Runstreak Day #441 - hill love again

Day 441 all run and dusted!

It was going to be a parkrun day.  with my littlest.  Who then decided at the last minute that he wasn't going to go!

So I didn't either!

And then the rest of the day happened.  So, it ended up being 8pm by the time I had time to go.  Started out not knowing where I was running to.  Just ran.  Had felt weirdly anxious before setting out.  Hate it that it can seep into everything, even the thought of running, which is one of the most automatic things to do.  Sometimes it's just best to run through those moments... just gotta do up your trainers and head out of the door.

I vaguely ran down the hill, listening to whatever appeared on my iPod.  Then decided that I'd tackle a hilly hill route.  Mainly to distract myself from thinking about anything at all.  Hills are great like that.  Would never have caught myself saying that a couple of years ago!  Hills were to be feared.  Now, they're a challenge, sure... but they are one of the most completely absorbing, relaxing things to conquer.  Even if they make you sweat and swear a bit.  Today's hill was actually a couple of hills.  One long and grinding with an evil kick at the end.  The second goes evil-steady-evil-steady... and finally down.  Hooray!

And tonight... down felt good.  It felt aeroplane-arms kinda good.  It felt wind-in-the-air-free-and-happy good.  It felt just as it needed to feel.

And that's why hills are brilliant.  They zone you out with the tough uphill stuff.  And then rewards you with that feeling of 'woooo hooo' just at the right moment.

Ooooh... there appears to be a cuppa cha next to me.  Yum!

Runstreak Day #430 - the school run chaos...

Run one of today's 3-course menu of running delight for day 430... done.  And you can't beat a good epic sockage moment to start the day either.  What is slightly less epic is the chaos of a school run-run.  Now, it didn't matter too much that we left slightly later than normal as it doesn't take us as long when I'm running and my littlest is on his scooter.  So, that was okay.  My daughter had gone on ahead as she walks to school (she's 11 so loves being a bit more independent!) and once she's gone, we don't normally see her.

Today, we did.  We got to the park and done the first bit of the big hill with Boysie chatting away about Lego, things with wheels and stuff that explodes (standard fare)... and there she was, dawdling away.  La la laaaa... no rush getting to school... la la laaaa.  Well, I say to her 'get a wriggle on because you're going to be late' and leave her to it (the joy of attempting to foster independence!).  We carry on running and scooting to the top of the hill, I check that she's still behind me and in sight - she is... and we carry on down the hill.  At the bottom of the hill, there's her friend that she normally walks with, who's obviously given up waiting for The Girl and is heading to school.  I tell her that if she just walks a little bit up the hill, she'll meet The Girl.

And we scoot and run into school with about 5 minutes to spare.  Job done.  I say goodbye to Boysie, turn round and run back up the hill.  There's The Girl's friend.  With no The Girl.  My heart exits my trainers.  My pelvic floor is tested to the extreme.  Where is The Girl???  Friend of The Girl says she never saw her when she walked up the hill... but that's impossible as she was only a little way behind us.  I attempt to not panic and run my little legs off and back up the hill.  No sign of her on the first bit of the hill.  She could have been kidnapped.  She'll be on the front page of the newspaper.  Why did I trust her?  I should have stayed with her.  What about those guys with the dogs in the park... what have they done... and... and... and...

I turn the corner and nothing.  Then... there she is.  The Girl is still on the other side of the road and hasn't even crossed over yet.

Her dawdling has reached professional levels and I am so relieved my maternal nagging gene doesn't even kick in.

I attempt a slightly high-pitched but jolly 'oh there you are, we'd better hurry up', get her hand and run her the half mile back down the hill to school.  As fast as my daughter has ever run!  We get to school, only a few minutes late (and since my husband works in the school office, officially not late at all - tee hee!)...

And internally I collapse in a heap.  Then run home for not one but two cups of tea.

The epic socks have brought with them maternal super powers!

School run again later?  And another run with my beginners this evening.  Well... why not...  :)

Runstreak Day #425 - freezing hill it's cold!

Another double-up-the-runs day for Day 425.  Which means I'm kinda knackered now... but it's definitely working in terms of getting my miles back up and not killing myself in the process.  Which is important - well, the not killing myself is important, getting my miles back up isn't quite as important as that!!

Anyhoo... I ran my littlest to school in the morning.  Braving him moaning about the cold on the way up the hill... and trying to keep up with him as he zoomed down the other side on his scooter, completely forgetting all of his moaning only minutes before.  That, and the run home again, added up to a 2.5 mile start to my day.  On top of that, I walked into town and back - a round trip of 6 miles... then walked to pick up my littlest at the end of the day... nearing 9 miles of walking...

... which set me up 'nicely' for a hilly run with Notts Women Runners this evening!  I couldn't even get out of it since it was me leading the run.  So, I schlepped out of the house in the cold and met up with everyone.  We ended up doing a simplified hilly route because the pavements were snowy / icy and it wasn't safe to do the normal run down the crazy lumpy bumpy hilly pavements, so we stuck to the main roads instead.  Which were still pretty icy!  And then we got snowed on.  Brrrrrrr!

Which is why I've gone and ordered myself some more crazy-coloured knee length socks.  And whoever invents running gear made out of duvet material is getting their first order from me.  I am sick to death of being a frozen lump at the end of my runs.

That and the fact that it being so cold makes my nose run and me want to pee every five minutes!!!  On the upside today, I went into Sweaty Betty today and learned that I qualified for a 20% discount card doo dah.  Which is a dangerous thing and will require even more lying to my husband about how much I spend on running gear.

Runstreak Day #362 - a hilly Thursday run with friends

Hills are definitely easier with friends.  Not least because I run them more slowly!  And that's a good thing.

Today's run wasn't that easy though.  For the first time ever I got struck (and if you're squeamish, then now is the time to skip to the end of this post) by the brown turtle of doom in a way which wasn't going to end well.  If you know what I mean!!  I had to divert via the local leisure centre so I could use the loos there!  Oh, the shame.  Plus, I was running with others so as the pain in my stomach got worse and worse, realised I was in a bit of a tricky situation.  What made it worse was I was leading the run... so in the end, I took the route towards the nearest look venue and went 'I need to use the loo, you guys can run up the hill and back and I'll meet you outside'... and then dashed in.  How embarrassing!!!  *head in hands*

Just shows, after a year of daily running, there are still new and excruciating runner's lows to discover!!

Other than that, it was good to have company on today's run.  It's our regular Notts Women Runners hilly run on a Thursday which we haven't done for a few weeks while I've felt particularly poorly.  This week, I've been slowly trying to build back up my running (bad back permitting), and thought I'd give it a go again.  And survived in one piece.  Lighter than when I set out *blushes*, but definitely survived.  Up, down, up, down, up, up, more up, down... and everyone gave it a brilliant go.  Hooray!

For me, running is still providing a welcome respite from the nightmares, flashbacks and suffocating anxiety of PTSD... and even though I'm wrecked after my run with others (where I feel obliged to try to be more like the old me than the current sad-bag version and then collapse at the end!), I'm glad I have running in my life.

Geeky stats stuff

Distance:	5.11 mi
Time:	49:38
Avg Pace:	9:42 min/mi
Elevation Gain:	432 ft

Runstreak Day #327 - hills with friends

Something weird's happened over the last year.  At some point... I don't know how it happened... I... and I can hardly bring myself to say this... but... I quite like running up hills.  Okay... I like running up hills.

There.  I've said it.

I like running up them.  I really do.  Hills are great.  I have outed myself as a full-on hill lover.  Ta da!!!

They are a pain in the arse, sure... they make you all sweaty and gross... they make your legs feel like they're made of jelly at some point... but when you get to the top, you get a little bit of 'YEAH BABY!!!' which is the gift that keeps on giving because you never tire of getting to the top and feeling just a bit bloomin' epic.  And then... then... you get to run down them like you're 8 years old and you don't give a monkeys about anything other than running down a hill.  At full pelt.

WOOOOO HOOOO!!!

Tonight was 5.5 miles of hilliness.  Running with a lovely group of Notts Women Runners... which makes running up hills more fun because you get to chat and go 'yay!' with other people.  And although I've had to have my ankle raised since I got home (damn stupid bloody accident!)... running a hilly run with old and new running friends made me feel a whole lotta happy.  And for the first time all day the low mood that I'm struggling to shift at the moment... shifted.

Running + hills = happiness.  Who knew?!

Geeky stats stuff

Distance:	5.50 mi
Time:	50:35
Avg Pace:	9:12 min/mi
Elevation Gain:	394 ft

Runstreak Day #315 - hills and hobbling

Today I have mostly run hills.  A lot of them.  Long hills.  Slow inclines.  Short sharp nasty hills.  Hills that are difficult to run down because they're so steep.  Hills that make you swear to run up them because they're also so steep.  Straight ones.  Bendy ones.  Ones covered in leaves.  Ones blocked by pedestrians.  Hills.  Lots of them.

I had the company of a running friend which made all of that hilly hilliness much more tolerable.  It's amazing what a bit of company will do when you're faced with a stupidly steep hill.  There's camaraderie in the crazy, I guess.

And now for the ranty bit.  Periodically I had to stop to stretch my ankle which is still sore and doesn't like me doing hills.  I have the weirdest restriction in its movement which means I can't flex my foot to point my toes... and it makes running uphill difficult and painful.  It is VERY wearing to have non-running injuries which impact your running.  Somehow if it was a running injury I feel like I could get my head around what to do about it.  But this is just annoying and although the physio is helping, it is just... well... frustrating.  Rant done.

Overall, the run was good.  The company was great.  We did just over 6.5 miles of hills and spent most of our time chatting.  Even with all that silly uppy downy nonsense in between.

50 days left until a full year is done.  Blimey!

Geeky stats stuff

Distance:	6.63 mi
Time:	59:20
Avg Pace:	8:57 min/mi
Elevation Gain:	501 ft

Runstreak Day #287 - the Steep Hill of Doom...

Oooooh... get me... day 287 already done and it hasn't even been 12 hours since the last run!  I've come over all efficient!!

Actually, the truth is that as with most 'parents who run', your Saturday is a festival of 'doing activities with your kids / doing family stuff' and if you want to run, you have to spot a teensy little opening and cram it in quick sharp before it's filled with everything else!  Take this morning.  Up early.  Made breakfast.  Baked a cake.  Did the laundry.  Went for a run.  Home for a shower.  And just off to do the shopping.  All by 9am.

No wonder so many people struggle to find time to be active when they've got families.  It *is* a struggle!

The struggle is worth it though, and I really enjoyed my little 3 miler this morning.  First mile zinged by happily.  Almost regretted wearing a vest top and shorts as there's a definite chill in the air in the morning now.  But by the time I was running along the path near the railway line, I was nicely warmed up and just enjoying myself as I pattered along.  About halfway along the path though, I remembered that the path was going to end fairly shortly.  And after that would come the...

*sound of thunder in the distance*

*dramatic music swells... dramatically*

... Steep Hill of Doom.

*lightning overhead*

It's not even that long.  About 3/4 of a mile at most.  But bloody hell is it relentlessly steep.  And straight.  So you can see EXACTLY how much you have left to run for the first half mile.  Then, it kids you into plateauing for about half a second... and then starts to climb again for the last quarter of a mile, by which time your legs have turned to jelly, even your eyes are sweating and your breathing sounds like a chainsaw orchestra.

In your face, Steep Hill of Doom!!  The last little bit of my run takes me down across a park and halfway down the hill the other side, back to my house.  By which point I am back to doing my world famous 'if the neighbours spot me, I'm pretending to be a gazelle' impression, so that they don't think I'm a complete sad sack!

And that, my lovelies, was day 287.  Cake baking.  Laundry.  Running. Grocery shopping.  Packing kids off to swimming.  Crazy running-parenting-Saturday.

No time even for tea!!!!  *gasps with horror*

Geeky stats stuff

Distance:	3.01 mi
Time:	24:20
Avg Pace:	8:04 min/mi
Elevation Gain:	202 ft

Runstreak Day #284 - more hilly hills

Another Wednesday, another Sweatshop Running Community run.  It's always a bit of a rush to get sorted to get there on time, but I have definitely started enjoying myself going on those runs.

What a turnaround from the whole too scared to run with other people version of me earlier this year!  The plus side of running with other people?

1.  You get to chat about nerdy running stuff before you head off
2.  You get to chat about nerdy running stuff when you get back
3.  There's the chatting about nerdy running stuff
4.  Did I mention the nerdy running stuff?

Okay... so mainly, you get to talk about nerdy running stuff without anyone rolling their eyes in boredom at you!  Plus, if - as with tonight - you have a silly big hill to run up, then when you've all run down it like big kids and are all sweaty and revolting at the bottom... you get to blather about it in a slightly over-excited, puffy panty way... which you never get to do when you run on your own!

Anyway, my legs hate me just a little bit for making them run up another hill for the second night running.  Tomorrow's run needs to be a lot flatter and slower for them to forgive me!

284 days done.  Crikey!

Geeky stats stuff

Distance:	4.07 mi
Time:	33:27
Avg Pace:	8:13 min/mi
Elevation Gain:	246 ft

Runstreak Day #276 - another run with my littlest

Didn't feel like a run today really.  Had a long day with work and my head was a bit full.  But not feeling like a run is always just a temporary thing.  Once I'm out, it's fine.  Just before I left I vaguely yelled 'does anyone want to come for a run with me?' - and my littlest appeared!  Zoomed upstairs... put on socks and trainers.  And wanted to come!

So I had a little running buddy today.  He managed to run about halfway up the hill from our house and then across the park and to the top for a breather.  We ran-walked / ran-paused our way through just over 2.5 miles, which wasn't bad going at all.  He was less keen than me (who was all giggly shrieky aeroplane-armsy happiness) about running down hills.  He says they're 'too fast'... which is not a concept I'm familiar with!  That said, he did run down a very steep hill and had a flushed, excited, eyes-popping-out-of-his-head happy face on at the bottom... which is always a good sign.

Y'know, I wish they could bottle that feeling.  And when someone says 'I don't know why you run... running's boring.  I couldn't run.  I just can't see anything interesting in it' about it... give them a taste of that.  That feeling like you're 8 years old.  That it's all just a bit fast, a bit unsafe, a bit scary... but you've done it anyway.  And there's a buzz inside you that makes you feel all tingly happy.

Give them a taste of that, and they'll get it.  The quiet, calm, happy, gentle, space-to-breathe moments take longer to appreciate... but that absolute crazy freedom of speed and hill and happy.  That's kinda intoxicating.  Even after a crazy full day.

I LOVE that my children are starting to discover running with me.  It reminds me of why I love it all over again.

Lucky old me!

Geeky stats stuff

Distance:	2.61 mi
Time:	26:26
Avg Pace:	10:08 min/mi
Elevation Gain:	184 ft

Runstreak Day #272 - hilly happiness

I think I may need to invent the 'I conquered the stupidly long hill' dance.

Because that's what I did this evening.  Almost three miles of uphill in a 5.5 mile run.  Get me!  It wasn't particularly fast, but I do love the fact that I *can* run up long hills these days without collapsing or dying.  I put on my determined face and decide to give them a go.  There's nothing else you can really think about when running up a hill other than running.  It's kind of intense in a funny way.  You have to concentrate on your rhythm.  On your breathing.  On landmarks which you bargain with yourself to reach and carry on past.  It's one of those things that's hard work but completely absorbing.

You know what?  I have a weird love of hills these days.  They're interesting.  They're challenging.  You feel brilliant when you manage one that's eluded you.  And you never quite know if you're going to be able to manage a new and tricky one.  Which makes it a bit of a game when you give them a go.  I know lots of people avoid hills or are scared of them.  But you can't really be scared of them.  They're just, well... there.  You do what you can do, you give them a go.

And today, I just ran 'em.

Obviously my legs now hate me ever so slightly.  But the other good thing about hills is that you get to run down them.  And that was flippin' brilliant!

Tomorrow, I'm taking it easy.  And running with my daughter on her first 'grown up' parkrun!  It'll be a slow affair, but I'm SO looking forward to it!

I bloody love running!

Geeky stats stuff

Distance:	5.47 mi
Time:	47:11
Avg Pace:	8:37 min/mi
Elevation Gain:	316 ft

Runstreak Day #256 - hill love

Dear Hills

I thought it was time that I wrote to you.  You see, I think that you and I got off on the wrong foot.  I'll admit it.  You scared me.  You were just so big.  And, well, dominating.  You made me go weak at the knees, and, I'm afraid to say, not in a good way.  For a long while I did all I could do to avoid you.  When I saw you coming, I'd run the other way.  It was all I could do to even think about heading in your direction, you were, well, so, terrifying.  And yet so ever present.  You just never went away.  You knew it was meant to be, even if I didn't.

Now, I know this poor start wasn't your fault.  It was me, not you.  You were just doing your thing.  I was the one who had the issue.  If ever I said that I hated hills, I apologise.  I was wrong.  I don't hate you.  Little by little we've made friends.  First, there was the gentle slope from the bottom of the hill to my house.  I'd steal myself to run part of the way, taking a big deep breath to do so... then I'd walk a bit, then run the last bit.  Just the bit in front of the houses where people would see me.  Neither you nor I would want the curtain twitchers to gossip about issues in our relationship, would we?

Where was I?  Oh, that's right.  The day I faced you.  That was a big day, wasn't it?  I thought my lungs would explode... you made my heart race.  When I got to the top, my knees were still weak but you did something to me, hills.  You made me feel alive.  Special.  Like I could do more than I thought I could do.  You took my breath away.  And yes, I gasped.

Dearest hills... from that sad start, we've developed a beautiful relationship.  And tonight when I ran up one of you.  Volunteering to do the steeper hillier route, and feeling that excitement of challenge quicken my step.  I knew that we were right for each other.  When I got to the top, I could have hugged you... and running down the other side, I wasn't running away from you this time... I was boinging with happiness.

You've made my legs strong.  You've made my head strong.  You're a beautiful sleeping giant.

I think I may be in love.

Or clinically insane.  I haven't decided which.

Love

Sarah (on Day 256 of running craziness) xxx

Geeky stats stuff

Distance:	4.05 mi
Time:	34:23
Avg Pace:	8:29 min/mi
Elevation Gain:	257 ft

Runstreak Day #255 - misleading routes and new friends

Let me see... what day is it?  255 I think!

Cripes!

I'm at that stage with my runstreak (and my age!) where I have to think and do a bit of working out to remember what number should be attached to it.  Today's run was a goodie though.  I met up with another couple of runners for a run (we have our own Notts Women Runners FB group and it's been brilliant for making running friends!) and because someone wanted to do 5 miles, I dutifully planned a 5 mile run.  I remember describing it as being 'flat and a bit hilly in parts'.

I think that was a bit of a lie.  It's more like 'hilly with a bit of flat very occasionally'. In fact, looking at the route on Strava, it's just a complete fib.    I can't actually see a single bit that was actually flat.  Seems like my recollection of that area has flattened most of it out!  Whoops!

So, having unintentionally misled my new running buddies, I was relieved that neither of them wanted to hunt me down and hit me with my trainers.  Not that they'd have had the energy left after all those hills, mind you.  There's method in my madness!  Plus, it was really nice to have their company.  And that's from me, the person who back in January this year had never run with anyone else and was an 'I like my own company' runner.  Well, 'I like my own company' probably just meant I don't know anyone to run with and I don't have the confidence to try it anyway!  It's funny how we tell ourselves what feels like a convincing reason when actually it's an excuse for not giving something a bash.

Anyhoo... 5 miles of hilly deliciousness.  The sun came out to play.  It was windy but not ridiculously so.  And I made a couple of new running buddies.

Today's run was made of pure win.

(and a minor pelvic floor incident (PFI) which we will never speak of again)  ;)

*happy dances to blot out the memory of the PFI*

Geeky stats stuff

Distance:	5.01 mi
Time:	46:28
Avg Pace:	9:17 min/mi
Elevation Gain:	274 ft

Runstreak Day #219 - early, hilly, sunny, slowly

Good morning early morning running crew!  Here I am already... reporting for duty for day 219!

And... all done by just gone 6am.  Today's run was brought to you care of the words 'hilly', 'short' and 'early'.  Special guest appearance by a small annoying stone in my shoe half way round.  And the huffing and puffing fairy decided to visit as I mistakenly ran up the steepest steep hill because I apparently don't know the difference between First and Second Avenues.  First Avenue = stupidly steep.  Second Avenue = make sure your will is up to date, this one could take you out.

I'd forgotten the difference and ran up Second Avenue.  With its lovely 15% gradient.  And all because as I ran down across the park opposite I thought 'I wonder what it's like to run up First Avenue'.  And then turned right instead of left and found myself running up the hill of death.

Anyhoo... it was all sparkly and delicious out.  I barely saw anyone and the streets were mine to play on.  Gotta love getting out nice 'n' early.  The 'putting my kit in the bathroom' technique definitely works for getting me to leave the house by 5:30 for my run.  When I (inevitably) go for my early morning pee, there it is, waiting for me.  And by the time I've gone into auto-pilot and shoved it on, I might as well go for my run anyway!

My smug pants are hitched nice 'n' high.  I have tea.  The rest of the day awaits.  And I've already done my run.

*happy dances*

Geeky stats stuff

Distance:	2.49 mi
Time:	21:55
Avg Pace:	8:48 min/mi
Elevation Gain:	186 ft

Runstreak Day #188 - the one where I remind myself that hills are good for me...

In many ways it's a shame that hills are so damnably easy to find around here.  I live on a hill, that comes off another hill, in the hilly part of town, with plenty of valleys... and hills.

On the other hand, when I think to myself 'I want a run that's easy to get to', then I get to run a few hills and strengthen my leggies while I'm at it.  A lazy run choice is actually a hard work choice.  Today, to be honest, I didn't really plan my route.  I just went out of the door, turned right, ran up the hill across the park and then went a slightly different route, past the woods - mentally going 'Oooooh, I didn't know we lived so close to the woods' - up and down and up and down.  Was watched going up a particularly steep hill and had to fake tying up my laces to catch my breath!

But I survived.  And managed a Friday evening run, only going past two pubs, avoiding the ones where the worst heckling happens... and wore myself out after a busy week.

A good kind of worn out though.  My head needed the hills, just as my legs benefit from them too.

Geeky stats stuff

Distance:

2.73 mi

Time:	22:48
Moving Time:	22:47
Elapsed Time:	27:28

Avg Pace:	8:21 min/mi
Avg Moving Pace:	8:21 min/mi
Best Pace:	6:16 min/mi

Runstreak Day #132 - hills, hills and more hills. And hills.

Hills.  Hills and more hills.  With extra hills sprinkled on to the hills for good measure.  At least 9 of the little stinkers.

That about sums up my run on Day 132.  Hills.

Oh, and did I mention the hills?

At first when I'm running the hills, I'm just running up them.  Then, as they get steeper, I start to repeat to myself 'light and strong' - to remind my feet and legs to do what they need to do.  By the time I'm getting to the end of my run and yet another hill jumps in front of me, 'light and strong' has become 'cup of tea'... and only the thought of my cuppa when I get home keeps me going.  That and having to pass anyone as I'm running up a hill.  No-one wants to serve up a humiliating slice of middle-aged hill-running mummy fail in front of people tinkering with their cars or teenagers loitering, least of all me!

I think I may have broken myself now.  I have tea, but the thought of disappearing off to bed and snoozing is almost more enticing...

I seem to have lost all use of my legs.

Bloody hills.

Geeky stats stuff

Distance:	3.99 mi
Time:	34:20
Avg Pace:	8:36 min/mi

Time:	34:20
Moving Time:	34:22
Elapsed Time:	38:02

Avg Pace:	8:36 min/mi
Avg Moving Pace:	8:37 min/mi
Best Pace:	6:51 min/mi

Runstreak Day #131 - and another day's done

... all done and dusted.  Hooray!!

Felt kinda pukey and gross today (too much detail?! Nah...)... but managed a run anyway. Some people's opinion is because I'm overdoing it with running. I say it's because I'm knackered and need a break from work. And running is my sanity saver anyway... so there! You can see that we had a very grown up discussion about it all. Running wins. 

Today's run was with both of my kids on their bikes. My kids had brought sandwiches with them - and we had to stop halfway while they ate them. Negotiating running when you're a parent can be an exercise in patience sometimes - especially when you're stood getting cold while your kids are scoffing!

Oh, and I managed a ridiculously steep hill and my daughter went 'you made that look effortless'... if it were possible to love her any more, I would, just for that statement alone!! The key to silly steep hills is to get up on to the balls of your feet, find a rhythm, shorten your stride, not be frightened of them... and just keep going. Yeah, effortless indeed!!

And tomorrow will be another 'effortless' day. 

Could quite fancy a cuppa cha right about now... peppermint tea's on the menu today! Mmmm mmmmm 

Geeky stats stuff

Distance:	2.48 mi
Time:	19:58
Avg Pace:	8:03 min/mi

Time:	19:58
Moving Time:	19:57
Elapsed Time:	29:53

Avg Pace:	8:03 min/mi
Avg Moving Pace:	8:02 min/mi
Best Pace:	6:06 min/mi

Runstreak Day #122 - shrinking hills...

Guess what? Day 122 has been done...

... and... I got a 7:21 minute mile!!! And conquered the silly steep hill!

I think I'm more pleased about getting myself up the silly steep hill in a sub-9 minute mile time than anything... because hills are naughty and bad and get in the way of your legs. And because I've kept on bashing and bashing away at getting up them, they seem to be shrinking and becoming more manageable. Even if they are still kinda naughty.

No aeroplane arms tonight... was doing my best huffing-puffing-chuffety-chuffing steam train impression as I went up and down my local hills. Every time the music dies down, I get to listen to my breathing and tune into Radio Wheezebag! Is it just me who sounds horrendous when they're running?!?

Y'know, I haven't had my celebratory cuppa yet...

*skippety doo dahs off into the kitchen*

Geeky stats stuff

Distance:	2.12 mi
Time:	17:21
Avg Pace:	8:11 min/mi

Time:	17:21
Moving Time:	17:20
Elapsed Time:	17:21

Avg Pace:	8:11 min/mi
Avg Moving Pace:	8:10 min/mi

Runstreak Day #87

This was very nearly the run that wasn't.  I was not in the mood for it at all.  I procrastinated like a good 'un.  Managed to sit through my Garmin going into powersave mode several times after it had got a signal... and still I couldn't force myself to get out there.

My excuse is that I'm not feeling that well and running when you're feeling grot isn't that fun.  However, I also know that once I get out there and get going, I generally feel a lot better.  Today that was the case.  Or at least, it took my mind off it anyway which is almost the same thing.  There's something about the rhythm of running that distracts you from other things brilliantly.  Including the guys who beeped at me from their car as I ran up the big hill and yelled whatever it was they yelled in my direction.  Part of me is curious about what they said.  The other part was listening to music and concentrating on getting my legs up a mile of hill - which I bet you they couldn't have run up!

As I ran down the other side and into a dip before heading back up again, the time flew past.  Though I never actually find running easy, it was what I needed... and there is something brilliant about unleashing the little kid in you as you blast down a hill!  WHOOOOOOOOSH!!!!!

Another day done... Day 88 tomorrow... crikey!

PS  Does it count as 'hill training' when I just have to run up and down hills because where I live is hilly?
PPS  I think it sounds more grown up if I say that's what I did...
PPPS  Day 87 - Hill training  *puts on serious face*  :o)

Geeky stats stuff

Distance:	3.10 mi
Time:	27:27
Avg Pace:	8:50 min/mi

Time:	27:27
Moving Time:	27:27
Elapsed Time:	27:27

Avg Pace:	8:50 min/mi
Avg Moving Pace:	8:51 min/mi
Best Pace:	6:48 min/mi

Around Nottingham in 80 runs...

80 days in a row of running every single day.  Cooer!  Tell you what, as I was running this evening every so often I'd catch myself going '80 days... flippin' heck'.

Not least because this time last year I was a few weeks into Couch to 5k and the thought of running 5k without stopping seemed almost impossible.  The thought of running a mile in less than 14 minutes also seemed remote.   And today I did both and not only did it, but enjoyed it.

I ran up a big ol' hill... and down it... and up another... and down... and up... and so on.  I didn't feel in the slightest bit trapped by the hills.

Good things:
Ran up and down hills without being bothered by them in the slightest
LOVE not feeling trapped by the landscape round here
Got my smiley face on every time I thought about having made it to 80
No rain
No wind  (finally!)
Not even that cold  (thank goodness!)
Ran a new route
Someone I met at the running group thing last week FB-ed me and asked me if I'd like to go for a run with her - yay!
Someone at work (who saw a presentation I did last week - but I don't know them) described me to a colleague as being 'that sporty one - the one that looks like a runner'  :D

Bad things:
None!

Days like this I love running.  It totally makes me feel empowered.  It doesn't matter if I'm fast or not.  I'm out there, giving it a go... and letting my nearly-40 year old body show me what it's made of.  And it turns out it's not made (only!) of wrinkles and post-baby squidge.  Hooray!

The rhythm of running is strangely infectious.

80 days in a row.  Yeah.  That's alright, that is.  :o)

Geeky stats stuff

Distance:	3.15 mi
Time:	28:07
Avg Pace:	8:56 min/mi

Time:	28:07
Moving Time:	28:08
Elapsed Time:	28:07

Avg Pace:	8:56 min/mi
Avg Moving Pace:	8:56 min/mi
Best Pace:	7:11 min/mi