My near Trip(oli)

The taxi picked me up at 3.30a.m. so I could get to Heathrow in time for my 6a.m. flight to Tripoli (Libya) via Vienna, all went very smoothly and I arrived in Vienna in time to transfer to the onward flight. Just before boarding the official asked if I had my visa, I gave him the "official" letter that I had been given by the race organiser. Unfortunately it turned out to be not very official and the Libyan Immigration had never heard of me! So I was stuck in Vienna!! Luckily after a bit of sweet talking the female official at the Austrian Airline desk rearranged a flight back to the UK for later that day. This gave me the rest of the day to explore Vienna, at least something positive came out of the mess!

Exploring Vienna

After a good walk around the city I found a nice restaurant to enjoy a beer and schnitzel. I then made my way back to the airport for my flight back to the UK.

One of the many impressive buildings in Vienna

The good news is one of the athletes we had competing in the Libya 10km won the women's race.

Next week it's back to Torquay for the Torbay Half Marathon.

Where to Begin......

I've been back to full time work for about two months now and so far I'm having a great time. For those of you that don't know I'm working for a sports management company called Run-Fast primarily on the sports management side of the business but also helping out in our recently opened retail shop which at the moment is based on Leadenhall Street right in the heart of London City.

Since my last blog post just before the London Marathon (where I predicted both winners!!) life has been very hectic. As well as settling into a new job and a new place to live, most weekends I am now away at races either in the UK or abroad but if I do have a free weekend I try and make the most of it by exploring new places in London or catching up with old friends I haven't seen in years.

The main part of my job is to organise marathon races for the Run-Fast marathon athletes. Due to this I got the chance to travel to Ottawa in Canada for the Ottawa race weekend. Run-Fast had a group of athletes competing and pace making so it was important I made sure they arrived on time and didn't get lost or miss the race for some reason, it was also good to meet the elite race organiser face to face as we hope to send athletes to the race for years to come. Ottawa was a really nice city and we were blessed with terrific weather so I enjoyed some great runs along the river and canal that runs through the city. A number of races make up the Ottawa race weekend with top elite fields in both a 10km and the marathon. One of the athletes in the 10km was in my opinion probably the best distance runner on the planet last year winning both the Boston and New York marathons both in course records, none other than Geoffrey Mutai. Geoffrey absolutely destroyed the field in the 10km as most people guessed he would and made himself some decent money in the process!

Not the best picture but it's me with Geoffrey Mutai shortly after him winning the Ottawa 10km

After the races all the Kenyans (and me for some reason) were invited to the Kenyan High Commissioners house for a party to celebrate the Kenyan athletes competing in Canada. It was just like being back in Kenya as they had put on a real Kenyan feast including loads of ugali, chapati, ndengu, nyama choma etc. They also had the obligatory speeches followed by a disco full of the best Kenyan classics.

Enjoying a Canadian beer at the Kenyan High Commissioners house in Ottawa

As well as working hard, travelling around a lot and getting in some socialising I have been running maybe four or five times a week to keep a decent level of fitness. For some strange reason the other weekend I decided to try and run from my flat in the Barbican back to my parents house in Essex, bearing in mind over the last two months or so my weekly mileage has probably been 40 at best I managed to make 40 miles in one run!! I made it to Chelmsford in 5 hours and although I "only" had 15miles to go until I made it back to my parents house the train was just too tempting! It was still 12 miles further than I have ever run before in one run and maybe the start of a new career as an ultra distance runner!!

This may well be my final blog as tomorrow morning I will be flying off to Tripoli in Libya for a 10km that we have some athletes competing in!! If I make it back in one piece I will carry on blogging and let you know what I thought of Tripoli!

Back Soon

Since moving to London and starting my new job life has been very hectic, so I have neglected updating my blog, I will update it over the next few days I promise!

In the meantime my dad has just started a blog talking about his recent fight with cancer, check it out: www.davidpayn.blogspot.com

Back to Business

This week I had a bit of a shock, back to full time work :-O

I'm now working for Run-Fast and this week we were manning the Pearl Izumi stand at the London Marathon Expo. Some really long working days but it was all good fun. Bumped into lots of old friends and ate a silly amount of Clif Bars as they were giving away samples on their stand.

Working with Shavaun Henry at the Expo

Good to be back working and as I'm now living in London, I have been out running most mornings this week with the Kenyan athletes Run-Fast have over at the moment. I must say it is nice to get out running, but even nicer knowing I don't have to if the weather is bad or I just can't be bothered!

Looking forward to watching the London Marathon tomorrow, I think both the men's and the women's elite races are going to be epic with so much up for grabs. If I had to put a bet on who I think will win, I'm going to put my money on Wilson Kipsang and Mary Keitany but to be honest it's only because I know them both!

Nearly forgot but I went to the book signing of "Running with the Kenyans" this week. I've never been to one before so wasn't sure what to expect but had a really good evening and was presented a signed copy of the book by Adharanand (the author) to take and give to my Kenyan friends at the Run-Fast camp.

Tiptree to Torquay, Champagne and the Dam

So far life after running has been great. I started off with a rather impromptu bike ride from my parent house in Tiptree down to their apartment in Torquay. I was really lucky with the weather which made it all the more pleasant and managed to get down to Torquay in about two and a half days averaging about 130miles a day. The first days ride went through London getting a lift across the Thames on the Woolich ferry followed by some nice country roads over the north and south downs ending at a very picturesque youth hostel in Arundel. Slept like a log that night but still up early for a beautiful ride along the south coast through the New Forest to Weymouth and a night in another hostel in Portland. The final leg of the journey hit the hills of Devon down to my final resting spot of Torquay.

Nearing the end of my ride to Torquay

I was really impressed with the youth hostels I stayed in, for less than £20 a night I got a comfy bed (bed linen provided) in a small dorm room and a good hot shower, perfect if you are just looking for somewhere to lay your head for the night.

Next on the agenda was a trip down to the Champagne region of France with my mum for a short holiday, we sampled plenty of the fabulous french food and local delicacies like the Andouillette sausage which I enjoyed but it definitely wouldn't be to every ones taste! Also as you can imagine when visiting Champagne we had to sample lots of the different Champagnes, all very good and surprisingly different, I always thought Champagne was just Champagne.

A nice walk through the forest in Champagne

Got back to the UK yesterday and today I'm off for three days in Amsterdam then pack up my things and move to London to start my new job next week.

One other thing to mention is some new earphones that I have just got as my old ipod ones were starting to get a bit tatty. I got some Jabra Rhythm ones that are perfect for use with the iphone or other similar smartphones and the improvement in sound quality is remarkable, they also have a mic so you can use them for hands free calls and they are suitable for use when running as you just have to tap the control box to skip tracks, answer calls etc. Definitely a good buy.

Running With The Kenyans

It's not very often that a book comes out that mirrors your life.....

At the end of 2010 as most people know who follow my blog, I quit work and moved out to the small town of Iten in the Great Rift Valley of Kenya to become a full time athlete and try and keep up with the best distance runners in the world, the Kenyans. At the same time a guy named Adharanand Finn also moved out to Iten with his family to try and discover the secret of the Kenyan runners and write a book about his adventure.

I first met Finn at the Discovery Cross Country in Eldoret, I was sitting in the main stand watching the crazy junior athletes fly around the dry grass circuit when a guy sitting in front of me turned around and said "are you Tom Payn", a bit shocked to be "recognised" all the way out here in Kenya I obviously answered yes and Finn introduced himself telling me that he had seen me race the week before in Iten and that he had been following my blog. From that day on mine and Finns time in Kenya in some ways mirrored each others. I was in Kenya trying to qualify for the GB Olympic marathon team whilst Finn was training for the gruelling Lewa Marathon. We both met and befriended the same group of Kenyans, we both lived and trained in Kenyan running camps and during the time we both spent out in Kenya we became good friends.

Having got my copy of Finns book yesterday I couldn't put it down finishing it this morning, it brought back so many good memories of my time out in Iten. Finn has got such a nice style of writing, he captures so well what it is like to live and train with those amazing athletes. Many of the stories made me chuckle as I remember seeing them first hand. Reading about his two girls experience of attending school out in Iten reminded me how I met them walking back from School that very night. The many athletes that wanted to buy his car, even asking me if I could ask Finn to see if that would help "clinch the deal".

If you want to know what life is like out in Iten or are at all interested in running you won't find a much better read than Finn's book, it goes straight to the top of my favourite books, but I guess a book that has me in it as a character was always going to!!

I've got a link to Amazon on the right hand menu of my blog, so if you want to buy a copy of "Running With The Kenyans" just click on the link and buy it NOW!!!

That's all folks....

After my unfortunate fall in the Bath Half Marathon a few weeks ago and missing a crucial stage of my marathon training I have made the decision not only to pull out of the Rotterdam marathon but to also take a break from running.

This has been a very tough decision to take but once I finally made the decision I knew it was the right one. I joined my local athletics club at the age of 10, so have been running for more than 22 years! I love running and I love racing but recently it has started becoming more of a chore than a pleasure, I feel if I keep pushing to get results without the enjoyment I will just end up resenting running and I don't want that to happen. I knew there would come a time when running wasn't my number one priority but it crept up on me much quicker and earlier than I expected.

Looking back on my athletics career I can't believe what it's done for me. I've raced in 14 different countries over four continents, met and made so many friends that I know will be friends for life. I've experienced different cultures and without running I wouldn't be the person I am today.

I am and always will be a runner, it's just time for me to move on to the next phase of my life.... whatever that may be......

Tom Payn - Time To Stop Running......