10 miles on Ilkey Moor Bar t'at

So I met Sarah Smith (fellow Valley runner) outside the supermarket on Saturday night and casually mentioned I wanted to run 8 miles in the morning (upping my miles again therefore wanting to forget about time and just enjoy it) and she invited me along to a run on Ilkley Moor with Mike Ayers (Founder of North Leeds Fell Runners).

It was Fab! It was a sunny, frosty morning, Sarah picked me up at 7am and we were on the fell side for 8am (ish). As soon as Mike heard I was a relatively new comer to the lesser known trods of Ilkley Moor he got very excited. We bagged 3 checkpoints, a forest, Swastica stones, a plane wreckage and a decomposed sheep.

After 2 1/2 hours I'd gone 10 miles! What an achievement! We walked bits and jogged bits and talked lots. I miss the fells...and maybe more importantly to Strava users...my watch!

Despite the running world not being able to analyse my times & distance, my stress levels and sense of self logged every vista, sun beam and aimless conversation. I'd had a short (but passionate!) cry the night before and really valued time back in my old life - on the hills, no buggy, no nappies...no worries. I even got bored after 2 hours and opted for a shorter route home.

PECO this weekend - bring it on!

7 miles long run

After many weeks of blogging silence I'm ready to share again. Thank you to all the lovely people who stretched out a friendly, supportive hand over the last few weeks. It really boosted me. John (below - at the end of parkrun), shared his memories of life with two young children and was really honest and I have loved this about this blog; hearing about other's experiences which otherwise would have gone unheard.

Thanks to John for taking/talking me through the second half of my first 10K after the Holly Hustle defeat. I ran to the park (3m) and then did parkrun (3m) and was as pleased as punch to have done it.

I then ran a few times through the week and then did a 10k in just over 45 minutes - to say I was proud is an understatement...I still haven't shut up about it! It was a cold and sunny morning, a flat route with plenty of cheerful faces.

The best bit was meeting up with the South Leeds Sisters at the start and cheering them on along the route. For 2 days after I relished the nostalgic ache and heavy legs.

I had planned to be up to a 10 mile ling run by January but I'm a bit behind. I plan on running each day in December (even if it's only 20 minutes with the buggy) and that should help get me into the swing of things. My toddler has stopped napping so mid afternoon is being earmarked for training and I've dug out super warm pram suits to keep them both warm on my adventures.

7 miles for my log run this month...starting tomorrow!