Archive for February, 2007
February 27, 2007 at 12:34 am · Filed under Bikes, Commuting, Cycling, Off road
The bike shop rang unexpectedly today to say that the Stumpjumper was fixed already! Seems the shock failure wasn’t so catastrophic after all, but it did somehow swing around to being all my fault again. Ho hum!
I left the shop with a rejuvenated bike and a swanky new high pressure suspension pump. Apart from that I wasn’t in the slightest bit prepared for my cycle ride today. I didn’t have my spd’s, helmet, lights or a map/gps to help me get from Liverpool Street to Mortlake and I didn’t have a clue how to get home.
By 6pm in February it is way too dark to cycle without lights so I’m afraid I had to “share” pavement space with the peds to save myself a 10 mile walk. I decided to hug the river home as the pavements are wider and there was more chance of finding cycle paths. Also, as I live on the river, provided I picked the right direction I was bound to find my flat eventually.
The embankment is absolutely beautiful at this time of the night so I overloaded my phone with night shots. I think the Samsung D900 handles low light conditions particularly well.
Still trying to avoid both pedestrian and vehicular collisions I took the rash option of the Thames trail from Putney to Hammersmith Bridge. Without lights or even a segment of moon the track was pretty darn scary - my first attempt at night riding.
The path was so waterlogged that at one point I worried that I’d managed to ride off the bank and into the Thames.
There were a peculiar amount of runners choosing this spooky stretch for their evening run, given the choice I would definately opt for the bright lights of the embankment.
Got home eventually, absolutely filthy and determined to eat more carrots.
Stumpy went in the shower and blocked my bath up again so I’m not sure where I’m going to get cleaned up today.
I missed my usual date with the treadmill this evening due to all the excitement so I’ll have to try and pick that up tomorrow if I can ignore the ironing for another day.
Popularity: 48% [?]
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Tags: GPS, stumpjumper, thames
February 25, 2007 at 5:01 pm · Filed under Bikes, Cycling
I finally got round to dragging my bike across London to get the shot suspension checked out.
Seems it is indeed shot, the piston has reversed or somesuch and needs to be replaced. I was happy to discover that it is my fault for riding the bike with the suspension locked out. The fox suspension unit comes with 3 settings, one is super bouncy, t’other is designed for more efficient pedaling and the other is lock out for when you don’t want any bounce. Apparently I am only supposed to use this setting for hill climbing, using it for any longer than this will result in catastrophic failure!
I got home and turned my bedroom upside down to find the manual, I am more pleased to discover that the official line on the lock out setting is that it is used for “Hill climbing and road riding” so it aint my fault!
The kind people at Cyclesurgery have taken it off my hands anyway and are agreeing to fix it under warranty so thankfully I will not be forced to have screaming ab dabs in the middle of the store.
Popularity: 29% [?]
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February 25, 2007 at 11:07 am · Filed under Event, Running
I didn’t have the best pre-race prep, unrestrained alcohol and dodgy curries aren’t usually recommended in the books. As expected I was suffering a little bit before I set off for the Bushy Park time trial, the early morning ride through Richmond Park perked me up a little bit though.
The grass doesn’t look too bad in this starting shot but by the time I arrived there, about 270 runners back, it was a quagmire and the gel trabucos were not proving themselves to be exceptional grippers. This is always going to be an occupational hazard for back of the pack runners.
I won’t include a shot of myself in this run, as it is too frightening for words. Without the rain of my BPTT debut, I soon began to overheat and I was running with my rucksac, so the overall look fell a long way from aesthetic. In the final stretch a whole load of folk from the runnersworld forum started shouting “come on warriorwoman” which was a lovely buzz and inspired a sprint finish along with a record topping max heartrate of 184.
Final result: 5km in 36:19 (no PB)
Positon: 264/269
My hip has been playing up again after this run, it started in the iliac crest as usual but has now shifted a little towards my buttock. Quite uncomfortable. I’m a little concerned that it may be triggered by my recent change of shoes, but its concerning if I really am going to be tied down to one style of shoe forever. Imagine the boredom.
Popularity: 16% [?]
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Tags: BPTT, runnersworld
February 22, 2007 at 11:20 pm · Filed under Running
Oh blimey it was a struggle today, as I type my legs are seizing up. During the run my legs felt like lead and the tarmac like sand, I only continued because I thought it must be good for the soul to suffer so greatly. I convinced myself that I would need to be prepared for miles like this if I was ever to reach marathon distances.
Funny thing is, after I loaded the results onto sportTracks I see that my time was actually faster than last week, weird. While I was out running I was convincing myself that the first half is always bad as it’s a relentless uphill struggle but again sportTracks reveals the truth - downhill all the way
.
Final results: 10 km 1:18:29
Popularity: 14% [?]
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Tags: commute, Sporttracks
February 21, 2007 at 11:33 pm · Filed under Running, Shoes, Technique
I’m a bit out of sync with my posting but I wanted to slip in an update for the weekend which was quite active on the running front.
Firstly my new shoes arrived: Asics Kayano X11’s and Asics Gel Trabuco trail shoes. The first pair were simply a direct replacement for my existing Kayano’s - a touch larger so they shouldn’t bruise my toes. My parents were visiting as well so my mum ended up leaving with a fine pair of previously owned running shoes with only 158 km on the clock.
I took my folks to Richmond Park to show them the sights and used the opportunity to get a video of my running gait. Booyaa has stoked my interest in running styles by mentioning in a recent comment, the debate between pose and chi running styles. I thought it would be useful to see what my natural running style is before I consider altering it.
Here is the movie:
My 66 year old mum features in the video, she is only at the back because I absolutely forbade her from overtaking me during filming but the moment the filming finished she whizzed past me in her new trainers.
I think I’m demonstrating a definate heel strike in that clip, which doesn’t bode well for me ever getting any faster, every footstrike is the equivalent of me slamming on the brake. I need a video of an “ok” runner to compare techniques with. Would I be better to try raising the knee or kicking my legs out at the back for example? Any of you bloggers got a video to share?
I’ve managed to find a clip of someone demonstrating the pose running technique:
It looks pretty strange - as though the guy is hopping on one leg and bashing his trailing toe into the tarmac, however I think it also demonstrates most of the essential features of pose:
1) Strike on ball of foot, not heel
2) Land with knee bent
3) Land under Centre of gravity with knee, ankle and shoulder in vertical alignment.
4) Lift ankle under hips
5) High cadence resulting in very brief contact with ground.
Not sure where to go with this now, the pose technique looks too far away from my natural style to be feasible but there must be some simple improvements to be made.
Popularity: 38% [?]
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Tags: asics, knee
February 19, 2007 at 10:18 pm · Filed under Running
Just been to the 24hr gym to get my running fix. My normal machine was broken so I had to use a new and unfamiliar gerbil wheel. It was quite snazzy and offered a few speed training sessions like 400m repeats and mile repeats but I opted for a 5k tempo run as I wasn’t psyched up for fartlek. Flippin machine did my head in as a comfortable pace seemed to be 5.2 km/hr but I normally run at around 8.5 km/hr. I tried picking up the pace but threatened to throw up over the console. I eventually sussed out the problem but it disturbed me so much I quit after a mile.
It reminded me of the recent emails I received from OGB (occassional gym buddy) who was so disillusioned after his run in a new gym that he almost backed out of our planned 10k events. Here’s the latest missive, entitled “The treadmill is trying to kill me……” speaks for itself really:
“So, after last week’s abysmal performance at the gym (5 km in 47 min) I woke up this morning determined to do better…
Got there, feeling ok, got on the treadmill, still ok, turned it on, set the pace, not ok. Could only manage 8 km/hr… not good.
12 minutes later I’m covered in sweat and feel like I’m going to die… have to slow down… walk for a bit… try again… stop again… try again… finally manage 4 km after 35 min…
So, collapsed on the control panel of the treadmill i notice a tiny little sign… ‘the belt will start at 1 mph’.
The fuckers… who has their machines set in miles these days???”
I have to completely agree, it ought to be against the law or summat!
Popularity: 10% [?]
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Tags: OGB
February 15, 2007 at 11:07 pm · Filed under Running
Despite a few resistant sniffles I reckon I am back on form and so today was time to push myself to run home again.
Result: 10 km in 1:18:43
It was an interesting run, typically it was a struggle to start with and at the 2k stage I was patting down all my pockets to check that I had remembered to pack the oyster travelcard. At the half way point though I had a bid grin on my face and the run started picking up. I had started forlornly as my legs felt really heavy and I kept threatening to trip over cracks in the pavement. Looking at photos from the BPTT run at the weekend I’ve noticed that one of the differences between me and the “proper” runners is that my feet never leave the ground. I started focussing on this at the 7k mark and actively changed my stride, forcing myself to raise the knee as I ran. I didn’t consciously alter my pace but the sporttracks image shows a great improvement in the pace of the later k’s.
I chose to run in my old shoes today as they are a half size larger and don’t cause my toes to blacken but by 5k I was noticing all my old niggles returning - ITB and hip pain that hasn’t troubled me since the physio encouraged me to change my shoes. I was quite pleased with this in a perverse way, it at least meant that I hadn’t wasted hard earned cash with the physio. I’ve found a site offering my Asics Kayano X11’s at almost half the price so I’ve ordered a new pair with the extra toe room.
Popularity: 19% [?]
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Tags: asics, BPTT, commute, knee, Sporttracks
February 14, 2007 at 7:43 pm · Filed under Rambling
Just heard a statistic from Thorntons, the watering hole for romantic chocoholics. Apparently in the run up to Valentines day, 1 in 5 gents are buying two identical chocolate treats at each transaction and having different names iced onto each.
That’s giving me anxiety just thinking about it - it’s just going to go so badly wrong.
Popularity: 12% [?]
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February 11, 2007 at 10:46 pm · Filed under Event, Running
Bushy Park Time Trial
Originally uploaded by warriorwomen.
I’m so glad I went along to the Bushy Park Time Trial yesterday morning what a great event. Thanks for everyone’s motivating comments - it really helped.
I was drenched before I got there but at least the soggy weather acted to keep me cool during the run. This is important as there are so many photgraphers around the course you can’t avoid getting your mug shot on the website and this is the first running shot I’ve got where I’m not bright beetroot. My new shoes are absolutely filthy though, I’ve just showered them off but I think all the grit and general park muc has blocked my bath up now.
They seem like a friendly gathering, a nice woman joined me for my final 100 yds or so and helped push me on to the finish (not literally). My official time was 36:05 and it was posted on the website shortly after I arrived home.
I had a rotten headache for most of the afternoon and it even kept me awake during the night. Thats quite unusual for me as I’m not prone to them, but I wonder if I didn’t fuel up enough. I did quite a bit of cycling (15 miles) as well as the run, a veritable duathlon in fact, and didn’t eat very much.
Just been out to use my 24 hr treadmill and did a 3 miler, at least I hope the treadmill is reading miles otherwise I’ve slowed up considerably.
Popularity: 14% [?]
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Tags: BPTT
February 10, 2007 at 12:05 am · Filed under Running
It was a struggle cycling home through the blustery weather this evening and when I finally got in and plonked myself on the sofa I couldn’t help but kick myself for commiting to the two weekend runs. Both of them are in Bushy Park/Teddington, about a 7 mile cycle from my flat and both start around 9am - how am I supposed to fit in my weekend lie in?
I was wondering if I could get away with deleting my last post so that no one need know I was wimping out, but it looks like its already been spotted and there is no going back. This blogging malarky is weird - you write a post and then it feels like you’ve made a promise to your mother or something.
Out of the blue I received an email from fellow Mortlake runner who informs me that there has been some horrendous mistake with the Adirun - it seems there is no 5 mile run this sunday, only an 8 and 10 miler. Great news or what? I see this as my get out clause - I have never run 8 miles and its no time to start setting records while I am still recuperating from my cold. I know I’m being lame but I have packed my rucksac and set my alarm for the time trail tomorrow so its not all bad.
Popularity: 8% [?]
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