Unfinished business

Cloudy and dry thats what the weather forecaster said.

So it came as little surprise that at 06:30am this morning at Avebury (near Swindon) when it was absolutely tipping it down and visibility was no more that 20 yards.

The plan was to deal with a little bit of unfinished business, during the summer i took part in the none stop 85 miles Ridgeway challenge, only to be defeated at the 55 mile mark by the heat! (which was a bit of a surprise to me considering that only a couple of months previous i had run across the Sahara desert!!!)


So the only (sensible) option was to get the cabbie to take me back to Swindow station, i got the train back to Paddington station and then ran from Paddington past Hyde Park, along Oxford Street, through Holborn, the City, Whitechapel, Mile End turned up the River Lea, cut through Chingford, a quick loop of Buckhurst Hill and that was another 26 miles done.

So the 85 mile Ridgeway still eludes me, one day i'll crack you....

Good training for the Arctic

Lea Valley Ultra, well it should have been a proper race but turned into a training run, which was a shame as i won the marathon!! (OK only 4 people did the marathon distance, the rest doing the longer 32 mile distance) but a win is a win!!!

The temp was hovering around the -4 mark which was a good test for the Arctic, my thermal Helly Hanson tee shirt worked well, as did my 2 layers of Smartwool socks....

Injury what injury!!!

All summer i have been struggling with strained groin muscles, dodgy hamstrings...I've tried everything stretching, heat therapy, ultrasound, complete rest nothing seemed to work, i spent hours on the bike in an attempt to keep the fitness up but avoid the putting too much strain of the various bit that hurt.

Now while i was out walking i got chatting to a bloke training for a triathlon his background was cycling, along the way the conversation turned to injuries and i explained my various problems, instantly he said 'your bike seat is to high, and its actually the cycling that is causing your problem!' surly it couldn't be that simple.....

Anyway the bike has been in the shed for about 6 weeks, and I'm back running sub 4hr marathons all my pain has gone away and I'm back running freely (if not a little slowly) (edit 24/11/07 - this was also confirmed by a guy at the Lee Vally Ultra, he also instantly said 'seat too high' when the various symptoms where listed.)

Anyway is will get back on the bike soon, but will make sure the seat is adjusted down a little....

Thank you Triathlon man who ever you were....