New Blog!

My running blog has a new home

 

www.ryaniterun.uk

I will be updating my adventures, trials and tribulations on this fancy new blog!
I am training for the Royal Parks Foundation Half Marathon and hoping to raise £500 for Save the Children. See you at ryaniterun.uk!

Like the Wind

Bit rainy and windy today, didn't stop me throwing cation to the wind and going out for a 10k this afternoon anyway.

29mph winds? No problem.

I breezed along at a nice steady (easy) pace, not really expecting a massive improvement in my pace/time as the wind was proving to be a noticable drag, at times hitting me with a crosswind that altered my path. Maybe I should invest in a more streamlined outfit?

Perfect

The rain was less of an issue, it's only rain afterall. But as I listened to a rather heavy ZombiesRun episode (basically, betrayal and death everywhere) the time/distance updates were making it apparent that my time was not bad at all, clocking a pretty solid (for me) 29 and a bit minutes at the halfway mark (5k). That was a nice confidence boost as I am aiming to set a time of below 2 hours when the Royal Parks Half rolls around.

My final time was a massive improvement on last weekend, which kind of surprised me...

Last week: 11:04 pace

This week: 10:04 per mile. A whole minute faster!

I was blown away! It was a good lift after struggling up those b*stard hills yesterday.

Currently I'm looking at doing some 10k events in the summer, of which there are quite a few, as I'd like to get a bit of experience of running at an event and seeing how that affects my mentality and time. I have read it can give an extra incentive to set a good time, but I have also seen reports of people losing focus and struggling. I'm looking forward to it as it will be a whole new experience for me.

If you would like to sponsor me, click the button above. I am running the Royal Parks Half in London in October for Save the Children aiming to raise at least £500. Every penny goes towards this great charity and will give me a bit more motivation as I gradually step up my training in the coming months. Thanks!

As usual, here's a track from my running playlist. This played on my playlist as I ran the 10th and final kilometer today,
Arthemis - Heroes

Hillman Wimp

Kate Bush seemed to be quite worried with regards to having a problem running up hills in such a way as to have me question her training regime...

 

Even the cover art has little to do with running or hills.

Today I ran around Ally Pally, and very quickly learned that Kate Bush's fear of running up hills was understandable. In short, it isn't easy.

...Down...Up...Down...Up...Blerrrgh

So not the best pace, but it was a bit of a shock to the system feeling my legs struggle because of a slightly steeper than average incline...

Inclines like this

Totally worth it... I think?

I might leave the hill climbs for a bit, but I did notice a few Parkrun people around Ally Pally, which I may have to join in with at some point. But that is then, for now I'm planning on getting some miles in tomorrow and keep putting the miles in and doing those bodyweight exercises.

Any who, here's a reminder as to why I'm doing the Royal Parks Half this October for Save the Children:

And now here's another gem from my running playlist. Motley Crue - Kickstart My Heart

And, just for the fun of it, here is a photo I took after running around Ally Pally

Diversifying Exercises

Ran another 6km last night. Great and all that, but I am wondering if mixing up my exercises would be better. So, as I am a fan of tracking apps, like "Runkeeper" and "Zombies, Run!"

All about that base...

A quick Google search and something called 'Runtastic' popped up. They seem to have a lot of apps for different exercises, like squats, push ups and sit-ups, so I figured I'd give them a go. It is a bit of a confidence boost when you ace the first couple of levels in an exercise app but looking ahead the challenges will get tougher, which will be interesting.

More tracking things to look at when bored at work!

 I also decided to get their heart rate app, as I want to burn off my beer belly before summer really kicks in so need to make sure I'm in that fat burning zone.

 

I guess this means I'm healthy?

It would be nice to have a way of burning a few more calories at work, seeing as my heart-rate stays around the 70 mark. Maybe I could swap my naff office chair for a treadmill?

Yes, these exist. Now I just need to convince the boss.

I'm going to keep up using these new apps and see if the benefits translate to running (according to most reports, they will). In the meantime I will also be using Runkeeper's 23 week 1/2 marathon training plan to properly develop and get to the point where I can run The Royal Parks Half marathon without collapsing in a sweaty heap in Hyde Park.

So, as I am now going to be doing body weight exercises in an attempt to lose the belly, here is another song from my running play-list that is also an inspirational quote. Austrian Death Machine - It's Simple, If It Jiggles It's Fat

What am I training for? Well, I will be running a half marathon for Save the Children this October. I am asking for donations and every penny raised will give me the motivation and inspiration to keep on running.

Registered!

It has been a rather long time since my last blog post, but training seems to be progressing nicely. I have begun upping my average distance and on Saturday managed a 6 mile run around Barnet (which felt pretty good... then my legs ached)

 

I did notice my trainers did not feel comfortable for the full duration of my run, with some rubbing being noticed around the 5 mile mark, so they may need attending to or replacing.

More recently (Yesterday) did a 5km run after work and that night went on a social media binge. Following all sorts of running blogs and magazines, signing up for newsletters, reading about trainers and protein bars and all that stuff.

It's great having so much information available at your fingertips and for free!

FOLLOW EVERYTHING!

Loads of great info and I am now very interested in trail running, because, why not? But that's for another time. Meanwhile I need to keep improving my fitness and conditioning for the Royal Parks Half in October.

Speaking of which, today I finalised my registration for the event that I am training for.

Hooray! Now I just need to run it!

So now I need to think of good ways to raise the remainder of my target for Save the Children. I have a couple of ideas, but I won't jinx it yet!

I'm going to try for another 6 mile run tonight, but may only have time for 3 miles. I should probably try and blog more often too.

"And maybe make it less boring" - You...probably

So to close this (kind of dull) blog post, here's the not so dull Beasto Blanco with a song from my running playlist, "Live Fast Die Loud"

As I have mentioned before, I will be running a half marathon for Save the Children, I am asking for donations. Every penny  will give me the motivation and inspiration to keep on running

Runless for 10 Days

After a whole 10 days of not running, I ran a bit longer than usual to make up for it and maybe as a way of punishing my slothy self.

"What do you mean 'whipping' isn't the only way to punish yourself?"

Now the days are getting longer I'm hoping I can set a timetable to stick to with actual progression plans and all that. Failing that, at least I can run more regularly as I'm just running occasionally at the moment. Possibly because it's so cold and dark when I get home from work.

This guy might be on to something...

As previously mentioned, yesterday I ran around North London for a few miles,

 

4.63 miles, but who's counting?

 Which, when compared to two weeks ago...

...shows that even though I didn't do any runs for 10 days, I didn't lose anything pace wise, which is nice.
So all I have to do is start running more regularly, or stop running and stay at the level I am (that's how it works, right?)

As I will be running a half marathon for Save the Children, I am asking for donations. Every penny  will give me the motivation and inspiration to keep on running!

 

And to add further insight into my training, here is a song from my running playlist,
Stone Sour- Road Hogs

King of the Hill

Where I live there is a hill that tonight I decided to run down, then back up again, like some kind of grand old Duke of York.

Only with fewer allegations

So my running about was a bit tougher than usual with a nice 153ft climb for most of the last mile.

 

I love all the apps and stuff available for running numpties like me. So many stats to stare at and wonder what people did before their phones had accelerometers and GPS.
I'm sure in a few weeks all this data will be a good guide for showing what I need to address training wise, and if I can't be bothered to read it I can ask some poor sap to read it for me.

Although somebody probably is already.

Anywho, training is going ok, I think, but I'm just trying to up my fitness until I can start training properly in Spring and Summer as these nights are still too early. Basically I don't feel confident enough to run hard because it's near impossible to see exactly what I'm stepping on. My torch can only light so much and there are many potential obstacles out there, especially when running around a golf course.

This is a genuine possibility.

I hope I don't have nightmares about poop covered golf balls! Remember to tell your friends and click here to donate whatever you can. I'll do a proper blog post as to why I am raising money for Save the Children, but for now, here's some Queens of the Stone Age with a song that is on my running playlist.

 

I've Got Music, I've Got Rhythm

Started to find a steady pace now, with a run around North London this morning having an average pace of 10:17 per mile. Compared to my run one week ago it seems I am showing signs of improvement.

Last week

 

Today

 Greater distance, faster pace, less wheezing.

 I'm pretty chuffed that I'm getting better at moving my legs, but it isn't just the thought of being fitter that motivates me, or the thought of raising money the music I listen to makes a difference.

Ever wonder why 80's movies used kick ass songs during their montage scenes?

Hell Yeah!

Because having a kick ass tune playing makes a big difference! I enjoy pitting myself against myself, just running around for half an hour, with some music. It also happens to be a good way to relieve stress, probably because of the endorphins trying to deal with my burning calf muscles.

Calves on fiiiii-re!

In my mind there are two ways to train for anything in life; the Rocky way, with your own ingenuity, determination and motivation pushing you on...

And the Drago way,
where you have lots of fancy equipment (and money) basically doing the training for you.

Also known as the 'Lance Armstrong' way.

But in the end, Rocky wins (spoiler). I like to think it's because he didn't have a bunch of experts telling him the best way to do things, which means he found the best way to do things by himself and used the experience of failure to his advantage, like when somebody is given the answer to a question they don't really learn anything. Also, he ended Communism in Russia, which was nice.

So... what was I writing about? Montage music? Yes, every song on my 'running playlist' is a potential montage backing track and is a great help when running around in the cold. So with my training progressing and this blog post going on a bit, I'll say please donate to my Justgiving page as donations are a pretty good motivator for days when I can't find my headphones.

To play us out, here's a good running track from my running playlist, Black Spiders - Balls. Enjoy!

PS: West Ham are playing tomorrow, so Up The Irons and all that!

Although, after some of today's results, I am not as confident about us beating Bristol City as I was yesterday.

First Donations!

Massive thanks to those that have donated already! This morning I had £50 of generous donations on my JustGiving page! 10% of the way there already!

Went for a run tonight, bit on the chilly side, but I was pretty well prepared:

'Hat of Crossed Hammers' with 'Old Uni Hoody' (+10 frost resistance)

'Socks of Odd Pairing' and 'Leggings of Tightness' (+20 Charisma)

So out I went, torch in hand, frost underfoot, jogging slowly around for 4 and a half kilometres. Jolly good, another Zombies Run mission out the way (apparently there is a traitor in the ranks! Ooooooh) but I was really slow, I think, I can’t tell because the timer seems to have started well before the GPS so I may well have done more than 4.5km. But I’m not taking my running too seriously as I’m not really training yet, just reminding my legs how running works.

Running is harder than it looks

But aside from the uneventful slow jog around a golfcourse in the dark, I got some good news!
After getting home I read an email from justgiving.com, another £20 donated! So in well under a week of telling people I’m doing a half marathon, I already have £70 going to Save the Children this October! That's a great confidence boost, who knows, maybe if I get £430 more I'll have enough confidence to do the Royal Parks Foundation Half Marathon without face planting my way around Hyde Park.

Until next time, tell your friends and donate whatever you can, every penny matters (don't forget to Gift Aid it!)

-Ryanite

Back to Charity (How I Became a Charity Runner)

It's January! And after raising £50 for Decembeard and Beating Bowel Cancer, I was feeling pretty good about myself. I felt even better when West Ham beat Everton in an FA Cup match that went on forever!

ADRIAAAAAAAAAN

This phase of elation peaked as I read an email from Save the Children saying I could enter a 1/2 marathon in October for £1 instead of £50...

I wonder how much this guy would pay for a half marathon?

Now, I have never managed to run more than 3 miles without wheezing and cursing every deity I have heard of (that includes you, Demeter!) so a half marathon is quite an ask. The challenge goes from a matter of training to a matter of promotion when I remember I have to raise £500 for Save the Children.

I managed to raise £375 doing the Thames Path Challenge in 2013, which was pretty good, but £500 seems so much higher, but I am banking on this blog becoming popular and then maybe get a celebrity to endorse it.

If I type the words "Ricky Gervais" enough, will this blog show up when he Googles his own name?

But failing a massive swathe of retweets and facebook shares, I will have to rely on people that I care about very much in order to raise the money for the excellent Save the Children, who have projects all over the world, right now some include helping those affected by the Ebola outbreak, children affected by the war in Syria and Action2015, which is a campaign to pressure governments to do more to tackle hunger and preventable diseases.

Unfortunately, many of those people I care about very much were lost during the events of Mass Effect 3, so I will have to ask friends and family for their help instead.

Wait, Mordin! Before you cure the genophage, can you look at my just giving page?

And I will, but first I need to make sure I can move my legs with some haste for just over 13 miles. So yesterday I set out to do an easy 5km, which I haven't done for far too long. So I fired up my Zombies Run app, completely forgot where I was in the story and managed to set a time of 32:48 for a 2.98 mile trip around London's Ally Pally. And it snowed, which made me feel like Rocky IV, until that feeling left me about 2 minutes later.

DRAGOOOO-Ow, my legs ache!

I could say that 11 minute miles isn't bad for a chubby chops like me, but I cannot ignore the fact the run was marred by a very tight groin muscle (ooh matron) which made me realise I have a lot of work to do if I'm going to be up to this thing. I want to give it my best shot, I'm not there to smell flowers and admire the trees in some of London's famous Royal Parks, I'm there to prove to myself that I can do it and with a time I can be proud of.

Damn plants are always slowing me down!

So I spent the rest of the day walking (slowly) with my girlfriend around Portobello Road, which was nice, and after covering my legs with deep heat I plotted to go out for a slow jog again the next day (today).

Which I did, and I was much better. Zombies Run decided to screw me over by not reminding me how far I'd gone or the time after 1km, but after I had finished that chapter of the story I had managed 3.45 miles in 36:29. That's a whole 26 seconds off my minutes per mile! That's a nice little confidence booster, but I did feel knackered afterwards.

Well that's enough jabbering and pop culture references for one post, if you want to donate you can do so at www.justgiving.com/ryanite and if you want to do the half marathon with me (or against me) have a look here https://royalparkshalf.com/.

- Ryanite
Find me on twitter @ryantl85