Out of the frying pan, into the....well..... by Jaysus!

[Fingalo]

Up and out early this morning, although not as early as usual. Any suspicions some folk may be harbouring that it was because of me being scared to go out in the dark again in fear of the devil dog can dismiss them immediately. Yes Greeners, I'm talking to you.

I also reverted to my usual route, out of town instead of in.

Feck off Greeners, it was feck all to do with that evil devil dog that I knew would go for me were I to go through its territory again......

Erm....where was I?

Oh yes, Couch to 5k.

Anyone who's had the patience to read any of my previous blogs will know my run on Thursday, run 1 of Week 7, was absolute torture. It was the run that made me understand what runners mean when they use the expression 'bad run'.

I'm sure I'm not alone in that, during this programme, I've found my own ways to overcome obstacles. Usually it's been looking ahead with fear at what the following Week required and doubting myself, I'd spend the time in a constant internal dialogue, mentally trying to argue myself into a position from thinking it was beyond me, to I should be at least able to give it a go. It wasn't all me, support from this site was hugely important in those arguments and I know they will remain so.

Even so, I set off this morning even more apprehensive than usual. Apprehensive being the soft soap for scared!

I had my usual gear on (I still wear a light windcheater jacket yoke over a couple of long sleeved cotton shirts and a pair of light Celtic jogging bottoms) and as I set foot out the door I noticed a chill in the air, then the wind hit me. I'd felt it was the wind that gave me a problem on the torture run so wasn't pleased but at the same time had prepared myself for it so it didn't faze me, just added slightly to my concern. It's amazing how much you think too much when it comes to this running lark eh?

It transpired that five minutes later I'm on the front and there's nothing to contend with other than a sea breeze. I was pleased....

It was quiet enough, still dark but quickly brightening up as Laura gave me the nod. Within ten minutes I could see the sea, white horses tipping the waves. It must have been rough enough overnight as the beachfront was covered in the stones from the beach. It's described as a pebble beach which is probably ball park in comparison to sand but as I had to run at the extreme end from the beach for fear of doing a Ralston, you'll know I wasn't avoiding pebbles.

Laura said "half way" and I felt okay, not confident or even good, just okay. That fear from my last run remained in mind, I obviously hadn't completely written the negativity away in my last blog.

Then I found my rhythm!

From halfway I felt better, then when Laura said I'd done 20 minutes I knew I'd be able to finish and was delighted it wasn't as difficult as the last one, I'd moved on from it.

And on and on and on. Because that's what I did. I felt so good (relatively) after 20 minutes that I started to think a wee bit mischievously and the divil got into me. I decided to go for 30 minutes.

And I did. Then as I hadn't quite reached my usual exit point from the beachfront I continued running until I did. Only another 30 seconds or so but by feck, that I could do 30 minutes then carry on even for a few seconds made my feckin' day!

What a difference between two runs eh?

My plan now is to run 30 minutes for all of the seven runs I have left. I may not do them all and don't intend be disappointed if I'm unable (as long as I do what Laura requires) but I'm going to give it a lash.

Have to say lads, I'm feckin' delighted with myself!

[greenlegs Graduate]

Oh what a huge smile is on my face! You b*****d! I didn't do any extra on my 28 today - you've beaten me you toad! But do I care, no way! I am really genuinely pleased for you.

You really made me laugh too, and I've had a bit of a rubbish day, one way and another, so a good laugh was just what I needed. I won't forget that red-eyed devil dog!

Way to go!

(Now I've got to go and look up what a Ralston is. I just don't understand all this irish stuff, even though my maiden name is Irish, my husband's family is from Ireland and my birthday is on St Patrick's Day (so I got given shamrocks every birthday when I was little, because my grandad worked with a lovely Irish guy). And anyway, Ralston doesn't sound remotely Irish.) Too many brackets there, but what the hell.

Bless you too, Father!!

[Fingalo Graduate in reply to greenlegs]

Ha ha, nice one.

I remember picking up the book and deciding it was a bit too much to read. A week later I bought it anyway, it's an excellent read. Then I heard a film was being made of it which I found bizarre, given that the story takes place in a hole in the ground, basically. In fact they made a really good job of it.

[greenlegs Graduate]

OK - I've figured the Ralston. UGH. Couldn't bear to watch that film.

[nativestar Graduate]

Well done! You deserve to be delighted with yourself!

[notbad Graduate]

You see, I did promise it would get easier (but never guessed it would be so soon!).

[Tish1970 Graduate]

Great news. Well done

[Treborstone Graduate]

Excellent, news. Well done. I can almost see the smile from here.

[rolphie2 Graduate]

Woo hoo well done, bad run well and truly behind you and a 30+ minute run fantastic keep going

[Bibs Graduate]

Well done Fingalo :-D, knew you'd be fine.

I will be doing my last week 7 run today, Friday's run was ok but hard work, so I doubt I'll be adding any extra minutes. I'm hoping that running in the daylight will help, gives me the chance to run an old route in comfortingly dreary conditions, just how I started this running lark

[greenlegs Graduate in reply to Bibs]

Hope you have a good run Bibs!

[Bibs Graduate in reply to greenlegs]

Thanks greenlegs - ended up much like Friday, ok but hard work.

I managed to get my route wrong twice (doh!! ) which made it longer. Didn't want a really long cool down so I ended up running an extra three minutes (but only after I'd had a rest walking first, amazing how much easier a little walking made those extra three minutes ).

Now I know I can do 28 mins, just need to do it all in one go

[vixiej Graduate]

well done!

[skf28 Graduate]

well done Fingalo

[buffster]

Well done! No wonder you're delighted. Hopefully this pushes you over the line with the last few pounds you want to lose as well.

You'll be nicely set up for the longer daylight hours and hopefully better weather (except for the snow forecast) to really enjoy your runs after the hard slog you've put in.

[Fingalo Graduate]

Cheers guys.

Have to say Buffster, I quite enjoy running in the cold and dark as I love the solitude.

I'd prefer it dry but even the rain isn't a dealbreaker for me.

I won't know what to do with myself when it's light and warm.

[Treborstone Graduate in reply to Fingalo]

I know what you mean, having started in autumn last year, and run through whatever has been thrown at us this winter, I'm not sure how I'm going to cope come summer assuming we get one this year!