British winter time is here

Well the clocks went back, which probably means instead of training in shorts and vest, I will now have to dig out my running tights and thermal T-shirts. Will have to up the motivation stakes to keep on top of my training.

Well look how bonkers the weather was today!!!!



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I purchased a new pair of shoes to try this week. I thought I would try an ultra shoe. I went for the big boy of running shoe, the hoka one Mafate 3. When I say say big, I mean big.




They wouldn't look out of place on Elvis. The Hoka range are all neutral shoes, so I have to wait to get an orthotic insert before going on a long run. However I thought I would try them on a short run ( 3 miles). They certainly put a spring in your step. It feels like you have sponges on your feet.
I will review all the shoes I have bought, in the New year. Which ain't far away.
Food of the week - a hot chilli con carne to keep me warm!!!!








Diary of a long distance runner

Mon 21st Oct 2013- 3 miles steady on the road
Tues 22nd Oct 2013- 4.25 on the road, steady afternoon run
Weds 23rd Oct 2013- 4 miles early morning at a steady pace
Weds 23rd Oct 2013- 3 miles on the road, steady in the afternoon
Thurs 24th Oct 2013- 3 miles early morning at a steady pace
Thurs 24th Oct 2013- 3 miles afternoon run down the seafront
Fri 25th Oct 2013- 7 road run in the evening, race pace
Sun 27th Oct 2013- 11 miles, wet, windy morning, steady run with Paula.




Thanks for reading

Back on it

After last weeks, disappointing mileage, I got back onto it. It's hard in the mornings, when it's dark and wet. I want to do the ultra races knowing that I've done the training and that I'm not just relying on my " not going to give in" attitude. Some days I would rather stay under the nice warm duvet, instead of tramping damp cold Tarmac.

On the fundraising side, Paula and me joined up with the Lowestoft Mencap group and went bag packing in the local Asda store. On a not as busy as normal Saturday we packed bags from 10am till 3 pm and got a fantastic £444.76. Thank you all involved.








Diary of a long distance runner

Monday 14th October 2013 - 3 miles steady run. On the road
Tuesday 15th October 2013- 5 miles on the road including links hill, fast pace
Wednesday 16th October 2013- 4 miles on the road, steady pace
Thursday 17th October 2013- 3 miles early morning run
Thursday 17th October 2013- 5 miles afternoon steady run
Friday 18th October 2013- 4 miles steady seafront run, cool early morning
Friday 18th October 2013 - 3 miles railway path run, steady in the afternoon
Sunday 20th October 2013- 8 miles slow road run with Paula, warm dry morning.

Meal of my week

Spicy chicken tortilla tower- which contained spicy chicken, guacamole, salsa, sour cream, cheddar cheese, spring onion and coriander. Lovely, if I do say so myself.




Click here if you want to try this recipe





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Tired tired tired

What a difference a week makes. Last weekend glorious sunshine, running well. This weekend, torrential rain and one upset runner, having not run for 5 days.
Rest is so so important, I must drill in my head that I can't keep going regardless.
I was running well at the start of the week, weather was good and then I had trouble sleeping for two nights, was feeling tired, weather turned a bit and mornings are darker, my mojo wasn't there. Maybe just maybe, the rest has done me good, although I don't feel rested.
Never mind- onwards and upwards or forwards as the case may be.
Lovely autumnal morning in lowestoft

It's mornings like the above, which make running worth while.
This is my meal today, getting some energy back.
Quorn sausages, tomato pasta bake and stir fried Mediterranean vegetables.
What an unlikely combination, I hear you say!!! For those of you that know me, will know its not so much the taste, but the calorie intake ,I crave.








Yum yum yum!!!!!!!!!
Diary of a long distance runner ......:-(
7th October 2013 - 4.5 miles , good pace run , lovely morning, great sunrise on Lowestoft seafront
8th October 2013 - early morning , 5 mile, road run, race pace, country lanes, cool, dry morning
8th October 2013 - late afternoon 3 mile, race pace, felt good.



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Organise, organise , organise

Long distance running definitely needs you to be organised. Balancing work, kids and relationships can be tricky. As all of the above are important to me, and need time with them, I'm tuning in my multiple tasking and pre planning skills.
I'm following a 100mile race plan by Matt Mahoney, but have changed his miles recommendations to kilometres. On his plan, I do 2 runs per day with a long run at the weekend. 2-3 gym sessions.
I have now have my entry to London to Brighton in May 2014 and am still considering the Grim Reaper 100 miler in August 2014.
Somebody asked this week, why would I even consider doing those kind of distances.
Since my helicopter crash in 1993, I have thought that life is too short and that I want to do as much as I'm am mentally and physically able to do. If I can raise cash for charities that are close to my heart along the way, we'll that would be a great bonus.
Saw this quote this weekend and have to totally agree




The more I get into this running world that I have entered, the more things I see and want to attempt. God willing, I will conquer a vast amount before having to hang up my trainers.
I can't believe its autumn. We are having some great sunny weather.
Here's a quick video of a run I did the other morning.
Lovely sunny view
And some pics of today at Cambridge



RAF Regt veterans contingent



Me and mi girl
Diary of a long distance runner
30th September 2013 - 4 miles road run at race pace
1st October 2013 - 3 miles x country, fast pace in morning
3 miles on the road, fast pace in afternoon
2nd October 2013 - 3 miles x country , slow pace in morning
5.6 miles steady, evening run with Paula which included the Lowestoft scores
3rd October 2013 - steady morning road run, 3 miles, very sunny.
4th October 2013- steady morning road run, 3 miles, cool but dry
Steady late afternoon run, 3 miles, got absolutely wet through
6th October 2013- Cambridge Town and Gown 10k. Race pace. 45:47, very warm, good course, bit of x country, quite flat.
It has become apparent that I have been craving an energy uplift through an increase in my caffeine intake. So Goal for this week is yto cut back to 2 cups per day and a minimum of 2 litres of water, not including fluid taken on during exercise.
OMG I have had an anonymous donation of £100. Thank you, whoever you are.
This blogs Donation roll of honour
Tricia Hazelton - friend of Paula's
Claire Whittonbury - one of my Walberswick ladies
Two anonymous donators
Thank you Thank you Thank you




Click on here to see what you could get from my sponsor

Spinathon

Ultra marathon store

Still continuing with training 6 days a week, still enjoying it. No change in amount on my giving page but that should definitely change in the next fortnight. This week I held a 4 hour Spinathon at Waterlane leisure centre. 14 brave people sat on a spin bike from 10am till 2 pm to raise cash for my cause...... Total to follow.

























THANKS EVERYONE, FANTASTIC EFFORT

Diary of a long distance runner

23rd sept 2013 3 miles easy after yesterday's hard half.
24th sept 2013 4 miles x country steady pace
25th sept 2013 5 miles on the road slow pace
26th sept 2013 3 miles x country race pace
27 the sept 2013 3 miles x country steady pace
29th sept 2013 spinathon




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Looking ahead

. Please please click here and have a look


I'm loving my running at the moment. My legs are feeling great. This week I have felt the need to look for some races that could offer me a challenge and therefore give my training a direction and purpose.

Here's a couple I have found. The first one is May 2014




London to Brighton

The second is August 2014




Grim reaper 100 miler

ANYONE FANCY JOINING ME, GIVE ME A CALL

Well today Paula and myself ran a tough half marathon, it was warm and hilly and a 2 lap course. I never knew that Ipswich had so many hills in it.







I told myself that I would just use it as a training run as my mile pace had dropped off since increasing my distance. About 5 seconds after the gun went, my competitive head kicked in and training run session ended and race session started.
Paula finished in a time of 1:53 and I finished in 1:44.





Diary of a long distance runner

16th September 2013 -4.5 miles fast pace on the road, lovely dry autumnal morning. Felt good

17th September 2013 -3 miles fast pace,on the road, cool and dry
17th September 2013 - 4.3 miles steady pace with Paula, on the road, weather cool but dry

18th September 2013- 3 miles on the road, lovely cool morning.

No running as I was on a course in Birmingham and it was too intense, felt a couple of days rest would be more beneficial




22nd September 2013 - Ipswich half marathon- warm, dry day, road race, very hilly- race pace 7:56 average, 1:44:06 finish time. Happy with that.

WOW !!!! My Donations have reached 15%


THANK YOU EVERYONE WHO HELPED ME GET THERE.

Another mile stone reached

New sponsor..............Please click here




It was put back once but on the 17th August 2013, I completed my 12 hour Endurance run. The day started very foggy and I thought I was going to be in for a cool, scene less run.








How wrong, I was. By 8.30am the sun had burnt through and was beaming down with vengeance. The 1.75 mile loop that I was travelling had a path at the top of the cliff and a path along the bottom of the cliff, running past JayJays Beach cafe. The top path gave a bit of relief from the heat as there was a cool breeze, as opposed to the bottom path that offered nothing whatsoever.
Every lap I was taking fluid from my girlfriend Paula and her daughter Ella.
This was my day, round the 1.75 mile route, running, eating and drinking. This was more of a mental challenge than a running challenge and thankfully I had some great people running at various times through the day to keep me going. It seems a good time to mention them
Andy Deacon, Phil and Marie Ayers, Alan Fairs, Paul Harrod, Johannes Langer,Kim Gowen, Claire Smith, Olivia Smith , Deborah Smith, Tamsin Desborough, and not forgetting Ella, who did a fantastic job of lap counting and as always Paula who continues to support me.
THANK YOU SO SO MUCH
My target was 63 miles and was ahead of the game and on target until at about 20 miles, the recent hamstring injury showed its head again. Fortunately it wasn't enough to end my endeavour, but it was enough to not allow me to push on to my goal. So a quick stop to put on a compression bandage and off I went again.




In training I had been having an Sis gel every hour and a porridge every 2 hours. And seemed to work really well.








This worked for the first 3 hours on the endurance day, but then I had no interest in eating porridge. I'm not sure if it was because it was hot, but my training plan for eating went out of the window. My eating went to a gel every hour and a Jaffa cake or some cake every now and then. I did however drink plenty of fluids. I had water or water with Nunn hydration tablets added. I drink more than 15 litres in 12 hours and only had 5 toilet stops whoop !!!!!!
I had some low points during the day, mainly when I was running alone. I would like to say a massive thank you to the following people, who made the run possible and who kept me going.

On my last lap round I needed my last toilet stop. As I came out of the loo, I had to go up 3 steps, would believe it, I caught the top step with my toe and in slow motion fell forwards cutting my knee and hands. Lol...
Surprisingly I felt okay when I stopped. On long events previously I have felt dizzy and not with it, when I stopped. But i was ok, tired but ok.I drove home, got in an ice cold bath, followed by a hot shower and stretch. I had a Chinese before bed. Can't remember going to sleep. Good 8 hour sleep then got up, the stairs down were challenging at first, once I was moving, my legs felt ok.
Diary of a long distance runner
17th August 2013. 57.38 miles (details above)
24th August 2013 steady 4.12 miles x- country run in thetford forest with Paula, bit of a wet day
28th August 2013 steady 5.15 miles road
31st August 2013 steady 10.5miles on the road. Dry and abit warm
3rd September 2013 fast 5 miles x country
7th September 2013 8.30 miles on the road, comfortable pace with Paula
9th September 2013 4 miles, fast pace x country, very warm and dry
10th September 2013 4.31miles x country , very warm, steady pace.
11th September 2013 4 miles x country, early morning, felt good
12th September 2013 5 miles on the road, dry, steady pace
13th September 2013 4 miles steady pace on treadmill in garage, god it's hot in there, felt very thirsty.
14th September 2013 10miles, steady pace, wet and windy
This blogs donation Roll of honour
Paul Kemp ........Director of Staffbank recruitment agency
Pam and Bernie Miller...... Heartcare exercisers
Keith Watkins and Malcolm Harper.... Cardiac patients
Pat Pittam.... Sports therapy client
Julia Sowerbutt....... One of my Walberswick ladies
Pete and Angela.... My neighbours
Jan Reid....... One of my LBT ladies.
Deborah Smith...... One of Paula's friends
Angela and David Mower..... Waveney Valley Runners
Sally Dravniek ........ A fellow exercise instructor
THANK YOU ALL VERY MUCH
Did I mention new sponsor..... Thanks Keith