I was debating on whether to write another update today, cos it's been a pretty uneventful week in some respects. But I promised myself that I'll keep a log of what I've been doing, so here goes.
The 10 mile run last week affected me quite badly. Although I didn't realise at the time, I'd pulled a muscle in my leg which stopped me running for most of the week. So unfortunately, my plan of 3 runs a week went to pot, but that couldn't be helped I guess. I could have gone out for shorter runs, but it would have been a waste of time, I would have practically walked around, so it just wasn't worth it.
The first run came on Saturday. Being up in Liverpool for the weekend gave me the opportunity to meet up with my friend Tim, and go for a 5k run with him. It wasn't a particularly easy run, but we managed to get around in 31 mins, which is a tad faster than my usual time. It was also the first time I'd run with someone, and I can honestly say that I'm not a very good running partner - I could barely speak after around 1 mile!
I forced myself out the house again this morning for another 10 mile run. I did the same route as last week, but the other way around to last week. Overall, apart from feeling tired, there were no major issues. I realised that my legs felt the worst - I didn't actually feel that tired, but felt as though I couldn't move my legs any faster. Whether this is a good thing or not, I don't know. Overall, I managed to beat my time from last week by 1 min and 10 secs - that's an improvement of 7 seconds per mile!!!!!!! Not exactly earth shattering........but as I've always said, the main aim is to get around the course, regardless of how long it takes me. A good time is a bonus.
As I write, my knees are feeling quite sore and tired - anyone know where I can buy some new ones?!
Monday, 30 August 2010
Sunday, 22 August 2010
5 weeks to go.........
5 weeks to go till the big day (of the Great North Run, just in case you were wondering). I was awake fairly early, so decided I may as well get the dreaded run out of the way.
It started off reasonably well - when I say started off, I mean the first mile or so. After that, things got hard. Firstly, my hamstring started playing up. Secondly, I had to run up a hill - running up and down hills is still hard work, especially with my knee. It also seems that the Sun Gods were against me this time - despite running early in the morning, the sun was out in full force fairly early today, which made for uncomfortable running conditions.
I also took a bit of a risk this time - despite it being a longer run, I decided to run from home, rather than driving to the gym and running from there. This was a risk to me because I know the roads around my house, so it would have been easy to take a shortcut and head home early. Although I cam dangerously close to doing that, I did push on, and complete the run (with some walking involved).
At one point, at about 4 miles into the run, I was particularly tired and was running quite slowly. A bus stopped in front of me, and a fat kid got off....and then proceeded to take the piss out of me. Was I offended? Not really, more annoyed to be honest. Now this kid wasn't just fat, he was morbidly obese, so I couldn't really get too offended, cos he's probably gonna die of a heart attack in a couple of years, after his in-bred parents feed him a few million more Big Macs. In hindsight, I probably should have shouted abuse at him, he would have been able to run after me anyway (he could barely walk). But there always was the risk of him sitting on me if he did manage to catch me up.
I continued with my run, and was running through a fairly nice part of Solihull...........when a car managed to run over a squirrel in a way that launched the dead squirrel towards me. Luckily it didn't hit me. But I was running for a bit with my eyes closed. Honestly.
The last leg of the run was very hard. The increase in distance may have been a bit too much, and my legs felt like mush. My overall time took a big hit because of the last couple of miles. But, at the end of the day, I managed to get a 10 mile run in, and over the next few weeks, I'll try and do the same sort of distance, and hopefully it'll be a bit easier.
It started off reasonably well - when I say started off, I mean the first mile or so. After that, things got hard. Firstly, my hamstring started playing up. Secondly, I had to run up a hill - running up and down hills is still hard work, especially with my knee. It also seems that the Sun Gods were against me this time - despite running early in the morning, the sun was out in full force fairly early today, which made for uncomfortable running conditions.
I also took a bit of a risk this time - despite it being a longer run, I decided to run from home, rather than driving to the gym and running from there. This was a risk to me because I know the roads around my house, so it would have been easy to take a shortcut and head home early. Although I cam dangerously close to doing that, I did push on, and complete the run (with some walking involved).
At one point, at about 4 miles into the run, I was particularly tired and was running quite slowly. A bus stopped in front of me, and a fat kid got off....and then proceeded to take the piss out of me. Was I offended? Not really, more annoyed to be honest. Now this kid wasn't just fat, he was morbidly obese, so I couldn't really get too offended, cos he's probably gonna die of a heart attack in a couple of years, after his in-bred parents feed him a few million more Big Macs. In hindsight, I probably should have shouted abuse at him, he would have been able to run after me anyway (he could barely walk). But there always was the risk of him sitting on me if he did manage to catch me up.
I continued with my run, and was running through a fairly nice part of Solihull...........when a car managed to run over a squirrel in a way that launched the dead squirrel towards me. Luckily it didn't hit me. But I was running for a bit with my eyes closed. Honestly.
The last leg of the run was very hard. The increase in distance may have been a bit too much, and my legs felt like mush. My overall time took a big hit because of the last couple of miles. But, at the end of the day, I managed to get a 10 mile run in, and over the next few weeks, I'll try and do the same sort of distance, and hopefully it'll be a bit easier.
Monday, 16 August 2010
It's getting harder.............
.........and that is the exact opposite of what should be happening. I've been running 3 times a week for about 3 weeks now, and surely logic dictates that I should find it easier to do. Going by the past week, that isn't happening. The first run was reasonable enough, I managed to get another 3.5 mile run in before work on Tuesday in a similar sort of time to what I've been achieving so far. Things went a little wrong on Thursday morning though.
I woke up at 4.30am, and literally had to drag myself out of bed. I hadn't slept too well, and felt absolutely exhausted (I think the 4.30am starts, and 3-4 hours spent driving up and down the M6 every day is starting to get to me). Still, I pushed on, and went out for a run, planning on doing my usual route. The only conscious difference was that I left my knee support at home to try and gauge whether my knee was improving, and whether I would need it for the big day or not. I ran for about a mile or so, but then just felt physically drained. I tried to push on, but couldn't push myself to run at a reasonable pace. I somehow dragged myself around the route, then got in and got ready for work. It wasn't a good run, and I still haven't looked at my Nike + wristband to see how long it took me. The only positive from this was my knee didn't give way completely - but I think I'll carry on using it for now.
Sunday morning's run was marginally better, but still had it's fair share of problems. Tiredness was one of them (having been out on Saturday night for a stag do), but the unexpected problem for me was the change of weather. When I left the house, it was grey and cloudy. The sun quickly burnt through the cloud, and having next to no breeze made for uncomfortable running conditions. Luckily, there were no problems with my knee this time, but fatigue set in fairly quickly, and I did stop and walk a couple of small distances - something I had avoided doing the past couple of weeks. I also wasn't completely prepared - I hadn't looked up my route properly, so ended up missing a turn. This wasn't a problem as such - but I tend to memorise a route in an area I don't know very well - so this forces me to stay on track, and I don't deviate from the route for the fear of getting lost. I didn't get too lost when I missed my turn, but my run ended up being half a mile shorter than I had wanted it to.
The run was by no means a disaster (although I haven't checked to see how long it took me) - all in all, I managed 7.5 miles - but it could have been better, and the improvements I should have seen in the past few weeks just weren't there. Let's hope this week goes better!!!
I woke up at 4.30am, and literally had to drag myself out of bed. I hadn't slept too well, and felt absolutely exhausted (I think the 4.30am starts, and 3-4 hours spent driving up and down the M6 every day is starting to get to me). Still, I pushed on, and went out for a run, planning on doing my usual route. The only conscious difference was that I left my knee support at home to try and gauge whether my knee was improving, and whether I would need it for the big day or not. I ran for about a mile or so, but then just felt physically drained. I tried to push on, but couldn't push myself to run at a reasonable pace. I somehow dragged myself around the route, then got in and got ready for work. It wasn't a good run, and I still haven't looked at my Nike + wristband to see how long it took me. The only positive from this was my knee didn't give way completely - but I think I'll carry on using it for now.
Sunday morning's run was marginally better, but still had it's fair share of problems. Tiredness was one of them (having been out on Saturday night for a stag do), but the unexpected problem for me was the change of weather. When I left the house, it was grey and cloudy. The sun quickly burnt through the cloud, and having next to no breeze made for uncomfortable running conditions. Luckily, there were no problems with my knee this time, but fatigue set in fairly quickly, and I did stop and walk a couple of small distances - something I had avoided doing the past couple of weeks. I also wasn't completely prepared - I hadn't looked up my route properly, so ended up missing a turn. This wasn't a problem as such - but I tend to memorise a route in an area I don't know very well - so this forces me to stay on track, and I don't deviate from the route for the fear of getting lost. I didn't get too lost when I missed my turn, but my run ended up being half a mile shorter than I had wanted it to.
The run was by no means a disaster (although I haven't checked to see how long it took me) - all in all, I managed 7.5 miles - but it could have been better, and the improvements I should have seen in the past few weeks just weren't there. Let's hope this week goes better!!!
Sunday, 8 August 2010
Inception
A petty thief with an estranged family gets the chance to do one big last job to put things right. Been there, seen that? That, in a nutshell, is the story of Inception.
Luckily, Christopher Nolan is at the helm of affairs, creating a thriller that is engrossing, even if not as clever as it likes to think it is.
Tom Cobb (Leonardo Di Caprio) is an 'extractor' - someone who enters the dreams of others to steal information hidden in the subconscious mind. Working alongside Arthur (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) and estranged from his family thanks to a previous job gone wrong, Cobb gets the offer from Saito (Ken Watanabe) to plant an idea in a business rival, Robert Fischer's (Cillian Murphy) head. In return for helping him with his business needs, Saito will arrange for Cobb to be reunited with his family. So Cobb starts to get together a motley crew (Ellen Page, Tom Hardy, Dileep Rao) to carry out the inception.
As a Nolan fan, Inception is a bit of a disappointment. Although the core idea in the film - of entering the subconscious through your dreams to plant ideas - is strikingly original, the storyline that has been built around this idea is as old as the hills. Coming from someone with a filmography as impressive as Nolan's, this shouldn't have really been the case. The film also thinks it's cleverer than it is - using a dream within a dream within a dream scenario to try and confuse people as to what is a dream, and what's real - but this doesn't really work - the dreams are fairly easy to follow, so the blur between dreams and reality just doesn't exist.
Criticisms aside, the screenplay is fast paced, and despite a 2 and a half hour run time, the film doesn't feel particularly long. Nolan's direction is tighter than his story, and the performances are very good all around.
All in all, despite the negative remarks, Inception is definitely worth a watch - I just wish Nolan had made the film he wanted to make, rather than making the next summer blockbuster.
Luckily, Christopher Nolan is at the helm of affairs, creating a thriller that is engrossing, even if not as clever as it likes to think it is.
Tom Cobb (Leonardo Di Caprio) is an 'extractor' - someone who enters the dreams of others to steal information hidden in the subconscious mind. Working alongside Arthur (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) and estranged from his family thanks to a previous job gone wrong, Cobb gets the offer from Saito (Ken Watanabe) to plant an idea in a business rival, Robert Fischer's (Cillian Murphy) head. In return for helping him with his business needs, Saito will arrange for Cobb to be reunited with his family. So Cobb starts to get together a motley crew (Ellen Page, Tom Hardy, Dileep Rao) to carry out the inception.
As a Nolan fan, Inception is a bit of a disappointment. Although the core idea in the film - of entering the subconscious through your dreams to plant ideas - is strikingly original, the storyline that has been built around this idea is as old as the hills. Coming from someone with a filmography as impressive as Nolan's, this shouldn't have really been the case. The film also thinks it's cleverer than it is - using a dream within a dream within a dream scenario to try and confuse people as to what is a dream, and what's real - but this doesn't really work - the dreams are fairly easy to follow, so the blur between dreams and reality just doesn't exist.
Criticisms aside, the screenplay is fast paced, and despite a 2 and a half hour run time, the film doesn't feel particularly long. Nolan's direction is tighter than his story, and the performances are very good all around.
All in all, despite the negative remarks, Inception is definitely worth a watch - I just wish Nolan had made the film he wanted to make, rather than making the next summer blockbuster.
Saturday, 7 August 2010
Running in the rain.......
So, in my preparation for the Great North Run, I had my second long run today (in the rain - in case you hadn't realised from the title). Since the first one a week ago, I have done a couple of shorter runs - 2.5 miles in the gym on Tuesday morning, and 3 miles on the road on Thursday morning before work (having woken up at a ridiculous time). This morning's run clocked in at 7 miles, so in terms of increasing distance, I think I'm going the right way. Doing it in a decent time is another matter.......
Once again, more positives and negatives from the run this morning. On the plus side, the stops were minimal again - I seem to be able to run for longer now - the downside being that I tend to get overtaken by geriatric pensioners with zimmerframes. It was hard to grasp if it was any easier this time round, as I got a little bit lost and ended deviating my route before finding my way.
One thing I have noticed is that I need to change my route - I was about 5 miles into the run when I ran past a Subway - needless to say that those are the sorts of distractions that I don't need.....!!!
Luckily this morning, the knee did not give way - it was mildly painful all the way around, but did not cause me to stop like last time. Hopefully this is a sign that it's getting better, and won't cause me to keel over half way around the course on the big day in 7 weeks.
Once again, more positives and negatives from the run this morning. On the plus side, the stops were minimal again - I seem to be able to run for longer now - the downside being that I tend to get overtaken by geriatric pensioners with zimmerframes. It was hard to grasp if it was any easier this time round, as I got a little bit lost and ended deviating my route before finding my way.
One thing I have noticed is that I need to change my route - I was about 5 miles into the run when I ran past a Subway - needless to say that those are the sorts of distractions that I don't need.....!!!
Luckily this morning, the knee did not give way - it was mildly painful all the way around, but did not cause me to stop like last time. Hopefully this is a sign that it's getting better, and won't cause me to keel over half way around the course on the big day in 7 weeks.
Monday, 2 August 2010
The A-Team
The A-Team was a much loved memory from my childhood, along with Baywatch and Double Deckers. Having said that, I don't watch the re-runs on one of the millions of cable channels (just as well, as someone watched it again and told me it was pretty crap), and I didn't really know much about the film - apart from the fact that I wasn't a huge fan of anyone in the cast (although Liam Neeson was pretty cool in Taken). So I guess it was fair to say that I was fairly indifferent in a way.
The film is no classic, but it is pretty entertaining. Taking things back to basics, and essentially having a storyline showing how the A-Team forms, the film is fast paced, with enough one-liners and explosions to keep me entertained. Of the cast, surprisingly (for me, anyway), it's the less well known people who shine. Sharlto Copley (playing Murdock) adds a manic touch to his performance to steal most of the scenes he's in, and 'Rampage' Jackson (playing B.A. Baracus) adds enough to his character to avoid too many comparisons to Mr T. It may be the character, but Bradley Cooper just seemed smug for most of the film - some of his expressions reeked of 'Look at me, I'm a star', and Liam Neeson, although perfectly competent, was just going through the motions.
All in all, this film is worth a watch - not necessarily something you should cancel all plans for, but worth the price of a ticket on Orange Wednesdays.
The film is no classic, but it is pretty entertaining. Taking things back to basics, and essentially having a storyline showing how the A-Team forms, the film is fast paced, with enough one-liners and explosions to keep me entertained. Of the cast, surprisingly (for me, anyway), it's the less well known people who shine. Sharlto Copley (playing Murdock) adds a manic touch to his performance to steal most of the scenes he's in, and 'Rampage' Jackson (playing B.A. Baracus) adds enough to his character to avoid too many comparisons to Mr T. It may be the character, but Bradley Cooper just seemed smug for most of the film - some of his expressions reeked of 'Look at me, I'm a star', and Liam Neeson, although perfectly competent, was just going through the motions.
All in all, this film is worth a watch - not necessarily something you should cancel all plans for, but worth the price of a ticket on Orange Wednesdays.
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