1k and a good deed a day

It always starts off well, with a swell of excitement. We do the warm up together awkwardly doing squats and lunges, smiling at each other nicely, but inside we know they are our competition.  Then the march to the startling where everyone fiddles with their smart phones and watches to track every step they are about to take. The countdown 10,9,8... Perhaps if I had been paying a bit more attention from the start it wouldn't have ended with me sniffling on the tube back to St Paul's from Aldgate to grab my medal and refuse to cross the finish line -though I don't think it would have been an option because I took so long when I finally got there the volunteers nearly done packing up.  Races are supposed to be fun, and for the most part it was. I tried to follow someone doing a similar pace to me, she was about 20 years older than me and lost me with ease within 10 minutes. So, my next strategy was to just make it back to the finish. There must have b...

Week 4 Days 22, 23, 24 and 25 It started off ok on day 22. Chichester Parkrun in the morning , I’d had a couple of rum’s the night before so it was a bit of a struggle, but I went there,   did it and I took another dog out for a walk from Clymping dog sanctuary. However since then things have changed and shifted. I have done my good deeds and walks every day, (mostly putting change in charity shop pots) but I haven’t run for a couple of days. Today I got back out there, I didn’t have my phone so plodded along slowly and went to the outdoor gym again. Running is such a good stress reliever, (as is screaming in a car btw), it really helps put things into perspective. Day 26 BREKKIE WITH BECKY LAUNCH DAY! I did my first solo presenting show for Radio Respect today which was terrifying but thankfully nothing went wrong and I really enjoyed it. I was away from the world for a few hours and came out refreshed. Still a bit blah, so I put some more change in a...

Week 3 Day 15 Saturday mornings mean one thing these days, PARKRUN! I was determined to get my sub 30 today, but I started out close to the back again. Not on purpose, I actually thought I was near the front, then I looked behind me and realised actually there was only about 10 people behind me. I ran as fast as my little legs could take me, I was overtaking people all over the place. I was running fast but felt strong. I overtook a child and thought I would leave her in my dust. She thought otherwise and sped past me. I never caught back up with her. I choked on her dust. Strava gave me a time of 30m 45s; Parkrun gave me a time of 31m 01s. I’m not sure which one to trust but Strava is recorded on my phone, Parkrun is in an email so on that logic I am obviously going with the quicker time. Walkies was next on the agenda and another trip to Clymping Dog Sanctuary to volunteer to walk a dog. This time it was Stuffing’s turn. He was an absolute dream to walk, it was...

2nd February  Southcoast 50 Marathon not far enough for you? How about a 50k? This race starts at Littlehampton and takes you along the South Coast (did the name give that away?!) finishing at Porchester. This is a self guided ultra with manned check in points with maps and food & drink. Challenge accepted?  Southcoast 50 2nd February Chichester 10k Taking it down a notch, the Chichester 10k at Goodwood is on the same day as the Southcoast 50 but a little less hard on the legs.   The Chichester 10k at Goodwood is a race over public roads for the first 6.0km finishing with a complete lap of the Goodwood Motor Circuit. Sound like a plan?  Chichester 10k 9th February  Worthing running festival If flat and fast is a winner for you, then this one in Worthing ticks those boxes. Choose from a 10k or half marathon, the website boasts it is one of the fastest half marathon courses in the South. ...

Rest day.  Those two words scare the hell out of runners. Not running for a day on a nice day (ok, any day), feels like a travesty! However in order to keep going forward, we know we need to take a break every now and then, so here are 5 reasons to have a rest day: 1   Denial can be a really useful tool. When you deny yourself something, you tend to want it more. Take chocolate for example, if I took it away from you, you would want it more than you have ever wanted anything. So by giving yourself a rest day (or denying yourself your run), you will want it even more. Bring on tomorrow! 2  Taking point one into consideration, having a rest day will make you want to work harder on the next run. You could try adding that extra minute or KM you have been thinking about. Go on, you can do it.  3  Everyone needs a little break and a day off every now and then, you don’t need to put too much pressure on yourself. Run for you, run when you want, h...

Day 8 What better way to start the day with a bit of murder on the way to a run. Today was another day, and another episode of Drunk Women solving crime. I just can’t get enough! Sometimes running to music is what I need to push me through, other times it is listening to these women telling stories and sort of solving crimes. I got my fastest 5k today at Parkrun 32m.25s, I could have got faster but put myself quite far back in the beginning and it was hard to get to the front for the first bit so hopefully next week I will get under 30 minutes -maybe. On the way back through town I saw a delivery driver chasing bits of paper, I thought it was quite funny at first (because it really was), then I looked at other people helping him out, so I chased a bit myself, caught it and passed it to him which he took gratefully. It wasn’t even 10am and I had completed my fastest 5k and done my good deed, so I came home and had a 2 hour nap to reward myself. Day 9 The rubbish thief! ...

Day 1 This is it, the start. January 4th 2020. I have 4 blissful days off work, so it is time to get my running and good deed shoes on. I did a steady 5k in 33 minutes and 59 seconds on my usual route today. Some days runs can feel easy and your feet glide through the air and you feel like a champion. Today was not one of those days for me. I felt slow, heavy and sloth-like. It's weird and annoying but I know tomorrow will be a better day. This running malarkey is a real emotion provoker, but no matter how bad a run can be and how slow I feel, I always get home and feel on top of the world. The feeling is addictive and I have to stop myself from going out twice a day just to grab it again. I have started writing down good deeds that I can do, I had a dream about putting positive messages on tampons and leaving them in women's public toilets, however today I just settled for putting some money in a charity box. I will save that one for another day. Day 2 We are...

I hate computers!!! I had it all written out and then BOOM! deleted all gone! I have spent the past few minutes screaming and hitting keys on the computer violently. However this 1k and a good deed a day is about becoming a better person so deep breath. I did originally start off doing this in December as '5k and a good deed a day', I even have the blog (there is nothing on it, I wouldn't bother looking), but after the first couple of days time, laziness, work and hangovers took over and it became impossible.  It was going to start with Marcothon, which is basically an online challenge to run every day in December, there were too many excuses to drink and eat with the excuse 'bigger it, it is nearly Christmas!' which I had been saying since early October so hello 2020, new year, new challenge and all that.  Except then January happened, my New Years Eve was a couple of days later as I worked on the official one, so this challenge started on 4th Janu...