An April Post 3 Years Later

Wow!

Three years since I last posted to this blog......

A lot has happened in three years.

I have managed to lose a lot of weight, I'm now down to 13st 4lbs., had to be done as blood pressure was too high.    Medication & exercise now has it pretty much perfect.  (But the weight just wont go down much further..)

I've gone religious on my running.   It helps greatly with stress in work and its also like mindfulness every day.   However its all short runs, average is 6k but goes from 5k-8k as a max.  I am finding that my body can't take much more than this, back, ITB, knees, its just too sore to go further.

I ran one 12k this year and my plantar was sore for 3 weeks after.  So I'm much happier to be able to keep any kind of distance than no distance at all.  (Averaging just over 30k a week).

I haven't started cycling yet this year due to the awful weather.   But hopefully in the next week or two...


So here's to more running and cycling and, hopefully, some more weight loss.  :)

The Real Fun in Running

Okay, so I haven't posted in quite a while.

Reason - I haven't been running much.  40k in each of August & September last, and 40k in January and that's all folks.....

Why? Not to make excuses (as I start making excuses) but kids, night college (3 nights a week) and a very busy job just don't leave a lot of room (or energy) for running.

So I am now 15st3 (98kg) and not doing much about it.

But....

Last Saturday I took the boys for a run in Dollymount - 6k walk/run in 1.5 hours - certainly slow but thoroughly enjoyable.

And after another 6k (on my own this time, 40min, still slow & a bit of walking) C & myself went for a hard 5.5k run through the dunes this morning.

The run reminded me of what I love about running - the sheer fun of getting out there and running up and down hills - its something we forget as adults, and running with your kids can remind you of just how enjoyable physical exertion for its own sake is.

(Because I dug my marathon shirt out for this run, it also reminded me it'll be 4 years since the marathon this October - yikes, I was in a very different place back then, I continually ask myself will I ever do another one??)


Anyway, gotta make more time for running.......

A pain in the back

'I think it's your Sacroilliac joint'
'My what?'

About a month ago I took the kids for a cycle and spent 2 or 3 hours hoping on and off the bike.   The next day my back was pretty sore and kept getting more sore over the course of a week.

After struggling on for a few weeks (stubbornness allied to cheapness isn't a good combination) I went to the osteopath.   Nothing serious but a modern sedentary lifestyle causing general weakness and stiffness in my back.

So I've pretty much given up training apart from trail run/walks with the boys around St Annes, Howth and Dollymount. Having said that, these runs are just the most fun possible.  We can go from a good pace for half a k to walking for a while or stopping for a chat.   Last night my eldest found a long stick and chased me laughing for a kilometer along the dunes of North Bull Island -as adults we just forget how much fun this kind of stuff is.

And this morning a 3-4k run followed by a walk (to a total of 7k) around Howth.

And the curing of the back? Rest, stretch and exercise, rest, stretch and exercise.

The Giro comes to Town

Today, 11th May 2014, Stage 3 of the 2014 Giro d'Italia finishes in Dublin!!!!

And the best bit of being a bit of a cycling fanboy - the last 10km takes in a good bit of my commute to work!    So now, and for as long as I am cycling, I can dream my way into work each morning believing myself to be a Roche or Kittel (in slow motion tv replay mode, of course).  Sadly though I cant pretend to be Dan....

So this morning I went out and cycled as much of the last 10 km of the route as I could before road closures took my playpen away.

Cycling down the coast road the wind was quite severe into the face and will probably ensure the peloton catches any break if its still out there.    The wind can often change direction during the day (ah, the joy of cycling against the wind on the way to and home from work...).  Rain was soft and although the weather was cool, it wasn't cold enough to cause pinpricks on the face, more an inconvenience for keeping the eyes open and on the road.

Its a pity the weather wont show Belfast to Dublin off to its best, contrary to most indicators maybe God isn't an Irishman.

The road has been re-surfaced for most of the route (an unexpected bonus, as cycling past the ports juggernaut softenend and potholed tarmac every morning was one of the reasons I bought a cyclo cross bike rather than an out and out roadracer) - however its still a bit rough and slippy between St Annes Park (this afternoons hoped for vantage point) and the Wooden Bridge.   I'm hoping this has no effect on the riders today.


The centre of Dublin was already fairly locked down this morning and traffic was very quiet, most people obviously getting the message about potential traffic restrictions - certainly cycling the quiet streets was an unexpected joy.

The kids are also getting into to the spirit of things - I took the 3 eldest into the Irish Cycling Show in Merrion Square yesterday and even though we were there for c2 hours there was no complaining! (No doubt all the cycling to the park is having an effect however the sheer scale of goodie-giving away also had some small impact).


Here's to 10 seconds of live action this afternoon.




 

Feeling Fitter and more Vampire Running

February has been quieter on the running front, but I've added a little walking and even got back on the bike (only once, but its a start).

I've only been out for 6 runs but including the walking am starting to feel fitter.  I'm down a few pounds and even, when taking the boys (mine & my sisters) out to Howth for a hill walk managed to carry my 6 year old back up to the summit, even engaging the other boys in a few races while carrying him!



 Vampire Running

I still prefer running at night, after the kids have gone to bed.     There is something about running on deserted roads after 10 pm listening only to your own footfalls.   It is probably as close to solitude as one can get in the city.   There is also the sense of satisfaction in lying in bed for those extra few minutes the following morning knowing you don't have to feel guilty....

After getting back into the running in January distances are also increasing.   I went out with M, my wife, this evening (for her second ever run - she is trying to get into it & I'm hoping she sticks with it) and did 3k doing a run for 40 seconds followed by a walk for 60 seconds.   I told her the best piece of advice I ever heard when getting into running - you have to persevere for two months until your body learns how to breathe and run at the same time - she says she believes me, but didn't look convinced!

After M headed back in I went for a 6k run making 9 in total; the longest distance in quite a long time...and all in the glorious quiet of the night.

 

January okay so far

I promised myself I'd try to run every day in January.

Is that really a promise - only to try?

Anyway, I failed, what a surprise....

But i'm not too upset.   I'm not really even angry with myself and I have managed to keep the guilt and self-recrimination to a minimum.

I've gotten out semi-consistently during January.  13 days out of 21.

Mainly short 4 to 5 k runs, but I got one 5 mile in and a couple of 6 ks.

I'm already feeling better for the returning fitness.   And I've also done a fair few of the runs late at night, going out at 9 or 10pm.

I love something about the quiet and the dark of late night running.   I love the peace and solitude of running along the Coast Road on my own.   I've never been great at running with others, I like to go slowly and change pace as the mood (or the pain levels) take me.   And running thru darkened, sleeping streets generally suits my mood.

Todays run was different though.   An early morning run with the dog along Howth's cliff walk.   The day was drizzly and not noticeably windy at sea level.   However the conditions were much rougher when I ran along the cliff path (I was glad I didn't have the kids with me!).

5.15km took 45 mins. But there was a lot of walking along the slippier parts of the path.

Looking back at the port

The Bailey Lighthouse

 

Bloody, mucky post run legs

 

Trying to get back to it

Firstly, the excuse....

I have just finished a 3 year project in work...it went live in November and meant 7 day weeks, working thru the night etc. for a couple of months.

And the horrible reality....

I stepped on the scales this evening after a very gluttinous Christmas and weighed 15st8.5lbs.   I am now well over any weight I have been since i took up running.      I am also the unfittest I've been in years, in fact since I started running 4 years ago.

I stopped cycling in August, did very little exercise in September, ran a bit in October, but only went out once in November & once in December!!

So, no more 'I must lose weight', now its moving on to 'I am going to lose weight'.     I've noticed how the lack of fitness has slowed me down when   I bring the kids to the park.

After another heavy carb day(dinner in my sisters house with cakes & nibbles afterwards) I decided to go out for my first run in a month.

I went for 5km (well 4.9 really) down to the Coast Road and back. Lovely run.

It felt good but hip still sore (pretty much always sore actually, ahh, the joys of middle age).