JogBlog

Ooh, wow, yay for me and suchlike, I ran 2.5 miles tonight without stopping! Sort of without stopping anyway, just a few seconds for a couple of cars and a particularly crowded bit of pavement. Let's hope I can walk tomorrow.

Must have been the fresh spring air as a man on a bicycle said good evening to me, aah, how polite, I even managed to say hi back (just about) and I got hooted at a couple of times too. Not sure if it was a good hoot or not though.

Almost got run over by a lorry as I was crossing the big road in front of B&Q but a bus got in its way instead or I might have been squished. I must learn how to cross the road although I am getting better at it, Kate was mightily impressed at me crossing the road without standing there looking confused for five minutes first the other week in Islington. I told her running makes you feel invincible, probably best not to get complacent though.

Am feeling v. proud of myself tonight and more confident that I'm going to get better at this. I'm not going to run tomorrow morning now as I'm going to rest instead. Well, if going out on the p**s with Mark in Cambridge is resting. I've been wanting a cigarette all week, going to be tough tomorrow!

Ah well, it's Friday and it's beer o'clock, hurrah!

Stats:
Miles: 2.53 miles
Time: 27:45
Average pace: 10:59 minute/mile
Average speed: 5.5mph
Max speed: 7.1mph
Calories burnt: 222
Music: Shuffle
Polite men: 1
Cars beeping: 2
Lorries trying to kill me: 1

Back out on my newly fixed foot tonight, was going to go back to the 8/2 x 3 schedule but decided to carry on and did 10 minutes running, took a 2 minute walk break then carried on 'til I got home which was about another 11 minutes, jogged the last stretch to Get Off My Cloud which was v. cool.  I love my iPod.  I dreamt I was an iPod the other night but here probably isn't the best place to discuss my weird dreams.  Especially last night's one.

I took a new route too as I was going to go to the marshes as it's still daylight but decided I prefer running on the road which is probably very strange as you'd think the marshes would be prettier than Lea Bridge Road but oh well.  Maybe because there's more to look at running on the road.  More strange people, anyway.  Actually there weren't many strange people about apart from one man who was singing along to his Walkman (or iPod or whatever) who stopped singing when I overtook him and decided to shout at me instead, don't know what he was saying though. 

Next run scheduled (in my head, anyway) for Friday, then possibly Saturday morning as I'm going to Cambridge on Saturday so that writes off Sunday.  Anyway, there'll be plenty of people running on Sunday so I'll just think of them running instead and that can be my exercise for the day.

Oh, have just remembered that the title isn't going to mean anything unless I mention B&Q.  Because I took a new route, it took me past the B&Q.  I should have stopped and gone in and looked at bathrooms although I could be barred from B&Q for failing to open the door to their bathroom designer and staying in bed instead. 

Stats:
Miles: 2.08 miles
Time: 23:52
Average pace: 11:29 minute/mile
Average speed: 5.2mph
Max speed: 7.4mph
Calories burnt: 165
Music: Shuffle
Strange men singing along to music: 1
B&Qs: 1

Now that my foot was miraculously cured the other day, I thought it was time to get back outside so I went out this morning. Thought I'd just do one lap of the park (it's a very small park) so as not to overdo it and hurt my foot again but went up to the marshes and back instead. I'm not going to win any awards for time or distance but getting back out after two weeks, and especially after two weeks sitting around, going out drinking, eating pizza and being a dirty stop out, is quite an achievement I think.

Didn't see anything interesting though, shame, just that big black bird again, 3 magpies (I hate magpies, I'm soooooooooo p****d off when I see one that I can't concentrate until I see another one and get out of the "one for sorrow" thing) and a couple of horses.

And I'd like to thank the people who comment on here and give me encouragement, especially Joggerblogger who doesn't laugh at my feeble efforts when his short run is about 10m!</oscarmoment>

Stats:
Miles: 1.75 miles
Time: 21:45
Average pace: 12:26 minute/mile
Average speed: 4.8mph
Max speed: 7.3mph
Calories burnt: 155
Music: Muse
Interesting things to report: 0

Foot started hurting on Saturday for some strange reason so have been resting it, still hurts a bit now though almost a week later and along with my bad foot I now have tonsillitis and I'm on holiday from work and am just a tad p****d off!

I don’t think I’m cut out for running in the morning, it seems so much easier in the evening after work.  Or maybe I prefer running round the streets in the pollution and dodging pikeys than running in the fields and looking out for wildlife?

Adopted my own schedule today which consisted of a lot of walking.  I’d decided to go back to the 12/1 x 3 schedule and did the first lot of 12 minutes just about but ran/walked the rest but made a bit of an effort on the last stretch and ran home.

I’m not sure what it says about me (or more likely where I  live) but a couple on bicycles got off their bikes and started looking at something on the ground.  I thought it must be a dead body but it was some yellow flowers.  Daisies perhaps?

Stats:
Miles: 3.2 miles
Time: 41:44
Average pace: 13:02 minute/mile
Average speed: 4.6mph
Max speed: 6.8mph
Calories burnt: 299
Music: Muse, Scissor Sisters
Magpies: 4
Dead bodies: 0
Pretty yellow flowers that might have been daisies: lots

Almost did both lots of 15 minutes with a minute walking in between but had to stop twice on the second one.  It was uphill though (ok I don’t exactly live in the Lake District but it’s still a slight incline).  Probably should have stuck to last week’s schedule (3 x 12 minutes running / 1 minute walking) until I was “comfortable” with it but I never know I’m comfortable until I go to the next stage of the schedule.  I now know that 8 minutes is easy peasy but I didn’t think that two weeks ago before I moved on to 12 minutes.  Although after Saturday’s feebler than feeble effort I probably should stay on 12.

I probably should have trusted my instincts and not ran at all today as my ankles are still swollen and stiff and after I’d finished running, I had to limp home.  Not sure how I could run but not walk though.  Oh well, I’m going to not run anymore this week and just rest until they’re better as they’re pretty painful at the mo.

Not much to report except my iPod battery ran out again.  And it ran out near enough the exact same spot.  V. annoying.  I don’t want to hear people’s comments as I run past them!  Not that I understand what they’re saying anyway.

There was a child about 2 years old walking down the road on his own.  He was wider than he was tall, bloody huge thing he was.  Far too young to be wandering about on his own and there wasn’t anyone around that I could see who might be with him and I probably should have asked him if he was ok but he might be in mugger training or have a gun or something.

Stats:
Miles: 2.79
Time: 31:01
Average pace: 11:14 minute/mile
Average speed: 5.3mph
Max speed: 7.0mph
Calories burnt: 217
Music: The Strokes
Obese 2 year olds: 1

Whatever the word for less than feeble is, that was me today.  Did the first 12 minutes ok, wimped out half way through the second and didn’t even bother with the third and walked home.  Pathetic!  Possibly something to do with the bottle of wine I had yesterday?

Not many strange people about today, except for the two people on strange bicycles, had a kind of big parcel shelf on the front of the bikes, weird.  Saw a cute man with a dog but the dog was small and there’s something not right about men with small dogs.  (Sorry to any men with small dogs)

Stats:
Miles: 2.83
Time: 37:04
Average pace: 13:05 minute/mile
Average speed: 4.6mph
Max speed: 6.1mph
Calories burnt: 260
Music: Shuffle
Men with small dogs: 1
Bicycles with parcel shelves: 2

I didn’t accidentally cheat tonight and did all 3 lots of 12 minutes running with a minute walking in between. Woo! Looks like I’m on course to finish the 3.5 mile run without stopping unless I get worse in the next three months which probably isn’t really very likely unless I timewarp back three months and start smoking again and deciding that I haven’t got time to run between cigarettes. I don’t want to start evangelicising (not sure if that’s a word?) about stopping smoking as I’m only one puff away from being a smoker again. Although I’m doing better than the girl I met last night who was only one nicotine patch falling off her arm away from being a smoker again. Oh and because I am now a finely tuned athlete and my body is now a temple, I only had two drinks, woo! (ok, I had a glass of wine when I got in)

I nearly went home after the battery in my iPod went, aarrgghh! And I’d specially charged it a bit when I got home this evening, must have not been enough. I felt very exposed without music, like everyone could see me. Because obviously my iPod has magical powers which means when the battery is charged and I’m listening to music, I’m invisible. It also meant I could hear what I sound like running and it’s better than I thought. I thought I was really heavy on my feet and people could hear me a mile away but I’m a lot lighter than I thought, and the huffing and puffing I thought I did wasn’t as bad. I found out I sniff a lot though, but it was v. cold tonight, my hands were freezing. I’ve ditched the gloves as I was getting too hot.

I forgot again about the traffic lights not working at the junction. Are they ever going to put the red/green man thing back on? How am I supposed to cross the road when there’s traffic coming from three directions, without the green man thing? I have to wait for other people to cross and then follow them, sometimes I’m there for ages waiting for someone brave enough to cross so I can follow them.

A young man came up to me and asked me for 50p tonight. Um, yes, because I always carry loads of money round with me when I’m out running, obviously! If any beggars are reading this (not that I’ve seen many beggars with laptops but I suppose they may spend their begging money in internet cafes), joggers are usually out jogging and not out shopping and probably don’t have any money on them. You’d be better off hanging around outside pubs and catching people who have been drinking and have loads of change on them. I always have loads of change when I get home from being in the pub.

Then there was the strange Irish man carrying a baby who said good morning to me. I’m not sure why he said good morning at seven o’clock in the evening, maybe he had been drinking in preparation for tomorrow night (St Patrick’s Day). Tomorrow night is St Patrick’s Day, that somehow doesn’t sound right. I thought I was meeting the girls in O’Neills tomorrow night but now I’ve been told we’re meeting in a restaurant. A pizza restaurant, aarrgghh. I’m going for lunch tomorrow in a pizza restaurant so now twice tomorrow I have to try and resist pizza and eat pasta instead to keep up my finely tuned temple-like athletic body. Heh heh.

Stats:
Miles: 3.30
Time: 38:01
Average pace: 11:31 minute/mile
Average speed: 5.2mph
Max speed: 6.4mph
Calories burnt: 265
Music: Franz Ferdinand (until battery ran out, then I was listening to the traffic)
Beggars: 1
Strange men: 1
iPods with enough battery life: 0

Oh yes, hurrah for me.  I did 12 minutes continuous running 3 times – woo – that’s over 3 miles of running!  I didn’t look at my schedule though as I thought I was supposed to walk for 2 minutes in between but I was only supposed to walk for 1, so shall have to see how well I do next time.

Pretty unadventurous really but the two pitbulls who were quite bemused to see me jogging up to them were even more bemused when they met me again on the way back.  They were cute, doubt Gary would agree.  Probably would have seen Gary do a three minute mile if he’d been there.

A strange man shouted out “you can do it”.  I’m assuming he shouted as I could hear him and there’s not much that manages to break through my iPod to my ears.  I’m not sure what exactly it was that he thought I could do but thank you anyway, strange man.  Unless it wasn’t words of encouragement and it was more along the lines of “you can get out of my way, bloody joggers hogging the pavement”, in which case, strange man f off.

Not sure when next run is as I’m out drinking orange juice and not swearing tomorrow and Friday.  Yes, I really am out drinking orange juice and not swearing and I’m not just saying that because my mum read my blog and told me off for drinking and swearing.  I’m not sure what 70 year olds are doing reading blogs anyway, they should be doing 70 year old things like, er, whatever it is that 70 year olds do when they’re not reading blogs.

Anyway, I’m going to say hurrah for me again for running 12 minutes, a step further towards running 3.5 miles without stopping.  Not many steps but nearly half way.

Stats:
Miles: 3.44
Time: 40:04
Average pace: 11:39 minute/mile
Average speed: 5.1mph
Max speed: 6.7mph
Calories burnt: 273
Music: The Strokes
Pitbulls: 2
Strange men: 1