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As long as I’ve been running I’ve been told to be a good runner you have to do strength training, but I’ve always put it off. I’ve been looking for a rowing machine for a while, they are supposed to be a brilliant exercise for loads of muscle groups, and they are low impact on the body, so no injuries. We had a cheap one which we both used, but it had so little resistance that it was of no use to me. A little bit of research told me the best one for training was a Concept 2. Gym level equipment that real rowers use for training. They are robust, long lasting and hold their resale value. The latter being a double edged sword as it means they are dear to buy in the first place. Today I finally took the plunge. There was one for sale in Manchester, second hand. I went and got it. It’s a beast! It splits in two for transportation but I still had to drive with the hatchback door open a bit and bungee-ed in place. I got it home and set up. It’s enormous! About 8′ long! I gave it a go for half an hour. I was slow starting off as I was watching a video on the correct form for rowing. Apparently that’s very important and something everyone gets wrong. It has screen that tells you information on your performance so I spent the last 6 minutes flat out trying to hit an arbitrary figure (5,500 metres, rowed). I managed it but I was sweating like a pig. Now we wait. I’ll be able to judge what muscles it worked by my stiffness tomorrow and the day after. I already know my shoulders are going to pay for it. Wendy had a go and she said it hurt her stomach and fronts of her thighs. Hopefully this will be my magic bullet. One extra thing I can incorporate into my training to strengthen my core, glutes, and upper body. Huh, looks good. I looked at my monthly running stats on Smashrun. The first few weeks were poor, I missed a bunch of day with plague weakness, but since that has shifted I’m doing pretty good. Unfortunately I’m suffering a lack of mojo. On my easy 18 mile long run I wanted to quit the whole time. The 8 mile everyday runs have been killing me. Not that they are hard, just I don’t want to do it. Today was a better run. It was 2 miles warm up then 80 seconds at sub 6.45 m/m pace, then 80 seconds jog, 14 times, then jog home. That was much better for me as I was concentrating on getting through each fast section, and I rise to that kind of challenge. Back to easy 8 tomorrow before work. I’m less than 12 weeks out from Blackpool marathon, I should be champing at the bit. Ah well, just showing up counts for a […]

After declaring myself over the plague weakness last week I got it again the next day. I’ve been three days clear now. Ran for the last 5 days, with a beast of a run today, and I’m feeling fine. I really, really, hope that’s it. My plan said an easy 17 miles today. I decided to up the ante a little and do 17 miles with hills. I’ve found a great hill. It’s 4 miles to get there, then laps of it to make up the extra miles. Plus we are in the middle of Storm Isha or something and it’s blowing a gale. All in all, a challenging run. I got it done, it’s nearly 23.00 and I’m still fine on the plague weakness front. Surely that’s it for this bout? I’ve fitted my top box to the bike, and tracked down a tyre place. Bromley tyres has shut down and it took Wendy and me an hour to track down someone who would supply and fit a motorbike tyre locally. Wigan was the nearest one. I popped my bike on centre stand and lashed the back end down to keep the front in the air. Not ideal, but it’s not for long. As an aside, the bike was a joy to work on. Fresh grease, braided brake lines, cleaned out brake calipers, brand new brake pads, no rust. I think I’ve dropped lucky with this one. Low miles and lovingly looked after. Anyway, I left it dangling in the air and drove to Wigan. It wasn’t a tyre place it was a motorbike garage. They took the wheel off me and said “Are you picking it up today or tomorrow?” The horror must have shown on my face. I explained I’d left my bike perched, thinking I was doing an ‘in and out’ tyre swap. They did it for me while I waited, but if they are the only place I’m going to have to make sure I arrange for them to be ready to do it immediately in future. The back tyre is equally old, but a potentially slippy back end isn’t too much of a problem, I’ll wait for it to wear down. If your front end goes out from under you that’s a whole different story. Usually you crash and it’s very expensive and often painful. So top box and front tyre fitted, I’ve found some cheap handguards and heated grips, and I’ve got that suspension bracket to drop the back end down to standard height. The handguards should be arriving tomorrow. Then I just have to fit it all. Once the grips, handguards and suspension bracket is fitted that’s it. Just put petrol in and enjoy. I might be using it in earnest shortly. I was going to apply for an agency job at Iceland but I’ve been putting it off because it’s a pay cut and an awful job. Very difficult stores to access, in the middle of high streets and such, and […]

Yesterday I woke up with a sore throat and it felt like it was on my chest. I felt a bit rough and weak. But it wasn’t the plague weakness. Somehow there are different degrees of weakness. The plague weakness is just awful, it wastes you. A normal lurgy weakness is just feeling weak. I forced myself out of the door for a 7 mile run and got better as the day went on. This morning I woke up at 04.40 and couldn’t get back to sleep. It had been snowing a bit overnight and it was fair brisk so I didn’t want to get out of bed, but I gave up and got up about 05.00 to get ready for my long run. I didn’t feel lurgy-ed and didn’t feel plague weak. I was out of the door before 06.00. The plan said I was to do an easy paced 16 miles so I followed my usual route along the canal. It turns out 2 hours before dawn, on an unlit path under trees, you can’t see jack. Who knew? I had to divert and do a road run. I got it done without any problems. The great news is for the rest of today I’ve not had any plague weakness. I am desperate to believe that is it and I can get back to committed training and life that isn’t ground down by the crushing weight of the weakness. In other news, predictably, I’ve been spending on the bike. I’ve given in to the relentless advertising and got Temu, a front app for a million Chinese companies. It’s full of cheap goods. The handguards I wanted on eBay but were about £50 (for what is basically a bit of plastic), were £13.48, free postage. So I’ve got them. And an eBay (but reputable) set of heated grips. Also I noticed my tyres were 7 years old. They say they perish after 5 years. The rubber gets brittle and loses traction. That’s not a massive problem on the back, a bit of sliding about is controllable, but if the front slips out you are down. So I’m getting a new tyre fitted tomorrow. That was a hassle. My go-to motorbike tyre place has gone out of business. Trying to find someone to supply and fit a tyre took me an hour on the internet. When all these bits are fitted I am totally done. I’ll keep an eye on the exhaust system and the back tyre, but they could last years yet. The next job I’m expecting is in April ’25. It doesn’t need it yet, but when I do the MOT in a year I’ll have it serviced at the same time. The other thing at the moment is I’m thinking about going back to Iceland to drive. It the same sort of deal, pay-wise, as Booker. The basic rate isn’t too clever but averaged with the overtime rate (after 45 hours) and given that the breaks are […]

I put it off for a long time, but I finally cracked. My bike, the CBR650F, is fine. It does lots of things well, but I was never happy happy with it. I like it, it’s pretty, modern, and reliable, but there was no spark of passion there. As is my way I started idly perusing motorbikes. It soon became apparent that what I really wanted was a VFR750. I’ve had loads of them and they are just about the perfect all rounder. They are not under powered, they are not so fast as to be unusable, they handle brilliantly, they have a massively over engineered engine that makes them bulletproof, they are comfy… The only thing wrong with them is they are old, have carburetors, and the styling is a smidge dated. If Honda made a new model with fuel injection I would pay top dollar for it. Honda lost sight of their “sports tourer” designation with the VFR800. I’ve only had one, but it was a bloated bike that, although it had more power and speed, felt lost in the corners. The VFR750 I got last year was old and worn out. It took the shine off the love affair. That’s why I got a modern (2017) bike that, according to the reviews “could serve as a sports tourer”. It’s OK, but it’s no VFR750. Then a few days ago I saw an advert for a 1994 VFR750, 26,000 miles (in 30 years!) with a ton of upgrades. It’s had the suspension, brakes, and clutch upgraded. And it’s red. Red ones are faster. Science. The guy was selling it for less than some tired looking bikes with over double the mileage. And it was only 20 odd miles away! Unheard of! I went to look, liked it and Wendy and I went to Wirral to pick it up today. Wendy had to brave two motorways to follow me back home. Bless her. She’s was scared but she did it. Luke had offered to run me, but he is working nights as a lorry driver now, the last thing he needs is to get up early to do more driving, so Wendy insisted that she would do it. I drove there, she drove back. She was fine, I don’t know what she was worrying about. Anywho, as soon as I got riding I was a happy bunny. The upgraded brakes are fierce! My CBR has ABS, so you can grab the brakes if you want, but they don’t seem as bitey at the VFR. Not having ABS makes that something of which you have to be aware. But it’s better to have too much braking on tap than not enough, in most instances. There are things I’m going to have to keep an eye on. It still has the original, 30 year old, exhaust system! Because it’s done so few miles it’s not rotted through. Every other VFR I’ve had has had the stainless steel replacement exhaust system. My […]

We made it through another xmas. The rest of the year is gravy now. I’m on countdown to Blackpool marathon now. Because I have Sunday/ Monday as my weekend I do my long run on Monday then have Tuesday as my rest day. Which means I’ll be starting my 16 week training plan properly on Wednesday. Today I went for a long run. I wanted to run to Carr Mill Dam then back to Widnes. A full circuit of the two ends of the canal. It’s about 31 miles. Because it was New Year’s day, a Monday when everyone was off, full of mince pie lardiness and fitness resolutions, it was heaving. I had to stop a few times, slow down a bunch of times and weave in and out of herds of ambling pedestrians waddling along. That didn’t improve the run, but I was suffering. It was slutchy underfoot, and I was wearing un-plated, ploddy, trainers, but that’s no excuse. I lost my mojo after the Carr Mill Dam loop and didn’t do the other loop. I ended doing a 20 mile run at 8.29m/m average pace. It shouldn’t have been so hard or painful. Worrying. I’ve been having calf cramps and pains in the back of my quads on the runs lately. I’m wondering if running is mainly a quad based activity. I’ve not been cycling for a year now, and my calves are playing up. I suppose I’m going to have to set up my turbo trainer again. Maybe start cycling to work. It’s only 2.2 miles each way, but it’s better than nothing. Maybe sell my motorbike. I’m also looking at getting a rowing machine. That’s good for a bunch of muscles, particularly your glutes and core strength, but it does work your calves as well. I’ve been putting off strength training for years. A rowing machine would tick a lot of the strength training boxes, and it’s something I don’t mind doing. Now I have to dig in and commit to every run on my training plan for Blackpool marathon. Then I’ll have a few months of maintenance runs, then start again for Frankfurt. I’ve booked the flights and accommodation and started learning German. The accommodation was a pain. We’ve been scammed again. Two marathons I’ve booked a pad through Booking.com, (this one had 4 different reviews so I thought it was alright). They ask for the money up front, no worries, then a few days later you get a message off Booking.com saying the reservation is cancelled. The business renting the property don’t reply and don’t refund. Last time I contacted Booking.com, and although they hadn’t taken the money or had anything to do with that side of it, they covered it. That was really good of them and I’m hoping it’s policy. However, you have to wait until after the booking date before they cough up. So 10 months, in this instance. There’s been no reply to my emails to the renter, I’ll […]