2008 Roundup....

I think its safe to say that 2008 has been a painful year, both my injuries are on going but as you can see from the figures below it doesn't seem to stop me (well it doesn't hurt when running/cycling its only when i stop it bl00dy hurts). Not done as many events this year as i would have liked but the highlight was the 6633 and I'm very much looking forward to going back in 09.

During 2008, well 10 months of it (I've had 2 months of little or no training due to injuries) my GPS tells me that I have spent just short of 400 hours of my life running/walking/cycling about 3200 miles (the actual figure is higher as i have not GPS'd all activities)

Looking forward to 2009, as mentioned I've got the 6633 (352 miles in the Arctic) in March, then in May I have a place in the Grand Union Canal race (147 miles non stop from Birmingham to London), and then if all goes to plan I want to have a go at the Tooting Bec 24hr race (to see how far i can run round and round a 400m track in 24hrs), and of course i will have to defend my team title at the Brecon Ultra....

Festive greetings to everybody except a certain dog owner and a driver in Chingford

A eventful bike ride today, firstly a very excitable dog took quite a fancy to my ankles and managed to pull me off the bike, the owner had absolutely no control of the dog, it only let go of my ankle when it noticed a couple of swans and decided they were more interesting than me, a few choice words to the owner and i was back on my bike and peddling rapidly off in the opposite direction, then a narrow miss when a car pulled out of it's parking space on Chingford High St. almost had me off. Its quite amazing how many people don't see a 6ft bloke in bright red or orange top when I'm out running or cycling...

How Good is That

by Jane Tomlinson, what a amazing book and what an amazing woman, after being diagnosed with terminal cancer in 2000 she went on to do among other things run several marathons, do a full iron man, cycled from John o' Groats to Land's End, cycled from Rome to Leeds, a MBE and a CBE, the BBC sports personality of the year award and the subject of this book cycled from San Francisco to New York, over the last few years she raised nearly £2million for charity....unfortunately she lost her battle to cancer in Sept. 2007 - i think for next years 6633 ultra i will be raising money for her charity (http://www.janesappeal.com/)

A bit of this and a bit of that

A bit of a mixture this week and i done plenty of walking, cycling, cross training, weight training and running this week, even though i have been in San Diego everything but the walking has been done in the gym at the hotel (one of the benefits of 24hr access to a gym), the down side is that my leg has been sore all week to the point that it was too sore to run on Thursday, went for a walk instead and as usual once it got warmed up it stopped hurting, roll on the 9th of Jan when i back to the specialist to see what can be done about it.

Even going on holiday is a marathon

well a marathon journey, London to Newark (New York) 8hrs, 3hrs delay in Newark, Newark to San Diego should be 5hrs eventually took 10hrs, because of the head wind we ran out of fuel(!) and had to stop in Phoenix and then continue on to San Diego, total journey time from door to door was 24hrs, to make this post running related my ankle is quite sore after being wedged into a plane seat for all that time but after a walk this morning all seems fine.....

A rest full week

Well after last weekends Brecon Ultra i have had a rest full week, a couple of short walks on Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday and a hours run in the pouring rain on Saturday. Next week I'm off to San Diego for the week so hopefully their will be plenty of running by the sea, walking and training in the hotel gym.
Looks like I've made a good decision not to do the Round Rotherham today, the weather looks like its going to be even worse than it was last year and that was pretty grim...

Everybody's a winner...

Us ultra runners are all winners, but this weekend i was an actual real proper winner, as a last minute replacement in Team Spock, Steve E, Cookie and myself were the winning team in the inaugural Beacons Ultra, on a personal note i finished 14th out of 65 starters and considering the pain i had in my right hip for about half the course i was well chuffed with a time of 9hr 58mins on quite a tough course....Injury update:- ankle took quite a battering and is a little swollen but will be fine in a day or so, groin didn't hurt at all (even I'm beginning to think its might be all in the mind), right hip pain is a new one to me which probably slowed me by at least an hour, will see what effect a couple of days rest has and take it from there.

Matt and the Likeys boys and girls put on a great event and i'm looking forward to defending the team title in next years event.... http://www.beaconsultra.com/

Just go and see the man in the back of the lorry

Yesterday i had the MRI scan of my troublesome ankle in the back of a lorry!! (best i explain - the lorry was a mobile MRI scanner used by the NHS), today i had the ultrasound scan of both the ankle and groin.
You don't get to see the images from the MRI until you see the consultant but i was shown the ultrasound images the good news is that ultrasound man was unable to see any obvious problems, the bad news is that if the consultant also can't see anything then we are no nearer to finding out the cause, that said the ultrasound man did say that for my ankle a image was a much better way to diagnose the cause.
I see the consultant in Janary so will continue to train and put up with the post training pain....

Light drizzle

my ar$e, it tipped it down all day and was bitterly cold, walked 30 miles up the Grand Union Canal from Tring to just the other side of Wolverton and then got the train back to Tring...
This week i will be resting in preparation for next weekend's Brecon Ultra and if the long range weather forecast is correct today will have been great preparation...

Good training for the Arctic...

The actual temp wasn't that cold but the strong wind and quite exposed route did its bit to lower the temps and make it quite a chilly 28 miles on the Ridgeway yesterday, the cold (i assume) made my hands swell quite alarmingly as i somewhat foolishly remembered my hat but not my gloves a mistake that i will not be repeating.

The training focus has switched towards the 6633 so most long training sessions will be walking from now on with the added bonus that the old leg injury doesn't hurt so much after walking....

heddiw glawiedig a glawiedig bit hychwaneg

A great if not wet day up in Brecon today, did the 20 mile loop section of the Brecon ultra that I'm doing next month (the Brecon ultra will require me to do the loop twice), initially mist and drizzle and then proper heavy rain,what was quite bizarre was that it was raining on the hills and when you looked down into the valleys it was sunny!!

heddiw glawiedig a glawiedig bit hychwaneg:- welsh for today rained and rained a bit more

looney tunes....

Another mad man moment on the canal this morning, while cycling along the canal towpath by Ware i was approached by reasonably normal looking bloke the conversation when as follows.

Man:- have you got your flask with you
Me:- I'm sorry my flask?
Man:- mine was stolen by Agatha Christie
Me:- what the author
Man:- no the lead singer of the German band, you know the one
Me:- OK
Man:- he looks a bit like you, he's dead now
Me:- (time to go me thinks, tried to cycle off)
Man:- can you cook??
Me:- (as I'm cycling off) my spaghetti bolognese isn't to bad
Man:- you shouldn't eat that it got puffins in it

He still shouting things at me as i was cycling off, something about not jumping into a canal because of the ice bergs.....

Just lope off my left leg and be done with it....

Finally got to see the specialist about my ongoing groin/ankle injury, not good news really, in both cases he suspects i have torn the the muscle/ligament, the only remedy for this is surgery....to assess the state of the damage i have to get both ultrasound and MRI scans done the waiting time for these seems to be about 4 weeks...once the scan are done we can start planning when/how...
My initial thoughts are to wait until after the 6633 and if required to pay to have it done privately, the big downside is that it will probably put me out of action for 3 months!!! so we may have to rethink the GUCR and Tooting 24hr

3 Months!!! no running/cycling/walking for 3 months now that is going to be tough....maybe i will fit in a couple of relaxing holidays........

One day i must do a relaxing holiday.....

Been in San Francicso this week, hotel had a great gym so have done all my running on the running machines this week and been using the weights, managed to walk 4/5/6 hours each day and covered most of San Francicso!!! it was only on the last day that i found the San Francicso bay trail which is a 50ish mile loop of the whole bay area, took one of the 'mountain bikes' you can hire to cycle the golden gate bridge up into the bay national park i just about managed to bring it back in one piece!!!

round and round and round and round (you get the picture)

Went to Tooting Bec at the weekend and watched some of the Tooting Bec 24hrs race, the basic idea is to see how many laps of a 400 meter track you can run in 24hrs both physically and mentally a tough ask, i originally thought it was a bloody stupid idea but now I'm not sure and i think this could well be squeezed into next years schedule........

Well done to Rab (a British Ultra runner) who managed 93 miles in the 24 hrs...

Hat Trick

Not quite what i had planned for today but nether less today's 28 miler made it 3 marathons over the last 3 weekends, originally i planned to run the Downs Link a 37 mile path from Shoreham by sea to Guildford but to be perfectly honest its been quite a long week and when the alarm went off at 04:00am this morning i turned it off and went back to bed.

350 miles across the Arctic is just a warm up race

Somewhere along the line i entered the London marathon, and much to my amazement i got a place, 2009 is going to be quite busy what with the 350 mile 6633 Ultra in March, the London Marathon in April and the 145 mile Grand Union Canal race in May, might have to fit in a couple of rest days in early June!!!

The day after

Unlike last weekend I'm pain free today, legs a little tired, I'm a little tired but no pain, going to take it easy this week running wise as i have the 37 miles of the Downs link to do next Saturday!!!

When is a marathon not a marathon

when it is the Lea Vally Marathon, perhaps it just me but i think when organising a marathon the fundamental thing to get right is the distance, we'll ignore the fact that the last 4 checkpoints were either just not their or unmanned, well also ignore the fact that some people cut about 2 miles off the loop in the middle because they ignored the signs, well ignore the fact that their was no medal or tee shirt, but at least get the distance right, and it wasn't short my a few hundred yards it was short by a whole mile!!
I kept up a good pace, slowed slightly towards the end not because i was tired but because of the very strong head wind for the last 10 miles, my time for the 25 miles was 3hr 21mins so if it had been the full distance a sub 3hr 30min marathon was on the cards, felt very good at the end not particularly tired or fatigued so i walked the 2 miles to leytonstone tube station to make up for the missing mile....

Very frustrating

First unofficial marathon for a while managed a very comfortable pain free 3hr 30mins, within an hour of finishing i could hardly walk, my groin/pelvis area completely seized up, walking in a straight line was OK but any attempt to change direction was very painful, the discomfort stopped me sleeping so i was up early on sunday and went for a gentle cycle (as you do when you can't walk) to loosen up my legs, seems to have done the trick, not exactly pain free but at least I'm not limited to walking in a straight line, couple of days off now so going to concentrate on stretching at every opportunity to see if that helps..

Man cold.....

Had a man cold this week, to be honest it was legitimately quite a bad cold with all the extras high temp, annoying cough etc. anyway once the main symptoms had subsided i put in quite a heavy 6 days of training, 22 miles, 38 mile cycle, 10 miles, 10 miles, 15 miles and another 15 miler...leg was fine all week until after the last 15 miler when it was quite painful....
Rest day on Friday then the plan is to run to Canary wharf on Saturday for Mr & Mrs Pullens wedding party, (we've already had the wedding itself and the stag/hen parties)
Most people would drive or get a cab to a wedding, me i put my suit in my rucksack and run!!.....
Sunday will be a rest day i think it could be a heavy night Saturday.....

But it's the other leg....

After 2 cancelled appointments i finally got to see a doctor, he took loads of notes and asked lots of questions, got me to lay on the couch spent a good 5mins manipulating my right leg, twisting it, pulling it etc. once he had finished i quietly reminded him that it was my left leg that hurt!!!
Anyway turns out he can't do anything until he gets the notes from the physio, so i will have to give them a call to sort that out, i knew this wasn't going to be straightforward but i was hoping it would be more straightforward than this....

Bit of a gusher....

Large metal electrical junction boxes + soft head = lots of blood...after this small accident at work today running 20 miles home probably wasn't the best idea I've ever had, hopefully some sleep (a 04:00 start this morning) will sort me out, cos frankly i feel rubbish at the moment...

Another 2 weeks

Having already waited 2 weeks for a non emergency doctors appointment it sods law that the doctor got ill himself and the appointment had to be rescheduled.........

Train like an Olympian

Your always hearing that elite athletes (any I'm not saying that I'm an elite athlete) train twice a day, well if its good enough for them it good enough for me, but i don't suppose Paula has to do a 9 hour shift in between her morning and afternoon training sessions..so today i did the 10 miles to work, worked, and then did the 10 miles home again, I also eat like an Olympian Michael Phelps won 7 medals eating pizza so so the large chicken supreme went down a treat....
Not bad for someone who was unable to walk on Monday...

2 Weeks.....

That is how long i have to wait to get a doctors appointment because it is of a non emergency nature.....I also spoke to a local private hospital but they also wanted a letter from my doctor (or i could pay them £70 for a appointment with their doctor)
On the plus side some intense ultrasound on my pelvic/groin area seems to have got me pain free again....

In the hands of the NHS now

After 1hr 20mins of total agony this morning and a quick visit to the physio tonight it has been decided that a scan of my troublesome groin is required, so its off to the doctors to get a referral for a MRI scan....

Good day, Bad day

Its quite frustrating, training has been going well the leg injury seemed to be getting better, yesterdays 10 miles was easy, fast and totally pain free, today's 10 miles was also easy, fast and the last 5 miles were pain free, but the first 5 miles we total agony to the point i almost stopped and got the train the rest of the way home.
Sitting at home writing this and I'm still pain free, it makes no sense, it's obviously a groin pull/strain of some sort but it just wont shift.....very frustrating.......

He's not with me.....

You see a few strange sights on the canal towpath, this morning while running (16 miles!) to work i noticed a very tall man running towards me wildly flapping his arms like a bird, initially i thought he was stretching or something but as he got closer i realised he was actually trying to fly, he had no shirt or shoes on and had the glint of a mad man in his eye as he passed me still violently flapping his arms, even his dog who was obediently following him had the 'he's not with me/oh this is so embarrassing' look on his little dog face!!!

Lost in London...

5 hours in what turned out to be a 18 hour shift at work i decided to go for a run up the Regent canel, the aim was to follow the canal to Regent park a quick loop of the park and then back to work, at Islington the canal goes under ground for about a mile, unfortunatly i could not find where to rejoin the canal so had to run down Pentonville road, Euston road, in the end i didn't get to run round the park i'll save that for next time and i just turned around and run back the way i came.

Welcome back endurance, we have missed you..

2 weeks of a revised and reduced training schedule, stretching, frictions and daily ultra sound treatment seem to paying off, i wouldn't go as far as a pain free but certainly heading in the right direction, on tonights run their was also a hint of the old endurance coming back......

Back to basics....

In an attempt to sort out my niggling injuries and enable me to put in a good showing at my next race i have decided not to do any races until the International Round Rotherman 50 miler in December. I have put together a training schedule focused towards the 50 mile event, come December i will re focus the training towards the 6633 Artic ultra......

Hard work

The last couple of weeks illness really have drained me of any energy anything but the shortest run has been hard work, I will take it easy for the next couple of weeks and see how we go.

A little unwell....

Just as i started to step up the training I'm hit for 6 with quite a severe bout of gastroenteritis, to be honest i don't think i have ever felt as unwell as i have done for the last 12 days or so, the good news is that I'm feeling alot better now and managed a short run this morning without any dramas.

Brecon Beacons

The Likeys boys and girls organised a training weekend up in the Brecon Beacons, it was a good excuse to get out in the hills and test my new tent.

Day 1: 20 miles or so, some very steep climbs, took it easy but felt fine

Day 2: 20 miles or so, some very steep climbs, felt good until the end of the last big climb when i became alarmingly tired and disorientated, really really struggled until a couple of miles from the end when i seemed to pick up a little. Hopefully the gastroenteritis that raised it head 2 days later will explain my sudden and dramatic decline.

Great weekend, good to catch up with the Likeys boys and girls and to have a nose round their store room, most of the attendies for training for the MDS and seemed very well prepared....

British Ultra

The British ultra, a six day, 130 mile race on the west coast of Scotland, organised by the Likeys boys and girls and Dave Scott.

What a week, Islay and Jura are simply stunning, of the 10 days we were on the islands only 1 day of rain!!! but boy did it rain!!!

Initially i had thought of running this but it was a little too soon after the arctic injury so i accepted the offer of a place on the support crew.....

Had great time, great bunch of people, it was hard work at times and some long days sat out on the side of a mountain or roadside layby, but I'm glad i did it, it just served as a reminder that as competitors we spend long hours training, but the race organisers equally spend long hours organising and running these event for us compete in.

For me crewing an event like this was a great experience, but i think you are more likely to see me racing than crewing in the future.

Can't talk about this event without mentioning the midges, probably the most annoying and pointless insect in the world, wreaked havoc on my arms/hands/neck/legs, tried industrial strength insect repellent, vitamin b tables, midges nets all to no avail, it a shame that such a stunning area is blighted by these ever so annoying insects.

Bike tyres and broken bottles dont' mix...

It's tipping it down with rain your in a bit of a hurry the last thing you need is 'another' puncture!!! this was a bit more than just a puncture though the tube and tyre had been almost completely sliced in two by the bottom of a broken wine bottle conveniently left on the narrow section of the tow path, i spotted it at the last minute and managed to miss it with the front tyre but the rear went straight over it......
I was too big a cut too repair so i ended running home the remaining 7 miles pushing the bike, the combination of pushing a bike, the wrong trainers for running, baggy wet shorts all made for a miserable trip home.

Happy days.....

I can't describe how good it was to cycle in today it's the first proper ride/training since the Arctic, most importantly it was pain free, it's a 05:30 start so the sun is just coming up, a couple of miles through the forest, then another couple of miles on the road and then it about 11 miles on the tow path all the way into mile end.

Now normally i'm stuck on a train that is full/late/uncomfotable, this morning i've seen herons, rabbits, baby foxes, ducks, geese, burnt out cars, dead swan and a 3 legged dog......

Happy days........

Always looking on the bright side......

Ever hopeful that my groin injury will clear up i have put together the following race calender, leading quite nicely to the 6633 Ultra in March 09.

Sat 14th Jun - South Downs Marathon - 26 miles
Sun 20th Jul - Fairlands Valley Marathon - 26 miles
Sat/Sun 23/24 Aug - Ridgeway challenge - 85 miles non stop
Thu/Fri/Sat 11/12/13 Sep - Spar Coast - 103 miles
Sat 22nd Nov - Lee Valley Ultra
Sat 6th Dec - Round Rotherham - 50 miles
Sat 17th Jan - Thames Path - 50 miles
Sat 31st Jan - Town to Tring - 42 miles
Sun 1st Feb - Tring to Town - 42 miles

Best i do an update.......

What an amazing 5 weeks, I think most of you know i dropped out of the 6633 Arctic ultra after 120 miles with a stress fracture of my right shin, up until that point i had been comfortably keeping up with one of the best ultra runners in the world, i have no doubt that if i hadn't got the injury that i would have finished and probably i quite a good time.......

Just for the record, the coldest temp during the race was i think about -56, post race i slept outside for a couple of hours at -50 (hats of to Etienne who slept outside for 8hours at -50!!)

My aims for the race where to

1. have fun
2. finish

The first aim was comprehensively satisfied, thanks to the organizers/support and fellow competitors (Martin, Sue, Matt, Murry, Scott, Dave, Nic, Sarah, Etienne, etc) i had a great couple of weeks.
The second aim will be for filled next year, as i have already entered next years race.

So what now, well I've had 5 weeks rest so my shin should be fine, the groin is still a little troublesome having been back to the physio i've been given further treatment so hopefully it just a matter of time.

Waiting for the taxi

Let the adventure begin.....

The second challenge (the packing being the first) is to make sure all this kit turns up at Whitehorse airport, fingers crossed if either bag doesn't arrive thats my race over before i even start.

And looking out the window the third challenge is to get all the kit there dry, it is absolutely tipping it down, when going to the Arctic packing a rain coat is not normally something you need to think about.

If i get a chance to post over the next few weeks i will otherwise look for updates in about 3 weeks time......

First challenge complete

Packing all that kit, i had put aside a couple of hours but it took most of the day in the end.

Think i may blow my baggage allowance, fortunately Air Canada are expecting a sled but i don't think they were expecting it to be pack full of kit!!, leaving an hour early for the airport just in case some repacking is required.

Hey Fatty.......

This is the best part of the training!!!.

I need to bulk up a little to compensate for the weight i will undoubtedly lose while in the arctic (During my run across the Sahara i lost 5kg's) also the extra weight helps to keep you warm, unfortunately this doesn't mean eating chocolate cake for breakfast/lunch/diner (oh heaven) but just eating reasonably healthily just loads of it, my current favorite is the Sainsbury pasta meals for a family of four which i quite comfortably eat by myself!!, oh and snacking on organic carrots.....

The result is a weight increase of 3kg, from 82kg to 85kg

If you use the common calulation for obeseity of weight (kg)/height2 (m) it means that i am officially overweight which should ring some alarms bells for some of my friends (you know who you are)
:-)

Testing Testing 123

It's no good getting to the Arctic and finding something doesn't work as expected, so i have tested all my clothing and footwear, i have run with my sled (admittedly quite early in the morning to avoid any abuse from the locals), i have cooked my freeze dried meals on my stove and the last couple of nights i have even slept on the floor in my front room in my bivi bag (hmm i wonder why I'm single)

The next time i 'test' these items it will be on the start line, the temps will be well below zero, the winds will be blowing and i will have the small issue of 350 non stop miles to complete - bring it on.....

Ouch

Not the words you want to hear 10 days before you depart for the Arctic!!!

Had a minor altercation with a moving car, the car in question not only failed to indicate but also cut right infront of the oncoming car before nearly running me over as it cut across the junction, some fancy footwork meant that i avoided the Hollywood style 'rolling over the bonnet' scenario but i do seem to have re-strained my troublesome groin muscle (catchingly known as the adductor longus muscle) .....some suitable colorful language was directed in his general direction but he seemed totally unaware of the chaos he had just caused.

I have a week or so of rest now so I'm not overly concerned but it has resulted in me canceling my trip to Lincoln University on Friday were i was going to help with their research into ultra running, this involved a full fitness assessment (heart rates, VO2 levels, lactate levels etc.) this would have not only been beneficial to them but also very interesting for me, hopefully this is something we can schedule at a later date....

All fingers and thumbs

Everything becomes very difficult in the Arctic if your fingers are numb, you can't do jackets up, you can't get you stove going, you can't do the zip up on your sleeping bag all these things could quite quickly become life threatening, so I have got myself a selection of gloves that should see me alright in chilly, windy, cold and very cold conditions...

But, then i heard Mimi (last years winner) say how numb her hands had got, and also the reports of the rival race this year and the temps dropping to -50, i decided that a pair of gloves that covered the very very very cold might be in order....

Enter the Marmot Expedition Mitt.....

It's like wearing 2 sleeping bags on your arms, the cuffs almost reach my elbow and they are soooo warm, probably not the sort of things you could wear down to the supermarket as you would get some odd looks, but in the Arctic they should work a treat and if they don't I think you can safely assume I’m in trouble......

Questions Part1

Everybody genuinely seems quite interested in what I’m going to do, here are answers to some of the questions.

Race distance:-
352 miles!! (that’s 13.5 back to back marathons) in 7 days

Location:-
Yukon Territory Canada (North West) the start is 26 miles south of the Arctic circle and continue until we hit the Arctic ocean (which will be frozen!) at Tuktoyaktuk

Temperature:-
The average temp for this time of year is -30, the rival race which was held a week ago and is held in a more southerly (warmer) location had temps of -50(!!) on the first day

Footwear:-
Having spoken to numerous people who have raced in this sort of location it appears that trainers(!) are the way to go, they need to be a couple of size larger than normal so accommodate the 3+ pairs of sock i will wear to keep my feet warm, my trainers of choice are Salomon XT Wings...

Daylight:-
During the race we are expected to have 15 hours of day light, it goes from day light to darkness in just 15 minutes, and due to the lack of residual light from towns/cities etc. when its dark it is really dark.

Stove:-
Nobody has actually asked me this, but seeing that i tested it at the weekend i thought i would share my finding, my stove boils 1liter of cold water in 5 minutes, and a quarter bottle of fuel lasts for about 1hour, these figures will be effected by the severe cold, but it is important that i don't run out of fuel, cos no fuel means no hot what and no hot water means no hot food and that means i go hungry and that is not an option!!!

Water:-
Due to the severity of the conditions the race organiser will provide some water at some of the checkpoints, but between checkpoints water will have to be carried and you will have to find ways to stop it from freezing, any extra water you will have to get by melting snow

Sleeping bag:-
A very warm sleeping bag (rated to -35) plus a fleece liner which should take me down to -40, if it is colder then it will a case of layering up the clothes until you are warm enough to grab a few hours sleep

Where do you sleep:-
In the snow off the trail/road not using a tent, but using a bivvy bag which is just a big water proof/breathable bag that you put your sleeping bag and 2 sleeping mats and yourself inside and then just lie down on the snow!!

Wacky Racers

While out biking on Saturday their was a discussion about the quickest route from Waltham Abbey to Debden, Jay insisted that the road would be quicker, i thought the tow path back to Chingford and then by road to Debden would be the quicker (and safer) route, the only way to answer this question was to have a race.....

Being of a mildly competitive nature i went for it, flat out all the way to Debden, a couple of kamikaze manoeuvres on the 2 mini roundabouts in Loughton and some aggressive use of the pavement when cars or traffic lights got in the way....

But it wasn't enough, Jay beat me by 2 minutes!!! i had lost to a slightly (!) overweight bloke on a town bike, the shame of it all.....

Now as i said I'm not a competitive person (much) so the very first thing i did when i got home was to gps measure the 2 routes!! Jay's was 6.1 miles and mine was 9.6 miles!! so although i had lost by 2 minutes i had cycled 3.5 miles further so that helped to alleviate some of the shame.....

'Back' to basics.....

Well my back was quite stiff at the begining of the week, but as with most of my recent injuries i just went out and ran 10 miles 3 nights on the trot and now it's fine!!

I think you body get used to doing a 70-100+ miles a week and when you start to reduce (or to use the proper term taper) the mileage it get a bit confused and this confusion is presented in form of niggly little injuries......which only goes to prove that being lazy is not good for you....

Restfull weekend of sorts......

Well after last weekend's 80 miles this is the first weekend of my taper, when i start to reduce the mileage so that i'm rested and ready to take on the Arctic, that said a rest in my book envolved a 20 mile cycle on the saturday and 37 mile cycle on the sunday!!

Back was a little sore towards the end of both rides so will take it easy over the next couple of days, that said it only hurts when i sit down so maybe some light jogging and a few hours infront of the heat lamp will be the answer.

Shouldn’t I be tired??

Well the weekends combined 80 miles of racing has given me 2 things

A minor (but annoying) back ache in the morning that goes away later in the day only to return the next morning........

The ability to run like linford christie, to get the legs turning over after the weekends activities i've done a short 5 mile loop each night and frankly the turn of speed and my ability keep going at that speed is startling, one of my post Arctic goals is to do some speed work and finally do a 3hr marathon but at this rate Haile Gebrselassie better watch out!!!!!

Random thought:- confidence is a wonderfull thing........

A Sunday stroll

Some brisk walking, a little running saw the 40 miles completed in 9hrs today, walked the entire distance with Gary Grey someone who i had bumped into at the MDS last year, this morning he was up to for going home but i sort of convinced him to at least do the first bit and see how it went, 40 miles later we were at the finish!! hats off to him, his feet and ankles were shot, he was exhusted but he kept at it.......

Felt fine at the end, infact better than yesterday which is not bad considering that that was two back to back 40 miles races...

Bring on the Arctic.....

Lean mean running machine...

Well i might be getting a little carried away.....

6:40 for 40 miles in todays Town to Tring race, felt good up to about 30 miles, things got tough for a couple of miles but then bumped into Jo 'killers' Kilkenny and ran the last 7 miles with her, we will ignore the fact that she tried to out sprint me at the finish line, needless to say i was having none of that....

Now some food and a rest before i do the whole thing again this time from Tring to Town....yep another 40 miles tomorrow....

Round and round and round and round....

I decided not to do the Thames path ultra after seeing some of the pictures of the course, now i like a bit of adventure, but with waist deep water along big chunks of the 50 mile course their was a real chance of getting injured or drowning!!! and with only 7 weeks to the 6633 Ultra it was a risk i decided not to take.

So what to do instead, I know my local 'just short of 10 mile' loop I'll just do that 5 times!!

Firstly i must say it's not the most interesting route, and doing it repeatedly somewhat did my head in but it was good 'mind' practice for the Arctic....
Secondly, it rained the whole time and i got just as wet as i would have done if i have done the Thames path race......

Ended up doing the loop 4 times, the last loop being quite tough, but i ran all the way and recovered well once finished, and feel in quite good shape for tomorrows marathon!!!

Damm - wish i had gone to the swimming lessons now...

Flash flooding in Loughton - Again!!!

For the second time in recent months we have such a downpour that the big hill between Buckhurst Hill & Loughton turns into a river (and i live at the bottom of that hill!) and both times i have been out running in it!! it's all good practise for this weekends Thames Path Ultra which at the moment is under 3ft of water in places!! if the forcast of more rain is true i may have to review wether i compete, the risk of injury/blisters and drowning!! maybe too great.......

Cajun Chicken, Meatball Melt and a Chocolate Muffin...

Tested myself against the cycling might of Jay, Tom, Duncan (sorry duncan!) today, i think i held my own!! and i certantly won the McDonald's eating competition at half way!!!
Right shin seems to be OK, did an extra 10 miles after i left the others without any problems....
Must get myself some skinny/smooth tyres, my big chunky offroaders produce too much drag which was highlighted when i swopped bikes with Tom, his bike was so much easier on the reasonably smooth tow path surface...

I wish i had gone down the pub now!!

Pub or long walk in the dark, well thanks to my dedication to the cause i opted for the long walk in the dark - Idiot!!! checked the weather and it was going to be cold but dry, so it makes sense that it was actually cold, windy and very very wet, and just to finish off the miserable night my right shin started to hurt quite a bit, so called it a day at 25 miles - so much for dedication.....