running blog

Winner announced! Win an iPod Shuffle and VIP tickets for the Royal Parks Foundation Half Marathon

31 08 2011

A couple of weeks ago, I gave a reader the chance to win an iPod Shuffle and VIP tickets for the Royal Parks Foundation Half Marathon. All you had to do was register to run the race for Team Mind and then tell me what your top running tune was.

Helen Tamblyn won with Meat Loaf’s Bat Out Of Hell.

Helen said:

Yes, it’s a long song, but when you’re nearing the end of a tough run and you want something to power you through the last mile, this is the perfect length and who can help but run faster to the lyrics “like a bat out of hell I’ll be gone, gone, gone.

Well done Helen!



Vivisectionists need not apply

26 08 2011

You all know I’m a veggie. If you’re a friend of mine on Facebook or are following me on Twitter, you’ve probably seen me ranting about Race for Life and Cancer Research UK. Cancer Research UK are vivisectionists. If you raise any money for them, you are funding animal experimentation.

So stop it.

Run as many Race for Lifes as you like, I don’t care. I’ve done a few of them myself. The race entry only goes towards directors’ salaries, admin fees and those tacky medals you get at the end. My conscience got the better of me eventually and now my efforts no longer go on running approximately 5k whilst dodging a load of pink-angel-wing-wearing fat women walking really slowly, but towards letting everyone know how much I hate Cancer Research UK.

There are alternative cancer charities. Lots of them. If you have a look at this list, you’ll find them. This list will also let you know if your chosen charity is an ethical one or not. If not, choose one that is.

And PR/marketing people, if you’re emailing me to ask if I’ll promote a charity that conducts or funds animal testing, do one.



The Girl Who Didn’t Wait For The Green Man

25 08 2011

I’m not going to start this blog by saying I have been running, honest.

Oh, I just did. Oops.

Anyway, I can never think of how to start a blog post; thinking of a title’s hard enough [so hard that sometimes I just revert to lyrics from obscure songs [for ‘obscure’ read ‘unpopular’] that no one ever gets the reference to] so that will just have to do.

A while ago, I lost one of the little rubbery bits on my headphones that go in your ear. I put the larger ones on but they keep falling out as I obviously have little titchy tiny girly ears. It’s either that or I just have really sweaty ears that keep pushing the larger ones out. We’ll go for the former, eh? I was fed up with them falling out all the time, so looked around for some new ones and thought about getting some Sennheisers but the ones within what I wanted to spend didn’t look like they were in-ear ones, and I NEED in-ear ones to cut out the noise from people on the train annoying me by talking to each other (I mean, really? How dare they have a conversation) or on their mobiles (see previous comment). Although I’d never had any before, I quite fancied some of those over-the-ear ones, as I’d heard they do actually stay on. These Panasonic ones seemed to fit the bill as they’re in-ear and over-ear, and also really cheap.

And they’re brill.

They don’t move at all when they’re on and they’re so comfy, you don’t even notice they’re there (I really want to put a ‘their’ in there somewhere but don’t know where). As far as I can tell, the sound’s quality’s good but I wouldn’t exactly call myself an audiophile, so don’t sue me if you buy these and then tell me you "can hear a coloration that in my experience has shown to indicate a treble peak” [I obviously nicked that from somewhere. If you want more lovely words I don’t understand pretentiousness, you’ll find it here].

With my lovely new headphones in place, I set out the door for my run. Although, from inside the house, the world outside looked dull and grey, once outside, the sun was out and I wondered if I should go over the fields for a change but then I thought no, I only did intervals the other day and I need to get the miles in and not the really really really slow miles I will do if I go over fields and so I set off down the road then down the cycle path then past the vets and to the traffic lights and there was a woman at the traffic lights with her little girl in a buggy and we were waiting for the lights to change and while we were waiting there was a big gap in the traffic, big enough for me to run across without the risk of getting squished but I didn’t want to set a bad example to the little girl as then her mum would have to explain that I was naughty crossing the road before waiting for the green man and then if I ever saw them again the little girl would point and say LOOK MUMMY, THERE’S THAT NAUGHTY WOMAN WHO CROSSED THE ROAD WITHOUT WAITING FOR THE GREEN MAN and everyone in the immediate vicinity would turn and look and point and give me the evils and I’d be forever known as the Girl Who Didn’t Wait For the Green Man and so I stand there thanking Garmin for the autopause feature and the lights change and we all cross, safe and sound with reputations and integrity intact, and I get to the narrow, lonely and deserted trail and there’s a man.

Without a dog.

And I think waa, there’s a man without a dog, where do you think you’re going? you’re not allowed down the narrow, lonely and deserted trail without a dog and then I think it’s quite sad that if women (and I know it’s not just me, I’ve seen this mentioned on other women’s blogs) see a man without a dog in a wooded/grassy area without a dog we think RAPIST but then if we see a man in a wooded/grassy area with a dog we think AW, NICE MAN WITH NICE DOGGY and it reminded me of a few weeks ago when just after the looters (I refuse to call them rioters. Rioters are protesting about something. This lot weren’t protesting about anything, they were just twats [violent, thuggish twats, but twats nonetheless]) and I was out for a run and I saw a couple of young lads on bikes and I looked at them with pure suspicion although we didn’t have any looting anywhere near us and then that reminded me of the London bombings when anyone with a rucksack was regarded very suspiciously and if you looked a bit foreign then a) you were probably a Muslim; and b) about to blow the whole of London up (and possibly a few unlucky home counties along with it).

I continue on my run without suspecting any more men of being rapists, young lads on bikes of being looters or people who look a bit foreign of being terrorists and get to the sheep field and there’s a load of acorns on the ground and I think of that saying about from little acorns, great oaks are grown (or something like that) and I think from run/walk beginner’s schedules, marathons are run and I think that’s pretty deep for me and I try to think of a simile or metaphor for acorns but I can only think of big, shiny, round bogies and I think oh, maybe I’m not so deep after all.

Stats
Distance: 4.01 miles
Time: 47:08
Pace: 11:45 m/m
Calories: 421
Titchy tiny little girly ears: 2
New headphones: 1
Little girls set a good example to: 1
Girls Who Didn’t Wait For The Green Man: 0
Men who probably aren’t rapists: 1
Young lads who probably aren’t looters: some
People who look a bit foreign who probably aren’t terrorists: a few
Deep meaningful similes to describe acorns: 0



Run for Mind and win an iPod Shuffle

16 08 2011

Despite not having blogged any runs for ages, I have been running. Just very very slowly. I hope I get a bit quicker, as Folkestone Half is in six weeks and I’ve arranged to meet Travelling Hopefully, Helsbels, Fit Artist, Tom Roper and Highway Kind afterwards for lunch, but at this rate I’m not even sure I’d make it in time for dinner.

mind_logoTwo weeks after Folkestone, is the Royal Parks Half, where I’ll be meeting up with fairweatherrunner, Helsbels and abradypus for drinks after (I don’t do races just for the socialising afterwards, honest). Speaking of the Royal Parks Half, if you didn’t get in the ballot and still fancy doing it, if you register to run for it through Mind, you can enter their competition to win an iPod Shuffle and tickets for the VIP tent (where you will get fed after the race).

The competition

Mind would like you help them to create the ultimate feel-good running playlist on Spotify. From pumping energiser to guilty pleasure, we’ve all got a favourite exercise soundtrack, and they want you to tell them what your top running tunes are.

To enter the competition and be in with a chance of winning 1 of 5 iPod Shuffles and a pair of VIP tickets, all you need to do is leave a comment on this blog post including:

- Name of artist

- Song title

- Why this song makes you feel-good

- Entrant’s name

Even if you don’t want to run for Team Mind, they would still love to know what your favourite exercise tracks are, so please leave a comment anyway.

Info:

To register to run for Team Mind, visit their Royal Parks web page.

You can read the full terms and conditions of the competition here.

The competition closes on 26 August 2011 and the winners will be announced on 31 August 2011.



Have you won? Cram Alert Sport ID giveaway winners announced

15 08 2011

About three weeks ago, I held a competition for five people to win a Cram Alert Sport ID pack worth £15.95. Each pack contains a wristband and either a travel tag, key fob or mobile property ID. Also included is a year’s free registration.

All you had to do to be in with a chance of winning one of the packs was to let me know which superhero you’d like to be rescued by.

The winners thrown up by the random number generator are:

1. Maggie

“I want Mr. Incredible to rescue me. It’s not that I particularly fancy Mr. Incredible but I do fancy being Elastagirl. I think that these ID tags are a great idea and I’m very conscious that, like you, I often go out with no ID at all.”

2. Kieron C

“I’d like to be rescued by Ellie Harrison in heels and a bodysuit. But before she got pregnant. So some sort of time machine would need to be arranged too. Ooooo Ellie in the DeLorean. With a big pack of pickled onion monster munch.”

3. Michelle

“Does your servant feed you grapes wearing nothing but a thong, because that would be just the best image.

I would have to be rescued by my all time super hero, Rowan Atkinson, he would ride up on a huge black stallion wearing his amazing codpiece dressed as Edmund Blackadder. Throw me over his shoulder and gallop off with me clinging to him like a leech”

4. Millie

“Erm, I don’t know, I think as my total knowledge superhereo’s is quite small, I think I’d like to be rescued by Yoda.

He’s a super hero right?
I just need one of these packs to stop the canal murders when I’m out on my long runs, well not stop them, I’m not certain that the ID bracelets have magic invulnerability powers, but at least the police will be able to inform my family when they find me.”

5. Andrew Ross

“Wow Daisy Duke, providing it’s not the real-life aged version, can rescue me!”

Well done! Email me your addresses and I’ll get the packs off to you.