Tonight I tried something new and for me completely different and well out of the comfort zone. I had Robyn booked onto a street dance class at the leisure centre so I decided rather than spend 50 mins waiting for her to finish (bored out of my brain) I’d book myself on a fitness class that ran the same time. The only option that fitted the bill was boxercise. So tonight I tried boxercise (oh how I’ve changed in 12 months)! For me the whole fitness class vibe is alien but with the confidence gained from running I didn’t feel completely out of my depth and in fact I’d say I quite enjoyed it. The circuits should definitely help with me building core strength (something I’m rubbish at trying to do on my own) and it serves as a nice break to the running routine. I’m not sure I’ll ever feel comfortable in that environment but heck they let me kick a punch-bag…my inner child was well happy :0)

It was quite the experience and they were full of good advice. They also had some clever technology which took video footage of me running on a treadmill and were able to play it back to me in slow motion to see what was going on across different shoes etc. It highlighted that whilst suffering from muscle pains in my foot from the run the night before I was tending to be sloppy and heel-strike. When I did my arches were collapsing and my feet rolled all over the place, my legs jarred in allsorts of uncomfortable directions to compensate. This wasn’t corrected by me trying different types of running shoes. As soon as I concentrated on fore-foot striking though everything tidied up and things got back into line. All useful information as I have felt that since building up the miles again over the past month things have generally not felt right and I probably haven’t been paying due attention to how I’m running. Thats something I can address. The holes in the uppers is something I’m going to have to continue to live with to a certain extent (apart from keeping my nails shorter). I can still run with the Kinvara’s but I find on longer runs it’s a source of distraction. In the end I’ve decided to plump for a slightly cheaper option to my Kinvara love and pick up a pair of Grid Flex’s (also from Saucony) as they should still be pretty lightweight and don’t have a massive heel to toe drop (Although not classed as minimal) and with the difference in price I’ve picked up a cheap pair of light trail shoes that I can use and abuse out in the mud. Hopefully in rotating these two new pairs with my existing Kinvara’s I’ll be covered for a few more miles yet.

Sunday I was still a little sore and should of just gone out for a light recovery run but being a lovely sunny morning I got a little carried away and headed along a new route to Hardys monument. It’s a fairly prominent marker on the local landscape and one I’ve wanted to add to my log for sometime. It turns out to be quite a climb (about 720ft) over 4-5 miles over country road and some tracks but the view from the top made it all worthwhile. I headed out slow and after my experience in the running shop applied a fair bit of concentration to making sure I was striking on my forefoot rather than slopping around on my heels. A day later and my calves are aching a little but no noticeable muscular pains in my feet which considering it was a longer run than Friday seems to indicate it’s something I should continue to work on.

Putting all the weird techncial issues to one side it was a lovely run and a nice way to finish the week with my mileage total back up heading towards 30 miles a week. Lets hope I can keep it up. Next time I do this route I may pack a DSLR in my bag to get some decent shots of the view to share for now you’ll have to make do with these mobile snaps.

Trying out a new photo manipulation app on my lovely android phone. It’s called Magic Hour and although it has a few quirks (some might say bugs) I quite like it. It certainly has a huge range of filters both in the app, available for download and also the ability to create your own (amending curves, Sat Bright Cont, Vignette, Overlays & Frames) I think it’s also available for iOS (is that correct apple fans?). Worth a look anyway.

Hopefully this reaches my blog in one piece as earlier today I managed to badly break the email to blog functionality on the site…oops! I think I have the creases ironed out now though and also fixed another annoying issue along the way. Fruit for the win! woohoo.

I woke up this morning to a rare helping of sunshine streaming through the window so I decided to skip breakfast and head out for a run. It was a nice opportunity to try a new route which mixed pavement and trail going out to Stinsford Church (above) and then along the river to Bockhampton and then up and around the back of Kingston Maurward, back past Stinsford and back through to Dorchester. I’m still building the distance back up but managed to run 5 miles out of the 5.5mile round trip. A very enjoyable run.

I also decided to start the year trying a new app on my phone to track my route and speed etc. I previously used and have been happy with endomondo but a few months ago I moved my data over to the much more community driven dailymile.com which also means I’m now not as tied into one app/service as long as I can export GPS files to upload to dailymile. I thought I’d give garmin fit a try as they make nifty GPS sports watches and I wondered what they’d achieved as regards mobile phone offerings. First impressions are very good but i’ll give it a few more outings until I post a review. Watch this space.

I’m in danger of sounding like a completely irritating running avangelist but the one (almost accidental) descision to try running has had a huge impact on my year. My health, attitude and perspective on life has totally shifted and I think for the better. It’s also rubbed off on others around me which is cool. I only wish I’d done it earlier. We all know exercise is good for us (It’s not like they kept it secret or anything). It still amazes me why myself and millions of others haven’t MADE time for it in our lives long before now. We waste so much time on other completely pointless tasks that could be better spent! I will try to climb down off my horse and not mention it again but if you are someone who doesn’t exercise…give it some serious thought, break the cycle, good things will happen.

My goals for 2012 are going to be simple and some of which are just a continuaton of changes I’ve already made. I’m pretty sure from what I’ve learnt this year that if I can keep these in check the rest will take care of itself. In no particular order.

Family and friends – Are the best thing in the world. I will not take them for granted. I will go out of my way to spend more time with all of them. I’m lucky to have them. Every friendship I have (either in person or online) makes life more interesting and vibrant. I’d like to have more.

Running and fitness – Just keep running and enjoy it. I’m not the fastest and I’m not the best but if I can run as often as time allows and do it with a smile on my face then speed, distance, performace, diet etc will all fall into place. Half Marathon in March. Possibly a Marathon in 2012? Open minded…see where my feet take me.

Work – The thing I love to hate. My job covers the bills, supports my family and is flexible enough for me to support my wife and child both financially and in terms of time. That in itself is more than worth the burden of not being able to pursue a slightly more rewarding or creative career. Carry on giving 100% no more, no less and make the most of the time and money it gives me to do other stuff.

The Other Stuff – Photography, Blogging, Music, Tech, Social Media and other creative stuff should remain an important part of my life as they all make me smile. I should keep my passion in check though. These are hobbies and I’ve learnt to my cost before when I make them more than this they quickly lose their lustre and take me away from the more important things in life. One thing I did get right this year was addressing that balance. I just need to not let that slide.

and… – Be positive. Be proactive. Be Happy.

I’m looking forward to 2012. It hopefully won’t hold as much large scale change as 2011 but hopefully just more opportunities to benefit from the foundations we’ve laid. What about you guys? How do you rate your 2011 and whats your 2012 plan?

….oh and Happy New Year!

Slightly slow to rise this morning but dragged myself out of bed to start making sourdough and go for a very slow, cold, up and down hill 3 mile run around the village. Felt tough but now it’s done I feel great.

To all those who take the time to read my not as often as they should be blog blatherings I wish all a very merry festive season and a grand new year. muchos love x x x

This is where the recovery has been more difficult than I could of imagined, physically running has not been a huge struggle (although I can notice the downward spiral after only a week or two of excess), what has come hard is ignoring that little voice in my head that wants me to keep pushing. It’s a tough thing to do. I trust that voice. That voice got me running in the first place. That voice kept me going. That voice got me from 1k to 10 miles and has been teaching me never to give up all this time. I secretly love that voice in my head. Now I have to find a balance between that voice and another voice that tells me I should slow down. Turn back. Take it easy. That voice is sooo boring!

Anyway I thought I’d share the inner conflict in my head as it amused me (yes voices in my head! call the men in white coats!). I can assure you I am being good and keeping my distances short and my speed slooow at least for a little while longer……(although secretly me and the other voice can’t wait to be back on form and kicking the choir boy voices ass! haha). Anyone have similar mental issues they want to share to make me feel more comfortable with mine? …..anyone?

It’s been quite a while since my last mobile blog entry. In fact it’s been a while since I posted any blog entry. Life has been busy juggling many things (nothing changes). One of which was a foot injury which set my training back and made me thoroughly miserable for a week or two. I’m now all mended and back running..yay! Sunday I’ll be donning a santa suit with a bunch of colleagues from work and taking part in a 2 mile fun run around Dorchester. I’m looking forward to it as it should be a good giggle. After that though I need to knuckle back down to training for the bath half. I’m back up to roughly 15-20 miles a week but not sure if that’s enough. I am also pursuing other activities though and have a swimming lesson booked in this weekend (eeek!)

The photo isn’t running related really but I tend to take less snaps and run more these days (and the dark and the cold don’t help on the photo front). This photo is more about bread. Since getting into running I’ve been way more concious about what I put into my body. Fuel is important. Good bread….Real bread is hard to come across. So I wanted to make my own. To make matters slightly more complicated I wanted to make sourdough bread (mostly cos of the flavour but also just out of fascinstion with the process). I had a head start in the form of a starter and advice from @ThePhoenixBaker in Weymouth but the toasted slice addorned with mackerel above is my second attempt. I’m very pleased (as were the girls). It’s not as difficult as you’d think….give it a go.

Running
Running is going well and is one of the things that has taken up much of my “spare” time. The couple of weeks leading up to the Weymouth 10 I really knuckled down to training and this really paid dividends on race day. I’m happy to report I completed the 10 mile course (with cheeky hills) in 80mins and 45secs which was way better than all my pre-race expectations. The first few miles were run at a blistering pace (for me) and it didn’t get much slower until mile 8. The last two miles were a struggle (mostly due to the previous 8 miles of speed) but I crossed the line a happy man and I still feel pretty proud of my achievements considering the journey I’ve taken over the last 8-9 months. I followed the race with a week off from running. I didn’t like it! This week I’m back into it and running again. 129 days until the Bath Half Marathon and I have some work to do both in terms of fundraising for unicef and training. Watch this space! I’m also now logging my training on dailymile.com so if you are active over there add me as a friend http://dailymile.com/people/_disco. Most of my running is now taking place in complete darkness so not many opportunities arise to take #seenonmyrun photographs and associated blog entries but I will try my best to post more running related posts just maybe with less snaps.

Family365 project
Lack of progress on this project is the one of the things that annoys me the most as it started so well and quickly fell by the wayside. I will not quit though. Expect more photos soon. Both girls are doing fine but juggling domestic tasks, Chloe’s studies, Robyn’s school and after school activities, running and my fulltime job are a tougher challenge than they used to be. We’re managing but having the time to document it all with a photo is harder than expected. I love a challenge though and will do better.

apps, tech and other stuff
I’ve actually been playing quite a bit lately with a few new gizmo’s and apps (to try and make the juggling above easier). Some of the results have been quite interesting. I will attempt to share some of this.

enough about me….how you doin?
So enough excuses and waffle from me…whats going on in your world…feel free to share in the comments.

OMG I missed another day on Friday….how badly do I suck! Not an excuse but I was busy after work with a 9 mile training run ready for my race a week Saturday.

Saturday itself was busy and involved a cycle trip to Weymouth to catch up with various family members. I took my new lomography fisheye camera with me and grabbed a selfie on the beach. One hour processing and a snap taken with my 35m means I haven’t broken any more of my own rules! Will try and not be so sloppy about shooting and posting this week (bad stu…slap)