Sunday 30th August 2009

Thought I'd try using some aerobic bands Cathy gave me to try stretching ... owwwww ! I think I need put on a rack and stretched out *properly* - and that's starting with the little skinny yellow band ! To be fair, I think my legs are somewhere between the yellow (light) band and the purple (medium) band - the purple one actually made my hamstrings work a bit - but no way am I anywhere near using the grey (heavy) band !! Might do a run around the loch later, and see how I do in "real world" mode rather than at the gym...

(later...)

16:38 - 17:09 - 3 laps of Lanark Loch (1.1 miles/1.77 km each = 3.3 miles/5.31 km)

Bah !

For all the "run 1.69km in 10 minutes on a treadmill", I'm still stuck with doing 300 run + 300 walk in the "real world" !! I suspect this is down to three things

- in the "real world", I don't take long enough to warm up

- in the "real world", I don't pace myself as well

- the "real world" is not flat, flat as it might look !

The second point is backed up by the fact that around the loch I'm doing 3 laps of 1.77 km in 31 minutes at 300 walk + 300 run - that means (to me anyway) that those 300 running paces are being done too quickly, so I'll have to find some way of pacing myself to the 8.5km/9.0km per hour that I can do on the treadmill and see how long I can keep going...

Friday 28th August 2009

Marriott Gym at lunchtime - 1.69km of running wrapped up in a total of about 2km including warm up and cool down. Ran for almost 10 minutes solid, including a spell at 9km/h, which given where I started from a few weeks ago is reasonably good progress I think ? Also did 4.72k on the cycling machine in a 10 minute session, although I had to go a bit longer, slower, because when I started slowing down at first I slowed down too quickly and started to get cramp in my lower legs - not fun - so I kept going just to gently ease off to a stop.

Must have a shot at the rowing machines some time - looks like fun ;)

PS. Had a shot at the scales, and I reckon it balanced out at 101.1 kg, with my running shoes on. That would be 15st 12.9lb - bad, but at least down from the 16st 7lb the doctor weighed me at last November, and I've only really been making any sort of effort for the last 4 weeks or so, and even then not *much* of an effort...

Thursday 27th August 2009

1 hours worth of 5 a sides at lunchtime - stayed out of goal for the majority of the game, and scored a goal in a drawn game. Felt ok and managed to keep going for most of the hour. Unfortunately didn't swap my running shoes for football boots in my bag, so had to play in running shoes - which meant that any decent firm kicks of the ball were pretty darned sore !

Tuesday 25th August 2009

Been backsliding a bit over the last few days, with one thing and another - so today, rather than a run, I went to the Marriott gym in Glasgow (have a 5 day free trial pass to try it out) - so, used a treadmill and a stepping machine for the first time. In both cases, went a bit slower (at least to start with) than normal, and actually managed to run for longer in a continuous session than I can normally manage on my runs around the loch - rather odd. Also had a go on a cycling machine for a while too - I reckon between the four sessions on the three machines I probably did about 5km today, one way or another (less impressive than it sounds, as I managed to cover a fair bit of that on the cycling machine which was rather less effort !) The treadmill will take a bit of getting used to, as I had some severe jelly legs after getting off (why has the floor stopped moving !!) but as an alternative when it's too dark (and wet, and cold !) for night time running, it might be a good alternative (if expensive) ... and they do after work adult swimming lessons too ...

Thursday 20th August 2009

20:52 - 21:23 - 3 laps of Lanark Loch (1.1 miles/ km each = 3.3 miles/5.31 km)

Yes, I'm claiming the new mileage ! Must get a pedometer or something to check that out for sure...

Anyway, I was a backslider - should have been out on Wednesday, but I was tired post-U2 and the weather was foul, so I gave it a miss - shocking ! Went out tonight and made up for it...

Lap 1 - 250 run/200 walk

Lap 2 - 250 run/250 walk

Lap 3 - 250 run/250 walk

There were a few variations in there - there was a 300 run phase, and a 300 walk phase, but mostly I tried to stick to "run as many paces as you walk" as a rule. It was pretty hard work though, as I really didn't quite feel up for it tonight - was feeling pretty tired half way through the first lap, but just made myself keep going. Made it round, and in 31 minutes too..!

Monday 17th August 2009

20:45 - 21:18 - 3 laps of Lanark Loch (3 x 0.96 miles/1.55 km = 2.88 miles/4.65 km)

Went for it this evening, as it was starting to get a bit dark as I got to the loch, so wasn't sure if I'd get three laps in or not. So ...

Lap 1 : 250 run/200 walk

Lap 2 : 250 run/250 walk

Lap 3 : 200 run/300 walk

I seem to have found a variety of ways to do three laps of the loch in 33 minutes !!

Also, according to two young women who were out jogging, they reckon it's actually 1.1 miles around the loch on the path - I've only sketched it out roughly on goodrunguide.co.uk/RoutePlanner.asp, so they might be right - which would put a slightly different spin on things (i.e. doing 3.3 miles/5.31 km each time rather than 2.88 miles/4.65 km) !

Saturday 15th August 2009

20:32 - 21:05 - three laps of Lanark Loch (3 x 0.96 miles/1.55 km = 2.88 miles/4.65 km)

So, did the first lap and most of second lap as 250 run/300 walk, but gradually went back to 200 run/300 walk. Last bit of running started off as full stride fast running, but going into a pretty strong headwind put an end to that quite quickly ! Doesn't feel so bad on the legs, and recovery time seems reasonable - but still don't feel able to keep the run going much further than 250 paces - legs just get really heavy and want to stop at that point, although after the 300 walk paces I can get going again reasonably easily.

Oh yes, and skipped last night, as I felt up for handling any two of cold, rain & strong winds - but all three at once didn't seem like a good idea - so tonight, just had to put up with strong winds !

Wednesday 12th August 2009

20:39 - 21:12 - 3 laps of Lanark Loch (0.96 miles/1.55 km each = 2.88 miles, 4.65 km)

Stuck pretty much solidly to the 300 walk/200 run routine for the whole trip, but for some reason didn't really feel completely up for it tonight - first 100 run fine, by 140 feeling it and by 160 wishing for the end of set - and had to pretty much force myself to do the third lap :( Still, averaging 11 minutes per lap given my general fitness is a crazy speed - just can't seem to shake my mental image that I'm going too slow so not really *running*... bah !

Monday 10th August 2009

20:51 - 21:31 - 3 laps of Lanark Loch (0.96 miles/1.55 km each = 2.88 miles/4.65 km)

(time is from leaving car to getting back to car, so includes stretches/warm up/cool down)

Managed to stick to the 300 walk/200 run for the whole of the three lap stint this time - but that's definitely my current limit, as I was really feeling it towards the end of the third lap. That said, breathing was back to normal within 4 minutes of being back in the car, so couldn't have been *that* bad. Legs aren't giving me too much hassle - wearing football socks seems to be a good halfway house between nothing and tubigrip, so I might save the tubigrip for days when I'm feeling a bit ache-y - there will be a few of those I'm sure :(

Saturday 8th August 2009

Ok, so I'm a bit dumb doing some exertions three days in a row ... guilty as charged :s Anyway :

19:53 - 20:28 - 3 laps of Lanark Loch (0.96 miles/1.55 km each = 2.88 miles/4.65 km).

Original idea was 250 run + 350 walk, but that fell by the wayside as I did the first lap in a frankly idiotic 10 minutes - no way am I fit enough to sustain that pace, especially doing the run paces as full length rather than controlled ! Settled down to 200 run + 400 walk, but still did the second lap in 11 minutes, then did the third lap in a far more realistic 14 minutes. The first lap meant that the whole exercise felt like much harder work than it should have been, but my recovery time was quite good in the second and third lap - practiced rhythmic breathing (taking deep breaths every third pace) and was back to normal breathing by about 220 paces of walking, even towards the end of the third lap.

Friday 7th August 2009

Lunchtime run in Glasgow city centre.

Warm up - Robertson St -> Broomielaw -> Jamaica St. Bridge

Run - Clyde St -> Stockwell St -> Glasgow Green (loop at needle) and reverse

Cool down - End of Clyde St -> Broomielaw -> Robertson St

Distance (run only) = 1.5 miles

Distance (including warm up & cool down) = 1.92 miles/3.08 km

Can't remember timings - will have to check with Cathy :)

Tried to do this as 2 mins run / 3 mins walk - changed down gradually to 2 mins run 4 mins walk, and eventually to 1.5 mins run (which I actually ran to 250 short run paces). Quite tough, but only as tough as 400 walk/150 run was a week or two ago, so some signs of progress.

Followed it up with a fairly gentle 1.4 mile/2.25 km walk across the city centre in the late afternoon :)

Thursday 6th August 2009

1 hour of five a side football at lunchtime - spent best part of 10 minutes in goal though, as our side won pretty comfortably. Still managed to score a goal, and keep up with play for most of the time - better than for quite a while !

Tuesday 4th August 2009

Only time for a quick lap of a slightly longer route around the loch - probably about a mile - between 21:37 and 21:48 on my mobile :) Did the lap as 200 run + 300 walk, but it was really too dark to go for a second lap which had been my original plan. Oh well...

Sunday 2nd August 2009

1.8 miles/2.9 km in 21 minutes,plus warm up and wind down walking on rural route around Duncrub - bit more hilly than the normal loch route, so slightly harder work, with a 211 pace run to finish off with !