As you asked Phil, here's my current recipe!
Breakfast Pancakes
140 grams (5 oz) plain flour
7 grams (1.5 teasp ) baking powder
3.5 grams (0.5 teasp) salt
28 grams (2 tablesp / 1 oz) white sugar
1 large egg
240ml (8.5 fl Oz) milk
2 tablesp unsalted butter
Whisk together flour, baking powder salt and sugar. In another bowl, whisk together egg, milk and melted butter. Add egg mixture to flour mix and stir until smooth.
Heat pancake maker. Gently cook first side for 1 to 2 minutes, then flip and cook the other side.
I serve with maple syrup, sliced banana and vanilla ice-cream. Mmmmm. I don't think I can run far enough yet to burn off a stack of these!
Always looking to improve, so alternatives welcome!
Mr Stumble.
Monday, March 05, 2007
Saturday, February 24, 2007
Pancake day
I like pancake day, because I like pancakes. And I can pinpoint exactly where and when I really started to like pancakes. The where was the "Olde Niagara House" bed and breakfast at Niagara Falls, and the when was 24th September 1992. About 8:30am. A stack of pancakes, gammon and egg for breakfast. Mmmmmmm.
This was the place, scanned in from my copious photos of the trip. One of my favourite bits of the 3 week trip, coast to coast and back again.
About 5 years ago, I decided I would start to finally make my own to recreate the Niagara House experience on Sunday mornings and it wasn't long before the Internet gave up a recipe which was damn good. I've been making them the same way ever since and demand always outstrips supply.
To work off the calories involved, from Monday (in anticipation!) I added another minute to each of my 3 sections to see what would happen. Thankfully, nothing has broken, but I can feel the additional strain in the ankle. I don't think it's going to tear again, I just think this is the residual tendon-scar tissue having a rough time in there. I don't have any problems with walking, stairs and all the old problems, it's just like one of the annoying rattles in the door of your car.
A couple of weeks ago, I asked my GP for a referral for physiotherapy again, this time on the NHS. I had a call about it last week asking how long ago the injury was sustained. As I have a record (here) that wasn't too difficult. However, no appointment yet. Hopefully, I'll get an idea about that this coming week.
I've was pretty lucky with the weather over the last week and always found the parts of the day where the rain had just stopped, or would start half an hour after I got back in. And for February, it's still really warm at 6C in the mornings. As I write it's 10C. I know it's going to be one of those record-breakingly warm winters, when the statisticians get to talk about it in a couple of months.
Results for the week.
Mon 2.69 miles, 27 minutes, 9:1 run:walk 10:03 pace. 6C
Wed 2.75 miles, 27 minutes, 9:1 run:walk 9:50 pace. 6C
Fri 2.77 miles, 27 minutes, 9:1 run:walk 9:45 pace. 6C
Hope all is well with you.
Mr Stumble.
This was the place, scanned in from my copious photos of the trip. One of my favourite bits of the 3 week trip, coast to coast and back again.
About 5 years ago, I decided I would start to finally make my own to recreate the Niagara House experience on Sunday mornings and it wasn't long before the Internet gave up a recipe which was damn good. I've been making them the same way ever since and demand always outstrips supply.
To work off the calories involved, from Monday (in anticipation!) I added another minute to each of my 3 sections to see what would happen. Thankfully, nothing has broken, but I can feel the additional strain in the ankle. I don't think it's going to tear again, I just think this is the residual tendon-scar tissue having a rough time in there. I don't have any problems with walking, stairs and all the old problems, it's just like one of the annoying rattles in the door of your car.
A couple of weeks ago, I asked my GP for a referral for physiotherapy again, this time on the NHS. I had a call about it last week asking how long ago the injury was sustained. As I have a record (here) that wasn't too difficult. However, no appointment yet. Hopefully, I'll get an idea about that this coming week.
I've was pretty lucky with the weather over the last week and always found the parts of the day where the rain had just stopped, or would start half an hour after I got back in. And for February, it's still really warm at 6C in the mornings. As I write it's 10C. I know it's going to be one of those record-breakingly warm winters, when the statisticians get to talk about it in a couple of months.
Results for the week.
Mon 2.69 miles, 27 minutes, 9:1 run:walk 10:03 pace. 6C
Wed 2.75 miles, 27 minutes, 9:1 run:walk 9:50 pace. 6C
Fri 2.77 miles, 27 minutes, 9:1 run:walk 9:45 pace. 6C
Hope all is well with you.
Mr Stumble.
Sunday, February 18, 2007
Swinsty reservoir.
Another busy start to the week meant I had to abandon my planned run on Monday. I suppose I could have got up at 5am, but as I'm not training for anything in particular, I let it go for an extra hour in bed.
From Wednesday, things were calmer, especially as I'd taken the day off. We were off to Skipton in Yorkshire mid morning to collect my daughter who had spent a few days up there with her cousin in a rented cottage. So plenty of time for a run.
Still keeping with my trying-not-to-break-anything plan, it was yet another 8 minutes x 3, this time with the iPod, something I've not done for a while. I also allowed the pace to increase a little to an average 9:46 (gosh!). This all felt fine and although my ankle complained gently during the run, it felt fine afterwards.
After showering, and being Valentines day, there was breakfast in bed, flowers and such to sort out for D before the family climbed into the car for the two and a half hour drive via Manchester to Skipton. Stopped at a nice country pub on the way for lunch and arrived ready for an afternoon walk in the Peak district before heading home.
We drove out to Swinsty Reservoir and had a lovely walk round in some very pretty countryside. Ah - I miss being in hilly landscapes. It's fairly flat where I live, but having spent 5 years in South Wales, you miss the valleys. Here's a selection of photos taken on my Treo, so not best quality!
Fewston reservoir, taken from the dam between Fewston and Swinsty.
As we walked we were passed by a couple of runners. This would be a fantastic place to train, a fairly flat path around the lake, just over 3 miles round. Oh, I envied them.
On Friday, I got my second run in, yet another 8 x 3, this time in the rain. It took a while for my hands to warm up - it was 6C with a light wind, so there was a bit of a chill - and looking at my pace, it seemed to have encouraged me to try getting home sooner ave. 9:24. Again no problems aside from not being able to see much when my eye-glasses misted up. And this time without the iPod, as I didn't want it to get a soaking.
Planning to move back up to 9 minutes next week to try it out again.
All the best.
Mr Stumble.
From Wednesday, things were calmer, especially as I'd taken the day off. We were off to Skipton in Yorkshire mid morning to collect my daughter who had spent a few days up there with her cousin in a rented cottage. So plenty of time for a run.
Still keeping with my trying-not-to-break-anything plan, it was yet another 8 minutes x 3, this time with the iPod, something I've not done for a while. I also allowed the pace to increase a little to an average 9:46 (gosh!). This all felt fine and although my ankle complained gently during the run, it felt fine afterwards.
After showering, and being Valentines day, there was breakfast in bed, flowers and such to sort out for D before the family climbed into the car for the two and a half hour drive via Manchester to Skipton. Stopped at a nice country pub on the way for lunch and arrived ready for an afternoon walk in the Peak district before heading home.
We drove out to Swinsty Reservoir and had a lovely walk round in some very pretty countryside. Ah - I miss being in hilly landscapes. It's fairly flat where I live, but having spent 5 years in South Wales, you miss the valleys. Here's a selection of photos taken on my Treo, so not best quality!
Fewston reservoir, taken from the dam between Fewston and Swinsty.
As we walked we were passed by a couple of runners. This would be a fantastic place to train, a fairly flat path around the lake, just over 3 miles round. Oh, I envied them.
On Friday, I got my second run in, yet another 8 x 3, this time in the rain. It took a while for my hands to warm up - it was 6C with a light wind, so there was a bit of a chill - and looking at my pace, it seemed to have encouraged me to try getting home sooner ave. 9:24. Again no problems aside from not being able to see much when my eye-glasses misted up. And this time without the iPod, as I didn't want it to get a soaking.
Planning to move back up to 9 minutes next week to try it out again.
All the best.
Mr Stumble.
Monday, February 12, 2007
Elliptic Curve
After a long week away studying night and day, I was very glad to be leaving Wembley for the 3 hour trek home. As aluded to previously, I have not run outside all week, and this was becaise I found the place a nasty mix of building site and, well, "rough neighbourhood" only starts to scratch the surface.
When I pulled into the car park at the hotel on Sunday night, I stepped out onto crunchy glass, glass that, earlier that evening, had been part of the passenger window of the car in the next space. I moved to an underground car park straight away.
Thus I was thankful that I had selected a hotel with a gym so as to avoid the urban dangers outside. I also avoided some freezing temperaures and snow, which was a bonus.
Although small, the gym had the two things I was looking for. An elliptical trainer and a treadmill. The plan was to use the elliptical for 10 minutes and then do 2 lots of 8 minutes on the 'mill, adding up to slightly more cardio work, but with less impact. Thus I would be able to train each day without blowing up my ankle. This worked out OK except for Thursday when I woke up feeling just rotten and abandoned hope of achieving very much of anything all day.
The results:
Monday 1.6 miles at 10 min pace ( 2 x 8) plus 10 mins on elliptical.
Tuesday 1.6 miles at 10 min pace ( 2 x 8) plus 10 mins on elliptical.
Wednesday 1.6 miles at 10 min pace ( 2 x 8) plus 10 mins on elliptical.
Friday 1.6 miles at 10 min pace ( 2 x 8) plus 10 mins on elliptical.
All this followed by that full English breakfast I spoke of last time.
I found the elliptical quite difficult. This was because I felt off balance all the time and it's like you're constantly supporting you weight on your quads - the isn't the same "rest" that you get in the return part of your stride. This may well be why it's good at what it does, but it does little for calves, as Phil says.
All the best.
Mr Stumble
Wednesday, February 07, 2007
The Lost Post
Very short post. I wrote a more lengthy entry last night, but got my old pal, Blue Screen Of Death, just as I was about to post. I'd hoped Blogger did some sort of auto-save-draft like gmail, but it doesn't yet, you have to press the button .. like that .. and then hit the edit button to carry on. Bah.
In short:
- Friday was an 8 mins x 3 @ 10 minute pace. Nothing unusual
- Weekend, ended up working so didn't post
- This week, in Wembley on a course.
The hotel has a gym, and I'm visiting daily, doing 10 minutes on the elliptical followed by 8 mins x 2 on the treadmill. I'm not running outside, and will explain this one in a later post.
Anyway, having just burned off 350 calories, I'm off for a full English breakfast to prepare for all the upcoming mental exertion. Doing encryption today, if one can be said to be able to "do" encryption in a single 8 hour stretch!
All the best.
Mr Stumble
In short:
- Friday was an 8 mins x 3 @ 10 minute pace. Nothing unusual
- Weekend, ended up working so didn't post
- This week, in Wembley on a course.
The hotel has a gym, and I'm visiting daily, doing 10 minutes on the elliptical followed by 8 mins x 2 on the treadmill. I'm not running outside, and will explain this one in a later post.
Anyway, having just burned off 350 calories, I'm off for a full English breakfast to prepare for all the upcoming mental exertion. Doing encryption today, if one can be said to be able to "do" encryption in a single 8 hour stretch!
All the best.
Mr Stumble
Thursday, February 01, 2007
Notes from a Stumble.
Apologies for falling into the "blog hole" for more than a week. Since I ran on Wednesday last week, I've been worried about this ankle again. The sore tendon is back, and I think it's the extra minute that did it.
So I took a whole week off and it got marginally better. Yesterday, Wednesday, I went out again, and held it back to 8 minutes and a very easy pace. It loosened up around half way round, and since has sat there - not so much aching, but in a pre-ache. Hard to explain.
I've finally been to the GP for another physio referral, but that won't be for a while now. Next week, I'm spending the whole week at a training establishment, next to Wembley stadium. No it's not soccer training! The hotel has a gym, so I'll be probably trying out an elliptical trainer if they have one, and if it's any good may get one myself.
Being none impact, it should be better for me, but I do hope to get a run round the stadium if I can at least one morning.
Meanwhile, planning another run tomorrow, and hopefully a more rapid post.
All the best.
Wednesday 2.35 miles 24 minutes @ 8:1 10:13 pace
Mr Stumble.
Thursday, January 25, 2007
Traction control
Wednesday morning was a little less cold than anticipated, but still below freezing and the coldest air temperature I've run in. Having run at 4C in a long sleeved under shirt, T-shirt and some old trackie trousers (I can't bring myself to buy running tights) I was pretty sure I'd need something extra to ward off the 4.5C difference.
I added a windbreak zip-up fleece, bobble hat and upgraded my gloves from some sailing gloves, with the first finger and thumb half open, for thermal gloves. The sailing gloves are intended to allow for the tying of knots and fiddling with little metal pins holding the sheets in place. They are also really good for accurately pressing buttons on a Garmin.
Having loaded up on the layers, I was already overheating as I made my way out the front door, so I had a few moments to cool down slightly - taking in the gloriously clear sky, just starting to lighten, before kicking off.
This run moved me forward again now 3 x 9 minutes with one minute walking between. Again I kept the pace down and followed my MapMyRun planned route. It was pretty slippery out there and in some spots I was only really keeping myself upright and letting momentum carry me forward. Mind you I had plenty of padding if I did go over.
The gloves only lasted the first mile before they came off, and the hat lasted another mile before I just couldn't stand the heat. I was pretty much roasted at the end, so will be replanning my run-wear for next time.
9 minutes felt pretty good, but now 24 hours later I can feel that right ankle tendon complaining again. I've been wondering if Carmen has something similar which has put her out of action for a while.
Not wanting to loose this progress, I'm considering rolling back to 8 minute sections for a while longer, then trying again at 9. Physio help would also be great and I keep promising to get an appointment but can't see where in my diary it will fit until mid February.
Hope all is well with you.
Monday: 2.7 miles, 10:02 pace 27 minutes. 9 run : 1 walk.
Mr Stumble
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
For the benefit of Mr Stumble
I've been considering over the last few days what benefits my sorry attempts at running have brought me thus far. I was somewhat surprised when I realised that since I started way back in April last year, I haven't had a single "bad head" day related to lack of sleep.
I had recognised a pattern. If I had less than 7 hours kip for more than 2 nights in a row, I'd wake with a bad head which would progress to debilitating migraine by lunchtime, and then ease off in the evening.
The response to this was clear. Go to bed earlier. However, over the past couple of weeks, I've broken this golden rule of sleep at least twice with no ill effects. The conclusion: my lack of any conditioning and fitness were having a much more corrosive effect on my life than I had ever guessed at.
The maths of the benefit are pretty positive. I spend about an hour and a half running each week and gain between 5 and 7 hours each week awake in return. That's a bargain.
Over the last week and a bit, I've maintained my running schedule much better. Monday was my last run at 7 minutes x 3 and went OK. Wednesday I moved up to 8 minutes x 3 which strangely felt a more comfortable distance and time.
Friday nearly didn't happen. I got stranded in London due to the storm-force winds closing the rail network. I had a suit, my PC and a credit card. The credit card got me a room for the night, so I ditched the PC, jacket and tie, and headed out into the West End with a collegue for a good Chinese meal and spur of the moment tickets to Spamalot. Cool.
Having made the best of a bad lot, I still didn't know how I was going to get my Friday run in. Thankfully, despite chaos at Euston station, I managed to get a train home and arrived by lunchtime. So first job was pounding pavements which was great relief from the previous 24 hours.
Monday 22nd was much colder. I'm starting to increase the clothing layers now and I expect it to be well sub-zero centigrade tomorrow morning, probably -2C or lower. I'll be watching my step!
Last 4 runs :
Monday 2.1 miles, 21 minutes @7:1 run:walk 9:59 pace 11C
Wednesday 2.42 miles, 24 minutes @8:1 run:walk 9:55 pace 13C
Friday 2.46 miles, 24 minutes @8:1 run:walk 9:46 pace 11C
Monday 2.4 miles, 24 minutes @8:1 run:walk 10:01 pace 4C (trouble crossing a road!)
Phil, congratulations on your marathon finish. Just brilliant!.
Mr Stumble.
Sunday, January 14, 2007
Good intentions.
It's been one of those weeks of good intentions but poor results. Following my run on Friday 5th, the tendons in my right ankle felt sore through the weekend. I knew I was off to London very early on Monday, so wanted to run on Sunday evening, but when it came to it, I was worried about not giving it enough rest time.
So Monday turned into a long day - 5 hours of travel, 7 hours of work and wasted on my return. Tuesday, however, was an altogether different kettle of fish and I was working from home. I didn't manage to get up early enough to run first thing, so decided to brave the oncoming forecast rain at lunchtime. Happily, this rain turned up the moment I stepped back in through the door, having completed another 7run:1walk x3. This was done purposefully at a lower pace, just under 10 minute/mile pace, as although I don't find the running difficult on the cardio/energy/breathing side, the slower pace is far better at damage limitation to my tendons.
This meant that my next scheduled run would be Thursday, giving myself a day recovery. However, Thursday was another day in London, this time starting even earlier. So no time to run in the morning and, as we do most Thursday evenings, we had a baby sitter booked for an evening out (seeing Pan's Labyrinth at the local Arts cinema - very good!) so no time then either. Bah.
The weeks second run occurred 2 days late, on Friday morning, bright and early-ish. Again, this was a slower paced run, the same as Tuesday and all fine.
This then left me with a problem. To fit in a 3rd run would mean going out on consecutive days, Friday and Saturday, or Sunday and Monday. My next week diary is again shot through with 2 trips to London on Tuesday and Thursday, leaving me Mon, Weds and Fri as convenient days to run. I don't want to jeopardise Monday by running Sunday and then needing a rest day for my ankle, but then I do want to get my 3 runs in for this week.
So, I might write this week off as "underachieved" (there's nothing like emotive language to spur you on to improve) and stick to a regular schedule next week. I'm also going to try to keep my future London meetings to Tuesdays and Thursdays only - if I have any choice in the matter!
Mr Stumble
So Monday turned into a long day - 5 hours of travel, 7 hours of work and wasted on my return. Tuesday, however, was an altogether different kettle of fish and I was working from home. I didn't manage to get up early enough to run first thing, so decided to brave the oncoming forecast rain at lunchtime. Happily, this rain turned up the moment I stepped back in through the door, having completed another 7run:1walk x3. This was done purposefully at a lower pace, just under 10 minute/mile pace, as although I don't find the running difficult on the cardio/energy/breathing side, the slower pace is far better at damage limitation to my tendons.
This meant that my next scheduled run would be Thursday, giving myself a day recovery. However, Thursday was another day in London, this time starting even earlier. So no time to run in the morning and, as we do most Thursday evenings, we had a baby sitter booked for an evening out (seeing Pan's Labyrinth at the local Arts cinema - very good!) so no time then either. Bah.
The weeks second run occurred 2 days late, on Friday morning, bright and early-ish. Again, this was a slower paced run, the same as Tuesday and all fine.
This then left me with a problem. To fit in a 3rd run would mean going out on consecutive days, Friday and Saturday, or Sunday and Monday. My next week diary is again shot through with 2 trips to London on Tuesday and Thursday, leaving me Mon, Weds and Fri as convenient days to run. I don't want to jeopardise Monday by running Sunday and then needing a rest day for my ankle, but then I do want to get my 3 runs in for this week.
So, I might write this week off as "underachieved" (there's nothing like emotive language to spur you on to improve) and stick to a regular schedule next week. I'm also going to try to keep my future London meetings to Tuesdays and Thursdays only - if I have any choice in the matter!
Mr Stumble
Monday, January 08, 2007
The uphill struggle.
A late post for a run last Friday. This was a middle of the day run, it had dried up nicely and as I was working at home on nothing in particular, the luxury of an hour's break for a run, shower and lunch was welcome.
Since the previous run on Wednesday, I'd had some moderate tendon soreness again in my right foot, but this had all but gone by Friday morning, so I went ahead with another 7run:1walk x 3.
The route I'm now using gives me a short light downhill, followed by a steady slight uphill incline for a half mile, then a substantial flat-run along a busy main road before turning downhill. It finishes with a bit of uphill. RunningAhead tells me that the biggest elevation changes are 50ft up and 80ft down, which doesn't seem much over half mile distances and are purposefully much less than in my original 3 mile course.
However, the extra slight ankle stretch going uphill is still causing me problems. Since Friday, my right ankle has continued to be sore through the weekend, and a long trip down to London today gave me an additional excuse not to run today to give it a little more time to settle down. The plan is to run tomorrow (Tuesday) early - I've seen the weather predictions and don't want to be out after 11am - and see how it goes. I might even drop back to 6:1 for a while, to see if I can maintain something while my ankles try to build some strength and I can push on up again.
Of course, Christmas feeding hasn't helped as, once again, I find I am that little bit heavier. This in turn loads my ankle up and isn't helping. I get the feeling I have the ankles of someone 2 stones lighter. So, I'm going to see what I can do to reduce my weight through being more careful about what I eat. I don't want to use the D word. I'm just going to eat less and better, that's all.
Friday: 2.21Miles, 21 minutes running @ 7:1 run:walk. 9:31 pace
Mr Stumble.
Since the previous run on Wednesday, I'd had some moderate tendon soreness again in my right foot, but this had all but gone by Friday morning, so I went ahead with another 7run:1walk x 3.
The route I'm now using gives me a short light downhill, followed by a steady slight uphill incline for a half mile, then a substantial flat-run along a busy main road before turning downhill. It finishes with a bit of uphill. RunningAhead tells me that the biggest elevation changes are 50ft up and 80ft down, which doesn't seem much over half mile distances and are purposefully much less than in my original 3 mile course.
However, the extra slight ankle stretch going uphill is still causing me problems. Since Friday, my right ankle has continued to be sore through the weekend, and a long trip down to London today gave me an additional excuse not to run today to give it a little more time to settle down. The plan is to run tomorrow (Tuesday) early - I've seen the weather predictions and don't want to be out after 11am - and see how it goes. I might even drop back to 6:1 for a while, to see if I can maintain something while my ankles try to build some strength and I can push on up again.
Of course, Christmas feeding hasn't helped as, once again, I find I am that little bit heavier. This in turn loads my ankle up and isn't helping. I get the feeling I have the ankles of someone 2 stones lighter. So, I'm going to see what I can do to reduce my weight through being more careful about what I eat. I don't want to use the D word. I'm just going to eat less and better, that's all.
Friday: 2.21Miles, 21 minutes running @ 7:1 run:walk. 9:31 pace
Mr Stumble.
Wednesday, January 03, 2007
How I did in '06.
After spotting Phil's snazzy diagrams and run-metrics, I thought I'd take a look at RunningAhead myself and see what it could do for me. As it turns out, quite a lot. My Garmin does not have the data upload facility - it's the cheapo one - but manual data-upload really only takes about 60 seconds of clicking and typing, so it's not really a problem, especially if you do it regularly.
Of course, having found it, I then hacked in all of my Garmin recorded runs from last year too. This told me that I'd run a grand total of 32 times last year (probably more like 40 with pre-teched-up runs taken into account) and racked up just over 69 miles. If nothing else, this is 69 miles more than I ran in 2005. However, I also note it's under a weeks mileage for Thomas at the moment, so I have a clear perspective on this one.
It's return-to-school day here in Blighty, at least for two of the three kids, so schedules were as ever mucked about, especially as we've all become so used to staying up late and sleeping in late. My plans to run this morning went out the window, so I've run this evening instead. I can't really leave it later than 8:30 to run, as I know the weight of prevarication increases exponentially thereafter and I'd end up eating my way out of a tub of pistachio nuts for the remainder of the evening.
However, 2 hours is still a bit short for digestion, so I ate reasonably lightly, knowing a Christmas Pudding, which had survived this long because of us all being ill, would be a delicious high-carb reward on my return.
Today, I moved up to 7 minutes x 3. RunningAhead helped me plan a slightly longer route and I headed out into a relatively warm (9C) blustery, drizzly, dark evening. Aside from a calf twinge at the start of the second 7 minutes, all went fine. I even managed to tidy away some stray bin-lids which were blowing down the road - good deed for the day. Still some slight tendon strain in the right ankle after the run, but I expect that will subside before Friday.
2.18 miles, 21 minutes running at 7:1, ave 9:39 pace.
Back to work tomorrow. Bah!
Mr Stumble.
Of course, having found it, I then hacked in all of my Garmin recorded runs from last year too. This told me that I'd run a grand total of 32 times last year (probably more like 40 with pre-teched-up runs taken into account) and racked up just over 69 miles. If nothing else, this is 69 miles more than I ran in 2005. However, I also note it's under a weeks mileage for Thomas at the moment, so I have a clear perspective on this one.
It's return-to-school day here in Blighty, at least for two of the three kids, so schedules were as ever mucked about, especially as we've all become so used to staying up late and sleeping in late. My plans to run this morning went out the window, so I've run this evening instead. I can't really leave it later than 8:30 to run, as I know the weight of prevarication increases exponentially thereafter and I'd end up eating my way out of a tub of pistachio nuts for the remainder of the evening.
However, 2 hours is still a bit short for digestion, so I ate reasonably lightly, knowing a Christmas Pudding, which had survived this long because of us all being ill, would be a delicious high-carb reward on my return.
Today, I moved up to 7 minutes x 3. RunningAhead helped me plan a slightly longer route and I headed out into a relatively warm (9C) blustery, drizzly, dark evening. Aside from a calf twinge at the start of the second 7 minutes, all went fine. I even managed to tidy away some stray bin-lids which were blowing down the road - good deed for the day. Still some slight tendon strain in the right ankle after the run, but I expect that will subside before Friday.
2.18 miles, 21 minutes running at 7:1, ave 9:39 pace.
Back to work tomorrow. Bah!
Mr Stumble.
Tuesday, January 02, 2007
Spritely, for the New Year.
Staggered out of the house this morning at about 9:30. It's not that I had a bad head from revelry, I'd just been daft enough to stay up after the Big Ben bongs to watch Amnesty's Secret Policeman's Ball and not managed to unstick myself from the sofa. All those nuts, dates and Black forest gateaux probably didn't help either.
The particular 20 minutes I selected turned out to be the best, sunniest part of the day. I spent half the run squinting into the Sun which all the incline parts of the loop point at and the other half at the neat purple blotch in the middle of my vision.
Mustn't grumble though as it felt fresh and new, and nothing like the miserable Thomas Hardy poem about New Year I studied decades ago, but still comes back to me on New Year's day.
I found this morning I was a bit more spritely than anticipated, and had my first 6 minutes at a 9:10 pace. This meant I would run out of road if I didn't alter the route - well actually I'd have to run past my house for a few hundred yards and walk back - so I added the Woodlands Walk back in - it tacks a few hundred yards on in going across, running parallel to the road and then coming back again. And it's far more pleasant than the main road.
I followed on with the next two 6 minutes at 9:23 and 9:20 giving me a total run of:
1.94 miles, 18 minutes running at 6:1, 9:18 pace.
All remains well with foot and ankle, so on Wednesday I'll move to 7:1 x 3, and alter the course again.
At the moment, this new approach seems to be working, so I might start thinking about a 5K target for March soon.
All the best to you.
Mr Stumble.
The particular 20 minutes I selected turned out to be the best, sunniest part of the day. I spent half the run squinting into the Sun which all the incline parts of the loop point at and the other half at the neat purple blotch in the middle of my vision.
Mustn't grumble though as it felt fresh and new, and nothing like the miserable Thomas Hardy poem about New Year I studied decades ago, but still comes back to me on New Year's day.
I found this morning I was a bit more spritely than anticipated, and had my first 6 minutes at a 9:10 pace. This meant I would run out of road if I didn't alter the route - well actually I'd have to run past my house for a few hundred yards and walk back - so I added the Woodlands Walk back in - it tacks a few hundred yards on in going across, running parallel to the road and then coming back again. And it's far more pleasant than the main road.
I followed on with the next two 6 minutes at 9:23 and 9:20 giving me a total run of:
1.94 miles, 18 minutes running at 6:1, 9:18 pace.
All remains well with foot and ankle, so on Wednesday I'll move to 7:1 x 3, and alter the course again.
At the moment, this new approach seems to be working, so I might start thinking about a 5K target for March soon.
All the best to you.
Mr Stumble.
Saturday, December 30, 2006
The stolen week.
Got up extremely late this morning. Woken up by the bloke delivering the weeks groceries some time way past 9:30am, which is embarrassingly late. However, the whole family has an excuse for being stay-a-beds. We're all just getting over a whole week of some dread lurgy, pitched somewhere between a nasty cold and all out flu. I actually had a flu jab just after my last run on 21st Dec, so I suspect I picked something up and had that and a de-activated flu virus to handle.
I was third of the five of us to get something, hitting me on Boxing Day, but having two kids with fevers and stuff gushing from just about everywhere for the previous two days had meant running had been suspended anyway. Then D got it a couple of days ago and I was Mr Mom while she got the fever and achy bones. My son spent nearly every waking hour since Christmas wrapped up in a blanket and watching a constant loop of Doctor Who in the living room. I don't think he remembers he was ill now - sci-fi-self-hypnosis.
However, not wanting to fish for sympathy (sickness is what holidays are for isn't it?), I've not posted on the subject till now, as I've not had a run to talk about.
Which I do now.
After the groceries had been packed away, I headed out to try and do some catching up and general lung-clearance. I know I'll have a continuing cough for a week or so, and I think one benefit of the exercise is to get fresh air into bronchioles which otherwise just hold the gunky stuff. Lets say I cleared some of that out and leave it there.
Although still short, all seemed to go well and I don't have much feeling of tendinitis at the moment. Still keeping to my previous plan, the run was:
1.88 miles, 18 minutes running @ 6:1 averaging 9:34 pace (best pace 9:18 on first 6 minutes)
It's unseasonably warm here. 10C this morning and I managed to find a time between rainstorms, so although the streets were wet, I stayed dry.
Had a nice post card from my Physiotherapist this morning, with a "Hope all is well" message. I'll have to write back.
Just checked on my target 10K date: Stourbridge Stumble 2007: Saturday 16th June 2007 at 6pm. It's in the diary!
Best wishes for a Happy New Year to you. All being well, I run NYD morning.
Mr Stumble
I was third of the five of us to get something, hitting me on Boxing Day, but having two kids with fevers and stuff gushing from just about everywhere for the previous two days had meant running had been suspended anyway. Then D got it a couple of days ago and I was Mr Mom while she got the fever and achy bones. My son spent nearly every waking hour since Christmas wrapped up in a blanket and watching a constant loop of Doctor Who in the living room. I don't think he remembers he was ill now - sci-fi-self-hypnosis.
However, not wanting to fish for sympathy (sickness is what holidays are for isn't it?), I've not posted on the subject till now, as I've not had a run to talk about.
Which I do now.
After the groceries had been packed away, I headed out to try and do some catching up and general lung-clearance. I know I'll have a continuing cough for a week or so, and I think one benefit of the exercise is to get fresh air into bronchioles which otherwise just hold the gunky stuff. Lets say I cleared some of that out and leave it there.
Although still short, all seemed to go well and I don't have much feeling of tendinitis at the moment. Still keeping to my previous plan, the run was:
1.88 miles, 18 minutes running @ 6:1 averaging 9:34 pace (best pace 9:18 on first 6 minutes)
It's unseasonably warm here. 10C this morning and I managed to find a time between rainstorms, so although the streets were wet, I stayed dry.
Had a nice post card from my Physiotherapist this morning, with a "Hope all is well" message. I'll have to write back.
Just checked on my target 10K date: Stourbridge Stumble 2007: Saturday 16th June 2007 at 6pm. It's in the diary!
Best wishes for a Happy New Year to you. All being well, I run NYD morning.
Mr Stumble
Saturday, December 23, 2006
Shortest day, longer run
Thursday was my first day of the Christmas break, so I allowed myself an extra half hour in bed before heading out. This meant that thigs were just getting light, although the fog made things a light grey. It was also pretty cold, -1.5C. Not having running tights, I'd dug some old paint splashed track suit trousers from the back of a wardrobe - what the hell, no-one was going to see me.
This run, as promised, was three lots of 6 minutes, starting to move the time up. I've changed the route so the whole thing is under streetlighting. Pace kept fairly easy, averaging just under 10 minute pace.
[update: 1.82 miles, 18 minutes runnig @6:1, ave 9:54 pace.]
I finished the run fine with no real problems, but have had all the signs of tendonitis again in my right ankle. The tendon may have healed, but I can feel a lump of calcified tissue in there, and that is causing some inflamation when I run.
It being the wrong part of the year to make a doctors appointment, I'll have to wait till after boxing day. I need further ultasound to break down the deposits. In the meantime, I'm going to carry on as planned, but with a load of icing, massage and stretching. I really feel that if I can chase this last problem away, keep the program easy I should be able to finally make the progress I need to. I'd love to be able to make a 5K in the spring, and the Stourbridge Stumble next April.
So another 18 minutes on Christmas Eve.
Mr Stumble
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
Running in the dark.
Well, after that bit of planning, it all went to the wall as the weekend turned into a long haul of many different things - mainly concerned with finding a school for my son who has special needs. We had some bad news on Friday concerning his secondary school placement - our local education authority appears to have rejected the school everyone says he should go to and we are waiting for a formal letter, telling us we have to choose a mainstream school.
Never one to wait for the bad news, a lot of letter writing ensued and our campaign to appeal the decision has already started.
Yesterday (Monday) I realised that even if there were a plan, there would always be something to prevent me running in daylight and that I had to take the plunge and run in early morning darkness. And this meant overcoming the daemon of complacency, whispering about the cold, the safety aspect (cars and psychopaths), how mad this would appear to sane people who are still tucked up in bed at 6:30.
D commented that I would never get up, and that really solved the problem for me as I'm stubborn and won't stand for this prejudgement. She knows this of course, so it was a double bluff.
As it turned out, it was dryish and a bit misty - the fog descending an hour later as I was driving North for work. Temperature was around 4.5C. The side roads were empty except for a couple of people heading for the bus and aside from an excursion through the "Woodlands Walk" - part of my normal daytime route, all was lit by street lamps. The Woodlands Walk was pretty dark - a 3 minute section with no lights except that coming from the main roads at either end and the perfect place for Rutger Hauer to be hanging out, so I might re-plan the route for next time.
The only problem - as I couldn't see Mr Garmin, I managed to fudge up the display by pressing the wrong button when trying to get it to light up, so there was a fair amount of guessing for the segments. Also, the Garmin speaker grill was muffled by my fleece jacket and I couldn't hear it. So, I'll be repositioning that next time.
No bio-mech problems so I expect to be out Thursday with an increased time and distance.
Tuesday - 1.4 miles @ 5:1 - 10:10ish pace
Mr Stumble.
Never one to wait for the bad news, a lot of letter writing ensued and our campaign to appeal the decision has already started.
Yesterday (Monday) I realised that even if there were a plan, there would always be something to prevent me running in daylight and that I had to take the plunge and run in early morning darkness. And this meant overcoming the daemon of complacency, whispering about the cold, the safety aspect (cars and psychopaths), how mad this would appear to sane people who are still tucked up in bed at 6:30.
D commented that I would never get up, and that really solved the problem for me as I'm stubborn and won't stand for this prejudgement. She knows this of course, so it was a double bluff.
As it turned out, it was dryish and a bit misty - the fog descending an hour later as I was driving North for work. Temperature was around 4.5C. The side roads were empty except for a couple of people heading for the bus and aside from an excursion through the "Woodlands Walk" - part of my normal daytime route, all was lit by street lamps. The Woodlands Walk was pretty dark - a 3 minute section with no lights except that coming from the main roads at either end and the perfect place for Rutger Hauer to be hanging out, so I might re-plan the route for next time.
The only problem - as I couldn't see Mr Garmin, I managed to fudge up the display by pressing the wrong button when trying to get it to light up, so there was a fair amount of guessing for the segments. Also, the Garmin speaker grill was muffled by my fleece jacket and I couldn't hear it. So, I'll be repositioning that next time.
No bio-mech problems so I expect to be out Thursday with an increased time and distance.
Tuesday - 1.4 miles @ 5:1 - 10:10ish pace
Mr Stumble.
Thursday, December 14, 2006
Focus.
Thanks Phil for your comment. In today's 15 minute run-let, I realised the problem was - just as you were telling me - not having a plan. Therefore no focus on a goal and before long it will all come off the rails. So, given these few moment, here's the plan outline.
1) whatever happens, if a run causes pain for more than 24 hours, back off.
2) keep things in 3 "intervals" of running separated by a minute walking.
3) increase each week by around 1 minute per interval (so 15, 18, 21, 24, 27, 30 minutes total) unless I have good reason to think I can increase by more (say the 24 to 30)
4) run 3 times a week. At least.
5) plan the next goal when I have 3 lots of 10 minutes under my belt.
So next run will be my last at the "15" level, and that should be this weekend.
Mr Stumble.
1) whatever happens, if a run causes pain for more than 24 hours, back off.
2) keep things in 3 "intervals" of running separated by a minute walking.
3) increase each week by around 1 minute per interval (so 15, 18, 21, 24, 27, 30 minutes total) unless I have good reason to think I can increase by more (say the 24 to 30)
4) run 3 times a week. At least.
5) plan the next goal when I have 3 lots of 10 minutes under my belt.
So next run will be my last at the "15" level, and that should be this weekend.
Mr Stumble.
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
Winter blues.
A poor week for running. I am doing a lot of travelling at the moment and the idea of getting up extra, extra early to run in the dark, when it's only 3C outside - and it's raining and blowing - I 'm not in that place at the moment.
Being usually home based, I had been planning to run at lunchtimes - Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays but since early last week, have not been home at the requisite time to do so. Except on Thursday last week. I did actually manage to get out of the door on Thursday, but managed to get about 400 yards down the road before the double glazing van I had been waiting in for shot past me in the other direction. At least I now know that I can run short distances at a higher pace!
Once I'd had the faulty pane measured up for replacement it was too late to go out again - people to speak to, tasks to complete. The weekend then turned into a dead loss, and I'm sat here blogging on my second train trip to London this week.
I guess this is the perennial runners problem of winter motivation. Too dark. Too cold. My motivation has been exceeded by sheer volume of excuses. The answer, of course is to increase my motivation somehow. Perhaps listening to Steve's Boston 110 again will help. Or just be bloody minded about it and force myself out onto dark and rainy streets. I might actually fond that I like it once I try it!
Anyway, I'm working from home tomorrow, so am planning to get out sometime between 12 and 2, come rain or shine.
Mr Stumble.
Tuesday, December 05, 2006
Head full of goop
I managed to pick up a cold in the middle of last week - I think my immune system has caged up a few nasties over the last 6 weeks and has started to release them. This happens to me when my job has me running on adrenaline on a sales opportunity and I can't get sick. I get the backlash when things calm down again. Anybody else get something similar?
Last week I had some physio booked for Thursday and having had the green light, wanted to get a couple of runs in beforehand. On Monday I ran the basic 15 minutes at a 10.02 average pace and repeated this again on Wednesday with a 9.45. Both went fine, a little tightness in the right calf and ankle - only slight discomfort the following day.
The physio session was for a sports massage on my right calf, which has become increasingly knotty over the past few weeks. Rather than my regular physio, Nicky I was with Joe, who specialises in sports massage for runners.
This was the most painful half hour I've had in a long time! A lot of time was spent trying to separate my calf muscle from the bone. Where it had become very tight and was putting up a fight. This being my last scheduled session, I got some tips on how to continue teasing the muscle out to loosen it, and even more variations on stretches.
On Friday, I lost my voice (there was some cheering from my work colleagues - thank God for instant messaging) and then spent the weekend with a head full of gunk and garden fences to repair after some strong winds on Friday night. Yesterday, I was breathing a little easier, so got in another 15 minutes at lunchtime. I can feel an improvement in how I feel after the run already, but there is some way to go before I get back to where I was in July.
With a busy week ahead, I'll probably run next on Thursday and then at the weekend. Perhaps then I'll start to increase the running time to 18 minutes.
Hope all is well with you.
Mr Stumble
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
Keeping things nice and easy
Today's post comes courtesy of my new toy, a Treo smartphone. Nothing that helps running, but might get me back on track posting a bit more regularly, as I can compose away from my PC.
As for running, there is finally some good news. Whilst off in Hemel Hempstead last week (I get to go to the most glamorous places) I booked into a hotel with a pretty good gym and managed to get 15 minutes at a 10 minute pace, as agreed with my physio. I don't find treadmills that entertaining, so I was glad I didn't have to run any further. That went very well, and was followed with a nice meal in the restaurant - not bad for an evening away.
I've had a fair amount of calf-grumbling on the right side over the past couple of weeks, possibly as a result of stretching or new pairs of shoes, so I really hope that doesn't turn into something bad as I start up again.
In the meantime, I've reached the end of my main course of physio, with one sports massage remaining to try to sort the calf out and on Tuesday lunchtime just gone, I headed out for my first outdoor run of my new Autumn program. The plan is to keep to 15 minutes running until it is comfortable, with no recurring heel or calf pain before increasing the time and distance. Nice and easy while my tendons and bones get used to the pounding again.
As with the treadmill, this run was in 5:1 run:walk intervals. Mr Garmin had forgotten where he was after being switched off for so long, so no pace or distance recorded, but probably a nice easy 10 minute mile pace over a total 1.7 miles.
It's a start.
All being well, I'll run again tomorrow, although it's my daughter's 4th birthday party in the early afternoon, which might throw the whole day's plans out. We'll see.
Mr Stumble.
Sunday, November 19, 2006
Permission to run.
As instructed, I arrived at this weeks physio session 15 minutes early so I could get 15 minutes warming up on an exercise bike before hitting the treadmill. The exercise bike is more of a recumbent device, than a sit-up-and-cycle, and I had a good 20 minutes of peddling and stretching before we were ready to go.
The treadmill is a monstrous thing, and I think it gets used by some of our local soccer team who, from the "wall of fame" in the gym, frequent this place to get back into playing form. Can't be a bad place then. Once established at 6mph I asked if the machine went up to "11" - recalling Spinal Tap's amplifiers. It does in fact go up to 15 and there have been people on the machine for whom even that has not been fast enough.
6 is fine for me though.
The running session was simply to gauge any running pain in my foot, and thankfully there is non there. However, my right calf felt very tense from the start, in the same sort of way that my left calf used to do when it was warning me. After 6 or 7 minutes of mixed walk/running, we headed off to take a look at the calf and continue the ankle tendon treatment.
There is a load of bunched up muscle tension in my right calf, so she had a good dig in there to try to loosen things up, and a couple of days on, I do think it has helped.
But the best bit is that I'm OK to begin running again, with certain boundaries - a very slow start - a good warm up and no more than 15 minutes for the moment.
With a busy travelling week ahead of me, I'm hoping the hotel I'm booked into for the next couple of nights has a gym and treadmill, otherwise running might be difficult.
We'll see.
Mr Stumble.
The treadmill is a monstrous thing, and I think it gets used by some of our local soccer team who, from the "wall of fame" in the gym, frequent this place to get back into playing form. Can't be a bad place then. Once established at 6mph I asked if the machine went up to "11" - recalling Spinal Tap's amplifiers. It does in fact go up to 15 and there have been people on the machine for whom even that has not been fast enough.
6 is fine for me though.
The running session was simply to gauge any running pain in my foot, and thankfully there is non there. However, my right calf felt very tense from the start, in the same sort of way that my left calf used to do when it was warning me. After 6 or 7 minutes of mixed walk/running, we headed off to take a look at the calf and continue the ankle tendon treatment.
There is a load of bunched up muscle tension in my right calf, so she had a good dig in there to try to loosen things up, and a couple of days on, I do think it has helped.
But the best bit is that I'm OK to begin running again, with certain boundaries - a very slow start - a good warm up and no more than 15 minutes for the moment.
With a busy travelling week ahead of me, I'm hoping the hotel I'm booked into for the next couple of nights has a gym and treadmill, otherwise running might be difficult.
We'll see.
Mr Stumble.
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