Women's Running Magazine 10K Race

I signed up for the Women's Running Magazine 10k race way back in November and it soon came around. On 31st May the day had arrived and it was raining.

The race was in Bute Park, Cardiff so most of the 10k was on tarmac except for the start and finish which were on grass. Grass! I hate running on grass! It's harder and it was wet and soggy so my trainers became wet and soggy immediately and I had to run 10k with wet and soggy trainers and socks on.

Pegasus girlies ready to run!

Natalie and I were there nice and early so managed to bag ourselves a freebie!

Another water bottle to add to the collection

Nessa from Gavin & Stacey (AKA Ruth Jones) joined us for the run. She was recovering from an injury so only did the 5K race whereas Natalie and I were signed up for the 10K!

Oh... what's occurring?

'Selfie' with a celebrity!

Anyone who knows me knows that I love pink. Any shade of pink is fine but I prefer hot pink or baby pink. So you can guess how happy I was when I saw the baby pink port-a-loo!

One just for girls!

After the 2nd toilet stop of the morning it was time for the race to start. Natalie and I queued up and started the race at a good pace. Not too fast but not too slow!

The race was 2 laps around Bute Park and I hate laps. I hate knowing on lap 1 that I've got to run the same bastard lap again before I can finish and eat cake.

Our running buddy John came to cheer us on and shouted helpful things like "stop waving and run faster" "you can run faster than that" etc etc. Near the end of the race he clearly saw the pain on my face and gave a cheery "looking good girls" to spur us on.

I completed 2 x 5 mile races in May and thought "what's an extra mile?" Well, I'm hear to tell you that the extra mile is pain, that's what an extra mile is!

Me during the last mile

Mile 5 hurt. Oh my god it hurt. My feet hurt. My back hurt. My everything hurt and I just wanted to stop and lay down on the floor.

What I wanted to do!

Luckily for me Natalie was a superstar and kept going and I was determined to keep up with her. I started to fall back a little bit during the last half mile so had to stretch out my legs to catch her again. She clearly took this as a sign that I wanted to run faster and kept speeding up!

We completed the race in 62:07 and 62:12, I was only 5 seconds behind her and so happy with my time.

Yay!

The text came through before I had even collected my medal and goodie bag! Natalie and I finished about halfway through the pack which was a massive achievement for me, I'm usually a lot nearer the end of the results list! I felt amazing! 

OK my race wasn't that good but it was a lot longer!

OK so it wasn't as long as this but felt it!

Natalie and I hit the podium for our photo shoot!

Happy Pegasus Girlies!

My medal is my favourite medal so far

And the goodie bag was awesome! Everything in it is useful!

And we got a free technical t-shirt!

Score!

Winston wanted to get in on the action...

I do looks handsome!

I had a bath when I got home and realised how much I was aching

Good plan lady!

The rest of my race day consisted of sitting down and eating everything I could get my hands on!

Must. Eat. All. The. Food!

It was a fantastic race day and I loved it even though it hurt like hell! This running lark is addictive especially when you get a medal, t-shirt and goodie bag for your trouble!

#PushingBackHarder

Porthkerry 5 Mile Multi-Terrain Run

Well I wasn't happy with just running a 5 mile race on Bank Holiday Monday and then having an easier weekend... nooooooooooooo, I went and signed up for the Porthkerry 5 mile multi-terrain race on Sunday (10th May).

The race is organised by Penarth and Dinas running club and located in Barry.

It wasn't just me running, some of my fellow Pegasus did too.

Photo bombing by Les Croupier *tuts*

The run was on fields, tarmac, pathways and woodland hills... yes HILLS! 2 big b*stards!

My thoughts exactly!

I eventually got over the shock and the race begin. There were only about 250 of us altogether so my plan was to come in last and anything better than that would be a bonus.

The first hill started just before the 1st mile marker and I was reassured that most people walk up it.

Fake running for the camera!

I'd had a big meal the night before the race (not my best decision!) and it was 50/50 whether it was going to stay down or not.

Says it all really!

Thankfully I didn't need a pit stop. I finally got to the top of the 1st hill and was pleased that the next mile or 2 was either downhill or flat. Thank god!

Actually running

The next and final hill was bigger... longer... more painful... horrendous

I'm with Wonder Woman... the woman talks sense!

After I'd finished arguing with myself, I walked my tired arse up the hill and could've cried when I got to the top.

Soooooo wanted to do this!

4 and 1/2 miles into the race I knew it would be over very, very soon... I just had to keep going. I came around a corner and saw the finish line... oh how I love you finish line!

Nearly there!

It's right here!

I DID IT!

I beat my goal and was something like 6th from last and completed the 5 miles in 56:36 which made me ridiculously happy as it was a hard, hard race.

My Strava activity summary... see, BIG hills!

Pegasus plus others group shot... we're all still smiling!

I thought I would get really muddy as we'd had a few days of rain before the race but this was it

Oooooo hardly any mud!

My race goody was a bright yellow t-shit which is perfect for training in

But I had been under the impression that I was getting a t-shirt and a medal... I like a medal *glares at John* However my disappointment was short lived as the race entry fee was very cheap and the t-shirt is very good. I think John felt sorry for me and knocked this special medal up for me.

MY MEDAL!!

So to summarise my run, it went something like this in my head...

I hate running

Why am I running?

I'm on bloody grass

WTF that's a mountain not a hill

Thank god, flatness

Yay downhill!

Oh flat again, I could get used to this

OMG why grass again?!

I hate hate hate running!

A hill... you said a hill... that's more like Everest!

Oh good flat but grass... bleurgh!

More flat

Why am I still running? There's no-one else around... I could just walk! No, don't walk... run!

But I hate running.. .this sucks!

Ooooo downhill again. John said left my body relax and my legs just go... this is fun!

More grass... why all the grass?!

Oh look there's John

What? John just told me to sprint to the finish line!

How am I sprinting? I have no energy left.

OMG I'm so close to the finish line... I can see my Pegasus... must. run. faster.

YAY I FINISHED!!!

Ok breath...

Ooooooo t-shirt and water... feeling spoilt

Must walk over to my Pegasus posse... work legs, work!

After all the yays and hugs I was asked how the race was, this was my response...

I hated every second of it until I got to the end and then it was amazing and I want to do it again!!

Yup!

#pushingbackharder

Cardiff Bay 5 Mile Race Day!

On Bank Holiday Monday I got out of bed and drove to Cardiff Bay for the appropriately named Cardiff Bay 5 Mile run.

Cardiff Bay... 5 miles

It was my first race as a member of Pegasus Running Club and I was strangely calm about the whole thing. I got there nice and early to sign in and get my race pack.

Race day selfie with Katie

Kitted up and ready to run!

The girls and I in the club had a discussion about the best time to go to the loo as we all knew we had to leave it late enough so we didn't need to pee when we started running but not too late otherwise there would be a big queue.

Timing is essential!

We had time for a quick team photo 

Team Pegasus!

We all gathered at the starting line and it seemed to take ages but that meant time for another couple of photos 

Full of smiles and pure terror!

Cheeeeeeeeeeese!

The race started and Katie and I stuck together to make sure we didn't get carried away with the crowd and take off too quickly otherwise that would've ruined our whole race plan... not that we actually had a proper race plan, it was more of a 'one foot in front of the other for 5 miles' kind of a plan.

I can see the finish line!!

I wanted to complete the run in under 60 mins (sub 60) and totally smashed it by finishing in 54 mins and 22 seconds!

Wooooo hooooooo!

Today's race reward was a shiny medal so we all did a lot of posing with our new jewellery 

Say armadillo!

I was totally buzzing after the race and wanted to do it all over again. I'm sure I would've managed about 5cm and not quite 5 miles but my heart was up for it.

I can take on the world!!

 Once everyone finished the race we did some more posing

Bling bling!

Last race day selfie!

The next most important part of the day was all about food. How many calories did I burn so how many cakes can I stuff into my face?

We ended our race day in the Mount Stuart pub. We chatted about the race, our performance and then which races we would do next while we ate our well earned food.

Photo bombing medal

By the end of the meal, I had agreed to do about 3-4 more races before my Cardiff Half marathon. Have I mentioned previously that I'm running the Cardiff Half marathon??!! Maybe only once or twice.

Now this is the dangerous part of the day. You feel on top of the world and want to do it all over again as soon as possible. This quickly goes from this...

I want to do it all over again!

To this...

I just agreed to what??!!

For me, the best part of the whole day was being with my team and feeling the Pegasus love and support. If you ever consider joining a running club then I say do it. It's the best decision I ever made and my race day was a 1000 times better because of my new running family. I knew I could do it because they helped me train for it and were there to cheer me on. Best. Day. EVER!!

#PushingBackHarder

50 Things That Make Me Happy

A friend of mine recently did a blog called 50 things that make me happy (read it here Seize each day) and it was lovely to read so I thought I'd give it a go too. So in no particular order (except the first one of course)...

1) Winston, my gorgeous boy and faithful companion through all of my ups and downs

2) My parents and big brother

3) My Besty Lynn

4) Spending time with my amazing friends

5) Chocolate

6) Running

7) My running club Pegasus

8) Sunshine

9) My house, it's my little place of peace and happiness

10) A nice cold glass (bottle!) of Asti

11) Living in Cardiff

12) Giggling

13) A dog being rescued

14) My iPad and iPhone because they keep me connected to the world

15) Ben & Jerry's Blondie Brownie with the salted caramel core... mmmmmmmmm

16) My job and my awesome new colleagues

17) All you can eat buffets

18) Comedy, anything that makes me giggle is a winner

19) Yoga

20) Getting a text from a friend

21) Dunking a KitKat Chunky into a cuppa tea... it's the only thing I'll dunk!

22) Fancy shoes

23) A BBQ with good company on a warm evening

24) My blog

25) A really good book

26) Scuba diving

27) Fresh, clean bedding

28) My Garmin

29) Central heating

30) Indoor climbing

31) My car even when it's covered in Winston's hair, his slobber and mud

32) Chick flicks

33) Christmas, all things Christmas

34) Reading about other people's weight loss and how they've changed their lives

35) Tequila

36) Vanilla scented candles

37) Being in love

38) When I run further than I thought I could

39) A hot bath after a good run

40) My 3rd Dan in Taekwondo - never thought I'd even get my 1st Dan

41) Winston's snoring and when he howls and growls in his sleep

42) Meeting new people

43) Cute dog/puppy videos online

44) Game of Thrones (only recently discovered I love it!)

45) When I step onto the weighing scales and I'm in my zone

46) Selfies!

47) Other people's blog. I love getting an invite into someone else's mind

48) Snow

49) When my Besty 'butt messages' me

And finally...

50) CAKE!!

#PushingBackHarder

Self-Esteem Is A B*tch!

My good old friend Ms Low Self-Esteem tried to pay me a visit recently but I have slammed the door in her face and am refusing to let her in and ruin all my hard work.

It all started when I felt sluggish, tired and emotionally a bit unhappy recently so I took myself off to the Doctor to get my blood tested just in case it was linked to thyroid, diabetes, lack of vitamin B or something like that. The Doctor ticked about 12 boxes on the paperwork that I had to take to the blood-stealing-man AKA the Phlebotomist (that word really makes me giggle... I'm 38 FFS!!). The results came back a week later and were all clear. YAY, there's nothing medically wrong with me! But also, CRAP because I don't know what's wrong with me!

I probably should've asked Siri!

I went to work a few days later and had a chat with a colleague who is into weight lifting. He asked about my diet and what I ate in a typical day/week. His response was "so you live on cake, biscuits, fruit and veg with a bit of meat then?!" I had pretty much cut the good carbs out of my diet and I have no idea when I did that. I didn't mean to do it but somewhere along the way I had and I was suffering for it.

He recommended that I eat more potato and sweet potato (apparently oven chips are enough!) and to try and introduce things like quinoa, lentils, cous cous etc to my diet. I also said I'd actually eat breakfast instead of just a banana, apparently breakfast is the most important meal of the day... who knew?!!

Mmmmmmm carbs!

My running had reduced from 4 times a week to 2-3 times since I'd been back working full-time so I knew I needed to sort that out. I have recently joined Pegasus running club and am running with them every Wednesday night plus we do Parkrun on a Saturday and other runs over the weekend.

I told some of the ladies at work about my new healthier eating and exercising more plan and they are joining in with me. Summer is fast approaching and we want to be bikini ready!

I know how you feel cutie-pie!

I decided to start my new healthy eating plan after Easter as I wanted to eat the junk food in my house to make way for my new healthier food. This mission was accomplished and I slipped into a chocolate coma.

Chocolate fuelled zombie

When Easter had been and gone and it was time to get up and go to work, I decided to weighed myself to see what damage I had done. I was shocked... stunned... gobsmacked... I had put on 7lbs in just over 2 months. 7LBS!! That's half a stone!

Exactly!

I spent the next 2 hours kicking myself and giving myself a right b*llocking. I could feel my old insecurities creeping back in, suddenly putting on 7lbs felt as though I had put on 7 stone and my confidence starting slipping away. Luckily I have a Besty who is completely honest with me and told me to get a grip, it's 7lbs which I will easily drop now I've started my healthy eating and exercising more programme.

Now I do agree with Besty but it's not as easy as that where my brain is concerned. I felt anxious and I felt fat. Now before you shout at me, I know I'm not fat but that number on the weighing scales still controls me. It can make me feel amazing or awful within a few seconds.

(Not my feet!)

My first battle was trying not to stuff my face with chocolate and biscuits to get that 'I feel great really' high

I managed to get through the day without eating junk and I felt good. I felt really good! I felt so good that I agreed to do a 10K run with my running club the following night and pair up with one of the girls. This good feeling wore off quickly and I started to stress myself out worrying that I couldn't do the run or that I would slow my running buddy down. I nearly backed out but reminded myself that I have run 10K numerous times and running with someone quicker than me is how I'll improve. I was going to be fine and I was going to feel great afterwards! Hmmmmmm... maybe.

Well I did the run and it was great. We did 10K and got back to the clubhouse before it was dark. We felt amazing... knackered but amazing!

Woooooo hooooooooooo!

I know the success of my healthy eating and exercising plan is to keep an eye on my weight so I decided to weigh myself once a week (on a Friday morning) just to keep myself in check. I stepped on the scales not expecting to see much of a change and was gobsmacked that I'd lost 3lbs in 3 days! 3lbs! That's nearly 1/4 stone! Suddenly my confidence soared and I felt that witch called Ms Low Self-Esteem get a bit further back into her box!

#PushingBackHarder