Yume No Chikara

Sunday I did my first proper cross country - a club league event. I was last. There was only about 160 runners so I was very last and the car park was all but empty (apart from my lift!) when I finished. It was damn hard work too ... I aimed for 80 mins given that it was described as "a proper XC with testing hills on both laps" - considering this part of the country think that hills in my mind are slight slops I was scared! The morning brought rain too, lots of rain so it was also a mud bath! I still have mud in my toe nails despite 2 baths and 2 showers! My actual time was 82 mins so I was really pleased if somewhat demoralised at being last! I was also convinced by the end of the race that I wasn't going to do XC I would stick to roads (well at least until FLM is over with!) and that if I did do XC I needed spikes not just off road shoes! Yesterday I felt really quiet good - I was expecting to be stiff like last week but was fine! Which shows improvement in it

I've mentioned before that I am a diet junky, but one thing that this addiction has taught me is the signs to watch for. As of last Saturday I had lost 5lb - that was in 12 days. I was delighted. I knew that I had possible been a little low of calories but reconed that a kick start was good, after all a lot of diets/healthy eating plans started with 2 weeks of lower intact to kick start the plan and make you feel good with a high weight lose. So I carried on as before. Only the last 2-3 days I have noticed that I have been really tired and yesterday and today I have eaten a lot, not as much as I have before or as much as I could have eaten but a lot more than the last two weeks. So the analytical head has come into force. I haven't been running or exercising lots; I may be in work earlier but I am leaving early then dosing most of the afternoon with Oliver. This means just one thing.... I've cut back too much . I haven't lost any weight since Saturday (I may

On Wednesday Saint Paula was in town to sign her book, some people waited up to 5 hours to get a book! I was unfortunate in that I only had 30 mins lunch so was unable to join the queue, however Paula is a lovely lady and stayed behind and signed some extra books - I was lucky enough to get one of these extra books! Yesterday I started reading (only managed the 1st 100 pages) and I have to say that she is totally inspirational! I wanted to go for a run but with my 7 year old to look after I couldn't. She is such a single minded lady, so focused and detirmined. By the end of the night I was convinced that my failing in running isn't the lack of training, miles or skill it was detirmination and application! If I am lucky I may get a mile in today (yes a single mile) by running to collect Oliver from school. On Sunday I have another XC event and I'm going to be staying focused and thinking of Paula all the way! Can't wait to get home, make myself a cuppa and carry

It's amazing what you find out there in blog land! From SoVeryTired's blog I located more RW Forumite links! I will update my links soon - no really I will! In the mean time as the slowest of the slow RW Runners - hello and goodbye, must do some work!

I think I could be best described as a diet junky!! I know the basis of most diets as I have tried them all ... for the word tried read "I've read the details and pretended to diet for 1-2 days and claimed to diet for weeks". I finally decided that enough was enough and I have to lose some weight to make FLM training easier. So, seeing as Rosemary Conley is the patron of my charity, I decided to go back to basics. I've been counting calories! My aim has been to keep between 1200 and 1400 calories although I think a few days have been less. I've been writing things down and improving my mental arithmetic too by adding the figures up! So far I've lost 5lb without being hungry all the time and still having treats and wine! Just shows how much extra I ate without thinking! Anyway today someone reminded me of a site I had seen before but forgotten. FitDay is an online diary as such where you can record all you eat and it will keep a track of the calories

Saint Paula is in town today! I work in Loughborough which is where Paula is based athletic club wise. She holds an honoury degree from the University and is today getting "Freedom of the City". In addition she is signing her book at the local bookshop, only the queue is 2hours long for waiting! She was supposed to have finished at 1.30 and is still sat there signing ... I've asked the shop to let me know if there are any "left over books" signed by her fair hand and I'm praying they will call me to say yes! I'm on 30 minute lunch breaks due to leaving early to collect my son so there is no way I could have waited! Everything crossed!!

Yes sounds silly doesn't it but when you get that stiff leg feeling you know you've worked hard! You know that yesterday's run was a hard session and must have been good for you! Normally I would rest the day after a long run but just now I'm having to take advantage of every run I can. So this is what happened yesterday. I rush home from work to collect my son from school, got home earlier than expected so changed into my running gear and ran "the long way" to school .... the long way is a whole 0.9m and took 10mins and 8 seconds. I was really pleased with this given the stiff legs muscles! Having run there we walked back, walking at the pace of a 7yr old child is slow, and we took the proper way home so this wasn't included in my training! Later that night Oliver (my son) went to boys brigade so as with last week I doned my head torch and off I went! This week I wore Oliver's beany hat and the difference that made was amazing! I didn't realise

Yesterday I did "The Suicide Sixish" - it's a 10Km cross country run that involves lots of mud and hills and a river to ford! I was running with friends from the Runners World Forum including Glenn who had agreed to pace me round (and will be pacing me round the 4 Villages half in January too!) The race started off will and I was really impressed with myself! I was feeling strong and (for me) fast and was coping really well! I was OK going up the hills and speedy going down them, even overtaking some people! I was able to pass Glenn by a lot going downhill but he was always there shortly after we leveled out!! Then the first real section of sticky mud came and I realised that my shoe was in danger of coming off so walked as I had no chance of undoing the laces!! So that slowed me down but it wasn't exactly easy - I was glad I wasn't running that bit or I may have landed on my butt! Glenn patiently waited for me at the end - I could see the look on his face t

Last night I had to go out for my run at 6PM. It was pitch black and cold! Problem was I've only run that route once before (the other way round and in daylight!!) so I didn't know the lumps and bumps of the road or how much lighting there was. Strangly though this made me run slower as I was very cautious rather than faster like a scared rabbit! Still another 4.8m under the belt. I'm currently having to do the school run and collect my son as we have no child care (long story) so exercise is at a minimum anyway, and this is why I ended up with a night time run. The worst bit was that I was alone and there was no-one at home to call in a panic. My son was a boy's bragade and they had my mobile so could call if there was a problem or if I didn't turn up but still it isn't the same. But at the end of the day to get round FLM I need the miles so I must take advantage of any running I can. What is good is that I am able to make my faster sections last longer n

Friday night came and I was presented with the SDM! The previous owner had had her handbag stolen with the watch in so the SDM was of no use to her - it was to me! One of my problems with running has been that I run alone. It doesn't bother me running alone - you get time to think and peace and time to take in what is about you. I enjoy it BUT it also means I turned into a 1 speed pixie. I knew I could run faster as I have always been a bit faster in races with others about and always managed a "pixie sprint" finish, but I never seemed capable of running faster alone. My legs just seemed to have 1 pace and that was it! The club has forced me to run faster so that I didn't get left behind and the ladies captain (a runner of 18 yrs experience, a qualified personal trainer and a 3 hrs marathon runner) has made a point of getting me to vary my speed. This has already seen me improving which is great. Today I went for my first sole run with the SDM and it was bril

Shortly after I moved from Berkshire to Leicestershire (or Derbyshire if you work for the Royal Mail!) I joined the Ivanhoe Runners. Great group of people of various speeds all of which are faster than me! The Club Chairman (Dave) also owns The Derby Runner and as such generally speaking provides a lot of the runners with their kit. Now back in June/July I bought a new Timex Bodylink Hearr Rate Monitor which comes with a GPS for calculating your speed and distance if required. At the time I couldn't afford to get the GPS too :-( and I've recently be wondering how or where to get £160 to purchase the additional component. On Wednesday Dave advised me that he had just been given a nearly new one for just £60!! Now that I can justify! Tonight I am hoping that I'll get my new toy! Here's hoping!!!

Ok so you noticed that the completed site isn't completed! Well life hasn't allowed the luxery or motivation to pull ones finger out and do the update properly (I have several pages of code on my PC though if that counts!) So in the mean time I thought I would follow young PantMan and provide a brief profile of me! Age : 31 Star Sign : Aries (stubborn!) Location : Leicestershire, UK Occupation : Techincal Support Engineer (AKA Dogs body of IT) I've been running for about 2.5yrs now and although I have completed marathons before (1 running and 2 walking events) I have remained consistently slow! This isn't helped by the few (28 ish) excess pounds I carry about with me or my short legs! (I'm only 5' 1.5") Why is this relevent to this FLM05 Blog? Well to succeed in my mision of a sub 5hr marathon I need to consistently run 26.2m at a pace of approximately 11mins 27secs per mile! Like every other runner I do have "A PLAN" only my P

"If a man is walking naked sideways through a door he is always going to Bangkok" "Man with hand in pocket feel cocky all day" "Man who live by sea called cliff" "Man with spade on his head called doug" "Man with one chopstick go hungry" "Man without spade on head called Douglas" "It is a wise man who knows he is a fool" "Man who go to bed with sex problem wake with solution on chest" It's amazing what you learn off the Runners World Website! Seriously though if you do want to take up running then do visit the site and the forums for a wealth of information and advice!

Whilst I am busy (?) planing my new blog I've asked about and got some more to list for you!. I will be including a pukka links page with these blogs plus other notable sites but in the mean time ..... FakesSwede First Time Marathon PantMan 20six londonmarathon.web-log.nl MarathonDan Running Commentary Blood Sweat and Tears MarathonWill Please keep an eye on this site and the ones linked above - who knows we may inspire you to enter the London Marathon in 2006!