Juneathon Day 13: Dear Coach...

Dear Coach Pete,

I hope you are having a truly wondrous time in the land of Big Clever London, where the streets are paved with gold and the sun always shines.

We, of course, missed you at running club tonight. Well, I say 'we' but I'm sorry to say that it is only a small, dedicated band of your speedy side-kicks that can be included in that exclusive group tonight. And exclusive it was. Yes, Pete, I'm proud to say that I am now in an elite group of 'The Hardcore Runners'. And it's fair to say that 'Girl Power' rules!

Roy Castle would have been proud of the bantam band of X chromosomes who held the fort in your absence  tonight; and your praise, indeed, should be showered on the following devotees of The Oldham and Royton Harrier's Road Running Club:

Angela, Sara, Natalie, Lindsay, Candice, myself and Dom(inique)...

A group of your runners who, tonight, demonstrated the same commitment, enthusiasm and dedication that you, yourself, have given to running.

Following your training schedule, our (clearly hardcore) gaggle of girlies set off on a figure of 8 run, or 5km route; completing the routes with the motivation and ardency, you would expect from a (clearly hardcore) group such as ourselves.

However, despite the energy, eagerness and earnestness of the whole group tonight, one special mention must  go out to someone who went above and beyond the call of duty, demonstrating the true nature of our club by supporting the other runners: Dom(inique), who thanks to his her strength, support and assistance to others tonight, earned him herself an honourary position in your band of 'Hardcore Runners'... Go Girl Power!!

Coach Pete, we hope you're as proud of us tonight as we are of ourselves, and indeed,  as you muse on what to set us for Thursday's session  we also take this opportunity to let you know how proud we are to be your dedicated, driven and devoted band of (truly hardcore) runners.

Best Running Regards,

Maggiee (One of the dedicated and devoted band of clearly hardcore runners!)

Activity: Running

Distance: 3.1 miles

Time: 40 minutes

Feeling: Hardcore!

Juneathon Day 12: Running Releases...

'Running releases more than just sweat'

... thank goodness!

Activity: Running
Distance: 10 miles
Time: 1hr 54.
Feeling: much lighter!!!

Juneathon Day 11: Some sense of purpose...

Today I went walking with Doris and Mik...

And then I had lunch...

And then I started marking...

And then I fell asleep whilst marking...

And then I went to the shop and bought yummy stuff that will make me fat...

And then I ate too much yummy stuff and felt sick...

And then I carried on marking...

And then I fell asleep again...

And then I blogged...

And then I marked my own writing

And I only gave it 5 out of 18: Clear communication of ideas with more sense of audience and purpose. Uses some organisational devices appropriately with occasional conscious selection of words. 

And then I thought that was not good because I am an English teacher 

and people will judge me 

and they will think that is bad and that I am not very good...

And then I thought maybe I should change it 

and write a better blog rather than this blog 

which would only be marked 5 out of 18 

if I was being marked by a GCSE examiner...

And then I realised that I'm not writing in a GCSE examination 

and I'm already a teacher 

and an examiner so it doesn't actually matter.

And then I said to myself 'you should stop writing

 because this is getting ridiculous and long'.

And then I realised that now my writing wasn't even a 5 out of 18 any more 

because I had written too much and had lost awareness of my audience 

who had now probably stopped reading 

so now it was only 4: 

an occasional sense of audience and purpose. 

Ideas sequenced simply.

And then I thought 'I better stop now because there is no sense in what I'm doing'.

And then I did.

Juneathon Day 10: Round and Round...

Round and round the garden,

Like a teddy bear,

One step - two step - 

It's for Juneathon... I swear!

Doris loves a Dressing Gown Dash too!

If you were familiar with JogBlog back in Janathon, or you're following Notmuchofarunner during Juneathon, this dressing gown business will make perfect sense... If you're not, you probably think I've gone bonkers (Okay, more bonkers?!)... I have; paper 464 is now done... I have no stamina, no skills and no brain left... 'nuf said!

Activity: The Garden Dressing Gown Dash
Distance: 0.04 miles
Time: 30 seconds
Feeling: Oh my... so very tired!

Juneathon Day 9: Catching up...

Today I...

Didn't catch up with the pile of marking I'd set myself to do;
Nearly caught up with reading some blogs... but not quite;
Enjoyed catching up with some friends at running club (metaphorically, not physically, they're far too fast for me!);
Caught up with last night's Apprentice (Oh yes... good decision!)

And now I'm going to...

Catch up on the sleep I missed last night...

Night all!

What 5th member? There's only 4 in my dreams!!

Activity: Running
Distance: 4.6 miles (intervals)
Duration: 55 minutes
Feeling: sleepy... yaaaaawn....

Juneathon Day 8: Take that Juneathon...

As I was a dirty stop-out and arrived home at a quarter to midnight last night (and on a school night too!!!), I've struggled to 'Shine' today so decided to leave this post until later!

I managed to get in a sneaky Juneathon exercise when I suggested to my friend that we should walk to the Take That concert yesterday evening. Of course, she clocked what I was up to but ultimately we both agreed that it would be a better idea than paying an extortionate tenner for parking. As it was, it worked out well as the traffic was a nightmare at the end of the night; I have a feeling I'd still be there now if we'd tried to get home in a car and I'm not sure I'd have had the 'Patience'.

However, it did mean that they ended up 'keeping me up all night' and we arrived home rather late. I'm not sure how Paula has coped today, but I've been half dead... I might be still at an age where I can dance all night, jump up and down and scream like a banshee at 4 grown men on a stage, but my body now screams back at me the next day!

Needless to say, we had the best time in the world... ever! and I would gladly have stayed 'up all night' for the show they put on for us; not even the rain could dampen our spirits. It was certainly a concert I will 'Never Forget'.

Anyway... I'm making very little 'Progress' here and I'm 'Sure', to be honest, 'I've said it all'. I also am in desperate need of a pick-me-up before I take on Juneathon day 9; so I'll leave you for now whilst I hunt down copious amounts of caffeine to consume before running club begins at 7!



Activity: walking and dancing!
Distance: 5.25 miles
Time: 1.39 (including walking around the stadium for a bit and putting the bin out once home as I forgot to press pause!)
Feeling: Like I could 'Rule the World'!

Juneathon Day 7: The worst blog ever written...

Six days of exercise I've done,
made up to seven with today's run;
I only went a mile quite slow,
because I had my dog in tow,
but at least I'm in the game
to drop out now would be a shame.

But

this might be the worst blog ever written
or it may be cute - just like a kitten!
However, I feel I must explain
why it's so bad like the crash of a train;
I've been up since 6 - with work - you see
no, not because I needed a wee!
And now I'm home, I'm marking papers
and eating very salty capers.
(that last bit really isn't true
But I struggled to rhyme it... wouldn't you?)
And so the reason this blog is crap
Is because my brain has gone...

kersplat!

Image by James Callahan