Joining the dots

The temperature says 0 degrees Celsius, and I've decided. I'm all prepared for it, if I back out again, it just won't happen.

(I had already missed my Febulous long run target last week - 6.6 instead of 10 miles, due to a busy schedule, and preparing ahead of the big freeze)

So I did. Left everything behind at work except for the running backpack and a few essentials, and I'm off. On a familiar route to Richmond and beyond. Except with the sight of a few ice blocks here and there...

On a more encouraging note - this run will mean I have joined the dots in the last few years in terms of running along the Thames on training runs (rough times):


Isle of Dogs to Tower Hill - 30 mins
Tower Hill to Embankment - 25 mins
Embankment via Hyde Park and Hammersmith to Kew Bridge - 1 hour 5 mins
Kew Bridge to Twickenham - 55 mins (today)
Twickenham to Staines - 4 hours
Staines to Windsor - 2 hours
Windsor to Virginia Water (via the Great Park with some detours) - 4 hours



It's a lot harder running in this temperature and with my injuries still bothering me, I feel heavy. The gritted Kew and Richmond bridges, all the fumes from the traffic standing still in the queue, I didn't feel alone, although the run did feel a lot longer than usual.

I started picking up speed after leaving busy Richmond high street behind, and into St Margarets...however that's also where I got lost! I had to just trust that the road was leading me somewhere, and sure after 4.5 miles, it seems to lead me into familiar territory in the surrounds of Twickenham high street, and I was in the station, with a few minutes to spare before the train home arrived.






I took my hand out of my running gloves, and struggled to count the coins for a drink at Puccino's at the station (where everyone was keeping warm). My hands were freezing up! 15-20 minutes later I was home and showered and served a warm meal. I was so glad to be out of the elements and am looking forward to an early night!
 
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Running @ 60% body weight

It's been a busy week and a very cold start. Visited the gym twice and had a good relaxing swim and then some intervals @ my 10k pace.

Then it's my usual visit to thep Physio - I asked for the chance to try out their Anti-gravity treadmill , and my wish was granted. I was led to the next room and had the machine turned on for me.

It felt like a muted saxophone, where the equipment in question was enclosed in a bag and you can't see what's going on inside.

Before I got in I had to endure a 'fashion statement' - wearing a lycra 'dress' with a zipper outside, this is so that I can be zipped onto the treadmill. That done, shoes on, I stepped inside and allowed to be zipped.

'Its safer than a normal treadmill, you can't even fall off!' - physio Scott says. true enough, you can't even see your feet and everything has been held in place. I adjusted the settings on the touchscreen - mistaking mph for minute miles...10mph was a bit too much for me! It didnt feel anything different initially. I realised i was still on 100% body weight!

when 40% of my weight been taken off (by way of inflating the bag and lifting me off the surface of the treadmill) - on pressing the 60% of body weight dial - I can feel it. A lot lighter, I can lift and run in good form, without the impact of the pounding of the ground.  I also feel bloated.

Not quite like walking on air, or flying, but I can manage it! I continue for a mile - and called it a night.

Its good to be there - and to think , as they say , you  can run 2 secs/mile faster for every pound shed. How to lose weight quick while still having the energy to sustain training?


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Has sport lost its way?

The Saturday Guardian often takes too long to get through, and I'm finally here on a Sunday evening.

http://m.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/jan/27/the-conversation-olympics-too-commercial?cat=commentisfree&type=article

Totally agree. It's all commercialised. Overpaid sportspeople who sign onto other deals and obtain trophy lovers. Souvenirs. Touts. Betting agencies. Pledges to raise money for charity?

Yes it did give little kids hope, adults a chance to root for a team and go for a common cause. We are inspired by the determination to win and succeed , not quite so by the politics involved to get to the top.

And what happens after the peak? A graceful retirement, mentoring young ones, or a miserable afterlife wrought with injuries and possibly selling their medals due to lack of state funding?

What do we learn from all this? Does it get you off the couch, or crack open another can, as its a 6-hour grand slam tennis decider (again)...

Or should I add the quote here from Fatima Whitbread:
"if you give 100% to what you are doing, in whatever sphere, you would expect to be paid. It's no different in sport".

My question will be: how much to keep the spirit going and so that the payee doesn't lose their mind?



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2012 update - in the world of running

It's an Olympic year - and my ambitions are like any Olympian...
to win medals, not be injured, eat well, and have a great experience.

But I've only got one race signed up in my horizon - and that's Wokingham Half, in mid Feb. I'm still observing, as injury minimisation/elimination comes first.

Starting a new job with my main base in West London means that I have had to find a physiotherapist that is closer to work to attend to my needs (and that BUPA will now be paying for my visits!). However, it is still a good few miles away with no direct transport! I've tried running to my first appointment in Chiswick but the commute was through dark alleys next to a main road, so I changed to another clinic which involves a run via residential areas. And better still, I can stop via my gym for a couple of quick intervals!

and what about mid-week runs? finding new places or just getting used to new ground and fitting it all into the schedule of a busier working day is a struggle. Taking another train, running along the Thames on a rockier path as well as getting all dressed, and finding out it is raining outside, and still braving it. Is all the lugging around of sports gear worth a half hour of running that could probably be junk mileage?

The long runs on the weekend - I'm proud to say, I've kept up with. 10miles last week and this week, 12 miles - although feeling physically beat. Is it the cold weather? or my weight gain? or my new right injuries? or new shoes?

On that subject - I am slowly weaning off my Asics stability shoes, and moving to a neutral one, however still on orthotics. VFF's have been forever written off my 'maybe-one-day I can look funky too' list - and instead on off days, I have my minimalist Inov8's. I do feel lighter in them but however they are only for short distances - my heels can always feel it...

No pain, No gain. I pay the price today in pilates with horrible balance - hmmm. Would I ever do another 26.2 this year?

Work-Life Balance revisited

Welcome to 2012. It's been a month since I've started work again and the following has become rather a haze as I move through the week...

Early morning trains, new systems and tools, the opportunity to work very remotely with virtual teammates.

At least there's the infrastructure to support it! However I'm yet to work out if the balance can be maintained if you can take a concall in your pyjamas or it eats into your personal life by having another device to tap into whilst having meals etc (very common these days to see 2 people having meals when one of them has their attention affixed on their gadgets, and doesn't even acknowledge their companion's existence).

At least I can go for a morning jog and be at my 'desk' at home before 9 on my work-from-home days. Or get in super-early and catch a fast fast sprint in the rain, through tower bridge, and back at my 'hotdesk' in the London office at 9am.

A relationship to be handled delicately. iPhone= personal, Keyboard phone=only occasionally on non-working hours. Long hours and past midnight tapping should not be encouraged. Lessons learnt when the mobile device rang at 4am ...lucky it wasn't sent by a human.

Hope to write more about running next time. Time to get off the train and log onto the laptop.

Have a great week!

Christmas Carols ringing out the meaning of Christmas....

'this the season to be jolly, falalalala, lalalala....
Why? To celebrate end of year? Possibly receiving presents from those who love you? Big feast? The Birth of Jesus Christ who was born this day and saved the world, or rather, Thanks to him we mortal beings have a good enough reason to remember our loved ones, cashing in on the opportunity, cos in our busy daily lives we never stop to reward ourselves?

Over the last few years, I've had a few rather different Christmases. In the bleak, mid winter,frosty wind made moan...Christmas orphans being adopted into others family celebrations, where life stops and we feast merrily, listening in on the Queen's speech, exchanging presents, watching time go by...Strolling in nature in the days after, to try to work off the effects of gluttony....quality once-off time spent with some...with only memories to imprint, and not always snapshots to retrieve. My love and Thinking of you all.

A contrast to the years spent in Asia, where buffets happen alongside family gatherings, Santa of all shapes and sizes greet with meaningless toys from bonbons, then it's off to shopping shopping and more shopping...

And this year, it will be a return to the warmth of sunny Australia, the chance to soak it all up outdoors, dodging the heavy Santa outfits...and time with new family members which will be a new experience..

A key element linking all this, are the Christmas music that one has to accompany the festive season. School years have come and gone with concerts and rehearsals of various hymns which brings together what it is all about. 'o little town of Bethlehem, how still we see thee lie..'

In recent years, I have played with friends at their Christmas celebrations and have led some shy individuals to singalong, or kiddies with short attention spans to 'disrupt' the performance when it goes slow...requests along the lines of easy, cheerful 'Jingle Bells..Jingle All the Way!' I enjoyed it when my friend Fiona, who played keyboard and guitar whilst I played the sax, asked everyone why 'We Three Kings' was what it was, and what were the symbolism of the 'gifts that traversed afar' . An amazing lesson on why.

In the shops, there's always hurried songs that gets on my nerves, with an intention to speed us up on our purchases...examples include Mariah's "All I want for Christmas is you.." , or "聖誕老人來了" ( in tune of frosty the snow man) ..ie more of those about Santa, and gifts..at these times I get irritated about occasions when my workmates tell me about the stresses of locating a specific gift for their child, and running across London to secure it. the satisfaction of Santa 'getting it right' for the kids of today, and thus their motivation to earn decent wages to support that? Hmm...could be easier if Santa is only a myth and not one that kids can use to advance their uncontrollable stash of toys from everyone who has the expectation to keep up? And also, the limited luggage space for the long haul traveller to bring something for everyone...and probably feeling that it wouldn't be all that well-received on the other end...the perpetuality of not repeating gifts, or getting something that will bring a smile, in time, appreciated. Reinforcing the idea next year...good for retail but not everyone's best news ( esp on arrival of Jan's card statement!)

Or the Ever growing PC collection of cards for Xmas, for not just the typical parents, but mum and boyfriend, brother and boyfriend, dad and step mother, sister and fiancée, the list goes on..And which Charities cards to buy and why and how much? It is big business in itself.

Well, of course the company Xmas parties, a diversion for organisers and those who attend as a yardstick of whether this working year is better than the others, and the opportunity for corporates to thank spouses (or gate-crashing friends) of employees how they have patiently tolerated the peaks and troughs of their employees work this year...

It's only recently I've really paid attention to some of the lyrics in the non hymnal songs and have started to understand what it's all about, and liking them even more. Examples include:
I saw mummy kissing Santa Claus - why was daddy missing? I used to think broken families, but maybe Santa = daddy?
Winter wonderland - a beautiful song with a story throughout.
Have yourself a merry little Christmas - people on their own? Music with a sad tone (heard numerous times in my travels this weekend in Singapore!) about the joys of it all..

and for further reading, A recent article in the guardian about what is the best.


I sometimes can't wait for the calendar to flip over to the new year, when we can put 'The Christmas Industry' out of the way and begin afresh. In this regard I have a higher respect for Thanksgiving as a holiday and wished that my part of the world use it more than attach it to Christmas ( or Kissmas, I cringe when I hear that...it's not what it's all about!!!)

Almost time to head south, with our plastic sleigh of goodies, and jet lag still trailing along....Joy to the World! But one can't always make heaven and nature sing...!

- linking photo of mariah and Justin courtesy of Amanda talars blogpost which echoes mine....agh

A mentor, trusted advisor

As the year is slowly coming to an end, it's time for a review of all the meetings we have had, over coffee, breakfasts, over the phone, across the miles via skype,

and finally, one on couches overlooking the Thames.

We kept time by staring across the river to a clock of an organisation that we both have a passion for, past and future, in a venue that I do spend a lot of time in when I get the time, and did explore spending even more time there, but life didn't turn out that way.

It's been an interesting journey. A relationship I sought out to establish, via a network that opened new doors to meeting aspiring women. A first choice that didn't turn out, but a shared passion and stepping out to express my intentions made it happen.

A year of asking questions, and would I say, my actions mirrored hers? Coming out of my shell, asking for feedback, reaching out, yes, the pendulum has started to swing. It's good to know that there is someone who you can share and can prompt you to do more, even when you don't believe that you can.

The tools to make decisions, empowerment to own them, responsibility to take on the next challenge. Will we ever know whether the next step is the right step? But if we never try will we ever find out? How do we manage those that hold you back, or those that say go, for their various reasons?

It is you that knows best. Know Thyself. Take Action.

****

Bamboos, Temperate House, Kew Gardens

Just finished reading Aleph, by Paulo Coelho. Picked up this book from the library hoping to be inspired on new journeys. One of the most interesting things that I have picked up from the book was the author's skim-read of an article about the Chinese Bamboo. "once the seed has been sown, you see nothing for five years apart from a tiny shoot. All the growth takes place underground, where a complex root system reaching upwards and outwards is being established. Then at the end of the fifth year, the bamboo suddenly shoots up to a height of 25 metres.." Inspirational, thinking of the bamboo plants we once had in our backyard in Sydney when we were young. It didn't take them 5 years to spread like crazy. More about my late autumn visit to Kew Gardens to come..