You are not welcome!

Last Tuesday I completed Janathon and I was on a huge high. This Tuesday I was ill in bed and miserable. After a three day rest from running, which I felt my body deserved, I came down with a stinker of a cold and I have still got it. As the snow began to arrive so did my high temperature, blocked sinuses, conjunctivitis and  cough. Yum!

I made it very clear that illness was not welcome in January but it is also not welcome in February, March or April. I am going to have to sit this out and wait for my body to recover and then I am going to get back out there and work twice as hard. I’m ready to hit the track and to give the hills a go too because I mean business in Berlin. I just need to listen to my body, eat healthily and wait until I’m well enough to go hard again.  

Janathon day 31: Crossing the finish line and the 100 mile mark

I made it! Last night I completed Janathon with no breaks but I just couldn’t muster enough energy to blog. I set out to exercise every day and if possible, I wanted to run every day. I managed to run 28 days out of a possible 31 and even though there were days I really didn’t want to exercise, I am really pleased that I did it.

I haven’t really experienced any negative comments on my blog before but on Monday night this comment was left.

Janathon has most definitely not been about torturing my body or being virtuous about it. For me it was about setting myself a challenge. I knew it would be tough but I wanted to prove to myself that even when things get tough, you can succeed and surprise yourself. I was so determined to succeed because I wasn’t able to complete Janathon last year.

It was also about kick starting my training for the Berlin Half Marathon on 1^st April. I want to complete the course in under 2 hours and I am prepared to work hard to achieve my goal. There are going to be days that I don’t want to train but if I’m serious I need to learn to get over that feeling and get out there no matter what.

Throughout January I ran over 100 miles and I was ecstatic that the last day of January fell on a Tuesday so that I could run my final Janathon run with my Run Dem Crew friends. I was grinning the whole way to Nike Town and back and when we arrived back to the arches at 1948, I was greeted by this. What an inspiration! I'm done with just dreaming and this year I'm willing to work hard and train for what I want to achieve.

Janathon has been great. I have had the chance to follow some really inspirational and determined people as they ran and blogged their way through the month and I have really enjoyed the group training mentality. Thank you to every single person that tweeted or posted a message of support. It may be the end of Janathon but it is only the beginning of a long road of training. I am determined to work hard and be the absolute best I can be but I am definitely looking fowarrd to a sports massage and some rest days.

Janathon days 29 & 30: One more day to go

I was planning a long run yesterday morning and I was also planning a surprise baby shower for my best friend. I decided the least stressful plan was to bake in the morning and get everything ready for the baby shower to then pick my heavily pregnant friend up at 1:30. Trying to squeeze in a long run before was just not going to work so I planned to do it in the afternoon. The baking was a success and we managed to suitably surprise the mummy to be.

By the time I got home it was late, dark and I was tired. I was still feeling sore and Janathon had really started to take its toll. I could have happily snuggled on the sofa but I wasn’t giving up this late in the day. I headed out of the door and did my 5k route. I was tired and thirsty as amongst the excitement I had managed to forget to drink but I didn’t do too badly and felt really good once I’d been for a run. However my legs were throbbing when I got home. I am really in need of a sports massage and a rest.

RDC West was starting tonight and I had set my heart on going but when I woke up this morning, I knew it wasn’t a good idea. I made a decision before I left for work and left my kit at home so that I wouldn’t be tempted. When I started my training on 1^st January I was clear that I wanted to exercise every day and I was going to try and run every day but only if my body would allow. My body needed a break tonight. I thought it was the best option to have a day off from the running and head to the pool instead so that’s what I did. I swam 40 lengths (1000m) and felt great and I’m now more excited than ever about RDC tomorrow.

I have enjoyed Janathon but if I’m being honest, I am looking forward to finishing tomorrow and having rest days. My body feels like it needs a break and so does my brain. I have managed to blog most days but there have been a couple of double whammies when I have just run out of hours in the day.  I am proud that I have managed to exercise every single day, although I swam on two days and walked on one. It still means that I have run for 27 out of 30 days so far. I am thrilled that day 31 has landed on a Tuesday and I can finish in style with my friends running by my side.

Janathon day 28: Can I call myself a runner yet?

As planned this morning I decided not to run today, but I didn’t slack off and walked 11.5km instead. 6.5km of that was with way too many shopping bags and my arms were ready to drop off when I got home. It was the first day that I haven’t changed into my kit to do my exercise and it felt strange so I’m looking forward to my long run tomorrow now. I did get the urge to just go out and run but it really is important to listen to your body. For me, Janathon has been a great way to kick start my training, but I want to stay healthy and injury free so I vowed at the start I would be sensible.

I got a pleasant surprise today when I found out that I’m in the March issue of Runner’s World magazine. A few months ago I volunteered myself as a case study for a feature on how to get your running mojo back. I sent this blog post and spoke to the journalist about how difficult I found it to get back to running once my first half marathon was complete. My solution was joining Run Dem Crew and running with friends. I never received any confirmation of when the feature was going to run so it was a good start to the weekend to hear that I made it in. I’ve always had a bit of an issue with calling myself a runner but I guess I’m a little step closer if I’m in a running magazine, right!(That’s what I’ll keep telling myself.)

Running can be solitary and although I enjoy my own company, I found running with friends to be really inspiring and motivating. It helped me to get back in the swing of things and to keep up the training too. Throughout Janathon, I think the most important thing that I have discovered is to not overthink and to just do things. The more you ponder, the more chance you will actually end up not going to the gym or out for that run. We are all different but I like the balance between running on my own and running with my friends. Agreeing to meet with friends commits you to the cause and it is much harder to back out.

We all have to get to know how we tick and what works for us individually but reading the feature in Runner's World today made me realise just how important my friends have been. Not only my friends at RDC, but my Twitter friends too. Throughout January I have received so much support and encouragement and although I am stubborn and giving up has not been an option, having so many people knowing what I have vowed to do has really helped me to knuckle down. I know it’s not over yet but I wanted to say thank you for every tweet, every comment on my blog and every word of support. Janathon day 29, I can’t wait to see you. The same goes for Janathon day 30 and Janathon day 31, I’m even more excited to see you. I think I will feel even closer to calling myself a runner if I can go out with a bang on Tuesday!

Janathon day 27: My guardian angel

After the track session on Thursday night I was feeling sore but if I was going to stay in the Janathon game on day 27, I needed to go running in the morning as I had plans for the evening. I reluctantly squeezed myself into my kit and forced myself out of the door before work. It hurt!

Whenever I am having a really tough run and I want to give up, I seem to have a little guardian angel that appears and snaps me back into reality just in time. I have seen this man in numerous different places and it’s always on days that I am struggling. On one occasion I was ready to give up in Richmond Park and I saw him and it made me determined to carry on. The same thing happened along the towpath in Putney. He has a prosthetic leg bladelike Oscar Pistorious to allow him to run as he only has one leg. I was struggling and hurting but he was looking strong and absolutely determined. He wasn’t letting his so called disability stop him as he sped past me, so I gritted my teeth and decided I wasn’t going to let my sore muscles stop me. Thank you to my running guardian angel that always seems to be in the right place at the right time, and helped me complete my short 3.5k morning run yesterday.

One thing I have learned this week is that track hurts. My muscles are more sore than they have been throughout the whole of Janathon and my legs feel tender in places that they never usually do. As for my poor glutes, sitting down and getting back up again is proving to be a challenge. I'm not giving up though, I will be seeing a track again in the next week or so.

I was originally planning to run today but I am going to see how I feel. I have a long run scheduled for tomorrow and I'm going to Run Dem Crew on both Monday and Tuesday as there is a new West crew starting this week. I want to finish Janathon in style, not in a limping mess, so it may make sense to take it a little easier today and skip my run and opt for some brisk walking instead. I will just wait and see as that little Janathon devil will probably start nagging me and I may just have to give in to the trainers.

Janathon day 25 & 26: The only way is up!

This time last year Janathon was over for me. This year I am still feeling strong and I’m looking forward to completing Janathon on a high. I have run every day except one, where I chose to swim as my leg wasn’t feeling great. I headed to the gym last night to battle with the treadmill again. My music helped a lot last time, so I opted for some loud old school tunes.

I put my headphones in and started to run but my music was quiet, so I adjusted the volume to the max. Still the volume was pretty pathetic but I kept running. Soon after, my boyfriend was tapping me on the back frantically waving his hand at me. Oh yes, it seems the reason my music was quiet was because I had pulled the headphones out and the whole gym was in for a treat with my speed garage compilation on loudspeaker. Shame!

I wanted to do 5km and wanted to improve my time. I had 27:30 in my head but I was tired and I was struggling at 1.5km. I decide 3km would be my lot but as 3km neared, another good song came on, I got an extra energy burst, so I carried on. I was making good time, so despite feeling tired I just kept going. I had to slow down a couple of times as I had severe heartburn, caused by ramming crisp bread and jalapenos down my throat whilst heading out of the door. I would definitely not recommend this. I am pleased to say, I finished my run exactly on target with a big smile on my face.

Tonight was track night and I’m not going to lie, I was scared. I did say recently though that it is good to be scared and also that I need to take my own advice more. I travelled 18 stops on the tube so that some of my lovely @rundemcrew friends could show me the ropes. I arrived and as a complete beginner I felt out of my depth but you sometimes  have to do things that are a little uncomfortable.

Everybody made me feel extremely welcome, giving me advice and helping me out during the group drill session before the track laps started. I did 3 x 400m warm up laps before the session really started. I then did 6 x 400m laps, with small walking rests in between each lap. I knew immediately that I hadn’t hydrated enough so after lap 3 I grabbed my bottle of water and felt much better. I ran at a speed that it was difficult to talk at and though it wasn’t fast compared to some of those speedy people whizzing around the track, it was faster than what I am used to. The warm down lap felt surprisingly easy after the fast laps. I'm hoping that a few mnore regualar track sessions will make my half marathin feel easy.

I finished, I survived and I was still smiling. I am determined to get quicker and I am happy to commit myself to track. I may not go all the way to Mile End every week (which really felt like Mile End on the journey home when I was ready to chew my own arm off) but I am going to venture along to my local track on the weeks  I don’t get to train with the RDC guys. It was great running with some really experienced people tonight  that were happy to share their knowledge. Thank you to @BangsandaBun and @RunUrb who encouraged me to come along and thank you to each and every person that took time out tonight to help me. Berlin Sub two hours, you will be mine!  

Janathon day 24: Well and truly beaten

This time last year I had the worst run ever! I was aching, felt terrible and was on the verge of tears the whole way round. Little did I know at the time, but the reason I was feeling so ropey on 24^th January, 2011, was because I was on the verge of coming down with flu. Not just a cold, but real flu where I couldn’t move from my bed.  I am so stubborn that even though it was my last run of Janathon 2011, I still stubbornly tried to exercise on day 25, only to crash and burn in style.

I was determined that I was going to enjoy tonight and it was only ever going to be positive that it landed on a Tuesday, as Tuesdays mean Run Dem Crew. I felt good when I arrived and was greeted by this. The Nike Make It Count campaign relates to me and really captures how I feel.All I ever want to do is to do everything to the absolute best of my ability. I touched on this in my Happy 30s post.

There were 147 people at RDC tonight and it was fantastic. There was such a positive and exciting vibe in the room and I chose to run in the fast hares.

RDC at 1948 (Picture courtesy of @RuthHooper)

It felt good and we saw some great Lomdon sights along the way. According to my endomondo app on my phone, we ran 8.3km but when speaking to other members of the group after the run, it seems we actually ran nearer 9.4km. This makes me happy, as it means I am probably cutting myself short on my runs but I’m cool with that. I guess it's better than not running enough.Our group split into two groups as it was quite large and I opted to go with the 'sightseeing runners' who were keen to get a glimpse of Tower Bridge. I've lived in London for most of my life, but I am always so impressed by it. The lovely @glennhancock led our smaller group and we had a fantastic run. Thank you all for letting us stop so that I could take the Tower Bridge snap below. I regretted not taking one last week so I wasn't going to let it slip through my fingers again.

The run tonight was considerably longer than last year’s poor attempt and the only glimpse of being near to tears, was when I saw one of the new RDC members run under the human arch that we created at the end of her run. She was nervous beforehand but she pushed on through, finished that run showing grit and determination and she made herself proud. That is what RCD is about!

It is magical when you see new people discover Run Dem Crew for the first time and even more special when they finish their first run with a beaming smile on their face. Tonight was always going to be better than last year because I was running with friends. Janathon day 25, I look forward to seeing you!