Matt Gibson | Matt Gets Running

Aches and Pains

I didn’t jog last weekend, but instead went for a nice walk in Leigh Woods with my friend Emmeline. I love running in the woods, but it made a pleasant change having some company and going slow enough to carry the big camera around.

I did get out for a mid-week jog, a 5K down the Portway on Thursday. And it was pretty horrible, to be honest. I was achey and slow and really not up for it. Even though it was only 5K, I felt like I had to walk a couple of times on the way back. Body and mind were just not up for it.

Here’s some hope, though; a report from my friend Jose on his latest run:

Monday saw the only my fourth run of the last eight weeks, and boy, was I creaky. The first couple of miles hurt, no doubt about that, but then… then the muscles and bones and bits of cartilage and lungs and all other associated hanging together bits remembered how it all went and everything fell into place. Those following two and half miles were much, much better. I’m not there yet, I need to run and run and run, but that lovely feeling of being able to run 18 miles in one go will return. Eventually.

My hope, specifically, being that I’ve just not been running often enough nor far enough recently, and that if I get out and stretch my current limits a bit, maybe I’ll work through the aches and pains a bit — break through the creakiness barrier — and start feeling good for more of my running.

I’m going to try to get out for a long, slow run today or tomorrow; it looks like we’ve got pretty good weather lined up for most of the weekend, so I should take advantage of it…

Nice Little 5K

So, I went to Crete for a week, and then took another week off jogging. Still, I hit the road again today, and I’m glad I did. I hadn’t planned on a morning run today, but it was a lovely morning, and I just felt the urge to be out there in the sunshine.

I did a plodding 5K down the towpath on the south of the Avon. Great weather, lovely clouds in the sky — as you can see from this picture that I snapped on the return leg — and despite my recent lack of training, I didn’t feel too bad.

All in all, a good jog. Shame RunKeeper crashed between kilometres 1 and 2, but I was using the Garmin Forerunner as a backup, so I still managed to get a decent log.

Hopefully I can start ramping back up to at least a couple of runs a week now.

Back Out There

Today I woke up tired and with a headache, after a bad night’s sleep. Oddly, though, I still felt the urge to go out for my first jog since the Bristol Half. I’ve been meaning to get back out pounding the streets for a couple of weeks now, but my change in routine — I quit my day job — seemed to hinder that, rather than helping it.

As you might expect, for the first jog in weeks when I was tired and headachy, it didn’t go that well. I wanted to nip up to Clifton Village and get some lunch, so I went up Bridge Valley Road (now fully open again after being closed to traffic, and occasionally even pedestrians, for many months.) This was clearly too much of a challenge for my unhappy body and brain, so after plodding all the way up the hill I was pretty exhausted. I slowed to a walk for a while to recover, then picked up the pace again, then dropped back to a walk.

Screen Shot 2011 10 12 at 14 13 30 I was also a bit annoyed by RunKeeper. Some releases ago, RunKeeper just seems to have stopped being able to keep a good GPS lock. It doesn’t seem to be related to my phone, because (a) I started with the phone that worked fine with RunKeeper for years, and (b) because of a headphone connector problem, I’ve just had my phone replaced by Apple for a new one, and RunKeeper isn’t working properly on the new one, either.

Today, RunKeeper was completely rubbish at tracking me, and by the end of my 5K run, had recorded me doing a random 7.5K track with lots of random spikes out to the sides of my real route, and an average pace of under 3min/km — I wish!

Luckily, my Garmin Forerunner 305 always seems to be beautifully accurate — I guess the GPS hardware is simply better than in the iPhone — so I’ve just been uploading tracks from that to replace the rubbish RunKeeper-recorded ones (here’s today’s). It’s a shame I can’t rely on RunKeeper any more to give me voice prompts (like telling me when to turn around if I’m halfway through a jog down the Portway), though.

Maybe the GPS is better in the iPhone 4S, which I’m hoping to upgrade to at some point soon…

Charity Update

Thank you, everyone who sponsored me for the Bristol Half Marathon. My company were kind enough to match all the donations, too.

So, working it out, with the donations, the matching, the gift aid, and the small fee Just Giving take, I think I raised £272.50 for St. Peter’s Hospice, which is brilliant.

Due to post-half-marathon sore feet, a big long photo walk the following weekend, and being extra-busy in the last few days of my day job, I’ve not actually been running recently. This seems to happen for a while after every half marathon, so I’m not too worried yet.

And on the plus side, having given up the day job to concentrate on learning new stuff (specifically iPhone and Android development) at home for a few months, I should have more time to go running. This should be extra-good over winter, as I’ll have a lot more chance to get out when it’s light. But I’m going to have to work harder on sticking to a schedule without the structure of working days to guide me, I think… We’ll see!

Race Day: Bristol Half Marathon 2011

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Yup! Another day, another medal. I’m getting quite a collection now!

I enjoyed the Bristol Half Marathon on Sunday, despite having had some reservations about my weight and the amount of training I’d been doing. I didn’t think I stood much chance of beating my personal best from the Bath Half.

At least I arrived relaxed and well-prepared for the running. After a couple of half-marathons and 10Ks I’ve got the preparations down quite well now, from pinning my number on to checking the weather forecast before I set out.

The weather was a little too good, as it turned out. The sun was blazing away, and the Portway, which makes up the bulk of the route, is pretty exposed. Once we’d all set off from the Centre, I was glad of the few clouds there were occasionally drifting in front of the sun.

I ran this one on my own — there’s another reason to speed up my running: you have more options for running partners if you have more speeds available than “dead slow”! — so I spent most of the race just enjoying the feeling of running and being part of the general crowd around me.

And people-watching, of course, especially the crazy fancy-dressers. This race didn’t disappoint on that score, with bagpipers piping their way around, a couple of people “wearing” a boat in support of the Marines, a waddle of penguins, several dogs, and Bob the Builder, to name but a few of the sights.

I also got a chance to wave to a few friends — I’d only just set out when Tom snapped me (with a proper old-school film camera, apparently) on my way past, plus I spotted several people coming back down the Portway as I was on my way out, including Jose and other usual suspects.

I kept up a very steady pace all the way around, just plodding along as usual. I felt pretty good up to somewhere around the fourteenth kilometre — that’s the way back into town along Cumberland Road — where my legs started to feel a bit dead, but even that wasn’t so bad.

Trudging around the last bit of town, I was determined just to keep going, mostly because my legs seemed to have got into that fragile momentum which might have been difficult to get back into if I’d slowed down for even a second.

As it turned out, I had just about enough energy to keep going right to the finish line — perked up at the last minute by my friends Emmeline and Arnaud cheering me on — and I came in at an official time of 2:48:15, breaking my previous personal best by just over a minute. Hurrah!

And that — apart from the now-traditional milkshake at Rocotillos (honey and Crunchie bar, thanks for asking) was my Bristol Half Marathon 2011. I guess I can give myself a week off, then start getting back into training. The next long race will be the Bath Half in March, hopefully…

Bristol Half 2011

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Yes, the race pack has arrived 🙂

With two half-marathons under my belt now, I feel fairly confident about this Sunday’s Bristol Half, despite the fact that the belt in question has had to expand by a notch or two in the last few months. A holiday in the Lake District actually saw me lose a couple of pounds last week — clearly I wasn’t drinking enough beer to keep up with the walking — so I’m relaxed and looking forward to the weekend.

Also, yesterday I did 10-ish‑K around Leigh Woods, and I certainly felt like I had some energy left at the end. It was nice to see a fair few other runners obviously practising for the Half — I saw a few people in race tops, plus a few guys in combat fatigues wearing hefty packs, so I guess there’s going to be a services team or two marching round, as usual.

Of course, all this confidence could be completely scuppered on the day itself by a bad night, awful weather or even just a cold, so I’m still going to be crossing my fingers a bit.

And, as usual, asking for a bit of motivation in the form of donations to the charity I’m running for, St. Peter’s Hospice. They’re the official race charity for the Bristol Half Marathon, and a very worthy local cause. I’m collecting donations on my Just Giving page — please give generously!

Thanks! And good luck to anyone else looking forward to the Bristol Half or any other event at the moment!

Looking Back, Looking Forward

It was a lovely day for a jog in Bristol. I was a bit delayed getting started. I normally walk across the top of a lock gate on my walk to the start of the towpath, but this morning the lock gate was open to let a little batch of ships and rowing boats out onto the river. So, I watched that for a while, then snapped this picture from the other side once I’d crossed.

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Then, after a 7K jog down the towpath and around Leigh Woods, I crossed over that lovely suspension bridge, and took a photo looking back on the lock.

This next picture is a scrollable panorama — if you scroll to the middle of it, you’ll just about see the lock gates to the side of the little island-like bit poking out in front of the three large red-brick warehouse buildings.

(The below picture is a scrollable panorama)

I like these backwards-and-forwards pictures. They really give an impression of how far I’ve jogged, and, in this case, how high I climbed.

Talking about this jog with Jose — who passed me going the other way on his much longer long run — prompted me to check my headline RunKeeper stats, which led me to two interesting discoveries.

First, while I moan about having put weight on recently, imagine how much lardier I’d be if I hadn’t burned off 106,953 calories since I started recording my running, in September 2009. 106,953 calories. That’s a lot of latte and cake.

Second, in the last two years, I’ve run 974km. Nine hundred and seventy four kilometres. Which means that, all being well, as long as I get in just 5K more practice between now and the Bristol Half Marathon, completing the race will take me through the 1,000km mark. One million metres of running.

So, while I’ve been feeling a bit sorry for myself recently, I’ve got a lot of jogging done since I started, and that’s something I can be proud of. And there’s still milestones to come. Well, what with me being all European, I guess there are still kilometrestones to come, technically, but you know what I mean…

I’ll try to get out for 5K this week. Then I’ve a week of holiday, where I’ll probably be hill-walking rather than jogging, but I should be back to the normal routine after that. See you soon!

Plodding Along

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Since my last angst-filled posts, I have managed to get out a couple of times, but I’m not back even to twice-a-week running yet.

Still. On the plus side, last Sunday I got out for a 10K run through Leigh Woods, albeit with a bit of a walking break on the steep bits. This weekend I was away visiting friends in Wales, but managed to fit in a 5K hike up a very steep hill, which should have been good for the calories. And tonight I wandered off down the towpath for 5K and back.

I’m afraid I can present no evidence here, as RunKeeper’s site is currently down due to a power outage, so instead here’s a snap of the Suspension Bridge I took on the way back.

Not long to go now to the half marathon, and I’m still feeling rather worried about it. But hey, at least I’ve done a long run now — that 10K’s further than I’ve been for months.

Building Back Up

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After my last somewhat dispiriting post, some good news. I’ve been making an effort to get back into the habit. I’ve not suddenly turned into the kind of jogging ninja I was fantasising about back then (shame, as The Jogging Ninja would be a good name for a blog) but I have at least got out there and got running. Thanks to everyone here and on Twitter for the words of encouragement and advice.

My plan does seem to be working, though it’s not all been that joyful. First of all I convinced myself to get out of the door by going for a tiny 3K jog. That at least got me back on the street, though it actually felt quite tough. Then I tried to make sure I went for at least one run within the next seven days, and got out for a slightly longer run. Though I’m not sure how much longer, because RunKeeper stuffed up, and completely lost its GPS fix about halfway through. Grr. And that run didn’t feel that great, either, and I even slowed to a walk in a couple of places because I didn’t really feel like I had much stamina.

On both of those runs, I felt tired, and quite achey, especially in the left hip.

But, third time’s the charm, and all, and today I got out and the running was much better. I went out thinking I’d do 5K, but was feeling so good halfway through that I pushed on and made it six. It felt like I could easily have done more, but I don’t want to push it too hard and put myself off by being too sore tomorrow. I think this is probably down to getting more sleep and being careful with what I’ve eaten for the last few days — more energy. Also, it being a weekend run rather than midweek probably helped.

Today’s jog was pleasant, I didn’t ache, and it was just what I needed to help me back into the habit. I even passed a whole bunch of construction workers rebuilding bits of Bridge Valley Road, which gave me a useful title for this post 🙂

So, I’m getting back into it, albeit slowly. Going to try to get out for a mid-week 5K on Wednesday to keep up the momentum…

Everybody Needs a Montage

I’ve had my failures. Most of them, with running so far, have been individual screwups. Bad runs, bad shoes, that kind of thing. But at the moment, I’m facing a larger failure. I’ve repeatedly failed to lose weight since I started running, but recently — the last year or so — I’ve been actively putting weight on.

For a few different reasons, I’ve not been running as often. I did nip out for a bit of a jog/walk last weekend, and I’ve cycled to work a few times recently, but it feels like I’ve just, well — lost it a bit.

I guess this happens with every hobby or pasttime, doesn’t it? Sometimes, there’s just a loss of interest, a lack of energy.

The weight and the lack of running, I think, are related. It’s not so much that the lack of running is causing me to put on weight, as the other way around — I’ve put on weight, so I feel less comfortable running. Especially in summer, where you don’t really want to dress up in a nice stomach-disguising outer layer, and it’s not dark, so everyone can see you.

I feel a bit paranoid about running at the moment, to be honest.

And I feel a bit guilty, too. I’m a runner. Not only am I a runner, but I’m also very proud to be a part of the team for a product that helps get people running. So not getting out and running makes me feel pretty shabby, frankly.

But of course, that doesn’t help.

What really brought this home was the email reminder that there’s only about eleven weeks to go to the Bristol Half Marathon. And I think I’m a slower runner right now, not to mention a flabbier runner, than I was when I did it last year, or when I did the Bath Half earlier on this year.

Eleven weeks.

Of course, there’s an image in my head of me suddenly turning my current lax ways around, starting to spring out of bed at 6am, going for an hour-long jog along the Portway, coming back to breakfast on a glassful of carrot juice before cycling to work the long way round, maybe via Clevedon. Then a full day’s work, including nipping out for a couple of hours at a gym instead of having lunch. Finish off my day with a hearty meal of fish and wholegrain rice, then maybe watch a motivational film before my newly-imposed 9pm bedtime.

And repeat without fail for eleven weeks. Yes, well, it’s a mental montage, not a reality. I’ve never had a single day that healthy in my entire life, of course. What I should do, really, is try to turn things around gradually and sensibly, one day at a time, and just deal with the half marathon when it comes along. See how I’m feeling.

But it seems quite hard to even make that small start.

What do you do when you’re in this kind of mood? Any other runners out there who’ve been through this? Any tips for going from putting on the pounds to taking them off? All advice gratefully received…