May | 2015 | Blue Runnings

Missing: Mojo Jojo

by Sarah J.

You may have noticed a lack of posts lately…this is because I only post something when I’ve done some form of exercise or have some nuggets of gear-related information I want to bore the internet with. Ergo…I haven’t been doing much the last few weeks. At the tail end of April, I started really feeling just generally sapped in terms of my exercise levels and wasn’t finding it easy to motivate myself to go out, particularly for the longer distances I wanted to hit for my half marathon build-ups. It’s now under 5 weeks until I head to Liverpool, and I really need to find my stride again. Literally.

For most of this year I’ve found running to be a welcome break from, well, everything really. It’s been my me-time when work’s been busy and very changeable, my self-esteem booster as I feel fitter and a great way to meet new people after moving to a new area. Lately however I’ve only found it to be a chore. I don’t want to go out, and when I do push myself to I feel like I’ve got lead in my trainers and just want to get it over with more because I need to go than because I want to.

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Great Manchester Run

by Sarah J.

I booked the Great Manchester Run at the start of the year when I was trying to fill my calendar with at least one event a month to try and give myself something to aim for through the year and keep me getting my trainers on. P & I were originally going to book a weekend in Manchester and do it together, but it was booked before he went onto shift – and typically his first day shift was the same as the run, so rather than knocking myself out trying to drive down (and parking in Manchester centre when half the roads are shut?! No thank you!), I booked the train down and back and headed off after dropping P off at work.

Getting to Manchester was no problem at all, unsurprisingly the trains are rather empty at 9am on a Sunday morning, and knowing where I was going to get to the race start and the baggage drop off – and how to get round the busy race start zone to get to the bag drop at the other end really helped too! The first wave was heading off just as I got to the race area, and I had to actually cross the race route after they’d passed to get to where I was going. I’ve not used the baggage drop services at a race before really – I left my waterproof behind at the baggage place at the Thirsk 10, but that was it. I was a bit iffy about leaving my bag in the room – there wasn’t any real control or labelling, only people with race numbers were allowed in but that was it. Being a paranoid android, I had my phone, wallet and keys in a waist pouch with me and just left a change of clothes and book behind in my backpack.

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Sunderland 10k 2015

by Sarah J.

http://www.sunderlandcity10k.com/

Well, today was a stark contrast to the last 10km road race I did! Tyneside only a few weeks ago was blue skies and blazing sunshine, and today at the Stadium of Light in Sunderland it was bucketing it down with rain and I prefer not to think it could have been wetter or windier! Of course, now I’m sitting inside typing away at the computer the clouds have mostly cleared and the skies are blue with a gusty breeze…nice running weather – not too hot.

J and I donned that runner’s bad weather favourite, the Bin Bag for our pre-race loitering and getting to the start line. We both obviously looked ridiculous – a little like a pair of bugs poking out of cocoons, or in my case possibly someone in a straight jacket heading for the loony bin…but we had a good giggle anyway 😉 Probably if I hadn’t had it on, it would have been worse, but we were both still cold and wet before we’d even got to the stadium let alone the start line! Getting out of bed this morning was madness let alone trying to leave the house for an outdoor event!

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April Review

by Sarah J.

Another month disappeared! April has at least been a good month from a pushing one’s self perspective – I’ve run further and faster than I’ve done previously. My previous longest run was the Thirsk 10 in March, which took me 1:53:33 to do the 10 miles/16km. This month on a training run I covered 11miles/18km in 1:57:12 which I’m really pleased with 🙂 I haven’t done either of those distances since…13km being my longest for the last 2.5 weeks but it’s important to stick to the positives for fitness 😉

I’ve also come my closest yet to hitting a sub-60 min 10k at the Tyneside 10k, coming in at 1:02:04. Maybe this month I’ll get it…I have high hopes for the Great Manchester Run…just need to get back into training again 🙂

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