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

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

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