Author: jogblog

Race day

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Once again, I’m asking myself why am I up at 7am on a Sunday morning?   Especially as I woke up to a text from Bernard in the early hours telling me he was pissed on mead in a four storey club in Berlin which sounds like the sort of thing I should be doing instead of not being pissed and not being in a four storey club in Berlin or even semi pissed in a one storey club in London but having an early night in order to get up earlier than I get up when I have to go to work, to go and run round the City of London with 5,000 other women.  So why do I do it?  Oh yeah, because I enjoy it, yah!  And I bet my head feels better than Bernards today too.  In fact, I haven’t had a drink all week and am looking forward to my post-run drink, yay.

Right then, off to check my list to make sure I haven’t forgotten any racing essentials like my camera and make-up.   Will update later and see what you other Juneathoners have been up to.

Juneathon Day #2

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Today is supposed to be a rest day, so I got up at 7am and did a 5 mile round walking trip to the hospital and back which would have been a bit less had I not walked round and round and round the hospital grounds trying to find the building I wanted which, when I did find it, looked spookily like it did in my dream last night.

And it’s a gorgeous sunny day outside but I have more website work to do today than I’ve had in total over the last year so I’m going to be stuck in front of my pc all day, waa.  But it’ll pay for my new expensive running kit that I bought yesterday, hurrah.

p.s.  I have still resisted Big Brother.  Except for the last 15 minutes of the launch show.  I have a will of iron 🙂

Today’s route

Stats:
Miles: 5.11
Total time: 1:25:59
Average pace: 16:48
Total calories: 375
Juneathon days completed: 2/30
Minutes of Big Brother watched: 15
Music:
Abba – Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)
James Blunt – If There’s Any Justice
Cribs – Hey Scenesters!
Andre 3000 – She Lives In My Lap
The Gossip – Eyes Open
The Holloways – Reinvent Myself
Good Charlotte – Victims Of Love
Sex Pistols – EMI
101’ers – Keys To Your Heart
Scissor Sisters – Filthy/Gorgeous
The Fiery Furnaces – Turning Round
The Music – Human
The Damned – Nasty
Jeff Buckley – That’s All I Ask
Manic Street Preachers – Black Dog On My Shoulder

Juneathon Day #1

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It’s day 1 of Joggerblogger’s Run Every Day In June Unless You Have A Race The Next Day But You Have To Do Some Form Of Exercise idea (or Juneathon for short) so I went to the gym to have a bit of a bounce on the treadmill.  It occurred to me that if I want to do a 5k in 30 minutes, I will have to run at 10kph, and so I thought to myself, just 30 minutes on the treadmill at 10kph, how hard can it be?  After 10 minutes I was thinking yay this is easy, all I have to do now is email the race organisers for Sunday and ask them to change the race from the road to the treadmill and I’m sorted, but 16 minutes later I was reading the display where it says if you feel pain, faint, dizziness or nausea stop exercising and I thought yes e) all of the above and put the speed down to 9.3kph and at 17.5 minutes I had to put it even slower at 9kph and at 20 minutes I got off and stumbled my way over to the rowing machine.

I was happily rowing along not going anywhere when a, um, rather large lady sat down on the rowing machine next to me and I’m thinking why is she only wearing a sports bra, she’s forgotten her t-shirt and she must be a mind-reader because I swear I didn’t say it out loud but she went off and came back with a t-shirt but before she put her t-shirt on, she stuffed her iPod down her cleavage.  ACK!!!  There are no words to describe how much I wished I hadn’t seen that and all I could think about was how sweaty that poor iPod’s going to be and I got off the rowing machine after 20 minutes and got on a bike but after 5 minutes I’d had enough and went home with my new purchases that I had bought at lunchtime.

I need a vote now from you lot to tell me which t-shirt to wear on Sunday.  I quite fancy this Nike one

because it will cover more lard and also has a nice orange back.  I like orange.

But I also bought this nice red Helly Hansen number too.

Decisions, decisions.

Tomorrow’s exercise will be walking back the 2.5 miles from the hospital.   I’m even going to take my Garmin to prove it, seeing as joggerblogger’s not letting me get away with any day before a race excuses 🙂

Stats:
Miles: 1.99
Total time: 20:00
Average pace: 10:03
Total calories: 196
Women mistreating iPods by shoving them down their cleavage: 1
Juneathon days completed: 1/30
Other exercise:
Rowing machine: 20 minutes
Bike: 5 minutes
Music:
Jamiroquai – You Are My Love
The Secret Machines – You Are Chains
The Damned – White Rabbit

Juneathon Eve

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It’s the eve of the Juneathon and, like joggerblogger, I kick started it with a 3 miler.  I had hoped to get round the three mile route of the marshes in 30 minutes, but once again that 30 minutes eluded me.  Waa.  I will have to start running quicker.  I should have thought of that in the first place really.  Duh.

And while I was out wondering if the RfL on Sunday is going to be really bad with people walking, as XFR Bear says that unless I’m at the front, I’m not going to make much progress due to all the human traffic unless I kick them out of the way (ok, he didn’t say the kicking them out of the way bit), I’m still wondering which charity I should pick to raise money for when I do my half-marathon and thinking I shouldn’t really be doing the RfL as Cancer Research test on animals but I’m doing it relatively guilt-free as my £10 is only paying for the organisation bit and not the torturing animals bit and then I think duh, why don’t I raise money for a cancer charity that doesn’t test on animals.  Obvious really.

So, tomorrow is the start of the Juneathon.  Who else is in?

Stats:
Miles: 3.06
Total time: 31:14
Average pace: 10:12
Total calories: 304
3 mile marshes routes in 30 minutes: 0
Music:
The Libertines – Up The Bracket
The Rolling Stones – Under My Thumb
Klaxons – Two Receivers
Kaiser Chiefs – Try Your Best
The Libertines – Time For Heroes
Arctic Monkeys – This House Is A Circus
Kaiser Chiefs – Thank You Very Much
Scissor Sisters – She’s My Man

Travelling without moving

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In an attempt to help shift some of my KitKat based lardyness I went to the gym after work and did 20 minutes on the treadmill and it looks like I’ll be getting quite acquainted with the treadmill as joggerblogger has thrown down a Run Every Day In June challenge, which will be perfectly possible if I give up my day job, my part-time business and don’t go out in June. Um. So a rethink was in order and if I do a mile here and there at lunchtime on the treadmill I should be able to do it. I think. It may also mean a couple of early morning runs too. Eek.

Today I also made one of the biggest decisions of my life ever. I have decided not to watch Big Brother this year. I don’t think I’ve got the time to dedicate an hour every evening for the next three months watching it and every year I hate it more and more but still carry on watching it and it’s going to clash with The Apprentice which, after all, is just BB for growns up anyway isn’t it?

I have BB cold turkey already though. How am I going to turn on the telly at 9 for The Apprentice without flicking over for a quick peek at this year’s freaks on BB?

Stats:
Miles: 1.86
Total time: 20:00
Average pace: 10:45
Total calories: 184
Pledges of running every day in June: 1
Pledges of not watching BB: 1
Pledges likely to be kept: 0
Music:
Peter, Bjorn and John – Young Folks
The Rolling Stones – You Can’t Always Get What You Want
P J Harvey – Working For The Man
Pixies – Wave of Mutilation

Computer says no

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It rained at the weekend. It rained and rained and rained. And then it rained some more. So I didn’t go out for a run. In fact, I barely left the house and spent three days in front of my computer. I did tick off everything on this weekend’s to do list though. Woo, go me.

Still, ticking off everything on my to do list doesn’t counteract the fact that the other day my scales told me I was 9 st 7. Ouch. And it’s not muscle, it’s lard. Peanut Butter KitKat Chunky flavour lard.

So although tonight was originally supposed to be a going for vegan Chinese and then to the pub night and not a going out for a run night, I dragged my weary self out of the door for a quick spin round the park and the sports field. After I’d been round the sports field, there was a girl jogging in the park who, because she was wearing a pink tracksuit and trainers that weren’t proper running shoes, I decided she was practising for a Race for Life and thought to myself shall I be mean and and overtake her and so I thought yes I will be mean and overtake her but I’ll wait until I’m nearer my house in case I get out of breath and have to stop and so I overtake her and leave the park and go home hoping that she’s not at the RfL that I’m doing on Sunday and remembers me and trips me up and I go upstairs to upload the stats from my Garmin and my computer doesn’t recognise it and I have to reinstall it and iTunes doesn’t want to load up and Google Earth takes 15 minutes to load and and Photoshop won’t start and I think ooooh noooo it was bad karma overtaking the girl in the pink tracksuit and now my computer’s broken. Bah.

Stats:
Miles: 1.50
Total time: 14:58
Average pace: 9:59
Total calories: 150
RfL-ers overtaken: 1
PCs not working: 1
Music:
Peter, Bjorn & John
Pixies
The Libertines

Running commute #4

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Continuing this week’s theme of not being an idle git after going to the gym on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, this morning I packed my running gear into my running rucksack in preparation of doing a running commute tonight and sat at work trying to think of reasons to get the train instead like, it’s too hot, I’m going out for lunch and I’m not sure a big plate of Thai noodles is good running commute fuel and the law of averages would dictate that the more times I go through Hackney, the more likely I am to be murdered. But spurred on by the fact that I’m carrying half a stone of lard around that I’d rather be without; I’m supposed to be half-marathon training; I need to beat Gary in run the Crisis Square Mile Run in two weeks; and I probably won’t get murdered, I got changed after work and started my commute and banished any thoughts of cheating and getting on the train halfway at Hackney Downs.

I manage to get past Hackney Downs station without getting on a train and even manage to get to the roundabout on Murder Mile without looking at my map (or getting murdered). Yay. I had planned on making the running commute where I do it without looking at my map the last running commute, but now I have a new goal of doing a running commute without any walking breaks. Bah.

I get to the ice rink and then have a dilemma. Do I go through the marshes where it’s prettier and probably quicker? Or do I carry on going down Lea Bridge Road? Hmm. If I go through the marshes, that will have the added bonus of not having to go past B and bloody Q, but it also means not going past Somerfield and as usual I need to buy cat food and also fancy a bottle glass of wine but then I think oh shit I haven’t got enough money for a bottle of wine anyway as I only brought out enough to buy lunch and some cat food and I think ah Somerfield do the little bottles of wine, I can get one of them and some cat food and next time I do a running commute I will get a bottle of wine and cat food the day before so I can go through the marshes and so I continue down Lea Bridge Road and eventually get to Somerfield and they have a sign saying great value Go Cat, only £1.05 a box and think you lying twats, that’s not great value at all, my local shop sells it for 79p and I pick up a box and then go and get a little bottle of wine. Yum.

Masterfoods (who make Mars chocolate) update:
A few weeks ago Masterfoods – who make amongst other things Mars Bars, Snickers, Twix, Bounty, Maltesers and Celebrations – decided to change their recipe to include animal rennet (a calf’s stomach lining for those who don’t know), therefore making them unsuitable for vegetarians (they actually said they were unsuitable for strict vegetarians because the fuckwits obviously don’t know that you’re either veggie or you’re not. Duh.) Due to 6,000 consumer complaints in the first week (I can’t tell you how long it took me to send all those emails, heh heh) they’ve changed their minds and won’t be using the cow recipe after all.

However, and this is a big however, they have said that Twix, Bounty and Celebrations will continue to be not suitable for vegetarians. Oh shit. That to me sounds like they were never vegetarian. Oops.

Some say it was all a publicity stunt. I say they’re twats and I’m sticking to my Peanut Butter KitKats.

End of veggie rant. Just letting people who asked know what the situation is. You can go back to your bacon sandwiches now 🙂

Today’s route

Stats:
Miles: 6.18
Total time: 1:20:29
Average pace: 13:01
Total calories: 428
Walking breaks: 6
Expensive boxes of cat food: 1
Music:
Maximo Park – Trial and Error
Mark Ronson – Toxic
Klaxons – Totem on the Timeline
Scissor Sisters – Tits on the Radio
Arctic Monkeys – This House is a Circus
The Damned – There Ain’t No Sanity Clause
Kaiser Chiefs – Thank You Very Much
The Libertines – Tell The King
PJ Harvey – Teclo
Pixies – Tame
Scissor Sisters – Take Your Mama
Primal Scream – Swastika Eyes
Primal Scream – Stuka
Maximo Park – Stray Talk
Mark Ronson – Stop Me
Scissor Sisters – Step Aside For The Man
Good Charlotte – Something Else

Half marathon training week 1

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In an attempt to kick start my half marathon training and because I haven’t been for a couple of weeks, I went to the gym last night and because my official schedule says to do two miles today I went to the gym at lunchtime and went on the treadmill because my unofficial schedule says to go to the pub tonight for Dave’s birthday instead of going out for a run.

See how dedicated I am giving up my lunchtime playing on the internet time?  I might have to give up some more lunchtime playing on the internet time due to having a new website to do.  Anyone know how to make disposable cooler boxes look interesting?

I might do a running commute on Thursday.  Note the word “might”.

Stats:
Kilometres: 3.5
Time: 25 minutes
Speed: 8kph
Calories: 250

Hornsey YMCA 10k race report

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Hornsey station smells of wee. And there starts my adventure in an unknown part of North London that I had never even heard of until last year. I find my way to the park by following some people wearing their “supported by Budgens” race numbers and the park is far from the station and I’m glad I went to Hornsey station instead of Turnpike Lane, even if it does smell of wee, because Turnpike Lane tube looked about another half a mile on the map.

The race starts on time and while I’m in the crowd waiting to go two men next to me are chatting saying there’s usually people from Eastenders there and one of them thinks he saw someone from Eastenders but he doesn’t know her name but she’s blonde and shouts a lot and his mate says Barbara Windsor? And his mate says no, a younger girl and so then I’m trying to think who’s young and blonde on Eastenders and shouts a lot and I think it’s probably Carly.

At 1.8 miles we reach the hill that leads up to Alexandra Palace station and because I’m a finely tuned athlete, I run up it and overtake all the lightweights who have stopped to walk then at 2.2 miles a proper finely tuned athlete laps me and I think lapped already?!! and I’m not looking forward to doing two laps and think maybe I’ll wimp out after one lap as it’s very hot and I want to walk and I think to myself I’ll have a walking break halfway and I hope they have some water then as I finished the bottle I brought with me before we’d even started and I get to the halfway mark and they do have water and I stop and get a cup and then I’m walking drinking my water and I don’t want to throw it away and I wonder if I can run with a cup of water without it spilling everywhere and I can’t really but I don’t want to give up my cup of water so I carry on and eventually finish it and throw the cup in someone’s wheely bin and lots of people are standing outside their houses watching the race and cheering people on and I’m wondering if there was a race local to me would I stand outside my house cheering people on and I think no, I probably wouldn’t, I’d probably be upstairs playing on the internet.

At 4.2 miles I get to the hill that leads up to Alexandra Palace station again and this time I stop and walk like everyone else and then it gets flat again and I think oh shit, I’ll have to start running again and then I think I’ve only gone 4 miles but then I think but that means I only have 2 miles left and I can run 2 miles, hurrah, but then I get to 5 miles and I’m thinking of stopping and walking and I’m thinking no just carry on, only a mile to go and then I realise I’m walking and I think I’ll run again when I get to that bench up ahead but I get to the bench and carry on walking so I think I’ll run again when I get to that gate and I pass the gate and then people start overtaking me so I think fuck that and start running again and I look at my Garmin and see that I’m not going to beat my last 10k time, even though last time it involved falling over a football and then I get back to the park and the finish line, yay.

We all get herded down some cattle pen thing and I get given a banana and I think I don’t really want a banana but I take it anyway as I’m not one to look a gift banana in the mouth and I also get a bottle of water which is penguin approved.

And it says to store it in a clean, dry, rabbit free place. Why rabbit free? I’m confused.

Then I go to find my free t-shirt which is after all the only reason I’m there and as usual they haven’t got any small ones left but if I keep on eating Peanut Butter KitKats I’m not going to be fitting into small clothes for much longer anyway.

Today’s route

Stats:
Miles: 6.32
Total time: 1:10:28
Average pace: 11:09
Total calories: 533
Hills: 2
Walking breaks: 3
Bananas: 1
Bottles of water that mustn’t be kept near rabbits: 1
Music:
Mark Ronson
Klaxons
Arctic Monkeys
Good Charlotte

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