The Hunt for Red January

 I did decided to put in an extra effort on the last day by getting up for a run at 6am. I was a little surprised to see a covering of frost but I was well wrapped up so it was no problem.  I managed to do just over 8km and made it back in time to have breakfast before heading to work.  Hopefully that will be my last early run for a few weeks while I wait for it to get a bit lighter in the morning. I had planned to go to the gym for a row and a swim but after faffing about I ended up arriving late without my swimming trunks so I just had a row and then 10 minutes on the treadmill. What conclusions have I reached after being active for 31 days?  I have certainly enjoyed doing the various classes at the gym especially Body Fit and Body Combat which I will definitely do again if I can be organised enough to be on my phone at 7 in the morning when the new classes are released.  I've also become a fan of spinning but in future I will probably aim for intense sessions...

 After a fairly dull day the sun finally came out around 3 so I was able to go out for a run.  I managed to run a comfortable 10km on one of my usual routes. I had planned to go to the gym this evening but I seem to have picked a slight niggle at the back of my knee so I decided not to risk it. I'm hoping to start the final day of the challenge with a very early run and then finish off in the evening rowing at the gym and swimming. 

 I was intending to run after work tonight after work that I ended up having a power nap instead. I did make up for it later though by going to the gym and spending 30 minutes rowing and 30 minutes on the treadmill. I think tonight is the first time I've been on a treadmill this month which is not bad going given how foul the weather has been most of the month. Hopefully the weather will be better tomorrow so I can go out running again otherwise it will be back to the treadmill. Just two more days to go.

 It was nice to get up early this morning to squeeze in a 10k run before going to my local junior Parkrun. I managed to link my headband to my phone so I could listen to some running music whilst pounding the pavements.  Whilst it was still dark when I set off it was pleasing to see the sunrising halfway through the run. I even found a slight tweak to one of my normal Sunday runs which made a steep climb alot more manageable.  Junior Parkrun was enjoyable because it was the sixth anniversary of the Parkrun starting back in 2018 so there were lots of balloons  and cake and smiling faces. After getting home I made the most of the good weather to get some of jobs dome outside.  I now have two very water tight shed and a secure garden fence. Bring on the storms!

 After getting up and doing some light stretching I headed off to volunteer at my local Parkrun. I finally managed to do my 100th volunteering role. I has planned to do it by Christmas but do to lots of cancellations it took me slightly longer than I'd planned.  We had a really good turnout with 300 people taking part.  The weather was a bit overcast with pockets of wind in parts of the course.  We managed to get away without any injuries for once which was just as well because I was in charge of one of the first aid kits. When I got home my wife was about to go for a walk so I joined up and did 6km in fairly windy conditions. This afternoon I caught up on the some of the jobs I've been putting off while doing Red January. The shed on the drive needed new felt on the roof but when I took the old felt off the whole shed nearly fell down so I spent nearly an hour trying to make it stable again with lots of screws and nails and metal supports.  When I finally finis...

 After a fairly inactive day I decided to walk into town after work to do some shopping and sort a few things out. I thought a simple job like getting a key cut would be quite straight forward but it ended up taking about 20 minutes walking around town to actually find somewhere that cuts keys. I'm sure there used to be at least half a dozen places in town that cut keys but now there only appears to be one. It was only when I got home an hour later that I realised that I had forgotten to buy two of the things I went for. I suppose that means I'll have to go back again tomorrow and get more steps in. My new challenge today was Body Combat.  It was billed as a combination of boxing and martial arts training but in reality it was boxing with quite a bit of kicking thrown in. It seemed pretty intense but I'm not sure if it really was intense or that I was knackered because it was half past eight at night after quite a tough week.  I might give it another go next week to see i...

 Having only done some light stretching this morning I was glad to fit in a bit of table tennis at school to ensure I had done a hours exercise in the day. I had hoped to go running again tonight but the wind and rain dampened my enthusiasm so I opted to go into the garage and do a few Spin session on my bike. I didn't get much of a sweat on but I think that was just because the garage was a bit cold. I'm off swimming again later. Fortunately my watch survived last nights swim so I will give it another go this evening.

 After a 6 o'clock start to finish off some jokes for a radio show I managed to squeeze in thirty minutes stretching before breakfast. I then had another windy walk to school which helped with my step count for the day. I had planned to do a cycling session a the gym before dinner but because I didn't have a car to get to the gym I made the most of the dry weather to go running for the first time in three days. Whilst their were some pockets of wind along the way I managed to come up with a fairly sheltered route so it was a very comfortable run. When I got home I made a quick chilli which I stuck in the slow cooker because everybody was eating at different times. I now just need to go for a swim to finish off today's activities. I'm going to test out my watch in the pool for the first time so I'm hoping that it is fully water tight. Just one more week to go.

 Tuesday is usually one of my rest days and today was no different.  I got up early and did thirty minutes stretching with my infra red lamp to try and sort out any niggles in my legs and then had breakfast and walked to work. After work the weather was still fowl so I headed to the garage to go on my exercise bike, I found a good Spinning video on You Tube which was really useful.  The instructor was a bit irritating when she tried to include inspirational quotes into her instructions but I did quite like the stopwatch that appeared on the screen whenever we were doing a sprint. The word push also appeared on the wall behind her when she wanted everyone to push a bit harder. I think of all the Spinning videos I've watched this one is closest to being in a Spin class.  The only thing it lacks is all the heat generate by 30 people all burning off energy in a small room. After my session on the bike I had twenty minutes on the rowing machine. I think that is probably t...

 My original plans for today were to do some indoor cycling before breakfast, run after school and then a Body Balance class this evening. But when I got up feeling a bit stiff I decided that stretching next to my infra red lamp would be a better idea.  I then had a brisk walk to work battling the wind. Whilst the weather was OK for running after work I knew that I really needed to sort out the fence that was blown down last night, so I headed off to B&Q and spent a small fortune on wood, nails and screws. When I got home the wind had started to pick up again so instead of a proper repair I just hammered in 4 really big nails which seemed to do the trick for now. With a small window of opportunity to do some exercise before cooking diner I finally got to do my 30 minutes of indoor cycling with some loud music and flashing disco lights. Rather than risk pulling any more muscles I cancelled my Body Balance class and did 30 minutes rowing and 30 minutes swimming instead. Afte...

 With the weather looking very dodgy this morning I opted for 30 minutes in the garage on my bike before breakfast and then I headed out to marshal at junior Parkrun. The ground was still extremely soggy but fortunately the wind wasn't too bad so the event went without incident.  After getting home I rushed to do a few jobs before my gym session because I knew that the weather was only going to get worse. I managed to clean all three cars in record quick time before gathering my stuff for another Body Attack session. Last time I did the session there were only four of us so I was pleased to see more people turn up this week.  The instructor was doing some new routines to it kept things interesting.  The routines were a bit more straight forward than the Body Jam routines yesterday so I didn't get too confused. After getting home from the gym I had a quick bite to eat before doing a 'quick job' for my wife. As with most 'quick jobs' things soon went awry. Just as...

 I was really expecting it to be a bit warmer for Parkrun this morning but I  definitely felt a wind chill factor as I was doing my warm up lap. Luckily I was appropriately dressed with my three quarter running trousers and a vest under my long sleeve running top.  We had a bigger turnout than usual because another local Parkrun had been cancelled. I thought I had got off to a quick start but by the 2 km mark I was more interested in dodging the wind than setting a quick time so I got up close to a pack of runners and used them as a windbreak the next couple of km.  With 1km to go I finally found a bit of extra pace and managed to overtake a few runners before the finish line. My time wasn't great but I'm just going to blame it on the cold and the wind. When I got home I had a quick bowl of porridge and then went back to bed for a hour to warm up.  Then I headed to the gym to try Body Jam. When my daughter read the description of Body Jam she found it hilarious ...

 I did actually manage to get out off bed early this morning but my plans to do some exercise before work didn't quite workout. I was hoping to done ten minutes work on my computer before doing an on-line exercise class but then I realised the document I had spent most of last night finishing with lots of new greeting card ideas couldn't be sent off because I had not give each idea a reference code so a ten minute job soon became a thirty minute job. Having walked to work all week my wife wasn't using the car today so I missed out on a few thousands steps by driving to work. Given how long it took to clear the ice from the windscreen it would probably have been quicker to walk. After a fairly easy day at work I was just walking back to the staffroom when I felt a shooting pain in the back of my leg. I managed to drive home OK but once I got home I went to bed and use my heat lamp on my leg for a while.  The lamp seemed to do the trick but as usual when I use the heat lamp I...

 After another slow start to the day, with the snooze button getting plenty of action I had a cold walk to work. I so warmed up though because I got roped into supporting a table tennis lesson so I was able to chalk up another sport for the month. When I got home from work I had a blast on my exercise bike before cooking an early dinner so that I could digest it before tonight's gym class. Tonight's class was all about concentrating on the core. It was fairly intense so I was glad to discover that it was a only a thirty minute class.  There were certainly plenty of stretches that I might try at home when warming up in a morning. After the class I head off to do the weekly shop to get it out the way because I've got quite a busy weekend with classes and Parkrun.

 I had every intention of getting up early this morning to do some exercise bu a combination of a late night and the cold weather meant that pressing the snooze button was just too tempting, so my six o'clock start eventually became a seven o'clock start.  I managed to walk to school and back to fit in half an hours exercise and then when I got home I forced myself to go out for a run. With several layers of clothes on it didn't feet too cold.  Just for a change I head off uphill for the start of my run in the knowledge that my return trip would be mostly downhill.  Tomorrow I've booked into some high intensity training at the gym so I will take it easy in the day with some stretching in the morning and some cycling when I get home from work. I can't believe there are now just two weeks to go. I've booked plenty of classes for next week and I'e got a couple of running challenges u my sleeve so hopefully I'll have enough ideas to keep me going for the nex...

What better way to start a very cold day than to get up a 6am and fun 4km as quick as possible along a relatively flat piece of road.  It certainly blew away the cobwebs.  I thought that would be my running over with for the day but then half way to work I thought I'd left my lanyard at home so I ran all the way home only to find it was already around my neck. After work I was planning to do some indoor cycling but when I realised we had no duck spring rolls to have with the Chinese I walked up the hill to the local shop to try and get some. My mission was unsuccessful but at least I got my steps in for the day. This evening I took my daughter to watch our local team play. It was bloody cold but at least we managed to sneak a late winner.

 I kicked the week off with some chair yoga courtesy of You-Tube.  Most of the exercises were easy going so I didn't get much of a sweat on. I can see how some of the stretches could easily be incorporated into everyday life.  The next time I've got to do some invigilating in a small room in school I think I'll use some of the stretches to avoid getting stiff. After work I braved the cold for a run. I manages to do 8km without much trouble but as soon as I got home I had a quick shower before jumping into bed to warm up with the help of the electric blanket. I've been very surprised that I have not had more trouble with my arthritis with all the cold. I think the turmeric must be keeping it at bay. After dinner I did a bit of work before going out again in the cold to squeeze in a late swim. I like swimming late at night because the pool is virtually empty so you can swim without worrying about bumping into other people. Nearly halfway there and still going strong.

 When I got up this morning my hip was still feeling stiff after my Pilates class, so I opted to go for a walk rather than my usual Sunday morning run.  Despite all the gloom and doom in the weather forecast it really wasn't too cold. It was however still dark at 7 o'clock so I put on my woollen hat with the light at the front to be a bit more visible.  I managed to walk for nearly a hour without meeting a single soul. After my walk I got a quick bite to eat before heading off to help at junior Parkrun. The course was a little better than last week because it was still partially frozen.  The run was over really quickly because we only had about 10 runners and they were all in a hurry to finish to get out of the cold. On my way home I stopped off at a few shops to try and get some new swimming trunks because my current pair keep threatening to fall down which could be very embarrassing if I go to anymore aqua-aerobics classes.  I took it easy for the rest of the ...

 It is Saturday so Parkrun is a must. Usually I'm out of bed bang on 7 to do a bit of stretching and sort myself out, but today it took two snoozes before I actually got out of bed.  I manages to fit in some light stretching while watching an old episode of 'The Bill'. Having seen the frost outside I decided a vest and warm hat would be required along with my new thermal running gloves. I even managed to find the long sleeved 'Red January.' shirt I bought a few years back.   When I got to Poolsbrook there were a few icy patches but the course looked fine. I managed to fit in a quick 2km warm up lap before heading to the start and then managed a relatively quick 5km run. After finishing it was quite sunny so I did another 3km to cooldown. I then headed home for breakfast and half an hour with the electric blanket to warm up. Today's new experience was a Pilates class at the gym. I had borrow my wife's yoga mat because mine kept falling out of its strapping.  ...

 I usually take it easy on a Friday because I tend to do  a lot of running at the weekend.  I did some light stretching before breakfast before walking to work. I was expecting a pretty hard day at work but in the end it wasn't two bad. I was covering for a member of staff who was out for the morning but things were pretty uneventful. I think most of the kids were knackered after being back for a week so they didn't have the energy to mess about.  In the afternoon the student who has not been in a lesson for 5 months suddenly decided he wanted to go to lessons again, so we actually made it to a lesson and he even stayed in the lesson until the bell went. After walking home I quickly dealt with a DIY jump I've been putting off all week before going into the garage for some indoor cycling.  Whilst I got the lighting and the music just right I couldn't quite muster up the intensity I managed when doing the group cycling at the gym. I think I might use a stopwatch n...

Having cancelled my early morning group cycling session because I wasn't feeling great I got at half six to do some light stretching. I used some of the stretches I've being doing at the various classes in the past ten days. I then had breakfast and walked to work for a bit more gentle exercise. I had hoped to go running this evening but because the weather was pretty fowl I decided to do some cycling in the garage instead. I dug out a disco light I bought sometime ago and found so 'Spinning' music on You-Tube.  The session wasn't as intense as the cycling class I did last Friday but I still felt the benefit of it afterwards. I had an early dinner before heading to the gym for a aqua-aerobics class with my wife.  I thought it would be fairly gentle exercise but in the event it was quite hard going. The instructor was the same instructor who did the cycling session last week and she delivered the aqua class with the same energy with which she delivered the cycling cl...

 My plan this morning was to do 30 minutes cycling before work and a run when I got home but then I woke up with a sore throat and aching limbs. So I decided to have an extra hour in bed instead. I managed to get to work but then at about half ten I was asked to go to reception to meet a student who is a school refuser. He was in reception with his mum and his older sister who was also refusing to come into school. I spent half an hour trying to persuade him to come into the building. Eventually his mum had had enough and said she was going home he then followed and spent 20 minutes stood next to the car arguing with her. I decided not to go outside because it was freezing cold and he had reached the point where it was impossible to reason with him. I went back to the room I'd been working in and he eventually came into school at twelve o' clock and I was tasked with keeping him amused until lunch time.  After having something to eat he was a bit calmer but still spent the res...

 Still feeling a bit stiff after last nights Body Pump session I just did some gentle stretching this morning. I then had a very cold walk to work. Luckily I had my new thermal running gloves on so I avoided the worst of the cold. I had planned to do some cycling in the garage this evening but because it was fairly sunny when I got home I decided to do a bit of running to test out my new fitness watch.  Rather than stick to mu normal winter routes I put on my trail shoes to do a bit of cross country running for a change. The fields were really muddy and slippy but it was enjoyable to do something a little different.  I only ran 6 kms but it seemed a lot further with the ground being so muddy. Tomorrow I'm planning to cycle in the morning and run after work if the weather is OK.

I prepared for my first day back at school with half an hour of yoga before breakfast. The You Tube video was very good with nice clear instructions. I thought I'd was prepared for going back but halfway to school I realised that I'd forgotten my lanyard so ended up rushing back home to get it. Hopefully I'll be better organised tomorrow.  While I was busy signing up for gym classes last week I booked into a Body Pump session without really knowing what it was.  I was half thinking of cancelling the class earlier in the day because it was really cold, I didn't have a car because my wife's working away and the class was a 7.30 at night. But then my son said I could borrow his car because he wasn't going into work until 9. So I got ready and head off to the gym with a very open mind. When I got to the studio it was clearly that most people inn the class were regulars. They were collecting weights, dumbbells, bars, benches and mats so I just copied what everybody e...

 Sunday's for me usually involve having an early 10km run before going to help at my local junior parkrun. For the last couple of weeks the Parkrun course as been flooded so I've got out of my routine. Fortunately today the junior Parkrun was on so I got up at 6.30 and headed out early so I could fit my run in. When I got to where I usually run I couldn't believe how dark it was, but luckily I had a light on the front of my running hat so I was OK.  I mainly stuck to fairly flat roads and tracks and was happy to do 10km in just over the hour. I then headed off to the cricket ground to help with the Parkrun. There were still lots of puddles and mud around the course but due to previous cancellations the run went ahead. Numbers were quite low which meant the event was over pretty quickly. After the Parkrun I had to rush back home because I had another class at the gym at 11.30.  I didn't know what to expect from 'Body Attack' but in the event it was quite enjoyabl...

 After thirty minutes of seated Yoga courtesy of You Tube I headed off to my local Parkrun. Today was my first home Parkrun since getting my 250 shirt so choosing a running top was pretty easy. I was expecting it to be fairly cold today so I donned my warmest gloves and a hat.  In the event it wasn't that cold but the course was still really wet with loads of puddles. As usual I had a steady 2km warm up lap before heading to the start.  I was hoping to do a good time today but in the end only managed 25.20. I blamed the slow time on last nights spin class. After finishing I decided to do an extra 3km to warm down. I actually felt like I was going faster on my warm down run than I had run in the Parkrun.   Overall I was pleased with my mornings work. I then headed off home because I was expecting my new running watch to arrive but having waited in all day it failed to arrive so I will have to make do with my current one. Tomorrow I'm planning to do a steady 10km ...

  My plan for today was to get up at six and do so stretching before tackling all the jobs I have been putting off for the last two week. Unfortunately when the alarm went off I really wasn't feeling it so decided to have another couple of hours in bed. Given that I probably won't get the chance of a lie in for another six weeks it was probably the right idea. When I finally got up all the little jobs I had planned quickly turned into big job. Getting the old fridge out of the garage and into the car should have been simple but with the garage and the drive cluttered up it became a real struggle. By the time I had got the car loaded up for the tip my wife and come up with a long list of things that needed picking up from the shop so a thirty minute job soon became a two hour job. My second job of the day was to fit a new lock on the front door. The old lock had been playing up for a while and I really didn't want to find myself stuck outside when it is freezing cold.  Havin...

 After nearly two weeks off work I've got out of the habit of getting up early so a 6 o' clock start was a bit of a shock to the system.  I managed to find all my gym stuff without waking the rest of the house and head off to the gym for my first experience of Body Balance.   I didn't know what to expect and my good friend Google couldn't tell me if I would need a yoga mat or not.  Having turned up without my mat I was relieved to discover that the studio had its own supply of mats.  I managed to do a bit of gentle stretching before the class started but even so once we did start I quickly found I was doing things with my body that I'd not done for a long time. Body balance appears to be Yoga but with a lot more stretching and balancing.  About 15 minutes into the class quite a few people stopped what they were doing and grabbed their phones so that they could book onto next weeks classes because the new classes are released at 7 every morning and quic...

 After getting up early and having half an hour with the infra-red lamp on all the bits of my body that were aching I then waited for the rain to stop before going out for a run. Eventually I had to bight the bullet and head out in the rain. I had done about 6km when I headed under a bridge which had quite a bit of water under it just at the most treacherous point my wife drove under the bridge from the other direction straight through the puddle.  When she got home she claimed she did hoot her horn to warn me, but there wasn't much I could have done at that stage to avoid getting soaked. This evening I went to the gym to give Yoga a try. Compared to Thai Chi I found Yoga a lot easier to follow. The sequences were a lot shorter and more straight forward. I did feel a few twinges in my calves with some of the stretches but it didn't stop me doing any of the stretches.  Whilst I probably won't do any more Yoga classes at the moment I think I might incorporate so of the stre...

Since taking up running again just over 7 years ago I do spend far too much time studying the weather forecast to spot the optimum time to go running.  When I saw the forecast last night I knew that any outdoor exercise today would have to be done and dusted before 9 'o clock.  So I got up at 7 and decided to walk for a hour. To make it a bit more challenging I head uphill towards the local hospital before doing a bit of a loop to get back home. I clearly hadn't done the route for a while because the hospitals seems to have doubled in size since I last walked around it and the piece of land next to the hospital has got dozens of new bungalows on it.  Later in the day I decided to try something a little bit different. My mum has been doing Thai Chi for many years and really enjoys it but I've never given it ago because most of the classes seem to take place when I'm at work, but last night while studying the timetable for my local gym I spotted there was a class this aft...

 My attempt at Red January last year got off to a bad start because I had a chest infection for two weeks.   This year Red January has got off to a much better start. After a late night with friends in Badby, I headed off to do the Parkrun at Daventry to Christian my 250 Parkrun shirt.  I think this was the third time I've run at Daventry but in the past it has always been a 10.30 start.  I managed to get out of bed and dressed without waking anybody up. I even had to step over a cat that had fully stretched itself across the top of the stairs.  I was just about to leave the house when I realised I'd put my compression pants on but no shorts so I had to go back upstairs again and straddle the cat to retrieve my shorts. Having negotiated several large puddles and numerous potholes I arrived at the carpark at 8.30 and was a little concerned that I was the only person in the carpark. But within a few minutes the carpark slowly started to fill.  After a li...