#FitB4Fifty Update and Going Mediterranean

So we are nearly half way through the year so its time to evaluate my fit before 50 campaign! I wanted to run more and get into better shape this year. Signing up to the RMR Challenge has given me a lot of focus and I have certainly been running a lot more. 

Cumbrian parkrun

The first part of my challenge was to Run every Cumbrian parkrun. So far I have managed Barrow, Millom, Penrith, Ford Park (Ulverston), Fell Foot, and Keswick. This leaves me with the four from the North and West of the county: Whinlatter, Workington, Cockermouth, Carlisle. My times are definitely improving (Fell Foot winter course is the hilliest one I have done which increased my times briefly). Millom lived up to its muddy reputation and of course came after I'd already run Barrow:

Lakeland Trails

The second tier of my challenge is the Lakeland Trails 10 km series. I am half way there after a muddy Cartmel and a 12.7 km Hawkshead with coffin trail. I've also taken part in the Grasmere Gallop 10 km. My next two races in the series are October as I don't race in the heat of summer (if it ever gets hot this year!). Hopefully I can carry on building on my fitness this year to keep those times falling:

My next running target is the Manchester Half Marathon on my 49th birthday! I need to start training properly in order to improve both my stamina and speed. My last half was Brathay in 2016 for which I was definitely undertrained with a maximum distance before hand of only 9 miles. I really want to smash my time from that day of 2 hours and 53 minutes on what will be a much flatter and faster route. So I need a proper plan of action:

Training more efficiently

I am going to be running with Kendal AAC ladies on a Tuesday night before my son's training session. All my PBs are from a year when I ran with a running club and a proper coach.

Mixing up my runs. I need to incorporate speed work, hills, intervals and progressively longer runs into my weekly schedule. All of these should work together to make me fitter and faster.

Get in shape

The running is proving to be toning but I have not adjusted my diet very well! So in 5.5 months I've lost half a stone but definitely look a lot trimmer:

I have struggled with adjusting my diet as my son eats a fairly limited range of (mostly carbohydrate based) meals and I don't have time to cook two alternatives. A friend has been doing the Blood Sugar Diet to tackle diabetes and I was inspired to look into it. The focus is on eating a more Mediterranean diet based on vegetables, fish and healthy fats. The traditional English carbohydrates of bread, cereal and potatoes are not allowed! 

The science behind it is that your body gets addicted to the sugars from the carbs which then get stored in your pancreas etc which then piles the weight on in the wrong places - the tummy and waist area. As you can see from my photos this is the part of my anatomy most in need of shrinking! I will therefore be following the principles of the book to try and retrain my body away from its addiction to carbs (affiliate link):

Be warned I maybe very grumpy for the next few days!!