NEITHER RAIN NOR SNOW NOR GLOM OF NIT

I’m in the final month of training for the Bath Half and I’m laid up with another chest infection. Brilliant. Illness has been my major setback in my training – but despite ‘flu over the Christmas holidays and having a cough since October (yay) I’ve clocked up an impressive* 119 miles in 22.54 hours across 30 workouts. All this sickness does mean my hopes of running the entire 13.1 miles of the half-marathon course are pretty much scuppered, but hey, I’m not letting that defeat me. Even if I have to walk intervals of the Bath Half I am still going to get out there and give it my all, and it’s for a great cause too! You can learn more about Mind and sponsor me here.

Style by West Country Weather...

I haven’t been letting the weather stop me, either. I’ve been out in frost and freezing temperatures; braved gale force winds; and ran through torrential rain. Even when I was training for the Manchester 10k a few years back, I stayed in the dry of the gym rather than run in inclement weather, so I am very proud of myself for sticking to my training plan regardless of how bad it is outside. My training partner, Ripley, has also been keeping me motivated, although the frequent pouring rain has been a drag for both of us.

Yay wet weather runs 0_o

Bristol has also psychologically broken me and I now actually like running hills – the painful inclines are definitely worth it for the recovery of downhill! I have explored huge areas of the city, too, and found new routes and roads and gorgeous views. I am also up to running a continuous 6.5 miles, which is the longest I have ever run non-stop, and I managed to get my average mile pace down to 10.04 minutes across that distance. I even went to the gym on a Saturday and have my long runs on a Sunday and if that’s not dedication, I don’t know what is.

The Rock has *nothing* on me

Hopefully I’ll be back pounding pavement later this week and I will be giving it my all at the Bath Half! You can show your support by donating to me and Mind: text KWIN90 £3 to 70070 to sponsor by text message, or go to http://www.justgiving.com/WinskillRuns to donate online. My employers are also match-funding up to £500 so please give as generously as you can!

*Impressive for me. I’m so painfully British I feel the need to play this down and try to diminish my own accomplishments, but I have worked hard for this and I’m proud of myself, dammit. So there.