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!

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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.