beanz's knitting and walking blog

So far so good....

2012-01-09T22:27:00.000Z

I didn't walk every day and I didn't steer clear of all things sweet completely. But I did my best, which was good enough.
And lost 1.9 kg! Which just goes to show how much I have to lose.

I've been away for my Annual Conference - this year to Liverpool. I've been before but never with my camera eye. And as I am trying to file a photo a day on Photo Stash on Flickr I took my camera for a walk between hotel and conference.
The Victorians did a good job in Liverpool and a surprising number of their excellent buildings have survived. So there are lots on Flickr, but this is the building that made me stop and say 'I must take a photo'.
We came out of a marquee on the University site, round the corner from a plain concrete block to this

The original grand Victorian University building, with wonderful brickwork. The people just ahead were also taken by surprise by the building and whipped out their phones and iPads to capture the image.

Losing it

2012-01-02T13:57:00.001Z

I know, new year, old resolutions.
But I shall try again, this time with the support of some good friends in Knitty World aka Ravelry.
Walking and eating sensibly are still the targets, with diabetes looming ever closer maybe I can gain some focus.

I've started with a walk today, which was just how it should be, clear sky and sunshine, fresh wind and a camera to hand.

I love the sight of winter naked trees against the sky

It was longer than intended as the first route was blocked by a construction site, as was my second attempt at a circular route, but I did come over the brow of the ill to find the Minster on the skyline.

Spot the Minster, interesting how it looks much clearer by eye.

When I set off my garden thermometer was registering 15 C and it was hard to believe it is January, especially when I saw these roses on my way back.

Walking in the City

2011-11-20T20:25:00.001Z

Friday was a day trip to London. 'Work' of the networking kind - ie listening to a few speeches followed by lunch and catching up with folk. This included going all the way to London to meet the first time a near neighbour in York, who also works in the building up the hill from the office. I think we will get on well.

But by 2.30 everyone was drifting away and I had decided to take advantage of the sunny day to walk in the City, a part of London I do not usually go to.

Terry Pratchett's Ankh-Morpork is said to be built on 'black loam, broadly, mostly what it is built on is more Ankh-Morpork'.

The same could be said for London. The bombing of London revealed parts of the Roman fort for the first time in a very long time.

Parts of the London wall have been preserved and new buildings rise up around the remnants.

From here it is a short walk to the river and St Paul's.

Developers have preserved some excellent views of the cathedral, the dome suddenly appears unexpectedly.

I had not been to the Tate Modern before, so the camera was in constant use, on the way and inside

and coming put into the evening light.

And then I walked back to Kings Cross, amazing much more footsore I get walking in London than elsewhere.

More images, as usual, on Flickr.

What I did at the weekend

2011-11-13T15:45:00.001Z

I am back from a great weekend with knitty friends.
We met up at a friend's home, knitted, nattered, drank lots of tea, ate good food.
We even managed a walk round the village, including the churchyard, where many stones were so worn it was impossible to read the inscriptions. Other little angels had stood the test of time much better.

In common with many houses with children, there was a trampoline in the back garden. Fit Friend couldn't resist checking out whether she could still do it. She can ->

I have never been on a trampoline before. But with a great coach, I was soon flying! Well of the ground anyway.
Fit Friend says 10 minutes a day woudl be great exercise.
I can believe it!

Walking this week?
Sundayü
Monday x
Tuesday ü
Wednesdayü
Thursdayü
Friday x
Saturday ü

Walking not blogging

2011-11-06T19:42:00.002Z

Well I have been walking - not every day but more than I would have done if I had not blogged my resolution.
I have been meaning to blog for ages, but last month I was away a lot, including my first trip to the US.
I seem to have been catching up ever since.

I do like to blog with photos, but blogger has never made that easy, so it always takes me ages to get on with it.

So just a few from my trip (a bigger selection on flickr). I flew to Philadelphia and took a train to Washington DC. With a little time to spare. I took a look outside the station - to an archetypal US view - skateboarder and skyscrapers!

Next day was Sunday in Washington, so I had to go to the Eastern Market - and what should I find there but wool! Christian Rathbone designs rugs which are made in Turkey using vegetable dyes and wool from local sheep.

I had to buy a skein of course - wound in the interesting manner you see on the stall.

The market has local producers selling vegetables as well as crafts, 'antiques' etc.

Then on to walk down the National Mall from Capitol Hill to Lincoln Monument.

Looking back from Lincoln to the Washington Monument

Martin Luther King Jr Memorial

The amazing National Museum of the American Indian

Walking is good

2011-09-20T20:30:00.000+01:00

An advantage of walking to work is passing the horse chestnut trees, which took a hammering in the winds last week. I can't resist a conker, that smooth glossy shell nut inside a velvet-lined spiky shell.

So the walking:
Saturday 10th : 41 minutes around the block
Sunday 11th : 38 minutes into the village
Monday 12th : 2 x 15 minutes
Tuesday 13th : 23 minutes to work; 24 minutes home from work
Wednesday 14th: 23 minutes to work; 29 minutes longer route home from work
Thursday 15th: 27 minutes streets of London
Friday 16th: 23 minutes to work;
Saturday 17th: 32 minutes old running route in Derby
Sunday 18th - 'rest day' - ie I didn't get out
Monday 19th - failed miserably drove to work and forgot we had a visitor at lunch time
Tuesday 20th - 25 minutes - longer route to work, still not 30 minutes

I enjoyed the walking and certainly worked up a sweat and raised heart rate (got the Garmin out too!). I lost a pound too - might have been more if I had a bit of a binge eat on the two days I didn't walk. So clearly the exercise feel-good works when I do it.

30 minutes

2011-09-10T12:42:00.001+01:00

My friend N is very good at getting me to think afresh. She has just started a new blog about her approach.

We have been having a declutter in Derby as we hope to move after 20 years in the same house. But I have not faced my wardrobe for some time. One issue is that I have two wardrobes - most of my clothes have gravitated to York as I am here more than there, but I have to keep some in Derby for weekends. The other issue is that I hate clothes shopping and and I try to avoid looking at myself in the mirror. All to do with the weight issue of course.

To cut a long story short, I have confronted my York wardrobe and reduced the wearing collection considerably. There are now three piles - things I do wear; things I never wear (to go the charity shop) and things I would like to wear when I lose a stone. There will be similar piles to identify in Derby too. And there is probably a pile to wear when I lose two stone as well.

So what has this to do with thirty minutes?

You may remember this used to be a running blog, but a knackerty knee put paid to that. I loved doing the exercise, but found it hard to fit in to a busy life at times. Since giving up the weight has piled on more. I have tried, I really have but have not found the focus. But this week I got back that 'high' when I walked to work, rather than cycling. And feeling good helps me eat better.

So I going to try to get 30 minutes walking every day. Easy on days in the office when there are no time pressures - I can make that 30 minutes each way. Weekends, are when I am less likely to get out of the house so that's when I have to make the effort.

I'll let you know how I get on (if there is anyone still out there reading).

Cooking

2011-08-15T20:58:00.005+01:00

Its Monday so I have to report having made something. I thought about baking, but I'd only eat it and baked goods are not good for me.

After years of cooking for a family, I find cooking for one very difficult and tend to take the easy option of egg and something on toast (those baked goods again).

So tonight I had a poke in the fridge and found mushrooms, so made mushroom risotto, Carluccio style. There is enough here for several meals!

Still knitting

2011-08-08T21:22:00.002+01:00

Its Monday so its time to blog about things made alongside other people in Natalie's network.

One of Ravelry's many strengths is the inspiration of seeing what other people have knitted.

And there are KALs (knitalongs) where everyone starts a pattern at the same time. And you can share problems and pleasures.

And then there are Mystery KALs where a designer releases the stages in a design over several weeks - or even months.

I have taken part in two of these -

a mystery blanket, which I started in 2009 but have yet to finish. I like the design and the colour, but once you know where it is going the excitement wears off.
And I subsequently realised that had I done this a year earlier or a year later, with more pictorial squares, I would not have liked the result nearly as much.
a shawl which used lovely yarn and had interesting stitches, but I had to adapt as I didn't like the pictures of Robins picked out in beads.
And when it was completed it was the wrong shape and size for me. So I gave it to Natalie as it showed her lovely yarn so well.

I should have learned from this that mystery knits are very risky.

Stephen West produces some spectacular scarves. So when he offered a mystery KAL I signed up.

And chose some of Natalie's Clan for the scarf.

However when the first clue came last week and I realised it was to be intarsia I decided it was not for me - I wanted something less fiddly after the wall hanging with 4 strands at a time.

So I looked at his other patterns and decided to knit Daybreak, a shawl with just two colours, knitted one at a time. I started it on Thursday and it has gone very quickly; by next Monday I hope it will be finished and blocked.

Making Monday

2011-08-01T23:20:00.003+01:00

My friend Natalie has declared today a day for writing about something we have made.

And over the last week I have knitted this hanging for my Mum.

Jane Thornley challenged us to 'Knit a masterpiece' using a painting as a starting point. She set us off using one of Monet's waterlily paintings to knit a shawl.

But my Mum and I both love Les Coquelicots and knitting lends itself to impressionism, and this is the result.

Squint and step back from the screen and the source of inspiration is there.

p/hop at Woolfest

2011-07-04T20:50:00.003+01:00

Are you looking for my Blog?

(Click on the p/hop)

Impressions of China

2011-06-07T21:39:00.010+01:00

At the end of May I was lucky enough to go to China with a group from work.

As you may imagine I took loads of photographs, though the light was not good and I only took my small camera.

A small selection here to tell the story - the rest are on my Flickr pages here.

We landed in Shanghai with some time to explore while we stayed awake to conquer jet-lag.

Shanghai is the commercial and banking centre and full of contrasts. The first image here is the Pudong skyline. Which is on the other side of the river to the main city. Facing this skyline are the old banking buildings from early last century.

The purpose of my visit

was to meet science teachers in Nanjing and discuss the possibility of our department providing CPD for Science teachers in China. We visited No1 Middle School, where the students all (3000) filed out for exercise mid-morning. They had a planetarium on the roof, and an observatory on another roof. Yet most science is taught didactically in classrooms not laboratories.

We had time at the end of the visit to travel to Beijing and be tourists. And yes we went to the Great Wall and yes I bought the T-shirt.

We came across hawkers from Day 1. But mostly they accepted a firm 'no thank you' only few were really persistent.

We went to Mutianyu, which was allegedly less touristy, but my companion, J, said it was no better than the Badeling section she went to last year.

And yes we did walk the wall. We went up to the wall by cable-car and then walked along as far as the bottom of the steep section in the background in this photo. As soon as we were a few hundred metres from the cable car station the numbers dwindled rapidly.

Just as when I went to the Taj Mahal all those years ago, the Great Wall did not fail to meet my expectations.

It does look like you see in the photos. It really is a spectacular feat of building, even if you cannot really see it from the Moon. How could you? It may be long but is nowhere near wide enough.

However it is visible on Google Maps Satellite view once you know where to look. We did walk down the hill back to the hawkers and stalls. And there was our taxi driver ready to take us back to the hotel.

One of the issues with travelling almost anywhere beyond home shores is the food. I had managed to get in a little chopstick practice before leaving, thank goodness.

But you never know what might turn up.

We didn't indulge in any of the delicacies from this street stall in Beijing, but we were treated to two true banquets.

As well as the Lazy Susan in the centre of the table, there were many individual dishes brought to each diner. It is no essential to eat everything before you, but it is polite to try things. The most exotic food offered was, Hippo Campus soup (seahorse). The stock was fine, the meaty bits were fine, but I drew the line at crunching a whole tiny seahorse.

Back in Beijing we visited Tienanmen

Square, the largest public space in the world. It houses the Mao Mausoleum (right) as well as the monument to the people's heroes.

It was interesting to see Chinese families visiting the square having their photos taken in front of iconic buildings.

Beyond Tienanmen Square is the Forbidden City.

A huge complex of palaces, courtyards and gates.

Many of the buildings are mostly made of wood, which makes them very vulnerable to fire. And given the Chinese love of fireworks .......

There were fine examples of the detailed painted decorations which we saw elsewhere on more modern buildings.

It was interesting to note that throughout

our tourist activities we saw far more groups of Chinese tourists than westerners.

Now I am home I can't

quite believe I was ever there.

Maybe there will be an opportunity to go back one day.

A day at the seaside

2011-02-27T21:54:00.003Z

Long time no post.

But I have been knitting - all sorts of things - all on my flickr pages, but my current favourite knitted thing is a moebius cowl.

It is quite magical - knitted in the round, starting in the middle of the band and with only one bind-off edge.

The reason for this post is that today I discovered just how close York is to the coast. Only an hour's drive to Scarborough! So an impulse day out is possible, though today's trip was planned as soon as I saw the weather forecast was good.

We walked along the beach, around the harbour and back up to the top of the cliff to eat our sandwiches looking over the South Bay. (We resisted the Fish and Chips, though decided we need to find out which is the best chippy.)

Our car park time had run out, so we drove round to the North Bay - what a contrast!

South Bay was sheltered and calm. North Bay was windy with proper waves (and Free Parking until 1st March).

There is nothing like some wind and waves to set you up for the week.

Inspired knitters

2010-11-05T20:04:00.002Z

Illuminating York

2010-10-31T17:59:00.002Z

As a child a highlight of the autumn was a trip to Blackpool Illuminations - a crawl along the promenade to marvel at the coloured lighting effects and then on to the fair.
Matlock Bath has its illuminations too, with illuminated boats floating down the river.
Not to be out done there is Illuminating York.
This year we wentt into town to see what it was all about. It centres around the Minster area.
The highlight was images projected onto the end wall of the Southern transept which features the famous Rose Window.

I only took my small camera so it was difficult to take a reasonable photo - next year .....
There was a series of projections including falling roses and stained glass window effects.
In the gardens behind the minster were other light shows, including a piece of modern stained glass, Unifying Light, by local artist Julia Spall based on work with Refugee Action.
Other lighting included lighting some of the trees from below, including this Acer.

This showed the texture of the bark well.

And I've been knitting too.

My autumn vest has made good progress - the body is complete, the shoulders need to be sewn and then I can make decisions about the edging.

Running

2010-10-10T11:26:00.003+01:00

Beginning of the cross country season today, so back to soggy fields and autumn colours. No time to photos of runners as I was asked to judge the finish of the races and make sure people kept in line in the funnel.
I didn't go to any races last winter so it was great to go back, the buzz as I walked into brought back memories of previous winters: the smell of deep heat and sweat as the men run, the gasping for breath as they finish, wishing I could run it too, until I calculate that I would be so far behind the last lady I'd be lapped by the next two races. A great way to spend a Saturday afternoon, and the sun shone for a while.

And I have been knitting too:
A swatch for my latest project a waistcoat / vest in autumnal colours, this is inspired by Jane Thornley's approach to knitting.
Mostly this is knitted with two fingering weight yarns ("4-ply") jnitted together, which creates a greater range of colours, and some more subtle colour changes.

Some things learned from the swatch and more as I go. I am waiting for a sunny morning to take more photos of the 'real thing'.

Changing scenery?

2010-10-03T15:05:00.003+01:00

One of the joys of the autumn is picking up a freshly fallen conker. That beautiful colour and the feel of the gloosy shell. It doesn't last long, after a few days the gloss has gone and it begins to dehydrate.

And the pleasure may not be with us for many more years either.

I had a few days in Oxfordshire last week. Whilst driving my Mum around we noticed that the Horse Chestnut trees had turned brown ahead of other trees around. My Mum said she had heard that there is a disease affecting them, she was correct.
The Independent on Sunday reports today Spread of alien moth puts Britain's conker trees at risk

Imagine the change to our countryside if we lose them all - changes on the scale of the loss of elms last century.

Enjoy them while you can.

Knitting too
I have a few things completed, taking part in The Yarn Yard 12 in 12 challenge means completing a pair of socks each month for 12 months.
This is my September pair.

I also knitted a pair across the months - Nightmail:

And then there is the longer term project to knit a waistcoat.
A Jane Thornley pattern, Road to Indigo >

This is taking some time but the beautiful yarns are giving such amazing colours.

Seize the moment

2010-09-17T23:18:00.002+01:00

Driving along the A64 this evening I had to stop the car. The sky was spectacular and there was an opportune lay-by with a good view of the western sky.

A couple of minutes later the colours were already fading.

So I had indeed seized the moment just in time.

Holidays

2010-09-15T23:35:00.003+01:00

We had a great holday in Elie, Fife, with lots of chances to walk on the beach.

And take lots of photos.

Lots more on Flickr.

And I did some knitting too - some socks for a biologist colleague who has been a great support during my first year in the new job.

No longer missing

2010-05-03T20:37:00.002+01:00

I haven't posted for months. I am not sure why, but today I feel like catching up.

Lots has happened - we have bought a little house in York, and it is beginning to feel like another home, though there is toing and froing at weekends - sometimes I go to Derby and sometimes MrBeanz comes here.

I have been learning to love the bike - its so much quicker to cycle the 1.4 miles (wow!) to work , I am gaining confidence in going slowly, dealing with traffic and getting up the small inclines I encounter. I hope to venture further this summer.

And I have been knitting - a fews things here.

keeping warm

2009-12-13T12:36:00.003Z

I wanted to knit a gilet type garment - my desk at work is by a north facing window, which is leaky (water splashed on my desk when the window cleaner came, even though it was 'closed').

So I get cold, but I am at an age when my thermostat is unstable, so I need clothing that comes on and off easily.

I couldn't find something I liked so I had to make it up as a go along. Modular knitting is ideal for this - add a bit, hold it up and see whether it needs another chunk.

So I have knitted this.

The image is a little dark - my house has only a northern aspect, with the light not really getting into the house or garden, so tricky to take daylight photographs.

But there has been some lovely morning light this week, our local church looked great this week in the low sunlight.

On the road again

2009-12-06T22:09:00.003Z

Before I came to York I was teaching, before that I worked as a freelancer in Science curriculum development.
At that stage I spent quite a lot of time travelling and Cambridge was a commone destination.
I was back there this weekend. They put me in a hotel across the town from the meeting.
That meant a walk across Jesus Green, Midusmmer Common and Parker's Piece in the morning. What's not to like about that?

I watched James May on the Moon this evening. It reminded me of this photo I took last week on the way to work. Morning Moon

reflections - a year of p/hop

2009-11-26T11:11:00.002Z

Hmm the link doesn't seem to work. Click here instead.

Hanging on

2009-11-21T08:38:00.002Z

This oak tree has been hanging on to its leaves despite the wind and rain of the past week.

The people of Cockermouth and Workington have not fared so well.

They have had a terrible time - many of them will have lost almost everythign as the water levels rose to 2.5 metres in places.

Sadly a policeman died as he warned people not to cross a dangerous bridge.
Last weekend I suggested to MrBeanz that we go to Woolfest next summer - now it seems even more important to go and support the businesses in this stricken community.

Feed the birds ...

2009-11-15T18:38:00.004Z

We bought a bird feeder for the York garden this weekend. There are so many hedges close by, I thought we'd be sure to attract some birds.

The starlings found it first and were queuing up to eat the fat balls.

Their noise attracted the great tit in to the nuts and then I began to see other birds hovering in the hedge the other side of the wall - including blackbirds, a bullfinch and a wren.

My camera will now sit by the window waiting for more pics - I need a longer lens.

Why do I knit?

2009-11-13T07:35:00.003Z

The Craft Council wants to promote crafts in the UK.

I'd have thought that was their raison d'etre?

So they have a campaign going at the moment and you can register your support.

Here’s the text from their website:
If craft is important to you, we want you to let us know. The Crafts Council believes that Craft Matters and we want to show that it matters to thousands of people across the UK as much as it does to us. The government’s own data tells us that “17% of the population took part in a craft activity in 2008/09” – we want to show what that statistic looks like in real support so that everyone can see that craft is highly valued. So, sign up today and pass this email on to friends and colleagues. Together, we will show how much Craft Matters.

Why do I knit?

Knitting gives me an opportunity to be creative in a busy day; provides moments of calm for thought or meditation; allows me to make beautiful things for my family and friends; has given me the opportunity to make new friends.

Making connections

2009-11-11T22:59:00.004Z

A couple of weeks ago I picked these up and they have been sitting on my desk, gradually drying out and losing their glorious gloss.

Today I made the connection with this, which is also sitting on my desk, maybe sold as an 'executive toy', but also called Newton's cradle. You may be familiar with it, if not watch what it does. It was always a fascination to someone in a physics class.

But what about this - a newer physics toy and don't blink when you press play or you will miss it.
Superficially it is similar to the above both have ball bearings, and you might expect it to behave in a similar way, but in fact it behaves very differently.

Come back tomorrow for more on this.

Life

2009-11-10T22:32:00.003Z

I don't know if you have been watching David Attenborough's latest series Life, but t is full of amazing photgraphy. It is about survival and adaptation. But surprisingly DA does not use the word evolution because, apparently, according to reliable sources, it would be much harder to sell the series in the US.

Last night's programme Birds had a particularly wonderful sequence about Clark's grebe and its courtship behaviour. The sequence was filmed with a background music trackand just a few words from DA.

You can see it on iPlayer (maybe only in the UK?) at about 35 minutes into the programme - it follows a gruesome section showing pelicans eating live gannet chicks! I suspect it will be on YouTube soon - currently YouTube just has the finale of the dance in a trailer.

Walls

2009-11-08T00:54:00.005Z

This is a late post for Saturday.
It was a glorious morning and I had to walk down to the Post Office to collect a package. I took my camera, wondering what the theme for today would be.

As I walked along ther road it became obvious resulting in a strange woman taking photos of blank walls!

Modular Knitting

2009-11-07T00:29:00.004Z

At first sight modular knitting might seem the complete antithesis of the freeform knitting I did last week.
But because modular knitting happens in little chunks it is possible to make decisions as you go.
So my sock yarn blanket (also in my avatar) is made of lots of little squares knitted from many different yarns, I have been using colours semirandomly.

The modular waistcoat (left) I am now building is from just one yarn and I have been just adding squares and seeing how it goes - actually that isn't quite true, I did sketch out a design on squared paper, and am recording how what actually happens.
I need to finish it as I want to wear it at work. And then I can get on with other projects!

Local Hero

2009-11-05T21:52:00.005Z

Remember, remember the fifth of November,

The gunpowder treason and plot,

I know of no reason

Why the gunpowder treason

Should ever be forgot.

Thanks to local hero, Guy Fawkes we went to a great Bonfir Night this evening.
Guy Fawkes was born and educated in York, so no Guys on the bonfires here!
There was a fire juggler - with his lovely assistant who had a fire hula hoop!

And a bonfire.

And fireworks.

And the safe alternative to sparklers - the led whirly thing.

there and back again

2009-11-04T21:21:00.003Z

I set out early for work but paused to admire the avenue of trees, just sycamore but still they look good - I wonder who planted them for my benefit?

The leaf litter is appreciated by blackbirds, I counted at least eight rooting around as I walked along - plenty of hedges for nests around here.

About three minutes later I realised I had left my work keys on teh shelf at home. So I turned to walk back and had the view back along the avenue towards my house.

I continue to marvel at my luck at having such a pleasant walk to work.

Travelling = knitting

2009-11-03T22:49:00.002Z

I've spent a lot of time on the train today - an ideal opportunity to knit. I can listen to music, or a book or a podcast or simply reflect on the day.

The fact that I use the time productively makes me resent the long day much less.

The current on the train knitting is a minimochi scarf. The combination of a luscious yarn and a simple pattern makes for a very effective scarf.

The photo does not do this justice - I haven't seen much daylight today to take better picture.

Autumn colour

2009-11-02T19:28:00.005Z

Last week I was walking to work on gloomy mornings and thinking I'd missed the chance to take any autumnal photos this year.
The clocks went back, the Sun came out and it all looks different.
It can't be bad when the path to the office goes this way.

After the workshop last week I am going to be a little more systematic about keeping images whose colour might inspire a knit. Here is a good start - a beech tree on my route.

a blog a day keeps a blogger alert

2009-11-01T19:27:00.004Z

Apparently November is blogging month, so I am going to try and blog each day.

It may not always be thoughtful but will include a photograph taken that day.

I have had a few days leave this week and took the opportunity to go to a knitting workshop. Jane Thornley from Nova Scotia has an amazing eye for colour and has a style of knitting called 'freeform'.
So take some yarns you like and knit. The class was in a yarn shop, skeins in Glossop, and of course Carole had lots of beautiful yarns that would enhance my wrap.

This is where I had got to at the end of the day.

And close up:

Like a lot of knitting, it is strangley addictive; just few more rows, another repeat of the pattern, another colour. So when I came home I continued the knit and this is where I am up to today. It will be a jewel wrap.

Out and about

2009-10-13T15:46:00.003+01:00

Back on the road (actually rails) again as I travel to meetings with teachers and colleagues.

On a trip to Sheffield on a sunny day I saw this water feature for the first time. We had arrived in the dark and travelled by taxi the previous evening, so seeing this the following afternoon was completely unexpected. It lines one side of a pleasant open space, Sheaf Square, in front of Sheffield Midland Station.
There is a cascade of water

and a steel wall, appropriate for Sheffield, over which water runs. The wall reflects the Victorian station opposite.

A few days later another trip to London and an early train gave me some time to kill on the way to my meetings. This building just off the Euston Road has an intriguing label over the door - "20th Middlesex Artists RV" Googling reveals they were a brigade of Rifle Volunteers for the Boer War.

Another building in the same area, dwarfed by its neighbours is Flaxman Lodge.

Tavistock Square includes a number of memorials to people including Virginia Woolf (well we are in Bloomsbury)

and Gandhi

And on to Bedford Square, which has a private garden at the centre, around the perimeter ar the ubiquitous plane trees, the lungs of London. The Post Office Tower, just visible is an important navigational aid on my wandering through this part of London.

The sculpture Driftwood is still in Bedford Square, and now slightly more weathered than back in July.

Eventually it is back to St Pancras and my heart always lifts when I see that great building, getting better on every visit as the scaffolding comes down.

Of course all this travelling means plenty of knitting time on the train. I have finished a lacy baktus, knitted in High Twist Haze from the Natural Dye Studio:

And I did finish my moebius cowl, but decided it was not long enough, so frogged the border to add some more depth. It really is a moebius loop and quite magic!

Still here

2009-10-04T10:51:00.006+01:00

I hadn't realised quite how long it has been since I blogged.

Much has changed.

I am now working in York during the week and going back home at the weekends.
I have a new bike, which fits me much better than my old one and am comfortably cycling the mile or so to the gym for a swim. I am aiming to do that at least two or three mornings a week while in York - so far I have done 1, 1, 2 times. And increasing the number of lengths as I go.
I am living in a little microhouse - a living room with kitchen and a 'mezzanine' bedroom and small study area. And a small garden whenre I need ot do something about the weeds. Enough for me and my knitting. The house is only a mile from work so a brisk walk in the morning is so much better than the 40 minute drive in the last job.
The job is going well, working with lovely people, some I already knew and some I had heard of but didn't know.

I am still knitting.
I knitted 30 squares to go into a couple of large blankets which were raffled for medicin sans frontieres.
The top one on my pile is showing on the blanket at iKnit.

In the summer my Mum had a hip operation and spent a week or so keeping her company and helping her recuperate. I began to knit a blanket of my own, with scraps of sock yarn.
The first square was this one.
And now many more squares have been added. My new avatar at the top is a close-up.

Cropredy 2009

2009-08-18T15:30:00.002+01:00

I have enjoyed Fairport Convention's music over the years but never been to Cropredy. Fortunately we have some good friends who have been several times before, so we were guided through the experience. We just went for the Saturday this time, maybe longer next year. There is just one stage so the plan is to get your pitch and stay there for the day, with occasional wanders to buy t-shirts, food and other goodies.

Its a great place to people watch of course:

The music was diverse, including golden oldies such as Ralph McTell and Yusuf .

With 12 hours of music there was plenty of time to knit of course:

Relaxing at the seaside

2009-08-13T00:00:00.004+01:00

We've been to the seaside and I took loads of pics (of course).

Southwold is a very genteel seaside resort, and so relaxing.

For words and many more pics you need to go to flickr.

Walking in London

2009-07-21T22:35:00.005+01:00

The teaching is over but the new job doesn't really start until September. However I have the odd day to do before then and yesterday was one such day. I had to go to London.

And there was no rush so I had time to walk.

Arriving at St Pancras is always such a joy - the refurbished new-old station is a pleasure to see, with its Derbyshire brick and soaring glass roof.

I was early so had time to drop into the British Museum - and another wonderful glass roof.

And then to Bedford Square to my meeting.

Imagine my delight to come round the corner and see this:

A sculpture named Driftwood Commissioned by the Architectural Association. More about it here.

On another corner there was 'driftwood' on a smaller scale.

A heavy downpour had washed material from the trees into pattern reminiscent of the beach.

And after the meeting a wander back through the streets, taking a different route and knowing I could 'tack' back to the station that I would end up somewhere along the Euston Road.
Taking an unfamiliar turn I came across this building, which looked like the Stasi might be behind the portcullis.

It is the School of Slavonic and East European Studies, so maybe I wasn't too wrong!

Back to the British Library, I always want to walk through the courtyard even if I don't have time to go inside. And here is Newton after Blake by Paolozzi.

And finally back to the wonders of St Pancras again.

More pictures on Flickr.

Tour de France - new challenges

2009-07-16T08:24:00.007+01:00

So that's teaching over - finished 10 days ago actually. Still a couple of loose ends to tie off but will do those this week. Since the end of term I've done some long overdue visiting to my mum and to my daughter.

Alongside that I have been knitting of course.

My current focus is the Tour de France Knitalong - we're a weird lot we knitters and sometimes we have to find a justification for sitting on the sofa and knitting obsessively. This KAL is about knitting while watching the Tour.
We set ourselves a challenge - to go for the yellow jersey and knit something challenging that may take the three weeks to complete; the polka dot jersey - to climb all those peaks that are lying unfinished in your knitting basket; or the green jersey, short sharp sprints making lots of smaller items.
I have gone for the green jersey; I am aiming to make a blanket square everyday for the p/hop blanket. So far, in addition to a couple I made earlier I have made fourteen - the last two are currently blocking, but here are the rest.

The yarn has come from a number of very generous knitters who I don't knowpersonally, it is almost all the leftovers from knitting socks. There is a fantastic variety of sock yarn out there - as you can see - much of it is dyed in such a way that you get a pretty fair isle effect without having to change balls.

That's it then ...

2009-06-10T21:29:00.003+01:00

The hospital appointment today has confirmed my forebodings.

No more running - when the man himself says 'well its your knee so I can't tell you not to but looking at the wear .....' you can't ignore the advice.

I'll probably get an VLM place now :<(

So its walking and swimming and learning to love the bike - but I don't actually have a bike at the moment. I shall wait until I get to the new job, when I can buy one through the 'bike to work' scheme and get Alistair Darling to cough up his share.

No more running

2009-05-26T10:09:00.003+01:00

After some real pain with my knee over the past week I have decided to give up on trying to run until some serious weight has disappeared. Although the last straw was not running but sitting on a train and driving to and from school, I have to do something.

So resting, icing and exercising the joint at the moment. To be followed by seeing the phyzz and and another hospital appointment.

To lose weight I have to find some new exercise to do that I can fit in to life while still at school. The school pool has opened for use after refurbishment, so I think that will be the way forward for the next few weeks to the end of term.

Meanwhile feet up and more knitting:

Amongst other things:

A breast to help breastfeeding counsellors teach expectant mothers about latching on.

And a couple of squares for the p/hop blanket

Back to plodding (a little)

2009-05-03T10:35:00.004+01:00

Plodded twice this week. Only 20 minutes of RW each time - but I have to start somewhere. After all I have put in for the VLM ballot - like zillions of others. So its base building until October when we know the result of the ballot.

A little knitting too.

Some more squares for the blanket - I love this one:

And another dishcloth - this is based on a much larger version called 'Curve of Pursuit' designed some clever mathematical knitters called "Woolly Thoughts". One day I'll do the full blanket.

FLM day

2009-04-26T15:53:00.003+01:00

Its FLM day and for the last 4 years I have been down there for it - running or supporting.

I decided a long time ago that I wouldn't go down this year - it is a tiring day just supporting and I have a full teaching day until 5.30 on a Monday, so it was not a good idea.

So I watched the early part of the race while ironing. And of course I want to do it again now. So I've renewed my club membership, to increase my chances of getting a place, just got to get out there and start plodding now.

I'll let you know.

I have been knitting:

These little chaps were knitted to fit Kinder eggs, so each of the Beanzes had one for Easter.

no running, some knitting, much stressing

2009-04-02T10:21:00.003+01:00

A long time since I blogged.

My work-life balance is all wrong. During term time the working day is too long to do anything and at the weekends I am too tired and have become very slothful. As a result I have put on weight too.
Its now the Easter holidays and I have frittered away this first week, still no exercise apart from the odd walk.

I have managed a little knitting - some more mystery blanket squares:

Others are on my flickr pages.
I have made various other things but find it difficult to focus on a bigger project while I am at work.
As a result of this lack of balance I have decided to make a move and will be going back into the curriculum development world in September. I shall not be freelance this time, but full time in one post. For the first time I will be working in an office regularly. I hope I can cope!
I am hoping this will give me a better structure to my day and week. As a result I plan to do more exercise and more knitting.

Snow snow snow

2009-02-09T21:31:00.002Z

OK it was pretty to start but a day off work was not as much fun as I thought it might be - missed teaching exam classes that I am worried about, felt guilty about not getting as much done as I might have done.

And it is definitely not running outside weather.

But there is always knitting.

I've been knitting a few projects that are to be surprises for people who may or may not lurk on here, so no details yet.

You'll notice a new widget on here. This is a fund raiser for Médecins sans Frontières.

A nice idea from Ravelry knitting forum, where there are many free patterns and much generous advice. Essentially the message is - if you receive a kindness pass it on. So after downloading and knitting a pattern make a donation to MsF. Or any other justification you can think of come to that!

So that'll be quite a bit from me then.

Work-Life balance

2009-02-01T10:23:00.004Z

At the moment my work-life balance is all wrong.
Well it must be if I have no time/energy to run in the week, mustn't it?

I have been intending to go swimming on a Wednesday but it just is not going to happen. I am working long days, and I know I get long holidays but that doesn't help the balance. Eery holiday I am starting from scratch again with the running and not making any progress.

So in the short term I am just going to do what I can and see how it goes without beating myself up about it. I did go for a plod yesterday - just a couple of miles but felt much better for it.

Maybe I have just transferred my addiction to knitting. I have discovered that knitted dishcloths do not have to be made from that string we learned to knit with at primary school.

Last weekend I visited Create and Knit a (fairly) local yarn shop run by a knitter I met on Ravelry. She has a lovely stock of yarns, including cotton yarns in an amazing range of colours.
As a result this week I have knitted two dishcloths.

The only trouble is they are so pretty it seems a shame to use them!

Running AND Knitting AND Swimming

2009-01-18T10:41:00.004Z

Running first. Yesterday was such a beautiful morning that I could not resist going out for a short plod. I decided to go in the park - which is beautiful but hilly and fairly soggy underfoot. So it was a slow plod - run-walk going out and walk-run coming back up the hill. But I felt so much better for doing it and my knee did not object at the time - or since.

Then I went to my not very local yarn shop - in Nottingham - to buy yarn for some of the projects I plan to knit over the next few weeks and months. There are so many lovely yarns and great ideas for how to use them, it is great to do something creative after a long time of not doing anything crafty.

This morning I have swum - the first time since the end of November, and boy did it show. I needed to do it because I want to return to the swimfit sessions I was doing last term, before I caught a dreadful cold.

So a good weekend - I am now so full of endorphins that I believe I can do anything. I am sure I will return to normal soon!

Knitting

2009-01-11T11:41:00.005Z

Since I went to a knitting workshop last October I have begun to get into knitting more. It is a great activity for dark nights, even if it does mean I stay up too late and not get up in the morning for a run.

Actually after a few more twinges with my knee I have decided to stay off running until I see the specialist again in a couple of weeks. I haven't done any exercise in the past week, but fully intend to swim this week at least.

The knitting is going much better. I have joined Debbie Abrahams Mystery Knitting Club. Each month we are sent the materials and pattern to knit 5 suqare stowards a blanket. We don't kwo what the overall design will be like, though I did have some idea of the colours because I met Debbie at a workshop before Christmas. At the workshop we were making Christmas things and I made some napkin rings.

Since the first package for the blanket arrived on 31st December I have been hooked on that.
Knitting has come on a long way in the last 25 years, since I really did any knitting and now there are so many lovely yarns and new techniques for knitting texture that this blanket is so exciting.
The photos don't do the squares justice, and I haven't 'blocked' them yet, so they are a bit curled at the edges at the moment.

I am going to have to keep the knitting to the weekends in termtime otherwise I will never get anything else done!

The forums are just as addictive as RW, to add to the distractions.

New Year - old beginnings

2009-01-01T19:53:00.003Z

It is has made me feel quite low really - all the talk of resolutions and the joke that they will have failed by Monday.

Well I am living proof of that a year on and no progress with running or weight loss. See last year's new year's day post.

I did manage to keep my sugar free eating going for a month, but fell off the wagon when I went to give blood and succumbed to the biscuits. It was followed by lots of home baking with too many temptations, I have not stuck to the plan for the last couple of weeks - and little exercise too.

However a long chat today with a good friend has encouraged me to get back to it - lots more I could say but enough.

Bleurgh

2008-11-30T10:04:00.003Z

A head full of cold and a very busy week at work have conspired to mean no exercise.

Just over a week ago I had a conversation with a colleague who, as a result of a routine healthcheck, was diagnosed with diabetes in the summer. He is not as old as me or as overweight. He is a pleasant chap and he talked quite a lot about the shock he had and how he is dealing with it. Basically he has cut out all sugar, has lost weight and feels much better in many ways.

As far as I know I do not have diabetes at the moment (last blood test did not show it anyway) but my Mum has type II, and I have many of the risk indicators.
Every time I speak to my Mum on the phone she asks about my weight; it makes me impatient, but as both her parents and a sister died in their 50s from strokes I have recently realised how anxious she is about me dying before her.
So the result of all this is that I have a renewed keenness to improve my diet.

So since that conversation I have cut (as far as possible) added sugar foods - so no cakes, biscuits etc and tried to eat more fruit and veg. It has been good and I now don't really think too much about it. 10 days completed - including selling fairtrade chocolate at the school bazaar and on a stall sited next to the cake stall!!

A long time ago Womble wrote 'The changes that work are the small ones that you can stick to and are easy to do, one by one.'

So the sugar has gone - it is not a small change but it is just one change and for me it seems easier to just have not biscuits or cake than say, well I can have one but no more. Losing the habit is better.

Next is cutting down on the fat. I have a lot of bad habits in that department. And I can cut those in small changes - no spread in the sandwiches is this weeks change.

Sorry this has been self indulgent.

No bike

2008-11-23T10:43:00.002Z

The sun is rising later and I was first in the car park - so couldn't resist.

A forum friend was looking for a bike - so she can Tri. My bike does not fit me, so I have passed it on to her. She will give a bike to Oxfam.

So no cycling. Maybe in the spring, if finances allow, I will get a new hybrid bike that fits.

But I did go back to SwimFit and it was good again. And I am not slowest (provided we don't do too much breaststroke!).

And I've been back this morning to practice what I have learned, concentrating on form. At swimfit we only do one length at a time at the moment, so today I tried to keep going. And managed 2:4:6:8:8:2:2 then it was time to get changed and meet MrBeanz.

A plod :>)

2008-11-16T11:50:00.005Z

I haven't blogged for a couple of weeks.

Last week was the High Peak Relay which we haven't done for the last two years. But this year we managed to get together a forum team. The hardest bit is the logistics of getting everyone to the right place to start their leg, without leaving them to freeze, and making sure the is someone with a warm jacket for them at the far end when they finish their leg. We managed it almost perfectly. And the chap who ran rather more than was planned (and didn't have any kit when he got to the finish) still wants to do it again next year! I was not running but driving and supplying the cake. Both Runner Beanz and MrBeanz ran. The weather was atrocious for the first half which included both their legs.
We were able to shelter in an old railway hut while waiting for RunnerBeanz to finish and MrBeanz to start.

Runnerbeanz ran the tough first leg, with a climb of 800 feet.

On Wednesday I went to SwimFit at the gym. I was a bit anxious about not being good enough but I managed to keep up with the drills, although I had dreadful cramp on some of the legs only lengths. I certainly enjoyed it and will go again. Although I have swum further in a session I certainly worked harder than I would have done on my own.

If we go to the gym MrBeanz likes to go early. But were both up very early yesterday and we decided that this morning we needed a bit of a lie-in. But I knew I needed some exercise - I've been feeling rather lethargic recently.

So I had a bit of a lie in then went to try out my knee with a plod. More walk than run but I did manage the running bits with no pain and (so far) no after effects :>)

A highlight of the last few weeks has been the autumn colour. I had to stop the car one morning this week and take some pictures.

Away days

2008-11-02T19:35:00.004Z

We had a few days away over half term. We returned to Malvern, last visited in 2004 when I was beginning my running career and went for some early morning plods on the hills.
Not this time I went for the lie in and then walking later.

We visited Hanbury Hall on the way - they have restored the garden to the design it had before Capability Brown came along and went for the makeover country park style.

We went to Westonbirt Arboretum, famous for its autumn colour. We managed to escape the greenwelly brigade and their children doing the half term stuff.

And we had a walk in the October snow.

More pics on Flickr

Knitting club?

2008-10-24T09:41:00.003+01:00

There's a saying that the Pirates are 'not a knitting club' so thats alright, I am not a pirate.
On Sunday I went to a knitting workshop, having not knitted much for years.
It was a good day - I learned some new skills, met some new people and made this sampler:

A benefit of knitting is you can't eat at the same time - so that should help the weight loss!
This week I have been to my mother's for a couple of days and managed to fit in my longest swim for very long time - 1 km front crawl - as 2:4:6:8:8:6:4:2. And lots of gardening too.

And 0.5 kg off this week.

progress :>)

2008-10-18T21:01:00.003+01:00

I had an appointment at the hospital this week with the orthopaedic people. Met a very pleasant young registrar who asked all the right questions.

Looking at the X-rays (didn't think to get him to email them to me - next time) it seems there is some wear and tear, some compression of the cartilage ands some suggestion of osteo-arthritis. But not too much to worry about yet - a long way off the knee replacement bit. However he did inject some steroid stuff to reduce the inflammation that causes the pain. After two days of incresed discomfort (which was anticipated) it has been much better. Today I drove to Oakham and back - 45 miles each way - with NO discomfort and no stiffness when I got out the car. This must be the first time since last November :>)

I did ask him abut running - and he said well we can only advise, and if you run it will wear more quickly. So better to cycle and row and X-train and swim, and maybe a little treadmill running.

But I like running best.

So the plan is to swim and cross-train until Christmas, with the target of losing some of the load on the knees. And then aim to take up the running gradually and see how it goes. I am due back at the hospital in January and would like to show I've made an effort.

a swim at last

2008-10-08T22:48:00.002+01:00

I have been trying to get to the gym in the week and swim for some time. At last I made it for a short swim tonight - it was a bit crowded :<(

The last teenbeanz went to university this weekend. It has left me a little bereft I think - more so than I expected.

However it does add some flexibility to the week for the next 9 weeks, so we must take advantage. MrBeanz and I have agreed to meet at the gym on a Wednesday evening and do exercise and then eat there. And also go together on Sunday mornings - we need to justify the monthly membership! So lets see how long we can keep it up.

A misty moisty morning

2008-09-28T14:32:00.004+01:00

It was the Kedleston Cancer Research Run 10k today, and I had I offered to marshall. It is a tough course - all off road, much on grass and plenty of hills. For anyone who is graduating from the local Race for Life it is a much tougher course, as well as being twice the distance. It was indeed a misty morning when we arrived as the photo shows, after some rain it brightened a little so the race was done in ideal conditions, cool and dry, though rather slippy under foot. I was marshalling just before th 9k mark and was able to tell people that it was now downhill and only a km to go.

I took runnerbeanz to university this week and I do miss him and the time we spent together, going to training and back. Theoretically I should have more time for me now, but it has not materialised yet.

Its been a struggle recently, no exercise for some time and no excuses just that I don't seem to have the time or inclination to go to the gym and by the evening I am too tired to swim.

I see runners out as I am driving to school, and wish I was running - but my knee has been better since I stopped running so I don't want to undo the good work. However I have a hospital appointment in a couple of weeks so I want to try a little plod before then so I can say whether that makes it worse or not. The quads no longer hurt its just the side of my knee.

Ho Hum

The Vitruvian - a marshall's view

2008-09-07T10:29:00.004+01:00

The Vitruvian Long Distance Triathlon seems to be the Pirates end of term party. As it takes place at Rutland Water, not too far from home I thought I might go and support Meldy and the rest.

Then I looked at the website and they were asking for volunteer marshalls, and I did think that that was better than just standing around shouting 'Go Pirate' for 7 hours. So I volunteereed for that. The email thanking me for the offer was very friendly. Then came the email asking me whether I would be at the Friday evening briefing (no, I wasn't planning to stay overnight) or at the Saturday morning briefing at 5.45 (eek).
And that was why I got up at 3.15 on Saturday morning and drove in the pouring rain across the midlands to a dark car park, only light by a few head torches (and I had not even thought of bringing mine).
Things got better - the rain had stopped and I was offered a warm bacon bap:>).
After a briefing we went down to the lake to marshall the swim start. Strangely the idea of walking into the lake in a wetsuit didn't seem to put people off doing this - but the amusingly some of these young chaps (first wave was male 18-29) - some with Iron man tattoos - had difficulty walking across the pebbly beach! My job was to shout at the later waves, to keep to the right before the start and not impeded the earlier swimmers on their second lap. (They mostly ignored me.)
Once the ladies in the last wave were off it was on to the bike feed station. Here I had to be bossy again (how did they know I am a teacher?). This time jsut before they collected new bottles htey coudl ditch their empty bottles. I collected these to be binned. A couple of pirates offered to recycle some - so they picked the best for washing and reusing. A dreadful waste really, especially as they were classed as 4 for recycling so cannot go in the council bins.
After everyone was on their second lap I moved on to the finish. Here I was collecting chips and lap bands. These triathletes were amazing - they had just competed a gruelling race over 4 and more hours and yet they were apologetic that I might need to bend down to remove their chip!
There is a great range of emotions that people experience - some are in tears some are ecstatic - some are just completely drained.
And then its all over - last pirate has crossed the finish line and the clearing up begins. I don't know how many plastic bottles were used during the day, but we had a box of bottles prefilled with water. These could not just be emptied and used next time, they would have grown green stuff at least. So what to do with them? Well a few pirates were lurking round the bar (no surprise there then) so they took a bag full to share around, my fellow marshall took some for her swim club and I brought some home for runnerbeanz and his mates.

I had been on my feet for nine hours, done more bending my knees and back than I had for a long time and really enjoyed myself.

I wondered whether it might confirm my belief that triathlons were for other fitter peole. It didn't. I t made me think that I should get fitter. The trouble is that at present I have no confidence on the bike. I have been for little pootles of 2 miles round the local roads, but going any further (other than round in small circles) means venturing onto main roads and hills. I just don't seem to be able to progress. My confidence has not been helped by one of the pirates being hit by a bus in the race - she'll be ok - only bruising and a broken collarbone. But it could have been MUCH worse.

Where did the holiday go?

2008-08-25T12:56:00.002+01:00

As usual its nearly back to work time and I don't know where the time has gone.

Although I have completed some of the things I wanted to do, most are not started or only just begun.

I spend too much time on the computer, not being productive but surfing around .....

I haven't done as much exercise as I promised myself. The conundrum is this: if I don't get out early I don't do it, but in the holidays I feel I should not have to get up so early every day and so I am lazy and stay in bed.

So today is BH Monday and that was the last lie-in. Its amazing how close deadlines concentrate the mind!

On the positive side, my knee is much improved - no more aching quads and much less discomfort in the knee - in spite of some gymming and gardening. And the garden does look better, though still work to do.

Verdict : Must try harder.

A good week

2008-08-16T23:01:00.002+01:00

Monday
Cycled a couple of miles in the morning - getting the hang of the gears now. Need to up the miles!
And I tried out Body Pump at the gym. Although I couldn't do the squats and lunges (knees) I enjoyed the rest and will try and go again.

Tuesday
Swam 28 lengths in sets of 4 fc. Will add some variety to that - some pyramids I think to get the endurance up to 6 and more without pause. Before the knee trouble i stuggled to do more than one fc without a breather, so progress is being made :>)

Wednesday
I went into school and did various jobs - so lot so of up and down stairs had to do for exercise.

Thursday
A level results day and the teenbeanzes did well. Both have achieved (and bettered) the grades they needed to get for their preferred Universities, so they (and we) are pleased. We're very proud of them both.
I spent the day helping grown up daughter find somewhere to live when she starts her first real job as a teacher next month. We were successful - just have to hope people get on with the references so she can move in asap.

Friday
Coffee and natter with LFV, shopping with the young beanzes and lots of Olympics to watch :>)

Saturday
More Olympics (and more gold medals) and gardening for exercise.

Checking in

2008-08-10T19:31:00.004+01:00

I'm not quite sure why I haven't posted since coming back from holiday, but life has been busy.
It was a good holiday - good hotel

with a sea view from our room

I seem to take lots of pics of flowers

lots more pics on my flickr pages

We did manage some exercise - a walk along the cliff tops:

and even a bike ride!

It was quite hard work the biking - as you can see I have narrow road tyres and the path was not smooth and was undulating!

Since we came back I have been to my mothers for a few days and we have had visitors.

I also managed to squeeze in a trip to the phyzz. So now I have a programme that does not include any running. I have to admit that without the running my legs do nto ache as much, although my knee does still hurt from time to time.

I have been out on my bike on the road - the first time for years. And only done a couple of miles, but was not put off - I now need to practise using the gears and extend the distance gradually. I am also swimming more.

And I have lurked on the pirate kit thread!

Off on holiday .... with a bike ??????

2008-07-27T21:29:00.005+01:00

Tomorrow MrBeanz and I go on holiday, leaving the younger beanzes at home alone ( well they are 18, 18 and 22).

As we are going to Norfolk we thought we'd take the bikes and get some gentle exercise together.

S has a newish hybrid bike, just the thing for cycle paths. She is happy to lend it to me. But she is taller than me - I've just tried to get on the bike and its too big - the cross bar got me

Then we got my old road bike out of the garage - actually quite a nice Raleigh - lightweight etc. It hasn't done many miles, but I was a few stone slimmer and more agile then.

I just about managed to get on and get pedaling before we ran out of garden

But we've decided we'll take it and see how I get on on the prom at Overstrand. I need a nice quiet level and straight stretch of path to practise.

Putting the knee right

2008-07-22T19:48:00.003+01:00

I went to see a different phyzz today. She examined my knee thoroughly and asked lots of questions.

There is nothing seriously wrong - no meniscus problems. Probably the medial ligament causing problems something like this.

She has advised me to take a couple of weeks off running to try and normalise the strength in the leg. So lots of exercises - half squats, leg press, balancing on the bosu together with swimming and cycling - but don't get any funny ideas.

I really want to get this right and need to focus on doing these exercises for the next few weeks while I have time.

not so good

2008-07-20T09:00:00.002+01:00

After running 6 miles last Sunday and going to the gym on Monday it all went downhill.
The gym programme on Monday evening left me very stiff and tired, and I chickened out of running on Tuesday - lots of excuses not many reasons.
But that made me eat badly too :<(
Wednesday to Friday was spent in Cambridge. I managed one run, by the end of which my left piriformis ached. (All the trouble recently has been on the right side, so this was a bit of a surprise.)
I was lazy yesterday and today I tried to run 7 miles but the piriformis and the knee got the better of me.
My knee and quads still give me grief - aching if I sit too long, aching some of the time when I drive, my knee sometimes feels really sensitive to touch and sometimes tingles.
I wonder whether I should just give up running for some time and concentrate on the gym strength and stretch. I would have to work really hard at that to get weight off at the same time.
I think I'll email this to the phyzz.

Granada Diary

2008-07-13T23:35:00.007+01:00

Thursday 3^rd July

Left Derby in pouring rain. Arrived in Granada to a hot evening, with a breeze which took the edge off the heat. A fascinating view from the plane as we came in over the hills - brown dry fields with a regular network of green spots of varying sizes - there has clearly been a lot of planting recently.

A bus brought us into the city centre and after walking past the hotel entrance I managed to find the door. A plush modern foyer and a modern clean room with a small window which overlooks the courtyard, no view :<( but it is ‘4 star’so I guess at the price I am paying I can’t expect better – and a front facing room would probably be much noisier.

Friday 4th July

The conference did not start until Friday evening so I was able to have a little look around Granada during the day. I visited the cathedral which was built when the Catholics took control of the area after they had conquered the Moors (of whom more later). So the cathedral was intended to be a great statement of dominance. Unfortunately since that time the city has encroached on all sides and it is difficult to get a good perspective on the building from outside, unlike our cathedrals which tend to either be built on a hill, or to have some space around them. I took an audio guide which was very useful, although it did not always tell me the things I wanted to know and in the second half it became rather tedious in the descriptions of all the side chapels.

I then wandered through the streets, including some very narrow lanes with gloriously coloured bedspreads hanging.

By this time it was very hot (35°C and higher) and I made my way back to the air-conditioned hotel. And slept for some time.

After registering we had to find out own evening meal – a little strange we thought, as at this stage nobody really knew anyone to meet up with, so there may have been some folk who didn’t have anyone to go out with.

We then met back at the hotel to take a bus to the Alhambra.

There we wandered round a limited part of the palace as there was a concert on in one of the large spaces. To be honest it was a bit of a disappointment. I expected lots of gardens and water, but we only saw one or two open courtyards with water. And because the lighting was using spot lights you could not see the colours of the tiling – only revealed when I took a photograph and the flash revealed the colours.

Saturday 5th July

The beginning of the summer school and we had talks and workshops all day and then in the evening we went to the Science Park - a hands on science 'museum' which we had to ourselves, where we were fed tapas - which is basically tasty nibbles.

There was a Foucault pendulum, and a nice model to explain how it happens.

We visited an exhibition about the Antarctic that was originally staged in the Natural History Museum in London.

We also had a session in the planetarium, and I am beginning to learn how to identify the stars in the sky. We should have had an observing session but they decided everyone (they?) was too tired.

Sunday 6th July

There were more talks and I now have so many activities to do with the position of the Sun in the sky, there can’t be any more? This evening we had our conference dinner. It was at a place belonging to the University with fantastic views across the valley to the Alhambra. Good food too.

It really is very hot until late into the evening. This is partly because Spain is on Central European Time (the time at 15° E of Greenwich) and its Summer Time but is on about the same longitude as UK (Granada is at 3° E), so is 2 hours ahead of solar time and is hottest mid afternoon. (Can you tell I was at an astronomy conference?) Fortunately we don’t spend too much time out in it. The lecture theatre is air-conditioned, but not the workshop rooms. The hotel is air-conditioned.

Monday 7th July

More workshops and an opportunity to meet the Professor of Applied Physics at the University of Granada (where we have our meeting). I have come across this man before he stages some exciting and spectacular experiments. He is installed a Foucault pendulum, which I have filmed and intend to use in class.

In the evening we were given 10€ to go and find tapas. With every round of drinks you get a tray of free tapas, so you could feed yourself by drinking your way through the money I guess. However the tapas bars seem not to open before 8.30 to 9.00 and a colleague and I decided to eat earlier and then come back to the hotel and share ideas about teaching physics and astronomy – I know, sad.

Tuesday 8th July

The last day of workshops and an early finish. We then took a coach to Calar Alto an observatory in the mountains about 100 km away. We arrived in the early evening and the all of a sudden, we northerner Europeans felt a whole lot more comfortable. The temperature was around 21 °C and there was a gentle breeze.

We looked at the two largest telescopes – with 2.2 m and 3.5 meter apertures. Access to the larger telescope meant climbing up the outside of the building – which to my amazement I did without difficulty. After a look around two of the telescopes we had an observing session out in the open, trying to put into practice the lessons learned in the workshops.

I had the opportunity to learn how to use my camera to take photos of the stars. A very kind young teacher from Greece showed me what to do. With digital it is a case of try it and see if you have the right settings – if nothing shows up then you just try another setting!

We also visited the control room of the 2.2 meter telescope where the technician astronomer showed us how he spends his nights. The observatory is providing a service for astronomers in Germany and Spain. An astronomer will book time on the telescope and then send their request for observations. The technician first calibrates the telescope by taking readings for a known star and then he moves the telescope to the requested part of the sky and records observations, which may be images or data such as the spectrum of the star. It is probably quite tedious most of the time and you have to be very careful that you follow procedures accurately. And you need to be a nocturnal animal!!

Wednesday 9th July

We were allowed a late start as we did not get back from our observations until after 2.00 am. We went to a different venue today – the Institute of Astrophysics who were co-sponsors of the course. There we had an excellent talk on dark matter – which is really wrongly named as it is not dark – that would imply it absorbs the light that falls on it. Rather it is invisible and transparent to radiation. This was followed by a tapas lunch where the plates kept coming. A speciality of the region seems to be gazpacho in small glasses. And so the conference came to an end. Presents for the course leaders and evaluation forms completed. Was it good? Yes overall, though it was rather too heavily focused on sun dials, not enough observation time and no cosmology in the workshops.

No running but I have walked lots and used the stairs almost every time coming up to my 5^th floor room. Not eaten too much I think but drinking litres of water.

Saturday 10th July

Home and time to download the photos and sort the wheat from the chaff. I have some rather cool image processing software image-j which is used to process medical images. I tried it on some of my star photos wow !

Can you see the plough?

And finally a piece of street ironwork that caught my eye!
More pictures will go up on flickr.

Running? I have done a couple of runs since I got back and now have a schedule to take me to Robin Hood, which includes lots of strength stuff at the gym.

I'm off ...

2008-07-03T07:37:00.002+01:00

School hasn't quite finished but I am off on a trip. I am going to an astronomy education conference in Granada - and I am quite excited. I've never been to Spain, so that will be interesting and I am really getting into astronomy at the moment.

I don't expect to run while I am there, it is a very full programme, but when I get back I shall have 7 weeks to train properly with no excuses.

Back next week.

With some photos.

A week off

2008-06-29T18:37:00.004+01:00

After last week's six miler we went out for a belated birthday lunch. Travelling in MrBeanz's Honda Civic proved to be very painful. The angle of the seat made both my piriformis and knee go into spasm. I confess I had probably not stretched properly after my run, but it has put me off travelling in the car again.
It also resulted in me having a week off running. When I went out on Tuesday for my short run my knee just didn't want to know. It has been sore on and off for most of the week. So I decided the best thing was to rest it.
I went into the garden yesterday evening to discover these beautiful flowers had come out and I hadn't noticed.

I must get out there everyday.
Yesterday I went down to London for a meeting about teaching astronomy. It was a great day. The first time I have arrived at St Pancras since the new refurbished station opened.
What a fantastic building it still is. The original building by Gilbert Scott has survived the developments to accommodate the Eurostar trains. The lower level used to be out of sight - and was used to store beer barrels brought by train from Burton on Trent which is on the line from Derby. I have also heard that there used to be stables down there. The roof was built by Butterley - a Derbyshire engineering firm who still exist in name at least.

My meeting was at the Royal Astronomical Society in Burlington House. At lunch time we were shown some of the archives of the society - which included first editions of Newton's Principia and John Flamsteed's Star Atlas - another Derbyshire connection there. It was kind of mind-blowing to see ( and be able to handle!) these old books that did so much to change the way we think about the world. Newton may have been a bit of a b*stard but he was also a great thinker.

Anyway back to running. I woke this morning, heard people running down the road, thought about getting up and decided to stay in bed, I have been up before 6 every day this week. I will try a little plod tomorrow. I did eventually get up and take RunnerBeanz to his race - where he at last broke the 40 minute barrier with a pb of 39:31. So he was pleased - and so was his proud Mum! He had run round with a V60 from the club (it was the British Masters 10k champs) RB, then pipped him to the post in the last 100 metres.

Another week passes

2008-06-22T10:19:00.004+01:00

I managed a run on Tuesday morning, short but trying to run a bit quicker on the R bits.

Now its Sunday morning and its long run day - up to 6 miles, but hard going. Maybe my 'hayfever' is really a cold as my HR was up compared to last week. So I just took it steady and stopped to look at the views.

The flat part of my run (middle couple of miles) are along the Derwent Valley, part of the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site
On my way back just before the steep climb home I cross the bridge seen on the right in the picture. This is the view if I look back.

This mill was built by Walter Evans in the 18th Century to spin cotton. There were already other mills using the river here - including paper and corn. Evans worked with Richard Arkwright, who was building mills up river of here at Cromford.
He not only built the mill but many cottages for the workers, a church and a school. The original school became structurally unsound (allegedly only the younger children were allowed on the top floor at the end!) it was replaced by a new building, which my children attended. The cottages are now higly valued and fetch good prices when on the market - even though they have no off road parking:

Running on

2008-06-15T13:49:00.002+01:00

Another week has passed and I have manged to run almost every other day.
Which is good - including 5 miles last Sunday and another 5 miles this Sunday. The average pace today was the best since I came back to running this year - and I did my best mile as well. If you want to know the gory details they are on my Fetch Training Log.
Yesterday I went to Chatsworth with LFV. It was a lovely day and we had a good walk round the grounds a few of the things we saw:
Revelation - this hydraulically powered water feature opens and closes as it fills with water. All the water features are supplied by water stored in reservoirs at the top of the estate, which in turn are supplied by water off the fells.

The meadows were fantastic, full of the most glorious flowers:

More pics on my Flickr page

Thanks for all the support.

Still here

2008-06-07T12:04:00.003+01:00

Two weeks since I blogged - not sure where it went.

I gardened at half term. As usual I suffered the next day or two - knee didn't like squatting so lots of back bending -but it has to be done.
The bog garden is beginning to show some colour now.

My quads are still giving me problems. I think it all stems back from protecting the leg too much. when I injured my knee. I heard this edition of Case Notes on radio 4. The female runner seems to have the same problems as me.
I had a session with the phyzz, A. She gave me some exercises to do to strengthen the quads and bring them back into balance. I MUST do them more regularly otherwise paying A for a session is a waste of time.
A and I tried out a Body Balance class at the gym last week, it was advertised as core strength and a mix of Tai Chi (sp?), yoga and pilates. But it was too advanced for me and although I enjoyed it I don't think it did me much good - I've had the first pain in the piriformis for about a year (although that could have been driving MrBeanz's car) - and my knees have been hurting more at night. I would like to find a beginners pilates class.

I have managed some running but not enough really. I've been reading back in my blog (really must save it somehow it is the nearest thing I have to a diary) and looking at when the training went well. Last summer I was getting out in the mornings before work and taking a route where the inclines are more gradual. I shall go back to that I think.

On a non-running note I had a bit of a rollercoaster ride over the last couple of days. Back in the spring I entered a national competition to win some biggish money to spend on a project to enhance physics teaching in school. A week or so ago I heard that I had won £1000 as a 'good runner up'. I was disappointed not to get through to the final but pleased to have £1000 to spend. On Thursday I had a call to say we had been upgraded to finalist so there would be £5000 to carry out my proposal and the opportunity to win even more money. Great excitement - scared, brain buzzing wondering what I had let myself in for. Then Friday morning another call - sorry we got it wrong, just the £1000. Complete deflation and disappointment. But we do have £1000 to spend on Physics.

made it to half term

2008-05-23T20:26:00.003+01:00

I went out on Monday morning and it was fine.
On Tuesday I was stiff from cutting the very long grass with the flymo.
On Wednesday I went out to run, but my knee was not having any of it - so I walked round a very small block and came home.
And today I went out again and ran ok - up to R7W3 this week :>))

I have renamed the zones in the training centre - otherwise I will never get to the stage where it tells me I am running :<(

A good weekend :>)

2008-05-18T10:52:00.003+01:00

Maybe risky to post that title on Sunday morning but it is.

On Friday evening I invited some friends over for pasta. Some were running the White Peak Marathon or the half on Saturday. I guess others came for the company and the wine. So we had a good natter, plenty of pasta and a (relatively) early night. One of the runners had a 'spare' Garmin 305 to sell - well it would have been rude to turn it down wouldn't it ;>) I will be even more geeky about the numbers I suspect.

On Saturday morning I was due in school at 9.15 to take some of the small boarders swimming. So an earlyish run was called for. The new garmin was not charged or set up , so off I with the old one for R5:W2 - it went well and I seem to be getting back to it now.

Off to school to collect the little girls. I didn't actually have to go in the water, that was left to someone else, I had a coffee and natter with a colleague. After depositing the girls back at school, I made my way over to Cromford to cheer in the friends.

I drove through some lovely countryside - I don't really know the part of south Derbyshire around Ashbourne. I didn't stop for pics - otherwise I would miss the speedy peeps coming in. The race is all along old railway routes , so on the whole fairly level but a few nasty inclines (down) near the end.
The finish along the canal is lovely Julie managed as mile as she made a charge to the finish.

I had a good natter with old friends and meeting some new people - including someone I had met at TrailPlus about 4 years ago- we recognised each other but it was she who remembered where we had met.
And so to Sunday - the Sun is shining and I have had a swim. So I am feeling virtuous :>)
Now back to the preparation for the week ahead. If I can do this properly it gives me a chance to get to bed reasonably and so go out for an early run - see the mind is willing even if the flesh is weak.

And I look forwardto seeing joggerblogger and b-z at Robin Hood - and maybe a few more folk too?

an early morning plod

2008-05-15T22:49:00.001+01:00

The first early plod before work for ages.
And I enjoyed it and didn't stop to walk coming up the hill at the end.
So pretty pleased.
I might even do it again one day!

Tris and things

2008-05-13T15:53:00.004+01:00

It was Stratford Triathlon this weekend and while I have no intention of doing one, I do enjoy supporting. Lots of Pirates and Waisters did this one, so I went along for the company.

I have had a conversation with my brother and we seem to have agreed to do Robin Hood Half together on 14th September. Which means I HAVE to get back into regular running. I have now recovered my Garmin, so can begin collecting numbers. I went out on Saturday for 30 minutes in the park. Hard work and undulating so slow, but at least I was out there.
The intention is to do two runs in the week - working towards an hour and a lengthening run at the weekend. Hopefully as life settles down a bit, some swimming as well.

I looked back at what I was doing last year when the running was going well - at least I thought it was until the stuffing was knocked out of me at Amsterdam. I managed to improve my pace by the time it got to October. Judging by the Garmin data I seem to have been running at just under 150 bpm once the first mile was out of the way.
So that will be my guide as I get going again.

Losing it ...............

2008-05-04T21:33:00.003+01:00

I am a bit confused.
I struggle to find time to run - I guess that means I do not want it enough.
But I have plodded a few times and am losing a little weight.
But I still have achey legs - however that doesn't seem to depend on the plodding.
I am confused.

But runnerbeanz continues to run well.
He did his first track race for several years yesterday, running 5000m for the club. A creditable 18:41 ish. And he might be willing to do it again if required.

You can tell by the trees that there is a prevailing wind at the track!

Mudchute again

2008-04-19T11:06:00.006+01:00

I had hoped to run FLM this year, but my cronky knee put paid to that even before training had started.

I know that it is a really bad idea to take a weekend away in term time, but I went anyway.

June and I travelled down at a leisurely pace on Saturday morning. We knew that there were some doubts about whether our Travel Lodge hotel was actually built yet (yes, we're talking London here not the Costa del sol). When June booked the hotel it was due to be open, but when she checked for directions it said 'opening 6th May'. So we went to the one nearest to kings Cross to check - and the website was correct it was NOT open, but nobody had bothered to tell us. A wonderful receptionist at the KX branch sorted us out, so all was well eventually, but I shall not ever book with them again.

Off we went to the expo, where we met up with Tigerrunner, Hippo and RichK. We carboloaded (well I carboloaded, June didn't spot the 'weightwatching?' heading on the menu, and wondered why it was a rather lite meal!). After wishing the runners good luck we collected supplies for Mile 17 and made our way back to our hotel.
Our evening meal was in an Italian restaurant close toe th hotel, and was inevitably full of runners - including a couple of chaps from my club - a small world.

Sunday morning and we let the runners go through breakfast first. Then we went down - to a 'continental' breakfast - ie one that does not need a cook - cold croissants, cereal, juice and coffee from a machine.

We left the hotel at about 9 to make the trek to Mudchute - somewhat concerned to see the odd runner still hanging around at KX having their photos taken! I wonder what time they pull up the start chip timing mat?

Mudchute preparations were well underway when we got there. I was assigned to team 4 with TweetyPie.

With forumites taking pictures of the preparations.

First came the quick people including our very own Liz Yelling.

Then it was time for the main field and lots of folk to look out for.
RichK came through so fast we almost missed him:

Soon to be followed by a very Speedy Hippo.

Lots of other forumites followed, including Sue, who had run Rome a few weeks previously

and eventually Mick'n'Phil who were met with the loudest reception of all!

Then it was time to go home.
Thanks to June for making this a weekend to remember.

prodded into action

2008-04-07T21:00:00.004+01:00

So what has been going on?

School holidays are over but they were good while they lasted. I managed to get some exercise and lose a few pounds.

I went to Edinburgh, where I met WAISTer Westie and WestieJunior

and where RunnerBeanz ran a 5k race :

and then we watched some quicker runners:

and some EVEN quicker.

Since then I have been away to Leeds and done a bit more running - including outside yesterday morning in the snow.

Another Run

2008-03-23T12:27:00.002Z

Over a month since my last outside run but I managed to get myself out this morning for a little R1W2 round the block.
I really miss my Garmin - I lent it to Tigerrunner as I wasn't running for his FLM training but I am such a data geek I need to know the numbers. My HRM has a flat battery and is away being replaced, so I don't even have a watch! So today I borrowed Runnerbeanz's 305 - and I managed to programme it to bleep appropriately, so it kept me going all the way round. Only couple of km but hey, its a start.

What got me out this morning was this community of runners - I decided that I was a fraud if I didn't get out there and do it. I can't claim to be a runner if I don't do it when I have the chance and fitness!

Studentbeanz is home for 2 weeks and we are having a concerted effort to lose some weight, if we can have two weeks of good habits maybe we can maintain it for longer and both get to somewhere more healthy.

well a good start

2008-03-18T10:04:00.003Z

First day of the hols yesterday and I managed to use it constructively.

Some gardening- digging is a bit of a strain on the back though.
Some exam board work.
Browsing various bits of software for teaching.
Another gym session, my back did not like th hill setting on the tready.
And a weigh in - 3 pounds lost this week :>))

So now I have no excuse of the stresses of the job I need to stay focused.

Rest day today - with plenty of non-physical things to do.

Hoping to make progress

2008-03-16T16:49:00.005Z

Must try and get back to this running business now I am on holiday (again).

It has started well with a RW forum social. Nine of us gathered, the first social without Steady,
but June was there

and birthday boy Muzzy

And most of the other regulars - RichK, Mark, LMH, MrBeanz, KatieJane and Tigerrunner. Unfortunately most of the photos are rather fuzzy, so they will not be appearing in public!

So all the talk of running made me want to get out and do some!
Saturday was spent at Wollaton Park at the InterCounties XC . I did not run of course, but was Team Manager for the Derbyshire Senior Ladies and U15 girls.

This morning I have gymmed - including 20 minutes RW on the tready. I seem to have survived.

My plan is to really concentrate over the next three weeks on regular exercise and eating properly - I know, I know, I've said it before and always seem to have some excuse for falling off the wagon.

no running

2008-02-24T11:54:00.004Z

Back at school after half term and the drive is kicking in again with my quads.

So I have wimped out of running, I have tried to do my quad strength and have remembered most mornings.
And I've stretched and taken the rolling pin or fingers to the ITB.

But no running.

However I did go and support at the National XC yesterday. It was at Alton Towers, which has lots of park land as well as scary rides.

This first picture shows part of the course which has gradually run downhill to the valley bottom.

There is then a rather steep climb up again:

Tigerrunner (in green) is attacking the hill!

Rather more scary than an Alton Towers ride.

Unfortunately RunnerBeanz had been missed off the club entry, so had to do without this particular thrill.

The Ladies did it twice, the Men and Junior Men three times, and everyone else just the once.

another day, another run

2008-02-17T10:40:00.002Z

Runnerbeanz was doing a hill session in the park yesterday, so I went down with him and plodded along in the sunshine - it was a glorious day, although there was a cold wind which made itself felt in the shade.
I did R1W2 again - but 7 reps this time, so progress :>)

This morning I have done all my exercises except the ITB rolling pin - must try to do that.

Now I am running again I shall have to make an effort with the sensible eating too, the pounds have crept on in the last few months.

back to it

2008-02-15T20:27:00.003Z

I had a session with the sports therapist/torturer today. As I thought it's the ITB that is the problem - turns out that both legs are bad, though only one has been giving me trouble.
And ST has given me a whole new set of exercises to do, that put less pressure on the knee but will strengthen my quads and also my core (groan).

She is ordering me a ITB roller thing - meanwhile suggests I use a rolling pin (not to lie on but to rill up and down - like the stick) and lending me a wobble board - when someone returns one that has been lent!

I am seeing her again in 3 weeks, when she will check up how much progress I have made - so I'd better do them!

Running again!

2008-02-12T22:09:00.000Z

This morning I went for a swim.

This evening I went for a run! Back to the beginning with run-walk so after a warm up walk I did R1W2 x 4 - just a little to test it out. So far no ill effects. The best bit was that I could do the 1 minute running ok - I had expected to struggle with my breathing but that side of it was fine, just don't want to overdo the legs.

Will try a few more reps on Thursday.

PS
National XC is 23rd February at Alton Towers. Almost a home race, should be good and hilly.

English Schools XC is 8th March in Liverpool.

missing week

2008-02-08T22:28:00.000Z

Last week I had an appointment at the hospital, to follow up a scan the previous week - all resulting in an unexpected follow-up this week - a girlie investigation involving a general anaesthetic - all went well, now to wait for the results. It has rather overshadowed the past week - both thinking about it and planning for the time off work.

So not much exercise at all - but I HAVE been trying to stretch before driving and that has helped - just the ITB to sort out now.

There was one happy note - last weekend runnerbeanz took part in the county schools XC championship for the last time - and qualified for English Schools - yippee!

what was going on below?

2008-02-01T06:18:00.000Z

I was a little cruel to you readers - at least I did tell the girls that the pump was removing air from the flask, before I asked them to predict what would happen.
Removing air from the flask reduced the air pressure in the space around the marshmallows, which allowed the air bubbles inside the mms to expand. When I let the air back in they contracted spectacularly and looked rather wizened as their skin 'stretched' during the expansion.

On the running front - there isn't any. My quads and ITB are still giving me grief when I drive. I am managing to do the exercises most days, but I suspect I need to stretch more often, especially before I drive home.

Putting the Phyzz into Physics

2008-01-27T21:04:00.000Z

I want to try to communicate my excitement about physics to the girls I teach.

I have decided to try and add something each week that makes them think outside the current curriculum - maybe a 'wow' moment, maybe a 'why does it do that' moment, maybe an image ......

So this week I did the marshmallows (thanks to Neal for this)

It drew suitable oohs and has - so that by Friday older sisters were asking when they were going to see it as their younger sisters had already seen it.

I now have to collect many more so that there is a different one every week for 5 years!

Next week the colour change ducks I bought in Sainsbury's in the post-Christmas sale.

Forum friends

2008-01-27T12:00:00.000Z

Its been a forum friend weekend.
On Friday night a group of us met up to welcome a good friend who was passing through. We had a good evening of curry and chat - I wonder where I would be finding friends if were not for the forums. I don't have many friends locally, having never worked locally I did not build up that network and the children were born before we came, so that all-having-babies-together bonding between mums never happened - though I am still in touch with folk elsewhere from that time.
The few times I have begun to make friends locally with someone in a similar situation with children, they have moved away:<( It must be something I do because now I reflect that has happened at least three or four times over the last 6 years.

This morning I have been to see June, Eddy's widow. We had a good chat, a look at her garden and talked to the cats. As I was leaving we said it was such a shame we had all not got together more while Eddy was alive.

On the not-running front, I have sen the physio again and she has impressed upon me the need to do the strength stuff - my right quads have lost a lot of tone and are giving me grief when I drive. She says my knee is good enough to begin a little running once my quads are not a problem. My ITB is also tight. This makes sleeping on my side difficult. So stretch and strength it is.

Muzzy

2008-01-19T11:11:00.000Z

It was a good funeral and I made it to the wake and was able to spend a little time with June and her family.
Muzzy was there - he was the first forumite to say he would be at the funeral nad he had a haircut specially! He is a stalwart of the East Midlands RW forum meets and although he is camera-shy I have managed to catch a few pics over the years.
In order: High Peak Relay 2004; High Peak Relay 2005; [Maybe we should make a big effort to do HPR in 2008 for Eddy]
Christmas 2007 (before the haircut) and last Thursday in a sharp suit. (Katie-Jane is behind).

Eddy - RIP

2008-01-03T23:13:00.000Z

Eddy was a stalwart member of the East Midlands Runners World brigade. Much has been written elsewhere about him and people's memories of him. He was a bone marrow donor and also donated blood platelets. He was a runner, a policeman and most of all a good man.

Eddy was struck down by septicemia. After a nine day battle with liver and kidney failure on intensive care he died on 28/12/07.

It is difficult to believe he is no longer with us, but we will have fond memories of him.

To celebrate his life June (LFV) asked that donations be made to Kidney Research, rather than flowers. Donations can be made through BZ's justgiving page. It is fantastic the amount donated by forumites - a real community - not just a virtual one.

Here are some pictures I have dug out of my hard drive.

MrBeanz, Eddy and teenbeanz before the Sinfin 10k in 2005

Eddy and LFV at the Christmas social in 2006 - Eddy had organised it

And he organised it again in 2007, only a couple of weeks before he died.

New Year - targets - pah! Reflections on the year past.

2008-01-01T11:13:00.000Z

A year on and I have not achieved either of my running targets for the year.

Nor lost weight - in fact I am probably heavier than a year ago.

I have not completed a race this year.

What have I achieved?

completed a year and a term back in teaching
.........
.........

I am not sure what I could put in the blanks. I am still here and have a healthy family - so anything else would be bonus I guess.

We have to go on, so yet again I shall start the year trying to eat healthily. I can't have any running targets until I am fit to run. I see the phyzz tomorrow and will talk to her about what is the most sensible way to get back to running (in addition to the obvious of losing weight).

A decision made

2007-12-29T17:54:00.000Z

I've made the decision not to attempt to do FLM this year.

Yet again Highway Kind provides the right words to help me come to the decision.

I have not run since 10th November and cannot see me doing so any time soon, so it would be foolish to think I could do myself justice on 13th April.

So when I go to see the phyzz next week, it will be for a long term programme of rehabilitation, rather than rushing back to running.

Meanwhile I shall try to work on the eating side of things - tricky with so much chocolate and cheese in the house , but hey I can only try my best.

Not sure who I am writing this for - maybe it is for me. In which case I must try saving it as it is my only training log really, apart from a spreadsheet and the Garmin log.

Gym at last

2007-12-20T22:30:00.000Z

Wednesday
Made it to the and quite a good session:
10 min walk on treadmill
7 minutes rower
10 minutes bike
7 minutes cross trainer

then strength work

then I made the mistake going Christmas shopping - too much of a good thing I fear, by the time I made it home my leg really ached, like I'd done a very long run

Thursday
A gentle day resting, until the evening when I had to take Runnerbeanz to his training session - I walked for about 20 minutes round the track while he was running - enough for today.

I'm trying - really

2007-12-18T15:33:00.000Z

Yesterday I didn't make it to the gym, although I had intended to. I don't feel as though my knee is getting better - lots of aching still, perhaps partly because the house was cold - there is no point in having all the heating on when there is only me at home, and I let myself get cold - and then a kind of slump comes over me, I eat what I don't need .......

But today I've managed to go for a swim - only about 20 lengths, but it is hard work because I would normally do breaststroke, but can't do that because of the twisty knee action.

And then on to do a big shop, by the end of which I was limping somewhat - so now I am off to ice.

This week I have ...........

2007-12-16T20:05:00.000Z

Seen the phyzz

Been to the gym twice to do CV and strength work

Done some step-ups and walking whilst Runnerbeanz was tearing round the track on Saturday

Eaten rather more mince pies than intended

Feel as though there is no chance of me being fit to do London - I really don't want to do it unless I can acquit myself well. At the moment I can't believe I'll ever do a long run again. The phyzz suggests I might be doing some of the early runs as other CV for the time the schedule says to do the running.
I know that if, at this stage I throw in the towel for FLM, I will not do the exercises she has given me properly or try to eat properly, but I feel a fraud saying I hope to do it when I am not even running and its only 17 weeks away.
I do want to do exactly as she has told me and not risk further injury by getting back too soon. But I just feel so fed up

Back to the phyzz

2007-12-11T22:18:00.000Z

I saw the phyzz today and she is pleased with progress - I am about in the right place for three weeks from injury.
I now have a gym programme, to increase leg strength and also CV fitness, without running.

I am not sure about this CV work - whether I need to get my HR up to the same value - perceived effort on the static bike does not result in as high a HR as running at the same effort - presumably something to do with mot carrying my weight? Or maybe its just that I don't like the bike?

I also aim to get as much preparation for next term done as possible. If I am going to be training for a marathon I need to make time for the training. And if some of that training is in the gym rather than the road, it takes a bigger chunk of time to do and is logistically more difficult.

I've managed to keep off the sweet stuff - apart from (I confess) checking out the first batch of mince pies I've made this season.

I'm in!

2007-12-06T21:04:00.001Z

Well I have a place for FLM, assuming I am fit enough to train enough to do it justice.

I asked at the club tonight when they would be doing the draw.

But as there were only 3 names on the list, the Secretary gave me a form there and then!

So I have started training.

That is :

no more chocolate, biscuits, cake .....
do the exercises from the phyzz
do what CV work I can in the gym
hope that on 1st January I am able to run

If all these happen I will send the form off on January 1st - closing date 11th January.

Help!

back from Phyzz

2007-11-28T20:47:00.000Z

Phyzz is pleased with progress- less swelling, more flexibility, no long term damage

hopefully running in January

so that's my mileage done for the year

She says I can leave my name in the hat for a club FLM place and when I get back from Switzerland she'll put together a gym programme to strengthen the leg and improve CV ahead of beginning training in January

If I get a place, I'll need a marathon in 15 weeks on three runs a week from scratch schedule - ideally with no longer than an hour for the shorter runs.

Any offers?