Sunday 1 April 2012

My Local 'Roots': A week of 26.2km


My reason for running 1000km this year is so I can raise money for two wonderful charities. If you are reading this and have not sponsored me because you think I will make it to my £2000 target easily, think again!  As of yet I have contacted many local and national organisations and companies to seek sponsorship. All have so far told me they have either used up their charity funds, or have just not replied to me. I am not going to give up and I am going to keep trying. However without the support of individuals, I cannot raise these funds. So please sponsor me for Challenge 1000.  Whether it's £2, £5, £10 or £50 - it is your support and kind message to me that really counts. Thank you :-)

Tuesday 27th March, 6.45pm
Cressex to Booker and back.
7.39km

I aimed to run 10km on this lovely spring evening. However about 5km into the run I experienced some extremely bad stomach pains. It was evident I was suffering from 'runners tummy'. I had to clench certain areas pretty tight, and had the inevitable quality time spent sat on the loo when I got home. Not great fun, but I managed to run just over 7km.

Saturday 31st March, 6.30pm
Circular route: Cressex, Booker Common, Booker Woods, Adams Park, Lane End Road, Booker Common and back to Cressex.
9.3km

I first ran this route for the first time in 2011, a few weeks after getting my first trail shoes. This was when I first started some more off road running. I had run the Wycombe Half Marathon in July and I was getting bored of road running. My husband knew of a mostly off road run he had done with a friend before (who is training for the Milton Keynes marathon this year, we wish him all the best of luck!). The route has helpfully been mapped out through a series of orange arrows painted onto trees by people who work at the Johnson and Johnson European Headquarters, based in Cressex. The first time I ran it I found it very difficult, and I even had to stop and walk for a few moments at the top of quite a long stretch of hill.
When I ran it last night I didn't have to stop once, and kept a steady pace up the long stretch of hill. I still found it tough but I was able to manage it a lot better than the first time I ran it. It's a really good run, and it's nice and close to home.

Sunday 1st April, 10.30am
The Rye, past Kingsmead, through Loudwater, back along the London Road to Loudwater and Kingsmead again, to the Rye, ending with a lap of The Dyke.
9.53km

It was warmer than expected outside for my run today and I was wearing a long sleeved top. About 2 minutes in I started to boil and sweat! This run is round an area I know really well and that I grew up in. I used to go on bike rides with my sister and my neighbours on these roads and paths. The route also takes in running very close to the cemetery where my Grandfather has been laid to rest, and near to the house he lived in. I like the area due to these connections. I will always support Cancer Research UK. This was the charity he chose for people to give donations to at his funeral, so I feel it is only responsible to continue this. The spot he is laid to rest overlooks Wooburn Green (where my Granny lives), Loudwater and High Wycombe. The view is stunning. This was the area he was from, and the same area I was born and bred in. The Chiltern hills surround the area, which is dotted with villages. The River Wye meets the River Thames, giving the area some lovely riverside locations. The name Wycombe comes from the river Wye, and the old English word for a wooded valley, combe. Which describes the look of the area perfectly. 
My husband, Andrew and I in 2010. We are both carrying a little more weight than we do now due to all the running! This was taken before we were married and we are posing for our honeymoon account picture. We are at a small fishing lake in Bourne End.

Those were my three runs this week, now I am off to rest before starting off on another active week. Body pump and Spinning classes tomorrow - a must for building strong bones and increasing endurance. I am officially into some serous training for my Nurburgring 24.4km hilly hell run in September!!! Hopefully I will be way on my way to 1000km by then :-)

Thank you for reading and Happy Easter to all xxxx

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