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December 21, 2006
Foggy Misty Running Evening
This evening I got home after checking my mail, put on my running gear, which included a headlamp, flickering armband and high visibility vest, and ventured into the foggy wonderland that is currently England. I could hardly see 10 meters ahead of myself, but it was so much fun for absolutely no reason at all that I just didn't care.
Andy was running next to me and we kept making jokes - we could actually throw signs into the air by using our headlamps and hands and we kidded around about the batman sign and various others for a while. The pace was slightly slower than normal, but the -3 degree temperatures didn't allow us to completely warm up and we just puttered along as steadily as we could. Teeth chattering all the way.
Motorists that approached us from the front seemed to be confused by either our armbands or our headlights. Many of them stopped dead as they seemed to see us and waited until we passed them before going off again. Now that I think about it, maybe we blinded them to the point where they just couldn't see anything. I might have to check on that.
We finished 5 miles before we got back home and passed the infamous ugliest house in the village. Honestly, you must be able to see that thing from space with the amount of lights that it has mounted on the walls, roof, trees and shrubs.
Back at home a very welcome hot drink and shower awaited me and after stretching I came and sat on the bed, wondering what I should be doing tonight.
Tomorrow we're moving to our new house, which might mean that there'll be a fair bit of silence from me until the 8th of January - our phone line will only become active then and Andy'll have to arrange for our broadband connection to also be switched on on that particular day. Hopefully I get to post a few posts from work until then.
Everyone have a wonderful xmas - I know we will. Andy and myself will be entering a 10K on Boxing day and I'll be sure to let you know precisely how we enjoyed it!
Posted by karinm at 8:55 PM
December 19, 2006
Yesterday
For the first time training felt like training and not a painful reminder of things past. A niggling injury was gone and the flu that kept bugging me for a few weeks seem to be a thing of the past. I cycled indoors last night for an hour and it felt like complete heaven. Then I jumped off the bike and went for a run and my legs didn't feel like melted jello.
After that I felt like I needed a bit of a nap and I fell asleep while watching "What it Takes".
When I woke up this morning I was a completely different person. My head was in the right place I guess. I had trained last night and the "non-training" grumpiness had left the building. If it wasn't for the fact that I had to get to work early, I'd probably have gone out for a run or cycle to compliment tonight's swim. :)
I guess I just needed to be at a positive point again :)
Posted by karinm at 8:10 AM | Comments (0)
December 7, 2006
Random Update
With cold winter mornings here and early sunsets, training is becoming harder - I can't really go out on my own in the dark as I'm afraid that something will happen and no-one will know. Andy would miss me of course, but it might be a hour or more before he finds me.
Last night I went for a swim at the Nottingham University pool - what a different experience to swimming at the local pool. Everyone there was interested in swimming, not poodling around. As we swam clockwise and the lanes were divided into how fast you swim, I shared a lane with people of similar capability. It was lovely. Absolutely lovely.
Afterwards I put on my shoes and did a treadmill run - the first time in ages that I've done it and I've come to the conclusion that I still don't like it. It feels like cheating when I get on a treadmill. Although I'm sure its perfectly good to use it, it is definitely not for me. Back to dark mornings and begging Andy to cycle with me as I run it is then.
I'm working over Christmas - what are you to?
Posted by karinm at 10:01 AM | Comments (0)
December 5, 2006
Cold Cycling
I cycled tonight and enjoyed it. The last few weeks have been tough on my training, with work piling up and us trying to finish the purchase of the house, and, worst of all, cold winter mornings taking its toll on me. I hate the cold weather. I'm far better at accepting hot weather than cold weather.
Things are looking up though. I sat down last night and organised my time so that I can get my daily training in and get somewhere. Even the bike is setup in the dining room for those mornings that I need to get on the indoor trainer.
My iPod shuffle decided to give up last week and I thought that it was a good time to have a look at the Nano option. So far I like it - especially since I don't have to search for the podcasts that I listen to, but can instead just navigate to podcasts and listen to it. Only time will tell whether it can withstand what I throw at it though.
Now I need to go get some sleep - tomorrow I have running to look forward to as well as a session at the gym with a personal trainer. Tomorrow night I am SO going to need a massage :)
Posted by karinm at 9:55 PM | Comments (0)