"Underneath the Lemon Tree: A Memoir of Depression" - Mark Rice-Oxley

Another non-sporting book review, and insight into my eclectic book buying habit...

"Underneath the Lemon Tree: A Memoir of Depression" - Mark Rice-Oxley 

To be sure to give the book its complete title "Underneath the Lemon Tree: A Memoir of Depression", this was one of those books that does spring off the shelves at people it comes with a knowing smile and a "you really should read this it is so, well, just so" kind of comment. Given that I am it seems an utterly suggestible person and at least I gave the description a read on-line and then caved to the mildest peer pressure and gave it a go. In the end I came to understand what it was that those knowing smiles were trying to say.

Customarily I begin to gush about why I thought the book was great and why you might enjoy reading it, well I am going to try to be more measured in my overview. The book is written by a journalist and family man who is laid low with a bout of depression, and seemingly true to his nature journals his experience of the condition and his efforts to understand what it is whilst seeking to come to terms with life after diagnosis. It is brutally honest its chronicling while so well written as to give insight into the processes of descent into and ascent from depression within the context of personal, family and work life.

As someone who through family and personal experience has had some insight into the subject, and moreover the devastating impact of not talking about the subject of depression, it was so beneficial to read such a clear account. I want to at this point say much more but then actually I realise that I can't articulate the subject as well as the author... so in fact in the end I am be joining the ranks of those who give that knowing smile and say quietly "you really should read this it is so, well... just so". Most of all though I will do what I have always tried to do and listen to the person I mention this book to, because listening can do so much in so many ways for people affected directly or in directly by depression. The book doesn't offer a cure all, or a happy clappy way forward, it is genuine real and just firmly and quietly says "there is something more to come... go with the rationalising / healing process and you'll be just fine".

Footnote:  It is true that I most often find more in a biography than almost any other form of literature, the human conditions is true to us all in its many shades and nuances and in general makes for compelling reading. So much so in this instance that the next book I picked up was a sporting challenge biography. If it so happens you have not ever picked one up I challenge you to find one by someone you relate to and open its cover - happy reading.

Kit review - Nike compression T-shirts

What is the second thing that I put on when I get ready to go running? Okay, so no one wants to know what order I get dressed in but a piece of kit I have become reliant upon are Nike compression sleeveless and capped sleeve t-shirts. They act as a terrific light base layer, and if you ensure you have the right size compress with just the right amount of vigour. I have found that wearing them all but eliminates joggers nipple, even over a marathon (though my only 26.2 miler to date was in cold and rain and not fierce hot sweaty weather). Compared to one other base layer brand I have the fabric is very forgiving on the skin, even around the seams.

Frankly I think the manufacturer might prefer that I use one of their images 
- rather than me with my less than six pack six-pack!

I own 7 of these Nike compression t-shirts between the sleeveless and capped sleeve, I bought one and then found that I liked them so much I purchased more. I even have three different colours in my kit box by now (white, black and red

March?

Set back? Well I am used to those by now... I have been suffering all week long with a cold (which happily came along with a fever courtesy of the kids). So I have not so much as laced my trainers all week, which I was kind of okay with until my diary pointed out that March was arriving. As things go I could be in worse shape, I could have done more mileage in February but for the bug I would have topped January's 75 km handsomely. What can you do? I am super cautious with colds after twice in the last year having severe chest infections.

Spring is showing some signs it is on the way, we have enjoyed a dry spell that left my trainers weeping all the harder when I abandoned them this week. It is from here that juggling the training (and I have to up the distances from here) gets that little bit harder as the spring seems to generate more pulls on time - more work projects, more home projects - the desire to shake things out after what was a dark cold icy Winter puts running time under pressure. Still pinch punch first run of the month and all that... hopefully my symptoms will have eased enough to let me get round a regular medium distance tomorrow and get the month going properly.

Footnote: I left the computer on and when I came back to do something else noticed that someone found my blog using the search term 'Sue Thearle Pregnant' wherein I discovered that back on Monday July 31st... 2006, I mentioned those three words talking about a breakfast television sports presenter - randomness utter randomness. Can't think they went away happy as it was an irreverent list of what my wife made of the then presenting roster, haha... what is the most random search that has found your site? (outside of those spam ones of course)

505's

I went and missed the 500th post on my blog and even then the 501st... which then led me to wait for post 505 for any kind of fanfare.

Why 505? Well way back when I was very large I went to the U.S. of A. and while there really wanted a pair of authentic 501's... suffice to say 505's proved to actually fit and I had to head home and hope no one looked to hard at the label of my fancy 'authentic' jeans. I was a much larger person back then and the compromise on clothes extended far beyond a single brand of denim jeans - back then before this blog started huge t-shirts, loose jackets, over sized jumpers were all things I had to compromise on. All little things that eventually penetrated my awareness and made me take the small steps and actions that put me on the road to a healthier and slimmer life*.

"Dude! Like anyone really cared anyway!" - why did the make or model even matter to my younger brain?

Happily things move on... ...so when I first clicked a link and clanked the keyboard on this blog I never for a moment considered that at some point in the future I would have written 500 let alone 505 blog posts. This is still pretty much a collection of thoughts and experiences, nothing more, nothing less than my stream of on-line / on the move consciousness.

505 posts in brief? Well, in the beginning there was running... then there was rowing and running... and then there was running (and some occasional rowing). There were successes, injuries, losses and gains over time that made my life as colourful as it is. It all started on Saturday August 27th 2005, and since then it seems my most popularly viewed post is a cartoon I drew of a circuit session we used to do when I was doing a lot of rowing training (Circuit dizziness).

All that has gone on over that time represents the largest personal journal I have produced (of any kind), and for whatever it is to anyone who finds it it is deeply special to me for that alone. I am aware this is a lazy post that contains no content, no solid opinion, no deep humour, no product review, no life enriching mantra... but then who knows what the next five hundred and five posts might contain.

* I never did buy a pair of 501 style jeans, it turned out the overall cut didn't look that great on my slimmer frame either - I am just not an owner of a suitable body geometry (there was probably something ironic in that somewhere?!?!).

Wittering on Wednesday (sort of)

So I have been busy, or have I? You might have those phases too where you seemed to have not stopped but yet reflect and wonder quite what it was you achieved... it has been like that this week. To borrow a lyric from somewhere I have been travelling without moving (apologies if that was not the intended meaning behind that phrase whomever penned it, and to my shame I don't recall who). In terms of on the move type activities, I have done nothing but eat since the large number of kilometers covered over the weekend. The eating started as post run munchies and don't seem to have relented since - it often gets that way when I am rushing around I get lazy with food choices and food control. Still having noticed it today I hope to put that back in its box.

In the wider terms of wittering it to has been a busy week with the press full of all sorts of stories everything from studies of the best forms of activity (long and steady versus high intensity training), to a new material heralded by major sports shoes maker as the next big 'boost' to running performance, to the sad stories of sporting icons heading into courtrooms.

Oddly though with all the sources of wittering fodder I have passed as my brain seems engrossed in a any 'spare' moments with a personal reading frenzy (but that I could develop a faster mode of reading overnight). I have inspiring books a plenty and for a change am applying myself to consuming them rather than doing the proud ownership thing "oh, yes those are great and they are real classics!"... "sorry, what? Have I read them all - ah, well - no, no, no not all of them no"... "how many? Hmm, well these are... well they are classics aren't they? Fancy moving into the other room?". My challenge at the moment is thus to dent my unread books collection, including all those running and fitness books that will undoubtedly tell me what I should be doing and set me on the path to a marathon PB without bumping into more injury / illness.

All I need to do is figure out just when I can find the time to tackle my unread book mountain... more hours in the day - anyone? One day soon a real slick blog post will tumble of my keyboard, for now - sorry ;-)

So sometimes I actually go running

This weekend just gone was one of those rare weekends when I actually got my running shoes on two days in a row! It is indeed worthy of an exclamation mark because in the world of a busy Dad it always feels a little wrong to use up so much weekend time on yourself. The first run was a pacey affair with my training buddy because as it turns out whilst I have suffered various illnesses he has managed a very consistent weekly mileage 'commuting' to and from his work. It was good to both crack on at a decent pace, and better still to share a bunch of gossip. We completed 8.35 km in a couple of minutes over three quarters of an hour.

"Feet Of Runner In Evening Light" - Image courtesy of Sura Nualpradid [www.freedigitalphotos.net]

Now it is here that I will reveal my latest mad-cap scheme - as you might notice I quoted my run distance in kilometres (km) just there, and so it will be for some months to come if my plan works out. My big goal for the year is the Berlin Marathon and there is no getting around the fact that they are wholly metric and use kilometres... so I am trying to give myself enough time to grasp the min/km pacing, and splits for various points on the course in the correct measures. It is a simple plan to move into kilometres, although I have rarely judged my shambling pace in anything other than min/mile. The nice thing is that 10 min/mile becomes a much smaller number in min/km, the not so nice thing of it is that the distance goes from 26.1 units (miles) to 42.2 units (kilometres)... I only hope that because the numbers will tick by quicker I'll learn to like the change.

The second run of the weekend was my long run (which I paced for the last time in min/mile), which covered 18.5 km (or 11.5 miles). I was suitably tired after an easy effort run that finished with 20 minutes at race pace at the end... I suddenly had flashbacks to some of the early pain I felt as the wheels feel off during my first marathon. Still it was a beautiful day to be flogging myself around the paths of Cardiff Bay and Cardiff city centre, some say spring is on its way, others groan and say there will be more snow yet. Whatever the weather me and my running shoes will be churning out the training kilometres in the weeks ahead - only 11 weeks now until the Milton Keynes marathon the first major stepping stone towards my Berlin run.

Diary - everything is busy though I am feeling out of sorts with things at times, which has left me even more grateful that I get to run and clear my head. My book binge continues a pace, more reviews in the pipeline I think.

"What I Talk About When I Talk About Running" - Haruki Murakami

Just occasionally I get around to a book review as a non-sporting thread,  because it is book principlely about running, fitness, life it fulfils a a rarity in my book reviews - a book that is somewhat about subjects encompassed in my blog. So having threatened to write this this very week in my previous post here goes :-

"What I Talk About When I Talk About Running" - Haruki Murakami

"It was a book choice out of left-field to an extent, I have never read this novelist's books, I have never taken part in a running event with this runner, but a colleague during one of those random conversations that crops up about my own running suggested I should take a look at this "great philosophical running book by one of my favourite authors". I was intrigued and marked the book on one of those on-line lists as one to buy at some point, my birthday came around I plundered the list and thus I own a copy. Without giving away all my thoughts in one sentence, it is not a book I intend to part with in a hurry.

It is a book that is simple, straight-forward in concept and delivery, but where it goes with style and often humorous grace is into the mind of a lifelong mover (the life of someone who values the benefits of motion and activity in fuelling the other elements of their day to day). If indeed like me you have ever struggled to explain quite what the 'addiction' and 'pull' of your sporting endeavours are then try and get your nearest and dearest to read this book. Murakami sets out the majority of the reasoning behind persistent fitness efforts coupled with sporting goals, and so eloquently frames them against the ever present backdrop of life and the phenomenon of ageing.  It will draw you in and make you smile, both with shared humour and recognition of the human condition.

From this one book runners and non-runners, tri-athletes and non-tri-athletes, authors and non-authors will take so much. I read the short volume in near enough two days straight, it is rare that a book has that much pull on an otherwise busy existence. Can I recommend it? Well if you haven't gotten the gist yet, then - YES, it is simply one of those enriching books that will leave an impression on you long after you close the cover."

Running book binge

Okay, so I went a little crazy in the book shop this weekend and before I knew it I had FIVE new running books! It was all inspired by my birthday and having had the Murakami "What I talk about when I talk about running" book recommended to me by a colleague whose partner is a runner and loved reading it. So that was one book, the others came about through an as it turned out wallet denting chain of associations - the Jane & Mike Tomlinson book / biography from of the fact that I had heard an inspiring interview with Mike on the Marathon Talk podcast - the "Born to Run" book from having read about passing of Micah True on a blog I read some many months ago, and at that time reading something of his relationship with the Tarahumara of Mexico (the book centres on him and the adventures his Mexico I understand).

My new collection of running books (which should keep me busy when I'm not running and doing all those other things I do!!)

The last two were pure and simple impulse buys, at that point the ball was well and truly rolling and so I picked them up and popped them in the basket. "Why we run" caught my attention because of the subheading "A story of obsession" which seemed very appropriate to my current mental approach. It could be that element of personal obsession that led me to pick up the fifth book, I mean "Racing weight" (?) that is phrase I have pondered for at least 3years of running now (I'll get there one day!?!?).

It has to be said that I am already half way through the Murakami book already (and I have only had it for 2 days), it is that kind of absorbing a read. The style, the approach, the ethos / philosophy is just spot on and utterly engaging. When I finish it, ahem very soon, I will review it properly.

In other news, I ran my first hill repeats today, and racked up 12 repeats of a short sharp hill not far from home. Each repeat turned out to be slightly quicker than the previous one which I was very very pleased about, especially as I really wasn't sure how hard to go at the session. True I walked the recoveries for the second six repeats, but I reasoned this was sensible and did mean I could maintain my form better through the latter efforts. All in all its been a good period of running having negative split my way through a 9.8mile session on Saturday too.

Diary - windy, cold, dry. Glad to be the father of two fabulous kids, and blessed with a wonderful wife (who has taken it upon herself to use me as a recipe tester of late - not that that is why she is wonderful, she has always been wonderful). Life has a good balance at the moment, not perfect but then that would probably be dull :-)

A tale of two podcasts

The number of podcasts that I regularly listen to has now doubled, to the princely sum of two! Yes, that is right I now listen to literally a couple of podcasts. Which two and why?

The first one I have listened to for a while now (and have mentioned before) is the Jillian Michaels podcast - not because I'm a closet north american, not because I'm a huge Biggest Loser fan, and not because I am a woman of a certain age... just because it is generally silly, but informative, and benign whilst insightful. I am sure many people have said many things about the 'show' and I am certainly not going to critique it here.

The second one I have been downloading has been a revelation - Marathon Talk - for me at the moment simply perfect listening and simply perfect content. As someone hoping to run two marathons this year it has been a brilliant find for tips and training ideas / guides. The running advice is coupled with some absolutely brilliant interviews, and since I started listening over the New Year I have heard some crackers with Kelly Sotherton (former GB heptathlete trying her first marathon after retiring from elite sport), Mike Tomlinson (event organiser and husband of the late Jane Tomlinson), Amby Burfoot (RunnersWorld guru, and lifelong runner), Prof John Brewer (sports physiologist), Brett Larner (the guy behind Japan Running News), and Kurt Fearnley (paralympic athlete) this year, and I haven't begun dipping into their archive yet.

I have taken so much from the Marathon Talk podcasts that I would recommend a listen to any runner. It is true that the podcast it is supported / funded by Adidas but it is not by any means an ad driven enterprise it comes across as genuinely about running community, and the two hosts (Messrs Martin Yelling and Tom Williams) are warm and engaging. I have yet to find time to root around the website but I have the feeling that when I do it will be similarly rewarding.  

Both of these are available through iTunes just stick something relevant in the search do-da :-)

Diary - very busy in work (not a bad thing), very busy at home (also not a bad thing), not getting many miles out on the road (not a good thing). I'm 10lbs lighter than at the end of December, and moving towards fuller training. Weather - cold, windy, and possibly bringing more snow our way.

Wittering on Wednesday - 'that guy'

Well as a sports fan I was drawn into watching the interview where a sportsman did his level best to distance himself from, well in the end from, himself. It was almost as if Lance Armstrong was trying to convince the audience that there were 'forces and pressures' that made him do things and that he was not true to his current self, but a victim of a whirlwind of circumstance that he could do nothing about. Well in a nutshell, I was not at all convinced, I was not convinced at all... you can always say 'no'.

There are so many issues surrounding the 'confession' that a debunking of it all would take hours, and from where I sit as a general sports fan it is all just deeply sad. I myself was wow'ed by the sport of road cycling during his run of Tour de France wins, I would leave work early with a very good friend to sit in his lounge wrapped in the wonder of watching 'that guy' storm up an alpine col. It was incredible to watch the drama of those races unfold, and frankly though I will still watch the Tour or other events I feel robbed of something. I watched the cancer survivor apparently defy the odds and blow the world away, it was inspiring and I feel very hollow at the final analysis.

I know that I was not alone in that sinking feeling over the last years leading into this admission, and the bereft feeling now we know the accusations were true. I bought the wristbands for the charity, when I might have spent that money on another charity, because of the feats of the man. Why else would I donate to a charity based halfway around the world (yes, I am very aware they fund global research). I am also the owner of a Nike / Livestrong running jacket that is frankly brilliantly stunning at its job, but lately has made me think twice about going for a run in it.

It is absolutely crazy to take something of this nature personally, but here I don't think I am alone in doing so either. Following heroes and icons has always been a risky enterprise.

At the moment I hope that 'that man' both from the past and present goes on to confess more fully in a more appropriate forum (law courts, some form of court of arbitration for sport clean-up commission). That there is still so much not laid out for further actions to be based upon in cycling and sports around doping is wrong, and 'that man' has not forgotten the machinery that got him around the Tour de France as 'winner' seven times.

Sadly my personal opinion is that sport should not allow Armstrong into any arena even if the total confession is given, it has been the manner and conduct of not wishing to be truly accountable for his own actions that leave me with little doubt a lifetime ban is merited. A truly humbled, repentant, sorry individual would not on balance carry on business in this way, and would likely be granted some form of sporting outlet in the future.

So there, I couldn't bite my insignificant sports fan tongue any longer. Sadly I will likely now be using the story of Lance Armstrong as a story of the bleak side of sports to my kids rather than the story of effort that many of believed not so very long ago.

Monday in motion

So I arrive at the second Monday of January very much in motion. I have successfully turned around a bunch of bad habits that I acquired towards the back end of 2012, where I came down with flu and spent a month comfort eating myself in the wrong direction. I am some way to shifting the weight that I 'gained' during the illness and the festive season (though to be fair to myself the festive season was pretty restrained by my own previous standards).

On the move again is feeling great and each day the chest infection, that has had a hold on my lungs since just before New Years, is loosening its grip. All being very well I will be able to run this weekend rather than power walk. Not having run for so long leaves me curious as to just how much it will hurt and just where it will hurt - my feet, my legs, my shoulders, or simply my lungs from lack of proper usage.

The plan for my the first marathon of the 2013 'season' is still evolving, and I am refraining from putting anything in actual stone (i.e. sharing it) until I have a couple of runs under my shoes :-)

Diary - cold, sunny, dry. Grateful for being able to get busy again and enjoying the start of the journey back to fitness.

First steps into my new marathon training cycle

So this week has been the first full week of the year, and already things are in full swing. I am still suffering a chest infection / cold, but have been busy getting properly 'on the move' again. With my eyes firmly fixed on the major challenge of the spring / summer, the Milton Keynes marathon, I have put a plan into action. The plan as it stands comprises to parts, firstly to just get busy (increasing daily activity by walking / cycling to work, doing some Wii fit / fitness DVDs when I have spare moments) and get healthy (eat right, eat smart, eat fresh), and the second part is to move into a 16 week training program for the marathon.

I have not felt it has been a sensible idea run, but have covered a lot of miles walking instead so that at least my body gets used to time in motion and my joints get the idea of carrying me over longer distances again. Sounds a bit melodramatic I suppose, but that is simply where I am - and really these alternatives to actually running are all about not getting sick again. For example, if I just hit the roads with the chest infection I fear to will lead me back to acute bronchitis / walking pneumonia, which would lay me up for weeks.

Essentially my 'base' phase is starting very tentatively and with as much 'protection' incorporated as possible (stretching, aerobic work, diet, & simple incremental activity increases). I hope to run for the first time in this training plan next week, week 3 of the plan, but at the moment I am relaxed about how I have moved through the first two weeks.

Diary - cold, dry, icy under foot. I have lost 5lbs in two weeks, so good progress into the New Year. Grateful that I am busy and productive already in 2013, with so much to make and do this year.

Monday Motivation - A plan? A plan? Well a series of goals at least

Do I have a plan? A plan? Well I do have a series of goals at least for the moment around which plans are beginning to crystallise.

For the time being here are my goals for the year ahead...

1. Log a total of 1000 running miles in 2013.
2. Complete 2nd marathon, and better my PB by at least ten minutes.
3. Complete 3rd marathon (and first Big City Marathon), and better my PB.
4. Find and run at least one half-marathon that I have not run before.
5. Set a 5K PB.
6. Scull far more than I did last year.
7. Set a 2k indoor rowing PB.
8. Get to my goal weight by April and stay there throughout the rest of the year.
9. Stay well and injury free.

(Okay so the last one is strictly out of my total control, but I will do all I physically can to make it happen).

I know a kind of sporting bucket list for 2013 is hardly novel, and my list was inspired by reading some of the blogs I follow. The truth is I am recognising that without goals I find it tricky to get myself out running on a cold wet British Winters day - let alone summers day, hehe!

Diary - clear, mild, dry (though still wet under foot). Went for two long walks over the weekend in lieu of a run because I have a chesty cough at the moment and didn't want to stress my lungs. Generally I am on track with all things fitness again and will be running just as soon as this cough goes. Grateful for a busy but fun family Christmas and New Years.

Friday Fix - Possibly the 'smallest' tiny tip-bit of 2012

"Small cup, will travel!"...  

...the weirdest bit of health advice I think I read during all of last year was to get a smaller cup / glass for your desk (office or home).

The idea being that you then find you have to make more frequent trips to the water cooler / kitchen to top-up and refresh your cup, and that in so doing you make yourself more mobile through the day, you break off from screen starring more often giving your eyes a rest from eye-strain, and that it leads to a greater probability of interacting with people you work with by becoming more social, also perhaps even burn more calories through the work week.

I think it was from an office based tips list that I stumbled across online - though I sadly don't remember the source of this simple sage advice. Now because as I said I don't remember the specific source of this nugget I can't remember what they were pushing as the prime reason to get a smaller cup - I fear it may have been the calories thing, but I'm going to use rose tinted hindsight and suggest that mobility and stretching during your day helps keep you loose and active.

Whatever the case I found it it is useful and actually seems to be having an effect in as far as I end the day less stiff, tired and knotted from desk working.

Give it a try - "from small things big things one day come...", and all that :-)

Two year anniversary of 'that' coffee thing

So I have racked up over two years now of being caffeine-free (with the exception of two running events where I 'used' it to see if it would directly benefit my running). To say giving up was easy would in all actuality be the truth, the hardest aspect over time has been having to keep reminding family and friends that I don't want coffee / tea.

Somewhere in a cupboard in our house a teapot mourns it's loss....

....happily it still gets outings when we have visitors or if my wife is hitting the tea hard because of heavy work load.

Would I recommend going 'clean' - well "yes", but I won't get on my soapbox (afterall I have done that before - "Caffeine-free in which blogger tries to avoid a pious essayist style"). Instead I will simply celebrate the anniversary of a good decision in my day to day life.

Are you celebrating any anniversaries of good life style choices?

Out with the old year in with the new

Out with the old year in with the new, a new calendar year has flipped over and it is the seasonal taking stock moment. So in a list driven way, that many others are doing too, here are my 2012 blog / 'on the move' highlights...

• Logged a total run distance of 436.6 miles
• Entered 6 organised mass participant events (3x 10K, 2x half-marathon, 1x full-marathon), I completed five.
• Completed my first marathon = 4hr 43min 52sec (Milton Keynes marathon)
• 10k personal best = 51min 32sec (Swansea Bay)
• Half-marathon personal best = 1hr 57min 53sec (Cardiff Half)
• Posted more posts in a year than I had done since 2006
• Had more visitors to my blog than ever
• Added a bunch of excellent blogs to my blog list (24 great reads)

The highlights all the sweeter for the setbacks that dotted the year (injuries and illness), and more importantly the downs taught me a lot of important lessons that carrying into the New Year will I hope bring even higher running highs this year.

Whatever you did in 2012 I hope that your 2013 surpasses it, and that the New Year brings you everything you wish for.

The aftermath - taking stock of a 'bad' month

The post-November analysis is continuing, though I am feeling a little stuck and frustrated until the after effects of the flu and its companion ear infection have passed. I have been out of exercise mode now for what must be six weeks between work and being ill, and boy oh boy does it show (I am the heaviest I have been for around a year).

I am still a rattling pill pot thanks to the various prescribed drugs for the infection, and it is hard to think about much else when the side of your head is throbbing. It is true that I have a low tolerance for pain and that there are far worse things to be suffering from (I am all to well aware of that), but it is perhaps the timing that is magnifying the apparent pain.

The certainty is that I need to get going as soon as I am well again, and get into a serious training plan... and I suppose there is no time like the present to start putting one together - especially as I have 41 weeks until my first major city marathon!

A month out - mostly on my ass

Over a month of non-blogging and I feel bad. It is not just that I haven't blogged for a month it is that I don't seem to have done much else for a month. Part way through Mo'vember with moustache doing well (a whole other story), work going well, and not much running or training happening I came down with a heavy dose of influenza. Sadly this was not the man-flu variety but the full on stuck in your bed feeling dizzy, weak, gripped by fever, tired and utterly rotten. It took a full week of what amounted to bed rest to feel more like myself, I have only ever had one experience of the flu worse than this once almost 20 years ago!

Happily a recovery began to appear after the week of resting, but then unhappily I came down with secondary ear infections (yeap, plural not singular). A trip to the doctors and then a mountain of pills collected from the pharmacy and again I'm sitting around feeling right royally sorry for myself. I have the itch to exercise - more than an itch it is a raging desire - I really need to get moving and get that buzz! Until the pain abates in the sides of my head I will be hitting the road because I just need to.

My targets haven't gone away but just now they seem an awfully long way away... all I want for Christmas is good health so I can train well.

Four random ffotos Friday

So I have had a bunch of photos knocking around that I just haven't gotten around to posting this week, so here me are...

I must explain that last weekend I did a lot of fitness work and so I got to feeling that I deserved a good big treat for my efforts. The treat was a big full English breakfast for lunch, though I did concede to making it a veggie version ;-)

A really really tasty breakfast even though the bread wasn't buttered that well

 As a guest in our house of late we have had a fairly handsome piece of workout kit, a Concept II ergometer (indoor rower). It is interloping in our dinning room and making occasional visits to our kitchen for sessions, not of rowing training but of rowing analysis system testing - all to do with my wife's PhD studies. She is doing so well doing it part-time as within and as part of a demanding job. I have nothing but the uttermost respect for her efforts, as I studied from my doctorate full-time as a paid student I know all the hopes, fears, highs and utter lows of thesis producing that must only be magnified by working as well. I have every faith and now she is testing out her efforts it seems the home straight is in sight. By the well I am the willing crash test dummy for the tests, and it has actually been good fun.

It seems odd to have such a large piece of exercise kit in the house 

So it is November, or as it is known to some men (and women) Movember. The idea is that you strive to grow the best Mo (mustache) that you can in the month of November for cancer charities. Go see their website if you are interested or just plain curious Movember. As part of the run up to the month I took a drawing package to a couple of pictures of myself in an effort to work out what kind of Mo to go with. I still haven't totally decided but I have a few more days until my stubble gets thick enough to actually shape :-)

Ah ha! Trying out a drawn on beard seemed like a good idea at the time

Finally for four random ffotos Friday, my first ever (yes, I have lead a sheltered life) carved pumpkin lantern for Halloween. The last time that I had one was as a youngster in Berlin when my family made one for a lantern parade around my first school in Charlottenburg. My first actual carving effort was inspired by creative direction from my wife I set about a small pumpkin with a melon baller and a kitchen knife - it turned out pretty well I reckon.

Properly scary witch on my pumpkin lantern - though actually we copied it from one of the kids books

A new huge challenge - the 2013 Berlin marathon

I have been a little busy to have posted anything this week, but having spent most of the last 40 minutes going through the process I thought I should share my newest challenge... all being well (with payment processing and such) I am registered for the 2013 Berlin marathon. This will be my first marathon outside of the UK and by the time of race day my third marathon event.

The scale of the logistical challenge is beginning to bite now that it looks like I'm in. I 'm hoping friends may have run Berlin before and be able to offer lots of sage advice about travel, accommodation and so forth. It is a little weird to think about an event a almost be more daunted by the where's and when's rather than the how's (I think I have enough training experience to get me to the start line - barring unforeseen events).

Diary - rain, gusty breeze, mild. Grateful for opportunity and big challenges.

Three things Thursday

So here we go...

1) Shredding - yeap, I have begun leaping around my house under the instruction of a loud American woman on a DVD. I think some might recognise the DVD and indeed the presenter in question. This time around I am toying around with doing the whole 30-days of that there 30 day shred. Why? Well I am having a month break from the run mileage I was doing (I know, not that I was doing huge mileage) and addressing all around fitness, aka mixing things up a bit. All of this before launching my marathon training for next spring.

2) Marathoning - today I began the process of trying to register for the 2013 Berlin Marathon. Not having run outside the UK (in a race) I am slightly nervous about the undertaking, but I know Germany and I know Berlin pretty well so I am very motivated to try and get there. It is there 40th edition and I will be in my 39th year, we both began in 1974 so I am taking that as a nice resonance - that and the fact I was living there as a toddler in '74 also.

3) Noise - I am struggling a little at the moment with noise... I know odd thing to say, and perhaps it intimates to some that I am in deed getting older. Suffice it to say that with a busy household, a busy work place and a loud world I am treasuring moments of calm and silence a lot at the moment. Probably part of the reason I get a bit grumpy if I don't get out for my run sessions.

Diary - Weather very very Autumn with a threat of Winter. Grateful for being productive, not so grateful for the changing clocks this coming weekend here in the UK (half the daily commute is thrown into darkness).

Motivation Monday - Running advice and cook books

The other day my wife proudly told me that this month we had tried 3 recipes from her recent copy of a food magazine, apparently this represented an unusually high number. Each copy that arrives in our post box gets diligently read cover to cover and during the process little sticky tabs or bits of paper sprout from the top edge of various pages. Eventually at a meal time a while later I find myself 'testing' a new meal.

Pondering this for a while it dawned on me that this is entirely the way I use running magazines and books, I don't as it happens use sticky tabs like my wife does with her magazines. I read whole magazines and often cover-to-cover but will often times only keep a small part of each that over time build up to a pile of knowledge that fits my running, my training or my ambitions. Then perhaps with hindsight if I was as organized as my wife cook books I would get a little more value out of the columns I read?!?

A PB does not a smart runner make!

It turns out that a great PB can mess with your thinking a little, I went out for my post-half recovery run and well it ended badly. I went off like a cheap firework rocket - I shot off at speed, peaked, made a lame noise, failed to burst into light and then sank back to earth charred and spent! The run started with my head full (and I mean really full) of ambitions for a next PB and I tried to open out at that kind of pace. Of course my legs soon said "Woo-ah! You forget we're tired!" and let me know in no uncertain terms.

The initial splurge was followed by an attempt to settle into a rhythm which my legs again complained at "Woo-ah! You forget we're tired!". So I slowed again and figured I'd get home round the Winter run loop no problem (yes, it's dark in the evenings and I feel I have to run the street-lit roads now). Once again just passed halfway my legs refrained "Woo-ah! You forget we're tired!", followed by "Seriously mate! We are screwed!"... I slowed to a walk because both calves were in full out rebellion.

By the time I arrived back home my head had had a good lesson in the consequences of over-ambition from the rest of me and we had resolved to be sensible about things. I am still keen on working towards a good PB progression for the half-marathon distance just not all in one training session (duh!). I think I had a serious case of the post-PB sillies, so the next training will be a proper recovery run before we get into the next plan :-)

Diary - bright blustery day, autumnal temperatures and damp ground. Grateful for the support of my family allowing me to go run, run, run, and for the fact that I am able to run, run, run. Miffed by... well nothing today really :-)

Cardiff Half-marathon - how it went for me

No real mystery as to how the race turned out seeing as I couldn't help but post my time yesterday - plot not so much spoilt as blown, but here is a little of the detail of how it all came about that I set my personal best over 13.1miles.
Apologies for the lack of pictures but I ran without a support team armed with cameras.

Pre-race / start line
As it happened this year we weren't in Cardiff before the race, we were at a big family celebration an hour and a half drive away from town. We had a great time at the birthday celebration and the kids especially were having brilliant fun. I learned that being well meaning can result in doors being slammed in your face, but is not a story for this blog (just one of those little life lessons). I set off for the race at about 4:30am having decided that I would be best served getting back early and chilling at home over breakfast before heading to the course.

I got home in time for a good slow breakfast, a chance to sort out my kit thoroughly, and mentally disengage by watching the first half of the Korean Formula1 Grand Prix (which was pretty eventful). About an hour and a half before the race start I set off on my bike for work, where I could leave my keys, phone, dry clothes and so on without having to queue at the baggage drop off. The race this year had grown to take in 18,000 runners and an estimated 30,000+ spectators, so I wanted to get myself there and set in good time and good order.

On the way out of the office I met a bunch of fellow runners from the department all of whom were in great humour and fun to chat with on the short walk towards the start line and start pens. The start was set up outside the castle and was fantastically busy with a bustling atmosphere. I arrived in my start zone with a bottle of water, an empty bladder and a head full of happy thoughts.

Miles 1 & 2
The first two miles I had already determined were one of two key elements to my effort for a sub-2hour half marathon. I had to make sure I ran loose, ran easy and ran controlled - yes, I have that classic propensity to go out and blow it in the first phase of a race. Despite the usual ebb and flow of slower and faster runners trying to find their way within the mix of abilities I managed to run to my schedule of 9min/mile to 9.25min/mile - though admittedly on the high side of my target range. In the start pen I had spotted the sub-2hour pacer was about 100yards ahead of me so I had resolved not to chase him immediately but perhaps to be near him at halfway and thus be 100yards under his sub-hour pace.

Miles 3 & 4
The main hill in the course came early on and I was happy that I accommodated it without puffing like a train. At this point already I was having a good feeling about my potential time, especially as I recovered quickly from the effort of the hill. I looked to keep the pace as I'd set it and to keep the pacer in line of sight. I was holding the gap and if anything edging towards him slowly.

As I hit mile three I opened up my energy jelly beans and began popping them one at a time every couple of minutes.

Miles 5 & 6
Heading back towards the middle of the city from the bay and the barrage I was still working to keep myself flowing and rolling without over cooking things. I had gained on the pacer and was level through the sixth mile (a little early but it felt okay). The only problem with getting close to the pacer was the throng of runners stuck to him like flies round a jam jar, it was a little dicey as the route twisted and narrowed at times through the barrage area.

Miles 7 & 8
I knew this was where I had to start grafting while keeping my plan together knowing the the second big test of my plan lay three more miles away. I had taken my drink of water and decided on a caffeine energy gel at the same time. At this point I put away the remaining jelly beans and resolved that the gel was the last fuel that my system needed (and frankly would take - I have the growing feeling that some issues in last years near miss were from over using gels and upsetting my stomach).

Into the eighth mile I had a mini surge according to my GPS watch, but I don't remember trying to push and think perhaps it was just the distraction of the huge crowds while musing my fuelling plan change. I didn't do anything drastic but I recognised it and reigned it in before I went over the top.

Miles 9 & 10
At this point I sensed I was in shape to do the thing, although I noticed that the pacer was closing on me a little. I worked to keep concentration and keep my form.

Mile 11
The second big test - I have had issues around 11.5 miles in half-marathon runs and during my marathon at this distance out. I knew if I'd gotten the pacing right that I should ride it out, and in fact though I knew it was getting tougher to keep my pace (the GPS was giving me subtle hints!) I was managing it well.

Miles 12 & 13
There were two more rises through the closing section which I like to think took away my chances of pushing my pace on at all (ahem, wishing thinking probably). I worked hard on the inclines to keep the pace on target and keep my gap ahead of the pacer. Through these miles I began to really see that a PB was on the cards. The crowds through this section were even bigger, and as it was the student area very vocal.

The final dash and the line
As it happened the last bit was past my work on roads I know so very well. In the closing half a mile I knew that only an accident could take a sub-2 hour run from me, and happily I didn't fall foul of any mishap. It was a strange feeling knowing that I didn't have any need to have to sprint madly for a specific time - I was neatly under the 2 hour target.

My final time was 1hr 57min and 53seconds - and yes I think (I know) I pumped my fist with joy as I crossed the line. After the line the organisation was fantastic and though my legs were rapidly turning to jelly there was a good flow of runners so I didn't have to stop (where I would have probably stiffened up badly). I was not in ruins but I knew I had run hard and run well. Could I have gone faster? Perhaps, but I had trained with my final pace in mind and the target of sub-2hours as my primary goal so I executed my plan perfectly.

Summary
The weather was perfect, I marshaled my energies well, I listened to my stomach regarding gels, and I held to my plan - so all in all a good days running and a day to store away to remember during the tough road to my second marathon next year in Milton Keynes.

New PB - finally a sub-2hr half marathon!!

I am so pleased to report that on Sunday I indeed managed a sub-2hr half marathon after last year coming with 20seconds and having not finishing my last attempt at the distance. It feels great, and the buzz was a good one - I officially ran the Cardiff Half in 1hr 57min and 53seconds !!! :-D

More on my race and the event when I have more spare moments to put it all down on the keyboard.

Wittering on Wednesday - pre-race wobbles

Pre-race wobbles
So it is indeed race week, and grand though I try and make that sound all it really means is me and 17,999 other souls will run around the streets of Cardiff this Sunday. I am not 'in a race' - I have entered an event sure - but really I am not convinced I am racing anything other than perhaps the clock. Sure there are elite runners coming to race the Cardiff Half-marathon, but most of us are just doing it because we can and not to race the next guy or gal.

Why then do I find myself so charged the week of this thing? It is all about the culmination of a block of training, a set of efforts, to do this one distance at this one time as well as I can... and indeed that provides enough 'pressure' to quicken the nerves quite a bit.

Other Witterings
Ummm, well I don't have any... sorry, I blame the pre-race wobbles!!

Oh come on!

I was walking down the high street of my local city centre this lunchtime and low what did I behold but workmen installing Christmas lights - now fair enough these won't be officially turned on for some time yet, but yikes already?

In other "Oh come on!" news I run the Cardiff Half on Sunday, I have only one goal (two goals) which is to run the thing in under 2 hours (and to chill out as much as possible before and during). The prospects are not looking so great as I am getting over a pulled stomach muscle (gardening! don't ask!), and I have started a new job (so very tired from playing catch up / new guy last week and this). If I run the thing smart and with a cool head I have every chance of my primary goal... I just have that sneaking suspicion that my tired head might not make for the coolest come Sunday... I will of course blog all about it.

For the time being I am in prep mode, washing the kit I want to run in, buying the energy gels I plan to consume, putting my race number and pins in plain sight (!!!).

Diary - weather variable and autumn is here, windy, cool, shattered showers. I am currently grateful that I am again busy, and pleased that my little girl likes school. I am intrigued that we now have a ergometer in the house temporarily and yet I haven't gotten on the thing yet?!?! :-)

Wittering on Wednesday

Direction of travel

I have been reading a lot of posts on some great blogs of late admiring their clear senses of purpose, not simply with their running, but with their blogs themselves. There are those that diarise their activities so neatly they are compelling, some that give useful advice in amongst simple 'selling', and then there are those that are just down right entertaining. The direction of this collection of posts has always been somewhat eclectic, between rowing and running, between diary and advice, between reviews and new challenges, between weight loss log and training log. Why does this even bother me really? It is hard to put my finger on it, but I am coming to the opinion that I need to be a little firmer in what this thing actually is... maybe?!?!?

Driving tracks

As the Winter heads this way I am looking at some more time with my friend the elliptical trainer in the gym... even at this thought my brain said a loud "arrghh, must have distractions" and so I am on the hunt for new workout driving power tracks. Initial thoughts ranged around old favourites but a change up would be good so I went down the more current road towards Jay-Z, Tinie Tempah, Labrinth, David Guetta, Swedish House Mafia, et al... when I get to a new play list I will be sure to share. Any dance / pop / house / rap or other upbeat workout tune suggestions?

Motivation Monday - positively

Monday, Monday, such a day after the weekend that most mutter it twice. I decided to tackle it on the positive vibe, because I realised I have been colouring my year so far with the gloomy tones of having been ill in the middle of it. If I stripe that period out then I am actually left with a pretty healthy year of running progress, personal high water marks and new experiences tackled. Funny how short periods can mar the perception of a much longer one, us humans really do log negative experiences too well for our own good at times (of course Mr. and Mrs. Stone-age needed these risk avoiding memories of bad times way back in the day).

So for motivation today I am, as they say in various psychology circles, 're-framing' my experiences of the year to take out the glowing shiny positives :-)

For more sage, and frankly utterly intuitive, advice about positivity see this article published by the Guardian newspaper - Self help: forget positive thinking, try positive action *

* reference link in full - http://m.guardian.co.uk/science/2012/jun/30/self-help-positive-thinking?cat=science&type=article

Friday Fit-up(date) - a day too late

My Friday to Friday fitness activities log...

Fri - ran 3.80 miles - an easy pre-race run, during which I walked a couple of blocks to keep myself from doing to much.

Sun - Swansea Bay 10k - 51:32 a new PR.

Tues - ran 5.54 miles - slow and steady with a kick on the end, which was very pleasing.

Wed - Ergo three times 4 minute efforts - set a PR for this measure.

Fri - ran 3.86 miles of intervals (or what I am calling 'sprintervals' - I think you can see what I did there).

Weight - unchanged through the week.
High - new PR over 10k even though the weather was challenging.
Low - not managing to make more progress up the Concept2 challenge series leader-board.
Observation - Autumn is here as I did my first 'early' evening run in the dark for months.

Three Things Thursday - in pictures

One:

My fantastic finishers medal from last Sunday's Swansea Bay 10k run

 Two:

The last of my Brooks Beast running shoes?
Top - penultimate pair (now kick about shoes);  Bottom - final pair (maybe) of training shoes before I move over a different prescription shoe for good

 Three:

A family favourite toy reminding me of my other big exercise passion - you are never just a runner ;-)

For a friend - Rest in peace Jake-e-boy

Our dog, Jake, passed away this weekend just gone at the ripe old age of thirteen and a half , he suffered a stroke and so for reasons of his quality of life we choose euthanasia as simply the best thing for him. I was immediately hit by grief at his passing, flooded with good memories, and left at a loss at what I would do with out his company for daily walks. It is a true mark of a quality life of any living thing that they are remembered so fondly when they go and no one who had met him had anything but good words for him.

Jake, aged 13, stood looking all noble New Years day 2012

There are some things that come along in life that are hard to describe to those who perhaps haven't been in a similar situation, and I guess having a large pet in the house is one of those. Some people don't have cats or dogs (or any other pet) in their space for many reasons, those that do find their time changed by their presence. I had never really been sure about dog owning, I have a respect for them that borders on a mild fear. Having spent the last years with a greyhound in my life I am a convert to keeping dogs appropriately - we spent our time making sure we set good boundaries and reaped the rewards of treating our dog so well.

So thank you Jake for showing me what dogs are really all about and educating me properly in what it means to share your time with a non-human animal. We miss you, but we thank you for being the most lovely, faithful, cheeky, handsome greyhound a family could ever have.

                                        ================

Notes - my wife took Jake in from the lovely people at Greyhound Welfare (a registered charity that specializes in re-homing abandoned greyhounds in the South Wales area of the U.K.).

It seems odd that by coincidence it is Dog Week in the U.S.A.*, please remember rescue animals if you are thinking of a new pet this week or any week.
* I noted this mentioned on the blog Shut Up + Run and then found another reference link - http://www.petplace.com/dogs/national-dog-week/page1.aspx

"Blackbox" - Nick Walker

Carrying on my occasional non-sporting thread, here is another long overdue book review...

"Blackbox" - Nick Walker

"I can't remember where I saw the recommendation, I have a suspiscion it was just somethhing that floated to the top of my Amazon recommendation list.  I got it as a present for my birthday from my wife, and was really very pleased she went to the trouble.

The pacing and narrative are astonishing.  It is one of those books that once you get going is hard to put down, the pace draws you into it.  The subject matter is on the graphic side of gore, but the writing is clever enough in its humour to diffuse a large measure of any distaste.

Very much a modern read in its style and staccato, punchy construction; well worth a read.  Reading the back cover again afterwards I found that I had to agree with the shortest of the review clippings "Brilliantly developed... DARKLY COMIC" - Independent."

Basically seeing as I had been waxing lyrical (or not) about the books I'd read on LivingSocial's facebook app I thought may as well re-publish my opinion for anyone who finds my blog.

Swansea Bay 10k - how my race went

Now three out of five race runs that I have entered this year have featured wind, rain and cold weather so I am now very much accustomed to it. In fact it is probably true to say that I would have struggled far more this year if all the runs had been in clear sunny (hot) weather - I very much function better in cool conditions, I am one of those people who in general has a warm constitution (I am a human radiator very often). So that it turned out the Swansea Bay 10k was my third race in cold rainy conditions didn't really bother me too much.

The preparation for the race in general went well, I got my race pack in good time and had all the arrangements for the day straight (travel, the kids, fuelling, kit and so on). The organisation of the event is just great as they have run the event there for many years and the arrangements run pretty much like clockwork - even in the bad weather. The immediate pre-race was marred by the death of our family dog on the Saturday night, he had a stroke and was euthanized as a kindness as he had lost so much quality of life to the condition. He was my first dog (though he was my wife's before I met her / them) and so I found it very difficult, as we all did. I will be at a loss for some time, and days will be very different without him around.

In the end I was running for the memory of our dog and I think he might have appreciated my effort if not my speed - he was a greyhound after all :-) I set off to hold a pace quicker than the Cardiff race two weeks ago, but not to go crazy and go too fast. It looked like being a bad headwind on the homeward half of the race so I didn't expect to negative split, and if anything resolved to run the first half hard knowing there would be a slowdown. The slowdown didn't come, and in fact I did manage a good negative split running the fastest mile of the race in the final mile.

Spot the guy in the orange vest! - I went with bright colours on a rainy day :-)

During the run two people went past me just after the first two kilometers that I resolved to follow, they were talking between themselves so from that and their running style I reasoned they were on a schedule similar to my own target time. I was cheeky in using them a hare to chase, but I suppose I took a leaf from my greyhound friend and went with it. In the last two kilometers I could see they were flagging and pushed on beyond them. I looked up their times afterwards and we had identical times as they must have been a little way behind me in the start area.

The Swansea Bay 10k proved to be my best 10k race thus far, I managed a small personal best beating my old officially measured time by 4 seconds! My time was 51min 32secs - I will go under 50min at some point I can feel it. I was very pleased with how my run went, how I approached the pacing and the strength I found over the last mile.

At the moment I am so very pleased with my bounce back from a difficult summer of illness, I feel like I am somewhere near where I was in the spring with pace and fitness. I am determined to stick with three intelligent runs a week as a basic week (one long, one pace, and one intevals), from what I read there are advocates for this sort of training and it will allow me to mix in other training (rowing and so forth). The work from here is to build a solid Winter base for Spring races and hopefully more PBs (PRs).

Next stop the Cardiff Half-marathon in less than three weeks time.

Wittering on Wednesday - super brief

Due to a bout of tiredness, and I mean to the core tired, I haven't had the energy to think about wittering this week. I was in my bed just before 8pm last night and I feel like I could happily do the same again today... I am hoping it is just training fatigue after a busy weekend and that a couple of easy days will see me right.

I other news I am all set to shut down my 'Training' page and go back to popping training updates back into the day to day posts, though I have yet to decide a format (one decision at a time here! hehe!)... anyway here are the last weeks efforts...

Week beginning Mon 10th Sept 2012

Date	Cycle	Run	Stretch	Row	Ergo	Circuit	Gym
Mon	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
Tues	.	4.5mi	Y	.	.	.	.
Wed	.	.	Y	.	4 x 4min firm	.	.
Thurs	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
Fri	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
Sat	.	9.6mi	Y	.	.	.	.
Sun	.	5mi	Y	3trips		.	.

Concept II challenge series

So I have a new challenge in my life thanks almost wholly to an old school friend. The challenge is the monthly Concept2 challenge series.

http://concept2.co.uk/challengeseries/

Concept2, as far as I am aware, are a World leader in stationery rowing machines (ergo-meters) and on their UK website (and so probably their international sites) they have a range of coaching advice, training plans, on-line exercise trackers, and the challenge series. If you sign up to the series you then row a different challenge, either a different set distance to see how fast you can go, or a different set time each month to see how far you can go. Once you log your distance you are placed in rank order for your age group (and frankly the competitive element in you may then run rife). This month is see how far you can row in 4 minutes.

I am giving it a go as a new challenge, great core / full body workout to include in my mix, and as a cool thing to see how my old friend and I get on. As a former rower I thought it would be straightforward to do well, but my fitness strength seems to lie wholly in my running just now - so a regular challenge should help keep me all over toned.

Diary - warm, breezy, overcast with threat of heavy showers. Happy to have a new job, challenged by tweaking my blog about a little, and delighted that my girl is enjoying new school so much.

Wittering on Wednesday - including Tennis, legacy, heat, blogging and ice cream(!)

Special bit of wittering this Wednesday, Andy Murray has cracked it, in case you missed it (how could you) he won the US Open in a thrilling five set final against Novak Djokovic. The summer of shear joy for British sport just took another level step up, just when we all thought there was nowhere else it could go after Bradley Wiggins triumphed in the Tour de France, and the GB and NI team excelled during the London 2012 olympics. Phew, as a huge sports fan (aka TV sports-aholic) I am just about out of steam - I stayed up until gone 2am to hear Murray win on BBC radio.

Olympic bounce - local rowing legacy?

I ran into a former rowing colleague the other day who told me all about the apparent effect the Olympics has had on our local club, Llandaff Rowing Club. Each year an event called the "Pub and Club" is run which encourages teams of four from local workplaces, clubs and pubs to get together learn to row for a month culminating in the "Pub and Club sprint regatta". There were, I was told, queues down the stairs and out of the clubhouse door coupled with cars parked all over the place apparently during the initial sign up evening. As an event I know they will love it, it was my introduction to rowing and left me totally hooked.

Any sign of an Olympic 2012 legacy, or an inspire a generation, sports effect near you?

Bring the heat

I am trying, and I am not sure how I am doing, to mix up my running a little. Yeah I know my training log looks pretty much as it always has, but it belays a change in approach which is seeing more speed-work. For me speed-work is a relative term of course (closes mind to how fast the Olympians covered such distances), but having spent a very very long time running at and just below 10min/mile pace for greater and greater distances I have needed the change and gone looking for it. At the moment it is not especially structured with me doing one session a week (at a mid-range distance) with sprints or sustained bursts within it. Like I said I don't know how I am doing but I am certainly less 'bored' with working my way around every course at 10min per mile.

Wales Blogger awards

I have seen on other blogs mentions of the awards for Welsh bloggers (I first noticed it on the very professional http://www.girlontheriver.com/ blog via my twitter feed), unfortunately I don't read enough of them to give a real judgement about their merits but the short-list is a fun way of taking the temperature of blogs in this part of the World. Some I think will be retained as regular reads - more on those in another WoW perhaps.

Take a browse of the 'Peoples choice' nominees list if you like at http://www.walesblogawards.co.uk/peoples-choice-award/

Swansea next...

Not long now until I tackle the Swansea Bay 10k. I have to say I am looking forward not only to the course and a lovely day out by the sea with Mrs. Taffi but I am also looking forward to my Joe's Ice Cream. This is a family thing inspired by my wife's love of the ice cream that they concocted in their ice cream parlours, when we go to Swansea or the Mumbles (or anywhere vaguely close actually) we have to 'pop' in for an ice cream. Very good stuff it is too, and I am looking forward to a well earned scoop or three ;-)

Diary - sunny, shattered showers, modest breeze. I am feeling inspired by all things running at the moment, and reading loads of great blogs and magazine articles. Job interview later - which should be fun.

Cardiff 10k - how it went for me

Pre-race

I did what I haven't done for 18months and had a cup and a half of black coffee though it was in the name of running. Having read articles in running magazines and health magazines about the benefits of caffeine to sporting endeavour I gave it a go - though as an experiment I have no way of knowing how it would have gone without (I don't have an identical me around to run the control experiment for me). Needless to say it is my last cup unless, and until, I decide it might be useful for another race event.

Everything went well, I got my food right, I got my kit right, and even timed my arrival at the portaloo start area just right as well. I cycled into the city centre so I had a nice gentle warm up on the way in enjoying the near perfect weather on Sunday morning.

Pre-race during an early dog walk to get moving
- note I already made sure I would find my race number pins later :-)

The race

I had no goal in mind really, I knew my PB was not going to be in any danger but I didn't want it to be my worst time either. Within the start zone I worked out roughly where to put myself in the field, and on purpose choose the outside of the masses on the side of the first major bend. My primary aim was to go out at a pace that felt right, not too fast and not too slow - Goldilocks speed! Through the first mile I felt that I had found the pace I was looking for and began to feel out what could be possible for the miles that followed.

The second mile goes up a the gentlest of inclines along a nice wide street, and here I opted to hold a rhythm rather than try much with pacing. I had figured after the third mile was the place to enjoy the very slight decline and try to move on. My Garmin was telling me good things so I wanted to keep a flow. The support along the route was great, and there was a nice atmosphere amongst the runners. For a change there were not too many latecomers (or nutters) deciding to sprint through the crowds chasing their times, a lot of the runners seemed to be in training for the Cardiff half marathon in a months time so perhaps this helped to make a settled pack of runners.

Through the second half of the race I focused more on maintaining a sensible pace instead of my plan to push along harder. I was not sure what I had in terms of a pace lift, and didn't want to push in any way that might set back my training again. It became clearer to me that I was 'feeling' my way through the thing with the biggest fear being a new injury. Happily my watch was reassuring me that things were steadily moving toward a decent time.

Within the last half a mile I did step on a little and down the final straight-away I strode out without full on sprinting. In the final GPS analysis I managed a happy even pacing and even a negative split (albeit small) for the race. My official finish time was 54min 37sec, my third fastest 10k only a minute slower than the same race last year (which had a much much better preparation phase).

SportsTracks plot of my 2km split times for the Cardiff 10K

Post-race

I collected my race medal, a very nice little number, that made me smile a nice cheesy "thank you" grin at the volunteer handing them out. Afterwards I collect a free bottle of water then strolled through the athletes village (which was very well appointed with some very tempting shop stands!). On the bike ride home I saw some of the rest of the field coming in and again broke into a cheesy grin or ten at the looks of joy on their faces as the finish line appeared before them. The ride home was good for my legs, which I treated to an ice shower to help any yet to develop aches. Already in my head I was throwing forward to the Swansea 10k and Cardiff Half with excitement having gotten the autumn races off to a good solid start :-)

My fab Cardiff10K completion medal
(that now hangs with my small but growing running medal collection)

Post post-race

Two days on and I am still happy with how it went, the aches developed in a good way (if that is ever possible!) in that I felt mild un-troubling aches in the 'right' places. After a couple of days recovery I now hope to put a good block in before the next race arrives.