Umbrella - Rihanna

Needed it today as I helped by good friend Neil Thubron out on his Druid's Challenge race on the Chilterns. Jenny was running and I spent a lot of my time encouraging people at the 17 mile point. I didn't even mind that I was soaked as it was really inspiring and it was great to see so many people enjoying themselves.

There's even more of it tomorrow and on Sunday, looks like I will be taking over from Jenny to have a go in the mud... must say that I am looking forward to it!

More tomorrow folks...

Hungry like the Wolf - Duran Duran

Is it me or is it the weather as I am bloody starving ALL the time? I am 5kgs more on what I was mid-summer ,even though I watch my wasteline. However, the urge to get more food in the Coleman boiler is just too much to handle right now.

It's quite adsurd as I spend a lot of my time telling others to slow their calorie intake down. If I was 15, I would say I was going thru a growth phase! My fat % is the same though so I am getting solace from that!

Maybe it's the weather and I just need food to keep me warm... A weekend on the Ridgeway, freezing my nuts off will hopefully see me a couple of kilos lighter next week (not saying that my nuts weigh a kilo each of course).

Anyone else feel they could eat a dead horse? I could, with chips and a good chunk
of bread ta!

Off to chew my toe nailsto beat the craving and that must count as recycling bodyweight! Doesn't it?

Secret Affair - Time for Action

Rory says:- We've been talking lots in the ULTRArace office this week about events that we want to do over the next couple of years. Yes the yearly sabbatical to Morocco will still be there but our hit-list is growing ever wider afield it seems.

We are getting to the level where the training is starting to pay off and I might, I say might have a go at the Spartathlon! It's about time eh? I should have done it when I was 34 as I stood a chance then... now... well we'll see...

Yes there are great races here that are on the horizon and Beachy Head is set in stone, after our great run there this year and we both want to do Snowdon. My 50th birthday is in February 2012 so I am looking for something special then. My 49th will be in Apeldoorn, Holland for 6th Feb 2011.

My real focus will be a 6 day or 24hr track... I am just plucking up courage. What's your special race? I forgot Davos already!

Watch this space...

The Verve - Lucky Man

Been out bashing another MdeS wannabe around the Breaston Beast today...it was wet, muddy, hilly and a made a bit harder following nearly four hours of track running only three days ago. Does make me fell lucky that I can do this, not only as a job but actually be ABLE to do this, especially as I have beaten my body into the ground so many times over the years.

You see it's not a bad experience... it's really refreshing and there are always new things to see and today's candidate Phil was most interesting as he owns a Print Management Company... my old job in the 90's. Talking to him reminded me of all the passion and technical information that this role demanded in me and just how important it seemed at the time and unimportant it really was looking back. Years of ladder climbing, buying, negotiating and on the job learning! Can't say I miss that... I did have a nice BMW328 though :-).

I s'pose that and other projects I have worked on have helped me to where I am now... You never know all those marathons might help me one day!

More tomorrow... my legs are aching...

Armed and Ready - MSG

It's time to take stock from the weekends marathon and use the run as a positive base to perform from in the future. Luton awaits on December 5th and the work I do between now and then will hopefully pay off as I go hell for leather on my training.

It will be one based on a higher mileage mixed with shed loads of hills. I already know that my performances have improved with the hill reps that I have been doing and I will be increasing this type of training LOTS. The gym work I did yesterday, even though fatigued thru the marathon, has shown me that I am getting stronger. My fat % is not increasing yet my weight is, so it looks like I have been running a little too lean previously.

To help the mileage I have an MdeS day tomorrow... the rain hasn't made that much of a prospect if I'm being honest...

More tomorrow...

In and Out of Conciousness - Robbie Williams

The old legs were twitching last night and I must say that my Quads were totally mashed following 105 laps of a 400m track... I am sure the constant left turns every 100 metres strained my left Gastrocnemius. I have never had such a tightness there before but Jenny suffered in a similar way so maybe there's some theory there in the madness. Well that's my theory anyway!

I am slightly more bemused/bit annoyed that I don't know how far I ran yesterday in the time I did - I put a lot of effort in on this one and it's a shame I haven't got some accurate data from the performance.

This last few months have shown me what I am capable of and I am now thinking of a big juicy challenge next year to have a go at. Now I am fit, I need to build on that and start to train harder and prepare for action... I feel very excited, so watch this space.

More tomorrow...

Everything Counts - Depeche Mode

As the great Dave Gahan once said 'It's a competitive world - Everything counts in large amounts'... and plenty of this was done today. Muggins without watch or Garmin was completely buggered really as I did 105 laps of the Enigma Track Marathon in Milton Keynes.

Race Organiser, Dave Bayley did a great job really and a big kitchen clock at the start/finish of each lap would have helped no end. I did run bloody hard all the way on this baby and my 3.44 time is an alright reflection of my effort.

What the race did have was a great atmosphere and lapping and being lapped by others was most uplifting. Seeing Jenny get a new PB was just glorious to witness. Shows all that hill training is starting to work eh? My next offensive is Luton where I know that a three lap 26.2 awaits and I can get closer to the 3.30 mark...

More tomorrow as the old legs are now f**ked!