Filed under: British Military Fitness, Juneathon | Tags: AudioFuel, British Military Fitness, Fitness Footwear, Juneathon 2010
As regular readers might have gathered, I failed in my Juneathon mission mid-way through the month. After the chav-spotting escapade on day 13, I did follow up with two back-to-back British Military Fitness sessions on days 14 and 15. However, it was game over after that. Friends in need, pressure of work – there are a few reasons – and I haven’t managed to make exercise a priority each day. In fact, I haven’t even managed to keep up with everyone else’s Juneathon escapades. At some point, I will read all of them – so do keep up the good work folks. There are still some fab prizes at stake courtesy of Fitness Footwear and AudioFuel.
Filed under: Juneathon, running | Tags: England flag, Juneathon 2010, running, St George's Cross
Very patriotic, I say
By Sunday morning, I was up at Phil’s for a five-miler around his neighbourhood. We decided have a friendly bet on the number of houses bedecked with England flags, which he cannot stand what with their thuggish connotations. I’m not a big fan either – give me a Union Jack any day – but it’s fun winding him up.
Obviously thinking his neighbours had a bit more class (and planning a partly off-road route), he guessed 10. I went for 15. And won. We jogged past 19 hours draped with the red and white cross of St George, to his growing disgust. He he.
Juneathon day 13 summary: run / 5 miles approx. / 52:23
It was all going downhill at the end of the working week. I just can’t quite manage to fit in work, running, blogging and social life – not to mention food – every single day. However, I resolved to try harder when reading the exploits others. The likes of TravellingHopefully and FitArtist are putting me to shame.
On Saturday morning, I went out to do the local vineyard route – full of good intentions. Within a mile, I had another stitch in the same place as before, just underneath the lower ribs on my right-hand side. So bad this time, that I had to walk for a couple of minutes. That put a new PB out of reach sdly, but I did run the rest of the way including the draggy slope on the last bit up to my flat.
The stitch thing is a bit weird – not something I’ve suffered from much before. I’d eaten about an hour and a half before running on Saturday morning – fresh fruit, yoghurt and a handful of granola – which should be enough to provide fuel for the run, but not too heavy to cause me any problems. Anybody got any good cures?
Juneathon day 12 summary: run / 3.5 miles / 33:16
Hmmm, did plan for a run. Then plans changed and I ate curry, drank wine then ate half of a massive bar of Dairy Milk with a girlfriend.
Ooops.
It’s all going downhill after a relatively promising start. I was in London for a conference yesterday, and took the opportunity of a rare mid-week catch-up with the fella. Instead of Juneathoning, we had fish and chips at the Brill Grill and shared a bottle of wine. Bugger.
Filed under: British Military Fitness, Juneathon | Tags: British M, Juneathon 2010, prospect park, running
I seem to have previously missed the Juneathon rule about doing the actual blogging bit On The Appropriate Day. Is this a new one this year JogBlog? Thanks to people like me, The Independent Adjudicator, aka iliketocount, is having terrible trouble keeping up.
So anyway, back to Wednesday. I did actually go to British Military Fitness, and had a lovely time engaged in much banter with the chaps in the park while Instructor Tom made us do a lung-busting set of circuits on the hill. At half-time, we swapped over to Instructor Nick, who’s a relative newbie in Prospect Park. He’s also a little bit more serious than the others, but I think we’ll win him over soon. 
At one point, I was thankful to be in my normal spot at the back of the pack as we legged it towards a big tree, with a view to running around it and back again to Nick. Those at the front didn’t spot the man-traps (well ok, they were more like rabbit holes covered with grass) and two of the boys went down like a sack of spuds, rather like I did back in February. Ryan, and the the other chap whose name fails me for now: get well soon.
Filed under: food, Juneathon, running | Tags: cake, food, Juneathon 2010, running
Luuuuuurve de cake
I love cake. However, I can tell you with certainty that sometimes you shouldn’t eat it. Not just over an hour before a Juneathon run anyway.
I succumbed to the lure of a white chocolate and raspberry muffin accompanied by a (skinny) latte at Costa Coffee at Paddington this afternoon after a meeting so boring that one of the attendees audibly snored through it. 70 minutes later (having got the train back to Reading, driven home and changed into running gear before I had any funny ideas about sitting down), I was out pounding the pavement. Or something.
I chose a loop I’ve done a few times with Phil recently – down to the next village, around it and along to the vineyard, then uphill for the last stretch towards home. I think it’s about 3.5 miles, or rather I hope it is, otherwise I’m slower than I thought. My times are slowly improving, which makes it a nice benchmark run – 35:13, 34:08, 33:35 and today 32:58. I was reasonably pleased given that, thanks to the muffin, I got an enormous stitch about ten minutes from home. See, cake isn’t always good.
Juneathon day 8 summary: run / 3.5 miles / 32:58 mins
Filed under: British Military Fitness, Juneathon, running | Tags: British Military Fitness, Juneathon 2010, press-ups, running
“Beautiful evening,” Instructor Dan said, as two sideways raindrops landed inside my left ear, thereby proving the point that British Military Fitness instructors occasionally lack a full grasp of reality.
They also possess a faint disregard for the fitness of mere mortals. This evening’s session incorporated 3.4 miles of running, and well over 150 press-ups, not including the ones that featured in the bastardoes. Plus some squat-thrusts and some horrid squat-jumps.
Then I managed to put my left elbow in some green slime that smelt of dog turd.
The weird thing is, I do still enjoy it.
Juneathon day 7 summary: British Military Fitness class / 1 hour
Following the wedding party yesterday, we stayed overnight in a hotel about three miles away – leaving the car at the venue and getting a lift back with friends to the hotel. So, it was up and out this morning to run back to get the car. Only I’d forgotten to pack a sports bra, and had been wearing only a strapless one with my summer dress the day before.
Now – luckily, on this occasion – I’m not a well-endowed girl, but it’s bloody uncomfortable running without a bra and not much better with a strapless one, I can assume you. I whinged from the hotel to the car, and was very thankful to get there.
Juneathon day 6 summary: run / 3 miles / 30 mins
After my unscheduled stomp back home last night, it was a bit of a lazy start. But, with Juneathon in mind, Phil and I went out for the 5-mile run down to Dinton Pastures, round the first lake and back along the river again. It was humid and I was a bit dehydrated, so it wasn’t at record-breaking speed, but at least we went out, before shoving a pizza down and going off to a wedding party to consume Pimms, wine, champagne, gin & tonic, hog roast, lemon cheesecake and wedding cake.
Oh well, every little helps.
Juneathon day 5 summary: run / 5 miles / 52:09 mins
