No-Excuses-Vember

[marathondan]

Time to put thoughts of monkey suits and the like to one side for a while. It’s November, and marathon training needs to start.

Mon 2nd Nov

Faced with a week of 5+ hours travel per day, the only option this week is to get some running into my journey. So this morning I ran down to the station, and then later from Paddington to King’s Cross, with full pack (including laptop), and work shoes tucked under my arm. It felt pretty awkward and unpleasant, posture and gait seemingly all over the place, but it was ultimately satisfying and a good way to open my training account. I repeated the same in the opposite direction (shoes mercifully left at the office this time), a total of somewhere in excess of 8 miles over 4 legs. That’s already exceeded my total for October.

Tues 3rd Nov

The shoulders are sore today, but hopefully I’ll manage the same again tomorrow. By hook or by crook, 3 runs per week is now the target.

Weds 4th Nov

Same again this morning. Again, the gait felt awkward to start with, but soon settled down. Calves and quads felt tight as I pulled uphill out of Paddington, but I think that’s a result of stopping and then restarting (and no stretching, natch).

Then I spectacularly fell over along the Euston Road – fortunately, on a wide and empty stretch of pavement. I managed to stagger wildly for about 5 yards, before rolling onto my side and almost cushioning the impact. I even remembered to put on a reaction of self-anger, palms slapping the paving stones in disgust – you know how we elite athletes get angry with ourselves when we fail to perform – in case anyone was watching. But I don’t think they were.

It’s a nice novelty to be running though London early in the morning, particularly just as the sun is coming up on a crisp autumn day. And the first leg, straight out of bed and out into the dark, isn’t so bad either. Maybe this time round I’ll embrace early morning runs a little more.

[Seafront Plodder]

Not ideal training but needs must. I hope the laptop cushioned your fall Dan. or maybe I don't.

[Sweder]

One hopes in Big Brothers' Golden Age there might be some CCTV footage out there.
I'll keep an eye on Dennis Norden and Harry Hill just in case.

Keep at it mate - it sounds like tough love but I reckon you're on a winner by fitting the runs into your travel - I seem to be carving my days up horribly every time I run on a weekday; I end up working late to catch up.

[Bierzo Baggie]

There's your answer Dan! Run your next marathon in a suit with a bowler hat and laptop... you could even incorporate an occasional Monty Python funny walk. Now that would be something original...

Well done for getting out there ... your dedication puts me to shame.

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

Good work Dan, but i have to ask: 5+ hours travelling each day? How does that come about?

[Sweder]

Good work Dan, but i have to ask: 5+ hours travelling each day? How does that come about?

A lot of the Mad Scientists who work on the Hadron Collider don't necessarily want to live in (or anywhere near) Cern

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

A lot of the Mad Scientists who work on the Hadron Collider don't necessarily want to live in (or anywhere near) Cern

So Dan's a mad scientist? Cool! This group has everything!

[marathondan]

No, I'm not a mad scientist, just a slightly irritable engineer. The 5+ hours travel was for one week only; trawling up to Cambridge on the train (which necessitates going through London). I prefer to get home every night just to give the missus a bit of moral support (e.g. Wednesday night I got to clear up a cot full of baby vomit, when I could have been out for a pleasant meal with colleagues. It's what life's all about...)

I managed full out-and-back runs on Monday and Friday, and a half session on Wednesday, for a total of around 20 miles for the week. Highest weekly mileage since a certain week back in April. It was a probably a bit much, I felt jaded by Friday night, but am (almost) raring to go again this week, hopefully with some more conventional routes.

I'll be glad to ditch that pack, though. Although I'm sure it's nothing compared with a giant chicken costume...

[marathondan]

Motivation hasn’t quite returned yet. I managed a five miler last night, avoiding a zero week with two hours to spare. It was routine, uneventful and comfortable; on the mp3 was episode 5 of AIOTM, an interesting piece of experimental comedy that I would recommend (although it helps that I’ve followed the author’s blog for several years).

I think the trick of motivating myself is to imagine the happy day when I actually want to go out for a run, rather than bemoaning that I still don’t. As numerous ski instructors have said over the years: look down the mountain, and you’ll go down the mountain; look at the tree and you’ll crash into the tree. Positive visualization, and all that.

Or, I could just get my arse out the door.

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

... on the mp3 was episode 5 of AIOTM, an interesting piece of experimental comedy that I would recommend...

Ha! Thanks for that: looks/sounds great. C*ck juggling thunder c**t indeed!

Or, I could just get my arse out the door.

Yep, with you there.

[marathondan]

You must have covered a few km recently traversing your plot? And planting shrubs must be easily as effective as a medicine ball workout?

[marathondan]

A good week, even if it had to be extended by a day to get the miles in.

Tuesday - 3 miles fartlek. Time to mix up the pace a little. The Offspring on the mp3, to try and induce adrenaline in the sprint intervals. Trouble was, with an improvised mp3 holder tucked into my tracksters, I had to repeatedly grope around my crotch area to pause and play the music at the right time. Proper mp3 holder on the Christmas list.

Friday - tempo run over the same route. Job done.

Saturday night, an old friend and I were ambushed by a bottle of whiskey and fell into some sort of time machine. Spent a lot of Sunday feeling less than 100%, and ended up postponing the planned evening easy run. My excuse was that it was better to catch up on some sleep than flog myself unnecessarily. A good thing about Less is More is that there's always a day to spare, so you can always catch up if you need to.

Just back from a lovely 6 miles easy. A really beautiful night, starry and breezy yet mild. The mp3 ran the full gamut of the BBC's podcast stable: 1Xtra Drum 'n' Bass chart, the News Quiz, and then Huw Stephens. Along with Tom Robinson's podcast, this is a great listen which throws up all kinds of obscure music, much of it nicely paced for easy runs. TdJ: Portals, "Onwards", a yearning, psychedelic instrumental that I can't find anywhere on the web (although there are several other bands also called Portals). The running felt smooth and easy, and remarkably I finished more than 4 minutes quicker than the same route this time last year. Got to be good news. Just need some consistency now. But the habit is returning.

[glaconman]

Nice vibe you've got going here Dan. Give alittle, take alittle. Plenty of good sounds and some rewarding running. Keep it going.

[El Gordo]

Saturday night, an old friend and I were ambushed by a bottle of whiskey...... Spent a lot of Sunday feeling less than 100%

I may be wrong, but I suspect a causal relationship.

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

Saturday night, an old friend and I were ambushed by a bottle of whiskey...... Spent a lot of Sunday feeling less than 100%

I may be wrong, but I suspect a causal relationship.

There you go, jumping to conclusions again. Tsk, clearly he felt less than 100% on Sunday because he didn't run on Saturday. Obvious. Don't go blaming the poor old whiskey!

[marathondan]

Just back from 26 furlongs fartlek. Having got back into the groove a little, I thought it was time to see what the hypothetical charity gorilla suit might feel like, if I were to opt for that crazy scheme. So I donned shell pants, hooded fleece, gloves and ski mask, before hitting the street. The BBC reckoned the temperature was around 8C (a lovely night), which I'm guessing is anywhere between 4-10C lower than race day. Once underway, my immediate reaction was how much work was needed to get air in and out through the mask. But like most things, I got used to it after a while. The biggest frustration actually was being unable to spit. I'm an inveterate gobber, and to have that luxury removed took some getting used to as well.

I was keen to avoid passers-by; on the one occasion where a lone female loomed ahead, I crossed the street to avoid the sight of a masked man running up behind her. In full sprint mode I surely looked like I'd just committed a burglary; if I keep this up for a few months I'm sure to get pulled over by the police at some stage.

Unsurprisingly, I was dripping when I got home, but I think that might be to do with the fartlek, which of course isn't your typical long easy run. As I peeled the gear off, I felt similar sensations to post-run on a hot day. I'd consumed half a litre (sorry - 0.014 bushels) of water in half an hour, but maybe even that wasn't enough. But the watch showed less than a minute slower than last week's effort in normal garb, so there is a lot of scope for slowing down to make things easier.

So... Monkey Suit Feasibility Study Phase 1 is complete, and it hasn't been ruled out yet. It will take at least until the end of the year to make a proper decision.

[El Gordo]

..."I'd consumed half a litre (sorry - 0.014 bushels) of water..."

Great effort Dan, an excellent piece of gorilla suit base training. Maybe you could continue to work your way up to the big day by progressively adding hairy limbs and torso sections over a period of weeks. Bound to get the neighbours speculating about the ill-effects of midlife jogging. They'll be on to Julie Welch next....

[marathondan]

It did occur to me that I was even worse-dressed than Gordon Brown. And as my headgear repeatedly skewed around my face, my vision reached similar levels to his as well. Your previous comment about visibility in gorilla suits, resulting in collisions, is noted.

[Sweder]

I advise caution. Wearing ski-masks whilst running anywhere near Das Capital could inspire our trigger-happy guardians at the Met to pop a cap in your tail. Poor old Jean-Charles only wore a baseball cap.

[marathondan]

Yep, only a few weeks ago I was jogging up to the entrance of King's Cross. It's generally swarming with transport police.