Month: January 2014

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Aliveandrunning Janathon January 21

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Day 21. Another cold day. This winter I’m wearing more layers in the morning when I’m walking Rupert in Wort’s Meadow. Suddenly and inexplicably I caught myself wearing these thermal long johns which belong to Lorna. The image of myself looking similar to Brad Pitt in Gladiator briefly vanished. I went out in T shirt, heavy fleece, a ski jacket and another substantial coat over it. Plus mittens. Unless it’s very cold (below -3C) I don’t wear a hat. I guess it was around -1C today in the morning  but in the afternoon it rose to 3 or 4C and the sun came out. The chill left me and I felt comfortably warm doing gardening in fleece and T shirt ( plus trousers, obviously).

Cambridge and Coleridge running club this evening and the temperature was down to zero. I wore tracksters, two tops, a winter running jacket and gloves. I felt so much better than in the morning. We did a number of sprints with decreasing recovery times in each of 3 sets. I enjoy sprinting because I feel acutely alive and because I can still do it. It’s very enjoyable sprinting in a group and in the middle of a Cambridge  road  underneath the street lights.

Interesting programme on BBC 1 at 10.35 pm called The Naked Rambler. He’s a former Royal Marine who undergoes long walks wearing only boots and a rucksack. He’s spent nearly 7 years in Scottish jails for continuing to defy court rulings that he should not appear naked in public. A good example of the law discrediting itself.

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Aliveandrunning Janathon January 20

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Day 20. Before doing the Janathon run, as usual I took Rupert the dalmatian for a walk in  Wort’s Meadow and the wood beyond. Many of the trees have interesting lichen growing on their trunks and branches and they look particularly striking when the sunlight illuminates them. Today the sun was obscured by light cloud but the hard frost created a lovely patina of crystal whiteness on everything. It’s a great temptation to snap images on my mobile, despite variable quality, and yesterday I stopped several times running along the  river Cam.

I was very cold this morning, despite wearing loads of layers but by mid afternoon the sun was out and it warmed up marginally. I ran 2 miles without anything remarkable happening except me thinking how fortunate I am to be able to run, and run each day , and enjoy it. On my return home, I cooked a roast meal and then picked up Lorna at the station. She was on a business  trip overnight and I missed her.

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Aliveandrunning Janathon January 19

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Day 19.It was dull and overcast this morning but later on the skies cleared and the sun came out. I felt absolutely fine from yesterday’s 8.5 miles running (in total) and the sunshine drew me to the river. I drove over to Milton  and then ran down to the river and headed in the direction of Cambridge. There were loads of eights (racing boats seating 8 rowers and a cox)  training along with an accompanying coach on a cycle following on the path. I had to negotiate the cyclists, hordes of walkers and other runners on the busy towpath but the river was beautiful and the sun acted like a balm. Very enjoyable. I ran around 4.5 miles, stopping several times to take photos with my mobile.

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Aliveandrunning Janathon January 18

Day 18. Good parkrun today. These Karrimoor Tempo trail shoes are excellent. The Cambridge run is held in Milton Country Park, north of the City, and the trail paths guarantee mud and puddles if there has been persistent rain. It’s very twisty and turny which is OK if the ground is dry and hard but slippery and risky in swamp conditions. I felt so much more confident in shoes with grip and I didn’t have that sense of imminently losing my balance and crashing to the ground. It’s the best kind of mud because you can feel the firmness underneath it but you still need to be cautious around the sharp bends.

Day 18. I was pleased with the way I ran at Cambridge parkrun today. I was only 38 seconds behind my arch rival Mike and about a minute behind arch arch rival Kerry. Lorna volunteered as a marshal ( a father hurriedly left his 10 year old boy with her and ran off to complete another circuit, explaining that the  child wasn’t feeling well). Afterwards we had delicious coffee in the cafe with our good running chums . It was a very enjoyable morning. When we returned home, news came through the wires of offspring’s parkruns. Dan and Shanti ran Valentines parkrun (East London/Essex border) and Isobelle ran Ashton Court parkrun (Bristol). Good work, kids!

In the afternoon I took up the opportunity to do a “social run”  with the Strongman Fitness group http://www.cstrongman.co.uk/ We ran 8.2 miles around the Cambridgeshire village of Over, starting and ending at the Exhibition pub. This group, in the main, are members of a new club Fen Edge Runners but anyone is welcome to join them on Saturday afternoons. They are very friendly, don’t talk exclusively  about running and are now preparing people for a half marathon distance. It’s mixed ability and it’s easy and acceptable to run lesser distances in the session. I felt comfortable with the slower pace and we stopped briefly several times. Very enjoyable!

I have now run a total of 11.5 miles today and can now declare that I have begun my longer distance training for the Cambridge Half Marathon in March. With these long runs comes a greater risk of suffering cramp at night. This is very painful and I want to avoid it. Solution, suggested by my doctor, is to drink tonic water, traditionally containing quinine, which has the ability to alleviate cramp. It does work and so tonic water is what I am now guzzling.

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Aliveandrunning Janathon January 17

Day 17. I must have some bat DNA in me. I am consistently only getting around to running at  dusk or when it’s dark. Not too much DNA, I hope. I don’t want to find myself  scanning for insects and running with my mouth open.

Longer runs are eluding me at the moment. I’ll have to start soon because I’m in the Cambridge Half Marathon in less than 8 weeks. Running alone, along the banks of the Cam towards Cambridge, is my preferred option but I’m spoilt for  choice. Cambridge and Coleridge Running Club organise long runs on Thursdays and club members run together informally in a group on the weekend. Fen Edge Runners, a new, local club are also offering long social runs.

Tomorrow, my new trail shoes will have their second outing when I do Cambridge parkrun. Last week I was lucky I didn’t lose my right shoe in the mud. This time I’ll make sure the thin cord laces are  sufficiently tight. Next week we are going to Walthamstow parkrun, East London to meet up with old friends and run with them, as well as two of my children.

We hope to buy a super duper new camera soon and this will enable us to take a load of images at races and particularly parkrun. I will also be taking pictures of my bowl of porridge, lichen and trees, alleys and ghostly passages. I could use it at political demonstrations and shoot video of the police taking video of the demonstrators. I inadvertently came across a demonstration and march, meeting in central Cambridge a couple of years ago. It was held up for around 20 minutes because the police photographer was late arriving. Oddly they never seem to record their colleagues behaving badly.

Interesting article on the Vatican’s attitude and responsibility for global Catholic priest sexual abuse in the Guardian.     http://bit.ly/1i76QP5

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Aliveandrunning Janathon January 16

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Oh my gosh! I went running for under 20 minutes and I returned to this. My little cottage had become a spooky house. And it was only midday. My door key wouldn’t turn in the lock and I heard strange, unidentifiable noises from within. I did a few minutes of warm down exercises and then called out to the poltergeist demanding she/he   immediately cease her/his activity and return to the Ancient Well, reputed to be over a thousand years old and situated in our little garden. I used my deep Cambridge running god voice and the poltergeist knew resistance was useless. I gained access within seconds and immediately got out the vacuum cleaner to clear up. The sun came out and smiled benignly, when 30 minutes later, I sat down to eat a cold porridge sandwich and read a non tabloid, non digital, non right wing, actual physical, wood pulp newspaper.

The actual run, unlike my return home, was uneventful and straight forward. It was windy and a thin rain descended for the duration of the jog. I felt cold despite being togged up with appropriate kit and I thought about the effect of winter weather on my motivation and physical experience of running. It seems to take a long time for me to warm up and I seldom discard layers even on long runs.

Lorna attended her out patient appointment with an orthopaedic surgeon at Addenbrookes Hospital today. Thankfully it was a positive experience. The consultant confirmed she had Achilles insertional tendonopathy and explained the treatment options which included surgery.  This option only has a 50/50 chance of success and is more suitable where the severity of the condition warrants that kind of risk. It was felt that Lorna would be able to run again but she still needed months of rest and some physiotherapy. The Couch to 5K sessions would be a good reintroduction to running in, say, 3 or 4 months. This is good news.

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Aliveandrunning Janathon January 15

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Day 15. “Ooohhh……….what a lovely dog. I bet he loves to run with you. Don’t those Dalmatians run beside carriages of the rich?  Or used to in the past when horse drawn carriages were common and posh people wanted to display their sense of style.”

This is Rupert. I’d love to take him running with me. I’d love to take him to parkrun where dog running is allowed. He gets along very well with other dogs and he’s grown up with children. Unfortunately, he finds it impossible to run in a straight line and frequently stops suddenly. In a large group he would be a complete liability and trip up large swathes of runners. I mention this because I had various commitments today and took Rupert for a walk later than usual. I then went for a run and started cooking as soon as I got back. It would have saved time if the dog walking and run had been combined. It’s not too late, though. I’ve successfully bid for a carriage and four horses on Ebay. They’ll be delivered on the weekend and we’ll go for a trial run as soon as we can. I’ve discussed this approach with Rupert and he’s agreeable in principle. I think it will work. I’m sure he’ll learn to run continuously ahead or behind me so a parkrun with him is possible……as long as he’s accompanied by a carriage and four horses!

The 2 mile run went OK. It was dusk again and the temperature was a mild 10C. Yesterday it was considerably colder and I really didn’t warm up all day. I attribute this to the side effects of my cardiac medication.

My wife Lorna was contacted by Addenbrookes Hospital today and offered a cancellation appointment tomorrow to see an orthopaedic surgeon with a view to assessing and treating her Achilles tendonosis. It may well require surgery and we don’t know if running in the future is an option. We are keeping our fingers crossed. In the meanwhile I hope she continues to take some great photos of me running.

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Aliveandrunning Janathon January 14

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Day 14. I had to take mildly extreme measures to combat the cold tonight. I was running with the club after 6.30 pm and Jack Frost was beginning to flex his icy fingers. My chin was in danger of freezing and my lips were making hard work of pronunciation. Although I felt warm, there were some unintended consequences. Men fainted and women ran away. They were clearly afraid of this Cambridge running dude with  the remarkably life like false beard.

Anyway, we did 3 X 3 minutes with 90 second recoveries then 5 minutes recovery and another set of 3 as before. As usual we did a half kilometre warm up on the track followed by exercises before the main run. It felt good, running in the dark as a heavily bearded man. How much better would I feel if I grew it down to my chest!

 

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Aliveandrunning Janathon January 13

Day 13. A short run of 2 miles a day should be achievable for most Janathon runners, if they are sufficiently motivated. It doesn’t take long and you have the option of before or after work. I might add that a run after you reach home in the evening is an excellent way to wind down and begin to relax your body. Of course, when I was in paid employment, I seldom managed to go running in the evening but it’s a nice standard to apply to others.

An uneventful 2 mile run just before dusk. It was a cold and sunny day. I should have run sooner but I was busy fixing old clay pantiles to my garage roof. I did this successfully and also fixed some guttering so I had a small but perfect sense of achievement when I set out. Tomorrow I’ll be road running in Cambridge, in the evening, with the club.

I’m very confused concerning the reports I’ve read about the amount of running undertaken and the effect on the heart. In the Observer Tech Monthly yesterday, part of an article by Catherine de Lange entitled What Science Says About The benefits Of Running (not available for sharing) discussed running and repeated the same evidence I have heard on other occasions. A study of 20,000 people in Denmark over years found that those who ran lived on average for 6 years longer than those who did not. The biggest benefits came from running between on hour and two and a half hours a week, over two or three sessions, at a comfortable pace. There is speculation that long periods of vigorous physical activity, over an hour or two, puts too much strain on heart muscle, causing it to stretch and tear, which – over years – can lead to stiffening and scarring. One 2011 study found higher levels of fibrosis, or scarring, in the heart muscle of competitive endurance athletes aged 50 or over, compared to others of the same age. It  suggests moderate intensity running in small doses – of about 30 to 50 minutes at a time. Some argue that excessive running  can cause increased calcium plaque build up in the heart, which increases the risk of coronary heart disease.

I had my heart attack 4 months after running the London Marathon, aged 58. I don’t believe that my running regime, before marathon training, contributed to heart disease. I’m well aware of factors that almost certainly did and over many years. I think my level of fitness helped me to recover quickly and allowed me to return to my prior running ability. I could physically do a marathon again and I would enjoy the challenge but I do think it would be asking too much of my heart, given I have established heart disease. OK, no more marathons then. I can live with that (no pun intended) but what about half marathons which would still exceed recommended running levels? I currently run about 3 hours a week. If I do a half marathon, the training will increase for a period of time? Is this OK for me or risky? I don’t know. How about asking a cardiologist? Well, apart from an out patient appointment after discharge from hospital, you never see a cardiologist again. You are prescribed NICE  guideline cardiac medication and are monitored by your GP. There’s not deemed to be a problem if you don’t experience troublesome symptoms. I may give the cardiac rehab nurses  or sports scientist a ring.They provided an excellent 12 week rehab programme after my heart attack and work closely with the cardiologists. It would be good to speak to other runners who have heart problems and hear what advice they have been given concerning mileage and duration.

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Aliveandrunning Janathon January 12

Day 12. A nice helping of sunshine this morning so why did I leave going out for a run until it had clouded over and the light was grey? It was cold as well; Cambridgeshire is very flat and possesses the least amount of trees of (?) all the English counties. So when the winds whoosh off the flat fields you certainly know it. It’s hardly Tornado Alley but the winds can be cutting to a sensitive soul like myself. So, as I prance like a prawn down the road, with open fields on one side, the cruel wind delights in buffeting me and chilling my spindly legs, clad only in manly Ron Hill tights. Any grey, dull drab weather seems to drain the life out of me. On the other hand, the sun immediately makes me feel good and motivated. I’m probably a mild SAD case. I’ve thought about getting a light lamp and never actually got around to it. Perhaps I should get around to it. I’ll wait for the next sunny day and sort it out but then I’ll feel better and won’t need one. And so I go round in circles! Probably easiest to move to California.

It’s a great shame that many people never take up running.They perhaps don’t see themselves as runners or  they may  refuse to acknowledge the benefits to their health and mental well being that running and other forms of exercise can bring. Even loss of energy and vitality may be accommodated without challenge. So many people beyond 50 want to rush into an older age and embrace poor dietary regimes and minimal physical activity. And so many of these will experience loneliness, isolation and a sense of physical decline. I know a number of people who are running into their 70’s and 80’s. They may be runners of long experience but interestingly I know many men and woman who have come late to running in their 50’s and 60’s and taken it up very successfully (and socially).Two of my running pals are approaching their mid 60’s and only took it up 1-2 years ago. Shockingly, they can both out run me (at the moment). If this state of affairs continues, they’ll be ex pals and I’ll be looking around for some slower mates.