Month: January 2012

#janathon Day 13

~ Phil Lengthorn ~ 1 Comment

Janathon Day 13

Didn’t get round to today’s run until quite late, for several reasons:

  • Stayed late at work to finish some bits and pieces.
  • Mum visiting for the weekend.
  • Spag Bol for dinner.
So when I did finally get out it was a nice steady run with the dog, pretty uneventful apart from the fella driving his car without bothering to indicate who nearly ran me over. Stupid @#!**’# **@##! !@##!
I completed a couple of laps of the estate – half the lap is in bright light, the other in pitch black – so it makes for a pretty interesting time.
Dog walkers passed = 2
Amount of times I nearly broke my ankle because of the uneven surface and extreme dark = millions
Ridiculous car drivers encountered = 1
Summary

******
Distance: 3.32mi
Time taken: 00:29:36
Average/Max Speed : 6.72/8.30 mph
Average/Min Pace : 00:08:56/00:07:13
Calories: 383

Total mileage after day 13 = 47.48 miles

No #jokeathon today – yesterdays should keep me in credit! Although I will give you a #factathon……

Because of the rotation of the earth, an object can be thrown farther if it is thrown west.

#janathon Day 12

~ Phil Lengthorn ~ 6 Comments

Janathon Day 12

12 days of running on the bounce, so I am awarding myself a star:

Thursday nights are club training night, I don’t often go on a Thursday, but janathon means I have to go running tonight, so club training it was.

Shaun, one of the cubs ‘coaches’, was tonight given a new catchphrase: “Slow’s the way to go”. He is trying to encourage us to run slower, he didn’t have any problem persuading us! Not quite sure of the science behind it, but apparently it will improve your performance. So I was given a target pace of between 8.22/8.52 min per mile. I must admit it felt slightly strange running at a slower pace than I would normally, but Shaun insists that we should be running at a slower pace for around 70% of our runs.

Overall, a good training session, and remember……’Slow’s the way to go”……..

Summary
******
Distance: 5.21mi
Time taken: 00:45:14
Average/Max Speed : 6.91/8.02 mph
Average/Min Pace : 00:08:41/00:07:29
Calories: 612

Total mileage after day 12 = 44.16 miles

I’ve been reading too many blogs…..I think we have enough ‘athons’ now…..

Thanks to @GrahamBlundell , here’s a #factathon….

The longest one-syllable word in the English language is “screeched.”

And thanks to @garrylengthorn, here’s a#lyricathon…

We’ve come so far
And we’ve reached so high
And we’ve looked each day and night in the eye
And we’re still so young
And we hope for more

And the one and only #jokeathon….

10 Reasons Not To Jog
1. My grandmother started walking five miles a day when she was 60. She’s 97 now & we don’t know where the heck she is.

2. The only reason I would take up jogging is so that I could hear heavy breathing again.

3. I joined a health club last year, spent about 400 quid. Haven’t lost a pound. Apparently you have to show up.

4. I have to exercise in the morning before my brain figures out what I’m doing.

5. I don’t exercise at all. If God meant us to touch our toes, he would have put them further up our body.

6. I like long walks, especially when they are taken by people who annoy me.

7. I have flabby thighs, but fortunately my stomach covers them.

8. The advantage of exercising every day is that you die healthier.

9. If you are going to try cross-country skiing, start with a small country.

10. I don’t jog. It makes the ice jump right out of my glass.

#janathon Day 11

~ Phil Lengthorn ~ 2 Comments

Janathon Day 11

After a long day at work, lots of marking, after school club and bus duty. Together with the fact that I worked hard at last night’s club training, tonight’s run was never going to break records. Just a gentle 2.5 miles around the new estate opposite. They have been busy building new roads and houses, so it was quite a surprise when I discovered them – they’re not even on the map yet – in fact it looks like I was randomly running around in a field!

New roads discovered = loads

Dead ends found = 2

Creepy bloke passed down a dark alley = 1

Summary

******
Distance: 2.54mi
Time taken: 00:22:00
Average/Max Speed : 6.94/8.26 mph
Average/Min Pace : 00:08:39/00:07:16
Calories: 298

Total mileage after day 11 = 38.45 miles

Finally….#jokeathon….

Q. How do you make a snooker table giggle?

A. Put your hand in its pocket and tickle its balls.

#janathon Day 10

~ Phil Lengthorn ~ 1 Comment

Janathon Day 10

Tonight was club training. You never quite know what you will get on the night, and tonight was no different….

After the usual warm-up and stretching, off we went….endurance training!

  • 10min at 10k pace
  • 3min recovery
  • 5min at 10k pace
  • 90sec recovery
  • 10min at 10k pace
The idea is that we slowly increase distance and pace, ideal if you are planning to do a spring half or marathon. There was quite a big turn-out of club members – new years resolutions in action me thinks.
During the dark events we train around a quiet(ish) part of town. Although we all wear hi-vis clothing it is often a bit dodgy and does come with its dangers: dogs, dog walkers, cars at junctions, bollards, uneven surfaces, parked cars, ramps, kerbs, slow runners, fast runners, tight corners…erm…..I must ask if the club has public liability insurance!
Worked hard tonight – so maybe a very slow relaxing run tomorrow.

Summary
******
Distance: 4.50mi
Time taken: 00:45:45
Average/Max Speed : 5.90/10.56 mph
Average/Min Pace : 00:10:10/00:05:41
Calories: 521

Total mileage after day 10 = 35.91 miles

…#jokeathon….

I went to a restaurant that serves “breakfast at any time.” So I ordered French Toast during the Renaissance.

#janathon Day 9

~ Phil Lengthorn ~ 5 Comments

Janathon Day 9

I hope to run every single day of January so some runs will inevitably be short – today’s was. One fast mile, made up of 3 laps of the block. Therefore a short run can only mean one thing….a short blog post.

Summary
******
Distance: 1.00mi
Time taken: 00:06:50
Average/Max Speed : 8.77/10.38 mph
Average/Min Pace : 00:06:51/00:05:46
Calories: 114

Total janathon mileage after day 9 = 31.41 miles

Although, still room for #jokeathon….

Q: What do you call a cat who ate a duck?

A: A duck-filled-fatty-puss.

#janathon Day 8

~ Phil Lengthorn ~ 7 Comments

Janathon Day 8

Firstly, being a teacher I normally plan lessons in my head during long runs, but since the start of janathon I have found that I am planning the daily blog!

No pictures in today’s blog – took the ipod instead. From reading other blogs (which I’m loving) it would seem that the #janathon blogs seem to be expanding all the time, we’ve moved from weather reports to #jokeathon and now we seem to be moving into music choices. Unlike Garry, who had the company of Madness today, I went for Frank Turner. That was until about 3 miles into the run when my headphones started playing up, finally finishing with a very faint noise coming out of the right side only!

Following on from a previous blog post where @runningman856 asked what I was planning to do with janathon. This got me thinking….and last night I signed up to run the Stamford St. Valentines 30k.

It was not until this morning’s run that I really began to think about it. In 2006 I completed the London Marathon so I’m not unaccustomed to doing the training and running long distances. Although, during the first week of janathon I’ve run as many miles as I did training for the marathon, I’ve done lots of 3 and 4 mile runs so far. So I’ve decided to increase mileage on a Sunday, starting today, and after seeing that @lilbee67 completed 10k this morning, I was spurred on….

Took the dog (Billy) and completed just over 6 miles around the fields of Bourne/Toft/Northorpe (2 laps). A nice run, plenty of people/dogs/horses about. The run felt pretty good. After a long run I would normally follow this with a rest day. Although, I am intent on running every day of January, so I’ll be stealing the idea of @AndyRoss75, who stole the idea from someone else, and having a go at a fast one mile.

Runners passed = none

Cyclists passed = 1

Walkers passed = loads

Horses avoided (Billy doesn’t like horses) = 3

Summary
******
Distance: 6.12mi
Time taken: 00:51:03
Average/Max Speed : 7.19/9.00 mph
Average/Min Pace : 00:08:21/00:06:39
Calories: 724

Total Janathon mileage after day 8 = 30.41 miles

Not to forget #jokeathon….

A blonde goes out for a run. She comes to a river and cannot see a bridge anywhere nearby. She spots another blonde on the opposite bank. “Yoohoo!” she shouts, “How can I get to the other side?” The second blonde looks up the river, then down the river then shouts back, “You’re already on the other side!”