Alison Angier Diary

Hi I am back again! Well what has been happening here in the Angier household? Well not alot really. With David working away it has been difficult to get to the gym. Now I have to be mum and dad from Monday to Friday with the school run, work, housework, shopping and running the kids around to football etc, last week was quite hectic. This week I aim to make a better judge of time for fitting in my fitness.

I went out with David yesterday on a very nice run. It was 3.8 miles and I set quite a nice pace for him. I did notice from time to time that I had started to pull away from him, so I slowed down so as not to push things too fast for him. I wasn’t pushing myself at all but it was still a nice run for me. Once we were on our way home, David did wave me on so I could speed up the pace for myself to give myself a bit of a burn. I still enjoyed it and I am planning on going out again tomorrow after school.

I would normally go in the morning, but I have to be in work for 8:45 and I won’t get home until around 2pm. If I am back early enough, I will go out straight from work. I will take a banana with me to work to give me an energy boost ready for my run.

I am going back to the running club next week and I am really looking forward to it. You probably think that I am mad to be looking forward to exercising with a running club, but it is good when you finish and feel so fresh and relaxed. Maybe you who read this should try it yourselves and see how you feel afterwards. If you do start, just take it easy and slowly until you get used to running. You might find that it’s something you do enjoy.

Hi I am back with another installment. Well after running two 10k’s in a week, I had managed to injure my hip. Not very pleasant as it was quite painful. I think it was really just doing too much over a period of time. I went to the gym and was given some exercises to do to strengthen the hip muscles and hopefully not suffer anymore pain. I was also told to stay off running for a week to let things settle down.

After doing all of this I decided that Monday was the day to start a gentle jog to see how things went. I took Tiffany with me and we just ran a gentle 1.4 miles at a pace to suit her. I felt comfortable but not at all like I had actually been out running as I was not even breaking into a sweat by the time we got home again. I was very pleased with how Tiff took to the run and she said she wants to do it again. Watch this space………

Yesterday I decided to try a 5k and David wanted to go out too, so off we went together. He asked me to set the pace and I noticed it was a bit too fast for him so slowed down to a more suitable pace for him. We did the 5k and he only needed about a 20 second breather to correct his breathing, so it was a good run for him. It was fine for me as I had had a week off and it is amazing how you notice it when you start again. My hip was a bit sore but not too bad, but I don’t think I will be doing a 10k for a couple of weeks yet.

Today I decided to do a bit of interval training to speed me up a bit in time for May’s Race for life. I started off with a warm up and then used lamposts to set my speed targets. I was pleased with how it went. It was not as fast as my fastest mile but it was ok. I only ran for 1.39 miles but as it was interval training it was actually quite hard work and I felt that I had run further than I had. It made me feel good afterwards though and I was very relaxed and refreshed. I certainly recommend a jog if you are feeling down as the change of scenery and the heart pumping really does feel refreshing. It is also free and very rewarding.

James has been having swimming lessons all week at the Leisure Centre. The classes are with trainee instructors so the classes are very small. He has really enjoyed it and has learned quite a lot. He is a very good swimmer anyway, but the lessons will make him stronger and better. He will be back to football on Monday as the swimming was only for this half term week.

Well that’s all I have for now. We don’t have any plans as yet for over the weekend except a visit to the gym on Saturday afternoon. I won’t be running there, just having a bit of a workout to keep toned. I must admit that I havent really been this week except to yoga on Wednesday. Never mind, I deserved the week off.

I can’t believe that I have achieved that target! I set myself a goal 4 weeks ago to run 40 miles in 28 days. I achieved 43.5 miles in 25 days so beat my target by 3 days. You will not believe how happy I was. The 7 mile run on Sunday was what finally clinched it.

I have now set myself another goal of 50 miles in 28 days. 10 miles further than last time. I did run to the gym on Tuesday and beat my personal best for the mile by 1 second. Not much I know, but still an improvement. I even managed to beat my time coming back home even though it wasn’t a personal best for the mile. The two runs added together gave me a best time for 2 miles. Unfortunately, I reset my goal after I sunk my Ipod, so the Tuesday run was added to my old goal and not my new goal making my old goal to around 45.75 miles. Today’s 5K was the only run added, so now I have an extra 2 miles to make up. I was very dissapointed with that, but I will remember next time to reset before I sink my Ipod to my computer. A lesson learned…..

I didn’t quite make a personal best on the 5K today, but I still feel that I have not fully recovered from Sunday, with the run and the added bike ride. I was going to have a day off exercise as I had previously mentioned in my last entry, BUT, it never happened. I ended up going to deep water aero with a friend of mine on Monday evening. It was great fun and I did mess about a bit. Then of course Tuesday was my run to the gym, work out and then run back. I also forgot about Yoga on Wednesday, so that was another evening of exercise, and then my 5K today. I must be mad I hear you say. Well maybe I am but it’s good for me. Tomorrow is definately a day off from exercise. I am going out in the morning to have a cuppa and some yummy cake before work. Well that’s all for now. Byeeeeee……..

Yes !!!!!  I did it!!!  I have been working my way up this month to run a 10k.  Originally, I set myself a goal of running 40 miles in 4 weeks.  I managed to get ahead by running down to the gym a couple of times a week as well as trying to do 2 long runs on the road.  I tried everytime to beat my personal best for the mile and managed it a couple of times so was very pleased with myself. 

I have managed to beat my goal of 40 miles with 3 days to spare.  I actually ran 43+.  On Nike+ I have now recieved my first medal and now need to reset my target of a few miles longer than my last.  I think I will leave setting a new goal until Tuesday as tomorrow I am having a day off from physical exercise.

I started out on my 10k this morning and got my breathing and pace settled fairly quickly.  I had my ipod on and just settled into listening to the music and relaxing my body into the run.  I used my chi-running form and I am impressed with how much I think it has helped me to improve this month.  I just kept on going and admired all the people stuck in traffic as I ran on past them.  The A12 has been closed at 2 junctions so all of the traffic has been diverted through Colchester.  It has caused mayhem believe me!!  People walked to town instead of waiting for buses as it was quicker.

I ran quite comfortably and didn’t feel the need for a drink or to walk.  I met a man running in the opposite direction to me twice and we had a quick chat whilst still running.  As the traffic was so built up it was easy to cross roads so enabling me to keep going.  Once you stop it is very difficult to get going again, so I didn’t want to do that.  Once I reached the 5 mile mark, I was very pleased with myself.  I had a fair bit of steep uphill but I just gritted my teeth and kept going and ignored the fact that my legs were definatley feeling it. 

Once the 6 mile mark was reached, I knew that it wasn’t far to go to reach 10k, but as I approached home, I was not far off the 7 mile mark, so I just decided to keep going past home until I reached the 7 miles.  I was so pleased with myself I can tell you.  It took me 57 minutes to do the 10k and by the time I had run the 7 miles it was 1 hour and 4 minutes.  What an achievement for me!!  I am so pleased as I didn’t think that I was quite ready for a 10k.  It’s amazing what you can do if you just push yourself. 

When I got back home, David said I didn’t even look tired.  I must admit, my body was ok, it was my legs that had started to ache a little.  Usually my lungs give up first, but with the breathing correction, I have found that I can go further for longer without feeling tired.

After my long relaxing bath, I took James to a party and then David said we were going out on our bikes.  I thought it would be a nice little bike ride.  HOW WRONG WAS I?  He took Tiff and I along part of the route that I had just run, so it was down hill, up hill, wind in your face!!  OH LOVELY!!  My aching legs were aching more!  We rode into town and had a drink in a coffee shop then it was time to come home again as I had to collect James.  After more up and down hills David got a puncture and had to walk home, HA HA!!  Tiff and I went off and left him.  Serves him right for making us do an 8 mile round trip!!  After a 7 mile run and an 8 mile bike ride, I only needed to do a swim to have done a Triathlon!!  NO WAY!!  I just went to get James and now I am sitting here writing this thinking can I actually be bothered to get up and cook dinner?

I have burned over 1000 calories today and it is impossible for me to make up those calories.  I told him if we carry on like this with all the exercise I will be a size 6 by the summer!  Not my intention I can assure you.  My size 8 jeans are starting to get a bit baggy so I do try to eat more, so decided to have a nice big double chocolate muffin.  Naughty but very nice!!

I am not sure what goal to set myself for the next 4 weeks, but I will give it some thought tomorrow.  Well now I am off to get yet another drink.  All this exercise is thirsty work and you need to drink as much as possible to stop dehydrating.  Well that’s all for now.  Bye for now.  BYEEEEEEEEEEE!!

Well another New Year and another Race For Life coming up in the Spring.  And YES I am going to enter again.  I am not sure if I will be able to raise the same as the amazing £400 like last year, but every penny counts and helps towards treatment for those that need it.

I decided it was time to buy some new running shoes as I had had my others for a year and they have been well used.  They are still ok but were getting a little uncomfortable for running.  We went off to the sports shop and after trying on about 20 pairs of running shoes, I finally settled on the Nike Zoom Air+ 10/2’s.  A very comfortable and light shoe which gives loads of support and allows the feet to breathe and not sweat.  Not to mention a very cool colour of mustard yellow and silver!!

David noticed that this particular style of shoe supports the new Nilke+ sports kit.  How cool is that??  It consists of a device going into the innersole of the shoe and another that connects to the bottom of your ipod nano.  It records how far you run, which pace you average over a mile, and also the time you took to complete your run.  It also records your pace throughout the whole of your run and tells you when you have reached a personal best.  Then when you get home, you hook it up to your computer and it sends the information automatically to the Nike+ web site where you can track how you are progressing.  You can set yourself goals and it records everything for you.  It shows you graphs and compares your best runs.  Nothing motivates you more than having Paula Radcliffe congratulating you on beating your previous personal best.  That put a smile on my face for sure.

I have run 14.5 miles this week, and aim to do 40 miles over the period of a month.  I have 3 more weeks in which to reach my target.  I have been doing short runs to the gym, and then doing a work out with weights, and then running home again.  It’s a bit slower running home, but I have worked out and it’s uphill most of the way home.  The wind this week has been head on and very strong which has almost stopped me in my tracks at times.  I battled on and still managed to beat my personal best today.  My fasted mile has now been recorded at 8 minutes and 23 seconds.  That’s 20 seconds off my previous.  I was very pleased as you can imagine.  My aim is to do the Race For Life in 25 minutes or under this year.  I aim to do a 4 mile run this Sunday in about 33 minutes.  We will see!!  If the wind has died down it will be doable.  On Wednesday I did a 3.43 mile run in 31 minutes without stopping and walking, which had previously taken me 45 minutes as I was still suffering with a chesty virus.

I have been reading a very interesting book about Chi-running.  It is very informative and explains how to improve your running by changing your posture and relaxing into the run.  If you relax your hips, arms and shoulders and focus on your posture, keeping the spine straight and leaning forward, the results are amazing.  You don’t feel tired and your legs don’t ache at all.  I have been trying to apply this to each run I do.  I must admit that I am not always successful, but it is getting better and I am achieving better results.  The more you can relax your hips, the longer your stride becomes and it makes you go faster too.  I also find that my breathing fits in better with my stride and I am not puffing and panting and feeling like I can’t go on.  I am beginning to believe that focusing on your body posture and relaxation are the main keys to a good performance and a satisfying run.  The book also says that you are less likely to get injuries or shin splints.  I haven’t finished reading it all yet, but I am finding that the advice is certainly beneficial to me.  Both the book and the Nike+ have motivated me to do better and to keep going on to achieve times and distances that I never thought that I was truly capable of.

My goodness, how time flies!  Christmas came and went very quickly and now we are in another new year.  So how was Christmas?

Well for us, it was a very quiet one this year.  David’s parents decided it was time they actually spent Christmas in Spain, so they visited in November.  My parents were also staying at home, so we decided to have dinner out.  We had a wonderful meal and it was so nice to not have to cook myself.  It was just the four of us and it made a lovely change.  The evening was spent with some friends who came to us and we had a pleasant evening with a lot of laughs.

Boxing day was very quiet.  We had no plans for visitors or visits, so we stayed home and James played with his toys and Tiff put all of her new music on to her Ipod.  I did the washing as it gave me something to do.  So not much to report on that day really.

We had been to see the boys before Christmas and had a pleasant time with them in Stevenage Pizza Hut. They have grown somewhat since the last time we saw them.  Well not Thomas as he is a man now at 20.

We went to visit some friends on the 27th who live in Stoke Hammond in Bucks.  It was a long drive as the traffic on the M25 and the M1 was horrendous.  It took us almost 3 hours to get there.  We had a lovely time catching up with Dean and Alison and saw their little girl Taylor for the first time, who is now 2.  I told you time flies!!  On the way home, we decided to go across to Milton Keynes and Bedford just incase the roads were busy again.  It turned out to be the right choice.  As we went over the M1, I noticed the traffic was almost at a standstill, so we continued on to Bedford and up to St Neots to join the A428 to Cambridge and dropped down on to the M11 which was far less busy.  We then got onto the A120 at Stansted to come home.  It only took us 2 hours to get home.  We decided that next time we go, we will not be using the M25 or M1.

The 28th was James’ 6th birthday.  Now that’s where time has flown!!  He was all excited at being 6.  He opened all of his presents quickly and read all the lables himself.  We took him to Macdonalds for a treat and then went into town so that he could get a few things.  We spent an hour in Woolworths waiting for him to decide what to get.  Eventually he decided he wanted Mousetrap.  As soon as we got home, I had to build it all up for him and then he and Tiff played it.  I made him a birthday cake and he loved blowing out the candles.  A good day that he enjoyed and a tired little boy went to bed.

The 29th was my uncles birthday, so we went off to visit him and my aunt who live in Hertfordshire.  We spent a pleasant few hours with them and went for a pub lunch.  It was a very nice visit as always and we left them late afternoon to make a visit to my sister and her family.  We spent a couple of hours with her before making our way home again.  It was another late night for James but he was coping well.

The last few days we have spent at home, including New Years Eve.  Tiff went to a sleepover at one of her friends which was a last minute arrangement.  It was quiet in the house as we saw in the New Year watching the fireworks display on TV from the London Eye.

Today has also been very quiet.  David went off to the gym in the morning and picked Tiff up on his way home, so it was just James and I left at home.  It has been a nice sunny day today but still a bit chilly.  I have been a bit bored today, but that’s probably because I haven’t been out in the last 3 days apart from the to the gym and Tesco. 

Well that’s about all I have to say at the moment, so will say bye for now.  See you all again soon.  Happy New Year!!

Thank goodness it has finally come to the school Christmas break.  It has been a very busy term with lots going on and I am happy to be getting a few days off.

We had the Christmas fayre at the beginning of December and it was very successful.  There was lots to do and see and the hall was heaving and bursting at the seams.  I did face painting and David ran a stall as did Tiffany.  James just did his own thing as usual and kept coming back with prizes he had won on various stalls.  So now that one is over for another year.  Come January we will be thinking about the summer fayre again!  It never stops you know!

We had James’ Christmas play and Tiff was in a concert at her school.  James with his football, and working, it has been difficult to get motivated to actually go into town to buy presents!  We have almost finished now so I will be glad when we have.

We had Christmas dinner at school yesterday.  That took some organising I can tell you!  I had help from the previous Senior MDA and with all staff pulling together we had a fantastic time along with the children.  We dragged a Christmas tree into the dining hall and had a Christmas cd playing.  The children were singing and the adults were dancing.  It was all very amusing.  The kitchen staff roped in extra help for the 300 odd dinners that they had to cook.  We had two sittings and all the teachers and TA’s from key stage two classes served the children and staff from key stage one as well as all the MDA’s who thoroughly enjoyed sharing dinner with the children.  Then I got served on second sitting by the key stage one staff as did the key stage two staff.  That left my MDA’s free to supervise the children in the playground.  We all rallied round to clear up afterwards and went outside to listen to the children singing and dancing in the playground.  I did notice some of my staff joining in and it was lovely to see them having so much fun.  It was a successful day and we all thoroughly enjoyed it.

Unfortunatley as always I get the terrible bad throat at Christmas.  I have almost lost my voice so needed help today and yesterday in getting the children through lunch and out on to the playground by having someone else do the talking for me.  Every year it happens and the laryngitis seems to catch me out.  At least no more school so no need to talk much.  Hopefully I will be recovered in a couple of days.

Well am off now so I WISH EVERYONE A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS & A HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Oh yes I am up and running again after another bit of bad luck.  The mother board had broken and it has taken a month to get it back from the repair shop.  Not amused as you can imagine!!

Well I have hopefully had my run of bad luck regarding computers now.  I have missed writing and browsing.  It’s quite surprising how you get to rely on things.

I could have borrowed Tiff’s computer and David’s but I felt they needed them more than I did.  I did use David’s for email but that was all I have been keeping an eye on as I get so much spam.  I left it for about three days and had 400 spam emails!!  I spent ages deleting them all and only had about three worth looking at.

Well I am calling it a day for today.  I still have loads of stuff to load back on and it can all wait until tomorrow.

Be back soon.  Byeeeee!!

My goodness!  Where has October gone?  Already we are in Novemeber and the shops are filling up with all of the Christmas gifts and foods.  It’s shocking really where the year has gone!  I have seen the Christmas adverts starting to appear on tv, but if you think about it, it’s not that long really, only about 8 wks to go I think.  SCAREY!!

We didn’t get many trick or treaters last night.  I was prepared with lots of sweeties, but now am lumbered with the ones that are left.  I will see how many there are and if there is enough, I will let James take them into school to share with his class.  He was really excited every time the door bell rang, he went rushing to the door to see who it was.  He handed out the sweets to them and then closed the door with a big smile on his face.

We are going to go to the fireworks display in Castle Park again this year.  I have no idea what the theme will be, but I am sure it will be a spectacular display again.  I was very torn between that and the Cardiff match against Colchester.  I admit I had already bought the tickets for the display, so thought best go there as I would be too nervous with the footy.  It’s a very big game for them.  Good luck Colchester!!

We are busy preparing for the Christmas Fayre and I have baked the cake.  I need to keep adding the brandy for a few weeks, then get it finished in time to raffle it at the fayre.  It only seems like yesterday that I did the last one.  Of course there is one for us too.  I wouldn’t dream of missing us out as I love Christmas cake.

Mind you the weather certainly felt wintery today!  That wind was biting cold.  It was a bit of a shock to the system after being spoilt with a lovely warm autumn.  I still have flowers in my pots.  I am sure they wont last much longer now the colder weather is with us.  Even Barney the bunny wanted to go indoors alot earlier than normal.  As soon as I got home from school, he was up at the patio doors wanting attention.  I am sure that rabbit thinks he is a dog!  I went out to the garden and he followed me to his hutch and jumped in and waited for me to fill his dish with food and treats.  Likes his treats does Barney.  He loves broccoli and cucumber too.

Work is going well for me at the moment.  I am really enjoying it.  The kids can be brilliant, but we all know kids lol!!

Well I think that is all my news at the moment.  When I have some more I will write again.  It’s about I put some photos on really, it’s looking a bit plain.  Maybe next time!  Bye for now!!

My how the weeks are flying by!!  We are already at half term and before we know it, it will be Christmas.  In fact I got an email informing me it is only 9 weeks away!

I took James to Go Bananas yesterday where we met up with friends.  He had a lovely morning running around burning off some energy.  Tiffany went into town with some of her friends and Rea came back with her to stay over.  They both enjoyed themselves lounging in the den watching dvd’s.  There was total silence from them which was lovely.

Today I went to the gym instead of running out in the rain.  I decided do that on wet days and especially now as it is getting colder.  The cold air is not good for the lungs as it cools the body too quickly and you are more likely to suffer an injury.  I will still run outside at least once a week as a treadmill can be a bit tedious.  I have got up to 4 miles now without stopping and managing to do it in 34 minutes.  Well impressed!!

Tomorrow James will go to soccer camp for a couple of hours.  It will keep him active and busy.  He will also go Thursday and Friday as well.  He really enjoys it and has been moaning because he can’t kick a ball around in the garden as the grass is so wet.  So the soccer camp is great for him.

We were very disapointed that Colchester lost to Coventry last night.  They fought well and were just unlucky.  The ref was a bit of an idiot though and it seemed he had it in for our players.  3 bookings for fouls for us, but when the Coventry players did it, we didn’t even get a free kick, especially when the result eneded in us losing a key player to injury due to it.  Maybe it doesn’t pay being the cleanest club in the league.

Work is going well for me.  I got a promotion just before half term.  Everyone was really pleased for me so I am confident that I will have their full support.  I enjoy my job and get on very well with everyone I work with.

Well no more news at the moment.  I am sure I will write again soon.