Urban Massage Review

I was lucky enough to receive free entry into the North London Half Marathon via Urban Massage who were one of the races sponsors. You can read how I got on here: (spoiler - I had a great run and recorded my second fastest time).

As if a free race entry wasn't enough I was also lucky enough to receive a free massage! It was like my Christmas and Birthday coming at once! 

So in case you didn't know know Urban Massage are a massage provider with a difference, not only do they offer a wide range of massages and treatments they send a therapist straight to your home or workplace. With their extensive range of over 300 therapists they also pride themselves on being able to provide you with a massage appointment within a few hours offering a high standard of flexibility and convenience to customers. 

You can also choose your own therapist allowing you to pick someone with the right experience and expertise so you can tailor your treatment to meet your requirements.

So how was my massage? 

I naturally opted for a sports massage (although Urban Massage do provide the usual array of massages from thai massage, deep tissue and reflexology) which I booked in for an evening after work. 

Pre massage I went through the usual anxiety you get when you invite a stranger into your home, after a frantic 15 minutes cleaning the flat I was sat ready and waiting for my therapist. 

Soon enough Andreas turned up for our appointment, after a quick chat I was pleased to hear he had experience in endurance training and had completed several marathons in the past and was now focusing on long distance cycling. 

Before I knew it a full size massage bed had been erected in the flat and Andreas had unpacked a range of fresh towels from his holdall in a sight similar to a scene from Mary Poppins. 

What followed was a generous hour of an incredibly beneficial sports massage that really soothed my muscles after the ravages of several weeks of marathon training.

I found Andreas to be very knowledgeable not only on his understanding of muscles but also on common running injuries and ailments as well knowing about general fitness and running issues. 

I was also happy with Andreas's assessment that other than a bit of tightness in my hip flexors my legs were in good condition. 

The session was finished off with Andreas demonstrating a stretch I could use to help elevate my hip flexor tightness and some general advice on how I could maximise my running conditioning through stretching. 

As we chatted the towels were rolled up, Andreas packed his bag and before I knew it the bed was folded up and put away and my flat was returned to being a normal flat as opposed to a massage treatment room. 

Now here is the best part, you know after a massage when you feel all relaxed and chilled out? The last thing you want to do is to get on a busy train home right? Well all I had to do was grab a protein shake from the kitchen and sit down on the sofa with my feet up ready to enjoy the rest of my evening. Perfect! 

I would recommend considering Urban Massage for any massage you were thinking of booking as the convenience their service provides is a great benefit.

Thank you to Urban Massage for providing me with a free massage in return for a review. Although this massage was received free of charge all opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own. 

My weekly training update

This time last week I had just completed the Hackney Half Marathon and after some rest and recovery and some post race eating it was time to look forward with my training plans. 

Rather than looking ahead to my next event this time my focus has been on rest and recovery. 

Since the start of the year I have struggled with my calves, tightness and pain often when walking and especially when running. My calves have always been my week spot ever since I started running many years ago. A few years back I went for a sports massage as part of treatment for what I thought was shin splints only to be advised that my problems were more likely to be a result of compartment syndrome in my calf muscles. After some treatment and rest I was back up and running but I have always paid close attention to any discomfort in my calves and given them special attention in terms of extra strectching and foam rolling. 

But now the problem has returned and I know I will need a period of rest before I am ready to resume with my running. 

So this week instead of enjoying the light and warm spring evenings out running I have instead been indoors on the sofa looking a bit like this:

I have a sports massage booked for tomorrow so I know that will help and I will see what I am advised in terms of when I should get back to running. 

Away from training the other notable news from me is that I have now set up a Facebook page for my blog, if you would like to follow me on Facebook here's a link to my page, thanks! 

Nutrition wise I have been more relaxed in my diet and have enjoyed a few homemade pizzas this week. Comprising of a whole grain wrap as a base, whatever veggies and bits in the fridge I have for toppings topped off with cheese they are a really tasty snack and a slightly healthier option to a takeaway or frozen pizza. 

I am also in the midst of a food addiction at the moment, it's not the unhealthiest of food addictions so I have not fought to curb my addiction. It is however starting to dominate my fridge: 

My addiction is yogurt! I just can't stop eating it! Whether it's a few spoonfuls as a snack, as part of a smoothie or with yogurt I am loving it! Especially Yeo Valley Vanilla and Blueberry flavours and Icelandic Skyr yogurt not only because it reminds me of my recent trip to Iceland but because it's so high in protein and so low in fat! I would definitely recommend trying it out! 

Thanks for reading and I hope everyone is out enjoying the early summer sunshine. 

My homemade protein bar experiment

So I decided to make myself some homemade protein bars. It was a spare of the moment decision, I saw an easy to make recipe online when looking for some circuit training ideas and as I am running low on whey powder i thought why not give it ago!

I popped into my local supermarket on the way home and soon enough I was in the kitchen making a mess concocting my very own protein bars.

So how did they turn out I hear you ask?

Ummm.....

Pretty awful!

They are calorific, don't have much protein in and don't taste too good at all.

Protein bars aren't meant to be super tasty like chocolate bars so I wasn't surprised they didn't taste great and they had a similar consistency to your average protein bar that is grainy, unnatural and pretty much unpleasant.

I shouldn't have been surprised really as the ingredients are pretty basic, oats, milk a bit of honey and peanut butter, a lot of peanut butter, OK they are basically just peanut butter! This goes someway to explain why they aren't any good! 

After a quick bit of maths I worked out that although at pretty great value at just 20p a serving a return of only 12g of protein and about 400 calories ago was unbelievably awful!

So now I am stuck with a fridge full of homemade high calorie yuck which doesn't really deliver on my specification of being a post workout high protein hit.

So other than providing an amusing baking fail to amuse readers all I have done is waste a perfectly good tub of peanut butter!

Someone must have some better suggestions? Anyone any have recipes or ideas to improve on my efforts? It would be great to hear from you if you have any suggestions and if you fancy a try of my protein bars please do get in touch! It will save me eating it all!

Robin Hood Marathon Race Report

The Robin Hood Marathon, Nottingham 2014, the second time I have ran this marathon in addition to the two times I have completed the half, my fourth marathon overall and the second in my three marathons in three months series.

Despite experiencing an awful build uphttp://www.beoutrunning.com/2014/09/48-hour-marathon-countdown.html the run had a very satisfying if surprising outcome I must admit.

Although I missed out on my sub 4 hour target I still achieved a PB of 4.09.55 some 16 minutes knocked off my PB time!

The Robin Hood Marathon has started advertising its new route as being flat with great PB potential and this proved to be very much the case. Any hills I remembered from the old route have been taken out to leave a course as flat as a pancake!

Arriving in Nottingham on Saturday afternoon I was eager to stretch my legs after the long car journey and I did so with an enjoyable walk along the Trent to the race village.

Its always nice to settle yourself by seeing the start area the night before and to get an idea of things before the storm of some 10,000 runners hits!

The only other preparation I did was to make sure I drank plenty of water so I was well hydrated and to lay out my race kit ready for the morning. 

Along with a steady 5 minute jog on the hotel treadmill I also had a good stretch before treating my legs to a relaxing 10 minute Jacuzzi session which I found most beneficial!

Saturday evening I picked a local Harvester restaurant for my pre race dinner as I thought this the best option to replicate my usual pre race dinner. I ordered a half roast chicken with mashed potato and tucked into a bowl of salad from the salad cart managing to restrain myself to not adding any of the tempting but fat filled diary based sauces and dressings. For any regular harvester customers in case your wondering, the salad cart really loses its appeal when you take the sauces and dressings out of the equation!

I did cause a certain amount of confusion from our server when I requested a side order of a jacket potato in addition to my mashed potato. I don't think anyone had ever not ordered chips as their potato based side before and the shock at someone wanting to order what is surely the least attractive side option in the form of a jacket potato was clear to see by the   confusion on his face. Still I managed to get enough calories and carbohydrate from my evening meal to stand me in good stead for the race ahead.

Race morning came around after a pretty good nights sleep and despite the same lack of enthusiasm for marathon running that had haunted me all week I felt OK.

By OK I mean that I felt tense, pensive and all together not in a good mood but physically just about alright.

The race itself

My aim was clear, I knew to have any chance of running under 4 hours I needed to clock the first half at comfortably under 2 hours and I was aiming for around the 1 hour 50 mark.

After some terrible organisation and lack of communication with runners the race finally got under way along and I set off along with around 10,000 other runners.

As you would expect from a large race for the first few miles I was somewhat cramped in and unable to run at a natural pace and had to very much go with the flow. I was still happy enough with the early pace and once I got settled into a rhythm decided I needed to work hard through the next few miles to get myself on track for hitting 10K and then halfway on target.

The early miles were plagued by concern over my bladder as soon after the start I started to develop toilet urges, luckily these were only for a straightforward call of nature for a number 1 and the dreaded urge for the far more complicated number 2 never came.

Most of the scenery in the early part of the course was pretty grim as we ran around the roads in and out of the Boots factories and warehouses so I was able to concentrate on the running. I did work hard and managed to get ahead of both the 2 hour half marathon pacer and the 4 hour marathon pacer. 

After several miles in I was pleasantly relieved to notice the worst hill (going through the University of Nottingham campus) I remembered from previous years had been completely taken out! 

We were soon heading back towards the city centre and out onto the Trent for the split at 11 miles where the marathon runners go on to complete their 15 extra grueling miles away from the buzz of the city centre and race village. 

I think it is this race that has galvanised in my mind that I much prefer smaller events with a few hundred runners as opposed to the mass participation city centre affairs. With this in my mind the split with the half marathon runners held no fear for me, to give you an idea of the split and the solitude of the marathon around 1500 people complete the marathon compared with some 7500 half marathon runners. As I approached the marathon split it must have been easily a 80%+ split of runners heading to the finish to complete the half marathon.

With the marathon now well under way I felt pretty motivated as I kind of thrived on the sense of having a superiority over the half marathon runners as I was partaking in a grander challenge.

I duly hit the 13 mile mark in a little over my target time of 1 hour 50, now it was time to get to work and focus if I wanted to finish in and around the magical 4 hour mark. I set myself a target of 25 minutes for the 16 mile mark and my next energy gel, 8.20 mile splits pretty tough going but attainable. I rose to the challenge with relish trying not to focus on the scenic part of the course around Colwick Country Park.

16 miles was hit in my target time and I allowed myself to walk for a bit while I adjusted my hydration pack, took on an energy gel and gathered my thoughts for the remaining miles. I felt good with a feeling of having plenty in the tank and knowing that I was still ahead of the 4 hour pacer made me feel confident. 

As I prepared myself to start running again half a dozen or so runners breezed past me running strong, a white haired gentleman in the middle had the 4 hour pacer flag attached to his back.

Gutted! A real body blow punch tot he stomach kind of feeling! 

Undeterred I was confident I could keep with them until at least the 20 mile mark. The pace however I found a bit much and I fought to keep up, by mile 18 I realised maintaining the faster pace was not only not doing me any good but was not sustainable.

I had to slow it down, I have always considered miles 18-22 the toughest miles in the marathon, its where many runners hit 'the wall' and even though you have broken the back of the race 8 miles is a hell of a long way to go and there is a whole lot of running ahead of you!

Miles 18 & 19 were tough, it was a constant battle to not walk while I tried to push myself to keep going as fast as my legs would carry me.

The mental battle raging in my head was not helped by the sight of at least three other runners on the road side looking in a bad way receiving medical attention. On the one hand I was trying to push myself to my limit while the plight of other runners passed out on the floor warned me to not push too hard.

Luckily these miles didn't drag on too long and mile 20 was soon in sight. This was the part I remember vividly from my last attempt where my aim had been to run to the 20 mile mark. Mile 20 is the point of the course where you come out onto the great expanse of water that is Holme Pierrepont the former national water sports centre.The lake is 2km+ long and a few hundred metres wide and the marathon route encompasses about three quarters of it. Many runners find this section completely soul destroying as the water seems to go on forever, which to be fair it pretty much does! I was prepared for it though and stuck to my tactic of only allowing myself to walk small pre defined sections before running again.

Mile 22 came around pretty quickly and with it the smell of the finish line. By now I was in a great routine of running as far as I could, slowing down to a walk, taking a few deep breathes, counting out ten paces before setting off running again. The tactic was working well apart from a sharp pain that kept reoccurring in my left hip which did curtail my efforts. 

The last mile or so of the course  really tests your mental toughness as you head back towards the finish all be it on the wrong side of the river. You can hear the cheers from the finish area, the commentator welcoming runners to the finish but although you are only a few hundred metres away there is still over a mile to go, so near and yet so far! 

The relief at crossing the bridge towards the finish life injected me with a shot of caffeine like energy for a few hundred metres at least. The last half mile I managed to keep a steady jog going as I pursued my new target of finishing in under 4 hours 10, unfortunately my watch was out of sync with the official timings so I ended up a bit close to comfort to my target!

Overall I was pleased with my performance and felt satisfied with how well I ran. Being honest I know I wasn't in as good as shape as my last two marathons and my last two weeks of preparation left me in a much weaker state physically and mentally than I had been previously before a marathon. 

My initial reaction to finishing the marathon was to repeatedly mutter 'running is horrible!' which indeed it is! I came close to a Steve Redgrave moment of almost declaring to my wife I didn't want anything to do with another marathon ever again but I knew the pain and anguish would only be temporary.

The last few days since the marathon have reminded me how great running is though as I reflect back on my achievements and bask in the glow of a great accomplishment. The great feeling of running a marathon that lasts for 2/3 days after running one is an almighty feeling that drives me on and motivates me to want to run more marathons despite the hardships of training and the pain endured while running.

Looking back at my marathon 48hours on

Now 48 hours+ after finishing the marathon on Sunday the dust has settled  and I can look back a little more clearly. 

Yesterday, the day after running my marathon I felt great! Not just normally great but superbly great! I had so much energy both physically and mentally, my legs felt a little achy but I was still able to walk around spritely enough and still bounded up stairs at work and at the train station with my customary energy.

Even today I still feel really good, I keep waiting for some DOMS to hit me with some post marathon pain but so far nothing.

My only ailments post run have been:

• Achy feet, kind of to be expected after pounding 26 miles! 
• A sore big toe nail on my left foot, again standard stuff for a long distance runner.
• A really tight sore lower back yesterday morning I think this was more caused by my tired muscles sitting in my office chair for an extended period.

Non of these cause me any concern, I was dreading Monday as I thought walking would be painful, I would be too drained to work effectively and I would just feel really rough, but I was completely fine. 

The only thing causing concern is my right foot under my big toe and on the ball of my foot. It started as an injury three weeks before the marathon, see blog here and after a few days rest I was able to get back running. With careful monitoring I knew it wasn't getting any worse when walking or running , even when I covered 29km. Post marathon though the pain has amplified, my own diagnosis would suggest Sesamoiditis or Metatarsalgia and I am growing more convinced I should seek a professional medical opinion.

So far my recovery work post marathon has consisted of:

• A 20 minute walk on Sunday evening followed by a stretch and an ice bath at home.
• A gentle 10 minute ride on my stationary exercise bike at home followed by a stretch and a roll with my foam roller.
• A 40 minute walk into work this morning

I feel ready to run again!

I am so excited to start training for my next marathon in approximately 6 weeks. After my experience at this marathon I feel I have a greater understanding of the marathon distance and a better appreciation of what it takes to run a sub 4 hour marathon.

I know I need to hit my training hard for this next marathon an that means more strength work, more sprints, more intervals, more hill running and more milage!

I can't wait to start my new training chapter from tomorrow, bring it on!!!

Thanks for reading and for all the messages following the marathon . What are your tips for recovering from a marathon and for getting stronger for the next one? I look forward to all your suggestions....

Vanguard Way Marathon Report

Time to reflect on my third marathon yesterday and my first of three marathons in the next three months. Warning this blog may turn into a bit of a marathon read and doesn't even fully cover everything that happened along the way! 

Yesterday I completed the Vanguard Way Marathon, a small local trail marathon starting out in South Croydon following the Vanguard Way trail out to Limpsfield and back. The race was organised by a member of the 100 marathon club and I was in awe of some of the runners I ran with who were rightly introduced and acknowledged at the start of the race, a few had run in the region of 500 marathons and one gentleman was on the verge of completing his 1000th marathon in the coming weeks! If that didn't motivate me to run then I don't know what would have!

The run turned out to be really enjoyable with some great trails, countryside and scenery to experience. I enjoyed some great running and felt stronger and ran more than in previous marathons. I also experienced some great camaraderie with my fellow runners along the course. 

The marathon turned out to be a rather eventful few hours of running.

Preparation

In the week leading up to the marathon I had very much enjoyed 'the fun part to marathon training', that is the bit where you get to eat loads under the guise of 'carb loading'. Despite eating lots I managed to keep it all healthy and clean with lots of potato, flapjacks and tortilla wraps, you can read about some of my carb loading fun here. 

I felt pretty good in the build up to the run although I had missed out on a few long training runs due to illness and injury, see previous blog articles here.

The start of the marathon was about an hours drive from home, so I made sure I was all organised and ready to go the night before with only a little bit of packing in the morning. We set off in good time and we managed to find our way their easily and got there in plenty of time. I say 'we' as although I wasn't running with anyone I had my number one supporter my wife with me acting as driver, support crew, photographer and cheer leader.

This was my first event with my camelpack and I must say it worked out well as it was comfortable to wear, allowed me to stay well hydrated throughout the run and I was able to carry energy gels a lot more comfortably than my running bum bag I used previously.

The Actual Run

The marathon was a small scale trail marathon only in its second year. The course was marked out with tape and spray paint arrows which required a certain amount of self navigation and awareness to ensure you stayed on the right track.

Lets just say that although I didn't have any real running problems my navigation wasn't as successful! 

Detour number 1

After around 3 or 4 miles I was part of a largish group of maybe ten runners coming down a trail picking up a decent speed enjoying a decline in the trail. We came to the bottom of the section, over a crossroads in the path and I followed everyone through another gate up onto the next part of the trail. As the trail started to get steeper I was now part of a group of maybe 20 runners when 2 or 3 runners started to raise questions over whether we were on the right path and if any markers had been spotted. After a bit of discussion they decided to head back but I made the decision to press up following the majority of the other runners ahead of me.

It turns out we had missed our turning and had ended up going up and around the golf course rather than along the bottom of it an up the other side. After a mile or two we met up with the proper route again and I think the detour only added a short distance to the course. Although I was at fault for not observing course markings and getting caught up with the group I don't consider this error to be my fault which is frustrating as it cost a lot of time in deliberating and discussing which way to go and how to proceed.

Detour number 2

Just after the half way turnaround I was running with another guy who I had been running with for several mile and we had struck up quite a bit of conversation about the course and the run. The route took us onto a bridge over the motorway and back onto an off road track into a wooded area. I was confident we should then veer off to the left down a few steps onto another trail. Following the guy in front I kept my eyes peeled for this passage to the left but couldn't see it so I thought I must have been mistaken and kept on running up the track. A few minutes later and I started having serious doubts over where we were heading and sure enough shortly after the other guy stopped to question me. We consulted the map and decided we were unsure of where to head so should continue to the next junction before deciding how to reconnect back with the real trail. We were soon caught up by another runner who confidently reassured us we were on the right path and should keep going straight on. I voiced my concerns that we had missed a turning to the left through the woods and although the other two thought this might be correct we decided going back would waste too much time and we should just try to reconnect to the real route. After pressing on for several minutes with the three of us having contrasting views on how to proceed I decided it was time to whip out my phone to consult my mapmyrun app which had been tracking my run. I quickly identified where we had gone wrong and where we needed to head to reconnect with the route. A few hundred metres down the side of a busy road and we met up with familiar territory and the course. Easily a mile wasted and more time lost in discussing where to go. 

Worse than the detour upon trying to quickly navigate the most direct route through a field of cows I failed to notice a rather large muddy patch and ended up taking several large squelchy steps. As if that was bad enough the mud wasn't pure mud and contained the kind of smelly stuff you unfortunately find in cow fields! My trainers got pretty dirty and wet which made them heavy for the next few miles but the worse thing was the stinking smell caused my the cow excrement coming from them which thankfully only lasted for a few miles! 

Detour number 3 

Coming into the last 4 or 5 miles the trail passed through some woods before coming out onto residential roads towards the finish in Lloyd Park. I was managing to find my way OK while trying to make ground on two runners a few hundred metres ahead of me. I remembered from the way out that there was a tight poorly signed corner which I think I managed to take, I was then heading straight along a path for ages waiting for the path to come out onto roads. It took me too long to realise I had gone to far and obviously had missed a turning. Upon consulting my phone to check mapmyrun My heart sank as I realised I had ended up a long way off course. I quickly planned the most direct route to link me up with trail again determined to get back on course and complete the route. My heart quickly sank as I realised it was around 3 miles to join me back up towards the finish line and the start of this journey was a steep long hill! I walked/jogged my way towards the finish carefully checking my map to make sure I was heading the right way and taking the most direct route. 

I decided to keep going until I hit the marathon distance and then to just concentrate on getting back to the finish line. I had spent so long looking at my map and trying to navigate that my race time had suffered greatly.

After an age I caught sight of the park where the finish was, I felt like a right idiot heading towards the finish line in pretty much the opposite direction of the actual course and my wife was shocked to see me creep up on her from the wrong direction! 

So the finish brought a range of emotions, I was so pleased with my actual running performance as I ran throughout the 5 hours it took me to complete the course and my legs were full of running in the final miles. I was so disappointed to have messed things up so much though! 

I was very downhearted to have put so much effort in and sacrificed so much to end up with a disappointing time caused largely by my detours and the delays and stoppages they caused. 

Recovery

Post race apart from the anguish, frustration, disappointment and annoyance of taking so many detours physically I felt good, really good! Throughout the day I kept waiting for the pain to hit me but it never came. 

Directly after finishing I did a bit of a shakedown and cool down and as well as taking on plenty of water I consumed an energy drink, a protein shake, a banana, a mars bar and a tortilla wrap. As well as no physical pain I didn't suffer any stomach issues either during the race, directly after the race, after eating or during the drive home.

I did take a huge amount of satisfaction from feeling so good after such an effort and knew it meant I had trained and prepared very well.

First thing I did when I got home? Before I jumped in the shower I popped my favorite source of post run dirty carbs in the oven and as soon as I was washed up I devoured it pretty much as quick as I could.

A Chicago Town takeaway style filled crust pizza, hits the spot every time! 

Thanks for reading and I plan to share more thoughts from the marathon and my experiences soon.

Marathon countdown

Now into the final week before the Vanguard Way Marathon on Sunday 3rd August. The marathon on Sunday will be my third marathon but more importantly the first of three marathons I will be running in three months.

Sunday was my last longish run, I set out with an aim of maybe around 15K but with the main aim being to run well and feel confident with a good run under my belt.

It has been pretty hot and humid the last few days with temperatures pushing 30degrees and this morning despite heading out soon after 8am it was still humid and reasonably hot.

I think the heat and humdity has taken its toll on me as I felt pretty jaded. My legs felt quite leaden and heavy I think as a result of not recovering that well from my two longer runs in the week. 

So all in all I struggled from the start to feel comfortable and run at a decent pace so I decided to scale things down a bit and aim for just over 12K. I thought it better to successfully complete a shorter distance than to struggle with a longer distance.

So now into the final few days countdown, my priorities are eating well, staying very hydrated, looking after my legs, getting good quantities of protein in the early part of the week and plenty of carbs in the 3-4 days before the run.

It is lookong like a busy week at work so I need to make sure I focus on looking after myself, staying relaxed and doing the little bits of training I want to do this week.

All in all I am looking forward to it, the course looks both challenging and scenic and I am well up for pushing myself to achieve the challenge in front of me.

I have scaled down my original hopeful aims of a sub 4 time to a more realistic 4.15 target. I am not lowering my ambition but being realistic as the course will be mostly offroad and undulating and steep in places plus I feel slightly under cooked having missed two long training runs due to illness and injury.

Thanks for reading and look out for more updates later in the week as well as a race report about the marathon on Sunday. I am always all ears when it comea to marathon advice and tips so if you have anything to offer please let me know! 

 

Training update, midweek long run, tiredness and steak

So after being so ill last week I am definitly back up and running now.

With the girst of my three autumn marathons just over three weeks away I am focusing hard on my training and working hard in this important section of my training plan but it is tough going.

My 22K long run at the weekend was followed up by a 4K recovery run on Monday, some interval treadmill running on Tuesday and a 14K run on Wednesday night.

Overall I feel my training is going pretty well, I am definitly feeling stronger and am continuing to increase my fitness and stamina. 

However I have reached the hard part of a training program. Training has started to become somewhat arduous as spending so many hours a week running takes its toll, I am feeling much more tired from the increased training and early starts as well as a surge in hunger of wanting to eat anything and everything but trying to stay strict to my diet objectives.

I am sure all runners recognise these kind of symptoms of a hard training program, but although hard I know this is ther period that if I stick at it will have big rewards when it comes to race day.

I am already experiencing a massive indicator that my training is going well as my trousers are starting to hang off me and I am down to the last hole on my belt. I think I should buy some extra clothes to wear just for the few weeks before an event when the weight has dropped off and my regular clothes stop fitting!

Last nights run was over a made up route of new streets to explore coupled with familar sections of routes I usually run. 

I realised recently that as my training has grown in intensity and I have started pushing harder on runs that I have stopped taking photos on runs which I can appreciate makes my blog much less interesting!

So last night I tried to take a few interesting photos. This is the best view I experienced on my run, a giant St Georges flag flying proudly from a roof of a house on the edge of the country park a magnificent sight in the evening sunshine. Hopefully you can make it out, I found it quite a striking sight against the back drop of an open sky.

I have tried to refrain from taking the same photos that I have included in previous posts, heres a photo of the crowd that gathered to cheer me at one point on my route.

I say cheer it was more of a quack and if anything the latge numbers of water fowl aroynd the lake where I regularly run are an irritant as they tend to gather around the paths causing an obstruction as well as leaving plenty of slip hazards everywhere if you get what I mean!

By the time I got home I had time to knock up a bit of dinner before it was time to settle down and watch the second World Cup semi final of Holland v Argentina.

This was actually my first shot at cooking steak at home using my George Foreman grill and although it turned out far more well done than rare which is what I was aiming for it was still pretty good!

With only the final remaining in the World Cup I am glad that I will be able to have more time available in the evenings and will be able to get to bed earlier. Staying up to watch games especially the 9pm kick offs have been difficult for me as they have eaten away at my usual early bed time routine so although I will miss the World Cup when it finishes I will welcome the extra sleep. 

Many thanks for reading!

7 Day Runstreak

Wow! This morning with a 7K run at around 7am I finished my 7 day runstreak. In my ten years of running its the first time I have ever completed so many consecutive days running. I have always had an irrational fear of sustaining injury and a mental block about my capabilities to run back to back days. I have on occasion ran on back to back days and maybe once or twice managed three consecutive days but a whole week that is crazy talk! 

I am so pleased I gave it ago though and so amazed of my mini achievement, it required a good dose of dedication and determination to complete, here is a brief outline of my seven days of running:

Day 1: Saturday, Park Run, Harrow Lodge Park, 5K, official time 22.01

A bright, warm and sunny summers morning where I achieved my second fastest parkrun time.

Day 2: Sunday Morning, weekly longrun, 26K, 2hours 23.

An epically long pavement pounding longrun as I ramp up my mileage ahead of my marathon in August.

Here is a breakdown of the last six days of running:

My runs this week were fueled in no small part by a tuna pasta bake I cooked up on Sunday evening and then subsequently consumed throughout the week.

It provided a delicious, nutritious and filling pack lunch for work providing both my carbohydrate and protein requirements.

Day 3: Monday Evening, recovery run, 5K, 31 minutes.

A slow and gentle recovery run sandwiched in between the world cup games of HollandvChile and BrazilvCameroon.

Day 4: Tuesday Evening, 10K run at pace aiming for close to PB time, 45.53.

A great run only around 1minute 30 off my PB, the training is obviously going well as feeling so much stronger and faster!

Day 5: Wednesday morning, before work along the Thames, 5.84K, approx 35mins.

A nice little canter along the north bank of the Thames from Temple down to Tower Bridge. The mapmyrun graphic shown above showing a time of 18 minutes is wrong! My battery died and while the distance kept tracking the time just cut off when my battery gave out.

A snap of the wire lion sculpture by the Tower of London, a sculpture to remember the menagerie of wild and exotic animals that were kept here in days gone past. 

Thursday mornings run was put in jeopardy from a nice evening out watching NigeriavArgentina, a few alcoholic beverages and a cracking burger!

Day 6: Thursday morning, a few slow miles along the Thames south bank, 4K, 22 minutes.

A run I struggled to complete as the week and the night before caught up with me. A change from my usual routes, I headed over Waterloo Bridge and down the South bank and then back over the Millennium Bridge.

On the North side of the Millennium the steps up to St Paul's provided a great workout area for some step ups, toe tappers and step running before a few sprints along the way back.

Day 7: Friday morning, local run before heading out for the day, 7.3K, 40minutes.

I was determined to squeeze a run in this morning before I headed out for the day and away for the weekend that won't feature any running. Heading out soon after 7am a 7K run sealed my 7 day runstreak!