fuelled by Peroni and Welshcakes!

Hey, I did 14 miles on Sunday!  I think I could even have gone further, but I thought better of it!  Dad and I went all the way from my house up to Resolven along the canal.  What an absolutely fab day for running.  We set out at 8am and the sky was blue and the sun shining!  It was more like a May day, and not November! 


I had my trusty welshcake before venturing out - becoming a bit of a habit now! 
On Saturday night I also had a bottle of Peroni - OMG! I'm thinking of asking them to sponsor me for London....well I'm 'almost' Italian by the ammount of pasta I'm eating so I think I've got a great chance of them taking me on! I'm going to drop them a line - watch this space guys!

 I really enjoy forming new habits and convincing myself that I couldn't possibly break them on fate of death or worse, bleeding nipples!  So, my other little habit, is 'cake' afternoon with my lovely mate Becca from Fancy Vintage China.  We both have an hour to kill on a Monday, in between our teaching, so we've discovered a fab little coffee/cake shop on Bryn y Mor Road called 'One Shoe'! So every Monday for the last couple of weeks we've had Chocolate Brownies, Lemon Drizzle Cake and a truly scrumptious Carrot and Walnut cake.  There's no way I'm breaking this habit now and have secured it well into my training plan!  Well I did burn 1500 calories on Sunday so a little bit of cake is well deserved!
Most people actually lose weight whilst training for a marathon but I actually put on a stone training for Paris.  It's not the cake - it's all the bloody porridge! 
Anyway, here's to another great training week....and hopefully 15 miles on sunday.
Think I may give the scones a try on Monday!

Mucho love...

Cerys xxx

Happy thoughts!

I did  8 miles on Sunday - Rich couldn't make it as he had a cold but my Dad stepped in with his trusty mountain bike!  When I trained for the Paris Marathon earlier this year, Dad did all the training with me from the comfort (!) of his bike! He's really fit, my Dad.  He goes to the gym 5 times a week and lives a good, clean healthy life.  I love him to bits and I've got to say he totally inspires me to try harder all the time.  He doesn't put up with any of my nonsense and is always available with his blinkin' bike!  So when I want to skive and lie on the sofa, he's nagging me!  Anyway, last sunday we managed 8 miles.  I'd planned on 10 miles but Dad kept the pace up and I ended up running a lot faster than my usual plod! It took me about 1hr 20 minutes, and the calorie burn was a whopping 960!  Well worth the effort!

My Dad climbing Pen-Y-Fan! x

Power Welshcakes

On Saturday, I made lots of Welshcakes while listening to the Swans match on the radio.  I got the measurements a bit wrong and ended up with well over 100 of them!  Anyway, I tucked a few in my running belt and took them on my long run!  I'm sure with all the carbs, sugar and sultanas packed into those little cakes, my run was full of energy!

So that's my tip this week  - WELSHCAKES!

Have a lovely week,

Cerys...x

(oh, and the CLO capsules are still doing their magic - maybe I should put some in the Welshcakes!)

Vitamins and CLO

Morning! My day off and I awoke at 5am!  What the heck?  I started my new 'be good to yourself' regime this week - no wine on a school night and get to bed before 10pm! It's going really well.  I haven't had any wine and am more than happy to fall into bed about 9.30pm as I get up at 6am every morning! I've also started taking high strength Cod Liver Oil capsules and High Dose Vitamin C to help me through the winter months.  I can't believe the results in only 4 days!  I'm not sure if it's a placebo effect, but my joints in my legs are a dam sight less achey and stiff! I've got a pinned ankle from a serious break over 20 years ago.  My left leg does give me grief because of this, but I can honestly say I think the CLO is doing it's magic!  I've done some research (on Google!) and it seems that it can make me more intelligent also so I may consider upping my doseage!

http://www.healingnaturallybybee.com/articles/cod3.php


Let me know if you've had similar results with CLO, and what is the safe ammount to take?  I'm taking 1000mg a day, but reading some articles on the net, it seems I could take up to 2000mg a day.  I've also started 1000mg of Vitamin C, the fizzy tablets you drop into water.  I swear these keep me cold and flu free.  On the advice of my GP, I buy the supermarket's own brand not only because they're a heck of a lot cheaper, but because they have exactly the same ingredients as the major brands. So I bought Morrisson's own brand of both CLO and Vitamin C....watch this space!

I would love to hear from you if you have any advice on vitamins and supplements.  Please feel free to comment below.

Well seeing as I'm up so early, I'm going to go out for a run this morning! 10k planned then breakfast!

Happy Thursday!

Cerys x

Here's Me, Dawnie and Dan at our 1920's Murder at the Four Deuces last weekend! X
(I thought a photo of Cod Liver Oil Capsules would be a little bit boring!!) x

Sunday Runday!

10 miles - outdoor - 1150 calories!! 

 Neath Canal

I had a great night's sleep, 9 hours! I haven't had that much sleep in ages so I was raring to get going this morning.  Sunday for runners is the 'long run' day.  My brother, Richard, agreed to keep me company this morning and we managed a cool 10 miles!  We ran up the Neath Canal - absolutely beautiful! All the leaves are gorgeous Autumn colours now.  While I was running, I was thinking that most of my training over the last 12 months has been on that canal...Ive seen all the four seasons and I never get tired of it!  I really feel I'm running home, weird I know, must be the peanut butter! There are lots of runners out on that route and I see the same dog walkers every sunday!  



 

Thank you to everyone who contributed to the bucket collection at half time yesterday at Neath Rugby.  We managed to raise £302 which makes a real dent in my target!  I'm at 37% of the £1500 now.  I've lots more events planned over the next few months so I'll hopefully reach my target ahead of the marathon.


Anyway, time to put my feet up and look forward to a well earned Sunday lunch.
Have a great week everybody!


Cerys...X

Where did the week go? x

7k - 500 calories - Treadmill

Alys and I had a fab time in London although we ate far too many cupcakes!  Had a wonderful afternoon tea at the Waldorf too!  I was very eager to get back to the gym this morning if only to ease the guilt! I ran with Gemma, and having a chat while we ran soon ate away at the milage and before I knew it I'd put away 7k!
 I've made some enquiries about joining the Wales Women's Running Club - a bit scary joining a club as I'm not the fastest runner but I'm hoping it'll inspire me to run faster and longer, and it's also great to have some company on longer runs.

I'm hoping to attempt a long run this sunday if I can persuade my dad to get his bike out and come with me but I've got to get through tomorrow night's Murder at the Four Deuces party first.  The milage depends on my hangover status!  I've got a great costume from my good mate Kirstie Dunworth.  She's got 1000's of beautiful vintage costumes for hire for parties, photoshoots and theatrical stuff.  I'll post some photos after the event.

I've got a busy saturday planned too.  Neath Rugby have allowed me to have the bucket collection at half time between Neath and Pontypridd.  I've got a team of Alys and Sam's friends to help me but there's always room for more!  If you fancy helping me for 20 minutes on Saturday afternoon I can provide you with a British Heart Foundation T-Shirt and official collection bucket.  Hopefully the Neath and Ponty supporters will be generous and I can get closer to my marathon target!

Enough for today...time to do some ironing!!

have a great Thursday guys,..

Cerys x

Day 3...

7k - 500 calories - treadmill

Got up really early this morning.  6am on a Sunday! Madness - you'd think with all this exercise I'd sleep better but I don't! I do like getting up really early though but always fall asleep by 9pm!  Not a party animal at all.

 I was very impressed by France's performance in the final of the rugby - I guess all those insults being hurled at them this past week has really fired them up.  I eventually got to the gym by 11am, fuelled by 3 croissants!  Managed to hold my composure on the treadmill until McCaw lifted the Cup...then I was a blubbering wreck!  I'm sure I'm going to be asked to leave soon.  Nobody else seems to find the gym as emotionally moving as I do! Anyway, I think the 500 calories I burned is only one croissant! Dam those French! So I'm carrying an extra 1000 calories today which would be fine if we were about to be snowed in and there was no food in the fridge! Alas it's 16 degrees and there's Beef Bourginion for dinner!

 I have to remind myself that my motivation isn't weight loss - it's fitness, but after suffering the torturous humiliation of being the fattest, curviest (and happiest!) runner in Paris I vowed that I would attempt to look like a runner for London ( skinny, compression sock-wearing, and smothered in vaseline from head to toe perchance I get the dreaded 'jogger's nipple'!)  I've noticed only fast runner's have bleeding nipples so that's another reason to 'jog' gracefully wearing 3 sports bras and as little 'simple harmonic motion' as is possible!  For goodness sake - I'll have the same medal as Mo Farrah so what's the rush!

Enough from me for 2 days...I'm going to rest! My next run is planned for wednesday so I'll catch up with y'all then!

love,

Cerys x

p.s. That's not me BTW!!

Day Two!

Day 2 - 7k - 500 calories
Felt really excited this morning! New trainers! I bought some brand spanking new Saucony Jazz trainers yesterday and couldn't wait to get going in them! Sad, I know....you could swear I was good at this running malarky but as my good mate Lloyd says to me...
'All the gear - no idea!'

Sums me up tbh!  I love all the running stuff in 'Up and Running' on High Street.  I get so excited looking at all the trainers and for that little moment when I'm gazing around the shop, I feel like a real runner! I also bought some more 'Zero' tablets that I drop into my water bottle.  They're fantastic for energy and stopping me having a stitch.  What really got my interest though, was the new packaging on the 'Zero' - it said that the tablets also burn 41% more fat when you're running! How the hell does that happen?  I bought 2 packs so I could conduct some serious research!

I managed much more mileage than I'd planned today.  I hoped to do a 5k, but ended up doing 7k because I was watching the Swans v Wolves on the TV while I was on the treadmill.  Think I'm going to have to run every time the Swans play.  I nearly feel off the tread when Danny Graham scored though and  letting out a loud 'yessssssssssssss' drew lots of unecessary attention!

I think I've earned my 'Peroni' tonight though.  We're off to the theatre to see 'Lord of the Flies'.  An early start tomorrow for the rugby World Cup Final too.  Don't tell Col but I've got a tenner on France at 14-1 ( did it at the start of the World Cup) so it's croissants and hot cholcolate for breakfast! 

Think I may wear my Paris Marathon T- shirt in support!!

 Allez Les Bleu!

Au revoir mes amies...

Day one of Blog!

As if anybody is interested!

' Middle-aged mum of 2 gives blow by blow account of mundane everyday happenings!'

Ok..I am middle-aged (Grrr...) but my life is far from 'mundane'. In fact I feel I'm watching a blinkin' soap opera sometimes!  Right, get to the point girl!
I'm going to attempt a blog - an accompaniment to my training for the London Marathon 2012. It's a huge challenge for me so having this cyber-diary will be a bit of a motivator, regardless of whether anybody is remotely interested or not!  So I may be just talking to myself....or millions. 
ok...the facts

London Marathon - Aprill 22nd 2012
That's a lifetime away, but in training terms it's just around the corner!
Actually it's 6 months this Sunday.  I've got myself a training plan from Nike+.com and I'm going to follow it as best I can.  I'm going to try and set myself 'little' goals but I have to confess that i'm pants at sticking to things and love to always be at a tangent! Goal number one is to drink less!! I don't really drink that much already but I'm going to try not drinking on a school night.  Don't want to be too hasty with this, so I'll start next wednesday! Break myself in slowly incase I go all 'Peter Barlow'!

Today's Run
7.30am Cwrt Herbert Track: 3 Laps:  225 calories

Really quiet and a bit chilly.  I managed 3 laps this morning as I'm still recovering from Cardiff Half Marathon last sunday.  I have some boney pain on the top of my left foot which I think is down to the trainers I wore last sunday.  I don't like running round the track much, as I have to run past my car all the time and the temptation to jump in and drive off is absolutely huge! I'm going to try harder tomorrow.  5 laps before the rugby!

Enough chat for today...bit of a boring start to my blog!  Maybe I shouldn't give up the wine and write this after a glass of Shiraz!

Have a great weekend...Cerys x