Things are getting serious now...

17th July: the training schedule has officially started. From now til D-Day (or should that be M-Day) I will be running at least 4 times a week - and probably more the endorphins take a hold and I get totally addicted.

I have acquired myself a timetable with suggested runs - and this includes fartlek at least once a week. Fartlek (what a great word) is where you run fast then slow then fast then slow. Apparently it's what the professionals do too, so my Kelly Holmes aspirations are on their way to fulfilment I'm sure.

There's some off-road thrown in and of course the 'Big Sunday Run' will be getting longer and longer. I'm hoping to hit 10 miles this weekend which will be the furthest I've run to date.

The other aspect of taking it all seriously is that I've started to look like a proper runner. Points to note:

1. I have those tiny shorts which have loose sides for optimum stride (just like the ones Al Turnbull used to wear at uni for anyone lucky enough to remember)

2. I have an ergonomically designed water bottle which fits perfectly into my hand or tucks neatly into my waistband

3. I have a bad-ass runners watch which does all sorts of wizardry so I can time my laps, my fartlek, my off road. It's girlie blue because running doesn't mean you can't still be feminine (though the perspiration levels may indicate otherwise)

4. I use a runner's loop when tying my shoelaces so that my trainers make me look more like Kelly Holmes.

I know these all work - people watch me fly past them on the streets of Roundhay with awe and admiration.

That's all for now.

Anna.

x

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fartlek

Marathon training in full swing!

It's all go!

5th July - I ran my first ever competitive race. Part 1 of the Hyde Park 5k Series. Granted, it was only 5k, but it was 5k in the sweltering heat of summer and I was quite nervous. Especially when I could see just how much of a novice I was compared to most of the runners there. They had the look: running club vests, stopwatches, fancy water bottles, rock hard calves..... you get the picture.

We all shuffled to the starting line and arranged ourselves into what i'd called some sort of pecking order - no point holding back those who would be emulating Road Runner. The horn sounded, and 150 stopwatch buttons were pushed. And then we started running. The rate at which most of the runners advanced from the starting line and away infront of me was like the Big Bang - those at the front just disappeared in a matter of seconds while others set off at a more human pace. I found someone to set my pace to quite quickly - a 74 year old man 10 metres ahead of me. What an inspiration - just muscle, skin and grey hair powering round the park.

I came 14th out of the 42 females in the race. Brilliant!!

And I completed it in a highly respectable 24min30. Which is an 8 minute mile. Not quite Kelly Holmes yet, but there's plenty of time to catch her up.

Onwards and onwards and onwards as they say.

Anna.

http://www.ukresults.net/2006/hyde1.html