Social Run Group by Up & Running Basingstoke
Posted on October 2, 2017 Leave a Comment
A few weeks ago I’ve seen a post on facebook that the local sport shop – Up & Running Basingstoke – starting a ” Social Run Group”. They plan to run the sessions on Wednesdays and the distance is an easy 5km. According to their leaflet ” all abilities ” are welcome and no one will be left behind.
When I seen it I was really sceptical ,because I’ve attended 2 training session with other companies earlier this year and I was left totally behind. Even when their advertisement said everybody was welcome to attend.
When I turned up on the 13th of September I was totally nervous. Most days I run alone, or with my sister, but never with others. I’m always scared that I’m too slow and just holding people back.
The meeting point was in the shop, which is about 5 mins walk from my house, so I can’t really have an excuse about not turning up.
When I got there a few runners were already in the shop and also the shop assistants. Everybody seemed nice, talkative and friendly. I have to say I’m awful with names so I still don’t remember anyone’s name :/ But I spoke with a few lady runners and turned out 2 of them only just started running and never run in a group before.
Shortly after 5.30pm we left the store and walked towards to our starting point, which was just opposite Domino’s pizza.
The run went really well, it was not my fastest but I totally enjoyed it. Have to say that the organisers kept their promise and they waited for everybody ! I was in the middle of the pack, and when the fast runners got far ahead they done a loop and went to the back of the pack. So no one was left behind. I felt really good about it, because I was totally worried that I gonna end up being last and lost.
Here’s an after photo :
Sine this I’ve done 2 more session, and all others were the same. Not once people were left behind. On our 3rd week we went on a different route, which ended up a bit shorter than 5k, well according to my TomTom watch. But I didn’t really mind because I just want to enjoy these runs and get to know more and more people.
It’s really good to see new people turning up to these runs, and I love seeing all abilities. I know well I never going to be the fastest and the person who finishing first, but I do like attending these.
Also on the positive note, when a runner attends 5 runs he/she will get a lovely bright yellow ( high vis type ) running club t-shirt 🙂 2 more runs to go for me 🙂
They also told us that will have different kind of competitions, like running without a watch/phone and will need to guess our finish time etc.
I’m really looking forward to next run, which will be in 2 days time 🙂
If anybody wants to sign up for the runs, you can do it on this website and it’s totally free.
Love,
Be Iron Fit by Don & Melanie Fink
Posted on September 16, 2017 1 Comment
I was planning to buy this book ( click here for Amazon ) for a few weeks now, but had to wait till payday to get it. Ordered it on last week Saturday and to my surprise Amazon offered a Sunday delivery to a near by Amazon locker.
When I got the text message from Amazon on Sunday morning that my book is ready for collection, I felt like sprinting to the shopping centre just to get my book.
I’m already half way through reading it and making notes and can’t wait start my ” just finish ” plan in mid December and be ready for Ironman Bolton UK in July 2018 🏊🏼♀️🚴🏼♀️🏃🏽♀️
Love,
Swimming here I come
Posted on September 16, 2017 Leave a Comment
A week ago Friday I finally managed to sign up to do swimming in my local swimming pool. The gym offers loads of different gym packages, including ” just swim ” for £26/ month. I don’t think that’s a bad price at all. Before i signed up I have checked their timetable and it suits my working hours perfectly.
Will plan to go down and do an hour swimming at least 3 times a week. My Ironman plan doesn’t start till the 18th of December so till then I just need to learn swim properly so I’ll be ready for the proper training plan.
Swim session nr1.
Decided to have my first swim on a Sunday morning at 8am. I really thought it will be empty because its Sunday, but to my surprise it was totally packed. My pool offers 3 different speed lane ( slow, medium, fast). Because I just starting out I decided to swim in the “slow” lane.
On my first session I was just concentrating to be able to be in the water for a whole hour, distance wasn’t really important. I’m absolutely awful with front crawl, so I just swam in breaststroke. First I didn’t feel too great about it, but when I got home and done a bit of googling it turns out its totally acceptable to swim in breaststroke on an Ironman.
Swim session nr2.
Did you know 64x 25m is exactly 1 mile?
Second time back at the pool. This time I went there at 5.30pm and surprisingly it was not busy at all. Started my swimming on the “slow” lane. I swam 30 lengths in the slow lane, but it started to get really crowded with all casual swimmers. So I decided its better if I go over to the “medium” speed lane and continue my session there. Because it wasn’t busy at all I didn’t feel bad about swimming in the “medium” lane. Still was only swimming in breaststroke. Have tried a few metres in front crawl, but my breathing is horrendous. Water was going in and out of my nose and mouth. Felt like I was drowning, so i went back to do breaststroke.
By the time I finished my 64 lengths it was only 57mins into my swimming, so compared to my 1st session I was already faster, slowly but surely I’ll get there.
As soon as I feel more comfortable and can see that my swimming is improving I’ll definitely will get a few 1-2-1 sessions with a coach to improve my swimming even better. Also when the weather will be better I’ll go out for a few open water swim session.
Love,
Ironman Bolton , UK 2018
Posted on September 7, 2017 Leave a Comment
Ironman , Bolton , UK. 15. July 2018
Swim 2.4 miles. Bike 112 miles. Run 26.2 miles. All. In. One. Race.
I’m 28 and a chubby female. I run the London marathon this year and straight after I decided that I’ll do all the Marathon Majors by 2019.
A week ago I was wondering what else could I do , what should be my next challenge side by side with my 5 other marathons.. That’s when I came across triathlons, further searching i’ve found Ironman.
Never done a triathlon before, last time I swam was about 15 years ago back in primary school, I do casually cycling but not further than 15-20 kms. So this will be probably the biggest challenge in my life.
I know I don’t fit the mold of the “normal” triathlete by any means. When most people think about an Ironman athlete , they think of a 30 or 40 year-old man who is absolutely ripped and muscly. His body fat is 9%, he rides a bike like he was born doing it, and he can run a marathon in 2hours.
And then there’s me. I am 28, female, and while I’m somewhat athletic, can run/walk a marathon , I’ve never been described as “ripped” in my life, more like someone who’s chubby, and who like cakes and pasta
But as the motto of Ironman is ” Anything is Possible ” I want to show it to everybody that I’m capable to do it.
320 days till race day. Till then I’ll swim + bike + run and then repeat all day and night ✌🏼🙌🏻
Love,
Vlog of the 2017 London Marathon
Posted on September 7, 2017 1 Comment
I will forever remember this day, what a day ?!
This was my first marathon so I really wanted to take loads of videos and photos for the future.
Everything was going really well till half way point, and after that everything went downhill. We were on target for 6 hours finish but at the end I managed to finish in 6h 57mins 31sec.
This wasn’t what I planned for but due to my dodgy ankle I was happy just to complete it.
Love,
Welcome on my site :)
Posted on September 7, 2017 Leave a Comment
Hi all 🙂
My name is Gabi or can call me Gabriella, I don’t really have a preference.
I’ve started running in November 2015 when I signed up for my first ever Half marathon . I never run that distance before, but I knew that hard work and dedication I can definetly run that distance.
From November 2015 till April 2016 I was training really hard for the race which was in Reading, Berkshire, UK.
The half marathon was really hard, not physically it was more hard mentally. When I crossed the line at 2h 47mins I cried in happiness. I hoped that I am capable to running and when I did it I was relived.
Since than I run many more half marathons and countless 5-10ks.
Running a marathon has been bucket list material for me and something I have always wanted to do. I managed to secure a charity place for the 2017 London Marathon and I fundraised over £1350 for MACS.
The race was incredibly hard, unfortunately I injured my ankle ligament in February so I hardly done any training for the marathon.
But as soon as I crossed the finish line I felt awesome, i felt I could do anything I wanted, nothing could of stopped me.
A week later the marathon when I recovered from the soreness I was thinking about my next challenge. That’s when I came across something called ” World Marathon Majors”.
This consist of 6 marathons across the globe:
- Tokyo
- Boston
- London ✓
- Berlin
- Chicago
- New York ✓
So me being enthusiastic I’ve signed up for the upcoming New York marathon. I missed the ballot or charity applications but I’ve found a tour operating company ( 2:09 events ) who offers places to the WMM events.
So here I am training for all these marathons. I do believe with hard work I can achieve anything I want.
I set this page up so i can share more of my experiences and stories.
You stil can follow me on Facebook or Instagram but the longer details always will be here.
Thanks for reading,