Jenny's Running Blog

Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Week 2, Day 4 - Time Management

Very quick post. Managed to get in my fourth run last week. Really busy this week though. Busy at work and tired and my phone isn't working so I've had to spend the evenings calling the phone company. Bottom line - I haven't run yet this week. That means 4 runs to go and only three days of the week left. Does it count if I run twice in one day?

Saturday, April 14, 2007

Week 1, Day 6 - Another emergency stop incident :-<


Check this out. Another day another run! Annoyingly interrupted at the half-way mark by the emergency stop tab falling off the machine and consequently me grinding to a angry stop! Got on with it and finished though. I ran at 7.5kmh in the first 10 mins, 8 in the second 10 mins and 9 in the final 10 mins and I continue to try to push up my walking speed in between. I'm still on run 2, walk 4 and will move up to run 3, walk 3 next week.

Incidentally, it occurred to me that I don't really know what I'm doing anymore. Should I be running hard in the running parts or taking it easy, and should I be walking hard or just recovering. I think I have a tendancy to push myself too hard because in the moment its quite enjoyable but it ends up filling me with dread the next time I face running because I anticipate it to be hard. I also end up running at a pace that I just couldn't possibly sustain for the whole 30 minutes and surely that's just not the point? Any pointers will be most gratefully received.

Stats -
Total Distance - 1.87 miles / 3.01 km
Avg Speed - 3.74 mph
Min/Mile Pace - 16.04
Miles so far this week - 5.58
Hours so far this week - 1:30

Week 1, Day 5 - Hot and Bothered


Determined to get my four runs in this week I set out to the gym after work. It wasn't a pleasant run. Firstly, when the weather is hot, my gym is very hot, and it was hot, and I don't like hot when running. Secondly, it was really busy and despite heading to the quiet running corner I was still running with two runners who made me feel exceptionally unfit. This is always rather depressing. Thirdly, my mp3 player was flat, I must have left it on after my run on Monday. Then finally I actually found the run somewhat more challenging than expected and despite this recorded a worse distance than Monday's run. Sigh.

But ultimately though, who cares because I actually went out there and did it and now it's done!

Stats -
Total Distance - 1.83 miles / 2.94 km
Avg Speed - 3.65 mph
Min/Mile Pace - 16.42 (oh for the love of god... was I actually even moving?)
Miles so far this week - 3.71
Hours so far this week - 1:00

Thursday, April 12, 2007

Week 1, Day 4 - Why can't I reach my toes?

Not much to report so far this week. I've just completed a midweek yoga session - a quick half hour. I think I can already see some improvements in my flexibility... although at one point I realised I was just bending my knees more! It's quite frustrating to go from one position to another, each time having the single aim of reaching your toes and not being able to do it! I just find myself staring at my toes thinking "oh why can't I reach you?". What's worse for a girl who just had her birthday yesterday is that I remember when I used to be able to touch my toes in those positions and when I could do that

Why can't I do that anymore?!

I turned another 20 something yesterday. The number after the "2" is getting a bit high so I'm now officially no longer counting... or no longer telling people... or counting backwards or something.

Still just one run down so far this week. I've planned to go to the gym every morning but I've been unusually tired every morning so far and just haven't managed to drag myself out of bed. Now I come to think of it, there is an explanation:

Monday night - couldn't stop thinking about work - didn't get to sleep until rather late.
Tuesday night - stayed up late making a long list of all the things I have to do before I turn twenty-cough! This was the eve of my birthday. While making this list, which I plan to post on my blog, I realize that I'm a bit of a head-case and decide perhaps not to post it on the blog after all.
Wednesday night - couldn't stop thinking about crime. Decided to write a list of what I can do to make a difference about crime. This made me feel marginally better and I fell asleep... though I forgot to set my alarm.

Stats -
Sun salutations so far this week - countless
Runs - still just the one
Restless nights - three
Cakes - zero... hmmm :-)

Monday, April 09, 2007

And then there was yoga!


In other non-cake related news, I've been doing yoga! Rather than stretching after my run today I drove straight home and did 30-45 minutes of yoga. Yesterday, I did well over an hour of it. I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with it. I love the idea of doing yoga and of being flexible and strong etc. but in the past when I've taken classes/used yoga dvds I've always found then either too hard or too slow and boring. For example, I don't really DO relaxing so 15 minutes on a dvd of breathing just does my head in!

So I bought this book - Ashtanga Yoga by David Swenson - which was recommended somewhere, and it's great. I can just do it at my own pace - so, for example, I can work through the sun salutations slowly focusing on my form instead of racing through them just trying to keep up with the dvd and wondering why the hell my legs don't go like that and why I just collapse onto the floor instead of gracefully moving from Plank into whatever-that-one-is-called-before-downward facing dog. I'm very happy about it.

Now if only my hamstrings would loosen up a bit...

Week 1, Day 1... aGAiN!!


I've just had a fantastic run! Well run/walk... but you'll forgive me that right?! It's a glorious day here - really sunny and clear but quite cool. I took off down to the gym feeling a little apprehensive. Being Easter Monday it was quite busy, even at 9am. I walked around the gym trying to spot a treadmill off in a corner somewhere away from anyone who looked too fit! No luck though - my favourite quite spot was occupied by too very fit, fast looking runners. So I took up a position in front of the TVs and started my warm up. Just my luck some lady comes and jumps on the treadmill next to me and starts running like her ass is on fire. Normally this would ruin my mood but I just tried to stay focused on my own workout and to not get competitive thoughts in my head. I like that I'm competitive but at the gym, on a treadmill, I am never going to win! And losing = bad mood.

As I have again reverted to week one of my running programme I was on the very unchallenging Run 2, Walk 4. It felt great though. I struggled less than I thought I would and it felt fantastic to be running again. I started out very modestly but as I started to have fun I increased both my walking and running speeds and it was just great.

And thank God I'll now have some mileage to report in my sidebar for this month!

And in a refreshing change from my posts of late, today's picture is not of a cake! This is, in fact, a row of treadmills from my gym. These are in my favourite quiet spot at the back of the gym (the one where the damn runners were today) and they overlook the racecourse. Bit of a rubbish photo but interesting none the less.

Stats -
Total Distance - 1.88 miles / 3.03 km
Avg Speed - 3.77 mph
Min/Mile Pace - 15.93 (groan)
Miles so far this week - 1.88
Hours so far this week - 0:30

Friday, April 06, 2007

Cheddar Gorge!

Yesterday I finally broke sweat for the first time this week! Hooray! In fact it was the first time in... err... too long. Me and Mr JRB had the day off work to celebrate my birthday. My birthday isn't actually until next week but as Mr JRB is away on business then (as usual - NAB) we had a fake birthday for me yesterday. For some reason I didn't get a single present or card :-( Perhaps I might get some on the real birthday next week.

So we headed down to Somerset to a place called Cheddar Gorge - which is kind of like the English grand canyon... it's a lot smaller though! The weather was fantastic for this time of year - 20 degrees! The drive down was really pretty in places - we went through some lovely parts of Wiltshire. No pictures sadly (we are rubbish at taking photos!).

This is where we first stopped. That's my smart car at the front (crap car - highly UNrecommended). There were guys climbing up the rock face in the background. I've recently been quite keen on trying climbing but as I watched these guys climb I thought that perhaps it isn't really my cup of tea.


Unfortunately we took no pictures of the steep trek we took up to the top. It seemed neverending and I had to keep stopping to sit on logs to get my breath back. As usual Mr JRB made it look like it required about as much effort as sitting on the sofa. It took a little while but it was great to get my heart pumping! The path we took was a steep narrow path up through some woods that at times had old wooden steps dug into the mud.

Here's me at the top pondering life's big questions like - "Why are there so many calories in ice cream?" and "Where is the nearest Waitrose?". This side on shot is the only one I'm happy to post because in all the others I look as wide as a house. Damn you toffee tarts.

More views from the top. You can see the road down at the bottom of the gorge that we'd stopped along earlier.

Also forgot to take pictures of the trek down! Curses. Well here we are back down at the bottom anyway. That's Mr JRB.

This bit was really amazing. You can see some people climbing down the rocks near the bottom.

So that was it, a few hours and a few miles later we were all done. There are caves here too but the entrance fee was far too high so we didn't go in.

On the way home we stopped at a Somerset farm shop in Shipton near Cheddar and picked up some proper local cider! I don't do cider but Mr JRB loves it. We got 5 litres straight out of the barrel and headed home. It was a good day and it was great to get outside and get some exercise.

Planning to get back to the gym again from next week. Can't say I'm thrilled about it right now, hitting the treadmill at 6:30am isn't quite as fun as hiking up Cheddar Gorge on a sunny day! It's got to be done though, especially now that I've got so podgy :-(

I've got a great new incentive for getting fit. We've planning our summer holiday and currently our favourite idea is going RV-ing around California, Arizona, Utah, Nevada (maybe a quick stop in Colorado) - we're thinking it would be great to explore some of the National Parks. That means hiking, mountain biking, horse-riding, swimming, canoeing etc. - basically a tonne of stuff that I don't want to be too unfit to enjoy! Bring on the treadmill...

Sunday, April 01, 2007

This is between me and the pie

I'm sat here eating a toffee tart (see illustration) and thinking about how to go about getting fit. We're going to ignore the toffee tart for the moment and think about the question. The problem is that I'm unfit - fact. Really, really, really unfit. So unfit that I often wonder whether I'm actually suffering from pulmonary heart disease, or heart failure or something. I get really breathless after even the slightest exertion. In fact, I get breathless just talking sometimes. I'm not obese, I'm not even overweight, I'm just really unfit.

I'm also not stupid, I know this is really serious. I don't know how/why I've ended up this way (why am I so much unfitter than every other person who hardly ever exercises?) but it's irrelevant really, the point is I need to get fitter. At the moment I regularly think about how awful my life will be in 20 years if I continue along the same path I'm currently on (seriously, we'll leave the cakes out for the moment! This is just about the exercise).

But it's kind of easier said than done isn't it. This won't be the first time... So as I set out again to try to whip my flabby disgrace of a heart into shape I'm going to try to figure out what to do to make this new healthier way of life stick. MMmmm lovely toffee tart...