a good plod

It's been a hectic week again - finishing with parent's evening on Friday, school bazaar on Saturday morning with my Fair Trade stall, followed by my stint with the boarders on Saturday afternoon - making Christmas cards

runnerbeanz is trying to stick to his coach's schedule so was due to do 45 minutes 'long run' today

so we got up and went out the door together and then he plodded off into the distance while I did my R4:W2 bit

we both 'turned' at 22 minutes and then he caught me up (and passed me) on the way back - and was back before me of course

the advantage of the out and back route is that we could go out together and each do our own thing (if he does loops it is a little disatisfying as he will not know how far he has gone)

so 3 miles done for me and 4 for him - on a lovely fresh but sunny morning :>)


oh, RB points out that I didn't put his time on the race report - 41:29

worth it!

all the ferrrying runnerbeanz around for training is paying off - yesterday he ran a storming PB in a 10km - and not on a straightforward course - twists and turns, hills, mud ....

I was really proud of him!

dress to impress..

no running this week

usual lame excuses - work work work


Children in Need day yesterday and the girls were asked to 'dress to impress' or dress to distress' i.e. it was dress up or dress down Friday

I dressed to impress and wore my usual blacks but an FLM fleece - just to remind myself I can do it (sometimes)

and now its the wrong day in the month for venturing far - typical ....

will go for a walk in the park when my M&S delivery of new black clothes for the winter has arrived


Later the same day ....................

Thanks for the suggestions on my last post below. I've also had a very supportive email from a WAISter pal - who is in the same position as me - juggling family and profession and trying it fit in the running.

I have decided that as it is only three weeks to the end of term (some compensation for the long working week), I am going to not worry about the running at all - do it if the opportunity arises and not worry about not doing it. And then when we break up I will have space to plod in daylight for a few weeks.

However in the mean time I will really concentrate on eating sensibly - however don't worry this is not going to turn into a dieting blog - mainly because I will not be dieting! Not running means no excuses for eating stuff in the hope of running it off later!

when do I run?

I am writing this because I just can’t see what to do.

At the weekend I had a great run with b-z and I talked about how to fit in another run during the week.

But now I am back at the chalk face I just can’t see how to do it.

So this was my day yesterday – and it was typical of a weekday.

6.00 alarm rings and I get out of bed, shower and wash hair, dress. Come downstairs, complete packing of bag, print off something I forgot last night, breakfast, empty dishwasher, have brief conversation with emerging runnerbeanz about this evening clean teeth.

7.00 pack car, taking bottle of water, letters to post, scrape outside of car condensation

7.05 set off for school

7.45 arrive at school – up the stairs; mark books, talk with HoD about week ahead, sort out stuff for first lesson

8.25 registration of form

8.35 assembly but I chase around to try to find student who did not turn up to registration – discuss how we improve her timekeeping with Boarding mistress

8.50 up the stairs: teach Y9, discuss the class with PGCE student who will be teaching them next week; they have done a test – so now I have that to mark

10.00 down the stairs - ‘free period’ put in order for Traidcraft stuff for school Bazaar stall; sort out paper for mock exams for Y11;

11.10 morning break – have to go to this includes staff briefing

11.30 up the stairs; return to prep room to find chaos as men have come to take down cupboard and build shelves above my workspace – but no warning so I have not cleared space for them to work. Teach U6

12.45 lunch – down the stairs need to get in straightway as I have a lunch time meeting – but join the queue

1.00 up different stairs; meeting for new form tutors (only 9 weeks into term) to learn what the job is about – it is useful

1.40 sit down in staff room for 5 minutes with deputy head to discuss my late girl

1.45 afternoon registration – have words with girl I did not see this morning

1.55 up the stairs teach Y11 – they are a difficult class – mainly because they have not learned to stop talking!

3.05 send them on their way and breath sigh of relief; return to prep room to sort out chaos of stuff; at least shelves provide me with more storage space but it takes me all of my time to sort stuff out – including standing on chair to reach the top shelf!

5.20 down the stairs to sign out; up the stairs to collect bag and then up the hill to car park;

drive home through dark lanes

6.10 arrive home meet mrbeanz and discuss eating arrangements – no family meal on Mondays

6.30 drive back round Derby with runnerbeanz who has circuit training with his squad (I can’t join in) normally I sit on the floor outside the gym in the corridor and do some low level marking, but now some of the other Mums have realised I do this and have come in too so I can’t mark, have to chat inanely

8.45 arrive back home and get something to eat for RB and me

9.30 sit down to do lesson preparation after a brief visit to other blogs and forums

12.15 go to bed

Having written that, I realise that I don’t want anyone to suggest running at lunch time, I need the breathing space in my lab to sort out after morning session and set up afternoon session; or after school (very dark lanes) before I come home.

I think I just need to settle for a run or two at the weekends and with the club on a Wednesday and not keep apologising and making excuses for not running more.

I ran today!

b-z came to the East Mids Social last night - a good evening at the curry house

she stayed the night and we were up early for a run

it was a good morning for running - cool and bright and we did my standard long run along the river to the gym and back - making it up the grinding hill by a kind of fartlek between lamp posts and passers-by

by the time we got home we hadn't quite done the required 8 miles so we went down into the park and ran until the Garmin beeped for 8 miles, and then we were allowed to make our way back - by which time we had done about 8.8 miles - the furthest I have done since Robin Hood.

There were some good bits in it and it was great to run with b-z - someone to natter to and I definitely walked less than I would have done if I had been on my own

I feel like maybe I will carry on with this running malarkey - and maybe even get up (very) early once a week to run before work

not much to report

Not much running to report unfortunately

Lots of good excuses though - but they are excuses, I should have got out there more

so just a little plod in the park on Sunday with runnerbeanz

but just to show you what a tough environment I work in these pics are taken from my lab window

one step forward ....

last night I made it onto the treadmill - I'd been debating as I drove home whether to go to the gym or just drop into the athletics club and sit and mark while runnerbeanz ran
but decided there was time to have a worthwhile plod, though with the traffic I only managed 35 minutes

So tried to work har on the tready - doing a speed pyramid but did not manage much of the down side of the pyramid, cos I was enjoying pushing myself to go (relatively) fast

so I didn't cool down nor stretch properly and unfortunately the outcome is that I now have an aching back, and there is no way I could have gone to the club and run this evening :<(

another run done

blogger seems to be degenerating - yesterday it didn't seem to accept posts,

today no tool bar, no edit HTML - which makes tables difficult

another R4W2 run done yesterday - in the third rep I was all for giving up running completely as I really don't feel I have made any progress in the past 3 years


but you know how it is you pass that point and although it never feels good, it just doesn't seem that bad after all

what running again?

Planned to be up really early and plod out along the A6

but didn't wake until 8.00 by which time the A6 would be full of traffic and smelly

so took the sensible decision and went back to sleep ........................


no not really - I decided to go in the park - which is not possible early because its dark!

so up to R4 W2 now - first 3 reps were ok, fourth was tough, fifth impossible - up seriously killer hill through the woods

on a positive note I realised that the field I did two reps round (0.4 miles each) would be good for runnerbeanz's XC training, so we could use it together without having to stick together - in fact there is a second field which would make the rep longer for RB

so a good start tt he day

now off to visit studentbeanz at University - haven't seen her for nearly 2 months and haven't seen her flat at all

well at least I ran!

Monday I went to the gym and built a hill and then speed pyramids on the tready.

Tuesday I went to school and then later took runnerbeanz to his training session - and wished I had had my kit to run round the field.

Yesterday it rained all afternoon and well into the evening - did that stop we beanz runners going to the club?

certainly not!

we arrived to a dark wet car park with no runners in sight - but as the clock reached 7.00, people began to emerge reluctantly from their cars until we had a hard core of about a dozen people - most wearing their Aldi running jackets and gilets!

V69 was not there and I opted not to join the ladies group - as they were an amalgam of the slow and quick groups and I suspect that they were going to be a bit quick for me.

So it was on my own - not on the field which was somewhat wet as well as dark. Twice round the car park through the puddles and then I decided to go out onto the path. The club is at the brow of a 'hill' - inclines down in both directions. This meant my Run 3 Walk 2 was for the most part run down walk up!

So 30 minutes later I was thoroughly soaked, but feeling better and almost like a runner. [The ladies did say when they got back that I should have gone with them - and they are right - so next week if V69 isn't there I will be brave.]

Runnerbeanz did about 5 miles.

Then after a welcome hot shower it was into the bar for a drink and a sandwich.

I'd taken my laptop to show the club our new website that t'other teenbeanz has been working on - a great improvement on the last one.

A grand day out ...

I went for a little plod yesterday morning - just had to be done, though it was not very inspiring

but it occurred to me that I might have been running Abingdon today - and lots of my friends were going to be there so why didn't I go along and support?

it would be a day for me - no work, no family reponsibilities and lots of mental space between clappings

so I got up at 5.30 this morning and drove down there - it was great to see people who were not expecting me :>)

and here are some of my friends at Abingdon:




















































I had a fantastic day - starting near Mile 6 with LMH we had a great time spotting forumites - sometimes only realising after they had passed who they were! Then on to Mile 16 where we had a chance to sit out of the rain in a pub courtyard and have a coffee before they came back into town.
I hung around there until all the important people had passed and then to mile 19/24 where I had a chance to cheer people in two directions at once.
And then to the finish where much whooping and hollering greeted some of the later runners to a grandstand finish.
And then to the bar for more chat and catching up with yet more peeps - some of whom I had only known virtually, so good to put bodies to faces!!

Oh and I also managed to put a few miles of brisk walking in the bank too!

a little run-walk

the day began with a lie in - and a read in bed with a cup of tea (thanks MrBeanz) - for me the perfect start to a day

then I spent most of the day sorting out the club website - which ITbeanz has been revamping - it is all clever stuff, but needed me to re-enter lots of info from race results, and as that is the bit people like, I thought I'd better do it.

V69 wasn't there to run with tonight, so I plodded round the field, and did a very controlled run-walk, like someone just starting out

but at least I was doing something

and I'm going to try and do it again later in the week

some progress ....

went into work yesterday to find my lab full of workmen - they'd come to replace my ancient lighting with new bright fluroescent tubes

which I must not complain about as everyone tells me it is really dim in the winter, but it meant I couldn't get at my filing cabinet :<(

however I did do lots of other stuff, sorting past exam papers and copying them for the classes to use - just means I have a mountain of past questions to do now - shouldn't set questions I haven't tried, it's a good way to get caught out!

I went in again today and did a morning's work, but was then frustrated by lack of access to my lab, so I came home and went for a swim :>)

will have to go back next week and sort out my work space which is now piled high with stuff to be filed!

lazy weekend

so it's the beginning of the two week 'break' but I have loads to do - both in school at home

so I haven't done any of them this weekend - just slept late(ish) and pottered

yesterday I went with Teenbeanz to the first cross country race of the season - a lovely day, autmnal sunshine, soft underfoot, but not muddy, and a chance to meet people and chat

it was a toughie - a new course this year and several folk came off from the men's race saying it was the toughest they'd done in the league

(TB's recce had suggested something similar)

there were long grinding inclines and short sharp inclines too - a proper XC course!

TB's training paid off and he ran much better than last season - very pleasing - and as the season goes on he should get stronger

there were four folk from our Wednesday night friendly club too, including tigerrunner, who ran well - so a grand day out!

so the next two weeks:

I need to:

• visit my Mum and get in her loft
• visit studentbeanz and see her flat
• go into school and sort out the filing cabinet I have inherited - being ruthless in the process!
• really get on top of the planning ahead - now that I have got to know the classes it easier to look further ahead at what I will be teaching
• try out some new experiments
  
• get out in the garden
• get some exercise
• do my tax return
• bake the Christmas cake - I always used to do that at half term

not much to say really

job continues to dominate waking hours - at least at the moment I am not dreaming about it!

no more running since last week's 2 miles - but all being well I will do another plodette with V69 tomorrow

3 days to go to the half term holiday, I will manage a little more exercise then

would have been doing Abingdon in 10 days if I hadn't taken this job - good job I decided to drop out! I did think of going anyway and marshalling, but currently I think it would not be a very restful thing to do, though it would have been lovely to see some good friends there

ah well,

back to the preparation ......

I ran this evening!

Just that

a couple of miles with V69

thats all

a not-running blog

No runnign this week - too tired to do anything at the moment - didn't even make it to club to walk this week

I will try and run this weekend - but the usual routine is knocked by TB running in the Road Relays in Manchester on Sunday, so our usual 'get each other out the door' stragegy will not be there.

Work is still ok mostly - the odd difficulty but nothing compared to some establishments I might be working in - and the rest of the time I do enjoy it

I was reflecting that for over 20 years I have not been in a job that did not have a finite end point - they have all been fixed length projects. But this one does not have a foreseeable end - I shall have to choose to leave (assuming they don't ask me to go of course!) or continue until retirement - adds a different dimension to the job.

phew

another week goes by without a blog - life is just so busy and tiring

I've managed a brisk walk with V69 at the club, a short swim, and two run-walks in the park - the second aborted owing to feeling light headed.

so only 10 miles done this week, but it's so much better than nothing, I'll live with it for now.

first week in the job

First full week in the job - so how was it from an exercise point of view?

I used to work from home so spent a lot of time sitting at a desk on the ground floor. I had the flexibility to plod when I pleased, and a lovely park to walk in - that I didn't take advantage of enough.

Now I am teaching, I am on my feet most of the day, and have 40 stairs between the staff room and my lab. So physically it is much more tiring than the old job. I need to be able to get up the stairs without my HR going sky high!

It is like being back at the beginning again - every lesson to prepare and homework to mark. So evenings are mostly taken with that and squeezing in exercise is tight. The best thing is to do it early evenign while the TB are doing there after school stuff - but I have felt so tired at that stage so far. But this is how the last week has gone:

Monday - nothing

Tuesday - went to the gym straight from school, but at the end of a long day I did not do much - probably dehydratedand hungry, but basically knackered - will try swimming next week, see if being off my feet is better than tready and X-trainer.

Wednesday - Club night - walked nearly 4 miles with V69 - but we managed 1mm quicker than last week. I may be walking this for some time - after all he ran slowly with me, so this is the least I can do.

Thursday - very late night at school - nothing

Friday - had thought we might swim, but too weary - next week we will try for an early tea and then go and swim

Saturday - Teenbeanz had a traning session in the park - hills up and down the river bank, so I plodded along the river

Sunday - TB was told to do a really easy run - so we went together and did 4 miles at R2 W1 - with the runs being his slow pace, but I was working.

And after I had put all this in the spreadsheet I discover this year's total mileage has no passed the mileage for 2005 :>)

I guess that shows some kind of progress.

Robin Hood Half

it was HOT, it was HILLY (I am sure it was a hillier route than last year)
I ran with Coach - who acted as timekeeper, keeping me to run 2 walk 1 - part from serious hilly bits where we allowed ourselves to walk briskly because my HR was still at running rate. After about 9 miles I began to get cramp and I ended up running 45 seconds, walking a minute to try and keep some running going

finished in 3:00:43 - not a pb but pretty pleased

Edit
Just looked at the thread and found this:
Walking back to car, overheard guy who came in top five of half say that even the Kenyans he'd been speaking to (who won the race) had found it tough, adding a couple of minutes onto their expected times!!!

So I was right it was tough!