Weekly round up

Thought I ought to do my weekly round up. Been pretty busy with work for the last month really, so I haven't been able to spend much time catching up with writing.

I seem to have got back on the horse with my running. I'm not doing any speedwork as yet, but at least I've actually managed to don my kit and get out there. It's a real stress buster and it's been a joy even just going out for a bit of a bimble.

So, since my last post (the encounter with the driving muppet), this is what I've been up to!

Thursday 22nd
Went down to the track, no chance of me doing an actual session yet, but I did manage over 3 miles in a not too unreasonable time.

Saturday 24th
Organised the North East Fetcheveryone 1 mile challenge at Monkton Stadium. I got down a wee bit early so managed a little bit of a bimble before folks turned up. I didn't actually take part in the race - I was doing the timekeeping, but everyone seemed to have a good run so it musta been a success

Sunday 25th
Had planned on doing around 5 miles with the Jarrow & Hebburn crew, but was running a bit late and had to join them en-route, this meant I had to tag an extra mile to catch up then a mile once we'd finished the run. By the time I'd left them to run back to the car I was bloomin knackered. This was my longest run since the middle of November, so no wonder!

Monday 26th - Super Monday
Nothing to do with running at all as it happens. My sis invited me out to a evening at Newcastle Uni - mostly techie stuff, including a history of Flash (the web animation program), a chat about Linux, and a guy who did a presentation on Haskell programming language. I just about hung on to what the Haskell guy was taking about, for the first 15 mins or so, then I lost the post with a combination of tiredness, insufficient brain function and the distraction of the guy next to me sitting tapping away, Twittering on his i-phone

When she told me the event was to be held at the Beehive, I must admit I did assume that was the name of a pub and was looking forward to a bevvy or two with the presentations, but even without the addition of drinkies it was a canny night. We had to dash off before the talk about OpenPandora which was a bit of a shame, but me and my sis were just too tired to stay any longer.

More info on Super Mondays here

Tuesday 27th
The training session was infact the club's 5k time trial which works on a handicap system - the slowest runners set off first, followed by others of increasing speed, untill the fastest guy goes last. Coach Jim was back in attendance - yay! I wasn't up for that kind off effort yet so we ran the course in the opposite direction then doubled back to meet the runners at the finish. Craig managed a super time (18.59 I think) followed by Peter who just scraped in a sub 20. I was wishing I'd have given it a bash, but I'm not sure I'm up for it yet.

Wednesday 28th
Just about to head off for a nice steady 5 and a bit miler. It's a bit chilly out there tonight but at least it's not blowing a hoolie or lashing down ;)

This will be my lowest mileage month since 2005 (discounting December where I didn't manage a single mile), but at least I'm on the mend, and I hope to be back up to good form for the spring!

Happy running folks

From the inspired, to the insane

I hope I'm not the only one out there, and infact I know that there's at least a few , who found Barack Obama's speech today simply inspiring. It seems like a dark cloud has been lifted from across the pond, and there's a blooming great big thousand kilowatt lightbulb that's been switched on. Let's hope that it's the beginning of something wonderful.

On that bright note I headed down to the club for tonight's session. 6 x 1000m, but I was kinda just bimbling up and down as I'm still officially injured. I managed four of the six at slightly more than a snails pace, with Mick (also injured). At least it's the winter though, so there's no road or track racing to be had, only the cross country, which could be classed as a training session anyways, I mean it's not like actually racing, more like a slog, or stamina event. Anyways, back to the session - it worked out at about 45 mins of running, which still isn't too bad.

Now to the insane....

On my way back from the club I had the misfortune of following some of the worst driving I've seen. I was behind a "blinged up chav-wagon" doing 40mph on a 70mph limit road as the unfortunate muppet driver drifted from one side of the lane to the other whilst attempting to steer and chat on his moblie at the same time. I'm sure I'm not the only one who wishes the cops were there at these moments to dole out some much needed driving advice , having attempted to use all three lanes at a roundabout he opted for the one to my right, and I spotted that his passenger beared more than a striking resemblance to the top Uruk Hai orc guy from the Lord of the Rings. It seems we do have some ethic diversity here afterall. This followed shortly by the "I'm turning right in three miles, so I'd better sit in the right hand lane" lady who was slower than all of the surrounding traffic.

What is it about my trips back home from the club that brings out all the mentalists.

I definitely could do with one of those red l.e.d. scrolling sign things for the van, or maybe just a loudhailer, or perhaps some kind of sixth sense which will let me know what folks are going to do next.

After all of that it's been a quirky day, the world lit up by Barack Obama, and the all of the drivers of the world milling about in their own little bubbles...me included.

All hail the White Van Woman

Happy running folks!

Crocks Inc.

Was up bright and early this morning, no hint of the predicted storm, at least on this side of the country anyways. Nope - it's blues skies and sunshine all the way. This left me with no excuses for not going out for a run. It's pretty cold out there, frosty underfoot, but I got down to Jarrow in time to meet up with my clubmates Alan & Graeme for a slowish bimble.

We decided on the shorter Sunday route, as both Alan and I haven't been on form but even with the slow pace I was really knackered, just unbelievable how much fitness I must have lost.

We headed off from York Avenue up to Mill Lane and over into Hebburn, we met up with Helen en-route, she's injured too - hence the post title...we are indeed a bunch of crocks lol!

Managed to convince the others to cut off a bit of the route so we finished a tad earlier - I could tell Alan was gutted as he was having the run of his life , but seriously, managed to get round with minimal pain from my ankle, and it wasn't wet or blowing a hooligan....result!

Happy running folks!

Where's my mojo hiding?

Have been trying to keep my spirits up, but I think my mojo is spread a bit thin at the moment. In the whole of December and January I've managed a whopping eleven miles of running. Nothing to be sniffed at eh . I'm trying to stay positive, but some days I wake up and my ankle is as dodgy as ever.

Was going to attempt a run tomorrow, then a trip to the pool, but by the looks of things it's going to be pretty miserable out there, it could be worse of course, I could be on the west coast which looks like it's going to take the brunt of the storm. By the time it makes it over the Pennines it'll have lost some momentum, but even so, the forcast still looks bleak.

Will see how cosy my bed is when I wake up lol!

I'll do a round up anyways, I have managed to don my trainers a couple of times at least...

Thursday - Track "session", involving a 2k warm up, then a 3.2k bimble. 10 min mile pace - looking good for the vets XC champs in a couple of weeks hehehe...could come in a whole 10 mins slower than my pb for 5k *chortle*

Tuesday - Hill work.....for the rest of the group and a bimble up and down with Alan for me. Ankle actually felt ok, but I was bloomin' knackered...that'll be the effects of 8 Christmas dinners (not on one day thankfully), and no running for a month and a half. Gone from lean, mean running machine, to 'blimey who's arse is that'

Was feeling pretty low, but the story of hero Sully Sullenberger's amazing courage and skill, really cheered me up. Now that guy deserves some kind of commendation, the more footage and info you see, the more amazing it becomes. What an inspiration!

Will be thinking of him when I attempt to go for my run tomorrow. With any luck I'll be back with a super duper report covering every footfall, route, points of interest and the local shrubbery....if not I'll spare you folks the details of me snuggled up in bed

Keep on smiling!!

Arctic Weather? What Arctic Weather

As per usual the forcasters/presenters/weather media people have worked themselves into a frenzy over a little bit of a sub zero temperature. It's a bit warmer than it was yesterday, up to zero when I set off to work this morning, and much better than yesterday which was a nippy -6, but really, all you have to do is put on a jumper and a coat.

It got me to thinking about the geordie thermometer too, so I did a quick search and here it is - definitely a bit of a giggle

The Geordie Thermometer

50 Degrees. Southerners turn on their heating. Geordies plant their gardens.

40 Degrees. Southerners shiver uncontrollably. Geordies Sunbathe.

30 Degrees. Southern cars will not start. Geordies drive with their windows down

20 Degrees. Southerners wear coats, gloves, and wool hats. Geordies throw a t-shirt on (Girls start wearing mini-skirts)

10 Degrees. Southerners begin to Evacuate. Geordies go swimming in the North Sea.

Zero degrees. Southern landlords turn up the heat. Geordies have the last barbecue before it gets cold.

-10 Degrees. Southerners cease to exist. Geordies throw on a lightweight jacket.

-80 Degrees. Polar bears wonder if it’s worth it. Geordie Boy scouts start wearing long trousers.

-100 Degrees. Santa Claus abandons the North Pole. Geordies put on their long johns.

-173 Degrees. Alcohol freezes. Geordies become frustrated because the pubs are shut.

-297 Degrees. Microbiological life starts to disappear. The cows on Newcastle town moor complain of vets with cold hands.

-460 Degrees. All atomic motion stops. Geordies start to stamp their feet and blow on their hands.

-500 Degrees. Hell freezes over……….Sunderland qualify for Europe.

Of course this isn't a dig at our southern brethren, just an observation that our friends in the North seem to cope better with a bit of snow .

I can remember as a kid, going to school with up to 5ft snow drifts, and gaps where blokes had cleared the bit of path outside their gates. We donned our wellies, thick socks, hats, scarves and 'idiot mittens' - the type that were threaded through the sleeves of your duffle coat . I can't remember any of the other kids ever being dropped off at school in a car. People seemed to walk a lot more, maybe thats why folks were a lot thinner back then.

Me and my sis in our back garden, my dad made the sledge at work,
it weighed so much it was too heavy to pull about lol.

Anyways, enough of my rambling....

My ankle still isn't right, but I have managed a few test bimbles with the Murph (my border collie). They seemed to go ok, though I've only jogged on grass, and I'm a bit reluctant to get onto the pavement at the moment with the 'arctic freeze' and all that. So I'm going to head down to the track tomorrow night and see how I am on there - I can always head back onto the grass (or back into the warm indoors) if it doesn't work out.

I'm hoping for a better February at least, but the vet's XC championships is looking doubtful at the mo.

Hope everyone else is managing to get out there and crack on with the winter training - it's a real good stamina builder for the spring season 10k's

Heya Folks,

A bit about me:

I started running in the summer of '04 to lose weight - I'd become a bit of a bloater to be honest. Too much pizza, curry and chinese as well as an addiction to toast & doughnuts had left my body a wreck - a size 24 & grossly overweight for my height. I decided enough was enough, and with some help from my husband Andy, some new found willpower and a lot of exercise, I've managed to shift almost eight stone - about half my weight.

I'm now competing for Jarrow & Hebburn AC, doing canny in our local races, and I took part in the local veterans track league last year (since I turned 35 and officially became old in athletic terms lol )

Training info/logs & races: here

400 m	1:16	10k	43:50
800 m	2:52	1 mile	6:26
1500 m	5:49	5 miles	36:02
3000 m	12:23	10 miles	1:17:43
5000 m	21:07	13.1 miles	1:42:06

Not the best in the world by any stretch, but not bad either. I'm hoping for a sub 21 minute 5k next year. I've already smashed my 10k, 1 mile pb & 800m pb's, and knocked over 2 mins off my half marathon time at this years GNR.