Running - Fat Girl Fit

Cycling when lost and Brighton 10k

I took a cheeky days holiday last Friday as it promised sunshine so thought I would get out on my bike. I downloaded a route on my Garmin and hit the road with my friend, and Queen of the Mountains, Sophie. It did not go to plan. I have never used my Garmin to follow a route and the silly thing just kept beeping at me to tell me I was off course even though I knew I wasn’t. There was a road closure on route as well and so we decided, at a pub we often stop at, that we would just go a route we knew, which was shorter but nonetheless got some miles in and was a really enjoyable ride. I am so so grateful to those that are helping me on my journey of getting this fat girl fit!

I struggle on hills, I don’t think I will ever be first up a hill whether on my bike or running. I sound like a panting dog in the process and breathe similar to how I did when I was in labour many moons ago. But I try. I would like to say I will make those hills my bitches but it is sadly not true – they definitely make me their bitch! And I know it!

At the weekend I had the Brighton 10k and it is the same day as the Brighton Marathon and I must say the atmosphere was amazing. I ran with my husband and I really wanted to get a PB preferably under the hour mark as my best time until this run was 1 hour 1 minute 42 seconds. I was unsure if I had it in me. The weather said it would be 10 degrees and windy and so we put on our long sleeved tops and made our way to the start line. Long sleeved tops? Big mistake! I was like a big fat sweaty pig in no time, sleeves rolled up and mopping my brow I carried on. Brighton is undulating and there was no breeze before the seafront which was 5.5km into the run. I am clearly better with the cold than the heat.

We were passed by a man leading a lady who said excuse me blind runner. It was amazing! This man was running as a guide for this blind lady (who was a brilliant runner) and I had read about that before in a book (which made me cry) but seeing it in real life was just amazing and made me cry again.

I tried so hard on this run and my amazing husband paced me the whole way (at 5k we were dead on 30.00 minutes) but the last 2k I struggled like hell. I needed the loo. I couldn’t catch my breath. I tried to take a drink but basically ended up with more over my face, sunglasses and dripping off my chin than actually getting to drink any. Then I basically turned into a whiny little bitch. I stopped about 1.5k before the finish and said I needed to catch my breath and then again and then I knew I wouldn’t get sub hour so sort of gave up. Brett had other ideas and knew I could get a PB so got me to the finish. Now it is over I am so grateful but on route he did shout at me to keep going and put his hand on my back and carried on running pushing me and there were some people that looked at him like he was the devil ha ha. He is not at all, he was a massive help.

I did get a PB but sadly not sub hour. The event time was 1 hour and 39 seconds and according to my garmin the 10k time was 1 hour and 9 seconds – damn those pesky seconds! I was so bloody close! I came 208 out of 451. That will teach me for being a whiny little bitch and saying I can’t do it.

I will not lie, I peed a little near the end (don’t judge me it is not that uncommon and the queues were too long at the start that we couldn’t go pre run) and then I had a little cry as I had worked so hard for it but I have my medal and completed it and got a PB. Also our lovely friends Darren and Vicki completed it in amazing times too.

I know I have said it before but I do not find running easy. I saw a slogan recently that said ‘WTF! Where’s The Finish?’ – that was definitely made for me.

I much prefer cycling to running – put the fun between your legs (ooh er). I do keep going though in the safe knowledge that I can celebrate at the finish with a shiny medal and a celebratory drink.

The marathon runners were exceptional! I was getting so emotional just being there – not so little old me struggling with my 10k in the heat whilst they battle through a marathon! The fastest runner of the 10k completed in 29 minutes – 29 minutes! I call these people the machete people as they run like they are being chased by someone with a machete though in a more effortless way. The fastest marathon runner was 2 hours and 10 minutes – can you imagine? It’s insane!

Steve from our cycle club finished his marathon in 3 hours and 5 minutes – amazing!!!

Weigh in day today again – it comes around so quickly every week. I needed half a pound. I want that 3 stone marker before I move on to losing the next 3 stone. Did I get it? Did I? YES!! Just! This week I lost half a pound and so have reached that 3 stone loss.

Now on to the next 3 stone!

Category: Events, Running

Brighton half marathon

Sorry but I couldn’t resist the title of this post – but who am I kidding? A half marathon for me?! No way jose! I was in Brighton to support my husband who was taking part in the Brighton half marathon with my cousins other half, Lee, though after the runners set off Tracy and I did run along the sea front and I would be completely lying if I said I wasn’t tempted whilst in my running gear to take a picture at the 13 mile mark ha ha

They completed in 2 hours and 7 minutes and I am hugely jealous of the very large pink medal they received (which coincidentally may go missing from my husbands medal pile at some point – just saying).

The furthest I have run is slightly more than 10k and I am still waiting for that moment that runners tell me you fall in love with running. I am slowly coming to the conclusion they are liars. Saturday night sitting in a pub in Brighton the four of us worked out that I had run more than both my husband and Lee and yet I would have been the last one of us to sign up for a half marathon – its a daunting distance! I saw a video of one of the female elite runners at the Austin marathon who was so exhausted after hitting ‘the wall’ that she crawled to the finish – that would be me. I am proud to say that my husband and Lee finished strong and my cousin Tracy and I were surprised at how smiley they both were – good for them (said through jealous gritted teeth at making a half marathon look relatively easy)!

It amazes me looking at them that they had run over 13 miles by this point – two miles into my run along the sea front with my cousin I had to nip to the loo – I swear I have the bladder of a 90 year old!

Another thing that made me smile yesterday was seeing a post my mum shared on facebook. She is my biggest fan of this blog (even if she is biased) and I can definitely see where I get my humour from!

And so finally on to weigh-in day today – I lost 1.5lbs so the plaque has been changed and is the highest number I have had so far, 36lbs.

36lbs it turns out is the equivalent of a mid-size microwave! That’s slightly embarrassing! The chart below is actually quite hilarious!

So I am home alone, still dressed in my pyjamas, totally doing a little victory dance. Although I worked out I have another 35lbs to go until I will be at my ideal weight, and when I reach my target I will have lost the equivalent of an Irish setter dog. That is pretty daunting but I am halfway there and completely taken with gin now rather than the higher calorie wine so its a win win.

Category: Events, Running

Winter Run 10k

Friday and Saturday I had rest days – and amazing they were too! Nice dinner with the hubby Saturday night – healthy choice of salmon whilst I dribbled slightly at the burger that was served to the table across the room. Then I sulked as there were no “good” choices on the dessert menu but I quickly recovered after we stopped for frozen yoghurt – yum!

So yesterday my husband and I got up early (should be against the law on a Sunday but I am getting used to it being the norm) and headed up to Embankment for the Winter Run 10k. It was freezing – even once we got on the train and we just kept smiling at each other when I think we were both thinking its not too late to go home in the warm!

According to the website there were going to be 1,600 people set off in every 8 minute wave – we were expecting a bit of a nightmare if I am honest. Bag drop was fine – in and out really quickly and then we started queuing, after a quick photo with a polar bear of course!

It was a slow start as you had to queue and then they set off some then wait for the next wave and so on. It was also really emotional! Really, really, emotional! The whole event was for Cancer Research and they were asking people to put their hands up if they knew anyone who had been affected by cancer and as you can guess most people put their hands up. Then they asked if anyone had personally been affected by cancer and there were a lot of hands. Lastly they asked if there was anyone there who was still battling cancer and there were quite a few hands go in the air. You would have to have a swinging brick where your heart should be not to be amazed at the strength of these people – complete admiration for them! And there was me nervous about finishing and being overtaken – shame on me all I had to do was drag my fat ass round 10k!

So our wave finally started moving – it took a long time and I needed the loo again! I was determined not to go off too quickly but there was no fear of that as the first 5 minutes at least were at walking pace because of the large group of people. Then we started to spread and could go at our own pace. There was a lot of dodging people as these events cater for people of all abilities so it is a mixed crowd, which is nice as a lot of the running events I have done I always feel like the slowest person there and like I don’t quite fit in. There was so much support on the route as well – loads of people who had come out to cheer you on and little kids holding out their hands for hi fives! There were fake snow machines and teams of motivators along the way cheering encouragement.

We finished it – and I got a pb for my 5k (31 minutes 44 seconds) and a pb for my 10k (1 hour 4 minutes and 37 seconds) and we got a really pretty medal too! Massive thanks of course to my husband who ran with me for the whole thing – even if he wouldn’t let me stop to walk and I nearly wet myself!

I did have a nosey at the other times people finished it in and was surprised as I always assume I am one of the slowest:

However, I found there were a lot of people finishing around the same time so I think maybe I will stop beating myself up quite so much! Instead I shall run by this logic ha ha:

Yesterday was made even better as I saw a friend from school and she had read my blog, another friend put on facebook about their new favourite thing being frozen grapes, which they had got from my blog and the cycling club I am part of retweeted one of my posts with the hashtag thisgirlcan (love it) so I am chuffed people are actually reading my ramblings!

Last but not least of course it is Monday (meh) and so that is also weigh-in day for me too – and a good one as I lost another 3 pounds! You can’t see but I am grinning!

So I shall be keeping all of this up and later today will go for another run!

Category: Events, Running

Victoria Park 10k

Happy Monday all! Yes I know what Mondays are ever happy?! None if like me you also use Monday as your weigh-in day. So last week I was so good and lost nothing and had a tantrum similar to that of a three year old who wants chocolate – and I also wanted chocolate! But this morning was ok as I lost 3 pounds so can finally change my weight loss plaque and am back in the 30’s – a total of 32lbs lost so far!!

So I intend to carry on this way!

Yesterday I ran the Victoria Park 10k – finished in 1 hour 5 minutes 22 seconds – got a pb for my 5k and 10k – again only by 20 seconds or so but I will have that! I still find it hard, breathe like darth vader as I go, bitch and moan, but I know I can complete it. It is also nice to know that I am not the only person who doesn’t find it easy – a friend of mine did the run and when she finished she said to me “this is what a heart attack feels like right?!”. You can see from the photos at the finish I am a sweaty red mess, clothes disheveled and pretty much ready to crumble. I am obviously the one on the right – my friend Helen (the slim one on the left) ran with me the whole way bless her! I do crack a smile when exercising – once I cross the finish line!

So this was not made better by the fact that they ran out of medals and goody bags – if I am going to get up early on a Sunday in the cold and run I at least want a medal and some free sh*t – thats the deal! But another run under my belt, medal will be posted and feeling ok today. Here are our before and after shots – we all actually look better in the after shot once we have woken up!

I must admit I did have a bit of a wobble when I saw what I looked like in the running pics but then a friend pointed out I wouldn’t have believed it a year ago if someone said I would be doing this, which is true. So I say:

Category: Fitness, Running

My furry running partner

Tonight I swam – headed to the gym after work to get it done (before I changed my mind). Did my usual of getting changed, scoping out how many people are in the pool and getting in with as few people as possible seeing me in my costume! Do you remember as a kid ever running to get into bed as quick as you can before the monster underneath the bed gets you? That’s a similar scenario to me getting into the swimming pool.

I swam 1km in my gym pool, which is 40 lengths. I must admit I spent most of the time thinking about getting home to eat dinner!

Probably a good thing I didn’t run tonight as my furry running partner wasn’t up to much – this was her for most of the evening:

I’m sure if I got her lead out she would go crazy as she usually does. She’s a funny little thing our April pup – with many strange ways! Spins around a few times before she goes on the wooden floor which I think in her world is clearly made of molten lava.

I do love taking her with me on a run and it kills two birds with one stone – she gets her exercise at the same time as me.

However, running with a dog does have its draw backs:

I almost fall over because of the dog on pretty much every run
she once got scared by a bird and ran in front of me so suddenly I ended up in a heap on the floor
she runs by the side of me mostly but if she needs to stop she generally does so right in front of me mid run – she’s kind like that
she has to run around every lamp post, which is helpful
she has to jump into every puddle, run through every patch of mud and on our park route will always run ahead at the lake and jump in as I catch up – the swans are not keen on her and I know she’s in the water as i get nearer and hear the hissing
I spend most of the run watching her every time she stops – pee or poo? Of course I pick up after her (sorry for the subject of poo but it’s a thing that happens as a dog owner) but she always manages to do it no where near a bin! So I am the crazy fat girl, bright red face, puffing and panting and running with a bag of dog poo until I get to the next bin!

Good job she’s cute!

Category: Events, Running

First event of 2015

So today was my first event of 2015. Having that New Year feeling where you are all positive and geared up for exercise and weight loss I signed up for a 10k run at the Olympic park in Stratford. I woke up this morning and it is peeing down outside and quite frankly I would much rather enjoy a big fat bacon sandwich and getting back in bed rather than leaving the house, let alone running and a 10k at that! But I did it anyway.

I have said before I am a grumpy runner and I am. I am not a grumpy person at all but when it comes to exercise being a true gemini I transform into my alter ego which is a whiny little bitch. Everything about it seems to irritate me. When people cheer it bugs me rather than inspire me as I think yeah great you cheer whilst you stand there and I will carry on running. I don’t smile. I generally feel like I will probably die at any minute and check my Garmin watch quite regularly which kills a little piece of my soul every time as I will it to magically say 1k left and it generally does the opposite and shows I have only actually run 1k – this happened today but at about 3k. It was cold and wet and windy and not nice but me being me went bright red pretty quickly and still managed to sweat though I could have just pretended it was rain.

So the 10k run consisted of 3 laps – I hate laps it just makes me think after 1 oh no 2 more of those and then after 2 I think there is no way I can do another – exactly this happened today.

At about 2k in the majority of the pack had gone off ahead of me and there were some behind me, but not that many. I spent most of this run looking behind me thinking I just need to finish and please god not let me be last. There were 8 other people I knew doing this race all super fit and all quicker than me, including my husband. At about 2k I felt a pat on my bum and realised it was my husband and dread filled me thinking seriously I know I run like a disabled tortoise but he’s lapped me already?! I found out at the end he hadn’t and instead he had decided that he would run this with me so had waited. I honestly don’t think I would have finished without him running with me today I wanted to walk several times but he was very patient and encouraging, as always, and kept telling me I could do it. Sometimes I think he is a liar ;-p

I finished and on the final straight the marshall with the megaphone said ‘cor look at that pink face’ yeah thanks mate! Then a friend tried to cheer me on saying come on give me a smile – he got a stern no. Then another friend started running next to me cheering me on and I told her to f*ck off! I did warn you I was a grumpy runner. I have since apologised of course.

So I have my medal and found everyone else who of course finished before me. Had a little cry in the car on the way home as I was embarrassed – I am not good at running but I do give it a go.

Anyway it’s done now and although I am now home I am still cold and need a hot bath to warm up.

That’s my exercise done for the day and I have just got out some beef for a stir fry – I will of course be pretending with every mouthful that it is a big fat Krispy Kreme donut instead (a girl can dream right)!