Text to R this morning:
I don’t want to go run in this freezing cold.
I just want too snuggle up with the warm bachcha, hot chocolate, hot samosas and watch Gilmore girls.
After a good interval running session in freezing cold:
I’m the next Kipchoge. I’m the new Mary Kitane. I can beat Shelly Ann Fraser Price. David Rudisha is me. Mo Farah wants to be me!
Hormones and all that stuff … :)
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 :)
Super productive morning! Dada is a happy boy :)
Now to head downstairs to stretch with the little black boy, then head out for the run.
Happy, happy :D
Went for my first run since early May. Ran just 5K, but had to take 2 breaks to let the HR come down.
The good bit: Most of the external-focused running muscles worked fine. The ankle whose injury had stopped running felt completely normal. The achilees in the other foot tinged a bit occasionally, but nothing extraordinary. Will ice it tonight.
The ok bit: It’s been just a couple of hours, and my quads (?!) are giving an indication of DOMS already. Could it be because I was lifting my knees while trying to pick up the feet? Or is it just that they’ve not been worked at all since the last spinning class in early August?
The bad bit: HR was high. Way too high for such a short run in cool temperatures. It was a clear indication of how much aerobic fitness I’ve lost in these months. Lots of work to get it back before London.
When heading down for the run, I turned off the heater in the office. I’d kept it at low for Chewie – who seemed to be feeling a bit cold.
When I returned upstairs 2.5 hours later, the room was boiling. Instead of switching off the low button, I’d turned on the high button – so the electric heater was working at full power for 2.5 hours. The digital temperature gauge read 39ºC :/
My office room is small enough to become uncomfortably warm in 10 mins. After two hours at full power, it was boiling – worse than the worst of summer. The Macbook was so hot that it took nearly 2 mins to show the lock screen!
I’ve been sitting here with the window open for 20 mins, and the temperature still reads 31ºC.
There may be a good amount of damage to the electricity bill.
Early in the run, the HR reading said 232 bpm! My heart was working, but not that hard. It was just the usual ‘cold air meets HR strap’ f-up.
Later in the run, the reading said 187 bpm, and I could feel the heart struggling to keep pumping. That was when I took my first break.
That was nothing compared to how hard the heart beat when I came upstairs half-an-hour ago and realised what had happened. Glad I wasn’t wearing the HR monitor anymore, or it may have given a reading to give me a stroke!
Anyway, the heart didn’t stop, and I didn’t burn down the house. I’ll call this afternoon a win.
It didn’t rain today. Mostly. There were passing showers throughout the day, but nothing stuck around long enough.
Spoke to Ma. It was a long chat, and a generally happy one. It was nice to hear her sound cheerful, after 5+ years of sleep deprivation & tiredness, and a few weeks of crying, loss and loneliness.
We went for a run. I ran 7K on the road – to the cathedral and back up – and then took the boys for a lap on the ridge (~3K). It was better than yesterday’s run – legs felt better, faster. Felt a tiny bit stronger.
It rained all day. Non stop rain during the first half, and light drizzle with occasional showers during the second.
I’ve made up with rain. Rain and I are friends again. I love rain again.
Watched 2 episodes of Grey’s anatomy. I laughed out so loud on this scene1 that both the boys woke up from deep sleep, and came to check on me!
We ran today. All of us. Through belly deep2 mud, and persistent rain.
It was Dudley’s longest run (7K), Chewie’s (probably) easiest run, and a hard one for me. I last ran a week ago, and I must’ve lost a lot of fitness in this week. This was way harder than it should’ve been. The only two good bits about the run were the boys and the cadence (metronome led). I’m thinking of running again tomorrow.
Cleaning the boys – showers, towelling, hair dryer – took longer than the actual run. Specially if I add in mopping the bathroom, and vacuuming the house. Not counting having to wash my own shoes – road shoes lathered in mud, drenched inside.
Went to town for lunch. Kokoro. Really wanted to go to a coffee shop afterwards. Not for the coffee, but to see, and chat to a friendly face. Didn’t. Bought some groceries from Sainsbury’s, and returned home.
Watched a movie. I think it was called The Judge. It had Ironman in it. I liked it’s small town Indiana location. Not the same as my small town India, but brought up a few good memories. Thought of old friends. Nikhil D, Vikas G, Vikas S, Surinder, Tarun, Vishesh, Deepak T, … Friends from before I knew to value friends.
Washed three sets of clothes – exercise clothes, regular clothes, and cleaning rags and boys’ towels. Also filled, and started the dishwasher. And dusted the bed. Add in the mopping and vacuuming, and I’m a household superhero3!
On vacuuming, funny stuff with Dudley. He’s got a weird relationship with the vacuum cleaner. He followed me around the house while I cleaned, staying close to the cleaning head. However, at the first sign of the vacuum head moving in his direction, he’d jump and run away like a cartoon character. It was hilarious! After noticing it, and testing it, I may have deliberately pushed the vacuum cleaner towards him a few more times, just for laughs 😁
On the other hand, after the initial wriggling, he let me calmly dry him with the hair dryer and brush. Chewie, on the other hand was a nervous wreck. He finally settled on letting me dry his back, bum and belly, but would bolt anytime I approached the front legs, shoulders, chest, or head. Wuss!
The late, muddy, wet run meant the boys didn’t ask for an evening walk. They got their chews instead. They loved the chews.
Interesting thing with the chews. Yesterday, Chewie picked the stuffed bone, and Dudley got the antler. They took the same from me today. However, when I got to the living room a few minutes later, they’d exchanged them. And they started with their (new) chews for rest of the evening. Didn’t try to sniff at the other person’s at all. Confused.con.
I’ve got a weird back ache. It’s stiffness on one side of the back, running vertically along the mid and lower back. My guess is it’s from the right hugging (and kneeing) I got from Chewie last night. He was probably marking me as his, given it was Dudley’s first night with us.
I didn’t help the back ache though. I slouched on the sofa half the day, and didn’t do any stretches. I’m slouched on the bed now.
Didn’t meditate. Wanted to. Didn’t. Will try again tomorrow. Will probably start again with the free beginner programme.
Didn’t speak to parents. It’s been over a week now since we spoke properly. Bad.
I finished the book. It was ok. It could’ve been good of it was more about the dog, and less about the person. Even the bits about the dog were mostly about the person. They should change the name. Wanted to give it 2 stars. Added one for the dog.
I lay down on the sofa with feet up on the wall, to flush the legs a bit before heading out for a run.
He saw me lay down, so came over, and snuggled up. He was asleep within minutes, as should have I been.
I joined Fitstuff running group for their weekly run last night.
Free run, good folks, interesting session, and a free tee as a bonus. Yep, I enjoyed it :)
Still uneasy. Even skipped the run today, breaking a 10 day, 71Km streak 😞
Bad day in office + no long runs for 2 consecutive weekends = making coffee at midnight and settling in for a night out on the laptop.