Clontarf Half Marathon

I didn't hide the fact I didn't feel prepared for the half marathon last Saturday. I didn't feel confident with any of the running I had done and with the way the weather had been going I just new it was going to be tough. However I woke up on Saturday feeling alright. I knew I wasn't going to get a personal best, but I thought 'whats the worst that can happen' and allowed myself to get caught up in the atmosphere.

Another Mini Marathon Done!

The June Bank Holiday has been and gone and that means the Women's Mini Marathon is over for another year. I have been doing the mini marathon since 2006 (with 2 years missing for travelling) and I love it every year. This year was the first year I qualified as a runner and I was so excited to collect my white number over the weekend!

My 2nd Half Marathon!

Yesterday I completed my 2nd half marathon! And despite the fact that I am so incredibly stiff and sore, I am already planning for my next one. That's the thing about races, they are addictive. I mean I know I always feel great after my regular morning & weekend runs, but its hard to stay motivated without a race to work towards and the feeling you get crossing the finish line! 

Keeping Things In Perspective

I've had a great week running! I doubled my distance for the first week of March and felt great doing it. My distance has been good and my times have been good. All good right? Well this morning I had a short run planned, 3 miles, so I decided I was going to push myself and go as fast as I could. I was hoping to log a fastest pace for the distance but it wasn't to be! I still clocked a pretty good time and pace but I was disappointed in myself and I posted my disappointment on Instagram.

Finding my Feet Again!

After a slow start to the year, I am finally regaining ground on my running! I am only halfway through this week and I am already nearly at the same distance I was the past 2 weeks. I plan to double the distance by the end of the week. When I agreed to do the half marathon in a couple of weeks I was quite daunted, but which each run I get more and more confident and comfortable.

Back On The Road Again!

February is a big month for me! This day 2 years ago I hit my weight watchers goal weight! I can tell you it feels like a lot longer than 2 years ago, but at the same time I still remember the feeling standing up on the scales that night! There are a lot of things I have done in my 30 years, but reaching my goal weight and maintaining for 2 years is definitely something I can be very proud of. Its not been all plain sailing and there have been moments when it would have been pretty easy for me to slip back into my bad habits. Just last year I let myself gain a stone before realising what I was doing.

I feel like reaching my goal weight was me making a lifelong commitment to my health. Being overweight was such a negative time in my life; I was unhappy in the choices I was making, I had no energy or motivation to do anything, I found it difficult to like myself and I was putting unneccesary pressure on my body. Its a constant work in progress but I feel like I can be comfortable in the day to day choices I make. If I have a bad week or two I don't kill myself, instead I move on and get back on it. I feel like I know where the balance is. 

I don't want to obsess over food and exercise my whole life, I want to be at a stage where it comes almost naturally to me. For the moment it still takes a good bit of effort and thought but I spent over 15 years struggling with my weight, its going to take a little longer than 2 years to totally be able to let that go. 

Last February also marks the start of my morning runs! I never thought it would be something I would keep up and I am proud to say a year later my alarm is still going off at 5:45am a couple of times a week. Thinking back over last year I ran two 10k's in under 60 minutes and completed my first half marathon. So despite what I'm about to write about I am proud of what I achieved. In saying that, the graph of how far I ran month by month paints a different picture to my memory.

I started out full of motivation and goals and at some point I let things slip. I took weeks off, skipped whole weekends and just ran shorter distances. My running has almost been non existent in January which has lead to a total drop in my motivation. I have started a new half marathon training program on runkeeper and my plan is to get my monthly distances back up again.


I have been making too many excuses, my alarm has been going off but I am not always jumping out of bed like I used to. I am getting up on the weekends and spending too long talking myself out of running on the couch, or talking myself into only going 2 miles. Its all in my head and I need to lose the excuses. I skipped my run this morning because I woke up with a sore back. I already have my alarm set to go tomorrow instead.

This year I want to do better, I want to be the best version of me I can and achieve as much as I can with my running! I know I did well last year, but success is ongoing. The only real failure is giving up!

Christmas Challenge: Weigh In 12

We're entering the final stretch, only 2 more weigh ins until Christmas so its time to really make it count! I had my work Christmas part this week, and in addition I had a couple of unplanned events hit me this week and I was up half a pound. I also used up all of my new weeklies yesterday in my hungover state yesterday so I am starting out this week a little behind. I did manage to drag myself to the supermarket yesterday, in part to buy pizza, garlic bread and a donut to feed my hangover, but it means the kitchen is stocked. I wasn't quite with it enough to make soup for the week in work but I did manage a trip to Dunnes today without giving into my craving for a massive chicken fillet roll and have enough food to keep me going and on plan.

Galway Bay Half Marathon

My first half marathon has been and gone, and yes I say first because I know it won't be my last. Myself and my friends, Emma & Aily, headed down to Galway on Friday evening in the most torrential rain.We left Dublin at 4:30 and didn't make it down to Galway until after 8. We kept the mood high in the car and tried to chat about anything and everything other than the race (which is fairly easy when 3 friends get together for the first time in ages luckily).

10 Days to Galway Bay!

I actually cannot believe how fast the past few months have gone by and my first half marathon is almost upon me! I am feeling all sorts of things but mostly a hefty dose of nerves mixed with excitement. I feel prepared, my training has not been as rigorous as it could have been but I have done all I can. I've officially started my taper which means I only have a few shorter runs to go. I have been keeping up my gym routine twice a week but next week I am going to give it a miss. My runs have suffered a couple of times due to my aching muscles and I just don't want to take the risk. 

Mini Marathon 2014!

Yesterday was the big day, my 7th Mini Marathon! I got a pink number this year which put me in with the fast joggers and I was hoping that would mean I would get a good start. The weather looked perfect, it was overcast and dry and I was feeling good when I got up. I was awake far earlier than I needed to be and had a really relaxing morning chilling out and trying not to over think the run!

2 Week Countdown is On - Panic Stations

I am constantly surprised by how fast time is going by, and I was shocked to see a post on facebook today saying there was only 2 weeks left until the mini marathon....I was sure I had 3 weeks left. Despite the fact I only have 2 weeks to go I am feeling good. I have stuck to my training plan, and I have not missed a single training session (some have been rescheduled but none missed). This is the most consistently I have ever trained and no matter what time I get on the day I am proud of how far I have come.

April Roundup!

April came and went before I could even take notice! The older I get the faster the months go by and I am afraid if I blink it will be New Years! I suppose I should look on the positive side of things, I have completed another month of training and I am definitely getting fitter and stronger. There is no going back for me now!

Pay It Forward!

It can be so easy to focus on the negatives but life is so much better if you pick out those little things that make you smile and keep you going. Encouragement and motivation comes from all different places as do comments designed to bring you down. Ignore the naysayers - they want you to fail and pick out those little gems of motivation that get you through the tough times. I am really lucky that my family and friends are all incredibly positive but I hear awful stories from people on instagram, boards and facebook about people who just hear negativity all the time. If you have those people in your life BLOCK THEM OUT! Take your motivation from those who are in it with you! The internet is filled with advice, help and encouragement! 

Let's Go April

We are well into April now and things are going better and better for me! I have been putting a bit more focus back into my food while not slacking at all on the running. I have decided to up my daily propoints to 29 per day. I worked out the calories I was eating per day and for all the running I was doing they were very low, I was trying to compensate by eating my activity points but I would be eating things without tracking properly and not using them as wisely as possible. Also by upping my propoints I can fit a little more healthy fat and protein into my diet while keeping a decent amount of carbs to fuel my running. What I am trying to cut out again is the processed foods. I need to go back to tracking my weekends properly as I think this is where I really fall down.

Week 3 Training - Done!!

When I decided to start my early morning runs, I honestly never thought I'd be telling you over 3 weeks later I am still up every Tuesday and Thursday at 5:45am and I am loving it. The first 5 minutes out of bed is absolute killer but it is more than worth it!

Conquering My Fear!

I have been doing the Mini Marathon almost every year with my good friend Clare since 2005. We have only missed 2 years, one when I was out of the country and the other when it was only 2 weeks after my friend had her baby. We haven't always run it, but we do always complete the whole 10k! Its our tradition and its around that time that we'd have to sign up. Going back a couple of months I had big running plans for 2014 but then the Movember 10k happened. I had a panic attack at the 3km point and ever since then I have been terrified to go out running. I'm not even sure why it got to me so bad, I have had panic/anxiety attacks in the past but they have never got in the way of my day to day life. I have tried to put it to the back of my mind and forget about it, but in doing so I also pushed all thoughts of running away. A few friends of mine are signing up for the Great Ireland Run in April (which I did last year) and I was asked to sign up. Instead of going for it, or even explaining why I couldn't, I just ignored it and pushed it all to the back of my mind.

The past few weeks its been pushing back, and I think its the Mini Marathon that is pushing back! Even with that its taken me a few weeks to do something about it but I finally have. I signed up for a sub 60minute 10k training program with Run Keeper. Doing 10k in less than 60 minutes has been a goal of mine for years that I have never quite reached and I really want to hit this milestone. The program is 16 weeks long so it finishes a week or 2 after the mini marathon. I am ok with that as the crowds at the mini marathon do not make it ideal for getting a decent time. What I do want to get out of this is to get back into my running stride and completely get over my fear. Once I can do that I can think about actual achieving my goal.

Today was day one of the 16 weeks, and I decided I was going to try running before work on the weekdays. I know that when I get home in the evening I really like my time. I like to take time cooking something tasty and having a bit of chill out time to blog or read or watch TV. To throw a run into that mix leaves you with very little relaxation time. I mean its possible to do, but not ideal. Also if I woke up and decided not to go out, I still had the evening to redeem myself. So with that in mind I had an early night last night, left my jogging gear ready to go and set my alarm for 5:50am....and I actually got up!

It was cold and dark but out I went ready to get my 3.2k over with. It was a small start but I was glad of that. The 10k programs assume a certain level of fitness and there was a certain fear that I wasn't even going to be able for 3.2k. To my absolute relief I finished my 3.2k and while I didn't find it easy I have the confidence that I will be ok with Thursdays 4.8k! It is also amazing to get home from work knowing I can just relax and cook a delicious cottage pie for dinner. I feel productive and good and am almost looking forward to getting up early on Thursday and doing this again. I'm not putting any pressure on myself, just taking it one run at a time and see how things go until June! 

Missing In Action!

Things have been a bit hectic of late so my apologies for the lack of updates!! With the late evenings coming in and a lot going on everywhere else it is so difficult to find the motivation to get out training. I have realised something this month, I have never ever been active outdoors in winter. Sure when I have been able to afford it, I went to the gym in winter but I never kept the running up. And it is HARD! Its so much more difficult to get your muscles warmed so they hurt that much more the following day.

Holidays Over - The Next Challenge Begins

The beach - it is now a distant memory to me! I got back from my week in Portugal in the early hours of Wednesday morning. I completely over indulged and I am finding it difficult to find my way back on track. I feel like I need something to direct me on the straight and narrow.

A Lovely Day for a Walk!

Can you believe how glorious the weather is for the end of September! We have been spoiled rotten by this weather and I do not know how I am going to manage it once the winter really hits. I did not handle the brief few days of cold and rain well!

Back to the now, the wonderful Mary (my amazing ex - weight watcher leader) picked a perfect saturday to undertake the Bray to Greystones cliff walk. I grew up in Cabinteely and have never ever done this walk so I decided no matter what I was going to make this walk. I was also dog sitting for my parents dogs for the weekend so perfect opportunity to get them out for a walk!

Emsy getting a handle of the pooches!

Docklands 10k

The conditions last night were perfect for a 10k, but all day yesterday I was not in the mood for this run. I haven't been sleeping well this week and work has been really tough so all I wanted to do was go home to bed! In the end I was so happy that I went for it, not only because I felt great after (as you always do) but....I got a new personal best knocking a whole 4 minutes off my time from the Great Ireland Run.  My best time is now 61mins 16 seconds. I am so close to getting my time down to under an hour that I know I can do that this year.