Thank You!

I just wanted to say a massive thank you to everyone who sponsored me to run the Manchester marathon, Friends of the Dogs Wales and I really appreciate it.

Knowing that I was fundraising for such an amazing cause helped me get through some of the toughest training runs I've ever done, they were brutal but I did it! The Manchester marathon was my first marathon and an amazing experience, I still can't quite believe that I've done it (my write-up is here).

So far you have helped me to raise £468.03 (including gift aid) which is incredible and will help so many doggies who don't have their forever home yet.

Yeah you are!!

My fundraising page is open until 10th July so if you haven't had chance to sponsor me but would still like to then please click here.

Thank you again!!

Half Marathon Training Plan To Smash My PB!

I'm a girl who likes to plan, that's probably why I'm good at my job. I like to plan and organise stuff so it makes sense that I like to have a training plan otherwise I'll just bimble along without really noticing what I'm doing. In order to have a plan though I need to have something to plan for. I don't want to run another marathon this year so I'm going to aim to smash my half marathon finish time by 30 minutes. This PB (personal best) smashing attempt will take place at the Cardiff Half in October 2016 and means I need to complete it in under 2 hours and 13 minutes. Now I have no idea whether this is possible but I'm going to give it a good shot anyway and see what happens.

So far I have run just one half marathon, it was the Cardiff Half in October 2015 (my write-up is here). My plan for that half marathon was to finish it in under 2 hours and 30 mins but that plan was scuppered when I was in a car accident in September and ended up with whiplash and going to physio. I managed to get back to training after a couple of weeks but the week before the half marathon I caught a cold and could barely breathe.

My training for the whole of September barely existed, I went into the race excited but knowing that I had to take it easy to avoid injury and actually finish it, which I did in 2 hours 43 minutes and 13 seconds.

Don't get me wrong, I loved the half marathon. I ran with Katie from Pegasus whose training was also scuppered due to injury so we agreed to stick together and have as much fun as possible during the 13.1 miles. We successfully nailed that plan!

Katie and I having way too much fun!

I have drawn up a plan and incorporated things that I don't like doing e.g. hill repeats and running fast. It also includes yoga, spin and strength training as I did none of that during my marathon training and somehow still managed to survive. The plan is on my fridge so is a constant reminder that I have a goal to aim for.

Next step... execute the plan!

Knocking 30 minutes off a PB sounds like a big goal to me but in reality it's probably not as scary as I think it is. During my full marathon training long runs I always kept an eye on my half marathon distance time and managed to get it down to approximately 2 hours and 28 minutes so I just need to get it down by another 15 minutes. Easy! Maybe!

I love to blog but sometimes I don't have time to write one or I might just want to share a bit of my journey so I've set up a Facebook 'like' page to make it easier for us all. Just follow this link here and click on 'like'! I'm also on Twitter and Instagram as @sarachick4 so feel free to follow me there too.

Sharing my goal on social media makes me more accountable, I've said it out loud now so I have to give it 100% otherwise I'll regret it. So here it goes, I'm on my journey to #SmashMyPB