Sunday
Today is a day that started off very grey, turned to a light blue, followed by bright pink and it’s settled into a mellow orange. When I woke up I felt totally depressed about the heating not working, but Moochy gave me a pep talk and took me to Tesco to exchange his saved coppers for notes and to get some nice lunch.
So it seems that a turkey, cranberry and rocket tortilla wrap, the film Inception and writing my Christmas cards sorted me right out. In fact, it made me feel so good that I went for a run! The run confused me slightly as I just assumed it was a 30 minute jobby, but when miCoach told me at 10 minutes that we were “half way done with workout”, I was a bit flummoxed and thought miCoach was drunk or something. 
Anyway, we have had a minor breakthrough though with the heating, it still isn’t working, but it DOES come on if we run some hot water… oddness… I just want it FIXEDDDDDD.
Tomorrow is the start of a very busy week and I just hope that I have the stamina to hold on to my hat. Finish one contract off, write a bid for the next one… one where I will be running Greater Manchester again and this time co-ordinating the whole North West. *fakes a confident smile*… I am sure it will be fine…. eek.
Running tech
So I have been running on and off since January 2005 as my grandad died from Cancer in 2004 andI decided to do a race for life (which is 5k) to raise some money. I walked around the course at Aintree Racecourse and thoroughly enjoyed it. When the races where announced in 2005 I decided that I would do another one that year and this time I would try to run one. So ever since then I have been running, jogging and walking for fun and to keep fit.
I also love tech and so have tried a variety of running gadgets to not only measure my run, but help to train me.
1st gadget – A plain and simple sports watch.
I bought a watch from Argos for £15.99 which had a stop watch on it and had the facility to beep at regular intervals, e.g. every 2 minutes. I have to admit that this was great for AGES and really helped me to see, on regular routes, how much my time was improving.
2nd gadget – Nike Plus
The next bit of tech I used was nothing short of revolutionary if not slightly more expensive. Firstly the kit list was much more expensive:
- 1 x pair of Nike+ enabled running shoes (around £60 minimum)
- 1 x ipod (around £80-90)
- 1 Nike+ sports kit (around £20)
- 1 ipodsports armband (around £10)
So as you can see, whilst you might already have an ipod, the cost of the rest of the kit was approaching £100. I have to say though, I used this for the best part of 2 years and ran 2 race for life’s and 2 10k’s using it. The idea behind it was that you plugged a small gadget into your ipod and this would talk to a smalll sensor in your running shoe. You would get audiable feedback via your iphone headphone and it would tell you how far and how long you had been running for. I always had the option to calibrate my sensor (exactly map out strides etc), but it seem fairly accurate so I decided to just go with it.
However, I couldn’t have been more wrong about the distance being accurate, as it was only when I did the Manchester 10k in 2009, did I realised that it was WAY out! 10k is 6.2 miles and my Nike+ device measured my race as 7.8 miles!!!!!! Now I had run Cancer Research 5k & 10k’s before but they are always very in-accurately measured, so I assumed the inaccuracy was down to that. I was actually very disappointed, because the Nike+ website (where runs are synced) was fab andthe UI was second to none. Gutted.
3rd gadget – Garmin 405 Foreunner Watch
The 3rd bit of tech we used was also very expensive at £120, but Moochy and I sold some DVD’s on Amazon to raise the cash. It was going to be some tech that we would share and to be honest it was great – but not for me. It does 1000 things include map your route, but it was SO professional, it was a little too much for me and I didn’t need that high level of stats. More for professional or more serious athletes.
4th gadget – iPhone Apps
The 4th gadget or more accurately gadgets that I used are the myriad of iPhone apps that are available from the App Store. These have included:
- Run Keeper
- Nike Plus GPS
- miCoach
I have now settled on miCoach as I love the way it uses colour zones to train you. You set the training zones yourself by completing an 10 minute assessment run, increasing your pace as you go. The zones are then set according to how your assessment run went. It not only maps your run, but it also syncs with the miCoach website. Genius.
Overall, I just love the idea of tech and running being together. For me, the iPhone innovations are the most exciting as I will always have my phone with me and I love the idea of “everything in one place”.
Wayne Rooney: Spotted
Good Food Day
Now as a co-opted Liverpool Football Club fan (Moochy is and ardent fan), I would never have thought any blog of mine would have a Man U player in it! (It’s a loyalty thing). But I work just outside Manchester city centre and tonight, whilst stuck in traffic on the Mancunian way, I realised the car waiting right at the side of me was being driven by Wayne Rooney! I was asked later on if I waved at him, and whilst I should have given him the 1 fingered salute, I actually just completely ignored him… I mean, it’s not like it was George Clooney or anything?!
But back to this morning, it was my turn to walk Peggy dog and so I decided to go for my miCoach runwalk and combine the two. However, to quote Craig Revel Horwood, “It was a DISARRRSTER darling”. Peggy dog didnt want to run and just wanted to wee and poo every 2 minutes and we had to keep stopping, the whole program was only 30 minutes so it was a struggle to fully get going. Also, to add insult to injury, right at the end, some guy in a car waved for me to cross the road, then decided to go anyway. My first instinct was to apologise, but then he proceeded to go mad at me through the window. 
What a n*b.
Anyway, food today has been good and I seem to have re-discovered fruit!
My thought for the day was “Food is not the answer”…….xxx
P.S OH MY GOD, I nearly forgot to tell you, I entered the Manchester 10k today!!!!! Bring it on!!!!!
Top Day
Today has been an uber top day as I started an ILM Level 4 course in Management, the new Weight Watchers Pro-Points plan was announced, I did the ironing and Moochy and I went for a run. You see, there I go again, ALL or nothing 
But I am just going to go with the flow and feel good. Click on this link to see my run, and you will just have to take my word for it about the ironing and ww.
I am giving myself ♥ love and a big hug *go gillibobs!!*
xx
Teacake Thursday
Today has been an interesting day, as before 9am I had done the following:
- Gone for a run/walk with Peggy dog
- Put a lamb casserole in the slow cooker for tea
- Fed Peggy
- Had a shower
- Made my lunch
- Emailed my boss
So when I eventually did depart for work, I did do feeling rather smug and pleased with myself. ♥ I have had some meeting and things at work and so far it’s been all good. Although I did start to feel peckish at 17:30 whilst still in work, so I raided my drawer and had an emergency tea-cake. Thank god for Warburtons is what I say. You may be thinking, why don’t you just wait till you get home and have your ACTUAL TEA! Well my brain doesn’t work like that, I just keep thinking “I’m hungry”, which usually leads to me getting something rubbish from the garage to snack on the hour long journey home. So whilst the tea-cake is admittedly not ideal, it’s better than a Crunchie and a packet of crisps!
Another thing to mention about today, is that I got interview by “Your Dog Magazine” and if you are wondering what the flippin eck that is, imagine Horse and Hounds without the guns. I have to say, I felt very honoured to be interviewed and not in the least bit nervous. Writing for Peggy’s Blog has some perks and I have to admit, that I would chuffed if anything came of it.
Bit of Damages tonight I think, gotta love Glenn Close. xxx
I did a run
Stand by your beds boys and girls, Gillibobs did a run. Here was my kit list:
- 1 pair of running shoes
- 1 pair of socks (& knickers obviously)
- 1 running bra
- 1 pair of running tights
- 1 long sleeved running top
- 1 running t-shirt
- 1 headband
- 1 iPhone4
- 1 set of running earphones
- 1 door keye
and you thought running was simply pulling on your trainers and going for a jog!!! 
But go I did, a gentle 30 minute run/walk in light of my dodgy sacroilliac joints and things, and here is the proof. I did Ok and it did make me feel good when I had finished… it did of course start raining 5 minutes before the end – but that has been par for the course this year….
1 run down 17 to go!! Woop Woof. xxx
