I have loads of blisters on my feet today, at least one per toe, nasty ones, one is a blood blister! I don’t really know what caused them, I went for a run as normal, I was wearing the same clothes and shoes but something caused the skin on my feet to get abused. I might blame the temperature as it was the hottest day so far yesterday but I’m not convinced by that idea, maybe my feet have gone a bit nesh.

Anyway, standard 3.9 miles, covered in 42 minutes. Average speed of 5.6mph. This is also a concern. When I cycled to my parents my dad had just got back from a run and had managed 8 miles in just under an hour. That is the sort of speed I want to be doing if I am going to get anywhere near my target for the Great North Run. So yesterday I tried to push myself to go faster than I have been and all I managed to do is go slower than the last time I ran that distance. Why could I not go any faster? I thought I was pushing!

I could blame my blisters but they didn’t really hurt until the last half a mile. I could blame the heat I suppose but again, I didn’t really feel too wasted by the heat certainly not until the end. With that sort of speed though I would finish a half marathon in about two and a half hours. 30 minutes slower than I managed before I did any training. How wrong is that!

Actually I could blame the fact that I cycled 60 miles on the weekend. Maybe that’s it. Maybe I could do with a day off to recover. Though that doesn’t account for the blisters.

The weekend was spent on two wheels.

After a lazy morning of doing absolutely nothing on Saturday I got my kit together for the afternoon and went out for a ride. It started out as a short 6 miler but I was enjoying my time on the road so I took a diversion and ended up clocking a little over 18 miles. I was out for an hour and a half and felt pretty good. A bit tired, but generally fine.

Saturday’s expedition encouraged me to go further a field. So I set my sights on Telford approximately 20 miles away. Sunday morning at about 10am I departed. I took the back route and headed into Ironbridge. It was hard work but nothing had prepared me for Buildwas Bank. 1.7 miles of increasingly steep road. It nearly was too much for me, I had run out of low gears, I was standing cycling until my legs were on fire so would then sit and pedal for a bit until I the speed was nearly washed off, and then have to stand again. I nearly quit and turned round about half way up but I somehow managed to keep going.

I made it to my parents house after 1 hour and 37 minutes covering 20.44 miles averaging 12.6mph. Two sweet cups of tea and a bacon sandwich later I turned the bike around and headed home. I was now completely bushed and hills that would have been easy before were tortuously steep. The return down Buildwas Bank was something I was looking forward to though.
Getting to the top I accelerated myself up to full pelt before tucking myself into the most aerodynamic shape I could come up with, then hurtled. I chickened out at just under forty miles an hour at 38.2mph. Hanging on at that speed for nearly two miles was surprisingly hard work on my upper body and I had also cricked my neck with the position I had adopted but it was fantastic fun.

I limped home just going as quickly as I could, which was not so fast now, I got overtaken by someone on a racing bike who breezed past me and there was nothing I could do to keep up. Once I got back into town there was this flock of elderly cyclists who were joining the main road I was headed down. I was so thankful when they didn’t go the same way as me because they would have overtaken me with ease. I finally staggered into the house, my legs like jelly and I was so happy to be off the saddle and on the sofa.

The total numbers from the cycle computer.
I covered 40.1 miles in 3 hours and 10 minutes with an overall average speed of 12.6mph hitting a top speed (down the Ironbridge byass) of 38.2mph.

Some things I learned. Smooth A roads are not that smooth when you have 1cm of rubber and no suspension to absorb the bumps. Cycle paths are more trouble than they are worth. Road cyclists wave to other road cyclists. And my saddle is not comfortable.

After a couple of fun test runs of the new bike I decided I needed some kit before I went out again. The most important was the helmet as I did feel a bit exposed without one. Actually I felt quite exposed with one but at least I now looked the part. And then I wanted to look a bit more like a pro so I got some cycle shorts too. Along with the apparel I also got a cycle computer so that I could see what sort of speeds I was doing.

Last night I headed off with a 10 mile circuit planned (computer said it was 10.2 miles). I headed for a route that took me off the main roads as quickly as possible so that I could bomb about on back lanes. The first downhill bit on the Welshpool road I hit my maximum speed of the day at 30.4mph (the cycle computer is ace).

While I was trundling around the back lanes, quietly enjoying the views and getting my breath back I was overtaken by this bloke on another racing bike. He was clearly into road racing, his bike looked expensive and his legs were like tree trunks. A little bit embarrassed that this bloke had breezed past me I gave chase, I knew I wouldn’t catch him but I would keep him in sight for as long as I could. Hurtling down a hill I smacked into a pothole I hadn’t seen and nearly careened off into a church wall, and did an endo as I came to a halt. Lesson learned, look out for potholes.

Total time in the saddle was 44 minutes. I covered 10.2 miles with an average speed of 13.8mph hitting a top speed of 30.4mph.

Early morning run before work today. The wife and I planned this last night, set the alarm clock early and then slept through it. We lay there for a while trying to motivate ourselves to get up and it was touch and go whether we were going to sleep in but with gargantuan effort we got up, warmed up and went for a run.

It was the standard 3.7 miler that we have been doing together for a week now and because we had dallied when we should have been out of bed we had to run pretty quickly.

I have to be honest I pushed her hard today and she was cussing me all the way round the route but it was for the greater good, we only walked for a couple of short periods and in the end managed to break the last personal best by just over 5 minutes.

Two Wheels.

Saturday morning, bright and breezy the wife and I set out for a jog. I had that shin twinge again quite early on and rather than push it I insisted that we turned round. We managed a half hour run though but that was just a prelude to a good day. I have been planning on getting a bike for some time now to aid with the cross training and general fitness, and this Saturday was the day we went shopping.

I haven’t ridden for ages. My last bike was a mountain bike that I wrapped around a pedestrian crossing in the fog more than six years ago. I was commuting to work at the time and I remember one day pounding down a hill at full pelt, really exerting myself and some bloke on a racing bike wafted past me with a friendly “Morning” while not even pedalling.
I couldn’t see myself chucking it down muddy banks anymore, I wanted to road ride at speed just like that commuter 6 years ago, so I was looking for some kind racing type bike. Actually I think they are called road bikes but I am pretty new to this riding fraternity. Either way, low rolling resistance and streamlined pedalling position was now what I wanted.

After some shopping around I was really pleased to find a bike which fit my criteria (drop handlebars, skinny tyres etc) and was within budget, because it seems this sort of bike seems to cost thousands of pounds usually. I am under no illusions, it is a budget racer and if I am going to start triathlons I am going to have to upgrade but it is perfect for me at the moment.

As soon as I got the bike home I was changed and back out on it for a play, heading off to bomb around the country lanes. Hunkering down to reduce wind resistance on downhill bits and standing up on the pedals and hauling the bike from side to side going uphill, I kept imagining a Peloton bunched up behind me, it was great.

I used to cycle 12 miles every day when I was commuting too and from work and I thought I was more than man enough to cope with a little half hour session. It turns out that six years away from a bike can leave some muscles not quite up to standard, by the time I got home I had no energy left in my legs. I did a quick measure of the route I took and was a bit dismayed that I had only covered about 7 miles. I had visions of covering larger distances than that before getting puffed out.

I had a new toy and was going to take it out on Sunday as well. The main mission was to get some average speed times so that I could work out what sort of range I could conceivably aim for on the bike. I discovered almost instantly that I was a bit saddle sore, but that wasn’t going to stop me. I covered 9.4 miles (though I only remembered to start my stopwatch after I had covered a couple of miles) at an average speed of 14mph. A long day in the saddle could see me cover 100 miles… When I am fit enough to spend a whole day in the saddle that is.

Couple of quiet days training wise with no epic runs or anything to report.

At a suggestion from my Dad, I have acquired a skipping rope though. It is a really good one, leather rope with weighted handles. As far as ropes can be engineered, this one is the pinnacle of design.
I have rarely skipped. I have seen boxers doing it and they make it look easy, crossing their arms and everything. I got the rope going round at a fair speed after a little practice but the crossing arms thing resulted in a whip injury.
It’s bloody exhausting though, I spent no more than a couple of minutes leaping over the rope but I really felt my heart rate leap up. This is going to get added to my exercise regime I feel.

Earlier last week I started to work my upper body with dumbbells. This has now developed into two sessions, a quick one in the morning before work and then a longer session in the evening after work. This is already making an impact on the muscle definition.

I also played on the Wii Fit last night for the first time in ages. My fitness needs exceeded what the Wii could offer so it has sort of fallen by the wayside but it still has been keeping track of my weight and BMI. I haven’t done this for a while but I now weigh 70.9kgs with a BMI 23.15. The last time I weighed myself was way back in December and I was 69.9kgs, so I have gained not a lot. I seem to have reached a bit of a plateau.

This weekend has the potential to be filled with good solid training. Hopefully I will have much to report.

Hit the road again last night this time by myself and keen to work up a sweat to make up for the steady jogging days I have had with the missus.

I extended my usual route a little bit and have a new 4.8mile route which is pretty nice country lane running. I pushed my pace for the duration trying to maintain a balance of speed but still holing back something to be able to complete the route. I did have to stop at one point because a greenfly decided to throw itself at my eyeball and I had to fish the flailing critter out from my eyelashes.

It was a warm and humid evening yesterday and I worked up quite a sweat and I was glad that I have taken to running with a bottle of water because I would have dehydrated quickly.

In the end I rolled back to my front door 42 minutes 26 seconds after I had set off feeling thoroughly knackered but happy with my effort. Working out my speed that’s an average of 6.8mph.

Schoolboy error though. I didn’t warm down properly so this morning my left calf, only my left mind you, is a bit tight. So I’m sort of trotting around like a horse with a stone wedged in a hoof at the moment.

Dragged the wife out for a run again last night. the same 3.7 miles. Just a smidge over 50 minutes again. I enjoy running with company but the pace which we are able to run at currently is a bit frustrating, and although she is completely shattered, I am not elevating my heart rate much above normal.

She is now suffering from various fatigue aches, and the more we run the less capacity she has to run the next time out. I have prescribed for her some lighter exercise for the next few days to enable her to recover but still stick with the program. I will have a few days of solo running. Might even have a stab at some personal bests for some of the routes.

Run again on Saturday morning with the missus. Same route. Same time. Similar stop start approach to covering the miles. She did feel better though and had more in the tank as far as cardio-vascular and muscle capacity. What she didn’t have was a decent pair of trainers and blisters and stunned feet forced us to walk the final part.

With that, we went off and abused the credit card for a pair of decent running trainers to suit her running style. There is a plan to go running Monday night though looking at the weather it will take some persuasion to head out into the torrential rains that seem likely to be in when we go after work.

The wife declared that she was getting unfit so I suggested that she come running with me. Despite having not run since the time of school sports days she was game and last night after work we donned trainers and set off. I didn’t know how comfortable she would be running so I had several routes planned, in the end we took the shortest at 3.7 miles, though considering that she wanted to turn back after about half a mile we did well.

When we first set off she ran quickly but that soon came to an end and we did a form of interval training where I would bully her into running until she could run no more and we would walk for a bit until my incessant nagging bullied her back up to running speed.

Her aches and pains and complaints reminded me of my early days running. The horrible ache in the neck area, the metallic tasting spit, the raw burning pain in the calves, the blisters. It made me realise how far I had come in my running ability.

She hated running and probably me for pretty much the whole distance. But when we got back and she had finally crashed out on the sofa she claims she enjoyed it and in theory we will go for another jog on the weekend.

Nothing major to report today. I have become aware that I have been neglecting the upper body so last night I dug out the dumbbells and worked through some of the exercises that Fitness Stu had given me when I was regularly at the gym. I did find the exercises pretty hard but I haven’t done them for a long time so these muscles have gone a bit floppy. No matter I will drag them back into shape no problems. I have to, I am going to be wearing a running vest for the Great North Run and at the moment I look a bit like that bloke on the Mr. Muscle advert.

Also other news. The racing boat is going to get a paint job next week, after that we are good to paddle.

I have left the running for two weeks to let my legs recover from their painful shins and for the last couple of days they have felt fine so this morning I set off for a short run before work.

Setting off my legs gave me a twinge on the front of my shin but I kept my pace down and managed the wear on my legs.

4.2 miles completed in approx 45 minutes (I didn’t time myself but had half an eye on the clock to ensure that I was back in time to get ready for work) so averaged about 5 and a half miles an hour. I had not too much of a problem and I have to say, it is a joy running early in the morning when the air is cleaner and there is little road traffic.

I feel a bit of ache in the shins again though not half as debilitating as the last time. I will give it a couple of days rest before donning the running shoes again.