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Showing posts from January, 2011

Day 31 - The End Of Janothon, The Start Of Something Else...

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Well we have been all looking forward to this day, and here it is! Congrats to all people who have completed Janothon. Mondays are the elite group session, while I was driving down the car phone went off, the bloke that arranges the training cant make it plus another 2 of the group aren't attending tonight as they are stuck in work so the suggested session was 7 x 1km, I was not looking forward to that as the 2 young lads where probably going to be there and leave me behind. When I got there my assumption was correct it was just me and the 2 fastest lads of the group. When I suggested the 7 x 1km session they looked at me and said "I'm not doing that!" lets just go for a run. I was over the moon they said no to the speed work! Its been 30 days hard training and I didn't want that on my last day of Janothon. We did a run what is called around Europe, Its a route that takes us up hill to the top of the mumbles in Swansea when we get to the half way...

Day 30 - The Hardest Run So Far

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Day 30 started by getting up early and and getting out on my scheduled run. I totally forgot I went out on the bike yesterday and never thought I would be ache and I didn't until my first step of the run. I got about quarter of a mile and it hit me... Steel legs! It felt like I was running in a suit of armour, I did not want to be out running in the cold and on the road. The first 2 miles were a "knight"mare. I saw one runner in front of me, about half a mile so I made a target to chase them down within 4 minutes. I beat that target and passed them in 3:05, 55 seconds before my target time was up, so I must of kicked on and got out of my "I don't want to be here" slump. I finished todays run in a PB time so after a sluggish start I definately worked hard on the second half split of the run. We only have 1 more session to go to finish Janothon, I'm looking forward to my rest day on Wednesday... When I got home I had 15 minutes to...

Day 29 - Road Bike Virgin No More!

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As planned yesterday i got up early, well my kind of early, 10ish and packed the car up, Pumps, helmets and roof rack on and attached the bikes and off we went. There is a new tarmac coastal path that runs for about 20 miles and it is an ideal place to learn how to ride a road bike. Ive ridding a mountain bike since I learnt to ride a bike so this road bike malarkey is all new to me! We cycled for the first 5 miles changing gears and trying the breaks, Its definitely completely different to my Felt off road. But once we had mastered them there was no stopping us.  We cruised to the end of the path, and I felt like a pro, but without the time and the chasing pack, as it was only me and my wife. There were a few dog walkers but I dont think they canbe classified as a chasing group. I really enjoyed the session and I can't wait for my next bike outing. Roll on the Tour I think I can make it, watch out Lance.. Im comming! Todays session Duration 01 18 49 Distan...

Day 28 - Easy Run & Bad Plumbing

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Ive been looking forward to Friday all week. It meant two things, Easy run day and a lie in tomorrow, No alarm clock. I got home from work about 5:00ish, quite late for a Friday but its been one of those weeks so I kind of new I was going to be late. I bounced home ready for my run, I was keen to get out and get home and enjoy my evening. Well I got out, did my run and then I decided to do some plumbing. The toilet in the upstairs bathroom has been filling up very slowly after being flushed and me being a man who knows everything about DIY I wanted to have a look. Still in my running gear I decided to take the flush and water dispenser apart. I thought I had fixed it, but I was very wrong, I now had water running into the back basin and filling the toilet up... but it wasn't stopping so it was going into the overflow. This meant I had to keep on flushing the look ever 10 seconds - GREAT! I had been fiddling with the toilet now for 45 minutes, still in my running gea...

Day 27 - Its Cold Out There...

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Its getting cold again out there and its a good job Ive got my new hat and gloves back. Tonight's session was a tough one as it stops you getting a rhythm as they are such small sprints and recovery sessions. 6 x (2 min H, 1min R, 1Min H, 30sec R, 30sec H, 30sec R)   H=Hard R=Recovery I had more in the tank and I think I could have done another 2 sets but I wasn't complaining about finishing at 6. We have a warm up and warm down session which involves stretching, jumping, and skipping, when cars drive past they must thing WTF are those people. We had plenty of car horns tonight I did wonder if they were warning us if there was something on the lose coming to get us... Perhaps not.                                         My legs are pretty tired so I'm looking forward to my rest run tomorrow...   Todays session Duration 00 49 49 Distance 5.01 miles Calories 678 Max H...

Day 26 - My Knighthood... Sir Run-Alot

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This is the first day in Janothon I really found it hard to get out there, The walk home from work was a killer and then to go back out in the wind and cold... Did I really want to go out.. No I didn't! But I wasn't going to give up on Janothon that easy so I got changed and went out. My new hat and gloved turned up today so I needed to get out to try them out. The bad news was I couldn't find my ipod shuffle so I had no tunes to listen to on my run. I find that music helps take some of the pain away. I'll have to ask my wife where she has moved it to as I can find it anywhere, I cant keep going out with no music to listen to I'll go mad. Anyways, Wednesday is my zonal run session the object of the run is to keep my heart rate below 160BPM, I have failed all session UNTIL today. I normally hit a 165 or a 163 beats per minute but today I kept the max to 160 and I kept the 6.5 mile run under the hour mark. A very successfully run I think... Ive been ru...

Day 25 - I'm A Mer-Man!

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I really enjoyed today's swim session, the pool was pretty quiet and I was focused on the job as I went with a planned set in hand.It wasn't a hard set, but it was enough for me to do in the hour. My wife came with me to and she blasted out a session of about 2700 meters I don't know how she does it but she makes it look VERY easy! My swimming has improved and I'm finding it a lot easier to swim the lengths and a lot easier to do the 100 meters, we all had to start somewhere but there is no looking back for me. On my final 50 meters I had my first cramp attack in my legs, thank god it was in the shallow end otherwise i would have sunk to the bottom, never to be seen again. I was thinking my times are getting quicker as doing tumble turns with no issues anymore... I think I'm turning into a MER-MAN... Back on the road tomorrow ... Todays session Duration 01 00 00 Distance 1900 meters (1 x 50m High elbow, 1 x 50m fist, 1 x 50m 1 arm, 1 ...

Day 24 - 1 More Monday Left To Go..

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Work today consisted of 7 hours of straight meetings, I haven't switched the laptop on so I dread how many emails I've got from people today. I'm not going to look till tomorrow, so I'm blogging, check how others have got on, then I'm going. I'm really enjoying the elite sessions on a Monday, these guys bang out 5 to 6 minute miles for fun and tonight was a great example that I'm improving each week. I raced yesterday and it was a hard session yesterday so my legs were already tired, plus its Janothon so its been a hard month. Well tonight topped that off as we decided to do a quick session with a warm up (just under a mile) then 3km, 2km and 1km with 90 seconds rest in between. We had to go flat out and was doing miles in 6 minutes, I was so chuffed as I got down to a 5.20 min mile. Then a shower run which was a mile home to the sports center. It was a killer session but I really enjoyed it. I know something, I'll sleep well tonigh...

Day 23 - 1st Race Day

The morning came far to early this morning and before I knew it I was up, dressed and ready for my 1st race for my new triathlon club. It was the final meet of the cross country season, 5 mile track around the reservoir and back home. This is my first competitive event since I played rugby to a high standard about 10 years ago. I do have a competitive streak in me so I was going to give it my all. I had to register when I arrived at the event it felt funny, going to a table in the corner, saying my name and running for a club.. me... running for a club. It was only £4 (it could have been £2 if I was registered with Wales Athletics) but I didn't mind paying it for my first turn out for Celtic Tri. There was a good turn out from the club but I was the only one without a team vest :( 11am on the dot the starter got the race off and away I went. I went out pretty quick but I was coping with it, I knew I could go out quick as it was only 5 miles. I averaged a 7.11 minute mile and I fe...

Day 22 - Saturday, Where Have You Gone?

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Today has just disappeared and its a blimp in my memory. Today me and the wife got up early-ish and went to our friends to pick up the road bikes. They have been good enough to lend us there "spare" bikes to get started with. I've always had an off road bike to I'm new to this road bike thing. It was like learning to ride a bike again for the first time, I cant get used to leaning forward and keeping low. It was hard enough learning forward and look where I was going... I couldn't even  find the brakes.. ARRGGHHH!!! I had a little play on the bike but I just don't know if I can get into it, I'm in to minds to by some slicked for the off road bike, its very light and I know how the gears work I'm very comfortable on it so I'm going to get a price for this option. Tonight it was my first session in the pool with the new triathlon club, and just like a Thursday nights they were very welcome. I knew some of the people in the lan...

Day 21 - I Love Rest Runs But, I Hate Chavs

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Its the final countdown.. doo doo do do! doo doo do do do! Only 10 days to go for us Janothoners' and Ive been thinking that once its over I will keep up the amount of running I have this month but I think I'm going to introduce a rest day on Friday which involves doing nothing! But I'm going to work harder in the week, as I'm losing my Saturday runs to swim sessions. I chickened out of breaking the 100 mile mark today, I stuck to my guns and did the rest run, it went well until the last mile I run past a youth center and the little bar-stewards decided to hurl abuse at me, but I had my shuffle on so I couldnt hear anything and one lad decided to stand in the way as he thought he was "cool" i just glided past him, I think if I was in a mood im sure I would have dropped my shoulder and floored the chav. As soon as they were gone it was a glide home and a new PB for the route. Not much else going down today so im on the sofa, finished my poached eggs and n...

Day 20 - Bloody Cold & Bloody Garmin

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Its definately been one of those weeks, work has not stopped all week I cant believe its Friday tomorrow. Running this week has been a great stress reliever, I wish I could do my job while I ran! I would feel amazing.. I think?  It was a club run tonight, and another tough session its was 6 sets of 4 minutes 90% HR and 2 minutes 70% HR, this being a recovery. This also included a mile-ish warm up and half mile warm down. The set got sent out yesterday so I thought I'd be a clever arse and program it into the Garmin and know when to rest and know when to burn rubber. We completed the warm up session and had the 30 seconds call that the session was about the start. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 of we go! I got in the zone and lead from the front... I went to check about 3 minutes into the 1st set and I only forgot to press the bloody start button, so I missed the first set so I've guessed the set an input into Garmin Connect. I was a great session tonight and I could have done...

Day 19 - Mr Frosty Welcome Back...

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Back on the road today after last night swim and it was a great session plenty of juice left in the tank and a total de-stress, I loved it! It was a Zonal Run again this Wednesday and my mission to stay in Zone 4 (160BPM Max) is getting better, I only left the zone the last 20 seconds to get home and up the hill in time for the footie. My HR for the session The first mile finishes on a hill so I'm just on the boarder of leaving the zone, but I looked at the Garmin at the right time and took my foot off the gas and stayed under the 160. Noticed a lot of people out tonight, dog walkers, power walkers and 3 other runners, I waved to all 3 runners and only 1 of the cheeky buggers waved back. The pavements tonight were all ice, I don't think they have defrosted from last night/this morning so it was a bit tricky passing the down hills, I nearly went arse over tit! Thank god no one saw! I did today's session the quickest to date and I felt great after the se...

Day 18 - Busy Pools GRRRRR!!

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    Another manic day in work, meetings followed by meetings and more meetings and these meetings included people who want everything and will do nothing to help you out... Swines! I was looking forward to releasing some stressing in the pool so 7pm could not come quick enough... well 6:45.. We got to the pool 15 minutes early to avoid the mass of lady's turning up for a aqua pool aerobics session and have to battle with them crossing the swim lane to get into the larger area in the pool as there class starts at 8 so we wanted to be out by 7:45. Unfortunately this did not happen! We got into the pool early but it was rammed, I normally have the lane to myself like Sunday but there was at least 4 people in the lane already wish made it very difficult to practise my tumble turns so I could only do 2 every 100 meters as someone was always chasing me down. I still managed to do my furthest meters yet 2000 meters so I'm chuffed! Hitting the roads tomorrow with a zonal run, ...

Day 17 - Killer Session

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 What a crap day in work, Ive been in meetings since 9:30 till 4:30 I had lunch at 3ish so its been 100mph all day. I was really looking forward to the elite session tonight, last week was a long run so I knew tonight was going to be a short sharp session. How right was I? It was a very sharp session - 6 x half mile with 60 secs recovery. We were doing half miles in 3minutes 40 secs. It was a killer session, thank god we only had to 6. By the time I got home my wife had made my training recovery meal, beans on toast. I destroyed it on double quick fashion and washed up and put my running gear on the washing machine all quicker than the whole running session. Then the bad news... While sat on the sofa resting my tired legs my wife shouted "MARTYN... The Kitchen is flooding" I only jammed the zip in the washing machine door and turned it on and managed to fill the kitchen floor full of water. We had to get all the towels out the cupboard and take the plinth off the bottom...

Day 16 - No Bike Just Swimming

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Woke up about 10am today, I love Sunday lie ins! I could still hear the rain against the window and that only meant the wind had got stronger and the rain was still coming down :( I had planned an off road session on the bike, we have already had a truck load of rain this week and I guessed the track would be a right mess. I had a look online and there was a mention they had closed a few of the runs so I opted out of the off road and opted out of the bike ride all together and hit the pool. I didn't want to end up like this Ive been really enjoying the pool sessions and I'm learning each time I'm in the pool and I'm swimming further each time I go even though Ive only been 3 times in January. Today I swam 2200 meters, I broke it down to, 200m Kick board, 300m Pull Buoy and 1700m Free style.  I was keen to work on my tumble turns and by the end of the session I was doing them on each turn. I started out just doing them at the deep end of the pool as there ...

Day 15 - The Wind In Your Face

We got up early this morning as we needed to go to the butchers in town, we needed to replenish our meet stocks as we had run out of chicken, steak, and sausages. Since last summer we have decided to support our local produce and we've noticed the taste factor to. OK we may miss out on the 2 for 1 offers etc but why buy more its only going to waste as you don't really want it. We decided to buy our fruit and veg local too so we filled our boots with fresh produce. We had managed to spend £30 but that will definitely last us over a month. We got home about 12ish so I decided to have lunch and go out at 3pm for my long(ish) run. Watch charged, shuffle charged nothing was going to delay me going out today. I decided I was going to do a route Ive done before, Its a really nice one, well parts of it are, as you go through a forest. First part is an urban as you run alongside a pretty busy road as its a route into town then you cut off down a lane into the forest. Its a slow uphill...

New Running Daps

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Contemplating purchasing some new road running shoes I designed myself at Nike.com, its call Nike ID or something. The only bad thing is there £105 - Ouch!

Day 14 - I Love Easy Run Days

Ive looked forward to todays run all week, the easy run day! I felt great today after last nights wet tri session the only think that was going to hurt today was my brain as I was on this course all day. Got home from this course about 5pm and got changed pretty sharpish to go out for the run, switch my shuffle on and switched on the Garmin only to find out the battery was dead. This meant I had to go back in and plug it in and wait for 30 minutes for it to charge, I must of left in on last night after downloading the run info. This delayed me till 5:30, I still felt good so I didn't mind the wait. Garmin charged and off I went, not a rain cloud in sight!. I made alot of effort tonight as I knew the quicker I did it the quicker I can sit on the sofa and put my feet up and the weekend can start. Here I am now... Roll on the lie in tomorrow! YAY \o/ I uploaded a new album to the shuffle - Paul Oakenfold - Greatest hits Track Listings I only listened to 30 minutes and its great f...

Day 13 - A Very Wet Club Run

Well its still raining, and it was proper raining none of this girl rain! Proper man rain! Tonight set was 8 x (3mins hard (90% HR) & 90sec recovery (60% HR) it was a hard session in the rain but it was only a 36 minute session. It was a big group for the weather and Ive just finished stuffing my running trainers with newspaper and put them by the radiator, I hope they dry out for tomorrows run and I stuffed them last night and they were still wet from the previous run. Looking forward to the rest run tomorrow, a quick 3.5 miles and then feet up till Saturday, I think the Tri swim session has been cancelled so I may have to do some more running, I'm in to minds to do a pyramid session or a Fartlek session. Hope the weather gets better for Sunday as I might get the off road bike out! C'mon Mr Sunshine, get your hat on! Todays session Duration 00 56 49 Distance 6.02 miles Calories 798 Max HR 173BPM

Wales Iron Man

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A few of my mates have been doing the Ironman events for the past couple of years and I've been reading up on the events. This year we are lucky enough to get a Ironman based in Wales (Pembrokeshire), the place were I grew up as a lad. I have just signed up.... to volunteer. I don't think I'd be fit enough to do it. maybe next year! I hope the weather is good for the people doing it as the weather can be a right nightmare! They will have some cracking views though! Here's the link to the Ironman Wales - Ironman Wales

Day 12 - Horizontal Rain

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Well its rained all day and its till raining now, It hasn't got any lighter and the wind has only picked up so I knew I should have got up at 6am to squeeze a run in, but it didn't happen did it. I got home from work about 5pm so I decided to go out then, It was only a tempo run so stay in Zone 4 (160PBM) I wanted to get it over and done with but tonight was a rest run. Once I was out there it was fine... well sort off. I got to the the 3 mile marker (the point of no return) and the heavens really opened and I had about a mile and half of horizontal run, running into the wind and the rain smashing my face, lovely stuff! Heart Rates from both runs 12/01/11 05/01/11 I managed to keep under the 160 on today run apart from the last 1 minute as its up hill, it was lashing down and I just wanted to get home. Simular time though and I feel pretty good. Roll on next weeks zonal run :) Lastly - I managed to listen to the final bit running trax 2 - I...

Day 11 - Swim Session Number 2

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I was glad for the running rest today and hit the pool for some lane swimming. Ive been looking on You Tube to master my arms and stroke and my wife tells me I look neater which must be good. The water was warmer than the last time I remember so I could of had a nice relaxing soak if it wasn't for the kids swimming lesson in the next lane. I started with 2 x 100 warm ups with a pull buoy and a kick board and my legs were burning from that so I was dreading the remainder of the session! I got straight into the mix and decided to do 100 sets with 45 - 60 seconds rest between sets and that worked well for me. I made sure I was only a hour in the pool so I had to work hard to get the full 1800 meters in, I think for the future I keep to the hour session and cram as many meters in as possible. It was good to feel pain in my shoulders tonight rather than my legs - Roll on tomorrow back to hitting the tarmac. YAY \o/ Todays session Pool lane swim - 1800 meters Duration - 01 ...

Day 10 - 1st Elite Session Of The Year

First Monday training session of the year and they decided to break us in with a "around the world" which is a 7.5 mile run. I'm the slowest by far so I had a thought I'd be left behind in the rain but I'm chuffed, I kept up and I think its partly down to this Janothon! :) so thank you! We left the "out laws" today at 2pm today so I've been sat in a car for 3 hours this afternoon, I slept in and mist breakfast and all I had for lunch was some cheese on toast so I was starving.. and we had no sweets in the car!. We got home about 5pm and before running tonight this wife insisted we took down the Christmas decorations, i have to leave the house by 5:30 to make the 6pm running start, you women are funny things of all the times to take them down. Anyway I managed to get down for the 6pm start and only a small amount of people turned up so the guy in charged decided we would do a "QUICK" 7 miles! After thinking this is going to be not much...

Day 9 - Busy Park Runs

Day 9 started early-ish and I wanted to get out an get a decent mileage run in. It's Christmas day today so it involves allot of eating so I HAD to run! I only had to shower and get dressed I managed to upload the run route before my shower so I'm writing the report on my iPhone. We've just finished opening our presents and I've been lucky enough to get a new Nike running jacket and a new Nike time cuff which looks brilliant! But back to my run this morning, it felt great to get out in the light and it was a route I hadn't run for ages so it always gives you a boost. Got to park/common and it was full of runners and dog walkers, it was quite hard on the first lap to dodge the public. It was still icey in the paths so for dodging the public and the ice was a bit of a mission! I really enjoyed the run and completed it the quickest I have to date! I had no breakfast this morning and I can't wait for Christmas dinner (Mark 2) as I'm starving. Today...

Day 8 - Where Am I?

Second week of Janothon has arrived and I still going - Well done to everyone else who is still taking part! We are currently at my wife's family for our second Christmas, more presents, more turkey and more chocolate (I hope). I stayed up late last night again playing on the Playstation 3 with my wife's, sisters husband playing FIFA and I won 4 out of the 5 games. The most success I've had all year to date :) and I had to have a lie in to recover... Honest!. So I missed my planned 8am run and got up at 9am showered and hit the shops (again) We still had some Christmas money left over to spend, although I spent some of it last night signing up for 12 months of Runners World magazine. We stayed in Portsmouth till about 4pm so a full days shopping and I bought nothing (my wife bought me a jumper though) and because I was so lazy this morning I had to run when we got back so about 5:30 I ended up leaving the outlaws house. I normally run in the day so I have some idea of w...

Day 7 - Rain, Rain Go Away

Well today's run was meant to be a short and easy jog, a quick 30 minutes just over 3 miles. Well... today's was the hardest run so far. I decided to work from home today as I stayed up to watch the cricket and none of my colleagues were going into the office, I didn't feel like staying there on my own. So I had a little lay in till 9ish and got up, looked out the window and saw.. RAIN! Good old welsh weather! As we are off for our 2nd Christmas later today I had to squeeze the run in this morning as I know I wouldn't feel like a run after a 3 hour drive. I got my running stuff on and slowly walked down stairs making the trip to go out side even slower. Opened the front front door and by this time its lashing down, I thought to myself.. "Do I really need to do this? - YES so stop being a lazy arse and jog on!". I did half my normal route and I'm still finishing up hill, I think if I take part in Juneathon I may need to move house! It was a hard run t...

Day 6 - Triathlon Training Run Session

Day 6 is here and gone and I was joining my friends from the Triathlon club for a fartlek session which was brilliant. Reason 1, I wasn't training on my own for a change and reason 2 it was a different session from just road running. I worked really hard tonight and I'm feeling great, I'm sure I'll sleep well tonight after that work out. We all meet on a half a mile stretch and recently the council have turned off every other one of the street lights so its pretty dark, but the road isn't used very much and it has a wide pavement, which by the end of the session was starting to freeze up so we were losing alot of traction by the last set. Tomorrows run  is going to be difficult I'm off at 2pm to travel to Southampton for my 2nd Christmas with my wife's family all weekend, so I've been only multimap looking for routes in the area. I'm in 2 minds to get up early and sneak a run in or go out when I get to Southampton. Its the last day of the ashes t...

Day 5 - Nice & Easy Does it Every Time

Well as posted earlier I was sat in the office looking out the window thinking its rain and I don't want to go.. Well I did and I'm glad I did. I did a Zone run, the objective of this run was to stay in Zone 3 of my training zone, My heart rate was not aloud to go over 160 otherwise I'd explode... Honest! :) I feel great for going out and I'm not so tired as when I normally go out I try and get a quicker and quicker so I'm knackered by the time I get home and I try and do a record time. I  know I always say I could have gone on, but I definitely could of carried on, I like this zone 3 running. I ran my normal 6.5 mile route and saw 2 runners tonight, I normally see no one else running only cars so its good to see other nutters running in the dark. My new hat and gloves are working a treat! No snow yet thankfully, Its just cold as my head was steaming. I listening to the 2nd CD of NOW 77 on the run, I'd miss that one if I were you it was crap. Triathlon t...

I Need Some Power!

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I'm sat at my desk at work and thinking Ive got to go for a run tonight. I need a kick up the arse to give me some motivation, and its Janathon so I really should go. My arms are very heavy today from last nights swim session (which I really enjoyed). Ive drafted a training plan for me to complete over January I just need to make sure I drive myself to stick to it. To top it off its now raining, I know it does most days in Wales but surely that's telling me  to stay in and lie on the sofa and do nothing. I'll finish writing up this bloody report, get the ipod on for some dance tunes and hopefully that will give me some drive! Catch you later with Day 5 training updates... I hope!

Day 4 - My 1st Swim Session

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Day 4 is here and guess what, I've only gone and got my goggles out! 1st day back in the office today after being off since 23rd December and it dragged.... i mean really dragged and 4pm couldn't come quick enough. After running nearly every day over Christmas I decided I wanted to add swimming to my training calender and at 7pm me and my wife went to the local pool (in Swansea we are blessed with a number of pools, a few 25 meter ones and one 50 meter pool, but there was no way I was doing my 1st proper swimming session in a 50 meter pool. My wife is the swimmer so I have be listening to her every word in the pool and shes a pretty good teacher. We worked on my free style stroke and tumble turns as I'm still stopping at the end of the lane to turn which slows my times down, but we have all got to start somewhere. We had a lane to ourselves which was great and apart from the club next to us full of 10 to 13 year olds kicking my arse. I had my new Speedo jammers on, i...

Day 3 - Shopping, KFC & Lone Running

We (me and my wife) were meant to get up at eight (am) to get out to the shops before the rush, I had an “so so” night’s sleep, I watched some of the test match (ashes 5 th test) and finally dosed off. But back to getting up early... well the short of it was my wife forgot to set the alarm and we woke up at quarter past nine instead, whoops! But we still got to the shops before the mad rush. I had to return my hiking shoes as they were a size to big so I was happy to do that as they were a lovely surprise from my wife. Well we walked around the shops… EVERY shop... and to cut a long story short I bought nothing and she bought nearly everything apart from lunch which as a treat it was a KFC.. LUSH! And to top off a great day we went to watch Meet The Parents – Little Fockers which was very funny. Go and see it! All good days must come to an end so we drove home and I needed to get out on the road and clock up some millage. Well I’ve clocked in another 6.5 miles and it felt great I hope...

Day 2 - Late To Bed & Early To Rise

Day 2 has arrived and I've clocked up another 5 miles to the cause. I managed to get to sleep last night about 2am and woke up at 8am, so a dragged my already tired legs out of bed to complete this bloody Janaothon thing :) It was a quite warm-ish morning and I leaped outside the back gate with my spring in my step. The forerunner took some time to find a signal this morning so I did think about leaving it at home and leaving myself in the warmth of the garage, but the thought of a new Garmin got me to move my arse! As i jogged down the road i passed a few church goers in there 60's and they waved frantically at me as if something was wrong, and then old man beside the old waving dear (I'm guessing his wife) lifted his flat cap to me which I found quite encouraging... I don't know why I just did. I had the joys of wet running trainers today as the paper inside them was soaking wet so I need to remember to change the paper before I go to bed or stick them in the hous...

Day 1 - Nice Start

Well day 1 of Janathon has arrived and it started with 5 miler. It also started with new gloves and hat (Xmas presents from the wife) and a rip in my compression tights (so there's £50 I need to shell out). The roads were dead and I felt really lonely, just me and the iPod blasting out some dance tracks. I've decided I'm going to change the album on the shuffle ever day so I best sort out my iTunes. Todays choosen music was cream ibiza classics. I'll put the tracking listing link up later. (As I'm writing this run still on the iPhone as my laptop has past away) It was a refreshing run today I wanted to run a 10 miler session but the darkness beat me and they havent heard of street lights in this part of Wales, I think they have only just discovered electricity! I finished my run running over a field again so my trainers are stinking dirty so there outside the back door stuffed with newspaper, hope they dry out by tomorrow morning. It's a quick run in the m...

Yesterdays Run With A Near Miss!

I managed to squeeze out a quick 5 mile run out yesterday afternoon before I went out to my family NYE party. To make things worse my bloody laptop battery has failed I'm still at my parents so I'm back to posting on my iPhone which is an absolute nightmare! Yesterdays run was quite easy and I felt like I had plenty left in the tank to keep on going but due to the party I had to end the session early. On the last quarter of a mile a idiot driver didn't see me on a straight with my hi-vis top so pushed me into the hedge so I was filthy and the driver didn't even stop! I hate people like that! I'm looking forward to today's run, the first of Janathon! Good luck everyone. I'll post the route up ones my laptop is working. Session run Distance 5 miles Duration 00 39 54 Calories 497 Max HR 179 BPM