Thursday 31 May 2012

Mid-week Catch Up

And so another week in which I don't make regular updates on my blog has gone flying by ~ I honestly, truly don't understand where the time is going.  When you are young you never believe people who tell you that time goes past faster the older you get but damn right it does.  To be fair it has been a busy old week and that always seems to make time run away from you.  Without further ado let's catch up with my week:
Monday: Took a rest from running today, my legs though were surprisingly fresh feeling, I really thought I would ache far more than I did.  Went to see two houses at lunch time which had just come on the market.  Both of them in the same street and both of them really nice in their own way.  In fact, one of them I am very taken on and it made me appreciate how small, in comparison, Rowde was.

Tuesday:  Spent most of last night thinking about one of the houses I had seen and although I had second viewings lined up for both of them on Saturday, really think that the house could prove popular so I managed to persuade Other Half to finish work early and we viewed the house at 5.15pm.  The second viewing went even better, the house is lovely, a proper family home and we are very taken with it.  An offer will be going in tomorrow.

Club run again tonight, a special 'Cherhill Challenge' around Cherhill village where one of our members lives.  It was a really lovely run, over 95% of it off-road and although it was somewhat hilly, it was very doable and I managed to keep up.  Felt so much stronger than last Tuesday where I had the terrible run that actually made me so disheartened.  Did 8.06 miles tonight so really very pleased.

Wednesday: Two offers put forward on the house today, the first was rejected but the second accepted so hopefully we're on our way.  Mortgage adviser came round tonight to finish off the paperwork and the official application will be going in tomorrow.  With any luck the surveyor will be instructed next week so within the next couple of weeks we should have a formal offer in place.  Solicitor is on standby although I have asked her to hold off doing any searches (because they are so bloody expensive) until we have the offer on the table.  Part of me is hugely excited as it really is the almost perfect family home; it has lots of indoor space and, being semi-detached and on a corner plot, there is loads of outside space too.  The garden in fact is one of the great features of the house, being divided into distinct areas of patio, vegetable garden, flower borders and a large lawn area to the side.  It has been my dream for a long time to have a vegetable patch at home so this could be the answer to my dreams.  However, until we have that official offer I won't be able to rest easy.  Everything is very firmly crossed (which makes it a real bugger to type).

Did a five-mile run today, was pushing myself quite hard (or so I thought) but clearly not quite hard enough as I didn't manage to beat my PB for the route.  I did however manage to overtake another jogger and doing something like that still gives me a little thrill.  Sad I know.

Talking of thrills, another 3.5 pound loss at Slimming World tonight which just goes to prove I can get away with eating cake for breakfast EVERY SINGLE DAY as long as I run 33 miles a week!  Only another 2.5 pounds to go until I reach four stone ~ I am beyond stoked.

Thursday:  One day closer to the weekend thank God although I was knackered all day today; I cannot stop thinking about the house which makes going to sleep very difficult.  If I am honest, our offer on the Rowde property being turned down was actually the best thing to have happened.  I was never as excited about that property as I am about this one, in fact I did have quite a few reservations although it was a lovely house and it would have given us the village life we wanted; it would also have given us direct access to the school we wanted.  However, the new house is so much better in every way even though we have spent £7k more on it than we offered on Rowde but the extra cost really is worth it.  The best thing about it though, and what sold it to us more than anything, is that it is still in the catchment area of Rowde Primary School and, failing that, it is also in the catchment area of my preferred Devizes school so hopefully it's a win-win situation.  

Mortgage application has gone in today, on tenterhooks now until we get the official go ahead.  Of course, and typically, we are going to be hampered by the two-day Bank Holiday but I am hoping we still get an answer within the next fortnight.  There really shouldn't be any problems, the mortgage is with the Woolwich who are part of Barclays and we have both banked with Barclays for umpteen years and have a great credit history with them so I'm hoping it will go through as a fast-track.  Please keep your fingers crossed for us.

Running tonight was hard work, really wasn't in the mood but I still dragged my sorry arse down there.  Two of our regular runners, Nichola and Dave, are 'ultra' runners and regularly enter 30+ mile races.  Well they are doing a 30 mile training run on Sunday and guess which damned fool has agreed to join them?!  I am aiming to cover 13 miles, I think the 30 miles is way beyond me but if I could get to something approaching a half marathon distance I will be well pleased. 

Sunday 27 May 2012

Race Report - Kennet Kanter

Well I have to say it was with some trepidation that I set off to Devizes Leisure Centre this morning as, although the race start was pretty early at 10.30am, the sun was already beating down and there was not a cloud in the sky.  Knowing that I hadn't covered 10 miles before, there was definitely something of the unknown about the whole thing.  Race organisation was pretty good all-round, went to collect my number and was able to walk straight up to the table (one of the bonuses of entering in advance).  There was then a good 10 minute walk to get to the start line which actually was pretty handy as a gentle warm-up.  It was also pretty handy to make up some of the time I had in hand as I found the Centre a lot easier than I thought I would so consequently I had plenty of time to waste.

The start was by the Wharf in Devizes and to begin with there was plenty of milling around with no real clue as to where the start actually was.  However, with a few minutes to go the organiser and his trusty megaphone did a pre-race announcement (including advising of the fact that there was a fallen tree across the route that could not be removed in time and therefore would have to be treated as an obstacle - interesting!).  I had no real idea where to place myself in the line-up, certainly the organisation in terms of that was nowhere near as good as Corsham however, it was a much smaller race.  But, as luck would have it, I must've chosen wisely as within a few strides I was up to my racing speed, I didn't have anyone to overtake for a while and nobody overtook me either so all good. 

The start of the race, in fact the first few miles, really lull you in to a false sense of security as they are mostly flat or, at times, downhill.  However, with age comes wisdom (so they say) and I knew that at some point in the not too distant future we would have to pay for the downhill sections.  One comment I would have to make was the complete lack of anything approaching shade on the whole length of the route.  This made it a much harder race than it would otherwise have been as the sun was beating down relentlessly and there was hardly any breeze to speak of.  The water stations were very much needed (luckily there were three of them in total) but a huge thanks must go to the man at around the 3.5 mile mark who was spraying the runners with water from his hose; I think I was already so hot that I actually started to steam! 

Well, my supposition that we would soon be paying for the relatively easy start was realised when we crossed over the canal at around the 5 mile mark and started to climb up the Caen Locks.  Oh God, the climb was relentless; over one mile in total.  But, through gritted teeth, I did actually make it to the top and ran the whole way; in fact, I managed to run the whole route which, considering my lack of experience at the distance, I am really pleased about.  After the Caen Locks the route levelled back down again and, barring a few short, sharp uphills, it remained pretty flat the whole way back to the finish. 

I have to say it was a really lovely course, a good mixture of off-road (some trails, but mostly canal towpath) with a few quiet country roads thrown in.  It was probably a good introduction to a 10 mile race and I would certainly enter it again next year.  Stats wise:

Time: 1:35:22
Position = 109 out of 186
Category Position: 18th out of 46

At mile 7 or thereabouts my body did start to protest, I don't think it could understand why I was forcing it to continue running when we've only raced 10k in the past!  I know that if it had been a training run I would've been tempted to come back to a walk but in racing mode I find my mental strength is far stronger and I managed to get myself through the few minutes of doubt.  After mile 9 I was in unknown territory but actually it was nowhere near as hard as I thought it might be to keep going. In fact, I was really thrilled as I managed to overtake more than half a dozen people during that long run in and that is always a boost to the old ego especially as most of them were men!

I am really pleased that I entered, even more pleased that I finished in a reasonable time and I have a lovely medal and 1173 fewer calories to show for it.

Saturday 26 May 2012

I Give Up ...

What the bloody hell is the matter with me?  Why cannot I not seem to find five minutes a day to update this blooming blog?  If it was a school report I would definitely be getting a D- with a "Must Try Harder" comment.  Anyhooo, are you sitting comfortably?  In which case I shall begin:

Tuesday: Put in our offer of £153k which was also rejected after much deliberation (or so it seems).  They still cannot make their books balance apparently, the problem being is they are actually selling the house at a loss (they paid £160k in June '07) so why they are even selling is beyond me.  It's so hard to know where to go from here as I don't actually think it's technically worth more than the £153k we've offered, however is it worth more to us personally?  In truth it's a very nice house and it's in the village we want to live in as the primary school has a great reputation and Ofsted Report and it feeds into a secondary school that is also well regarded so it's hard to know what to do.  The other problem is that the lack of housing stock on the market; the village only consists of 450 houses and it seems as though the population is very stable as the last house to sell in the same road was in 2009!  This seems to be the story pretty much for the whole village according to the Land Registry site.  Looking at the roads where the average house price is in our range, there have been no house sales in the past two years!  This would be a long term prospect for us so do we offer another couple of thousand, which although is over the true worth of the house, actually wouldn't ultimately make much difference to us as we're likely to be there for at least the next 7 years or so (if not longer)?  Decisions, decisions.

Training wise, did a 3 mile in the morning and then out with the Club in the evening.  Boy did I struggle for some reason.  I felt ever so slow and sluggish and couldn't keep up with the rest of the group.  We only covered 5.5 miles, it was a bit undulating but nothing that I hadn't been able to do before.  Felt very deflated to be honest, but I guess we all have bad runs occasionally.  I think I felt more disappointed than anything else as I haven't felt like running was such an effort in a long time.

Wednesday: Four mile run in the morning and felt strong and healthy so that put my mind at rest.  Slimming World rewarded me with another half pound loss which, considering I have had cake for breakfast every morning this week was pretty much a miracle.  Less than half a stone to go to my 'target' weight, it's coming off slowly but surely.  Think I might send my story in to Slimming World magazine as you get a free makeover which will be nice; maybe they can work out what to do with my mop of hair!

Thursday: Three mile run in the morning and gave the Club a miss tonight as it's the effort session.  I did think about going and just taking it easy but I know my competitive nature would have kicked in and I don't want to risk getting injured for Sunday.

Friday: Five mile run today and the fastest time I have done the course yet.  I have knocked over a minute off in the last couple of weeks so I'm pretty happy.  I'm not going to set the world alight but it appears as though I am making slow and steady progress.

It has been lovely running in the mornings this week, the weather has been gorgeous and seeing the mist across the valley with the sun on top is just lovely.  It does make it a much more pleasant experience.

Tomorrow I am going to be having my rest day (Saturday) and mostly be psyching myself up for the 10-mile race on Sunday.  I am confident I can get the distance, just need to make sure I pace myself and keep on going.  Really hoping to get in under 1:30 hours.

Monday 21 May 2012

Buggery Bollocks

Arse!  How tardy have I been in keeping this blog up to date?  This is definitely the longest I have gone without any entries, sorry to what few readers I may have left.  I shall now try to rectify the situation and do quick update of what I have been up to since my return from the god-forsaken hellhole that is Butlins.
Saturday (12th): No running today, decided to have a day off as tomorrow on Sunday I planned to do an 8-miler (my longest distance yet).  Did do a few more house viewings but haven't really seen anything to better the house we found in Rowde.

Sunday: Today was the big day, eight mile run planned as part of my preparation for the 10-mile race at the end of the month.  Was really looking forward to it and it went surprisingly well.  Bit pissed off though as went to put the Garmin on and found the battery to be totally flat.  Not surprising really as I haven't charged it in days but this week I had planned to do a 'Marathon in One Week' as part of my training challenge and seeing as I can't log the eight mile run, the possibility of logging 26 miles ain't happening! Thankfully the route was all on-road so I was able to map it using the computer software and it reckons the route was 8.2 miles so I'm happy.  Did it in around 1:15 so the pace is pretty consistent at around 9-minute miles.

Today we also had a little BBQ party for Son One who turns three tomorrow - the time has flown by, can't believe my little boy starts school next year!

Monday: Did think about doing a shorter recover run today but thought better of it and actually did my five mile route in 48 minutes so pretty pleased that I had strength in my legs after yesterday's longer run.  I can definitely feel that increasing my running is starting to turn me into a stronger run; I guess if you want to get better at something the answer is to do more of it.

Tuesday: Did a 10k on / off road with the club tonight. Really like our Tuesday runs as we always seem to manage to go somewhere I have never been before and I have found lots of new off-road runs as a result.  Running time was around 57 minutes which is a bit slower than I would normally do but they are a bit of a stop-start affair.  Really glad I took the plunge all those weeks ago and joined the running club as it does make a nice change to run with other people and they are all really nice and friendly.

Wednesday: Did a version of last night's run today and because of that it came in around 8k.  Still, considering I set off at 5.30am in order to get the run in before Other Half has to go to work, I don't think 8k is too bad at all. 

Other good news today was the gaining of my 3.5 stone certificate from Slimming World as tonight was a 1.5 pound loss.  I am really surprised at this as I have not been watching what I have eaten for the last couple of weeks at all, I can only attribute the loss to the increase in my exercise. regime.

Thursday: Quick 5k first thing this morning and then interval training at the club in the evening.  Tonight was possibly my most favourite of all the intervals we have done.  Basically we started in a line and when the trainer said go we had to run as fast as possible up the hill; when he shouted stop we had to turn back round and jog back to the start.  However, we didn't always get back to the beginning (depending on how far we had got on the way out) so as soon as he shouted start again we had turn round from wherever we were and then run as fast as we could until he shouted stop once again.  Rinse and repeat for 10 minutes, we then had a 2 minute rest and then another 10 minutes of effort.  I love these shorter efforts, I do surprisingly have a quick turn of speed (I left approximately half the field standing) but lack of stamina means I fade if I keep the speed up for too long.  However, I am definitely starting to reap the benefit of the intervals, my legs and breathing are far stronger than they were even only a matter of a few weeks ago.

Friday: Another 8k loop again this morning.  Whilst getting up at 5.30am for a run is a bit of a pisser, it really does set me up for the day and it's great knowing that I have got my exercise out of the way.  Not sure I could face doing that sort of run after work.  The only downside is that sometimes I do feel a bit dehydrated first thing but I have yet to run with a water bottle.  Maybe it's something I need to get used to doing?

Saturday:  Rest day again as tomorrow I have a 9-mile run planned.  Went to see a couple more houses but once again the one in Rowde is the one that stands out.  The only trouble with it is that it is very over-priced so, whilst we have agreed to make an offer on it, I'm not sure how well it will be received as it is £14k below the asking price.  Time will tell ....

Sunday:  9-mile run today!  Was surprisingly looking forward to it, decided to do the first part the same as last week's long run and was very pleased with myself that I managed to dig deep and run the whole hill that defeated me last week.  In fact, throughout the whole run I felt surprisingly strong and I managed to complete the 9 miles in 1 hour 22 minutes so keeping a really good average pace.  The most pleasing thing is that I did not tail off and managed to do the last three miles at the same pace as the first three miles.  Really psyched up for next week's race now, doing the distance shouldn't hopefully post too much of a problem.  My aim is to do it in under 1:30 hours although I know there is at least one long stinky hill (by the Caen Locks) and goodness knows what else there is.  Still, I hope to keep a good pace and do myself proud.

Today we also attended a Staffordshire Bull Terrier meet in Chippenham organised by a Facebook group I belong to.  It was a lovely couple of hours and over 20 staffies were there; not surprisingly other dog walkers gave us a very wide berth.  It was great meeting other dogs I have only ever seen in photos and I was so proud of how well behaved Rommel was.  We managed to let him have a good run around with some of the other dogs and he loved it.  Sunday night we had one very tired boy!

Monday: Short 5k recovery run this morning although, if my Garmin is to be believed, the fastest I have ever run it as I came in at 27:27.  However, I did take Rommel with me and as I had to stop and start so many times (in order to let him catch up) I'm not sure how accurate that time is (although I do have my Garmin set on autopause so that it stops recording if I stop moving).  This is definitely the last time I take Rommel with me, he clearly doesn't enjoy the run, think I go to fast for him nowadays. 

On other news, our offer of £151k for the house has been refused although it was not a flat-out quick refusal which, considering the house is on for £165k I would have thought it would have been.  We have spent the whole weekend debating on what to do, we have been told the owners would probably settle on £155k but I don't think the house is worth that.  Now have to decide what our next step is to be ... currently debating on offering £153k as a take it or leave it final offer and seeing what happens.  Think I might be making that call tomorrow...

Friday 11 May 2012

Butlins

I have to say that this is my first experience of Bultins and, very likely, to be my last.  To be honest I didn't expect that much (we only paid £175 for a Mon-Fri break) and Butlins didn't disappoint.  The chalet was okay but not very clean; although they allow a 6 hour window between guests leaving and new guests arriving, this doesn't seem to allow them time to do more than a very cursory clean.  In fairness, the bathroom was spotless, but the rest of the rooms did leave something to be desired and my stomach did turn when I found a pair of (used) false eyelashes on the bedroom floor. 

Butlins certainly seems to cater for a very specific clientele; we stood out like a pork chop in a synagogue.  However, the boys loved it and that really is all that matters.  The staff were, on the whole, surly beyond belief and it surprised me how bad they were at interacting with the kids.  I'm not sure when clicking your fingers and going "Oi you" became a recognised way of interacting with the under 5s! 

The leisure pool probably was the highlight of the park, nice and and large with slides and a wave machine.  However, never in my life have I seen quite so many beer bellies and tattoos proudly on display. The men weren't much better either.

Glad to be home :)

Monday 7 May 2012

Had a day off from running on Saturday as I didn't really feel 100% and my muscles were still aching from Thursday's hill repeats.  I have been cajoled / persuaded / volunteered (delete as appropriate) into running a 10 mile - yes, 10 miles not 10k - race at the end of this month.  Mixture of on and off road, it promises to be a nice race around Devizes; the only slight sticking point is that approximately 5 miles into the race there is a mile climb along the side of the Caen Hill LocksI suppose, if nothing else, it will be a scenic run.

The only thing is that I have never actually run that distance before, really my maximum so far is the 10k races.  So, this means that I have approximately 4 weeks to get myself up to running 10 miles therefore this is my cunning plan; this weekend, run 7 miles, next weekend 8 miles, the weekend after 9 miles and then that leaves race day itself to do the extra mile.  Cunning eh?  So, yesterday I completed the first part of the plan - 7 miles.  It was actually not as bad as I thought it would be.  The first part of the run was along the cycle track but then I decided to do the rest on-road and I found a nice loop which unfortunately turned out not to be quite long enough!  An extra up to the roundabout and down later, and I managed to cover the distance required.  Stats for yesterday:

Distance = 11.53k
Time = 1:08:11
Average Pace = 5.55kph
Average Heart Rate = 154bpm

Pretty pleased with the timings, there was a couple of tricky uphills in the run which slowed down my pace.  I didn't struggle to get that extra mile so all in all I'm happy.

NB: No updates now until at least Friday as we are off to Butlins this week!!  I shall be taking my Garmin and continuing with my training.  My God, when did I become so dedicated?

Saturday 5 May 2012

And That Was The Week That Was ....

Another quick catch-up of the week that was. 

Monday:  First day of using the Garmin in anger, I used it on my morning run.  Decided to do my longer loop to check it out as part of it has quite a bit of tree cover and so wanted to see how the GPS would react; not an issue, it never lost the signal once.  I must say I'm impressed with how quickly it locates the satellites at start-up, I've read all sorts of comments that it can take two minutes or more.  Well, I can honestly say it has never taken it more than 25 seconds to work out where we are which I don't think is an unreasonable time at all.  Anyway, I had estimated the run to be around 4 to 4.5 miles because of how long it took me but according to the Garmin it's 5.03 miles so I'm well chuffed.  Anyway, today's stats:

Name:  Dump Loop (perhaps I need to think of a nicer name for what is a nice run)
Time: 49:25

Tuesday:  Club night tonight, we did a recce of the race that they are hosting next week, the Roundway Chase.  This is the club's biggest race of the year and one I was hoping to marshall at but we're on holiday next week so won't be around.  The race starts with the hill that we did last week so it's a bit of a toughie.  The rest of the race is around Roundway Down, very undulating with a couple of sneaky hills but the worst is the going underfoot.  All the recent rain we have has turned the paths into a quagmire and, with around 100 runners expected, I dread to think what the course will look like when the race is over.  I don't think anyone will be getting a personal best on this 10k!  The recce was planned to be quite stop / start (as people were shown and explained their marshalling points) so I took Rommel with me and he loved it. 

Wednesday:  Did the dump loop again this morning, the poor dog was suffering on the run, I don't think he had enough recovery time overnight bless him.  Anyway, I am finding the Garmin a real motivator (even though, at the minute, I am not using the virtual racing partner function) and really wanted to beat Monday's time.  Today's results:

Name:  Dump Loop
Time:  47:47

Very chuffed, managed to knock one and a half minutes off the run even though the going is getting worse every day due to the continuing rain.

Thursday:  Interval night at the club once again and probably my favourite session by far.  When the trainer told us it was going to be hill repeats, I just about died.  Speed + Hills = Loathing.  However, it turned out to be right up my street!  The idea was to run a 50m uphill section as fast as possible and then run back down, quickly but in a controlled fashion.  As there was six of us altogether, we did it in a relay style.  Two people started at the top and ran down - the two people at the bottom then ran up and handed over to another couple who ran back down.  The first couple then ran back up and so on and so forth.  This meant that the repeats went rest, run uphill, rest, run downhill, rest and then repeat.  It was a great session and I was finally able to hold my own against the lady who I was partnered with.  I can tell how far I have improved in a relatively short time as a few weeks ago there is no way I could've kept up with her, let alone beat her several times.  We didn't actually cover that much distance however my average heart rate was 145bpm including the rest breaks so I think that's pretty good.

Friday:  Couldn't help myself, decided to do the dump loop once again to see if I could beat my Wednesday time!  I ached quite a bit although not so much my legs as more my arms; I guess that's where I was pumping them to get up the hill yesterday.  Today's results:

Name: Dump Loop
Time:  47:14

Woohoo, I have managed to shave 2 minutes off my time for the course this week!!  See what I mean about the Garmin being a great motivator?  Really am going to have to rethink the dog situation though, I'm getting fed up with having to stop to let him catch up.  I think he's really overdone it this week, I guess Staffies aren't really built for speed and stamina.  He's fine on the grass sections, but as 50% of the run is track, he's just not coping. 

Wednesday 2 May 2012

Love Me Tender, Love Me Do

I have fallen head over heels in love.  He is a hard task master who likes to keep me on the straight and narrow but he is just what I need.  I am overwhelmed by his intelligence and the clear and concise manner in which he likes to get his point across.  He has smooth flowing curves and I adore his dark and handsome looks.  Other people don't approve of him I know,  I have read some of the nasty comments they have written about him but I think it's because they have not taken the time to fully explore all he has to offer.  Her certainly offers me all that I need and more, oh so much more.  He knows so much about me in the short time we have spent together; in fact, he probably knows me better than anyone else.  He can get to the very heart of me.  He has changed my world like no other and every time we are together, he makes my heart beat that bit faster.  We share the same interests - I truly think I have found my soul mate.  I can't imagine life without him in it now.  Oh yes, how I love thee ....... my gorgeous Garmin Forerunner 405 x x x