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