Juneathon Day 6: Looking for Inspiration?

Then use this man...

I went to running club this evening, I ran and it was lots of fun.

But I'm not going to tell you about that; instead I want you to read about Eddie Kidd, the ex-stunt rider who suffered brain damage, in 1996, when his bike crashed. Eddie started the Virgin London Marathon on April 17th, with every other participant, and completed it this evening, raising more than £72,000 for Children with Cancer in the process.

Today, Eddie Kidd, with the help of a specially constructed walking frame, crossed the finish line at the Mall, 50 days after the starters gun was fired. I also started in the London Marathon on April 17th, and completed it the same day; It took me 5 hours and 46 minutes: it was really tough! And still, I think I only have a small insight into the strength, will and determination it must have taken Eddie to complete the Marathon as he did.

I am amazed, inspired and motivated by people like Eddie; real people who have such a zest for life, despite the odds; people who challenge their bodies, and minds, at unbelievable levels. I take my hat off to anyone who is willing to test those boundaries; to set a challenge and overcome it; to identify a personal goal and achieve it, no matter how big, how small or how long it takes. After all, it's only when we challenge ourselves - when we really test the limits of what we think is possible - that we realise how capable we actually are of achieving so much more.

Now, who fancies a run?

You can read more about Eddie on the BBC News website.


Activity: Running
Distance:
Time:
Feeling:
Run Saturday

Juneathon Day 5: Kinnecting with Sheila

Today didn't start well, when I stupidly did this...

... and discovered that the 5lbs I'd lost in the last two weeks had been reduced to a much more minimal number as, this week, I'd put 3 back on again! Hmph.


So I promptly got off the scales and went for a run. My intention was to run 1 mile but I chose to run with my new Iphone and its Nike GPS app which has a nice lady that talks to you... Sheila... and although she's nowhere near as motivating as Chad, she does help by whispering words of encouragement in your ear every mile. Sometimes those words are encouraging because they're what you don't want to hear; for example, on completing my mile, Sheila announced I had ran it at an 11.33 min mile pace... a what??!!! How was that possible when I'd been running so hard? Hmph - again. I knew that was never going to burn the dreaded calories that so eagerly want to wrap themselves tightly around my waist and hips, I would have to continue running.... and up the pace. 


Eventually, Sheila and I completed just over 3 miles and we'd managed to raise our pace to an average of 10.33; I felt much better for it, so much so that I remembered my 'don't be a slave to the scary scales' plan which meant that I was also supposed to be tracking my weight loss with my trusty...

And would you believe it... I'd lost inches... well 1 whole lovely inch... from all the different measured areas of my ever decreasing body! 


Comforted by the thought that all my hard work for the past 3 weeks had not been entirely for nothing, I got on with some marking. However, I couldn't concentrate because in the back of my mind was a niggling desire... a desire to burn more calories but, more importantly, also a desire to play on my new game... Kinnect Personal Trainer (bought at a super sale price, in a well known supermarket with a bright green sign, yesterday).


Tick.... tick.... tick... 'Go on Maggie, go and play on the kinnect'... tick... tick... tick... 'Go on, it's way more fun than marking'... tick... tick... 'you know you want to'... tick... 'kinnect, kinnect, kinnect kinnect...' 
'Oh, right fine!' I gave in, slamming my pen down on the desk, 'I can't concentrate with you wittering in my ear anyway. 


So, giving up, and vowing to have words with my motivation later about his recent poor performance (hiding when I need him, and a complete pest when I don't!) I hurried down the stairs to play my new 'game'.


half and hour later and I can barely move! That was hard work!! But, good news...

I burnt 123 calories! bonus!


So all in all Juneathon Day 5 has ended up better than expected: Not only has there been successful shrinkage of The Magathon, but I've also taken another step towards my goal of introducing a wider range of exercise into my routine. Excellent.


Activity: Running and Kinnect Aerobics
Distance: 3.05 miles
Time: 1hr (or so)
Feeling: that exercising made me feel better!
Run Saturday

Juneathon Day 4... Our Day Out...

Activity: Walking (and climbing in ballet pumps!! - not an easy task!)
Distance: 6 miles (Dovestones and Asda walk)
Time: 2 hrs 20 mins.
Feeling: great - if a little soggy!
Run Saturday

Juneathon Day 3: Don't leave home without...

I needed Him and He knew it. He was teasing me; taunting me even. As I hunted high and low throughout the house, I could hear Him: sniggering round the back of the sofa, giggling in the garden, fidgeting behind the fridge; but by the time I reached there... gone... always gone.

Eventually, at 10am, I gave up. 'Fine' I grumped, 'I'll go without you then.' So I did.

However, running alone in the ever increasing temperatures, the shade rapidly disappearing into the terraced houses, as the sun rose higher by the minute into the sky, I struggled.

'I can't do this' I dejectedly told myself as Ben Folds sung me a ditty about 'Zac and Sara' (without an 'h'); 'I need Him' I pitifully wailed as Scouting for Girls confirmed their belief that 'Elvis Ain't Dead'; 'It's too hot' I protested even as Queen told me 'Don't Stop [them] Now'. I was almost about to turn home, almost... just about... when...

A friendly runner bounced towards me, sweat pouring from him, face as red as a beetroot and a super-massive smile that stretched from ear to ear... the biggest smile I have ever seen... ever! He put me to shame. I thought back to the intricate game of 'cat and mouse' I'd played with Him this morning; the charade of 'hide and seek' that had almost stopped me going out for a run and the memories of which had almost sent me turning for home.

And so, it was Green Day, Off -Spring, The Prodigy and, most importantly, a friendly runner with a big smile that helped me to finish my run. All the same, it was a job made harder than was necessary by the lack of one very important element...

Motivation.

Don't leave home without him!

Activity: Running
Distance: 3.2 miles
Time:34.39
Feeling: hot and lacking in Motivation
Run Saturday

Juneathon Day 2

Speedy 'Road Runner': Maggie

'Which way back would you like to go now?' Pete asked the group, as we neared closer to track and the end of our training session, 'The slightly longer way back, along the road, or the shorter route but with the danger of nettles?'
'Nettles' we all agreed.
'Although...' I mused whilst checking my Garmin, 'If we took the longer route, we might make it up to 5 miles'.
'It's probably not quite far enough still.' replied Pete, confirming for us all that we would definitely brave the nettle route. 'And anyway, it doesn't matter because tonight wasn't about distance, it was about speed.'

Oh.

'I didn't hit much 'speed'...' I admitted.
'Were you running faster than this?' Pete questioned whilst indicating to the slow and relaxed cool-down plod we were all currently doing.
'Oh yes.' I replied with certainty, 'Definitely much faster than this.'
'Well then you did speed work.' He confidently assured me.

Excellent.

Tonight's club session was speed work. I did 3 x 'fast'... sorry: fast... 1/2 mile repeats along the bank of the canal with 1/4 mile recovery between (except I cheated and cut my recoveries short as I was conscious of falling far behind the others!)

So as a result today's Janathon activity was once again running and, as was reliably confirmed by Reliableplodder earlier in a conversation (that I gatecrashed) on Twitter, (Well, the mention of wine caught my attention!) I will have earnt myself 1 large and 1 small glass of wine. I'm thinking of saving that until tomorrow when I shall add it to some unearned, guilt-ridden wine and consume in comfort under the blaze of the afternoon sun whilst reading a good book...

Activity: running
Time: 49:49
Distance: 4.68
Feeling: slow and hot!
Run Saturday

Juneathon Day 1

The dilemma: Today is the first day of Juneathon. On this day I managed to:
1. do some marking
2. have my hair cut
3. do some more marking
4. eat lunch
5. do some more marking
6. meet my friend for a diet coke
7. do some more marking...

By which point, the time had reached 4.07pm (precisely!). Plans for the day to come included:
1. walk Doris
2. do some more marking
3. go to the cinema with Mik to watch X-men (Which incidently was really good... First Class in fact! You should go and watch it!!
4. do some more marking.

As intelligent people, I doubt I need to spell out the dilemma - but I'm going to anyway - When was I going to E-X-E-R-C-I-S-E?

For those of you who were following in January, you will remember the craziness of Janathon, where I ran, blogged, and was followed by (dead) squirrels every day. Well Juneathon is a very similar event except there are no squirrels (yet) and I don't plan to run everyday; if you have been following since January, the 'no running everyday' idea will make perfect sense because you will also be aware that in the intermediary period, I have run the London Marathon and consequently broken my running. Juneathon requires physical activity / exercise everyday, rather than running specifically so this is the approach I have chosen to take for Janathon's warmer sibling.

Therefore, with today being not only day one of Juneathon but also National Running Day it was imperative that I ensured some exercise was achieved and that really this exercise should be running.

'So, What did you do?' I hear you cry... 'What did you do?'

I went sort of running. Yes, at 4.09pm I laced up my trainers, put the dog on the lead and headed out of the door for a sort of run...

Doris and I do Day 1 of Juneathon in style... dress, mac and trainers

This counts as Juneathon activity because:
1. If I had just been taking Doris for a walk, I would not have put trainers on - trainers are for exercising in!
2. If I had just been taking Doris for a walk, I would have not inserted little mini bursts of running into the walk - in fact, I just completed some Fartlek training!
3. If I had just been taking Doris for a walk, I would not have bored you with a blog about it, or recorded the activity with the Nike app on my shiny new iphone and neither would I have added the activity to Run Saturday.
4. and finally, if I had just been taking Doris for a walk, Lance Armstrong would not have personally congratulated me on achieving a personal best!

So, Day one of Juneathon... done.

Activity: walk / run
Distance: 1.33 miles
Time: 21.11
Feeling: good
Run Saturday

What I've learnt from running...

Half term beckons and so does a HUGE pile of marking. Whilst out on my 7.8 mile run today (my little treat for completing 15 papers that morning) I realised that marking papers is much like running 20+ miles in that both require a large amount of discipline; the kind of discipline that does not come naturally to me. My brain is a happy, flighty, imaginative little blighter; if given the opportunity, it will gladly break free of its leash and rush off on strange and bizarre tangents. This of course only happens when I'm not looking and so just a moments wayward thought in another direction: what's that happening out the window?... hmmmmm, what should I have for tea?... has that cat really been sleeping there all day?... leads to a complete lapse of concentration; therefore if I'm running, I forget I'm running and although my feet hold a level of capability to complete this action on their own, they lose all purpose, determination and speed; and if I'm marking, I realise I've read absolutely nothing on the page I've been staring at for the last half hour and had better begin over again.

Anyway... What was I saying?... dammit, I think I've just done it again!

To return to the point, I realised, whilst out on my 'treat' run today, that the same disciplinary procedures I had used to train my brain for the long runs of my marathon training could be applied to the marking and as such I have applied the following positive thinking strategies:

1. Get up and do it. Don't think about it, don't leave it until later in the day when tiredness and lethargy set in: get up, fuel and do it!

2. Just like a long run, don't think of it as one big hill to climb, instead break the marking down into smaller manageable chunks i.e:  'I only have 10 more papers to go and then I'll let myself stalk a friend on Facebook for a few minutes'.

3. Reward myself; each day I have a little treat planned for completing my marking - yesterday was retail therapy, today a run, tomorrow lunch with not-so Little Bro and his lovely wife, Tuesday cakes(!), and Wednesday a hair cut and coffee with a friend (I realise that's two treats but I've none planned for Thursday so I reckon that's fine!)

4. Keep well-fuelled and hydrated to keep the energy levels up and the mind sharp!

See... running teaches you so much!

Good luck to those of you running the Bupa 10,000 tomorrow... I hope you achieve the times you want and enjoy the day... happy running!