I almost forgot

I came to a sad decision yesterday - it's time to send some of my running shoes to trainer heaven.

I currently own 7 pairs.......

The 2 snazzy new pairs that I've recently bought to take me through to the marathon

2 pairs from last year's marathon that are now too old for running on the road

1 pair I bought, ran a Half in Bath, got injured and decided they were bad for my feet - totally irrational as it turns out - they're the same as the ones I'm now running in, but it appears I'm superstitious about them and will only use them as post-run trainers!!

Finally the 2 that have been with me through miles of road running and then a tough Winter of BMF. One pair came from Canada and the other from Sutton. They did my first ever races with me - Cure Leukaemia 5km, Great Manchester 10km and the Great North Run. This Winter they've been soaked in water and caked in mud and generally abused - they waded through the stream at the Suicide 6ish - were nearly thrown away then, but I couldn't quite bring myself to do it

But I think it's time to say goodbye to them....... a sad day.........but they've served me well

Thursday - sunny and fun

Yesterday was a great day.

Beautiful and sunny, the promise of rain for the weekend and I met with one of my friends running London on Sunday for a donut!

Leigh had come down to London to go to the marathon exhibition and collect his running number (and the all important goody bag). It was so good to see him looking really well and full of excitement for his second marathon outing - he says his last, but we shall see......

In the evening it was time for more BMF - still can't get used to the light evenings, so much nicer - the dark, cold, wet Winter seems a long time ago now.

Having a rest day on Friday in preparation for my long run on Saturday (instead of Sunday so I can go watch the marathon!). I am meeting my friend Ewan and going to the marathon exhibition with him - an exciting morning out, looking forward to driving the DLR!!

Wednesday - Finally calibrated??

Had a great run round Regents Park with Clare and Jenny - was quite warm and the park was full of people - a bit of a change from last week when it was empty - something to do with the torrential downpour we were running in.......

Think I've finally managed to calibrate my Nike+ it and my Garmin were pretty much in agreement over the distance

The men in the cafe over the road now ask if we want 'our usual' on a Wednesday - special pasta - still can't help themselves laughing as we tumble sweating into the shop though.........

More sunny BMF

Tuesday already! And the weather is looking a little too good for my liking

I have 3 friends running the London Marathon on Sunday and I'm hoping things cool down a bit before then or at least one of them will be a sunburned wreck by the end. Does mean my training schedule is messed around a bit this week as I need to get my long run in on Saturday rather than Sunday (which will be taken up with supporting my friends) definitely 18miles this time, so more tweaking of the route is needed...

For me though today meant another great class in the sunshine. My knees are still a little sore, but they're doing ok.

I have discovered I can't leapfrog - don't really remember doing it when I was younger and certainly can't now - I was mocked by the instructors, which I think was a little cruel, but battled on through I'm not sure how leapfrogging can help in a military setting, but didn't think it was the time to ask

Tried the Chinese Truck for lunch today - can highly recommend the duck noodles, and the Singapore ones are apparently just as good. Went to a nice pub yesterday before going to see Ricky - College Arms on Store Street - and does student discount

Sunday - hot and long and busy

So Sunday dawned around 11am - great to catch up on some sleep, but not so good considering my planned route involved the South Bank

Sat trying to stretch an old route to 18miles I had the urge to check my running schedule and discovered that this weekend's long run only had to be 15miles, so that cheered me up no end!!

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=2750814

Didn't set off until 2pm as I had some food and had the obligatory faff around before heading out - was rather warm, but armed with money for water and my ipod - still not calibrated properly as it turns out - and Mr Garmin - all was looking ok

The run down to the river was great, as ever it was busy crossing Tower Bridge - they seemed to be putting the scaffolding up for next week's marathon as I ran over - the South Bank wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be for such a sunny afternoon, but it was busy and at some points you just had to walk behind streams of tourists.......

Got over Waterloo Bridge and stopped at my usual newsagents for some more water and the last stretch for home. Had done just over 10miles and was feeling pretty good. The run up to and past Euston is fairly uninspiring and then on to Kentish Town and it was here that my knees really started to hurt and I was tired - only 2 miles to go and I didn't want to do any more

But I made myself a deal, get to the yummy cake/coffee shop just down the road from my house and I could pop in there for a treat.

So, painfully and slowly I made my way towards the sugary delights I hoped were waiting for me. I arrived, was very good - stretched?! before going in only to discover there were no cakes left in the cooler..... but the coffee is fab so ordered one to take away

Got home, passed the mirror in out hallway only to catch a glimpse of myself - a crazed, sweaty, salt-encrusted mess - I thanked everything that is good in the world that there was no cake left - otherwise I'd be sat in there amongst members of the public looking like that!!

It was a long hard run mentally, and my knees suffered too - rest and ibuprofen is on the cards I think

Thankfully Monday is a rest day..... and we're off to see Ricky Gervais!

Saturday BMF - fun in the sun

Saturday was yet another sunny day - the Saturday classes always seem to have good weather - loads of people there, so as ever lots of running around and having fun

The afternoon was devoted to getting ready to go and represent Relay at a Ladies Night in Uxbridge. After a minor dress disaster, a haircut and a fun tube journey, I got to Uxbridge and we arrived with moments to spare

The masons were holding the dinner to raise money for our Relay and another Charity so all we had to do was smile sweetly and try and explain Relay to people - we were pretty good at it by the end of the evening, although we may have agreed to cycle from London to Brighton if the people we were sat with at dinner enter a team in our Relay......

I was almost persuaded to be naughty and stay over with my friends, but was good and left in plenty of time to catch the tube home. Unfortunately to tubes weren't running according to their advertised plan so I seemed to be catching the last tube home, but with a small dash through Kings Cross got the last Piccadilly line tube back and was home for a rather unrespectable 1:40am - not a good time considering the run on Sunday morning......

The wettest run this year........

We're pretty hardcore in the Windeyer Institute.

The wettest day we've had in a while and me and my intrepid labmates decided it was time for a run (well, it was either that or do some work). After standing a few minutes under the canopy at the entrance to the building and getting asked by a couple of bemused people if we were 'going for a run in that' we set off round the park - our little 3 mile route

No sign of secret service squirrel today - too wet even for him

We got about halfway round before we decided we couldn't get any wetter and then it decided to, what felt like stop raining. In fact it only eased off, just it had been so hard it felt like it had stopped!

We very soggily and to much amusement of the staff went across the road from work for lunch - special pasta - always best on a Wednesday, but pretty good on a Thursday too - Macchiatos this would be. Ishta's is better for sandwiches though (unless you want a Reuben....)

Rest day tomorrow - can't wait - will give my kit some time to dry out - my shoes stepped in quite a few puddles today

Niketown on a Wednesday!

It was a fun run yesterday. The Niketown run was moved to a Wednesday due to the bank holiday, so I decided I'd go for the 7 mile run rather than my usual Monday night 4miles - so 2 loops rather than just one round Regent's Park.

We were joined by Jo Pavey who won the Manchester 10km the year I did it. Now pregnant she's not running so far, so only did the 4 mile loop - she did overtake me twice though!! The first time as we set off before they did and the second time as she'd ducked behind some bushes to have a wee......

The lovely lady stayed on to cheer us 7 milers on on our second loop which was great (especially as I was thinking about wimping out and heading back early.....I hate doing loops)

Despite tying to re-recalibrate my Nike+ it told me I did a run of 6 miles in 1:00:06 - not a great time - but as the route is 7 miles I'm pretty chuffed with myself and need to work out once and for all if the park is shrinking as I run round it or if the chip still isn't calibrated correctly......

Randomly bumped into someone else who ran at Reading when I got back into Niketown and it turns out she spotted me there but didn't say hello - even more randomly we work on different floors in the same building - not that I could have told you that before she pointed it out!

After a nice natter with the other 7milers (far more social bunch than the 4mile runners) I sweatily caught the tube home in time for the Apprentice - a great day indeed

Hose was hard and lessons learnt

Sunday now seems a long time ago, but my legs still seem to be remembering it!!

The day was overcast with the promise of rain - the usual dilemma over what to wear was had, but in the end I went for the trusty short sleeve long leg option.

The run itself was very different to that in Reading, almost no supporters on the route, only water to drink, and the run was on undulating country lanes in the middle of no where - or the Vale of Belvoir to be a little more precise - and it rained!

I found it really hard going, instead of the miles falling away they seemed to go on forever. They had mile and half mile markers which I don't think helped, especially towards the end - knowing you've got to 12 miles is great, but then seeing you're only at 12 1/2 miles is quite demoralising

When we got to Hose I discovered that my Garmin (GPS thingy I can use to check my pace) had a low battery - you'd have thought I'd have learnt after Reading - but no! So Sunday's lesson was - when it says low battery, you have something between 8-9miles of life left in it! Unlike the Nike+ not enough for a half marathon!!

It was around this point that I really started to struggle - I checked my Garmin half way up a hill to check that my pace wasn't as slow as I felt it was only to discover a blank screen - had to give myself a bit of a pep talk to keep me going - I felt like giving up and walking and that would have been fatal as there was still a long way to go

Getting to mile 10 was the highlight - into double figures and only 3 miles to go - a walk in the park distance wise!! Here we had to run past some travellers - at the start we'd been warned they had dogs, but were reassured that they would be chained up - we approached their caravans but there were no dogs in sight just some friendly looking ponies having their breakfast wondering what on earth was going on - almost disappointing!

From there is was 3 long miles via mile 11 and the last water station - felt miraculously better after my last cup of water - like having a whole new pair of legs - then realised it was because I was running down a gentle slope - but it cheered me up enough to get to mile 12, hideous mile 12 1/2 and then spotted the finish - saw my dad peeping out from the top of the hedge - time for a quick photo and then a race to the finish - I managed to overtake someone on the final corner, got my name called out by the commentator man and then saw the clock - 1:58:something - I knew I'd got a new PB, but no idea by how much - had to wait until I got home to find that out

A very nice man cut my chip off, went and picked up my memento (no medal this time), had a lovely stretch and it was time to head home via Tesco Express for some bacon and floury baps

By the time we were back the results were up - 1:58:16 - so 1min 7sec faster than Reading!!

2 of my lovely friends have offered me and extra £70 in total if I can get my half time down to 1:50 by the end of the year - seems a little unlikely now, but fingers crossed I can make it (especially as I did get easter eggs)

http://www.donatetomyrelay.org/emmarossruns

Oh, and my Nike+ isn't calibrated right - it thinks I only did 11 miles - certainly untrue......

Nike+ recalibrated - hopefully......

So, was sneaky this morning and went with my dad to his 'country club' and snuck into the gym

Ran a mile, so it should all be calibrated, but time will tell.....

Talking of time, I also managed to leave my watch behind, so poor dad has had to phone as I wasn't meant to be there, and see if it had been found - sure enough it's there - and it's a good job I don't wear a girly pink one or people would start talking!

Any way, have finally got my running number for Sunday and a very snazzy chip which will no doubt cause me a lot of confusion on the day - it attaches to the shoe with some twisty wire things - may well be a Saturday night job!!

So that's me done until Sunday morning, 10am, so no need to be up quite as early as for Reading......

Where did the sunshine go??

Hee hee, it's been the first day of the Easter holidays here in London Town, but sadly no sun and even a bit of drizzle - not good for a holiday, but bodes a little better for the run on Sunday

Yesterday I had a really nice run with Clare and Jenny round Regents Park in the sunshine. No celeb spots, but we did see some herons.......

Have now got a new Nike+ sensor, and no offence to the girls, but I think it needs calibrating. All of a sudden our run was a mile longer and we were running a whole minute/mile faster than normal - seems unlikely in the space of a week that we've sped up that much and even less likely that the park has grown!!

I was hoping to do no more running before Sunday, but think I'll have to sneak on a treadmill and get it calibrated a little better, otherwise I could be setting all kind of new records!!

Had my BMF class tonight - finally managed to bump into the other Emma who ran Reading - I think she suffered as much as I did after the run, so I feel a little better about my seemingly excessive tiredness. Was a great class, only 12 of us reds, so lots of games and general fun - monkey running and leopard crawls....... will miss it on Saturday

So, only 3 more sleeps to Hose, let's hope they're good ones I'm feeling tired and that's never a good thing to be

I love the light evenings!

What a good day it's been.

Got a seat on the 29 - always a good start to the day!! It's a bendy bus and usually really busy, but timed it just right this morning, so got to sit and read this month's Runners World and their yummy sounding carb filled meal ideas - may well be trying one this weekend - will report back

As it's Tuesday it's BMF night. Had a really good class, the time flew by, lots of abs, lots of legs and lots of sprinting - think this is why my times are getting quicker - I never run that fast when I'm by myself! My partner in BMF crime and I are making chips and beer plans for after Easter - a reward for working so hard - we seem to talk about chips a lot during training - makes the time go faster..... The lighter evenings means we're drawing a lot of onlookers now - think we must make good entertainment, we even had a couple of dogs join in tonight

Going for another run tomorrow at lunch time, then maybe one more on Friday and then it's Hose on Sunday - which will mean a total of one marathon down and only 2 to go!

www.donatetomyrelay.org/emmarossruns

Apparently I'm not getting any Easter eggs this year - so perhaps the money that would have gone on them could go towards my total for Relay?? Mum - any thoughts??

New trainers and almost time for Hose

My new trainers have arrived - after complaining to the Mizuno man that they didn't do very snazzy trainers he came up with these ones - they'll do in snazziness for now (I suppose). That's not strictly true, they're the ones for my flat, overpronating feet, but they are nicer than their usual boring shoes

After crazily busy weekend of BMF in the beautiful sunshine and running to the river in the heat with a trip to Bexleyheath thrown in, going back to work was a relief!

We had a good 4 mile run yesterday around the park - 5pm and the animals were already tucked up in bed - so yet more disappointment. We did see 2 robins, but it's not quite the same.

I've realised the food recommendations have been a little lacking - we've been pretty good at work about not going out for food, but we did go to the Thai truck on Friday (on Goodge Place) they do a very good green curry. Also at the Globe on Saturday had a very good brownie and the Spanish Bar off Oxford Street do a good pint of San Miguel (just the one and we were celebrating)

So it's only a few days until the Hose Half. My running number is back up at my parents - number 9!! Going to approach this one as more of a training run than a race, trying to beat my 2 hours is scaring me, so will just see how it goes on the day - although the incentive of getting round so I can go home and eat my Easter eggs may prove too much........

A mixed day

My Nike+ died this morning

When it tells you the battery is running low, you can do a half marathon, 4 miles and then a little bit more and it dies........ the little bit more was the start of my run to work this morning. I hate running first thing, but needs must as a busy today and I'm out this evening

Had a good run in wearing my new pink Nike top - 6.69 miles according to http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=2693569 but the top of Primrose Hill looked down onto a mist covered City and as I ran past the Zoo all the animals were still in bed!

Got to work, showered and went to collect the post only to discover Nike had sent another top - long sleeves and boring white this time, but sadly too small for me..... Clare - owner of chickens, spotter of Griff Rhys Jones' dog (I spotted Griff, she was distracted by the dog!) and lunchtime runner - has adopted it as hers - may take a photo next time we go out.......

No BMF last night as it was a Relay committee meeting - we've raised over £1000 so far, so only another £69,000 to go to match last year's total!!

Please, if you can make a donation, go here and pop your details in

http://www.donatetomyrelay.org/emmarossruns

It's looking a bit empty right now

thanks emma

Finally feeling human again

Hi

Today is the first day since Sunday that I'm feeling full of beans and raring to go - probably since it's a rest day - but also as I've never run so hard in a race before in my life - never really believed I could do it!

Had a great evening at BMF last night, despite the aching legs and arms, managed to run around, get bruised knees (again) and a little bit muddy!!

Going to have to run to work tomorrow as I've got a Relay meeting in the evening - takes some coordination on my part as I need to remember to bring clothes into work the day before so I don't have to carry everything with me as I run. Think it will be over to Primrose Hill via Kentish Town, through Regents Park and the long way round to work.

Have also discovered I can create my own Relay fundraising page........
http://www.donatetomyrelay.org/emmarossruns
It links into our B team page, but means I can update it and you get a message from me when you donate some money - give it a try and see what it says!!!!

emmax