Super-stretchy-spandex

Wow. I haven't blogged since the start of February! My running since then has been eventful. I've been to Running School for a start. It's a 6 week programme where they teach you how to run correctly. I know what you're thinking....how can you be running the London Marathon & not already know how to run correctly. They've taught me how to run biomechanically correctly. It's been a really hard 6 week course. Paul, the teacher, was great. Very knowledgeable & pushed me in some very hard sessions. I want to hate him for the pain I went through - but he's one of life's "nice blokes". The point of the running school was due to the fact that pain in my right knee was getting crazy in Feb. Attending Running School has meant that I've not been able to stick to my training plan but I'm hoping that it'll be worth it in 2 weeks time. Without a doubt the journey to London has been challenging - way more than I had anticipated. Work h

For those that know me will verify, I am not a religious man. Never have been. I have no issue with those that have faith and in truth, at times in my life, I've been a little envious of those that do. But there's always been something in the back of mind that, if God was real, I'd love to ask him. None of the obvious things like why have war, famine or other atrocities (though they're worthy questions) but something more personal to me: why am I so stubborn? It's a crappy trait to have. But today, I got the answer. This mornings run was a 15 miler...the longest run I've ever done. The weather was perfect; clear blue skies & nice and crisp. Last Sundays weather was awful: torrential rain the whole time with gales etc etc - & yet I preferred last week's run a lot more. I desperately wanted to stop today & go home. That urge started early on in the run & didn't leave me. Everything hurt & I just didn't want to be doing it. But my s

There's nothing better mid run, when you're feeling sluggish, when a great song comes on the iPod. This time it was Billie Jean & anyone that knows me will know I do an awesome moonwalk. It was quite hard to contain myself as I'm running along not to break in to a dance (& I'm an awesome dancer!) The in laws are up for the weekend to help celebrate Lily's 4th birthday. The mother in Law has earnt her keep by raking up the leaves in the back garden (god bless her) The father in law is yet to contribute anything so I'm watching carefully. I've got to be nice though - he's a dab hand at DIY ;-)

13 miler done & dusted. It occurred to me last night as I was getting ready to hit the sack that I must have turned into an old man at some point! All my clothes were tucked in to keep me warm (except my jeans weren't tucked into my socks - but now I've thought of it I'll be trying that too!) The wife had surprised me with a visit to the cinema to see Anchorman 2 (comedy gold) & I'd inadvertently tucked everything in to keep warm whilst out & about late at night. When did I care about such things? Not only that, but when I observed some scantily clad young ladies, instead of thinking "cor blimey, they look attractive" I was thinking "cor blimey, I'd better give them my coat to keep warm" It's a sad day... Anyway, run was good today. Towards the end I saw a mum & her 2 kids out for a run which was really nice to see. The daughter must have been about 10 & had the right kind of running gear on, as did the mum. The son, who

You know when you're cold all day long, no matter what you do or where you are! That was me today. Even the 40min drive home in a warm car did nothing to alleviate the cold in my bones. Got in the house & that of course felt cold, and as I got changed for my run tonight, I looked outside & it was dark & freezing looking. To sum up, the picture below sums up my physiology & mood today

Aaagghhh! Every Sunday I forget to take tissues, and today was no exception. I'm 5 mins into it & I can feel things becoming fluid, if you know what I mean! It was frickin cold when I started out today & the nose reacted accordingly. With no tissues I had to improvise...back of the hand got the worst of it.....   Anyway, today was a 12 miler. For those that don't run, Sundays tend to be the day when runners do their "long" run. The idea is its the longest run they'll do all week but at a very slow pace, conversational in fact. I've struggled to nail the slow pace because....well, I don't know why actually. I just like running at a harder pace. A friend recently suggested that I run slow for the first half then run the 2nd half slightly faster, thus perfecting the negative split as well as giving me something to look forward to in the first half half. Worked a treat (thanks Jelly)   While I'm out running generally my mind wanders. The usu