Free parking for lycra clad maniacs

October 26, 2006 at 4:44 pm · Filed under Cycling

I’ve been sitting in the pub again this afternoon, supposedly revising for my PhD viva next week but actually reading the Independent. I find the Independent goes better with a couple of pints of premiun ale than a 200 page astrochemistry thesis.

The news of the day is that Richmond council has decided to levy whopping great premiums on the parking permits for those locals who insist on using gas guzzling 4X4’s. Way to go I say - I’m smug because my multiple push bikes still scrape through with a £0 parking charge!

Must say that it tickled me reading the response of the 4×4 brigade who apparently “need” the traction offered by the said vehicle cos they now have small progeny. Not sure I quite get this argument. I know that according to the great Jamie Oliver, Britain’s yoof is an ever expanding group of obese layabouts, but in reality how much can a litter of small children actually weigh? How much horse power is required to shift this heavy little crew around the backstreets of Barnes?

I would hazard a guess that I myself weigh somewhere in the vicinity of 4 under 6’s (maybe 6 who knows?) and I still manage to propel myself by pedal cycle.

Popularity: 7% [?]

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Funghi to be With

October 22, 2006 at 7:37 pm · Filed under Running

It feels like I’m back on form again now, after a very poor start to the month I managed a 24k week which feels great.

I took the forerunner out on a little treat this morning with the aim of finding a new route, I’ve started to feel a bit guilty about recording the same GPS signal day in and day out.

I headed out towards Richmond Park and as I seemed to be filled with adventurous spirit I deserted the roads and took to the deer tracks through the woods. Flippin heck it was hilly! And muddy! Great way to spend a Sunday morning though.

I’ve included the route profile but I won’t bother with the stats - I kept getting way laid by the funghi and must have spent about 10 mins laying in the grass trying to get a steady shot with my camera phone. I must fathom out how to set up the automatic pause feature on the forerunner.

Not sure if I’ll be able to repeat this route again next week as the deer culling season is upon us and I think the park will be closed to pedestrians for 6 weeks - courtesy of the Secretary of State.

As I’m happy with this weeks performance it’s time to resurrect the monthly stats:

Popularity: 6% [?]

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Stormy Weather

October 20, 2006 at 5:28 pm · Filed under Running

Since the Nike 10k I have had to take it really easy with the running. In the last 2 weeks I have only managed 1 run per week. That one has been enough to finish me off til the following weekend.

I’ve been having some physio treatment and it seems to be paying off now. Either that or the £110 blow out on my new shoes did the trick. I’m not completely without pain when I run but at least I’m managing to function at the end.

I’ve been a bit predictable this week and run the same 7k route between Kew and Chiswick Bridge three times. It may be monotonous but at least you get to witness the changing conditions. These two shots were taken from Kew Bridge, 3 days apart and the last one really shows that autumn has arrived and that wet weather is sure to follow.

Popularity: 7% [?]

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New shoes

October 13, 2006 at 9:12 pm · Filed under Equipment, Running, Shoes

New shoes

Originally uploaded by warriorwomen.

Here’s my first attempt at blogging direct from my mobile phone via flickr. It’s also an excuse to show off my new running shoes.

I went to see the physio yesterday about my assorted running injuries and she told me I needed more supportive shoes. My last pair have only done about 200K so that has been an annoying expense. Can’t wait to try them out though, at £110 I really hope they solve my niggling problems. Actually at that price I’d be happy with a little motor.

Popularity: 11% [?]

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Run London Stats

October 10, 2006 at 10:04 pm · Filed under Event, Running

I already mentioned how impressed I was with Nike’s organisation at Sunday’s North vs South 10k run but amazingly things actually improved post race. Within a few hours the main result - announcing a win for the South - was up on the runlondon site. In addition the race time, position and a video of the finish were available.I feel pretty horrified by the video clip actually, as I look like charging rhino, a very exhausted and slow rhino. No wonder I’m so slow, I’m flippin huge, and it’s been a shock to face it. Anyway my overall position was 21087 out of 21973, blimey!.

So for a positive spin, it is clear that I have scope for plenty of improvement. Me and OGB have tentatively agreed to do a 1/2 marathon next year - the Great North Run. I reckon if I could aim for a 2 stone weight loss and keep up the existing running I ought to be considerably faster in 11 months time.

Popularity: 10% [?]

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North vs South Nike Race Report

October 9, 2006 at 5:13 pm · Filed under Event, Running

Despite about 3 months of excuses and general complaining, both OGB and myself managed to get ourselves to the start line of the Nike 10k Runlondon event. I can’t say we were overly happy - we still maintained an air of cynicism which acted as a cover for our fear but we were clearly commited to our chosen form of torture.

I have to say that Nike really did an exceptional job at organising this event. I nicked this photo from their site but isn’t it cool? There were something like 22000 runners seperated into waves and divided according to their allegiance to either South or North London (the division being the Thames). I practically live on the south bank of the Thames so I got to wear an orange vest.

I hadn’t run for a week because of the recent pain I’d been suffering with in my iliac crest but I dosed up on ibuprofen and set my ipod nano to full blast to drown out any mental suffering. (I snuck that new acquisition into my blog pretty subtley don’t you think? After my previous running success with music I felt I absolutely needed to have the musical boost for my run so went out and invested in the nano.) I have yet to try out the Nike + system but then I can’t see the need given that I have the super dooper Garmin forerunner system.

Anyway, if I cut to the chase, I really enjoyed the run. There were so many runners I never seemed to get left behind. There was a little jostling towards the beginning but it was to be expected but the weather was scorching and the spectators and volunteers were great.It was a hillier run than I’m used to and the final stretch was particularly deceiving - I attempted my form of a sprint finish at the foot of a slight incline and so at the end I was threatening to throw up and occupy the handily placed red cross stretcher.

I made it to the finish line but somehow seemed to forget to switch off the garmin.That cost me me nearly 30 mins trying to delete the excess GPS points but it was interesting to see how random my walk was in the 15 mins after the finish. I sort of staggered around wondering if I was ever going to find OGB in the sea of competitors and kicking myself for not participating in the group stretching and warm up. Surprisingly enough my pelvis held up and the pain didn’t increase over the course of the run but my quads managed to get themselves shredded again. I could really have handled a pair of crutches at the finish line but they didn’t offer those.

Click image to enlarge

So what about the results? I messed the timing up by forgetting to stop the timer on the forerunner but fortunately Nike were really organised with the timing. Within two hours of the event they sent me a text message with the official results: 01:12:44.

I was going to be happy with anything under 75 mins but was aiming for 72 mins. At the 5 k mark I was 200 metres ahead of target but from then on in, my pace started dropping and I had to switch my virtual partner off. There seemed to be nothing I could do at this stage to pick up the pace and having the little running man on my garmin gradually gaining on me just filled me with fear.

Just need to sign myself up for another now. Hope Nike provide one soon.

Popularity: 36% [?]

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What a buzz

October 1, 2006 at 1:59 pm · Filed under Running

After last weeks record 6 runs and the weekly total of 26 km I ended up running myself into the ground because of my hip problem. This week I rested up and went stir crazy at home. This morning I just needed to get out and break free - it was fabulous!

I was expecting folk for a sunday roast so I only had time for a short run inbetween putting the pork and the roast potatoes in the oven, so I nipped out for the Chiswick and Barnes Bridge 3.5 km round. I felt so joyful on this run, I felt like a little kid. It was pissing it down which must have something to do with it but also it was the first time I have run with music. I put a few songs on my new phone and initially set off to Shakira’s “Hips Don’t Lie”. What a buzz, I was hopping and skipping and swaying along to my tunes, must have given the rowers a little show.

My hip started playing up after just 1 mile which is a bit concerning given that I’m doing the 10 km race next sunday. Not sure how to play this. I think I will run next wednesday evening and then not again before the race. My number one priority though is to sort out my playlist - I need 70 mins of music to push me across the line. How have I managed to run for so long without music?

Here’s the weekly total for what its worth:

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