A little bit of inspiration

Following the cold, miserable weather that brought me to a halt through February and March, how nice April has been.

A complete absence of motivation in the form of planned races has kept the month sensible, re-building my mileage from near nothing to nearer 15 per week as the weeks have worn on. Last week saw a trip to Wales to thrash the mountainbike which saw a missed longer run but kept fun levels high and fitness possibly higher.

But yesterday saw a new form of motivation entirely. The marvelous girlfriend who is JogBlog wafted a book under my nose just as I was finishing the Telegraph Book Of Unpublished Letters but before I started the Telegraph Book of Obituaries (I love the absurd nature of a correspondent who takes the time to write something so abstruse just for the sake of personal entertainment but which is enjoyable to all, alongside an occasional write-up on a war veteran who undoubtedly carried out his service with unbelievable enthusiasm, often having been captured, escaped, been injured, recovered only to get captured again before settling down to a life as head gardener of a nursery. Or the simply unbelievable obit of the man who almost single-handedly perfected the lobotomy process, having been offered “troublesome children” by the aristocracy to quieten them down to avoid embarrassment at social functions for practice. I can read them forever, it seems). Not sure if I’d like it (but having trudged on through one “classic” title in the recent past, only to give up at page 273 having decided I’d given it enough chance to warm up by then if it was going to – if you haven’t read “On The Road” by Jack Kerouac, don’t. It’s impenetrable shit. And that’s coming from the author of this blog, so it must be really, really bad by my reckoning. There, that’s a review for you!), I gave it a go by skipping the introduction. After about two paragraphs I decided it was good. After the first chapter I was hooked. The style and passion in the writing and the content are superb – I can honestly say I love it. And it’s the direct reason for today’s run.

“Feet in the Clouds” by Richard Askwith. It’s an old book but has aged superbly. About fell running, basically, and while a certain paper once wrote (completely wrongly, I might add) about a fellow runner’s blog that it “Simply made you want to tie up a pair of laces and go running”, I’ll repeat the quote about the book with the assurance that it indeed does make you want to get up, get out and get amongst it. Tales of endurance, adversity, ridiculous accomplishments, camaraderie, mishap, recklessness…superb reading.

There are no fells near Ashford. The hills I run around between Hawkinge (aka the shittest place in the universe) and Folkestone are steep but short and will be thrashed off-road before long again. But are also 15 miles away. The Greensand Way is flat but at least off-road and goes past my front gate. I decided to run 7 miles today, slowly and off-road, in the style of an out and back. The decision was entirely attributable to the book. I even turned my ankle around the 2.5 mile mark in a track made rough by countless horseshoes. The discomfort was deemed mild in fell-runner’s law because there were no bones or claret visible so I continued to run away from home without breaking stride. It hurts a bit now, but not enough interfere with anything in life beyond being something to comment about.

I think I particularly love the attitude of the athletes to injury, following my ability to hurt myself in everything I do (incidentally, I didn’t even fall off the bike in Wales. Following my broken ribs last year I think I either took it a lot easier, practiced a bit more or had better luck. Superb fun). I now have confirmation that there are lots of others out there who will finish a race on broken limbs, who will run on through torn ligaments and who thrive on finding a way around injury. I think I have a new calling.

Until the novelty wears off, at least. And I hope it does wear off. Travelling to find fells to practice on and then race around might be beyond my wallet or diary. But until then I’ll carry on reading. And being inspired. And hopefully carry on enjoying my runs and staying fit through the year.

Fastest mile of the month was a 6.06. Fastest overall run the Maidstone parkrun at (what felt gentle, honest.) 6.45/mile average (well it’s a run, not a race apparently, I just loved the scenery what with it being along the banks of the river Medway and got a little carried away running and chatting to a couple of experienced parkrunners in their 50 and 100 run tops – before I knew it the run was over). Not going to break any records at that pace but it makes the 7 minute pace that much more enjoyable and the month average pace of 7.22 for all runs is equally encouraging. A few more miles alongside a few more longer runs and I might get race fit before Christmas.

Regenovex product review

A couple of months ago, while hurting through Janathon, I started trying a joint relief product called Regenovex. I linked to it a while back but have saved a review until I thought I’d have a better appraisal of benefit (or lack of) given a bit of time.

Well, here it is!

I’ve tried the patches, the capsules and the gel (as well as having tried a muscle rub produced from the same green-lipped mussel extract a few years ago) and I like them.

While I struggle, to be honest, to identify if the patches work beyond the immediate cooling and calming effect they give, I like the gel very much and am sure it worked beyond the levels of other joint products I have kicking around the house to instantly and (more importantly for me) permanently ease joint aches, pains and soreness. A rub over my knees and (pretty much all) lower leg joints has eased them superbly and an increasing pain in my shoulder now I’ve re-commenced weight training eased back as soon as I remembered I had product to use. Superb and recommended.

The capsules indicate that they take a while to build up in the body, much like cod-liver oil (my usual supplement since repeatedly breaking every bone available in my wrists as a young and reckless bloke…what fun times they were!). Since switching to the Regenovex capsules I feel every bit as good as on the old oil so I guess, again, I approve.

Much as I’d like to sound more balanced (read I feel I should list some drawbacks I’ve found but can’t since I’ve found none!), all I can say is that price will almost certainly, in the longer term, restrict me using the capsules but for my more immediate needs as a gel to ease focused problems, I’m happy to pay the price for the gel and it will be my permanent joint rub of choice from now on.

Recommendation enough, in my mind.

Can we have spring now, please, so I can up my mileage again?

Ta.

Too much, too little

It seems wrong to post about not having enough time to blog lately, but that’s been my biggest problem! Trying to cram in window construction, sorting out the bits that keep breaking on the house as well as getting the veg plot and greenhouse ready for spring, at work getting a housing estate close to handover – it’s all enough in itself.

Having said that, I have increased my running again after a lull through early February, so fitness isn’t suffering too much for all of it, even if updating on here has – even uploading the Garmin to SportTracks has suffered!

Runs have included an 8 mile day while getting the motorbike serviced, a return to my hill run, my favourite 6 mile Gill Lane loop a few times, the odd 7 mile outing and a couple of jogs to town to pick up JogBlog’s bike from the station followed of course by the return cycle. One of those in jeans and jacket, not being bothered to put on running kit for two miles (and a 7.28/mile average pace for the jog made me happy, considering the weight and restriction of movement offered by the jeans alone!).

Cycling has increased as well. Mainly short-ish outings making sure the mountainbike is ok ready for a trip to Wales (Afan Argoed for the new pump track amongst other things and CwmCarn for the downhill – uplift van all booked already! Yay!) and the following outing to Morzine in July for some really serious downhilling, chairlifts the lot (and since it’s been 5 years since my last trip there, I need plenty of practice for the inevitable jumps, drops, roots, braking bumps and physical demands of 10 minute downhills rather than the 2 minute affairs we get over here. To say nothing of the horse steak I’m already looking forward to assuming we pop over to Switzerland on one of the days).

Today has seen the South East of the country see a spectularly small amount of snow ruin us. Getting home last night, despite only around an inch of white stuff falling, was “interesting” (including sitting on a hill with the handbrake on only for a gust of wind to start the car sliding down the hill, necessitating the footbrake to lock all four wheels to stop progress on the ice. It was serious!). The radio this morning announced that the motorway and following road I needed were blocked and that Hawkinge was cut off.

Best thing for it short of a small nuclear device, I reckon.

Have I mentioned I hate Hawkinge? No? Maybe I will one day. It’s shit there. Before anyone moans about where they live, I insist they visit Hawkinge. It’s shit. Have I mentioned this…?!?

But I decided I’d try to cycle in, anyway. All went ok (apart from being in 4th gear out of 27 on the flat into the wind on two sections), drifting snow through Sellindge made things interesting and Swan Lane was almost impassable (the worst snow to cycle in – semi compacted, around three inches deep, little traction and a front wheel going all directions except straight. Makes sand seem straightforward), but only when I got to the top of the Downs at Farthing Common did I get stuck.

A monster of a drift (around 6ft tall, my bike in the picture as I wedged it into the drift here is on hard-pack snow about two feet above the road – the hedge to the right is a typical country-lane affair, for scale!) was completely blocking access. I climbed onto it and got about 300yards until i was a) exhausted, b) cold and wet and c) worried that by using my bike as a snow-shoe as I was (the wheels stopping me sinking past waist deep into the snow), the 10 miles home from that point might become an awful long, cold walk. Knowing the same was in store on the top of Etchinghill, I turned around, phoned work to say I couldn’t make it an pedalled home (at twice the speed I went out in – nothing smaller than big ring, 6th gear despite the ice and snow…the wind suddenly became the best thing in the world!

So now I have an afternoon to make windows and enjoy the day, hopefully with an easing wind so I can go for a jog later (won’t go if I don’t enjoy it, I’m actually living through my romise from two years ago! The joy of running with no pressure of races, simply run when it feels right to do so) with a return to work tomorrow. Fingers crossed.

Slacking…

Yep, that’s me.

Since Janathon ended I’ve rested my niggles and think I’m almost un-injured. I have a sore left knee and upper shin still, a result of the scaffold board rolling onto my leg, but all else is just about clear. The end of the day sees my right foot hurting but no more than after the 5 miles I ran last Saturday.

Truth is, I’ve been meaning to go out twice this week and simply haven’t been able to convince myself to go. My will is currently my weakest bit…the Saturday outing was fun, fast and enjoyable. The thought of a cold outing after work isn’t doing it for me so I haven’t been.

Weights in the conservatory three times a week has been enough, I’m afraid, and the opportunity to catch up on house bits (garden, joinery and bits) has been great.

Holiday next week and I have an 8 mile running commute booked in around my bike MOT. Hopefully things will kick-start from there.

Garmin almost made it! Janathone done. Yay!

I wasn’t sure how to end Janathon. Having done over 6 miles everyday through wind, rain, cold, relative warmth (I wore shorts and a short-sleeved top Thursday of the first week!), snow and just normal January weather, the day was average. Having done the majority of the runs on the hills around Paddlesworth a flat outing seemed a sad end. Having achieved my goals and having moved the goal posts twice (from 186 to 192 to 200 miles), upping my mileage to gain a leaderboard place seemed pointless.

So having had a bad day (read busy as hell without time to think of a run let alone doing one) I realised time had gone and the best I could do from work was a quick 1.6 mile out and back to improve the evening and leave a shorter run. So that’s how I started.

And nearly finished, to be fair. All my aches and pains felt horrible and such a short outing didn’t really give them a chance to warm up and dull down.

But once home I changed and got ready to go. Until I noticed my Garmin had died. I charged it last night so knew the battery was fine but I had a grey screen with very weak, faded numbers and no functions coming up. I popped the charger on and it showed 88% battery but changed the time to 10.58. Removing the charger it went blank, started up then froze into the grey screen again. Emergency measures called for Cathy’s Garmin to be borrowed. And it was.

A loop of Knight’s Park and Park Farm made for the shortest day of the month but enough to see me comfortably over 200 miles. Challenge over. The odd bit is the Garmin still playing up (I have no map data of the Hawkinge outing, just time and distance so something was wrong as I used it there - I know how long it was and have proof from the piss-taking from a groundworker about how slow can a mile be. I didn’t explain that I’d run one and a half. I’ll accept his ridicule in the hope he comes for a jog one day.) I’ve got the data off it (what was on there) and have done a soft reset which works for a minute, allowing all functions to be explored, but after 5 minutes or so it locks and touching the buttons makes it go grey and dull again. Think it’s time to send it back to Garmin for a check. Is this a first to exhaust a Garmin thrugh the month? Will an easy week rejuvenate it, I wonder, as I hope it will me?

So back to normality. It’ll be nice to just run again soon. I’m going to rest my damaged bits (currently standing at right heel, right foot bridge, left knee outer, left knee inner, left thigh, left little toe – I let the nail grow a bit too long) for a while before starting again. Not having a Garmin will be nice in a way, depending on how long it’ll take to sort. I’ve got some joint relief  product I’m going to test and review – hopefully the battered state of my body is an ideal battleground to see if anything can cure me! If it’s any good I’ll be out and about next week.

The house needs time as well as running and blogging, least of all to repair the damage from the tree. Work needs full focus. Mountainbiking needs more attention and practice ready for Wales in April. The garden will start growing in earnest and the greenhouse will need filling up. But I also need (yep, need. Not want. Need.) to produce a sub 18 minute 5k, a sub 40 minute 10k race time and be comfortable in myself by putting on some upper body weight.

I think I need a miracle.

But 200 miles in a month. I’d never have thought it. Thank you, fragile body. Back soon.

Sleepless and damaged but Janathon goes on.

Sleepless – me. Damaged – the house. Janathon – the constant to allow perspective.

Last year I had a Janathon hiccup when a blog post was a day late when mum died. I’d been for a run before going home and was half way through dinner, completely oblivious to any ill health even, when a 125mph drive to try to get to see her proved fruitless. I know everyone reacts differently in what are on the whole similar circumstances. One of my reactions was to continue Janathon, to chase my goal, to keep running and while I did so I had plenty of time to collect my thoughts and reflect on life. Many people wondered how odd my behaviour seemed. In hindsight I can relate to their wonder but it’s simply how I coped. It wasn’t planned.

This year, having had a couple of injuries but also having ploughed in some consistent miles, my initial target was passed. Then, while brushing my teeth, I heard a similar noise to JogBlog. She thought the initial sound was the mice/rats/squirrels we have in the roof doing some hardcore gnawing. They’re odd buggers and can make a din. I thought the wind had picked up enough to dislodge some mortar from the ridge tiles (we live in a 1750 converted bakery). A couple more brush strokes and I instinctively ducked, wondering what the increase in noise was and whether I was about to be joined in the bathroom by the chimney that adjoins it. JB thought the mice had turned to dogs and had gone wild – that or the mice had eaten something structural and something was about to fall on her. With a final crescendo of sound, I put my brush down and came out of the bathroom to meet her on the landing, both of us bemused. A little scared at what I might find, I must admit, I put a shirt and jeans on and went outside to see what had occurred. And, believe it or not, I was relieved to see the chimney still there. Less happy as I went around the porch though and saw the Ash tree leaning on the house, branches having removed roof tiles and brushed the window (without breaking it…miraculous!). To be fair, Cathy was a bit shocked. Seeing the weight of the tree had landed about 4 feet above her head, she had every right to be. Don’t tell her, though.

I’ll bet the inhabitants of the roof were as scared as us. Certainly put the wind up the cat.

The worst bit was not knowing if it had done structural damage and not being able to see. So we decided to leave the upstairs to itself and decamp to the conservatory as far from the tree as possible. Onto my futon which is a superb place to sleep unless it hammering with wind and blowing a gale and you’ve already lost half the house just when you wanted to switch off and relax. A good nights sleep it certainly wasn’t. Prospects of a fruitful Janathon appeared scuppered.

Come this morning, though, and a damage assessment, things looked better. A call to my regular tree surgeon found him able to come away from the trees he was removing and sort me out. Three hours of skilled removal saw the roof/tree interface concluded with a no score draw. The tree had somehow survived with a massively reduced rootball – it had simply leant over out of the ground – no damage to the fence it was alongside, the drain it borders or the water pipe that runs alongside. Very lucky. Indeed.

Which lead to a reduced day and Janathon to squeeze in.

Tempted to say forget it, I popped out for a singular mile for milk while awaiting the boys. Then waited until I got home to run depending on energy/guilt levels. And as far as my leg would allow following yesterday’s scaffold board interface, of course. Either 3.8 or 4.8, I felt. As it turned out, guilt kicked in and I wanted another 6 mile day, so 5 it was. Resulting again in 6.1 miles and a Janathon running total of 195.84 miles.

So…will I do 4.16 tomorrow? Or anoher 6 to make all of the month 6 mile or more days?

I’ll wait and see. Fingers crossed we don’t have 10mm more rain. At least there aren’t any more trees to fall on the house.

Ah, the 80′s. So yesterday. Janathon 29.

Today has been spent inside a cloud.

Hawkinge (AKA village of doom, shittest place on earth, most depressing place to work ever. A couple were meant to look at one of the houses on the estate on Saturday. Not knowing the area they arrived an hour before the viewing to look around. Half an hour before they cancelled. They didn’t like it up there. Sensible people. It really is shit. Imagine, if you’ve never been to Hawkinge, putting your head inside a particularly fragrant, surprisingly loose cow’s arse. During bowel evacuation time. with another cow stood on your foot. It’s that shit.) has seen nothing but drifting water all day. The kind that makes you soaking wet in 30 seconds without any raindrops actually falling. Except that for most of the day rain has fallen, too. The grey material (mist? Nope – visibility less than 1000yards. Fog? Nope – no advection or any other vection present. I was quite vexed though. Just simply moisture droplets in cloud form scudding past at eye level and below) is the most depressing stuff ever. At least it was warmer.

Except that wasn’t much of a bonus. 15 minutes before I set off for the run I knocked a scaffold board off the pile I was walking past. Having just passed it, the board fell straight down onto my left outer rear knee bit, the sticky out bone on top of the calf. It hurt a surprising amount so I headed back to the office and got changed. But didn’t know what top to wear. A long sleeved running top was right for the heat. But I knew I’d get cold once soaked (around 8 seconds in) So I opted to overheat but stay dry in my fleece running top. Along with a rapidly stiffening knee, it wasn’t to be a promising run.

And exectations were lived up to. Uninspired, tired, left knee hurting on the inside as well on the newly hit bit, right heel playing up, right foot bridge making me roll my foot oddly. I wish Janathon was over.

Except around 2 miles in when I realised I was past my target 186 miles for the month. All done. Target acquired and executed. Tick (in a Justin Lee-Collins style). But 6.2 miles to the next target (10k a day). So on I plodded. No air punch involved.

Once back I changed and again reached for the computer to play some odd music. Today was a mix of Buzzcocks which inspired (don’t ask how my brain works) Fergal Sharkey’s A Good Heart. My god. I don’t think I’ve ever seen the video before. I wasn’t going to watch it today (I intended writing the diary with musical accompaniment) but couldn’t take my eyes off it. Are any 80′s cliches (musical, style, fashion, hair) not complete? Even the nasty moustache is fully represented. Shocking.

Then I realised I was out of the 80′s in mileage, too. Just inside 190 miles I now need fewer than 5 per day to reach 200, a mere mile per day to exceed 10k per day. My knee has stiffened enormously since I’ve been home but surely I can get out for at least a mile tomorrow?

Hopefully there isn’t that much of a sting in Janathon’s tail, is there? Maybe – when I got home, the rain gauge in the back garden is registering a mere 1mm for the day. Just 15 miles (as the crow flies) from site. Did I mention Hawkinge is shit?