Month: January 2011

Janathon #6 – Running as therapy

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Today started badly and went downhill from there. Work is quite stressful at the moment, but it’s only in the last 24 hours that I’ve realised that it’s built up a little too much. Last night’s yoga meditation was interrupted by thoughts of work, which had the bonus effect of stopping me falling asleep, and this morning’s escapades sealed it for me.

First priority this morning was getting another Janathon wash on the go. I managed this, but managed to bundle in the cardigan that I was meant to be wearing. Alternative cardi found. Work shoes located. Off I go. A mile up the road I realise that I have my dinner, I have my bag of running kit, but I don’t have my work bag. Too late to return home, I have to manage without it. In the event, this didn’t matter as I spent all afternoon trapped in the office trying to resolve one urgent case that was trapped within a series of public sector catch-22s. By the time I left work (40 minutes late), my head was full.

Cue a bit of Dusty in the car, 28 miles up the motorway singing along (badly) all the way, and out for a sociable 3 miles with my mate. I’m not looking forward to tomorrow, but I feel less like I’m teetering on the edge.

Day 6/31 –  3 miles
Ferrero rochers burned

Janathon #5 – hello darkness my old friend

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Today was the day that I was dreading. Wednesday night is yoga night and so Wednesday morning was running morning. The alarm was due to go off at 5.45 (to factor in some essential faffing around) and in true Juneathon style, I woke up an hour before it was about to go off. The upside of this was that I got to hear a bit more of Test Match Special, the downside was that I was awake at 4.45. There are two 4.45s in a day? What’s that all about.

When it was eventually time to get up, I listened to the swoosh of passing traffic on the rainswept  road and thought “Ah, a refreshing run through all of nature’s glory – how wonderful and uplifting”. That’s a lie. I listened to the swoosh of passing traffic on the rainswept  road, made sad whimpering noises and thought thoughts that use bad words.

I still went out though. A 2 mile rest day in a lopsided figure of 8 (the sort of with a small, wonky head and a morbidly obsese body. All my 8s looked like that as a child, I had very poor motor skills, but I digress) run quite fast (for me) because it was cold and wet and dark. I saw a milkman, a dog walker and a man at a bus stop.

You know what? I quite enjoyed it.

Day 5/31 –  2 miles
Ferrero rochers burned

Janathon #4 – It wasn’t me guv

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Following my post yesterday, I would like to start off by reassuring people that, as far as I know, the Yorkshire earthquake wasn’t caused by my bra-testing efforts in a branch of Debenhams across the Pennines. I have not yet had this confirmed by the British Geological Society, but noone’s coming knocking on my door demanding compensation and that’s good enough for me.

Today was the first of my Janathons in the dark, but I was supposed to have some company in the form of my friend (the original running bully who took me on my first faltering, wheezing run-walk steps a couple of years ago). However, she has a new chap in her life and I felt mean dragging her away from him for the sake of a 3 mile run. I was all set to venture out on my own when I got a text from Ginge (Mr Travelling Hopefully) offering me some company. Well, I’m not one to turn down some companionship, but we do have a chequered history of running together (see past blog posts if you’re interested, basically it goes something along the lines of we set off, he goes faster than me, he denies that he goes faster than me, I get into a strop, we fall out. Then we complete the first mile. Once I got a garmin, I proved he went faster than me and I don’t think we’ve been out together since).

I did offer Ginge the chance to guest blog this post, but he declined, so he only has himself to blame for anything that I write (Hello darling!). It was a lovely run – I got to go on a route that I wouldn’t do on my own, we had half an hour together where I wasn’t reading people’s Janathon blogs and he’s volunteered to run once or twice a week with me. Result! He’s fallen off the running wagon, but usually hops back on with irritating ease (I think it’s a bloke thing) so I’m going to enjoy his lack of speed while it lasts, at the end of which either we’ll start falling out or I’ll have to go faster.

In Janathon washing news, I have had to discover a second cycle on the washing machine (the F has worn off our dial as it’s the only one I use…) so that I could get my white (sock) wash done for tomorrow morning. I also keep forgetting what kit I own as I eventually condemned a couple of things that were either saggy from a boil wash (the result of the last time that I ventured away from F) or smelled like dog (the result of Juneathon, a tent and a laundry bag).

Day 4/31 – 3 miles
Ferrero rochers burned*

*Have just seen a Special K bar advert and thought “you could have a whole ferrero rocher and a lick of another instead of one of those. This is probably why I am rarely seen breezing round town in a little red dress. Ah well.

Janathon #3 – fighting the urge to use the same “canal desires” gag that I always use

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Back to work tomorrow, so today was my last run in the daylight until next Saturday. Rather than stick to routes round the village, I’ve decided that my daylight runs should be a bit more interesting, and so I took myself down to the canal for a planned 6 mile plod.

It was a lot colder and bleaker than the last time I went along that particular stretch (admittedly that was in June, on a boat) and I spent the first couple of miles with only a little bit of knuckle peeking out of the thumb holes on my long sleeve top. Unsurprisingly, it was fairly quiet except for a few dog walkers and a couple of anglers – I did spot another solitary runner, but she was just a hi-vis speck of pink in the distance during my return leg.

As I was running, I listened to the sublime Ladies of Letters off of Radio 4 and thought of witty and insightful things to blog about. Unfortunately, I’ve since had to venture into the realms of shopping and the experience has wiped all traces of them from my memory, so you’ll have to make do with photos.

Bleak. But daylight, so yay!

The above photo was only taken because I got busted taking this photo:

Things on the ice - #1 in a series of 3. I'm intrigued by what possible series of events led to this. Intrigued and a little scared.

Next thing to be out in the ice was this:

Things on the ice - #2 in a series of 3. Best seat in the house

And of course, the classic:

Things on the ice - #3 in a series of 3

I got home to find that my old faithful running tights have rubbed another hole in my leg. I really don’t want to pension them off, partly because they’re comfy (apart from making my leg bleed occasionally), they fit my camera in the bum-pocket and I really, really don’t want to go shopping. The only reason I risked retail today was that a particularly jiggly bit of hill has prompted me to invest in some new, ahem, foundation garments. I can only apologise to the woman in the changing room next to me who must have thought that an earthquake was starting as I jumped up and down to give it a test bounce. I’m pleased to say that I am now more structurally sound than I was this morning.

Day 3/31 – 6 miles
Ferrero rochers burned*

*I actually looked at the stats on my Garmin, saw the calories burned and thought “ooh, 10 ferrero rocher” – it’s only day 3, I fear for the next 28.

Janathon #2 – Hungry ducks

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During Juneathon, I enjoyed quite a few early morning runs in one of our local nature reserves. It makes a nice 3ish mile loop, it’s very calming (I stomped there on a spectacularly but pointlessly angry run once. It worked.) and it’s good to get off the main road. I usually take out my earphones to try to focus on the sights and sounds around me, there’s usually a low murmur of quacking to accompany me around the lodge. It turns out that it’s less quiet on a Sunday lunchtime on a bank holiday weekend.  After leaping off the path for one too many duck feeders, I opted for looping back along a quieter path away from the water.

 

Many many ducks

The ducks are coralled in a tiny bit of the lodge. They do have a bit more water available to them this week, but you still get mobbed for bread by a quacking mass of feathers.

Having woken up a touch achy this morning, my quads grumbled about any part of the route that wasn’t on the flat. It’s unfortunate (or a wonderful opportunity, depending on how much of a positive spin you want to put on this) that the return part of my loop is either via a short sharp hill or a long steady hill, neither of which seemed terribly appealing.  Long steady hill won and slowed me down (by a minute/mile), but I made it to the top and home in time for dinner.

Day 1/31 – 3 miles
Ferrero rochers burned*