Race Report - Race for Life 10k

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

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

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

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

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

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!

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