uk.weather.com says “-1degC, feels like -4degC” in London, but I haven’t done much in the way of exercise for a week, other than lifting beer glasses, cans, bottles, mugs, cups, etc. so I figure I should go out and suffer a little now. Wish me luck!

Well.. that was fscked!!

Not so much a run as a pained flail. 500m in and I had a stitch. This escalated to something worse. It eventually reached the point where I was running so sore, awkward and flustered that I had to walk.

I’ve heard there’s no shame in walking. Well, I feel ashamed having to walk, so what would these “people” know anyway?!

My legs just wouldn’t work properly. It might’ve been the temperature (and no warmup) or the previous week’s abuse but it was a prick of a run and ‘almost’ not worth doing. Almost.

42:59. Thankfully just quicker than the first time.. by a second! :S

I was thinking during the run, while my body failed to operate as I wanted it to, that I’d rather be angry than depressed. This run was making me angry, but I definately prefer it to misery, so I’ll take it. On that note..

Honourable suicide? If a healthy person has no will to live and their death could save someone who was fighting for life – can it be considered an honourable suicide?

Why is euthanasia only for the sick when so many other people take their own lives anyway? They could be organ donors and give life to someone else. Just getting morbid again.. too much Scrubs 🙂 Bed time.

Dinner for Picky’s birthday was great. First, I treated myself to a pint of Abbott’s Ale in the nearby Wetherspoons (pub chain for tightar$es), while waiting for the others to arrive – Hammersmith is on the District Line so it only takes me 30min to get there from work in Richmond.

I can’t rave about Sagar enough. Back to my favourite entree of Samosa having tried “Alu Bonda” on Sheila’s birthday. Going crazy, I tried one of their curries instead of the usual and scrumptious “Dosa” option. It didn’t let me down. “Alu Ghobi” accompanied by a HUGE “poori/puri” (puffed bread thing almost the size of my head!) called a “Batura”. Washed it down with 660ml of Cobra – a light Indian lager.

Also sampled some of Nelsie’s “Tali” options which were also really nice – I might just have to order a Tali next time.. 🙂

My bro is looking at road bikes!

How embarassment. The GT is sitting out in the snow (well, it was almost snow) and I get an email from him, an total non-rider for years, saying he’s looking at Avanti roadies!!! The shame, the shame!! 🙂

Infinite Cat.com

Clay Kitten Shooting

Rate My Kitten.com

Is it the sleep deprivation?

Is it the last work day before trippin’ off to Prague?

Is it the Christmas spirit?

Maybe, but it could also be The Big Green Triangle:

Pity I have no one to do “it” with! 😛

Instead I enjoyed another lovely, South Indian-style meal at Sagar in Hammersmith. This is my favourite Indian restaurant and just happens to be vegetarian.

Dinner here with the household was in honour of Sheila’s birthday (actually tomorrow). Happy Birthday Sheila!! Enjoy the Body Shop mango stuff – I think you just “rub it on your boh-dee!” 😉

Last time I had the wondeful Mysore Masala Dosa with Samosa entree. Tonight I tried the Rava Masala Dosa with Bonda entree. They didn’t disappoint! Yum!

Reviews: www.myhammersmith.co.uk and www.london-eating.co.uk

I told myself I’d go for a run tonight, given that I was missing Spin class, and oddly enough I actually did – full stomach and all. It wasn’t as bad as I thought it might be and I just _had_ to test the “You CAN’T run after a curry!” premise. I felt heavier than normal (duh!) and didn’t feel like I was moving too well, but this could also be down to the sore legs I had from Monday’s longer run? I didn’t get a stitch, which was nice, and I didn’t spew, but try as I might I couldn’t get a satisfying burp out when I wanted to.

It was 9degC outside with a westerly breeze. Quite a bit warmer than last time I was out and very pleasant. “No arm-warmers” kind-of pleasant. The streets were almost empty at 10pm mid-week which was fine by me. The run itself presented nothing out of the ordinary, I just plodded along from start to end and was pleasantly surprised with a time of 38:19. That’s 5min faster than the first time I did this loop and I’m damn sure I ran before dinner that time! 🙂

I need to drink more water.

“To our ancestors the shortest day (21st December) marked the lowest ebb of the year, but it also marked the day when the sun was reborn, gradually growing in strength to the Midsummer Solstice. Many ancient standing stones, stone circles and other monuments are aligned with the winter sunrise on the 21st of December. The most famous being Newgrange (Been there!) in Ireland, where a finger of sunlight shines along the dark entrance through a narrow aperture above the monument’s entrance.” from: www.mysteriousbritain.co.uk

Also: google answers and bbc.co.uk – solstice science

Followed Dan to The Beer Shop: www.pitfieldbeershop.co.uk on the weekend. It’s marked for pillaging A S A P! I haven’t totally given up on life guys, relax.. 🙂

They have lots of xmas brews in stock and *drool* a nice range of Belgian trappist beers. Quite a few English brews as well.

Don’t answer that Mr & Mrs Sedentary. I will.

It does. Get out there and move!

I like to move it, move it. I like to move it, move it.

I like to move it, move it. I like to.. MOVE IT!

(NB: Watch Madagascar)

This blog is turning from a bike blog to a r_n blog with dollops of techno and self-pitying introspection. For the love of god people, find me a road bike and some suitable racing! 😉

I was totally stuffed at work but picked up as soon as I’d left, thinking about hitting Prague at the end of the week and more immediately the prospect of doing a double EARL (EAling Run Loop).

As soon as I arrived home, I was out of the corp-wear (my arch enemy) and into some shorts and t-shirt. I put the arm warmers on because it was frickin’ COLD! (Checked the temp on my return and it turned out to be 2degC!).

Nothing much to report about the first loop. Half-way into it I had a stitch. 3/4’s of the way around, on Gunnersbury Ave, I ran past a sign: “Fatal Incident – Wed 14th Dec, 4:30am”. Oh, um, nice. Someone died here, um, well, that’s a little unpleasant, but what can you do?

Something moved in the grass to my left. The victim? Err.. No. Some little mice or mice-looking critters were running through the grass away from me. I don’t blame them – I’d run away from me too. I felt pretty dodgy and was weighing up: stopping after one lap, running a little extra to make 1hr or doing the double. In the end I ran straight past home without the water stop of last time.

Time: 39:45. Not bad for me and the fact was: I felt like continuing.

Passing Northfields Tube Station, I hit a pretty cool sight. Along Pope’s Lane, the street lights glowed in a yellow line into the distance. The moon was huge and hung very low in the sky, shrouded in the same yellow fog as the street lights. It appeared as if the moon was commanding its street light “troops” from a throne above. I’ve seen some fantastic moon scenes in Oz but this one was new to me. It would’ve made a great photo.

Half way around, a bunch of Christmas-people appeared, including a Santa who was waving to the kids in cars. Awww… can I get a “Yay for Christmas!” from everybody?

I would like to suggest an alternative to Tam’s “race face”, mentioned here. My “run face” is a similar grimmace, but has nothing to do with oxygen-debt, knee-pain, cramping or any of that other stuff running inflicts. No, my “run face” is the grimmace associated with someone clenching their butt hard, trying not to sh1t their own pants! Arrrgh! I was fine on the first lap, but every five minutes on the second lap I was reminded that if I didn’t make it home VERY soon I would be carrying some luggage home in my undies. This sh1t (‘scuse the pun) never happened to me on the bike! (You know you’ve made it when your blog posts are about turds). Anyway, with my sphincter scrunched as firmly as my grimmacing face, I made it home, ripped off the shoes, ran up the stairs and.. ahhhhhhhh… MUCH better! 😀

Total time for the LOUD (Loop Of Unrevealed Distance :P) was 1:20:41.

That’s about 6 minutes faster than the last time I ran the double AND I was in MUCH better shape at the end. I was doing it easy (for me). I was hardly sweating (could’ve been the 2degC temp!) and my legs weren’t in anywhere near as much pain.

Afterwards, I made this:

Yes Tee, all by myself 😛 It was edible and all! 😉

Well..

I love the UK’s pre-packed sandwiches!

Cheese & Onion, Egg & Cress and a Ploughman’s – a fine vegamatarian triple pack for only ?1.65!

You know work is riveting when I resort to talking about sandwiches..

My nipples! My poor, poor nipples!!

In a much better mood now. I was running late escaping work (okay, I was actually posting to a.b haha) and thought I’d miss Spin class.

Home, change, run (yeah, sick innit?!) to the gym. Phew! Made it just in time.

My legs were feeling pretty trashed from Monday’s Spin and Tuesday’s Pump class (feckin’ squats!) so I figured I’d do it as easy as I could without looking too soft in front of the instructor/class.

I started slow (I guess? Need my HRM!) but ended up pushing harder at the end than I thought I could/would. I had some seriously odd mental imagery going on to get me through the painful stuff – don’t ask.

Somewhere in the middle (in a 3min high-cadence block) my calves started cramping and I had to slow down. Tried all kinds of quick position changes and pedaling but nothing fixed it. Probably due to too much coffee, not enough water, not enough sleep and I was wearing my runners rather than my SPD shoes. These are wider and don’t fit properly in the straps, forcing me to twist my feet more than usual.

Even when I try to take it as easy as possible in this class I still look more fscked at the end than everyone else and have a lake of sweat around my bike. I felt bad about this when I started but now I just tell myself that the others are doing it too easy.. 🙂

The instructor complimented me on my effort, which was odd (but nice of her) given that I aimed to wuss out!

I staggered out the door and ran, okay, jogged home (4min). Unleashed the beast *cough* for a piss and dropped my water bottle off. Straight back out the door for a lap of EARL (EAling Run Loop).

Now I remember why I hate running! This run felt well dodgy – my feet hurt, my shins hurt, my quads hurt and I had a stitch. This is fun, right? 😛

I thought about shortening it but knew I’d probably get lost so I just did the standard loop. Dodged a few cars which cost me time (not that I was checking my watch) and felt shite for the first half. I pushed a bit harder at the half-way point (so people walking weren’t passing me too often ;)) and harder again near the end, still feeling shite. Ended up with 41:51, which isn’t too bad for me considering the state of my legs before and after Spin. It’s actually quicker than a bunch of times when I’d only done a run. Bully for me! 😛

“What’s the vaseline for, hip?”

Once my t-shirt is fully soggyfied from Spin, it tends to cling to my chest. Man-boobs, I mean err.. my huge pecs.. bounce when running. I have nipple chaffing!! Ow!! Need to apply some vas before doing this again 🙂

It’s not as bad as “this one time at band camp” doing an ergo+run session at CCW with Mick when my white t-shirt ended up stained through with blood from some extra-severe nipple chaffing! Yay for nipples!