It Ain't Fast and It Ain't Pretty...

Janathon Day 31 – Man-flu disaster averted!

timcnicholls — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 19:03:54 +0000

Yesterday I spoke too soon. Call it false confidence, hubris, whatever. Just as the end was in sight, distaster struck. Last night I was struck down by the man-flu:

(Thanks for @Jo365 for reminding me of this clip).

Yes, that truly devastating illness that lays waste to all men at some point in their lives (whereas women just catch a cold and get on with it). I went to bed early last night feeling rough as a badger’s bum, hoping that I’d just sleep it off and wake up this morning, raring to go, ready to finish Janathon in glory with a lunchtime run at work. Nope, felt worse this morning. Bah….

After a day snoozing on the sofa and dosed to the eyeballs with Lemsip Max Strength, I felt reasonably normal by late afternoon. Charlie was due a walk so, much to Sarah’s disapproval, I decided to take him for a quick dog-jog around the block. It was a 20 minute run-walk affair and I didn’t collapse in a sweaty heap at the end. Disaster averted! Poor Charlie, I think he was miffed after promising him that yeterday was the last. Still, he’s done a total of 28 miles for Janathon, which is not to be sniffed at (geddit?)!!

I’ve saved one of my favourites for today’s #kidsshowathon: Paddington Bear

Paddington Bear

The FINAL #jokeathon comes, again, from Tommy Cooper:

A Janathon participant walks into the psychiatrist wearing only cling film for shorts.
The psychiatrist says to him, “Well, I can clearly see you’re nuts”.

I thought @Jo365 might appreciate that one!

Distance run today: 1.8 miles (2.9 km)
Total distance run: 134.3 miles (216.1 km)
Man-flu Janathon epic fails averted: 1
RunKeeper log: http://runkeeper.com/user/timcnicholls/activity/68858348
Running Free log: http://www.runningfreeonline.com/act/743142

And that’s it. Janathon is done. 31 days of consecutive running (32 if I count New Year’s Eve), a total of 134.3 miles, 18000 calories burned. I’m delighted to have run every day, really pleased with the mileage but most of all amazed by the support and sense of community spirit. With the support of Sarah, the kids and Charlie, I’ve found the running fairly easy to fit into my routine. It’s been a great basis to build running more regularly into my life and I hope it will stand me in good stead for the marathon training. The blogging made me nervous at the outset, but I’ve really enjoyed writing and getting feedback far more than I expected. My only regret is not having had time to read other blogs, comment and generally reciprocate all the goodwill that I’ve received.

There’s lots of people I’d like to thank: my lovely wife Sarah especially for her support, tolerance and the delicious cakes that have kept me going! Charlie for putting up with the dog-jogs. Flo and Suzie for sharing runs with me during the month. Everyone on Twitter and the blogs who has commented, supported, teased, abused, joked and generally made Janathon so great. Thanks also to Cathy ‘Jog-Blog’ for organising Janathon. Special mention to Lesley Boniface, Phil Lengthorn, Natalie Bowers, Jo Hudson, Rachel Bedford and Jo Taylor for comments, tweets and groans at the bad jokes. And a particular mention to the two Janathoners who I also know (and have run with) in real life, Mark Townson and Graham Blundell, who have diligently re-tweeted, commented and encouraged throughout the month. Thank you all!

It’s been a blast – see you in June!

Janathon Day 30 – Tell me why I don’t like Mondays

timcnicholls — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 20:42:14 +0000

Well, not this particular Monday at least. The reason? Really bad DOMS after my long run yesterday. My legs have taken quite a hammering this month, but today is the worst they’ve been. I guess it’s not surprising after a total of 28km over the weekend, which is a lot for me. The most painful part is that inside bit of the quadriceps just above the knee, (vastus medialis according to an ~~expert~~ Wikipedia). Going down stairs is worst. But hey, I’ve nearly made it to the end of the month without collapsing in a heap of tight muscles and self-pity, so I’m regarding it as a badge of honour.

Someone else who doesn’t like Mondays is Charlie, because I drag him out of the door – figuratively and almost literally speaking – before sunrise, before breakfast, before any civilised, respectable cocker spaniel ought to be seen in public. I promised him this would be the last one to no avail. It took Sarah all her powers of persuasion to prise him from the sofa and deliver him door-wards. Once out in the cold, with the odd flake of snow poetically drifting down, I indulged him a bit, letting him stop and sniff every blade of grass between home and the centre of Wantage. In between sniff breaks I was limping and shuffling along like a day-glo homage to Long John Silver (minus the parrot) as my legs simply refused to cooperate with my attempts to run. The spirit was willing today but the flesh (and the dog) was definitely weak…

So it’s T-minus one day and counting. I’ve exceeded my second mileage target of 130 miles so tomorrow’s lunchtime run will be just about celebrating the glorious craziness of Janathon.

The penultimate #kidsshowathon is filed in the same vintage seventies classic folder as Bagpuss:

The Wombles

My favourite Womble was Wellington, followed by Madame Cholet. Of course there was the famous theme music, written by Mike Batt at the zenith of his career, many years before he inflicted Katie Melua on the world. (Sorry if you like Katie Melua, feel free to flame me in the comments )

Today’s #jokeathon is, yet again, a Tommy Cooper one-liner:

Police arrested two kids yesterday: one was drinking battery acid, the other was eating fireworks. They charged one and let the other off.

Distance run today: 2.6 miles (4.1 km)
Total distance run: 132.5 miles (211.5 km)
Relieved dogs who won’t have to do any more early morning dog-jogs: 1
RunKeeper log: http://runkeeper.com/user/timcnicholls/activity/68662406
Running Free log: http://www.runningfreeonline.com/act/742397

Janathon Day 29 – Bimbling in the fog of Janathon

timcnicholls — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 20:13:24 +0000

Thanks to Sarah kindly offering to take Charlie for a walk this morning, I was able to go for a long slow run this morning. Or, to use the technical term, a bimble. It was cold and foggy when I went out. I wasn’t sure how many miles were left in my legs – they are permanently tight at the moment and feel like I have almost no power – but I thought I’d give my favourite long, slow route a go.

It was surprisingly pleasant running in the fog. Once away from the main road is was really quiet and peaceful, just the bleating of the sheep and the cawing of the crows to keep me company. It’s such a great privilege to be able to do something so simple, so elemental, as getting out and just running. We spend a lot of time obsessing about pace, fuelling strategy, form, shoes, kit, the list goes on. Today turned out to be one of those magical runs where you can just zone out, put one foot in front of the other, and enjoy the sheer physical act of running. I paid no attention to my pace, my running form was probably abysmal but I had a blast. It seemed every other runner I saw must have been enjoying it too – lots of smiles, lots of hellos, even a few jokes. At the end it was my longest run in Janathon to date, and I could have run further if time hadn’t been pressing. When I got home the kids pointed out that I actually had frost on my hat! Fantastic.

On another topic – all of the #janathon #runart letters have been run over the weekend! Thanks to everybody for their efforts; the final collage is in production so watch this space for the results. I’ve linked to the various individual letters on the post I did the other night if you’re interested.

Another classic #kidsshowathon for you today: Bagpuss.

And when Bagpuss went to sleep, they all went to sleep

I never tire of watching this. I loved his yawn and have spent most of my adult life attempting to emulate it. I had a tutor at university who sounded exactly like Professor Yaffle, the carved bookend bird.

Today’s #jokeathon is yet another Tommy Cooper classic:

I bought my wife a wooden leg for Christmas. It’s not her main present, just a stocking filler.

I like that one. I’m easily pleased.

Distance run today: 10.8 miles (17.3 km)
Total distance run: 129.9 miles (207.5 km)
Long slow runs thoroughly enjoyed: 1
RunKeeper log: http://runkeeper.com/user/timcnicholls/activity/68501881
Running Free log: http://www.runningfreeonline.com/act/741652

Janathon Day 28 – Brought to you by the letter ‘J’

timcnicholls — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 19:01:19 +0000

So the cunning wheeze of spelling #Janathon in #runart is coming to fruition! We have an ‘O’ from Cathy and an ‘N’ from Phil already with more letters being promised as I type. My original plan today was to go for a long slow run, but that didn’t work out so instead I went for a shorter, slightly faster run, incorporating a local street that I thought would be suitable for a letter ‘J’. I’m rather pleased with the results:

J is for Janathon

I’d have preferred it if the track ran down the centre of the roads but I would have looked a bit daft. It’s also a bit small but there weren’t any longer local roads with a suitable bend and a ‘T’ for the top, so the GPS sampling rate and position jitter make it look a bit spiky. I got a few strange looks from a dog-walker as I made sharp right hand turns and doubled back…

My total run today was a 1km run to the start of the J, about 300m of the J itself, then about 9km of a semi-bimble around Grove and Wantage. All I could think about was how the letter was going to turn out, so I’m pleased it’s worked!

In honour of the title of this post, and with educational entertainment in general, today’s #kidsshowathon is brought to you by Sesame Street:

Aww, gee, Bert!

Bert and Ernie’s bromance was my all-time favourite part of it. Is there anyone who doesn’t like Sesame Street? No, thought not.

Today’s #jokeathon is another Tommy Cooper rip-off:

I went to the doctor’s. He said ‘What appears to be the problem?’.
I said ‘I keep having the same dream, night after night, that beautiful girls are running towards me and I’m pushing them away’.
He said ‘How can I help?’
I said ‘I want you to break my arms.’

Distance run today: 6.5 miles (10.2 km) in 3 parts!
Total distance run: 119.2 miles (190.2 km)
#Janathon #runart letters delivered: 1
RunKeeper log: http://runkeeper.com/user/timcnicholls/activity/68415369
Running Free log: http://www.runningfreeonline.com/act/741324

Janathon Day 27 – Are we nearly there yet Dad?

timcnicholls — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 22:49:12 +0000

It’s Friday, it’s the end of a busy week and I’m tired. My legs are knackered and tighter than piano strings. Another early morning dog jog today; Charlie’s tired too so we didn’t set the world on fire this morning. Still it was crisp and dry and it was good to be out in the fresh air. There’s not much else to be said. Hopefully I’ll get a bit of enthusiasm back tomorrow!

Here’s another favourite for #kidsshowathon (can you tell I spent a lot of time watching TV?): Roobarb.

Roobarb and Custard

It had that distinctive wobbly animation and catchy theme tune. I remember arguing with my brother about which was Roobard and which was Custard (dog and cat respectively). Ah, bring back the seventies!

Today’s #jokeathon is also dog related:

I went to a zoo the other day, there was only one dog in it. It was a shitzu.

A Tommy Cooper classic!

Distance run today: 2.5 miles (4.1 km)
Total distance run: 112.7 miles (179.9 km)
Poops scooped: Big fat zero
RunKeeper log: http://runkeeper.com/user/timcnicholls/activity/68207869
Running Free log: http://www.runningfreeonline.com/act/740208

Janathon Run Art – It’s Got Our Name On It

timcnicholls — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 22:40:21 +0000

Inspired by the #runart efforts of @copy7t, an idea hatched on Twitter today to spell out Janathon over the weekend, one letter per person. We’ll then collect the run maps together and create a collage which will be posted on the #runart blog. Here’s the list of volunteers and letters. Where people expressed no preference I’ve made an executive decision and assigned one!

Letter	Name	Twitter	Contri
#	Mark	@marktownson	Done
J	Tim	@timcnicholls	Done
A	Shaun	iliketocount (blog)	Done
N	Phil	@phillengthorn	Done
A	Terry	@ReNcEsTaR	Done (*3)
T	Lesley	@lilbee67	Done
H	7t	@copy7t	Done
O	Cathy David	@jogblog @davidgalewis	Done Done
N	Jules	@jules_lewis	Done

So the plan is as follows: over the weekend, run your letter, post the GPS track on RunningFree or wherever you prefer and tweet or blog it. We’ll collect them together and post the collage as an end of Janathon celebration.

Of course, there’s no reason why others can’t contribute letters too. The more the merrier! Spread the word…

Simples!

P.S.If you want to change this, either comment on the post or DM me on Twitter so I don’t miss it.

Janathon Day 26 – A Sunny Interlude

timcnicholls — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 19:59:27 +0000

Back to work today and normal routine so it was a lunchtime run for me. It wasn’t looking good this morning – rainy and dark clouds, but by the time I went out the sun had come out. Result! I ran today with a colleague from the lab, Suzie, who is training for the Reading Half Marathon, raising money for the Institute of Physics Africa Appeal and blogging about it here.

We ran an extended version of one of my normal routes around Chilton, adding in a section round bridle paths at the back of the village. It was a bit muddy and puddly from the morning rain but a very pleasant change from doing the same thing time and again, extending the route to about 8km. It was great to have company for once during Janathon and the time soon passed. When I walked back to the office after getting changed the clouds rolled in again and it started raining, so we had a lucky window in the weather.

For #kidsshowathon today I decided to appeal to the masses and go for something obvious:

Scooby-Doo

‘Nuff said really. TV genius. Apart for when Scrappy-Doo arrived and ruined it all. How I mourned.

Today’s #jokeathon is brought to you the by the letters R, U, B, B, I, S and H:

Q: What do you call a one-eyed dinosaur?
A: D’you-think-he-saurus!

T-minus 5 crap jokes and counting…

Distance run today: 5.1 miles (8.2 km)
Total distance run: 110.1 miles (175.8 km)
Rain showers dodged: 1
RunKeeper log: http://runkeeper.com/user/timcnicholls/activity/68100147
Running Free log: http://www.runningfreeonline.com/act/739743

Janathon Day 25 – Pootling the evening away

timcnicholls — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 20:40:27 +0000

Just a quick blog tonight as I ran late today (for me at least). I had the day off to look after Becky so the usual lunchtime run was off the cards. Instead I spent most of the day multi-tasking email and watching Nanny McPhee. I ran this evening, which was strange after being in such a routine for the last few weeks. It was an uneventful pootle around Wantage in the dark. In the last 1.5k I was overtaken on the other side of the road by another runner. Not being remotely competitive of course I didn’t want to catch him and overtake him right back; instead I just thought I’d try and keep with him as a way of picking up the pace. It was only partially successful but at least it made a change.

Following on from last night’s supernatural #kidsshowathon, here’s another one you might remember: The Ghosts of Motley Hall. Remember it? To be honest, I only remember the fact that I really liked it and that it was set in an old house full of ghosts.

The Ghosts of Motley Hall

One of the main characters was played by Arthur English, who was also in Are You Being Served. Can’t remember much more than that!

Today’s #jokeathon follows on from yesterdays car-crash of a joke:

Q: How to you get four whales in a mini?
A: Two in the front and two in the back.

Don’t worry, only six more jokes to endure!

Distance run today: 4.3 miles (6.9 km)
Total distance run: 105.0 miles (167.2 km)
Faster runners “chased”: 1, unsuccessfully
RunKeeper log: http://runkeeper.com/user/timcnicholls/activity/68013410
Running Free log: http://www.runningfreeonline.com/act/739400

Janathon Day 24 – Trudging, puddles and a century

timcnicholls — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 19:39:46 +0000

Today tested my resolve to run every day for the first time. Becky, our youngest was poorly overnight, so we were all tired and our morning routine was blown out of the water. I took Charlie out for a walk in the pouring rain as I couldn’t face an early dog jog (and neither could he!) before heading to work. It was raining most of the morning, I had a load of things to get done and the prospect of running at lunchtime was distinctly unappealing. By 11:45 it had stopped raining and the sun was peeping through, so I took a deep breath and went for it.

I did the usual 7km route, trudging around and occasionally through the many puddles. It was never going to be an inspiring pace, but it was good to get out and do it. My mood was improved by the realisation that I have completed 100 miles so far this month. My main aim for Janathon was to just run every day, but I kind of thought 100 miles might be just possible. I’ve done it and with 7 days to go! I’m never going to set the world on fire with my pace or distance but it feels great to reach this total.

Feeling a little bit pleased with myself I tweeted the total this afternoon. Thanks to everyone who commented back. Thanks also (I think) to everyone who suggested I should aim for 150 miles by the end of the month!! You know who you are… I’m unlikely to have time for that, so I’ve decided to try for 120 miles. We’ll see…

For #kidsshowathon today, I’ve gone a bit more mainstream; I commend to you the comic genius that was Rentaghost:

Rentaghost

I can hear the theme tune now! The only downside was getting called Timothy Claypole by my friends at school every time it was on…

Today’s #jokeathon barrel-scraping effort:

Q: How to you get two whales in a mini?
A: Across the Severn Bridge!

Distance run today: 4.5 miles (7.2 km)
Total distance run: 100.6 miles (161.7 km)
Puddles trudged through: Countless
Century milestones passed: Just the one!
RunKeeper log: http://runkeeper.com/user/timcnicholls/activity/67811249
Running Free log: http://www.runningfreeonline.com/act/738238

Janathon Day 23 – An early morning safari

timcnicholls — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 19:34:01 +0000

It’s Monday morning, we’ve all got that Monday feeling, even Charlie the Cocker Spaniel has that Monday feeling, largely because I’m about to drag him out on a dog-jog. He was really sleepy this morning, bless him, and needed extra coaxing and bribing to get out of the door at 6:30. Me? I was raring to go, excited at the challenge that a new Janathon day was going to bring. Or not…

I can’t let a Janathon dog-jog go by without mentioning the morning’s poop-scoop action. With a month’s practice I’ve been getting good at telling when he needs to stop running and answer the call of nature. Today Charlie thought he’d call my bluff by stopping on every bit of grass we passed; as I took off my gloves and reached for the poo bag, he’d stop sniffing the grass and look around casually, then at me, as if to ask “Why are we stopping here?”. By the third repeat of this I was getting a bit irritated and wasn’t having any of it. He then decided it would be a cunning wheeze to go on the path behind a telegraph pole. Arghhh…

My mood was lifted by what happened a few minutes later. We turned the corner at a the bottom of the path down to Letcombe Brook to be confronted by a labrador-sized Muntjac deer standing about two metres away. Charlie stopped and wagged his tail at the deer, probably mistaking it for another dog. (This is typical – he thinks every dog or person he meets is his new best friend.) The deer looked at us for a second before turning and running right along the path ahead of us, its white tail bobbing away into the dark. At this point Charlie thought he’d take off after it, nearly pulling my arm out of its socket. He either thought it was a new playmate or, more likely given it was pre-breakfast, something he could eat

Muntjac Deer - Photo JJ Harrison

It was all over in a few seconds but I enjoyed the early morning safari.

I was pleased that a few people remembered yesterday’s kids TV show – Ludwig. I was beginning to think it was just me! Today’s is a bit more mainstream – Bod:

Bod

Remember it? Two things stick in my mind – the catchy theme tune and the laconic voice-over by the inimitable John Le Mesurier. Surely this is a classic?

Today’s #jokeathon, stolen from Dan’s Horrible History Book:

Q: Why did the Romans build straight roads?
A: So the Britons couldn’t hide round corners.

See – humour and a lesson in history all rolled into one. No, don’t thank me!

Distance run today: 2.5 miles (4.0 km)
Total distance run: 96.2 miles (154.5 km)
Poop stops faked: 3
Poops scooped: 1
RunKeeper log: http://runkeeper.com/user/timcnicholls/activity/67640538
Running Free log: http://www.runningfreeonline.com/act/737450