Blog Posts

I was brought down to earth by work after my 10k PB very rapidly! Office politics and dynamics are still a mystery to me – and common courtesy on asking your colleagues back how their weekend was does not exist in my office!

            I ran on Tuesday morning, a nice 3.21 miles. it did turn out to be an extreme assault course as I had to run through the high street and dodge buggies, granny shopping trolleys, smokers, people with young kids, people with dogs, people on mobiles…Note to self – avoid town after 10am! I am doing yet another Bootcamp so got some cross training in on Monday and Wednesday night! Our leisure centre is going through a massive refurbishment. The gym will increase in size dramatically. They were supposed to move the gym to the suite where they usually have the exercise classes after half term but they pushed it forward a week. I wasn’t sure last week whether it was open again so gave it a miss on Tuesday. I didn’t run on Thursday as felt rubbish. I did go to Carly’s total body blitz and legs, bums and tums class– she is the lady who runs the Bootcamp I go to! They were excellent classes and I thought it would be a nice way to distress about the half!

Saturday was spent in London. I bought myself and husband tickets to the new Andrew Lloyd Webber musical ‘Love Never Dies’ as soon as they came on sale. And the day had finally arrived that we were going to see it. The outlaws were down at husband’s sister in Staines so they came to London and took the kids to the Science Museum. There is no love between me and them and there never will be. They are not bothered about the kids and I don’t think they really enjoyed seeing any of us. Not ideal as my kids are their only grandchildren and are so loving towards any family we have! They take it with face value that they don’t see the family as much (my family lives in Finland so they see them once a year tops) but when they see them, they run up to them and give hugs and kisses and are happy to see them. Well, the outlaws looked inconvenienced to see them…I don’t really care if they hate my guts but I care how they act around my children.  The musical was superb – if you like Lloyd Webber’s work, you’ll love it. It was very moving and I have to admit, I cried at the end. Ramin Karimloo is fantastic as the Phantom! I got goose bumps every time he sang!

On Sunday I was woken up by the little man. He came to our bed, closely followed by his sister. I had hoped for more sleep but they wanted to give me the mother’s day cards they had made. I got ready to go and left the house after 9am. I was giving a ride to my friends Amy and Dawn F. We arrived in Silverstone in plenty of time. It was very windy! Whilst we were sorting out our kit, my friend Dawn P showed up. We all were quite unsure how we would do. Amy wanted to try to go under the 2 hour mark and joined the sub-2h start line. Dawn F and I went to the over 2 hour start section. Dawn P briefly joined us before moving forward. Liz Yelling at the race too and got a sub-75 minute time which I have read on Twitter, she is very happy about! Well done to her!

The race started and we were positioned behind the 11 minute mile pacer. By mile one we had over taken her and my Garmin said we were going at 9.50/mile pace. My aim was 2.28 half, in 11.20 pace. I kept the speed up. Before the first water stop, Dawn F needed the loo. She went in to the First Aid room with a dozen women (the first aider told her that there was only one loo) so I just carried on. I was making good time and feeling great. I thought I need the loo and foolishly stopped at 7 miles to go to the toilet. We were at the outer service road at this stage. I kept on going and when were at the Porsche garage, gone 8 miles, I started to struggle. I had been going quite fast, had that stupid toilet break and felt exhausted. At 8.5 miles I started to walk. My stomach was cramping and I felt dead. I kept on walking fast and then the headwind hit me. It was so strong! Lot of people started to walk around me – I now know how people felt at the last GSR! I got to 10 miles and felt a bit better. I then decided to run for 5min; walk for few if I felt crap. But I started to talk with a lady who was doing her first half about my MoonWalk and soon the 11 mile marker went past. Then I saw my friends Brian and Trevor from the leader course. They run for the local running club who marshal at Silverstone. I could not walk past them! After Trevor, I spotted this lady ahead of me who had been with me most of the run. We had overtaken each other several times and she had kindly tried to encourage me at 8.5 mile point. We chatted for a while. I wanted to break by PB from GER and went for it. I saw the 13 mile marker and the finishing line straight after it. I found some more energy and sprinted the rest. I thought I had done enough to get the PB. But I was not sure. I checked my iPod and Garmin and bought indicated that it would be a new PB. But I would have to wait until the results were published.

Dawn F found me at the changing rooms and we then made our way to meet Amy. We all had struggled – the wind was very strong! We made our way home and enjoyed the rest of the day!

Monday went in training in Bury St Edmunds. When I got home, I checked the website for results. And yes, I have a new PB: 2.37.10. It’s about half a minute faster than my last. Not brilliant but I am moving towards the right direction! I have learned a lot from Sunday’s race: I started a bit too fast and I need to eat more before a race! I was hungry before we started!

Bootcamp continues this week and I am squeezing more of Carly’s classes. I had another training day today: PACE interviews. Tomorrow is a normal day and more training on Thursday…thankfully I don’t have to do anything on Friday!

I do have a claim of sorts to questionable fame – the surgeon who operated on David Beckham’s Achilles is the same I have seen several times whilst I was running 100m. I had problems with my ankle one year and saw him about it. Thankfully I avoided the knife!

I hope you are all well and all your running is going well! Happy running!

Below is a clipping from the local paper of me and Dawn P - how cheesy are those grins?

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Wow, it has been a while since I blogged! Last time you heard from me I was getting excited about going to High Legh! And as you know, the race was cancelled due to the white stuff!

It was a lovely weekend though. My friend cancelled on me on Friday but my husband said he and the kids would come with me instead! I am quite obsessed about running and I go on a bit about it to my husband. I am always very grateful when he wants to come and see me run! It was so nice to see Kim again and meet Wendy on Saturday night. On Sunday we hang around until the curry and boy was it worth the wait! So yummy!!! And we met Paul, AM, Grace, Pam, Chris and Wendy’s friend Caroline’s friends and family. It was lovely even without the run!

The following week I put it two solid runs. I had high hopes to be able to squeeze one in before the Running Leader course on Sunday. But on Saturday 27^th, I was ill. I think I was given normal milk instead of Soya milk at Costa the day before (I am lactose intolerant) and the whole day was spent in bed with a bucket next to me. Well, Costa had now lost me as a customer! The Running Leader course was really good and gave me lots and lots of ideas on how to get my group together and how to coach total beginners! My plan is to go into coaching and will be doing my qualifications in the near future. I will be specialising in running (no surprise there) and in children’s coaching. I felt awful the whole day but I think adrenaline kept me going!

I had booked March 3^rd off as I knew I could not do my LDR the previous weekend due to the course and Saturday being busy with Grace’s dance lessons etc. so off I went to Buckden. I parked the car and set off to Grafham Water. The weather was a bit fresh but it was dry and sunny! I ran around Grafham Water and back to Buckden. The distance was 12.35M and it took me 2.40.09. I was just happy to get the miles in one go but had felt awful during it. My stomach still felt like an elephant had jumped on it. But I managed to run the whole way and experimented with me ‘jelly blocks’. I got these cubes from the running show before Christmas that actually taste nice and are an alternative to gels. They are nice tasting and I think they worked!

This morning we headed to the London Borough of Newham. It was the first Newham London 10k (Nova International has taken over organising it) and I was rather nervous on the way down. My plan called for a 65 minute 10k race. I just kept on panicking on thinking how I could do it. We arrived in plenty of time (we left at 7am and were at Newham 815am) and were amazed of what was on offer to families in the park. There were bouncy castles, lots of activity tables, trampolines etc! There were no queues to the toilets! We walked around to keep warm – it was sunny but cold! I said bye to the family and headed towards to the start line just before 915am. The kids were happy to play in the play areas whilst I ran! I don’t usually take too much notice of warm up’s but today I was all in! It was cold! I had an old track suit on and as soon the trousers came off, I felt so cold! The wind was quite sharp. We were sent on our way on time by Christine Ohuruogu (the local girl). We ran into the Stratford High Street and then to the Olympic Park. We ran nearly to the gates of the new stadium. It looks nice! I can’t wait till 2012! I enjoyed watching the Winter Olympics and now have Olympic withdrawal symptoms! And I miss watching Ice Hockey!

            I was going in good pace and got to the 5k mark in 31.45. I was in course for 65 minutes! The last few kilometres slowed me down a bit but I finished in 1.05.56 according to Garmin. The chip time is 1.06.15. A brand new PB in both times! I am so pleased! If I can keep the similar pace up next Sunday, my half marathon PB will rest in peace.

I have few three mile runs left before the race next Sunday. On Saturday we are off to London to see ‘Love Never Dies’. Very excited! Only minus is seeing the outlaws…

Happy Running!

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After the weekend’s full on running training, I was shattered on Monday! No surprise there! But very happy as Bootcamp had worked its wonders and I had lost 5.6 lbs and 8 ½” – lost inches everywhere apart from arms! But you can’t train just one body part and to be honest, I have stronger arms now than last summer: I can do 30 full body push ups rather than a handful! Go me!!!

Running didn’t really happen last week. I went to the gym twice. I just felt tired and my legs were aching. So I decided to let them rest now rather than push them and then be out of action for weeks or even months!

The highlight of the week was my daughter’s school acceptance letter! She has been accepted to the school she prefers! I am so proud of her! She has done it all on her own! And she is only six!

On Sunday morning, Dawn and I set off on an 11.6 mile run. I chose a route from the local running clubs website that was more than ten but under thirteen. I walked to her estate (bottom of the only hill this side of the river) and we set off. We ran past the rugby club, through town, up the hill past the golf club then turning into Eaton Ford, and running to Duloe village. We then ran through a farm path into Hail Weston and from there to Little Paxton. The route called for us to run around the lakes, parallel to the A1. We missed the turning so ran the route the wrong way around! But it was an exploratory adventure! We found a new route! After running around the lake, we took an unmarked path that we had no idea where it would lead us – we ended up at the village green where kids’ football was on! From there we ran into the nature reserve and then back home.  Dawn has a cold coming and she wanted to stop at 11.7 miles. I walked with her until she turned home and ran home. I got to top of the hill and I stopped the Garmin and iPod at 12.3 miles. I had taken me 2.38. Not a fast time but just wanted to put the miles into my legs. I felt good and had a lovely cup of tea and bacon sandwich for lunch!

Later on husband and I went to London to the What’s On Stage Awards and had a fantastic time! I saw Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellan among many other famous people from TV and stage! What struck me most was how lost for words Patrick Stewart got accepting his award. All his roles have been of men who know what he talks about – like Captain Picard and Professor Xavier!

The plan for this week is few runs before travelling up to High Legh! I can’t wait! I am not sure how fast I will be or anything – I am just going to enjoy myself! That’s what running is all about!

Have a fantastic week!

And wow, for change - a short post!!!! 

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This is another long one: pull up a chair and make yourself a cuppa!

February kicked off with frost. The car was under thick frost and the roads were untreated when I ventured towards work on Monday. I didn’t feel really well when I got up and the feeling didn’t get any better. A migraine hit me later on and I came home early. It was so bad that I lost vision in one eye whilst driving home. Not very safe! After few hours of resting in a dark room, I started to feel better again. I made it to the bootcamp but ended up heading to bed very early as I still wasn’t 100%.

            Tuesday morning and I got up feeling so much better! Dawn and I went for a run again after dropping our daughters off. We decided to head to the Paxton Pitts nature reserve. It was so muddy! Every time my foot landed, it slipped around. It was hard work as I had to concentrate on each step! We ran 4.78 miles in 57.32. It felt like more than that! After getting changed into non-muddy clothes, I headed to the gym via son’s pre-school. I like his pre-school but they never finish on time. So we are always late to the crèche! Thankfully the ladies there know this!

            On Wednesday morning I went into work half an hour early as I had to leave half an hour early due to a dentist appointment. My boss was in already and we chatted about his daughter’s visit. She lives in America and does not come across that much. He then came over and started questioning what I was doing and why I was in that early. He was rather rude to me. I don’t really know why. It’s like he has these two sides and the nasty side is not very nice. (When my colleague came in and asked about his daughter’s visit, she got a lot longer answer about it than I had…) I do what I am asked all the time and some of the things I have to do are not something I like. For example, we have an operation planned and they are using me and a WPC for it (I work in licensing – no espionage involved!). The WPC they have chosen as my partner is the most annoying woman I have ever met. She is rude and horrible and I am supposed to spend an entire evening with her…my idea of hell. I have said nothing about it but he knows how I feel about her as I have been out with her before and it has been horrendous! I just find him so infuriating sometimes! He has to micromanage irrelevant things but when it comes to sorting out stuff that matters, nothing gets done. Another example – my colleague is off to maternity leave next month. There is still no plan who takes over her duties. In paper, I job share with her but in practice I don’t. My boss’s boss doesn’t even refer me as a licensing officer…I do love my job – I love meeting my publicans and shop keepers and chew the fat with them. Some of them prefer me over my colleague as I am chattier about things than just licensing issues. I try to strike up a conversation with them about things so when they need us for something, they don’t think we are this local authority department that does nothing apart collect their licence fees every year. One of the publicans has told my friend who is a regular at this particular pub that I have changed his opinion of licensing office and how nice I am. Every time I pop in, he and his wife chat with me for ages about life and my running. So I think I am doing a good job and think my boss is a bit weird! Rant over.

On Wednesday night I finished this set of bootcamp classes. I could feel the difference in the last class – I have become a lot fitter in the last four weeks! On Thursday morning I blew the cob webs out by running 3.09 miles at 7am. After dropping my son at pre-school I headed to the gym. I was a bit puzzled by the instructor activity frenzy. The two on duty were cleaning machines and the manager was actually helping them and speaking to us mere mortals. I have nicknamed her botox Barbie as her face and hair never move. Both are immaculate! So to see her doing something else than checking her emails was short of a miracle. It turned out that her boss was coming in for a visit so they were trying to create a good impression… My son started swimming lessons on Thursday. He has been waiting this for months. And boy was he one happy little boy! As a treat, the kids got McDonald’s for dinner that night!

On Saturday morning husband took little miss to her tap lesson and I ran from Buckden to Grafham Water and around it. My schedule called for a 10 mile on Sunday but I had something else planned – more of that in a bit. So Saturday was the long run day. When we left home at 10.30am the sun was shining and I dug out my running sun glasses. We got to Buckden and it was mild. I had two long sleeved tops on and thought I might be too hot around the reservoir. I got into Grafham village and the sun disappeared. Then it turned all grey. By the time I was a mile short of finish, I could not see the other shore anymore. It was grey, foggy and miserable. But I had the most enjoyable 10 miles I have had in ages! Muddy but so nice! I kept a good pace up, did some cracking hill work and finished in 2.03.24 (10.33 miles). I tried one of my shot bloks cubes I got from the running show back in November. It was nice and more easily digested than the gels.

On the subject of gels: I have a small plastic bag half full of gels, energy bars, and recovery drink powders that need a new home. I just can’t stomach them and some have lactose in them which I am intolerant to. So I am going to sell them for £10 to whoever wants them. I won’t be posting them so will bring them to a race…anyone interested, PM me!

Now to the today. When I signed up the do the Cambridge Cambourne 10k, I noticed that the organisers were doing an expo. I had a look at it more closely and it turned out to be more than an expo – a whole day of talks and workshops. And one of the speakers was our very own TISM-Mike. So I signed up. For our admission fee the organisers gave us lunch and two free personal training sessions with any of the following: gait analysis, physiotherapy, core stability, nutrition, strength + conditioning, goal setting and podiatry; plus plenty of talks and practical workshops. The event was opened by Paul Evans, former Chicago Marathon winner. He then led some of the people out for a run. I chose to stay and listen to Mike. After Mike’s talk, I took part in Run For Fun session. It was a talk by Run In England area development Officer and Run4Fun’s Tim Cook. We went outside for part of the talk to do some running. The only minus was that Tim had chosen a soggy grass patch for it. My trainers were soaked in seconds! And by the end of it, I was covered in mud! I had brought a spare set of clothes with me, but no shoes! I fancied doing the Paul Evans Masterclass but it was already in full swing by the time I made it back and my toes were freezing! After lunch, there was a Q&A session with Mike, Paul and experts in physiotherapy and nutrition and footwear etc. a quick fashion show followed before we had a talk from the celebrity runner – Charlie Spedding. After his talk, there were two workshops to choose: sports nutrition and running technique one with one of the top coaches. I fancied both and chose the first one. I didn’t hear her start as she had some technical problems. I had my two free appointments at 3pm: saw a podiatrist about my black toenail and had Advance Performance look at my gait. It hasn’t changed but did get another pair of shoes. Something a bit different than my trusted Adidas Supernova Sequence shoes – a pair of Saucony ProGrid Guide 3. I then joined in to listen to the sports nutrition talk. I wish I had gone to the running technique…I really enjoyed my day and took a lot away from it. I had a long chat with the Run4Fun Tim about running and children. He said he could tell I have been a sprinter from the way I ran in his workshop – old habits don’t go away! I also chatted with Brian from Run in England about my plans to set up a running group. I have signed up to do their leader course in the end of this month to be trained as a group leader. My plan is to set up a running group in my hometown this spring. I haven’t mentioned it before as I am still not sure how everything will work out! So watch this space.

I have reassessed my goals and plans for this year. The original plan was to run the Medoc marathon. But it’s a week before Great North Run. And I really want to have a good run in Newcastle. It’s the last of my guaranteed entries. I don’t know whether they will offer me anymore after my membership run out. So if this year is my swan song year at GNR, I want to go out on a high. So instead of a marathon, I will do a duathlon at the beginning of September! It’s a 5k run – 20k cycle – 5k run. Nothing too taxing but a step closer to me one day completing a triathlon of some sort!

It’s all good – lot of runs planned for this year that I haven’t yet signed up for. My training is also in hand – I have few plans to follow and amend to my liking. Now all we need is some decent weather! The forecast is looking glum again: few snow showers next week. Come on spring, get a move on! Happy running!

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On Monday, Bootcamp continued. It is getting easier!!! My aunt was also diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. Finally we have an answer! She is to remain at the hospital until mum finds a care home for her. She has requested to be closer to my mum, which would be lovely! The diagnosis cemented my charity choice for the year. I have been pondering over whether to run for British Heart Foundation again in my brother’s memory or to run for Alzheimer’s Society. My decision was made for me on Monday. My godfather, who is like a second dad to me, also has Alzheimer’s and now my aunt has been diagnosed with it. I was in touch with them and they have been ever so brilliant in getting their vests to me; I got two as one has BUPA logo on it and one does not. They are BUPA’s chosen charity this year. I have set myself a quite challenging goal for this year: I aim to raise £250 by running 250 kilometres in organised races. My current race schedule falls short but there are local races that have not opened their entries yet. I can sponsored at http://www.justgiving.com/Maija-Bissett

On Tuesday morning it was back to running. Dawn and I braved the cold and ran the Hail Weston loop. We ran 5.77 miles in 1.11.08. Not a brilliant time but we are not bothered about the time. Just about the time distance. It felt good again and my shoulder only gave me few twinges! After the run it was back to the gym! It is defiantly helping with the shoulder!

On Wednesday it was another Bootcamp session. On Thursday morning I got up early and went for a quick run before breakfast. I had to calibrate my iPod and ran 1.25 miles. Hopefully the Nike+ thing is now better in measuring distance! After dropping little man at pre-school is was back to the gym. I had a long chat afterwards with one of the trainers about my shoulder and he was very pleased that the injury is getting better. Taking all the time off from running and gym before Christmas was the right thing to do.

On Saturday morning I did 2.73 mile run before heading to London. Our friend, the stage star, was finishing his stint as the leading man in Avenue Q. A bunch of us went to see him off. I got home at 1.45am and the alarm went off at 8am this morning. Dawn came to pick me up at 930am for our Grafham Water run. It was very cold! All the cars were still frozen. That meant that all the mud patches were nice and solid! And all the puddles had frozen. One bit was like a mini ice rink – just sheet of thick ice! We ran 8.64 miles in 1.45.40, averaging 12.14 pace. I am happy with that. It was cold and I was very tired! But this week has been a very successful one – I have lost the shoulder pain, I have ran four times, and lost ½ stone! I am following a new ‘diet’ – I was given the Anna Richardson’s Total Body blitz diet book and she has rules which you must follow. You can’t have dairy (good for me as I am lactose intolerant), booze (I am tea total), wheat, carbs after 6pm and you need to eat less and move more! It’s not really a diet, just re-arranging my eating habits! One thing I am a bit miffed about – all this healthy eating is blooming expensive! But one must shop around…but I hate shopping…I know, very odd for a woman!

My other friend Dawn emailed me yesterday with some fab news: Cambridge has its own park run! The first run was yesterday. Guess who’ll be using that a lot!!! (I like going to Cambridge as they have better supermarkets than we have…Our local Tesco is the worst in customer service in the tri-county area…)

Have a good week everyone and be careful with the ice patches. They are lethal.

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Thank you for the birthday wishes! I had a lovely day and was spoiled by my lovely family! And got even more spoiled on Tuesday! I had ordered a pair trainers for the gym (same as my running ones) from a sale online and whilst I was at the gym, a parcel had been delivered and left at my next door neighbour’s. So when I popped over to pick up what I thought were trainers, a Nextflower delivery box sat in her hallway! My close friend had sent me flowers! I absolutely love receiving flowers via post, a treat that does not happen very often! And my husband came home with a suit for me! He had spotted it before my birthday and as I had bought one day before my birthday, he thought I’d deserve another one! Sometimes he can still surprise me!

I was hopeful to go for a run on Tuesday morning but woke up with a migraine. Husband kindly took the kids to school and I thought I could have 30 minutes of rest in a dark room. Oh no. The dog we are ‘baby sitting’ thought it would be more fun to howl…I felt awful but had to get up. I missed my run but made it to gym. It’s becoming our Tuesday tradition; I pick up the little man form pre-school and we go to the leisure centre. He goes to the crèche and has his packed lunch and I go to the gym. Bootcamp sessions continued and I felt like I was making headway with the exercises she throws us! On Thursday morning I had to take both kids to their schools – little man’s pre-school is not at the same location as little miss’ school - and headed for the gym. When I got there, I could not find a parking space as half of the car park was blocked by the crane. Our district council is one of the rare council’s that is actually building at the moment; our new HQ is nearly finished and our local leisure centre is finally getting the much needed facelift it so badly needs. There were six blokes standing with cups of tea, staring at the crane. They had fenced themselves off with barriers that were so tight that my beast of a car (Seat Alhambra) struggled to fit through the gap! Then some idiots drive the wrong way a clearly marked one way system! I got the gym 20 minutes later than I had planned so could not squeeze in a run before picking little man up. Thankfully husband only had a short meeting in Liverpool prison so he took the kids from me at ballet. I got home and did a quick 2.2 mile run.

            I did the same run on Saturday morning. It is starting to feel easier and my shoulder pains are becoming history. I think my slow session building (per week) and weight training at the gym help!

This morning Dawn and I headed for the Grafham Water run. We both have done little runs and wanted to test the waters on how we would feel during a long run. It was very muddy at points! We managed to soak our trainers thoroughly whilst avoiding a muddy patch and a huge puddle! The grass was just so soaked with water and my lovely new trainers (I have started running with my second pair of Adidas Supernova Sequence trainers this year) are not white anymore! Oh well! We did 8.16 miles in 1h 40minutes. Dawn had to stop few times as she was not feeling well – poor thing has an annoying cold and she felt the snot trickle down her throat that made her feel sick! We will take on the course again next week! I felt surprisingly good and still do! I thought I would be dead after few miles but no! I am obviously fitter than I thought!

My racing calendar got an awful lot busier yesterday as I noticed that the Advanced Performance’s A1 series races have been updates. I am hoping to do quite a few of them! They are local and the series is aimed to all and all abilities! I like supporting local clubs as they have some gem of a race’s!

Have a good week everyone!

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It’s my birthday today. I am 33 years old. I have tried to teach my children to say I am 25 all week but no. The pesky children keep on blurting out the correct age! I can’t even bride them with chocolate!

Since the last post I have survived the bug and jumped back to the training. With regards to few comments on the last post, I am going to clarify few bits. My mum is going to sell up her share of the farm. My dad died without leaving a will in 1999 and me and my two brothers inherited his share. Then in 2006 my older brother died and mum, I and my brother inherited his share. Logistical nightmare! Due to the bizarre tax laws we have left the estate undivided. The plan was that my brother would buy us out this past Christmas. The plan came to a halt when our solicitor discovered a loop hole in the tax law that postponed the sale for 12 months. This way I can avoid paying 28% tax! Finnish taxman is very greedy and the laws are blinking complicated. No wonder my mum is stressed!!!

Last time I blogged, I had made it to the gym once. My second planned trip was abandoned as little miss’ school closed. We had an inch of snow on January 6^th and school closed early. On 7^th, it did not open. Ours was the only one that was shut! At first the website quoted health and safety issues and later about heating. Apparently the heating did not work in two of the class rooms. They have one spare one and a one big hall which they could have used…I was a bit miffed! But what can you do! Rest of the week was very quiet as the weather was awful and we fancied just chilling out!

Bootcamp commenced on Monday January 11^th with a vengeance. I was very sore on Tuesday! My friend Val could not even walk down the stairs after the session! I went for a 3 mile run on Tuesday morning with Dawn. We headed to Paxton Pitts. Half of the route was still covered in snow, the rest in thick, oozing mud! We both had been ill over the holidays and this was our first proper run. It did not feel too bad. And I got to try out my new toy – Garmin 305. After my run, I picked up little man from the pre-school and headed to the gym. I had had my programme tweaked to help with my big weight loss plan for 2010 (I am going to loose 10-15kg this year). Boy was it hard! But felt so good afterwards. I then had time to upload my run from the Garmin. And I was so amazed – I only used their software but the map function and graphs were fantastic. I fell in love instantly!!! (Tinabee has since sent me the link to the SportTracks and need to try it out soon!)

On Wednesday I went out to lunch with my colleagues. Two members of our little team had turned 50 and 60 over the holidays. We treated them to a nice lunch near the office. The food was lovely. Not to the standard of my pride and joy – one of my pubs won the best British local restaurant in the recent series of F Word and came second in the final. I know the couple through my work and think they deserved to win but Gordon Ramsey did not. But nevertheless, they are thriving and business is booming. If you are ever on the A14, heading towards Huntingdon/Cambridge, pop into the Pheasant in Keyston and you won’t be disappointed with your meal!

Bootcamp resumed and we all were sore! But the session seemed to make the soreness go away! Strange but it worked!!!

            On Thursday morning it was back to the gym and when I got home I had just enough time to run two miles before picking little man up. It was not the best weather to run – it poured with rain but I felt good throughout so I am coming back slowly!

On Friday little miss was sent home early as she was ill. Every year since she was born, she is ill on my birthday. So it was no surprise that she was ill! It’s like clockwork! But she has been better since Friday – it’s amazing how kids can bounce back with the help of Calpol and Calprofein!

We are currently babysitting our friend’s dog. He is in “love” with our Joey (who is a girl) and stands there staring at her, and pants. Last night when we had dinner, he kept on making this weird growling noise as Joey ignored him. Our friends have gone to Egypt to celebrate the mother-in-law’s 60^th.

This weekend has been another slow one. I didn’t go running as I have twinge on my right thigh. I had the same in the left one before Christmas and I was unable to run and it hurt like hell in Bootcamp. My legs don’t like a particular pair of low heels I have – I only wore them for 1 ½ h this afternoon! Husband and kids spoiled me and took me out to lunch.

It has been a lovely day and helped me forget for a while something unpleasant that happened this week. If you read my last post, you might remember me mentioning about my aunt and her dementia. We thought she was doing ok at her own place. She has lived there since in the mid-80s. Mum had spoken with her on the phone and totally out of the blue she had started to talk about taking things to the flat she had bought. She had referred to the flat she had in the 70s.

On Monday she had gone into the city centre and had become so confused, she had been taken by the police to the A&E. She was admitted and is still in the hospital. She is content to be there. I don’t know how long they will keep her in nor will they run some extensive tests to see what is exactly going on. She has an MRI booked for the February 4^th as an outpatient in the same hospital. Her memory has deteriorated a lot faster than any of us anticipated. I don’t have any contact with my dad’s sister or my cousin, so mum’s sister is my only family apart from my mum and brother. She was the funny aunt who I would visit on school holidays when I was younger. Her and her husband never had any children of their own so my brothers and I were very important to them. As they were for us. All of our grandparents were deceased by the time I was eight so mum’s two sisters (the older one died in 1998) were the surrogate grandparents. I have spoken with both my work and husband about the possibility of me going over there if things deteriorate. But we’ll now wait and see. It’s just so sad to see a loved one deteriorate.

On a more positive note, I have started mapping out the training plans for the year as I have booked myself into races. I have more 10K races in the calendar than ever before. I feel better running them than half marathons. I am still going to do four half marathons this year. I am still hopeful of the marathon but we’ll wait and see what happens with it. My husband wants me to run one in the UK so he and the kids can come and see. And my partner in crime has not said anything more about it! I will run one one day!

I hope the big thaw is reaching everyone and you are able to get out and run! Treadmills are not the best places to run on! Stay safe and happy running!

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Remember me?

I used to blog here some time ago! I hang my head in shame that it has taken all this time to get back here. And to make matter worse, I haven’t read anyone’s blog, let alone commented on them. They are neatly tucked away in a folder in my inbox. They will be read when the snow day comes! I am sure we will have one of them soon – schools will close even though it is not that bad!

Since my last entry, back in mid-November, I have been ill and ill again. Little Miss kindly gave me her vomiting bug, and also to her brother and dad. I actually missed a whole week of work. I could not keep anything down all week. The best part was, I got absolutely no rest. I had to take the kids to school and activities, and vomit when time permitted in between. Did I get looks from other mums at tumble tots? The look: ‘she must be knocked up’…err, no!

The following week I still felt like dogs dinner but then started to feel like I was getting a cold. It lingered on but nothing came out of it. We attended the first ever running show in London at the end of November. It was quite small but not too bad. I met Jo Pavey at the RunnersWorld stand and she is such a sweetheart! She had given birth to her son Jacob ten weeks before so we had a natter about babies and children and running and life. We chatted and chatted and I felt we had known each other for ages! Obviously our running is totally different but it was so nice to tell elite about my goals and achievements. She was impressed with my weight loss and called me slim! I haven’t stopped beaming since!

December started and I thought enough was enough and started running again. Only little short runs but runs. My shoulder was still aching but not too much. One day I even took the dog with me. Boy, was she shocked! It wore her out! On December 5^th, husband and I went to see ‘Cat on a hot tin roof’ in London and it was fantastic! James Earl Jones, Adrian Lester and Phyllis Rachad star in it and we both we just mesmerised by the quality of acting in front of our eyes! I recommend it! The following weekend we took the kids to see Snowman on stage and they loved it. I ran on 17^th before the snow started falling. We packed and left for our Christmas holiday that night. We flew out to Finland on the 18^th. We stayed the night in Staines, at husband’s sisters. Our flight was at 7am, so we got few more hours of sleep! The drive down was not too bad and by morning – 4:30am – there was lots more snow. We got to Heathrow ok but the flight was delayed as the de-icing equipment was needed for all the planes! But we got to Finland! When we landed, the captain said it was just a bit colder in Finland than in England. The temperature at the airport was just -22C. It felt so cold!!!! We were bumped into the next domestic flight and made a beeline to the near by shopping centre to get warm shoes and clothes!!!!

I had a plan to run whilst we were away but it was so cold! My back up plan was to do fitness DVDs but the cold that had lingered for a month finally came. It was weird being at ‘home’. My mum and I came into blows as I knew we would. Quit a lot of things were aired and it calmed things down. She did make me feel rather guilty that I live abroad as her only remaining sister (age 81) has some sort of dementia and her escapades during the night kept us awake. It is hard for her to look after the farm (my brother is supposed to do more there now but that has not materialised as he is so under the thumb), the big farm house, 500+ pigs, a demented sister and herself (she is 72). She vented out a lot of her frustrations to me but also laid on the guilt. I should feel bad for being happy, having a job, a life, living in the UK etc. it got to me more when we came back than whilst we were there. It has been a blow under the belt – I thought my happiness was allowed but apparently not. I feel guilty that I can’t do anything for my aunt. I tried talking to her – she is lucid at times – and tried to get her to understand why her sister is cross with her. But my aunt does not hold me, my mum or my brother in any regard. She does listen to the doctor and my brother’s other half. I fear that she’ll get hurt as she lives on her own. She has an appointment with the doctor in February and hopefully he’ll push the help idea more to her (my mum is going with her).

Christmas was nice – snowy and cold. Father Christmas came to bring the presents on Christmas Eve and the kids had a lovely time. My brother has bought a new puppy that is so cute! Apart from the family dramas, the visit went well! And I got a Garmin 305 from Father Christmas! (Husband got a camcorder that makes our kids go loopy!)

We came home on the 29^th. I was still ill and lost my voice that day. So I decided to do the unthinkable and not run the Ely New Year’s Eve race. Overall, 2009 has been a good running year for me. The Nike+ site gave me these stats: I ran 848 km (think a bit more as I didn’t clock in all the runs beginning of the year), average pace was 7’36’’/km and I burned 52901 kcal. I rated most of my runs as awesome!

2010 started slowly. I felt awful. But this morning I dragged my sorry self to the gym and actually enjoyed it. My throat is still sore but the cough medicine I have is so foul that I have told my brain that there is no way I am ill anymore! Bootcamp starts on Monday, High Legh is next month and that is the start of my racing year! I have started looking at races and the plan is coming slowly together.

So Happy New Year to you all! And my second resolution for the year is to be a better blogger – first one is to teach the kids Finnish!

I leave you with a picture of the cutest puppy ever!

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