Dragged myself from my sick bed (coughing and spluttering and wheezing) to go up town and have a very nice lunch with The Doctor. Most convivial, despite my whining about STILL being ill.
Those who do not know members of the medical profession socially might have expected some sympathy to be forthcoming, some king words of concern, some advice on more effective self-medicating techniques....
Fools!
Apparently, I seem to find an awful lot of excuses to not go running (well, duh!). My assertion that training wisdom is that you shouldn't train while ill was called into question (it is! It's in the books that I read as part of my running training! Not that I can remember what any of them were, but still... Research being vital before starting anything, obviously... And, yes, I have cycling books now - how can you know what to do if you don't spend time in the library?!). It being cold was derided as a good reason for not doing anything (well, but...).
Darned over-achievers, always wanting more!
Fuelled by a sense of outrage (and an intriguing venison and blueberry burger which I couldn't taste. Because I'm ILL!) I walked home, working out ways to still fit in my 3 Jantastic runs despite there only being 2 days of Jantastic left and, you know, my general ill health. By the time I got home I had a plan all worked out.
Then I sat down to catch my breath, broke out a cake and turned on the TV. Ah, just like old times! Exercise, shmexercise!
:o)
Running time/distance: nothing to see here, move along. Move along...
Saturday, 30 March 2013
Sunday, 24 March 2013
Marchvellous: Bit parky out
My stars but it is COLD. Not just cold, but very windy, with a nice chilly easterly wind adding to the overall COLD. And there are little flurries of snow in the wind every so often just to underline the fact that it is C. O. L. D.
As I sit here, with the heating turned up full (and thank the stars that the living room radiator is still of a mind to work), wrapped in a blanket, I'm thinking positive warm thoughts about summer. Summer, when it comes, must be warm this year. Surely...
The above weather commentary is the reason (note reason, not excuse) for me not doing my scheduled 10-mile run today. I have run in windy conditions before, and it is an interesting experience to have to run at an angle to keep yourself from being flung in front of traffic... But it wasn't this cold then. I'm hoping that the wind drops off for the rest of the week, as I really do have to stop mucking about and get some miles in...
Still, now that I have finished my runs for the day (had to do 2 to at least try to keep up with the Marchvellous tosh), I can now eat dinner (yay!) and have a few hot cross buns (toasted, of course - and chocolate-free as so few other Easter treats are). Yes, this will totally undermine any benefits from slogging through 2 3-miles runs...
But it's cold, and I need to ensure that I am adequately insulated against said cold. No arguing with mother nature, I'm afraid...
;oD
Running time/distance: 36 mins / 3 miles (dancing with Darth again, Interval, Level 1)
As I sit here, with the heating turned up full (and thank the stars that the living room radiator is still of a mind to work), wrapped in a blanket, I'm thinking positive warm thoughts about summer. Summer, when it comes, must be warm this year. Surely...
The above weather commentary is the reason (note reason, not excuse) for me not doing my scheduled 10-mile run today. I have run in windy conditions before, and it is an interesting experience to have to run at an angle to keep yourself from being flung in front of traffic... But it wasn't this cold then. I'm hoping that the wind drops off for the rest of the week, as I really do have to stop mucking about and get some miles in...
Still, now that I have finished my runs for the day (had to do 2 to at least try to keep up with the Marchvellous tosh), I can now eat dinner (yay!) and have a few hot cross buns (toasted, of course - and chocolate-free as so few other Easter treats are). Yes, this will totally undermine any benefits from slogging through 2 3-miles runs...
But it's cold, and I need to ensure that I am adequately insulated against said cold. No arguing with mother nature, I'm afraid...
;oD
Running time/distance: 36 mins / 3 miles (dancing with Darth again, Interval, Level 1)
Marchvellous: Not for me
Well, it might be the sudden on-set of middle-age, but I have to admit - I hate Jantastic.
I hate the names - Jantastic! Febulous! Marchvellous! I hate the fact that when you run your race in March (faster than before, but slower than hoped) then you lose points for not getting your time precisely correct. I hate the fact that it forces you to do 3 runs per week - which has had the result that I've actually been doing less training than I should rather than more.
Last year, if I didn't feel like doing a run, I'd do the required distance on the cross-trainer. This year, because of Jantastic, if I don't do the run I end up doing nothing. Which I have enjoyed - oh, how I have enjoyed that! - but it's not good with a half-marathon to complete (faster than last year!) in April....
Bother. Bother and drat. Must stop mucking about and just get some miles in. And never, ever, do this Jantastic tosh again...
(~_~)
Running time/distance: 35 mins / 3 miles (dancing with Darth, Interval, Level 1)
I hate the names - Jantastic! Febulous! Marchvellous! I hate the fact that when you run your race in March (faster than before, but slower than hoped) then you lose points for not getting your time precisely correct. I hate the fact that it forces you to do 3 runs per week - which has had the result that I've actually been doing less training than I should rather than more.
Last year, if I didn't feel like doing a run, I'd do the required distance on the cross-trainer. This year, because of Jantastic, if I don't do the run I end up doing nothing. Which I have enjoyed - oh, how I have enjoyed that! - but it's not good with a half-marathon to complete (faster than last year!) in April....
Bother. Bother and drat. Must stop mucking about and just get some miles in. And never, ever, do this Jantastic tosh again...
(~_~)
Running time/distance: 35 mins / 3 miles (dancing with Darth, Interval, Level 1)
Tuesday, 19 March 2013
Marchvellous: The arrival of middle-age
Conversation at work today - my colleagues showing an interest in the things that I do outside work (this is not a hobby), aka the running.
"Most of the people that I see running in the morning are people like you," says one.
I'm nodding, thinking "Yes, well I can see why that would be the case." Then:
"... you know, middle-aged people..."
So I'm sitting there, frozen mid-nod, thinking "What?"
I mean, intellectually (there's that word again), I know that if you doubled my age then you'd get to a respectable old age (although I'm sure there's some sort of guarantee associated with this exercise lark that says I should now live well past my 100th birthday. I shall look that out...). I know that, when you're about 10 years old, my current age appears to be near-death. I know that the older you get the less you feel like the age you actually are.
But still...
Middle-aged? Middle. Aged??!!!! That's a bit sudden! Middle-aged???????? I blame the running - it's obviously aged me before my time (all the stress and such like) and must be stopped now!
Details of rejuvenation techniques/clinics most gratefully received. Like, tomorrow.
Am off for a nap - at my age one does that sort of thing...
(*_*)
Running time/distance: 36 mins / 3.01 miles (Monday night - slog, slog, slog)
"Most of the people that I see running in the morning are people like you," says one.
I'm nodding, thinking "Yes, well I can see why that would be the case." Then:
"... you know, middle-aged people..."
So I'm sitting there, frozen mid-nod, thinking "What?"
I mean, intellectually (there's that word again), I know that if you doubled my age then you'd get to a respectable old age (although I'm sure there's some sort of guarantee associated with this exercise lark that says I should now live well past my 100th birthday. I shall look that out...). I know that, when you're about 10 years old, my current age appears to be near-death. I know that the older you get the less you feel like the age you actually are.
But still...
Middle-aged? Middle. Aged??!!!! That's a bit sudden! Middle-aged???????? I blame the running - it's obviously aged me before my time (all the stress and such like) and must be stopped now!
Details of rejuvenation techniques/clinics most gratefully received. Like, tomorrow.
Am off for a nap - at my age one does that sort of thing...
(*_*)
Running time/distance: 36 mins / 3.01 miles (Monday night - slog, slog, slog)
Sunday, 17 March 2013
Kilomathon: Done! [Again...]
The forecast for today was "sleet" for most of this week. And when not sleet "heavy rain". This did not fill my heart with joy, to say the least...
Luckily, forecasts are tricky things, and although it was overcast this morning, the weather was relatively warm and dry - there was only a little drizzle half-way through the lovely Kilomathon. I do think that the Kilomathon is somewhat blighted by less-than-ideal weather (a bit like the Edinburgh Marathon attracting the hottest weather in the year...), which is unfortunate. And I don't find running along cycle paths (with nothing to see but old railway bankings and trees) all that interesting ("oh, look, more green things... I'm glad I ran all this way just to get sight of some more grass...").
Still, there are worse runs out there (with hills, lots and lots of hills), and I did at least run this one a bit faster. Intellectually I know that running 2 minutes faster than last time is a good result: the rest of me isn't really that impressed. Particularly since I finished 724 out of 800 runners...
It did feel like I was doing much better this time - there was much jogging (let's not pretend it was running) and very little walking - for example, I jogged the first 5.5km without stopping for a walk. Which is not at all usual. And I was running with a group of other people (until towards the end when they scooted off, damn them!) rather than desperately trying to run away from the sweeper vehicle at the rear...
An added highlight was that the Doctor (and the boy) were in Murrayfield waiting for me to finish. A rare treat to have someone to talk to at the end! Of course, it would have been even better if I could count/tell the time and had told them my correct likely finish time.... But they only missed my finish by a minute or so and so it was almost like someone watched me finish the race!
I'm just not very fast... And probably should have done the training runs that I skipped for a large part of February...
Got home - freezing (temperature dropped after run) and unable to feel my fingers and toes (there were big puddles to run through and so my feet were soaked). Sat down to watch the Grand Prix (yay Kimi!). And then, because I was a Marchvellous run short this week, I went to the gym and rather sullenly thumped at Darth Treadmill for a while (it was raining).
Am now eating cake because ZG told me that I had to.
:oD
Running time/distance: 1 hr 28 mins 18 secs / 8.14 miles (faster than last time... Just!)
Running time/distance: 24 mins / 2 miles (bloody Marchvellous...)
Luckily, forecasts are tricky things, and although it was overcast this morning, the weather was relatively warm and dry - there was only a little drizzle half-way through the lovely Kilomathon. I do think that the Kilomathon is somewhat blighted by less-than-ideal weather (a bit like the Edinburgh Marathon attracting the hottest weather in the year...), which is unfortunate. And I don't find running along cycle paths (with nothing to see but old railway bankings and trees) all that interesting ("oh, look, more green things... I'm glad I ran all this way just to get sight of some more grass...").
Still, there are worse runs out there (with hills, lots and lots of hills), and I did at least run this one a bit faster. Intellectually I know that running 2 minutes faster than last time is a good result: the rest of me isn't really that impressed. Particularly since I finished 724 out of 800 runners...
It did feel like I was doing much better this time - there was much jogging (let's not pretend it was running) and very little walking - for example, I jogged the first 5.5km without stopping for a walk. Which is not at all usual. And I was running with a group of other people (until towards the end when they scooted off, damn them!) rather than desperately trying to run away from the sweeper vehicle at the rear...
An added highlight was that the Doctor (and the boy) were in Murrayfield waiting for me to finish. A rare treat to have someone to talk to at the end! Of course, it would have been even better if I could count/tell the time and had told them my correct likely finish time.... But they only missed my finish by a minute or so and so it was almost like someone watched me finish the race!
I'm just not very fast... And probably should have done the training runs that I skipped for a large part of February...
Got home - freezing (temperature dropped after run) and unable to feel my fingers and toes (there were big puddles to run through and so my feet were soaked). Sat down to watch the Grand Prix (yay Kimi!). And then, because I was a Marchvellous run short this week, I went to the gym and rather sullenly thumped at Darth Treadmill for a while (it was raining).
Am now eating cake because ZG told me that I had to.
Running time/distance: 1 hr 28 mins 18 secs / 8.14 miles (faster than last time... Just!)
Running time/distance: 24 mins / 2 miles (bloody Marchvellous...)
Tuesday, 12 March 2013
Marchvellous: Melting, melting, ice
Snow today, gone tomorrow... After a day of snow-related nonsense, it's all gone bar the last few bits of slush and icy patches.
The good news is that I completed a "run" without falling as a result of said slush/ice.
The bad news? That was a deeply unpleasant "run". The traitor toes are louping (been a while since that happened). My stomach hurts (running gets to be hard work and I pull in my stomach - what else is all this work on my core for?!). My legs are feeble.
Basically, it's not looking great for finishing the Kilomathon on Sunday, let alone going faster while doing so.
Bah. And bah once more, just for good measure.
Hate running...
(^_^)
Running time/distance: 1 hr 4 mins / 5.38 miles (ouch!)
The good news is that I completed a "run" without falling as a result of said slush/ice.
The bad news? That was a deeply unpleasant "run". The traitor toes are louping (been a while since that happened). My stomach hurts (running gets to be hard work and I pull in my stomach - what else is all this work on my core for?!). My legs are feeble.
Basically, it's not looking great for finishing the Kilomathon on Sunday, let alone going faster while doing so.
Bah. And bah once more, just for good measure.
Hate running...
(^_^)
Running time/distance: 1 hr 4 mins / 5.38 miles (ouch!)
Monday, 11 March 2013
Marchvellous: Snowed off
Was meant to do a 7-mile run today.
Spent all day looking outside at the sunny sky thinking, "Right, snow's definitely stopped now, will get changed and go for a run.". Pottered around for 10 minutes, looked outside again, and it was snowing.
This did not happen once, or even twice. All. Day.
I refuse to run in snow - even if it's not lying - as it would frankly turn an unpleasant experience into a truly awful experience.
Finally, annoyed at having spent all day pottering about waiting for the weather to clear (and freezing, because for some reason I decided that I wouldn't turn the heating on and it has been COLD all day), I decided that I would just go for the long-awaited run. Looked outside - it had snowed again, and was now lying.
Aaaaargh!
Running on snow-covered pavements just screams "oops, I slipped and broke *something* and now I can't run for weeks and weeks" to me. There goes running outside, then...
I could have gone to the gym - but I did have other things to do (which I was going to do after my run, but by 8pm there wasn't a lot of "after" time..). So I did them instead.
Slightly worrying - haven't really done enough training runs of late - and the Kilomathon looms large before me!
*sigh*
:o(
Running time/distance: 0 mins / 0 miles (snow, snow, snow)
Spent all day looking outside at the sunny sky thinking, "Right, snow's definitely stopped now, will get changed and go for a run.". Pottered around for 10 minutes, looked outside again, and it was snowing.
This did not happen once, or even twice. All. Day.
I refuse to run in snow - even if it's not lying - as it would frankly turn an unpleasant experience into a truly awful experience.
Finally, annoyed at having spent all day pottering about waiting for the weather to clear (and freezing, because for some reason I decided that I wouldn't turn the heating on and it has been COLD all day), I decided that I would just go for the long-awaited run. Looked outside - it had snowed again, and was now lying.
Aaaaargh!
Running on snow-covered pavements just screams "oops, I slipped and broke *something* and now I can't run for weeks and weeks" to me. There goes running outside, then...
I could have gone to the gym - but I did have other things to do (which I was going to do after my run, but by 8pm there wasn't a lot of "after" time..). So I did them instead.
Slightly worrying - haven't really done enough training runs of late - and the Kilomathon looms large before me!
*sigh*
:o(
Running time/distance: 0 mins / 0 miles (snow, snow, snow)
Friday, 8 March 2013
Marchvellous: Travel broadens the mind
Or at least broadens the council's scope to ruin my life. There are now 3 - 3! - separate sections of "sorry for any delay" roadworks on my normal route to work (and a total of 3 sections on my alternative route to work too). 3! This is reaching vendetta level!! For those who think that this is not some sort of personal attack on me by the council - wake up and smell the coffee!! I shall have to think of some way to strike back... Suggestions on a postcard!
Anyway, moving on... We're now in Marchvellous. Yes, Marchvellous. And I thought that Febulous was a misleading/ridiculous name... Thankfully, this is the final month of indignity - after this I can return to not doing runs that only I knew that I was supposed to be doing...
And how did Febulous go? Not so well - only did one run in both of the last 2 weeks of Febulous - oops! And then it was pointed out to me that there are only 2 weeks to go until the Kilomathon.... Thus inspired, I've already done 2 runs this week. Which I'd feel better about if they were slightly longer, but anyway...
Travelling with running kit (with the apparent intention to actually go running at some point -although mostly I suspect I'm just taking it to use up my baggage allowance...) has pointed out a bit of an issue... Quite easy to forget key elements of kit when packing in a hurry... I suspect that this means that I will have to invest in a travel-specific running kit: lessons must be learned, after all...! Although I was worried enough about the Kilomathon that it didn't stop me this time.
Speaking of which, I have to put to bed a myth about morning running. It's supposed to be the best time of day to go running. It's supposed to energise and inspire you for the day ahead. Au contraire! You have to get up ridiculously early (6am!!) to allow yourself time to go running before breakfast and then work. And then you realise that you've only allowed yourself enough time to do the run - getting dressed for the run, and stretching after it (which. Takes. Ages!) were apparently zero-time activities. And by the time you've finished all that, and had a shower and got dressed (again!) you're running late (how?! How?!) and have to skip breakfast to get to work nearly on time.
That's not my definition of setting myself up for the day! My definition involves coffee and chocolate, just for a start...
:o)
Running time/distance: 34 mins / 3 miles (Monday)
Running time/distance: 34 mins / 3.06 miles (Tuesday - 6am start time!)
Anyway, moving on... We're now in Marchvellous. Yes, Marchvellous. And I thought that Febulous was a misleading/ridiculous name... Thankfully, this is the final month of indignity - after this I can return to not doing runs that only I knew that I was supposed to be doing...
And how did Febulous go? Not so well - only did one run in both of the last 2 weeks of Febulous - oops! And then it was pointed out to me that there are only 2 weeks to go until the Kilomathon.... Thus inspired, I've already done 2 runs this week. Which I'd feel better about if they were slightly longer, but anyway...
Travelling with running kit (with the apparent intention to actually go running at some point -although mostly I suspect I'm just taking it to use up my baggage allowance...) has pointed out a bit of an issue... Quite easy to forget key elements of kit when packing in a hurry... I suspect that this means that I will have to invest in a travel-specific running kit: lessons must be learned, after all...! Although I was worried enough about the Kilomathon that it didn't stop me this time.
Speaking of which, I have to put to bed a myth about morning running. It's supposed to be the best time of day to go running. It's supposed to energise and inspire you for the day ahead. Au contraire! You have to get up ridiculously early (6am!!) to allow yourself time to go running before breakfast and then work. And then you realise that you've only allowed yourself enough time to do the run - getting dressed for the run, and stretching after it (which. Takes. Ages!) were apparently zero-time activities. And by the time you've finished all that, and had a shower and got dressed (again!) you're running late (how?! How?!) and have to skip breakfast to get to work nearly on time.
That's not my definition of setting myself up for the day! My definition involves coffee and chocolate, just for a start...
:o)
Running time/distance: 34 mins / 3 miles (Monday)
Running time/distance: 34 mins / 3.06 miles (Tuesday - 6am start time!)
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