Stoptober 2012

[The Beast of Bevendean]

Wise, Sweder, very wise. But if anyone could do a brutal hilly etc marathon at a few days notice....

[El Gordo]

Wise, Sweder, very wise. But if anyone could do a brutal hilly etc marathon at a few days notice....

The great Seafront Plodder might be at a loose end that morning....

[Sweder]

At last. It's been, as Messrs Plant and Page will tell you, a long time since I rock and rolled, but finally, last night, at the end of a busy day, as daylight was swallowed by the ink-black night, it arrived: a right rip-snorter of a run.

Makes no sense, this running game. I'd struggled through my fitness workout in the morning, limbs heavy after a weekend's golf and Guinness. Work was a bear, all catch-up panic and much ado about bugger all. I got home later than planned, aware of the fading light and my commitment to bank five miles today.

When I set off into the hills the air had cooled, shadows slipped away to lurk in the shrubs hunched along the trail. Spurred on by the need to beat the on rushing dark I pushed on. To my amazement my legs responded, stretching out to gobble up the soft ground. This couldn't last, but it did, all the way to Blackcap. I paused at the summit, chest heaving, grinning madly at the panting hounds. After barely thirty seconds' rest I started homeward. The sun was long gone, clouds dimmed as the light bled out, flushed faces fading to grey, then blue-black. I really should have slowed down, picked my way carefully over the damp flint and slippery grass, but I felt so ... good.

Eyes set on the trail I ran for home, running blind down the most treacherous trails, legs whipped by nettles and brambles, feet slipping and sliding. By the time I pulled up outside the house I was sweating profusely, heart and lungs pounding in my chest. It's been a long time coming, but this is why I run. Belter.

[Sweder]

A cracking five miler through misty hills rounded off a sequence of thirteen running days out of the last sixteen, taking my tally for October over the 100k mark. No great shakes at just over 30k per week, but a step up on the road to consistency and fitness.

Bonfire is upon us and the weather has adopted a suitably eerie countenance, offering rainforest mizzle as a backdrop to soggy lopes across scraggy, wind blown downland. I love this time of year. Mud-slapped slopes and rain-slick flint combine to send me skidding and sliding into clouds of hill-hugging vapour. EG mentioned Chi Running in a recent missive, of which more from the man himself soon. I pondered the principals - balanced foot-striking, focus on a strong core and posture, being in the moment and running with a purpose in mind, maintaining an upright stance, minimising upper body movement. It's surprising how close this brought me to Chris McDougall's Tamahumara style of running: economy of effort, relaxed demeanour and, again, balance. Scary how often I run without thinking about the science of running. I should work harder at running easier, especially in these tricky conditions.

This afternoon I took my place on the Rookettes bench for the county cup match away to Marle. Marle ladies are a relatively new outfit riding high in their league, bagging ten goals in their previous match. They say difficult pitches are a great leveller, and this Jane's Lane track was a proper pudding, but this was women against girls. The plucky Blues found themselves on the end of a brutal shoeing from a ruthless, if under full-strength, Lewes side. I'd been asked by Aggers to ensure the players kept up the workrate but with the score at 0-7 by half-time I felt some sympathy for the home team. We made a couple of changes but as so often happens the incoming players wanted to prove a point, combining to slot another 7 in part two. Cue a change in class next Sunday as I drop back to the press box and Lewes welcome Tottenham Hotspurs LFC to HQ.

Earlier Lewes Under 18s scored 18 without reply in their own first round cup match at the Pan Siro. With the first XI beating Wingate & Finchley 3-1 yesterday the aggregate weekend scoreline ended up Lewes FC 35 Others 1.

In other news, I've done well since returning from the land of Black Gold. No beer, no bread, lean meat, lots of fruit and veg, big breakfasts and modest lunches, no snacking, sweets or processed food. I've completed a daily thirty-minute work out five days out of the last six. My weight is fairly constant but my body shape and energy levels are changing. Most notably I feel a lot more spritely, on the run and in general. This was week three of twelve, so hopefully there's more to come.

[glaconman]

This is also my favourite time of the year. Such a feast for the senses and a chance to get the head torch out again for when you need to steal a run in the evening.

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

This is good news indeed. I sense some PBs around the corner. Must shuffle off in a mo for my own scheduled hill climb. Sadly not the regularity here as seen in the land of Sweder, but still in reasonable shape, despite the onslaught of breads and wine. And cheese. Lots of cheese. Must ... stop ...

[Sweder]

Full on fog run this morning, four evil, slippery miles in a right pea-souper.
Magnificent.

[Sweder]

More foggy hilliness today. I'm rather enjoying my daily short, sharp shock outings. I'll have to ration the running soon to make way for some longer weekend efforts.

Allow me to share this with you. Devotees of HST and quality animation will be drooling. Sadly I can't embed the video, so you'll have to follow the link. Simply wonderful.
http://vimeo.com/35720685

[Antonio247]

More foggy hilliness today. I'm rather enjoying my daily short, sharp shock outings. I'll have to ration the running soon to make way for some longer weekend efforts.

Allow me to share this with you. Devotees of HST and quality animation will be drooling. Sadly I can't embed the video, so you'll have to follow the link. Simply wonderful.
http://vimeo.com/35720685

Well done, S. You seem to be getting quite fit in those beautiful hills. When you race on flat surfaces, you're going to fly.

Best of luck!

[Sweder]

A smashing five mile Fartlek session this morning. Misty, damp, a chill wind nipping at my heels, perfect conditions. After a day off yesterday I felt full of it, opening up the throttle on the hills to work my lungs and test my legs. I charged the climbs and rode the descents, though at one point I clocked sub 6:30 minute pace on the downhill without pushing it.

Regular running has got me here, along with a few lifestyle choices. I'm sticking to the diet pretty well, snacking (when I have to) on nuts, dried fruit and seeds. I felt the benefits this morning. A few more of these and I'll be ready to head back to Parkrun and Sunday cliff top sessions.

This week I've been editing my TOM report from 2007. That race draws me back every now and then. Reading those painful paragraphs again reminds me that I failed in my quest. I wanted sub 6 hours (the old cut-off time for the race). There's unfinished business in the Cape, though Lord knows when I'll be able to get back there. Australia will drain the purse this year. There's an argument for 2014 as I'll be coming off the back of P2P. I could fold in the Steyning Stinger (early March) as a livener, too. Right now the money's not there, but I feel that's all that's stopping me from taking it on. I will run that bloody race again.

I'll post a link to the revised TOM report here when it's up.

[Sweder]

Another five miler this morning, far less energetic, partly because I tried out a Body Furness session on our cobweb-collecting exercise bike last night. 5 minute warm up at around 60% capacity, 4 x 60 second bursts of full-on intensity with 90 second intervals at 30% and a 5 minute warm-down. It didn't sound like much (in truth I saw it as an easy option amongst the work-outs I have on offer). But those 4 x 60 seconds are intense. Flat out is supposed to be just that, an eyeballs out thrash. I almost melted on the fourth circuit, my quads burned for quite a while afterwards.

My diet continues into week four - eight to go on this current path.
No cereals, bread, beer or spuds; lean meats, high protein/ low carb meals, snacks restricted to nuts and dried fruit and as much fruit & veg as I want. Sugar has also gone (I was taking one unrefined brown sugar cube in coffee). Results so far are mixed. My weight has barely shifted (though weighing myself on the freight scale at work may not be quite what I need). I feel like I've shifted some lard. Perhaps the fat is turning to muscle? Heh heh. Perhaps not, but I do feel better. I have more energy and sleep better, so that's something. My aim was to lose ten kilos in 12 weeks. The sojourn to Ireland was a set-back, but even allowing for that early results are disappointing. I'll plod on and see what happens.

   

Congratulations to Lou, Moylebird (Cam) and Jeanette (three of the 'Running Babes'). This morning they took on and beat the beast that is the Beachy Head marathon, in chilly, windy conditions with plenty of mud and slippery wet grass underfoot. They've raised money for the Martlets, a local charity, in Chris's name, running as 'Team Moyleman'. Wonderful stuff.

[El Gordo]

My diet continues into week four - eight to go on this current path.
No cereals, bread, beer or spuds; lean meats, high protein/ low carb meals, snacks restricted to nuts and dried fruit and as much fruit & veg as I want. Sugar has also gone (I was taking one unrefined brown sugar cube in coffee). Results so far are mixed. My weight has barely shifted (though weighing myself on the freight scale at work may not be quite what I need). I feel like I've shifted some lard. Perhaps the fat is turning to muscle? Heh heh. Perhaps not, but I do feel better. I have more energy and sleep better, so that's something. My aim was to lose ten kilos in 12 weeks. The sojourn to Ireland was a set-back, but even allowing for that early results are disappointing. I'll plod on and see what happens.

Firstly, congrats to the Team Moyleman. Beachy Head sounds like one heck of a tough race, and with the weather changing across Europe over the last few days (we have snow on the rooftops here in Horgen this morning), I can imagine it being quite an ordeal. (And they should be posting some info here about the race and the charity -- I'm sure they would pick up some donations.)

Second, congrats to you too for an impressive burst of sustained running. These regular lopes seem to be getting you back into the groove. Your timing for an assault on Almeria and a spring marathon looks good.

On the weight front, I'm puzzled. It's often been remarked that your running feats and attitude make you a bit of a one-off, and perhaps this singularity extends to your biology and the behaviour of your body. But other options first.

It's pretty hard to argue against the accepted fact that fewer calories mean a drop in weight. So... I can only assume that even though you have cut out a lot of processed and starchy foods, you are over-compensating elsewhere. I'm putting my main bet on the 'snacks of nuts and dried fruit'-- both highly calorific. Nuts and seeds, while healthy in moderation, and a great source of protein, omega 3/6 and essential oils etc, are very high in calories. Usually 150-200 cals per ounce. You only need a couple of handfuls a day to equal 1 or even 2 main meal in terms of calories.

Second culprit is the limitless fruit and veg. Firstly, how you cook veg. Veg roasted in the oven slathered in olive oil and served with just a little coating of grated cheese (say) is thoroughly delicious but won't come in as a low-calorie meal unless the portions are small. Which is the next area to think about. I'm the world's worst for thinking that mega platefuls of veg must be OK. Fact is, a lot of vegetables (and beans) besides potatoes are starchy, and eating a lot of them isn't helpful, particularly if not eaten raw or steamed.

The unconditional healthiness of fruit, likewise, can be a bit of a myth. Filled with natural sugar, and can be quite carby, especially bananas and apples. Fruit juice in large quantities has you absorbing excessive fructose and calories.

It's a painful process that I'm also having to undergo, but portion size is the key thing for me. If I eat 'healthy foods' but still feel bloated after a meal, I know I've done something wrong. Usually that means having too much of the stuff.

Like you, I'm eating far more protein than I might have done in previous times, but obviously many high protein foods are calorific and fatty, so again, quantity is key.

And yes, the freight scale at work probably isn't ideal :-)

[Sweder]

Good insight, and much appreciated. Yes, the nuts/ seeds/ fruit experiment seems to have got out of hand. I placed small bags in the car last week. I drive quite a bit and that's where I usually snack horribly. Apples and nuts now adorn the cab of my truck, but perhaps it's time to quit eating in the hoof entirely. No perhaps about it, it IS time.

Roasts only occur on Sundays, otherwise veg is steamed (never boiled). But there's more to be done. I will up the fish content, drop the breakfast bacon and see how that helps. Even so, I'm eating less (by volume) than usual, have cut sugar and starch AND have upped the activity to a run and/ or a workout every day. I'm aiming to eat more at the start lf the day and shrink lunch and dinner. It's a work in progress I guess. I'll keep making changes until the results start rolling in. Or off. I need some of Antonio's unorthodox slim-fast gastroenteritis ...

I shall away to Argos for some scales forthwith. That's a good place to start.
Also recall your advice moons ago re: when to weigh. I'll try to do so twice a day at around the same time each day, or maybe every other day, to get some more reliable data.

[El Gordo]

Oh yeah, I forgot the other detail -- 2 black bombers as soon as you wake up, plus another after lunch....

Weighing myself is a revered ritual, though even I don't advocate twice a day. Here's what I do:

Once a day, shortly after I get out of bed. After any necessary loo visit, but before breakfast, and before any drink or nibble.

I log my weight in a spreadsheet, natürlich, but that day;s figure isn't the be-all and end-all. Over the week, I have 7 readings. I remove the highest and the lowest, to reduce the risk of a rogue measurement, leaving 5 readings. These are divided by 5 to get the week's average. This is the figure I compare with other weeks.

Each daily reading is also automatically compared in adjacent spreadsheet columns with the previous day, 7 days earlier, 30 days earlier, and with the day the whole campaign started. This allows me to quickly see how much progress (or otherwise) is being made over a period.

I also have 3 different metrics... er, but that's enough for the moment. You get the idea. In fact, I should send you a sample spreadsheet to help you along.

As for scales, avoid the old-fashioned needle-and-dial variety, which aren't accurate enough for me. Get a digital scales, and one that shows you your fat percentage, muscle mass, and all that. These used to be dead expensive but are now becoming pretty standard and relatively cheap. But buy decent scales. I bought some 'bargain' scales from Sainsbury's before I left the UK but I could never get two successive readings to match. So I spent a bit more on a Swiss version, and it's very consistent.

Don't bother weighing yourself before going to bed. Readings are likely to vary greatly, depending on when/what you ate, whether your metabolism is racing post-run, etc. Don't do it.

[Sweder]

In fact, I should send you a sample spreadsheet to help you along.

Most kind ...

I got a new set of scales. It looks very modern. It has nice black painted counterweights.

[marathondan]

As for scales, avoid the old-fashioned needle-and-dial variety, which aren't accurate enough for me. Get a digital scales, and one that shows you your fat percentage, muscle mass, and all that. These used to be dead expensive but are now becoming pretty standard and relatively cheap. But buy decent scales. I bought some 'bargain' scales from Sainsbury's before I left the UK but I could never get two successive readings to match. So I spent a bit more on a Swiss version, and it's very consistent.

Interesting that you mention this, because your data averaging method should in theory smooth out most of the measurement error. The only problem would be if the scales were going more and more out of true over time.

But I can imagine that after a while in Switzerland, you get used to precision.

[marathondan]

Yes, the nuts/ seeds/ fruit experiment seems to have got out of hand. I placed small bags in the car last week.

Yes, eating too many nuts can be a problem for runners. If you're not careful it can lead to Planter's fatty-itis.

[Sweder]

Another decent run. Started out a bit shakily, wrapping up in headband and gloves as the chill winds of November whipped at October's skirts. I felt tired, could easily have stayed home to scarf a breakfast, but needs must.

As often happens with these slow burners I picked things up after half an hour. By the time I faced the last field before home there was more in the tank, so I pinned on another mile. This involved a lap of the field that starts the Downland Ten. The second part of the circuit offers a quarter mile climb, today into the teeth of the wind. My legs screamed at the effort. I smiled. Sam Lambourne would be happy - running hard on tired legs is one of his staple training tips.

My recent DAB purchase has got a faulty earpiece receptacle so I went for the iPlod and a heady mix I like to call Misogynists and Poets. In the blue corner messrs Kilminster, Lee-Roth, Lynnot, Scott and Mixalot. In the red corner Morrison, Muse, Shelly and Byrne. The songs arrived like old friends popping in for a chat, each one bringing a smile, spurring me on. I finished muddy, knackered and happy, 6.15 miles in the bank. Track du jour: Motörhead, Limb From Limb, quite possibly the finest* rock n roll number ever recorded.

A tough week lies ahead. Lionel Ritchie tomorrow, Daniel Craig on Tuesday and CWD Friends For Life from Friday 'till Monday. Prudent therefore to bank 3 x 5 milers in the last 4 days.

On, on.

*this may be up for debate

[El Gordo]

Interesting that you mention this, because your data averaging method should in theory smooth out most of the measurement error. The only problem would be if the scales were going more and more out of true over time.

But I can imagine that after a while in Switzerland, you get used to precision.

No, I meant that if I weighed myself 3 times in quick succession e.g. within the space of a minute or two, I would never get the same result all 3 times. Whereas now I do.

I hope this offers a more *precise* explanation.

[Sweder]

Get a room, nerds