JogBlog running blog

Alcohol-free Friday: yep

Good night’s sleep: yep-ish

Up early: yep-ish

Nagged by Cassie on Twitter to go for a run: hell yeah!

The above are the basic requirements for me to go for a run. Having a marathon to train for is also a pretty basic requirement for getting me to go for a run. And although my marathon training schedule doesn’t officially start until 19 December (or ‘flapjack day’ as I’m calling it, due to Cassie refusing to send me any of her gorgeous flapjacks until I officially start training), my training schedule starts off with a 3 mile run, a 5 mile run and a long run of 8 miles and seeing as I haven’t run for over two weeks and even then that was only a pitiful 1.67 miles and the only running I did before that was a half marathon two weeks earlier which I strolled round in a ridiculously slow time.

That’s a bit of a ramble, but what I’m trying to say is that I’ve got a lot of catching up to do to be marathon-training fit.

I did want to wear my new Adidas Solution running shoes

but because it was raining heavily and I want to keep them for the gym and I don’t want to wear muddy trainers to the gym, I wore my usual Asics, which was a good idea because when I got to the trail that finishes at a ditch, the ditch was full of water and I had to do a mini-Grim to get to the other side (when I say a mini-Grim, I mean I had to splash through a small puddle).

After completing my mini-Grim, I ran the last mile down the track where I usually see a couple of dog-walkers and runners. Today’s dog-walker was a miserable old boot of a woman who gave me a dirty look, or at least, she looked like a miserable old boot of a woman, she may well have plenty to be miserable about for all I know, or maybe she was just miserable because she had a stupid small dog with her and not a proper size dog like an Irish Wolfhound or a Dalmation.

Next to pass me was the man I see quite often out running who never smiles or says hello. He’s usually wearing normal running gear but today he was wearing long camouflage combat trousers and a thick sweatshirt and I wondered if maybe he was training for some hardcore race or something or maybe he’s just a wuss and then I saw a girl running towards me wearing shoes and a skirt and carrying a handbag and then she got nearer and I saw that she wasn’t wearing shoes, she was wearing running shoes and then I saw that she wasn’t wearing a skirt, she was wearing shorts and then I saw that she wasn’t carrying a handbag, she was carrying two Tesco carrier bags and then I saw that it wasn’t a she after all, but a man with long hair and he must be fitting in a run with doing his shopping and I thought that maybe I should wear my glasses when I’m out running.

Stats
Distance: 3.01 miles
Time: 33:47
Pace: 11:15 m/m
Calories: 316
Basic requirements for me to go for a run: 4
Basic requirements achieved today: 4
Flapjack days: not yet, meh
Pairs of new running shoes: 1
Pairs of new running shoes worn today: 0
Mini-Grims: 1
Miserable old boots with stupid size dogs: 1
Runners wearing camouflage combats and sweatshirts: 1
Girls turning into boys: 1
Pairs of glasses worn while out running: 0
Music
Philip Glass
Mansun

Although it doesn’t take much for me to reach for the central heating controls, I don’t usually reach for the long running tights, long sleeve tops and gloves until it’s proper cold. Like minus-something cold. But, if it had been minus-something cold today and I wanted to wear some gloves, I would have worn these eGlove Running Gloves.

These gloves aren’t just gloves, they’re gadgety gloves. And they’re not just gadgety gloves, they’re gadgety gloves for a gadget.

They’ve got stuff (yes, that’s a technical term) on the fingers so you can use your iPod or iPhone or iPad or iTouch (or any touch screen device) while you’re out on a run or out cycling without taking your gloves off (although, why you’d take an iPad out with you on a run, I don’t know).

I’ve tried them indoors on my touch-screen Shuffle and they work brilliantly.

Like I said, I didn’t wear my eGloves today but I did go out for a run. I don’t know if I don’t go past many trees on the way into town, or maybe they’re the wrong type of trees, but my running route today was mostly on a carpet of gold and amber and I’d forgotten that the only bearable thing about the end of summer is the colour of autumn.

Stats
Distance: 1.67 miles
Time: 17:39
Pace: 10:33
Calories: 176
Pairs of super-cool gadgety gloves for a gadget: 1
Bearable things about the end of summer: 1

The review

I run with no ID on me. None at all. All I have on me (apart from my clothes of course) is my iPod, my Garmin and my house keys. I suppose the emergency services could find out my identification by plugging my Garmin into a computer and seeing on Google Earth where I started my run and knocking on the doors of the houses in the vicinity to see if any of them had lost a female runner, or taking the Tesco Clubcard key-fob to Tesco to ask them who it belongs to, but that still doesn’t give them access to the phone number of someone to phone in an emergency.

Cram Alert Sport ID is a wristband carrying contact information and finder instructions (they also do travel tags, key fobs and mobile property ID) that you register on the website, so if you do have an accident while out running, cycling, walking, etc. as soon as you are found your next of kin will be informed and the emergency services made aware of any necessary medical information that would assist in caring for you.

I decided to register my wristband this morning before going out for a run. I would have registered my travel tag, key fob and mobile property ID too, but didn’t realise at first that they all have different ID numbers on them (it explains why on the FAQ page) and so couldn’t be bothered to do all of them then, but you can go back and add other devices later.

It took me a long time to find out where to register on the website. Eventually, I found a link under the ‘Cram Alert In Action’ menu, which told me to go to the log-in page. I would have liked a nice big ‘register here’ sign on the home page.

Registering your devices is straightforward. You enter the ID number and then add your family members who you’d like to be contacted in an emergency. They give a helpful list of definitions of ‘family’.

1) Husband, wife and children.

2) All blood relations.

3) All who live in the same household including servants and relatives, with some person or persons directing this economic and social unit.

4) Civil partnerships.

5) Common law relationships.

6) Stepchildren and foster children.

So, that means that Shaun is lower than a servant. Excellent.

The rest of the registration process is simple (well, it is if, like me, you have no allergies or special medical needs the emergency services need to be aware of and all you need to do is give them the phone number of your servant boyfriend).

While I don’t really need anything else on my wrists while I’m out running, it’s a good-looking band and is comfortably rubbery. It was a bit of a struggle getting it on the first time, but I’m sure I’ll get used to it. The wristband is adjustable and once you know how long you need it to be, you can cut the overlap off with a pair of scissors (if this really is beyond you, you can see step-by-step photographs, or even watch a youtube video of how to do this on their FAQ page).

Without being run over by a tractor, I can’t say whether the Cram Alert works or not and my dedication in the name of research doesn’t really stretch that far. Plus, if I did get run over by a tractor, the emergency services wouldn’t be much help; a man with a big shovel to scrape me off the road would be of more use.

The Cram Alert wristband costs £9.97 and if you buy any other items, they will be discounted by 40%. The first year’s family registration is free, thereafter a £15 per annum administration fee applies.

Unless you have a long list of medical requirements and/or want to register a number of family members, I can’t really see that this has many benefits over a cheaper ID band with no yearly registration fee.

The giveaway

I’ve got 5 Cram Alert packs (worth £15.95 each) to give away. Each pack contains 2 devices:  1 x Cram Alert wristband and 1 x either a travel tag, key fob or mobile property ID. Also included is a year’s free registration.

I mentioned on Twitter that I was going to try out the Cram Alert wristband and runningokintheuk asked if it had superpowers. I said not unless the number goes through to Superman’s hotline and he comes to rescue me, which gave me the inspiration for today’s giveaway.

For a chance to win one of 5 packs of Cram Alert ID, leave a comment here letting me know which superhero you’d like to come and rescue you (it doesn’t have to be a superhero: if you want The Hoff to come and rescue you in Kit, that’s fine with me. Or maybe Daisy Duke is more your thing. Maybe I should stop showing my age).

Terms and conditions
Closing date midnight Friday 12 August
5 winners will be chosen by an internet random number picker
UK entries only
Superhero not included

After seeing Audiofuel Sean mention on Facebook that Adrenaline Junkie 2 would be out soon, I thought to myself ‘I don’t remember trying out the old Adrenaline Junkie’ and so I looked in iTunes and lo! Adrenaline Junkie wasn’t there. I thought to myself ‘this must be rectified immediately’ and like someone who cares about her friend’s business and livelihood should, I bought it off the Audiofuel website emailed Sean and said ‘oi, I haven’t got the old Adrenaline Junkie, can you send me a link to it please?’ and Sean being the nice guy he is, said fuck off freeloader ‘of course you can, here you go’ and so, hurrah, I had some new old Audiofuel to try out.

As if turned out, I did have most of the tracks on Adrenaline Junkie in my collection but having all the tracks run on to each other with coaching from Howie telling you how long each track will last for and at what intensity was great. (Except for the two tracks where he said I’ll be running at 190bpm when I promptly told Howie in my head to fuck right off.)

It’s just as well I don’t see many people out and about round here, as today’s sartorial decisions in all things running made me look like I’d got dressed in the dark. I had on a blue sports bra, orange and black capris, a pink top and my new blue Run Breeze socks which apparently are anti-blister and ergonomically designed and left and right-footed and breathable and moisture managed and have mid foot grip for anti-slipping.

Whatever.

They look nice and were very comfy and didn’t give me blisters and that’s all you need to know really.

Today’s schedule called for four miles and as I got to 3.95 miles, it looked like I was going to make it in under 11 minute miles and so I ran and ran until I got to the titchy terraced house two doors away whose owners had decided to hire a digger to dig their front garden which is all of about two square feet big which meant that only the spadey bit of the digger was in their garden and the rest of the digger was taking up the whole of the pavement and so I had to stop and walk in the road around it and that is my excuse for doing over 11 minute miles.

Stats
Distance: 4.01 miles
Time: 44:24
Pace: 11:04
Calories: 422
Adrenaline Junkies I didn’t have: 1
Adrenaline Junkies nice Sean gave me: 1
Number of colours worn at once: about 8
New pairs of running socks: 1
Diggers on postage stamp sized gardens: 1
Under 11 minute average miles: 0

p.s. You can get Adrenaline Junkie at half price on the Audiofuel website by using the discount code Juneathon

p.p.s. Talking of Juneathon, don’t forget to sign up for it. Slacking is not an option

p.p.s.s. There’s still time to enter my limerick competition to win a copy of Born to Run by Christopher McDougall

My current running shoes – a pair of Brooks and a pair of Asics – have been giving me a blister for a while now and although they haven’t done a huge amount of mileage, they have been through a lot of mud and water and I decided that was the reason they’ve been hurting me and so I decided I needed new shoes.

Shaun also wanted to get new shoes and so, when I said that Sweatshop in Maidstone was open until 8pm, we went there yesterday evening when he got back from work.

We stood around looking gormless for a while until a young pretty girl came over and asked if we needed help and so I said I’d like some new shoes please and I told her about my Brooks and my Asics (I was wearing the Brooks as they were slightly cleaner than my Asics) and said I didn’t really want Brooks again as I only got them because the shop didn’t have any Asics and she said she’d get me some Asics to try on.

Shaun said he fancied a change from Asics and so she said she’d bring him some Nikes and she came back with a box of Asics for me and I opened the box, hoping they weren’t blue as I don’t like blue and, hooray, they were a nice pinky-purpley-cerise colour

and Shaun opened his box and took out THE MOST DISGUSTING SHOES IN THE WORLD EVER

(they don’t look too bad in the photo but believe me, these were the ugliest shoes I’ve ever seen) and I start to laugh and feel smug as I have pretty shoes that, as well as being pretty, are as comfy as fuck, and Shaun asks the girl if she has any nicer looking shoes and she says she’ll get some Adidas for him to try but he tries the Nikes on anyway and the girl gets him to run on the treadmill and says he has a beautiful gait… but… but I can’t remember what the but was for and she said a load of other technical stuff which I’m sure Shaun will blog about and then I got on the treadmill and she said that I run with a nice neutral gait but that I have big hips and… and I can’t remember what the and was for but she said I should practice walking straight and I’m wondering if I should punch her for saying I’m wonky with a big bum but I decide not to punch her in case I get thrown out of the shop and I don’t want to get thrown out as I want to buy the nice comfy pretty Asics and then Shaun tries on the Adidas and gets on the treadmill again and he decides to buy the Adidas and while I’m waiting for him a load of people turn up for the running club they have there and on the board it says that Monday nights are for run/walk beginners but the people who have turned up don’t look like noobs as they’re all wearing proper technical vests and short shorts and proper shoes and noobs wear cotton t-shirts and tracksuits and shoes that cost £10 from the cheapy shoe shop and wear two bras at once instead of a proper sports bra, don’t they, or is that just me?

Anyway, after we’ve both finished on the treadmill and getting lots of good advice from the sales assistant, we go to pay for our new shoes and she says mine are £60, which is less than I’ve ever paid for proper running shoes. Bargain.

And so I took them out for a three mile run this morning and they were bouncy and cushiony and comfy and didn’t give me a blister. Hurrah.

Stats
Distance: 3 miles
Time: 35:21
Pace: 11:47
Calories: 315
Pairs of nice new pinky-purpley-cerise Asics: 1
Ugly pairs of Nike shoes that stayed in the shop: 1
Sales assistants telling me I’m wonky and have a big bum: 1
Noobs at the running club: 0
Blisters: 0

I didn’t do any exercise last week. Obviously, I have excuses.

Monday, I was too tired after going out on Sunday night to see a Sex Pistols cover band; an evening that can only be described – owing to the venue and the audience (who looked like they’d escaped from the set of Shameless) – as a really bad, cheap wedding reception.

Tuesday, I wanted to spend finishing a website I’d been working on, as I was to be out all day Wednesday.

Wednesday, I was out all day. Up at a bright and early 6am, I had to be in Folkestone at 9am for an  interview at Canterbury Christ Church University where I am hoping to study Creative and Professional Writing (I got a conditional offer; conditional on the successful completion of my current course), then I hopped on the hi-speed to London to meet up with my long-lost relatives (they weren’t actually lost; I knew where they were), i.e. my eldest brother who I hadn’t seen in twelve years, my sister-in-law that I hadn’t seen in 25 years and my nephews (who are about 20 years old) that I hadn’t met ever (and now that I have, I have realised that nephews are the best thing ever and if you haven’t got any, then I suggest you go and get some).

Thursday, I was tired after a long, but brilliant, day on Wednesday, and Friday… um, I can’t remember but I think I just decided to have a lazy day.

The weekend? Although Saturday used to be my never-miss-a-long-run day at home, here I just haven’t got into it. Something that will need to be remedied if I’m going to do the Folkestone Half in September. Or the Ashford 5k series. Or the Staplehurst 10k.

Sunday, we did go for a 7 mile round bike ride to buy some eggs, so a bit of exercise there.

Today, Monday, I wasn’t going to go for a run but then a novel about running came through the door that I’d been sent to review and I thought I can’t keep reviewing stuff, people will get fed up of all the product placement and will stop reading my blog and I must do some more running and then I remembered my new More Mile running socks (NOT freebies, keep reading) that I bought from eBay

and so I thought ooh, I can wear my new socks if I go for a run and I put on my world record breaking shoes although recently my ankles have been aching and also my knee has been hurting and Shaun wondered if it was the shoes as they’re flat, but my Brooks and Asics have been hurting my feet and my Adidas Adizero are sooooooooooo comfy, so I put those on and I did a slow 1.5 miles but I reckoned it was better than nothing.

Stats
Distance: 1.55 miles
Time: 17:27
Pace: 11:16m/m
Calories: 162
Sex Pistols cover bands: 1
Websites finished: 1
University interviews had: 1
University places offered: 1
Long lost relatives seen: 4
Best nephews in the world ever: 2
Free novels: 1
Unfree socks: 6
Music
Hole
Nirvana
Them Crooked Vultures
Rolling Stones

I had tried these Polaroid Polarized Sunglasses out a while back on a rare sunny day but didn’t get round to blogging about it. Then when we had that gorgeous weather a couple of weeks back, I wore them in the garden while I was reading and they were great and really cut down the glare and stopped me squinting. I suppose that’s what sunglasses are supposed to do though, aren’t they? I don’t have much experience of these things, being in the ‘I don’t wear sunglasses as I look like a twat in them’ camp.

I would have thought though, apart from stopping you squinting in the sun when you’re out cycling or running, what you want from a pair of sunglasses is ones that don’t slide around your face all the time. Well, these ones certainly don’t. They’re very close fitting without being too close or tight and they don’t move at all, unlike my normal glasses that slid down my nose so often, I had to buy some little plastic arm things that slide on to secure them behind your ears (which work really well by the way).

These are a bit larger in the frame than I’d like as I’m not really in the chavvy-oversized-Deidre-Barlow-frame brigade but they’re not quite that bad.

I put them on in the house and everything went black. Obviously though, unless you’re a complete poser or have just had a cataract operation, sunglasses are meant for outside. So outside I went.

Outside everything went bright again and I could see clearly through them and, on looking up directly at the sun (yes, I know you’re not supposed to do that but I wanted to test them thoroughly), there was no glare.

As comfortable as they were, I didn’t exactly forget they were there as I was aware of the shiny metallic blue frame and the black plastic bridge. That could be because I need to get used to them but I think I’d probably have noticed them less if they were black, not blue.

Overall though, if you like a larger frame and are a fan of metallic blue, these are a really good pair of sports sunglasses.

Everstride’s Pro Therapy Foot Treatment is a high performance conditioning foot cream for men and women.

It:

helps prevent blisters and chafing

helps restore dry, cracked, chafed skin

helps reduce calluses and callus build-up; and

has a non greasy formula

It’s in a nice big tube but what I like best about it is that it states on the back that Everstride^TM is against animal testing.

Yay.

Unfortunately, it’s not yet available in the UK, but their US website is currently offering free delivery for a limited time.

What is available in the UK, however, is their chafing stick which will will help guard against chafing of feet, chest, inner thighs and other areas. I haven’t tried this, as I gave it to Helen (who I’m sure will blog about it when she tries it), but you can buy it from Carter and Bond.

The PediRoller from Carnation Footcare is a ridged rubber cylinder which, according to the blurb, ‘can help keep your feet healthy and toned and reduce the pain associated with heel and arch problems such as plantar fasciitis’.

It comes with a leaflet showing some foot exercises and also a Fizzy Feet tablet that you dissolve in water to soothe your tootsies.  

I haven’t tried the Fizzy Feet tablet but I did try out the roller on my foot arch that’s been niggling me for what seems like forever and it felt great. In fact, I’m using it now while writing this post.

Recommended, and only £4.99 from Boots.

Bargain.

As I don’t have one of those proper day job things that involve sitting in an office all day, I don’t get that Friday Feeling but I still feel the need to celebrate public holidays by drinking and eating too much and wasting time on Facebook and Twitter, but wasting time on Twitter can pay off. My last three web design clients have come from there (a charity in Devon and two authors) and the other day, I tweeted about my new sports bras that had come in the post (yes, my tweets are that exciting) that no, weren’t freebies but yes, I had paid for them.

Shortly after tweeting this mega-exciting update on my life, Boobydoo tweeted me and said oh, you should have got in touch with us, we’d have sent you something, and so I said I could always do with new sports bras and so they sent me a Shock Absorber Run Bra.

It looks highly technical with all its straps and clasps. My favourite sports bras have been the crop top type that you pull over your head and then struggle to get off after you’ve sweated all over it. This one has kind of polystyreney feeling adjustable straps going down the back (don’t let that put you off, I’m not sure ‘polystyrene’ is the right word but I can’t think what I mean; maybe more neopreney than polystyreney). They’re different to the usual bra straps where you have to lengthen the strap by tugging at it and adjusting it as these have little hooks that you pull out of a little sleeve and put in another sleeve, either higher or lower.

There’s also a clasp at the top and the usual hook and eye clasps at the bottom. As I’m lazy and used to my crop tops, I try to pull it on as a crop top and don’t undo the bottom clasps, but it gets stuck around my shoulders so I pull it off and undo the clasps and try to do it up like a normal person. It takes a while to do up as I’m not very good at doing up bras but I get there eventually and this must be the comfiest bra in the world ever. Being the most comfiest bra ever isn’t the most major factor in sports bra factors though: boobage movage is, so I tested this by jumping up and down. Nothing moved. Result. Another good thing about it is that it’s not padded like the Shock Absorber bra I got at the traumatic Mateivator workout that has removable pads that which, because they’re removable, get all twisted and folded up in their pockets when they’re being washed and then you have to faff about taking them out and untwisting them and putting them back in. So, comfort, support and lack of faff, splendid.

I put on the rest of my gear and decide to wear my Haile Gebrselassie world record breaking shoes and set off down the street.

My world record breaking shoes are really light and I feel like I’m gliding along (I’m well aware that any witnesses would probably not have used the word ‘gliding’ if asked to describe my running style) and my boobs are staying in place which is more than I can say for my belly which is wobbling about and I wonder why no one’s invented a belly bra and if any inventors are reading my blog, can you invent one please?

I decide just to do two miles and to do it without stopping but I get to two miles and I’m feeling good and so I decide to do three miles and whoop whoop, I do three miles at under 11 minute miles which must be some kind of miracle or maybe it was the new bra, which is by far the best sports bra I’ve ever worn (I’m never going back to cheap ones again) or maybe it was the Trion:Z bracelet or maybe it was the world record breaking shoes or maybe it was my athlete’s dinner last night of two slices of garlic bread and half a flapjack or maybe it was all the spin and body pump classes I’ve been going to?

And speaking of spin and body pump classes, I’ll be doing those at the gym tomorrow morning, where I’m going, not to avoid the Royal Wedding, but to avoid Twitter where my fellow human beings will dishearten me by directing a load of scorn, contempt, hatred and abuse at a young couple purely for having the nerve to get married. I mean, they’re hardly Jordan and Alex Reid, are they? Just because Prince William’s mum was a media-hungry attention-seeking strumpet, doesn’t mean he and his bride-to-be are. Good luck to them, I say.

Stats
Distance: 3.02 miles
Time: 32:48
Pace: 10:53
Calories: 317
Friday Feelings: 0
Boobage movage: 0
Belly movage: lots
Fantastic new sports bras: 1
Nasty mean people on twitter to be avoided tomorrow: hundreds
Music
Jamiroquai
The Wombats
Ladyhawke
The Jam
The Killers