Virgin media, getting pricey

Today I received a letter in the post informing me that my virgin months bill is set to increase by £3.50 a month.

This letter comes a month after we removed the sports and movie packages to save some money. As the movies we’ve already seen and as for the sports it was a luxury I can live without.

Yes we get our tv and our broadband through virgin also. Our monthly payment is £57. Some of you might be thinking, “you cheapskate that’s nothing” but for us its manageable.

Some would also argue that they’re doubling our broadband (we’ve all seen the usain bolt pretending to be Richard branson advert) but supposedly that’s a free of charge upgrade.

Channel wise what do virgin offer? Some free HD channels (which I forget about) and ESPN which I do watch a fair bit off especially the American sports. However the number of channels which they’re losing seem to be increasing and we still don’t have Sky Atlantic.

The virgin hardware also leaves a lot to be desired for. I used to be a sky + customer, so when we moved back to virgin in 2008 again to save money we signed up for V+, which is their version of sky+. The decoder box is big, noisey, slow and prone to resetting and freezing whenever it chooses.

I suppose this is what it boils down to really, if we were getting a buncho of new channels for what we pay then fair enough I could except the increase with a forced grin. But alas we’re not.

As a final note, I tried to ring virgin this afternoon to discuss the price increase with the cancellations department. I couldn’t though as the automated message told me they shut at 5pm on a Saturday….. it was 16:50! So I’ll call them on Monday after work and see what they say.

Training slump, it’s because I’m lacking a beard!

Yes that’s right you read the title right.

It’s 64 days till the London Marathon and the last 7 days have been a training nightmare. Tight chest, struggling to breath, heavy legs and a serious case of can’t be bothered!

Brian Wilson - Fear the Beard

My longest training run to date was 15 miles 2 weeks ago, after that I caught a cold and it spread to my chest. I’m still experiencing some effects of this though I do feel I’m over the worst of it.

However after I posted my lack of ‘running mojo’ on Facebook this morning, someone (@TheGodOfSarcasm) pointed out to me that my current training slump could be because I shaved my beard off. Infact it was a couple of days after my 15 mile run!

I had planned at the beginning of the year to grow a beard up until and including London Marathon race day. It would keep my face warm on the cold runs, plus I like having a beard. As I said earlier though I shaved it off a couple of weeks ago, why? Well it was itching, I looked like a hobo and I got bored of it.

During the morning my mind has drifted to thoughts of Rocky training montages, Forest Gump running across America, what do they have in common? A beard!

Brian Wilson being a succesful closing pitcher for the San Fransisco Giants… A beard!

Anyway, so what I’m trying to say is it’s time to grow a beard again,

So here it is…. I’m growing another one.  FEAR THE BEARD!

Beginning of Feb

Well at the beginning of January I posted a couple of goals for myself with regards to running.

Did I make them??????? No…. but it’s not all bad.

Ok firstly I set myself a target of 7lbs weight loss. I did think at the time of setting it I could do it. The first week and a half didn’t go to plan, I had some time off work (which involved me mainly playing Battlefield 3 on the XBOX) and a few sandwiches.. Anyway once I got the training back on track I did lose 4lbs over the month of January. Not to bad really and weight loss is weight loss.

The other target I set myself was a 20 mile run by the end of the month. Well again that didn’t happen. Though over the month of January I ran 101 miles. That I’m happy with. My pace has also improved I seem to be bashing out 10 min miles quite comfortably for me.

Also during the month of January, I’ve ran to work and from work a few times, the rucksack I purchased in November really is doing the trick.

So February is here, what next. Well no goals, but I just want the training to continue well and injury free.

As a final note, I booked train tickets for London for the marathon, £74 there and back, so really not to bad I think cost wise.

wet wet wet, and weight loss

Hey there.

Blog update time guys.

Today I went swimming, the first swim of the new year. I’m not a strong swimmer in fact I prefer to think of it as ‘drowning with style’ but I’m getting better. Olympiad I’ll never be, but at least I can do something more entertaining than tread water.

Limited financial comfort relegate me to council gym facilities. This means having to share limited pool time (a 2-3 hour window in the evening) with children’s swimming lessons and a whole range of different ability swimmers. I’m pretty much used to this, and as I said I’m not the strongest of swimmer. So I’ll identify (quite like the terminator does) the next slowest swimmer in the pool and follow them up and down in the same lane.

However, today there were a couple of really competent swimmers in the pool who glided through the water with ease, one was going really quick, which is fine (go Michael Phelps!) but then he started zig zagging across the pool dodging other swimmers (well actually it was them dodging him as they were stopping to let him past). If you couple this in with the group of four (2 girls, 2 boys) who’d swim a length then stop and chat etc, then it all got quite stressed. Thankfully though speedy Gonzales soon got out (probably spent) and things eased up a bit.

Anyway, 35 minutes done 20 lengths swam!

Next weight loss. My target for the end of Jan was to lose 7lbs, well things have been a little slow in that department, I’d stayed the same. But this morning I’ve lost 3lbs.

I’ve found having my weigh in day on a Friday morning seems to help me as come Monday (the start of the working week) I’m already into my stride with the healthy eating lark so don’t feel extra stress and don’t feel as guilty if I decide to have a cheat meal on the Monday evening.

My mileage target for Jan…. well I’ll talk about that once Jan is over with.

iPod touch, an update

Another day and another solution to an issue I’ve had recently. This time with my iPod.

I visited the ‘genius bar’ in the Apple store in Liverpool One this morning. My appointment was for 10 am and was see promptly.

A chap called Chris was the ‘genius’ assisting me today.

Straight away he had all the details about my iPod on his iPad and gave me the bad news that it was 72 days past it’s warrantee. DOH! He did say that it wasn’t water damaged, and that it’s not often that he sees an iPod with the problems mine had.

So he gave me two options

1. I could swap my 32gb iPod touch for a new 32gb iPod touch like for like and pay £100, or
2. I could visit downstairs trade my 32gb iPod touch for the latest iPod touch that’s available, though the cheapest model was an 8gb and that would have cost me close to £160.

Safe to say I went for the cheapest option, option number 1.

So I’m sat at home now, new iPod charged and music/podcast’s set up and it’s ready to go.

A response from Arriva and their rude driver.

Just a quick post just to keep you all updated with the situation going on with my struggle with Arriva Travel.

Here I posted about an issue I had with a rude bus driver.

Well after a little chasing up last week I got a response, I’ve taken the liberty of copy and pasting the response below.

“16^th December 2011

I am writing further to your communication with Arriva on 15^th December 2011 regarding the problem you experienced with a route 403 bus service.

I can confirm that your comments have been forwarded to the manager of the Birkenhead garage and he has now completed his investigation and reported his findings back to me.

He has stated that he has identified the driver concerned with this incident, the driver has been spoken to in line with our company procedures and suitable action has been taken. Unfortunately for data protection reasons I am unable to disclose the action taken but I can assure you that it does reflect the seriousness of the incident.

Nevertheless we do not expect our drivers to treat passengers in this manner and a copy of this report will remain on file for future reference.

I am really sorry that you have had cause to complain about our services and I offer my sincere apologies for any disappointment or inconvenience caused and please do not hesitate to contact our customer service team should you encounter any further problems.”

Well that’s their response. I suppose it’s case closed. I will add that since the incident I’ve not seen the driver in question.

I will further add though that it took me to chase a response to this matter with Arriva Customer service email (which I now have) to get this response. The above was taken from a copy of a response which they sent out to me, which I’ve not received.

London 2012 (the year I finally run the London marathon)!

2011 was the year I started and completed a marathon. The Liverpool marathon in October.

Not long after finishing this race I got through the door my acceptance letter for the London Marathon. At my fourth year of applying I’d been accepted. “Great” I thought. But it wasnt until I started looking at accommodation and travel etc that I realised that this was much more than the race I’d have to plan and prepare for.

My plan was to travel down with the wife and kids, hotel accommodation was acceptable at a push. But when I thought about it, it seemed unfair dragging them down to London just to see me when I crossed the finish line. I’m required to register at the excel centre the day before the race so I’d have been dragging them there as well. The only way things could have been ‘OK’ would have been if we’d booked a longer break etc, therefore more expensive.

After the realisation that logistically and financially it wouldn’t be possible I was resigned to the fact that I wouldn’t be running the race.

That was until my friend (who was also in his fourth year of applying) text me to say he had a place in this years race also. Suddenly the thought of me travelling down the day before the race and coming back the evening of the race made things seem possible again. He’s booked the accommodation (a hotel near Heathrow) for over half the price I would have paid for the family. All that’s left now is to book the train tickets.

They’re not on sale yet as it’s over 12 weeks before the day of travel. So I’ll have to keep checking.

We’re hoping to get cheap train tickets, as if it’s too expensive the only other option we’ll have is to drive, taking it in turns. This isnt idea, but it’s cost-effective.

As far as I’m aware the best way to get cheap train tickets is to get in there early?!? I hope this proves to be true. If anyone has any suggestions regarding cheap tickets I’ll be only too happy to hear them.

Ipod touch, problems

My ipod touch pretty much comes everywhere with me. Podcasts when on the bus to and from work and music when I’m running.

My wife got me it for my 30th birthday in 2010. This was to replace an older ipod which was on its last legs (it was 5 years old).

All was going well until August while out on a long run I noticed the lock/power button at the top wasn’t working. When I got home, thinking moisture was the enemy I placed it somewhere to ‘dry out’ the next day it was working as it should. But it only lasted a week and the same problem happened again.

That was it. I couldn’t get the power/hold button to work again. It’s been nearly 5 months now and I’ve been pausing the ipod when not using and letting the screen time out.

I’ve noticed recently though that the battery life isn’t as long as it used to be.

Seems this ipod after just a year is to on its last legs. I’ve looked on the internet and I believe this to be a common problem.

I’ve asked at a mobile phone stall in the market if it can be fixed. It will cost me £35 to replace the button. I’ve been told that I could take it to my local Apple store and as a goodwill gesture they might just replace it, I don’t hold much good for that though.

Back to work

Well it was inevitable, after a week off work it’s time to go back to work. I didn’t win the lottery while I was off (largely down to the fact that I don’t do the lottery).

So Monday, back to waking up early, getting the bus, work and healthy eating.

Yesterday I a href=”http://bigmanruns.wordpress.com/2012/01/08/goals-for-the-year-and-january/”posted/a about my goals for January and the year. One of January’s goals was to lose 7lbs. This will be made possible by using a href=”http://www.myfitnesspal.com/”myfitnesspal/a. This is the site/Android app which I started using in June which has helped (along with marathon training) in me weighing 2 stone less than what I did. Marathon race day I was actually 3 stone lighter, but post race indulgences and the festive period have seen some weight go back on.

When I’m at work I find it easier to eat healthy because I’m distracted with work and therefore I’m not thinking about food. Though that’s not to say if I wanted too I could eat like a pig. The cakes and biscuits my work colleagues have on the table in our tea room…

The thing I do find difficult though is staying hydrated, again I forget/don’t get the chance to grab some water so there will be mornings or afternoons were I’ll go without a drink. Just because I’ve been busy.

Speaking of hydration, I realised on Saturday while out running that a water bottle belt might be a wise investment too. Find it a little cumbersome at times carrying a water bottle. But I suppose the belt is only good if it doesn’t add to much weight to the run.

Goals for the year and January

Well i suppose it being the beginning of the year I should share a couple of running related goals.

The main one for the year is the target of 1000 miles. This is the same target as I set myself last year. I didn’t make it. I managed 671 miles. Unfortunately I was quite lazy in the beginning part of 2011.

This year I really think I can do it.

January goal

Well Christmas has taken its toll. A festive weight gain is always guaranteed. Beginning of November I weighed 13 stone 9lbs. This was just under a 3 stone weight loss from what I was in June. Unfortunately post Marathon and Christmas I’ve probably put on about 10lbs. So for me I’ve decided to shift 7lbs by the end of the month.

The second goal, is to do a 20 mile run by the end of January. While training for the Liverpool marathon I did one 20 mile run, that was 6 weeks before the race. This year before London I’d like to get 2 or 3 twenty-mile runs done, just to help with the endurance.

Starting weight 14 stone 6lbs