1095miles - how I'm running the recession

Road rage on the run

worldofjames — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 22:30:59 +0000

Just up the road from us, where Greyhound Lane meets Streatham High Road is a small parade of shops with slip road access off Greyhound Lane that looks like this on a map

You can see the slip road coming off the yellow road (Greyhound Lane) on the above map and many drivers will use it in an effort to beat the lights where Greyhound Lane meets Streatham High Road.

This morning, as I approached a woman was crossing the slip, talking on her mobile as she walked, when a car sped up the road and beeped for her to get out of the way.

“Next time,” shouted the male driver from the window, “get out of the way, you f**king c*nt” as he pulled into the stationary traffic on Streatham High Road.

By this time I’d caught up with everything and shouted back:

“Mate, that’s no way to talk to a woman on the street. Where’s your manners.”

“You f*ck off too, you f*cking c*nt” came his reply.

I told him to calm down again but again he shouted: “F*ck off you c*nt. You want some? Do you?”

Well I can’t remember the last time I was in a fight but by now, I was not willing to let this one go, so I stood my ground. Six foot of sweating, heavy breathing, yellow running shirted rage – I must have looked a right sight.

“Sure, get out the car,” I shouted. At which point with a final “c*nt” he wound the windows up and after a minute or so I ran on.

As I rounded Streatham Common a few minutes later, the traffic must have freed up as he passed me in the car, giving a loud beep on the horn as he went past. I half expected him to stop and go toe to toe but, like all bullies, when confronted with someone who wouldn’t take it, he was gone like a shot.

Click here for a link to Garmin Connect for a map and details of the run

Miles today: 5
Target: 936
Miles to date: 1,264.43

Please donate to my chosen charities by clicking here

Second Frankfurt run

worldofjames — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 05:22:12 +0000

I texted peter at 5.50 this morning to see if we coming out for a run but go no reply so headed out solo today – probably better as he only slows me down

I headed out into the same forest as yesterday. On Google Maps it looks like you can do a giant triangular shaped run around one section but when on the ground, it’s a much different proposition.

Once you get into the woods, there are dozens of different paths, all bearing an uncanny resemblance to each other, so I took the one that looked longest and seemed the clearest path of least resistance and started to run in as straight a line as possible.

The woods are very pretty and not a little spooky at 6am… tall trees close in as wind hurries through the leaves. It reminded me of one of the enchanted forests in Lord Of The Rings.

After a couple of miles, I passed over a huge lake, some tram tracks and then came to a main road which I was hoping was the base of the triangle until I came to another main road with an autobahn running over it, which I couldn’t remember from the map.

With a story Pete told me yesterday of him getting lost for three hours on a run in Atlanta, I headed back into the woods to try and make my way back and thankfully managed to do it with no delays.

Click here for a link to Garmin Connect for a map and details of the run

Miles today: 5.5
Target: 933
Miles to date: 1,259.43

Please donate to my chosen charities by clicking here

First run in Frankfurt

worldofjames — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 20:28:09 +0000

So after arriving in Germany yesterday evening, I had my first run while here this morning. I’m here at a convention with Peter Nunn, my buddy from the BBC and managed to convince him to come and meet me for a run at 5.45am this morning as we were starting our sessions at 7am… absolute madness.

I’d checked out some routes before coming here and had seen there was a forest a little while away from the hotel and so we decided to head for that, only to find it was pouring with rain as we set off. A quick mileage calculation had to take place and we decided for both time and sanity’s purpose that three miles would do today, rather than the five I’ve been averaging.

I’m glad I did too because it is now 10.30pm and after the couple of weeks I have had, I am absolutely shattered and so looking forward to heading back up to Yorkshire for a couple of days relaxation before Laura’s sister’s wedding on Saturday.

Click here for a link to Garmin Connect for a map and details of the run

Miles today: 3.06
Target: 930
Miles to date: 1,253.93

Please donate to my chosen charities by clicking here

1250 miles down and off to Frankfurt

worldofjames — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 07:23:59 +0000

Just a quick update as I’m off to Frankfurt for a couple of days to a conference but today I clocked up my 1250th mile…. not bad going.

The run took me from home, around Tooting Common and back through Streatham where I picked some money up from the bank for the trip. On the way, I decided to cheerily greet every runner I passed to see how many responded. I passed eight on the way… only two bothered to even respond. What happend to the runner’s union?

Click here for a link to Garmin Connect for a map and details of the run

Miles today: 5.5
Target: 927
Miles to date: 1,250.33

Please donate to my chosen charities by clicking here

Now with gym instructor qualification

worldofjames — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 07:13:58 +0000

So I was up early this morning for a quick five miler as I had to be Bankside gym behind the Tate Gallery where I was being assessed for the first stage of my Personal Trainer Diploma, the Certificate in Gym Instructing.

Fitness training in the UK is monitored by the Register of Exercise Professionals which has various levels of entry. Gym Instructor, which allows you to work in gyms, set up programmes for people and do most of the cleaning (!) is level two on the Reps scale, whereas a PT is level 3.

Despite some initial nerves and forgetting a couple of tiny bits, I did okay on the test, the examiner saying I was largely excellent…. my Reps card should come through in the next week or so!

Click here for a link to Garmin Connect for a map and details of the run

Miles today: 5
Target: 924
Miles to date: 1,244.83

Please donate to my chosen charities by clicking here

Getting mentally injured

worldofjames — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 22:06:34 +0000

‘They’ – whoever they are – say that exercise is supposed to relieve stress, but it doesn’t feel like it at the moment. I’ve my first practical exam for my PT course tomorrow and have had loads of paper work to fill in over the last few days regarding the programme I’m going to be teaching in the exam. Then yesterday I did a session on the Travel Channel which needed prep work, I’ve had two major commercial writing projects to finish this week and only one is done and I’ve been at The Express two days this week. On top of all that, on Sunday, I’m going to Germany to do some media training for three days, come back on Tuesday night at 10pm and then have to be up the next morning for a shift at The Sun. As soon as I am done there, I have to drive up to Leeds on Wednesday night for Laura’s sister’s wedding this weekend.

In the middle of all this, I somehow have to find time to pick up my mum who’s coming over from Athens tomorrow afternoon for two weeks and try and do the lion’s share of the chores in the house as Laura is having a pretty rancid couple of days with the twins…. arrrrrghhhhhhhhhhhhh.

This morning I decided to try a different tack when it came to running and cycling to work. I had planned to cycle to The Express offices at Monument, meet the deputy travel editor Duncan Craig there and go for a run with him around the Thames path. Now Duncan is pretty much a monster when it comes to training. He’s the kind of bloke who modestly says doing the Marathon Des Sables and the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc was not all that much.

Given I was up writing my session plans till 1am and was up again at 6am, I’m not displeased we missed each other by minutes at the office and both ran separately, although admittedly, that is a lovely run around there: Down the Thames to St Kat’s dock, crossing Tower Bridge, running past City Hall and back over London Bridge… I ended up doing two laps. I’ll take Duncan on when I’m less stressed!!!

Click here for a link to Garmin Connect for a map and details of the run

Miles today: 5.2
Target: 921
Miles to date: 1,239.83

Please donate to my chosen charities by clicking here

Just the run

worldofjames — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 21:53:39 +0000

Click here for a link to Garmin Connect for a map and details of the run

Miles today: 5
Target: 918
Miles to date: 1,234.63

Please donate to my chosen charities by clicking here

Strange dreams and a strange person on the road

worldofjames — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 06:54:10 +0000

Just 60 days – or a sixth of the way – to go now and this morning I awoke from a strange dream.

My pal and running confidante David and I were about to play a game of football where I was to wear my Garmin watch to track my progress and for the running I did in the match to count towards the challenge.

The problem was, my knee was hurting so much, I couldn’t play, despite trying for a few minutes and had to give up the running streak.

I woke up a disappointed start and with my knee aching in real life. Over the last couple of weeks the niggles are starting to increase, largely because I’ve increased my mileage I suppose. My right knee is super creaky most of the time, my anter tibialis (the muscle on the inside of your calf) is tight as heck and there is more chafing than I care to go in to…

I actually limped down the stairs, ate a handful of almonds to line my stomach, took a couple of ibuprofen, grimaced a bit, did the morning constitutional and then set off at an intentionally slow pace.

Around the middle of Streatham Common I turned off onto an undulating road called Valley Road and around half way along this, I came across a small black gentleman who must have been around 60.

Unlike most people you see on the street when running, he was polite enough to give way, pulling to one side of the pavement as I approached.

And then he waved me down. “Excuse me sir,” he said with a big booming voice that sounded a little like Tom Jones. “Can you give me a job?”

“I wish I could,” I replied, “but technically, I too am unemployed.”

“Okay, okay,” he boomed as I set off again….

Click here for a link to Garmin Connect for a map and details of the run

Miles today: 5
Target: 915
Miles to date: 1,229.63

Please donate to my chosen charities by clicking here

Making the challenge much tougher

worldofjames — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 10:23:50 +0000

So with the 1095 miles done and with some 60 odd more days left, I’ve decided to up the challenge and try and cover 1,500 miles for the 365 days of running. As such, I sent an email out yesterday to try and raise some more cash for charity… which read like this:

It seems as though running 1095 miles is not enough…

… for some people, so I’ve moved the finish line…

For anyone who doesn’t know, 304 days ago I vowed to run at least three miles a day EVERY day for a year – you can read my daily travails at www.1095miles.com.

Thanks to a marathon and a couple of halves, I beat my 1095mile distance target last month – but still have two months to go to complete the year of running challenge.

So I’ve now decided to attempt 1,500 miles in the year, which means that by September 20, I have to up my average daily mileage from three to 4.6 miles a day.

The new challenge rules are:

1. I still have to run at least three miles a day for the next 61 days
2. In that time, I have to average at least 4.6miles a day.
3. I have to clock up 1,500 miles by September 20

All I ask in exchange is for you to bung a few quid towards my two chosen charities.

Candlelighters – a children’s cancer foundation based in Leeds

Waterside Charitable Trust – a cottage charity that helps with health, sanitation and youth projects in Kenya.

Donations can be made at www.virginmoneygiving.com/1095miles and are split equally between the two charities.

Today’s run details below

Click here for a link to Garmin Connect for a map and details of the run

Miles today: 5
Target: 912
Miles to date: 1,224.63

Please donate to my chosen charities by clicking here

Fancy a 24 hour run?

worldofjames — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 12:24:24 +0000

There’s a race coming up in two Saturday’s time that I would have loved to take part in: the Adidas TR24.

It’s a 24 hour cross country race for teams of up to eight over a 10km course. Basically, you always have to have one of your team running the course over the 24 hours. So you could do, say 20km (or two laps), let someone else go out for a lap or two, followed by someone else and when you have recovered, you can go again.

It’s all part of this new drive by Adidas for their new running community testadidas.co.uk and invited participants get the following:

- Free entry to TR24 to be part of the adidas team

- Free pair of Swoop 2 trail shoes

- Free running kit (tops and bottoms)

- Free catering / refreshments on the day

- Free massages

Unfortunately, I cant take part as it is the weekend of Laura’s sister’s wedding but the team publicising the event are looking for willing participants.

As it’s part of the ‘test adidas’ trial if you fancy a go, you would also have to take part in the community with some online reviews of kit and the like, it’s at www.testadidas.co.uk which goes live this week.

If you want to sign up, drop a line to

Atheer [at] wildfirecompany.com

From a running perspective, I did another five miler today, heading out on what has now become a familiar route to the Virgin Active gym and back.

I’ve my first practical assessment in gym instructing this weekend which will get me the first part of my PT diploma and allow me to start training people in gyms if I wish so it was good to get some practice time in on equipment that will be used in the exam.

Click here for a link to Garmin Connect for a map and details of the run

Miles today: 5
Target: 909
Miles to date: 1,219.63

Please donate to my chosen charities by clicking here