Day 46

Week 7, Thursday 30th August

 

Today I lost both of my running buddies as Sam was working late.  Luckily it was just a 3 mile run so I decided to join Charlotte, Mandy and the two Annes as they also were doing just 3 miles.

 

Not much to say about the run.  We ran along the canal towards Birches Head for about a mile and then ran back again.  I ran up Cromer road and that made it up to the required 3 miles.

 

Day 44

Week 7 Tuesday 28th August

 

It's a 5 mile run today so we decided to do the varied 4 mile run and add a mile loop.  With varied I mean the run is part canal and part road.  We've done it quite a few times before but not in the last few weeks.

 

Since Kath has deserted us and gone on holiday to Turkey for two weeks; Sam and I ran on our own.  As usually, we had a problem finding a comfortable pace and set off far too fast tostart with. I was a little worried about the speed we took off but it seemed to sort itself out and we managed to complete run without running out of steam.

 

We ran down Limekiln; around to Cromer and then joined the canal from there.  We continued along the canal towards Etruria until we reached Shelton New Road.  From there were ran down to Stoke Station and around to Leek Road until we got back to Lime Kiln again.  We didn't fancy running up Lime Kiln so we ran just a few yards along the main road until we reached 5 miles and then walked back to Northwood.

 

I quite like that run on a nice day which it was today.  It wasn't hot or cold but it was spitting a little at one time and I thought that since I had foolisly left my "don't like the rain" coat in the car; we would get wet but it soon stopped again.

Day 42

Week 6 - Sunday 26th August

 

Todays run is a 9-mile longrun.  We decided to use the same run as the 8-mile one but add another mile to the end.  As the run already had plenty of hills, I thought the best thing was to try to avoid adding anymore, especially at the end of a long run.

 

The first part of the run was quite uneventful and very straight forward.  We had some amusement over Endomondo because the GPS tracker kept going in and out of signal and picking up different satellites from different angles.  Because Endomondo always announces distance out loudly we did have some laughs.  Particulalry when it announced that we had done a mile in 1.57 minutes.  Wow, that's some impressive running, LOL.  At the end it turned out that the tracker said we had done over 14 miles in 1hr 44 minutes.  Ha. ha. Could you guess we've only been running just over 6 months?

 

The first seven miles took us to Smallthorne so from there we went up Bank House Road and back on to High Lane and along there to Green Bank Road. The big down hill from there seemed like a good idea at the time of plotting but when we were actually running it, the bank was not as nice as I thought.  Although we were running as slow as we could and making sure our knees were well bent, the strain was still hurting them quite a lot and I don't have anything wrong with mine.  I was concerned for Sam as she has been experiencing problems with her knees anyway so probably the last thing she needed was a bank like that.  I won't be including that one to our future runs.

 

When we eventually turned left off Green Bank Road, there was a slight incline as we were approaching Dollys Lane.  Under normal circumstances we probably would not even notice it but after 8 and a half miles it seemed like a mountain. We were ever so slightly short of the full 9 miles so we continued down Hamil Road for a bit and then walked back.

 

Luckily Sam has tracked it too so we got some proper run information

 

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/215086631

Day 41

Week 6 Saturday 25th of August

 

It's finally here - Park Run Day! 

 

I didn't sleep well, partly because I was a bit too excited about running in the morning and partly because I'm still having problems with my arthritis.  It's unusual for me on a Saturday to let the alarm snooze twice before I got up but i was so stiff that it took ages to get myself together to move.

 

Anyway, I had already decided to jog to the park because that extra mile and a bit seems to do me favours when I'm running properly.  I got to the park just at the right time to be able to have a little chat and get my breath back before the run started.

 

As usual, I started off too fast and found myself run out of breath by half-way.  I was annoyed with myself but also disappointed that my lungs still haven't improved, despite all the breathing exercises.  Especially as tomorrow it is the 9th anniversary of the day I finally gave up smoking for good.  I had struggled on and off with it for a few years but eventually made it on 26th August 2003.  My lungs should have recovered better by now, I hoped.

 

Anyway, second time up the bank i could feel a stiffness in my left calf and got a little worried.  With the half-marathon only 6 weeks away; should I stop and do some stretches or should I carry on and risk injury.  I slowed right down and jogged past the steps to the bandstand where a quite a few people where cheering me on and felt myself speeding up again.  No, I really can't just give up half-way, so I will plod on.  Eventually the leg felt better anyway.

 

Kath caught up with me and I told her that I nearly gave up but I'm not sure she believed I was serious and I'm not sure myself either.  I tried to convince Kath to get past me and try to get her pb even though I probably blown it myself but she decided to stay with me.  Another girl came past us but when I saw the big down hill ahead; I got encouraged to get going again and overtook her.  I was determined not to let her past again.  Kath and I both finished with 3 seconds between us.  Kath smashed her pb by several minutes but I repeated my pb at 28.47 and didn't manage to get even a second off. Never mind, at least I didn't quit and I will try to not set off too fast to start with next time,

Day 39

Week 6 Thursday 23rd August

 

About half-way through the Half-Marathon Training Schedule.  Today's run was another 5 miles.  We had already decided that we were going to do Bucknall Hospital run, not realising at the time that the run was just 4 miles, not 5.  Luckily Sue put us right so we could do the mile loop before going off and doing the run.

 

The weather was absolutely perfect.  Not sunny, not raining, not too hot, not too cold and not too windy.  The run was a relatively easy one but I still found it hard-going and I remembered that Kath pointed it out a while ago that weekday runs will seem harder after being at work all day doing a very physical job.  I hadn't made that connection before so I wondered why the longruns always seemed easier than the short ones.  They are of course at the weekends and first thing in the morning when we are rested and fresh.  Fortunately, that is also the time that the half-marathon will be run, so that works out perfect for me.

 

We all agreed that we didn't want, or even need, to run up Lime Kiln Bank, second time, so we were hoping that the run would be long enough to come to 5 miles at the bottom.  Sadly it wasn't so we had to run along Leek Road up to the steps that goes to Abbey Hulton and then back along to the crossroads which worked out perfect and then we had a nice cool down walk back to Northwood.

 

We are looking forward to moving to the new premises so that we can extend the existing runs and create new ones as we are all getting bored with doing the same trips again and again.  I swear we could do some of the runs in our sleep, LOL.

Day 37

Week 6, Tuesday 21st August

Oh, no, I got an IBS attack today.  All the usual symptoms: stomach cramps , nausea, diarrhoea and extreme bloating.  I thought I got it well under control but remembered that I hadn't taken my medication at all on Sunday.  I knew I couldn't take it in the morning because you shouldn't have fibre before a run and then straight after we went on a family get-together and I forgot to bring some.  Oh, well, it could have been worse; I could have had the attack on Sunday instead.

Today's run should have been 5 miles but Anne advised us to just do 3 on the canal to allow our bodies to properly recover from Sunday.  I, however, decided that we were going to stick to the Training Schedule and suggested we do the route that Charlotte mentioned on facebook which Sam and Kath agreed to do.

We started off going up the bank on Bucknall New Road and I could tell straight away that something wasn't right.  I don't know if it was because it was up bank straight from the start or because of the IBS but I struggled to keep moving.  We then proceeded up Potters Way towards Vale Place and up Waterloo Road to Cobridge.  This was all a struggle for me but then we finally had a lovely down bank towards Festival Park roundabout but followed by an uphill on Etruria Road, past Sainsbury's and Stakis.  From there we turned left on Stafford Street and down Broad Street and all the way up Potters Way back to Bucknall New Road.

Sadly, I couldn't manage to get up the last bit of Potters Way (the steepest part).  I was disappointed but I was thinking that some people probably wouldn't run if they felt ill so maybe I didn't do too bad after all.

We got back to Northwood but again I had to walk the last few yards.  It turned out to be just 4 miles but we all said we would try to make it up on Thursday.  I felt absolutely shattered and did wonder if I wouldn't have been better off following Anne's advice.  I always prefer to finish when I feel like I have done well, not when I feel like I have failed in my task.  Then I reminded myself of the fact that we already do extra by running the park run which is additional to the Half-Marathon Training Schedule and felt somewhat better.

Day 35 - Burton 10 Km

Week 5 - Sunday 19th August

Today is Race Day for Burton 10K.

Kath and I got to Shobnall Leisure Complex with an hour to spare and immidiately met up with Anne.  She said she had been able to look at the course online and she thought there was a hill at 2 miles and another at the end.  That didn't sound too bad so we were all looking forward to the race.  We were disappointed that it had turned so hot again after having had a little cooler saturday but we have run in heat before, so it is becoming a bit of a norm now.

Kath and I jogged to the start point and then a little bit along the road and back to the start again. The start was the most unusual I've ever experienced before (not that I've done many LOL).  The claxon went off and we WALKED off. I wasn't sure what was happening at first and wondered if there was a problem and then suddenly we got going. 

The route was one of the most pleasant of the ones that I've done (not that Ive done many LOL).  There were a few undulating hills but nothing to worry about.  They looked a bit scarier from a distance than what they actually were.  After a couple of miles one of the marshals told us that there were no more hills and it turned out that he was correct; there weren't.

There was a water station at half-way point and due to the heat I was so desperate to get to it that I leant forward too far and Bibi (my phone) came flying out of the pouch and landed in bits on the floor.  A very kind male runner stopped and picked it up for me.  Thank you to him.  I later found out that she was ok but Endomondo had stopped tracking my run and the media card somehow got corrupt so I lost all my music files and pictures.  I was a bit upset but I guess the main thing was that the phone itself was ok.

After half way I started speeding up a bit and overtook a few people.  I lost sight of Kath but it turned out that she wasn't far behind me.  The race finished with a lap on the track and I hadn't finished myself by the time I heard on the tannoy that Kath got on the track. 

Despite the heat and the track run, we all unamously said we had thoroughly enjoyed the run; what a Great Day.



 

Start

4 Miles

4 M

4m

Finish

Finish

Finish

Day 32

Week 5 Thursday 16th August

Today' run should have been 4 miles at a faster pace.  Sam texted me to say she wasn't going to the club tonight so I thought this would be a perfect opportunity to do the Milton Road run that Kath and I had said we would like to try to do.  Since it was cool, in fact cool enough for us to want to keep our jackets on, Kath agreed that we will run it tonight.

We set off up Keelings Road and up to the Sneyd Arms then down Milton Road and Mornington Road and along Leek New Road to Berwick Road.

I glanced at some of the side streets going up and thought "Oh, my God, what have I let myself in for?" I saw a bus turn up Milton Road and I could see from the angle of the roof that it was climbing straight away.  Kath confessed that she didn't run it quite all the way up when she did Potters Arf which made me think that if Kath couldn't do it; then I would have no chance.  She reminded me that she had already been running for 11 miles and it was very hot at the time of Potters Arf.

We turned the corner and I saw the bank for the first time and thought it didn't look as bad as some of the others further down the road.  I ran up in my usual way by looking at just the area in front of me which appeared flat.  Half-way up my breathing was so laboured that I thought I would have to stop for that reason even though my legs were fine.  I suddenly remembered my breathing exercises which I had completely forgotten about and practiced a few.  Sure enough, my breathing eased off a little so I managed to run all the way up.

It amazed me that Kath was still able to talk.  There was no way I could do that even with my breathing exercises but I was so pleased that I had done it and know now that I dodn't need to worry about any races that might have hills in them.  Now I know that, providing it isn't too hot, I can run up them.

We decided to do this again a couple of weeks before Congleton half but add another mile loop to it.

Day 30

Week 5 Tuesday 14th August

Todays run was 5 miles slow.  It was 23 degrees and would have been unbearable to do a hilly run.  Our club treasurer suggested we do Berryhill Fields run but with a mile loop first as it would have only been 4 miles otherwise.

Sam, Sharon and me ended up doing it on our own as everyone else seemed to be in favour of hill reps despite the heat.  We did our mile loop by running down Cromer Rd and up Lime Kiln bank and then down Cromer again to go to Berryhill.

After a couple of miles Sharon had a rest whilst me and Sam completed the required amount to get back without having to run up a bank again but still do 5 miles.  Sharon had sufficiently cooled down and was able to join us on the way back and she had no more problems as the weather cooled down a bit.

We were a bit slower than we should have been but we decided not to worry about the pace and run the rest of our training at a pace that suits us.

Day 28

Week 4, Day 7 Sunday 12th August

It should have been a 10K Race today but since we have not entered one, we decided to change this week with next week and do the 8 mile run instead.  I was trusted with picking the route so I logged it on map my run. 

It wasn't as easy as I thought.  The first couple of routes I logged ended up being too short and the third one too long.  In the end I did manage to get it just perfectly right so that we started from PVFC, did the 8 mile circuit and ended up at the same place.

We ran down Hamil Road and down Waterloo Road to Festival Park.  There we ran past Waterworld and turned left towards the industrial estate.  We ran past the Sentinel office and under Etruria Road towards Sneyd Hill.  When we joined the main road; we ran up and accross Etruia Vale Road, joined Broad Street and turned right by St Marks Church.  Then we ran along Regent Road towards Botteslow Street and onto Potters Way where we continued until we got on to the slip road for Town Road.  We continued straight along there until we reached Smallthorne and then Back to Hamil Road along Moorland Road.

The first half of the run was downhill most of the time and quite easy as it was quite cool and cloudy.  The second half was quite hilly and when we got to Smallthorne the sun came out and made it too hot but it was still nice to run the steep hill down on Moorland Road.

Day 27

Week 4, Day 6 Saturday 11th August

My favourite day of the week, yet it was some-what difficult to get up this morning as I haven't been sleeping well recently.  for some reason, I seem to sleep best the last couple of hours before the clock goes off.

I had already decided before-hand that I was not running for pb at today's parkrun.  Instead I was going to take it easy and run at a leisurely pace with Kath.  I adviced her not to run too fast to start with as she only needs to beat her time from last week and give herself some scope to beat her pb again.  We were running at an avreage pace of 11.7 which is virtually in the middle between our slower runs and our faster runs and it is the pace we are expected to run our 10K race in.

Quite surprisingly we actually overtook a few people on the way.  Only one older couple and some parents with small children but it was nice to know that we were not last despite our 'comfortable' speed and later I found out that it wasn't even my slowest speed.  My first parkrun was even slower than today's.  It seems a long time ago now.

Day 26

Week 4, Day 5 Friday 10th August

No running today but I did my regular 4K walk with Gizmo.  I kept the pace as brisk as I could but because we walked on the road we had to keep stopping for cars, etc.  The walk was quite flat and average speed was just 5.4 km/h but I did manage to reach maximum speed of 12.5 km/h.  Nothing more exciting to say about today really.

Day 25

Week 4, Day 4 - Thursday 9th August

3 Mile faster run today.  There aren't so many 3 mile runs available from Northwood so we decided to run to the Flowershop and up Birches Head Road to the canal and back along there.  It seemed like a good idea at the time of choosing, which was my fault again. On the day, however, it turned out to be a big mistake. 

It was around 22.5 degrees hot, which seemed just about bearable whilst we were running on the road as there was a nice little breeze but when we went on the canal, it was awful.  There was no air what-so-ever and it felt like it got even hotter.

I was running most of the time without water because I had rushed out of the house with my water bottle and didn't check the top so it leaked out all over the seat of the car. Thankfully, Sam shared her water with me and i found a tiny can of pop in the car that was 8 months out of date and piss warm.  Yuck! At least it was wet and taught me to check my tops more thoroughly.

 Luckily we managed to complete the full 3 miles without having to run up any of Cromer Road too because, they way I felt, I would not have been able to do it.  When we got back to Northwood none of us had the energy to even do the cool-down stretches.

Day 24

Week 4, Day 3 - Wednesday 8th August

Oh, no, my blooming hip pain is back again.  I woke up this morning and could barely walk.  It's the first time for a long time that I skipped my achilles stretches on the landing.  I just couldn't face that as well when I was already worrying about how to get downstairs.  Past experience told me to go down backwards.  It wasn't easy but I eventually got there one step at the time.

I proceeded immediately with some stretches and exercises specifically for hip pain and gradually my hip loosened up somewhat but all day it has been bothering me on and off.  I guess one day I will have to do something about it but for now it will have to wait.

It's a shame really that it's a 'no run' day today because sometimes it seems like running makes some of these things better.  I don't know if that's true or if running just makes you feel a lot better so that you don't notice them.  Anyway, since I already run 4 times per week, I best not add an extra run in.  Don't want to risk any injuries.

Day 23

Week 4, Day 2 - Tuesday 7th of August

We had a very quick and brief Committee meeting where it was decided that the Club is going to move premises as from the beginning of September.  Apparently, a lot of memebers ( me included) had complained about the Council's decision to start charging for the car park at Northwood, so the Committee have been looking at several different options for a venue.  In the end they came up with the perfect choice. Trent Squash Club which is only a very short distance away and we will be able to still use most of our routes and there is scope for a lot of new ones too.  The main thing is the free car park and all the fascilities available.  We will now be able to socialise too, which is excellent news.

There was a little confusion about what run we should do today but luckily I managed to check the schedule via Bibi and found that I was right and the run should be for 4 miles at pace 12.  I had alredy plotted a route which is very similar to one we have already done but I wanted to modify it so that we don't have to run uphill from the start or at the end.  It seems that if the hill is at the beginning, so that we have to run it before we have warmed up; I struggle, not only with the hill but with the rest of the run.  Also, it seems that if a hill is at the end, we will have a tendency to not run it all the way or sometime even skip it all-together.

The run I plotted was going down Cromer Rd, then along Leek Road to Joiners' Square and up Lichfield Street.  Then we join our original run in backward order by running along Potters Way, Broad Street and Marsh Street.  From there we do another detour up New Hall Street, Quadrant Road and Town Road over the Potters Way fly-over and along to Keelings Road.  From there back down again. 

It was me, Kath, Sam and Sharon that went off.  The weather was hot but there was a gentle breeze, so we weren't too uncomfortable for once.  Sharon mention it that she has had problem with her foot, sounded like she had suffered from Plantar Fasciitis (sorry, not sure of spelling) and we only got half-way when she had more problems with the same foot.  Sam offered to go back to Northwood with Sharon and Kath and I continued the run.

When we got back we realised that we were just a little short of the full 4 miles so we had to do a lap around the carpark to make up the difference.  Kath is very good at pace setting because once Sam left us we had no idea if we were around the 12 minute/mile target but when I looked on Endomondo; the average pace was 12.12.  How good is that?

Day 22

Week 4, Day 1 - Monday 6th August

OMG, my blooming legs gave me trouble all night long.  In the morning I had a thought that maybe it was due to losing so many electrolites due to sweating why my legs were hurting.  It's not like 7 miles was anything new since Kath and I had already ran it before as well as 8 miles.  I found a recipe to make your own post-run drink and proceeded to try it straight away. 

Wow. It was amazing! By the time I had ate my breakfast, the stuff had worked and my legs were no longer hurting.  Whilst it's this hot I will definitely stick to drinking that after every run.

It's very simple to make. Into a 1-litre jug mix the following items: 1/4 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp bicarbonate soda, 2 tsp sugar, 125 ml pure orange juice and top up to the 1 litre mark with water. Stir well and drink.  Keep the rest in the fridge until your next run.  How simple and cheap is that?

Rest day today so no running but still had to go work, so not really that much of a rest.

Day 21

Week 3, Day 7 - Sunday 5th August

7 Mile Long run today at a pace of 12.50/mile.  We decided to do the same route as last week but add the extra mile by going to Cobridge, then back to Burslem.

Sam gave me a lift this morning and I was pleased that it seemed quite cool and first thing it was.  It wasn't long before the sun came out and it became way, way too hot again.  It seems to be our luck at the moment.

Apart from the almost unbearable heat, the run was quite uneventful.  It felt good to have done such an achievement to run 7 miles when a lot of people would even have got out of bed by then.

I wore my new Mizunos and was quite surprised that I was still scraping tarmac at times and thought it must be down to the way I'm running rather than the weight of the shoes but Kath said she was doing it too and blamed the uneven surfaces of the payments. 

When Sam dropped me off I walked home along the street and found that the underneath of my heels were very painful and I could barely walk despite of doing all the stretches after the run. Shortly later I realised that my legs where also painful especially the top and side of my thighs. I remember reading that I should eat a fruit salad after a long run so I did and they soon felt a little bit better.

My new, free shoes

This afternoon Alli and I went for a trip to Hyde near Manchester to visit Sweatshop and to pick up my new shoes. I was so excited so it was just as well that Al was driving or I would definitely have got a speeding ticket.

The manager, Jason, was extremely knowledgeable and pleasant.  He had a female assistant, from another shop, with him who wanted to learn about running shoe fitting.  She put me on an unusal looking machine with mirrors, glass and lights.  It was showing the pressure areas of my feet green, so that she could assess my arches, etc. 

The amazing machine also formed some special innersoles shaped to the contours of my feet.  However, these weren't included with the shoes but could be purchased for around £40. 

I was then asked if I had any preferance to the make or model of shoes that I wanted and I remembered the wonderful Mizunos that I had fallen in love with at Bourne Sports, so I suggested them.  Funnily enough, Jason said that he would have recommended Mizuno or New Balance too because they are broader and would suit my wide, high feet best. I didn't even know that, I liked them because they were so light and comfortable, it was like not having shoes on.

The next step of shoe fitting was to walk back and forth barefoot in the shop so that the lady could watch my gait and any problems that might be with it.  Jason also watched me walk and told the lady that he had picked something up within 10 seconds of seeing my feet and was prompting her to come up with options of what it was.  He said I was doing something with my right foot, which I couldn't possibly remember what it was as he used the technical terminology for it.  He gave her 4 options of different problems that could cause this gait problem I had and she had to guess which one it was.  I rember that one of them was bunions, which he said it couldn't be because I didn't have any.  The other was some kind of virus, which he said I didn't have either.  The third I don't know what it was but apparently I didn't have that either. 

I have something called Haglund's Deformity; which sounds really horrible but I have looked it up on the net and it doesn't seem that bad.  Haglund’s deformity is a bony enlargement on the back of the heel. The soft tissue near the Achilles tendon becomes irritated when the bony enlargement rubs against shoes.  This often leads to painful bursitis, which is an inflammation of the bursa (a fluid-filled sac between the tendon and bone).  This is what I must have had after all when I thought I had a medial ankle sprain. At least I know now and I can hopefully prevent it from coming back by doing loads of achilles stretches.  To some extent, heredity plays a role in Haglund’s deformity. Inherited foot structures that can make one prone to developing this condition include:

• A high-arched foot
• A tight Achilles tendon
• A tendency to walk on the outside of the heel.

After that they finally brought me several pairs of shoes to try, with and without the special insoles.  They explained the difference between each pair but let me decide for myself which I prefferred.  The lady put me on the treadmill with the first choice of a Neutral shoe, the Mizuno Rider 15, which I quite liked but they seemed to lack the springiness that I had gotten used to with my Karriomors.  She then let me try a pair with an arch support which felt dead strange and forced even more of my weight on to the outer edge of my feet.  Previously, Jason had already predicted that i wouldn't like them and now I can see why. 

I mentioned the what I called spring in my current shoes and the lady knew what I meant straight away.  She asked me to put on a pair of Wave Enigma, which I liked instantly, even before trying them on the treadmill.  I knew then that they were the ones for me. They were not in the sale and should cost a staggering £115.00 but I didn't have to pay a penny and sadly I couldn't buy the insoles either.

Day 20

Week 3, Day 6 - Saturday 4th of August

My favourite day of the week - Parkrun Day! This morning I deliberately left late so that I could jog the extra mile and a bit to get there as a warm-up but I didn't want to get there too early and having to hang around getting stiff.

Kath and I had arranged to meet just before 9 and I got there just at the right time.  Unfortunately, Kath (who doesn't know the park at all) went to the wrong gate and missed the introduction but she got there just in time for start off. Tommy announced that I was the winner of a new pair of running shoes and now, as it was official, it was really sinking in. Me, who never wins anything, had actually won. How good is that?

All the runners went off at quite a high speed today and I tried to keep up with them at first but it wasn't too long before I started to struggle and had to allow a few of them to come past but only one at a time.  The last two men didn't get past me until the second time around the top part of the circuit, so I didn't do too bad.  Thereafter I did let a few women past too as I was paying the penalty for going off too fast to start with.

My breathing exercises did help though as I tried to follow the rules of letting all the air out and then breathing in through my nose as slow as I could and then push it all out again.  It was very difficult to do but it helped and I soon managed to pick up speed again.

Because Kath missed the introduction, she didn't get to see the map of the course or any other advice that she could have had, she ended up getting lost and went 4 times around the lake.  At least she has secured herself a pb for the next time she is running the parkrun.

It was a little strange going to Flavours after as everyone seemed to have their food and drink and rush off dead quick.  Normally we all sit around and have a chat whilst waiting for the results but today even though I was last, I ended up leaving before my text came through. I was absolutely amazed that I had beaten my pb again, only by 21 seconds but still beaten it.  I really couldn't understand it since I had slowed down to more or less a slow jog towards the end of mile 2.  What can I say? My luck must run out soon.

Anyway, I called to collect a couple of parcels from the Sorting Office on the way back, ignoring the funny looks I had from the other people in the que.  Some of the people looked like they had just got out of bed and I had done a 4 mile run, so do you think "I was bowered"?

When I finally got my parcels; I ran all the way home, which is roughly a mile, if you take off the 0.17 that I went over the mile this morning, so 5 miles all-together. :-)

Day 19

Week 3, Day 5 - Friday 3rd of August

Rest day today. Well, within reason.  Obviously I still had my dog walks to do and my other exercises but no high impact stuff so that my legs and joints can have a good rest for tomorrows speed run.

I had a lovely surprise today.  Debbie told me that I was the winner of July's Sweatshop prize, which is a new pair of running shoes, fitted in one of their shops.  I couldn't believe it at first but when I checked the parkrun website, I saw the news.  Wow!!! Thank you Parkrun and thank you Sweatshop.

Day 18

Week 3, Day 4 - Thursday 2nd of August

Today's run was 4 miles, a fairly fast run (for us beginners anyway).  The page should have been 11 and Sam and I did it in an average speed of 10.50, so that went well.

We both decided that we wanted to do a run on the flat but there aren't really a lot of choices to do 4 mile, flat runs from Northwood.  One would be to do the Stoke Station and back the other choice would be to go to Milton cross roads and back.  Since we have done the Stoke Station run so many times just lately that we could do it in our sleep; we decided to do the Milton one. It involves running down Cromer Rd, then along Leek Road to the traffic lights at Milton; turn around and run back again. Very boring but at least it would be flat.

On the way there, it was very hot again and yet again I got a little light-headed.  We also started off a bit too fast but slowed down gradually as we went on and at the end we were doing more or less the right pace.

It was a nice surprise when we turned around as suddenly we could feel a light breeze which we hadn't had on the way.  This made the run a lot more comfortable.  it also tried to drizzle a bit which we welcomed whilst running.  However, as soon as we got in the car to go home; the heavens really opened and we had a thunder storm.

Day 17

Week 3, Day 3 - Wednesday 1st of August

Gosh, August already!  No running today but I have finally got around to booking Congleton Half-Marathon.  Now there is no turning back....I have to run it and complete it and suddenly it feels scary.  What am I going to do if I can't complete it? I might start off too fast or not being able to run up that hill at the end.  I daren't think about it yet.

There has still not been any noticeable improvement from my balancing exercises but I think the strength exercises are working because I seem to manage to carry more equipment at work.  I'm wondering if my balance ever could improve as it is something I have always struggled with.  I once read, a long time ago, that it is the ears that controls your balance and I wonder if there might be a connection between poor hearing and poor balance. 

I have forgotten to mention that, since Sunday I have been doing an additional exercise.  After that Parkrun week before last when I strained my lungs; I decided to look on google to see if there are any physio exercises for the lungs.  Not as such but there are breathing exercises that sports people do to expand the lungs capacity.  It's not difficult to do, so I can do them anywhere at any time.  You have to exhale all the way, making sure that all air is out and then you can breathe in the maximum amount of air.  It didn't help me yesterday with the run but I'm hoping it might help me with the half-marathon.