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April 29, 2006
I got married
This morning at 10h30, I got married - the first ceremony of two that has to take place this year. I am now Mrs. Bassitt - and although it still feels a little unreal, I cannot possibly describe how happy I am right now. Pictures will be posted soon. :o)
Posted by karinm at 5:53 PM | Comments (4)
April 23, 2006
Running Backwards
Today I did the impossible. I ran backwards.
Before you think I've gone crazy - let me explain. I went out for my long run this afternoon (being inspired by so many runners at the London Marathon) to clear my head and relax a bit. I started out great... until after 400m my Garmin suddenly decided that it didn't have a signal anymore and started flashing the little dish at me. 200m later I stopped and stretched and when Garmin still didn't want to pick up a signal reset it, switched it off, switched it on and within seconds it had picked up a signal and I was on my way again.
Now I have a tendency to check the watch every time it goes off to let me know a km had passed. There's something about knowing how fast I did the last kilometer in that just makes me feel good. The first kilometer went by, then the second... I had settled into a lovely pace by now and the music on my iPod wasn't bad either. 700m later I looked at my watch and estimated where the third km beep would take place. As I approached the spot I looked down.... and nearly stopped dead in my tracks. My Garmin was now telling me that I had run 1.95km so far... a whole km got lost between the 2.7km mark and where I was at that moment.
A little upset with it all, and not trusting the mechanism of doom on my arm anymore, I decided that the one thing it couldn't lie about was the time I had been running (then again, it is evil, so it could) and with a decision to disregard the distance and go on the time from that moment on, I finished my run many kilometers later.
As I stopped, my legs turned to jelly. Stopping on a hill was probably not the best idea I've had in ages, but then again, it all makes for good training.
Now I'm sitting here with ice on my legs, hoping that this evening won't go so quickly that by the time I go to bed, it is too late for me to get a lot of sleep.
Posted by karinm at 7:37 PM | Comments (0)
April 19, 2006
Running in the rain
Tonight's run was a load of fun. I got home just after 6 and while the rain was pouring outside had a quick mug of hot chocolate before heading out of the door. Andy said that he felt good enough to come run with me and out the door we went. It was absolutely wonderful. The rain fell down and within minutes we were soaking wet, but still going strong. We ran onto the Cloud Trail and towards Breedon, which we were planning to run through, but in the end, we ran up the hill towards Breedon Church.
We had two choices - either up some stairs which is 200m long... or via the road which is 800m long. In the end we ran up the stairs and down via the road and we then made our way towards home. I was incredibly tired, but I really wanted to average 5:40 / km, so I tried to speed up towards the end of the evening.
Right now I'm sitting on the couch, listening to the rain, watching a bit of Will and Grace and waiting for supper to be served. Hopefully the rain will stop by tomorrow morning - Andy has to leave early for work and I don't fancy running in the rain by myself :)
Technorati Tags : running, rain
Posted by karinm at 7:25 PM | Comments (0)
April 18, 2006
I need a new Routine
Unless you test yourself, you stagnate. Unless you try to go way beyond what you've been able to do before, you won't develop and grow. When you go for it 100%, when you don't have the fear of "what if I fail," that's when you learn. That's when you're really living. - Mark Allen,world chamption triathlete.
Every morning at 6h00 I wake up, hit the snooze button 5 times and then sit up to have a cup of coffee and read my daily blogs and news. I get out of bed, get ready for work and just before 8h00, I am finally in my car and on my way to work. I then spend the day fantasizing about the afternoon's run and by the time I get home, I'm generally so tired that the run doesn't happen and I keep kicking myself about it for days afterwards.
That is my routine.
Which is why I am in desperate need of a new one. One that gets me up in the morning and out the door before I can think about it. One that doesn't have me sitting on the couch at 22h00, wondering and wishing that I had done some form of exercise.
So, thinking about that all day, I got out of the door tonight and dragged Andy along for the first 800m. Then his knees started feeling sore, so he stopped and turned around. By this stage I was getting into a nice rythm that I didn't particularly feel like stopping and after Andy had turned around, I found myself picking up the pace and enjoying my surroundings. I enjoyed the run, despite my legs acknowledging the fact that I had too little food and water today and that the 6 mugs of coffee didn't do me any good either.
As I got onto the last part of my run, with lovely trees on either side of the trail, I noticed some new buildings where there used to be a lot of trees. An ugly asphalt plant had sprung up on my route! It completely spoils the view and atmosphere, but with a lot of imagination, it disappeared and I managed to finish my run without feeling any form of tension.
Tomorrow I get to go run with the club :)
PS : I noticed my first sign of tan lines tonight! Summer is here!
Posted by karinm at 7:08 PM | Comments (2)
April 17, 2006
A Quick Run
While Jeff was busy with the Boston Marathon, I finally got out for that run that I so badly wanted to do. The hail stopped for a short while just after 19h50, which meant that I had very little time to get out before the sun was going to set. My Garmin was missing, but I managed to remember where I put it in time for myself and Andy to get onto the Cloud Trail.
Small drops of rain quickly made sure that I was wet - running down my face and into my long sleeve top with others falling onto my top and being absorbed very quickly. It was chilly outside and breathing was hard with the cold air that we inhaled.
But the run was fun. A whole lot of fun.
With only 3 weeks before the Shakespeare Half Marathon, I really need to get out and run a bit more than I have been doing for the past few weeks.
Technorati Tags : running
Posted by karinm at 7:32 PM | Comments (0)
The Hail has me Watching the Boston Marathon
This afternoon I was supposed to go for a run, but a few minutes ago (as I was getting ready to go out), it started hailing - the one thing I wouldn't run in because I have a fear of hard little pieces of ice hitting me. So instead I've switched on the television in time to watch the start of the women's race and I'm waiting in anticipation for the rest of the field to start. Who knows, I might be able to catch a glimpse of Jeff in the crowd :)
Posted by karinm at 4:11 PM
April 14, 2006
My lucky Clover
Posted by karinm at 2:38 PM | Comments (1)
April 9, 2006
A Sunset a Friend shared with me
Posted by karinm at 7:18 PM | Comments (0)
Rosliston Trail Run
It was a nice morning when I left home, but by the time we got to the Rosliston Forestry Centre it was getting a little cold. I entered, received race number 177 and stretched a little while waiting to see who else would come run from our club. Soon after we arrived another 8 or 10 people from our club arrived.
The start of the run was nice and easy... some gravel and a few patches of grass, but nothing seriously bothering. A km and a half into the race though, we turned a corner and I found myself ankle-deep in mud. The marshal pulled a face (trying not to laugh), asked if I was okay and I was on my way.
Now my shoes were heavily soaked with water and mud and to make things worse, it kept picking up stones, grass and more mud along the way. 3km into the race I was feeling ready to just stop and give up. Then I saw H from the club and thought to myself... when I was younger than 20, I ran all my cross country races barefoot. Why not today?
So I took off my heavy shoes, left them with H and ran along. Now as I passed people along the route, I heard the words "she doesn't have any shoes on" a fair few times. This was normally followed by "how can she run like that?" But my second loop of the two loop course went a whole lot faster than the one with shoes went and by the end I even had a little bit of energy left to make sure I finished in front of the woman that was chasing me the whole second loop
It was a good race, although it was closer to 6 miles than the 5 miles that the organisers advertised. It was a load of fun, took me ages to get the mud off me ... and my shoes are hung out to dry since I had to give them a good wash when I got home.
Posted by karinm at 1:54 PM | Comments (4)
League Running
This morning the first race of the Burton League takes place and our club will turn up in numbers because it is part of the league we take part in. Even I, with my limited amount of running in the past few weeks will be going to take part in the first event - which is a 5 mile race. The second event is a half marathon, but since I'm entered into a different half, I won't be there that time.
I was a little amused a few minutes ago though, when I looked for my club vest, that the number from the Friskney Half Marathon was still pinned onto it. Yes, it was washed after that race - which is why you can notice that the race number has been through some soap and water. I'm just amused that when it was washed, the number wasn't taken off - I expect Andy just grabbed a hand full of blue clothes and put it in the washer. :o)
Anyhows, I'll give a report later... maybe a picture or two. But now I have to run off!
Posted by karinm at 6:22 AM | Comments (0)
April 5, 2006
A club run
Tonight I went to the club to find out about the weekends Trail run and also to catch up with some of the friends I've made there. As we split into groups, our group was joined by a lady that is 6 months pregnant. She was a pretty fast runner prior to the pregnancy and haven't quite come to grip with not being able to run at the pace she's used to. As we ran, it soon became clear that someone would have to stay with her as she needed a fair few walking breaks and as the other two in our group is in training for London, I decided to be that person.
The run was enjoyable. She chatted away and I listened, occassionally throwing a "Hmmm" or "Ahhhh" into the conversation. The sky was absolutely beautiful as the sun set, making me feel like I was running in a fairy wonderland. I wasn't particularly fussed about the pace we were going at - I was just glad to be out there.
Afterwards as we stretched outside the leisure centre, I brought my leg down from one stretch and banged my shin on a pole. Not even the pain could spoil tonight. I'm in a very good mood.
PS. My boss gave me next week off - how great is that?
Posted by karinm at 7:23 PM | Comments (1)
A few pictures...
The first one is a sunrise as viewed from our front door...
The other 3 are pictures we took on a visit to Calke Abbey two weeks ago...
Posted by karinm at 2:32 PM | Comments (1)
House Buying
This morning Andy had to be at work quite early due to his being on call and someone having to change a tape drive in one of their servers. I thought for a second I was going to escape being woken up, but he had other ideas. He woke me up at 6:00 AM, made me coffee, and placed it next to the already set-up bike.
So, I got up, got dressed and while waiting for the coffee to cool down, did my little bit of cycling while he went to work. Eventually I had the coffee on the bike, which gave me that little bit of a boost that I needed to not get off and crawl back into bed.
The sun came up brightly again this morning - outside there's a golden glow over the fields. It is almost blinding trying to open our front door, as the glass panels play with the light and throw them at you at all angles. I can't wait till we have a solid door which doesn't do that.
Did I mention that myself and Andy have been looking at buying a house? Yes, indeed, we have. And about 3 weeks ago, we found one! Its a lovely 4 bedroom house in Swadlincote (with a lot of storage space). We're not sure when we're moving in though, as the current owners are trying to find out when they can move into their new house. They only found one they liked in the past week, so I guess another 7 - 8 weeks.
The house is located next to a huge piece of land that belongs to the National Forest - it basically means they'll never build anything next to us :)
Now to go seek that shower...
Posted by karinm at 5:56 AM | Comments (1)
April 4, 2006
Morning Running
This morning early Andy woke me up and reminded me that I needed to go for a run. It was still slightly dark outside, but you could see that the sun was attempting to rise over the hills in front of our house. I would've tried to crawl back under the duvet, but the lights were switched on and Andy threatened to rudely steal those preciously warm covers from me if I didn't come willingly.
5 minutes later I was outside, slowly jogging along, with Andy by my side. We chatted and looked at the fields and sheep which were covered in frost. Last night must've been quite cold, because the area was pretty white. The days are warmer now, and longer, but a lot of nights still get really cold and in the mornings you spend a fair few minutes warming your car up and getting rid of that nasty layer of ice that formed overnight.
We ran for 35 minutes before arriving back in our village and strolling home. At that stage the sun was casting a golden light across our house and lighting up everything. It was really beautiful and peaceful.
For the first time in a while, I have some energy this morning. I really feel good :)
Posted by karinm at 7:36 AM | Comments (1)
April 3, 2006
I'm back
After finding out that my migraines were caused by a combination of stressand the tablets prescribed to me by my doctor (ironically it was for the migraines), I was requested to take a few weeks and not do exercise or anything stress related. They basically wanted me to have as little to do during the day as possible. I took out a few weeks and slowly the headaches disappeared and the tablets were dissolved in water before being flushed down the drain.
Today is officially my first day that I can do anything again :) Which means that tonight I can go out for a run!
Posted by karinm at 3:07 PM | Comments (1)