I feeeeeeeeeel good!

It's about bloody time too but over the last couple of weeks I've really started to enjoy my running again and obviously I know, the more I do, the more I will enjoy it. Saturday's planned run will take this months mileage to just shy of 87km or just over 54 miles. If I remember rightly, that's about London to Brighton! Considering the last 4 and a half months of last year, I managed a total of 44.5km, I think I'm allowed to be happy.

Yesterday's run was an 8.14km loop on some ropey pavements with some below average street lighting and it felt great to stretch the legs out again. 2 things I did that prove to myself that I'm enjoying it. Firstly, I purposely did the route in the direction that means I have 2 tough uphills to deal with and secondly, I managed a sprint finish.

Before I set off, I pitched a realistic time to myself of 42:40 to 43:10. Precise I know but I think I'm generally pretty accurate with my times although I have no way to plot the progress during the run. I'm not a Garmin man you see. Including my sprint finish, I stopped the clock at 42:01!! Happy boy again. 5:09 p/k (8:18 per mile).

My run this weekend will top 10 miles and will be the longest distance I do prior to the Wokingham Half. I'm hoping to do it in under 1:32:00 but it's going to be tough. However, I'm now confident I should be able to firstly finish, the Wokingham Half and also, come in under the 2 hour mark. That'll be a good base for the Hague City Pier City Half the following month.

5.74km short of 3 weeks

The homeless lollipop man headed out again today in the knowledge that he needed to run a few km's to firstly continue to break in the new trainers and secondly just to do it with the up and coming Wokingham Half coming round far too quickly. Considering I only did my first run in 3 months 20 days ago, I'm delighted to say that I managed to do 15:36km in 1:21:44. That's a pretty good pace of 5:20 m/km (8:33m/m) for me. Even better when you consider it was on the standard kind of route you get in Surrey. i.e. Hilly. Profile of today's route

Then we had George's swimming class which I had missed last week due to playing around in the mud and he certainly seemed to enjoy it although being up an hour and a half earlier than normal this morning meant he was a bit tired and didn't enjoy his dunking quite as much.

 GEORGE FELT MORE COMFORTABLE HOLDING ONTO THE BEARD FOR STABILITY

The beard is also staying for now as it'll take more effort to remove it than to keep it and I reckon with a little bit of effort, it could be like the beard belonging to this fine upstanding citizen.

OPIE. NICE GUY, GREAT BEARD

Work on the dismantling for Mrs HMC's new bike is also underway. It's going to be a beauty when it's finished. Now I just need some light evenings to get on with it. Hmmmm

Homeless Lollipop Man

With the Wokingham Half only 3 and a half weeks away, I had to get out tonight so I could stretch my legs and therefore be able to go for a longer run at the weekend. As I mentioned in my last post, Grim was the longest I'd run in 5 months and as the cold wet clothing doesn't promote sitting in a field and stretching, my knees have been feeling tight on the stairs and also my ankle was sore from rolling it slightly in the mud.

I put on the usual array of running clothes (shorts, long top and buff) and then my bright yellow gilet, my dark woolly hat and my flashing armband then looked in a mirror. Oh dear. I really need to shave. The big beard and woolly hat combo screams homeless and the fluorescent gear shouts lollipop man. It's a combo I'm ashamed of and proud of in equal measure.

Today was also the first run in my New Balance MR1064CU's which so far, so good but that's all the review you're going to get until I start seeing some freebies! At least they're cleaner than the 1063's  right now.

Grim Beast in the East has also been booked and put in the diary but it's looking like it could be a costly weekend considering it's the weekend closest to Mrs HMC's birthday and I'll be dragging her to a muddy motocross circuit in Kent on a Saturday morning! I guess I better start saving...

Grim and Bare It! RACE REPORT

I just love Grim. It's such a mad event and I said last year about there seems to be a camaraderie between participants. Apart from a few people at the front, there doesn't seem to be any need to actually race at all. It's just a muddy fun-run. 14.21km of fun-run but a fun-run none the less and I love it.

With eatingtrees being designated driver for the day, off we popped after a night of little sleep (thanks George) and promptly arrived in a car park quite far away from where we wanted to be. A few walks from the car and back quickly made us realise that although the temp said 9 ish degrees, the wind reality was something altogether different. 2 questions at this point popped into my head. WHY DID I NOT HAVE A LONG SLEEVE TOP ON and WHY DID I NOT HAVE A WOOLLY HAT WITH ME!!! Idiot boy.

I had a cotton T-shirt on over the top of my running top and this was intended to be cast aside at the last minute before the start. Nope. Not with that wind. I quickly re-attached my number to the old t-shirt and now intended to run with both. It was a good decision!

We met up with Fitartist (and the support crew of Edward and Hector) and planned to run it together. No need to push all the way with something like this. Grinning/Smiling and shrieking when water reaches the parts other puddles can't reach is the way forward. We all found it pretty tough going but it wouldn't be fun if it was easy.

My chip time came in at 1:45:40 which is about 45 minutes longer than I've run at any point in the last 5 months so the feeling of crossing the line was wonderful. An awesome T-shirt this year I must say...

T-SHIRT WITH ADDED GEORGE DRIBBLE AND YOGURT

Mrs HMC, our resident photographer and supporter wasn't able to be with us this time due to George's first swimming lesson (which he loved may I add) but there are a couple of great photo's over on Fitartist's blog. 

A final shout must go out to eatingtrees who not content on dragging fitartist through the first big puddle he found, then promptly lost his footing and went splashing around within the first 200m. Only another 14km to go with soggy shorts and a bleeding knee then!!

Nur nur nur nur nur nur nur nur BAT RUN!

Thought it best to stretch the legs prior to Saturday's Grim so I planned a little route during the day and headed out for a run while leaving Mrs HMC to put George to bed.

I pried open my trainers and broke off the mud holding them together and slipped my feet into them. Toasty warm due to leaving them on a radiator! A head torch was donned and a little flashy red light arm band type thingy was attached to my arm. It was quite a mild night in Surrey so no hat was needed and after 5 minutes, I was wishing I'd chosen a short sleeve instead of a long sleeve top!

I'd planned a little loop I hadn't done before which had been checked for paths on Google Streetview. Quite a nice run actually that included a great little section with very little street lighting and lots and lots of bats for company and then another part with a view where the sky had some quite cool effects going on. 6.22km was completed in 33:33 which is back to my normal pace as I'd removed the 2 BIG hills from my route.

I have also bitten the bullet and ordered the New Balance 1064 which should arrive soon and it also means that Saturday's Grim Challenge with eatingtrees and fitartist could be the final send off for my last ever pair of 1063's! They've done every race bar my very first half marathon. It'll be a sad day.

Oh and I forgot, this years Half Marathon European adventure has been planned. This year.... The City Pier City Loop on the 13th March. Myself, eatingtrees and Mrs HMC are going on a road trip!