Not just any Tuesday

A standard weekend haul for Run Dem Crew

I haven't written much about Run Dem Crew. I'm going to keep it that way, because nothing I can write will capture what it's like to be part of that family.

Yesterday was medal presentation day for the crew members who completed Run To The Beat and the Berlin Marathon this weekend, and graduation day for the Run Dem Crew Youngers. There were a lot of medals to get through, and there were kind words spoken about every one of the recipients by our leader and legend Charlie Dark. It was an emotional night, and I fell in love many, many times. 

And then this happened. A medal of my own. It means the world. Charlie and Ruth, thank you so much.

Kaye v Run To The Beat 2011

Yesterday I was one of the 10,754 runners who took part in Run To The Beat. My first half marathon in my home city with my favourite runners. It had taken me a while, but just as race day rolled around I was finally looking forward to it. But it didn't go exactly to plan for me. Here's how it went down:

[A bit of background: As you may know, I was aiming for a sub-2 PB (my Paris time was 02:03:21), and with the help of a brilliant pacer in the form of the legendary Charlie Dark of Run Dem Crew, I knew I'd do it if I stuck with the group.]

Miles 1-4: Always the hardest in a long run, right? And bloody hell it was hot. But we started at a comfortable pace that was slightly faster than the 08:46 minute miles that we'd need to bring us in at 01:55:00. I think the hills started at Mile 2. I kept my eyes on the ground, telling myself it was flat. Before I knew it, we'd passed the Mile 4 marker in 35 minutes. And then I felt a twinge in my knee. Nothing painful though, so I plodded on.

Miles 5-8: I finally stopped noticing the heat and accepted my sweaty fate. We'd dropped a few RDC members (some had sped off, some had dropped back), but I still had Charlie in my sights and the fabulous Peigh by my side. We passed over the halfway checkpoint and rounded a corner to a delicious downhill section. And then I looked up. Holy. Jesus. The hill. I will be forever grateful to Peigh for getting me to the top with (false) promises that we were totally there already. All I remember after the hill is people handing out Vaseline, and the pain.

Miles 9-10: For some reason (more Peigh lies?), I already thought we'd passed Mile 10 when I saw the Mile 9 marker, which was quite disheartening. But then the lovely boy reminded me we were almost at Greenwich Park, and once we were there, we may as well have been at the finish line, right? But the painless knee twinge had now become a massive stabbing pain whenever I landed or took off on my right leg. Not handy. So I slowed to a walk and lost all of my pacers. I tried to run again, I couldn't. I continued like this for a couple of minutes, trying to figure out whether this was the end of my race. I did manage to hand off some Skittles to a girl who had stopped and said she felt too faint to go on - I hope she made it to the finish line.

After yet another attempt at running, I gave in. I found a lovely steward, who fetched the St John Ambulance people for me. Once I'd explained my injury, they sat me in a mini wheelchair, draped a space blanket over me, strapped me in and wheeled past the Mile 10 marker to the ambulance. I looked like I was being taken into an asylum, I wish I had a picture for you. Also, I did ask whether Callum the first aider wanted to wheel me a further 3 miles - he didn't. They sat me down at the roadside, gave me an ice pack for my knee and strapped it up. Meanwhile I watched everyone run past, and wanted to cry. Thankfully for the lovely St John volunteers, I saved the tears till I was on the phone to Al, who was waiting for me at the finish line.

 

The finish line: I got back to the O2 on a bus (a lesson in why you should always carry your Oyster Card, Londoners), where I promptly burst into tears all over Al, who hugged me even though I smelled like a zoo - that's love right there. At the Nike tent, I was reunited with my gorgeous Run Dem Crew-ers, full of post-race euphoria and ready with hugs and kind words for me. Cue more tears. I am so proud of all of them, and over the moon that the crew members who stuck with Charlie crossed the line in under 2 hours.

If you've ever been to Run Dem Crew, you'll know what I'm talking about, but if you haven't, let me tell you - Run Dem Crew is SO much more than a running club. It's the most amazing family, and I'm honoured to be a part of it. The encouragement, unity, concern and love I experienced yesterday (which continued long into the day) is something I'll never forget.

I'm not sure whether I'm smiling because of the RDC love, 

the Al love or because I'd just been reunited with my deodorant.

Well done to everyone who made it to the end of Run To The Beat, especially those of you who battled through the heat and the hills and still came away with PBs. It was a tough race - if you're thinking of doing it next year, hill training is your friend. You might want to bring your iPod too if you like running to music - I think the whole musical element of the race was massively oversold (is that just me?). But please don't let that put you off, it was well organised and the stewards were fabulous. If you ran, let me know what you thought!

The test

Yes I know everyone's sick of these, but I like this one, so there.

If you've spoken to me about my training for Run To The Beat and the Royal Parks Half Marathon, you'll know that I haven't been loving it. When I signed up for these races I was still on my post-Paris high, and inspired by watching the London Marathon (which I also signed up for, but let's not talk about that right now). This time round, training has felt like a massive chore. Maybe it's because I was missing the camaraderie of Team Bangs, or because it's the first time I'd trained through summer, or maybe I just wasn't ready to train again. I expect it's a combination of all three, and along the way, I totally fell out of love with running. I still had that awesome feeling when I got back from a run, but it was soon replaced by a sense of dread as I thought about the next one I had to do, and I just wanted it all to be over.

I wasn't excited about the races. I've been bleated and whined 'But I don't waaaant to!' to anyone who was kind enough to ask me how training was going. And I meant it. I did. Not. Want. To. If I could, I would have gone back to my May self and stopped her signing up.

But then...

Tuesday. Run Dem Crew. My favourite night of the week. A short and sweet taper run for those of us doing Run To The Beat. Two miles in, I felt a sharp pain in my knee, but I ran through it. Turns out that was not a wise move - on Wednesday, I was in agony. It hurt to walk, especially down stairs. But here's the important part - instead of congratulating myself on my injury and rushing to Twitter to declare I'd have to pull out of RTTB, I was gutted. I mean, I know I'd been complaining about running, but I didn't not want the option, y'know? So I sulked, and didn't tell Twitter that I'd have to pull out because I was clinging on to the hope that I'd wake up the next day and my knee would be fine, and I'd be able to race.

So when I woke up this morning to discover the worst of the pain had gone, I decided it was time for an attitude overhaul (just in time, with three days to go before RTTB). No more moaning, no more hating - I've trained for these runs *ahem*, I want to run them and I want to run them well. And that's what I'm going to do. So thank you, Running Gods, for the test.

63 days later

I know this has nothing to do with anything I'm saying, 

but I'm hoping it'll make you forgive me. 

Is there a blogging version of Social Services? If so, you guys should have reported me for abandonment. Apparently I took an nine week long summer holiday from my blog without telling you. For shame. I won't bore you with excuses or the mundane details of the last 63 days, but here are a few highlights:

I joined Run Dem Crew. I can't even begin to tell you how much I love it.

I became a Boutique Sport Glambassador.

I celebrated something fabulous happening to my best girl.

I clocked up some miles training for Run To The Beat and the Royal Parks Half Marathon 

(but definitely not as many as I should have). 

I do have some real life blog posts planned, so stay tuned, I promise I'll be back! 

Back in training

It's been a little over four months since I ran the Paris Half Marathon with Team Bangs on the Run. Four months is a long time to give up running regularly. I know this because I'm finally back in training and it ain't easy.

If you follow me on Twitter, you may know that I'm currently training for not one, but TWO half marathons. Two. Half. Marathons. Only two weeks apart. I realise this is small fry to the hardcore runners that hardly break a sweat running full marathons every week, but given that I started running a year ago and have been avoiding it for four months, the idea of an entire marathon in only two weeks is pretty terrifying.

Luckily, I've picked two of London's most exciting half marathons. First up, on 25 September is Nike's Run To The Beat - 'London's music half marathon', which the second Team Bangs on the Run are also running. Exactly two weeks later, it's the Royal Parks Half Marathon, which I've only ever heard amazing things about.

It was never my intention to run two more half marathons this year, but it's happening, and I'm taking the opportunity to push myself and my body further. I'm determined to beat my Paris PB of 2:03:21 and come in at under 2 hours in both runs, so I'm following a pretty hardcore Runner's World training plan, which has me running five times a week.

I missed Week One because I didn't count properly (I blame holiday blues), so I started on Week Two last week. Here's how that went:

Monday

• Plan said: Rest day
• I rested

Tuesday 

• Plan said: 5M speedwork
• 19:00 - I tried to brave the huge rain storm on Tuesday evening, but only got to the end of my street before turning round and going home

Wednesday

• Plan said: 5M (steady)
• 05:30 - 5.02M (steady)
• 19:00 - NTC in Hyde Park with the fabulous Joslyn of Fit Girl About Town fame

Thursday 

• Plan said: 5M threshold run
• I slept through my morning alarm, so missed my run
• 19:00 - PT session

Friday

• Plan said: Rest day, but I wanted to make up for Thursday's missed run
• 05:30 - 4.66M including 2M  fartleks

Saturday

• Plan said: Hills 5M (inc 6 x 150m hill)
• 07:30 - 5.62M including 7x sprints up Primrose Hill

Sunday

• Plan said: Long run 8M
• 08:30 - 8.15M (steady)

Plan total: 28 miles
Kaye's total: 23.45 miles (Target: 28 miles)

A little wobbly, but 0-23 miles in a week isn't too shabby. Wednesday's double session perhaps wasn't the wisest decision. As much as I'd like to continue the NTC outdoor classes (which you should definitely get to if you're in London), I should make the runs my priority. I've never really incorporated speedwork, hills, fartleks or threshold runs into my training before, so that's going to take some getting used to. If anyone has any tips on any of the above, I'd love to hear them!

Juneathon: The End

I totally failed at Juneathon. I won't make any excuses, but I promise I'll try harder when Janathon comes around. Strangely, I found it easier to exercise in January than I did in June, so I look forward to kicking Janathon's ass in 6 months.

Moving on swiftly from my failure, I'd like to point you in the direction of some marvellous bloggers who made it to the end of Juneathon:

• JogBlog
• Fortnightflo
• abradypus
• Cake of Good Hope
• Lazy Girl Running
• Travelling Hopefully
• Bad Wabbit
• Shazruns
• jensruns2011
• fairweatherrunner
• 2011 miles

Well done you fabulous lot and everyone else who completed Juneathon - you should all be very proud.  

Read it and weep

So there I was yesterday, sat at my desk, eating my lunch and clicking through my favourite websites - Heatworld, Grazia Daily, Jezebel, TMZ, *cough* Daily Mail online *cough* (yes, it's dirty, but they have a great Showbiz section) - and as usual, I clicked onto Marie Claire's daily newsletter. I saw this. I saw red.

Now, it's not often I get enraged by silly news pieces - my eyes just completely filter out the 'Everything You Do Will Give You Cancer' stories that litter the Daily Fail site - but stories like this really rile me. 'Get fit by fidgeting (yes, really)'?! NO.

The article is actually based on a study by scientists at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, which showed that just 30 minutes of light exercise a day is enough to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and benefit the heart and lungs. Now, this is nothing new - we all know that we should be doing at least 30 minutes of exercise a day, right? It's a good message, one that should be reinforced regularly. But why do Marie Claire feel the need to turn it into a ridiculous piece about fidgeting being exercise? Why can't they encourage actual exercise? It's not evil!

To be fair to them, they do go on to say this:

"That’s not to say we should be chucking our trainers for a life of fidgeting – there’s no replacement for vigorous workouts – but it’s encouraging to know that a little can go a long way."

Yes, exactly. Fine. If 'a little' is taking the stairs instead of a lift, getting off the bus a couple of stops early to walk the rest of the way - not 'jiggling your legs up and down'.

And then:

"As well as improving fitness, fidgeting has also been proven to help with weight loss."

Le sigh.

Am I the only one really angry about this? Also Marie Claire, have you ever sat next to someone that fidgets continuously? It's fucking annoying and will only lead to violence.

Guest post: Holiday workouts and how not to avoid them!

Hands up if you're going on holiday soon! Keep them up if you're planning to work out while you're away. If you just put your hand down, today's post is for you. The fabulous Joslyn from Fit Girl About Town (and Nike Master Trainer - she's a professional badass) has some great tips on keeping up your fitness routine and maintaining that beautiful bikini bod when you're far from home (and the gym):

So you've done it, you've worked your little tush up into frenzy and you are ready to rock that bikini. Hey y'all, look at my fly toned ass!!! So what a girl does not want to do, is blow it on holiday, sure you're gonna relax sweety, but we don't want the tone in the ass to relax too, you dig!!

So here are a few rules to follow:

1. Up and out - get that shizzle done first thing in the morning, that holiday lazy days feeling only gets more intense as the day goes on. So you know the way you know the way you don't feel like working out after a long hard day... multiply that by a gazillion, and that's how you're gonna feel about an afternoon workout on holiday!!

2. Keep it simple - Got your running shoes?  Go run!!  Find a hill and run up it 6 times for 30-60 seconds, resting for 2.5 minutes in between, like I did camping in France last summer, or make yourself a mini track on the beach and sprint up it ten times for 15-20 seconds with 2 minutes rest in between each one.

Just a small little hill for running up, when camping in San Sebastien

Usain who, nobody gonna catch me on my sand track!!

3. Keep it even simpler - work out in your hotel room with a circuit that is so quick you'll be done, showered and down to breakfast before you can say "ass still tight!" - Repeat the following (10 squats, 10 lunges, 10 press ups, 60 second plank, 10 burpees) rest for 1 minute and repeat 3-5 times. Work out hard through each rep!!!

4. Do it every day!! Run, do the circuit, do cartwheels if you need to, just move!!!! The 10-30 minutes it takes to workout will be worth it when you can chill guilt-free for the rest of the day!!

Juneathon: Day erm, 15

Sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry! I've been such a bad blogger these past couple of weeks, but a good Juneathoner, I promise!

I've been hitting the gym in the mornings before work (so lovely to be reunited with my morning gym crew - we don't talk to each other, it's far too early for that, but it's nice to know we're all in it together) and on weekends - at first, because I needed the endorphins, and then because I realised my holiday was just around the corner. I leave for the sunshine at the crack of dawn tomorrow morning, so things will be quiet on the blog front for a week or so, but I've got lots of fabulous posts planned for my return, so please come back!

Juneathoners, I've packed my trainers in my teeny tiny case, and apparently the hotel has a lovely new gym, so I'm planning to take full advantage - I'll need to work off all those cocktails.

See you in a week, Juneathon hard!

Juneathon: Day 5 (and why there's no 3 & 4)

So, after two days, I failed Juneathon. And I continued to fail it for till Day 5 due to a truly shitty weekend, the details of which I won't bore you with now. But then came Sunday, and as I hadn't moved much further than bed-sofa, sofa-bed for 36 hours, I gave myself a stern talking to and dragged my ass to the gym. I'm sorry, Juneathon family. Please don't banish me.

Juneathon day 5:

• 4km treadmill run
• 20 mins abs and legs

I'm not winning Juneathon, am I? Boo.

Juneathon: Day 2

Flickr image from rp72's photostream

Oh dear lord, the pain. Yesterday's weight-tastic PT session has left me with a really painful case of DOMS - although there wasn't anything 'delayed' about it, I was achey-painy the minute the session finished. It's a bloody good thing that I did my Juneathon run this morning, because as of this afternoon, I can't move at anything faster than an injured snail's pace.

This morning's run was pretty pathetic - a very slow plod to Marble Arch and back = 1.75 miles

I'd like to say I'll be faster tomorrow, but it all depends on whether or not my muscles are still punishing me. If they're still bad, I'm thinking a morning gym session for some upper body/core work or a similar session using the NTC app, which I haven't touched in too long.

Juneathon: Day 1

Happy Juneathon! You've all joined Juneathon, right? If not, please rectify that here. Don't worry, I'll wait.

Good, now you've signed up to run (or do some other form of exercise) every day, and blog about it within 24 hours. It won't be too hard, I promise. It certainly won't be as hard as Janathon, with it's icy, miserable weather and dark mornings (you can read my Janathon posts here). We can totally do Juneathon. And if you've missed day 1, just start on day 2, it's all good, the Juneathon family understands.

Day 1 of Juneathon happened to fall on PT day, so there was no getting out of it even if I wanted to, which is just how I like my exercise.

PT must have sensed Juneathon was in the air, because today happened to be the day we switched back to weight training. While I was training for Paris, we eased off the weights and concentrated on my lung capacity and building strength in my core and back, and with Operation Abs, we've upped the amount of boxing in our sessions. So it's been a while since I did any proper lifting. And I'm definitely paying for it now.

I really want to try to run as much of Juneathon as I can, but seeing as I've just re-joined the gym after a brief separation (we had a row about money), I'm back in the honeymoon phase, so my morning runs might be treadmill-based and split with some resistance work. Either way, it's happening - I'm exercising every day. 

Even though it's warmer and lighter outside, I get the feeling I'm going to struggle with Juneathon for a couple of reasons:

1. I'm not currently training for anything. During Janathon, I was training for the Paris Half Marathon, which gave me a reason to get my trainers on and my ass on the road. My next event (which I'll tell you about in a separate post) isn't till late September, so my official training plan for that doesn't start till July. But training for that is going to have to be pretty hardcore (again, I'll explain all in another post very soon), so there's no better way to get those miles back into my legs than Juneathon!
2. I'm going on holiday in two weeks. With my girlfriends. Clearly, this is going to involve some alcohol, which probably won't make me want to run/walk/get off my sun lounger. And I'm sure as shit not going for runs on my own in a place I don't know. But our hotel does have a swanky new gym, and I'm planning to squeeze my trainers, sports bra and a pair of shorts into my limited luggage allowance (don't tell the girls), and I'm hoping I'll be able to manage a quick treadmill run once a day. 

But that's the point, right? It wouldn't be a challenge without real life getting in the way.

Operation Abs: 6 weeks in

I can't believe it's been six weeks since I started Operation Abs - it's whizzed by. I must confess, I've fallen off the wagon a little lately, giving into those nasty little chocolate cravings when I know I should just be riding them out. But other than that, I've stuck to the plan - no rice, pasta, bread, potatoes or coffee.

I learned early on that talking about my diet to people (especially when eating out) only results in one of two reactions:
1) I get the outraged lecture: 'You're NOT on a diet! Do you think you're FAT?!' (N.B. if you do this, stop it. It's annoying. No, I don't think I'm fat. I'm not on any sort of crash diet. I'm healthy. I feel good.)
2) A pitying look followed by a rather horrified 'So... what do you eat?!'

Of the two possible reactions, I prefer the second. It gives me a chance to explain to people that I'm eating just as much as I used to, I've just replaced the yellow and white stuff with green stuff.

For the visual learners among you (remember that?), here's a typical day in the life of my diet:

Breakfast

This is actually my largest meal of the day - grapefruit, cereal and a small smoothie. I only eat oats and fruit at the start of the day, and I need quite a bit of food to stop me wanting to snack before lunchtime. I don't have time for porridge in the mornings, so I switched to Oatibix pretty early on (with the approval of PT), replacing the soya milk on the original list with rice milk. I did discover coconut milk suitable for cereal, but my local supermarket have stopped stocking it, boo!

As I'm no longer on coffee, I make up a Thermos cup of peppermint tea to get me through the tube journey to work, and I try to finish a litre of water before lunch as I find it stops me wanting to snack. Admittedly, this sometimes results in me necking half a litre of water before I eat my lunch - I'm not very good at the whole water thing.

Lunch

Lunch for the last six weeks has been variations on this salad. Rocket and spinach, roasted chicken breast, beetroot, avocado, coriander

Dinner

This is pretty much the same dinner I was eating before Operation Abs started, except I'd have some potato salad and maybe a slice of garlic bread with it. I've cut those out and upped the amount of veg on my plate. I'm eating red meat about once every 10 days-2 weeks, but most days, it's salmon:

Apologies for yet more appalling photography, I must learn

how to use the settings on my camera

My main problem comes after dinner. I get a craving for something sweet after a meal, which would usually be satisfied with a couple of biscuits and a cup of green tea in life before OA. But I'm yet to find a suitable replacement, and as lovely as peppermint tea is, it isn't a biscuit.

But you want to hear about results, yes? Well, let me get this out of the way first - I don't have abs yet (as you'll have seen from the Moonwalk pictures). This is because I've slacked off on the exercise front, there's no other excuse for it. PT is killing me once a week, but in between those sessions, when I'm on my own, I've been bad. There, nothing like a bit of public shaming to make me pull my socks up.

Even without doing as much exercise as I should be, I'm seeing results. So far, I've lost two inches from around my belly, and an inch from my waist.

And on top of that, I feel good. I'm less tired (no need for coffee - take that, Starbucks), I'm less moody, I sleep better, my skin has cleared up and I don't have that horrible mid-afternoon slump that can only be cured by a visit to the Desk of Filth.

I've really surprised myself by sticking at this for so long - but it's been so easy. For me, the key has been to think about all the good (and tasty) things I can eat, rather than the bad (and admittedly, tasty) things I can't. Eating out has been a bit testing at times, but I can usually find something on a menu to suit my diet. Or, in the case of Sunday lunch a couple of weeks ago, I can give Al my roast potatoes and take his veg. Everyone's happy.

If you're thinking of following a similar diet, I'd encourage you to give it a try. Take a look at the list PT gave me to start off with, and make as much as you can out of those foods. Now, by no means am I a nutrition expert, but please don't think about it as not being able to eat certain foods, you'll just drive yourself crazy. Remember, you have a choice in what you eat, and you're just choosing to eat food that will make you feel good! Don't forget to let me know how you get on!

Moonwalk 2011: The walk that broke me

So, we did it! And it was, without a doubt, the longest, most painful night of my life. 36 hours after crossing the finish line and I'm nursing two blisters, achey hips and a sore lower back. And I'm feeling miles better now than I was then! Thank you if you were following us via the live blog (God bless the iPhone!) - if you were busy sleeping, here's a quick recap.

Our fabulous little team - amazing costumes (complete with tails!) made by Gemma's fair hand (THANK YOU GG!):

Inside the confines of the Moonwalk Village, everything was great - lots of entertainment, great food, and look who we even found the lovely Justine!

There was a lot of waiting around, especially for those of us leaving in the last wave, but nothing we weren't used to (a common theme in races, non?). The problems started when we started walking:

We'd been at the Moonwalk Village since 8:15pm, so we were already pretty tired!

 You know when you start a race and there's a bit of a bottleneck for the first kilometre or so? That's what happened here, except it lasted about 18 miles. No roads had been closed to accommodate us, so we were left trying to squeeze 17,000 women (and some very brave men) down lots of teeny pavements. Throw in traffic lights and crossings every few hundred metres in the first few miles, and what do you get? Gridlock.

Somewhere around Mile 7 - there's a crossing at the front of that crowd!

 Let's skip ahead to Mile 10, where the Half-Mooners (those walking a half marathon) split off onto a different route at the London Eye. A painful moment for us as tiredness was starting to set in, and had it not been for the sponsorship we'd received, I'm ashamed to say that we probably would have opted out of the Full Moon. But we plodded on, passing Big Ben as he chimed 3:45am. 

About an hour later, we reached Battersea. Hip ache was starting to set in, and we were praying for this:

Apologies for the blurry pic - my photography skills are poor at the best of times,

add walking to the mix and you're asking for trouble.

If you look closely at that picture, you'll see someone on the pavement on the other side of the road. See them? That's one of the Moonwalkers, walking in the opposite direction to us, 9 miles and 2 and a half hours ahead of us. Heartbreaking. But then, there was this:

By the time we got to Battersea Park, the sun was coming up and we no longer had to worry about falling into ditches/over bollards. Plus, we could finally take in the gorgeous scenery and indulge in a bit of house/houseboat porn. But even 16 miles in, there was still a crowd problem:

We got tantalisingly close to Hyde Park a couple of times, but knowing we still hadn't reached the point where we'd seen the speedy Moonwalkers at Battersea (and therefore weren't about to turn into the park for the final half mile) was torturous.

I'm sorry, I've just realised how moany I sound. Let me put that right with a few of the amazingbrilliantfantastic things about the Moonwalk:

• The volunteers: Every single one of the volunteers we passed had a massive smile and a kind word/encouraging cheer/round of applause for us when we walked past - even the ones at miles 23-26 who received nothing but death stares from me. I'm sorry about that, you lovely people. I was really tired and in a lot of pain. They were up all night with us, standing in the cold. For free. Total stars (why didn't I get a picture of any of them?!).
• The supporters and drunks: Some of the lucky Moonwalkers received a lovely surprise when their friends and family showed up to support them - seeing the tots with banners at 6am was particularly adorable. And the drunks - long live the drunks. Especially the posh guy in Chelsea proffering a bottle of brandy to the passing ladies.
• London by night: The route took us through some of the prettiest parts of London - Hyde Park, along the Thames, Tower Bridge, South Bank, Battersea Park, Chelsea, South Kensington, Sloane Square, Horse Guard's Parade, St James' Park, The Mall and Green Park. I love seeing people fall in love with my city, it makes me love it even more!
• The costumes: This year's theme was 'Walk on the Wild Side' and there were some brilliant costumes. As well as lots of animal print and Flinstone types, there were light-up bras (inspired by My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding), a man walking in handcuffs (who has my eternal respect) and my favourites - the pandas:

•  THE FIREMEN: I asked for firemen, and at Mile 19, we got firemen. If you live in Sloane Square, set fire to your house. You'll see.

All those things kept us going through the pain. And it was pain like I've never known before. I felt like the skin had worn off the soles of my feet, my hip flexors were on fire and my neck was made of stone. I really don't know how people do things like this - Justine and Hannah, you are my heroes!

I'm pretty sure I've blocked the last 6 miles out of my mind, but it's safe to say they were filled with pain, swearing, and a few tears. But at last, a little over 8 hours after we crossed the start line, we dragged our tired, stiff and broken bodies across the finish line.

I'm pretty sure that we would have enjoyed the experience more if the organisers had arranged for roads to be closed. The waiting around and walking at a snails pace (we did very little actual power walking) ruined it for me. I really hope they're a little more organised with the route next year, because it's a great idea, and raises a huge amount of money for breast cancer charities. But for now, I think I'm going to stick to running.

P.S. On behalf of myself, GG and Charlotte, I'd like to say a massive THANK YOU to everyone who sponsored us: Liz, Guy, Cassie and Mary - you all have a share in the calories burned, so have some cake.

The Moonwalk 2011: Live

20:40 - We're here!





21:30 - Face paint! The lovely Gemma:


Me:


22:37 - Ah, the waiting. We've done all the fun stuff, and now we wait. Apparently we're not starting till midnight. *shivers*

23:15 - Ah the obligatory embarrassing group warm-up.

00:07 - And we're off!

01:30 - 5 miles in, we're at the Ministry of Defence - ooh look, the London Eye! Thank you to Cassie who's just sponsored us!



02:28 - Not loving this route. Lots of stopping and mile-long bottlenecks on teeny pavements. Come along, organisers.

03:04 - ONE toilet?!

04:32 - Toilet stop, Battersea Park. 13.5 miles in. The sun's coming up!:


08:12 - We've finished. I'm broken. That was actual, burning hell.

A pyjama post

You'd be forgiven for thinking I've fallen off the face of the blogging world lately, and I'm very sorry for abandoning you dear readers. I've thought long and hard about what I've done, and I'm back!

Today is the day of the Moonwalk, and I'm sat in my pyjamas, ready to go to sleep. It's noon. But seeing as I'll be power walking 26.2 miles from 11pm tonight, I think a nap is in order.

Look at the bra! Customised by the wonderful Gemma:

The theme for this year's Moonwalk is Walk on the Wild Side, and we've embraced the cheetah/Bette Lynch vibe. There are a couple of additional details that I'll let you in on a bit later - they're freaking fabulous.

I've decided I'm going to try and live blog the Moonwalk tonight (well, as much of it as my iPhone battery will allow), so make sure you check back from 8:30pm when Team Freeney Sweenstone arrive at Moonwalk City!

Remember, you can sponsor us and support vital breast cancer causes on our fundraising page.

On to the next

Quick Operation Abs update: Two weeks in. No bread, no pasta, no rice, no chips, no Desk of Filth [edit - I wrote this post before I ate a packet of peanut M&Ms yesterday. I fell off the wagon, but I've been punished with a gigantic spot]. And it's surprisingly easy! I did have to extend PT's list after about 5 days to include prawns, avacado, beetroot and, um, lobster (I took Ma for a lobster birthday lunch, but kindly donated the accompanying fries to Al), but I've managed to stay away from all things flour and sugar with minimal pain/tears/tantrums. I see no abs as yet, but it's been said that I'm feeling noticeably less squishy in areas (said by Al, I hasten to add. Not a lot of other people comment on my squishiness). I just need to step up the exercise and I'll be there in no time.

But Operation Abs isn't what I'm here to tell you about today. I want to introduce you to my new fitness challenge. A marathon.

Now, before you get all 'WTF are you doing that for?!' in the comments box, let me clarify. I will be walking this marathon.

On 14 May, Team Freeney Sweenstone (that's myself, Charlotte and Gemma) will be taking part in the Moonwalk London - a 26.2 mile walk around London, starting at night and finishing (hopefully) in the early morning. Oh, and we're doing it in bras. Why? Because we want to raise money for, and awareness of Walk the Walk - grant making charity not only dedicated to raising money for vital breast cancer causes but is also passionate about encouraging women and men to become fitter and healthier and take control of their own wellbeing.

I'm going to be honest with you here - I've done no specific walking training for this yet. I'm not entirely sure how to slot 5/10/20 mile walks into my current life/work/fitness schedule. But fear not, I will come up with an answer, and when I do, I'll let you know. Also, if any of you have walked the Moonwalk or similar before, and have any training advice for us, I'd love to hear from you!

In the meantime, if you'd like to sponsor our little team as we walk a combined 78.6 miles in 7 hours or less, the magic of the internet allows you to do so here.

Inspiration

The Nike Woman. She may not be a pro athlete (although they are among them), but she pushes her body to the limit. She is strong, she is fit, she is fast. She doesn't care what the scales tell her. She doesn't care about looking a hot mess when she works out. She will not stop until she's sweat-soaked.

She is my inspiration.

She is fearless.

She is my hero.

She is who I want to be.

She is who I will become.

Dear diary: The results

Oh, that PT is a crafty one. Just when I'd forgotten about my food diary woe, he pounced. There's nothing like an email about the state of your diet to wake you up first thing on a Monday morning.

As predicted, he wasn't happy:

"Ok so from what i can see the current diet is not looking too good. Its fairly low calorie but not too high in quality nutrients missy!" (that's me told)

So, here's the plan:

"These are some basic food and liquid sources I would like you to follow for now... they are definitely not the most exciting but definitely are the most effective and HEALTHY!" (I took the caps to mean that my current diet is far from healthy)

The basis of my Operation Abs diet:

• Oats (gah!)
• Broccoli 
• Spinach
• Carrots
• Mushroom
• Celery
• Cabbage
• *Confession* I've eliminated cauliflower from this list as it's vile
• Salmon
• Tuna
• Chicken breast
• Water
• Peppermint tea
• Soya milk (only with breakfast - so long coffee, sweet nectar of life)

So far, so good (the coffee habit is getting a little out of hand, it needs to be stopped). But where's the bread? The pasta? The quinoa? The couscous? Where are the god damn carbs?! Obviously they'd be limited and brown, but they need to be there, right? He must have forgotten. How else am I supposed to construct a meal? I mean, when I think up an outfit, I start at the shoes and work my way up. When I think up a meal, the carbs are the shoes.

A gentle reminder about the missing carbs elicited this reply from PT:

"Nope, stay off those lovely carby items totally please."

*Right now, I'd like you to imagine a montage of pretty things while I edit out my bitter, sweary diatribe about how unnecessarily mean he's being*

I've never tried to cut carbs from my diet before, mainly because I didn't think I'd be able to do it. But for the purpose of Operation Abs, I need to look at this differently. It's a new way of eating, a new challenge, a chance to see my body change again. And if I do it all properly, it won't take forever.

I can totally do this, but I need your help to make it enjoyable. Can you think of any yummy things I can make out of the things in that list up there? If so, please let me know! Also, if any of you lovely readers want to do join in with Operation Abs, please do, I'll need the company to keep me going*.

Operation Abs is go!

*Duties may include removing me from the bread and baked goods aisles of supermarkets at 3am. 

Scales aren't our friends

 Flickr image from ILoveVerdi's photostream

Alright, I'm going to confess something. I get really confused when people talk about 'losing weight'.

How many times have we heard friends/mothers/sisters/celebrities saying "I just need to lose five more pounds..."? Why does that woman in the gym jump straight on the scales after a spin class and moan about not having lost any weight? I have to work really hard to stop myself from yelling "Ignore the damn scales!" across the changing room. Why does weight rule all?

I haven't weighed myself in over a year, but not because I'm super-comfortable with my body and I don't care about how I look - believe me, I do.  I just don't care about that number on the scales. Because who the hell cares? What does it matter? People looking at me are taking in my size, not my weight. I'm pretty sure that if I weighed myself now, I'd be looking at a figure not too far off the last one I saw on there. But I know my body's changed - my waist is smaller, my legs are firmer, my arms are more toned and my stomach is flatter (the ab challenge is by no means complete, but there's less squidge that there was). If I let weight be my only measurement of progress, I wouldn't be half as happy with how far I've come.

That doesn't mean I don't know when things are getting a little out of hand. The telltale signs: my jeans are a little tighter, the evil muffin-top shows signs of returning and my boyfriend is overjoyed that my boobs have returned. When those things happen, it's time to cut back on the pulled pork sandwiches and treats from the Desk of Filth and step up the running. No need to consult the evil numbers - I know what needs to be done.

The thing that really upsets me is seeing women who work really hard (and drop dress sizes in the process) left disappointed in their efforts because the scales aren't telling them what they want to see. Everyone tells them how fantastic they look, but they can't see past the needle on the scales.

So, ladies - and gents - I'm begging you. Please ignore the scales, they are not our friends. Listen to - and look at - your body, it'll tell you all you need to know.

Dear diary: Day 3

Rejoice blog readers! The last day of the food diary is upon us! I didn't post this last night because I fell into a meat coma after dinner... oops. But look at it:

Anyway, here's how day 3 went:

07:00 - 2x slices toast with peanut butter
07:30 - 1x white coffee, 2 sweeteners
10:30 - Plum
12:30 - Last night's spaghetti leftovers
         - 1x bunch red grapes (I did NOT eat these all in one sitting)
         - 1.5 litres water
19:30 - Pulled pork sandwich on focaccia bun, mixed salad, potato wedges
         - 1x glass lemonade


My 3-day diary is now in the hands of PT, and I expect something along the following lines:

• Do not, under any circumstances, touch the Desk of Filth
• Eat something else for breakfast (he has, however, been told that I'm not too keen on milk, so porridge is out, and I'm not making it with water)
• Stop drinking coffee (this will be met with tears and violence)
• Snack on something that isn't an entire bunch of grapes
• Drink more water
• Stop eating pulled pork sandwiches (no can do)

I'll keep you posted!

Dear diary: Day 2

Flickr image from Kirstea's photostream

Today was another successful day in the fight against the Desk of Filth! It was also my first morning run since before Paris, and it's safe to say I've lost my morning mojo. I'm kicking myself for not getting out there when the sun was up at 6am in those couple of weeks before the clocks went forward. Dear Timelords and Weather Gods, can you make it light and sunny for my morning runs please?

Day 2's food diary looks like this:

06:30 - 2x toast/peanut butter (post run)
         - 1 glass water
07:00 - Green tea
08:00 - Starbucks grande soy vanilla latte
11:30 - Plum
         - Wasabi peas
12:30 - Wrap with chicken breast, tzatziki, green salad and falafel
15:45 - Another plum (I'm bored of the plums now)
         - 1 litre water
20:00 - Spaghetti bolognese, 1 slice garlic bread
         - 1 glass water

Newspaper nails

Check these bad boys out.

A couple of days ago, on my usual lunchtime trawl of my favourite websites, I spotted this fabulous post on Grazia Daily about newspaper-print nails. Now, I usually manage to mess up even the simplest of paint jobs (for some inexplicable reason, I just cannot sit still and let them dry), but I promise this is idiot-proof.

Plus, you get to use vodka - best craft tool ever, no? One of my thumbnails had 'McQueen' printed on it, the other has 'cleavage'. I'm thinking lots of naughty words on hot pink next time. Find out how to do it here.

Dear diary

During last night's PT session, conversation turned to eating habits - in particular, people who eat badly and still expect to see the pounds melt off (and then get mad with PT when it doesn't). This makes PT mad.

This got me thinking about my own eating habits, and the next thing I knew, I was admitting that I don't always eat uber-healthy meals, which I know is the reason I don't have abs like Gwen Stefani/Gisele/a Pussycat Doll. Before I'd even finished speaking, I knew PT would utter the one sentence more terrifying to me than 'We'll just strap you into these bungee straps...' - 'Keep a 3-day food diary'.

I hate the whole food diary thing because it forces me to look at what I'm doing wrong, even though I already know. It's like picking a scab or not taking your make-up off properly and all those other things you know you shouldn't do, but do anyway. I don't spend my days munching on Big Macs and deep fried Mars Bars, but my approach to food is 'I'll eat what I want', and I do tend to indulge a bit more when I'm with the boy. So in the spirit of getting back into training properly, I'm keeping a food diary for 3 days, and I'll be sharing it on here.

Before I do that, let me show you what I have to look at every day:

That is the Desk of Filth. Pretty self-explanatory non? I spend quite a large chunk of my working day trying to talk myself out of eating the filth on offer. Most of the time I win, but when I don't, it's a complete snack-fest. Must. Avoid. If anyone has any flat-ab-making snack ideas or recipes to rival the lure of the Desk of Filth, PLEASE let me know!

Here's how Day 1 went down:

07:15 - 1.5 slices toast with peanut butter
07:30 - 1x white coffee (2 sweeteners)
10:50 - 1x Boots raspberry granola yoghurt
12:30 - Boots Shapers sushi, 2 plums
13:30 - Wasabi peas (handful?)
15:30 - Plum
         - 1 litre water
19:30 - 2x salmon fishcakes, green salad, beetroot, potato salad, mayonnaise 
         - 2x glasses water

The danger of doing nothing

Confession time. My name is Kaye and I haven't run since Paris. 22 days ago. Three weeks and one day.

Every day my worn in, mud-encrusted Asics lie on my bedroom floor, ready to pound the pavements once again. And every day, I've stepped over them, trying not to look directly at them while I squeeze my size 3's into my black heeled boots or lovely sparkly brogues. Is it just me or do they actually look sad? To borrow a sentiment from Friends, they're not fulfilling their destiny.

Here's how it happened: I got back from Paris desperate to sign up to another run. But obviously my body needed a recovery period, so I decided I'd give myself a leisurely week. 'You deserve it' people said, 'enjoy the fact that you've got nothing to train for', 'don't worry, you'll get back to it really easily, just take some time off'. So I thought it was ok that I was getting up at 6:45am and getting ready for work instead of 5:45am for my morning run and spending my Sunday mornings in bed instead of running somewhere between 10 and 18km around Hyde Park. IT WAS NOT OK.

It's not that I've done nothing fitness-wise, I have been keeping up my weekly PT sessions, but it's not enough. I trained for months to bring my body up to a certain fitness level, to the point where I ran for 2 hours (and 3 minutes) without stopping. I don't want to jump back into a hardcore half marathon training programme, but feel like I'm wasting all of that hard work by just stopping completely. Plus, that was never the plan - I was supposed to sign up for another event and keep training.

So here it is. This is the week I get off my (slightly wibbly) arse and get back into training. The next 10km race I've entered isn't till July, but I want to bring my PB down to sub-50 minutes (my current 10km PB is 00:55:42), so I'm going to work on speed, as well as distance. Get me my trainers, let's do this!

Introducing... Team Spirit Training

Apologies for the lack of blog posts recently, still no laptop *stares pointedly at Apple Store* and loads of work. Anyhow, I've not come back to moan. 

A couple of weeks ago, one of my lovely readers sent me an email asking about SUPERchick. She'd seen me raving about it, loved the sound of it, but followed the link only to find that SUPERchick is no more. 

But fear not fitness lovers, the lovely Cat has started up a fabulous new venture - Team Spirit Training. Offering pretty much the same group training services as SUPERchick (6 sessions a week across Hyde Park and Battersea Park) - Cat and hardcore (but also very lovely) trainer Mel mix one-hour sessions of full-body training with lots of laughs and delicious gossip.

Membership to Team Spirit training also gives you access to the famous Learn To Run course (well, if it's not famous yet, it will be). The very same Learn To Run course that kick-started my love for running, it's that good. And if that's not enough, Cat can review your food diary and training results to ensure you constantly achieve.

So go on, check out their website and have a nosey round their Facebook page. You'll love them, I promise.