Got it all worked out.

So - it's a day where I have both exercised (properly) and am blogging before midnight. Who knew I was capable of this feat? (Not me.)

The exercise:
A 2mile dog walk in the pouring rain (shows commitment) followed IMMEDIATELY by -

1m in 8.48 (Aerobic setting 1) on the treadmill
2.2m on the bike (took 10min) - exercise score '46' - whatever that means
1m on the arm bike in 5.25 (resistance level 5)
Full tummy series
1 mile on the elliptical, crossramp 19 - 11.50 time
Full arm series

Did work hard, but did also take it slowly moving between exercises - this could not have been called 'circuits'; more like 'ambles'. Had lunch too late (and too close to exercise) to make my body happy about doing any sustained distance running. But feel better for working the whole body out. My muscles will ache tomorrow. Sunday exercise feels like an act of worship, so quiet in the gym, and Friday Night Comedy (from Radio4) on the ipod makes the time scoot past.

Off to make myself a little less skanky - and dry some v wet dogs... it's an exciting life.

ps If I lived close enough I'd bribe jogblog with wine too - lets hope Juneathon isn't fixed! :-)

JUNEATHON - the shrunk post

So, I've been lax, but it really is time, yet again, for Juneathon. JoggerBlogger even had the niceness to do a logo. We're really v organised this year - as JogBlog has listed us all too!

So, I'm going to try and be on-top of the blogging (and the exercise too). So let me start by hastily squishing the last 5 days into one measly post - a bit like when you take your jeans out of the dryer and you convince yourself you haven't put any weight on, they've just shrunk 'more than usual'...

1. I started well - 51min of Wii Fit - doing all the proper exercises and yoga, and weight bearing - not just playing games! Definitely harder than it looks. Reminded me I do need to do more yoga.

2. Seriously hard core gardening - mowing, and raking for hours (and hours), as well as digging, weeding and carrying compost around. Not just pottering - a proper work out.

3. Damn, I don't think clipping the dogs can count. It's hard, but to count it as exercise would be cheating. So I'll just label myself a loser and move on... even if I did get sunburn.

4. To even more loser-ville. Now, I did do a lot of walking, more than your average desk-bound person would have done in a day - but it was round shops and really, cannot, under any circumstances count. Damn - this doesn't look good.

5. Ta-da! I went to the gym despite moving furniture all day and being knackered. 4 miles run, all at 1% all at 9.30 or faster (ended up averaging 9.27 a mile) - was quite pleased. The first 2 miles are definitely the hardest, then the body seems to remember what to do. Still makes me feel like a much nicer, happier, livelier person. Running definitely rocks.

Now off to bed. Might have a bike ride tomorrow. Or a bit more Wii Fit. Or a run. Or some yoga. I love Juneathon, it helps me to focus on the fact that I quite like exercise really, and it gives you so much more energy to enjoy the rest of the day. *


*Please don't kick me out of Juneathon.... please. I am trying. :-)

Personality tests

I've just taken one, I took it a while ago too. I try to be honest yet both times I've received quite different responses.

The best line in the 'report' is definitely:

Although you are practical, you are anything but boring – you have depths to you that others cannot see.

Now, let me see - "you have depths ... that others cannot see" - so, I may well be, "anything but boring", but sadly those around me are unaware that I have "depths" and will just see me as, you've guessed it, boring!

This time they assessed me as a 'generous designer'; last time I was a 'considerate director'... who knows, maybe personality is always in flux. It wouldn't be a surprise to anyone to know that sometimes I'm very happy, oganised, and on top of it - and other times, I'm very much none of those things. (Oh, the test can be found at personaldna.)

Ah well, this post was meant to be about a great 5 mile run on Friday, and a lovely w/end away with Badger and Tigger; but TheO has ably commented on that, including a wonderful 2h of walking. I also dragged by carcass on a miniscule 3mile bike ride yesterday. (That's to the shop and back - bread and sugar were needed.)

Also - I made something which I'm quite proud of today. It's been approved by it's new owner so I'm even going to show you all a little bling.

I'm back - and I'm a Slacker

So, I return from the isle. I did manage a run whilst there - a stonkingly fast 5K (28.11) on a rolling route whilst corralling 2 dogs. (It was quite a feat.)

I then went out that evening - and had slap-up vegetarian feed (deeelish) and stayed out 'til 2am - crawled in only slightly tipsy and discovered *at that very moment* that the clocks changed and it as now 3am. MaYa was feeling v rough so I knew she'd need help as early as poss - and quite frankly the guilt at having a great evening when she had to leave early made me set the alarm for 7am. Lucky I did - she was not in a good way, neither was TheO who'd suffered all night whilst I snoozed as she has a crab allergy and was inadvertently fed it... me, 3 boys, and luckily a TV. It was a very long day - which ended with much cankiness from me as eldest was a brat and wound me up. Luckily Auntie F with her storytelling ability got all into bed before we all cracked under the pressure. Think the restful-ish day was just what MaYa needed. (Although she was still peaky when we left.)

Got all the animals done and kids off to school well on Monday and we were well packed and prepared for the ferry. We felt bad leaving as Islander (who was meant to come back the day after we left) had been delayed so MaYa was on her own for 5 days, which is pretty tough going with 3 boys under 5. However, especially TheO who did sterling 2 week Auntie service, we were pretty delighted to be heading home. We were given, by random act of chance, the old flag from the ferry as they were changing it - it's huge and fab, any ideas where in the garden it should go? It's been a tough month - with one or both of us being away for 3 1/2 of the last 5 weeks. Really need some down time, and some time to sort out work and house stuff.

However, I mentioned in the title that I'm a slacker. I should be getting up tomorrow morning at 7am and filling myself with porridge and running a half-marathon race. But I'm not. I'm at home and TheO is cooking me a whole roast dinner for Sunday. I'm delighted. I've felt v off-colour this week. Sore throat, intermittently v queasy, and very run-down. A race was not a good idea. Also managed to go out Tue/Wed/Thur since we got back - which was great for seeing people but lots of driving and lots of time out and about. This w/end is all about just chilling out and recouperating. Mentally and physically.

Although, quite bizarrely this slackerness has made me more determined to run the marathon, or at least, work out my training plan and really try to get back to a proper level of fitness. I'm feb up not being in tip-top shape. Once you've been there once it's good to feel that way a little more often.

All I managed when I got back was a quite average 10 miler. It was so beautiful though. TheO came with me on her bike and it was a perfect spring day. Sunny, not too windy, with incredible views and beautifully quiet. 10 miles were plodded through at 10.33 average pace. Not too shabby given how I'd spent the last week - but not brilliant. Quite hard work, but I'd stuffed up my eating plan that day and was a little distracted.

I can't wait to get some structure back to my life; some work, some running, and time to look around and work out plans for the house and garden. Time to think. Time to work on the master plan.

Also v excited as the lovely people at Fitness Footwear have sent me out some new trainers so I get to have a go with them too soon. Brilliant. Just what I'm looking for.

She's left me

but only temporarily. She's off on the island helping MaYa with the 'phews. All still surviving last I heard. Anyone who knows her send her stuff, emails, anything, she desperately needs the entertainment.

So whilst she's been away I've watched far too much TV (ranging from 'stylista' Blarney you'd love it; to 'How London was Built' which no-one but a numpty like me could find love for) and even some films, but you know, bad films, Oceans 13 - anyone? And we're only 2 days in.

I'm still working on my big project. But that remains under wraps until I've got it sorted in my mind.

Also loads of actual real live work on at the moment which is good timing. Got 4 different sets of designs sent off over the w/end. It's almost like a real work ethic and everything. But in all honesty I'm at that delightfully manic time in the month when I question where the line is between bi-polar disorder and menstrual cycle.

Even managed to get the long run done. As those who know my tweets will be all too aware - I didn't want to go, my get up and go had turned all Elvis on me. But hell, once you put the kit on (and some nice new kit courtesy of TKMaxx too) it always feels like a fait accompli.

So - the stats:
12 miles - 2.04.46 - avg 10.24

9.30 - flat / 9.49 - flat with incline at end / 9.59 - all up
10.57- all up / 10.37 - up, then down for last .3 / 9.27 - flat or slight down
10.45 - all up / 11.20 - gentle solid rise / 10.00 - gentle down
9.58 - down or flat / 10.52 - flat / 11.28 - flat, just me being crap

When checking the elevation there was 110m of climbing - this to someone who doesn't like hills is a bit crap. Some of it was really hard. (We'll ignore that there was 109m of descending.)

Observations:
Red squirrel at mile 3.5 really brightened up the biggest climbing section.
Fields of half eaten bagies smell foul.
I get bored by straight roads, so bored I turned back on a dead straight 2 mile stretch and ended up doing one of those poxy - run 0.3 of a mile, turn back, run 0.3 again. I'm an idiot.

After a hot shower and a little time thinking I might die I decided to cycle to the pub for dinner - at the ungodly early hour of 6pm. The food was excellent - anything I didn't cook would have tasted like joy.

It was v hard work cycling on the way back esp as I only took puffa gillet so was freezing like an idiot. It was the real sign of a cycling novice - go outside, decide it's not cold, forget at 16mph it will suddenly feel chilly.

The way home was at dusk, so a bit hairy but I walked through village and only cycled on our dead end road. And avoided any dark patches on the road that might be potholes. I've checked a few places, does anyone (UK) know where to get good cycle lights that might actually light your way rather than just flash drivers to let them know you exist?

Bats flittered around my head as I cycled home, that really rocked, I love bats and have only ever seen them at a distance, or known that those things flying at night weren't birds. (TheO taught me that, I'd never really considered it before she said.)


Today - in some fit of madness - I took the dogs for a 54 min walk (who knows why the exact minutes matter) 27 min of which was up hill. Think it might have done the job and worked out any latent soreness though. I'm not praying to go down stairs backwards like last week. Also lovely lunch in Birnam - I'm wondering how many tuna baked potatoes I can eat whilst TheO's away. She left on Friday and the count stands at 2. (We'll also ignore the cake/chocolate count.)

xx

Absence makes ...

Well, apologies for the absence this week. Mostly this was due to a terrible time being had with the asthma. On the 10th I did my 10 mile run in prep for the Island Half. It was bloody awful:

Crap slow 10 miles with 2 walking breaks

avg 10.53 a mile
longest run since marathon
1.48.53 total

10.10 down and flat
11.13 up and up
11.25 rolling and .15 walked
10.08 - downhill
10.38 - gentle roll
11.04 - flat but hard as wanted to stop
11.47 - walked 0.3 ate beans
10.46 - flat
11.01 - flat
10.38 - glad to be finished

I couldn't believe I had to take walking breaks and the whole process was such hard work. I also am terrible at not being able to decide if I am being feeble and looking for excuses (like I can't breathe) or if the circumstances really do require me to walk for my own health. In the end I think the balance wasn't too bad. (Despite it feeling like my worst run ever it was only 26sec a mile worse than my best ever 10 mile training run... and it was quite hilly.) A real shock to the system though.

11th was a terrible day. Every breath was an effort and I needed my huffer constantly. Made another appointment with the doctor.
12th Saw the doc. Ended up crying like a baby as every breath being an effort and the constant pain/bowling ball on my chest was wearing me down; that and not having slept through the night for 10 days had made me a little delicate. A different doc who was simultaneously helpful and terrifying:
Helpful: take these steroids for a week and you should really be fine. The initial stage just needs to be fixed with a hard hit. After that you might be fixed for good. Running a half at the end of the month should be no problem.
Terrifying: Don't run whilst you're on the steroids as you'll aim for 5 miles and end up doing 10. A friend of mine did this at medical school and it killed him! (WTF!)

That night Bravebird and Minstrel came to dinner which luckily took my mind off the whole breathing issue quite well. It was a really lovely night, good chat and nice simple food (steak - yum).

13th Finally took my new bike out for a spin. having not ridden for many, many years I didn't want to go on the road so Wednesday evening we headed for the woods. Nice flat tracks, and no cars to freak me out. It was fantastic. A really nice way to get some exercise. Peddling along with TheO was delightful. We went all the way out to the point and saw some new bits of coastline we'd never spotted before. Wonderful summer evening. And 9 miles was about right for my chest to cope with. (Only running up a sand-dune had me reaching for the drugs.)

14th I can confirm that at this point the steroids really kicked in.* And wow - did they kick in. Apart from being hormonal, the desire to eat was more than usually overwhelming. TheO was out at an Edinburgh Festival thing so I was left to fend for myself. Let's just say I didn't make the best choices. Cheese on toast (fine, unless the whole of the rest of the day's diet was bread with something), a box (I know) of French Fancies and, here it gets better - a glass of tomato juice (for veg purposes). I also bought a tin of pineapple for more fruit and veg... but was sadly too full. Once sugared to within an inch of my life, and with some fine quality steroids coursing through my veins I hit the weight. The entire scale of our home gym equipment involves a 5K dumbbell, a thighmaster (really) and the elliptical machine upstairs. I decided to stick with the dumbbell and thighmaster. So the weights session was great. I managed to work up a real sweat and give my arms and abs quite a blasting. Doing sit ups with a 5K weight in your arms really adds to the experience! The thighmaster still burns those inner thighs even when you've been running for s while, it was a bit of a surprise, but still quite a strange thing to be sitting doing whilst watching TV.
It almost seems cruel not to be able to run on these things as the drive to DO STUFF is quite high. (I also managed to strip the tiles from the fireplace, get two loads of washing done, and sort out a whole cupboard full of stuff.)

15th Yesterday was more of a challenge, but within normal limits. Despite not being allowed to 'run' I thought a run in the gym is still a nice, controlled environment, I can't go further than I expect. However, I was still feeling a little frisky, and like my legs needed a good workout (esp. as the Island Half gets closer with each passing day) so I thought I might do 4 or 5 miles. Once on the machine I had to try for the 10K:

54.36 for 10K

6 seconds better than my best ever so a new PB

4.2 miles at 1%
1 mile at 0.5%
1 mile at 0%

Good breathing afterwards, took puffer but no choking or coughing (and did not suffer that night either).
I was really delighted with this run, it banished some of the demons from the 10miler. Now, after a few days I just have to see how the 12 miler goes, and then see if I can cope with just the huffer. Lets hope the worst of this damn asthma is at bay.

*(I would never advocate taking any unprescribed medications so the post is slightly tounge in cheek, but none the less real to me.)