Weekly Runing Round up - Running tips, hula hooping and zumba!

Another great running week and another 10 miles in the bag! As I mentioned last week, I wanted to fit my mileage into 3 runs, rather than 4 as I did that week. It's just more efficient and time saving all round. So I manage that this week, and I'd like to stick to 3 runs a week. Not only does it save time, but it also gives me more 'recovery' days in between runs.

Tuesday Run - 2.5miles

I managed this in my lunch break and thought I would try out Sparkhill Park for a change. It's close by and although not as big as Cannon Hill, it's still a good enough size to run in, though I think I will prefer it for short runs and keep longer runs to Cannon Hill.

It went well, though I did find myself getting a bit out of breath and wondered why, but then I realised I had just run up an incline! It's kinda good to notice these things and then figure out why/what's happening.

Thursday - 2.5miles

I got a bit annoyed with my GPS watch as it took about 10minutes to pick up the satellite and I didn't want to start my run without being able to track it. So a 10 minute walk later and off I went.

Pretty much as usual the first .5 mile or so was hard going. I think this is called the 'toxic 10' where the first 10 minutes of running feels a bit rubbish! I think it's when your body gets a bit of surprise that it's moving and tries to adjust. Lots of runners get this and you just have to remember that it will pass soon!

Sunday - 5 miles! My longest run yet! (well, at least for 3-4 years)

I must admit to be a teeny bit apprehensive about this one and found myself wondering how it would go.

I made sure I ate enough before the run, and also gave my tummy enough time to digest the food - rice cakes with peanut butter and banana. Does that sound odd? It isn't - it's delicious!

This run was made up of .5m warm up walk and 4.5miles continuous running. Well, actually, I slowed down at one point to have a snack! Last week I found myself getting a bit hungry half way round my long run, so this week I brought a square of dark chocolate to nibble on. I'm glad I did. I think it helped. When I used to run years ago, and did longer runs, I used to pop a few jelly babies in my pocket and devour one after every mile lol.

I'm pleased to say the run went really well. I'd say it took until 2 miles into it until I started to feeling totally at ease with the task of such a long run. After the first 2 miles, I just broke the rest of the run down in my mind, "Do another mile, you know you can do that, it will only take 12 minutes or so". And then "A mile and a half to go! That's the easy part. That's a short run. You can do it".

Cannon Hill Park was quite busy and every kid had a set of wheels of some sort. I wish they would indicate when they were pulling out lol. Thinking about it, I now think I'd rather do my long run on a Friday or other week day when the park is quieter. It's just easier to run in a straight line and I don't have to worry about tripping over anyone and causing an accident.

Despite my best efforts with my blister prone areas, I didn't come out of this run blister free. Prior to my run I put blister plasters on the areas (prevention is better than cure right?), plus I taped up the areas too, PLUS I not only had my double lined socks on, but another thin pair too. However, I still ended up with a blister on a new area! Hurumph. Someone has suggested Vaseline, so I might try that. I'm still dithering over buying new trainers (the current ones have hardly any miles on them). Hmm, I'll give it some more thought.

On my warm up walk I got arty with my gps watch again. What is it?! It's a flower! :D

10 miles for this week mapped.

If you know me, you'll know how much I love twitter and I rely on it a fair bit for a lot of things; keeping in touch with friends, making social arrangements, asking for help or information...

And I also love the support and encouragement that is there from my twitter friends.

For instance, before I went for today's long run, I updated my twitter account and shared my news. Minutes later twitter friends had responded. And again when I updated that I had managed to complete the run.

Living on my own, I often want to share good news, or sometimes not so good news, and I haven't even got a cat to do that with lol. So I just want to give a shout out to my twitter friends and say thanks. Your short timely tweets really help and they are an encouragement too :)

It's especially lovely to see tweets like this too! Thanks Libby and well done!

I've got a couple of running friends that I follow on twitter. They have a lot more experience in running than I have, and they have both been great at giving tips along the way.

Dave Harte is training for the London Marathon this year! Thanks for the mention on your blog Dave!

And Paul Bradley writes a regular running blog on the Birmingham Mail's website. There's lots of tips about running there and he shares some great stories too.


Running goals:

I think I'll stick to 10miles again this week, broken up into 3 runs with another 5 miler as my long run. I *might* aim for 5.5miles. We'll see.

In February I'll start making one of my short runs interval training. Interval training, or intervals, are a way of building up speed. So you run a short distance really quickly, then take time to recover, and repeat. I'm not too bothered about speed to be honest, but I see this as a way to keep my running outings varied.

Running tips for beginners:

If you are just beginning to run, or even if you are more experienced, don't be afraid of walk breaks. Remember, it's still time on your feet!

Again, if you are just starting out - go slow! Too fast too soon and you might make yourself prone to injury, or feel deflated and not try another run. You have build up to longer runs, allow your body to adjust and get stronger. When you see faster runners, remember they had to start somewhere too! There are lots of run/walk programmes to help get you started.

Don't dress too warmly! Even on the coldest winter days your body WILL warm up considerably as soon as you start to move, so don't wrap up like you are going to a polar expedition. If you think you are going to stick with running, you may wish to buy some clothes that are designed for it. The benefit to this is that the clothing is made from a wicking material, which means that the clothes will draw sweat away from your body. It's clever stuff and really makes a difference. It needn't cost of a fortune and if you aren't bothered by a designer name then keep an eye out for occasional special offers from Aldi and Lidl who sometimes have great running kit at a really affordable price.

In other fitness news....

I went back to hula hooping class on Wednesday. I really enjoyed it again! There were a few more people in the class, all of vary degrees of experience. Julia, the tutor, announced that we were going to play 'tag'. The idea being that we got the hoop started around our waists and then try to avoid being tagged by moving around the room. It was hilarious and really silly, but a lot of fun!




My friend Fiona came along this week. Check her out! A natural!

Julia hold a Zumba class straight after hula hooping and my friend Nicky asked me if I would go to that too, so in for a penny, in for a pound!

This was my first Zumba class and that was fun as well. It kinda worked out like this: a 5 minute song was played and Julia showed us the moves/routine. And then with the next some, another mini routine. I was laughing at myself all the way through trying to keep up!

I got a wee bit tired during Zumba. I think after hula hooping effort it was a wee bit too much for me. Or at least it was on that night. I'll give it a go again, but if I have to choose, then I think hula hooping has captured my attentions the most.

Whew! That's was a whole lot longer than I was planning!

Hope you enjoyed reading it, please feel free to leave a comment and say hello on twitter too! :)