Just Do It!

So where was I?
I am still running and training for the Great North Run in Newcastle, England in September of this year. (Me and about 50,000 other people.) Thankfully it's still far enough away that I am not feeling panicked about it. YET!

I manage to get out most weeks 3 times a week, in spite of the disgusting amount of snow and below zero temps that we have had. I never pictured myself running in fine weather least of all in the cold, ice and snow,  but I've made the commitment and I have to stick to it.
Hang on, I will just take a minute to digest that amazing statement.
That is just SO unlike me.
I'm usually good at starting things but don't always follow them through.
I remember my mother used to roll her eyes whenever I made a big announcement about something I was going to do. She always told me I was a good starter and a bad finisher. Mother, you should`ve used reverse psychology on me.

So the flights are booked, my other half is coming to cheer me on. I`m running with my sister and her two daughters, my own wonderful daughter Jenn, and my amazing niece whose mum is one of the ladies going through the breast cancer treatment right now. This year the GNR is sponsored by Morrisson`s, the supermarket chain, so my sister Vron says we`ll be sure to get a pie and a packet of crisps at the finish line.

So I run with a group of fellow nutters in a club I`ve joined and in our group, the 5K group, we go out together and do our run in a series of 10 and 1`s. That means we run for 10 mins and walk for 1 minute. Don`t ask me why we do it that way, it`s just what the club does. But believe me when I say that that 1 minute break in between the 10 minute stretches is the one thing that keeps me going. If they took that away I could never run again! Honestly.

I`ve done 2 5K runs so far and the second one was a bit better than the first, time wise. There was another one this last Saturday but it was knee deep in snow and I get so tense trying to stop myself from falling that I can`t do it justice. That`s my excuse. So instead I went to a spinning class at the gym and the instructor yelled at us to ride like maniacs over the top of blasting music while the sweat dripped off my nose and onto the floor. It was fantastic!

So that`s where I am now.
Before you get any inspiring mental images of me loping along like a gazelle, I should disabuse you of that notion by telling you that right now I`m the oldest and the fattest and of course the slowest in our group. But I can only improve, RIGHT!

That was me before my first 5K run, The Santa Shuffle, in December last year. Believe me I did NOT look this good at the end of it. The nuclear reactor type glow is caused by the `go-faster-stripe` illumination on my jacket. That`s so they can find my body faster when I fall into a ditch.