Tuesday 12 October 2010

Not so easy Tuesday

45min steady run before porridge for breakfast followed by a bit of stretching. Busy, busy day at work, never a bad thing as it makes the time fly by. Travelled up to the track in Winchester after work for a tough session with Toby, 6 x 1 mile hard off 75 seconds. We decided to take it out on the road as we thought it could get pretty boring on the track. Good decision as we worked hard together, second mile was all up quite a steep hill and we still did a 5 min mile. The sixth mile was back down the same hill and we finished the session off with a 4.20 mile, fastest my legs have turned for a long time!!

On my way home from Winchester I got a message from my dad telling me he had been "attacked" by a Jack Russell when he was cycling which made him skid on some gravel and fall off his bike, he had to go and see the nurse to get "patched up" but is fine and raring to get back on the bike - made me chuckle a bit - sorry dad!

Knackered now so off to bed for an early night :-O

Monday 11 October 2010

Easy Monday

Nice easy day training wise today, just 2 x 5miles with some core work and lots of stretching.

I sent out emails to most of my work colleagues before I finished at the end of last week telling them all that I was leaving Pall at the end of the year to pursue my running, so was greeted with a host of really nice emails wishing me luck, it made me slightly sad to be leaving for a few minutes, then I remembered I wouldn't have to sit staring at a computer screen for 8 hours a day!!

I think people have noticed that my attitude at work has changed, not that I don't work hard but that I am more relaxed and a bit more "cheeky" towards the other people in the office. I worked out today that I have 50 working days left at Pall, quite a scary thought really as I have so much to sort out before I finish.

Strange dinner tonight of a roast chicken leg with mustard and kale mush and a white wine sauce, sometimes you just have to use whats in the fridge/cupboard, but it tasted good so that's the main thing.

Session up at Winchester tomorrow night, 6 x 1mile, looking forward to it.

Off to do some painting now :-P

Sunday 10 October 2010

Nice day for a run

Knocked out a good 20 miler this morning, longest run I've done for a while and thoroughly enjoyed it. Made a really nice Kale Calzone for lunch, I think people don't realise you can make healthy pizza if you do it all from scratch and it tastes much nicer as well!!

Very enjoyable afternoon lounging on the sofa watching the Commonwealths on TV and the Chicago Marathon live streaming on the internet. Had a little chat with Ben Moreau who is currently tapering for the marathon in Dehli, its always a tough time for a marathon runner but Ben is very level headed and has the experience now to deal with it well. I hope he does himself justice which I'm sure he will.

What a race at Chicago, Sammy Wanjiru took the win over Kebede, I just don't know how these guys do it. They surely are two of the greatest marathon runners of all time.

Me with Kebede in Fukuoka 2009
Finished off a very lazy day (apart from the 20 mile run) watching the results of the X-factor, how sad am I!!

Start of a new week tomorrow, lets hope its a good one....

Saturday 9 October 2010

Alton Sports

Fun day working in Alton Sports - Farnham today. Easy 30mins before work, busy day at the office, time flew past, always enjoy working when I can talk about running all day long, getting paid always helps as well!!

Alton Sports @ Farnham
After work young Mr Lambert and myself went for a 75min run around the Army grounds, ticking along at a very decent pace, definitely the best I've felt for quite a while, easily could have carried on for a long time but we were stopped by lack of light.

Arrived home at around 8p.m. and for my sins I'm now sitting watching the X-Factor, can't say I'm a fan but it is easy entertainment and can be quite amusing. Looking forward to a nice 20 miler tomorrow morning, looks like the weather will be good for it, then I'm going to have a nice lazy day before back to work on Monday.

Time for some more food now..... Definitely one of the advantages of running 100+ miles a week.... lots of food needed for recovery :-)

Friday 8 October 2010

Thats more like it

Very interesting day today.

First rest day for quite a while so made the most of it with a nice lie in until about 7.30. Made my way up to London with a stop off at Alton Sports to pick up a package for my coach Nick Anderson. Once in London I headed to Leadenhall Street near the Bank of England for a very positive meeting, if all goes well this could be the answer to my prayers and an opportunity of a lifetime. Still need to work out some details before I can really go public, watch this space....

Going to have to give the Hampshire League at Farley Mount a miss tomorrow as I'm working at Alton Sports in Farnham, but have arranged with Toby to re-create the race after work in Farnham probably on the Amy training ground, so if anyone is around that way at about 6p.m. you are more than welcome to join us....

While I remember if anyone needs any new running shoes or kit my mate Toby Lambert at Alton Sports can offer some really good deals, so get in contact with him and mention my blog.

Until tomorrow....

Thursday 7 October 2010

Adidas

Happy days today, a nice big delivery from my friends at Adidas:

My Adidas Delivery
10 mile run to work today in much better conditions than yesterday. The word is starting to get round at work that I have handed in my notice, everyone so far has been very suportive, it makes me realise how unhappy most people are with their jobs as most have commented that they wish they had the courage to make a decision like I have, even my boss who I thought was an out and out company man!!

10mile run home with 3 x 12 mins threshold, didn't start great but felt better as the session went on.

Teaching Becs how to make risotto tonight, it is making me very hungry so I'm going to go and eat it now.

Until tomorrow...

Wednesday 6 October 2010

Drowned Rats & Toadstools

"You look like a drowned rat mate" was what my boss said to me when he arrived at work this morning. 75min run to work started off with cool but pleasant conditions which quickly turned into strong winds and horizontal rain! Rest of the day was uneventful, 45 min run home from work ending through my local woods which is full of some crazy colourful mushrooms and toadstools:

One of many Toadstools - Amanita muscaria
I think some of my friends and family are slightly concerned that I'm going a bit crazy at the moment with some of the decisions I have been making, but I can assure them all I'm fine and that everything will work out for the best in the long run......

Off to make some dinner....

Tuesday 5 October 2010

Cr*p Cr*p Cr*p

Well I'm sure from the title of todays post you can tell things aren't quite right! 45min run in the morning felt like I was carrying a house on my back, boring day at work with everyone wafting cakes in front of my face then a terrible session on the track (3 x 800m/800m/400m).

Not right in the head at the moment, once I get things sorted I'm sure things will start to fall in to place again, but at the moment it seems as though I will never get back to the times I've run over the last few years, let alone move on to the times I know I'm capable of.

Must stay positive and crack on with things. Exciting day Friday, so for the time being I will focus on that and not all the negative stuff that is going on around me.

Monday 4 October 2010

Tired Today

Long day today, arrived at work at 7.30a.m. after a 10mile run in the rain. Standard stuff at work, quite productive but no goss unfortunately. Another 10mile run home but in much better weather than the morning. Rustled up a decent beef curry for dinner followed by an 8mile bike ride with Becs.

Meeting up with young Toby Lambert tomorrow at Winchester for a track session. I think we both need each others company at the moment for motivation in training, it definitely helps when you are trying to push your limits and one of the main things I feel I'm missing at the moment, too many mediocre sessions....

Off to bed now, laters.....

Sunday 3 October 2010

Good Weather for Ironing!

Well, what crap weather it was today, managed to get lucky with my run and snuck in fifteen miles between rain storms.

Apart from that finished off some boring jobs around the house.

Sorry for all the boring news, things will get a lot more interesting soon, I promise.

Commonwealth games opening ceromony on TV, got very bored after watching some guy thanking everyone under the sun for about twenty mins. Good luck to Ben Moreau who is running in the marathon for England (and has the same coach, Nick Anderson).

Back to work tomorrow and for once I don't mind as every day now is a day nearer to my last day at Pall ever!!

Saturday 2 October 2010

Waiting

Started Saturday baking some Welsh Teabread followed by a Kenyan Hill session in Creech Woods. Went for a bike ride with Becs in the afternoon before the rain started. We made falafel for dinner had them in pita with salad.

Just waiting at the moment for my meeting next Friday, can't do much until then so I've just got to crack on with staying fit, working, sorting the house out, all very boring stuff....

Met some pigs....

Some friendly pigs we met on our bike ride

Friday 1 October 2010

Counting down the days

What to say about Friday? Nothing of interest to report, standard day of work followed by a very wet 10 mile run home. Dinner of sage, onion and blue cheese pasta then some DIY.

Looking foward to the next few months, loads to sort out before Christmas, I need to find some way of making money as no more regular pay cheques after December, any ideas??

Nothing much planned for this weekend, some training, some eating and some sleeping...

Got to get back into racing soon, possibly the Hampshire League at Farley Mount next Saturday with the Great South towards the end of October.