how many layer's...?

I had a great gym session with Andy last Friday, he's a great inspiration to me and helps in so many ways.

These are a couple of things which helped:

- Take more layers of clothes than you think you need, it was cold when I ran on Saturday morning, I wore, one long sleeve top, one vest, one t-shirt another vest and a light weight jacket.

Three quarter length under shorts, over shorts, 2 hats and gloves! (surprised I could move). You go through periods of getting hot then cold, towards the end I was glad of the extra layers.

- When running long distances it's better to wear some underwear as bruised bits don't help!

Route: Lynn dropped me at Chiswick Bridge, ran along the Thames path, Hammersmith Bridge, Shepherds Bush, Notting Hill, Paddington Bowl, Maida Vale, Cannel, Primrose Hill, Haverstock Hill, Stroud end green, into the Heath, ran around a bit to make the distance up and then home!

(Bad mistake to get the miles wrong, spoilt the run at the end as my rhythm was broken, and I was very tired!!).

This has been the longest, in time and distance I have run so far, it's along way I'm in unchartered territory now. I had 2 gels, 1 at 45 mins and another at 1.45 and porridge for breakfast.

I struggled towards the end, I'm frustrated that I can't run faster but I do need to be realistic and patient.

I've asked Andy to up my training and true to form he has, so its now starting to get serious......

Distance: 15miles!! Time: 2:35hr Average: 10.25

lunchtime, fast and slow....

As I may have mentioned works quite busy at the moment, Monday I was out of the house at 6.00am for a meeting in Ireland got back at 11.30pm. Tuesday out of the house at 7.00am armed with my running gear and straight to the office.

One of my other runs is interval training, this is how it went; route: Chancery Lane, Tottenham Court Rd, Marylebone, Regents Pk. and then returned. The run consisted of jog for 3 mins and fast pace for 4 mins, this isn't my favourite run, but I know it will eventually help my speed. I did this for 6 times and really enjoyed it, the first couple of miles were slightly hard going but then got into the session well.

I know that I shouldn't be bothered with my split times when I'm doing this run but you can't help trying to beat certain points; for example the 5 mile mark under 40mins and then the 10k point at 49.30. It's amazing that some days you have a run where you can see improvement and it gives you such a boost, it's the same in all walks of life, the rough with the smooth and all that.....

I hope I can take some of this into the long run at the weekend.

(Just by the way, got home from work at 11.00pm!!)

So in summary: Lunchtime run.

Distance: 8.00 Time: 1:04:43 Average: 8.05

Cross country...Andy's Heath extension....and he's over!!

So one of my runs from Andy is to do hills and the Heath between 45 - 90 mins, also one of the new routes for me is the Heath extension.

Weather cold, lots of rain recently so a bit slippy under foot.

Route: D.P.Hill, Highgate, Hampstead Lane, Spaniards, Heath extension, Heath and home.

It was just the type of day that I use to enjoy playing football in, it was great sliding through the paths, leaves and puddles, it was heavy going but fun.

Once I came out of the extension area (which I will explore further), I picked up the road that led to the top of the Heath.

I normally go into the Heath opposite the pond at the top, but for some reason missed the entrance.

I took another pathway in which was thin and windy, it was muddy and got steep in places and then I had a comedy moment just like I was in a cartoon! My legs were going really fast unfortunately my body was going in a different direction, (some would say my normal running style!!) and I was over, actually a grown man on the floor at 38 years of age no less. Well, I gathered my thoughts and managed eventually to stop laughing out loud and ran on.....

It was an enjoyable outing if not a little eventful....

Distance: 7:47 Time: 1:14 Average: 9.52

Late night finish.....early run to work...

My plan was that when I finished in the office I would run after work, I just finished too late....this was disappointing. However, I was up early the next morning determined to get a good run in.

So I took a great route into work: Home, Gospel Oak, Primrose Hill, Regents Pk, Marylebone, Oxford St, Marble Arch, Hyde Pk, Constitution Hill, The Mall, St. James Pk, Westminster, Embankment and Chancery Lane.

Great run and the best start to the day, still need to get quicker over longer distances.

Distance: 9.12 Time: 1:26 Average: 9:25.

Hotel running....

I was travelling for 3 days to Germany so decided to stay at Gatwick the night before as I never sleep if I have to be up very early.

The gym was ok, I did a good stretching session and ran on the treadmill for an hour. The running session was a mix of interval and hills, I'm not a huge fan of the running machine but I knew that training was not going to be possible for a few days, so any session was better than no session.

Finished off with some press ups and some more stretches to try and tire myself right out! It worked I actually slept a little until my alarm went off at 3.45am....rise and shine!!

Distance: 6 ish.

Very hilly test......

I'm trying to update about 5 ish run's in one go, I'm double busy at work, trying to get over a niggling injury and also trying to run!

So this entry to the blog, this run was just aimed to test how far I could run and include as many hills as possible.

Route: Home, D.P.Hill, Hornsey Lane, Ally Palace, Alexander Pk road, Muswell Hill, Highgate Woods, Highgate, Hampstead Lane, The Heath, Highgate West Hill and down over D.P.Hill.

This was a real slog of a run, I knew it was going to be hard, but really enjoyed it. It was a test, just to see where I was with my training and how hard I could push or pull myself!!

The final part up Highgate West Hill was just a case of trying to keep running without stopping, overall I was pleased.

It was a good mix of road and cross country.

The only intake was a carry bottle of Robinsons Summer Fruits drink, no gels.

Distance: 12.24 Time: 2:02:00 Average: 9:59