Day 79: toe.

Once Sunday's elation started to fade away, I realised that the long run had done very bad things to one my toes... Red, sore and rather swollen :( So much so that this morning's jog was out of the question. And now, starts the holiday season, so I don't expect there will be much training, or many entries in this blog. I will, instead, enjoy a perfectly lazy and indulgent Christmas :)

To all of you, happy holiday!!!

Day 77: WE RUN A HALF MARATHON TODAY!!! :D

Well, we got to that stage of the Shelter marathon training programme where we were scheduled to try our first half marathon (13.1 miles, a little more than 21 Km), and we did it! But the best of the best of the best today is that we did it in 1 hour and 54 minutes, which is already (3 months before the Bath Half) way less than 2 hours. I am so proud of us, and this is such a great, positive thing to have achieved before the holiday season. I am now totally ready to enjoy a perfect Christmas, or at least almost ready (as I have a job interview to go to tomorrow - the last hurdle :)

Take a look at the route we chose today, and also at our faces when we reached the Kew Gardens railway bridge :) We were really lucky with the weather, slightly overcast and mild, neither too hot nor too cold, with no rain and no blazing sun (not that that was going to happen in London on day 1 of winter, mind you).

The route is a good one because once you have passed the tourists already crowding the Westminster area, you get to go through Battersea Park, Wandsworth Park, and to end along pleasant Putney. Our only lo-light for this journey was a rather grim and depressing chunk of Battersea, which has blocked access to the river walks and lots of construction sites.

No need to add that we are now stuck to our respective chairs and unable to move, coach Stephen with a sore Achilles tendon, and me with knees that simply refuse to bend :) Bring on the holiday!!!

Today's short run

Dec 21 at EveryTrail

Map created by EveryTrail:GPS Geotagging

A mere 13.11 miles, according to the tracker on my iPhone.

Victory!!!

The best coach. Yes, Sir.

Victory!

All the way from Wapping to Putney and beyond!

And now there's a dot on (almost) every continent!

And here's to Laura, for accessing this page from her home country, Argentina. Thank you honey -- hope you are enjoying the family holiday.

And now, if any of you friends ever goes to a research station in Antarctica, remember to log in :)

A dot in one more continent -- yay!

I'm rather fond of the little widget on this page showing where people who read the blog are, and now I have a dot on Africa, thanks to jet-setting, wine-loving, chess-playing Masha...

Day 72: MI-6 smells of fish.

Excuse me if I say so myself, but this morning I think I am rather awesome, in a hard-core running sort of way :) I completed the first 1.5 hour run I had to do on my own, and it felt rather good, considering how tough Sunday's efforts were and how little time I'd had to recover. I completed it at a slower but comfortable and consistent pace, and the whole thing was roughly 14 Km long / about 8.75 miles.

I would really recommend this route, by the way: North Bank from Tower Hill and all the way to Vauxhall Bridge, run past the MI-6 office (where the river smells of fish -- rather like a sea shore), and then the South Bank all the way back to Tower Hill. I had to extend the run into town as that only took me 1.25 hours, so I pushed it into Wapping until I reached the usual park.

London is mighty fine in the morning, and the South Bank currently boasts the small wooden huts of a German Xmas market, as well as some very funky decorative lights made of traffic cones containing blue neon light and suspended into trees. It's really worth a look.

I didn't push it very hard, but I did run all the way, and it was great considering that for a moment, as I had fallen back asleep for an extra hour after the alarm rang, I thought I would skip this session altogether. So, I believe I totally deserved the big chocolate brownie I scoffed down for breakfast when I got back :)

And as I was jogging back, I had the company of Arnaud on the phone, which got me some puzzled looks from fellow runners (probably wondering if I was one of these weirdos who can never let go of their mobile...!).

Day 71: ouch. But yay! But ouch, though.

So, this Sunday we undertook our second 1.5 hour run, and managed a brilliant 11.5 miles (roughly over 18 Km -- Stephen, isn't this actually more than we did last Sunday???). I have to admit that it was dire, though. Tougher than the last time, not so much physically than emotionally, somehow.

We were fast, very fast in the first half, so much so that when coach Stephen told me "yay, we're halfway already", I almost cried (as I felt like we were 2/3 of the way there already).

It took some slowing down in the second half to a) get rid of a very painful stitch on the side of my neck (why???) and b) manage to complete the run. But it got done! I got rather emotional shortly after the run, and not in a very pretty way I'm afraid. It took some reassuring and a long warm bath to make me realize just how awesome we are. I can clearly see (now that I'm not wondering anymore if my legs are still there) that pushing hard on the first half was a great exercise to build up some strength.

Today, our light jog felt like running with a wooden leg (or so I imagine how running with a wooden leg would be). And tomorrow we are supposed to run yet another 1.5 hour. The question is: at 5 am and just 48 hours after another long run, will we have the willpower????

Another long one

GPS does not like canals that go under bridges amongst tall buildings on cloudy days. So I had to draw this one by hand:

at EveryTrail

Map created by EveryTrail:GPS Geotagging

Day 67: better.

This morning's interval training felt better than this Tuesday's. A bit more of a healthy bounce in my legs, and the ability to breathe more comfortably somehow, which allowed me to look in front of me as opposed to staring at my feet in bewilderment :) I also found that giving myself a goalpost (such as a specific tree or bench) helps me focus and understand how I'm doing on the longer sprints (the damned 75 sec ones).

Nothing more to declare today.

Day 66: entering winter mode

Yesterday I just felt like I was ploughing through my interval training -- it is becoming increasing difficult to get up in the morning, with the Xmas season having started and a general slowing-down of the pace of life around me. As we started our 20 min jog today, for the second time this week it felt like staying in the warm bed would have been so much better :) Yet this morning's jog was fast and energising, and what counts is that we are sticking to this!

I'm also rather glad that my appetite seems to be in control again and that I appear to have found a certain balance and not to overcompensate all the time anymore.

My mood tends to shift a little bit these days, and as I am entering some kind of hibernating mode (I just want a nice, cosy holiday, mince pies and a cup of tea under the blanket!) I sometimes feel a tad daunted by the weeks to come, as the match between increased run durations and the need to just sit down like a vegetable in front of the telly does not, at first sight, appear to have been made in heaven...

Day 64: Santa beat running

Oh well, you can make an exception to a training programme sometimes, right? Yesterday, as I lay on the bed with a firm intention to read a few pages of Terry Pratchett's Making Money and to relax for an hour or so before the hard 90-min run that was on schedule, I slowly drifted off... and woke up an hour later, tucked deep under the duvet after a full-on nap. By then, the sun was already setting, it would have been a long run in the dark, coach Stephen was as lazy as I was, and we had a tree to decorate, stollen slices to taste and Sauternes to drink. So we decided we would not fail our duty to the Christmas spirit, and this time, just this once, we skipped a run. That was a brilliant idea! :)

Today, back to the programme with our usual Monday jog (30 min), and a very, very lazy feeling all round. Another week starts...

Day 62: well-deserved Saturday rest

Well, I haven't posted to this blog for a couple of days so I'll start by logging the last two training sessions: some interval training on Thursday ((75 sec sprint + 3 min walk + 60 sec sprint + 3 min walk + 30 sec sprint + 2 min walk) x 4), and a light 25 min jog yesterday. All's going well on that front, and the week has basically felt like a few days of recovery from the effort of last Sunday... which, incidentally, we have to go through again tomorrow. But enough of that: on to my Saturday treats!!!

French Routes!

Here they are, a little convoluted though they may be ...

Nov 30:
Nov 30 - 90 min run at EveryTrail

Map created by EveryTrail:GPS Geotagging

Dec 1:
December 1st - jogging at EveryTrail

Map created by EveryTrail:GPS Geotagging

Dec 2:
Dec 2: A 75 minute Fartlek at EveryTrail

Map created by EveryTrail:GPS Geotagging

Day 59: not holiday, but on ice.

10 min jog, then 10 min run, then 15 min jog, in the cold cold morning air, and on ice today! Call me mad, but it's quite sweet actually, because it means xmas is on its way :o) We were, however, still stiff from this weekends efforts...

Strangely wailing chickens

Day 58: running with Bambi

Aaaah, the country looks mighty fine today. We are just back from a good 75 min Fartlek session around the village of St Bris des Bois, through the old land of my great uncle (where we saw three deer!), pass a medieval church, and round (and round) a pond... It's cold and there were some patches of frost, but it was nice to see bits of mist still lingering here and there, and the sun is glorious in a cloudless sky. On top of which, coach Stephen got a chance to marvel at some weird-looking and strangely-wailing chickens......

Running really gets you to appreciate the small things, tenfold: a long warm shower, sitting down at last (ouch), lying there reading and not doing much more, and of course appreciating mum-made cuisine to the full....

Day 57: sore and stiff

Today we are really feeling the effects of yesterday's efforts! The 35 min jog got us to loosen our limbs a bit, and so did a nice walk on the beach this afternoon. I'll add that it's brilliant to not work on a Monday!!! :)

Day 56: and yet another longest run ever!!!

Today we run a staggering 90 min, with lots of uphills, and covered a total of 10.49 miles, 16.8 Km!!! I am so, so proud of us, so chuffed, and oh-so sore... It's very enjoyable to run in a new setting, with lots of fresh air, dead-quiet country roads, woodland on each side, little hamlets, and fairly good weather (good for a run at least: cool, and dry up until the last third, when rain was refreshing and thus welcome).

To top it all up, we were greeted at home by a wonderful slap-up meal (including home-made foie gras and a lovely bottle of Loupiac) and some gifts for a very early holiday celebration. And we've been dozing since then... Niiiice.

I would write lots more but the 'azerty' keboard is a bloody nightmare to use now, so I will just say this: it was a very hard run, and for the last 20 min I had no thoughts left (except 5 min of a nasty little internal voice repeating the word 'walk' in a seductive and sultry tone); I also went through a time when I wasn't sure my legs were still there...

On holiday

So we're off in France. GPS seems functional here, but I can't really post our routes until we return.

Instead, here's Karen stretching.

Day 53: 75 minutes!!!

75 min run: our longest since we started the programme -- done. Phew! Today coach Stephen set the bar very high by managing to get out of bed and run the whole thing with a hangover and less than 5 hours of sleep: there's no me canceling a run for a headache or a runny nose for sure!!! :) How's that for determination.

Admittedly though, we were slower than usual -- if the map is to be trusted, we run a little over 6 miles (a little less than 10K, which I managed in 53 min just three weeks ago). But, we did it, and that's what counts: who else was up at 5:20 this morning to run that long?? :)

We had also never run the South Bank that far: we actually run pass the blue-lit trees, the London Eye and the Houses of Parliament... Nice!

Day 52: the dark age

Days have shortened, big style: today we jogged (45 min) and by the time we had reached the Millenium Bridge, the day was not even dawning yet. It was dark. It was also cold, and I was glad to wear three layers of clothing...

I (virtually) unashamedly skipped the personal training session yesterday, and also made the decision to stop these sessions until I've secured my next job, as my contract with Amex is ending soon. It's been six months already!

Day 51: don't start thinking about it or you won't do it

Whoosh, I am feeling rather run down this week, most probably a consequence of the cold-then-hot-then-freezing intervals of Sunday's jog. This morning I just felt like a dumb machine, jogging with that vacuous look on my face for the first 15 minutes, just moving my legs and not uttering a word until I sort-of started to wake up to the world. Still, it's better (by the programme's standards, anyway!) than staying in bed and skipping a session, which was on my mind almost until the minute we left the house... I am also obsessed with food this morning, and desperate to crawl back in my warm bed and soothe my runny nose :o(

Day 50: sniffles...

We did so well yesterday! We sported some brand new (waterproof!) gear for a 1.5 hour jog all the way from Wapping to Islington -- almost 9 miles... I thought we would run under the snow but that turned into frank rain by the time we left the house. We did get really cold on our way back though, what with waiting for buses on their less frequent Sunday schedules... My legs were blue by the time we got home!

Today I am a little sniffly, and I had to go back to bed for a little while after our jog as I felt shivery too.

Slightly dreading Thursday as we are scheduled to run for a full 75 min, which is the first time we will run for so long in one go...

Today, We Jog

A long Sunday jog at EveryTrail

Map created by EveryTrail:GPS Geotagging

Day 47: no more :)

This morning's supposedly-easy 25-min jog was actually rather dire. My legs have had enough! As coach Stephen pointed out, we've been exercising intensely for 6 days straight, 3 of them being either running, interval or extensive Fartlek sessions. So this morning, it was just a struggle to put one foot in front of the other! But no more, no more! Today comes the satisfaction of being done with it, and tomorrow the pleasure of some well-deserved rest. Have a good weekend y'all! K x

Day 46: the toughest bit is done!

That's it: the hardest training session of the week is now behind us -- phew. 75 min of Fartleking takes pretty much everything out of you. This time we did find the access to the Regent's Canal (not massively well signposted: it looked like a case of somebody having rotated the signs for a laugh). The route is very nice, with lots of bridges and locks to set goals for sprints, and quiet -- at that early time of day the swans were still asleep, beak under wing on the water. The one not-so-good thing about it is that it isn't very well lit up, so I wouldn't run there on my own at such times (running under the tunnels is borderline spooky).

How satisfying to be done with the dreaded session of the week! I am exhausted, however I am very much looking forward to Sunday's session, which is longer (90 min) but promises to be more leasurely as we will only be jogging, and hopefully the weather will be dry enough that we can stay wherever we end up and enjoy a lunch somewhere afterwards.

On the general side of things, my legs (and, I believe, coach Stephen's) are dead, and I am really starting to think that signing up for a 9-class yoga course was not a clever idea. In the first phase of the programme I felt it was beneficial to have one day a week where I work on stretches and better breathing, but now with the longer running sessions it is starting to feel like a chore to stay in town until 18:15 for yoga, then be home no earlier than 21:00. I've skipped 2-3 sessions already and I am dangerously close to not attending tonight's, either. It's rather tough to 'surrender into Shavasnah' when all you're thinking is "damn, I'll have to go to bed pretty much as soon as I get home again tonight".

I'll end this post with a very positive note though: one new donation on Just Giving! Thank you Stephen, for this and also for the way you calculated the amount you would give -- it suits your beautifully mathematical mind and my oh-so-slightly-competitive nature.

This morning's Fartlek

As will happen when you run around tall buildings, along canals and under bridges, the GPS is a bit spotty, but hey:

A Big Fartlek at EveryTrail

Map created by EveryTrail:GPS Geotagging

Day 45: dreading tomorrow a bit!

Good interval training session yesterday for about half an hour, and this morning we jogged for one hour, to St Paul's Cathedral, across the Millenium Bridge, and along the South Bank back to Tower Bridge -- which, incidentally, was just being open to let a boat come through, which is quite a grand thing to see when the sun is rising.

I am dreading tomorrow though, as it will most definitely be the hardest day of the week. For a start, we have to wake up much earlier than usual. The plan is for a 75 min Fartlek session -- even longer than the one we had on Sunday... At least I hope that the weather will be more enjoyable (and the view). And to top it all up, I have a yoga session in the evening too, which I don't really want to miss as I've already skipped 2 or 3 in the series. With this, the usual work in the office, preparations for the COP exam, and my now-intensified search for the next job, it all adds up to a fairly hectic day ahead...

Day 43: tough week ahead

This morning the alarm rang that little bit earlier, as the duration of our weekday training sessions have increased (and we still have to go to the office afterwards, right?). So, we managed our 25 min jog - 10 min run (nice and fast towards the end) - 25 min jog. But oh my, we were still rather worn from yesterday's workout!!!

London has got significantly colder than yesterday, yet it is so much more enjoyable to run in today's crisp cold than in yesterday's grim drizzle...

I am somewhat dreading Thursday's 70 min early-morning Fartlek......

Holy Fantastic Fartlek, Batman!

Week Six, Sunday at EveryTrail

Map created by EveryTrail:GPS Geotagging

Day 42: we are rock-hard.

Today coach Stephen and I did a 70 min Fartlek session which was *tough*. The weather was not great -- we had quite a bit of drizzle, at times full-on rain, which made the terrain wet and in places slippery. To top it all up, we actually got lost! We had intended to run along the Regent's Canal to Victoria Park (nice), but managed to take a wrong turn and ended in Limehouse Cut, somewhere between an industrial estate and a Tesco (not nice)... Not the most inspiring of landscape. I also paid dearly for the amount of creamy cake and cheesy pizza I ate last night at Laura's party: I felt so heavy the whole time!

Anyway, what counts is that we made it, and we even jogged a lot longer than planned in the end. We definitely deserved our Sunday roast at the local pub!

And now it should be fun to see how stiff our legs will be tomorrow :) I for one had some rather painful knees towards the end, and Stephen's ankles seem to be playing up a bit.

We are so hard core :)

Day 40, otherwise known as *Friday*

Tough one this morning as the weather was very muggy and we were both tired, stiff and heavy after yesterday's run as well. But, we did manage our planned 30-min run, even though poor Stephen was gasping for air because of his cold. Tomorrow, we lie in!

Week 6, Days 4 & 5

It appears as though the Tower of London has some kind of anti-GPS forcefield.

Yesterday, we started running from Wapping, but the GPS signal did not kick in until well beyond the tower:

Week 6, Day 4 (second half) at EveryTrail

Map created by EveryTrail:GPS Geotagging

This morning, we ended by running around the Tower of London:

Week 6, Day 5 (first half) at EveryTrail

Map created by EveryTrail:GPS Geotagging

I'm going to half to play with the settings to see if I can get something better

Country jogs and runs soon to come

This week my dad sent me a couple of pictures (well actually he sent about 10, but for some reason only 2 made it through) of the countryside surrounding my parents' house, to give me a taste of the landscape we'll be enjoying when Stephen and I spend a few days there soon, jogging around. This one pic isn't the most beautiful, but it shows a nice bed of autumn leaves at the edge of some woodland... something to look forward to!

Day 39: good run

This morning, 45 min run in the City, all the way to Temple, across the river at Blackfriars, and then back along the Thames. It went rather well, except for the fumes (at their worst around Blackfriars), and the few interruptions at crossroads with heavy traffic. We did however enjoy a great view of the sun rising from Tower Bridge, and felt energised by the end of it all.

Coach Stephen seems to be coming down with that nasty cold again, and I am getting a bit of a tickly throat too...

Also tried on some knee supports to relieve a bit of the strain I am still feeling since Sunday, and they seem to help a lot. Last weekday of training tomorrow before the big Saturday sleep. Can't wait!

Oh, and I am also investigating possible races for the end of the year / very beginning of January. I am looking for a good 10-mile race and so far have narrowed down to two interesting options. More soon...

Day 38: tough to get up...

Today's 6 o'clock wake-up call was tough, especially after a hard gym workout last night (I dread to think what my poor shoulders will feel like tomorrow). That being said, it's now back to training, and this morning the 20 min jog followed by 10 min run and another 10 min jog went well, and ended in an energising sprint. Tomorrow though, it's on to the serious stuff again, with a 45 min run on the schedule -- our first long run on a weekday... This week promises to be a tough one indeed.

My knees still feel a bit stiff after Sunday's race, so it may be that I buy some knee supports to aid recovery and minimise the strain of the coming couple of runs.

Day 37: on to "phase 2"

It was a treat to have a day of rest yesterday.

This morning, back to the training programme, with a gentle 30-min jog. After much deliberation we have decided to engage into the second part of the sub-4 hours marathon programme (as opposed to part one of the sub-3 hours one). Our plan is to do the first 12 weeks of the sub-4 first, so that I am actually ready to run a half-marathon in 6 weeks from now, then use our remaining 12 weeks to do parts 1 and 2 of the sub-3 one, so that I step up one gear and become simply better at it (hopefully that means faster :).

The next six weeks will therefore be a bit harder, with runs being lengthened to 90 min on Sundays instead of 60. Wish me luck!

Also, the final results of the Leatherhead 10K have been released -- I actually finished 374th (no idea why I dropped one place since they first published the results), and beat about 160 people in total. Still not sure how well I did against the women only, but I'll try to take some time to calculate this in the next few days.

Leatherhead Photos

Photos are up!

First race -- done!!! I've got the Leatherhead 10K under my belt.

Hurraayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!! :D I made it to my first race (up at 5:30 AM), completed it (1oK), did not finish last, and beat about 200 people at it!!! I arrived after 53 minutes, in 373rd position out of about 520 participants -- I'll know soon out of how many female participants.

This race was a treat! After the initial stampede and the first 3-4 Kms, I powered through those hills and started to overtake people, nice and smooth. Thank you Stephen for teaching me how to manage a steap hill, and Joao for making my thighs rock-hard with all that weight lifting! On top of this, even though yesterday's weather was dire, today there was not a drop of rain for the whole race.

I think a good third of the race was up hill, yet I was honestly smiling when I got to the 5th kilometre where the race's photographer was, and I was smiling even more towards the end of the race as I managed to overtake a few of the people who had been running close to me for a large portion of the route. Actually the down-hill bits were fast but slightly scary as the floor was slippery with lots of wet leaves lying around.

I managed a slick sprint as well at the very end, running faster than I ever had (even in training). I did think that I had left one of my late competitors well behind, but unfortnately she managed to beat me in the last 100 metres or so. Still, what an amaizing feeling to run your heart out as people are cheering you into the finish line...

That being said, my last thought on approaching and passing that line at full speed were "oh my god I'm gonna throw up"... It took me a little while to get my breath back and to believe that I wasn't going to pass out, but guys, I made it, and I've got my participatory medal to prove it :D

The rest of the day was spent eating the home-made cake they were selling there, browsing sofas in a rather good furniture shop, enjoying a roast at the local pub, and sleeping like a log in the train with my head on Ubercoach Stephen.

People, my legs are sooo tired right now, I cannot wait to simmer in a bath for the best part of an hour, gobble down pizza like there's no tomorrow, and sleep like a wee bairn.

Wooo-hoo-hoo!!!!! Bring on the Bath Half then!

53 minutes, 48 seconds

Karen crosses the finish line, beating her goal by more than four minutes!

45 mins

K passes the 8.5 k mark

30mins

First woman runs by

28 minutes

Runners passing by now ...

20 minutes

No, she's not at 9k yet. But I am on the course!

Argh!

Ten minutes in, and I have no idea where the race is at. The webpage that shows the route is not accessible by iPhone, due to a lack of a plug-in.

Back to the finish line, I guess.

And they're off!

Karen is right in the middle of the pack, so no decent photo.

T-10 minutes

T-45 minutes

We're here with plenty of time

We're on our way!

To Leatherhead!

It's early. It's cold. We're at a bus stop, to go to a train station, to go to Leatherhead.

I will attempt to blog during today's race, between my other roles as phtotgrapher and cheerleader.

We'll see if this works.

Day 33 (cont.): yay!!!!!

And one more donation!!! Lorraine just got me to reach the £200 mark!!! Hurray!!!!! Thank you Lorraine -- you have completely deserved the delivery of that pair of boots...

Day 33: new donation!

Not much to declare on the running side today (easy jog of 20 min), however I did want to post my warm thanks to John for his donation today on Just Giving. Thanks John, this is much appreciated. And in response to your question, the only things chasing me are lonely meowing cats...! :)

Day 32: last run of the week before the 10K

This morning, 25 min run and everything went well. It was rather quiet, and mild enough to run in a t-shirt.

I'm still hoping for no rain on Sunday... I've also booked the train/coach tickets and unfortunately we have to get up at 5:30 to get to Leatherhead on time :( At least we'll be back in London early enough to enjoy the rest of our Sunday.

I'm happy that my knees are feeling fine -- all that's left of the training programme this week is a really short jog tomorrow and on Saturday: eaaaasy!

Day 31: knees OK.

45 min jog and my knees seem to be handling it fine again. Nothing else to declare today: I'm just glad I managed to get up at 6 even though I got home late after the gig...

Day 30: one month and still running...

Well, almost :) This morning I actually just went for a general workout at the gym to rest my knees completely for the Leatherhead 10K on Sunday. All's well -- last night's frozen peas did wonders to soothe the strains of last Sunday's run.

I got a new donation on the Just Giving site today :) Thank you Kourosh!!! It's great to get some support from people at the BMJ, I'm so chuffed!

Day 29: nice and easy

Not much to declare today -- easy-peasy jog for 30 min on the Wapping High St and around Shadwell Basin. My knees are feeling the strain of yesterday's run a little, so I'm thinking of taking it easy tomorrow and go to the gym for a workout and light treadmill jog, or something like that -- no need to overdo it and miss my race on Sunday! No personal training session tomorrow as I'm going to a gig with Maria :)

Day 28: one-hour run number 3

Well, I didn't do too badly even after yesterday's Halloween party, the delicious fruity punch Arnaud kept refilling my glass with, and this morning's early awakening... I attempted to map my run here: http://www.mapmyrun.com/route/gb/london/972894756457, and the site measured roughly 9.97km, which is great in one hour. I feel really good too today: because I'm not in pain at all, because the weather ended up being perfect, because London was as beautiful as ever, and because now it's over and I can relax for the rest of my Sunday!!!

A couple of things though, and good advice (I think) for any of you runners out there:
1/ don't run Tower Bridge on a sunny Sunday afternoon; it is just impossible and totally jam-packed with tourists (who, by definition, are slow).
2/ mind your head when you run by a park where guys play football -- some bloke scored a goal straight into my temple. I was not pleased...

Day 26: :) :) :)

Great session this morning - my first interval training one! 3 series of the following: run like a maniac for 70 seconds, walk-jog 3 min, run like a lunatic for 45 seconds, walk-jog 2 min, run like a raving psycho for 30 seconds, walk-jog 3 min. and you know what? I felt great, the weather was ideal, and I still feel rather elated...

The first 70 seconds run was a bit of a challenge, what with the ankle mobility issue I've been experiencing lately, but by the second run everything was nice and warmed up and loose. I did however feel some weird flush of pain in my legs during the walking stages, as if my body was flushing blood in the area all of a sudden. I've no idea what it is - it doesn't feel wrong, just like something the body is in a hurry to do to repair you, somehow.

Oh, and one more thing: it was cooold this morning!!!

And, just for the sake of it, yet one more thing: it's *f*r*i*d*a*y* !!! :) tomorrow, rest, waffles smothered in syrup, a tour of Camden Town with Cyril who is visiting us from Paris, and a post-Halloween party at Arnaud and Rob's...

Enjoy your weekend y'all!

It's almost 10pm, I am hearing the rain against the windows and thinking...

... will I have to run in this weather tomorrow morning??

Day 25: not so bad in the end!!!

This was my first long-ish run since the "ankles incident": 35 min, plus the 10 min warm-up jog. I'm pleased to say that my legs are feeling just fine, although the mobility in my ankles is a little off, so long strides are out of the question and I was getting frustrated at what I thought was a rather slow pace. Actually, in the end the GPS tells us we run 5.5 miles, in just 45 min (10 of which were just jogging) -- that's more than 8km :D I was really chuffed.

We did run under the rain though, and it was much warmer than expected. And I found myself wondering how I would feel when I'm racing several hundred people, because I got annoyed at the other runners who were faster than me and looked like they were enjoying themselves too, while I was gasping for air and frowning in the drizzle...! Still, I did get up to run this morning, and I did stick to it even though I was hurting and the weather was bad -- that's a bit more than a few Londoners did this morning I am sure! :)

My legs were really burning once back home, as I am feeling the effects of Tuesday's weight lifting session as well...

Week 4, Day 4

Week 4, Day 4 at EveryTrail

Map created by EveryTrail:GPS Geotagging

Day 24: energy levels on the up!

Rather enjoyable 40 min jog-turned-into-run today, across Tower Bridge, the South Bank and back into the city via Cannon Street. Next time, we may do it the other way around, as by the time we got to the city the traffic was already intensifying and so were the fumes!!!

My ankles feel fine -- a bit stiff at first, then loosening nicely after the warm-up. And no pain at all after the run :o)

London has got cold! We had a snow fall last night, and as the news were forecasting -1C in the morning, I thought we might have had to jog indoors to avoid any ice, but there was none of that left when we left home, and we enjoyed a crisp (i.e. your ears and fingers get crispy...!!!) and sunny morning.

Week 4, Day 3

This morning's route, minus the very end:

Week 4, Day 3 at EveryTrail

Map created by EveryTrail:GPS Geotagging

It's strange how GPS tends to go dead around the tower of London ...

Day 23: I am not, after all, completely broken! :D

This morning's 30 min jog went waaayy better than yesterday's. Thanks to the arch and ankle supports that Coach Stephen generously got me, it seems my legs are taking less strain. On top of this I feel like yesterday's jog and run loosened my ankles a bit, and so perhaps (perhaps) I am now well on my way to a much anticipated recovery :) I am waiting until tonight (and 8 hours spent sitting down in an office) to declare the whole matter resolved, really, and we are also going to take it easy tomorrow morning, but fingers crossed, this should soon be just a memory.

This morning also, we jogged at a fairly good pace and closed a 2.7 mile loop in just 30 min. This gives me much hope for the Leatherhead 10k - maybe I'll be able to run it within one hour??

Week 4, Day 2

This morning's jogging route:

Week 4, Day 2 at EveryTrail

Map created by EveryTrail:GPS Geotagging

Day 22: back on the run! Ouch, though...

Well, well, well, after a few days of no exercise at all, there we were this morning, coach Stephen and I, jogging 20 min and running 10. I am so pleased to be back 'on the run', and also annoyed that my ankles still hurt. I can't quite tell if they hurt because they are still damaged, or if that's because they are stiff after a lot of rest and little exercise. I am hoping that using them reasonably gently this week will restore some mobility there, and that things will get back to normal. I also spent far too much time on the internet over the weekend, looking at appalling scary articles about 'frozen ankles' and the like.

What a treat to enter the Thames Path and see the beautiful view of Canary Wharf in the morning again! I am just looking forward to getting on with the rest of my programme, and being ready for the Leatherhead 10, too.

Week 4, Day 1

We're back at it!

The iPhone was low on power, so it only caught the first part of this morning's run, but here it is:

Week 4, Day 1 at EveryTrail

Map created by EveryTrail:GPS Geotagging

I have a place in the Leatherhead 10K!

The postman just slipped an envelope through the door which contained my number for the Leatherhead Fire Station 10K on the 9 Nov!!! I am number 149, and officially in the race. So presumably, there will be at least 148 other people there to compete against...

I'd better get these ankles fixed!

I wonder if some of my friends will be jealous, as there will probably be a few jolly fire men there handing out water -- not that I want to give out the names of the friends who might envy me, of course :) I might just tag them to this posting on Facebook...

Recovering nicely...

Well, this is my second morning of rest. Easier today, as I did not feel the weird withdrawal symptoms of yesterday, and slept like a log.

This posting will be short: just wanted to thank my dear friend Maria for her donation on Just Giving. Cheers sweetie; you took me over the 80% mark today! :D And, I am glad that my madness is also motivating you into hitting the gym now -- we'll be fit fitter than a couple of 20-year-old (but what am I saying?? we are already!!!).

I want to run (or at least jog)

Well, it's not so easy to take a break! Although I thoroughly enjoyed the extra hour in bed this morning, I did miss my invigorating daily outing, and that strange feeling of being privileged that you get when you have London almost for yourself. I did envy the person I saw stretching after her run this morning, as I was walking by the basin on my way to work. Oh well, it's good to be looking forward to this!

I am dreadfully hungry, too.

And, I'm taking the opportunity of this short posting to thank Karen K, who made a generous donation and left a nice comment on Just Giving this morning. I am so pleased; thank you Karen for keeping this fundraising going and helping me reach my target! K x

Taking a short break

Well, my ankles are still playing up, so we've decided on a couple of days of rest and recovery (lots of frozen peas!) to ensure I am ready for the next two weeks of preparation in view of the Leatherhead 10.

It's not without mixed feelings that I take this break, but I'll be enjoying a couple of mornings with a bit more sleep, and give myself the highest chance of feeling good and doing well for my first live race! :)

I'm looking forward to enjoying my invigorating morning runs in beautiful sleepy East London again... In the meantime I'll enjoy quieter activities, such as tomorrow's yoga class, and savouring fairy cakes with Stephen in front of the Colbert Report.

Oh, and one other good thing about all this is it gives the pile of sports clothes that I just washed some time to dry -- we were really running low on dry socks here!!!

Week 3, Day 3

With my symptoms lessening, I hit the road with Karen again this morning for a light one.

And with me comes the GPS. It appears to have lost us a few times this morning -- from Vaughan Way up to The Highway, and a large part of our route to south-east Wapping via Pennington. But here it is, regardless:

week 3, day 3 at EveryTrail

Map created by EveryTrail:GPS Geotagging

Day 17: coooold!

30 min jog today, in the company of coach Stephen who is now feeling better; much nicer to have my running buddy back!

It was cold, cold, much colder this morning than yesterday. I am thinking I may need more of those long sleeves tops if the weather is to carry on like this.

We are taking it easy this week, as my ankles are still a bit painful, and this morning I have to say I was a little worried about having to slow down my training so much that I won't be able to reach my half-marathon-within-two-hours goal. I guess it's a little early to worry that much though. Anyway, I did ice my ankles again this morning, and we'll see how they feel tomorrow. If it's still painful there may be some benefit in resting a day or two to recover completely. I'm still hoping to do my Sunday run this week, but in the end being able to take part in the Leatherhead 10k on the 9 Nov is more important.

I enjoyed a short swim and sauna last night, which made for a relaxing change in routine.

Day 16: do I have shinsplints?

Missed photo opportunities:

• Unfortunately London has got colder and our central heating doesn't work, so there was I last night, with fleece and warm pyjamas, lying on the sofa with one bag of frozen peas wrapped up in a dish cloth on each of my ankles and knees. I was quite a sight! Ankles and knees were quite painful yesterday, and deserved a bit of care, hence the peas (and the ibuprofen). I was feeling much, much better this morning, with just one of my knees feeling a bit warm, and so I decided to stick to my program and do a 15 min jog followed by a 15 run. That went well, and although my ankles did hurt again when I removed my shoes and went up and down the stairs at home, I think this could well be a minor injury that will go away with gentler exercise and icing. The closest condition we could come up with is shinsplints, which coach Stephen, being a fencer, knows well. The Internet tells me that this isn't a term physiotherapists like to use because it is too general, however I can find no condition on the web that matches my symptoms, and I don't get a sense that they should stop me anyway.
• This morning, Stephen still felt quite poorly after a large part of the night spent coughing, so I did train on my own (oh, I tell you, it takes a lot of motivation to put your trainers on when your other half is cosily tucked into the warm bed!). As I was jogging by the canal near the park, I suddenly felt a quiet presence near me, and as I turned my head I saw a rather big fox standing there, looking at me. I wonder who was the most startled...!
• I also got chased by a meowing cat, who run alongside me for a few meters, in search of affection and food after a night spent outside. A chipmunk or two and I could have have been mistaken for Snow White enjoying a walk in the woods!!!

I've cancelled my session with Joao tonight to take care of my ankles and knees and get rid of the pain altogether - I may indulge in a sauna at the local gym :)

Days 14 and 15: show must go on

I very much appreciated my non-running Saturday, as you can imagine. On top of this, the last working week ended on a high, with more generous donations and really cool comments from colleagues as far away as Mexico -- thanks Mike for helping me achieve my fundraising goal, encouraging me and helping me cover the Feedgit map on this blog with numerous dots from all around the world. So exciting!

I had not really been looking forward to the Sunday run after the last one, but actually I found this one (one hour) easier than the first, and managed to run a little faster, too. Fewer cramps, and better breathing. Estimated distance: about 6.5 miles -- not bad, eh?

This time I was running on my own as poor coach Stephen was house-bound with a nasty cough. So, here was I, panting and sweating, with my iPod, a phone, a bottle, a travelcard, a hat and a jacket soon all tied up awkwardly around my waste. I hate to say this, but it looks like I will need the one thing that has American and English people all confused about the language: a bum bag (for the UK) or a fanny pack (for the US). There is really no good way to describe this thing, is there? In France we just call it "sac banane" (banana bag), which isn't much better...

Anyway, the weather was pleasant but very windy, and I run along the Thames until well after Canary Wharf, enjoying the views of the high tide, turbulent waters and rays of sun shooting from between very dark clouds and giving the river a golden glow. And of course I rewarded myself with a generous slice of cake when I got back home. My first run on my own!

This morning (day 16!) was an esy 40 min jog, however I find that my knees and my ankles are rather inflamed and were painful when I started, until I got a little warmer. There is still a fair bit of wind around, which made it challenging for yesterday's run in particular, as I was most of the time running against it.

All in all, I may need some ice packs for my legs, but all is well, and on to week three!!!

Week Two, Friday

Jogging before tomorrow's weekly rest -- here's the route:

Week 2, Day 5 at EveryTrail

Map created by EveryTrail:GPS Geotagging

Day 12: cold in more ways than one

Relatively easy 30-min jog this morning, as a genle-ish closure to the week (I've not yet decided if the Sunday run should count as the end of a week or the beginning of one......).

The weather has become much cooler all of a sudden, and I tried on my new long-sleeve tops -- they have some kind of thin fleecy lining which got me to think I wouldn't use them until the full-on winter, but obviously I was wrong there.

We're so busy during the week we have both run out of running socks and underwear for failing to deal with our laundry...

Coach Stephen was rather poorly this morning, and I was amazed that he still got himself out of bed to jog with me, despite his nasty cold. You know when you are dealing with somebody who did competitive sports before...

Jolly fireman

Just wanted to show you all the Leatherhead Firestation 10k logo, which I think is worth the look!

I've just sent my application form, so hopefully there'll be space for me there and I'll get my first taste of a real race!

Day 11: mood swings...

Dry but slightly colder and windier day today, for a 30 min Fartlek session along the river and Shadwell Basin (which, contrary to what the GPS says, we do not swim across). I felt more energetic than at the beginning of the week, thanks to a simple jog yesterday, a TV night and some recovery time. My left knee cap hurt a bit but that seemed to fade away pretty soon after this morning's session.

Coach Stephen, however, is coming down with a cold and I was quite chuffed that he still made it and made some useful remarks about tense shoulders and pace-breaking turns, which seem to be the two things I need to work on at present.

Last night was one of those moments where a pep talk was highly needed, as I have now definitely entered that phase of my training where the body says no and the mind starts to think no as well. When this happens, it seems I start doubting my ambitious goals and reverting to the general "if I finish the race I'll be happy" attitude, which is true yet not entirely true. I'd much prefer the positive feeling of having done well at the race despite it being my first, than the feeling of having managed to complete it despite it being my first. I have yet to determine what "doing well" means here, as depending on my level of energy and the difficulty of the task ahead, I decide that my goal will be to run the Bath Half in under 2 hours, or I decide that I want to be in the top 50% finishers, or (when I'm low) that I just don't want to finish last.

I also have very little understanding of how fit/unfit a runner I am, as I have not yet had a chance to compare myself to anybody else (as coach Stephen obviously adjusts his own pace to help me achieve my objectives realistically). In that sense, I think running the Leatherhead Firestation 10k (love the name!!!) will be helpful. To be completely honest and blunt, I guess I am looking forward to seeing other people running slower than I do :o) :o) !

All in all, I was a little off last night and questioning the challenge of this 24-week training, wondering why I should do it when others just do the minimum required to complete the race without collapsing, wondering if this constant hunger of mine would settle to a balanced set of dietary habits, and if I would at any point not feel like this is completely overtaking my life, as it robs me every night of a whole hour of "me" time because I am so desperate to go to bed :)

But the truth is, I'd rather do it the hard way because knowing myself, I will feel such a bigger sense of achievement afterwards. So, we've decided to keep to our hard-core programme at least until the Leatherhead 10, when I will know a little better where I stand and what I should do next.

Week 2, Day 4

Today's GPS tracks -- more accurate, although it does seem to have trouble with the north side of Shadwell Basin, and the nearby park.

Week 2, Day 4 at EveryTrail

Map created by EveryTrail:GPS Geotagging

Day 10: first day of a long series of rainy ones

'Easy' 30-min jog today (as in: it wasn't easy to jog, but it was easier than a run or a Fartlek session). This was also our first training session under the rain (real rain, not just a drizzle). I believe this won't be the last, as we are now entering the gloomy season in London (which generally lasts until mid-June...).

This morning was rather mild. The gates around the Tower of London were closed, so we didn't get to jog the loop we wanted, but it was still pleasant to enjoy a slow pace today. The GPS isn't perfect in this kind of weather, but the armband that coach Stephen recently acquired makes it a lot more reliable, as überphone doesn't switch to other applications anymore.

My legs were heavy and stiff, but my knees are feeling much better.

I wore my AC-DC t-shirt (!!!) with pride, as I have once more run out of clean wicking stuff.

Last night the PT session ended up being an arms and abs workout, which made for a good change - I felt it was good to focus on something else than my legs! I've also agreed with Joao that we would alternate what he calls "explosion training" (the mad boot-camp-style stuff we did last week) with our good old weight-lifting sessions, as I'm already feeling the impact of not working out my arms as much as I used to, and I don't want to lose my Madonna biceps ;o)

My fundraising is going very well so far, with a lot of generous donations from colleagues at Amex - thank you Eve, Benjamin and Joel for your support! People who donate are also leaving some nice comments on the Just Giving site, which is great because I am also hearing a lot of people around asking "why I'm doing this", "why so early", or telling me" not to overdo it" or that they would "never do that themselves". Reminds me of when I packed my bags and moved from the French countryside to London - pretty much the same mix of excited vs. puzzled reactions :o)

Tonight will be an evening of simple relaxation: nothing in the diary, and now that we have Sky TV at home, you can see where this is going...

Today's Route

Overcast + large building + tunnels = poor GPS signal. Apparently it missed that we actually circled the Tower this morning.

Here it is, anyways:

week 2, day 3 at EveryTrail

Map created by EveryTrail:GPS Geotagging

Week 2, day 2 (cont) or day 9...

My heart sank a little last night when, just before bed, I realised that today was not "gentle jogging" day, but "longer than before Fartlek day". Awww. 40 mins of jog-then-sprint-like-a-maniac-then-jog.

My knees were a bit sore yesterday, but overall I'm doing well. Less of a spring in my step than on week one - what with the first-week excitement fading a bit, the general fatigue, the last two days of plain running, and the thought of the 23 weeks to go :o).

That being said, once awake and warmed up, it wasn't so bad at all.

I've decided to run an actual race on weekend 6, and found that I can still register to the Leatherhead Fire Station 10K race for that. This would make for a new environment (the country!), and the discovery of a real-race set-up (with about 600 other people, apparently, none of whom will be coach Stephen, as he will most probably be taking pictures of me struggling to get out of a muddy field, instead...!).

Tomorrow is definitely gentle-jog day (I checked!!!), but I still have my PT session to go through with Joao tonight. If I'm not a seasoned athlete after all of this, then I never will be!!!

Week 2, Day 2

With the GPS up and running, I give you our odd route. We ran in a lot of circles, and the GPS had some trouble figuring out exactly where we were while circling Shadwell Basin, but it's more-or-less accurate:

Week 2, Tuesday: Fartlek at EveryTrail

Map created by EveryTrail:GPS Geotagging

How the weekend went...

I actually slept more on Sunday than Saturday, as the habit of waking up at 6 every day got in the way of a lie-in at first. But I did enjoy *not* training for a change!

On Sunday, I managed my very first one-hour run!!! :D And I tell you, people: it was *hard*. Two lessons learnt on that day: one, don't start too fast, and two, avoid fried sausages for breakfast :)

We run along the Thames, on a beautiful sunny day, and that means we completely sizzled for a whole hour. I went through a whole range of feelings. Notably, about 12 minutes into the run the realisation suddenly really hit me that I had to keep this up for a complete hour (this comes with something not very different from despair......). I also got to a point about 15 mins before the end where I thought I would break down and cry - my thoughts were tumbling about in my head and they were not pretty ones: "can you really do this?" was the main question.

But in the end, we completed the damn thing!!! :) We crossed the river via Greenwich tunnel, which made for a rather delightful spell of fresh and damp air, much needed after 45 minutes of burning in the the sun. I can tell y0u that completing the course was totally exhilarating, and there's something to be said for the pleasant stretch that ensued on the grass near Greenwich pier, with a rather stunning view of Canary Wharf and the Dome.

We went back home by boat, admiring the views along the way.

Went to bed at 9.30 last night...

This morning (day 8) was a 30-min steady run, which was quite painful at the start after yesterday's efforts. But overall we managed to hit a slightly faster pace.

All good, and on to week 2!

Day SEVEN photo3

At the end of the run. No GPS today

Day 6, photo 1

Preparing for a Sunday run

Day 6, photo 2

Support from colleagues at Amex

Ending the work week on a high, with plenty of encouraging emails from my colleagues of the Amex Interactive International team, an offer to come and see me at the race, and even a generous donation already (thank you Simon!). Some people also asked if the photos were really of me - yes, they are!!! :o)

The Feedgit widget is quite awsome: from it I can see that some people accessed this blog from Ohio (ah, the memories!) and even Malaysia today... I wonder who came by from so far away?

And now, my eyes are red from looking at the screen all day, so I am off to start my weekend.

Bye all! x

Day 5: it's **F*R*I*D*A*Y** :D

Fridays have taken on a whole new meaning for me apparently: not only is it the end of the working week (which I'm sure you'll all agree, is great even if you love your job), but it's also my last day of training before my beloved lazy Saturday!

Today was a 35 min Fartlek session which turned out to be quite a bit longer (possibly 45 min) as our timer somehow fell asleep during the session. We thought it was strange that, as days are becoming shorter, the sun was a little higher in the sky than usual when we started to run our way back home...... I also realised that the Millenium Bridge is *much* longer than London Bridge when you sprint across it (and makes strange RAF-plane noises at each end - why is that??). By the end I was dribbling like a rabid dog.

Last night's yoga session turned out to be tough, as most of my leg and shoulder muscles had gone a little tight, but it was useful in the sense that it helped me strech a little better today. I am actually thinking of signing up for another 9-week course, just for the sake of the few minutes of pure relaxation provided in the end of the session (or, as my teacher puts it, the "surrendering into Shavasnah"...).

All's good, and I am looking forward to a relaxing evening and long sleep-in tomorrow, followed by a gigantic plate of waffles smothered in galons of maple syrup.

Day 5 - GPS

Today's route -- not as accurate as I'd like. It looks like we swam a bit.

Day 5: Fartlek at EveryTrail

Map created by EveryTrail:GPS Geotagging

Day 4

The route:

Day 4 at EveryTrail

Map created by EveryTrail:GPS Geotagging

Day 4: easy-peasy?

Today, a simple 20 min jog. All good. I feel really lucky with the weather (sun and not too cold). The GPS is still not quite working (this time it didn't get interrupted mid-way, but it showed us ending up in Marylebone instead of Wapping...). Coach Stephen might look for another application (and is making manual adjustments in the meantime). This morning, having run short of wicking tops, I had to wear my Hooters t-shirt bought in Dayton, Ohio...

Every muscle of my body is aching, and I am tired. My abs ache when I laugh or sneeze. My shoulders and pecs hurt from Tuesday's push-ups. One more day of training tomorrow before my much-deserved lazy Saturday!

I connected to my emails this morning to discover that yet another donation has made it to my Just Giving site - thank you Mr Stu, very generous! This also pushed Cyril's comments about pooping cats down on my blog's home page widget, which put me on my way to slightly classier content :) Cheerio...

Day 3

I was so shattered last night that I almost fell asleep on the 3-tube-stops journey to the gym, where I was scheduled for a personal training session. Joao (my PT) clearly got the message that I am seriously running this race, and changed my training from the usual iron pumping to some sort of brutal boot-camp-style enterprise :) So, after having lazily cycled on a bike for 15 mins, he made me do a nasty set of jumps, push ups, and weight lifts, plus some running up-hill on the tread mill at 12 miles an hour. It woke me up for sure! That being said, I was useless when I got home and fell asleep right after my bowl of pasta...

Evidently my body has started realising what is going on, and yesterday I felt my appetite increase, and was also thirsty and drinking all the time.

And this morning. Aaah, this morning. I woke up with every muscle in my body completely stiff, and as I started my warm-up jog, I felt that, funnily enough, my abs were the sorest muscles of the lot.

Today's session was my first taste of Fartlek training. Nothing rude there, ladies and gentlemen. Fartlek is actually a (Swedish) training method that involves, roughly, short-to-medium distance bursts of effort where you run like a maniac to get your heart racing, interspersed with cool-down jogs. Sounds bloody awful I know, however I have to say that I much enjoyed learning how to make longer strides and control my breathing (which goes bonkers when I run like that). It takes some practice to breathe in consistently through your nose instead of swallowing big gulps or air. There are also some chemical benefits to this form of training, apparently, to do with your body reusing some of the energy it produces, or something of the sort.

The setting was incredible this morning: I got to do my sprints on Tower Bridge (beautifully lit - check out the picture below!) and London Bridge (which involved a bit of slaloming between city people walking to work in the early hours).

A bit more luck with the GPS application, but not quite perfect yet. We'll work it out!

I am looking forward to my only night of relaxation tonight and intend to rest completely at last. Bring on the hot bath, scented candles, big dinner in front of the TV, and hopefully an 8-hour night of sleep...

Also this morning, one more very generous donation from my dear friend Cyril, who has also left a 'wonderful' comment on the Just Giving site (in the classy style that can only be recognised as his). Thanks Cyrilito.

Uploaded - 08\10\2008-1

Uploaded - 08\10\2008

6:10am, before the first Fartlek.

My legs hurt a bit...

Two days into the programme, 6 hours sitting at my desk, and now my legs seem to tighten every time I make a step to the coffee machine. Usually, post-exercise pain peaks about 48 hours after the workout for me, so I wonder what tomorrow will be made off.

On a more positive note, I've just had my very first donation! Thanks to Marcia and Tom, who must be celebrating right now the birth of their first grandson, little Mischa...

Day two (cont.)

Today, 30 minutes jog, into Wapping and around Shadwell Basin, which gave us a nice view of Canary Wharf in the mist.

Legs a bit heavier than on day one, but built up a nice pace.

Weather much milder and with a light drizzle of rain which ended up being quite welcome and refreshing.

Didn't get the GPS application to work on coach Stephen's überphone, so we'll have to work out a fix for tomorrow, as we want to record our routes and the distance we run.

I expect to be less tired today as at least I got a full night's sleep :)

Day Two

After a thirty minute jog. 7am.

My fee is paid...

There's no going back now! :o)

That's it, I'm doing it!!!

Dear all,

I have decided to run the Nationwide Bath Half Marathon (a.k.a. the Bath Half) in March 2009. I am so excited (and a little anxious). The last time I seriously run (or perhaps it was just jogging?) was at university, something like 9 years ago, when I used to run around the Lac de la Ramée with uni friends.

I am running on behalf of Shelter, a national campaigning charity working to improve the lives of homeless and badly housed people. Of course I will need support in the form of donations and a lot of encouragements, pep talks and moral support!!! :) You can all make donations to my Just Giving secure website, at http://www.justgiving.com/karencaille.

And here are the first couple of news on this new adventure.

On Saturday I got myself a brand new pair of trainers (first time I pick from the "regular runners" shelf instead of the "lousy occasional joggers" one, I have to say), some wicking tops and a rather splendid Rocky-like wool hat.

And this morning, I hit the tarmac at 6 am sharp, in the company of coach Stephen. What a blast! London is quite simply beautiful in the small hours of the day, when everybody's asleep and the sun is slowly rising over the Thames. We did a 10 min warm-up jog, followed by a 10 min run and another 10 min jog. I'm following the Shelter intermediate training programme (24 weeks to go!).

Wish me luck y'all!!!

Soon to come, the pictures of me in my power gear...

K x