Janathon

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Aliveandrunning Janathon January 24

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Day 24. I was very disappointed with  the lack of appreciation evident in the response to yesterday’s blog concerning Brussels sprouts. It reflects a general disdain all too apparent in society for the wondrous green balls. In an attempt to redress the balance I am considering forming a Cambridge Society for the Protection and Promotion of Brussels Sprouts and any potential sponsors or “business angels” may contact me via this blog. In the meanwhile a series of home produced, sprout featuring meals will be exhibited, in these posts, on an occasional basis during its natural season. Here are two images ( one taken with flash, the other without) that demonstrate how Brussels sprouts can transform the humble meal of fish, chips and beans.The plate also contains ye olde mixed salad and a cheese and red onion flat bread. Just the thing to set me up for tomorrow’s parkrun in Walthamstow, East London where we will meet up with two of our children and hopefully some old friends who took up running for the first time in their sixties.

The weather was dreary in Cambridge today and yet again I went for a run just before creating the potential Michelin starred meal above. It was steady and slow. I resisted the temptation to stop and canvass people on their stance towards sprouts. This was easy because I didn’t meet anyone except a dog walker whom I startled despite making noises to warn him I was coming up behind.

I frequently think about doing stretches and dynamic exercises during the day. I think it would help to relax my body and mind if I did it on a regular basis. But I always manage to fail to do it on a consistent basis. I need to find extra focus and concentration to move another new idea forward – developing and enhancing the public perception of the beautiful  brassica, broccoli.

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Aliveandrunning Janathon January 22

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Day 22. What a silly running god am I! I had a terrible cramp in the middle of the night following the reduced recovery sprints with the club. I managed not to take, or consume after running, a banana which was suggested by shazruns and Sam and I didn’t drink adequately when I returned home. As a consequence (apart from the tremendous pain in both legs at 3.30 am) the phlebotomist had great difficulty drawing blood for my annual full blood count today. She commented that I was dehydrated and that “the body wanted to hold onto the blood.” She asked “Did you have a couple of pints to drink this morning? You probably breathed that amount out during the night” “Errr…..no…but I did have a cup of tea.”Searching my memory banks, there may have been a similar problem last year which I completely forgot about.

What have I learned from this sorry state of affairs? 1. Listen to and implement sensible advice. 2. Drink much more water and not just the ambrosia that we gods just love to sup while reclining on Mount Olympus.

I ventured out for a 2 mile run with our dalmatian Rupert. I have never done this in the 9 years he has been with us because I didn’t think he would be able to trot beside me  and run in a straight line. We left at 8 pm ie when it was completely dark and honest folk were off the streets. On the positive side, at times he trotted very nicely and only crossed in front of me once, expecting to cross the road as we usually did, on a normal walk, at that point. On the downside he wanted to stop frequently. I pulled him on but we still stopped on five occasions for him to do a substantial wee (my fault – I should have toileted him before we went out). Plus he pulled for the first mile. My running form was shot to pieces by holding on to the lead and his collar came off. The run took 2 minutes longer than it normally does. Nevertheless, it was 67% successful and I might try it again. However, I won’t be taking him to parkrun anytime soon.

Pictures : Rupert after his run this evening and an elm tree, slowly succumbing to Dutch elm disease in Worts Meadow, Cambridgeshire.

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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!