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

Summer Sundae 2012

Photo credit Laura Heatherly

The first part of my holiday involved a quick stop off at Summer Sundae festival in Leicester for the weekend. My wonderful lovely friend Rav was involved in organising the festival and the Leicester fringe festival and managed to get the band on to a guest list which was amazing. I've been to this festival now for about the last 4 years so it was great to be able to go this year even though I'm no longer living in Leicester.

The best thing about being in Leicester is being able to catch up with so many of my favourite people in one place. This weekend was no exception, there was plenty of sun, fun, fabulous people and of course drinks. Perhaps a little too much of the latter which is what has prompted my new found abstinence now until after race day. Oh dear, one day I will learn moderation but until then I suppose I'm an all or nothing girl. 

Here is a montage of awesomeness from the festival which I made using pic monkey. Obviously a big highlight was seeing Adam Ant, we all got face paint done in his honour and we looked excellent I think.

Top Row- Me and Emily posing; My downfall bottle of red wine in two pint glasses; Adam Ant stripe; The man himself.
Second Row- Cath Kidston tats; Coordinating my tat to my boots; Naomi's pretty face paint; lovely blue skies.
Third Row- Excitement building for Adam Ant; My safari outfit; Emily and Laura styling it out in the rain; BEST T-SHIRT EVER.
Bottom Row- I'm a total pin up; standard Ed face; really tall safari guy; yeah!

So there it is, the long awaiting round up of the first part of my holiday. Now to tackle the Barcelona write up! Also I've done quite a few runs this week, I know I'm shocked too! So they'll be going up shortly hopefully.

Thanks for reading!

Nicci
xoxo

Long overdue- 41 days to go

Normal service has been resumed. I am back from all of my gallivanting and will be trying to catch you up with my adventures over the next few days and also keeping you up to date with my training efforts, or lack of really...

Yesterday I took my first tentative steps back into the world of running after what can only be described as an extremely indulgent week off. And I can tell you it was seriously hard work! I'd completely let myself get out of the running mind set so even getting out the door was traumatic enough.

I started off a bit too fast and as it was quite early in the day still I hadn't had breakfast and I think this really showed by the end when I was pretty much walking around. I gave up once I'd done 5km even though I was nowhere near home yet, I walked the rest of the way back looking completely beaten.

However I am glad I got back out there and in a way glad it went badly as it's given me a bit of a kick. I've decided that from now until I complete the run that alcohol has to be completely off the cards. After a week of over indulging in that arena I can definitely feel a difference, especially in my lungs. So you heard it here first, I am on the waggon. I'm planning a bit of a diet overhaul as well to get myself in the best shape I can manage with the time I have left. But you will have to wait for news of that as Ed is making me bacon and eggs and it's bank holiday Monday so really that seems only fair...

Nicci
xoxo

Quick catch up- 45 days to go

It's been an absolutely crazy few days for me, but so much fun. I've been jetsetting and festival-ing and generally having an amazing time, which does mean that my running training has suffered somewhat! I went to Summer Sundae festival at the weekend and saw the legendary Adam Ant- amazing! Then flew to Barcelona with Ed to celebrate our 2 year anniversary and to visit my sister and her boyfriend as well. As you can see from the photo the weather was ridiculously amazing and we had such a good time!

I'm going to try and do seperate posts about all my adventures as soon as I get time but I just wanted to check in for the meantime. I'm off to Cardiff for work this afternoon so I'm going to attempt to blog on my phone while on the train which may go horribly wrong we'll see.

So goodbye for now but I'll be back with a proper post very soon.

Nicci
xoxo

Double Whammy- 53 days to go

Ed gave me these beautiful sunflowers on Monday, I've been trying unsuccessfully to grow some on the windowsill but they just look a little weedy and sickly. These really do put mine to shame! I read about a study on the emotional impact of flowers recently though, apparently the participants in the study were significantly less depressed, and less anxious after receiving flowers. They also noticed a higher sense of enjoyment and life satisfaction. I'm hoping some of that will rub off me from these flowers as I'm currently finding this week a bit of a slog. It's crazy as we're off on a little holiday next week, but the week before a break is always hard right?

Anyway Monday was rest day and on the agenda for Tuesday was an "easy" 40 minutes run, at least that's what my training plan said. I was happily not too achy from Sundays efforts and set off feeling pretty good. I decided to follow the same route as Sunday. I kept it steady but there are a few really tough hill sections in the route which I decided to try and power up as quickly as I could, I was so tired at the top of each hill but it felt good! We'd been swimming after work on Tuesday and I'd cycled to work and back (Which is a lot more like hard work on Evelyn!) so I really was feeling it by the end of the run and so cut it short by 2 minutes. I'm sure the cycling and swimming will compensate though! Here's the map...

Today I was really low on motivation, especially as the training plan cheerfully announced it's intention of having me run 50 minutes tempo. Not a plan I relished I have to say, especially after a long day and sticky toffee pudding at lunch! I decided to head to Clissold park hoping that the change of scenery would get me through. It was a lovely evening and there were so many people out running. One thing that really does help me keep going is trying to overtake other people, usually unsuccesfully, or just trying to keep up with the person in front of me. I find it so much easier than motivating myself to keep a pace. This probably wasn't much of a tempo run but it was the best I could manage. Here's the map...

It's hard to tell, but I did three laps of the park. The old me would have managed one then given up. I don't think I'm necessarily much fitter yet, but there has definitely been a shift in my mind set. The fear has set in, and I don't want to let down all the people who have so generously sponsored me. I'm finding that thought alone really helps get me round the final lap of a run when I feel like just giving up and going home.

Speaking of sponsorship thank you so much to my mum and sister who sponsored me last night! I'm now up to £275 so almost there!! Please if you're reading this consider sponsoring me, I'm so close to the target now and it really is for such a worthwhile cause. Here's a lovely picture of the park from my run tonight to finish on, So pretty.

Nicci
xoxo

Weekend round up- 56 days to go

It's been another busy, but thoroughly enjoyable weekend for me. It always feels like the weekend flies by far too quickly though.

Friday's plans to go for another run didn't pan out, but I did take me new bike for a spin around the park which was fun followed by band practise then drinks in the Faltering Fullback, one of my favourite pubs in our area which has an amazing labyrinth of a beer garden.

On Saturday I headed up to Leicestershire with the band to play at Strawberry Fields Festival. This was our first gig of the summer as we've been having a bit of time off to write, so we were all a bit nervous. It went well though for the most, a few minor technical hitches but nothing major.. It was so nice to catch up with some of our friends from Leicester as well who we don't see nearly enough of any more. Thanks so much to everyone who came to watch us!

 

In the evening back in London it was off out to Borough High Street to wave goodbye to one of my best friends from school. She's off to New Zealand for a year or so and I am so incredibly proud and jealous! It was a lovely night and having so many of my friends in one place was just so much fun. I rocked a sequined parrot t-shirt which I found in one of the vintage shops at Strawberry field. LOVE it!

And I suppose now it's time to get down to the real purpose of this blog, Running. So today I dusted off the trainers and dragged myself out of the house as soon as it looked like it had cooled down a little. Today has been scorching! According to my training plan today's goal was 7 miles, which works out at around 11.2km. I decided to run with a bit more of a structured route plan today than usual, to help me get through the distance so I followed the route used for the 5km free park runs which take place every week in Finsbury park. Here's my map so you can see how I got on....

I did it! It took me a long time but I got there. It feels like I've got through a bit of a psychological barrier now as well, 10km always seems like quite a landmark distance. Although I've only gone a little bit further than that, it has given me some more confidence. I really found that having a route planned out before helped me keep going as I could visual how far I had left. I'll definitely be trying this more often. My knees and blisters have both held out ok as well, but I suppose only tomorrow will tell for sure!

At least I had this to come home to thanks to the lovely and talented chef Mr Edmund Grunill.

Oh yeah! I tried to make mine a bit healthier by adding salad and only having a quarter (!), but Ed managed to eat a whole half! It was really quite impressive. I'm going to sit and watch the Olympics closing ceremony now and wish I was there. If only I had a spare thousand pounds or so...

Nicci
xoxo

Let me introduce to you...

Evelyn Martha May! Haha yes I did give my bike a rather long and elaborate name. But she just looks like a bike that deserves a fancy name.

I have admit though, after having cycled a new bike with lots of gears and everything working it's taking some getting used to having a vintage bike again. But it's just got so adorable and was a lot cheaper than a new bike.

Anyway just a quick check in. We're on our way to play Strawberry Fields festival this afternoon, first gig in ages so excited but a little nervous. At least the weather is beautiful for us.

Nicci
Xoxo