Vintage Check Ups

Oldie
I have reached an age where the NHS wants to check-up on me.

This is the opposite of what the DoT want to do with my old cars which is to abandon the MoT test for them.

So the Health Service wants to check if I am still roadworthy but the Transport Department reckons I am mature enough to do a health check on my old cars myself.

June Date
Went for my check-up in June and came back with the following figures:-

• Weight - 68Kg
• BMI 23.8
• BP - 105/69
• Bad cholesterol - 6.1, good cholesterol 2
• Waist 80 

Death Ratios
Long chat with doc about significance of the statistics that the machine produced from this information. Apparently I have a 1 in 5 chance (20%) of dying from a heart attack in the next 10 years. A reduction in cholesterol level by 1 point would only change this to a 1 in 6 chance (17%).

We agreed that the major factors were age, time and inherited genetic - some things no medicine or treatment can do anything about. So, agreed NFA.

That I had nearly been killed on a zebra crossing walking to the surgery rather put this into perspective.

Jogging
Better than medicine - continue with the exercise.
Maybe time for me to seek a new benchmark?

Benchmark

Blogging Blow
Why won't blogger let me load pictures anymore? Because it only works in Chrome.

"A falcon, towerging in her pride of place,
Was by a mousing owl hawked at and killed" Macbeth, Shakespeare

Torch Relay

Joined the crowds in Newbridge Hill to watch the Olympic Torch Relay go past.
Well you have to do it don't you?  It only comes around once-in-a-lifetime.

Olympic Torch Relay - George Harding in Bath - 22nd May

Except tomorrow when it goes from Bristol to Swindon via Royal Wootton Bassett. And yes I checked the number of Ts and Ss.

Everyone wants to have a go with the Torch

Like the Autobahn a legacy of the Nazis. Sort of.

Not sure what the Met Police were there for except to pose. Each time they cleared the crowds off the road they seeped back on again so the support vehicles ended up struggling to get through. Beep-beep. Not sure what connection the disco-dancers and publicity vehicles have with the Olympic ideals.

Went off well. Lets hope in the real events they remember to put out 10 hurdles and not just nine!

A pleasant interlude.

Travellin' Man

Long Time No See
As the unemployed bishop said to the actress.

Well – seven weeks of rain and I have got out more.
It is just have not had time to write about it.

Statistics

Since then:-

• Running – 0143 miles
• Driving – 1430 miles
• Blogging – 0000 miles

Headed north to get away from the rain.

Dumfries and Galloway – recommended.

River Nith

Travel
Broadends the mind they say. Also the bum if driving long distances.

"For my part, I travel not to go anywhere, but to go.
I travel for travel's sake. The great affair is to move." - R L Stevenson

Must Get Out More

Dry enough to mow lawn today. Need to get out more. And get fit again.

Could Do Better
Meanwhile, every day in every way retirement is getting more like working:-

• Too much to do
• Choc-a-bloc email inbox
• Computer getting slower and more unreliable
• Ms® software a pain in the butt
• Printer failure.

But I don’t get paid for it.

Plus a loo-flush failure that requires a part that cannot be obtained for a week.

What Went Well
This week:-

• Bus diverted for road works – and stopped nearer to centre of town
• Optician did me a deal on glasses – having said they could not do so
• Blossom and leaves busting out all over
• Birds nesting
• First Run for 2 weeks.

Run Log
211th Run. Starter run after 2 weeks sick. Only four and a half miles.
About as far as my legs and lungs wanted to go.

But enough to shake out the cobwebs with a gentle trot round a few bends.
New shoes feeling good.

Just round the corner....... 

  

“A driver must be physically fit and able to resist fatigue.
If unfit, he is a source of danger, not only to himself, to his vehicle, and to any passengers who may travel with him, but also to other road users.”
Manual of Driving and Maintenance for Mechanical Vehicles (Wheeled) 1937

Disaster

Race Day
It is a beautiful sunny day out there - over 14deg C. I should be pounding the streets of Bath in the Half Marathon at this moment. Instead I am stuck indoors shivering with ague and aching limbs.

Instead of seeking to record an improved time I am recording the times I take pills.

Out of Africa
About now the winner will be accepting his prize. And I should have been near my last watering stop of the race.

Psittacosis
Sick as a parrot, I am, Brian.

But fortunately not as sick as that rare “Norwegian Blue.”
Just feeling blue.

Vertigo !

 

It says that Life would signify
A thwarted purposing:
That we come to live, and are called to die.
Yes, that's the thing
In fall, in spring,That Yell'ham says:-
Life offers - to deny!
Yell'ham Wood's Story - Thomas Hardy

Pound for Pound

Pre-Race Nerves
Only a couple of days to go - and already I have pre-race nerves. Rasping throat - hope it is just nerves and not another cold.

Pre-Race Training
Settling in the new shoes - done 13 miles in them so far. Feel good.
Time to “taper” training now - so no more runs before the day.

Charity Boost
The RUH Bath Forever Friends Appeal for £650,000 to buy a Gamma-CT scanner has been boosted by the Chairman of the Appeal, John Cullum the High Sheriff of Somerset, offer to match £1 for £1 all donations up to £200,000, as reported in the Bath Chronicle.

Now that is something you don’t get every day - a charity appeal with a BOGOF element!

Sponsors
So while I am pounding the streets how about putting up your Pounds?
And each one “buys” another pound. Plus - Don’t forget to gift aid it.

Offers of sponsorship have been coming in by phone, email and other. Please keep them coming.

Collection
Donate on my Just Giving page.
Or meet me in the pub.

Luigi and the Boys will be coming round to collect after the race is over!

White-van-man singing the bluegrass

New Shoes

Went 2 Town
Got some new running shoes today. Hooray!

Size Matters

Reasons

1. Holes above big toes in old shoes
2. Mileage 1077 plus - double that recommended
3. Failed the twist test
4. Knees and calves aching more than usual
5. Down to 1.7mm tread depth.

Actually I made that last one up - I have not measured the tread depth but the soles and heals are worn.

Corridor Run
So I tested 3 different pairs of shoes running up and down in The Corridor. Two pairs I tested using the “one from each pair on each foot” test.

Bit like an eye test - “better” or “worse”. After awhile difficult to measure any significant difference.

Ended up with what are the current version of the shoes I had before. So maybe should have bought them off the web and saved some bread.
But - shoes don’t grow on trees you know.

The Shoe Tree

Shop busy - 2 or 3 others also trying new running shoes.

Info For Geeks
Asics GEL-1170. What would the barefoot runners say?

GEL was a Bournemouth registration No.

Back to Asics

"Relax and Enjoy Your Shoes" - Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams

Forever Friends Appeal for the RUH Bath

Local Appeal
Please help me support one of my local charities that is linked to the Bath Half Marathon.

The Forever Friends Appeal for the Royal United Hospital (RUH) Bath is seeking to raise £650,000 for new technology to help the quick and accurate diagnosis of:-

• cancers
• heart disease
• bone pain
• neurological disorders.

This will combine the features of a Gamma Camera and a CT Scan the result being a better picture to identify and pinpoint anomolies. Another benefit is that patients only go through one procedure rather than two.

After my 13.2 miles half marathon I wont need such advanced technology to identify the source of my aches and pains.

Please give generously.

My Just Giving Page
As last year I have set up a page linked to the charity of my choice. This makes online donations easy and if you tick the right boxes the taxman makes a contribution too. If you are a UK taxpayer.

For those of you who dont like online giving you can give me some money and fill in the form when we meet, or you can send a donation direct to:-

The Forever Friends Appeal
Royal United Hospital, Combe Park, Bath BA1 3NG

Cheques payable to "RFU Chaitable Fund (FFA)"

Don't forget to Gift Aid it - and mention me!

Every Day Would Be

The First Day of Spring
Today the sunshine and warm temperature - more than 11deg C - brought out the topless cars and ice cream vans for the first time this year. Crocuses in bloom. Must be Spring.

Also got me out for my first run for 10 days.

Recovery Run
Deliberately slow and evenly paced. Technically not a Recovery Run - but for me a recovery from being unwell run.

Did not work out quite as planned tho’ My log says:-

206th Run. Recovery From Flu Run! 6.5 miles in over an hour. Garmin only recorded outward journey - must have pushed wrong button.
Bridge 2 far - usual route and distance hence know it was 6.5 miles.
Standing HR started relatively high - 72 and HR on run also fairly high for amount of effort put in - Ave 159 and max 176. Which suggests not fully well yet. Or maybe loss of fitness whilst off.
As a "marker" also included time for measured mile - did not push it so came out as 8min 50sec as against best of 7min 22sec.
Pleased with result. Felt OK.

Bath Half
Worried - I am not listed on the website - but got the chip and No.

Waiting to hear what the explanation is. I mean I sent them my last year's time and everything so they know who I am.

Don’t think they allow anyone to run under another name.

Sponsorship
Have sent off for a fund-raising pack. Planning on going local this year.

Rise of Paganism in Bath
On the way to my running routes. More tea vicar?

Decorated Apple Trees

Cling, swing,
Spring, sing,
Swing up into the apple tree.
Landscapes - New Hampshire - T S Eliot

Man Flu

Symptoms in the Attic

My Thursday and Friday:-

• Explosive sneezing
• Hacking cough
• Rasping sore throat - indeed feeling as though it is being rasped by a saw
• Vice across the bridge of the nose - or a G clamp
• Dizziness and Nausea

Almost every bone aching:-

• Legs
• Hips
• Head
• Jaw
• Knees

Unable to breathe.  Unable to sleep - but hallucinatory dreams.
Smell of good food cooking - induces retching.  But gut aching from hunger.

These are the symptoms of Man Flu.

A Problem Shared
Except it is not just me who is suffering from it. But Milady's symptoms are slightly different. More coughing - less paranoia.

Paracetamol ran out yesterday - so had to go out and get some more.
Short walk to shop - but exhausting.

Virulent Virus
As a pensioner I no longer get contact with the popular viruses going round the schools and workplaces of the country - so my natural defences are as out of touch as I am.

Vitamin C
Which is probably why my intake of fruit including oranges has no effect.

Running Training
You are joking!

 Anticipation - or Prophecy?

I've a head like a concertina, I've a tongue like a button-stick,

I've a mouth like an old potato, and I'm more than a little sick,

But I've had my fun o' the Corp'ral's Guard; I've made the cinders fly,

And I'm here in the Clink for a thundering drink and blacking the Corporal's eye.

Cells - Rudyard Kipling

Winter Running

How do runners who work manage to fit in their training?
At this time of year - mostly by running in the dark it would seem.

Pensioner Syndrome
Too much to do - so little time.
Lots of things to be fitted in during the past 2 weeks - and more to come.

It has been hard work keeping up the running schedule for the 1000 miles in 2012 challenge.
More than 20 miles last week and 22 this - so just about on the graph.

Rained & Snowed On
A change to more seasonable weather - colder. Still getting out to do the runs between snowfall and rain - avoiding slush and ice.
Hat and woolly gloves a comfort.

Srewfix
Who cares if I look a twit? The hat advertises Toge TSM. Best Screw In Town.
An ad campaign lost in translation.
Its my gardening hat.

Hours per Mile
My recent runs have been:-

• 4 at 7 miles within 70 minutes
• 1 at 6.5 miles within the hour
• 1 at 10 miles within 103 minutes
• 1 hill run of 6.5 within an hour.

Bristol City

The longer runs pacing at 10 minute miles are not really fast enough if I am to improve on last year’s Bath time. Really I need to go at 9.5 minute miles over the longer distances.

Today I was overtaken by another runner and for awhile I kept within near sight of him.
He slowed a little and I speeded up a bit.

Moving the Margins
I need to do more short fast runs to build pace. Even a small margin would help psychologically.
But I need a 5% increase in pace. Not small.


An Economist said:-

“The modest increase in private car sales in January lifts hopes that consumer spending may hold up better than feared … and help the economy return to modest growth” Howard Archer of OHS Global Insight.

Car sales in the UK increased by 0.03% - including business as well as private sales.
Business Telegraph 7Feb.

What does this percentage represent in numbers?

Forty Two.

Inevitable I suppose.

The Last Laugh Saloon

 

Way Blog

My Way Of Blogging
Well, I like

• Framework
• Unity
• Structure
• Stability
• Pattern
• Order
• Template

Also, I like to begin a sentence with “Well” - like Peter Jones on “Just a Minute”.

Once I wrote an essay at school that was praised for its structure - but lacked content.

Beginning - Middle - End
Preview - Content - Summary

This is how I like it. Short and to the point.  Up to a point.

Jounalism
Not suitable for a journalist. Their work is subject to random and severe editing - from the bottom up.

So they must:-

• Capture the whole story in the first paragraph
• Second can contain a bit more detail about who and what and where why and how
• Third and subsequent paragraphs can contain more background; “colour” that can me safely lost without changing the meaning of the story.

But the headline sub often writes something that says the opposite of the story.

Rule of Five
This blog is built in blocks of 5

• Ordered Lists
• Unordered Lists
• Website links
• Blog Links
• Pointless 5th

Except when it is not.  You had noticed.

Other Parameters

Each post to contain at least one of the following:-

• Text
• Listing
• Photo
• Cryptic caption to photo
• Quotation - with attribution

Except when it does not.

Subjects

• Running (jogging)
• Motivation
• Planning
• Life, the Universe and Everything (to which the answer is 42)
• Lies, Damn Lies and Statistics

But you knew all this.

English Gothik - 5 windows but one too many chimneys

And gables

“Die Logik muss für sich selber sorgen” - Ludwig Wittgenstein

 

Time Management

Time Management
My mother had a favourite phrase “Do It Now”.

All very fine and dandy in its way but not practical. Maybe OK for those multiple multi-taskers amongst us but a recipe for displacement activity.

Working out the priorities is only part of the solution. If routine but non-urgent things are not done regularly they soon become irregular, urgent and potentially overwhelming.

Like my filing.

Newbridge Not Too Far

Managing Running Training
In theory as a retired individual I should have no problem managing my running training. In practice, like all retired folk, I have taken on too many activities to fit into my remaining time.

It is called “Old Man In A Hurry” syndrome.

Part of my problem is that I don’t understand all the technical terms used for running training. Tempo Runs, LSRs, Heart Rate training, Interval Training, Cross Training, or Fartlek. Get it from IKEA?
Or whether any of these techniques would be of any use to me.

Working to my usual KISS principle - keep it simple stupid - I have decided that what I want to do is improve both my stamina and speed - marginally - over what it is now.

Target
Having knocked 6 minutes off my half marathon time during last year I want to complete a half marathon in under 2 hours. That is another 6 minutes off. I need to be able to average 9 minute miles for the whole distance - an improvement of half a minute off every mile. An improvement of 6%. Not marginal.

Techie Techniques
The consensus appears to be that training with only long runs is not sufficient. This may help increase stamina. But issues are:-

• Boring
• Dispiriting
• Tiring - can cause injury through over-tiredness
• Does not increase speed or pace
• No competition from other runners

The view is that even for slow runners there are benefits from speed training. Sprinting between lampposts, for example. Training like this steadily builds the ability to run just a bit faster. There is then a greater margin between average race pace and “flat out” - so that at the average race pace the runner is working less hard to achieve that pace.

Bit like a big engine in a small car can be more fuel efficient than a small one.

Speed and Distance
To improve my speed I am doing the once-a-month 1 mile self-timed time trial on Runners Forum.

I am using a stretch of path between 2 bridges. The outer ends of the bridge parapets are exactly 1 mile apart. To date my fastest time is 7minutes 22 seconds. This month will be the sixth.

To maintain my distance I am also doing the 1000 miles in 2012 on Runners Forum. Allowing for holidays I reckon this will require an average of 20 miles per week. At present I am slightly behind the curve with 35 miles in the first 2 weeks of the year.

Countdown
Eight weeks to go to the Bath Half Marathon.

Time to get moo-ving.

Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.  James 4-14.