Sorry for the absence! 10 days to go...

The view over Leipzig from the rooftop of an old GDR building and Seb
 

So as you may have noticed I have been a little absent over the last few weeks and haven't been doing a very good job of keeping up with my blog posts. Sorry for this! Life well and truly got in the way of my good intentions. I have been travelling a lot and feel like I haven't even been in one place long enought to gather my thoughts and write a blog. But today life is starting feel like it's back to it's normal pace so I thought I'd fill you in on some of my adventures.

I was in Stockholm with work the week before last, which was lovely! I managed to get a run in while I was there and was feeling super excited and fit at that point. The weekend after Stockholm I went to Germany with my band, specifically Leipzig and Cologne. The journey over was pretty killer, and huge thanks need to go out to Paul for driving us the majority of the way there without rest! Superhero. 


Left to right: Paul, me, Edmund (and the van!), Ed sporting double denim!!
 

When we got to Leipzig I took what I knew would be the only oportunity I would get, to go out and have a run. I was feeling pretty ropey after 16 hours in a van and only minimal sleep but I knew it would do me good. Luckily next to our accomodation there was a lovely park with a forest trail along the railway tracks which made for an ideal running route, very easy to find my way back! I managed around 6km in 40mins although couldn't really track my run as couldn't use internet, too pricey! My trainers do have Nike+ built in but I haven't calibrated it so it's a little hit and miss with distances!! Anyway here are some snaps from my adventure...

I've been having physio for the last couple of weeks for my knees, which aren't terrible, but are really begining to hate me for upping my distances on runs. For that reason I've really held back on training the last couple of weeks to try and avoid any longer term damage and to make sure I'm able to run next weekend. So for the first time since Germany I went for a run last night. I decided that as I only had time for a short run I would attempt a 5km. I naturally set off at quite a pace which I expected to have to drop half way round but I felt so good I managed to keep it up for the whole 5km course, and set a new PB of 26:79, which is way under my previous best. I was pretty happy with that considering I've not been able to do much training lately.

Even though, I am concerned that I've lost some endurance strength so this weekend I'm going to fit in a long run while I'm back up north for my mum's birthday. I'm hoping for a nice clear day running along the sea front at morcambe but knowing the Lakes it will undoubtedly be tipping it down! I'm off to the gym tonight on a free pass, I'm testing out a few different places as when it starts getting properly wintery my ability to run outside is seriously diminished, so I'm hoping this one is nice and not too pricey. Fingers crossed!

Nicci
xoxo

Stockholm

I am currently in Stockholm for a conference with work and I am absolutely in love with Stockholm. It's a gorgeous city and I always love being beside the sea and just wish I could have more time to look around here as the conference is pretty full on. I'm definitely going to have to come back.

I got out for a run this morning though at 6:20am, a usually unheard of hour for me. But it was so worth it, the light was stunning and running along the harbour with all the boats was so refreshing and uplifting.

This is just a sneak preview and I'll update you properly once I'm reunited with my laptop. But I saw a bit of the Stockholm half marathon while on a tea break today. All the runners were amazing and it was so inspiring to watch and cheer them on. I'm now super excited for the 7th October and can't wait to take on the challenge!

Nicci
Xoxo

Thankyou!

This is just a little post to say a massive thank you to everyone who has already sponsored me. I'm now up to £325 pounds so not far to go to make my target! Thanks so much for your generosity in supporting this great cause, and I promise to run my best! Have a picture of some cute bunnies as a token of my appreciation.

But if you haven't sponsored me yet it's not too late so fear not! Just click the donations link at the top of the page and you're on the way. It would be awesome to go above my target so all donations big or small are still very very welcome :)

Also as a side note, when I logged on just now I had 1000 page views exactly! How exciting, I took a screen shot just to prove it...

Pretty cool. Thanks for reading!

Nicci
xoxo

My week in running- 27 days to go!

My trusty trainers and I haven't always gotten along well. At first they gave me the most awful blisters on the arches of my feet, and I hardly used them for about 2 years. These are actually pretty old trainers but it's only since starting training for this run that I've given them a chance and have actually worn them in. We're getting on pretty well at the moment but still have our off days, I think it's too late to change them before the run now though so we're in it together for the long haul. My i-Phone arm band is about the second best bit of running kit I have bought, and it was pretty cheap too I think. I love being able to run with my favourite songs on and the Runkeeper app is brilliant! I got this magazine for free the other day and it's been pretty interesting reading. Although mostly I just feel inferior to the super woman who ran 120km in one day, that is just insane.

Anyway, this week got off to a pretty shaky start while I was recovering from the after effects of freefit. I know that it is good for me in the long run but oh does it hurt for the first few days after. Anyway my first outing went pretty terribly! I managed just under 20 minutes and really couldn't keep going any longer. Pretty pathetic. I decided my body was telling me to just rest a little so I took the next day off. By Thursday I was feeling much more energetic so even though it is the busiest day of the week for me at work, I committed to having a go at running home for the first time.

Tuesday's poor effort

Run home on Thursday

Friday was just too nice an evening to go out running, so me and Ed headed to the park to play some beach bat and ball. We've been trying to get a rally over 30 for ages now and haven't really come close, but on Friday we managed a glorious rally of 38. There was celebratory ice cream. After this we went to me some friends for pie at Battersea Pie Station in Covent Garden, which was frankly delicious and pretty good value too. I have to admit though that there were a few drinks involved here, and that I have fallen off the waggon. Sorry!

Left to right: Heron on the lake, Ed in action, first conkers of the season, mad bat and ball skills

To make up for my indiscretion though I pulled myself out of bed on Saturday morning and got out and went running. This run felt like turn around for me, I almost did 10km but was running out of time as I had a train to catch afterwards and hadn't packed so decided to go home. However, I felt like I could have kept running for quite some time still, which is honestly the first time that has happened! Fingers crossed this keeps happening and that maybe I will be able to complete my half.

Saturday morning's run

The rest of my Saturday was spent up in Leicester visiting my friends, spending more than I should have in Primark, eating Mexican food and playing with Woody the wonder dog, best dog ever! Then back to London on Sunday for a cheeky little picnic with Ed, then band practise and home to watch Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, classic! Weekend well spent I think.

Left to right: Lovely Sunday picnic, Woody the wonder dog, beautiful blue skies

Hope you all had a lovely time too!

Nicci
xoxo

A little bit about me

I can't believe it's Sunday night already, this week and weekend has just flown by! I've been incredibly busy, which probably has a lot to do with it. September seems set to be a hectic month, but that's ok with me. Also can't believe it's now less than a month until D-day, makes me feel a little unwell thinking about it! More about the training later though.

So I thought today I would tell you all a bit more about my band, one of the other things I get up to when not running. I've alluded to the band a few times on this blog, but never really introduced it properly as I figured it was probably just my mum reading it over a cuppa. Anyway, We're called I Am In Love, which can take some explaining to people.Yes there have been misunderstandings...

We've been playing together in various guises now for around 3 years and have been all over the place doing gigs. We've visited Germany, Switzerland and Austria as well as most of the UK. There are four of us in the band, Sebby who does vox, Martin who plays geetar and does all the technical wizardry, Ed is our drummer and I play Keys.

People always ask me how I find being the only girl in the band, and honestly, I quite like it! Yes they pick on me a little, and yes the tour bus does smell pretty awful at times, and the conversations about football tend to grate, but they're all such great guys and we have so much fun together that it balances out. And we've seen and done some amazing things together.

We're all over t'interweb and you can see loads of videos, pictures etc if you google I Am In Love Music. Remember to add the Music on the end or you'll get a load of suspect results.Our new single is called Palm and you can have a little listen here if you are so inclined.

So there we are! I hope you've enjoyed this little introduction, expect to see more about the band as and when we do cool stuff.

Nicci
xoxo

My week in runs- 33 days to go

The last week was a tough one for me in terms of running, after an overly indulgent week off it has been a real uphill struggle to get my fitness back. At the moment I’m finding it hard to tell if I’m injured, or if I’m just experiencing the awakening of muscles which haven’t been used in far too long.  Either way, every single part of me is aching and just standing up from the sofa is agony. They do say no pain no gain though, so let’s hope this is worth it! I’ve decided on a new format for keeping you updated on my running training, I’m trying out weekly updates instead of the usual blow by blow updates. I’ve also added a new page which takes you to Runkeeper where you can review all my running activities and maps etc since my very first steps. 

Sunday was my first venture out into running again and it went horribly! I’ve already posted about this won’t go on about it again! I followed this up on Monday with a longer run at 8.7km, my knee decided to have a little melt down and I had to give up earlier than I had hoped so I’ve been gently nursing it back to strength this week.

Tuesday I managed 6.36km and Thursday I hit a new PB for 5km while doing my speed training. I managed 5km in 28 minutes which is the first time I’ve managed to get under 30 minutes for this distance. I was pretty pleased with myself but did feel like I was going to either pass out or vomit. I ran another 1.24km as a cool down while trying not to be sick.

On Saturday it was back down to FreeFit on the park for some more gruelling strengthening exercises. I did actual press ups for the first time in many many years, not even the cheating girl press ups, proper ones! I did 20 press ups (not all in one go) as well who knows how many squats, lunges, planks, crunches and other forms of torture in the space of an hour, and I’m in the beginners group! It’s great fun though and the people are so friendly, but the next day is always agony. Every single bit of me aches now.

Sunday was supposed to be my long run, 10 miles I was scheduled for, but on account of my inability to move my legs I let myself off with just doing a slow jog round the park. That in itself was hard enough. I’m going to try and fit in the 10 mile run after work this week, not sure when though. But I thought it’s always better to listen to your body than push yourself too far and end up with a serious injury. 

 

Which brings us to today.  Today I have mostly been hobbling around the office feeling a little sorry for myself. I managed to cycle into work no problem though which was a relief! Somehow cycling is one of the few things that doesn’t seem to hurt me at the moment! Maybe I should cycle around the office...Anyway I've decided tonight my body needs a rest so I'm gonna put on Monty Python and eat a whole lot of nachos and fajitas and kick back. Then back on it tomorrow...even if I have to roll myself out the door.

Happy Monday!

Nicci

xoxo