Heart disease

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Aliveandrunning October 8 2014

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Hoohaah half marathon at Wimpole Estate last Sunday with young Jonathan leading for Cambridge and Coleridge (he eventually came second). I had a place in this race but my family felt running 3 half marathons in relatively quick succession was excessive given my heart disease. They threw research at me and I acquiesced! However, I went over to Wimpole with chum Kerry, watched the race and took a couple of hundred of pics.

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Unfortunately, the lure of this bookshop in the courtyard of Wimpole House resulted in me returning to the finish line late and failing to see the first three runners come in. Just out of camera shot, to the right , in the pool of sunlight, sits an old woman in period dress weaving yarn on a spinning wheel. Very evocative of a lost, bygone culture. This nostalgic cameo was only slightly undermined when, last year, faced by a large crowd of parkrunners blocking the entrance to the court yard, the spinning lady reversed her Mercedes estate more than a tad too fast, scattering said parkrunners in fear of their lives. She wasn’t a happy bunny.

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These are my running pals from Fen Edge running club. Mike and Kerry have only been running for a couple of years but they are during parkrun in 21-22 minutes. Over a longer distance like a half marathon, I can get within 2-3 minutes of them but incredibly they are still improving.

Parkrun went OK the day before but I couldn’t drop under 24 minutes. I collected the signage after the run. This volunteering task is enjoyable and relaxing. It’s very pleasant to walk around the deserted course. I sometimes see Peter who is in his mid 80s, walking the 5k  course but in the reverse direction. Not seen him recently, though. I do hope he’s well.

I went to Addenbrookes Hospital yesterday and felt mildly murderous when I smelt cigarette smoke from someone walking behind us as we approached the entrance. Stupid or what? Of course there’s more stupidity inside the hospital and this time it’s sponsored by the management. Burger King and other fast food outlets in the Food Court. So empowering to facilitate obese people to ignore dietary and health advice and conveniently enable them to gorge on high fat, high carbohydrate and high salt food to their hearts’ content.

We sought advice at the Inquiry Desk.

“How may I help you, my dears?” smiled the volunteer receptionist.

“Firstly, by desisting from addressing us as “my dears”, I replied.”Secondly, by appreciating I have a fear of split infinitives unless their utterance is Star Trek related. Thirdly, I want that person disappearing down the corridor to be arrested and charged with causing  environmental damage by smoking on hospital premises. Are you able to accommodate me?”

Of course there was no response because this little encounter happened in my imagination but it was a close run thing.

 

 

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Aliveandrunning September 28 2014

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I went to Wimpole Estate parkrun yesterday expecting to have social intercourse with normal people, and run with same but I was treated to this! The under dressed chap on the left is doing his 100th parkrun and also fundraising for MIND. I caught up with them at the finishing line and by that time the all terrain buggy was predictably busted. Good running weather; I ran up the short but steep hill instead of walking it; felt fine running. My two arch rivals both got PBs! Very well done. In the absence of mandatory drug testing/steward’s inquiry/ lie detector tests I utterly accept their times. I’m sure there’s a rational explanation for them continuing to run on the spot for 30 minutes after the race and laughing hysterically.

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Here’s me snapped by a discerning photographer and demonstrating the much under rated “running with open mouth”  style. We were requested to wear club vests in recognition of a club runner, aged 46, who died suddenly during a Round Norfolk Relay a short while ago. A very sad occurrence and thankfully very rare.

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Wimpole Hall, a stately house which is the backdrop to the parkrun, has a good second hand bookshop in their stately Courtyard. I picked up (or rather rescued) these iconic Penguin paperback editions which were inexplicably languishing on the 50p tables outside. I am now highly skilled in recognising Penguins from their spines, embedded in rows of non Penguin paperbacks. Do I have them already? Only a crazy person would buy the same books several times over with an eventual intention to redistribute said books to people who appreciate them! The top books were bought at Emmaus, a homeless charity which has a large shop of donated items and is only half a mile away. A good running and reading day!

Lastly, Cambridge junior parkrun this morning went very well. We equalled our 125 record attendance achieved last week. Ms Alive and Running was volunteer coordinator and I was timer. Always fascinating and enjoyable and a lovely coffee with chums afterwards.

 

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Aliveandrunning September 25 2014

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“Oooohhhh! gasped Ms Alive and Running,”Delicious….salmon with Brussels sprouts…and cauliflower and broccoli as well…. all my Sundays have all come at once…thank you so much.” Well, this is my interpretation of what she said but the actual words were very similar (I think).

I went for an hour’s run today, partly along the river Cam, in preparation for another half marathon in 10 day’s time. My arch rivals Mike and Kerry have also decided to run. I can’t catch them over 5k or 10k but over 13 miles I can get nearer to them. I didn’t feel much like running today although after 15 minutes it felt fine. Afterwards I felt a lot better, both physically and mood wise.On the weekend I’ll do parkrun, club training on Tuesday, about 80 minute run on Wednesday, another  parkrun on Saturday and then the half on Sunday. It’s a training hotchpot but that’s me , innit!

I’ve been running for around 33 years. I started running in response to my father’s ill health, in 1981 and, with the exception of the last 3 years, I’ve not belonged to a club or run with anyone else. My father died in 1983 of smoking related heart disease and other contributory factors, aged 62. I thought a non smoking and running lifestyle would inoculate me from ill health and particularly heart disease so I was surprised (British understatement and stiff upper lip example) when I had a heart attack , aged 58 (Thank you God, I’m sure you know what you are doing!) Because I had an overall good level of fitness, I have been able to recover and run at a better level and more consistently than before. Joining Cambridge and Coleridge AC seemed more attractive than hitherto and I must admit that running with this club is very enjoyable. The coaches are hardworking and very supportive of all abilities. We’ve got track and two road sessions to chose from each week and plenty of variation. But….I still have a strong urge to give it all up and run alone. I like the different running challenges but I have a limited capacity to talk about running and a club, of course, will be a hotbed of running related intercourse, verbally speaking. Perhaps I’ll ask one of the coaches about the possibility of introducing silent sessions.

Thank you prime minister David Cameron for revealing that the Queen “purred” when she was informed that our Scottish mates had declined to become independent of England and Wales, requiring exit from the Union. I always associate “purring” with Eartha Kit’s singing style. Dave has been castigated for audibly making this remark to another top person in conversation that was picked up by long range microphones. That’s castigation not castration.

Nice headline for non readers and people who have no interest in real news in yesterday’s Sun newspaper (oxymoron) : HAIRY CORNFLAKE FACES PORRIDGE. This refers to the British DJ Dave Lee Travis  who was convicted of indecent assault this week. His nickname is Hairy Cornflake and porridge is slang for time spent in prison. No wonder it’s the UK’s biggest selling newspaper with such fantastically inventive front pages. Laughably the Guardian ran with some boring guff about Milliband pledging to save the NHS or somethin!

 

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Aliveandrunning September 14 2014

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I have just returned from completing the Grunty Fen half marathon near Ely. Ms Alive and Running insisted that a digital image should capture me, victorious and triumphant, following a heroic 13 mile battle with the fenland road tarmac. I have the beginnings of an enigmatic smile (think Mona Lisa here) and my intelligent, penetrating but benign gaze suggest a complex and superior mind. It doesn’t matter that I have perfected this expression in front of a mirror over dozens of hours. Malcolm Gladwell estimates that to completely master a discipline takes around 10,000 hours of development and practise. Well, Malcolm, I’ve done it in half a day!

How did the race go? Mmmm…  I was 6 minutes slower than last year and came in at 1 hour 53 minutes. The first 10k went OK but I struggled keeping up the pace for the next 10k. I decided to walk at the drink stations and had four walk/drink breaks, more than I planned. I think my training plan was far too casual. Oh well, I’ve got 2 more halves coming up – Wimpole Estate in 3 weeks and St Neots in 9 weeks.

I gave my speedy friend Kerry a lift to Grunty and he repaid the favour by beating me by 5 minutes! To add insult to injury, two club mates chatted throughout the entire 13 miles, running in a very relaxed manner and eventually cruising past me, probably going about 70% of their top speed. Still, I’m waiting for the Grunty Fen photos! I made a big effort to compose my features when I saw the cameras (not that I’m vain or anyfink) so, hopefully, I appear to be running effortlessly. Can the camera lie? I’ll make my mind up when I see the pictures.

I was happier with yesterday’s Cambridge parkrun when I came in well under 24 minutes. I think running less suits my parkrun times but certainly not a a half marathon distance.

Cambridge junior parkrun had 116 runners today (aged 4-14), a record number. Children from 40 schools took part and they all had their pictures taken holding a handwritten sign of the name of their school. In terms of joy and excitement, junior parkrun gives most value for money (figuratively speaking).

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Aliveandrunning September 10 2014

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Thank God (which one?) I was eating this meal when I heard  David Cameron talking, in Scotland, about the upcoming referendum on whether that country should become independent of the UK. Beware! These Tories mess with your mind and one way of dealing with this direct address to the credulous is to offset the unrealness by eating good, healthy, simple food. Look no further than Brussels sprouts and broccoli aided and abetted by chicken in an achari marinade, lemon rice and roast vegetables.

Dave anticipated feeling “broken hearted” if the Scots broke away. He was passionate about the UK remaining intact and apparently a rich vein of raw emotion was evident in his voice. In fact all three party leaders were in Scotland at the same time to support the No vote and they all vied to out do each other on the sincerity/passion/you gotta believe me, I beg you front. This is the same Tory leader who reassured us that the NHS is safe in Conservative hands and demonises benefit recipients. A very skilled liar and emotional manipulator.

Out with the club last night. We did a one kilometre time trial followed by four further one kilometres. I felt a little tired but overall it was OK. I made a new pal and chatted amiably. Hearing his parkrun 5k time, I thought he would be in the top third of our road running group that evening. After the time trial, we formed three separate groups and he did indeed go into the speediest set. Will this go to his head? Will I be snubbed because I was second last in the slowest group? Does he read the Daily Mail and hate non Mail readers. I think not to all three questions. He seemed normal, friendly and grounded. Damn!

Eco project update – I have been in contact with Cambridge MIND and I am meeting with them next week.

Grunty Fen half marathon this coming weekend. I’ll still do Cambridge parkrun the day before but I’m taking it relatively easy this week.

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Aliveandrunning August 28 2014

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This shocking, non life threatening injury was sustained at my local Tesco supermarket. I can’t lay claim to seeing off a gang of thugs who were menacing a hard working but meek and elderly tax payer. I didn’t fight a duel in the carpark to prevent my honour  being besmirched. But I can confirm that one of their trolleys has got a mean attitude. I usually take one of the smaller, shallow trolleys which stack together and should pull out easily. Sometimes the metal panel which swivels to allow them to stack gets stuck. Through experience and the application of hard won technical wisdom, I have learnt that a short, sharp knock will free the swivelling panel and allow me to wheel the trolley away. Not sure why but this expected outcome didn’t take place. Instead I thumped it too hard and the panel flipped over and hit me on the bridge of the nose. Blood was dribbling down my face and I had to seek first aid at the customer services desk. Following a Code One call over the PA system a first aider appeared, quickly, accompanied by an assistant and, I think, the duty manager. They suggested I move away from the public gaze while they cleaned me up and wanted me to sit down. It was my minimal expectation that a running god like myself would be ushered into a side room with discreet classical music playing and offered strawberries while I reclined on a chaise longue. This didn’t happen. Instead I walked 3 metres and sat on an electric store buggy while the three Tesco people worked on my nose and the queue of people waiting for customer services gawped at me. Still, I got prompt attention despite their lack of recognition that I am a running deity. I wouldn’t be surprised that, had I gashed my nose deeply, they would have publicly stitched me up.

Out running with the club two days ago. We ran the course for the 5K interclub run next week. There weren’t many of us and the course wasn’t familiar to me. I think I was still feeling tired  from running a training 13 miles two days previously. As a result, despite a feeling I was flying like the wind, I did a slow time. It was even slower because I went the wrong way three times. Interestingly, the warm up and warm down exercises were as demanding as the 5k itself (almost). After the session, I drink 500 mls  of water in the car and tonic water with my evening meal on my return.This regime is keeping the cramp at bay.

I cooked a dal this evening. Unfortunately I put in a large spoonful of extra hot chilli powder instead of turmeric and didn’t have yogurt to cool it down. This job was left to the radish, red onion and cucumber salad accompanying it. Still too hot but edible!

Still waiting for Cambridge MIND to contact me regarding my proposal for a gardening ecotherapy project in the field behind my cottage. They said they were interested and I’ll hopefully meet up with them soon.

Inside Health, BBC Radio 4, is well worth catching as a podcast on iTunes. The programme takes a critical, weekly look at health issues and has just completed 3 editions devoted to conflict of interests by drug companies, researchers, the medical world and the public. Very interesting. Forget transparency!

 

 

 

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Aliveandrunning August 24 2014

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Cambridge junior parkrun. Ms Alive and Running addresses the junior runners, parents and volunteers. The weather was unusually lovely and 70 children took part. Everything went very well. This is not a foregone conclusion. Each run requires a great deal of time, effort and organisation. Like the adult parkrun, it happens each week so it’s a sizeable commitment. Luckily there are a regular number of people who consistently volunteer to make it happen but it’s often a close run thing!

Yesterday adult parkrun happened! I came 146th out of 383. My dream is to come in 139th. I pray this is achievable and not just a crazy, self deluding dream. I dropped below 24 minutes but had to put everything into it.

Three weeks to go to the Grunty Fen half marathon. I intended to go for a 10 mile training run this afternoon but after 5 miles I felt good so I ran 3 miles further and did 13 miles in all. Today is 5 years (to the day) since I had my heart attack so it was good to mark it by running a half marathon. I ran from my medieval village to the edge of Cambridge city, which, as we all know, is packed full of brain power and some common sense. The dons try to prevent the proletariat penetrating  the city boundaries too far and usually set up road blocks staffed by 3rd year students. It’s not difficult to get past them. You just throw them a philosophical question like Why Bother? : Why Not? and it precipitates an existential quandary. They stand around thinking intensely and you walk past them Simples!

One of the problems of running a long way is that it increases your appetite.

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After eating this, a yogurt and a very sweet brownie, I ate, a little later, these cream crackers with cheese raw onion  and HP sauce.

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Well, I’ve expended over a 1000 calories running so I should listen to what my body is telling me, shouldn’t I?

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Aliveandrunning August 20 2014

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Victoria plums, grown on an actual Victoria plum tree, near the cottage. How fecund nature is! My tomatoes are doing reasonably well despite having their branches splayed all over the place and mainly on the ground. Apart from drinking enough water to fill an Olympic sized swimming pool, they also need industrial scaffolding to hold them up. Too fecund by half.

Out with the running club last night. I opted to do the fartlek  around Granchester Meadows rather than the 8 x 1 minute with 3 minutes recovery time between each minute running. I’ve done this before off track. It doesn’t sound like much running but I found it demanding. However, out of choice , I usually prefer distance to pure speed work and fartleks combine both. This particular fartlek requires courage and faith. At this time of year we frequently meet a herd of cows blocking our path. Yesterday the coach asked if anyone was fearful of cows. No one admitted to a specific fear so we ran through them. These cows, living in the shadow of the University, are very intelligent and thankfully familiar with idiot humans rushing towards as if they were as insubstantial as vapour. They simply stepped out of the way (on this occasion) rather than scatter in all directions you don’t expect them to go in.

We do plenty of warm up exercises and plenty of stretching exercises post run. This contrasts with me typically forgetting to do warm up or downs after a long run. I do them occasionally but there is no correlation between lack of excercises and injury or cramp. At least on runs up to 10 miles. I had some calf problems at mile 12 during the Edinburgh half marathon a couple of years ago but apart from that, I’ve been injury free. Except when I’ve decided to lift something heavy in the full knowledge that I’m taking a risk. I dare myself to do it and I’m the loser. It’s so difficult being super sensible all of the time.

Adult parkrun on Saturday and junior parkrun on Sunday. I only need to do 9 more adult parkruns and I’ll have completed 200 since I had my heart attack 5 years ago.

 

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Aliveandrunning August 4 2014

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Cambridge Junior parkrun  last Sunday, a 2k run for children between the ages of4-14. This is the start and the girl on the left won it in a time of 7 minutes 36 seconds. A  fantastic run. 87 took part including some young ones running with their parents (who are not included in the numbers.

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These three walked the 2k, explaining they were a caterpillar and couldn’t be hurried.

I was a timer again (one of two). This is fairly straight forward when the numbers running aren’t high and the children aren’t hurling themselves en masse at the finish line. Cambridge adult parkrun (5k) regularly attracts nearly 400 so timing requires much concentration when they come in densely bunched up and overtaking in the finish tunnel before they receive their position tokens. I did it a couple of years ago, in winter, when only 186 ran. The temperature was low and I didn’t have gloves. My hands were numb with cold. Two fingers snapped off. I didn’t stoop to pick them up; I merely carried on recording the times, selfless as ever.

Saturday’s parkrun was OK. I ran 24 minutes dead (if only I had run a second faster, I would have dropped into the 23’s and my self esteem would have survived intact. Note to self: work on losing that highly significant second).

Yesterday, I dropped off my daughter Sophie at Cambridge Station, parked and went running in the City. Or rather I ran up and down Mill Road, the “bohemian” part of Cambridge before heading for the dark interior, sucking in tourists like a black hole. Mill Road is nearly a mile long and has many interesting independent shops. At the end furthest from town, a big, new mosque complex is going to be built on a derelict site. No work started yet.

As described before, it’s curiously satisfying weaving in and out of the crowds in Cambridge. Although I’m not running fast in any sense of the word,  you feel oddly powerful and nimble negotiating the throng.They move so slowly and you have the impression of  occupying a different time frame.  I seemed  to cover a lot of distance because Cambridge is a small city. I ran around 5 miles before returning to the car, leaving many dozens of people in my wake gasping with the excitement at having witnessed a local running god (albeit in low gear).

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Oh happy days! I found fresh Brussels sprouts in Tesco today. Where were they grown? Don’t know. Probably Tasmania and clocking up about 200,000 air miles. But never mind, they were delicious and on a par with raspberries. Yummy.

The Guardian reports today on loss of provision and funding crises experienced by Women’s Refuge Centres. http://bit.ly/UOw4Z3 The ability to blithely cut, or cut out, these type of essential services, in the name of austerity savings demonstrates what a bunch of shits local and national politicians are. If the public gaze is currently far away from domestic violence, then politically it’s worth taking the risk to cut funding along with other important, humanitarian services which have a low public profile. These politicians have a passion. A passion for putting the boot into small groups  of vulnerable people who have negligible voting power.

 

 

 

 

 

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Aliveandrunning July 30 2014

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My supper last night watching the Commonwealth Games. I ate late because it was club training night with Cambridge and Coleridge RC. Alarmingly it did not include broccoli. However, accompanying the basmati rice, chicken curry with cauliflower and courgettes, mixed salad, naan bread with mint sauce and poppadum, I made a Shirazi salad, an Iranian dish  (in the bowl). I needed this after the running. We didn’t go for distance. We simply ran 8 x 1 minute intervals with 3 minute recoveries. So only 8 minutes of hard running in all. It doesn’t sound much but it’s demanding.

Far less than usual attended, possibly on holiday, possibly fearful of the heat and cowering in front of an open refrigerator. Anyway, the cream of the elite were present (yes, I unashamedly include myself in their ranks) and I acquitted myself with distinction (well, second to last in the speed stakes but it’s not really about speed, is it?) On these warm days I drink 500 mls of water as soon as we finish and, with further water later, this seems to keep the cramps away.

I made another new salad today – radish, cucumber and red onion salad with mint and orange blossom dressing. I went to Tesco to buy the ingredients and also for other new recipes I’m trying. Of course, I had to ask for assistance.

“Excuse me, I’m looking for orange blossom water, za’atar and a bottle of Corinthian red wine vinegar”

“Mercy me, sir, we don’t stock those kind of la-de-da things. You must be cooking foreign. May I direct you to Mill Road (a notorious area of Cambridge well known for the louche lifestyle of its inhabitants). I’m sure they eat loads of that kind of stuff. You can pick up some falafel that your kind can’t get enough of at the same time. Why not treat yourself to a box of our Krispy Kreme  doughnuts and tuck in as you drive over.”

So, not the positive response I hoped for. But what do you expect from a chain of supermarkets which appears to have a national policy of displaying plants for sale that are dead or dying as a result of not being watered. This happens so frequently at my local Tesco I believe that the staff must be prohibited from watering or possibly projecting their anger and frustration with customers onto the defenceless plants. Who hears them screaming. They just wither away, poor things. I’ve taken photos to prove it and I may publish them when the world is ready. Tesco, STOP IT!!