Running Through Fire!

Good evening!

I hope you have had a lovely week and enjoyed the hot sun... if you are a runner then maybe not.  It has been so hot it has felt like running through fire!  I am afraid I have had a pretty bad week, and feel like my recent posts have been quite negative, and I am sorry for that, but I guess its just how life goes...


So to start a little update on my weight loss... or gain as the case is!  I have not been very good at all over the last few weeks and have gained 4lbs... oopsie!  I think I may have told you that I work in a secondary school, and it is so easy to pop into the cafe at break and/or lunch for a sneaky slice of pizza or some onion rings but as it is the six weeks holidays now there is no cafe so I can behave!

So this weeks in a nutshell:

Monday - Rest Day, which considering I didn't do anything last weekend I really should have done something!

Tuesday - I didn't do anything again..I actually cannot remember why exactly but have a feeling it was because I woke up too late to go out before work, and then we had a staff BBQ after work and therefore was too fat to go out in the evening.... But it was more likely it was just the start of what turned out to be a lazy week!

Wednesday - I was up and out by 5.40 am to do my interval session, and I have to say it was really hard.  I think partly due to the already increasing heat but also the fact that I had not run for 5 days, my legs felt very sore and tight and I felt very unfit!  But I finished it:
10 mins warm up - Pace 7:46 HR 148
4 x 5 minute work 60 second recovery:
1. 6:17 179        2. 6:31 182           3. 6:36 182             4. 6:39 184
10 minutes cool down - only did 6 minutes 16 as was already home and needed to get ready for work 11:51 158

In fairness considering how bad I felt whilst running, the pace and heart beat wasn't too bad, however the day didn't get any better after that.  I suffered a headache all day which turned into a migraine by the time I arrived home.  I couldn't keep my eyes open as it hurt too bad and was in bed fast asleep by 8pm.  I had to get back up at 10pm to go and pick my daughter up from work.

Whilst I was driving to get her it suddenly dawned on me that it could well be dehydration, it had been very hot, I had been running that morning and I hadn't been drinking water, only coffee.  So when I got home I had a pint of water with a High 5 Nutrition Berry Zero Tab.  That immediately made me feel fresher and I went straight to sleep.

Thursday -unfortunately I woke up and still had a headache so I skipped my morning tea and coffee and drank water instead with more zero tabs. I got to work feeling completely drained but as I had two students working with me on work experience and we were taking a trip to the local newspaper I had to keep going.

After we left the newspaper we had some time before the train back to school so we went to McDonalds, I had a Quarter pounder with cheese meal and coke.  Really unhealthy, but amazingly I felt so much better after it and when I spoke to Rob he said it was probably all of the salt, which made sense with my theory of dehydration.

Needless to say I didn't do any running that night either.  Rob was out late and Chloe worked late so I ended up having a late night which wasn't helpful after the last couple of days.

Friday - Was the last day of term, and we had a couple of beers after work, then I watched rubbish TV before an early night.

Saturday - I got up and was determined to get out and run as I had been so bad all week, I couldn't decide if I should go to Park Run or just my normal route.  Eventually I decided to just go my normal route as my plan was to run for 40 minutes easy/steady and I knew I could do PR in less than that and would have to carry on running after, which would be impossible if I did my usual sprint finish up the hill!

So off I went, 10 minute warm up walk followed by 40 minutes steady followed by 16 minutes walk home.  During the 40 minutes I did 5.44km - each km pace 7:08, HR 152     7:43,169   7:46,173    7:08,180   7:02,185 and the .44 was 7:00,188.

I really seem to be getting a pattern going, fast first km, slow 2nd and 3rd and then faster 4th and 5th and so on if running further.  really must work out why my second and third drop.

In the evening Rob and I had planned to take a walk up the River Lea stopping at the pubs on the way until we reached the Rye House where our favorite band 'The Bonnet' were playing.  Things didn't quite go to plan as we met with a friend at the first pub and stayed for a couple of hours and then had to jump on the train to make it.  Never mind, we had a really lovely evening, we met up with a friend of Robs from his younger days and his partner which was really nice.  The best part of he evening was the fact that the pub and the garden was so big and the band was playing in the garden so we had so much space and air to breathe, we could dance without hitting people which was fab.

I did have far too much to drink, although surprisingly stayed sober and didn't fall into bed until after 1 am having ate pizza and garlic bread when we got home.

Today - When I woke up I wasn't sure if I should go for a run, leave it until the evening or go tomorrow, at this point I hadn't moved so wasn't sure what state I was in from the night before.  I jumped out of bed and used the toilet, not feeling any head pain I quickly changed into my running gear and got my arse out there.  I didn't want the hangover to set in and hope that the water I would drink and the run would stop it before it started.

My plan was 2 x 35 minutes with 5 minutes recovery, as per the last couple of times though I decided that if I felt up to it I would run the 1 hour 10 in full.  I felt quite good until 40 minutes when I turned to run back the same way I came, it is always the same, it doesn't matter if I run 10 minutes up the river or 50 minutes up the river I feel fine until I turn to run back, which is obviously mental and not physical at all!

By the time I had to got to 50 minutes I was felling it a bit, but I carried on and managed to keep a steady pace if not Heart Rate.  Once I was nearing my 1:10 I changed my watch to see how far I had run and I was almost at 9k so decided to carry on t 10km, knowing I was on for a PB if I could speed it up on the last km.

I did 10km in 1:15:36 which is almost 3 minutes faster than my PB, so having had the night I had last night I had managed a PB for the second week running.  I was really chuffed.



I have 2 weeks until Regents Park 10k and I have promised myself that I am going to be good with my eating, drink plenty of water, and lay off the alcohol as best I can (We have a family party coming up).

I need to get back to getting my two cross training sessions in, and I need to be brave to try classes at the gym so that I don't get bored with the same gym session and not bother.

Another thing is to take it easy now on my Sunday Long Runs and not push for the fast finish as I want to be able to pull something out of the bag at Regents Park.

So that is it for now, I will see you all same time same place next week.  Please feel free to comment as it is always nice to know if someone is reading, and hear other people stories.  Also feel free to shout at me if I don't do as I promise!

Much Love
FBB
xx