(un)-motivational Platitude of the Week

"You tried your best and failed miserably. The lesson is: never try.”

Homer Simpson

Hadrians Wall Walk, Summer 2010

This post isn't exactly in chronological order, but this was the highlight of my summer for 2010, spending 4 days walking with my beautiful daughter along the route of Hadrian's Wall from Carlisle to Corbridge. Staying at the wonderful Brookside Villa B&B in Gilsland, we had good weather for 3.5 days and thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. Except not knowing where the next refreshment stop was.

If the Romans were so clever, how come they didn't level this out?

Brookside Villa,  Gilsland

Tthere's not a soul out there..."

NOT strictly true, as there was a dad + sledging daughter and a few dog walkers, but otherwise there was no-one else playing out in the wintry wonderland that is 'the lines' as they are known round these parts. UNfortunately he snow is a bit too deep and not very crisp or even, very heavy going which made my 7 mile run much more fatiguing than it has ever been before. A recent diet of real ale and chocolate and not much quality food may also have played a part in my feeling dog-tired. hopefully i'll soon be feeling bright-eyed and bushy-tailed like this fine fellow:

Made in the UK? (getting a bit political)

Is there any point bemoaning the decline of British manufacturing if we (i.e everybody) just carries on spending our hard-earned cash whilst giving little or no consideration to where our consumer goods come from, and perhaps most importantly, under what conditions they are being produced.

Each £ you spend is a vote for how you want the world to be.


Easier said than done, when most manufacturing is out-sourced to factories in various parts of Asia where labour costs are tiny and safe working conditions aren't always made a priority. However, there are some British based firms that still manufacture quality goods in the UK:

New Balance don't produce all of their sports footwear in the UK, but they should be applauded for retaining a UK manufacturing base in what must be a hugely competitive globalised industry.

SealSkinz are another innovative manufacturer of clothing for various sports and generally being outdoors. Again, whilst not all of their product range is manufactured in the UK, they make it easy to see whic products are by dedicating a page on their website to the >50% made in UK kit.

Kit Review no.1

Craft Pro-Zero Extreme long sleeve base-layer
I've never bought any kit by this manufacturer before, and that continues, as this was a prize from the Black Sheep Brewery Race Series, and a very useful and welcome one at that.

Craft Pro Zero Extreme base layer

It's one of those items of clothing that, when you put them on, you instantly feel toasty warm. It has become my first choice for winter runs, as it keeps me incredibly warm for such a thin garment and I can get away with just this and a wind-stopper jacket on even the coldest days, i.e. no need for multiple bulky layers. It is close fitting, and wicks very well. Available from Wiggle at £27 or Always Riding at £23. Unfortunately not made in UK.

"Slip Sliding Away..."

"God only knows, God makes his plan 
The information's unavailable to the mortal man 
We work in our jobs, collect our pay 
Believe we're gliding down the highway, when in fact we're slip sliding away'"

caption not needed

I was only thinking about how slippy and slidey it was when I was out running this afternoon, but those lyrics are so good I thought i'd leave them in anyway. Managed to stay on my feet for 10 miles on uneven and frozen Castle Eden walkway, trail shoes were obviously a good choice. So that is one target met (15 run miles) whilst another (76kg) was missed by a country mile.

"The boat that i row won't cross no ocean..."

although it does move around a bit on the laminate floor in the hallway. I don't suppose Mr N. Diamond ever came up with that as the next line. Ha!

Spangly-shirted guitar-thruster and sometime actor Neil Diamond 

That's another 6 indoor row km clocked up, steady away at 4m50s / km. Still got 10 run miles to do before the week is out, i.e tomorrow, so it'll either be one long run or my first two-a-day day in a while.

Motivational Platitude of the Week

"Pain is temporary. Quitting lasts for ever."

Lance Armstrong (quite good bike racer)

“Pain is temporary. It may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year, but eventually it will subside and something else will take its place. If I quit, however, it lasts forever.”

"Be running up that road...

be running up that hill, with no problems..." Perhaps Kate Bush was a frustrated fell runner?

Never seen at fell running events.

 There's a smashing local road which is ideal for hill intervals; there are good landmark points at helpful places along it's 0.5 mile length, there is very little traffic, it has decent street lighting and the gradient changes 4 or 5 times. So i've done a few hill reps tonight (two 800m reps to be precise), just to ease myself back into running, having achieved double-digit run miles only once in the last eight weeks. It felt good to pull on my trainers and get out on a solid surface without worrying about how to explain to the emergency services why i'm out running in the aftermath of a snow storm.

"Nowhere to run to, baby...

...and certainly not while it's so wet and icy."
Not sure if that's the original lyrics, but perhaps it should be.

Vitruvian Orange Man 
 (by Leo Blanchette)

Too much compacted snow and ice to be able to get any running done, and so another run-free week passes by, although 20km on the water-rower should mean i'm not getting too rusty. Must make sure I get out and start building up miles before Edinburgh training starts. Only got 3 weeks to go, so 15 miles, 25 miles and 35 miles are planned for the next three weeks, all very easily achievable, especially with school hols starting soon.
This Friday (17th) is a big weigh-in day, if i'm going to achieve my statedtarget of  'lightweight rower' status I need to be at 76kg on Friday, especially if i'm going to lose another 3.5kg in the two weeks over Christmas and New Year. (How likely is that?)

Motivational Platitude of the Week

"Do, or do not. There is no 'try' ". 

Yoda

"Laying out my winter clothes...

...and wishing I was gone, going home running"

Now that the Great Snow of 2010 is all over and done with, the impending Great Thaw means that local tracks and trails that were good for running on are now just a big mushy mess and no longer good for anything other than getting cold feet  / wet clothing / injured joints. Not that I was planning on being out in the dark tonight, but i'm hoping that by the weekend there are some usable routes for some decent runs.

Slush: not conducive to happy running

This evenings trainingwas a 30min session at 5min / km on the rower, and it must be having a beneficial effect cos it seemed too easy. As a result, my new base pace will be 4m.50s / km, and see how i get on with that.

Rhododendron...is a nice flower

Tat must be the most obtuse song lyric, ever.  5 house points if anyone can name the song.

Anyway, a new session on the rowing machine tonight, and definitely one to repeat and expand on, i.e. 10 minute warm up and then 4 intervals at 2 minutes effort and 3 minutes recovery, then a short warm-down. 7km covered in total. Next step is to do more intervals, or lengthen efforts and / or shorten recovery.  Will probably build up to 6 reps before tweaking durations. 

Less than 4 weeks to go to the start of structured training for Edinburgh. I need to build up weekly run miles  so that  the first week of 44 miles(!!!) isn't too much of a shock to the system. 

Let's All Laugh at (insert rival team name)

Peter wasn't convinced that vertical tiddly-winks would be a success...

Book Review

What I Talk About When I Talk About Running - Haruki Murakami

Don't bother, it's pants.

Rowed to Nowhere

"Well we know where we're goin', but we don't know where we've been..."

That's what my head feels like having just done a full hour on an indoor rower. Still, it all adds up to more calories burned and enjoying a few glasses of wine this evening won't make me feel too guilty. A steady 5min / km pace means I've covered 12km, which is the longest I've bothered to keep going, as it is soooo tedious. However, some musical accompaniment courtesy of

kept me entertained. It's sometimes a bit ropey, but largely listenable, and usually good to exercise to.

So that leaves me with another run to do to round off this week. Hopefully I can take advantage of the daylight hours over the weekend and maybe get 6 or 7 miles at a steady pace, that should tell me what to expect should I decide to  go and race at the NEXC at South Shields on Saturday.

And the sky is a hazy shade of winter...

It was at 16.00 o'clock today when I finally got out for a run for the first time in over 3 weeks.

Even though the leaves were brown and there was a patch of snow on the ground, I still managed 4 miles at 7min30sec / mile, which, all things considered, means I must be in good shape. The new SealSkinz beanie got a successful maiden...wear(?). And apart from going off-piste on a few occasions due to the combination of dodgy eyesight and  rapidly fading light, it was a very enjoyable run.

My Saucony Pro-Grid Exodus are great for trails and are equally well-suited to snow, having a water-resistant liner and excellent traction courtesy of the chunky tread pattern. Hopefully, i'll get lots more use out of them over the coming months as I start to increase my mileage before Marathon training starts proper in January.

Waking Up in Wintry Wellfield

 Not a bad view to wake up to. Now to dig out those trail shoes and get some exhilarating miles done in the snow before it all gets turned to mush.

Greece is the word...

is the word that you heard, its got groove , its got feeling. So says Frankie Valli.

Well, summat like that. This Saturday night is 'Come Dine with Me' with a Gerek theme round ours. (Apologies to 'Grease' the movie, and Frankie Valli.)  I know it's a bit off-topic, but hey, it's the weekend.

Why is Greek food so hard to find when it tastes so good? I would challenge anyone to try Simply Greek tavern in Newcastle's Bigg Market and not be blown away (or at least be quite chuffed) by the diverse and wonderfully flavoursome food and wines. 

Hopefully, what we rustle up will be somewhere near the mark, and the cheesy Zorba dancing will be 'enhanced' by the authentic Greek wines and beers.

 

Winter Wonderland...

...or shortcut to A&E?

It is winter, so really nobody should be surprised that it is snowing. As with getting around in a car in poor conditions, I think sensible precautions can be taken so that running can still be enjoyed with snow on the ground. Unlike driving, it is preferable to seek out untrodden, snow-covered paths for mid-winter running. Well-worn slush / ice on top of smooth pavement doesn't make for good ankle / knee health, but those off-road trails and tracks where fewer people have walked can make for an enjoyable run, especially when you can feel the fresh snow compressing under your suitably-attired feet. Even after a few days of melt and freeze, these paths can often be easily and safely navigated if you pick your foot placement carefully, i.e. plan where you are going for every step. Trail shoes with their improved grip and water-resistance are a good choice for this time of year, combined with lots of technical kit to keep you warm and dry. 

Merino sheep

Merino wool is my choice for base-layers and socks every time, it keeps me warm even when you get wet, and although it is often (always) more expensive than man-made technical kit, I think it is a sound investment. 

Must try harder.

Four days of exercise out of six isn't the target I had set but it is an improvement on many previous weeks. So the target for the coming week is to raise that bar a little higher and aim for 5 days of training, with fewer days of pie and beer consumption.

That 'lightweight rower' target weight of 72.5kg is not getting much closer, so I think a target date needs to be set, and as 2011 is approaching then a target date of 31st December seems sensible. That gives me a little less than 6 weeks to lose 9kg, so 1.5kg per week is my new and entirely achievable goal.

Regime change...

...or should that be regimen?

My latest bright idea (it isn't a long line) is to do more exercise and eat fewer pies. 'Pies' in this instance is a very broad umbrella term for any and all foodstuffs and beverages that are calorie dense or are laden with fat. I reckon if I set it out here, i've got greater incentive to stick to it. Might even get to use my new SealSkinz waterproof beanie:

So, exercise 6 days per week and no midweek beers. Or wine. I have no particular targets on which to build a training plan for running, rowing, cycling etc., as long as I get a minimum of 30mins in every day with one longer session at the weekend. This weeks rough plan is as follows:

• monday - 45mins tempo on water-rower DONE
• tuesday - 30mins interval on water-rower - DONE
• wednesday - short hill session NOT DONE
• thursday - 30mins easy on water-rower - DONE or 9mile run home
• friday - REST - DONE
• saturday - 15mile base pace run BAILED OUT
• sunday - 40mins interval on water-rower - DONE

Beer and curry (and more beer) for effective weight loss...

...it's probably not going to happen to be honest.

However, a conversation with a knowledgeable friend over the aforementioned curry has given me a new target to aim for in my battle to recapture my 'racing snake' physique. When I say 'recapture', I really mean 'approach it for the first time'. It turns out that in competitive rowing, in order to qualify as a lightweight rower, you need to weigh in at or under 72.5kg, and whilst i'm not planning to take up competitive rowing, it is a handy target to aim for and can only be beneficial when i get back to road races.

So, the plan is, less curry, less beer, less wine, more long runs, more long rides, more long rows. Might even try two-a-days with the water-rower, wake the neighbours up to the sound of sloshing water as I do a 5km interval session under the stairs.

This week I have mostly...

...been taking it easy. 

A nine mile run home from work on Monday evening meant deploying the head-torch for the two sections of unlit single-track 'road'. I managed to navigate these without too much drama, and without seeing another person or any traffic. I guess most people have more sense than to be running around dark and desolate country lanes. Anyway, that was 9 miles in 70 minutes, which i'm happy about considering it was only a steady-effort run, and mainly in the dark.

A minor tweak of my right ankle (probably from the uneven and barely lit surface) has kept me indoors since then, but a session on the rowing machine on Wednesday has meant i've not been entirely rested. A deliberately 'base-paced' effort saw 5km come up after 27 mins. An interval session planned for this evening should perk up any sleepy muscles, and hopefully burn up plenty of calories.

Still carrying at least 5kg too much.

First Post

just to see how this looks...