Disappointing news

Ok so I just typed out a long and heartfelt entry and then clicked publish post and the bloomin thing didn't work and my entry is lost! Not what I need right now. Start again!

It is with great sadness that I must announce I am having to defer my place in the London Marathon to 2011. If you are ill or injured you can defer for a year(only once though so I'd best not be ill again next year!)

Some of you may be wondering where this has come from. I have mentioned on here several times about feeling ill, sore throat etc. There has also been times when I have intentionally not mentioned feeling ill as I do not want my blog to be a complete whinge!

Since the beginning of this year I have had 2 weeks off training due to being ill (thats about 25% of the year so far!!) This sore throat has been bugging me for 6 months! sometimes it's not too bad, others I feel completely S**t (faint, sick, no energy whatsoever). Several people had asked me whether I was still going to do the marathon as they knew how rubbish I'd been feeling and I said yes because I was determined to do it. However after a serious chat with a friend who is also an exercise professional and also taking advice from a couple of others I realised deferring was the most sensible thing to do. How I hate being sensible though!

I have shed a few tears (and more!) about it today, considered not deferring and then decided to move on, train for next year and don't look back. This gives me 14months and I am going to go right back to basics, not running far to start off with and build up to try and help my body recover. I have found a couple of shorter races for later on in the year for me to work towards. The silver lining of this dark cloud is that I should hopefully be able to get a reasonable time next year. If I had tried to do it this year for the sake of it I think I would have struggled to finish in under 7 hours if at all as right now I can barely run a mile or 2 without having to stop to walk or feeling ill!

I hope you guys will understand and support me in my (longer) journey towards a marathon.

I kind of feel defeated, a let down, and a chicken. Like I've taken the easy way out.

Have a good week x

A challenge overcome

So I did something yesterday I am proud of, I went to my first ever spinning class! This is especially great for me as I have never been to any sort of exercise class before due to feeling worried about not knowing what to do/making a fool of myself.

I was thinking I would take up spinning after the marathon as a way of keeping up my fitness. However 2 work colleagues were going to go Monday morning and persuaded me to come with. I figured I didn't want to go by myself first time so would go then. However neither of them showed up! I went ahead and did the class anyway.

The instructor was lovely and showed me how to set up my bike etc and was really helpful. During the first track I started to tire and get out of breath and wondered why I had thought I could do it, how stupid of me to think I was fit enough etc. Somehow I managed to continue and finish the class and in the end I really enjoyed it. I will definitely be going again. I think whilst I am still training for the marathon I will go to spinning once a week and then once I have done the marathon perhaps go a bit more often. I'm proud of myself for breaking that barrier and going the first time.

My Day today (so far and the rest of the day plans)

Wake up, breakfast, go to gym, run/walk 12k on treadmill at planned marathon pace, chat a bit to friends in gym, home, lunch, long hot bath with new yummy smelling bubbles, wash hair, get out, dry hair, get dressed, chat about stuff, read paper, do tiny bit of housework, cup of tea, read runners world mag, decide to start running journal in a spare diary I have, start said journal, go on internet, update blog, laze around a bit, have dinner, get ready, go out, cocktails, giggles, home, bed, sleep, wake up refreshed and happy!

Back to normal...

So I am back at work now :-) this week has gone well so far. I am feeling pretty tired today but have nothing on for the rest of the day so am going to relax.

I have really got my appetite back now and am wanting to stuff everything in sight! Not good but then I have also just realised that it might be pre-menstrual hunger (sorry for tmi!)

I have been knocking back the veggies and fruits. I am finding some things hard to swallow at the mo which is annoying, but it's more stuff like breads, raw carrots etc.

Am back to exercising which feels good, gonna do an 8 miler on Saturday or Sunday in accordance with my training plan. I can't wait, will feel really satisfied and pleased with myself after that.

Not much else to report really, just trying to get back to normal...

Will update soon with more info x

10 weeks to size 10?

I have a plan, today is my last day of rest and getting better (well last day off to do so, I hope to continue to get better after today) Tomorrow is back to work and back to training.

As of today it is 10 weeks until the London Marathon, 4 weeks until the half marathon and 2 weeks until the 3 hour aerobathon I am taking part in. This week I fitted into a pair of jeans that have been too small for the last 2 years. Not just fitted but managed to wear them all day. They are a UK size 12. I could do with being a tiny bit slimmer to fit them nicely. Anyway I digress, Yesterday I got my old size 10 haven't fitted for 3ish years jeans out just to prove that they were stupidly small and would never fit again. I looked at them, I held them up against myself. Hmm, maybe they aren't impossibly small. This morning I was thinking, 10 weeks til the marathon, 10 weeks is a long time, long enough to get into the size 10s? I hope so. You are now reading about a girl on a mission to be a size 10 by the time of the marathon. I have no idea how many pounds I need to lose to get to that size but I know that it is doable in the time I have and I will still be able to lose sensibly. No crash dieting.

The fact I will be doing a lot of training is what makes me confident. I want to be healthy, I want to be confident in my body whatever I wear not just in 'some outfits'.

I also measured my waist today, since the 1st of January I have lost 3.5 inches. Over the last couple of weeks I have been much more in control of my eating. If I continue with that level of control then size ten should be doable. 10 weeks is a long time but it also isn't. I am hoping that now I have such a goal and have made it public then I will be accountable. Please willpower stay with me!

In other news my mouth/throat has healed up a lot more, energy is still low but getting there. I'm looking forward to going back to work tomorrow and getting back to normality.

Happy Valentine's Day everyone and have a great week x

Can you say hungry?

Man am I hungry!

I seem to have my appetite back although it is not quite normal. I put a tiny bit of weight back on and have now maintained a loss of 6lbs since starting to feel quite ill last week.

I feel a little bit better but am still really struggling with my energy levels. I go back to work on Monday and am going to start back with training then too. I know I must not go mad and to be honest I don't think I will have the energy to go mad doing loads of exercise.

My plan is to make sure I get plenty of rest over the next couple of weeks and carry on with my fruit and veg etc to really try and kick this thing. Or at least the non-sore throat symptoms. I don't think that eating lots of fruit and veg is going to do the trick on the sore throat.

2 more days to really rest up and try to gain some energy. Tomorrow I am going to be super lazy!

I hope you guys have all had a good week.

The one in which I feel a bit more human

So I feel a tincy wincy bit better dare I say it. I have had loads of rest so have a bit more energy than I did at the start of the week. I also have a bit more of an appetite. My throat is still 'interesting' though.

I'll be honest and say I am a bit bored of being off work but I know I need this time to recover and recuperate and with how I feel at the moment I don't think I would last even half a shift at work.

I am going to have a quiet afternoon and maybe watch a dvd or 2. Have to see how I feel. I have been having 2 naps a day the last couple of days! I am actually like an old lady especially with my aching hips...

Thanks for the get well wishes everyone, I am hoping to be back to some kind of normal by Monday when I go back to work and am then going to build back up to exercise slowly.

Going down

Well after last weeks loss of 4lbs i have now lost another 2.75 lbs bringing my total loss during February so far to 6.75lbs.

I have really lost my appetite at the moment, sometimes I am really hungry but at other times of day I am not and feel nauseous (spelling?), last night I had a small smoothie whilst waiting for my dinner to cook and that was it I was full!

I visited my doctor again yesterday about the good ol sore throat, and my feeling exhausted all the time lately (also joint pain, stomach pain, headaches, dizziness, being a grumpy cow). I have pharyngitis again and have probably had/have a virus as well and a combination of the two is making me feel pants. Not fun although it does work well for the weight loss. I am off work for the moment and am really hoping this week of rest and smoothies and vit C and zinc will really help me to feel better. We are still, not sure what is going on with my throat, it is still being investigated. When I know I will let you guys know!

I am going to get lots of sleep and eat what I can that is nourishing and hope to have more energy soon.

I hope you guys are all well and not bored of listening to stories about my sore throat!

10 weeks and 5 days until the marathon!

yo-yo scales

Between Sunday and Thursday I lost 5.5lbs, since then I have put 1.5lbs back on which means over the last 6 days I have lost 4lbs!

To be fair losing 5.5lbs over just a few days is not healthy. I don't really know how I lost it as I was still chomping down plenty of chocolate! I think it might have something to do with my being a bit under the weather of late.

Today I went shopping with my friend and got a lovely dress and some other stuff like a cardi, tights, underwear, leggings and a top. and I didn't even spend that much. I really feel like we shopped til we dropped. I am having a quiet night in tonight, I really need it, my energy levels have been so low lately.

In other news I have signed up to take part in a 3 hour aerobathon at the end of February for charity. I must be nuts I have no coordination whatsoever!

A strange new me...

I kicked butt today with my exercise, I walked the dog in the rain this morning.

I went to the gym this afternoon and I ran at a faster speed than I used to, I ran at this faster speed without stopping for longer than I run at my normal speed without stopping. I came home and decided to run up and down the stairs 5 times just for the fun of it! Then later on I ran up and down another 5 times because I was cold and figured I may as well warm myself up and burn some calories. Now I know there are other ways to warm up and burn calories but well I'm single at the moment ;-) so running it is!

I haven't done too badly with eating today either. I am also much more restrained at work, haven't been raiding the biscuit tin and am barely ever buying things from the vending machine.

I am feeling really determined right now to get on with my running training and to really push myself. I am aiming to finish the marathon in under 7 hours. This may sound ridiculously long, that allows 15 minutes per mile and an extra half an hour ish for what ever reason. That will still be a challenge for me. I will be walk/running it. So my training's aim is to get me to be able to run as much of it as possible. When I did the half marathon towards the end I was so tired I was counting my paces and running 200 walking 100 etc. I know this is the way I will get through the marathon walk/running, whether it is walk a mile run 2 or what I do not know. I have never been someone who is good at sport or who is particularly fit. Running is a challenge to me whether I am running a mile or 26.2 of the bloomin things! I crave the challenge and can't wait to knock this marathon dead in my own slow and steady way. I will feel mentally AWESOME as I cross that finish line (and probably rather emotional too). I can't wait for the hugs with my family and friends the first time I see them after the marathon. I hope they will be super PROUD of me. Little old me the one who always made excuses not to take part in school PE lessons.

11 weeks and 5 days to go... :-) 11 weeks and 5 days to kick butt and make mine smaller! woohoo!

Could you tell I'm in a good mood?!
Love