Monday 10 August 2015

"That time I ate leftover lentils for three days"...

Oh hello! 

Slightly late to the blogging party this week, due to having an actual party in my garden on Saturday and scoring some much appreciated dolla dolla for Alzheimer's Society. 

I skipped the long run in exchange for approximately 18 gazillion trips up and down the stairs to my top floor flat, getting everything sorted for all you generous hungry people to come and devour "flame grilled" goodness for a great cause. Doesn't sound too bad, does it?

In short, I held a fundraising BBQ in my back garden and asked guests to pop some sponsorship in the collection can, along with sharing a memory or two on my timeline (aka the washing line). 

"That time when"...
I wanted the timeline to act as a gentle reminder of why we were all there and why I was fundraising in the first place. We're lucky to be able to delve into so many vivid memories and it's important to share them with each other - those with dementia struggle to form and store new memories and I thought a little memory activity would be a nice addition to the day. 

Some sunshine would have been a nice addition too. It started off so well...

Overall it was a great day though, and I can't say thank you enough to all the people who came, ate, drank, donated, shared, laughed, listened. You are all wonderful and I hope you enjoyed the day as much as I did. 

I also have to say a mahoosive thank you to local brewery Stewart Brewing for donating all those bottles of scrummy Pils, and to Brew Lab for donating a keg of super cool Nitro Cold Brew coffee for those of us avoiding the alcomahol.

I'm now 80% of the way towards my fundraising target and I'm genuinely so grateful for all the generous sponsorship I've received so far. It really helps as I head into the final weeks of serious mileage. 

Last Saturday I did indeed head out on the usual roads to run 18.1 miles. After all that moaning and whining it was actually a really nice run; I felt in much better shape than I did the week before. I even pulled a "sprint" finish out of the bag! Maybe I was just that desperate to get inside for a chocolate milkshake? 

Whatever the reason, the run went really well - I've finally worked out that the back eight miles are slightly uphill all the way, so it's hardly surprising they feel utterly soul-destroying. Totally different head game once you realise it though - I can't believe I've not worked out why I felt so tired running it before.

Ah yes, I said I'd review the Lulu Lemon socks too...well there was no blood, which is always a good start. However, they felt a lot less secure than my Asics marathon socks do - the weaving is a lot looser (I'm guessing for breatheability) and I came back with a few little blisters here and there. They're lovely for anything up to 10k, but I'd recommend tighter fitting layered marathon socks for anything over that. I felt like they were slipping around a lot and I prefer something much more snug-fitting and tightly woven. They look lovely and they've washed well - but whether they are worth a tenner, I'm not really that sure. 

So what's coming up? The weather is uninspiring and the Fringe is upon us, which means the streets are teeming with people and umbrellas. As such I've planned my next three long runs to avoid the city as best possible: 

1) Take the bus to Carlops in the Scottish Borders and run 18 miles home. 
2) Take the train to Drem in East Lothian and run 19.5 miles home.
3) Take the train to Linlithgow in West Lothian and run 21.5 miles along the Union Canal back home.

DOES THIS PUT INTO PERSPECTIVE HOW FAR I AM TRAVELLING ON FOOT?! It's blowing my tiny mind how far this is. Anyway, after that it's the blessed taper - I'm so excited. I'm even more excited to get to Berlin, see my friends there, explore the Expo at Templehof, carb load on outrageous amounts of all you can eat Russian brunch...

...if I think about it too much I get properly emotional. 

Best stop there - I'm off out on a cheeky 10 miler now to get a nice bit of distance in the legs, so I feel marginally less guilty for skipping a long run this weekend. Thank you again for those who have sponsored me so far, and if you would still like to do that thing, head to my JustGiving page

Lots of love and a bit of boogie. xxx

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