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JUL
6

Belated catch-up

6:05 p.m. on 6th July 2009
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Sunday (28th)

Distance: 10.03 miles

Time: 1h29m32s

Mile 1 - 9m13s

Mile 2 - 9m04s

Mile 3 - 8m54s

Mile 4 - 8m59s

Mile 5 - 9m07s

Mile 6 - 8m53s

Mile 7 - 8m43s

Mile 8 - 8m57s

Mile 9 - 8m37s

Mile 10 - 8m42s

0.03m - 17s

Monday

Exercise: Gym class

Circuit Training (abs)

Time: 45 mins

Rowing

Distance: 2k

Time: 8m50s

Thursday

Exercise: Lunchtime run
Distance: 3.29 miles
Time: 28m57s

Mile 1 - 8m40s

Mile 2 - 8m54s

Mile 3 - 8m49s

0.29m - 2m32s

Exercise: Gym training

Treadmill hill run

Distance: 1.2m

Time: 15m

Core exercises: 10 mins

Strength exercises: 25 mins

Elliptical trainer

Distance: 0.79k

Time: 10 mins

Friday

Exercise: Gym

Rowing
Distance: 2k
Time: 8m35s

Elliptical trainer

Distance: 0.65k

Time: 10 mins

Sunday (5th)

Distance: 10.01 miles
Time: 1h27m40s

Mile 1 - 9m05s

Mile 2 - 9m08s

Mile 3 - 9m03s

Mile 4 - 8m57s

Mile 5 - 8m43s

Mile 6 - 8m42s

Mile 7 - 8m28s

Mile 8 - 8m41s

Mile 9 - 8m25s

Mile 10 - 8m19s

0.01m - 04s

Not such a great week for exercise this time, but still keeping up to 6 lots in 8 days. Sunday's run was a hot one, though I left it late so it was no longer scorching. It was still pretty muggy though, so I was bathed in sweat by then end. Nice.

Monday and I try out "circuits" for the first time. Since I want to get my money's worth on my gym membership. I used to do circuits at school. This is something altogether different. In principal the same - you spend a short period of time on each station doing a different exercise. The difference being I used to do 30 seconds per station on an exercise that was doable. Now I'm doing a minute at each one on some exercises that are, quite frankly, beyond me. The personal trainer showed us what to do. The worst one was the "kick-ups" with a twist. Lay on your back, kick your legs up straight, but twist one way and then the other to work the abs. Simple eh? Nope, I couldn't even get my legs to go up!! I obviously have a lot less strength in my core than I thought. Nevermind. Sammy assures me that I'll be able to do it after a bit more practice!

After 45 minutes of punishment, I "cool down" in the ice-cold aircon in the gym with a relaxing 2k row...

Tuesday - day off (still recovering from Monday!)

Wednesday - day off (trip to London to attend the VRH Parliamentary tea at the House of Commons)

Thursday and I'm back to it. Out for a lunchtime run in the heat. It's way too hot to push myself too far or too fast, but I manage a neat 3 miles or so. Then it's back in the gym in the evening. I return to the original training plan as I'm pushed for time. This week I'll be back up to the slightly longer sessions.

Friday and I'm tired, it's been a long week and I've been out late a couple of nights. But I don't want to miss the gym altogether. I don't feel up to the hour's training session, so I go for a simple 2k row again and 10 minutes on the elliptical trainer. It's better than nothing!

And then Sunday comes round again, and I'm up for another 10 miler. This seems quite a good distance to be doing at the moment. It's close enough to a half marathon to keep things ticking over nicely during the summer, but short enough so as not to tire me out altogether now that I'm doing the dreaded circuits on a Monday.

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JUN
27

Throwing myself off a 7-storey building

12:38 p.m. on 27th June 2009
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Monday
Exercise: Gym class
Elliptical trainer
Distance: 0.90k
Time: 15 mins
Core & flex class
Time: 30 mins

Tuesday
Exercise: Gym training
Treadmill hill run
Distance: 1.15m
Time: 15m
Core exercises: 10 mins
Strength exercises: 25 mins
Elliptical trainer
Distance: 0.74k
Time: 10 mins

Wednesday
Exercise: Lunchtime run
Distance: 7.43 miles
Time: 1h06m02s

Mile 1 - 9m09s
Mile 2 - 9m03s
Mile 3 - 9m04s
Mile 4 - 8m58s
Mile 5 - 9m00s
Mile 6 - 8m40s
Mile 7 - 8m38s
0.43m - 3m27s

Thursday
Exercise: Gym training
Treadmill hill run
Distance: 1.15m
Time: 15m
Core exercises: 10 mins
Strength exercises: 25 mins
Elliptical trainer
Distance: 0.76k
Time: 10 mins

Exercise: Evening run
Distance: 7.79 miles
Time: 1h08m12s

Mile 1 - 9m10s
Mile 2 - 8m52s
Mile 3 - 8m52s
Mile 4 - 8m48s
Mile 5 - 8m42s
Mile 6 - 8m46s
Mile 7 - 8m29s
0.79m - 6m30s

Friday
Exercise: Gym training
Treadmill hill run
Distance: 1.6m
Time: 20m
Core exercises: 15 mins
Strength exercises: 25 mins
Elliptical trainer
Distance: 0.78k
Time: 10 mins

Another week, another 6 exercise sessions in 5 days. On Monday I decided to take advantage of the classes they run at the gym. I want to top up my regular training sessions with some different workouts, partly to mix things up a bit to keep up my enthusiasm for going to the gym, and partly to learn new exercises that I might be able to practise on my own, should I ever feel the need to.

As I have the week off work, I chose the "Core & Flex":
"This is a specialist abs/back session, using those big balls! Effective exercises to flatten, tone, lengthen and strengthen! Abs of steel, are you up for it?"
This started with sit-ups with a 10kg weight across my chest. Since I'd spent 15 minutes on the elliptical trainer to "warm up", the weighty sit-ups soon had me sweating with the exertion! Then the personal trainer got me to do Russian twists, followed immediately by laying on one side, lifting myself up on my elbow and holding it for 20-30 seconds. Then squats balancing on the Swiss ball. Then some weight lifting - kneeling down pulling a weight down putting my elbow on my other knee, then alternating. Lastly some stretching work with the Swiss ball to loosen things up.

Tuesday, and it's back in the gym for my normal training session. Things are gradually getting easier so I'm gradually upping the weights or the reps where I feel things need pushing a bit further. I'd been thinking of going for a lunchtime run as well, but wasn't organised enough. And besides I could still feel the workout my abs had been given from the day before.

Wednesday and I'm definitely out for a run today. I plan about 6 miles, or maybe just over an hour. Without too much thought I set off on a slightly knew route, making it up slightly as I go, a double lap of the village which works out neatly at about 2.5 miles. Things are going well on this run, so I opt for 3 laps of this new route, and manage it in only 66 minutes, which is a pretty good pace over this distance.

Thursday back to the gym. Things are definitely a bit easier now, though I still stumble on trying 25 V-sits on the 3rd round of the core exercises. 15 are easy. 20 are straightforward. 25 are a killer. Still 24 is close enough. I'm still feeling a little guilty with myself for a few bottles of beer and too many chocolate biscuits from Wednesday evening, and feel the urge to burn off a few more calories. So when I get home I get straight out again for the 8 mile circuit round the local villages. I plan to do the route in roughly 9-minute-miles, and as usual manage to beat my plan upping the pace on the second half. A phone call a few minutes from home cuts my run short - a friend who was going to pop round about 8 o'clock is already there, so I sprint back through the churchyard getting to my doorstep at 7.45pm, otherwise I would have run round the road to make the full 8 mile run.

Friday and I have a catch-up session with the personal trainer. He's happy with my progress, and suggests I mix in a few of the "core & flex" exercises from Monday's session. I should also up my treadmill run to 20 minutes, and I should feel free to up the speed a bit too if I want. Our next catch-up is in three weeks, when he's going to give me some harder ab-work to do, so wants me to show some improvement before then. I'm not sure how many more times I can "beat the distance" on the elliptical trainer, but I'll keep at it. He's happy for me to at least match the distance if I can't beat it.

Today's a day off, and then tomorrow I shall be abseiling off the roof of the JR Hospital in Oxford, along with my sisters and a group of friends. We only have about £70 to reach our £1200 target and it would be really great if we could get it. If you can spare a couple of pounds, please sponsor us. All we're asking for is small donations - £2 is the minimum you can donate thoughJustgiving, so we'd be happy if a few people just gave that much. It all helps!!

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JUN
21

Stanford in the Vale Half Marathon

11:20 p.m. on 21st June 2009
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Weekly catchup:

Monday

Exercise: swim

Distance: 550m

Crawl: 17 lengths

Breaststroke: 5 lengths

Tuesday

Exercise: Gym training

Treadmill hill run

Distance: 1.15m

Time: 15m

Core exercises: 10 mins

Strength exercises: 25 mins

Elliptical trainer

Distance: 0.69k

Time: 10 mins

Wednesday

Exercise: Lunchtime run

Distance: 5.25 miles

Time: 45m53s
Mile 1 - 8m59s

Mile 2 - 8m41s

Mile 3 - 8m47s

Mile 4 - 8m42s

Mile 5 - 8m27s

0.25m - 2m14s

Thursday

Exercise: Gym training

Treadmill hill run

Distance: 1.15m

Time: 15m

Core exercises: 10 mins

Strength exercises: 25 mins

Elliptical trainer

Distance: 0.70k

Time: 10 mins

Friday

Exercise: Gym training

Treadmill hill run

Distance: 1.15m

Time: 15m

Core exercises: 10 mins

Strength exercises: 25 mins

Elliptical trainer

Distance: 0.72k

Time: 10 mins

Sunday

Distance: 13.19 miles

Time: 2h02m04s
Mile 1 - 9m40s

Mile 2 - 9m42s

Mile 3 - 9m36s

Mile 4 - 9m30s

Mile 5 - 9m40s

Mile 6 - 9m10s

Mile 7 - 9m03s

Mile 8 - 9m19s

Mile 9 - 9m18s

Mile 10 - 9m05s

Mile 11 - 8m52s

Mile 12 - 8m40s

Mile 13 - 8m39s

0.19m - 1m44s

Another good week for exercise. Though it didn't get off to a great start. I forgot my goggles on Monday, so had to cut my pool session short, as my eyes were stinging too much to carry on. I tried a few breaststroke lengths for a change, so keep my eyes out of the water, but in the end I decided enough was enough.

Tuesday, back in the gym for the usual mix of running, core stability exercises, strength work and finally beat the distance on the elliptical trainer. I've been upping the distance by 0.02k each time so far, but only got up to 0.69k today - a 0.01k increase on last week in accordance with the law of diminishing returns.

Wednesday and a brisk 45 minute lunchtime run. 5 laps of the village, clocking up 5.25 miles.
Thursday & Friday back in the gym again, and the V-sits are gradually getting easier. I still can't do 25 without stopping on the third attempt, but can at leas to 15 and 20 nonstop on the first two goes.

Thursday and I beat the distance again - to bring it to 0.70k and again on Friday to 0.72k, though I may need to review this at the end of the week in my catchup session as it's getting quite quick now. Perhaps it'll be better to up the difficulty rather than trying to go faster each time.

After a well earned day off on Saturday, the longest day dawns. I enjoy Father's day with my daughter. We mooch about in Oxford doing a bit of shopping, and having a Yo Sushi for lunch. And after a visit to the Charlbury Riverside music festival for an hour or so, it's time to think about my LSR (long slow run). Since I indulged in a gooey chocolate cheesecake slice from Tesco for pudding, I decided I had a few extra calories which needed burning off. I'd been thinking of running 10-12 miles today, but thought, why not run a half marathon?

I mapped out a new route on the mapyourpassion section of the Realbuzz website, and after a couple of attempts worked out a run that would be somewhere between 13.1 and 13.3 miles. So at 7.05pm I set off on the first ever "Stanford in the Vale longest day fathers day Half Marathon", with a plan to run it in under 2 hours and 5 minutes (9½-minute-mile pace). It would be good to beat my Silverstone Half Marathon time, but really as just a training run with no crowd (or even any other runners) to spur me on, then realistically anything under 131 minutes would be good really.

Half way in, and I'm feeling good. 62 minutes. I'm on course to at least equal my Silverstone time, and I know that I'm good at running negative splits when I put my mind to it. Can I beat 2 hours? Hmm, that would be pushing it, and I don't want to overdo things today. I pass the 13.1 mile point at just over 121 minutes. This is great, and means I should comfortably be able to shed a couple of minutes off that come the Birmingham Half in October.

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JUN
14

One short. One long.

9:48 p.m. on 14th June 2009
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Distance: 2.74m

Time: 20m09s

Mile 1 - 7m18s

Mile 2 - 7m40s

0.74m - 5m09s

Midday. The Stanford in the Vale village summer festival Fun Run. I go along to the Village Hall at 11.20am to register myself and my daughter. I've already agreed with her that we won't run together. Unlike the Santa Fun Runs we've done - I've decided I don't want her slowing me down today. If she can keep up - great - but I won't expect her too. And nor will I wait for her if she can't. She's happy to run at her own pace, and doesn't mind me shooting off ahead to try and get a good time. What is a good time? I haven't done this run before. I expect there will be some that take it seriously, but how fast will they go? I reckon I might just do it in about 20 minutes. 22 minutes is more likely I think.

Everyone gathers together before noon, and the final instructions are given out. Then at 12:08, we're off. I'm in the pack near the front of the "serious" runners. And before I've barely left the Village Hall car park, the leaders have set off at a very brisk pace. I dive around the kids running in front of me, dodging them as we all head off down the road. I glance down and see we're doing a 6 minute mile pace. Phew, that's too fast for me to keep up. Still, I'll do my best settle into a pace I feel I can keep up, and hope my stamina will keep me going longer than some of the faster runners ahead of me.

Half a mile in and I overtake my nephew. I hadn't spotted he was in front of me when we set off! On the outskirts of the village, I'm just about to overtake The Incredible Hulk (oh, fancy dress was optional!), and he spots some supporters with cameras by the side of the road, so puts on a spurt and makes a gap ahead of me. A few hundred yards later, I do overtake him, but he does go on to win the under-8 category!

I can't see the leaders ahead, they've long gone. I do overtake a couple of other racers on the road out of Stanford, and then as we turn left towards Hatford I think I'm about 6th perhaps for the over 18s and maybe 10th overall. The route is well marshaled so cars are waved to slow down for us, and the signs telling us where to go are clear. As we turn left in Hatford onto the footpath back to Stanford, there's even a drinks station handing out cups of water. We run along the public footpath, one I don't think I've used in over 25 years! It's in very good condition, not overgrown at all. Even room to overtake fellow runners as I've passed the half way point and feel I'm on the home stretch.

Back in the village and the marshals cheer us on. ¾ mile to go, and I step up a gear, overtaking another couple of racers. There's still one bloke ahead of me that I've got my eye on, but it looks like he's sped up too, I don't think I've got enough left to catch him. We cross the village green and half the village has turned out to cheer us home. My sister gives me a big shout as I pass. Then through the churchyard, 50 yards to go, and from nowhere a kid zooms past me to beat me to the finish line!

I stop my Garmin, and I've done it in 20 minutes. I don't know what position I came in, though someone told me one of the runners in front of me came overall 10th, so that would make me about 12th. I cool down and wait for my daughter to finish, so I can cheer her on. She finished in about 30 minutes, and was one of the fastest under 18 girls to finish, but again we don't know exactly where, as they only announced 1st & 2nd place in each category on the day. We hang about for the presentation ceremony and applaud the winners. The overall winner did it in 14m57s - so I'll have to go some if I ever wanted to try to win this event!!

Distance: 8.04m

Time: 1h13m11s

Mile 1 - 9m38s

Mile 2 - 9m26s

Mile 3 - 9m20s

Mile 4 - 9m11s

Mile 5 - 9m05s

Mile 6 - 8m56s

Mile 7 - 8m41s

Mile 8 - 8m31s

0.04m - 0m20s

7pm. The heat of the day is finally over. Time for a gentle run then. I was in two minds about this earlier in the afternoon, but by 6.30pm I'm feeling keen again. So before I change my mind and just veg in front of the TV for the evening, I get changed back into running shorts and put my running shoes back on. I filled my water bottle with lucozade sport & ice, and headed off on the same route as the lunchtime fun run.

I covered the first mile and a bit up to the Hatford turn in just under 10 minutes. I was half way round the run on the way back from Hatford towards Stanford at this point earlier. And approaching the woods the other side of Gainfield, about 2½ miles in, I noticed I'd been running for 22 minutes so would have been back already. Well as long as I keep up the pace I'm doing, I'll be happy, as 9½ minute miles isn't back considering the amount I've been exercising over the last 2 weeks.

In fact I achieved what may be a first today. I would have to check back, but I ran each and every one of this evening's 8 miles faster than the previous one. I didn't make a conscious effort to do this, I just kept running at a pace that felt good. If possible I do seem to enjoy running the last 3 miles of a run faster than before, but to run all 8 speeding up on each one is pretty good. I'm quite chuffed with that!

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JUN
13

Weekly catchup

9:36 p.m. on 13th June 2009
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I've had a busy week exercising, but not blogging. So a brief note now to list what I've been doing in the last five days:

Monday

Exercise: swim

Distance: 800m

Crawl: 32 lengths

Tuesday

Exercise: Gym training

Treadmill hill run

Distance: 1.15m

Time: 15m

Core exercises: 10 mins

Strength exercises: 25 mins

Elliptical trainer

Distance: 0.64k

Time: 10 mins

Wednesday

Exercise: Lunchtime run

Distance: 4.17m

Time: 34m23s
Mile 1 - 8m12s

Mile 2 - 8m16s

Mile 3 - 8m14s

Mile 4 - 8m06s

0.17m - 1m33s

Exercise: Gym training

Treadmill hill run

Distance: 1.15m

Time: 15m

Core exercises: 10 mins

Strength exercises: 25 mins

Elliptical trainer

Distance: 0.66k

Time: 10 mins

Thursday

Exercise: Gym training

Treadmill hill run

Distance: 1.15m

Time: 15m

Core exercises: 10 mins

Strength exercises: 25 mins

Elliptical trainer

Distance: 0.68k

Time: 10 mins

Friday

Exercise: Gym work

Row

Distance: 5k

Time: 22m00s

Elliptical trainer

Distance: 0.88k

Time: 10 mins

So I've had another successful week of getting out to do some form of exercise 6 days in a row.

Being on such a high of fitness enthusiasm, I decided to enter the Birmingham Half Marathon on 11th October. When I mentioned it to a friend at work the next day, he said "oh, you didn't fancy doing the Swindon one then?" I replied "erm, when is it?" (thinking I might be brave enough to enter two) "October the 11th, I think...."

So I could have entered my local half marathon with only a 15 mile trip to the start line. But now I've already entered one that's nearly 90 miles away instead. Oh well. I like Birmingham. It's my second favourite city. And apparently the course is quite flat. Whereas Swindon isn't quite so flat, and in spite of being the town of my birth, isn't that high on my list of favourite places... I now have something concrete to aim for. With 120 days to go, I'm officially back in training. I'm aiming for under 2 hours.

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JUN
7

10 mile run - just for fun...

10:41 p.m. on 7th June 2009
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Distance: 10.02 miles
Time: 1h31m08s
Mile 1   - 9m33s
Mile 2   - 9m36s
Mile 3   - 9m26s
Mile 4   - 9m13s
Mile 5   - 9m11s
Mile 6   - 9m04s
Mile 7   - 8m49s
Mile 8   - 8m57s
Mile 9   - 8m38s
Mile 10   - 8m23s
0.02mile - 12s

After another successful gym visit on Friday where I did 1.85k hill running on the treadmill in 15 minutes, core & strength work and finally 0.62k on the elliptical trainer, yesterday was a day off. That's the first time I've done 6 days exercise in a row for a while, and it feels good. Even the V-sits are coming along!

Today I was back out on the road for a "long" run. I've kind of decided where possible that I'll run at least 8 miles on a Sunday. However today I was feeling a bit more keen and thought I'd go for 10 miles. I started to rain before I set off, but not heavily and had stopped by the time I started. I managed to set a steady pace, so I could make it round the ten miles quite comfortably.

A few miles in the heavy grey clouds that littered the sky gave up some of their rain in the form of a light drizzle. It was neither cold nor uncomfortable. In fact it was almost refreshing. But that too came to nothing and soon it was dry again. At the next junction I have to choose. Left toCharney Bassett. 5 miles back home. The 8 mile circuit. Or right towards Lyford. The 10 mile circuit. 7 miles back home. Without a pause I turn right. Running another 5 miles seems just too easy.

I'm feeling good, and this gives me extra confidence and as well as speed. And better still, the other side of Lyford I know I'm on the way home, I know I can run a negative split today. I ran the first five miles in a fraction under 47 minutes, and the last five miles in just under 44 minutes.

Partly I want to get home before I get drenched (though in the end it stays mostly dry all the way). Partly I want to get home to eat. I have acarbo gel at 5 miles, which gives me a boost, but doesn't make me any less hungry. I'm looking forward to a big dinner this evening. I think I'll have earned it.

I weave across the roads, keeping to the side that gives me the most visibility at all times. Now that the verges are high with grasses and the hedges are full, Idaren't run on the right of the road into a blind corner and risk meeting a car speeding the other way if they can't see me clearly. This isn't such a problem in the winter and spring. I'm glad I don't wear aniPod when running - as I need to be fully aware of the traffic on the road, just in case I need to jump out of the way.

Two miles to go and I'm running faster still, trying not to overdo it, but knowing I've got enough left in me to run this mile faster than any of the previous 8, and then faster again on the last mile to get me home in just 91 minutes - the fastest I've run 10 miles.

Time for a huge plate of brown rice (with tomatoes, peas & pork mince) and a long hot bath to relax.

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JUN
4

45 mins round most of the village

9:54 p.m. on 4th June 2009
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Distance: 5.09 miles
Time: 45m14s

Mile 1 - 8m49s
Mile 2 - 9m04s
Mile 3 - 8m58s
Mile 4 - 8m49s
Mile 5 - 8m43s
0.09 mile - 48s

I was going to go to the gym this evening, but heard the forecast for tomorrow was rain, so decided to swap to get out in the sun for a run and then I can be indoors tomorrow should the weather turn.

Rather than boring mile laps of the village, I decided to run round and round and let my Garmin let me know when I'd got to 5 miles. As usual I tried to not double back on myself too much, but it was unavoidable really. I was hard a few miles in to keep going past my house and not quit too soon, but soon the 45 minutes were up and it was time for yet another plate of brown pasta.

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JUN
3

National Running Day

5:29 p.m. on 3rd June 2009
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Distance: 4.25m
Time: 36m27s

Mile 1 - 8m34s
Mile 2 - 8m48s
Mile 3 - 8m34s
Mile 4 - 8m21s
0.25m - 2m09s

Apparently it's National Running Day today. Though that didn't make any difference to my planned 4 mile lunchtime run. I was going to do that anyway. A bit hot out, but I still managed a steady run. Not the fastest I've done this route recently, but still pretty good.

And this brings my running total up to over 750 miles since October 2007.

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