10 WEEKS TO GO!!

A sunny day in Dublin....


Hark! What is that I see before me? That thing, the bright yellow ball shinning in the corner of a clear blue sky! Can you see it? Am pretty sure I have seen it somewhere before... perhaps in a dream or a foreign country!! Seriously though, how amazing is this weather we have been having!! Un-seasonally warm for March -  'can you believe its only March' I have heard so many people say! Doesn't the sun just put you in such a good mood. I swear everywhere I have been  the last few days, people seem happier and just so smiley! What a way to instantly lift the mood of 1.2million Dubliners! Throw into the mix the clocks going forward and and an evening that now stretches to after 8pm... Dublin is on a Sun high! Its so lovely seeing so many people out walking, running, kiddies out playing, outdoor cafes full, seaside areas heaving with a happy mood. Perhaps I'm the one one the Sun-high?! I actually think I am! I kept craving seeing the sun this weekend, it was like a magnet that wouldn't let me stay inside and just pulled me out! Sunday alone, I done a 5k run,  walked 6k around the local park, and ran the pier out at DunLaoighre! Am I crazy? Over-doing it? I don't think so.I really cant describe the buzz I get from exercising. Hard to believe a little over a year ago I was the girl who wouldn't get up off the couch no matter how much the sun-shone, now I am trying to heard everyone out doors with me! Honestly though, I enjoyed so much seeing all the people out in DunLaoighre, there were people of all ages, shapes and sizes out, people walking , running, jogging, skating,biking...you name it! I remember, maybe 6 years ago I went out to the pier with my family on a similar sunny day.I was loathe then to walk a slow pace up that pier, it was so long and never ending, I don't think I made it all the way to the end even without at least sitting down. Jump forward and here I am running the thing! I may have looked like a slightly crazy person running along that pier, with a  dopey smile on my face, but I don't care,when this is your view/path, how can you not smile?

I hope you have all been enjoying the sunshine in whatever way you can. Even if its just sitting out in it, the good mood you get into can give you so much motivation! Summers on its way folks, lets get out and enjoy the weather while it lasts!!Who knows how long that yellow ball will be shinning out there for! (just watch our for birds that like to masquerade as giant bee's- isn't that right Georgina?!!)
 And that bring me onto the other thing I want to talk on the blog this week... taking things for granted. Something else  we are all guilty of! Today I learnt a girl (who'll remain nameless because I'm not sure its appropriate)  I know is doing a charity event for the Irish Cancer Society  later this week, & she will be doing something amazingly self-less for a worthy cause, and it got me to thinking. How much do we take things for granted? We take our health , for one, for granted, we're all healthy right now, so things are good right? Now I don't want to start bumming out anyone reading my blog, or for me to turn into some sort of preacher, just the more I embark on this journey, the more it concerns me. Now is the time to take care of our health and fitness, putting it off all the time is just not, well its just not healthy. No time like the present, and with such a sunny day in Dublin in front of us, there really is no better time to get out for a 20minute walk and take control of our own health, fitness and general well- being, no one else can make that decision for us. And certainly no one else is going to do it for us. Who knows what might be around the corner... so lets make sure we're fit and healthy enough to tackle whatever is lurking.! My whole reason, as you will all know, for starting this blog was to keep myself motivated and give myself a little pressure... in the last 4 weeks that's flipped, I'm helping to motivate others, and the pressure I feel is keeping that going. Its a nice pressure, don't get me wrong! I really am thrilled with the amount of emails I get after posting a blog, from people telling me they got up and went walking. I've had mails from strangers. Its an credible feeling, something I wont ever take for granted, as long as you all promise to take a teeny-tiny leaf and not take your health for granted, get out there now and do something small to improve or keep up your fitness... you'll thank yourself for it one day!


And on that cheery note.... back to training! I mentioned earlier that I done quite a lot of exercise this week, and I did pose the question  Am I maybe doing too much? - because I have asked that a few times. The honest answer is I don't think I am.. I do 3 dance classes a week on top of the running/walking. But I have taken it really slow to get to this level. I stretch before and after every exercise. I get such a buzz from exercising now, I just want to do more and more. But I know my limits! I'm slowly pushing harder and harder at the things I am doing now... I am fit, happy and healthy!
So this weeks training was great!!  The only thing was, the lunch time running just wasn't working out for me, as much as I want it to,  my work tends to be too busy for me to keep it up constantly .. so I switched, to early morning! Yup I am now the girl out running at sunrise. And I couldn't enjoy it now more than I do! This is what a training programme is all about folks,you need to make it work for you, not stick strictly to someone Else's! You've gotta be happy doing it! (well as happy as you can running up a hill, ha ha) So I've found my running hour, but how about my running time! Woo I am up to 4.11K.That's the one big run I push myself to do once a week. The rest of the week I spend training myself in all different ways....I run and  walk on my training days.I push myself (sometimes quite literally!!) up hills and around steep bends. Every run I finish gets me one step closer to that starting line! My favourite training day, as you probably already got, was Sunday this week! I pushed myself so hard that day, OK the sunshine made it a lot more enjoyable, but I swear  i felt better than I have done before! So 4.11K down, less than 2 weeks to go to my first goal, the small one, 5K in 35mins, will I be able to do it? I most certainly intend to! 2 weeks left of the training programme I am following at the moment, and then it gets really seriously... I am scaring myself!


And that's it for this week. Please guys, think about your health and fitness, and get out once or twice this week for 20mins, the sun shinning should give you some motivation!


Thanks, as always to all of you for your continued support, this blog is as much for you as it is for me! Thanks for reposting the link, and please keep doing so, I really want as many people as possible reading!


Hope to see you out walking or running, if I bump into you on DunLaoighre pier, ignore the dopey smile I'll quite possibly have plastered to my face !! :)


Big thanks this week to my wonderful pals, Emma and Bernie who came on walks/runs with me!! I always want company - so give me a shout! 

See ya next week, 

Av xx

Running Track of the Week;


5) - Nalin and Kane - On the beach (couldn't think of a more appropriate running tune this week - really good to run to!!0 


4) – Flo Rida … Good Feeling (this is my feel good song, you may have noticed my cheeky use of some of the lyrics in my blog today... it’s also my favourite song to dance to! (Quick Emma, play my song for me!!) haha)


3) - Rui da Silva... Touch me - (yep, Spawell days anyone!!??)

2) - Boney M - Gotta Go Home (you may feel the urge to do a little dance whilst running to this one!)


1) - Energy 52 - Cafe Del Mar 

11 WEEKS TO GO!!

Sometimes I get a good Feeling…

That time of the week already? Fly’s around doesn’t it! Seems like only 20mins ago I was posting the last one, and here I am again typing away. Time does zip by so quickly though. I got asked a question this week, which I couldn’t initially answer, I had to go away and think about it, and I promised to reply via the blog. The question was, ‘do you ever regret not doing this sooner’. Now clearly the question wasn’t targeted at writing just me writing this blog! Do I regret not losing weight and getting fit sooner in my life? As I said, I had to go away and think about this, because it’s seemed far too simple to just say yes or no. So I’ve thought about it, and although I spent far too many years being overweight and unfit, I’m not sure I would have succeeded a few years ago like I am now. Now, I know I can’t say that for sure, because quite frankly, I didn’t try before. It’s hard to explain, but you have to want to do something like this for yourself, doing it because you think will make other people happy and proud of you won’t work. You need to have a passion for doing it for yourself, finding that passion was the hardest part. Which is why for the first 6/8 months I kept what I was doing as quiet as possible, I needed to know I was doing it for me and me only. And I was. I am.  So no, I don’t regret not doing this any sooner, 5 years ago, it would have been  formed out of a passion to make someone else happy, and I think the regret would have been that I wasn’t doing  for myself and  ultimately I don’t think I would have gotten to where I am now as quick and happily. Now its 100% driven by a passion to make myself happy. The other thing is the network of support, everyone I know has been a fantastic support to me and amazing at keeping me pushed and focused, but again, 5years ago I’d lost all confidence, and I don’t think I would have embraced the compliments etc, nor do I think I would have been willing to share any of the story, because I hated it. But now I get to share my journey with all you amazing people. And not only have I got a fantastic support network in my lovely family & friends, I’ve got a network of new friends and strangers who’ve I’ve only met because of this journey of mine! I can’t imagine  life as it was just over an year ago anymore, this past year has been the best, and literally everyday it gets better and better……Oh Sometimes I get a good feeling, I get a feeling that I never never never never had before! Yeah, I get a good feeling!

Regrets? Never!

The other thing about time zipping by so quickly is it can make you feel guilty, in any sort of situation. It can be something as big as loosing contact with someone and suddenly realising it’s been years since you spoke, or something as easy as having great intentions on Friday, and suddenly realising the weekends almost over and you’ve not doing any sort of training!!!! Yup the latter is  what happened to me this weekend, I skipped out of the office at 4pm on Friday,  happy as could be, with my weekends programme jotted out on my iphone (ah where would we be without them?!)  & all the good intentions the world has to offer, and before I knew where I was it was Sunday morning and I’d missed Friday and Saturday’s training, good intentions lost somewhere within the funniest weekend ever.  So with my body broken from the Champagne Mojito’s that were consumed Saturday, off I went Sunday for my run. Feeling guilty about missing the 2days training seemed to give me some sort of amazing push. Either that, or the Champagne Mojito’s gave me some sort of superhuman adrenaline!! Because I ran my best time so far, 4.9K nonstop - notching up to 9.24min/KM. This means, with only 11 weeks to go I just need to shave at least 20/30mins off my time, and double the distance.  Sure that’ll be easy peasey wont it? Like hell it will! This challenge is not easy, far from it! The hills need to get steeper, my pace needs to go faster and the distance needs to get further. But am I still confidant I can do it?  I sure am! A'int no stopping me now as they say! If it wasn’t challenging it’s be pretty stupid to refer to it as a challenge now wouldn’t it!

So my week over all, you mean other than pondering the past and drinking Champagne Mojito’s? Ah the training!! Yup it was good, I’m learning to push away the aches and pains the inevitably come with starting at the bottom of a training programme. I’m stretching out properly before and after, this is a must do! But I’ve told you all that before, so I know I don’t need to nag, because I know you’re listening, right?! J My training programme takes me all over the place, literally! One day I’m running for 15mins up a hill and that’s enough, the next can be 35mins on a flat track.

Although I am running at the moment, I am more concentrating on getting the fitness levels up and up. And they are, I can feel it, and I can see it! For the next 3 weeks I will be doing everything I can to be as fit as I can, and then on week 7 that’s when the running will take a serious U –turn, I am hoping to be running just over 5k in 35 mins by then, so I will be completely on track to take the 10k in around 60.

For those of you who have been asking, no my training doesn’t just involve the running; I do 3 dance classes a week at Spin Dance & Fitness (which I just love, & would recommend to everyone!!) – And I try to do as much of the class as possible with weights for toning. I also try to get in at least one 10k walk a week, to keep the weight going down, and the legs moving so they get a little  less of a shock everytime I run!

I went out for a run every day last week, till I hit the weekend, as I mentioned above! We all get times like that, so if you’re only getting out once or twice a week to exercise, don’t feel guilty, once you’re giving it your hardest push! And even though my blog last week was about making time for exercise, every now and then life will get in the way, and it should be fun, so as long as its only every and then you let it slip (and you’re straight back on!!) don’t feel bad! Those drinks were totally worth it, I am sticking by that…. see, who could resist these?? :) :) - Thanks Alfie!

And do remember folks, with the exercise, try to get the diet healthy too, the two do really do go hand in hand, they like each other, love each other infact, so keep them together. Eating out doesn’t have to be bold either, you can enjoy eating out healthily – you deserve a treat every now and then after all the hard work!  Just don’t spend too long deciding between the Calamari and the Squid ;) (Sorry Shaz!)

And that’s me pretty much done for this week. To the guys in the white van who beeped & whistled at me today, thanks a mil, I really appreciated you bringing me to the attention of the other truck drivers who joined in! And to the woman  coming out of the garage who decided to stop and fix her hair, thanks for parking so awkwardly I had to stop running and wait for you to move… did you not notice me glaring?? Haha J

Just to say thanks to you all once again for the support, keep with me guys, only 11 more blogs to go! Please keep sharing the blog… I’m hoping to get to a 1000 reads this week, so any help will be appreciated! Post it on any sporting-type sites you might think are relevant J

See ya next week, (if  I don’t see you out on the Greenhills!!)

Av xx

Running Track of the Week;

4) – Flo Rida … Good Feeling (this is my feel good song, you may have noticed my cheeky use of some of the lyrics in my blog today... it’s also my favourite song to dance to! (Quick Emma, play my song for me!!) haha)

3) - Rui da Silva... Touch me - (yep, Spawell days anyone!!??)

2) - Boney M - Gotta Go Home (you may feel the urge to do a little dance whilst running to this one!)


1) - Energy 52 - Cafe Del Mar 

12 WEEKS TO GO!!

The Girl in the Pink Jacket...


One of the hardest things about training or doing any sort of exercise is finding the time to do it. We're all busy, we've got jobs, college,school,kids to take care of, hangovers to nurse.. and we've all always got a million things to do, right? Last thing any of us want on a chilly March evening is to go out and walk. Even just making to the  the gym is a strenuous task!!(how often have we all made it as far as the car park and thought that was enough for one night!! hands up who's turned around and gone home without even setting foot inside the gym!!)
 We all know exercise is really important, and yet we tend to put it on the long finger a lot of the time, because basically we want to try avoid it! I'm writing this blog on training, but I'm no saint, I try to avoid it as much as anyone else. Its late when I get in from the office, all I want is food & TV. But there's this little nagging voice (which sounds remarkably like me!!) So I've gotta go do it... not just cause I have a weekly blog & 10k run I've committed to, but because i made a commitment to myself to get fit. 
Lots of people have said to me this week, 'Av i just cant find the time to get out'. I used to be the same...and you know what I've realised, its not the time we don't have, its mostly a lack of motivation. We're all guilty. So we look for motivation, and don't find it and sit infront of the TV instead. So here's your motivation, GET UP, GET OUT & DO IT!!!! Seriously though, we can all find the time to exercise, 20mins is enough. I know myself, training for this run is hard, I ache after it, I'm using muscles my body never knew existed. I dread the thoughts of going out some evenings/mornings - whenever I choose. But I do 3 one-hour dance classes a week, which I love, the classes are great fun, and if I they ran the class 5 times a week I bet you I would 'find' the extra hour in my busy schedule to fit it in, because I love it. Think about the things you wouldn't let yourself miss.. start thinking about exercise in the same light! In terms of priority, its gotta be right up there with brushing your teeth - important as hell, and you'd never just skip it because you couldn't be bothered!!


I mentioned how much I can dread sometimes just leaving the house for a run. We've all been there right? Another place we've all been is post exercise. How good do you feel after a work out/walk/exercise DVD/whatever ? OK so you might ache a little, have a face as red as a tomato, but I bet you all feel good. You feel proud of yourself for doing the workout, if you've been outdoors you'll have taken in so much fresh air you're practically high on it. Corny as it sounds, hold onto that feeling, because it can be your motivation to keep pushing and getting out, knowing that once you get your work out out of the way, you're gonna feel great, and almost like you've completed a duty to yourself , which I guess it is really. Think of the rewards when those jeans fit you better, or your new shirt is a smaller size!! 


So now we've all got it, we've got our motivation and 20mins, trainers on and we're off and running :) (doesn't literally have to be running!) If 5 people come and tell me this week they got up and worked out for 20mins, ill be thrilled!! Come on guys, make Av happy!! :) 


Back to me now, how the week go? Good! Last week I ordered myself a new jacket for running, you know the sort, lightweight, rainproof, handy pockets for keys etc. Well, you've got to look the part don't you!! Only problem was, its pink, and not just any shade of pink, but fluorescent pink. So bright it could hurt your eyes if you look at it too long. On the upside,as Georgina pointed out, there's no chance of me being knocked down!! Downside? You are very easy to spot whilst running up the Greenhills road in a fluorescent pink jacket, as I found out several times this week - with texts such as 'did I just pass by you running in a pink jacket??' Yes,yes you did! I ran my ass off this week, Monday,Tuesday and Wednesday, then I hit Thursday and every muscle and bone in my body refused to move & the nagging voice seemed to be on mute! Luckily on Friday the nagging voice was back in full volume, and I was back on track. I am literally improving with every step - I know this because everyday I make sure there is an extra step!! The running buzz has definitely filtered its way through every part of me!!


Saturday I took a little track up the mountains with the girls Lyn & Char, something I'd not done in years. We  weren't silly enough to attempt to run something as steep as that on our first attempt (remember, little steps and all that!) but we certainly walked our asses off. Up and up we went, concentrating on trying to breathe took over conversation on the really steep hills. But how worth it was it? So much.. when you're rewarded with a view like this!! 




 






Day after I ached in more new places,seriously, how many more new muscles can there be!! But Sunday is the start of my training week, so after plenty of stretching, in went the ear phones and off I went. 8K covered in just over an hour... trilled with myself... with 12 weeks to go, I think I am surely on track to get to that 10k /60min goal. This week I am going to concentrate on stepping up the actual fitness levels, so that I'm ready in a few weeks to tackle running up hills. The ground cant stay flat forever!!


And that's me for this week...happy as Larry, and getting closer and closer to that starting line. 
Remember, GET UP, GET OUT & DO IT!! Oh and if you do happen to see the girl in the pink jacket,  give me a wave, or better still, come join me! Just don't knock me down, that would defeat the purpose of the fluorescent jacket :) 


Thanks once again to everyone for your support, and to those of you posting the link on  your own pages, please keep doing so :) Enjoy your exercise &  speak in a week :)


Av xx


oh and thanks to Graham who made me a cup of tea this week..shame it ended at one cup, but hey who am I to complain, a cup of tea handed to you is just whats needed after a run :) 


Running Track of the Week;


3) - Rui da Silva.. Touch me - (yep, spawell days anyone!!??)

2) - Boney M - Gotta Go Home (you may feel the urge to do a little dance whilst running to this one!)


1) - Energy 52 - Cafe Del Mar  

13 WEEKS TO GO!!!

13 WEEKS TO GO -  I've found my nemesis!


Wowsers! Totally blown away from all the support this week, was not expecting it at all! My blog was read over a hundred times in 48 hours, I was astounded! Thanks so much to everyone for reading & all the nice comments and messages that followed! Keep them coming, and I love that so many of you have you have been inspired to even get out walking! As much as I have always said I a doing this for myself, I realise now, through this blog, I am doing it for all of you too! I'm really going to need your support as the weeks tick on, so please stay with me!!


Now I have to come back to earth and remember the reason I'm writing this, and the reason you're all reading! The 10K!! Only its not just 10K anymore, its 10K - EEK - WHAT HAVE I SIGNED MYSELF UP FOR!!


The stark reality of taking on this 10K challenge, is the fact it willl just never get any easier, beacuse the easier I find it, the harder I have to push! Thats not to say I am not enjoying it, I'm just saying its a challenge!Anyone I work with can probably testify that I do enjoy a challenge - but this one is so personal, I am becoming my own nemesis! I need to constantly beat myself, and you know what they say, no one is harder on yourself than yourself!! This week was tough, not only because I had to push that little harder, but once I had sent out this blog there was no turning back.. people want me to do well, and I have to do well for them, I mean ultimately its all for me, but I've got to give 100 people something to read every week now!


So how did I do? I'm almost afraid to say, Monday & Tuesday I found too easy! Each of those days I did a 25min run, on the same route, It got easier each day, and by Wednesday felt too much like a walk in the park! It was after Wednesday's run I reaslied that changing the route/times once a week (as I had initally planned) was not going to be enough, so now I have devised myself a weekly tracker.. every day has an extra 2mins either on or off. When its 'on', my route has to change to inculde an extra incline , when its 'off', my time time for yesterday has to be beaten!! Simple & self challenging, but actaully quite rewarding! I'm lucky enough to live and work in areas that have a million different routes into and around them that are easy to navigate!!


Wednesday and Thursday I really pushed hard... I've now got an extra 0.6K on my start time.. not much I know at this stage, but its really going to add up in no time!! Small steps and all that!


Friday and Saturday were my rest days..well as restful as they can be at your friends hen party!! When Sunday morning came around, I knew I had to get  my training week off to a flying start! On went the trainers, and off myself and Lyn went to the park bright and early Sun morning. I knew in my head I wanted to really push it, but didnt quite share that plan with Lyn incase she dashed off in the opposite direction before we'd even set off! Easing in with some fast walking and stretching, we started our run. I was so proud of both of us, we really worked hard... we made it round the 4.1K track from last week in 33ins 06seconds.. knocking 3mins off our time from last week! So next week we'll be adding 0.5KM to the track ...(Just dont tell the girls that yet, i will let it be a nice surprise for Sunday morning!!) :) 


I'm feeling great from the training, my legs ache a little everyday, but the stretching is combating that!! I feel like I am getting a bit fitter every day, I wish I could mark it on a chart somehow, like a child measuring their height on a wall chart! 


And thats me done for this week.... already into my second week, the starting line is getting closer. If you are getting out and about, weather its walking, running , whatever, remember to stretch and take it easy enough, you've gotta walk before running that marathon!
 Lots of people have been asking me for tips this week, and I am happy to help, but do remember i'm not a professional, I just want to get people moving, so no one ends up like Avril from just over a year ago :) - mail me any questions! (facebook or avriljmoore@hotmail.com) - I might start posting some of the questions / tips on here,  helping each other is what it is all about!


Next week i'll have a proper 2 week training tracker/plan done, which i'll post for anyone who wants some ideas for setting their own plan! 


Av xx


P.s feel free to share the blog link around... the more people who read, the more pressure I have ! 


Running Track of the Week;


2) - Boney M - Gotta Go Home (you may feel the urge to do a little dance whilst running to this one!)


1) - Energy 52 - Cafe Del Mar