A Cup of Tea & a Banana (Janathon Day 5)

Run - 7.8km, 50 minutes

The main job of January is to establish a routine and limit the temptation to backslide. The timing of runs is crucial as I know if I leave it to long before starting my exercise the chances are I will continue to put it off until the whole day has gone. Although studies have shown the best time for physical activity is the afternoon, for me, this is no good. My body might be slightly be at the park of its insubstantial powers but my mind will. It will find all sorts of ways to creatively procrastinate until that peak time fades away, the evening comes and tomorrow seems the sensible option. So I need to start by getting going before I can even begin to think about and begin the day feeling virtuous, as if I have achieved something. It is here that a routine is important because morning is the time we are most likely to automatically follow habit. How many of us do exactly the same thing day after day, even to the extent of eating the same breakfast. Changing such habits require a bit of conscious effort for a period before it has settled down and I am still in the settling stage but so far these first 5 days have been good.  My new routine is to roll out of bed, put on my kit and then have a cup of tea and a banana before setting out. Tea and banana now seems the perfect way to start a day. 

This morning was lovely. As I was drinking the tea I could watch the rays of dawn picking out the small clouds to make a pink mackerel sky. It wasn’t long before the pink faded and the sky was mostly blue but it was fun to watch the changes in the morning sky. When I got outside I could see there had been a heavy frost and everything was covered. My run took me through Gadebridge Park and there everything looked spectacular: trees, grass, ready river bank, skateboard park, all sparkly white. The air was clear, the wind was still., people and cars were scarce. There was a sense of peace. if you can’t enjoy a run on a day like this then it is time to find a new sport.

There was however one problem - only very tiny, hardly worth mentioning but nevertheless something a problem - yesterdays rain had left the pavements smeary wet and the frost meant there were areas of slipperiness. Quite a few times when I went to toe off I could feel the slight give of my foothold. Nothing drastic but just a reminder to pay attention and look out for ice and there was one sharp bit of hill where I thought it wiser to walk. But other than that it was lovely - a good way to start the day.

Janathon 2012 Day 21: Play

Janathon 2012 Day 21: Walk - 3 miles, Time - 55min, Weather - windy but not too cold

Having run for 3 days in a row it was time for a break and so I walked. I know many people take on Janathon as a ‘run everyday’ challenge but that has never been my way, I always want variation: changes to stop a single activity becoming unrelenting. Walking is a good stock exercise. If you are feeling tired, or just a bit lethargic and unfocussed, it takes no effort to step out the door, close it behind you and get going. No preparation is required, no psyching yourself up. You just move and work out what you are going to do afterwards.

Sometimes I play games like going down every footpath I see, or taking every third turning, or going to a part of town I don’t go to very much. It doesn’t matter - anything random will  do as a test of my sense of direction. When you are going out every day it helps to have some sense of play and get away from the idea that your exercise is scheduled, rigid, and charted. 

Today was a little days to break up the routine. Tomorrow I will be back on track and run a well worn route,  nevertheless there will still be a game (trying to keep my heart rate low) but its a game I am playing all the time at the moment.

2011 Streak 110/365: Evening stroll

2011 Streak 110/365: Walk - 2.7 miles, time - 55 min, Weather - the day had been nice but evening was a little overcast

I have written before about the best time to exercise and how research shows that people tend to be at their athletic best in the afternoon, whilst morning favours cerebral activity.

That is all very well and might be true but it takes no account of people (and here I am talking about myself) who wally around and put things off to the point of loosing interest. In other words, on some days, it can be difficult to get out of the door and if it goes on for too long the easy option is to put things off until the following day. 

I therefore run in the morning as a form of discipline.

To be quite honest it doesn't really matter if the hands of my body clock have not ticked round to athletic peak. I am so far from the cutting edge of performance that a few degrees up or down means very little. Doing something is more important than anything else and so I have to find a routine which makes it possible

However the wallying about is really a problem for running or cycling, where I anticipate working hard and feeling a little uncomfortable at some point. It does not apply to walking - or to be more precise - strolling. 

There is something incredibly satisfying about going for a walk at the end of a warm day and finishing with a beer in a country pub. 

Which is what happened today - easy, relaxed, and nothing like exercise.

The photo is of a redundant gate at Ashridge, where we went to look at the bluebells. As the light was a bit dull I will hold back posting a picture of them for a couple of days but they are spectacular.

Walk, woods, bluebells, country pub, beer - I must admit to feeling incredibly English