Just a quick update on the past week (Week 7) for those of you interested.

After my birthday week off, normal service was resumed this week and unfortunately the gap was somewhat of a set back.  Sunday was a good run with Lisa who seems to be coming on a fair bit, but Tuesday brought with it a struggle on the treadmill and I was close to collapsing after only 1km.  That's what i get for taking time off to indulge in chocolate and the like.

With only 41 days to go now, we are almost in the home stretch.  This week will see me return to studying practically 24/7 for my exams in August, the ones I missed in January.  Since I'll have to get up early-ish to study I should have no problem sticking to a running schedule - I hope.

Finally I'd like to say a huge thanks to everyone who has already donated to the cause, your help is very much appreciated.  We still have a fair bit to go though so please dig as deep as you can!

Stay free,
Joe x

We've finally had word from all the charities with regards to the donation site.  Unfortunately Macmillan aren't registered with the one we were hoping to use so it looks like we'll be going with JustGiving.com after all. 

The bad news is that JustGiving doesn't allow you to split sponsorship between multiple charities so we've had to make three separate pages.  The good news is that they're all pulled together on our Donate page.  If you are going to contribute to our cause please use the page that needs most help reaching its target so we can try and keep things even.

In training news, I've had a cracking week off on account of my birthday and I should be ready to go full tilt next week!

Stay free,
Joe.

So sang Matt Bellamy, and he was right but maybe I'm getting a bit ahead of myself, still three months to go.  But with the past two week's performances I'm getting worried that I won't be able to keep up a good level of training.  You might have noticed that I'm a run short for each of the past two weeks.  Last week's I've already explained but this week's is a combination of things.

Firstly I was at a party on Saturday that left me worse for wear (to say the least) on Sunday and so I was catching up on the weekend's sleep on Monday morning.  Miss one run.  Making up for this on Tuesday was good but I was disappointed with the outcome. [For details check out The Log which is now annotated]  I did however achieve my first Goal!

The plan was to then head out on Wednesday as per usual but I realised that knowing I'm getting up to run in the morning makes it harder to sleep.  So Wednesday at 07:00 I'd had barely any rest and stayed in bed determined to find some.  Miss two runs.  Same thing Thursday and again on Friday.  On Friday I tried to make up for this by hitting the treadmill which knackered me out more than ever.  Then Saturday provided my weekly run with Lisa which was fine.  I can only hope that I'm more focussed next week, although with a party tonight who knows what will happen?

On the charity side, both Accord and the Beatson have set up accounts with CharityGiving and we're only waiting on word from Macmillan which shouldn't be long now.  We're not expecting any problems but if any should arise we'll sort something out.

Over in The Tunes we've got a new feature: Top Track.  We'll be giving some space to the tune that has given us the best push this week, so head over now and see what done it for Week 4.

Stay free,
Joe.

 

Em, I mean Weekly Roundup; getting a bit preoccupied with Toy Story 3 there I think!  So Week 3 has been a low point in training so far because I didn't go my usual Friday run because I felt sick in the morning and just didn't get round to it later in the day.  Laziness had set in and there was no shifting it. 

Today's might look a bit slower than normal and have an extra dip because Saturday's are back to being my Weekend run with Lisa.  Lisa just gave up smoking last October after about 7 years or thereabouts, so she is finding that she gets out of breath easier but we're trying to combat that with weekly improvements.  Also with her job she can't have as much time as me to get out for a run.  Anyway with 10 weeks to go we should be able to manage our target time and hopefully improve upon that a fair bit.  Check out today's stats: Week 3 Run 3

This instalment is just a quick one because I've written about the majority of this week's runs already, but the next roundup should be a bit more meaty!  Until then just remember the inspirational words of Buzz Lightyear, you know the ones!

Stay free,
Joe.

Today's post will be the last run by run update because this has to be a bit tiring to read for you guys.  Instead we'll have a weekly roundup with some breakdown blurb and sponsorship and event updates.  For now here's Week 3 Run 2.

The big step this time was holding off the walk for a bit longer than normal, by an extra 70m I'd guess.  Other than that there's not much to report: no PB, slightly slower pace than Monday (5'19"/km compared with 5'17"/km) and apparently a shorter run with only 1.97km recorded this time.  But it's not all doom and gloom, I did find it more enjoyable overall and feel like I'm definitely improving so I might be extending the distance soon.

Lisa and Sean are finally home, but apparently used their holiday simply for relaxation!  Imagine that, not an early morning run in sight!  Lisa will be picking up where she left off this Saturday though with our regular weekend run.  Also, in bigger news, the route has just been announced!  Go and check it out now!

Stay free,
Joe.

Could be because I've had to give up my long lie for a run.  But then I'm probably just being cranky because I'm tired.  Another day another graph as they say.  Who say that?  Probably mathematicians or statisticians or the like.  So here's your dose of orange-yellow graphiness: Week 3 Run 1

Nothing to complain about this time and even a new PB to report of 8'06" for the mile.  Quickest pace so far at 5'17"/km and as a result my fastest 2km yet at 10'32" so a definite improvement on display.  I'm still using the same playlist because it seems to be a fair motivator but any suggestions would be appreciated!

On the organisation side, I'm working on a few t-shirt designs but I'll have to find somewhere that prints onto a wicking fabric because I've only seen printing on cotton so far so I'd be grateful for any help you can offer here too!

Stay free,
Joe.

I'm not so sure I was Bruce.  Hit the treadmill today instead of getting up early for my usual route and the stats can be found here.  And may I say, hot days are hard work!  I think my nose done more running than me today anyway thanks to my hayfever.

Anyway, let's get down to the nuts and bolts.  The first thing I was shocked to see was the dip.  I didn't stop or walk once and yet there it is right in the middle of the graph like a big grin, laughing at me.  I just can't explain it.  The treadmill was set at 4.5mph for a bit then I upped it to 5mph for the majority of the run so I don't know how I managed to slow down.  Maybe I did it subconsciously while I was increasing the setting.

Much slower pace, slower even than the time I forgot to hit "End" and was recording my movements in the house.  I guess that's the thing with the treadmill, I can't judge my pace by the number on the screen, I like to judge by my surroundings.  And no PB this time obviously.  I suppose it's still a workout even if it didn't achieve much.

On the charity end of things, I have a few ideas that could make fundraising more interesting but you'll hear about those when the time is right.  For now why not just sponsor us?

Stay free,
Joe.

Another morning of recovery underway here after another shattering run.  Still only 2km but when I get in it feels like 20.  I'm ready for those improved performances now, if my body's listening.  Results as always over in The Log.

The most striking thing this time is that I appear to have entered my own double-dip recession!  I honestly don't know where that first major dip before the big one came from because I definitely wasn't walking.  I guess I must have been jogging (or "yogging" I believe it's a soft J) a lot slower than usual.  I managed to hold off my wee walk for about 50m longer than on the previous run so there's a bit of improvement there.

Also, despite all the huffing and puffing when I got in, I was told that I had a new PB for the mile again, this time of 8'26" shaving 15 seconds off my previous.  So although I sound pessimistic, my glass really only has a few sips out of it.

In the meantime I've been doing a wee bit of work on the site and we now have a new home here at www.JP3.org.uk as you've probably noticed.  We also have permission to use our Charities' names/logos/info and they've all offered to supply us with t-shirts for the race!  Unfortunately we've turned down their very generous offers in favour of designing our own TeamJP3 tees, designs that may be available here in the near future.

I'm off to buy my EuroMillions for the week so let me leave you with the ancient proverb "May your charity increase as much as your wealth," i.e. sponsor us!

Stay free,
Joe.

Well I think the initial novelty of the Nike+iPod is wearing off and it's getting quite hard to pull myself out of bed just to get knackered.  Nonetheless, I did it again today and the results are up on The Log.

In the words of the D-Generation X theme: Break it down.  Compared with Monday's run, this one looks a fair bit bumpier perhaps suggesting I wasn't as consistant in my pace or maybe it's just that the previous run was affected by the long dip at the end when I forgot to hit "End Workout" on the iPod and so simplified the graph a bit.  I can't know for sure but based on the fact that the Week One runs are as bumpy as this latest one I'd say the reason is the latter.

I had a wee surprise when I finished today: some lady came through my headphones to tell me I'd achieved a new Personal Best for the mile of 8'41".  Nice one!  (I'm sure I can beat this easily but not without keeling over at 1.1 miles.)  Also my average pace was 5'32"/km which is pretty consistant with my performances so far.  You may have noticed on the most recent graphs that playlists have started to appear.  They didn't before because I was just running with Shuffle but I'm trying to get some tunes that really push you when you think you can't go much further, and I'd love any suggestions you have so check out the playlists so far at The Tunes then suggest some via The Wire.

I'm trying to make the most of the experience so far, hence the blog and shiny graphics, because it won't be long until I have to start studying again for the August diet of exams that I missed in January.  I don't know how much time I'll have during this because I'll be pretty much re-teaching myself material for four or five classes in the space of a month, but I'll try and get some updates on and even if I don't, I'll make sure I'm still running.

So until next time, get trawling through those playlists of yours and send some belters my way!

Stay free,
Joe.

Some more pavement pounding led to a disappointing end this morning.  Don't get me wrong, the run was good, unfortunately I forgot to hit "End Workout" on time and an extra two minutes were added while I was just walking/standing/sitting in the house.  Check it out: Week 2: Run 1

So the analysis bit.  I managed to keep a very even pace for most of the time, and there's only a small dip where I walked for about 50m or so.  My average pace is a lot slower because I forgot to finish on the iPod but based on the first circle on the graph, i was running at 5'10"/km which is faster than my last two runs in comparison.

You may have noticed that I only ran twice last week.  That's because I started on Wednesday rather than Monday, and I skipped Saturday's run in favour of a long lie.  But don't worry, I plan on doing about 4 runs per week and I've set a goal on Nike+ to encourage me to stick to that.

Only a week of rest left for Lisa and Sean and then it's back to the graft.  Wonder when I'll get a holiday...

Stay free,
Joe.