June 27, 2009 at 3:44 pm · Filed under Cycling, Event
As promised earlier, here’s the route map for the London to Brighton 2009 Bike Ride, courtesy of RunSaturday.
I’ve also added the speed splits from Sporttracks just to illustrate how painfully slow the process was. I’ve currently got my log set up to show running and jogging paces but its quite interesting to see that I was walking for at least 7 miles of the ride and barely jogging for another 4 miles.
Go early is my recommendation!
And here’s the GPS elevation, its bound to be slightly inaccurate but it gives you a feel for the route.
You can click on both images to enlarge.
Popularity: 2% [?]
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Tags: bike ride, Cycling, GPS, London to Brighton, runsaturday, Sporttracks
June 22, 2009 at 11:50 pm · Filed under Cycling, Event
Call that a bike ride….?
At one point I thought we were actually going to be walking all the way to Brighton.
Experienced L2B’ers had warned me to start the event early but I’m too lazy to get up for a 6am start. I may have had a leisurely 8:30am kick off but I very quickly regretted it. We just never seemed to get going. We crawled through Tooting and Mitcham and out towards the M25 and 3 hours and 20 mins later the garmin beeped to tell me we had just about escaped London.
3 hours and 20 minutes with a bike and we’d only travelled 19 miles and what’s more we were walking already.
The very first sign of an incline and the whole pedal pumping mass ground to a complete standstill. There was no room to weave in and out so everyone one from lycra clad mountain goats to mums on old shoppers had to dismount and walk.
Given the rather lame nature of the incline it was disheartening to say the least. I’m the worlds slowest runner but yesterday I barely managed to cycle above my half marathon pace.
I think there were something like 4 or 5 hillocks marked on the route map and all were fairly inconsequential except for the final horror - Ditchling Beacon.
The crowds must have thinned at some point because I did manage to get back on the bike and for a few brief miles I actually felt the wind in my face and enjoyed the freedom of a crazy hell for leather descent.
The route, which I’ll illustrate when I’ve got it uploaded, had the potential to be a really enjoyable jaunt into Brighton. Apart from the few little bumps that I’ve already belittled it felt like a 54 mile descent to the sea. There was a heck of a lot of high speed freewheeling to be done but I suppose sharing country lanes with 27,000 other cyclists was never going to feel much better than getting stuck behind a convoy of caravans on a bank holiday exodus from Bridlington.
Ditcling Beacon arrived eventually and the one time I hoped for a blockade of walkers, so I could just excuse myself from the trouble of attempting the ascent, they all appeared to have adopted the “walkers to the left” etiquette. There was a clearish path up and I had to attempt it. I didn’t get too far up though before I lost my rhythm bobbing in and out of bailing bikers and I joined them. It was a tough long walk up so I can only imagine it was a challenging ride.
From this vantage point I could see the sea and Dave said he could smell the pier. I thought he said, “Can you smell the beer?” and I actually thought I could. It gave me a little burst of joy and I blasted my way down onto the slip road into the town and didn’t rest until I found myself with beer and chips in hand.
Damn fine chips they were too.
The t-shirt can be viewed on the events page.
Popularity: 3% [?]
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Tags: bike ride, charity, Cycling, Event, Garmin, L2B, London to Brighton
May 4, 2009 at 9:00 pm · Filed under Event, Running
Suzan and Carol the two founder members of the Surrey Housewives Set (SHS) have been relentlessly running the Bushy Park 5k time trial over the last 2.5 years and this Saturday they finally reached the 100 runs milestone.
500 kilometres ticked off (each) by the grim determination to get out of bed at the crack of dawn almost every Saturday. Pushing themselves through just about the worst running distance ever invented.
I think I’ve been equally relentless in my avoidance of these painful little runs recently but I dragged the non-runner out of bed this Saturday so we could celebrate the grand achievement from the side lines.
I don’t think I’ve won over a convert to the cause, the whole event was rather a strange spectacle, 450 runners turning up at 8:55 to run around the park and then shoot off again after about 30 minutes of painful sweating. You really could be forgiven for wondering why anyone would do it, from our vantage point at the 4k mark, no one appeared to be enjoying themselves and there were quite a few concerning retching noises from within the pack.
Of course runners, know why they do it and even though I was glad I didn’t pack my running shoes, part of me hankered after that smug post run satisfaction and now I’m half tempted to set the alarm early for the occasional Saturday to come.
After a quick congratulatory pat on the back I felt the swarm of the sweaty crowd and shot off out of the car park.
When the photos came out I wasn’t all that popular with the NR who discovered she’d been dragged from her sleep to attend the strange event and then yanked away just as the champagne and buns made an appearance.
Popularity: 12% [?]
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Tags: BPTT, bushy park, ParkRun, SHS, Surrey Housewives
April 12, 2009 at 7:03 pm · Filed under Equipment, Gadgets
Easter is about chocolate, lots of, and family stuff and as the latter involved a weekend at the in-laws with loads of artificially enhanced kids, it also turns out to be fairly conducive to running.
I haven’t been very successful with my running recently so I was grateful that we were in the flatlands of Lincolnshire and that it was a delightfully drizzly day. Here’s my 10k out and back route along the canal:
I was sent the latest Sony Walkman W Series to test out the other day.
It came bundled with a playlist designed to either inspire or drive me nuts, with the challenge laid down for me to create my own inspirational running ensemble.
The new Walkman is an interesting looking gadget, minimal and stylish in a Dr Spock kind of fashion. It clips apart neatly to sit around your neck with no extraneous wires to get tangled up in your arms or t-shirt.
I’ve been through a fair few headphones and mp3 systems in my time. It started with the iPod nano with assorted headphones - the best being the ubiquitous lime green Sennheiser PMX80 running headphones and then moved on to the chunky, yet delightful, iPhone. The iPhone coincided with loads of tube commuting time so I shifted to the excellent Sennheiser CX500’s, great for private listening on crowded trains but outrageously irritating now I’ve gone back to the running commute - I have to stop every couple of steps to disentangle the cables.
So, now I’ve got my hands on the Sony W Series mp3 Walkman, all my separate headphones are defunct. I have to admit to not having much of a musical ear but to my mind this unit has the best sound quality yet. The integral headphones seem to sit quite deeply into your ear and the sound is excellent. Mind you the playlist had a few dodgy tracks, rather heavy reliance on the synthesiser and some sounded like they were recorded from the bowels of a coke can but I’m sure that was how they were meant to sound. It’s quite fun running to someone elses playlist but I’m looking forward to getting some “quality” music on board to really test them out.
I found them very comfortable, although I did feel like a prize tool running along in them - you can get them in bright pink if you want to look extra special.
I did a randomish fit test around the house this morning and it seems I was the only one who found them comfortable. Admittedly two of my subjects were of the small child variety and the other grown up obviously has a particularly small head with odd ear canals, but it might be worth testing them out before buying if you’ve had problems with ear related stuff before.
They are apparently a doddle to update by simply dragging the songs across to the external drive (USB cable supplied), I’ll try this out next week with my new and hopefully improved playlist.
Here’s my trial list:
1. Simian Mobile Disco - Sleep Deprivation
2. LCD Soundsystem - Get Innocuous
3. Hot Chip - Ready for the Floor
4. Weezer - Buddy Holly
5. TV on the Radio - Golden Age
6. Mylo - Drop the Pressure
7. Prodigy - Out of Space
8. Michael Jackson - Beat It
9. Don’t Punk - Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger
10. Gu’s and Roses - Paradise City
Popularity: 16% [?]
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Tags: commute, gadget, mp3, sennheiser, Sony Walkman W Series, Walkman
April 8, 2009 at 11:13 am · Filed under Shoes
My general lack of running has been noted and rather strangely rewarded by the nice people at fitnessfootwear, who kindly offered me an alternative route to fitness in the form of a pair of Fit Flops.
If you check out the website you’ll find it littered with comments, from happy feet owners, claiming that the fit flop has “changed my life” amongst other such accolades.
My pair sat on the shoe rack for a few weeks, trying to shoulder up to all the unused running shoes, and left my life resolutely unaltered. I took them out this weekend though, and then sat back to wait for the epiphany.
They have micro wobble boards.
I like the sound of that, it sounds so sporty, at least until I sit down again to ponder their purpose.
If you place the flop on a flat surface it wobbles too and fro but as soon as I apply my bulk they flatten out quick smart. Of course that may not be the bulk at work, perhaps my myriad core muscles have kicked in and stabelised the whole show. Maybe, just by standing on their bed of lovely cushioned wobble boards I am saving myself the bother of attending my pilates classes.
Let’s hope so because I can’t really do much more than stand in them. Walking proved to be a rather peculiar battle. I felt like someone had switched the pavement on and I had to run along on my tip toes just to keep up.
I suppose that could be their design, or perhaps they are just too big for me.
I’ll wait a little longer for this epiphany.
Popularity: 15% [?]
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Tags: fit flop
March 30, 2009 at 11:31 pm · Filed under BMF
I have had a long held, yet chronicly resisted urge, to run around a muddy field under the command of some fella wearing army fatigues.
Today I caved in and signed myself up for a trial run of the british Military Fitness experience.
A very weird thing.
It’s like an S&M version of school PE classes but without the pleasure bit.
It started with a dose of ritual humiliation as I was directed towards the beginners bucket of red tabards and told to pick one. Not knowing anything better, I developed my own criteria and selected the first tabard that didn’t have 69 emblazoned across the front. The lucky top was - 48. A nice even, rotund sort of number.
Turned out to be an exceptionally snug little number.
I stood there trying to shield my rather trussed up physique while I watched the others scrabble through the bucket discarding rather more than the 69′er. It didn’t take me too long to realise that the darn things were sized and I’d managed to leverage myself into the smallest one in the pile. Meanwhile the other stick insects were practically drowning in voluminous cotton affairs.
Anyway it was too late to remedy the matter. If I’d tried to peel it off at this early stage my baggy t-shirt would have come with it and quite possibly the whole enell bra contraption. The embarassment would have been too great.
So off I trogged, into the muddy field, to experience, quite possibly, the worst night of my life.
We ran and ran and then dropped to our knees to attempt 80 odd press ups and burpees before running again and whining. It was horrendous and I felt sick but had to run more because the guy in the combats was a rotten mean man. Well, he probably wasn’t really rotten and mean but I did feel very sick and I am still not entirely sure whether I liked it or not. But it was an exceptionally tough work out and the other folk were jolly friendly and I seem to have signed on the dotted line and committed myself to unlimited monthly classes……
More military anxiety to follow then.
Popularity: 26% [?]
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Tags: BMF, British Military Fitness, knee
March 11, 2009 at 8:52 pm · Filed under Commuting, Running
The new accessible job arrived and sucked away all my handy exercise avoidance excuses…..time to resurrect the running commute.
My first attempt was an unwelcome struggle, my head was in a seriously moany place and my feet were doing that teenage scuffing thing. I made it past two commons lurching in a stop go fashion and finally quit at Somerfield in order to replenish the Stella supplies.
Today’s run was a bit more exciting, I’d heard a rumour that the non runner may be catching the 5:18 train. Thereby giving me approximately 25 minutes to hot foot it down the high street and nonchalently drape my sweating being across the bonnet of her car to ensure a lift half the way home.
Needless to say I made it. Amazing what you can pull out of the bag for an easy ride.
I got an iPhone recently which has proved mighty useful for navigating me through some commutimg crises but will unfortunately result in a decline in photo quality for my blog.
I’ve been checking out the promisingly named “50 Awesome iPhone Apps for Runners” blog post, they don’t all have very good reviews on iTunes but I may check a few out. High on my list will be True Weight - 3 months of idleness has not done me any sartorial favours and I need to get back in control.
In the spirit of
1. getting back into the swing of things
2. jumping in at the deep end, and
3. acquiring more t-shirts
I’ve signed myself up for an assortment of events.
First on the list is the London to Brighton bike ride which has been on my wishlist for some time.
Then it’s time for a re-run of the British London 5k which promises to be particularly exciting - at least in terms of the location of it’s post race champagne reception. Stay tuned.
Finally (at least for now), I’ve gone and signed myself up the scary Great North Swim. I’m hoping to be able to finish it without the asthma attack this time, which probably means a little more training…
Popularity: 19% [?]
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Tags: commute, Running, Stella
March 2, 2009 at 11:37 am · Filed under Equipment, Running, Shoes
I think I may have suggested a little while back, in a pub somewhere no doubt, that I would put happiness to one side and actually start running again in March. The arrival of the month also coincided quite nicely with the delivery of a damn fine pair of running shoes, so the pressure was building.
These are the Salomon XA Pro GTXs and are a very desirable pair of trail running/adventure madness style shoes. They require rather beefy terrain so yesterday I bundled the non-runner and the mountain bike into the car and headed off to my favourite off road haunt - Swinley Forest in Bracknell.
The non-runner vowed to stick with me on the bike as I led the way on foot through the undergrowth. With an evil glint in my eye I hit an immediate right turn out of the car park and headed up and across the bracken to the forest proper. It was steep, strewn with stump hazards and ruts and altogether pretty tough going. My lungs were burning and I wanted to quit but the expletives exiting my loved one’s mouth made it all the worthwhile and I kept heading up until I thought she was going to quit on me and head back to the cafe.
Respite from laughter was required so we took a short flat section for a breather before heading off in search of shoe testing swamps and hills.
The shoes are very impressive. They’re extraordinarily light, in fact I suspected the box may have been empty when I picked it off my doorstep, but I still felt very supported by them. They have a good cushioned sole a very simple and effective lace system. I really like them a lot actually and as I’ve they’ve got a gore tex lining, my feet stayed dry even after a bit of light puddle action.
They are fortunately very grippy as well.
I took the lead on one particularly exciting stretch of singletrack before realising that I didn’t really stand much chance of staying ahead of a carreering lunatic on a bike. I upped the pace and started squealing like an out of control rhino on a snowboard. Legs were ticking over at a rare ole pace but my body was still in the lead. I expected my chin to reach the forest floor just moments before the chasing bike nipped at my heels and left me with broad tread marks along my flattened body.
At the first sign of an escape route, I threw myself off to the side, to roll gently in a bank of soft mud, only to spot the non-runner, half way back up the slope, hands clenched tightly over both brakes, bouncing ever so tentatively and non-threateningly downwards on locked wheels.
I muddied my shoes for nothing…..
Popularity: 23% [?]
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Tags: salomon xa pro gtx, Shoes, Swinley Forest
February 26, 2009 at 5:02 pm · Filed under Rambling
I’ve been asked to provide a link to the latest Olympic related scheme launched by British Airways to support emerging British talent. The GreatBritons scheme will look for individuals who demonstrate the values associated with Olympic and Paralympic Games and who strive to be the best that they can be.
There hasn’t been a great deal of talent apparent in this blog of late but I’m sure many of you are still excelling with your sports and may find the scheme of interest.
British Airways is looking for talented people who are ambitious and committed to excelling in their field. Whether their interest lies in fashion, art and design, innovation, sport, community or performing arts, British Airways could help them.
There are 180 flights available to any British Airways destination in the world, to give people the opportunity to follow their dream to the next level.
All they have to do is share a little about themselves and say how they would use this great opportunity to develop their talent. Final winners are decided by public votes, so it is a chance for them to get plenty of exposure too.
Whatever their passion is, it’s easy to take part in this once in a lifetime chance by clicking here to visit the Great Britons website.
Popularity: 21% [?]
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February 1, 2009 at 9:15 pm · Filed under Equipment, Gadgets, Software
Some of you may have noticed that I haven’t run an awful lot of late, in fact if you want to be reasonably precise, I have run only once in the last month, which also happens to equate to once this year. How neat.
If we want to be 100% precise it could be argued that I’ve run a few more times than I’ve let on, for example, I may have attempted the occassional dash to the bus away from work and I sprinted to the train station last night after my blood doning session but all in all the consequences were ugly and should remain hidden from public conciousness.
I feel like I’m taking confession and will have to start with the hail Mary’s soon but in my defence, I do have some excuses.
For one thing, as the last two months of my fairly sparse blog writing will attest, I am far too happy for running. Running appeals to the miserable side of me, it’s the perfect alternative to a pack of Benson and Hedges and bottle of JD. Mind you it also appeals to the exceptionally jolly side of me as well, so maybe that’s not such a good excuse after all.
Secondly, and this one has to be foolproof, I’m working on a ridiculous placement that means I have to travel between 4 and 5 hours every day.
Not a chance that I feel like running after all that nonsense.
Still, there is light at the end of the tunnel. I have secured myself a proper job, midway between happiness and home and I forsee many exciting new routes ahead of me, incorporating the best of London’s seedy commons and the highly rated Wandle trail. Expect updates of the running variety in March.
In the mean time, what better way to spend one’s non-running time, than by analysing data from runs gone by?
RunSaturday is new website stacked full of new and intriguing ways to analyse data held across multiple sites and generated by multiple gadgets. I’ve been able to bring together runs from my Garmin Forerunner 405, Nike+, Nokia Sportstracker along with all my historical runs stored on SportsTracks. I can also bring in runs manually entered onto Fetcheveryone and analyse my stats from the Saturday morning 5k park runs.
All this makes RunSaturday the most comprehensive database of my running shame prowess, which is quite a lot of fun because the site provides loads of ways to share the data across social websites such as facebook and personal blogs.
Here’s a particularly ancient route showing the mammoth run/walk I did along the Capital Ring. If you click on the heart symbol you’ll see a colour coded route indicating the specific heart rate zones during the run. You can see similar images for speed but as I’m a one speed wonder you’ll have to upload your own interval workouts to see rainbows in this feature.
There seem to be loads of new features coming along, so I’d recommend checking it out for yourself. I’ll add more images from the site just as soon I manage another run but don’t hold your breath til March.
Popularity: 32% [?]
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Tags: analysis, BPTT, fetcheveryone, Forerunner, Garmin, Nike, runsaturday, Sporttracks
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