Author: jogblog

Going dotty

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Stripes used to be my thing. Actually, they still are. It doesn’t matter how many times I tell myself when I’m out shopping I have enough black and white stripy t-shirts, I still come home with more.

Then I discovered dots. Polka dots, to be specific. I’ve got a red and white polka dot dressing gown, a red and white polka dot purse, a red and white polka dot bag, black and white polka dot sandals and I did have a black and white polka dot dress but I couldn’t get the zip undone after being in the pub on New Year’s Eve so I cut it off with a pair of scissors and replaced it with a polka dot dress in orange and black.

Now I’ve got a red and white polka dot Kindle case. I needed a case for my Kindle Fire HD as I didn’t want to break the screen by bashing it when I fell off my bike drunk like I did to my Kindle Keyboard (although Amazon, bless ‘em, replaced it the very next day).

red-polka-dot-kindle-fire-case 

This case is great. It’s sturdy and protective and all that kind of stuff but what I like best about it is you can stand it up so you can read or watch videos or whatever when you’re eating (unless you’re one of those people who talk around the dinner table, in which case, you probably think it’s rude to read while eating).

polka-dot-kindle-case

Obviously, though, what I really like best about it is the red and white polka dots.

London Duathlon training: Day 2

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Duathlon T-shirt
T shirt image from Zazzle

I screwed up my schedule. Yeah, already. I’d already reserved (in my head) Sundays off and so all training days were going to shift backwards but I took yesterday off as a rest day and I shouldn’t have. Duh. (I enjoyed the wine Wednesday night though.)

So, today I was supposed to do 45 minutes cycling and then strength training and on Sunday I’m supposed to do 75 minutes cycling, so I decided to do the 75 minutes today in case I don’t feel like doing it on Sunday. Hopefully I’ll be energetic enough to do the 45 minutes I should have done today, on Sunday.

I got all motivated this morning because I’VE BOUGHT A NEW BIKE – YAY! Here it is:

GIANT_DASH_4

It’s a  Giant Dash 4, from RM Cycles and it’s all white and red and pretty and stuff which is all I was worried about, as I let Shaun worry about the technical specifications. Unfortunately, despite ordering it through the internet, it didn’t get delivered by squeezing itself through the Ethernet port, so I’ve got to wait until Monday before trying it out. Unless ‘next day delivery’ includes Saturdays, which I’m assuming it doesn’t.

STOP PRESS

I got excited thinking about my new bike, so stopped writing this and phoned the bike shop and asked if next day delivery meant tomorrow (Saturday) or Monday and the man said it’ll be delivered probably Wednesday or Thursday. WHAT PART OF ‘NEXT DAY DELIVERY’ DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND, MR BIKE MAN, HUH?

Yeah, okay, so the bike has to be delivered to them and then they have to build it and send it out to me but I thought ‘next day delivery’ meant ‘next day delivery’. Silly me.

END OF STOP PRESS

Still, I may not have a new bike to play with yet but I did have my new bike phone mount I bought on Amazon. It was a bargain £3.99 and delivered by the postman the next morning (and they didn’t even specify next day delivery).

cycle-mount

I was going to use the Rhythm armband and app again this morning but then had a look on my phone to see if I had any cycling apps and found this Cycling Watch one. It seemed ideal for my needs and it had a little camera icon and I wondered if that was to video the route but it was just for still photos. Still, that planted the idea in my head to video my route one day. Anyone out there used the video function on their iPhone on a bike? Is it wobbly?

The app was great. For the 30 seconds it stayed awake. I thought maybe I had to cycle Speed-esque stylee over 10mph or something to keep it from blowing up awake and so I thought, yay, I can pretend to be Sandra Bullock and I wondered if she looks as sexy in her cycling hat as I do in mine but, no, the app wouldn’t stay awake even if I put a bit of effort in and so I cycled the 16 miles with a black screen in front of me. Can someone recommend a good cycling app that stays on?

I don’t know why the app has the camera function integrated into it but I took advantage of it and took a photo of this HUGE mushroom you can’t tell is huge as, for all you know, it could just be a close up photo of a small mushroom.

mushroom

Although it wasn’t windy today, my time was slower as I was a bit of a slacker and not putting much effort in but I told myself as I was doing my Sunday ride, it should be a long, slow one, not an all-out-lungs-bursting-eyeballs-popping ride (yeah, because I’m always making that much effort mid-week, aren’t I?) I’m not sure 16 miles counts for long on a bike though. Ho hum.

Stats (cycling)

Distance: 15:89 miles
Time: 1:28:25
Speed: 10.8mph
Calories: 562
New bikes: 1
Next day deliveries meaning next day: 0
Phone bike mounts: 1
Cycling apps that stay awake: 0
HUGE mushrooms: 1

p.s. A  cyclist said hello to me. I HAVE ARRIVED!

Scosche Rhythm Armband Heart Rate Monitor

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On the first day of ‘proper’ duathlon training, I ignored my 7am alarm and went back to sleep for an hour. Well, I didn’t want to cycle in the rush hour, did I? And I especially didn’t want to cycle when school run mums were about, oh no.

As I was doing proper training, the pink bike (Lady of the Manor poncey thing with a  basket) was ditched in favour of the purple one (£35 battered mountain bike with road tyres from some bloke on Gumtree) with jeans and t-shirt being swapped for running kit. I even put my hat on.

I was a bit perturbed by the schedule calling for minutes, not miles, as I haven’t a clue about 45 minute loops for cycling but Shaun said ‘do an out and back’. I said, ‘I hate out and backs’ but he said, ‘it’s training, you’re not supposed to enjoy it’ and I had to concede he kind of had a point, in a no pain, no gain kind of way.

So, I was all ready to go. I also had a new gadget to try out – the Scosche Rhythm Armband Heart Rate Monitor. I’d tried the previous model of this – the Scosche Wireless Pulse Monitor – which I reviewed, not particularly favourably, here. I’m pleased to say it’s improved (despite being pink because it’s ‘for women’. Bleurgh), but more about the improvements later.

scosch-heart-rate-monitor-pink

Because it’s a heart rate monitor, you’re supposed to – duh – monitor your heart rate with it. But, I was going to be on my bike and how was I supposed to see the screen when the phone was going to be on my arm? I needed an iPhone mount for my bike and didn’t have one. I didn’t even know if such a thing had been invented. Of course it had – there were thousands on amazon when I came home and had a look; I bought this bike phone holder for £3.99. Yay.

Still, finding out something had been invented an hour after needing it didn’t really help at the time, so I set the Scosche Rhythm app up by telling it I was going cycling for 45 minutes and wanted the GPS on, stuck my phone in my armband and hoped no one saw me while I was out as, on the other arm, I had my Garmin on my wrist, along with the Scosche Rhythm armband and I looked – to be blunt – flipping ridiculous.

But I had a new gadget to play with and gadgetry comes before vanity, yeah? Well, no, but ho hum. I got my bike out of the garage, started my Garmin, started the Scosche Rhthym and I was off.

rhythm 005

My usual cycling speed is around 9-10mph (stop laughing). Look, I’ll prove it (screenshots taken from SportTracks):

mile-splits-cycling-1

But because I was doing proper training today, I made an extra effort and you know all those times in the past I’ve said ‘cycling’s just sitting down’? I take it back. Cycling takes effort; who’d have thought it? Mind you, despite all that extra effort I made (including mental effort by not braking going downhill, eek), I still only averaged 11.5mph but, in my defence, it was windy out there this morning.

mile-splits-cycling-2

When you finish your workout, the Scosche Rhythm app shows you a screen with all the stats.

rhythm 006

The speed and calorie burn wasn’t too dissimilar from the readings on the Garmin and, unlike the previous model (which used the myTrek app), this one tracks you on a map.

rhythm 007

I also used it while I did body pump after the bike ride.

rhythm 009

You can set up the app to suit your own workout – set your goals for heart rate or time, performance or weight loss and, after your workout, it will automatically upload everything to the Scosche dashboard where you can also upload your stats to various websites, including www.myfitnesspal.com (which I found really handy).

If you want to play music while you’re working out, you can control the music player from the armband.

The Scosche Rhythm Armband Heart Rate Monitor is a vast improvement on the Scosche Wireless Pulse Monitor and I’ll be using it again (especially when I get my bike mount). It costs $99.99 and more information is available at the Scosche website.

London Duathlon super sprint training plan

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I love training schedules. I love seeing what I need to do each day and then feeling smug as I tick it off and even smugger when I tick off lots of days in a row. Then I feel like a slacker when, after a few weeks, I look at my schedule and there are lots of ticks missing.

Today I realised the London Duathlon isn’t, in fact, months away, but only six weeks away. SIX WEEKS? AAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHH.

Yeah. Six weeks. Oh dear.

So, I got me a schedule. Here it is.

duathlon-training-plan

It’s an eight week schedule so I’ve crossed off the first two weeks and have told myself that I’ll diligently follow it for the next six weeks. That Monday tick was from today (Tuesday) and I’ll do Tuesday’s bike and strength training tomorrow (Wednesday), then the rest of the week will be as set, except all the Sunday things will be on Fridays as Sundays are traditionally reserved for hangovers. And in a couple of weeks when there are Friday things and Sundays can’t become Fridays, Friday will become Thursday and Saturday will become Friday and Sunday will become Saturday.

Or something like that.

Wish me luck!

NOW running app

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I have somehow managed to go through my entire life without buying a ‘Now That’s What I Call Music’ album. Not even when the series started in 1983, when I was 13 and probably knew not only the words to every track but also the names and favourite colours (thank you Smash Hits) of each member of every band on it.

Last year, the ‘Now That’s What I Call Running’ box set was released, and now, NOW have released a running app.

You decide how long you want to run for, and the app will create a playlist of that duration from the tracks on your phone. Or, alternatively, you can buy tracks from the complete NOW catalogue from within the app. You can also choose the energy filter which will create the playlist based on the energy level you set.

It has an incredibly intuitive interface, and I was set up in a few clicks.

now-running-app-setup

now-running-app-time

Not wanting to break my 30 year streak of never owning an NOW album, I let it choose 30 minutes of music from the selection on my phone.

now-running-app-playlist

As you’d expect from a running app, it tracks your distance, pace and calories and lets you share your run with Twitter.

now-running-app-stats

This is the perfect app for people (like me) who can never decide what music to play. Please excuse the pathetic time it recorded. I’d foolishly gone for a run after having a dodgy stomach and anything above a walk had me almost doing a Paula.

NOW Running App costs 69p and is available to download on iPhone  and Windows Phone 8.

How to live to 100

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Did you know, being single after 40 increases the risk of early death and cuts your chances of making it to 60? No, me neither. I’m not sure why this would be but, as the message this infographic wants to give is ‘stay active’, it must mean if you have a boyfriend/girlfriend/wife/husband (yes, it would be easier to type ‘partner’ but I really hate that word and yes, I know I just typed it anyway), you’re more likely to go for walks together to get some exercise. Or something like that.

Anyway, here’s some interesting facts for you.

How to live to 100 Middle Aged Adults

Infographic provided by BMI Healthcare.

p.s. Sorry for using the word ‘infographic’.

FUEL breakfast winner announced!

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fuel-10k

A couple of weeks ago, I hosted a giveaway of two weeks’ worth of breakfast, supplied by FUEL.

I swear on Tesco’s alcohol aisle I used a random number generator and didn’t just shut my eyes and poke at the screen, and the lucky winner is:

Keith Jenkins (who blogs at The Thames, a runner and his dog)

Well done, Keith! I’ll be in touch.

Thanks to everyone else who entered, I loved reading what you’d like to excel at.

If you want to win more stuff and stop me looking like such a loser, I’m giving away some multi-vitamins and other supplements over at my Planet Veggie blog and no one wants them so far.

Kalenji Kiprun medium distance running shoes

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Kalenji (sold exclusively through Decathlon stores) have introduced a new range, the Kiprun. Kiprun is a range so simple there are only three to choose from:

  • Kiprun SD (Short Distance) for 10km
  • Kiprun MD (Medium Distance) for half marathon
  • Kiprun LD (Long Distance) for marathon

I like simple, so, when they asked me if I’d like to review a pair, bearing in mind I’ve got the Great South Run coming up, I chose the half-marathon ones. These medium distance shoes also come in a choice of neutral or pronation so, as I – despite being undoubtedly wonky in places – am a neutral runner, I chose those.

kalenji-running-shoes

Considering how light they are, they’re surprisingly cushioned and comfy. If I tried these on in a shop, I’d think ‘yes, these are the shoes for me’ (and then obviously trying on six more pairs before going back to the first pair and buying those).

I love these shoes. They’re light and springy and a perfect fit. My original thought on their appearance was they were a bit on the dull side, but when I got outside the pink bits were glowing neon. My last pair of running shoes cost £130, these are £69.99. I know which I’ll be buying next time.

So, today, I had the perfect shoes and the perfect running weather – warm but with a cooling breeze and a touch of drizzle.

Still did a shit time though. Ho hum.

For more information on the Kalejni Kiprun medium distance running shoes, visit their website.




Creak

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Creak. That’s the sound of my joints aching or the noise of the seams of my clothes bursting, take your pick. I’ve been a bit lax taking my glucosamine (I’ve been buying vegetarian ones from Health Span for a few years as they’re much cheaper than Holland & Barrett) – I know people say supplements are a con, but I know my joints creak when I stop taking them and stop creaking when I do. So, it’s either the supplements or I walk round in sports braces all day and I know what I’d rather do.

The seams of my clothes bursting is all my fault though, so I went to the gym this morning. Plus, I had a new sports bra to try out. Shock Absorber has always been my number one favourite sports bra and now they’ve done something amazing. They’ve made one you don’t need a degree in mechanical engineering to get in and out of.

The Shock Absorber Zipped Plunge Sports Bra has – unsurprisingly – a zip down the front. That’s it. No hooks and clasps to fiddle with and swear at, so even when you’re dripping in sweat, you just unzip it and it’s off. Another bonus with the lack of hooks and clasps is that it’s wonderfully comfortable. It’s only £25 which I think is a bit of a bargain.

Shock-Absorber-Active-Zipped-Plunge-back

Another bargain bit of kit I got recently was my US Pro leggings. I don’t like short shorts, or ones that are just under the knee. My preferred length, any time of year, is three-quarters and these are fab. A great length that doesn’t ride up, a waist band that’s high enough and stays up and all for £12.00.

US-Pro-leggings

 

I’ve got a new running app to try out tomorrow so I’m going to have to go for a run. I probably should anyway, seeing as I’ve got the London Duathlon and the Great South Run coming up. With all that running, maybe I should get some new shoes too. Perhaps some nice bright purple Asics, like these one here?

Juneathon 2013 giveaway winners announced!

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I promised to give away some fantastic prizes at the end of Juneathon. The Random Number Generator has spoken, I’ve checked the blogs for eligibility and the winners are:

A year’s supply of Halo Sports Detergent
Matt Lambourne (Matt’s Juneathon)

Feet in the Clouds by Richard Askwith
Lucy Jiwa (Black and Tabby Runs)

GO>ID Personal Emergency ID Kit
Holley Knight (The Dog With The Broken Ear)
Kim Ivory (High Fiving Palm Trees)
Kath Jones (cogitjoggett)

Well done Matt, Lucy, Holley, Kim and Kath – you’re worthy winners indeed!

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