Archive for the ‘Jogging’ Category

I’m a bit of a music snob. When the mp3 player came out I never thought it would catch on. “Lossless audio compression my ass”, I used to say. But as headphones got worse and worse and standards became lower and lower (to the point where listening to music through a mobile phone speaker on a bus has become acceptable) I became more and more wrong. I have never bought an iPod. I refuse to pay money to a company that has made billions out of selling mp3 players but never put any of that money into improving the sound quality and upgrading the standard headphones that come with them. I told you I was a snob.

I own a Zune and listen to music regularly while on my training runs. Like many others, I have an armband (a stretchy one made by Nike) that carries my mp3 player. Now there are a couple of questions that I’ll try to answer in this post. Firstly, is listening to music good running decorum? Secondly, if you do listen to music while running, what type of music do you listen to?

Firstly:
This is actually a widely debated subject in the running world. There are hundreds of different pros and cons of listening to music on the go. I’ve listed just a few here and you can make up your own mind.

Pros: -

• Motivation
  Runs can be long and, depending on where you run, a little boring.
• Keeping rhythm
  Some people base their foot strokes on the tempo of the beat they’re listening to. This is a very good method of keeping to a strict pace.
• 2 birds with 1 stone
  It doesn’t have to be music you’re listening to. You could be catching up with the week’s news, listening to a football match or learning another language while reaping the rewards of a running session.
• More energy
  There’s nothing more uplifting than hearing your favourtie tune and that can reflect dramatically in your running.

Cons: -

• It’s unsafe
  Being unable to hear traffic, other runners or strangers in the dark is a serious disadvantage.
• Missing out on your running community
  If you live in London then this won’t apply to you (because nobody talks to anyone else down here) but keeping your headphones in alienates you from fellow runners.
• Timing
  For those that have a good sense of rhythm listening to music can throw you off your stride or affect your breathing patterns.

Here’s where I stand. I completely agree with the timing disadvantage. One thing I’ve noticed when I’ve run without headphones is that I can regulate my breathing by counting how many steps I’m taking. At the beginning of a run I’ll breathe in for 3 steps and out for 3 steps. As the run progresses and the intensity increases I’ll shorten that to 2 steps. This has meant that I’ve not over-done it in the early stages and achieved a good overall time. If I’m listening to music that goes out the window. I can play the drums (like a god) and the music I’m listening to really affects my rhythm and ultimately my breathing. 

Running with headphones in can be unsafe but only if you have the spacial awareness of Stevie Wonder. Just turn the volume down a little bit and if there is someone lurking in the dark waiting to grab you then chances are you can run faster than them anyway! The most danger I’ve ever been in from running with headphones in was when I was on a treadmill and caught the headphone cable with my arm. It pulled my mp3 player from the little holder in front of me and I nearly broke my neck trying to jump over it as it shot out the back of the treadmill, smashing into it’s component parts. Thank god for shock testing.

I love getting away from it all and blasting out some tunes on my training runs but I completely disagree with listening to music during an actual race. This was actually banned in some races in the US, albeit for the wrong reasons. I will definitely not be sporting an mp3 player during the London Marathon. If half-a-million people can take the time to come out and give their support then I’ll damn well listen to them. Heck, there may even be a bit of music as you go round. During the BUPA London 10k there were some awesome Banghra drummers at 3k and 7k, at the Finsbury Cancer Research 10k there were 2 guys with a digery do and a djembe and at the Nike Human Race there was a band playing at 2k (they sucked but that’s not the point). But to not give the supporters the courtesy of your attention is bad form.

Secondly:
I won’t spend too long on this because I’ve rambled on for too long but which songs you choose while training is crucial. If you haven’t heard of Nike+ then it’s basically a chip that you place in your shoe that syncs with your mp3 player. You can set it to play your ‘power song’ when you reach a certain time/distance to give you that extra boost to complete your training (along with a load of other nifty features). Unfortunately it only works with iPods (damn me and my laurels!). The reason I’ve plugged Nike+ so hard is because of their current top-10 list of power songs (some inspiration for your playlists here) that consist of songs like ‘Eye of the Tiger’, ‘Don’t Stop Me Now’ (awesome) and ‘Firestarter’.

I’m not going to embarrass myself too much by revealing my playlist choices as my music taste is somewhat eclectic (stretching to anything from Simply Red to Bone Thugs-N-Harmony) but I do have one suggestion. James Bond theme tunes. When Tina Turner broke into the bridge in ‘Goldeneye‘ during my run back from Canary Wharf I’ve never run with more determination or vigour…

Enjoyed this? Check out the Headphones for Runners reviews.

A bit of news… 

It’s about time for a quick update on the marathon efforts so far:

• 24
  The number of hours training I’ve clocked up since I began in early January.  To be exact, 24 hours and 57 minutes. Too many of those were on a treadmill.
   
• 7
  The number of pounds I’ve gained in weight since I began training. See the Why am I gaining weight blog post.
    
• 938
  The number of pounds (that’s ‘£’s) that I’ve managed to collate in sponsorship for the MS Society. Over 2 months to go until race day so that’s not bad going. I’d just like to take this moment to thank those who have sponsored me and apologise to those who I’ll be emailing personally at the end of this month (after pay day). The email will begin with,     ”Long time no speak. The last time I saw you was *insert witty banter here*. Anyway…”
• 900
  The number of visitors to this blog I’ve had so far. One of the benefits of wordpress.com is that it comes with all sorts of statistics you can keep your eye on. This includes the top google search queries that have resulted in hits to your blog. Here are my favourites:   1.  ”is my ankle broken?”
  2. “full size john wayne photos”
  3. “nipple trainers”
  4. “bulge in gray jogging bottoms”
  5. (my personal favourite) “rik waller nude“ 
• 3
  The number of pieces of coverage this blog has had so far. These include…   1. The Justgiving London marathon page (Sir Jog A Lot is featured)
  2. The Justgiving London marathon page (Sir Jog A Lot is interviewed)
  3. The MS Society marathon e-newsletter and I quote,”James Barnard, aka “Sir Jog a Lot”, is one of the MS Society Gold Bonders this year and he has set up a blog so popular its even been featured in Justgiving’s London Marathon pages! It includes loads of great fundraising advice, as well as regular updates on his training progress.“
• 1
  The number of races I’ve signed up to between now and the Flora London Marathon 2009. I’ll be running in the Eastbourne half-marathon on Sunday 1st March so expect a blog post or two on my efforts there.

Here ends the narcissistic rant. Thanks to all who have found this blog interesting/useful and I hope my big head hasn’t put you off. Confidence is the first requisite to great undertakings…
 

The wall.

Last Saturday was my longest run so far; about 12 miles. Not even a half marathon and I was knackered, although I was pushing quite hard. The snow made it interesting and I came close to breaking my ankles about three times. At about mile 10 my body started to feel quite heavy and I could only really manage a slow jog, just above walking pace (about 8 kmph for those who use a treadmill often). Annoyingly, at mile 9 I was feeling fantastic and was bounding along like Neil Armstrong so why the sudden lull? 

Stupidly, I was so keen to get the long run out of the way on Saturday morning that I didn’t eat or drink enough. I had 2 slices of toast, a glass of water and a dash of insulin. In retrospect this was hardly enough to last the best part of 2 hours but I guess there’s no substitute for experience so next time I’ll kick-off a little better prepared. But it did get me thinking about the body’s energy supply and the dreaded ‘wall’ I keep hearing about.

For those that are not aware, the wall is best described as a virtual barrier the body struggles to get through once it has depleted its energy supplies. During a marathon race, usually at around the 20-mile mark, the liver and muscles run out of the much-needed glycogen supplies that provide energy to the legs and arms. Once this happens the body will switch to another energy source, fat. Unfortunately, burning fat for energy is far less efficient and the body grinds to a halt. Symptoms? Exhaustion, weakness, dizziness and even hallucinations. Check out this poor bloke who hits the wall in the final 200m of the London Marathon. I don’t like the look of that at all; the body not even having enough energy to walk like a normal person. 

Annoyingly, most marathon training plans won’t actually set you off on a full 26-mile practice run before the big day. In fact, almost all of them cap off the maximum distance at around 20 miles before tapering off a couple of weeks before race day. So we’ll never actually experience the wall until we’re being watched by half-a-million people, at which point you’ll probably just want to curl up into a ball and die!

So how do you prepare for the wall? Think P.C.D. (no, not the Pussycat Dolls. But hey, whatever works for you).

• Pace
  Keeping to a steady pace during a run can be very difficult. The top athletes have pacers who tag-team around the marathon course keeping the athletes bunched together so they don’t travel too fast and burn out at the end. There may even be pacers within the masses that you can run with (Runner’s World offer free pace groups). Alternatively, wear a bench-mark bracelet that you can pick up on the day that will give you your correct split-times that you’ll need to stick to.
   
• Carbs
  Many marathoners (marathoni?) will over-load on carbs during the two days up until the race and decrease their training regime to allow the body to store the glycogen levels for the big day. Also, consuming carbohydrates during the race is a must. Most sports drinks will suffice but some also like to experiment with sports gels at around the 15-mile mark and pre-empt hitting the wall.
   
• Determination 
  If you do ‘bonk’ (another cracking term for wall hitting) then you’re not going to get through it without a little will power. Having your friends and family there at mile 20, cheering you on will give you a huge boost so make sure you round up your friends and get them to shout inspiring abuse at you at strategic points around the course.

Apparently, experiencing the wall is similar to the effects of hypoglycemia due to the low blood-sugar levels. I’m diabetic and have had my fair share of hypos. They’re not pretty and I’m understandably nervous but I’m sure with some experimentation I’ll be OK. If any of you have any suggestions, tips or previous experience then I’d love to hear from you. Although I have had a lot of practice at hitting real walls (I live with my girlfriend), I’m in new territory here.

I understand that this is a subject that may not appeal to many and it’s a sensitive issue in more ways than one but it has to be talked about. Chafing doesn’t just happen to men and fat people so suck it up and listen good.

The first time I went for a run that was longer than half an hour I was wearing a pair of Calvin Klein boxer shorts and some cut-off cargos. Unfortunately for me it started to rain quite badly and the friction began. Now my thighs are not chubby in the slightest (in fact I look like a bread-roll with two chop sticks jammed in it) but I came back walking like John Wayne with a melon between his legs. It hurt so much. It must be to do with the way I run (see blog post 2) but right up the inside of my thighs ended up looking like two raw steaks.

First lesson learned, don’t wear boxer shorts. If your problem is material rubbing on skin then they aren’t going to help. The trick is to keep yourself as dry as possible and thick undergarments will make you sweat worse than Tom Jones. Materials like Lycra or spandex will help wick away sweat and stop the abrasion between material and body parts. Also (one for the lads) running in boxer shorts can lead to testicular torsion…

… Another bollock drop would be to wear clothes on race day that you’ve never tried before. Unfortunately, stopping the effects of chafing takes a lot of experimentation and it doesn’t just happen on the legs. Mp3 players strapped to your arm, vests, running belts and new trainers or socks can cause unexpected pain or discomfort during and after a race has finished. Take the time during your training to try out different outfits and decide a month or two in advance on what you are going to wear on the race day.

After ditching the boxer shorts I moved on to briefs which then resulted in a whole new skin-on-skin problem (I’m sorry, I’m embarrassed as I’m writing this). Vaseline is the obvious choice and has worked well for me. The problem, however, with Vaseline is that it doesn’t last very long and by the 15th mile I’d imagine that most of it will have worn away. I believe that volunteers hand the stuff out along the course but, if I have anything to do with it, I won’t be stopping for anything other than a quick Paula Radcliffe dash! For longer lasting products use Body Glide or if you really want to last the distance try industrial strength Bag Balm (which is actually supposed to be used on cow’s udders!).

If you’re still reading this and all of this talk of rubbing and lubrication has had you one sexual innuendo away from closing this page down, then thanks for putting up with this udder rubbish…

During Christmas 2008 I stuffed myself. I’d been up North for the festive season and just before I returned to London for the new year I weighed myself. 13 stone; the most I’ve ever weighed. I was gobbling down roast dinners like they were canapés and even after I’d had my fill and the gravy was seeping through my pores, I’d still find the room to stuff down a tube of Pringles.

Knowing full well that come January I’d be on the highway to health, I assumed that a little overindulgence would do me no harm. My first week of training alone would cover 4 hours and 5 minutes of running time so I felt confident that, if I stuck to the plan, the pounds would fall off. During the second week of training I dusted off my IKEA scales in the bathroom and had a peek at the oscillating numbers in front of me.

Not to worry. My clothes and the change in my pocket could account for that. Plus, these scales were different to the ones I’d used back home. But, this morning (week 4) I weighed myself on the scales again (this time, straight from the shower)…

I’ve gained half a stone in one month. What the hell?! I was supposed to be losing weight, not putting on the equivalent of a new born baby! After turning to the net for comfort (no, not like that) I soon calmed down. Apparently there are two reasons to account for this:

1. Muscle mass is denser than fat
   Hopefully, during marathon training your legs accumulate muscle mass. Muscle tissue will weigh 18% more than the same volume of fat. I wonder if Rick Waller used that excuse with his agent, just before he left Celebrity Fit Club. “I haven’t been eating more, I’ve just been working out too much!”
2. You’re eating more
   Running is one of the fastest way to burn calories. But, by running your energy levels will deplete and hunger will set in, hard. Before long, breakfast alone isn’t going to get you through until lunch and you start to snack.

I think both of those apply to me. My legs look and feel more toned but I do have a bit of a pot belly. Although my metabolism is normally high I have been getting hungry by 11:30am (hungry is an understatement. I’d eat the pencil shavings on my desk if I could). Snacking can’t be avoided so see this page for tips on healthy snacks for runners. Just to clarify, I am not personally recommending peanut butter spread on apple slices.

For me, weight loss is not the reason I am running the London Marathon (you’d know this full well if you’ve ever spotted me inhaling a big bag of Kettle Chips) but for those of you who are taking up running to utilise a few more belt loops then you can follow these steps to avoid hunger.

Well done to About.com for featuring 3 times in this post. I should get paid for these plugs. I accept cash, cheques or chips…

Even before the hotly contested 15,000 ballot places for the London Marathon have been allocated, the Golden Bond places have already been sold. These places are sold to the thousands of charities that recognise the marathon as the single biggest fundraising event of the British calendar (the London Marathon raises a whopping £45 million annually). Individual fundraising targets are competitive and are normally around the £1500 – £2000 mark.

This week I began fundraising for the MS Society with a target of £2000. I’d set up my Justgiving page last year in preparation (it took me that long to photoshop this picture for the page)…

I know what you’re thinking, nice bulge? Seriously though, that’s not me. But my head is that big. By the by, if you’re currently fundraising for the marathon and you haven’t heard of Justgiving then throw away your abacus and sponsorship sheet you old fart and get with it. Not only does it mean that you can grab sponsorship from all of your acquaintances from across the globe but you can claim the tax back as an additional bit of wedge for your charity. God bless the Inland Revenue.

Now, if you’re reading this blog or have written one yourself then you’re probably aware of how powerful social media is as a tool. I started a Facebook group containing links to my sponsorship page and invited every one of my friends to join. This has kick-started things quite nicely. Facebook is probably one of the strongest methods of drawing people to your sponsorship page but there are techniques you can use to maximise the effects of your Facebook campaign. See the Justgiving blog for some fantastic tips but here are a few to get you started:

• Keep everything up to date
  A boring, old news group will lose its hit count quickly unless you keep it up to date. Keep your news wall up to speed with training targets you’ve met and sponsorship updates. Use your status updates enough to keep people in the loop but try not to do it too often as it might start to irritate your friends.
• Use video
  I haven’t done this yet but I think it’s a great idea. If it’s funny it’ll generate more traffic for your sponsorship page. I might do one of me dressed up in my black hat and hoody running up some stairs and dub it with the Rocky theme tune. I’m so original.
• Say thanks, publicly
  When someone sponsors you, take to the time to thank them on their Facebook wall (even if you’ve already thanked them personally). It’ll raise awareness to your page and remind others to do the same.

For those of you who aren’t Facebook friendly then there are some other tips you can try out. The idea is to be as creative as you can. You’re doing a wonderful thing by giving up three months of your life to raise money for a worthy cause so make sure people know it. The girl in this video spelt out the link to her Justgiving page by using a watch with GPS functionality and a website called GPS Visualiser. I wish I’d thought of that (cracking moment when she slips over at the end but well done Jenny). Another chap used eBay to promote his page.

Some people will send the details of their sponsorship to their local paper (Justgiving have a draft press release you can use). Now, I work at gorkana (who provide a  media database to the PR industry) and have the newsdesk email addresses of all papers across the country at my disposal (little plug there – the CEO can thank me later). Do you think my little page could make it in to the Daily Mail? I know enough about the PR industry to know that blanket-emailing the national papers doesn’t work unless your story is an exclusive or really captivating. Maybe if I offer to run it naked? You’ve all seen the picture above…

So far I’ve raised £367. That’s from having my sponsorship page in my email signature at work, emailing the link directly to EVERYONE at my company and having the Facebook group up and running for 3 days. There’s still a long way to go but I’m hopeful. They haven’t seen my Rocky video yet…

We’ve just had one of the coldest weather spikes in British history. For the first weeks of January 2009 the weather was so cold that worried pensioners up and down the country were given an extra £25 per week to help with their fuel bills.

Now, technically I’m a northerner. When I was a wee bairn I’d be fetching logs in for the fire in a pair of flip-flops and a tank top. But, one of the things they don’t tell you about moving to London is how hot the city can get and you quickly become acclimatised to it. So this cold spike hit ‘us’ southerners quite hard. I have a pair of jogging bottoms but they’re heavy and I haven’t quite plucked up enough courage to sport these ninja tights I keep seeing people wearing (I still look like a pigeon). So, to keep warm (and for convenience sake), I took up treadmill running at my local gym.

There are several advantages and disadvantages of running on a treadmill. But before we get on to these we first have to follow some rules:

1. 20 minutes only at peak-time.
   From the hours of 5 – 7pm (in most gyms) you may run for a maximum of 20 minutes to allow others to have a turn. This rule is not displayed anywhere in the gym but is widely known (by everyone except yourself and will unwillingly be instructed to you by some know-it-all). I got thrown off the treadmill half way through a 40 minute stint the other day by a guy who then ran for 15 minutes at just above walking pace and did nothing but check out the local talent. Seething. My view is, if you can’t get to the gym fast enough to get a free treadmill then run faster.
2. No comparing.
   You must never look at the runner next to you to compare their speed setting to yours. If you do you will instigate a level war. This is where you nonchalantly increase the speed of your treadmill to one setting above that of your neighbour. Your neighbour will respond but only when you’re looking the other way. This will continue until one party can take no more and hits the dreaded ‘Cool Down’ button.
3. Look straight ahead.
   Look behind you or turn your head to the side at your peril. Your body will follow the direction of your head and before you know it you’ll be on the edge of the belt or falling off of the back.
4. Let go of the hand-rails
   This is fine while walking, but if you hold on while running (some treadmills have heart-rate monitors that require you to hold on to two metal sections of the hand-rail) you’ll end up looking like either Frankenstein or the Lone Ranger.

If you follow these steps you’ll be able to reap the advantages of running indoors. You’ll be avoiding frostbite (in all seriousness), wind chill and, in wet weather, chafing. For advice on Winter running see this article from About.com. In the case of marathon runners, your training will take place in the Winter months. Then, come April and race day, the sun decides to shine like it did in the London Marathon 2007. All of a sudden you’re out of your comfort zone. You’re not used to the dry and hot conditions and you become dehydrated. Running indoors will acclimatise you to that heat.

The treadmill will also be softer on the joints than running on tarmac and can help you keep up the training while trying to relax those jarred bones. However, some experts tell us that it can be too soft on you. It’s all in the physics. When running on the ground, your legs are working hard to drive your centre of mass forward. You accelerate as you push off (when your leg is behind you) and decelerate as your front leg meets the ground. On a treadmill your centre of mass is static and your legs are positioned to keep your centre of mass stable. In essence, the ground is moving your legs, dramatically decreasing the work load. Where a treadmill is good for overall fitness, it may not be as beneficial to the competitive runner.

I’ll be sticking with it until the sun decides to shine after work. If it’s not your thing then I suggest you go out and buy eight treadmills and make yourself a kick-ass music video…