Running slower?

Screenshot 2019-10-26 at 15.53.44
Today
Screenshot 2019-10-26 at 15.53.34
A month ago.

A month ago I ran more than a minute faster than today, and was ranked the same1.

Today was my first run in two weeks. I was in bad shape and hurting.
A month ago, I was in prime shape. That was my second fastest time this year, and third fastest time ever in Guildford.

I thought I was running slower. It seems everyone else is slowing down even more.


  1. I love this rank… 111, a Nelson. 

I went to pick up a book from the library…

Books from the library

I ended up getting five. I would’ve brought more, but I’d gone late and the library was closing.

I’d reserved Walter Isaacson’s biography of Leonardo Da Vinci, so got that.
I’d been looking for a few Hemingway books. I didn’t find anything from top of the list, but did find these two, so got them.
Brad Stone’s Everything Store has been on my radar for a while. When I saw it on a shelf, I picked that up.
And close to it was Seth’s little book. So got that too.

I didn’t get to visit the Sports or the Scifi sections before they announced the library was closing.

Aside: I like how the three small books on the right are, together, about as big as the fourth book. And the four books on the right are again, together, about as big as the one on the left. Fibonacci-esque.

Commiserations :(

Got the wrong email yesterday:

Screenshot_20191009-143039.png
Commiserations, unfortunately, unsuccessful…. :/

Not a very happy turn on otherwise a happy, productive day.

Ever the optimist, I had a look at the ‘good for speed’ qualification times.
My current marathon PB is 3:59.
Good for age for my age group at London Marathon is 3:02.
The olympics qualification criteria last time around was 2:14.

From my perspective, the probability of me posting a London marathon qualifying time is almost the same as me qualifying for Tokyo olympics marathon with Team GB :)

Continue reading Commiserations :(

Last week, I…

October 2019 calendar dog confetti

… turned 40.

The calendar dog celebrated with confetti.
The dog looks like a 1 year old Chewie with Dudley’s hair colour. Chewie was a master confetti creator at that age :)

00000IMG_00000_BURST20191007113147779_COVER.jpg

… finished reading a book that I started reading more than 10 years ago.

It was worth it. I shouldn’t have taken that break for 9 years, 11 months.

… did a shit load of work.

It was one of my most productive weeks. Long hours + deep focus = lots of good, happy output.

… started seeing the autumn colours everywhere.

IMG_20191006_180535-COLLAGE.jpg

I missed carrying a camera on my runs. But I did get a few shots in on Chewie’s evening walk yesterday.

… ran nearly every day

Missed a run on Thursday due to bad weather in the morning, and Athletics world championships in the evening.
Yep, I didn’t run because I was busy watching better runners run :)

… ran 50 km in the week

It was my first 50km week since the marathon in April

… set a new high for running mileage in a year

My total running mileage for 2019 reached 1,213 km. Previous highest was 1,202 km in 2015.

… sat for an IQ test.

I scored 133.
The score is 12 points lower than what I remember scoring in my early 20s.
Still, apparently it suggests I’m ‘gifted’. Not sure in which way.

It was a good week.

Five check mark day

Steps, floors, sleep, activity minutes, water intake

Steps (target: 10000)
Floors (10)
Active minutes (500)
Sleep (8 hours)
Hydration (2800ml)

I get four of them frequently, it’s the sleep one that’s rare. Yesterday I slept so early that my ‘go to sleep’ reminder alarm at 21:30 woke me up 🙂

The long, deep sleep probably helped with today’s run. It was way faster than usual and with great form, specially on the ascents and descents.

I think watching the 5000m final (Athletics world championships) yesterday helped with the form.

The run also brought the week’s running total to above 50Km—the first one since the marathon in April.

Feeling…

Good

Because…

Spoke to ma-pa yesterday.

Active user count for Todo.txt for Android touched a new high.

It’s freezing cold but sunny.

Weight didn’t increase despite yesterday’s gorging on chocolate and kaju katli. It dropped by 0.2kg.

I’m about to head out for a run.
(It was a wonderful 10K, half with boys who were half brown by the time we finished)

I saw KJT run the 100m hurdles. I think I’m in love with her :)

Continue reading Feeling…

Yesterday

I had a brilliant start to the day.

Woke up at 5:30. Stretched, made coffee, made bed, gave the boy his break and breakfast, and started working by 6 AM.
Worked for a couple of hours—good strong output.
At 8 went to loo, caught up on email, brushed teeth and got ready for a run.
Ran a quick 4 miles. Happy, strong run.
Showered, shaved, and got dressed.
Got to station in time for the planned 10:03 train.

Coffee. check
Work. check
Run. check
10:03 train. check

Happy, successful start to the day :)

Continue reading Yesterday