Saturday Struggle

Following my tongue biting exploits of a couple of days ago, today represented a chance to get things back to normal. Saturday morning means parkrun, and having missed out last week I was raring to go this morning. The overnight rainfall meant the ground was always going to be soft under foot, but it wasn't particularly chilly so I was anticipating a good run.

What I had was a struggle. It became self evident early on that my lungs may have been up for plodding around the estate on Thursday night, but they were not going to play ball at parkrun pace. I could hear me gasping before I reached the 1k marker. Before reaching the 2k, my parkrun acquaintance caught me up, wished me a good morning and I could barely muster words back to him. On reaching 3k I did something I've not done for some time and took a breather slowing to walking pace. 

I absolutely thought I was done. Like a broken steam train I was coughing and spluttering. A fellow runner asked me if I was ok and I assured him I was, but didn't really feel that was the case. I was staring at my first DNF and concerned about the psychological repercussions that may have for the challenges ahead. So I got myself moving again, and decided to make the best of the situation. If I wasn't feeling physically strong, why not turn this into a training session to replicate the latter stages of the half marathon, when I know I will find the going gets tough.

At the 4k post I found myself taking a breather again. The incline at this point on the Black Park course is nothing like as severe as Bradford's teeny tiny hill, but when I've already mentally given in earlier in the race, it stands to reason that I will also slow down for the most difficult part of the circuit. Into the last stretch and I found it difficult to keep pace with a junior female runner. I know when I'm running that I'm not in competition with anybody else, but it isn't great for confidence when overtaken by a little girl.

Yes, I run like a girl

At the finish line came a sense of relief. Things will get easier as my chest and lungs clear up, and I get back into the running groove. I wasn't particularly interested in my finish time but when the text came through I was rather surprised at it's respectability. 24.29 is by no means a poor effort (my PB is 23.46) so with two breathers and some lingering germs factored in, this was a good run. It just really didn't feel like it at the time!

If the chance permits, I'll get out again on Sunday for a more leisurely if longer run to build up stamina and put distance back into my legs. I felt no ill effect from my Thursday night plod around the estate so something at a similar pace should do no harm. 

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In Praise of ParkRun

The first day of the 2014 version of the diet came and passed without too much difficulty. After the pretty horrible weather that saw out December and welcomed in January, I probably should have taken advantage of a dry evening and pulled on my running gear, but I listened to my body and decided otherwise. It is one thing going from the festive excess to a much more measured intake of calories, but it would be quite another to pound the streets in the dark. My body is going to be confused enough as it is without additional exercise on top.

So the half marathon training has been put on hold, at least for a couple of days while I settle back into diet mode, but Saturday will bring around my favourite time of the week. Long gone are the days of lie-ins or watching Soccer AM over a fried breakfast. Since July my venue of choice for a Saturday morning has been down at my local parkrun participating with several hundred others in a free timed 5 kilometre run. I've been doing this most weekends since July last year, and is probably no coincidence that my weight loss really took off from then onwards.

parkrun logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

If you've not heard of parkrun, the premise is pretty simple. Register once online, take your personalised barcode to any of their hundreds of events, and run. It is completely free to participate and you get your results by email or text later in the day. You can even chart your progress by going online to view all of your parkrun results and there are all sorts of statistics on there to get excited about if you're so inclined.

I was put onto parkrun by a twitter follower who had noticed I was blogging about running on a treadmill last spring. At his suggestion, I went along to see what all the fuss was about and I'd have to say that recommendation was spot on. I've met a terrific bunch of people who volunteer their time to put on the event every Saturday morning, without whom parkrun would not exist. Any reservations I may have had about turning up to one of these events as a complete novice were very quickly cast aside. Sure there are some serious runners who race off into the distance never to be seen again until the following weekend, but there is no stereotype that adequately describes a parkrunner. There are men and women well into their senior years, parents running with children or even pushing babies along in strollers. People like me looking to get fit and others making their way round in a more leisurely fashion, enjoying a bit of exercise on a Saturday morning.

I usually attend the Black Park event but because there are so many of these dotted around the country, you can indulge in a little parkrun tourism. I've been to the Bradford run on a couple of occasions whilst visiting family and the welcome you get there is phenomenal, with great support from the stewards, not least when you tackle the fabled 'Teeny Tiny Hill'

Having had parkrun recommended to me, I'm more than happy to encourage others to get involved. I've had a couple of colleagues join me from work before, my brother-in-law, a friend from the football club has come along with his sons and from a brief interaction on Facebook earlier today it looks like an old school friend will be joining me on Saturday morning.

If you are looking for something to get you more active in 2014, don't be afraid to give this a go. It doesn't matter if you're not Mo Farah, as you are only racing against yourself rather than the other participants. Who knows, you like me might find an inner runner inside of you that you never knew existed.

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2nd January - Let's Do This

A year ago today I started this blog. The premise was pretty simple; I was going to lose weight in 2013 and chronicle my progress for any interested parties to follow. I stole the premise of a public weigh-in from the likes of Weight Watchers and Slimmers World to provide the focal point, namely the Wednesday Weigh-In, which gave me no place to hide whether things were going well or not.

Today isn't a Wednesday, but I'll break with my own convention and publish what the scales say today. I had to admit there was a fair bit of trepidation in doing so as this was the first time I've been near them since clocking in with my final weigh-in of 2013. I knew that I'd be heavier today than I was then, thanks to the Christmas effect (which I attribute no blame to my mother-in-law and her fine hospitality), but I really wasn't sure exactly how much. I still fitted comfortably into my 34 inch jeans a few days after Christmas so knew it couldn't have been a crash of apocalyptic quantity.

So here we go, today I'm looking at this.

Not what the Doctor ordered

It could have been worse. Despite being away from home for most of Christmas week I still managed to squeeze in my Saturday morning 5k, swapping my usual Black Park ParkRun for a bit of tourism in Bradford. Clocking a respectable sub-25 minute time following plenty of turkey was well worth the effort, though I have to admit the icy rain before the start of the race had me questioning my sanity.

Equally it could have been better. I did eat to excess when with a little restraint I could have come through Christmas week relatively unscathed. Polishing off bowls of nuts and quality street for breakfast is a bit overkill, but for one week a year having abstained from most bad things for the previous 51 weeks, a little overindulgence was probably justified.

So what does 2014 hold in store for me? Well, for starters I've ditched booze for January and reverted to the tried and tested diet formula. Transferring from eat when I want to three meals a day should see me claw back some of that extra weight in no time at all. The half-marathon is a mere 80 days away so I have to find time to step up my running beyond what I do on a Saturday morning or otherwise I'm going to get quite a shock on March 22nd when I'm expected to run more than 4 times what I'm used to.

Due to popular demand this blog will continue through 2014, hopefully with me maintaining a healthy weight. If you are looking to start a health kick this year, stick this site into your favourites, have a read through the 2013 archive and hopefully you'll feel inspired. If I could do this, you can too.

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Reasons to be cheerful

It is a Bank Holiday weekend, and while the weather for the most part has been pretty miserable, I've found plenty of reasons to be cheerful.

Yesterday morning I got back into the running groove and brought up a new personal best for the 5k, clocking 26:20, beating my course record by 31 seconds and taking 15 seconds from my overall PB that I ran in Bradford two weeks ago. Armed with a new set of clip-on headphones, this was the first time I've run with music in my ears and it helped with the trudge around the damp Black Park. Also for the first time I adorned a running vest which wasn't incredibly flattering. I think I'll have to find myself some biceps from somewhere if I'm going to wear it more often.

Headphones good, vest displaying untoned flabby arms bad

Later in the morning I attended my eldest son's graduation ceremony. He's not some child genius, but his nursery like many others run a nice little event to mark the end of his time there before the transition to school. With my boy dressed smartly for the occasion I had to peer into my wardrobe to find something decent to wear (the vest was a definite non-starter!) To my great surprise, I found myself comfortably getting into my jeans and so smugly wore those along with a M-sized short sleeve shirt. Happy days! The graduation was very sweet and all the kids looked fab in their gowns. Regrettably I missed most of it as the little one was a bit on the grumpy side, but there was a nice little family picnic afterwards, admittedly sheltered from the rain.

One man and his boy - can't quite believe he starts school in a few days time

Saturday evening I had a rare night away from the boys and went to visit my best man and his baby daughter. I purposefully drove to avoid making it a boozy trip and ate beforehand despite the knowledge that my pal would be ordering himself a curry. I was pretty proud of myself at declining leftovers, despite the veggie samosa looking so good. When I got home I didn't have a drink either, so rare brownie points for me on a Saturday night.

Today has been a pretty quiet affair, with my lovely wife letting me catch up on lost sleep by sending me back to bed mid-morning. It is always good to recharge the batteries once in a while and I very much appreciate the opportunity. When I woke up, news filtered through on the phone that my friend James had done really rather well in his Triathlon, completing the course in under three hours. A few weeks back he was trying to encourage me to do one with him, though as I pointed out, I'm still learning the ropes with running, and felt trying to cope with three disciplines would be a bit much. Still, I'm full of admiration for him, not least as he opted to raise money for the Shine Charity who were such a great help to my family. So may I very publicly say well done mate, and thanks to everybody who sponsored you.

Looking at the clock, in five weeks time, all being well I will have completed my first 10k race. It is coming around quickly now so will have to up my game in my preparation. I know my colleagues are doing the same and collectively we're looking forward to it, albeit with a touch of apprehension. Please support us if you can as we bid to raise money for the Lynda Jackson Macmillan Centre http://www.justgiving.com/teampcc

And if I needed further reason to be cheerful, there is no work on Monday because of the bank holiday. In fact, with time creeping forward to the end of August, I won't be facing Monday Morning Blues again until November, as I'm due to start my period of Additional Paternity Leave. It will be a shame to lose the gym as a result, but I'm very much looking forward to spending quality time with my little one and getting his big brother settled into the school routine.

Whatever you're up to for the rest of the long weekend, enjoy!