Through the postbox

It's been a while since my last through the postbox, so I've accumulated a lot of stuff to share with you today. If you haven't read one of my through the postbox posts before, basically I write about all the stuff I have received through my postbox that relates to fitness somehow. I personally love this style of posts because it always gives me ideas of new stuff to buy, although thats not necessarily a good thing...

First up we have some Jimmy's Iced Coffee. They were lovely enough to send me out a few cartons after I reviewed them on my blog, they know the skinny one is my favourite!
This iced coffee is so good, Starbucks quality at home and I can't recommend them enough.

 Oh gosh I didn't realise how blurry this photo was, I'm sorry! Hopefully you can see how awesome these leggings are though. For Christmas I received a lot of money so I decide to splurge and get a pair of super nice leggings. I went for the diamond cut pair from Gymluxe and it was definitely the right choice. I love how they look, they perform really well and they are so comfortable. Beth Tweedle is currently sporting them in her training videos on Dancing on Ice!

 As you probably know by now, I pole dance, but I am so inflexible so my moves don't look as nice as they should do. Alethea Austin is one of my favourite pole dancers, she just oozes sex appeal and her flexibility is amazing. I read a lot of reviews for her DVD, she also has a pure splits DVD which I was tempted to get because I'm desperately trying to get my splits, but I went for her Stretching For Pole instead because she has a lot of back flexibility training in there too, and surprise surprise, my back is stiff as a ironing board!

 Go Nutrition offered to send me a product from their range and I went for the Go Whey Protein 80 in vanilla ice cream. I always use whey protein because I find it goes down quite easily and the nutritional values for this protein are pretty spot on for what I look for in protein. They have some amazing sounding flavours, I would've loved the maple pancake flavour but I went for vanilla because I can use it easily in baking.

My friend Emma posted a picture of her neon pink Smart Shake protein shaker and I instantly knew I had to get one. My current shaker is awful, it doesn't blend well and it leaks everywhere but Smart Shake's have great reviews, and it's bright pink, so the fact I got new protein meant I had to get a new shaker right? I also got some bright pink Kinesiology tape. This has been recommend to me by other runners to help with the pains I get in my IT band, I need to practise my taping technique but hopefully this will help me avoid too much pain at the Brighton half marathon.

And lastly we have some race numbers! The top one is my Brighton half number which I was so excited to receive, the fact that I'm in the pink group makes me so happy! Pink just means I'm aiming to finish in the 2:15-2:30 mark. Getting my race number definitely makes things feel a lot more real!
The second number I got was my Race for Life number. I am running this with my mum and it's not until July, but I'm very excited to be number 8!

That is everything I think, and hopefully I won't be doing another one of these posts for a while because I am meant to be saving for Japan! Although I'm sure there will be a few hiccups...

Choosing and entering my second half marathon

I’m not sure what came over me but last week I thought it would be clever to enter my second half marathon, without having actually completed my first one....

After seeing how quickly some half marathons sell out I decided that I wanted to try and get a couple more booked in for Spring next year before I miss my chance.

I did quite a bit of research and the 3 that took my fancy the most where Surrey, Reading and Cambridge.

Unfortunately Cambridge was sold out (what I’m trying to avoid!). Cambridge looks like a gorgeous picturesque city which is why I wanted to run it but you know, being sold out and all that means it’s not the one for me!

My second choice was Reading. I’ve heard that it’s a good one to get a PB on because it’s a flat easy course, but then I read Be Pretty Fit’s review of it which put me right off. Basically it just sounds very grey with the route going through lots of residential areas. I don’t think I can deal with a boring run, which put the Reading half on the “maybe but probably not” list.

I then saw someone on twitter mention the Surrey half, which piqued my interest. I was a tiny bit worried because I lived in Guildford for a year and thought the course might be a bit hilly, but the lovely Stephanie assured me it’s not.
It’s also the  inaugural half marathon which definitely tempted me into signing, I think it will be great to be part of the first half marathon.
I know the area is pretty too, and my boyfriend would enjoy visiting Surrey for the day as he still has lots of friends there so I signed up!

The Surrey half is three weeks after the Brighton half. Considering Brighton is the first half marathon I will be running, signing up for one so soon after probably wasn’t my best idea ever, but I’m sure I’ll survive. Maybe. Hopefully, because I fly to Japan for my holiday the next week...

Is anyone else doing the Surrey half? What is on your criteria for picking races?



 

Half Marathon Training - Week 5

This weeks half marathon training was a lot more successful, and I actually managed to increase my mileage, go me!

Monday – Rest day

Tuesday – Crossfit. WOD was 15 thrusters, 15 box jumps, 15 pull ups for 4 rounds as quick as you can.

Wednesday – Run 1.  Distance - 9.9km Time – 1:04:35 Pace – 6:31
This was my first run in seven days so I decided to grab a coffee after work and attempt a long run. I am so happy with how this run turned out, it felt easy and so enjoyable. I got through two missions of Zombies Run including the penultimate mission which almost encouraged me to keep running but I was pretty tired by the last km and my backpack was rubbing slightly. Commuter long runs for the win!

Thursday - 1 hour pole class, 1 hour aerial hoop class

Friday – Rest day, was planning to run, ended up having a bad day and sulking instead.

Saturday – Run 2. Distance - 12.65km Time – 1:24:72 Pace – 6:41
When I mapped this run using Map My Run it actually said 12.96km, I’ll stick to what Zombies Run has logged, either way this is still the furthest distance I have managed and I’m so happy with it.
When I started the run I felt like I was really slow and like I was plodding along, but I hit my first km at a good time. Half the time I felt slow and ploddy, the other half I felt bouncy and fast like I was made from elastic.
This was a lovely run in great weather that left me feeling a lot more confident about being able to complete the half marathon.

Sunday – Show Rehearsals. Run 3. Distance – 3.62km Time – 26:18 Pace – 7:15
Rehearsals for the Christmas show have already started, it’s never ending!
As for the run, it was pretty awful. I thought I would take my dog out for a nice slow jog, she was very reluctant and I was pretty much dragging her along. After cutting the run short I took her home and realised she was limping slightly, she is terrified of fireworks which has made her leg seize up a bit and made me feel terrible. She got lots of strokes to help make her feel better.

Week total distance – 26.17km
Weeks until half marathon – 15

This week has definitely made me feel like I might actually be able to do the half, and it’s nice to finally have a week where I have increased my mileage!
Once I hit 15km I think I will finally feel more confident in my training and stop stressing as much.

If you didn’t know, I am training for the Brighton half marathon in February and I am running it on behalf of Macmillan Cancer Support. If you would like to sponsor me you can do so here, it would mean the world to me!

Half Marathon Training - Week 4

This week failed, failed with a capital F.
I had the show this week so there were a lot of practises for that, and I cosplayed at comic con on Saturday and worked at comic con all day Sunday. If you've ever been to a comic con you know that you're on your feet all day which was pretty exhausting and I did not have the energy to go for a run.



Monday - Run 1. Distance - 5.31km Time - 35:41 Pace - 6:43
This was my run commute home. I had lost my earphone cover and there was just lots of people in the street. I didn't enjoy this run sadly.

Tuesday - Run 2. Distance - 3.40km Time - 22:27 Pace - 6:36
A puny distance. This was also a run commute but my legs felt heavy and my chest was tight. I probably should've taken today as a rest day, but I knew this was my last chance to get a run in.

Wednesday - Show dress rehearsals.

Thursday - 1 hour pole class, 1 hour aerial hoop class

Friday - Final show rehearsal and the show itself!

Saturday - Rest (comic con)

Sunday - Rest (comic con)

Week total distance - 8.71km
Weeks until half marathon - 16

As you can see I only managed two runs which is pretty pathetic. I was still quite active but I am definitely getting  a bit worried about getting in the miles. Now the show is over hopefully I can get in some more training.

If you didn’t know, I am training for the Brighton half marathon in February and I am running it on behalf of Macmillan Cancer Support. If you would like to sponsor me you can do so here, it would mean the world to me!

Half Marathon Training - Week 3

Another week where I aim for four runs and only end up with three. I had a run planned for Sunday, but by the end of my show rehearsals I felt way too exhausted to even get dressed for the run. I've been light headed all day so I'm very glad I listened to my body and didn't go for a run!
I've also been trying commuter running of sorts. To get home from work I have to get a underground train and a overground train. I often have to wait 15 minutes for the overground train so I decided instead of waiting for the train, a few times a week I will just run from the station. So far so good, but expect a more detailed post on it soon!

Monday - Run 1. Distance - 4.31km Time - 28.53 Pace - 6:41
This was my first run home from the station. Despite the hordes of people on the high street it went quite quickly and I was home before I even knew it so I added on another KM.

Tuesday - Crossfit. Strength training was push press, max weight for 3 reps, skill was pistol squats and WOD was a ladder of pull ups and kettle bell lunges.

Wednesday - Run 2. Distance - 5.35km Time - 36:18 Pace - 6:47
Second run commute. Got stuck at more traffic lights than my first run so it didn't flow as nicely. My quads where also in agony after Tuesday's cross fit class, I probably should've taken this day as a rest day.

Thursday - Pole dancing class.

Friday - Rest day.

Saturday - Run 3. Distance - 10km Time - 1:08:36 Pace - 6:52
This was the Spooky Sprint, my first 10k race! Expect a full race report soon.

Sunday - Show rehearsals.

Week total distance - 19.66km
Weeks until half marathon - 17

Next week is my show as well and I am working at comic con on Sunday so running is having to take a back seat next week which sucks.

If you didn't know, I am training for the Brighton half marathon in February and I am running it on behalf of Macmillan Cancer Support. If you would like to sponsor me you can do so here, it would mean the world to me!

Half Marathon Training - Week 1

I'm going to post weekly my half marathon training progress. I think it will be lovely to read back in future years when I've got 600 marathons under my belt (yeah right!) to see where it all began, and hopefully someone will find it interesting to read!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="536"] My dog Phoebe![/caption]

So this week the aim was to run 3-4 times with one of those runs being a long run of 11km. This is how it panned out:

Run 1, Tuesday - Distance: 4.83km Time: 34:27 Pace: 7:08
I didn't intend for this to be a long run as I had to go to my nans house afterwards to sort out my car insurance, but I would've liked to have kept going for a couple of km.
I was out running with my dog on the streets, she had a poo at the beginning of the run, fine it was expected, I had a baggie so I picked it up and binned it, but towards the end of the run I could see her circling the grass verges. I didn't have another baggie though, but luckily I was pretty close to my house so I sprinted back and dragged her into my garden for her to do her business, cutting my run short in the process which is a shame because the run felt quite easy and it was going well.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="520"] Wearing my pink chevron BIC band, it makes me quicker![/caption]

Run 2, Saturday - Distance: 10.19km Time: 1:11 Pace: 7:00
This was my long run that I planned to do, but I didn't reach the 11km I wanted.
The run itself I really enjoyed. I did 5km in the forest and the rest on the streets. This was one of those runs where I was really able to switch off and get in the zone, and after the first 15 minutes I really relaxed into and it felt easy.
I was a little bit slower than my previous 10km, which is fine because I had to stop and tie a shoe laces, wait ages to cross some roads and all that usual malarky. It was also the first run I tried a gel on, which took me forever to open. I tried a black current Sis gel because they can supposedly be taken without water as they're a bit thinner. Why did no one warn me how disgusting these things are? I really wish I did have some water to wash the bad taste out.
I only started to get tired after 9km, it hit me really suddenly and I think I could've kept going to my 11km goal if I pushed myself, but I made the mistake of passing my house on my route so I just gave up which I'm very annoyed at myself about. Other than that it was a very enjoyable run.

Run 3, Sunday - Distance: 2km Time: 15:04 Pace: 7:32
This run was pathetic really. It was supposed to be a gentle 5km with my dog in the forest. My dog kept stoping to sniff things which meant me constantly stopping, back tracking and calling my dog which was just throwing me completely off, it's so much harder to keep stopping and starting than it is to be consistent!
I had also done a hour pole show rehearsals before going on this run so I think I was just generally tired anyway, it just definitely wasn't my day so I called it quits and slowed to a walk. I continued to walk for another 3km in the forest with my dog letting her sniff things to her hearts content.

So there we have it, overall a pretty awful week. I will just have to brush it off and try harder next week. I'm quite disappointed in myself, but as someone on twitter said to me, I'm still doing a lot more than most people, so I shouldn't be so hard on myself.

Week total distance: 17.02km
Weeks until half marathon: 19

I'm running the Brighton half marathon on behalf of Macmillan Cancer Support. If you would like to sponsor me you can do so here.

I've Entered My First Half Marathon!

Having barely conquered the 10km distance (I’ve run it once), I thought it would be a brilliant idea to sign up for a half marathon.

I did a little bit of research over which one to go for, my requirements being a relatively flat course, nice scenery and at a location where I wanted to visit, which has led me to the Brighton half marathon in February!

I am running on behalf of Macmillan Cancer Support (you can sponsor me here if you would like :) ) and I’m really happy that my first half marathon is for charity. There is very little I can do in my day to day job to help people, so if I can train myself to run and get people to sponsor me for it, than that’s even better!

I have roughly 19 weeks to go from running 10km to running 21km, which I am hoping is enough time. My little cobbled together plan is to have one long run on the weekend, adding a km to my distance each week, with 3 shorter (4-10km) in the week. One of the shorter runs I will be using the Zombie chases on the Zombies, Run! App, my version of speed work. Basically in the app it will tell you at random points that zombies are chasing you and you will need to increase your speed by 20% to get away from them. The other two runs in the week will either be hard or easy, depending on how I feel. Hopefully this will get me to my target!

I’ve already booked my hotel, planned what restaurants I want to go for my post race lunch, post race dessert and post race dinner, can you tell I’m more than a bit excited?

Next up is to try and figure out this whole fuelling thing, with the gels and the chews etc. This should be interesting to say the least...

I’ll be blogging about my half marathon training, so if you’re after laughing at someone’s failures, because I’m sure there will be many of them, then stay tuned!

And if you have any hints/tips they would be very welcome, thank you!

Oh and one last not, my goal is to be able to run it in 2 hours and 40 minutes!