Archive for the 'Running & Fitness' Category

In today’s show:

My running is back on track - hurray! I talk about my aim to enjoy the process of running and not set any race or marathon goals in case my overly goal-focused personality hijacks the whole purpose of this hobby - which is to have fun!

Inspired by Matt’s You Are There segment, over at his rundiggerrun podcast, I start an occasional series My Local London, where I share with you some places in London which I find interesting, curious or are just plain nice to hang out in. Today, I’m in Trafalgar Square, taking a look at The Fourth Plinth. Discover how YOU can be a work of art by taking part in The Fourth Plinth project….

Also, here’s some video I captured via my phone camera of some street dancing outside the National Gallery on the north side of Trafalgar Square.

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loclon

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In today’s show:

It’s the day of my first 5k fun run* and also the day of the London Marathon. I share my experiences of the day and also discover an insight into an aspect of my personality during the fun run - which shows me a trait in my character that is with me in my life outside of running.

*The Goodrich Fun Run is organised by Friends of Goodrich to support the provision of equipment and experiences outside of Goodrich Community Primary School’s budget.

If you’d like to sponsor me to help out a good cause, there’s still time so please go to http://www.justgiving.com/goodrichfunrun09 where you can donate securely online - please mention Fusion View! (And thanks to all my friends who have already been so generous with their sponsorship!)

You can listen to the podcast using the grey podcast-player at the end of this post…

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You can also receive this and future Fusion View Podcasts free via iTunes - click on the lavender logo alongside.

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Since I took up running a little while ago, I’ve been on the lookout for ways to improve my form and stamina as well as speed. I heard that strengthening your core can help as a lot of power comes from the mid-body rather than just letting your flailing limbs do the work. So I went on the prowl on the internet to find some core training exercises.

Wait, don’t switch off if you’re not a runner. There’s good stuff to come - especially if you like to oggle at beautifully honed and toned muscley six pack abs….

To my delight, Runners World does a series of videos to show you how to do core strengthening exercises. This is one of them with a rather gorgeous blond runner flexing those muscles and working up a lovely golden glow.

Go ahead, watch and learn. Or just watch and drool…

In today’s show:

I take a look inside Virginia Woolf’s stream of consciousness novels and question how they fare alongside the stream of consciousness style of running podcasts. Yes, Fusion View is all about high culture and fitness…!

The running podcasts I mention are:

Running from the Reaper
Zen and the Art of Triathlon
Running with the Pack
Run Digger Run
Running the Narrow Path

And I play some voicemails from Susan Macaulay and Giles Colborne who share their running stories.

You can listen to the podcast using the grey podcast-player at the end of this post…

…Or, in the main player below, where you can also check out other Fusion View podcasts:

You can also receive this and future Fusion View Podcasts free via iTunes - click on the lavender logo alongside.

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I had lunch with my old friend Matthew the other day. Matthew started running about 18 months ago and this year, 2009, is running two marathons. He’s just done Tokyo and is up for London on 26 April.

He told me over lunch that he is hooking up with another college friend who is turning 50 this year and they are going to the Ironman in San Diego in 2010. An Ironman is a swim (2.5 miles) followed by a bike ride (100 miles) and then a marathon (26 miles). Matthew says he hates swimming but is looking forward to buying the new toys - a super duper bike, in particular.

I found this amazing, inspirational, scary video on YouTube about Ironman to inspire Matthew along his Ironman journey:

So, now, I’m thinking - there are a number of seniors on the video who’ve done the Ironman, someone with one leg, a guy in a wheelchair… if they can do it, could I? I certainly wouldn’t mind having the kind of abs and superfit body that some of these Ironpeople have. But then again, the pain, the agony, the collapsing in a heap… I’m too much of a wuss! I shall have to do it vicariously through YouTube - and my mad friends like Matthew…

In today’s show:

Getting Physical

April and the London Marathon is coming up. An old friend Matthew emails to say that will be his second marathon this year already! I experience the joy of physicality as my running stamina improves but still can’t help ordering lots of books.

Commuter Dead Time

What do you do to pass the dead time during your daily commute? Read? Shave? Put on make-up? Blog?

Lazing on the Sofa

Taking the time to loaf around doing nothing on a rainy long weekend, I feel like a lazy teenager again.

You can listen to the podcast using the grey podcast-player at the end of this post…

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In this episode of the Fusion View podcast, I report back on how we spent Earth Hour the other Saturday.

Also, how I got started running - and how I hope to keep on running!

One of these incentives is to get into training for the 5k Fun Run which is a Friends of Goodrich School event, organised by Liz Stuart of www.powerpramming.co.uk and her friend Malina Weber, which I talk about on the podcast. The run is at 10am on Sunday 26 April in Dulwich Park - also the same day as the London Marathon so we won’t probably see any serious runners and their fans joining us, only those out for a less arduous but fun challenge!

I’d love to hear from runners about how you got the running bug and how you keep going - you can send me an email or voicemail by going to my Contact page. If your message is right for the show, I’ll read it or play in on the next Fusion View podcast!

You can listen to the podcast using the grey podcast-player at the end of this post…

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Well, there’s nothing like writing it down and putting it out there to make something happen. I recently blogged about taking up running again, using Podrunner Intervals, a podcast that plays music at alternating slow and fast beats to help you with interval training. Within a day of my posting that up, my friend and blogging massage therapist, Melanie, dropped me a comment inviting me to join her for her second London Marathon in April 2010. My response was: Are you crazy!? But, still, I was chuffed to have her encouragement for my baby steps in running — especially as she is a superfit athlete.

A few days later, another friend, Sue, also learned about my new found fitness addiction from my blog and invited me to join her for a 5K fun run at the end of April. Sue is a homoeopath who lives round the corner from me and we are very close to Dulwich Park, where the fun run will be taking place. Since I go for my baby runs in that park every week, I had no any excuse not to sign up for the fun run. But the clincher was that Sue and I agreed to reward ourselves after the event by going for a slap up meal — how could I refuse that incentive! I have now sent off my cheque and application form…

Part of the thrill of starting a new hobby is to go shopping. I headed to London City Runner in my lunch hour and got myself a new pair of running shoes (Saucony) with stability support for my flat feet and weak ankles. I’ve also got some running shorts and a running T-shirt, both made of what they call “performance material” — silky, smooth to the touch: presumably to reduce the wind drag on my speedy pace of a mile in 20 minutes (yes, that’s called “walking pace”)… so while I huff and puff round the Park, regardless of my feeble performance, I look REALLY GOOD!

I have to confess that this new hobby has been inspired in the most part by my love of social media. While surfing the net the other week, I came across a number of podcasts and blogs about running and triathlons. Specifically, I typed in the word “Zen” into iTunes, thinking that I might like to listen to some podcasts about meditation and relaxation. One of the shows that came up was Zen and the Art of the Triathlon, a fantastic podcast by a triathlete called Brett living in Texas. It’s a really free-form show with him talking about training, cycling, swimming, testing out different kinds a gear. He has a very laid-back manner and a lovely energy that for some reason I find very inspiring. After listening to a couple of shows, I just wanted to get out there and run! (I would also love to swim and cycle but organising that in London is a bit more tricky than popping on my running shoes and trundling down to the park. But we’ll see… ) In addition to Brett, there is a huge community of running/ triathlete podcasters and bloggers out there and I’ve been getting a lot of tips and inspiration from many of them — if you want to check them out, just type in “running” or “triathlon” in iTunes or Google Blog Search.

What is interesting is that I have tried running off and on over the past few years but it has never really bitten and gotten hold of me in the same way as it has recently. I put that down definitely to finding the online community of runners/ triathletes. I’d always thought of myself as a non-sporty, literary type — not at all like those sporty, super athletes that think nothing of running across the desert or swimming the Channel. But listening to their podcasts about the pain that they experience in their training or the exhaustion that they have to fight through or about times when they just have to give up - as well as their enjoyment of the landscape that they are cycling or running through - has let me see them as ordinary people who have built up their stamina and skills over time and experience. It all seems less intimidating and more like something that even I could do!

So no sitting meditation or relaxation. Instead, I’m finding Zen in physical activity. Who knows where this will lead me. Watch this space…

Photo: thanks to klbw from flickr.com (CCL)

Following on from a trip to Amsterdam where we overindulged on the eating front, I have reinvigorated my exercise regime in earnest. I usually go to the gym 2 — 3 times a week but with the weather in London being so gorgeous now that spring is here, I have also added some easy jogging to give my work out some variety and also to enjoy some fresh air. My local park is now open a little bit later in the evenings so I have about an hour after work to get out there amongst the spring blossoms and daffodils.

I’ve never previously followed any proper training regime for running so I don’t really know what I am doing most of the time. I used to work on the principle that provided I’m moving at some kind of pace that gets me hot and sweaty, I must be doing alright. But, obviously, there are techniques and strategies to make the most of running and to do it properly without over-exertion or injuries. So I decided to see what tools I could find online.

I came across an interval training podcast on iTunes called Podrunner Intervals which I have been trying out. The idea behind interval training is that you walk for a bit and then you jog for a bit to build up stamina and strength. Then as you improve, you jog a bit and then run for a bit. The aim of the podcasts is to take you from couch potato to 10 km over a period of weeks and months. The concept is very simple: it plays suitably slow music for the walking bit and much faster music for the jogging bit, calibrated to the relevant beats per minute so you can achieve the optimum heart rate the given interval.

I have been thoroughly enjoying using this podcast as a training tool. My problem with running is that I usually get bored so having the different music for the different phases has helped stimulate me as I trundle along. And because it takes you through the different levels in a gently phased way, I have not utterly exhausted myself in the first few days and feel that I am slowly improving. So, yay for Podrunner Intervalsl!

I am currently on the second level and I think that I should be able to reach 5K in about four weeks time, fingers crossed. I will let you know when I get to that milestone (kilometre stone?) so you can celebrate with me!

Photo: thanks to EricNixon from flickr.com (CCL)