1k and a good deed a day

I went for my first run in 2 weeks today, with everything going on in the world with Coronavirus I haven't really done much apart from stay glued to the TV or the news on my phone.  My work has temporarily closed so I’m off barmaid duties apart from when I’m at home and serving myself alcohol- which is quite frequent.  I’m not the only one looking at the clock every day thinking what time is appropriate to have your first drink of the day, am I?  I should be careful though, it does seem to be getting earlier every day. So I ran, I realised I needed an angry run. This year has been Sh*t personally and although things are looking up, there is still a lot of unresolved things I need to work through- or run through.  We have been told in these times we can go out, and for my mental health I really needed to just get out there today. I put on a spotify playlist of angry rock songs (ok I won’t lie, I played Katy Perry’s Part of me first but she didn’...

Friday 13 th  what better day to go for a run? I talked myself out of it 3 times before I laced up my trainers (scraped some mud off them from my last race, should have done that a while ago), and got back out there for the first time in forever. I’ve felt very weak over the past few weeks, not helped by my alcohol consumption, but even though my legs were shaking and haven’t stopped since I got back 20 minutes ago, I feel strong again. Another runner smiled at me and waved while I was out, we cheered each other on, even though I know nothing about him and he knows nothing about me that small act of togetherness pushed me on when I wanted to stop. Strava also helped by telling me I ran my fastest ever 5k in 20 minutes 6 seconds. Unfortunately that was a lie, and look at the map, unless I was high on coffee or something else running and through walls, it is not possible. But thank for trying to big me up Strava! Good deed for the day: taking better car...

I know it has been nearly two weeks, but it has taken me this long to get over the London Run. Plus life happens. So to catch up, I have been running pretty much every day, some days I have had flying feet where I have felt incredible and feel I can run forever, and other days have been a real struggle. I try and cheer myself up on the hard runs and mouth the words to the songs that are playing on my running playlist, it gets me through, but it also gets me funny looks from strangers. Running at people while mouthing, ‘It’s my life!’ with heartfelt passion must be scary. Sorry if you have had to witness that. In have successfully completed another race though. A 12.9k on Thorney Island! I never bothered to run further than 11k while training because I thought I would wing it. Thankfully it was like a mud run and lots of it had to be walked, else I am not sure I would have survived. I got a decent medal at the end and some free goodies so that was a good point. ...

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. ...