Well, its nearly New Year, so it's time for the inevitable stupid resolution which involves doing something daft in the hope that you'll turn into a better person. Or something like that anyway!
So, I'm going to do some more exercise, eat less etc, and I think I will try and get my blogging a bit more frequent and relevant.
It remains to be seen whether this will work or not, but hey, it's worth a try...
Tuesday 29 December 2009
Wednesday 1 April 2009
April 1st - No fooling around (geddit?!)
Oh god, I'm in one of those moods. Sorry about the title. And I'm writing this on 2nd April, so it's not even relevant.
I'll keep this brief:
March 31st - 12 miles on the bike at lunch time (just over 40 minutes - quite pleased with that!).
April 1st - run round the block at work with Adrian. He wanted to see how fast he could go, and I tried to keep up with him but after yesterdays bike ride and the lack of running over the last month or two I waned somewhat. Still, best time for a while - 7m51 average over 4.6 miles, which I was very happy with.
Today is another bike day - want to keep it easy do I'm going to do 10 miles or there abouts at a relatively gentle pace so I can actually get out for a run tomorrow (if I hammer it on the bike I'll be unable to walk tomorrow!).
The thing I'm most worried about is sitting back on the saddle - when you haven't ridden for a while, it takes a bit of time to get used to it and my backside still hurts a bit from last time! (ooh er missus!)
Looking good so far (not much of an achievement after 1 day, but hey!)
And Oz (my 6 week old) slept reasonably well for the 2nd night in a row (5.5 hours both nights) - things are really looking up here (oh, now I've gone and done it haven't I... watch this space).
I'll keep this brief:
March 31st - 12 miles on the bike at lunch time (just over 40 minutes - quite pleased with that!).
April 1st - run round the block at work with Adrian. He wanted to see how fast he could go, and I tried to keep up with him but after yesterdays bike ride and the lack of running over the last month or two I waned somewhat. Still, best time for a while - 7m51 average over 4.6 miles, which I was very happy with.
Today is another bike day - want to keep it easy do I'm going to do 10 miles or there abouts at a relatively gentle pace so I can actually get out for a run tomorrow (if I hammer it on the bike I'll be unable to walk tomorrow!).
The thing I'm most worried about is sitting back on the saddle - when you haven't ridden for a while, it takes a bit of time to get used to it and my backside still hurts a bit from last time! (ooh er missus!)
Looking good so far (not much of an achievement after 1 day, but hey!)
And Oz (my 6 week old) slept reasonably well for the 2nd night in a row (5.5 hours both nights) - things are really looking up here (oh, now I've gone and done it haven't I... watch this space).
Monday 30 March 2009
Here we go again...
It's that time again - the end of a month. Time to plan something really stupid for next month... :-)
I've spent most of February and March doing one of my favourite sporting activities - eating. While this hasn't made me a faster runner, it has appeared to have made me a larger runner. I'm really *trying* to find something useful about this, but I think the sad fact is I need to reverse this, and what better way than a demanding plan for the next month!
I have my bike in the back of the car today at work. If I can figure out how to get it back together (it's in 3 bits at the moment) then I plan on going for a ride at lunch time. Hopefully this will give me an option during next month of doing either running or cycling.
And that brings me on to my plan... well, at the moment I don't really have one. All I want to do is try and work hard in April to reduce my weight and get my speed and fitness back up. I reckon the January running created a really good foundation, some of which I lost during February and March through not running much, but I also think that there's a mental aspect to running every day which takes a lot longer to lose.
I think I'm going to go for something like 3 miles every day in April, but it can be 3 miles of running or 10 miles of cycling, and I might allow 40 lengths of a 25m swimming pool as well - at least I've got some options then.
So, assuming I survive my cycle ride at lunch time today, I will start my plan tomorrow.
Rock on, dudes...
I've spent most of February and March doing one of my favourite sporting activities - eating. While this hasn't made me a faster runner, it has appeared to have made me a larger runner. I'm really *trying* to find something useful about this, but I think the sad fact is I need to reverse this, and what better way than a demanding plan for the next month!
I have my bike in the back of the car today at work. If I can figure out how to get it back together (it's in 3 bits at the moment) then I plan on going for a ride at lunch time. Hopefully this will give me an option during next month of doing either running or cycling.
And that brings me on to my plan... well, at the moment I don't really have one. All I want to do is try and work hard in April to reduce my weight and get my speed and fitness back up. I reckon the January running created a really good foundation, some of which I lost during February and March through not running much, but I also think that there's a mental aspect to running every day which takes a lot longer to lose.
I think I'm going to go for something like 3 miles every day in April, but it can be 3 miles of running or 10 miles of cycling, and I might allow 40 lengths of a 25m swimming pool as well - at least I've got some options then.
So, assuming I survive my cycle ride at lunch time today, I will start my plan tomorrow.
Rock on, dudes...
Tuesday 10 February 2009
10th Feb
So, 10 days in to the new month and how many runs have I done? Well, 3 so far, and about to go out of my 4th in 25 minutes or so.
I'm still doing the press-ups and sit-ups, and still have a deficit of 60 to make up, but I'm finding them easier so I'll get rid of that soon.
I've even managed to stop eating everything I can see! Well, sort of anyway - need to try a little harder on that one in the evenings.
Yesterdays run was a lunch time one at work and was quite interesting. I hadn't eaten enough, despite learning from January that performance is impaired by not eating enough. Then I set off too fast, and was quickly slowed by a river of mud as I ran up the hill, then half a mile of frozen snow/ice! It was like backwards moon-walking most of the time, and ended up with about an 8m30 mile for the first one. Then I just took off, and did around 7m30, 7m50 then another faster one (I can't remember the times) and averaged about 7m45 over 4.5 miles. Pleased with that!
I need to stop putting pressure on myself - the biggest cause of me stopping and having poor runs is when I under-perform compared to my initial expectations. I need a way to encourage myself to do decent runs, but also to stop giving up when I don't meet what I intended.
Todays run is a round-the-block, hopefully 4-5 miles (a slightly new route).
I want to do some intervals again and get back into at least once a week with those. I'm intending a long-ish run on Thursday, but it'll probably be slow as Kev's recovering from Bronchitis, so I might do the intervals tomorrow. Funny - that'll be 5 days in a row, (Sunday-Thursday) if I manage it - and I'm not at all worried about over-doing it! Hoorah, I'm loving this change in attitude at the moment :-)
I'm still doing the press-ups and sit-ups, and still have a deficit of 60 to make up, but I'm finding them easier so I'll get rid of that soon.
I've even managed to stop eating everything I can see! Well, sort of anyway - need to try a little harder on that one in the evenings.
Yesterdays run was a lunch time one at work and was quite interesting. I hadn't eaten enough, despite learning from January that performance is impaired by not eating enough. Then I set off too fast, and was quickly slowed by a river of mud as I ran up the hill, then half a mile of frozen snow/ice! It was like backwards moon-walking most of the time, and ended up with about an 8m30 mile for the first one. Then I just took off, and did around 7m30, 7m50 then another faster one (I can't remember the times) and averaged about 7m45 over 4.5 miles. Pleased with that!
I need to stop putting pressure on myself - the biggest cause of me stopping and having poor runs is when I under-perform compared to my initial expectations. I need a way to encourage myself to do decent runs, but also to stop giving up when I don't meet what I intended.
Todays run is a round-the-block, hopefully 4-5 miles (a slightly new route).
I want to do some intervals again and get back into at least once a week with those. I'm intending a long-ish run on Thursday, but it'll probably be slow as Kev's recovering from Bronchitis, so I might do the intervals tomorrow. Funny - that'll be 5 days in a row, (Sunday-Thursday) if I manage it - and I'm not at all worried about over-doing it! Hoorah, I'm loving this change in attitude at the moment :-)
Thursday 5 February 2009
Well, I say...
So, 31 days in a row, then 4 days off. Then this:
Mile 1: 6m57
Mile 2: 6m58
Mile 3: 6m51
5k: 21:26 (6m54)
Then 2 miles back uphill (8m16 average).
Blimey! I enjoyed that. I didn't intend to do it that fast - I just told myself before I left that I'd run how I felt. I felt good for the first 2.5 miles really, then I couldn't let it drop below 7min/mile so I gasped my way to 5k (making all sorts of embarrassing noises running along the road!)
I had a breather and a little walk afterwards, and then slowly jogged back up the hill. I didn't want to run the bit back, but I decided that it will be the miles that help keep the speed going (if that makes sense?).
While in the shower, I think I finally understood how to get fast at running. Run lots. And make some of the "lots" fast. For January, I averaged over 20 miles per week and put in a performance like this at the beginning of February. If I look back over my history since I had the Garmin, the best times are always after the most running. So it seems you can't cut corners - you just have to run and run and run.
Lucky I'm enjoying it at the moment :-)
I did some more press ups and sit ups yesterday, and they were very painful - my pecs ache like hell! I know in a few days they'll stop, and I can catch up on those 60 that I owe to get the average up over the month. I also did 45 minutes of stretching, so I'm OK with that (10 minutes per day average) - I enjoyed it last night while watching Hustle, so I'll try again tonight to do a load while watching the TV.
I did go out for that walk yesterday lunch time, and here are some of the pics that I took up on the heath area near work. These were all taken with my 10-20mm lens (ultra wide angle) which I haven't used for a while:
Mile 1: 6m57
Mile 2: 6m58
Mile 3: 6m51
5k: 21:26 (6m54)
Then 2 miles back uphill (8m16 average).
Blimey! I enjoyed that. I didn't intend to do it that fast - I just told myself before I left that I'd run how I felt. I felt good for the first 2.5 miles really, then I couldn't let it drop below 7min/mile so I gasped my way to 5k (making all sorts of embarrassing noises running along the road!)
I had a breather and a little walk afterwards, and then slowly jogged back up the hill. I didn't want to run the bit back, but I decided that it will be the miles that help keep the speed going (if that makes sense?).
While in the shower, I think I finally understood how to get fast at running. Run lots. And make some of the "lots" fast. For January, I averaged over 20 miles per week and put in a performance like this at the beginning of February. If I look back over my history since I had the Garmin, the best times are always after the most running. So it seems you can't cut corners - you just have to run and run and run.
Lucky I'm enjoying it at the moment :-)
I did some more press ups and sit ups yesterday, and they were very painful - my pecs ache like hell! I know in a few days they'll stop, and I can catch up on those 60 that I owe to get the average up over the month. I also did 45 minutes of stretching, so I'm OK with that (10 minutes per day average) - I enjoyed it last night while watching Hustle, so I'll try again tonight to do a load while watching the TV.
I did go out for that walk yesterday lunch time, and here are some of the pics that I took up on the heath area near work. These were all taken with my 10-20mm lens (ultra wide angle) which I haven't used for a while:
Wednesday 4 February 2009
No running!
I'm going a bit mad here! I haven't run since 31st January - not because I don't want to, but because it's a little impractical at the moment. I'm on my 4th day of not running, and trying to decide whether to go out at lunch time or not.
You see, I took Sunday (1st Feb) off - this was intentional, as I wanted a rest from the 31 days of running. Fine. Then it snowed - lots. I didn't go to work on Monday as I probably wouldn't have got home. The kids were off school, the roads and pavements were ridiculously covered and there was no chance of running, so I thought that I'd have 2 days off - no problem.
Then it snowed more on Monday night, and I woke on Tuesday to a proper white scene outside the door. Even less chance of running today, I thought! Still, never mind - it'll all be gone by tomorrow. After all, this is Southern England, and we don't get snow down here.
So, it's Wednesday today, and it hasn't snowed since last night. There is, however, a LOT of slush around and areas that haven't had a decent amount of sunshine are still covered - I'm looking into the car park at the moment and it's still 70% covered in slush and some of the cars still have snow on the roof.
So - do I risk it and go for a run? There's a fair probability that I'll end up slipping and injuring myself, which won't really do me any good. But then, it's been FOUR days, and I could do with running!
The alternative is to go out for a walk with my camera and see what I can find. I might do that, actually - it's still exercise, less risk of hurting myself etc. Another day shouldn't hurt... should it? It's supposed to snow again tonight, so it might be up to about 7 days of not running if I don't get out soon...
Might spend the time "off" planning the running I'm going to do in February - I want some structure to my schedule - including some longer runs (6+ miles) and definitely some intervals.
Still, on the press ups/sit ups/stretching front - I've started. Missed 1st and 2nd Feb, but did 30pu/30su yesterday (3rd). I've decided to allow myself to catch up - i.e. average 30/30/10min each day, but take it easy for the first week or so as my pecs are hurting today from the press ups yesterday! So, at least that's proceeding.
Hmmm. Will have to see what the weather brings...
You see, I took Sunday (1st Feb) off - this was intentional, as I wanted a rest from the 31 days of running. Fine. Then it snowed - lots. I didn't go to work on Monday as I probably wouldn't have got home. The kids were off school, the roads and pavements were ridiculously covered and there was no chance of running, so I thought that I'd have 2 days off - no problem.
Then it snowed more on Monday night, and I woke on Tuesday to a proper white scene outside the door. Even less chance of running today, I thought! Still, never mind - it'll all be gone by tomorrow. After all, this is Southern England, and we don't get snow down here.
So, it's Wednesday today, and it hasn't snowed since last night. There is, however, a LOT of slush around and areas that haven't had a decent amount of sunshine are still covered - I'm looking into the car park at the moment and it's still 70% covered in slush and some of the cars still have snow on the roof.
So - do I risk it and go for a run? There's a fair probability that I'll end up slipping and injuring myself, which won't really do me any good. But then, it's been FOUR days, and I could do with running!
The alternative is to go out for a walk with my camera and see what I can find. I might do that, actually - it's still exercise, less risk of hurting myself etc. Another day shouldn't hurt... should it? It's supposed to snow again tonight, so it might be up to about 7 days of not running if I don't get out soon...
Might spend the time "off" planning the running I'm going to do in February - I want some structure to my schedule - including some longer runs (6+ miles) and definitely some intervals.
Still, on the press ups/sit ups/stretching front - I've started. Missed 1st and 2nd Feb, but did 30pu/30su yesterday (3rd). I've decided to allow myself to catch up - i.e. average 30/30/10min each day, but take it easy for the first week or so as my pecs are hurting today from the press ups yesterday! So, at least that's proceeding.
Hmmm. Will have to see what the weather brings...
Sunday 1 February 2009
February 1st - A review
I've spent today wanting to go out for a run! It's typical - and I know it's only 'cause I'm not supposed to. But I'm missing it.
What have I got out of this? Well, quite a lot, really.
Firstly, I know what causes the shin pain that I've been getting on and off for the last 10 years, and I know (a) how to sort it out and (b) that it can be sorted out. Running through injury is probably the biggest thing I've taken from this. There was a point where I seriously thought I was risking a fracture, and it was quite worrying. But I listened to my body, made some good decisions with the help of a great Sports Medicinist :-) and got through it. I've still got a few niggles and I think it's time to get it properly checked out (see if I can blag an MRI through Bupa!). I've realised that you only start looking at injuries properly if they affect you seriously. I ran with this problem on and off for a long time, but when it flared up beyond a normal occasional ache, I did the sensible thing and took time off running - a few days of rest. In this way, you never address the problem, as you let it sort itself out. Running every day forced you to look at the causes and solutions in a way I haven't done before.
Secondly - I can get out every day. The mental challenge was the main reason for doing this - I was fairly convinced that I wouldn't end up faster by the end and I was sure I wasn't going to end up being able to do long distances. But I'm already feeling a little uptight about not going out today, and I've changed my attitude to the point where running most days is a part of my life. I don't know how this will keep up, but for today it's the way I feel and that's a fantastic result - the one I hoped for.
Thirdly - 3 miles can be a long way! Yes, I can run it, but on some days it can seem really far. And very, very dull!!
Fourthly - It doesn't get significantly easier at the end of a month. It's still hard to get out, and still hard when running. But I do think I'm fitter, I do think I have a much better foundation to start tackling speed, and I think that I recover better out on the runs.
Fifthly - I've lost some weight. Not a huge amount, but I'm sure I've built some muscle up as well - I bought some new trousers today and have gone down a size! I'm set up to get to a weight I'm happy with by summer if I keep going half as well as I've done in January :-)
I'm really, really glad I did this, and I've taken so much from it mentally and physically. I can genuinely recommend it to anyone who fancies a challenge and bit of soul-searching - writing the blog is handy to crystallise thoughts at well.
I've attached a few charts to this from an excellent program called SportTracks. Click on the images to get a better view, but they should give an idea of what I've been up to.
So, for what for February? Running wise, I want to get my speed up, so I'm thinking about 5 days running a week with at least 1 interval session and 1 longer distance run (starting at 6 miles and upping to 10 or so and keeping that regular). My daughter is due in February, so it's possibly not going to go exactly to plan, but what the heck...!
I do feel the need to do something every day for the month, though, so I've decided on the 30 press ups, 30 sit ups and 10 minutes of stretching every day. It's not too much considering the impending birth, and I do have a view that flexibility is essential for speed (and also reduced by doing speed training and not stretching enough). The press-ups and sit-ups should do a little towards some core training and tone a bit so I feel even better when I've lost a bit more weight! The 30 is a minimum again - hopefully I'll be doing 50-100 per day by the end of February.
So, I don't think I'll keep writing blog posts every day in February, but I'll pop back occasionally to write some thoughts down. What started with a January challenge feels like the start of a set of challenges for 2009 - and I have to say, I'm really looking forward to seeing what comes next!
Day 31
The last one. I'm a little sad about this, in a way.
I decided to make it a good one and go charging off, only to get disheartened after a mile or so by how much wind there was and how knackered I was. Average was fairly fast by the end but there were lots of stops so it doesn't really count.
Still - I've done it! All over, no more running for...
I decided to make it a good one and go charging off, only to get disheartened after a mile or so by how much wind there was and how knackered I was. Average was fairly fast by the end but there were lots of stops so it doesn't really count.
Still - I've done it! All over, no more running for...
Day 30
Friday - only one more day to go!
I was going out for a a beer and some Thai food tonight, so I didn't each much before the run and went the full 4.6 miles round the block. Nothing too exciting about this, although it wasn't all that slow which was nice.
I was going out for a a beer and some Thai food tonight, so I didn't each much before the run and went the full 4.6 miles round the block. Nothing too exciting about this, although it wasn't all that slow which was nice.
Day 29
Thursday... This was a run out towards the Basingstoke Canal - a route I haven't done for ages (well, lots of runs at least!) Not very fast, but OK none the less.
Thursday 29 January 2009
Day 27
So, I did the trailway. I was going to drive down to the sports centre, but I just couldn't bring myself to drive less than 1 mile in order to run 3, so I ran down!
1 mile warm up, then 3 miles pegging it up the trailway and back. Well, 2 miles, then a little breather, then the last mile. My average was around 7m15. Not too bad, but I shouldn't have had that stop.
I walked/ran back - making the run about 4.5 miles or so in total.
Whether it was good or bad, if I stopped or not it didn't really matter - at least the run was *interesting* which was what I was after!
1 mile warm up, then 3 miles pegging it up the trailway and back. Well, 2 miles, then a little breather, then the last mile. My average was around 7m15. Not too bad, but I shouldn't have had that stop.
I walked/ran back - making the run about 4.5 miles or so in total.
Whether it was good or bad, if I stopped or not it didn't really matter - at least the run was *interesting* which was what I was after!
Tuesday 27 January 2009
Day 26
Hmmm. My newly learnt thing was that I seem to have one day of good running then one day of bad. It wasn't good yesterday, so it follows today should be good.
Well, it wasn't. I went out the house at exactly the time the road was filled with kicked out secondary school kids, so I had to look like I knew what I was doing. I ran up the hill and round the corner... and almost collapsed when out of view (having just done the quarter mile at around 6 minute mile pace!). Bad start - from then on I felt like I was running really slowly, and I couldn't seem to cope with any uphills. I ended up walking about half a mile or so in the middle up a hill, then running the last mile back home a slightly longer route.
The pace wasn't bad - 7m40 ish - but it was cheating really with that big gap in the middle.
To be honest, I think I'm getting a bit fed up with the 3 mile requirement. I need some mental stimulation in this, and I'm looking forward to doing some 6+ mile runs and getting back to doing intervals. I'm bored stiff of most of the routes I do as they never change when you're just plodding round. Maybe for todays run (I'm writing this on Tuesday) I'll drive down to the sports centre and run up the Castleman Trailway and back - that's the site of my previous best of 7m01/mile average over 3 miles (non-stop). Yeah, I might do that - the thought of a hard session is actually getting me wanting to get out the door. Right, I'm going to get a drink and try and get out soon...
Well, it wasn't. I went out the house at exactly the time the road was filled with kicked out secondary school kids, so I had to look like I knew what I was doing. I ran up the hill and round the corner... and almost collapsed when out of view (having just done the quarter mile at around 6 minute mile pace!). Bad start - from then on I felt like I was running really slowly, and I couldn't seem to cope with any uphills. I ended up walking about half a mile or so in the middle up a hill, then running the last mile back home a slightly longer route.
The pace wasn't bad - 7m40 ish - but it was cheating really with that big gap in the middle.
To be honest, I think I'm getting a bit fed up with the 3 mile requirement. I need some mental stimulation in this, and I'm looking forward to doing some 6+ mile runs and getting back to doing intervals. I'm bored stiff of most of the routes I do as they never change when you're just plodding round. Maybe for todays run (I'm writing this on Tuesday) I'll drive down to the sports centre and run up the Castleman Trailway and back - that's the site of my previous best of 7m01/mile average over 3 miles (non-stop). Yeah, I might do that - the thought of a hard session is actually getting me wanting to get out the door. Right, I'm going to get a drink and try and get out soon...
Monday 26 January 2009
Day 25
No surprise that this one wasn't so good - 8m16 average and a boring dawdle around the block. I was listening to a radio 1 podcast to get me round, and kept laughing out loud whilst running (must have looked a bit strange!).
25 days in a row. 6 more runs until I can stop this nonsense!
25 days in a row. 6 more runs until I can stop this nonsense!
Day 24 - Saturday
We got to the hotel last night - it's lovely! A 4* place near Sutton Scotney (near Winchester). Had some nice grub in the evening at the hotel restaurant (service was a bit slow, but food was very nice).
Today, we've been wandering around Winchester and climbing a couple of hills (St Giles hill and St Catherines hill) which offer fantastic views over Winchester.
After getting back to the hotel, all we wanted to do was have a kip, but I knew I wouldn't want to go out for a run any other time. So I stuck on my kit and went down to reception to find out where to run. The woman on reception told me about a way to get out of the hotel grounds onto some country lanes.
So, off I went.
And boy, did I go! 3 miles of flying - Can't remember the speed of the first mile, but the average was 7m21 and the last mile was 7m02! I just didn't want to stop, and kept getting faster and faster. I love runs like that. And it keeps in with the one day good/one day bad thing as well.
So, tomorrows run will be not so good probably, but hey, I don't care - today's run was the reason I like running :-)
Today, we've been wandering around Winchester and climbing a couple of hills (St Giles hill and St Catherines hill) which offer fantastic views over Winchester.
After getting back to the hotel, all we wanted to do was have a kip, but I knew I wouldn't want to go out for a run any other time. So I stuck on my kit and went down to reception to find out where to run. The woman on reception told me about a way to get out of the hotel grounds onto some country lanes.
So, off I went.
And boy, did I go! 3 miles of flying - Can't remember the speed of the first mile, but the average was 7m21 and the last mile was 7m02! I just didn't want to stop, and kept getting faster and faster. I love runs like that. And it keeps in with the one day good/one day bad thing as well.
So, tomorrows run will be not so good probably, but hey, I don't care - today's run was the reason I like running :-)
Day 23 - Friday
Fridays are always difficult - it's the last day of the week, and today I was working at home as we were off to stay in a hotel for a couple of nights away over the weekend.
I went out about 14:00, and had a fairly poor run - there is definitely a pattern of 1 good run and 1 bad run every 2 days! Still, I got round and made it 23 days in a row.
I went out about 14:00, and had a fairly poor run - there is definitely a pattern of 1 good run and 1 bad run every 2 days! Still, I got round and made it 23 days in a row.
Friday 23 January 2009
Day 22
I left this run 'till the evening as I was supposed to be running with Kev. He came round at 7, and we went out with the intention of doing a longer run.
No idea what the pace was (a little slower than 8min/mile I think), but we managed 5.25mi, so I think I've broken the 100 miles as long as I do 3 miles each day 'till the end of the month!
Again, no problems with the leg to speak of. A couple of easy days to come, then I might get on with belting it next week and see where I can get to in this month!
No idea what the pace was (a little slower than 8min/mile I think), but we managed 5.25mi, so I think I've broken the 100 miles as long as I do 3 miles each day 'till the end of the month!
Again, no problems with the leg to speak of. A couple of easy days to come, then I might get on with belting it next week and see where I can get to in this month!
Day 21 - Wednesday
I'm being a bit naughty and getting behind with my blogging, so I need to catch up a bit. It's Friday today, so I need to tell you about Wednesday and Thursday...
Wednesday's was actually a decent run. It didn't feel great to start, and I thought I was going really slowly as I had been the last few days before, but I reached mile 1 at about 7m40. This always gives me incentive to run faster if I'm not feeling knackered, so I carried on at a fair pace (around 7m45 for mile 2), and finished with a belting 7m32! I stopped at exactly 3 miles as I'm still trying to be careful with my leg - it still feels a little uncomfortable to run on so I shouldn't push too hard, but it's holding up at the moment and not hurting afterwards or too much during a run.
Wednesday's was actually a decent run. It didn't feel great to start, and I thought I was going really slowly as I had been the last few days before, but I reached mile 1 at about 7m40. This always gives me incentive to run faster if I'm not feeling knackered, so I carried on at a fair pace (around 7m45 for mile 2), and finished with a belting 7m32! I stopped at exactly 3 miles as I'm still trying to be careful with my leg - it still feels a little uncomfortable to run on so I shouldn't push too hard, but it's holding up at the moment and not hurting afterwards or too much during a run.
Wednesday 21 January 2009
Day 20 - Euch
Another one of those days where I just didn't want to get out. I ran the longer run yesterday, and had a fairly active Aikido session in the evening, but didn't really eat enough yesterday so I was feeling tired all day today.
Still, I managed 3 miles, with the first mile under 8 minutes. I want to run faster, but I'm finding it really hard at the moment as I've spent most of the last couple of weeks running slowly and concentrating on getting my injury sorted.
I was thinking about this - how can you lose the ability to run fast over just 2 weeks? Well, in those 2 weeks I've done 14 runs, and that would equate to about 5 weeks of my normal running - and it would be easy to lose speed over 5 weeks! On the plus side, with a bit of concentration and non-consecutive longer or faster runs, I think I can bring something back from this.
Tomorrow (Wednesday) I'm hopefully running with Adrian again - it's nice to have company when most of your other runs are solo - gets a bit lonely and boring to be honest!
Still, I managed 3 miles, with the first mile under 8 minutes. I want to run faster, but I'm finding it really hard at the moment as I've spent most of the last couple of weeks running slowly and concentrating on getting my injury sorted.
I was thinking about this - how can you lose the ability to run fast over just 2 weeks? Well, in those 2 weeks I've done 14 runs, and that would equate to about 5 weeks of my normal running - and it would be easy to lose speed over 5 weeks! On the plus side, with a bit of concentration and non-consecutive longer or faster runs, I think I can bring something back from this.
Tomorrow (Wednesday) I'm hopefully running with Adrian again - it's nice to have company when most of your other runs are solo - gets a bit lonely and boring to be honest!
Day 19 - A Long One
I'm getting a bit behind on the blogging, so I'll keep this one quick...
I ran around the block at work today with Adrian, and managed a little over 4.5 miles! I think I only have an extra 1.5 miles to do now over the next 10 or so days (on top of the 3 miles each day) to reach 100 miles this month.
I was really pleased with the run - it was fairly slow, around the 8m30 mark, but never the less I actually got to over 4.5 miles. My leg is getting better all the time!
I ran around the block at work today with Adrian, and managed a little over 4.5 miles! I think I only have an extra 1.5 miles to do now over the next 10 or so days (on top of the 3 miles each day) to reach 100 miles this month.
I was really pleased with the run - it was fairly slow, around the 8m30 mark, but never the less I actually got to over 4.5 miles. My leg is getting better all the time!
Monday 19 January 2009
Day 18
It's getting a bit dull, this running thing. I'm not going to stop doing it, but the inevitability of the run is somehow less fun than trying to think of new and exciting ways to get out of having to go for a run!
The run today (Sunday) was not a bad one - I was doing 6m59 average at the quarter mile point, and faster than 7m30 at about 0.8 miles, but then it started dropping off rapidly as I met a hill. It really feels like my ability to handle anything hard has gone and I go through the floor. I really want to work on that over the next 10 days or so, once I'm sure my legs back to normal.
On the leg - I felt it for most of the run, but it was a tightness, a discomfort rather than a pain. It's definitely getting much, much better. I'm easing off on the massage (more through forgetting), periodically icing (trying to remember after runs) and almost given up with the ibuprofen gel, but the one thing that has been consistent all along is the sorbothanes. I'm not going to take them out until everything is completely back to normal, and then I'm expecting twinges fairly quickly afterwards. If I'm right, then it's off to the doctor with a good load of evidence to attempt to get this sorted - maybe with orthotics to boost my arch?
I'm writing this on Monday, sat at work. It's a rainy, dull day today, and I have Aikido tonight, so it's definitely a run at lunch time. The work shower is broken, so I'll probably be going on my own as everyone else seems to be unable to have a sensible wash without a shower (admittedly, I'd rather have a shower, but I'm not going to throw away 18 days of consecutive running just 'cause it's broken!).
I'll update later (probably tomorrow) about how todays run goes, but I'm not expecting anything earth shattering. The biggest thing is that if there is no real pain from my leg, I might attempt my old 4.5 mile loop - I've got about 3 miles extra to do to get to 100 miles this month, and if I do the 4.5 miles today that will be half of it!
The run today (Sunday) was not a bad one - I was doing 6m59 average at the quarter mile point, and faster than 7m30 at about 0.8 miles, but then it started dropping off rapidly as I met a hill. It really feels like my ability to handle anything hard has gone and I go through the floor. I really want to work on that over the next 10 days or so, once I'm sure my legs back to normal.
On the leg - I felt it for most of the run, but it was a tightness, a discomfort rather than a pain. It's definitely getting much, much better. I'm easing off on the massage (more through forgetting), periodically icing (trying to remember after runs) and almost given up with the ibuprofen gel, but the one thing that has been consistent all along is the sorbothanes. I'm not going to take them out until everything is completely back to normal, and then I'm expecting twinges fairly quickly afterwards. If I'm right, then it's off to the doctor with a good load of evidence to attempt to get this sorted - maybe with orthotics to boost my arch?
I'm writing this on Monday, sat at work. It's a rainy, dull day today, and I have Aikido tonight, so it's definitely a run at lunch time. The work shower is broken, so I'll probably be going on my own as everyone else seems to be unable to have a sensible wash without a shower (admittedly, I'd rather have a shower, but I'm not going to throw away 18 days of consecutive running just 'cause it's broken!).
I'll update later (probably tomorrow) about how todays run goes, but I'm not expecting anything earth shattering. The biggest thing is that if there is no real pain from my leg, I might attempt my old 4.5 mile loop - I've got about 3 miles extra to do to get to 100 miles this month, and if I do the 4.5 miles today that will be half of it!
Saturday 17 January 2009
Day 17 - The Wrong Leg?
Stats:
Time of Day: 18:44
Distance: 3.00mi
Speed: Average 8m10 (7m48, 8m49, 7m57)
HR: 160bpm av, 174bpm max
I had the weirdest thought at the start of my run. I left the house, turned to run up the hill and about 10 seconds into it my heart sank as I thought I must have the wrong leg on. It was a totally genuine thought - like having put the wrong pair of trainers on, and the annoyance at having to go back and change them over. You see, I got 10 seconds into my run, and it felt strange because there was no pain, no discomfort, nothing - just a totally normal leg :-)
I started feeling it after another 10 seconds, but that was such a massive boost for me! I think I'm nearly through this "broken" phase and I'm sure that inside of another week I can get back to making something of these remaining 2 weeks. I'm really happy at the moment.
Speed was coming back a little as well - it was very windy in one direction and I picked a route with a lot of nasty uphills in (primarily 'cause it was undulating and had a lot of downhill in as well), but the miles times were fairly good (the middle one was the hilly one).
I'm writing this as a lovely looking and smelling Thai Curry is bubbling away in a wok on the stove, made by my fair hand! I shall enjoy that tonight, along with the sound of the wind and rain that I managed to mostly avoid. And I can sit and revel in the joy of my leg getting better. Yippeee!
So, dinner, lots of massaging of the calf muscles, a bit of icing and some rest, then out again tomorrow morning (probably not avoiding the rain etc this time) to get Sundays over and done with.
There's only 14 more runs left - I'm actually starting to feel slightly sad about the end of this experiment. It's turning into quite a friend - I know where I stand, what's expected of me, and overall I'm thoroughly enjoying it. I told myself that in the last week of January, I have to think of my task for February (as well as looking after a new-born, due on the 18th Feb!). Something to think about later, I guess...
P.S. I got my camera back today, and it's all mended! :-)
Day 16
Friday. The end of the week. It's great in some ways, 'cause you get a weekend to look forward to. I didn't really want to go running at lunch time, but the thought of running early in the morning didn't really grab me and we we're off out to a friends house for dinner in the evening.
The run wasn't bad, actually. I did a slightly different route to normal which meant it was very flat and I managed 3.35 miles and the pace was around the 8m15/mile which I was pleased with. All in all it was good - my leg hurt a bit to start with but got easier throughout the run.
I'm still feeling a bit puffed out, event at greater than 8 minute pace - I do think the lack of any rest days means you are always running a bit knackered, even if it's not too far each day.
The pain in my leg is moving away from the bone and into the muscle, which to me feels like a good thing. What I mean by this is that the intensity of the bone pain has dropped and is bearable and still getting better, but the tension in the muscles seems to be more noticeable. I feel like I can do something about this though (massage, ibuprofen, ice etc), and you can immediately feel when it hurts so you can adjust how you run a bit. Massaging is good although a little painful sometimes when you hammer away at those tight bits in the calf muscle!
Hopefully things will be even better tomorrow...
The run wasn't bad, actually. I did a slightly different route to normal which meant it was very flat and I managed 3.35 miles and the pace was around the 8m15/mile which I was pleased with. All in all it was good - my leg hurt a bit to start with but got easier throughout the run.
I'm still feeling a bit puffed out, event at greater than 8 minute pace - I do think the lack of any rest days means you are always running a bit knackered, even if it's not too far each day.
The pain in my leg is moving away from the bone and into the muscle, which to me feels like a good thing. What I mean by this is that the intensity of the bone pain has dropped and is bearable and still getting better, but the tension in the muscles seems to be more noticeable. I feel like I can do something about this though (massage, ibuprofen, ice etc), and you can immediately feel when it hurts so you can adjust how you run a bit. Massaging is good although a little painful sometimes when you hammer away at those tight bits in the calf muscle!
Hopefully things will be even better tomorrow...
Day 15
Today was a good day, again! I think I'm enjoying the improvement in my leg, and although the runs are slow they are generally better than the day before.
Tonight, I went out with Kev, and it was nice to catch up and find out what he's been up to since December.
The run was around my local area, and we managed just over 3.8 miles, so this is the longest run I've done for a while. The chatting and gentle pace (8m30 or so per mile average) made for a nice enjoyable run.
I did some stretching and massage afterwards to try and keep this leg getting better.
Tonight, I went out with Kev, and it was nice to catch up and find out what he's been up to since December.
The run was around my local area, and we managed just over 3.8 miles, so this is the longest run I've done for a while. The chatting and gentle pace (8m30 or so per mile average) made for a nice enjoyable run.
I did some stretching and massage afterwards to try and keep this leg getting better.
Thursday 15 January 2009
Day 14 - Plodding along
I'm writing this on Thursday for the run on Wednesday as I was busy yesterday and didn't have a chance to update the blog.
There's nothing particularly exciting about the run - it was a "maintenance" run to keep the mileage up and check to see how the shin was doing.
I would rate pain levels at about the same as Tuesday's run, but I forgot to put ibuprofen gel on until the point I left, so I guess that's not making a huge amount of difference during the run.
Pace was about 8m30/mile, distance was exactly 3 miles again. At least nothing is getting worse, but I'm starting to get fed up with the slowness - I want to run faster again, at least sometimes!
I did notice that running up the hill near the start I felt a bit more puffed out that previously, so I can't make any huge assumptions about fitness levels after 14 consecutive runs - what I mean is that I'm not finding everything really easy now!
It's suprising how far 3 miles can feel - I picked it as an easy distance, but on some days 2 miles in can feel like forever, and that last mile can drag and drag. It wasn't too bad for this run, but it's getting more frequent.
As I write this (on Thursday), I'm thinking about tonight's run - I'm running with my Thursday running partner Kev - I haven't seen him for a few weeks so it'll be nice to catch up. He's been warned that it's a 3 mile slow run (we normally do around 6 miles or a set of intervals), but I think it will take my mind of running/pain etc and I'm quite looking forward to it.
Will post something afterwards as to how it all went - fingers crossed the pain is diminishing even further. I need to do a bit of massage on both my calves before I go out - better get on with that now...
There's nothing particularly exciting about the run - it was a "maintenance" run to keep the mileage up and check to see how the shin was doing.
I would rate pain levels at about the same as Tuesday's run, but I forgot to put ibuprofen gel on until the point I left, so I guess that's not making a huge amount of difference during the run.
Pace was about 8m30/mile, distance was exactly 3 miles again. At least nothing is getting worse, but I'm starting to get fed up with the slowness - I want to run faster again, at least sometimes!
I did notice that running up the hill near the start I felt a bit more puffed out that previously, so I can't make any huge assumptions about fitness levels after 14 consecutive runs - what I mean is that I'm not finding everything really easy now!
It's suprising how far 3 miles can feel - I picked it as an easy distance, but on some days 2 miles in can feel like forever, and that last mile can drag and drag. It wasn't too bad for this run, but it's getting more frequent.
As I write this (on Thursday), I'm thinking about tonight's run - I'm running with my Thursday running partner Kev - I haven't seen him for a few weeks so it'll be nice to catch up. He's been warned that it's a 3 mile slow run (we normally do around 6 miles or a set of intervals), but I think it will take my mind of running/pain etc and I'm quite looking forward to it.
Will post something afterwards as to how it all went - fingers crossed the pain is diminishing even further. I need to do a bit of massage on both my calves before I go out - better get on with that now...
Tuesday 13 January 2009
Day 13 - On the mend?
I am very, very pleased at the moment. Which is a little strange, as my leg is quite sore. But the critically important thing is that it's not very sore and I've just run 3.25 miles! I stopped at 3.25mi as it was starting to hurt slightly more than it was before, and I really don't want this to get any worse, but it's really, really good news for me! I had a nice 0.75mi or so walk back to the office which stretched my legs a bit. I'm very happy at the moment!
I did do a fair bit of playing around beforehand. Last night, I gave my calf a pretty major massage - there were lots of knots that I wanted to get rid of. It hurt quite a bit afterwards (in a fairly normal post-massage way) but felt quite good this morning. I also went round to the chemist and bought another tube of 10% ibuprofen gel and slapped that all over the shin area where it hurts about 30 minutes before my run. And finally, I stuck some old dual-shock Sorbothane insoles into my running shoes in place of the standard ones in the shoes.
So, how did it go? When I got ready - 20 or 30 minutes after using the gel - my leg felt absolutely normal - no pain at all. Good start. The Sorbothane's made my shoes feel like platforms, but I quickly got used to them wandering around the office. Then I started running outside, and it hurt a fair amount almost immediately - at which point my heart sank and I thought that it'd probably get worse and I'd stop within half a mile.
But, after half a mile I was running up a hill, and again, things felt almost entirely normal. A slight discomfort in the leg, but no real pain. And it went on like that - if I had to quantify it then until the last half mile or so the pain level was around half that of yesterday (which was better than Sunday) - and even in the last half mile it was a bit more painful but not as bad as the end of yesterday's run. So it's still going in the right direction.
I need to keep taking things gently, but there might be hope here that I don't have to stop just yet. I'm not sure which bit of massage/ibuprofen/Sorbothane's worked so I'm going to do the next few runs exactly the same. If the pain level keeps dropping then I might stop each thing in turn and try to figure out what's helping, but I'm really hoping that I'm on the mend. If I keep it gentle and sensible, then I might get to the end of this month after all!
I was hoping this might happen - I generally have a good day on 13th, and today's proved that!
I did do a fair bit of playing around beforehand. Last night, I gave my calf a pretty major massage - there were lots of knots that I wanted to get rid of. It hurt quite a bit afterwards (in a fairly normal post-massage way) but felt quite good this morning. I also went round to the chemist and bought another tube of 10% ibuprofen gel and slapped that all over the shin area where it hurts about 30 minutes before my run. And finally, I stuck some old dual-shock Sorbothane insoles into my running shoes in place of the standard ones in the shoes.
So, how did it go? When I got ready - 20 or 30 minutes after using the gel - my leg felt absolutely normal - no pain at all. Good start. The Sorbothane's made my shoes feel like platforms, but I quickly got used to them wandering around the office. Then I started running outside, and it hurt a fair amount almost immediately - at which point my heart sank and I thought that it'd probably get worse and I'd stop within half a mile.
But, after half a mile I was running up a hill, and again, things felt almost entirely normal. A slight discomfort in the leg, but no real pain. And it went on like that - if I had to quantify it then until the last half mile or so the pain level was around half that of yesterday (which was better than Sunday) - and even in the last half mile it was a bit more painful but not as bad as the end of yesterday's run. So it's still going in the right direction.
I need to keep taking things gently, but there might be hope here that I don't have to stop just yet. I'm not sure which bit of massage/ibuprofen/Sorbothane's worked so I'm going to do the next few runs exactly the same. If the pain level keeps dropping then I might stop each thing in turn and try to figure out what's helping, but I'm really hoping that I'm on the mend. If I keep it gentle and sensible, then I might get to the end of this month after all!
I was hoping this might happen - I generally have a good day on 13th, and today's proved that!
Monday 12 January 2009
Day 12 - Did I run?
Well, yes. I've spent about 6 of the last 24 or so hours with an ice pack strapped to my shin, and praying it will get better.
I managed 3 miles at 8m31 pace, and to start with everything felt better. I was deliberately taking it very easy and watching how I landed on my left foot. By 2.5 miles or so, it was starting to hurt quite a bit, but I'm sure it's not as much as it was yesterday.
I'm really worried that this shin problem is going to put a stop to my consecutive running in January, and I'm determined to do everything I can to stop it messing things up. I meant to slap a load of ibuprofen gel on it half and hour before I ran tonight, but I forgot until about half a mile into the run!
A bit of research on the internet-web-thingy wasn't overly positive - several articles all spoke of shin splints with the pain exactly where I have it. It seems to have 3 phases. The first is where it hurts mildly at the start of a run and disappears throughout the run, coming back a little more severe some time after the run and early the next morning. I've had that one. The second phase is where it's noticeable throughout the whole run and can be quite painful. I've got that one. The third is a stress fracture. Apparently, you know quite quickly if you're got one of those as you kind of stop running fairly sharpish, and not through choice!
I suppose my options are (a) stop until the pain goes away and tentatively run again to find out if it will stay away, (b) stop for 6-8 weeks like the good people in the running websites suggest or (c) be a fool and keep running through it until it stops me. It's not often I commit to something, and I know I shouldn't, but I want to keep running until I know I should stop - so I'm going to do a combination of (c) and (a), but (a) when I really am sure I should stop.
Anyway, this is all getting rather depressing, waffling on about the bad points. I should find something positive to finish on. Well, that's actually quite easy: the run tonight was really mellow. No part of it really felt hard, and apart from the leg which I was trying to ignore, it was lovely. It was raining and cold, but it's always great to be running when other people are stuck in their cars driving along, all warm and... no hold on, that's not what I meant! I mean it's nice to get fresh air, the wind in your hair (reminds me - I need a hair cut!), water on your feet.
Tomorrow is another day. The ice pack can works it's magic, the ibuprofen gel can numb the shattering of bones and some stretching can wile away the minutes until the ambulance turns up :-) Nope - the positive thing about today is that I'm convinced it didn't hurt as much as yesterday, and as long as it keeps going in that direction it's a good thing. Let's see what happens tomorrow...
I managed 3 miles at 8m31 pace, and to start with everything felt better. I was deliberately taking it very easy and watching how I landed on my left foot. By 2.5 miles or so, it was starting to hurt quite a bit, but I'm sure it's not as much as it was yesterday.
I'm really worried that this shin problem is going to put a stop to my consecutive running in January, and I'm determined to do everything I can to stop it messing things up. I meant to slap a load of ibuprofen gel on it half and hour before I ran tonight, but I forgot until about half a mile into the run!
A bit of research on the internet-web-thingy wasn't overly positive - several articles all spoke of shin splints with the pain exactly where I have it. It seems to have 3 phases. The first is where it hurts mildly at the start of a run and disappears throughout the run, coming back a little more severe some time after the run and early the next morning. I've had that one. The second phase is where it's noticeable throughout the whole run and can be quite painful. I've got that one. The third is a stress fracture. Apparently, you know quite quickly if you're got one of those as you kind of stop running fairly sharpish, and not through choice!
I suppose my options are (a) stop until the pain goes away and tentatively run again to find out if it will stay away, (b) stop for 6-8 weeks like the good people in the running websites suggest or (c) be a fool and keep running through it until it stops me. It's not often I commit to something, and I know I shouldn't, but I want to keep running until I know I should stop - so I'm going to do a combination of (c) and (a), but (a) when I really am sure I should stop.
Anyway, this is all getting rather depressing, waffling on about the bad points. I should find something positive to finish on. Well, that's actually quite easy: the run tonight was really mellow. No part of it really felt hard, and apart from the leg which I was trying to ignore, it was lovely. It was raining and cold, but it's always great to be running when other people are stuck in their cars driving along, all warm and... no hold on, that's not what I meant! I mean it's nice to get fresh air, the wind in your hair (reminds me - I need a hair cut!), water on your feet.
Tomorrow is another day. The ice pack can works it's magic, the ibuprofen gel can numb the shattering of bones and some stretching can wile away the minutes until the ambulance turns up :-) Nope - the positive thing about today is that I'm convinced it didn't hurt as much as yesterday, and as long as it keeps going in that direction it's a good thing. Let's see what happens tomorrow...
Sunday 11 January 2009
Day 11 - Ouch
Today I kept it slow and went for a run in the New Forest. Not too much to report except for the fact that despite icing my tibia/calf yesterday for several hours and again this morning for a bit of time, it hurt quite a lot by the end of the 3 miles today.
My speed was about 8m26 or so average for the lot - so not fast at all. The hills were hard work, and actually the flats were quite hard as well. I seem to be having one good day then one bad day at the moment - will have to see how it goes tomorrow.
I was genuinely worried at the end of todays run as my shin in getting more and more painful and I really was wondering how I would manage any more runs. I'm going to continue to ice it, and probably put some ibuprofen gel on tomorrow before running, but I think I need to try and find the cause of this. If it's an overuse injury, then I'm inevitably going to have to break this everyday running at some point soon. I'm not sure how these things work, but I don't want it to turn into a stress fracture and put me off running for a longer period of time.
It seems that taking it easy doesn't make a lot of difference. The worst thing is running shorter strides down hill, and I found that afterwards I could make it hurt by pointing my toes and twisting my foot inwards at the same time (i.e. for my left leg, first pointing my toes out straight then angling them towards the right while still out straight). I've just tried it again and while it doesn't hurt now it does seem to pull a bit in the area that's sore.
I'll do a bit of stretching, massage and icing tonight and see how things go. We'll have to see how the run is tomorrow lunchtime...
My speed was about 8m26 or so average for the lot - so not fast at all. The hills were hard work, and actually the flats were quite hard as well. I seem to be having one good day then one bad day at the moment - will have to see how it goes tomorrow.
I was genuinely worried at the end of todays run as my shin in getting more and more painful and I really was wondering how I would manage any more runs. I'm going to continue to ice it, and probably put some ibuprofen gel on tomorrow before running, but I think I need to try and find the cause of this. If it's an overuse injury, then I'm inevitably going to have to break this everyday running at some point soon. I'm not sure how these things work, but I don't want it to turn into a stress fracture and put me off running for a longer period of time.
It seems that taking it easy doesn't make a lot of difference. The worst thing is running shorter strides down hill, and I found that afterwards I could make it hurt by pointing my toes and twisting my foot inwards at the same time (i.e. for my left leg, first pointing my toes out straight then angling them towards the right while still out straight). I've just tried it again and while it doesn't hurt now it does seem to pull a bit in the area that's sore.
I'll do a bit of stretching, massage and icing tonight and see how things go. We'll have to see how the run is tomorrow lunchtime...
Saturday 10 January 2009
Days 9 and 10
Day 9:
Time of day 12:52
Distance: 3.00mi
Times: 24:16 total, 8m05 average (8m04, 8m20, 7m51)
HR: 166bpm av, 177bpm max
I'm not going to write much about yesterday (Friday, day 9). I didn't want to go out for a run at lunch at work, but I knew I'd have to go in the evening if I didn't, and I wanted that even less. It was a rubbish run - absolute crap. I didn't want to do any of the routes I'd done (primarily 'cause I didn't want to run), and I just ended up with a poor route that ended too early and meant I had to run up and down a road a bit. I was just glad to get it over with.
Day 10:
Time of day: 18:43
Distance: 3.15mi
Times: 23:37 total, 7m31 average (7m27, 7m31, 7m43, 6m35) :-)
HR: 171bpm av, 185bpm max
WHAT A RUN! Didn't want to go out again (this is getting to be the norm!), and wore a knee bandage on my left knee so it didn't hurt at all. Problem was, it kept falling down so I ended up stopping at 0.5mi and taking it off. It was funny really, as I tried to get it off over my shoe and it wouldn't fit, so I took my shoe off (which meant undoing the laces), then when I was putting my shoe back on I tied the laced up and included my gloved in the knot, so I swore a bit, threw the gloves down, tied the lace, put the gloves back on and finally got going again. When I stopped, my average was 7m45 as I'd stopped a few times to pull the bandage up. When I got to mile 1 the averge was 7m31, so I'd really zipped that last bit!
Mile 2 was good as well - I was chuffed with the speed of mile 1. Nothing hurt, and I was running well. The end of mile 2 was up hill and I slowed down a bit, but it still felt good - like I has something left to go faster if I wanted.
Mile 3 just flew past - with one slight hiccup. I got back home all chuffed, and then noticed I'd only done 2.84 miles! It didn't really matter too much - I just pegged it round the little block near my house and got back at 3.15mi.
One great thing about this combination of running and blogging is that you spend at least part of the run writing your blog in your head! Then, when you have a good run, you totally forget what you were going to write! Oh well, it might come back to me later.
I do have a problem at the moment - my left calf/tibia area is hurting quite a lot after this run. It's getting progressively worse and hurts a little at the start of a run and more at the end, and tends to be a problem going down stairs when I'm not running. I'm just contemplating sitting in a cold bath for 10 minutes, but it's 0C outside and the bath water is going to be, well... f**king cold! I'm not sure I'll be able to have any more children after that (but, thinking about it, that would save the cost of an operation...!)
Right then, got to go and sort out dinner etc and revel in the glow of my run! I think I'll either have to go early tomorrow morning or late in the evening - either way it's not going to be much fun, so I'll enjoy this good feeling now.
That's it then, apart from saying that my slightly insane sister is also doing this January running thing, and her blog is Here. I'll have to tell you all about her running history, but I'll do that later (suffice to say, for now, that she's done 25 marathons, the last 3 in 3 days over the somewhat hilly Jurassic Coast!). She's my inspiration for running, and always keeps me going when I don't feel like doing it.
jusqu'Ã demain...
Time of day 12:52
Distance: 3.00mi
Times: 24:16 total, 8m05 average (8m04, 8m20, 7m51)
HR: 166bpm av, 177bpm max
I'm not going to write much about yesterday (Friday, day 9). I didn't want to go out for a run at lunch at work, but I knew I'd have to go in the evening if I didn't, and I wanted that even less. It was a rubbish run - absolute crap. I didn't want to do any of the routes I'd done (primarily 'cause I didn't want to run), and I just ended up with a poor route that ended too early and meant I had to run up and down a road a bit. I was just glad to get it over with.
Day 10:
Time of day: 18:43
Distance: 3.15mi
Times: 23:37 total, 7m31 average (7m27, 7m31, 7m43, 6m35) :-)
HR: 171bpm av, 185bpm max
WHAT A RUN! Didn't want to go out again (this is getting to be the norm!), and wore a knee bandage on my left knee so it didn't hurt at all. Problem was, it kept falling down so I ended up stopping at 0.5mi and taking it off. It was funny really, as I tried to get it off over my shoe and it wouldn't fit, so I took my shoe off (which meant undoing the laces), then when I was putting my shoe back on I tied the laced up and included my gloved in the knot, so I swore a bit, threw the gloves down, tied the lace, put the gloves back on and finally got going again. When I stopped, my average was 7m45 as I'd stopped a few times to pull the bandage up. When I got to mile 1 the averge was 7m31, so I'd really zipped that last bit!
Mile 2 was good as well - I was chuffed with the speed of mile 1. Nothing hurt, and I was running well. The end of mile 2 was up hill and I slowed down a bit, but it still felt good - like I has something left to go faster if I wanted.
Mile 3 just flew past - with one slight hiccup. I got back home all chuffed, and then noticed I'd only done 2.84 miles! It didn't really matter too much - I just pegged it round the little block near my house and got back at 3.15mi.
One great thing about this combination of running and blogging is that you spend at least part of the run writing your blog in your head! Then, when you have a good run, you totally forget what you were going to write! Oh well, it might come back to me later.
I do have a problem at the moment - my left calf/tibia area is hurting quite a lot after this run. It's getting progressively worse and hurts a little at the start of a run and more at the end, and tends to be a problem going down stairs when I'm not running. I'm just contemplating sitting in a cold bath for 10 minutes, but it's 0C outside and the bath water is going to be, well... f**king cold! I'm not sure I'll be able to have any more children after that (but, thinking about it, that would save the cost of an operation...!)
Right then, got to go and sort out dinner etc and revel in the glow of my run! I think I'll either have to go early tomorrow morning or late in the evening - either way it's not going to be much fun, so I'll enjoy this good feeling now.
That's it then, apart from saying that my slightly insane sister is also doing this January running thing, and her blog is Here. I'll have to tell you all about her running history, but I'll do that later (suffice to say, for now, that she's done 25 marathons, the last 3 in 3 days over the somewhat hilly Jurassic Coast!). She's my inspiration for running, and always keeps me going when I don't feel like doing it.
jusqu'Ã demain...
Thursday 8 January 2009
Day 8 - A good run (finally!)
"No one is stopping you from doing what you want to do
No one is stopping you now, stopping you now..."
Axl Rose (Guns N Roses), Shackler's Revenge
Those were just some lyrics I noticed while I was running the last half mile of tonights run, and I thought they were appropriate!
I really, really, really, really, really (did I get that across?!) didn't want to go out for a run tonight. My friend cancelled on me as his daughter has chicken pox, and I just felt lethargic. Not tired, or sore or anything else - it was just a mental thing about not going. If I had given myself any choice at the beginning of this running idea, I wouldn't have gone out tonight, but the fact that I've invested 7 days into this so far, I can't throw it away now. And do you know what?...
I actually had a good run tonight!!
3 miles on the dot (I was coming up a never-ending hill at the end and I told myself if I ran all the way up I could stop at 3 miles). 7m45 or so average (need to find the numbers later), but real running. The hills didn't kill me, and I wasn't knackered to start with.
The interesting thing is that I was working at home today, and seemed to spend most of the day eating - sod the calories, I just ate everything I could find! I therefore think that quite a lot of the tiredness associated with the running is the limiting of calories.
My left knee felt slightly odd to start with, but my wife bought me a support bandage yesterday and I wore it in the evening and all night and it seems to have helped. I did however get home from tonights run, do some stretches, and then find my left calf is very tight on the inside and it almost hurts to walk. I'm going to give it a really good massage as I can feel knots in the muscle and hopefully this'll sort things out.
I'm thinking of treating myself to a sports massage. I've always wanted one, and I thought what better time to do it than in the middle of this daft experiment! I might look around tomorrow and see if I can get some recommendations for local ones...
About the run - it was a new(ish) route tonight - I did one of my normal ones the other way round with a bit of a twist at the end which left me ending on a steep up hill. It always feels different doing a run the other way round - I'm a creature of habit and normally want to check my time, so I don't really like it generally, but when you're just after distance and not time it's really nice to see things from the other side. The start of the run was good - nice and easy and I felt bouncy. In fact it was good until a hill at just before 2 miles, then it started getting a bit harder. But I still had the energy to run uphill at the end, so overall it felt really good.
I did remind myself of something that was worrying me a little at the start of January. I've found that if you run the same distance regularly (I usually run 4.5 miles at work a few times a week), then you get comfortable running about 70% of that distance and the last bit is always hard. So, if you want to get good at running 10k, you need to run at least 8 or so miles regularly I reckon. So, doing a month of 3 miles will make me comfortable at doing 2 miles, but I'm going to find it hard to do anything more in February (how do you pronounce February??!!). So, once I get to (or near) 14 days I'm going to make a couple of the runs each week at least 5 miles and see how I get on with that.
One last thought - if you're reading this and I don't know you, can you stick a comment on the blog? Anything you like - it'd just be nice to hear!
Ta ra until tomorrow...
No one is stopping you now, stopping you now..."
Axl Rose (Guns N Roses), Shackler's Revenge
Those were just some lyrics I noticed while I was running the last half mile of tonights run, and I thought they were appropriate!
I really, really, really, really, really (did I get that across?!) didn't want to go out for a run tonight. My friend cancelled on me as his daughter has chicken pox, and I just felt lethargic. Not tired, or sore or anything else - it was just a mental thing about not going. If I had given myself any choice at the beginning of this running idea, I wouldn't have gone out tonight, but the fact that I've invested 7 days into this so far, I can't throw it away now. And do you know what?...
I actually had a good run tonight!!
3 miles on the dot (I was coming up a never-ending hill at the end and I told myself if I ran all the way up I could stop at 3 miles). 7m45 or so average (need to find the numbers later), but real running. The hills didn't kill me, and I wasn't knackered to start with.
The interesting thing is that I was working at home today, and seemed to spend most of the day eating - sod the calories, I just ate everything I could find! I therefore think that quite a lot of the tiredness associated with the running is the limiting of calories.
My left knee felt slightly odd to start with, but my wife bought me a support bandage yesterday and I wore it in the evening and all night and it seems to have helped. I did however get home from tonights run, do some stretches, and then find my left calf is very tight on the inside and it almost hurts to walk. I'm going to give it a really good massage as I can feel knots in the muscle and hopefully this'll sort things out.
I'm thinking of treating myself to a sports massage. I've always wanted one, and I thought what better time to do it than in the middle of this daft experiment! I might look around tomorrow and see if I can get some recommendations for local ones...
About the run - it was a new(ish) route tonight - I did one of my normal ones the other way round with a bit of a twist at the end which left me ending on a steep up hill. It always feels different doing a run the other way round - I'm a creature of habit and normally want to check my time, so I don't really like it generally, but when you're just after distance and not time it's really nice to see things from the other side. The start of the run was good - nice and easy and I felt bouncy. In fact it was good until a hill at just before 2 miles, then it started getting a bit harder. But I still had the energy to run uphill at the end, so overall it felt really good.
I did remind myself of something that was worrying me a little at the start of January. I've found that if you run the same distance regularly (I usually run 4.5 miles at work a few times a week), then you get comfortable running about 70% of that distance and the last bit is always hard. So, if you want to get good at running 10k, you need to run at least 8 or so miles regularly I reckon. So, doing a month of 3 miles will make me comfortable at doing 2 miles, but I'm going to find it hard to do anything more in February (how do you pronounce February??!!). So, once I get to (or near) 14 days I'm going to make a couple of the runs each week at least 5 miles and see how I get on with that.
One last thought - if you're reading this and I don't know you, can you stick a comment on the blog? Anything you like - it'd just be nice to hear!
Ta ra until tomorrow...
Wednesday 7 January 2009
Day 7 - 1 week down!
(I'll dig out the figures later, but distance was 3mi on the dot and speed was about 7m59 av)
1 week down. This is officially, definitely and absolutely the longest number of consecutive days I've run for. I think...! And it's totally unimpressive. The run, that is.
I've been having a bit of think about this whole idea. What does it achieve? What am i trying to achieve? Speed? Distance? Stamina? All of these things need something more specific that just pounding the roads for 3 miles every day. It doesn't get me down, and I'm not going to stop, because I've got something I didn't expect from this - I'm actually really enjoying it! I don't really care what the point is, to be honest - it's just fun. I never thought I'd say that (and I'll probably be swearing about it all later), but I love getting out on these freezing days and seeing the world.
The biggest down side so far is that I'm starting to feel absolutely knackered. I sort-of unintentionally started several things in January - one was this running idea, and another was to try and lose a bit of weight by cutting out snacks etc and limiting the amount I eat. I've been averaging about 1500 calories or slightly over each day, and I'm starting to feel a bit tired overall. I don't know whether it's the running or dieting that's the problem - most likely a bit of both - but the thing I'm most concerned about is ending up ill and not being able to run, so I'm trying to eat sensibly when I feel I need it and get lots of fruit and veg in, and am stuffing in vitamin supplements like they're going out of fashion! I can honestly say, though, that I can get out and enjoy a run when I feel far worse than times in the past when I've cancelled 'cause I've been a bit hungry/tired.
I still think that fundamentally it's a mental thing - the reason for doing this. I work better without a choice, so going out every day should make it easier in that respect. And, like I said in an earlier post, I want to not be bothered about going for a run in the future: not try and think of excuses to put it off to tomorrow etc. I'm still looking forward to seeing what sort of person I am at the end of this month.
S'pose I'd better put something about todays run - I'm writing this in the evening after getting back from the pub (I had ONE pint! That's quite a big thing for me to limit it to a single pint!). The run was exactly the same route as yesterday (except I stopped at 3 miles on the dot and walked the last little bit). I did find the hill a bit easier - in fact, overall it felt slightly easier. Not easy, but easier - and as long as it goes in that direction I'm very happy. I'm still surprised that it's not still really, really hard this early on, but what the heck. Most of the crunchy snow had gone - there were still a few patches, but it's pretty much back to normal with a few frozen puddles and lines of ice on the heathland bit of the run. I must stick a picture of the heath area up on here to show where I run...
Tomorrow it's running with Kev - likely around 6 miles and a good chat. It'll be interesting to see how I cope with a bit of distance. I'll let you know...
1 week down. This is officially, definitely and absolutely the longest number of consecutive days I've run for. I think...! And it's totally unimpressive. The run, that is.
I've been having a bit of think about this whole idea. What does it achieve? What am i trying to achieve? Speed? Distance? Stamina? All of these things need something more specific that just pounding the roads for 3 miles every day. It doesn't get me down, and I'm not going to stop, because I've got something I didn't expect from this - I'm actually really enjoying it! I don't really care what the point is, to be honest - it's just fun. I never thought I'd say that (and I'll probably be swearing about it all later), but I love getting out on these freezing days and seeing the world.
The biggest down side so far is that I'm starting to feel absolutely knackered. I sort-of unintentionally started several things in January - one was this running idea, and another was to try and lose a bit of weight by cutting out snacks etc and limiting the amount I eat. I've been averaging about 1500 calories or slightly over each day, and I'm starting to feel a bit tired overall. I don't know whether it's the running or dieting that's the problem - most likely a bit of both - but the thing I'm most concerned about is ending up ill and not being able to run, so I'm trying to eat sensibly when I feel I need it and get lots of fruit and veg in, and am stuffing in vitamin supplements like they're going out of fashion! I can honestly say, though, that I can get out and enjoy a run when I feel far worse than times in the past when I've cancelled 'cause I've been a bit hungry/tired.
I still think that fundamentally it's a mental thing - the reason for doing this. I work better without a choice, so going out every day should make it easier in that respect. And, like I said in an earlier post, I want to not be bothered about going for a run in the future: not try and think of excuses to put it off to tomorrow etc. I'm still looking forward to seeing what sort of person I am at the end of this month.
S'pose I'd better put something about todays run - I'm writing this in the evening after getting back from the pub (I had ONE pint! That's quite a big thing for me to limit it to a single pint!). The run was exactly the same route as yesterday (except I stopped at 3 miles on the dot and walked the last little bit). I did find the hill a bit easier - in fact, overall it felt slightly easier. Not easy, but easier - and as long as it goes in that direction I'm very happy. I'm still surprised that it's not still really, really hard this early on, but what the heck. Most of the crunchy snow had gone - there were still a few patches, but it's pretty much back to normal with a few frozen puddles and lines of ice on the heathland bit of the run. I must stick a picture of the heath area up on here to show where I run...
Tomorrow it's running with Kev - likely around 6 miles and a good chat. It'll be interesting to see how I cope with a bit of distance. I'll let you know...
Tuesday 6 January 2009
Day 6 - Tuesday
Time (of day): 12:45
Distance: 3.07mi
Time: 24:32 (7m59 average, mile (or part mile) times: 7m38, 8m20, 8m03, 7m15)
Heart rate: 166bpm average, 181bpm max
Just got back from this run, and wrote yesterdays blog entry as I didn't have time then!
The weather is cold outside - it was -1C when I started. It didn't feel as cold as the last few days as there's nice sunshine out and about - I still had my gloves off by about mile 2. On the common area near work where I spent half my time running, the tracks were covered in frosty snow - a very thin layer that's been there for a few days but has frozen enough to stick around. It's nice running on that as it's not slippery but it's something different!
I must admit, I feel knackered today. I woke up this morning and felt really, really tired. But the thing about this running "challenge" is that I feel like if I can't do anything else in the day I must... no, want to do the running. I may be starting to get properly addicted to this!
The run today was fairly slow (although that first mile looks faster - I thought I was plodding along like an OAP!), but I didn't feel too exhausted during any of it. I'm hoping that I might be starting to get used to this, although it still feels a bit early for that - I was expecting about 2 weeks before my body decided to join in properly.
So, it's a nice gentle run again tomorrow, then out on Thursday evening with a regular running friend when I'll probably run 6 miles or so. For now, I must disappear to take an amino-acid supplement horse-tranqualiser sized pill, eat some lunch, and do some work! Until tomorrow...
Distance: 3.07mi
Time: 24:32 (7m59 average, mile (or part mile) times: 7m38, 8m20, 8m03, 7m15)
Heart rate: 166bpm average, 181bpm max
Just got back from this run, and wrote yesterdays blog entry as I didn't have time then!
The weather is cold outside - it was -1C when I started. It didn't feel as cold as the last few days as there's nice sunshine out and about - I still had my gloves off by about mile 2. On the common area near work where I spent half my time running, the tracks were covered in frosty snow - a very thin layer that's been there for a few days but has frozen enough to stick around. It's nice running on that as it's not slippery but it's something different!
I must admit, I feel knackered today. I woke up this morning and felt really, really tired. But the thing about this running "challenge" is that I feel like if I can't do anything else in the day I must... no, want to do the running. I may be starting to get properly addicted to this!
The run today was fairly slow (although that first mile looks faster - I thought I was plodding along like an OAP!), but I didn't feel too exhausted during any of it. I'm hoping that I might be starting to get used to this, although it still feels a bit early for that - I was expecting about 2 weeks before my body decided to join in properly.
So, it's a nice gentle run again tomorrow, then out on Thursday evening with a regular running friend when I'll probably run 6 miles or so. For now, I must disappear to take an amino-acid supplement horse-tranqualiser sized pill, eat some lunch, and do some work! Until tomorrow...
Day 5 - Back to work
Time (of day): 12:38
Distance: 4.57mi
Time: 37:43 (8m15 average, mile (or part mile) times: 8m49, 7m59, 8m19, 8m02, 8m00)
Heart rate: 170bpm average, 185bpm max
I'm writing this on day 6 (after my run, incidentally), because yesterday was rather busy and I didn't get the chance.
So, day 5 - Monday - I went back to work. Get up nice and early, drive to work (70 miles... yeah, I know!), and get on with work. At work, it's fairly easy to manage drinking and eating. I had some porridge, fruit and drank several pints of water before my run at lunch time.
I went out with a couple of friends from work, and we did the normal loop which is "undulating", rural and some off-road sections. It was good running with other people, and I found the pace fairly OK considering it was the 5th consecutive day of running. I've done this loop in a bit over 32 minutes before at my peak speed, but today was a nice gentle run.
I was fairly knackered at the end, but then to be honest I was fairly knackered at the beginning too! My shins (inside) hurt a little but no more than the last couple of days. It's the same pain I used to get when I started running all those years ago so I'm assuming that it'll either go away in time or stay and get no worse for the month. My left knee feels a little odd after the run - kind of "squeaky" when I move it, but it's not hurting. Those are the only niggles that have appeared so far, and I'm hoping they'll be the only ones!
I went to Aikido in the evening as well - great fun after the break over Christmas, but fairly hard work. So by the time I got home, at 22:15 I was pretty knackered!
Distance: 4.57mi
Time: 37:43 (8m15 average, mile (or part mile) times: 8m49, 7m59, 8m19, 8m02, 8m00)
Heart rate: 170bpm average, 185bpm max
I'm writing this on day 6 (after my run, incidentally), because yesterday was rather busy and I didn't get the chance.
So, day 5 - Monday - I went back to work. Get up nice and early, drive to work (70 miles... yeah, I know!), and get on with work. At work, it's fairly easy to manage drinking and eating. I had some porridge, fruit and drank several pints of water before my run at lunch time.
I went out with a couple of friends from work, and we did the normal loop which is "undulating", rural and some off-road sections. It was good running with other people, and I found the pace fairly OK considering it was the 5th consecutive day of running. I've done this loop in a bit over 32 minutes before at my peak speed, but today was a nice gentle run.
I was fairly knackered at the end, but then to be honest I was fairly knackered at the beginning too! My shins (inside) hurt a little but no more than the last couple of days. It's the same pain I used to get when I started running all those years ago so I'm assuming that it'll either go away in time or stay and get no worse for the month. My left knee feels a little odd after the run - kind of "squeaky" when I move it, but it's not hurting. Those are the only niggles that have appeared so far, and I'm hoping they'll be the only ones!
I went to Aikido in the evening as well - great fun after the break over Christmas, but fairly hard work. So by the time I got home, at 22:15 I was pretty knackered!
Sunday 4 January 2009
Day 4 - New Shoes
Time (of day): 19:25
Distance: 3.29mi
Time: 26:52 (8m11 average, mile (or part mile) times: 8m01, 8m10, 8m26, 7m50)
Heartrate on run: 169bpm average, 180bpm max
Morning heartrate: forgot to check
So, I ran in some new shoes today. I had to take my favourite camera to the shop for repair yesterday, and treated myself to a new pair of Brooks Adrenaline GTS 8's (same as my last pair) It's lovely to run in new shoes - my shins were hurting a bit during the run yesterday, and today they hurt a little at the start but I forgot about them part way through. And I felt really bouncy!
I bought a new battery for my heart rate monitor as well - I've been meaning to wear it and when I tried it yesterday nothing happened. So today, I ran with it and hopefully I'm going to see some change to my heart rate by the end of the month.
Anyway, about todays run. It was slow but the consistency was better. I didn't feel like I could go much faster, or wanted to run much slower, and the times were more sensible as a result. I drank plenty today (it's actually really hard to stay properly hydrated when running every day!), and ate fairly sensibly (I'm still keeping calorie intake to around 1500 per day as I need to lose a bit of weight). While it wasn't the most exciting run in the world, it certainly wasn't bad - I got the end of the Guns N Roses album (Chinese Democracy) and the last track is excellent to wind down a run to - I found myself running a slightly longer route to catch the end of the track!
So, 4 days in a row. I'm not sure I can ever recall doing 4 days in a row running. I've certainly cycled 5 days in a row before (I used to commute to work), and I might have run on a Saturday back in those days, so I'm thinking that when I get to 7 consecutive days exercise it will be a new area for me. Should be interesting! I thought the first few days would be interesting, days 5-10 or so would be horrible and afterwards things would settle down - I've yet to see, but so far I've had some interesting runs, a fairly horrible one and it seems to have settled... Still, I'm only 1/8th of the way through this, so I'm sure there's plenty more suprises to come.
Tomorrow's going to be interesting. I'm back to work after the Christmas break, so it'll be a lunchtime run. And I have Aikido in the evening, so it's a long day with plenty of exercise. I'll write up how things go either tomorrow or Tuesday...
Distance: 3.29mi
Time: 26:52 (8m11 average, mile (or part mile) times: 8m01, 8m10, 8m26, 7m50)
Heartrate on run: 169bpm average, 180bpm max
Morning heartrate: forgot to check
So, I ran in some new shoes today. I had to take my favourite camera to the shop for repair yesterday, and treated myself to a new pair of Brooks Adrenaline GTS 8's (same as my last pair) It's lovely to run in new shoes - my shins were hurting a bit during the run yesterday, and today they hurt a little at the start but I forgot about them part way through. And I felt really bouncy!
I bought a new battery for my heart rate monitor as well - I've been meaning to wear it and when I tried it yesterday nothing happened. So today, I ran with it and hopefully I'm going to see some change to my heart rate by the end of the month.
Anyway, about todays run. It was slow but the consistency was better. I didn't feel like I could go much faster, or wanted to run much slower, and the times were more sensible as a result. I drank plenty today (it's actually really hard to stay properly hydrated when running every day!), and ate fairly sensibly (I'm still keeping calorie intake to around 1500 per day as I need to lose a bit of weight). While it wasn't the most exciting run in the world, it certainly wasn't bad - I got the end of the Guns N Roses album (Chinese Democracy) and the last track is excellent to wind down a run to - I found myself running a slightly longer route to catch the end of the track!
So, 4 days in a row. I'm not sure I can ever recall doing 4 days in a row running. I've certainly cycled 5 days in a row before (I used to commute to work), and I might have run on a Saturday back in those days, so I'm thinking that when I get to 7 consecutive days exercise it will be a new area for me. Should be interesting! I thought the first few days would be interesting, days 5-10 or so would be horrible and afterwards things would settle down - I've yet to see, but so far I've had some interesting runs, a fairly horrible one and it seems to have settled... Still, I'm only 1/8th of the way through this, so I'm sure there's plenty more suprises to come.
Tomorrow's going to be interesting. I'm back to work after the Christmas break, so it'll be a lunchtime run. And I have Aikido in the evening, so it's a long day with plenty of exercise. I'll write up how things go either tomorrow or Tuesday...
Saturday 3 January 2009
Day 3 - I don't want to do this any more!
Time: 09:04
Distance: 3.15mi
Time: 26:32 (8m25 average, mile (or part mile) times: 8m09, 8m54, 8m24, 7m18)
Morning heartrate: not sure, it kept disappearing!
It was really hard work today. To start with, I woke up with what felt like the start of a cold. I went out early as we've got a busy day, and the thermometer said -2.3C - so lovely and warm then. To be honest, I don't really mind the cold as long as I've got some gloves on. Today, I went in shorts (my long running trousers are in the wash!), a t-shirt and a lightweight jacket and gloves. My hands were pretty cold despite the gloves up until a bit after mile 2, by which time I'd rolled my sleeves up on the jacket and taken the gloves off.
I deliberately kept it slow at the beginning today - I did more or less the same route as Jan 1st (a slight detour to the shop at the end so I could get some milk for my porridge). However, I found it pretty difficult going slow, and the uphills were horrible - I felt like I could hardly drag myself up. It was at the end of on fairly big hill that I thought "I don't want to do this anymore!" - I think that was the first point that I realised how hard this could be, at least at the beginning.
It seems strange writing about how hard 3 miles is. I picked the distance as it's one that I can pretty much do without thinking about - I've done several 15+ mile runs in marathon training, albeit a while back. And yet, do 3 days in a row, with the first couple a bit fast and it starts getting quite hard. While part of me hates the discomfort (I won't use the word pain as it's just uncomfortable at the moment - even at the worst points), a bigger part of me is really looking forward to seeing what the outcome of these 31 days of running is going to be. Hopefully, someone who doesn't worry about going running any day, is fitter, healthier (and with any luck a bit lighter!).
I'm going to buy some new shoes this afternoon, and try them out on tomorrows run. It's always nice running in new shoes, and the next few days should have that as an added bonus!
Until tomorrow...
Distance: 3.15mi
Time: 26:32 (8m25 average, mile (or part mile) times: 8m09, 8m54, 8m24, 7m18)
Morning heartrate: not sure, it kept disappearing!
It was really hard work today. To start with, I woke up with what felt like the start of a cold. I went out early as we've got a busy day, and the thermometer said -2.3C - so lovely and warm then. To be honest, I don't really mind the cold as long as I've got some gloves on. Today, I went in shorts (my long running trousers are in the wash!), a t-shirt and a lightweight jacket and gloves. My hands were pretty cold despite the gloves up until a bit after mile 2, by which time I'd rolled my sleeves up on the jacket and taken the gloves off.
I deliberately kept it slow at the beginning today - I did more or less the same route as Jan 1st (a slight detour to the shop at the end so I could get some milk for my porridge). However, I found it pretty difficult going slow, and the uphills were horrible - I felt like I could hardly drag myself up. It was at the end of on fairly big hill that I thought "I don't want to do this anymore!" - I think that was the first point that I realised how hard this could be, at least at the beginning.
It seems strange writing about how hard 3 miles is. I picked the distance as it's one that I can pretty much do without thinking about - I've done several 15+ mile runs in marathon training, albeit a while back. And yet, do 3 days in a row, with the first couple a bit fast and it starts getting quite hard. While part of me hates the discomfort (I won't use the word pain as it's just uncomfortable at the moment - even at the worst points), a bigger part of me is really looking forward to seeing what the outcome of these 31 days of running is going to be. Hopefully, someone who doesn't worry about going running any day, is fitter, healthier (and with any luck a bit lighter!).
I'm going to buy some new shoes this afternoon, and try them out on tomorrows run. It's always nice running in new shoes, and the next few days should have that as an added bonus!
Until tomorrow...
Friday 2 January 2009
Day 2 - Ooops
Time: 19:22
Distance: 3.14mi
Time: 24:32.50 (7m48 average, mile (or part mile) times: 7m05, 7m57, 8m26, 7m26)
Well, I've managed my second day's running. Once again, general stuff got in the way during the day (or, if I'm honest, I used everything as an excuse until I couldn't any more!). So I went out in the evening again.
I wasn't really worried about going out today. Spent 15 minutes faffing around beforehand finding everything (I guess the organisation will get better towards the end of the month).
As for the run, I made the same mistake as I did yesterday only worse - my first mile was 7m05s. Way, way too quick to keep this up for a month, and my shins are complaining about it now. I am going to get some new shoes tomorrow hopefully (my old ones are over a year old and have done several hundred miles). Overall, I felt more tired doing the run tonight, but it wasn't a bad run. Different route, few more up and down hills, but I just must slow down at the start tomorrow...
Distance: 3.14mi
Time: 24:32.50 (7m48 average, mile (or part mile) times: 7m05, 7m57, 8m26, 7m26)
Well, I've managed my second day's running. Once again, general stuff got in the way during the day (or, if I'm honest, I used everything as an excuse until I couldn't any more!). So I went out in the evening again.
I wasn't really worried about going out today. Spent 15 minutes faffing around beforehand finding everything (I guess the organisation will get better towards the end of the month).
As for the run, I made the same mistake as I did yesterday only worse - my first mile was 7m05s. Way, way too quick to keep this up for a month, and my shins are complaining about it now. I am going to get some new shoes tomorrow hopefully (my old ones are over a year old and have done several hundred miles). Overall, I felt more tired doing the run tonight, but it wasn't a bad run. Different route, few more up and down hills, but I just must slow down at the start tomorrow...
Thursday 1 January 2009
31 days of running: And so it begins...
Time: 20:14
Distance: 3.16mi
Time: 24:42 (7m49 average, mile (or part mile) times: 7m31, 8m13, 7m48, 7m27)
Morning heartrate: 64bpm
I write this having just got back from my first run of January 2009 - the first of 31 consecutive days running. I'd better explain...
I've been running for over 10 years on and off, and have done 2 marathons, several halfs and quite a few 10k's. I'd like to get comfortable at running under 7 minute miles, but at my best I've managed 5k at 7m01s/mile pace, and that nearly killed me! My problem is consistency, so I decided in December to run at least 3 miles every day in January as a kind of new years resolution, and also to kick start some decent training to get my speed up. Oh, and I decided to give up alcohol, cut out crap foods and do lots stretching as well!
So today it began. I wanted to use this blog as a diary to record my progress and thoughts about it. I use a Garmin Forerunner so I can get pretty accurate speed/distance/heart rate etc information about my runs, and I'll edits the posts when I've downloaded the info.
Today I just ran around a block from my house. I knew I had to run, but I didn't bother with it this morning as we were in a rush to get out to visit my mother. Then I didn't really drink very much, ate quite late and got back here knowing I had to run. And it was 1C outside - hooray! Having said that - the point of setting 3 miles every day was that I can more or less do that at the drop of a hat - I don't need to drink before, I could do it on a full stomach etc. I'm not saying that would be nice, but I could do it.
So I went out at about 8 o'clock. The first mile was lovely - felt absolutely great, and I looked at my Garmin after a few minutes and realised I'd done just under a mile at 7m10s/mile pace! Ooops - that wasn't going to hold. Throughout the runs, the downhills felts great (really, really good actually), and the uphills were hellish - really difficult. And I was getting a bit worn out by the end. But I still managed 7m50/mile average which is good, although the speed of any runs is irrelevant and if I go too fast it'll just make it more difficult the next day.
The last thing I'll write tonight is that I've remembered how nice it is to run in the cold winter evenings. I had Guns N' Roses (Chinese Democracy) quietly playing in my ears, and it was cold and really quite (being New Years day, I suppose). It was really peaceful, and great looking at all the Christmas lights still out.
Anyway, I'm off to have a shower and do some more stretches etc. Until tomorrow...
Distance: 3.16mi
Time: 24:42 (7m49 average, mile (or part mile) times: 7m31, 8m13, 7m48, 7m27)
Morning heartrate: 64bpm
I write this having just got back from my first run of January 2009 - the first of 31 consecutive days running. I'd better explain...
I've been running for over 10 years on and off, and have done 2 marathons, several halfs and quite a few 10k's. I'd like to get comfortable at running under 7 minute miles, but at my best I've managed 5k at 7m01s/mile pace, and that nearly killed me! My problem is consistency, so I decided in December to run at least 3 miles every day in January as a kind of new years resolution, and also to kick start some decent training to get my speed up. Oh, and I decided to give up alcohol, cut out crap foods and do lots stretching as well!
So today it began. I wanted to use this blog as a diary to record my progress and thoughts about it. I use a Garmin Forerunner so I can get pretty accurate speed/distance/heart rate etc information about my runs, and I'll edits the posts when I've downloaded the info.
Today I just ran around a block from my house. I knew I had to run, but I didn't bother with it this morning as we were in a rush to get out to visit my mother. Then I didn't really drink very much, ate quite late and got back here knowing I had to run. And it was 1C outside - hooray! Having said that - the point of setting 3 miles every day was that I can more or less do that at the drop of a hat - I don't need to drink before, I could do it on a full stomach etc. I'm not saying that would be nice, but I could do it.
So I went out at about 8 o'clock. The first mile was lovely - felt absolutely great, and I looked at my Garmin after a few minutes and realised I'd done just under a mile at 7m10s/mile pace! Ooops - that wasn't going to hold. Throughout the runs, the downhills felts great (really, really good actually), and the uphills were hellish - really difficult. And I was getting a bit worn out by the end. But I still managed 7m50/mile average which is good, although the speed of any runs is irrelevant and if I go too fast it'll just make it more difficult the next day.
The last thing I'll write tonight is that I've remembered how nice it is to run in the cold winter evenings. I had Guns N' Roses (Chinese Democracy) quietly playing in my ears, and it was cold and really quite (being New Years day, I suppose). It was really peaceful, and great looking at all the Christmas lights still out.
Anyway, I'm off to have a shower and do some more stretches etc. Until tomorrow...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)