The Real Trots and Weight Loss

Family Photo of my Kettle Bell Weights. The small one is used for the Turkish Get Up exercise. Hard work - look it up

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGRBvom4Zrw

For those who watch the video the instructor and I have similar physiques. Just ask Wifey.

A lot has happened since my last blog. I have bought a new mobile phone, a Sony Xperia L and it has changed my life. I now can do face book where ever I go, does life get any better than that?  And more importantly I have now downloaded the mapmyrun app.

I had a number of  apps to choose from but I decided to opt for MMR as all the other apps asked if they could contact all my contacts and I did not want this to happen.

MMR has been so easy to use my only problem is that it thinks I am female. It will not let me change my sex which is rather disconcerting. I have used it on three runs and it dominates my thinking whilst jogging. Prior to August 20th when I bought the phone I would listen to music and meditate on the run. Now every few minutes Xperia gives me a split time and tells me my average speed in a dalek like voice.

"You have travelled 4.19 miles, total time 39 minutes and 4 seconds average speed per mile 9 minutes 21 seconds ...... not bad for a girl!"

http://www.mapmyrun.com/my_home/

I have used the camera to take pictures which will be used on this page.

On a rest day I ran a 12 miler to my in laws house. According to MMR it took 2 hours 27 minutes which is rather slow going. I decided to go slowly to ensure I had the energy to do the run. I consumed vast quantities of cakes and biscuits before hand and took a bottle of diluted pop with me. It was an eventful run.

Concerned about the lack of light as I ran on roads I found a discarded,lightweight, sleeveless yellow jacket. Probably it had been worn by a ground worker who had thrown it away because it was too dirty but it was good for me.

As I was coming towards the end of the run and feeling tired and aching I jogged past a lay-by with a couple of travellers caravan occupying it. I watched a woman dump a black bag of rubbish in the ditch. 

"Why don't you put it in a bin, why dump your rubbish?" I shouted at her.

"What?"  She replied.

"You're dumping rubbish.." I then made a derogatory commented that cannot be published. 

As I jogged on I was conscious of my aching limbs and slow pace. I then imagined the reaction by the woman's husband to my comments and my speed rapidly increased along the desolate country road until I reached the relative safety of the next village

(We can always run faster than we think we can it depends on who is chasing us.)

Cycling in Wales

I have recently done some cycling with a mate in Pembrokeshire. In this Welsh speaking area there are some serious hills. We went to peddle around and visit a Christian retreat centre for some peace and quiet. Unfortunately there was a group from an inner city church visiting. As I peddled up the hill to Ffald-y- Brenin and for those who visited they will know how steep this is, the first thing I did was to stop some children throwing stones at the cattle. It must have been good fun for them but it was not conducive to a peaceful contemplative time. In response to this experience I wrote a poem which is attached.

With regards to the pub mentioned this is perhaps the best pub I have ever visited. It is like going back to 50 years, when I was still in nappies. More to follow in the next blog

Weight

I have now reached 78.4 kilos which is good. However this may be more to a couple of days feeling ill and not eating anything rather than the diet and exercise plan. My next weigh in will be before the park run on Saturday. 

Also enclosed are a couple of photos I took in Norfolk.














The pics are black and white and silhouettes. Two aspects which I enjoy and hopefully makes one look at the image. The above picture was taken at Hunstanton. It is a shame that the man coming out of the sea looks like he has only one leg and is hopping. 

My next goal for the photography is to use my Flickr account and upload edited pic on this site and share them.


The Road to Ffald-y-Brenin

By Mike the Bike

We happy few, we lucky two, on bikes

Went to south Wales for a couple of nights

To peddle around on coast and shore

And although tired we’d often say “there’s more 

Cycling to do,” 

On the road to Ffald-y-Brenin.

So we camped each night and ate much porridge,

And in Graham’s van there was room for the storage

Of bikes, and cookers and a six berth tent

That allowed the us the time and it really meant

That we could cycle 

Along the road to FFald-y-Brenin

So on a cloudy, wet and sunshine day

With a smile and a laugh we’d make our way.

With Graham behind shouting, “ Show me the meaning of speed, go like the wind,”

We would make our way and at last ascend,

The steep steep road to Ffald-y-Brenin.

So we got to the top and we walked about

“Where are you God,” we would shout

It was noisy and sadly there was no sign of God

Was it because, Graham, in the chapel had food in his gob?

So disappointed we cycled away from

The road to Ffald-y-Brenin

So rather depressed and not very gay,

We free wheeled downhill and made our way

To Wales greatest pub and drank much beer

And saw in the corner God and said, “Why are you here

Away from the road to Ffald-y-Brenin?”

So taking our seats we sat at his table

And he said to us, “I am glad that you’re able,

To join me at Bessie’s the place I love best,

Away from the noise, it’s where I find rest.

Close to the road to Ffald-y-Brenin”

So we will return to this Godly place

And with the meaning of speed we will race

To the pub and the centre and there meet with God

And ensure there is now no food in our gob

On the road to Ffald-y-Brenin.

Cod Liver Oil, fruit and nuts and evaluating priorities in life.

I live quite an active life. My mind is usually buzzing about the next thing I must accomplish. Do I do photography or kayaking, what about the garden, the veg needs watering. Should I spend time with wifey or go for a run. (I am trying to get her jogging so I can kill two birds with one stone.) I haven't seen my parents for sometime and I do not want to lose out on my inheritance.

I am also making plans to visit Uganda in February and someone has asked me to take photos at their wedding in October. At home Wifey and I are preparing for a fitting of a new kitchen in preparation of me finishing working for the police in 2015. It is our intention to rent our house so we can have a little overseas adventure. Hopefully together.

So life is hectic, we are like two hamsters in the same exercise ball not too sure where we should be going. But we are two hamster who enjoy each others company and have fun even though we do occasionally knock into furniture.

And with regards to the half marathon in less than four weeks I am now looking for sponsorship to raise funds for the Huntington Disease Association. Please see earlier posts about the HDA and my friend Mick Billingham who suffers from this awful disease. For more info look at the website

http://hda.org.uk/

Mick Billingham and me at St Andrews Hospital.

Friday 9 August 2013

This morning I met my parents for breakfast at Silverstone Golf Course. I consumed with a hint of guilt a full english breakfast that included fried bread. Yesterday I had a food binge when I munched my way through  two large packets of Walkers Cheese and Onion Crisps, (Not the children size) and a mars bar. It was not my fault as I was working a 12 hours shift, I had eaten only a bowl of partly cooked porridge for breakfast.  I did not have my fruit and nut mix to eat when I got the sugar shakes so I raided the snack vending machine.

I continued my binge at home when after dinner I ate 3 apples pies with custard. They were exceedingly good. Again this was not my fault as Wifey had bought the pies and left them alone in the cupboard.

On Saturday my parents came to visit and after they left I ran around a big block 6 times. According to my online distance calculator each lap is 1.34 mile which equates to 8.046 miles.

Great news is that the knee seems to be okay and I had no urge to make like a bear. A great relief for me and my bowels.

On my return home I had to get fluids and salts into my body so I had a large drink of watered down pepsi. Not too sure how healthy that was but I do feel refreshed, after some stretches I feel quite good. I feel relatively confident that I could run an extra 5 miles!

Diet

I was annoyed that when we met for breakfast my mother commented on wifey's weight loss.  Nothing was said about my improving physique. I wanted to tell them, over breakfast, that a woman in the control room said I looked brown and fresh but I thought it would not have been a good time.

To battle the sugar rushes at work I do eat a lot of mixed fruit and nuts and to ease the pain in my joints I have started the daily taking of cod liver oil and Glucosamine Sulphate. I am skeptical about what benefits I will feel but Guru has advised that I take these supplements. Time will tell and I will use the achey pain levels when I walk down stairs in the morning as a guide to any improvements.

I am please with my anti blister socks. Only problem is that I bought one pair and they are beginning to smell. It is again not my fault as they are not being washed as regularly as they should; and I am not in charge of these procedures.

Aims

My aim is to get below 12 stone. To achieve this I must lose 3 kilos. (Sorry about mixing imperial and metric.) This is the weight of my smallest kettle bell so it should be achievable. Problem is next week I am cycling in Wales with my mate Graham. Although we will doing some serious cycling there will be some serious consumption of solid and liquid carbohydrates.

The curse of the Ford Transit and Jerry and Benny's Ice Cream

It has been an eventful week in my fitness and weight loss programme. It is interesting to note how easy it is to put on weight and then so difficult to lose it. For wifey's birthday treat we were going out for a meal. However as time was short  the meal ended up at home with pie and chips for me and a healthy stir fry and a few stolen chips for her. 

My regular trips to the scales showed a massive increase in body mass for me the next day. It does seem so unfair. 

The following day I was courageously injured on duty. I am worried that this bloody injury could impact my training  programme.

Driving north to Kettering I entered a congested roundabout. In front of traffic lights I saw a transit van stationary, it had broken down. I parked behind it and activated the blue light. I went to the van and joined the driver looking under the bonnet. I pretended to know something about car mechanics and made a few pointless observations and it became apparent he knew less than I did. It was no good, so to clear the road we had to push the van off the roundabout. The driver, his mate and I pushed the van off the road on to the grass. We were stronger than I realized and at speed the van mounted the kerb and headed with momentum toward my police car. I thought that if anyone was recording this on a phone, the sight of a police man running round a van as it collided with his marked car would make a great youtube clip.

To prevent this I started to run round to the back of the van only to trip up over the drivers mates foot and fall forward into the oncoming traffic. I landed on my right knee just above the place 3 pins were added when I broke my knee a few years ago. It was agony but I could not show the pain. 

"You alright mate."

"Yes fine no problem" 

"I thought you were about to be run over."

"Yes so did I but it's okay."

"You sure you're alright, you're limping and are you crying?"

"I am fine, never felt better. Must go"

And with that I drove off with grazed knee and damaged pride and a nice egg like swelling on my knee. The good news is that I think I can still jog. Time will tell.

After I got home I thought I deserved a treat. There was some Ben and Jerry's cookie dough ice cream in the freezer. I deserved a couple of scoops but unfortunately I ate the who tub. It was not my fault as once started it was impossible to stop.

1 August 2013 

The months just fly by and here we are in August when it should be June. I went for a 40 min Jog this morning and despite some pain in the right knee the run went well. I followed Gurus advice and did a different route. As my calendar is now complete I am looking for a different place I can regularly run passed and take photos once a month to record a year at one, iconic, beautiful spot.

And concerning the photography, I went to Silverstone on Sunday to take a photograph with the theme of colour.  I took a number of photos of both cars and people.

Late in the afternoon I saw these beautiful women working for a tyre company all dressed in black playing with their ipads leaning against a bright orange wall. Great, I thought, this will make a great picture.  I'll be bold and ask to take their picture. All good so far until I tried to focus.  My Nikon was distracted by their beauty and would not focus and therefore I could not take the picture. I felt too embarrassed to spend any time trying to reset the camera, so I  pretended that I had taken a picture and walked off thanking the girls for their help. The picture taken here was done away from the girls and missed the impact of them the black dresses, their shadows and bright orange background.

4 August

For the stats I am now 79.9k and I ran 7.5 miles in 1 hour 20 mins. My objective for the programmed long run on Sunday was to finish, I was not concerned about the time. This week the training programme include a 40 min tempo run so this will hopefully improve my speed.

A blocked path that lengthened the long run by 0.5 miles

And the good news with regards to my injury is that apart from slight discomfort in my right ankle knee and hip I seem to be able to continue training.

On the advice of a radio pundit I purchased a pair of Anti- Blister Socks from Sports Direct. The pundit said that runners will buy an expensive pair of running shoes and not consider what quality sock to wear with them. Good socks improve running, he said. There will be an update in the next blog.

http://www.menshealth.co.uk/living/gear/put-a-sock-in-it-9781

The rise of the Mediterranean Diet.

July 28

I am spending a lot of time each day jumping on and off the scales to see how much fat I am losing. I am now bordering on the 79k/80k boundary. To be consistently below this 80 k mark has become a psychological goal for me. My diet is that of a guinea pig rather than  your average omnivore. Salad is now my staple diet with nuts and dried fruit fulfilling my need for sugar, yet my weight does not drop as I would have expected it to do so. The belly fat does seem very reluctant to go. I am sure it is very comfortable, it has been there a long time so it stubbornly resists my diet and exercise eviction tactics.

When I returned to work a female sergeant commented on my changed appearance.

"You look good," she said, "You look brown and fresh."

"Brown and fresh like a what?" I asked

She remained silent and said, "I don't know" she replied

I am sure she was thinking of something but would not say.

So today it is 6.00 am and I am off for my programmed 60 minute run. Last night we went out to celebrate Chaz's birthday at an Italian Restaurant in town. It was a great time with friends and good food and I now feel inspired to look at mediterranean diets to eat well and healthily.

http://www.patient.co.uk/health/how-to-follow-the-mediterranean-diet

It is now 6.08 hrs and it is time for the run. Hopefully I will keep the cadence at approx 180 an hour  with no toilet stops. 

09.15 hrs

The run went well with one toilet stop. I hope and pray that the curse of the JT's will be history by the time I run the Northampton Half Marathon in 8 weeks time. Apart from that the run went well with the opportunity to take the final calendar picture in the field of ripened rape. 

I came home and did my stretches and touch of kettlebell weight exercise.  

Photography Stuff.

When I grow up I want to be a photo journalist. To be able to take pictures that tell stories and reveal the emotions of peoples lives is an ambition, or a pipe-dream, of mine.

(PS the expression Pipedream comes from the dreams of those smoking opium in pipes)

My on line tutor encourages me to be bold and go and take my camera into places and into peoples lives to record what is happening. 

The below website is mentioned on the course.

http://www.paultaggart.com/home/

And below is a photo from Cornwall I am pleased with. A small aperture to obtain a good depth of field with a long exposure to have the necessary light to capture the image of the 'mediterranean like' port of Porthleven on the South Cornish Coast in July. It captures, for us, the warmth of the day and calmness of the night. Thankfully it does not record the incessant call of the bloody seagulls who would not stop screaming

My next assignment on the course is to look at the use of colour in an image. So, watch this space!

.

Cornwall and being rather stupid

July 20 2013

My Park Run Time for 6 July was 26:06 mins. I was really disappointed as it was only a few seconds quicker than my previous attempt and this time with my running cadence and breathing methods I was hoping to obliterate my PB.  My running Guru said this was a good time and I should be pleased but I was disappointed as the distance ran in 30 seconds is only 200 metres. At the end of this run I was gasping for breath looking the part of someone who had pushed themselves to the extreme. The time before I was slightly out of breath.

For the week 6 - 13 July I have been in Cornwall with wifey and friends. We shared a house in Porthleven which was an ideal location for walking running and swimming in the sea. The only downside were the chav like herring gulls that shouted abuse at me from 4.30 am. Their 'dawn chorus' was awful and prevented a good night sleep  which us top runners require.

Early morning runs were along the South West Coastal Footpath which is a bit more interesting than my usual 4 miler. The path was steep out of the town and sometimes so narrow I had to walk briskly rather than jog but it was a great time.

The weather was the best I have experienced in Cornwall. I have been down to the lizard with my family for over 20 years and this time it was like we were in the south of France. Meals were consumed al fresco and each morning I would plod into the village looking for the local patisserie keen to practice my French, but ended up buying milk in the Costcutter Store.

Unfortunately the week ended on an obese note as I when returned home I was 81.4 kilos - I blame it on the pasties.

We are currently experiencing the hottest, driest July in the UK for a long time. Early in the afternoon I thought I'd go for my run. I foolishly thought I'd not take water as I would not be too long. I commenced the jog at a high cadence and changed the route on the advice of the guru. A long way from home I started to experience the sugar shakes and struggled to get back. I spent a considerable time recovering in the back garden

And with regards to my photography I have been tasked to look at light. The  photo to the right was taken at the beach with the light from the sun bouncy off the rippling water. Any comments will be gratefully received

I underexposed the water to make it black and bring out the light as sunbursts. It is rather busy and the eye does not know what to look at.

23 July 2013

I have continued to run and keep to the training programme for the half marathon. I am pleased to say that I am now under 80k. Hurrah (79.3k to be exact)

Northampton Park Run and other stuff

Saturday 6 July

The sun is shining, there is no wind so the conditions are good for a PB in the Northampton 5 km Park Run. It also helps that this is my second attempt and my first run I did at a slow pace to ensure I got round without stopping. I am hoping to be around the 25 minute mark but I will have to wait for the official time to come through sometime today.

Me and my guru

I have received so much wisdom from my running Guru, Michael Williams. He gave me great advice and gave me an article to read on breathing whilst running.  Breathing, thankfully comes quite naturally to me but establishing a breathing routine whilst on a run, that improves efficiency and reduces risk of injury is quite difficult.

The pattern is breathe in for three strides and exhale for two. The result is alternate feet down down when one exhales. I suggest you give it a go because it is harder than you think particularly as I was also concentrating on maintaining a running cadence of 180 strides per minute. 

 It is my estimation that over 200 people took part this morning. It was great to see children in push chairs being taken round by fit parents, children and more mature people take part. I categorize myself as being in the maturing process and always on the look out for older people to beat. Saying that my Guru and inspiration is 10 years older than me but a lot fitter. Doesn't seem right to me but the challenge is at sometime in the future I beat him. Looking at the self portrait I do not seem to be in that much pain. For the next run I will try even harder. As the 'race' is only 3 miles it is an opportunity to really push myself to the limits. Who knows one day I may even throw up.

After the run we went for drink and stretch at Chaz's house. Chaz is a good friend who is going through the rigors of chemotherapy. He is an inspiration as never complains and maintains a positive outlook. He even allowed me to take photos of him undergoing chemo. It was my intention to try and record what he was going through. I hope for  his sake the Lions give the Aussies a dam good thrashing in the third and final test.

And one more thought. For those interested in photography please see before it finishing on BBC iplayer watch the film on the photographer Don McCullin 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b036j3fp/imagine..._Summer_2013_McCullin/

It is very disturbing and created in me a passion never to complain about anything again. (It lasted 3 hours until wifey was late coming home. "Doesn't she understand me? I am hungry!") Man's unrestrained evil and hatred is unbelievable. What he has seen, sometimes in the name of Christ, has formed a strong understandable atheism.

I felt guilty eating my left over pizza and salad. But if you can stomach disturbing images watch the film

I love my garden, as well as my wife, girls, running, photography, family, newts, birds, work,walking, cycling, eating outside, frogs and water boatmen.

Weight end of week 1 - 80.4 kilos

11 weeks to go to the Northampton half marathon 22 Sept 2013.

July is going to be good.

3 July

This could be an exciting month for those following the blog, all three of you. Me, my mum and someone in Slovakia. 

I am going to amend this blog to add bits about the photographs I am taking. I do like photography and I am trying to improve my photographic skills. So instead of having two blogs, pyghtlejogger and smiffy's photos I thought I would  add thoughts about smiffy's photography to this existing blog.

On Saturday I am taking part in the Northampton 5 km Park Run, later that day wifey and I travel to Cornwall for a week with regular runs along the Porthleven sea front. Thankfully the weather forecast looks to be good. 

Whilst paddling in Slovenia my kayaking instructor gave me advice about running and general fitness. He advised me of the wonders of the kettle weight so at JJB sports I bought a 9 kilo weight. Kelvin suggested a 8 kilo weight. Unfortunately stock was limited and this weight was not available. Despite  having the choice of a 6 kilo weight I took the manly option and went for the heavier 9 kilo. I think this is too heavy for the general exercises and would take it back but my pride won't let me.

I bought wifey a 3 kilo weight as a gift which I am sure she will love. 

I never knew about the kettle weight but thankfully there are plenty of training videos on the net.

http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=kettle+weight+for+beginners&view=detail&mid=4BC751CF62F14B9135324BC751CF62F14B913532&first=0&FORM=NVPFVR

The good thing about this training video is that the trainers are British. Most youtube videos seem to be American. I am thinking there must be a demand for middle aged British role model trainers. I may do a fitness course on youtube!

My most recent 4 miler was done keeping the cadence to 180 (ish) in hot sunshine. Keeping a regular pace does seem to reduce my time and increase the sweat. It will also hopefully improve my fitness, reduce my weight and reduce the frequency of the dreaded JT's.

The attached Photos from the recent 4 miler are attached. This includes the self portrait which is meant to show the sweaty brow of a not very long distance runner. 

As you may know I am taking photographs from one spot in a field throughout the year and June's photo is to the right. I have one month to go and then with the help of photoshop I will be able to put together a 12 photo montage.

I will compete in this weeks Park Run when I will hopefully run with a regular cadence and improve on my personal best of 26 mins 38 seconds. I will update the blog accordingly.

Back in Training

26 June 2013

After the last posting in February, for reasons I can now not remember, I stopped writing the blogs and doing the running. I kept doing the occasional four mile runs but gave up on any idea of doing a  half marathon. However after a few months of random jogging I became aware that I was drifting and needed a goal to keep me focused. And so I have signed up for the Northampton Marathon on 22 September 2013.

http://gobeyondultra.co.uk/events/northampton_Half_2013

(It would be great if others could join me. My goal is to finish in a time of less than 2 hours 30 mins.) 

I have down loaded a training programme and look forward to the challenge; honestly I do. I start next week when I am away for a few days so hopefully photos of running along the Cornish Coast will appear on the blog

For those who kept up to date with previous blogs I am sure you will be pleased to know there will be regular updates on the state of my knee, bowels and weight. 

I am 81.8 kilos which equates to 12.9 stone. My intention as always is to break the 12 stone mark (76.2 kilo) The dreaded joggers trots are still a problem but not as debilitating as it was and the knee seems okay.

I have recently returned from a weeks holiday Kayaking in Slovenia with eight mates. It was a fantastic time in a beautiful country with cheap but good coffee. (1 Euro) We had a coach who taught us and led us safely down some grade 3 rapids. He also taught running and gave me advice on how to run landing on the middle of the foot and at a cadence of 180 strides a minute.

So returning to the UK I have enthusiasm to run, to write this blog, to take improve my photography and continue to paddle. I will use paddling as my cross training exercise. So here it goes. I am so grateful to be in a job that I enjoy that allows me to fund my enthusiasm for life.

I have also signed up for the Northampton 5 km park run. Please see the website for more information but this great initiative is free and with up to 200 other people run around the race course each Saturday, work permitting. I look forward to joining with others who have been infected with the jogging bug and be able to measure improvement in my personal best at the same time.

(my PB for the first and only park run is 26 mins 36 secs.)

http://www.parkrun.org.uk/northampton/

For those interested my running plan can be found at the following site. Please any advice will be gratefully received - on how to improve my running or any other aspect of my life!!

http://www.bupa.co.uk/running/training/training-programmes/beginner-half-marathon/

Monthly update - Its going to be Leicester

Feb 26

Running at night - the long way home .

According to my running plan today I was due to do a 20 min run at level 7. I judged level 7 as running hard so I would not be able to have a conversation with someone but still manage to communicate by nodding my head or grunting.

The timed run did not really appeal to me but I am determined to follow the plan so I gave it ago after the usual battle with procrastination. I wanted to do anything but go for that run, but as soon as I was out the door pounding the streets I felt so good and really enjoyed the run. I was pleased that I was able to push my self and clutching my ipod managed a 20 min run to the second.

Apart from the runs with Dutch I rarely actually push myself. I run at levels 3 - 5 which enables me to have good conversations whilst running. It is a shame therefore I usually run alone.

Getting home I jumped on the scales and was disappointed to remain at 12 st 8 llbs. In the pub last night I only had two pints and missed out on burger and chips for a more healthy chicken fajita.

However I will continue to run, continue to eat less carbs and continue to pray for my knee.

Tomorrow it is the Fartlek!!

6 March 2013

I am pleased to report that my jogging is continuing. This evening after a day of not eating carbs and getting on the scales I was depressed to see I am still floating around the 12 st 9 lbs mark. I must admit I  felt like giving up particularly as tonight was the 10 km run. Why put myself through this unnecessary pain when I could simply do 4 milers every other day and keep reasonably fit and loose a few pounds. So I left the house to do the regulation run and I decided to forget any idea of training for a half marathon. But as I left the door and jogged up the road my enthusiasm and determination returned so I managed to do the 10 km run in just over an hour. This included a stop at a nearby police station to use the facilities.

I returned with a healthy glow and even managed to do the few stretches.

Some of the runs have been at night through herds of killer sheep. When chased by these newly evolved carnivores my speed training does improve.

March 29

With trips to Scotland and the very cold weather I have not been out jogging for sometime. And the longer I leave it the harder it is to get out of the door dressed in my tight lycra gear .  It is sad to say the carbs in my life are becoming ever more attractive and I have not gone on the scales for fear of the result

However you will be pleased to know I have done the old faithful 4 miler and feeling a lot better for it. And it is my intention to do a run, usually the old favourite, every other day. The 0.83 mile run to work does not count. When I get out I just love jogging - I feel healthy and perhaps a few endorphins are released giving me the feel good factor.

My knee has been causing me problems so I have decided not to do a half marathon but do another 10 km and the one looking good is the Leicester 10 km on 12 May

http://www.thresholdevents.co.uk/running/leicesters-big-10k/leicesters-big-10k.php

Hopefully I will keep to this plan. I have already booked the day off as this is the same date as the Sheffield half marathon.

Spring is now here we are just waiting for the weather to realise it. 

See you next month

Getting started again - Sheffield Half in May

Because of the icy snow windy conditions I did not take part in the Eric Humphries race. I can hear the mutterings of wimp but the decision had to be made to protect my knee. I have continued to jog and keep doing the 4 miler. I do need to do longer routes and buy a new pair of running shoes.

My running shoes are over a year old and have done a fair number of miles. They feel uncomfortable and hard on the feet.

The below site suggest between 300 - 500 miles which I think I will have done. But any suggestions or thoughts would be gratefully received.

http://www.therunnersguide.com/howlongrunningshoeslast/

I have been running on an ad hoc basis but without a focus I just jog a bit here and there sometimes with Dutch but mostly alone. The problem with running alone is wherever I go there I am again. 

So after a great deal of thought I decided to do a half marathon. I needed a plan so in 12 weeks I am to do the Sheffield half marathon.

p://www.sheffieldmarathon.com

I am pleased that already the plan has given me focus and purpose. I found the running plan on a work notice board.  It seems balanced and not to difficult and it also include fartleks ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fartlek ) which are meant to be good at losing weight and increasing speed. So hopefully I will do the race in less than 2 hours and weigh under 12 stone

It is Friday today so I have done my 4 km. The problem is that on Saturday I am due to do an 8 km run but I am doing nights and I always find it hard to jog when feeling knackered at the start. I may do the run on the way home after work - run the long way home but again it is the motivation when feeling tired - it is so much easier to convince my self to go straight  home to a bowl of weetabix in hot milk.  

Since my last blog I have literally ran through winter rain snow and ice and stubbornly maintained my weight at around 12 st 12 lbs. But my new focus in running has coincided with Lent so I have forsaken major carbs for 40 days. That is potatoes and bread and pasta. I have included crumpets and weetabix as a man can not live on protein alone.

According to the scales I have lost 2 lbs since the start of lent so it will be interesting to see how this progresses. Particularly on nights when I am prone to binge on cheese and onion crisps and chocolate.

Since my last blog I have not been consistent in my running schedule it has been very wintery. I have been attacked by carnivorous sheep and preserved through snow and saturated fields. However these severe conditions have kept people inside and golfers have been unable to use the local course. This kindly allows me a short cut across the fairways and when no one is looking across the greens. It would now appear spring has started to come so unfortunately I am keeping away from the danger of low flying golf balls. 

My street name.