Little Running Wife

Fudgey Plans

2012-02-12T20:49:00.003Z

Hello all,

How are you? Hope you've had a good week? I've had another busy week but quite a chillaxed weekend. In fact after this morning's run I spent this afternoon reading a book first on the sofa then jumped into bed & actually finished it - I only started it yesterday!

A few people have asked me this week what races I have coming up & what I'm currently training for.
I really need to get my act together & update the other pages on this blog with upcoming events & Race reports - but for now...
March - Meadows 5k - this was one of the first races I ever took part in, last year I did the half marathon but found it torturous doing 8 laps round the Meadows. It was also quite soul destroying being lapped not once but twice by the super fast runners! So I'm revisiting the 5k.
April - Kilomathon & Rock & Roll Half Marathon. This year there isn't a full kilomathon so I'm doing the half which is 13.1km, this isn't a distance I've done before but with a few halfs & 2 Marathons done it shouldn't be a problem.
So those are the things I'm meant to be training for....
as promised last week I did actually manage to run 3 times this week a total distance of 18.91km - well it's a start. it's 5 weeks to Kilomathon & 7 to the half. Setting myself the same target this week of running 3 times.

My training this week:
Monday - 1 hour personal training session
Tuesday - Run & 30 minute spin class
Wednesday - 45 minute Bodystep class
Thursday - 1 hour gym session & 30 minute spin class
Friday - Rest Day
Saturday - 1 hour 45 minute Saturday Slaughter Session
Sunday - Run

Saturday Slaughter Session this week was increased from last week 8 x 1km run with 20squats 12kg, 20 single arm kettlebell swings 12kg, 20 alternate dumbbell press 5kg, 20 komodo & 20 sit ups then 1.2km run to finish. Next week I'm aiming for 10 rounds. It's fab having our own wee gym zone as I don't need to worry about time getting there & back & can just pop in whenever I want.

The run today was pretty tough, legs started to defy me, then became unresponsive but thankfully got me home. It was pretty cold out but gloriously sunny. I even got chased by a dog - you've got to love the joys of running outdoors.

Next week I'm planning to keep up the hard work but have a couple of treats to look forward to (date with hubby, show & dinner with hubby & Mum in Law & a hot stone massage & manicure)so will have plenty to tell you about next week.

I'm going to go & snuggle up in front of TV with Mr Fudgey, have a cup of tea & relax a bit more, as I've packed my gym kit & the lunches are mostly made for tomorrow.

Hope you all have a great week

lots of love
Fudgey xxx

Stepping Out of the Comfort Zone

2012-02-05T20:40:00.005Z

Hello Fudgey Friends,

How is everyone? How has your week been? Who has snow? I'm pleased to say we've had none & I'm hoping it stays that way - we saw enough last year to do us for a good few years.

Well this week has been a really good week, though I think I may have overdone it just a little as today I had to rest & even grating carrot & chopping an onion hurt my arms.

I decided this week that I really needed to up my game a little & step out of my comfort zone.

Last week I decided to stop being so lazy & actually take the stairs at work - I'm pleased to report I never took the lift once in #10 last week :-)

On Wednesday I finally managed to make it to a BodyStep class - wow hard work & can't really say if I enjoyed it as I had to concentrate so hard but going to go back this week.

Yesterday I created my own Saturday Slaughter session in our wee gym & totally brutalised myself..... Ran 6.7km in total but after each kilometre 1 to 5, I jumped off treadmill & did 20 squats, 10 burpees, 20 lunges, 20 bicep curls, 20 oblique cycles & 10 sit ups.

I also stepped out of my comfort zone in the kitchen - I don't cook fish often as I can't eat it (makes me ill - which is unfortunate as I quite like it), but last night I decided I'd make a fish dish for Mr Fudgey while I had spicy chilli.
The result - Mr Fudgey's dinner of parma wrapped cod loin

There hasn't been much in the way of running this week - next week I really need to kick myself up the butt with regard to that. I did run for 20 minutes on Friday morning as part of my gym session & obviously the session yesterday - but it's not enough in terms of kilomathon & half marathon training - so my aim for next week is to run at least 3 times.

According to my calorie tracker - I've burnt 2700 calories through exercise this week & that doesn't include taking the stairs at work or general travelling from a to b. I know some people like to see what training I've been up to whereas others find it a bit boring so I won't go into the detail but this week.

Monday - 30 minute gym session & 30 minute spin class
Tuesday - 1 hour gym session & 30 minute spin class
Wednesday - 45 minute Bodystep class
Thursday - 1 hour personal trainign session
Friday - 1 hour gym session
Saturday - 90 minute Saturday Slaughter Session

Unsurprisingly today has been a much needed rest day. I've been busy in the kitchen baking for work though Mr Fudgey has had a wee taste of everything & gives it the thumbs up.
I'm now contemplating going for a nice relaxing soak in the bath & using some of the gorgeous lush bath stuff that Mr Fudegy surprised me with on Wednesday. He is the best x x

Have a great week everyone & I shall be back soon to let you know if I can keep up the stair challenge & if I actually run 3 times this week. Mr Fudgey has put new workout music on my ipod so hopefully that'll inspire me.

lots of love
Fudgey
xxx

Back on Track

2012-01-29T19:59:00.005Z

Hello Fudgey Friends,

How are you all? Yes it is true I really am back writing my blog. Back & with a refreshed look thanks to fantastic Mr Fudgey - though the pinkness is all me!

2011

As many of you know the second half of 2011 was pretty tough for me & my family for a variety of reasons. Mr Fudgey & I took the decision to simply get to the end of 2011 wave the year goodbye & move onto a new year & hopefully happier times. However I shouldn't forget that there were some good times too.
I ran my first marathon......& my second
The medal haul in the photo is just for 2011 = Great Winter Run 5k, Kilomathon 26.2k Race for Life 10k, Edinburgh Marathon & Dublin Marathon & The Santa Run & not forgetting the Meadows half marathon but there was no medal for that one.
Mr Fudgey & I also finally went on honeymoon to Italy & Switzerland & had a fudgeytastic time:-)

2012
So here I am back & certainly happier than I have been in about 6 months. I've gained a few more pounds than I would have liked & haven't really run properly since Dublin at Halloween but January has seen me refind my focus & my determination. We've expanded the Fudgey gym as I bought some kettlebells with Christmas money from my Mum & Dad - Thank you, & I also bought a bench & a swiss ball (not yet inflated though). Mr Fudgey put down some flooring & built the bench which was a marathon workout in itself - Thank you babe. So no excuses now at all. I'm also back on the healthy eating and have lost 6 pounds in the last 2 weeks. I'm feeling so much better.
I've signed up for the Kilomathon on 1st April - but a little gutted that there is no full distance this year so I'm doing the 13.1k - a distance I have never raced but am certainly capable of running and I've also signed up for The Edinburgh Rock & Roll Half Marathon also in April - so training has started already. No Marathons for me this year as I never got a place in the London Marathon but I certainly hope to run another - maybe in 2013.
I also plan this year to raise some money for the Prince & Princess of Wales Hospice who took such good care of my Gran & of us.

So that's my plans for this year so far, my plans now for the rest of the evening are to snuggle up with Mr Fudgey, watch a movie & enjoy an options wicked white hot chocolate.

Take care everyone I'll be back soon

lots of love
Fudgey
xxxxx

I DID IT :-D Dublin Marathon 2011

2011-11-01T20:48:00.004Z

Hello Fudgey Friends,

Just a quick post to let you all know I'm now a 2 time Marathon finisher.
I completed the Dublin Marathon on Monday in 5 hours, 34 minutes & 17 seconds according to Mr Garmin.

I'll be back as soon as I can will a full race review but right now I'm trying to recover a little - it was a really tough day. My IT Band decided to start playing up at around 11 miles so I had run & then run / walk the last 15.5 miles (Garmin says 42.71 km / 26.54 miles) carrying an injury. I also got soaked to the skin in the torrential rain between miles 20 & 24 which I'm sure has developped the existing sore throat I had into a full blown cold.
Giving up was never an option though & I was so happy to receive my medal at the end - I feel I really earned this one.

Thank you to everyone for their Good Luck wishes & Well Done messages - it really means a lot to me.

Take Care Everyone
lots of love
Fudgey xxx

I'm Still Here

2011-10-29T13:12:00.002+01:00

Hello Fudgey Friends,

I am so so sorry for the lack of blog action - I can't believe my last post was about 6 weeks ago.

I just wanted to write a quick post & explain my absence & to let yu all know I'm still here & I'm OK.

The last 3 months have been pretty stressful for me and my family.

After the elation of finishing my first marathon in Edinburgh in May, Mr Fudgey & I were surprised but delighted to find out at the end of June that we were pregnant. Heartbreakingly in August we lost our baby. On top of this we received the news that my Gran's cancer was terminal & over August & September we tried to see her as often as we could, though each time knowing it could be the last.
My Gran died about 3 weeks ago and we are all very sad but know she is no longer suffering & that through her illness she was surrounded by people who love her. She inspired so many of us with her strength and her dignity and she will never be forgotten.

I hope you understand why my blog had to take a break during this difficult time. I'm doing good now & it's Thanks to my amazing husband and great family & friends who helped me get through everything.

It hasn't all been bad news, Mr Fudgey & I finally did get to go on our honeymoon & had a brilliant week based at Lake Como, with visits to Bergamo, St Moritz, Lugano & Lake Maggiore.

I started a running challenge on 30th September to run everyday through October & so far have stuck with it. I'm not in the shape I was but I am feeling strong. On Monday I'll be running the Dublin Marathon. It may not be a better time than Edinburgh & I know it's going to hurt afterwards but I will do it, spurred on by the fact that I'm raising money for the miscarriage association. If anyone would like to sponsor me please let me know & I'll send on a link.

I'll let you know as soon as I can after the Marathon how I got on.

I'm not sure what the next challenge will be yet. I'm going to take a little time to rest & recover - but watch this space......

lots of love
Fudgey
xxxxx

Hello Again Blog World

2011-09-11T12:45:00.003+01:00

Hi Fudgey Friends,

How is everyone? What have you all been up to?

I apologise for being away for so long it's been a emotionally difficult time for Mr & Mrs Fudgey & our family & we have needed some time to deal with what has been happening & to grieve for a recent loss. I've also needed some time to heal physically as well as emotionally. On top of our immediate personal issues some of you may know that my Gran is very poorly and we are all trying to cope as best we can. I took some time away from blogging as I needed to focus my energy elsewhere and also I don't want to burden others with sadness too. I hope you will all understand.

The good news is though that September has seen me getting back to 'normal' & Dublin Marathon is very much back on the agenda. This is one tough challenge as I only have 7 weeks to get somewhere close to fit, but as many of you know my middle name should be Determined. I CAN DO THIS!

Hopefully regular blogging will return very soon.

Take Care everyone
lots of love
Fudgey xxxx

Time Out

2011-08-15T12:42:00.003+01:00

Hello Fudgey Friends,

Sorry to have left you blogless for the last couple of weeks I know I promised to return, but sometimes when life gets in the way we need to take a step back & take some time out. There is a lot going on in Fudgey World right now and mostly I can't write about it - partly because it's too emotional and partly as it's not about me so not for me to blog about.

On top of this work is busy as ever but good and I feel like I've refound my confidence that was lacking this time last year and that I'm making progress.

I think I'm pretty much fully recovered from the yucky virus but Mr Fudgey is still coping with the tail end of it - think we will both be ecstatic when neither one of us is coughing anymore.

I am still training - not as much as I'd like but it's fairly consistent, I'm running, having my weekly PT & trying to do my gym programme once a week. It really helps me deal with all the other not so great stuff that is going on around me.

Hopefully I will get back to some more frequent blogging soon but I'm not going to promise too much - but fingers crossed.

Take Care Everyone
lots of love
Fudgey
xxxxx

Bliss Edinburgh Marathon Festival Team - Well done!

2011-07-29T11:57:00.007+01:00

Hello Fudgey Friends,

Remember me? Yes I know I'm sorry it's been a while - nearly 3 weeks to be precise since my last post. As this blog is meant to be about my training & there has been a distinct lack of that recently due to this grotty virus thing I haven't a) had the energy or inclination to post & b) had virtually no training to really talk about.

However the good news is that I am finally finally feeling much more Fudgey. This week I've managed my PT session, 2 short runs & a cycle & hope to fit in my weights programme today :-)

I do have some non training stuff such as couple of days in Glasgow & some foody posts to share & will do so soon - watch this space.

I wanted to post today though to say an ENORMOUS THANK YOU to everyone for their support & sponsorship for the Edinburgh Marathon. I raised £982.48 so am delighted.
If anyone didn't get round to sponsoring me & would still like to my page is still open for another 3 weeks.
Sponsor Link

I've had an email today from Bliss to say Thank you which prompted this post, as I couldn't have done this without all of you.

"Thank you all so much for sending your funds in for the Edinburgh Marathon Festival. I can reveal that the Bliss Edinburgh team has overall raised a truly fantastic:

£11,000

We’re so grateful for all of your incredible hard work fundraising for Bliss and for you all choosing to support our work for special care babies in such an amazing way. Thank you for being part of the team!

Thank you all again so much for your wonderful fundraising. We really couldn't continue our work without the support of fundraisers like you and we are so grateful for all your hard work!

The funds you have all raised will make a real difference to the lives of special care babies and their families- these monies could fund 22 Bliss support groups for a whole year, or go towards funding one of our major research projects, making sure that more tiny babies have the very best start in life. Because of you we will be able to help even more sick and premature babies and support their families, so a huge THANK YOU!"

I'll be back soon - I promise

Take Care all
Lots of Love
Fudgey
xxxx

Finally Feeling Better

2011-07-11T12:48:00.002+01:00

Hello Fudgey Friends,

Last week was another almost non existent training week. After Monday's 2 mini runs, I had PT on Tuesday afternoon & then didn't manage anything else all week.

However I pleased to say that today I finally feel much much much better and am hoping to get to the gym this afternoon.

I'm going to take it easy as after nearly 3 weeks of practically nothing I know I can't expect to return to normal immediately but fingers crossed that this will be the start of a return to normality & some form of consistent training.

Will let you know how I get on

lots of love
Fudgey
xxxx

Normal Service slowing returning

2011-07-04T21:53:00.003+01:00

Hi Fudgey Friends,

Well it's been a wee while since my last post. I'm sorry I haven't written anything & I've had a few comments about the missing posts but sadly I've just not felt up to it.

In my last post I told you how I really struggled in the Race for Life 10k & I've been struggling ever since. I've had the most awful cough for the past 18 days which resulted in 3 days off work sick and in the last 2 weeks of June I only went to my weekly PT sessions and had one disastrous run - couldn't stop coughing.

Stats for June show how much my training dipped

I also had to temporarily suspend the 200 sit up challenge & the 100 press up challenge - which I'm pretty gutted about as I was going so well - but as I said this just a temporary suspension until I get myself well again.

I'm pleased to report though that finally I seem to be on the mend & the cough is nowhere near as fierce. I'm also counting my blessings that all that I've had was a very tiring & irritating cough. Unfortunately others are having to deal with much bigger and significant health issues so I am not going to whine or whinge.

Today I was back running - 2 mini runs of 3.15km & 4.19km - not going to set any Olympic records & still a bit of a cough but feeling a trillion times better. Still going to take it easy though till I know that I'm 100% as don't want to put myself back to square 1. Sometimes you have to listen to what your body needs & rest IS as important as training.
My attitude is; better 2 weeks off now than trying to push through & ending up having to take 2 months off because I've broken myself.
I wish I could say I was always this wise but those who know me well know I'm strong willed, stubborn, independent & don't do sick well!

Good news to share
So enough about me & now for some lovely news. I became an aunt for the 3rd time last Monday when my 3rd niece Elizabeth Erin arrived weighing 8 pounds 0.5oz. A little Sister for Rose & Margaret Mary. Huge Congratulations to my Sis & her hubby. Love you all lots & lots & hope to come & visit soon.

Last but not least
Massive Massive Thanks to the long suffering Mr Fudgey who has again done me proud - the Marathon vid is finally here. I can't believe how fresh I look after having run 26.2miles - makes me even more determined to do another :-)

and that dear lovely Fudgey Friends is all for just now. Time for me to get to bed.

Take Care all
lots of love
Fudgey
xxxxx

Race Report - Race for Life 10k

2011-06-20T20:19:00.008+01:00

Hello Fudgey Friends,

Yesterday morning saw Mr Fudgey & I up early on our way to Edinburgh for The Race for Life 10k.

The race wasn't till 10am but due to the Sunday bus service we had to get the bus at 7.30am. Once we got to town we went to Starbucks for coffee & for me to make my now ritual dozen trips to the loo before a run!

Then we wandered down to Holyrood Park which was a sea of pink. It really was fab & the rain held of for us which was brilliant. Yet again I joined the toilet queue & I had to say the organisation was amazing there were actually people directly you to the portaloos as they became free which made the queue move really quick. The loos for a change also had toilet roll!

After the warm up from Rosemary Connelly, it was off to the start line where I found myself right at the front. This was great as in previous years I've got caught up in the walkers & had to weave in and out & unable to maintain any pace but as I was so close to the front I got a really good start - too good as I went off way to fast & blasted through the first km in 4 mins 30 seconds - way beyond my capability to maintain that sort of pace & I paid for it in the next 3km. Not helped by the fact I've been feeling a bit under the weather the last week or so & by 4k I felt that was it & seriously thought I'd have to stop. Thankfully though there soon as water stop & I slowed to a walk whilst I sipped the water. After another 2km I felt much better and finished the last 4km really strong & finished in 58 minutes 15 seconds.

It was a brilliant but tough course & I'll certainly be using it again as a training route.

When I was struggling I read the back signs on the ladies in front of me & was so inspired by them. I also had 2 runners stop and tell me they loved my back sign & that I inspired them.

I also saw a few people I know - Emma Younger, Linda Thomson & the lovely Emma Wrigley.

I also saw Denise Thomas & her daughter Meghan after I finished as they were running the 5k.

Race for Life truly is an amazing event & I feel so privileged to have been able to take part again this year. This year it was really really well organised, was a fantastic course & an amazing atmosphere.

Once across the finish line I've never been so glad to get a bottle of water in my life. I also collected my medal & my goody bag

Afterwards I popped to the gym to get showered & cleaned up & then took Dad Smith & the rest of the family to Cafe Andaluz for Father's Day lunch - by the time we'd had lunch & got home I could hardly move - I ate way too much - but the food was gorgeous.

Today I'm still coughing & spluttering all over the place so took a well deserved rest - just need to try & shift this cough.

Take Care everyone
lots of love
Fudgey xxx

Race for Life

2011-06-20T08:27:00.002+01:00

Hi Fudgey Friends,

Full Race report will follow later but I made it round the 10k yesterday in 58 minutes 15 seconds. It was a tough hilly course & I was sick twice in the first 4k!

Amazing to see so many women taking part & was totally inspired by all the messages they had on their back signs.

Great event this year.

Take Care all
lots of love
Fudgey
xxxx

Bambi Legs

2011-06-18T19:39:00.006+01:00

Hello Fudgey Friends,

How are you all? Hope you are having a good weekend.

Since I posted on Tuesday I've still not been feeling too great. Had to leave Circuits class after half an hour on Wednesday as I had wobbly 'Bambi' legs and felt a bit sick. I didn't run after work as planned and I also just left my gym bag in my locker as I didn't have the energy to carry it home.

On Thursday I managed my 2 short runs and both felt good. I had an all day workshop on Thursday so ran before & after work. I had a touch of a sore / dry throat all day but felt OK.

Friday morning I woke up with a sore throat & sore ears & feeling totally wiped out & never made it to work till 9.30am. I was so glad to get to the end of the day and couldn't wait for Saturday morning with no alarm....

cue this morning I was awake at 4.25am - typical! I had a very productive morning though as I got all the laundry washed & dried, made a banana loaf & scrubbed the kitchen, took out the rubbish & recycling and went down to the shops & back in the pouring rain - I love the rain :-)

This afternoon I indulged in a nap for a couple of hours.

Tomorrow I take part in the Race for Life 10k @ Holyrood Park. I really hope my Bambi legs can get me up & round that hill! Will let you know how I get on.

If anyone would like to sponsor me here's the link
Race for Life - Sponsor me
Lots of Love
Fudgey
xxx

Out of Control

2011-06-14T23:04:00.002+01:00

Hi Fudgey Friends,

After taking control yesterday, my eating was out of control today - I don't know what was wrong but I just ate all day. Been feeling very odd too - then again me being odd is maybe not anything new!

I went for a quick run after work but called it a day after half an hour and came home.

Completed the end of week 4 Maximal press up test. Another maximal test before moving onto week 5 if you manage at least 31 press ups.
39 done
Couldn't squeeze out a 40th - feeling pretty crap today so 39 will just have to do & means I get to move onto week 5 :-)
No interruption from the cat today as I let him out into the garden & he sat on the wall & surveyed his kingdom!

Then I started week 5 of the 200 sit up challenge
Week 5 Day 1 of the 200 sit up challenge. As I said been feeling a bit odd today but still managed these.
Today 54-60-45-36-75 = 270 Total

Next step of the challenge sees the sets go up to 8 rather than 5 but with less reps - so we'll see how that goes.

Then shower, food, washed kit for tomorrow, made lunch and stuff for tomorrow - I will regain control of my eating tomorrow

Now to bed - life in the fast lane!

Take Care all
lots of love
Fudgey xxxx

Taking Control

2011-06-13T21:51:00.002+01:00

Hello Fudgey Friends,

How are you all?

I'm good after a very lazy weekend - probably just what I needed & a bit of time for reflection I've realised that I've been a bit out of control for the last couple of weeks & for a control freak like me it's not a good place to be.

I've been running a little & working out as well as continuing my 2 challenges 100 pres ups & 200 sit ups, but my eating is all over the place & after 5 months of no alcohol I've certainly made up for it in the last couple of weeks. So last night I decided I was going to take charge & regain control.

After completing my press ups,
Week 4 Day 3 felt very nauseous & shaky by the end...have printed off week 5 though
29-33-29-29-(37+3) = 160 Total
Last set interrupted by the cat who was not very impressed & sat & cried at me!!

I prepared breakfast, lunch & snacks for today and took lamb steaks out of the freezer for dinner.

This morning I got up & ran - I pushed it really really hard & the only way to describe it was short, speedy & sweaty - I also felt a bit sick at the end as I pushed it really hard. The problem was I was really short on time - so decided short on time BIG on effort.

Then off to work - had a great productive day & really enjoyed my healthy food & snacks.

After work I had Personal Torture - sorry I mean Personal Training. It was a really tough session & I felt shaky & sicky after the squats right till the end - but I didn't give up. I was over the moon that my squat weight went up this week too - really showing progress - just need to nail that pull up now.

warm up set of assisted (19kg) pull ups - 15 reps
4 supersets of 8 assisted (12kg) pull ups with 30 Komodos
4 supersets of 12 cable pull down 55kg with 10 squat thrust & jumping pull up
3 tri sets of 15 squats 64kg (woo hoo new weight this week), 16 medicine ball lunges 8kg & 24 plyometric lunges
3 tri sets of 15 bosu squats with 9kg weights, 8 bosu lunges each leg with 9kg weight & 45 second bosu plank

I had a banana for after my session which I ate on the way to the bus but I actually think I ate too little today - from one extreme to another - with the result that when I got home I picked at things whilst dinner was cooking :-(
Never mind it was still a pretty good day & I know where my danger points are so just need to watch out for them. Tomorrow I'll be better.

Blogger Issues
Just a quick hello & Thank you to all my amazing blog friends & followers - at the moment I can't see my followers gadget & I can't comment on any blogs :-(
Trying to resolve but easier said than done.
Anyway I'm still reading everyone's blogs & comments.
I just want to mention a couple of my favourite blogs - you'll see them in them in the side bar too.
Jags Fitness Blog See Jo's paleo progress - Jo inspires me constantly & I'd be happy to be half as hot as she is :-)
Box, Run, Eat read about Laura's awesome half marathon performance - one day I'll sub 2 hours as well :-)
Runner Mum read about Liz's first trail race - I want to do one now too :-)

Well guys I'm going to indulge in an early night - I think I earned it after PT.

Will be back soon
Take Care all

love
Fudgey
xxxx

Random Ramblings

2011-06-11T16:57:00.006+01:00

Hello Fudgey Friends,

How are you all?
I'm Ok been a wee bit off colour this week but it's not really held me back - I've been working & training hard as usual.

Wasn't sure what to post about today so apologies in advance for the random ramblings!

So where has this week gone - so fast yet again.

Training this week
I ran on Monday, Wednesday & Thursday - nothing particularly spectacular - just plodding really. Hill intervals on Wednesday morning though were brutal.

PT on Monday afternoon
Great workout. On a lot of things the initial weight was too light & asked to up it :-)
warm up set of 15 squats 14kg

3 tri sets of 15 squats @ 55kg, 20 alternate backwards lunges with 8kg dumbbells & 15squat jumps with 8kg dumbbells - squat weight definately needs to go up next week starting to feel easy

4 supersets of pull ups (4,3,2,2) & cable rows 12 each arm first set 20kg & other 3 @ 22.5kg

3 supersets of 15 leg extensions (first set 25kg, other 3 @ 30kg) with 12 front squats (first set 15kg & other 3 @ 17.5kg)

4 supersets of 10 assisted (26kg) pull ups with hanging leg raises (8,7,6,4+5)

Circuits Class on Wednesday lunchtime
After morning gradient intervals did this at lunch
11 stations 1 min 15 each
2 jack 2 back, weighted step ups, triple crunch & extend, komodos, punch bag, bicep curls, tricep press ups, chest press, clean & press, slalom & bunny hops & power bag shuttles
then to end us Tabbata
4 sets of 20 secs with 10 secs rest, plyometric lunges, shuttle runs & burpees.....pure evil

200 Sit Up Challenge & 100 Press up Challenge
Week 4 Day 1 200 sit up challenge. After a run & PT I could have skipped these but determined to stick with it - kind of hurt a little LOL
5 sets 32-38-32-32-53 = 187 Total

After hill intervals & circuits on Wed I'm sure you'd forgive me skipping these - not to mention a couple of glasses of wine....but I signed up so best get them done -alternated sets of sit ups & press ups.
Week 4 day 2 200 sit up challenge 38-45-38-38-60 = 219
week 4 day 1 100 press up challenge 21-25-21-21-32 = 120

Friday - I'm beginning to wonder why I thought this was a good idea - thought I was going to throw up!
alternated sets of sit ups & press ups as I missed doing the press ups on Thursday
Week 4 day 3 200 sit up challenge 45-50-45-45-70 = 255 Total - onto week 5!
week 4 day 2 100 press up challenge 25-29-25-25-36 = 140 Total - actually think the last set was 35.5 - 1 day left of week 4 but getting really hard.

Hard as they are I'm sticking with both of these challenges. I think that I may have to repeat week 4 on the press ups as they are certainly the harder of the 2 but I will get there

Things that make me Smile
Been busy pottering about doing laundry and tidying this morning & snapped a few photos to share. I also took a few old snaps of my camera that I realised I've not posted.

Beautiful flowers from Mr Fudgey - including my favourites Gerberas

Anything Beetroot

Visit from Angus, John & Caroline last week

Nice Smelling things - gift from John, Angus & Caroline

Our Babies

A few mentions
Good Luck to everyone taking part in The Moonwalk this evening - I hope the rain goes away for you.
Good Luck to everyone currently taking part in The Caledonian Challenge
Good Luck to anyone taking part in Race for Life this weekend - my event is next Sunday

Well done to my eldest niece Rose for passing her first dancing exams :-)

Last but not least Good Luck to my amazing Sis - hope you don't have to wait too long for the new arrival and that you are all back home together very soon.

I'm off now to see what I can conjure up in the kitchen for dinner.

Have a great weekend all

lots of love
Fudgey
xxx

Back with the programme - kind of!

2011-06-05T20:51:00.002+01:00

Hi Fudgey Friends,

Yet another week has whizzed by - I've been back to my positive eating plan this week & in spite of an indulgent night on Thursday have managed to get 2 pounds off this week. My theory is if I can lose a few pounds & get back in shape it'll help take some time off my Marathon time for Dublin.
So here's how the week looked.....

First post marathon run 4.02 km
After a whole week of no running - (I don't think that has happened in about 18 months!) I was back at it on Monday morning & it felt good to be back

200 sit up challenge week 3 day 1
First day of the challenge managed all 5 sets 21-27-21-21-37 = 127 Total

Just a little run today 5.48 km
Loved this run - started out very slow & built it up - finishing faster than I've ran in a long time - felt really good too - then home to do the press ups!

100 press up challenge Week 3 day 1
good god this was hard work.
5 sets 14-18-14-14-25 = 85 Total

PT
Fastest hour ever - time flys when you are having fun

warm up set of 15 squats 14kg
3 x tri set of 15 squats 55kg, 6 slow bosu lunges each leg 5kg dumbbells, 12 step ups each leg with 15kg barbell
4 xsuperset of pull ups (4,3,2 & 1) with wide grip cable pull down (1 set of 12 @ 55kg & then 3 sets of 8 @ 60kg)
3 x superset of cable hamstring curls 12 each leg 25kg & hanging leg raises (10, 7 & 6)
3 x superset of 10 assisted (19kg for first set then 12kg for 2 sets) pull ups with 20 hammer curls 7kg dumbbells

200 sit up challenge Week 3 Day 2
Straight up the upstairs after getting home from PT to do my sit ups. Job done.
5 sets 30 - 38-23-23-45 = 159 total

Quick Cycle
Legs were feeling a little heavy so did 10km on the bike rather than running

100 press up challenge Week 3 Day 2
I think these may well kill me
5 sets 20 -25-15-15-20+7 = 102 Total
Last set was meant to be at least 25 but I had to take a tiny rest after 20 before doing another 7.

Drunken Night Out
Thursday evening I was straight out from work & I think probably consumed my body weight in red wine, champagne & not to mention a black sambuca. I never got home till 12.30 & was a little worse for wear. Great night out though - but not something I think I could do on a regular basis - I must be getting old!

Hungover Gym Visit
Even though I never got to my bed till after 1am I was still up & on my usual bus for 6.50am and headed to the gym before work. I only managed about 18 minutes on the treadmill & 10 on the cross trainer - I thought sweating out some of the alcohol would make me feel better - it didn't!

Entertaining
On Saturday lunchtime we had friends over for lunch so we were up early tidying & I was preparing food. I made homemade Smoked Salmon & Broccoli quiches with Salad & Poached Pears with raspberries for dessert. In true Come Dine with me style I'd never made either of these before but thankfully they turned out really well.
It was great catching up with John & Caroline & little Angus.

Laziness
The rest of the weekend has been really lazy - Mum & Dad Smith came back from their holidays so we went to see them yesterday afternoon. Then today I never got up till 11.30am & took the decision not to run at all. I must have really needed the rest. We went off for a food shop this afternoon & then back to Mum & Dad Smith's for dinner & now I'm home blogging but must do my sit ups & press ups.....

200 sit up challenge Week 3 Day 3
Thought I better get these done after 2 days off.
5 sets today 33-42-30-30-50 = 185 total

100 press up challenge Week 3 Day 3
These ain't getting any easier!!!!
5 sets today 22-30-20-20-29 = 121 Total

Well after that I'm exhausted - time to get my lunch etc ready for tomorrow & then into bed.

Take Care Everyone
lots of love
Fudgey xxx

Life after the Edinburgh Marathon...

2011-05-30T22:02:00.006+01:00

Hello Fudgey Friends,

I can't believe that a week has passed already since my first marathon. It's also been my first non running week in a long long time - at least a year I think & possibly as much as 18 months) So I hear you ask how have I coped not running & what have I done with my boundless energy & enthusiasm & grumpiness that sets in when I don't run....

Rest & Recovery
Last Monday I had the day off after the Marathon but felt a lot better than I expected. I pottered about the house and then headed into town to meet my fabulous hubby for coffee & cake. I also treated myself to some Clarin skincare products.

Pampering
I was back to work on Tuesday & my quads were a little stiff but other than that I was absolutely fine. I had a pretty full day of meetings but a nice reward after work when I had a back, neck & shoulder massage and a facial. Then it was off to Livingston's restaurant in Linlithgow for a celebratory meal. This is the second time I've been here and the food again was simply exceptional. For my starter I had - Marbled Terrine of Confit Game, Livingston's Branston, Tomato-Bread, Hazelnuts, my main course - Fillet of Aged Scottish Beef, Braised Feather Blade, Potato Puree, Carmelised Shallots, Wilted Spinach, Red Wine Jus and dessert -
Passionfruit Tart, Chocolate Marquise, Passion Fruit Reduction, Coconut Sorbet all accompanied by an absolutely delicious Malbec & finished off with coffee & tablet.
Thank you so much to hubby for taking me.

Washed Out Wednesday
On Wednesday my quads felt more sore than they had on Monday or Tuesday and plans of maybe going to circuits were put aside. Tuesday night wasn't a late night, nor really one of over indulgence but I simply felt washed out all day - so an early night was just what the doctor ordered.

Back to the Torture
Thursday morning was my first visit back to the gym since the marathon and back to personal training.
Tightness in quads pretty much gone & good job too!

3 sets of 2 unassisted pull ups - 1st one was so nearly nearly there
4 supersets of 10 cable pull downs 65kg with 15 swiss ball chest press with 8kg dumbbells
4 supersets of 6 widegrip assisted pull ups with 12 matrix bicep curl - 4 bottom half, 4 top half, 4 full 14kg - hurt like hell!
warm up set of 15 squats 14kg
3 tri sets of 15 squats 55kg, 12 high bar lunges 10kg & 30seconds of oblique cycles managed 46, 55 & 58.

Felt surprisingly good after the Marathon

Spinning
Friday saw me back in the spin studio - possibly for the first time this year I think as I've had to put in so much running so it was good to be back. 5th day of no running & had twitchy legs but taking a full weeks running rest so this was a great alternative. Forgot how much I actually enjoy spin - I am definitely far from normal.

Lazy Weekend
Not too much to report from the weekend - a very laid back & lazy one to be honest but again probably what I needed.
I had my hair done on Saturday & have gone back to brunette - not that I didn't like the blond but just too much maintenance & not really me - after all neither She Hulk or Wonderwoman are blond!
I also managed to fit in the initial tests for the 100 press up challenge (managed 30) & the 200 sit up challenge (managed 50)- both of which are not bad starting points & see me starting the programme at week 3. I'll keep you posted on my progress.

What next....
Aiming to obliterate that 10k in 3 weeks!

and beyond that......
I've entered The Dublin marathon on 31st October 2011.
After swearing during the last few weeks of training that Edinburgh was not just my first but my only Marathon - I've been bitten by the bug and signed up for another. Maybe I wouldn't have felt the same if I'd not enjoyed the run so much but I loved every minute of it and me being me am gutted I didn't finish under 5 hours so need to do better!

I think that's enough for one evening I shall leave you there and go get my running gear sorted for tomorrow.

Take Care all
lots of love
Fudgey
xxxx

Edinburgh Marathon - Race Report

2011-05-23T21:46:00.021+01:00

Hello Fudgey Friends,

I've been procrastinating for the last 45 minutes about writing this report. My head is still buzzing & I have so much I want to share but just don't know where to start.

Pre Race
'Zipping up the Fudgey suit'
As it was a 10am start on Sunday we didn't need to get up as early as we had for last years half or for the Kilomathon so the alarm didn't go off till 7.15am. I'd had a migraine on Saturday afternoon and had napped for 2 hours so was pleasantly surprised to have a fantastic night's sleep & wake up feeling refreshed. First up was my usual race day breakfast of Marks & Spencer Apple & Sultana porridge - I don't know what I'll do if they ever discontinue this. I also drank about 800ml of water before we left the house, so again as usual several toilet visits too. I had laid everything out on Saturday night so there wasn't much to do other than tape my feet, get dressed and head out the door. As Mr Fudgey was coming home after the start I had a bag of stuff for him to pick up to bring to the finish - which is where I had put my purse.....so leaving the house at 8.20am I suddenly realise I need my bus pass which is in the purse....but it wasn't in the bag....couldn't remember what I had done with it & we had to go as our Sunday morning service is only 1 bus an hour & the bus was at 8.30am (Actually found the purse when we got home later on the kitchen counter - dizzy Fudgey)

The bus journey was a bit of a nightmare - the bus stopped at every stop and people got on - most of them not knowing what they were doing or where they were going. I was starting to wish I had my ipod to zone out. Eventually off the bus and I was bursting for the toilet - so dived into The Old Waverley hotel to use their facilities - then walked the short distance up to Regent road for the start.

I got a bit emotional when I top my running top out to put on - it was just a realisation of what I was about to do & why I was doing it & it all got a bit much - Mr Fudgey however at the time was filming so I am sure that the tears will somehow make it into the edited video - well I suppose it is who I am - an emotional little Fudgey.

Mr Fudgey left me at about 9.35am to head off to find a good place to cheer me on & film me from. Rather than hanging about in my start pen for 25 minutes I decided to visit the portaloos again - as usual at every event big queues. I eventually got to the front - imagine my face when I came out & the place had cleared! I rushed back up to the road but the announcer was still saying 10 minutes to the start so I hadn't missed anything Thank goodness. I joined my starting pen and slowly we inched towards the start line - there were masses of runners & I think it took nearly 15 minutes for me to actually reach the start line & then we were off.

The Route

The Race

I knew that I had to try not to get too caught up in the start of the race or head out to fast but of course I did - I looked at my garmin but was very disciplined and made myself ease off a little. Saw Mr Fudgey twice in the first km - he is an absolute star - I don't know how he manages to catch me every time.
First 5k felt brilliant - nice easy, consistent pace, could have gone faster but was really anxious not to knacker myself when I had so far to go.
Coming up to around 10km I was really encouraged to see 3 people I knew from work cheering the runners on - Fiona Mills, Richard Hope & Scott Innes. Around 13k I also saw Scott Smith who was running in the relay heading to the relay point to prepare for his leg of the run. I was feeling really good & really comfortable, even the couple of showers of rain didn't bother me as they didn't last too long & weren't too heavy.
Around 15k I saw the Bliss support team and again this really spurred me on. I was running really well & my splits were even but I wasn't sure how long I'd maintain it. I decided I'd run for as long as I possibly could & made it to 30k running nonstop. I was also delighted to see my friend Steve Kinghorn twice on the dogleg part of the course - this really spurred me on again especially when I felt something in my shoe which felt like my toenail coming off - this didn't stop me though I just hobble a little for a few steps gritted my teeth & pushed on. The toenail didn't actually come off but I think it soon will. Made it to 32km in 3 hours 43 minutes and was really pleased fastest I'd done this in training was 4 hours 3 minutes.
At this point I was certain I could make the finish in about 4 hours 50ish, but then we turned face into the wind & the next 10k were a real battle. Gusts of wind kept catching my cap & after grabbing in several times I eventually let it go at about 24 miles - it was only £1 from Asda after all. My eyes were streaming from the wind too and I was having to walk a little but I was really enjoying myself.
At around 25.5miles I saw my friends Smurfie & Lorna and this really lifted me - I was so happy to see them & they did me very proud with their cheering.
Then I could see the finish line & I saw Mr Fudgey. I was delighted to see it wasn't on the rubber mats like last years half so was able to increase the pace & sprint for the line. Both hands went in the air & punched the air in victory - I'd really done it I'd run my first Marathon.

The Finish Area
I'm not sure how but Steve had got back to the finish & met me at the finishers area so I was chatting away to him while negotiating the shambles that was the finishers area this year. There were tables with lucozade & water so I helped myself but there was no obvious organisation - in fact there wasn't even anyone directing runners were to go. It was a complete bottle neck. I was unceremoniously given a medal - last year we had our medals hung round our necks. Then I found the table with the finishers t-shirts & then the goody bags. To be fair I think the race crew were quite stressed as there were so many people in such a small street & no obvious organisation or channeling of runners. Last year at the half I had described the finish area to Mr Fudgey as a party atmosphere - not this year I was very disappointed. There was also no banana this year - though further up there seemed to be loads of discarded skins so I wonder if they had run out. We then had to negotiate around people trying to get to the baggage trucks.
I asked Mr Fudgey where Mum & Dad Smith were & he didn't know. They had dropped him off as they couldn't get near the car park. So we phoned them & they were at the reunion area. Mr Fudgey had been given directions the wrong way to the finish by a race steward - it took a runner to tell him where to go to see me finishing.

We then met Mum & Dad Smith who were gutted they hadn't seen me run as they weren't allowed near the finish area. There was no sign of the advertised big screen - but I later heard there was a screen but it was broken. The car park was not accessible by the directions supplied - so 2 parking tickets paid for - not used because my supporters couldn't get there. Also KMac & Rob couldn't get through to see me run either and were upset & angry. Both race stewards & police were downright rude to Mum & Dad Smith. It kind of took the shine off things a little. GSI Events should be ashamed of the organisation this years finish - it was an absolute disgrace. I have heard numerous similar stories from other runners & their supporters.

The Goody Bag

Post Race
When we got home it was an effort to get out of the car & into the house - also captured on video! Once I'd had my ice bath though & a warm shower I felt a lot better. We went to Mum & Dad Smith for a lovely meal & also some very lovely wine - Chateau Neuf du Pape - my favorite:-)
I've had today off and everything still seems to be working fine - no running for a good few days though. My quads are a little sore today & surprisingly my collar bone is really sore possibly from battling into the wind? Tomorrow I have a facial & aback neck & shoulder massage to look forward & a celebratory meal with my fabby Mr Fudgey.

So that was my first marathon - but I am sure not my last - I totally loved it & think I really can improve my time with the right training.

Whats Next?
Next up I have a 10k in about 4 weeks so a wee rest this week & then back to the training - better get some hills in.

Thanks again to everyone for their support.

Take Care all
lots of love
Fudgey
xxxxx

It's Official

2011-05-22T22:53:00.003+01:00

Hello Fudgey Friends,

It's official - I'm a marathon finisher :-)

Totally loved it - another is definitely on the cards

More soon but now just enjoying.

Lots of love
Fudgey
xxxx

It's not all about me

2011-05-21T20:36:00.005+01:00

Hello Fudgey Friends,

Well as you will see from my countdown clock it is nearly time. Tomorrow I'll be running the Edinburgh Marathon.

I really wanted to a quick post tonight to say Thank you and to recognise all the people who have helped & supported me to get this far as they are all as much a part of this as I am.

Mr Fudgey - Best Hubby in the world
Poor Mr Fudgey has probably had the toughest job of all. He has been so patient, supportive, encouraging & when I needed it honest with me. I could write a whole post about just how wonderful he is.

Family, Friends, Colleagues
I'm so lucky to have the most amazing support network of family, friends & colleagues. Mum & Dad Lockie, Mum & Dad Smith, The McWilliams Clan, Mr & Mrs Muppet, Gran, Liz, Kenneth, and Fay. KMac & Smurfie who help keep me sane. Colin Fraser who keeps me in shape. Clare Fulton - Sports Masseuse Extraordinaire. My wonderful work colleagues who endure my endless running chat & sometimes boundless energy / hyperactivity!

Amazing Charity
I'm running for an amazing charity - Bliss. Hannah at Bliss has been fantastic sending out weekly emails to EMF runners, organising cheering materials, t-shirts, running vests and generally answering queries.

Supporters
Thank you to everyone who has sponsored me so far. It's not to late though if anyone else would still like too.
http://www.justgiving.com/Claire-Smith15

Mark Cooper
Mark is a running friend I've made this year & he is tackling the impressive challenge of running the 10k, 5k, half Marathon & Marathon this weekend.

DailyMile
In the past 6 months I've made many running friends through DailyMile. I'd especially like to mention the running lovelies Emma W & Karen S - who have inspired me so much & who are both also running the Marathon tomorrow.
There are way too many people to mention - but those I can think of who are running tomorrow as well are: Lena C, Richard M, HonestJim, MovingA, IanP, Chloe M, Armando & Neil G - Good Luck to everyone and I look forward to seeing all your DM post race updates :-)
Also Ben W who is running the Windermere Marathon tomorrow - Good Luck ;-)
I wish I could mention everyone as you are all fab.

Well time for me to go & try relax a bit. Will post briefly tomorrow to let you know I made it.

lots of love
Fudgey
xxxx

Fail to Prepare - Prepare to Fail

2011-05-17T22:32:00.002+01:00

Hello Fudgey Friends,

Today we said goodbye to our friend Judi. Those of you who have been following me a while may remember my post last year about Judi's Rays of Sunshine

The funeral service was a humanitarian one and was lovely, though a sad & emotional day it was a real celebration of Judi's life and I feel so privileged to have known her - she certainly was one amazing lady.

I was thinking about the day on the bus on my way home and recalled one of the anecdotes from the service about one of Judi's favourite sayings being 'Fail to Prepare - Prepare to Fail' I actually recall her saying this:-)

Though I have my own reasons for running and supporting Bliss, I will be thinking of Judi on Sunday & taking inspiration from her. I'll also be thinking of Judi when I take part in this year's Race for Life event. This post from last week and my entry into Race for Life was as a result of the news that Judi had said goodbye to us and for a couple of people close to my heart who have cancer.

I've certainly done the preparation for the Marathon & I refuse to fail now.

Take Care Everyone
Lots of Love
Fudgey
xxxx

Blogless

2011-05-16T22:16:00.007+01:00

Hello Fudgey Friends,

I'm so sorry I have left you blogless - I haven't forgotten you. Please forgive me.

So where I have been for over a week you ask.

Katie Melua @ Glasgow Royal Concert Hall

On Monday 9th March we finally got to see the postponed Katie Melua concert from December and she was absolutely amazing. Brilliant night out but made for a long day as was out the house from 6.30am to squeeze in a quick pre work run - short on both time and enthusiasm though was getting into it just as I had to stop to get ready for work. Small niggles in calf and tightness in ankle. Not home till about 11.30pm - well worth it though.

Personal Torture
warm up set of 12 assisted pull ups 26kg
3 sets of 2 'unassisted' pull ups ('unassisted' = a little help from my trainer) These were poor can do better but arms still sore from Friday's PT.
3 supersets of 8 assisted pull ups 12kg with 12 assisted tricep dips 26kg
4 supersets of 10 lat pull downs 35kg & 16 alternate bicep curls 9kg
3 tri sets of lunges 25 kg bar 12 each leg, 16 medicine ball lunges 6kg & 12 swiss ball hamstring curls each leg
3 supersets 15 swissball jack knifes & 15 ab extensions with 25lb plate

It never seems to get any easier!

Back to Circuits & a cheeky wee run
My absolute favourite class with my fab friend Smurfy @ lunchtime
Didn't feel sore at all after yesterday's PT so went to circuits - think it may all catch up with me tomorrow though - arms are starting to ache & it'll be shower & early bed for me
Stations today were: lunges with 15kg bar, bicep curls 10kg bar, skipping, side raises with 3kg dumbbells, punchbag, suicides, squats 30kg, step ups with 5kg dumbbells, press up, tricep dips, inverted row & power bag sprints. 2 rounds of a minute each station.
Then after work a wee treadmill session
Running with sore abs is a little challenging but I did a workout I quite like which is after warming up for a few minutes taking the speed up by 0.1km/h each minute for 15 minutes & then back down before a cool down. Job done

Crap Day at the office
tension resolver 5.62 km - Thought this would make me feel better after a crap day at work but sadly it didn't :-(
threw in a couple of sprint intervals amongst a general plod but just wasn't really in the mood
Ended up having a fairly early night and thankfully felt better in the morning.

Friday again - where does the week go
Not been to pump for ages as been focusing so much on my running but since I'm tapering today was a NO run day but I needed / wanted to do something so I went to pump at lunchtime and really enjoyed it :-)
Still reintroducing fish into my diet and had tuna steak for the second time with no ill effect - this time I cooked it in say sauce & orange juice & it was fab. More fudgey food pictures soon I promise.

Reality Strikes
Saturday was a fairly lazy day with general tidying & laundry but the big event of the weekend was my Marathon race number arriving :-$ Real roller coaster of emotions.

Last real run before the big day
So not up for this - huge Thanks to hubby who kissed me at the front door told me to 'zip up my mansuit & get out running' First 5k were a real effort but I just kept plodding along focusing on each 1/2km at a time & it started to feel better after 5k by the time I was finishing at 13k I felt much better and wanted to go further - but being a good girl & following the taper caper- too late now to make any difference. 1 week to go #Edinburgh Marathon

More Personal Torture
Back to work today - Monday again & my weekly PT session - booked it early this week so I am recovered for the big day.
fastest hour ever
3 sets of 2 pull ups (almost unassisted)
4 supersets of 8 widegrip cable pull down 37.5kg & 15 cable flyes 12.5kg
3 sets of 1 pull up (almost unassisted)
3 supersets of 10 (each arm) single arm row 30lbs & 10 preacher curls don't know weight - don't like these they hurt!
3 trisets of 15 leg press 75kg, 20 overhead lunges 10kg & 15 weighted squat jumps 10kg dumbbells
3 sets of 10 triple crunch first set with 5lb plate but went up to 10lb as the 5 was too light!
2 sets of 10 medicine ball pass, twist, crunch combo

Good session today went past so quick

and that my dear fudgey friends is a whistle stop roundup of where I have been & what I've been up to. Busy week at the office and getting ready for the weekend.
Just keep telling myself this is what I've trained for.

Will be back soon I promise

Take Care all
lots of love
Fudgey
xxxx

If I could change the world...

2011-05-10T20:08:00.003+01:00

Hello Fudgey Friends,

If I could change the world, If there was just one thing I could do no matter how improbable, I'd rid the world of cancer. Sadly it's not possible but as my small contribution I've decided to sign up for a Race for Life 10k run.

I decided to take part in this event this year as cancer has and is affecting so many people I know and care about.

I just wish there was more I could do.

The Race for Life story
Race for Life is the largest women-only fundraising event in the UK.
Since 1994, women of all ages and fitness levels across the UK have come together at these inspiring events to walk, jog or run to help beat cancer.

Some of Race for Life women take part in celebration of surviving a cancer experience. Others take part in memory of a loved one or to give hope to a cancer-free future. But all share a common goal: to raise money for Cancer Research UK's groundbreaking work and to help save more lives.

I have already raised a lot of money this year for Bliss and wouldn't normally ask for anymore sponsorship but this is a cause I feel very very strongly about for many reasons for me, for my family, my friends & colleagues whose lives have been touched by cancer in one way or another.

If anyone would like to sponsor me I have set up a new sponsor page

lots of love
Fudgey
xxxxx

Making Progress

2011-05-08T20:51:00.004+01:00

Hello Fudgey Friends,

Sorry I haven't had a chance to post since Monday - I honestly don't know where the time goes.

2 Weeks to go
It's now less than 2 weeks till the Edinburgh Marathon and I'm starting my taper & race day prep already. I've written my name on my Bliss running top, though this looks like it's run a little when I washed it after wearing to train today :-(. I've stocked up on the gels I'll be used, checked I have enough foot tape and tested out my race day kit. I also had a wee emotional moment yesterday and I'm sure it'll be the first of many between now & race day, but I've done as much training as I possibly could and thankfully am injury free so there's not much more I can do now. I'm nervous & excited at the same time.

Making Progress
The last couple of months have really seen me progress in terms of my running. A few edited highlights...
* March: logged my first 50km + week (in fact there were 2 weeks > 50k)
* March: ran the furthest I ever had before (31k)
* April: logged my first 60km + week
* April: a new PB at Kilomathon distance (26.2km) taking 6 minutes 21 seconds off my time from October 2010
* April: increased my furthest distance run (32.35km)
* May: though only 1 week old has seen me log my first 70km+ week
* May: a new furthest distance (35.17km)

I also looked back at the first 4 months of last year compared to this year and it looks pretty good to me:-)

Training this week
It's been a strange week as I had my long run on Monday so though this was the start of my taper I was beginning the week with my log run delayed from Sunday - so technically that belonged to last week.

Tuesday I squeezed in a short recovery run and was really please at how good it felt. I expected this to hurt so was delighted when it didn't.

Wednesday - just a short run before work as that was all I could fit in

Thursday - run & ride. I ran most of the way to work about 85% of the way but then got the bus the last bit. Partly to get to work quicker and partly as I don't want to overdo it at this late stage.

Friday - Personal training.

felt so tired all day & then I had PT - afterwards apart form the dead arms I felt fab.

3 sets of 10 squat thrust & jumping pull up - these pull ups are starting to look real good even if I say so myself

4 supersets of 10 narrow grip underarm cable pull down 37.5kg with hanging legs raises - these were poor given what I know I can do, sets of 9, 11, 7 & 6

4 supersets of 12 wide grip cable pull down 70kg & 15 cable flyes only 7.5kg

3 evil trisets if 15 lunges 55kg, 16 overhead alternate powerlunges 10kg & 20 alternate komodos

3 supersets of hamstring cable curls 30kg 10 each leg with 12 cable crunches 35kg

My upper body then had that lovely dull heavy ache :-) I love it

Saturday = Total rest Day. I did acquaint myself with Mr Foam Roller - he hurts.

Sunday - A fairly short run today & it didn't feel that great - too be honest I wasn't in the mood but knew I had to run at least 7.71km to reach 70k for this week - I managed 8.4km and if I'd had more time probably would have run about 12 or 13 - but was glad I was on a clock and had to stop. There was no problem with my legs they feel pretty good but my arms are so broken. After my run I really struggled to get my top off!
Mr Fudgey & I then went to Thor in 3D. We both really enjoyed it. I struggled to get my coat off and then back on at the cinema - hope my arms feel better tomorrow. Lazy tonight too and went to the fish & chip shop for tea - sometimes you need a treat.

Well I think I will leave you there. I want to go get my kit organised for tomorrow and lunches etc. I have a few busy days coming up but will be back soon with a new post.

Take Care all
lots of love
Fudgey
xxxx

Not Long Now

2011-05-02T20:16:00.004+01:00

Hello Fudgey Friends,

How are you all? Hope you've had a lovely holiday weekend. It was been absolutely glorious here and we've been enjoying the new conservatory furniture - as have our furry kids!

It's only been a week but I feel like we've packed so much in and now it's only 20 days to the Marathon - a good run today though has left me approaching my taper with a hint of confidence. So here's a round up on my week.

Wiped Out
I have to admit that after Easter Sunday's long run & banoffee pie indulgence I was pretty wiped out on Easter Monday & we just had a pretty lazy day about the house.

Recovery Run & PT
Tuesday I managed to fit in a pre work recovery run 5.17km Less painful than I expected after Sunday's effort. Then after work it was my weekly PT session
3 sets of 2 pull ups with a tiny help from my trainer - I'm seeing the progress slowly - soon I'll be unassisted

4 supersets of underarm grip lat pull down - first 2 sets 12 reps @ 35kg, second 2 sets 8 reps @ 40kg superset with swiss ball plank each held for a full minute

4 supersets of wide cable pull down first set 12 reps @ 60kg, second set 12 reps @ 65kg, then 2 sets of 8 reps @ 70kg superset with 12 cable wood chops each side @ 20kg

warm up set of 10 squats just the bar (about 14kg)
3 supersets of squats 15 reps @ 55kg with 12 weighted squat jumps with 10kg dumbbells. A little nervous the first set of squats at the heavier weight but managed every rep in every set

3 supersets of cable hamstring curls @ 25kg, 12 each leg with press ups 30, 25 & 20

Then I came home and enjoyed the sun in the conservatory as I was knackered!

Wednesday & Thursday Doubles
Both days I ran twice. Wednesday before (5.27km) & after work (6.52km) and decided that after work is just not my best time of day to run - I really prefer morning or lunchtime. Thursday lunchtime (5.27km) and after work (9.37km) and first run of the year in shorts. Nice steady plod. Looked like i'd been for a swim rather than a run by the end

Visiting Time
On Friday Mr Fudgey & I went through to Glasgow to visit my Gran in hospital. We are incredibly incredibly grateful to Dad Smith for taking us there & back - it saved a lot of hassle with holiday travel services and figuring out how to get to somewhere we hadn't been before on public transport. My Gran was also very grateful and though surprised when we turned up was very pleased to see us. Such shame that visiting was only an hour.

Charity Swishing Event
On Saturday I was in town all day to do mini manicures at my friend's charity swishing event, so it was another full day & I wasn't home till about 7.30pm. I had a good day though it was a shame that the event wasn't better attended especially as my friend Patricia put in so much effort organising it.

Lazy Sunday
Yesterday was a very lazy day. I planned to run but didn't as I woke up tired, dehydrated and headachy. I spent most of the day dozing in the conservatory & then in the evening had Mum & Dad Smith over for dinner as they too have had an incredibly busy week, running round doing good deeds for everyone else and giving up their time without complaint so I thought it would be nice for me to cook for them.

Another Holiday & my Longest Run Ever
I was off work again today - it's going to be a shock to the system next week when I have to work a full 5 days!
I knew I had to get in my final 20 - 22 miler before the Edinburgh Marathon and then begin my taper. So I got up, had my rice krispies, got organised including slapping on the factor 25 as it was very sunny though quite breezy. I really wasn't up for this today but planned an easy out & back route with the intention to see how I felt at 16k & either turn then or head on for another couple of k. I also made sure I had my bus pass and some money just in case, but it turned out great. Today there was more running, less walking, still a little hobbling & a little mild panic when my groin popped at 9km - but I'm fine. Highlights on today's run were being chased by a dog at about 30k - a little yappy terrier thing and then just before 32k seeing Dad Smith - who very kindly offered me a lift - hope that isn't because I looked fit to drop!
When I went out last week I ran 20.1 miles in 4 hours 16 minutes. Checkpoint at same distance today 4 hours 3 minutes. Pretty pleased with that improvement.
I managed 35.17km (21.85 miles) today & mostly felt good. A little pain in my left knee and need to keep an eye on that - I think I will definitely wear a knee support on marathon day, but this had been a massive confidence boost & though not easy I know that on race day I will manage 26.2 miles.

Time to go now & get some food with Mr Fudgey. It's been way too hot so we've waited till later & I've made some nice salad.

Take Care all
lots of love
Fudgey xxx

I ran to Milton Keynes

2011-04-28T22:38:00.002+01:00

Hey Fudgey Friends

Just a quick post this evening with a couple of random running facts....

apparently since the start of the year I've burnt calories equivalent to 298 donuts!

and run the distance from Edinburgh to Milton Keynes approx 350 miles at this rate I'll need new running shoes in the summer

View Larger Map

Take Care all
lots of love
Fudgey
xxxx

"'Your feet hurt because you’re kicking so much ASS!”

2011-04-25T17:43:00.008+01:00

Hello Fudgey Friends,

Belated Happy Easter. Hope you have all had a wonderful weekend. Mr Fudgey & I have been fortunate to have a 4 day weekend & I have to admit I am so glad as I'm just exhausted.

"'Your feet hurt because you’re kicking so much ASS!”
Apparently the above was a banner at a race - this would have made me laugh & kick even harder!
The reality is my foot hurt because I didn't tape it properly but I'm pleased to report it is on the mend. The injury did mean though that from the Kilomathon last Sunday till this Saturday I never ran a single km. In fact I never saw the inside of the gym till Thursday & that was for a PT session which was as torturous as usual.

Catching Up
On Friday Mr Fudgey & I headed through to Glasgow to meet up with my Gran for lunch. It was great to see her and hear all about her recent holiday to Portugal. Now I'm sure my Gran wouldn't want me to publish her age here but it's fair to see she is a little more than twice my age and she has so much energy. Bowling, dancing, travelling and socialising with friends are just a few of the activities she enjoys. She really is an amazing lady and I hope I have half her energy when I'm her age - in fact half her energy now would be good :-)We all have heroes & people who inspire us - but sometimes they are closer to you than you may think.

Foot Tester
On Saturday morning I decided that I'd head out for a short run to see how my foot would hold up & if I would be OK for my long run on Sunday. It was cold, grey and damp but I have a fantastic short & hilly but fast and strong run. I kept it short as the plan for Sunday was to increase my distance again.

Beyond the Comfort Zone

I got up a little later than planned on Sunday and my enthusiasm from Saturday had gone - I wasn't in the mood to run & made even harder knowing that it was 20 miles on the plan. By the time I headed out it was just after 10am and it was already getting hot. I had on a long sleeved white top & a cap to protect me from the sun. Off I went - was amazed just how much the 2 litres of water in the hydration pack and my tiredness slowed me down. The first 14km of my route were pretty hilly - I've run this route a couple of times before & this hill is a close second nemesis to my arch enemy Arthur's seat. It doesn't look much from the bottom

but this is the view from the top

I chose this as part of my route though as it's so pretty and I especially wanted to enjoy the views in the sunshine for the first time. The heat, the hills and my general tiredness really took it out of me though and by 13km I wanted to quit & go home. I had a wee chat with myself as you do and decided that I needed to carry on as on Marathon day I'm not just going to give up & go home if it's a bit tough. Decided to run down by the canal for a bit but my pace dropped even more with the uneven surface and my left knee started to hurt a little. By 16km my right glute & right inner thigh were also hurting in addition to the left knee. I was pretty fed up but stuck with it, though it became more of a run, walk, hobble than a complete run. I would walk 200m then run 800m when I couldn't keep running. Sheer bloody mindedness and determination got me through and I stopped my garmin at 32.35km (20.1 miles) I should have felt elated but I just wanted to cry to be honest. Lucozade recovery drink, Ice bath, cup of tea, warm shower & 2XU compression tights on I didn't feel quite so bad - as I posted on facebook...Mentally & emotionally = happy & proud. Physically = hurting
I later discovered I had also managed to get a bit sunburnt. I had rolled my right sleeve half way up when it got really hot but couldn't roll up the left as my garmin was over it - so I have a very distinct red / white divide on my right arm and the backs of my hands were a bit pink too - so must remember next time to get the sun cream on before heading out - just not used to this weather at home.

Fantastic Mr Fudgey
I know I mention Mr Fudgey often but I honestly can't Thank him enough for his continued support. He really is the best.
On Sunday he was busy at home cutting all the grass & doing the ironing whilst I was out running. He really is a star doing everything he can to make sure I can fit in my training and have as stress free a time at home as I possibly can. Thanks Babe xxxx

It would be wrong not to Thank everyone else for their words of encouragement, advice, support and tolerance of me when I', tired, irritable & grumpy - you all know who you are. I have the best family and friends ever.

Easter Dessert

Mum & Dad Smith invited us for dinner on Easter Sunday and I knew I had this to look forward too whilst I was out plodding the roads. I had said I'd make a dessert and decided for once to ditch the healthy books & make something decadent - Banoffee Pie.
This also prompted an unplanned arm workout as I don't have an electric whisk & I had to whip the cream by hand - my poor arms ached like my legs afterwards!
But it was worth the effort

Thanks to Mum Smith for a fab meal and to Dad Smith for the taxi service - very very much appreciated.

Lazy Day
Today has been a very lazy day. I didn't sleep well last night - sore legs but they are much better today & I walked down to the shops and back to pick up milk just to stretch them off - no run today - may squeeze in a quick recovery tomorrow time permitting.

Going to go and start organising dinner - I've been trying to reintroduce fish to my diet to eliminate which doesn't agree with me and enjoyed tuna steak last week served with roasted tomato & sweet potato crush. Tonight's effort is salmon with corn on the cob & some sort of rice.

Well that's enough babbling from me for one day

Take Care
lots of love
Fudgey
xxxx

Kilomathon Scotland - Race Report

2011-04-18T11:11:00.011+01:00

Hello Fudgey Friends,

Finally a race report from Sunday's Kilomathon - sorry for the delay.

The alarm went off at 5.30am on Sunday and I was up and eating my usual pre race fuel of Marks & Spencer's Sultana & apple instant porridge by 6am. It was a real struggle but experience has taught me how important it is for long runs to get the correct food in and when is the best time for me - I find about 2 hours before the start works best for me. I also drank some water & a small cup of tea.

The taxi arrived to take us to Ingliston at 6.30am.

Once we arrived I had to collect my race number & timing chip as I was technically a late entry as entered through my charity Bliss and it wasn't all finalised till late March. No problems getting sorted at the help desk though I did feel for the 2 women staffing it and the growing queue - they seemed to have it all under control though.
The sun was already out though it was a little chilly and forecast was for temperatures around 17c.

Just after I came out of the help desk we met KMac & Rob. Kmac was running the half kilomathon.

Several loo trips - luxurious by other race standards as they were real toilets not the usual portaloos and then it was time to go to our starting pens. The half runners were about 3 pens in front of me so I waited with KMac till almost the last minute & then joined my pen which was the last one and I was pretty much at the very end. Experience from this event last year when I was at the start of my pen had meant that I had gone off to fast and then been passed by lots of runners which can be demoralising so I figured if I started at the back the crowd would force me to initially keep the pace down and the I could be motivated by moving my way forward rather than seeming to go backwards.

8am sharp we were off.

Saw Mr Fudgey & Rob on the way past & then saw Mr Fudgey again as I came past the entrance area after initial half lap within Royal Highland Centre. I looked at my garmin and thought oh no I have gone off too fast though I didn't feel like I was going fast so I tried to slow down a little but I was feeling really good.
First water station about 4k - I felt brilliant.
Took on a gel about 6k - didn't really want it but the run was as much about Marathon preparation than anything else.
8k still feeling really good but starting to think there was no way I could maintain this pace for the full 26.2km

Just before 10km on the bridge I saw Kmac ahead of me so when I caught her I fell into stride with her. She looked fab but said she was struggling a little and her IT band was hurting. I stayed with her all the way to 13.1km and walked a little of each km when she was starting to hurt - but looking at my splits it was only really the 13th km that was much slower. Took another gel at about 11k again not really wanted but knew better to have before I needed it. It was really pleasant on the bridge crossing with a nice breeze - though there was still hardly a cloud in the sky.

KMac finished the half in about 1hour 24 minutes and I'm so proud of her.

I still had another 13.1km to run.

Was feeling really strong and pace was still better than I could have hoped for. Knew the killer hill was coming at around 18km so was mentally preparing myself for that. It's a tough one. You can see from my splits where that hill came! I knew after that though that there were only another couple of small hills before 20km & then it was pretty much downhill & flat to the finish.
After the hill I had another gel. It was amazing this time to maintain my pace through the last 6km whereas previously this was where I had struggled.

Back onto the gravel track past the airport at 24km was torture on the feet but my theory was if I ran I'd be over if quicker than if I stopped to walk - I think though this is where the damage to my poor foot was done. It was also pretty hot at this point with no shade from the sun but I knew I was nearly there and that pushed me on.

Coming into The Royal Highland Centre was brilliant - loads of race crew cheering us on. Fab to see the lovely Sarah B too cheering me on - always helps when you hear your own name.

Then into the finishing straight and saw Mt Fudgey & his Dad - I felt absolutely brilliant and even had enough for a sprint finish to bring me in just under 2 hours 50 mins.

Mr Fudgey told me that I looked really strong compared to last time I ran this race where I looked tired at the finish.

It's certainly boosted my confidence for the Marathon.

Through the finish line into the finish area - a bottle of water, medal, energy drink and goody bag.

I need to find out what that energy drink was - not so I can get some so that I avoid it - it was vile - but that's my only negative of the whole event.

Disappointing it wasn't better attended - I think numbers were well down on October.

Being a complete stats geek I've managed to put 2011 & 201 splits side by side and they make me smile - shows me how much stronger I am getting all the time.

Official time was 2 hours 49 minutes 55 seconds.

After the run I had my ice bath and I have to admit my legs although a little stiff on Sunday by Monday didn't feel like they'd run 26.2km, unfortunately my right foot did & I have a very nasty blister & bruising which needed a trip to the doc :-(
This was actually partly my fault as I am prone to blisters and always tape my feet. However on Sunday I taped my feet but didn't put my socks or trainers on straight away. I then walked about in bare feet & the tape slid slightly and wasn't sticking properly but rather than retaping I just put more tape on top. Sore lesson learnt! So no running for me for a good few days to allow it to heal. I have found a way to use this positively though and am threatening to expose what is under the dressing if people don't sponsor me - yes I am that evil ;-%

Hoping to get in a 20 miler this weekend and next before taper caper commences - less than 5 weeks to the Marathon now and I'm in a pretty good place.

Take Care everyone
lots of love
Fudgey xxxx

Just giving link

Virgin money giving link

Kilomathon Scotland - new PB

2011-04-17T20:36:00.000+01:00

Hi Fudgey Friends,

Full race report will follow probably tomorrow but just a quick update.

Brilliant run today. Unofficial time 2 hours 49 mins (compared to October's time of 2hours 56 mins)

Legs a bit stiff & sore thanks to all the hills & hard work in the heat - but feeling pretty good.

Hope you have all had a wonderful weekend

lots of love
Fudgey xxxxx

Pre race - Prep, Phantom Pains, Pasta & Nerves

2011-04-16T22:00:00.002+01:00

Hi Fudgey Friends,

Just a quick post before I go to bed. Have to leave the house at 6.30am tomorrow for the Kilomathon.

I'm pretty organised have all my kit laid out, safety pins etc in my bag.

Tonight I made chicken & broccoli lasagne - so great pre race carbs.

I've also had a lovely relaxing soak in the bath .....oh & indulged in a nap this afternoon for 2 hours!

None of the above prep though has stopped me experiencing phantom aches & pains in my legs - I always get these just before an event - i think it's an anxiety thing.

I'm also pretty nervous. I don't know why as I've done this event before & have run further - so I should be fine.

Will let you know tomorrow how I got on

lots of love
Fudgey xxxx

Kicking Ass in The Gym

2011-04-11T22:30:00.003+01:00

Hello Fudgey Friends,

How are you all today?

I planned to get up today and workout before my course but a bad night's sleep meant that didn't happen. Gorgeous as the hotel is the clock sounding on the hour every hour at St Paul's is not conducive to a good night's sleep.

Even though I left with plenty of time I managed to get a little lost on my way to my course - not a great start to the day.

Thankfully it improved. The course is really good & I'm learning lots. Only 5 other people on it and 2 tutor's so getting loads of 1 to 1 time too.

After the course finished today I decided to hit the gym - no real plan as such as I wasn't sure how well equipped it would be. Didn't feel like a straight treadmill run so decided to add a few bits & bobs
Run 2km
3 supersets of lunges (12 each leg) & 12 alternate bicep curls both using 9kg dumbbells
Run 2km
Failed attempt at bosu squats - their floor too polished = not feeling safe
alternated 10 press ups (5 sets total) & 15 ab extensions with 7kg medicine ball (3 sets)
Run 2km
3 supersets of 30 oblique cycles & 15 reverse curls.

felt sick & shaky by the end & was dripping sweat on the floor - not very glam but fab workout

My unlucky streak continues and as well as a minor collision in taxi on way to airport, fire alarm at airport, magical mystery tour on way to hotel due to DLR replacement bus, and lost on way to course this morning, I have also managed to throw a 9kg dumbbell at myself & it looks like I may have a cracker of a bruise on my left shin - it begs the question what next!!!!!

Well gonna try & get some sleep - can't wait to be back in my own bed tomorrow night though

lots of love
Fudgey xxx

6 weeks to go.....

2011-04-10T22:22:00.003+01:00

Hello Fudgey Friends,

How are you all? I hope you've all had a great weekend -it's been gloriously sunny here and I suspect there may be a few sunburned folk in the office tomorrow.

Yet another week has passed and it's been another busy one but my training has been good & I have a new weekly distance record again this week recording my first 60km week (about 37 miles). The training is getting tougher now and the next 3 weeks will probably be the toughest before I start to taper & then I'll be more irritable than usual!

So here's a quick run down of the week

Monday Recovery
I was surprised how good I felt after last Sunday's 19 miler the only minor negative was my black toe nail on my right foot which I know I'll lose so that will be one from each foot. No strappy sandals for me this summer - I'll be hiding my ugly runners feet in shame.
I knew that I needed to get some form of movement in today but had a sports massage booked after work & then a family meal for Dad Smith's birthday so it had to be lunchtime. I opted for the treadmill as I then had the choice of hopping off & onto the bike or the cross trainer if my body objected after the 19 miler - but bizarrely it was fantastic.

Tuesday Torture
Yes PT day - just when I think it's getting easier he increases the weights or finds some new cruel way to hurt me LOL - I love it. PT is the highlight of my week especially as I'm constantly seeing progress.
3 single supine rows - god these are tough
3 sets of 2 almost unassisted pull ups
4 supersets of underarm grip cable pulls down 6 reps 45kg & 15 swiss ball tricep dips
4 supersets of 8 straight arm cable pull down 25kg & 10 alternate bicep curls 9kg
3 supersets of 15 squats 50kg (I suspect this may go up next week) with 20 high bar lunges 15kg bar.

Wednesday - Resting
Total rest day - just what I needed

Thursday - back twice as strong
After my rest day I managed not 1 but 2 sessions today. Sprint intervals at lunch time which really burnt off some of my tension and then after work a slightly longer steady run - aim was for about 10km & I managed over 11.5 and still felt I had more in the tank.

Friday - not my usual commute
Decide to attempt to run to work rather than take the bus. This was fine when I lived closer but now it's over 12 miles - still it seemed to me like a good way to get the miles in especially as I knew I'd be pushed for time at the weekend.
An effort to get up & do this but I said I would so I did. I didn't fuel the way I normally would for a run of this distance partly as I didn't want to get up at 5am to eat. Up at 6am, had a lucozade sports carb cereal bar (yummy) and was ready & out by about 6.35. I wanted to quit & get the bus between km 5 & 10 - just didn't feel good but by km 10 the cereal bar & the lucozade body fuel gel I'd had at 5k must have kicked in because I started to feel good & the pace picked up & I was in cruise mode till about 18k - struggled a wee bit but picked it up to run my last km as the fastest of the day. Super impressed with myself after the 10.5 miles in the legs from Thursday. 23 miles in less than 24 hours a new achievement for me - now just need to manage 26.2 all at once on Marathon day!

Sunday - Short Long Run

As I was pushed for time this weekend my run was going to be slightly shorter than I'd have done if I had more time. I was going to run a hilly 14km but first 2km my legs told me NO. I felt crap :-( and I'd had an upset stomach this morning so decided to alter my route & run along the canal that way I could turn back whenever I wanted. 5km into the run I started to feel good but I had a wee stop to take some photos on my phone - OMG why have I never run down here before it's so lovely - helped today by the glorious sunshine. Ran for an hour & then turned & headed back. Not a great run by any means but so glad I did it & my first ever 60km week :-)

Fudgey goes to London
I'm writing this post from my hotel room in London. I'm here for a course for a couple of days abandoning Mr Fudgey and the fellas.I miss them already. It was a bit of an eventful journey including a fire alarm at Edinburgh airport and a magical mystery tour on the DLR rail replacement bus service - still I got here eventually and in one piece. So will 2 days in London halt my training? Not too much I have my kit with me & the hotel has a fancy gym so I'll be trying that out but I will also be having a mini taper ahead of next Sunday's kilomathon.

Well that's my update for this week - will be back soon but off to get some sleep now - going to be very odd in a big bed on my own
Take Care everyone

lots of love
Fudgey xxxx

Further than a Fudgey has ever been before

2011-04-03T21:24:00.005+01:00

Hello Fudgey Friends,

Well today was the long run - longer than I've ever gone before - plan was 18 miles which I knew to be about 29k.

Originally I intended to get up & be out for 8am but it didn't happen as planned. I never slept well last night so what I did was get up at 7.30am eat my cereal, have some juice and a small cup of tea & my omega 3 & got ready to go. Plan was to lie on the bed beside Mr Fudgey for a an hour to let the food digest and then head out about 8.30 / 9ish but I ended up dozing off. Must have been what I needed though. Got up just before 10am & finished getting ready. Filled my new hydration pack & filled my SIS belt with SIS Go Gels.

SIS are my gels of choice. I have tried both powerbar & lucozade gels but I find both too sickly & too thick. I also tried lucozade jelly beans and whilst I like the taste of these I don't like or can't chew on the run so a gel or drink is the best option for me, but I think it really comes down to personal choice and trying out what does and doesn't work for you & training runs are the best time to do this.

The new hydration pack was a gift from Mr Fudgey and it worked really really well. It saved me having to carry water, had a section for phone and keys, and the mouthpiece worked much better than the last pack I had - little effort required to get a good drink.

So off I set. First couple of km I didn't feel very comfortable at all - convinced myself I had a sore left knee - which I didn't. Decided to give it 5k & see how I felt. Took on my first gel just after 5k and was running really easily, not fast, but today was about distance not about pace, 12km done - still feeling strong & second gel in - I didn't really want this but I decided I'd take on 1 gel every 6km or so rather than waiting till I felt I needed to & this system worked for me. Ran for 15km which took me to the zoo & was still feeling good & turned to head back. Not so easy on the way back - strong wind right in my face. Third gel at 18km still feeling good and still nice steady consistent pace and not the least out of breath so I could have pushed harder if I wanted. 24km in took on my fourth and last gel but was starting to struggle - calves were tight, sore left knee & sore right glute - sore maybe not the right word - uncomfortable. Kms 24 - 27 were really tough & the wind was right in my face but I dug in and stuck with it though pace dropped a fair bit. But before I knew it I was at 27km and the home straight and I picked up the pace again I realised it actually felt better to run faster than slower but i could feel the blood pumping in my lower legs - felt so good I never stopped at 30km but ran an extra km to make it 31km (19.3 miles) in total for the day.
Though I was feeling stiff and sore physically, mentally I felt fantastic & a small glimmer of self believe is dawning on me that maybe just maybe there is a Marathon in me after all.

Into the house - SIS Rego Recovery drink, ice bath & then shower followed by juice, cheese & broccoli mash potato & a cup of tea. I'm surprised at how good my legs actually feel - yes I'm a bit tender but no where near as bad as I expected. Very very very much looking forward to my sports massage tomorrow now - think I've earned it.

Last but not least
Happy Mothers Day to all Mums

Take Care everyone
lots of love
Fudgey x

Marvellous March

2011-04-02T19:22:00.003+01:00

Hello Fudgey Friends,

Hope you are all well and having a good weekend - as promised I'm back with a catch up of my last 3 weeks training.
March has been really really good - my running has been consistent, not fast but I've felt really strong and in control most of the time.

I've ran more at this point this year than I did in the first 3 months last year & in March clocked up my highest amount of km run in a month since I began running. Not a lot compared to many other runners - but for me a massive achievement.
Some numbers below for the stats lovers amongst us

So the training since 14th March (apologies as some of this is duplication from daily mile).....

Monday 14th March
Long long day travelling to Florida - torture for some one as active as me to be on a plane for 6 and a half hours! Enforced rest day

Tuesday 15th March
5.01km run. I never headed out till around 8.30 and by that time the sun was up & it was getting hot so called it at 5k.

Wednesday 16th March
10.22km run - up & out earlier to try & beat the sun & the heat.

Thursday 17th March
Rest day before long run - but swam 710m

Friday 18th March
24.39km run. Up & out in the dark to get the weekly long run in. The holiday was not going to halt Marathon training! It was great to run past people's sprinklers & get a refreshing shower. Mr Fudgey also came out for a but to take some photos and give me moral support. This was my longest run so far this year and though the latter stages were hard and it was getting really hot I enjoyed it so much.

Saturday 19th March
Rest day after log run but swam 1km. Swimming a km is so much harder than running a km.

Sunday 20th March
11.29km gentle recovery run. Legs felt awesome and pace was cracking which surprised me after the long run on Sat.

Monday 21st March
1km Swim

Tuesday 22nd March
1km Swim before starting the journey home.

Wednesday 23rd March
Exhausted - another enforced rest day

Thursday 24th March
Had to split this into 2 runs - 5.8km & 5.5km one at lunchtime and one after work. I had hoped for double that after work but the jetlag got me and I had to listen to my body and stop at 5.5k - before than 0k though.

Friday 25th March
5.65km pre work run to energise me and to make up for the previous day.
After work PT session
Fab session till the end when I was so wrecked I could no longer hold weights!

3 sets of 1 pull up - so nearly nearly there - I can do about 3/4 & my trainer puts his hands on my back to help me that last bit - soon I'll manage 1

4 supersets of 8 assisted pull ups (12kg) with 12 upright row (15kg)
4 supersets of 6 wide grip pull down (40kg) with 8 bicep curls (15kg)
3 supersets of 15 squats (50kg) & 15 squat jumps with 10kg dumbbells
1 set of single leg dead lift with 10lb weight 12 each leg - struggled to maintain grip on weight
hanging leg raises managed about 8 in 3 attempts again grip just not working
2 supersets of cable hamstring curls (25kg) 12 each leg, 1 attempt at hanging leg raises just not happening so we switched to a medicine ball crunch, twist & pass combo - I have no idea how many reps
and then I was done :-)
carrying my gym bag home was real effort!

Saturday 26th March
Implementation weekend for the project I have been working on so also a training rest day - which was good as feeling very lethargic and jetlagged still.

Sunday 27th March
Had to go into the office as part of the implementation weekend but thankfully it was only a couple of hours. After a brilliant training week in Florida I decided to take this week as a recovery week & cut back the distance. This was a wise move as I was still feeling really washed out.
Manged to battle it out for 11.29km but it was an effort a battle of the mind v the body. Mind said YES today but body said NO way - 36 minutes in managed to convince the body it was ok & it started to feel easy & pace picked up which was good - overall slow pace though as the first 36 minutes were a real plod - so glad I stuck with it though I was giving it 45 mins & then the body would have won. Felt so tired the last few days but I think it's a stress thing & the running actually helps

Monday 28th March
Enforced rest day 7am start at work & 6pm finish with no break so couldn't get a workout in. Did feel better when I got home about 7pm and now that we have lighter evenings I'll be able to go out running later after work.

Tuesday 29th March - Bestest PT session ever
Don't you just love it when you are so damn tired & you go for a workout & amaze yourself by doing better than usual :-) I'd not slept well for the past 4 nights & wasn't really up for this yet more press ups & hanging leg raises than ever before and heaviest weights ever too....getting stronger :-)

quick cross trainer warm up
3 sets of 2 full chin ups
4 supersets of 10 squat thrust & jumping pull up with 8 underarm cable pull down
3 supersets of 10 wide grip cable pull down with press ups managed 35, 25, 20 & 21 = 101 :-) best ever
3 supersets of lunges with 26kg bar 12 each leg with hanging leg raises managed 18, 14 & 13 - best ever
3 sets of 15 squats 50kg

Wednesday 30th March - Overdoing it!
Lunchtime circuits class
Tough class today
bicep curls 10kg, french press 10kg, chest press 15kg, reverse flyes 2kg dumbbells, agility ladder + slalom + sprint, supermarket sweep + overhead walking lunges 10kg + sprint, weighted bosu hops, 10 step ups + 5 jumps, weighted burpees, double oblique twist, swiss ball plank & punchbag

Accidental 10.3 mile run
Accidentally ran 10.3 miles after work. I just knew I needed to run but had no plan, no expectations, no pressure on myself & I just ran. I felt really strong, really in control, had a stupid big grin on my face & just loved it today.

Thursday 31st March
After PT. circuits & the accidental 10 miler getting up today was an effort - arms wrecked, abs wrecked, legs like 2 dead weights. Indulged in mac cheese for lunch & then a short recovery run after work - legs felt awesome afterwards - shame abs & arms were still agony! still 2 days rest before Sunday's long run when I hope to go further than I ever have before - here's hoping for 18 miles :-)

So guys that was Marvellous March! It really helps me to see my training laid out like that & how I'm progressing all the time.

So here's now hoping for an Awesome April....

Friday 1st April
Total rest day - absolute heaven - how liberating not to lug my gym bag to work, had to carry a very nice bottle of champagne home though - pity I can't drink it for another 50 days! Arms were still wrecked but abs were better and legs feel great so looking forward to Sunday's long run.

Saturday 2nd April
A pretty lazy day today, catching up on some chores and doing the laundry, starting to get anxious about tomorrow's long run but I know I can do it. 7 weeks tomorrow till the Marathon - getting closer but have the Kilomathon up first in 2 weeks.

Will let you know how I get on tomorrow - here's hoping for good running conditions.

Take Care everyone
love
Fudgey
xxxx

I'm back!

2011-04-01T13:01:00.006+01:00

Hi Fudgey Friends,

Sorry it's been nearly 3 weeks since I last posted. I have been away having a well earned holiday. Mr Fudgey & I were in Florida :-)
Since I've been back I've hardly stopped. Work has been busy we had our project implementation last weekend & I was working and then was in at 7am each day for the first part of this week & here late too - it hasn't held back my training though.
I'm feeling really really good at the moment.

The holiday didn't halt my training either.

I ran

I swam

but I did also relax :-)

It was great to have a holiday but it was also great to come home. We still have our 'honeymoon' to look forward to later this year as well.

I'll be back soon with a training post for the last 3 weeks & this Sunday I'll be attempting my longest run to date - hopefully 18 miles. Only 51 days to the Marathon :-$

Take Care all
Lots of Love
Fudgey
xxxxx

2 hours of Tedium

2011-03-13T20:15:00.003Z

Hello Fudgey Friends,

How is everyone? Good weekend?

Well I was up at 6.45am today forcing down 2 Belvita breakfast biscuits which my body didn't want so had to quit at 2, then out of the door for 7.20am to get the bus to my gym.

As you can imagine is was very quiet when I got there - only 4 other members there & not one of them under 60.

Onto the dreadmill I hopped with my bottle of lucozade lite - plan for this weekend was 15 miles but due to the snow yesterday I opted for the safety of the gym, as I have a lot of other stuff going on at the moment and didn't want to risk getting a chill or injuring myself in the snow / ice / rain - the irony of it is that it's all now cleared up. Aim was for 16km (10 miles) if possible. I've never run for that long on the treadmill and I knew before I hit the start button it would be me against the dreadmill in a battle of wills. It was tough going and all I can say is Thank goodness for my ipod. Physically I felt really strong but mentally it was torture. Still I managed 16.16km so that's a minor victory to me :-)
As I still had some time left & the legs still had juice in them I 'skipped' off to the bike for a 11.2km cool down. By the time I was finished I was a lovely soggy, tired mess but I felt fantastic and all this before 10.30am. At least I know now that if I have to the treadmill is an option and I can do it.

After my workout I met fantastic Mr Fudgey who took me for cake & coffee - very much needed.

This reminded me that I hadn't shared the picture of the luscious cupcakes I got on Friday from Bibi's bakery. I blame KMac as she told be flavour of the day was gooey chocolate beetroot & I practically leapt out of my seat & had my coat on before she'd finished telling me - I love love love beetroot in any way shape or form so in a cake has to be good.

I knew Mr Fudgey would prefer the banoffee cupcake so that's what I got for him and both were amazing.

Apparently Bibi's make giant cupcakes too - so the thought of a giant chocolate beetroot cupcake could be enough to get me 26.2 miles ;-)

Since my trip to the gym we've been busy pottering about the house and have had a really fab leisurely day.

Hope you have all had a great weekend.

Take Care
lots of love
Fudgey
xxxx

Training Catch Up

2011-03-12T17:01:00.004Z

Hello Fudgey Friends,

How are you all? I'm good - busy as ever. I'm so sorry that in the last couple of weeks I've not posted much - the time vampires strike again.
This week has seen me working till 10.45pm Wednesday & 9pm on Thursday to try and get everything done and I'm please to report it's been a really productive week with my to do list finally getting some ongoing items scored off:-)

I have been training too and this is really just a catch up of the last couple of weeks training. Sorry if it reads a little strange but it's my training from 28th Feb to date so tenses may be a little muddled.

slow sore recovery run 4.11 km Monday 28th Feb
After Sundays long run I was carrying a tension in my right ankle. I have been having intermittent problems with my shin but massage, doc & xrays show nothing so I was told I could continue running which I have been, I then realised in the last week or so it wasn't the shin at all but the ankle & releasing the ankle relieved the pain in the shin :-) till today :-( shouldn't have ran at all I know but I wanted to see if a short slow run would ease it off.....it didn't though but when I was sat at my desk it was fine - it was only putting weight through it that hurts. When I came home it was feeling fine again so planned to try & be sensible no way was I missing the half marathon on Sunday (6th March)

Personal training Tuesday 1st March It's gonna hurt tomorrow :-)
warm up set of 15 assisted (33kg) pulls ups
3 single full pull up attempts - getting better
then onto the session proper
4 supersets of 8 assisted (12kg) pull ups superset with press ups managed 30, 24, 20,19
4 supersets of 12 wide grip cable pull down 30kg with 12 bicep cable curls
3 supersets of 15 leg extensions 22.5kg with 12 swiss ball crunches with 25lb plate
2 supersets of 15 squats 45kg with 12 medicine ball lunges 6kg

Then I came home & tried on the tankini I treated myself to for our honeymoon later this year & cried - can't believe the shape I am in. I don't see in myself what others tell me & when I occasionally do.... I'm blown away - very very very happy :-)

Circuits Class Wednesday 2nd March
Arms & abs now completely brutalised
2 circuits first 1 min per station & second 30secs per station
we had:
bicep curls (1st round 10kg, 2nd 15kg)
tricep dips
2 squat thrusts & press up
clean & press into squat (15kg - I can squat double that but can't clean & press so much)
ski sit with shoulder height dumbbell hold (1 min is a long time even with 1kg weights)
supermarket sweep with 10 bunny hops
bag drag, overhead walking lunges (10kg bar) & sprint
burpees with 5kg dumbbells
10 fast step ups & 5 jumps
crunches & punches
paddles & scissors
punch bag

yes this is my idea of a fun way to spend my lunchtime. Arms were mildly sore after yesterdays PT - are now completely done as are my abs :-)
Ankle feeling good. Hope to run tomorrow.

Thursday 3rd March - REST day
Had to take a rest day - just so tired & upper body & abs feeling the pt & circuits class - unfortunately people kept making me laugh which hurt the abs even more! Hope to get in a wee run tomorrow to see if the ankle is ok before Sunday's half marathon

Out of the comfort zone 5.2 km - Friday 4th March
slow warm up for a km & then 4 very fast ones - faster than I have run in a long long time, well beyond my comfort zone and it felt great :-) Happy Friday & Race day Sunday Woo Hoo

Meadows Half Marathon - Sunday 6th March
Official time 2 hours 9 minutes 44 seconds.
Read my race report here
Resting again
Cheeky wee complete rest day - a little tired after the half marathon but will be back out & on my feet tomorrow

Leg Torture - Tuesday 8th March
Lunchtime resistance session
Legs felt worse today than yesterday so knew I had to sort them out & planned a run for after work.
Nipped to the gym at lunch to do a quick resistance workout
3 supersets of 15 squats 20kg superset with 12 calf raises each leg
3 supersets of 15 jackknifes with 10 hanging leg raises
1 set of 15 leg press 65kg superset with 20 medicine ball lunges 6kg - was waiting for assisted machine to be free
3 supersets of 10 assisted (12kg) pull ups with 10 bicep curls 6kg dumbbells

After work Treadmill recovery with KMac at gym 7.5 km
Hard going but knew that I needed to get this run in & that I would feel better for it

Circuits class - Wednesday 9th March
Oh my poor legs were so sore this morning & I was so tired - but no way I was missing circuits.
2 circuits of 1 min each station today
punch bag, tricep dips, military press (10kg), bent over row (15kg first circuit, 20kg second circuit), Lunges (15kg first circuit, 20kg second circuit), Squats (30kg), 10 squat thrusts, duck walk & hurdle, I surrender (3kg dumbbells first circuit, 4kg dumbbells second circuit, bicep curls (10kg first circuit, 12kg second circuit) weighted sprint & 10 bosu ball side steps, box jumps, skipping, chest press (10kg first circuit, 15kg second circuit) and walking press ups

Personal training Thursday 10th March
good session but think I've hurt my wrist :-(
warm up set of 15 assisted pull ups (33kg)
3 supersets of 8 assisted pull ups (12kg) & 14 alternate bicep curls 8kg
3 supersets of 8 underarm grip lat pull downs 37.5kg with 8 deadrows 10kg
3 sets of 15 squats 50 kg
3 tri sets of 12 lunges each leg, 12 swiss ball hamstring curls each leg & hanging leg raises 11, 11 & 9

cheeky pre work run 5.2 km Friday 11th March
just enough time before work to squeeze this in - it hurt but it still felt good - I am definitely not normal!

Today - Saturday 12th March
No training today - had planned a 15 mile run but woke up to snow and decided to postpone running till tomorrow as it was awful out there. I've never stopped all day though, doing laundry, baking banana bread, scrubbing the kitchen, hoovering & washing the floors in the kitchen lounge & dining area. Scrubbed the downstairs utility toilet, the main bathroom and the ensuite as well as a bit of hoovering upstairs. Now going off to prep dinner - roasted veggies :-)

Will let you know how my run goes tomorrow - it may need to be in the gym - but better than no run.

Take care all

lots of love
Fudgey
xxxx

Meadows (half) Marathon - Race Report

2011-03-07T21:06:00.005Z

Hello Fudgey Friends,

How are you all? Again apologies for lack of blog action - things are just so busy right now but it's all good. Training is going well & I'm working hard as usual both at work & outside work. This is my race report but there will be a weekly round up from last week too - soon I hope.

This weekend saw the second running event of 2011 for me & my Bliss vest. It was kind of bizarre as it seems ages ago I signed up for this & then suddenly it was here - In a strange way I felt like I'd not trained for it as my main focus is the marathon and I was approaching this as a training run rather than a race.

Last year I ran the 5k race & really enjoyed it & thought it was a really well organised little event.It's cheap & cheerful and organised by Edinburgh Students Charities Appeal. This year my 2 amazing friends Kmac & Smurfy signed up for the 5k whilst I signed myself up for the half marathon - 11 weeks before the big one seemed perfect.
This year my gym was one of the event sponsors so there was a good contingent from there signed up too.
This year the registration process was changed and you had to pay through virgin money giving which wasn't as easy as it sounds & myself and a few friends really weren't happy about the whole registration process & then all the chaser emails from the organisers about had we paid, were we running for charity & if so which one etc. Hopefully they will iron out these issues for next year based on the feedback they've had. They did update the website with guidance on the registration process and were very friendly & helpful even when I complained a bit.

Pre Race
Really wasn't in the best of form on Saturday & was munching the pain killers like they were sweets - very severe abdominal pains of the female kind made me uncomfortable and grumpy. I also hadn't slept at all well on Friday night so was shattered but couldn't manage to get a nap in the afternoon even though I wanted to. I was also a little apprehensive about the day itself due to the registration issues - I hoped the actual event would run more smoothly (and it did). Having had ankle pain after the previous long run I was also worrying how it would hold out over 13.1 miles, but I took some good advice & decided I'd zip up my man suit & just get on with it!
Dinner on Saturday night was yummy pasta with garlic, onion, chicken, chilli, broccoli & mushrooms.

I 'checked' my garmin was charged. Took the battery out of my camera to charge, made sure I had extra safety pins for race numbers, a banana, a lucozade recovery flapjack, lucozade recovery powder & put lucozade light and lucozade body fuel into the fridge. Then it was off to bed as though the half marathon wasn't till 12.15 I was going to support my friends in the 5k & had made them these banners

Race Day
Up early & fuelled up on my traditional Marks & Spencer apple & cinnamon porridge - this is now race day ritual, small cup of tea, plenty of water & more painkillers.
Mr Fudgey & I arrived around 10.30 to meet the rest of the gang and for me to pick up my race pack.
The registration was painless - really well organised & the girl I got my pack from was really friendly. The pack contained race number. timing chip, safety pins & finishers certificate. I love that we got our certificate before we ran!
I was going to take some pre race photos only to discover that I had packed my camera but hadn't put the battery back in - I also realised I'd left the lucozade drinks in the fridge - blond? who me??
At 11am the 5k warm began. 11.15 was the start of the 5k. We cheered KMac & Smurfy off - I hope they liked their banners, then we all went across the road to a cafe. Lorna, Rob & Hubby were ordering breakfast, but I wouldn't eat anything now till after the run & didn't actually drink anymore either - just in case. The smell & sight of the food made me feel really nauseous so I had to go outside - so decided to run the last 200m of the 5k with the girls. They did brilliantly & ran it in 30minutes. Once they were finished we headed back to the cafe - I used their loo! & then I went out for the half marathon warm up only to discover my garmin wouldn't switch on - I was pretty certain I'd charged it - but now I'm questioning if I did or not - I am seriously losing the plot.

12.15 and off we went. The half marathon was 8 laps round the meadows. The benefits of this are that it's quite good for pacing and for supporters it means they can see you several times. There were 2 parts of the course I didn't much like - same as the 5k last year - the cobbles - though I handled them really well this year - now getting an expert at running on them! & the slow incline up quartermile - not so bad the first few times round but after 4 laps not so much fun. On the plus side as it was laps & I had no garmin I was able to check my pace on the race clock each time round & I think I ran good consistent lap splits - still waiting for chip time - that's a small negative - still no official time.
On the positive side I was able to just switch of my mind & run as the laps were the same & there was no looking ahead to see where the course went next, where were the runners in front turning etc, but I have to admit after 4 or 5 laps it became quite tedious. Some of the marshalls on the course were brilliant - there was guy on the bottom corner before the turn back up towards town who was really great as were the group of marshalls on the next section. It was quite cold too so Thanks to them for standing out there for hours at least we were running to keep warm. Another downside of the laps was that it was inevitable that the really fast runners would lap me - I actually found this quite demoralising especially when some of them passed me about 3 or 4 times. In a bigger event where you from A to B at least the fast guys are out front & I don't see them! At Bristo square it was great to have people cheering us through each lap.
The water station again this year was plastic cups which I still haven't mastered so again ended up wearing the first cup, so then didn't have anything for another 3 laps when I managed to drink about half a cup & then didn't bother again till the end. I did take on 2 gels though as I was conscious I hadn't eaten since 8.30am
When I came through the 7th lap I saw Mum & Dad Smith who had come to run us home they cheered for me so I waved & shouted I had one more lap. Had enough left in the legs for a sprint finish though didn't quite manage to catch Chris from my gym who was just ahead of me. I came across the line in 2 hours 9 mins 56 seconds I think as I say still waiting for the official times.

Post Race
Felt really dehydrated & a bit shaky but got my banana from my bag & my running jacket on. I collected my goody bag which again this year I didn't expect and to be honest most of it is in the recycling bucket. There was a bottle of powerade, a bag for life & a load of leaflets for student discounts - no use to me :-( I think the girls who did the 5k also got either a lip balm or a pen but my bag didn't have.
either. I'd have been happy just being handed the powerade and no bag. Into the car & got my lucozade recovery drink & then home and into an ice bath. I was back at work this morning -first time I haven't taken the day off after a half marathon. I was a little tired & grumpy this morning as I'm not sleeping well again - too much in my little fudgey brain I think.

So would I do this race again? I don't think I'd do the half marathon to be honest as it was quite tedious after about 4 or 5 laps and the lunchtime start meant it took up pretty much the whole day by the time we got there & got home. I would do the 5k again though & I would recommend the event. Given the budget that the guys have they put on a really good fun event and the organisation on the day was really good - everything seemed to run really smoothly and it's a fantastic charity fund raiser too.

Thank you
Mr Fudgey took fabulous photos as always & was the best support crew a girl could have & he wore his Bliss t-shirt. I must get a picture of the support team in their Bliss tshirts for the next race report. It was fabulous to see KMac & Smurfy run & to see Rob, Lorna, Jane & Graham & all the Bannatyne's crew - it was quite a wee social outing. Thanks to Mum & Dad Smith for coming to get us - that certainly saved us a long journey home very very very much appreciated.

Well I think I've babble on long enough - I 'll say good night for now.

Take Care everyone

lots of love
Fudgey
xxxx

A Fudgey Fantastic Week

2011-02-27T17:59:00.008Z

Hello Fudgey Friends,

How is everyone? Did you do anything nice this weekend? I've sat down to write this post & was running through a few things in my head & I'm blown away by how much I've packed in this week - it's been a pretty good one.

First Overnight House Guest
On Monday my sister came to stay with us as she was attending a seminar for work in Falkirk. I was so so excited to see her as I've not seen her since last August and loads of stuff has naturally happened since then, not least that she's expecting again. It was brilliant to catch up and I haven't laughed so much in a long time.
As I knew I was leaving work early on Monday to meet my wee sis I fitted in my recovery run at lunchtime (run 1 of week done 5.2km) It was a very rare treat in the evening as we ordered from the fish & chip shop & I think we all thoroughly enjoyed it as it's something we rarely do....you have to have treats sometimes though. My little sis brought us a gorgeous apron from our little niece Margaret's nursery which had Margaret's foot print on it. (Amy I was wearing it yesterday!) She also brought these cute little plants in tins - sunflower, lavender & morning glory...we'll see how they develop

Run 2 of week
Tuesday is usually the busiest day of my week and is always packed with meetings - this week was no different and I found myself getting quite stressed out - but I skipped off at lunchtime to squeeze in a very short run - only managed 4.45km but my theory is it was better than no km. Left sharp again to meet my little sister after her seminar & we headed back to the house - no takeaway tonight I cooked. More chatter & laughter.

PT - Ouch!
On Wednesday I had my PT session and it was really really tough, by the end of it my hands felt numb & I couldn't even text hubby to tell him I was on the bus. The DOMS started to kick in on the bus home & I knew that on Thursday my upper body was going to hurt.
The session involved:
warm up set of 10 jumping pull ups with squat thrust
4 supersets of 10 lat pull down 40kg with 10 bent over dead rows with flat bar & 10lb each side
4 supersets of 10 cable pull downs superset with 12 reverse flyes
3 supersets of cable hamstring curls 12 each leg think I'm now at 27.5kg & cable crunches.
By the time I went to bed my upper body was protesting loudly at what had been done to it.

Upper Body out of order - but legs are good to go
As I suspected my upper body was a little sore on Thursday I couldn't get my arms above elbow height, so I knew it would have to be a run at the gym. Managed to squeeze in another quick 5.15km at lunchtime and was pleased with how well my legs are doing. My pace at the moment just isn't there but I've decided to focus on simply completing the marathon - as it's my first one I'm guaranteed a PB anyway :-) After the marathon I can then think about breaking 2 hours for the half marathon and new PB's at 5k & 10k if that's what I want - but one thing at at time. My running at the moment is consistent & strong and bizarrely the upper body training is really helping - this is because my posture is much better & I think that it's helping with my breathing as I'm more upright & open - I hope that makes some sort of sense.
Thursday night saw the roof climbing antics of Indiana Beau - see my last post.

Thank Fudgey it's Friday
Friday came round before I knew it & saw me fit in yet another run. 10.1km this time. Yet again it felt strong and steady and I think I'm ready for next weekend's half marathon.

A lazy Saturday
On Saturday it was great to get a lie in and then I toddled down to the hairdressers to get my hair cut & coloured. I did giggle to myself on the way as the weather was gorgeous - blue sky, sunshine and mild and the first thought that entered my head was what a perfect day for running....yes I admit I am addicted. I didn't run though it was a well earned rest day. As I sat in the hairdressers I read March's edition of running fitness that I had been saving :-)
Mr Fudgey had been busy doing various diy & household tasks while I was out & we now have a nice new bedside cabinet for the spare room. I did some laundry but other than that generally had a lazy day but I think it was just what I needed.

Honeymoon
Exciting news - we've booked our honeymoon finally. Yes we've been married 18 months & by the time we go on honeymoon we'll have celebrated our 2nd anniversary, but it'll be worth the wait. We are off to Italy & Switzerland.
For those who don't know we did have a minimoon just after the wedding to York which was really lovely but we opted to wait for a honeymoon as we wanted to sell the flat & move on and also due to various work commitments etc. I'm am so excited. I've been practising my yodelling for the alps :-)

Long Sunday Run
My longest run this year to date 13.8 miles (22.08km) and as usual certainly wasn't boring. I'd decide my rough route & was all geared up and ready to go. At about 2km I started to feel a little discomfort in my right calf - very unusual as my legs have been really strong recently. I always find it takes me a good 3km to settle into a rhythm so carried on - by 3km it was getting tighter & tighter & I was starting to worry - I knew it was idiotic to continue if something was wrong so I stopped to see if I could pinpoint the problem.....zipped bottoms of running trousers had risen up my leg & was digging into calf - minor adjustment and all happy again & off I went. Got to about 9km and found my £1 asda bargain cap that had blown away 2 weeks previously so I rescued it & brought home to clean up. The pictures don't do justice to just how filthy it was.

From around 10km my tummy decided to play up, I never ate or drank anything I don't usually but did eat closer to leaving the house than I usually would. I'd only taken on one gel & a little water as I sensed my tum wasn't entirely happy and from 11km onwards till the emergency stop at home to use the facilities was not pleasant. I was determined though this was not halting my run and after a brief stop in at the house I was back out feeling a lot better and running better than I had for the 14km up to that point to crack out another 8km. I could have so easily just used it as an excuse to stop after all 14km isn't a bad effort but it was too far short of where I wanted to be today which was at least around 20km....so I did myself proud.
Have to confess now the legs are hurting - especially my right shin again but other than that I'm a happy Fudgey.

Springtime is upon us
With the lighter evening and the last 2 bright and mild days I really feel like it's springtime and the beautiful hyacinth my Gran brought us has really blossomed - I thought this was a really pretty image to complete this post with. Thank you Gran x

Take care all
lots of love
Fudgey
xxxx

Adventures of Indiana Beau

2011-02-26T09:34:00.002Z

Hello Fudgey Friends,

This post is nothing to do with running or training but is about the escapades of a certain little cat called Beau.

He's had a ball this week, he thinks the spare bed we built in the guest room is just for him but happily shared it with my little sis when she visited for 2 nights.

We've not been letting the fellas out in the evenings since we moved house, mainly due to it being so cold and dark, but also as we wanted to get them used to the surroundings first during the day - so they normally get out on a Saturday & Sunday. As the weather has been turning milder and the evenings getting lighter there have been a few after work outings too recently.

So Thursday evening I decided I'd let them all out for a bit and off they went. Mr Fudgey had a nightmare journey home as his bus broke down so he got in late & was cold, hungry & a little grumpy. I was going to get some food sorted but decided to check on the whereabouts of the fellas. All accounted for except Mr Beau.....

so I'm out in the garden calling him......

and hear a faint mewing......

go round to the front of the house calling his name & the mewing gets louder & higher pitched.....

and then I see him on next door's roof!!!!!
(should add at this point the neighbours were not at home)

I ran back in & shouted Mr Fudgey & we spent the next hour trying to get the wee bugger down. Our step ladder only allowed us to peer just over the top of the garage roof & we tried putting the cat carrier up to him to see if he'd crawl in & come down - no luck. I tried tempting him with slices of ham & Mr Fudgey tried cat treats - no luck. And instead of coming down the roof Beau decided to go further up.
Dad Smith to the rescue with a taller ladder which meant we could get further up, but we didn't want to damage the neighbours roof or risk injury by climbing up & even though we could reach out to Beau he was beyond arms reach & wouldn't come down. I must have looked lovely up a ladder in a short woollen dress & knee high suede boots! I hate to imagine what the rest of the neighbours thought!

Eventually we decided that we would have to leave him and see if he could figure out how to get back down himself onto the lower portion of the roof at the garage & then onto the fence which must have been how he got up in the first place.

Mr Fudgey cam up with a cunning plan of getting a plank of wood from our garage & laying it from the garage roof to the fence that would mean the wee fella could use it to get down......

so sitting watching TV & who strolls in..........Beau..........nonchalant as you like
........looks at me as if to say what's your problem & strolls upstairs to the feeding station to refuel.

He was very affectionate later on though curling up on our knees and being all cute.

I've let him out this morning & he hasn't ventured too far at all

So there you have an update on the adventures of the legend that is Mr Beau.

Will be back later with a training blog - it's been a good week so far :-)

Take Care all
love
Fudgey
xxxx

Time Vampires

2011-02-20T21:08:00.002Z

Hello Fudgey Friends,

Well that's another week been & gone & I feel like I've never stopped. 21.09 on Sunday night & I'm just sitting down to write a very quick post so you don't think I've abandoned you but I'll need to keep it short & sweet as still have a zillion things to do before bedtime. The time vampires have well & truly got Mr & Mrs Fudgey this weekend....

Fudgey Fundraising
Got my fundraising off to a good start by sending out my virign money giving page, but am planning to hold a bake sale, a grand national sweep stake, a race time predictor and some kind of social event - any excuse for a party so watch this space....
http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/ClaireSmith13

Fudgey Training
I managed to run on Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday & also had a brilliant PT session on Wednesday too - I'm getting stronger with each week :-)I planned rest days Thursday & Saturday, but had hoped to fit in a workout on Friday but was too busy at work so it wasn't till today that I was back training & a cheeky 11.2miles done. Slow but consistent and I felt physically strong but mentally challenged - body was willing mind was not today - so I'm pleased that I managed to battle through & get the job done. Meadows Marathon (Half marathon) 2 weeks today!

Fudgey Homemakers
Mr Fudgey & I have been incredibly busy bees this weekend getting our guest room ready for the visit of my little sister tomorrow. Bed built, furniture moved, curtains hung & pictures put up. Thanks to Mum Smith for the curtains & her seamstress skills & to Dad Smith for taking away all the packaging. We've also been busy today doing general housework and getting the place nice for our first ever overnight guest. I'm so excited to see my sis as I've not seen her since last August...only 1 more sleep

Fudgey Night Out
Last night Mr Fudgey took me for a fabulous meal at McKirdy's steakhouse & then to see Anton & Erin (from Strictly come Dancing) 'Puttin on the Ritz' at the Usher hall. It was a brilliant show and I absolutely loved it. Thank you to Mr Fudgey as he bought the tickets for my birthday. Love you lots babe - you are the best.

Well folks going to leave you there - I haven't forgotten I said I'd update you on the Lucozade products & I will do as soon as I have a little more time.

Take Care all
lots of love
Fudgey
xxxx

Consistency, Control & Confidence

2011-02-13T20:33:00.006Z

Hello Fudgey Friends,

Sorry I've been awol a while it occurred to me I hadn't posted since last Thursday (3rd Feb) & the reason being that there was no training whatsoever between Thursday 3 rd & Monday 7th - I was still feeling pretty yuck with the sinus infection & there was no running at all all of that week :-( I'm pleased to say I'm back into the swing of things now though & though not 100% I'd say I'm 99% better.

Catch Up
Last Sunday I made really yummy toffee blueberry pancakes - they were meant to be post run but the run never happened but I made them anyway. , just the kind of comfort food you need when you feel poorly.

Monday saw me feeling quite a bit better though Mr Fudgey felt worse than ever & ended up at home and with a doctor's appointment too. Thankfully he's much better now too. I decided on Monday after over a week's decline in training that I'd try to get back into it & see if I could sweat out the last of my illness - kill or cure! Well it certainly worked for me. I managed to do my assisted chin ups (not as good as usual - but better than not at all) superset with hammer curls, lat pull downs superset with upright rows & 50 compound crunches. I also squeezed in a 10.62km run - it certainly did the trick as by Tuesday I felt great - better than I have in weeks.

Tuesday I managed to fit in the other half of my resistance work, squats with calf raises, leg press with medicine ball lunges & jack knifes & hanging leg raises and then later on a cheeky 9.38km run.

Wednesday was a well earned rest day & a long day at the office.

Thursday - back to PT & really starting to feel myself again. Tough tough session....
4 supersets of 10 assisted pull ups with 12 standing press
4 supersets of 10 lat pull downs 35kg with 12 alternate bicep curls 8kg
3 supersets of heavy squats (about 70lb I think) with 10 weighted step ups each leg.
3 supersets of 15 leg press (65kg, 75kg & 85kg) with 10 single legged dead lifts each leg with 25lb weight.

Friday I had planned to run, but work kind of got in the way which was probably no bad thing.

Saturday my Gran came to see our new house & I made afternoon tea. It was great to catch up.

Today - the long run returned. A cold, windy & hilly 16.26km (10.1) miles which saw me lose my Asda £1 pink cap in the wind - but I had a fab run.
It wasn't fast, but it was consistently paced and I felt at the end I could have pushed on a little further. I feel a little less worried now about the half marathon in 3 weeks.
After the run I 'enjoyed' my now routine ice bath! I can't believe those are my legs by the way!!

Consistency, Control & Confidence
So finally I reveal the reason for the title of this post - I received on Friday a weekly marathon newsletter from my charity Bliss which had an article from LGN about the 3 c's philosophy - I found a link to this on the anthony nolan site. Anyway as I was running today and seeing the times for each km I realised that though my pace wasn't fast it was consistent which made me think of the article & about those 3 words which I've decided to adopt not just for my running but for work too. Over the next 3 - 4 months I want to be consistent & in control of my training, my nutrition, my work & my stress levels & I want to be more confident in my ability. There are different kinds of confidence & I'm not talking about becoming cocky, boastful & over confident but a little self belief goes a long way - if I set out with the attitude of 'I'll never manage the whole 26.2 miles of the marathon' then it's not a good place to start really & how will anyone else believe in me or want to sponsor me if I start out with a defeatist attitude? Likewise if I don't get more confident in my role at work - how can I can gain trust & confidence from others? see you can tell I'm feeling better as the determined positive me is bursting back out :-)

Lucozade Sport - Product reviews
I've been using my Lucozade products this week & some I totally love & others I'm not so fussed for - I hope to write a post on this specifically during the week, but on the whole I'd highly recommend you get on over to their online shop & see what they have to offer. It's not just the shop though, they have loads of really good articles, advice, training tools & much more on their website, and not just for runners. So go & take a look. I don't get anything in return for promoting their products - I'm doing this because I like them - however if you are interested in ordering from them let me know & send me your email address & I can refer you as a friend & you'll get 20% of your first order.

Well I better go & get my kit ready for tomorrow I'm hoping for a run & body pump after work :-)
I've also made some courgette, feta & mint soup that I need to go blend - will let you know how that turns out.

Take care all
lots of love
Fudgey xxx

On the mend: Rest & Recovery

2011-02-03T21:25:00.004Z

Hello Fudgey Friends,

Sorry no posts since Sunday, it turned out the sore throat was in fact a very nasty sinus infection. I was at the doctor on Monday & got some really strong antibiotics & instructions to take it easy, so that's meant very little in the way of training this week - but as I'm determined to get back to full health & fitness as quickly as possible for once did mostly as I was told.

Tuesday I was at home all day, mostly in bed reading running magazines & sleeping. Poor Mr Fudgey also had flu like symptoms and felt rubbish so he was off too. I felt a lot brighter on Wednesday so went back to work - it only felt like I was swallowing a pea rather than a golf ball! Poor Mr Fudgey was still off - but he went back today though I think he still feels a little yuck.

Wednesday I decided to go to circuits class but with the caveat that if I didn't feel well I'd just leave - but I managed through the 45 minutes though wasn't as strong as normal but still worked up a sweat. Other than that I haven't trained at all this week, but this has probably done me no harm as rest & recovery were exactly what I needed.

However this evening I am feeling fab so I'm hoping to either fit in my strength training or a run tomorrow - work permitting. I was very good on Wednesday & managed to leave by 5.20pm when I said I was going at 4.30pm & today I was determined to leave at 5pm but ended up rushing out at 6.25pm! I do love that still time after 5pm though when there are no meetings, phone calls, no more emails or interruptions - I get so much done in that time.

All being well I'll be back on the Marathon training plan on Sunday & I'm fully stocked up & prepared as this arrived today:
I was so excited but I couldn't open till I got home, as the packing straps made the 2kg easy to carry.
So I got home & got all my Lucozade Sport goodies out. They have some brilliant deals online & delivery is free over £15 - so go visit them @ lucozadeshop
I'll let you know how I get on with all my products. I've always been a Science in Sport girl but can't wait to try out what Lucozade sport have on offer.

Will be back soon hopefully with a training update!

Take Care all
love
Fudgey
xxx

Plodding along

2011-01-30T21:23:00.005Z

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

2011-01-24T20:12:00.003Z

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

2011-01-23T16:55:00.004Z

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

2011-01-16T20:53:00.008Z

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

2011-01-09T18:06:00.011Z

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

2011-01-02T14:17:00.007Z

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

A Lazy Blog for a Busy Year

2010-12-31T19:20:00.010Z

Happy Hogmanay Fudgey Friends,

I thought today I'd do a very lazy thing & use some of my old posts - a kind of review of the year.

2010 has been a very busy year in Fudgey Land,there have been ups and downs, tears & laughter, and some incredible achievements that made me smile alot.

January
The Great Winter Run - 3 temp, reduced from 5k to 4.2k due to the snow but an absolute blast & also the lovely KMac's first road race.

February
unfortunately saw me suffering with injury so running wasn't so high on the agenda

March
The Meadows Marathon - it was actually the 5k that I entered. I was delighted not to be beaten by the guy dressed as an egg!
March also saw me take on a new role as a business analyst - out of my comfort zone into the unknown and it's been a huge challenge this year.

April
Mr Fudgey & I had an adventure to Dublin for The Great Ireland Run - not even volcanic ash could keep me from running. Delighted to record my first official sub 60minute 10k.

May
First up The Great Edinburgh Run. I was not in the mood to run yet managed to take 1 minute 30 seconds of my Dublin time so a new PB.

Next was the big event - what I'd been training for since the start of the year The Edinburgh half marathon. One of the best things I've ever done. I never thought I could run a whole 13.1 miles but I did it :-)

June
As part of a team of 23 lovely ladies I took part in the Race for Life & in the process we raised over £10,000 in support of our friend & colleague Judi who has pancreatic cancer.

June also saw us put the flat on the market & I jetted off to Montreal for a week leaving Mr Fudgey for the first time since we'd been married.

July
I looked back through my posts & there was a lot of running & training in July as well as some pretty good food

August
A lovely trip home to Benbecula & Mr Fudgey & I were the proud god parents at our niece Margaret Mary's christening, I was a Semi Finalist in The Scottish Slimmers Slimmer of the year competition, We sold the flat :-D & we celebrated our first wedding anniversary with a weekend to Windermere

September
My second half marathon - The Glasgow half marathon
I enjoyed much more than Edinburgh I think because I had no pressure on myself. I would love to break 2 hours but with illness in the last few training weeks it wasn't to be .....maybe next year.

October
The first ever Scottish kilomathon This one hurt alot!

November
We waved goodbye to the flat and shut the door on what had been an emotional chapter in Fudgey history & moved into our new house - which we adore. We honestly can't express what a difference it has made to both of us & the furry fellas.

December

Loads of snowy adventures & The Great Scottish Santa Run What a fun way to finish a great year of running.

2010 Challenges

1000km in 2010 - Done

so the final distance.......1077.17km (669.32 miles)

£1000 for charity - Done

My other challenge was to raise £1000 for charity - my chosen charity was CCLASP & I managed to raise £1094 excluding the gift aid, as well as taking part in raising £10,000 with Judi's Ray's of Sunshine & I also donated to KMac's Kilimajaro climb & Movember to name a few things.

Run a Half Marathon - Done

Just writing this post has blown me away as to how much I've packed into the last 12 months & how many good times I've had, of course I couldn't have done it on my own.....

Thank you

The biggest Thank you has to go to my amazing husband Mr Fudgey, he's been then for me at every race, put up with my mood swings - the runner's highs & lows, for all the amazing photos & the you tube videos - they wouldn't exist without him & for his patience with my blogging.

Thank you to all my family & friends for their never ending patience & support.

Thank you to my 2 bestest friend Smurfy & KMac - they made all the really tough times bearable & knew just how to cheer me up.

Thank you to everyone who sponsored me.

Thank you to Colin Fraser - my personal trainer who has made me hurt quite a lot this year - in fact I do right now, but gave me quads of steel & helped keep me at my target weight

Thank you to Clare Fulton for the awesome sports massages & getting me back out & running after the ITB & groin injuries.

Thank you to all my blog followers.

I could go on the list is endless but Thank you all so much for helping to make 2010 such a wonderful year.

In true Fudgey style there are tears! but they are happy ones.

All that's left is for me to wish you a very very Happy New Year when it comes.

I'll be back soon to tell you what's in store for 2011.

lots & lots of love
Fudgey
xxxx

Aches, Pains & Stress Relief Sessions

2010-12-30T18:58:00.005Z

Hello Fudgey Friends,

How are you all? Did you have a good Christmas? I hope Santa brought you what you wanted.

I was incredibly spoilt by my lovely Hubby, family & friends.

My best gift by far was the Zorbing voucher from Mr Fudgey....for those of you who don't know what zorbing is:

I can't wait to go & we're hoping to make a wee weekend break of it, but I think we'll wait till the weather is a wee bit better!

On top of the Anton & Erin Puttin' on The Ritz Tickets for my Birthday - I think he may just be the bestest husband ever :-)

We had a lovely day & I got to speak to my folks & my sister before going to Mum & Dad Smith's for a fabulous afternoon, evening & meal.

Like most of us I've eaten far too much & drank more than I usually do - so this week it was back into the gym to try & undo some of the excesses.

I also think it's fair to say that for more one reason or another my stress levels have been particularly high over the last few weeks, but one of my ways of coping is by working out - so after the short Christmas break I was back with the regime.

Yesterday was circuits & though there were only 4 of us it was really really good & really tough. First circuit 1 min & second circuit 30 seconds. Stations I can remember were: bicep curl, tricep extension, underarm bent over row, boxing, i surrender, tricep dips, burpees, chest press,weighted sprints, lunges, squats, skipping, walking press ups, walking plank & plank. Everyone of us lifted heavier & worked harder than usual - guess we were all feeling the Christmas indulgence guilt!

Today I squeezed in a 5.5km run and a torturous PT session!
PT started with a teeny weeny cross trainer warm up then straight over to the squat rack, a little warm up set & then 3 supersets of 15 very heavy squats superset with 20 Komodos, then onto the strength training 4 supersets of 8 assisted pull ups & 10 shoulder press with 6kg dumbbells, 4 supersets of 10 underarm pull down & maximal press ups I think I managed 25, 25, 20 & 20 press ups in each set. Then medicine ball lunges x 20 superset with weighted step ups 20kg bar, 10 each leg. We started with the 8kg ball but had to go down to 5kg as my arms were really hurting by this stage - I think lifting just my arms would have been effort enough. I think we did 3 sets of that but I just wanted it to be over. Toughest session in ages, but great :-)

By the time I got home my arms felt like 2 dead weights, mind you at least this takes my mind off my dodgy shin which is playing up again & my sore knee which I hurt by running after a girl to give her money that fell out of her pocket - would have been fine if I hadn't been wearing wellies at the time. I'm going back to the doctor next week to see if we can get to the bottom of this shin thing - it's so annoying. It's never been right since I dropped that big metal wheelbarrow on it back in the summer!

I'm hoping tomorrow I might get an outdoor run in as most of the snow has melted away & the pavements are pretty well gritted - but we'll see how the aches & pains are doing.

Now I'm off to spend some time with Mr Fudgey & our 4 little furry purries.

Take Care all

lots of love
Fudgey
xxxx

Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays

2010-12-25T09:22:00.003Z

Dear Fabulous Fudgey Friends,

Firstly I hope you all have a fantastic day wherever & whatever you are doing.

When you are arguing with the folks over what to watch on TV or because someone drank too much or refereeing between the kids, or just generally feel bleugh because you ate & drank too much - please please please take a minute to think of those less fortunate who never managed to get to where they wanted for Christmas or won't be sitting down to a magnificent spread or won't receive any gifts at all.

Secondly huge apologies for leaving you blogless for a couple of weeks. The last 3 weeks have seen plenty of snow, ice, stressing about work & travel & getting everything done for Christmas - there has been no blogging, not a lot of training or running and certainly very little relaxing. I have a long list of people I should have called and caught up with and I haven't - honestly it is nothing personal and I am very very sorry. Mr Fudgey & I are certainly looking forward to no alarms for the next 4 days and a little bit of chill time.

Hope you all get time to do the things you want to over the festive break, whether that is seeing friends & family, hitting the sales tomorrow, making the most of the snow for winter sports or just relaxing. Enjoy!

Take Care, Stay Safe & Warm

lots of love
Fudgey xxxx

Santa Fudgey

2010-12-12T14:25:00.009Z

Hello again Fudgey Friends,

No lie in for the Fudgey's this morning - up and on the bus for 8.30am. It was bitterly cold in Edinburgh first thing.

First stop was to collect my Santa Suit & then next stop Costa for a coffee and to warm up a bit.

Whilst in Costa I got into my Santa Gear. Then down to Prince Street Gardens. There weren't nearly as many Santas as in previous years - but still a pretty good turn out. Lots of little elves too taking part. There was some entertainment at the band stand - highland dancers & a young guy who apparently came second in Edinburgh's got talent who sang a couple of songs. They must have been frozen - it was pretty cold.

As it approached 11am, all the Santa started to line up ready for their 2 laps round the gardens. I had hoped for a place near the front so that I wouldn't get caught up in the Santa shuffle as mostly people walk & they actually didn't want people to run today due to the snow and ice. Mostly though the foot paths were clear & had been gritted. I found myself right on the start line and beside Mark C who ran 50 marathon in 56 days - I had read about Mark in one of my running magazines and he has inspired me so much - so I felt really honoured to be stood beside him. I'm not sure what quite happened I think we all set off before we were meant to and I was prepared to walk as instructed but a group of 6 guys broke off at breakneck speed - followed by me and another guy - it seemed we weren't meant to go & everyone apart from that front group slowed to a walk - I then decided sod this - if they're running I'm running & took off! I perfected an innovative style of running while holding up my Santa suit trousers!! I was out on my own and it felt fabby there were loads of people cheering and lots of little kids watching who all waved & I made sure I waved back....with one hand still holding up the trousers. As I came back round to the Ross Bandstand a lady told me I was the first female Santa :-) On the second lap just after the exit from the bandstand I was slowed up by the back of the Santa pack - but I managed to weave in and out by running up the grass & round the backs of benches - coming a long the top stretch of path a lady exclaimed - 'Oh you've been round already' There was no official finish line just a row of people handing out the medals & they told me I was one of the top 10 - only about 7 or 8 people had finished ahead of me & I was the first female Santa - how they figured that with all the beards I don't know but I was so elated. Today wasn't a race by any means It was fun and I really had fun and enjoyed it - I have no idea how long it took me to run the 1.5k course - no garmin - no watch - just me & the one size fits all Santa suit!

I have to say a massive massive Thank you to long suffering Mr Fudgey who trailed out early on a cold & frosty Sunday and as always provided fabby photos.

Thanks also to everyone who donated to When you Wish Upon a Star Thank you so so much. I raised £40 with your help.

Looking forward to relaxing the rest of today now.

More Snow - more Fudgey Adventures

2010-12-11T17:15:00.007Z

Hello Fudgey Friends,

How are we all? I am so sorry that my posts are not so frequent at the moment - I'm just so busy just now I keep wanting to sit down & blog but time just keeps escaping from me.

Well last Sunday I made my Thai green curry - vegetable for me with courgettes & prawns for Mr Fudgey with carrots substituted for the courgettes - both were really good.

Thanks to Scottish Slimmers for
another great recipe.

Stranded
Monday morning came & Mr Fudgey & I thought that all was starting ti return to normality - we got the bus into work no problem....then the snow started. We couldn't get home. Thankfully I work for a brilliant company who really look after their employees and they arranged a hotel for me for the night and for everyone else who was stranded. Mr Fudgey and I went out for a lovely meal and then went to see the latest Harry Potter movie. Much as we both would have preferred to get home to our cosy housie we made the best of the situation and at least didn't have far to go to get to work on Tuesday.

Adventure Fudge
On Tuesday though there was no more snow the temperatures had plummeted and you'll all have seen the terrible scenes of people being stranded on the roads for hours on end. There were still no buses home, but I was grumpy Fudgey as I still had the same clothes from Monday & was worried about the cats and the house. Huge Thanks to Mum and Dad Smith for going and feeding our babies and doing some bits and bobs about the place - it was very very very much appreciated - especially the venturing out in the awful weather. At lunchtime Mr Fudgey & I took the decision to try to get home regardless - we took a bus half way & then walked the rest - it took us 2 hours & 5 minutes walking and we later discovered the temperature had been between -7 & -11. We got home safe though and were so happy. The downstairs toilet was frozen up - with no water coming in at all - but other than that all was well.

Workout Wifey
Workout Fudge aka She Hulk (Thanks Hubby)made a welcome return on Wednesday & Thursday. Wednesday was a PT session and though it was really tough I saw a glimpse of just how far I had come - I managed to squat 50kg - I couldn't have done that a year ago.
The session included assisted pulls ups superset with dead rows, underarm grip pull down 32.5kg, superset with 15kg bicep curls (4 sets of 10 each).3 super sets of 15 squats 50kg & 12 lunges with 30lb dumbbells. Finishing of with cable hamstrings & swiss ball crunches.
Thursday lunchtime I managed to get in a quick 30 minute run on the treadmill too and really pushed the pace - looked like a beetroot by the end - but felt fudgeytastic :-)

A long long week
Wednesday, Thursday & Friday we didn't have much trouble getting to & from work - journeys a little longer than normal but not too bad & by Friday we were starting to thaw nicely. The downstairs toilet returned to working order when the inlet pipes thawed out & all the snow slid nicely off the conservatory. I felt completely drained though and so glad it was Friday night.

Baker Fudgey
After doing our big shop this morning I was busy baker Fudgey in the kitchen & have so far made Cappuccino Marble cake, Cranberry & Orange muffins & Carrot cake.

These are to take to the office on Monday as a Thank you for the donations to When you wish upon Star & I'll be taking part in the Edinburgh Santa Run tomorrow. I am so so excited about this - it's just for fun and I can't wait.

I'll be back tomorrow with a quick post on the Santa run

lots of love
Fudgey xxxx

Another Snow related blog

2010-12-05T17:13:00.004Z

Hello Fudgey Friends,

How are you all? Is there anyone out there who hasn't had snow this week?
Snow seems to be a recurring theme across blogland this week & sorry to bore you but my post does also contain snow related stories.

So I last blogged on Sunday & had been out running in the snow - well it continued to fall on Sunday & by Monday morning was about a foot deep.

Mr Fudgey & I attempted to get into work but the main street was deep in snow & there were no buses all day Monday - so we both had to work as best we could from home. I had to phone and cancel my podiatry appointment & it was rearranged to Wednesday morning.

On Tuesday we struck lucky as my ex boss Neil passed us at the bus stop & picked us up - giving us both a lift to work. It was a good job too as again there were no buses though a service did start around lunchtime. It was forecast for more snow on Tuesday evening & I left work a little after 2pm so I could get home in daylight & before the weather closed in again

On Tuesday night it snowed - not just a little - we got another foot of snow overnight and though we had checked the web and knew there were no buses ventured out to see if the main street was passable & there may be a service either later or if we could get a lift with anyone we knew again or Dad Smith had kindly offered that he could drive us.....Snow Chance.
It was worse than Monday! The usual 4 minute walk to the bus stop took 20 minutes. So again podiatry appointment cancelled and working from home. Wednesday was by far the worst day and I had severe cabin fever. I really feel for those who were house bound for longer than us - they must have been going mad.
On Wednesday afternoon I decided I wanted to go & photograph a car just behind our house that showed how bad the snow had been.
Silly fudge put on her pink wellies with 3/4 length trousers with the result the snow went in the boots & when I got in I couldn't get them off. 10 minutes after struggling frantically I asked Mr Fudgey to help me & he really struggled to get them off my feet too - I was howling with laughter as he was pulling the boot & dragging me along the floor with it! Eventually we got them off & first snow lesson of the week learnt!
On Wednesday we also started to run low on a few things like teabags & milk and had run out of bread - we decided that on Thursday even if we couldn't get to work we would need to venture to the local shops.

On Thursday morning it only took us 2 hours to get to work - still we were both glad to get there. We also stocked up on supplies. Another snow casualty was my early morning PT session which I had to call and cancel as I wasn't going to make it on time. I did manage to squeeze in a 20 minute run though on Thursday & rescheduled my PT session. I also went and bought some bird seed and nuts for the little birds in our garden - Fudgey snow related incident number 2 coming up.....
after a 2 and a half hour journey home from work - though an hour of that was waiting for a bus we eventually got home. I decided I'd go out into the back garden to put out the seeds & nuts I'd bought. The garden had been untouched since the snow had fallen - it was so deep we couldn't open the conservatory door. I went round the side of the house and into the garden where the snow was above my knees and hung up the seeds and nuts, then I decided it would be a great idea to make a snow angel.......all was going well & lying on the snow was surprisingly relaxing, until I tried to get up, as I shifted my weight forward my 2 legs sunk into the snow, I put out a hand but there was nothing to push against & my arm sunk into the snow....I ended up hands & knees down in the snow struggling to get out.....all the time laughing, I managed to get myself up & when I came back into the house I looked like I had been whitewashed....second snow lesson of the week!

Friday morning we'd thankfully had no more snow and we both got to work OK albeit another 2 hour journey. My department Christmas lunch scheduled for Friday afternoon was the next casualty of the bad weather - but thankfully it's just been postponed till later in the month.
I've never been so glad to get home as I was on Friday evening.

Rearranged PT - as I mentioned before I managed to fit in a PT session too this week - back to the strength training - it doesn't seem to be getting any easier - but lack of gym action this week probably hasn't helped. I'm hoping to get back on track this week if the weather & my workload permit. Losing a couple of days in the office this week and working from home mean I have plenty to catch up on.
I also need to seriously get my eating under control & get a couple of pounds off - I think I lost my appetite & found an elephants.

This weekend has been fairly relaxed - yesterday we didn't do much other than some housework and go to the local shops for some essentials. I made carrot & butternut squash soup and Mr Fudgey & I cleared a path from the house to the road. We also finally had our street cleared by the snow plough. In the evening I made roasted veg & turkey breast fillet for dinner before we settled down to watch Strictly & then Escape from New York

Today we went off for our big shop. Later I went to the local shop for stamps and posted some cards, on the way back I fed the swans some bread - the poor things seemed ravenous. The plan now is to make Thai green vegetable curry and watch the strictly results.

Well that's been my week - I hope that you are all safe, warm and well.

Take Care out there
love
Fudgey
xxxx

Little Snow Runner

2010-11-28T20:03:00.008Z

Hello again fudgey friends,

well this was the scene I woke up to today....

but it wasn't going to stop me running. Dedicated or mad....you decide!

I wrapped up in my base layer trousers & then my long running trousers, long sleeved top, running jacket, high viz, hat & gloves and off I went. I had only got about 300m when I realised it was far worse than I thought & I wouldn't be going very fast or very far. The snow at this point was maybe about 4 inches deep, but it was starting to snow again & was really heavy.Mr Fudgey took this from our window whilst I was out....

By 600m I had to take off my glasses & put them in my pocket. The roads weren't even clear & the snow was so deep I couldn't see where the kerb was. I managed to make it to my friend's place (about 2km) where I stopped for a cup of tea before heading back home.
Mr Fudgey snapped me running up our street.

and then in our utility room

I loved running in the snow even though it was pretty hard going - it was tough on the ankles. I got some rather strange looks from people who clearly thought I was a bit crazy, but one man said 'Good on you'
Today I never saw another runner at all!

But do you know what I'd go out & do it all over again given half the chance...I loved running in the snow.

Hope you are all safe & warm where ever you are.

Take Care
love
Fudgey xxxxx

A whirlwind week

2010-11-28T16:41:00.016Z

Hello Fudgey Friends,

How are you all?
It's been a busy busy week for me again & I can only see this continuing till into the New Year. Unfortunately due to lack of spare time I’ve not blogged as much as I would have liked so you’ll need to saddle up for a special Sunday catch up – I promise I’ll try not to ramble on.

A Birthday & A restaurant review
Wednesday was Mum Smith’s birthday & we were all going out for a meal to a place in Linlithgow called Livingston’s. Mum Smith had been before and had told us it was wonderful and she wasn’t wrong. Everything about it was just fantastic. The service & the food were both first class. It was a really classy place but not at all pretentious. I ordered the spinach & ricotta gnocchi, the roast breast of duck with Savoy cabbage, polenta cakes & beetroot sauce & the nutty lemon parfait with marscapone sorbet. All presented beautifully & absolutely delicious. We had a gorgeous bottle of Malbec & finished off with coffee & home made tablet. It wasn’t the cheapest place but it was a case of truly getting what you paid for – well what Dad Smith paid for. Thanks Bertie x
I'd love to go back in daylight so I can appreciate the surroundings too.
If you are looking for somewhere for a little Christmas treat - do check out their website - the festive menus look lush.

Late Night working

Mr Fudgey had taken Wed, Thurs & Fri off so he could spend some time with his brother, but I only had some time off on Friday & Thursday night turned into a late one at the office - about 7.45pm but I did get so much done in that lovely still time after 5.30pm when most people had gone home. I got home to find my fabby hubby had made some food & had been busy putting up our dark green curtains - they make the place look so cosy & I love them.

Entertaining part 1
On Friday, Mr Fudgey & I had invited Mum & Dad Smith & Paul for dinner. The menu:
Starter: Haggis filo parcels with plum chilli sauce
Main: Spanish baked risotto with homemade garlic & herb doughballs
Dessert: Mini cheesecakes
We had a nice meal & then great fun playing the wii. I think everyone enjoyed the evening.

Entertaining Part 2
We woke up on Saturday morning to find we'd had some snow overnight - so my plan of walking to the post office was kind of scuppered - plus my parcels were larger than I expected. Thankfully Dad Smith dropped us off at Uphall Post office on our way to do the weekly grocery shop - & that is the first of my Christmas parcels in the post :-)
After our shopping & a lovely bacon roll & cup of tea at Mum & Dad Smith's & saying our goodbye's to Paul (yes I cried - but not till Paul had left us), Mr Fudgey & I spent the afternoon doing housework & getting the house all in order & ready for our second evening of entertaining. We had invited KMac & the boy for dinner & I was going with a Chinese style menu.
Starter: Duck spring rolls & oriental chicken crackers, prawn crackers & homemade sweet & sour sauce & more plum chilli sauce.
Mains: Garlic chicken, 5 spice pork, stir fry veggies, egg fried rice & egg noodles
Desserts: profiteroles & mini toffee & chocolate cups.
It was another really lovely evening & I can't wait to entertain more in our new hoosie. I never took any photos though - I actually forgot to!

I'm going to leave this here for now & do another post re today's run in the snow a wee bit later. I want to go now & get my laundry sorted & the dinner started.
Be back soon folks.

love
Fudgey xxx

Returning to normality

2010-11-23T22:19:00.004Z

Hello Fudgey Friends,

How are you all? What have you been up to?
I'm good - normal routine & routine are starting to return, though I seem to be busier than ever with one thing or another - I think it's getting to that time of year though. I had hoped to blog again before now but time simply ran away from me!

Friday
I never went to the gym at all on Friday, I decided that as I was planning to go to the Zumbathon for 2 hours on Saturday and to run on Sunday that I'd take a rest on Friday. Unfortunately I ended up in my bed at 9pm burning hot but feeling shivery & with a terrible headache. At 5am on Saturday morning I submitted & took some painkillers. It's very unlike me to feel like that - but I was completely wiped out.

Strictly Saturday
I felt better when I got up on Saturday but still not quite right & I had to resort to more painkillers around 1pm when I started to fell yuck again. So I never made it to the Zumbathon or to collect the Christmas items I'd reserved at Argos :-( We did have a successful shopping trip to Morrisons & I finally got a potato crock :-)
The slow cooker was in use again & I made Hungarian Goulash - it was very tasty.
They say laughter is the best medicine & oh how I laughed - nearly cried at Ann & Anton's Samba - sheer comedy gold. Whether you think Ann should have been out weeks ago or not - you can't say it's not entertaining

Surprise Sunday
I actually got up & ran on Sunday & it felt fantastic.
Focus was increasing the distance rather than the pace as since the kilomathon my regular Sunday long runs have been irregular & only about 5 - 6k. I want to build a good base between now & the end of the year so I can start my marathon training feeling strong. Was really pleased with a nice steady consistent pace & the rain mostly held off. I foolishly took my gloves off at around 4k & zipped them in my pocket.....bad move - blue hands by the time I got home!

Then I got an absolutely fantastic surprise. As I'd ran into our street I saw Dad Smith's car in the drive & wondered why he was at ours so early, came in & no one about. Mr Fudgey came downstairs & was asking if I was OK - how was the run etc. I was trying to get my breath back after being out in the cold & coming into the warm, and was leaning forward, hands on thighs, looking at the floor. Then Mum Smith came down & said morning & then another figure I assumed to be Dad Smith till I heard the voice & looked up & there was my lovely brother in law Paul - all the way from Buffalo. Only Dad Smith had known that Paul was coming over for a week. Mr Fudgey & I haven't seen Paul since our wedding last August - so this was a fabby fudgey wudgey surprise.

Back to the normal routine
Monday lunchtime I squeezed in a cheeky 22 min treadmill sprint interval session - certainly got the blood pumping, then after work I went to the Superhero body pump class as part of the Children in Need events at my gym. There were 5 classes back to back but I only stayed for the pump class as I needed to get home, but next time if I'm a bit more organised in advance I'll do more - I might even join in the dressing up!

Today - Even though my lovely personal trainer is on holiday I know he'll know if I don't keep up the strength training & do the nice new programme he wrote for me. Deliberated whether to go after work or tomorrow morning but since mornings at the gym aren't really happening in my world at the moment & getting into work early is good as I'm so busy - I opted for this evening.
Quick 5 min cross trainer warm up
then 4 supersets of 10 underhand grip cable pull downs superset with 10 upright rows 15kg bar
4 supersets of 10 assisted pull ups superset with 20 hammer curls (10 each side) 6kg dumbbells
3 supersets of 15 leg press (first set 60kg & next 2 sets 62.5kg) superset with 20 medicine ball lunges with 6kg medicine ball
Should have also done squats superset with calf raises - but a) squat rack was being used & b) I was a little short on time
finished with abs 3 supersets of 15 jackknifes & 10 hanging leg raises

Travelling home on the bus I could feel my upper body objecting to me already! Still just had a really deep & bubbly bath whilst listening to The girl with the dragon tattoo.....life is good :-)
If anyone has any other good book tape suggestions please let me know as I'm thoroughly enjoying listening to books on my journey to work.

Other Running related news
An update on 1000km in 2010 - well as you know I achieved this in October but I've still been logging my runs & am now up to 1045.11 km (649.41 miles)

I have also signed up for The Great Scottish Santa Run in Edinburgh on 12th Dec - only 1.5km - should be a good bit of festive fun & then a wee gander round the Christmas market & a shot on the big wheel - perfect Sunday out.

and that lovely friends is all for today - I had better get to bed as I want to be in work early again in the morning - lots to do :-)

Take Care all
lots of love
Fudgey
xxxx

Hooray I'm back

2010-11-18T21:37:00.010Z

Hello Fudgey Friends,

I'm back on line at last. Been sitting thinking about blogging for the last 37 or so minutes & just don't know where to start.

Moving House
1st November was the big day & it was all good other than a small delay in getting the keys for the new house.
Both Mr Fudgey & I had a week off to get sorted & it was busy busy week, & an expensive one....trips to buy new washing machine & tumble dryer, big food shop to restock, ikea trip & a new tv.
Though I never got to the gym I certainly wasn't idle....listing boxes & furniture & running up & downstairs.
We were very fortunate that the place was in walk in condition so we've only had a few little things to do like putting hooks on the backs of doors and a lock on the downstairs toilet door. There are plenty of other things we'd like to do and put our own stamp on the place but nothing that is really urgent.
The two of us have been sleeping so well since we moved and love the new place. The kittys are settling in too. Clyde thinks he owns the place - we just pay the mortgage!
I can't believe we've been here nearly 3 weeks.

Thank you
An enormous Thank you to Mum & Dad Smith for all their help during the moving period - we are very very very grateful. Thank you to the rest of family & friends too for their support over the last few challenging months & for all the warm wishes & new home cards we received, We are so lucky to have such fantastic family & friends xxx

Still working hard
So the first week of November saw a serious decline in my regime but I'm back on track & those who follow me on facebook or dailymile will know I've started my strength training - with my challenge to be able to do a pull up. OMG I never knew how hard it would be.....but I'm enjoying it.....so here are my workouts since start of the month

07/11 - Exploring the new neighbourhood 5.02 km

08/11 - Spin class

09/11 - PT this strength training is really tough
quick cross trainer warm up then 2 sets of a burpee, jump & pull up - 10 reps
3 supersets of 15 squats 60lb superset with 15 squat jumps with 25lb weights
3 supersets of 10 assisted pull ups & 10 single arm row 25lb (10 each side)
5 supersets of 10 lat pull down & 10 shoulder rotator

10/11 - Circuits Oh how my upper body hurt after yesterday's PT session. started strength training to be able to do pull ups - hope it's worth it!
Today's stations: step ups, step lunges, oblique twists, sit ups with weight, ski sit with shoulder raises, shuttle runs, chest press, tricep dips, press ups, punch bag, skipping, spin bike high resistance & squats ....1 min each station - 2 circuits

11/11 treadmill 4.18 km - Running has been suffering due to the house move so I manged to snatch a quickie at the gym before work. Not a bad effort so far this week, spin, PT, circuits & a run. My upper body hates me - can't lift arms above shoulder height & pulling doors is an effort - but it feels so good to hurt again - yes I'm crazy!

15/11 more exploring new hood 6.07 km -went out just as it was starting to get dark about 4.30pm & had a great run. Everything just felt so good - think the enforced rest due to house moving & the change of focus to strength training has really helped. Best run in ages

16/11 - PT
oh how much I love having a personal trainer & even though it's really hard work I'm enjoying the change of focus with the strength training - it probably isn't something I'd have done without a PT
today's session
4 x supersets underarm grip pull down 10 reps 30kg superset with 10 upright rows with 15kg bar
4 x supersets assisted pull up 10 reps superset with 16 hammer curls (8 each side) with 6kg dumbbells
3 supersets of 15 reps leg press 65kg superset with 20 medicine ball (6kg) lunges
3 supersets of 15 jackknifes & 10 hanging leg raises
hanging leg raises were a bit crap to be honest today but we did them on the roman chair & I couldn't get a grip I was comfortable with

lovely lavender & waterlily bath when I got home to relax & unwind

17/11 - Circuits my fave class of the week
stations this week: upright row, mountain climbers, squats, plyometric step ups, tricep dips, bicep curls shadow boxing with dumbbells, swissball crunches, walking lunges with 5kg plates, press ups - 2 circuits a minute each station & then a press up challenge & abs to finish off

Hoping for a dreadmill session in the morning too....so all in all not a bad effort over the last 3 weeks.

Also have the Zumbathon for Children in Need to look forward too on Saturday.

Work, Food & General Chat
After the week off it was good to get back to work and I've been pretty busy the last 2 weeks in fact I can't believe tomorrow is Friday. The house move has certainly had a positive effect as the longer journey too & from the office helps segregate home and work & the fact that I'm so much more relaxed & sleeping well has meant I feel like I'm functioning better during the day and though I'm a busy bee I'm really enjoying work at the moment.

Getting back on track with the healthy eating - it was a bit out of sorts with the move but now back into routine and finally can use the slow cooker we got for the wedding. So far have made lentil soup, vegetable soup & oriental honeyed pork. & I have some photos....

Slow cooker

Lentil soup

Oriental Honeyed Pork

so all in all life is pretty fudgey right now. Very glad to be back on line & reconnected with the world.

And now I'm going to say goodnight as I need to get to my bed if I want to attempt to gym in the morning.

Will be back soon

lots of love
Fudgey

Still not back on line

2010-11-16T08:30:00.002Z

Hello Fudgey Friends,

I'm missing you all loads.

I feel really cut off with no internet or phone at the new house.

Not a very happy fudgey this morning as although we had an engineer out yesterday - our phone doesn't work & we don't have the router yet - so not net access either - though obviously need to get the phone line sorted first. Just a bit PO'd that it seems like a waste of a half day's holiday.

I've also come in to a whole raft of blood pressure raising mails & messages at work..........grrrr

maybe I should go home & start today again!

On a more positive note I did have a cracking run yesterday evening & I made some yummy banana bread.

Hope to be back soon with proper blogs.....eg when we get online at home.

Take Care all

Fudgey xxxxx

A very quick hello

2010-11-07T18:19:00.002Z

Hi Fudgey Friends,

I'm missing you all & all my fellow bloggers - but love love loving the new house. It's been a busy busy busy week - we've hardly stopped - need to go back to work for a rest!

Am at Mum & Dad Smith's just now so thought I'd do a very quick post to let you know I'm good & that I'm thinking of you all.

Can't wait to get back into a routine - only a PT session & 1 run this week due to big house move. Started my strength training for my latest ambition to be able to do at least one full pull up - oh man it is so hard & I had major DOMs yesterday. Great to change the focus a little though. Out this morning for a quick 5k run in the new hood - perfect bright but cold morning after all that miserable rain. I even went off road - might need to invest in trail shoes.....got a little muddy but had great fun.
Spin & Pump tomorrow though, PT on Tuesday & Circuits on Wed - week looking fab already. Miss all you fudgey followers - can't wait to get back online - hopefully 15th Nov

Righty better go & get on want to get my shoes all unpacked & in the wardrobe we reassembled this afternoon!

Take Care everyone
lots of love
Fudgey

Goodbye for now

2010-10-31T15:45:00.002Z

Hey Fudgey Friends,

Just a quick post before I disconnect my PC.

Had a quick run this morning but it wasn't so good.

Awful:-(
great first km, then I don't know what happened - lost control of my breathing started to panic, then I had a headache & felt sick - maybe not such good idea with the big house move tomorrow - but still it was running .....& normally if I have a bad run I make up for it next time.

I've not stopped since I got back either. The place is in turmoil. Defrosting the freezer, wiped out all the kitchen units, dismantled the bed, scrubbed the bedroom skirting. Mr Fudgey is disconnecting the DVD & Blu Ray :-(
And there are still a thousand things to do - cooker to be cleaned, bathroom to be cleaned, fridge to be cleaned, sitting room & front bedroom skirting all need wiped etc. It's going to be a late night I think......& I'll probably be doing it all over again tomorrow in the new place!

As I said yesterday we don't get internet till 15th November - but I'll try & get access to update you on how things are at some point between now & then even if only briefly.

Take Care everyone
love
Fudgey
xxx

Nearly there

2010-10-30T20:15:00.007+01:00

Hello Fudgey Friends,

How are you all? Good week?

Well it's less than 48 hours now till our move. Someone is ready to go!
Snapped this pic on Friday morning.

A HUGE BIG THANK YOU to the marvellous movers, Kmac, Smurfy, Lorna & Rob who helped us move a whole load of stuff today. THANK YOU also to Mum Smith for providing a feast - the gang really appreciated it & also asked me to pass on their Thanks.

So that was the workout for today - I was up at 5.30 as I couldn't sleep. All quiet here though Wed, Thurs & Fri night. I think it is just excitement. Mr Fudgey & I were then busy packing boxes and then we all loaded into & then back out of the cars.

Personal Training
Smurfy & I both had lovely DOMS on Thursday morning partly from Circuits on Wednesday & from our other efforts so I knew PT would be fun.

Warm up set of 20 squats
3 supersets of 15 olympic bar squats (50lb) & 12 squat with shoulder press 15kg
3 supersets of 15 leg press 65kg & 20 medicine ball lunges
3 supersets of 12 cable hamstring curls each leg & 12 hanging leg raises - still more improvement first 2 sets pretty good - 3rd set I managed 8.
3 supersets of 12 crunch, lift & extend & 12 compound crunches
3 sets of 10 cable wood chops each side.

I also told Colin of my ambition to be able to do a pull up by the end of this year - even if it's just one! You've got to have a goal & with no real running events left this year for me I'm going to achieve 100 press ups & at least 1 pull up by the end of the year :-)

On Thursday I also received my second graze box - again I shared it with Mr Fudgey.
We both thought that the cracked black pepper cashews were awesome - they didn't last long. I also discovered I don't particularly like amphissa olives :-( thankfully I am a fan of kalamata ones.
I was also gifted some wasapeas from Mike at work from his graze box as he thought they were vile - I love wasapeas :-)

On Friday I took a well deserved recovery day. I also had to go off at lunchtime and do a number of moving related things & by the end of the day we had confirmed that everything was in place & it's all systems go for Monday.
We won't be getting our internet set up till 15th November - so I will have to take a wee blog holiday I think, but don't worry I'll be back.

Even though all my clothes are packed I do have running gear for tomorrow so hopefully I shall be able to get a cheeky wee run in :-)

If I do & before we pack my pc I'll try & drop you a wee post.

Take Care all
love
Fudgey
xxx

A long week so far

2010-10-27T21:27:00.004+01:00

Hello Fudgey Friends,

How is everyone?

Well I never got to run on Sunday or get to to the gym as I had kind of hoped for - the reason was I was absolutely exhausted. Our neighbour was very agitated again & we ended up calling the police at 4am only for him to be quiet when they arrived but he continued to make noise at 5am, 6am & 7am. Then followed disturbed sleep on Sunday, Monday & Tuesday night. Touch wood it all seems quiet tonight - so hopefully we'll get an uninterrupted night's sleep. Mr Fudgey & I have been knackered this week. Not great in the run up to the move. You may then ask yourself how have I managed to fit in 4 workouts already this week. Well it's stress relief more than anything.

Monday - making it up as I go along
I had a day off on Monday so managed to get into the gym in the afternoon. I was in 2 minds what to do - didn't really fancy a long run on the treadmill nor was I inspired by my programme - time for a new one I think. Anyway jumped on the treadmill for a gentle 10 minute warm up - ran 1.42km, then decided I'd do some press ups. I managed 70 in total - proper full manly ones too - done in 4 sets one of 25 & 3 of 15 - by the end of the year I aim to be able to do 100. Then I did 3 sets of squats with 20kg bar & then some abs - 3 x triset of 15 ab extensions with 8kg medicine ball, 12 crunches with medicine ball & 20 oblique cycles. I then finished up with 20 minutes on the bike and did just over 10km. I do so want Mr Fudgey & I get out cycling when we move

Tuesday - Spinning & Running
Needed an outlet for my tension after another largely sleepless night, so headed to spin at lunchtime - it was a great class taken by the lovely Gary. I was also conscious I hadn't run properly for over a week so headed back later for a very intense interval session. Week 2 on the Run Less Run Faster programme
Tough tough workout but felt so good for it :-)
10 min warm up then
5 repeats of 800m working @ 11.5kmph & 400m recovery (4.5 / 5.5kmph)
6 minute cool down

Hope to get at least another run in this week - but not sure how or when though - we shall see.

Wednesday - My favourite circuits
Not so noisy last night but still not a great sleep so pretty wrecked again this morning but coffee & a chocolate muffin perked me up & then I had to go to circuits to work off said choc muffin ;-0
Stations today were, bicep curls, tricep dips, bosu press ups, clean & press with squat, swiss ball squats with 5kg dumbbells, supermarket sweep (pushing trolley with c 150kg from one end of studio & then pulling backwards to the other), bag drag sprint & stepping stones, burpees, swiss ball pass , swiss ball crunches & punchbag. Usual drill after a warm up 1 min at each station - a quick rest & then second circuit of 45 seconds per station. Class was pretty busy today & I got a kick out of doing better & more manly press ups than some of the men!

Still all quiet upstairs & not a light on - I have a bad feeling that there has maybe been another incident today - I could be wrong it's just a feeling I have - but I just seriously hope that the poor guy is getting the help he desperately seems to need. Yes even after 4 mostly sleepless nights I still care.

So I'm going to get a cup of tea & curl up for some sleep.

Night night all
love
Fudgey
xxxx

Blogger Issues

2010-10-24T16:58:00.002+01:00

Hello all,

Just a quick post to tell you I'm having a few problems with blogger....or my pc.
When I try to log in - the page just refreshes & asks for my password again, it doesn't say it's incorrect or anything - it just ignores it!
I finally managed to get in by resetting my password & got through to my account this way - but with our move imminent sorting this out will have to wait till after that - unless anyone has any words of wisdom?

So if I don't post for a wee while - this is why.

love
Fudgey
xx

A Runners MOT

2010-10-23T16:53:00.004+01:00

Hello Fudgey Friends,

There has been no more running or work outs since I last posted on Thursday as I am undergoing a little maintenance at the moment.
Now seemed the right time to sort of some of my running ailments as I have no more events planned this year.
I've been having problems with my right shin since I dropped a large metal wheelbarrow on it several weeks ago. It feels really bruised though there has never been a mark. My feet are also pretty ugly with hard skin & calluses & months ago I had lost a toe nail so my doctor had referred me to the podiatrist - appointment wasn't till 22nd October though!

Sports Massage
I would highly recommend regular sports massage if you can afford it. I've had problems with my ITB, my groin & my hip - all sorted out by the magic hands of my massage therapist. You can learn a few massage techniques yourself too - as I know massage can be an expensive luxury.
I have been asked many does does sports massage hurt? Honest answer is yes it can sometimes, but I always find that the discomfort is more than worth it for the released / relaxed muscles afterwards & like anything the more you do it the more you get used to it. A good therapist won't overwork an area if it is getting tender & will work within your tolerances.
I had a sports massage on Wednesday night which ruled out shin splints or anything muscular with the shin. It did show that my whole right leg was knotted up - the calf, hamstring & right into the hip. I felt so much better after it though at points during it was not so pleasant.

Stretching
We all know we should stretch but how many of us do & do it properly. This is something I know I need to work on more.
Check out the stretching handbook

Foam Rolling
I haven't yet invested in a foam roller - but it follows on from the self massage & stretching theme. Foam Rolling
I am going to get a foam roller once we are moved & settled & need to make it part of my training routine. I have heard from loads of positive feedback from other runners on using a foam roller so will give it a try.

Professional Opinion
Always get a professional opinion if you have an injury - it helps if you can find someone who is sympathetic to your sense of urgency to be back up & running as soon as possible.
I went to see the doctor about my dodgy shin on Thursday - probably about 6 weeks after I should have! & she referred me for an xray on Friday. I went for my xray on Friday but have to wait up to a week for the results. No one has yet told me not to run so I've not stopped completely!

Podiatrist
I had my podiatry appointment on Friday afternoon - she told me not to run for 2 days (fri & sat) so I am doing as told! This is because she removed a lot of hard skin from my feet and she said that running when the skin had just been worked on and was so soft would cause more blistering. She said the hard skin that I get on my big toes is a result of my overpronation and I'm going back in a couple of weeks for a biomechanical assessment & to be fitted for some orthotics - which should help to keep my feet in tip top condition & if I'm really lucky might actually improve my running efficiency :-)

I never thought that I'd become so addicted / obsessed / in love with running - so it's vital to do everything I can to make sure that I can keep on doing it......& for the sake of poor long suffering Mr Fudgey as I get really irritable when I don't get to work out.

I'm off now to prepare dinner before my Saturday fix of Strictly come Dancing. Hope to get in a run or workout of some sort tomorrow.

Take Care all
love
Fudgey x

1000 km in 2010 & The latest Graze

2010-10-21T20:08:00.005+01:00

Hello Fudgey Friends,

How is everyone?
I can't believe it's Thursday evening already - where has this week gone?
How has your week been?

1000km in 2010
Those of you who have been following my blog for a while will know that I set myself a personal challenge this year to run a half marathon.....I've ran 2 & 2 x 10ks, 2 x 5k & a 4k & a kilomathon 26.2km - go check out my race reports, I also said that by the end of 2010 I'd run 1000km.....with 2 & a half months still to go till the end of the year I completed that challenge today.....since the start of this year I have ran 1001.78 km (622.48 miles)For those of you that work better visually or in terms distances between places - it's a little further than John O'Groats to Gloucester.

My other challenge was to raise £1000 for charity - my chosen charity was CCLASP & I managed to raise £1094 excluding the gift aid.
I don't think its sunk in how much I've achieved yet - but not bad for someone who a couple of years ago & 6 stone heavier couldn't run for a bus.

The Latest Graze
Thanks to JAG & Laura I heard about Graze boxes so used Laura's code & ordered myself a free box. It arrived at the office today & I was desperate to dive in but wanted to take a couple of photos - so I just had a wee taste of the Bento mix & the Dark Rocky road - Amazing :-) When I came home I took some photos & then I shared the Olive, rosemary & siciliano pesto focaccia with Mr Fudgey - we liked very much. I haven't tried the juicy orange raisins yet.
If anyone hasn't come across Graze boxes yet & would like to try one you can get one for free by visiting http://www.graze.com/ & using my code GMMW2643

Go on treat yourself - you deserve it.

A Fudgey Night Out
Mr Fudgey got 2 tickets for his birthday to see Robert Plant at The Usher Hall - so on Monday night we went for a lovely meal at McKirdy's steakhouse & then onto The Usher Hall. Robert Plant was fantastic & I even knew one song.

We had a fab night.

Workouts this week so far
Monday, I went to Spin at lunchtime as we were out in the evening - it wasn't a busy class but was pretty good - not as hard as I'd hoped it would be though.

Tuesday was PT
quick cross trainer warm up
olympic bar squats warm up set of 15 no weight
3 sets of 15 Olympic bar squats.....very heavy!
3 super sets of weighted dynamic lunges 12 each leg & swiss ball single leg hamstring curls 12 each leg
3 sets of 15 smith machine calf raises
3 super sets of 15 calf extensions & 12 body weigh calf raises each leg with 8kg dumbbell
10 minute abstravaganza! simple crunches, circle crunches, swiss ball crunch with medicine ball, swiss ball plank roll outs, oblique cycles, reverse curls, compound crunches & crunch lift & extend

Wednesday I was particularly tired. There was more drama with our neighbour on Tuesday night but he is now getting the help he needs. I really hope he gets well soon. So on Wednesday I ended up taking a well earned rest day. I also had a sports massage in the evening which has straightened out my knots a lot.

Today was just a quick run, it was all I had time for & better than nothing & it took me over that magical 1000km target.

and that my lovely Fudgey followers is me up to date with you again. Off now to catch up on Sppoks.

Take Care
love Fudgey
xxx

Ups and Downs

2010-10-17T22:40:00.003+01:00

Hello Fudgey Friends,

How are you all? Good week? I hope so.
It's been another full on week for us in Fudgey land - there is never a dull moment - that's for sure.

Wednesday - Circuits, a night out & another police visit
Wednesday seems so long ago now. I managed to complete my second cross training session of the week - circuits class. Smurfy & I both thought it was incredibly tough this week - I don't know why more so than usual. Still loved it though.
Then in the evening I was out with some people from work - we spent the evening at hawk & hunter, firstly upstairs in the cocktail bar & later in the secret garden. A great time was had by all, but way too many cocktails, shooters & drinks in general. Thanks to Steph for finally throwing me in a taxi & sending me home.
Unfortunately I came home to a war zone & very quickly the happy fudgey was a very upset one. Our neighbour upstairs was very very distraught and had been disruptive from around 9pm, he was threatening to harm himself too. I told Mr Fudgey to phone the police but that I was going up to see if I could calm him down - yes silly I know but I just wanted to help. Needless to say it didn't end well on Wednesday night. Mr Fudgey fearing for my safety had to physically drag me downstairs to stop me from going into the flat above. I was drunk and emotional and just wanted to help someone who seemingly no one else has the same concern for. Mr Fudgey was shocked at how physically strong I am and how much effort it took him to get me downstairs - on the plus side he does now fear for the safety of anyone who tries to attack me if I'm completely sober as he thinks they will most likely come off worse - see all that time working out has an added benefit! I don't want to say too much as it's not fair to those involved but the evening ended with the police coming out and things eventually went quiet - but it didn't make for a great night's sleep.

Thursday - Hangover, rest day & baking
Lack of sleep, overload of emotions and far too much to drink didn't make for a great start to Thursday, though I was at my desk for 8am. I opted to leave my gym kit at home and take a rest day. Thankfully by 10am I had perked up & managed to have a very productive day at the office & even stayed on till 6pm. Working with a hangover though is not something I'd like to do on a regular basis - I suddenly realise how old I feel. When I was in my 20's I thought nothing of staying out till 3am & making it to work the next day - I simply couldn't do that now.
When I came home and after we'd had dinner I started to make white chocolate chunk & double chocolate chip cookies for the Let's do it for Judi bake sale at the office. For those who are newer to my blog, Judi is a friend & colleague who has pancreatic cancer. A group of us ran the Race for Life this summer and raised over £10,000. The latest fundraiser is to raise money for the makeover of a cancer research shop & so a bake sale was arranged for Friday. I was limited to what I could do as the majority of my baking stuff is now packed, and as I've been so busy at work I couldn't commit to helping man the tables - but I wanted to contribute something. The cookies turned out great though I was so tired I forgot to take a photo for my blog. As you can guess it was then off to bed for me. It was all quiet from above all night.

Friday - another brush with the law, Running & a quiet night
On Friday morning after a great nights sleep we had another brush with the law but this was a more pleasant one, we met with our solicitor regarding the sale of the flat and our impending move.
Then into work & dropped off my cookies to the bake sale. I never bought any cakes but did buy 2 strips of raffle tickets though I didn't win. I believe the bake sale raised around £1000.
After work was run number 2 of the week on the run less run faster programme
This was hard!
Plan 1.5km warm up, 3.5km @ 10.6kmph & 1.5km cool down
Actual 1.5km warm up, 1.5km @ 10.6kmph 0.5km recovery, 1.5km @ 10.6kmph & 1.5km cool down - but pretty happy with though as I never normally run anywhere near that pace so to maintain for 1.5km twice is a little victory
Home and again all quiet here. We actually curled up and watched a movie and a pretty good one at that - Shutter Island I'm not a Leonardo DiCaprio fan but he was very good in this film and I really really liked it.

Saturday - packing and shopping
Nothing too exciting, we were up early as the church behind our flat is being demolished and they started work at 8.30am. The building is now completely down and it is so weird seeing right through to the main road. As we were up we headed off to Asda early and did our weekly shop - probably our last proper one whilst in the flat.
The rest of the day was spent packing boxes and clearing out, then the usual Saturday ritual of Strictly come Dancing. After Strictly we watched a classic Star Trek & then I had to go to bed as I was shattered - couldn't sleep though - way too much in my head.

Today - Sunday - running, shopping & visiting
I never slept well last night and was up at 4, 5 & 6. I made myself get up at 9 and get ready for my Sunday run, though I was really in the mood - though I have found the ones I don't feel up for are most often the best. This was the 3rd run of the week & completing this would mean successful completion of week 1 on the run less run faster programme - 3 key runs & 2 cross training sessions.
Target pace 5.57 average pace 5.57 :-)
felt blah, injured, great & alright! shin hurting a little again need to ice it up. Pleased that I managed to run as described in the programme though - first couple of k warming up & then middle ones slightly faster than target, then last couple to cool down to achieve an average of 5.57 woo hoo I did it
splits - 6:19, 6:04, 6:00, 5:56, 5:47, 5:46, 5:47:5:53 & 6:20
I'm also now only 1.45km away from completing my 1000km in 2010 challenge. Once I've done that I'm going to go and get my poor shin sorted.
Mr Fudgey & I headed into town later where I purchased a gorgeous new aviator style jacket in Debenhams. There is no shame to my little eskimo jacket that I love so much but it's about 7 years old and about 4 sizes too big for me.
Next we headed out to visit Aunt Liz and Mum and Dad Smith. We both really felt that Aunt Liz could do with a visit from some friendly faces and that she'd like to hear all the news from us - so we hope our visit brightened her day. We then all had dinner together which was really lovely and Dad Smith brought us home - Thank you :-)
I must Thank Mum Smith for the fab soup, fairey cakes & dinner - the apple & pear crumble was awesome x

and that my dear friends is the edited highlights of another week in Fudgey land.
I should add that Mr Fudgey and I have seen our neighbour today and he says he is feeling a lot better - he certainly appeared much calmer & lucid. Hopefully he is now getting the support & help he needs.

Right better get some sleep :-zzz
Take Care all
love
Fudgey
xxxx

Kilomathon Video

2010-10-14T21:22:00.002+01:00

Hello Fudgey Friends,

It's finally here - Mr Fudgey's latest masterpiece.
Thanks so much hubbly man - I know how much time & effort this took xxxx

Kilomathon Video

Enjoy!

love
Fudgey xx

Run Less Run Faster

2010-10-12T22:21:00.006+01:00

Hello Fudgey Friends,

How are you all? Welcome to my new followers :-)

Well today saw the start of the Run Less Run Faster programme - I'd initially heard about this through Laura's blog, and then heard of a couple of people at work who have been following this programme so I ordered the book from Amazon.
My life is so busy with one thing and another that I have found it difficult to fit in my usual 4 runs a week recently, but I also felt I was just putting in miles for the sake of it & am no longer really improving speed wise, though the distances have been increasing. Now that my events for this year are out of the way it's the perfect opportunity to try something a little different. Run Less Run Faster centres around 3 key runs a week, focusing on quality not quantity, but is supplemented with at least 2 cross training sessions - whether that is cycling, rowing or resistance work. So I've read first 3 sections of the book & couldn't wait to get started.
I have signed up for The Great Winter Run 5k in January & this fits in nicely with the 5k plan in the book....so watch this space.

Run Less Run Faster Week 1 Run 1
I opted to do this run in the gym so I could make sure I maintained perfect pace during the intervals & also to protect my calf a little - though it seems to be good.
This run was about 15 minutes warm up run followed by 8 intervals of 400m working @ 11.5kmph followed by 400m recovery (between 5 & 7 kmph) - later intervals I opted for slower recovery pace so I could maintain the fast working pace & then finishing off with 10 minute cool down run. This was hard work, but it was great to be doing something other than simply putting one foot in front of the other & just plodding along. The sweat was pouring off me at the end and I felt like I had really worked. Girls Aloud & The Saturday's on the ipod did help push me along too :-)

More Personal Torture
Yesterday I did my first cross training session of the week - I had a PT session with Colin. I'd told him my calf was pretty sore & tight from Thursday so there was no calf work or running but I still worked really hard.
quick cross trainer warm up & one set of 15 olympic bar squats with no weight.
3 supersets of 15 olympic bar squats with 60lb & single arm clean & press 9kg 10 each arm
3 supersets of 15 bench squats with 20lb & swiss ball single leg hamstring curls 12 each leg
3 supersets of cable hamstrings 12 each leg & 12 hanging leg raises
3 trisets of cable wood chops 10 each side, 24 oblique cycles & 20 russian twists

I was over the moon that my hanging leg raises have progressed so much - the first set was the best I've ever done - very little swing & I manged the full 12 in one go - not quite perfect but vastly improved. The other 2 sets weren't as good - but I'm progressing all the time which is very motivating.

Food & Weight
I've been eating too much rubbish again & regained the 2.5lbs I'd lost a couple of weeks ago. I know though what I need to do to get back on track & will be back at my target weight very soon.
On Sunday I made some cauliflower & broccoli soup for us to have on Monday after my slimming class Very very easy to make just 250g of fresh broccoli & 250g of fresh cauliflower, 1 medium onion chopped & 900ml of vegetable stock. We had this last night & it was lovely.

I also made some fruit tarts on Sunday - not the healthiest I know but little treats are important now & then.

Tonight I made a delicious pork stir fry & made my own Scottish Slimmers sweet & sour sauce rather than a calorie laden processed one.

Now need to go & make lunch for tomorrow.

Take Care everyone
love
Fudgey
xxx

Resting not running

2010-10-10T18:39:00.002+01:00

Hello Fudgey Friends,

I had the best night's sleep in ages last night, was in my bed for 9.30am & feel so much better for it.

Unfortunately though no running for me today. My left calf has been really tight since my PT session on Thursday morning. This morning Mr Fudgey pressed his knee onto my calf whilst we were still in bed & I just about leapt through the roof. I knew then that running would not be a wise move. Then I was lying on my front when Bonnie decided to jump on my back and then start walking down me, standing on my calf,,,,ouch :-(

I have had a productive day in the kitchen though, have made cauliflower and broccoli soup and little fruit tarts. Plan is to make home made vegetable spring rolls with sweet & sour dip & then some stir fry pork. Though we've had the heating & plumbing guy here for 3 and a half hours now - will need to make him dinner too I think!

I am just charging my camera to take photos of my food and will post these hopefully by Tuesday.

Hope everyone has had a good weekend.

Take Care Everyone
love Fudgey
xxxx

Banana Bread, Bag & Boxes

2010-10-09T19:52:00.011+01:00

Hello Fudgey Friends,

Just a quick post. Mr Fudgey & I didn't get a lot of sleep. After the police being out earlier in the evening - we had to call them at about 4.15am as our neighbour was banging on the windows and doors and acting very strangely. We were more concerned about his state of mind than anything else. Police arrived around 5am, but even after they went away he continued to argue with people who weren't there up until nearly 7am. We did then manage to get some sleep but only till around 10am - so we are both shattered. Hopefully tonight will be quieter.

As promised yesterday the recipe for my Banana bread - recommended running fuel.

3 large bananas the riper the better
1 egg or 2 egg whites
2 tbsp (30g) corn oil
85g brown sugar
60ml skimmed milk
pinch of salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
180g flour ( I use half white, half wholemeal

Preheat oven to 350F / 175C
Line loaf tin
In a large bowl mash bananas with a fork
add egg, oil, sugar, milk & salt. Beat well, then add baking soda & baking powder.
Gently blend the flour into the mixture. Stir until just moistened.
Pour mixture into tin
Bake for 45 mins.

New Bag
Check out the pictures below of the awesome bag Mr Fudgey bought for me :-)

Cardboard City
Packing for our move continues - not too long now. Some little furry people though seem to think that the boxes are here for their entertainment!
Whilst for others it is all just too much effort!

and now I'm going to go & try & relax a little, have a bath & hopefully an early & good nights sleep. Hope for a longish run tomorrow - so will let you know how it goes.

Take Care everyone
love
Fudgey
xxx

another week flys by

2010-10-08T22:09:00.002+01:00

Hi Fudgey friends,

I can't believe how fast the weeks are just flying by & tonight by the time Mr Fudgey & I got home it was dark & it was only about 7.15pm

So what have you all been up to? Had a good week?

My week so far has been pretty busy.

Monday
My legs were a little sore after the kilomathon but not too bad. I caught up on some tv & wrote my race report. I had a largely unsuccessful shopping trip. Took the bus to Sainsbury's to discover it closed as part of their refurb & not open till Wed. Back to Waitrose - and I have to say didn't like the store at all - so only got a few essentials.
I also had some stress concerning our impending move & some other pieces of news that were not so cheery and a little worrying.

Tuesday
A much better & productive day. All sorted on the moving front - no need to stress on that front. I baked some banana bread which has gone down really really well with everyone. Pictures & recipe will be posted tomorrow.
I also had a successful shopping trip to Asda.
In the afternoon I got out for a short 6k recovery run. I was surprised how good the legs felt :-)

Wednesday
Back to work. It took me most of the day to catch up on my emails & establish what had been going on for the previous days. I dread taking 2 weeks off!
Wednesday was my favourite class.... circuits
Normally I adore circuits but I struggled - right shin was not happy with me at all :-(
The stations were bottom half squats (i used 20kg), swiss ball squats (i used 5kg dumbbells), slalom run & 10 bunny hops, weighted squat jump & weighted sprint ((5kg dumbbells)., 2 jack & 2 back, mountain climbers, jack knifes, compound crunches, punch bag, underarm deadrow (10kg), circle press ups & finally clean & press (10kg) first round 1 min each station & then second round 30 -40 secs each station though he removed the swiss ball squat, the mountain climbers & the jack knifes.
Hope the shin behaves for PT on Thurs

Thursday
A now increasingly rare morning gym visit for me. I need to try & reintroduce morning work outs as I have such a great day usually after them. It was cold wet and dark when I left the house for my 7am PT session
I had asked Colin if we could do something about my calves as they suffered in the kilomathon, though thankfully my quads of steel pulled me through.

quick warm up on cross trainer & the onto the hard work
3 super sets of weighted dynamic lunges 12 each leg & 1 minute ski sit
3 sets of smith machine calf raises
3 super sets of 15 calf extensions & 12 body weigh calf raises each leg
1 set of bosu squats & single arm clean & press 10 each side
3 supersets of olympic bar squats & single arm clean & press 10 each side

knackered!

Then into work where I had an incredibly busy day. It's just never ending at the moment. Though there was loads of good stuff and I managed to get away before 6pm, though still not home before Mr Fudgey!

Friday already
My calves were agony this morning. Thanks Colin!! It was a struggle to get up. I'm not sleeping at all well at the moment just way too much going on & my neighbour moving furniture or whatever he was doing in the early hours doesn't help.
Managed to achieve what I set out to at work today so was really pleased with that and also managed to get away about 4.15pm so time for a mini gym session before fantastic Mr Fudgey took me to pizza express.

I just did my own thing, some bits of my programme & some stuff I felt like doing

run 1km
3 supersets of 15 swiss ball 15 kg barbell chest press & 12 swiss ball chest press
3 supersets of 15 bosu squats with 5kg dumbbells & 12 bicep curls with 5kg dumbbells
3 supersets of 12 oblique circles with 6kg medicine ball, 12 ab extensions with 6kg medicine ball & 20 oblique cycles
1 minute plank
job done

We've had a little bit of an unsettled evening since we came home and had the police visit - it seems that one of neighbours is not coping so well and explains the increasingly erratic & paranoid behaviour recently. Hopefully now they can get some support and get back on track. I hate to see anyone suffering.
I'm so incredibly fortunate to have an amazing hubby, great family and fabulous friends - sadly not everyone has that same support network to fall back on.

and now my dear friends I am sitting up in bed with a sore shin, a sore calf, sore abs and a lovely glass of rioja whilst I write this post. So looking forward to no alarm tomorrow and hopefully a little lie in.
More packing up for us this weekend.

I will post some pics of my banana bread & the recipe tomorrow & my awesome new bag from Mr Fudgey.

Take care everyone
love
Fudgey xxx

The Scottish Kilomathon - Race Report

2010-10-04T19:15:00.006+01:00

Hello Fudgey Friends,

As promised race report from yesterday's first ever Scottish Kilomathon

Preparation
It was an early start on Sunday morning, alarm was set for 5.30am but I was awake from just after 4am. At 5.45am I was having a cup of tea, some water and my instant porridge with a teaspoon of strawberry jam, I also had a slice of bread and butter. I taped my feet and pinned my race number to my top. I put my gels into my race belt and drank plenty more water.

We left the house at 7am, we'd stayed with Mum & Dad Smith so the start was only about 10 minutes away. Dad Smith took us the Ingliston and we were quickly parked by the stewards and headed to the start area. This event was no where near as crowded as others I've been at and I actually preferred that. At 7.45am it was time to head into our coloured pens. I was actually right at the front of mine. Unlike other races I've been at there wasn't much hanging around, the horn sounded and wave after wave we were off.

The Race
After a short lap round the showground, it was out and along the side of the airport perimeter fence. I set off pretty fast and realised I had better slow down a little to pace myself. It seemed like lots of other runners were passing me, but I told myself just to run my own race and that as I'd been right at the front of my wave it was only natural that faster runners would pass me. Past the airport onto the road & out through Kirkliston. I was running well and felt good. It was grey and overcast but perfect running conditions. It wasn't long before we were heading over the forth road bridge - I'd never ran across the bridge before but can't wait to do it again - even though it was overcast the views were great, soon I saw the leaders starting to come back up the other side of the bridge and that really inspired me. It got greyer and there was a little rain shower but I was loving the run and going faster than I thought I would have. Soon I was passing some of the runners who had passed me in the first couple of km, now at around 8 & 9 km some people were slowing a little but I was feeling really strong. I went through the half way point in an hour 21 minutes. I felt really strong for the first 17 km and then we turned into South Queensferry, the cobbles made my hip hurt and I realised I had a blister I could feel it. I pushed on only to discover a killer hill around 18k - a hill at that stage was just plain cruel and I'm sure it was the undoing of many, so many people just stopped and walked it. I managed to run all the way up, but it really took the wind out of my sails. Soon though I managed to see fellow blogger Liz aka Runner Mum. Liz should have been running to but has had an injury so had to withdraw but as the race went right past her house she came out to support - when I saw Liz I was really running well and seeing Liz really spurred me on & I was able to pick up the pace again. Unfortunately I started to struggle in the last 5k. My calves were starting to cramp - something I've never experienced before and my hips were really starting to hurt. Around 25k Sarah Burgon passed me & I was slowing to a walk seeing Sarah & her words of encouragement made me want to run and I tried to keep up with her but it wasn't happening, we were back on the track alongside the airport and the little stones and uneven surface were torture. I was so glad to get back on the smooth surface and looking at my garmin suggested I only had 400m to go. Running into the Royal Highland centre there were finished runners heading out with their goody bags but everyone cheered on us runners coming in and shouted encouragement. I saw the 26km marker and knew that now I had to keep running no matter how much it hurt. I saw the 100m to go sign and started to kick for home. I could see the finish line and being a smaller than I am used to event a clear path ahead of me I put everything I had into it and sprinted for home. Then I heard Dad Smith and saw him and Mr Fudgey and pushed it even harder. I crossed the line and raised my arms punching the air. This was the hardest thing I've ever done and I finished it. I was quite emotional. I almost forgot to hit stop on my garmin too. I was delighted to make it under 3 hours. Official time came through as 2 hour 56 mins 16 seconds. A whole 12 minutes faster than I'd ran this distance in training:-)

Post Race
Through the finish line and into the finishers area. Thanks to the marshall who removed my chip from my shoe as I couldn't bend. Bottle of water, Banana, Medal & Goody bag - which has been the best I've ever had.
The goody bag contained: long sleeved top, blister plaster, medley bar, 9 bar original, nature valley granola bar, school bar, low salt. seabrook crisps, linwoods samples, cracked heel repair cream, trial size radox deodorant, vicks breathing sensations, dove visible effects body lotion, scholl deep moisturising cream and olay total effects touch of foundation.
The medal was also amazing, when the guy put it over my head I wasn't prepared for the weight of it.

Thoughts
I was a little worried about this event as I didn't have good experience in the run up to it. I didn't receive merchandise I ordered and had to chase it up twice, then I wanted to find out the start time but it wasn't on the website so I had to contact them again. However on the day the organisation was first class. The race crew, volunteers, marshalls, first aid and police were the best I have ever seen at an event. The support all the way round the course was amazing. The course was tough - very hilly but as it was semi rural and crossing the bridge was one of my most memorable. They've moved this event to April next year and I would definitely recommend it. I'd ask the organisers to keep it small, though I suspect it will grow and become very popular. I am definitely thinking of signing up as part of my marathon training.

I felt very sore at the end, but the ice bath helped. I never slept well last night as my legs were very restless but today I feel alot better than I expected. No major issues just a few tired muscles - but I will be back running maybe even as soon as a short recovery run tomorrow.

Thank you
As always a HUGE thank you to my hubby - you are amazing babe. Thank you for everything. Thanks as well to Dad Smith for the taxi service. Thank you to everyone for the good luck wishes and for all the kind words afterwards - it makes it all so worth while.
Thanks to Hubby & Mum & Dad Smith for celebrating with me last night - we had a superb meal at Buffalo Grill in Stockbridge & then some champagne afterwards. I was in bed by 9.30pm!

That's my running events finished for this year but I still have about 34k to run to complete my 1000km in 2010 and I will still be running regularly. Plan is to drop some body fat and get even fitter before marathon training officially starts.

I think that's me for now folks.
Take Care everyone
love
Fudgey xx

Race Ready...

2010-10-02T15:01:00.004+01:00

Hello Fudgey Friends,

Well the first ever Scottish Kilomathon is tomorrow. Am I race ready? Kind of, but whatever happens it's a PB as it's the first one ever. They have already scheduled the next one for next April though.
I've been enforced to rest since my PT session on Wed as I've been working late most nights - so the legs should be fresh. I'm actually really looking forward to it.

I've been making sure I have all my kit & my supplies ready, foot tape, garmin, race number pins, instant porridge. Tomorrow will be an early start as the race starts at 8am. I'm guessing it will be cold - but am undecided yet on long sleeves or short. I have decided though on no ipod. When I ran the Edinburgh half without it - I ran better & found the sound of feet on the ground very soothing. Given that recently I've been getting tangled in my headphones & also how much is spinning round me in my head - 26.2km (16.3 miles) of rhythmic feet against the ground will be great.

I have a bottle of champagne chilling already - looking forward to my first alcoholic drink in nearly 5 months.

Will post a race report as soon as I can afterwards.

Good luck to everyone else with events this weekend.

love
Fudgey
xxx

Quick Catch Up

2010-09-30T21:56:00.005+01:00

Hello Fudgey Friends,

How is everyone? Can you believe tomorrow is Friday already? It's been such a quick but long week - if that makes sense. I've been at work till 7pm the last 3 nights - but I feel like I'm kind of making progress. I've promised myself I will leave at 5 tomorrow though :-)

First off - I've had another blog award:

The Happy 101 award!

There were a few guidelines;
1. Post who gave you the award:
Laura at Box Run Eat gave me the award. Thank-you! Fab blog. Go check it out :-)

2. Name ten things you like:

Mr Fudgey
Our Cats
Colin - my personal trainer
My fab friends
Circuits class
Running
Cooking
Strictly come dancing
Wonder Woman
Beetroot!

3. Give this award to ten other people and notify them with a comment (in no particular order):
Marathon Maiden's Blog
Healthy Amy - Running in Pink
JAG's fitness blog
Gym Ninja
Fit & Fabulous at 40
Lovelie's mission for the perfect figure
Tara's health & fitness blog
Fuggled
Rachel's Races
Run like a girl & mean it

Now for a very quick update:
I ran on Monday & Tuesday - just short runs on the treadmill at lunchtime as that was all I could fit in.
On Tuesday I was raging as I had stayed home in the morning to wait for Bishopsmove to quote me for a removal & they didn't turn up. I waited till 9.10am - appointment was 8.30am.
Thankfully Colin managed to find a PT slot for me on Wednesday morning - it was weird getting up & leaving in the pitch black & it was pouring with rain - but I had a great session - just what the doctor ordered.
fast 1 min on treadmill (11.5kmph) with 12 weighted squat jumps & 45 second ski sit - repeat 5 times
3 x superset of 20 backward lunges from bench with 10kg dumbbells & maximal bench squat for 1 min with 25lb weight (managed 34, 39 & 41)
3 x tri set of 12 swissball obliques with 10kg weight, 12 russian twists with 6kg medicine ball & 30 second each side star side plank
finishing with 2 sets of 20 supermans on swissball & 12 back extensions with 6kg medicine ball

Then I bounced off to work where I had a great day - wonder if the project can afford to send me for PT everyday before work - they'd get the benefit as I was so up all day :-)

Then fantastic Mr Fudgey took me out for some food after work & bought me a Wonder Woman t-shirt. Thanks Hubbly :-)

Today I've rested up, had hoped to squeeze in a quick run if I'd finished work earlier but got caught up in stuff & was there till 7 again. Going to try for a morning gym (upper body) session tomorrow & then will be resting ahead of Sunday's Kilomathon.

Well folks it's 10.30 so gonna get my little fudgey butt off to bed.

Take Care everyone
love
Fudgey
xxx

1 week to go

2010-09-26T18:52:00.013+01:00

Hello Fudgey Friends,

How are we all? Good weekend?
It's just a week till the first ever Scottish Kilomathon and I think I can go the distance, I did it in training last weekend & I'm getting back to being in good physical health after a few minor illnesses in recent weeks.

Doing my Own thing
My training plan has been largely abandoned for the last few weeks, due to illness, time, and general stress - there is just so much going on right now. Training hasn't been abandoned though - I've just been doing my own thing as & when I can.
On Wednesday & Thursday I never worked out at all - this is most unusual for me to go two days in a row with no workout at all, but I've had loads on at work so lunchtime has been out and working on later so no time in the evening either - still sometimes rest is good and I know that come the kilomathon I'll get the benefit of the enforced rest.
Friday however I realised I'd need to get some mileage in the legs this week so popped to the gym at lunchtime for a very quick run 4.28km & then back after work for another 4.73km. I figured if I didn't have the time to commit to a full hour I could break it in 2 and still get the benefits and therefore not be stressing about another missed training session.

Many Years Married
After work on Friday Mr Fudgey & I headed out to see Mum & Dad Smith as it was their wedding anniversary. We had a fabulous lamb dinner and a really nice evening - perfect end to a busy working week. Happy Anniversary again x

Weekend Running
Yesterday I packed up another bag & did some more clearing out ahead of our move. I have another bag for the charity shop too. Other than that I generally pottered about and did a little shopping. In the afternoon I decided I could fit in a short run - so got kitted up and headed out. It's been a lovely dry but bright and cold weekend here and it was good to be out and running - though I think the winter kit needs to start making an appearance and it is definitely getting cooler. I ran a nice steady 6k - pace is missing at the moment however legs are very strong. On the way back I popped into the shop to buy some isotonic drinks and managed to also get some boxes for packing....however somebody had other ideas!

Today I never got up till 10.30 and could have slept longer - I'm not sleeping well at the moment with everything that's going round in my busy little brain - so when I can sleep I am as it's so important. I decided I'd just go out for an hour today and that was what was on the largely abandoned running plan anyway - not too much & not too little ahead of next weeks big run. At first my hands were freezing, gloves will soon need to make a comeback - it is fast approaching winter here. Today I tried to shorten my headphone cable by using the cable tidy Mr Fudgey bought me., unfortunately I got home to find out it had fallen off whilst running. Mr Fudgey said not to worry it was £2 from Marks & Spencer - however when we went to get the bus into town later there it was lying in the gutter just round the corner :-) so I have it back. The first 3km of the run were tough going I just couldn't settle into it - again brain way too busy. Just as I was running up Dean Bridge I saw Neil Martin from work walking home with his papers - I waved and speeded up a little - I'm always motivated when I see people I know :-) Then something happened at the 5k mark, the running brain took over & the running just became so easy - I felt like I was flying. I ran a cracking negative split first 5k 35 mins 6 secs second 5k 31 mins 15 secs & legs felt strong strong strong. I also passed someone else I know - Stefania Abate at Inverleith row & waved to her too - by this time I was totally in the zone - otherwise would have stopped to say hi properly.
I got home and had a quick 10 minute ice bath - I didn't feel I needed it today but since I'd made the ice anyway I thought I may as well.
Later when Mr Fudgey & I went into town I got a new ipod strap - so now can't wait to try it out. Quick run tomorrow I hope.

So Stats for this week - week 13:
Distance: 26.11 km (16.22 miles)
Time: 2 hours 50 minutes 35 seconds

Special Mention To Karen - who put in a great performance at today's R2TB half marathon - Well Done.

Also hello to all my new running buddies at DailyMile I loving following everyone's training and being able to give & receive hints, tips & motivation.

That's all from me for now - I've been multi tasking while writing this post & am making pork loin, roasted veg & parmentier potatoes for dinner. I am so excited to see that Brussels sprouts are coming back into season :-)

Have a great week everyone.

Take Care
love
Fudgey xxxx

Feeling Strong

2010-09-22T20:24:00.003+01:00

Hello Fudgey Friends,

How are you all? Hump day already & getting dark here now by 8pm. In fact it was dark when our first alarm went off at 5.50am today - it's definitely autumn.

I also realised I forgot to post my stats for last week

Week 12
Distance: 35.2km / 21.87 miles
Time: 4 hours 07 minutes 21 seconds

After my long run on Sunday I felt surprisingly good on Monday - quads a little sore but in a good way. Monday was a late one at work but it was worth it to get stuff done. It did mean I never made it to the gym at lunch or to body pump after work, nor to Slimming class, though I checked in on the wii fit & had lost a pound. I'm still a little above my target but determined to regain control this week by going back to basics.When I got home we had the minted pea soup I'd made on Sunday - it was fab.

Tuesday was an up & down kind of day, by the end of it I was mentally, physically and emotionally drained. There's just a million and one things going on just now.

Tuesday's highlight was a tough PT session:
Amazing - but sweaty!
run 1 min, 12 burpees, run 1 min, 12 burpees, run 1 min 10 burpees, run 1 min, 10 burpees, run 1 min, 10 burpees. The running was @ 12kpm & I even managed to get up to 12.5kph for the last 30 seconds:-)
3 supersets 10 squats with bottom halfs & 16 overhead lunges - didn't want to know the weight!
3 supersets 12 compound crunches with 6kg medicine ball & 12 ab rolls
3 supersets 24 weighted plyometric lunges (12 each leg) - 5kg weights & 16 weighted side plank (8 each side) - 1kg

Unfortunately when I came home our upstairs neighbour decided he would play his music really loud and stomp about. The last time we tried to talk to him about this and ask him to turn it down he got very agitated and made out we were victimising him. So last night we just put on loud music too. Childish I know but we feel we can't go and speak to him. He's also woke us up the last 2 mornings around 5am crashing about.

Today I had to work from home for a bit in the morning as I had someone coming round first thing. I then had a rather quick and hectic afternoon at the office - though left feeling positive.

Yet again came home to the cacophony from above. Part of the problem is the guy wants to be a DJ and has big bass speakers on the floor to accompany his decks. The other problem is how he reacts when we try and go to civilly ask him to turn it down.
So here's today's dilemma people what do we do? We have long enough left here before we move that we can't just ignore it, plus it wouldn't be fair on the new owners.
He is a council tenant so we could complain to the council, but I think I should put a polite note through his door telling him that the volume has slowly been increasing over the last few days and could he bear in mind there are people underneath, but who knows what reaction that would provoke it could just get worse. Any suggestions people?

Oops this post has kind of gone a bit downbeat sorry everyone - I just needed to get that out, but hey the title of this post was Feeling Strong and I am Strong.
Today I've realised that I'm stronger than I think, I may cry at the drop of the hat but that's just me an emotional little fudgey. It's only because I care so deeply about things that I get so emotionally involved. I just wish I could express anger in a better way than crying and I wish I could deal with confrontation better - then I'd just go upstairs and face it out.

Back to the positives - I've stuck to my calorie allowance since Monday and haven't snacked the way I had been. I feel better already for tidying up my eating. I've also gone without fizzy juice for the last few days and I see a difference already - I don't drink a lot compared to some people maybe a can a day but I feel less bloated already. Only thing I need to do now is get the water intake back up.

I also approached my chosen charity for the Edinburgh Marathon next year and they were delighted to have me on board and have sent me a lovely running vest. I'm going to do a special post about the marathon challenge soon - so watch this space.

Well guys this post has rambled on long enough. I'm going to go make tomorrow's lunches & pack my gym bag :-)

Take Care Everyone
love
Fudgey
xxxx

Back on Form

2010-09-19T18:13:00.004+01:00

Hello Fudgey Friends,

I hope everyone is having a good weekend. Special mention to all those who took part in The Great North Run, I did think about the runners whilst I was out for my run today.

I'm pleased to report that for the first time since 15th August my long weekend training run actually happened, only exception to this was The Glasgow half marathon on 3rd September, other than that I haven't ran on Sunday since 15th August due to illness and fatigue.

I woke up this morning and the thought of going out to run for 3 hours didn't really fill me with joy I have to be honest. Then I realised I had no foot tape as I'd left what I have left at work on Friday - time to order more I think. I did find some narrower stuff in the drawer that I'd bought from Tesco so had to make do with that and it was OK, though not as good as the usual wide tape I buy from First Aid 4 Sport. It was also raining which doesn't really inspire you to get out there - though I would rather run in the rain than in the heat.

After a couple of low calorie cereal bars and some tea, I got all kitted up & headed out the door.

The plan was to run for 3 hours but I was going to try & keep the pace down so I could achieve as close to the 3 hours of running as possible. The pace was a good bit slower than I am used to but it really did help warm me up and I was soon enjoying being out. I did get hungry when I ran past some houses where someone was obviously frying bacon as I got a waft of it. Later on I kept getting a faint smell of lavender which was really lovely as I adore Lavender oil.

Between around 14 & 16 km I struggled a little but this was partly due to stopping at lights and having to negotiate pedestrians who just stop right in front of you!

I also continue to have issues with my headphones and now only have sound in one ear - most likely due to my constant tugging at them to stop the cable from strangling me. If anyone has anyone recommendations for running headphones please let me know. I have little ears so the in ear ones don't stay in well. The ones I currently have are Sony Sports ones and they've been good up till my last 2 runs.

After running for 23km I was very much out of my comfort zone - furthest I'd ever ran was 21.43km. I really wanted to quit, my legs hurt & I knew I had some blistering, but the kilomathon is in 2 weeks & I'll need to run 26.2km and it's highly unlikely on the day I'd just give up at 23k - I am quite determined if nothing else so I decided even if I had to walk I would make it to 3 hours and hopefully at least 25km today. So at around 23.3km I stopped and walked for about 2 minutes and then starting running again - it was slow and it was painful physically but mentally I was totally focused. I ended up running 26.25km in 3 hours 7 minutes 32 seconds and was very pleased with myself.

Garmin Stats

I'm pretty pleased with these. I'm hoping the kilomathon will be a little faster, race days usually are and I will be well rested and fuelled and have the knowledge that I can do the distance. There were also no breathing issues after today's run so I'm hoping that's the last of my cold gone.

Recovery

As soon as I got home I made up my recovery drink & got straight into an ice bath. My legs really hurt and I could feel them stiffening. Ice Bath, cup of tea, 5 minute lie on the bed & then a warm shower and the legs felt a million times better. I actually think that I'll have no ill effects tomorrow - what a difference compared to Glasgow when I didn't have a recovery drink or ice bath. I don't care if it's psychosomatic - I won't be skipping either the ice bath or the recovery drinks again.

I'm also wearing my new compression socks and have to admit I quite like them, even if it's just keeping my legs warm they feel comforting.

Well I'm heading off now to make some minted pea soup, smokey barbecue chicken with broccoli & crispy potatoes, an individual fruit crumble for me & a wee surprise for Mr Fudgey.

Take Care everyone

love Fudgey xxxx

I'm Still Here

2010-09-18T19:55:00.005+01:00

Hello Fudgey Friends,

A special hello to my new followers :-)
How is everyone?
I'm sorry my posting the last few weeks has been a bit sparse, I seem to be in perpetual motion in one way or another all the time. Work continues to be a huge challenge and is keeping my brain busier than ever. I'm actually now even dreaming about work, at least when I do get to sleep. My sleep pattern has been about as good as my recent blog posts. On top of this I'm trying to make sure I keep the training up, dealing with the house move and of course trying to spend time with my amazing hubby. He is so patient & supportive.
I've realised as well that my eating has not been good either, not enough fruit or drinking enough water - so I'm really going to make a conscious effort to regain control in the next 2 weeks leading up to the Kilomathon.

So a quick update on my week:

Monday
Managed to fit in a quick 20 minute lunchtime run and then Body Pump after work. Then off to Fat Club - I hadn't been in 3 weeks, partly due to being away, the half marathon and still being a little down at not making the Slimmer of the Year final. Wasn't too pleased to find I'd gained 2.5 pounds, but I know my food has not been so good recently and there was probably a bit of fluid retention. I'm going to go back to writing down everything I eat this week and after the kilomathon is out of the way I'm going to drop the long distance running down a touch till the end of the year & really focus again on fat burning and toning.

Tuesday
I had an all day course at work - Advanced Thinking and Learning. It was very good and I got a lot out of it, once I stopped stressing about what a day away from my desk meant for the rest of the week & how much I'd have to catch up on. I was less pleased to find my lunch hour sabotaged by a barrage of questions as I returned to my desk so it was very much a working lunch - lesson learnt here! Still nice to be needed and wanted. When the course finished I headed straight for the gym as I knew if I went back to my desk it would end up being a late one. In the gym I decided I'd do some of my gym programme & some of my own thing.
Quick warm up on cross trainer
3 supersets of 15 swiss ball chest press with 15kg bar & 12 swiss ball press ups
3 supersets of 15 lat pull downs 30kg & 12 upright rows with 12.5kg bar
I then ran a km in 5 mins 46
Then 3 sets of 15 squats with 20kg bar - heaviest I've ever done on my own :-)
finishing up with 3 tri sets of 15 ab extensions with 10kg medicine ball, 15 reverse curls & 10 medicine ball crunches.
Best solo gym session I've had in ages and I was hyper. I love it when you have those kind of workouts.

Wednesday
My abs were feeling the effects of Tuesday's session but that didn't stop me heading off to circuits with Smurfie. Circuits is by far my favourite class ever. I love it.
The class was taken by the lovely Gary this week though he is now known as lovely but evil Gary! It worked out quite nicely this week as there were 12 of us at the class and 12 stations. First round 1 minute per station, second round 45 seconds per station & the stations were: squats, ski sit, swiss ball chest press, tricep dips, supermarket sweep, v sit twists, bent over row, bicep curls, v sit shakes, weighted sprints, bag drag & plyometric jump. I really pushed it hard and had jelly legs down the stairs afterwards though.
It really set me up for a productive afternoon at the office and I stayed on till 7pm but I really enjoyed it and finally felt I'd achieved something.
I got home to find that fantastic Mr Fudgey had brought me flowers & a pink earphone cable tidy. Thank you hubbly x

Thursday
Personal training day Woo Hoo. I knew it would be interesting as my abs were protesting at the torture I put them through so far this week. With every session my theory that Colin is trying to kill me grows stronger.....he hasn't succeeded yet....but he could be close.
After a warm up on the cross trainer it was up to the studio for a lovely giant set - well 4 lovely giant sets with limited rest in between. The giant set was ski sit, 15 squats with 30kg bar, 20 jump kicks & 12 squat jumps with weights. Then we went back down into the gym for an abs tri set well 3 trisets of 16 oblique circles with 5kg medicine ball, 20 oblique circles, & side plank. Then 3 sets of 20 power lunges with 15kg bar and then to finish off run for 1 minute fast with burpees 5 times so run, 12 burpees, run, 12 burpees, run, 10 burpees, run, 10 burpees, run, 8 burpees. I don't know how I managed - I don't think I could have done anymore though if I tried. It certainly made sure I got a good sleep though.

Friday
I decided that I'd run home from work - it's only about 5k & the running was not so bad, but my headphones kept getting tangled in my running pouch & then round my neck nearly strangling me. This is because the cable is quite long & normally I thread it through the sleeve of my top, but I had a long sleeved top as the weather is turning cooler now. Still I got home in one piece & only a few minutes behind Mr Fudgey who had got the bus.

Saturday
I was so looking forward to a lie in and no alarm this morning so wasn't too chuffed when I woke up at 2 & was awake till around 6ish. I did however mange to get off to sleep and never woke till 10ish - how very decadent. Mr Fudgey and I had an appointment in town at lunchtime so headed in for that & then we went off to Run for It as I had been nominated for a personal achievement award at work a few months ago due to my running & fund raising & had chosen run for it vouchers as my reward. There really wasn't anything I particularly needed I'm quite well kitted out at the moment, but I'd been reading about compression clothing and had seen a pair of 2XU Recovery Compression socks, I probably wouldn't spend £25 on a pair of socks but have heard good things about compression clothing & 2XU in particular so with my £20 of vouchers I thought why not - so I now own a pair - will let you know my opinion once I try them out. I also got some gels, some sports beans to try & some energy drink tablets to try too. I was very happy with my purchases :-)
Mr Fudgey suggested going for a coffee and I suggested the place we got married as we haven't been there for ages and had planned to go back round about our first anniversary, so we headed off to Dunstane House hotel , and had a fantastic lunch. For the rest of today we've just pottered about but it's been really relaxing.

1000km in 2010
Only 120.94 km to go. Yes 879.06km done and still plenty of time till the end of 2010. Tomorrows run should be around 25km or more so it's all looking good.

Next Challenges
My friend Patricia has been pondering the Men's Health Survival of the Fittest event in Edinburgh mid October and having been and visited the site I am very tempted to sign up. I've just watched the video clip from 2009 and it looks awesome....like a big outdoor circuit class. What better way to finish off this years Fudgey events? What do you think Fudgey followers? I'm trying to bear in mind it's only 2 weeks after the kilomathon & 2 weeks before we move home....but I am thinking about it very seriously.....so any words of wisdom and advice graciously accepted.

And that my fudgey friends is us all up to date again.
I'll let you know how tomorrow's long run goes.

Take Care everyone
love
Fudgey
xxxx

Glasgow Half Marathon Video

2010-09-16T19:11:00.005+01:00

Hello Fudgey Friends,

Enormous Thanks to the very patient & determined Mr Fudgey the video is finally uploaded - issues with the soundtrack & you tube - but all good now. You'll need to double click on it to see in full screen via you tube.

Back tomorrow with a post of the week so far - I need to get refuel now as I've just been personal tortured.....oops meant trained.