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!

A cry for help! New Balance trainers

Right, this is my problem. My New Balance MR1063WN 2E are coming to the end of their life and I have only used this type of trainer since I started running as they are the right width for my extremely high arches and have NEVER caused me a problem when running.

 AN OLDER PAIR THAT GOT ME THROUGH GRIM '09

They have now been discontinued and I can't find another pair for love nor money (or indeed a long Google search). They have been replaced with the 1064 which although they look lovely, numerous reviews say that they feel a lot stiffer and aren't good for anything much longer than a 10k.

I have a Half Marathon in Feb and another in March and I have no idea what shoe to buy but I need to get it soon to have a chance to break them in.

I'm not going to lie, changing trainers scares me. I know numerous people who have gone on to develop Iliotibial Band Syndrome as soon as they've tried new trainers and that can't happen.

Does anyone know: a)where I can still get hold of a pair of New Balance MR1063WN 2E trainers in a UK9.5 or b)what the hell I buy to replace them if not?

HELP!!!

Not too much of interest

Another week's gone by and only 1 run to speak off. That was my 4.14 mile out and back route that I do but as I know I've been a bit slack recently, I pushed myself and was delighted to have come back and realise I'd run the thing in 8:04 pace. I'm putting it all down to it being the first run in the brand new shoes of whiteness. It was so nice to have grip, bounce and comfort back!! This is my 3rd pair of New Balance 1063's and I personally, really can't go wrong with them!

Job seeking is continuing but currently just ticking by with the housework, shopping oh and yes, building myself that new bike I mentioned last time. When I say building, I mean destroying. Went back and got the bike out of my parent's garage on Sunday and then dismantled everything I could off it. HOW MUCH FUN IS THAT!?!?  Now it's all the sanding of the paintwork (not the most fun in the world) and buying the essential parts that I need to make it into a lovely looking single speed. Watch this space for before and after shots in a few weeks time!!

Right I'm off. I'm sure there's another load of washing to do and sanding to be done. If I'm really good, I may even try and run more than once this week but we'll see!!

Proper Day 1 now. The actual exercise one.

D-day. The beginning (of the end?). The countdown to the 2009 goal has begun. Here we go with The Plan.

Oh Bloody typical!! HMC goes for a training run and the bloody sun's out which just makes it harder. Hey ho, can't blame the weather come race day so off I trundled to the park for some interval sessions.

It's week one. The Plan will bring me in gently so this should be a walk (or run) in the park. Was it? Christ no. This has continued from what has to be my second worst* ever run that happened on Saturday morning when I didn't even get to my turning point before stopping and run/walking back. Wow, that must have been a tough run you set yourself I here you cry. Was it? Was it fcuk! I didn't even make it to the 2 mile mark before I turned round! Rubbish. Anyway, back to today and the intervals.

The Plan reads that I have to run 1200m (at my target HM pace) so 6 minutes then, walk 400m to rest, then run 2 lots of 800m at a 10k pace (which is 3.48 for me on The Plan) with a 200m rest and then 4 x 200m sprints (with 200m rests in between) just as fast as I can without collapsing on the floor in a puddle of my own sweat and vomit. The results:

1200m. Target time: 6:00. Actual time: 5:42
800m. Target time: 3:48. Actual time: 3:42
800m. Target time: 3:48. Actual time: 3:39
200m. Target: as fast as possible. Actual Time: 36 secs
200m. Target: without vomiting. Actual Time: 35 secs
200m. Target: stay on my feet a little longer. Actual Time: 35 secs
200m. Target: stay alive. Actual Time: 35 secs

I'm not unhappy with that. Timing wise it was OK but I'm sure it shouldn't hurt that much!

I was in new trainers though. My trusted New Balance 1063 (UK 9, Width 2E in case anyone has some they want to send me some in exchange for a shameless plug) turned up which is nice. One thing I've noticed is not a massive difference between old and new though so I can this with confidence. If you're a 14 stone bald bloke with a heavy tread, an extremely high arch and around a 9min mile HM pace then these could be for you. They seem to last quite a while anyway.

'The new dirt and white colour scheme'

Something else I noticed today is the e-mail from the team at the Royal Parks Half. I'm guessing it's fake and a bit of spam though because surely no one in their right mind would think that 'violet and raspberry' are particularly good colours for a fat bloke to be seen in!! Although the clincher for me is the design on the back. They say 'an uplifting message for all those people behind you!'. I think 'will make you an instant hate figure for all those people behind you!' is slightly closer to the truth.

'The picture from the spam e-mail'

*My worst run was just before I started this blog while running home from work at a time my training was going very well indeed. On a 3 mile run, I wanted to stop after a mile. Did stop before a mile and a half and was on a bus before the 2 mile marker. Truly pathetic!!