Basingstoke Half Marathon Training Run #5

Due to being poorly last week, I didn’t manage to do much by way of exercise – I felt drained, couldn’t eat or drink and had excruciating stomach pains, so didn’t fancy running 8 miles or lifting heavy things! Being thoroughly spoilt on my birthday and not indulging too much surely helped my recovery, so this week I was looking forward to getting back to training.

Maxx, Maxx’s cousin and I ventured out on Monday. I’d Google-mapped a route which we’ve not done before but looked very picturesque, as it was mostly country roads, so I felt really motivated.

In total, we ran 4.8 miles (with no walking!) in 50 minutes – the only reason we didn’t reach the full distance was because I didn’t want to be late to my grandparents’ for dinner. I know that I would have managed the other 1.2 miles as my pace was perfect and I felt really comfortable, so I’m not worried about this. Monday’s venture also reassured me, as I thought it would be awful after not being able to eat properly/train the week before.

I’m equally as motivated to run on Sunday – I’ve mapped an 8-mile circuit which incorporates part of Monday’s route, so they’ll be plenty of magnificent houses and farms to look at on the way round. That’s definitely why I loved Monday’s run – farm animals grazing in the fields, a cool breeze, old houses, a little bridge with a stream underneath... Perfect!

Due to being poorly I’m a week behind where I’d like to be in training, and I was feeling very down about it just before my birthday, but I know that whatever happens I will finish the half marathon. It might not be the fastest time, and I might have to walk a little, but I will cross that finish line.

If you haven’t sponsored Maxx and me yet, and would like to, please go to: www.justgiving.com/PipandMaxx. We’re hoping to raise £300 for Wimbledon Greyhound Welfare, a wonderful charity in Hersham who care for over 80 greyhounds. In 9 donations we’ve managed to raise 55% of our target, so please help us smash it!

   

The BFF challenge is still on, which I need to lose 2% body fat for. I have 10 days – I’ve been keeping a food diary for the last 3 weeks, to monitor my intake and also keep a record of any reactions. I am not counting calories, I am looking at how healthy my meals are and trying to find which foods are IBS triggers. Maybe it is wishful thinking but I do think I’ve lost a little body fat as I’m less squishy! 

The BFF Challenge

Pinch punch first day of the month! In place of a monthly update, as not much has changed since the end of June, let me introduce you to...
The BFF Challenge!
Boop (co-writer of the Longleat posts) and I have invented a challenge to help us reach our fitness goals. By the beginning of September, Boop needs to have lost 7 pounds and I need to be 21% body fat (I'm also hoping to lose 4-8 lbs). As we live in two different Queendoms far, far away, we won't be working out together, but will be keeping each other updated on our progress. 
The reward: a treat in the form of food - we're both thinking a ginormous sundae, either bought or made. I'm thinking honeycomb pieces, Ben and Jerry's ice cream, caramel sauce, whipped cream... the kind I'd need to eat with about 400 IBS pills!
The forfeit: rep to failure one hated exercise. Boop has chosen tricep dips and I've chosen kettlebell swings... We will also have to give up our favourite food for a month - I will forfeit cheese or chocolate, or both, and Boop will give up biscuits or cheese.
I think this is an excellent way to keep motivated, as you can celebrate your successes together or commiserate when it gets tough. Fitness challenges with friends only work if you're genuinely BFFs and not frenemies, however - I want Boop to succeed just as must as she wants me to, and there's no hidden competition as a) we love each other, b) we want the other to be happy with her body, and c) we're aiming for two very different goals anyway.
Wish Boop and I luck!

Basingstoke Half Marathon Training Run #4

I need to make a confession. Yesterday at my grandparents' I had a snack-size packet of smarties - I know I said no treats before my birthday but... OK so I have no excuses. They were delicious and I ate them slowly. However, the rest of this week has been 100% clean, although I may have a treat tomorrow on my bff's birthday. I certainly won't be having treat days anymore, I can tell you... On to the good stuff... On Wednesday evening, Maxx and I decided to go for a run. Our route, which I thought was about 4.2 miles, goes through the village next to ours, past the Civil War ruins and through another village on the way back home. It's picturesque and quiet, passing pretty rows of cottages, a church and a couple of pubs. We ran the entire way round without a walking rest. Maxx mapped the route when we got home and found it was actually 5 miles! We completed it in 44 minutes, so I'm astounded at our pace - at times, I did run very slowly to catch my breath, so we must have been steaming along the rest of the way!  My motivation was just right; I was exhausted by the last mile and a half, but I kept telling myself how close we were and how proud I would feel running the entire way. This was a timely boost from Bad News Monday and puts us on track for our training plan ("plan" is used loosely - we're aiming to run 8 miles comfortably by the end of August and 11 miles by the end of September). 
In case you'd forgotten, Maxx and I are fundraising for Wimbledon Greyhound Welfare, aka Hersham Hounds, where my family have adopted 3 of our 5 magnificent goosehounds (to clarify, we don't have 5, but of the 5 we've owned - 3 being deceased - 3 of them have come from WGW). Please sponsor us - WGW is a wonderful charity with over 80 hounds in their capable care:  www.justgiving.com/PipandMaxx

Body Fat Update: prepare for misery

Let's cut straight to it. I've put on 3% body fat, from 19.64% in April to 22.75% in July. I don't think I need to express how upset and frustrated I am with myself.
As a blogger who blee-blah-bloos on about fitness and riding and weight training and running etc, I feel like a huge hypocrite for clearly not practicing what I preach. By the same token, I'm human, I've been feeding my gluttonous mouthhole too many treats, and I now need to be honest about this gain.
You do lose muscle when doing excessive amounts of cardio - however, when training for the half marathon in 2012, I was running 2-3 times a week and only weightlifting once a week. I distinctly remember this caused a 3% drop in body fat. There's no way I'm running enough (yet) to be burning up my muscle, so the only thing left to consider is my diet.
I very recently cut down the amount of treats I have on treat day, as this was causing multiple IBS reactions and, quite frankly, the day was becoming a giant binge. I am strict with what I consider a treat, so I wouldn't have a chocolate biscuit and say I ate 100% clean that day (I also wouldn't eat only one biscuit, so bad example), but I've gradually been having less and less clean days. 
The reason I'm writing this post is because I want people to see the truth - I am slim, fit, healthy, but I also don't achieve my goals all the time. My motivation isn't always 100%. I follow fitness models and athletes for inspiration, but sometimes this is a bad thing as I'm aspiring to look a certain way when these people are sponsored and paid to look like that. It's their career, not just their hobby. I love running and weightlifting, but Ernest will always be my priority. I want people to read my blog and know that, even though I'm a fitness fan, I do know what it's like to think: "F the diet, I want f'ing ice cream and cake and chocolate and cheese and I don't want to work it off after!!!!"
That said, I have a goal I want to achieve. My next BF check is at the beginning of September, so my bestest bf Becky has set me up with a challenge - I have to get to 21% and she has to lose 7lbs. The figure 21% was agreed by Maxx, who wanted it to be sensible and attainable. 
Here's my proactive plan to get my BF back down:

• No treat days until my birthday, then no treat days unless special occasions. I have a clean eating cookbook now so can cook clean treats if I crave sweet things.
• Stop squishing my squishy bits because a) it makes Maxx sad and b) it makes me feel bad about myself. I struggle with my body anyway, but this just makes it worse.
• Prioritise - I can't weightlift, see Ernest, work, work in the evenings, train for a half marathon, and fit in enough sleep. I'm pushing myself to breaking point but, at nearly 24, I need to learn to rest properly. Running needs to come before weightlifting, and I need to get serious about my training. I'm not doing 13.1 miles because it's easy, after all.

Special thanks to Becky and Maxx and The Smiling Assassin for being kind when I was super upset yesterday.

A Brief History of Greyhounds

Once upon a time, there was a family named Jones who decided to adopt a greyhound. His name was Jimmy, and he was a beautiful light-coloured brindle. He was kind to the other, very old, family pet, a whippet cross named Jasmine whose sister had recently died. 

The youngest Jones, Pip, remembered being picked up from primary school, in 2000, by her mother and new greyhound. He was patient and long-suffering, laying down for hours so Pip could sketch him for her GCSE art coursework in 2006.

When Jimmy was diagnosed with cancer and had to be put down, the Jones’ were bereft. It was an unprecedented shock. But Jimmy had started something beautiful, and had introduced the family to the most superior of all pets, the greyhound (or long-snout as they are sometimes known in that most strange family). 

By this time, Jasmine too had passed and Pip had accrued a girlhound named Lassie (ridiculous name for a greyhound, but one must not judge). Lassie, or SeaBassie as they nicknamed her, was lonely. The family were lost, staring at the empty space on the carpet where Jimmy liked to rest.

Mother Jones researched greyhound centres and came across Hersham Hounds (aka Wimbledon Greyhound Welfare). Looking out at her, with perfect Malteser eyes which shone like the midsummer sun, was Rio, Hound of the Month. 

Romeo and Juliet’s love story could not compare to the love felt between Mother Jones and Rio. Of course he came home with them. The bond between Mother and hound was stronger than Ironman – Rio walked so close behind Mother Jones that his paws often went inside her slippers. He slept on her bed with his chin on her shoulder. He once gazed at her for a full hour while she ironed – as did her children, but that was more with shock than love. Rio helped to heal the gaping emptiness of Jimmy’s passing. He also helped to start Pip’s GCSE’s off with a bang when, on the morning of her first exam (Spanish listening), he tripped over his food bowl, smashed it, fell on it, and opened his perfectly-formed thigh muscle. Mother Jones nursed him on his dramatic return from surgery.

Lassie was diagnosed with cancer and passed away on 31^st January 2008. She was Pip’s hound – they snuggled together, listened to music together, pretended to do homework together. She had been there through Pip’s hardest, loneliest moments at school, and now she was gone. Loss is hard to describe because there is a nothingness which swallows everything – her spot on the sofa, her place at Pip’s side, her lead, her special walking boot which Brother Jones had decorated with the Nike symbol. 

The only thing harder than grieving is watching your deceased pet’s partner in crime grieving. Rio looked for her and wouldn’t settle. He slept in the family’s bedrooms but it wasn’t right.

Off the family went to Hersham.

Princess (aka Princess Pickle Baggins) bounded into the Jones’s life with more force than a Carl Froch knockout punch. When she stopped, dropped and rolled every five minutes on their trial walk, the family knew she was the one – she was odd, just like them. But the strangest thing was yet to happen – and that’s not referring to the jar of pickles she stole and safeguarded on her first night at home. Princess captured Father Jones’s affections by stealth – never before had the family seen him gently caress the ears of a dog, claiming what a lovely hound she was. Never before had he laughed when a hound joined him in his study and proceeded to chew his chair leg. Never before had he had a greyhound sign his Father’s Day card – until Princess. 

When Rio passed in early 2011, the Jones children saw their mother cry for the first time in their entire lives. Pip called her brother at work to tell him, then went home and cried, hugging Princess. She had promised her they would bring Rio home, but they couldn’t. This time, they had not said goodbye properly as he was already under anaesthetic. To this day, there is a Boofle toy which hangs in Mother Jones’s car - it is acknowledged as Rio in spirit.

Mother Jones called Hersham in secret. She told them she had lost her soulhound but she hated not having a boyhound in the house. Mother and Father Jones had had two dogs their entire relationship, and while she desperately wished Rio was still here, we sadly cannot bring back those we love when they become SkyHounds. 

Getting a new hound after losing a beloved one is ridden with sadness, happiness, and guilt. Is it too soon? Would they think we’re replacing them? Why are we here again? Why my hound? Pip waited on the bench outside with Princess, crying quietly. So many hounds which need homes, she thought. 

Out came a handsome black greyhound, with fur silkier than the Queen’s own bed sheets. When he turned his head to look at Pip, she almost fell into a swoon he was so heavenly. Mother Jones knew he was the right one, as ‘he licked my hand when I walked past’. It was apparent on bringing him home that he did not suit his name, Chief – they agreed he couldn’t be called ‘Big Wuss’, so Pip decided on Claus (his nickname is Mr Silks). 

That was in 2011. The family have had Princess for 5 years, Claus for 3 ½ years. The Jones family have adopted hounds from Wimbledon Greyhound Welfare since 2006, and will always advocate the hard work and passion Denise and her team put in to re-homing and caring for these loving, affectionate, gentle (and surprisingly lazy) dogs.

Please sponsor Maxx and I. This really is a worthy cause.

www.justgiving.com/PipandMaxx 
Once you go grey, you never turn away! 

Basingstoke Half Marathon Training Run #1

After entering the Basingstoke Half Marathon on Saturday, I was eager to go for our first training run on Sunday - Maxx and I set off on a 3-mile route, aiming to run for as long as possible but with no pressure, as we have over 3 months to train.

Here’s the breakdown of our run: 

Run: 20 minutes
Walk: 3 minutes (Maxx had a pain in his lower leg and I was a little puffed out)
Run: 7 minutes 

My pacing was quite off during the first mile, so Maxx suggested running behind him – this helped a lot. He’s better than me at keeping a regular pace, so I think I’ll continue running behind him for the time being. It also means I get to watch his lovely bottom, so win-win. 

I pushed myself during the first stint, past where I would normally take a quick break. I thought about stopping there, but realised it would just have been out of habit and not because I actually needed to walk.

The final ¼ mile was tough. Maxx did need to encourage me – he held my hand for a while to help me keep going! However, I did find the energy for a short sprint at the end, so I can’t have been feeling too bad.

Overall, a very positive start to our training.

Please sponsor us:
http://www.justgiving.com/PipandMaxx

We're Running Basingstoke Half Marathon 2014!

Maxx and I have decided to run Basingstoke half marathon 2014. We dropped out last year – I’m embarrassed to say it was due to a serious lack of motivation – so this year I’m determined to get back on the running-trainer-shaped horse.

My time in 2012 was 2 hours 7 minutes – this year, I’d like to beat that. 1 hour 45 minutes would be a real achievement, but anything under 2 hours would be good.

I ran for Wimbledon Greyhound Welfare, the Surrey-based charity where my family have adopted 3 out of 5 of our beautiful long-snouted friends, and I will be running for them again this year. I can’t emphasise enough how dedicated the staff are, not only to re-homing, but also to looking after the hounds who are long-term residents. They genuinely care about what they do, they know each hound individually (no easy feat when there’s over 80 currently at the centre), and they are probably the most vivacious, friendly group of people I’ve met. You definitely hear Denise before you see her!

At this stage, I can’t even run 5K (3 miles) without a couple of breaks (by breaks I mean walking) – but, with over 100 days to train, I feel confident I can get up to standard ready to smash my time. As I’ve told my friends before, a huge part of running is getting the right mentality, so I’ll be training on the hardest parts of the course to mentally prepare myself.

As a former road cycling competitor, Maxx is the perfect person to train with for a long distance event. As a wonderful man, he’s also perfect to train with because, when I’m struggling to keep going, he encourages me in a way that doesn’t make me want to smack him in the mouth with a sweaty fist. That’s love.

Any donations, no matter how small, are appreciated. Here is the link to our Just Giving page:

(http://www.justgiving.com/PipandMaxx)

Thank you!

Back on the (running) Wagon

Inspired by my best friend and blogger extraordinaire Boop (she told me her name was Becky but I think she's lying), I decided to lace up my trainers and go for a run. Only this time, I told myself I wasn't going to try and run a 5K or run for a specific time - I was just going to jog along, enjoy the sun and have a chat with Maxx, who joined me. 

I had started to feel that I should be able to run a 5K easily, having completed a half marathon - even though I hadn't run for a few months - and was constantly disheartened that I could only do about 15 minutes in one slog. What changed yesterday was: I took the pressure off. I took my pace back. Maxx and I chatted and admired the view and nearly ran into fallen tree blocking our path, and before we knew it we'd run for over 10 minutes. 

Our village has recently had some outdoor exercise equipment installed, so we stopped next to the pull up bar and attempted to do a set. OK, Maxx managed 3 fine... I half managed with him assisting me slightly. It was fun! I'm desperate to be able to do a full set of pull ups, so we agreed we'd include a set of 5 every run.

We set off again for another 8 minutes, stopping because I had a painful stitch. After a minute, I wanted to get going again - before, I would have just walked sulkily home. We ended our run by doing a lap of the athletics track by the village hall, with a 100m sprint to really finish us both off. I was the fastest! That's a lie.

My aim is to do another half marathon, then a full, then perhaps an ultra to raise money for Wimbledon Greyhound Welfare. But for now, I'm happy building my stamina back up and just enjoying any length of time or distance I can do.