2 medals down, 10 to go!

Good evening one and all!

It’s been a great day 😀 and I can wait to tell you all about my second race for 2016 tonight, but as always, let’s start with the weekly round up!

Week 7 Round Up

19.81 miles dashed

2016 miles = 93.31m

Donations received = £145.00

2016 total raised = £605.00

 

Really pleased with Tuesdays Threshold after work, the longest threshold I have ever managed!

 

Could only manage a staedy run on Thursday in my ever so hilly home city.

 

 

Todays half marathon, and a bit.

Training this week has gone well, as has fundraising, people are so amazingly generous and with any luck our end of year total will be through the roof!

So, onto today’s half marathon event…..

We chose to run the Hampton Court Half Marathon for our second medal of the year. Luckily for us this half marathon event is a short walk from home and takes in a good amount of our usual long run route! Perfect for the first half marathon of the year! I tried to think of it as a training run for the marathon in April but with a well deserved medal at the end!

I spent last night getting all my stuff ready, in my usual crazy way (see my last post for my silly running rituals!). By 9pm all my kit was laid out, my bag was packed and I started to relax (if you call lying awake thinking about the race relaxing!)

The morning came and I did my usual “force my porridge down my throat”  routine because I was so hyped/nervous/excited. It’s funny, for any other long run I can eat no problem, but on race day I do literally have to force feed myself!

The walk to the race was pleasant, the mornings are starting to get lighter and the mile and half stroll to the starting line was a good time to sort my thoughts outs. I was impressed to see the Marshalls out at such an early hour too, helping non locals reach the start line and making sure the route was ready to be run.

Arriving at race HQ was pretty awesome, there were far more runners there than I imagined there would be, nearly 4000 in total. HQ was impeccably organised and every thing was easy, plenty of loos, quick baggage drop and funnels for you to file into depending on your pace.  I decided to have a little stretch, toilet stop, stroll around and to keep warm.

Some time was spent deciding which funnel to go into. I’m not a fast runner and hate being with people who outrun me, it makes me feel slow and rubbish 😂 I was aiming for 2hrs 25mins, and so put myself in the 2hrs 30mins group. I’m usually quite a slow starter and don’t find my pace well until 3 miles into a long run so figured this was a safe option.

The start time was slightly delayed, mostly due to the popularity of the park and ride, a good few hundred runners had not arrived by the start time and so quite sensibly the organisers decided to wait for them to arrive, I think I would cry if I missed the start of a race!

The time came to run and and the pacing group were a terrifically friendly bunch but after two miles my legs felt good and so I broke away. The conditions were just perfect, a nice breeze, overcast but not raining, and mild but not hot. The route was largely flat and fast and I found my pace on the familiar route quickly.

The water stations as ever were run by the local scouts groups and volunteers, God bless those volunteers! I walked to take on water at mile 3 and then carried on at a good pace for me. There were more water stops at miles 5, 8 and 11. I walked through each station, partly because this is a technique I am aiming for this year in London, but also because I defy anyone who can drink from an open cup while running!

My favourite part of the route had to be miles 8 through 11. This is where you run along the ever scenic tow path from Kingston Upon Thames to Hampton Court Palace. It’s traffic free, and for today only was cycle free, and takes in much of the grounds of my favourite royal palace.  Also, who else would you expect to be cheering you on but Henry  VIII and Anne Boelyn?

Once past the palace you really are on the home straight and it wasn’t until this point I realised how fast I had run (for me anyway!). I began to realise my pace was much faster than planned and the I was going to comfortably beat 2hr 30mins. With half a mile to go I pushed myself to go  faster than was comfortable to be honest but I wanted to then beat 2hrs 20mins. Before today I didn’t even dream it was possible but………..

2 HOURS 19MINUTES 36 SECONDS – Sarah Phillips, position 3254 out of 3818 runners.

Once I’d sprinted over the finish line I joined in the obligatory hobble to the chip removing stand (confidently places foot on upturned bucket for attendant to remove *wobbles*)

Then of course comes the medal and the goody bag, which this one was welcomingly full of food!

Home, bath, food, drink, sleep, and Facebook updates for my ever supportive friends 🙂

Two down, ten to go! Next race in three week so! Not sure how long this pose will last before I have to use two hands!

As every, here is the kinky to donate if you so wish to 🙂

http://www.justgiving.com/Sarah-Phillips38

Running rituals

Hey strangers, sorry this one has taken a little while to make an appearance, school holidays, mega work schedule and training have taken a front seat this week. I thought this week it might be interesting to share my little running rituals, and to hear more about yours. I think all runners have their own suspicions, routines, and warms ups and would love to hear more about what you do, but first, time for the weekly round up!

Week 6 Round Up

16.10 miles sauntered

2016 miles = 73.50m

Donations received £130.00

2016 total raised = £460.00

Tuesday’s very wet and very cold hill training. Brrrrrr!

Was delighted with my interval training after work on Thursday 🙂

Sunday’s long run was the hilliest long run I have ever done but totally pleased with my pace 🙂

Was really chuffed with my long run this week! I was staying in Portsmouth with my mum and step dad, who kindly minded the girls for me while I ran. I managed to run to the top of a very big hill 🙂 and almost thought I would pass out, but the sun was glorious, the sea air fresh and the view was fab (photo doesn’t really do it much justice).

While I was running/panting, I got to thinking about all the little things I do before a long run, rituals if you like. Most runners have things they do to make their runs feel just right and I would like to share mine with you! Rituals are good, they help you mentally gear up for a run, and be physically prepared for whatever distance you are going to do. I don’t adopt these rituals to my shorter runs, I seem to be able to go out and thrash those out without the big run up!

1. I always eat the same thing at the same time before I run – always porridge with a smidge of sugar, and a banana, 1.5hrs before I leave.
2. I always drink 2 big glasses of water – I think it is about 600mls altogether.
3. I always lay out my kit ready the night before – and in the order I get dressed in!
4. Which brings me onto always getting dressed in the same order 😂
5. I always wear the same kit – unless I have new trainers of course, this kit includes a purple tee I got after taking part in a midnight 12 mile walk around Portsmouth, the summer after Graham passed.
6. I always stretch in the same order, just to make sure I get everything – feet and ankles, calves, thighs, buttocks, waist and hips, back, shoulders, arms, neck, finished with ten deep breaths!
7. I always pack my inhaler.
8. I always get the same playlist ready on Spotify.
9. I always say “For Graham” to myself before I leave
10. And last but not least, I always take Graham with me – I have my lucky charm, my necklace with just a little of his ashes, close to my heart keeping me strong ❤️

My lucky charm ❤️

And that’s it! These are my rituals! Feel free to share yours below in the comments box!

3 sleeps til medal two 🙂 if you would like to sponsor me then please do so here – http://www.justgiving.com/Sarah-Phillips38

Will see you when I have medal number 2!!!!!!!

A week of highs, lows, and PB’s :)

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Week 5 was a funny old week….. Whilst being forever thankful that I had a week off on annual leave, at the beginning of the week I couldn’t help but think that I should have achieved so much more with the time I had. I had so many plans, but I think I realised by mid week that if I am going to complete this charity challenge of 12 medals in 12 months, I’ve got to cast aside some ‘non-essential’ plans and just get my head down, keep healthy and keep my legs moving.

Week 5 Round Up

15.44 miles galloped

2016 miles = 57.4m

Donations received £10.00

2016 total raied = £330.00

My ‘running like the wind’ threshold run provided me with a PB this week!

If only going out for a simple jog a few time a week were enough to improve performance! This is my favourite type of run, just going out, taking it easy and feeling fit!

Finished the week with an amazing long run with Matt. It isn’t often we get to run together, and certainly not for long (unless it is race day) so this was a welcome part of our training this week!

It started off as a slow week and feeling like I was running through mud, not just in training but also in getting blog readership, support for the cause, donations, and no medal since the beginning of the year, but by mid week I kept getting some lovely little pokes to lift my spirits.

3km in less than 20 minutes, felt like I was running like the wind!

First came a PB, a small PB, but a PB nonetheless. I had run my fastest 3km in as long as I can remember. I ran it in under 20 minutes, which is pretty fast for me at this time. Unsurprisingly it came right after a threshold run (which everybody knows I love right?!) but it was still good to know that when I have to I can put out a bit of speed! There is no way I could complete a marathon at this speed but as all runners know, it will knock a few minutes off my overall marathon finish time 🙂 after this I no longer felt like a use slow runner!

Get out the fanfare! 50 likes!

Next came the medicine to my blog readership issue. So, I am not aiming for worldwide stardom or recognition here, but just knowing that some people like what I am writing and will click that all important like/follow button at the end of a post is a comfort to me. So when a little fanfare arrived in my WordPress inbox I literally did a little dance around my living room. A whole 50 likes on my blog, you really shouldn’t have guys………….

Love my FB followers!

Next we hit 200 likes on our little Facebook page where we post regular updates on our training and progress. 200 people out there actually care about what we are trying to achieve and about the cause we are trying to raise awareness for. Thats pretty awesome! The posts are also starting to receive a few more likes and engagement from around the globe, thanks to all who participate 🙂 you can find the link to the page at the bottom of this blog.

Then I got a stomach bug. Enough said.

Hampton Court Half here we come!

Towards the end of the week a little surprise came through the door (well not that big a surprise but a welcome one anyway) in the form of my racing number for the next race which is in just 12 sleeps (gulp!) Theres nothing like seeing that racing number and being able to almost touch that second medal! Can’t wait to wrap in around my neck and feel like a champ!

It feels like training is really stepping up a gear now and for the first time this week I have been beginning to really think about the marathon. I was hoping the two races in between might pose as a little of a distraction, maybe a little disillusioned there Sarah….. However, it will be amazing to complete two half marathons before we reach London, nothing like a few medals to give you bags of confidence!

So as you can probably tell, I’m a little emotional about the rest of the challenge ahead. Do not doubt for a second that I won’t do this, because I certainly will, I might just need the occasional pick me up along the way.

Fellow runners and marathoners, I salute you. I’m off to figure out how to raise more money!

How has your week been? Are you training for anything in particular? What have been your highs? Please comment below and I will be sure to answer everyone!

http://www.justgiving.com/Sarah-Phillips38

From Sickness to Fitness

Hello loyal followers and new readers! Thanks for coming back for another instalment of my journey towards achieving 12 medals in 12 months. For those of you who are new to the blog, I am currently training, with my husband Matthew, to run 12 races over the duration of 2016. The aim is to complete one in each calendar month, the first already being achieved at the beginning of January, The Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park 10km. Our next race is in just 3 weeks and will be the Hampton Court Half Marathon on 21st February 2016. We have also just signed up for race 3 in March, The Surrey Half Marathon, and race 4 in April is the wonderful Virgin London Marathon. All of this effort is in memory of my younger brother Graham, who passed away in 2012 from Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, and we are raising money for The Muscular Dystrophy Campaign.

It’s been a funny couple of weeks. Sadly week three of training in 2016 did not go well, in fact training was non existent. Work was indescribable, I felt like death warmed up, and the kids were sick. Recipe for training disaster. Hence there was no training update last weekend!

I’d like to focus this post on my strategies for recovering from illness and getting back into training after an unplanned break (if thats what you can call it!), but first, the weekly round up!

Weeks 3 and 4 Round Up

13.29 miles plodded

2016 miles = 41.96m

Donations received £120.00

2016 total raised = £320.00

Monday saw me attempting to recover from the worst lurgy I’d had in a rather long time! But was super pleased I hadn’t lost my pace!

Wednesdays fartlek run (my favourite, not) was super hard, 5 intervals and 5 hills! And the hills round this part really are hills!

Todays long run was tough but only because I had missed last weeks run. But I did it and in super time for my little legs!

Getting back into training this week has been super tough. My legs have been fine but my poor chest….. I don’t get out of breath easily, what with being a slightly slower runner and all that, so it came as a bit of a shocker this week. I usually pride myself on my breathing technique, but not sure I actually had a technique this week other than to avoid collapsing into a breathless heap!

I have some unwritten rules when it comes to training when under the weather and when it comes to training with a slightly more severe bout of illness. This is by no means meant as professional advice, as I am far from a professional runner or coach, but just my personal beliefs and opinions, plus tips I have picked up over the last 9 years.

When it comes to coughs and colds I use the neck rule…….

By this I mean I take some time to assess where my cold has decided to settle itself within my body. We all know that feeling when the cold is bloody awful head cold (above the neck) and when it has travelled further down towards our chest (below the neck). I’m asthmatic so it is pretty easy for me to recognise when my chest has been affected, for starters I can barely breathe, I cough like mad, and it hurts, a lot. If my chest isn’t affected then I usually just keep up with my planned training sessions but at a slower pace, and to be honest it usually helps me to clear the cold quicker and relieves my symptoms temporarily.

If a cold has travelled below the neck, then rest!

As frustrating as this rule is for me (even if it is my own rule) I usually do listen to my body and take the opportunity to rest. I hate sitting at home (between long shifts that is) thinking that I could be out running. I also hate the way my bottom expands with the lack of running (which definitely happened last week).

If I’m ejecting anything from my body then I’m not running (sorry……)

Enough said (fellow medical workers and parents will know exactly what I mean, we do pick up these nasty bugs from time to time).

When I think I have recovered enough to run I take it slow

Last weekend I though I had recovered enough to perhaps do a half hour run on Saturday and attempt a longer run on Sunday, just so my whole week of training wasn’t written off. However a little walk around the town and some housework soon told me that I wasn’t. On top of that the kids got sick too, which meant I was approaching a week of very little sleep as I had already been sleeping terribly all week and now there were crying bambinos to comfort all night.

Eventually on Monday, although still exhausted, I dragged my sorry (and slightly bigger) bottom out of the door and pounded the local streets. I just did a little 30 minute jog, at effort 2, and actually surprised myself when I saw my pace was still as it was before getting sick!

I don’t try and make up for the runs I have missed

Now, I had had only been out of action for a couple of days I probably would have managed 3 out of the 4 runs planned for last week. However, missing a whole week? I could never make that up, not without killing myself anyway. Trying to make up that many runs is a sure fire way of making myself sick again!

I eat well but also afford myself the odd treat

I’ve made a real effort this week to eat some really nourishing foods, however, as my appetite was off and I hadn’t actually eaten much last week (I know you are wondering how my bottom got so big then, well, my body is somewhat of an enigma) I did allow myself to enjoy that afternoon tea with my mum, and a curry with the husband. I’m also pre sickness size again…….

Lastly, I have a good moan

Feel free to moan when you are feeling unwell and it is scuppering your plans, especially to those around you who are willing to listen. A bit of sympathy never hurt no-one!

I’d be really keen to know how you recover from illness when training, and what your unwritten rules are! Please comment below and share your tips!

If you would like to donate to our cause then please feel free to visit http://www.justgiving.com/Sarah-Phillips38

We also have a Facebook page you can follow found at the bottom of this page, and you can always follow our blog and our journey also by pressing all the right buttons.

Wishing you all a healthy week ahead!