January's back to fitness regime

Hi folks
It's great to be back out there running!
After over a month of sitting about on my behind watching telly and eating too much, I finally got myself into gear and went back to the running club. It wasn't that I had an injury, or had even lost my mojo, it was just a combination of work, icy bad weather, and the dark nights which kept me tucked up at night on the sofa, instead of being out there with my trainers on.

So, what better way to get back on track than to set a few goals for the year.

After my holiday in Malta (and the aftermath of my marathon training) I'd put on a few pounds, so the first thing on the list was to shed a few unwanted pounds of excess baggage. I'd somehow managed to get myself up to 10st 4lbs , so I've joined my namesake's (another Vicki Thompson) weight loss thread on the Runners World forums.

1st January : 10st 4lbs
8th January : 9st 13lbs
15th January: 9st 12lbs
22nd January: 9st 12lbs

Ok...so I know it isn't going very quickly, but at least it's heading in the right direction

Second on the list was basically a return to fitness.

Lest I end up with an arse the size of a planet I really needed to get out there. I started on the 12th (due to work etc) but I've managed to stick with it so far. I know that once I get going I'll be fit in no time.

Tue 12th
Warm up - 2m 20:00 10min/mile 6mph
Hill session 2.8m 20:00 7:09min/mile 8.4 mph
Pool session 0.37m 16:00 43:15min/mile 1.39 mph

Thu 14th
Warm up - 2m 17:00 8:30min/mile 7.06 mph
Track Session - 2.49m 18:03 7:15min/mile 8.28 mph (4 x 1000) 4:27, 4:58, 4:39, 4:39

Sat 16
Newcastle Parkrun 5k - 3.11m 23:23 7:31min/mile 7.98 mph

Mon 18
1hr of aerobics & circuits

Tue 19th
Warm up - 3.75m 35:00 9:20min/mile 6.43 mph
Jarrow & Hebburn 5k time trial - 3.11m 23:15 7:29min/mile 8.03 mph

Wed 20th
Short Wednesday run - 3.73m 31:00 8:19min/mile 7.22 mph

Sat 23rd
Sunderland Parkrun - 3.11m 23:13 7:28min/mile 8.04 mph

Sun 24th
Longish run - 8.5m 1:13:11 8:37min/mile 6.97mph

So not too shabby this week - 5k times seem to be heading in the right direction, though I still have another 2 minutes to knock off to get back on target.

Not sure if I'll be doing the Town Moor cross country, but I'll be there to do the results so I can see if I have time on the day - otherwise I may try and do the Parkrun in the morning, then just hang about for a couple of hours.

Happy running folks!

Happy 2010!

Hello Campers

A long, long, time ago (ok last week ) I was in Malta

Episode I : The Floating Menace

...otherwise known as snow. Our flight out there was delayed because of the white stuff. So what was supposed to be a get there for 7:30pm, became a 11:30pm arrival at the hotel. I'm not complaining too much though cause we could have been like the poor souls stuck in the Eurostar, how rubbish was that

Episode II: Attack of the Steps

OMG how hilly is Malta. We were staying in Valletta at the bottom of one of the steepest hills in the city (and there are lots). I had taken my running kit with the thoughts that I'd do at least 3 5ks in the 7 days, but after walking almost 6 miles up and down steps on the first day, both mine and the hubby's calves were aching. We retreated to the comfort of the indoor pool to try and recover.

Episode III: Revenge of the Hills

Unfortunately to go anywhere we had to walk up the hill to get to the main bus terminal. So I'm counting every day of the holiday as a hill session (I'm sure coach Jim won't mind )

Episode IV: A New Hope

The one ray of light in the running aspect of being away was the fantastic gym facilities at the hotel we were staying in. Before a great day out sightseeing and eating some of the great food out there, I could nip downstairs and have a bit of a swim.

So for my only proper session for the week I thought I'd pop my triathlon training cherry and give all three disciplines a go on one day albeit in the gym and back to front.

Run: 5k : 21:20 (treadmill)
Bike: 5k : 13:40 (exercise bike)
Swim: bimbling round in the pool afterwards

The outdoor pool looked lovely, but I was advised by the gym staff that I'd be mad to go in there, as it was quote 'freezing'. Being that I'm a hard diver lass who has been in the North Sea in November in a semi-dry, I thought that an outdoor pool in 24 degrees was no challenge. The outdoor pool was bigger too so I thought I could do some laps and get some proper swimming in.

Wrong wrong wrong.

I stuck my foot in and it seemed ok, then sat down on the edge, bracing myself for the initial omg this is cold factor. Then jumped in.

It was sodding freezing.

I was madly waving my arms and legs trying to warm up (with little effect) but I didn't want to lose face, so I stayed in for a good 10 mins, climbed out, and calmly walked in and got into the indoor pool .

Episode V: The Airline Strikes Back

We had checked out on the last day, and were killing time sitting in a café in Sliema. Hubby was checking the flight times on his phone when the worst thing that could have happened did - they canceled our flight. We had no point of contact with Easyjet, or a number to ring, so we got straight in a taxi and went over to the airport. After some discussion with one of the staff there (we were the first to arrive) it turned out that they had no staff for the flight so they had changed it to the next day. Folks started turning up expecting to fly, but of course there was no plane coming from Newcastle to pick us up.

Fair play to Easyjet though, once everyone arrived they shipped us off to a 5 star hotel, with dinner, brekkie and lunch before our return flight the next day!

Episode VI: Return of the Geordie (I like that one hehe)

Second attempt at getting back to Newcastle was also hampered by the weather. I knew there was something wrong when we flew past the Metrocentre twice. After the two attempts at landing at Newcastle the pilot came on and said there was a problem. It was a great relief when it was only hailstones on the runway (and not that something had fallen off the plane or engine failure etc) but we were low on fuel so we were landing at Glasgow

We did land ok, refueled then got back in not much more than my 5k time - a little over 25mins

Yay!

Anyways - apologies for the epic tale - will be back on this afternoon with my Resolution Run report assuming it's still on with the inch and a half of snow out there!