Time for reflection

Well as this year disappears into the fog and the New Year appears on the horizon, it is time to reflect on how the year has gone, and lay the plans for the New Year.

Well this year has certainly seen some highs and lows in my running.....

 

My Running highs:-

The main high for me was achieving a sub 24hr finish on my first ever 100 mile Ultra.

Meeting some fantastic and inspirational people in the World of Ultra, both in the flesh and through the power of the internet.

Getting one of the sought after lottery places in the GUCR 2011.

Running a total of 1918miles in racing & training this year, the most miles I have run in 1 single year to date (giving me a lifetime mileage to date of: 16518)

As a result of my increased mileage I have lost a total of 2 stone over the year which is a great bonus.

A surprising half marathon PB in May, when I was in the midst of long Ultra training.

On a really positive note I have spent most of December nursing a achillies heel  injury.  Since Christmas day I have tested it with 2 treadmill runs of 7miles which went well so today I ran 19.75 miles to give the heel a real test. Although the ankle did have a dull ache at the end it held up surprisingly well so hopefully my Ultra planned in January is still on.......

 

My Running Lows:-

Having severely blistered feet after my 100mile ultra, so severe that the skin literally peeled off leaving me unable to run for around a month.

This meant I could not run my local 10K run.

Not having any Ultra’s booked up after the 100miler so subsequently having no focus. (I tried booking some up after but found that the ones I wanted to enter were all booked up.

So having looked at my highs and lows what have I learnt from this year well.......

I need to have better foot management in long races...

I need to prepare a year’s worth of Ultra’s in advance in order to get into the one’s I want to run.

I need to learn the art of map reading whilst in a race situation, this has put me off entering some potentially fantastic races as I think this is a major weak area in my running.

Following on from the previous point I want to do more trail running this year; I think the mix this year for me has been 70% road 30% Trail. I would like to change that to around 50 / 50 for next year....

So my Ultra plans for next year so far:-

Ultra race 45/90 – Jan 22^nd / 23^rd   (both days)

GUCR  145mile - May 28th (Booked)

Cotswold Ultra 100 – June 24^th

Ultra peak 40 miles – Aug 21st

Nottingham Ultra 50km - Oct  

Ceaser’s camp 100miles – Oct (not sure if it clashes with above)

There will also possibly be a couple of marathons, half’s & 10k’s thrown in for good measure

So here is wishing everyone who reads this a very happy new year.

Thank you for taking the time to read this blog & I hope I can keep your interest in the coming new year ..!!!

Ankle update

Well I thought I would update before Christmas.

Last Thursday I went for a run to test my Achilles out after almost a week of rest.

It was going to be an 8miler but due to the very icy conditions altering my running gait, I ended up doing 5.5 miles.

The results were ok there were no stabbing pains, but for the last mile my ankle was starting to ache; only a dull ache but enough to know it was there.

I decided to delay my decision on my long back to back until Friday eve.

Come the Fri eve I decided to ready myself for a 20 miler but come sat morning I looked out and it had been snowing, I decided to not risk it as it was the snowy icy conditions that had caused the initial injury.

On the Saturday afternoon it was still snowing, I had measured the fall in the garden at 10”. At that point I could not resist having a go in the snow.

So trail shoes donned I headed out, I decided to stick to the roads as I could not distinguish any defined off road trails to the field and I did not want to twist an ankle or worse!

Having said that most of the roads were untouched, so it was like trail running anyway.

There is something quite eerie running up the middle of a main road in the middle of the afternoon as you have the whole road to yourself.

The run took me through the back roads around Bretforton & Aldington; it was an enchanting experience, seeing scenery I see all year round from a different perspective was particularly breathtaking.

When I was running through Aldington village, there was a chap clearing his drive, when he saw me he started laughing, I said it’s the best time to run, to which he replied at least you have the roads to yourself.

I ran on to the Evesham to Offenham road and as I ran down the hill I was greeted with a chaotic scene on the road. There were cars struggling up the hill, and cars sliding down the hill and cars stuck on the side. There were folks standing around looking perplexed not knowing what to do, most looked at me in disbelief.

At the bottom of the hill was an old works bus full of workers who had finished a shift all sat on the bus while the driver struggled to make any headway. I thought about offering my services but there were enough people standing around who could help so I carried on my merry way.

I finished my run totally elated; I then proceeded to clear my drive of snow which was a good workout in its own right.

Taking stock I have run a total of around 15miles for the week which is pathetic but I feel I need to rest my ankle, I am hoping that my base fitness will see me through my first Ultra of 2011 which is on the 3^rd weekend in January.

I am hoping over the Christmas period that I can still fit a long back to back in but we will see.....

Wil I or wont I

Its decision time tonight  - I have been off running since Last Friday due to my Achilles injury.

I have not been tempted to try it until now, I have the itchy feet syndrome. So tonight I am heading out for a short 8miler to test it.

If all goes well then I will still be on course for my 30miler on Saturday and my 40miler on Sunday.

With the enforced rest I haven't done any substitute to running, I have also been off the bike as Anna did not need the car this week so I have used it for work.

I have noticed that after a few days I have started to get lethargic and I am still tired in the mornings. Is this because I am not getting my normal fix of endorphins I wonder....

More soon.........

Operation Kidderminster!!!!!

Well Yesterday (Friday) it was D day for Anna's Op. So at 6.30am we set off on our merry way to Kiderminster. We had left the 3 boys with a trusted friend to get them to school.
So having dropped our daughter off with another trusted friend we shot over to the hospital.

Once Anna was registered we settled down for a long wait, but I was suitably impressed when at 9.50am Anna was called through to get changed for her Op.

I had been told that once the procedure had finished she would be out within around 2-3 hours.

So as any Ultra runner would do I went back to the car and donned my running kit. As I had never run in this area before you would have thought I would have at least plotted a route on Google Earth or something similar, but no I had no time.

So off I went ab libbing the route as I went, I soon got out off Kiderminster (no offence to Kidderminster but I don't like running in cities or Towns) . I ended up on an A road running towards Telford. after about a mile I saw a turning to the right and I took it. It turned out right as it opened up a fantastic scenic route of endless hills and wooded areas. I ran freely enjoying the scenery not knowing what was round the corner. Having said that I was conscious of the time as I had to be back within a certain time to get another ticket for the car parking.

I ended up running down yet another Hill and at the bottom the road turned severely to the right but there was a clear path up into some woods. I threw caution to the wind and set off up the hill into the woods. The path grew steeper and steeper, I finally reached the top and it opened up a total enchanting view of the wood. It was great to run through the woods taking in the spectacular scenery and woodland animals. Then I remembered to look at my watch and realised I needed to return if  I did not want  a ticket.

So back I went the same way as I did not want to risk loosing my way and not getting back to the hospital. On the way back I realised that my right ankle was really playing up, so I decided that after this run I would need to give the running a rest for a few days.

Once back I was on a high as you don't often get runs where every thing feels right and you don't care about the distance or the pace. It was just running for the sake of running. I don't care how far I went and I will probably not bother checking either as it would spoil the purity of the run.

So it was back to the reality of the day, and find out how Anna had got on!!!!

So I waited, and waited and waited for the elusive phone call they had promised.

Finally at around 3.15pm I went up to the recovery suite and asked, I was informed that Anna was in recovery but would be around an hour. You see they did not allow relatives or friends into the recovery area, you were allowed to stay in a very boring corridor and stare at equally boring walls!!!!.

At around 5.20pm Anna phoned to say she felt ok and was getting dressed and would be out shortly.

Around 20 mins later a nurse appeared an said I could come and see Anna. I followed into the hallowed area being the only one that had been let in, to see Anna looking tired but ok.

I then learnt that the op had been a disaster and the procedure had not gone ahead due potentially to surgeon error.

So having got her self in a suitable condition to leave we dutifully left the hospital after spending £8.50 on parking.
We picked up the children from the various friends who helped us out and got back home at around 7.30pm.

Anna was totally drained and soon went to bed.....


All I can say I certainly had some highs and lows over the last 24hours, but that is certainly nothing in comparison to what Anna has faced in the last 24hours........

More Soon.....!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Christmas Decs are up!!!!!!!

My blog is delayed a bit this week as The Spiers household has gone into overdrive at the moment!!!

Last weeks training was very much a mixed bag...........

Mon evening was a 8.5mile steady run home from work in the freezing cold. The pins held up well, which was a good sign after my 52miler at the weekend.

Tue morning I ran back to work in a lovely snowy scene. We had an inch of the white stuff overnight which made for great running I thoroughly enjoyed my 9.5 mile run.

Lewis had his birthday on Wednesday so a days holiday was in order which meant Christmas shopping while he was at school. Then family round later followed by chill time.

Thursday evening was a run home at tempo pace 6.4miles. Still ice underfoot.

Friday morning was a 10miler into work with ice underfoot again. Unfortunately my altered running stance due to the ice may of kept me on my feet but unfortunately it tweaked my right Achilles.

It seems that it is only a slight strain but I decided to rest it over the weekend rather than risk it.

So The weekend was devoted to getting into the Christmas spirit.

On Saturday after the swimming commitments we all took a trip to the theatre to see the Christmas panto Cinderella. It was fantastic fun and all the family enjoyed it.

Sunday was spent putting the Christmas decorations up, a lot of fun was had even in the cold. They look great and we are now officially in the Christmas spirit.

On to Monday I was due to run home but Anna was called in to cover a shift at work so I biked home. Then once the children were in bed I ventured onto the treadmill. I haven't been on one for around 2 years and I know why, they are so boring. I managed 5.5miles and then I quit before I lost all concentration and fell off. Still one positive my ankle was fine.

So to this morning I was up and out the door at 5.45am, it was FREEZING (I found out later someone had clocked -12 in there car around 6.30am)
I must admit after around 2 miles I was either warmed up or my body had got used to it.

My only problem was my hands they got colder and colder as the run went on and that's with 2 pairs of gloves on.

After around 6 miles I noticed that all the hairs on my legs were covered in frost, it did look rather strange. I did get some funny looks towards the end of my run, as people walked to work. One woman stated that she thought I was mad, to which I replied it comes with the territory!!!
So 13.4miles later I was at work trying to blow some life into my very numb hands, so I could type the code into the keypad to get into the nice warm building.

So on reflection get some warmer gloves and start running in tracksters. (No chance I'm hard I can handle it)

I did have some slight niggles with the heel but not enough to stop.

This week coming the plan is:-

Thurs Morn 20miles to work.
Thurs eve 8 miles once the kids are in bed.

Friday is Anna's op so depending when she is on the list I may go for a blast while she is in theatre (as long as I am back when she wakes up)

The weekend will be suck it and see depending on Anna's recovery!!!!

More soon...........

Shopping Deals - Extra free & Buy one get one free!!!

Having a very busy weekend scheduled I decided to do the weekly trek to the supermarket yesterday evening.
I know this trip is a necessary one, but it is a chore I really don't like. I know that I could save myself and order it online, but I begrudge paying the delivery charge they impose. Also by the time you have faffed around online ordering, you could have walked round the store twice. I don't like the fact that if an item is out of stock they will put an alternative in for you which you might not like or is more expensive.

Anyway I digress!! I arrived to begin my shop, and had just walked through the doors and was greeted with the first promotion offer. Big tins of sweets with extra free & buy one get one free on a packet of 6 mince pies!!!
OK you might think you could get away with buying the tin of sweets now for Christmas, but would not a small box suffice instead of a 10000 calorie tin.
The mince pies however are outrageous they will be out of date before Christmas day arrives and each mince pie is 250 calories!!! The supermarkets are promoting festive foods & encouraging you to eat it for a whole month leading up to Christmas.

These promotions seem to be every where you look in the supermarket, everything that was un healthy for you seemed to be on a special promotion offer.

Why cant there be a balance, they could promote healthy alternatives at the same time. I guess all the healthy items will be on special offer in January "to help fight the bulge". The supermarkets will then be shown in good light by doing there bit to tackle the obesity problem of today, having aided the problem the month before.

The supermarkets should not be allowed to actively promote obesity in this day and age, not when the government are allegedly doing so much to tackle the problem.

I know the whole issue is a mind set going back a generation and if someone wants to buy these types of food then they will. But surely someone should stop the supermarkets from making it easier and cheaper to buy bigger quantities.

There is going to be a clamp down on the availability of cheap booze which ultimately is an addiction in simple terms.
So obesity is a form of addiction so is there going to be a clamp down on availability of cheap unhealthy foods.

I Think not as supermarkets rule the roost!!!!!

Rant over - The moral of the story don't allow kids into supermarkets!!!!

Snow & ice!! Pah I laugh in its face........

Well its certainly been a week were the Winter has certainly shown its nastier side.

This weekend  was always going to be a tough week to fit in my running as my 2 youngest sons had their respective birthday parties on Saturday and on Sunday. Saturday was the turn of Lewis's (whose birthday is this Wednesday) after a frantic morning sorting out swimming lessons and baby sitters, we were off with Lewis and 4 of his friends to the cinema. To be fair I was dreading the experience 5  six year olds is a recipe for a mass riot in my opinion, but I was pleasantly surprised. A great time was had by all and i even got to watch the film which was a bonus. Then it was off to the food mecca for all 6 year old's MacDonald's.
For our son who has been on a really healthy diet for the last 6 weeks it was like being let loose in a sweet shop, Mind you he had his happy meal and afterwards he drank half his coke and then said he felt sick. Which just goes to show how he has moved on.

Then it was on to Sunday and Matthew's birthday, this was a full on day. The morning was spent opening and playing with Matthews presents. Then he had his party with his friends from nursery which went very well for a 4year olds party. Then the afternoon was spent with family, then it was crash time in the evening.

I must say I was very impressed with Anna as there was quite a bit off party food going on all weekend and she did not get tempted with any of it. You go girl!!!

Oh and we bought a Treadmill on Thursday, mind you this is for Anna. I will not be tempted...!!


ANYWAY on to the running this week. As I said earlier this was always going to be tough fitting the running in this week- but then every week its a juggling act.

This week I wanted to do 2 long back to back runs, so I decided to bin my hill rep run this week and cut the runs from 6 runs to 4 runs this week.

So I ran home from work on Mon 8ish miles. Then I ran into work wed morn which was fairly cold, my hands were like blocks of ice when I got to work. I knew I had to sort it out for my up and coming runs as the forecast was cold cold cold...

So Friday morning came and the alarm rose at 4.20am. I got myself sorted after trying to convince my self that this was a really stupid idea and my bed was the place to be.
I was out the door at 4.45am and it was colder than I was expecting but crucially I had 2 pairs of gloves on. This was going to be the tougher run as it was hilly hilly hilly. I must admit after about 3 miles I had got used to the cold and just knuckled down and ground out the miles. I had a glitch at around 14 miles in when my water pipe on my pack froze up so I had no water for the rest of the run. So 22 miles later I had finished and was at work ready for whatever they threw at me.,

Friday night my legs were a bit achy so to bed with nuerofen I went.

TO be rudely awaken at 3.20am which seemed ridiculous to me, but I mechanically got up and sorted my self out. I was out the door at 3.40am and was on my merry way, it was foggy frosty and I was not in the mood for it but again after about 3 miles I was in the zone banging the miles out. After about 2 hours THE SNOW came and it snowed and snowed. I then realised I had a problem I had set out with road shoes and now I was in some fairly thick snow underfoot. Still you soldier on whatever is thrown at you, I carried on and found a running stance that seemed to work well in slippery snowy conditions.
By this time I was The abominable snow man and must have looked a sight.

I carried on and 30miles later then end was in sight and a warm kitchen, coffee and a bowl of Kellogg's finest All - Bran.

So as I bask in the self satisfaction of 68.5miles done this week, of which 52 miles was back to back. I know I have done these in adverse conditions and I reckon this gives you the confidence that you can complete anything you set your mind to......

Time to fit it all in!!!!

Well it's been a real struggle to fit everything in this week!!!

Our youngest boy had a stint in hospital  which included an over night stop over, he had a very ulcerated mouth. There was a fear he had Hand foot & mouth, it transpired that the powers that be have diagnosed stomatitis which to us layman is a form of Herpies Yuck. I know he is my son but I draw the line at good night kisses at the moment..........!!!!!!!!!!!!

As a consequence things have had to slip such as household chores as we try and pick up the pieces and try and get back to normality.

At times like this any exercise regime or training plan goes out the window. Fortunately though I have got used to this with having 4 kids and my training plan can become fairly fluid.

What I did not and could not plan for was how tired I would feel after we had got little man home from hospital.

I decided I was going to embark on a bit of a catch up over the weekend.
The plan was:-

Fri eve - 8.5M
Sat Morn - 13.5M
Sun Morn - 26M

This should give me a total of 68miles for the week, which would mean I was only down 7 miles for the week.

Fri Eve 8.5M Done at Tempo rate, done no probs.
Sat Morn 13.65M Done at a fairly reasonable rate.
Sun Morn - No show was dog tired, I think it all caught up on me after the last few days!!

So as I write this I am planning to go out once the kids are tucked up in bed & Anna is watching X-Factor & I'm a celebrity.

So with tonight's excursion of 12miles
my weekly mileage will 54Miles.

I must say I am a bit disappointed with this total, but given the circumstances I guess its ok.

Here is to a big week next week!!!!!

5 weeks on.....

Wow Its been 5 weeks since we embarked on this healthy  lifestyle adventure....!!!!

Time has gone very quickly, very quickly indeed.

As a result of certain changes in food habits and a healthy dollop of exercise on top, I am pleased to announce that my family has had a total weight loss of 25lbs

Let me say that again 25lbs lighter than 5 weeks ago.

It has been an amazing start to this adventure, and we are all looking forward to the next 5 weeks, with some slight trepidation I must add with Christmas looming large on the horizon.

But the goals have been set and the determination is there to see it through and come out the other side smiling, and healthier.

The last 5 weeks has been a steep learning curve not only for my family but for me as well.

I must admit I started this adventure thinking I am not going to get much out of this, how wrong I was.

Although I don't have much if any weight to loose myself I have come to realise that my diet consisted of far to much fat.
Now I am eating lots more protein and have come to realise that for me carbo loading does not work for my runs. All it did was make me feel bloated and I struggled with the initial part of the run.

Now I can honestly say I have not had a bad run in the last 5 weeks, if anything I am getting faster and stronger.

Mind you I am going to need it in the new year as I have a fair bit already planned & some booked

It goes like this:-

Jan 2011 - Ultra run 90 - 45 miles from Northampton - Tring and back over 2 days.
Mar 2011 - Wiggle Lightning 12 hr run  - As many laps as you can do on a 6.2m course
May2011 - GUCR - 145miles along the Grand Union Canal
June2011  - Cotswold Ultra race- 100/50miles in the Cotswold (ran it last year  my report is at the bottom of the official race report)http://www.ultrarace.co.uk/events/results/
Aug 2011 - Ulter peak race - 40 miles
Oct2011 - Ceasers Camp - 100miles multi lap


Well done to Anna, Kieran and Lewis for there dedication.

And well done for Matthew and Mia for tagging along as there a bit young to understand but they will still benefit.

Lets hope we don't get to much chocolate and biscuits given to us for Christmas. Mind you the Helping hands charity might be pleased......

Sunday Reflection

Well this is the first week of my new training schedule complete.

First weeks plan was 6 runs totaling 65 miles.

Actual completed 5 runs totaling 58 miles.

On the whole I was happy with the effort.

The run missed was an early morning run to work, but in my defence our youngest daughter did have us up a lot of the night with a high temperature.

I did try and make up for it a little bit by adding about 3 miles to my long run on Sat.
The long run went well nearly knocking 10 mins off my previuos time for this run about 6 weeks ago. The runs has some good hills in it with 2 hills of around the 11% gradient, one around 2 miles long and the other around 3 miles long.
The other hills are still fairly steep but they are shorter affairs.

This was followed by what was going to be a recovery run on the sun of around 8.5 miles.
As it turned out it was a tempo run ending in a sprint finish as my legs were feeling in fine shape.


Bring on next week where the  plan is 6 runs totaling around 75 miles.

Tue 9th nov runs

Having been successful in the GUCR 2011 draw, the name of the game today was to start my hastily re arranged training plan.

This will hopefully put me at a great level of fitness and endurance ready for the end of May 2011.

Today’s runs consisted of: -      8 miles (including hill reps) run to work.

                                                8 mile run home from work.

I was up at 6 which is a relative lie in for Tue’s morning as I have been doing between 15 – 20 mile runs to work.

After donning my gear including my new Head Torch, I headed out at around 6.20am.

The first 3 miles started as a nice gentle pace gradually building up the tempo. At 3 miles I got to the hill I was using for my hill reps, its 0.35 miles in length so just about right for hill reps. I then proceeded to bang out 4 reps culminating in and out and out sprint for the last rep.

I then continued on my merry way running into Evesham ready for work.

When I got to the outskirts I checked my watch and realised I still had half an hour left so I made a detour and ran a few more miles around Evesham before arriving at work.

On reflection I felt great after the run, I defiantly could have done more reps, but I am going to stick to the plan and build them up slowly.

Total mileage for the morning run 11.3 miles

I will see what I am like after the run home tonight!!!

Run home from work stated at 4.40pm

I ran in this morning in the dark and now due to the lovely winter time I am now running home in the dark.

The route home was pretty much the route in this morning in reverse.

Once I was out of evesham I found the unlit paths and roads very dark there was no moon to light the way.

The run home was going to be a nice steady pace but it soon degenerated into a fairly quick pace.

So just past the hour I had finished 8.5miles in the bag with no real affects from my exersions this morning

Total for the day : 19.8 miles

The GUCR dream has started

I have learnt this weekend that I have overcome the first obstacle in fulfilling my dream of getting to the finish line of the Grand Union Canal Race.

What is the Grand Union Canal Race I hear you say well....

It is a non stop 145mile foot race running along the tow paths of the grand union canal.

It starts at Gas street Birmingham and finishes at Little Venice London, starting at 6.00AM on 28th May 2011.

I am in !!!!!!!

Let the hard work start.

The long Wait

I pre entered the Grand Union Canal Race on Mon 1st November.

This is a non stop race Starting at Gas St in Birmingham running along the side of the grand union canal and finishing 145 miles later at Little Venice in London.

I said I had pre entered that is because there is going to be a public draw for the final places on Fri 5th at 8.30pm.

There are around 270 possible entry's with only a 100 places up for grabs.

This forms the backbone of my Ultra races for next year.

If I don't get in then its on to plan B in terms of races.

This is one thing I have learnt when pursuing my chosen sport along with juggling family life, there always has to be a Plan B and C and D.....

In other words I have learnt to be fairly flexible with my training so its no different with my racing there are always plenty of ultras to choose from, this one just happens to have the prestige of being one of the longer ones in this country.

Any way talking of plans I need to structure my training into some form of plan so I am off to look at that now!!!!

Bredon hill - 25mile slog

It was an early start the dulcet tones of the alarm rang at 4.25am
As I had every thing ready I was out the door at 4.40am

Jack Frost had been busy - brrrrrrrrrrrrr.

You can see Bredon Hill virtually as soon as I come out my front door and it seemed a long way off with the 2 red lights shining on the top.

Well it was head down and churn the miles up, trouble is the hill does not seem to get any closer.

2.5 miles in the first biggish hill coming out of Badsey completed with out breaking sweat.

At 7 miles the next hill loomed which was at sedgeberrow the old pins seemed to struggle a little, slight alarm bells at this point.

9.5 miles in Bredon hill was reached at Ashton in 1hr 25, a quick energy gel and away up the hill I went.

It soon became apparent that today was going to be a battle of the wills, my ham strings were giving me real grief on all the up hill sections. The hill stands at 995Ft high and the first mile must climb between 700 - 800ft so certainly a test.

Having safely negotiated the first mile it was fairly easy going to the top from there still a steady ascent though.

Once at the top it was a quick turn around and I was heading back, slipping on the sheep poo and get wet feet from the long grass.

To be honest I was glad to get off the Hill which is unusual as I really love running this Hill as I have had a great affiliation to it from an early age, some of my fondest memories of Christmas is climbing the hill on boxing day as a family.

But I digress.

I still had 9.5miles left I had been struggling with the dreaded lack of energy in my legs every step I took was a struggle to lift my legs.

Hey ho its these runs were you think you know your limits but some how you push on and find the resources from somewhere deep within.

I broke the remaining run up into different phases and sub sections in my head and mentally ticked them off in my head as I completed each section

There were a couple of stiffish climbs which almost broke the old resolve but I vowed not to walk.

The sign saying welcome to Bretforton has never looked so inviting when I finally did finish I had completed the run around 6 minutes faster than my previous venture out on this route a couple of weeks ago.

So all in a successful run complete and now feeling quietly chuffed with the end result.

Now to spend the day controlling (I mean amusing of course) the kids!!!!

first post

The first post is really to introduce where I am at in life.

I am married with a wonderful wife and 4 great children.

My life is very full looking after kids so there is not much spare time.

What spare time I do get I have chsen a hobby/sport which demands that you are time rich, this pursuit is running - not just running but Ultra running.

There has to be a trade off between balancing a happy stable family life and pursuing my chosen sport fully.

Hence I do a lot of my running very early in the mornings. The average wake up time for my weekend runs is around 4am.

I think the earliest I have got up is 1.30am in order to fit in  a 7 hour run.

I am currently ramping up my milage to get to a weekly average of 50miles/week.

My week consists of

sun morn - 20 - 30 miles
mon night- run home from work 8 miles
tue morn - run into work 10 - 16 miles
thur morn - run to work 10 - 16 miles
thur night  - run up bredon 7miles (or run home 6 miles)

This does vary as I have to be fairly flexible for family life.

Enough of me - Why have I set this blog up well...................

We are embarking on a family adventure to live and eat healthier. This is a total life style change (hopefully for the better).

We have enlisted the help of a PT who comes highly reccomended, he has cleaned our cupboards out of all the rubbish food, and we have filled it with good clean wholesome food.

Part of this adventure envolves supporting Anna in her endeavour to adjust to this lifestyle. For me it is fairly easy as I have my experience from running to draw on and help me through. But for Anna this is a new experience, hopefully an enjoyable one. We are over a week into the adventure and I must say this is the most focused I have seen her. She seems to have a determination to succeed, also I think having a PT on board really helps as it is an external focus which she feels she does not want to let down.

So this is my place to ramble on about life hopefully write down my thoughts on life,different runs and races I enter.

Tommorrow is a 25mile run including Bredon.....................