Charity: Race for Life 5K with Scottish Power

On Sunday I participated in the Race for Life 5K event at Glasgow Green. I was going to say I ran, but it was more like a jog. It's been a number of months since I was running regularly (I just checked back in my Nike app on my phone and it was in September 2014 that I was running once a week, since then I've done only two runs!!). For a number of reasons I hadn't trained: partly due to my Crohn's playing up; partly due to lack of time; and if I'm honest partly because of the weather (although that's not really a decent excuse, you just need to dress appropriately for the conditions).

Anyway, you will be pleased to hear that despite not training I managed to jog the route in 31 minutes (I felt that deserved to be in bold!). I have to say I was pretty chuffed with myself.

I chose to run for Cancer Research UK because my mum lost her battle with cancer in 2001 and was taken from us too soon. She was 51 years old when she died. I was 19 years old, and my little sister was 17. We were too young to lose a parent. You can read my diary entries from the time on the blog: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4.

Due to the amazing work of scientists and researchers, today one in two people with cancer will survive.

Lot's more can be done though to beat cancer sooner.

The atmosphere on race day was mixed. I felt quite emotional - reading everyone's stories on the backs of their shirts really put things into perspective; and yet I also felt inspired and that I really was making a difference, even if it was just a little one. 

That morning I woke up early before the kids and had some porridge (with Lactofree milk!) and fresh fruit before getting dressed and ready. My daughter painted my face in a few different pink colours and with plenty of glitter! She helped me choose the Pink Army tattoos to wear and looked out a pink party hat for me. 

The run itself wasn't as bad as I had anticipated. It was a bit wet and windy in Glasgow, but the rain was refreshing, for once! It was bizarre running through the empty streets of Glasgow, particularly Buchanan Street with a sea of women in pink t-shirts around me. There were plenty of supporters along the way which helped keep me going.

I made it round the course with my Scottish Power 'High 5 me!' foam hand... which to be honest was a hindrance but I carried on regardless!! 

Scottish Power are raising support for Cancer Research UK through the High 5 Wave. The target is to reach 60,000 high fives to raise £35,000 for the charity. 

"High fives are a symbol of achievement and celebration for all of us every day. We want to use high fives to generate positive energy in the fight against cancer" Scottish Power 

I added my High 5 and joined the wave at the Scottish Power marquee after the race!

If you would like to donate some money to my JustGiving page, you will find it here (www.justgiving.com/glasgowmummy).

Or why not take part in an event yourself? They are being held across the UK and you can find an event near you here.

Disclosure: my race entry was paid for and I was provided with promotional material for the run by Scottish Power.

{Fashion Update: Running Leggings}

I've really not had much luck lately with my clothes.

The elastic waistband on my Nike running leggings has sort of fallen apart a bit and they've seen better days. They are 3 years old, so I guess it's to be expected. I have a few pairs of capris and one pair of shorts, but with the colder weather approaching I could be done with a new pair of full length leggings/tights for running, and here's what I've come up with:

Reebok Urban Active Pat Legging, £28

Zero Gravity Tights from Sweaty Betty, £85

Leg-A-See tights from Nike, £33

Epic Lux Printed leggings from Nike, £80

Which are your favs? Where do you buy your workout gear from?

{Wobbles Wednesday}

My weight loss plans are not going well... :-(

I'm sat at my computer with a bowl of ice cream and some fruit. At least part of it is healthy!

My Sainsburys Online Grocery Delivery Pass has worked in that I managed to avoid all the treats in the supermarket aisles whilst I did my weekly food shop. So that's a step in the right direction at least.

I've also been doing weekly meal planning. Another positive change.

However I was at a friends house at the weekend and majorly fell off the wagon... I consumed an obscene amount of crisps, dips and cakes. I also ate a burger, toast, a bagel and a sandwich. So out with the no bread rule!!

I've also not managed a single run in a fortnight now.

I can do better than this, I just need to try harder.

What's not helping is that work is really stressful as we get closer to a really important external audit (that's the week after BritMums!). All I want to do is eat chocolate and sweets to get through it!! I'm absolutely shattered and I know that the chocolate will just be a quick fix, but it tastes sooooo good!

Despite this, I have managed to stick to the healthy breakfasts and salads at lunch time but by the afternoon I'm craving sweet things!

Today I had a Total Greek yoghurt with fresh berries for breakfast, a Tunnocks caramel wafer at 10am (I was on a training course and couldn't resist!), a prawn & cous cous salad for lunch, a handful of dried cranberries in the afternoon, leftover chicken stir fry for dinner, two of the kids chocolate bars (eaten in secret in the kitchen so they couldn't see me!!), a packet of Hula Hoops and my bowl of ice cream and fruit.

It's definitely the evenings that throw me off. My willpower is seriously lacking.

It's now just 3 weeks to BritMums and I'm not convinced that I can reach my target.

Time to get motivated...

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{Motivation}

I've been lacking in motivation to get back into shape.

Don't get me wrong, I don't have much to lose... just 10 or maybe 11 lbs.

I know I'll be happier when I get back to my target again, but does that motivate me... nope, it does not.

I also know what I need to do... because I've done it before.

Eat less, move more.

Simple, you'd think?

I'm hoping as the weather improves I'll get back out running...

But I also need someone to shout at me and tell me to stop eating all the cake (& sweets, chocolate, pastries...).

Seriously, you'd better be quick or there will be none left!

{Smitten Saturday: Alison}

Each Saturday I'll be featuring one thing that I'm loving, whether it be food, make-up, an activity, a person... you get the idea!

You can grab my button over here ---> and take part if you so wish? 

And please help spread the word - I'd love to get a few more bloggers joining in :-)

There should hopefully be a linky tool at the bottom to allow you to add your post *crosses fingers*

Anyway, this week I am smitten with my little sister, Alison (also known as Ali & The Grey House or @the_grey_house). (Everyone we meet that doesn't know us thinks that she's older though, sorry Ali!)

I was starting to lose my running & keep fit mojo and Ali has managed to get my spark back again.

Yesterday she signed me up for the Glasgow Half Marathon and I'm actually excited about my next race (I know, I can't believe it either - me, excited about running!).

Glasgow

I got such a buzz competing in the Edinburgh Half Marathon last year in May, my first ever race! Since then I've done a 10 mile run around Millport (September 2012) but then after that I'm ashamed to admit I've done nothing and my fitness levels have decreased dramatically. The weight has also started to creep back on :-/

This is it though, I've now got a goal... to beat my time of 2 hours 12 min.

Bring it on! Thank you Ali for giving me the kick I needed!!

So tell me, what's got you Smitten this week?

{Macmillan Cancer Support}

As many of you will know, I ran the Edinburgh Half Marathon a few weeks ago and I was raising money for Macmillan Cancer Support (the total raised at the moment is in the region of £4600!!).

Anyway, I was asked if I would participate in some PR for Macmillan, so on they day I had my photograph taken and I had to answer some questions after the event too. I think they are going to use my story for some advertising for the 2013 campaign!

I thought I would share the photographs and 'interview' here with you all, perhaps it will inspire some of you too?

1.      How did you feel before the race/at the start line?

I was a little nervous at the start of the race. This was my first ever race, and I didn't know what to expect. There were a lot of people! The music from the radio station was blaring throughout the crowds and there was such a buzz of anticipation in the air! As we started crossed the starting line my nerves calmed down, I plugged my earphones in and I started the long jog to the finish.

2.      How did it feel when you crossed the finish line?

I felt brilliant! I had paced myself throughout the run (particularly due to the hot weather that day!), and by the end I still had enough energy for a little sprint through the finish line with a massive smile on my face. I was so pleased that I had made it to the end!

3.      Why did you decide to run for Macmillan?

My mum died of ovarian cancer in June 2001. I wanted to raise funds for a cancer charity, and so selected Macmillan.

4.      What kept you going when it got tough?

I knew that my mum would have been so proud of me, so thoughts of her kept me going. 

5.      Were you impressed with the Macmillan cheer-points?

The cheer-points definitely kept me going. It was such a buzz to hear everyone shouting my name and words of encouragement. 

6.      What was the support like that you got in the lead up to the race?

I had plenty of support in the run up to the race. The Macmillan newsletters were brilliant and I knew that I could call upon someone from the team for help if I had needed it.

7.      Was it proud moment?

I am so proud of myself for finishing the Edinburgh Half Marathon! At the end of the race I made my way to the Macmillan tent and the cheerleaders shouted out my name as I walked up the red carpet for my leg massage! I was beaming. Such a great feeling!! I was also really pleased with my time - I had wanted to finish in under 2.5 hours, and my time was 2 hours 12 minutes. Result!

8.      Have you been involved with other Macmillan fundraising events before?

No

9.      Do you think you’ll do it again?

Yes, definitely. All going well I'm hoping to run the full marathon next year!

10.  What would you say to encourage someone thinking of running for Macmillan next year?

Do it! With the right training it's certainly achievable and with Macmillan you will be running for a fantastic cause. 

 

{Result... Half Marathon - Done!}

I took part in the Edinburgh Half Marathon on Sunday, as many of you will already know from either reading my blog or following me on Twitter.

I was rather nervous - it was my first ever race!

I was totally disorganised, which I have to say is not like me at all. Literally a few days before the race I managed to finalise my travel arrangements! I think it had been adding to the stress, because once that was sorted I did feel a bit more confident about it all.

My running number hadn't arrived in the post though, so I had the added hassle of having to collect it in person in Edinburgh the day before.

So on Saturday afternoon I dropped the children with my in-laws and headed off on the train for Edinburgh. My lovely neighbours were kind enough to let me borrow their daughter's student flat for the night, which just happened to be empty at the time. The location was ideal - just a 5 min walk from the start of the race.

The night before I laid out all my running gear, just like you would before the first day back at school!

In the morning I was awake super early (5am!!)... this time it wasn't because of the children, it was my nerves! I was paranoid that I was going to sleep in! I also needed to be up early so that I could have my breakfast and then have plenty of time for the food to settle before the race started at 8am. So at 6am I was sat having porridge and a banana, in my running gear and all set to go! 

Here I am at the race start... (yes, I'm wearing make-up but I was having my photograph taken for Macmillan Cancer Support so I wanted to look good!)

Thankfully on Sunday the weather was a little cooler, in the morning at least. I was a bit chilly at 7.30am waiting for the race to start! There was such an atmosphere, and even writing about it now it brings a smile to my face. The radio DJ was shouting out motivating messages, the music was blaring and everyone was lined up ready to go... then the race started! I was running alone as my sister had injured her ankle, but I just plugged in my music and off I went. 

I ran a consistent 10 minute mile. I was using a Nike+ GPS app on my iPhone and it told me my pace every 0.5 miles, so I knew if I was going too fast or too slow. I didn't want to overdo it in the heat (by 9am it was getting hot!) and so I just kept a steady pace and kept on running!

At each Macmillan cheer point I passed my name was shouted and it encouraged me to keep going. What a buzz!!

At around 12 miles I saw a young-ish guy collapse and someone was putting him in the recovery position. I'm guessing he collapsed because of the heat and that he hadn't been taking enough fluids. I personally don't know how the marathon runners managed, as their race started at 10am when it was even hotter! I drank a lot of Lucozade Sport on Saturday (thanks @ScumMum for the constant reminders to drink!) and during the race on Sunday and I actually managed ok. I have to say, it wasn't as hard as I thought it was going to be. I completed the race in 2 hours and 12 minutes - I'm pretty chuffed with that.

I picked up the pace at the end and I ran through the finish line with a massive smile on my face.

...and here I am at the end with my medal! (Hair & make-up still in place!!)

At the moment, the total amount we've raised for Macmillan Cancer Support is £4,323. Thank you to everyone for your support and donations - I couldn't have done it without you.

{Half Marathon}

Tomorrow I will be running (jogging!) in my first ever race... the Edinburgh Half Marathon. My sister, her work colleague & I have been raising money for Macmillan Cancer Support and to date we have raised over £4000. I am delighted!! I know my mum would be so proud of us.

Please keep your fingers crossed for me... the race starts at 8am tomorrow morning. Eek!

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{Grooving Mums}

Here I am linking up again this week with Kate on Thin Ice for her grooving mums blog hop. I'm a bit slow at joining in this week - I'm normally very organised and get my post published on a Tuesday as soon as the link goes live. However, my me-time during the day is now limited as my toddler has decided that he no longer wants his afternoon snooze... he still needs it, and sometimes I'll get him to take it, but other times he's so adamant that he's not sleeping that I just have to go with it. I also feel bad as I've not been commenting on the other #groovingmums blogs, so I apologise and hopefully will catch up soon.

I've been a bit rubbish again this week with the challenges, but one thing I have done is contact my gastroenterologist about my Crohn's Disease and he's not concerned about my symptoms as my blood results and other tests came back ok. That's something I can at least put a tick against...

I did revisit one of the previous challenges 'winter warmth' and treated myself to some cosy ear muffs today from a local gift shop. I'll post a photo soon of them.

Here are the festive challenges set by Kate this week:

1. Get some catalogues and look online and in the shops to identify something for your body that you would like for Christmas. Then tell us all about it.
2. Can you do the same for your mind? Perhaps a book or film on a topic that you would like to explore further. Again, please share your ideas with us.
3. Light a candle. If you are up for meditation, try that. If not just enjoy the sight of it or buy one of those lovely scented ones to lift the spirits.
4. Make a change to your blog. Add an image or a badge (The Grooving Mums one is very lovely, hint). Add a disclosure policy if you are interested in reviewing product samples. Give some real thought to what you want your blog to do for you in the New Year.

Come back next week and hopefully I'll have achieved something off this list!

This past week I've been ill... I could hardly talk at the weekend due to sore throat and cold and so I had to skip running club and Pilates class which I was rather disappointed about. The weather has also been rubbish - wind, rain and even snow! So I've not been out as much and I think that's having an impact on my mood.

I did have a session with my personal trainer last night which I managed to go along to and - despite the mince pies and ice-cream that I indulged in over the weekend and the limited exercise - I've only put on 1lb and my body fat % has crept up just 0.8% - phew! I'll get back on track this week as I would hate for the weight to creep up each week and for me to end up where I started.

I've got our Christmas tree up and decorated the house, so I'm starting to feel very festive and my son is very excited about Santa and is thoroughly enjoying his advent calendar each day! My dad's wife made my son and daughter a calendar each and in the little pockets I put some chocolate santa's, coins etc.

I treated myself to a scented candle recently... it's very expensive for what it is and I wouldn't usually indulge this much money for a candle... but seeing as it's Christmas as we don't have a real tree or a log fire I thought I would get a candle that incorporated the essence of these things. It's called Library and is from True Grace and it is described as "a smoky blend of wood, amber and moss to recreate the sensation of walking into an old library". Funnily enough it reminds me a little of the strange scents from the Jorvik Viking Centre from when I was a small child - I've nice memories of our family trips there (I've just had a look at their website, and the tour takes you inside the home of an amber worker, so perhaps it's the amber!). Anyway, I digress... it's a lovely scent and I'm going to go and light it now and watch my twinkly fairy lights for a few minutes and relax (I finally got my son into his bed!!). That will at least tick off challenge #3 for this week :-)

{Groove on}

I'm linking up again this week with Kate on Thin Ice for her Getting Your Groove Back Blog Hop.  Week #3 already!!

So, what have I done this week to get into the groove...?

I had my most enjoyable breakfast of smoked salmon, scrambled eggs & toasted pitta bread on Wednesday last week and thoroughly loved every bite, despite having to make it myself! I actually had it for brunch rather than breakfast - hope that still counts!? By the time I had been to the supermarket to get the salmon and eggs it was too late for breakfast! I also went to Aberdeen for the weekend to stay with my sister and her boyfriend, and get this - I was made smoked salmon, poached eggs & toast for brunch on Saturday... so I've had my special breakfast twice this week!!

Whilst I was in Aberdeen, my sister took my photograph in her home studio. So, here I am in my size 10, yep you read correctly...size 10 jeans! I can't believe that I was a size 16 just three months ago. I'm uber chuffed with myself. Excuse the pose...I'm not good in front of a camera and didn't know where to look etc!!

I've not been great with the healthy eating this week... I indulged in a bag of Jelly Belly's whilst watching X Factor (they were good!! - the jelly beans, not the X Factor contestants!!). I also had a banoffee pie... oops!! Oh I'm forgetting, I also had a few bits of dark chocolate, on a number of occasions!! I'm dreading my weigh in today (it's at lunchtime!).

I continued with my running though. I didn't make it to running club on Sunday as I was in Aberdeen but my sister and I did a 4.67 mile run on Friday night (I know this because I track my runs using a fancy app on my phone!). I did however get poked in the bum (!!) by a drunk teenager as I ran past him. I suppose that's going to happen when you go running at 9pm on a Friday night! I've also been to Pilates this week and I'm really enjoying it. 

My friend Becky has also kindly booked me onto a flower arranging course. As far as I'm aware it's a one-off 2 hour course at a local florist. I thoroughly enjoyed the cupcake course I went on and due to other commitments these days I can't really attend regular night classes so a one-off course suits me perfectly. So I'm looking forward to learning some much needed flower arranging skills. I'm rubbish when it comes to flowers and end up just plonking them in a vase and they are typically left there until they wither and die!

Another course I would love to do is the Jane Means gift wrapping course...however at £110 it's a bit pricey for a day workshop.

I do really enjoy being creative and so this week I took some time to indulge in my hobby and I made my first free printable to share with my blog readers. It's a Halloween design that could be used for stickers, cupcake toppers or gift tags. I could have spent hours playing about with Illustrator and Photoshop. I wish I had the time to do a digital design course but unfortunately I don't think it's viable.

I'm looking forward to the week ahead...

Let's get grooving ladies :-)

{Jogging}

Maria, my personal trainer, has got me to start jogging as part of my exercise regimen. So far I've been doing 2 or 3 mile jogs round the local area, and it's been ok. I wouldn't say I enjoy it (maybe I'm starting to), but once I'm home I'm certainly glad I went. I'm not sure that I'm a competitive person... I try to set myself targets... e.g. keep jogging until I reach the next set of traffic lights or try to beat my time from previous jog... but it doesn't really spur me on. I'm planning on joining Maria's running group in the near future and I think that will make a big difference to my motivation to have other people running with me.

Happy Fitness on Tumblr

I've also signed up for a half marathon in May next year (yikes!!). I've joined Team Macmillan and will be raising money for Macmillan Cancer Support.  My mum died of ovarian cancer when I was at university 10 years ago, and this will be my first sponsored jog (might end up being a walk!) for charity.  My sister has done a few 10k runs before, and she has also signed up for the half marathon (it was her idea) so it will be nice for us to do this together in memory of our mum.

I've dropped a dress size already and have nearly reached my target weight. I'm still a long way from my target body fat % (25% is target, I'm currently at 34%!) but it's moving in the right direction at least. I feel so much happier and healthier - lots more energy!