GULP just entered my first half marathon

4!

Julia - I was only thinking yesterday about you and wondering how your race went! Lovely to 'see' you on here again, and how funny the thread's going full circle with you training for Brentwood again  Hooray for your friend as well - what a running partner!

You know how i was being so smug about sticking to my schedule? Well set off for my run, got half way down the tow path of the canal (just 2 miles into my run) only to find it closed with fences and big Wessex water diggers in the way. So ran up and down for a bit, did a spot of geocaching, decided to run in the other direction and go towards town along by the river. This would be the river that flooded last weekend, and obviously washed mud all over the path. At one point, there's a concrete slope down under the road bridge - it was sooo slippy. Anyone ever seen Total Wipeout? (Essential early Saturday evening viewing in our sophisticated household!) Well there's a bit right at the start of the course where the contestants have to run down a wet slope, and usually fall over on their backsides. Well that's what this slope was like. Fortunately I didn't fall over, but I did surprise a woman walking her dog was shouting very loudly "WWWWOOOAAHHH!" as I slid down

Anyway - despite all this, when I look at my Garmin stats I did 7 miles exactly, with an average moving pace of 11:43 with an average HR just below 70%. I'll take that as a success then!

Right - shower is calling

Afternoon all

Just 3 miles for me today was feeling lazy so did a run walk recover run on the treadmill

Julia lovely to hear from you glad the race went ok and how nice of your friend to stay with you my o/h recently finished her first H/M and i ran with her we got around in 3:15:00 so 2:24:00 not to bad

B&T glad you didn’t come a cropper i would have loved to have seen the ladies face a bet it was a picture

Hi all,

B+T,Total Wipeout is popular viewing here,good job you didnt fall though, its just not possible to slip silently is itI would love to join you on 25th but that date is a real pain.Actually had my eye on a local race on that day but am on call that weekend so cant make plans incase i'm working.However today sent off an entry to a 10k race on Dec 9th so looking forward to that.its near bicester,have done it twice before,fairly flat but a couple of the miles are around an airfield,fine on a non-windy day but harder if windy.My time there in 2011 was 1hr5mins so sure i can smash that even if there is a gale blowing

Julia,great to see you here again.I remember those very early days,you training for Brentwood and me training for Reading back in 2009Great that you're getting back into it,GSR was a good warm up,hope you enjoyed it.You are so lucky having a great running partner

toby,really well done on your weight loss.I have discovered the Nakd bars,just raw fruit and nuts pressed together,about 100 cal each but really quite tasty,very healthy and great snack.I like the choc orange ones the best

AH,hope all going well with the move,hope exciting time

Today i did some more intervals,warmed up for 10 mins,then ran 10 mins under 10m/m,one minute recovery then ran another 10 mins under 10m/m and finished with a slow 10 minute run.Getting used to this faster runningTomorrow going to do parkrun but course can be slippy and uneven so not pb conditions

Hope good weekend all

  http://www.flickr.com/photos/88873449@N05/ for all those wanting to see patch puppy this link should take you there ...the lady who bred them started this up to keep us all updated on their progress which i thought was lovely...so whenever you see a puppy with half a white face with a black eye thats our quirky little man..some have his name on anyway...its like xmas eve here tonight jenny has set everything up for puppy ..leave at 8 am tomorrow to collect him ..then he has his first jab at 2.15 tomorrow to bless him..

Just picking up the thread here. I remember doing my first half marathon at Reading in 2009. It was scary but still an incredible experience when I crossed the finishing line. Give it a few weeks and you'll be pondering your next race I'll bet.

well coming to the end of week 2 of W/W and have done better i have actually got so weekly allowance points left this week were as by this time last week all i have left was my daily allowance although up till last night i still had them all

your given a daily allowance mine bening 34 points a weekly allowance or 49 point as back up and you can also earn active points (any form of activity) so if i run for 30 minutes a would earn 3 more pro points

you can set it up so that the active point get used before your weekly points which is what i done this week as i don't see the point in earning  them if i can't use them but  of course the idea is to stay within the daily allowance

which i have to say i have not managed 4 days out of 7 but 3 of those days i was only 2 or 3 points over again Saturday night was the worse being 10 over i got a terrible case of the munches

Which did the damage last night but have improved this week so hopefully next week should be easier again will find out tomorrow if i lost anything when i go down to get weighed

 Looks like we’re going to enter the Llanelli H/M in March instead of bath this year so that’s another new race to look forward to next year

Back in feb this year i never ran in my life 4 years ago i was obese weighing 25.5 stone then decided enough was enough so went on a diet to which i now weigh mid 15 stone my freind was doing a half marathon in basingstoke so i decided to challenge myself and see if i could compete or if i could actully finish this run....i looked up on the good old world wide web and found a 13 week half marathon guide to which i stuck to without any cheating it was tough i hit walls wanted to give up but i had a goal and that was to finish the half marathon and in under 2hrs 30 mins in my weeks of training i was only doing this on 550kcals a day as i was still in transition with my low kcal diet so some runs were a struggle but the day arrived and was confident that my training would help and it did i recored in my first ever run in 1hr 56 mis so believe you can run the half marathon i didnt but never gave up.  

Fab run B & T, liked the WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAR bit glad you stayed upright!

Good on you for sticking with Mrs Toby, I can tell you she would have been very grateful to you. Well done on the weight loss Toby, I hope to be heading that way myself 

Susiebe we have come a long way haven't we we must try and find another mutually accessable race to meet up again at. I never expected it to still be going - blimey did you say 2009? That'll be 4 years then!! Hope the park run went well, they have just started one near me so I am going to start doing them. Yippeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

Yvonne hope your puppy is behaving, will follow the link after posting but i bet he's cute

Hi to Becky and Grim, that is ana amazing and inspirational story Grim!

Well did 5k this morning, am concentrating on getting some speed back so loaded so songs that I could match my feet to the beat. Most were too slow but I had a fabulous 8 mins running to Led Zeppelin (Kashmir). Had forgotten what fun it is and how motivating music can be

Waves to everyone

Evening all! Just a quickie, Yvonne - gorgeous puppy! Hope he's settling in well now.

Waves hello to the new posters - waves hello to the usual suspects - I'm hoping for some less exciting runs this week!

welcome Becky and UK and as Julia said UK great story gives me hope for the weight loss and well done on completing your first H/M

Puppy patch is doing very well, as he is use to dogs, cats ,chickens and ducks he settled in very quick with our dog and cats......he met the rabbits yesterday as they were in their run and now he is fixated on their cage when he is in the garden!! Toilet training is going very well as the breeder had started to take them out after meals we have only had 1 accident and that was on the kitchen lino so easily cleaned..he sleeps through the night in his safe cage and wakes at 6ish for a wee and poo he lets you know bless...

I have to call it a safe cage as i dont really like the idea of him being in it but i know when im at work he is safe and so is my leather sofa!!!

Onto running, i only have managed those two runs so far, i blame the puppy myself excellent time wasters!! But have been taking polo for long walks if only for his own sanity and a rest from a jumpy excited puppy but he is very good with him and tolerates everything.....

Will run later though..

Welcome to all new posters and happy running

Afternoon all

Went to W/W this morning down another 4.5lbs so am officially under the 12st mark at 12st 10lbs followed it with a 3 mile run on treadmill as sort of interval session jog 0.5k then turn the treadmill up to as fast as it would go for 0.5k

Yvonne glad to hear the puppy is settling in well

Great weight loss Toby and very very very cute puppy Yvonne 

Hi everyone - sorry for the recent lack of posts. Just popped in during my tea-break to let you know I am still managing to run regularly (as those on FB will know). I did 8mls on Sunday - the time was about the same as usual (10:45 pace) but it felt harder than usual for some reason. It includes a short steep hill we all call 'Big Bertha'. I always think once up it is hard work - spoke to my friend C and she told me on Saturday she ran up it 5 times in succession .. now there's a challenge for me. I am on 'lates' this week - did a 3ml early morning run today (9:50 pace) and will try and do the same again on Thursday morning. 

Will try and make time later this evening to catch up properly (while Mrs Wm is watching "Holby"!).

Hi everyone,

Oh well .. best laid plans and all that. Never mind .. it's gone a bit quiet at work today (for a change!!) so a chance to catch up on two weeks posts!

B&T - had a chuckle at the wrong number of intervals and the 'Total Wipeout'-stylee bit of your run under the road bridge. Well done for getting your more recent training correct

Toby - lots of good training from you as per usual. Well done re weight loss at WW.

Yvonne - I also have treadmill and weights in the garage gathering dust. An ultra!!  Read on further - well done re treadie run and glad new puppy is settling in okay. Not my thing btw .. but don't like cats either (sorry B&T and any other cat-lover on here).

AH - I did watch the Snowdon Mara highlights on S4C - even more impressed with your achievement than I was already. Good luck re new job and if you are going to be in the Cotswolds then race meet-ups might well be possible.

Susie - well done re PB at Plymouth 10K and great splits. Ummmm .. run that by me again? Nakd bars are made of raw fruit and nuts but your favourite is the CHOC(!) and Orange one

Julia - nice to see you again. Well done for getting round the GSR. And (ahem) well done for entering the Brentwood HM again.

Will run the same early-morning route tomorrow as I did yesterday. Will try for 9:50 pace again. Have to say with 'only' 3mls to cover its great fun to just 'go for it' and run at a faster tempo than I would usually set off at. 

We are at a wedding on Saturday so my long run will be on Sunday. I'm sure the temptation to do a few hill repeats on Big Bertha and see how I compare to my friend C will prove too much but it will be a good workout for me.

Bath HM have been trying to entice me to sign up (last few places! - grab them while you can!). I'm resisting as although I HAVE changed my mind and want to do another HM, Bath is just before our hols next year (Northern Lights) and I think £39 is a bit steep. So will look around for another HM which is hopefully a bit cheaper.

Hi all,

More intervals for me today,ran 10 mins at 9.4m/m twice with two minute rest inbetween Found it fine although was on a nice flat stretch but feeling fitter and will do the same run on Friday.Quite nice to be concentrating on speed before marathon training starts in the new year!

Ran park run in 32.13 so a bit slow but considering the amount of mud around the course not surprisingNot the best course for a pb but they were testing out another route at the weekend incase the original one gets waterlogged/icy and not safe to run so hope it was a success

mel,ha,ha well spottedit is a natural choc flavour,just cocoa I thinkthey really are quite yummy,had a pecan one the other day which was lovelyAll supermarkets do them,about 100 cals and count as I of your 5 a dayAgree £39 is very steep for a HM.Silverstone on March 3rd is only £20 or £22 but wonder if there any places left now.

Julia,great that you've a local parkrun,they really are great events and a good training record

Yvonne,lovely puppy.Glad hes settled ok

Must get on,early tea tonight as working later.

Susie - well done re the intervals. Ha-ha .. if that chocolate is ONLY cocoa then I'll let you off! Might add Naked bars to Mrs Wm's shopping list to see what the reaction is.

I managed to resist the lure of a lie-in - got out and did my 3ml route again before breakfast (go me!). My early running is becoming such a regular thing lately I'm now on nodding terms with several dog-walkers who are always out and about at the same time It felt like I was running at around 9:50 pace but when I glanced down at my Garmin at the end it had switched off due to a low battery. Will check the stats when I get home (and charge it up again!) to see how much of the run got recorded.

Hi All,

Been a bit hectic as you can guess,  took the kids to have a look around the new schools yesterday, school's seemed very good, just got one more to look around when they have a taster day.  Also popped into new home decorators have started and popped to meet new staff, everything seems to be cool. Moving date is January 2nd, cats are a big problem have booked them into a cattery over Xmas and will pick them up on the 3rd Jan.

Mel - Really well done on the early morning running very motivated.

Susie - Well done on muddy park run and all the intervals,  which park run do you do?

B&T - Is it next weekend your 10K race? I'm a little out of touch at the moment.

I hang my head in shame only 34 miles done this month which includes todays 7 miles.

Anyone who eats at Frankie & Bennies - a good deal going on this weekend for children in need,  you can buy kids vouchers £4.00 each and then they can eat free for the whole year when an adult meal is purchassed.