Angel at Sunset

I had the opportunity to check out the Angel of the North at sunset recently and as you can imagine it was extremly picturesque!

 It is an impressive view from afar and can be seen from the highway as you drive past but it is even more impressive up close and personal.

Staring up at the wings from the base of the Angel’s feet gave me a feeling of just how impressive this giant rust colored sculpture is and the fact that it’s right on our doorstep is even better.

If you aren’t convinced by the sculpture itself, then the fantastic views across the Gateshead countryside make it totally worth the ride to see it!

Parkrun paragraph: This week was Save the Children’s Born to Run a parkrun event as well as a Lucozade promotion event with free orange flavoured drinks being given out (hence the orange items of clothing being worn by the runners). The cows on the Newcastle town moor were particularly curious about the wave of orange-clad runners zooming past them this morning. One little moo-cow even tried to join us and jogged alongside the path for a little bit. There was even a small group of cows that were attempting to cross the finish line and had to be shooed politely away from the area for fear they'd block the path. All in all, it was a lovely morning for a parkrun!

Who is Born to Run a parkrun?

I am definitely born to run! And maybe you are too?

I know my American family & friends won't be able to participate in a parkrun this Saturday, but they may perhaps choose to go for a run in the spirit of it. It's all about getting people active & healthy and helping a great charity in the process.  Those of you in the UK might decide to have a go at trying out a parkrun especially since it's a great atmosphere full of like-minded individuals and it's free!

I've poached the below straight from the parkrun newsletter(why change what works?) which can be found here in its original context http://www.parkrun.com/about/news:

It's Save the Children Week and the charity is encouraging its supporters to run their local parkrun this Saturday as part of its "Born to Run" campaign.

Why? In the world's poorest countries, millions of children are dying. Illnesses such as diarrhoea and pneumonia - dealt with easily in the UK - are allowed to claim 8 million lives every year. But we can all help bring an end to this dreadful tragedy, and a small donation goes a long way - as little as £3 can treat 8 children with life-threatening diarrhoea, £10 can buy a week's worth of malaria treatment for four children.

Save the Children is asking the UK public: what were YOU born to do? As a parkrunner, there are several ways you can get involved:

•Support Save the Children through your parkrun this Saturday - make a donation: https://www.savethechildren.org.uk/secure/51_15286.htm

•Set up a midweek running class - help your fellow parkrunners get in top shape for a Saturday morning PB, or prepare new runners for their first parkrun, whilst raising valuable funds. Save the Children will subsidise a Leadership in Running Fitness course for parkrunners - learn more and order a free Leader's Guide:

http://www.savethechildren.org.uk/en/48_runs.htm

•Show your support for Born to Run on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/savethechildrenborntorun 

So hopefully there will be lots of new parkrunners this Saturday making the most of the long Bank Holiday weekend with a lovely run in their local park. Enjoy!!

Tenth 5k Complete in my Ten-Week Challenge

Me wearing my cute '10' pin from my friends and holding my Pet Lamb Patisserie treats

Breakfast: 2 oatcakes

Temp: 54 F / 12 C

Weather: rainy on and off with some gusts of wind(fun combo!)

Time: 27:43

Number of times played Bloc Party's "Flux": twice

(probably could have a whole playlist of just this song?!)

Today marks my tenth 5k in ten weeks in order to raise money for Save the Children's Born to Run Campaign. I have now successfully completed my Ten Week Challenge and have raised over £386 in the process! I even had a little cheering section at the finish line today in the rain which was such a sweet surprise (in more ways than one since Emma had brought me a delicious cupcake, yum! Thanks!!).

The weather was not exactly cooperating with the runners but we can't have perfect weather all the time, now can we? Overall it wasn't too bad, but there was one particular part of the course when the wind picked up blowing the rain straight into our faces. For some runners this provided a little extra challenge to push through with a determination to keep pace and for others it kicked our butts a bit more than the usual(me!).

The big talk of the morning and on the parkrun Facebook page was the fact that the cows are back on the moor for the summer. Not to mention the actual 'evidence' that the cows are back on the moor, since it was a bit of a dodge 'em game on the path trying to avoid stepping in the pats. We had a rather surreal start to the run with two big ol' cows happily munching on the grass at the side of the path as we all swooshed past. It makes me wonder if all parkruns have their own unique set of residents that come with their course?

Even though my Ten Week Challenge is over I have well & truly caught the running bug and will endeavor to continue for as long as I am able to run. I have really enjoyed the past ten weeks of parkruns for my challenge. The whole parkrunning experience is something I will definitely include as part of my regular routine.

I have signed up to volunteer for next week's parkrun since there is always a need for volunteers to help the runs go smoothly each week for the runners. It's like a well oiled machine. I've truly appreciated how great an experience the parkrun is in these past ten weeks, and I'd like to say a big thank you to the parkrun team!

Also, a big thank you to everyone who has donated to my fundraising efforts for Save the Children and to everyone who has provided words of encouragement along the way!

Now I'm going to go eat my sweet rewards courtesy of Pet Lamb Patisserie's Make and Mend Market stall.....mmmm!

Only One More to Go!!

Breakfast: 1 oatcake(cracker)
Temp: 43 F/ 6 C
Weather: cloudy

Time: 27:06
Number of times played Bloc Party's "Flux": just once

Today marks number nine of my 10-Week Challenge for Save the Children's Born to Run campaign.

The cute beagle and its owner were back today. That little dog just makes me smile with its fast paced stumpy-leg trot, but gee whiz they are fast (or at least they beat me, ha!).

This week I really focussed on my posture again, and trying hard to keep the correct form to avoid injuries, and that usual post-run "ouch". I always pay a bit of attention to my form, but seem to get certain aches happening each week regardless.

I was given some advice (hold in my tummy/core area and try to keep my hips in line in the right place to avoid horrible posture) with the hopes of trying to avoid the reoccuring back ache that creeps up on my body after I've run. I also decided to try using smaller foot steps rather than long strides after reading in Runners World that it can help reduce strain on the hips and other joints.

I am sure I looked a bit goofy in doing so, especially since I was taking 3-4 steps for the 1 long stride of the fellas around me but if there is a chance that it helps reduce aches & pains then I am more than happy to look like a weirdo! I won't really know if it helped until later today/tomorrow, but I'm hoping something had a positive effect, and I will try it again next week and during any practice runs in the week.

So, now I have only one more 5K to go in my 10-Week Challenge! Yay!

If you're feeling generous and wish to donate some of your hard earned cash to a good cause, or if you've been waiting until the end of my challenge to donate (ahem, certain colleague who shall remain nameless but wanted to make sure I did the full 10 before donating!!) well then ...now is just about time and you can donate on my Ten Week Challenge Just Giving page here.

And if you have been on the fence about whether to try out a parkrun, then why not join people across the UK in trying it out as part of Save the Children's'Born to Run a parkrun' event on Saturday, 30th April? I can gaurantee it will be a great atmosphere! You can check out details by clicking here.

Happy running everyone!

Week Eight, Done & Dusted!

Breakfast: brown toast w/ peanut butter & honey

Temp: 46 F / 8 C

Weather: sunny(what is that again??) & clear

Time: 27:02

Number of times repeated 'Flux': only 2

So that's week eight of my Born to Run 10-week Challenge for Save the Children done & dusted! What an amazing morning too, where did this sun come from? I can hardly remember when it was this nice out... dry, crisply cold, clear & bright - ideal conditions for a run, I think you'll agree. Today would have been fantastic first run conditions for someone trying the parkrun for the very first time, and I hope it actually was for someone, somewhere!

Seems silly to discuss food intake, but it is what fuels our exercise so ... I was slightly worried about my change in breakfast foods (I was out of my usual oatcakes - which is just a type of healthy oat cracker for those of you not familiar with them....ahem, mom). I can happily say that I did not get a stitch today, but I was aware of the fact that I either peaked too soon, or perhaps just flat out ran out of energy, not sure how one knows the difference between the two really. Either way, I felt pretty drained during the last kilometer and a half compared to the rest of the run, but I was determined to keep my little footsies going and managed to do so thanks to good ol' Flux (gosh i'm obsessed!) and the other songs on my playlist doing their bit too. Maybe the above is actually a sign of breakfast failure, hmmm....

Speaking of being obsessed with certain music, I thought I'd include the list of songs from my '5K Vroom' playlist since they have helped me get my cupcake-loving self across the finish line each week for the past eight weeks. These songs are the priviledged few that made thefinal cut from all the ear candy in my itunes, so these ditties deserve a big pat on the back for their super-duper inspirational qualities......or they at least deserve a lil' mention on my blog, so i'm giving kudos where deserved.

So, in the order of play....here they are:

1. Only Girl In the World - Rihanna

2. Boom Boom Boom - The Outhere Brothers

3. Bonkers - Dizzee Rascal

4. Born Free - M.I.A.

5. Flux - Bloc Party

6. Like a G6 - Far East Movement

7. Superstylin' - Groove Armada

The above is roughly 28 minutes of tunage, and depending on when I've pressed play at the start the overall goal is to finish before the rather dragged out ending on Superstylin' actually ends(assuming I haven't pressed repeat on Flux, which throws off this timing). It's been pretty close a couple of times but luckily the ending just drags on and on and on.....

Week Number Seven in the parkrun House...(ya gotta say it in a Geordie voice)

Breakfast: 2 oatcakes (yum!)

Temp: 39 F (4 C)

Weather: White Cloud

Time: 27:10

Number of times I hit repeat for the song 'Flux': 2

Today's run went well and appeared to be a very popular week for the parkrun. I'm very curious to see just how many runners were recorded this week since it did feel rather full at the starting line. There was lots of water, mud & mush along the route but the sky held back the rain and it was a pleasantly overcast morning, perfect for a run.

This week I've managed to go for two short runs and a yoga class during the week and i'm never quite sure whether I've done 'enough.' I suppose since i'm currently injury free and have been able to successfully run the 5k each week then whatever i'm doing has been 'enough' so far, but I will need to take it up a notch with a proper plan if I want to seriously try to knock some time off my PB in future. For now i'm very happy to be well on my way to achieving goal number 1... to complete my 10 week challenge. It's going alright so far with 35 kilometers down, and only 15 kilometers more to reach my 50k goal! Woohoo!

Today I've officially tried my first post-run recovery drink. It was a very tasty banana flavored one that came free with my Runner's World magazine. I'll have to comment later on the effectiveness and/or after effects, but so far so good! I think the first test was definitely the flavor, and it passed that one with flying colors (phew!).

A good chunk of my weekend will now be spent baking treats for our big Comic Relief(aka: Red Nose Day) Bake Sale at work next Wednesday. The plan is to bake good ol' American-style corn muffins and Be-ro Coffee Kisses which can only attempt to live up to my colleague Emma's Coffee Kisses! I find baking to be very therapeutic & enjoyable, but only when the outcome is successfully tasty of course. My department is quite well known for our very charitable bake sales and it probably helps that our office as a whole has a wicked sweet tooth and absolutely loves snacking! We all muck in and bake or buy enough treats to feed a small village which we then provide as snackage throughout the day to our colleagues for a small monetary donation, all in the name of a great cause. The best way to sum it up is: Yum!

Speaking of charitable donations, THANK YOU VERY MUCH to everyone who has already donated to my Ten Week Challenge in aid of Save the Children!! With your help I have raised over £330 so far which is awesome!

And just in case you want to see the proof, here it is: www.justgiving.com/melissastenweekchallenge

Sixth 5k down, only four more to go!

Temp: 41 F or 5 C

Today's Weather: white cloud (according to BBC weather)

Today's Time: 27:47

This week marks the sixth 5k in my 10-Week Challenge and today's run was a mini challenge in itself.

I've had a bit of a cold that has left me feeling rather 'blah' overall this week and therefore not up to much exercising (I know, i'm a bit of a wuss!). Unfortunately this has meant that through the week when I would normally have done my training (yoga, spinning and at least one other run) I've decided to take it a bit easy in the hopes that the cold would just go away. I know some folks say that exercise helps you to get better. I applaud them for being able to power through their colds but I am a firm believer in the power of resting(long live the nap!).

My goal for today's run was simply to complete it without stopping and I've achieved that goal so I'm quite content. Phew. Is it time for a nap now?

On a running related note, a colleague of mine who has not run since school has mentioned that she has decided to run one of the 5K 'Race for Life' events happening this summer here in Newcastle. What a great way to raise money for Cancer Research UK and get herself moving at the same time. I'm very excited for her and who knows, she may even decide to join the growing group of her colleagues at the Park Run 5k one Saturday morning! *wink, wink*

This week I've finally received my first Runner's World Magazine, woo! It is definitely a good read and very inspiring. Although i'm not sure I will ever be a die-hard runner who travels the world marathon'ing, I think I will definitely be able to learn some techniques and tips to better my run. Plus it came with a sample of some sort of banana protein recovery shake which I have yet to try, but having this sachet of shake-to-be in the house makes me feel like a 'proper runner' for some reason. I haven't subscribed to the idea of needing fancy recovery drinks and refueling snacks yet, but I may be persuaded if it does the trick(and if it tastes yummy, ha!).

Today's

A Dog's Pace

Today's 5k officially marks the halfway point in my Born to Run 10-week Challenge for Save the Children, woohoo!

This morning the weather was cooperating with no rain and it was a nice pleasant running temp of 45 F(7 C). Many of the runners were even dressed in only their tiny shorts and t-shirts! The Moor was a bit muddy in places (that seems to be a permanent feature though) but overall it was definitely a good morning for a run.

Midway through the first k a cute little dachshund/beagle dog(short legged, low tummy, cute face) running with what I can assume was its owner, inched past me and I decided I wasn't going to lose track of this pair. Their pace would be my pace. If it was a greyhound then it would have been a different story, but in my mind I was thinking a cute but stumpy little dog is not going to beat me! This theory worked fine for a bit and I even passed them up very, very briefly, but they soon passed me right back and in the end, they beat me to the finish line. I can't complain about that fact since they helped me to keep my feet moving with a smile along the way(it was a super cute dog with such a sweet face!).

For my soundtrack this week, I went a bit overboard with Flux(what IS it about this song?!). I've had a bit of a computer meltdown at home so I had been without a computer or itunes for a couple of weeks(argh!). I have therefore been stuck with the same playlist, my '5k Vroom' playlist. This isn't too bad though since I think it works well for me and keeps me going at a decent pace overall but today for some reason I felt the need to play Flux three times in a row during the third & fourth K when I started to lose my 'oomph'. Luckily, for whatever reason, that song somehow magically brings my running mojo back from the deep dark depths of fatigue.Unfortunately it also confirms that I have yet to manage the art of actively reserving a bit of energy for the finish line push. Is there an art to this?

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the song in question (Mom, i'm talking to you!), go ahead and have a lil' listen to this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttcboE1GrNg

Perhaps when I start reading Runners World I'll learn some methods of planning better for runs and pacing, etc... I'm still eagerly awaiting the arrival of my first Runners World magazine(thanks for the subscription Mom & Dad!), and I'm really excited to read them so the postman better hurry up with it!

And the results are in for today's run with a time of : 26.53 a new Personal Best(yay!).

Chunky Rain & a Stitchette

Fourth week down and only 6 more to go, woo!

Woke up this morning at 7.15am, ate my oatcake, and heard the drizzle on the window. I was crossing my fingers that the rain would stop but also secretly hoping the heavens would open just to find out first hand if the super muddy downpour run is as satisfying as i imagine it would be. Fortunately, or unfortunately, I did not get my wish and this morning's run ended up being a combination of the following: rather chunky drizzle, semi-sleet, & not-quite-rain. The temperature was only 2 C (36 F) which is definitely a glove-wearing day but by the end of the run the gloves were off and the red face had arrived.

I did get what I am calling a mini-stitchette in my side roughly at the end of the 3rd k, but I breathed my way through it and luckily it didn't grow into a full blown stitch. I suspect this was due to the fact that I decided to latch on to the guy directly in front of me as my pacer (thank you whoever you are Mr '9th of Joon' t-shirt!) and even though I didn't finish directly behind him, he definitely helped me to keep a decent pace. All in all it was a cold but OK run this morning and i knocked 3 seconds off my personal best for a new PB of 27:33.

Someone asked me if I was a total beginner or not, and I thought i might clarify that fact in case anyone else was even slightly curious(or just to have something to write for today). I've been jogging on and off since high school but never as a regular routine. Also, I seemed to find myself injured often. I attempted to run the Great North Run half marathon a few years ago and ended up with an injury during my training which meant I walked the majority of the GNR. I always hoped that I would get back into running if I could do it without pain. So, I ended up joining a gym and for the last year have focussed on taking two spinning classes a week and slowly introduced running back into my activities and voila....it worked! So far, so good in the area of staying pain-free(crossing my fingers it stays that way!).

Lucy, one of the Community Events Fundraisers at Save the Children has been in touch with me and has been super supportive and also has given me all sorts of further ideas for fundraising. In case anyone wants to know more about Save the Children's Born to Run campaign (what this whole challenge is in aid of), or is keen to get running themselves you can check out the Born to Run Facebook Page which is a great place to get info and network with fellow runners, both beginners and non-beginners: http://www.facebook.com/savethechildrenborntorun

This week there will be an extra push to raise a few pounds for my challenge through encouraging my colleagues to eat silly amounts of extra calories in the form of home made goodies....muffins, muffins and more muffins (and perhaps some other goodies too!) will be on offer in my workplace to accompany the Monday morning cup o' coffee. Big' thank you's' to both Sylvia & Rebecca for offering to bake some tasty items with me!

And thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who has been so very supportive of my efforts, both with words of encouragement and through donations! It's very much appreciated!

A big thank you as well goes to Jon who has kindly let me take over his computer to write this :)

Stitchless worm avoidance

• Having trouble with PC this week, bear with me
• Soggy ground with puddles but no drizzle
• An oatcake (cracker) for breakfast
• Wore gloves this week, good thinking
• Avoiding the worms on path throughout the run
• New playlist was my savior - flux kicked in just when I needed it
• No stitch!!! (thanks to Dad and Jon for advice... breathing technique and greens)
• New PB of 27:36 woohoo!
• Post run re-fuel of sliced apple smothered with peanut butter (speaking of peanut butter... had delicious peanut butter ice cream at Marble Slab this week YUM YUM!)
• Will hopefully have PC sorted soon, argh!

Windy 5K with a cupcake mantra....

This morning's Park Run was a dry yet windy run. The crazy gale force winds from the previous night may have gone but the remaining gusts were just enough to make it a tough run on the flat course around the town moor. Luckily it was milder in temperature(45F/7C) compared to last weeks freezing temps, or so it seemed until your fingers decided not to move as rebellion against the "mild" temperature. Needless to say, it was a bad idea NOT to wear my gloves this week, but at least the rain held off!

My "keep going, don't stop now" tunage this week was brought to me by Linkin Park. There's nothing like a bit of rock(or is it heavy metal, or pop i never know?!) to keep ya going. Although I am now tempted to make myself a playlist with specific tunes at the more difficult parts of my run....i'm definitely finding there are certain stretches that are routinely tougher for me then the rest. Perhaps a bit of "oomph" from a particular tune at just the right moment will give me the push i need to keep it up nice and steady through out the whole run.

I find that the first and the third kilometer are the hardest for me. The first K is when i'm finding my stride, catching my breath, and coughing a bunch to loosen up the darn phlegm stuck in my throat (lovely!). After this stage I can settle into a nice pace and focus on my form (no fwacking allowed!) and weave politely around people to pass them.

I seem to then sail along at a nice pace only to get a stitch in my side midway through the third K which slows me down a bit as I breathe it out. I refuse to stop though, and during this I am also trying to muster up all my energy to keep my feet moving to my little pacing mantra of 1,2,3,4 .....(or this week's version: "Tas-ty, Cup-cake" to the same rhythm).

Then when the stitch finally passes(grrr!), which is usually midway through the fourth K, it's just a case of focussing on the finish line, wiping the snot from my drippy nose, and hoping that not too many people pass me in their own last minute push to the finish line. But good on 'em for keeping their pace and reserving a last bit of energy for the final push!

This has been the pattern for me twice now, so I think that I may need a proper little 5K plan.

Ok, just received my official time for this weeks Park Run which is: 28:23

This is not a personal best, but not everyone can have one every week. And I am very pleased with my time nonetheless especially since it was a darn difficult run for me this week(excuses, excuses).

What a great combo - cupcakes & running!

Oh, and did i mention that we headed straight over to town after the run this morning where our favorite little bakery gals had cupcakes available perfect for post-run refuelling? Yes, the Pet Lamb Patisserie ladies were at the 'Make & Mend Market' in Grainger market this morning and I sure bought my fill. Mmmmm....... hence the revised Tas-ty, Cup-cake mantra during my run today!

And last but not least, a great big thank you to everyone who has been so generous in donating to my challenge so far, it warms the cockles of my heart (whatever that means) that people are so giving, and I thank you!!

And special thanks to Mike Summers at Save the Children who donated to my challenge personally since apparently I'm the first person to officially take up their "Born to Run" Campaign with Park Run, how very exciting!

My Ten Week Challenge is a go, go, go!

The frost was still on the ground at 9am and the temperature hovered around zero degrees Celsius(32 F), but more than 200 runners turned up to give it their freezing cold best! Brrr!

Today marked the first of my ten weekly Saturday 5k Park Runs and boy oh boy was it a chilly start to the challenge.

I've decided to take on the challenge of running the free Saturday morning 5k Park Run for 10 weeks in a row rain or shine starting today in order to raise money for Save the Children. It's a very worthy cause and also gives me a clear goal to focus on, win-win.

I was fuelled along with tunes by Bloc Party on the ol' ipod this week (something about the song Flux just makes my feet keep goin') and I was determined not to slap my feet on the ground as I ran. I've only paid a little attention to my form previously, but lately I have been reminded, and now am very conscious of the fact, that good form whilst running is the ideal way not to get injured (along with a few key other elements like stretching properly and not overdoing it, of course).

So I was concentrating on keeping my feet in line and rolling along smoothly, rather than slapping down (you know that rhythmic *fwack, fwack* you hear occasionally when a runner passes by that makes you want to cringe with the discomfort you imagine they'll be feeling).

It was nice to have a clear focus during the run other than just focussing on finishing the full course which has been the main thought in my mind on previous runs.

I've just received confirmation of my official time which was: 27:44 and marks a new personal best, yippee!

So all in all, a good first 5k to begin this challenge of doing 10 in a row......roll on next Saturday!

My Just Giving page can be found here: http://www.justgiving.com/Melissastenweekchallenge