Janathon: Days 28, 29 & 30

Whoops. I dropped the ball on the whole blogging aspect of Janathon there. And on Day 28, I dropped the ball on the exercise part too. Eek. I blame the mystery bug - I'm not quite sure what it was, but I felt like I'd been hit by a bus full of tranquilizers on Friday. It was all I could do to keep my eyes open at work, and when I got home and started crying because I'd forgotten to charge my electric toothbrush, I decided to skip my planned teeny 3km run and go to bed.

I took to Twitter to moan about feeling poorly, and was warned off my planned long run the next day by a couple of my fellow Team Bangs on the Run girls. But when I woke up on Day 29 feeling human again, I thought I'd risk it and went to meet the Sunday Run Club girls for a Saturday morning run around Hyde Park. The lovely Lucinda had mapped us out a 14.75km run taking in Green Park, St James' Park, one and a half loops of the Serpentine, and lots of other bits of Hyde Park.

I was fully prepared to drop out part way through the run if I felt at all dodgy, so I was chuffed I was able to run the full distance, plus the 1.5km I'd run from home to the park (I got the bus back, please don't judge me). I LOVE Sunday Run Club - without those girls, I'd have had such a hard time getting myself out there. Thank you lovely Justine for organizing us! Here's the route we took (I think - I lost the print-out that Lucinda gave me):

I've spent the best part of Day 30 in Milton Keynes, eating, drinking and shopping with my lovely friend Charlotte. I did think about logging the 50 miles we walked around that shopping centre as today's Janathon activity, but that might be pushing it. So on went the Nike Training Club app, and a 15 minute Leg Sculptor workout:

As tomorrow's the last day of Janathon, I feel like I should do something special - a 10km PB perhaps? That's clearly not going to happen, but I'll try and think of something fabulous.

Janathon: Day 27

Are you bored of me exercising indoors yet? I am. So last night, I took myself off to SUPERchick group training in Hyde Park after work. 

The lovely Cat was taking our session, and had us doing a series of drills including sprints, upside-down sit-ups (on a hill) and planks before starting our 'pyramid session'. No, we were not (as I first feared) going to attempt one of these (Cat, if you're reading this, look away now, I don't want you getting any ideas):

Flickr image from lifeabundantly's photostream

Instead, we were doing circuits in 15 second, 30 second, 1 minute, 30 second and 15 second periods. Piece of cake, I thought. Then we started, and Cat was saying things like 'turbo pain'. Unfortunately, after Wednesday's mental stair challenge, I knew what she meant. It hurt. But it wasn't all bad - as I've said before, the fabulous thing about SUPERchicks is the gossip distraction technique, and last night was a prime example. We talked about Cat's wedding and honeymoon (Dorset and Harry Potter Land if she gets her way), just how mental Black Swan is (I haven't seen it yet so no spoilers please), and my favourite topic of the moment - My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding (the dress! Those kids! MARY DOLL!). All while doing single leg squats, tricep dips, funny arm-shakey-with-a-partner-thing I don't know the name of, squat jumps, prone cobras and push-ups. 

Then I went home and my lovely Al made me steak and chips. Day 27 done. 

Janathon: Day 26 - Stairs.

I live in a tower block in Central London. I like to think of it as chavvy-chic. Shush, you. There is a point to this, I promise. I live on one of the top floors of said tower block. Look, here's the view:

Tonight, I was being damn lazy. I gave in to that little voice in the back of my head that was whining "But I don't want to go outside, it's coooooold". Then the drill sergeant voice that lives in another part of my head piped up - "Just get your f*cking lycra on and go outside. NOW." The whiny voice got whinier. It continued like that for a little while, till they reached a compromise (obviously the Sergeant needs to toughen up) - I'd run up and down the stairs in my building. I'd be inside, but working my legs in a hideous mix of cardio and resistance.

So off I went. There are 15 floors in my building, and two flights of 13 stairs per floor. I started at the top (because I'm not stupid). The first trip to the ground floor was a breeze, and I thought I'd have no problem doing the round trip five times - it'd take no time at all. Then I turned around and came back up. Oh. Not so easy, but doable. By the fifth floor, I was tired. But onwards and upwards to 15. The trip back down again was a nice recovery for my already achey legs - not looking good for five reps.

At the bottom, I stopped to gear myself up for the pain I knew was coming, and promised myself a rest if I got to the eighth floor without stopping (at that point I could tell myself I was over half way to the top - it's all about tricking your brain). It took a lot of grunting and squeaking, but I did it. And then the other seven, after my sweet, sweet rest. This is getting a little boring now, no? Here are some pictures of the stairs:

Up                                                               Down

Exciting! Anyway, by the time I got to the top for the second time, I was ready to go home. Doing this five times was simply not going to happen. But I wasn't dead yet, so I convinced myself to do it one more time. When I got to the ground floor, red and sweaty and gross, I bumped (quite literally) into a lady letting herself into the building. We both let out a wussy squeal, and she gave me a dirty look for getting sweat on her coat - I can't blame her. Thing is, I didn't recognise her and had no idea what floor she was going to, but I didn't want to bump into her again on my way up. So I stopped at the bottom for a couple of minutes and stretched. When I finally dragged myself back up to my floor (the 13th, I left the top two out), I was very nearly on my hands and knees. 1,118 stairs.

I don't know why I didn't just go out for a bloody run.

Janathon: Day 25

God bless ice. My foot feels much better today - gone is the limp, but I can still feel something's up with it, so I decided against running and SUPERchick group training today. But I enjoyed last night's Nike Training Club app workout so much, I decided to do another for tonight's Janathon cross-training.

I went for the 15-minute 'Leg Sculptor' workout (side lunges, squats, squat jumps, ski jumps, around the world lunges and split jumps x3) followed by the 15-minute 'Arm Definer' (single leg arm curls, push ups, modified tricep push ups, sumo squats with press and plank rows x3). Once again, I was left a sweaty mess.

Clocking up another 30 minutes on the app meant I unlocked the Drill Seeker level, and my first reward - lots of fabulous power smoothie recipes.

Wednesdays are usually PT day but due to my bank account being full of dust, we're skipping this week's session. Hopefully my foot will feel good enough for me to run on tomorrow, otherwise I'm going to find myself a 60-minute workout on the app.

Run Sweeney Run: £3,000!

A quick Team Bangs on the Run update for you: We're at £3,000!

To everyone who has donated so far - THANK YOU! It means so much to us, and more importantly, it means so much to the people who are helped by Refuge.

If you haven't yet sponsored us - please drop by our JustGiving page and give anything you can, even if it's just a couple of pounds. We're all training so hard, and reaching that target for Refuge would just be incredible. If you need a few more reasons to sponsor us, take a look at where your money goes.

Thank you again, you are FABULOUS.

Janathon: Day 24

There was no chance I was going to run for today's Janathon activity because a) my training plan says 'Rest day' after yesterday's uber-run, and b) my foot hurts like a muhfugga. I was rocking a very attractive limp today, and am currently icing the bugger, so hopefully it'll be on the mend soon.

With only seven days to go, I wasn't about to let myself slack off Janathon duties again, so I turned to my new favourite app - Nike Training Club. Armed with a couple of bottles of water (I couldn't be bothered to look for my pitiful Argos weights), I picked the 30 minute 'Action Figure' workout. It was hardcore. After 30 minutes of sumo squats, burpees, ski jumps, reverse crunches and 'inch worm to push ups' (no, me neither), I was just as sweaty and gross as I was at the app launch. Definitely recommend it for a varied at-home workout. Just one word of warning - you might want to take the warm-up into the garden/landing/park - a light jog around my teeny living room left me very dizzy.

And see that lovely badge up there? That's my reward, I'm officially a Nike Training Club Contender. Once I've clocked up 60 minutes on the app, I get upgraded to 'Drill Seeker'. I'm not entirely sure what that means, but I like the sound of it. I also like the sound of the 'Destroyer' badge that I get after 120 minutes. Once I get that, I will start calling myself 'Kaye The Destroyer'.

Janathon: Day 23

Today's Paris Half Marathon training was a long run - 16km long to be exact. But when SUPER Justine called a meeting of the Sunday Run Club, I knew that 16km wouldn't be as painful if I had company for at least part of the way. And when GG said she was on board, I thought I might just be able to talk her into doing the extended route with me.

The run was great - the old Hyde Park & Green Park favourite, but with a loop around the Serpentine thrown in. We had a great run, keeping an average pace of 4 minutes 58 seconds per km. Justine left us after Green Park, but not before snapping our lovely sweaty faces:

Photo stolen from SUPER Justine! 

 

I felt really good, probably due to my shameful day of rest yesterday. It's amazing what a difference company makes to my running - the last time I did that run on my own, I stopped several times. This time, we stopped for one (much needed) stretching break about 12km in. My Nike+ recorded a total distance of 18.7km, but I've found it adds about 0.9km to my actual distance - either way, that 16km on my training plan is DONE, and is the furthest I've run EVER! I'm massively proud of myself and GG - just seven months ago we were panicking about running our first ever 5k, and today we cranked out three of those, back to back!

Annoyingly, the pain in the arch of my right foot has returned, so I'm resting it tomorrow and will do a home circuit for day 24. 

Janathon: Days 21 & 22

Gah, I hate posting about something the day after it's happened, it makes me feel like I'm lagging behind everyone else, which I am. I'll be back on track for Sunday's post, promise.

After the grueling workout at the Nike Training Coach app event, I knew I'd be in pain on Day 21, but I had to run. I put the call out on Twitter for someone to wake me up at 5:45am the next morning and shout at me till I got up for a run. Selfishly, none of my fabulous followers were up for that, but fellow Janathoners Travelling Hopefully and Fortnightflo told me they both had to be up early for runs too, so I promised them I'd get up.

And I did! I jumped dragged myself out of bed when my alarm went off, trying to ignore the burning in my legs, lycra-ed up, and headed out. It was the first time I'd been out for a proper run before work for a little while, and I found it pretty hard. It was only 6.3km but I had two walking breaks and my legs felt like lead weights. I'm blaming the evil Master Trainers.

I spent Friday night at a friend's house having a grown-up sleepover (which is the same as the sleepovers you had when you were 11, but with wine). I'm a little ashamed to admit that after we woke up this morning, we sat on the sofa and watched Sex and the City (the Berger years) until about 7:30pm. It was delicious, but I was itching to move. So on the way home, I took the stairs instead of the escalators at the tube station, and sort of power-walked the rest. And I've just finished a 25 minute circuit - jump squats, press-ups, planks, and things I don't know the names of.

Tomorrow's Janathon/Paris Half Marathon training is Sunday Run Club with the SUPERchick ladies. We've got an 8km route around Hyde Park planned, which I'm extending to 16km for my half mara training. Eek!

Nike Training Club App & Janathon: Day 20

Sorry I didn't post this last night - by the time I got in and cranked out Day 19's blog it was way past my 'wake up at 5.45am tomorrow and go for a run' bed time.

So, Day 20's Janathon activity was spent in the company of a few of the fabulous Team Bangs on the Run (sponsor us!) ladies. You see, our fearless leader Bangs (who a few of us still call Bangs even though we know her Real Life name - I hope she doesn't mind, it's force of habit) had been invited to the launch of the new Nike Training Club app, and extended the invitation to us - she knows how to keep her team motivated!

We'd been advised to arrive in exercise gear as Bangs was told there'd be some 'jumping around'. This was a wee understatement. One minute we were playing with the very slick app on a very slick iPod Touch:

Jungle GG admiring the app

...the next, we were ushered into another room:

Those two people up there are super-fit, super-evil Nike Master Trainers. Unfortunately, I don't have photos of what happened for the next 45 minutes because I was too busy squatting, burpeeing, row-planking, sit-upping, lunging and ski-squatting to take pictures. I also embraced my inner diva and did all of that wearing my enormous cocktail ring, and even managed a costume change (I got too sweaty in my winter workout hoody and had to change into a summer-appropriate t-shirt). I'm pretty sure we all arrived expecting a light 1990s-style aerobics class workout - we were simply not prepared. I already had achey squat-bum from PT training, and the situation was not helped by the jump-squats inflicted by the Master Trainers. However, it was a fantastic workout, and I felt great, despite the agonizing burning sensation in my thighs and booty.

Our workout was a mixture of some of the 90 different drills found on the app, and none of them required any equipment. It was all body weight, and very thorough. The programmes are split into four categories - Get Lean, Get Toned, Get Strong and Get Focused, and you can choose from a range of 15, 30 and 45 minute workouts, illistrated with pictures of pretty girls with abs of steel. And the best part? It's FREE. Go forth and try it.

Janathon: Day 19 - I'm sorry

Two Janathon fails in one week? BAD Janathoner. See, here's what happened. I'd planned on a run to Hyde Park after work, just like I'd done on Monday (as far as after-work exercise goes, it really wasn't that painful). 

But then something bad happened. As soon as I walked in the door, I got caught up in conversation. Instead of heading straight to my room to get changed into my lycra, I went into the living room and I SAT DOWN. Anyone who struggles with self-motivation when it comes to exercise will know that sitting down is one of the worst things you can do. It's very rare that a sitter-downer will get up and go out for a run. So that's what happened. I'm very sorry. In fact, I'm going to show you how sorry I am through the medium of Pug:

 Flicker image from deovolenti's photostream

Janathon: Day 18

Flickr image from Eryn Vorn's photostream

Day 18? It's flown by, non? Today's Janathon activity was my weekly PT session. PT had moved it from Wednesday to Tuesday this week, so I spent most of today thinking it was Wednesday. Fail. 

PT has had a good look at my Paris Half Marathon training plan this weekend, and declared it 'pretty damn good' - win! But he did advise me to stick a couple more rest days in the week leading up to the race, and drummed into me how important it is that I carb load. He needn't worry, I've got carb loading down.

I noticed something hugely exciting today - it takes a lot more hideous exercise to make my legs hurt than it used to. God bless running! And no-one tell PT, because he'll find new hideous ways to kill me. For now, I'm just going to enjoy my legs of steel! 

Janathon: Day 17

Flickr image from andrijbulba's photostream

 Today I worked from home, which only ever means one thing - grazing. All day. There was the cereal for breakfast, followed by tea and *ahem* a couple of chocolate digestives about 30 minutes later. At 10:30am I stuck a potato in the oven, then polished off half a packet of Unearthed saucisson sec from my meat winnings.

The workman I was waiting for showed up the second I took my perfectly baked potato out of the oven. After that, there were more digestives, and some chorizo (again, from the meat winnings). Now, I know the running expert at the Running Show told us to 'shovel it in', but I'm not quite sure this was what he meant.

Normally, Monday is SUPERchick Group Training, but I felt like I needed to run today's grazing off, plus I need several more miles under my belt if I'm going to keep up with my training plan. So off I went - 6.4km from home to Hyde Park Corner and back. I bumped into the fabulous SUPERJustine on the way back - she'll be logging a double Janathon workout today - she ran from home to Hyde Park to do the SUPERchick class I was missing!

I would have taken some pictures of tonight's run, but it's pitch black in Hyde Park at night. It would actually be unsafe to run there if it wasn't for the hundreds of cyclists and runners with their lights and reflective lycra. Dear The Queen, can you please put more lights in Hyde Park for the people who drag themselves round your beautiful garden in the bleak midwinter?

Janathon: Day 16 - Back on track

After the completely failing to do anything Janathon-related yesterday, I knew I had to go all out on today's long run. So after sitting around on the sofa in my running gear, watching Bride Wars for longer than was necessary, I dug deep for some motivation and went out. It was another beautiful day, which definitely helped as I plodded up to Hyde Park. I decided to try a new route, which took me from the Marble Arch end of Hyde Park to the Bayswater end, down past Kensington Gardens, along the bottom of the park, past the Albert Memorial, then out of Hyde Park at Hyde Park corner, around Green Park, then back into Hyde Park and up to Marble Arch, then home.

It wasn't the easiest run, and it certainly wasn't non-stop. I mean, I had to stop to take these pictures for you:

13.57km later (according to my Nike+ sports band - 12.87km according to Nike+ Map It, must calibrate it on a track), I got home. I looked down, and saw this:

'Maybe I stepped in something?' I tried to rationalise. 'Maybe someone dropped something on my foot and I didn't notice?' 'Please don't be blood. Please don't be blood.' I willed. It was blood. And a very grim situation involving a toenail. I'll spare you the details and photos.

See how hard this training malarkey is? I'm not the only Team Bangs on the Run girl to suffer this fate (see how I'm not mentioning it?). So if you can spare a couple of pounds to support us and Refuge, you can do so on our JustGiving page.

Janathon: Day 15 - FAIL

Flickr photo from fireflythegreat's photostream

 After 2 weeks of doing something every day for Janathon, fail day finally came. I wasn't ill, or particularly tired, I just kind of... forgot. I had a lovely day with my boyfriend (who has requested he be given a name on here, so everyone wave hello to Al) and my friends, and it wasn't till I crawled into bed last night that I realised I hadn't done anything for Janathon. And it had gone midnight, so I couldn't even do a quick circuit.

To be fair, I could lie and tell you that I ran 10km in 30 minutes, but I love Janathon too much for that. So there you have it folks, the truth. But I promise, I'll be better. No more fails.

Janathon: Day 14 and a Wake-up Light review

Flickr image from SweetOnVeg's photostream

I didn't get up for my run this morning. It's not the clock's fault, the clock is lovely. It's my lazy ass' fault. But I was determined not to wimp out with another circuits session tonight. As I've said before, I hate exercising at night, and I'm so bad at motivating myself. But my resolve was strengthened when my  boyfriend said he'd come running with me tonight. Suddenly it was out of my hands, there was no question about me running tonight. It was ON.

And then, he changed his mind - 'Let's go tomorrow'. So it was up to me again. Shit. But all the way home, I shouted at myself - what the hell is my problem? I'm supposed to be training for a half marathon, I have a colour coordinated training plan, I've read Janathon blogs where people are running 20 miles a day. GET OVER YOURSELF, KAYE.

By the time I got home, I had about 15 minutes before my boyfriend was due to arrive. It would have been so easy to talk myself out of going anywhere (what's the point in a 15 minute run?), but I put my kit on and headed out. I thought I'd just run to Baker Street and back (2km), but I was feeling good, so just kept going. By the time I got back, I'd done 3.23km in 18m 37s. Nothing that's going to get me to the top of the Janathon leaderboard, but a motivation win.

In other news: For fortnightflo and anyone else interested in the Philips Wake-up Light, here's what I think:

I really like it. I spent about 10 minutes learning how to use it, and it's pretty simple (I have the original version, not the fancypants one that lets you wake up to the radio and bird sounds). So, here's how it works: you set your alarm, and around 30 minutes before it's due to go off, the wake-up light starts lighting up, gently preparing your body for waking up (or so Philips say). It starts off very dim, and gradually gets brighter (you can change the brightness level to suit you). Then, when it's time for your alarm to go off, the plinky-plonky music starts off very quietly, slowly getting louder to wake you gradually (you can set the volume for that too). There's also a snooze lever for those of you who like a little lie-in (it's a 9 minute snooze that you can't change, which is a bit annoying).

Now, Philips reckon your body will be ready to wake up when your alarm goes off, and you'll wake up feeling fresh. I wouldn't go so far as to say I woke up feeling fresh, but it was a lot nicer than being awoken by the manic bleeping of my iPhone alarm app. I had the light set to it's brightest level, and blinded myself a little when I opened my eyes (it's really bloody bright), so I'll be taking that down a few notches tonight. The adjustable brightness levels mean that you can use the clock as a lamp too (which I am), but beware - it gets quite hot, so it's best not to leave it close to curtains (which I have) or any other flammable bits.

Presents and a little bit about Janathon: Day 13

 Facts about today:

• Today is my dad's 50th birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!
• Today I was lazy
• Today I woke up with big hair because I didn't straighten it after my PT session
• Today I put my contact lenses in the wrong eyes
• Today I talked to my girlfriends about going on holiday
• Today I received a box of wine and some amazing goodies from the V&A
• Today I did a teeny tiny lazy girl's circuit and logged it as my Janathon activity

It wasn't till I was sat on the train to work that I realised I'd left my exercise gear at home, and that meant no SUPERchicks for me tonight. Probably a good thing because it pissed down with rain this evening. So i came home and did my lazy girl's Janathon circuit.

In other, more exciting news, I received some very lovely presents today. Before Christmas, I won a fabulous competition on Domestic Sluttery. I won a whole heap of stuff - a gorgeous Fever dress, a Mr Yen papercut, a load of Unearthed yumminess, V&A goodies, a box of Naked wine, a Philips wake-up light, and some other things I can't remember off the top of my head.

So I've had a steady stream of presents for the past couple of weeks. The Unearthed goodies arrived yesterday:

Look at all the MEAT!

And here are some of the other fabulous presents:

Naked wine, V&A goodies and my Philips wake-up light 

(which I'm very excited about)

I'm going to be really sad when the presents stop coming. If anyone would like to continue the gift-giving, please feel free. I'm off to set up my wake-up light, I've got a 5.23km run planned for tomorrow morning, I hope it wakes me up for it.

Janathon: Day 12

Today I had my first PT session of the year. My first PT session of Janathon. My first PT session in three weeks. You see, PT rather selfishly took himself to Cuba for Christmas and New Year, leaving me here to freeze and exercise by myself.

Every time I thought about tonight's session, my stomach flipped. You see, I don't like taking breaks from PT sessions. Usually, if he goes on holiday, I tend to keep at the schedule for a few days, then my brain realises that he's not there to ask me where the hell I've been if I skip a few days, so I skip a few days (read: a week/however long he's away for). If I'm on holiday, I lie down a lot, eat a lot, and do nothing remotely resembling exercise. Either way, the first session back is always so painful it makes me swear that I'll never go on holiday again. It's just not worth it.

But today, the worst didn't happen. I warmed up, we boxed for 30 mins, did a cardio circuit, boxed some more, then finished off with weights. It certainly hurt, and will hurt for the next couple of days, but at no point did I nearly keel over and die, as is the norm with the first session back. And I realised it's down to Janathon. Down to you guys, reading this. You're the ones making me exercise every day, even if it's a 20 minute circuit in front of the TV on a bad day. So thank you, you saved me today!

On another note, the gym was really busy today - not all the newbies have given up yet! My gym was also doing a great impression of a sauna - it was freaking hot. Is that happening anywhere else? PT ended up moving the bikes in the spin studio so we could work in there (it was the only free room with air con). Not cool gym. Sort yourself out.

PS - apologies for the lack of an amusing picture on today's post, but I've promised fellow Janathoner and Bangs on the Run teammate Melissa (Thru The Blue) that I'd be in bed by 10pm, so I've had no time to find one!

Janathon: Day 11

Today, I was pretty pathetic. I wasn't really able to enjoy snoozing my alarm because of the terrifyingly loud rain falling in sheets against my window, so I was definitely awake when it was time to get up for my run. Here's a snippet of the internal dialogue that went down:

"I'm not going out there, it's raining"
"Just go, it'll be fine, you've got a hoodie and a waterproof jacket. This is why."
"But it'll be cold and wet"
"Think about that quote from the marathon mentalist in Runners World. You'd go to work in the rain."
"FINE. Bitch."

So out I went. And it was horrible. I was all groggy, and didn't realise my Nike+ chip wasn't in my shoe till I'd been walking round staring at my Nike+ sportband for a couple of minutes in the rain. I found it really hard to keep any kind of consistent pace, my hood kept falling in my face (it's too big for my small head), and when I pulled it back, I kept getting rain in my eyes. So when I got to Marble Arch, I turned round and went home, making my run 2.9km instead of 7km. Like I said, I was pathetic today. I just hope it doesn't rain on the day of the Paris half marathon, or I'm fucked.

Tomorrow is the day I've been dreading for about 3 weeks. My first PT session since before Christmas. There will be boxing. There will be tears. There may well be blood. Stay tuned.

Woe is me - Janathon: Day 10

After yesterday's run, I spent most of the day lying on the sofa in rather dramatic fashion, wailing "Woe is me, my LEGS!":

Flickr image from Poldavo (Alex)'s photostream

They bloody hurt. Which is one of the reasons I didn't get up at 5:30am this morning for a recovery run. The other reason was the Snooze Monster. I just went ahead and pressed that button every 10 minutes till I got annoyed and reset it for 6:15 (when I snoozed for another 30 minutes - don't mock me, it's my system).

I did, however, manage to gather my running stuff from the floor (I can't be arsed rummaging around in drawers for all my gear before a morning run, so I just dump it all on the floor the night before) and chuck it in my bag ready for tonight's SUPERchick class. I then spent most of my working day on MSN (we're retro at work) to Gemma wailing "Woe is me, my LEGS!".

Tonight's SUPERchicks session wasn't too kind on my poor pins. Running intervals, interspersed with squats, planks, press-ups, lunges, crunches, tricep dips and some hideous version of London Bridge without a supporting wall. But I must admit, my legs do feel looser and altogether less painful. Maybe there is something to this recovery running business after all.

PS - sorry about the late post, actual Real Life thought it would rear its ugly head today. But it's back in its box now, and the internets rule once again.

Food, glorious food and Janathon: Day 9

I'm going to add another point to my 'why SUPERchicks are fabulous list' - you get invited to dinner parties where you're fed scrummy food and made to drink wine and pink fizz. Last night, SUPERchick Justine embraced her inner Nigella and cooked a fabulous dinner for 10 people. The hostess with the mostess (that looks weird written down, non?) whipped up homemade soda bread, salmon with couscous, and the BEST meringues/whipped cream/toffee sauce combo. There was also wine, which made it easy for us to rope fellow SUPERchick Jade into joining us for a run this morning.

So this morning, myself, Justine, Jade and Lucinda met up in Hyde Park, a little bleary-eyed but otherwise ready to roll. Lucinda led us through the 5k route which took us through Hyde Park and around the Serpentine, it was gorgeous. Plus, I saw a pug in a jumper, one of my favourite things in the whole world. 

I got round the route without much complaint from the foot injury, but was a little annoyed to see that my RunKeeper app had only recorded 2 seconds of the run before giving up and going to sleep (I had my Nike+ sportsband on, but hadn't had time to get it working before we started). I really wanted to take advantage of my pain-free state and get a long run out, so I said goodbye to the ladies, got my sportsband working and set off towards Green Park. I'd only really gone past that area on the bus before, and it made for a surprisingly great run. Look at the pretty views:

40-odd minutes later I was home. My sportsband told me I'd run 7.64km, but mapmyrun.com had it at 6.79km (I've calibrated the band now, so future runs should be more accurate). That brings today's grand total to 11.83km, which I'm completely chuffed with. My legs feel like lead weights now, but I'm hoping a recovery run tomorrow should sort that out.

Edit: I've just mapped that route using Nike's Map It and it's come out as 7.52km. Confused. 

Janathon: Day 8

I really must learn how to operate my alarm clock. I woke up at 9am this morning, really annoyed with myself because I'd wanted to be at the gym for 8. But I dragged myself there, ready to fight with the newbies for machines, and found it empty.

Like, properly empty:

I'm a crap photographer.

There were about 10 people on the gym floor, but not a single treadmill walker. So I cranked out a 50 minute leg session with not a single fight. Plus, I stayed in the normally male-dominated weights corner for most of the session - something that I never do for fear of the weird grunty men. I'm guessing other women feel the same way,  I hardly ever see any in there. 

A fabulous Janathon day. Then I came home and made peanut butter bacon cookies. They are the shizz:

Tomorrow I'm joining SUPERchicks Justine and Lucinda for a 5k run in Hyde Park, which I'll hopefully extend to the 11k I had planned for last week if my foot feels up to it! But first, there's food to think about - Justine's spoiling us with a night of Nigella-style feasting and XBOX Kinect-ing tonight. I should probably stop eating these cookies then.

Janathon: Day 7

Before you commit to reading this, let me tell you this - today's was not a prize-winning performance.

I had dinner with my boyfriend's family last night, and didn't get home till nearly 1am. Having been up at 5:30am for yesterday's run, and given I'm usually tucked up in bed by 10pm, you can probably guess how tired I was. I'd planned an early morning gym session for today's Janathon activity as I'm resting the foot again, but just before I left work yesterday, I volunteered to come in at 8am this morning. That shot my early morning gym plans down - the gym opens at 6:30am, and I'd have to leave at 7am to get to work for 8.

I hate exercising in the evening. It hangs over me all day, and by the time exercise o'clock comes round, I just want to curl up and wail. The only time I'll exercise in the evening is if I have a PT or SUPERchicks session - it's fine if I have someone telling me what to do, remember?

So I spent most of today dreading my Janathon task. I figured the gym newbies would still be all over the gym, if only to boast about going there on a Friday night (I know I did), so I decided to do a circuits session at home. I was in no state to think up a fabulous combination of torturous exercises, so I headed to Fit Girl About Town, one of my favourite fitness websites.

In the summer, I took part in the 4 Week Summer Challenge (and came away with a super pair of Sweaty Betty training gloves). Each week, the gorgeous Joslyn would upload a video of the exercises, with instructions on how long each set should be. The genius of the challenge was that each circuit lasted no longer than 20 minutes, but got my heart rate up and my muscles aching in that sick way I've come to crave. So when I needed a challenging but quick circuit tonight, I headed straight for Fit Girl, and my favourite circuit video (PLEASE NOTE: I am not even a fraction as graceful or generally amazing as Jos is in these videos, it's almost sickening how good she looks, but a  bloody good motivation!). It did involve me having to skip on the landing outside my flat to save the people who live below me from the 'thump thump thump' of my skipping, but it was totally worth it.

Thanks to the fabulous Fit Girl About Town, that's Day 7 done, and now I can pass out. I'll be up early tomorrow so I can hit the gym when it opens (in an attempt to escape the newbies) and feel smug for the rest of the day. That's the real reason I prefer exercising in the mornings, obviously.

Over and out.

Thanks to kaibara for this amazing shot!

Janathon: Day 6

Today's run didn't quite go to plan. I set off at 6am without AudioFuel to guide me because I wanted to know what pace I was running at on my own, even if it was my 'injury pace'.

It was all going splendidly, until I started to feel the familiar pain in my foot about 10 minutes in. Bugger. I wanted to crank out at least 7km today after yesterday's pain-free 5km test run. But I knew that it would only get worse if I pushed on, so I turned around at Marble Arch and headed home. Hence the disappointing 2.65km total. But I did use my extra time to knock out a 15 minute bodyweight circuit (lunges, squats, press-ups, crunches, plank - repeat till dead), so that made me feel a little better.

The bright side of today's run? I'm finally keeping a fairly consistent pace - look, the lines aren't going crazy. Thank you AudioFuel, it's working!

I'm keeping the foot strapped up today and heading to the gym tomorrow morning, so hopefully the rest will help and I won't have to skip my long run for the second week in a row (eek!).

Janathon: Day 5

I RAN! As you may be able to tell, I'm a little excited by it. I was only out of action for 4 days and I couldn't wait to get back on the road. I guess the running bug has finally bitten!

The 5am alarm call (I snooze for half an hour) did make me die a little inside - I hadn't woken up that early since before Christmas. But after a few seconds of poking myself in the belly (I find a little self-bullying comes in handy at times like this), I was up, changed and out. Because the foot's still not 100% better, I took it slowly, but managed my usual 5.23km route without any more pain. I'm going to try to extend that to 7km tomorrow morning, so I feel a little more prepared for this weekend's long run.

I wanted to share something I found in this month's Runner's World magazine. They interviewed Stefaan Engels, the mentalist who's running 365 marathons in a year. He said:

"I run just like Joe Average goes to work on Monday morning - whether I feel like it or not."

That's really stuck with me, and I think it's a great way to look at training, especially for an event. I'm really bad with self-discipline, and I reckon I need to start looking at my Paris half marathon training as something that I don't have a choice in. I go to work even when I don't feel like it (how often do we ever really feel like going to work?!), and it has to be that way with the training too. There's a half marathon to run at the end of all this!

While I've got you here, I want to say a massive THANK YOU to those of you who have sponsored Team Bangs on the Run. We're all training hard, and your donations really do keep us going, and will make us go faster! If you haven't sponsored us yet, and have a couple of pounds spare (check the back of the sofa) to give to Refuge, you can do your thing on our JustGiving page. Anything you can give really will make a difference - just take a look a where your money goes. 

Janathon: Day 4

 Flickr image from andrewr's photostream

Injury update: Yeah, still not completely better and it's starting to annoy me. I just want it to GO AWAY.

Today was my first day back at work after the New Year. That meant setting an alarm, actually waking and getting up in the dark, putting on clothes that aren't pyjamas (clearly the most painful part of the entire process), getting on a packed tube and actually doing work for 8 hours (well...).

But it was all worth it, because after work, I got back on that packed tube and went to my first SUPERchicks session of the year. I'd been looking forward to it all day, and it didn't disappoint - but it bloody hurt. It was squat-tastic and I'm going to hurt tomorrow. Although, at this point I welcome any pain that isn't coming from my stupid foot.

I picked up an ankle support from Boots on my way home, so tomorrow morning, I'm strapping the bugger up and we're going for a nice, easy run. It's Janathon, and I will run!

Janathon: Day 3 (and a small rant)

Injury update: Foot is 85% better (who needs a medical degree?), but on the advice of my lovely Twitter followers, I didn't run today. Very disappointed because I had a very tasty 11.44km route mapped out to christen my new shoes. But in the spirit of Janathon, and with my PT away on holiday (selfish), I hit the gym for the first strength training session of 2011.

I've been a member of my gym for a couple of years, and I can't tell you just how much I hate it in January. New Year's resolutions and cheaper membership deals mean that the place is overrun with people fighting over dumbbells and spin bikes, and suddenly there are queues for treadmills.

I'm fully supportive of people starting a new fitness regime, but there's one thing about gym newbies that drives me crazy - walking on treadmills. I'm not talking a brisk walk as a warm-up/cool-down, or as a power walking session when it's icy/raining outside, I mean the people who pay for a gym membership, buy gym gear, come to the gym, get on a treadmill, set it at walking pace, and leave it at that pace for a good 45 minutes before getting off and going home. Why pay gym membership? Go outside!

Anyway, I digress. I battled my way around the gym, jumping between free machines and snatching mats as soon as someone left one. It was like the gym equivalent of the January sales on Oxford Street. I'm back to work tomorrow. If the foot's better it'll be 7km before work, but I'll definitely be at the first SUPERchicks session of the year after work.

New Shoes and Janathon: Day 2

After a day of icing and resting my right foot, I was annoyed to find that the pain hadn't gone away when I woke up this morning. So I took myself and my Nike Lunarglides to Sweat Shop in Fulham in an attempt to find out what was causing the pain and make them make it go away.

It took Morgan the sales assistant about 2.5 seconds diagnose me. I'm flat-footed and need shoes with more support than my Lunarglides offer. I have to admit, I was disappointed to find out I'm flat-footed, it doesn't sound very nice, does it? I bet Audrey Hepburn wasn't flat-footed.

I'm a little ashamed to say that this was the first time I'd been to a running shop. I've become a little addicted to the online bargains on workout gear, so when I started running properly, I just ordered myself a pair of trainers online. I thought I had a high arch, and didn't really know too much about what I should be looking for, so ended up with the Lunarglides. They had purple laces, I was happy.

After trying on about 6 pairs of trainers with extra support for my flat feet (harumph), it was easy to see where I went wrong with my Lunarglides. They have no arch support, and very little cushioning around the heel. And then, I slipped on the Asics:

I see why runners love them so much. This pair (Gel Kayano 16s) supported my arches, heels and ankles, and were light and comfy. A quick jog on the treadmill (I overpronate too apparently) and I knew that these were the ones. So, these flashy white and gold bad boys are mine.

Morgan advised me not to run until the pain was completely gone, which isn't great for the whole 'run every day' part of the Janathon ethos. So on the way home from Sweat Shop, I got off the bus at Hyde Park Corner and walked home through the park (Walkit.com tells me the walk was 2.97km). I'm icing my foot as I type, and I'm really hoping that it's ok for tomorrow. I had a 10.4km run on my training plan today, and I really want to do it tomorrow. Fingers crossed!

I'm really loving reading everyone's Janathon blogs, and have managed to encourage/bully Jungle GG and Girl On A Mission to sign up. They'll get me back with something equally evil, I'm sure.

PS: How are you all liking the fancy new blog header?

Janathon: Day 1

Happy New Year! I hope you all had a great night. I have a deep hatred of New Year's Eve, and as my boyfriend was working, I saw 2011 in with Mad Men and cheese on toast. Rock and roll.

I've never been able to stick to New Year's resolutions (if you've ever managed to keep one for a whole year, please let me know), but I figure I can stick to one for a month, so yesterday I signed up for Janathon.

If you've heard of Juneathon, you probably know what Janathon is about. If you haven't heard of either, let me explain. The aim of Janathon is to run every day, and blog every day. Simple, non? There are lots of fabulous prizes too, should you need an incentive (the best kind of carrot - next to cake).

Here are The Rules:

• You must run or do some form of exercise every day
• You must blog about it within 24 hours
• You must join the Janathon group at the Running Free website and log your runs/exercise
• You must visit other blogs and leave comments, giving your support
• You must link to the Janathon website and display the 'Janathon Participant' logo

This morning, with no hangover (smug much?) I hit the streets for the first run of 2011. 5k at a relaxed long run pace, including a detour to the Royal Mail delivery office to pick up the parcel that wouldn't fit through my letterbox yesterday. Obviously, the delivery office was closed, so the identity of the parcel remains a mystery (*please* be my Nike+ sports band!). You know how much I love early morning runs, and today's has been the best so far for people-watching. Walks of shame in fancy dress, people asleep at bus stops, more drunk cheerleaders, and a lot of abandoned high heels. Excellent work, Londoners.

In other news, if you follow me on Twitter, you may have seen me mention a problem I was having with the arches of my feet after running. It's definitely getting worse, so I'm taking myself for a gait analysis this weekend to find the perfect shoes for my feet. In the meantime, it's shorter runs in my old trainers.

Best of luck to all the other Janathon runners - happy running!