Green Fingers II

DAY 39: More gardening

Walk to PO, strimmed weeds for sunday, finished off that small brick construction, cleaned the extension exterior and some other odd jobs about the garden. Absolutely shattered now, especially after yesterday. Doubt I'll do any more on treadmill tonight.

Walked far for a glimpse of victory

DAY 38: Victory parade

I was very active today; first I mowed the lawn, then walked to post office & back (it was closed grr). Then Jon & I made our way to the victory parade but the trains were packed so we walked to Scotland Road. It was a long wait for a short glimpse, but it was a glimpse none the less. Saw the trophy & Gerrard holding on to it looking tired. And Dudek waved!! Woop!!!

This is the best pic I took cos a guy with a flag walked past just as the bus was at its closest to us :(




On our way home, everytime we were spotted in our shirts by a LFC supporter in a car going past, they hooted at us, we aren't even famous! Some really sweet kids out though, must have been a field day for them being let out til so late! Total distance walked today 7.5k+

INSPIRATIONAL: 11men running around for 2hr+

WEEK 6, DAY 37: LIVERPOOL FC ROCKS

What started out to be just another day turned out to be just fantastic.

GOOD: Firstly I got to see my best friend & had dinner with her totally out of the blue.
SHIT: Scuffed the car outside the house, d'oh!
GOOD: Had an hour's worth of good badminton.
SHIT: Came home to 1-0 having missed the first 30mins and then witness two further goals against us. Livid.
GOOD: That I missed the first 30mins, cos only the second half was worth watching.
SHIT: I can't watch penalties. Mental struggle ensues... "must watch/can't watch".
F*ING EXCELLENT: We won! We won!!!!!!!!!! OMG!!!
NOT SO GOOD: Heart rate soars. On an uncontrollable high. Hands shake.
GOOD: Walk 1k in just over 16mins to let off steam + hot shower.
NOT SO GOOD: Now that I've calmed down, I'm shattered.
GOOD: Looking forward to the celebratory LFC tour in town tmr. Oooh, this is what it feels like to be Liverpudlian. Bloody fantastic!

Sweaty

DAY 33:

2 days of feeling rubbish. Today walked 3k, but before you think I'm being uber fit, I did in 2 halves.

1.5k to PO/ 23mins
TTT = 76:40

1.5k(T) / 24:30
TTT = 81:40

Av TTT = 79:10

(wow, I'd do REALLY well if I could do this race in installments!)

Takes 90s more on treadmill & makes me sweaty. Overall not bad. Need more work on stamina, no good being able to do short bursts if I can't last the whole 5k. To be worked on, no more shitty days. Joss Stone is rubbish to power walk to, too slow. Kylie better. Must get some Hard house or trance or summat.

Independence is sweet

DAY 30: a month already??

No run/walking. 2 hours of good badmo. Drove there by myself tonight, how cool is THAT?

Fast Rest

DAY 29: Faster walking outside?

Went out for a short walk to the post office and back this morning. On my return I calculated I'd walked about 1.5k at a leisurely pace, stopped at lights 4 times and queued at the post office and took me a little bit over 25mins. So how come walking at a fair pace for 30mins only travels the same distance on the treadmill?? Weird huh?

I'm no thief, don't treat me like one

Have you ever known a person to get incredibly angry at normal television adverts? Or tear down bill boards in absolute rage just because it's saying

"we have this product, want one?"

I haven't (even if they claim that water droplets cause tiny lasers scorching into your car paintwork, which is a blatant lie, I only make a passing comment)
Then why do people react so badly to sponsored events for charity? Before they are even asked? They can always say "no" even IF asked.

I'm angry cos I changed my msn name to my sponsor link; a friend of mine did it & I sponsored him, I wouldn't have known of his event if he didn't change his display name. It's effective but by doing so I am not forcing anyone to get their wallets out. No doubt I will eventually ask people but on this occasion, all I said was

"hi hi"

and the reaction I got was

"go away".

Anyone adverse to charity could pretend not to have noticed the name or just say "no thankyou" when actually asked. I can't pry money out of anyone, no-one should feel as though they're being robbed. If you own a credit card, you're old enough to vote and you're old enough to make decisions for yourself no matter how much sweet talking I or anyone else does.

Of course, I know a lot of you reading this have manners and are in fact very generous people and I thank everyone in advance whether you sponsor me, come and cheer me along or simply send me a few encouraging words. I prefer that very much more to "go away" even if it was joke, it's not funny. "Break a leg" is funny.

Sponsor me!

I take no shame in asking

SPONSOR ME!

Online at:
http://www.raceforlifesponsorme.org/anz
Or if you prefer handing over cash I have a paper sponsorship form I will carry with me everywhere from now on. The more support I receive the harder I will work, I'm almost like a tamagochi except you don't have to clean up after me :)

Can you cox walking??

WEEK 5, DAY 28: Coxing

Found myself pushing the last 200m of today's walk by "pushes for 10....and now stride". I may have gone a little bit loopy.

2k / 37:55
5k / 94:48

Woop, another 5 mins off my trebleT (theoretical total time) and I went further, so my endurance is improving everyday. I might have a rest tomorrow or only walk 1k, don't want to overwork the body. But today has been encouraging, I might have wasted 4 weeks already but I still have 9 ahead.

Note to self: pepperami is bad exercise snack. It's all I can taste and it's nasty.

Some Stats for all you Dave Gorman Fans

Sorry no pie charts....yet.

Firstly, the treadmill display says distance in KM and speed in KM (I assume KM/H). But the manual says it should be in miles. So I'm more than confused, since I have to run 5 of one and only 3.1 of the other. But I've decided to believe it's KM, cos it's the more pessimistic, so if it turns out to be wrong then I can only be better.

At yesterday's walk rate 1k /22.5mins
the race 5k /112.5mins

At today's walk rate 1.5k /30mins
the race 5k /100mins

That means I already knocked 12mins off my (theoretical) total time!! Success, let it continue!

Breathing Exercise

I have mentioned how my breathing is a big problem for my jogging. I've found a good way to train on the treadmill which is in the loft away from other people. I plug some music in my ears and sing along at the top of my voice. It's more entertaining and it's a fair work out. Try it if you don't believe me. Cos I still get out of breath, the songs are a bit squiff. It'll get better and my lungs will be stronger! Besides I won't really be singing on the day, you'd hope.

Goal Posts

When I first mentioned running 5k to some friends who run, they independently gave me the impression that it isn't far and would take about 40mins. Little did I know that if I were to complete 5k in 40mins, I would be running at full pelt for the duration. I can hardly run full pelt for more than 5mins without being reduced to a weed exposed to deadfastTM. Besides my stride is shorter than most people, I have to take more of them.

Now, with the toy, I know how far I am going and at the rate I was walking tonight it would have taken 2 hours!!!! So I have decided to lower my goal from finishing in 40mins to more like 90mins! As I go on, my expectations may go up. I hope so.

DAY 24: Short walk outside.
DAY 25: 5 min jog.
DAY 26: 1k walk (T)

Justified Toy

Since I am supposed to be RAISING money for charity, I feel the need to justify SPENDING money for this run..../walk (latter more likely). If you lived in my area, you'd know there are 3 main patches of grass/park nearby. You'll also know that they are all places you do not go to unless you are looking for trouble. So for my first few jogs I've been using the streets, which is the cause of 2 main problems; inhaling exhausts and stopping every few minutes to cross another A-road junction.

So, I have purchased a treadmill. Far from being extravagant, I have purchased what should really be classed as a "walker"; a manual treadmill that requires a bit of work and maintain a rhythm to get it moving. And with change from two twenties, it was a bit of a bargain.

Further justification: Since I was prepared to spend a bit more on my purchase I will be donating at least the difference and whatever I wish to donate on top of that. Now let's get this training regime rolling....oh excuse the pun.

Shame on me!

WEEK 4, DAY 23:

Okay, I confess I had done noo running, this is not good for me, me on the day or my sponsorship. Will DEF go for a jog tmr, no matter WHAT happens.

Blog & Life are getting boring

DAY 16:

No running, in fact, no anything. Except an hour's sweaty badmo tonight though it was too stuffy and I was playing sooo rubbishly it was as frustrating as a day in the life of Ronnie O'Sullivan.

Good weekend but no running

WEEK 3, DAY 14:

No running but more gardening and maybe too much drinkee on saturday. Played a bit of frisbee today but not that energetic. Um, must work harder.

Maybe some sponsorship would kick me into gear, better sort out my forms and justgiving webby.