Day 132 - Started with son on a scooter

So a little further than usual and at weird pacing. I started with Harry on a scooter but it was stop and start so much it was slower than me walking, so we walked up a bit and then scooted downhill to the park, where it started spitting so he gave it up and went inside.

Then I ran a mile from the start again, all on the same clock hence around 2.5 minutes slower than usual.

Going to teach him how to ride his new bike over the Spring so he can ride at a decent pace while I run in the summer.

Distance: 1.66 km
Time: 10:44
Average Speed: 9.3 kph
Soundtrack: MOS Annual Ibiza 2014

Day 131 - short run in rain

Short run to the Dairy again today, raining and very cold so this is less of a run and more of a placeholder or bookmark - longer runs will prevail.

Very cold and hard to run on slippery ground, I take extra care on the slick surfaces of fire hydrants and metal manholes over drains etc...

Reached 200 km total today.

Distance: 1.2 km
Time: 6 minutes ish (app failure)
Average Speed: 11 ish kph
Soundtrack: The Yellowjackets - One For The Road.

Day 130 - Running at work

Today did the Ice Bucket Challenge thing so ran at lunch time instead so I could get drenched in my running gear and have a change of clothes to get into.

So ran approximately a mile or so - all in one go on the way up to Ponsonby Road and then stopped at the big intersections on the way back, as I crossed over to the north side of Karangahape for the return journey.

Distance: 1.51 km
Time: 7:49
Average Speed: 11.6 kph
Soundtrack: Audioslave - Cochise/Show Me How To Live

Day 129 - On the road again

After 2 days of even walking not being a going concern I ran the mile from Fairview to home. Had to stop twice for traffic but other than that ran most of the way apart from a small walk in the last 200 meters (should not have tried to race my sister in laws VW Golf, though I did beat her to my road unexpectedly, thank you Auckland traffic).

Distance: 1.47 km
Time: 7:11
Average Speed: 12.2 kph
Soundtrack: U2 - Desire, Beautiful Day, I Will Follow.

Day 128 - Still too sick to run

Ate the first food I have had in 36 hours and it's staying down which is good.

However obviously I cannot run even though I can walk without keeling over with nausea today.

(seriously - not exaggerating).

Also 'discovered' that I am not jogging but running - apparently jogging is less than 9 kph, whereas my regular average is 11 kph.

Hopefully back into it tomorrow - will do a short one to ease the body back.

Day 127 - Can't even walk today - too sick

So no run today, first time in months. Got some kind of bug/virus - I can't even walk around the house without throwing up.
‪#‎thissucks‬

Day 126 - long run - trying to slow down

Though have not slowed down much and it's a real effort to slow without it feeling like harder work than running normally.

Ran to the Village ok, ran to the Balmoral lights much harder, right hip twinge-ing, and then ran final leg with two slow downs/walks or 20 metres or so each.

Applied Dencorub to both thighs before running and to inside of right hip - helped with thighs but not the hip.

Distance: 2.58 km
Time: 14:32
Average Speed: 10.7 kph
Soundtrack: Audioslave - Cochise

Day 125 - Run the block without stopping

Tried to run a bit slower today to see if doing so gave me more endurance, but it made little difference. I was still tired and weary very early on and was only twenty seconds slower than the first time I ran the block.

Distance: 1.57 km (1.61 really)
Time: 8:27
Average Speed: 11.1 kph
Soundtrack: Jesus Jones - Doubt

Day 124 - 2 runs today!

So today I went to the Remuera School park with the kids and ran the school block and back around the school grounds. Then Max wanted to send me out for ice creams to the dairy since Alex had been sick and wanted some cheering up, so ran through the park up all the way to the dairy, picked up some stuff and then ran home with it.

Distance: 2.36 km
Time: 13:45
Average Speed: 10.28 kph
Average Soundtrack: Foo Fighters - Both times!

Day 123 - Ran from Village to school

Had to be at the school for daughter's certificate for Reading Skills at assembly so got off one stop before the village and ran on the other side of the road (which was odd for a change) all the way to the school hall.

Leg still an issue but this time put some Dencorub on my thigh before setting out and that seemed to help. May have to do my hips/groin as well (though carefully obviously).

Distance: 2.13 km
Time: 11:44 (probably 30 seconds faster as the app had issues as I got a text and it shut the active part of the app down, but the timer was still running).
Average Speed: 10.9 kph
Soundtrack: Foo Fighters - The Best of

Day 122 - Sore Right Thigh, gentle pace

Oddly what I am calling a slower and more gentle pace is not really working out to be - I suspect that pushing that extra speed means I am wearing myself out and slowing down, though it's hard to tell from the .5 k splits.

Ran/hobble-ran to Balmoral lights, waited 25 seconds and ran home with two stops - one on Mt Eden and one on St L's.

Distance: 1.51 km
Time: 7:54
Average Speed: 11.5 kph
Soundtrack: Foo Fighters - Best Of (Times Like These and Monkey Wrench x 2)

Day 121 - Long Route - Slow Pace

By choice today I got off 2.7 kms from home but decided to pace my running as slow as is comfortable to see if it is more bearable that way, which it was.

I also pre committed to taking breaks and walking more as my right knee and thigh muscles have been complaining over the last week or so.

I did not need to take a break until the up hill part because running 1.5- 2.0 k's slower than usual made the first leg much easier and not so hard on my right side.

I took maybe 3 or 4 breaks only and was only a minute slower than usual. May try this a few more times to eke out my endurance.

Distance: 2.58 km (2.7 by map)
Time: 14:44
Average Speed: 10.5 kph
Soundtrack: Jesus Jones - Doubt

Day 120 - Cold and Wet and Short

It's hosing down outside so I ran from three bus stops away to home and got soaked in only 3.34 minutes running. Good pace though.

Distance: 0.74 km
Time: 3:39
Average Speed: 12.0
Soundtrack: MOS Ibiza Annual 2014

Day 119 - Ah the Stitch! The Stitch I tells ya!

Ran from honeywell House to Mt Eden Village - stopped for the lights and double tied shoelaces which keep coming loose. Ran from Mt Eden Village to Balmoral Road and stopped for the lights.

Stitch started stabbing at me on the final leg and I had to stop a few times between Balmoral Road and home, the final stretch on St L's being quite painful and hard to  run through.

Made ok time.

Distance: 2.7 km
Time: 13:42
Average Speed: 11.3 kph
Soundtrack: MOS Ibiza Annual 2014.

Day 118 - Walked to the top of the hill and ran from there

As the title suggests I actually ran to the bottom of the hill, turned tracking off and walked to the top of the hill (maybe 2-300 meters?) and then ran 2km on the flat (and back downhill). Stopped for the midway point to cross the road but traffic was too dense so juts ran back the way I came.

Stopped on one intersection on the way back looking for traffic and other than that ran all of the way except the strength sapping hill.

Distance: 2.03 km
Time: 10:20
Average Speed: 11.8 kph
Soundtrack: Foo Fighters - Best Of

Day 117 - Running while injured

Got a neck muscle injury from sleeping funny and it's been two days of it, today being the worst. turning my head or moving my upper body (twisting) causes sharp pangs in my neck and shoulders, so I decided to do only a short run. Almost immediately the jarring impact is uncomfortable but bearable, unlike when trying to cross the road and turning my head to see - which hurt a lot.

So Ran uphill through the park and to the Dairy (about 650 odd meters) picked up some ice creams for the kids and then ran home (about 400 metres) with them at a relatively slow pace (or it felt gentle) - crossing the road was the worst part.

Still doing it every day.

Distance: 1.04 km
Time: 5:31
Average Speed: 11.3 kph
Soundtrack: Foo Fighters - One By One & Best of You

Day 116 - Run home through park mile

Ran pretty well considering I was running into a head wind for most of the run which slowed my pace a little bit.

Also decided to run home through the park which is windy and hilly but also a climb up Watling Road, which I walked 20 metres or so of before running the rest.

Distance: 1.46 km (1.6)
Time: 7:11
Average Speed: 12.2 kph
Soundtrack: Buckshot LeFonque - I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings

Day 115 - New Mile - mostly uphill

Ran from the office to Soul Thai, according to Google Maps it's 1.8 km yet my phone said 1.6, I believe Google Maps.

Quite a lot of uphill on the way up Symonds Street and a lot of stopping and starting crossing a  half dozen roads on the way.

Only stopped (excluding intersections) twice, once on the uphill stretch and then again just before the final stretch to the Thai place. From there took the bus the rest of the way.

Distance: 1.8 km
Time: 9:04
Average Speed: 11.5 ish
Soundtrack: Audioslave - Audioslave

Day 114 - New Record

Ran the longer course 2.7 km from Honeywell House to home.

Ran section one without stopping and paused at the lights only. Ran all the second leg without stopping and paused at the lights only.

Third leg ran to Glenalmond then had to tie my shoe, which took a few seconds and then ran to St L's and walked maybe ten steps before running the rest of the way.

Tired, cold and sore on stopping but all in all managed my best tome over this course by a minute.

Distance: 2.61 km (2.7 really)
Time: 13:10 (previous best 2 days ago at 14:10)
Average Speed: 11.9 kph
Soundtrack: Running Mix - Various (Garbage/Garbage/INXS/Survivor)

Day 113 - 2 songs!

Ran the mile from Fairview road (despite what the GPS says) in 7:05 and therefore in two normal length songs, the first two tracks from Foo Fighters Greatest Hits.

Stopped to walk a few feet three times in the second half of the run but still made very good time. 2nd fastest over this distance.

Distance: 1.46 km
Time: 7:05
Average Speed: 12.3 kph
Soundtrack: Foo Fighters - One By One and The Best Of You

Day 112 - Testing Bone Conduction Headphones

Long run today and it felt like a struggle the whole way yet ran best time over the 2.7 km route.

Stopped twice on the way between the Village and Balmoral Road and then two or three times especially when crossing the road between Balmoral and home.

Borrowed a pair of bone conduction headphones from a mate and tried running with them. They're very comfortable for running in and do not block the sound from other sources which is quite good when running as you can hear all the stuff around you. Recommend them, tempted to buy a pair apart from the fact this model is wired and has no pause or skip function.

Distance: 2.63 km
Time: 14:04 (best time by 10 seconds)
Average Speed: 11.2 kph
Soundtrack: Lemon Jelly - '64 - '95

Day 111 - Eleventy-one Today!

In honour of the upcoming Hobbit pt 3 (not really, just live eleventy-one as a number).

Ran the block, aiming for an unbroken run but stopped almost immediately to tie shoelace come undone (a few metres from home so it doesn't count) and again on the top of the steepest part of St A's, thought I was close to making it when my thighs started burning so I dropped to a walk for 10 feet or so then ran the rest of the way at a reduced pace (in my mind anyway).

Distance: 1.55 km (1.61 really)
Time: 8:22
Average Speed: 11.1 kph
Soundtrack: Jesus Jones - Doubt

Day 110 - Short run

Woke up from a nap in the afternoon spending the morning at a nine year olds birthday party and a bad sleep made me wiped out. Also had very little to eat today and was feeling a bit nauseous so took a short run.

Ran to the dairy (500 ish meters) made a purchase and then ran the rest of the way home, uphill on Watling without stopping and down through the park.

Distance: 1.09 km
Time: 5:16
Average Speed: 11.4 kph
Soundtrack: Yes/Underworld

Day 109 - Good Pace 2nd Equal Time

Ran long yesterday and it's dark, cold and raining outside but managed to get the gumption to run a mile anyway rather than take the easy way out of three bus stops from the house.

Cold and paused only 41 seconds at the lights as I arrived at the right time to not wait long. Knew I was making good time so I sped up at the end but with people in the way and having lost a few seconds for traffic turning into Glenalmond, I could have equal or beaten.

Distance: 1.48 (1.6 really) km
Time: 7:06 (2nd equal and 1st only 7:03)
Average Speed: 12.5 kph
Soundtrack: The National - High Violet (Terrible Love/Bloodbuzz Ohio/Terrible Love)

Day 108 - Longest run fastest time

Though I stopped up to five times it was still a good effort and I was up and running again quickly.

Working my way up in terms of distance as gradually but determinedly as possible.

Distance: 2.7 km
Time: 14:15
Average Speed: 10.7 kph
Soundtrack: The National - Whatever the latest album is called... I forget...

Day 107 - Cold Mile

Today was not hard on my legs but my lungs and face. It's supposedly 12 degrees out but it feels more like 3 or 4 by my reckoning. Even with me running and warming my muscles I still felt cold and running south down Mt Eden Road is into a southerly wind which makes it worse.

I did not sweat at all outside but when I came inside and hit the warm air in my house it was like spraying me in oil...

Distance: 1.60 km
Time: 7:25
Average Speed 12.0 kph
Soundtrack: Jagwar Ma - Howlin'

Day 106 - Buggered but a big run

I did stop more than once to a walk and then pick up again and I seriously considered stopping at the corner and walking home from there but a small rest of 10-15 seconds was enough to get me going again.

It was a hard slog going that far and my diet of late is not helping so I need to protein up more and drop the extra sugar in things again.

Distance: 2.63 km
Time: 14:44
Average Speed: 10.7 kph
Soundtrack: Lemon Jelly - '64-'95

Day 105 - still feeling the sugar

I assume - plus it was hellishly cold out today as well, can't wait for warmer weather and easier breathing. It is getting lighter every evening though.

Stopped three times all in the second leg - weariness and mental fatigue - not enough distracting me. I notice that I run further when I am caught up in something else taking my attention - maybe should try running with an audiobook?

Distance: 1.50 km
Time: 7:45
Average Speed: 11.6 kph
Soundtrack: Jack White - Lazaretto

Day 104 - slow and piecemeal

But just keep going. Ignore those dozen stops or so and the 50 second pause trying to cross the road. Just keep restarting and run your run!

The first uphill is fucking hard work and it drains me before running the long flat part. Maybe next weekend I'll walk up to Orvieto and then take off from there, head all the way to Mt Albert Road, crossover and run home, that should be a decent 3 km.

We'll see I guess.

Distance: 2.11 km
Time: 12:38
Average Speed: 10.0 kph
Soundtrack: Jesus Jones - Doubt

Day 103 - uphill slog but endurance getting better

Ran uphill and was struggling the whole way - however when on the top I felt like I could and should run further so carried on to the end of the block. stopping loads of times and running at a much slower pace (or it felt slow anyway) I managed to get further and felt less like not running when I started up again each time.

Ran 2km and could potentially have run more.

Distance: 2.01 km
Time: 12:25
Average Speed: 9.7 kph
Soundtrack: Classixx - Album