From here to where...? by a_bet_made_me

Well after a good week of training, keeping to the plan I wanted to do... then at the weekend I had 2 charity runs - a 10km on Saturday and a 5km on Sunday. Dublin was frozen solid on Saturday morning and as I drove to the venue for the first race, the conditions were shall we say .. icy! As i let the dogs out to play on the frost covered grass my car temp gauge said minus 4 deg C.. (great! ) - I love cold dry weather!! I registered and then waited for the start in my nice warm car!

It was wonderful to watch the sun slowly rise I did take a photo but have as yet to find how to upload it on this new system of blogs.. () - the start was delayed by about 10 minutes and soon we were off, having had plenty of warnings about the conditions underfoot, and telling people it wasn't a race.. by the first 1km mark most of us realised we were running on black ice, there were a good few fallers but luckily I stayed upsright the whole way around, even though there were a few moments I thought I was gone!! The Phoenix Park in Dublin is used by many runners, most of whom use the narrow tracks on the grass beside the paths and roads and there was a long string of people using these as opposed to the tarmac!! I met a lady who had fallen twice already and we finished the last 3km together.. possibly an all time worst for me in a 10km but considering the conditions.. I was quite pleased!!!  - this run was in aid of a charity called AWARE - it would be the irish eauivalent of the UK charity MIND - helping those with depression, a charity close to my heart as I have lost family and friends through them taking their own lives.

Sunday morning dawned and another night of freezing conditions before the 5km - this time for the children's charity Barnardo's.. this was local to me in the park i normally train in, and was again in icy conditions. The organisers reversed the course so that it would be better underfoot and meant we had good places to run down hills at a good speed on the grass which was as white as a covering of snow! Once again even though they had salted the paths of the park there were parts which were lethal!! However as I crossed the line in my normal training time for this distance I was very pleased - I knew that the 10km wouldn't have taken anything much out of me - so was expecting a "normal" time if conditions were ok...

Even better news... have lost some more weight!!! Hope everybody is doing well!! I'll catch up with everybody during the week!

best wishes

Ev