The Walker With Heart

I can safely say it wasn't too warm today, most of the other people doing the circuit at the local "fitness trail" were wrapped up as if it was winter... so I was getting funny looks for my shorts and t-shirt!!! I've read that marathon runners use 80% of the energy they use to pump heat out of their bodies, and on days like this I can see where this number comes from. With the coolness out there, I took a longer warm up just to make sure that my bits and bobs weren't going to snap under sudden acceleration (I say sudden, think oil tanker moving off!). A good solid run, 5 km jogged before I needed a walk break - and that was mainly a confidence thing - 500m walked and then 2.5km to the end... One of my target times is the 60min 5miles, and after the 5km and 500m walk I had 18 minutes to do it in... at 7km I had 6min... Well I have to confess to a small dose of machoism and I did try and run it down, 60min and 43s... Still I'm chuffed I could run a sub-7min km...

But they'll probably intrepret that as something related to male fascination to their tackle... Only joking, I have an elcetic group of friends and friends of friends... 3 Biologists and 3 clinical psychologists go for a walk may be sound like the start of a long, and probably not particularly funny joke but was the start of a pleasent walk over a gentle hill, an ancient priory and part of the Cumbria Coastal Path. http://connect.garmin.com/activity/9856523 is the link - ignore the height gain, garmin always has it far higher than it actually was at c250m. Miles added, fun had and a nice meal to finish... TTFN Paul

I hate the summer... Its official I'm a cold weather runner and a warm weather walker, even waiting until this evening when it was cooler was hot and hard work. But another 4km to the good, and I'm going to need to start putting in more of these smash and grab runs as my time gets eaten up by work, my charity commitments and the faint traces of a social life I manage to fit in. Anyway, grumbles over for tomorrow is another day and I'm walking on Sunday:-) TTFN Paul

Well, the idea of running or walking at the weekend went out the window as my head beat out an early iron maiden track, without the guitars... or the vocals... However, today dawned a little better and the paracetamol and codeine killed anything that was remaining, and left a pleasent hum:-) Which kept me going through a fun climbing session, by fun I'm talking forearms pumped, cuts to my shin where I came off and hammered it into the underprow of a volume and nailing a 4c I'd not managed before. So the running thing gets picked up hopefully tomorrow evening, or Thursday lunchtime. This week is a pig in terms of work, long days and travel to London on Friday for meetings and then a Children's Heart Federation trustees meeting on Saturday. So I'm hoping for easy travels so I can bag a decent run on Sunday. Designs for my plinth-wear are going well... TTFN Paul

The good news is thanks to a fellow GUCH with more IT savvy than me there's a count down timer and a distance complete monitor on the blog... The bad news is I'm on the 2nd day of a thumping headache, no not Swine (or any other type!) of flu... I just get thumping headaches, in clusters from time to time... Sometime I prefer getting 1 solid, vomit inducing, migraine to a couple of days of this. In terms of activities, we'll have to see how I feel tomorrow, worst case I'll go for a 5km walk to get my lungs and legs moving and see if that helps, next up I'll pop to the gym for a 5km run on a nice bouncy treadmill and if all is well I'll go for something more substantial. TTFN Paul

Somedays running just doesn't work... and when you're lunchtime running partners legs seize up it probably a good thing to slow it down and shorten the route. So instead of the planned 5km it was 4km... But its been a fairly active week - 2 bouts of climbing and 24km since sunday... Tomorrow is more climbing, indoors this time, but the longer walls... Normally we climb the 5-6 m walls the big ones are 12 metres, which means more tea breaks to stretch out the aching muscles. Saturday I start prepping my costume for the Plinth, think bright red and broken hearted TTFN Paul

Nice gentle 5km at lunchtime today, nothing special, nothing too painful (though my running partner may disagree;-)) http://connect.garmin.com/activity/8764770 is the standard work 5km, nice gradual slope up, and then flat and down to a pig of a hump back bridge... Climbing tomorrow to work the kinks out, and then an evening meeting of a sub-group of the ECHG... Don't know who they are? We're to be found here www.echg.net TTFN Paul

Ho Hum... Well results of the interview are out, passed the board (for those not used to civil service jargon that means I'm good enough to do the job) but came second. All of which is fine, apart from this is the 5th time I've been beaten into 2nd place... Ho Hum, I'll just have to keep the pencil sharp as all I can do is keep going, though it is rather tiring... Anyway, unfortunately climbing is 1/3 strength, 1/3 technique and 1/3 in your head... so with my head not in the right place not a great day at the climbing wall... It's probably worth explaining a bit about climbing and its mysterious ways. I mostly top rope, so the rope is already threaded through a mallion at the top of the wall, you tie yourself in, grab a friend to belay you and start climbing... The knot is a figure of 8 knot - as seen here http://www.indoorclimbing.com/Figure_8_Knot.html Routes indoors are usually colour coded, so you can rainbow (use any hold you can get to) or follow one of the colou...

Ah, the joys of actually getting some significant miles under my feet:-) The 10km jog is around a local park, Walton Hall, where they've very kindly laid out a 2.5km track, so 4 times around was the target and it was done... Unlike other half marathons I've trained for I'm trying a slightly different technique.. Previously I've concentrated on short bursts (1.2km) of jogging and then 300m (recovery walk) and just repeated that for as long as the race is... This time I'm going to see if the steady eddy approach works better, so jogged out 4km, walked for about 800m then another 3.2km jog, walk break and then a jog to the end. Just over the 8km jogged, which is the 2nd furthest I've ever run in a 10km so I'm happy. The warm up walk out should be standard for everyone, but for me is vital as it takes a while for my systems to warm up. Similarly, cooling down and stretching out is important. And it also adds a good 5km to the total:-) This week should be more ...

Well its been a week, 3 climbing sessions, 1st jog of the new campaign and an interview. The results of the interview will be out next week (HR people apparently get annual leave too, never did when I was in HR...). However, it does mean the week has been an interesting mix of endorphins and adrenaline and so when I do get a day off (catch up with the washing, do some food shopping have lunch with a friend) I'm wiped out. Ok, this wasn't helped by the local Orange Order badn marching past at just before 7am, but a long soak and an early night beckon I think. TTFN Paul

Hmmm, 5 days into a walking/running challenge and I've run once and climbed 3 times... Well that's the way the cookie crumbles at times:-) A days climbing is a good workout, its not all arms, as most of the power moves should through the legs. What is needed is a reasonable sense of balance and someone you trust at the other end of the rope... Otherwise you can end up as I did... This is what happens when your foot rolls on debris as you abseil off! Big walk/run on Sunday, tomorrow is my day of rest:-) TTFN Paul

Another cross training day, falling off stuff I should be able to climb if not with ease and grace then with grunt and perspiration. The normal plan will be to run Tuesday, Thursday and Sundays, with climbing on Mon and Wed leaving me Friday and Saturday to do domestics and also to let any pains and strains to subside. Well week 1 and its having to be altered, tomorrow I've the "pleasure" of a promotion interview... Oh Joy! Now the there is a temptation to go for a 5 mile run in the morning but common sense prevails and I'll be rehearsing my presentation and making sure I know what I was talking about in the application form. Also means I'm out for a curry tomorrow night, so much for the healthy living! TTFN Paul

Well, I can still run... Not fast, but I knocked off a 5km in a lunchtime which means I've officially started. It was hot, humid and a bit sticky out there. But apparently you get used to that in time, lets hope so cos I don't sweat pretty! Paul

As planned, Day 1 was a cross training day... Which for me is a good hour and a half climbing at my local climbing wall, which in this heat doubles as a sauna... Which doesn't help with trying to hold on fairly small holds (chalk rubs off!) Tomorrow the running starts, nice gentle 5km which I'm slotting into my lunch break before a meeting of our board level diversity steering group. Just hope I've time for a shower! TTFN Paul

Welcome! 1000km in 365 days Sounds simple, its only 3km a day.... Yup, only... My rules: Walking to the shops won't count, this is walks and runs that I consider training for something or doing something. So over the course of the year you'll share my training runs (all weathers, I don't stop apart from the heat), my walks (often with the GUCH Walking Club) and events (and I will let you know which ones so you can come and join me). As crosstraining I'll be climbing (ropes, harnesses, scary rock faces) and doing some gym work which I'll let you know about as well. Joining me: I don't mind if its for a metre, 100 metres or further, what's important is that people join in and realise that all GUCHs and youngsters with CoHD can do some form of exercise. First target: My first event is the hour I've got on the 4th Plinth in Trafalgar Square as part of the Gormley installation - its 5-6am on a Sunday morning so I'm not expecting anyone to get up and cheer...

Three Days to go:-)

Welcome one and all! This is hopefully the start of a year where you get an insight into life as an adult with congenital heart disease, also known as a GUCH. I'll also get a bit fitter, see some new sights and hopefully make some new friends! More details will follow Paul