Day One - Cup Cakes and Wine - Cheers All!

Well here we go, day one of marathon training and I haven’t even been out of my front door!

But I have re written my training programme - after Nicky pointed out to me that I had the Brass Monkey  Half Marathon down twice, neither one on the correct date, I have chicked out 6 pairs of old trainers, I have registered for  Jantastic  http://www.marathontalk.winterswim.co.uk/jantastic.php,  I have put a new battery in my bathroom scales and can now put a number  to what I knew my clothes were telling me, I have fallen out with my daughter (she doesn’t respond well to being asked to clean/tidy/wash-up she says I don’t set a good example!) and then had a wonderful afternoon as we made up and baked cupcakes and apple pie together and made even more mess!

I kept to my pledge to eat healthy until this evening when I just had to try two small chocolate crispy buns (made with bran flakes) and decided to finish off the open bottle of wine in the fridge.

I am happy to have had a rest day today having had a festive weekend of running in the snow.

Those of you who know me well will know how I have struggled with Christmas for the last few years and that I can be very ba-humbug. Choosing (once the children have gone to their dads) to spend Christmas day on my own doing such things as decorating.  

But Christmas morning arrived and I put on my Santa dress and dragged the children along to Hyde Park where I ran with 50+ others who also chose to start their Christmas day with a Leeds parkrun.  Thank you to Liz for agreeing to be the race director on Christmas day so that this event could go ahead.  The result was the best Christmas day I have had for years!

Boxing Day brought along my annual visit to Otley Chevin for the Chevin Chase.  I woke up not sure I would be able to run as my back ached and I had a pain in my upper right arm which made driving difficult, but what really made me think I might not be able to run was a case of very painful chafing from my Santa run (I would not recommend running in stockings if you have chunky legs like me).  But I love this race, I run this for fun, it rounds off my race year, and so with the application of half a tub of Vaseline I arrived on the start line and chatted to Debra B(dressed up as the skinniest Christmas pudding I have ever seen) and wondered if I would manage to run all the way up the first hill without walking! The beauty of this race is it is different each year depending on the weather and this year we were treated to a snow covered course which was quite icy in places, several people took a tumble.  Thanks to Liz J I made it all the way to the top of the first hill without walking but by this time I had already lost sight of Debra B, as I knew I would! It was great to see Nicky supporting as she was out on her long run and as usual Andy Brown at the top of THAT HILL kept company this year by Barbara C, I had to stop to say hello to their respective beautiful baby girls.  Then, bless her, there was Nicky again who I had a quick hug from, next was another big cheer from Bernadette B and family and as I passed them I knew Linda G was close on my heels as they let out the biggest cheer ever, into the car park where the brilliant Tess HS and Jaz  B were cheering us on.  I had by this point walked only a couple of times but was pleased with what felt like my strongest ever Chevin Chase run (Nicky said after that I looked a lot stronger than I normally do at that point), then across the road over the stile and I could see a long line of runners waiting in the field.  I hoped they were all queuing for a cup of tea and biscuits but alas it was to cross a frozen and I mean icy frozen stile, as the minutes passed any hope of a PB slipped away, but that didn’t matter one jot to me. After 10 minutes we were over and I was off again the rest giving my legs a temporary burst of speed.   As I ran the last snowy covered stretch of track I thought how this is the first time in three years I have run this race without choking back a few tears as I think about my dad, then I reached the lovely downhill run back in to Guiesely, Dave was there taking photos and as always giving brilliant support and instruction, “head up” “keep strong” I’m never quite sure after what he has said but it always helps me check my form and keeps me strong for a sprint finish, round the corner towards the school and as I neared the finish line I could hear more HPH cheering me on but couldn’t quite see them. Once I crossed the finish line I made my way back to the HPH support crew and runners who greeted me with big smiles and had that cups of hot tea and biscuits waiting! 

So all though I don’t feel I have been as consistent in my pre marathon training, training this year and I am carrying an extra *cough* pound or so *cough* I’m pretty confident I am starting my training from a strong (if somewhat slower than I would like) base.

 

So as I drain this glass of wine (probably my last one for the next 16 weeks) I’d like to say - Cheers all!

 Merry Christmas and best wishes to you all for a fantastic new year!

2 lie-in’s and 112 get ups

As Adele gets giddy asking each day how many more “get ups” to Christmas I am contemplating the fact that there is just 2 more “lie-ins” before Marathon training starts and then 112 get ups before I can have another lie in!

I don’t feel ready for this at all, I have been spending like mad and have new trainers, a new Garmin (Christmas present to myself) new running tights and shorts (in case the weather ever warms up), I have a new running jacket and hiviz tops.  I even have a sports massage in hand that I won in the Sport Fix monthly competition.  My (rather optimistic) training plan is written, races are entered, justgiving page is set up.

My fridge, surprisingly, is full of fresh food . . . . .

 . . . . . . and after 6 months without a working oven I now have a new one and thanks to an early morning call from TSR it’s all fitted and working ready to bake loads and loads and loads of jacket potatoes and pasta bake!

I am working really hard (eating & drinking) to make sure that there is no chocolate, ice cream, cakes, biscuits or wine left in the house in 3 days time!




All I need now is a great big boost of motivation and enthusiasm!  Any ideas anyone?

Virgin London Marathon 2011

In October when my VLM rejection letter and oversized VLM jacket arrived I was, to say the least, like several others around me, disappointed. Vikki got her GFA place and Nicky much to her disbelief and dismay got a ballot place and so I knew I had somehow to get a place again for 2011.  While I waited patiently for the club draw Liz also secured a place to do her first ever Marathon with ageuk. 

In November the club places were drawn and although this was my 3^rd time in the draw it was the worst odds. It turned out to be 3^rd time unlucky for me as both David then Harp were drawn out for the club places.  I was really pleased for both of them, but with another of my close running friends now in I  knew somehow I had to be on that start line!

The next morning I began making enquires with various charities.  Liz and I had already discussed the possibility of joining forces in both training and fundraising and she recommended I approached ageuk. .

And so in seven days time on the 27^th Dec 2010 I will be one of several HPH starting out on 16 weeks of training to get us to the start line of the VLM on the 17^th April 2011.

Having now done 3 Marathons I have an idea of some of the challenges those 16 weeks will bring for me both as a runner and as a fulltime working single Mum!

But I already know that this year, the biggest challenge for me will be fundraising £62 for each of the 26.2 miles to reach my target of £1624.40 for ageuk.   

Thankfully, Nicky & Harp will be helping to help raise funds towards this target as well and you can find our fundraising page at

www.justgiving.com/Kay-Nicola-Harp

And so here comes my first thank you to -

TSR - thank you for starting the ball rolling with a donation of £1 for each mile (though you did forget the 20p for the last 0.2 mile) Xx

Welcome to my new blog “Kay Runs”

I have been asked several times in the last few weeks when are you starting your Blog Kay?

It has taken me a while to come up with a title, I wanted something funny but although I can from time to time say funny things it is generally more by accident rather than a deliberate intention to be funny.  I also wanted a blog that I could continue to use for whatever running challenges and adventures I might do in the future. 

And so I came to “Kay Walks-Jogs-Runs” but then I thought that would give me permission to walk whenever I felt like it and so “Kay Runs” it is!

I just hope readers Old and New enjoy and pop in every now and then to follow my journey!  I will try to keep my posts a little shorter but . . . . . . .

So what is my next challenge?  No prizes for guessing . . . . . .