24 - Episode 3

This week, I ran for a total of 24 minutes.  Again, nothing to you guys who have been running for donkeys, but to me, who the week before Christmas was struggling with 2.5 minutes - this is now huge!

3 sessions of 8x1min walk/jog was the task for this week.  And that task was achieved.  Next week is 5x2 mins walk/jog.  BRING. IT. ON!!

What I'm doing to help me is noting what the next week's task is, and trying it myself on either the Saturday or Sunday prior to the week I'm due to start it.  That way at the jogScotland club, I already KNOW I can do it, so I'm a bit more settled mentally.  I'm not thinking I need to beat Usain Bolt.  I'm not thinking I should be keeping up with the guy in front of me.  I'm not thinking that I'm keeping anybody back.  And I'm not thinking of each passing second and wondering ow much longer I have to go.

I'm just running.  Following on from last week's blog, I'm much more relaxed, much more assured of what I am doing, and much more determined than I have ever been, to succeed.

I am not Usain Bolt

Clearly this will not be news to most of you.  However, I have just realised this.

I'm NOT Usain Bolt...........
I'll never be Usain Bolt...........

So why have I been taking off like I've been taking him on the Olympic 100m final?  Over the Christmas period our jogScotland group is off, but some of them have still been meeting up on the Tues/Thur/sat.  However I've not been meeting up with them, purely because I'm in a wee group on my own and during the blocks it's ok to "expect" someone to come out with me, but during their own time, I wouldn't expect that.  So I've hooked up the headphones, updated my old Spandau Ballet records and put them onto mp3, dug out my leg warmers and went out to pound the pavements on my own.

In doing this I have felt calm, chilled, and able to do ANYTHING! I happily went from 2 to 4 minutes in 2 weeks having struggled so much with the 2.5s.  And I'm happil going to attempt something different on Saturday morning, or maybe even tomorrow morning.  So why am I so chilled relaxed and calm running myself?  I can certainly state that it's not through any pressure from the jog leaders to run any faster.  Indeed they are at great pains to tell me to run at my own pace and run behind me.

So what then?  He he - it's got to me hasn't it?  Just when I thought I'd got over ONE mental barrier - here's another bloomin one!! It's me putting pressure on myself again running at a pace I think that they think I should be running at........  (I think that's right lol)

Anyway - whether it's right or it's wrong, that's far too much thinking right there! So this week I've went on Tuesday and Thursday and just run.  Nothin else - don't care how slow it is, don't care whether I'm keeping anybody back, just running.  And I have thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it, instead of trying to count every minute of it.  So why didn't I do THAT from the start??  Jings - I'm my own worst enemy sometimes :D

And to prove how relaxed I am now - here is a pic of me with the rest of the jogScotland group - just at the end of tonight's session ;-)

Still absolutely loaded with the cold

But last night was both the registration night for the next jog Scotland night,  and a meeting of the group we've formed to try and save the leisure centre we all use locally. So I put aside the cold and not only went along, but I decided to leave the car and walk along, see if it would clear my airways.

I also decided to try and move up to the next stage and try the 1min/4min jog. Here's where I have to make a confession. I've been telling everybody I did it, but I have to admit that my weary legs gave out ever so slightly before the beep of my HIIT timer. About 10 seconds before. But I'm going to forgive myself for that slight slip because by this time I had man flu and was coughing that much that I was about to be sick lol.

So. I'm claiming that as a success!!

Happy New Year

First post of the year, even though I intended to make a ceremonial post on new year's day. However the cold put paid to that and I spent a very pleasant day in the company of my family, albeit with a head that felt like it was full of cotton wool, and had the Atlantic ocean cascading thru my lugs!

So no fanfare or symbolic running on new year's day to herald the "new year new me" that I had determined that 2013 was going to be for me. I was disappointed that I didn't feel up to going running, but in equal measure,  I was also highly amused at myself. Here is a person who this time last year on new year's day, never even TURNED up at her mother's house, so hungover from the night before was she lol. And this year on hogmanay, aided in no small part by feeling rotten with the cold, I had about 3 halfs, as I was determined to run on the first.

Sadly, when I awoke I was coughing like a good un and I decided that as well as it not being good idea to go out in the rain, there was a chance it could actually be counter productive and set me back.  So a family day it was, and what a great day, despite, as I said, the waves crashing in my head. As for the new year new me symbolism that I map so convinced a run would cement? Well, technically, I'd need to do that about august. Because that's when I started on the jog Scotland path and THAT'S when the new me started to grow. So look out for a wee happy new year new me post around then from yours truly. Similarly, new year's resolutions also non existent for me. Instead of the usual unattainable pipe dreams, this year I have achievable goals and a determination to carry on the work we have done over the past 4 months

So all the best to you and yours, and thank you so much for being there, for reading this, for commenting on my travails and most of all for your unstinting, unconditional positive backing. Without it, I'd most likely have chucked it by now

xxx