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Janathon Day 7: Walking

January 8, 2012 in Bowling, Exercise, Janathon, Running | 1 comment

My Janathon attempt yesterday wasn’t very exciting. I was meeting Jog Blog for beer and pizza in Tonbridge where we got asked for ID and we didn’t drink nearly enough beer, so we need to meet earlier next time so we can get drunk and I can hiccup.

Anyway, I felt much better yesterday but decided not to run just to make sure I’d fully recovered from my cold and various ailments. I did have a errand to run in Greenwich however, so I decided rather than catching the bus or the DLR, I’d walk it. 2.5 miles walked in 40 minutes, so a nice walk for a decent-ish effort. The weather was lovely, crisp and fresh and once I’d managed to get past the ugg boot with velour tracksuit clad chavs of Lewisham, of which there are many, I had a really nice walk.

Went for a bowl this morning which was also enjoyable. I’m still not quite strong enough to comfortably get through more than a couple of games as my arm is just tiring too quickly, but that will get better the more games I get under my belt. In general though, I’m really happy with how I threw the ball and the strikes were good and convincing, just like they should be. Unfortunately, my Vapour Zone may soon be going to bowling ball heaven. It is broken. This makes me sad. Bowling was then followed by a delicious roast dinner with Jimmy which put paid to our afternoon run along the Waterlink Way. We now plan to mong about this afternoon and go for a jog around Blackheath tonight. I do think though that Jimmy should be able to count carrying my bowling balls as his daily effort!

And to round it all off…:

On the seventh day of Janathon, my true love said to me
Eat some roast potatoes
6 balls a-striking
Wrap up warm
Cool sensor gloves
It’s windy
Lamp the old man
And run and I’ll buy you pastry!

Janathon Day 6: Running for a train

January 7, 2012 in Bowling, Exercise, Janathon, Running | 2 comments

I was giving myself a sick note yesterday. I felt better, but decided a day not running would probably be good for me as I was really not well on the lanes on Thursday night.

Friday night meant going to the bowl to watch Jimmy play as he has been subbing in my place on a Friday night due to my injury. We met in town and decided to go for a drink before getting the train. However, we suddenly realised that Jimmy had nothing on his Oyster card and we hadn’t really left enough time to get to the station. Luckily, he jumped on his bike, leaving me to run the rest of the way. It was only 0.31 of a mile, but I wasn’t feeling great and was dressed in skinny jeans, knee length boots and a long coat. Additionally, I got caught at every bloody traffic light and managed to leap onto the platform just as the train was coming in. 0.31 in 4 minutes, dressed like that, whilst having to wait for ages at every traffic light. Not too bad really. I’m claiming that as my Janathon effort.

The effort was worth it once we got to the bowl. We were playing Vice Squad who had once again put out their strongest team against us. I wanted to be part of that match so badly, but even as a spectator, it was wonderful to watch. For a team to average 213 scratch in a 4 man handicap league and lose is quite remarkable. We ran out the winners, including a fantastic 266 from Jimmy along with a 706 series, his first 700 in a few years and the first one I’ve seen him bowl. Great bowling!

I’m off to the pub with Jog Blog later to drink beer and eat pizza. I have no time to run, but I do need to run an errand in Greenwich so I am going to walk the couple of miles there and claim it as Janathon. Tomorrow is bowling and a run with Jimmy.

On the sixth day of Janathon, my true love said to me
6 balls a-striking
Wrap up warm
Cool sensor gloves
It’s windy
Lamp the old man
And run and I’ll buy you pastry!

Janathon Day 5: I am ill

January 5, 2012 in Bowling, Exercise, Janathon, Running | 8 comments

Ugh, the plan for today was to take Jimmy down to the Waterlink Way for a 4 mile run or so. Unfortunately, I had a bad night with back pain and a cold so running really was the last thing I wanted to do, especially after waking up completely stuffed up.

After a lie in and some general whimpering and wanting to put it off, we eventually got up. I mapped out a 2 mile route knowing that I would be unlikely to do anymore as I broke out in a sweat before we even started. I adapted the route to 1.1 miles, completed in 9.44 a pace of 8.50 and really couldn’t do anymore as I felt awful – sore throat, headache, shivery and shaky. Hardly a worthwhile effort for Jimmy – sorry, but he put me on the bus home and duly raced it back, nearly beating it. I hope I shake this cold soon, I’m back on the bowling lanes tonight for my first league match in 2 months and I want to do well!

On the fifth day of Janathon, my true love said to me
Wrap up warm
Cool sensor gloves
It’s windy
Lamp the old man
And run and I’ll buy you pastry!

Janathon Day 4 – a cool pair of gloves!

January 4, 2012 in Exercise, Janathon, Product Review, Running | 10 comments

A while ago, the lovely people at eGlove sent me a pair of gloves to try out. I said “yay, freebies” and bragged about them to some of my friends. And then I didn’t use them because I didn’t think it cold enough. And then it was cold enough and I didn’t use them because I didn’t run because my foot decided it was mangled. And how many times did I just say “and then”?

Please forgive the terrible photo of my left hand, but you get the idea.

Anyway, these gloves have cool alien sensors conductive fingertip technology on the fingertips meaning that you can use your smartphone/mp3 player whilst out running. For me, this is perfect as I use Runtastic on my HTC to time and map my runs and I don’t want to have to mess around with taking off my gloves to see my progress. Additionally, these gloves are lightweight and really comfortable, whilst keeping your hands warm. In fact, the only thing wrong with them is the fact I don’t have a pink pair, but they did a great job keeping my hands warm and allowing me to use my phone on the run.

Now for the all important Janathon Day 4 stats. My throat was pretty sore this morning and it was still chilly out. Being prone to chest/throat infections, I didn’t want to be out for too long so I just ran 2 miles in 18.45, a pace of 9.22. I feel a bit like I’m back at the start of my running days at the moment, but I’m confident that it will come back before too long.

I must go now to do some cramming for the pub quiz tonight with Jimmy.

And to finish:

On the fourth day of Janathon, my true love said to me
Cool sensor gloves
It’s windy
Lamp the old man
And run and I’ll buy you pastry!

Janathon Day 3

January 3, 2012 in Exercise, Janathon, London, Running | 6 comments

The weather is vile. I don’t mind running in the rain. I actually quite enjoy it, assuming that it doesn’t start hammering down until I’ve started my run. Actually starting a run in it is a different story.

Anyway, today I did a rather puny token mile. I had planned to jog an easy 5k round the streets, but lack of sleep last night left me feeling rather exhausted. Dreaming about your own death is not nice and makes sleeping tricky. I also have a slightly sore throat and I am blaming Jimmy for that, naturally. Needless to say, running was the last thing I felt like doing and so I just took myself off on my mile loop, running in at 8.54. This is fine as I wasn’t really trying too hard and the wind is awful!

I plan to do my gentle 5k tomorrow instead and then the plan for Thursday is to take Jimmy down to the Waterlink Way. I haven’t been down there for a while and it is a rather pleasant route. It’s only really worth doing if you do a few miles, so hopefully it will be a longer run.

This is not a particularly inspired blog post. I leave you with The 31 Days of Janathon…

On the third day of Janathon, my true love said to me
It’s windy
Lamp the old man
And run and I’ll buy you pastry!

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