Heard yesterday that they are bringing 'Gladiators' back to TV, so am considering a career change!! Not sure I'm ready for the Lycra though!!
Karen asked today what my Gladiatorial name would be- when I asked Andy (hoping that he'd suggest something exciting and sexy) he said 'Flatulence'.
..."Flatulence are you ready"....
In my dreams!!! and Andy's too I guess!!!
Have managed to get myself a race number for this years Grizzly ( from a very nice man who let me have it for free). Last years race was held in September- it had been postponed due to the wreck at Branscombe, and I swore that I'd never do it again. However, the pain, flashbacks and nightmares have just about faded and I feel able to face the Grizzly once more!! The entries had all been filled so I'm very pleased to have got my hands on a place. Wonder if I'll be so pleased when the 9th of March comes around?!
For those of you who don't know, The Grizzly IS as bad as it sounds! It's run ( or mostly walked in my case) over twenty- ish miles of really tough terrain.
This picture was taken last year near the finish, which as you can see they have kindly put at the end of a stretch of shingle beach. Sadistic bastards!!
It's going to be a killer, but will be a great training run before London.
Karen finished yesterday in 5 hours 15!! A really great result, although she did say that she found it very hard work and missed listening to my grumbling on the way round. I mentioned this to Andy who suggested I start my own company 'phone-a-moan'. Bloody cheek!!
Well done Mrs Shaunie!!
Or so they say...
Today I ran (and I use the term loosely because it was more like staggering come the end) 16 miles with Val and Phil.
Although it was the same distance as last week with Karen, today just seemed so much tougher and we were 20 minutes slower. My legs felt so heavy and my calves really tight. Definitely a case of putting in maximum effort but getting nowhere fast!! Never mind, you get runs like that from time to time. Despite the struggle it was a perfect day for running, and I think I would have enjoyed the scenery more had I not been busy dying! and I did spare a thought for Karen who is doing the Gloucester marathon today.
I think my legs are going to be very stiff tomorrow.
It was such a beautiful afternoon that I decided to risk going for a short run with Max. I get worried about him because although he's absolutely fine during the run, he does seem to suffer a bit the next day- and I know how that feels!!! He's getting on a bit now the poor old bugger.
We did about three and a half miles off road and it really was fantastic to be out running with him, and in the sunshine too. I'd almost forgotten what that was like! I don't feel so bad about being a lazy mare yesterday now either!
Here he is!
isn't he handsome?!
It was bound to happen sooner or later. Today I came down with an acute case of cant-be-arsed-itis!! I know that I should have gone running (sorry Stephen!), but decided that a night in with husbie and a nice dinner would be of greater benefit to my well-being than a 6 mile run!
Now that I've stuffed my big fat pie-hole I am feeling just a tiny bit guilty.
Bugger.................
Today I ran almost 16 miles with Karen which is 4 miles more than recommended on my training schedule, so I've done well. (That's not to say I didn't complain bitterly along the way!). We ran our first 10k (6 and a bit miles) in under an hour- an absolutely blistering pace for us!! Ran the 16 miles in around 2 hours 40 which is great. We certainly didn't intend on doing a fast run, in fact anyone who knows us will know that we usually do our best to avoid breaking into a sweat. Dirty business!
A few week ago a friend of mine Val, thought about running the Dartmoor Discovery Ultra Marathon, a 32 mile race around Dartmoor. She wondered if she would find anyone else daft enough to even think about taking something like that on, and then she thought of me!! Karen and I got talking about it today and we decided that 32 miles wasn't impossible. Now it might have been down to the onset of hypothermia, or even a weird sugar rush from the half a 'power bar' that we'd just eaten, but we convinced ourselves that it was ONLY 6 miles further than marathon distance so it would be a doddle!! It's not seeming like such a clever idea now, but definitely something to give some thought to.
(Disclaimer: Not at any point during today's run and subsequent conversation with Karen, did I bribe, threaten or deliberately impair her judgement in any way in order to get her to agree to think about completing an ultra marathon).
Had a good run with the club tonight, did around 6 miles and really enjoyed it. Met some new people too which is always great.
My blog is called 'don't stop me now', which is obviously after the Queen song as I like listening to it when I'm running. I was wondering how many other songs we could come up with that ( sort of) had a running theme.
I'll start things off.....
Keep on running- Spencer Davis group
Run baby run- Sheryl Crow
Chariots of fire- Vangelis (I think)
The 'Rocky' theme tune!
Running up that hill- Kate Bush
Born to run- Bruce Springsteen
Over to you......
I REALLY didn't want to go for my run this morning even though it was only going to be a short one. It was cold and wet but I eventually managed to get myself motivated and out of the door. This time I was prepared for the weather, so I stayed relatively dry- the Wellington boots made it quite hard to run though!!!.........
Despite the wind and rain, I enjoyed today's run and even ended up going further than I'd planned. Rest assured that this doesn't happen very often!!!
So I've actually managed 3 runs this week (total of 21 miles)which is great. Ideally I'd like to do three runs every week, but the reality is that I won't always manage it, so I'll be happy doing two good runs a week and if I manage a third it'll be a bonus!
I've had a good day today. I took Max for a long walk this morning- he really enjoyed himself up until we got home and he had to have a bath to wash the mud off!! Max used to come running with me, but he's an old man now so I have to leave him at home.
I did 7 miles tonight with the running club (Running forever RC). As usual I felt crappy for the first couple of miles but then settled down and enjoyed the run. It's nice to be able to run with different people- I am after all incredibly nosey and like to have a natter on the way round!
The extra weight I inevitably put on after Christmas seems to be coming off too thank God! I really do need to shift a few pounds before the marathon but it's quite hard because you still need to eat enough to sustain the running ( and of course running always makes me hungry!). I eat a pretty healthy diet anyway so I'm sure it'll be fine.
x
Thought I'd add in a selection of photos from some of the races I've taken part in so far....
This photo was taken after my very first half marathon in April 2006. Don't I look chubby!!! The other ladies in the picture are Cath and Karen.
This is me and Cath after the Taunton 10k in 2006.
The Great West Run in Exeter last year. The first and last time I've ever finished a race before Karen!! Hee hee....
I love this picture although it doesn't begin to show how completely exhausted I felt when it was taken!!! This was at an event called 'The Grizzly' and it is bloody grizzly too! 20+ miles over really hard terrain and not for the faint hearted!! Double hard bastard!!!
THE SODBURY SLOG! Only 9 miles but as you can see it was a wee bit muddy. This was probably my favourite event of the year and will definitely do this one again! Karen and Martin ran this one too.
What I haven't yet mentioned is my invite to Gordon Ramsey's post- marathon party. Naturally when he heard I was running the London marathon, the first thing Gordon did was to get his agent to ring me to see if I could be persuaded to attend. In the end I said yes, but only to shut him up.
Ok, the truth is that I work with Gordon's mum ( a lovely lady and regular 'church'-goer!!!) and she kindly invited Andy and I along to the Ramsey's annual marathon party. Woo-hoo!! How exciting is that?! Of course having run 26.2 (and yes the .2 IS important!) miles, I'm not sure what sort of state I'll be in. I'm just hoping that the adrenalin will keep my upright for long enough to say hello to Gordon and his family.
Can't wait to hear him swear!.......
Today was the first day of my marathon training. I was supposed to go for a run with Karen and Martin but they (very wisely as it turned out) gave it a miss as the weather was a bit grim. As I was feeling unusually motivated, I decided that the Shaunies (Karen and Martin ) were being wimps and took myself off for a ten mile run as per my schedule.
Holy Crap was that a bad idea!!! It was a bit windy, but hey I'm a marathon runner- I'm tough.When it first started raining I didn't mind a bit. I quite like running in the rain I though, this is nice. Then it REALLY started to rain. and then hail.
I was absolutely soaked and freezing cold. The hail was stinging my face. I decided after eight and a half miles that enough was enough and headed home.
Not a great start to my marathon training. Oh well, I'll just have to make it up in the week.
I've been lucky ( is that the right word?!) enough to get a ballot place for the 2008 Flora London Marathon.
That was the easy part as I've now got just over 14 week of hard training ahead of me. I've managed to rope in some kind souls to accompany me on the longer, harder runs so a huge thank you to Karen, Martin, Val, Phil and anyone else who has agreed to listen to my swearing and whining mile after mile!
I've devised a simple training schedule to make sure I'm fit (ish) and ready for the 26.2 miles I'll be running on 13th April. I'm hoping to get in three runs a week. A long one, a medium one and a short one (see it really is simple!), the long one will increase by a mile or so each week until I do a couple of 20+ mile runs at the end of March.
This will be my second marathon as Karen and I completed the Clarendon way marathon last September in just over Six hours. Not a great time, but hey it was an off-road and hilly course and quite frankly unless you can do any better, then sod off!!!
I'd like to think that I can get round London a bit quicker, but so long as I get to the end that's all that matters.
I'm also going to warn you now that although I'm not running for charity, I will be raising money for the place I work, so no doubt I'll ask you to sponsor me at some point!
