Where’s the last month gone?

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Um. Hello. I’ve just realised that I’ve not posted anything for a month. Crikey.

Suffice to say, I’ve still not found my running mojo.  I’ve been trying to get out at least once a week so I don’t give up entirely. In fact, I had two cracking morning runs on 28th and 29th October; I had 2 training days for work which resulted in the lovely combination of late starts and nearer location. I decided to take advantage of the opportunity (and the sunshine) and went out at 7.30 doing 3 miles each day at a not too bad for me pace. The problem with this is that although I really enjoyed them and they reminded me just how much I enjoy running (once I’m out there…), they were freakish one-off events that didn’t really help me get back into a routine. Even my club running has petered out a bit, but that just seems to be because life has started to occur on Tuesdays recently.

Having said that, I did a club run tonight and it nearly killed me. 3.5 miles, a bit hilly and I’m suffering with “decorating thighs” at the moment. The last two days have been spent balancing precariously on ladders, mainly using my quads to support myself (in yoga terms, it was a bit like doing a half camel four foot in the air) or doing a lunges with one foot on a rung and one on the meter cupboard. Poor ladder safety, but excellent end results. Next good intention is to go out on Saturday, club run Tuesday and book an after-work run midweek.

On the knitting front, The Big Knit hats are now on sale in Sainsburys. I remain very jealous of other people’s hats. I’m knitting a twirly scarf and have plans to run amok in one of my favourite wool shops tomorrow or Thursday. This will mainly involve running around touching yarn and dribbling wildly.

Sporadic running. Domestic goddessing. Tiny knitting.

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Hmmm. I’m not getting much better at getting out regularly. I’m averaging one run a week at the moment – my excuses? Um. None really, just gone from being a bit fed up with life in general and finding it a struggle to do much at all, to perking up and being motivated to anything but run.

We’ve decided to do some work on the house as we’ve been here over 2 years and it’s still chaos, so we’re on a mission… The upshot of this is that we’re now sharing our house with a our friendly local plasterer – when we get him in it’s not so much a business transaction as a social enterprise. Unpredictable, unreliable, often in the pub, but a damn good plasterer when he deems to turn up. We’re also living in the kitchen as the rest of the house is full of either (a) plasterer’s gubbins or (b) contents of other rooms, my level of domesticity has gone through the floor (which none of us thought was humanly possibly) as there doesn’t seem much point when the place is covered in dustsheets. Actually, I say that I’m not being domestic, but the truth is that I’ve abandoned cleaning whilst chanelling all of my domestic energies into the kitchen – last weekend was pies (steak and cheese, lemon meringue) and blueberry muffins (amongst other things), this weekend was slow cooking (lamb tagine and tomato/veggie soup on the stove at the moment), coconut pyramids, chocolate mousee, flatbread and hummus. I’m fat but happy.

Amid all the lard, I’ve done two runs – last weekend was 5 miles (with a bit of walking on hilly bits) and today did 3 miles there and back in the village. Highlights today – using the virtual training partner on my garmin for the way back (and won! Albeit by a second per mile) and seeing a lovely steam train chuffing along. I’m very easily pleased. I keep having to remind myself that I started running this time last year, so if I can start running in the cold and dark, I can carry on running in the cold and dark. I think it’s a bit like dieting though, it’s easier to be motivated at the beginning when the weight comes off and you can see the change (or going from running from 5 minutes one week, to ten, to twenty), but it’s harder to maintain when the rewards aren’t as obvious.

In knitting news, the deadline for the Big Knit is now this week – and these are the fruits of my labours:

21 hats for the Big Knit

21 hats for the Big Knit

I’m particularly chuffed with the little fella on the left. Behatted smoothies will be in the shops from early November.

Whitby or bust

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Since the last post….

1. I have been on a running weekend and survived.
2. Husband has been for a run on his own with my garmin and returned home with an average pace that’s a good minute plus faster than mine.
3. I’ve been on one group run, but that’s been it
4. I’ve had an ear infection which has progressed from feeling like someone was poking my ear with a knitting needle to just leaking ick. Constantly.

1. I was bullied into the running weekend in Whitby and hate to say it, but I really enjoyed myself. We missed the Friday teatime run as neither me or my mate the running bully could skive off work, so just did the 2 Saturday runs. This was an 8.8mile run at Robin Hood’s Bay in the morning and a 5.7mile amble along the beach and back along the cliff tops before tea. The weather was glorious, I coped ok with the running and I felt refreshed and enthused about the whole running malarky.SDC10458This is despite the fact that there was a fair few Serious Runners on the weekend. I am many things, but a Serious Runner I am not. In fact, being in their presence makes me want to have an extra pint or a piece of cake just to show them (I appreciate that this is self-defeating). I don’t think I aspire to being a Serious Runner, just a regular runner would suit me.

2. Ha. I told you so.

3. Despite the enthusiasm and reminder that yes I really do enjoy this, I have only managed one run this week. I’ve felt a bit poo due to (4) and I’m struggling to adjust to the onset of autumn. Morning runs are harder due to the increasing lack of light (and my general reluctance to get out of bed) and evening runs don’t seem to be happening either. I was pinning a lot of hope on this weekend, but ear, travelling to fantastic gig in Birmingham, travelling back from gig,  2 hour plus sleep this afternoon (I think due to ear-related malady), errands and ear leakage have scuppered my plans somewhat.

4. Ick. That’s all I’m saying.

At the moment, I’m not sure how to resolve my time/darkness/laziness issue. Hmmm. But I do have a lovely new car, which will enable me to drive to more exciting places and run in them. Oh yes…

Back on track

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Alright people, next time I don’t go out for more than a week, could someone shout at me and tell me I’m an idiot. Thanks.

Dragged myself out Saturday morning and clocked up an effortful and quite slow (average of 11.21 min/miles) 5.21 miles. I’m just happy that it didn’t kill me, although I was glistening like an otter emerging fresh from the river by the time I finished. Had to sit for 10 minutes just sweating when I got in. I did a fairly new route for me and ran round the next village and back again, I think this helped to break things up for me as I’ve got a bit repetitive with my routes recently.

Sunday morning I managed to persuade husband into joining me – this is usually asking for trouble as I tend to try and start an argument after about a mile (it’s best not to ask). We went down to an unexplored of the canal and did a lovely 3.42miles under bright blue skies and sunshine. I love running by the canal, but hate the long exposed stretches where the sun just seems to beat down on you, admittedly it’s not quite the stuff of the foreign legion, I’m just no use with heat. The co-running has lead to an interesting (not really) debate about pace, my stamina and the psychology of my running. To sum up: Husband runs faster than me (though he denies that), I therefore run faster to keep up, I get tired quicker (hence the grumpy argument starting) and end up subconsciously thinking “sod it, I can’t do it, I’m rubbish, I’ll give up”, and give up (which is when we fall out). However, in all this, he reckons that I could do more if I try, which I do have do agree with – so we may try an experiment where he sets the pace and I don’t sulk. I’ll either end up faster or divorced.

One thing that has amazed me is just how sluggish and out of sorts I’ve felt for not doing any exercise for a week – I never thought that I’d say that!

Fade out

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Been a lot rubbish since last Wednesday (when I did a lovely early morning 3 miles and really enjoyed myself). Since then the usual combination of being too lazy/grumpy/busy to run as scuppered me and I’ve lost my running mojo a little.

Got to get off my lumpy arse soon because I’ve been “persuaded” into going away on a running weekend next week. I appear unable to weasel of this.

In other news, the hat knitting is going fabulously and I have 15 of the little blighters ready to keep smoothies warm, although some of them are waiting on pompoms.