Ice, ice, baby ...

So, what's less fun than running in the rain? Running on icy pavements! Following some snow in London on Wednesday, I braved the club run and went out on a cold and icy run with a few of the brave/crazy people that turned up. Running uphill and inhaling freezing cold air proved a challenge for a couple of us! After the run, I got some good tips on training and a promise of a marathon training plan in my inbox from one of the more experienced runners at the club :-)

Despite being freezing, Saturday's run wasn't too bad. Sunday saw a very very slow run of just under 11 miles around a very icy Peckham and Dulwich. How I managed to sat on my feet is a mystery!

16 weeks of training to go!!

Smoke-free!

Well, last week wasn't too good for training with the multiple Xmas meals, PMT and general lack of motivation, but I did manage to quit smoking. Woo hoo! I know it's only been 5 days so far but that's the longest I've been without smoking for a good few months :-)

I'm hoping that I'll start seeing the difference in training soon and am determined to get my training back on track, starting with a post-work run at the gym tonight and some earlier nights.

Only 11 days until Xmas and then I can undo my hardwork with lots of turkey, stuffing and chocs! Although with a week and a half off, I'll have no excuse to skip training!

It's raining, it's pouring ...

Getting bored of running in the rain. It was fun at first, even quite refreshing, and I could listen to 'Eye of the Tiger' on my iPod and pretend that I was Rocky! Needless to say, the novelty of this wore off after a couple of days!

Tomorrow will be my fifth time at the running club. Not sure how many times I need to go before I stop feeling like a newbie?! It's the club 5K handicap race on Sunday, which should be interesting (although I'm more enticed by the the post-race Chinese meal - yum!)

May not be a good week for running with two Xmas meals this week but at least the need to burn off those extra calories may provide some motivation :-)

I'm in for London!

A rather belated post as I actually found out that I definitely had a place the week before last! I'm very excited but rather scared although I'm not sure what's scarier - running 26.2 miles or raising £1800 ...

I got up to 10 miles for my long run at the weekend, although admittedly the extra mile was due to me getting lost somewhere on the outskirts of Braintree!

A member of a sports club? Me??

Last night I took the plunge and went along to the Dulwich Runners 'club night'. My visions of it being like a school playground and having to ask to join in the other kids' game weren't completely inaccurate - I turned up really early (a first for me!) and decided to be brave and go up to the only group of guys there and ask about the routes for the evening only to be told that as I was new, someone else would go through it with me (i.e. bugger off) ! Luckily, some more kindly people turned up and introduced me to one of the organisers and I ended up going on a run with a another newbie and a lovely woman who'd drawn the short straw of taking us out.

The run was fun, and even the dreaded Forest Hill wasn't too painful. I'd like to think that it was a respectable attempt for beginners to club running, despite being overtaken by all of the other groups :-)

Can't wait for next week!

Brighton vs. London??

So, still waiting to find out the location where I'll be running 26.2 miles next year - I have my own place for Brighton but received an unexpected phone call from Guy's & St Thomas' charity last Friday to say that they might be getting some more places for London and I can have one if they do. The catch? I have to commit to raising £1800 for them!

I'd love to do London but that's a huge amount of money! I should find out my fate this week ...