Ralph's Health

I got one of the figures wrong, my lowest weight recorded in 2009 was actually 79.4kg, not 77kg as originally posted. Here is the updated data:

I went on an excellent night run with Dave last night, in the dark, rain and fog up side of Kerridge ridge over to Rainow, back via RUPP then up the front of Kerridge ridge, back down side and on to The Vale. The two pints of lager at the Vale were my only mistake :-( nice though they were I felt really rough running back home. I think in future I'll stick to orange if we visit a pub mid run. I was also using the new app I have on my phone which gives me 1:25000 scale maps, works a treat. I'll be using it to scan for new routes. Somewhat disappointed that my reading for visceral fat was back at 8 this morning, hopefully one to watch though. I'll need to republish the historical weight data, I thought there was something wrong with one of the lower readings, I was right.

Here is an interesting article on visceral fat, which also talks about a study that looks at the effects of different running targets per week. Looks like 17 miles per week is the ideal target for keeping visceral fat in check. Needs more research though, as I know that 100 miles a month is hard to keep up: http://drpinna.com/visceral-fat-9928

Urgh! Just been looking this up having noticed this morning that my reading for visceral fat had gone from 8 to 7 for the first time. What does this mean? Hopefully good news if it stays at 7. The scales measure between 0 to 29. Between 1 and 12 is a healthy level of visceral fat. Anything higher is excessive. I wonder if there is any more data I can use to compare, surely the less I have the better? Lets take a look at some of my other recent data (not got todays so we'll use the data I had on Monday): Body Fat % : 20 According to the tables, for a 40-49 yo male my optimal body fat % range is 17-23. This was 23 at beginning of September. Definate improvement there. Body water: 58.6 For my body fat reading of 20% I should be in the 63% to 57%. So that is okay too.

I've been analysing my weight data I have recored on my Wii. I've taken a summary of what I have an plotted it for comparison. Here are some facts I've uncovered: I was heaviest at the beginning of September 2011 at 90kg I recorded my largest weight change between January 2009 and April 2009, losing 9.5kg in total I was at my lowest weight in April 2009 at 77kg My rate of change in the last two months is the highest rate of change I've recorded I've not spent a great deal of time at a steady weight Worryingly, I had not realised just how heavy I was getting in September 2011, I was somewhat heavier than I was when I went for my medical in December 2008 when I was in a bad way healthwise. I need to think about what my next goal will be, as I'm getting quite close to my target BMI of 23.5. I'm currently at 23.87. Looking at the data I think it will need to be something around maintenance. I could happily lose a bit more weight and go to 23, but there i

Last night I went out running with my iphone plugged in. I have just bought a Griffin arm band for it so I thought I'd give it a go. First impresion is a bit mixed, although I quite like listening to music while running I definately feel disconnected to the running experience. I can't hear my foot falls so I'm not monitoring my foot position, I can't hear my breathing either. I was alot more wary on the sections where I'm near to roads. I chose Kate Bush Never for Ever to listen to, perhaps because there aren't enough beats I did not run as fast or hard as I would normally do. Perhaps I'll try something with more beats next time. I ran the Kerridge Ridge run in 50 minutes, my heart spent alot of time at the low end of zone 4 so obviously I was pretty chilled.

Been lax on this again. for my breakfast had usual toast, orange, tea, cod liver oil. I've dropeed taking the vitamin supplements for now. Lunch, sat in a Liveseys and had their Scorcher. Very nice but bad for me salami, jalapeno, cheese and chilli jam on toasted bread, and two cappucinos. For tea had two fried eggs on toast with cheese on. A pretty cholesterol heavy day I'm afraid, but I did look up and eggs have the hdl type which is not too bad. Snacks have included lots of Orange juice, a small block of choc, some small stuffed peppers (again sat fat cos of the cheese) and a few olives. Yesterday was better, usual breakie, for lunch a cheese and sundried tom sandwich (I asked for chicken but got cheese), for tea a chicken, pepper and onion fajita or two. Some choc snacks, crisps, and woe is me 1 bottle of alcoholic ginger queer. Not great, but not too bad either as I'm working it all off at the moment. My poor arteries, well I'll find out in November when I ge

Still got a cold but felt better later so went for easy ride along middlewood way to end - totally dull and boring 15 miles. Went to gym trial with Rick, there is a punchbag there which I spent half an hour on working on my punches and kicks for karate. Will try again tomorrow or Friday. I'll probably join as they do one month membership. Later on tonight went out to try my new cycle lights on off road circuit. Usual one, here is my heart data, and the time to beat of 42mins 16secs. In the drak makes it harder so should be able to beat that with ease during daylight hours.:

My run last night I achieved my target or running my canal run in under 1 hour, I got 58:25, not bad considering I have a cough and cold at the moment. I looked at my best ever time for this run, set in mid March 2009 at 56:55. This is a new challenge for October. Last night I went to karate, was feeling tired after run, but good session. Tonight I'm going to the gym with Rick for first time, to see if I want to join. I'm really not sure to be honest, as I've never stuck with a gym for any length of time. I find them boring to be honest. I did two bike rides over the weekend. One good one with Tom and the same route the next day on my own. I'd like to ride more if possible.

Just about to set off on 7 mile canal run. I aim to get it in less than 1 hour. Fastest time is 57 mins, not aiming for that tonight.

I've been away for a week at Lakeside YMCA with the school. Brilliant week, ate lots but also did lots of activities. It is time to post up my latest weight data. Here it is:

I did not intend to run this fast tonight, and had Tom with me on his bike. I also stopped for 10 seconds to tie a shoelace, so all in all this is a good effort. One minute faster than my previous best time. I also felt quite strong at the end of the run. Here is my heart data, which is also good as I spent most of the time in zone 4.

Last night I had planned to do an evening run, but by the time it got to 8pm I just did not feel like it. Perhaps it is because my kneee is worrying me, perhaps I've had enough... So instead I stayed in and watched the telly. For lunch today I had cheese and onion and tomato sandwich, with olives and crisps. I will aim to do a run either this afternoon or this evening. Nive weather at the moment so I'll try to get out later. I've not been logging my food very well recently, lets see what I've been having: Monday: Day at home with Tom Lunch: Egg and cheese on toast Tea: Chicken, peppers, onion and tomato baked and served with cous-cous Tuesday: Went to London Lunch: Pizza Express hot pizza, orange and soda Tea: Plenty of beer and duck pancakes from weird techno restaurant Wednesday: Still in London Breakfast: Bacon and scrambled egg Lunch: Small portion of vege pasta and salas Tea: Chicken, pepper and tomato fajitas Thursday: Lunch: Tomato soup and

My weight has not been too badly affected by my visit to London and night out.

I weighed myself this morning and could not quite believe what I saw: 86.4kg. I think this must be because of the calorie loading I did before the race over the weekend, and the extra food I ate yesterday post race. Slightly disappointing to increase by nearly 1.5kg over the weekend. I'm sure it will go again over the next few days, though I'm not sure what effect my trip to London tomorrow will have. My knee seems okay today. I plan to run later on for a short run to see how it fares. Karate tonight also. Then I have a day or so off as I'm taking a trip to London for two days with Si.

Ran in 2:31:30, which is an improvement over last years time, 2:36:48. Weather was overcast, and towards the end rainy, my knees are now sore, getting regular icing. Dave also improved his time by 5 mins getting around 2:08, fastest runner was 1:36. Here is the data:

I did my standard 4.2 mile run last night, focusing on my technique. I concluded that I'm already placing my foot nearly where it should be but my technique needs some work, especially keeping my head up and body straight. Last night I tried running with higher cadence and ensuring my foot was under my body, and therefore my heel was hardly touching the ground. It was difficult to keep up as I got tired, and by the end of the run my calves were more sore than usual. However, my time was not too far off normal  even though I felt like I was running very slowly. today my knee is certainly no worse than yesterday, so I think it is worth pursuing this line a little further. I doubt I'll be able to run like that for 13 miles on Sunday , but I'll try it in parts. Weather for Sunday over Buxton way looks grim. Heavy rain and moderate visibility. Not good for running in the fells.

I've been reading through various Web articles to identify what I can do to improve my running technique. Here are the things I'll be watching for on my next run: 1. Mid-foot strike - not heel or toe 2. Foot strike under the centre of gravity - under my hips 3. Keep back straight and head up 4. Arms should not be traversing side to side 5. Arms bent at 90 degrees 6. Body should be relaxed 7. High cadence should enable the body not to move up and down This article has some nice diagrams which show some of this well.

This weekend I'll be running the hardest race I've ever done. I did it last year and got a time of 2:36:55 according to the official results http://www.goytvalleystriders.org.uk/fellraces/results/WindgatherResults2010.htm It is a 13.5 mile race with 2500ft of climb, which makes it much more challenging than a typical half marathon. Last year I developed a nasty blister by mile 8, due to getting soggy feet early on. I remember it was painful to run up Shining Tor on it. This year I intend to try to avoid that, hopefully my new shoes and socks will help me avoid blisters. I just need to make sure they a re well broken in by then. My target time is 2:30, which is pretty optimistic I know, but I'm hoping that I can do better this year by avoiding blisters. Dave and Matt got in at 2:15 and 2:19 last year. To do this I'll need to maintain an average pace of 11.11 minute miles.

I'm starting to suffer from knee pain again. Been monitoring since start of week. I think I aggravated it by my fast run on Monday, and poor running form down the hills. I've been icing my knees this week after running. I'll do one more light run tonight, probably 4 miles, practicing a lighter technique and landing midfoot under my body, then thats it until Sunday. Depending on how my knee is after that race I may switch to cycling for a little while to let my legs recover completely, or I might just take a break. In a couple of weeks I'm off to Lakeside with Tom and his class so I'll not be running much then anyway.

I did my first night run with my new gear last night. Enjoyable even though it rained. I ran my usual Kerridge run, took longer than usual as I was taking it easy with new new shoes and headtorch.

Bought a pair of Innov 8 Rocklite 315 today. Also got some new running socks. X-Socks.com Sky Run. Will try them out later along with my new head torch.

I don't understand why some days I see such a large reduction in weight. Yesterday I measured several times at 85.9kg, and this morning I'm 85.1kg, nearly 1kg difference. I didn't feel any more or less dehydrated, all other factors were the same. This puts my BMI at 24.42. I also noticed my muscle mass increase today to 40.4. I need to look into how much lag time to expect between actions and weight loss. Perhaps it is simply because I've been working hard from Sunday onwards. I definately feel it is time for a break, no running tonight unless my new headtorch arrives, in which case I'll try my first night run.

Canal run slow 7m by ralphpigskin at Garmin Connect - Details Last night I was just running to check my legs and knee. There was some soreness in my right knee yesterday and I and I wanted to check it out. The run was one I"ve done lots of times before so a good benchmark run. 1:07 is one of the slowest times I've done this. I've done it in 56:54 at fastest. Hoeever, I was in the low end of zone 4 for the whole run.

I hit my first target last night on my Kerridge Run, achieved my best time ever at 45:21. Was pretty tired at end, and this morning my knee has suffered a bit. I need to take it easy on the descents for the next few days if I am to be fit for the big race at the weekend. Been trying out the Garmin Connect site, see if this link works:

By the end of the month I want to be able to run my standard 4.2 mile run in under 35:30 minutes and my 4.8 Kerridge run in under 46:30. for my standard 4.2 mile run this will be a best ever time, and for my Keridge run will be close to my best time. I'm not actually sure what my best time for the kerridge run is though, as I only have time data over the distance, and I remember doing that run in reverse and getting a better time.

I’ve been working this for one month now, so here is my summary of what I’ve done so far: 1.       Lost 4.5kg, bringing my bmi down to 24.7. I need to lose another 4kg to reach my initial target of 23.5 bmi but at the moment I’m not sure if I should go so low 2.       Done plenty of runs – more than my original target I set. Set some good times for various runs, including a reasonable time for macc half 3.       Done my karate each week 4.       Not done so well on cutting out beer/alcohol – need to work harder at this, particularly a Friday 5.       I’m not eating so many crisps before bed now – but still the odd pack 6.       I’ve cut crisps out from lunch – would be better to eat them at lunch than before bed though 7.       Morning chocolate bars I’ve not had 8.       At home eating far less biscuits and less choc 9.       Eating at home has been a lot more healthy in the last month My target for the next month is to: 1.       continue to run at my current level, which is about

After an appalling start to the weekend (deadly combination of sun, pub and beer) I managed to partially redeem myself yesterday by running 9 miles in the morning (my standard two runs up onto Kerridge ridge followed by 4.2 miles along middlewood way) and followed by a 5 mile walk with rest of family in the afternoon. I did not beat any times, but on my 4.2 mile run I was under 38 mins which is much better than one month ago. I weighed myself this morning and I'm 86.3kg. I'm rather disappointed with the software that comes with my salter mibody scales, as I seem to have ongoing problems getting the data from the device. It would not download the last three days work of data. Piece of crap software.