This week I have been learning (alright, re-learning) the lesson – if you don’t run as much, then it will be harder when you do actually run. It’s a simple lesson, but one that I need to remember. As I try to haul myself back on the wagon, I realise that I’m going to have to (a) learn to run in the dark in the morning (b) motivate myself to run after work or (c) think about heading back to my running group after, oooh a six month absence.

Recent efforts have incuded running to my mum’s for my niece’s first birthday party (4.5 miles, highlight was taking shelter at a bus stop with a mile to go. It was like someone was tipping the rain out a bucket. Hideous), running back from Blockbuster (3 miles with a loop at the end), running a strange loopy way back home from my mum’s (7 miles with a couple of walking spells, I felt awful after 3 miles and then perked up a bit to 5 and a half)  and 2.5 miles just round the village (should have been 3 miles but I needed to cut it short. To be polite about it,  I was bowelled out…).

One thing I love about running is seeing things that I don’t notice from my car. At this point, I have to admit that this does include a church about a mile away from my house (it’s a small church. Made of wood. Very discrete.), but there are lots of other small details that you don’t notice when you’re trying not to run people over. Over my last couple of outings, this has been post-it notes. I noticed one on the pavement and didn’t think anything of it until I saw that there were some stuck to signs and other things. On my next run they were on bus shelters, cars, walls… All of them blank. I’ve no idea what significance they have, if any, but I never would have noticed them to even begin to wonder about their significance. My favourite theory of the moment is that it’s some kind of Hansel and Gretel arrangement. Or a transient art installation.

In hat news, I’m up to 16 with another 6 awaiting eyes or other accoutrements. I’ve abandoned some of the more creative ones in favour of stripes to get my numbers up (well it is for charidee) so there will be much winding of pompoms over the weekend.

In social media news, I’m now on twitter. Gah.

It would appear that I can run but not blog, or blog but not run. I’ve been bobbins since my last post – mainly because it was Wembley weekend last week. For the uninitiated this is the rugby league Challenge Cup final, this year’s being a one-sided affair between Warrington and Leeds. Wembley weekend isn’t just 80 minutes of rugby though, for us (a rag tag and bobtail collection of Wigan, St Helens, Leeds and Blackpool fans – I’m pretty much neutral, the club I supported for years doesn’t even exist anymore) it’s more of a social affair. Usually the first can is opened at about 9.30 on Friday morning and it’s downhill from there…

Having said that, me and Ginge were terribly sensible this year. We’re brave enough to venture into London on the tube (the underground being taken over by hoardes of uncouth northerners is a sight to behold) and normally take in a bit of culture at the National Portrait Gallery. This year, we visited the Hendrix in Britain exhibition at the Handel House Museum, which left Ginge a bit giddy. We were also lucky enough to stumble on Abbeyfest, which was  next to our hotel and supplied us with curry goat, jerk chicken and blues in the open air. It was fab.

Whilst we’re on with the non-running news, The Big Knit is back! For the next 5 weeks I will be knitting tiny hats again. None of them will be as awesome as the current Hat of the Week, but will go towards raising £200,000 for Age UK to help support older people in the winter months. If I’m organised enough, I’ll update my Big Knit page and bore you with hat updates as appropriate. Ginge has just challenged me to make a Hendrix hat on the grounds that it is the coolest hat.

Last year's hats. I remain ever so proud of the sheep.

Ooooh, it’s been a while. I’m not sure why I’ve not been posting (because I’ve certainly been running), maybe it’s an extended comedown from Juneathon? Whatever the reason, I do apologise and will now relate some of the important bits of the missing weeks.

Since my last post in July, I have run a grand total of  73.45 miles. Five of these sessions have been interval sessions. In a perverse way I’ve been enjoying these a lot (even though some times I’m a bit scared of them) and can tell that they’re making a difference to my other runs. I’ve been skimping some of the middle distance sessions and certainly haven’t managed four times a week.

I’ve been upping my distance and completed my first ever 10 miles. I first attempted this on Sunday morning, but something went a bit awry with my preparation (not to mention the fact that it was the first run in sunshine since Kent) and I was whacked after 3 miles. Being sensible, I abandoned the 10, turned round and enjoyed the walk/runhome  along the country lanes. Arriving home, I had a shower and then fell alseep (still wrapped in my towel for 40 minutes). And I didn’t pee til three o’clock which leads me to suspect that I was a bit dehydrated…

The previous week I’d managed 9 miles with no water and had no such ill effects. The water bottle had been filled, but then was abandoned next to the sink and I only realised a mile from home. It would have been less of an issue if I hadn’t been listening to the Audiofuel long run session and the lovely disembodied voice kept telling me how important it was to drink after an hour. I made do with jelly babies and drizzle.

The successful ten was finally achieved on Thursday evening in less than promising circumstances. It was after work, it was heaving down with rain, it was gloomy and I was going home to an empty house.  Despite all this, I did it and was unfeasibly chuffed with myself even though it has taken me three days to be able to go up and down stairs without wincing – my quads hate me.

I am now the proud owner of some birthday running sunnies and hopefully don’t look like too much of an arse in them. They are the Aspex Colorado and were the best thing about my Sunday morning run; really light, don’t slip and I barely notice that I’m wearing them. All I need now is a bit of sunshine!

Here in the North West we have had a hosepipe ban since July 9th. Since July 13th it has rained. Every single day. We have had every single type ranging from light drizzle through to a full-on torrential thunder storm, but it’s still bloody rain.

Today I did 7 miles in the rain, which I have to admit wasn’t as bad as I expected, although it was a bit warm and clammy in my waterproof jacket. The route that I did is one that I’ve done a couple of times with mixed success, last time was in April when I ran about 6 miles of it (walking up a couple of hilly bits) and then run-walking home. I’m pleased to report that I ran the whole 7 miles today – it felt comfortable, despite the fact that I’m still going faster than my training plan advises, and I really enjoyed it.

I suspect that I will have to get used to running in the rain given that this is our 5 day forecast from the Beeb. I give my word that I won’t use the hosepipe over the next week.

I suspect that I’m going have a love-hate relationship with intervals. I know they’re good for me and (at the moment) they’re the most exciting thing in my training plan (I say that now, in a few weeks I’ll look back with fond memories at having to do an easy 3 miles), but when faced with them, I will try to weasel out of it.

And weasel I did on Monday morning . And again on Monday evening. But not on Tuesday. No sir. With hope in my heart and nothing in my ears (I didn’t think Radio 4 was conducive to speed), I plodded off on my easy mile, taking a shortcut so that my intervals would start on a flat bit. The intervals themselves weren’t as bad as I expected, although I was very aware of how much my posture changes when I speed up – tailbone tucks under, buttocks clench, shoulders go back, height goes up a few inches… I can nearly convince myself that I look like the tall thin runner that I’m meant to be!

After work I went to try on sunglasses with Ginge. My family have always enjoyed putting hats and glasses on me, and Ginge is no exception, especially when I’m as grumpy about it as I was tonight. Having squinted my through most of Juneathon, I’m finally coming round to the idea of running in sunglasses. Grudgingly. On the one hand, I know it’s bad for my eyes, I scrunch up my face which makes me uncomfortable and I’ve set off enough times in my normal sunnies to know that it’s a good idea. On the other hand, I’m convinced that I’ll look like an arse.

Has anyone else faced the same dilemma? Do you look like an arse running in sunglasses? And what should I be looking for in a pair? (other than won’t fall my face/don’t make me look too much of an arse, which are my only criteria at the moment).