Bad Blogger

janathon = jog, log & blog daily for a month. Sounds simple. It isn’t. Still in the first week and I’ve missed one day of blogging. I’m also way behind on reading all the other janathoners’ blogs.

Here then a quick summary of days 6 & 7:

Tues 6th:

• Upper body strength conditioning session before work
• 20 lengths of the pool = 500M after work

Weds 7th

• Lunchtime run 4+ miles

Je Suis Charlie

Back to the grindstone

Day 5 of Janathon was the “back to work” day for me and for many others. It could have been an excuse for slacking, but in truth it was the thought of getting out for some exercise that kept me sane.

Today’s activity:

• Lunchtime run – an out’n’back up to & along the Regents canal – 4.3 miles at a comfortable pace
• Evening run with the Hadlow Running Group – 3 miles in 29 minutes – I was pacing one of our group as she aims to get back to a sub-30 parkrun level.
• Late swim – 20 Lengths = 500 Metres. I was trying to get the 1st 16 done at 1 min intervals, but I needed to throw a couple of extra minutes rest in. This would give me 400M (the sprint Tri distance) in 17.5 minutes. If I could halve that time, it would be respectable. Lots of room for improvement.

Jantastic started today. I’ve logged the lunchtime run & the swim, but I decided the evening run didn’t really count. My weekly target is 8 sessions. The Jantastic site has managed to calculate 2 out of 8, as 42% progress. Hopefully just teething problems.

Heroes Breakfast

Day 4 Janathon Activity:

• Run 8 miles steady – flat roads
• Swim 20 Lengths – 12 Lengths at 1 min intervals, 8 Lengths with pull bouy
• Cycle 22 miles – flat roads

Hot & Cold was the theme of the day. The run & the ride were both on the chilly side; including patches of near-freezing fog to liven things up. By contrast, the water in Tonbridge pool was way too hot, more suitable for boiling lobsters than lap swimming. Still at least there was enough space to swim lengths without having to slalom around people. All activities were completed uneventfully.

The big news of the day, for me, came between the run & the swim. We took a trip out to Kelly Holmes’ new cafe 1809 in Hildenborough for brunch. It’s not every day you get greeted by a double Olympic gold medal winning hero over breakfast! The cafe was a real pleasure. While we were there, a mix of cyclists, families & couples generated a really happy atmosphere & the serving staff were attentive & seemed to be enjoying their work. If you’re in the vicinity, I would recommend a visit.

Back to work tomorrow. The commute should be “interesting” with the disruption at London Bridge affecting all the Cannon Street trains. However, on the positive side, Jantastic starts tomorrow & I’m signed up for the Tonbridge parkrun team.

The sun did not shine

“The sun did not shine,
It was too wet to play,
So we sat in the house,
All that cold, cold, wet day”
Dr Seuss

Err, except of course it didn’t happen quite like that …
“The sun did not shine,
It was too wet to play,
But through mud & puddles,
We went and we ran anyway

Janathon day 3:

• Volunteering at Tonbridge park run (a couple of the photos I took below)
• Swimming 20 lengths: 10 at 1-minute intervals + 10 with pull bouy
• 3.3 mile run

 

“Did YOU have any fun?

Tell me, what did you do?”

 

Mud n Water

Janathon day 2:

A six mile off road run this morning that was a combination of mud, more mud, ankle-grabbing brambles, and yet more mud. Brilliant!

Took advantage of an offer from Tonbridge swimming pool for a “2-month swim as often as you want” deal. To be cost effective I will need to swim at least 10 times before the 2nd of March. Hopefully that will be good motivation for me to get stuck into my least favourite activity.

For today’s swim I decided to do at least 10 lengths with full recovery between each lap. Not a hard decision, given I didn’t think I could manage a double length without alarming the life guards. After 35 minutes I had 20 lengths completed – I’m guessing any reasonably competent swimmer would have taken 6 or 7 minutes for that. Imagine then my surprise when I logged the swim on the Janathon group & found I was joint top of the leader-board. This may be because only 1 other person had logged a swim AND runningfree rounded up to nearest kilometre.

Probably fair to say that I will never be a good swimmer & I’ll always prefer a run or a ride or a paddle to a swim. But I’m going to crack on to see if I can get to the 400M necessary for a sprint Tri.

Day the First

A new day, a new year and the chance for personal renewAl & reinvention. No resolutions from me, but I do have some questions:

• Will 2015 be the year I finally learn how to swim far enough to enter a triathlon?
• Can I stay injury-free for long enough to recover some running form?
• How am I going to reignite my cycling mojo?
• Should I take on a SUP/Bike/Run challenge?

I don’t know the answers to any of the above, but I intend having fun finding out.

Despite some misgiving I have signed up for Janathon. Hopefully I’ll avoid my self-destructive cycle of getting too competitive about the mileage. I am also signed up for Jantastic (starts Jan 5th) and I’ve entered a 10K road race at the beginning of March. Busy, busy, busy.

Janathon day 1:

1. Run 3.1 miles
2. Volunteer parkrun marshal/photographer
3. Run 4 miles