The world is not flat

Good old Christopher Columbus set sail all those years ago to prove the world is not flat. To be honest, he could just have joined me on my run tonight to prove that it is actually very hilly. Not flat at all.

I took a new route tonight, and I knew it was going to be a bit hilly, but having looked at the elevation profile on map my walk, it seems I was running uphill for 80 % of the 3.5 miles (5.5k). Which is definitely a good workout. I wasn't fast, but now I know why!

And it started to rain when I was about half a mile from home. I have said it before, but I'll say it again. I love running in the rain!

Legs and body feel pretty tired now so early bed and hope that i can still walk in the morning. The battle against Brian continues, and my challenge now is to turn Brain in to a beach bod! 9 weeks to go. Phew!

Feeling like a runner

Feeling proud of myself today. Despite the cold weather and it being dark (I'm not scared of the dark, honest!) I put on my Max Wall leggings, silly looking beanie, and headed out for a run after work tonight. That makes it two days in a row.

And tonight, I actually felt like I was running at a respectable pace instead of my usual jog. I couldn't quite see my time when I came home because it was dark (is there a theme here?) but I think I ran for 34 minutes covering 5.3k. It felt fast (well faster than my normal) and I was hoping that I was going to cover the 5k in 30 minutes or so, but maybe not quite yet.

But I at least I got out there. The fightback against Brian continues.

One thing I will miss about running in Edinburgh is when I come down from Greyfriar's Bobby into Grassmarket and seeing the castle lit up - it is a splendid site soaring above you in the night sky.

So maybe a rest day tomorrow, but I am going to run 4 days out of 7 this week and get back in the habit in a proper way.

Feeling good.

Back in the saddle - or on the pavements

Forgive me blog readers for it has been many weeks since my last blog confession. Time is flying by and Brian has been trying to bounce back out in protest at his previously shrinking girth.

That's not to say he has got any bigger, but he certainly hasn't got any smaller. It's been a tough couple of weeks at work - you only have to read the news this week to see what it was all about, and to steal the title of a great TV comedy, I have been in the thick of it. But only three and a half weeks to go, and I'm determined to lose another 7 lbs by the time Christmas gets here. There will be lots of photos taken at our last Christmas here for a while and I don't want to look like a porker in them!

I did run about 6k last Saturday, and today I have just come in from a 7.3 k this morning. I decided it was time for a new route, so I set off in a different direction from normal. It was a lovely crisp clear morning and it felt really good to be out there again. I did it in 46 minutes, without stopping.

So now I have to get myself out during the week as well. I am going to look to run at least 4 days a week for about the 45 minute mark.

We have been clearing out old files and papers this weekend in preparation for the big move to Australia and I came across a couple of things that made me smile.

The first is a great book on running that I bought about 25 years ago. The picture at the top of the blog is of James F. Fixx's Complete Book of Running.

It is generally accepted as one of the best books ever written about the sport and it has renewed my motivation. Go get it if you have any ambitions at all to get out there and join the happy band of runners.

The second thing was a notebook from 2002 with a list of goals I had written for myself at the time. One of those was to run 10k! Ok, so it took me seven years to do it, but funnily enough it made the list complete except for two of them (which were a bit crazy anyway). I obviously hadn't looked at the list since I wrote it, but it's funny how having written them down most of them have been achieved.

I need to write a new list for our new life in Australia.

Thanks to Julia and Andy for a lovely evening and dinner last night. We had a great time talking about running! Who'd have believed it!

More regular blog posts to come, I promise

Keeping Brian at bay!

It's been two whole weeks since the 10K run - doesn't time fly when you're enjoying yourself!

It has felt like I have been very naughty on the exercise front (basically not doing any) and just as naughty on the food and drink front (too much of both). It has felt like Brain was fighting back in protest at having been hauled round the 10k course and trying to re-assert his authority over my waistline.

But I'm having none of it. It was a lovely morning in Edinburgh this morning, so there was no excuse to stop me getting back out and pounding the pavements once again. After my tough so called 'recovery run', I was a bit concerned that I would struggle again. But I needn't have worried. I did a 5.29k route in 32 minutes, which I am more than happy with.

The only thing now is that it is getting cold, and it is certainly dark by the time I get home from work. I need to get myself some proper winter gear if I am going to keep this up.

I have a new goal as well. Today, it was the Melbourne fun run, with 5k, 10k, half-marathon and full marathon courses. Over 23,000 people took part, and next year I'm going to be one of them! A half-marathon at least.

Now I have my new goal I can work out my training to make sure I can do it this time next year. One advantage is that I'll be training in the summer over there! How good is that.

But, I won't be wanting to start from scratch so got to keep it going and keep Brian's greed at bay!

Just like starting over...

The week after the run and I'm not sure I have fully recovered yet. There has been a bug going round the office and I think I got a bit of it during the week. But it was such a lovely evening on Wednesday I got the running shoes on again and went out thinking that doing 5k would be a piece of cake compared to the 10k from Sunday.

I knew it wouldn't be easy, but it took my legs a while to actually feel like they could run properly. And even then, I was struggling with energy and breathing early on. I think the 10k took more out of me than I care to admit. I have never been so happy for every traffic light to be against me so I could get a rest! I did have to walk a bit from time to time, but eventually I got back in a rhythm and managed to keep up some semblance of form for the run home. It did feel a bit like I was starting training all over again.

So is it just post-race stresses and strains? I hope so, because I am going to go out again tomorrow and try again.

Having looked at the photos, I actually can see a difference from the summer in how I look. My face is a bit thinner and Brian is certainly not as pronounced. I have to keep it up though. He is still there and ready to bounce back if I'm not careful. It will be a bit more difficult with winter seemingly just round the corner, but I have some vouchers to buy some winter gear so no excuses.

And then, of course, I will be disappearing to get a proper summer - really looking forward to getting to Australia in January and getting some sun on my back. I want to look good on the beach - Brian, Brenda and Betty have no place there!

I'll let you know how I go!

...but Australia's even further!

Yes, the big news today is that we can finally confirm that we are moving to Australia.

The last piece of the jigsaw was put in to place today when I got confirmation that I am getting made redundant from work - which may seem a strange sentiment, but it means we can go with a few pennies in our pocket to get us started.

We have been planning this for a while, and certainly seriously since the turn of the year. I have my permanent residency visa (which arrived after much hard work in August) and now we have a little money to get us there.

The planned departure date is in January. I won't be finished work until 21 December so we will spend Christmas here and then head out for our new lives in January.

It will be good to see Nadia's family again and I know my family and friends will be over to visit as soon as they can.

I hope that we will end up in Melbourne, but will all depend on the job situation.

So I need to keep up the running to make sure I'm not paying excess baggage to take Brian, Brenda, Betty and Chris with us. I really want to get in shape so that I can hit the beach as soon as I get there! My next 10k, or maybe even a half marathon, will probably be down under!

The legs are sore after yesterday, but I still feel good that I did it. I'll keep you up to date with progress and dates, and of course to see who is going to adopt my unwanted 'B' friends!

10k - it's a helluva long way!

It's done.

I completed the 10k course this morning along with my friends and colleagues from work to collectively raise £2000 for Cancer Research. As you probably know, I was running in memory of Nadia's dad, Walter, who passed away last year.

Well done to Thom Kenrick, Lizzie Kenrick, Andy Bruce, Allan Maclean, Richard (Lyn's hubby) ,Rebecca Moore and Sheryl Porteous who all made it round in a quicker time than me.

At least I put on a strong finish for the camera!

The successful team: Andy, Sheryl, Allan, Richard, Thom, Lizzie and Me. Rebecca from work was there somewhere as well, but we lost her somewhere. We had Lauren as our lucky mascot!

I had hoped to do it in 60 minutes, but ultimately it was 67. My defense, it was a brute of a course with two particularly long and steep hills that put me right off my rhythm and I really struggled after the first 3K. We had been given false intelligence that it was a relatively flat course, but the truth was it was over different surfaces, up and down hills and generally just bloody hard! I got a stitch in my side after the first hill (which was around the 3 k mark) but managed to get rid of that and keep going. But my lack of training in the last month or so meant that I didn't have the hard miles in my legs and by the time I got to 7k I was pretty much empty of energy.

But I kept going, although I did have to have some short walks to get there, and I'm pleased I did it, especially considering that 3 weeks ago I didn't even think I would be able to walk it never mind run it.

So although disappointed with the time, I have my medal and we have all done a good thing.

The time gives me something to aim at next time as well, and there will be a next time. I will definitely keep on running as one of the main objectives is to get rid of Brian, Brenda, Betty and Chris. They are getting smaller, but not small enough yet!

Oh, come back tomorrow for another exciting installment! It is worth waiting on, I promise!