Health, health, health darling!: 2009

If you're following the blog via Facebook, I'm going to try to work out how to pull in the posts from The Argus. Otherwise, PLEASE subscribe to follow me at:

http://www.theargus.co.uk/blogs/blogs/brighton_marathon/profile/34535/

Below is my recent post on that site. Ciao.

I have made the cycle commute a couple of times this week, just to keep the blood pumping and remind my body to create muscle, not fat, from what I eat.

Today I walked home from the office, a trip I believe to be between five and six miles. Along the seafront all the way from the West Pier to Hove lagoon, then onwards through Portslade.

I know it's trendy (one of the longest trends ever, I suspect) to slag off and generally bemoan all politicians. Normally, I'm moaning along as loudly as anyone and I think the kind of politician we actually get to see on television and hear on the radio and read quotes from in the press is basically a waste of skin and a potential food source for the third world.

But whoever's in charge of maintaining that stretch of the seafront deserves a medal. It's so clean. There are plenty of what the Americans, for once cutely, refer to as 'facilities'. And loads of bins with cigarette stubbers that, as far as I can tell, most smokers actually seem to use. The restored bandstand and the swirly pavement around it look lovely. Just yummy. I can't wait to do a marathon on it.

Speaking of which, I'm tentatively planning to include a run in my day tomorrow. At some point. Possibly.

Sunday 9 August 2009

Stag Do + Scorchio = Slowio

Having run Friday morning, I gave Saturday morning's usual session a miss this week. Besides, I was attending my first ever stag do in the evening. I had been advised to practice talking about women and cars. I wasn't sure that was completely right for this particular group and the research was boring, so I had a drink and an afternoon nap like an old person instead.

I did spend some time researching Breakdown Cover, as I've just had a renewal notice from my current provider. They want to charge £137 for the year and the comparison sites are presenting some companies prepared to offer equivalent cover for under £50. I'm sure you get what you pay for, but I've tried reading a lot of the policy wording documents and, although I'm not stupid, it's all utterly meaningless. Could someone please just tell me who to go with and what level of cover to purchase if I want to be able to get home from anywhere in the UK and have a hire car if mine's seriously poorly, including home cover?

Anyway, this stag do business. I've heard quite appalling things and, not having been into Brighton for a night out, much less a Saturday night, I was interested to see if it was all as bad as I've been led to believe. Well, I can only say I was very pleasantly surprised. We went to Due South (9 of us) for a 3 course meal. I can wholeheartedly recommend this as a meal option, if you don't mind paying a bit. It's worth every penny and, although I was on water all night I understand the wine list is very good too. The staff are patient, friendly and can put up with drunk old men being a bit difficult. I did notice a tendency among the clientele to pour their wine using the thumb-in-the-dimple-on-the-bottom-of-the-bottle-that-people-who-put-their-thumb-in-probably-know-the-name-for technique, as opposed to the more common grab-it-by-the-neck-and-tip-it-upside-down we were using. But, live and let live, I say.

We fitted right in, with Ollie (the other youngster and son-of-the-bride) regaling us with edifying tales, such as and e.g. his friend used to DJ in a club in Brighton and Ollie used to come down and meet him and then the DJ would drive them both back up to London and on the way out of Brighton they would stop off at a place called Top Totty where the women weren't actually up to much but if you bought a lapdance you got a free pizza so why not?

Then it was on to The Cricketers on Black Lion Street for a few drinkettes (mineral water for me) and a civilised conversation. The Cricketers has perhaps the most cheerful bouncer ever and a really nice atmosphere, even at the end of what had clearly been a very long night for some.

The guys' taxi arrived at 12:30 to take them all back to Heathfield, and it was while walking back to the car that I began to see signs that Brighton's not entirely benign at 1am on a Saturday night (Sunday morning). There were hundreds of young people (and some old ones, ick) 'walking' as if their legs were on backwards and they were trying to avoid gaping holes in the pavement, only there were none. I felt all sort of grown up and superior.

I'm fairly sure I've scuppered any chance of being invited for a week of largeing it in (on?) Ibiza, but most of my friends are married already, anyway. Some of them have even found the time to get divorced as well.

I've digressed massively from the training-for-a-marathon raison d'etre of this blog. I do that, you know. I'm famous for it at work.

So, back on topic. I finally got to bed last night at about 2am. So that would be this morning, then. I'd made some vague noises of a '15k tomorrow' nature, but in my head at least had given myself the option of 12k. Thank god, because how hot and humid actually is it actually? Also, I didn't sleep all that well. I think my body had gone into shock from not being in bed at 10pm, or something, but I was still awake at 3, awake again at 5 and again at 7.30, eventually getting up about 9.15.

I'm very lucky to be living so close to the majority of the Brighton marathon course. I tend to head South and hit the coast at the bottom of Boundary Road and then head into the centre along the prom, and then back. Ooh, I must digress again.

This is the second run I've blogged here. On both occasions, there have been cyclists on the No Cycling bit down by the sea. But, do you know what? I don't care. They are big enough to see coming if they're heading towards me and, if they're going the same direction I am, one of those laws of relativity things means I am basically stationary in relation to any object whose velocity can be measured, and they can come past me with no problem at all. The problem? Pedestrians. Keep your dogs and your disgusting ill-mannered offsprings under control and there's no reason why cycling, walking, running and those people who are really old enough to know better but travel around on boots or planks on wheels can't all use the same space.

I got to 5k in 32 minutes, which was quite nice. On the way out, the sea breeze was in my face. The 7th kilometer was huge nightmare, in part I think because I'd run across Hove lawns and was travelling back alongside the coast road and the cycle lane - which, by the way, was absolutely rammed; has anyone considered the possibility that congestion could be a reason why some cyclists, especially those who can wear lycra without getting vomited on and travel at respectable speeds, might not want to be restricted to a 2-foot-wide section of one of the widest pavements in christendom?

Kilometers 8, 9 and 10 were quite good (I was back by the sea, you see, and the Lucozade Sport was kicking in), but 11 and 12 were pure torture.

I finally finished in 1 hour 8 minutes and 59 seconds. Theoretically, this is still sub-4-hours for a full marathon, only if you consider I was barely moving by the end and this implies additional downslowage over incremental distances, let's call it 5 for now.

We have recorded the Girls Aloud concert at the O2 (I LOVE THEM), which I shall now watch while again trying to decipher this breakdown cover rubbish. Please comment with a suggestion ASAP if you have one and save me some work!

Saturday 8 August 2009

Solids are definitely the way forward

Well now. Our local newspaper, the Evening Argus, has invited me to join their team of bloggers. It's all too exciting. I promise to keep this blog going, too, but am being very lazy today and just reproducing my first published post from their site below. Follow me at: http://www.theargus.co.uk/blogs/blogs/brighton_marathon/profile/34535/

If you've not read my old blog and, let's face it, you haven't (but you should), you're probably quite rightly wondering what on Earth I'm going on about. Allow me to explain.

From the bio, you'll know I'm in training for my third fundraising marathon for Diabetes UK, which happens rather excitingly to be the first one ever n Brighton. I've created a full training plan (I'm a project manager by trade, not a total lunatic, by the way) to prepare for the big day, but I'm starting now to try to build up some level of fitness. I've spent most of my spare time since the last marathon in a vegetative state. Apart from a couple of sessions on the Wii Fit, which is now basically gathering dust. And that doesn't really count anyway...

So, two Saturdays ago I did a 10k run, which I prepared for by eating a curry and drinking a foolish amount of vodka the night before. It took me 57 minutes and 41 seconds.

I did another 10k last Saturday. I decided my preparation for the previous one probably had not been the best, so I changed some things. On the Friday, I ate nothing at all, all day, and drank even more vodka. This time it took me 59 minutes and 5 seconds. Not a lot of difference time-wise, but it was, like, really, really hard.

I am working from home today, which means if I get up at the usual time, I can wake up slowly and get a run in and still log on at the same time I would usually, if I'd rushed about, got the bus to work, arrived there and realised I'd forgotten my glasses and my lunch and logged in. So that's what I did.

Last night, I had a curry again. But, because even my tastebuds are a bit limp, it was a mild, red thai one. And I had a sensible amount of wine. While watching the Proms. It was actually rather gorgeous.

And the run today took only 55 minutes and 32 seconds. Now, that's not a massive improvement time-wise. But it felt so much easier. Absolutely no urge to 'do a Radcliffe', no dry heaves or retching. I won't say I floated along, because I quite simply am not and never will be built for that kind of ease of movement. But it all felt coordinated. It flowed. I could tell that my head and legs were connected. By what is not quite clear (see 'not floaty' comment above), but nor is it hugely relevant. I ran 10k and it felt good.

So, we have learned, food is very important and getting drunk is not advisable when you're trying to prepapre for a very long run. I shall call that a success.

I remember before my last marathon, towards the end I was dreaming of running, of passing Paula Radcliffe in a sprint finish, of 'negative splits' and being all thin-waisted and stuff. Last night, I dreamed that I had a pet fox that I'd trained as a kind of sheepdog, only with squirrels. And then I went to a meeting with my boss (I think it was my boss from about 4 jobs ago) and explained to her with a completely straight face why the Wii Fit was going to revolutionise the World and banish obesity, saving the governments of the World gazillions of £, or $, or whatever in healthcare, and allowing us to feed the starving while the fat became thin. And she told me if I could put it in writing as well as I'd explained it to her, I would win the Pulitzer. And I did, and I did.

Stick with me, people. Now till 18 April 2010 is going to be quite a ride.

Saturday 1 August 2009

Brighton Pride 2009

Minced in, trolled around for a quick varda and minced off again. Needs nice weather and proper planning to really enjoy it, I think.

There are some photos here. http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=127655&id=530049972&l=7ed9a6109c

They are not very good. My feet are killing me.

Another 10k

Last weekend, I did one, if you remember. I thought that time that my preparation had not been the best, so this time I made some changes.

I ate absolutely nothing. At all. All day. Yesterday. And I drank a bit more vodka than last time.

Am I a committed athlete, or what? That's a serious question, actually, if you know what I am please tell me. 57:41 last time and 59:05 this time.

I know you can do something clever to your car to make it run on chip fat. But what the hell kind of modification does the human body need to make its performance bloody nearly identical, whether it gets any solid fuel in a 36-hour period or not? And, more to the point, how did it happen without my noticing?

So, a bit of calfular crampage and spots before the eyes aside, another successful, if not stellar, outing this morning.

Friday 31 July 2009

I didn't run last night

The weather was nasty and I'm in full wimp mode.

Saturday 25 July 2009

10k. Done.

Not yesterday. I couldn't be bothered. And the reason I couldn't be bothered contributed to the pain of today's experience.

Not that anyone in the World but me would need to be told this, but curry and half a bottle of vodka may be fun at the time, but are not the ideal menu selection the night before attempting the longest run you've done in over a year. In my defence, I had a bit of a stressful day, both work-wise and in seeing the village next door to my parents' home in Spain burning uncontrollably on the News. Their home phone line was not working and I couldn't get hold of them mobilely. They did turn up, safe and sound. Thank bloody god.

Anyway, glorious sunshine and, once I'd made it down to the Hove seafront, a nice cooling breeze.

57:41 was the time, which is not bad at all considering my preparation technique!

A day in front of the telly having fun with Merlin and Excel beckons. F1 qualifying (how sexy is Heikki Kovalainen!?!) and London Athletics. Nice.

Friday 24 July 2009

Pause for thought

I got up at 6.30 fully intending to go out and attempt a 10k. I haven't been that far for a long, long time. But then the weather went all British Summery, so I've postponed that. This evening, if I can be bothered by then.

Anyway, this gave me some flopping on the sofa with coffee and a book time. I'm reading Jeremy Clarkson. I know I should object to his very existence, but I'm sorry, I think he's intelligent and very funny and you can't spend your life taking things personally, right? I also believe he's identified some particular traits that others, including Catherine Tate, have gone on to make a lot of money by caricaturing.

Anyway, I'm reproducing below his column from The Times, Sunday 15 April 2007. And by attributing it, I'm taking no credit for the bits I agree with and no responsibility for the bits I don't. If you know me, I hope you'll know which is (are?) which.

Jeremy's title for the article was 'What the hell are we saying here?'. I'd like to subtitle it with 'And does it need saying?'. Over to Jeremy.

A few weeks ago I became a businessman, which means I've started going to meetings. Or, as they should be known, 'places where nothing happens and nothing gets done'.

Here's how they go. Each of the people round the table expresses their opinion on a particular subject, and each of these opinions is completely different. Then, after you've drunk a cup of what might be coffee, but could be oxtail soup, a biggish woman - and it's always a woman - says: 'Well, we're outside the box here with a new kind of hybrid venture and we can't know what the result will be until we've run the flag up the flagpole and seen which way the wind's blowing.'

Plainly, you want to argue with this, but as you draw breath to speak you realise that what she just said didn't make any sense. And anyway, she hasn't finished.

'It's mission critical that we use blue-sky thinking and that we're proactive, not reactive, if we're to come up with a ballpark figure that we can bring to the table.'

Again, you raise a finger to make a point. But you don't know what that point might be, so you pour yourself another cup of winter-warming coffee broth, help yourself to another triangular tuna and cucumber sandwich and wait for the pastry-faced woman in culottes to finish.

'We must maintain a client focus so that we can incentivise the team and monetise the deliverables, and only then can we take it to the next level.'

You look round the table at all the old hands, the sort of people who whip out their laptops every time they're at an airportand know what a Wi-Fi looks like, and they're all nodding sagely, so you stop yourself from actually saying: 'I'm sorry but what the hell are you on about?'

Later on in the day, you ring the person who called the meeting and in less than a minute decide on a course of action. And then, when you get home, you wonder why it was necessary to have the meeting at all. So you can listen to a farmyard animal in a power suit turning nouns into verbs and talking rubbish for half an hour to mask the fact she hasn't got a single cohesive thought in her head.

To get round this problem, a friend and I developed a new scheme to make meetings more interesting. We would give each other a band as we walked through the door and then we'd compete to see how many of their song titles we could lob into the conversation without anyone noticing.

That's why, last week, I actually said: 'Every breath you take is like an invisible sun. We are spirits in a material world, or, as they say in France, Outlandos d'Amour.' And do you know what? Nobody batted an eyelid.

And nor did anyone cotton on when my friend replied by saying: 'We're on top of the world looking down on creation, and we are calling occupants of interplanetary craft.'

Eventually, though, even this became wearisome so I went on holiday, but even in the Caribbean there was no escape. A fax arrived from my new business colleagues advising me that there was to be a conference call at 2 p.m. Barbados time between people in Los Angeles, Aspen, London and Cairo.

I've never felt so important in my life. Me? On a conference call? Spanning the globe? Wow. I was so excited that I completely forgot about it until 1.55 p.m., by which time I was very drunk, and on a sailing boat.

No matter, I dialled the number, entered the security pin I'd been given and was asked to state my name so I could be introduced. 'Beep' went the phone, and then on came an electronic voice to say: 'Captain Jack Sparrow has joined the conversation.'

Conference calls are great. They're exactly like a normal meeting in that nothing happens and nothing gets done and everyone talks rubbish, but you don't have to sit there remembering not to fall asleep or what Culture Club did after 'Karma Chameleon'.

You can just pour yourself another rum punch and look out of the porthole. At one point, when the boat went about, or whatever it is sailing boats do when they turn round, I fell off my chair, dropped the phone and couldn't find it for five minutes, and when I finally rejoined the conversation nobody even noticed I'd been away.

Unfortunately, one of the decisions made in a follow-up phone call to the man who'd hosted the conference chat was that we'd have to go to Los Angeles.

Hollywood, America. And have meetings there, face to face with the people we hadn't been talking about because they were in the box and we were outside it, at the top of a flagpole seeing which way the wind was blowing.

Gulp. American business meetings. That'd be scary. A whole new raft of power women and even more white-collar nonsense. I'd better get sober.

Strangely, however, the Americans have got meetngs down to a fine art, which is probably why they have NASA and Microsoft and we have Betty's tea shoppe. You walk in and the receptionist asks if you'd like some 'wadder or something'. You are then ushered into a conference room where you say your piece, and when you've finished, their top man stands up, thanks you for coming and leaves.

They've realised that the meeting is useless for getting anything done, so they listen'n'go. And move straight to the follow-up phone call where the decisions are made.

I therefore have a new rule. If I go to a meeting, only I am allowed to speak. And then something happens.

Thursday 23 July 2009

Nope

Shoulda, coulda, didn't wanna.

Wednesday 22 July 2009

Could I have got the name for this blog more wrong?

I haven't cycled, or run, for a while. Flu scare at the end of last week, nasty windy wetness so far this week and, although the sun was shining this morning, I've been up most of the night with food poisoning, effectively meaning I got 0 calories in me yesterday.

I have, though, created a detailed training plan for the marathon, which has shown that I can get through the full programme twice if I start in mid-September. That makes anything I do now definitively optional, so I'm not feeling bad about a little break.

Maybe tomorrow morning?

Saturday 18 July 2009

Viruses and paranoia

Had horrible problems yesterday which resulted in an early exit from the office and a nasty afternoon spent sweating, aching and sneezing at home.

This morning, the runny nose is still with me, but the fever appears to have gone, replaced by stomach trouble. I'm fairly confident now I don't have the dreaded you now what, but am equally sure I won't get any exercise done - at least not today.

Thursday 16 July 2009

Feeling deeply virtuous

Had a BIG meeting in our London office today, which scuppered the scheduled morning run - I've been doing them on a Friday because I've been working from home, but the silver dream machine (I love my MacBook) is not quite configured right to make that possible just now. So it's into the office for me on Fridays for the foreseeable. Heigh ho.

Anyway, escaped and travelled back down to Brighton a bit early. I have noticed a strange correlation between the amount of work I manage to get done and the number of people in the office - an inverse relationship, obviously. So I went for a run when I got home.

It went very well indeed. 6.7k in 38 minutes. 500m more than last time, 5 minutes quicker. This clearly indicates that vodka is good for you and early morning activity is just plain wrong.

And now I'm beavering away, clearing my inbox faster than ever before because everyone else from work is logged off and there's nobody to contradict me. I guess I have that to look forward to in the morning. Mood matching the weather. It's been a good day.

Tuesday 14 July 2009

Another drizzly run

Up at 6, a quick coffee and off I went.

Definitively avoiding hills wherever possible for now. I encounter a couple of minor ones and I think it's my technique that screws me, but I seem to lean forward and compress my diaphragm, which basically means I don't breathe at all when I'm running uphill. I have a feeling this is not ideal.

Frightened the occasional dogwalker this morning - I still maintain that nobody looks good in lycra, and even wearing another layer on top I'm a particularly disturbing vision at 6.15 in the morning. Small dogs I can outrun and large ones tend to head for the hills (figuratively, although I obviously wouldn't be going in that direction, so it wouldn't be a bad move it it was literal, either!), so it's not too bad.

6.2 k in 34 minutes. Pacing not bad at all. I need to sit down with the 16 week programme - which I plan to do twice - and work out when I need to start.

Monday 13 July 2009

Did absolutely nanty yesterday

The sun was out, yes. But what on Earth was that wind about?

It really can't seem to make up its mind this morning at all, can it? Patches of blue sky, but loads of black cloud. Quite chilly and fresh, but very humid.

Cycling again today. I'm sticking in lowish gears, cos it's all about weight loss and CV stamina for the next few months. It seems to be accepted that we'll be wearing shorts in the office at the moment, too, so I'm not wearing the traditional padded gusset, instead cycling in what I'm going to wear all day but changing my top when I arrive. There are limits, after all.

There are so many appropriate songs about my feelings towards Mondays lately, but I'll let you pick your own favourite. The one that's best fit for me this morning is top right.

Saturday 11 July 2009

How I love the rain

Did the usual run to Tescos this morning. I think there must have been a Saga tour or something. Full of old people stopping dead with no warning, turning their trolleys sideways and blocking entire aisles and generally being hopeless and tiresome.

I don't know if it's because I'm reading a Jeremy Clarkson book, but I completely lost the ability to be polite to...anyone...old people, slags with uncontrollable multiple brats, you know the types. I resorted to running over the children (no great loss to society, in fact I may have saved us all a few bob) and bashing into everyone else's ankles shouting, 'Excuse me, non-pointless-young-person-with-a-continuing-contribution-to-make coming through!' And I let down the tyres on the old gits' coach. Well, I didn't, but I bloody well would have had there been one.

Blood was still a bit boily when I got home, so I decided to release some tension with a run. I've been doing, just in case you've managed to miss previous instalments, the same course for a while now, trying to shave time off. I decided this time to increase the distance and see how that went.

The rain is actually really great to train in, as long as it's not too windy, and today's conditions suited me quite nicely. Did 7.5 k in 42 minutes, which is nothing to write home about but also nothing to panic about, given that I've got 9 months until the marathon.

And a body update, for anyone interested. There's definite gluteal tautness and upliftage developing, but persistent abdominal and mammary porridgeyness.

Also, I still think my nose is too big, my top lip's too thin and I have a weak chin.

Friday 10 July 2009

Another lovely a.m. in Brighton

The sun's back! Although, apparently, not for long.

Cycling today. A lovely little troll along the plage, soleil sparkling on the briny.

Thursday 9 July 2009

Still moving about a lot

I'm still in EITHER run OR cycle mode and this morning running won.

I'm still sticking to the same course for a while. It's an easy way to judge earlier on whether or not I'm getting better.

And I am! Another 7 seconds knocked of the previous time. Fairly piffling, but an improvement nevertheless. And the cycling seems to be helping stretch out my muscles, as my thighs are no longer giving me gyp, whether I spend 30 minutes stretching or not.

Still definitely no visible change in weight. Mind you, I've only really been going for 2 weeks. So impatient, you see. If people will invite me to weddings, they should expect me to worry more about my weight than theirs. I mean, they have met me, right?

Onwards and upwards.

Wednesday 8 July 2009

Don't give up on Summer just yet!

Yesterday. Ooooh, no thankyou very much. My garden seemed to enjoy it, but I didn't and nor did my cat.

Today's much more like it. Got up early enough to go for a run, but decided instead to cycle to work. I've tried before doing both on the same day and it simply doesn't work. Or rather, it didn't when I was smoking like a chimney. May be worth a try at some point, I suppose. Especially if I'm ever going to do a triathlon, which I really quite fancy.

I don't own a pair of scales (I feel the same about them as I do about mirrors, they're bastards), but I do have a Wii Fit. I may dare a quick weigh-in and yogafest and try to build that back into my routine to monitor whether all this tedious moving about is having any effect.

Quite flatteringly, a lot of colleagues who've signed up for Brighton next year as their first marathon are coming to me for advice. They've all seen the picture of me on the London course with a beer and a cigarette in 2005 and they still come to me. Talk about laugh.

Anyway, on with the work thing now.

Sunday 5 July 2009

Someone else's turn

No running or cycling for me today, although I've walked rather a long way.

My sister, however, with a couple of friends, completed the 5km Race for Life course for Cancer Research this afternoon. Couldn't be prouder. It was damned hot, too, so extra special congratulations due. I enjoyed watching for once! :-)

Photos on Facebook and Video on YouTube shortly.

Saturday 4 July 2009

How very British of me

Talking about the weather again. Anyway, it clearly rained overnight, but that doesn't seem to have done much to reduce the humidity or cool things down. It's absolutely mingin', innit.

Went running anyway. No direct sun, as it's so cloudy, but really hot anyway. Managed to be organised enough to take a drink with me. Drinking on the run is a lot harder than I remember and definitely something I'm going to have to start practicing again. Is that an embarrassing confession I've just made, or a helpful hint for novices if any stumble across this site? Whatever.

I did exactly the same course as yesterday, 3.25 miles, but finished it 27 seconds more quickly than yesterday. All after the usual Friday night curry and 'a drink'. Can't be bad. And it's actually the first run since I restarted where I felt like a runner - the technique, breathing, coordination and all that felt right. Fingers crossed I can keep it up.

Time for work now. Waiting for the Wimbledon ladies' final, but not with as much anticipation as I'd hoped - Williams v Williams AGAIN. I have nothing against them, but when I watch them it always feels like the really amazing shots are more by luck than judgement and it winds me up that their opponents seem to psych themselves out. Hey ho.

Friday 3 July 2009

And now, the weather

Can't remember exactly what the forecast said yesterday evening. But I'm fairly sure it didn't, there are many reasons why it couldn't and I'm kinda glad it wouldn't and never will say 'Mostly moist'.

Meteorologically and sudoriferously accurate, nevertheless.

Running. Done it. Innit.

Wednesday 1 July 2009

Cycled again

It's really hot and that's making running quite unattractive. The cycling to work and back is deeply lovely, though. It's before it gets too hot in the morning and in the evening it's just starting to cool down.

I may take my camera with me one day, if I remember. Which isn't all that likely, I confess.

Am going to try to cycle 3 times a week and run 3 times a week until I launch into the marathon preparations. Perhaps I'll end up with a waist again at sme point? At the very least some of my current wardrobe (unchanged in many, many years) might start to fit again.

It's rehydrating time. Ciao e buona serata!

Tuesday 30 June 2009

Travelling, not running

Dear reader. Talking to myself again, you see. First sign. There are plenty of others.

So there's been a bit of a hickup with my other half's salary this month and we're pretty much broke before we start. Therefore no drinking (see previous post) and I'm going to have to take to the bike again instead of using the bus to get to work.

I used to do this regularly anyway, but took the shortest route possible (loads of buses and traffic lights and daft pedestrians, no cycle lanes) and just tried to get it over with as quickly as possible. I'm trying to make it more enjoyable now, though, as the marathon training's going to be enough grind to be going on with.

So it was low gears, down to the seafront, taking it easy, dedicated cycle lanes 90% of the route for me this morning. And it really was nice. Bright and sunny, but a nice sea breeze, no traffic, peace and quiet.

What used to kill me and take 25 minutes was very relaxing and took 35. I was still early to work. JUST NEED TO GET MacBook SORTED AND GET SOME WORK DONE. Not all that bovvered, though, to be honest!

Sunday 28 June 2009

A new beginning

Along with several colleagues, I was among the first thousand people to register for the inaugural Brighton marathon, happening next April 18 (exactly a week after my birthday). It's time to do some exercise again!

I haven't cycled to work in months and the running has been very patchy. I went for a run this morning (by the way, christ it's hot) and going past the plate glass frontage of the local off licence (where we have been a bit too regularly lately!) was an unneeded and unnecessarily cruel reminder of why the only mirror I look in at home is the one that's only just big enough to shave in. My face, I mean. Even I'm not THAT gay.

Anyway, it is a bit early to start training for the marathin in earnest. What I really need to try and do in the short term is try to get some kind of physical activity built in as a regular part of my week. Cycling, running, whatever. Knowing me, I probably will launch into the marathon training programme fairly soon and just do it multiple times.

I have recorded previous training programmes for London in as amusing a way as possible in the past, and will be doing the same here again. Read the back-catalogue if you have some spare time - if you're a first-timer who's registered for Brighton there could be some useful tips and if you're struggling, at least you'll know you're not alone!

Looking forward to hill runs and those dreaded fartleks - guaranteed to turn my face and, occasionally, the pavement 'all the colours of the speculum', as Victoria Wood once said. Bring it on!

At least (apart from a little bit around Brighton marina, which I've tackled before in the Sussex beacon Half Marathon) the course is almost completely flat. I'm therefore heading down towards the seafront for training runs now and missing the hills out unless the training programme acutally specifies a hill session. It's fairly flat to the South of us, not completely flat, obviously, or we'd have to be airlifted to safety every time the tide came in. People of South Portslade, Shoreham, Lancing, Worthing, Hove and Brighton be prepared for a regular display of moobs and wobble-bot over the next few months. I PROMISE ALWAYS TO WEAR A TOP!!! I hope you will do me the same courtesy. You know who you are.

Tuesday 9 June 2009

And another one

Grey and miserable this morning, but not too windy and not actually raining. 'Why not?', I thought. I couldn't think of a good reason, so off I trolled.

I seem to be having horrible problems with my quads since I started again. (The chafing, you'll be pleased to hear, has gone.) I used to suffer a bit on downhill sections, but at the moment, no matter how much I stretch or what warm up exercises I do, they feel really tight and sore, even on the flat. Hey ho, I'm sure it will wear off if I manage to keep it up.

iPod Genius went all acieed on me this morning, which helped keep the tempo up and which I feel entitled to blame for my current spots-before-the-eyes condition. Which, actually, I'm finding rather pleasant.

Coffee, shower, then BRING ON THE DAY.

Sunday 7 June 2009

Holy ****

Same route - until I get my book back, I lack the imagination to come up with a bynch of different courses, or the guts to attempt more than 30 minutes. I didn't wear my lycra underthings this morning, my reasoning being: it's thirty minutes, how much chafing could there be?

Without going into any detail. OH MY GOD A LOT.

Saturday 6 June 2009

Ouch

Nuff said.

Friday 5 June 2009

Success

Managed to sleep right through to my alarm this morning and get out for a run. I repeated the reverse route from the other day (where there's a major shunt right at the end). It's the first time since I started beinng active again that I DIDN'T STOP FOR A WALK IN THE MIDDLE! Hurrah!!!. I got round what used to be my 30-minute medium-pace course in 30 minutes 26 seconds.

Now, that is about 10 seconds per mile slower than before, which sounds quite a lot. But it's actually on 1.67%, which is pretty darned good. Faithful iPod and its new Genius feature helped, picking a sequence of dance tunes with very similar BPM, including Mac Thornhill's 'Who's gonna ease the pressure'. Now this is a piece of very early house genius. Immensely long, but towards the end there's this sequence of what was then cutting edge sampling, which is an absolute pant wetter. It's not on Blip, but if anyone finds it on Last or Spottify, I might consider giving them a try.

Thinking of other people for a bit, my friend and colleague requires sponsorship for the Great North Run later this year. Mr David Hughes, more power to your elbow. Knee. Whatever.

And congratulations to Maddie Wood, who completed her first marathon, the Edinburgh, in ferocious heat and despite the fact that they ran out of water (echoes of Boston) last weekend. Please sponsor Maddie here.

Thursday 4 June 2009

Oh dear

Just reread my last post. Wasn't I all full of myself. Haven't been for another run since!!! I set my alarm for 6.30 every morning to give myself a chance to go out before work. But I keep waking up at 3, getting back to sleep eventually and hitting 'snooze' a lot. Maybe tomorrow, my work from home day, will be better.

I also clearly haven't been on Blip.fm (which is FAB and you must join) for a while. I'll rectify that immediately.

Until tomorrow. I hope.

Saturday 30 May 2009

2 days in a row

Woke up this morning feeling great. Sunshine. So I went for a run. Same course as yesterday, only reversed. That meant the shunt from yesterday became a nice, downhill breath-catcher. Of course, it also meant the nice downhill bits from yesterday became today's shunts, only more so, because one of them IS REALLY STEEP AND RIGHT AT THE END.

We live on a shunt, surrounded by shunts. Moving to Norfolk is obviously out of the question. I mean, come on. Amstedam's a possibility. Is there an Amsterdam marathon, I wonder? If there is, I bet it's a right laugh!!!

Friday 29 May 2009

Morning run

The most gorgeous start to the day. I have to run some errands a lunch time, by when I hope to have stopped sweating. And we have a company barbecue this evening, so I won't be running then. So I went this morning before work.

My 30-minute route from when I was training regularly took me 32 minutes. It's roughly 3.6 miles. So not too bad. For me, anyway. I'm sure for the innocent bystanders it was quite as shocking as the last one. Not a lot of bystanders this morning, actually. And they were all either extremely old or extremely young. Did they finally make teenagers illegal? If so, Mr. Brown, all is forgiven, please claim your next replacement lightbulb on me! Anyway, back on topic.

I did stop and walk half way through, too. The route has this huge bloody great hill called Foredown something-or-other. I always have to much sweat in my eyes by that point to see if it's a Road or a Drive or whatever. And it's a complete...let's call it a shunt and you can slip a la freud as you see fit. I'm sure it's allowed, but I lent my book to my friend Madeleine Wood, who used it to train for the recent Edinburgh marathon. Maddy, can I have the book back? As I say, I know there are training sessions that permit walking, but you know me, I have to have EVERYTHING ini writing.

TTFN

Monday 25 May 2009

Ooops

I was fully intending to go for a run this morning. But my other half woke me up this morning and it was HALF PAST ELEVEN.

We have had the most brilliant weekend at my cousin's house. And we did walk for miles and miles and miles, both at the Heathfield show on Saturday and walking the loony dog yesterday, so I'm not feeling all that guilty.

Pictures here:

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=2629564&l=6802310725&id=530049972

Friday 22 May 2009

Been for a run. Sort of.

First one for...ooo...months and months. And therefore, not surprisingly, hideous both for me and for anyone unfortunate enough to have seen me. Children crying, old people with zimmer frames and cataracts asking me to 'move along, please', pregnant mothers asking if I'm taking the piss running around with a pillow stuffed up my t-shirt and 'do you know how it really feels'. That sort of thing.

Was out for about 30 minutes and, with no batteries for my pedometer and therefore just estimating against how far I remember being able to get when I was in regular training, I'm about 15% worse than before.

But then, with the excess I'm lugging around lately, as Patsy Stone once said, 'It is a miracle that I can walk at all.' She also said, 'Smoking is good for you.' Ab Fab was brilliant, wasn't it. All sort of like the bible. Which bits do you just believe and which require a value judgement?

It nearly worked

Only, I managed to sleep right through the night last night. I have the scary lycra on now, though, and plan to 'run' at lunchtime.

Thursday 21 May 2009

I have a cunning plan

I'm making a concerted effort these days to go to bed at a decent hour. 4 months or so off the ciggies and my sleeping patterns have returned to normal. That means six or seven hours' sleep a night. But I'm so focussed on the getting up that I keep failing to realise that 9.30 or 10 o'clock is TOO early to turn in. I keep waking up and just lying there, tossing and turning.

So tonight I will put a set of running gear in the living room. That way, I can get up and go for a run without clattering around in the dark looking for stuff and waking my other half up! Whether or not I actually do, of course, remains to be seen.

But I can actually feel jigglage when I walk and it's been over twenty years since I had that. Time to do something about it, and the lighter mornings will help.

Fingers crossed.

Friday 15 May 2009

Yeah, and?

Wanna make something of it?

My favourite sites

Me!

Sunday 27 December 2009

Saturday 26 December 2009

Sunday 20 December 2009

Thursday 17 December 2009

Saturday 12 December 2009

Sunday 6 December 2009

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Tuesday 1 December 2009

Sunday 29 November 2009

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Friday 27 November 2009

Wednesday 25 November 2009

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Thursday 12 November 2009

Monday 9 November 2009

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Sunday 1 November 2009

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Tuesday 27 October 2009

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Thursday 8 October 2009

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Friday 14 August 2009