Slug blog

So you may be wondering how the running is going?

Well last week was pretty much the week from hell which meant that not so much running as eating chocolate was accomplished, so this week I tried a new tack. On a large white board in my office I wrote a training program for the week.

This week I've been struggling a bit with ensuring that I drink enough water during the day, and especially on the days that I exercise.

I've covered the whole drinking enough thing in Are you feeling thirsty? before so you probably don't want to read the same old stuff again. But, and it's a serious but, if you are not drinking enough you are putting your body under enormous and uneccessary strain, and could be harming your health.

But this week in the news has been the sad story of a radio station in the US who held a water drinking competition, to win a Wii.

Why did I end up sitting in A&E for 3 hours this afternoon?

Well leaving off a vital piece of equipment is why.

Having purchased ice skates for the first time in our lives we decided that rather than sign up for lessons at the local arena we'd have a free go at the town pond, which is cultivated and maintained as an outdoor rink all winter by the council.

Today is my day off, and what better way to spend it than downhill skiing.

Lots of fresh snow overnight at the ski resort means that it's irresistible to my other half, and we're joined by a friend who also is in the skiing mood.

A short 30 minute drive and we're in the car park, with not a lot of other people. The day is murky, windy and snowing, which has probably put a lot of people off venturing out onto a restricted visability mountain.

This morning I woke up to the bruises from hell. And a very painful big toe across the joint where it joins the foot.

No running today then.

So today I decided to cross-train. To take a bit of the pounding off my knees while thumping along like a baby elephant on my treadmill I decided to go cross-country skiing.

Now being the first time out on x-c skis this winter I expected to be a bit rusty, but I didn't expect to have completely forgotten how to wax... or ski.

I had the skis, I had the skin tight insulated leggings, I had the technical windproof shell, I had the toque on. But watching seniors gracefully swishing their way past me as I puffed, slipped, panted and swore my way up the hills was a real pride killer.

So no run today, I'm pacing myself.

Seriously though I've looked ahead to what's happening for the rest of the week and today suits me not to run. And that's a sensible way to look at it I think. I want to run Saturday & Sunday, and also tomorrow, so taking today and Friday off because of other commitments works best for me. I just can't become a slave to a strict, inflexible program, I hate that "knowing what you'll be doing at an exact time on an exact day" sort of thing. So I'd be no good for going on a cruise.

January 2, day 3 of my Old Years Resolution.

This morning I woke with reluctant enthusiasm, it's tough to wake up when it's dark, a minus temperature outside, and almost inside too as the heating doesn't come on till I get up and turn it on, and there's snow on the ground.

But up and straight into my running gear, with determination to pound those fat cells into submission.

So it's January 1, 2007 and do I feel like a slug or do I feel like a slug.

This year I'm trying something different. I'm dispensing with all that New Years Resolution crap, I made an Old Years Resolution instead on December 31, 2006.

And that resolution was...

Now I’m a firm advocate of a little bit of what you fancy (foodwise we’re talking about). So it makes me really grind my teeth when you see these absolute fanatics on TV, or other media, absolutely foaming at the mouth at the thought that people are eating chocolate, white rice or butter to name but a few of the perceived ‘sinful’ foods.

It’s all absolute rubbish, there is absolutely no reason why people can’t eat a little of something they enjoy, and it’s not the place of these "food haters", who probably flog themselves with birch twigs, and wear a hair shirt to sleep in and enjoy it, to condemn every little bit of food that isn’t fruit or vegetable, calorie or fat free.

First I’d like to thank all of the readers of this slugblog. Thank you for your complete inactivity, apathy and lack of interest in commenting on any of the items posted on this site over the last year.

The only feedback has been continual attempts to get trackbacks from porn, drug and gambling websites in Eastern Europe.

I had hoped by now that some healthy (pardon the pun) threads would have been running on some of the subjects raised. For example I bet you’ve got lots of “walkers” at your gym, or perhaps you’re a “walker not a washer” yourself, so were offended at it being pointed out that it’s an appalling lack of hygiene in the civilised world.

I’m sure I’m not the only person going round with that really irritating tune from the latest fried chicken advert repeating in their head. It’s the one where the mother is getting dinner ready, and husband and two kids are sitting round a kitchen table waiting.

The mother sings (actually she whines) “I can feed the family for £9.99”. The husband sings “Great she hasn’t cooked”.

How many of you miss breakfast each morning? How many of you snack mid-morning? How many of you starve yourself until lunchtime, then end up eating for England?

Breakfast is the best meal of the day for setting your body up to deal with whatever comes its way. It kickstarts the brain and metabolism, after all you don’t expect a car to run without fuel do you.

Having last week attended a full medical for my emigration visa, yes I’m hopefully leaving the country, but don’t worry my blogs will still wing their way to you by the wonders of the internet, I have been quite preoccupied with making sure that my blood pressure, heart rate, cholesterol etc etc were all as close to perfect as they could be.

After all, this is my and the racing snakes future we’re talking about. It’s been a long process, having applied in 2003 we’re older, wiser, certainly fitter and healthier than we’ve been in years. It’s marvellous what a bit of incentive can do, and leaving the rain for snow and mountains is the right sort of incentive believe me.

Then it’s already too late.

With the warmer weather now here it’s easy to forget that you need to drink more fluids to keep hydrated than you would do in the colder weather.

How many of you reading this drink plain, uncarbonated water during the day? Or do you drink tea, coffee, cola? Well if you want to have a clear glowing skin, a well hydrated body and lots of energy then you need to drink water.