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Sunday 5 January 2014

Happy New Year....


Tatties, haggis, neeps, wine, malt whisky - and an expanding girth
  Christmas and New Year festivities have taken their toll, as they do every year as a result of all the excess food, treats and booze I ram down my throat and fail to exercise away. I've kept on running but obviously not enough. And as pounds piled on, huffing and puffing increased until even moderate exercise felt more than a bit uncomfortabe. Before Christmas I weighed exactly 140 lbs with a body fat reading of 14.7%, visceral fat 7% and a BMI of 22.2.  By January 2nd those figures had inflated to 145 lbs, 18.3%, 8% and 23.2.  So I've got work to do in the next few weeks. 
     
Believe it or not, a footpath goes through here...
Another problem is that my decrepit old bones hate our increasingly bad weather, rain, gale force winds - and saturated countryside as in the field shown here. Bill Bowerman, co-founder of Nike, once famously said "There is no such thing as bad weather, only soft people" - but I'll wager he'd change his mind on becoming an 81 year old spectacle wearer. Or maybe he has..   In Munro-bagging days I've climbed through hell and high water, thick snow and raging blizzards that made companions physically sick with the required effort. Now, in my dotage, I'm a mainly fair weather stravaiger though I can still enjoy an exhilerating run in frost and snow.

      I've stopped making New Year resolutions,
New Great Grandson Elijah - and his running dog friend...
mainly because I've rarely managed to keep them. In fact, I can't ever remember keeping one. One thing I'm exceptionally good at is procrastinating and I've excelled myself lately. For the first time since I began running in 1986 I failed to reach 1,000 miles last year, clocking a measly 863. I did no track racing and failed to reach top spot in the British Rankings over any distance I ran. Best I could manage was 5th over 10K (with a slow 57.29 at Bentham) and a pathetic 13th at 5K which is best forgotten. The pity of it is, I've previously beaten most of those above me in the Rankings, so I clearly haven't been firing on all cylinders, mentally or physically. Maybe, with a total of 36,290 miles on the clock, I'm in need of a de-coke! Another significant happening in 2013 is that I acquired yet another Great Grandchild, Elijah, this one over in the States. I feel older with each one and I've lost count of the little beggars. Actually, come to think, some are quite big!

      
First run of 2014 - to Howgill and back...
      After late night Hogmanay indulgences January 1st was pretty much a none-day. The weather was vile anyway, giving a us good excuse to lounge around near a warm stove, and recover. On Jan 2nd we opened our 2014 account with a very pleasant eight mile/415ft run to Howgill and back along the river.  It was a gorgeous sunny day with hardly any breeze. The river was full and rattled noisily over the stones, conditions much enjoyed by a dozen or so kayakers shooting the rapids by Loup Scar.  I'm still running with a Heart Rate Monitor, trying to keep to an average of 130 bpm or below, so our pace was gentle and conversational.
      Today was different. While my wonderful partner was patrolling Barden Moor in her capacity as a National Park
Shooting the rapids....
Volunteer Ranger, I tootled up Castle Hill for an interval session - and found out just how unfit I've become. The plan was to run 16 x 200m @ 48secs but I was forever being harrassed by loose dogs necessitating a lot of waiting around until they'd moved on. It was 36ºF but in a cold SE wind it felt sub zero. And I'd forgotten my gloves. After 14 reps, when even more dogs arrived, I abandoned Castle Hill and did the last two reps on the way home - guesstimating the distance. Now then, before Christmas after a similar session, my HR reached 143bpm after each rep, then I'd walk until it got below 130, jog until it was below 120, then start my next rep. 

Low HR's indicate where I waited for dogs to vamoose...
    All very easy and controlled - but not so today.  Maximum HR after each rep was nearer 150 and on eight occasions I failed to get below 130 before starting the next rep. Waiting for dogs to clear out of the way enabled me to get as low as 112 on one or two occasions, so I suppose they really did me a favour. My average was 134 bpm which is too high for an old codger. Anyhow, it proved to me that carrying excess weight requires a lot more effort from the poor old heart and can't really be good for one. But I suppose everybody knows that, some just learn faster than others!
      Happy New Year !!!!!

14 comments:

  1. Thanks for stopping by my blog and for your kind comments. You are an amazing man, living life fuller than many or most half your age. Thanks for inspiring the rest of us!

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    1. Thanks Marc. Since taking up running in 1986 I've regarded it a God given gift and as such feel obliged to make the most of it and not abuse it. If my achievements inspire others to make the journey towards fitness, as many have said it does, it's a big incentive for me to carry on running..... Cheers!

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  2. Sounds like we have some things in common regarding the new years resolutions as well as the holiday eating! I am trying to burn mine off, but will need to be more careful of what I consume.
    We also might have similar mileage for the year. I am a little afraid to really look closely at my numbers. They are certainly the lowest in several years. Ah well! Here's to 2014.

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    1. Extra pounds don't really worry me, knowing they'll drop off when I get back to 'normal' eating again. It happens every year! I'm not so obsessive about running to sacrifice Christmas.
      As regards mileage, I'm not making any resolutions about it, but certainly intend to do more this year. We'll have to keep prodding each other Raina....

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  3. Weight training, that is what it is... you eat put on weight and then have to train!!! good luck in loosing the unwanted pounds

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    1. Thanks CD. As I said above, those pounds will soon drop away - more so when we're running every day in the heat of the Canary Islands next month...
      Have a good year.

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  4. Good to see you are still flying along, I've been away from my blog for a while but back now and catching up with all my favourites - happy new year!

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    1. Had a read of your blog Tim and compared to the way I look and feel at the moment you're super fit! Stay focused and have a great New Year...

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  5. I'm glad to know that I'm not the only one who put on a few holiday pounds. But like you say, they will soon drop away.

    I still think you're a tremendous runner (not even with your age taken into account. :D

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    1. It's hard to resist all the wonderful food and wine that sneaks into the house at Christmastime, and who would want to? But I'm glad it only comes once a year!
      Oh, and flattery will get you everywhere!
      Cheers Marion and all the best for 2014....

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  6. Happy New Year to you Gordon... I'm determined to make 2014 a much better running year than 2013 was (and I do love New Year's resolutions!) and thanks for the encouragement... Even though your mileage is down on previous years it is still pretty impressive in my book!

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    1. And a very Happy New Year to you and yours Breandan. Good to hear you're back running seriously again, can't believe how fast you ran at Westport with so little training. Must be that veggie diet...
      Keep it going.
      PS. Did you re-hydrate in Matt Malloy's pub after your run in Westport?

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  7. Serious clarts in the second picture - would love a blast through that lot ;-)
    Best wishes for the New Year, Gordon

    Paul

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    1. Paul, you're a masochist! I hate that stuff. In fact, I'm considering a letter to the local press about it along with a couple of pictures.
      You have a great New Year too.....

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