Cheers! This is the green powersludge! All the powdered superfoods listed from Harvest Moon are in a pint of Almond milk!

I have had one of those each morning for breakfast. It has sustained me through to 2pm! Then I have some fruit and a couple of oatcakes.

For dinner I enjoyed home Butternut Squash & Red Lentil soup with home made herb & sundried tomato bread.

Energy levels are increasing and weight is dropping off.

I have been experiencing headaches for the las couple of weeks. I wake up feeling hungover and groddy. My head remains like this for the day. Paracetemols helps but after a few days one must find out why! I went to the opticians. Would appear I need reading glasses. So I parted wth £3 and bought some at the right strength. Almost magical how superb I felt the next morning! So good to find out the reason with out having to take more medication!

I have also been out for a couple of runs. The best one was tuesday's club run to the Folly. 4.6 miles at a slow pace in the slow group. Confidence soaring as my legs and lungs really are quite strong and happy. Quite surprising as I have had a long break from distance running.

A quiet couple of days from me now. I am supporting Rob Starbuck run 132 miles in under 36 hours from Ilfracombe to Bulford Camp honour of 70th Anniversary of 6th Airborne training exercise and to raise funds for Veterans Charity. I shall return on Saturday after a mini camp with the team and family at Stonehenge after that epic run! Awe inspiring!

I have woken up with a swimmy head. No idea if coming down with something or detoxing from extreme change of diet! Can't rely on 2 cups of PG tips to kick start me in the morning any more. Roobis tea tastes yum but no spike!
Currently battling with a PC that has had many updates to browsers and adobe flash that it is hard to upload pictures and write here without the system crashing. This is my 4th attempt. I may get a tad annoyed soon!
I am very aware that two half marathons are approaching, Maidenhead and Windsor. I am not feeling the love for either of those, nor is my body strong enough or capable of doing them. Despite my making training plans to fit in with my children's school summer break I have not been that dedicated to following it. I am lacking a focus. I am lacking the head space to fill up with motivational thoughts. I am lacking any enery,enthusiasm and effort. That's a lot of Es! So, how do I snap myself out of that mallady?
First I shall let go of the pressure of anything demanding on my events pages. My next running event that I could enjoy is the Great South Run on 28th October. I am having no problem with the walking training for Shine on 29th September so I shan't muddle this thought process with that.
Running has always been a challenge for me; the training and the motivation. I always find excuses. My current real problem is the bad circulation issues I am experiencing (Doppler test 18th September may help reveal cause) so I have been sensible and keeping training low key. Power walking with occasional light jog. 
New job means I will not have the entire morning free any more and wil have to concerntrate on waking up, walking dogs and gettting Kids off to school. Training will have to be in the evening, at the end of the day when I am tired and motivation even lower.
So I need to tap into something quite powerful to help with the motivation. I know once I am in my trainers and out the door I come alive. I have to harness that memory. I am already working on the refueling since starting new eating regime. So energy levels and strength from that will help.
I have ideas about joining plush gyms with deliciously inviting swimming pools to help spur me into action, but I just do not have the funds. It is strange and fickle what seems to spark my mind into life!
I have the wonderful great outdoors to train in that should be enough.
Now I am digressing..FOCUS!
I shall be working for Debra and I am quite passionate about raising awareness of the terrible skin condition. Running is the purpose. This is but the start of the plan. I want to do so much and have so many ideas to be able to raise the profile of Debra that my head is overflowing. I have been thinking big for so long that  need to come back to grass roots. I must concerntrate on smaller runs such as 5km and 10km and build up again. I would like a new running outfit and the one I have in mind is bigger than the ducksuit so it will take some practise and effort to learn how to run in that. 
Now I have a start of a plan and my thoughts have been cast on the internet here. A very cathartic exercise keeping my training diary here! Today, swimmy head permitted, I shall go for a run in the evening. Start getting into the habit.

breakfast - super smoothie with almond milk
lunch - slice home made sundried tomato & chilli bread with peanut butter
dinner - roasted vegetables and falafel

*I did go for the run! Just a mile, in the rain. Didn't over do it; good way to test Brook shoes and new running coat. Played the Skids!

Don't worry good folk! I am still here! I am on holiday with the family and splitting my time between them, you and my training!

Chris and I did a decent 12 mile walk on Wednesday. I have kept up the additional walking to insure I do 10 miles a day. Took my children, dogs and met a friend to walk around Avebury on Friday. We were not deterred by weatehr reports ogusts, storms and thunder. Indeed the weather was very well behaved.

I have managed to keep to the very strict diet of being alcohol, caffeine and animal product free. I have now lost a half stone in 1 week!

I am concious that I am not having enough protein so I did some research to see how I can improve the "refueling" ready to up the notch for training again. I have just come back from reading with bags full of goodies from a health shop. I shall now be adding into my fresh juice (carrots, beetroot, ginger, celery, apples, spinach) a micture of Spirulina, Wheatgrass, Barleygrass, Macca, and Hemp as directed. This will also help me long term with beating my genetic problem of the high cholestral and blood pressure, and hopefully off the medication i have been using (and now suffering from) for the last 7 years. For a quick synopsis on each of the food values please look at here. The only "superfood" I have not bought is the Chlorella as it was not in stock. I shall have this lovely healthy cocktail in the morning.Hopefully it will spike the energy levels as well as retune this elite athlete body in waiting!

Breakfast - muesli, almond milk topped with Linwood's Q10 mix. (every morning)
Lunch - wrap with hummus and salad (thursday and friday)
Dinner -  chips and fish nuggets with peas and sweetcorn (thursday evening)

Power juice at 11am and then wooosh!

Just so you can see I am eating sensibly too!
I am getting there... slowly...

I have enjoyed a few days of being very very relaxed! It has been an odd few days as I seem to be suffering with a perpetual headache and left calf cramps. Doctor is aware and is monitoring but probably to do with total change of diet to an alcohol free, caffeine free, dairy free vegetarian! See last blog why!
So far so good, and have managed to lose 5lbs!

New juicer arrived today so I was able to power up on one of my favourite power juices - 1 beetroot, 2 apples, 2 celery sticks, chunk of ginger, 4 carrots and whizz!

Muesli with Almond milk is the breakfast staple. Oatcakes with either fresh peanut butter or hummus for lunch and a veggie pasta or rice dish for dinner. Lots of fruit and raw vegetables to munch on through the day, plus occasional handful of mixed dried fruit and nuts. Protein is from the nuts, quinoa and pulses. When I am back into full training I shall use hemp protein powder to supplement the protein.

I have been walking 10 miles a day. Still not running as just been too hot. I was also lazy and skipped a kettlercise session. Bad ol me but not too worried. I am slowly building the powerhouse to run safely again, and to work on long distance.

Have now officially respite care work, and looking forward to my new role with Debra and will be running as a Butterfly, their logo, for the Butterfly Children. Sufferers of EB have compared the sores to third-degree burns.  “Butterfly Children” is a term often used to describe younger patients because the skin is said to be as fragile as a butterfly’s wings.

Out to do 12 miles tonight - power walk for Shine training with Chris.

Had the 6 monthly check up with the Doctor today, hot on the trail of the latest fasting blood tests.
Cholestral is at 5.6 and that is with me on 40mg of statins!

One of the side effects of statins is the possibility of cramps. I did advise the Doctor that I have had cramps in left leg, along with a pulsing throb plus pins and needles in both feet. Just comes and goes. Plus the tiredness and unquenchable thirst.


Not good news apparently! The heart is a muscle and the one you really do not want to cramp out. So a strict diet and a Doppler Scan has been booked! I have been on the statins for 7 years and my cholestral has never been perfect. That is why I stick to a healthy diet and exercise a lot. My Mother and parents have all had heart attacks, strokes, thrombosis and agina. My genes aren't good! Would appear I may have familial hyperlipidaemia (FH) so it doesn't matter how good my diet is, I will still have high cholestrol. Which isn't good as that will cause all those heart and circulation problems.

So, for the next 2 months I am instructed to not have any animal products (cheese,meat, milk, eggs,etc), alcohol, caffeine, processed foods, chocolates, cakes ... all the yummy things! Just plenty of fruit, vegetables, pulses, nuts (in moderation) and a sensible low GI diet. I already avoid pasta and bread due to a wheat intolerance! I am not fussed on quorn (which often has a lot of wheat). A lot of thought needs to go into the long distance refueling so I stay fit and healthy.

Relaxation ain't gonna be the same as I shan't be able to enjoy an evening apres work wred wine! So, I have bought some lavender tea. I have to be positive and not whinge. After all, whinging is stressful and negative and not conducive to the whole scenario, and if it is for life I will have to just get on with it!

So, tonight I made a yummy paella with lots of fresh vegetables bought from local organic farm shop, with smoked tofu. I have lots of fresh fruits including my favourites of water melon, naval oranges and pears. Oatcakes with real peanut butter, fresh hummus with japanese rice crackers... you see..drooling now!

Oh, nearly forgot, I have got to lose a stone in next 6-8 weeks before the next lot of fasting blood tests! Better be careful with the peanut butter!

I haven't done any running for two days but have been pounding the miles with the dogs. I have finished my last day with Family Link, and done my last week of respite care for special needs children. I now have 2 weeks off before I start my new job. So some quality r & r time with the family.

I want - chocolate, cake, biscuits, wine and a sit down.

Then I will be a fat, unhealthy lazy lump!

I need muesli, fruit, smoothies, a run, a hug - then I shall be a healthy, fit lithesome happy girl.

Cue the Queen song - I want it all, and I want it now!

Can you tell what kind of mood I am in? That full circle self-berating wish I could eat what I want and have the perfect body kind of mood!

Well no one can be healthy AND exist on chocolate and wine.

Moderation, drive and SELF CONTROL. Have a little of what you fancy is ok and healthy. Then back it up with an exhilerating decent walk or run.

I want to run ultra marathons so I do have to eat and train sensibly and hard. What I eat I become. Wine and chocolate definitely render me a useless waddling mass! I must practise more self control and avoid it! I can't do it in moderation! I want it but don't need it!

Ok, now that I have got that off my chest I can move on and trumpet out that I have done 8 miles as 2 dog walks. Will walk a further 8 miles later as Shine training with Chris.  I shall also do a 30 minute run as I didn't need that Snickers, that was greed!

I read on twitter "if you have time to tweet then you have time to run"!

Not quite as easy as that! I have been tweeting as a multi tasking process on the hoof! Albeit walking but still putting in 10 miles minimum a day.

So although the comment made me feel guilty I assessed what I had been doing and the priorities of the day, I just didn't have time for a run as I was physically tired.

This is my last working week with the special needs children so it is a tough one emotionally and physically. I am also doing a 7 hour session with them,which is very demanding on the brain, especially to keep the session positive and happy! New job will see some different challenges and priorities, and I will lose the time slot to train in the morning. I will have to get used to the idea of training in the evening after a long day!

I am also having to walk an extra couple of dogs so that's 4 dog walks a day for the 6 weeks.

These are not excuses just reality. Tonight I have got running club. I am already thinking I will be too tired. That is an excuse! I shall be there. I may not have a lot in the bag for a positive session but I shall be there.

A friend has just started training for a half marathon that is in 7 weeks. That is a lot of pressure! However, he sees running as a stress buster. He works very long hours and has a young family. It may be selfish to his family that he comes in from work, puts on trainers and goes straight out for a run. But in that half hour he destresses, relaxes, and returns as a Happy super Dad and Husband, not a wound up mess of a man.

I don't have it that bad, but I should remember that running is relaxing even when tired.

That's why I like today's poster. Make time for a run. It is a positive, not a battle.

Food wise, over the weekend I have enjoyed a couple of bottles of wine. Always seems to affect my stamina and I seem more breathless than usual. When will I learn the consequences of my old ways to eat and drink what really isn't so good! Even in moderation there are consequences!

Despite the whole bottle of red wine I had last night, I still got up and out for 6.30am to meet Chris for a training walk.

I had to drive the half hour journey across to Bracknell. We took his dog Lily (much to the disgust of my two!) and pushed on for some fast miles in Swinley Forest using a very much needed map!

The day heated up fast so thank goodness we had the shade of the tall conifers (generic name but these were very big ones!).

The terrain is a combination of sandy, peaty, flinted, and swampy so a lot of fun to be had especially for me in my Nike Frees. lots of fun ups and downs, more fun if on a Mountain bike.

Managed 8.43 miles in 2hrs 42. not bad as we had to slow up a couple of times for ocasional chats with other dog owners, cyclists and runners.
Loved the signage and path names - Ladies Mile, Caesars Camp and Pudding Hill!

I had forgotten the promise to walk neighbour's dogs. So when I got back I had to go straight out. Did 5 miles with the two dogs, then another 5 miles with mine. 18 miles walking today. Just need to stretch out the ankles.

Whilst I did the food shopping the family cleared my outdoor gym area properly. Hopefully tomorrow I can purloin the necessary bits I need to complete it.

Breakfast - porridge
lunch - oatcakes and hummus
dinner - bbq steak ,corn on the cob, home made coleslaw, salad, couscous, baked camembert

treat - 1 bottle of fizzy Pinot, 1 sorren bar, 1 packet of crisps

Short and sweet note today as it was hot and I worked all day!

Knowing I would be hot and bothered after work I crammed in a lot of dog walking miles, and also took Friday Child out.

Clocked up 9 miles. Will do a pilates for runners work out this evening when cooler.

Also still need to finish off the garden gym! I need my 3ft steps!

It has been a long day.
Combined work with my children, dogs and horses.
I wanted to go for a long walk and do a 1 hour kettlercise dvd.
Time was running out... oh no, that was an excuse!
Finished work at 7.45pm, grabbed a dog and put on my Nike Free 3.0s, plugged in the iPod with Tenpole Tudor playing and off I went.
I was just going to walk the route I did last night with Jen and map it on Endomondo so she could see the route and know the mileage.
I walked the first half mile then ran. I kept doing mental body checks making sure I was running with feet under hips, straight back, land midsole first, look ahead, shoulders down, arms pumping.
I have come home exhilerated. 3.2 miles in 51 mins, inc the walking. Not bad. Glad I waited until the cooler evening to enjoy it! So was Penny, who ran it with me and behaved the whole time!
Stretches done and now a cinnamon tea to relax with. So far, no aches or obvio

Breakfast - porridge
Lunch - 3 oatcakes with hummus, 2 small flap jack squares
Dinner - Pasta with ragu, grated cheese.

Drank lots of water, no snacks or fruit - the cupboards and fruit bowl is bare!