JANATHON DAY 7 - FOOD FOR THOUGHT

After a lovely excruciating sports massage yesterday, my quads were feeling slightly tender to put it particularly mildly. Today was going to be a "bare minimum, just for Janathon"run as I wanted to keep the legs as fresh as I could for my long run tomorrow.

Tomorrow is the first long run of my marathon training, have done a few longish ones in the last few months, but am so excited about having started my marathon plan that I don't want to jeopardise my first one with fatigued legs.

Today was a short one around a very familiar route for me, The one I always use if I want a short, slightly challenging one. As I live in N Cornwall, you are hard pushed to find a 4 mile route with anything other than at least one hill in. This route has the killer West Street in - a mile of ever increasing elevation- which in days gone by I would walk up and feel that it would have been impossible.

This morning I went half way up and then walked the rest of the route, so a 3.5 mile run was followed by a 0.5 mile walk back home. I was feeling slightly tired as I hadn't had breakfast before leaving, also those quivering quads were going to be saved for tomorrow. The run did however give me a chance to run of some of the aches and pains a sports massage can bring out. My quads feel refreshed now and after a good night's sleep I will be energised to take on my run tomorrow.

I have also been looking at me nutrition in the last couple of days, I'm happy with my gels, etc that I take whilst running the distances but it is my day to day intake of balanced nutrition that I am working on. I find I do not eat enough protein once I ramp my training up a gear, so this is being looked at before it becomes an issue.
I absolutely LOVE eggs so they are a great source and my lunch of choice is a bagel with mayonnaise, avocado and sardines on top, sardines being a great protein provider as well as giving me some much needed omega 3.

I will see what tomorrow brings but am very much looking forward to getting my iPod on (downloaded the podcasts of The Moth - recommended by Mrs D, of course!) and getting some lovely miles in.

The protein pack ready for action!

JANATHON 2012

Well I've only gone and done it now haven't I? I have registered for my first ever Janathon! www.janathon.com. Run every day, blog every day is what greets you on the home page. It looks like 2012 is going to be the year of new challenges for me. First a daily blogging and tracking of a run EACH day ( or some other form of exercise) then a marathon in May. Being 40 next year is not looking at all bad from where I am sitting.

I am addicted to a fan of twitter and through this vast vessel of social media I have come into contact with an enormous running community. Through this I have heard about Janathon via @jogblog aka Cathy on twitter and as it is becoming ever more difficult to haul my sorry state out of bed in the mornings to complete what used to be a regular early morning run, I have given myself a challenge of running each day as well as blogging and tracking those miles.

Another tweep @Rob_Herron has been kind enough to send me some free samples of High 5 Zero Electrolyte tablets, a fantastic chance for me to try out some new forms of nutrition especially as I am now going to be upping the mileage with my long runs. So thank you Rob, check out this link for a selection of supplements available http://www.musclefinesse.com/shop/category/Women-Supplements/78/browse



Looks like that is January all sewn up for me then, should also schedule some time in for the husband and kids or you might just find them running around with me!!!

THE BLURT FOUNDATION

My marathon has been picked and registered for.
Training plan is set and already in the process of.
The final piece of the jigsaw was to find a cause that I could raise money for.

That final piece has been found and I am pleased to announce that I will be running for The Blurt Foundation. I first heard of them via Twitter and was so impressed with what they are doing that I felt I wanted to help them. They provide a mentor scheme via their website for those affected depression and they work tirelessly to tackle the stigma of depression.
They need funds to cover the costs of the CRB checks, volunteer training and to help develop their schools programme.

Jayne Hardy is the force behind it, alongside her husband Dom. It all started with a blog post on www.beachbumbeautyblog.com and the rest as they say is history. Not only do they sound like an amazing couple with a fantastic vision but they are also a young, local organisation.

I look forward to being able to raise as much money as I can over the course of the next 5 months for this very worthwhile organisation. If you would like to sponsor me and have a paypal account, you can pay the money in online at www.blurtitout.org. Otherwise I will be out and about with my sponsor forms so look out for me!!!
Thank you.

MARATHON TRAINING STARTS IN 2012!!!

I am shaken and have been stirred into action today. I have finally made my mind up I HAVE TO DO A MARATHON BEFORE I'M 40!!! It's in capitals as I have had it banging around in my head for too long now. It is now down on paper so no messing with my head anymore!!!

The date 6 May 2012, the venue North Dorset. A small marathon (400 entrants max) which is 1 lap, scenic and as flat as can be expected. Has amazing reviews on RW, so here's to some long runs in the coming months.

Here I will document the highs and lows I encounter and hope to enjoy what for me is now a personal mission. Join me on the ride? Great, see you soon.