Day 29 - Finishing my runstreak with a running commute

Today's run - Run commute - Busy London streets - 5K - 27 minutes

I realise updates on the last week or so have been non existent on my blog but I have been posting regular updates of my run on twitter, if you would like to come and join in on the twittersphere I am @beoutrunning. 

Since the Parkrun on day 20 and Santarun on day 21 of last weekend I have still managed to run everyday but it has been such a busy week I just haven't ha the time or energy to write up blogs for my runs.

In summary I have done a few interval sessions, a 7.5K course PB on Friday Evening(day 26), an early morning Saturday run (day 27) before a boozy day on a pubcrawl which was then followed up by a recovery run on Sunday (day 28). A long with all that there has been the usual busyness of everyday life along with the extra demands of the festive season. Throw into that mix excitedly following the conclusion of the asics 26.2 competition; (massive congratulations to the final 5!) and being offered a new job it has been a busy week!

So with today being day 29 and the last official day of my runstreak challenge I wanted to mark the occasion with a suitable run. 

Since quitting my gym last month my running routine has had to change up, instead of travelling into London heading to the gym then popping out for a run before returning to the gym for some training and/or a cool down before showering and departing for work I am now needing to run straight to work if I want to run in London in the morning.

Significantly impressed by the running commute of one of the asics 26.2 final 5 Tony McNeill I decided to go for it! I took the train to Tower Hill then took the scenic route through to my work near Chancery Lane which rounded the route up to the required 5K as well as taking in some famous London sights.

All in all it was a very enjoyable run, I enjoyed the quietness of being both that bit earlier than I usually am and the fact it was cold and dark in comparison to the more attractive summer months. London still looked as amazing as ever there and provided a captivating backdrop for my run.

Having kind of decided on this run commute on the spare of the moment I hadn't done any preparation so therefore I had to carry everything in my rucksack (runsack?!) work clothes, towel, lunch, toiletries etc.

I didn't find this a problem at all though, I think for running 5K in a steady pace, (I covered the route in under 27 minutes which taking into consideration the hour and the London traffic I was very impressed!) it's fine, any faster or longer though and it would have been troublesome.

I decided my runstreak doesn't end here though, with some Christmas socialising and associated drinking and eating planned for Wednesday, Thursday and Friday it made sense to me to extend to Tuesday so I could have Wednesday to Friday off as a well deserved rest while also rounding up my runstreak to 30 days. 

So one more day to go! I have really enjoyed this runstreak and the idea of 'when shall I run today as opposed to am I going to run today?'. I feel I have got so much stronger and faster, not to mention leaner as well. The runstreak has provided an ideal way to lay down some base miles before training for Half Marathons and Marathons in the New Year.

Day 21 Runstreak Santa Run

Today's run - Santa fun run - pavements - 5K - 24.12

Today was the one run a year where PBs and performance go out of the window, where looking cool in your running gear is forgotten about and instead you run around looking like a bit of a prat all in the name of charity!

This morning I took part in Saint Francis Hospice's annual Santa Run at Dagenham and Redbridge football ground the snappily named The London Borough of Barking and Dagenham Football Stadium. 

The premise is quite simple; everyone meets up, gets dressed up in santa outfits and runs around the streets of Dagenham on a 5K route raising money for a local charity. 

The atmosphere is incredibly friendly, positive and cheery and everyone takes part with the smile on their face with a hood friendly spirit whether running or walking, seasoned runner or slow paced walker.

Its a great event that unites the whole community, it is a great introduction to running and running events for many and it was great to see so many youngsters taking part with their parents. And although it might sound strange I sensed a greater sense of satisfaction amongst runners at the finish line than I do at marathons as many participants would have envisaged a 5K distance as unbelievable and are therefore rightly proud to successfully complete the course with finish times becoming irrelevant.

The main challenge of an event like this is struggling with the 'one size fits all' generic costume. With our ever increasingly over weight society one size fits all becomes more aimed towards the larger individuals  and therefore becomes very troublesome for those of a smaller frame like me!

My wife did remark that I looked like a messy Santa as I didn't look particularly smart in my outfit as it was so grossly misfitting. Running in such an outfit was difficult to say the least, trying to stop the bottoms of your trousers coming down around your feet to trip you up, holding your waist band to stop your trousers slipping down (although I did have shorts on underneath!), then wrestling with your Santa jacket as it flailed in the air caused by running, there was also the itchy beard irritating your face and threatening to strangle your throat at any moment! 

The event was made all the more special as I wasn't running it on my own and was joined at the event by my mother in law. Although she opted to complete the course at a more serene steady walking pace while I chose to run round in a pleasing time of just over 24 minutes it was nice to have someone to chat with at the start and cheer on at the finish.

Today's race forms a part of my bigger fundraising efforts of taking part in a 29 day runstreak which you can read about here. As well as raising funds for Saint Francis Hospice today I have been specifically raising money for Pancreatic Cancer UK and if you would like to donate please visit my Just Giving page here.

Day 20 A cold, muddy wintery parkrun

Today's run - Parkrun - Trails - 5K - 24.29

This morning I was up bright and early for a Saturday to head off to a parkrun. 

It was a slightly special parkrun as I was excited to be taking part in @brentwoodparkrun inaugural event. Held in Weald Country park it is a 10 minute drive there which this morning meant defrosting the car from the arctic grip that enveloped it over night. 

The early morning run and start was not helped by a night out last night at a family birthday party which involved quite a few celebratory drinks, a whooping big pizza as below and getting a taste for and subsequently rather enjoying more than a few shots of lemoncello.  

South Weald park was the venue for my last marathon the Brentwood Weald Country park marathon which I completed at the end of October.

The park is one of my favorite local parks and its a lovely place to walk and is fast becoming one of my favorite places to run. 

This morning the park was at its best and could have provided plenty Christmas card worthy photo opportunities. 

The run its self was tough, not just because of the icy and muddy conditions but because of the hilly terrain and the technical trails provided by running through the forest and in and around the assortment of trees with their protruding roots and branches.

Overall I felt pretty strong and was happy with my pace, my aim was to try and go around 25 minutes as I felt that would be a decent time on a trail based course knowing it would be hilly and muddy. I finished in 24.29 which I was very pleased with as the course actually ended up being tougher than I envisaged. 

I tried to run at times with the same pacing strategy we used for the 5K track session at Asics 26.2 bootcamp of pushing for 400m, recovering for 200m and repeating throughout. I found this method useful to keep pushing myself and I was pleased I was strong enough mentally and physically to keep pushing. I definitely fell I am strong enough at the moment to put some decent pressure on my 5K PB. 

Thanks for reading and stay tuned for tomorrows post on my Santa run! 

Day 18 A good run after a long day

Today's run - Just a run - Pavement - 5.5K - 30mins 

Today after a long day at work I headed out for a simple run. I recently read a great bit of advice on running during a runstreak, 'it is a case of when can you run rather than should I go for a run'. And it today's case it was a case of going for a run when I could and just getting on with it.

As mentioned previously the highlights of running at this time of year are the Christmas decorations so here is the pick of the decorations I passed on today's run.

:)

Away from running I realised I have neglected my non running training so last night I cracked on with a 300 workout which consists of 100 reps of press ups, squats and mountain climbers in any order and in any sequence of reps but against the clock.

It was a great quick workout but I am ashamed to say I was a bit outside of the suggested beginners time. I also completed 100 reps of crunches and dips against the clock to round off my workout. 

I am planning to do this workout again and do so regularly to improve my time and performance.

Looking back at this week I can't believe this time last week I was excited about attending the asics 26.2 bootcamp.

You can read about my experiences here and if you would like to vote towards the winners here is my article I wrote in support of a friend I made at boot camp who is very deserving of your vote.

Barburrito Burrito Review

It has been a long time since I had a burrito let alone write up a review, so today looking for a lunch time option and wanting something substantial and filling I headed in search of a tasty burrito.

I headed to Barburrito which opened up a new store a few minutes walk from work a few months ago and I haven't had a chance to check it out mainly due to trying to stick to a healthy diet while marathon training. 

Having never tried Barburrito I was interested to see where they ranked in the burrito pyramid of excellence, near the top with the burrito kings of Daddy Donkey, chipotle and Tortilla or along with the mass ranks of average burrito providers.

Today I was kind of in the mood for something a bit plainer and probably chicken based but the pulled pork option soon grabbed my attention as I walked in!

My burrito ingredients today were:

Tomato rice
Mild beans
Pulled pork
Roasted onions and peppers
Medium 'ranchero' salsa dressing
Guacamole 
Lettuce
Cheese (I didn't ask for it but still got it!)
Sour Cream

So to review my burrito: 


The actual tortilla wrap: Pretty poor, doughy, quite chewy, no flavour, disappointing. 
Tomato rice: OK, not a great consistency and no real flavour. 
Mild beans: I love my beans and these were pretty good, they gave good consistency and texture and added a good nutty type flavour.
Pulled pork: Nice, not particularly authentic as such but tasty and meaty. But Barburrito are stingy with their meat portions! Might have been a one off but wasn't very impressed with the small little scoop of meat I received!
Roasted onions and peppers: Good and a nice option as not everywhere offers this vegetable option, again added plenty of flavour and a nice bit of crunch to the burrito. 
Medium 'ranchero' salsa dressing: hmmm, not sure, a bit smoky and very tomatoy and was perhaps a little overpowering. 
Guacamole: 75p for some guacamole was decent but I forgot I ordered any as it didn't really taste of anything and again there was not very much of it! 
Lettuce: Nice lettuce, fresh and crunchy but come on you don't have a burrito to have some nice lettuce?!
Cheese (I didn't ask for it but still got it!): No idea, didn't taste it and didn't notice it at all. 
Sour Cream: Another highlight, cool and soft proper sour cream adding coolness. 

Overall rating: Pretty disappointing,  found the burrito to be a bit on the small side and I as I mentioned they were not very generous with their portion sizes. The individual ingredients all seemed to be of decent enough quality but altogether it just didn't work. As I have already said the salsa was a bit overpowering and there were too many poor parts to it especially the tortilla which was very poor. Things could have been different if I had had a more generous meat portion, will have to see next time, if I give them a next time that is. 

Barburrito experience: Mixed reviews on my experience of Barburrito as a chain. I liked the actual restaurant as it had plenty of seating and was a better restaurant set up than many of its rival chains. However the staff weren't great and didn't have any of the South american charisma you usually associate with staff in burrito places irrespective of their actual background. The other big problem was that they got my burrito wrong, on the last stage I asked for sour cream and lettuce but ended up with cheese as well! Big no no! I cant remember ever having an incorrect burrito before as it just doesn't happen so this is a massive disappointment. The other thing I didn't like was the upselling, too many offering of meal deals, drinks and extras, people especially in the city know what they want and don't want to be hassled to this extreme and it did ruin the experience. 

Rating: I have struggled to think of a rating as I never want to score too low, but I cant give it anymore than 3/10, it was however more than edible but it wasn't filling and it wasn't satisfying or tasty. 

Very disappointing, I will have to go for another burrito soon to get a better experience than what I had today so stay tuned for my next review coming soon!