I get to dress up as a butterfly

The group of women running for DEBRA Ireland have a bit of a get together in Ron Blacks after the race, where everyone is encouraged to dress up as a butterfly in some shape or form.

SCORE!!! I already own the tights above PLUS a butterfly dress. And two butterfly chains. Woo Woo Woo! And ZOMG I have just found my new favourite site - a blog that just blogs about tights. AMAZING!

Should I buy some wings??? I'm enjoying this aspect of it far too much.

Don't forget that you can sponsor me by clicking here: RIGHT HERE.

Howley

How much exercise is too much?

I know, I know...I really thought I'd have a better grip on writing in this blog. But I don't. The good news is that I'm back on track and seem to be able to run quite a bit without any pain or crazy swelling in my foot. It's back to normal again. I think.

So I went home to Strandhill in Sligo on Friday and went for a long long long run of about 9k or possibly 10k on Saturday morning. The first since the elephantitis incident. It was good for a change of running scenery but I think there may have been more hills involved. I did the same run on Sunday morning.

There's a hill coming up from Strandhill beach to the top of the main road. And it's such a giant of a steep hill that it is known merely as 'THE HILL' in Strandhill and I have no doubt that this is why the village is so called.

Down through the years I have laughed at how ridiculous people look when they try to run up this hill. And I would have often said that I could walk faster. I joined the ridiculous group of people at the weekend in running up this hill. It's not even that it's that far to run uphill but you just end up taking these pathetic baby steps because the backs of your legs are near dead.



So after running on Sunday, I got a bowl of Crunchy Nut Cornflakes into me and then went out surfing with Cathal and Doug who came down for the weekend.

My arms nearly fell off in the water from the amount of paddling we had to do. So did my abs. Are you supposed to be working your abs when you paddle? I'm thinking my technique is wrong. But when Paul the instructor is shouting 'Paddle Karen, PADDLE' at you, you don't think and you just paddle to try and get that pehrfect wave.

The annoying thing out in the water was when you would paddle and paddle and paddle and not be able to outpaddle the wave to surf it so it just passes you by. And then the same happens with the next wave. And before you know it, you're back paddling to the back of the waves again so you're not one of those cop out surfers who just gets breakwater. I really wanted to be a cop out surfer once or twice on Sunday. But I guess it is a way better feeling when you get a wave from beginning to end.


The only complaint I have about running at the moment is that I bought new runners. They're really comfortable...BUT my socks don't feel right in them. I think I need to get some softer socks. I don't think Pennys cotton will fit the bill somehow. Sigh.

A BIG Setback

Hey hey hey,

It has been far too long since I wrote in this blog. The past week has been a giant setback for me. I did go running the majority of last week - up until Thursday - and it was pretty hard to fit it in with work and everything...but then on Friday...I fecked off to Milan for the weekend with Gillian to see Bat For Lashes play.

I thought I might get a bit of a run in over there - but on day one of being there my foot started to swell up with the heat/salty food/pressure...I'm not really sure what the exact underlying cause of it all was. The Google Doctor would indicate that although it may look on the verge of elephatitis, it is actually just a case of edema - a build up of fluid retention in one area [my left foot].

The photo above shows the desperate state of affairs it had reached by the time we got home on Monday night. So I haven't ran since last Wednesday - a full week ago now. I elevated my legs on about four cushions last night going to sleep and have drank a load of water since I came back - so for the first time in about four or five days I could see my left ankle today. I didn't head out training though - I think I need to give it another day to make sure it can take a proper running session.

It's definitely a bit of a setback though. I don't know how fast I'll get through the 10k now...but I have taken a few days off work over the next few weeks leading up to the race, so I'm hoping that I can get a good bit of running done between now and then.

Thanks for all the sponsorship again - it's great to see the figure going up all the time.

Karen

Concrete love

So the weekend has pretty much passed. And it was difficult. The Bank Holiday weekend was always going to be a tough one though. There are way too many options and few that don’t revolve around beer.

 

I did not run on Friday – and I felt guilty about it. But what are you going to do when you meet two people you haven’t seen in nearly 12 months or longer – go for a pint with them or go home, change into jogging pants, and run? I haven’t made such a drastic transformation yet to pick the latter.

 

So the guilt tipped over to Saturday. I was determined to go and run that 8k that I had set out in my training plan. I felt like crap. I’m not sure if it was the mug of coffee or the two pints from Friday night that made me feel so sick. I had to stop loads – and I hated every minute of running past the Cat and The Cage in Drumcondra – it’s this slowly steep run from there until The Swords Road. I thought I might end up doing the crawl.

 

The same route today went a hell of a lot better. And I took a photo of those lovehearts I said I saw...those clever kids must have known it was going to rain – I only realised that they didn’t draw them with chalk but scratched them out in the ground – probably using the house key or some stones. Who knows?...

 

Track listing coming soon.

I will not - I REPEAT - I will NOT be crawling

I'll still have calories left to burn. These women are crazy. I did laugh at their collapsing puppet like legs though. Credit to Karen Birney for this one.

Who'll be making the video then?

So as you probably know - The London Marathon [a REAL length marathon - 26k I think] was on at the weekend. I watched The Guardian's bloggers' video today - it looks like a bit of a funfair. See it here: CLICK HERE

So, who's going to be filming my blogumentary on June 1st then?

Any takers??? Nah ? - - -

I plan an 8k run on Friday - should be grand. Google maps has helped me to know how far I'm running - so it's been a solid 5k for a three days now.

You never know - I could be applying for the London marathon next year!

I'm going to make up the ultimate running track list ahead of the weekend for anyone out there who's training at the minute. There'll be some motivational cheese in there as well as banging stomping beats. Woop! I was fairly unimpressed by what made it into The Guardian bloggers' playlists - from Fairytale of New York [thankfully I don't have too much hair to hold back while I puke] to Are We Human - the only way these songs or indeed their track-listings would make me run faster would be the thought of not having to listen to the entire playlist.

I may start taking photos on my runs too - there are some interesting things out there. From footpaths covered with white chalk lovehearts that someone obviously spent hours drawing to a gym bag perched on the door handle of Bertie's local.

Also, if you'd like to sponsor me, this is where it's at: RIGHT HERE

Up to 140 Euro now thanks to you guys,
Howley.

Magpies, black cats, and keys

Are you superstitious? Well I am to a certain degree. When it comes to magpies my friend Tina told me to say 'I salute thee Mr Magpie' on seeing them in their solo form. When I went running yesterday morning, I saw two single ones. I don't think I saluted them.

It was lashing rain when I finished up in work last night and I got a taxi instead of cycling. A rare occurance. But when I got out of the taxi I realised that I didn't have the house key with me. And just as I realised this, a black cat, that happily sat perched on the steps to our front door decided to run in front of me. Why? I've never seen a cat sitting near our house before last night. Never.

So there I was, getting pissed on by the higher powers that be with no way in. Thanks to the hospitality of my sister I stayed with her. Quite an uncomfortable sleep on a couch that only fits two thirds of me. If even. I did not want to run this morning.

But I did. As I mentioned in my last post, I like routine. You may think that it's possibly a bit excessive running every day until June 1st for this marathon - but trust me - if I break the routine I'm not that likely to go back to it.

The tackling of public transport after that this morning was annoying as ever for me. I missed two Luas - don't ask. It just happens me. Myself and public transport have always had issues with eachother.

And when I got off it I saw about four ambulances. Apparently seeing an ambulance is very unlucky unless you pinch your nose or hold your breath until you see a black or a brown dog. I mean, who the hell makes this stuff up - is there any truth in that.

So tonight, I couldn't give a damn if there's a storm outside. I'm cycling home. Hopefully there'll be no black cats getting in my way and maybe just maybe there'll be a dog on the doorstep instead.

Thanks again to everyone who has supported me so far - your donations are always welcome. If anyone would like to sponsor me please click here: RIGHT HERE.

Thanks,
Karen

Il Pleut...

And on the sixth day there shall be rain.

I have to say - I thought I'd be put off by this. Not a bit of it though - was loving getting soaked as I ran this afternoon. There's something quite refreshing about getting drenched sometimes - mainly when you have the comfort of knowing you've dry clothes to change into when you get home.

I met up with a few mates last night and ended up having more to drink than I had intended - 3 glasses of wine. Not too much - but it screws you up when you drink and then train the next morning. I had 3 pints [yes, 3 is the magic number] on Saturday night and went for a run Sunday morning but there was a bit of an underlying feeling in my stomach that I could vomit with all that exercise and last night's alcohol. So that's why I broke the routine of morning running today. And I do like routine. I just thought it best to give the vino a bit more time to escape me.

The muscles aren't as sore now - but I'm changing to a longer route on Saturday so the pain will probably kick back in once that starts. I think I'm running about 4/5k daily now. I haven't a clue really.

Thanks indeed to everyone who has sponsored me so far - and remember you can make a donation by clicking here: RIGHT HERE

I'm in a bit of a French mood - went to see a French film called The Class today. Gotta love a bit of world cinema.

Four in a row

So I've managed to make it four days running in a row. Now I just need to multiply that number by 10 and I'll be sorted. I think I ran a bit faster today - but I'm not really keeping track of times right now. I recently broke my watch and I can only see the time on half of my phone...[those of you who know me, will know that the word priorities means little to me.]

I emailed one of the people behind DEBRA Ireland today to see if I can meet up with some of the families and people affected by EB. If I can I'll do some interviews and let ye know how they go. I think it'd be pretty interesting to find out more about it though and it'd be good to meet some of the people I'd be hoping to help by doing this run for DEBRA Ireland.

Remember that you can sponsor me by clicking here: RIGHT HERE

Thanks!

About DEBRA Ireland

I guess I've gotten off to a great start. The weather has been amazing the past three days - and I've been making it my daily chore to go running as soon as I get out of bed in the morning. Now I did promise that I'd let ye know a little bit about the cause I'm running for. It might be an idea to watch this short video:



Somehow I don't think it was the Superman song that got me all 'lump in my throat' like and teary eyed when I was watching this. When I saw it I just thought - right - I'm going to work my tiny hiney off for the next 40 odd days and get past the external muscle pain. Imagine living in eternal pain - it's commendable how people can revert to getting happiness from the simple things in life sometimes.

Also, if you'd like to sponsor me, this is where it's at: RIGHT HERE

The official line [taken from their site]
DEBRA Ireland is a national charity set up in 1988 to raise awareness of and offer support to patients and families affected by the rare genetic skin condition, Epidermolysis Bullosa (EB). This is a very distressing and painful disorder which causes the skin layers and internal body linings to separate and blister at the slightest touch. There are three types of EB the most common being EB Simplex or EB Dystrophic, with EB Junctional being fatal within the first two years of life.

I've just signed up!

Good afternoon and welcome to this blog space - I can't believe the blog Url of 'womensminimarathon' has not been taken before now.

A while ago...a while ago being about a month ago, an email was sent around to everyone in my workplace about running the mini-marathon for an organisation called DEBRA Ireland. This was the first time the thought emerged into my head of running the 10k that is the mini-marathon.

It had been advertised that you could register by posting your appliction, which could be found on Wednesday and Saturday's Evening Herald. So I took one of the papers home with me - but somehow misplaced it and never registered.

That week I decided to test out my fitness and see how well I was set to run, or rather 'jog' this marathon. The results were nothing surprising. I got up with a burst of energy. Ran out the front door at 7am - and of course was hoping that I would not bump into anyone I knew. Oh the sheer embarassment of someone catching you mid-run when you're not too used to anyone seeing you in a set of jogging pants and a red face from too much exercise all at once. Swimming and cycling I can handle without getting the red face syndrome after 10 minutes. Running is a whole other ball game, which I have successfully managed to avoid doing for a good 24 years. You'll have never seen me run before now.

I had given up, after those two 20-25 minute sessions. All it took was a rainy afternoon, a hangover, another night out, and the hassle of having to shower twice in one day to get me to 'throw the towel' in as it were.

But thank God for reminder emails. The email was sent around our office again this week. And so I signed up online. And once I put some money down [the €23 to register]...I shall go through with it.

I shall write a little bit about the charity when I get home from work tonight...but I will say this - it's to help fight a condition that affects the skin. And anything that affects the skin has the knock on effect of not being skin deep. It can shatter your confidence and so much more.

So I'm hoping to make it into the photo next year!