A quick run around the block

I had planned to run another 5km this morning, but once I got out of bed, I felt quite stiff and achey after yesterday’s exertions. So I decided to reduce it to 4km. But once I was running along the Thames Path, I updated my plan to turn around sooner and so only did 3.8km.

The only thing on my mind right now is to avoid another running injury, so I’m more than happy with a quick and short run, rather than pushing my body to do something that will cause lasting damage.

I started my Saturday morning with a 5km run in the sunshine, cutting a decent time off yesterday’s run. After that, a walk to the mall to run some errands, and have coffee with a friend. Immediately after that, I walked along the Thames to Wapping, to have lunch at a local market. One delicious freshly-cooked burrito later, accompanied by a delicious German alcohol-free beer, and I was walking back to Canary Wharf.

I had a brief 20 minutes on the sofa before heading into the West End to meet a friend. By the time I made it back home, I’d walked over 22,000 steps. And I’m definitely feeling it now. My other half made us a delicious dinner of baked salmon, and I’m sitting with my feet up and a cold Asahi 0% beer in my hand. It’s turned out to be a very active, but incredibly relaxing, day.

My first 5km run of 2024

I didn’t intend to do 5km, but the blue skies and very welcome sunshine spurred me on. I could have gone on, but didn’t want to risk over-doing it. And I didn’t edit the photo below one bit - that’s really how blue the sky above Canary Wharf is right now!

Not too much wind, nice and bright, cool air: perfect running weather. I’m almost feeling like I’m back in my running habit now that I’ve run a 5km without any pain or stiffness.

Now to keep it going!

Another summary of the week that was…

The Japanese continues

The week started on a positive note, with a return to my Japanese lessons. I’m in a new class - as it’s scheduled during the afternoon - and it’s taking some getting used to.

But I have the same wonderful teacher, who brought us all back some delicious Japanese KitKat bars from her visit home over Christmas.

Work

Work was a mixed bag, with some great coaching sessions and some progress made on a big podcasting project, mixed with a last-minute client workshop cancellation (they paid!). I also won a new client project and had a new coaching programme kick-off with a new coachee.

I also published my latest work-related vlog and provided a little tour of my new office!

Wellbeing

I still don’t have a referral appointment with the gastro specialist, and I’m going to have to chase that up tomorrow. My health wasn’t too bad and it didn’t stop me going to the gym or getting out for runs this weekend. But it did leave me miserable on Friday night, when I should have been enjoying my best friend’s 40th birthday party. Came home earlier than planned and curled up in pain in my bed.

On a more positive note, my blood pressure is coming down, my post-exercise recovery is improving, as is the speed of my 4km runs. I also lost a little more weight!

My big win on the wellbeing front for this week was sticking to Dry January in the middle of that party on Friday night. I brought a bunch of alcohol-free beers with me, but they were new and pretty awful to be honest. I toyed with the idea of have some prosecco when it was offered (“What’s the harm?") but instead went with the ‘Nosecco’ my friend had bought. My body is very happy with that decision.

Travel and adventure

Less than a month to my solo trip to Tokyo and I’m still doing lots of research on venues to visit. And looking forward to putting my Japanese to good use…

I’ve also booked a trip to Scotland to see family in March. So I basically have a trip to look forward to each quarter of the year, except during July to September. But I’ve no doubt I’ll be organising a jaunt to somewhere hot in Europe to get some beach time and a break from London.

I also bit the bullet and set up a travel-focused blog for all my future travels and memories of trips from the past. You can find it (though there’s very little there just yet) and This Guy Flies. Thanks to Maique for the steer on Ghost. It’s such a breath of fresh air after Wordpress!

Another week in the bag. I’m sitting this listening to Mel Torme while Storm Isha batters the hell out of our neighbourhood. Here’s hoping we wake to a damage-free home tomorrow morning!

Welcome to the first in a (hopefully) ongoing series of posts reviewing the week that was.

Two big themes spring to mind as I write this:

Wellbeing

One week into the new year and I’m attempting to undo some of the damage of a very lazy and overindulgent last few months of 2023. I’m really happy with the amount of exercise I was able to do this week, whether it was running, walking or using our much-neglected gym downstairs.

I made it to the gym three times, went for a cople of 4km runs, and this afternoon walked a loop of the Isle of Dogs - which is about 6km. Combined with a complete absence of alcohol, snacks or junk food, I’m hoping this is setting me up for some wins in the coming weeks.

I may be in the minority, but I’ve always found ‘Dry January’ to be incredibly easy. So why do it? A significant drop in empty / unneeded calories. Yep, beer is full of calories this little body doesn’t need. But it’s not a magic wand. So I also need to get this body moving more.

One week in, I’m already sleeping better and my skin is looking much clearer. No weight loss so speak of (a tiny drop on the scales) but I’m setting up some helpful habits that’ll

Work

The highlight of this first working week was my office move. I’m now in a nicer building, in a nicer neighbourhood, with a better commute. It’s win/win. And while the day itself was stressful - about as stressful as any other move I’ve experienced - there were no disasters.

I’ve spent most of the working week setting up shop, making plans for this calendar year, and catching up on some simple admin I’d simple set aside in the run up to Christmas. The week ahead sees my first client-facing work for the year, and I’m really looking forward to it.

In other news

• I started playing Super Mario Bros. Wonder and it’s simply amazing. My first game was a co-op with a friend who has already completed it, so it was great to benefit from his experience. I anticipate many pleasant hour spent on this in the months to come.
• I did some more planning for next month’s trip to Tokyo and I’m excited with the list of experiences and destinations I’ve come up with.
• I finally got round to watching ‘Saltburn’ and starting the last season of ‘The Crown’. The latter is being consumed while I’m on the elliptical trainer in the gym. The former was a lot better than I’d imagined. A cross between ‘The Talented Mr Ripley’ and ‘Brideshead Revisited’.
• My partner and I also watched ‘Fool me once’ on Netflix and I freely admit we hate-watched the final three episodes. Such drivel. Overly complex, plot holes you could fly a plane through, and acting so wooden you could replant a forest with it. Ugh. I only finished it because I wanted to see how they cold wrap up some a convoluted plot. The ending was worse than I could have imagined.
• I’ve been really getting into Noteplan as an app for my project notes and time-based planning. Everyday tasks still live in Things, but Noteplan gives me an accessible and instantly synching place to keep the information that supports my projects - personal and professional. I think I need to wrote a post on it in the coming weeks.

So that was week one. If the other fifty-one of 2024 are equally positive, fun and productive, I’ll have one hell of a year.

My second run of the year

It felt a lot better than yesterday - and I’ve no doubt the sunshine and blue skies helped a lot! I was also wearing my new running gear, which I picked up yesterday afternoon.

I had to get some updated gear - putting on three year old running tops made me look like a neon sausage! It made me very self-concious. So, one trip to Decathlon later and I have a new set of tops that fit me just fine and take my mind off how I might look as I plod along.

I repeated yesterday’s route and completed it just a smidge faster.

Onwards and upwards!

And boy, was that hard work!

It’s only…shamefully…when I look at my Strava app that I realise this was my first run since October last year. Honestly, if you’d asked me, I would have sworn I went for at least a couple of runs in November and December.

But, no. I was quite…sedentary.

The fallibility of the human memory laid bare. Which explains a large part of my ‘impressive’ weight gain in the last quarter of 2023.

Anyway, a slow and difficult run is infinitely better than no run at all. I’m going to use this route to train over the next few weeks, so I can compare runs and track my progress.

It seems like an age since New Year’s Day, which was, if I’m honest, spent on the sofa watching repeats on TV and bemoaning just how much beer I’d had at the party the night before.

Since then, I’ve gone back to work, moved my office to a new building, started a new fitness regimen, commenced Dry January and… it’s only Friday evening.

I had a very, very lazy last quarter of 2023. I mean I worked loads, I just didn’t get any exercise. It was like I was studiously avoiding the free gym in our building’s basement. Almost like I completely forgot that I could go for a run by the Thames at virtually any point.

I have no excuse. Picture me shrugging the world’s largest shrug.

But the new year, month and week has given me a shot in the arm. I’ve been downstairs to our gym three times now, Each time catching up on The Crown while on the cross-trainer. An excellent way to make this kind of exercise bearable.

I’ve shunned the beer - and all other alcohol - and intend to keep going after Dry January ends. I’ve give up the booze completely for most of last summer and the only outcomes were positives. Better sleep, better skin, (a little bit of) weight loss. And I’m sure my liver thanked me too.

The biggest changes have been on the diet front. As I was tired of getting undressed and shuddering at my reflection, something had to give. Seriously - after a day of wear, my jeans left me looking like I’d had a caesarean section. So it’s out with all the snacks and in with as much fruit, vegetables and water as I can get in to me. December was an absolute mind-field of filthy eating, where our cupboards and fridge were groaning with various cheeses, chocolate, pastries, breads and crisps.

Finishing all this off on New Year’s Day was our way of starting over afresh. Yes, “our”. One of the reasons this doesn’t feel like hard work in the slightest is my partner is doing it all with me. His moral support is priceless.

I have a school reunion back in Dublin this May. I want to look my best - better than at any point in the last three years, based on my photos - and that goal will keep me going over the next few months.

What’s really important is that I don’t feel like I’m depriving myself in the slightest. I’m not going hungry. I’m enjoying the exercise. And I’ll really enjoying seeing the inevitable difference on the weighing scales in the weeks to come.

Onwards and upwards! 🚀

Went for another 5km run this morning and managed a faster pace than yesterday.

It felt good throughout and I’m once again pain-free. Hoping that I’ve finally put my achilles tendons issues behind me.

I had to shame a dog walker into putting his dog’s shit into the bin. He threw it at the bin and missed and was walking away from it when I roared at him. He sheepishly went back and picked it up to put it where it belonged.

I’m sick of the volume of dog shit on our streets, thanks to thoughtless dog owners.