Back in August, my friend Jenny and I set up a social “run and chat” type group for people working at Leeds Dock to encourage them to get out from behind the desk each Wednesday lunchtime.
Seven months later and we’re still running. We run for around 30 minutes, heading down the navigation towpath for 15 minutes, turning around and running back. It’s been lovely to chat to different people and see people go from strength to strength as their running improves week on week.
Sadly, the COVID-19 crisis looks like it will put the club on pause for a while, and I’ll be finishing with my client down at Leeds Dock, so that’s probably it for me. But it’s been a blast and I wish them many happy runs in the future.
Mike Reilly is a famous race announcer. It is not a field you would usually find celebrities. However, Reilly’s consistent appearances at the Ironman World Championship since 1989, and his having coined the phrase “you are an Ironman” as athletes cross the finish line, mean that many triathletes dream of having Reilly call them across the line. In this book, he tells tales from year decades of race announcing.
It’s a fun book. Sort of. I mean that in an “it’s a good collection of stories” way, as opposed to a book you are going to learn anything about triathlon from. Which is fine, because it doesn’t promise to be anything else.
That said, it is not as fun as it could be. Naturally, Reilly tells inspirational stories about amputees who have completed Kona, horrific accidents people have come back from, and the adversity so many people overcome to complete the greeted one-day sporting challenge there is.
But, to be honest, there is only so many tales of horrible things happening to people, like accidents, cancer, and myriad unlucky turns that, at times, the book becomes depressing.
Reilly’s passion for announcing shines through, though. He is a fellow Toastmaster, and while other people wonder how he can stay passionate for 17 hours of racing, I had no problem understanding how he becomes more energised and more excited the longer the night goes on.
I recently completed my course in Macronutrients and Overnutrition with Wageningen University. I didn’t realise just how good Wageningen was until I looked them up in the league tables: around 50th in the world (Leeds is around 100th) and the top-rated university in the Netherlands.
The course covered macronutrients: carbs, proteins and fats, as well as some of the reasons we eat too much and why weight management can be an issue in the obesogenic environment.
It has been six years since the San Francisco 49ers made it to the play-offs. They made it there every year under Jim Harbaough, until we went 8-8, and he got fired.
Obviously, that was a stupid decision. Over the next few years, we became only the second-ever team to fire three head coaches in three years. And, for the record, the other team was also us a few decades ago. Finally, Kyle Shanian came in and after two okay-ish seasons, we were hot again. Coming in the top NFC seed, we beat our way past the Vikings and the Packers, both convincingly.
But, alas, the big day was not to be. It was going so well and we build up a commanding league. But Patrick Mahomes did his thing and ended up stealing the victory with only a few minutes to go.
At least it was an exciting game. Which makes up for last year that was officially the most boring Super Bowl in history.
And Shakira rocked the half time show. I still haven’t got Whenever, Whereever out of my head.
Karhu is a Finnish running shoe brand and the Synchron is their support shoe. I wanted to love it but I don’t.
The shoe pinches my midfoot and digs into my plantar fascia underneath. It’s not as bad as the Karhu Fusion, but it is still uncomfortable. It’s not as tall as the Fusion, which makes it difficult for me to get my foot into it. The toe box suggests I am wearing the right size; the shoes are simply not tall enough.
It feels like quite a heavy shoe and after any period of time running, my toes start to get hot. They have a chunky sole but it does not give much back. Hoka have an annoying large sole but at least it gives something back; the Karhus not so much.
It is a shame because they look nice, albeit not quite as nice as the Karhu Fusion. But, alas, the Synchron is not the running shoe for me.
While everyone else was freaking out about Storm Ciara, I had a three-and-a-half-hour drive, mostly in the dark, up to Durham and back for a strength and conditioning coaching training. I am glad I did brave it as everyone else did, too.
Once you qualify as a triathlon coach, you can coach across all of the disciplines. However, if you want to coach strength and conditioning, you need to do additional training.
It covers physiology, integrating it into a club environment and triathlon programme, and how to do all of the standard exercises safely and correctly. Understanding how to break down a movement so that you can regress and progress people as appropriate is super useful.
The Karhu Fusion running shoe is a story of heartbreak. Visiting Finland regularly and speaking some Finnish, the minute I saw the word karhu, I wondered if it was a Finnish brand. And it was. A legendary Finnish brand with over a hundred years of running heritage.
The shoes look great and the Fusion is tall enough to fit my foot in.
However, it is also uncomfortable. The mid-foot rocker digs into my plantar fascia and I came off a treadmill run in some discomfort. They feel heavy without providing much cushioning, so it is like running in a big shoe without the benefits you usually get from them. In fact, they pinch my midfoot the whole way around, from the bottom to across the top as well.
So, unfortunately, these are not my new running shoes of choice.
Today is the big day: after years of delays, Planet Ice Leeds is finally opening. Nobody will welcome that more than Leeds Chiefs who started playing ice hockey in September but have had to play all of their games away due to not having a rink.
Last weekend, I did a swim video analysis with Jack.
It’s a useful exercise to get some perspective on your stroke. Take my pull, for example. I genuinely thought I was bending my elbow and getting a nice pull through, rather than going super deep. But it doesn’t look anything like that on the video.
I do like how high those legs are, though. I see a lot of people with really low legs and hips in the pool, and I assume I am just as bad but can’t see it. But the video suggests that isn’t one of my major weaknesses (at least compared to the others, lol).
A lovely bunch of people to ring in the new year with. Not to mention recovery steak at Blackhouse and that new dessert place in The Light. Love you all.
