Friends, family and another finish line...

Training has gone well this week, had some good runs and finished the week by taking in part in Colchester Half Marathon. Great race, couldn't have asked for better running conditions, lovey sunny day but not too hot. My strategy was to run similar to Gt Bentley but without the blip at 9-11 miles! I managed that and finished in 2:02 which was 4 minutes faster than Bentley, think I prefer hillier races! The support was great, lots of my friends were running and if not running they were supporting or marshaling. There was a great atmosphere around the course and it was a very enjoyable run. 

Lindley asked me after the race if I think 4:15 is realistic for Halstead Marathon, I was slightly hesitant with my reply but thinking about it since I really believe it is. I need to work hard but am feeling fitter and stronger than I have for a while, and that combined with some positive thinking and self belief will see me achieve that on May 11th.

As I have said before I am really starting to see the benefits of my new training regime, I was struggling with even 10 minute miles at the beginning of the year and now that feels an easy running pace. So things can only continue to improve.

This week as well as keeping up with the training I am going to try to improve my diet, meal wise I'm pretty good but have got into a bad habit of snacking on rubbish, so going to try and reach for fruit and nuts etc this week when the munchies strike!! 

This week I want to dedicate my blog to my Dad, 2 years ago on 17th March he lost his brave battle with cancer. Dad (and Mum) instilled a love of the outdoors and adventure from an early age. We spent many happy holidays hill/mountain walking in The Lakes, Scotland, Wales and many other places.

Dad was always planning his next adventure and trekked all over the world raising lots of money for charity along the way. I'm sure he is still egging me on when I'm plotting my next challenge. 

I won't be sad today because he would hate that, today's a day to remember all the happy times we had, adventures we shared and to be grateful that his adventurous spirit rubbed off on me.

   Dad in the Himilayas.

Am going to finish by saying thank you to everyone who supports me in my adventures big and small, really couldn't do it without you all. Love every one of you xxx 

Have a good week and happy running x 

A happy running week

It's now been a month since I started training with a coach and it's definitely the best running decision I have made! 

Ran 40 miles last week, 206 for the year so far and have lost half a stone in weight. Also and most importantly I am running better, feeling stronger and like I keep saying having fun! 

Yesterday I ran Gt Bentley Half Marathon, it was a very windy day on an open but flat course and I had a race plan, start steady then run 9:15 to 9:30 minute/miles until mile ten then push for the last three. Consistency in pacing has always been a struggle for me so I really focused on achieving this. All went well till miles 9-11 where I slowed to 10:20 minute miles, we were running into the wind but other than that when I thought about it there wasn't any other reason why I had slowed, my legs felt ok, the rest of me felt ok, so I started to push and got back on track even managing to overtake people in the last two miles. I finished in 2:05 and am really happy with how it went.

It's now only 3 weeks until my first ultra of the year, Challenge Running's St. Peter's Way and I'm really looking forward to it... 

Thank you to Lindley for the support and encouragement over the last month.

Happy running everyone, have a good week xx