Wow!

This is amazing! Guess what I'm doing... Go on, guess...

Ok, ok, I'll tell you! It's absolutely fascinating!

Wait for it... Drum roll please...

Dddddrrrrrrdddddrrrrrr...

I am simultaneously Janathoning and blogging! I know... Amazing!

Doris and I are in the park having a very enjoyable, if not windy, time. Hopefully tomorrow will be a little less windy as Fortnightflo* and I will be joining a bevy of other Janathon ladies for the Regents Park 10k... Watch this space for more on that!

For now, I shall leave you with a picture of how happy the park has made Doris.



* it turns out you can't tag on the mobile app but you can find Fortnightflo here: fortnightflo.wordpress.com

A Lesson Learnt from Dad

From an early age, my dad would take the dog for a walk every Friday night. Each week, on his return, it would be clear that he had partaken in quite rigorous exercise as he would always return fatigued, collapsing on the sofa and falling fast asleep. On occasion, he would return so exhausted from walking the dog that he would even be known to fall asleep on the way home, only finally making it to his abode thanks to the help of our kind neighborhood policeman who would help him to his feet and back on his bike.

Of course, as with Santa Clause and the Tooth fairy, it wasn't until I got a bit older that I began to question certain details: why did his dog walks last several hours? Why did he need his bike to walk the dog? And why did the dog never go with him?

It was on my 18th birthday that he finally disclosed these secrets and thus the real reason behind his regular friday night expeditions... Unbelievably, 'walking the dog' was actually a euphemism for going down the pub!

It was also at this time that he taught me about the real skill, effort and determination that is required to spend several hours lifting heavy pints, maintaining scintillating conversation, whilst fighting the rapidly increasing exhaustion and desire to take a quick nap at the table. And all of this would then be followed by a long trek home. Truly inspiring.

Even today, after much practise, my efforts still pale in comparison to the championship levels my dad used to achieve but, practise makes perfect; and so, tonight's (unofficial) Janathon effort took place in the pub as I trained with the effort and dedication that would make my dad proud!

Interval Death

Phew!

If yesterday's 'exercise' was questionable, today's certainly wasn't!

At club tonight, we ran half mile intervals with quarter mile recoveries... It was sooooo hard - half a mile is really, really far when you have to run it hard!! - However, despite bringing up the rear of the pack for most of the night, I enjoyed the running, fresh air and wind in my hair - which was, thankfully, a lot calmer than last night which would have probably blown me away if I'd tried running in it... Or that's my excuse anyway!

As a consequence of this evening's deadly intervals, I am now unable to do anything but keep Doris company on the couch... Who, after the ordeal of teeth cleaning at the vets today, is in a period of recovery herself... Needless to say, we're both quite content now! :-)

Exercise: activity that maintains fitness

For my Janathon activity today, I started a diet.

'How is this in the spirit of Janathon?' I hear you cry! 'surely you have to do some form of exercise to qualify such claims!'

Ah, but calm yourselves my loyal readers, I did indeed carry out exercise today; indeed, a form of exercise that not only worked to improve my fitness, but also required energy, effort and exertion...

I exercised my willpower*.

* As I am self-professedly taking part 'unofficially' in Janathon, this totally counts and therefore I'm totally counting it! Plus... I invented** a new technique for reinforcing diet willpower today: when you want to eat something calorific (for example a mass of roses chocolates, a tub of pringles or some stale mince pies - which are really, really tempting by this stage in the day, even though you know they're 2 weeks' old and as stale as a cracker in the desert) instead of eating it, you picture it turning into something disgusting as you do eat it; for example, I imagined that the chocolates turned into baked beans when I put them in my mouth, this made me a little bit sick in my mouth, and consequently I didn't feel like eating them any more... 1-0 to willpower vs cravings! Woop!

** This may not be invented by me, it may well already be a technique adopted by some random weight loss company who will happily charge you your well earned cash to impart such peculiar 'psychology', but if this is the case, I honestly didn't know and fully believed I had invented it. However, if it is yet to be invented as a cunning weight loss plan by which to extract much money from many people, then watch this space for my forthcoming book...

A Race Against Darkness

Doris and I ran the gauntlet this evening in the race against darkness; a run/power walk strategy ensured that we managed to leave the creepy park just before the true swathes of darkness swept in.

And so (my now unofficial) janathon day 3 was completed with a score of 1-0 to Doris* and Maggiee vs The Darkness**

* For those of you unawares, Doris is my dog, not an elderly lady I take for run/power walks on an evening... That would be weird!

** Not the band that sang about believing in 'a thing called love' and, more seasonally, to not 'let the bells end', but in this case actual darkness that draws in with night and makes the park a more creepy place to be!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year*... Happy First of January**... and Happy first day of Janathon*** everyone!

I haven't had much of a chance to catch up with everyone's blogs yet but a quick scan of twitter tells me that there have been garden gallops, double park runs and guilt-inducing emails.

Well, it being the first day of the month**** today, clearly I had to get out and do some running. As it was also a bank holiday and my final day of holiday freedom, I decided I would spend the evening relaxing and, rather than go out to running club, would opt for a run in the sun (Ooooh... like the rhyme) early on instead (early being 1pm when I finally dragged myself away from Friends and the work I was supposedly doing but was really just sat on my lap staring at me whilst I ignored it!). There really isn't anything better than a New Year's Day***** run and, with the sun on my back, the cold air whipping through my hair and my trainers squelching through the mud, I headed into the local park, nodding at dog walkers and passers by alike; all of us sharing in our enjoyment of the beauty of the first day of the new year******... awesome.

And so, with the first day of Janathon*******, and the first day of the new year almost over, I am looking forward to what the other 29 days have to offer... Even more so, I'm looking forward to next weekend where I will be adding another race to my Countyathon belt when I take on the Regent's Park 10k with a group of other 'athoners (a group who I suspect will do a far better job of Janathon that I will... although I have no idea why I suspect that at all... nope, no idea... really!).

Anyway, Happy New Year******** to you all, and to those of you Janathoning, good luck!


* A little clichéd but a timely greeting for the time of year... still
** Sshhhhhh... confidence is everything
*** Three is the key... it's the magic number... persuasive, don't you know!
**** If I say it loud enough... will it become true?!
***** Maybe if I say it often enough?
****** Hypnosis! Does that work through a computer? listen to my wooords... belieeeve what I saaaay...
******* Did I tell you I'm a Time Lord? I have my own tardis and everything! I know, it's amazing isn't it!
******** Ok, Ok, Ok, so I slept through yesterday... so sue me!... If I lived in another time zone then today could possibly have been January 1st... I mean didn't you see the news item about Samoa? They lost a whole day... what if that had been January 1st? Would they have failed Janathon? surely not? That wouldn't be fair would it? because after all, time is relative, right? Yes?...  YES? Surely yes?... no? you're right... I've failed Janathon... but hey, you can't say I didn't give it a good try right?!

Stockport 10 2011

When I ran the marathon in April, the first part of it included 10 miles. I have not run as far as 10 miles since. Until today.

The Stockport 10 is quite a famous local race, known for two reasons: it's hills and it's weird and wonderful goodie bag (which last year contained a meal worm, and this year a cod liver oil capsule... Amongst other things!). Today, those running - and marshaling - might well remember it for the water which fell from the sky in copious amount and - believe it or not - was stolen from the 5 mile water point along with the tables!! Seriously!

Despite the wet conditions, I gallantly (surely, yes?!) ran the full 10 miles and achieved a time of only 1.40.55, which I was very chuffed with as it was only 10 minutes slower than last year despite my 2 hour predictions!

But, that's not the only good news about today's race... There's more... Much more: 1. Stockport is technically in Cheshire so I have now completed the 4th race in my countyathon, covering Manchester, Yorkshire, Lancashire and Cheshire; 2. The Stockport 10 is the 3rd race on the club calendar for this year and is therefore another tick on the list of club championship runs; 3. I am currently in the lead of the Ladies' competition... And I will take the opportunity to celebrate whilst it lasts!!

So all in all, braving the rain was more than worth it, and I have a shiny, bright yellow technical t-shirt to show off at club tomorrow... What could be better?!..

What's that I hear you say?

Stuffing your face with pulled pork sandwiches, waffles with maple syrup and a mug of mulled wine at the Christmas markets? Well, yes... I'll admit it, that was pretty good and, of course, completely guilt free after a 10 mile race...

I LOVE running!