Day 108 - There better be coffee in heaven

Continuing with my cunning plan from last year ... set a suitable target for a run, and hopefully grovel coffee (and sometimes Flapjacks) when you get there. It's incentive driven, and means you get to catch up with numerous friends at the end and enjoy a relaxing coffee afterwards.

mmm ... coffee ... mmm

So, today it's off to Chuckle's House (a.k.a. Adrian) which worked out as about 18km away ... well it shouldn't have been but I went the wrong way in one village and realised when I saw the sign for the place I was meant to be going pointing back the other way (grrrrr... grisel... etc.). To add to the shame my GPS has a lovely 'loop of shame' in it to remind me of what I did - DOH!

It wasn't the easiest today as it was only my third run after flu, but since i'm running in IceMan next Saturday and that's a 12km trail race - I thought I'd better get on with it. I must confess some of the run today was rather more like walking - but once I had recovered I could at least get back up to speed.

Today's lesson though was, take some fluid with you - as I got a bit parched about 12 Km in and had nothing to drink until I got to Chuckle's house for coffee (I know its a diuretic - but he does make amazing coffee) - followed by about 3 cups of water to up the fluids.

Time to recover now methinks .... or maybe i'll just watch Warehouse 13 on Syfy.

Day 103 - A sneaky lunchtime run

OK - Although last night was a good run at the gym - the only ways i'm going to make it there is either:
a) First thing in the morning - ha ha ha! For those that know me, I'm with Garfield for the whole morning thing; or
b) After work - which means getting home about 9pm ... ZZZzzzz ....

So today I took 'Option 3' - run at work during lunch.

Actually not too bad, the weather was good; and once out there it was nice (but a bit odd). I know a few others run at lunch time at work, but completely missed them. I am really getting to like the MyTracks on my phone as the real time stats is great - and it also helps sort out the 'How far? I  don't believe you' comments quickly as it overlays the route on a google map.

So, lets see what the weather is like tomorrow ... I might go for another run....

Day 102 - First bit of training of 2011

Blahhhh! - that's a technical term (honest).

Since Christmas Day i've had flu (real flu - not man flu), so today was my first chance to get back to the gym and  get back to some training.  It's taken over two weeks to recover which means no training ... not much of anything really.

Tonight was mainly a combination of running and cycling - only 9k in total, but a start. I don't feel too bad either so, something must be working right.

Right time to relax and watch Mars Attacks!

Day 85 - Cool Runnings

More dog running today ... we have cats so I have to borrow next doors.

This time I 'borrowed' Archie and ran off for about 30 mins around the snow covered parks. This dog borrowing seems to be working well, I thought I would try with the cats, but they won't leave the lounge in this weather let alone run anywhere. These spikes are saving me at this time (phew)...
right thats it ...
one more sleep until Christmas.

Day 80 - Fly me to the 'Molly' Moon

More fun in the snow :)

Today I had a running partner ... 

... a furry running partner

... no, not a gorilla

... it was 'Molly' one of my neighbour's dogs 

You see a while ago I made the offer 'if you need any dogs walked/ran then let me know...' and today decided to put my feet where my mouth is (well you know what I mean).

Also time to try out the new spikes, and once equipped with the all important doggie treats and  poop bag off we go.

Initially Molly wasn't sure where we were going as she saw the rest of her pack head out to the car for their walkies; but once we made it out of our street she was fine and in the words of 'It's a Knockout' - 'Away we go!'. 

We went for a couple of laps of the football pitches, then over to the Rugby pitches and all the park round there. Past all the tobogganing children (and parents) - who seemed confused how I could run up a hill (did I mention spikes) with a doggie; we met several other doggies on the way and a few other runners and finally made our way back.

Molly was safely returned home in about an hour, and after a nice cup of tea (many many thanks) left her to sleep on the sofa - she looked a very happy sleepy doggie :)

The other news is that todays run has taken me over 100 miles in training which I am so chuffed about :)

Day 79 - Was that a Sasquatch?

That was an unintended break from training ...

I think that HellRunner and MudMan may have played silly beggers with my right ankle (little ouches) and so an unplanned break from training has given me a chance to recover. I was planning to have the break over Christmas ...so, Christmas came early this time.

Lets see if it worked...

With all this snow .. why not go for a ParkRun .... With only 33 in the field then I knew I would get a personal best placing regardless of the time.

Did I not mention ... last ParkRun before Christmas ... out comes the Gorilla suit.

A Sasquatch sighting?

Or was a Gorilla? 

The "ParkRun spot the Gorilla" competition

Stop trying to hide in the snow and start running ...

...finally here comes the Gorilla !!!

Yay I came 12th which was fantastic in just over 27 minutes - not bad since the weather was rather tricky and I was wearing a gorilla suit (btw it was Geraldine today).

After the run I went into town to see my good friend Dave Holby finish off 40000km rowing challenge around the world on a rowing machine  - check out http://www.worldrecordrow.com to read how he raised so much for Breakthrough Breast Cancer.

Well done Dave - you have inspired us all

Next year we will be running together in the London Marathon, so I had better let him have a few days off to recover before we start training.

Day 65 - Why do Gorillas wear bananas on their feet?

This week has been spent recovering from the run through the 'Fetid Pit' of last week...

So, here is what it's taken to get my shirt 'mostly white' clean after the 'Bog of Doom'...

How many washes to 'wash that bog right out of my hair'?

As I said 'mostly white'- I don't think it will ever be back to normal again - and neither will any of the runners.  The assistant at Alton Sports and Katie both suffered from the cold  (OK Hypothermia seems like the best word for it).

Back to the training, today was 'Mud Man'  .... 'Slush Man' more like ...as the snow of the last week meant this week's event might not have been a goer...

But today, off we went to Pirbright for another 10am start...

Yet another Gorilla sighting

It's the second in the Asics 'Off Road Series' also known as the guys who make 'runs that are designed for goats'. This weeks challenges included going up and down really steep 'icy & slushy' hills - or was it the same hill about  5 times ... oh yes it was! and did I mention it was another 10k?.

So once I navigated the slush, the hills, the frozen mud and the doggies  (I really like the idea of running with doggies) I made it back to the finish line in 1:10:13 - not PB for 10k but given the weather I am really pleased not to have hurt anything while 'slippin' & slidin' ...

Now where's that Radox...