Saturday 26 March 2016

The Alphabet according to the ZERO’s



A very enthusiastic bunch started on a very special journey
Becoming HERO’s was our mission
Cautiously we approached our first 5k target
Despite some early injuries
Everyone kept on smiling
Following our training plans
Guided by our mentors
Hills were not our friends
In time we started to improve
Just keep going we told ourselves
Kilometer after kilometer
Long runs just got longer
May loomed closer
Nobody felt ready
Of course we can do this
Power to the ZEROS
Quick ones, slow ones
Running is our thing now
So as we approach our final hurdles
Think about how far we have come
Understand the effort that has been made
Victory is close
We stand together
Xpect the unexpected (sorry)
Yes we CAN do this

ZERO’s lets be HERO’S

Sunday 20 March 2016

Week Forty One – Welcome to Sufferlandria!


When my alarm clock went off at 6 am this morning Facebook reliable informed me it was the first day of Spring. A quick look outside the window confirms yes, it is light, the birds are singing, the lambs are bleating (incredibly loudly), it is spring, which means only one thing right – I am off for a ……. Gym session! Sigh.



There is something incredibly energising about getting up to go for a run with friends, skulking into the gym dragging one leg behind me does not feel quite so good especially when 3 hours of cardio is on the table!

Anyway needs must so despite a few yawns I head up to the spin studio and saddle up (still minus spin shoes I might add) ready for 2 hours of Sufferfest. To be fair it wasn’t as bad as it could have been and for once I wasn’t the only person mad enough to be in there. The 60 minutes on the cross trainer that followed was a whole lot worse. At least when you run there’s fresh air, people to chat too and the scenery changes. My scenery changed from an empty squash court, to a couple of old blokes playing squash, then back to empty again – I am still not sure what was worse!

One things for sure though this isn’t going to beat me, if I can endure the mind numbing boredom of three hours in the gym I can run a marathon right??

Here’s hoping!


Amanda

Sunday 13 March 2016

Week Forty – Nobody Said it was Easy!

How can you have week forty without week thirty-nine I hear you ask? Well if I could erase week thirty-nine then maybe I would, it was the week of let’s face facts and it was all a little too raw to write about so, I saved you all the grief and I saved my laptop from certain water damage too.

For anyone out there that hasn’t had the misfortune to cross paths with me over the last week or so, I am injured, currently not running and not looking likely that I will make ‘The Big One’. It appears one stress fracture wasn’t enough and that the femur would be the preferred location this time around, opposite leg too of course! I am waiting on an official diagnosis after X-ray so there is always a teeny glimmer of hope that it’s something else with a much shorter recovery time but for now it seems I am bedding down for the long haul of stress fracture recovery.

If I was a bit more tech savvy I would at this moment cue Coldplay’s ‘Nobody said it was easy’ and weep a little more as I consider that no, nobody did say it was easy but I didn’t for one second consider that it was going to be this hard and I am most definitely going back to the start!

Over the last week I have seen some amazing photos of many fellow zero’s taking part in the MK Festival of Running, Wimbledon and Silverstone half marathons and the much missed RR Sunday Run, the grit, the determination and most importantly the smiles and I want in on this! If there is one tiny bit of hope that I will be with you all in May I am going to do everything I can to make it happen. For me this means hitting the gym, keeping up my cardio and if I can get running in time, slowing the pace and enjoying the journey.

To continue my musical compilation, we’ll have D:Ream ‘Things can only get better’ and finish off with chumbawamba ‘Tubthumping’ (I get knocked down).  For now, this is my scenery (it’s enough to make even the dreaded Caldecotte lake look appealing), give me a wave if you see me!




Happy running folks, enjoy the peace. I WILL be back!


Amanda




Saturday 27 February 2016

Week Thirty Eight - Just Keep Swimming!

There’s a real problem with this weekly blog writing shenanigan (and it’s not just the fact I had to google how to spell shenanigan)! When things are good we can celebrate, you all have to endure sweaty pictures of me looking happy as I cross some finish line or other. When things are tough the motivational quotes come out to play and you’re supposed to get to the last line buzzing with a new sense of enthusiasm (that’s the plan anyway)! When I have had too much to drink on a Friday night all you get is a picture as I am too hungover to type (cue the Redway Runners Christmas Party week) and when I am feeling soppy, tweedle gets a love song!

So what happens when the chips are really down, when I want to curl into a ball, stay under the duvet and eat more than just one family grab bag of peanut M&M’s? I wasn’t going to blog today, despite subjecting you all to my incessant babble week after week I like to think I am a fairly private person, so I won’t lay bare the facts (you can save those tiny violins for the morning after marathon day when I plan to whine with the best of them about every tiny twinge), but not doing what I set out to do just because things get tough is a slippery slope to failure.


There is no doubt in my mind that some severe mental strength is going to be needed come marathon day and maybe even more so in these last few weeks leading up to it. So whilst the rest of my Saturday is probably going to be spent with my head under a duvet calmly pretending it wasn’t just me that ate all those M&M’s, tomorrow I will be back on the road, getting the miles done and feeling good!


Sunday 21 February 2016

Week Thirty Seven – Don’t Quit!

This week has been a toughie, after last Sunday’s twenty miles left me buzzing with a new sense of “I can totally do this” the rest of the week the followed was somewhat less than enthusiastic.

An aborted recovery run Monday and very little running to follow for the rest of the week has made me have to come to terms with the fact that actually I am not invincible (I am truly gutted at this discovery)! I hurt, in places I didn’t even know existed, I miss my partner in crime who’s got far to used to staying in bed on a Sunday morning under the pretence of an injury (I am joking tweedle don’t punch me) and it’s all starting to take it’s toll (get the tissues out)!

Alas, let’s remember why I am here, what I am determined to achieve and how far I have come with such an amazing bunch of total nutters! Us Zero’s are in this together and when the going gets tough we won’t give up, we’ll just fight harder!



When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road you're trudging seems all uphill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest, if you must, but don't you quit.

Life is queer with its twists and turns,
As every one of us sometimes learns,
And many a failure turns about,
When he might have won had he stuck it out;
Don't give up though the pace seems slow--
You may succeed with another blow.

Often the goal is nearer than,
It seems to a faint and faltering man,
Often the struggler has given up,
When he might have captured the victor's cup,
And he learned too late when the night slipped down,
How close he was to the golden crown.

Success is failure turned inside out-- 
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt, 
And you never can tell how close you are, 
It may be near when it seems so far, 
So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit-- 
It's when things seem worst that you must not quit.

(Author Unknown, but it definitely wasn’t me)!

Amanda

Saturday 13 February 2016

Week Thirty Six – What Am I Thinking?!?

Sometimes when things are going well, but more often when they’re not I find myself wondering why I am doing all this, usually with a large groan and exclaiming “what am I thinking?!?”! Well you’re in for a treat this week folks, here’s what I’m thinking …….

Oh crap it can’t be Saturday again already
I haven’t written my blog yet
I really don’t have anything to say
I’ve exhausted all options
Haha oh yes it’s Saturday
I’m glad I’m not at XC
It looked hilly and muddy
OK and a little bit fun
But at least I will be fresh for tomorrow
Which I think is also going to be hilly
It’s the MK Dons Run
I haven’t done that one in ages
It was our first ever 90 minute run
How things have changed
We laughed at the madness of people running beforehand
That will be us tomorrow
At least we’ve learned how to get our socks on the right feet now
I think it might be my longest ever run
We’ve all come along way
36 weeks of training
Only 11 more to go
11 more blogs
Not long to convince people I am genuinely not insane
I think it’s too late
They all know the truth
Best run!
With love (as it’s nearly Valentines)

Amanda


Saturday 6 February 2016

Week Thirty Five – Every Second Counts

This week was ‘Rest Week’ and after the disasters of last week it was almost welcome and I think, very much needed. I am pretty sure however, if we turned back time a year there is no way I would ever have considered two nine mile runs a rest, how things have changed!

I managed to share one of my restful runs with my comedy counterpart Tweedle, we set the world to rights whilst encompassing two laps of the Monday club run route getting round the first in daylight, a sure sign that spring is on the way! We followed our run with dinner out of a costa coffee cup, an oversized tea and a brilliant Marathon Clinic, we know how to live it up!

Lots of things have kept me away from Parkrun since I last took part in August, a broken foot, lack of childcare, long Sunday runs and actually the fact I don’t like running 5K as fast as I can (yes I am aware I don’t have to run as fast as I can but I am yet to actually pull this off once I get over the start line)! So with a planned lay in tomorrow (the last I expect until May) I decided to brave it!

Conditions would be best described by a five letter word starting with M but as I can’t bring myself to use it let’s just say it was wet, windy and generally pretty grim. After a gentle warm up (tweedle will be so proud) we got down to business with the ‘main event’. Within the first mile I remembered how much I hate the feeling of running hard but managed to remember something Faith had said to be as I was leaving, it’s easy Mummy, just one, two, three and then DONE. This circled round and round in my head as I tried to make my legs carry me along the side of Willen Lake which had decided to imitate the world’s greatest wind tunnel! I stumbled over the finish line with a watch that said PB by 1 second, alas Parkrun had other ideas and according to their clock I was 5 seconds off my PB from August!



Next time Parkrun ….. I’m coming to get you!!

Amanda


Saturday 30 January 2016

Week Thirty Four – Water Water Everywhere ……..

Christmas has long since been and gone, the last of the quality street have been devoured (yes even the coconut ones, I was desperate) and the serious training is now well underway with the mileage really ramping up.

My last two long runs have both been in excess of 2.5 hours, which leads me to wonder what else I could have done with my time and if I would have taken on fluids.
In 2.5 hours I can:

Drive from my house in Yardley Gobion to my old house in Essex and back again. Driving long journeys always requires multiple coffee stops (or tea in my case) and journey sweets accompanied by cries of “are we nearly there yet” (cue the final few miles last week’s Sunday run)

Listen to Justin Bieber’s ‘Love Yourself’ on repeat 34 times. Should you choose to do this (and I don’t recommend you do) you would certainly need a drink and somehow I don’t think water would cut it!

And if the Daily Mail is to be believed (again not something widely recommended) Virgin is busy building a galactic space craft that will fly from London to Sydney in 2.5 hours. I am fairly sure if this one ever comes off there will be drinks flowing!

The point being there aren’t many things you’d do without taking on fluids yet still I turned out last Sunday, ran 17.5 miles and didn’t think to take any water. Am I invincible (er no), was I starting to hallucinate envisaging ways to steal other people’s water? (er yes, sorry), will I take water this week? (hell yes).


After a bit of a demotivating week, putting a bit too much pressure on myself and my body I am hoping to remember why I have come to love running this Sunday with a nice easy paced long run sporting the new addition to my running wardrobe. Whether it’s full of water or I am on loop 33 of Justin Bieber and have hit the hard stuff is between me and the Camelbak!


Saturday 23 January 2016

Week Thirty Three – Sometimes you just do things!

So I read a Runners World article this week which highlighted the importance of keeping a training log. Smug face, straight to the top of the class she thinks …. Nope crashing straight back down to reality when it went on to say that pen and paper no longer has a place, and, whilst I totally disagree (I very much enjoy doodling in my journal), I decided I should get myself on Strava too so I can remain “down with the kids”. So far I don’t really get it, you can all see how far, how fast and who I have run with, what shoes I wore and how many times I stopped to wee in a bush! And, if you want to steal my oh so un-sexy earmuffs you can probably work out where I live and follow me home too!



This week I finished reading Scott Jurek’s ‘Eat & Run’. This guy is never going to win me over with his vegan diet, I like a rare steak more than I like a run BUT his approach to running, challenging your body and overcoming the impossible is certainly not to be sniffed at. Throughout his book Scott revisits a phrase spoken often by his dad “Sometimes you just do things” and this really stuck with me this week. Why did I get up and run 16 miles in the snow on Sunday morning? Why did my alarm go off at 5am on Wednesday morning for me to run when it was -5 outside? Why was I running mile repeats round Willen Lake on Thursday evening when I had poorly small people at home? Why? Because sometimes we just do things, sometimes we want the end result more than we ever imagined and sometimes we are prepared above all else to put the time in when it counts the most!


I have had some awesome runs this week with some amazing support. I couldn’t do this without some of you, long may it continue! 


Amanda

Saturday 16 January 2016

Week Thirty Two - Let’s Get Serious!

So, the gloves are off (well, in fact it’s quite the opposite, they are most definitely on, along with the hat, thermals and the double socks, as the cold weather has definitely arrived) but figuratively speaking the hard work has really started this week.

Sunday was my first long run since before Christmas and was amazing to see so many runners in green. I still can’t really believe I am voluntarily up and out of the house before 8am to do ‘early club’ and squeeze a few extra miles in before the main run!

The Zero’s were in for a real treat this week as we gathered like penguins on a cold Wednesday evening learning plenty of new techniques to help with our training. My particular favourite of course involved food, Pringles, and BBQ ones at that! Carrying the delicious snack in your hands whilst sprinting and trying not to tense up and crush it takes some effort, I think I need to practise more, luckily they are on offer at Tesco’s!



I managed two good tempo runs this week, finishing up with an introduction to Friday club. Yes, OK I did have to be massively persuaded to go along and I bailed out at the one-hour option but I will definitely go back for more!


This week I am feeling really positive about the challenge ahead and as I sit with my feet up and a good old Disney film I am looking forward to tomorrows Sunday run which hopefully will be my longest run yet!! 

Amanda 

Saturday 9 January 2016

Week Thirty One – Welcome to 2016, the year of the Zero’s!

So after a few weeks off, it’s January 2016 and much has occurred since the Zero’s conquered the MK Winter Half. Many, many (tins of) Quality Street have been consumed, far too many wine bottles have been emptied and I have successfully seen in the New Year Skiing in Andorra without breaking any bones!

Despite the best of intentions I only managed one very short run whilst out on holiday. The hills and the mountain air made for a tough affair but still, it’s a nice record to have on the Garmin!



I hit the ground running Monday evening with the club run followed by Stuart’s interval session on Thursday. “Long Hills” should hereby be renamed as “Long and painful, make you want to cry hills”, my face was not a pretty sight (I know this no change from the norm). Remind me to be washing my hair the next time that one rolls round!

I finished off my running week reunited with my old friend Tweedle. Thank goodness for Facebook or we may not have survived being parted for a whole 2 weeks! What better way to spend a Saturday morning than 7 miles round Caldecotte in the pouring rain! At least we blagged a free muffin in the pub afterwards making it all worthwhile!

There’s no doubt that the next few months are going to be tough, I’ve seen the mileage increasing on my training plan to levels I never thought possible but having come this far there’s no way I am stopping now. Bring it on!!



Amanda