10K September

I'm going to do a 10K run on September 6th. That means I have 12 weeks to get fit and in shape again. I've done hardly any exercise for months and months and months. Being in hospital last year really ran me down and I've never got around to being active again. Until now. There's a 5k I can do early August so shall work towards running that without stopping and then move onto the 10K a month later.

That's a plan.

London Marathon 2009?

Oh... there may be an opportunity for me to run in the London Marathon in April 2009. Waiting to find out if I am eligible for a place. Then I have to decide if I want to commit to it. I have to give this a lot of thought. I've got all that training to fit into my life somehow, plus I haven't ran or exercised much in recent months due to all my health/eye issues so would need to start from scratch again. So lots to take into consideration.

Time will tell....

Ouch!

I came, I saw, I conquered the 16 mile race yesterday. And I did it on 2.5 hours sleep. I got invited to see Hairspray at the last minute the night before so I was late getting home from that. The clocks going forward one hour didn't help matters, not when I had a taxi booked for 6am to take me to the train station. Somehow I managed to wake up and get myself to the start line.

I joined the Run-Walk pacer and ran it that group which was a big help. If I felt tired running I couldn't give up as easily as I would if I had been runing on my own. I was able to push myself and when it got really tough in the last mile and few words of encouragement was able to spur me on, especially in the last 50 metres when I was approaching the finish line. My right leg doesn't feel too healthy today (but I won't worry about that yet) but I'm glad I did it and pushed myself. I know I can do 16 miles now, I just need to worry about the final 10 come marathon day.

Now I'm back in the real world, back at work and time to focus on other things for a few hours.

12 Down, 16 To Go (Then 26)

Waking up yesterday morning and feeling completely uninspired by the wind/rain/snow/dullness outside I decided to go back to sleep and run today instead. I made myself go to Bikram yoga last night though so it wouldn't be a completely inactive day. Today's weather wasn't great but it was easier to make myself run today and run I did. Twelves miles in 2 hours 10 minutes. Thirteen miles would have been ideal but going by the training schedule I was only supposed to run/walk for 2 hours only and my wee tired legs were almost giving up near the end. I do wonder if my tiredness when approaching the end of a run could be something mental. I do notice the tiredness more as soon as I've past the half-way point and drinking the right fluids and eating the right gels today didn't seem to so much good. Is a little part of me allowing myself wind down too early because the end is near?

This Sunday coming I will be participating in a 16 mile run along with a thousand other people so it will be great to experience taking part in an actual race with others and I can also see how well I'll cope with the length and duration of it. The cut-off point for completing the race is 3.5 hours but I hope to complete it in 3 hours. As it starts early in the morning, I'm just going to focus on the huge lunch I plan to have once I reach the finish line. Yum.

Continuing with running news, following a conversation with a friend last week I've now decided to enter the Dublin marathon in October. Part of me thinks I should wait to see how horrible the first marathon is before I sign up and pay the registration fee, part of me is so excited to do it that I wan't to register straight away (or as soon as I get paid). I must be crazy!

This Is Going To Hurt

Tomorrow is Big Run Sunday and I have set myself the goal to run 12-13 miles in 2 hours. I managed 10 miles last Sunday so I want to improve on that to prepare for the 16 miles run I've entered next Sunday. However, the weather is absolutely rotten at the moment, especially today when I got sleeted on and it's showing no signs of improving before 11am tomorrow. I'm not sure what I'll do, I'll really need to find some special inspiration to make me run outside for 2 hours in 2 degrees weather with strong winds, rain and snow getting in the way too. I could always run on the treadmill, with an incline, for a couple of hours.... but it's not the same.

Just had another thought to me. I could always run on Monday as I'm off work. My friend is will be coming over to help me decorate that day but I could always get up earlier and run then. There won't be a dramatic improvement in the weather but it will be sunnier. And hopefully the miserable blustery, windy, rainy, freezing unpleasentness will have calmed down a little. I could go to a Bikram yoag class instead tomorrow and stretch myself out. Ninety minutes of yoga in a stiflingly hot room sounds much more appealing right now. If I'm disciplined enough to make sure I run on Monday, then Sunday yoga could be an option.

Running long distances is hard enough, I don't need the weather making it harder for me. Boooooo!

Eat, Sleep, Run

I'm feeling quite bright and perky this morning, probably helped by the fact that it's a Friday and Fridays are always good. I have spent this week working, training and sleeping and not much else. I had no social engagements and even decided not to go to the audition for the play I'm interested in (I can still audition on Sunday) in favour of getting home nad relaxing in front of the TV with a nice bowl of Red Thai beef curry. My body was crying out for that all week (subcousciously telling me I need more iron in my diet maybe?) so I listened and had a very tasty Thursday evening in.

I've been feeling very sleepy all week despite getting a reasonable amount of sleep. My trianing must now be taking it's toll on me so all I can do now is eat well and sleep well. How did I ever manage to work full-time, training and perform in 6 shows only 4 weeks ago. I was tired then but I wasn't as sleepy as I feel at the moment. I guess that's just the way my body responds to a lot of exercise.

I've signed up for a 16 mile run at the end of the month so how I cope with that will be very interesting and will gve me and idea of how I'll cope with the marathon itself. I'm going to look after myself and train well in the meantime and hopefully that run will go well and build up my confidence for running the actual marathon 2 weeks later. Fingers crossed. I've been talking all about this non-stop to everyone and I'm sure they must be bored. I bought my running shoes and heart rate monitor on Monday and when I got home my official London Marathon magazine was waiting for me full of information on the race day. So now I'm packed full of information and it's all I ever talk about now. It's probably for the best - a feat this big, I NEED to get obsessed about it.

Don't Stop Moving

As I didn't have the chance to do it at the weekend, I went for my 30 minute non-stop running at lunchtime today. I was pleasently surprised at how I coped with it. It seemed to be a lot easier than the last time I did it/ Even though I wasn't in a pretty state near the end it wasn't as painful as the last time and I noticed that it took longer for me to feel out of breath and I didn't feel shattered upon completing the 30 minutes (am feelign a little sleepy at the moment but it's nt a quick walk won't sort out). I'm hoping it wasn't a fluke and that the small amount of training that I've done so far is paying off. I'm more excited about my future runs and am raring to go. However, I need to not wear myself out, especially this week.

I had a busy weekend filled with rehearsals, dance rehearsals and a very long tech rehearsal. We spent 11 hours at the theatre last night and wI as so over-tired that I had to do the splits and joke about slang words (for ladies private parts!) repeatedly to keep me sane. I also did my fair share of socialising at the weekend too. What's wrong with me? I'm becoming normal! On Friday night the cast of our show all had dinner out at an Indian restaurant which was delicious and afterwards went to the pub for drinks and gossip. I should have taken it easy on Saturday night but meet up with some friends (from my previous show) and we went out for Lebanese food. At the restaurant we proceeded to have the filthiest conversation that the other diners ever had the misfortune to hear and I doubt that we will be allowed back in the establishment next time. It was such a laugh though and well worth buring the candle at both ends and spending too much money for.

Today is Monday which means that after work I have the dress rehearsal which hopefully won't go on too late, after which I will be racing home for some serious Zzzzzzs in preparation of the first performance tomorrow night. Work, run, perform, work, run, perform.... will be the plan for the next 5 days. Hopefully I'll be able to fit eating, washing and sleeping in somewhere. Wish me luck!