Paving Slabs

I meant to run yesterday evening to give myself a bit of recovery but the discovery when I got in that I was up for the six o’clock finish (should have checked on Friday, I guess) put the mockers on that, so I went today instead.

To be true, the thought of a run in the snow wasn’t really inticing anyway and tonight had at least the benefit of being dry so I guess I should thank small somethings.

Anyway, I decided on a slow 4 miles to Morrisons and did it just over 30 seconds slower than last Thursday. My ankles were feeling a bit distressed so a plod was the order of the day. But the reduced pace alllowed my brain to work out why I found such a nice rhythm for a few yards last week. The same happened today. It’s because, around the mile and a half mark just as I got warmed up, a section of paving slabs opens up and they happen to draw me in with the length of stride matching the slabs in an accelerating effect. They’re slightly uphill, 500mm slabs (a bit smaller than standard 600mm items) and my footfall on the upslope appeared to be about 1150mm – every third stride, i’d gain an “extra” slab – the effect drew my eyes, made me smoother and pulled me along. Annoyingly, as I worked out that it really worked, I looked forward to the downhill section but it all fell apart. My stride got so long (i’ve always been criticised for my huge stride compared to my short frame) on the downhill, no decent rhythm revealed itself and when I shortened my stride, it felt like I was tottering along for no effect.

If London’s 26 miles were on small paving slabs, I reckon i’d have a chance of a sub 3 hour time. As it is, i’ll settle for four.

I used to have a similar feeling running past the 3m sections of railing/fence type stuff alongside Alexandra Park in Hastings, but in the downhill direction. I just don’t know why it’s taken me so long to realise what it is in Maidstone that feels different. Must be the slope because the seafront sections in Hastings didn’t have the same thing when  I ran on the paved bits there.

Hope it’s not some paving based obsession that’s drawing me in. With a good couple of months marathon training ahead of me, maybe i’ll find true insanity yet. Must keep the long runs confined to the country.

The loneliness of the long distance runner? Maybe insanity would be more apt.

Orbana

Again I blog on a Sunday for a Saturday run. It’s been busy since yesterday morning, a couple of draft blogs have been binned this evening due to the appalling nature of the prose therein but this one has to stay. Mainly because it’s late, I need to put the bin out and bed beckons.

I prepared for the run.

That’s something in itself but I fancied 16 miles even though I only really needed 15. I say only…I mean shit, a 15 mile run.

Still, routes were plotted even including a thought of a one way jaunt to the parents in Folkestone or my brother in Lyminge – the latter option outed owing to the need for a 3 mile loop and at least one veeeery nasty hill at about 13 miles. The one I settled on involved a looping version of an 8 miler with Park Farm added on.

So breakfast was as usual with an extra bit of toast. Then a half hour later I had a cup of coffee, banana and little container of Orbana energy stuff. Cathy’s been sent it to try – I had some last week but was unsure if it helped directly, so thought i’d try again this week. It’s not a bad flavour – meaning I wouldn’t go out of my way to drink it socially, but as a tool it’s perfectly acceptable and doesn’t make me want to be sick like the chocolate milk Cathy says I should drink after a run – chocolate is lovely. Milk is lovely. Chocolate milk is for wannabe bulimics who don’t like the thought of fingers down their throats. It’s like cherry yogurt. Bad. Where was I? Ah, yes, Orbana. Well, I know how I feel on a long run. I know the effect of a banana and extra slice of toast. The fact that I had the best run ever up to and including 10 miles is either because I was happy not to be freezing (which I was) or beacuse the route I did was incredibly picturesque (it was), because there was no traffic at all (there wasn’t) or all these combined with a feeling that I had all the energy in the world.

It was truly a good run. The last 5 miles, predictably enough, weren’t quite as good but the last two miles of that can be attributed to being on the truly uninspiring loop of the local housing estate with the preceeding two miles being into quite a stiff head breeze but i’ll be repeating the route with a larger country loop and with more energy product for my 17 miler in a couple of weeks. I’m almost a fan of the drink if it makes all the runs feel that way – a training run with little focus on pace resulting in a 49.28 first 10k, a 49.33 second 10k, a 1.45 dead half marathon and a fresh feeling to boot after a 15 mile week has got to have something going for it.

Hoping things don’t fall apart as the distance gets really silly, I think a banana boost at the 13 mile mark might just about see me through with minor problems. Let’s hope, but things are looking promising at the moment.

And with Cathy back up and going, spring really is looking bright.

A bit floaty. Like.

Much the same as last night, I took a while to settle into a rhythm this evening. I think some of the reason is my afternoon activity at work, but I can’t decide how to settle into a routine to get me ready for a run when I don’t know if i’ll be stuck at a computer after 3 or spinning around the site checking bits and doling out information. It’s a pain.

Still, at least my lurches away from site were swift. The first mile was a mix of rolling along nicely, feeling awkward as if my legs were going in odd directions and thinking of stuff other than running at an average 7.27 pace. It is downhill, though, so the effort wasn’t high.

The next half mile felt slow, then I settled into a great rhythm. Really satisfying for just under the half mile, I had a long pace, quite quick in turnover but seemingly low in effort, springy and enjoyable – a shame when it was disturbed by a car at a junction, a group of teens and the need to loop a car park to complete my half distance. The average pace turned out to be 7.57 for this one, about right for an uphill stretch (well, more a slope than a hill to be fair) with a dodgy first half.

The turnaround contained about 200 yards of nice running, the majority of the stretch being a feeling that I was warm. Yes, warm. I actually considered rolling my sleeves up but then recovered my sanity and kept them rolled to try and experience that odd feeling I used to get when I got hot. I think it’s called sweat but it’s been so long, I can’t be sure. I was also surprised to discover it was, same as the first mile, 7.27 pace.

And guess what? The last mile, up the slope I started down on, was a 7.57. A perfectly symmetrical run. I couldn’t have planned it better. It felt easy enough, my legs are beginning to know they’re doing quite a distance (did I mention January was my first ever 100 mile month - never got there last year, what with niggling pains and other distractions and never get close in my half preparations because i’m a slacker) though, especially around the ankle area. The rest tomorrow will be marvellous.

I can’t quite believe i’m doing marathon training and am averaging well under 8 minute miles (January’s 100.03 miles averaged 7.58 which i’m sure is too fast for many a schedule, but since i’ve junked them and can’t even remember how many weeks there are until the race, I think running to stay sane and pleased with myself is the answer). JogBlog just commented (not on the blog, though, so I won’t link to her – if she starts blogging again, i’ll start mentioning her and linking – it might be blackmail, it might not work, but i’ve got to try!) that it doesn’t seem as though i’m marathon training this year, despite the runs being similar to last, but 15 miles midweek certainly is far enough for me.

So. Rest tomorrow, a lot of miles at the weekend and a lawnmower to buy.

Continues

After a busy but productive Tuesday, today was all about the run.

Got a few useful bits sorted at work, which is unusual at the moment, but come ten past five, I was itching to start my 7 miles, if only so I could warm up when I got home.

To be fair, the temperature over the last couple of days has improved to the point where the jacket lining has been coming out in the afternoons but as I strolled across the car park as the Garmin got it’s signal, everything seemed chilly and nasty again, the site basking in 2 degree coolness and a misty fog all around. I say misty fog – it’s a bit of a non-description, but in the dark I couldn’t tell how short visibility was. As I approached Linton crossroads, it went right down to the point where the combination of wet on the glasses and cold in the air meant I could see absolutely nothing through the glasses and had to take them off. Not good. Poor light, fog and no glasses meant quite a few stumbles as I missed salient path features like kerbs, potholes and a couple of grass verges in the gloom, but it was more than the diffracted light I was getting through my glasses.

All in all, getting to 3.33 miles and running out of path, streetlights, Coxheath and visibility, I was a bit annoyed at myself for not checking the distance for a planned out and back before I set off. So a loop of Coxheath village around a back street added the required distance and I was off again.

I adopted a glasses on and off approach as they fogged and cleared on the return run, almost falling down the hill into the Loose valley, but the return leg went okay to the point wher I overtook a cyclist (much to his surprise) on the slope back up to the site where the little breeze (not enough to shift the fog, more an air current which made it’s presence felt at running pace) messed his rhythm up more than mine.

So another 7 miles done. Shame I’ve realised i’ve messed up the training plan I cobbled together by getting my weeks muddled up. I’m a week ahead of plans so will either be alowed week to get a cold or can slip in another monster run to improve confidence before the big day. No stresses, just a plan to tweak when the time comes.

Oh, and a pair of ACS 651 trucks were accidently purchased on the awful auction site (honest…it was an accident. Very low bid placed – again, no-one seems to be watching. It’s rude not to!) last night improves the skateboard options by a mile – parts for them are reasonably easy to come by, so they may be caned a bit when they go onto the deck. Exciting times.

Bushings

I ran 4 miles today.

The day was a write off at work right from the idiotic safety woman turning off all the heating over the weekend, meaning the office was 4 degrees when I got in, because she reckons we need a risk assessment to leave it on over the weekend (in case a fire starts…if one does, we won’t find the risk assessment since it’ll be a pile of ash…it’s all gone too far) through spoon feeding information to a supposedly grown bunch of adults in order to have a hope of completing the building in a fit for purpose manner, to when I gave up after stopping three of them placing three one and a half tonne (yep, four and a half tonnes total) scissor  lifts on the same section of first floor slab alongside three and a half  tonnes of plasterboard. The floor section has a design loading of 2 tonnes. They know this. They’re either as stupid as they look or really do want to see what happens when a platform that’s potentially six metres in the air drops six metres to the ground floor with lots of material around it. But this isn’t important, it seems, as long as we’ve assessed the risk and ticked the box – I really don’t think the company would care if the floor collapsed, as long as a paper trail to the moon was up to date and no blame could be passed to the directors, so I shouldn’t have been on site stopping such acts but in the office instead, closing out heater related risks.

I’ve given up.

Still, the run was slow but okay.

I’m busy tomorrow evening, hence the Monday run. It’ll help to have another day off before Wednesday, anyway – my legs are feeling the training at last. January turned out to be an over 100 mile month, so they deserve a break.

Tonight i’ve been trying to locate some new rubbers and bushings for the skateboard trucks. I’ve e-mailed a couple of places so will wait to hear back. Fingers crossed that the summer is on a fully up and running board (not that it’s not at the moment, but crisp new rubbers would be nice!).

I might try to stop moaning if the sun comes out. Honest.

Still cold

Yesterday turned into one of those hectic days that ends up with some great achievement but at the cost of being so tired, it’s daft.

Friday saw me feeling so sleepy all day I wasn’t sure i’d make it to the end, so an early start was all I didn’t need. But with a party 150 miles away to attend in the evening, a mate to catch up with in the pub first, a car and pushbike to clean and 14 miles to run…I had no choice.

The party was ace but suffice to say i’m now just about dead in my chair after the return 150 mile drive, a couple of hours gunning out the unfit conservatory drain, a trip to the shops and cooking pizza in the Rayburn (300 degrees C, a pizza stone and some confidence – best pizza yet!). A good day.

The run yesterday was a mixed affair. So cold, I really didn’t want to leave the house. It wasn’t particularly warm in here but outside, it was soooooooo cold. I like chilly days but am now being worn right down and have little patience for them. 11 seperate items of clothing is a step too far, I fear.

The first mile was silly quick – a combination of trying to warm up, being full of fuel (breakfast, banana, Orbana energy drink i’m trying – i’ll review next week after a second go, but it seemed pretty good yesterday) and wanting the run over and done with. All the other miles were reasonable – I decided to loop the entirety of Ashford. I live beyond the South of the town, took a varied route to the extreme West side, looped to the extreme North on the Faversham road, headed to the extreme East on the A20 to Folkestone, added a loop under and over the motorway (crossed the M20 4 times in total) and then took a varied route home, and it came to exactly 14 miles. I thought the town would provide more opportunity for a loop, but clearly not. My longest runs will hopefully be in the countryside again, but not if there’s snow on the ground as there was yesterday (and still is today on the sheltered verges).

Overall it was an ok run. Slowed sufficiently on the uphills to not give any cause for concern, I ended with no odd aches or pains so it’s all good.

And i’ve uploaded my skateboard pictures to Facebook, a link hopefully revealling all here.

It arrived Friday. It is, as the pictures show, all but immaculate and massively undersold in the auction. The trucks have the original rubbers and everything. The bushings are worn and i’ll source a new set imminently but everything else truly couldn’t be better unless it was new. Incredible and it makes me massively happy. Very good.

So next week sees a run Monday as Tuesday’s a busy evening and 15 miles for the Saturday. Not looking forward to that, but still more than the following week when i’ve got to work the Saturday and run 11 miles. Nor my 17 mile weekend when i’m also taking Cathy to a race on Sunday. She might be resisting blogging at the moment (all lobby her to pick it up again, please – poetry might be all well and good but it’s not very entertaining for luddites like me, is it?!), but along with jobs and the gym she’s being truly industrious and actually running again. And secretly enjoying it. I think. And a 5 mile local race is the first for ages, so i’ll be cheering her all the way. Nor my 18 miler. In fact, all the long runs are filling me with worry.

Why am I doing it again?

Wrong clothes

As I left the site office at 5.20 on the start of the run, I noticed a couple of drops of light rain passing the floodlight but thought no more of it than to hope it didn’t get any worse. Not “i’ve got my rain jacket, will be out for an hour or so, might as well put it on just in case”. Not “if I get wet, i’ll get cold and that will be unpleasant”. Not “i’m only wearing a jumper and tee shirt – it’s hardly winter training clobber”. Oh, no.

Well, I can exclusively reveal…I am a dick.

About half a mile in and I realised it was indeed raining pretty hard. I had my hat on, but my hands were getting colder and I was feeling pretty heavy. Mostly due to absorbed water. The rain did indeed ease after about 2 miles, then came down again between 3 and 4 miles, then it was fine. And to be true, I didn’t get fully wet through, just chilly and a bit miserable about things. But 7 uneventful miles (except not being able to see much with a load of water and occasional misting up on the glasses) passed in exactly 56 minutes and, a mere two and a half hours later, after having the car heater on full for the 35 minute drive home, I think i’m thawing out.

If only tomorrow wasn’t a 7 o’clock start and 9 o’clock finish, I might have something to be cheerful about.

Hope the skateboard doesn’t turn up…getting home at 9.45 and getting excited wouldn’t lead to a happy night’s sleep, even if the long day wears me out.

Bored now. Can someone make Spring arrive, please? The dark is getting me down and i’ve a huge lawn to mow. And trees to trim. And vegetables to dig, sow and cultivate. And a greenhouse to buy. And and and.

Ah, sleep beckons.

New shoes

My latest ordered pair of trainers arrived at the weekend, unfortunately not in time for that run, but today was a perfect opportunity to break them in ready for a 14 miler on Saturday.

Unfortunately my legs feel really tired and the run was a slog, no matter what the new footwear may have added. They are, however,a lovely pair of last winter’s colour Asics Gel Cumulus 11 – I figured the update from my Cumulus 10’s that I bought two pairs of for last year wasn’t enough to upset all the good things I felt about them, so waded in a bought them without having felt a pair, much less try them on.

I can confirm that to my untrained feet and legs, they feel identical. Lovely and fresh and bouncy and crisp, but the same. They might have nice colours, a different sole pattern, a new style of this and that, but the footbed and cushioning and feel as my foot touches down seems as close to identical as it’s possible for a pair of 500 milers, a pair of 250 milers and the new ones to be.

Which is excellent – the last thing I wanted was to upset the applecart.

Unlike the warnings of impending doom I got from Andy regarding the new skateboard – he may be right in suggesting caution in first rides while training for the longest awaited personal goal in my life (if you count my desire to race London since I saw the very first one on telly until now as a personal goal – I am, and it’s my keyboard!), but he may be ignored! I’ll see, but I can’t see me staying off it for long if I find a dry, smooth, salt free section of macadam and the timing suits!

ps. I seem to be on the first page of Google when I type in Gullwing split axle trucks as a search term now…does that mean my blog is getting somewhat distracted by my geekiness? Still, it’s not as good as Steve Sear and his girlfriend being 3rd on the page of Google images…what’s worse is, he proudly told me of the fact. Vain? Searching your own name on Google Images? Ah, the youth of today!

Geese

I should’ve posted this yesterday, really, but the afternoon got a bit busy and I went out in the evening, so here it is a bit late.

The title came to me as I saw my first flock of the year, heading north over Shadoxhurst as I drove home from both the run and work. Not a nice thing to occur but some scaffold needed dropping, it was late notice to expect anyone else to cover it, scaffold is my responsibility, so I drew myself the short straw and went in. Then forced myself to do the 9 miles planned as a loop from site to Sutton Valence and back to site via Shepway and despite there being no deviations from the direct lap, it was 9 miles exactly. To the hundredth.

It wasn’t a bad run, a bit late after eating for my fuelling preference, but it all went well. The first bit and last bit are my summer site run through the lanes and the current winter alternative route but the middle bit hasn’t been run before. Despite it being my least favourite part of the old (before I moved) cycle to work, it’s not a bad run and I averaged an easier, quicker pace than expected.

But that’s all in the past and this afternoon has overtaken such thoughts with the excitement, worry and guilt of an E-Bay auction.

I’ve bid on a few Fibreflex skateboard decks and lost them all. They’ve all been decent decks with rubbish wheels and trucks, but still go for well over £100 despite some having considerable damage to the nose. I bid on the only set of GullWing HPG IV split axle trucks i’ve seen but lost it as the price went through the roof despite the rest of the deck being rubbish. They used to be the best but were pricey and are now rare. Very rare. And Green Kryptonic 70mm wheels are rare enough that a set of NOS ones has just been registered with a starting bid of £300. Silly money.

But I have some money sat in a book in the lounge since before I moved – kept for a holiday spend, extravagant something, treat or rainy day.

Sorry, had.

I’ve just spent it.

I am now awaiting delivery of a red Fibreflex deck (no direct picture of the nose and tail so i’m expecting some damage but hopefully not too bad – the overall picture looks decent enough), Gullwing HPG IV split axle trucks and some green 70mm Kryptonics all pieced together as the best board i’ve ever seen.

The overall condition looks good but i’m intending riding it, so it’ll soon be a lot worse, i’m sure. Despite the cost, I reckon these things used to be considered the best, were built to be ridden and so shall be. It’s amazing to see a perfect one in a photo or on display, but why? Isn’t it nice to see an exotic car being used on road or track, as it was intended to be, rather than mothballed in a collection? I think so. And while i’m not going to thrash it to bits, it’ll certainly see some use on seafront promenades around the country, as well as the local supermarket car park if I find the enthusiasm.

I’m more than a little bit excited.

But you’re all probably bored now, so i’ll leave things until it arrives and I can report on it’s condition. Who knows, I may break the habit of a lifetime and post a photo on here to show it off.

Lust

I have, just before writing this, been on that well know auction website and discovered that some dirty man in Wales wants me to bid vast amounts of money on my dream skateboard deck, truck and wheel combination. It’s simply not fair. Perfect, but not fair. He’s also offering a rubbish deck (me and my brother gave one away in the eighties, they’re so poor) with runner up dream trucks and dream wheels. Well, green Kryps, anyway, which are great if number two dream to orange ones. Both auctions end at similar times. How will I fare if I snipe both and win both? Ah, skint to the tune of a lawnmower, I fear, so it mustn’t be done. So what to do? I simply don’t know at the moment. I’ll sleep on it.

Oh. and I did the planned 3 miles with no problems.

Gullwing HPG IV’s, lime green Kryps and a red Fibreflex…inconsiderate bastard! How’s he kept hold of it without riding it for so long? I’d do it some justice! Still, there is a new similar board (Bennett trucks…bleurgh!) – yep, new deck, trucks and wheels, targeted at America, judging by the listing, which the bidding starts at over £500, so maybe I should snap up a relative bargain while it’s in this country…

Sorry, was this a running blog?