How lucky am I??!! I have two new training partners and, wow, what a difference it is making. Firstly my amazing younger daughter, Katrina, is following the couch to 5k running programme with me; and she is motivating, dragging and cheering me on dependant upon which is needed (sometimes all three in the space of 30 minutes!). Add to this the fact that Katrina is also new to running and you will get some measure of my admiration for this awesome woman. Katrina has signed up to run the Manchester Color Run with me on July 1st and I am really looking forward to the fun we will have being showered in rainbow coloured powder!
I also have a new steed upon which I will be mounting this year's assault on the Humber Bridge Sportive through Lincolnshire. Last year's attempt was pretty dismal as I had a lot of technical issues with my bike - the worst of which was having to pedal DOWN hill in order to keep going!!! Soooo this year I have a shiny new Canondale road bike on which I am achieving speeds I never dreamed I would manage. I am still ridiculously slow up steep hills but I am now at least able to cycle up them instead of walking. The miles just seem to melt away when "Bolt" and I hit the highway........... So, how has training been going??? Well we have had some strong runs where we have finished feeling strong and also some hard slogs where we have finished feeling grateful. I think we must give some of the local dog walkers a good laugh as we plod along the bridle path; Katrina out in front and me trying not to let the gap between us widen (well she is 29 years younger than me). Every now and again Katrina will double back to make sure I haven't stopped altogether and, if I need a boost, we will have a bit of a "dance-a-long" to our ipods. It must look very amusing to anyone watching as we have completely different playlists to each other so we are always dancing to different beats! My new bike "Bolt" - so called because it is fast! - has transformed my cycling. I am now able to cycle much further due to the speed and also the comfort of the position on a road bike. I have to confess that Bolt has reignited my love of cycling and I feel rather like a young child at Christmas getting their first bike! I am still making minor adjustments to the "fit" of the bike in order to enhance comfort and protect my "delicate bits" but it really is a revelation to be riding such a fabulous beast. Now if only the UK sold sporting attire for fat women.........maybe that is a crusade for future blogs!!! I have had a back issue which has meant that I haven't been able to train for the last two weeks which, of course, sent me into a spiral of "I'll never be able to do it if I miss two weeks!!" and a fear that all of my training thus far would vanish if I laid off for a little while. Yes, yes I know now that that is ridiculous and that sometimes we just need to take a little time to rest and repair. I am incredibly fortunate that I have a fantastic team of Sports Therapists and an acupuncturist at my disposal who have been massaging and needling me several times a week and I am now just about ready to get back out running and cycling. I was reminded recently (and yes I was having a good whinge at the time!) that the reason I started this year of challenges was to raise money for Maggie's Highlands and to have fun whilst doing it NOT to break any speed records. With this in mind I am concentrating on having fun and finishing the events and have thrown aside any thoughts of how long it might take me to complete the run or the cycle. I shall be cycling 100k through Lincolnshire at the Humber Bridge Sportive on June 18th and then running 5k through Manchester with Katrina at the Manchester Color Run. Anybody who would like to kindly sponsor us, we are raising money for Maggie's Highlands which is a charity that helps cancer patients and their families with the practicalities of dealing with and living with a cancer diagnosis. They are helping my fabulous niece, her husband and their two little boys whilst Lizzie is undergoing treatment for breast cancer. My just giving page is www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Gill-Thomas2017 for anybody who would like to donate.
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