UNDER THE WEATHER

I have felt better in my life, I have an infected cyst on my shoulder, it was just irritating to start with, obviously i cant see it properly where it is although i did attempt some iphone pictures to see what it was like, seeing it on there convinced me to get down to the doctors and get something done. It had swelled up and was making my neck ache, the doctor lanced it and he had the delight of squeezing out all the smelly puss, it is still weeping out but not as much now. I'm on antibiotics but they seem to be making slow progress as i feel drained and not 100%.

My little Truck

I finished early from work on Friday, oh by the way I have a new job, driving articulated trucks up and down the country, I've only been there 3 days but have already been to Gatwick, long way when your shoulder and neck is painful but I really enjoyed it, it feels sop much more relaxed driving now there isn't an examiner or instructor in the cab with me, music on, singing along and seeing the countryside from high up is another plus. so on Friday afternoon I got home and felt crap but suddenly had a second wind and managed to do the pile of washing up that had built up due to my long days behind the wheel. I then sat down and had a slump, with getting back late on Thursday I missed my planned run and wondered if id have the energy to go out and do one, after an hour or so i just got my kit on and went, managed 3.3 miles of running including the walk to the park and back, I felt good, my calf was good, my new supporting insoles felt good and I felt positive about the run and was then looking forward to my next one which will be Sunday.

I'm getting there slowly

I'm going to sound like a grumpy old sod for once but I want to be running 10 miles in 50 Min's NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!




I should be happy, today I have been out again and did a gentle walk around Carey park, I say gentle, I walked to the park and then started to run slowly, i was very nervy because of my calf, if you read this blog regularly and there must be one of you out there in Internet land, you'll be fed up of hearing about my calf, well hopefully you wont be hearing too much about it in the future. out of the 3.3miles i did this evening 2.7 of it was running, i did try my hardest to run slowly but maybe there is something wrong with my garmin as I had speeds close to what i normally do. The most important thing was my calf, OK i wont mention it again, i didn't get any sharp pains, didn't feel any cramping and I think that is a good result, I've been stretching daily, twice or 3 times in fact seeing as I'm not working at the minute, so I am hopeful keeping the stretching going by the time i run again on Thursday, I can relax a bit more and hopefully run non stop for a couple of miles.

JANTASTIC

January is also Jantastic, this is a motivational thing I happen to be involved with, I'm in a facebook group who also happen to be the biggest group to be taking part, we are called Run for Fun, coz running is fun, you should try it!!!! anyway, for the first 4 weeks we have to set a total number of runs we will be doing individually, I've plumped for 3 runs a week, today counts as my 1st, i have to do at least a mile, so Thursday I'll do another run and then hopefully on Sunday I can go a little bit further and that will be my 3 runs for the week, its good motivation and I'm enjoying the challenge as I have never considered myself a runner, now I'm a funner runner .

SLOW PROGRESS

Today i have been on a 3.3 mile walk to see how my calf is getting on, before going on the walk I warmed up using my cycle turbo trainer, 20 minutes to get the blood flowing and the muscles warmed up. I watched the DVD which came with the trainer, I was excited to see id be cycling through Italy, i have a soft spot for Italy as my great grandad came from there and one of my dreams is to drive in a comper van from the top to toe of Italy.                                                                    

Anyway, back to the walk, I set off at a quick walk and headed to my usual route towards Carey Park, the weather was not too cool, dry and breeze free. there were lots of people about so i picked my moments to do a few gentle jogs to see how the calf fared. the first jog was about 100 yards, I felt the calf beginning to tighten, I had stretched before I had started my cycling so I stopped the jog and stretched again, I carried on slightly disappointed as I thought that was it, but after a good walk again I tried again, 50 yards and the calf was OK, i walked again for a good while and then about 200 yards from the edge of the park I ran again, this time I tried to relax my leg, I have the feeling I'm subconsciously protecting it and stiffening it making it harder for the muscle, so I ran relaxed, slowly and the leg felt good all the way to the edge of the park, I didn't go any further and walked from the park to my flat. I stretched again once back in the flat and put a cool pack on my calf, no freezer so cant put ice on it.

so my hope now is that a little bit more rest and more stretching will mean I can begin 10k training as soon as possible, my first one of the year is in 56 days. 

SETBACK AGAIN

First run of the new year and my problem persists, I thought I had stretched well, have done daily since the last run when I felt it go, today I stretched before i went out, I walked to the park then jogged very slowly for 200 yards, felt OK, took a picture of some swans(i was taking it easy!!) walked a bit then started to jog slowly and felt it straight away, so fed up, I carried on walking the short route back, I stopped did some deep stretches and it felt a bit better so I am going to try those daily as well and hope for the best.

In the meantime its going to be a case of reading about Chi running, resting, stretching, job hunting and working on my core strength which i have been doing since before Christmas. I can feel I have been doing crunches, tilting my pelvis which has come from the Chi running book, has made my crunches do more i believe, certainly feels harder. If i could lose more weight and rid my body of my love handles I think id be more happy with how I look, Ive never been vain, never wanted the bodybuilders look so guess my mid life crisis is making me want to look a bit more athletic, which can only good for my health which is the point of this blog...to change my life.

 

HAPPY NEW YEAR

 

HAPPY NEW YEAR

 

 

 



Well, here we are again, another year ticked off, out with the old and in with the new, looking back on 2012 i should be really pleased with myself, i set out to lose weight...eventually and managed to shed over 2 stone, i like many others have let slip over the festive season and I'm sure a few lbs have not only crept on but jumped on and pulverised my body. 2012 saw the back of my calf injury only for it to rear its horrible little head again just before new year, leaving the running for 2 weeks is not a good idea and I have now set myself the challenge of stretching that calf every day otherwise I will be forever plagued by an excuse to not be able to run.

 

2013 is officially designated as my running year, by me, so there you have it but I will also cycle as if the running goes well enough i will be attempting the Autumn duathlon around Oulton Park racetrack. before then and up to now I have committed myself not to an asylum, although some think i deserve to be in one, but to the following races, i say races but the only thing i will be racing is myself.

 

MARCH   High Legh 10K, Liverpool half marathon(probably when i get paid) and Run the Bridge over the Runcorn/Widnes bridge which is a 5 mile run.

 

APRIL      Lymm 10k which I am also doing for the CATS FOUNDATION Cure and Action for Tay-Sachs disease. Tay Sachs is a progressive neurological genetic disorder and if you click the link above there is loads of info on there and if you scroll down to the calendar at the bottom and flick to April you will see my name on the 14th :-).

 

MAY         Chester half marathon and on the 26th May I will be running the Great Manchester 10k in Manchester, I have friends running that day too so maybe they will wave to me as they pass me by or give me a kick up the backside.

I haven't booked anything in for June onwards yet, hoping to get sorted work wise first and get a decent routine in so i can do some regular training done to get my fitness levels up, seems a long way off yet but the first of those run is only 60 days away!!!

 

where am I now? well I'm currently plagued by the calf of death, it flared up again last week and despite only running slowly and for 300m at the weekend it was enough to turn me into a miserable grumpy sod for a few hours, but fortunately I have some VERY supportive people who politely kick my ass and tell me not to be defeatist, to get the injury sorted and to take things slowly, I do love these know all athlete people and know they are right, I WANT TO RUN, I WILL RUN!!!!!!

 



I'VE DEFECTED TO THE DARK SIDE

Well i haven't blogged again for a week, and haven't run for a week but last night I went to Delamere forest to run through the trees....at night.....in the dark......with a torch. i hoped i didn't get lost and i didn't, i saw one star in the dark sky and navigated by that...i didn't really, the course was very well defined and i could follow all the other runners torches most of the way but when large gaps opened up and i was on my own i could follow the glow sticks hanging from trees and the major turns were all signposted although you did have to shine your torch at them to see which way the arrows went.








we had a briefing in a warm tent and then headed for the start, we had chip timing bracelet thingies which i had mine on my ankle, it kicks in when you cross the mat at the start and when you finish so gives an accurate time, i had my garmin on anyway so i could see the route we had taken on here the dark side run.

we all set off slowly heading through the car park down towards the main road, there were Marshalls stopping the traffic as 171 runners, some dressed as Christmas crackers ran across the road and away we went, into the forest. i decided to start off fairly slowly as id never run in the dark before, i didn't know what the ground was going to be like, beforehand i was worried we'd be running through dense trees but then common sense prevailed and i thought we'd be running on the many wide tracks the walkers use, which we did thankfully. the first mile or so was quite firm, a few slippy parts and i thought great this isn't too bad, i had got into a steady pace not to many people were overtaking me, mainly coz i started near the back anyway, i was running close to one young lady when we went down a slope, there was a sharp left turn and at the bottom there was the first mud of the night, not too thick but i had to push the young lady head first into it as she just stopped in front of me.....joking, she did stop all girly like, i don't think she wanted to get her trainers dirty, i managed to stay upright even though it was quite slippy which i am pleased about. the mud was sporadic and towards the middle of the race i found my legs getting a little tired and heavy, not sure if its because i wear knee length calf socks for a bit of extra support but anyway i carried on determined not to stop running as i have sometimes had to in the past. there were a few short sharp inclines but there was always a decline to compensate for that where i could open my legs a bit. i didn't look at my garmin but could hear it ping when id done each mile, once id heard the 4th ping i knew i only had a mile to do so tried to speed up a little bit but save some energy for the finish line, it was as i sped up that i hit the thick mud, there as no escape, i leapt from one side to another of the track to avoid it but it was there too, at one point i thought my trainer was coming on, stuck fast in the mud but i clung on to it and eventually after about 15 meters the mud finished. there was then a climb and i could hear traffic and people shouting so once id got to the top i opened my legs a bit with my eyes fixed on the light in front of me, id just overtaken a 6 foot tall bloke walking which made me feel good, he obviously didn't have the mental stamina of an elite athlete like me ;-) so i began to close in on the light in front of me, the final corner turned into an uphill climb to the finish, i was closer to the light now, i could just make out a pony tail swishing from side to side so presumed it was a woman and with 100 yards to go i picked up my knees and tried my hardest to catch her, i did and then i just wanted to get the fastest time i could so a big effort got me over the line, PHEW, i was hot, a Marshall grabbed me to take my timing chip off me, took him over a minute as he said id put it on wrong, hurry up man i need water, he got it off and i grabbed my medal off a figure in the dark and headed to the tent for some water. there i picked up my uninspiring goody bag which had an energy sachet and a pair of magic gloves, what sort of magic i can do in them i don't know!!

so there you have it, my dark side run in Delamere forest was complete, i did it in an official time of 53 Min's 24 seconds, i came in 44th out of 52 in my age category and 128th out of 171 overall here's me at the bottom 

where to next? 10k's next year and the Chester half marathon

LAZY BOY

since my Santa dash 2 weeks ago I have done no exercise whatsoever apart from climbing stairs and the occasional dog walk and guess what, my weight has started to increase, its not rocket science, I've let my calories slip and puddings are becoming a daily intake when perhaps, NO, definitely! they should be a once a week special pud reward. .......if i have been good.

so i have decided in the run up up to Christmas (17 days if you're counting) i will not have a pudding and will cut down the size of the portions I'm having, a smaller plate was recommended which is a good idea us men wouldn't think of!!

I've been running this morning and it felt great, the weather was chilly but dry, the ground was firm but not too icy and there weren't many people about, i saw a huge buzzard sat in the sun on a fence but i scared him off with my coughing and spluttering as I dug deep to pound out 3.6 miles, CLICK HERE TO VIEW MY EFFORTS its always nice to see the sun and a great sunrise it was too but i also saw the moon, when i was young a long long time ago, i thought the moon only came out at night, i like seeing it during the day.

My average pace seems to be around 9.4 minutes a mile, id like to think i can run faster than that but i suppose keeping it up for 10k or 12.1 miles is the main feat of achievement, the pace feels steady, I'm still carrying too much weight so maybe by the the time March comes around and i start my 10k races in High Legh and Lymm I will be lower in weight and speed might improve, wondering what i should aim for time wise for the 10k, 59mins and 59 seconds as a start point???

Ive recently joined a facebook group called run for fun, and run for fun they certainly do, so much encouragement and praise its a really good group to be in, if you take up running even if its just to do a little exercise, id recommend popping on to facebook and giving them a hello as they'd certainly give you the bug to get out there and enjoy it.
they also have a 14 day core challenge which im going to attempt, who knows i may be posting pictures of 6 pack soon enough.

is this really attractive? i think it has the look of an alien invader.