Today's 15 mile run. Huge hill in middle. Pleased with the average pace of 9:18.
Friday, June 17, 2011
Friday, June 10, 2011
How my relationship with my running buddy works.... :-\
Today's text conversation... speaks for itself:
Me: Omg. Rain!!!
RHD: Yes! It will be refreshing
Me: I don't wanna run :( can we just go to a gym class instead? Or do intervals inside? Rly not up for running outside :( Xx
RHD: (silence)
Me: No but I am gonna be sooooo cold and tired on my way home.....:(
RHD: Are you serious??? Bad Jodie? Where is your commitment? Don't make me comment about this on your blog!
Me: But I'm cold and tired! Xx
RHD: Bad Jodie!
Me: :( let's go find a Pilates class and then have dinner instead? X
RHD: No deal
Me: Just dinner then?
RHD: No deal. I know you don't mean that.
Me: Just a drink then?
RHD: (silence)
Me: I really, really, really don't want to be cold and wet :'(
RHD: But today is the only day I can run. You can shower and put on snuggly dry clothes at mine x
Me: (pathetically) I don't have a towel... :)
RHD: No more excuses - I have plenty!!
Looks like I'm going for a long run in the rain then...
Me: Omg. Rain!!!
RHD: Yes! It will be refreshing
Me: I don't wanna run :( can we just go to a gym class instead? Or do intervals inside? Rly not up for running outside :( Xx
RHD: (silence)
Me: No but I am gonna be sooooo cold and tired on my way home.....:(
RHD: Are you serious??? Bad Jodie? Where is your commitment? Don't make me comment about this on your blog!
Me: But I'm cold and tired! Xx
RHD: Bad Jodie!
Me: :( let's go find a Pilates class and then have dinner instead? X
RHD: No deal
Me: Just dinner then?
RHD: No deal. I know you don't mean that.
Me: Just a drink then?
RHD: (silence)
Me: I really, really, really don't want to be cold and wet :'(
RHD: But today is the only day I can run. You can shower and put on snuggly dry clothes at mine x
Me: (pathetically) I don't have a towel... :)
RHD: No more excuses - I have plenty!!
Looks like I'm going for a long run in the rain then...
Thursday, June 9, 2011
What does my running training involve? + musings about my bum. Part 1
Runners are a bunch of boring old farts aren't they? It's a bit of a serious sport though, right? And also - isn't it true that runners get injured much more than say, cyclists or swimmers or ramblers???
To be honest I don't have a clue, but my training consists of a lot more than running. For starters, I am in beginner kung fu at the Tang Long kung fu school in Finchley Road . Trust me when I say beginner kung fu - as taught by Shifu Heng Wei - is one of the hardest workouts I have ever experienced. By the end of the class you lose about a litre of sweat, but it feels good!
Then there's Bodypump . Yes, weight lifting to cheesy music. Amazing. And a lot harder than it looks, because of the sheer amount of reps involved. In fact, I took along 2 mates to a class one day because they bantered me about Bodypump being "girly". One of these guys is a 6ft body builder, the other is 6'4" and just.... huge. By the end of the class they looked like they needed a stretcher!!!
Then there's Pilates, cycling to work, all of those crunches and other core strength activities which are vital for running to help avoid overuse injuries. The most amusing of these is something I have imaginatively named "standing on one foot". I read a book called Feet In The Clouds: A Tale of Fell-Running and Obsession . The author makes a number of attempts to complete the Bob Graham Round - 74 miles over 42 peaks in 24 hours. (Yes, you did just read that correctly.) I secretly harbour an ambition to complete this one day. Maybe in about 20 years....! Anyway, in the book as part of his training, the author spends some time every evening balancing on one foot and then the other, in order to strengthen the ligaments in his ankles. I thought this sounded sensible, so I tried it in whilst watching a movie on TV one evening. By the end of 5 minutes my butt was on fire, so it was clearly a good thing to do. However, the idea of standing still at all is something I am not too familiar with, let alone doing it every night. I thought to myself, "how can I incorporate this into my day whilst doing something else?" The answer? On the tube every morning on the way to work whilst reading the newspaper and listening to my Ipod. That's at least 4 things I'm doing at once, which helps a lot with my short attention span :-D . And after 40 minutes of this every day, my bum is considerably stronger. Also, people think I'm weird for standing like a stork and generally leave me some space - great in rush hour!!!
To be honest I don't have a clue, but my training consists of a lot more than running. For starters, I am in beginner kung fu at the Tang Long kung fu school in Finchley Road . Trust me when I say beginner kung fu - as taught by Shifu Heng Wei - is one of the hardest workouts I have ever experienced. By the end of the class you lose about a litre of sweat, but it feels good!
Then there's Bodypump . Yes, weight lifting to cheesy music. Amazing. And a lot harder than it looks, because of the sheer amount of reps involved. In fact, I took along 2 mates to a class one day because they bantered me about Bodypump being "girly". One of these guys is a 6ft body builder, the other is 6'4" and just.... huge. By the end of the class they looked like they needed a stretcher!!!
Then there's Pilates, cycling to work, all of those crunches and other core strength activities which are vital for running to help avoid overuse injuries. The most amusing of these is something I have imaginatively named "standing on one foot". I read a book called Feet In The Clouds: A Tale of Fell-Running and Obsession . The author makes a number of attempts to complete the Bob Graham Round - 74 miles over 42 peaks in 24 hours. (Yes, you did just read that correctly.) I secretly harbour an ambition to complete this one day. Maybe in about 20 years....! Anyway, in the book as part of his training, the author spends some time every evening balancing on one foot and then the other, in order to strengthen the ligaments in his ankles. I thought this sounded sensible, so I tried it in whilst watching a movie on TV one evening. By the end of 5 minutes my butt was on fire, so it was clearly a good thing to do. However, the idea of standing still at all is something I am not too familiar with, let alone doing it every night. I thought to myself, "how can I incorporate this into my day whilst doing something else?" The answer? On the tube every morning on the way to work whilst reading the newspaper and listening to my Ipod. That's at least 4 things I'm doing at once, which helps a lot with my short attention span :-D . And after 40 minutes of this every day, my bum is considerably stronger. Also, people think I'm weird for standing like a stork and generally leave me some space - great in rush hour!!!
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