Ok, time to fess up....

Right, well, the reason for my long silence before yesterday's Alpine excitement is that I basically had a week that can only be described as shamefully lazy and beerful.

I was in an utter stomp at not having lost a single pound and, in fact, having put a couple on after my mammoth efforts on the running and climbing fronts the week before. Humph!

Still, all it took was a weekend sorting out my garden to get me back into form and some very encouraging words from forum members on my favourite sites: Trail and the Fell Runner Association.

So, I've decided that I'm focusing on the wrong things here. I've locked my scales in a cupboard and will resist those utterly demoralising monsters for now. Instead, I'm going to focus on building up my fitness and concentrate on more relevant goals like my resting heart rate. I'm also going to work harder on my running and climbing - the things that really keep me in shape for mountain exploits.

So, I ran 2.5 miles on Monday night and 3 last night. I'm horrified at how quickly I've lost some of my form and am resolute to get back to being able to do 5 miles in an hour as quickly as possible.

Tonight is climbing night so fingers crossed I won't have gone too far back on that in the two weeks since I last went.

Moral of the story - when you feel demoralised, maybe it's because you're setting the wrong goals. Have a think about what your REAL motivation is and re-align your goals accordingly.

Flea on a hot brick...

Ooooh oooh oooh..... I'm aiming for my FIRST EVER ALP this weekend - Wooo hooo!!!!! The plan is to head up Mont Saleve, a 1380m beast near Geneva.

Woo hoo!!! They tell me you can see Mont Blanc from the top too.... Woo hoo....

I'm clearly too excited to talk sense, so to give you some measure of how excited I am, here's me jumping around like a flea on a hot brick!



Woopeee doooo!!!!!!!!

I'm gettin' fitter, I'm gettin' fitter, la la la la la la la....

Woooo Hoooooo!!!! Resting heart rate has come down 10 beats a minute since Jan.

Grrrr.....

Went for a three mile run last night, but that evil little pound just refuses to budge! How irritating is that???

Tried interval training for the first time and all I can say is OUCH!!!!! Legs turned to jelly almost immediately... Think I'll have to ease myself into that one slowly.

Climbing tonight - can't wait!

Feelling sparky...

Way hey hey... Did my first hour long run last night. Really chuffed with myself!

That said, I only covered about 4.8 miles, which will give you some measure of how slowly I was going. But, I managed a sprint finish and reckon I could have kept going for at least another mile before collapsing and dying. Feeling a bit more confident about the Edinburgh 10k now.

It seems that I'm pretty OK when it comes to hills - good news for the fell run in October!

I've also learnt how important "form" is. Little things like a bad night's sleep, a pint too many or the wrong foods can really impact how well I run. Interesting to see the effects of not taking better care of myself made so abundantly clear.

I'm determined to get into good fell-running form for October though and feasting on a breakfast of strawberries, blueberries and black currant Muller Light makes "good form" impossible to resist. I'll be addicted to running before long, especially if it means I can get more peaks into a mountain day.

Can't wait to test out this improved fitness on some of what the Lakes has to offer over Easter - only 4 weeks away now!

Wk 14 - Glamping!

Wow! Week 14 already.

Been out on the first camping weekend of the year. Went down to the South Downs. Had fabulous weather and loved every minute of it. Here's the vid:

(Ok, I'm a muppet with the camera sometimes!)

Spring in my step

Full of beans this morning! Skipped off the train and into work. Had a big bowl of porridge with luscious, big, crimson strawberries – aarrghghaharrerghhghahaahh……

Got Pink Floyd on the brain. Aaaah – driving my colleagues bonkers with the same two lines over and over again.

Sun’s out, springs on the way and I'm back down to my lowest weight on the Trail programme so far.

Things are on the up and up...
x

Ticking along nicely

Went for a three mile run last night. Took me just over 30 minutes. Delighted to say that it's getting easier and easier so I'm probably doing it at a lower intensity (50-60%) than before. So, I think it's time to crack out the heart rate monitor again and take a look at how I'm doing against my goals. That'll be my job for Thursday evening then.

LOVE the new trail running shoes!! Bought me a pair of Salomon Women's XA Pro 3D XCR. What a pair of beauties!! I'll have to start building in hills now that I've got these bad boys to get me up and down them.



Still on the weight plateau, but I'm determined to beat it so fingers crossed that my new trainers will be the kick up the backside that I need.

Dan's also promised me pampering treats if I can get into my super skinny jeans by the end of April. :)

Wk 12 - Bristly Ridge/Glyder Fach Vid

Sunny start

Feeling fantastic this morning. The sun's out, I've slept like a baby and just had the sweetest peach for breakfast - days don't start much better than that.

Had one of my best climbing sessions so far last night. Managed to get up some Grade 5s so was well chuffed with myself. Of course, these weren't very elegant escapades, but at least I got to the top! It was brilliant fun. Climbing is totally the Dog's danglers. I'd love to get my teeth into some outdoor rocks now that the weather is cheering up a bit.

I've also taken my belt in another hole this morning, which I'm well chuffed about so things are all still very positive despite not really shedding many pounds. I'm still stuck on a bit of a plateau, but I'm definitely stronger, fitter and slimmer so I'm not too worried out it yet.

Bring on the weekend!