He ain't heavy he's my brother - The Hollies

I tell you what, 50% of the children I saw leaving Pearl's junior school today are overweight if you are asking me... I wouldn't like to have to push one of them let alone try and carry them. What ARE they being fed? Liquid SUGAR and FAT it seems? It's really frightening...

IMO, school must educate our children in the ways of life as well as the Three R's... who is taking the responsibility to get some of these poor kids and their parents (and boy some of them are MASSIVE) eating healthily and exercising. It's all worrying to me, am I the only one?

Anyway... on a bit of a bemused and cloudy day for me (must be the bad calf muscle), I have been on the set of Coccoon at Hopwood Services after being swept up in six coach loads of OAP's looking for tea and a WC and seen the most expensive clocks ever on endless overhead, otherwise blank gantry signs on the motorway. I know the time thanks Mr Motorway, it's on my dashboard!

Where is this world going? Do I sound grumpy?

More tomorrow, let's hope the clouds have cleared...

On the Beach - Chris Rea

It's been a lovely day down on the beach and cliffs at Monknash in ARAF. All that sea air makes you realise what you are missing, especially when you live in the heartland of England some 100 miles inland in any direction! It certainly gives you an appetite and heavy eyelids...

There were also some great opportunities for photos as you can see and it made a good weekend break away from the ULTRArace office.

Next week, hopefully my calf strain picked up running on Friday will be feeling better. I hope so as that 145 is looming... I'm not sure if 53 miles on a bike helped but I can't just sit around doing nothing can I?

Or maybe I can :-))

Anyway, more tomorrow from Blighty...

Bicycle Race - His Majesty the Queen

For the last 17 years I have been a runner, yesterday I became a cyclist! We put it this way, I cycled 50 odd miles and have a good old sore butt to prove it.

Unfortunately it wasn't on our tandem due to a stretched chain, no honest, but on a ladies sit up and beg bike with no luxuries except a very ggod bell, so I am not surprised I have a few aches down below.

A bigger saddle, suspension and disc brakes would have been a real help, I can tell you.

Anyway, the whole 50 miles of our Cardiff ULTRA course have been covered once again and the course is a piece of cake to follow. It's National Cycle Network Route 8 all the way... no Castle Coch to mess you up at the end and a billion signs to keep you on the trail.

It's simply a stunner of a route... you'll love it. I will too as soon as the throbbing down below stops... I am going back to running for a while!

More tomorrow...

Love and Pride - King

With the Royal Wedding well and truly over I got to thinking that poor Wills has some time before he actually starts his job... a good thirty years or so to my reckoning at least. That will make him nearly 60 and given the health and longevity of the Royals, it might be even longer!

When he does make the throne, let's hope he gets rid of speed cameras, plastic coat hangers and Lenny Henry with his £29 hotel room adverts... I would.

More tomorrow... ARAF.

Ready to go - Republica

I started my GUCR145 preparations today and got the two Geomaps out of my map box and had a good old look at the route from Birmingham to London. Hardest part of the race will be programming the Tom Tom with the locations for Jenny to crew, I reckon. Poor girl is in for a very hard 40 hours!

Can't say that I really prepared the last few times I have done this event... as basically all you do is start, run and then stop. Sure it hurts and sure you have to have a strategy to get to the end of such a mega-distance but as yet, it's not time to consider what I am undertaking.

That's a way off yet... and far enough for a few training runs to get back into some distance. Will start tomorrow when we go to Wales.

ARAF!

Part of the Union - The Strawbs

Well it seems that I am as my good friend Dick Kearns who organises my favourite race ever contacted me today and said I could take part in the 145 mile Grand Union Canal Race. It's 10 years since I last completed this race and it's the one where back in the old days, I did pretty well.

I have finished it three times in 1998, 1999 and 2001 - it seems such a long time ago now and this year first goal is to finish!

I have already roped in my crew... Jenny of course and will now do my best to prepare for the race of a lifetime.

More later...

Back Home - England World Cup Squad

It's great to be back in home in Breaston and have some time out after 'The 9bar JOGLE Ultra'. What an adventure and hopefully you kept up with the race as it happened with us. The wonders of modern science eh?

It's only when you go to John o'Groats and start the journey down the country that you realise just how massive our nation is and just how differing the places are where people choose to live. My personal favourite was Slyne near Lancaster or possibly Shap (where hill training would be the only training)... place to avoid is definately and Paisley is now being avoided at all costs next year!

So now it's time to get back running and get rid of the cobwebs grown over the last week of crewing... more tomorrow post run.