Into Lightning

Friday evening and the first real test - a run in cooler, windier weather with the constant threat of rain.  It rained earlier, it's obviously going to rain later, but I managed a dry run - although the homeward leg allowed me to see lightning flashes out over Flitwick, Harlington and Toddington.

But a good enough run.  And the runs are now long enough to benefit from the MP3 player and listening to audiobook chapters or podcasts.  One of the drawbacks about running a business from home is that there's no commuting.

Now I know that commuting is more bane than boon to most people, but it does allow time to read and listen to useful stuff.  Even more so now, with interesting podcast programmes than previously.  And there's never enough time sitting at the desk to listen to a podcast, so the runs are perfect for that.

Improving my legs and cardiovascular system and the brain all in one go.  Can't be bad...

21 miles run - 1058 miles to go.

Posted by Tony Quinlan

Flat, quiet and refreshed

Well, the cold set in full blast a week after the last post. I'd managed a couple of runs in the meantime, but it gradually got a greater and greater grip. Not fully over it yet, but well enough to head back out onto the roads. And I've only missed a couple of short runs and one slightly longer one.

And I've finally found a flatter route to run from the house. Maximum out-and-back distance is 2.8 miles, so I'll have outgrown it before long, but at least it's enough to get my fitness up off the floor without demanding instant hill runs of my legs.

Not bad today. No MP3, no music, just me and the road and a handful of drivers - all of whom were kind enough to give me room.

Some blackberries still along the way - a nice, juicy, sweet boost - and some redcurrants later in the run. Just a couple of bushes wild in a hedge. I can manage when it's all like this.

And the benefit of running in daylight (unlike last week, when I ran the same route in the late evening) is that you get to see the blackberries and pickin's as you go.

16 miles run - 1063 miles to go.
Posted by Tony Quinlan

On the cusp

Sunday morning run in bright sunshine and 22C heat. Sapping, but out and back well. Pulse high before I started - I suspect I've got the edge of a cold, so lots of vitamin C to stave off its full onset!

It may be summer weather today, but we're obviously on the cusp of autumn. The first wave of blackberries has gone, but there are still some available as sweet snacks to passers by in need of refreshment. And there are some still developing on the hill up the A6.

Being a city boy, I'm always learning new things out here in the country. I always associated autumn things with October, but blackberries are late August, the first chestnuts are falling off the trees now (although none are open - I guess even the squirrels won't touch these just yet). The horse chestnut tree on the corner of the High Street and Kiln Lane has started to turn orange and brown, although from the office window across the valley, everywhere else is green.

Still another good run today. And, despite the temptation, I'm only recording flat ground distance here. Every run from home seems to take in substantial amounts of hills (mostly uphill, according to my legs), but I'm avoiding adding that to the distances here. Still got a good 1000 miles to go...

9 miles run - 1070 miles to go.

Posted by Tony Quinlan

The Backhill Wurlitzer Conspiracy

Another run today. Slow and steady. The stiffness and ache in the left knee ease off after a mile or so, and my heart rate today stayed down until the last half mile - so improving already.

There are many great things about living in a Bedfordshire village (and some less great ones, but let's not go there) - like being able to run without pounding pavements and without having to inhale car fumes all the time.

Today, however, I came across a brand new and totally unexpected one - musical accompaniment. Coming back down the Slade from the farm, and puzzling as I always do what made this path so important that at some distant time someone decided it was worth building a brick base to it, I reached the houses at the bottom. The first thing you come to is a large shed/small barn behind a hedge. Nondescript and normally silent.

Except this morning, there was a full-blown wurlitzer tune emanating from it. At least, that's what I took it for, not being an expert in the fairground music genre. Is this some secret gathering of the Fairground Illuminati? a Wurlitzer World Council?

Or perhaps a late Bedfordshire entry into Fairground Idol?

2.5 miles run - 1074 miles to go.

Posted by Tony Quinlan

On the road again

And here we go. Entered into the 2007 Paris Marathon this week. Bib number: 32266

The date is April next year, giving me a full 30 weeks to get properly ready and avoid injury - the traditional trip-up in Quinlan running plans. Both last year and this, I didn't give myself enough time, over-trained early in an attempt to get on some sort of track to a good time - and promptly end up injured and unable to run at all. Last year it was the Achilles, this year I managed to re-trigger the hip problem that stopped me in my tracks back in 1998.

At least this time, the hip problem won't result in six years of doctors' saying "Get used to it, you'll never run again". This time I knew what stretches worked and I'm working them into my daily routine - and the pain dissipates by the day. (Non-hessian office chairs help too - which tells you a lot about exactly where the pain is...)

So. A new, slow, long-term running programme was required. And all the training programmes out there are for 18 weeks or less. They talk about longer being better, but do they actually have longer training programmes out there? No.

But I've eventually found something - a little programme called RunCoach32. And after downloading the trial version from RunCoach :: Your personal trainer I've fired it up and planned a lovely long gentle run in to next April.

I'm a bit concerned that it describes my programme as "UNREALISTIC" - because it doesn't seem to think I'll be able to improve my mile time significantly in the next six months from my current state of plodding-slowly-round-in-unfit mode. Personally, while I don't think I'll quite reach the heights of svelte-athlete-devouring-the-miles-with-smile-on-face, I do think that I'll see a significant improvement. I did last year and I did this year in shorter timeframes. Only the injuries got in the way, caused by ramping too much.

So a nice slow build here we come...

And, in a six month period, a full 1079 miles to run. I could change the name of this blog as a consequence, but let's be honest...

So. First run yesterday - and not bad. Not exactly fit, not exactly easy, but a great start.

2.5 miles run - 1076.5 miles to go.

Posted by Tony Quinlan