Mushkush on LJ

[Cross-posted from The Mushkush Miscellany]

I do have to start running again because I've got this damn 10k in just under seven weeks. And I'm fat, round and bounce all around.

For reasons not to be discussed online, I've been finding it hard to get out and do my early morning runs, and that has contributed, in part, to me bloating back up to seventeen and a half stone. Which probably means when I do start running again this afternoon I'm going to frak* my knee again with the weight of my moobs bouncing along the ground in front of me.

I need to get my dominoes in order. Shit just got real.

edit yes this post was meant to be about how I'm starting running home from work again - which is a run of between 6 and 8k usually, depending on the route - and even though it wasn't perfect and I walked I managed the whole thing in just over 40 minutes (+10 walk from work) which was nice since it's my first time since... last year sometime. I am pleased with myself.

* we started watching Battlestar Galactic Season 3 last week - seem to have done more in the first four episodes than many series do in an entire run - I suspect it can only slow down.

[Cross-posted from The Mushkush Miscellany]

Here we present the cherridy heroes of Saturday's 5k, now raised £1,696 for the Sick Kids (making them officially the top fundraisers for the Sick Kids on Justgiving), click through (and log in) for photos of the rest of Team Millar (those of us feeling less charitable) and the genuine horror of modern technology, the finishing line videos of the four adults.

It would have been all the more impressive if I hadn't found out one of my work colleagues who ran roughly the same time as me at the Great Edinburgh Run did yesterday in around 22 minutes, and was a bit disappointed.

Ah well. Next definite race is the Great Edinburgh Run. We'll see how many of the clan make it out for that one.

[Cross-posted from The Mushkush Miscellany]

So Team Millar overcame unfitness, self doubt, dire weather and a big muckle dormant volcano on Saturday with respectable times all round*. Particular mention must go to Fraser & Helen who have been raising a not insiginificant amount of money for the Sick Kids and there's still time to go give them pennies, and to Calum who did the Junior Winter Run in the ridiculously fast time of 7 minutes 33. The distance was either 2km or 2.4km depending on which bit of the leaflet you read, but either way, that's pretty dang impressive.

And if this isn't congratulations enough for everybody involved, the humiliating official photographs are up. I have to say though, that I look great.

Our photos and excitement of video will be along shortly.

* I did 27 minutes, 45 seconds without stopping which totally stunned me since I've not really been training all that much. That's my fastest 5k - except for the first half of the 10k which I did in 26 minutes.

[Cross-posted from The Mushkush Miscellany]

From Brother Fraser and Sister Helen, their JustGiving page says all that needs to be said, really:

If you're visiting this page, you're probably aware that we recently spent a very scary few weeks with Louis at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Edinburgh. Thankfully he's all better now :)

The hospital and staff were amazing, however they rely heavily on charitable donations to keep the support facilities for kids and families running.

So, we're dusting off our trainers and running 5km round Arthur's Seat next Saturday (10th January 2008) to raise some funds for the hospital foundation. If you could spare a few pennies, we would be most grateful...

If you're interested, you can find more details of Louis' ordeal on the Millars' blog.

[Cross-posted from The Mushkush Miscellany]

Walking by the canal is much like cycling on the road. Instead of idiot drivers you have idiot cyclists who think the ring of their bell makes it alright to barge you into the gutter, force you to walk through trees and generally (like golf) ruin a good walk. Maybe, of course, I'm just pissed off because my first run in a month ended in failure, but it really seemed to bug me. No! Because I started getting pissed off before I ran, as a cyclist, as usual, ignored the cycle lane and instead cycled down the pedestrian bit.

[Cross-posted from The Mushkush Miscellany]

The Official Photographs for the Great Edinburgh Run are now up. You can see pictures of me here, and they prove conclusively that despite me being astonishingly beautiful, I don't photograph well.

[Cross-posted from The Mushkush Miscellany]

After what I thought was a dang good run at the weekend (did I mention the 10k at all, I can't remember - you can still sponsor me, you know? current total £461.12 - let's just make it £500, eh?) which was remarkable for being pain free and left me relatively pain free all week, I decided to start training again today and got about 1 minute 20 seconds in before I couldn't go any further. All very strange. This week, I am thinking it's because I'm not doing a proper warm up.

In other not working news, I'm having trouble getting my Wii to connect to my wireless router or when it connects to my wireless router it's not able to see into the outside world. Unfortunately it's at the opposite end of the flat, though that shouldn't matter, and for some reason Laura wants to watch TV programs on her TV instead of letting me play.

Plus side is that I've been shooting swarthy East European Spanish non-zombies in Resident Evil 4, and my current Sports fitness level is an impressive 77. That was achieved around midnight last night, so I think it's not too bad.

In other things that are working news, I just started a remote desktop session to my PC at work. I am far too pleased about that for it to be healthy, work shouldn't make you happy, otherwise it's not work. It's taken so long to get set up I now can't imagine what good it will do me (not true, I can now access any PC or server at work from home - I never have to leave again. if only there wasn't this culture of attendeeism encouraged by our capitalist overlords to keep us under control, or something).

[Cross-posted from The Mushkush Miscellany]

My confidence has been bolstered not just by my performance yesterday but also by the fact that my knees* didn't hurt at all, and I am only a little stiff today. So I have to revise my 'never running again' strategy and instead look forward to future races. The Glasgow 10k is too soon, as is the Dunfermline 10k (it's this Wednesday), but a tentative list of runs this year would include:

• 15th June: 10k For Men - FINALLY an event just for men (though I don't see the point in gender specific races at all - especially the Race for Life which winds me up no end as it treats cancer as an exclusively female problem). Would mean getting through to Glasgow.
• 25th June: JogScotland 5k - Inverleith Park & The Botanics. Very nice and 5k is soooo easy!
• 7th September: Great Glasgow Run - either 10k or half marathon. Half marathon, I am concerned the training will start to dominate Real Life when I can easily fit 10k training into my daily routine.
• 5th October: Loch Ness 10k - alongside a real life marathon. Would be a nice day out.

[Cross-posted from The Mushkush Miscellany]

Soooo, here I am in one piece. A sleepy tired piece, but there is only one of them. Tramped round the up and down the Edinburgh 10k in a frisky (is that really the word I'm looking for?) 56 minutes and 44 seconds which kicks the arse off my expected time and hits yon targets right on the noggin (but pales into insiginificance next to the winning time of 28 minutes 59 seconds). Ran the first 6k, including The Hill Of Eternal Doom in one go, then ran-walked the last 4. There are photos somewhere, of me looking like a gumby.

Afterwards, we went for lunch at Empire's Cafe, which was excellent to celebrate Laura and Calum's respective bidets. Empire's is a tiny wee Turkish place that quickly filled up with The Family (especially as there were no other customers for most of the time). Much atmosphere, ethnic appropriate decor, low chairs, low tables, nice food, nice owner/staff. Very very recommended. Photos will also be forthcoming of this.

Back at home we're rewatching Firefly. That Inara woman is might purdy. There are photos of this event here.

[Cross-posted from The Mushkush Miscellany]

Getting back on the horse I ran home again tonight, going for a slightly longer route (7.16km) and getting soaked in the rain and cold wind. Loved every minute and felt elated afterwards. Was starting to worry I was never going to run again. Now for the sums, so pay attention. 7.16km took me around 38 and a half minutes. Putting that into Walk Jog Run tells me I was doing an average of 11.3km/h and burned around 778 calories (which means nothing to me, alas). As ever, this includes two or three walking breaks, carrying a backpack, and being after a not very nutritious or energytastic day at work, so I'm quite chuffed.

[Cross-posted from The Mushkush Miscellany]

So last Thursday I ran further, faster than I had before but in doing so sent my dodgy knees back to the state they were a while back, making it sore to walk, never mind run (which is one big reason I was walking instead of running at the weekend). Today those self same knees combined with a half dozen other issues to make sure that I only ran about a quarter of the way home before being reduced first to a miserable walk/run combo and finally to just walking. It's very frustrating. In defence of my knees, I would also like to point out that it was very hot, I was dehydrated, my backpack was heavier than usual and I seemed to lack any coordination whatsoever so couldn't get into a rhythm, so to lay all the blame on my knees is perhaps a bit much. Still, it is frustrating and means that I haven't had my usual post-run perking up and have to prepare for tomorrow night still ensconced in the gloom of everyday drudgery. Like I say, frustrating. Especially with less than a fortnight to the 10k.

[Cross-posted from The Mushkush Miscellany]

It's a beautiful day outside, so I'm sat on my arse telling an unknown readership about it. The modern world is a bit weird. Was out seeing Portishead last night, ably supported by A Hawk and A Hacksaw. Music was good, audience seemed to insist on talking loudly through a concert they had presumably also paid a not insubstantial amount of money to see. Contrast with The Breeders earlier in the week (supported by Jim Noir) who, as a bunch of musos clearly had more respect for The Art.

[Cross-posted from The Mushkush Miscellany]

Sponsorship at time of writing is now £224.12 - sincere thanks to everybody who has sponsored me. I think Fraser, who has said he'll give sponsor me an additional fiver for every minute under an hour, can probably consider his wallet safe based on my performance on Wednesday and this morning. 5k in half an hour, fair enough, but I was walking chunks of it again. My trouble continues to be pace - I knew I was running to fast but I just couldn't make my legs slow down. It was very strange. It's all my legs though. After I get going my breathing settles and my head clears momentarily until my legs start to hurt in unusual places. The only reason I reckon this didn't happen on race-day was because I'm better paced (though having eaten may have helped, and warmed up a bit more, though with less stretching).

Malcolm has been suggesting I get one of these stupidly expensive training things that'll give me a pace and do the whole heart rate/GPS thing. I'm tempted, if only by the gadget factor, though I can't afford it until probably June.

I've got to buy a suit for a wedding at some point this month, don't you know.

[Cross-posted from The Mushkush Miscellany]

So I kind of ran home (technically a run-walk-jog combo) along this route this evening. It's around a 7.3km route, I didn't time myself properly but I guess I took around 45 - 50 minutes which puts me around 9kmh, slower than usual though I probably only ran maybe a third of the total distance.

[Cross-posted from The Mushkush Miscellany]

Have you sponsored me yet?* Here I am: living proof that the more sporty you get the dumber you get. Despite being told by dad twice, I never actually clicked that my clock time last week was actually 28:50, shaving a whole minute off my personal best (of two). But Laura made me look at the online results and is now showering me with praise.

Which is nice.

[Cross-posted from The Mushkush Miscellany]

Give money, spread the word, it's all for cherridy and what the hell else are you going to do with your money?

• Sponsor Me: I'm running 10k for the National Eczema Society in May (more below).
• Sponsor Mike: as I type he's running across the Sahara Desert where the heat at noon is 48C, all in aid of Kids Kidney Research.
• Sponsor Mark: he's running 5k for Charity Research, also in May.

[Cross-posted from The Mushkush Miscellany]

Latest Plan. I've been trying to figure out a way of harnessing the wee boost I get when I'm doing Nanowrimo and churning out 1,600+ words a day. My plan had been to do ScriptFrenzy starting today but I'm wanting to focus on shorts and finishing what I've already done rather than start an arbitrary new project.