Day 33 - a third of the way there

Day 33 - A third of the way there

Finsbury Park - the site of Zoe's final
jump pre-injury

A third of the way through the challenge, it could be said that the team have seen better days.

Disaster struck Jade on day 15 when she was unwell and was prescribed antibiotics by her doctor. She had no choice but to take a break from the challenge for a few days until she was back on her feet. Ever the trooper, Jade is now back in her trainers and has decided to play catch up for the few days she has missed by running twice a day for two days. Yes, there was a brief break, but she will have completed the same number of runs as the rest of us by the end of the challenge. Determined to do her bit to help FORWARD, without risking prolonged poor health!

On a more serious note however, Zoe is injured and has been warned off running for a month by her physio. She has damaged some ligaments in her knee and has been advised to rest for the moment. Again, determined to do everything she can to complete the challenge, without causing lasting damage, Zoe is going to complete her mile a day on the cross-trainer for the next month until she is assessed again to join the team back running.

That leaves Louise and Lydia still plodding (prancing?) along...

New people, places and things (by Lydia)

The stones from
Horseguards causing
Lou some issues

The past few weeks have been great, although things are getting tougher. Physically I am feeling the aches and pains and am having to be more strict with my stretching as well as attending yoga classes. My hamstrings are tight when I wake up every morning. I'm sure with good management it should be fine, it's not painful yet.

Mentally, getting out for a run isn't a problem. In less than 30 days it has become a habit that I just have to do. My husband has been really supportive about me fitting it in (mainly as long as he can stay in bed longer), but that works for me. The more challenging part has been mixing up the route or pace to keep it interesting.

New areas of town

The view from Archway, North London

To try to keep things fresh, Lou and I have not only been exploring new areas of town - I now know there is a place called Percy Circus which was a nice change of scenery for one of our little lunch time trips. I've also explored Greenwich Park (those hills!) and now realise how close Elephant and Castle is to the office. A visit to Mercato Metropolitano is definitely on the cards.

Last weekend the girls came to my house in North London to do a longer weekend run. I took them up Highgate Hill to see the view from Archway Bridge, then along the Parkland Walk from Highgate to Finsbury Park. It was nice to be a running tour guide for the day, despite the hangover that I was trying desperately to hide. 

New running friends

When we're not able to mix up the route, we've been trying our best to get some guests along to join in and keep things fresh. We have had Melissa, Laura and hopefully soon Dai. Although it’s not popular with everyone, poor Carla in the office who only started running a few weeks back looked pretty scared when Louise and I pleaded with her to come for a run with us soon!

Laura joined us to admire the street art through Leake Street Tunnel

New groups and training types

We're planning on experimenting with a few new running groups or training session formats over the coming weeks. There are a number of groups we are looking at attending, like the TRIBE tempo training sessions, held in Shoreditch every Tuesday. The Midnight Runners 10 km boot camp, also on a Tuesday, is another. One of our new friends Laura, has also encouraged us to join her for a track session one time soon. All great to mix up the formats. Doughnut Run Club anyone?

How far we've run to date....

This week Lydia, Louise and Jade have managed to cover 98 km, the distance from London to Eastbourne where our Jade was born.

Lydia and Lou still going strong

Overall the team has just 'arrived' in Le Mans, home of the famous 24 hour car race, having now clocked up 463.15 km.

Things we’ve learned this week

• Where to find underwear near the office.....
• That a hairdryer is key to drying out running kit not yet dry from yesterday's run.....

Things keeping us motivated

• Knowing we are getting our vitamin D during the winter months
• Reading other’s ‘100 days of running’ blogs
• Marina's advice

To donate to FORWARD, please visit our Justgiving page here. 

Keep track of our progress across social media with #100daysofrunningforward