12 weeks to go! Official training plan starts here

Hello Fudgey Friends

Well at this time in 12 weeks time the Edinburgh Half Marathon will be over. 12 weeks to go.....official 12 week training plan now starting.
I'm both excited & nervous.

I've got 2 and a bit training plans. I have a beginner & an intermediate training plan for running a half marathon - It's really strange for me to think that I now fall into the intermediate category based on the amount of running I've already put in. However I'm going to mix and match the 2 plans. The bit is the extra stuff I'd like to do i.e my personal training sessions and cross training such as spinning, resistance and toning.
I'm going to take each week as it comes and listen to my body and build my training around that rather than follow one rigid plan to the letter.


Today I headed to the gym for a treadmill run rather than my usual Sunday long run.
Reasons as follows:
1) It's flipping baltic here! No honestly it is really really cold and with my recent injury keeping the muscles warm seems to help.
2)If I run on the treadmill and it doesn't feel good I can hop off and do some form of cross training - bike, rower, cross trainer and some weights. Where as if I was outside running I'd just have to come home and feel fed up
3)I have a 5km race next weekend that I'm kind of saving myself for

Anyway I'm pleased to report I managed 7km in 41 minutes 18 seconds and my ITB feels great.
I was also a good Fudge and did plenty of stretching.
Only one minor issue....I now have a niggle in the right side of my groin....but that it is all it is just a minor niggle and probably compensation as I'm still protecting the left side ITB quite a bit so I need to regain my confidence and strength and focus on my overall running posture again so I don't bear weight unevenly. See I'm getting really serious (yes hubby....and boring) about it all now ;-)

So the stats this week:
Total distance run this week 22km
Total running time 2 hours 09 mins 26 secs

Distance Run in February 65.5km
Distance Run 2010 to date 169.9km

So after my gym visit this morning I headed home to find wonder hubby had done all the ironing.
I made us both some scrambled eggs.
Whilst hubby worked out, I got busy in the Fudgey kitchen.
I put on a load of washing........yep mainly sports kit!
Then I created Sunflower seed and blueberry crispy bars and Butternut Squash, Carrot & Honey soup.
The crispy bars are the same recipe as the Pumpkin seed and apricot bars simply replace the pumpkin seeds with sunflower seeds and the apricots with blueberries

The Soup
Ingredients:
1 red onion chopped
1 onion chopped
2 cloves garlic chopped
4 large carrots peeled & chopped
1 small butternut squash, deseeded, peeled & diced
1 vegetable oxo cube
1 tablespoon honey
water
In typical Fudgey style this soup is never the same twice. The amount of carrot, butternut squash and onion varies and today I thought oh I know what I'll add some honey.
Method:
Basically just chop up all the ingredients & throw in a pan. Crumble in stock cube, add honey and top up with water & then simmer till veg is tender. Once cooled I blend this & it ends up like a thick puree.

Here is a question for you all. How come I can lift some non diddy, non girly weights in the gym but when it comes to crumbling a stock cube I'm useless???
I especially hate the new shaped x oxo ones. I think I may have to go back to the marigold swiss vegetable bouillon powder.

After all this kitchen action I took my lovely husband back to the place we were married at 6 months ago for some food. I can't believe it's been 6 months already, the wedding still seems like yesterday.
Mr Fudgey.....LOVE YOU LOADS XXXXXXXXX

and now we are home and chilling out. I'm just running myself a lovely Molton Brown bubble bath & then I think we'll watch a movie.

Hope you've all had a great weekend.

lots of love
Fudgey xx