Megan's Marathon

Complete Rainbow Happiness - Sums up Sunday Perfectly

- Even better I took this photographic gem - ME!!!!

Sunday was D-day. After 5 months of serious run training, Megan completed her first Marathon in under 5 hours. WOOP WOOP. Well 4 hours 57 mins for all those sticklers. What a HERO. Megan you were so, so amazing so put the medal back on!!

And it couldn't have been a nicer day either........ to spectate...... apparently running in that heat was a completely different matter entirely ;-)), especially as Megan pointed out, she'd been training in -4 degrees in the snow not that long ago!

The Lady Victorious herself

- Megan had the decency to be limping slightly from blisters when I met her ;-)

She couldn't make it look too easy to us mere mortals!

I was very glad it was warm and gorgeously sunny on Sunday as I spent the last 60 hours with the sore throat from hell, a tickly cough, fever and chills and serious insomnia from all the aforementioned despite spending as much time as possible curled up in the foetal position. After two nights of less than 4 hours sleep {despite swigging half a bottle of cough mixture in an attempt to halt the cough long enough to fall into a trance - BIG FAIL}, with delirium setting in and only people armed with an electric cattle prod warned to come near me, Saturday night I decided that a mild sedative was in order. And it did the trick - Sunday morning I woke up {in completely sweaty PJs - oh so gross and with strangely sore lungs - from over coughing??} BUT only after 11 amazing hours of SLEEP.

So off to Brighton I set and with a smile

I may no longer be actually hallucinating - but I still have CRAZY HAIR - despite washing it twice. This was taken about 10 mins before a baby threw up on me - NICE - Made me feel so much better!

The SEASIDE!!!!!!!!!! Major Heartsies.

Wish you were here?! mwahahah xx

Thought this was Megan!!

This women was at the 25 mile mark at just after 2 hours. INSANE!!!

Check out the more normal folk running in the opposite direction at the 14 mile mark. SO CRUEL - Race Organisers!! LOVE IT.

Also LOVING this art project at the 19 mile mark.

That wall was getting A LOT of abuse!

So cute

This perfect shot of Noddy is the reason I apparently missed Megan in action just a few meters behind - 

SORRY Megan - but who can resist Noddy? 

Now if you'd been in your LoveHeart costume - I would def have spotted you ;-)

I MUST clarify that Megan did beat Noddy in the end ;-))

Could there be a NICER location for a Marathon - right along the seafront?

Beach Pollution - Tut, Tut!!

I eventually realised why I hadn't spotted any mile markers - I wasn't looking 20+ feet in the air

Sonic - Another crowd pleaser - This could not have been comfortable in that heat.

There was also a man carrying a 15 foot lion on his back - but I was too shocked to capture him.

Wait - Kilometers - Now I'm confused!

I was sooooo good and didn't get distracted by the car-azy golf - and I LOVE crazy golf - This is how much I LOVE you MEGAN!!

p.s. London - We NEED a CRAZY GOLF course - Stat!!

Well it wasn't just Megan and her 1000+ Marathon compadres who were exerting themselves on Sunday - Although not even slightly comparable - I walked 19 miles in total - 14 miles along Brighton seafront and back checking out the Marathon course and spotting for Megan and then 5 miles to my home in West Hampstead from Victoria Station.  Woop, Woop. Longest walk of 2011. THANKS Megan for inspiring me.

The Marathon Route for anyone tempted to sign up next year - NOT ME!!

The number of Heroes running despite being bandaged up everwhere, sticky plaster covering their legs OR outright limping and still running was such an amazing sight.  It almost convinced me that Feeble Hopeless Me might just be able to join them one day - but must be the fever returning ;-))

Check out the Fitbug stats

I nearly burnt a whole lb!!! 

At least I cancelled out my afternoon ice cream treat.

Unfortunately I left with a little souvenir - Challenge Hannah I only spotted your reminder about sunscreen once I got home - duh!!

This is not clever :((

At least I won't forget my Sunday adventures in a hurry

WELL DONE MEGAN. CONGRATULATIONS.

A BONAFIDE MARATHON RUNNER/ HERO

SUB 4.5 HOURS NEXT TIME RIGHT?!

TOO SOON?? xx

Endorphin High - Janathon Day 10

Basically I'm too high on endorphins tonight to type much - thankfully I was planning to post an update from Marathon Megan who completed her version of Janathon from mid Nov to mid Dec last year when she was challenged to kickstart her Marathon Training by tweeting everyday about her running. Well it's nearly one month on so I thought it was time to get an update and check whether Megan's kept up on her run training.

Before I hand over to Megan and start jumping around my room, here's today Janathon effort: Run (with small walk sections) from West Hampstead to Hyde Park Corner in 42 mins  - a distance of 4 MILES/ 6.5km!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Really pleased by this as it takes me 1hour 5mins to power walk and although I probably only ran 70% of the route (cos of the walking breaks) in reality it's such a MASSIVE improvement on just a few days ago. Plus I kept going despite having to constantly dodge people - one of my pet running peeves and I was running faster and picking up my heels more. Then once I got to Hyde Park, I completed a SUPERchick class which was fairly full of running intervals - and I completed EVERY SINGLE ONE of the running laps so I must be able to chalk up another 2-3km!!! Then I walked about 2 miles home. So going to sleep well tonight!!

The only slight downside to two days of being on fire is that I can feel blisters developing - first time ever from running!! Right now I'm too high on the endorphins to care but I'm guessing tomorrow is gonna hurt! xx

Marathon Megan's Update:

Megan Pre-Run!!

"One month on! Has it really been one month since the end of my 30 day challenge set by Justine?! (No not really as I am writing this at the beginning of Jan, but it has been 3 weeks!!) I wasn’t even sure I was going to get through the first 30 days, let alone this far. It is now only 94 days until the marathon and I am counting down the days. (You might think odd as that would mean willing it to be closer - however in my head it means that in 96 days I will have (hopefully) completed a marathon and it will all be over!)

Although I think I might be addicted to the endorphins! Since my last update at the end of November I have successfully completed Justine’s challenge and the long runs of the marathon training have commenced! These are organised by the wonderful Brighton Marathon Ambassadors, and I couldn’t be more grateful for the work they put in to plan the routes, check they are still safe in advance, and then guide us around them on a Sunday morning, and they do it all for free!

I was really worried about how I was going to tackle this aspect of the training. I missed the first two, so started my journey with an 8 mile cross country run- slightly daunting, but by then end we had actually run 8.5 miles and by some miracle my legs carried me the whole way! The route changes every 2 weeks, although it can be varied each week to add a bit of distance, so since then I have completed another 8.5 mile cross country run, a 9.5 mile and 11.5 mile road run in 1.5 and 2 hours respectively. Something I never thought would happen! and a 10.5 mile cross country run (where I felt like me legs would drop off at the end). We are going to try and add a bit to the end next week to make it nearer 12 miles! We will see how that goes as last week there was no way I could go any further!

My morning runs are still happening, although I didn’t do any in the week between Christmas and New Year. I did however manage a 9 mile run ON MY OWN!! I have never managed more than 4 miles alone before, so I am still feeling proud of myself now! It even included hills (inevitable when you live in Brighton) which I can’t stand!

Kung Fu training starts up again shortly, so combining the two is going to be another challenge; but as I run in the morning I should have recovered by the evening in time for the class, I don’t exactly have an active job! And I still keep one day a week for doing nothing.

I tried to register for the Brighton half marathon a few weeks ago, but had left it too late! There are others I could do instead, but I am feeling particularly apathetic about it at the moment – I sometimes feel the process of signing up is the hardest part! So, looks like it will be in at the deep end for me, with the full marathon being my first race!!

Anyway, here are a few things I have realised whilst doing this training:

• I can’t run my best at 5.45am and trying to do more than 4 miles is tough, however it is better than not going out at all (the alternative!)


• Don’t dither about in the morning, get up, get dressed, get out! The more time available for procrastination, the more likely it is there will be a reason not to go (there is always a reason not to go!) Once you have your kit on it would be silly not to go outside, and once you are outside you may as well go for a short run at least. Get your kit ready the night before, so if you don’t manage to get out of bed, you will feel really guilty every time you have to walk past it! Although I do draw the line at wearing the kit to bed, I think that’s going a bit far!


• The first 20 minutes of any run are horrific, get past this and you feel good at the end.


• Running with someone whilst chatting makes the whole experience more fun and helps you to pace yourself. We still manage 10 minutes per mile on the flat doing this (I can’t beat this EVEN when I’m not talking!)


• No matter how cold it is you warm up incredibly quickly, and actually starting off colder means you won’t ‘overheat’! I think the lowest temperature I ran in was minus 4, a complete achievement for someone as cold blooded as me.


• I still find it odd seeing hoards of men wearing leggings- still not sure if it should be acceptable or not, even if they are running!

Here’s to the next 94 days then!" x Megan x

Megan Post-Run - only looking slightly flustered I have to say.

So proud (and admittedly very jealous) of all that Megan's accomplished - those longer runs and those times, not to mention training in sub-freezing temps makes you a true SUPERstar with the stamina of a professional athlete!!  WELL DONE x a billion and keep up the training Megan - you have your LOVEheart debut on the 12th Feb to help motivate you ;-)) !! xx

Feel the Rhythm, Feel the Rhyme, Get on up, it’s TRAINING time!!

First off – Marathon Megan is now in her last week of her 30 day kick start marathon training habit. Snow, freezing temps, basically NOTHING is a match for this girl’s dedication to strapping on her trainers and setting off for a 40 minute run. Home stretch now Megan! After my own efforts this morning at my own brand of running training – I now fully appreciate the enormity of Megan’s achievement all the more!!

Yesterday’s Advent Fitness Task to myself was to draw up a training schedule to prepare me for my 3rd challenge. To be completely honest, I’m still not totally convinced that I know how to adequately prepare myself for running 10km for 28days straight – nonetheless I devised a schedule that builds up my running mileage over the next 6 weeks and allows me to get to grips with running the different sections of my normal morning route to work. I scheduled today as my first 5km run to the SUPERchicks class this morning. My flat to the S/C Hyde Park Meeting Place is exactly 5km – what are the odds?!

My training schedule - pixified.

 What you really need to know is that green indicates that I am planning to coerce AJ into training with me. Mwah ha ha.

Last night I went to bed all excited at the prospect of getting over the fear that I can’t actually do this. I even fell asleep visualising the different sections of the 5km route – every sloping pavement, crossing, uphill section – in the manner of the driver dude from Cool Runnings. Yes I am that sad that I have Cool Runnings in my DVD collection and that I can visualise my entire route to work. That’s what happens when you walk the same route a couple hundred times in the course of a year. When I woke at 4.15am, I was still excited but MEGAgrateful that I still had 45 minutes shuteye. I next awoke at 6.30am, having totally overslept my alarm, and now late, I was not feeling particularly enthused by the prospect of any running.

If it wasn’t for the fact that I had done so much preparation to make this a really (or so I had thought) FOOLPROOF intro to the running schedule by a) leaving a spare work outfit at the office the day previous so that my rucksack would be SUPERlight, b) carbing up via consuming a whole packet of cheddars last night – OOOPS and c) laying out my lighter running gear so that I’d have to run in order to keep warm, (No snugly merino wool outer layer for me today) I would have totally kiboshed the whole operation.

But in order to actually make it to work before cross boss o’clock, I took the tube to Green Park and planned to run from the top of Green Park to the bottom of St James’ Park and onto Westminster Bridge if I was feeling strong. In reality I made it as far as the bridge in St James’ Park before slowing to a walk. I ran a distance, if I’m being really generous, of about 1km!! I’m laughing because I have soooooo far to go and I’m the only one who can make this happen for me over the next seven weeks. Additionally I’m meant to be doing a 6km SANTA run THIS Saturday. Quelle disaster!

Hopefully I’ll still be laughing through my beard come Saturday xx

Megan's Marathon Motivation - Update

A little bird has been tweeting that Marathon Megan has not only successfully found her motivation but that she's stretched her training wings, flown the nest and now is soaring, if her latest tweet is anything to go by - 8 miles covered despite the freezing cold on Sunday!!  A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. WELL DONE Megan. You are a total inspiration.  The Brighton Marathon is going to be no match for you.

Understandably, I am in complete awe of Megan (if not more than a little jealous!!) particularly as my own running training has been dampered by the cold. {Although I have good news on this front. I have a plan in motion to end this blip in my training imminently, if last night's internet purchase is anything to go by!!  If you thought my crazy shoes were bad, well my latest purchase will doubtless guarantee that I am socially ostracised for ALL eternity!! But more on my newest training accessory once it's arrived. GULP}.

But back to today's post. Megan has accomplished so much in just two weeks and as I, for one, have so much to learn on the running front, I desperately wanted to know how's she's done it. Fortunately Megan kindly agreed to share first hand just how she's been getting on (and thankfully I didn't make her limit her account to 140 twitter characters!!) I may not be able to keep up with Megan on foot but hopefully I can keep pace with Megan in print.......

(Megan from the Boutique Run this Summer. Oh sunshine/heat - how we miss you!!)

I first saw Justine’s challenge for me on the way home from a kung fu session, and I laughed out loud,whilst reading the rest of the blog. I really was not expecting that! But, what a brilliant motivational tactic!

I leapt out of bed with passion on that first Monday, bright and early at 5.10am, and was out of the house by 5.30am. One thing to remember- my husband (Sam) has to get up at 5am to go to work- there would be no way I could drag myself out of bed at that unholy hour if it wasn’t for this small fact. Other reasons I prefer to get out of bed at such a silly hour: 1) I don’t really have time at any other point in the day, and 2) after work the last thing I feel like going is going for a run, so it’s a good job I have already done it in the morning.

I have now just finished day 14 of the challenge, and have 8 stickers on my sticker chart :-))) (although I would have 10 if my 2 full days of kung fu were also included). I am still keeping up the kung fu 3-4 times a week (6-7 hours) and I am trying to run about 4 times a week- 2 x 45 minutes, 1x 20 minutes and then a long run on Sunday. Yesterday I did my first long run and I managed the full 8 miles! Woohoo! Although I run alone in the mornings (mainly as I haven’t yet managed to find anyone to come with me!) but I do not have that much motivation or willpower to do the long runs alone. Thankfully the Brighton marathon people have organised long runs on Sundays building up the distance each week.

Anyway, thanks Justine, without you I would never have got started. Here’s to the marathon being as fun as today’s 8 miles (although I have a feeling it may not be!)

I do not yet have a picture of myself in my attractive fluorescent top and purple hat, but I will try to get one soon! Wish me luck for the coming week; Sam is away on a course ALL WEEK, and so will I be able to get myself up and out?!

LOVE this pic.  This is the Megan whose determination knows no bounds!

WARNING: Do not mess with this girl or her Marathon ambition - or prepared to get your butt kicked kung fu style!!

Megan - I, for one, have EVERY faith that you will complete your 30 days, the Brighton Marathon AND more. Plus you have worked so hard to date so no letting up just yet - Sam or no Sam!! Keep your eye on the prize. But really, who am I kidding, I KNOW you will stay the course - just look at that face. xx

Mission Motivator to the rescue.

There's NOTHING like a skin tight lycra all in-in-one to get you motivated about exercise - Right?!

Actually, if this is your idea of hell then keep reading

I got a message the other day from newbie Marathon training Megan asking for advice on “Getting motivated about exercising in the cold nasty wetness first thing in the morning?” Well first can I say that it’s brilliant someone thinks I might know something about exercising and motivation – clearly I have somehow fooled you all! Mwahahaha.

In truth this is a toughie. If I had really cracked this, I would be a SUPERmillionaire jetting off to warmer climes and getting someone to work out my body for me.

Short of dashing down to Brighton every morning and singing really badly and REALLY loudly till Megan gets up and out running, I not sure I can be of much actual assistance. So instead I have devised a 10 point plan of some slightly more practical suggestions I can offer up, which should hopefully get Marathon Megan off to a sprinting start with her winter training and beating off the winter blues simultaneously:

1. Visualisation – I’m a sucker for pictures of celebs looking hot in a bikini – I suffer from MASIVE bikini envy so normally a quick look at these stunners is enough of a mental slap to convince me to take the doughnut out of my mouth or to get my trainers on. Similarly, Megan should be visualising crossing that finishing line in under 3 hours, after overtaking Paula of course!! Anchoring – locking in a positive energy, for example a love of running via an incognito gesture such as pressing thumb and finger together is an extension of visualisation techniques. Everytime you don’t feeling like going for a run, you just need to tap into your "anchor" and you should be awash with your love for running and off quicker that the road runner.

OK slight reality check. Love the idea of this but in reality I know of no-one who actually “anchors”. Just too wacky. Plus visualisation and anchoring are just not going to kick your butt when you really need it to.

2. Carrot – Sometimes bribing yourself is the ONLY way to go. Personally I have a system of stickers going. Everytime I complete a session I put a sticker on the wall chart in my bedroom – it lets me chart my progress and makes me feel like I’ve earnt a gold star, sometimes two. After nine months, my wall chart is now a thing of stickered beauty. Seriously. If stickers are not your thing – what about a new nail varnish for 10 consecutive sessions or a pedicure after 30 or a new pair of trainers after 50? Better still, Megan - get your husband to decide on the rewards for you – for example a special dinner cooked for you if you complete a week’s training or no chores etc.

3. Stick – Sometimes a carrot, however pretty or desirable, also isn’t going to do the job. This is where the guilt card comes in handy. My stick is normally a goal I’ve set myself – like a 10km race that’s only a few weeks off. Nothing like feeling the impending fear of failure to get you out into the cold and wet and running your butt off. SUPERtrainer Mel plays the guilt card really well – she has her own brand of text messages that will get you guilted out of bed and to a training session before you realise what’s happening. Similar to above, Megan, get the hubbie to select a forfeit for you if you miss more than one session a week – I guarantee you’ll see a improvement in your willingness to get training sharpish!!!

4. Competition – This is the one that has come into its own in recent weeks and is wholeheartedly responsible for getting me up and out in the horrible early morning winter weather. Cue the League of Extraordinary Early Rising SUPERchicks: Currently SUPERjade and I are battling it out. I’m very proud to say that I currently have a 2 point lead over the weak, weak SUPERjade!!! Our winter league is even responsible for getting me out of bed at 5am twice during last week’s Annual Leave including once after only 3 hours sleep. That’s how competitive I am. So too is SUPERjade and she is not coping well with the thought of losing the League to me – Mwahahaha – I’ve finally found something sports-related I can beat SUPERjade at! Who'd have thought it.

5. Buddy Up – I cannot recommend enough the benefits of finding a training buddy – you’re so much less likely to wimp out if you’re going to let someone else down – which is why AJ and I organise to go running together. We both know it would never happen if each of us were left to our own devices. Plus included free with your training buddy is much needed banter – guaranteed to keep your spirits up even when it is pissing it down. There are various websites out there aimed at matching up running buddies – haven’t tried any personally but http://www.joggingbuddy.co.uk/ looks good (plus I checked and there are loads of potential running buddies in the Brighton area). Alternatively since you’re not in London, and I can’t drag you to SUPERchicks, get yourself to a local running club, Megan. It’s the perfect way to meet a running buddy – just don’t be fooled into taking on any of the 70 year old grandads – they are FAST and have the STAMINA of Usain Bolt – BELIEVE ME!!

6. Accountability – An extension of the buddy theme – this is where my blogging has proved REALLY pivotal. I HAVE to publicise my endeavours to all my friends, colleagues and random strangers because SIMPLY, the more people who know, the less opportunities I have to cheat or fail. I am pretty much guaranteed that at least once a day someone will enquire about “what training I’m doing/have already done today? How’s the running going? Where are those freaky shoes of mine? How’s PALEO? What day am I on? What am I allowed to eat? What’s the next challenge?” etc. This keeps me 100% accountable and focused on what I’m attempting to achieve. Plus owning a fitness blog puts the pressure on me to do something fitness related on a very regular basis – else what would I have to blog about?! But you don't need to get blogging if that's not your thing - there are now whole industries set up on the principle of "public commitment contracts", http://www.stickk.com/ is my current favourite.

7. Suitable Clothing – At the end of the day, there’s no getting away from hideous UK winter weather. Training skins, a waterproof, a woolly hat and the promise of a hot shower post-training really help make the experience a lot more bearable. Plus it’s only those few minutes at the start of a training session when your body is still warming up or acclimatising to the rain that are truly awful. Get past that point and you stop caring about the rain and cold – you have bigger issues to worry about like breathing or your legs wanting to drop off!! (Though maybe that's just me?!) Also you do get a perverse sense of pleasure from running in the rain – just try it!!

8. Tunes to feed the soul – I’m a MASSIVE believer in music lifting my energy and spirits when I really can’t be bothered to do exercise. A fast punchy track is guaranteed to get me skipping down the street when previously I just wanted to catch a bus.
N.B. It is so important to keep changing your tunes and training routes around – your brain is effectively just a large muscle so you have to keep it engaged by surprising it. My sister has just sent me some itunes vouchers for my Birthday and I cannot wait to sort some new playlists to help re-energise my training and running.

9. Simple is best – I made my exercise regime part of my daily commute – I had to. Otherwise I knew it just wouldn’t happen. Getting up early specially to train requires superhuman effort but if it’s just part of your daily schedule and for me, my way of getting to work, you simply stop thinking of it as an optional extra. It’s a daily necessity like eating breakfast, breathing or going to work. Other ways to keep it simple are to ensure your kit is laid out ready so you literally just have to get up and dressed. Some fitness magazines even recommend sleeping in your training bra - though personally, that is taking things a bit far.

10. Habits – Embarking on anything new is always the hardest part. However the good news is that it only takes 30 days to form a new habit and as one of my mentors said to me “you can do anything for 30 days”. Really, well I'll show you! So keep up a new training regime for the first thirty days and it will become second nature. EASY PEASY!!

Additionally I would also highly recommend signing up to the free SUPERchick Motivation Monday email here (scroll to the bottom of the page) – a weekly helping of training inspiration straight to your inbox. Megan – I’ve already signed you up – yup your email is no longer safe from me!!

So Megan – you asked for my help and because I think you are A.M.A.Z.I.N.G for undertaking your first ever Marathon, for the next thirty days I am dedicating you your very own spot on my blog “Megan’s Marathon Motivation” (see right hand side) – This is attached to a twitter account I set up for you!! For every training run you do, you are now accountable to ME and the Girl on a Mission’s readers. You are required to upload either a photo or tweet etc. about EVERY training session. We’ll be checking up on you and your progress. You are so warned!! Complete your training and tweets for a full 30 days and there will be a prize waiting for you at the end.

If anyone has any other tips for WINTER TRAINING MOTIVATION, PLEASE do share... we can split the profits and jet off into the sunset together. xx

A picture says a thousand words

The long awaited Boutique Photo Album is finally here – but before you peruse the fabulous images below – first I need to give a MASSIVE shout out to Daniel at SportCam for helping me locate and procure these fabulous images so easily even when he definately wanted to kill me for confusing the file names one too many times! Getting such amazing finish line photos of (nearly) every single runner of the 2000 participants of the Boutique Run is no mean feat – you can see for yourselves SportCam’s amazing ACTION shots!!

(I have also borrowed a few images from the amazingly snap happy Lucinda – again some brilliant photography, if I don’t say so myself!)

To those individuals, particularly Sophie and Sarah, whose action shots I wasn’t able to locate or anyone who’ve I somehow omitted (and believe me I scanned through a LOT of photos), clearly you crossed the finish line at such a pace that ever the camera shutter speed couldn’t keep up with you - so your amazing feats are conspicuous here by your absence ;)

Every Run should involve cupcakes - its so ordained!

Clearly the promise of cupcakes did the trick!

Pre-run - that much is evident from the still beaming grins of some of the much-loved Hyde Park SUPERchicks!

Me with the amazing Honourary CHICKs who can be identified via their BIBs!!!

SUPERchick Founder Cat - after her HEROIC 1km (no joke) SPRINT - just to cheer me on my way!

Check out this lady's feet - she is officially FLYING!!!!!!!!!!!

Honourary CHICK Megan - crossing the finish line, not letting up one bit OR for that matter even breaking a sweat!

SUPERchick Lucinda - ultraglam and making this look a breeze - Check out that GRIN - You'd never guess this lady also completed a TRIATHLON the same weekend!!!!!!!!!!!

Not looking quite SO happy - this one is me at the 5km point - the 10km shot is hilarious but really not suitable for public consumption (1hr8mins of running does strange things to me!)

{Boutiquers - if you need a giggle you can easily find it if you so choose!}

SUPERchick AJ chasing my heels just a few seconds behind me- also illustrating how gorgeous you can look even after running 10km. So I have NO excuse really.

(AJ = Awesome Jo and YES, I'm President of her Fan Club)

Catching up with the scarily fast Sophie long enough to pose in Mother Hubbard's Shoe

Post-race - smile back in situ mostly by the thought of a giant cocktail literally the size as demonstrated here BARMAN

All the SUPERchick gang with their well deserved medals

Some of the apres-run madness - SUPERchick FOUNDER!! Cat

and Triathlon AND Boutique completer Lucinda lead the way

Out of respect for everyone's dignity (or what's left of it) this public account of the Boutique Run will end here - except to say the rest of the night was FUN, FUN, FUN and the queue for the SUPERchick photobooth never stopped!!!

However my 10km race debacle doesn’t end here – Sophie convinced me yesterday to sign up to the 10km race at the Old Deer Park in Richmond on Sunday 1st August, 9am. I am actually more terrified about this 10km even knowing that I just about managed to run my first ever 10km just a few weeks ago.

The 10km on the 1st August will be my INAUGURAL Proper (interpret: very serious) race, not a friendly/girlie give-it-a-go, it-doesn’t-matter-if-you-walk-some-of-it event. I imagine there will be mainly proficient runners present on the 1st August, not to mention, lots of scary looking men beasting their PBs.

Plus there is the little matter of this race being only 9 days away and the only tiny bit of running I’ve managed since the Boutique Run was a 3 mile interval SUPERchick session yesterday as I didn’t think I’d be attempting a repeat of the 10km until like 2020!

I am clearly insane.

Luckily the thought of Sophie’s (maddeningly fresh but nonetheless) friendly face waiting for me at the finish line is helping to steady my nerves – that plus we’ve already agreed that we are treating ourselves to a yummy lunch in Richmond post race!

p.s. Let me know if you have any TOP TIPS for best places to eat out in Richmond- really need some great food inspiration to help me complete this 10 km next Sunday. EEK!

p.p.s Check back tomorrow - My Commando Challenge Team will be introducing themselves!! The team reveal some very surprising, not to mention HILARIOUS stuff about themselves so you definitely don’t want to miss out!