Wednesday, 6 June 2012

Twitter motivation

Despite it being Day 5 of Juneathon yesterday, it started out being a VERY lazy day!

We didn't get up until about 9am, before going to pick up a new (read second hand) sofa that we'd bought from ebay.  Aside from a bit of furniture shifting that I did to get the old sofa out, and the new one in, I then proceeded to spend the rest of the day sat on the new sofa...ostensibly trying it out, to make sure it was comfy ;) (it was...looks like new and is lovely!). As it was the last day of the Jubilee celebrations, we watched the parade through London, the amazing crowds of wonderful flag wavers, the displays by the guards and the flypast on TV, but even after that was all finished, I still managed to find more TV to watch.

I knew I had to run, but kept putting it off - I'll go out in an hour, I'll go in a bit, I'll go after the Queen's speech...

By about 6pm, I decided that I fancied a Chinese take-away for dinner...we've not had one for ages, and being a Bank Holiday, though it was just about justifiable. However, I was really starting to struggle with the idea of still going for a run, and was rapidly losing all motivation for it, especially as the weather worsened outside - so I took to twitter, and asked for help:

Can you all convince me that I do actually want to go for a run today?!  
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15h
Oh dear, this evening isn't looking good for a run. I'm still stuck to the sofa & now we're planning a take-away for dinner 
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The response was fantastic, as always and pretty much immediately I had a stream of people encouraging me to run. I've copied my feed from last night so you can see (although had to remove everyone's fab avatars as Blogger can't cope with the formatting). If anyone ever asks "what's the point of twitter?" this is the sort of thing I tell them about....

I'm very pleased to say that even though I devoured a huge but delicious take-away dinner, and despite the weather outside last night being absolutely atrocious, at 10pm (two hours after dinner to let it digest a bit) I did lace up my trainers and get out of the door.

I know I wouldn't have managed it without the encouragement and support from the 
lovely people below, so thank-you all!

Had I gone out earlier in the day, I would have done 8 miles...in the end I did 6, but that's good enough for me, especially as I ended up having a great run, where for the first time in ages, my legs felt strong, I flew round and really enjoyed myself! There's a lesson in all of that somewhere ;)


11h
 consider yourself convinced & motivated :-)
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13h
 you have to, it's what you do
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 I went first thing and it was a fab run in the country before the rain set in. You go though, you are a proper runner, be strong
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8:51 PM - 5 Jun 12 via Twitter for iPhone · Details 
15h
 do it do it now!
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15h
 zip up you're man suit and get on with it. Earn that dinner!
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15h
 run to get the takeaway? The long way round!
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 Go one, get out there, I have just done Intervals after too much lunch. I didn't vom, I call that a . 
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15h
 I am dithering re my run too. Had a nap for an hour after our Street Party. We really SHOULD go. How about 7.30pm?
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15h
 doooooo it, you will feel better once sat on the sofa again.
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15h
 Go for it and the take away will be guilt free!
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15h
 Go out for a run before the takeaway boy arrives!
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15h
 JFDI, The takeaway will taste so much better after exercise 
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Monday, 4 June 2012

Not a day for a marathon

Juneathon - Day 4

Today was the day of the Kent Roadrunner Marathon...the race that I was due to take part in, but decided not to run because it's the not most inspiring course and I wasn't looking forward to 17 laps of it, and because my legs really haven't been right recently and I think they needed a bit of a rest.

I only managed to head out for a brief and early 3 miler this morning as we had a really full day planned which didn't leave much time for running, but it definitely proved that I was right not to run the Roadrunner as my legs were incredibly heavy and I had quite a few aches and pains - there's no way I would have managed 26.2 miles today.  3 miles was good enough for me though, and hopefully tomorrow they'll feel better!

We had a good day though - Francis and I spent the morning and afternoon at Chatham Historic Dockyards (recommend it for a day out if you're in the least bit interested in boats or sailing) and then went to my eldest brother's house in Chartham in Kent for the village's Diamond Jubilee celebrations. It turned into a real family affair, because as well as me, Francis and my brother, there was also my sister in law, her mum, my wonderful niece and nephew (who's in the photo, with his face painted as a tiger although they only had red, white & blue) as well as my mum, and my other brother.

By the end I was waving my flag, really getting into the spirit of things, and thoroughly enjoying spending time with everyone.  I know we all do, but I do love the family.
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Sunday, 3 June 2012

Very British weather for a run on Jubilee day

I'm a Royalist at heart, and today was the day of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee pageant down the River Thames - 1000 boats of all shapes and sizes.  I love the idea of having a pageant as part of the celebrations as it's such an historic way of royalty marking significant events.  Although the weather just about held early on when the rowing boats came through, it soon deteriorated, the heavens opened, and by the time the larger boats were coming past, everyone was drenched - a typical British summer ;) Indeed, it was a very British event throughout, and so no-one seemed too perturbed by the turn in the weather and they all carried on regardless.

The highlight for me was the finale when the barge carrying the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra arrived at Tower Bridge - they performed traditional, Last Night of the Proms songs like Land of Hope & Glory, Rule Britannia and the national anthem in front of the Queen's barge and it was amazing.  The BBC clip is here, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-18316899 where you can also see that the poor choir on top of the barge got ABSOLUTELY drenched - it was the height of British eccentricity and stoicism that they carried on.

Anyway, I was meant to get up early this morning to go for my run, when the weather was calm and dry, but I didn't...I laid in bed for an extra hour and a half and by the time I dragged myself out, it was too late to go for a run.  Inevitably, by the time we'd had lunch and watched the pageant, the rain pouring over London was also pouring over Billericay - I knew I needed to run but the weather was diabolical and I wasn't convinced about heading out into the storm.  However, I was definitely inspired by that choir on the barge...if they could stand in the cold, the wind and the rain for 3 hours and then sing so fantastically, I could certainly get out and get a few miles in!

I ended up with 10 miles on the Garmin for the third day of Juneathon, and despite the stormy weather, strangely enjoyed myself on my run - it went well :)
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Saturday, 2 June 2012

Leaving the beaten track

Juneathon - day 2

Hurray, it's the weekend!! :) Had a pretty chilled day, and was determined to be more cheerful than I was yesterday. To that end, after doing a few chores around the house, I headed out for a run.  I fully expected it to be raining by the time I made it out, but the weather was kind to me and despite it being a bit chilly, it was as lovely as always to be out in the countryside, and I'm very pleased to report that my leg held up, albeit with a few twinges.

I did something today that I never do on my runs - I was following a route that I run all the time, but spotted a footpath sign leading to a grassy track off the road through a kissing gate, and rather than just ignoring it like I usually do, I left the road, and headed off down the footpath.  I was rewarded with a run through woodland, and then into some open park land which was all beautiful.  I ended up running 10.3 miles, and really enjoyed it.  I'll definitely head back into the park again, and try to leave the beaten track a bit more often!
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Friday, 1 June 2012

Day one of Juneathon...again

Juneathon banner

I had really high hopes of Juneathon this year.  Unlike previous attempts, I was determined that this year, June would be a month-long runstreak, but it hasn't started out too well.

Yesterday I went for a 90 minute sports massage, which turned into a bit more of a physio session, to try and sort out my leg which gave me so much pain on Tuesday's run. It was pretty intense, and at times very painful (as I'd expected) but undoubtedly very beneficial - the only negative was that unfortunately I was told to consider resting my leg some more, and not running until Wednesday next week!! Wednesday?!

That would mean having had a whole 7 days off! Not only would that be a dire start to Juneathon, but, more importantly, I really don't think I can afford to be out of training for that long with my 30 miler in just five weeks. Initially, I considered ignoring the advice entirely and running today, but I still had some pain in my leg this morning so decided that it would probably be more sensible to have another rest day, which I've done.

The only exercise I did manage today is walking the mile to and from the train station and home, and from the station to the office and back.  I don't feel it really counts for Juneathon but as I've not be sat on the sofa all day (and I had a particularly horrible day at work) I'm not going to beat myself up about it, and am planning to run tomorrow instead - the first day of the Diamond Jubilee extended bank holiday weekend., and the first day of my Juneathon runstreak success [hopefully]
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