My New Years Resoloution Is to go for a Streak

This morning I stepped out of the front door and went for a streak. I was largely unnoticed as half the country battles with morning after hangovers. Still there was the odd twitching of a curtain and I could feel eyes upon me.

What kind of nutter goes out for a streak on New Years Day especially when it is drizzling? I do and I wasn't alone as I know that another 150 or so folk around the World who are joined together by something called Janathon are also planning to streak.


To be fair to call it a streak would indicate that I have either taken my clothes off or I have run on consecutive days for a period of time. I cannot claim either at the moment. However my aim is to run every day and blog about it throughout January and this I think would qualify me for the latter of the two types of streak. However I guess the rules of Janathon don't mention any need for wearing clothes so as long as you run and you don't get caught I guess that would also count. Any Janathoners want to comment on this ? try it ? and if so don't forget the photos!

The reason for me talking about streaking was the realisation that I have probably never run for more than about 10 days in a row so to try and do 31 is a challenge that I will probably not achieve though I am going to have fun trying. Of course everything is comparable and some of you will know of Ron Hill who hasn't missed a days running since December 20th 1964. Yes 46 years and around 17,000 days of non stop running so how hard can 31 days be? Well hard enough I know.

There is even a United States Running Streak Association with many members having a running streak of up to 40 years. A quick look at their rules to qualify you need to run at least 1 mile every day and to be listed on their website you need to have completed a 1 year streak.

The first day is always the easiest and my 5 miles around Bury St Edmunds Suffolk were completed in around 45 minutes with out any problems. The photograph is an area of water meadows which are prone to flooding near the Greene King Brewery in Bury St Edmunds.

Runability - New Specialist Running Shop

It has been some years since Bury St Edmunds has been fortunate enough to have its own specialist shop catering for runners. There are 1-2 general purpose sports shops but nothing which caters directly for the runner.

That's all changed now that we have Runability in St Johns Street Bury St Edmunds. Its down the hill on the right hand side more or less before you get to the fish and chip shop.The shop has only been open a couple of weeks or so and is still gearing it self up in terms of new media presence - website etc. However I paid a visit today as I needed a hat. It was really cold and frosty this morning and my previous hat had lost its elastication and kept falling off in strong winds. So I bought a Ron Hill beanie hat.

There is already a good range of running shoes for men and women and a gait analysis machine to help you choose the right type. Loads of  bright winter wear to keep you safe and lots of gels which again have been something often hard to find in Bury St Edmunds.

Hopefully all locals will pay a visit and support this new store as it is great to finally have a running shop in Bury St Edmunds.

Interval Run

For the first time in many months I felt the need to wear a thermal top and Ron Hill trackster leggings this morning on my run. In fact I wore a second layer over my thermal top as although it was bright and sunny it was also breezy. The first real signs of winter coming early perhaps. The temperature I believe was 2c or whats that 35f or so.

This year we seemed to start Autumn early back in August to be honest and September it rained nearly every day at least it felt like it. We change the clocks in the UK at the end of this month by an hour and return to Greenwich mean time from British summer time. On the 31st of October we gain an extra hour for the week end which is great but from then on we are plunged into darkness from around 4-5pm in the evenings. For a lot of people this means going to work in the day getting home in the dark and you have to make the best of it though many suffer from SAD the seasonal affective disorder.









With the colder weather there has been an invasion of spiders in to the house setting up webs which I don't mean if they are successful in catching a few flies. I am using my Fitflops less frequently now as they are open toed sandals. They were fantastic and helping me overcome plantar fasciitis and if money allowed at some point I would look for a shoe or boot version for the winter. We are eating less salads now and we recently had home made soup so the warm comfort foods are back on the menu. We are also in that inbetweeny stage of sometimes surrendering to putting the heating on and then turning it off again when we are too warm.

As for this morning I felt I could have done with some gloves but apart from the first 5-10 Min's into the run I was OK. My session this morning was a 45 minute effort using the Adidas mi coach set to the heart rate monitor function.

I did 5 min easy warm up (blue zone) 5 Min's moderate (green zone)  and then a 5 minute anaerobic threshold interval I repeated this 3 times for a total of 45 Min's running. Total distance 5.04 miles which is slightly under 9 min miles.

This morning served as a reminder that I  must check out hats and gloves  for running.

 

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Hundred Push Ups Programme Week 5

Today was a rest day from running after 4 consectutive training days however I did complete a core strength session of pushups. I am continuing with the 100 push ups programme and I have reached the end of week 5.

In week 5 the big difference is that the no of sets has increased from 5 to 8. On the last and 3rd set of the week my session tonight included 20, 20, 24,24,20,20,22 and then the final set called for a minimum of 50. I had started the 5th set and got to 15 when the phone rang. So I had to stop and it was a wrong number!. So should I have started from where I left off or start the set again? It wouldn't have felt right to split the set in two so I started again and just managed to get to 50 which is a new record for me. It certainly shows with practice that I can and I am sure anyone can improve their ability to do press ups.

Talking of running on consecutive days  you may have heard of Ron Hill. I believe he holds the record for having run at least a mile every day since 1964 over 45 years ago! He has logged over 150,000 miles. Of course Ron Hill is not your average runner having once been at the top of the world marathon standards back in 1970. He lowered the record for the notoriously tough Boston race by three minutes to 2:10:30 in April that year and three months later at the Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh he did 2:09:28, the first sub 2:10 marathon.

For 26.2 years he ran twice a day and once on Sundays. You can catch up with Ron Hill's blog here 

I don't believe there is a Running streak association in the UK but in the USA there is a site listing runners who have run every day. The United States Running Streak Association indicates  the US record  to be held by a Mark Covert since 1968

Quotations on Running

I originally included these quotes on the Saint Edmund Pacers Website but though it worth while repeating here on this log as a source of motivation, inspiration and positive thinking.

I would have to say my favourite is the very 1st one from Confucius. By all means let me know yours and I would like to add to the list so send me others that I will add.

Quotation	Source
"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."	Confucius
"When you win say nothing,When you lose say less"	Paul Brown
"While a man is racing he must hate himself and his competitors"	Paul Cerutty (Australian Athletics Coach trained John Landy and Herb Elliott to name two)..
"I love controlling a race, chewing up an opponent. Let's get down and dirty. Let's fight it out. It's raw, animalistic, with no one to rely on but yourself. There's no better feeling than that."	Adam Goucher American Cross Country & Track Athelete
"Sport is not about being wrapped up in cotton wool. Sport as about adapting to the unexpected and being able to modify plans at the last minute. Sport, like all life, is about taking risks."	Sir Roger Bannister
"If the hill has its own name, then it's probably a pretty tough hill."	Marty Stern Athletics Coach
"I always loved running...it was something you could do by yourself, and under your own power. You could go in any direction, fast or slow as you wanted, fighting the wind if you felt like it, seeking out new sights just on the strength of your feet and the courage of your lungs."	Jesse Owens Winner of 4 gold medals at 1936 Olympics
"Hills are speedwork in disguise."	Frank Shorter 1972 Olympic Marathon Gold Medal Winner
"It's at the borders of pain and suffering that the men are separated from the boys."	Emil Zatopek 1952 Olympic Marathon Gold Medal Winner
"Run like hell and get the agony over with."	Clarence DeMar Boston Marathon Winner
"The mile has all the elements of a drama."	Sir Roger Bannister
"The woods are lovely dark and deep, but I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep, and miles to go before I sleep."	Robert Frost
"No one can say, 'You must not run faster than this, or jump higher than that.' The human spirit is indomitable."	Sir Roger Bannister
"I've always felt that long, slow distance produces long, slow runners."	Sebastian Coe
"You find out by trial and error what the optimal level of training is. If I found I was training too hard, I would drop it back for a day or two. I didn't run for five days before the sub-four-minute mile."	Sir Roger Bannister
"Mind is everything: muscle - pieces of rubber. All that I am, I am because of my mind."	Paavo Nurmi the flying finn winner of more olympic medals (12) than any track & field athlete in history.
"Running is a lot like life. Only 10 percent of it is exciting. 90 percent of it is slog and drudge."	David Bedford London Marathon race Director
"We are different, in essence, from other men. If you want to win something, run 100 meters. If you want to experience something, run a marathon."	Emil Zatopek 1952 Olympic Marathon Gold Medal Winner
"To describe the agony of a marathon to someone who's never run it is like trying to explain color to someone who was born blind."	Jerome Drayton Canadian Marathon Runner
"The will to win is nothing without the will to prepare"	Juma Ikangaa Tanzanian Marathon Runner
"I never put limits on myself"	Michael Johnson World Record Holder 200 & 400 metres
"Get up and walk if you have to, but finish the damned race"	Ron Hill

"My race of glory run,and race of shame, And I shall shortly       Milton
be with them that rest"

"For him (Keynes) the short run was much more significant       Keynes
than the long run - that long run in which as he used to say
'we are all dead'

"We swing unguarded hips and lightened our eyes                   Sorley
The rain is on our lips we do not run for prize"

Icy 5

It was only 5pm but already there was a heavy frost on the cars and a crispy glint on the pavements as I set out for a steady 5 mile run.

For the first time this autumn/winter I felt the need to wear a hat and gloves. I hesitated there as to whether it is still autumn or are we in winter? The answer is it that it doesn't matter as whatever season we are officially in nature doesn't run to an official clock. Astronimically winter solstice begins on December 21st so it is still autumn. However Metrologists would go by whole months with December , January and February being winter in our Northern Hemisphere. So take your pick!

My run was pretty good without any obvious back or leg pain. I ran a circular route along Newmarket Rd in Bury St Edmunds with a white visable top over an Ipswich Town football sweat shirt, Ron Hill tracksters and my Asics Gel Stratus 2's. I picked up some excellent sweat shirts from Portman Road about 2 years ago for about £3 which were ex players training wear. I haven't looked at what they are made from but they are just perfect for running being warm and also wicking away sweat.

My laps times were 8.43, 8.35,8.44,8.35,9.12 for 43.51 for the 5 miles. This is better than my last 5 miles times which have all been in the 44 min plus region so perhaps some small improvement.