Rob, Rambling - A lot of things interest me...

I know I said that I was going to be spending today wandering along the river with the girlfriend, but the best-laid plans of mice and men…

One of her friends rang this morning to see if she was up for doing this boat trip thing along the Thames that the friend had bought the girlfriend for her birthday. So they both nipped off to go do that, and I had a few more hours kip.

I watched the Grand Prix qualifying, then the Super 14s rugby semi-final between the Bulls and Crusaders, which was epic. The Bulls look very good, which is worrying from a British perspective because they supply a hell of a lot of players to the South African national team, against whom the Lions will be playing this summer.

I figured that I was being lazy and not making the most of a relatively nice day, so decided to go for a run outside, which I described in full on the internetrunningclub, and reproduce below.

My first outdoor run! First this year, anyway, and probably my first for about 12 months. I’ve been meaning to get out there for ages, and today I finally managed to get the motivation together to strap on the trainers and make it out of the door.

I mapped out a rough run of around 4 miles on that Gmaps Pedometer website, but as it happens I actually did just under 4.5 miles. Admittedly, I think I was walking for around 1/3 of a mile, at various points, but I’m very happy with the run, especially as I did it in about 39 minutes, which is a pretty good overall pace.

The problem I found with running outside as opposed to on a treadmill is that there’s no real way to judge your pace. I thought I was going pretty slowly, but judging by how long it took me I was actually going quicker than my usual treadmill pace. That’s probably why I had to stop for a couple of brief stretches of walking.

Also, I rediscovered the “joys” of an incline. It felt like the whole of Wimbledon Common is on a slight upward hill, and no matter how slight a rise may be, it kills your legs. On the way back home, it felt like my feet had lead weights attached to them, and I was absolutely dying. It probably didn’t help that this was my third day of cardio in a row…

Nevertheless, I’m really pleased with myself for getting out there, and I’ll have to do it a bit more often!

From today’s post on the internetrunningclub

I’ve had a pretty hefty cold over the last week or so, and definitely didn’t feel up to doing any running at the start of this week, so I had a couple of sessions on the weights instead. Today, I felt like I could actually breathe somewhat normally, so hit the treadmill at lunchtime.

4 miles in 34:03, at an 8:31 mile pace, which I’m very pleased with after a week off. It was the lungs that gave way before the legs, which is another promising sign.

Unfortunately, this cold and the enforced break in running has really set me back on my plans to do 100 miles before my holiday on June 7th. I still have 58 miles to go, which is starting to look something like impossible. That’s an average of 2.5 miles per day for the next three weeks, which I’m pretty certain is beyond me.

But I’ve caught the running bug again, and am determined to get as close to 0 as I can by the time I board the plane. I may have to run to the airport that morning to finish off!

Today’s run was the first in my attempt to run 100 miles. Not a bad start:

• Distance: 5 miles

• Time: 44:30

• Mile Pace: 8:54

Notes: It seems I’ve found my pace: 9 minute miles. It feels like I can go forever at this pace, even if it takes a touch longer to get anywhere. At 8 minutes or better, I can only manage 2 miles at best before having to slow down a bit. But 9 minutes seems to suit me just perfectly, which is why I was able to get to 5 miles in total today, my longest run pretty much ever. Woo!

Only another 95 to go…

Today’s run:

• Distance: 4.5 miles

• Time: 40:05 minutes

• Mile Pace: 8:53

Notes: You see, this is why I love the IRC. This lunchtime I was sitting at my desk, contemplating whether to go to the gym or not, when jss’s post on IRC popped up on my Dashboard. It motivated me to get off my ass and go for a run, rather than just sitting in front of the computer and aimlessly surfing.

I’m not overly competitive, but it does motivate me somewhat to see what other people are doing, and how often. I just need that little push to get over to the gym, because once I’m there I really enjoy it.

Managed to get to the gym again today:

• Distance: 4.5 miles

• Time: 41:15 minutes

• Mile Pace: 9:10

Notes: My longest run for quite some time, achieved by reducing my pace a little. I think I’m going to take this approach from now on, as I was still feeling pretty fresh by the end, and only stopped because I had to get back to the office.

I managed to put in 13.75 miles on the bike yesterday as well, so am feeling pretty damn pleased with myself on the gym side of things. Healthy eating too, as much as possible. Just need to shift this bloody tyre that seems to be resolute in its attachment to my waist.

Today’s run, via internetrunningclub:

• Distance: 3 miles

• Time: 25 minutes

• Mile Pace: Started at 8:30, gradually improved to 8:08

Notes: With one thing and another, I did absolutely no exercise at all last week, but did drink copious amounts of booze. This was my first session in over a week, and I had that odd dual experience of enjoying it but hating it at the same time. It was hard going…

I also did a random little 1-minute speed test thing on the rowing machine, as some sort of competition my gym was running. At that point in the day, I had done the most distance in a minute and was in the lead. Admittedly, in the lead of only two other people thus far, but I’m Number One!

Today’s run:

• Distance: 3 miles

• Time: 25:15

• Average Pace: 8:25

Notes: Wanted to do 4 miles, but my chest/breathing got really heavy towards the end of the third. I think I’m coming down with the cold that the girlfriend has been suffering with for the last week or so.

Today’s gym outing:

• Distance: 3 miles

• Total Time: 24:40

• Mile Pace: Average of 8:13

Notes: I did the same as Wednesday, starting at an 8:45 pace and gradually quickening. But this time I got up to a 7:40 pace before starting to slow. And by then my legs were aching, so I was still going at a sub-8:00 pace by the time I finished, which I’m pleased with.

Hopped on the bike for 18 minutes after that as well, for one final burst. That makes it 3 gym trips for me this week, and I’ve managed to eat healthier too. Things are looking up.

Today’s run, via internetrunningclub

• Location: Fitness First, Chancery Lane

• Distance: 4 miles

• Time: 34:00

• Mile Pace: averages at 8:30

Notes: My first outing on the treadmill for a little while, as I’ve been giving my shins a couple of weeks to heal/repair themselves. I’ve been using the bike and cross-trainer in the meantime. Thankfully, today there was absolutely no pain whatsoever, which is always a good sign.

I varied my pace too: the first 10 minutes was at 8:45 mile pace, then I gradually increased it to an 8:00 pace by the 20th minute. Then it was gradually back down to 8:45 by 30 minutes, and I did the last four minutes at that speed to finish. It was great to gradually increase my pace, and then come back down, because I didn’t really notice the difference. If I jump from 8:45 to 8:00 in one go, I get tired far too quickly.