Just did it!

Sorry for the lack of updates, I've been busy with University, which is actually a great thing I guess. So much has happened since my last post. I finished the c25k programme which was amazing. I wasn't sure what I was going to do after c25k and initially thought I would do a bridge to 10k type programme but instead I have starting just using my Nike+ app to help me run further and its working.

So some big news, I have entered the Great North Run for 2012. I will be raising funds for the NSPCC, in fact I have already raised 1/3 of my total on my justgiving page. So its now real, I am now training for what I see as one of the biggest challenges of my life. I have an idea of how I am going to get to be able to run 13.1 miles by next September and have decided that I am going to run a series of organised runs between now and then to get me there. I am also going to keep going to David Fairlamb's bootcamps to improve my general fitness and keep the weight coming off.

So obviously one of my goals when I made the decision to start running was to be able to run an actual 5k and I can now cross that off my list now. Yesterday I competed in my first ever 5k fun run in Glasgow. I was confident that I could do the actual run, and even though publically I said I didn't want to think about a time to run it in I had a personal goal in mind to run it in 42 mins. I still have a long way to go weight wise and so I thought 42 mins would be ok for me.

I've got to say I was nervous before the event, and made us of the portaloo's before the run for a last minute wee. However once we got going I felt great. I made use of my iphone and my Nike+ and didn't look at how others were running, I just wanted to run my own race.

My Nike+ updated me after the first mile and I had ran it in seconds over 12 minutes. I was completely amazed at that, and so I decided that if I could do the second mile in just on 14 minutes I would bring my goal time to 40 mins to complete the 5k. I got to the second mile and my time was 24 minutes and 17 seconds, I really couldn't believe it! I felt comfortable, I felt as if I was running at a pace I could handle and so I decided at that point I wanted to aim for 37 mins to finish in!

The last mile felt brilliant, I kept going, and could see the finish line from different angles for the last kilometre. As I turned the final corner I could see my mam and my two oldest kids and it brought out a burst of speed from me, and I ran past them pumping my fist and yelling "COME ON!!!!"

As I crossed the line I stopped my Nike+ app and it read 36.37 mins. I was ecstatic, I hi-fived a bloke dressed as a teddy bear, I got given my medal and a goody bag (which had a bottle of water and an orange in it, ooooh) and made my way over to my folks. I was completely buzzing, and couldn't stop saying, "I did it in 36 minutes 37 seconds!" My mam said she couldn't believe it when I came around the corner as she hadn't been expecting me for another 5-10 minutes but that I had looked comfortable.

So I had my first run under my belt, and damn it felt good. But I am well aware that there is still a lot of running to be done before the Big One in 2012. So I have more runs entered. I am now in the Great Winter Run in Edinburgh just after New Year, the Wrap Up and Run 10k in Yorkshire in March, the Sunderland City 10k in May and the 2012 Jane Tomlinson 10k event in Leeds in July. I'm sure I will be getting more official run practice too. I want to make sure that I am completely ready before next September.

My weight loss has stabilised over the last few weeks, but I am aware of why this is, and I know what I need to do to get my weight loss going again. Therefore I am going to give myself a kick up the bum to get the pounds moving again. First up is getting back to bootcamp regularly, and I plan to be back there on Saturday. Secondly is making sure my food shopping is better organised, long days at university have meant that there have been times when I have been neglecting to make the sensible choice.

My motivation has been boosted by everyone who has supported me, and getting that first run done has definitely got my resolve back. I still want to have lost 70lbs by Christmas and it's still doable, I just need to be focused.

week 8 finished

After yesterday's run I felt great today and so decided to go out for another run today. I knew I wanted to add a wee bit more distance in my run today, just a very small amount to try and break 4k. I got 3.99k yesterday and so it was a target I set for myself.

I use Nike + on my phone to record my distance and pace on my runs as well as using the c25k app too. I have noticed at times it doesn't record the distance as accurately as I would like but it's never bothered me before. Today I felt I had ran really well. I added that little bit extra to my run and as I got home felt delighted to know I had completed Week 8 day 3.

I stopped the Nike app as I reached the front door and was really annoyed to see that my GPS signal had dropped about half a mile from home and so it had only recorded part of my run. I felt really deflated for a while. I'm in a group with some really good friends on Twitter and we have a challenge to see who runs furthest in the month. Now they are infinitely fitter than I am, and I know I will not be able to compete with them seriously. But my half a mile now doesn't count, and I felt robbed!

Then I stopped and made myself think. Here I am today, completing what was a 4k run, whatever Nike+ says or not. I did it without stopping. I did it! I have completed 8 weeks of the c25k programme. That is one hell of an achievement! And I stopped being cross about not having the half mile recorded and focused on what I had actually done.

I'm now on the final week of the c25k programme. It was such a daunting prospect when I started. But here I am, 4 weeks until my first 5k fun run and right on track to be able to complete it.

When I was away in Florida I did gain some weight. Not a huge amount, and certainly not what I would have gained had I not made the changes in my life that I have. I was more relaxed about my eating while away, but I did make sensible choices a lot of the times too. When I weighed myself when I got home I certainly wasn't devastated.

I weighed myself again today and found I have lost 7lbs since I got back. I am really delighted at that. It feels like I am back on track. I have a busy week this week at University and my mam, who is a great support to me, is away on her holidays to Tenerife, and so I need to be organised, both for me and my girls. So I am going to sit tonight and plan the meals for this week so that I am can keep things together when my time is more limited.

I have found that mentality is a massive part of successful life changes. If you are mentally right to make changes in your life it makes the actually physical processes so much easier. I've also found that by breaking goals into smaller more manageable pieces makes them far easier to hit. This is probably the best advice I could give anyone. Take any huge challenge and break it into smaller chunks. If you can achieve the smaller goals then you will naturally achieve the more massive one.

Hope you all have a great week. Keep on keeping on.