When I originally started this blog I would go onto Google and do some different searches to see where I came (if anywhere) in the list/results.  I used to just search on “virtual runner” or “the virtual runner” and I’d be lucky to be anywhere!  Eventually I started creeping up the rankings until I was in the first few pages of result until I finally reached the top.  Now when I do either of those searches I’m number 1.  Where’s my medal?

On 07 June 2009 I decided to create a page on my blog which listed all the “best running blogs” that I had found.  It was meant to be a source for visitors to get involved and find more information, a way to advertise other bloggers sites and a way to drive traffic to mine.  The link is here (opens in a new window):-

http://thevirtualrunner.org/blog/best-running-blogs/

I added the different blogs that I read from time to time and eventually people started contacting me asking to be added to the list as well.  If they’re actually a blog about running or something to do with running then I usually put them on there.  I try to avoid sites that are selling something.  Blogs should be more about information and entertainment (not that mine is that entertaining).

My plan was for the “Best Running Blogs” page to creep up the Google rankings as people did searches for running blogs, and it worked.  At first, nothing.  Now, you do a search on “best running blogs” or “top running blogs” in Google and take a look at who is top!  Yeah baby.  This means more traffic to my site and more traffic to the blogs on my list.

Because I use the services of statcounter.com I can also see the effect that Best Running Blogs page is having and who is getting the majority of the traffic from my site.  Below is the 1st page of “exit links” people of followed when eventually leaving my site.  The numbers down the side show how many times they’ve been followed.

Exit Links that people followed when leaving my site.

Perhaps I should let some of these people know?  Nah, it’s nice that traffic is being driven to some quality blogs and the traffic to my own site is increasing on a regular basis.  Who would’ve thought stats could be so interesting?  Well, they are to me in this sense anyway.

Another thing I can see is what people type or search for when they end up at my site.  It’s called a “Keyword Analysis” and I’ve got a small part of mine here for you to look at.  See what’s right at the top:-

Keyword Analysis shows what people have been typing to end up at my site.

All of this makes me think I should do more with the Best Running Blogs page as it seems to be increasingly popular.  Should I make it more functional?  Should I add more blogs?  Should I have some sort of ranking system for people to vote on favourites etc?  Or, should I just leave it how it is?  Why fix what isn’t broken.

I also see that my friend Robby has been searched for 3 times recently.  It could be more but the free service at statcounter.com only keeps a limited number of entries/records at any one time.  In fact, if you now do a Google search on “robby kilborn” my site is at the top.  Well, it is on my computer!

And finally, the free service at statcounter.com (among other things) gives me the ability to see where my recent visitors have come from.  Because it only keeps a limited record of entries at any time on the free service at statcounter.com there aren’t that many to see:-

A map that shows the recent visitors to my blog and where they are in the world.

So, nothing really “running” related today but I thought it was interesting so I wrote about it.  If you found it dull… then why have you read this far?  Jeez…

Besides being excited (and scared) about the marathon, I’m also excited to see my family.  We tend to only visit Canada about once a year and we never got to go to Canada last year because we got married.  So, it’s been two years since I’ve seen everyone!

I’m also looking forward to seeing my best friend Robby.  I’ve mentioned him before on here and if you google him my site comes up (lol).  We met when we were younger and we’ve been the best of friends ever since.  Even though we’ve both moved all over the place and been almost on opposite sides of the world we’ve always stayed in contact.  Also, it’s been much longer since I’ve seen Rob so I can’t wait to just hang out and have him meet my son for the first time!

I always tell my son about his family in Canada and I also tell him that he’s going to see “Uncle” Rob because he’s like my brother and is a part of my family.

I’m looking forward to hanging out with my nieces and nephews, talking to my sisters and my parents.  We are also hoping to rent a car for a few days and head down to another part of New Brunswick and into Nova Scotia to see more family too.

So, not long now and we’ll be bringing in the house sitter (Tony!) and shipping ourselves to Canada to visit family.

You know what else I’m looking forward to in Canada?!  Food!  There is loads of food that I grew up with that you can’t get in the UK.  In no particular order, some things I’m looking forward to eating:-

• Bologna
• Kraft Dinner
• Kool-Aid
• Tim Hortons Coffee and Donuts
• Pizza Delight Pizza (with the works)
• Donair
• Dill Pickle Crisps (or Chips as they’re called in Canada)
• My mum’s potato salad

That’s just the stuff I can think of off the top of my head.  Don’t worry, I won’t be sitting down to a large meal consisting of all of those items in one go… although that might be good.  I’ll be spreading out the joy!

My distance covered so far on my meandering virtual run across Canada is 2352 kilometres (1462 miles) and I’m happy to say that my motivation and drive is returning.

I’m now running in parts of my home country that I’ve never been to in real life.  The first 27 years of my life were spent in Canada and the farthest west I have ever been is Oshawa and that’s because that is where I was born.  The farthest west I have been and can remember is Ottawa.

I will see the rest of my own country in time and I’ll see it as a tourist and I’ll bring my son and wife from the UK.  I don’t know when or how but those are things to plan for the future.

I do get asked by a lot of people over here in the UK if I plan on moving back to Canada and the truth is, no I don’t.  I’m happy here in the UK and I’ve got a lovely wife, son and daughter.  I’ve built a life for myself in the UK and I enjoy it here.

As for my motivation returning, it might be linked to changing my trainers to my next new pair and because I registered for a marathon.  I was losing my motivation and it was partly linked to sore feet and achilles after runs.  The other day I decided to move on to my next pair of trainers that have been sitting in the bottom of the closet waiting for me.  I had bought two pairs of Adidas Supernova Sequence trainers (for the price of one) and I think I’ve only got about 400 miles out of them.  That’s not too bad considering I’m a heavy runner at around 15.5 stone (217 lbs).  I still can’t believe I was more than 18 stone (252 lbs) at my heaviest.  And I’m sure I was even heavier than that because at my fattest I never weighed myself… the shock would’ve been too much!

I feel much better now with my new trainers and my marathon goal.  I’ve even slowed down on my easy and long runs in order to facilitate the longer distances I’ll be doing.  All of the training plans I’ve seen for marathon distance have the average pace (for me anyway) much slower than what I have been running.  I suppose it makes sense as I will need to slow down in order to cover the whole 26.2 miles without breaking down.

As for non-running related matters, my wife is still as lovely as always and supportive of everything I do.  My son is still the cutest and the most clever little boy in the world.  My daughter and her husband are doing great.  My best friend Rob is back in contact again (kind of) and travelling around Canada on his own little adventure.  My laser eye surgery is next week (02 Sept 2009) and I’m getting excited.  We’ve got a nice little weekend holiday coming up and when we return I’m getting lasered!

That’s it for now.  I’m still running and I’m feeling it again.  I think that many people go through ups and downs in their training and not just for running either.  I’m just glad I’m feeling it again.

Front of the cottage

I’m really sorry that I haven’t written in a while.  Juneathon was going so well for me as well!  Oh well, there is always next year.

I’ve had a lot of things going on lately an my focus just hasn’t been on writing.  I’ve managed to keep running though and if you look at my running log for my virtual run across Canada you’ll see all of my runs there.  Because it’s been so long and so many runs I won’t sit here and type them all out for you because it’s boring reading and boring to type all of it.

Moving

We have moved to our new place and it is one of four cottages owned by nearby farm.  Ours is semi-detached (to the another cottage of course) and that means we only have one neighbor.  The new house is near the motorway but we don’t really mind at all.  We’ve been there since 1st July and we’re loving it!  The outside of the cottage (grass, borders, trees, outbuildings etc) were/are pretty run down but we have done a lot to them already in the couple of weeks we’ve been living there. 

It took a couple of days to mow the whole lawn because the mower was cutting the grass so short the bag kept filling quickly (the mower wouldn’t go any higher – it was a gift from friends).  Unfortunately the mower broke before we could even finish the lawn so we decided to go and buy a new one which finished the lawn nicely.  Now it seems like the grass has all grown back already!  If it is nice this weekend I’ll be out mowing again…

Gate & back garden

It took two days to move into our new house and all of our stuff fit perfectly.  We had a clear-out over the few weeks before moving anyway because we went from a four bedroom detached house to a two bedroom semi-detached cottage.  Thankfully the new house has the outbuildings so we had a place to store all of our crap!  Usually that is what people use their garages for in this country.

We rented a nice big VW van for our move and I was looking forward to putting my little boy’s booster seat in the middle and letting him come with Daddy.  He loved driving in the van so high up. 

I’ve put some photos of our new home on Flickr and you can find them by clicking here or by clicking on one of the photos on this post.

Lasers

“You know, I have one simple request…and that is to have sharks with frickin’ laser beams attached to their heads. Now evidently, my cycloptic colleague informs me that that can’t be done. Ah, can you please remind me what I pay you people for? Honestly, throw me a bone here…what do we have?” – Dr Evil

Garden facing cottage

We recently got a bit of money and my wife has said that I should consider getting laser eye surgery.  So, I went and booked my “free” consultation for Wednesday, 12 August 2009 in Reading.  To tell you the truth, I’m both excited and scared.  I’m excited about begin able to do things without having to wear glasses all the time!  To wear sunglasses!  To be able to see when I come into a warm building from the cold outside!  To be able to run in the rain without feeling like a blind man!  Oh the joy of it all.  However, I’m scared that I won’t be suitable and I’ll have been excited for nothing.  I’m scared something might go wrong (even though statistically this is slim).

I am interested in hearing from people who have had laser eye surgery or know of those who have had it so please feel free to comment or send me an email [jamie (a) thevirtualrunner dot org].  I’m using Optimax so if you have any information or experiences with them in particular I’ll be even more interested to know.

Stress

With a death in the family, my dad going in and out of the hospital and moving house; I’ve been a bit stressed.  I think this (along with my generaly laziness) has contributed to…

Excess

I’ve been over-eating quite a bit lately.  I think it is mostly comfort eating but it’s certainly making me fat(ter).  I haven’t weighed myself in quite a while because I’m afraid it will just confirm what I already feel.

I mowed the lawn too short.

I’ve decided that I need to have a bit more focus when it comes to running/training because I’m just kind of plodding along on some sort of virtual plateau at the moment and I need to boost things.  I’m thinking that maybe I should register for a half marathon in October somewhere so it will give me something to aim for and will give me a bit more focus.  Training for general fitness just isn’t doing it.

I wish I had the common sense and willpower to stop eating so damn much but I just love food… yummy!

Friends

It has been a good few weeks now since my friend Robby (he’s like my brother) finished his trek across the arctic with a team of dogs and I haven’t really heard from him at all.  Thankfully I got to speak to him a couple of weeks ago when he was at my parents place in Canada and I managed to track him down and speak to him again last night.  I’ve really missed the guy and I’ve been stressing about how he is and why I haven’t heard from him.  Turns out it is a perfectly legitimate reason, however it would have been nice if he had kept me in the picture instead of letting me worry.

He’s talking about setting up a blog himself over the next couple of months and it that actually happens I’ll let you know.  For now, I’m just glad he’s safe and sound and taking care of himself.

My Uncle

My Uncle Gordon in Canada passed away last week and he’ll certainly be missed.  Unfortunately I couldn’t be there with the rest of the clan to say my good-byes but my thoughts and love are being broadcast across the Atlantic to my Aunt and all the family.

My Dad

On returning from her brother’s funeral, my mother had to take my father to hospital and he got admitted straight away.  My father isn’t very well at the moment (Parkinsons, Polymyalgia Rheumatica & Osteoporosis to name a few) and he’s quite frail.  My mother said he caught a cold and got pneumonia.  He was in the hospital and the doctors said his heart wasn’t strong enough to pump (congestive heart failure).

They’ve been medicating him and he’s not in intensive care at the moment.  Mum said he’s grouchy so he is stable.

My Brother (Best Friend)

My best friend (who is a brother to me) travelled across northern Canada by dogsled all the way to Alaska.  It took him a few months and he was out of contact with me and everyone else during the whole trip which lasted about four months.  At the end of April he sent a message via facebook to say he was back in civilization.  I couldn’t wait to hear his stories!  Unfortunately I never heard from him again until a few days ago.  I was getting really worried because I had no numbers for him or anything and he wasn’t responding to emails either.  I’ve spoken to him now and I’m so relieved.  I’m still waiting to hear the stories about his adventure though and get some pictures.  As soon as I get some I’ll post them here and you can have a look.  I might even get Rob to write or post some stories from his trip.

Our Home

About a week ago we received a letter from our letting agent advising us that our landlord would like to renew our rental agreement at £1000 per month.  £1000!  What a joke!  Sure, our rent is £950 at the moment and it’s only £50 more but our place isn’t worth £950 either even if it is a 4 bed detached property.  There is no double glazing and our heating bill in the winter period was well over £100 a month.  He never sorts anything out and we haven’t had a proper written rental agreement since 2007.  The place is run down.  Enough is enough.

The day I got the letter from our letting agent I went online and did a search for 2 bedroom properties to let in the area.  The first one I found was a 2 bedroom semi-detached cottage (£750 per month).  We promptly called and arranged to view the property on Monday (just passed).  It was lovely.  The letting agent said that the rent was so cheap because the property was so close to the motorway, but we didn’t care.  It has a huge garden and the house has been completely renovated throughout.

Ours is on the left:

This is the front of the house:

The kitchen:

It’s a lovely house and everything is new including the wiring and plumbing, the fridge, the kitchen, the cooker the flooring the lighting… everything.  We hope to get the keys to the new property on 01 July.

So, as we will be moving I may not have internet access during parts of July.  It depends on how long it takes our current broadband provider to transfer things etc.  It’s bad enough I gotta wait a month for the Sky TV to be moved over!  That sucks.

My Juneathon Efforts

Not enough running, that’s for sure.  I just haven’t been able to get myself up and out.  It’s been hard the past couple of weeks but I’ve made some effort toward Juneathon as follows:-

Monday, 15th June – 5 sets of push-ups (20, 22, 20, 20 & 20)

Tuesday, 16th June - 2 sets of push-ups (20 & 20) – I couldn’t really be bothered.

Wednesday, 17th June – 2 sets of crunces (50 & 30) – I couldn’t really be bothered and it was late.

Thursday, 18th June – 3 sets of crunches (50, 60 & 60) and 5 sets of push-ups (20, 31, 28, 26 & 20)

Friday, 19th June – 3 sets of crunches (50, 60 & 70) and 3 sets of push-ups (20, 20 & 20)

Realistically I should’ve done more running when I was feeling stressed to help reduce the stress levels.  Anyway, I’m happier now and I’m gonna get up off my ass and do some more running!  I promise!

I’m sooo happy about the house…

I think I’m ready for the Bupa 10,000 tomorrow and I even went for a run this morning to test out my ankle and to see if any shin splints would flare up.  It was okay.  I haven’t done much running at all this week, but I thought that was prudent since I was injured after the Woodley 10k last Sunday.

I ran 5.33km (3.31 miles) on Friday morning (on the treadmill) at a 05:38 min/km (09:06 min/mile) and I felt okay.  I wore an ankle support (just to be sure) and I only had a short painful twinge in my ankle after about 15 mins that went away quickly.  I also had no shin splints at all.

This morning I got up at 06:30 and it was a great clear morning with a nice blue sky.  I thought of going to Dinton Pastures to run around the lakes but I opted to run the roads and go to the local supermarket (not to get anything, just as a destination) and back but using some roundabout route.  I forgot that it is mostly uphill the entire way to the supermarket… nice.  Overall it was a great run and I covered 5.14km (3.19 miles) at a 05:48 min/km (09:20 min/mile) pace.  I just took it easy and it felt great.

My fiance was bugging me to sort out what we are doing tomorrow because we have to travel in to London for the Bupa 10,000.  I’ve already got my race number and timing chip and tomorrow morning we are going to go to Reading town centre and catch the train there straight in to Paddington Station.  We can then get the Underground to the Assembly Area in Green Park which is near the Queen’s house (Buckingham Palace).

The race starts a short walk away (walking past the palace) over to Birdcage Walk.  From there the race takes us along Victoria Embankment out and back and past a lot of historic places.  It should go past the Houses of Parliment, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, Horseguards Parade, Nelsons Column, Cleopatra’s Needle, St. Paul’s Cathedral, Millenium Bridge and the Tate Modern.  I’m actually debating whether or not to run with my phone in my hand so I can take some pics for you all while I’m running around.  What do you think?

For those of you in the UK that read this (all both of you), the Bupa London 10,000 will be televised on Channel 5 live from 09:50 in the morning.  Keep an eye out for me.  I’ll be the slightly overweight, sweaty, bald guy shuffling along.  Number 5641!

However, I am wondering what predicted time I gave when I registered.  The start is phased based on predicted finish time and I’m in the blue section at the front (section A).  If you’re interested you can look at the map and instructions from Bupa by clicking here. 

As for non-running related matters, my (best) friend Robby returned from his trek across the artic a few weeks ago and I haven’t heard anything from him at all.  I hope he’s okay and gets in contact soon!

My friend Rob has been travelling by dogsled all the way across northern Canada to Alaska, USA!

He sent me a message to say “I‘m back, just feelin’ real beat up like… so I’m layin’ low for abit.  Got all my limbs still.   Got most of my weight, and a few classic ‘robby’ stories… something about -58C, beaver tails, and meeting people who haven’t seen what they look like in a mirror. Other than that, only a couple of others.“

I’m really looking forward to finding out how it all went and seeing any pictures he may have taken.  the ones I’ve seen so far are here and I’ve taken them from facebook.  As for the “Robby stories”, well you’d have to understand what my friend is like.  Our whole lives, if something really strange (and usually hilarious) could go wrong with something Rob was planning or doing then it would usually happen.  It’s a shame his memory is so crap because he could write a lot of things down and entertain others with his follies.

He’s certainly a braver man than I am!  -58 degrees celsius (-72.4 degrees fahrenheit) is really damn cold and knowing what Rob is like, I am quite surprised that he does actually have all his limbs and appendeges at the end of this trip.

I’m not quite sure where he is at the moment, he might still be in Alaska or back in northern Quebec, Canada. 

As for running, I did 11km (6.83 miles) on Tuesday at a 05:27 min/km (08:46 min/mile) pace.

I forgot to mention that I haven’t started doing the 100 pushups training yet.  I decided to leave it until after the honeymoon.  What I am doing at the moment is some homemade circuit training every other evening.  It’s a nice little addition to the running at the moment and means I can still watch crap on TV.  Some dumbells (shoulder press, armcurls, flies..etc etc) mixed with push ups, crunches and the plank.  I just mix it up on the day depending on how I’m feeling and what isn’t sore.