Little Emily's hero - Linford Christie

At the primary school I went to, Pawlett Primary School, we used to do an annual fun run that took you around the country lanes where the school was (including have to sprint past a family where the dog was terrifying and would chase after you down the road, so you had to run faster to get away). The couple of times that I did this I ran with my dad. The first time we did so I was the girls winner in my year (the year only had 3 girls!) and that was it, I wanted to be a runner. My influence, inspiration and idol: Linford Christie!


So you could say that this challenge isn't only to prove something to myself, but it's for the young me and my idol, Linford.

(footnote: At 26, I know longer idolise Linford Christie. Nor do I want to be a runner.)

Creating my routes

So, having had a couple of weeks of gym training and swimming I've planned my routes to take me up to the big day on September 11th 2011. I've got varying routes, terrains and distances ranging from 4 miles to 12.5 miles. The aim is this -
May: 4 & 5 mile routes
June: 5, 6 & 7 mile routes
July: 7, 8 & 9 mile routes
August: 9, 10+ mile routes
Sepetmber: 10+
October: never running again :)

This time last year......

After running the 5k Brent Knoll route over the Easter weekend I shocked myself. Never have I planned, enjoyed and commited to running that length before. Since my teenage years of being made to run cross-country at secondary school I have hated long distance running. My face goes bright red, I can't breath and it hurts. There was nothing enjoyable about that. Even this time last year, the thought of running for 3 miles straight, without stopping or walking seemed like an alien concept. But now I'm taking time out of bank holidays, lazing in the hot tub and drinking bubbles to run, for fun! This is a big turning point and one to be recognised. Even if I don't make it around the 13.1 mile route on September the 11th 2011, I've accomplished something already that I'm really proud of. It's even got to the point that if I don't run for the same length or further in a week I feel anxious, nervous and guilty. These feelings have replace relief, joy and pleasure. Maddness is brilliant.

Back dating

It's been a few weeks now since my last post. It's not as though I haven't been running, but I've just not been writting on here due to the fact that the end of April was truely manic.

Since my longest run outside I've been trying to run outside as much as possible. The following week was Easter weekend and I returned to Somerset to have a family weekend and go to my friend Jennie's wedding. Good Friday came and I did a 3 mile run in Taunton. Easter Saturday I did a 1.5 mile run to the garage and back to the Bull ranch to get the Saturday morning papers (this was before the wedding). Sunday I had the day off and then Easter Monday I ran the Brent Knoll 5k route alongside my brother Matthew, Kiwi Kate and accompanied by my sister Katy on a bike. Matthew put us all to shame by making it look easy, even the hill and Katy zoomed off on the bike, after making it to the top of the hill. Kiwi Kate took it easy as her return to jogging run after being ill the month before and I ran alongside Matthew. We took it slow and got round in 31mins. The hardest part was the heat. We were in the sun for the whole run without water and it was hard!

Since Easter weekend I've mainly been in the gym and to be honest haven't done a longer run since. This is starting to make me anxious and will be hitting the road again this week taking the length up to 4 miles before starting to run 5 by the end of the month. The thought of getting over the 3 mile hurdle is a bit scary, but I'm so looking forward (I know, positive / mental) to getting to the 5 mile milestone.