Running, running, and more running!!

So I've done quite a bit of running since my last blog post!

I went on a weekend away with the club. It was a busy weekend but great fun. We stayed in a youth hostel so the accommodation was basic, but it keeps the price down which is fine by me!

We got there on Friday evening and went to the pub for dinner and for the rest of the evening. Saturday morning we did a 6 mile pre-breakfast run followed by breakfast. Then we had a talk on energy, and how the body converts food to energy, stores and uses it. Then we did an interval session (like we do at track). Next was lunch, followed by circuit training and a talk on nutrition. Then we went to the pub for drinks, back to the youth hostel for dinner and a quiz, then back to the pub for drinks again!

Sunday morning we did a 9 mile run before breakfast and then after breakfast we had a talk on sports massage therapy before cleaning and tidying everything away, then having lunch and heading home.

Tarka stayed with my Sister-in-Law and Brother. I was a little worried because it was fireworks weekend but she was fine, and by the sounds of it had a lovely weekend!!

2 weeks ago I did my first cross country race with the club and came 308 out of 350. It was fun, it was the first proper 'event' I've done and it was nice to do it with the club. It's an inter club league which we participate in.

This weekend just gone we had another league race on the Sunday morning, but the club was hosting it so I was marshaling instead of running. I also spent Saturday morning making sandwiches, so it was quite a busy weekend by the time I fitted dog walking in as well.

Tonight I've done a 5-6 mile run with the club, and run up some hills that I've not managed to do without walking before, so all in all I can see some improvements. I realised I was getting a bit too comfortable at the standard I'd reached and it was time to push myself a bit more, so I have been trying to increase my speed a bit and push myself on the hills and I'm pleased with how the last few weeks have gone.

Grand total...

So, my personal total from my sponsored run now that I've collected all the money is...............

(drum roll please!!!)

£228

I'm so pleased, as I really thought I'd struggle to meet my target of £80.

A huge THANK YOU to all my sponsors.

I very much appreciate your support.

A good Saturday

This is what a good Saturday consists of for me:

A nice, sunny but not hot day.
A successful morning picking up bargains in the charity shops.
A relaxing dog walk.
An evening of trashy TV.

Today is looking like it's got the makings of a good Saturday!

We did it!!!

We completed our 8 miles in 80 minutes challenge!

It went really well, I did 77min 19 sec so I was really pleased with that.

And then we ate ice cream.....

And no aching legs afterwards either! Result!!

After the event....

8 in 80 challenge.

This week is Guide Dog week. And, this year it's special because we're celebrating the 80th anniversary of the date the first guide dogs in Britain qualified - 6th October 1931.

Across Guide Dogs, people are doing challenges based on the theme of 80. So, in my wisdom I decided that myself and a few colleagues could run 8 miles in 80 minutes, and each raise £80 sponsorship.

I have managed to persuade the relevant colleagues to take part. We will definitely run 8 miles. We should do it in 80 minutes, give or take a few mins each side. We might or might not make £80 each,  but might hit £320 between us. (I have exceeded my £80 target but don't know about the others).

I've sorted the route and all the official stuff, we've just got to do the run now.

If anyone fancies sponsoring me, my 'just giving' page is:

http://www.justgiving.com/Jackie-Kent

It costs approx £50,000 to train each guide dog, yes, fifty thousand pounds per dog. Guide Dog Owners pay 50p. We receive no government funding and rely entirely on the generosity of the public in order to do our life changing work.

http://www.guidedogs.org.uk/

The run will take place on Friday 7th October. I will let you know how it goes.... I haven't actually run 8 miles before.... although I have come close with 7.6 miles.

Clean start.

So, I was going to write an update post, full of detail about what I've been doing these last few months. But then I thought, What the heck!! Hardly anyone ever reads it anyway, so if you really want to know then shout and I'll write it. For now, I'm just going to list a few of the things I did, then draw a line underneath and start again.

*Steam Fayres/Retrofestival - great fun!
*Still running.
*Still playing badminton.
*Pets all fine.
*Rory qualified with a young person, and goes to school every day!
*I broke my mobile phone. There's a whole saga surrounding this, but eventually I got it replaced.
*Went camping.
*Entered the garden society show. Got a couple of second places and a third.
*Niece #1 went off to university!
*I was a 'misper' (missing person) for search and rescue dogs again. It rained. Boy, did it rain!!! I got wet.
*We passed the 10th anniversary of 9/11.
*Went to Swallowfield show.

So, here's the line... followed by a fresh start!
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Failed.....

I've failed to keep up with my blog.... again!!!

....Oooops!!

I haven't got time now, but I'll write an update post soon. Don't hold your breath though, it's not that exciting!!