10k accomplished!! :)

hooray!!! i did it!! i can now say with pride that i have run my 10k race!! in precisely 1 hour, 13 mins and 13 secs!

so... last sunday i woke at 6:30am, rather anxious about what my day held, had a wee breakfast, a luvly tropical Berocca energy drink and got my running gear on! chris dropped me near the start point which, despite reading all the pre-course info, wasn't where i was expecting it to be! as in, not even in the park but on a street! i braved a portaloo before the queues became utterly mad, found the Yellow Zone and hovered around trying to look casual and nonchalant as i scoured the sea of faces for a familiar one! amazingly, the meeting place which sandra and i had agreed was actually successful and we did the warm up, smiled for photos and psyched ourselves up!! i swung rapidly from being outrageously excited, soaking up the atmosphere to the dreaded realisation that i was about to run for a very long distance!! 

we were started in stages depending on our colour group and at 10am the race kicked off with the very fast people taking off at a mighty pace, followed by fairly fast runners, followed by us, followed by people dressed as banana's and bumble bees!! classic! there were over 10, 500 runners and the atmosphere was VERY exciting, i kept laughing, at nothing really other than how brilliant it all was!! the first km flew by the quickest, and throughout the race there were hundreds of people cheering us on- crowds lining the streets, people hanging out of their flat windows, drivers tooting enthusiastically, members of the public handing us water/ energy sweets, and at every km mark there were bagpipers!!! 

sandra and i both successfully ran the ENTIRE way, of which i feel very proud of us!! i think back to when i first started running and literally couldn't run more than 2 mins at a time! we had some luvly chat on the route round, cheering each other on and being generally impressed with ourselves that we hadn't collapsed in a ditch along the way!

crossing the finish line was magical, and a wee bit emotional too! as i approached the final stretch i heard my name being shouted and managed to spot my plews cheerleaders, gave them a quick wave and pressed on for the finish! what a feeling!! we were then given a medal, banana and goodie bag (which was potentially exciting but contained pretty random things including a herbal sweet(yes, just one!) and a jar of cranberry sauce!) 

there have been many positive things related to training for and running this 10k- general feelings of health and well-being; becoming part of an informal community of fellow runners; actually disciplining myself enough to complete what i set out to do- this was a biggie as i tend to love something passionately and then find something else and move on and love the new thing passionately, and then find something else, etc...! but best of all has been all the support and money raised for Stop the Traffik through my JustGiving website, it has truly blown me away! Your generosity has been incredible and going to a really worthy cause! so a final MASSIVE THANKYOU to each of u! :)

a new running phenomenon!!!

eek, it is finally here- RACE WEEKEND!! having now been training for roughly 9 weeks and starting from scratch i must say i am rather pleased with myself to have reached this point!! i went out for my final pre-race run this morning, a quick 15 min blast round the park, in the lashing rain! gripped by the clutches of spontaneity i dashed out into the rain, not fully appreciating the icy drench until it had overtaken my entire being! thru gritted teeth i pushed on, and started enjoying it! and, haha, i had watched Friends the other nite, and it was The One Where Phoebe Runs Like a Maniac, so feeling inspired i decided to try it, and it was invigorating!! for those of u who have somehow missed this episode, Phoebe runs with limbs flailing at full pelt, just because its more fun that way, and reminds her of when she used to run when she was little!! i did feel a tad self-conscious but the mad flailing of arms enabled me to shake that off and i ran like an out-of-control maniac!!! i would SO recommend doing this at least once in ur life!!

this week has been a bit of a struggle due to feeling a bit under the weather and having a bad few days with my stomach, but i am now recovered i think, have my race pack through and am all set!! Race pack is quite exciting and includes: a free underground pass for 4 people for sunday; a parking permit; information on the race and route; my cool electronic chip which will give me my time, and a brand new race t-shirt!! having spoken to fellow runners, apparently it is not cool to wear this on the day, but afterwards u can wear it with pride!

i also want to say a massive THANKYOU to everyone who has sponsored me so far!! i have been overwhelmed by the amount of support raised for Stop The Traffik, and the total before gift aid is currently at £450.01!!! and incl Gift Aid it comes to an amazing £562.83! You people are wonderful! And for anyone still wishing to donate to Stop the Traffik, my sponsor page will be live for the next wee while so if u would still like to give then it's not too late :)

only 2 sleeps til race day....

Stop the Traffik is an amazing charity who work to fight to prevent the sale of people, protect the victims and prosecute the traffickers.

 

They are based in countries around the world including the UK, India, Australia, Belgium, USA and Bangla

desh and all money raised through my 10k will go toward the Global Fund. Stop the Traffik will make sure that funding tackles root causes such as poverty and gender

 discrimination amongst the most vulnerable groups, targets early intervention and rescue, safe houses, good options for either going home and building a new life, or if that is too dangerous, finding a new place to live and work or study. Finally, the fund will help frontline professionals follow through on prosecuting traffickers and seeing that this does not remain a crime with high benefits and low costs.

Some more information taken from the Stop the Traffik official website:

• TRAFFICKING IS...
  to be deceived or taken against your will, bought, sold and transported into slavery for sexual exploitation, sweat shops, child brides, circuses, sacrificial worship, forced begging, sale of human organs, farm labour, domestic servitude.
• TRAFFICKING IS…
  where family members and friends deceive parents to release their children or sell themfor as little as $20 each, selling them on to local gangmasters or serious organised international trafficking rings.
• TRAFFICKING IS…
  growing. 2–4 MILLION men, women and children are trafficked across borders and within their own country every year. More than one person is trafficked across borders EVERY MINUTE, which is equivalent to five jumbo jets every day. a trade that earns twice as much worldwide revenue as Coca Cola.
• TRAFFICKING IS…
  where victims usually suffer repeated physical abuse, fear, torture and threats to families to break their spirits and turn them into saleable commodities. a person can be sold and trafficked many times.

Stop the Traffik focuses on 3 main areas:

• Education: Spreading the message, creating awareness and understanding of people trafficking.  
• Advocacy: When people act things change. Engaging with those who have the power to minimise the trafficking of people. 
• Fundraising: Financing anti-trafficking work around the world working with those vulnerable to and those who have been trafficked.

We have to work together to fight to prevent the sale of people, protect the victims and prosecute the traffickers.

we are SO in the running groove!!

today ladies and gents, i found my groove!!! not on the dancefloor, for that groove was unleashed many years ago, but on the streets!!! today i ran 8km!!! in just about an hour!!! and i feel amazing!! admittedly a little achy now, but so worth it!! Lady Gaga had been replaced by Chris and after a difficult start with crampy legs, visit to the loo after about 15 mins, and a giant blister, i persevered and found my running groove!! a nirvana state which i had heard talk of from experienced runners but never imagined i would ever attain myself!!

yet here we are! happy sigh!! and lots of these!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

what is the secret i hear u all ask!! well, once u push thru the leg crampy pain, get your breathing under control and work thru the barrier which tends to hit at around 23 mins, u just keep running! and running... and running! usually 35 mins is my average, i have managed 45 on a couple of occassions but this evening we were out for 68 minutes! including toilet break in the park (in the public toilets, please note, not behind a tree!!) and a couple of pauses to shake off cramp/ cross the busy road/ make up an excuse so i could pause for breath!! and once in the groove i discovered it is actually possible to hold a conversation whilst running, something i have attempted and failed at many times! oh the joy! no need to temporarily withhold my thoughts any longer (altho i suspect chris may have been enjoying some welcome peace!)!

and incase u are wondering, or have read previous blog where i mentioned that i was going to be doing this as a sponsored run, i am indeed raising some awareness and funds for a very worthy cause! See blog above this for more details!! :)

run into the ground!

after today's run i feel officially terrible! disgusting really. sore. achy. trembly. too weak to get off the couch and into the shower. to even move and get a much-needed glass of water. i think last week's craziness has got to me. spring harvest. 7200 guests. 55 stewards. 8am start and 1am bed. non-stop activity, cheerfulness and enthusiasm. it's finally got the better of me!

moan. about running. moan.

that is all.

(disclaimer: a more positive blog can be anticipated shortly- in the meantime let me encourage u to visit my 10k race sponsor page for a most worthy cause! and to make this wretched pain worthwhile!!)

Barcelona!

such a beautiful city! despite the rain we had a wonderful weekend wandering the streets (yes, i think we covered every street!), soaking up the culture, taking in the architecture, visiting real places of interest and enjoying some delicious local cuisine! our wonderful hosts are extremely familiar with the city and we were treated to an impressive tour, complete with history, places of interests and unusual wee coffee shops and stores we probably never would have found ourselves!we were cooked a fabulous dinner on the Friday evening, complete with delicious cocktails and a Brazilian recipe cake for Chris's birthday!! After a leisurely morning we became familiar with the transport system (genius, you can travel on any bus, train, fenicular, etc and go as far as u like, changing as often as u like for up to 1 hour 15 mins and it only counts as one single!!) our stroll along the beach became a race to get to the cafe at the end due to the monsoon style rain and wind we were out in! after drying off a little we walked to the Sagrada Familia- having seen it 6 year ago i was impressed at how much work had been done on it since then, altho it is still not completed! 

the afternoon was spent wandering the

 streets of the Gothic Quarter, popping into very cute shops and being given an unofficial Shadow of the Wind (one of my favourite books, set in Barcelona!)

tour which had me most enthralled! the evening took us to one of the nicest restaurants i have ever been in, the food was outstanding, very healthy and the atmosphere was just lovely! over there it's considered normal to go out for dinner at like, 9pm earliest, with happy hour in bars from 10pm- midnight!! so we were very happy by midnight, especially visiting the Fairy Forest bar, complete with a actual trees, twinkly lights and a wee pond!!

the following day we wandered down to the Marina, explored the shops, 

tried some Spanish snacks and then caught the fenicular up the mountain to Parc Montjuic where we then took a cable car to the top!! here we had a luvly time at Montjuic castle, dating back to 1640! our weekend was complete with a final wander down Las Ramblas, the main street in the city where there are countless cafes, market stalls, artists and street performers! when we visited Barcelona in 2003 we stayed in a rooftop youth hostel on Las Ramblas which was basically a small rooftop sauna with bunkbeds and a sliding door- most unusual! our journey 

home was uneventful and whilst i was sad to leave the beautiful city behind i am now happily anticipating our return there in the summer! taster weekends are SO the way forward!!

first 5k complete!

i feel knackered, accomplished and rather pleased with myself!

i was excited at being able to run for 43 mins today, was pleased that i'd actually done my first ever 5k run, but will now need to work on bringing the time down and the distance up for the actual 10k, or this race could take me a while!! actually, my initial aim was to actually just complete the race, then i began thinking ok, if i can do it in 1 hour 15 that'll be good, now i might aim for 1 hour 10!!!

however, i feel having started from a level of 0% fitness with week 1 involving having to run 2 mins, walk 2 mins 5 times, being able to run for this long is a bit of a miracle!!

see, miracles happen! :)

new tunes!!!

i am havin such a luvly nite exploring music! thanx to some top tip-offs from musically-inclined mates i have been enjoying the likes of Bon Iver, The Kills, Holly Golightly, and discovered a website 4AD which has a bunch of bands and musicians and includes a free sampler album you can download! there is a nice sounding band called It Hugs Back who's song Work Day is fairly cheery and easy to listen to!

Tickets for the Wee Chill music festival go on sale soon, and Camera Obscura are playing king tuts this month along with Attic Lights which should be a good nite all in! :) they recently filmed the video for their new single in Stereo, and were looking for folk to come and be in it! unfortunately i couldn't round up the troops at short notice so missed a good wee free gig!

and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs new album, It's Blitz,  just came out- i'm excited! i'm holding off til i can get the actual cd in Fopp tomoro, but couldn't resist downloading their single 'Zero' which i LoVe!!

so, there's some links to keep u all entertained!

another step forward!

ok, i'v finally done it and registered for the women's 10k! there's no backing out now as £23 of my well-earned cash has now secured my place at the start line! my training is fairly varied, ranging from 20 mins of feeling horrendous and wanting to crawl, to actually being able to run for 32 mins and feeling pretty good! i'v discovered the worst time for me is straight after work when i'm already tired after a long day! unfortunately that is the best time as it fits in my day! so we're pushing on through!

however, there is a potential *disasterous* clash- my X factor audition has also been registered but here's the bad news- round one is on Sat 9th May and if i just so happen to make it to round two i will have to choose between running the 10k or the possibility of stardom, fame and fortune (really the huge tempter is getting to possibly meet Simon and Cheryl!!!!!).

Dilemma! however, i think we'll just cross that bridge IF and when we come to it!!

10k in the making!

i am just in the door, fresh from my 2nd run of the spring!! when i say fresh i actually mean completely the opposite- hot, sweaty, thirsty and very red in the face!! however, i must admit that now its over for today, it feels good! despite proclaiming to hate running, there does come a point (admittedly near the beginning!!) where i sort of love it!! pounding the streets, thru the park, sun shining, colourful spring flowers cheering me on my way, smiling and saying hello to people i pass by (again, when i say hello i actually mean trying to make a noise that sounds close to hello as i can barely breathe as it is!!)

so, the aim... Womens 10k on May 10th! 

According to their website countdown i have 50 days left to get myself in shape and be able to run 10k in a reasonable time! having put off training for as long as possible the crunch time has come to either commit to doing it or stop kidding myself! so, i figure that if i go public then i'll have to do!

my other purpose in doing this 10k is to raise money and awareness for an extremely worthy cause! OM (Operation Mobilisation) do a lot of work in India to support the Dalit women and after speaking to one of their workers I am going to be raising money to fund a specific project! so, watch this space for more details of how u can get involved too :)