograms!!

Now for the "could try harder" part of the report - yes, I know, no weight loss is not very impressive.  Although, with a Lake District holiday and Easter could I get some credit for no weight gain??  No, I thought not.

At least the holiday indulgence was somewhat mitigated by walking for three or four hours a day as well as running my favourite ever route, which goes from Chapel Stile to Skelwith Bridge and back.  If you ever find yourself in the Lake District with some running kit then do check it out - it is just over 7k and is stunningly beautiful.

I even got to run with (or at least past) some sheep!!

We left the swimming to our dog, Pristine, here she is enjoying her sploshing!!

Hopefully all the pretty pictures have distracted you from my lack of impressive progress.  On the plus side, my hamstring finally seems to be improving which means I can now run up hills without pain, and also that I can start doing a bit more running, which has got to be a good thing!!

I will leave you with a couple of inspirational quotes from my friend Monica:

"We are all happy to be lazy but let's not be lazy."
"Does anything actually hurt?  If not, push yourself!!"

We all need a friend like Monica!!

From a tortoise to a hare??

On Saturday I participated in Bolt Round The Holt, a 10k race in Alice Holt Forest.  I have to say “participated” as it would be technically inaccurate to say I ran it.  I ran a lot of it, but gosh it was so hard.  Whilst slogging my way round, I could not help but compare my experience to the London Winter Run on 3 February, also a 10k run but the experience could not have been more different.

So why was I able to run 10k in February whilst having a fantastic time, high fiving penguins and huskies, enjoying the atmosphere and grinning away, then two months later feel like my legs were made of lead??

Well, first, Alice Holt has hills, lots of them.  And it was hot, about 10 degrees hotter than I have been used to in recent weeks.  And I have had a hamstring injury so have lost a bit of fitness.  And there were no penguins or huskies …

But really the cause of the extra 13 minutes (yes, I know, that is a lot of minutes) became obvious when I stepped on the scales the next morning and spotted that somehow I weighed 3.5kg more on Saturday than when I skipped round the Winter Run without a care in the world (well, maybe not skipped exactly).

How did that happen??  I could blame my friends for getting married in March, meaning I had to eat and drink too much at the hen do and at the wedding itself (yes, I know, I didn’t actually have to).  Then there was the night in a hotel to celebrate mine and my partner Rob’s seventh anniversary (those who know us are aware we will celebrate practically anything).  I also had to reduce my running due to the aforementioned dodgy hamstring.  But really, I just ate too much.  And drank too much.  There are no excuses.

Sadly this is the theme of my running life since I started four years ago.  I have plotted my parkrun times against my weight and the correlation is notable.  I am currently around four minutes away from my parkrun PB and also around 13kg heavier than when I achieved said PB.  That is probably not a coincidence!!

So one thing is clear.  If I want to get better at running – and I really do!! – I need to get lighter.  At least 13kg lighter and ideally even lighter than that.  I have known this for a long time but Saturday’s race really brought it home to me.

Hence this blog.  I am putting it out there that I intend to beat my parkrun PB (a currently unbelievable 28:13) within the next 12 months.  This is an achievable goal but it is going to require some changes.

Thanks to those of you who have made it this far through my first blog post.  I plan to use this blog as a record of my progress and to help to keep me on track as I make the transition from a tortoise to a hare.  Maybe I will even inspire someone to make some changes for themselves, or at least make you laugh or smile along the way.