Sunday 1 June 2014

Juneathon 2014 - Day 1

White rabbits, white rabbits, white rabbits, first of the month today, and not just any month, but the magical month of June. The month in which we celebrate the longest day and the longest slog to get active - Juneathon is upon us, and so it begins!

I was up bright and early this morning, the sun was shining and the birds were twittering, I eagerly jumped out of bed, put on my new running trainers and my new running clobber - I've treated myself to new trainers, new shorts and a running jacket. Put my hair in a ponytail, grabbed a bottle of water and set off.

I'd previously walked a route that I thought might be good for me to jog ( crawl before walking, and walk before jogging! ). It has 2 quite steep hills to climb, but takes in my local reservoir and river and has some great views of the town and countryside, which I will share with you throughout the month.

Bluebells on the riverbank
The feeder river to the reservoir

My route is 4.25 miles ( 6.8 km ) and I normally manage to walk it in about 1 hour 20 minutes, but today I managed to walk, wobble and jog it in 1 hour 6 mins and 59 seconds. I set off jogging from my house and was well and truly knackered by the time I hit the end of the street, I did wonder why I was doing this, I was never one for doing P.E. at school and I made every excuse possible to get out of it, I don't mind cycling or swimming or even just walking long distances, but running is one of the things I've never liked, mainly due to wobbly bum and bouncing boobs syndrome, but now I've another ailment to add to the list, wobbly belly, but not just any wobbly belly, mine is the result of a pregnancy gone wrong and one which has left my stomach muscles with a gaping gap in them. 

Quick lesson for those not in the know, when a woman is pregnant her abs split to allow the womb and baby to grow, after birth they slowly knit themselves back together

but unfortunately for me that never happened, so it is quite painful to do quite a lot of things actually.
However, thanks to the miracle of body shaping underwear and corsets I have been able to truss myself up so that I can go about normal daily activities, and this underwear was a godsend today.

So anyway back to why I am doing this, I think it's a touch of jealousy and inspiration rolled into one. A lot of my friends have taken up running and one or two of them have taken part in races like The Great North Run, and I am inspired by them ( and jealous because they can run ). Also I have a secret longing to run a marathon. I've had it a while and since my illness the desire has gotten stronger. I would love to be able to do one before I'm 40, but for now I'll set my sights on being able to run 2 blocks before feeling like my lungs are going to explode!

9 comments:

  1. I never knew that about pregnancy! I assumed the baby went in front of abs. With the running thing, have you tried the NHS Couch to 5k podcast (http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/c25k/Pages/couch-to-5k.aspx)? The music is dodgy, but it seems to work.

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    1. Hi tubontherun, I've heard about the podcast through a couple of friends but never tried it, I think it's something that I'm going to need, I could only manage to run lampost to lampost about 3 or 4 times before gasping for breath!

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  2. Oh how I miss running - keep up the good work!

    xXx

    Follow me too? Oh So Gawjess

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    1. Thanks for the encouragement!

      Following on google connect

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  3. Your route looks beautiful! Just keep going, you can do it :) It took me a while to build up my running (since January) and now I can finally run 10km (slowly) all the way. x

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    1. Thanks, I can't believe how knackered I was, I walk this route often but it's had a whole different effect on my body running it!

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  4. Your route looks beautiful! Just keep going, you can do it :) It took me a while to build up my running (since January) and now I can finally run 10km (slowly) all the way. x

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  5. Good luck for Junathon! I did it with walking last year but this year has been a wash out so far! BUT I am doing daily pilates and swimming and in my pregnant state I think that might be ok?! Jealous of the running though. Don't think I will run again for a looooooong time!
    x x

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    1. Thanks, and congratulations on the pregnancy, when I did Juneathon last year my exercise consisted of ironing and housework, so you're doing better than me with the pilates and swimming!

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