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Another 45 mile week - 20 mile run completed on Saturday. But it seems I have a touch of the 'Eddie Izzards'. i do find myself stopping for too long to look from a bridge at the beautiful river view or to talk to the llamas, or ponder the backdrop or, as happened this Saturday, to stop for the loo three times! Never gonna be speedy at that rate. And certainly if I stop for the loo three times on the 25th I shall never get to the end!! It was a beautiful day for it though and didn't feel too bad at all. The husband kindly cycled with me although complained all the way about absolutely everything as per. I kept trying to lose him, but it didn't work..

So that's week 11 in the bag. This week is a step-back dilly-dally week but I am already skipping the 5 mile run this morning. I don't know about anyone else but I find the day after a really long run I feel great, the day after the day after, I feel wiped out. Like today. So just an Iyengar Yoga class for me today (when I say just...) and then 6 miles tomorrow. Only 6? Crikey, first time for weeks the mid-week runs have been that low mileage.

Not long now...

Happy running!

Hx

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Week 10 - LSR of 19 miles completed this morning bringing the week's total to 45 miles. And I am well and truly pooped. However, it's done.

Actually I think it's the boredom that gets to me more than anything on these long runs - I can listen to music for a while, I can listen to the birds and the wind for a while, I can meditate on my (rather loud) breathing for a while, I can even listen to a talking book or count my steps backwards and then forwards and then in French or I can listen to the inane and oh so tedious thoughts that pop in and out of my addled brain and talk to myself and of course I can look around me at the beautiful countryside and wildlife and be grateful. But that still leaves another 18 bleedin' miles of boredom! 

What does everyone else do/think about?

However, the highlight of my run today was seeing my husband lying prostrate in the mud swearing far too loudly and repetitively having slipped as he wheeled his bike along a very muddy path I had chosen to take. Trouble is, laughter and running just don't go together. Every time I laughed my legs gave way! Twas funny though.

And so. Tomorrow I shall be spending most of the day on a Yoga workshop which I'm really looking forward to and I'm sure my hamstrings and glutes will appreciate it too.

Happy Running.

Hx

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Week 9 of the 18 week Higdon training plan dutifully completed. Total mileage for last week 38 miles and it was a step-back week too! This week saw me running 4 miles this morning and wiil see me running 9 tomorrow, 4 Wednesday, 9 Friday and er...19 on Saturday. Jolly days...Bit parky out there though!

I'm sure there was something else I wanted to blog about. For the life of me I can't remember what it was. So much for the increase in brain cells from running....

Hx

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Week 8 in the bag, although I skived off an 8 mile run this weekend. So only 34 miles run in total this week but I did run bloody 18 miles on Friday. And it was horrible. Less said. Ya win some ya lose some and it was one of 'those' type of runs that was just crap and boring and it hurt. This week is a step-back week, although two of the midweek runs have now shot up to 9 miles! I have stuck rigidly to Hal's plan for 8 weeks now and that was the first run I have missed. Not bad. But I sense with three 20 milers looming and two of the four midweek runs up to the 10 mile mark shortly, I might be skiving off again!

At the weekend I went up to London to meet a group of people some of whom I hadn't seen for 30 years. Extraordinary. We were all at Drama School together in the late 70's/early 80's and it was wonderful and funny to meet up and to hear about their lives.  None of us have changed in the true sense, just got wrinklier! And where oh where has the time gone? I really don't know. It goes so very fast.

And on that note, on with day. 4 miles to run, clients to sort, classes to teach, yoga to practice, a teenager and husband who need attention and a house that needs cleaning.

Happy running!

Hx

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End of week 7 of Hal's torturous marathon training plan - 40 miles in total this week - 16 of those this morning....And actually the 16 miler wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. Still hurt though but the endoriphins are now whipping their way around my bod making me feel I can do it all again anytime soon. Not.

I wore my compression tights for the first time and maybe there is actually something in them - well, yes, my little legs, but you know what I mean. My average pace was faster than usual too, I completed the sometimes muddy off-road and sometimes country lane 16 miler in 2hrs 52 mins or therabouts - I had expected it to take me over 3 hours at least given how slow my pace had become.

Maybe it was the compression tights. Maybe it was because the sun was shining. Maybe it was because the old man cycled the route with me forcing me to run faster. Maybe it was because I took a Sports Drink with me for the first time (Taut Endurance for those interested - only one I'll touch...) Or maybe it's because the training is finally paying off and I am getting stronger....Who knows. But I'm happy. 18 miles next week.

But I am still not stick-thin! Mother Nature (who was obviously a man) decided that once us females reach our fifties we should get fatter around the belly to protect our organs or some such bollocks - oestrogen levels shift and apparently we can gain 10lb plus during the menopause. Well, I'm not having any of it thank you very much. Mother Nature can go stick it where the sun don't shine. And I've lost 7lb since Christmas, so there! But boy it's a struggle!

Oh and here's the tutu - not very flattering, but hey, it's for charidddddeeeeeeee innit?

Happy running everyone!

Hxx

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Week 6 of Mr H's plan complete - 30 miles in total this being a step-back week. Next week looks ferocious though.

Yesterday I attended the Kidney Research UK marathon afternoon in London and it was a truly inspiring and humbling experience. For many reasons this charity is important to me but to listen to the guy who took up running to raise funds for the charity because his wife was on her second, yes second, kidney transplant, was so touching and impressive. And the awe-inspiring Kidney Specialist doctor who has run 118 marathons to date, for the charity!!!!! She was wonderful and motivating and really made one feel anything is possible. And anything is.

So, I am applying via Kidney Research UK to run New York for them in November and I may well run another one too. However, I need to run 16 miles next Saturday first...Oh and I suppose I better start thinking about fundraising, not to mention sourcing the purple tutu which I plan to wear to match the purple charity top...I was thinking I might dye my hair purple too but remembering the rain of the 2008 marathon I think I might just end up looking a prat if it was wet. A purple prat. A bit like a raisin, or a prune...

Have a happy running week.

Hxx

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Week 5 of Mr Higdon's plan under my belt. Tick. Total of 34 miles run in total for this week. 14 miles on Saturday was very hard work, not least because I was running along the excuse for a tow path by the river in six inches of water in places or on soggy grass and mud. But done. However, Mr H he asks 'does this workout seem too easy for you?' What? Is he having a larf? Noooooo.

This week is an 'easy' week with the longest run being 10 miles on Saturday. Then it gets a bit serious again...But I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.

I have to say I am not used to running 7/8 miles (and further later on down the line) the day before a long run, always rested before a long run in the past. And I certainly haven't trained for the last two marathons this hard before. Still, so far so good...Albeit slow. I am expecting to turn into a super athlete and become stick thin any time now. Impossible is nothing.

Happy running!

Hx

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In the paper today (Guardian) there is an article about how jogging/running can boost brain power. Running apparently stimulates the growth of thousands of new brain cells that improve recall - memory and learning!

Well if my brain cells have increased since I took up running I dread to think what state i'd be in if I didn't bloomin' run! Doesn't bare thinking about.

So there you go - experiments on some poor unsuspecting and innocent mice have demonstrated that we grow fresh grey matter as we run or jog or take any aerobic exercise. Something to do with increased blood flow or higher levels of hormones released while exercising.

Okay that's all. Gives me hope that maybe I won't go senile quite yet and made me smile. Oh and I've just run 7 miles and I'm cream crackered this morning but at least I'll have replaced some of those brain cells I killed off during all those years of alcohol abuse! Hah!

Hx

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