It seems that every day the newspapers carry some form of running related story. I read a review of a new book with the very catchy title of ” Run Fat B!tch Run ” by mother of two Ruth Field. It also has a very interesting by-line “It’s time to give those skinny b!tches a run for their money!”. Ruth’s blog can be read here. What I enjoyed about the review and interview with Ruth, was her no crap approach to running. She says you don’t have to enjoy running; enjoy the benefits running gives you like being fitter, finding it easier to buy clothes, better confidence and concentration and much more. Too often we have excuses for everything, and are experts at talking ourselves out of what we want, and continuously set ourselves up for failure. She advocates finding your inner “bitch” ( I’m sure you’ll find one somewhere within you if you look) and “getting your arse of the sofa”. Sounds like a great book, but with a title like ” Run Fat B!tch Run “, I really wouldn’t go buying it for your wife or girlfriend if you’d like them to stay with you…
Its nice to see a different approach from the typical self help books out there, where you can think yourself thin, lose weight while your sleep, or ask the universe nicely and your heart’s desires shall be yours. Life can be hard enough at times, and it pays to have a bit of perspective, but when it comes to something that you really want – like losing weight, being fitter, learning a language or any of the myriad other things, the buck really does rest with you. Make a commitment to yourself for what you want. Write it down, look at it and think. What steps do you need to take? Break it into a step by step process. The first step is normally the hardest, and for running it could be just to get off the sofa and out the door. But when you are out, you’ve started.
January is almost over. How many New Year’s resolutions did you make? How many are still going? The first of January is a convenient benchmark for turning over a new leaf, but it isn’t the only day of the year you can decide to do something differently. How about right now? Pick one resolution ( studies show you have a much better chance of achieving one than half a dozen) and write it down. Better still get a picture and stick that beside it. Get a clear mental picture of what this resolution will mean for you when you get there. (as this is a running blog, imagine how you will look after the 8 weeks of training you will do, how you will feel when you’ve crossed the finish line, how proud and envious you will make your family or friends) Beside it write down the date you will achieve it by. Next write out the steps you need to take to achieve it. Then start with step one.
If you can’t run yet, then get out and walk. The Cara Bundoran Challenge can be run or walked. If this is your first time getting back to exercise, why not sign up to walk the 2012 Cara Bundoran Challenge, and next year aim to get to the point where you can run it? You’ll have plenty of company
Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out.— Robert Collier
Last week was a good one, I managed to clock up 23 odd kilometers made up of three sessions of 4 kilometers, and one of 11 kilometers. I could be smug and self satisfied here, but my ass and legs are a bit sore and the knowledge at least the same ( and probably a lot more) must be done over the next 8 imposes its own humility. The weather over the weekend was fantastic. Clear bright skies, and dry cool air made being outside a pleasure. The wooly hat even came off a few times.
After a rest day on Monday I was out again this morning running from my house, up over finner hill to the singlestreet roundabout in Bundoran and back. Thats a round trip of 7.5 kilometers. Maybe it was residual aches and pains from the weekend but I found it extremely tough. Calves and ankles were quite sore, and my feet went completely numb a few times. From looking at some stuff online, the foot numbness can be caused by a number of things, such as badly fitting running shoes, bad running posture or whats most likely in my case…laces tied too tightly. The aching sore muscles were easily dealt with by making sure they were stretched properly when I was done. To make extra certain sure I sat for ten minutes in a cold bath with stopwatch. It did work, I wasnt as sore or aching afterwards. Though you do question your sanity when you are waist deep in cold water, looking at a stopwatch.
Whats on the Mp3 player these days?
- John Mellancamp – Human Wheels
- The Green Children – Dragons
- Stratovarius – Eagleheart
- Nightwish – The Last of the Wilds
- Eric Clapton & JJ Cale – Ride the River
- Skid Row – 18 and Life
- Jethro Tull – Aqualung
- Hinder – All American Nightmare
- The Who – Wont get fooled again
- Grateful Dead – Truckin’ (at the end of last week’s post)
- Mike Oldfield – Tricks of the Light
- F.R David – Pick up the phone
- Def Leppard – Switch 625
- Mamas Boyz – Runaway Dreams
- Counting Crows – Mrs Potter’s Lullaby
- Bocchernini – La Musica de nocturna ( Classical music? for running to? Yes, and it works)
- The Hooters – Satellite
- Zac Brown – Cold Hearted ( possibly the best done-me-wrong song ever)
- Technogue – Abha Na Sea
- Bruce Springsteen – Further on up the Road
- 3 Doors Down – Kryptonite ( see below)
- Red Fang – Prehistoric Dog
Well, we’re midway through the second week of the new year. I hope you’re training is going well. Nine weeks until this year’s Cara Bundoran Run. No pressure then….
Compared with this time last year, the weather has been great. Where last year you were trying to run with a bit of skating thrown in for good measure, this year the weather has been great. Having said that I probably have now jinxed us all.
So what have I been doing this week? Monday and today I went to Rossnowlagh beach to run its 2mile or so length. On a nice day there is no place finer, on a bad day it can be rough. Today was a kinda rough day. The comedian Billy Connolly said it best, there is no such thing as the wrong weather, only the wrong clothes. Today you could see the wall of rain coming in from miles away. I didnt bother with some form of jacket. Just my usual wooly hat due to having less thatch on my head these days.
It was nice though, in its own sadistic way. From a beach that is occupied by thousands during the summer months, today it was empty, and clean. No rubbish, dog poop, random holes left in the sand by youngsters building sandcastles. What there was though, was water. Lots of it. With drains and ditches overflowing from the recent rains, it was running down onto the beach, which has been carved down several inches from also recent stormy seas. A receding tide and heavy rain had left the beach with a layer of water. Great fun trying to navigate to run on the ridges of sand between the shallow puddles between them. Cold wet feet and cold wet sandy legs was the result. But its worth it to know that another 4 miles or so has been added to the spreadsheet (yes, I’m one of those people)
Another great place for a run is Castlecaldwell, just outside Belleek, County Fermanagh. Its still right on our doorstep, and gives the chance of a sheltered walk or run at this time of the year. Last year I went out there quite a few times. Its a beautiful place, and with a criss cross of paths and roadways, provides lots of variation to those who want to do more than its 3.5K length. With gravel paths most of the way it provides decent traction in frosty weather. We haven’t had any real frost this winter so far so we are probably due some over the coming weeks. I took a walk there on Saturday with my daughter as she wanted to try out her new hiking boots. The pathways out there looked like someone has swept them clean before we’d arrived. If you fancy a bit of variation from running on the roads or beaches, its worth a visit.
Having now made the semi-successful transition from running on treadmills to running outdoors under my own propulsion, my goal is to now add an extra mile a week to my runs. At the moment I can comfortably do 4 miles, on Friday’s run I’m going to try 5 miles, which should bring me to the point where I can join Paddy Donoghue’s training without making a show of myself.
Til next week….keep on truckin’
Another year over, and a new one has arrived full of promise. Over the past 18 months or so the number of people out walking, running or cycling has gone through the roof. No matter where you are in Ireland these days, and no matter what time of day, you are going to see people out getting exercise. Over Christmas, I went for an early run at 7am and met another jogger coming the opposite direction out of the darkness. On Facebook a few hours ago, there was more than a few conversations about losing weight, and getting fit. I suppose, getting fit or losing weight is most people’s number one New Year Resolution.
Well over the past month I’ve made the transition from running on a treadmill to running outside. The treadmill served its purpose, it got me a lot fitter and really slimmed down the waistline. I’m sure there are some hard core runners out there who would look on treadmill running as pretend running. I found it had a couple of advantages for me such as – It pulled me along, (and if I didn’t want to end up on my ass on the floor, I had to keep with it), It forced me to have a better form and it also had lots of motivation built in – seeing your calories, distance and time, makes you want to beat your last performance, and gives you something to write into the training diary when you get home.
But the Cara run in March isn’t on a treadmill, so there comes a time when you have to leave that wonderful invention and step outside onto the tarmac. And it is very different when the ground beneath your feet isnt moving. So early in December I started running outdoors. The unfortunate thing is that its quite a shock going from indoor, mechanically assisted running, to outdoor running under your own power.
I’ve been out in the car and have measured out several routes. So I have 2 mile, 3 mile, 4 mile, 5 mile and 8 mile route identified. So far I have been doing the 2 mile and 3 mile route, which I can do without difficulty. Thanks to the treadmill I know I can run for an hour without problems, so there is nothing to stop me from running for an hour or more on the tarmac. Easy to say, not so easy to do, but I’m getting there. I follow Paddy Donoghue’s exploits on Facebook and am astounded by the distances he gets through in a week. I don’t feel good enough yet to join the group training that Paddy organises which take place Tuesday’s, Wednesday’s and weekends yet, but all going to plan I will be able to by the end of January.
For the 2012 Cara Bundoran, three of my brothers and two of my sister’s are also taking on the challenge. So failure isn’t an option! Or I’ll never hear the end of it..
You can still enter the Cara Bundoran Run 2012 here
Everyone of us are broke these days, and will probably be even worse off next week after the budget. So before you get completed skelped of your cash, do yourself a favour and sign up for the Cara Bundoran Run now. The very thoughtful team organising the run for Saturday March 10th 2012, have put the entry fee on a sliding scale. So if you sign up before December 31st, entry is €20, from January 1st to March 5th its €25 and €30 on Race day.
Sign up now and you’ve made the commitment. But also think of the other benefits, such as having another 4 weeks to train, and a little more motivation to keep your hand out of the Quality Street tin on Christmas day.
Entry couldn’t be easier. Click Here and fill in your details, you can also pay online with laser card
I saw a surprising documentary recently that has made me think a bit more about food. Fat,Sick, & nearly dead is a documentary by Australian Joe Cross, and his experiment with change in diet and lifestyle. Joe suffers from chronic urticaria, a disease that causes painful rashes and blisters to appear on his skin. Considering himself to already have one foot in the grave, and been on steroids and other medications for years, Joe decided to completely stop the typical western diet he had been living on, in favor of fresh juices for sixty days. The documentary covers Joes trip across America, with a juicer hooked up to a car battery in his boot. The end result was that Joe lost a massive amount of weight and cured himself of urticaria. To to prove that his case wasn’t a fluke, a truck driver he met on his travels took on the same process and also cured himself of urticaria, and dropped more than 200 pounds of weight.
While Joe’s experiment was extreme, its results should not be that surprising. Several years ago I saw another documentary by American Morgan Spurlock who undertook to eat a MacDonalds meal three times per day for 30 days. His documentary was called Supersize me, after the infamous McDonalds meal size option. Morgan Spurlock started from the opposite position to Joe Cross; he was fit, healthy and a good weight. At the end of his thirty day stint, he was 25 pounds heavier, he had severe liver dsyfunction and mood swings that were tied to his cravings for more McDonalds food. His physicians likened his symptoms to those of a binge alcoholic.
Both documentaries pose a very interesting question about what we eat and its effect on our health. We’ve been hearing that fruit and vegetables are good for our health from a very young age, and indeed our health experts tell us that we need at least five portions of fruit and vegetables per day. Eliminating them and eating whatever processed and convenience food is to hand, has a negative effect on our health. The Supersize me documentary showed this by speeding up the process that would normally take many years. According to the expert opinion that Mr Spurlock sought out as part of his experiment he was advised that during his thirty days he consumed about eight years of the allowed volume of fast food.
I don’t think that there are many of us who would argue against the effects of fast food/junk food. But there has to be a corresponding cause/effect for a healthy diet comprised of fruit, veg and unprocessed foods. Maybe that is why it was so unsprisinging that Joe Cross managed to cure himself by improving his diet. I have read somewhere that the increased incidence of depression ( and worse, suicide) could possibly be linked to our diet, including processed meats which have traces of hormones, and other additives, the effects of which have never fully been examined.
Speaking for myself I can see a lot more fruit and veg making an appearance in my diet from now on.