Janathon – Page 4 – Black and Tabby Runs

Why Janathon is better than Jantastic

As I posted yesterday, I suddenly realised on Saturday morning that I still needed to fit two runs in this week in order to complete my 3 runs a week for jantastic. Truth be told I was still in a post-Janathon, post-lurgy slump and have been enjoying not running much this week, so this was an unpleasant realisation.

My 3 mile plod on Saturday was fine for one of those runs, but I’d also said I’d complete a long run of 6 miles this week, so that was what I needed to do yeaterday. Unfortunately I also needed to get the paint brush and huge pot of emulsion out and do a bit more painting upstairs and on our newly replastered dining room ceiling. 4 hours of painting and I was shattered. And I still had to do this 6 mile run.

If this was Janathon, I could quite happily have recorded painting as my day’s exercise. (In fact I did, on several days this year). But Jantastic? Oh no – painting’s not good enough for them. It has to be running. Sigh. Oh – and it’s February now – what’s with the Jantastic thing? Eh? Mm?! You see – Janathon is better than Jantastic – I rest my case.

So at 4 o’clock I put the paint roller down, put on my trainers and set off. The sun was just about setting, it was starting to get cold again, but I did discover that going up a hill, with the sun setting behind you, means you can take photos like this:

*That's* what I call legs! — *That’s* what I call legs!

Actually – whispers – if it was Janathon I wouldn’t have got out for a 6 mile run, so maybe there is something to this Jantastic thing after all …

Janathon Day 31. Finally.

So I finally made it to the end of Janathon. Thank heavens for that! My cold is also still lingering -not so thankful for that. Full of snot and all out of ideas and enthusiasm, I asked my son to suggest what I should do for my last Janathon exercise. He simply answered “star jumps”. Sadist.

So 10 star jumps done. Janathon 2015 done. I think I might spend February under my duvet.

Janathon Day 30. Drip.

Full of cold. Haven’t had a cold for a very long time, so wallowing in self pity. Not good for the penultimate day of Janathon, but in the spirit of hanging on to the bitter end I attempted a pyjama plank before bed.

A feeble 41 seconds and I had to give up because my nose was dripping onto the floor. Glamorous.

Janathon Day 29. A walk and a Wheelie Bin Hunt #2

Cold lurgy is in full flow today, but cabin fever is also setting in, so today’s Janathon activity was a successful end to the wheelie bin hunt and a walk around the block. Well, I say successful – I’m presuming it was my bin – the two cottages at the end can’t possibly have three wheelie bins between them, can they?!

The walk was an official walk (i.e. I wore my Garmin), it measured 0.6 of a Mile and took me 10 minutes. And three tissues *sniff*.

Janathon Day 28. The Hunt for the Wheelie Bin

Good News! Wiltshire Council took my Christmas tree to be recycled today.

Bad News. My wheelie bin has disappeared, After leaving it at the end of the drive to be emptied we had some really windy weather, and now it’s gone.

More bad news, my cold lurgy is settling in nicely (sniff).

To end with some more good News, today’s Janathon activity did involve going outside today, but only to go up and down the lane looking for the runaway bin. No sign of it so far …

Janathon Day 27. Another Pathetic One

After Sunday’s excesses and Monday’s recovery plod, today was pathetic by comparison. I think I might have finally succombed to the cold lurgy that’s been doing the rounds for the last couple of months (my own fault for feeling too smug about not catching it).

I also had a house full of people working on the house – two builders, two window men and one tiler. That’s lots of cups of tea and coffee to make and carry up and down stairs, especially for someone who still has “bungalow legs”.

I did manage to drag the very large and heavy Christmas tree round to the front of the house in a final attempt to catch the council recycling van tomorrow morning. I think that counts as strength training (it was a huge tree and put up quite a fight).

Janathon Day 25. The Slaughterford 9. Hills, Mud and Gussets.

So a race morning when you over sleep by half an hour is not a good start. Nor is not being able to find your favourite running bra. At least the rush meant I couldn’t dwell for too long on the race ahead.

It was the morning of The Slaughterford 9 – a race that I swore I would never do again after I last ran it 3 years ago. The race that contributed to an injury that led to me missing 5 weeks of training for my first marathon in London 2012. Nevertheless I thought it was time to give it another go, not least because the morning saw the area covered in freezing fog so I never got to see the views from the top of the huge climbs.

The runners and marshals were as friendly as you’d expect from a small race, and my jazzy socks got plenty of complimentary remarks.

The hills were as steep as I remembered. However the mud wasn’t as bad, and was nowhere near as bad as at last week’s race (Bath Skyline 10K #3).

Walking the hills. We ALL walked the hills

The stream we have to wade up in the last mile wasn’t as cold as I remembered – I could actually feel my feet as I climbed up the hill on the otherside. The steam WAS deeper though, stepping down into knee deep muddy water is a challenge. Wading along the uneven bottom when you can’t see where to best put your feet is more of a challenge, and how they made it go deeper as you went along is a secret only a sadist would know. The cold water reached my shins, knees, thighs and just as it hit gusset-level I heard a cry of “oo my undercarriage” from up ahead, which made me laugh.

The final steep hill was as much a killer as ever, and then it was the final slope to the finish line. I originally ran this race in 2012 because I’d had massive race t-shirt envy. Seeing as I got paint on my original shirt I was looking forward to getting a new one. Imagine my face when I saw that this year’s t-shirt was pink.

Regular readers will know exactly how I feel about the colour pink, as did the man I was running next to when I spotted the colour (apologies to him for my language).

It had been great to see Mr. B&T pop up around the course three times to cheer me on and take attractive photos, but it was a close run thing as to whether I was more pleased to see him at the finish, or the Mars bar I was handed.

After a cold nearly-a-mile walk back to the car, I was most pleased to see his car with it’s heated seats. Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood wouldn’t approve, but I can highly recommend heated seats on a soggy bottom.

Janathon Day 24. Finally the weekend

After a lovely lie in this morning, we set off for a birthday lunch for my brother in law. A great meal in a lovely cafe was well deserved after a busy few days. Then home and time to get smartened up ready for the Chippenham Wheelers Cycling Club dinner dance. Not such a good meal this time, but I did manage to fit in a couple of dances, so I’m claiming that for today’s Janathon.

A sober evening, all due to getting ready for tomorrow’s Slaughterford 9 race. Gulp!

Janathon Day 23. More work.

An even earlier start and a longer day at work meant I only managed to fit in some easy stretches. However I’m claiming extra points for once again doing them in a corset. Work, eh? Roll on the weekend.

Janathon Day 22. Work

Due to work commitments I was out at work for a very long day yesterday. The only thing I managed to squeeze in (did you see what I did there?) was some pelvic floor exercises.

Better than nothing I suppose, but do I get extra points for doing them in a corset?