Blogs

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Follow the whole nine yards here (a 95 part series) :- Half Marathon Blog

Why I am running:- West Coast Eisteddfod Bryn Seion Church

For details of how to sponsor see this post

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Well....I ran for 15 minutes again today and I was a lot more comfortable with it than last time. Also I have found a new training circuit which is ideal for my purposes. Basically I am running laps around some community gardens down the road from where we live. There is almost never anyone present when I run and the repetitive nature of the circuits suit my training style just fine. Running once around the turnips takes about 3 minutes so all I have to do is keep upping the number of laps and multiply by three to chart my progress.

That's the good news The bad news is that I have not completely given up smoking yet and I am having a very hard time doing so. I read the following on the way2quit.com website: -

• Smokers need to work harder than non-smokers doing the same activity. That means you cannot train as long as you might want when smoking. Also, your quality of training may suffer.
• Smoking has an immediate effect on respiration by increasing airway resistance and therefore reducing the amount of oxygen absorbed into the blood.
• Smokers produce more phlegm and are more likely to develop a chronic cough than non-smokers. As phlegm builds up in the airways it make breathing
  more difficult.

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I am well aware that continued smoking will slow me down and may utterly defeat my purpose in the long run. Does anyone have any advice to offer on removing this obstacle? Would electronic cigarettes help? Seems likely that they would not affect performance anywhere near as much, if at all.

Meanwhile just to end on an upbeat note...we have confirmed the venue for the West Coast Eisteddfod ( one of the causes I am running for ) and paid the refundable deposit. You can find out more about that over on Gaabi's blog here . Look out for many more exciting announcements in the weeks and months to come.

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We have confirmed the venue for the 2012 West Coast Eisteddfod. It will be held at the Multnomah Arts Center in Portland on Saturday October 13th. We will be posting full details of the program as soon as it is finalized but meanwhile anyone interested in the Story-telling, Poetry or Comedy competitions should contact americymru@gmail.com for more details asap. At the moment the WCE is planned as a one day event with satellite events at other locations but thus may change as our plans evolve. Keep checking back for further details and enjoy the pictures below.

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The Courtyard/Vendors area at The Multnomah Arts Center

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The main auditorium from the stage at the Multnomah Arts Center.

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A view of the stage at the Multnomah Arts Center.

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The Lucky Labrador Pub opposite the Arts Center may prove to be a useful watering hole for WCE attendees although beer and wine will be available at the event.

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Here's is the latest, the Green Bridge in Pembrokeshire. To anyone who knows the coast the mistake here is probably obvious. This is the view looking south, but the water is on the wrong side, on the left rather than the right. The reason? I forgot to flip the picture before i started drawing and cutting it. I'd like to have a walk up that coastline, though I understand there's a firing range nearby.

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Follow the whole nine yards here (a 95 part series) :- Half Marathon Blog

Why I am running:- West Coast Eisteddfod Bryn Seion Church

For details of how to sponsor see this post

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How to address the vexed question of running gear? It is perhaps only a vexed question for me because I am a cheapskate. In the past I have only ever run in t-shirt, daps and jeans. The very same t-shirt, daps and jeans that I would in all probability, be wearing to the pub afterwards.

My researches indicate that a pair of men's running Capri's can cost anywhere between 50 and 100 dollars . Now I'm sure that these pants have advantages in so far as they are lighter than jeans and better adapted to the temperatures you are likely to be running in. But do they make all that much of a difference? I can't see how they would.

There are also many kinds of running headgear ( most of which resemble baseball caps ) with cool visors etc attached. Wouldn't you keep cooler if you didn't wear a hat at all?

I am convinced of the need for a cheap plastic wristwatch. The kind you pick up for a dollar with a 24 hour guarantee. That way you can look at your wrist from time to time and assess the duration of your remaining torment.

I also believe in the efficacy of knee supports. They can help absorb shock and keep you feeling comfortable and pain free over a longer distance.

Other than that........well of course an AmeriCymru t-shirt

Does anyone have any advice on the subject of running attire? Clearly I have a somewhat 'punk' attitude to the whole subject but I'm willing to listen to reason.

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The Cowards Tale by Vanessa Gebbie

In an unnamed Welsh town (modeled on Twynyrodyn, Methyr Tydfil) close by the Kindly Light coal mine, a host of town characters has each their stories and their secrets. The life of the town is ever influenced by the tragedy at the Kindly Light 3 generations ago when an explosion cost the lives of many miners. That explosion sets the stage for the experiences of 3 generations of town folk. Amnong them is the beggar Ianto Jenkins, called Passchendaele, a joke to mark him as a coward (he wouldn't have lasted 5 minuets at Passhendaele). The stories of the town are told through the voice of the Ianto, as requested by the folk who line up at the cinema near to the steps of the abandoned chapel where Ianto lives on the bench and steps. The novel is full of warmth and sympathy for characters who live with the sins of their fathers and grandfathers, the loss of grandfathers in the Kindly Light, the traits passed down through generations. The Kindly Light is closed, the colliers all adrift now. Ianto survived that deadly mine explosion and sees himself as a coward for it. But he understands the life of the town better than any for knowing himself.

There is Baker Bowen, a chiropodist whose grandfather was once a baker. Philip "Factual" Philips, the librarian; the undertaker Simon "Tutt" Bevans who only walks in straight lines; Nathan Barthlomew the piano tuner whose grandmother went mad with grief; James Little the gas meter reader whose father was a thief; Thaddeus "Icarus" Evans, the woodworking teacher who has spent a life trying to carve a perfect feather out of wood; land many others whose intertwined tales are told by the beggar Ianto. All of them stilled touched by the Kindly Light tragedy.

The Cowards Tale invites comparison to other story cycles about small towns. There is Thorton Wilder's Our Town, Dylan Thomas's Under Milkwood, Sherwood Andersons Winesburg Ohio. Each in a way emphasizes the little stories of individuals as the strands of a town's story. The Cowards Tale stands out for the warmth that is shown to each character, and the careful delineation of the core traits and character. All invite our sympathy and care. In the townsfolk of today there is a modernity, as they each go about their lives in the present. But through the eyes and mind of Ianto Jenkins those who listen to his stories can come to see how the past has never left them. They little know how generations past have made them what they are.

As a moving evocation of a present-day Welsh town tied, somewhat unknowingly, to its past, this first novel by Vanessa Gibbie, is well worth a reading. Each character is worth caring about, each description both direct and poetic. Written in a straightforward yet lyrical fashion, Gibbie has devised a novel that stands comparision to some of our classics.

Follow the whole nine yards here (a 95 part series) :- Half Marathon Blog

Why I am running:- West Coast Eisteddfod Bryn Seion Church

For details of how to sponsor see this post

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No Welsh blog on the subject of running would be complete without a reference to the Nos Galan . It may not be seasonal or topical but this series ends on July 4th so the Easter weekend is as good a time as any to write about it.

This is not an endurance event. It is run over 5KM ( 3.1 miles ) on New Years Eve in the town center of Mountain Ash/Aberpennar in South Wales. The winners are recorded ( by age group ) on the Nos Galan website here:- 2011 winners . At the time of writing it has not been updated with details of the 2012 event but here are the 2011 home and latest news pages which together with the rest of the site give a flavor of this unique event.

The run is held annually to celebrate the life and achievements of Welsh runner Guto Nyth Bran . I leave it to the children of Malpas Church Junior School to record his story and legendary exploits.

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And here is a video of the post race firework display in 2010. It is dedicated thusly:- "For those who couldn't make it and those who were too drunk to see it." Sounds like it was a good night.

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Meanwhile for those who are following my own shambolic progress toward the finishing line on July 4th I am pleased and proud to report that I managed to run for 15 mins today ( a total of one and a half miles approx ) Not a huge athletic achievement but a step in the right direction nonetheless. Only 11 and a half more miles to go.

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Caption competition with no prizes, any ideas for this tourist scene at the Golden Gate bridge SF?

Reproduced with kind permission from David Western's Portland Lovespoon Blog

In a fit of spring madness, I decided to dust some of the lovespoons that hang in every nook and cranny of my house. This one was a particular pleasure to clean up because it has been a companion ever since my wife and I took our first backpacking and youth hostelling excursion to Europe many, many, many years ago.

We had been fortunate enough to spend a little bit of our time travelling with a friend of ours who worked for a European travel company and who had access to some accommodation just outside Firenze. As it turned out, the place was a little gatekeeper's cottage near to some very swanky villas, so we were feeling pretty highbrow...despite our tinned ravioli and jam sandwich budget.

One morning, I awoke to the sound of chainsaws and the smell of the most fragrant smoke I have ever inhaled. It was like Christmas pudding you could breathe....amazing!! I toddled outside to discover the groundskeepers busy pruning the Olive groves which surrounded the neighbouring hillsides. They had very kindly piled some of the larger logs just up the path from our digs, so I moseyed over and had my first look at olive wood. WOW!!! The figure of the grain was magic and the rich aroma of the freshly cut wood was wonderfully overwhelming...I had to have some!!!



But it wasn't that easy. First I had to 'acquire' a log without running afoul of whoever was planning to take the wood away, then I had to figure out a way to cut out a piece which could be transported all over Europe in a backpack without killing me. Thankfully, a rummage through the kitchen knife drawer provided me with an old cleaver which despite having seen much better days was perfect for a logging operation. A loose brick in the path provided the necessary 'bashing' implement for thumping said knife through the log .... I was in business.
Despite the olive wood's tendency to display a rowey, interlocked grain, I managed to batter that poor old knife through my little log a couple of times and successfully milled out a nice little board to accompany me on my further travels. Once packed away, it even made my clothes smell wonderfully 'fruitcakeish' (which I suppose made a nice metaphor for me and my lovespoon obsession!).
That lovely little chunk of olive spent months travelling with us all over the European continent and throughout Great Britain. No doubt I could have just bought a bit at a lumberyard when I got home, but there was something very romantic about the circumstances of its acquisition and of lugging it around from pillar to post.



Once home, I confess that it sat quietly unnoticed amongst a pile of my old clothing and Euro souvenirs for quite some time before I finally decided that it would make a great memento of our engagement (which had occurred during our European sojourn).
It was wonderful to work that olivewood and I still have a couple of the offcuts which I have used to make little inlay hearts for spoons carved for some of my Italian clients. Some of the unsuable offcuts I save just to touch against the belt sander when I get nostalgic and want to smell that lovely olivewood aroma filling my shop once again.
Maybe one day I'll get back to Italy during pruning season, but until then, I have this lovely, simple little spoon to set my memories off and to remember a happy little adventure!

Follow the whole nine yards here (a 95 part series) :- Half Marathon Blog

Why I am running:- West Coast Eisteddfod Bryn Seion Church

For details of how to sponsor see this post

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I haven't come up against it yet because I haven't pushed myself hard enough but I am dreading my first encounter with the much feared side-stitch. Back in the 80's when I did most of my running the received wisdom was that you could not 'run through' a stitch. It was thought to have something to do with an insufficient supply of oxygen to the blood stream and consequently too dangerous to ignore. Of course in those days we did not have the shining light of the Wikipedia to guide us and currently there are other theories to account for this phenomenon including the following:-

1. The pain may be caused by contracting the liver or spleen, which squeeze extra oxygen-carrying red blood cells into the circulation. Although there does not appear to be much muscle in the capsule of the spleen, there is direct and indirect evidence that its size does change with exercise.This autotransfusion, (which is much larger in some animals) increases exercise capacity but the associated pain may be severe, relieved only by rest. A plausible mechanism for the pain is that high internal pressure in the liver or spleen restricts blood flow, causing hypoxia.
2. Diaphragmatic Ischemia
3. Imbalances of the thoracic spine
4. Irritation of the parietal peritoneum

No mention of deficient oxygen supply here and elsewhere I have come across advice for beating side-stitch by "changing your breathing/striding pattern"

Does anyone have any thoughts on this or better still direct experience? Certainly when I have tried to 'run it off' in the past I have always failed and been forced to concede defeat. Can it be done? Should it be attempted?

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Follow the whole nine yards here (a 95 part series) :- Half Marathon Blog

Why I am running:- West Coast Eisteddfod Bryn Seion Church

For details of how to sponsor see this post

.

A couple of people have asked me recently why it is that if I was once capable of running for 13 miles I never entered a half marathon event before. There are two reasons for this. Fistly I was never that fast and consequently in no danger of winning. Secondly I like to run mainly in order to 'dissociate'.

It's been a while since I considered exactly what that term means and so I decided to google 'running dissociation' and see what the search turned up. A blog from The Running Laminator posted in 2008 pretty much sums it up:-

One of the things I like to do when Im running, especially after a long day at the office, is to work out problems and resolve issues that I didnt have time to attend to during the day. In fact, its become a habit of mine that as Im lacing up my shoes in anticipation of a run, Id pick out one or two problems to specifically work on while I run with the intention that Id have the answer by the time Im back in my apartment. Its becoming clearer to me, more and more, that I am a dissociative runner (as opposed to an associative one).

You can read the rest of the post from the link above. Of course if you are looking to dissociate and solve the days petty problems while you run there are two main preconditions. You will need to be physically comfortable and as free from distractions as possible. You will achieve the first condition by regular training and the second by running solo as far away from other people as possible. Repetitive late night circuits around playing fields or deserted athletics tracks are ideal for this purpose.

SO....running in an event will be a new experience for me. There will be people cheering and showering us with water etc. Hopefully I will be able to ignore it all and lapse into a running trance and attempt to solve some petty detail of WCE financing or resolve some code issue on the site.

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