Excuses, excuses, excuses

So, it's been a while since the last post, and hence since the last run. The barrage of excuses include that I have been slightly ill (last 2 or 3 days anyway), been relatively busy with my work, I have been playing badminton (twice, relatively badly) and squash (also twice, also badly, but improving) and mainly that I have been worried about my Achilles tendon. It really hurt after the last run (12, 12! days ago), to the point where i couldn't walk the following day...

Anyway - today I went out specifically to have a slow run, to see how the leg felt, and just to get out mainly. Sop, the tendon felt stiff throughout and i curtailed a jog around Hackney Downs due to to it, and in the end i ran 4.2 miles in 41 minutes, back to 10 minute miles. I did feel i could have run faster, but purposefully kept it slow. My Achilles tend stiffened up around 30mins, after slackening off around 10 minutes... to be kept in check...



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Fast 3.8 Finsbury Park loop, number 2

so this route... 3.8 miles, might become a bit of a regular test run... Ran it on Friday, updated this a day late

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Did it in 30minutes, 26 seconds... which is 7.5mph, or 12.1kmph... 3 minutes quicker than last time, which puts me on for the marathon at 3 hours 30 minutes or there about.... 8 minute miles... which is proper hard work to keep it up for half an hour... let alone 7 times that!

8 minutes miles sounds good though...

anyway - my Achilles tendon is sore, left leg, so shan't run today, and shall see if I can get on it tomorrow. want to run 10 miles, had planned too, but if leg bad then wont... don't want to end up like dad with his snapped leg, smoking a cigar in a rubber dingy on a beach in Wales.

and I'm finding quitting smoking very hard.... i.e. i keep smoking...

Only the third long Sunday run.... 17/11/13

Set the goal at 7.5 miles, and that is exactly what i ran, in fact the goal was 7.6, but it was pretty much exactly the same route, except that i turned right then left round one block out in Upper Clapton and my plan was left then right, saved me about 150m, and put it down to 7.5miles on the map.... Aimed to do it under 1 hour 10... and ran it in 1 hour 7 mins!

Which is 6.72mph, around 9 minutes miles, so and this puts me in at 3hours 55minutes... so pretty much the pace that I should be running. but if you add getting a drink of water, any type of crowd, then I'm failing, so I need to go a little bit quicker, for a margin of error...

How did I feel? Well, mainly I felt rather bored! Saw a few bikes bashing around and it just seems entirely more enjoyable, faster so you don't get bored by your surroundings at any point. Physically, beyond that, pretty good. Wasn't particularly tried and seem to have recovered fairly quickly. Could I have run further? I think so yes, probably quite a bit further, esp if i could have had a drink or had had a decent breakfast before I went out.


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Back on it... 16/11/13

Right so after a full week off to get over the strained legs and groin (must must must remember to warm that up - been a problem since I was kid playing rugby), and a bit of illness involving brutal diahorrea on Thursday (damn you Psychic Burger - allegedly... but Hugo also was ill) went on a short run to get myself ready for the planned long leg tomorrow. I had played squash on Wednesday and that was great but needed to get on it again.

So this was the route:

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Which is apparently 3.8miles, and I ran it in 33minutes... and felt relatively good about it....so that works out as 6.9miles an hour, or 8min 40 miles.... which I like the sound of! 5min25 km... but that was for half an hour and puts me in at 3 hours 50... so to keep that pace up for 8 times as long!!

Still fat etc and so forth... i think this might be slow battle...

Hackney Park Borders

5.7 miles in 57 and half minutes... 10 minute miles, pretty much spot on. too slow.... but it wasn't a cardiovascular issues, I could certainly hurt more in that respect, it was my fooking legs that killed me like fook. LIKE FOOK! though I was going to die all the way round.

Once this gets better and I get more used to running, i should probably be all right at this stuff then... need to lose weight, then I'll fly.

Very similar run to the one from last Sunday, and its a nice run too. Lovely lovely sunny day


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A muddy leg of pain... 09/11/13

Intended - 5 miles


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Actually done - 3.9miles... in 36m35seconds...

Mainly cos my legs were killing me. Think I've over done it last week and slightly strained the muscles... i didn't run for the last two days (although i did a fair distance on the bike going to dentist and Camden etc) after the squash debacle... but basically the whole of the legs hurt and I was slow....

Having said that - it's nice run, the bit from just north of the reservoir to Finsbury park on the New River is proper off road. I was expecting some form of cider path minimum, but just got a muddy grassy verge for a mile or so - was quite pleasant, a bit like being in Wigan... especially  with the rainy cold weather.


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anyway - the fight for fitness continues... got a long way to go, cant even run 5 miles, got to run 26... still fat, still heavy... hopefully the next run shall be better...

Aborted... number 1... 06/11/13

I had intended to run for half an hour, at 11km/h.... which is quick but I don't think unmanageable. Simply couldn't do it though, was too knackered and had to stop. ran 1km in minutes... I had just played squash for 45 minutes, which is pretty tiring... perhaps I've been pushing a bit hard, 2 weeks ago I was rather slovenly... rest day tomorrow, and to be continued Friday...

6th, short and relatively quick...

Route below and about 3.8 miles, it was supposed to be a fartlek but I couldn't speed up, but I did try to keep a good fast pace up all the time. Had to stop and walk a few times, but never for long. I think I might have been over-doing it with badders, biking and swimming... so anyway - I stopped running full time at 33minutes...

so that makes me running at 6.9mph, or 8min 40 miles...which puts me in at 3hrs 50... which means that's basically the pace I need to keep for 4 fooking hours!

or 11.1kmh, so 5.45 minutes per kilometre... that is my pace basically... Doesn't matter which system i compute it in...


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But i haven't smoked since Sunday... I'm still well fat and weighed in at 95kg after an admittedly rather lovely dinner

Squash with Hugo tomorrow then I'll try half an hour at this pace on the machine... maybe a bit quicker...

5th run , 03/11/13

1st big long proper outdoor run - this route below, which is 6.5miles or 10.5km according to google maps, took 1 hour and 5 minutes, although i did stop occasionally to cross road, or to have a look around Paul and Anna's new house (which looks amazing)...

Felt okay, and certainly managed to keep a steady pace without any worries really. slight stitch in my back but that seems to be always there and i hope shall get less and less as i get fitter. The pace i was clicking along at though - felt really slow, that i must look like a fat potato bearded man just chomping slowly down the road, sweating... but apparently - judging from the google maps and the time, I'm on 6 miles and hour, which is 10 min miles, which is a little bit slow for 4hrs of under (work out at 4hrs 25 - adina's time!). Need to get that route down to about 50 minutes i reckon...


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Oh - i havent lost any weight at all, and am still fat as fook and i'm still stealing fags of friends whenever i see them... perhaps 6 yesterday with the footie and going to Dre's Day of the Dead party...

4th, more fartlek, 1/11/13

I'll be brief as walking to pub for a pint with Hugo... anyway after guilt of a huge burrito (very nice), lots of pints and left overs at Mike's birthday (very nice) and a fooking truly horrible kebab from Beyti near our house, stuck to the schedule and went for slightly longer fartlek round Hackney downs. Same as last time but with extra half lap... 11 mins to get there, fartlek 2 lamp posts again, until 36ish mins then home by 47. Felt comfortable.

Oh and smoked 4 fags last night, and weight 91kilos (but I'm thirsty and that's 1 litre of water off full weight) and my belly is still massive

3rd and 1st fartlek - 30/10/13

So, today, the first road based run, and my training guide said fartlek, so fartlek I did do. Now I got a proper love for Hackney Downs, mainly as it's always nicer than you expect, and not full of trendies (although that is starting to change what with the Russet appearing near the once shady entrance  -gentrification continues unbounded, but that for someone else to pontificate on). 

So I ran out the estate, past our old house and down to Hackney Downs - the AdinaSoros says that's 1.5 miles, but I'm inclined to think it's less. Got there in 11 minutes. one lap I am pretty certain is 1 mile, maybe just shy, and I fartlek'ed two light posts at a time, jogged (almost crawled) 2 then ran two. Now I don't think I was particularly quick over the 2 I ran and I was certainly very slow over the two I jogged, I even had to walk the occasional one, and free styled a bit when knackered... but I did two laps this way (although thought about dropping out after one) - this took me to 28 minutes, then jogged home and stopped at Chickpizz at 39 minutes... Felt pretty pretty terrible coming back, really hurt, stitch in my back, legs tight, got to push through that. I look forward to being a crisp packet on the air like Adina and managing 3 hours easily!

so adding that up, and taking a bit off, we get 1.5 + 1 + 1 + 1.5 = 5 miles, rounded down a bit - 4.5miles and I wasn't running that quick - surely no more than 10min miles, so I'll say 4 miles... which is around 6.5km... so seeing as I've rounded down...

7km(ish)! 

40 minutes! 

unknown calories, as not in the machine, but probably same if not more than machine

Weight - still 92kg, and that was starkers after a shower, so that hasn't changed at all (which isn't surprising the amount I'm eating - but then it is that time of the year, dark early where one's mind turns to food and my appetite, as in all previous years has skyrocketed... I know it's come down in spring, and I'll eat less and lose slightly less weight over the summer than I put on over the winter, as has always been the case...)

Belly size - to be honest, I look down at my kentch and it's a fooking huge lump that NEEDS TO FOOK OFF!

Smoked a fag with Stefan when I knocked in there briefly on the way home. Was well good! Need to stop that shit!

2nd - 27/10/13

After a stinking hangover yesterday (after cheese's party and me red carding myself for being a fule) yet for another gym based run. Decided, quite rightly, that i should run further than last time, so aimed for 40 minutes. As I got near the end though instead of speeding up increased length of time slightly. Bit bored, but felt pretty good most the time except about 20 minutes in when i looked at the clock, thought I've still got half to do and felt bloody awful for a little bit! Weirdly this was pretty much the same time into the run as the the point of euphoria on the last run... 10 minutes from the end last time, half way this time... but the euphoria this time came at about 32 minutes... so ten from the end... Perhaps it's the finish that excites...

Cant imagine being able to run at that pace for 4hrs 15minutes, which is the goal...

Meant to swim, but didn't. It was only really half an intention.

so anyway - 

Route - at the gym on the outside runner again. Quite like it there on the sly
Time - 43 minutes (originally 40 but i plused it up by 3)
Distance - 7.06km
Calories - 660 or thereabouts.
Speed - mainly 10km/h - in fact all the time except the first two minutes which means that my average is 9.86...
Weight - haven't weighed myself, the same, if not more considering drinking, smoking and eating since.
Belly size - had the biggest fooking curry of all time yesterday, couldn't stop eating the bugger, so still bulbous!

Speaking of smoking - smoked liek the old days on Friday night, then had two (one split into two halves) yesterday... today... thus far, zero cigs. 

1st run - The Beginning

First run on the train for the marathon on the 13th today... didn't particularly like it, didn't particularly want to do it, but its for the best... went the gym intending to swim after but ended up not swimming and coming home.


Route - at the gym, standing there, on a machine
Time - 30 mins - started around 4.
Distance - 4.7km or there abouts
Calories - 447 (i think)
always flat.
Speed - a bit slow at the beginning and then mainly 10 km/h but at 25 pushed it up to 12 for a minute and then for the last minute down to 8.
Weight - 92kg
Belly size - realistically pretty bulbous, although when I don't look at it my mind says "washboard".

Feeling - pretty okay. Bit bored but for a moment got that good endorphins feeling that you get when you do exercise... wasn't the worst? Could be better? We'll get there!

Anyway - sure this blog will either evolve of get dropped... mainly as a diary to self.