h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Okay, so last year was a bit of a bust. Life conspired to get in the way.

I did get to do some running while over in America, including high up in the mountains where the lack of oxygen really was noticeable! And the heat?! Makes you glad to be back in the UK where we don't have those things

I've just been out for my new year test run, just over a kilometre to see how (un)fit I am, and whilst it's not bad it's not really very good. But, the overall level of fitness is improving as the weight continues to drop. This year I've no back or shoulder pains after a short run, and my stomach doesn't swing from side to side

I'm using Endomondo again this year, so you can check out the run here: http://bit.ly/1cP2Grc

I'm also going to try and run a total of 500k this year, which *should* be achievable, even though last year I ran just over 110k. But 10k a week should be easy (hah!)

Today's run was much better: http://www.endomondo.com/workouts/283210260

I didn't try to set a pace today, just ran at what seemed comfortable. Turned out it's only comfortable for the first kilometre, but it was quick. I don't think I could currently keep it up for long, maybe for 2k but definitely not for much longer.

I reckon I'll try and keep this up this week, and then next week switch to a longer route inside the park, which probably will involve hills. Maybe Friday or Saturday I'll run into town, it's downhill most of the way and would let me see a good comparison to the runs I used to do into work last year.

Today's run saw me go to the supermarket. Normally I'd cycle this one, not because of the distance, but because of carrying things back. But today looks to be the last sunny day for a while, and I only needed milk and bananas, so I thought I might as well run it.

http://www.endomondo.com/workouts/283578012

2.39km in 12:21, an average speed of 5:10min/km.

The first kilometre is a slight hill to start with, then almost purely flat, and I did this in 5:03 so I think that's starting to look like my comfortable first kilometre pace.
The second kilometre was a short but reasonably steep hill, and then a long slope downhill. I don't do hills well, I'm from the Fens but this only took 5:10 so I'm quite pleased with that. Not only were there hills involved, but the pace is still quick. Last year I generally ran at the 5:30 mark, so shaving off between 20 and 30 seconds a kilometre seems like quite an achievement!

Planning to take a break tomorrow, then try a longer run in the park on Thursday, maybe 3 or 4k, and then a longer run into town on Sunday with t'other half, which is likely to be above 5k if I can manage it

I think it's fair to say that today's run was wet. Absolutely soaked through to the skin not long into it.

http://www.endomondo.com/workouts/284434229

The first kilometre was good, 4:59, then there was the hill. A long quite steep uphill for about half a kilometre which really took its toll on this Fenboy. Second kilometre was 5:42, which last year I'd have been happy with on the flat, but I know I can do better now. By the time I got to the top though, utterly out of breath. Picked up a bit on the third kilometre mind, 5:30, and most of that was still trying to get my breath back.

In total 3.04km with an average pace of 5:29 min/km which I'm quite happy with.

5k today and a not too shabby time overall at 28:47. Problem was though, the weather overnight was cold, and there was a lot of ice about.

http://www.endomondo.com/workouts/285401337

First kilometre was 6:14, a minute more than I've been doing recently. The pavements were very icy over this stretch, and although there was a slight up and down hill bit, it's pretty much mostly flat.

The second kilometre in 5:42 was better, but still icy, and did have an uphill bit. I really need to get better with hills.

The third kilometre saw the ice pretty much gone, and had a little downward slope, which helped the time up to 5:31 which I was quite happy with as that's as far as I'd ran this year.

The next part was downhill all the way, 5:23 and I was tired by now. The first three kilometres felt fine, perhaps the slower pace meant that I could have continued more, but it did feel slow. Now that it sped up it felt better... but I started to feel my lungs complaining.

The last kilometre was a bit of a struggle, and the time reflects that at 5:51, although it's not a totally accurate time as we'd stopped a little short, realised, then carried on a bit.

An average speed of 5:45 min/km is quite good for me for that distance, especially seeing as the first two kilometres were slowed by the ice. Although I'm not sure if I'd have managed to keep a fast pace going all the 5k if I'd have started with it.

We then walked back, up the hill, and now my legs are aching a little

Same route as five days ago: http://www.endomondo.com/workouts/286243836

First kilometre was only 4:49, ten seconds faster than the last time, which is quite a bit really.

The second kilometre, the hill, was 5:39, compared to 5:42 last time. This actually felt a lot faster than last time though as I was able to make it all the way up the hill without having to slow down to a crawling jog.

The third kilometre was 5:17, again faster than last time's 5:30.

Over the three kilometres I've managed to shave off twenty-six seconds which in less than a week is quite impressive, especially considering the hills this poor Fenboy has to face

Definitely a lot hotter/stickier than last week though, but that could easily be because it's not absolutely chucking it down with rain today. It's colder, only two degrees, but much drier.

Hi there... how's it going.

It looks as if you have a plan that's working, and you're getting some good results there.

I've managed to put a bit of the weight back on over the Christmas period and the weight loss I have managed up till now has bottomed out. I decided to try a another tack and tried another jog today, by way of cross training with the kayaking to move some of the weight. I realised that I might as well give a short jog a try as a: I'm already out, b: I'm already wet and steaming, c: I've already got a convenient track, in the shape of the towpath, handy.

I haven't really jogged again since the last time mentioned here when the knee started to grumble, but today's short effort of a couple of miles straight after a five mile paddle went fairly well, at least the knee's held out. Maybe it's the 'extended warm up' that does it. Anyway, I'll try to keep up the sessions after my solo trips and see how it goes. Probably just keep to the two miles for the time being.

Deke

My knees have been fine this year, usually I have to wear a sports brace type thing because my left one almost always gives me gyp. But this year they're behaving a lot better, not even had a twinge yet

I've not been able to run for the last week, which has been really annoying, because I've been laid up ill on a cocktail of antibiotics, and then there was a beer festival I just *had* to attend

I'm hoping to get out again today, if the rain stops. But failing that, I've got the rowing machine in from the garage and have space to put it in front of the telly, planning on rowing gently for a couple of hours while watching films

The rain held off and I got out: http://www.endomondo.com/workouts/289697125

I thought I'd try my normal route backwards today, get the long hill out of the way in one go near the start, and then have the two slopes on the way down on the way back. Looking at the pace, this seemed to work as it's pretty steady, but overall not a great run.

I'm putting a lot of this down to having not been able to run for a week, and then having two days out drinking at a beer festival.

The first lap seemed slow again, and I could feel my lungs complaining pretty quickly. 5:17 is a time I'd have loved last year, so I don't know why I'm not overly happy with it today. Probably because I've seen myself do faster first kilometres. But, lungs complained quickly, and getting up that hill felt like a bit of a chore, although not as much as I would have thought.

The second kilometre in 5:32 should have been quicker, and felt quicker, as it was flat, downhill and flat. But my lungs were rather hot by now and breathing was starting to need concentrating on.

The third kilometre reads 5:49, but 12 seconds of that was waiting for traffic so really it's closer to 5:37. A little bit slower than the second kilometre, but my breathing was difficult in this one, and I did end up having to walk for a few seconds to calm it down and get my breath back.

Overall then, 16:46 to do 3:01km, a time that last year I'd have been happy with, and this year I'm not so much. I'll put it down to being ill and then drinking, and see what times I get next time out.

That looks pretty good.
Hills were always my bête noir. But they're probably one of the best training aids you can use. Back in the day I was lucky to have some great running terrain on my doorstep. It included a track that went down one slope for a half mile and back up another with a bit sharper incline. The thing about hills is that they are equally useful going down as going up. Picking up speed going down gets you used to opening up your stride, (there's a Colemanballs in there somewhere).
It was great to include it in a run so that you went fast down one side and plugged hard up the other. Doing that half a dozen times in a session each week was quite productive. It had to be used with caution and sparingly though, and only after a good warm up.

Hills are definitely my nemesis, I'm a Fenboy, we don't have hills

They are really good for training though, most of mine is done in Heaton Park which is on my doorstep, with occasional runs into the city, which is mostly downhill overall, but has some uphill inclines.

I've been doing the Manchester 10k for the last few years, and the last kilometre of that is noticeably uphill, I'm never a pretty sight stumbling over the finish line

Today's run was definitely going better, until I got a stitch.

http://www.endomondo.com/workouts/290700472

The first kilometre, with the long, steep (to me) hill was much better today, dead on 5mins. I could feel my lungs tightening, but not until close to the top of the hill. And it did actually feel fast again.

The second kilometre though was a bit weird, it felt a bit like I was winding/slowing down, because it was flat or downhill, but I started having to fight off a stitch towards the end. But 5:27 is still a bit faster than last run's 5:32. But then the stitch came back with a vengeance.

I had to walk for a bit at the start of the third kilometre to force the stitch out, and then a bit later to get my breathing back in check. So the last kilometre was slower, 6:08.

Overall, 3.04km in 17:03. So today was 15s slower than last time. I'm putting this down to that stitch which will hopefully not occur again as I get my lungs and breathing back into shape.

Yesterday I got the rowing machine out for the first time in years, only did 15 minutes on it, but woke up with aching shoulders

I tried out a slightly longer run today: http://www.endomondo.com/workouts/291330225 as I wanted to start pushing the distances up a bit in February and thought I'd use this to try and get a measure of a new lap. This new route starts and ends the same, but has a little extra bit in the middle with some more small hills in the woods near the back of the park.

Overall, 17:57 for 3.3km. But I did spend about 20s trying to get my phone out of the pocket to stop the timer, so I'm counting it as 17:30.

The first kilometre, back on the anti-clockwise route was the same as before, but I was trying to take it easy to make the distance easier, and again it seemed slow, but again wasn't at 5:04. Nice and flat though, but my lungs did feel a bit tight quite early on.

The second kilometre was near all hills, the first 500m was pure uphill, the second 500m was undulating. So a time of 6:04 wasn't too bad. The top of the first part of it really felt slow though as it was really quite steep.

The third kilometre was 5:04 again like the first, but this had a good long downhill for about 600m before a steady gentle uphill for the rest of the kilometre.

3k in 16:12 is pretty good for me, especially with those hills in the way, and getting around without having to noticeably slow down to catch my breath is an improvement. Although I did have to fight off a stitch towards the end of the second kilometre.

Today's run was completely different, because I treated it more like training than running. As I've said previously, I want to up the distance I do each day so today I ran for two kilometres on the flat (with a slight hill near the end) and then walked for 700m before running again to make it up to a total of 4.4k, so almost another 2k.

The first kilometre was nice and gentle, and came in at 5:20. However I'm not convinced this is an accurate time, because I had to double back on myself and go through a car park rather than the lake path, and my timer thing decided that since I'd already recently been somewhere, I'd stopped, and so paused itself for about 10 seconds.

The second kilometre was flat for most of it, but with another double back. This time deliberate because I'd come to the end of a long straight road within the park, so looped around and came back. So again I'm not sure if the 5:20m time is accurate. The last 300m of the second kilometre was uphill, and my lungs were starting to feel it by then.

And then I walked. This was a longer, swooping and less steep path to the top of the hill, and by the time I got to the top my breathing was calm again and I was waiting to hear I'd hit the 3k mark so I could start running again, I gave up waiting and started sooner anyway. So, the time of 7:49 doesn't really mean much except as a benchmark for doing this route again and seeing about starting to run again sooner.

The fourth kilometre was up and down to start with, and then the long downhill slope, with a time of 5:23 which isn't too bad seeing as it was technically the fourth kilometre.

Overall 4.42k in 26:06, I'd like to expand this route out a bit to 5k if possible as that's a nice marker, but I think that's likely to be closer to the end of February rather than the start of it.

Today's run wasn't great to be honest: http://www.endomondo.com/workouts/292199921

The first part that the tracker thinks was downhill is actually up a small slope and that was probably a mistake.

So, first kilometre started up a slope on the streets rather than in the park. I wanted to try and keep a steady pace on the flat and see how that went. The page was definitely a lot smoother today than previously, apart from a glitch and a couple of things I'll go into later, it's very steady indeed. 5:28 for the first kilometre, it felt slow, and was slower than I'd have liked, but I think that slope didn't help. But it's a good steady time, and if I could keep that up for ten kilometres and come in at 53 minutes I'd be very happy. But, not long after I got into the park I could feel my lungs tightening up already, didn't help that I was out drinking yesterday and have a blocked nose.

The second kilometre was very similar to the first, 5:25 so a little faster even though around the back of the boating lake it does go up and down a bit to get through the car park avoiding the massive puddles and mud.

The third kilometre though I wasn't happy with. Only a few hundred metres into it, where the route doubles back, I slowed for a short walk to steady my breathing. I could have carried on a bit more first, but I wanted to try and keep steady this time rather than slowing down as my breathing started to get strained. Thing is though, it was only another couple of hundred metres before I felt a stitch coming on, and walked for a bit again. So slower for the third kilometre at 5:38.

I started off the last leg back to the edge of the park with another bit of a walk to get my breath back, but then tried to push the speed up towards the end, and apart from having to be careful on the mud I was able to get a pace resembling the start of the run, so I managed 3.66km in 20:09m, which is an average speed of 5:30min/km. Which isn't too bad overall.

So, I'm going to sign up to do the Manchester 10k in May, and put down once again an expected time of 1 hour. I've never managed this yet, usually getting around the 1:10 mark, but hopefully with this much more training this year I might manage it for a change.

A good run.
It looks like you've got a steady improvement.

I went for another jog after paddling the night before last. When I came to change into my running shoes I found I had brought one of mrs D's shoes and one of mine. I went for a run anyway in the plimsoles I use in the boat and felt every stone in the path. Still managed a better time than last time though,but it hurt. The knee didn't though.

Deke

First time I went running since being an adult (I used to run cross country and fells as a teenager) I went out in a pair of converse. Totally knackered my shins

Today's run felt good, for a change

I thought I'd take it a bit easier, do the shorter route to ease myself into the week seeing as I've had a few days off running, and on the booze and late nights: http://www.endomondo.com/workouts/292945109

First kilometre was the near fully flat one and did it in 4:51, which is definitely a quick time for me. Although it did feel nice and steady and not too fast, although looking at my pace chart it seems to have some moderate peaks and troughs. But it felt good and my lungs didn't feel tightening until near to the 1k mark.

So I was able to start the second kilometre more in breath that I have done recently, and hearing the time I did the first one in gave me a bit of incentive to be able to relax uphill, take it at a slightly slower pace and leave myself able to breath. And it seems to have worked. I slowed right down on the steep bit near the top, but was able to get my breath and pace back up quite quickly. My breathing was definitely heavy by now, but the second kilometre, with that big hill only took 5:20, it did include the downhill too, but the pace was quite good as I don't tend to speed up much going downhill.

The third kilometre did see me starting to struggle with my breathing a bit though, and this really showed on the small uphill bit towards the end. So 5:26 wasn't great, but wasn't too bad.

Overall, 3.07km in 16:03 with an average speed of 5:14min/km. The last time I did this route on January 14th my average speed was 2 s/km slower, but the first and last kilometres were faster. I can put this down to getting better with the hills I think, either that or taking it easy to start with gave me enough breath left at the start of the hill.

I thought today's run was pretty good: http://www.endomondo.com/workouts/293964493 until I compared the times with Mondays. Today's felt better, but it seems my pace was just a little slower. Having said that though, at the end of it today I could have carried on for more, which I don't think I could have on Monday.

So, first kilometre doing my 3k lap clockwise for a change. This had a bit of a flat, then a long slope uphill. Again my lungs felt a bit tight to start with, but they seemed to loosen up a bit today by the end of the first kilometre. So I'm wondering if my warm up should be more physical than just a few stretches to loosen the muscles. But 5:03 including the hill was pretty good I think, which is why I felt it went well today.

The second kilometre was 5:19, flat, downhill, flat. I felt that this should have been faster, and I think I could have gone faster, but I was focussing more on keeping my breathing and pace steady rather than trying to get a good time.

The third kilometre was where I was starting to tire, again. But it wasn't until about the 2.6k mark that I turn towards the slope back and it felt tiring. So 5:18 was a pretty good time for the last kilometre, and that included about a five second wait for traffic that I didn't have on Monday, which would give me closer to 5:15 for the last kilometre.

Overall, pretty good I think because I do think I could have kept that pace up for another kilometre. And I was out drinking last night.

I'm aiming to do the Manchester 10k in less than an hour, so I need to do ten kilometres in less than an average of 6min/km. At the moment I've averaging 5:16 over the three, so if I can get that over the first 4k, that's only take about 21mins, leaving me 39mins for the last 6k, a pace of 6.5mins/km

It still looks like you've got improvement run on run. I'm a big believer in a good warm-up for a run. A gentle jog for at least half a mile and then stretches before commencing used to work best for me. But I'd still have to do stretches most other days as well to prevent bad post-race stiffness.

I've just done another post paddle 2 miles this morning. It didn't go well. The towpath was flooded and muddy for about half its length, so at points I was running on the edge of the canal.
Also went too fast at first and blew out on the return.

http://www.endomondo.com/workouts/

Deke