General

I finshed my 10 km run in Graves Park today!!! I was really pleased with myself as I did the whole thing in just under 59 minutes, I didn't get any shin splints and I managed to raise £56.50 for the British Heart Foundation. It was certainly very tough and there were some big hills on the course. It was mostly on grass too which seemed to take more out of me as I was running it.

I was aiming to do it in under an hour though and I did that. I don't think I am super fit yet, and I haven't lost as much weight as I would like but it certainly made me feel good that I could make it round the course and come out with quite a good time. There were a few there that did it in 35-40 minutes I believe - I might get there one day! I would quite like to find a half marathon to run somewhere next!

I am going to relax for the rest of the day working in front of my computer...

Well I signed up for the 10 km race in Graves Park, Sheffield this Sunday. I nearly wimped out and took the 5 km option as I know I can run that but I thought I should try to push myself. Louise did really well in her 5 km run she did the other week and that inspired me to push myself. So I signed up and paid my entry fee.

On Saturday we went to Rother Valley and ran around both lakes - that is about half the distance at ~5 km. Then on Sunday I ran 6 km on the treadmill at the gym, and yesterday I managed to run 7.5 km on the treadmill. I kept it on a 1% gradient the whole time to put some gradient on it. I am planning on running 9 or 10 km at the gym tomorrow, and then running about 10 km at Rother Valley on Friday. If I make it I may actually have a chance.

I am fitter now than I have been in years and I hope I manage to make it round, it would be great if I can do it in under one hour. I have raised £40 for the British Heart Foundation already, and hope to raise a little more before the race. If you fancy giving a little money to a good cause, and sponsoring a fellow Linux geek in his bid to get fit they have an online sponsorship page for me here.

Running has been a great way to keep the weight coming off, even when I am not as disciplined as I should be Wish me luck on my first ever long distance run (used to run 400 m at school) and my first race since I was at school! Hopefully all will go well on the day.