April 28, 2008 at 11:10 pm · Filed under Equipment, Gadgets
I’m supposed to be off work at the moment on study leave but it may as well be called gardening leave as I’m spending all my time on the allotment. Today I thought I’d make my non-studying day a little bit more productive by running to the plot and I’m glad I did as it brought me and the sportband just that little bit closer.
As usual I left the house with both wrists laden with super sporty gadgets but the garmin was playing me about big time. I was walking down the street exceedingly slowly but it was still taking an age sighting satellites. As I passed WHSmith I got bored and nipped in to see if they had anymore veg growing gazettes that I hadn’t yet read.
They hadn’t.
I went back out and the flippin garmin started back from scratch scanning the skies. A couple of minutes later, after numerous elderly folk had stood on the backs of my heels I decided it was time to start running - the gps would just have to run along behind me.
500m later the garmin beeped at me and asked if I was actually inside! I switched it off - power to the people! I was only running 2k so I couldn’t afford 10 mins at the start just to capture data, I could have walked it in that time.
No such nonsense from Nike+ Sportband. Just switch on, walk, press start - RUN.
My new discovery, the bit that makes me almost love the sportband, is all down to Buckeye. The training log over there on the righthand sidebar is driven by buckeyeoutdoor and if you have a blog you owe it to yourself to register and get yourself a widget - just look how cool it is! They’ve set up a Nike+ challenge and if you join that and then enter your Nike+ username in your profile, all your runs get automatically uploaded. In this day and age where I seem to be uploading my stats to about a million trillion different online logs, that sort of convenience is just impossible to resist.
Popularity: 20% [?]
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Tags: allotment, buckeyeoutdoors, Forerunner, Garmin, GPS, Nike, Nike+ Sportband
April 11, 2008 at 9:53 pm · Filed under Commuting, Running
Well you all creeped me out with your comments to my last post, how am supposed to run along the canal without fear of being shot by some misplaced American gunslinger or tumbling into floaters of dubious origin? I’d planned another running commute yesterday and even went as far as packing my running clobber and endured the horrendous public transport ordeal, only to find at the end of the day that I had forgotten the Enell contraption, otherwise known as the shoulder boulder holder. No running without that I’m afraid.
Of course you know me well enough by now - I love this running malarky so much there’s no holding me back. I’d even sacrifice a friday evening of partying (for partying, read evening watching Gardeners World) for a trog along a deserted canal and a rendezvous in a terrifying canalside dock. I was deeply absorbed by the thrilling audiobook playing on the iPod when I took this snap. I was in the middle of a WWII bombing raid over West London when two cyclists bore down on me, yelling for me to get out of the way. For the second time in a week I had to throw myself to the ground to avoid a premature bath.
Apart from that little adrenalin rush, the rest of the run was rather peaceful. I left work later than usual because we are in the middle of the most exciting month end of the year if accounts can ever be described in those terms. The canal was deserted apart from some frisky bunnies and a convoy of Herons working their way down the waterway. I wasn’t quick enough to catch the clumsy birds dragging their lanky legs behind them so instead you get a photo of these pretty little plants.
They may be pretty in a prehistoric sense but I have a feeling that they may be specimens of the evil horsetail. I will therefore have to take my body, shoes and clothing through a decontamination zone before I set foot on the allotment. Wouldn’t want to transport it.
Good luck to any nutters plodding round the London marathon on Sunday!
Popularity: 15% [?]
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Tags: allotment, commute
February 12, 2008 at 11:40 pm · Filed under Commuting, Running
My social life has been unusually brisk over the last week or so and while it hasn’t entirely prevented me from running, it has interfered with my blogging. Not to fear though, it looks like I’m going to be starting yet another new job, way back out west again in the public transport no-go zone. This will act swiftly to curtail any mid-week social plans and force me to refocus on important stuff like running and writing about running.
It also means I can pull the bike back out of the shed and I get to throw some brand new running commutes into the mix.
I had an interview at the new place today so I thought I’d trial a new route for the way home. It proved to be a great opportunity to squeeze in the long run I missed at the weekend.
This route bears some resemblance to my first running commutes (the ones where I was brave or foolhardy enough to run along the canal) but now I appear to have taken up residence in the shed, all running commutes have to end at the allotment rather than my flat. That nicely adds about 5k to any route - an absolutely essential addition to any half marathon plan.
The new shoes came out with me again, I know I suggested I was going to save them for the big day but I can’t resist the temptation, and they really do make the long runs so much more appealing.
New route: 14.23km
Time: 1:50:13
Popularity: 23% [?]
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Tags: allotment, commute
February 3, 2008 at 11:14 pm · Filed under Equipment, Running, Shoes
I cut last weeks long run short to attend pressing matters at the allotment so this week I thought I’d reverse my priorities - head to the plot first and then leave the afternoon free for running. After a few hours of digging in the wind I couldn’t decide if I was more in need of back stretching run or a luxurious hot muscle soak waiting at home.
A mere 2k into the run and the muscle soak proposition was a clear winner, I was seriously considering a sharp left manoeuvre even though it might have been hard to try and pass off the short 5k loop as the weeks long run. Fortunately by 2.5k my spirits were soaring, I seemed to have discovered my new shoes. The run started to feel like a gentle jaunt across a sea of fluffy clouds and I was beginning to wonder if I could extend the run.
Don’t you just love new shoe days?
I’ve always run in Asics, I started with 2120’s but after a spate of problems with my ITB, a visit to the physio and a trip to the local specialty shoe shop to have my gait assessed, I moved up to the shockingly expensive Asics Kayano 13 model. I love everything about this shoe, except for the price, so when the Runnersworld Spring Shoe guide came out last week I poured over it in search of an equally comfy shoe at half the price of course it still nedded to be ideal for the overweight over-pronator. I found the ideal shoe but it wasn’t half the price, in fact I think it was a touch more expensive - Asics have brought a new Kayano model, the Asics Gel Kayano 14 and if possible it seems to be an improvement on my existing shoe.
So if I’m not prepared to settle for a cheaper shoe, I need to find a cheaper source for my fancy running shoes. I’ve just ordered from a new online retailer, Distance.co.uk, who were offering the Kayano 14’s at £88.99 with free delivery. Mine arrived the next day, so I’ll definitely be using them again.
Back to the run, I was springing along the track, realising that my mojo had returned. Full of the joys of running, I was back to sweating, puffing and grinning as the usual Richmond Park breeze did it’s best to flatten me.
I was still smiling at 9k so when I noticed the offroad track that has tempted me for the last couple of months, I cut across the road and headed for the hills.
I love it when running feels like this - when pace seems irrelevant and the spirit of adventure grabs you, I wasn’t even worried to dirty my new shoes.
I think I’ll be saving these for the Wilmslow half so I can look forward to a morning of running on clouds.
Distance: 12.36 km
Time: 1:43:19
Popularity: 28% [?]
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Tags: allotment, asics, runnersworld
January 19, 2008 at 4:23 pm · Filed under Rambling
For those folk that enjoyed the tale of the early morning wake up call by the nearly naked runner, here’s a quick update to show you that she still hasn’t learned her lesson.
I was out of the house early this morning as I was volunteering at the running (RPTT). My plan was to do a minor sweep of the neighbourhood collecting food scraps for the allotment compost bins so I rang Shakti to make sure her bin was at the front of the house as I passed. She was still sleeping and I obviously flustered her a bit. As I passed by with the trailer I found her hovering on her doorstep, wrapped in a towel and pushing on her firmly shut door.
At least she had the foresight to take a towel with her this time, you never know, she may take the house key next time. I refused to hand over my spare key til I had taken photographic evidence. It’s a tough life having a friend with a blog - no privacy.
Popularity: 23% [?]
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Tags: allotment, RPTT
December 27, 2007 at 11:21 pm · Filed under Running
Having spent the whole of boxing day sitting in my pyjamas it’s not all that surprising that today I felt the need to both take some exercise and find a replacement for my now threadbare sleeping attire.
So this morning I togged myself up in my classiest luminous yellow running gear, slung the salomon pack on my back, synchronised 2 gps gadgets, plugged in the iPod and set off for a little jaunt along the river in search of M&S. I normally avoid the sales like the plague but I think I got something right today. I was able to jog past the queues of impatient cars honking at each other and once in the shop people just seemed to make way for me. Maybe I dazzled them with my top or perhaps they were running scared of my sweaty, muddy body. Either way I had a clear path to the pyjama section, grabbed my prize and was out in no time.
From the shop I ran on to the allotment where I was greeted by the remnants of a recent massacre. Someone or something had been using my plot as an operating theatre, bright red beads of flesh where sticking to my dibber and not far away from that lay a jolly fresh liver. Not pleasant, but what is worse is that I forgot all about it and at some point during my general pottering around on the plot, I managed to step on it and squish it into the sole of my shoe.
Still, I got over it and after a bit of digging I was off again, turning quite a productive day into a useful 6.8 km training run. That’s 6.8 garmin kilometres, the N82 and sports tracker came out with a very generous 8.2 km estimate. Mind you, I left the sports tracker function running on the phone while I went into the store and although the output appeared to suggest that the N82 was still holding a signal while I was wandering around it must have gone a touch haywire. There is no way I walked 1.4 km in search of those pyjamas!
Popularity: 20% [?]
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Tags: allotment, Garmin, GPS, n82, sports_tracker
December 23, 2007 at 7:36 pm · Filed under Apparel, Equipment, Gadgets, Technical stuff
You should see the floor of my flat - tis littered with no end of exciting possibilities. I could of course take a snap and show you but then you’d see the truth, which involves an awful lot of boxes, wrapping and all those other things that I haven’t quite got round to putting away yet.
There are about 5 more months to go before I get thrown back into exam anxiety so in the meantime I’m needing a new project, that’s in addition to the running project and the allotment project which have ceased to be a new and have now slipped into the realms of “norm”. In times like these my fall back project always seems to be “teach yourself programming”, so here I am with a floor full of teaching manuals. The trouble with programming is the plethora of different languages out there, and then there are different variations of the same language like C, C+, C++ and C#, what is the novice supposed to make of it? As I can’t be bothered to research this too much I’ve opted to dabble with two languages at the same time: Python and VB.Net.
I’ve got python cos its free and sits nicely with computer that I just broke and accidentally forced into being a linux machine and VB.Net because that goes with my windows laptop and because Sporttracks, the best program ever (that I should have written) was developed in dotnet.
I’m sure no one is interested in all that but the other thing fighting for space on my floor is a little package that I’ve been asked to trial. Inside is a running rucsac the Salomon Raid Revo 20 and the latest Nokia N-carnation, the N82. What joy eh? I can see that I’ll have to go out and do a bit of running over the hols to try both of these gadgets out. Is it possible that the N82 could beat the N95 as running gadget par excellence?
The Raid Revo 20 is particularly welcome, I ordered the Inov8 Race Pro 18 ages ago but it seems to have been lost by the Royal Mail. I’ll try the salomon substitute tomorrow on my running commute and report back.
Popularity: 30% [?]
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Tags: allotment, commute, n82, n95, Sporttracks
September 17, 2007 at 1:55 pm · Filed under Equipment, Gadgets, Running, Shoes
I’ve been a bit quiet over the last few weeks but fear not, I have kept up with the running. A lot of visitors have passed through the WW household recently, which tends to make training a chore but visitor no 1, Rach, always offers to be my fitness instructor for the duration of her stay. She shouted me around a full circuit of Richmond Park before her shouts turned into whines of “are we nearly there yet?” She also offered to join me for a night time assault of the park on her next visit, carrying the lights and assorted clobber on her bike. Looking forward to frightnight already.
I finally made my way to the top of an allotment waiting list so now my time will be split between running and digging.
After having spent 2 days trying to make an impact on the overgrown plot and suffering the inevitable gardeners aches and pains as a consequence I’m going to have to be careful to ease those muscles into to peak running fitness for d-day (13 days away now).
All allotment related trivia will be restricted to the new Earthwoman blog.
Third bit of news is running related, in a novelty gadget kind of way. A new purchase arrived today - a pair of Kangoo Jumps! These are running shoes with a difference.
They are built like a pair of ski boots but they have a rather strange spring like contraption on the sole which enables you to bound or bounce down the street kangaroo fashion. They look incredibly fun but on a practical front they also claim to reduce the joint impact of running by 80%. Given the state of my knee, anything that reduces impact is worth some consideration.
Unfortunately, along with all the excitement I seem to have developed a rotten cold so won’t be able to try them out straight away. Hopefully with two weeks to go til GNR I should have enough time to recover but it is going to play havoc with my training. I’d taken this week off to squeeze in a few long runs (and tackle the allotment/and play with my new boots) but now I may have to take it easy and dose up on vitamin C. Charity running carries a heck of a lot of pressure along with it, I’ll have to run regardless and 13 miles with a snotty nose will not be pleasant.
Popularity: 29% [?]
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Tags: allotment, GNR, knee
September 3, 2006 at 7:35 pm · Filed under Rambling, Technical stuff
It’s great knowing that folk are actually interested in reading the random scribblings that make up your blog but I find that it comes with a worrying sense of responsibility. All of a sudden I feel like I am writing for an audience and have to consider what it is “they” want to read. All the more concerning when you know that your most regular audience comprises your mum and your dad.
Anyhow, I am pleased to announce that my dad has now started his very own blog, so I can now check up on him on a regular basis too. So far he is writing about the characters he comes across on his allotment and has already educated me on the reason why Pythagoras avoided Fava beans. Check him out at The Nearly Good Life.
Popularity: 17% [?]
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Tags: allotment
