7 miles is no small feat

If you couldn't guess by the imaginative title, we've hit the 7 mile mark! Yes, week 5 of the training programme and we’re halfway through a half marathon!

The run itself was nothing short of dramatic, we started slow, my legs felt stiff, Marie had a stitch and we had 4 miles of river to run before we could even contemplate turning back. So, we expected a slow and steady 7 miler and when we found ourselves in the middle of nowhere aka Gières, a suburb of Grenoble, with a unappealing view of a motorway we were overjoyed to turn around and run the 3 miles back home. Neither of us could really handle stopping, the pain and the loss of rhythm is all too much to bear these days, so we just kept running.

Incredibly, our pace increased from 11 minutes per mile to around 9 minutes a mile and as it turns out, it was our fastest run, completing 7 miles in 1 hour 9 minutes and 58 seconds!

But such grand achievements don’t come without sacrifice, I had to submerge myself in a cold bath afterwards which was truly truly horrible. In the words of Kate Bush « If I only could, be running up that hill, with no problems ».

Ellie x

Inspired by Ryan

Today is grim. There is what can only be described as a typhoon raging outside, and I would rather drink a mushroom, kale and courgette milkshake (vom) than go outside. But I didn't run on Friday or Monday as I was meant to due to the fact I had taken a mini holiday back to Manchester for the weekend, so Ellie is making me feel guilty and 'encouraging' me go. She sent me this to inspire me...

If anyone can inspire me to run in the rain it is definitely Ryan Gosling.

Week 1, run 2

Ellie and I today had a second attempt at starting our training. It went a lot better than attempt #1 and we managed to complete the whole run without any incident. We then treated ourselves to a disgusting amount of food to celebrate... I think we still have a way to go till we're running pros....

But as Cyndi Lauper said, girls just wanna have fun. And food is fun.

Marie x

Week 1, run 1

Last night I was so excited about this half-marathon that I wrote Ellie and I a training plan. The plan is for us to run three times a week, gradually increasing the distance till in the end we can run the whole distance without any real difficulty. Today was meant to be day one, but sadly my stomach decided to disagree with me and about a mile in we had to start walking due to a large possibility of me chundering if we didn't stop. Luckily yesterday we ran the same distance as we were meant to run today or I'd feel more pathetic about not managing to complete 'training' on the very first day! But a bad work out is better than no work out, and we must listen to our bodies or pay the price later. We have 90 days to go till the big day so I'm not letting this put me off.

Ellie and I in running mode pre-chunder-scare.

For now, I'm nursing my belly in bed, hoping that tomorrow I am fighting fit to put on my running shoes and start again.

Marie x

In the beginning...

Yesterday my sister from another mister (Ellie Pattinson) and I took the plunge and signed up to participate in a half marathon on the 27th of April in the lovely town of Nice. This blog has been created to motivate us to get off our lazy bums and run; to run like the wind towards success. Hopefully this will be the start of a new personal fitness craze (as I'm usually into weights and muscle building, not long distance running) which I can continue without having to pay extortionate gym fees when I leave GNob in May.

Let's see how this goes...

Watch this space.

The sassy running ladies

Marie x