Running: the good, the bad, the ugly....

So Paula has decided that running is really not her thing. Which is fair enough. The whole point of this venture was to give it a try and that's what we've done so far.

The good:
For myself, sometimes I just love running. My physiotherapists warned me to be careful and mostly I have been. I love the atmosphere of a race day and how good it feels when I hit the right rhythm. Plus the sense of achievement at the end and not to mention the medals:

I don't believe in hiding my medals away in a drawer somewhere. I worked for them and I want them on display!

As part of my training for the Marathon I did the Bupa women's 10k in Glasgow earlier this month. The atmosphere was amazing. People sat out in the street outside their homes all day cheering us on. It was a bit too hot but still really good fun.

And after the race I went celebrating with my fast friend Jude:

Look out for Jude doing the half marathon on Sunday, super speedy

The bad:
Sometimes running doesn't like me very much. I did a little bit too much dog walking and training after the 10k and have hurt my knee and achilles tendons, possibly through my hypermobility caused over-extension.

(I won't blame my doggy charge for encouraging me to walk too much though, she's too cute). 

The ugly:
But I'm going to take it easy between now and Sunday and fingers crossed there will be another medal in my collection by Monday...And maybe some more photos of me running with a crazed expression like this beauty, captured at the end of the Bupa 10k without my knowledge:

If you can make it to Edinburgh on Sunday please come and cheer us on in person. There's some more information about the course here.

Don't forget that you can still donate to our Just Giving Page and win grand prizes by following the instructions!

What a difference a day makes...

Twenty four little hours after a very dispiriting run it was time for Purlpower to strap on the trainers for the second time in a weekend and head into Glasgow to accompany Lilith on the Glasgow Frontrunners Rainbow Run celebrating LGBT History Month.

This time the omens were a little better. The BBC weather report was encouraging:

And the sky above me as my train pulled into Glasgow Central was as blue as my fingernails:

Each runner in the Rainbow Run is allocated a colour according to their month of birth so being a September baby I was true blue all the way. The 'start' sign was reassuringly non-flecked with mud, it was time to run!

Seventy rainbow runners headed off along the Glasgow Canal towpath. A fantastic place to run, close to the city centre but it felt like a world away - I'm embarrassed to have lived here so long and not realised this great footpath existed. We had a choice of running 5k, 7.5k or 10k. Now that I'm running 5k on a regular basis it seemed a good time to challenge myself and try the 7.5. And with Lilith to encourage me it really wasn't too bad at all. The route was traffic free and mostly flat (apart from a hill up to the canal path right at the beginning) and it felt great to push myself to go that little bit further.

Those all important Map My Run stats at the end told us that I had managed to run my 'fastest ever 5k' and had an average pace of 6mins 22 per kilometer. *SNORE* Sorry, getting a bit stat-obsessed of late...

Of course the best thing about running is the guilt free binging at the end and we were not disappointed with the selection on offer. Lilith was introduced to the kiddie party staple of 'Top Hats' while I tucked into a rainbow cupcake...or two. Celebrating every last crumb of diversity.

And if you want to see what a running rainbow looks like I recommend you take a peek at the Glasgow Frontrunner's Facebook Page because we do look rather snazzy if I do say so myself.