Peggy's Blog

Posts Tagged ‘Manchester 10k’

My mum, dad and Auntie Jill are all running the Manchester 10k this Sunday (16/05/2010) and Auntie Alison should be doing it, but she has got a poorly paw

My mum has asked me to see if any of you lovely dogbloggers would like to sponsor my mum as she is running on behalf of the British Heart Foundation this year because of Auntie Jenny and her pacemaker. 10k is 6.2 miles you know and that is WELL FURTHER than we normally go on dog walks – I have already decided, that if mum does it, I am going to sponsor her 2 chew sticks, I think that’s fair…..

Anyway, you can click on this lovely widget to go to her justgiving page and donate:

Or if you want to go “old-school” and donate pounds, shillings & pence, you can email peggy@haydockdogblog.co.uk and we will send you details of how to donate. Anything you can give is very greatly appreciated and mum assures me that the thought of everyones generosity spurs her round the course.

Woof Woof Woof

Thank you all very very much.

Love

Peggy xxx

So I don’t know if you remember, but about 6 months or so ago, mum & dad had come to the end of their tether with me destroying parts of the house and so decided to embark upon a very strict morning walk routine. This involved either mum or dad (they take it in turns) taking me out for a route march/walk/run every morning without fail so that I just want to sleep when I am left alone rather than eat doors in fright. So this is exactly what we have been doing and I have to say it has worked really well and I feel MUCH calmer and happier during the day.

Mum and dad have been sort of training for the Manchester 10k on the 16th May – dad more than mum to be fair – and  I thought it would be nice of me to take dad out for a run this morning…. Here we are coming  back at 7:00 after a 3.7 mile run…

I have to say that I think we both look as fresh as a daisy…. must be all that lamb I ate last night  Woof Woof.

Morning dogbloggers!! Happy Friday to you all

I don’t know if you know, but my mum is a fan of any kind of countdown – so here are a few for you all to be getting on with:

It is….

• 3.6 weeks till Mum & Dad go and see a pup called Ricky Gervais in Blackpool
• 4.1 weeks until we put our Christmas Tree Up
• 5.7 weeks until mum & dad finish work for Christmas
• 6.0 weeks until Christmas Day
• 6.1 weeks until MY BIRTHDAY!!!
• 7.0 weeks until 2010
• 18 weeks until Mum & Dad run the Sport Relief 6 miler
• 21 weeks until Auntie Jenny, Uncle Rob, Lola-Mai & Tilly go to South Africa.
• 25 weeks until Dad’s Birthday
• 26 weeks until Mum & Dad run the Manchester 10k
• 33 weeks until Mum’s Birthday

So I am pretty excited – but mostly about my birthday and Christmas as I am not totally sure what everything else is. Mum has told me that the running things mean I get to go out on lots of runs with the pack – which is ALWAYS a good thing  Woof Woof.

I don’t know if we have any plans yet for the weekend, but mum did mention that we would be seeing someone called Jack Bauer who lives in 24 – so that will be nice…. if he brings me treats.

Love

Peggy xx

Hello dogbloggers, just HAD to tell you about mum & dad’s  race today. Here is the Nike+ recording of their Bupa Great Manchester Run!!

Mum & Dad have done so much hard work training and doing their best and I am so VERY proud of them. Mum was a little disappointed as she didn’t quite get the time she wanted but she is very good at seeing all the other good things that have come out of the run…

• This training has increased our fitness levels 10x fold since Christmas. Flights of stairs and running up hills are NOTHING to us!!!
• This was my first 10k race where mum ran the whole way around without stopping.
• This (the running) started when mum’s lovely grandad died on Valentines Day 2004 of Oesophageal Cancer – without him she says she would still be sat on her arse.
• Between mum & dad’s friends,family,  colleagues & TSAians, we have raised close to £400 for Cancer Research.

Mum is a bit tired now, but keeping it together as they are going to a celebratory barbecue tonight at Ali’s. So thank you a million million for all your support and just to prove we were there, here are a couple of photos of us at the end.

p.s. it’s not too late to donate – click here if you are in the mood..

Well pups and doggies, tomorrow is the big day…. the Bupa Great Manchester Run. 10k or 6.2 miles around the city centre of Manchester, past Old Trafford and other similar Manchester landmarks, finishing infront of The Beetham Tower on Deansgate. Mum is, well a little nervous and dad is brilliant and calm. Dad has even made mum a little track to listen to as her “power song” on her ipod and it’s a good job she listened to it  tonight first as it made her do a little cry :-(  But luckily it was a happy cry and this is why…  Running Message 

So, we have been stamina banking since January and here are our stats:

We have recorded a total of 47 runs since January, covering a total distance of 149.42 miles which took us 30 hours 30 minutes and 12 seconds, which gives us an average pace of 00:12:15 minute miles. So I guess the only thing left now is for me to wish mum GOOD LUCK and tell her that she CAN do it and make sure she kicks its ASS. I know she can do it. Woof Woof xx

Oh well, just thought I would say  Good Afternoon Dogbloggers just before mum, dad and I go out for yet another training run. It’s only 10 days now till mum & dad do their race so it is proper head down, training time. Our plan is as follows:

This week

Tuesday: 4 miles    (done)
Thursday: 4 miles
Saturday: 6 miles
Sunday 3 miles

Next week

Tuesday: 6 miles
Thursday: 3 miles
Sunday RACE DAY (10k/6.2 miles)

I am not allowed to do the race itself, but I will be minding the house and sleeping which I suppose is the next best thing. We have all been training solidly now since the beginning of January so I guess we are fairly up to the challenge. I mean, can any of you run 6 miles without stopping? I bet you cant So off we go in a short while and mum says we are going to run along the canal, so I will get lots of chances to sniff and run around like the daft canine that I am!! (OOO, did I just say canine? I must be cleverer than I think!!)

Love
Peggy xx

22:34vUpdate:  We can now cross of Thursday cause here is our run on Nike+

Hello everyone, I’m back with my first post on Dog Blog for a long time. There’s been a lot going on with Peggy and her mum and I wanted to give you my view on what’s been happening.

The biggest thing this year has been my “employment” as Gill’s running coach for the Manchester 10k in May.  I’ve been running semi-regularly since 2003, and having trained for a marathon and a number of other races I decided it was time I helped Gill with her training: I just had to wait until she asked so she thought it was her idea.

I think we had about 16 weeks in total to prepare when we started and the first thing I had to do was fill Gill’s “stamina bank” with, well with stamina.  The idea of the stamina bank is that you fill it with lots of low-intensity miles, and they get your heart and other muscles ready for the harder training to follow.

The low-intensity means keeping a steady, but easy pace, and never becoming out of breath.  This helps make the heart stronger and prepares all the other muscles for the rigours of training.  Every part of your body needs to adjust to running, and this is what the stamina bank training helps with.  We also decided to take Peggy on as many training runs as we could and this has had great side effects as we’ll see later.

So, stamina bank: Has it worked?

Yes, it’s worked amazingly well.  Gill is now very fit and able to run 5 miles without getting out of breath.  This means she can still hold a conversation with me so the search for the thing that shuts up a woman continues.  Peggy can now comfortably handle 5 miles too, and over the weeks her behaviour has changed so that she is an even more calm, better behaved dog than before.

What next then?  Well, the three-times-a-week stamina bank training gives way to a combination of training runs that are designed to increase strength, speed, and the all important stamina.

Once a week is the long run.  Currently at five miles, this will be pushed to six and then seven miles before training finishes.  The long runs are all done at easy pace.  The main purpose of these runs is to train the body to withstand running for over sixty minutes and to enable it to do so comfortably.

One of my favourite running sessions is hill training.  The basics are: run up a hill for sixty seconds, jog back down, and repeat as many times as you can manage without killing yourself.  It’s an excellent session for building running strength and stamina and also mental strength.  Hill training is deceptive, because the first thirty seconds seem easy, but keeping that same pace for the last ten seconds when your legs are on fire is torture.

So, I’ll be torturing Gill most weeks from now on

The last session we’ll be doing each week is what we call a tempo/interval run.  This will consist of a 1-mile warm up at easy pace, followed by two miles at a faster pace, followed by a 1-mile warm down at easy pace.  This run is designed to train the body to run at higher speeds, but we only use short(ish) distances so as not to exhaust the body.  Over time what happens is that the easy pace on the long runs will become faster without any increase in effort, i.e. heart rate will remain the same.

We’ve done a lot of training now, so it’s about time I did a report.

Gill’s Half-term report

Attendance: Gill has not missed any training sessions yet except where the trainer (me) called them off.

Attitude: Gill has shown an excellent attitude throughout training and her perseverance through “stamina bank” training has paid off.

Effort: Gill has put in a tremendous amount of effort so far and has taken to hill training and tempo training with gusto.  She does, on occasion, lie down in the middle of the street when it all gets a bit much, but that’s because of her effort not due to a lack of it.

Overall: 9/10

I’m absolutely delighted with the training because now I know things about Gill’s running that she doesn’t know I know.

For example, I know she is capable of running 6 miles – despite not having done the distance in training yet – and will be able to do it without getting out of breath or so uncomfortable she wants to stop.

I know she has an irrational fear of hills, despite always being able to manage them and getting back to normal pace in minutes.

I know that her biggest fear is the demons in her mind, but if she could only see how she repeatedly vanquishes them on every single run she wouldn’t have the fear anymore.

And our wonderful Peggy-Dog has become such a good runner too.  The look of excitement on her face when the running shoes, waist-belt, and lead come out is lovely to see.

In fact, my new favourite thing is for the three of us to go running together.  

Onwards and upwards!

Michael (Peggy’s Dad)

Hello everyone, Peggy-dog here at your service! Ask me where we have been today, ask me, ask me…. yep, you might have guessed from the post title, we have been to Delamere Forest in Cheshire. It was great and the best part was, it was covered in snow!!!! I had the best, best day and spent the entire time legging around, sniffing stuff and generally having a whale of a time. We went to Delamere mainly because mum & dad are training for the Manchester 10k and this was part of their training plan and we went today because my little cousin Lola-Mai (she is a human) is 3 years old tomorrow and mum & dad are going to the Chill Factore to help her celebrate. 

There were loads of people there and tons of doggy friends for me to meet. In the car park just before we came home, we met a friendly golden lab. The trouble was, was that he was on the lead and when he came running over to me to say hello, he pulled his dad so much that he made him skid like a mad fool across the ice and snow. Mum couldn’t help herself and starting laughing rather indiscreetly! It was dead funny though…. don’t dad’s know that 4 paws are much better  

As always, mum took some photos of me, so check them out.  Yay Delamere!! Woof Woof!! 

 

Come on! 3 out of 4 planned runs in January done! Erm Hello! This is Peggy’s mum Gill again, being a bit giddy about starting her Manchester 10k training. I have managed to persuade Peggy’s dad Michael to train me (and her and him) for the Manchester 10k which we have entered in May. To date this is 16 weeks away, so this gives up plenty of time to get in shape and maybe do a good race. 

Today we did a Huntsman Loop which was really good, and as Michael was pacing us, we didn’t go too fast and managed to run 2 miles. We did a brisk walk for the last 2-3 minutes to cool down and it felt good, although don’t tell anyone, I always tell people I don’t enjoy running ). We are going to do the same tomorrow night after work and then 3 times a week after that.  I am also going to keep dancing on a Thursday night, and whilst I fear it may be tiring, it will be good though, it’s something we can all do together  ♥ Soppy, I know, but true! Team Dixon-Lysons

xx

p.s. Peggy came on the run this afternoon too and thoroughly loved the whole thing. She doesn’t get to stop and sniff as much as she would normally, but we are planning to do some of our Sunday runs in Delamere Forest, Sherdley Park and other fab places so that she can pootle around with us off the lead and sniff to her hearts contents.

Click here to see what started all this

Hello again, well week 2, run 2 – so far so good. Tonight Peggy, Peggy’s dad Michael and I all went on a run/walk like last week. We warmed up by walking briskly for 10 minutes, then did 3 minutes run, 3 minutes walk x 4. As you can see from the above piccie, my progress is coming along nicely. We did about 33 minutes in total, so I am well chuffed.   

I am going to my dancersize class on Thursday to supplement my training and I suppose the other big news is that Michael and I have signed up for the Great Manchester 10k Run on the 17th May! As you will see from my original post, I only do 2 races per year, (for Cancer Research). For the last 2 years I have done the Tatton 10k for Cancer Research, but to be honest to terrain is lousy and I wanted to try a road race instead.

So here I am with a totally shameless plug for sponsorship. If you follow this link SPONSOR ME!!!! it will take you to an online page where you can donate.

Thank you all very much and don’t forget to keep checking back to see my progress.