SUNSHINE & GOOD TIMES - DAY 16 JANATHON

Yesterday started in a truly gorgeous fashion. Sunshine, a day with my boy and no plans. I needed to catch up on some PTA duties that I had left over the weekend and needed to get back on to, that was the morning pretty much taken care of. The sun was pouring into the lounge where I was beavering away on the computer. It was calling us.
TJ and I decided it was just too nice to stay put so hatched a plan that involved a beach walk and lunch at Rosie's. We needed some company so what better company than in the form of Mrs D and her gorgeous Ol Bol. They duly accepted our invite, Mrs D was catching up with accounts, so no wonder she wanted a swift exit!!
The beach only had a handful of people on it and just a few surfers braving the water. TJ was happy building a fort for his Toy Story army soldiers to protect and I was taking in the beauty of where we live. Mr T had reliably informed me that morning that it was supposed to be the most depressing day of the year, this almost made me rebel instantly. I have been known to suffer from what I can only think is SAD at this time of the year and Mr T has had to bear the consequences! Since I found running I have found that this time of the year is much easier to bear and with days like today it was hard not to be anything but happy.

There have been events happening recently to some very good friends that bring everything back into perspective. My friend's 3 year old twin fell out of a bedroom window on Christmas Day morning, with major injuries to his skull. He arrived home on Thursday last week and has done amazingly well. He had a fractured skull and was sedated for nearly 2 weeks before he could stay awake without the pressure in his brain becoming too high to be safe. In the last week of his stay in hospital his progress came on in leaps and bounds, a few words were said, his memory seemed to be intact, there was no paralysis within any part of his body.
I have to say since hearing about the incident on Boxing Day, I have thought of them constantly, getting updates via text regularly. Christmas was just not as joyful until we heard on New Year's Eve that all appeared to be going the right way. I am pleased to say he is doing so well and is enjoying being home with his family and his beloved Thomas the Tank Engine!!

The beach looked a little something like this:

The beach to ourselves.

After the children had had their fun and Mrs D and I had put the world to rights, we headed off to Rosie's, where you can get a very fine burger and chips I'll have you know. As Monday is the day of swimming in our household I knew I wasn't going to get a chance to cook a meal this evening so that was my excuse to pig out at lunch.
http://www.rosieskitchen.co.uk/

The boys both enjoyed their swimming lessons and are doing well in their stages. JT has a most wonderful technique in the water and TJ has great confidence which is so lovely to see.

It was my swimming night tonight which consisted of 50m, 100m and 200m drills as well as drills of kicking. This is when my blood runs cold!! My kicking is nothing short of atrocious, I pretty much slow to a snail's pace when I am just kicking, I need to rectify this as once arms are included I am not a slow swimmer, therefore my feeling is if I get my kicking technique then that will only strengthen my swimming. If anyone out there has any suggestions I would love to hear how I can improve!!

Our 2000m session left me feeling strong and with a sense of having pushed myself, with room for improvement with the kicking. So all in all a great day.

WATER, WATER EVERYWHERE - DAY 9

I do like Mondays. Mondays are very much about swimming in our household. TJ started his swimming lessons today and JT has moved up into the "big" group ( at the deep end). I also get to have my sessions as we started back this evening after the Xmas break. I really do enjoy these "Elite training" sessions as they are named, Mrs D and I did have a giggle initially when we thought of ourselves as elite!! There are certainly some amazing swimmers within the sessions and we are appropriately put into lanes of ability. I am hovering around the middle section right now, but learnt an awful lot over the first term and look forward to my session weekly.
It also works perfectly into my marathon training. My long runs will almost always be a Sunday, therefore a Monday swim helps to give my legs a lovely non-impact workout. Just what a sports masseur would prescribe!

Tonight's session was a great start. 1600m freestyle, with 50m and 100m intervals thrown in after a warm up and cool down. We were also given some help with our strokes, mine was to reach further out before bringing my arm back in, giving me more power from the front. We did 200m pulls and 200m kicking. Kicking is not mt forte but I have to say I have improved immensely since attending these sessions.

A great way to end a Monday evening, I always sleep so well on a Monday night - I wonder why??!!!

ADDED NUTRITION - DAY 8

The first complete week of Janathon has come around and I have to say I am enjoying it. My run today was my first long run on my marathon schedule, a 9 miles was in order. I felt prepared, I felt confident and I was looking forward to it.
Rob Herron from Muscle Finesse had kindly sent me some free samples of High 5 Advanced Sports Nutrition to try and review. As this was a run that would enable me to take added nutrition, I popped a Berry Zero High 5 tablet into a bottle with some water as well as taking another bottle of water in the other pouch. I was planning to meet the family at the swimming pool so knew I would need some extra for after the run.
I started taking the drink with the High 5 in by around mile 3 and took it throughout the run. Felt fine and really enjoyed the berry taste, I have Cherry-Orange and Citrus to try also. Was a welcome relief from the stickiness of some gels I have taken in the past!!!! I do also take Jelly Babies with me as they have helped me on many occasions, especially when going for a PB in half marathons last year! I drank about half of the High 5 drink throughout the run and then drank the rest upon finishing.

The run took me along country roads, small tracks, villages and into town. Didn't fully get into my stride until mile 5 as I was wanting to keep within the region of 9 min miles, which I am finding harder at the moment as I have been working on my speed for the last half of 2011. I know that I wouldn't want to go out too fast on a long run, I do like to have something left in the tank for the finish. My average min per mile looks like I was working quite well when it comes to that, so happy with the way it went. 8.55 average overall :))

Saw very few runners out and about, in fact I passed just 2. Very unusual for a Sunday morning but maybe they were all in Exeter for the First Chance 10K. I know many of my twitter pals were there and doing very well by the looks of my timeline!!! Well done especially to @supermu62 @KariAnnWebb and @Lisa_run, there were also quite a few from Bude RATS going so hoping they all did themselves proud. I'm sure they did. So a fairly quiet run this morning, thanks also to my Sennheiser earphones finally giving up the ghost :(( The podcasts (The Moth) will have to wait I'm afraid!!
 
Mr T and the boys were at the local swimming pool for our usual family swimming session - literally our whole family turns up!! I planned to finish my run there and wait for them to finish, instead I got my cossie on and went in, really wanted to give my legs a bit of a stretch and the water was fairly cold so knew I should get in. Twas bliss!!!

This afternoon looks set to be a DVD filled one, with the N Cornish mizzle having descended only minutes after I finished my run (perfect timing). Hoping everyone is having an equally lovely Sunday, looking forward to what the new week brings.

JANATHON -DAY 4 SWIM

After yesterday's epic reunion with the North Cornish breeze, I decided today's Janathon activity would take me to the pool. I was feeling the effects of 3 days consistent running with plenty of hills within those few days, therefore the pool was the perfect option to help give my muscles a non impact day.

Got in to an extremely warm pool, most people were commenting on it being like a bath. Not ideal when you want to do some moderately, hard workout. To add to this there were only 2 lanes instead of 3 meaning more people to manoevre around. Was looking like it might be a short session, thought I would just go for a quick 800m session.

As I got into my stroke and into a rhythm, the other 4 swimmers and myself abided by the etiquette that comes with lane swimming and made way for those that needed to pass. It made for a very smooth session of freestyle swimming, so much so that I wanted to make sure I went for 1600m instead of the initial 800m.

Felt good as do my legs, another club run tomorrow evening is on the cards now.....

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!   

A WEEK CAN BE 7 DAYS OR A LIFETIME, WHEN IT’S HALF TERM WEEK

I am glad to report that 7 days it is here as we come to the end of the half term holiday. Started off well and continued along that route with a few diverted dead ends along the way.  Nothing which a packet of Percy Pigs and Lego mini figures couldn’t put back on course so how did we survive?

Monday looked promising with a meet with Hilary, Avril and children at The Castle grounds.  A tank, an army man, two action men and an army quad vehicle joined us, in miniature form I might add. There is a wonderful huge hill ( I know it as Teletubbie Hill) where the children send the vehicles and said army and action men flying to their demise and can spend anything up to 2 hours roaming the hill. Meanwhile Hil, Ave and myself get to grips with the latest news and put the world to rights around various topics whilst enjoying a wonderful coffee and biscotti from The Castle Restaurant – perfick.

Tuesday involved swimming and roller skating – yes all in one day!! Supported beforehand by a mass intrusion on Filter Through coffee shop in Holsworthy, there were 5 adults and 6 children. We went with my mum, sister, brother in law, Karen ( sister’s friend) and our range of children – oldest 9 years, youngest 2 years. Swimming is very much a given to our children, since the day they were born ( well almost) my boys have shared a wonderful Sunday morning ritual with their cousins. Sunday is our morning where we all congregate in the local pool, my mum and Mike included. Mike has been an integral part of my boys swimming achievements. Not only has he infinite amounts of patience ( of which I don’t possess when it comes to my children) but he is an extremely strong swimmer. He has been instrumental in both the boys being so confident in the water. Thanks Mike x

Roller skating was great, JT started off very wobbly and spent most of the first 15 minutes on the floor or making his way there from standing. After the 2 hour session he was creating some funky moves whilst moving along on the skates and made me want to burst with pride for him.

Wednesday was a very memorable day for JT. Jamie ( his best friend) , Hayley, or Mrs Ayres as those who have read Birthday Bonanza post will know her as, myself and JT all went to Plymouth’s Theatre Royal to watch an evening performance of Goodnight Mr Tom. What a wonderful afternoon / evening. Took the boys to have a pre theatre meal before enjoying a very emotional and thought provoking play. Hayley and I were in tears at various points throughout and JT seemed to grasp the story well and was moved by it. The best part from his point of view was spending time with his best friend and being “ a grown up” Love him x  http://www.goodnightmistertom.co.uk/

Thursday saw Mr T taking a day off work to spend time with the boys and we had a fairly lazy morning at home where pens and paper were exhausted and the cardboard TV came into use again. Geocaching was the name of the game in the afternoon, we decided to start close to home at Kilkhampton Castle but unfortunately found no cache, boys loved it though and I must admit to liking the fact that it gave the walk some added purpose ( calling it a treasure hunt got the boy’s interest also!). http://www.geocaching.com/   Don't you think the tree looks like a face??

Friday was the day earmarked for Geocaching with friends, Avril, Jane, Toshi and Suzanne were there at the ready with GPS phones and in total 12 children were present. We decided to head to Holsworthy Woods as there were 4 caches and a bonus one to find, thought we would work our way round and see how far we got. Well, we missed cache 1, I believe that was due to the mum’s chatting too much to notice, whilst cache 2 proved too much. Who would have thought that the determined nature of us mum’s enabled us to continue searching for up to 45 minutes whilst the children played wolves, cowboys and whatever else they needed to do to keep themselves amused while we could not and would not give up! Rain stopped play after about 2 hours of being there, the boys were head to toe covered in clay/mud and we felt it was time to call it quits at that point. The children loved just running wild in the woods with each other and at points it was very reminiscent of the wild rumpus that ensues in Where The Wild Things Are.

I’m sure that’s why I chose to watch that DVD in the afternoon, we were all warm and dry now and all 3 of us snuggled under a blanket and watched Max and his very own wild rumpus. JT and I were in tears at the end when he left on the boat but I love a good cry – don’t you?

That in a nutshell was a wonderful half term, spent with friends and family, enjoying each other’s company and feeling like I get to know JT again. School seems to distance him slightly from us, it doesn’t take long for the wonderful, inquisitive, engaging boy to return and I so enjoy the time we have together. Both boys fill me with love and pride.