Juneathon 1 (’17) – Where to begin…

It’s June.

Which means it’s Juneathon. A month of activity/exercise and blogging. You know…that thing where you start of saying that you’re going to be all fitness and health for a month and then manage a week if you’re lucky, before then either slinking away hoping nobody notices, or proudly announcing your failings to the blogging world, amid encouragement from all the other slackers to eat all the biscuits/cake etc.

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I’ve not blogged for ages. A lot has happened. 
Unfortunately one of those things has been me getting older, which results in a number of things, 

1) I’m slowing down.

2) Bits of my body are failing me.

4) I can’t remember all the other things that have happened.

3) I get a bit muddled.

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I recently turned 40. I didn’t have a big do. 

I thought about inviting all my friends round but they don’t really know each other so I figured I’d visit them both individually at a later date.

Instead, I took a couple of days off work in April and as my wife and kids had different Easter holidays to each other, after seeing the kids off to school we headed up into the Peak District. 

We enjoyed some lovely views and a glass of celebratory bubbles at Froggat Edge…

…and stayed over in some “accommodation” nearby…

…which, despite the completely inappropriate use of punctuation, was actually really nice. I woke up the next morning while it was still dark and treated myself to a little run along the edge, snapping few nice pictures along the way…

It was a nice birthday trip away. 

Plus we saw some cool cows we weren’t expecting. (That’s a sentence that can surely only be expressed by someone aged 40+ , right?)

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Physically, little runs are all I seem to be able to manage at present and have been for quite some time now. 5k …maybe 10k at a push. I can do these without too much agro. But anything more and my left achilles gives me jip. It’s just letting me know it’s there, mostly just whispering, but if I start getting cocky and try to run further/faster, it shouts at me.

To combat the reduced running (and associated weight management problems I then experienced) I’d been going to the gym a bit more instead, and was enjoying this – a regular circuit of free weights, skipping and stretches (yes….stretches…I know…get me). This was going well, until a slight niggle in my right arm became more than that. 

Long story short – it’s tennis elbow. I didn’t realise it could be this painful. I genuinely thought I’d somehow broken something. 

And now, about 4 months after I first noticed something, I can wake in the early hours and be unable to straighten my arm.

 It will go… eventually… apparently… I’m told. But it may be months….it could be a couple of years… But the gym circuit has now been cut from my routine too.

There have of course been subsequent weight management issues associated with this.

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Those of you who have read my previous postings may know that I’m quite ‘All Or Nothing’ when it comes to my health. If I’m being fit and active, I’m often also eating well. As I’ve not been very fit and active, my nutritional intake has also been less than perfect. 

Now as confused as I get with what my idea of ‘perfect’ is anyway… High fat/low fat, carbs good/bad, etc (and at this point I want to say, please don’t try to advise me, you will only seek to confuse me further!), what I do know is that eating the amount I have been as often as I have been, has not been great for me. 

The subsequent weight management issues associated with this no doubt aggravate my achilles issue, affect my motivation, etc, etc. So I need to do something.

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I still manage to enjoy the odd game of tennis. I gave this a rest for a while to see if it helped the elbow. 

It didn’t. 
And I’m not giving it up indefinitely so I’ve decided it’s a case of taking a few painkillers before a match, gritting my teeth and getting on with it!

My boy, who’s eleven (funny name for a boy, I know) and I are playing in a league match together as partners this Saturday. I’ll let you know how we do.

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I’m not (always) daft. It’s not like I’m going to go mad and try and do 100 press ups, 100 sit ups, 100 lunges and run 10km every day or anything*…

*…I …errr… I… I  did that a couple of weeks ago…. For one day… And then couldn’t get out of bed the next morning… So that’s not a good idea people. I have done this so you don’t have to.

 Today, I have started gently. Some stretches. A few sit ups. Let’s not go mad. I’m determined too teach my daughter, who’s six (funny name for a girl, I know), to ride her bike this half-term holiday. I shall be doing that later today, too.

So there’s my update. My first Juneathon post in a long while.

 It will be all or nothing, I’m sure. Either the full month of activity and blogging or a miserable fail followed by blogging silence. 

And let’s face it, I’ve already got my excuses in.

Introducing: ‘The Taperwoes’

[For maximum benefit, the following should be read in the patronising tone of a children’s TV presenter]

Hello children…

Are you sitting comfortably?
It’s time to listen with NotMuchOfaRunner

I’d like to introduce you to the Taperwoes.

Give the children a wave, Taperwoes.

*Ickle-Niggle waves*
Hello, Ickle-Niggle

*Tipsy waves*
Hello, Tipsy

*Bleugh-Bleugh  waves*
Hello, Bleugh-Bleugh

Oh… Where’s NoMojo ?

Of course. There he is – raiding the fridge in a fit of self-destructive sabotage… Come on NoMojo, say hello.

*NoMojo waves half-heartedly*

What are you up to today, Taperwoes?

What’s that you said, Ickle-Niggle? You are spending the day worrying about that intermittent ankle pain and knee twinge? That sounds like fun!

Oh, Tipsy suggests that as there is no running happening at the moment, it would be fine to drink a couple of large bottles of beer. That would be fun, wouldn’t it?

Oh dear… Bleugh-Bleugh isn’t feeling very well. He says everything is pointless and depressing and marathons are stupid and why bother doing them anyway when you are slow and heavy and unmotivated and spending time away from your family who work much harder at doing important things and haven’t spent the previous few months getting up at silly-O’clock in the morning to do 15 miles before breakfast, only to then ruin it all before the marathon by eating badly, sleeping badly and drinking badly.

You may have a point Bleugh-Bleugh, don’t you think so NoMojo?

NoMojo can’t be bothered to respond. He’s eating ice-cream.

Oh dear! Taperwoe Town is not a nice place to be at the moment. And this episode lasts another whole week.

Hey! After that, though children, the sixth series featuring the ‘There’sNoWayI’mEverDoingThatAgains‘ is going to start up… again. Do join us.

Bye bye now.

Bye bye.

Bye.

Bye.

———————

Full credit must be given to the creators of ‘In The Night Garden’, ‘The Teletubbies’, and ‘Waybuloo’ without whom this blog post would not have been possible. Full credit also to anyone who has endured an episode of the above.

Finely tuned

My body is finely tuned.

It is.

Like a violin can be finely tuned…

… but as with a violin, if I try to create a masterpiece with it, it creates rubbish.

That is what my finely tuned body is doing now 😦

*Snot. Cough. Cold. Splutter.*

For some reason I still offered to take the kids swimming today. We had fun. I didn’t do much swimming, mind. Especially after my son pointed out my bleeding nose (that is to say ‘my nose with blood pouring out of it’ rather than him just being rude and drawing attention to the size of my hooter i.e. “look at your bleedin’ nose!” which incidentally, is normally proportioned).
I’d forgotten about my nosebleeds yesterday. They will continue for a week now 😦

I choose to be positive!

You see, instead of just feeling sorry formyself, alternatively I could take the view that my body knows that I am unable/unwilling to properly train at this time (for a marathon in April), and it is preparing me the best way it knows:

Sweating
Difficulty breathing
Aching muscles
Inappropriate bleeding
Fatigue
Wondering if it will ever end
Looking dreadful in photos

…Just like a marathon.

Janathon day 3 – involving forced marathon training by way of a cold, swimming, and blood – Done.

Good for the Sole (Robin Hood 9 of 12)

“Every day, in every way*, I’m getting better and better”

*well… in a foot/tendon/resting/pain kind of way.

The Nottingham Robin Hood Marathon is on 29th September 2013 – 3 weeks away.
My foot is getting better. I can now point it up and down without a crunching sound and I can walk on it without limping, which is a huge improvement. But I’m being sensible for once, and I am continuing to rest it.

Mostly.

Well, cycling seems fine.

So I took the little lady (that’s my daughter, by the wa I’m not being sexist) out on the bike, in the rain, for a longish ride where we managed cheer on Richard Whitehead at two different points during his 40 marathon JOGLE challenge.

He looked a bit grumpy if I’m quite honest… but I don’t blame him… He was on Marathon 25 and it was grey and rainy. I think he’s doing a fantastic job!
His fellow runners, it has to be said, were full of beans.

And I’m sure they were all rolling around in hysterics upon seeing my pre-placed signs slightly further along his route announcing the cessation of rain (just before a tunnel/bridge/underpass)… and the subsequent resumption of rain (you’ve guessed it… at the exit of the tunnel/bridge/underpass).

I mean… Seriously… I sometimes even surprise myself with my genius.

So there we have it.

Another running blog update involving me NOT running. I hope I can report more action in a week or two. Otherwise it will just be more randomness.

Speaking of which… Can you tell me…

What common running related injury is depicted below?

Answers on a postcard (or alternatively in the comments section).

They think it’s all over… (Robin Hood 8 of 12)

I went on holiday last week. One of those ones where there’s lots of trees and countryside and sunshine and activities for the kids.
I had spent day one having a great game of tennis with NotMuchOfaSitStiller and getting lost on our bikes. I particularly enjoyed seeing his growing confidence on a bike that is actually the right size for him.
We even entered a family quiz in the evening and won £40!

Everything was going swimmingly.

Deciding to make the most of the lovely weather, I set my alarm for 6am with the intention of heading out on a long run first thing in the morning of day two… especially as that annoying left foot niggle I don’t mention was practically non-existant.

I ran.

For three hours.

Over sixteen miles, with a little break at a fresh fruit and veg shop in Edwinstowe for an apple and nectarine. Lovely.

I walked/ran the last couple of miles as I was slow anyway and my shin was feeling the effects of my non-runner’s frame.
I got back home. Tired but happy. Proud of myself for being bang on track for the Nottingham Robin Hood Marathon in 4 weeks…

…except….over the course of that day, my shin pain worsened, my ankle swelled and I could barely walk.

Initially it felt like my lower shin, but later, a sickening ‘crunching’ sensation was to be felt just above my ankle and I was not able to flex or extend my foot without major pain.

Ibuprofen is being taken for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
I am snacking on paracetamol.

Google + self-diagnosis indicates ‘anterior tibialis tenosynovitis’ and a 4-6 week recovery period.

I’m not a happy chappy. I was so looking forward to using this holiday to be really active, to attempt a parkrun PB, and sleep well – none of which have happened.

Soooooo… I’m petty much tapering now and my next few updates before the marathon, if I do it, will be even more boring than this one.

Scuppered (6Jun’13)

Every Thursday, my eldest, notmuchofasitstiller (age 7), goes to Beavers (scouts for little ‘uns). It starts, approx 2 miles away, at 5:45pm and ends at 7pm.
This is normally a perfect time to go for a run because after I have faffed around with whatever running app I’m using, decided what (if any) music to have on, and re-tied my shoelaces a few times, it leaves me with almost exactly an hour to run a little 7 mile circuit I discovered which takes me along by the canal and which I have to run at a reasonable pace to get back in time for child-collection.

Tonight though, my lovely wife (aka TheHardestWorkingWomanIKnow) wasn’t back from work in time so I had to drive (taking both my children there and bringing the smallest one back).

Upshot was… No run.

I did manage to quickly hook up my bike to my son’s using a trail-gator however, so when it came to pick-up time (my wife had now arrived at home), I could do some exercise and also, once I detached the bike at the other end, allow the boy to get some confidence building cycle practice.

He really needs a new bike. He has blatantly disregarded instructions from TheHardestWorkingWomanIKnow to stop growing and the bike is looking way too small for him now.

To wake you up from my boring waffle this evening. Here is a totally unrelated picture of my son’s schoolwork…

You can’t fault his logic.

26) pedigree chump

Well… Following the resounding success of the cycling shorts giveaway competition thing (for which I shall draw a winner at the end of June – which is very easy if there’s only one name), I shall now resume normal service of random ramblings…

My Tuesday running partner informed me of his chesty cough at the 11th hour today so we cancelled our proposed meet up.

I attempted to convince him that when he feels better, he ought to really consider more than 20 minutes exercise every 2 weeks if he was serious about trying to get fit again.
He agreed.
I felt like I was having a go.
I didn’t mean to.
Maybe I did really.
I actually do want to help.
We’ll see what happens next week.
I think I said that last week.

Anyway… He’s not the chump. I am. Read on.

I went out for a bike ride instead, using the Samsung Hope Relay app.
If you haven’t already downloaded this for your smart phone then do consider it. Basically for every mile you run (I’ll come back to this in a minute) they donate £1 to charity, up to a maximum of £26 a day. Seems good to me.

Now it was my understanding that you could also cycle these miles too but when I got home the app told me I ‘ran too fast’ and that it had a maximum limit of 25 mph (I guess so people don’t drive around to build up the miles) so my 15 miles did not become £15 on this occasion (though I was quite pleased with my apparent riding speed).

This is still not why I’m a chump though.

During my bike ride I called in a few people where I used to live and perhaps foolishly accompanied one to the local public house for a ‘swift pint‘…

CHUMP!

Well THAT’S not going to help either my weight-loss or my balance is it now?

I got home ok.

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Before I go, I’d like to just say a big “Thank You” to lazybetty too – a lapsed ‘athaner who hasn’t blogged herself now for a while but who has been most generous following a couple my recent posts. Thank you 🙂

Emergency plank – Day 8 (with bonus tiny features of Day 7)

With a courteous but somehow also disgruntled nod towards iliketocount and jogblog … nothing personal.

Badminton (day 4)

Today’s activity was once again, not running but 1.5 hours of badminton, followed by traipsing round ASDA as I currently have no food in my fridge.

The rest of the day was spent having people tell me that this, that and the other in the house would cost me a lot of money. And then, Mr BT engineer man cut through our TV aerial cable.
BUT… I do now have internet, so…. I can read blogs more readily now. It should also mean I can put more effort into writing them too… Although, if this is anything to go by, perhaps not.