Parents arrived yesterday.

I love them to pieces, but they are so damn annoying!

My dad had decided he wanted a barbecue, and they even turned up with their own dospisable one, and a little camping barbecue to put it on. I took them shopping into town to get some food for it - should have seen my dad’s face when, at the best known butchers in town he was offered a beefburger with some fresh coriander in it. He did, however, insist on getting pork and leek sausages, and even though he knows I am not keen insisted on leaving them for me and not finishing them off for breakfast this morning.

“Shall I get some salad?” I asked. What a stupid question.

Anyway, basically yesterday all I had to eat all day was meat and bread - I did have a bit of salad with my barbecue, but I hardly ever eat that much meat in one sitting any more.

About an hour after I’d finished eating, and most of that time constantly turning down offers of beer and wine because, no I’m going out for a walk, no really, I’m going out for a walk, no, I don’t want any alcohol thanks, no, I’m fine with my squash….. I finally escaped and went for a walk. I had thought maybe I’d aim for a little run again, but I felt so sluggish after all that meat. I did the usual walk, and it took about 2 minutes longer than last time, but definitely quicker than a week ago.

I will go for another walk tonight - definitely no running, because that is planned for 6.30 tomorrow morning!

Has FKM been dumped? Is he once again in the depths of depression?

Who knows - I am not going to ask him - but the last two nights have seen a flurry of texts, like this time last year.

In fact, before this time last year, because he is flirting like he did before we slept together.

Does he really think I am just going to accept him back?

He has offered to sponsor me £10 for my run, but I am not going to put him down on the form. Given his track record in paying money he owes me, I am not putting his name down until I have the cash in my hand. And does he really think I am going to agree to meet up with him to go to the pictures, given that the last time he agreed to anything he neither turned up, nor gave me any warning that he wasn’t going to (lucky by that time I had him sussed and didn’t go myself).

Maybe he’s feeling left out because I bought Q some fags duty free from America, and not him?

To be honest I don’t really care.

I did it, I did it I did it!

Well, I did some of it anyway.

But I did. I actually managed to run for a whole minute.

Whoo hoo!

I had set the alarm to go off at 6.30, and I crawled out of bed, took one look at the fog outside and crawled back inside. I regretted it later though, because it has turned out to be a scorcher of a day.

I waited until about 8.30 tonight before venturing out - one of the reasons being that I don’t have a thsirt with pockets in, so I needed it to be cool so I could wear my jacket with pockets for my keys and mp3 player. Plus the added advantage of their being fewer people around in the park.

I went the ‘long’ way to the park - well, it adds about 5 minutes to the round trip, but the last couple of times I have only just made it back to the house at the end of the training plan.

And I am definitely speeding up - my two warmup tracks finished when I was a good thirty yards past where they have finished the last couple of times I’ve been out. Then “Sweet Child O’ Mine” kicked in - think this might also be a bit fast, but is definitely better than Trivium - for my 6 minute walk. At the end, the same dread hit me as usual, but also determination this time. This time I would do it.

And I did. I ran for the whole one minute.

Okay, so I had to have a short rest (and I mean short, just stood for about 10 seconds) to get my breath back, but I ran for a whole minute!

Of course I didn’t manage the other two minutes! Managed about 50 seconds of the second one, and no idea for the third because that was through the housing estate and I was stopping and starting depending on whether I could see people about. Plus there was the added 5 minutes walk on the end, so I don’t feel too bad.

And I’d forgotten about the side effect of exercise and increasing my metabolism.

I’ve had about 5 poos today!

After months of just the occasional email and/or text, there have been several of both today from FKM.

And he’s just invited me to the pictures!

I am non-committal.

I somehow managed to not set my alarm this morning!

I had my phone set to go off at 6.40, and then the proper alarm to go off at 6.45. This is because I am crap when it comes to the snooze button - and I have one of those buttons that you hit it once you get 10 minutes, twice you 20 minutes, and so on…..

So, the phone goes off, and I switch it off. I then fall back to sleep until the proper alarm goes off. I hit the snooze button 4 times, which puts it past the time the radio is set to come on.

Only it must have been the radio and my sleep addled brain didn’t make the connection. I hauled myself out of bed to get dressed ready for my run, only to find it was normal time for getting up, and I didn’t have time!

So I had to go after work.

The plan was the 6/1 ratio. However, even though the weather was crap, there were too many people in the park - some teenagers right by where I was due to start my first run. I waited until I’d rounded some bushes, and ran for a bit but because I was all out from my music timings, I don’t know how long. I am pretty sure it wasn’t a minute though. I didn’t manage the full second minute either, and when it got to the third, again there were just too many people about.

I have properly set the alarms now, and intend to get up - there will be far fewer people about in the morning, letting me do my running/walking in relative privacy.

Legs are still hot though. And I am soooooo hungry! So I am definitely doing something good.

Came home from work, grabbed something quick to eat, then sat for about half an hour. Then got changed, and went for a walk around the park.

No rest this time. And it only took 9 tracks from Linkin Park’s Hybrid Theory. Well, almost 9 tracks, 1 minute short. So that was about 4 minutes less than it took last week - albeit that time I had 2 rests. So I am definitely picking up my pace already.

My left foot has been aching a bit, on the sole which is a really weird place. It’s the sort of ache you get when you are on a city break and have spent 2 days doing nothing but walking, and the sole of your foot hurts when you stand on it. But only my left foot.

This is the one I sprained several years ago, and twisted the other week, so I wonder if I am actually running on it properly. I suspect maybe I am not putting it down toe to heel when I run. i tried to concentrate on it when I was walking tonight, and maybe I am not even walking properly. I will get the towel out tonight and stretch the tendoms out like I did when I was getting physio all those years ago.

Tomorrow I will see how I feel, and either do the 6 and 1 walk/run, or maybe just walk around the park again.

Let’s face it, anything is better than what I have been doing!

And my legs! They are so HOT! I know it’s a good thing, means they are burning fat even when I am in bed, but it’s stopping me from sleeping, it’s like having a hot water bottle permanently attached to my thighs!

Oh.

My.

God.

It all started out so well - 2 tracks of Linkin Park to warm up, then switch over to my new “6 and 1″ playlist. I hadn’t taken much notice of the order of the songs, just alternated 6 minutes with 1 minute. As the first song started, I thought it was pretty apt, since I was full of trepidation at running for the first time in about 10 years - Trivium and “A gunshot to the head of trepidation”.

I think I will change the order - I was walking in time to the music, and it’s awfully fast, so by the time it came to my 1 minute run I was already out of breath.

Sad to say I couldn’t manage the whole minute. I think I managed 45 seconds before my legs decided they were not going to leave the ground - I think some pixies had come and fixed lead weights to them as soon as I started to run.

And sports bra? I need sports pants, my arse was wobbling so much!

Still, then walked for another 6 minutes - again, I think the beat was just a tad too fast - and then came the next 1 minute track. Again, I only managed about 45 seconds.

Then I headed for home, listening to a much more sensible speed track (I am going to change this over with Trivium for Friday’s run), and as I hit my road the new 1 minute track began. I’d like to say I ran for the whole minute - and I did in fact run at the start, and again at the end, but I had the nice excuse of a road to cross in the middle, so stopped to let the cars (real and imagined) go past.

Tomorrow is ‘rest day’, but I might get up and just go for a walk around the park - see how I feel, and see what the weather is like. Wednesday, according to the plan, is just a 15 minute walk. A 15 minute walk from here is very boring, I’d much rather make it half an hour and at least I get to walk around the park and see the ducks!

Okay. This really should have been yesterday, but I did the same thing I did last week - met a friend for lunch, got home about 5-ish, and was so exhausted decided to have a ’short’ nap. And like last week, I woke up at 9 o’clock! I think maybe I am not totally over my infection - my friend was convinced I still had a temperature yesterday, but given we were sat in the sun, and I wasn’t wearing a hat, I think that was more to blame for my head feeling so hot!

Anyway, I got up at 8 this morning (it would have been earlier if Hobo had had his way….), hung out my washing, ate a yoghurt, let it settle for 10 minutes and then set off.

Same route, same music.

This time I had 2 little sit downs - how am I supposed to walk and then run tomorrow, when all I want to do at the moment is walk, and then have a rest for 1 minute? - but I must have been walking slightly faster, because I got home half way through the last song - so maybe 2 minutes quicker than Friday.

I am going to be sorting out songs for my mp3 player today - need to find 6 minute and 1 minute tracks for this week, 5 and 2 minute for next week, then 4 and 3 minute for the week after. After that I can use the same ones, only changing which I walk and which I run (*cough*) to.

My sports bra turned up yesterday - I can’t get it on! It’s very weird, because I also bought 2 other bras, and they fit me fine, and comparing them against each other they look a similar size, but I think because it is just so damn big (more like a crop top) that I can’t put it on the usual way - do it up at the front and then swivel it round and pull up the shoulder straps - I can’t get the shoulder straps up. But I can’t put it on the ‘right way round’ either - the fastenings don’t want to meet! I will leave it a few days and try again, otherwise I am going to have to send it back and order another size - god knows what size though, this is the proper size for me as measured last year! I have a totally wrong size sports bra, so will have to wear that in the short term - not good, but at least it will minimise the ‘bounce’!

Well, after a week of putting it off (I’ve had a viral infection, honest, and all the advice says don’t exercise if you don’t feel well……) tonight I went for a walk.

Just a walk - can’t even consider running until my sports bra turns up (which it looks like it was delivered today and taken back to the post office, I’ll pick it up tomorrow). I didn’t want to - it’s so much easier to just sit in front of the telly/computer/book when you get home than get changed and head off out again (unless it’s to get dolled up and go for beer, I never seem to have any problems there) but I did it.

I just went for a walk around the local park. I don’t know how far it is, but it took me the first 10 tracks of Linkin Park’s Hybrid Theory from going out the front door to coming back in.

I did have a little sit down half way around - well, more than half way to be honest. However, when I’ve done the walk in the past I usually sit down a couple of times (but then I am usually doing it because it is a nice day and I want to watch the ducks). I might have sat down sooner, but there were too many teenagers in the park, and I was too embarrassed!

So, tomorrow I will do the same walk - to the same music, at least that way I can gauge if I am doing it any faster.

I am wondering if I might be aiming too high looking at the walking/running plan I have downloaded - walk for 6 minutes then run for 1? Not sure I can manage that… still, got to be worth a try!

A pretty little link