Run Bruce Run

Day 4 - rest day

2009-05-03T22:08:00.003+01:00

I am at a bit of a loss to know where to start. Simply because it was a month ago and I am struggling to remember it!

It was a day of catching up with other people and hearing there stories of the 'long stage'. It was interesting to hear how I had missed people who had also bedded down for a while at CP 5 or people who left just before I got there. Crucially, none of our crowd had let it beat them but to be honest I was not really surprised by this. Everyone we had befriended were just brilliant people and were there for the right reasons.....Incidentally, they all kicked by butt.

Today was about having some food and catching up with good mates and sharing my stories and laughing at each others feet. This was punctuated with regular trips to the toilet and man this was painful. Hobbling to the toilets was such an embuggerance and squatting on sore feet was still so painful. Oddly enough, I didn't really think about the fact that I had to run a Marathon through the Sahara the next day. After all that was ages away!

The last runner came in long after dark and controleurs came round the tents ask us to come and welcome him in. I decided against the walk to the finish line and then decided that I really should make the effort (I had heard from previous competitors that this was a really highlight). I attempted the hobble and it took so dam long I missed it. Dickhead.

Anyway I am struggling to remember much more. Sorry guys if I have missed something special.

Day 3 of running

2009-04-21T23:08:00.005+01:00

So, there I was on the start line staring down the barrel of nearly 60 miles across the Sahara with diarrhoea. Does immodium even work??? Insanity, but what were the options? Between the ears I felt great, I just had to make sure I did not dehydrate and keep moving forward. If I could do that glory awaited! Sure it was going to hurt more and take a lot longer than I had planned but hey, I was actually pretty at ease with the whole situation.

It was so inconvenient having to stop and shit every 30 minutes or so but mentally I felt fine. I would bump into familiar faces at CP's and most of them said I did not look great. Oddly I felt a little offended because mentally I felt fine. I had already started considering a decent rest after CP 4 though to make sure I was not pummeling myself into the ground too much. I cant be arsed to talk about the details of the route but if we got to CP4 (50km) within 16 hours we were quids in. CP 4 also blessed me with a pack of tissues from another runner who took pity on my request for toilet paper. Thank you.

The stage between 4 and 5 was pretty brutal, we got this monumental rock climb that required being on all fours at times and would of been hard on fresh legs in daylight. I found out the next day that someone had fallen and had to be helicoptered out. Ouch! After this climb they hit us with a really hard set of dunes, navigation was hard and I was dead pleased to have my super bright little torch. These Dunes went on forever and I mean forever. This was the time I asked myself some of those serious questions about how much you want to finish. I remember having a little sit down on one of the sand dunes and wondered if it was steep enough to slide down on my bum! It was, Hooray! With this little morale boost I pushed on. It was at this point an Austrian gent and me teamed up. It was obvious that all we could think about was the next checkpoint. My brain was constantly asking where is this FUCKING checkpoint. The Austrian gent with me was in his 60's and I was feeling too polite to swear in front of him. With thinly veiled desperation I said; 'where is this checkpoint'. He replied with; 'yeah where is this fucking checkpoint'. Perfect. I smiled to myself.

The dunes eventually ended and in the distance I could see CP5 (64.5km). I marched on but 10 metres before the line I had to drop my shorts again. Heartbreaking. Even worse I was running very low on toilet paper. It was too cold to be standing there bollock naked and trust me when you squat on feet after 16hours of walking/running they hurt. I mean really hurt. My feet literally felt like they were going to burst. It was yet another miserable few minutes.

After crossing the line I got my water and requested more. This incurred a time penalty but after the day I'd had I was hardly heading for a podium finish. Better that I avoided dehydration. CP5 gave me the best treat of the race, perhaps my life! A campfire!!!!! I sat next to that bad boy and took stock. It was 1.20am and I had been on the move since about 9am the previous morning. My feet were hurting and the balls of my feet def had something worrying going on. I boiled some water on the campfire and made a meal. I ate and dozed, ate and dozed. The heat from the fire was bliss. A little after 2am I got up and went to the medical tent for more immodium. I felt a little funny and had to concentrate, nope, still felt funny so walked back to my fire and rucksac and collapsed. Blackout baby!! The worrying thing was I was not sure if I had fallen on my bag or the fire. Genuinely scared for a second but my pretty face got to live on.

I layed in the dirt for a while with the wind blowing and wondered why I was not feeling cold. I was also hoping no one had noticed my faint. The medics might of pulled me out the race if they had noticed.

The faint was not an unpleasant sensation, it felt quite nice in a strange way and it made decisions quite easy. I had time to burn until the final cut off and 'only' two stages to go - best to rest and let my body find some kind of equilibrium again. I got my sleeping bag out and slept under the stars, every so often I would wake to see more sleeping bags had appeared around me. Naturally I had to get up and answer natures call a couple of times and within a minute of getting out of my sleeping bag I was shaking uncontrollably. It was cold but it meant my PHD Minimus sleeping bag was doing me proud!!!! In the morning light I remember watching sand blowing off the top of a Dune about a km away, it flowed off in a clear vortex and it looked amazing. I wont ever forget that.

Morning came and a vid camera was shoved in my face, I tried to look cool and relaxed, not sure what they wanted from me. Then Louise shouted my name out! Nice to see a familiar face. She had arrived at CP5 at around 4.30am! I would not of swapped places with her for all the tea in China! I was dead chuffed with my sleep!

I decided seeing Doc trotter about my feet made sense and joined the queue just as she went for Brekky and ended up waiting for an hour and finally got going at around 7am i think, or maybe 8?

The final two stages were hot and I was glad to finally hit the finish line at around 2.30pm in the afternoon. With tears in my eyes I hugged Angelique and Charlie at the finish line. Angelique smelt a lot better.

Day two of running

2009-04-21T22:40:00.005+01:00

The morning brought good news about Penny. She had made a full recovery and was ready to rock! Was genuinely pleased for her.

On to business; This day was a shock. The first stage really got to me, I am guessing it was because I drank so much water on the start line and diluted my electrolytes, who knows? I do know it was hard though, I had to stop at about 10 minutes in to adjust kit and told Charlie to get a move on. After that point I spent the day pretty much on my own having the odd chat with other runner. I even got asked by a complete stranger if I knew a girl called Justine. I did! she had told him I was running and to look out for me! small world!

This first stage dragged, tricky terrain and finding a rhythm was hard I slowed to a walk and felt pretty daunted by the whole thing. Stage 1 of only day 2 and I was buggered! CP1 eventually came in to view and I was pleased to get there! I got my water ration and popped a Nuun pill. This really helped but what helped most was hearing people who got to the CP a little after me who were really pleased with their time! Its all a matter of perspective! Feeling rejuvenated I headed off. The next two stages were long and hard but I felt like I was making forward progress so it was bearable.

The day finished with a hard but relatively short stint in some dunes. I was pleased to be finished and was surprised when Charlie said he had only been back about 30mins. I had taken around 6 hours. Everyone felt pretty beat up after day two and it was reassuring that almost everyone had found the days course hard.

On the down side. this was the night I starting making regular and I mean regular trips to the latrine. Tomorrow was the longest stage of the race a massive 81km (the longest in the history of the race). With a funny tummy it was going to be a long day! I am not sure what time we got the news that night but before we went to sleep we got word that to make up for the cancelled day they had boosted the day to 91km. By far the longest stage in the MDS's 24 year history! We were daunted but pleased, we may of been robbed of a day but now we had a new bragging right!

Day 5....first day running!!!

2009-04-21T22:15:00.006+01:00

woke at 5.30am and FELT SO DAM HAPPY!!!!!!

Got ready and was on the bus for 7am and at the start line area for 9.30am. Man it was cold hanging around the start but god it all felt good, chatting with official photographers and getting our first ration of water! This was real baby!!

The race started just after 10 and man it was awesome, hugging and kissing anyone and everyone, wishing new friends and strangers good luck, listening to Patricks speech, helicopter hovering overhead, race countdown 10, 9, 8, 7, 6.........2,1 GOOOOOOOOO!

We were off and the dunes were a couple k in the distance. God they were beautiful. Me and chaz ran together for all of day one and it was awesome. Few problems with the straps holding my roll mat on but Stocko did me proud and the adrenaline and smiles were still brimming over at the first checkpoint which signalled the end of the largest dunes in Morocco! We def ran from Checkpoint 1 to CP2 a bit tooo enthusiastically but what the hell it felt great! When we got to CP2 it was set amongst some beautiful ruins and the helicopter swooped low over us. AWESOME!!!!!

CP2 also gave us the funniest quote of the day. When taking a leak before setting off again Charlie, calmly delivered the following unforgettable line: "there is a fly on my peanus". We laughed. Alot. The next stage was a mix of kind of grassy hills followed by another Dune field which was smaller but even more stunning than the first. Happy days. Arrived at the finish line around 5 and a half hours after we had started.

More water rations and finally assigned to a tent. Tent 65! A couple of people tent mates were already back and one of them (Tim) had smashed the first day - he had been back ages! On a more worrying note, one of the people we had befriended Penny had gone down with salt depletion and was very ill - she was not overly interested in continuing the race. Yikes, felt really gutted for her.

Got some recovermax down me and got cooking. Managed to have two pouches before dinner and was in bed at 7.45. I have dreamed about laying under a desert sky for years and the night sky in the desert did not let me down!

Day 4

2009-04-17T18:07:00.004+01:00

I was dreading today. It was admin day. The day they weigh and check your kit and pay particlar attention to your Medical certificates. Flares and salt tablets also get distributed. I knew it was going to be one long queue!

However, we arrived early at a sprawling hotel complex out in the desert and met a few more great comrades in the line and the time just flew by! The kit checks were basically signing a bit of paper declaring you had everything and that was that! I was expecting to unpack everything, then get a few raised eyebrows over my weird ECG reading. Not a bit of it! The French organisers really came into their own and the whole thing was very painless! Happy days! After this I bought a pair of desert goggles and set about hanging out the whole day! One thing that stands out is a woman that had a broken arm, apparently she had gone for a run on the first day out in Morocco and fell over. She was in a cast and you could see her bruised fingers....her race was over before it had begun.

It was mostly Sunny and we we went up on the roof of the hotel to hang out, we had a great lunch laid on for us and we had nothing else to do but wait for Patric Bauer's speech. When this finally happened he declared that because of the unique weather conditions we had to make some decisions together. Everyone suddenly felt very included and wondered what the options might be! Then he stuck it to us: "Cancel the race or carry on". Er, not quite what we were all expecting Patrick but I guess any more options would only of caused arguments!

We got back to our hotel at around 7 and enjoyed some more sweet tea. Tomorrow we are off!!!!

Day 3

2009-04-16T23:59:00.004+01:00

Well, today consisted of drinking sweet tea, watching the rain start, stop and start stop. We even went for a run in the rain which was awesome! At some stage today we found out that day 1 was def cancelled and everyone is really on tenter hooks waiting for more news.

We had a great little announcement from great French guy. His short speech finished with: "I have no more information - any questions?" It certainly raised a laugh from his (very) captive audience.

On top of all this we ate too much and met Michaela and Debs friends Zayne and Sara. Oh yeah and ate way too much. Boredom is a terrible thing.

Day 2

2009-04-14T22:33:00.004+01:00

Early start after Charlie got his alarm wrong (its becoming a habit!!). Bloody good job though because Jeremy knocked on our door telling us that the coach was now leaving at 8am instead of 9! No dramas and headed off to brekky for another big feed before being shipped into the desert!

Once on the bus we were handed our roadbooks for the race. For me this was really, really special. It made everything so real. We had a couple of great girls on the bus behind us, Michaela and Debs. The Controleur with us, Angelique was also great. Let the conversation flow!

A short while after we set off, something strange happened. It started raining and 5 hours later it was still raining. My mind inevitably started thinking about how this could affect us. If the campsite is wet then we were in trouble.....the one thing no one can be prepared for is wet weather. Our sleeping bags in particular are totally useless if they get wet. Do I just attract bad weather?? Its the Sahara for Christs sake!!!

There was a crazily fat bloke on the bus who was jumping off at every stop and chain smoking. Angelique finally cracked and asked if he was running. 'Yes', came the reply! My curiosity also got the better of me and asked if he was taking ciggies out on the run with him. Again, 'yes' was the answer. 'How many' I asked. '20 a day' came the reply. I clearly looked surprised and he followed up with: 'well, there not heavy are they?'.

You cant argue with logic like that!

After a packed lunch and few pee stops we were at our destination and army trucks were ready to take us to the first campsite. Charlie and i missed the first trucks so got out the rain and back on the bus. Then we were told we were heading off on the bus to another place because access was becoming difficult because of the rain. So, there we were parked up in this little town while alternative arrangements were made. An hour turned into several and rumours started to get scary! The fact the french competitors could not even get past roads that we had travelled on a few hours before hand was worrying. Or, Perhaps they just surrendered to easily.

After lots of waiting around and more worrying rumours we were told we were going to be sent to a hotel and to expect an update tomorrow. Mmmmmmm.

First day of trip....

2009-04-14T22:14:00.007+01:00

Despite no sleep the night before flying I had a cracking day travelling to Morocco. I knew I would forget something though and it was whilst eating a bowl of pasta at the airport that I remembered my lucky shorts had been left on the radiator in the Bathroom. Dickhead. Anyway the check in queue looked like a Raidlight convention with everyone carrying the same red and grey backpacks.....this was really happening!! Met up with Charlies mate, Matt as well. Ended up next to another runner from Ireland called Gary on the plane as well and it was clear that this trip was going to be as much about the people I met as the desert.

Getting off the plane was pretty hot and after a tortuously slow wait for passport control to show up and do their job...painful! % minutes of coach ride to the airport and we were at our hotel, the room was fine but the pool area was properly outstanding and I was having some pretty vivid fantasies about being back there in a week and being able to enjoy a cold beer!!

Before dinner we popped for mineral water and attempted a comedy haggle and I suggested popping for sweet tea at a little restaurant opposite our hotel. It went down very well and little did we know that we were going to have ample opportunity to enjoy lots more over the coming days!

Dinner that night was a hefty affair with more new faces and great banter. I think I totalled about 4 or 5 plates of food. Happy days!

wish me luck!

2009-03-25T23:23:00.002Z

Ooops, running a bit behind. Still not properly packed and its getting late.

My rucksack seems huge. Just keep reminding myself that its all food and after a couple days running it will soon shrink.

This time tomorrow I will be bedding down in 5 star luxury before a long coach ride in to one of the worlds great deserts. Sweet dreams everyone.

Ps. Thanks to everyone who has sponsored me and please feel free to go to the darbaroud website and email while I am out there. My race number is 763.

Neverland

2009-03-24T20:43:00.002Z

Everyone keeps asking me if I am excited, or nervous etc. It all seems a bit unreal at the moment. I feel like its happening and I am comfy with that but at the same time it feels like I should not of rested so much and should be doing some training. Then thoughts about the nitty gritty kick in: can I get away with less food? Need to buy lipsyl, new socks? What about a lighter? Where the hell am I going to fit the flares and survival kit the organisers give me? Where can I get straps for attaching roll-matt to my rucksac?.........you get the idea.

I am definitely in the final throws of getting this show on the road and I have to say that packing is my least favourite bit of these trips. I remember Kili being the same. Its kind of bitter sweet, I love the running around and jumping in the car to scream off to the shops for that little thing I forgot. Its the sinking feeling you get when you keep remembering things that make it stressful! The really cool bit is you know that when you do leave the house and head to the airport you have this amazing sense of order and focus about the task ahead. Really looking forward to that.

Anyway, lets focus on something else: Acclimatisation. I have been going to the sauna everyday since last Tuesday and it has been getting easier. This morning I managed 30 minutes straight quite easily. Followed with a short break then 10mins and then 5 break etc etc. To top it off I was chatting with a stunning Italian air hostess this morning. Que bella!

Will try and update again before I leave but no promises. For all that know me, feel free to text and call in the next few days so say hi and good luck!!

Nearly there

2009-03-18T11:51:00.003Z

Hello, hello. Well it has been a while since I got back from that great few days with Stockford in Gran Canaria. I took the best part of ten days off after that and I have to say I felt crap. My body went to sleep after a few days and I started getting aches and pains. Best thing for it was do some exercise!

So, the two key things I have done since returning have been a nice 20 miler last Thursday and and a 50 miler two days ago. Feel pretty good all things considered!

I should also mention that after a nerve racking wait for a second opinion I have the all clear on my medical! So I am hot to trot baby!

Its all about sunbeds and saunas here on in!!!!!!!!

Well apart from the all the bits of kit I still have to organise.....I mean, Christ, it feels never ending at times! Ordered all my food yesterday and hopefully it will arrive soon. The reason being that HOLY CRAP that I fly to Morocco in 8 days!! Holy shit balls! Hahahahah!!!

Gran Canaria - Day 4

2009-03-06T11:48:00.007Z

Well, well, what do you know! We ended up getting pretty blitzed before during and after the rugby! So Sunday was a bit of a wasted opportunity but we did head into the Dunes again for a bit of a session........a photo session! Vanity, definitely my favourite sin.

Gran Canaria - Day 3

2009-03-06T11:36:00.007Z

Day 3 was again about 20 miles and honestly one of the best runs of my entire life. Exploration, excitement, good personal performance, great company, great weather, the ocean, beaches.....outstanding. I even persuaded Charlie to stop for a little sunbathe once we were about an hour from getting back.

One particular bit worth a mention was flying round a precarious little path that did not leave much room for error. It was just awesome. Stimulating and beautiful sum it up pretty well. Anyway, I will let the pics do the talking.

After we got back we headed back to the beach to watch England get beaten by Ireland in the 6 nations.

Gran canaria - Day 2

2009-03-06T11:25:00.005Z

In the evening of day 1 we were sitting at the poolside when a very organized looking couple strolled past with a walking sticks. We grabbed them for a chat in order pick there brains about where it was good to walk and run. They were kind enough to get their maps out and showed us the route they had taken up into the mountains. That was Day 2 sorted!

So after the same hefty breakfast we struck out in to the mountains. Despite the heading in a direction that turned out to be a bit crap for running we eventually found a good track up the mountain and had a great days running. We totalled just over 20 miles and it felt really good. The brisk downhill parts on the way back were great and I could feel my core and upper body working to stabilise itself. I love this stuff!! As charlie remarked the joints and cartilage take a pounding but we really powered our way back and it left that bionic feeling in me for the rest of the day. Nice. We were out for just over four hours again.

Oh yeah, almost forgot to mention the outstanding t-bone we had in the evening of day 1! The restaurant owner even gave us a lift home!

Gran canaria - Day 1

2009-03-06T11:05:00.006Z

Hola!

Okay I got back on Monday night and have been a bit slack about getting this done. So unlike me.

Day one, we had a breakfast identical to our MDS rations, filled our packs, affixed gaiters to shoes and set off in the sunshine towards the beach. Have I ever mentioned I love beaches?! So, we ran along looking like a complete pair of idiots for about 10mins till we hit the coast. I gather the sand dunes in maspalomas are quite famous and they certainly gave us a taste of just how challenging the huge ones in the Sahara are going to be. Especially as our gaiters were effective for about 10 minutes. After that our shoes were full of sand. Bugger.

So after getting the sound out we continued through the nudist areas and down the coast. Why are nudists never super hot? Not grossly overweight would be a good start!

Towards the end of my first bottle of water I tried a new electrolyte tablet called Nuun and have to report it was a very tasty way of maintaining the the correct balance - nice change from water as well. Little moral buzz as well - happy days. I was also using some new sunglasses and hat for the first time. Both worked really well. effective and comfortable.

We were out for a little over three hours and very pleased with our first day. Lessons included gaiters need more work, Nuun is good, massive calorie intake before run works well - ration pack is 800 calories!

Weekender

2009-02-23T11:38:00.002Z

Okay, very quickly. Coming off the back of a pretty successful weekend so here it is in all its glory.

Saturday and Sunday: 20 miles with full load on. Just over 3 hours on both occasions.

In a funny way Sunday felt slightly easier.

Even went out Saturday night with a few friends but was very disciplined and had 1 pint of beer and a couple of Cranberry juices. Yes, people did make fun of me. But they don't look as good naked as I do. Got it?

hard and fast

2009-02-19T13:43:00.004Z

Good hard 10 miles or so last night. Not done this kind of run for what feels like ages. I would be more specific on distance but my GPS gadget let me down....nevermind, it felt good!

Certain muscles struggled a little because I have not used them on my long slow runs but overall I felt strong and capable. Plan a good core workout this evening and then a curry with a few beers. What? Its mt Birthday! 31 today.......I know, I know the years have been kind.

Chillaxing

2009-02-15T16:34:00.007Z

Bonjourno boys and girls.

After feeling a little more tired than I expected on Friday after my run I decided to take a little bit of time off running so went for a lovely nice ride on Saturday morning and it freaking rocked!!!! To be honest I was not really in the mood for cycling hard but it was such a beauty morning that just cruised around for about 3 hours. A bit of sunshine makes all the difference ay?

Anyway for my loyal reader I have a week summary and some pics for you! One is from a run around London in the Summer with my big brother.

Sat: 32 miles run with rucksack

Mon: Core workout

Tues: Hill session (5 miles)

Wed: Running club (7 miles - hills again!!!)

Thurs: Rest

Fri: 18miles with rucksack

Sat: 3hours on bike (fairly gentle)

Sun: Rest

So all in all a pretty good week and taking a few days off running feels correct.

bunking off

2009-02-13T23:16:00.003Z

It was a lovely afternoon today so I decided to bunk off work at about 1pm and go for a run instead. Knocked out a cheeky 18miles (planned on 20) but was bored so trimmed a bit off!

It was actually pretty tiring and when I finished I really felt it. I had planned on doing 20 tomorrow as well but my left foot and ankle seems to be struggling a little at the moment. Nothing serious just a little bit of soreness. As seems to be the norm lately the rest of me has recovered in double quick time though. Happy days.

Instead I am going to get out on my bike for the first time in a while. I am actually really looking forward to it, got my camelbak sorted and packed with bits and bobs and all my clothes sorted. Not usually so organised......normally in the car driving to pick my girl up so at a loose end.

Anyone else watching the Sunday night project? Lilly Allen is Hot! Never really seen it before but..... Wah wah wee wah!!

Him upstairs

2009-02-09T21:47:00.002Z

I hate the weather in the UK. Got that?

Today it has been seriously toilet. Its still seriously cold and it rained solidly all day. Minging. It struck me a while back that I started this blog and 'mds project' a little over 2 years ago. In that time we have had the two wettest summers on record and now the coldest winter in 20 years. Confirmation, if it were needed, that there is no god!

I am sat here after a relatively enjoyable day gagging for some fresh air, but it is still raining and I cant be arsed with it. I have done a core workout this evening though but my heart was not really in it.

What do you mean your bored reading this drivel?

Saturday

2009-02-08T23:22:00.002Z

This is an easy report to write! Cold, long and painful.

fell over on the ice 30mins in and it hurt. Heavier rucksack than normal made my legs ache earlier than last couple of weeks and it was bloody cold still....the ice on some of the back roads was still a couple of inches thick in places.

I did 32miles (approx 51km) in total and really felt the second half. Despite the discomfort I could certainly of trudged on and once again my recovery has been convincing. Amazingly so. Thankfully I had the iPod with me for a change and it came in handy for the second half of the run. I listened (audiobook) to some of 'god is not great' by Christopher Hitchens but there is only so much mental bombardment you can take when your pain receptors are firing like howitzers. For the last 5 miles I switched to something a little lighter.

It was a slowish run at 6 hours but glad I did it.

it all started so well

2009-02-05T15:37:00.004Z

I started this blog so well and the last 6 months it has just been just another thing in my life that has been ignored. Oh well, no sense in getting down about it!

Training got way off track towards the end of last year and then, when I actually hauled my arse out of bed for an early morning marathon I fell in the dark and hurt my ankle. I managed 20miles on it but by the time I had finished, it had swollen up like a balloon. I was rather concerned. It was OK though and the physio was not too worried about. This was just before Xmas so I made the most of my inactivity and got drunk for a couple of weeks instead. This was also fine because I managed to pick up a sinus/chest infection which lingered for most of Jan! Happy days.

The fear was really descending on me and I knew I had to get a Marathon under my belt to push some of the fear away. So, on Sat 24th of Jan I got up and ran just over a Marathon with my rucksack on. I felt great! How could this be? I should be dying! I concluded that the chesty/sinus thing had been dragging be down more than I had realised and it must finally be out my system. By the time Monday came round I felt 100% recovered. No stiffness, no fatigue. Nada. So I did some cycling, core work, some upper body work and hill sprints throughout the week and ran another Marathon on sat 31st of Jan. Once again I had my rucksack on and this time I did it in around 4hrs 15mins. Once again I felt great and come Monday I felt 100% again! The run hurt a bit more but who cares? Its the recovery that is going to be all important.

So, after that it has all been about sledging in the snow with my daughter! What with all the falls and knocks and throwing snowballs I was more stiff than I was from running a Marathon. I am just not as young as I was!

Anyway, if anyone still reads this then please, please donate a few quid through the link on the left. Over and out.

I would like to make it clear that in no way do I endorse Obama, even though I have stolen his ad campaign. He will not gain my respect until he sponsors my sorry ass!!!!!!!!!!!

nice and dry

2008-10-25T10:47:00.003+01:00

Well, its been around 3 weeks since I realised that just 2-3 pints twice a week was making me feel rubbish so I stopped doing it. I feel so much better for it and despite fancying a beer last night I decided to go to bed early. This made sense because I had not had much sleep for the previous couple of nights and this morning I was out on the bike at 7.30am, on a Saturday, at 07.30...on a Saturday...you get the picture.

Dam it was a beautiful morning, sun was just coming up, still a bit of mist sitting on the fields, frost making everything look wintery. Lovelllly. Holy-shit-balls though it was cold! Took me ages to get warm but when I did it was thoroughly enjoyable although I did wish I had eaten a little something before i went out. An hour later, I was pleased to have seen the best bit of the day. I even saw one of our country's most successful front men out for a run with his personal trainer! I did lower the tone a bit though by having a blazing row with a woman whose dogs were not under control - silly cow.

Week summary
Monday - day off after big weekend
Tuesday....cant remember......er best i feel this in later!

Have a good weekend everyone and I will fill this in later when I have checked my training diary.

Lazy bones

2008-10-20T17:04:00.011+01:00

Well, well, well who has been a lazy boy then?

Its hard to summon the strength to go back over the things that I have done in the weeks that I have been too lazy to blog but the things that stand out are an outstanding trip to Spain with Charlie to take in some spanish girls, paellla and a little f1, oh and some running. The other is sleepless in the saddle (24hr mtb race) it was just as memorable mainly becasue it was the sort of experience that I just wan tto forget all about. The weather made it absolute hell.

We also dropped out of a 3 day ultra Marathon because, well we were u n prepared mainly in terms of kit instead of fitness but what a couple of dickheads for missing the opportunity!

Oh well, at least it is now possible to really focus on the MDS and do this we must. I have even taken the last two weeks off from drinking and got organised. Yay to me.

Lets give you some pics of spain and the mtb race to make up for being a loser.

Let me know if you have any trouble figuring out what ones were taken in England.

Guest appearance!

2008-07-22T15:37:00.002+01:00

Well, I have some good stuff to add but more importantly I have an entry from a great friend of mine called Adam. I mentioned him a couple of weeks ago and invited him to be my first ever guest blogger! Take it away Adam..............

Ok so it’s been three weeks today since I went to sunny Dunmow to borrow a bike from my good mate Bruce and start my training for SITS. I had not been on a bike ride since I was 14!! The feeling of freedom it gave me just getting out there and riding is something I’ll never forget and I haven’t looked back since.

There were a couple of things that compelled me to give the 24 hour marathon a go and the main reason was fitness (I think). I am / was 3 stone overweight and if I am honest had probably let my 20’s go by without more than 5 months of sustained exercise in the gym when I was 24 and single! I got fit that time and lost weight, met my girl, married her, had two kids and in no time was fat again. I needed a jolt and motivation this time to keep going - so doing something extreme like this was ideal even if I was more than a little apprehensive.

Cycling machines are my worst as well. So boring! We’ve got one that sits in the living room - its part of the family and gets dusted every few days. I didn’t give mountain biking a thought. Just not me. How wrong was I! I can’t imagine not having a bike to ride now.

In three weeks I have gone out on average 4 days a week on various rides and not just discovered a love for the biking but for the first time really discovered where I live! Welwyn Garden City rocks. So many cycle routes and the woods 5 minutes away from me has become the battle ground where so many of my demons are being slayed I tell you. Uphill struggle rewarded with fast treacherous downhill. I found myself whooping with joy at times - how good is that feeling… forget the brakes - Woohoo!!

It’s freedom, pure and simple.

Suffice to say I’ve lost some weight already although I’m not weighing myself I just look a bit better. I am fitter and have worked well up to now. I have three weeks before the actual race and I am quite exited and nervous. I am enjoying the pursuit of fitness like nothing else so the actual race will be something amazing I am sure. Cheers Bruce, inspired me baby.

What a plonker

2008-07-16T10:43:00.003+01:00

Well, I have been useless. Apart from the the last three days I pretty much took 10 days off of training!! WHAT A LOSER. I have missed key sessions, some really important long runs and long cycles and seriously pissed myself off.

Its now 3 and a half weeks until Sleepless in the Saddle and I need to get moving! I figure I will max it for 3 weeks and then ease off the days before the race! Sounds scientific ay!??

Must stay focused now and have had a pretty good 2 days of training. Still a bit anxious about my left calf but it held up fine during a gentle 10k yest morning so fingers crossed its pretty much fixed.

Must start taking some pics and putting them on here!

Week summary

2008-07-04T22:47:00.005+01:00

Sat: 20 mile run
Sun: Strength (upper body, legs and core)
Monday: Rode to work and back and a quick 40min pop at lunch.
Mon Eve: Very gentle ride of about 2 hours
Tue: Cycled to work and hard 3 hours on the bike in evening
Wed: Got drunk
Thur: 10k fartlek running (a very satisfying 43 mins)
Fri: Core work out and 45min fartlek cycling

Monday night is worth an additional note. A friend of mine who is making a fitness comeback came and joined me for a ride. He has decided to take on the monumental challenge of Sleepless in the Saddle (24hr Mountain Bike race). Respect due! Bloody infectious to see someone getting excited about a new physical challenge and glad I could help out in a very small way. The race is just 5 weeks away! Can't wait!

Physio........
Went to see a physio about my calf on Thursday and she was not too worried about it and I received a bit of ultra sound and some massage. Specific stretching was also prescribed. Other than that, I found out a lot more about her life and opinions than I was frankly interested in and would of paid more to leave sooner. Fingers crossed the calf will settle down properly now.

Calf problems

2008-06-30T17:43:00.004+01:00

So, did a 20 mile run sat morning and after 10 minutes my head felt clear and Bruce was a happy boy. I still felt like this after an hour but after that I was bored stiff and really felt like phoning someone to come pick me up. I didn't but the point is I so rarely feel like that that I have shared it with you. Be grateful, got it?!

I had planned to another 20 on Sunday but my left calf is still causing probs so going to see a physio asap to get it looked at. Instead I did some strength training. Walking lunges, pull ups, squats, press ups, sit ups and these funny things I call 'drags'. Some army type people used them to torture me many years ago and every so often I include them in a work out. They basically involve laying one foot over the other whilst laying on your front. Then you extend your arms (bit like doing a press up) then you have to drag yourself along. Killer upper body workout, but also great core conditioning as well. The only trouble is you get red ants biting your hands and it puts an odd pressure on the ankle that is being sandwiched between the ground and the other foot.

My abs and pecs are a bit sore today which feels great!

Go Heller

2008-06-26T22:33:00.002+01:00

Many congratulations to the citizens of D.C this evening.

Chaz, last bit of politics mate!

I could murder a curry!

2008-06-25T23:25:00.002+01:00

Its a dam good job I finished training late this evening because otherwise I would of been straight up the curry house for a ruby. Tomorrow night I am all over that like a jellyfish!

Cant remember what I last wrote on here so thinking that I have not updated since Sunday. So after my Marathon on Sunday morning I have been a little gentle on my beautiful body.

Monday: Gentle ride to work and back (about hour in the saddle)
Tuesday: Gentle ride to work and then thundered home in record time.
Wednesday: cycled to work and back then after dinner I got serious.......

Well kind of. I did my core workout and upper body workout but frankly I felt knackered and did not really push myself as hard a I could/should of. After doing this strength work I went out on the bike for a hill session. 20 reps up a long hill which took me just over an hour.

Its now nearly midnight and all I can think of is having a curry. Sweet dreams readers.

On days like these

2008-06-23T11:44:00.002+01:00

Morning all, you know its days like these I feel a bit odd about exercise. I feel completely lost sitting at my desk, I feel like I should be out running or cycling or doing something more linear. You head out for a run......you do it, done! Work; leave some messages, get something else done, go round in a few circles, overall purpose gets fulfilled when several other people finally get organised......sometimes months later......get the idea.

I find myself scanning through the training programme, wishing that it was Wednesday already so that I could get stuck in to that big training session I have planned....I am starting to think that I should step my training schedule up because I find my self just getting more and more hungry for additional sessions.

Whilst stepping out of the ordinary is awesome, it also underlines how ordinary life can suck!

On that happy note I hope you all have a good week!

Weekend

2008-06-22T23:27:00.002+01:00

Friday: Rest
Saturday: Rest
Sunday: Gentle 26 miles.

So, cheeky Marathon this morning. Time was tricky so after 2 and a half hours sleep I woke up at 3am and was on the road at 4am. Obviously took it easy, eating and drinking along the way but I did not really feel the need to be eating and drinking that much so I guess that's why I did it in just over 4 hours. A half respectable marathon time all things considered.
Considering a Marathon is always a big deal and my weekly running mileage has been pretty low I feel really good. Grabbed a few quick cat naps during the day but have felt pretty wired all day.

The run itself was a complete joy. It was fairly dark when I headed out even though I was only a day shy of the equinox. Another surprise was just how warm it was. After 30Min's I was really sweating but the thing I really remember was just how much of a boost it is doing a big run so early in the morning. Even if you think you are doing badly you take a look at the watch and think 'Good man! Been running for 2 hours and its still only 6am!'

All in all a beautiful run and the weather was really kind. Too kind in fact, the 1.5 litres of fluid I had were not really adequate. Some tightness in my left calf which I have never had before so will keep an eye on it but not too worried.

Time for bed.

Last two days

2008-06-19T23:40:00.002+01:00

Wednesday: Warm up then 10 hill reps of approx 40 seconds (running)

Thursday: cycled to work and back then 3 and half hour ride in the evening. 11.20 finish.

Just got back and wanted to quickly update this blog, going to have a couple of days off training now and have a steady run on Sunday. I reckon the training plan has worked out well this week because apparently the weather is going to be shite for the next few days!

Maintained a pretty good pace during the ride and feel really good, not too tired.....should of stayed out a couple more hours! Neck was a little stiff towards the end but other than that, all was fine! Tonight was actually a bit of a departure from the original plan. Had scheduled another strength session but changed it a week or so ago after the last ride.....figured it could be accommodated when I took a second look at it.

Waffle, waffle, waffle, waffle. Sweet dreams all, I am off for a shower.

Bike Gadgets!

2008-06-18T21:05:00.007+01:00

Bike lights

Many of you must of been wondering just what light I am going to use for the all night stage of the 24 hour race? I am sure you have been wondering just how many lights provide enough light and last all night....and not have a battery bigger than the average house.

What do you mean you have never given it a second thought?

I decided after much research that I should just spank the credit card and get the best money could buy - Lupine. I opted for their new LED product which last summer was the 'wilma'. I went for the one with the second largest battery pack, the Wilma 6. The reason for this had to do with positioning of water bottles and battery on frame.....all of which is now redundant because I have a new bike (see below). I wont go into all the things this light does but worth mentioning that the power output is completely controllable for brightness.

Burn times are as follows:

15W: 4 hours
9W: 6 hours 30 minutes
1W: 42 hours (still brighter than a standard commuter light)
0.5W: 84 hours

I have kept my programming simple and have mine set up to run at 2 brightness levels. 90% and 40%. A simple touch of button takes you between the two.

Here is what it looks like when used in anger.

The burn times seem to be conservative, it really is a top notch product and beautifully made. Running the light at 40% during the majority of the race will doubtless make it last all night.

Hand grips

After just one practice lap of the course last year I knew my hands would not stand up to 24 hours on my hard standard grips. The hammering to the hands was unreal.

I decided to treat myself to some grips I had been thinking about for ages......as luck would have it one of the trade tents had them for sale!

They really are the brilliant and if your going to do a long cross country mountain bike race then i really, really reckon you should give them a whirl! They are made by Ergon and are the large GR2's

Let this post to serve as a reminder to all of you that boredom is a terrible thing.

Hard-core

2008-06-17T23:06:00.005+01:00

Strength training this evening. Pushed pretty hard but at the same time keeping things at a fairly low level of intensity. By that, I mean not banging through the circuit as fast as possible. I catch my breath between each set and then hammer the next one out concentrating on technique. Intensity will build in the coming weeks.

What I did:

Core strength first - each circuit consisted of 9 different exercises. I did the circuit 3 times. This took about 45 minutes.

Then upper body. 5 Different exercises per circuit and again 3 circuits. About 25 minutes.

Finally legs: Simply 3 sets of squats. Man I felt this! prob 6 minutes.

Its worth saying that doing a dedicated core workout has already paid MASSIVE DIVIDENDS. NO lower back back sitting in the car, NO lower back after a four hour bike ride, NO lower back pain after a hard run and increased movement in lower back. So satisfying when you make things happen ay?

5 day Summary:

Fri: Rest
Sat: Rest
Sun: hard 90 minute run
Mon: Active rest..... Cycled to work and back (about an hour in the saddle in total)
Tue: Cycled to work and back + Strength training.

Oh yeah gave my gorgeous bike a bit of TLC this evening......Man I can't wait for sleepless in the saddle!

Need to get some photo's on here...how about one of my new(ish) wonder bike?

1,2, resting....1,2

2008-06-16T17:24:00.004+01:00

Clever title ay? I am dickhead sometimes.

A general post this time about rest. This is one of those subjects that every 'expert' talks about in the same way they talk about hydration. 'Make sure you drink enough, try to make sure your constantly taking fluid on, even in the cold you still lose fluids.....' Sound familiar? Well, blow me cupcake.

'I think you are over training, have to been increasing your weekly running mileage by more that 15% at a time, are you taking rest days?' Okay good advice, no wait, actually blow me cupcake.

Its personal, sometimes you know you have to just punch through this 'good advice' and accept the 'risks' of doing do. The real problem is that that all the expert voices can start to drown out the most important voice of all. The one coming from your own body!

Writing out my training plan a couple of weeks ago, it all seemed too crammed and unrealistic - jumps in distances looked too big etc etc. Generous blocks of rest were included as well as cautious sessions or 'active rest' as it's known. I feel great and know that I could of done more and pushed harder.
This is where it gets confusing.....if I had done this would I be sitting here injured and severely pissed off? Alternatively I might be sat here stronger, fitter and more confident in what I was capable of. My recurring lower leg injury (medial tibial stress syndrome) has gently re-surfaced and I expected it to. Physio is now being done before I go to bed to sort it out and it will doubtless fade into the background.

I feel a bit confused myself about how much I could or should be doing. I am being cautious and roughly sticking to my plan of getting a base of strength and cardio ability locked in. Then I can really hammer myself - hopefully with reduced chances of injury. I feel there is so much more to come and I am literally arguing with myself about what to do tonight. I really want to do that 4 hour cycle ride again, rationalising that if I feel like I want to then I cant be too tired. The other half is saying, stick to the plan for one more week Bruce and then start doing additional stuff.

Really interesting topic this. The answer is unique to the individual. Dependent on current fitness levels, training experience (months, years decades), age, stress levels, diet, climate, illness, genetic makeup and probably loads of other things.

My guess is that even people who are serious about fitness or a particular sport could train a bit harder and usually a lot harder than they think they can. That probably includes me - even in this cautious stage.

Comments rock!

2008-06-16T11:29:00.004+01:00

Cheers Helen and Charlie, gives me a serious boner when people actually comment on ye old blog!

Anyway, it seems that the petrol crisis is deepening and many stations have run dry......only joking people, I am in a much better mood today!

Hokay, so I have had one of those weekends that was way busier than expected. Plumbing emergency upon plumbing emergency and unexpected trip in to London to help my Brother out of a spot. But don't worry I still managed a Run and a Fathers day curry which was preceded by a rather splendid siesta.

Okay running was cut short by the various things going on but I managed to get out for a blast on Sunday Morning. Time was short so abandoned the 20miler idea and thought I would blast out for 50 minutes and then come back again. Got home a lot quicker and was back 1hr and 30 after I left. I reckon I must of done at least a half Marathon. I cant wait to verify the distance on my gps gadget, because that's a pretty respectable time.

One other interesting thing about the run was that I carried a water bottle in my hand and when my arm tired from holding it I would swap hands. In a very real way, this change really seemed to reset my mind and I could stay focused on pushing hard. Is this some kind of left brain, right brain thing where one side distracts the other from the pain and fatigue? Any theories you guys have would be cool! The more ridiculous the better!

Hope you all had a good weekend and did not get burnt in the sunshine! Who would be that daft?

Running in a new direction

2008-06-13T11:14:00.002+01:00

People who know me personally will know that certain things about my country drive me nuts. I was also thinking that as no one reads this blog anyway I could start spouting off about those things on here to make my self feel better! Just what the world needs another half wit going off about how he can save the world!

I always said to my self that I would keep this blog to training and fitness matters but as no one reads the dam thing I am seriously thinking about branching out.

Any objections?! Course not, your all too busy queuing for petrol......its started!

Tired but happy

2008-06-13T10:13:00.003+01:00

OK, quick update...

Monday: Rest
Tuesday: Hard (and hot!) 10k.
Wednesday: Core and lower back training.
Thursday: 4 and a half hours on the bike.

I guess the 10k and cycle are worth a mention. Really felt the 10k and was really pleased at how hard I pushed myself. Really hit 'the wall' (going anaerobic) about 8 minutes from the end and that was interesting. The weekend had taken more out of me than I had realised.
The cycle ride was great! After a massive dinner I headed out about 7.30 and got back at midnight. Scoffing cereal bars and losing myself in that tired tunnel vision you get when your fatigued and its dark. Awesome stuff!

Couple of rest days planned now and then a run on Sunday, but we'll have to see if I can sit still until then! I really should do dome upper body work this week......

Have a good weekend everyone.

Update

2008-06-09T13:51:00.003+01:00

I keep promising myself I will stop waffling so this one is going to be brief!

Thursday: Rest
Friday: Rest
Saturday: 20 Mile run
Sunday: nearly 3 hours on mountain bike

Interesting stuff getting the rucksack on again and carrying fluids and food for a run! I was really excited the night before and really pleased I did it. I had planned to run 25 but I really felt the 20 in my legs so not over doing it seemed to make sense. It did it in a very cautious 3 hours 17.

Fair bit planned this week so really looking forward to it!

Ps. No spelling mistakes, why does that turn me on so dam much?

Wooden legs!

2008-06-05T09:00:00.002+01:00

Morning all, great couple of days but now my legs are feeling a little stiff! Good. Means I am working them!

Monday: Rested after having had 3 pretty hefty days
Tuesday: Core strength, Upper body strength, short run and then leg strength. prob 2 hours.
Wednesday: Hill reps on bike. 12 reps.

Thursday morn = Stiff legs!

Last night I realised that the area I live in is as flat as a pancake! The only hills are pretty short and certainly all the off road hilly bits just aren't that steep. So I had to settle for doing the hill reps on road.

Unfortunately I don't have my daughter this weekend (school trip) so I have a weekend all to myself......if the sun is out I will be unstoppable!

Loving training at the moment, just wish the weather would sort itself out!

And there off.....no wait...

2008-06-01T22:27:00.002+01:00

Well, a couple of days after I just decided to get going again I sat at work feeling decidely odd. My head started to ache, I had sinus pain and I felt very light headed. I had an early night that night and improved quickly thereafter. That was on Wednesday of last week and what with Charlies 30th celebbrations and My Mums Birthday on the same weekend it all got rather hectic and exercise was lost.

Anyway I reckon this was a good thing to ensure I had what must of been some sort of virus out of my system. It has been immensely frustrating and the weather in the UK has been shite as well. However I can now be sure that my ongoing cold was not hayfever but some kind of light virus that had been lurking in the background.

So what have I done recently?

So, I have cycled to work and back twice (Wednesday and Thursday)
Friday: Hill reps 10 x reps of 40 approx seconds (this hurt)
Saturday am: Hard and fast 10k (also hurt!)
Saturday pm: Core and upper body work out (again....)
Sunday am: Very gentle run of around 1hr 45. I am guessing 12miles.

I feel great for it and cant wait to do more. My legs are a little sore but my recent focus on core strength is already paying dividends. Lower back pain has reduced massively and even sitting in the car for hours on end collecting my daughter is less uncomfortable. Result!

Need to get some pics on here soon!

Cold?

2008-05-21T12:14:00.002+01:00

I finally just decided to get stuck in and ignore the cold. After a week of taking it very easy I was desperate to start dedicating some proper time to working on my lower back and core strength. So, Saturday afternoon I got the Swiss ball out and ploughed on with the new routine. Kept it all gentle so as not to prolong the cold though.

Come Sunday evening I was actually feeling anxious because I had not run for over a week so I decided that I would run to work and back on Monday regardless of my cold (total of 14 miles). Well, still had the cold and ran in but I am seriously starting to wonder if I have developed hay fever? I have heard you can develop it at anytime in life. This would be a major annoyance if I had! It is now Wednesday and I still have this dam 'cold'.........

Anyway, great run in to work and back on Monday and then a great weights session/core routine again in the evening. Still a little bit stiff but that might be from clattering over curbs when go-karting last night (bit bumpy!).

The last few weeks

2008-05-17T12:06:00.003+01:00

The last few weeks have seen me get pretty serious with training and I have been loving it. Starting to look a little leaner and loving being out on the bike. The sunshine has really helped and I have been so excited about the 24hr mountain bike race on August 9th/10th.

So why am I sitting here on a Saturday Morning with a laptop on my legs? Well, because I have a cold, and jolly annoying it is too. I am really wanting to be out running or cycling or at the very least be doing some strength work indoors. Instead I am sat indoors with rain falling outside.

There have been some great sessions during the last month though, some gentle 15mile runs, some reasonably quick 10k's, cycling to work, the odd hill session (running), the odd long session on the bike and I just cant get enough of it! Monday night just gone saw me get a great 2 hour session in on the bike. Great practice for the race because it was mostly dark and riding by artificial light is a very different experience to day time. Not least on this occasion because I actually had a bat bump in to my chin and then skid off my neck as I was cycling along! That was definitely a first! I also saw a huge owl and cool little badger that.......I love that!

The morning before this night ride though I decided to see an Osteopath. Nothing particularly wrong with my back I have just had a few niggles over the last few months and wanted to get it sorted before anything went majorly wrong. He crunched me about and generally said I was in pretty good shape. Despite this though my lower back was pretty sore on Tuesday after my cycle and I reckon I really need to work on my core strength to compensate for the strain being placed on my back whilst cycling.

Other than these generalities I am annoyed to say that the first event of the year was cancelled at the last minute. It was called Tough Challenge (11.5.08) and was billed as the toughest half marathon in the country. A bit relieved but it would of been better to have an event under my belt.

Anyway, back to writing that training plan. keep you posted..........

I need more cow bell...MDS dates released

2008-05-17T11:46:00.003+01:00

Well, well, well. Was expecting a call this morning from South Africa so took the mobile in to the shower with me and low and behold I get a text from my partner in crime, Charlie. Big news often comes at odd times and this was big news indeed. The dates for the MDS 2009 had just been officially released.

The 24th Marathon Des Sables takes place 27th of March to 6th April 2009.

Coincidentally I had been up late staring at a training plan that took me up to mid September. I was shuffling various sessions around and stressing about how little time I had to get ready for SPAR Coast (3 day Ultra of 105 miles). Spar coast will be hard and with only 4 months to get ready for it I am little pushed for time. Not too mention the fact that I am entered in a 24 hour montain bike race a month before SPAR Coast. The word 'yikes' comes to mind.

The main goal posts hav been laid out now. In 10 months and 10 days I will be in Morroco to fulfill a dream I have held for 10 years. Is it me or is there a lots of '10's in hat last sentence? Time to ge serious about all this.

2007 summary

2008-05-07T15:17:00.004+01:00

Well it started off well with a successful attempt at the Tring2Town 45 mile Ultra Marathon. I think inexperience and less than adequate prep cost me better performances in SITS and Night and Day Ultra. But then, that is the point of doing these events. Hopefully I wont make a hash of the MDS in 11 months time!

Bring on 2008's events......first one is this Sunday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

More info soon!

Oh yeah my partner in crime has kicked his Blog in to gear as well check it out;

http://www.charlierunsmds.blogspot.com/

Sleepless in the Saddle

2008-05-07T14:33:00.005+01:00

A few weeks before the Dunwich Dynamo I was agonising over whether to purchase a ridiculously expensive light for this race 24 hour epic. I had resolved that if I felt strong through out the Dun Run then i would purchase the wonder light.

Well, Dun Run was a success and if I was doing the SITS race then I needed illumination that would last all night. The other tricky bit of the equation is that you actually need a light that is not just designed to make you seen by others (i.e motorists). For an off road night race you actually need one that enables you to see where you are going. This sounds simple and after all how expensive can such a gizmo really cost? The answer is hundreds. However, if I was up for this I kind of just needed to take the plunge and do it.

Anyway, what a lot of waffle about a light.

So i travelled up to Derby the Friday afternoon before the race and pitched my tent in the solo entrants area and set about fixing a puncture that had somehow occurred to my spare bike in the back of the car. Mmmm. Still scratching my head about that one. The whole set up for the race was awesome, there was a real carnival type vibe and everyone was really friendly and happy to help. I had a wander around the stalls and then got a quick lap of the course under my belt so I knew what to expect during the race. Holy Cow! It was a epic ride! By the end of one lap i decided it was time to treat my self to the big over sized handle bar grips that I had wanted for a while and had spotted in one of the trade tents. Suffice to say it was hard work and was very glad to have given my self a taster of what to expect. I registered my arrival and got my timing chip before having a cook up and watching a DVD in my tent.

The race it self kicked of at 2pm on Saturday and during the morning I took advantage of the shimano tent to get my bike checked over, they tuned my gears and even replaced a cable free of charge which I was very chuffed with.

The race began with a Le Mans style start where we all had to run for about a mile and then grab our bikes to cross the start line. All went well for the first few hours and I planned to stop at around 8pm to attach my light and get a good helping of food in before settling in to the night stage of the race. I remember stopping and texting my Brother's saying it was great, but stupidly hard and my hands were ruined and knee was hurting.

The hurt in the right knee soon developed in to get the most horrendous pain. I pushed on for a couple more hours but it became excruciating and I was worried I was going to do my self permanent damage. So I am guessing at around midnight I retired, pissed off, to my tent for a rest and then it started raining. I guess I stopped at the right time! I laid there in disbelief at what I was doing. When not riding, my knee felt perfect and I felt pretty fresh and awake and yet I had to stop. This was really odd. Eventually I fell asleep and woke at about 7am, I opened the tent to see other riders still going strong and glanced at my bike which I had dropped at the opening of my tent a few hours before.......

I could not believe what I was seeing. The seat had slid almost all the way down to the frame! No wonder my knee felt like it was about to fall apart. I pulled my cycling shorts back on and jumped back on the bike to re-enter the race. I could not understand a) why it had happened and b) why I had not noticed? The answer to the first question soon hit me. When I had taken the bike the service guy he has loosened the seat collar off before fixing it to his work stand.....I should of checked it after I got it back. As for why I had not noticed I can only put it down to fatigue and inexperience.

Anyway, so I got a few more laps in the morning and finished mid table out of approx 80 solo riders....bring on 2008. This time I intend to not make another dumb mistake like last year.

Dunwich Dynamo

2008-05-06T21:16:00.005+01:00

What? The Dunwich Dy....what? Basically its a fun event organised by a London cycling club. It consists of riding 120 miles from London to Dunwich on the Suffolk coast. There is no official start time and everyone kind of just heads off at about 8ish. That's 8PM! Oh yeah! Its a night ride on the Saturday in July closest to the full moon.

Sitting here writing that now I am reminded of what a romantic notion that is. Just think......lovely summer night, gentle breeze, full moon, solitude out in the country.....bit of adventure thrown in for good measure. Sign Me up!!! Well, at 8pm on the night of the race it started raining and did not stop until about 4am. It sucked. Without a crowd of people suffering with you its the sort of thing you would quit pretty easily.

I have to say though it was a bloody great experience and one that me and some friends had been meaning to do for ages. We first found out about it when we were leaving the pub one night in my little town of Great Dunmow and we were swamped by cyclists! It was an amazing spectacle so we we were sold! Had the Dun Run's route not snaked it's way through my little town we would never have known about it.

What this also meant is that we could stop at my house and binge on Pizza chocolate-happy days! I filled my boots! however leaving the house was the hardest bit of the journey, as we cycled up the hill out town I could literally feel my shoes filling with water from the rain and road spray. It was cold and I was now thoroughly waterlogged......with at least 6 hours left till the finish.

Anyway, the computer just crashed and I just lost a load of this post (that angers me) and I cant be bothered to write it again..............

Long story short we made it to the beach and had an amazing cooked brekky at the end just before my Big Brother collected us. I will find pics of me and Nick triumphantly waterlogged asap.

I hate it when computers don't bloody work properly!

Where were we? Night&Day Ultra Marathon

2008-05-06T20:49:00.003+01:00

Okay, so enough apologising and lets get writing. Kili was awesome and so was the stag do before hand but holy moley that was nearly a year ago and I have written next to nothing on here since then.

So a quick update is due. The two key things that I should posted about are 'Night & Day Ultra Marathon and the 'Sleepless in the Saddle' mountain bike race.

Night&Day is basically 2 marathons in 24 hours and if memory serves me it was just 2 or 3 days after I returned from Kili. It was fairly local to me, in Chelmsford and work was rather hectic that Friday of the first Marathon that evening. My map for the race never turned up which meant I had to go in to town on the way to the race (which was bloody annoying), I also had to find a shop to stock up on bottles of water (which was bloody annoying) and what with work hassles all this meant I turned up just in the nick of time for the race. However, as I was so late I had to be a pain and hassle one of the organisers to mark my map with the route (which was bloody annoying and embarrassing). Basically, I turned up under trained and under prepared for a very hard race and I paid the price because I simply ran out of steam and threw the towel in at about the 20 mile mark.

I don't want to offend any of the other competitors but frankly I found it bloody soul destroying that people were cheating during the race, it was easy enough to cut chunks out of the route and unfortunately I know that some runners did just that. However, if this was a contributory factor to me quitting then the other 99% was entirely my own shortcomings. Whether or not I was fully recovered from being unwell in Africa just a few days before hand is perhaps part of it but every time I looked down at the map I was spinning out. I basically thought 'bugger this lets go see my little girl instead.' so I went back to the main road and called a cab. Owing to Kili and the stag do I had not seen my daughter for 2 weeks so there I was waiting for a cab.

Annoyingly the driver was a military man who was about to go through 'p company' (one of the armies toughest physical training courses). In spite of this I was really not too pissed off with my self for quitting which to this day I am surprised about. Anyway, I am still looking forward to doing it again properly one of these days.

I wont go in to any more details of that evening but I do remember having a burn up with an Evo 8 on the way home. That's not really anything to do with running though is it.

So, to summarise. I turned up ill prepared for a very demanding race ballsed it up as a result. Simple. Next!

I will be right back.....

2008-04-21T15:01:00.002+01:00

Have been completely hopeless with this blog for the best part of a year! Shame really, because I got off to such a good start!

Although everyone must of given up on this blog some time ago I am still going to get stuck in again very soon!

I need to add the story of the 'night and day ultra marathon' from last summer and the '24hr mountain bike race' from last summer..........watch this space.

Day Five

2007-08-30T14:14:00.003+01:00

OK then the day began at midnight on day 4 and there are no pics until we are nearly at the summit.

I did not make a diary entry about this day so I am writing from memory and it will likely read a little differently from the other days. So, at midnight we set off and I could see little torch twinkles up ahead from climbers who had set off in to the night before us. We had a bit of banter with the porters who would not be joining us for the summit climb charlie made it quite clear that he wanted mula to serve us breakfast on the summit 'hey no problem' was the cry from inside the porters tent! We all laughed.

So off we went and the going was much like the previous days; pole pole but the terrain was actually very different. The mountain made its origins clearer because we were now trudging through ash and it parts it was quite steep. It was also bloody cold, almost as soon as we stopped you began to feel cold. Not like after a run on a cold night in the UK where you are aware that you are cooling off but actually cold very quickly. I felt a bit odd from the altitude so whenever possible I would slip a few chunks of chocolate in to my mouth to help keep my blood sugars bolstered against the exertion and the cold. The group seemed to be coping well and I think all of us just wanted to keep moving. so we did!

This night was hard, I only really remember the good stuff now so i am a little annoyed that i did not make a diary entry at the time but I wont sugar coat things it was hard. I was actually getting angry with Edie, the guide because I did not trust him when he said 'its not far'. We would ask again how far to that marker? from there to the top? 'Not far'....."for fucks sake 'how long will it take to walk 'not far' "?

The group was OK but clearly this was not the easiest night out we had enjoyed and the double vision and headache that had troubled Jo during day 4 eventually became a deal breaker. We were gutted to see her turn back. I had secretly planned this trip with her for weeks and I was seriously gutted that she would not be at the summit. I think Charlie offered to go down with her first and I added my voice to it as well. Jo being the star she is though made it clear that she would be even more pissed off with the situation if we went down with out a pic of the summit for her.

Jo had been walking with double vision under the full moon, in the bitter cold for several hours and I will honestly say that I would not of endured what she did that night. I am a soft anxious worrier of a person compared to her. I would of gone rapidly in to hypochondriac mode if I was many hours from medical help and I had been suffering from double vision for hours on end. I would been totally convinced I was dying from a brain tumour or something! Jo, I salute you!

Anyway, with very heavy hearts we said goodbye to Jo and pushed on.

I forget the name of the place we went to that is about an hour from the summit where we crouched down out of the wind for a few minutes. This was an important landmark as many people are satisfied with this as a kind of secondary summit and many people get here and turn back. We however were not going down just yet. I was personally begging Mr Sunshine to make an appearance at this stage, I just wanted the pick-me-up it normally gives me. But today, this morning, at this point in time, after 7hours of ascending in the bitter cold I was pleading with it to pop up.....I could see the night was lessening and the curvature of the earth would soon give up its hold on the sunshine but it could not come soon enough. Its funny how when your up high on a mountain you think about the curvature of the earth and how it effects the sunrise.....but right now I just wanted to see that old friend Mr Sunshine putting his hat on!

The next memory I have is knowing that the last walk to summit was in front of me and the Sun was now lighting up the world behind me, I cant remember the view exactly but I do remember looking back over my shoulder and nearly crying. It was achingly beautiful and not a moment too soon.

We walked the last bit quickly, maybe too quickly and I actually timed this section on my GPS device. we did it quicker than is advised at this altitude but we wanted to get it done. We got to the sign marking the summit and I threw my bag on the floor to get the sticker out I wanted to put on the sign....did that....got some pics.....holy cow done it......do I actually have the warmth in my hands to do a video message for my daughter? Yes! (will add it soon!). More hugs, emotional situation, Charlie obviously gutted his sister was not there, I tried to say 'mate lets tag this and get our arses back down'. It was spectacularly beautiful. I remember Rich asking me to take pics and thinking what a pain in the arse he was because he had this big bloody camera that needing focusing. My hands were in no mood to be out in the cold any longer than needed!

Soon Edie reminded us that its not a good idea to hang around at this altitude for too long so we turned on our heels and made for camp. I think we were all keen to get down and see Jo.

The journey down in terms of the sheer physicality of it was more difficult. It was incredibly steep and the ash sent you flying down at ever greater speeds. It really pummelled your legs - kind of fun in parts but easy to see how you could get injured.

After several hours of making our way down, and removing several layers of clothes to deal with the now hot sun we made it to camp. Charlie had gotten down incredibly quickly to see Jo and I was kind of in awe of the leg strength he must possess to of descended so much quicker than me. Anyway the main thing was he was now with his sister.

This was pretty much where my trip started to go downhill. I felt rough and the long walk down to the final camp was made even longer by frequent stops to vomit up the precious fluid I had drunk and to drop my trousers in the bushes to expel wretchedly. It was not fun and I was bloody pissed off with my body for letting me down. Everyone said it must be altitude sickness but I did not think it was. We will never know. They were prob right but either way it was bloody annoying.

We eventually made camp and that was it, I got some rehydrate powders down me and spent the rest of the evening drinking this bottle of nectar and making frequent trips to the toilet. The next day was the walk back to civilisation......

Day Four

2007-08-30T14:01:00.002+01:00

Brilliant felt great today, tonight we are sleeping higher than lava tower (4550m) and still feel great. Met a guide who took a 9 year old up to the summit today! The start of today (breakfast climb) amazing and exhilerating-wish i had got some pictures. In parts we were climbing instead of walking.
Everytime I turned around today and saw clouds beneath me I was surprised-just beautiful. We stopped for food at a camp (4000m i think) and it was unreal! We could not believe it when Mula brought out a big plate of chicken and chips! it was delicious! Unreal!

Its 8pm nearly and at 12 we leave for the final push! Ring sticker at the ready! about to change batteries in headtorch then try to rest.

Writing from memory some months later I can say that I dont remember actually sleeping much!

The main thing I remember about this day and i remember saying it at the time was that this is what I was expectiung from the trip. Incredible views, sunshine, that feeling of walking in another world. Totally beautiful, the best day so far, easily!

Day Three

2007-08-30T13:46:00.001+01:00

I remember the ice on the tents when we woke and sitting eating breakfast outside (see pic). There porridge rocked!

Diary time....

'8pm. Today has been an eye opener. very hard, we finished at 5pm after leaving at 08.15. Felt altitude today and felt rougher when ever I stopped, but no headache like the others. That is until we started our descent from Lava Tower. Filled bottle at stream near bottom so I had a supply ready for camp. On arrival I washed feet and hand the put thermal leggings on and long sleeve top and done. That is, I got in bed to let body rest before dinner-Headache until warmed up and sat in guides tent later on.

Tomorrow is easier but just as much ascent I think-lets just hope its more manageable than today. Old anxieties main problem. Richard was slower on way down and I have to say that descent is noticeable harder on the legs.

Dinner was nice soup and then mash with veg and chicken. Followed by tablets-is the Diamox even working? Today made the summit a pretty daunting prospect. seriously had thoughts about quitting which is bloody alien to me. Over dinner we realised that we make the final attempt at summit tomorrow night. Holy Shit.

Really looking forward to seeing Milly, she feels so far away that writing this makes a bit of salt water build in the corners of my eyes. Change the subject Bruce.

Just remembered that the toilets at this site are the worst yet-can smell them from 15 feet away. The shit on the floor prob does not help. Its 8.21 now and Richard is writing his journal next to me and both of us are complaining about our arm aching.

Sun was out for first few hours of today and piled on the cream but dam it got cold as we ascended. Descent hurt legs more.

I am so going to see Milly as soon as I get back. Stop it.

Tonight we are sleeping right under Kili, it looks unreal in the clear night-like a cheap special effect. Have been above at least layer of cloud all day......but really covered some ground. Yesterday Kili was so far away but now we are looking up at it as opposed to over to it. I am feeling better now I think its just anxiety in my belly. Proper frost when we spoke this morning. Today's climb went on and on and I hope that my body has read the script and is acclimatising while I sleep low after walking high. Olaf the the second guide was quicker than Edie (Idrisa) perhaps this was part of the problem?

I now have so much respect for anyone who climbs Everest. Don't ever do it Bruce'.............

I remember sitting in my tent and writing this. For one of the first times in my life I felt like I was in a remote part of the world. Remote enough for it to have an effect on an emergency. I think this is why my Daughter felt so far away. Other symptoms suffered by the group were terrible headaches and one member even had a prolonged spell of double vision. I would not of liked that! Physically I got off very lightly but I would of preferred to have the physical symptoms to deal with.

Even after this day- a prolonged trek, the body is not sore, feet ankles and lower legs are all fine it really was the altitude that made it difficult. Please have a special look at the last picture-its the view from the tent at the end of the day. Looking down on the clouds - YEAH BABY!

Day Two

2007-08-29T22:38:00.000+01:00

'Up and packed sleeping bag away. Too hot in sleeping bag last night god knows why I put my thermal leggings on to sleep in. Took them off in the night. Its 8.6 degrees out here and my hands are cold but I am loving it. Remembered Malaria tablet at 11pm last night. Rich (my tent mate) woke up ill in the night-allergic reaction or something. It is now 6.55am.

Now 4.43pm and we arrived at camp at 2.15pm, exactly 6 hours after we left. Some talk of getting a bit more distance covered and sleeping at shira 2 instead of shira 1 but porters were understandably reluctant to take tents down etc. We understood but Edie (our Guide) said we had done well and finished really early. I loved today, could not wait to get walking and loved it all. Lunch was a strange sandwich, chicken breast, boiled egg, orange, biscuits, banana and fair whack of dairy milk chocolate. Might of felt a bit of altitude today and was pleased to come down a little to the campsite. On approach to the campsite we saw Kili and we all admitted to being a little scared because we had barely scratched the surface. So big. When we were at the campsite we splashed around in the water-glorious. Hot peanuts and popcorn before dinner, deleted some pictures from camera and now writing this-its 4.55pm. Feet are fine, not had a dump yet though. Just took a Diamox pill as daunted by the size of that thing. When you see it through the clouds-we are not really even on its slopes. Lunch was eaten n the clouds and campsite is often enveloped by clouds. Evidently we are quite high.
Just gave the cook some paracetamol to the chef as his tooth is fucked, his whole jaw line is swollen-his name is Mula.
Idrisa, our guide gave us all names today: Charlie is Caca, Jo is Dadda, Rich is Cacca billy and i am Babba (Daddy!).
Milly felt a long way away last night.
8.10pm eaten and had a shit. Great.
Dinner was a Beautiful cucumber soup followed by beef stew and rice.
Temp now is 2.2deg C. Will check again soon I think the wind is the bad thing though as laying in the tent and using the toilet was fine.
Just checked temp again and its 1.0Deg C-its 9.25pm.
Chaz suffered with a headaches today.

Kili is a big beautiful ghost in the moonlight-its stunning.'

Thats the diary done but wanted to add that the river thing was awesome, just love that kind of shit. Perfect clear water, perfect scenery, great friends.

Day One, Lemosho Route

2007-08-27T22:26:00.000+01:00

Enjoying the bank holiday? Gooood, I am. Apart from the NSDI (non specific drinking injury), somehow I managed to break my shoulder on Saturday night. Well, it feels like that anyway.

Anyway, back to Africa! The ambush on Charlie was orchestrated brilliantly by His sister and I. However by the time they arrived at about 10.30pm I had been sitting around the hotel bored out of my brain all day so as soon as the door opened I literally rugby tackled the poor chap! Kind of killed the moment a little but not to worry!

After the shock reunion, beers were in order so we went to the bar for a quick one and this gave me a chance to meet the fourth and final member of the group, Richard. South African guy who reminded me of an old friend in blighty, so all in all things were looking rosey.

Diary time:

........'Charlie woke up and peed loudly, then at 6.30 Charlie jumped around! Brekky in the hotel, bit worried about the raw egg but tummy fine so far. Guides changed from the ones that Charlie and Jo had met last night. Big road accident involving Brother of original guide which prevented him from continuing (we were to find out later that it had been a fatal accident). Our guides gave us a big bottle of water at the hotel and told us to drink it all asap. From there we headed into town to collect something and then on to a garage/supermarket to get the prop shaft removed (whatever that is). apparently it was making a funny noise and needed to come off even though this also did away with the 4WD.

After a long wait while the Land Rover was worked on and buying a little bottle of whiskey for the summit we were off. Soon we were off into some hardcore off-roading. Followed by some more dicking around at a base camp where we had to sign paperwork and give our passport numbers. More off roading before Lunch and then walking began at about 2pm after eating in a forest clearing at the end of the road/trail. Saw some monkeys which looked like big skunks. Walked until 5.

We are now at 2600m and I am sitting in the dark writing this and waiting for dinner. It is 7pm. Last 2 hours been spent washing and sorting stuff out. Almost forgot to mention that when they dished the kit out, my cold weather coat did not show up.....big problem. Then Charlie unpacked his sleeping bag to reveal my jacket! Good for me but not so good for Charlie! Soon sorted though as the guides had spares...... Guess they like carrying extra weight for the hell of it!

I have a slight headache which is unusual for me and we have a 6 hour walk tomorrow....I cant wait to get stuck in'.

Just remembered that we had spaghetti bolognese that night. Perfect.

To give some idea of the walking, it was through rainforest and we walked for almost exactly 2 hours. Initially it felt like painfully slow progress but after an hour or so we settled in to the 'Pole, pole' (pron; Poley) routine. Which you can prob guess is 'slowly, slowly' in Swahili. To indicate how slow this is Charlie and I both agreed that had we been left to our own devices we would of taken around 45minutes.

Lets do this!

2007-08-24T16:00:00.000+01:00

Time to fill in the blanks. I last properly wrote to you just before I was about to head off on Big Brothers Stag do. It was great and great stories to tell but perhaps not in a blog that is meant to be about running/fitness stuff.

After a few delays got home from Hamburg at about 10pm. I promptly made a start on packing as I did not want to leave everything to Monday-even though I was not flying out until Monday evening. Annoyingly my camera broke in Hamburg so I had to waste precious time getting that replaced as well.

Got to the airport in plenty of time, as ever it was a case of hurry and wait until my gate was called.........

Once in Africa I kept a bit of a diary so I will simply add that now.........

'Africa, pretty wild in some ways! flight to Nairobi, Kenya was cool. I was sat next to a lovely old Canadian lady and she was brilliant company, we decided that she could take the vacancy of being my new gran! She had dreamed of going on Safari her whole life and finally she was doing it. I was thrilled for her and it was a delight hearing her story about the safari themed party she had thrown for her Children and Grandchildren before she left.

Nairobi airport was a nightmare, no on could tell me what gate to go to and when I finally found myself on the tarmac of the runway to board our little prop plane to Kilimanjaro Airport, I had this sinking feeling that my case was not going to arrive. They kept bringing a few cases at a time....sadly i was right. Mine was no where to be seen. I hassled the ground crew endlessly to go and see if it was going around one of the carousels in the terminal but no one helped. Finally my saviour appeared. A young lady took pity on me and ran in to the back of the airport through this big tunnel-clearly we should not of been doing this but frankly I did not care.

We ended up looking through this very wide, panoramic window into the terminal where we could see the cases going round. Baggage handlers worked next to us processing cases and two security guards stood in front of us shouting! This poor girl, was clearly scared for her job and actually told me this. I did not really help matters buy interrupting them to keep saying, 'I appreciate what you are saying but I can see my case, look! Its there!' By the time I had grabbed it and run back to my plane the propellers were turning and I had assumed I had missed it. But amazingly the captain stopped the engines and let me get on!! I was chuffed to bits!

Saw Kili from the plane and I felt very Indiana Jones being on a old fashioned prop plane. I took a pic of the mountain from the plane.....my god it looked big and it really woke me up to what i was doing! It was literally towering above the clouds-I had never seen anything like it before.

After we landed (sideways! Not joking) I waited by the plane to thank the captain for waiting for me and he was very nice about the whole thing. Getting visa was a very simple affair and I even managed to help a couple of honeymooners get there documents organised. Nothing serious just changed a few dollars up for them and wished them congratulations.

I had a driver waiting for me which felt good, I had my bags with me (nice feeling!) and everything was looking simple. The 40 minute car ride turned out to be quite an experience! All I will say is that their method of overtaking differs slightly to ours. The key difference being that they don't seem to mind if something is coming in the other direction. This was my first time on the great continent of Africa and I have to say it was almost as I expected it. People on old bikes, dusty children, groups of young men, lonely looking women walking to god knows where, carts being pushed and firewood being chopped and carried.

The driver asked me about the two other people he was picking up tonight and I said they are lovely people but DON'T TELL THEM MY NAME! I think he understood. At the hotel reception I went through the same routine about my arrival being a surprise....I am pretty sure they understood.

Then I had a sleep for an hour or so (first time under mosquito nets! Exciting stuff!), got up, had some food in hotel (pretty good) and attempted to wander in to town. I promptly gave up after being hassled and hassled and hassled by locals. Some of them aggressive, some of them drunk, some of them simply wanting my custom. I have never been anywhere where I am so obviously the foreigner. For the first time in my life having white skin was odd. interesting stuff.

Anyway. its 2.45 pm local time and I am sitting here writing this diary. Will have a shower and sort stuff out and wait to spring the ambush on Charlie! happy days!'

Will try and add another day from the diary tomorrow!

I am back!

2007-08-17T16:17:00.000+01:00

Its been a fun filled couple of months but I have not written in here at all. One of the reasons I stopped writing in here was because I bursting at the seams to talk about a trip I had planned but it was a surprise so had to keep quiet! The trouble was I did not get going again!

But here is a summary of the last few events that I participated in:

Kilimanjaro Climb!!!!!!!!!!!!
Night & Day Ultra Marathon
All night 120 mile Bike ride
24 hour Mountain bike race

I actually kept a bit of a journal for Kili so will publish that on here very soon and fill in details about the events as I go along.

Other points worth making are the fact that I have done bugger all running lately but have completely fallen in love with my trusty mountain bike all over again! Don't need to buy a new one now! Phew!

headless chicken

2007-06-21T12:17:00.000+01:00

I need to update this but have very little recollection of what I did and when! I was at Le Mans for the race this weekend just gone and I know that I had a very intense four or five days before that, what with upper body work and cycling lots but have been right off the running because this bloody scab on my Achilles tendon has still not heeled form over 2 weeks ago! I guess this means I am getting old and I don't heal as quickly as I use to. What an appalling thought!

Since getting back from Le Mans I trained hard in order to de-tox and I have eaten like an athlete! love it.

OK.....trouble is I am off to Hamburg for my Brothers Stag do tomorrow morning at 7am and I am driving to Brighton tonight to take my daughter out for dinner. (Obviously doing all these trips destroy my Dad time).

Will write again Monday....in the meantime if you could all eat healthily and drink lots of water for me then I would be grateful. I sure as hell wont be saint-like in Germany!

quick update

2007-06-05T13:46:00.001+01:00

Took Saturday off from exercise as I was stuck in the car most of the day. Sunday did a hardcore 11miles in the heat and managed 1hr 17mins but it felt quicker in the sunshine! Grrrr.

Did nothing yesterday as it was a funny/busy day. I have done nothing today either as I had to go to the Dr's this morn but tonight I will def be getting out. Keep you posted.

Sure there was some other stuff I was meant to put on here. Mmmm, get back to you.

Not bad, not 2 bad

2007-06-01T10:45:00.000+01:00

Ho-kay. Have no idea how I got to work on Tuesday but Wednesday I ran in and ran home again and most enjoyable it was too. I don't know how long it took me but I don't care. Before running home I used an old training technique from my youth. Namely different types of press up broken up with sit-ups. eg I would do 10 clap press ups, then sit-ups, then ten press ups with my hands touching each other, then ten wide, ten normal, ten on finger tips. all in all 50 press ups done but it felt like more!

Thursday and Friday (today) I have cycled in and yest morning I did walking squats to exhaustion when I got to work-So I have sore buns now.

I also had a little crash last night, was lucky to not collide with a nearby obstacle but still hit the top of my head quite hard and its still sore. Bent the break lever a bit but the bike is fine. This morning I also had a bit of a tumble......get a grip man!

Have a good weekend.

Getting worried

2007-05-28T15:55:00.000+01:00

Although I cycled in to work every day last week and I do tend to 'make it count' as a workout I am still woefully behind in terms of running. I really need to do some long runs of over 20miles or I am going to fail at the Night & day ultra - something I don't want.

I hate to admit it but the weather has put me off getting out there this weekend (bank holiday as well!) It has done nothing but rain solidly all weekend. Its enough to bring you down.

Along with worrying about running fitness I am also starting to think my upper body could really benefit from some intensive work so instead of braving the rain yesterday I did some upper body and core training. Loved it, which make a change lately as I don't enjoy pushing weights like I use to.

So, that is it really, cycled to work all last week and did some strength work sat morning. Oh yeah and went to a wicked concert last night at the shepherds bush empire but that's not really relevant to the blog!

Hope your all enjoying your bank holiday weekend.

Massive thanks to Nigel and Carolyn for donating £50 each!!!!!!!! Awesome stuff.

Sunday

2007-05-20T14:56:00.000+01:00

Daughter was ill this weekend so she didn't want to travel to Dad's-the cheek of it makes me shudder. Don't worry next time I see her she is grounded. God I miss her.

So, whilst I missed her I have been really rather productive. In fact, I am sitting at the office right now and have been getting some work done. Those little things that make all the difference, the things you never normally do-planning, mostly! I did the same Yesterday (lots done!). Then came the really important stuff....... checked out some great video's on Youtube, downloaded some music, updated the iPod (that I never use). Amazingly I did not force my self to go out drinking 'because I could'. Bravo.

Anyway, exercise; Hard and fast 7 miles on Friday night, Sat night (last night) did a steady 14 with rucksack on and first thing this morning I did a very challenging 6 miles-then hit the weights as my upper body has gone to ruin. The Idea being to start preparing for the next race that has a leg at night then first thing in the morning.

It served as a big wake up call! The steady 14 was tough! I have done this 14.25mile lap a few times lately and loved it. I have been running it quickly with no weight on my back and no fluids to carry around. Too be honest the steady plod method took a lot more out of me. Strange. But a vital call to arms. That said, after a stiff and tired start, I surprised my self with the six mile blast first thing this morn!

On top of all this I have ridden into the office and I am about to leave......a rich, heavy and fatty roast dinner has got my name written all over it. Might even have a splash of plonk with it.

Hope you all had a good weekend.

Its a dirty job....

2007-05-16T10:23:00.000+01:00

Those of you who have read my entries moaning about our canine friends will know that this blog is not always positive. And I want to have a small moment of self pity once again.

Goddam mud, gravel and flies are really aggravating me at the moment. Its not that I mind getting dirty because I really don't its just all the extra washing and cleaning that you have to do. Not just clothes but the shower gets filthy as well and you have hose and oil the bike every day and yadda yadda yadda. The thing that is really annoying though is the dirt and gravel that is getting in my shorts and underwear at the moment. Really, really p*ssing me off. Last night I literally had about 4 or 5 big pebbles in my Bum crack and that was in addition to the usual dust and gravel. I am being serious! I have re-fitted my rear mud guard to see if this helps.

I think I need to get some of those cycling shorts with a really high back, with braces like dungarees. Bib shorts I think they called. That should fix it.

Fly's seem to be committing suicide in my right eye ball with shocking regularity at the moment as well. Gravel seems to be a problem in this area too. I want to get some of those clear safety glasses but I would feel like a bit of a prat wearing them.

Hill session

2007-05-14T22:54:00.000+01:00

Cute little hill session tonight. There is a nice incline about 5 minutes running time from me so it was commandeered for a quick session. An old school friend use to live at the top of the hill, I assume his parents still do. This got me thinking about being at school and all the people I have lost touch with over the years.

I was also thinking about how I took being very lean and defined for granted. Sure, I lifted weights from a young age - before any of my friends did - and I wanted to be muscular but they were just always there....or so I remember. Halcyon days indeed! Abs def not made much of an appearance lately! Is it just age that changes this?

Any way 6 hard hill reps and I felt it. Nicely done old man.

Ignore the Whiskey

2007-05-14T18:23:00.000+01:00

Productive weekend. Good 14.25 mile run on sat Morning and good long bike ride with Nick on Sunday. The rain was a bit of a pain but never mind the important thing is we got stuck in. About 30miles and good portion of that was off-road so fairly taxing at times. All in all we were out for about 3 and half hours.

The bike was making some funny noises though and I identified the problem was the rear hub. Lots of oil applied and given her a day off and drove to work. Fingers crossed the odd noise will have gone next time i ride her. Otherwise I will even more a justification for buying a new one when I cant afford to!

Another point I would like to make is. Horses are bloody lethal! One poor girl was struggling to contain one little gee-gee when we went passed yesterday and another was completely thrown off next a main road after being dragged through a bush. Poor thing.

So if I forget the large quantity of whisky I drank last night it was a very good weekend.

I am tired of being right!

2007-05-11T20:13:00.000+01:00

Yep, the rain arrived about a week ago and the sun has barely been polite enough to say hello since. Put your hat on mate and come out to play!

OK so this week has been even worse than normal! Yikes it must of been bad.

Basically I have cycled to work and back twice and went to running club on Wednesday. Tonight was an epic blast back in the rain and I got rather dirty but it rocked! proper epic hack home. Awesome.

Right, running a bit late to go and grab my princess so must dash. Last thing though......check out the new link I added today. I sent my entry form off yesterday! Rather excited and yes I am doing it solo. Cant wait. None of my useless friends are even up for getting a team effort organised. Hurry up and come home Stocko, my fitness level needs you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Update

2007-05-05T13:34:00.000+01:00

Running club on Wednesday night was the first time we used the 'summer lap'. Its bang on 5 miles and its pretty much the route that taught me to love to running when I was in my mid teens. Out in the countryside and past some beautiful lakes. It shares about 80% of my standard 6mile/10k route.

I think and I am not 100% sure on this but I believe I ran a PB on Wednesday night. By my reckoning I ran 32.59 and as far as I can remember I don't think I have run it in under 34mins. Cycling is obviously helping me out more than I thought because I have been doing very little running lately. Interestingly it was my cardiovascular capacity that was holding me back. At no stage did my legs feel tired, instead I was struggling for breath and feeling a little pukey when I pushed for a hard finish. Interesting.

Anyway, I sit here slightly downbeat because I wanted to get up early do the same 14miles that I did last sat morning but I opted for the soft option and had a lay-in. Tosser. Being a Dad has now taken over the day and its impossible to get out. When will I ever learn?

Have a good bank holiday everyone.

May Day, May day!

2007-05-01T13:48:00.000+01:00

So here we are the 1st of May and the UK in basking in some sunshine, but yes, the populous are already moaning. Saying that we need some rain. Guess what......it rains a lot in the UK! It will be here soon enough!

Fairless pointless post this as I only have a couple of routine cycle rides to tell you about but thought I would share some snaps with you.

the first picture is of lots of blossom covering the path, it does not really do the pinkness justice and the second really shows off the best of an English summer-the bright yellow field looks good as well.

Not a bad looking commute to work is it?

Weekender

2007-04-30T13:45:00.000+01:00

Bonjourno boys. Took Friday off and went for a run sat morning....bit late getting up so decided to make it a 10ish miler. However I took a bit of a wrong turn and ended up a bit closer to a neighbouring village than I had intended. Not to worry.

End result was 14.25 miles covered in just under 1hour 55mins. The half marathon section was covered in 1hr 44. Then off to get suit fitted for Bro's wedding. As I did not eat after the run I was feeling a bit light headed during the fitting. When the cruel bastard of a tailor yanked up the trousers and gave my crown Jewell's a knocking I felt even worse!

Cycled to work this morning and actually timed it for the first time in ages. 29mins dead. 7miles off road. I think the last recorded time was around 45minutes!

Just been sitting on my office window seal for Lunch and it is properly hot and sunny. Cant believe it is still April.

Need to run more!

2007-04-26T12:06:00.000+01:00

Have cycled to and from work everyday this week and cant tell you how much I am loving it. Trouble is I need to sharpen up my running pretty hastily as I have my next Ultra in a little over 2 months. So, despite feeling quite sleepy last night I got myself to running club. We ended up doing a speed session which was definitely a kick in the pants I needed. I would never of pushed my self as hard if I had gone out on my own. I think about 7 miles in total were covered but around two thirds of that was at pace.

It made me feel a little like vomiting at the time but really glad I did it.

Yes, you guessed it, had another great ride in the this morning as well. Must go running at the weekend!

Oops

2007-04-24T12:42:00.000+01:00

Forgot to mention the fact that Sally at Marie Curie Cancer Care also sponsored me! Sorry-thanks a lot! Very cool of you.

Awesome ride home from work last night and great ride in this morning......trouble is, it just makes me want to spend the day hacking around the country lanes instead of sitting behind a desk!

Thanks again Sally.

Fundraising update

2007-04-23T11:48:00.000+01:00

A good few days all in all. On top of my speed dates being incredibly generous A few people who have sponsored me before have once again dug deep.

Mr anonymous.....thank you, look forward to watching some racing with you over the summer.

Greggy. Your the man.

Special thanks to Kate Mitchell, an old school friend whom I rarely see, for donating a second time. Magic.

I especially hope you three had good weekends!

Training update

2007-04-23T11:37:00.000+01:00

Alrighty then, the weekend was not the weekend it should of been but I enjoyed it none the less and don't feel guilty about not doing a long steady run.

Had a cracking ride on Saturday afternoon and then on Sunday Morning I charged out of the house after watching some of the London marathon on TV and ran a brilliant 7 miles. The hardest I had pushed my self in ages. Raahh!

Well done to all London Marathoners, it looked like an incredible day in the capital and I am rather jealous.

Cycled in to work this morning as per usual and I reckon I still have least one fly in my left eye! Deeply annoying, it was if I heard it slap my eye ball! Blimey that's making me feel ill...... I must start wearing sunglasses even when it is not sunny.

Hope you had a good weekend.

New endurance event discovered!

2007-04-20T11:36:00.000+01:00

last night saw me tackle my first ever evening of speed dating! let me explain, I got an email on Tuesday from Karen at Marie Curie Cancer Care asking if I knew any single men, as they were short for an event they were organising. So I though; 'what the hell, sounds like a giggle'. I love being right.

However, after about 3 or 4 'dates' I was starting to wonder if I would last the distance. A few more and I was starting to lose my voice! The upshot of it all was that it helped bolster my faith in lady kind. I think that almost without exception everyone I met seemed really, really nice. I would definitely make friends with virtually all of them. Great evening.

So, given that this is not about running why am I writing this? Well, the organisers were kind enough to let me appeal for donations a couple of times throughout the evening. The 'crazy Marathon Guy' even got asked to draw the raffle, I felt quite special! I was surprised when people actually seemed to be writing the web address down, so when a couple of Girls I had just dated started handing me money I was literally shell shocked. I promised a mention to them on the blog-wish I could do more, but here goes.....

HUGE THANKS TO VICKY, CATHERINE, JODIE and LAUREN. Genuinely surprised by your generosity and I am sincerely grateful. I have emailed Karen at Marie Curie this morning about how best to add it to there/my account.......in hindsight I should of just given it to her last night. By that time I was not really thinking straight though! Like the title suggests, I think I have discovered another ultra endurance event.

I am not sure if I said I would log the amounts on my blog or not so, just so you can be sure that I wont be spending your money on a trip to Rio it will get added to the 'offline donations' on my Justgiving website just as soon as Marie Curie let me know the best way to get it all logged. Here it is:

Vicky £2.50 (your a hero! if only more people did this I would be cruising)
Catherine £10 (wow!)
Lauren £10 (wow!)
Jodie £20 (HOLY COW!)

Pretty much speechless, thank you. Oh yeah, not to forget my partner in Crime, Greg.....he was splendid enough to donate another £50 yesterday! What a guy, I hope lots of ladies ticked his box! If not, whats the matter with you?!

Training update

2007-04-20T11:27:00.000+01:00

After the start I made to getting fit again on Sunday and Monday I followed up pretty well. Tuesday and Wednesday saw me cycle to work and back and Wednesday Evening I got myself to running club for the first time in a few weeks. Amazingly I put in a pretty quick 10k which I was really pleased with considering my severe lack of running lately. Now I think about, it I also went for another cycle ride on Tuesday Evening with a friend. Well done Brucey.

Yesterday (Thursday) simply could not accommodate any training and today will be the same as I have not even cycled to work. My excuse is that I am having lunch with an old friend so needed the car to be able to meet them.

All in all a pretty good week, I feel a longish run coming on at the weekend as well.

Young at heart

2007-04-17T10:05:00.000+01:00

Remember that song by the Bluebells? Hated it, but both seem pretty relevant today, firstly because after reading a great book about an Ultra Runner it reminded me of some great exercise memories. In particular whilst I was still at school. Winning the 800 and 200m on sports day with all the school cheering and running around the school field in sunshine with friends. I had forgotten just how important running had been to me then, great to reminisce.

Secondly of course because of the bluebells I photographed yesterday morning whilst cycling to work. Beautiful.

My great friend Charles Stockford ran his first Marathon on Sunday in sunny Canberra. He managed the blisteringly quick time of 3hrs 26mins and said that it was an awesome experience. I bet it was! Running a sub 3.30 on your first attempt is no small achievement! Well done dude.

I had got out for a run on Sunday morning for the first time in ages and thank goodness I did, I would of felt like even more of a loser if Chaz had called with great news and I had not even broken my recent exercise drought! I also got out for a good hard hour on the bike in the afternoon and it all felt great....apart from the fact that it reminded me how stupid I have been to lose all my hard won fitness. Yesterday I also cycled to and from work (40mins each way) and went for a 30 min run after I got home as well. One of the reasons I was fired up was because yesterday afternoon I entered another Ultra.......and its only a couple of months away. Yikes.

The Night & Day marathon series is organised by the same people that did Tring2Town and basically consists of running 2 Marathons in 24 hours. You start one at 6pm and then start the next at 6am the following morning. Its local to me as well. Result!

Anyway, sorry I have not been doing much lately but I hope that I am back in the groove now.

shocking

2007-04-13T11:20:00.000+01:00

Been really useless lately, i have not run much at all lately. In fact I have done next to no running since T2T at the end of Jan. Not good enough. I am not even motivated to write about my lack of motivation so it must be bad.

I will write about other 'body' stuff instead. I sustained a bang to the head on Tuesday night and I went to bed shortly afterwards. I had fainted and even though I had landed hard enough to cut my shoulder and hip in the kitchen floor I did not pay too much attention what contact my head might of made.

Pretty bad is my guess, I woke an hour or so later, feeling very nauseous and wanted to be sick, so I went to the toilet but it did not come. But I certainly could not sleep because I felt so sick. A sure sign of a nasty knock to the head.

When I rose on Wednesday morning I showered and drove to work but with a big headache and as I never suffer from headaches it's really noticeable when I do. The feinting could be explained but the continuing headache was a trifle worrying so I went to see the Dr and she very pleasantly told me I was alright and that there was no pressure on the backs of my eyes etc.

I have had concussion several times before but never really like this. I normally just get the drowsiness but the headache was a new one on me. I still don't feel totally with it but tomorrow I intend to go for an early morning run and start getting back on track.

Keep you posted!

In the meantime I will share a pic from a recent trip to Germany.

You cant make it out but in the mist lays the mighty Nurburgring Nordschleife.

well being

2007-03-19T13:47:00.000Z

Tricky one to tie down that, work life balance, eating properly, family relationships all the things we are meant to get right all the time. So, I did not train at the weekend which was a bit of a wasted opportunity because I did not have my daughter. What I should of done was gone for an all day ride or run or pottered about with my old track car. In my defence I did tinker with the car all morning but then, with my Bothers we took my Mum out for Lunch.

Upon arriving at the country pub there was an old school friend whom I had not seen for ages. After a very nice lunch I decided not to get a lift back with the others and instead got stuck in to an all day drinking session. Well, after all how often do you get the chance to do this once your a parent? By 10.30 I was so drunk I went home. Then I went out again to go for a sobering walk. Which had the odd effect of not actually sobering me up at all. I was definitely in a bit of a pickle. I am not a regular drinker and if I do get out for a drink it will almost always be a quick 1 or 2 pints and even this means I feel less rested upon waking. Saturday was slightly different.

Here is the thing, I did not have a terrible hang over on Sunday and I did not get run over whilst out for my drunken walk, I did get mugged nor I did not wake up with a complete stranger. So, whilst I felt tired for most of the day I got off fairly lightly. But here's the rub. I felt wrong this morning as well. Dull, hazy and no where near my best. I even had the morning off work to get a some bits done and even when I cycled to work at midday I still felt less than sharp. Riding to work along my familiar railway with familiar obstacles was so much more demanding. This was undoubtedly because of the booze. Conventional wisdom would say that I was fine and should be feeling normal but I was not. I would obviously of passed a breath test but I would most definitely not of wanted to do any serious driving at today. I tried to put this in the context of doing a track day or one of my other fetishes the Nurburgring. Absolute non starter.

I have to admit to liking the odd drink, but I am cringing when I think about just what I did to my body on Saturday.

Foxy rush hour

2007-03-15T09:45:00.000Z

Glorious bloody ride in this morning! I only saw one person on the whole of the trail. Such a shame that he was a rude prick who was too selfish to keep his dog under control. When I asked if he was going to do anything about his dog trying to commit suicide under my front wheel I am not sure if he was shouting at me or the dog? Oh well, perhaps I will find out another morning.

But, selfish god owners aside (an abundant breed).....actually lets have a quick rant-its my blog after all. Dogs? Why? I just don't get it. Firstly, you have to spend precious time walking them so they control your time outdoors. Secondly, they produce crap which makes otherwise reasonable people want to stab you. Thirdly, they make your hands smell when you stroke them, fourth they make the owners house smell (for all the dog owners shaking their heads at this....YES! Even your House). Finally, you pay an arm and a leg on food and pets bills. When I have put this watertight case to people they respond with 'but there always pleased to see you'. Three words: get some friends.

Anyway, given that we seem to be a nation of dog owners/lovers I have probably halved my already modest readership, never mind. Frankly if you fall in to the bracket of selfish dog owner I would rather you did not share this adventure with me. Next time your dog jumps up at me or someone else don't say; 'He's alright, he wont hurt you' consider the fact that your dog should not be jumping at anyone with out being invited to do so. Once your dog has invaded my space I will decide whether or not your dog is alright or not. Take responsibility, I am fucking furious with you that I have to spend my time cleaning my trousers because your dog is 'alright'. Instead of telling me it's 'alright' how about you apologise profusely and decide that in the future you will keep your dog under control like the law suggests. Perhaps if you are reading and you are one of the people who does not clean up after your dog I sincerely hope you come across an otherwise reasonable person who wishes to hit you with a blunt (or sharp, I'm easy) object. You disgust me.

OK, so I promised you some pictures but I am little annoyed because I nearly captured the best blooming picture ever this morning. A Fox ran out in front of me and ran along in front of me for a few seconds. I scrambled to get the camera out as quickly as possible but gloved hands were not terribly conducive to the task and I missed the moment. So, with camera back in pocket I carried on riding and the little blighter teased me by jumping out again! Yep, missed it again. It had such a big bushy tale as well! I know they are viewed as a pest to many and for all I know this might be right but I was thrilled with my encounter this morning.

A rather negative blog this morning but trust me I am in a good mood, how could I not be when I have started they day with a wonderful bit of exercise in the sunshine?

Sorry, sorry

2007-03-14T10:54:00.000Z

Firstly my dedicated readership deserves an apology, since T2T I have been very inactive on here and I really do apologise. 2 reasons for this, firstly becasue I have not been doing as much running and secondly my PC is at my new office so I dont sit at home in the evnings updating my blog.

Shame really, becasue I have had some great experiences with this commuting lark! I did not go for a run over the weekend but Monday morning saw me run in to work for the first time! I cunningly dropped my bag containing clothes, lunch etc off at the office when I passed it on Sunday evening. This meant a simple run into work on Monday morning unburdened with a heavy rucksack. It was 7 miles of absolute bliss! Well, that is a little generous......after having not run for a while my legs took a while to wake up but after 3/4 miles I flying along and it was another beautiful morning! The run home with a light rucksack in the evening was a slightly different affair. I had not eaten since lunch and with 3 or 4 miles left I felt so hungry it was incredible. My hands were shaking, I felt light headed and all I could think of was scoffing dinner down as quickly as possible and then going out for a takeaway. Oh how I fantasised about the high calorie options, McDonalds, no no non, Chinese, ooooh, how about a curry but then again a nice greasey Pizza. The thought of all of them was mental torment! God knows how our great explorers, Ranulph Fiennes and Mike Stoud managed for Months in Antarctica.

By the time I got home I felt so empty it was nuts! I felt like a complete wimp because I was so hungry! I have, after all, fasted for 4 whole days before and felt fine - but I did not do any exercise whilst doing that. Dinner that evening lasted a while.....quick banana and a drink on arrival, cold cuts of roast pork (lots), jacket potatoe, cheddar cheese, salad, Chorizo, coleslaw, ham sandwich with proper baked ham/more salad, more cheese with biscuits finished off with apple crumble and custard. Which, in turn, was finished off again with large amounts of Cadbury's dairly milk. Its been a while since I have eaten like that......and I am sure I have missed stuff out!

Tuesday and this Wednesday have seen me cycle in and do my strength training circuit upon waking as well. All I can say is; Man! The weather has been awesome this week and I have loved every minute of riding/running to and from work! really should of taken some pictures! Promise I will tomorrow.

Hope the sun is shining wherever you may be and more importantly you are making the most of it! Get stuck in! Its good for you!

Also, I would like to express my heartfelt and sincere encouragement and admiration to arguably the greatest living Englishman, Sir Ranulph Fiennes. As I write this he is ascending the North face of the Eiger, a challenge of truly epic proportions and risk. Sir, I salute you. Coincidentally we are raising money for the same great charity Marie Curie Cancer Care.

Commuting rocks

2007-03-09T13:53:00.000Z

Afternoon. I have not run since last Wednesday, that's 9 days! Lazy swine. However I have not been a complete porker as I have still been strength training most mornings and yesterday was the first day I rode to work! I have just moved to an office set in beautiful parkland surroundings and its just off one of my usual cycles routes! Perfect. A 7 mile off road trail thrash to work every morning.....am I lucky or what! Lets ignore the fact that I need to work harder now.

I moved in last Thursday and owing to sorting a few things out I have not made the most of it but yesterday and today I really have!

Let me set the scene.......You have to cross a busy, new dual carriage way to get on the trail and I do this by way of a big bridge with steep ascent and descent. I am not generally a fan of exercising with earphones in but yesterday I stopped atop this bridge and put my iPod on. Whilst hurtling downhill off the bridge to join the trail with cars to my right and music playing I was smiling so widely I nearly pulled a muscle in my cheek. Oh yeah yesterday morning was also bright and sunny as well. I was thrilled to be alive!

Anyway, must get out for a run this weekend.

Hope you all have a great weekend.

HOP ON BABY!

2007-03-05T10:59:00.000Z

Just got off the phone to the great Charles Stockford. Why? Good question, particularly when I have just moved in to expensive new offices and I really should be working hard to pay the rent!

However, today was the big day! Today was Marathon Des Sables Registration day! I was like a coiled spring this morning on the website....5 mins before reg opened I was ready to rock! Pleased to say that I nailed it and got a place for myself and El Stocko.

Please feel free to send your congratulations via fax, post, email or a comment!

Running club

2007-03-01T10:38:00.000Z

Not been doing much lately but I have started to do a nice little circuit every morning when I wake up. Consists of Press ups, bicep curls and sit ups to exhaustion. I complete this circuit 3 times and have been doing this daily for almost 2 weeks and can already feel the difference.

Apart from this I have been cycling with some regularity but hardly running at all. Running club last night was tough almost exclusively speed work and it was probably the hardest session we have ever done which was good. As a result I can still feel it a little in my legs this morning which is very satisfying.

I have not entered anymore events as yet but will keep you posted!

hey shaggy

2007-02-20T20:28:00.000Z

Yeah, been pretty lazy, right. Yeah, proper not good man.

Lazy English, lazy Englishman, sure suits me lately. Well, just over 3 weeks since the race and I have been very relaxed in my approach. The weekend saw a cycle ride and Monday morning I went for an early morning run (Birthday present to my self) and I sit here muddy and a little sweaty after a bike ride this evening. Rubbish night really, I totally sabotaged the evening by dropping my phone so I went back to look for it and very graciously my comrades followed me. Cheers chaps and once again sorry.

Have some pics from Sat ride....but you guessed it, I cant be bothered to put them on. Now if you'll excuse me I am going to go and admire my 2pack in the shower.

Thursday cycle

2007-02-09T10:27:00.000Z

Doubly good day for cycling yesterday. Got out for the usual Thursday night ride with Nick and actually took the map with us which enabled us to discover a few new bits. We only covered about 13miles in the 1hr 40mins that we were out but it was one of the best rides we have done. Great to broaden the horizons a little and the map has shown us some great options for some longer efforts when a spare weekend presents itself.

One of the cool things about last night was that because the trail was covered in snow it kind of lit itself up. Meaning lights were not needed. Looked great.

Wish I had taken my camera again but never mind.

Wonderful world

2007-02-08T10:07:00.000Z

What a way to start the day! I set my alarm to get me up this morning. Why? Because we were due a heavy snow shower and I wanted to see it before all the cars turned it into chocolate slush puppy. So glad I did, it was fricking beautiful out there. On the trail there was nothing but animal tracks and did I mention it was beautiful?

Why is it so satisfying to know you are the first or only person to see something beautiful? Humans seem to be obsessed with first place.

I gave my friend Charlie a call in Australia because I knew it would be so different to the weather he was having. He was in a bar playing pool and it was 35degrees outside! Some parts of the ride were fairly bleak but I am so glad I did it.

what else is there?

2007-02-06T20:14:00.000Z

All this thought of 'what next' has got me thinking. I wondered if there is a list of super hard events that is somehow acknowledged as great collection events. I don't think there is so I over time I wish to compile one, to that end please add ideas/events to the comments (no one will, but no harm in asking).

I guess this list will evolve around my personal tastes but i would like it to encompass all great feats. Here we go in no particular order.

1. Marathon des Sables
2. Ascending Everest (with or without oxygen)
3. Rowing the Atlantic
4. Sub 3 hour marathon
5. Ironman
6. Various ultra marathons
7. Tour de France
8. 24 hour cycle race
9. Badwater ultra marathon
10. Sub 8 minute lap of the Nurburgring (not quite in the same vein as the others!)
11. Unsupported trek to the North Pole.
12. Sailing the globe

I know there are a lots others but I do not know the names of them! I recently read about a long hauls through Canada that lasted for weeks......please offer some information if you know more!

I know there is a polar marathon, and a special club of runners who have run marathons on all continents so this list is flawed from the outset but it hopefully has a smattering of some of the challenges available.

Its funny I look at that and there is nothing there that I would not attempt. Doing any of them in a competitive way is unlikely but as a personal, physical challenge I would with the exception of Everest, absolutely have a go. What scares me more is the prohibitive costs. To row the Atlantic you are looking at £60,000. To make a sensible attempt at Everest with an experienced group/guides you are talking at least £25,000. Sailing the globe......I know nothing about sailing but I even if its possible to buy a place on a boat with experienced crew then I bet £10,000 would be needed....probably lots more. Nurburgring, tricky one to tie down. Cost of multiple trips, car, training, laps etc etc but certainly it is not as onerous as the £60,000 for rowing the Atlantic. Even £60k is prob small change for what it probably costs to trek to one of the poles.

As for Everest, it is the only one that I have said previously that I would not attempt. This is simply because 1 in 8 people who attempt the summit perish. Before I was a Dad, I would of gladly had a go but I am not so sure now. However, I listened to a radio programme a while back about a guy who successfully ascended Everest on his artificial limbs, an amazing feat. He spoke of the summit and ascent in such honest and intriguing terms, it was pretty captivating. he said that he remembered the seeing the curvature of the earth and it was remarkable but he also said that there was a very real sense that humans did not belong there. God that got me fired up! What an experience! He spoke of the fact that previous climbers who died acted as landmarks along the route. This surprised me but apparently many corpses litter the mountain as removing them is just too difficult

I am clearly waffling now so will shut up.

First run

2007-02-05T22:56:00.000Z

Good evening foxy ladies (I wonder if any read this? Ooh actually, I know at least one does) First run since T2T was had this evening and I was mightily impressive. OK, so not really but I felt pretty good and I certainly enjoyed it. I used the notorious hilly lap around town, the one that everyone at running club fears when used for the winter time trial. I did 4 ish laps and it came in at just over ten miles, it took me 1hr 14minutes.

I have only timed myself over ten miles once before (long time ago) and I did that in 1hr 15 over a flatter course. So I guess that makes it a PB. Bravo to me. If I had not had a huge McDonald's at lunch I would of run quicker-silly sod. The other downside though is that (this is disgusting, so stop reading if your eating) where the air is so damp I seemed to breathe in so much dirt that I was coughing up black phlegm when I finished. Smoking probably healthier.

Must write a bit about the bike events that we are planning to do this summer. One is an all night 125mile effort from Hackney to the Suffolk coast. Its called the Dunwich Dynamo and last year over 500 people did it! I found out about it when, last summer upon leaving the pub in one night in July....... 500 people on bikes rode through our town! It looked awesome and this year we will be a part of it! It finishes with a jump in the sea, a fry up and then some snoozing on the beach!
The other is a 24 hour non stop race where you cycle a large lap continuously for 24 hours. I found out today though that it is not quite the case. Well, it is if you enter solo but most people do it in teams and you take it in shifts. Not quite the Ultra endurance event I was hoping for. Still, 4hours on and 4 off will be tough I reckon but if you have a team any bigger than 2 it gets a bit pointless.

Well that is pretty much it for the day other than to say I have found another event I want to run, it is a Marathon starting at 6pm then another starting at 6am the following morning. So basically two marathons in 24 hours.....and its local to me! Trouble is, I plan to spend as much time at the Nurburgring as possible this year and this race is held on the only weekend in July that the 'ring is open all weekend. Decisions, decisions.

The stunning and intimidating 'Exmuhle' or a local Ultra?

Answers on a postcard please!

here we go again

2007-02-05T10:40:00.000Z

A little over a week has passed since t2t and I have taken in a few brisk walks and several quick cycle rides, the weather has varied massively on these and so have ideas about what other events I should aim at. This morning however this idea that I needed something else to aim at really hit me, I definitely need a new focus other than the hardcore cycling events that are planned for the summer. This morning I also started to think about being able to run an Ultra like T2T faster. I know there is a lot more within me and think I might attempt a quick one in the future. These 'what next' thoughts have coincided with me taking a shine to a few road bikes, or racers as we always use to call them.

My elder Brother has always been a strong advocate of road bikes/cycling and whilst I would like one and I love the romance of the Tour de France I fear that I would ruin one. This is more to with the horrific state of the roads in this country and not the fact that I would take a road bike on a half pipe. However, what with summer coming and the fact that I could afford one I am sorely tempted to get one. What is making the decision easy is that some of them are seriously good looking! I mean wow! This coupled with the fact that I now realise my orange Mountain Bike is extremely ugly and the road bike idea becomes pretty intoxicating.

What I am trying to figure is what came first; the desire to enter a Triathlon or the desire to own a gorgeous carbon fibre road bike? Oh no.....I mean, eureka! Just remembered! I cant do a triathlon because the blokes wear those daft crop tops! Phew, just saved my self a pretty penny.

Running. Isn't that a nice word? Well, I have been gagging to get out and run all week. Even the Monday directly after the race when I went for a walk it was all I could do to not burst out in to a trot. By Wednesday I felt totally recovered and all stiffness had passed. However, my sensible head made me hold off from attending running club that night.

I think its all in the mind but as the week progressed I noticed little odd feelings in my feet, or in my knee or under my right buttock. Nothing painful or even uncomfortable just unfamiliar little sensations, I believe that these are/were part of the heeling process and vindicated my reluctant choice to take a few days off from running.

Yes, that is ice on the front of my hat! Riding through cold fog certainly woke me up early Sunday morning.

All pics taken on Saturday (bright) and Sunday Morning (foggy).

Me looking cute

2007-02-01T16:58:00.000Z

This was taken about 10 seconds after finishing. Looking rather pleased with life. If you look really closely you can see the mark on my forehead from my head torch! Twas a good day.

And another thing

2007-01-30T23:13:00.000Z

So there I was tonight, out for a brisk walk and half way through 'Da Funk' by Daft Punk (superlative effort from the French) and I remember having/over-hearing various conversations with people about the fact they had taken pain killers before the race started.

Many years ago, when I had ideas about joining the army I would run with a heavy weight on my back everyday and to cover the pain in my legs I would occasionally take painkillers. This means I cant exactly moan at these people for doing it...... and yet, I have to say that I just don't get it? Ultra events hurt. You have to have that battle with the part if you that wants to give up. Is that not one of the reason's we do it? Isn't it one of the reasons it feels so fucking cool when we do finish?

So what is the point in masking that experience with pain killers? Besides for me, one of the main reason's I run is because it puts me in touch with my body and how wonderful it is. Not just how capable it is or how far it can travel or even that it does not fail to start-even on the coldest of mornings. No, one of the wonders of this world is that there is this species known as homo sapien that can endure so much pain, so much discomfort and so much hard ship that it makes us one of the most remarkable organisms ever. Sure, there are faster, more beautiful, stronger, more enduring etc etc...but surely we hold the title for most flexible/adaptable. Consider Maurice Green a 100 meter specialist of shattering speed and power and then cast an an eye at Paula Radcliffe...totally different but THE SAME species! You just don't get this kind of extreme variety in any other species. We are literally the most amazing creature ever to inhabit this earth. Lets ignore all the bad stuff we do.....just for a moment.

I rock! we all rock! God dam it, use your body for something new today! It took thousands of years of evolution to look this pretty.... make the most of it and respect it!

before you ask, yes I have been drinking.......oh the irony.......booze is no good for you. Well, I am afraid it is. As a species we need an escape. There are tribes in far flung locations that actually distill yak shit in order to produce alcohol! it's within us to to seek out these experiences. I don't do any illegal drugs and never really have but don't you think its odd that people in Westminster tell you what you can and cant put in to your body? After all, I don't attempt to throw them in to jail for getting overweight from lack of running/exercise.

Anyway, When I started this blog I promised my self I would stick to the running and ignore politics. Sorry. Yeah so painkillers, funny one that.

Where was I?

2007-01-29T23:07:00.000Z

Good evening, its late again and i am rather tired so I intend to spill as much information on to the keyboard as possible, as quickly as possible. Had a beefburger made from Kobe Beef tonight, but that's not important right now.

OK, so the race was meant to start at 8.15am. This was cool but there was a little bit of apprehension about the fact that normally before I run these big distances I eat my Brekky and I am gone. This time I knew that I would be waiting around 2 hours from Breakfast to start line. It turned out the race was delayed and I had a 3 hour period without food before the start. This was annoying because after 30 minutes of running I was hungry and decided to stop to get food in early, whilst this meant that running out of food became a possibility i gambled on the fact that there would be food at the checkpoint to offset this problem.

Aside from feeling hungry and need to stop for a pee, the first ten miles literally flew by. This was due in no small part to the fact that I was running with a great bunch of blokes, I believe a couple of them had military backgrounds so the humour was down to earth and the conversation was great. Thanks Gents. I actually dropped back from them after about 10 minutes because I was worried about the energy of the start pushing us off to quickly but I ended up catching them up a few minutes later and decided the benefits from running with a group were worth having, besides I was not running beyond my self anyway.

Somewhere around the 12-15 mile mark I needed to stop for a comfort beak and I never saw the group again after that but I trust they did well and perhaps I will bump into them at some point in the future. I hope so.

The The next thing worth mentioning after that was the fact that some idiot dog owner did not have suitable control of his animals and whilst I dodged one of them, the next one stood statue like right in my way and the resulting knee to its head must of hurt it. It certainly hurt me and my vicious response of 'For f**ks sake' aimed at the selfish owner was fairly simple and to the point. However, the bang to the side of the knee completely seized it up for a few seconds and whilst I stretched it out I wondered if a less reasonable man would of gone and thrown the owner in to the canal.I am sure you getting the idea that it was the last thing I needed at the 20mile mark. Probably best I don't even get on the subject of dog turds along the canal. Bloody disgrace.

No sooner had I got moving again, I met up with a couple of friends, Helen and Kirsten and they ran with me for a while which was great. I did make me realise though that I had ran the first 20 miles quite quickly because although the race was delayed by 45 minutes I pretty much reached them at the same time we agreed before knowing about the delay. This was probably not sensible and I knew I should take it easy if I was to keep my chances of finishing favourable.

Within a mile the girls dropping back another Friend, Greg joined me and for a jog, again it was great company but unfortunately it was at around this point that I discovered that the CP's did have food and I grabbed a Pain au Chocolate. God it tasted good but it did not really work well once it was inside. Lesson learned stick to what you know.

Greg and the girls met me a further 3 times between them and I cant overstate how cool this was of them. A lot of work went in to driving around the various unfamiliar villages in order to cheer me on and I am very grateful. Thanks again.

A couple of these ambushes overlapped with me falling in to step with another runner called Sonia. It was at a bridge that was almost exactly 26 miles in, that I turned around and said to her: 'well that's a marathon done I am going to have a snack to celebrate'. We ran the remaining 19 miles together and it was wonderful, we both agreed that its very unusual to find someone of such similar ability and we had both lucked out.

Well, just for the record; the hardest parts were between 19miles and 26miles. Some pretty tough moments in there and there I focused on 35 miles and not 45 miles fir a lot of this time. I wont bang on about the final ten but suffice to say they passed quicker than I thought they would. One funny memory of the final ten was when Sonia would bump into me, or more likely me bumping into her we were so British about the whole thing! 'sorry', then the reply would come from the other; 'no, my fault'.

OK pretty lame report but, I want to make a note for myself that the terrain was more punishing than I had anticipated. I had never really planned for a trail race with the extra toll that takes on the ankles but oh well done it now! So I am obviously pretty hardcore!

I will no doubt make reference to the race many times in future posts but a couple of things worth mentioning now are that I miss it. I feel like I should still be at the canal. It felt right and it kind of made sense. I knew why I was doing it-but don't ask me to explain that.
A friend of mine said to me today that I was now part of an elite group because I had run an Ultra. All I could say was that I honestly did not feel like that, I feel like I have done something for the right reasons and I got high doing it. It makes other things seem a little clearer at the moment but it certainly does not make me an elite athlete. I think you could even argue over the 'athlete' bit. Please don't mistake this as me being harsh on my self like people have after the previous T2T post (thanks for reading), I just feel like its something I should be doing, something we should all be doing. I have put my money where my mouth is and it feels great!

Thanks for reading and congrats to everyone who finished and also to everyone who even had the balls to turn up and have a go. I enjoyed meeting so many of you but I feel I need to make a special mention of a man who finished about 90 minutes after me and walked directly from the finish to the bar and ordered a pint of Stella, then another and so on.......heroic stuff. He was there until at least 10.30pm and drank a good 5/6 pints of STELLA. How? Why? Even my running partner Sonia had a pint of Guinness in front of her in the pub. Impressive stuff. I started on the fruit juice but at about 10pm My good friend Max and I decided to blaze up a couple of Montecristo No.3 and whilst lager is not the ideal paring it seemed wrong to drink anything stronger.

Another guy was keeling over whilst turning green and Greg found two others being sick in the toilets. I know that at least one guy was hospitalised through dehydration. I have read his post on the forum. He was sure he was being sensible with fluids but after the race he could not hold any food or fluids down and eventually A+E was the only way forward. 2L of saline drips and drugs to stop future vomiting sorted him out but it goes to show even in a British January you can get your self in trouble.

Raw data:

Approx number of starters: 140
Number of finishers: 83
My time: 8 hrs 41 mins 48 secs
My Position: 41st

I know there is loads I have missed out, I hope I don't sound pompous by saying that if you have any questions please just put them in the 'comments'. I helps me understand my own thoughts about running when people ask me questions, so please feel free.

A letter dropped on my door matt this morning (spooky timing) reminding me that if i wanted to row the Atlantic at the end of the year then I had to pay a deposit before the end of the Feb. Any one up for it? Let me know if you are.

Tring2Town

2007-01-28T22:53:00.000Z

I really cant be bothered to write this. Bit of a negative note to start on but I have too much to say and know that I will not get it all down I am also aware that I am not a good enough writer to explain things.

However, I will say that it was incredible and probably the first time I have experienced that phenomena of 'self achievement'. Not in any euphoric way you understand but yesterday is something that I am comfortable with. Normally I would be thinking; 'its not as if I have just ascended Everest without oxygen' or 'oh well some people have survived harsher journey's with out food or water'. I am not saying I am hard on myself or that I am obsessively negative but I am saying that I know the facts of some human endeavours and running for 1 solitary day out of a lifetime is fairly...er,.... Well, it is what it is and people will and have done it faster, harder, higher, hungrier, colder etc etc. Completing T2T yesterday though did not see me thinking like this I was simply satisfied with what I had done. Real emotion even crept in as I saw my Brother and some friends at the finish-good job my daughter was not there because I think I would of cried. It was brilliant.

What probably made it special though was my accidental running partner. I ran roughly the final 20 miles with the same person and it was wonderful. She was almost exactly the same ability as me and it worked tremendously well-thank you.
Now the important bit of yesterday; The last ten miles were sprinkled with magic, In a way that I have never experienced before. They were probably as easy as the first ten and here I find it hard to describe, somehow we just carved our way through the last 10 miles we literally could not believe that the GPS gadget on my wrist was correct and when we hit the 41 Mile mark it was the most perfect surprise. Just four miles to go, we had covered the previous 6 miles so quickly that we literally had to phone our friends again to tell them to get the finish line quickly. My Brother's response was a telling one: 'Fuck me, did you sprint the last section or something?' He was sitting in the West End some where and was half way through a pint. Poor thing. I think after a few days have past I will be even more baffled by the performance we managed over those final 10 miles but hey, we all love a good mystery right?

I am going to bed now but I will write a more formal race report soon, hopefully tomorrow.

Massive thanks to Alex, HELEN, GREG, KIRSTEN, SONIA, Stuart, Sarah, Mark, Kate, Max and Simon. Without sounding too much like an Oscar acceptance speech I would like to say how much more special you made it and how grateful I am that you made the effort.

Little hand says its time to rock & roll!

2007-01-26T15:13:00.000Z

Nice little cycle ride last nigh but my throat is definitely not 100%. Its been like this for a few days now and not gotten any worse so I am doing my level best ignore it. I have been taking extra Vitamin C (1000mg a day) Vitamin E (400i.u a day) and eating really well. Typical day consisting of something like:

Breakfast; Real porridge
Lunch; wholewheat pasta followed by roast vegetables with garlic, anchovies and olive oil
dinner; KFC....only joking. Soup and wholemeal bread last night but it has varied, homemade fish and chips.....liver casserole. basically, good home cooked food.

As per normal, copious amounts of Dairy Milk are consumed after lunch and dinner. I resist after breakfast, but god knows how.

I have not drunk alcohol since early January but this has more to do with being bored of it after Xmas than worrying about it affecting my preparation. I intend to drink slightly more water than normal for the next couple of hours and then get my bag packed for tomorrow. Getting excited now.....that's why I had to stop working and write this post!

happy days

2007-01-23T21:35:00.000Z

On a really positive note I am now dangerously close to reaching £1000 worth of sponsorship! Thanks everybody and you can expect a really annoying group email on Thursday to try and squeeze another £36 out of you all!

Its been a while

2007-01-23T21:17:00.000Z

Bonjourno boys and girls.

Not written for a while so here it is: last Wednesday's running club was a good speed session consisting of 10x300m and I felt really strong which was nice.

I have since done absolutely nothing until this evening! I am sure that when running coaches talk about 'tapering' the last 2 weeks of a training schedule they don't quite mean doing absolutely sod all but hey I am hoping to pioneer a new way of doing things!

However tonight saw me hauling the rucksack on and doing a steady hour of running just to stop my legs going to sleep before the big which is this Saturday. I also went for a very cold bike ride of a little over an hour. Worst of all was the fact that my gloves had gotten damp from sweat whilst running and this meant that on the bike my hands became painfully cold very quickly. I was glad to get home!

So there we have it, I will probably do a gentle cycle on Thursday night and that will be me done until the race on Saturday. Bring it on!

not the best

2007-01-14T21:42:00.000Z

Illness has plagued the last bit of my training and its rather bloody annoying. Forced my self out for my 40miler this morning but alas I only managed 29. Something was not right, I was not quite with it and it felt a little worrying so I opted for the cautious option and, with 4 miles between me and home I ate some food and drank additional water and walked for a while in the direction of home. I even made a few calls to people to give my mind something to focus on because I was a little worried about how I was feeling. After this I put my iPod on and ran the remaining 3 miles or so for home and i was jolly glad to get there.

I also noticed something today and not for the first time, when I have been running for hours and I am getting tired something quite odd happens. I find my self feeling strangely emotional like I watching a sad film or something. No reason for this at all, its not because I have inadvertently started thinking about my late rabbit or something, it just come out of no where. I blame my Daughter, I became a complete wimp as soon as she was borne!

Bottom line is this: the race is just under two weeks away and I have not done the prep that I wanted. This undoubtedly means the big day is going to hurt. Accepted wisdom would discourage me from doing any major runs in the time that I have left so its all about maintenance now and ensuring that I am feeling 100% for the race.

My glands are up and I have a mouth ulcer witch is very unusual for me. I take these as indicators that something is wrong. Add this to the fact that I had quite a serious tunny upset and today can be explained. I am also a few pounds lighter than normal where I have not been eating normally since the stomach upset. Underweight, glands up, recovering from stomach bug.....comedy of errors really.

Oh well, early night tonight and see how tomorrow looks.

Bit rough old chap

2007-01-09T14:51:00.000Z

Phew. Just eaten my first bit of food since Sunday dinner. Terrible stomach bug hit me Sunday night and it kept me awake all night. Horrible. Yesterday I was just wiped out all day hence there has been no exercise since Saturday morning.

Only thing worth reporting is that I conducted a little telephone interview with the local paper from my bed yesterday and the photographer came round today to get some photo's of me running. I should be in a couple of the locals tomorrow. Keep you posted.

Timing is everything

2007-01-06T19:23:00.000Z

I was sleeping so soundly when my alarm woke me. Really wanted to stay there but eventually got up and I left the house at about 6.15am. Undoubtedly one of the best runs I have ever done, the night/early morning was almost totally still and I could hear the birds singing and the near full moon kept me just about on the path. Fewer cars around than normal as well. When there is little or no breeze it is quite incredible how many different smells you pick up on, we are bloody amazing things us humans!

Totally awesome run, one of the best ever. To top it all off about 5 minutes after I finished and I was stood in the kitchen sorting out my rucksack it started to rain and has been doing so all day. I have felt smug at my lucky timing all day. Nice.

Steady 15 miler was completed and then headed out for a huge seafood lunch with some family and friends to celebrate my Brother's Birthday. Beautiful.

Later Potata's.

Equipment

2007-01-05T10:24:00.000Z

Its been a bumper few days and I now have all the bits of kit I need to be able to compete in the Ultra at the end of the January.

Arrivals over the last couple of days include a Helly Hanson lifa top, a distress whistle and most importantly a head-torch (Petzl myo XP). The last two of which are compulsory items for entry.

Its been like Christmas all over again!