Well, after yesterday's rest day I shot out of the blocks for the start of my six miler today. My mantra so far has been "Legs and feet are fine, if you stay above 9" (minutes per mile that is). But I blew that away with a sub-nine first mile and paid for it slightly with some pain in my shins and calves again. But that wasn't really the story of the run. Mostly it was a smooth, cool blast around the park averaging just under 10 minutes per mile.
It was such a beautiful day to run too!! Clear skies and a lovely friendly atmosphere amongst the other people taking some lunchtime air in the woods. I was able to stay off road for almost the whole time too and it was a pleasure to feel spongy grass or bark chip under my feet rather than hard painful asphalt or concrete.
To be honest though the run isn't my big news today. The big news is that I have decided to make a little change to my fundraising and start using Just Giving instead of Virgin Money Giving. The Virgin page will remain active and the money that is there will still go (has gone!) to Mencap. However Just Giving has some extra cool features that I didn't know about when I first signed up for it. Like the swish widget just over there --->
The other AWESOME thing that I can now do is to accept donations via text message! If you don't believe me, try it! :)
Send a text saying "MIFF £5" (without quotes) to 70070 and it will automatically donate £5 and add it to your mobile bill. There are no additional charges levied. You can change the £5 to £1 or £20 or whatever you want to donate. I'm really excited about it as hopefully it will make it much easier now to connect with people and for them to help us all to do something really worthwhile here.
So that's it for today. Back to work for me now. Two blog posts in one day and a really busy day at work too. Who says men can't multi-task?
Peace, out.
JUST THE FACTS!!
Weight: 81.1 Kg
TODAY
Distance 6 miles
Time 59:34
Kcal 693
Press-ups 0
Swimming 0 m
Sauna 0 mins
TOTAL
Distance 211.65 miles
Time 37:21:20
Kcal 22342
Press-ups 380
Swimming 8000 m
Sauna 2:40 mins
FUNDRAISING
The fund is at £431.53 now (thanks WREXHAM!!).
If you haven't already donated then take a look at http://www.justgiving.com/pitymyfeet and help the wonderful work of MENCAP. Thank you so much to everyone who has sponsored already. I respect and love you all!!!
Feel free to contact me with any fundraising ideas you have. You can email me at:
miffjacobs@hotmail.com
DONATE
Please remember that I'm inflicting all this pain and misery on myself for a cause greater than just having a good story to tell over a beer. I hope to raise over £9,500 for MENCAP; an amazing charity who help those born with learning difficulties to live a normal life and to enjoy the same opportunities and choices that the rest of us take for granted.
Be an awesome human being today and click on the link below and help make someone's life better.
Thank you. You really ARE awesome.
Pity My Feet is a training and fitness blog that chronicles the misadventures of an aging demotivated wanna-be athlete with a penchant for making bad exercise related life choices. Currently in training for Iron Man Wales 2014. Don't ask why.
Wednesday 30 November 2011
Tuesday 29th November 2011 - Blood and Nudity
A rest day today; and after 34 miles in 3 days my legs needed it. I was pretty sore across my thighs and calves but nothing too dramatic. I used the rest day to go to the sauna and to the spa to relax and 'bubble massage' my legs.
So without any running to report I thought I'd put down a little of what I've learned about heat adaptation. Actually I'll put down everything I've learned about heat adapation; but it is very little!
Everyone knows that humans are cooled via sweat and that the moisture that comes from our pores carries away heat very effectively from the body and by this we maintain our temperature at the correct level. But how do we 'adapt' to hotter climates? When we talk of 'heat adaptation' what actually happens to our bodies? Firstly we need to understand that our blood is a multi-purpose fluid made up of many things that do many different jobs. A key one is to move oxygen to our muscles. Another to move energy, sugars, to our muscles. A third is to move the white blood cells that fight infection around our bodies to keep us healthy. And also it moves fluid to our skin to allow us to sweat. The part of the blood that carries this coolant is the plasma.
So what happens when we adapt to heat? What happens when I sit time and again in a sauna hoping that this will help me in the desert? Put very simply, when you expose your body repeatedly to high temperatures, and thus trigger a sweat reaction, your body tries to become more efficient at cooling by producing more plasma. I read that a fully adapated person can have as much as 2 litres of additional plasma in their blood but that seems unfeasibly high to me so I'd take it with a pinch of salt. This additional plasma makes the body more efficient at reducing temperature. So as long as I keep hydrated and keep enough salt and electrolytes in my system then all this sauna time will pay off.
Or will it? Well, there's just one more fact to consider. The body can adapt to heat very quickly, in a matter of days or weeks. Sadly it undoes this adaptation very quickly also. In just two or three weeks all the benefit of heat adaptation can be lost. Therefore although taking some sauna time ahead of the marathon can boost the plasma in my blood it will only help me if I do it in the few weeks before I leave. So the time I put in now is really just selfish 'me' time and not helping my efforts to raise money for Mencap one jot. Oh well, on the bright side it's very relaxing to lay on a towel in a hot sauna and just let the world spin away without me.
Oh and one last thing I should say about the sauna. I did 30 minutes yesterday in it. And during that time I had a very graphic illustration of the difference between a German sauna and a British one. The difference is easy to put your finger on. Easy but inappropriate. In a German sauna everyone gets naked! In 30 minutes yesterday I saw more nudity than I did during the whole of my teenage years. Fortunately the Germans don't scare easily and the sight of my hairy belly didn't seem to put anyone off!
JUST THE FACTS!!
Weight: 81.1 Kg
TODAY
Distance 0 miles
Time 0
Kcal 0
Press-ups 0
Swimming 0 m
Sauna 30 mins
TOTAL
Distance 205.65 miles
Time 36:21:46
Kcal 21649
Press-ups 380
Swimming 8000 m
Sauna 2:40 mins
FUNDRAISING
The fund is at £431.53 now.
If you haven't already donated then take a look at http://www.virginmoneygiving.com/pitymyfeet and help the wonderful work of MENCAP. Thank you so much to everyone who has sponsored already. I respect and love you all!!!
Feel free to contact me with any fundraising ideas you have. You can email me at:
DONATE
Please remember that I'm inflicting all this pain and misery on myself for a cause greater than just having a good story to tell over a beer. I hope to raise over £9,500 for MENCAP; an amazing
charity who help those born with learning difficulties to live a normal life and to enjoy the same opportunities and choices that the rest of us take for granted.
Be an awesome human being today and click on the link below and help make someone's life better.
Thank you. You really ARE awesome.
www.virginmoneygiving.com/pitymyfeet
Monday 28 November 2011
Monday 28th November 2011
Two milestones passed tonight. Firstly I tipped over the 200 mile mark in my training so far. And secondly I ran with my backpack for the first time. I've never run with one before; not even in the RAF. It felt surprisingly natural right from the off. I ran four miles down to Tallarn Green and a little way past it.
I felt really comfortable for the first 5 or 6 miles then as I slogged back up the hill my HR climbed a bit and I had to breath more deeply to keep my muscles firing. This had the effect of puffing out my chest more with each breath and it pushed the straps of my backpack higher until the shoulder straps were rubbing against my neck. I think it's just a matter of getting used to where the straps should be and how tight they should. I also expect it will get better when there's more weight in the bag. To start with I had just 1Kg in there as a tiny amount of ballast. I'll add 1Kg per week until I'm running with something like 13 Kg in there.
I am feeling pretty good now and this was definitely the best run for a while. Certainly since long before my calf injury. After re-hydrating and eating I felt refreshed, fit and strong. I'm pleased with the base fitness I've built up in the month or so since finding out that I had a place in the MDS. My goal for December is to build my base further and to get fully used to running with the bag.
JUST THE FACTS!!
Weight: 81.1 Kg
TODAY
Distance 8.02 miles
Time 1:24:11
Kcal 856
Press-ups 0
Swimming 0 m
Sauna 0 mins
TOTAL
Distance 205.65 miles
Time 36:21:46
Kcal 21649
Press-ups 380
Swimming 8000 m
Sauna 2:10 mins
FUNDRAISING
The fund is at £431.53 now (thanks WREXHAM!!).
If you haven't already donated then take a look at http://www.virginmoneygiving.com/pitymyfeet and help the wonderful work of MENCAP. Thank you so much to everyone who has sponsored already. I respect and love you all!!!
Feel free to contact me with any fundraising ideas you have. You can email me at:
miffjacobs@hotmail.com
DONATE
Please remember that I'm inflicting all this pain and misery on myself for a cause greater than just having a good story to tell over a beer. I hope to raise over £9,500 for MENCAP; an amazing
charity who help those born with learning difficulties to live a normal life and to enjoy the same opportunities and choices that the rest of us take for granted.
Be an awesome human being today and click on the link below and help make someone's life better.
Thank you. You really ARE awesome.
www.virginmoneygiving.com/pitymyfeet
I felt really comfortable for the first 5 or 6 miles then as I slogged back up the hill my HR climbed a bit and I had to breath more deeply to keep my muscles firing. This had the effect of puffing out my chest more with each breath and it pushed the straps of my backpack higher until the shoulder straps were rubbing against my neck. I think it's just a matter of getting used to where the straps should be and how tight they should. I also expect it will get better when there's more weight in the bag. To start with I had just 1Kg in there as a tiny amount of ballast. I'll add 1Kg per week until I'm running with something like 13 Kg in there.
I am feeling pretty good now and this was definitely the best run for a while. Certainly since long before my calf injury. After re-hydrating and eating I felt refreshed, fit and strong. I'm pleased with the base fitness I've built up in the month or so since finding out that I had a place in the MDS. My goal for December is to build my base further and to get fully used to running with the bag.
JUST THE FACTS!!
Weight: 81.1 Kg
TODAY
Distance 8.02 miles
Time 1:24:11
Kcal 856
Press-ups 0
Swimming 0 m
Sauna 0 mins
TOTAL
Distance 205.65 miles
Time 36:21:46
Kcal 21649
Press-ups 380
Swimming 8000 m
Sauna 2:10 mins
FUNDRAISING
The fund is at £431.53 now (thanks WREXHAM!!).
If you haven't already donated then take a look at http://www.virginmoneygiving.com/pitymyfeet and help the wonderful work of MENCAP. Thank you so much to everyone who has sponsored already. I respect and love you all!!!
Feel free to contact me with any fundraising ideas you have. You can email me at:
miffjacobs@hotmail.com
DONATE
Please remember that I'm inflicting all this pain and misery on myself for a cause greater than just having a good story to tell over a beer. I hope to raise over £9,500 for MENCAP; an amazing
charity who help those born with learning difficulties to live a normal life and to enjoy the same opportunities and choices that the rest of us take for granted.
Be an awesome human being today and click on the link below and help make someone's life better.
Thank you. You really ARE awesome.
www.virginmoneygiving.com/pitymyfeet
Sunday 27 November 2011
Sunday 27th November 2011 - 18 Miles!
I set off on my long run just before sunset and the weather was absolutely gorgeous for running. A clear blue sky with only a gentle breeze. I passed a horse and rider and we said a brief greeting about the weather. A cliche but nonetheless I always enjoy friendly words with people on the lanes. It makes me feel that life is good.
I ran down through Tallarn Green again and up the hill the other side. As I travelled towards Holybush the sun disappeared and the sky gradually darkened from the east. I love running through the dawn but I also love running through the dusk. I love the sky when the colours change from one horizon to the other. A beautiful pale red glow in the west and a dark, naval, blue to the east with the early stars appearing as if from nowhere.
I put my head torch on at about 10 miles and had a bit of a kuffuffle with it. This is one area where I prefer running through the dawn. It's so much easier to take a head torch off than to put it on! Eventually I sorted it but had to walk for a while while I faffed with it. The temperature dropped and as I was already soaked in sweat I got cold very quickly.
I also started to tire. I was dehydrated but found it hard to hydrate. For some reason I couldn't stomach my drinks and even after over 3 hours of running I finished with half a bottle undrunk. Another thing that went wrong was that I was trying out a fuelling plan to take in about 300 calories an hour of 'real' food. But with a dodgy tummy from some alcohol last night I found it hard to digest my nut bars. I'm writing this many hours after the run and I still have sharp pains through my abdomen and a feeling of general malaise.
Finally, the last 8 miles were run through quiet empty lanes in the dark and because I'm a big wuss this always makes me up the pace slightly. If you remove the miles with the hills in I was well under 10 minute miles for the last 5 or 6 miles. All this added up to me finishing the run in quite bad shape. Bad stomach, light headed, dehydrated, weak legged, and above all very chilled. It was a cold night and I had lost a lot of fluid to sweat early on so my clothes were all damp. A bad combination on a cold night!
But on the bright side, it's another 18 miles in my legs and another mental battle won. Ever since the run I've been a mess and I think I'll feel like this until I've had a proper sleep. Speaking of which... that's my next plan!
One last thing. I counted the money from yesterday's collection. We got a grand total of £76.33 from the good generous people of Wrexham!! I've added this to my total on the Virgin Money Giving site giving me a grand total of £432.33 raised so far! I'm as pleased as punch about this. Delighted in fact!!
Peace, out!
JUST THE FACTS!!
Weight: 81.1 Kg
TODAY
Distance 18.72 miles
Time 3:17:29
Kcal 2,210
Press-ups 0
Swimming 0 m
Sauna 0 mins
TOTAL
Distance 197.63 miles
Time 34:57:35
Kcal 20793
Press-ups 380
Swimming 8000 m
Sauna 2:10 mins
FUNDRAISING
The fund is at £423.33 now (thanks WREXHAM!!).
If you haven't already donated then take a look at http://www.virginmoneygiving.com/pitymyfeet and help the wonderful work of MENCAP. Thank you so much to everyone who has sponsored already. I respect and love you all!!! I hope to boost this total on Saturday with a whole heap of small (and large!!) change in my collection tubs. Can't wait!!
Feel free to contact me with any fundraising ideas you have. You can email me at:
miffjacobs@hotmail.com
DONATE
Please remember that I'm inflicting all this pain and misery on myself for a cause greater than just having a good story to tell over a beer. I hope to raise over £9,500 for MENCAP; an amazing charity who help those born with learning difficulties to live a normal life and to enjoy the same opportunities and choices that the rest of us take for granted.
Be an awesome human being today and click on the link below and help make someone's life better.
Thank you. You really ARE awesome.
www.virginmoneygiving.com/pitymyfeet
I ran down through Tallarn Green again and up the hill the other side. As I travelled towards Holybush the sun disappeared and the sky gradually darkened from the east. I love running through the dawn but I also love running through the dusk. I love the sky when the colours change from one horizon to the other. A beautiful pale red glow in the west and a dark, naval, blue to the east with the early stars appearing as if from nowhere.
I put my head torch on at about 10 miles and had a bit of a kuffuffle with it. This is one area where I prefer running through the dawn. It's so much easier to take a head torch off than to put it on! Eventually I sorted it but had to walk for a while while I faffed with it. The temperature dropped and as I was already soaked in sweat I got cold very quickly.
I also started to tire. I was dehydrated but found it hard to hydrate. For some reason I couldn't stomach my drinks and even after over 3 hours of running I finished with half a bottle undrunk. Another thing that went wrong was that I was trying out a fuelling plan to take in about 300 calories an hour of 'real' food. But with a dodgy tummy from some alcohol last night I found it hard to digest my nut bars. I'm writing this many hours after the run and I still have sharp pains through my abdomen and a feeling of general malaise.
Finally, the last 8 miles were run through quiet empty lanes in the dark and because I'm a big wuss this always makes me up the pace slightly. If you remove the miles with the hills in I was well under 10 minute miles for the last 5 or 6 miles. All this added up to me finishing the run in quite bad shape. Bad stomach, light headed, dehydrated, weak legged, and above all very chilled. It was a cold night and I had lost a lot of fluid to sweat early on so my clothes were all damp. A bad combination on a cold night!
But on the bright side, it's another 18 miles in my legs and another mental battle won. Ever since the run I've been a mess and I think I'll feel like this until I've had a proper sleep. Speaking of which... that's my next plan!
One last thing. I counted the money from yesterday's collection. We got a grand total of £76.33 from the good generous people of Wrexham!! I've added this to my total on the Virgin Money Giving site giving me a grand total of £432.33 raised so far! I'm as pleased as punch about this. Delighted in fact!!
Peace, out!
JUST THE FACTS!!
Weight: 81.1 Kg
TODAY
Distance 18.72 miles
Time 3:17:29
Kcal 2,210
Press-ups 0
Swimming 0 m
Sauna 0 mins
TOTAL
Distance 197.63 miles
Time 34:57:35
Kcal 20793
Press-ups 380
Swimming 8000 m
Sauna 2:10 mins
FUNDRAISING
The fund is at £423.33 now (thanks WREXHAM!!).
If you haven't already donated then take a look at http://www.virginmoneygiving.com/pitymyfeet and help the wonderful work of MENCAP. Thank you so much to everyone who has sponsored already. I respect and love you all!!! I hope to boost this total on Saturday with a whole heap of small (and large!!) change in my collection tubs. Can't wait!!
Feel free to contact me with any fundraising ideas you have. You can email me at:
miffjacobs@hotmail.com
DONATE
Please remember that I'm inflicting all this pain and misery on myself for a cause greater than just having a good story to tell over a beer. I hope to raise over £9,500 for MENCAP; an amazing charity who help those born with learning difficulties to live a normal life and to enjoy the same opportunities and choices that the rest of us take for granted.
Be an awesome human being today and click on the link below and help make someone's life better.
Thank you. You really ARE awesome.
www.virginmoneygiving.com/pitymyfeet
Saturday 26th November 2011
I am writing this on Sunday 27th November and I heard the tragic news about Gary Speed an hour or so ago. To be honest my running stories seem rather unimportant right now. I think that when something like this happens it makes all our troubles and our fears seem somehow more trivial. Like everyone in Wales and beyond my thoughts are with his family and his friends. May he rest in peace.
I will write down the story of my day yesterday, and later I'll write the story of today. My heart isn't in writing it and I doubt anyone's heart will be in reading it either but when I reach my goal I want to be able to look back and see what it took; and so in that spirit I will write.
I started the day with an 8 mile stretch. Down the hill again to Tallarn Green (and a little further than the last time) and then back up it. It's a nice lane to run on although I wish I could run uphill first and then finish down. To be honest I was a little worried about choosing the route because it's the one where I felt my hamstrings tighten last week. But I got through it easy enough and felt far better for having perservered.
As soon as I was showered it was off to Wrexham to do my collection in the town centre. I was actually a little nervous about it. It's quite daunting to stand there in the middle of town ratting a tin of money. But I soon got used to it and enjoyed the generosity and warmth of so many people. It was a pleasure to talk to everyone who stopped by and I was moved at the trouble some people would go to making sure they had something to put in the tin. All told I stood there for about four and a half hours and I think that in that time I made about £70. I say "think" because I haven't actually opened the tin yet. I need to get an accountant to verify the amount and I don't know if I have to have one there when I count it or just have one that knows me well enough to know I'm not the type of person to pinch any of it! The tubs feel pretty heavy and I saw a lot of pound coins go in!
Many thanks to Kirsty for standing at the top of town while I did the bottom and many thanks to Alex for fetching the coffees without complain dispite having his request for a new book declined by the authorities (me!).
So, that was yesterday. I'm now about to head out for an 18 miler that I'm not looking forward to on account of a slight hangover that I'm nursing today! I'll write today's story later tonight when I get the chance.
Peace, out!
JUST THE FACTS!!
Weight: 81.1 Kg
Today
Distance 8.09 miles
Time 1:22:33
Kcal 956
Press-ups 0
Swimming 0 m
Sauna 0 mins
Total
Distance 178.91 miles
Time 31:40:06
Kcal 18583
Press-ups 380
Swimming 8000 m
Sauna 2:10 mins
FUNDRAISING
The fund is at £356 now (thanks Shaggy!) not including the money taken yesterday. I hope to count it tonight so tomorrow should look a lot healthier!
If you haven't already donated then take a look at http://www.virginmoneygiving.com/pitymyfeet and help the wonderful work of MENCAP. Thank you so much to everyone who has sponsored already. I respect and love you all!!!
Feel free to contact me with any fundraising ideas you have. You
can email me at:
miffjacobs@hotmail.com
DONATE
Please remember that I'm inflicting all this pain and misery on myself for a cause greater than just having a good story to tell over a beer. I hope to raise over £9,500 for MENCAP; an amazing charity who help those born with learning difficulties to live a normal life and to enjoy the same opportunities and choices that the rest of us take for granted.
Be an awesome human being today and click on the link below and help make someone's life better.
Thank you. You really ARE awesome.
www.virginmoneygiving.com/pitymyfeet
I will write down the story of my day yesterday, and later I'll write the story of today. My heart isn't in writing it and I doubt anyone's heart will be in reading it either but when I reach my goal I want to be able to look back and see what it took; and so in that spirit I will write.
I started the day with an 8 mile stretch. Down the hill again to Tallarn Green (and a little further than the last time) and then back up it. It's a nice lane to run on although I wish I could run uphill first and then finish down. To be honest I was a little worried about choosing the route because it's the one where I felt my hamstrings tighten last week. But I got through it easy enough and felt far better for having perservered.
As soon as I was showered it was off to Wrexham to do my collection in the town centre. I was actually a little nervous about it. It's quite daunting to stand there in the middle of town ratting a tin of money. But I soon got used to it and enjoyed the generosity and warmth of so many people. It was a pleasure to talk to everyone who stopped by and I was moved at the trouble some people would go to making sure they had something to put in the tin. All told I stood there for about four and a half hours and I think that in that time I made about £70. I say "think" because I haven't actually opened the tin yet. I need to get an accountant to verify the amount and I don't know if I have to have one there when I count it or just have one that knows me well enough to know I'm not the type of person to pinch any of it! The tubs feel pretty heavy and I saw a lot of pound coins go in!
Many thanks to Kirsty for standing at the top of town while I did the bottom and many thanks to Alex for fetching the coffees without complain dispite having his request for a new book declined by the authorities (me!).
So, that was yesterday. I'm now about to head out for an 18 miler that I'm not looking forward to on account of a slight hangover that I'm nursing today! I'll write today's story later tonight when I get the chance.
Peace, out!
JUST THE FACTS!!
Weight: 81.1 Kg
Today
Distance 8.09 miles
Time 1:22:33
Kcal 956
Press-ups 0
Swimming 0 m
Sauna 0 mins
Total
Distance 178.91 miles
Time 31:40:06
Kcal 18583
Press-ups 380
Swimming 8000 m
Sauna 2:10 mins
FUNDRAISING
The fund is at £356 now (thanks Shaggy!) not including the money taken yesterday. I hope to count it tonight so tomorrow should look a lot healthier!
If you haven't already donated then take a look at http://www.virginmoneygiving.com/pitymyfeet and help the wonderful work of MENCAP. Thank you so much to everyone who has sponsored already. I respect and love you all!!!
Feel free to contact me with any fundraising ideas you have. You
can email me at:
miffjacobs@hotmail.com
DONATE
Please remember that I'm inflicting all this pain and misery on myself for a cause greater than just having a good story to tell over a beer. I hope to raise over £9,500 for MENCAP; an amazing charity who help those born with learning difficulties to live a normal life and to enjoy the same opportunities and choices that the rest of us take for granted.
Be an awesome human being today and click on the link below and help make someone's life better.
Thank you. You really ARE awesome.
www.virginmoneygiving.com/pitymyfeet
Thursday 24 November 2011
Thursday 24th November 2011
Yet another battle with motivation tonight. I'm beginning to realise that while I really love running, I really hate 'starting' to run. Especially after a long stressful day of work and travel. Any how, I made it out. Running down dark lonely lanes with a rapidly fading headlight. Spooked? Moi?
I learned tonight was that there are more cats in the world than we realise. Every few hundred yards I would see a pair of eyes reflecting back out of the hedgerows at me; with that sort of unscrutable disinterested stare that a poker player would kill for. There were cats in places miles from the nearest house. I also startled an animal at one point and I heard a great scrambling around me in the grass but never caught sight of the source. Oh, and I heard a bell ringing somewhere in the dark. Like I said; spooked? Moi?
For now let's forget about my cowardly nature and focus on the running. I kept a good pace up; less than 9:30 minute miles which is at least 30 seconds a mile faster than most of my previous runs. I walked up the hills as usualy but started walking later and started running again earlier to get he HR pumping. Even with that extra effort I kept the average at 145bpm so I'm pretty happy with that!
Some more pain in my left leg. Calf, knee and thigh. Nothing to make me rest again and nothing to make me lose sleep. If I want to lose sleep I'll just think about work but that's another blog (anauditorrippedmyheartfrommychestandateitinfrontofme.blogspot.com).
Oh, one more thing! My permits for the Wrexham collection arrived this week while I was away. So it's all systems go! Do come and see me and put a pound in the pot!!
Peace, out!
JUST THE FACTS!!
Weight: 81.1 Kg
Today
Distance 7.18 miles
Time 1:08:00
Kcal 893
Press-ups 0
Swimming 0 m
Sauna 0 mins
Total
Distance 170.82 miles
Time 30:17:33
Kcal 17627
Press-ups 380
Swimming 8000 m
Sauna 2:10 mins
FUNDRAISING
The fund is still at £336 so if you haven't already donated then take a look at http://www.virginmoneygiving.com/pitymyfeet and help the wonderful work of MENCAP.
Thank you so much to everyone who has sponsored already. I respect and love you all!!! I hope to boost this total on Saturday with a whole heap of small (and large!!) change in my collection tubs. Can't wait!!
Feel free to contact me with any fundraising ideas you have. You can email me at:
miffjacobs@hotmail.com
DONATE
Please remember that I'm inflicting all this pain and misery on myself for a cause greater than just having a good story to tell over a beer. I hope to raise over £9,500 for MENCAP; an amazing charity who help those born with learning difficulties to live a normal life and to enjoy the same opportunities and choices that the rest of us take for granted.
Be an awesome human being today and click on the link below and help make someone's life better.
Thank you. You really ARE awesome.
www.virginmoneygiving.com/pitymyfeet
I learned tonight was that there are more cats in the world than we realise. Every few hundred yards I would see a pair of eyes reflecting back out of the hedgerows at me; with that sort of unscrutable disinterested stare that a poker player would kill for. There were cats in places miles from the nearest house. I also startled an animal at one point and I heard a great scrambling around me in the grass but never caught sight of the source. Oh, and I heard a bell ringing somewhere in the dark. Like I said; spooked? Moi?
For now let's forget about my cowardly nature and focus on the running. I kept a good pace up; less than 9:30 minute miles which is at least 30 seconds a mile faster than most of my previous runs. I walked up the hills as usualy but started walking later and started running again earlier to get he HR pumping. Even with that extra effort I kept the average at 145bpm so I'm pretty happy with that!
Some more pain in my left leg. Calf, knee and thigh. Nothing to make me rest again and nothing to make me lose sleep. If I want to lose sleep I'll just think about work but that's another blog (anauditorrippedmyheartfrommychestandateitinfrontofme.blogspot.com).
Oh, one more thing! My permits for the Wrexham collection arrived this week while I was away. So it's all systems go! Do come and see me and put a pound in the pot!!
Peace, out!
JUST THE FACTS!!
Weight: 81.1 Kg
Today
Distance 7.18 miles
Time 1:08:00
Kcal 893
Press-ups 0
Swimming 0 m
Sauna 0 mins
Total
Distance 170.82 miles
Time 30:17:33
Kcal 17627
Press-ups 380
Swimming 8000 m
Sauna 2:10 mins
FUNDRAISING
The fund is still at £336 so if you haven't already donated then take a look at http://www.virginmoneygiving.com/pitymyfeet and help the wonderful work of MENCAP.
Thank you so much to everyone who has sponsored already. I respect and love you all!!! I hope to boost this total on Saturday with a whole heap of small (and large!!) change in my collection tubs. Can't wait!!
Feel free to contact me with any fundraising ideas you have. You can email me at:
miffjacobs@hotmail.com
DONATE
Please remember that I'm inflicting all this pain and misery on myself for a cause greater than just having a good story to tell over a beer. I hope to raise over £9,500 for MENCAP; an amazing charity who help those born with learning difficulties to live a normal life and to enjoy the same opportunities and choices that the rest of us take for granted.
Be an awesome human being today and click on the link below and help make someone's life better.
Thank you. You really ARE awesome.
www.virginmoneygiving.com/pitymyfeet
Wednesday 23 November 2011
23rd November 2011
Well, it's it just Sod's law that as soon as I write that I should abandon the "charity hurts" section of the blog and just stop moaning I go and hurt myself and have to take almost a week out from running. And also isn't typical that after running all those miles in such a short space of time I should be undone by one drunken night in the mosh pit! Jumping around like someone who's forgotten he's an old git is a dangerous business. I did something to both my calves that left me limping for three days. And even after the limping stopped the tops of my calves (especially the left) were really sore to the touch and also a little swollen. Well, very swollen. I could barely get them in my trousers!
But after five straight days of no running I was getting a bit stir-crazy and so tonight I went out for a little four mile tester. It wasn't too bad on the legs. Worryingly my left thigh hurt in the same place it had hurt last Thursday (my last run). And my calves were tight but not painful. Really tight, I had to stop two or three times to gently stretch them to get them moving again. But I'm not worried. It's bitterly cold and I forgot to bring my Deep Heat to Hannover this week so I knew the first couple of miles would be tricky; and they were.
The run was a straight 2 out, 2 back in the Hospital district of Hannover. Nice and flat except for two gentle low climbs. I went past the new(ish) Telekom Tower and it looks fab at night! I kept up a steady rhythm though for most of it and generally enjoyed it. My confidence has been low since hurting my calves and even this modest four miler felt like a milestone passed. Maybe it is? It's the first injury break I've had to take since I started training and now I have to climb back out of the lull and build my miles back up.
A busy time coming up. On Saturday I'll be collecting in Wrexham Town Centre (assuming I get the permits through). So if you're in Wrexham on Saturday come and see me and put a pound in the pot!
Peace, out!
JUST THE FACTS!!
Weight: 81.1 Kg
Today
Distance 4.08 miles
Time 0:40:51
Kcal 488
Press-ups 40
Swimming 0 m
Sauna 0 mins
Total
Distance 163.64 miles
Time 29:09:33
Kcal 16734
Press-ups 380
Swimming 8000 m
Sauna 2:10 mins
FUNDRAISING
The fundraising has copied my left calf muscle and stopped moving! So come on folks, if you haven't already donated then take a look at http://www.virginmoneygiving.com/pitymyfeet and help the wonderful work of MENCAP. Thank you so much to everyone who has sponsored
already. I respect and love you all!
Feel free to contact me with any fundraising ideas you have. You can email me at: miffjacobs@hotmail.com
DONATE
Please remember that I'm inflicting all this pain and misery on myself for a cause greater than just having a good story to tell over a beer. I hope to raise over £9,500 for MENCAP; an amazing charity who help those born with learning difficulties to live a normal life and to enjoy the same opportunities and choices that the rest of us take for granted.
Be an awesome human being today and click on the link below and help make someone's life better.
Thank you. You really ARE awesome.
www.virginmoneygiving.com/pitymyfeet
But after five straight days of no running I was getting a bit stir-crazy and so tonight I went out for a little four mile tester. It wasn't too bad on the legs. Worryingly my left thigh hurt in the same place it had hurt last Thursday (my last run). And my calves were tight but not painful. Really tight, I had to stop two or three times to gently stretch them to get them moving again. But I'm not worried. It's bitterly cold and I forgot to bring my Deep Heat to Hannover this week so I knew the first couple of miles would be tricky; and they were.
The run was a straight 2 out, 2 back in the Hospital district of Hannover. Nice and flat except for two gentle low climbs. I went past the new(ish) Telekom Tower and it looks fab at night! I kept up a steady rhythm though for most of it and generally enjoyed it. My confidence has been low since hurting my calves and even this modest four miler felt like a milestone passed. Maybe it is? It's the first injury break I've had to take since I started training and now I have to climb back out of the lull and build my miles back up.
A busy time coming up. On Saturday I'll be collecting in Wrexham Town Centre (assuming I get the permits through). So if you're in Wrexham on Saturday come and see me and put a pound in the pot!
Peace, out!
JUST THE FACTS!!
Weight: 81.1 Kg
Today
Distance 4.08 miles
Time 0:40:51
Kcal 488
Press-ups 40
Swimming 0 m
Sauna 0 mins
Total
Distance 163.64 miles
Time 29:09:33
Kcal 16734
Press-ups 380
Swimming 8000 m
Sauna 2:10 mins
FUNDRAISING
The fundraising has copied my left calf muscle and stopped moving! So come on folks, if you haven't already donated then take a look at http://www.virginmoneygiving.com/pitymyfeet and help the wonderful work of MENCAP. Thank you so much to everyone who has sponsored
already. I respect and love you all!
Feel free to contact me with any fundraising ideas you have. You can email me at: miffjacobs@hotmail.com
DONATE
Please remember that I'm inflicting all this pain and misery on myself for a cause greater than just having a good story to tell over a beer. I hope to raise over £9,500 for MENCAP; an amazing charity who help those born with learning difficulties to live a normal life and to enjoy the same opportunities and choices that the rest of us take for granted.
Be an awesome human being today and click on the link below and help make someone's life better.
Thank you. You really ARE awesome.
www.virginmoneygiving.com/pitymyfeet
Thursday 17 November 2011
Thursday 17th November 2011
It's fair to say my motivation was low today. I abandoned any thought of going out this morning before I even went to bed last night! And any chance of sneaking out for an early one were scuppered by that little thing called work. Oh well, it pays the bills. Or some of them at least. I finally decided about 17:00 to go out but I think it was a good 30 minutes before I actually went out of the front door.
In the end it was a good run. I set about a target of keeping my HR below 140 bpm no matter how slowly I had to go. Well, it turns out I have to go pretty darned slow! I tried a new route. Not out of curiousity or any noble desire for discovery. Simply because I couldn't think of a route that didn't go past anything spooky in the dark! As it turns out the new route was pretty cool to run but with one BIG flaw. I ran 3.5 miles out and then turned back. Of the 3.5 miles out I reckon about 2.5 of them were down hill. So, easy run, HR low all the way DOWN.... then I turn! HR through the roof, legs knackered, up-hill all the way. I pulled a muscle in left thigh and got a stabbing pain in left hamstring - but that's all you'll hear about that because having watched Children in Need tonight and seen how brave some of those kids are I have decided to retire the "Charity Hurts" section, grow a pair, and stop moaning instead.
It's a beautiful evening out there. Clear skies with stars and one planet shining really brightly (no idea which one - I tried to look it up then Jessie J came on the TV and suddenly I lost interest in astronomy).
On the fundraising front I got some good news. The lady emailed back from the Community Times saying they would feature me in the next issue. So now I just have to write some text for them. Which is what I'll do next. Less positive is that I didn't get a single reply or sponsorship from my emails to the accountants! I'll keep trying though. Not sure what kind of business I'll look at next but I'll go on Yell.com and play for a while. If you work anywhere that gets one of these emails do reply and say "hi" and put in a good word for me!
It feels good now to say that I'm taking a short break from the training for a weekend. I've got a couple of big nights out coming up and I'm not going to try to run when I'm hungover. So from here on my lazy chair I can say that I won't be putting my trainers on for 72 hours!!!
Peace, out!
JUST THE FACTS!!
Weight: 81.1 Kg
Today
Distance 7.00 miles
Time 1:14:39
Kcal 779
Press-ups 40
Swimming 0 m
Sauna 0 mins
Total
Distance 159.56 miles
Time 28:28:42
Kcal 16246
Press-ups 380
Swimming 8000 m
Sauna 2:10 mins
CHARITY HURTS!!
I just saw a little boy on Children in Need who lost his arms and his legs to septicemia after having caught meningitis. You know what? Suddenly nothing hurts. What a brave little boy.
FUNDRAISING
My sponsorship is up to £336 (thanks Jo!) on http://www.virginmoneygiving.com/pitymyfeet. Thank you so much to everyone who has sponsored!!
Feel free to contact me with any fundraising ideas you have. You can email me at:
miffjacobs@hotmail.com
DONATE
Please remember that I'm inflicting all this pain and misery on myself for a cause greater than just having a good story to tell over a beer. I hope to raise over £9,500 for MENCAP; an amazing charity who help those born with learning difficulties to live a normal life and to enjoy the same opportunities and choices that the rest of us take for granted.
Be an awesome human being today and click on the link below and help make someone's life better.
Thank you. You really ARE awesome.
www.virginmoneygiving.com/pitymyfeet
In the end it was a good run. I set about a target of keeping my HR below 140 bpm no matter how slowly I had to go. Well, it turns out I have to go pretty darned slow! I tried a new route. Not out of curiousity or any noble desire for discovery. Simply because I couldn't think of a route that didn't go past anything spooky in the dark! As it turns out the new route was pretty cool to run but with one BIG flaw. I ran 3.5 miles out and then turned back. Of the 3.5 miles out I reckon about 2.5 of them were down hill. So, easy run, HR low all the way DOWN.... then I turn! HR through the roof, legs knackered, up-hill all the way. I pulled a muscle in left thigh and got a stabbing pain in left hamstring - but that's all you'll hear about that because having watched Children in Need tonight and seen how brave some of those kids are I have decided to retire the "Charity Hurts" section, grow a pair, and stop moaning instead.
It's a beautiful evening out there. Clear skies with stars and one planet shining really brightly (no idea which one - I tried to look it up then Jessie J came on the TV and suddenly I lost interest in astronomy).
On the fundraising front I got some good news. The lady emailed back from the Community Times saying they would feature me in the next issue. So now I just have to write some text for them. Which is what I'll do next. Less positive is that I didn't get a single reply or sponsorship from my emails to the accountants! I'll keep trying though. Not sure what kind of business I'll look at next but I'll go on Yell.com and play for a while. If you work anywhere that gets one of these emails do reply and say "hi" and put in a good word for me!
It feels good now to say that I'm taking a short break from the training for a weekend. I've got a couple of big nights out coming up and I'm not going to try to run when I'm hungover. So from here on my lazy chair I can say that I won't be putting my trainers on for 72 hours!!!
Peace, out!
JUST THE FACTS!!
Weight: 81.1 Kg
Today
Distance 7.00 miles
Time 1:14:39
Kcal 779
Press-ups 40
Swimming 0 m
Sauna 0 mins
Total
Distance 159.56 miles
Time 28:28:42
Kcal 16246
Press-ups 380
Swimming 8000 m
Sauna 2:10 mins
CHARITY HURTS!!
I just saw a little boy on Children in Need who lost his arms and his legs to septicemia after having caught meningitis. You know what? Suddenly nothing hurts. What a brave little boy.
FUNDRAISING
My sponsorship is up to £336 (thanks Jo!) on http://www.virginmoneygiving.com/pitymyfeet. Thank you so much to everyone who has sponsored!!
Feel free to contact me with any fundraising ideas you have. You can email me at:
miffjacobs@hotmail.com
DONATE
Please remember that I'm inflicting all this pain and misery on myself for a cause greater than just having a good story to tell over a beer. I hope to raise over £9,500 for MENCAP; an amazing charity who help those born with learning difficulties to live a normal life and to enjoy the same opportunities and choices that the rest of us take for granted.
Be an awesome human being today and click on the link below and help make someone's life better.
Thank you. You really ARE awesome.
www.virginmoneygiving.com/pitymyfeet
Wednesday 16 November 2011
Wednesday 16th November 2011
I took the new treadmill for a spin today. My first impressions are that it looks like a treadmill in the same way that vodka looks like water. And it's about as much use for running on as vodka is for making a cup of tea out of. Actually no wait, vodka tea might be alright.
Anyway, I eventually worked out that trying to run on it is vexatious to the spirit however walking on it briskly is actually quite rewarding. Indeed at a gentle 4 Kpm I worked up a massive sweat after 20 minutes. I think it'll be a useful addition to the training and if it helps draw some attention (and consequently some donations) then it'll all be worthwhile. It's bloomin' heavy though! Lugging that around the place will get me fit if nothing else does!
So after work I hit the streets for just under six miles and had a decent run. I went without any fluid as I knew I'd only be out for an hour but I was feeling thirsty by the time I got back. I've been starving hungry for two days and yet simultaneously feeling really ill. I've got a 9 miler planned for tomorrow then rest and lots of lager on Friday night!
Peace, out!
JUST THE FACTS!!
Weight: 81.1 Kg
Today
Distance 6.82 miles
Time 1:19:51
Kcal 753
Press-ups 20
Swimming 0 m
Sauna 0 mins
Total
Distance 152.56 miles
Time 27:06:03
Kcal 16246
Press-ups 340
Swimming 8000 m
Sauna 2:10 mins
CHARITY HURTS!!
My left thigh was really painful during the run today, enough to make me limp. I put some freeze gel on it after my shower and hopefully it'll be OK for the nine miles tomorrow. The blister on my toe is still sore. Well not that sore but certainly very itchy!!
FUNDRAISING
My sponsorship is up to £336 (thanks Jo!) on
http://www.virginmoneygiving.com/pitymyfeet. Thank you so much to everyone who has sponsored!!
No wide scale spamming tonight! But I did email the publishers of the Community Times to ask if they'd give me some publicity.
Feel free to contact me with any fundraising ideas you have. You
can email me at:
miffjacobs@hotmail.com
DONATE
Please remember that I'm inflicting all this pain and misery on myself for a cause greater than just having a good story to tell over a beer. I hope to raise over £9,500 for MENCAP; an amazing charity who help those born with learning difficulties to live a normal life and to enjoy the same opportunities and choices that the rest of us take for granted.
Be an awesome human being today and click on the link below and help make someone's life better.
Thank you. You really ARE awesome.
www.virginmoneygiving.com/pitymyfeet
Anyway, I eventually worked out that trying to run on it is vexatious to the spirit however walking on it briskly is actually quite rewarding. Indeed at a gentle 4 Kpm I worked up a massive sweat after 20 minutes. I think it'll be a useful addition to the training and if it helps draw some attention (and consequently some donations) then it'll all be worthwhile. It's bloomin' heavy though! Lugging that around the place will get me fit if nothing else does!
So after work I hit the streets for just under six miles and had a decent run. I went without any fluid as I knew I'd only be out for an hour but I was feeling thirsty by the time I got back. I've been starving hungry for two days and yet simultaneously feeling really ill. I've got a 9 miler planned for tomorrow then rest and lots of lager on Friday night!
Peace, out!
JUST THE FACTS!!
Weight: 81.1 Kg
Today
Distance 6.82 miles
Time 1:19:51
Kcal 753
Press-ups 20
Swimming 0 m
Sauna 0 mins
Total
Distance 152.56 miles
Time 27:06:03
Kcal 16246
Press-ups 340
Swimming 8000 m
Sauna 2:10 mins
CHARITY HURTS!!
My left thigh was really painful during the run today, enough to make me limp. I put some freeze gel on it after my shower and hopefully it'll be OK for the nine miles tomorrow. The blister on my toe is still sore. Well not that sore but certainly very itchy!!
FUNDRAISING
My sponsorship is up to £336 (thanks Jo!) on
http://www.virginmoneygiving.com/pitymyfeet. Thank you so much to everyone who has sponsored!!
No wide scale spamming tonight! But I did email the publishers of the Community Times to ask if they'd give me some publicity.
Feel free to contact me with any fundraising ideas you have. You
can email me at:
miffjacobs@hotmail.com
DONATE
Please remember that I'm inflicting all this pain and misery on myself for a cause greater than just having a good story to tell over a beer. I hope to raise over £9,500 for MENCAP; an amazing charity who help those born with learning difficulties to live a normal life and to enjoy the same opportunities and choices that the rest of us take for granted.
Be an awesome human being today and click on the link below and help make someone's life better.
Thank you. You really ARE awesome.
www.virginmoneygiving.com/pitymyfeet
Tuesday 15th November 2011
Blimey - what a day. I'm shattered! But not really because of MDS training. More because of modern life and all it's little stresses and strains! But those are stories from another blog. Maybe I'll start something like whydoIgetstitchedwithalltheaudits.blogspot.com.
On the training front; up at 6am and out of the door just before 7am for a 7 mile run. I felt fantastic first leaving but developed a bad stomach after a mile or so that didn't fade. In fact I felt poorly all the way around. But my HR stayed low while my pace was OK (just over 10 mpm) and almost no leg pain. Although I have developed my first blister! I'm almost pleased :)
And in other developments I am now the proud owner of a Kirsty Gallagher Manual Treadmill! Thank you eBay!! It's quite swish and folds up nice and small (thank goodness - because my flat is tiny!). I intend to take it to events and the like and run on it while collecting money from curious passers by. It's a feminine little thing so it might need a bit of customising before I can be seen in public on it. ;)
On the subject of collections I put in my application for a street collection licence for Wrexham Town Centre on Saturday 26th November. If you are in town on that day come and say "hi" (and put a pound in the tub!)
Also this evening I sent off the first emails to businesses. I started with all the accountants in Wrexham. Who would have thought there would be so many of them!! Hopefully one or two generous souls will come to the blog and then maybe on to the donations site. If there are any accountants reading who got my email then - welcome!!
Peace, out!
JUST THE FACTS!!
Weight: 81.1 Kg
Today
Distance 7.05 miles
Time 1:12:18
Kcal 771
Press-ups 0
Swimming 0 m
Sauna 0 mins
Total
Distance 145.74 miles
Time 25:46:12
Kcal 15493
Press-ups 320
Swimming 8000 m
Sauna 2:10 mins
CHARITY HURTS!!
I have a blister! It's on my middle toe on my left foot. It's not too painful but I will need to be careful not to make it deeper. Mostly I have suffered with a bad stomach that hasn't settled all day. Oddly enough a bad stomach and a raging hunger. I've probably eaten twice as many calories as on a normal day. I even ate tomorrow's lunch just before writing this. Eating at 1am is not healthy. But on the bright side it means I should have some energy at 5am when I get up for my run.
FUNDRAISING
My sponsorship is still at £331 on http://www.virginmoneygiving.com/pitymyfeet. Thank you so much to everyone who has sponsored!!
Feel free to contact me with any fundraising ideas you have. You can email me at:
miffjacobs@hotmail.com
DONATE
Please remember that I'm inflicting all this pain and misery on myself for a cause greater than just having a good story to tell over a beer. I hope to raise over £9,500 for MENCAP; an amazing charity who help those born with learning difficulties to live a normal life and to enjoy the same opportunities and choices that the rest of us take for granted.
Be an awesome human being today and click on the link below and help make someone's life better.
Thank you. You really ARE awesome.
www.virginmoneygiving.com/pitymyfeet
On the training front; up at 6am and out of the door just before 7am for a 7 mile run. I felt fantastic first leaving but developed a bad stomach after a mile or so that didn't fade. In fact I felt poorly all the way around. But my HR stayed low while my pace was OK (just over 10 mpm) and almost no leg pain. Although I have developed my first blister! I'm almost pleased :)
And in other developments I am now the proud owner of a Kirsty Gallagher Manual Treadmill! Thank you eBay!! It's quite swish and folds up nice and small (thank goodness - because my flat is tiny!). I intend to take it to events and the like and run on it while collecting money from curious passers by. It's a feminine little thing so it might need a bit of customising before I can be seen in public on it. ;)
On the subject of collections I put in my application for a street collection licence for Wrexham Town Centre on Saturday 26th November. If you are in town on that day come and say "hi" (and put a pound in the tub!)
Also this evening I sent off the first emails to businesses. I started with all the accountants in Wrexham. Who would have thought there would be so many of them!! Hopefully one or two generous souls will come to the blog and then maybe on to the donations site. If there are any accountants reading who got my email then - welcome!!
Peace, out!
JUST THE FACTS!!
Weight: 81.1 Kg
Today
Distance 7.05 miles
Time 1:12:18
Kcal 771
Press-ups 0
Swimming 0 m
Sauna 0 mins
Total
Distance 145.74 miles
Time 25:46:12
Kcal 15493
Press-ups 320
Swimming 8000 m
Sauna 2:10 mins
CHARITY HURTS!!
I have a blister! It's on my middle toe on my left foot. It's not too painful but I will need to be careful not to make it deeper. Mostly I have suffered with a bad stomach that hasn't settled all day. Oddly enough a bad stomach and a raging hunger. I've probably eaten twice as many calories as on a normal day. I even ate tomorrow's lunch just before writing this. Eating at 1am is not healthy. But on the bright side it means I should have some energy at 5am when I get up for my run.
FUNDRAISING
My sponsorship is still at £331 on http://www.virginmoneygiving.com/pitymyfeet. Thank you so much to everyone who has sponsored!!
Feel free to contact me with any fundraising ideas you have. You can email me at:
miffjacobs@hotmail.com
DONATE
Please remember that I'm inflicting all this pain and misery on myself for a cause greater than just having a good story to tell over a beer. I hope to raise over £9,500 for MENCAP; an amazing charity who help those born with learning difficulties to live a normal life and to enjoy the same opportunities and choices that the rest of us take for granted.
Be an awesome human being today and click on the link below and help make someone's life better.
Thank you. You really ARE awesome.
www.virginmoneygiving.com/pitymyfeet
Monday 14 November 2011
Monday 14th November 2011
A second day off running today. My legs needed it. Much less pain today, just a little soreness below my left knee but nothing I'm going to stress over.
This is an "active" recovery day. Which essentially means that my legs recover while the rest of me stays active. So with that in mind I headed to the gym this evening and swam 60 lengths of the pool before getting out and sitting in the sauna for 20 minutes. It was the longest run I've done in there and being a little dehydrated after the 60 lengths and also being hungry through not having eaten before going I felt a little woozy to be honest. I had a couple of dizzy spells when I got out and unwisely decided to cool down in the swimming pool by doing another ten lengths.
I got through them OK but it was like everything was going in slow motion and a few times my concentration sort of drifted so that I was just floating for a couple of seconds before I snapped out of it and continued my strokes. It was a slightly surreal experience and a bit disconcerting at times. But I'm learning about hyrdration and nutrition all the time and I think I learned a valuable lesson about taking drinks into the pool with me in future so I can stay hydrated in the water and the sauna. It got so bad that I resorted to drinking the shower water. (I know... that's rank).
I had some good news on the fundraising front today. My kit arrived from Mencap and I also got a call from Wrexham Council. I've been provisionally booked for a collection slot in Wrexham Town Centre on Saturday 26th November. Look out for me and drop a pound in my pot if you see me!!
Peace, out!
JUST THE FACTS!!
Weight: 81.1 Kg
Today
Distance 0 miles
Time 0
Kcal 0
Elevation 0 ft
Press-ups 0
Swimming 1750 m
Sauna 20 mins
Total
Distance 138.69 miles
Time 24:33:54
Kcal 14722
Elevation 4592 ft
Press-ups 320
Swimming 8000 m
Sauna 2:10 mins
CHARITY HURTS!!
Far less pain today but this evening I am feeling a little light headed from a good effort in the pool and the after effects of dehydration. I'll be sure to drink another couple of glasses of water before bed.
FUNDRAISING
My sponsorship is still at £331 on http://www.virginmoneygiving.com/pitymyfeet. Thank you so much to everyone who has sponsored!!
Feel free to contact me with any fundraising ideas you have. You can email me at:
miffjacobs@hotmail.com
DONATE
Please remember that I'm inflicting all this pain and misery on myself for a cause greater than just having a good story to tell over a beer. I hope to raise over £9,500 for MENCAP; an amazing charity who help those born with learning difficulties to live a normal life and to enjoy the same opportunities and choices that the rest of us take for granted.
Be an awesome human being today and click on the link below and help make someone's life better.
Thank you. You really ARE awesome.
www.virginmoneygiving.com/pitymyfeet
This is an "active" recovery day. Which essentially means that my legs recover while the rest of me stays active. So with that in mind I headed to the gym this evening and swam 60 lengths of the pool before getting out and sitting in the sauna for 20 minutes. It was the longest run I've done in there and being a little dehydrated after the 60 lengths and also being hungry through not having eaten before going I felt a little woozy to be honest. I had a couple of dizzy spells when I got out and unwisely decided to cool down in the swimming pool by doing another ten lengths.
I got through them OK but it was like everything was going in slow motion and a few times my concentration sort of drifted so that I was just floating for a couple of seconds before I snapped out of it and continued my strokes. It was a slightly surreal experience and a bit disconcerting at times. But I'm learning about hyrdration and nutrition all the time and I think I learned a valuable lesson about taking drinks into the pool with me in future so I can stay hydrated in the water and the sauna. It got so bad that I resorted to drinking the shower water. (I know... that's rank).
I had some good news on the fundraising front today. My kit arrived from Mencap and I also got a call from Wrexham Council. I've been provisionally booked for a collection slot in Wrexham Town Centre on Saturday 26th November. Look out for me and drop a pound in my pot if you see me!!
Peace, out!
JUST THE FACTS!!
Weight: 81.1 Kg
Today
Distance 0 miles
Time 0
Kcal 0
Elevation 0 ft
Press-ups 0
Swimming 1750 m
Sauna 20 mins
Total
Distance 138.69 miles
Time 24:33:54
Kcal 14722
Elevation 4592 ft
Press-ups 320
Swimming 8000 m
Sauna 2:10 mins
CHARITY HURTS!!
Far less pain today but this evening I am feeling a little light headed from a good effort in the pool and the after effects of dehydration. I'll be sure to drink another couple of glasses of water before bed.
FUNDRAISING
My sponsorship is still at £331 on http://www.virginmoneygiving.com/pitymyfeet. Thank you so much to everyone who has sponsored!!
Feel free to contact me with any fundraising ideas you have. You can email me at:
miffjacobs@hotmail.com
DONATE
Please remember that I'm inflicting all this pain and misery on myself for a cause greater than just having a good story to tell over a beer. I hope to raise over £9,500 for MENCAP; an amazing charity who help those born with learning difficulties to live a normal life and to enjoy the same opportunities and choices that the rest of us take for granted.
Be an awesome human being today and click on the link below and help make someone's life better.
Thank you. You really ARE awesome.
www.virginmoneygiving.com/pitymyfeet
Sunday 13 November 2011
Sunday 13th November 2011
Oh my poor battered knee!!! Ouch!!! My knee hurts. HURTS! Ow!!!! :(
So anyway. No one ever crossed a desert by whining like a baby about a sore knee. Time to get back at it! Grrrrr! Macho posturing aside I couldn't run today because my left knee was really painful and I didn't want to do anything stupid. So instead I got on an eliptical trainer in the gym for 40 minutes. In some ways that in itself is pretty stupid because your legs go like the billy-oh and you don't get anywhere. Still, it burnt about 400 calories (so that's a quarter of breakfast then) and got me sweating pretty good. I'm sure it was incredibly helpful to my training.
Oh, and before I got on the eliptical I accidentally got on this thing where instead of going forwards and backwards your legs go out to the side. I got off it pretty sharpish because I was worried about falling off it. But I saw someone else using it later and sussed out what you did. I tell you what. I reckon it could give you buttocks that would crack a walnut! I might give it a go some other time but for today I played it safe.
After 40 minutes on the eliptical I did some core work on the space hopper and some stretches on the rack then down the pool. I didn't really swim today but I did spend a good 15 minutes in the sauna.
Peace, out!
JUST THE FACTS!!
Weight: 81.1 Kg
Today
Distance 0 miles
Time 0
Kcal 0
Elevation 0 ft
Press-ups 0
Swimming 0 m
Sauna 15 mins
Total
Distance 138.69 miles
Time 24:33:54
Kcal 14722
Elevation 4592 ft
Press-ups 320
Swimming 6250 m
Sauna 2:05 mins
CHARITY HURTS!!
Ow - my left knee hurts! I've been limping along for most of the day but have been sensible and not pushed it too far. Tomorrow is a rest day so I won't do much and hopefully by Tuesday it'll be right as rain!
FUNDRAISING
My sponsorship is now up to £331 on http://www.virginmoneygiving.com/pitymyfeet. Thank you so much to everyone who has sponsored!!
I'm getting a manual treadmill on Tuesday (thank you Ebay!). I intend to use it for fundraising somehow. Anyone have any ideas how??
Feel free to contact me with any fundraising ideas you have. You can email me at:
miffjacobs@hotmail.com
DONATE
Please remember that I'm inflicting all this pain and misery on myself for a cause greater than just having a good story to tell over a beer. I hope to raise over £9,500 for MENCAP; an amazing charity who help those born with learning difficulties to live a normal life and to enjoy the same opportunities and choices that the rest of us take for granted.
Be an awesome human being today and click on the link below and help make someone's life better.
Thank you. You really ARE awesome.
www.virginmoneygiving.com/pitymyfeet
So anyway. No one ever crossed a desert by whining like a baby about a sore knee. Time to get back at it! Grrrrr! Macho posturing aside I couldn't run today because my left knee was really painful and I didn't want to do anything stupid. So instead I got on an eliptical trainer in the gym for 40 minutes. In some ways that in itself is pretty stupid because your legs go like the billy-oh and you don't get anywhere. Still, it burnt about 400 calories (so that's a quarter of breakfast then) and got me sweating pretty good. I'm sure it was incredibly helpful to my training.
Oh, and before I got on the eliptical I accidentally got on this thing where instead of going forwards and backwards your legs go out to the side. I got off it pretty sharpish because I was worried about falling off it. But I saw someone else using it later and sussed out what you did. I tell you what. I reckon it could give you buttocks that would crack a walnut! I might give it a go some other time but for today I played it safe.
After 40 minutes on the eliptical I did some core work on the space hopper and some stretches on the rack then down the pool. I didn't really swim today but I did spend a good 15 minutes in the sauna.
Peace, out!
JUST THE FACTS!!
Weight: 81.1 Kg
Today
Distance 0 miles
Time 0
Kcal 0
Elevation 0 ft
Press-ups 0
Swimming 0 m
Sauna 15 mins
Total
Distance 138.69 miles
Time 24:33:54
Kcal 14722
Elevation 4592 ft
Press-ups 320
Swimming 6250 m
Sauna 2:05 mins
CHARITY HURTS!!
Ow - my left knee hurts! I've been limping along for most of the day but have been sensible and not pushed it too far. Tomorrow is a rest day so I won't do much and hopefully by Tuesday it'll be right as rain!
FUNDRAISING
My sponsorship is now up to £331 on http://www.virginmoneygiving.com/pitymyfeet. Thank you so much to everyone who has sponsored!!
I'm getting a manual treadmill on Tuesday (thank you Ebay!). I intend to use it for fundraising somehow. Anyone have any ideas how??
Feel free to contact me with any fundraising ideas you have. You can email me at:
miffjacobs@hotmail.com
DONATE
Please remember that I'm inflicting all this pain and misery on myself for a cause greater than just having a good story to tell over a beer. I hope to raise over £9,500 for MENCAP; an amazing charity who help those born with learning difficulties to live a normal life and to enjoy the same opportunities and choices that the rest of us take for granted.
Be an awesome human being today and click on the link below and help make someone's life better.
Thank you. You really ARE awesome.
www.virginmoneygiving.com/pitymyfeet
Saturday 12 November 2011
Saturday 12th November 2011 - Long Run 22 miles
Long run day today! Getting up at 5am was a struggle to say the least. I dragged my sorry bum out of bed eventually and was up and at 'em at 6am.
I ran through the dawn along the main road for the first 3 miles. It was surprisingly busy considering the time of day! I got off the main road and headed down some quiet lanes to the canal. It was a beautiful morning! I got to the canal just after dawn and then had a glorious 12 or so miles of soft bouncy canal path to run on until I got to Ellesmere then it was back to the lanes.
I nearly got hit by another car. This one was driven by a young guy (oddly wearing an old man's cap) with his girlfriend in the passenger seat. They were both staring intently into his lap as they bore down on me, oblivious to the fact that the car was veering off the road and directly towards me! I waved my arms like mad and managed to attract their attention in time. The car swerved a bit as the driver corrected his course. I made a hand gesture to indicate how he might better spend his time than delivering death along the back lanes.
I think there must have been a hunt on today as there were many clusters of country folk peering into the fields. I never saw any hounds or horses myself although I did see a fox. It seemed troubled and I suspect it had spotted the same signs I had and knew that it was going to be a tough day.
I tried something new today. I made a video of my run! It's not the most artistic or entertaining thing you'll ever see but if you want a graphic illustration of what 22 miles of running can do to a 41 year old office worker then take a look at the link below.
Video showing physical decline!
Peace, out!
JUST THE FACTS!!
Weight: 81.2 Kg
Today
Distance 22.07 miles
Time 4:09:10
Kcal 2505
Elevation 304 ft
Press-ups 0
Swimming 0 m
Sauna 0 mins
Total
Distance 138.69 miles
Time 24:33:54
Kcal 14722
Elevation 4592 ft
Press-ups 320
Swimming 6250 m
Sauna 1:50 mins
CHARITY HURTS!!
Everything hurts below my waist!!! My shins held up OK given the distance but I am still worried by them. The most obvious physical effect of today is complete exhaustion. After the run I fell back to sleep for two and a half hours and right now it's not even 8:30 in the evening and I could cheerfully go to sleep this instant.
FUNDRAISING
My sponsorship is now up to £331 on http://www.virginmoneygiving.com/pitymyfeet. Thank you so much to everyone who has sponsored!!
Feel free to contact me with any fundraising ideas you have. You can email me at:
miffjacobs@hotmail.com
DONATE
Please remember that I'm inflicting all this pain and misery on myself for a cause greater than just having a good story to tell over a beer. I hope to raise over £9,500 for MENCAP; an amazing charity who help those born with learning difficulties to live a normal life and to enjoy the same opportunities and choices that the rest of us take for granted.
Be an awesome human being today and click on the link below and help make someone's life better.
Thank you. You really ARE awesome.
www.virginmoneygiving.com/pitymyfeet
I ran through the dawn along the main road for the first 3 miles. It was surprisingly busy considering the time of day! I got off the main road and headed down some quiet lanes to the canal. It was a beautiful morning! I got to the canal just after dawn and then had a glorious 12 or so miles of soft bouncy canal path to run on until I got to Ellesmere then it was back to the lanes.
I think there must have been a hunt on today as there were many clusters of country folk peering into the fields. I never saw any hounds or horses myself although I did see a fox. It seemed troubled and I suspect it had spotted the same signs I had and knew that it was going to be a tough day.
I tried something new today. I made a video of my run! It's not the most artistic or entertaining thing you'll ever see but if you want a graphic illustration of what 22 miles of running can do to a 41 year old office worker then take a look at the link below.
Video showing physical decline!
Peace, out!
JUST THE FACTS!!
Weight: 81.2 Kg
Today
Distance 22.07 miles
Time 4:09:10
Kcal 2505
Elevation 304 ft
Press-ups 0
Swimming 0 m
Sauna 0 mins
Total
Distance 138.69 miles
Time 24:33:54
Kcal 14722
Elevation 4592 ft
Press-ups 320
Swimming 6250 m
Sauna 1:50 mins
CHARITY HURTS!!
Everything hurts below my waist!!! My shins held up OK given the distance but I am still worried by them. The most obvious physical effect of today is complete exhaustion. After the run I fell back to sleep for two and a half hours and right now it's not even 8:30 in the evening and I could cheerfully go to sleep this instant.
FUNDRAISING
My sponsorship is now up to £331 on http://www.virginmoneygiving.com/pitymyfeet. Thank you so much to everyone who has sponsored!!
Feel free to contact me with any fundraising ideas you have. You can email me at:
miffjacobs@hotmail.com
DONATE
Please remember that I'm inflicting all this pain and misery on myself for a cause greater than just having a good story to tell over a beer. I hope to raise over £9,500 for MENCAP; an amazing charity who help those born with learning difficulties to live a normal life and to enjoy the same opportunities and choices that the rest of us take for granted.
Be an awesome human being today and click on the link below and help make someone's life better.
Thank you. You really ARE awesome.
www.virginmoneygiving.com/pitymyfeet
Friday 11 November 2011
Friday 11th November 2011
Armistice Day. I think everyone's thoughts are on greater things today. The fallen. They have my respect and my gratitude. May their souls rest in peace.
It seems inadequate to publish a running blog on this day of days but I will maintain my post-a-day record with a description of today's training.
Having woken up in the night with a sore shin I decided to err on the side of caution this morning and go swimming instead of running. So I hit the gym at 6:30 and put in a decent 60 lengths and some spells in the, newly repaired, sauna too. Swimming is lovely exercise and I'd like to do a lot more of it but the book I'm reading now (Relentless Forward Progress - A guide to ultramarathons) talks endlessly about "specificity of training". Which basically means that to train for a running event, I need to run!! Makes sense I guess.
But the swimming was fun and it took my total swimming distance to over 6 Km which is pretty tidy if you ask me :)
I snuck out for a late lunchtime run. Just a trot around the lanes. It was an enjoyable run up until the point that someone nearly ran me down. I was passing a turning down to a farm and behind me I could hear a vehicle. I turned to see a landrover with a trailer some way back. As I carried on I heard it accellerate quite sharply and I thought it a bit reckless because it's quite a narrow lane but with the turning just in front of me I knew I could cut into there to make room for him to pass.
Anyway, the vehicle and I both reached the turning at the same time. It was now going quite fast. Suddenly, to my shock, it swung sharply left and turned into the lane. I had to come to an immediate halt and if I had lost my balance I'd have gone under it's wheels. As it was the body of the trailer missed my head by just a few inches. Unreal. I ran off with imaginative thoughts of revenge but by the time I'd got back to the flat I was pretty calm about it and limited myself to posting a Specsavers advert on Facebook and leaving it at that.
All told a quiet day today. Ready for a long one early tomorrow morning.
Peace, out!
JUST THE FACTS!!
Weight: 81.2 Kg
TODAY
Distance 3.06 miles
Time 0:28:10
Kcal 342
Elevation 314 ft
Press-ups 0
Swimming 1500 m
Sauna 20 mins
TOTAL
Distance 116.62 miles
Time 20:24:44
Kcal 12217
Elevation 4288ft
Press-ups 320
Swimming 6250 m
Sauna 1:50 mins
CHARITY HURTS!!
Oh no!!! My left shin hurts. I'm hoping it's not the dreaded splints. I'll take it easy today and tomorrow's long run will be pitifully slow. I've got plenty of Deep Heat on it now and if I can eek it out until payday I'll have a swish new pair of trail shoes to protect it. :)
FUNDRAISING
My sponsorship is now up to £331 on http://www.virginmoneygiving.com/pitymyfeet. Thank you so much to everyone who has sponsored!!
I heard today that Mencap have dispatched my fundraising pack so I should have posters and other materials soon. I'm slightly dispirited though after phoning Wrexham and Shropshire councils to apply for street collection licenses. I had hoped to get out in the Christmas crowds and liberate a few pennies for a good cause but the process is a lot more time consuming that I anticipated. Certainly
within Shropshire I cannot even apply for a permit for 2011. I have to go into a ballot with all the charities looking to collect in 2012. The lady I need to speak to in Wrexham will not be back until
Monday but I fear the process will be the same. I may need to re-think this element of my fundraising plan.
Feel free to contact me with any fundraising ideas you have. You can email me at:
miffjacobs@hotmail.com
DONATE
Please remember that I'm inflicting all this pain and misery on myself for a cause greater than just having a good story to tell over a beer. I hope to raise over £9,500 for MENCAP; an amazing charity who help those born with learning difficulties to live a normal life and to enjoy the same opportunities and choices that the rest of us take for granted.
Be an awesome human being today and click on the link below and help make someone's life better.
Thank you. You really ARE awesome.
www.virginmoneygiving.com/pitymyfeet
It seems inadequate to publish a running blog on this day of days but I will maintain my post-a-day record with a description of today's training.
Having woken up in the night with a sore shin I decided to err on the side of caution this morning and go swimming instead of running. So I hit the gym at 6:30 and put in a decent 60 lengths and some spells in the, newly repaired, sauna too. Swimming is lovely exercise and I'd like to do a lot more of it but the book I'm reading now (Relentless Forward Progress - A guide to ultramarathons) talks endlessly about "specificity of training". Which basically means that to train for a running event, I need to run!! Makes sense I guess.
But the swimming was fun and it took my total swimming distance to over 6 Km which is pretty tidy if you ask me :)
I snuck out for a late lunchtime run. Just a trot around the lanes. It was an enjoyable run up until the point that someone nearly ran me down. I was passing a turning down to a farm and behind me I could hear a vehicle. I turned to see a landrover with a trailer some way back. As I carried on I heard it accellerate quite sharply and I thought it a bit reckless because it's quite a narrow lane but with the turning just in front of me I knew I could cut into there to make room for him to pass.
Anyway, the vehicle and I both reached the turning at the same time. It was now going quite fast. Suddenly, to my shock, it swung sharply left and turned into the lane. I had to come to an immediate halt and if I had lost my balance I'd have gone under it's wheels. As it was the body of the trailer missed my head by just a few inches. Unreal. I ran off with imaginative thoughts of revenge but by the time I'd got back to the flat I was pretty calm about it and limited myself to posting a Specsavers advert on Facebook and leaving it at that.
All told a quiet day today. Ready for a long one early tomorrow morning.
Peace, out!
JUST THE FACTS!!
Weight: 81.2 Kg
TODAY
Distance 3.06 miles
Time 0:28:10
Kcal 342
Elevation 314 ft
Press-ups 0
Swimming 1500 m
Sauna 20 mins
TOTAL
Distance 116.62 miles
Time 20:24:44
Kcal 12217
Elevation 4288ft
Press-ups 320
Swimming 6250 m
Sauna 1:50 mins
CHARITY HURTS!!
Oh no!!! My left shin hurts. I'm hoping it's not the dreaded splints. I'll take it easy today and tomorrow's long run will be pitifully slow. I've got plenty of Deep Heat on it now and if I can eek it out until payday I'll have a swish new pair of trail shoes to protect it. :)
FUNDRAISING
My sponsorship is now up to £331 on http://www.virginmoneygiving.com/pitymyfeet. Thank you so much to everyone who has sponsored!!
I heard today that Mencap have dispatched my fundraising pack so I should have posters and other materials soon. I'm slightly dispirited though after phoning Wrexham and Shropshire councils to apply for street collection licenses. I had hoped to get out in the Christmas crowds and liberate a few pennies for a good cause but the process is a lot more time consuming that I anticipated. Certainly
within Shropshire I cannot even apply for a permit for 2011. I have to go into a ballot with all the charities looking to collect in 2012. The lady I need to speak to in Wrexham will not be back until
Monday but I fear the process will be the same. I may need to re-think this element of my fundraising plan.
Feel free to contact me with any fundraising ideas you have. You can email me at:
miffjacobs@hotmail.com
DONATE
Please remember that I'm inflicting all this pain and misery on myself for a cause greater than just having a good story to tell over a beer. I hope to raise over £9,500 for MENCAP; an amazing charity who help those born with learning difficulties to live a normal life and to enjoy the same opportunities and choices that the rest of us take for granted.
Be an awesome human being today and click on the link below and help make someone's life better.
Thank you. You really ARE awesome.
www.virginmoneygiving.com/pitymyfeet
Thursday 10 November 2011
Thursday 10th November 2011
Back to it today after a rest yesterday. I put in a few press-ups during the day, in batches of 20 so nothing too strenuous; although I did reach 100 on the day which is a first for me. Then just before dusk I set out for a decent 8 miler. I felt a bit slow and sluggish to be honest and ran most of the way with stitch and stomach ache. Fortunately gastric discomfort didn't turn into gastric disfunction so nothing too horrible to report.
It's a lovely evening out there though. As it got dark a beautiful red full moon rose and gradually brightened. The kind of moon that makes guys with eyebrows like mine wonder where the hell I'm going to wake up tomorrow. I ran the same route as Tuesday evening (with a tiny bit added to take it over the 8 mile mark). Tonight though I ran it the other way around so that I would go past the creepy woods in the daylight. I know. What a tart.
I'm bowled over though by how beautiful a night it is. I barely needed my head torch even when it got fully dark as the moon reflected off the wet surface of the lanes and made them sparkle. I cast a clear shadow behind me as I ran to the light. At one point I ran under the lee of a small hill and there were some cows on top of the hill, silhouetted perfectly against the full moon. A really stirring site until a moth flew into my teeth - yik yik yik. Oh and I got buzzed by a bat in the same place as one buzzed me a few nights ago. The romantic in me thinks it's the same bat.
I didn't have my camera so I had to download this picture of a full moon to illustrate how pretty it was tonight. I'd love to know where they found this tiny little dog though. When you look at the moon it isn't really very big. You'd think a dog sitting in front would obscure it. But not this tiny bonzai dog!
I kept my average pace at 10:22 and my HR at 140 is satisfactory. I need to keep in this good slow range to avoid injury.
Peace, out!
JUST THE FACTS!!
Weight: 81.2 Kg
TODAY
Distance 8.05 miles
Time 1:23:30
Kcal 974
Elevation 242 ft
Press-ups 100
Swimming 0 m
Sauna 0 mins
TOTAL
Distance 113.56 miles
Time 19:56:34
Kcal 11875
Elevation 3974 ft
Press-ups 320
Swimming 4750 m
Sauna 1:30 mins
CHARITY HURTS!!
Pain in my upper, outer, left thigh. Quite a localised sharp pain so I think I have torn some muscle there. My stomach was a problem through the run but I think I probably ate too much bread today as
that usually makes me poorly.
FUNDRAISING
My sponsorship is now up to £331 on http://www.virginmoneygiving.com/pitymyfeet. Thank you so much to everyone who has sponsored!!
I paid over my £500 race fees today and I can expect my fundraising materials to arrive early next week. Then I can plan how to accelerate my fundraising to reach the magic £9,500 I need!
Feel free to contact me with any fundraising ideas you have. You can email me at:
miffjacobs@hotmail.com
DONATE
Please remember that I'm inflicting all this pain and misery on myself for a cause greater than just having a good story to tell over a beer. I hope to raise over £9,500 for MENCAP; an amazing charity who help those born with learning difficulties to live a normal life and to enjoy the same opportunities and choices that the rest of us take for granted.
Be an awesome human being today and click on the link below and help make someone's life better.
Thank you. You really ARE awesome.
www.virginmoneygiving.com/pitymyfeet
It's a lovely evening out there though. As it got dark a beautiful red full moon rose and gradually brightened. The kind of moon that makes guys with eyebrows like mine wonder where the hell I'm going to wake up tomorrow. I ran the same route as Tuesday evening (with a tiny bit added to take it over the 8 mile mark). Tonight though I ran it the other way around so that I would go past the creepy woods in the daylight. I know. What a tart.
I'm bowled over though by how beautiful a night it is. I barely needed my head torch even when it got fully dark as the moon reflected off the wet surface of the lanes and made them sparkle. I cast a clear shadow behind me as I ran to the light. At one point I ran under the lee of a small hill and there were some cows on top of the hill, silhouetted perfectly against the full moon. A really stirring site until a moth flew into my teeth - yik yik yik. Oh and I got buzzed by a bat in the same place as one buzzed me a few nights ago. The romantic in me thinks it's the same bat.
I didn't have my camera so I had to download this picture of a full moon to illustrate how pretty it was tonight. I'd love to know where they found this tiny little dog though. When you look at the moon it isn't really very big. You'd think a dog sitting in front would obscure it. But not this tiny bonzai dog!
I kept my average pace at 10:22 and my HR at 140 is satisfactory. I need to keep in this good slow range to avoid injury.
Peace, out!
JUST THE FACTS!!
Weight: 81.2 Kg
TODAY
Distance 8.05 miles
Time 1:23:30
Kcal 974
Elevation 242 ft
Press-ups 100
Swimming 0 m
Sauna 0 mins
TOTAL
Distance 113.56 miles
Time 19:56:34
Kcal 11875
Elevation 3974 ft
Press-ups 320
Swimming 4750 m
Sauna 1:30 mins
CHARITY HURTS!!
Pain in my upper, outer, left thigh. Quite a localised sharp pain so I think I have torn some muscle there. My stomach was a problem through the run but I think I probably ate too much bread today as
that usually makes me poorly.
FUNDRAISING
My sponsorship is now up to £331 on http://www.virginmoneygiving.com/pitymyfeet. Thank you so much to everyone who has sponsored!!
I paid over my £500 race fees today and I can expect my fundraising materials to arrive early next week. Then I can plan how to accelerate my fundraising to reach the magic £9,500 I need!
Feel free to contact me with any fundraising ideas you have. You can email me at:
miffjacobs@hotmail.com
DONATE
Please remember that I'm inflicting all this pain and misery on myself for a cause greater than just having a good story to tell over a beer. I hope to raise over £9,500 for MENCAP; an amazing charity who help those born with learning difficulties to live a normal life and to enjoy the same opportunities and choices that the rest of us take for granted.
Be an awesome human being today and click on the link below and help make someone's life better.
Thank you. You really ARE awesome.
www.virginmoneygiving.com/pitymyfeet
Wednesday 9th November 2011 - Review - Born to Run
Today was a rest day. Not really a scheduled one but I had to get up at 4:30 for a train to London for a work conference and I didn't get back into the flat until 10pm. Naturally I felt a little reluctant to don my trainers and head torch and hit the lanes! I guess I could have done some exercises in the flat but to be honest I was goosed and went to bed without having done a thing towards my training; and not even feeling that bad about it!
Instead though, just to maintain my record of having a posting to cover every day of training I have decided to write a little book review of another book I read recently.
The book is called "Born to Run" by Chris McDougall. On the surface it tells the true story of the author's search for an obscure community in Mexico's drug belt who maintain a lifestyle of constant distance running. He tracks them down via a search for the mysterious Caballo Blanco (The White Horse) who is an American who has been accepted into the community. This tribe, the Tarahumara, eschew contact with the outside world and yet contain some of the world's best ultra-distance runners.
He eventually tracks down the Tarahumara, and Caballo Blanco and tells of Blanco's attempts to stage a 50 mile race between the western world's greatest runners and the Tarahumara. It is a good story and is well told but there is a second story being told in this book; and that is the story of mankind's relationship with running through our evolutionary history.
McDougal presents a thesis that the adaptations that made us evolve into who we are today were all brought about because we adapted to running whereas our rivals were all adapated to walking. This allowed us to have greater success in the hunt and the protein rich diet we enjoyed fuelled the incredible growth of our brains. He makes a powerful case that humans were indeed born to run.
I thoroughly enjoyed the book although my main complaint is that the picture painted of both Caballo Blanco and the Tarahumara at the beginning of the book is almost supernatural, but when you get to the end of the book you sense that this community is not as isolated as first described. Indeed you find that the elusive and mysterious Caballo lives within a short walk from a bus stop; which begs the question of why the author walked for three days through the jungle to find him in the
first place!
Also, one of the characters, Jenn shelton, later criticised the book for painting too romantic a picture of the Tarahumara. A community, she says, who struggle with desperate poverty.
Those criticisms notwithstanding though I really enjoyed the book and would encourage anyone interested in running, in particular long distance running, to read it.
As for me.... well I'm a long way from the Tarahumara! I enjoyed my rest day but am itching to get back on the road. Seven miles planned for later.
Peace, out!
JUST THE FACTS!!
Weight: 81.2 Kg
Today
Distance 0 miles
Time 0
Kcal 0
Elevation 0 ft
Press-ups 0
Swimming 0 m
Sauna 0 mins
Total
Distance 105.51 miles
Time 18:33:04
Kcal 10901
Elevation 3732 ft
Press-ups 220
Swimming 4750 m
Sauna 1:30 mins
CHARITY HURTS!!
I felt really tired yesterday (Wednesday). Not too much pain apart from my calves but a general fatigue and a feeling that I'm on the verge of surrendering to a cold.
FUNDRAISING
I'm up to £311 on my sponsorship page (www.virginmoneygiving.com/pitymyfeet). Thank you to everyone who has sponsored so far. Please head over to my Virgin Money Giving page and help Mencap with their fantastic work. I truly appreciate it.
The ads on the side have been taken down by google as they thought I was running a scam! I've 'appealed' and hopefully I'll get them back but I won't know for a week or two. Thanks to everyone who supported the advertisers while they were here. I'm sure they appreciated it more than Google seems to have done!
DONATE
Please remember that I'm inflicting all this pain and misery on myself for a cause greater than just having a good story to tell over a beer. I hope to raise over £9,500 for MENCAP; an amazing charity who help those born with learning difficulties to live a normal life and to enjoy the same opportunities and choices that the rest of us take for granted.
Be an awesome human being today and click on the link below and help make someone's life better.
Thank you. You really ARE awesome.
www.virginmoneygiving.com/pitymyfeet
Instead though, just to maintain my record of having a posting to cover every day of training I have decided to write a little book review of another book I read recently.
The book is called "Born to Run" by Chris McDougall. On the surface it tells the true story of the author's search for an obscure community in Mexico's drug belt who maintain a lifestyle of constant distance running. He tracks them down via a search for the mysterious Caballo Blanco (The White Horse) who is an American who has been accepted into the community. This tribe, the Tarahumara, eschew contact with the outside world and yet contain some of the world's best ultra-distance runners.
He eventually tracks down the Tarahumara, and Caballo Blanco and tells of Blanco's attempts to stage a 50 mile race between the western world's greatest runners and the Tarahumara. It is a good story and is well told but there is a second story being told in this book; and that is the story of mankind's relationship with running through our evolutionary history.
McDougal presents a thesis that the adaptations that made us evolve into who we are today were all brought about because we adapted to running whereas our rivals were all adapated to walking. This allowed us to have greater success in the hunt and the protein rich diet we enjoyed fuelled the incredible growth of our brains. He makes a powerful case that humans were indeed born to run.
I thoroughly enjoyed the book although my main complaint is that the picture painted of both Caballo Blanco and the Tarahumara at the beginning of the book is almost supernatural, but when you get to the end of the book you sense that this community is not as isolated as first described. Indeed you find that the elusive and mysterious Caballo lives within a short walk from a bus stop; which begs the question of why the author walked for three days through the jungle to find him in the
first place!
Also, one of the characters, Jenn shelton, later criticised the book for painting too romantic a picture of the Tarahumara. A community, she says, who struggle with desperate poverty.
Those criticisms notwithstanding though I really enjoyed the book and would encourage anyone interested in running, in particular long distance running, to read it.
As for me.... well I'm a long way from the Tarahumara! I enjoyed my rest day but am itching to get back on the road. Seven miles planned for later.
Peace, out!
JUST THE FACTS!!
Weight: 81.2 Kg
Today
Distance 0 miles
Time 0
Kcal 0
Elevation 0 ft
Press-ups 0
Swimming 0 m
Sauna 0 mins
Total
Distance 105.51 miles
Time 18:33:04
Kcal 10901
Elevation 3732 ft
Press-ups 220
Swimming 4750 m
Sauna 1:30 mins
CHARITY HURTS!!
I felt really tired yesterday (Wednesday). Not too much pain apart from my calves but a general fatigue and a feeling that I'm on the verge of surrendering to a cold.
FUNDRAISING
I'm up to £311 on my sponsorship page (www.virginmoneygiving.com/pitymyfeet). Thank you to everyone who has sponsored so far. Please head over to my Virgin Money Giving page and help Mencap with their fantastic work. I truly appreciate it.
The ads on the side have been taken down by google as they thought I was running a scam! I've 'appealed' and hopefully I'll get them back but I won't know for a week or two. Thanks to everyone who supported the advertisers while they were here. I'm sure they appreciated it more than Google seems to have done!
DONATE
Please remember that I'm inflicting all this pain and misery on myself for a cause greater than just having a good story to tell over a beer. I hope to raise over £9,500 for MENCAP; an amazing charity who help those born with learning difficulties to live a normal life and to enjoy the same opportunities and choices that the rest of us take for granted.
Be an awesome human being today and click on the link below and help make someone's life better.
Thank you. You really ARE awesome.
www.virginmoneygiving.com/pitymyfeet
Tuesday 8 November 2011
Tuesday 8th November 2011
Well the alarm went off at 5am but I didn't. I went on. Sleeping. Overslept by 2.5 hours and got up too late to go for a run before starting work. Oh well, they do say you should listen to your body and mine was clearly saying "shhhhh go back to sleeeeeeeep". So I did.
I'm working from home today and I threw in some core work and some press-ups each time I went to put the kettle on so that ticked up my stats a little.
This evening I went out for a run, slightly longer than I would have done this morning but a good one all the same. I went a different route and made one fundamental miscalculation. Several of the steep uphill sections coincided with the road running past or through dense, dark woodland. Now I'm not easily spooked but I get really creeped out by woods at night time. Especially when they sound like they are crawling with wildlife like they were tonight!! The upshot of this was that I not only ran up the hills but I ran faster than I did anywhere else on the route!! So not perfect and I'm paying for it slightly now with sore thighs and calves.
Of course the irony of me getting spooked in the dark is that I was almost certainly the most scary thing there, as this picture proves!
On the bright side I've levelled up!! Since starting my training I have now run over 100 miles and burned over 10,000 calories from running alone.
JUST THE FACTS!!
Weight: 81.2 Kg
Today
Distance 7.98 miles
Time 1:19:02
Kcal 957
Elevation 196 ft
Press-ups 60
Swimming 0 m
Sauna 0 mins
Total
Distance 105.51 miles
Time 18:33:04
Kcal 10901
Elevation 3732 ft
Press-ups 220
Swimming 4750 m
Sauna 1:30 mins
CHARITY HURTS!!
Sore thighs tonight, particularly the left. Also some pain still in my calves (both). Other than that I feel pretty good! My toes are holding up nicely and no blisters so far.
FUNDRAISING
I'm up to £311 on my sponsorship page (www.virginmoneygiving.com/pitymyfeet) and the ad click revenue from here is up to £94.04!! Thank you to everyone who clicks the ads.
Every click brings in a little money so if you just click a few ads a day it will all mount up through my training and every penny goes to Mencap.
DONATE
Please remember that I'm inflicting all this pain and misery on myself for a cause greater than just having a good story to tell over a beer. I hope to raise over £9,500 for MENCAP; an amazing charity who help those born with learning difficulties to live a normal life and to enjoy the same opportunities and choices that the rest of us take for granted.
Be an awesome human being today and click on the link below and help make someone's life better.
Thank you. You really ARE awesome.
www.virginmoneygiving.com/pitymyfeet
I'm working from home today and I threw in some core work and some press-ups each time I went to put the kettle on so that ticked up my stats a little.
This evening I went out for a run, slightly longer than I would have done this morning but a good one all the same. I went a different route and made one fundamental miscalculation. Several of the steep uphill sections coincided with the road running past or through dense, dark woodland. Now I'm not easily spooked but I get really creeped out by woods at night time. Especially when they sound like they are crawling with wildlife like they were tonight!! The upshot of this was that I not only ran up the hills but I ran faster than I did anywhere else on the route!! So not perfect and I'm paying for it slightly now with sore thighs and calves.
Of course the irony of me getting spooked in the dark is that I was almost certainly the most scary thing there, as this picture proves!
On the bright side I've levelled up!! Since starting my training I have now run over 100 miles and burned over 10,000 calories from running alone.
JUST THE FACTS!!
Weight: 81.2 Kg
Today
Distance 7.98 miles
Time 1:19:02
Kcal 957
Elevation 196 ft
Press-ups 60
Swimming 0 m
Sauna 0 mins
Total
Distance 105.51 miles
Time 18:33:04
Kcal 10901
Elevation 3732 ft
Press-ups 220
Swimming 4750 m
Sauna 1:30 mins
CHARITY HURTS!!
Sore thighs tonight, particularly the left. Also some pain still in my calves (both). Other than that I feel pretty good! My toes are holding up nicely and no blisters so far.
FUNDRAISING
I'm up to £311 on my sponsorship page (www.virginmoneygiving.com/pitymyfeet) and the ad click revenue from here is up to £94.04!! Thank you to everyone who clicks the ads.
Every click brings in a little money so if you just click a few ads a day it will all mount up through my training and every penny goes to Mencap.
DONATE
Please remember that I'm inflicting all this pain and misery on myself for a cause greater than just having a good story to tell over a beer. I hope to raise over £9,500 for MENCAP; an amazing charity who help those born with learning difficulties to live a normal life and to enjoy the same opportunities and choices that the rest of us take for granted.
Be an awesome human being today and click on the link below and help make someone's life better.
Thank you. You really ARE awesome.
www.virginmoneygiving.com/pitymyfeet
Monday 7 November 2011
Monday 7th November 2011
Eeesh - I didn't enjoy the 5am alarm this morning! I was very tired and docile and didn't make it out of the door until 6am. Cursing myself for being slow and thinking that had I intended to leave at 6am I'd have set the alarm for 5:30 and got an extra half hour's sleep!!
Anyway, I did get out the door and that's what counts. I left in pitch darkness and got back in daylight having run 6.4 miles through a dawn which seemed to arrive from nowhere. It was a beautiful morning, clear skies with a sharp ground frost and some patchy fog to run through. I was running under trees, in thick fog and darkness and a car came towards me on high beam... the car passed just at the moment that I broke from the trees, and out of the fog, and into daylight! Very odd but the sudden appearance of dawn gave me a boost. And it allowed me to remove my head torch which is always psychologically uplifting! I wished I'd taken my camera because once the daylight had arrived there were many beautiful moments.
As for the running - smooth and easy but COLD!!! I need a better hat (my snoopy beanie just isn't warm enough and doesn't cover my ears!). I also need some warmer gloves and something to keep my neck warm. Don't say a snood because I'd rather be cold. Generally I was freezing the whole way around although it was worse when I walked up the hills and my HR dropped a little.
Later in the day I treated myself to a cool 50 lengths in the pool and a hot 15 minutes in the steam room!
JUST THE FACTS!!
Weight: 81.2 Kg
Today
Distance 6.42 miles
Time 1:05:07
Kcal 658
Elevation 369 ft
Press-ups 80
Swimming 1250 m
Sauna 15 mins
Total
Distance 97.53 miles
Time 17:14:02
Kcal 9944
Elevation 3536 ft
Press-ups 160
Swimming 4750 m
Sauna 1:30 mins
CHARITY HURTS!!
OK.... so it might not sound like the worst thing that could happen to me but anyone who has cut (no.... sliced!!) their thumb on a can lid will know how much it hurts. I don't care if it only looks like a scratch it bled like mad and it's right on the bendy bit of my thumb which means it hurts even more than if it were somewhere else. Apart from that, well sore calves again and a bit of back ache after yesterday's core workout. Oh and an ugly spot on my nose which hurts my vanity.
FUNDRAISING
I'm up to £296 on my sponsorship page (www.virginmoneygiving.com/pitymyfeet) and the ad click revenue from here is up to £82.94!! Thank you to everyone who clicks the ads. Every click brings in a little money so if you just click a few ads a day it will all mount up through my training and every penny goes to Mencap.
DONATE
Please remember that I'm inflicting all this pain and misery on myself for a cause greater than just having a good story to tell over a beer. I hope to raise over £9,500 for MENCAP; an amazing charity who help those born with learning difficulties to live a normal life and to enjoy the same opportunities and choices that the rest of us take for granted.
Be an awesome human being today and click on the link below and help make someone's life better.
Thank you. You really ARE awesome.
www.virginmoneygiving.com/pitymyfeet
Anyway, I did get out the door and that's what counts. I left in pitch darkness and got back in daylight having run 6.4 miles through a dawn which seemed to arrive from nowhere. It was a beautiful morning, clear skies with a sharp ground frost and some patchy fog to run through. I was running under trees, in thick fog and darkness and a car came towards me on high beam... the car passed just at the moment that I broke from the trees, and out of the fog, and into daylight! Very odd but the sudden appearance of dawn gave me a boost. And it allowed me to remove my head torch which is always psychologically uplifting! I wished I'd taken my camera because once the daylight had arrived there were many beautiful moments.
As for the running - smooth and easy but COLD!!! I need a better hat (my snoopy beanie just isn't warm enough and doesn't cover my ears!). I also need some warmer gloves and something to keep my neck warm. Don't say a snood because I'd rather be cold. Generally I was freezing the whole way around although it was worse when I walked up the hills and my HR dropped a little.
Later in the day I treated myself to a cool 50 lengths in the pool and a hot 15 minutes in the steam room!
JUST THE FACTS!!
Weight: 81.2 Kg
Today
Distance 6.42 miles
Time 1:05:07
Kcal 658
Elevation 369 ft
Press-ups 80
Swimming 1250 m
Sauna 15 mins
Total
Distance 97.53 miles
Time 17:14:02
Kcal 9944
Elevation 3536 ft
Press-ups 160
Swimming 4750 m
Sauna 1:30 mins
CHARITY HURTS!!
OK.... so it might not sound like the worst thing that could happen to me but anyone who has cut (no.... sliced!!) their thumb on a can lid will know how much it hurts. I don't care if it only looks like a scratch it bled like mad and it's right on the bendy bit of my thumb which means it hurts even more than if it were somewhere else. Apart from that, well sore calves again and a bit of back ache after yesterday's core workout. Oh and an ugly spot on my nose which hurts my vanity.
FUNDRAISING
I'm up to £296 on my sponsorship page (www.virginmoneygiving.com/pitymyfeet) and the ad click revenue from here is up to £82.94!! Thank you to everyone who clicks the ads. Every click brings in a little money so if you just click a few ads a day it will all mount up through my training and every penny goes to Mencap.
DONATE
Please remember that I'm inflicting all this pain and misery on myself for a cause greater than just having a good story to tell over a beer. I hope to raise over £9,500 for MENCAP; an amazing charity who help those born with learning difficulties to live a normal life and to enjoy the same opportunities and choices that the rest of us take for granted.
Be an awesome human being today and click on the link below and help make someone's life better.
Thank you. You really ARE awesome.
www.virginmoneygiving.com/pitymyfeet
Sunday 6 November 2011
Sunday 6th November 2011
Very tired today! I think the effects of some interrupted sleep, a 19 mile training run, and some heavy partying at the Katy Perry concert had taken it's toll by morning. Also I ate a hotel fry-up to start the day even though I know that they always make me feel heavy and sluggish. So most of the day I have been a sedentary lump, but I did manage a trip to the gym.
I did 20 minutes on a cross-trainer (one of those things with the arms that move in and out as your feet make a running motion without ever leaving the pads). That was good and it got me sweating and took my HR to about 130 which is decent fat burning territory. Then I did some stretches and some core work. Wobbling about once more on the space hopper. I used a new device for me that I can't find the words to describe. Essentially it is two vertical ropes attached to weights and what I did was grab one of the ropes and rotate my torso in such a way as to lift the weight and work some muscles in my stomach. I'm not sure what good it did my stomach but it made me feel good to play with some new kit!
I spent 20 minutes in the steam room today and felt a little benefit from previous sessions as I was able to stay in there the extra five minutes more than previously.
Finished the evening off with 4 lots of 20 press-ups (to work off that fry-up and the sherry trifle I had for tea!!).
Back to running in the morning. Alarm set for 5am. Gulp!
JUST THE FACTS!!
Weight: 81.2 Kg
Today
Distance 0 miles
Time 0:00:00
Kcal 0
Elevation 0 ft
Press-ups 80
Swimming 0 m
Sauna 20 mins
Total
Distance 91.11 miles
Time 16:08:55
Kcal 9286
Elevation 3167 ft
Press-ups 160
Swimming 3500 m
Sauna 1:15 mins
CHARITY HURTS!!
Nothing really hurts today surprisingly after the long run yesterday! Those ice baths are working miracles. However I am really tired and slightly grouchy. Does that count as an injury? I guess so. I've pulled a muscle in my "positive mental attitude"!! Oh and I have a headache but I think that's just because it's Monday tomorrow.
FUNDRAISING
I'm up to £296 on my sponsorship page (www.virginmoneygiving.com/pitymyfeet) and the ad click revenue from here is up to £77.21!! Thank you to everyone who clicks the ads. Every click brings in a little money so if you just click a few ads a day it will all mount up through my training and every penny goes to Mencap.
DONATE
Please remember that I'm inflicting all this pain and misery on myself for a cause greater than just having a good story to tell over a beer. I hope to raise over £9,500 for MENCAP; an amazing charity who help those born with learning difficulties to live a normal life and to enjoy the same opportunities and choices that the rest of us take for granted.
Be an awesome human being today and click on the link below and help make someone's life better.
Thank you. You really ARE awesome.
www.virginmoneygiving.com/pitymyfeet
I did 20 minutes on a cross-trainer (one of those things with the arms that move in and out as your feet make a running motion without ever leaving the pads). That was good and it got me sweating and took my HR to about 130 which is decent fat burning territory. Then I did some stretches and some core work. Wobbling about once more on the space hopper. I used a new device for me that I can't find the words to describe. Essentially it is two vertical ropes attached to weights and what I did was grab one of the ropes and rotate my torso in such a way as to lift the weight and work some muscles in my stomach. I'm not sure what good it did my stomach but it made me feel good to play with some new kit!
I spent 20 minutes in the steam room today and felt a little benefit from previous sessions as I was able to stay in there the extra five minutes more than previously.
Finished the evening off with 4 lots of 20 press-ups (to work off that fry-up and the sherry trifle I had for tea!!).
Back to running in the morning. Alarm set for 5am. Gulp!
JUST THE FACTS!!
Weight: 81.2 Kg
Today
Distance 0 miles
Time 0:00:00
Kcal 0
Elevation 0 ft
Press-ups 80
Swimming 0 m
Sauna 20 mins
Total
Distance 91.11 miles
Time 16:08:55
Kcal 9286
Elevation 3167 ft
Press-ups 160
Swimming 3500 m
Sauna 1:15 mins
CHARITY HURTS!!
Nothing really hurts today surprisingly after the long run yesterday! Those ice baths are working miracles. However I am really tired and slightly grouchy. Does that count as an injury? I guess so. I've pulled a muscle in my "positive mental attitude"!! Oh and I have a headache but I think that's just because it's Monday tomorrow.
FUNDRAISING
I'm up to £296 on my sponsorship page (www.virginmoneygiving.com/pitymyfeet) and the ad click revenue from here is up to £77.21!! Thank you to everyone who clicks the ads. Every click brings in a little money so if you just click a few ads a day it will all mount up through my training and every penny goes to Mencap.
DONATE
Please remember that I'm inflicting all this pain and misery on myself for a cause greater than just having a good story to tell over a beer. I hope to raise over £9,500 for MENCAP; an amazing charity who help those born with learning difficulties to live a normal life and to enjoy the same opportunities and choices that the rest of us take for granted.
Be an awesome human being today and click on the link below and help make someone's life better.
Thank you. You really ARE awesome.
www.virginmoneygiving.com/pitymyfeet
Saturday 5 November 2011
Saturday 5th November 2011
Up at 5am and out of the door at 6. Feeling exhausted and nauseas having force fed myself a bowl of Fruit and Fibre at 5:30. I never normally eat until I've been up for hours but I figured I might need a little sugar in my blood.
I was tooled up for the run with my Snoopy buff, my head torch, and my swish new bottle carrying belt. I need to get used to running with a belt (and soon I'll add a pack to the mix - but not yet). I
want to see where it rubs me on long runs so that when I get to the desert I can tape all the problem areas and hopefully avoid the skin breaking. Anyway, today it rubbed me around the fat bit of my waste (which hopefully won't be there anymore come April!). But it didn't rub me much and by far the bigger problem is still the strap of my HR monitor which leaves me with a near permanent red line around my torso.
So I headed out down the lanes. Very quiet this morning. The odd cat standing sentinel in the hedgerows but no menacing cows, horses or badgers. I have a vague fear of badgers. I think they have sharp teeth. Do they bite? I hope not. I'd really hate to be bitten by a badger I bet it would hurt like the devil.
The sun came up at about mile 5 and I could put the head torch away and watch the dawn. There was a spell where I could hear both the chattering of birds saying "wakey wakey" and the hooting of owls saying "nite nite".
I ran a long route to the canal at Ellesmere then went off road for a little way to work the stabilisers a bit more than normal. It was a good run although I had to add a demoralising extra bit at the end to bring it up to 19 miles. Even though I ran right past my door I couldn't bare to finish at 18.6 miles when I had intended to run 19. Is that a bad sign or a good one?
Finished with an ice bath, some ibuprofen, and a lovely hot cup of tea :)
Tonight I intend two hours of cross training with Grace. We'll be dancing our butts off at a Katy Perry concert!
JUST THE FACTS!!
Weight: 81.2 Kg
Today
Distance 19 miles
Time 3:27:57
Kcal 2042
Elevation 681 ft
Press-ups 0
Swimming 0 m
Sauna 0 mins
Total
Distance 91.11 miles
Time 16:08:55
Kcal 9286
Elevation 3167 ft
Press-ups 80
Swimming 3500 m
Sauna 55 mins
CHARITY HURTS!!
Sore today!!! My toes are killing me and I had to attack them with scissors after my bath to take off as much nail as I could. Lots of pain in my right thigh during the up-hills (hence the ibuprofen).
Very sore skin erm... anyway, let's just say that wherever clothing rubs skin I have rubbed a little too much skin. Nurse! Time for my savlon rub.... ;)
FUNDRAISING
Thank you to everyone who has sponsored me so far. My current total is £286 on the Virgin Money Giving site and my Adsense revenue is now an amazing £70.29 - THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!! Please keep clicking on the ads and supporting the sponsors because every click helps raise more money for Mencap.
DONATE
Please remember that I'm inflicting all this pain and misery on myself for a cause greater than just having a good story to tell over a beer. I hope to raise over £9,500 for MENCAP; an amazing
charity who help those born with learning difficulties to live a normal life and to enjoy the same opportunities and choices that the rest of us take for granted.
Be an awesome human being today and click on the link below and help make someone's life better.
Thank you. You really ARE awesome.
www.virginmoneygiving.com/pitymyfeet
I was tooled up for the run with my Snoopy buff, my head torch, and my swish new bottle carrying belt. I need to get used to running with a belt (and soon I'll add a pack to the mix - but not yet). I
want to see where it rubs me on long runs so that when I get to the desert I can tape all the problem areas and hopefully avoid the skin breaking. Anyway, today it rubbed me around the fat bit of my waste (which hopefully won't be there anymore come April!). But it didn't rub me much and by far the bigger problem is still the strap of my HR monitor which leaves me with a near permanent red line around my torso.
So I headed out down the lanes. Very quiet this morning. The odd cat standing sentinel in the hedgerows but no menacing cows, horses or badgers. I have a vague fear of badgers. I think they have sharp teeth. Do they bite? I hope not. I'd really hate to be bitten by a badger I bet it would hurt like the devil.
The sun came up at about mile 5 and I could put the head torch away and watch the dawn. There was a spell where I could hear both the chattering of birds saying "wakey wakey" and the hooting of owls saying "nite nite".
I ran a long route to the canal at Ellesmere then went off road for a little way to work the stabilisers a bit more than normal. It was a good run although I had to add a demoralising extra bit at the end to bring it up to 19 miles. Even though I ran right past my door I couldn't bare to finish at 18.6 miles when I had intended to run 19. Is that a bad sign or a good one?
Finished with an ice bath, some ibuprofen, and a lovely hot cup of tea :)
Tonight I intend two hours of cross training with Grace. We'll be dancing our butts off at a Katy Perry concert!
JUST THE FACTS!!
Weight: 81.2 Kg
Today
Distance 19 miles
Time 3:27:57
Kcal 2042
Elevation 681 ft
Press-ups 0
Swimming 0 m
Sauna 0 mins
Total
Distance 91.11 miles
Time 16:08:55
Kcal 9286
Elevation 3167 ft
Press-ups 80
Swimming 3500 m
Sauna 55 mins
CHARITY HURTS!!
Sore today!!! My toes are killing me and I had to attack them with scissors after my bath to take off as much nail as I could. Lots of pain in my right thigh during the up-hills (hence the ibuprofen).
Very sore skin erm... anyway, let's just say that wherever clothing rubs skin I have rubbed a little too much skin. Nurse! Time for my savlon rub.... ;)
FUNDRAISING
Thank you to everyone who has sponsored me so far. My current total is £286 on the Virgin Money Giving site and my Adsense revenue is now an amazing £70.29 - THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!! Please keep clicking on the ads and supporting the sponsors because every click helps raise more money for Mencap.
DONATE
Please remember that I'm inflicting all this pain and misery on myself for a cause greater than just having a good story to tell over a beer. I hope to raise over £9,500 for MENCAP; an amazing
charity who help those born with learning difficulties to live a normal life and to enjoy the same opportunities and choices that the rest of us take for granted.
Be an awesome human being today and click on the link below and help make someone's life better.
Thank you. You really ARE awesome.
www.virginmoneygiving.com/pitymyfeet
Friday 4 November 2011
Friday 4th November 2011
Back to it - yay! Today was a bit of an endurance challenge in itself. I got home from Germany at 1am and it was about 2am before I was able to switch off and fall
to sleep. I greeted the alarm at 6am with easily contained joy. In fact I momentarily changed my mind about the whole thing and decided I'd rather not do the MDS
after all. That lasted for five blissful minutes of "snooze"; then the alarm went off again and my mojo had returned. I was in the gym coffee shop for 7:45 to
prepare for an 8am meeting then it was time for my official gym induction.
All the eqiupment there is highly swish but obviously it's not appropriate to look impressed (or even happy) in any gym so I concentrated instead on moody looks, knowing nods of the head and, of course, flexing my calf muscles (the only muscular definition I have - you should see them, they're lush).
The induction didn't take long then I was left to hammer out a quick 5K on the treadmill. It was a good little stretch actually, set at an incline of 2% to simulate wind resistance. Can that really work? I read it in a magazine once but it seems implausible because I barely noticed the incline but I certainly notice the wind.
Anyway after that I destroyed my credibility by doing some core works on a giant blue space hopper. Mark (the trainer) made it look so easy! I made it look like an out take from Mr Bean.
And finally, office work done for the day I prepared for an evening runout. On with the chemicals: Ibuprofen Gel; Vicks; Deep Heat; and Vaseline. A note for anyone who might follow. Given the delicate areas that you need to rub the vaseline into you should never, REPEAT NEVER, get Deep Heat on your fingers before doing it. Burn?!?? I swear I'd have been visible from space in the infra red.
Once that fire was out I put in a cool 6.4 miles in the dark. I pretty much enjoyed every single second of it! No scary stasis horses this time but I did get buzzed by a bat! It flew so close to my face I thought it was going to go in my mouth (that would have been totally Ozzy!!!). It flew around me a couple of times checking me out but then flew off. Or disappeared back into whatever parallel universe they apparate out of each evening.
After the run I iced my legs in the bath for a while then turned the hot tap on and chilled with a coffee in there for a while. Lovely! I'm getting used to the iced baths. No trauma, just frozen limbs!
JUST THE FACTS!!
Weight: 81.2 Kg
Today
Distance 9.53 miles
Time 1:37:59
Kcal 1043
Elevation 279 ft
Press-ups 0
Swimming 0 m
Sauna 0 mins
Total
Distance 72.11 miles
Time 12:40:57
Kcal 7244
Elevation 2484 ft
Press-ups 80
Swimming 3500 m
Sauna 55 mins
CHARITY HURTS!!
I'm like a walking health lottery. Lower legs are fine today but my left hip hurts! I wonder what's next? My ears?
FUNDRAISING
Thank you to everyone who has sponsored me so far. My current total is £256 on the Virgin Money Giving site and my Adsense revenue is now an amazing £61.12 - THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!
Please keep clicking on the ads and supporting the sponsors because every click helps raise more money for Mencap.
DONATE
Please remember that I'm inflicting all this pain and misery on myself for a cause greater than just having a good story to tell over a beer. I hope to raise over £9,500 for MENCAP; an amazing charity who help those born with learning difficulties to live a normal life and to enjoy the same opportunities and choices that the rest of us take for granted.
Be an awesome human being today and click on the link below and help make someone's life better. Thank you. You really ARE awesome.
www.virginmoneygiving.com/pitymyfeet
All the eqiupment there is highly swish but obviously it's not appropriate to look impressed (or even happy) in any gym so I concentrated instead on moody looks, knowing nods of the head and, of course, flexing my calf muscles (the only muscular definition I have - you should see them, they're lush).
The induction didn't take long then I was left to hammer out a quick 5K on the treadmill. It was a good little stretch actually, set at an incline of 2% to simulate wind resistance. Can that really work? I read it in a magazine once but it seems implausible because I barely noticed the incline but I certainly notice the wind.
Anyway after that I destroyed my credibility by doing some core works on a giant blue space hopper. Mark (the trainer) made it look so easy! I made it look like an out take from Mr Bean.
And finally, office work done for the day I prepared for an evening runout. On with the chemicals: Ibuprofen Gel; Vicks; Deep Heat; and Vaseline. A note for anyone who might follow. Given the delicate areas that you need to rub the vaseline into you should never, REPEAT NEVER, get Deep Heat on your fingers before doing it. Burn?!?? I swear I'd have been visible from space in the infra red.
Once that fire was out I put in a cool 6.4 miles in the dark. I pretty much enjoyed every single second of it! No scary stasis horses this time but I did get buzzed by a bat! It flew so close to my face I thought it was going to go in my mouth (that would have been totally Ozzy!!!). It flew around me a couple of times checking me out but then flew off. Or disappeared back into whatever parallel universe they apparate out of each evening.
After the run I iced my legs in the bath for a while then turned the hot tap on and chilled with a coffee in there for a while. Lovely! I'm getting used to the iced baths. No trauma, just frozen limbs!
JUST THE FACTS!!
Weight: 81.2 Kg
Today
Distance 9.53 miles
Time 1:37:59
Kcal 1043
Elevation 279 ft
Press-ups 0
Swimming 0 m
Sauna 0 mins
Total
Distance 72.11 miles
Time 12:40:57
Kcal 7244
Elevation 2484 ft
Press-ups 80
Swimming 3500 m
Sauna 55 mins
CHARITY HURTS!!
I'm like a walking health lottery. Lower legs are fine today but my left hip hurts! I wonder what's next? My ears?
FUNDRAISING
Thank you to everyone who has sponsored me so far. My current total is £256 on the Virgin Money Giving site and my Adsense revenue is now an amazing £61.12 - THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!
Please keep clicking on the ads and supporting the sponsors because every click helps raise more money for Mencap.
DONATE
Please remember that I'm inflicting all this pain and misery on myself for a cause greater than just having a good story to tell over a beer. I hope to raise over £9,500 for MENCAP; an amazing charity who help those born with learning difficulties to live a normal life and to enjoy the same opportunities and choices that the rest of us take for granted.
Be an awesome human being today and click on the link below and help make someone's life better. Thank you. You really ARE awesome.
www.virginmoneygiving.com/pitymyfeet
Thursday 3 November 2011
Thursday 3rd November 2011
No training today. It's not that I'm doing anything so sensible as deliberately resting my tired joints and muscles. Instead this is an enforced day off because of work. I am working all day and travelling all evening and won't be home until nearly 1am so no chance to do anything. It's making me a little grumpy!
Anyway, I figured that today in my blog I'd tell you about a book I read to get me in the mood for the MDS. It's called "Carved by God, Cursed by the Devil" by a guy called Ted Archer. If you're interested check it out in the widget box that should appear next to this page (if I can work out how to paste HTML into here).
The book is basically a diary of one guy's experience running the MDS. The author is a pretty good runner and finished 16th overall (damn... I've given away the ending... like when I told someone that in the Sixth Sense the twist is that... no wait... I won't make that mistake again!). So his experience of the race will be different from mine! Nonetheless it's a fascinating insight into some of the challenges I'll face. Both physical AND mental. His description of the delirium after the long stage was very well written and gave a real sense of the confusion and mental fog that descended on him.
Also the oddly anti-climactic finish where he and many other runners were simply too drained to feel any happiness or relief that the event was over. All told it seemed a very honest description.
As ever thank you to everyone who's clicked the ads on here. It's adding up nicely now and every penny of the Ad revenue goes to Mencap so you're helping a lot with every click :)
JUST THE FACTS!!
Weight: 81.2 Kg
Today
Distance 0 miles
Time 0:00:00
Kcal 0
Elevation 0 ft
Press-ups 0
Swimming 0 m
Sauna 0 mins
Total
Distance 62.58 miles
Time 11:02:58
Kcal 6201
Elevation 2205 ft
Press-ups 80
Swimming 3500 m
Sauna 55 mins
CHARITY HURTS!!
I'm exhausted and my left leg hurts everywhere below the knee. Other than that I'm great!!!
FUNDRAISING
Thank you to everyone who has sponsored me so far. My current total is £190 on the Virgin Money Giving site and my Adsense revenue is now a wonderful £39.84 - THANK YOU!!!! Please keep clicking on the ads and supporting the sponsors because every click helps raise more money for Mencap.
DONATE
Please remember that I'm inflicting all this pain and misery on myself for a cause greater than just having a good story to tell over a beer. I hope to raise over £9,500 for MENCAP; an amazing charity who help those born with learning difficulties to live a normal life and to enjoy the same opportunities and choices that the rest of us take for granted.
Be an awesome human being today and click on the link below and help make someone's life better.
Thank you. You really ARE awesome.
www.virginmoneygiving.com/pitymyfeet
Anyway, I figured that today in my blog I'd tell you about a book I read to get me in the mood for the MDS. It's called "Carved by God, Cursed by the Devil" by a guy called Ted Archer. If you're interested check it out in the widget box that should appear next to this page (if I can work out how to paste HTML into here).
The book is basically a diary of one guy's experience running the MDS. The author is a pretty good runner and finished 16th overall (damn... I've given away the ending... like when I told someone that in the Sixth Sense the twist is that... no wait... I won't make that mistake again!). So his experience of the race will be different from mine! Nonetheless it's a fascinating insight into some of the challenges I'll face. Both physical AND mental. His description of the delirium after the long stage was very well written and gave a real sense of the confusion and mental fog that descended on him.
Also the oddly anti-climactic finish where he and many other runners were simply too drained to feel any happiness or relief that the event was over. All told it seemed a very honest description.
As ever thank you to everyone who's clicked the ads on here. It's adding up nicely now and every penny of the Ad revenue goes to Mencap so you're helping a lot with every click :)
JUST THE FACTS!!
Weight: 81.2 Kg
Today
Distance 0 miles
Time 0:00:00
Kcal 0
Elevation 0 ft
Press-ups 0
Swimming 0 m
Sauna 0 mins
Total
Distance 62.58 miles
Time 11:02:58
Kcal 6201
Elevation 2205 ft
Press-ups 80
Swimming 3500 m
Sauna 55 mins
CHARITY HURTS!!
I'm exhausted and my left leg hurts everywhere below the knee. Other than that I'm great!!!
FUNDRAISING
Thank you to everyone who has sponsored me so far. My current total is £190 on the Virgin Money Giving site and my Adsense revenue is now a wonderful £39.84 - THANK YOU!!!! Please keep clicking on the ads and supporting the sponsors because every click helps raise more money for Mencap.
DONATE
Please remember that I'm inflicting all this pain and misery on myself for a cause greater than just having a good story to tell over a beer. I hope to raise over £9,500 for MENCAP; an amazing charity who help those born with learning difficulties to live a normal life and to enjoy the same opportunities and choices that the rest of us take for granted.
Be an awesome human being today and click on the link below and help make someone's life better.
Thank you. You really ARE awesome.
www.virginmoneygiving.com/pitymyfeet
Wednesday 2 November 2011
Wednesday 2nd November 2011
Hello from Hannover, Germany! I had a few beers last night and am suffering for it today. Not that many beers really but cutting out (OK down) on alcohol is important for my fitness and today I see exactly why!
So to punish myself I started this day like this:
http://www.youtube.com/user/sixpackshortcuts?v=bkD9LwDBWW0
Try it, it's ruinous!! I made it to 100. Eventually! I followed it up with some plank work with alternate leg raises. Then, sweating like a pig I had a shower and went to breakfast!
After work I headed out for an early evening trot around Hannover. I ran downtown to the Hauptbanhoff and then turned left to head down to the Machsee (a large lake near the football stadium). It was a lovely run around the lake on lit cinder paths. Completely flat and smooth I held a steady pace and HR.
At one quiet point the track runs alongside the main rail line and as I ran past it a huge freight train rolled past. It was strangely exhilerating and confusing to have the noise of wheels on tracks both ahead of me, next to me, and behind me all at once. As if surrounded by trains.
Rounding the bottom of the lake at 4.5 miles I was heading back to complete a 6 miler. Until. Until I lost my mind momentarily and tried to find a shortcut. A short cut that turned a 1.5 mile trot back to the hotel into a 6.5 mile fight for survival!
Looking at the GPS data now I can see that I actually turned away from the hotel and ran for a mile or more before gradually correcting my course. I eventually found my way back to the Novotel only be spotting a road sign for the zoo and following that. Once I was at the zoo I knew how to get home from there! Looking on the bright side I now know that I can run 11 miles without water or nutrition!!
JUST THE FACTS!!
Weight: 81.2 Kg
Today
Distance 11.22 miles
Time 1:57:18
Kcal 1285
Elevation 0 ft
Press-ups 10
Swimming 0 m
Sauna 0 mins
Total
Distance 62.58 miles
Time 11:02:58
Kcal 6201
Elevation 2205 ft
Press-ups 80
Swimming 3500 m
Sauna 55 mins
CHARITY HURTS!!
Despite the swimming my neck and shoulder are feeling much better. Lower right leg is the thing that's giving me the most gip! Damn you weak Petronus Brevis!! A small amount of knee pain on my long run but much less than I deserve!
FUNDRAISING
Thank you to everyone who has sponsored me so far. My current total is £190 on the Virgin Money Giving site and my Adsense revenue is now a wonderful £33.99 - THANK YOU EVERYONE!!!! Please keep clicking on the ads and supporting the sponsors because every click helps raise more money for Mencap.
DONATE
Please remember that I'm inflicting all this pain and misery on myself for a cause greater than just having a good story to tell over a beer. I hope to raise over £9,500 for MENCAP; an amazing charity who help those born with learning difficulties to live a normal life and to enjoy the same opportunities and choices that the rest of us take for granted.
Be an awesome human being today and click on the link below and help make someone's life better.
Thank you. You really ARE awesome.
www.virginmoneygiving.com/pitymyfeet
So to punish myself I started this day like this:
http://www.youtube.com/user/sixpackshortcuts?v=bkD9LwDBWW0
Try it, it's ruinous!! I made it to 100. Eventually! I followed it up with some plank work with alternate leg raises. Then, sweating like a pig I had a shower and went to breakfast!
After work I headed out for an early evening trot around Hannover. I ran downtown to the Hauptbanhoff and then turned left to head down to the Machsee (a large lake near the football stadium). It was a lovely run around the lake on lit cinder paths. Completely flat and smooth I held a steady pace and HR.
At one quiet point the track runs alongside the main rail line and as I ran past it a huge freight train rolled past. It was strangely exhilerating and confusing to have the noise of wheels on tracks both ahead of me, next to me, and behind me all at once. As if surrounded by trains.
Rounding the bottom of the lake at 4.5 miles I was heading back to complete a 6 miler. Until. Until I lost my mind momentarily and tried to find a shortcut. A short cut that turned a 1.5 mile trot back to the hotel into a 6.5 mile fight for survival!
Looking at the GPS data now I can see that I actually turned away from the hotel and ran for a mile or more before gradually correcting my course. I eventually found my way back to the Novotel only be spotting a road sign for the zoo and following that. Once I was at the zoo I knew how to get home from there! Looking on the bright side I now know that I can run 11 miles without water or nutrition!!
JUST THE FACTS!!
Weight: 81.2 Kg
Today
Distance 11.22 miles
Time 1:57:18
Kcal 1285
Elevation 0 ft
Press-ups 10
Swimming 0 m
Sauna 0 mins
Total
Distance 62.58 miles
Time 11:02:58
Kcal 6201
Elevation 2205 ft
Press-ups 80
Swimming 3500 m
Sauna 55 mins
CHARITY HURTS!!
Despite the swimming my neck and shoulder are feeling much better. Lower right leg is the thing that's giving me the most gip! Damn you weak Petronus Brevis!! A small amount of knee pain on my long run but much less than I deserve!
FUNDRAISING
Thank you to everyone who has sponsored me so far. My current total is £190 on the Virgin Money Giving site and my Adsense revenue is now a wonderful £33.99 - THANK YOU EVERYONE!!!! Please keep clicking on the ads and supporting the sponsors because every click helps raise more money for Mencap.
DONATE
Please remember that I'm inflicting all this pain and misery on myself for a cause greater than just having a good story to tell over a beer. I hope to raise over £9,500 for MENCAP; an amazing charity who help those born with learning difficulties to live a normal life and to enjoy the same opportunities and choices that the rest of us take for granted.
Be an awesome human being today and click on the link below and help make someone's life better.
Thank you. You really ARE awesome.
www.virginmoneygiving.com/pitymyfeet
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