Update Tuesday 24th

Just signing in because I am running a log in my head and it is getting too complicated by far so just to download to here:

• Saturday 14 April - 11.5 miles cycle (to end of canal and back plus - Burlescombe direction)
• Sunday 15 April - 4.5 miles walk (to the station/back, and in/around Exeter)
• Monday 16 April - 9 miles walk (to end of canal and back)
• Friday 20 April - 2.5 miles walk (to station/back)
• Sunday 22 April - 8 miles cycle (Halberton then Willand and home, circuit)
• Tuesday 23 April - 1.5 miles jog, 1.5 miles run (local 3mile circuit)

So I am now on ...

Week 1 - 46.5

Week 2 - 29.5 + 11.5 = 40

Week 3 - 4.5 + 9 + 2.5 = 16

Week 4 (so far) - 8 + 1.5 = 9.5

Total ... 122

Hmmm. Puncture last week didn't help, but all the same, definitely need to up the distance!

So how am I doing?

It's Friday evening, and I need to know how I am doing! So I am blogging to keep me up-to-date - at least in theory. I suspect I really need to update and then carry on using the runningfreeonline site as that definitely helps to track my mileage. Maybe I'll do that this evening or over the weekend at least ...

In the meantime though, I last blogged last Sunday, when I recorded that I had started the week with 8.5 miles. So let's summarise week two:

• Sunday 8 April - 6 miles cycle and 2.5 miles walk (as previously mentioned)
• Monday 9 April - 2 miles walk (to/from station - my wanderings around Salisbury I probably could have counted but didn't so it's tough, 2 miles is all I get credit for!)
• Tuesday 10 April - 5.5 miles walk
• Wednesday 11 April - 4.5 miles walk (again, while no doubt I covered a large amount of ground wandering around the garden centre I am afraid counting it in my miles probably just will not do!)
• Thursday 12 April - 7 miles walk (into Tiverton, first time I've done that ... it's a long way, though breaking it up with coffee, sandwiches, and much teen moaning about getting the bus definitely makes it easier if longer!)
• Friday 13 April - 2 miles walk (to/from station again - wandering around Exmouth I definitely should have counted as it turned out, but oh well ...)

In summary therefore with one day of week 2 to go I have done 29.5 miles. 

The challenge being #1000milesin6months I have worked out that breaks down as 167 miles a month, or 42 miles a week (well if each month had four weeks in, which it doesn't - but simplicity rules!). So tomorrow I have to get moving I think or I'm going to be behind already ...

I will report in tomorrow, hopefully with a good bike ride under my belt!

One week ...

So one week into the thousand mile challenge ... and what I have I done and what have I learned?

Well ...

I logged after two days and after three, so here's my week summary:

• 1 April - 1.5 miles run, 12 miles cycle 
• 2 April - 3 miles walk
• 3 April - 6 miles cycle
• 4 April - zero :-(
• 5 April - 6 miles cycle
• 6 April - 15 miles cycle
• 7 April - 1.5 miles run, 1.5 miles walk

So my end of week one total is ... 46.5 miles

That's ... ok. I think.

I have listened while walking to my first downloaded audio book (getting there ...). I have found my phone increasingly unreliable as a measure of distance as it periodically switches itself off, but I can usually work it out well enough (the above doesn't include a wander around Exmouth, or a wander around Tiverton, but does cover anything that was at least half a mile in a go ....). 

I have learned that having a challenge on does - as always - make me do more than I would otherwise, and get me out of the house, even when tired of an evening. One or two days off a week is only realistic, but means that the other days I have to get the miles done. Summer evenings will help, but the challenge will rely, I know already, on cycling the distances at the weekends. Walking and running are good - but I am not fit enough to run far and walking takes just so long ...

We shall see. I am cautiously optimistic. But a caution heavily tempered with the knowledge this is week one and only week one. Already it feels like a burden - as well as a badge of success. 

Week one is down anyway, with 46.5 miles logged.

And today, the start of week two, I have managed 6 miles cycling and 2.5 miles walking. (If only all virtuous activities counted then both yesterday and today's gardening would count as well ... but you can't have everything!)

So thus far I am on track and even very very slightly ahead. Though it is, as I mentioned the weekend, and without weekends getting me ahead I will not be even close!

Wish me luck, dear reader - or just a fair, following wind, a gentle warmth, rain at night when I'm asleep (for the garden!), and of course determination!

Week one of the #1000milesin6months done and dusted.

First drizzle

First drizzly evening of my new challenge tonight.

Looking out of the window from my desk at work it was sunny. All afternoon. I resolved to cycle on arrival home. The thought made me pleased. I was a dedicated soul and I was going to continue my challenge. It was all planned.

So plan enters execution stage: I exit the building I work in to walk - ooooh, 10 yards to my car? It is damping. No! That was NOT the plan. Disgruntled and downhearted I drive home. Itt throws it down on my windscreen most of the way. Ok ... so far so ... well actually, so far so dry given I'm in my car.

As I turn into the village it lightens off. I get from car to house house barely dampened, change and look out the window to peer at the path. Wet? Very wet? Getting drier? Hmmm. I put on a waterproof and zip up.

I am brave. I leave the house. It is damp but only damp. Six miles later I return home, having been damped on, drizzled on, and briefly even rained on ... but largely dry again, with my waterproof having done the job. My legs are damp, my hair tousled, I am cold and tired, and my legs are complaining about the whole idea of such a daft self-challenge.

But I have done my bit for the day and so the challenge goes on.

A New Challenge

Just a brief note as I am still not sure this is a good idea ... But I have decided to set myself off on a new challenge - 1000 miles in 6 months. I started yesterday, 1 April - yes I am a fool, and the challenge may be foolish, but it remains a far-too-real plan, at least for now - and the aim is to cover 1000 miles by running, walking, cycling, canoeing, swimming ... whatever (!) by the end of September.

Yes, sensible, who, me?

So far I have managed ...

• 1 April 1.5 miles run, 12 miles cycle
• 2 April 3 miles walk

I am not going to try to blog every day, and week 1 is a real test, with month 1 definitely a trial. But I will see how it goes, and try to record as a minimum at least once a week how I am getting on distance-wise.

2 days down and the doubts are already seeping in, but thus far I remain determined ...

(I haven't tweeted as yet even though I've decided on my hashtag - back to front I know but just for the record if I do ever dare tweet it will be labelled thus: #1000milesin6months)

J-Day: Day 31

Yes! Day 31 Welcome!

My bed was warm and cosy and I knew the air around was chilly. But up I got (eventually!), layered on the gear, and out I went. A short walk, a couple of dogs avoided, and I was off. It was chilly but I practised my controlled breathing through my scarf and concentrated on keeping going. At half a mile I allowed myself to think I'd do this. Then at one mile a huge smile broke all across my face. I had done it! I had Janathoned! I pushed back my hood and took my gloves off; the renewed burst of chill kept me going just a little bit longer to get to around my mile-and-a-half average, and as I walked my last few yards home my smile broadened.

I have run every day for 31 days without fail. I have run in sun, wind and sleet; in darkness, daylight, twilight and darkness again. I have got up early and have run late at night after wine and dinner at the pub. I have stepped in puddles and grimaced and my feet have tensed and frowned as they became cold and wet, and I slipped and slid in the mud but - somehow - not actually fallen. I have called on inner reserves to keep myself moving, and - more rarely, but more pleasingly - I have even relaxed on occasion as I found a brief moment of rhythmn.

Above all though I have kept at it. Every day I have run, and every 24 hours I have logged and I have blogged. We all need to set our own targets. For many the Janathon is an opportunity to get race-fit, preparing for an Iron Man, triathlon or their first half-marathon. For me it has been simply about getting back into doing regular exercise of some kind, and getting myself out there. I am sure February will not see me running every day, and I shall definitely diversify with more cycling and walking, and maybe a few more zumba classes. Finding myself a yoga class somewhere between work and home is my next target. But I shall continue to force myself out if I possibly can (though maybe not after skittles nights or full of pizza!).

And that is my Janathon done. Well done to all who have been daily jogging, logging, and blogging with me - and a huge respect to all. Regardless of what else is happening in your life it is a huge commitment and deserves respect. Finally, though, a huge Thank You to all my friends, colleagues and family who - underneath the despairing shakes of the head and gentle teasing - have I know been willing me on throughout. You are all fabulous and here's to you all.

Janathon 2012, I have you vanquished!

February freedom in sight: Day 31 - 1

Today was dark, cold, sleety/drizzly, overcast and generally miserable. The promised snow didn't really arrive, so no sparkling (or, to be fair slippery) glamour, just an unattractive darkness without even stars or any kind of feisty brittle chill.

I knew I was still not 100% though, and wrapped up in layer on layer - hoodies, snood things, waterproof etc - all designed I knew to make me sweat after half a mile, but also designed to get me out of the door. And thus bundled up, and I am sure looking more like a panto character than would really be considered ideal, I set off.

Only a mile-and-a-half later I was doing the 200 yards past my house, round and back as warm down. Without a shiny sky I'd failed to see the reflections in the puddles, so my feet were wet and my legs in their lycra chilled through; in contrast I had pushed back my hood and was sweating through my t-shirt under all those layers on my top half! I also had painful shins (I did go cycling in the end yesterday so that may have had something to do with it?) and so wimping out or not, a mediocre 17 minutes was definitely my lot.

I was done though. As it says in the title, Day 31 - 1. Tomorrow is definitely J-day, I can't fail now, surely!

Wish me luck dear reader, for tomorrow is the culmination of all my willpower and all your tolerance in one last dash to February freedom ...


(Copied up today, not tomorrow, in case you are confused - and just heading off for my J-day run now ...)

Another day another run: Day 31 - 2

I mentioned yesterday that I've been feeling rotten, and as it continues I reckon it probably is a bug that I've managed to pick up - only a mild one, so no sympathy deserved here - exacerbated my exhaustion. I wonder if the Janathon has helped or hindered with the exhaustion? I suspect it means I am more physically tired and therefore sleep a bit better, but who knows. (In reality, sleep is a talent I have never managed to successfully develop to a reasonable level - I am in awe of those who go to bed, drop off, and get up full of beans the next morning raring to go. One day ....)

Anyway, with this stomach bug and general tiredness still getting me down, and having decided I want to get my bike out this afternoon for a brief outing, I actively concluded a short run would be wise - fulfil my obligations to the Janathon God, while being relatively nice to myself.

So on a cold but bright morning, avoiding many dog walkers and a couple of cyclists, I jogged 1.3 miles in 13 minutes. Pace reasonable, heart pumping enough, chill just about deterred, legs kept moving, and home again.

I have now showered, I have logged, and shortly I will have blogged. This means that for the first time for ages I feel fully up to date and can now forget Janathon for a few hours rather than having it hanging over me because either I haven't run or even if I have, getting the blog written seemed to be beyond me!

But yes, I am done.

Big smile today.

Tired but determined: Day 31 - 3

After a day when I almost left a work event early because I was feeling so awful, I thought any kind of run at all would be a successful venture, and I also knew that it was go as soon as I got in or don't go at all.

There isn't much to say - tech failure means I don't really know how far I went (suspect it was 1.7 but will go for a conservative 1.6 miles instead), but really, even doing a mile felt as good as it was going to get. I didn't run particularly fast or do anything exciting, but I went and I ran and I have maintained, thereby, my Janathon. Small smile :)

On a cold and frosty morning ... Day 31 - 4

It's been rather warmer than you would probably reasonably expect of January for quite a while. I am sure there are many who would say that is not a good thing because the cold is bracing and reinvigorating and inspires greater endeavours. I just think we have been lucky!

But yesterday was a morning when the frost was thick, the cars shining on every window,  and everyone was muffled up to the nines. 

I had only completed my mammoth over 3 miles (yes, still amazed at that that and taking every opportunity to boast) run a few hours earlier, or so it seemed. But I knew that with a long conference-type day ahead I needed to get up and go. 

So it may only have been 1.3 miles but I went out and I ran. And I logged. And now, only 23 hours later I have blogged. the eagle eyed may notice my blogging also got out of synch. But in the end analysis I am now fully jogged, fully logged and fully blogged ... until later today anyway!a

Late night running ... is good for me? Day 31 - 5

You've been home for a while after a long, slightly odd and rather challenging day at work. You eat a large if sensible meal, drink wine and then partake of caffeinated coffee. It's late.

In fact it's 11pm. And you haven't run.

So, reluctantly you change. You are determined. You will do one mile. It will not kill you. You are grateful it has stopped raining. And you will run.

You leave the house. Amazingly - oddly - but gratefully - you feel ok.

You walk for the regulation couple of minutes of "warm up". You start to jog. Not fast, but relatively comfortably. Most of your attention is on being aware cos it is late and dark of what's around you, and trying to avoid the mud under your feet. You carry on running. Somehow you've done the mile and you're feeling ok so you keep going. And then you've done just under 1 1/2 miles ... then just under 2 ..

Eventually at just under 3 miles, amazed and bewildered with home soon to be in view, you set your sights on "that speed limit sign at the beginning of the village" a short distance ahead. And somehow, as you finally slow to a walk, you realise you have not only broken the 3 mile barrier ... but you even feel ok.

The moral of this tale I know not. I was never aware that drinking wine was such a recipe for athletic prowess! But it seems so! Only minutes before my 24 hours are up, though, I am jogged last night, I am logged last night, and now I am blogged tonight.

Janathon Day 26 is done!

More an Exercise in Blogging? Day 31 - 6

It is nigh on a quarter to eight and I am fairly slowly walking home after 1.7 miles of fairly hot and reasonably sustained jogging.

I have logged on my phone already and now my second test is tp see if I can type this and also blog before I am home! Getting in to work having j, l and b'd as they say would be a real bonus today, and so far it is looking good... though of course navigating getting it to actually upload on my blog remains a challenge. 

Here we go though ...

... and well no, that didn't really work! I am now home and (a bit) cooler and briefly on my laptop before I dash into the shower. I did thereby manage to use what I typed above, so that is progress, however I think I need to play a bit more with the tech before I try to be quite so clever again. Nevertheless, I am now - finally - jogged, logged and blogged. Now for the day to start ...!

Early to jog ... still means late to blog: Day 31 - 7

Today was a busy day at work, as I knew it would be; I was also overtired last night and needing sleep. So I got up as late as I could while still just about allowing time for a run, shower, breakfast etc. And somehow it all worked. I did my 15 minutes out along the canal and back, which is still nothing like what I should be able to do, but I reckon as good as I can hope for with current levels of fitness, time and so on. I made it into work a good half hour before I needed to be there (albeit also 20 minutes after I'd planned to be there in my head, but it was worth it for having ticked the J and L boxes!).

Sadly though it is now last thing before bed and I have only just got around to blogging. My creative juices, generally running low when it comes to the subject of 1 - 1.8 mile jogs along the canal in the morning half-light or the evening darkness, are today almost entirely dry. And so I shall close this blog with an apology to any poor soul who has stayed faithfully with me, and merely make gestures of hope that with a new day new inspiration will strike.

So until tomorrow, dear reader, until tomorrow.

Janathon Joys: Day 31 - 8

Tired, hungry, headachey, late home after shopping, and dubious about the frequent interludes of drizzle: these are the trials that Janathon sends to try us.

But I abandoned the shopping, changed and went, knowing that otherwise I might fail to find even the minimum of motivation required to get me out of the door later. 15 minutes later I am home - sweaty, a bit muddy underfoot, and even hungrier, but I have jogged, and I have logged. And now, as my pasta bubbles away on the stove I am blogged. I avoided the very worst puddles, I failed to fall flat on my face in the slippery muddy section, and I even somehow managed to choose one of those brief periods when the drizzle held off for my brief venture out. And of course, yet again, the wonder of Janathon came through as I defeated my own demons.

This morning I snoozed many times and got up late, thus the evening run today. I have to be in work quite early tomorrow but maybe I will set my alarm and jog early. And no, I'm not doing this by vote - the demons that work against me on a cold, dark evening aren't half as determined as the demons that fight me when my bed is warm and cosy!

Sunday light: Day 31 - 9

Today I ran in the light, which felt a pleasant novelty. Not much else to report really - I managed a loop for the first time, albeit with a long-ish walk back because my legs were complaining more intensely than my ability to fight them by 1.8 miles when, breath heaving, I slowed. (I think yesterday's 2.2 miles were still taking their toll!) But it was a very pleasurable walk back along the canal; for once I actually got to look around me which was an unanticipated benefit. I really am very lucky to live so near the canal: there's no doubt it has made this whole Janathon experience much more tolerable.

Anyway, I left, I jogged, I logged from my phone, and I returned home. And that is what Janathon is all about I think - not trying to be spectacular, just getting out, every day. And so far that is what I have done. Wish me luck, friends, for the days to come - the end of January still feels a long way off!

Determined to do a mile ... Day 31 - 10

Having only written my last blog an hour ago or so - if that - I went to get changed, looked out of the window to check (with a sigh of relief) that it wasn't raining, and headed out into the dark and chill.

After about half a mile the hood was pushed back, and I pushed on. My talking phone/GPS app told me at ten minutes I'd done just under a mile and I pushed on. At 1.3 miles I was back to my starting point ... and still I pushed on. At 15 minutes I'd done just under 1.5 miles and at 20 minutes just under 2. By this point my breathing was ragged, I had the traditional stitch, I was sweating profusely, and hooray ... my sofa was again within reach ... One last push to the edge of the village and I slowed to begin the last "warm-down walk home" at 2.2 miles.

So I cracked, somehow the 2 mile barrier: big smile for me. Sometimes determination really does pay off! I will continue to marvel from afar at my fellow Janathoners running 5, 10, and even 15 miles a day; in the meantime though I will get on quietly with my target of completing the month, however brief my average outings and however entertaining it may be that a 2 mile stretch can be so noteworthy!

And with that in mind, so far so good. Day 21 is Jogged. Day 21 is Logged. Day 21 is Blogged. Yes!

Yet another syrupy reward! Day 31 - 11

Day 20 came ... and most of it went, starting early with a long day at work, then having a lovely dinner out with my sister, and then walking home in the drizzle knowing I still had to run but was full of food and full of pudding as well (yes, I know, probably not the cleverest thing I've ever done!).

But with more suety cake on offer, I changed, put my hoodie on with the hood up ... and 1.7 miles later I was walking home with a smile on my face (between the wheezes, obviously).

Getting out there is still hard, but I'm still doing it. I hope (and yes, this is being written the following day with yet another willpower exercise building, but I will do it, I will ...)

For now, though, briefly, I am up to date with my Janathon. Day 20 is truly JLB'd.

Late night run but with a syrupy reward: Day 31 - 12

Day 19 was one of those days when without Janathon there'd be no way you could even imagine forcing exercise into your day. 

Following an average work day - pretty full on, as so often - I jumped in my car and went straight to a sort-of social sort-of volunteer monitoring event for some stuff I do where I used to live back in Wiltshire. So a couple of hours drive, a diversion to buy cake (my "plate of food to bring") and I was all ready for what turned out to be skittles. Then 20 minutes back to my mother's where I was staying overnight, arriving at 10.30 pm … and straight out the door to do my run.

Mad, I tell you, just mad.

BlogThis!

Uhoh, the inevitable blog re blogging: Day 31 - 13

I remember this from last year. Just at the point when you begin to allow a tiny tiny kernel of hope to grow inside you that you might actually do this whole Janathon thing through, you realise you have run out of anything whatsoever to blog about.

I am someone who is happy writing. Usually. And unhappy jogging. Usually. But my creativity seems to have deserted me entirely again. This morning's run was consumed with worry: what do I write about my nth short outing along the canal in the half-light? how do I find new topics to amuse myself even let alone any poor soul who is driven by byways of the internet to read this blog so barren of ideas and originality? And the fact I have spent all evening procrastinating before pontificating shows my enthusiasm is as rich and expansive as my imagination.

Hmm. I know not the answer to these matters. Answers on a 21st C twitter-style postcard I suppose.

Still, that is nevertheless the problem solved for today. Jogged, logged and blogged. Time for bed and ... oh yes, it starts again oh so soon ... so til tomorrow dear reader!

In the deep midwinter ...: Day 31 - 14

It was a cold and frosty morning when she set out, wrapped up all warm with only a face peering out into the gloom ...

Yes, that was me this morning. Starting off - as always - with a walk to get the muscles moving, I headed up to the canal pondering the thick frost on the cars and noticing that it actually makes it easier to detect the path from the grass across the rec in the half-darkness. Brrrr. As yesterday I had put my waterproof on, which in answer to yesterday's comment* was all part of attempting to keep warm with an extra layer. It being a cheap jacket in fact of course once I have been going for a while I start sweating like mad and so it may not be the best idea overall. But given that I never go so very far it does the job and makes the afearsomed cold slightly less intimidating so at least I get out!

Now I sit here hot and sweaty, and only slowly cooling ready to hit the shower.

It is one of the marvels of #Janathon that having been out about 9ish last night I went out again at 7ish this morning. In a normal life can you ever imagine that? The things you do to get jogged (done), logged (done) and blogged (hooray, also now done)!


(*) ah, a comment, how fabulous - and it wasn't even my first - if you too are reading this please indulge me drawing attention to the fact someone has read at least a couple of posts!

It's the magic halfway run! Day 31 - 15

Let's keep this short and sweet.

Today I got home late and it was cold and dark. And getting colder every minute. Did I want to go out running? Well you take a guess ...

But I changed, I put on my waterproof (and oh what a good idea that was!) and off I went.

1.2 miles and 12 minutes later I was walking the last couple of hundred yards back.

Like this blog it was short - if not so sweet - but I was done.

We are all - hooray! - now half way through. Those of you clocking up the miles in the hundreds have a few more marathons yet to go. Some of us have about the equivalent of a long Sunday hike yet to go. But we are all getting there.

J. L. B.

Get in!

Painful despite the sun: Day 31-16

Day 15 of the Janathon (halfway there minus one!) was one of those days when if it wasn't for the Janathon discipline I'd be anywhere but out jogging: I didn't want to go, once I was out my breathing was harsh and my legs complained, and just for added value I was grumpy!

However, despite the far from promising context I managed 1.8 miles which is far further than I thought was feasible when I left. I made it back in one piece too, and since then have had cooked breakfast and a shower so all is right with the world after all.

I know these are the days when the whole idea of running every day is valuable because it forces you out.   I suppose it's also why I do it, as it has already had the desired effect, having rejuvenated me somewhat from couch potato to mildly exercised runner bean*. I will keep it up.

(*) stretched analogy, I know, but brain clearly turning to mush even as other muscles slowly generating some sense of self-worth again!

Short but done: Day 31 - 17

Today's run is to be honest entirely captured in the title. I got up (eventually), got dressed in running gear that is now having a much needed turn in the washing machine, and got out of the house.

Up to the canal and down towards the motorway I ran, again in my jacket, but feeling the cold for quite a while. I don't know the answer to this - you start cold but by the end you are sweating if you take the jacket, if you don't take the jacket ... well it is very cold just at the moment. Proper winter finally?

Anyway, along the canal I went veering off towards the station to see if they had any bread. It felt tiring and my legs ached a bit so I decided my short but sweet plan was definitely right! I ended up with a long-ish walk back after going through every pocket of my coat, my top, my phone-holder and managing to cobble together enough (just!) for my loaf of bread so overall I think that all counted as reasonable exercise and it means breakfast was rather tasty too.

So yes very little to report today really but I am jogged, I am logged, and I am blogged. And so the #Janathon continues.

Sunset on the Canal: Day 31 - 18

I tried to write this blog last night on my phone but it appears my dexterity in such matters leaves something to be desired as not once but three times I typed and lost. So let a brief summary suffice now.

I was deeply unenthused about running. I didn't even have the energy and "enthusiasm" to hate the idea. I just didn't really want to go. It was getting dark, it was cold (as I knew since I had been in the garden) and it was getting icy.

But I changed, put on for the first time my jacket as well as a zippy top and set off along the canal.

And I have to say my prejudices were confounded.

It was gorgeous with the sun setting over the canal, a narrowboat, a couple of swans and the ever-changing light. I thought I would do the one mile minimum and maximum, but actually managed 1.6 miles too. And it didn't feel too bad - obviously by a mile it was all heavy breathing and no more looking at the water, but overall it wasn't a vile experience. And so I learnt - again - my lesson, that how you feel before and in the "get out of the house" period is nothing on how you feel when you get out there.

Onwards and upwards* I suppose.

(*) or preferably not upwards really

Looking forward to an evening off: Day 31 - 19

This is going to be a short post because I want to get the full JLB all sorted before work.

After a bit of snooze button itis (but I'd set my alarm early so it didn't give me an excuse overall) I got up and out. Bin bags ready to be picked up and hair tied back, I walked up to the canal and off I went. For variation I went down a whole new lane today to see what was down there. The answer of course was mud, some water, and more lane.

But as I ran, even in the slight damping drizzle, it got lighter. And I survived over 1.8 miles in just under 20 minutes. So not fast - but a bit further than I have been doing. And I am home, and cereal is being eaten and my blog is being written. Indeed, I'd say for today that is my blog done.

Not yet 8am and I am J'd, I am L'd and I am B'd! Looking forward to my evening off with no Janathon requirements at all! :-)

Looking good in yellow: Day 31 - 20

After all the excitements of my visit to the Big Smoke today I needed to recover so it was back to the canal. Getting up and running before work just didn't s. Maybe. If I'm feeling generouo it had to be strai being Day 31 - 20 it is of course also an opportunity to mark a milestone. I have now completed 11 days of Janathon and am therefore just past the third-of-the-way-through mark! Hooray! Time to say a huge THANK YOU to everyone who has encouraged and supported me (and even graciously to smile upon those who have made their alternative view of my Janathon proclivities clear!). You are all fabulous and wonderful.

And so this blog is done, to be continued as the Janathon itself continues!


* I accept the main aim of making me look silly was successfully achieved. I am trying to pretend it had some benefit to me rather than simply providing others with an opportunity for collective humour. Indulge me, please!

Welcome to the Big Smoke: Day 31-21

I scribe this blog as my very last activity before bed. This means that the Janathon has topped and tailed my day, as my very first activity was to pace the streets of London having stayed over prior to a meeting at our HQ today.

For this canal-running village-living lass, running in London is an experience. Rather than coming across about four people all with dogs, and one cyclist, London running means commuters walking earnestly, briskly and with great focus on their way to important matters that are clearly pertinent directly to the future of our country; it means cars and lorries and crossings and roads that are blocked off with roadworks; it means trying to keep in mind some idea of where you are in relation to where you started as you round corners and cut across zebra crossings eyeballing taxi-drivers. Oh the drama of the Big Smoke.

In contrast I also I ran along the paths laid out for me in not one but two small green areas within squares, that being London had formal titles such as "Gardens" (though I can't remember what those full titles were, given that may brain was rather more directed towards the need to the breathe than the need to parse naming conventions) so I can even claim greenery too!

So yes dear readers, in my I-Spy book for today I can tick taxis, commuters (pedestrian, two-wheeled, and four-wheeled), formal flower beds, diversion signs, bollards, shops (large, small, open, closed), and even middle-of-the-pavement day-dreamers. Who knows what tomorrow will bring?*


(*) Well ok, maybe a fair guess would be a canal, some dog-walkers, the odd cyclist, and if I'm lucky a couple of children. But just play along with me for now?

Up and out into the darkness: Day 31 - 22

Today was Day 1 of learning how to fit in the Janathon while also working. So yep, I walked out of the house at 6.45, and was running at 6.47, and back home by ten to quarter past 7. Never say never! It was dark and definitely chillier than it has been while I've been doing 11am runs.

But it was also ok. I was a bit slower today, especially at the beginning (judging by my talking phone which tells me every 5 minutes how far I've gone (and which is when I get the first indication if the app isn't working if it says I've done a mile already - ha!)) but overall I managed just under 11 minutes a mile whieh is ok, especially when it - speak cautiously - felt alright too.

I would love to get back to being able to do 2.5-3 mile runs at some point - not every day by any means, but occasionally. I think part of the barrier is indeed psychological although it definitely feels physiological when I'm running! I also wonder if my 5-minute alerts don't help. I've always worked on the basis of not looking to see how far I've gone for as long as possible, so I've already got a reasonable distance (whatever that is at the time) under my belt. Knowing I've done half a mile somehow changes that psychological battle with myself.

I will think on that further.

But for now my shower beckons and then off to work and indeed the Big Smoke later in the day. The next question to grapple with is do I take my running kit with me? Hmmm.

Til tomorrow folks - 7.30 am and I have jogged, logged & blogged!

My last day before work sucks me in: Day 31 - 23

Today what felt like most of my Janathon experience took place before I'd even moved out of bed. I lay there for ages telling myself to get up; telling myself if I did and went running it would be done for the day; telling myself to stop being a wimp; telling myself that the vague aches I could feel in my legs would benefit from being forced into movement. In response my body clearly felt I needed a lesson in mechanisms or protest, or in particular in the mechanism of one type of protest - dumbly and silently ignoring my every mental challenge to myself.

The village was silent. Then church bells rang for ages. Then the village was silent again. I heard some cars go past. Other people were up and about. And still I fought myself while my body lay still and warm and very happy, apparently in its little cocoon.

Eventually other things intruded (mostly all the other things which need to be done today, upping the guilt quotient coursing through me - an area of particular expertise) and I did indeed move (ok, so the now demanding need for the loo helped!). My brain won over my protesting legs and shoulders. The running gear went on, I stretched while doing the usual search for a hairband, I drank some water, and headed out.

But it seems my body was right in its protest because again, today, it hurt. The good news is I went that little bit faster - just under 10 minutes per mile. The not so good news is that I managed only just over a mile. Sigh. It is good, it is done, and I am glad for it too. But I do wonder why I appear to be so unresilient this time around? (A ponder: is breakfast, or lack thereof, part of the problem? I've been running mid-morning before eating, and I wonder if that is holding me back a little? I suspect not and it is just low overall fitness but still, any possible excuse seems worth clinging onto...)

From now on life is going to get more difficult however. For tomorrow I go back to work. I have been truly lucky to have had all this week off but it is going to be a heavy plunge back in with a week that is already looking intimidating ahead. I will continue my Janathon, I am determined - and everyone else seems to be doing brilliantly - but my apprehension is growing.

However for today I am jogged, I am logged, and now I am blogged. JLB, done and dusted!

Along a lane & back: Day 31-24

Today was an exciting day as I combined my daily self-flagellation of the running element of the Janathon with my first ever trip to the local tip. Did you ever think it was possible to muster such excitement out of a Saturday?

I don't truly know how far I ran as the tech let me down a bit (the jagged line on the routemap may reflect my ragged breathing accurately but since it appeared to believe I had run a mile in little over five minutes, and the road was slightly tapered and included a couple of bends but no lurching round corners I think it can safely be disregarded!). But I know it was just over 15 minutes and not too slow so I am going to give myself 1.5 miles. Ha! I kept going on the upward inclines and did better on the downward slopes so think that is fair.

I came home from the tip (yes, maximising the thrills) via various lanes that neither I nor my Satnav could probably reliably pinpoint. However as I had hoped a gateway was found and so I could jog - as the title says - along the lane and back (and indeed to make it to 15 minutes along even further and back a little the other way from the car too).

To be fair, it was sunny and pretty. For the first few strides, and the last few steps of the walk back to the car (the end of the "warm-down" (ie once I could just about breathe again!)) it was a lovely trip. One day I'll get to the stage where I can take note of my surrounds during the jog as well. There's ambition for you!

Small hills are still hills! Day 31-25

Am slightly concerned today about the impending worrying universe where I have to not only Janathon but also get my act together sufficiently to go to work for the day as well. When did I ever fit work into my life? I have been very lucky (due to overdue holiday to use up) to have had a long break over Christmas, and have enjoyed it immensely. But of course while Janathon seems a lot of work but at least plausible currently, it is about to get so much harder. I do know this. However, worrying about it before Monday seems pointless to back to today.

I am excusing my poor/slow performance today on the fact that I did hills. Tiny baby slopes if the truth be told, not really hills. And even then only a couple of hundred yards. But even so, my lack of fitness bit me with the brief inclines I did attempt. I tell myself it's all good for me - that's right isn't it? 

I can't complain however. The sun shone, I said various hellos to people actually working rather than dog-walking (no canals today, explored the village a little bit instead), accepted their slightly perplexed nods with equanimity, and generally got to the point where I could walk the last hundred yards home after 1.4 miles feeling I may be making rather heavy weather of it but at least I was jogged. And then I did log. And now I have blogged.

Til tomorrow fellow Janathoners!

Hoodies - good or bad? Day 31-26

Today's question is an important one I feel. Strictly in terms of running you understand. My hoodie allows  me to start off warm, and then gradually reduce levels of warmth should I ever run far enough to work up a sweat (which I grant you is a challenging idea, but one has to plan for every possibility, however unlikely). It was also closest to hand as I got changed to go out, another important factor. However for me at least, in today's rather dominant wind, it meant my attention was constantly being distracted by the hood and attendant strings, which just would not stop blowing around. It really was very unfortunate. (*)

So, the jury is out - and any votes welcomed. If anyone reads this! Hoodies - what do you think?

Meanwhile - the run, you ask? Well that was ok. Hard work. Another day, another illustration that (a) I am really not very fit and (b) I really don't enjoy running even though I know it is good for me. But hey, I ran. 1.5 miles along the canal and a little way way back. I probably also exercised for another 1 mile if walking at the end as warm-down/bread-buying-diversion-via-farm-shop counts.

So, good, bad or indifferent: that's Janathon Day 5 jogged, logged and blogged.

(*) I'd already thought about this blog when I was out and running along the canal, but I think it has also been infected since by the #whitepeopleblues trend on twitter. So apols if not really your kind of thing. Back to normal Janathon-only world tomorrow.

Still hanging in here ... Day 31-27

After the mammoth effort last night with TWO WHOLE miles achieved along the canal, this morning I awoke somewhat achey and tired. So of course I hid under the duvet and dozed (well what are extra days of work for?). Eventually however, after much duvet-warmed procrastination, I forced myself up, into running gear, and out - making it my second pre-breakfast Janathon of 2012. (I know, when breakfast is pretty well amalgamated into lunch anyway, maybe that's not such a great thing to acclai,m but isn't this Janathon thing all about grabbing whatever self sustaining plaudits I can?)

Bearing in mind the general principle that one should probably endeavour to make progress rather than kill oneself off today was, following yesterday's big adventure, a "light" day. Just for a change I went along the canal. But this time, because I am a radical and exciting, exotic soul, this time I WENT THE OTHER WAY. I know unexpected or what? I did about 1.4 miles in total, most of that being outward with as a result quite a decent walk back. At the 1.4 mile point when I stopped jogging (running not really being an appropriate term if I'm honest, jogging barely seeming valid!) I felt like death. However ... by the time I'd walked home I actually felt pretty good. The sun was out, it was dry, neither warm nor cold, I had my breath back and ...

I was up, I was out, and Day 4 of my Janathon was done! What more do you need to feel good before breakfast?

Was it ... ok? Day 31-28

So another day, another trip along the canal. This time though I actually managed to not feel quite like death. Which in turn feels like progress.

Indeed, somehow I kept my legs moving along for a whole 2 miles. Ok, so I watched very closely and immediately stopped at 2.01 miles on my phone (which seems to be working again after yesterday's fiasco, mind you who knows..). However it all seemed just that bit easier, which has to be good.

And it was even not raining and not dark (well not quite dark anyway). And I wasn't too cold.

Hooray, a day when Janathon wasn't painless by any stretch of the imagination but was, say it very quietly ... ok.

:-)

Is this really wise? Day 31-29

I don't suppose this is actually going to kill me. But I have to say it seems to be doing its best. I suspect I was less fit than I realised, and so am suffering rather more than I anticipated. I think the logical next step is to reassure myself that that's the whole point, I'm doing this to get myself out and about and in order to kick start me back into doing some exercise, so that's all good. But ... it would be nice if it was even SLIGHTLY less hard word along the way!

Today was the first day (yes, day 2, I know, not so successful) when tech let me down. I'd been running for about 12 minutes when I looked at the phone (having downloaded an old app I've used before onto the new handset and it told me I'd done 2 miles. Well I know I'm good but ... no actually, I know I'm not, so that was very clearly wrong!

Still, the momentary relief that I could stop running and start my "warm-down-walk" meant that was still it. I estimate I actually did maybe 1.1 miles (being nice to myself) so that's my about-to-be-logged distance of the day.

All of which means ... this is going to be very tough to keep up. Sigh. Still, onwards and ... well no not upwards I hope - preferably flatwards...

Uhoh, it's just the beginning ... Day 31-30

Yep today is Day 31 minus 30 of the Janathon. And so far I've survived.

Looking on the dark side ... well yes, it was dark and dank. And I haven't really figured out a nice route for dark nights so it was also along the road with the car headlights wrecking my night vision. And I only ran 1.3 miles which really isn't that great.

However

Looking on the bright side ... I did it! Day 1 is down (and yes, fail as we might to ignore the other 30 still to go, at least it's a start). And it wasn't raining. And I've found my shoes and running bra, downloaded a running app onto my phone, and generally overcome all the hurdles of "too hard" that have helped to keep me sedentary for too long.

So in summary, I think progress has been made.

I have jogged.

I have logged.

And now folks, this is me, blogged.

Bye for now! Janathon Day 1, I have you sorted.