Day 4 of 365 – Lagging

STATS:

Weigh-in (Jan 1st) 15st 7lbs / 217lbs / 98.4kg
Gain/Loss Total: ——–

Miles I Should’ve Done To Date: 22
Miles That I Have Done To Date: 5.27
Difference: -16.73

Ran: 1.4
Cycled: 0
Walked: 3.87
Swam: 0

In which I’m not where I hoped to be

Ah. As you can see, I’m on Day 4 and already close to 17 miles behind schedule. In my defense, however, I’ve been quite ill. Ill enough to be sent home from work early on the 2nd Jan. Slightly annoyed that the illness chose the start of my 2013 in 2013 challenge to show it’s sickly head, but what can you do about it? Nothing. Apart from keep coughing up mucus (lovely), sweating into the sheets all night (sorry wifey) and over-dosing on throat sweets.

But then on one of my posts, I got this comment:

I always run (or ride) through colds and flus unless it’s the second day (where even my hair hurts). I believe that getting my body temp and heart rate up really shortens duration and severity. I could be wrong but I’ve been doing it for years and am happy with the results. – bgddyjim

All day yesterday I was thinking about it, thinking about going for a run but still felt crappy. The more I thought on it, the more I wanted to go. At the moment Sarah is working split shifts most days (Cabin Crew in the Summer, Care Worker in the winter) and so I mentioned to her the comment on my blog and that I was thinking about going for a short run. It’d been almost a month since I last ran!

She said ‘If you do, why don’t you wait an hour til I go to work?’

‘I might fall down ill and die though,’ I said, ‘and won’t be able to get in touch with you!’

‘That’s true. How long will you be?’

Hang on.

That’s true? What a lovely thing to say to your new husband! In all honesty, it didn’t cross my mind at the time, only now when I’m recalling the conversation. I’ll tell her off when I get in. Might set the kitten on her toes. (He loves attacking toes!)

Anyway, off I set. Since moving I’ve not run once, and don’t know the area fantastically well, so decided to do a short loop that I figured would be about a mile, maybe a mile and a half. (Turned out to be 1.4!) I did a quick walk to the main road as a warm up, then I set off at a slow pace. The route goes slightly uphill, then curves to the left and goes down hill, then a short, sharp uphill to finish.

As I set off I felt fine. No trouble breathing, no aches or anything, so upped the pace a bit. I passed a Policeman who nodded and said ‘Good lad’ as I went by. This made me smile and going into the downhill, I went a little quicker still.

I thought I was holding about 10:30min per mile, so was chuffed when my sports tracker app read out a pace of 9:22min per mile! I actually finished the 1.4 miles with an overall pace of 9:14min per mile, so very happy with that.

It seemed to clear my man-flu for a while too, until I went to bed and it all started again. I felt ill still this morning, but not as bad as previous days, and so to keep my millage up I decided to walk to work. I actually got out of bed at 07:30am (unheard of for me, normally 08:30am!) Even had time for a coffee and a sit down stroking the cat before I set off.

3.8mile walk took just over an hour. Tonight after work, I’ll be running the same distance home, but it’s mostly uphill on the way back so I’m sure I’ll get a good work out from it!

On another note, I’ve started with healthy eating too. Instead of a dozen coffees through the day, I’m allowing myself one in the morning before work, and one before lunch at work. Green Tea (Apple and Pear flavour) is my tipple of choice now. Had an apple this morning for breakfast (instead of no breakfast, or McDonalds) and have made a healthy salad for my lunch.

Bring it on 2013!!

Bradford 10k (HA!) 02/12/12

In Which a 10k Run Isn’t a 10k Run

Saturday 01/12/12

I got home from work and decided it’d probably be a good idea to have a glance through the race info that ‘d gotten through the post about 2 weeks back and only looked at once. (I’d looked at my race number about 14 times.) Sitting at the dining room table I opened a nice cool refreshing can of non-alcoholic beer (mmmm…..) and started to read.

The info booklet was about the route of the 10k (it said 10k) and what time the 10k (said 10k again) started. While I was reading, Ironman Tony came into the dining room and picked up my race number. He then put it down, went over to the other side of the room and then brought out HIS race number for the Bradford 10k (there it is again, 10k) from where he’d been hiding it. Didn’t tell any of us, just sneakily entered. That brought our little group for the 10k (10k) up to five.

Myself, Rob, Nigel, Paul (Nige’s mate) and Ironman Tony.

Nige, Me, Ironman Tony

Sunday 02/12/12

The race was due to start at 10:00 but before hand we needed to go collect our timing chips. We got there about 09:30 and there were quite a lot of people in running gear warming up, whereas I was freezing my arse off. The weather app on my phone said zero degrees centigrade. Six months ago I didn’t run, now I get up early on a Sunday to go into the centre of Bradford and freeze to death…

Bradford 10k (HA!)

Anyway, we met up with Rob (rest of us came down together) and then after a few minutes lost Rob. After a quick toilet break it was time to line up at the start and luckily re-found Rob. (Not the hardest person to spot in a crowd.) The chimes on the town hall clock let us know we were underway. (Not with a loud speaker or anything, just by chiming ten times. For ten o clock. And a 10k.)

Straight away, as with the other race I ran with him, Ironman Tony was off into the distance. Before too long Nige and Paul were gone too, leaving myself and Rob stuck behind a massive cock as we went on Thornton Rd, on the first of our 2 5K laps. (Making….10k)

Bradford City Mascot

The course then took us up a lovely hill that never seemed to end and at the top we had a few seconds of walking as my calves weren’t warmed up enough and Rob was having trouble with one of his ankles. Setting off again we turned left and downhill, then slightly uphill. Left at the roundabout where we almost ran into a bloke shouting at a steward about the course route. We then followed the hill downwards with Bradford University and a water station on our left before turning left again and winding through a few of the Universities streets.

There was a hidden hill that we weren’t aware of. (Not like under a bedsheet or anything, just wasn’t expecting it.) And although it was short, it was very steep. Didn’t see that many people run all the way up without stopping. Back down again, then on Thornton Rd in the opposite direction. We’d had quite a few walks on the way, so was surprised when Rob announced we were on for a 25minute 5k.

We saw Ironman Tony coming the other way on the start of his 2nd lap and thought we were near the check point, but the course went a lot further round than we expected, round the back of City Hall and then around the front. As we went past the halfway point the timer was 29:28. Sarah was there to take pictures of us as we went past. Spurred on we were, so we went to do the same lap again.

Me & Rob, ready for loop two!

Not much different on this loop apart from we took water from the water station, Rob stopped to stretch out his ankle, and I WAS SLAPPED BY A GIRL!

On the hidden hill we’d just got to the top when SLAP! Right across my left shoulder. I looked around and she said ‘Come on, get going!’ As though wanting to motivate someone is a good excuse for battering them in the back streets of Bradford. Rob just laughed.

We finished the 10k (pah!) strong and met up with Sarah, Ironman Tony, Sarah’s mum and sister and the others at the finish line. I was amazed, AMAZED that my sports tracker app recorded a time of 58:16!! That’s over a minute and a half off my PB, and 8 minutes off of Rob’s! That’s fantastic progress in only 2 weeks! That’s…. that’s…. hang on…. 8.8k…?

Bradford 10k (8.8k) had ‘steward problems.’ Which meant that the steward that was supposed to say ‘turn right here’ actually didn’t say anything, and let people run straight on. When the bloke was shouting at the steward early on about the course route, he was right! They missed off a whole chunk of it! We received a medal at the end, but the medal is for a 10k and we only ran 8.8k. The medal was a bit pants too, generic picture of runners on the front and a small stamp on the back that said ‘Bradford City Run 10k.’ Didn’t bother taking a picture.

Bradford 8.8k Route

Rob sprinted faster than me at the end, which means that 2 weeks ago out of the four of us I came 1st, but this week out of the 5 of us I came last. Or as Nigel kindly put it, ‘From Champ to Chump in 2 weeks.’

After the race, we all piled into Lloyds Bar for a breakfast and beer. (Plenty of beer.) Which made everything seem a little (a lot) better.

Tuesday 05/12/12

I got a message through Twitter asking if I wanted to talk about the Bradford 10k only being 8.8k live on BBC Radio Leeds. I got the message a little after the radio program finished. Stupid Bradford 8.8k.

Next race is the Meltham 10k in Huddersfield on 27th January. Hopefully it’ll be well marshaled!

Leeds Abbey Dash 10k – 18/11/12

In Which I Run A Good Race

My alarm went off at 0700 on Sunday morning. Never a good start. I pressed snooze, and so it then went off again at 0715. I switched it off and then checked Facebook. The other people running the race with me had all put status’s that they were out of bed. (The other people as in Rob, Nigel and Martyn, not the other people as in 9’000 entered. Not friends with them all on Facebook.)

I got up and dressed and then packed my bag for the day. Martyns dad was bringing Martyn and Rob to my house, and Nigel had arranged to meet us here too. Around about 0800 I was eating porridge and could hear voices outside so went out to meet them, and bloody hell was it cold! There was ice on the ground.

We all piled into my house and I made everyone a cup of tea. (I’m nice like that.) Before too long we’d woken everyone up so decided to set off to Leeds.

Car Journey: Uneventful.

After parking in a car park in Leeds we made our way down to the start line with the thousands of other runners. The queue for the toilets was about 200 people long so we did the intelligent thing and went into Wetherspoons to use their facilities. No queue at all. We then made our way back to the start and had a picture taken:

Nigel, Martyn, Me, Rob

Before too long the countdown had begun and then finished and we were off, crossing the start line to ‘Don’t Stop Believin’ by Journey. All four of us stayed together as a group, chatting away nicely and setting a steady pace until about the 3K marker. After that Nigel was keeping pace with me until about 4K and then I lost sight of him until the turnaround at 5K, when we waved at each other as I headed back and he neared the turn around. The furthest I’ve ever managed running without talking a walk break is 4 1/2K which meant I was chuffed to reach 5K non-stop!

The first 5K (and I suppose, the second 5K, what with it being a race that’s there and back…) was along the streets of Leeds until you got out to Kirkstall Abbey, which is where the turn around point and water station was. Kirkstall Abbey is one of the most complete examples of a medieval Cistercian abbey in Britain.  Set in wonderful parkland along the banks of the River Aire, Kirkstall Abbey boast historic architecture amid a haven of wildlife and greenery. (Just copied and pasted that from their website.)

After the turn around, it got warm. The sun seemed as though it was at eye level above the buildings of Leeds, and combined with the sweat pouring from me, I was very hot. I didn’t stop at the water station because I had a bottle with me, but haven’t practiced running and drinking at the same time. I looked at my watch and figured I’d been running about 35mins non-stop. Before long I reached the 6K marker, still no walking, then the 7K.

As I approached the 8K I needed to walk to take a proper drink as my head was getting dizzy. I pushed on further, and managed to pass the 9K marker, but then thought about how embarrassing it’d be to pass out so walked, and had a drink. I looked back at my watch and figured I had about 6 minutes to finish the last kilometre and to finish under an hour. I pushed it.

Round about the last 200m my watch ticked into the next minute, the minute that I knew signalled an hour, so I sped up as best I could and finished the race strong and with a sprint. I was knackered. I went onto sports tracker on my phone and it read:

01:01:01.

Even allowing for starting it before the start line and ending it after the finish, I didn’t think it’d take off much more than 30seconds. Still, it was a PB.

My phone beeped as a message came through.

It was from the Abbey Dash people, whos tracking chip I was wearing on my shoe.

Official chip time: 59:58.

I actually cheered! My first ever sub hour run. Absolutely chuffed. I looked back over the crowd and managed to spot Nigel who got his own PB of 01:02:41. Not too long later, Martyn and Rob finish the run. Rob finished his first ever official 10k (weighing 19stone, running in football trainers, and after a night of 9 pints and a curry) in a time of 01:05:46. Martyn had trouble with his legs on the way round the run so wasn’t at 100%, he finished a second behind Rob.

We made our way up towards the exit of the run to get our finishers T-Shirts, but as it turns out they didn’t bring enough for everyone so none of us got one. We were told to email the organisers who would send them out to us, but we were gutted not to be able to wear them there and then.

Looking at the stats on my tracker, I was amazed. Apart from the last part of the run, where I walked for a bit to have a drink, each mile was quicker than the last. I improved my pace all the way to the last mile!

Amazed!

After the run we went to Wetherspoons in Leeds train station to meet a group of people who were coming along to York for my stag do that afternoon and night. I don’t remember everything that happened, but I came home Monday with both my eyebrows and a hangover, so it was all good. We only got barred from one pub too. Brilliant weekend.

Next race is Bradford 10k on 2nd December.

EDIT:

Thanks for reminding me Nige, though I don’t know how I forgot this!

Just before we split up we were chatting away happily when we looked up. There was a heavy set bloke plodding along a little way in front of usand you couldn’t help but notice his outfit. Not for the fact that he was wearing just lycra shorts without any running shorts over the top, but for the fact that his lycra shorts had slipped down and were now halfway down his arse.

Seriously, a few more steps and they’d be down completely. He hitched them up, and carried on. A few seconds later, they were  down again. He might’ve been the reason I got some speed up…

They say that race day isn’t a day to try out new running shoes. They should also add that it’s not the day to forget to tie your shorts.

Gunpowder Plod 5k 05/11/12

In Which I Get Hungry, Thirsty, and Very Very Cold

I’d been looking forward to this run for quite a few weeks, my first night time run with pyrotechnics and fireworks, followed by a hog roast and cold beer. Who wouldn’t be looking forward to it?! (Apart from someone who doesn’t like fireworks. Or a teetotaler. Or a vegetarian  I suppose…)

Point is, I was excited.

I met Nigel (Sarah’s Uncle) in Leeds train station. I mean I met up with him in Leeds train station. Obviously I’ve met him before I met him in the train station. It’d be quite a coincidence if I’ve met him then for the first time! As he turned up, so did the train.

We embarked (don’t really get the chance to use ’embarked’ much in a sentence, so I take every chance I can,) and looked for seats. The carriage we had got on had a reserved ticket stuck on the back of each seat so all the passengers that embarked before us passed them by. I did the clever thing and looked at which tickets the seats were reserved from and to. The two right next to where we embarked were reserved from York to Newcastle, and as we were getting off in York, we sat down. (If you embarked in York and went to Newcastle on Bonfire Night, and thought you’re seats were warm, you’re welcome.)

Got to York station and Nigel went to the toilet. I had a bit of Powerade while I waited. We then walked the mile or so to York racecourse, where the run was taking place. Toilet stop again. We showed our tickets and then went and found the registration tent where we  found out we had to fill out a form first. We found the forms, then went back to the registration tent where we were told we had to go look at a board to find out our numbers before registering. We went and found our race numbers then went back to the registration tent and registered, where we were given a very nice technical T-Shirt and our numbers. Also, we got a sparkler each.

Nigel then went to the toilet again.

Working our way past all the food stalls selling chilli and hog roasts and things, we found a quiet bit of the field and got changed into our running gear. (Both had a base layer on so it wasn’t like we were flashing anyone. Anyway, if they don’t want people getting changed in the open they should supply a changing tent.)

We walked back to the toilets (past the changing tent) and both used them this time.

After that we made our way to the stage where the runners were supposed to gather. There were about 300 people there (out of 1500) and the run was 10 minutes away from starting. They made an announcement saying that people got in late to the registration and so it was going to be delayed a bit.

The ‘delayed a bit’ eventually turned in to 50 minutes. In the November air of England. Where the thermometer (if I had one with me) would have read about one degree Celsius. (Nigel went to the toilet again.) We waited so long that the pre race warm up became a pre-pre-pre race warm up, followed by a pre-pre race warm up, followed by the pre-race warm up, followed by walking about ten minutes across the race course to the start of the run, where we stood waiting for the race to begin, in the cold, where our warm ups cooled down.

Eventually, finally, the race began with a couple of fireworks being set off.

The race was run on a pathway around the circumference of the race course, and the path was about six foot wide with muddy grass on either side. 1500 people were jockeying for a better position. (Jockeying! whilst running round a horse race course! hahahaha!)

It was really slow to start with due to it being dark and so many people. A few of the more forward thinking runners brought torches and head lamps, but not us. We were told before the race started that the route would be one
and a half times around the track. A few of the sections of the track were marked out with little flames on each side and every so often there was a small burst of flame. Not quite the spectacular pyrotechnics we were promised. I’d’ve done better lighting my sparkler!

I lost sight of Nigel before too long due to the closeness of the other runners, and the dark, so didn’t talk much going round. Before too long my legs began to hurt due to being stood around in freezing conditions before we started, and after about 3k I walked for about ten seconds. When I set off again, Nigel turned up behind me and told me that he’d had to nip off the side of the track to go to the toilet again.

We ran the rest of the race together and finished at a faster pace. My official time was 33:15. Not my quickest ever 5k, but still happy with the time.

After we’d finished we made our way to the finishers tent (another queue) where we then collected our finishers medal, plus a bottle of water and a Snickers. We then went to the toilet.

I was looking forward to the beer tent and food stalls but there was a slight problem. Thousands and thousands of spectators were there before us. Queues had hundreds of people, all wanting beer and hogroast. We both agreed we’d had enough of delays and queues so we decided to go to the bar in the train station. We walked back, but it was closed, so we bought a few beers from the shop, embarked our train, and drank them on the journey home.

The day after the run I got an email from the race organisers saying that due to all the delays they would be donating £5000 to a local charity, and offering a 50% discount on any one event for next year. Which is nice of them!

Hope I get to embark another train.

Cold Running, and a Cold

In which I feel sorry for myself, and get Lost

The past few days, I’ve been ill. I knew it was coming because Andy at work has been ill, and so has Ironman Tony. (The gits.) Only a matter of time before I caught it myself. Luckily, I seem to be over the worst of it.

What’s the best amount of time to wait, after an illness, before going out for another run? I guess it’s all down to how you feel inside. I’ve run home from work a few times in the past week, all uphill, and have been improving steadily. It’s 1.8 miles home, and from start to finish raises just over 325feet. I don’t want to reset all the hard work!

The first time I ran it (I can’t run the whole way without stopping, yet) it took me 20m 12s. Last week I ran it in 19:37. Two days later, 18:32. Over a full minute quicker in two days. A few days later, it was pouring down and cold. I ran it in 20:15. I could feel my ankles straining before I got halfway, and had to walk more than I would’ve liked.

Should I be warming up more in the cold weather, or do I need to wear more clothes? I have a 10k trail run in two weeks (in Brighouse) and want to run it in under an hour, so any cold running or running in the rain advice is more than welcome.

But for the next couple of days in staying in bed and watching Lost.