53 days to go - A snow day

Treadmill Distance : 3.50 miles Duration : 30 min 0 sec Energy : 372 KCal Max HR : 150 Bpm Av HR : 142 Bpm Mile pace : 08:34 min/mile Mission statement : Theoretical : 8 miles in around 75 mins slow. Actual : 3.5 miles in 30 min steady. The best laid plans of mice and men! We had a pretty energetic day on the slopes today in around a foot of fresh snow. The flurries stayed around all day and made driving as difficult as they made the snowboarding fantastic. This coupled with some intense shopping meant that we got back to base too late to visit the gym, and with barely enough time to put some miles in on the treadmill. I reckon that the snowboarding probably counts as the four and a half miles I did not do, but I will try to catch some of the missing miles up tomorrow at the gym if we can get there. Surprisingly I have discovered that running in a treadmill requires a little practice. Today I forced myself to take longer strides which is slightly frightening as it increases the risk of falling off. Anyway the increased stride length improved my efficiency and my mbeat came up over 1.3.

54 Days to go - Nice beaver

Route TreadMill Distance : 5 miles Duration : 44 min 30 sec Energy : 523 KCal Max HR : 156 Bpm Av HR : 140 Bpm Mile pace : 08:54 min/mile Mission statement : Theoretical - 1 mile jog, then 14 x 200m or 1 min fast, with 100m or 1-min jog recoveries, then 1 mile jog. Actual - 1 mile in 10 min followed by 3 miles in 24 min then a final mile in 10 min. Beth let me use her treadmill today. I'd never used one before and it took me a while to get used to running and not moving! I am using this inexperience, and the fact that I had done 3 hours snowboarding as well today, as an excuse for substituting a 3 mile 8 min pace run for the interval session. I think I need to be more experienced on the treadmill before I do any complicated session work on it. Tomorrow Beth is going to take me to the local health club which has an indoor running track, so maybe I can do some session work there. The altitude does seem to have an impact on my performance, my mbeat rate for the treadmill run was 1.28 m/heartbeat when I would have expected 1.3 plus at least. Let's hope that there is a positive impact on my fitness when we return to sea level.

55 days to go - Leaving on a jet plane

Off to the mountains today! With the cat safely at the cattery we decamped to Eagle Colorado USA. The journey took 22 hours door to door with only two glitches. The biggest problem being I seem to have mislaid my holiday money! I almost managed to loose my suitcase as well, it was nowhere to be seen on the luggage carousel, and I assumed the worse. We were reporting the missing case to the baggage staff when another passenger walked by with my case on her trolley. If I had not been standing in the right place at the right time and seen her go by, I hate to think where my luggage would have ended up. The weather here is snowy and we are anticipating a great day's snowboarding tomorrow! It is great to see Spenser, Beth and the kids again, and needles to say they made us very welcome.

56 days to go - Long run in the rain

Route#14* Distance : 18.00 miles Duration : 2 hrs 28 min 7 sec Energy : 1829 KCal Max HR : 175 Bpm Av HR : 144 Bpm Mile pace : 08:13 min/mile Mission statement : 18 miles in around 2hrs 35 steady. (Pace 08:36 HR 130 - 140 - 150) I am delighted with this run, I finished a little quicker than planned, but that was due to attacking the last 6 miles and putting in a solid negative split. Things did not start out too well with heavy rain and 4 floods in the first 6 miles - my feet were soaking almost from the start! I had a nice treat at the 13 mile mark, Glammy met me in the car and gave me a sports drink. I must say the extra energy rush from the drink helped pick me up for the final push. So it's off to the "high altitude training camp" tomorrow, I hope I can find some time to get some snowboarding in as well as the training :).

57 Days to go - Recovery running

Route#3 Distance : 3.60 miles Duration : 36 min 50 sec Energy : 350 KCal Max HR : 132 Bpm Av HR : 121 Bpm Mile pace : 10:13 min/mile Mission statement : approx 30 mins easy (10:00 110 - 114 - 118) Hmm, yesterday may have taxed me a little more than I thought. I have never been a big fan of these really slow runs, and the weather was pretty dismal. I had to work harder than I expected to maintain this slow pace, and jogging, as opposed to running, seems to aggravate my hip. Oh well I am sure it did my system some good, hopefully more than a rest would have done, because it is the big 18 miler tomorrow. By the way, today's effort puts my training total milage over the 500 mark.

58 days to go - A further fast five

Route#11 Distance : 5.30 miles Duration : 38 min 13 sec Energy : 548 KCal Max HR : 165 Bpm Av HR : 155 Bpm Mile pace : 07:12 min/mile Mission statement : 5 miles Fast approx 37 min ( Pace 07:24 HR min148 - av154 - max159) I have to admit that I was nervous about this run. I was not 100% confident I would be able to get the distance within the target time. As it happens, I need not have worried, I easily completed the run quicker than planned whilst maintaining my target HR. I am pleased to say that I also managed it with a negative split, the second half being quicker than the first. Sponsor Sponsor Sponsor I can salve my conscience over this evening's trip to the boozer. Thanks are due to Rob, Derek, Frank, T, Keith and Will. Nice one!

59 days to go - Mouse in the house

Route#11 Distance : 5.30 miles Duration : 00:44:35 Energy : 525 KCal Max HR : 157 Bpm Av HR : 138 Bpm Mile pace : 00:08:24 Mission statement : 1 mile jog, then 3 miles in around 24 mins brisk (pace 8:00 HR min140 av145 max150), then 1 mile jog. The day began dramatically with Glammy up in arms over the live mouse that Smokey had brought into the bedroom overnight. I tried to catch it but it took up residence behind the wardrobe where neither the cat or I could get at it. Smokey has been on guard all day, but I think the mouse still lives! I enjoyed the run today despite the rain. My left hip is still troubling me, but luckily running seems to alleviate the pain. While it was really quite sore at the start, by the time I had jogged the first mile all the pain had gone and I had no more trouble with it. I covered the middle 3 miles in 23 min (07:40) at 148 Bpm - a little faster than specified but felt good.

60 days to go - Sound on bute and a trip to the dentist

Route#23 Distance : 9.40 miles Duration : 1 hr 26 min 5 sec Energy : 901 KCal Max HR : 138 Bpm Av HR : 128 Bpm Mile pace : 09:09 min/mile Mission statement : 9 miles in around 86 mins slow (Pace 9:30 HR min120 - av128 - max135) The hip was very much better this morning, a little stiff but manageable. To be on the safe side I scoffed 400mg of Ibuprofen with my breakfast and by the time I went running I was sound as a pound. The run was really enjoyable and the weather was great. It was a bit of a scramble to get it in and make my afternoon Dentist appointment, but I made it to the surgery on time and got a pain free filling so everything worked out in the end. Another sponsor Like London Buses, my sponsors arrive in twos, thank you Sue, I'll do my best for you!

61 days to go - Forced to rest

I had to call off the run today because I had developed a very sore hip overnight and remembered the maxim "today's stiffness is tomorrow's injury". All being well I will catch up the extra day on Thursday's rest day. I hope it all settles down as this is a high mileage week in preparation for the reduced mileage over the next couple of weeks to accommodate my altitude training camp (snowboarding holiday really). A New Sponsor Thanks Miz, you are a star!

62 days to go - Effort Day and a new MaxHR

Route#11 Distance : 5.30 miles Duration : 45 min 44 sec Energy : 565 KCal Max HR : 180 Bpm Av HR : 141 Bpm Mile pace : 08:37 min/mile Mission statement :- 1 mile jog, then 1 min or 200m fast, 2 mins or 400m fast, 4 mins or 800m fast, 2 mins or 400m fast 1 min or 200m fast, all with 1 min or 100m jog recoveries, then extra 2-min or 200m jog. Repeat sequence once, then 1 mile jog. This interval training is tough, the 800m sections really had me working hard, in fact during the second one, my HR peaked at 180bpm, which is the highest I have recorded for the past 18 months! I was glad to get to the final jog. Today's graphic is Japanese for Effort -Douryoku

63 days to go - Feet up, early to bed.

A scheduled sofa day today, thank goodness! I was really tired all day, a symptom of burning the candle at both ends and incorrect refuelling no doubt. 13 weeks and 470 miles gone, 9 weeks and 362 miles to go. Week 13 totals Distance : 42.2 miles Duration : 6 hrs 19 min 20 sec Energy : 4032 KCal Max HR : 153 Bpm Av HR : 129 Bpm Mile Pace : 08:59 min / mile MBeat : 1.38 m / heartbeat KCal / mile : 95 KCal / min : 10 I am quite pleased with the weeks training and feel I am still making progress. My average metres per heartbeat is at its best so far and although I can feel the strain of yesterday's long run today, on the whole my energy levels have been good through the week. Oh and if you want to know what the image is all about, I think it is Japanese for sleep - neru.

64 days to go - Long run in the sun with Miles and John Lee

Route #14 Duration : 2 hrs 18 min 38 sec Energy : 1564 KCal Distance : 15.8 miles Max HR : 147 Bpm Av HR : 134 Bpm Mile pace : 08:46 min/mile Mission statement :- 16 miles approx 2hrs 30 slow (Pace 9:20 HR min122 - av130 - max138) Wow, what a fantastic day, bright sunshine in a clear blue sky and only a mild breeze. A good day for a long run. Too good it seems, I don't know if it was the weather or the sounds of Miles Davis and John Lee Hooker on the .pm3 player, but as usual I ran a little harder than proscribed. I felt really good up to 10 miles, but after that I had to up my heart rate above 138 to maintain the pace over the next 6 miles. Needless to say that pace was too quick, but it was even throughout the run even though I had to work harder than planned in the last third to achieve it. Having been an unbeliever in the benefits of running with a .mp3 player, I find myself becoming converted. Listening to Miles today was spot on, the music is not overwhelmingly rhythmic so it does not interfere with your body rhythms while providing somewhere else for the mind to go. Oh well, another training week over and a rest day tomorrow. ttfn ;)

65 days to go - Running with Amy

Route #18 Duration : 00:46:25 Energy : 423 KCal Distance : 4.8 miles Max HR : 130 Bpm Av HR : 119 Bpm Mile pace : 09:40 min/mile Mission statement :- 4 miles approx 40 mins easy (pace 10:00 HR min115 - av120 - max125) A very pleasant trot around the big field to the sounds of Amy Winehouse. Amazingly I managed to keep myself more or less within mission parameters today for a change. Working up to the 16 miler tomorrow.

66 days to go - Mole, Resting and PHP

A rest day today, which I spent thinking of Mole and furthering my study of php. We love you Mole! The fruits of my php research can be found here.

67 days to go - Ready Steady Go!

Route #9 Distance 7.00 Duration : 54 min 16 sec Energy : 679 KCal Max HR : 153 Bpm Av HR : 143 Bpm Mile pace : 07:45 min/mile Mission statement :- 7 miles in around 60 mins steady pace (8:30 m/mile HR: min133 - target142 - max150) I woke up this morning feeling thick headed and tired, not a good sign for the running! I eventually got myself going expecting the run to be a chore, but after a few minutes I was bowling along. I ended up running way quicker that planned but kept my HR in range and felt good!

68 days to go - Cruising

Route #22 Duration : 1 hr 11 min 10 sec Energy : 744 KCal Distance : 8.0 miles Max HR : 140 Bpm Av HR : 128 Bpm Mile pace : 08:53 min/mile Mission statement :- 8 miles in around 75 mins - slow pace (9:20 min/mile HRBPM Min 124 - Av 130 - Max 138) A gentle cruise around the Suffolk lanes today. Yet again my slow pace seems to be too fast, while my HR target was spot on. As a matter of fact I achieved my best ever m/heartbeat value today at 1.41. As you can see, my mate Hunter was well impressed.

69 days to go - Hill running

Route #7 (partial) Duration : 1 hr 8 min 51 sec Energy : 622 KCal Distance : 6.6 miles Max HR : 152 Bpm Av HR : 118 Bpm Mile pace : 10:25 sec/mile Mission statement :- 1 mile jog, then 10 x 2 mins up hill with slow jog/walk down, then 1 mile jog. This is the first time I have tried a hill training session. I chose the hill at the bottom of out field on the King's Farm Lane bridal way. The hill is only around .2 of a mile so my uphill sessions were sub 1:30 rather than 2 min. At the time it all felt rather gentle but I could feel the work in my legs by the evening. I was lucky with the weather and managed to dodge the showers for the most part, but I made the mistake of setting off without my gloves, big mistake, my hands were freezing!

70 days to go - England win in Oz (at last)

Weekly Data Total distance : 37 miles Total duration : 5 hrs 37 min 21 sec Total energy : 3759 KCal Av HR : 133 Bpm Av mile pace : 09:07 min/mile Av m/heartbeat : 1.32 m Av energy per mile : 102 KCal Av energy per min : 11 KCal While my week started off rather badly in terms of my m/heartbeat metric, it finished with 2 runs that got the average back to the 2 previous weeks. The jog - run - jog sessions tend to damage the m/heartbeat data because the final jog in the sequence is essentially a warm down when I am travelling slowly with a high HR as I recover from the preceding speed session. Well done England, 4 matches on the bounce, 3 against Australia and One day champions down under. Not before time!!

Happy 60th Birthday Frank

Thanks for a great party. Keep on Rocking!

71 days to go - Run in the rain

Route #21 Duration : 2 hrs 3 min 45 sec Energy : 1290 KCal Distance : 13.7 miles Max HR : 138 Bpm Av HR : 128 Bpm Mile pce : 09:01 min/mile Mission statement :- 14 miles in around 2hrs 15 (slow pace - 09:37) Ah the joys of the long run, okay, I ran too fast and slightly too short, but I felt really good. The weather was horrible, and it took a clear mind to set off, but once I got going I felt really strong and powerful. Although my pace was 30 odd seconds faster than my target, my HR remained firmly in the upper conversion zone and I am scoring a mission accomplished on this one. Looking forward to Frank's party this evening and a well earned sofa day tomorrow.

72 days to go - English cricket can smile

Route #4 Duration : 46 min 51 sec Energy : 451 KCal Distance : 4.9 miles Max HR : 130 Bpm Av HR : 122 Bpm Mile pace : 09:33 mn/mile Mission statement :- 4 miles in around 40 mins (easy pace 10:00) I have been reticent on the subject of England's current tour of Australia recently, no surprise there then as they were doing historically badly and I had been forced into a state of cricketing denial. Fair is fair though, I just have to mention the sudden upturn in England's form. Winning three matches on the bounce, two of them against the Aussies, is no mean feat and the deeds of Paul Collingwood should be lauded across the land! On the running front, just a nice gentle jog today in preparation for tomorrow's 14 mile long run. I hope they have got the weather forecast wrong, if not I am looking at 2 hours plus in a deluge! JD and Angie dug deep today, thank you very much, very generous!

73 days to go - More of the white stuff

Route #20 Duration : 54 min 47 sec Energy : 702 KCal Distance : 6.1 miles Max HR : 164 Bpm Av HR : 145 Bpm Mile pace : 08:58 min/mile Mission statement :- 1 mile jog, then 4 miles in around 33 mins (brisk pace 08:15) , then a further 1 mile jog. For a while there I was not convinced I was going to be able to get out for a run today, what with the blizzard conditions of the morning, however, by lunchtime things had got a lot better and I ventured out. The roads were mostly covered in snow and quite slippery, what with that and the multiple layers I was wearing I was quite surprised to run the 4 faster miles on schedule. I actually completed them in 32:10 (08:02) which was a little quicker than planned. I hope that the weather improves soon, the slippery conditions tend to convert running into a dangerous sport! My cold seems to have been a 24 hour sniffle so no real dramas there, but I am sad to say that my hip has stiffened up over the last few days.

74 days to go - Layered up in the sun

Route #9 Duration : 1 hr 5 min 17 sec Energy : 725 KCal Distance : 7.0 miles Max HR : 146 Bpm Av HR : 133 Bpm Mile pace : 09:19 min/mile Mission Statement :- 7 miles in around 67 mins (slow). The weather today was bright, blue and COLD, the coldest day of the winter so far according to the local news. I was keen to get out on the road, but took the precaution of wearing an extra layer and my track suit bottoms. I do not know if it was the extra clothes, the cold, the icy footing or the slight sniffle I seem to have developed but I was a little disappointed at my heart rate in relation to the pace I achieved, although at least the pace was close to the target for the day. Oh yes, I passed the 400th blogged mile mark today! Only 500ish to go (see schedule).

75 days to go - Running is snow joke!

Route #11 Duration : 46 min 41 sec Energy : 591 KCal Distance : 5.30 miles Max HR : 166 Bpm Av HR : 144 Bpm Mile pace : 08:48 min/mile Mission Statement :- 1 mile jog, then 9 x 400m or 2 mins (fast) with 200m or 90-sec jog recoveries followed by a further 1 mile jog.

I must admit that I was less than enthusiastic about the run during the morning as it was snowing quite hard for a while. The weather cleared up after lunch however and by the time I got on the road the sun was out. It was pretty nice running in half an inch of fresh snow, it cushioned my foot fall, but was not deep enough to be really slippery so I had a pretty good time.

My 2 min fast sections were a little too quick and I actually only had half a mile left for the final jog, but all in all the interval session gave a pretty good workout.

A big thanks to Fred and Grinder for their sponsorship - nice one boys!

76 days to go - Ohh err, dropped the ball

Boingle will no doubt not be surprised to learn that my lack of self control has yet again led to an unscheduled rest day! It was perhaps too much to expect me to get through a Sunday lunch party without overdoing the alcohol intake. It was not that I drank too fast, more the duration of the whole affair that led to my downfall! Anyway the upshot is that I just could not face running today, the sky was grey, the temperature freezing and my head hurt. I am telling myself that it will do my hip no harm and I can catch up by not resting on Thursday. On the bright side, I have had two more sponsors. A big thank you to Maureen and The Frogs (on behalf of Angus). Good on you!

77 days to go - Half way there

So, eleven weeks in and eleven weeks to go. All in all I am feeling pretty happy with my progress so far, I am feeling fit, full of energy and confident that I will be able to give a good account of myself on the big day. No running today, but pretty busy as it happens making Sunday lunch for 10, so I will sign off with my weekly stats and get on with the cooking. Duration : 5 hrs 26 min 58 sec Energy : 3596 Kcal Distance : 35.7 miles Av HR : 132 Bpm Mile pace : 09:09 min/mile m/heartbeat : 1.32 m/heartbeat KCal / mile : 101 KCal KCal / min : 11 KCal

78 days to go - A long run in the sun.

Route#19 Duration : 1 hr 53 min 57 sec Energy : 1238 KCal Distance : 12.4 miles Max HR : 142 Bpm Av HR : 131 Bpm Mile pace : 09:11 min/mile Mission statement :- 12 miles in approx 1hr 55 (slow) What a fantastic day, bright sunshine and a clear blue sky, it just makes my heart sing! I must admit that I have been looking forward to doing another long run, it has been quite a while since I ran more than 10 miles. As usual you will notice that I have been a little too fast, ending up doing the run 20 sec a mile quicker than I should have, my heart rate was nice and slow though and I was concentrating on keeping the pace down. Any slower and I would have been jogging rather than running! My hip got a little tight after 8 miles or so, and I have to admit to popping some ibuprofen to ward off any serious pain. All in all it was not too painful though, and I have discovered that if I "massage" it as I run, the pain disappears for a while. Anyway the run set me up for the rest of the day, fully energised - buzzing around all over the place.

79 days to go - Running with Coltrane

Route #18 Duration : 47 min 57 sec Energy : 451 KCal Distance : 4.8 miles Max HR : 128 Bpm Av HR : 121 Bpm Mile pace : 09:59 min/mile Mission statement :- 4 miles in around 40 mins easy (10 min/mile) At last I have managed to hit the exact pace as set out in the training schedule. I am still finding it a struggle to keep myself in check so that I can run at these slow paces. Maybe listening to John Coltrane's "Love Supreme" helped me to keep chilled enough to stay on the pace required.

80 days to go - On the bike

Today was meant to be a rest day, but by lunchtime I was really needing a fix of that exercise hit so I decided on a little cross training. As it appears that spring has sprung in February, today was hot and sunny for God's sake, I decided on a quick blast on the bike. I had not ridden for weeks so it was nice to get in the saddle again. I did around 15 miles in an hour and got my exercise fix!