Jantastic - not as Febulous in Feb!

28 days hath February, come and gone so quickly.
Days of relentless rain, flooded towpaths.

The days are getting long and so are the working days...which resulted in a 97% achievement of 3 mainly back ended runs, with a joker played last week making up the quota in quantity, not the distance.




After Wokingham Half was cancelled and going into Chinese New Year of the Horse, i was keen to find another training race (not really for myself, but my other half doing the VmLM2014 - (on a ballot place, hence the small M) ..so decided on the whole foods breakfast run (now less than 3 weeks away).

There was a choice of 8 vs 16 miles with the spring marathoner opting for 16 ....so my dilemma came on a quick lunchtime purchase at the office...I had to take out the calculator to work out:
- price difference on entering 8 vs 16
- my estimated time to finish..hmm. On 10min/mile on a good day this implies 160min/60mins...2:40??

Only then stupid me realised that this uncommon distance tricked me (like the one most ignorant people ask or think they have done a 'marathon' when it's not the official 26.1miles or 42.195km)..
To illustrate here:





I've signed up to a race based on lower cost per mile (for few pounds more you run twice the distance) and it's more than half a marathon without doing a buildup towards this!!

I'm in trouble. Too many weeks of low mileage I need to really build up again... My plan: 10 miles this week and a half next fortnight.

In the last week, on a brighter note, I can prove I can run fast(er). An evening run on the streets recorded a 8:51 min/mile on my 2nd out of 5th mile.



And my <5 mile runs on the weekend have averaged 10 min/mile..

I just need to get over my tiredness (currently bad, lower blood pressure than normal) and get out there without the week wearing me down - strategically run/railing to work this morning.

Back into business.

Track my progress on jantastic here:

http://www.jantastic.me/runners-teams/?runner_id=352


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Jantastic - a 100% score

January - my Jantastic campaign of 3 runs per week have been completed - only just, no more, no less.

I've started keeping a very brief diary of my physical activities, where I work, how I feel, what/when I ate, and any niggles that kick up along the way.

so the last 2 weeks:

last week(15.2miles): the 3 runs in 3 were done backend loaded - friday/sat/sun.

friday -  in the darkness, neighbourhood bonus miles

saturday -  in the familiarity of the Thames Path, the city stretch, very fast splits in the first 2 - but gradually worse with more tourists at Tower/Westminster bridge. It's the first time I've ran the stretch from westminster to lambeth bridge properly - I enjoyed using the lampposts as guidelines...I think I could push on harder, but without any gels, it might not have been a good idea. a fulfilling Char Kway Teow and pre-Chinese New Year shopping was beckoning me as it was close to lunch hour :)



sunday - a weekend finisher in the afternoon - with the expectation of rain - a semi-hilly loop around the neighbourhood...which ended in.....me totally drenched! Put it this way : I ran very fast in the last half mile as it was pouring hard!



[this almost feels like a proper marathon training week, my legs were actually hurting!]



this week(16miles): again, backend loaded but not as bad as last week - thursday, saturday, sunday.

thursday - a lunchtime 2.39 miles. a worthwhile escape from the desk - and great to 'virtually train' with some guys who were up at the top of the loop at G- Park doing intervals - they started later than me but caught up...at that point I tried to keep their pace (9min/mile) and then they all stopped ( perhaps afraid ;) ) and I pressed on, and completed my loop back to the office, which ended in a pain on my right abdomen (which I am still trying to figure out what it is).

saturday  - the laundromat run - as I had some 'seasonal items' to drop off at the coin-op, where staff told me that the washing machine runs for 45 mins, and then I have to be back to start the dryer. this is an extension to my old training path from Staines...and as luck would have it, the wind on my face, and the road was blocked by floodwater - so I couldn't get to my usual 2 mile turnaround (but having started further away from my old starting point due to the location of the laundromat - I gained some mileage).


so - a pause at 46/53ish minutes (for maybe 7 minutes?) to ensure the dryer finished - and then I popped a gel....power resumed, and part 2 of the run on the same route again...deja vu, with stronger winds...and slowing down towards the end....taking home 10.6 miles

sunday - the gym usual...5kms on a treadmill that threatens to break, or slide me off...I had to pause and recompose, and upped the speed after half-time. I was using the ad-breaks on sky news as a guide to when to stop again...but they were 'long'! 500 metres (more than 3 minutes) was how long I think I was waiting for the news to come back on again - I'd prefer running outdoors any day, that's where I belong.

My shoes are starting to be an embarrassment when dirt falls off on the clean floors of the gym!

As I'm approaching race day (in 7 days!) I need to be a little careful in what to do and plan. With further rain and unsettled weather forecast - I may need to preserve my Asics (gradually wearing away, only with 2013 not being a marathon year for me - the asics words are disappearing from the bottom of my feet!) for the sunday when it is sure to get more drenched. A lot of eating lately (and more this week with further celebrations in order!) I need to watch how that affects my wellbeing, sleep, etc.



My legs feel like they are falling off when I pick up speed......its not easy to run in these kind of conditions at all. When will the weather be dryer, more cheerful and I can carve out more time to run well?

A 16 mile+ week!

Jantastic week #2 completed.
3/3 runs this week.
Gym visits: 2.

3.1 + 3.1 + 10.7 almost 17 miles, but I'm too honest to round up.

The first two quick evening visits to the gym was a trial on a slow comfortable pace, then running fast at the finish, as mentioned in my previous.

The Sunday run was what really got my legs working. Home to wey navigation and basingstoke canal, a slight detour from the usual.

The waters receded from the floods before, it was quiet, the canal towpath was well paved.

Pleasant relaxing run with feeling relaxed and focused on breathing and my running style.
It is my first time on this route so perhaps, not quite time yet to fine tune the pacing, but next time I shall know better.


Which means less time to stop for photos.










Fast forward to Wednesday, and I'm heading into the City, feeling the guilt of canceling one lunchtime run earlier in the week, and also the inability to bring my gym AND laptop bag for a day of work and evening professional function where there may not be lockers.

I would so much love a daytime dash along the London Thames path....how to maximize my time and activities in town, with less physical & (emotional) baggage?

Too much to do and too little time, looking in to some inspiration from this book I'm reading..




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Treadmill pleasure to Torture

My first visit to the gym in 2014 on a typically busy Monday night.

At least I did it!

I'm trying to learn to breathe deeply and relax to stop myself getting a stitch or running out of breath.

The treadmill is not my best mode of running, for fear of falling off, making a loud noise, or tripping over headphones or being deafened by stupid tv shows on poor audio.

It's the best place to practice slow running.

A slow 9km/h start....1% incline, I look good. In the mirror.
The TV blared away with images of the dismal floods... But soon I lose interest. I managed to keep up to 3kms and then I started driving up the speed....10.5, 11.5...0.5km at a time..to 12.0km/h...starting to struggle, but it's already 25 minutes. No matter how hard I tried, this is what I can only manage





Need another visit soon to try another strategy, and to lower my cost-per-visit 😛

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Familiar places under water

2 weeks into the new year, and i'm getting motivated ...only just.

jantastic.me - signed up and committed to 3 runs per week, and this week I got out Thursday, Friday and Saturday (Saturday being a 7 miler round richmond park).

It has not been easy at all when fitness levels have not been keeping up, especially with long stressful working hours and eating habits (stay off the chocolate!) - but, the times I have been out, especially during daylight hours - it has worked wonders on my mood and the pink glow on my face, the tingling feeling on my skin, is ooh...so lovely.



Most disheartening sight of the week is seeing the Thames Path (for followers of this blog, you will know of the nicknames along some of these all too familiar traing stretches) flooded.



Never like this before - and certainly I feel for the livelihood of those who live around here and use the path everyday for their various activties...it will be a while before all the water is drained and back to normal again.



Some pictures, and memories to share....when I will run here again?

the 'plastic mat' no longer...this was the sprint 7 minute cutoff..

where the cows go home....Dumsey meadow...and road closed.

After Penton Hook - 12 minutes on, the first of the smoother roads..

Chertsey - the bridge and lock - my 35 minute turnaround,

Near Thames Court, Shepparton - that will usually be where I pop a gel before the turnaround to head home, on a 2 hour training run

The road leading home....road closed for a while it seems

Muddy shoes - to be out in the open air...the gym is no better alternative. I must think hard, and train on higher ground.






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Merry Christmas!

Celebrating with a 9am appearance on Richmond Park after stormy weather over the last 2 days.



Boggy but not wet. At least 174 crazy people (big and little, prams and dogs) finished ahead of me...

Time is running out. It's not a PB day and I suffered towards the end. It's been a week since I did my last run of 7 miles.

The inactivity is killing me but there aren't enough hours in the day. The legs need strengthening .... Much of that building offline but slowly.

Am considering quitting my gym membership as I hardly ever go - but what would 2014 hold?

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Wintry reflections….

It's almost the end of November - the days are getting shorter, colder, wetter, and I am getting much, much lazier.



Renovations have finally kicked in….a correction to my wardrobe malfunction, and a chance, to take these down from my curtain rail, so that they don't get dustier..







Only a few weeks more than 17 weeks to go before Virgin (Money!) London Marathon - I nudged the one who got the 'You're  in' magazine to start thinking about it…and time to get fit for the 17 week training plan (which starts before christmas).



and where, where are my goals this year? distracted. the hope of achieving something bigger in life than to skim minutes off a 26.2mile this year has left me a failure to hit the 2 small goals I have set myself for 2013…but hey…theres still 5 saturdays, before the end of the year. so literally, I can, I still can. :)



I need to really learn how to prioritise, and carve out the minutes, the half hours, to put on those shoes and get out there.



"It's too cold, It's too dark, I'm tired"…. I must say, one of the happier moments I have had in the last week was to don those shoes and long sleeves, those shoes…in the mild rain, after a long day cooped up in a function room, only minutes away from "the Happiest Place on Earth" in Europe….and round, and round, and round, and round and round…




Meeting people, seeing smiles, makes the hydration and fun afterwards, worth it.



Jumping on the Velib, when the RER and Metro would take too long, on a Saturday morning, in a dress and boots, around, across the Seine, Jardin Luxembourg….magic moments….




My legs are sore, not from the running, but from the walking, cycling….and lack of quality sleep.



to learn to switch off, to relax, to pick up, and go, and run again. It seems to have only happened, in the recent month or so, when I am out of the comfort zone of my home….a gym in Taipei, a gym in Hong Kong, a gym in Hammersmith, a gym in Staines….rarely on the street where I live, or in the park…





These mags say it all - Don't feel Blue, Sorry! You're In!

The winter will be here for a while…and its time to have the clock ticking again….to energise, to try for a record time :)