Plodding along

Hello Fudgey Friends,

Hope you are all well and have had a good week? I'm much more upbeat than I have been and want to Thank everyone again for their words of encouragement and all their support and for the cards that I received - especially the Pooh & Eeyore one from Kristin :-) Unfortunately I'm now choked with the cold and have an incredibly sore throat - I do wonder if this has played a part in making me feel so down as it was so out of character - so I'm not quite back to normal yet, just plodding along but I'm certainly much better mentally & emotionally than I was, just need to get physically back to health and all will be good.

It's been another busy busy week, but I feel like I've made good progress and even had some lovely positive feedback at work which is always good to hear. No matter what the situation most of us are too often quick to point out the negatives and don't acknowledge the positives in the same way. As I've said before this is particularly true in our judgement of ourselves - I know the way I see myself is not as favourable as others do, yet when I hear someone else berating themselves I give them a hard time & try to present the half full rather than half empty view. A classic example this weekend was one of the guys over on Dailymile who was being quite harsh on himself as he hadn't prepared properly so only ran 8 miles when he had hoped for more.... I pointed out it was 8 miles more than a lot of people & next week will be better. Shame I'm not so forgiving on myself!

So a long work week but all in all pretty good & training was also good up till Friday.

Tuesday - I had PT, I already had a sore throat but nothing serious and PT session was tough as always but fab. Wednesday I felt really rotten and struggled to get up and into work - once I was in and immersed in everything I felt better & even managed circuits at lunchtime though I did feel pretty rough during the class. On Thursday I fitted in 2 runs one before work which I felt great after and much much better than I had earlier in the week & one at lunchtime which was nothing special but more miles in the old legs. Friday I was feeling pretty icky again but it was purely a sore sore throat nothing else - I went for a run after work & managed 45 minutes. The last 10 were great but the first 35 were a struggle a definite plod - I felt I had to do it though to separate work from the weekend & to unwind.


On Saturday Mr Fudgey & I went & bought a new spare bed as we are very very excited that my little Sis is coming to spend a night with us in our new house. We also went off for our weekly food shop and I bought us both a cute mug simply because I liked them & they made me smile. In the afternoon I pottered around with the hoover & having a general tidy up - I don't know why but when I'm poorly I have to keep buzzing about I think i get worried that if I sit down and relax I just won't get going again!

I was determined I was getting up today & doing my long run, but it wasn't to be - I couldn't have run anywhere I was in my pyjamas till almost 5.30pm. My throat has been excruciating and I could hardly swallow but I also started coughing - I wanted to be sick but couldn't so just kept coughing and coughing till my throat was raw and then I burst into tears not once but twice today. Mr Fudgey has been fantastic and so lovely to me and unfortunately now I fear he is getting sick as he has a sore throat too :-(

I did manage to make some luscious soup today though slow roasted tomato and basil - I turned this

to this

I think as well you could make an amazing pasta sauce if you added less stock.

I also very importantly managed to get my fundraising page for this year up and running - so that is a fantastic job done - now I just need to start asking nicely for donations.

Now I'm going to go and gargle with cider vinegar to see if that helps my throat and then hopefully get a good night's sleep.

Take Care all
Love Fudgey
xxxx

Week 1 Run 1......and 2

Hello Fudgey Friends,

Firstly Thanks for all the kind comments and messages after my last post - very much appreciated and have made me feel better already.

Well I did say yesterday that the Marathon training plan would start officially today & it did with not 1 but 2 runs. This is a new system I've adopted the last few weeks when I can't fit in more than 30 or 40 minutes workout at a time so I split my workout in 2 & do half before or after work & half at lunch. There are various schools of thought on running twice a day some for and some against - but is actually working really well for me at the moment & if I didn't run for 2 half hour sessions I'd being running for a hour - so to me it's pretty much the same thing - though I do find when I split it down I work harder - the other option is just to let everything else take over and not train at all.....NOT an option in my book.
The way I see it as well is it's a good way of building endurance in the legs by allowing a brief recovery between the sessions of a few hours. This system is only temporary as I am planning on building the distances and running for longer periods but at the moment it's a great compromise to make my training fit in around the rest of my life.

So today I fitted in a 5.1km run & a 6.1km run and I feel fab - I also left my ipod at home so both runs were without music but actually really soothing just listening to the rhythm of my feet.

No running tomorrow - personal training day :-)

Off now to heat the Thai green curry soup I've made for dinner - will report back in next post how it tasted.

Take care all
love
Fudgey
xxxxx

Being Honest

Hello Fudgey Friends,

How are we all?

Well yet another week has passed & I haven't managed to blog - there's a number of reasons for that mostly just due to lack of time but also because I'm feeling a bit down.

Being honest...
I like my posts to be upbeat and inspiring and would prefer to say nothing if I have nothing positive to say. I also don't want anyone reading my blog to start worrying about me unnecessarily - sometimes things don't come across quite right in black & white - really I'm fine & you know me I'll bounce back. I just take too much on & worry too much - especially about things that I can't change or control.
I always try to be considerate to the readers of my blog and quite often don't say things I want to, as I know they may offend or worry some folk. But I thought today it was time to be a bit more open and honest about how I'm feeling. It's no one big thing that's bothering me - it's a sum of lots of different things and most I can't blog about as they are not my issues directly & it's not fair for me to comment on other people's situations / problems etc. There is a lot going on both with family & friends - in terms of physical, mental and emotional health & wellbeing and relationships which is causing upset and stress for lots of people - I just wish there was more I could do, but it's so hard especially when sometimes people shut you out and lash out at you for no apparent reason and you know that they need you but they won't admit it or you just can't be there for whatever reason.
I feel guilty as I feel like I have no time to catch up with those who do matter & I have a long list of people I want to call, email and invite round to the new house - but what little free time Mr Fudgey & I have is so precious we don't want to be constantly booking it up.
Work is still a huge challenge and I find myself lacking in confidence nearly every day.
None of this is helped by poor quality sleep and bad dreams. Last night I dreamt about someone being murdered - not nice and not the first time this week either.
I've got 4 months of running magazines unopened and I'm not blogging, or following the blogs I usually do - the last couple of weeks I have been training hard and that is my me time - it keeps me sane but even that is feeling a little like a chore at the moment and I'm having to really force myself.
I guess that the change of job, the house move and everything else going on round about it is just catching up with me & being a control freak (yes I admit it) I hate the fact that a lot of stuff happening is completely out of my control.

So there you go it's out there now I'm a bit down. I'm hoping putting some of this in writing will be enough to unburden it a little.

I know I'm not alone in feeling this way at the moment - I think a lot of people have January blues and I also know how very very fortunate I am to have wonderful friends and family who will kick me up the bum if I wallow too much.

On a more positive note....
I finally drew up a Marathon training plan - 17 weeks today and I have ordered supplies of sports gels etc. So the plan proper starts tomorrow. I never ran today I just really didn't feel up to it - and I was probably right as there is not a lot of let up now till after the Marathon.
This week I've ran 4 times and had a PT session and been to circuits class.
Yesterday I made Sweet Potato Curry for dinner on Tuesday & Oriental Honey Pork for dinner today & today I have made Thai Green curry soup for tomorrow's dinner so I'm quite organised.
I think now I might just go and sort tomorrow's lunches and gym kit and then maybe treat myself to a bubble bath.

Take Care everyone
love
Fudgey
xxx

A Long week

Hello Fudgey Friends,

Well here we are Sunday evening again & I haven't managed to find time to blog during the week. It's been a case of work hard, train hard this week but I feel really good to be back into my normal routine. So here's a quick round up of my week.

Monday - New Running shoes & Launch night
I was desperate to try out my new running shoes - I'd ordered a pair of Saucony ProGrid Stabil CS & a pair of Saucony ProGrid Guide 2 - yes still a Saucony girl. I tried Asics the last time I got shoes but don't like them for running. So it was a quick treadmill run to try out the new shoes, nice little 4.2km run and new shoes felt fab.
I was back in the evening for the launch of the latest Body Pump & Body Combat classes. My gym was running an aerobathon of the 4 launches back to back, pump, combat, attack & balance. I only stayed for the first two since I'd been in earlier in the day for a run and as I didn't want to be home too late - wasn't too bad as I got home about 8.30pm. I'd made another great soup from The Covent garden soup book - Butternut squash and pancetta which we had with some garlic bread

Tuesday - PT DaySecond PT session of 2011 & the strength training continued - I'm definitely making progress - hopefully it won't be long before I can tick off the challenge of being able to do one full unassisted pull up. The session included 3 sets of 15 squats 70lbs, 3 supersets of incline lunges with 20kg bar & single leg swiss ball hamstrings, 4 supersets of assisted pull ups & tricep dips and then 3 supersets of russian twists & circle crunches. Somehow my shoulder was hurting so the last bit of the session wasn't much fun :-(

Wednesday - RestingMy shoulder was really quite sore so I decided a rest day was in order along with stinking the office out with deep heat spray! I worked late to try and catch up a lot of stuff and ended up staying till just after 7pm. I love that time in the office after 5.30 when most people have headed home and you can get a clear run at stuff with no interruptions.

Thursday - More RunningAt the moment I can't fit in an hour's gym session as I have too much on at work, and a longer journey home means I don't want to stay too late in the evening, so I've been splitting my gym visits into 2 half hour slots - it raises some eyebrows when people think I've been to the gym 8 times in 5 days but it's not anymore than someone who goes 3 or 4 times for a hour or so. I also have to remind people that I will be running the marathon this year - so my training is going to increase in volume. It's good to know though that people care enough about me to make sure I'm not overdoing it. Likewise in terms of work I know if I stay till 7pm every night I'll get a row! I did work on a bit on Thursday night but only till just after 6 so I wasn't home too late. So 2 runs fitted in 3.86km & 3.2km,also 3 sets of 20 compound crunches and the other new shoes tested out.

Friday - Running, video conferencing, abstinence & fire alarms
I managed to fit in a 5.11km run before work - feeling pretty good to be getting back into a regular running routine, these last 2 weeks have been about getting back into the routine and Monday Marathon training starts officially. I decided at lunchtime running wasn't a bright idea as I don't want to overdo it - so settled instead for 13 minutes on the cross trainer, 10 minutes on the cardio wave machine & 3 supersets of 15 ab extensions with 5kg medicine ball - shoulder felt OK & 20 oblique cycles.
On Friday afternoon I did a demo via video conferencing this was another first for me & seemed to go well. I was delivering a demonstration to colleagues in Boston & Montreal and it all went as planned so it was a good end to the working week. After work we had a social event, as I'm now in training again no alcohol for me so I stuck to the sparkling water - but it didn't bother me in the slightest, unfortunately at the start of the event the fire alarm went off and we all had to troop outside - no cardigan, no coat & no umbrella & it started to rain - I was frozen by the time I got back in so stayed for the video presentation and then went up to my desk for 30 minutes work before heading home.

Saturday - Pamper Day
I finally got my hair trimmed and I also got it coloured so I'm now a fair bit blonder. Everyone who has seen me so far seems to like it. I love it. I haven't lost a lot off the length at all as I need to be able to tie in back for working out, but it's been tidied up so looks good. I also had 2 shades of blond put through the top which makes it look a lot different.
Mr Fudgey also had his hair cut - Thank Mum x


Sunday - Unprepared!
I got up this morning full of determination to get out for along run, which did happen in spite of a few minor set backs. I wasn't in the mood to eat but after lecturing others who shall remain nameless about the importance of fueling correctly I thought I had better practice what I preach - I really didn't fancy porridge so instead had some of the Belvita breakfast biscuits & can highly recommend them. I had bought a hydration pack to use for marathon training so that I don't need to carry water, however I hadn't tested this out. I filled it with water but could get any water out of it, I left it on the sofa to go up and get my gloves and came down to realise it was leaking. Thankfully amazing Mr Fudgey sorted it out for me. So eventually I headed out. I had a rough idea where I was going & off I went. 2.5km later Mr Garmin died on me - battery dead. So I don't know how fast I was going or the distance I was covering but actually it was very liberating. I ran a beautiful route along a country road where I was passed by only 2 cars & saw a couple of horses & sheep in the fields - I'll take my camera when I run this again to get a photo for you. After torrential rain yesterday there was blue sky and even patches of sun although it was pretty windy. The route was pretty undulating but I felt strong. As I was getting near home I knew I had maybe only run about 7 or 8 k as I had roughly planned 2 routes and realised I had taken the shorter one, since I was feeling strong & the legs weren't tired at all I added on my regular 5k route to bring me up to a nice 13k (8 miles)
When I got in it was time for the first ice bath in the new house & the first of 2011 - it was not fun at all - I don't think I lasted 5 minutes never mind the 15 I'm meant to sit in them for, but I'll learn to love them again I'm sure.

In the afternoon I got a bit stressed and upset about all the things we needed & wanted to do. Again Mr Fudgey sorted me out - he is the best hubby ever. He went off to do the food shop while I logged on and did a couple of hours work from home. We both then did some housework, Mr Fudgey exercised and I made Broccoli & Dolcelatte soup for tomorrow and prepared this evenings dinner lemony turkey escalopes with mushrooms & baked potato.
Now I'm nearly finished blogging so I'll see if Mr Fudgey wants to watch an episode of something before I make my lunch for tomorrow & get organised for work and the gym.

Take Care Everyone
lots of love
Fudgey xxx

The Great Winter Run - Race Report

Hello Fudgey Friends,

How is everyone? Back to normality after the festive period?
I was back to work & the health & fitness regime on Tuesday 4th January and so far so good. I've had no fizzy juice, no chocolate, no crisps & no sweets at all, I've fitted in 2 training runs, 1 of which was a hill interval session, I've also been in the gym to do my programme, at circuits class & had a PT session, so little wonder most of the Christmas excess is back off and I lost 4 pounds this week :-) And now here I am with my first race report of the year too.

Pre Race Preparations
No lie in for Mr & Mrs Fudgey on Saturday morning, as we were up getting ready to head off to The Great Winter Run. It had snowed overnight on Friday and we had a good couple of inches of snow lying. I was awoken by a text from Great Run to say that the race would go ahead but it would be over a contingency route
It had been a long and stressful week and I could have done with a rest but what better way to unwind than to be out and running in the snow! Fuel for the race was porridge with cinnamon sugar which I didn't really want but forced it down. I taped my feet and got all my kit organised - I had a number of layers as it was so cold.
We headed off for the bus and were really lucky to be be picked up by Rob who was on his way to support KMac. Thanks Rob :-)

When we got to Holyrood Park we met the lovely KMac & headed to the information tent as I had to change my race number - I had been incorrectly allocated to the last wave of runners with expected times of 36 minutes plus, based on my previous races I should run sub 30 minutes so was changed to the orange wave. I had been feeling nauseous most of the week and had a sore right inner thigh, sore left ITB & sore right shoulder so I was kind of wishing I hadn't complained about my start position, also given the conditions underfoot I really didn't think that a sub 30 minute result would be possible.I was really really looking forward though to completing my first race supporting Bliss & wearing my Bliss vest.

It was bitterly bitterly cold so the boys headed off to get some hot food and Kmac & I went to use the toilets before the race. Soon enough it was time for us to head to our starting areas.
I found myself standing in the orange wave wondering what I was doing there - these people looked like proper runners and I feared that I wouldn't be able to keep up with them, but no time to get anxious as we were warming up and then getting ready for the start gun.

The Race
As always in the first km of any race I've run it was quite congested but it was a good steady 1okmph pace so I felt fairly comfortable just tucked in and not trying to weave in and out, though I did overtake a few people and a few overtook me. Conditions underfoot were slippery and we had been told it wasn't a day for PBs, safety had to come first so I just wanted to get round in one piece - deja vu to 2010's race. Though we weren't running round the hill and the elevation wasn't as steep as it should have been, the first 2.5km were uphill but I ran them better than I've ever ran this route before.

At around 2km I heard someone call my name and saw Richard Hope who I work with was marshalling - this was just the encouragement I needed to dig in and push on - it always motivates me to see people I know. After the turn to head back towards the finish I passed KMac coming up the other side of the road & we high fived - she was looking great & seemed to be running effortlessly.

The last couple of km were downhill and I was flying, I had to hold back a little as it was so slidey on the ground but the pace was fast. I came to the 400m to go mark and I knew I'd paced it just right as I didn't have much more than 1/2 a km left in me. I didn't push at the 200m to go marker either as I was still going faster than my usual pace but at about 100m to go I dug in really really deep for a sprint finish across the line & stopped Mr Garmin at 29 mins 43 seconds. I knew straight away it was a new pb. I was very nearly sick just beyond the finish line a sure sign I had pushed myself hard, but I managed to take some deep breaths, get my chip removed & collect my water & goody bag before seeing Mr Fudgey & Rob, and waiting for KMac to finish - she was in the wave behind mine for starting so started a couple of minutes after me, but didn't finish far behind me.

Post Race
As always a fabulous goody bag from great run, as you can see from the picture. I've had the tshirt on today too and it's really nice.
I had hoped to stay and watch Mo Farah run but it was just far too cold to hang around. We were going to go for a coffee after the run but everywhere was mobbed, I did get some funny looks walking through John Lewis wearing a space blanket - but I didn't care I was happy. Mr Fudgey & I just decided to head home, when we were on the bus I got a text from Kmac to say she had got her official time by text. I had to wait till we got home as I had changed my running number from the pre allocated one but it was worth the wait. Official time of 29 minutes 41 seconds. A new PB by 5 seconds :-)









Geeky Data Stuff
I'm such a data geek so I took some data from Mr Garmin - I won't be offended if you skip past the boring stuff.





I also got more results info from the race website:
Overall: 634th / 1267
Age group & gender: 17th / 92
Age group: 79th / 180
Gender: 174th / 614

very happy with these indeed.

THANK YOU
As always many many people to Thank for a great day and number 1 as always - Mr Fudgey. You & Rob both deserve medals for standing in the cold for so long at least KMac & I were running & got warm.
Thanks to Rob for the lift to Edinburgh & suffering the cold to hang around for us.
Thanks to KMac for making it eventful as ever! Thanks to Colin for putting up with me and constantly pushing me to be stronger & fitter.

Another great event organised by Great Run, Thanks to all the organisers & race crew. The marshalls on the course did a fab job.

Thanks to Mum & Dad Smith for a lovely dinner last night too, just what we both needed.

I had a really good day & very positive start to 20111 running - next up half marathon 6th March..... can't wait :-)

Will try & post again soon, life is just so hectic right now it's hard fitting everything in, but I will keep blogging even if it's just once a week.

Take Care everyone
lots of love
Fudgey
xxx

New Year New Challenges

Hello Fudgey Friends,


Happy New Year x
Hope 2011 is a great year for all of you.

As promised I'm back with news on what is in store for Little Running Wife aka Fudgey this year.

As many of you will already know I have signed up for The Edinburgh Marathon this year. This wasn't a snap decision it's something I've been considering since last years Edinburgh half marathon. I'm under no illusions that this will be the toughest challenge I've ever set myself and it's going to take a lot of hard work and determination. After raising money for charity last year I knew that if I took on the marathon challenge that I would again. I knew exactly which charity I wanted to run for and why, part of the reason is quite personal to me and my family & nearly 5 years on still very emotive, but this is what will make this years challenge so special and every training mile, every ache and pain, blisters, tears, laughter and all my events this year culminating in the marathon in May worthwhile as I will be raising funds for Bliss

I'll soon be setting up an online donation page and have some Fudgey fundraising ideas.

Like last year I'm going to run all my events for the one charity & Bliss have already provided me with a lovely running vest which will have it's first outing next weekend at The Great Winter Run

I also already have The Meadows Marathon (half marathon actually) & The Scottish Kilomathon lined up for 2011.

I've already got 5 rolls of foot tape and have ordered 2 new pairs of Saucony running shoes in preparation for this year's challenges.

So there you have it the first half of 2011 pretty much accounted for, I deliberately haven't planned anything beyond the Marathon as I've heard that a marathon is physically, emotionally & totally a huge commitment and stress on the body and mind - but it will be so worth it.

I can't wait :-)

I'll be keeping you updated on my progress and you only have week to wait till the first race report of 2o11.

Take Care all

lots of love

Fudgey

x x x