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.....

So what did you do on your Christmas break

Eat my own weight in chocolate!!

Run/Walked 6 marathons and a couple of 12 milers in 11 Days.

Stats, Stats and more Stats

The wonders of modern technology has enabled me to accumulate these mildly interesting facts from the past 12 months.

I have run/walked just short of 3000 miles - About the same distance between London and Nigeria or London and Uzbekistan
Climbed 71,000 feet - That's twice up Mount Everest plus a quick trip up Mont Blanc
Burned 320,000 calories - That's about 1100 mars bars to me and you....

Now technology has let me down during the year so all those figures are lower(!) than they probably should be!!!

Christmas shopping what Christmas shopping...

Happy Christmas!

While everybody else was going crazy with last minute shopping i have spend the last 3 days getting up at 06:00am and walking 25.5 miles each day, I have to say that the 76.5 miles have been quite easy, my new trainers (yes another pair) have worked well, a slight rub on my right heal was sorted with help from my roll of Kinesio tape which i have been using for a couple of years now (long before David Beckham was seen sporting it on his back while playing football!), my legs, joints etc. are all fine........