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.

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!

I'm back!

I am SO sorry. Where the hell have I been? Well, actually, nowhere, but my poor laptop is still dead and as much as I love my iPhone, it's no good for blogging. I've been having major blog withdrawl symptoms though, so I've hijacked my work PC (and my lunch break) for a quick catch-up.

There's so much I want to tell you about: the Love Run; my birthday; my fabulous new Shock Absorber sports bra; the fact that my boyfriend's started running(!) - but for now, I just want to concentrate on one thing:

THE PARIS HALF MARATHON IS SIX DAYS AWAY!

How did that happen?! It feels like it's been months away for ages, and now *wham* it's in six days.

Right now (and this changes on an hourly basis), I'm feeling confident and excited. I've been cranking out my long runs at a strong and steady pace, taking care of my legs and overall flexibility, and continuing my strength training to ensure my posture and alignment is what it should be. I had my last long run yesterday (8.8 miles), and today is my last PT session before Paris (we usually work out mid-week, but I should be winding down the exercise by then apparently). I'm planning to do a couple of short runs in the next couple of days, and then stop on Thursday to give my muscles a rest, so everything is ready for Sunday.

I've been getting really nervous too, and throwing myself a bunch of 'what if's - basically trying to drive myself crazy. What if I have a bad day and a really crap run? What if I trip over my own feet (it has been known) and injure myself before the run? What if I need the toilet half way through (I really don't want to spend 30 minutes in the toilet queue)? I'm trying not to let those thoughts get to me because, well, if any of them happen, they happen, and I'll just have to deal with it (I say this now, but you know I'll sulk like a muhfugga if I do injure myself).

When I started training for the Paris Half Marathon, I decided not to set myself a target time. Mainly because a) I'd never run anything over 10 km before so how the hell would I know when I'd finish? and B) I'd be so chuffed to finish the race, time wouldn't matter. But having done all the training, I want to come in under 2 hours 30 minutes (the average time of yesterday's run put me in at just under 2 hours, but I know I wouldn't have been able to maintain that for another 4 miles). If I come in under that, I'm going to eat a cupcake/drink a cocktail for every minute I had to spare. How's that for incentive?

I'm going to try and blog lots more this week - mainly because I need an outlet for the running anxiety, but man, I've missed you guys!

On a completely different note, I'm going to see Anna Nicole The Opera tomorrow night - what the hell do I wear to that?!

Run Sweeney Run: Take 1

Remember that VERY scary challenge I told you about? It happened on Saturday. Let me give you a bit of background:

[In the gym, about a month ago. I'm discussing my training plan with PT]

PT: "You know you can run the full distance? Do it a few weeks before the race then you can bring your long run distances down."
Me: "Um... no? No."

[A couple of days later. In between working really hard, I'm on messenger to Gemma]

Me: "So, PT said I should run the full half mara distance a few weeks before the race. Do you want to do a test run with me in February?"
Gemma:



Thankfully she came round to the idea in the end, and we set a date. Then the Timelords decided they hated us and that date whizzed round in the manner of bikini wax day (you know what I mean?).

I took my Nike+ Sportband for a run around the block to re-calibrate it (it was being a little generous with my distances, which is fabulous, but not fair). I don't have a running track near me, so I used RunKeeper to set the correct distance.

GG found a half marathon route which took us around the river from Barnes, across Kew Bridge, through Kew, Chiswick and Hammersmith to Putney, across Putney Bridge, and back to Barnes. That doesn't sound too long, but looky.

It was horrible. Awful. The worst run of my training so far. I'm used to running on the tarmac and pavement of Central London, not the uneven trail of the Thames Path. The track was hell on my calves, and I had to stop when we were only 3km in to stretch them out. I knew then that this wasn't going to be a great run. Thankfully it wasn't all trail, and we did come across some blessed tarmac, but even then, there were a lot of stretching stops and walking breaks.

If this were a film, I'd indicate the passing of time with a wee video montage. It's not, so I'll do it with pictures instead:

Don't worry, I won't talk you through the entire thing. But here's what I took away from it:

1. Boiled egg and soldiers is not a sufficient half marathon breakfast. EAT MORE.
2. Scoffing a handful of gummy bears behind the Chiswick Boat House then trying to run will give you cramp.
3. Tiny kids on bikes will not move out of the way for you.
4. There are no downhill sections on that route. Bad. 
5. I do not fancy boys who row. (Or, y'know, any boys that aren't you, Al)
6. Running with achey arms does not improve the ache.
7. GG makes an awesome bacon sandwich.
8. I CAN RUN A HALF MARATHON WITHOUT DYING.

We finished in 2 hours 37 minutes. Longer than I'd hoped, but we stopped a lot, and hopefully that won't be the case in Paris.

My efforts at re-calibrating my Nike+ Sportband clearly didn't work - it told me I'd only run 18.4km, and GG's RunKeeper had us at over 20km. I really need something with GPS to track my runs, the Sportband just isn't accurate enough for my liking. If anyone has any tips on how to sort it, please let me know!

Janathon: Day 31 - thank you!

Flickr image from vistamommy's photostream

So, the last day of Janathon. Did I crank out a 1 mile/ 5km/ 10km PB? Conquer the evil stairs? Rack up a sweaty 60 minutes on the Nike Training Club app? No. I did NOTHING.

I'm so ashamed to say that, and I won't even make any excuses. I could have got up early in the morning and run, but I let myself sleep in instead. So there it is - laziness won out in the end. But overall, Janathon has been brilliant. I ran a total of 98 km - the most I've ever run in a month - and did a fair bit of cross training. I never would have done all of that without Janathon. Those of you who ran and blogged every day - you are my heroes, go and eat lots of cake.

I've discovered some fabulous blogs this month, which I will continue to follow (if the blogging bug has bitten the previously non-bloggers). Here are a few of my favourites:

• Girl On A Mission
• Jungle GG
• FortnightFlo
• Thru The Blue
• Lazy Girl Running
• JogBlog
• abradypus
• Steve and Katie Run
• Releasing The Inner Thin And Fit Person
• Travelling Hopefully
• RunHelenRun
• Cake Of Good Hope
• Ramblings of a multi-tasker

Thank you to everyone who's read and commented on my Janathon posts (and the rest), knowing you guys were keeping an eye on me really cheered and geared me up when I was struggling. I'd love you all to stay for my Paris Half Marathon adventures and beyond!

Now, will you all join me in a massive round of applause for the wonderful Cathy, who organised the whole shebang? Cathy, take a bow:

Flickr image from vxla's photostream

Now that Janathon's over, normal service will be resumed here at ksweeswee towers. Training for Paris ramps up, with a VERY scary challenge this weekend (more on that later this week). Stay tuned! 

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!

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 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.

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 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 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!

Run Sweeney Run: Pace, Pace, Baby

With the excitement of Christmas over and 2 days off work, I did what I do best when boredom kicks in and ate everything in sight. Leftovers are devious little bastards. Let me tell you, there's nothing to make you want to train harder than your favourite skinny jeans pinching (this week's work wardrobe consists of tights and floaty dresses). So this week, I'm stepping it up.

I've always had a problem with pace when it comes to running; in the third minute of my SUPERchicks 10k I was running at 20.13 km/hr, in the fifth, I was running at 11.11 km/hr, in the twelfth, 14.19 km/hr - what?! One of the few things I like about treadmill running is that it allows me to keep a steady pace, something I'll definitely need for the Paris Half Marathon.

So when I found AudioFuel at the London Running Show a few weeks ago, I was very interested. AudioFuel provide music to accompany your training, with a beat to match your drive and stride. Their products fall into three categories (low, mid and high intensity), and there's interval training, long run training and timed sessions. And the best thing? They come with coaching. So, I picked up an interval training session and Run Free 1, an hour of mid intensity training. After the eating extravaganza that was Christmas, I've stepped it up to Run Wild 1, an hour of high intensity training.

I've been using AudioFuel for a couple of weeks and I love it. It's really helped me with my pace, form and stamina, and it stops me getting bored on the longer runs. I find the coaching really helpful too - it's not too frequent (a few lines of encouragement at the start of each track, plus some useful tips scattered throughout) and not at all shouty, plus you get a time check every ten minutes. The music isn't what I'd normally chose to run to (I'm an R&B girl if you must know) and it's not going to win a Grammy anytime soon, but it's so easy to listen to and it's not at all bad for what it is - expect electronic beats, with some fun percussion thrown in for a bit of flavour.  Take a look at the website for music samples.

Here's a snippet of the coaching from Run Wild 1, which I found really handy:

"You're probably aware that beats per minute is not an accurate indication of speed, because depending on your height and stride this will be a fast pace for some, and a relatively slow pace for others. The aim of these long runs is primarily to build distance, duration and stamina. The most important thing is to get miles under your belt, and to train your body to burn its own energy supplies."

The interval training is fabulous too - perfect for a high intensity session without having to worry about exactly how fast you need to go and how long for.

I could go on, but I don't want to bore you. Have a peep at the AudioFuel website to see what I'm on about. And let me know what you think - perfect pace keeper or another money-wasting training fad?

WWMMD?

When most women start a new diet/fitness regime, they'll plaster their fridges and mirrors with pictures of Megan Fox/Beyonce/Giselle/insert starlet of choice here, cut out of the pages of heat magazine's 'Beach Bodies Special'. Let's be honest - we've all poured over those pages and squealed 'I just want to BE her!' before trying to crawl into the pages (we've all done that, right?).

Now, as much as I'd love B's legs and Giselle's everything else, they're not at the top of my 'Most Coveted Celebrity* Attribute' list. That spot belongs to the spirit and attitude of this guy:

Mr Motivator greets every hideous fitness task with the smile of someone on quality uppers and a signature grunt that puts Tom Jones to shame. Bright, patterned lycra is his best friend, and he doesn't judge us for exercising in front of the TV. Plus, he rocks a bumbag like no one else on this earth. 

You just know that Moat wouldn't have a problem getting up at 5.30am in the middle of winter to exercise in a park, or run all the miles set out on his half-marathon training plan -  I need to BE him. As the sponsorships roll in for our run (thank you all so much!), it's time to get on the training and ask 'What Would Mr Motivator Do?'


*please don't question Moat's celebrity status, I will have to beat you down.