THE HARDEST PART - FOR ME ANYWAY

Training plan well and truly underway, injuries being remedied, cross training set. You would think that would be it, just work your way through those miles Lara, keep injuries to the minimum and continue the cross training with a day or 2 of rest. No, the hardest part was still to get underway, asking people for money!

I would take the training over fund raising any day of the week, I find it very hard to get out there and basically put out a sign that says SPONSOR ME.
That's why I chose a charity which I felt seemed right and I would feel comfortable asking people to part with their hard earned cash for. The Blurt Foundation http://blurtitout.org/ is in it's infancy, although they have set so much in place already, they are working on setting up some inspiring initiatives when looking at stamping out the stigma of depression. I especially feel that their school programme is a much needed resource within our educational systems. We have all read in the last year or two the heartbreaking "headline" stories of young adults taking their own lives, for one reason or another. Many of these young adults felt that there was nowhere to turn and the understanding of others was not there. The stigma of depression.

My choice of charity was reinforced whilst reading the Saturday Guardian, the article detailed how a woman had thrown herself in front of a tube train in order to end her life. It moved me to the core as being a mother I can not imagine taking myself to that place knowing I wouldn't see my boys again. The sentence that struck me the most is that she still feels the shame of suffering with depression when talking about the incident. This is where the Blurt Foundation are making inroads.
To read the full article, the link is below:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2012/jan/27/i-threw-myself-under-a-train

Right then the next part of my marathon training is set in motion. The Blurt Foundation use LocalGiving to ensure people can donate securely and with ease. This makes this part of the marathon that much easier for me, as I can offer this out to all you lovely people. You don't need to have me shoving a sponsor form in your face or getting you to come to N Dorset to watch but if you would be so kind as to visit the link below and make a donation I would be so very grateful.

http://localgiving.com/charity/theblurtfoundation

To all those who run with me at RATS then I am hoping to do a few fundraising Cake Bakes on a Tuesday evening at the Hut, so please look out for advance warnings of sugary delights being offered, with all donations and proceeds going towards The Blurt Foundation. As you may know already, I run purely to eat more cake :)))

WINTER TRANING

My winter training is looking somewhat different than last year, mainly due to the addition of 2 new elements: cycling and swimming.

This time last year, I was unable to swim front crawl for toffee, seriously!! I had NEVER mastered the breathing technique needed to successfully get myself from one end of the pool to another without a) taking in way too much pool water than is healthy b) breathing like I am taking my last breath.

Needless to say if I was to master this freestyle swimming malarkey I needed some help.
This help came in the form of my lovely niece who I hasten to add is an amazingly competent swimmer, swimming in county championships but most importantly a patient and very thorough teacher. She went through the basic techniques with me, breathing, position of body, arm stroke, etc over a period of 2 sessions. Before long I felt much more confident and was able to manage around 50m without stopping before a short break. Phew, I was getting there!! Thanks Amber x
As if by magic, around the same time as my first achievements in the pool, my local running and triathlon club, www.buderats.co.uk were sorting out their winter swimming training sessions again. BONUS! I put myself down as being interested in taking an 11 week course of swimming sessions through the club, starting in September this would give another discipline to work towards over the winter months.
All I can say is that I AM LOVING IT. We are certainly not being given an easy ride, we are ramping up to 2000m a session at the moment, but I feel I am getting stronger and ever so slightly faster as I go through the weeks
.
Last nights session looked a little something like this:
Warm up: 400m F/C ( 16 lengths)
Main session: 6 x 100m F/C with 20 secs rest between reps
200m kicking
7 x 50m F/C all done within a minute
Warm down: 200m pull and 200m drill
I come away feeling shattered - in a very good way!

This fits into my week perfectly:
Monday: Swim for 1 hour with RATS
Tuesday: Run for an hour with RATS
Wednesday: Turbo train on bike for an hour or an hour in the pool
Thursday: Technical / speedwork session with RATS (1 hour)
Friday: Early morning swim then Pilates (1 hour)
Saturday/Sunday: Long run or bike ride outside

Am loving the variety this gives me and am feeling stronger for it, winter training never looked so good.

A CHANGE IS AS GOOD AS A REST

Since the WRN is no more, I joined the Bude RATs and have been back a couple of times since my return from our holiday. I have to say I was slightly lost after having not done anything other than a measly 3 mile run whilst in France and having no races to train for. I was feeling despondence rising and a need to either shape up or ship out. Shipping out was not really an option as running has been such a part of my life for the last 3 years that it would be alien not to exercise my body in one form or another. This is the beauty of being part of a large group such as the RATs, there is very little time to get complacent as there is always a new race on the horizon or a new opportunity to train in another discipline. RATs stands for runners and triathletes, therefore the group offer opportunities for cycling and swimming as well as their 2 training sessions of running a week.

Needless to say I felt I needed a different challenge and seeing that my swimming has been almost non existent since I was pregnant with TJ, when the swimming training sessions were offered at RATS for the Autumn, I jumped at the chance. Last night was my first taste of “training” in a swimming pool, it was absolutely amazing. Extremely well run, pushing me to identify areas that are in need of more than a bit of work (kicking action) and above all inclusive of everyone’s level. There were some amazing triathletes within the group, one being Mrs Day to Davis, who has been training for her first triathlon on 2^nd October over the summer and is seeing fantastic results. The fact that I was able to train alongside those with a wealth of experience was great, felt sky high when I came home.  Shattered but very much looking forward to next week.

With my despondence given the big boot up the backside it needed, I am looking forward to the RATs Random Relay on 25^th September and the Mouth to Mouth Sandymouth 10kish run on 15^th October. Here’s to training again with a vengeance.
I will hear in October whether I have been accepted into the ballot for the Virgin London Marathon 2012, if I get in a whole new level of training will kick in, so watch this space!

Mr T has not been without focus either. Whilst holidaying near the Pyrenees, Mr T took opportunities to cycle some amazing Cols around the Biarritz area and whilst in Northern Spain he was chomping at the bit to get out on his bike at any given opportunity! Once home he is upping his training and looking at entering the Exmoor Beast 100 mile cycle ride in October as well as organising an epic cycle ride for his 40^th year! If nothing else we will be high on fitness endorphins!   

ON YER BIKE!

Mr T and I awoke to a particularly sunny, blue sky day on Sunday morning and the first thing that came into my mind was to go for a bike ride with my man. We very rarely get chance to go out together and after purchasing my road bike back in the Autumn of 2010, I had only done a handful of miles on it before snow and ice set in.

This was a perfect day to get out and I needed Mr T with me as I had purchased SPD’s for the bike and as yet had not ridden with them on – I envisaged me failing to get the clips out making a very forceful union with the tarmac and needed the reassurance that there was someone at hand to laugh at help me.

That decided upon we then had to call Gran T to see if she was able to have the boys for an hour at such short notice. Hallelujah for grandparents who give us this time, only an hour, but what a great hour it was. Mr T and I started along the canal where it gave me time to get used to the shoes and familiarise myself again with my bike, turned off to Marhamchurch up a nice climb, over to Box’s Shop then back to Bude through Widemouth Bay, again a steep climb but we were rewarded with some of the best coastal views.

On our short ride we saw many people out running, walking and generally embracing the gorgeous weather. Really does lift the spirits when all is bright and crisp and shining, a great start to a Sunday.

My cross training consists of a Wednesday morning session at Fusion Fitness with Katie and our wonderful trainer David. David has endured / enjoyed many months of our regular sessions and with that has come tantrums (me), injuries (Katie and myself), laughter ( all 3 of us), and above all a real improvement in our running and fitness levels. www.fusion-fitness-bude.co.uk

Only recently has it become apparent how these weekly sessions with David have ultimately enabled me to reach a sub 2 half marathon. He focuses the training around our goals, sessions such as “All about legs” and “Psycho”come to mind as I am typing this – I wonder why!!!?

I will ultimately want to get out on my bike more as the lighter mornings and evenings are making their mark, alongside some rides with Mr T at the weekends and will work this into my training for the spring / summer. With a few duathlons and triathlons being held near by, it may come in handy if I decide to attempt my first event. Alongside my gym sessions and cycling complementing my running, I plan to stay injury free this year.

http://www.freakevents.co.uk/