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!
21.6.07
5.6.07
quick update
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.
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.
1.6.07
Not bad, not 2 bad
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.
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.
28.5.07
Getting worried
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.
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.
20.5.07
Sunday
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.
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.
16.5.07
Its a dirty job....
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.
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.
14.5.07
Hill session
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.
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
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.
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.
11.5.07
I am tired of being right!
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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
5.5.07
Update
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.
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.
1.5.07
May Day, May day!
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?
30.4.07
Weekender
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.
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.
26.4.07
Need to run more!
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!
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!
24.4.07
Oops
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.
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.
23.4.07
Fundraising update
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!
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
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.
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.
20.4.07
New endurance event discovered!
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?!
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
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.
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.
17.4.07
Young at heart
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.
13.4.07
shocking
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.
You cant make it out but in the mist lays the mighty Nurburgring Nordschleife.
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.
19.3.07
well being
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.
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.
15.3.07
Foxy rush hour
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?
14.3.07
Sorry, sorry
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.
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.
9.3.07
Commuting rocks
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.
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.
5.3.07
HOP ON BABY!
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!
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!
1.3.07
Running club
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!
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!
20.2.07
hey shaggy
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.
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.
9.2.07
Thursday cycle
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.
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.
8.2.07
Wonderful world
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.
6.2.07
what else is there?
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.
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.
5.2.07
First run
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.
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
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).
1.2.07
Me looking cute
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.
30.1.07
And another thing
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.
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.
29.1.07
Where was I?
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:
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.
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
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.
28.1.07
Tring2Town
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.
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.
26.1.07
Little hand says its time to rock & roll!
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!
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!
23.1.07
happy days
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
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 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!
14.1.07
not the best
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.
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.
9.1.07
Bit rough old chap
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.
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.
6.1.07
Timing is everything
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.
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.
5.1.07
Equipment
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!
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!
training last night
Was meant to get out for a bike ride with the boys but the lure of London's best burgers was too much and I went for a quick 10k a little before 6pm instead then headed in to London. I think I may of ran a PB? not sure where all this speed is coming from but its not really the correct type of training for an Ultra.....this weekend will see a change of gears and I will get some longer slower work in during the early hours.
Great Burgers (probably not ideal nutrition either!) as per normal with the added bonus of meeting a mates new special lady. Great to meet you, fancy sponsoring me?!
Great Burgers (probably not ideal nutrition either!) as per normal with the added bonus of meeting a mates new special lady. Great to meet you, fancy sponsoring me?!
Fundraising
I have really been hassling people with email over the last couple of days in a bid to boost the donations. I am really excited about the fact that I went through the £500 barrier, and last night an old school friend, Simon Owers pushed me through the £600 barrier with a donation of £21. (beautiful bit of one-up-manship after his brother had donated £20!).
Upon sitting at my desk this morning I learned that my own Brother had unbelievably thrown a staggering £100 in to the pot. A £100! That pushed me through the £700 barrier and I am sitting pretty (but not content!) on £716!
I am thrilled with this and in particular with the donations from Lisa, Mark and Simon. People, whom I very rarely see and did not expect to receive a penny from. True meaning of charity.
Upon sitting at my desk this morning I learned that my own Brother had unbelievably thrown a staggering £100 in to the pot. A £100! That pushed me through the £700 barrier and I am sitting pretty (but not content!) on £716!
I am thrilled with this and in particular with the donations from Lisa, Mark and Simon. People, whom I very rarely see and did not expect to receive a penny from. True meaning of charity.
3.1.07
Running club
Loads of people turned out for the first club session of '07. First Wednesday of the Month as well which meant it was the painful timed lap, it was raining all night as well so it made the turn out even more impressive. Fairly pleased with how I ran, by my reckoning only a few seconds slower than lasts months personal best and considering Christmas was in between I can live with that.
I found myself overtaking more people than I normally would so I am not sure if the handicapping was a little out or if everyone else has eaten even more than me over xmas! I bet none of them can beat my half a stone accumulation! That said, apart from a couple of pounds I have all but shifted it anyway.
Well done everyone and happy New Year!
I found myself overtaking more people than I normally would so I am not sure if the handicapping was a little out or if everyone else has eaten even more than me over xmas! I bet none of them can beat my half a stone accumulation! That said, apart from a couple of pounds I have all but shifted it anyway.
Well done everyone and happy New Year!
2.1.07
Drop the dead donkey!!!!!
Holy cow! could do with some fake tan, I look grey!The papers are always so full of doom and gloom but very soon they will cover a tale of fun stupidity! Finally it looks like I will be hitting the local press of Dunmow and Braintree within the very near future. I did the interview today and have seen a draft of what will roll off the presses, I felt almost proud of my self when I read it. The opening description of me is legendary! I think the Journalist must have a sense of humour!
I will keep you posted as to when it will be released and I will put a copy of the the article on here for no other reason than I am vain. Fingers crossed it will raise the sponshorship situation.....Speaking of which my good friend Max generously donated a rather large sum to the pot today. Thank you kindly dude. Burgers are on me next time we go.
Annoyingly I still dont have full sensation back in my fingers from yesterday's bike ride. Fingers crossed (sorry) it will be sorted tomorrow.
Good little session
Nice solid effort this evening. Bit of strength training consisting of sets elevated press-ups to exhaustion, sit-ups to exhaustion and combined arm curls/shoulder press to exhaustion. As always 3 sets of each conducted in a simple circuit fashion.
Followed this up with a hill/speed session which consisted of a 8 efforts up a hill of approximately 400 metres in length. Hard to be precise because inexplicably the battery was dead on my GPS Gadget.
It was good, pleased with my self. No mucking about just a business like work out. Bravo to me.
Followed this up with a hill/speed session which consisted of a 8 efforts up a hill of approximately 400 metres in length. Hard to be precise because inexplicably the battery was dead on my GPS Gadget.
It was good, pleased with my self. No mucking about just a business like work out. Bravo to me.
1.1.07
The very best start to the year
When I awoke from my alcoholic slumber in the arm chair at about 7.30 am this morning I could see the weather was looking nice. Naturally, I made a drink (mouth was a little dry for some reason) and headed straight out on my bike. Not really. I made the drink, necked it and went up to bed for a couple of hours to get some decent sleep.Upon waking I was delighted to see that the low winter sun was filling the house and this meant I had to get out and make the most of it. I forced some breakfast down me and made some sandwiches and headed off on my bike. Big Bro joined me and we rode to Hatfield Forest, which was, to be honest rather under whelming. The ground was saturated and it was not really riding, more of crawl. So we got back on to out usual track and headed back in the direction of home. By the time we got there we had been out for around 2 and a half hours but I was determined to make the most of the daylight and eat my sandwiches out in the fresh air somewhere. So after a quick tinker with my brakes (they had all but stopped working) I was off. I ate my sandwiches sitting next to a little river in the middle of no where and it was glorious. Utterly glorious.
All in I was out for about 4 hours and it was just beginning to get dark when I returned. Perfect.Interestingly I have been suffering from a numbness in the end of my left ring finger when out on longer rides. The numbness lasts for hours after I finish and today i decided to find out what it is. Its the result of pressure being applied to the Ulnar nerve-The Internet is a wonderful thing. Just need to figure out how I can prevent it from happening now.
The Mad Maldon Mud Race
Ka Boom! What a race it turned out to be yesterday! I loved it, if someone said I could of done it again today I would of. Next year I going to do it in fancy dress and make a bit more of a meal of it. As it was Kirstin and I made a good fist of things!Arrived in Maldon at about 12.30 in order to register before 1pm. The race started at 2pm and the only bit I did not enjoy was the waiting around in the cold before the start. We were herded onto the bank of the river and then set off straight into a freezing river. I mean freezing, it felt like glacial bloody melt water. Easily deep enough to swim if the water had not been so crowded with other competitors. Then it was straight out of the water and onto the mud! Impossible to walk on, the suction on your feet was immense so only one thing for it and that was to get down on all fours and forge ahead! I was cruising baby! Carving my through the mud and overtaking plenty of people in the process, If I had not been stuck behind so many people in the water I reckon I could of achieved a pretty high position! As I was moving along parallel to the river bank I heard a tannoy announcement that someone had finished (and won) in about 3 minutes. The commentator also said that it takes some people 3 hours! I can almost believe him. Moving through churned up mud was very difficult and I found my self breathing much more deeply than I had expected, it was actually quite a good work out. For a very unfit person moving through churned up mud I think it would be really, really difficult.
I am definitely doing it next year, it was a really interesting little challenge. Forcing yourself to get in to a freezing river in the middle of Jan and then crawling through filth is not something you actually experience very often and I really enjoyed it.
Annoyed that I did not get any pictures of me really filthy but as you cross the river to reach the finish line in obviously removes a lot of the mud. Boooooo!
Serious note: I would like to make it clear that have I nothing but contempt for all the people who competed in wetsuits yesterday!
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