Running in the monsoon

My day off work yesterday was as welcome as ever and the weather in the morning, as I lounged on the sofa having a leisurely breakfast and watching TV, wasn't too bad.  No rain, a bit of wind, a bit cloudy, but ok...pretty much ideal running conditions.  Needless to say it didn't last. Below is my entry from my dailymile.com site about yesterday's run....

21.41 mi in 03hrs 16mins 09:08 pace and 2540 calories
This was a run in absolutely torrential rain from about four miles. I was relatively happy to start with but by about 14 miles I was pretty fed up with the driving rain & with my absolutely soaked through top sticking to me like cling-film. At about mile 18 a large truck drove past me, and , just like you see in the films, it splashed an enormous wave of water all over me. I'm sure the other drivers must have thought it was hilarious...I didn't, but by that time I was so wet it didn't make me any wetter and so I just carried on running. Good distance for mid-week though :)

So, despite getting absolutely drenched, I was really pleased to have got out, and to have carried on in such awful weather, even if I did spend quite a lot of the latter part of my run regretting that I hadn't worn a coat!  I think I'm quite lucky I was running a circular route as once I'd gone so far, I just had to keep going to get home!  I'm also quite relieved to have got a long run done yesterday, as in my original schedule for this week I was due to have to run for a second time on Sunday, after the Southend Half Marathon. Most of the times when I've planned to run after a race, to add some additional miles for the day, I haven't managed it! At least now, I look well on my way to clocking up my highest mileage in a week ever, of 54 miles.  I can't believe that I'm going to have to run that far all in one go, in just 6 weeks!

No run for Day 6

Yesterday was a bit of an odd one...first day back at work after such a long weekend was always going to be a challenge and I didn't end up running.

I went out at lunchtime for about a forty minute walk, which although as it was walking didn't contribute to my 2012 in 2012 target, it meant that I did move a bit for Juneathon, but I hadn't been organised enough to take my running gear with me to work, so I couldn't run home, and after a nightmare tube commute back in the evening, I didn't walk through the door until gone 8pm and just didn't want to go out.

I also decided that the four day weekend just hadn't been enough, so booked today off work too. When I decided not to run last night, I knew I had today off, and knew that today would see me running about 20 miles, so I think that probably helped with my decision not to go out but to rest my legs in advance of an unexpected mid-week long run.

Twitter motivation

Despite it being Day 5 of Juneathon yesterday, it started out being a VERY lazy day!

We didn't get up until about 9am, before going to pick up a new (read second hand) sofa that we'd bought from ebay.  Aside from a bit of furniture shifting that I did to get the old sofa out, and the new one in, I then proceeded to spend the rest of the day sat on the new sofa...ostensibly trying it out, to make sure it was comfy ;) (it was...looks like new and is lovely!). As it was the last day of the Jubilee celebrations, we watched the parade through London, the amazing crowds of wonderful flag wavers, the displays by the guards and the flypast on TV, but even after that was all finished, I still managed to find more TV to watch.

I knew I had to run, but kept putting it off - I'll go out in an hour, I'll go in a bit, I'll go after the Queen's speech...

By about 6pm, I decided that I fancied a Chinese take-away for dinner...we've not had one for ages, and being a Bank Holiday, though it was just about justifiable. However, I was really starting to struggle with the idea of still going for a run, and was rapidly losing all motivation for it, especially as the weather worsened outside - so I took to twitter, and asked for help:

Naomi Newton-Fisher ‏@naominf

Can you all convince me that I do actually want to go for a run today?! #feelinglazy #juneathon

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15hNaomi Newton-Fisher ‏@naominf

Oh dear, this evening isn't looking good for a run. I'm still stuck to the sofa & now we're planning a take-away for dinner #lazybankholiday

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The response was fantastic, as always and pretty much immediately I had a stream of people encouraging me to run. I've copied my feed from last night so you can see (although had to remove everyone's fab avatars as Blogger can't cope with the formatting). If anyone ever asks "what's the point of twitter?" this is the sort of thing I tell them about....

I'm very pleased to say that even though I devoured a huge but delicious take-away dinner, and despite the weather outside last night being absolutely atrocious, at 10pm (two hours after dinner to let it digest a bit) I did lace up my trainers and get out of the door.

I know I wouldn't have managed it without the encouragement and support from the 

lovely people below, so thank-you all!

Had I gone out earlier in the day, I would have done 8 miles...in the end I did 6, but that's good enough for me, especially as I ended up having a great run, where for the first time in ages, my legs felt strong, I flew round and really enjoyed myself! There's a lesson in all of that somewhere ;)

11hRick O'Shaughnessy ‏@oh_Rick_Oh

@naominf consider yourself convinced & motivated :-)

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13hJon Lawrence ‏@Strongjon

@naominf you have to, it's what you do

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13h

Jon Lawrence ‏@Strongjon

@naominf I went first thing and it was a fab run in the country before the rain set in. You go though, you are a proper runner, be strong

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8:51 PM - 5 Jun 12 via Twitter for iPhone · Details 

15hJames Mullan ‏@JamesMullan6

@naominf do it do it now!

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15hDan Cartwright ‏@DanRunning

@naominf zip up you're man suit and get on with it. Earn that dinner!

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15hRachel Bedford ‏@fairweatherrun

@naominf run to get the takeaway? The long way round!

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15h

Eddie Barrett ‏@Fetch_Ted 

@naominf Go one, get out there, I have just done Intervals after too much lunch. I didn't vom, I call that a #WIN. #jfdi

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15hGina Preston ‏@ginavpreston

@naominf I am dithering re my run too. Had a nap for an hour after our Street Party. We really SHOULD go. How about 7.30pm?

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15hSteve Trindade ‏@supersubfigo 

@naominf doooooo it, you will feel better once sat on the sofa again.

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15hMatt Dakin ‏@m8dkn 

@naominf Go for it and the take away will be guilt free!

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15h7 Stone Itch ‏@7StoneItch

@naominf Go out for a run before the takeaway boy arrives!

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15hEddie Barrett ‏@Fetch_Ted 

@naominf JFDI, The takeaway will taste so much better after exercise#feelinglazy #juneathon

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Not a day for a marathon

Juneathon - Day 4

Today was the day of the Kent Roadrunner Marathon...the race that I was due to take part in, but decided not to run because it's the not most inspiring course and I wasn't looking forward to 17 laps of it, and because my legs really haven't been right recently and I think they needed a bit of a rest.

I only managed to head out for a brief and early 3 miler this morning as we had a really full day planned which didn't leave much time for running, but it definitely proved that I was right not to run the Roadrunner as my legs were incredibly heavy and I had quite a few aches and pains - there's no way I would have managed 26.2 miles today.  3 miles was good enough for me though, and hopefully tomorrow they'll feel better!

We had a good day though - Francis and I spent the morning and afternoon at Chatham Historic Dockyards (recommend it for a day out if you're in the least bit interested in boats or sailing) and then went to my eldest brother's house in Chartham in Kent for the village's Diamond Jubilee celebrations. It turned into a real family affair, because as well as me, Francis and my brother, there was also my sister in law, her mum, my wonderful niece and nephew (who's in the photo, with his face painted as a tiger although they only had red, white & blue) as well as my mum, and my other brother.

By the end I was waving my flag, really getting into the spirit of things, and thoroughly enjoying spending time with everyone.  I know we all do, but I do love the family.

Very British weather for a run on Jubilee day

I'm a Royalist at heart, and today was the day of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee pageant down the River Thames - 1000 boats of all shapes and sizes.  I love the idea of having a pageant as part of the celebrations as it's such an historic way of royalty marking significant events.  Although the weather just about held early on when the rowing boats came through, it soon deteriorated, the heavens opened, and by the time the larger boats were coming past, everyone was drenched - a typical British summer ;) Indeed, it was a very British event throughout, and so no-one seemed too perturbed by the turn in the weather and they all carried on regardless.

The highlight for me was the finale when the barge carrying the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra arrived at Tower Bridge - they performed traditional, Last Night of the Proms songs like Land of Hope & Glory, Rule Britannia and the national anthem in front of the Queen's barge and it was amazing.  The BBC clip is here, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-18316899 where you can also see that the poor choir on top of the barge got ABSOLUTELY drenched - it was the height of British eccentricity and stoicism that they carried on.

Anyway, I was meant to get up early this morning to go for my run, when the weather was calm and dry, but I didn't...I laid in bed for an extra hour and a half and by the time I dragged myself out, it was too late to go for a run.  Inevitably, by the time we'd had lunch and watched the pageant, the rain pouring over London was also pouring over Billericay - I knew I needed to run but the weather was diabolical and I wasn't convinced about heading out into the storm.  However, I was definitely inspired by that choir on the barge...if they could stand in the cold, the wind and the rain for 3 hours and then sing so fantastically, I could certainly get out and get a few miles in!

I ended up with 10 miles on the Garmin for the third day of Juneathon, and despite the stormy weather, strangely enjoyed myself on my run - it went well :)