And that was that for Janathon...
I was hoping that tonight's final #Janathon run would be a group affair, as Andy Next Door and Paul Across The Road had both planned to come with me. Unfortunately, they couldn't make it, so it ended up, for once, just being me, myself and my thoughts.
I made up the route as I went - I only needed to run 3 miles to bring up 200 for the month of just running, and also knew it would take me over 3500 total miles since I started using RunKeeper last April...
I ended up running a bit further than planned down Spring Lane, and my pace and form were a bit up and down at times as the footpath was very bumpy and their were no street lights to navigate by. I decided to run back up the road, but that wasn't much better, as every time a car came towards me, I had to jump back to the footpath (a few feet from the road), as I wasn't wearing particularly reflective clothing and didn't want to end #Janathon with a crash!
By the time I got home 26 minutes or so later, I'd added another 3.5 miles to my January total, to go with 1.5 miles of walking at lunchtime. I didn't push too hard, so I was reasonably happy with the pace, given how tired my legs felt before, during and after the run.
As I ran, my thoughts were mainly about the rest of the year, and what I'd like to achieve, but I also did allow myself to reflect on just how far I've come over the past year, and how January has gone, and I have to admit, I couldn't be much happier!
During January, I've run further than ever before (200.5 miles, previous best was 152 in December, and in January last year I ran 0 miles!), walked further than ever (nearly 33 miles) and I've managed a grand total of 317.67 miles (walking, running, riding and swimming combined).
That means I'm well ahead of my target of 2012Km of running for 2012, but well behind where I need to be to hit my overall self-propelled target of 5012 miles. This month has shown me that to hit the overall target, I'm going to have to be on my bike a lot from March to October (when there's more daylight) and I'm worried that may mean that I have to cut back on the running to achieve the overall total miles.
For now though, I'm planning to keep running every day (I'm up to 70 days in a row now) while I am enjoying doing it, and physically able to do so - and worry about how to fit everything else in once the evenings are lighter.
One thing I definitely won't be doing every day any more, is writing this blog - over the month I've had conflicting thoughts about whether to keep it up or not (it takes a lot of time!), but the positive feedback I've had from lots of people has encouraged me to not stop completely. I will definitely be taking a break from writing though, at least for a few days, and then will probably pen posts again when there are exciting things to report (PBs, races, new running team members, etc.), rather than promising to do it weekly, monthly etc.
And that's pretty much that - other than to report that I broke my #Plankaday record again today - 7 minutes 5 seconds !! I'm planning to keep that challenge going (though not planning to do it for that long every day), and I'll be continuing with #Pressupathon and #Situpathon too, they are starting to get tougher now!
Finally, just a quick note to say thanks to everyone who's supported me this month - my parents, James and Kieran, Sarah, Ellie & Stu, all my Twitter and Facebook buddies, and everyone who's commented on this blog - all the kind words, encouragement and support are massively appreciated.
Here's the final summary for January:
Running: 200.44 miles
Walking: 32.86 miles
Cycling: 84.12 miles
Swimming: 0.25 miles
Total: 317.67 miles
Running streak: 70 days (started 23/11/2011)
Thanks again, and until the next time.
Mike
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Monday, January 30, 2012
The longest, fastest and most painful run ever!
Wow....
That's about all I have the energy to write, but if one run deserves more description than that, it's the one we managed tonight.
There were 6 of us on the run - James, Kieran, Stuart, Jono and for the first time, Gary (who often runs with us on Saturdays at Parkrun).
We were planning to do 10.5 miles, as we're building up to the Silverstone Half Marathon on 11th March, by adding 1/2 mile a week to the long run. We hadn't pre-mapped a route, so I suggested one that I thought could work and we set off.
The first 3 miles were fairly uneventful, we got into our running and other than briefly stopping when James got a bad stitch after 2K or so, which fairly quickly passed, not a lot happened.
I'd told the group that I wanted to get a #MagicMile split in (I haven't mentioned it before, but #MagicMile is your fastest individual mile in January, and I hadn't really gone for it for a full mile this month) and decided that mile from the top of Woodborough Rd near Sainsbury's Local, down into town would be the best one (as it's pretty much all downhill!).
Stuart and I set off together for the fast mile as we reached mile 3 and were soon running at well under 6 minutes per mile (my fastest ever mile on the flat is 6:40), as we reached halfway (where the gradient flattens for a bit), I checked and we were still at around 5:40 pace. As we got down to the final section which was actually a bit uphill, I was frantically checking the distance as I was running out of steam, but we made it to the 4 mile point and I checked RunKeeper's split to see it say 5 minutes 34 seconds!
Stuart and I looped back up the hill to meet the others, and I think that messed RunKeeper up a bit, as the distance jumped, and I when I checked it later, the GPS traces were all over the place. I edited the route on the PC just before writing this, and after I fixed it, the #MagicMile time was changed to 5:50 - which is still very, very fast for me, and I was totally shattered by the end of it!
The next mile or so was fairly uneventful, except that Kieran and I both started to feel like we needed a bathroom break, and Jono started to feel his knee playing up (he'd hurt it on our long run 2 weeks ago and it has been really troubling him since). I also began to feel pains from my ankles / Achilles, which I guessed was down to not being used to my new shoes (New Balance 1080s) that I picked up for a song yesterday in the Sweatshop Sale when Sarah was getting hers.
We dropped Jono off at his house after about 6.5 miles as he couldn't face going any further (definitely a sensible choice), and headed down Mansfield Rd into Arnold. The pace began to slow as Kieran was really struggling with aches and pains, and as we began the final climb up Coppice Road, I was really feeling it too - my knees started hurting (which never happens), as well as both calves and my right Achilles in particular. Half way up Coppice Road we stopped to cross a road, and I made a big decision - I was taking the shoes off!
The feeling when I removed them was great and I ran the last kilometre or so with them in my hands - feeling just like Barefoot Ted in Born to Run - free, natural, and so much better than with the shoes on, and some of the aches disappeared almost immediately!
When we reached home, RunKeeper suggested we'd run 11.6 miles, but after correcting the bit of the run that was wrong, I think it was more like 11.2 for me, a bit further for Stuart, and about 10.7 for the boys and Gary (who didn't run the extra up and the hill). For all of us (other than Stuart) it was definitely the longest run ever, and for Gary, it was well over twice as far as he'd ever run before - and that was before he then rode his bike 4 miles home!
After the run I was shattered, and only managed a nominal 1:30 #Plankaday, but didn't worry about that, as I was, and still am buzzing from how well everyone did tonight.
And with that, it's time to sign off - just one more #Janathon run and blog to go!
Summary so far:
Running: 196.91 miles
Walking: 31.34 miles
Cycling: 84.12 miles
Swimming: 0.25 miles
Total: 312.62 miles
Running streak: 69 days (started 23/11/2011)
Sunday, January 29, 2012
More records and a long overdue swim!
Today has been another day filled with fun and exercise - one that's going to be difficult to summarise in a short blog post (well difficult for me anyway). Short this needs to be though, not just because I want to be posting this on the correct day, but also because I'm shattered and want to get some sleep!
The first business of the day was getting Sarah some new running shoes as she's been running in standard gym class trainers until now. It's actually only 6 weeks since Sarah's first mile run (when I convinced her to run back from the pub with me after a long walk) and in that time she's made amazing progress. The service from Sweatshop was great as always, and after trying on several pairs, Sarah chose the Brooks Ghost 4s - impressed me, as she was hoping to find some pink ones and the Brooks were amongst the least girlie...
We then took the new shoes for a test run - down the canal to the riverbank, along to the pedestrian bridge that joins Victoria Embankment to the West Bridgford side of the Trent, across it and then headed towards and under Trent Bridge.
After passing by the City Ground, we did a loop along the riverbank and back...
We retraced our route back up the canal and ended up with a total of 5.7 miles, which was over half a mile further than Sarah's longest previous run, and the first 5K today was also her fastest 5K ever too - 33:30. The shoes clearly helped, but I'm amazed how much progress she's made in just a few weeks - from "I will never be a runner" to running for over an hour today, without stopping once and very nearly completing her first 10K (that's next week's plan :)).
This afternoon, my Mum joined Sarah and I for a lovely walk through the nature reserves and Woodland Trust areas near here, in a big and hilly loop that eventually ended up, after 6.5 miles at the gym/health club where my parents are members. Mum and Dad had received free guest passes when they joined the club, and kindly offered them to Sarah and I. We weren't able to stay as long as we would have liked (next time we'll stay longer!), but it was great to spend some time in the sauna and steam room and, for the first time in over 2 months, I went for a swim! I only did 400M, but felt pretty good and was really happy to have finally logged my first swimming miles (well, 0.25 miles) of the year.
We then walked back home (another mile) and then had a very tasty evening meal of posh sausages, Crinkle Cut chips and beans - and I managed to get #Pressupathon and #Situpathon done while it was cooking.
As usual this post has ended up longer than planned - it's very hard to summarise such a fun day in a small number of words, but I need to sign off now as I need to get up early for work tomorrow and then it's long run night tomorrow night!
Annual summary (major milestone reached - 300 total miles!):
Running: 185.7 miles
Walking: 30.18 miles
Cycling: 84.12 miles
Swimming: 0.25 miles
Total: 300.25 miles
Running streak: 68 days (started 23/11/2011)
The first business of the day was getting Sarah some new running shoes as she's been running in standard gym class trainers until now. It's actually only 6 weeks since Sarah's first mile run (when I convinced her to run back from the pub with me after a long walk) and in that time she's made amazing progress. The service from Sweatshop was great as always, and after trying on several pairs, Sarah chose the Brooks Ghost 4s - impressed me, as she was hoping to find some pink ones and the Brooks were amongst the least girlie...
.JPG) |
| Sarah's first proper running shoes. |
After passing by the City Ground, we did a loop along the riverbank and back...
.JPG) |
| The Trent End at the City - with Trent Bridge in the background. |
We retraced our route back up the canal and ended up with a total of 5.7 miles, which was over half a mile further than Sarah's longest previous run, and the first 5K today was also her fastest 5K ever too - 33:30. The shoes clearly helped, but I'm amazed how much progress she's made in just a few weeks - from "I will never be a runner" to running for over an hour today, without stopping once and very nearly completing her first 10K (that's next week's plan :)).
This afternoon, my Mum joined Sarah and I for a lovely walk through the nature reserves and Woodland Trust areas near here, in a big and hilly loop that eventually ended up, after 6.5 miles at the gym/health club where my parents are members. Mum and Dad had received free guest passes when they joined the club, and kindly offered them to Sarah and I. We weren't able to stay as long as we would have liked (next time we'll stay longer!), but it was great to spend some time in the sauna and steam room and, for the first time in over 2 months, I went for a swim! I only did 400M, but felt pretty good and was really happy to have finally logged my first swimming miles (well, 0.25 miles) of the year.
We then walked back home (another mile) and then had a very tasty evening meal of posh sausages, Crinkle Cut chips and beans - and I managed to get #Pressupathon and #Situpathon done while it was cooking.
As usual this post has ended up longer than planned - it's very hard to summarise such a fun day in a small number of words, but I need to sign off now as I need to get up early for work tomorrow and then it's long run night tomorrow night!
Annual summary (major milestone reached - 300 total miles!):
Running: 185.7 miles
Walking: 30.18 miles
Cycling: 84.12 miles
Swimming: 0.25 miles
Total: 300.25 miles
Running streak: 68 days (started 23/11/2011)
Saturday, January 28, 2012
One run, 5 PBs and a curry!
Today has involved less exercise than almost any other day this year - the plans for a bike ride this afternoon didn't materialise for various reasons, but it's still been a fun and successful day nonetheless.
The day started with my 11th consecutive Parkrun (I've run the event every week since first discovering it in November) and it was one of the most memorable so far (though they've all been great!).
Despite the warnings of rain/sleet overnight and a frosty start this morning, it actually turned out to be another beautiful morning, almost perfect for running. There were several regulars missing from our group this morning: Andy Next Door, Martin, and my Mum and Dad couldn't make it, Ian was cheering on from the sidelines, rather than running this week, and Mark joined my parents on the list of my friends / family who've volunteered as marshals - loads of respect to him for doing it, (the boys and I are volunteering for the first time the week after next as it's half term).
That left 7 of us in our group this morning. James, Kieran and I, Ellie & Stuart (regular training partners), Gary from work, and for the first time, Jason, who I've been encouraging for weeks to join us, and who finally made it today.
Having paced James (my eldest, who's 14) to a massive new PB last week, today I'd promised to try to do the same for Kieran (12) who had gone from having a PB 3 seconds slower than his big brother, to nearly a minute slower in one race last weekend. James decided to try to run with Gary (who's a very strong runner), so set off ahead of us, while Stuart (the strongest of all of us) stayed pacing Ellie a bit further back, while Kieran and I were in the middle. By the time we set off, Jason, who was walking with his dog, hadn't made it to the start, so ended up starting after everyone else, right at the back!
James and Gary quickly built a big lead over Kieran and I, but we weren't concerned, as we were bang on our target pace for the first mile (8:10), despite there being a really good turnout again this week and the first 1/2 mile being very crowded as we ran past people who'd set off too quickly and were slowing down.
As we started the second mile, the gap to James stopped growing, as we upped our pace, and Kieran started to really get into his running - Gary, meanwhile had left James a bit behind, in his own quest for a PB.
As we approached 1/2 distance, the views across the large lake were great, and I was able to capture a fairly decent picture of just how inspiring the scene was:
We reached 1/2 distance in 12:20 - well on schedule for Kieran's target (under 25 mins), and continued to maintain the gap to James as we passed Mark, who was on marshal duty at the 2 mile point (I managed to divert off the course slightly for a quick high five!).
As we started our second lap of the small lake, it was clear that Kieran was going to smash his PB, as long as he didn't hit the wall in the final mile, and fortunately there was no sign of that happening, despite our pace continuing to increase (our third mile was a 7:30). With 1/2 a mile to go, we saw Ian, Sarah and Max cheering everyone on from the sidelines (and I managed to divert for another high five), and by this point I was confident that Kieran was going to easily smash his previous best.
And so it proved - after surging past a more experienced runner in racing flats with 200m to go, I told Kieran that if he kept going all the way to the line, I'd let him beat me, and that's exactly what he did - stopping our watches at 24:22, a massive 38 seconds better than his previous time! He was delighted with his run, James (who'd looked to be 15 or 20 seconds ahead of us all the way), was less happy with his performance, despite me telling him that I thought he could also have beaten his own record. Similarly Gary, who was aiming for a 23:00 run, was disappointed as he knew he hadn't made that time.
We waited for Ellie & Stuart to make it to the finish, before setting off to take the boys to Music School. Just before we left, I called Jason to find out where he was, (and it soon became apparent he had no idea!), but fortunately he wasn't far away from the car park, so we gave him directions and headed on our way.
I was confident that Kieran would have a massive PB when the official results came through at lunchtime, but had no idea about everyone else. As it turned out, of the 7 us who started the race, this morning, 5 of us got PBs - and the only 2 who didn't were Stuart and I, who were acting as pacers (it's our turn to race next week!).
Here are the star performances:
Gary: 23:16 (new PB by 26 seconds)
James: 24:02 (new PB by 5 seconds)
Kieran: 24:22 (new PB by 38 seconds)
Ellie: 28:44 (new PB by 4 seconds)
Jason: 42:34 (new PB as it was his first event!)
Both boys were rightly delighted with their performances, and I was too - there can't be many things more rewarding than running with your kids and seeing them set new records! :)
The rest of the day was spent relaxing with the boys and preparing for tonight's curry night - that involved lots of cleaning / tidying (something I've been neglecting a lot recently), before I could start on a cooking a mountain of food.
I make curry recipes up as I go, but they always seem to be appreciated, tonight I concocted "Chicken Normal" and "Spicy Surprise", and everyone was very complimentary about how they came out (and I thought they were pretty good too)! It was already after midnight when the party wound down, meaning that I was a bit scuppered getting this post done on the correct #Janathon day - at least I've managed to get it written (semi-coherently I hope!) before going to bed, which is exactly what I'm going to do now!
The day started with my 11th consecutive Parkrun (I've run the event every week since first discovering it in November) and it was one of the most memorable so far (though they've all been great!).
Despite the warnings of rain/sleet overnight and a frosty start this morning, it actually turned out to be another beautiful morning, almost perfect for running. There were several regulars missing from our group this morning: Andy Next Door, Martin, and my Mum and Dad couldn't make it, Ian was cheering on from the sidelines, rather than running this week, and Mark joined my parents on the list of my friends / family who've volunteered as marshals - loads of respect to him for doing it, (the boys and I are volunteering for the first time the week after next as it's half term).
That left 7 of us in our group this morning. James, Kieran and I, Ellie & Stuart (regular training partners), Gary from work, and for the first time, Jason, who I've been encouraging for weeks to join us, and who finally made it today.
Having paced James (my eldest, who's 14) to a massive new PB last week, today I'd promised to try to do the same for Kieran (12) who had gone from having a PB 3 seconds slower than his big brother, to nearly a minute slower in one race last weekend. James decided to try to run with Gary (who's a very strong runner), so set off ahead of us, while Stuart (the strongest of all of us) stayed pacing Ellie a bit further back, while Kieran and I were in the middle. By the time we set off, Jason, who was walking with his dog, hadn't made it to the start, so ended up starting after everyone else, right at the back!
James and Gary quickly built a big lead over Kieran and I, but we weren't concerned, as we were bang on our target pace for the first mile (8:10), despite there being a really good turnout again this week and the first 1/2 mile being very crowded as we ran past people who'd set off too quickly and were slowing down.
.JPG) |
| A typical view around 1/2 a mile from the start. |
As we approached 1/2 distance, the views across the large lake were great, and I was able to capture a fairly decent picture of just how inspiring the scene was:
.JPG) |
| The sun rises over the large lake at Colwick |
We reached 1/2 distance in 12:20 - well on schedule for Kieran's target (under 25 mins), and continued to maintain the gap to James as we passed Mark, who was on marshal duty at the 2 mile point (I managed to divert off the course slightly for a quick high five!).
As we started our second lap of the small lake, it was clear that Kieran was going to smash his PB, as long as he didn't hit the wall in the final mile, and fortunately there was no sign of that happening, despite our pace continuing to increase (our third mile was a 7:30). With 1/2 a mile to go, we saw Ian, Sarah and Max cheering everyone on from the sidelines (and I managed to divert for another high five), and by this point I was confident that Kieran was going to easily smash his previous best.
And so it proved - after surging past a more experienced runner in racing flats with 200m to go, I told Kieran that if he kept going all the way to the line, I'd let him beat me, and that's exactly what he did - stopping our watches at 24:22, a massive 38 seconds better than his previous time! He was delighted with his run, James (who'd looked to be 15 or 20 seconds ahead of us all the way), was less happy with his performance, despite me telling him that I thought he could also have beaten his own record. Similarly Gary, who was aiming for a 23:00 run, was disappointed as he knew he hadn't made that time.
We waited for Ellie & Stuart to make it to the finish, before setting off to take the boys to Music School. Just before we left, I called Jason to find out where he was, (and it soon became apparent he had no idea!), but fortunately he wasn't far away from the car park, so we gave him directions and headed on our way.
I was confident that Kieran would have a massive PB when the official results came through at lunchtime, but had no idea about everyone else. As it turned out, of the 7 us who started the race, this morning, 5 of us got PBs - and the only 2 who didn't were Stuart and I, who were acting as pacers (it's our turn to race next week!).
Here are the star performances:
Gary: 23:16 (new PB by 26 seconds)
James: 24:02 (new PB by 5 seconds)
Kieran: 24:22 (new PB by 38 seconds)
Ellie: 28:44 (new PB by 4 seconds)
Jason: 42:34 (new PB as it was his first event!)
Both boys were rightly delighted with their performances, and I was too - there can't be many things more rewarding than running with your kids and seeing them set new records! :)
The rest of the day was spent relaxing with the boys and preparing for tonight's curry night - that involved lots of cleaning / tidying (something I've been neglecting a lot recently), before I could start on a cooking a mountain of food.
I make curry recipes up as I go, but they always seem to be appreciated, tonight I concocted "Chicken Normal" and "Spicy Surprise", and everyone was very complimentary about how they came out (and I thought they were pretty good too)! It was already after midnight when the party wound down, meaning that I was a bit scuppered getting this post done on the correct #Janathon day - at least I've managed to get it written (semi-coherently I hope!) before going to bed, which is exactly what I'm going to do now!
Friday, January 27, 2012
Another fun run, another new running neighbour...
As #Janathon winds down, I'm starting to think more about whether I'll keep blogging after it's over, and if I do, when I'll write and what I'll write about.
I definitely think new running team members will be worth writing about, especially when it's someone who I've lived about 20 yards from, for nearly 10 years!
That someone is "Paul Across The Road", who I've known for a while used to be a runner, but tonight was the first time that I've ever really had a proper chat with him, about running, or anything else (pretty shocking really when we've lived yards apart for years, but I guess that's the modern way).
Paul joined Andy Next Door and I for a very enjoyable run tonight - Andy and I were ready a bit earlier than planned, so warmed up with jog along the road to the rugby club and back. Once we set off with Paul, the pace slowed a bit, but we were able to have a really nice chat and talk about our running past (I don't have one, Paul has run a lot in, including half marathons in the past) and plans - Paul is aiming to do the Robin Hood half marathon in September this year and so will be stepping up his training a lot.
Andy and I ended up running about 4.5 miles with Paul and 6.7 total, and have already set another date (Tuesday next week) to run together as a threesome at least - unless we can convince any other neighbours to join us before then!
Earlier today I had another successful squash match against Deadly Doug - which ended in another fairly comfortable victory, so I've somehow managed to go the whole month of January unbeaten. I suspect February may be less successful if Darren, my squash nemesis decides to challenge me to a match (he's just back from the longest holiday, ever, and seemed to fancy a game when we talked earlier).
Tomorrow it's Colwick Parkrun in the morning of course, and I'm really hoping to help Kieran to break his 5K PB - he is very keen to do it, and his speedy new shoes should definitely help!
In the afternoon, weather permitting, I'm planning a short bike ride with the boys and Ellie & Stu, before hosting a curry night here in the evening (I'm cooking!).
With 4 days of January to go, I've already set records for miles of running and calories burned, and I think there's a very good chance I'll hit 200 miles and 300 total by the end of the month.
Totals so far:
Running: 176.91 miles
Walking: 22.51 miles
Cycling: 84.12 miles
Swimming: 0 miles
Total: 283.54 miles
Running streak: 66 days (started 23/11/2011)
I definitely think new running team members will be worth writing about, especially when it's someone who I've lived about 20 yards from, for nearly 10 years!
That someone is "Paul Across The Road", who I've known for a while used to be a runner, but tonight was the first time that I've ever really had a proper chat with him, about running, or anything else (pretty shocking really when we've lived yards apart for years, but I guess that's the modern way).
Paul joined Andy Next Door and I for a very enjoyable run tonight - Andy and I were ready a bit earlier than planned, so warmed up with jog along the road to the rugby club and back. Once we set off with Paul, the pace slowed a bit, but we were able to have a really nice chat and talk about our running past (I don't have one, Paul has run a lot in, including half marathons in the past) and plans - Paul is aiming to do the Robin Hood half marathon in September this year and so will be stepping up his training a lot.
Andy and I ended up running about 4.5 miles with Paul and 6.7 total, and have already set another date (Tuesday next week) to run together as a threesome at least - unless we can convince any other neighbours to join us before then!
Earlier today I had another successful squash match against Deadly Doug - which ended in another fairly comfortable victory, so I've somehow managed to go the whole month of January unbeaten. I suspect February may be less successful if Darren, my squash nemesis decides to challenge me to a match (he's just back from the longest holiday, ever, and seemed to fancy a game when we talked earlier).
Tomorrow it's Colwick Parkrun in the morning of course, and I'm really hoping to help Kieran to break his 5K PB - he is very keen to do it, and his speedy new shoes should definitely help!
In the afternoon, weather permitting, I'm planning a short bike ride with the boys and Ellie & Stu, before hosting a curry night here in the evening (I'm cooking!).
With 4 days of January to go, I've already set records for miles of running and calories burned, and I think there's a very good chance I'll hit 200 miles and 300 total by the end of the month.
Totals so far:
Running: 176.91 miles
Walking: 22.51 miles
Cycling: 84.12 miles
Swimming: 0 miles
Total: 283.54 miles
Running streak: 66 days (started 23/11/2011)
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Another successful run to work...
Running to work is becoming a more regular and more successful part of the routine now.
After totally wearing myself out on one run to work last week, and Ellie forgetting to leave her laptop at work the night before (and having to run with it in rucksack), on the other run, today we both managed to remember everything and not go too fast on the way there. We also had another companion on our run in - Stuart (Ellie's husband and my most accomplished training partner), had the day off, but decided to run in with us anyway.
Although we left slightly earlier today, it's already becoming lighter in the morning, and I managed to get one half-decent picture while running along Wilford Bridge.
.JPG) |
| Monet-style dawn view of the Trent... |
When we got to work (5 miles from Ellie & Stu's), we bade Stu farewell and as far as we knew, he was running straight back.
As it turned out, Stu didn't run straight home, he decided to go a more scenic route back, and ended up doing an 8-miler, meaning he'd done a half marathon before breakfast!
I then spent a lot of the rest of the day at work eating (apart from a quick walk to Tesco to get more food), and felt more than ready for the run home, which Ellie and I had already decided would be a "scenic route" one too so we didn't end up with fewer miles for the day than Stu.
As it turned out, we ended up "only" doing 7.2 miles on the way home, not quite matching Stu, but still a good total for the day.
This evening has been quieter than many, as for once, I haven't been out for a run! After doing #Pressupathon and #Situpathon this morning, it was time for #Plankaday, which ended up being another massive record!
 |
| Another #Plankaday record! |
I was very happy with my time, even though it wasn't even half the crazy 14 minutes that fellow Twitter planker @Dunsrunner managed today!
Tomorrow I'm playing squash at lunchtime, and then for the first time tomorrow evening, I'll be going for a run with "Paul Across The Road" (Andy Next Door can't make it), plus of course I'll be attempting another plank, though I'm not expecting another record.
Here's how the year looks now...
Running: 170.2 miles
Walking: 22.51 miles
Cycling: 84.12 miles
Swimming: 0 miles
Total: 276.83 miles
Running streak: 65 days (started 23/11/2011)
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
New shoes, new records....
Today has been a happy, exercise and fun-filled day. It's amazing how much better I've felt all day, despite getting far less sleep (about 3 hours less!) than the night before.
Getting up on time meant that I was able to get #Pressupathon and #Situpathon out of the way early, and arrive at work feeling awake and on time, rather than half asleep and late!
At lunchtime, I played squash for the first time this week, against one of my semi-regular opponents, Glen, who is a bit older than me, but has a similar attitude / playing style when it comes to squash. Basically, we both make up for what we lack in skill / finesse, by running round the court like lunatics, as fast as we can for as long as we can manage.
I was able to win the match (maintaining my 100% record for the year), but what pleased me most was that I felt very fast and fit, for pretty much the whole match. I have always run like a madman while playing squash, but in the past, a long, hard-fought point has left me hot, sweaty and "on the ropes" like a boxer who's taken one punch too many.
Today, in the 4th game (after I'd already won the match) we played one of the longest points I can ever remember - one that involved us both (and especially me), running to the back and then the front of the court several times over. After that point, Glen was really tired (even though he's pretty fit), but I felt great still - a bit out of breath, but that sound passed and it was then that it struck me - I am definitely fitter now, than I have ever been. Not just slightly fitter, but much, much fitter and I feel so, so much better for it. It also makes me more determined to keep improving my fitness as much as I can, (and crossing my fingers that I don't get injured!).
While I was conducting an appraisal at work this afternoon, an exciting parcel arrived, it was Kieran's new running shoes, which he'd spent the last of his Christmas money on.
The shoes he picked for himself (at 50% off in January Sale) were Nike Air Streak + 3, which he chose as they were supposed to be really light...
This is what they look like on the scales...
Getting up on time meant that I was able to get #Pressupathon and #Situpathon out of the way early, and arrive at work feeling awake and on time, rather than half asleep and late!
At lunchtime, I played squash for the first time this week, against one of my semi-regular opponents, Glen, who is a bit older than me, but has a similar attitude / playing style when it comes to squash. Basically, we both make up for what we lack in skill / finesse, by running round the court like lunatics, as fast as we can for as long as we can manage.
I was able to win the match (maintaining my 100% record for the year), but what pleased me most was that I felt very fast and fit, for pretty much the whole match. I have always run like a madman while playing squash, but in the past, a long, hard-fought point has left me hot, sweaty and "on the ropes" like a boxer who's taken one punch too many.
Today, in the 4th game (after I'd already won the match) we played one of the longest points I can ever remember - one that involved us both (and especially me), running to the back and then the front of the court several times over. After that point, Glen was really tired (even though he's pretty fit), but I felt great still - a bit out of breath, but that sound passed and it was then that it struck me - I am definitely fitter now, than I have ever been. Not just slightly fitter, but much, much fitter and I feel so, so much better for it. It also makes me more determined to keep improving my fitness as much as I can, (and crossing my fingers that I don't get injured!).
While I was conducting an appraisal at work this afternoon, an exciting parcel arrived, it was Kieran's new running shoes, which he'd spent the last of his Christmas money on.
The shoes he picked for himself (at 50% off in January Sale) were Nike Air Streak + 3, which he chose as they were supposed to be really light...
This is what they look like on the scales...
 |
| Nike Air Streak + 3 - 162g!
It turned out that they weren't as light as we expected (188g) but even lighter - 162g!!!
I'm guessing that the 188g weight is for a larger size (probably 10), and Kieran's (as he is only a size 6) are even lighter.
To put this into perspective, my Brooks ST Racer (my lightest shoes) are 282g and my Asics Gel Kayano 17s (the shoes I've done the most miles in) are 370g - well over twice the weight of Kieran's new ones...
This evening Kieran got the chance to try his new shoes on our weekly intervals session. We ran down to the Forest Rec. from Ellie and Stu's and did alternating fast, slow laps. We did the first 1 mile lap slowly, then went for it on the second lap - Ellie started first and didn't log her full mile time (but I'm guessing it was around 8:30), Kieran and I started after and caught then passed her near the end, and Stuart started last and overtook us after about half the mile.
Kieran and I stopped the clock in 7:28, which was his fastest individual mile that he's yet recorded, Stuart didn't log his mile separately, but I'm guessing it was probably around 6:15, or maybe even quicker (he is a real speedster). Kieran was delighted with his time, and not just because it was faster than his older brother's best time (7:32) which James ran for mile 3 of last weekend's Parkrun.
After the run, we went on the "Urban Gym" for a bit - basically heavy duty metal gym equipment that anyone can use for a workout, Kieran did situps with Stuart mentoring him which he really enjoyed. Finally we ran back to Ellie & Stu's for a total distance of just over 5 miles for the day.
The final record of the day (after lightest shoes and PB for the mile for Kieran) went to me - I decided to do my #Plankaday straight after we got home, and somehow managed a massive new PB of 6 mins 3 secs - that was really tough, but a great way to end the day.
Here's the summary for the year now:
Running: 158.03 miles
Walking: 21.04 miles
Cycling: 84.12 miles
Swimming: 0 miles
Total: 263.19 miles
Running streak: 64 days (started 23/11/2011)
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Tuesday, January 24, 2012
All's well that ends well...
Today could definitely have got off to a much better start!
Some people like lie-ins and would sleep for as long as possible, as often as they can. I don't mind a planned lie-in for an extra hour or so, every now and again on a weekend / holiday, but generally I like to be up pretty early, every day and especially when there's a busy day at work ahead. Unfortunately that didn't happen today, as the extension lead that my phone charger was plugged into by my bed had somehow become unplugged, so my phone (which was fairly low on battery after last night's run), ran out of battery completely overnight.
My phone is my alarm clock, and I didn't set my backup alarm clock (the iPad) for once either, so this morning instead of at least one, usually 2 alarms going off to wake me up, no alarms went off and I slept in not by a bit, but 20 or 30 mins, but by nearly 3 hours!!!
I got up, dressed, etc. quicker than ever before and somehow got to work 31 minutes after I woke up (the drive itself often takes 30 mins), just 3 minutes before the meeting with my boss that was supposed to be happening at 10:00am!
It turned out that meeting was cancelled, but by then my working day was already pretty scuppered, not least because extra sleep doesn't have the positive effect on me that it seems to on many other people, it makes me feel way, way worse. In fact, I didn't feel properly awake until about 4pm, and the working day was definitely way less productive than it should have been.
I also had to cancel my game of squash at lunchtime in an attempt to catch up, which didn't really work that well as I was still half asleep at that point. Fortunately I did get a bit done before then end of the working day, so it didn't end up being a complete write off, but I did leave vowing not to have another unintentional lie-in for as long as possible!
The end of the day has been much better than the start - firstly with a fun run with Andy Next Door and for the first time, Chris, who I normally play squash with, but had to let down today. We headed down into the back of Arnold, through the "Hubbocks" nature reserve, and then back through the centre of Arnold, up through the park and home. It was quite a hilly run, which made it a challenge for Chris, who usually runs along the river, but he made it without major problems, as did Andy, who is still having some issues with his new running shoes.
In total, the run was only just under 5 miles, but it was definitely one of the more hilly ways to run, and we stopped a couple of times to chat, so the overall pace wasn't as slow as it looked from the RunKeeper trace. I think Chris enjoyed himself and hope he'll come with us again - adding another new member of our unofficial running club would be great.
When I got home tonight I did my "#Plankaday" challenge much later than usual, but clearly it was a good time of the day to do it, as I didn't just beat my previous record, I smashed it, with a new time of 5 minutes 21 seconds - it was really tough, but I enjoyed it, and I think reading Men's Running while doing it helped.
Then to round off the evening off exercise-wise, I did 24 pressups and situps - though they were tougher than usual, following on just after the marathon plank...
The other highlight of the evening has been hearing about my other half, Sarah's first session at her local running club. She had a great time and is planning to become a regular member - she ran 4 hilly miles tonight and felt very comfortable in the group, which for someone who just a few weeks ago was "never going to be a runner" is really fantastic progress.
So, after the pretty rough start to the day, the end has be much, much better and I'm definitely planning to get up on time in the morning to make sure that all the day is better tomorrow!
On that note, I'd better get my alarms (both of them) set, and hit the sack!
2012 summary to date:
Running: 152.79 miles
Walking: 21.04 miles
Cycling: 84.12 miles
Swimming: 0 miles
Total: 257.95 miles
Running streak: 63 days (started 23/11/2011)
Some people like lie-ins and would sleep for as long as possible, as often as they can. I don't mind a planned lie-in for an extra hour or so, every now and again on a weekend / holiday, but generally I like to be up pretty early, every day and especially when there's a busy day at work ahead. Unfortunately that didn't happen today, as the extension lead that my phone charger was plugged into by my bed had somehow become unplugged, so my phone (which was fairly low on battery after last night's run), ran out of battery completely overnight.
My phone is my alarm clock, and I didn't set my backup alarm clock (the iPad) for once either, so this morning instead of at least one, usually 2 alarms going off to wake me up, no alarms went off and I slept in not by a bit, but 20 or 30 mins, but by nearly 3 hours!!!
I got up, dressed, etc. quicker than ever before and somehow got to work 31 minutes after I woke up (the drive itself often takes 30 mins), just 3 minutes before the meeting with my boss that was supposed to be happening at 10:00am!
It turned out that meeting was cancelled, but by then my working day was already pretty scuppered, not least because extra sleep doesn't have the positive effect on me that it seems to on many other people, it makes me feel way, way worse. In fact, I didn't feel properly awake until about 4pm, and the working day was definitely way less productive than it should have been.
I also had to cancel my game of squash at lunchtime in an attempt to catch up, which didn't really work that well as I was still half asleep at that point. Fortunately I did get a bit done before then end of the working day, so it didn't end up being a complete write off, but I did leave vowing not to have another unintentional lie-in for as long as possible!
The end of the day has been much better than the start - firstly with a fun run with Andy Next Door and for the first time, Chris, who I normally play squash with, but had to let down today. We headed down into the back of Arnold, through the "Hubbocks" nature reserve, and then back through the centre of Arnold, up through the park and home. It was quite a hilly run, which made it a challenge for Chris, who usually runs along the river, but he made it without major problems, as did Andy, who is still having some issues with his new running shoes.
In total, the run was only just under 5 miles, but it was definitely one of the more hilly ways to run, and we stopped a couple of times to chat, so the overall pace wasn't as slow as it looked from the RunKeeper trace. I think Chris enjoyed himself and hope he'll come with us again - adding another new member of our unofficial running club would be great.
When I got home tonight I did my "#Plankaday" challenge much later than usual, but clearly it was a good time of the day to do it, as I didn't just beat my previous record, I smashed it, with a new time of 5 minutes 21 seconds - it was really tough, but I enjoyed it, and I think reading Men's Running while doing it helped.
Then to round off the evening off exercise-wise, I did 24 pressups and situps - though they were tougher than usual, following on just after the marathon plank...
The other highlight of the evening has been hearing about my other half, Sarah's first session at her local running club. She had a great time and is planning to become a regular member - she ran 4 hilly miles tonight and felt very comfortable in the group, which for someone who just a few weeks ago was "never going to be a runner" is really fantastic progress.
So, after the pretty rough start to the day, the end has be much, much better and I'm definitely planning to get up on time in the morning to make sure that all the day is better tomorrow!
On that note, I'd better get my alarms (both of them) set, and hit the sack!
2012 summary to date:
Running: 152.79 miles
Walking: 21.04 miles
Cycling: 84.12 miles
Swimming: 0 miles
Total: 257.95 miles
Running streak: 63 days (started 23/11/2011)
Monday, January 23, 2012
A long run fuelled by Wild Boar burger!
The start of my first full week at work in at least 6 weeks was a busy one, but made more interesting than most, by being taken to lunch by a very generous supplier.
We were treated to a meal at the Ferry Inn in Wilford, right next to the pedestrian / bike bridge that I ride or run over when I don't drive to work. Its menu is quite adventurous and I picked what looked like the most tasty / unusual option - Wild Boar Burger, with plum chutney. It was very tasty - quite beef-like and with a big bun and portion of chips, it left me very full and tired for the rest of the day.
This evening run today was a memorable one - it was just James, Kieran, Stuart and I. We headed down into Arnold at quite a fast pace for the boys (first 5K in under 28 mins) and then turned towards Nottingham city centre and ran all the way up Mansfield Rd to the bottom of Woodborough Rd, where we turned for home.
About half way up Woodborough Road, which happens to be near the main red light district in Nottingham (so I've heard), I took my phone out of my pocket and noticed that it was saying we'd been 14 miles, when I knew at that point we were at 6! RunKeeper continued to log extra miles all the way home and when I checked the map, it seemed to have been literally double counting the distance (making it look like we were constantly zig zagging across the road from side to side as we ran.
The boys did brilliantly to make it all the way home, for a final distance of 10.13 miles (not 20+ as my phone said), making it the longest run that both of them have ever done, and if we carry on adding half a mile a week, they'll be doing half marathons very soon!
Tomorrow I'm playing squash at lunchtime, so it will be a shorter run in the evening.
As you can probably tell from the much shorter post tonight, I'm really, really tired, so I'm going to sign off with a summary of the year so far.
Running: 147.85 miles
Walking: 19.92 miles
Cycling: 84.12 miles
Swimming: 0 miles
Total: 251.89 miles
Running streak: 62 days (started 23/11/2011)
We were treated to a meal at the Ferry Inn in Wilford, right next to the pedestrian / bike bridge that I ride or run over when I don't drive to work. Its menu is quite adventurous and I picked what looked like the most tasty / unusual option - Wild Boar Burger, with plum chutney. It was very tasty - quite beef-like and with a big bun and portion of chips, it left me very full and tired for the rest of the day.
This evening run today was a memorable one - it was just James, Kieran, Stuart and I. We headed down into Arnold at quite a fast pace for the boys (first 5K in under 28 mins) and then turned towards Nottingham city centre and ran all the way up Mansfield Rd to the bottom of Woodborough Rd, where we turned for home.
About half way up Woodborough Road, which happens to be near the main red light district in Nottingham (so I've heard), I took my phone out of my pocket and noticed that it was saying we'd been 14 miles, when I knew at that point we were at 6! RunKeeper continued to log extra miles all the way home and when I checked the map, it seemed to have been literally double counting the distance (making it look like we were constantly zig zagging across the road from side to side as we ran.
The boys did brilliantly to make it all the way home, for a final distance of 10.13 miles (not 20+ as my phone said), making it the longest run that both of them have ever done, and if we carry on adding half a mile a week, they'll be doing half marathons very soon!
Tomorrow I'm playing squash at lunchtime, so it will be a shorter run in the evening.
As you can probably tell from the much shorter post tonight, I'm really, really tired, so I'm going to sign off with a summary of the year so far.
Running: 147.85 miles
Walking: 19.92 miles
Cycling: 84.12 miles
Swimming: 0 miles
Total: 251.89 miles
Running streak: 62 days (started 23/11/2011)
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Another day and more records...
It's been another happy and record-filled day so far, though as often recently, it's mainly been others setting the records.
I've spent the afternoon in Market Rasen, with my other half, Sarah, her daughter Georgia, Rob (Georgia's boyfriend) and Sarah's two dogs: Sidney and Oakley. For anyone who's not aware, Market Rasen is a small town in North East Lincolnshire, about 20 minutes drive from Lincoln, just off the A46 - and just over an hour / 50 miles from Nottingham.
Sarah's house is conveniently located right next to a footpath, leading to Willingham Woods, a fairly large Forestry Commission managed woodland, with a network of graveled roads and smaller footpaths. It's just a few minutes walk, or even fewer minutes run to the woods, and so we very often spend lots of time there on Sundays, and did so again today.
First up, after lunch, it was time for a run, and for the first time, it's wasn't just Sarah and I - Georgia and Rob came too. We set off at a pretty gentle pace, with the aim to run 5K, as that's the distance that Georgia had been talked into running at the Sport Relief mile event in March. Rob found the pace very easy and was frequently running off ahead, and I ran with him for a while, past the Racecourse (where I ran my first 10K race in November last year) and a very apposite sign warning cyclists of winds - it was blowing a gale at that point!
After about a mile or so, it was clear that Georgia (who was running with Sarah) was struggling, so I dropped back and tried by best coaching techniques to keep her going. It seemed to work and she was running more comfortably by the time we made it to the woods at about half our target distance.
Willingham Woods is a lovely place to run, walk or bike ride, and the wide open paths are pretty flat, so the rest of Georgia's first 5K was fairly uneventful - with frequent reassurances that it wasn't far to go, she kept going really well and eventually crossed the imaginary finish line in 36:03 (which of course as it was her first 5K, was also a PB!). She was happy to have made it, but determined not to go any further today and so she and Rob (who'd found the whole run an absolute breeze) decided to walk the rest of the way home through the woods.
Sarah on the other hand was still feeling great, which shows how much progress she's made in just a few weeks - she ran her first 5K a couple of weeks before Christmas and found it really hard, but today was determined to go a lot further. Picking the pace up a bit we carried on through the woods, and then down the path towards Sarah's house. As we approached our destination, my watch was showing about 4.5 miles - equalling Sarah's longest ever run last weekend, and she was still feeling good and wanting to go further, so we did - running past the front door and back to the main road, before finally stopping after 5 miles - a second record for the day!
We walked the half mile back home, had a cuppa, got our coats on, put the leads on the dogs, and set off again, this time for a walk (we briefly debated whether to go for a bike ride, but decided it was too windy)... A lot of the walk was the same route through the woods as we'd run earlier, but it was still lovely to have a relaxing stroll and to enjoy the scenery and rapidly improving weather - the earlier gales had abated and it was now really still and sunny, perfect bike riding weather in fact!
We meandered through the woods, past the downhill mountain bike track (the "bombing hills") and past lots of other walkers, dog walkers, cyclists and horse riders, before heading back home again as the light started to fade.
By the time we arrived back, we'd clocked up another 5.3 miles towards my target for the year, and more importantly, we'd had a lovely time - plus, when I logged the walk on RunKeeper, it alerted me to another record (although a pretty insignificant one) - I've now walked further this month than ever before!
After a gentle weekend exercise-wise, I'm a bit behind my overall mileage targets for the year, but I'm well ahead on running miles and I'm feeling a lot more refreshed than a couple of days ago, which is a good job, as I'm planning a long run with the boys and running friends in the evening tomorrow!
Here are stats for the year now:
Running: 137.72 miles
Walking: 19.92 miles
Cycling: 84.12 miles
Swimming: 0 miles
Total: 241.76 miles
Running streak: 61 days (started 23/11/2011)
I've spent the afternoon in Market Rasen, with my other half, Sarah, her daughter Georgia, Rob (Georgia's boyfriend) and Sarah's two dogs: Sidney and Oakley. For anyone who's not aware, Market Rasen is a small town in North East Lincolnshire, about 20 minutes drive from Lincoln, just off the A46 - and just over an hour / 50 miles from Nottingham.
Sarah's house is conveniently located right next to a footpath, leading to Willingham Woods, a fairly large Forestry Commission managed woodland, with a network of graveled roads and smaller footpaths. It's just a few minutes walk, or even fewer minutes run to the woods, and so we very often spend lots of time there on Sundays, and did so again today.
 |
| The path to Willingham Wooeds |
First up, after lunch, it was time for a run, and for the first time, it's wasn't just Sarah and I - Georgia and Rob came too. We set off at a pretty gentle pace, with the aim to run 5K, as that's the distance that Georgia had been talked into running at the Sport Relief mile event in March. Rob found the pace very easy and was frequently running off ahead, and I ran with him for a while, past the Racecourse (where I ran my first 10K race in November last year) and a very apposite sign warning cyclists of winds - it was blowing a gale at that point!
 |
| It was blowing a gale today! |
After about a mile or so, it was clear that Georgia (who was running with Sarah) was struggling, so I dropped back and tried by best coaching techniques to keep her going. It seemed to work and she was running more comfortably by the time we made it to the woods at about half our target distance.
 |
| Willingham Woods - Sarah and Rob in the distance |
Willingham Woods is a lovely place to run, walk or bike ride, and the wide open paths are pretty flat, so the rest of Georgia's first 5K was fairly uneventful - with frequent reassurances that it wasn't far to go, she kept going really well and eventually crossed the imaginary finish line in 36:03 (which of course as it was her first 5K, was also a PB!). She was happy to have made it, but determined not to go any further today and so she and Rob (who'd found the whole run an absolute breeze) decided to walk the rest of the way home through the woods.
Sarah on the other hand was still feeling great, which shows how much progress she's made in just a few weeks - she ran her first 5K a couple of weeks before Christmas and found it really hard, but today was determined to go a lot further. Picking the pace up a bit we carried on through the woods, and then down the path towards Sarah's house. As we approached our destination, my watch was showing about 4.5 miles - equalling Sarah's longest ever run last weekend, and she was still feeling good and wanting to go further, so we did - running past the front door and back to the main road, before finally stopping after 5 miles - a second record for the day!
 |
| An interesting sculpture in the woods - and Sidney |
 |
| The "bombing hills" downhill MTB track. |
We meandered through the woods, past the downhill mountain bike track (the "bombing hills") and past lots of other walkers, dog walkers, cyclists and horse riders, before heading back home again as the light started to fade.
By the time we arrived back, we'd clocked up another 5.3 miles towards my target for the year, and more importantly, we'd had a lovely time - plus, when I logged the walk on RunKeeper, it alerted me to another record (although a pretty insignificant one) - I've now walked further this month than ever before!
After a gentle weekend exercise-wise, I'm a bit behind my overall mileage targets for the year, but I'm well ahead on running miles and I'm feeling a lot more refreshed than a couple of days ago, which is a good job, as I'm planning a long run with the boys and running friends in the evening tomorrow!
Here are stats for the year now:
Running: 137.72 miles
Walking: 19.92 miles
Cycling: 84.12 miles
Swimming: 0 miles
Total: 241.76 miles
Running streak: 61 days (started 23/11/2011)
Saturday, January 21, 2012
4 PBs, 1 great Parkrun - a proud Dad and a proud son.
Today has been a gentle day for me, exercise-wise, and despite being seriously tempted to go for a bike ride when the sun came out late in the morning, I've stuck to my promise to have a relatively relaxed day.
I played a bit of football in the garden with Kieran and Mo this afternoon, but other than that, the only exercise I've done, has been the usual #Pressupathon, #Situpathon, #Plankaday and of course, Parkrun.
And what a Parkrun it was!
Despite a slightly disappointing turnout from my usual running pals, there were still 6 of us in our group this morning. Running today were James (#1 son: 14), Kieran (#2 son: 12), Andy Next Door, Mum, Dad and I.
The weather this morning was pretty nasty, not too cold (around 8C) but very windy and varying between light and at times fairly heavy rain, which made the record overall turnout at the run (155 people, up from previous 140 record), even more surprising.
The weather also meant that the ground underfoot was very muddy in places, and more slippery than any other time we've run at Colwick, all of which meant that as we lined up at the start line, I feared my goal to pace Andy and the boys to new PBs was going to be more difficult than I thought, if not impossible.
In fact, within seconds of setting off, the idea of pacing Andy at all had gone out of the window, as he shot off, almost keeping pace with the very fastest runners, and I had to tell the boys to stay with me at our planned pace, as they were in danger of going off too fast too.
For the first mile we stuck pretty close together, with James right behind me and Kieran a little further back. I tried to pick the best path through the mud, puddles and other runners, and James was close enough to benefit from me leading the way, whereas Kieran was getting slowed up by some very slippery patches and blocked by big adults (Kieran is very small for his age).
As we reached 1 mile, we were bang on the planned pace (8 mins 6 secs), and I looked back to see Kieran falling quite a way behind. At this point I had a choice, slow up and try to help Kieran to speed up, or keep at the planned pace, knowing that he'd probably slip further behind. As Kieran was wearing his Garmin (so knew the pace) and was tired after winning his school Cross Country race yesterday, I decided not to slow for him, and to concentrate on trying to get James a new PB.
As Kieran gradually slipped further behind during the second mile, James and I started to close the gap to Andy, who'd run the first mile in close to 7:30, and was really feeling that early pace. James and I reached half way in 12:10, well on course to beat James's previous best of 24:57, and Andy (who was still 40 metres or so ahead of us), was clearly going to smash his 25:20 PB.
As we started the third mile, the wind grew in strength and became a full on headwind, so I made sure that James was right behind me and ran with my arms out for a bit to try to shield him from the wind. As we went past the Adventure Centre (where the race starts) for the 2nd time, James was still right in my footsteps, and not long thereafter we caught Andy. As we passed him, I suggested that he get in my slipstream too and try to stay with us. He managed to for a short distance, but soon after I looked back and while James was still right with me, Andy was dropping back quite quickly. When we turned for home with a quarter of a mile to go, I looked at my watch and realised that James was absolutely guaranteed a massive PB, he just had to make it to the finish! I didn't slow the pace though, and instead encouraged him to speed up and up, as I knew he was running better than ever before (and was going to set a time he'd probably struggle to beat for a while).
With 100M to go we caught and passed a girl who'd been ahead of us for quite a while and I said to James "if you sprint with me to the line, I won't race you", he just about managed to reply "I can't go any faster", but he did and when we reached 5 metres from the line, I slowed to let him get ahead and get the position.
When I stopped my watch (unfortunately in my excitement, I forgot to stop my phone, so my RunKeeper log was wrong), I was amazed - we'd finished in just over 24 minutes - nearly a minute faster than James had ever run 5K before! Andy wasn't far behind, and had definitely set a massive PB too. About a minute later, Kieran came in as well, a bit dejected that he hadn't beaten his previous best - I've promised him that I'll pace him next week so he can give it his best shot.
We had to rush off to get the boys to Music School, so weren't able to wait for Mum and Dad to finish, but when I popped to see them a bit later, they were both pretty confident they'd also achieved new PBs too. And so it proved, when the official results came in, from the 6 of us who ran this morning, there were 4 PBs, and they weren't slight improvements, they were massive new bests! I'm so proud of them all, especially given that the conditions were nowhere near ideal!
Here's how the new record setters did:
I played a bit of football in the garden with Kieran and Mo this afternoon, but other than that, the only exercise I've done, has been the usual #Pressupathon, #Situpathon, #Plankaday and of course, Parkrun.
And what a Parkrun it was!
Despite a slightly disappointing turnout from my usual running pals, there were still 6 of us in our group this morning. Running today were James (#1 son: 14), Kieran (#2 son: 12), Andy Next Door, Mum, Dad and I.
The weather this morning was pretty nasty, not too cold (around 8C) but very windy and varying between light and at times fairly heavy rain, which made the record overall turnout at the run (155 people, up from previous 140 record), even more surprising.
The weather also meant that the ground underfoot was very muddy in places, and more slippery than any other time we've run at Colwick, all of which meant that as we lined up at the start line, I feared my goal to pace Andy and the boys to new PBs was going to be more difficult than I thought, if not impossible.
In fact, within seconds of setting off, the idea of pacing Andy at all had gone out of the window, as he shot off, almost keeping pace with the very fastest runners, and I had to tell the boys to stay with me at our planned pace, as they were in danger of going off too fast too.
For the first mile we stuck pretty close together, with James right behind me and Kieran a little further back. I tried to pick the best path through the mud, puddles and other runners, and James was close enough to benefit from me leading the way, whereas Kieran was getting slowed up by some very slippery patches and blocked by big adults (Kieran is very small for his age).
As we reached 1 mile, we were bang on the planned pace (8 mins 6 secs), and I looked back to see Kieran falling quite a way behind. At this point I had a choice, slow up and try to help Kieran to speed up, or keep at the planned pace, knowing that he'd probably slip further behind. As Kieran was wearing his Garmin (so knew the pace) and was tired after winning his school Cross Country race yesterday, I decided not to slow for him, and to concentrate on trying to get James a new PB.
As Kieran gradually slipped further behind during the second mile, James and I started to close the gap to Andy, who'd run the first mile in close to 7:30, and was really feeling that early pace. James and I reached half way in 12:10, well on course to beat James's previous best of 24:57, and Andy (who was still 40 metres or so ahead of us), was clearly going to smash his 25:20 PB.
As we started the third mile, the wind grew in strength and became a full on headwind, so I made sure that James was right behind me and ran with my arms out for a bit to try to shield him from the wind. As we went past the Adventure Centre (where the race starts) for the 2nd time, James was still right in my footsteps, and not long thereafter we caught Andy. As we passed him, I suggested that he get in my slipstream too and try to stay with us. He managed to for a short distance, but soon after I looked back and while James was still right with me, Andy was dropping back quite quickly. When we turned for home with a quarter of a mile to go, I looked at my watch and realised that James was absolutely guaranteed a massive PB, he just had to make it to the finish! I didn't slow the pace though, and instead encouraged him to speed up and up, as I knew he was running better than ever before (and was going to set a time he'd probably struggle to beat for a while).
With 100M to go we caught and passed a girl who'd been ahead of us for quite a while and I said to James "if you sprint with me to the line, I won't race you", he just about managed to reply "I can't go any faster", but he did and when we reached 5 metres from the line, I slowed to let him get ahead and get the position.
When I stopped my watch (unfortunately in my excitement, I forgot to stop my phone, so my RunKeeper log was wrong), I was amazed - we'd finished in just over 24 minutes - nearly a minute faster than James had ever run 5K before! Andy wasn't far behind, and had definitely set a massive PB too. About a minute later, Kieran came in as well, a bit dejected that he hadn't beaten his previous best - I've promised him that I'll pace him next week so he can give it his best shot.
We had to rush off to get the boys to Music School, so weren't able to wait for Mum and Dad to finish, but when I popped to see them a bit later, they were both pretty confident they'd also achieved new PBs too. And so it proved, when the official results came in, from the 6 of us who ran this morning, there were 4 PBs, and they weren't slight improvements, they were massive new bests! I'm so proud of them all, especially given that the conditions were nowhere near ideal!
Here's how the new record setters did:
| New Time | Previous Best | Improvement | |
| James | 24:07 | 24:57 | 50s |
| Andy | 24:33 | 25:20 | 47s |
| Mum | 41:31 | 43:22 | 1m 51s |
| Dad | 46:42 | 47:46 | 1m 4s |
I definitely enjoyed helping James to his new best as much, if not more than setting my own, and really hope I can help Kieran to one next week too.
This evening I did the usual #Plankaday challenge (do a plank for as long as you can) - after yesterday's record (4:32), I wasn't planning to do anything close to that long, but the boys (and their friends from across the road) were cheering me on, and I somehow managed another new PB: 4:42!
Tomorrow I'm off to Lincolnshire to run with Sarah and who knows, maybe we'll set more new records for her: whether we do or not, I know it will be loads of fun.
I've spent a lot of the day feeling even luckier than usual - I'm not sure many people can have had their son and both their parents all set their 5K PBs at their favourite running event! :)
Happily,
Mike
PS. Nearly forgot the usual summary.
Running: 132.69 miles
Walking: 14.26 miles
Cycling: 84.12 miles
Swimming: 0 miles
Total: 231.07 miles
Running streak: 60 days (started 23/11/2011)
Friday, January 20, 2012
People may say they'll never be runners, I say "never say never" :)...
It's been another fun and exciting #Janathon day.
It started pretty early with #Pressupathon (20 press ups) and #Situpathon (20 of them too), before I drove to Ellie & Stuart's to run to work with Ellie. Unfortunately, despite our best attempts to sort out leaving clothes etc. at work yesterday ready for today, Ellie had forgotten to leave her laptop there, so had to run with it in a Camelbak rucksack!
I've come to the conclusion that the logistics of running to work are almost as tough, if not tougher than the running itself - making sure you've left the right clothes at work to get changed into, the deodorant, extra running clothes for the run back, etc. I managed to get it just about right today, and wasn't carrying too much with me, or missing anything significant at work - I do have to go back to the office tomorrow though to pick up the many items of running clothing that I've left there.
The run to work this morning went pretty smoothly - we took it steadily, and though Ellie found it tough in places, we made it in to the office in reasonable time, especially given the need to stop for traffic / lights etc.
I spent a lot of the time at work eating again today - not quite as crazily on Wednesday, and despite not sleeping well last night (for the first time in ages), I felt much better during the working day than I had after running in previously.
The run home was not too taxing either, Ellie did really well to keep going up the steep hills, but the pace was pretty slow due to the many traffic lights, pedestrians, buses etc. that we had to wait for / avoid.
I've been feeling more tiredness / aches in my legs the past couple of days, so today's relatively gentle runs (despite being almost 10 miles in distance) have helped a bit, but I've still decided that I need to ease up slightly for the next couple of days. Tomorrow I'm just planning to run the Parkrun at Colwick (as always) with the boys and hopefully Andy Next Door too - with the aim to pace at least one of them (and hopefully all 3) to a new PB. Then, rather than heading out for a bike ride, or extra run later on, I'm currently thinking I'll just have a gentle day at home - not sure I can remember what they are like! :)
Tonight after a relatively restful evening, I decided to have a go at breaking my #Plankaday record (4:03). I felt OK from the start, and when I was getting close to my existing record, I called James to come and check my form. Having him watch me spurred me on to not just beat the 4:03, but to go as far beyond it as I could. In the end I was shaking and sweating no end, when I eventually flopped to the floor after 4 minutes 32 seconds - I don't think I'll beat that in a while!
The other exciting news from today is that my other half Sarah, who just a few weeks ago had hardly ever run, and was protesting that she would "never, ever possibly get into running", has signed up for her first session at her local running club in Lincolnshire and will be going for her first session next Tuesday! I couldn't be more delighted!
Time to hit the sack now or I'll oversleep for tomorrow morning's Parkrun.
Here are my stats for the year so far:
Running: 129.55 miles
Walking: 14.26 miles
Cycling: 84.12 miles
Swimming: 0 miles
Total: 227.93 miles
Running streak: 59 days (started 23/11/2011)
It started pretty early with #Pressupathon (20 press ups) and #Situpathon (20 of them too), before I drove to Ellie & Stuart's to run to work with Ellie. Unfortunately, despite our best attempts to sort out leaving clothes etc. at work yesterday ready for today, Ellie had forgotten to leave her laptop there, so had to run with it in a Camelbak rucksack!
I've come to the conclusion that the logistics of running to work are almost as tough, if not tougher than the running itself - making sure you've left the right clothes at work to get changed into, the deodorant, extra running clothes for the run back, etc. I managed to get it just about right today, and wasn't carrying too much with me, or missing anything significant at work - I do have to go back to the office tomorrow though to pick up the many items of running clothing that I've left there.
The run to work this morning went pretty smoothly - we took it steadily, and though Ellie found it tough in places, we made it in to the office in reasonable time, especially given the need to stop for traffic / lights etc.
I spent a lot of the time at work eating again today - not quite as crazily on Wednesday, and despite not sleeping well last night (for the first time in ages), I felt much better during the working day than I had after running in previously.
The run home was not too taxing either, Ellie did really well to keep going up the steep hills, but the pace was pretty slow due to the many traffic lights, pedestrians, buses etc. that we had to wait for / avoid.
I've been feeling more tiredness / aches in my legs the past couple of days, so today's relatively gentle runs (despite being almost 10 miles in distance) have helped a bit, but I've still decided that I need to ease up slightly for the next couple of days. Tomorrow I'm just planning to run the Parkrun at Colwick (as always) with the boys and hopefully Andy Next Door too - with the aim to pace at least one of them (and hopefully all 3) to a new PB. Then, rather than heading out for a bike ride, or extra run later on, I'm currently thinking I'll just have a gentle day at home - not sure I can remember what they are like! :)
Tonight after a relatively restful evening, I decided to have a go at breaking my #Plankaday record (4:03). I felt OK from the start, and when I was getting close to my existing record, I called James to come and check my form. Having him watch me spurred me on to not just beat the 4:03, but to go as far beyond it as I could. In the end I was shaking and sweating no end, when I eventually flopped to the floor after 4 minutes 32 seconds - I don't think I'll beat that in a while!
The other exciting news from today is that my other half Sarah, who just a few weeks ago had hardly ever run, and was protesting that she would "never, ever possibly get into running", has signed up for her first session at her local running club in Lincolnshire and will be going for her first session next Tuesday! I couldn't be more delighted!
Time to hit the sack now or I'll oversleep for tomorrow morning's Parkrun.
Here are my stats for the year so far:
Running: 129.55 miles
Walking: 14.26 miles
Cycling: 84.12 miles
Swimming: 0 miles
Total: 227.93 miles
Running streak: 59 days (started 23/11/2011)
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