Mexican Festivities...

This weekend saw Karl and I host our very first charity fundraiser and the theme of the night was Mexcian....Arriba! Arriba! Ole! Ole! 

The night included a fun-filled mix of Mexican food:

Chili con carne

Smoky pork and black bean tacos

Beef burritos 

Veggie burritos

Warm bean salad

Chicken fajitas

Mexican beef chili

Home made guacamole

Mexican nachos with cheese

and an excellent variety of Mexican drinks:

Margaritas

Tequila slammers

Desperados

Amigos

Some real ale (ok, perhaps more British than Mexican!)

Naturally the Mexican themed entertainment included:

Pin the tail on the donkey

Piñata 

A Mexican themed photo booth 

I'm pleased to say that the night raised £130 for Help the Hospices so a brilliant kick start to our fundraising efforts. Thank you so much to everyone who came along to support us, it was brilliant fun and we both really appreciate you making the effort. Watch this space for future invites! I wonder what the next theme should be...any suggestions?!

Here's a photo tribute to the night: 

Thank you once again kind supporters or as they say in Mexico: Muchas Gracias! 

http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/team/VickyandKarl

3 miles...

I'm going to tell you anyway...(!)

Ok... so nothing as dramatic as falling off the treadmill happened to me today but nevertheless I am still going to tell you about the workout!

Once again it's made me realise what a long way I have to go to even stand a chance of completing the marathon. I set myself the goal of running 5km in under of 30minutes and didn't quite manage it, here's a picture of my workout summary:

Just over 5km in 36mins...I guess that isn't horrendous given that I've just started training and it's still technically week one but proof that I will need to make every week count (and maybe stop drinking so much wine...!) 

Gym selfie A.K.A photographic proof I made it to the gym

Karl also did another 4-miler this morning with Roly at his side, well done Karl (and Roly.) 

Once again THANK YOU to our sponsors so far, legends!

http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/team/VickyandKarl

Bright and Early

Karl was up bright and early with a little morning motivation from Roly. 

Jumping for joy at the thought of a morning run

Cuddles come first!

The lads once again tackled the infamous Carrbrook Hill and Roly managed to make it over the stile totally on this own this time (such a cutie!) 

4.39 miles, well done Karl!

It was my intention to go out running this morning too however I managed to switch my alarm off and over-sleep. Oops. I am hereby making another online pledge to get up bright and early tomorrow and and hit the roads of Millbrook! I think the following picture sums up how I feel about morning running:

Thank you very much to Jacq Taylor for her generous donation- we really appreciate it!

http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/team/VickyandKarl

1 mile down...25 to go!

As pledged in the previous blog post I went out for my first training run this morning! It's the first time in several months that I have done any proper exercise so it was definitely a shock to the system and a rude awakening to what lies ahead! I was feeling really chuffed with myself when I came home and honestly thought I'd run for 2-3 miles. After mapping the run it turns out it was only a meagre 1.48 miles...

My meagre 1.48 mile run this morning!

Well...as they say: every journey begins with a single step so I guess it's a pretty good start!

Here's some photographic proof that I made it out this morning (for the more observant reader you may notice that my running trousers are on back to front...yes, I was so tired when I left that I put my trousers on the wrong way round. Such a classy runner.) ...Roly was at the door to greet me upon my return, he even gave me a double high five to say well done! Thanks Roly. 

Red faced after 1 mile... 

Thanks once again to those who have sponsored us. It really is much appreciated.

http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/team/VickyandKarl

All the gear...

...for a big idea! (I know what you were all really thinking!) 

Karl has once again demonstrated outstanding commitment and gone for another run this evening (with little Roly coming along for the fun). I used my time wisely tonight as well and went to Go Outdoors to purchase some new running gear. 

Quality running gear to help me brave the Northern winds of Millbrook!

Now I really have no excuses not to start running and am pledging to get up first thing tomorrow morning and hit the streets of Stalybridge to get my jog on. I'm not a morning person (I'm really, really not) but hopefully the chance to jump out of bed and wear my new running gear will help me on my way!

A good sentiment to help motivate me out of bed! 

Thank you to all those who have supported us so far: http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/team/VickyandKarl

You've got to believe to achieve!

Karl's training is going really well... he went circuit training last week. My training is going to begin this week so watch this space...

Thank you to Jess & Uncle Alex and Aunt June for the sponsorship/ It's hugely appreciated and really motivating :-) 

A picture made by our lovely neighbours...noooooo! This will NOT be the case!

http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/VickyandKarl

Braving the Wind and Rain

Whose idea was this again?! Welcome to the blog Karl and I have set up to document our training for the London Marathon 2014... 160 days to go...

So Karl has beat me to it and managed to get out running before me (is anyone really surprised by this?!) We are really lucky to live right opposite Stalybridge Country Park so there are loads of fantastic routes for us to go to running. 

Karl's first marathon training run saw him brave the wind and rain whilst battling up the infamous Carbrook hill; he also had the misfortune of going over on his ankle after carrying little Roly over a style- the joys of bringing your puppy on a training run!

Karl and Roly drying themselves after training run number 1

1 run down... lots more to go! 

http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/VickyandKarl