Buggery Bollocks

Arse!  How tardy have I been in keeping this blog up to date?  This is definitely the longest I have gone without any entries, sorry to what few readers I may have left.  I shall now try to rectify the situation and do quick update of what I have been up to since my return from the god-forsaken hellhole that is Butlins.

Saturday (12th): No running today, decided to have a day off as tomorrow on Sunday I planned to do an 8-miler (my longest distance yet).  Did do a few more house viewings but haven't really seen anything to better the house we found in Rowde.

Sunday: Today was the big day, eight mile run planned as part of my preparation for the 10-mile race at the end of the month.  Was really looking forward to it and it went surprisingly well.  Bit pissed off though as went to put the Garmin on and found the battery to be totally flat.  Not surprising really as I haven't charged it in days but this week I had planned to do a 'Marathon in One Week' as part of my training challenge and seeing as I can't log the eight mile run, the possibility of logging 26 miles ain't happening! Thankfully the route was all on-road so I was able to map it using the computer software and it reckons the route was 8.2 miles so I'm happy.  Did it in around 1:15 so the pace is pretty consistent at around 9-minute miles.

Today we also had a little BBQ party for Son One who turns three tomorrow - the time has flown by, can't believe my little boy starts school next year!

Monday: Did think about doing a shorter recover run today but thought better of it and actually did my five mile route in 48 minutes so pretty pleased that I had strength in my legs after yesterday's longer run.  I can definitely feel that increasing my running is starting to turn me into a stronger run; I guess if you want to get better at something the answer is to do more of it.

Tuesday: Did a 10k on / off road with the club tonight. Really like our Tuesday runs as we always seem to manage to go somewhere I have never been before and I have found lots of new off-road runs as a result.  Running time was around 57 minutes which is a bit slower than I would normally do but they are a bit of a stop-start affair.  Really glad I took the plunge all those weeks ago and joined the running club as it does make a nice change to run with other people and they are all really nice and friendly.

Wednesday: Did a version of last night's run today and because of that it came in around 8k.  Still, considering I set off at 5.30am in order to get the run in before Other Half has to go to work, I don't think 8k is too bad at all. 

Other good news today was the gaining of my 3.5 stone certificate from Slimming World as tonight was a 1.5 pound loss.  I am really surprised at this as I have not been watching what I have eaten for the last couple of weeks at all, I can only attribute the loss to the increase in my exercise. regime.

Thursday: Quick 5k first thing this morning and then interval training at the club in the evening.  Tonight was possibly my most favourite of all the intervals we have done.  Basically we started in a line and when the trainer said go we had to run as fast as possible up the hill; when he shouted stop we had to turn back round and jog back to the start.  However, we didn't always get back to the beginning (depending on how far we had got on the way out) so as soon as he shouted start again we had turn round from wherever we were and then run as fast as we could until he shouted stop once again.  Rinse and repeat for 10 minutes, we then had a 2 minute rest and then another 10 minutes of effort.  I love these shorter efforts, I do surprisingly have a quick turn of speed (I left approximately half the field standing) but lack of stamina means I fade if I keep the speed up for too long.  However, I am definitely starting to reap the benefit of the intervals, my legs and breathing are far stronger than they were even only a matter of a few weeks ago.

Friday: Another 8k loop again this morning.  Whilst getting up at 5.30am for a run is a bit of a pisser, it really does set me up for the day and it's great knowing that I have got my exercise out of the way.  Not sure I could face doing that sort of run after work.  The only downside is that sometimes I do feel a bit dehydrated first thing but I have yet to run with a water bottle.  Maybe it's something I need to get used to doing?

Saturday:  Rest day again as tomorrow I have a 9-mile run planned.  Went to see a couple more houses but once again the one in Rowde is the one that stands out.  The only trouble with it is that it is very over-priced so, whilst we have agreed to make an offer on it, I'm not sure how well it will be received as it is £14k below the asking price.  Time will tell ....

Sunday:  9-mile run today!  Was surprisingly looking forward to it, decided to do the first part the same as last week's long run and was very pleased with myself that I managed to dig deep and run the whole hill that defeated me last week.  In fact, throughout the whole run I felt surprisingly strong and I managed to complete the 9 miles in 1 hour 22 minutes so keeping a really good average pace.  The most pleasing thing is that I did not tail off and managed to do the last three miles at the same pace as the first three miles.  Really psyched up for next week's race now, doing the distance shouldn't hopefully post too much of a problem.  My aim is to do it in under 1:30 hours although I know there is at least one long stinky hill (by the Caen Locks) and goodness knows what else there is.  Still, I hope to keep a good pace and do myself proud.

Today we also attended a Staffordshire Bull Terrier meet in Chippenham organised by a Facebook group I belong to.  It was a lovely couple of hours and over 20 staffies were there; not surprisingly other dog walkers gave us a very wide berth.  It was great meeting other dogs I have only ever seen in photos and I was so proud of how well behaved Rommel was.  We managed to let him have a good run around with some of the other dogs and he loved it.  Sunday night we had one very tired boy!

Monday: Short 5k recovery run this morning although, if my Garmin is to be believed, the fastest I have ever run it as I came in at 27:27.  However, I did take Rommel with me and as I had to stop and start so many times (in order to let him catch up) I'm not sure how accurate that time is (although I do have my Garmin set on autopause so that it stops recording if I stop moving).  This is definitely the last time I take Rommel with me, he clearly doesn't enjoy the run, think I go to fast for him nowadays. 

On other news, our offer of £151k for the house has been refused although it was not a flat-out quick refusal which, considering the house is on for £165k I would have thought it would have been.  We have spent the whole weekend debating on what to do, we have been told the owners would probably settle on £155k but I don't think the house is worth that.  Now have to decide what our next step is to be ... currently debating on offering £153k as a take it or leave it final offer and seeing what happens.  Think I might be making that call tomorrow...