Wednesday 28 February 2018

3 x 5k avoiding the beast from the east

17k on treadmill: 3 x 5k on 3.45s

London is as cold and snowy as I have ever known it to be. Totally bonkers.













Tuesday 27 February 2018

Longer commute

Stunningly cold day with the sun providing us with some much needed relief in sub zero temperatures ahead of the forecast ‘beast from the east’ hitting.

Stopped at the Greenwich meantime observatory to take in the view and take the obligatory iPhone shots.

24k dead slow and no reaction to the foot.

An idyllic morning. Thanks to D for putting up with my slow pace.







Monday’s brain explosion

Under the cosh and right foot sore on the bone I broke in 2013. Need to keep up with the single leg balance exercises otherwise it will keep coming back.

PM - 25 mins yoga / stretch after seeing Mi, Paul and baby M at the hospital.

Rest day and no run. I am really benefitting from them.

Messing around with Ryder Roo and Tommy off to school with his mates:









Baby Mclafferty

.....so my sis gave birth - a baby girl... a little early but she is gorgeous! So happy for them both.

Mad, because Jacqui and I were in the pub with them on Saturday arvo 3 hours before she popped.

I now have one of the best claim to fames in that I shared with Paul his final pint as a non Dad! Quite a feat!

AM - run chat with Messi around the park pacing Kip’Rory for part. All of my U.K. contingency are flying including DS who we also saw mid session.

PM - Undone by Arry in the 89th minute at Selhurst (Palace 0 - the divers 1)


















Saturday 24 February 2018

Messi Super Saturday

Yesterday I finally committed to racing London. It’s been on my mind and was unsure if I had the mental willpower to give it another go. Last weekend running my Hilly Long in 4.09s was a confidence booster and just the tonic I needed.

My new motto is to train as hard as I possibly can. Leave nothing on the table. ‘What’s the worst that can happen?’.

I’ve been drilling Jack and Lucas that they need to train with the same intensity as they play games.  In other words, you have to train well to play well. I am finally going to take some of my own medicine! This does not mean that I’ll be flogging myself with 130k weeks. It’s going to be simple from hereon-in: Monday easy, Tuesday tempo, Wednesday MLR (2 hours slow), Thursday speed, Friday very easy, Saturday LR incorporating tempos like today, Sunday c.15k easy.

Today I would have liked not to have worked as hard as I did for the 15k tempo. It wasn’t entirely comfortable holding 3.45s with Messi leading the way. Anyway we got it done despite the wind. After 2 jogged ks we launched straight into Park Run with Daniel and Briony now also on board. My legs felt good and so went for it finishing 3rd in under 18 minutes (3.40s).

30k in 4.01s.

https://www.strava.com/activities/1423012017





Johnny and Sammy

Tired and busy. 8k jog and back to Nike Town to pick up my new Zoom Flys.

Bumped into this legend:




Thursday 22 February 2018

Tenterhooks and 2 hours

7am meet with Dan at Bromley South. Chatting all the way to Blackeheath, Greenwich Park (humming the London marathon theme tune), Cutty Sark, the Greenwich Thames underwater path, Docklands, Tower Bridge and finally onto Fleet Street. 24k in 5s (2 hours).

Left knee sore again. I think it’s the Nike Pegasus Zooms. Saw Mark P at lunch who helped it a little.

Tenterhooks....

6 x 1k

Never do sessions back to back but this week has to be unorthodox.

1k intervals (3.29s) with 400m active recovery on the treadmill. Felt better than yesterday. 12k.

Tuesday 20 February 2018

2 x 5k

Told myself to start the sessions. Today was the first and it hurt. 2 x 5k (3.45s) on the work gym treadmills. Painful.

12k with warm up and down.

Monday 19 February 2018

Rest

Fatigued today coupled with a busy day in the office.

Stretched and did my running yoga at lunch to try and loosen up. The left knee is a little beaten up due to all the hills of last week. Pretty sure it’s just a tight left hip and calf.

Going to do more of these rest days.

Hilly Long solo (33k in 4.09s / 467 vertical meters)

Family commitments meant that my only window was mid afternoon (Sunday). The morning was spent with the boys finishing their half term homework and Jack’s game (the other boys had no game). On a heavy pitch Jack’s team were not great but they still won 8-1. Henry Thomas is the centre forward and it helps that he’s the London schools 100m champion. He’s lightening.

Before leaving I cooked dinner which took the pressure off and set off with a view to pushing the initial 14k which is almost entirely uphill. What’s the worse could happen? I told myself.  The ks were ticking over around 4.10s having to work hard though to keep it there managing to complete the Layham’s road section before crossing the main road ahead of the next undulating part. The route then swoops down on Beddlestead Lane followed by the 4k slog up to the far main road and the left hand turn towards Tattsfield. It reminds me of a scene out of the Danny the Champion of the World with all the pheasants flying around. This section really hurts too and reached the high point with the average having risen to 4.14s but still 9 seconds per k quicker than 3 weeks ago.

The next 2 or 3k are marginally downhill and is always where I try to recover. In theory it is all downhill from that point but there are 3 or 4 really nasty short and sharp hills to tackle. Slowly the average started falling to around 4.10s before the most extreme hill of them all, the bugger just before Downe which knocked the stuffing out of me. It was then a case of holding on for the final 8 or so ks to get home for a 4.09 average. 2 hours and 17 minutes and absolutely faarked.

https://www.strava.com/activities/1414277517

This evening it was calm in our house which is definitely not normal.

Saturday 17 February 2018

Ambleside and Windermere

AM - slow jog on the shores of Derwentwater in unexpected warm and brilliant sunshine which lit up the lake with the silhouette of the surrounding peaks. Mesmerising. 10k and slow.

PM - after packing up we lunched in Ambleside at the Apple Pie again. More beef and ale pies and am beginning to look like one but oh boy are they worth it.

Final reflections of the week in the Lakes - it exceeded expectations. The dramatic landscape was better than I recalled. Keswick is also a really nice place. It has great pubs and umpteen trails to get lost on. The people are super friendly. My forefathers come from this part of the world. As my dad told, they were poor folk. My great grandfathers family moved around the lakes starting in Cockermouth, Keswick and then onto Kendal.

* The drive home was sunny the entire way but just as we reached Stoke all of a sudden a black cloud emerged. Needless to say it passed as soon as we left Stoke behind.















Buttermere

My favourite day so far.

AM - run up to the summit again but feeling jaded after all the hills. 10ish ks.

Still the AM - drive along the Derwentwater shoreline towards Grange and then onto Borrowdale where the two elder boys had been with their school walking in June last year. The valley is pristine and Lord of the Rings’esque. Then the bit I had most been waiting for, the drive over Honister Pass and one of the most exhilarating drives to be had in Britain. We stopped at the col at the very top, at the slate mine to take in the 360 views. The pictures simply don’t do justice.

The valley then meanders down toward Buttermere where we stopped for an early lunch at the local cafe before marching the boys out of the car park to tackle the circuit around the north easterly perimeter - see map below.

It was perhaps best we were blind to the difficulty level. As as soon as we reached any sort of height the wind became more and more intense. With views now over looking the lakes Buttermere and Crummock Water we followed the group ahead along the hill top and a series of false summits. After 4 or so times of thinking we’d reached the top we finally arrived at the heighest outcrop having to  scramble over the hard rock.

The walk down was quite treacherous. When alone I am fine but having the family there and the added responsibilities that go with it I must admit a little fear crept in. Instead of the slow drag on the way up this went all the way down to the valley floor within a matter of a few hundred meters.

Down and safe we followed the lake back around to the delightful Buttermere to drive home.

Evening - family dinner at the Royal Oak in Keswick and a few pints. Thoroughly recommend in particular the steak and ale pie as well as the sticky date pudding. Everyone in good spirits.

Run: https://www.strava.com/activities/1410380454

Walk: https://www.strava.com/activities/1410381543