Waiting in for a delivery sucks!

So I was meant to start week 3 of the c-2-5k plan today and I was feeling nervous but at the same time looking forward to seeing whether or not I could actually complete it.

I normally run in my lunch hour, though I work from home so that's flexible and I then treat myself to something nice to eat afterwards, as a well done to myself.

All usual plans are out of the window today though as I have to wait in for a delivery and what sucks is that I just know the courier will arrive about 5 minutes after I leave the house to collect my daughter from school so all my wasted waiting time will have been for nothing.  Why is it that always happens? Is it just me who never sees a delivery man face to face but is in first name terms with the guy at the collection depot?   Still it's preferable to pushing my way round the shops full of Christmas shoppers!

I guess I'll be trying running in the dark tonight! Best dig out something reflective...

I found today's run a bit hard

As I said a few posts back I've started the NHS Couch to 5k plan again, today was week 2 run 3, and while I've been surprised at how far I can actually keep running for overall, I found it a bit hard today.

Week 2 is 6 bursts of 90 seconds running interspersed with 2 minutes of walking.  By the last run today, my legs were like jelly and I had to stop - I only chopped 10 seconds off the final run but it's not a good feeling, especially when I should be moving onto week 3 on Friday...

I thnk it might have to do with all the Bonfire toffee I consumed last night or maybe the fact that I had to stay up until very late to make sure the bonfire was actually out.  I know when I've slept poorly in the past I've not had the energy to keep up a run the next day.

I think I'll go back to my earlier posts and remind myself how far I've actually come rather than sit here feeling sorry for myself though.

Mischievous night tonight

The 4th November is known as Mischievous Night -  in Yorkshire at least!

Every so often during the year - generally after we've got through the hilarity that is April Fools day - my two children remember that there is another day when they can pull pranks but funnily enough whenever they ask me about it, I can never remember the exact date.  I would say the memory loss is a clear indicator that I'm getting old but to be honest the real sign that I'm getting old is that I no longer find the pranks funny.

Knock a door run was hilarious when I was 10 but not so much when you actually own the door!  And as my kids idea of a prank is to put salt in my tea or jump out from behind the door wearing a scream mask you can see why I'm not too keen.

Though I could pretend I'm just being a very good parent and trying not to confuse them by allowing them to cause mischief one night and telling them off for the same "joke" the next.  Actually that sounds much better doesn't it so scrap all the stuff about me just being old and boring, it's just good parenting.

Anyway back to the real reason for my blog, I did go for a run today!  The second run of week 2 of couch to 5k.  Jelly legs but I did it all again.  I'm thinking I might have to repeat week 2 at least one extra week though so I feel more comfortable before moving on to week 3.

Am I being boring by not telling my children the date so they can have their own laughs?

Week 2 of couch to 5k is a killer

I could barely lift my arms to drink from my water bottle after the last run and the fact that I then had a hill to climb to get back to my house (and bed) was a kick in the teeth.

Still it wasn't as hard as I thought it might be and again much easier than when I've attempted it in the past and had to stop after the second run, so knackered I might be but knackered for a reason.  Even the fittest people are knackered after pushing themselves aren't they?

The best thing was I realised as I was half way round that I was really looking forward to the day when I can just run the entire route without the walking bits to break up the running.  I'm still a couple of months off this - IF I stick to the plan - but I actually feel positive that I will get there.

I've just got to hope now that we don't get any snow between now and christmas or that Santa brings me an early present of a treadmill :)

For anyone interested, this is the running plan I am now following (again but properly this time round)
http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/c25k/Pages/couch-to-5k-plan.aspx

Happy Halloween

Not only have I not been running today, I've also spent the day creating lots of calorific food with my children in our own version of GBBO -

"The Heaton Halloween Bake Off" 

We did this at Easter and it was great fun, apart from the fact that I didn't win that time (yes my memory is long and it istill hurts)

Here's my entry this time.  I'm hoping the little ghosts with their chocolate, popping candy truffle middle will appeal to the judge - aka my husband - who I know has a sweet tooth.

Unfortunately, he also happens to be a daddy and the other entrants are our children so I tend to think I won't win again.  No doubt it will be the child who remembered to put a layer of jaffa cake in the middle of his buns, even if he did then just cover them in slime with no artistic consideration at all!

Ah well, the judge will just be tricked not treated tonight!

Autumn is definitely here

Not just because it's cold and Autumnwatch started on BBC last night :) - it's the amount of leaves on the ground as I run now, it's like a soggy gold carpet!

I'm now worried I'll slip and make a fool of myself. Maybe I've got my priorities wrong though as I'm sure most people would be worried about falling and actually hurting themselves, not how they look to anyone who happens to see them fall!

I have beaten one bit of self consciousness this week though, I used to stop running if there was someone in front of me too nervous to pass them but instead now I feel the teensiest bit smug when I overtake them :)

Nice milestone on my runtastic app today, I've covered 50 miles since I started out last month. Nearly 17hours racked up and 6,900 calories burnt off.  It might not seem much but I'm stunned that I'm still getting up and going out nearly every day.  I think I mentioned that I'm back doing the NHS couch to 5k plan and I'm finding it so much easier than I ever did before so while I'm never going to be a marathon runner, I am definitely getting fitter which is the only aim I have :)

Let half term commence

I haven't been looking forward to Half Term and I usually do, I love having my kids at home full time  (at least at the start, there might be occasions  towards the end of the school holidays when I wonder what on earth I was thinking!!)

This time I was wondering how I'd be able to keep up my usual lunchtime run while looking after two tweens!

Would they come with me?   Would I be able to leave them on their own?  Should I take a week off?

Well the answer to the first question was No they wouldn't and the looks they gave me made it very clear I was lucky they'd even got dressed this morning!

And I didn't want to take a week off, especially after getting such a buzz after my Friday run last week.

So could I leave them on their own? To put it in to context they are 10 and 12 and the 12 year old has been staying home alone for a good few months now and so far he hasn't burnt down the house or injured himself.  But leaving them alone together is a different ball game.  They love each other very much and the majority of the time they do get on brilliantly but when they do fall out, they FALL OUT - it's not pretty and it can get violent, and that's with parental supervision.

Still it would only be for half an hour, I only run 2 miles in a circuit so if anything did go wrong I could get back to them very quickly.  Decision made - but it still wasn't easy to walk out of the door.

They were fine.  In fact when I got back they couldn't believe I'd even been gone a full half an hour.
They hadn't killed each other, they hadn't broken anything, the cats were still asleep on the sofa - SUCCESS - minecraft is just as good a babysitter as CBeebies used to be when they were tiny :)

They've now been fed to keep the happy mood going and are upstairs playing happily with their Lego. Totally unaware that they've done something momentous today, being left alone is a big step but it seems like it's only a big step for mum!