Breaking my Parkrun duck!

Parkrun is something I've wanted to do for years. About 3 at least I think as I'm sure there was one at Wimbledon Common but I've always been torn that Saturday morning should be long run day.

However, being as apart from a 5km last weekend, I can count the number of times I've run in the last 3 months on one hand, that argument kinda goes out of the window. As I've heard nothing but good things, I signed up around 3 weeks ago to get me back into running but then a Ofsted visit plus other commitments like Segway racing happened and I haven't got to one. My local Parkrun is Nonsuch but I'm yet to actually get there. Instead, it was a visit to my parents this weekend that allowed me to do the Maldon one with a friend of mine who'd 'never been but always meant to go' as well.

It was a lot of fun, fully recommended and I now have a time to beat of 24:04 (time delivered to my mobile) which I'm pretty damn pleased with. (The weight loss seems to have helped the pace) I then ran back to my parents which was exactly 3km and I managed to do that bang on 15 minutes so kept the pace up well. 8km at a good pace with my first Parkrun complete. A good start to the weekend!

Tough 'n' Soggy

I did my 'run half way to work' route this morning which in a word...  Or two I guess, was bloody horrible. Ignoring the hills which you can't do anything about in Surrey, it was made hard for a number of other reasons. These are as follows:

1. I haven't run anything like near enough recently. My fault completely. I mean I can come up with the most fantastic excuses if you want but I reckon they'll have a touch of bs about them. 

2. I have a shocking cough which produces a phenomenal amount of phelm in the mornings. Too graphic? Sorry about that.
3. I dressed for rain, I got warm, bright and insanely humid weather. It took over an hour to cool down afterwards. Even after the shower...

Why was I dressed for rain when it wasn't? Well it did rain just before I left and the weather/voodoo forecast said showers all morning and after Saturday's long ride with eatingtrees and spending an hour on a bike, in Hertfordshire, on tiny roads and country paths, IN A BLOODY THUNDERSTORM AND TORRENTIAL DOWNPOUR I felt my body could do with slightly less moisture. It seems that backfired as the sweat was of epic proportions. Ah well, it's summer now right? So less rain? Yeah?

Under Armour ColdBlack T-Shirt

I had an email a while ago asking if I'd like to review a new t-shirt from Under Armour. Yes, yup, absolutely was my response. The only condition was I had to review it by the 18th May. No problem at all... I failed. Mind you, this was due to a couple of things. Firstly, I forgot I'd said yes to it as it didn't arrive for over 3 weeks and left me with a week and a half and secondly, IT HASN'T STOPPED RAINING FOR MONTHS!


Eventually, I did manage to get out and test the ColdBlack T-Shirt one Sunday morning (not today) when the sun was shining bright. This was important you see as they claim, even though it's dark, (mine's a lovely navy blue) it still reflects the heat. Hold up... was everything (the only thing) I ever learnt in science class a load of rubbish? Well no. But yes.


See Under Armour have worked their voodoo magic on the material (they call it revolutionary technology but mine sounds better) to make dark colours act like light colours and reflect the sun's rays and all those other nasty rays from the sun therefore, not making you really, really hot. So... then question on everyone's* lips... does it work?


Tough one that. See to know the answer, I'd have to do the same run in identical conditions wearing a light and dark top and remember every detail (Sorry, I ain't that intelligent). So I can only go on what I felt on the day and I have to say that it was good. I didn't feel overly hot (and I make a fat man in a sauna look like he's comfortable) so that's a bonus. It was lightweight, looks great, is a lovely fit and not too expensive.

I AM A SLIGHTLY" OVERWEIGHT WHITE MAN WITH A BIG GINGER BEARD, THIS MAY NOT BE ME

I certainly need to go out and use it a bit more (which I will as my marathon training starts in 3 weeks... FAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRK) and if it continues to feel as good as it did on it's first outing, I may actually have to consider buying another. Overall, I loved it and once I have a clear out of some of the old smelly tops in my drawer, it'll be near the top.


* OK, maybe not everyone as some people might have got here by Googling^ 'voodoo magic' but at least a few
" Ahhmm, yes slightly alright!
^ other search engines are available~
~ just seeing what other symbols are on my keyboard now....

Golf balls and barefoot

8:47am on Monday morning and I'm sitting at my desk rolling a golf ball under my arch to stretch the tendons/muscles/stuff (I don't actually know what's down there) as I've heard it's the right thing to do. Calves and arches. Thems the things to stretch too make sure they're in good condition when you start running 'barefoot'. Or minimalist as I'll call it.

I blame 2 people for this foray into minimalist running, eatingtrees and New Balance. eatingtrees as he's been doing it a couple of years, raves about it and I've seen the improvements in his times and New Balance as the replacement for the faithful 1063's and 1064's that I've worn since day dot, was the the 1080 and quite frankly, it feels like you're running on pillows and last time I checked, running on pillows wasn't very efficient!

Not very efficient

Efficiency... I guess that's what I'm looking for with this new direction. Less wasted energy. A way of running that gives me the ability to run the same distance with less energy used and less impact on the legs and knees.

Slightly more efficient

Now the science of 'minimalist' running is a bit woolly to stay the least. It seems there are as many advocates as there are detractors and the old saying that you can prove anything with stats seems to apply. I've kind of gone with the logic that I can comprehend which is that forefoot runners have a softer impact with the ground than that of heel strikers and because of the springy nature of a persons arch, we don't put as much weight and impact through the knees and hips. That's my theory and I'm sticking to it.

So Saturday was my first trip out in the brand new BRIGHT RED beauties! Knowing how my feet swell when I run, I thought I should go out first in the cushioned shoes to warm up so I went for a lovely run with @MrsSophieHMC. As I run slower when I'm with Mrs HMC, I did a few extra bits, like pushing myself round the lake twice at a quicker pace and then catching her back up but it was a very pleasant 7 ish km which at the end of, I changed into the new shoes and went back out around the block. With all the advice being don't overdo it, I planned to run just a kilometre at a 5 min/km pace but it was feeling good and torn between turning home early or going that little bit extra, I pushed on and ended up doing 1.5km in which the shoes felt fine and I had no awkward aches or pains. Result! 2 days later and still the calves, arches and achilles are all fine. Tomorrow has run number 2 written all over it.

Running away from work

Part of my Berlin Marathon training plan (which I'm NOT currently doing) means that once a week, I'll be running some or all of the way home from work. As I'm yet to attempt this yet, I decided that yesterday would be the day. What a horrible, crappy route that is!

The route undulates constantly and also zig-zags through estates so it means you just can't get into a rhythm. (Why does that word have no vowels, it's why I always spell it wrong I'm sure.) Just as you hit your stride, you have a long steep hill that pushes you harder. Then the downhill follows where you speed up but while crossing roads and jumping over tree roots etc which again doesn't feel comfortable.
It was horrible and surprise, surprise, my pace was all over the show. In 11km, my km times were between 4:54 and 5:57. That's not right.

Maybe it's because I've increased the exercise too much, too quickly. In the last 7 days, I've run 43km and cycled 33km. It contrasts to the combined total over the previous 3 weeks which was a grand total of 15km running! Hmmmm.

Anyway, I've decided that this weekend I'm going to go back to concentrating on short and fast runs of between 3-5km so at least my pace will be more consistent as well as faster. I hope. The theory is that I can then build up a consistent base pace from there. Watch this space.

Final bit of randomness from me. Mrs HMC (@MrsSophieHMC on twitter) who is blatantly becoming addicted to this running lark has signed up for another 10k after her successful sub hour run a couple of weeks ago. The irony of the situation is that after 3/4 years of cheering me on from the sidelines and the last 18 months looking after HMC Boy while I run around a bit, I'll be on HMC Boy duty while we cheer mummy on around the course and over the line. What better way to spend a bank holiday Monday! 

Lo(s)ts of ups and downs

After eating my own body weight in cake, crumble and roast dinner yesterday (notice no chocolate, couldn't fit it in) I knew that my planned quick run of 8/10km would have to be increased somewhat. I also knew it was time for some hills if I was to burn it off properly.

I planned for around 13/14km which would take in a brand new, never run by me, path through the countryside and would include my least favourite route in my area. Chalk Lane. It's not an evil hill but has just the right mix of evil and length. 60/65m gain which takes around 1.5km. Its just doesn't seem to end. My reward for getting to the top of this mountain* (AUTHOR RESERVES THE RIGHT TO EXAGGERATE A TINY, TINY BIT) a biting wind throwing the so far pleasant rain, into a horizontal angle into my face. Joy. 

Hey ho, there's then a lovely downhill that follows just moments before another uphill that is on a muddy, uneven and horse trodden bridle path. More joy! At the top of that hill was the never run before path. Time for some 'I don't really know where I'm going but I know where I'll end up' running.

Only I didn't. I ran straight making no big detours but as I crossed the M25, I realised that half of my 'never run before' path was still never run. At no point was I meant to cross the M25. Decision time, carry on or go back... Sod it, carry on it was. It felt like a bit of adventure. I then found a road with no paths that I plodded down hoping I was heading in vaguely the right direction and by shear chance, came upon the A24. A-ha. Not where I was meant to be but at least I knew where I was now.

Once I was back on my planned route, I worked out that my run was more likely to be a tad over 15km. Then the thoughts were, if it's only a couple of extra to pass the 16.7km or 10mile mark, it would be rude not to. An extra couple of turns were thrown in to add a little to the distance and back home I was, soggy, aching and grinning like a cheshire cat. I love the rain!!

REALLY NEED TO GET BACK MY CONSISTENCY! ALL OVER THE PLACE ALTHOUGH YOU CAN GUESS WHERE THE HILLS WERE!

Trying something new

After speaking to eatingtrees not long ago and him telling me how, up to recently, a lot of his runs were along exactly the same route, I realised that although I varied my routes and distances, I never just went out and turned left, then right, just for the sake of it in case i didn't know my pace or distance. I just have to know these things so my runs were always pre planned.


It took me a while to get into the whole GPS thing but as my marathon training is coming up and I really want to know my pace on my long runs, I recently invested in a Garmin Forerunner 410. The added benefit of this is I have worked out, I can just go out and see what takes my fancy so that's exactly what I decided to do this morning. Telling Mrs HMC that I was off for a run and would probably do somewhere between 10 and 15km, I hit the road with Test Match Special in my ears knowing only which way I was going to turn out of the driveway.


Through some parks, along some country roads and up and down some hills meant I covered 14.7km in 1:18:05 which although not fast, was a perfect start to a long weekend. Bank Holiday Monday has another run written all over it!

Mrs HMC's sub hour challenge - Old Deer Park 10k Report

On Sunday I returned to the home of my PB. The Old Deer Park 10k. Flat, towpath for the majority of the run and plenty of room. It's up there with my favourite 10k's. Yesterday's plan was different to last time though. My lovely wife has been doing lots of running recently and really wanted a sub hour 10k. My job therefore was to run with her, encourage and make sure she didn't finish in 1:00:01 or something like that!!


Her previous training 10k was 1:00:45 so she was nearly there but as she's really been suffering this last week with a cold, chesty cough, and anything else your son tends to bring home from nursery, it was always going to be tight.


A very early start in the morning (05:45am!!! ON A SUNDAY!!!) following a full day in the garden digging and setting up a raised vegetable bed was not good but we were all up, fed and watered and we all jumped in the car along with the in-laws who were very kindly looking after the duracell bunny (i.e. The Boy who just not know how to walk. Run, run, run or fall. They're your 4 options!).


Getting to Kew in plenty of time, we did some warming up (i.e. chasing the D.B. round the field) and then met up with a few members of the Run England group that Mrs HMC has been running with once a week.


Luck was wished, hands were shaken and before long, we were off. I'm sure I don't need to do the maths but to run a 10k in under an hour you need to run in under 6 minute km's. The plan was to head out easy, get the legs stretch and finish strongly. A 5:28 1st km was NOT the plan. We slowed. Not enough. A 5:37 was followed by a 5:44 before we finally settled down to around the 6 min mark, albeit with nearly a minute and a quarter 'in the bank'. 5km was run through in 28:41 which means we were on track but it had taken it's toll.


With a permanently blocked nose, Mrs HMC was struggling to breath easily which made drinking even more difficult as you close off your only air way when you swallow. She asked to slow and so we steadied out the pace in just over our magic 6 minute kilometres but with the nagging thought that we already taking from our time bank. Keeping the pace around the 6:05/6:10 pace for the next 4km, it looked like we were going to succeed.


Loads of encouragement and nearly there's from me and we had picked up the pace again for the final km. You have to cross a little pedestrian bridge before you run across the field towards the finish. It's quite tight but does give you the sense of 'nearly there'. Mrs HMC went for it and picked up the pace as soon as we'd hit the field but maybe a little too early. 100 metres from the finish, she told me she was going to throw up to which I replied 'not yet you're not, only once you've finished'. The loving support and affection is the thing that won her heart in the first place.


Cheering was coming from the crowd near the finish line and she picked it up again to sprint finish and come in 58:28! 

A LOT OF DETERMINATION THERE

She smashed the hour target while not feeling well and hardly being able to breath and no, she didn't throw up in the end either! So, so proud of her and she's already asking which race we can sign up for next! I think sub 55 minutes has to be the next target but that's going to take some work. And some bullying.

LOOKING FRESH ONCE IT WAS OVER

It's not Grim down South - Grim Night Terror Report

'This has to be the most stupid thing we've ever done.... and we've done a lot of stupid things'

This statement made by both me and eatingtrees pretty much simultaneously at 5pm on Saturday night summed it up I reckon. Here we were, sitting in a parked car, wrapped in a lot of layers with snow falling around us, just about to run around in pitch black with only a head-torch for company on a course that can make your balls shrink just thinking about the cold and in which eatingtrees has fallen over into a puddle within the first 100m once and gone over on his ankle on a different occasion. Oh yeah and we paid £25 for the 'privilege'.

CAN YOU GUESS WHO IT IS YET?

Once we couldn't put it off any longer, we headed to the start and jumped and jigged around a lot trying to keep some feeling in muscles that were getting colder by the second where it was announced to a series of jeers and boos that they'd had to divert the course a bit owing to the 4 inch solid ice covering the larger puddles that 'would cut us to ribbons'. At that point, I wasn't overly disappointed as I was still expecting some puddles, just not knee and waist deep ones.

WHAT ABOUT NOW?

The route was 2 laps around the forest, in the snow, with loud speakers playing screaming and heavy breathing noises throughout the route. Think horror film, not porn. It was really well marshalled and all done in good spirits but it didn't take long to realise that even the smaller puddles were sheet ice and the only way you were going over those is on your arse. So pretty much everyone followed the same route diverting around the big puddles and 2 laps were completed in about an hour and 5 minutes. Pretty quick for me over 8 miles. Only is wasn't 8 miles because of all the adjustments the organisers were forced to make through not fault of their own. It turned out to be between 6.5 and 7 miles which is more than I usually run on a Saturday night in Feb I guess!

Would I run it again? Yes but only if it was a proper Grim. It has potential and this one could have been great but a week of below freezing temps leading up to it just gave the organisers no choice in shortening it and making it safer. All in all it was a bit tame. I've never been able to drive home in the same clothes and shoes from a Grim event before!!!

Running into the night

I thought it best to at least try running with a head torch prior to tackling Grim: Night Terror so I had a choice of getting up at 6am or waiting until later in the afternoon to go for a run. Not really a choice. 6am wasn't going to happen on a weekend!

At 5:15pm I found myself putting on my gear for what would be a very strange time for a run for me. I mean it's nearly beer o'clock not run o'clock! Head torch on and cap over the top to keep it in place I headed out on a route involving 2 pitch black sections. The first one is pretty close and through Ashtead Park. Pretty straight forward and managed to avoid the pot holes on a semi gravel road but job done. A road section followed around the roads before heading into Ashtead Common.

I won't lie. I freaked myself out a little. You literally can't see anything more than 10m in front of you and there's a lot on nocturnal animals out there making strange noises. I was a little apprehensive but then I turned into the wooded section. Oh Dear! The imagination went into overdrive. That mixed with the torch suddenly pick up a pair of glowing eyes that would suddenly dart off in a little unnerving when you've recently watched Sherlock's 'Hound of the Baskervilles'.

5 minutes later, I was back onto the relative safety of the roads and street lights! Torch seemed to do a good enough job but I do suspect Grim is going to be a bit of a nightmare with people turning round and blinding you but not a lot we can do about it really. 7.4km done! Bring on the bog, puddles, blackness and 8 mile dark miles.

A run of shame!

Today's run is sponsored by 'guilt'. That feeling when you finally accept you've been lazy throughout December and January and eatingtrees post yesterday reminded you that you only have 3 weeks until Grim Night Terror. Now had I been cycling at all, that wouldn't have bothered me as much but since a variety of things have stopped me cycling recently, it really was time.

I hadn't planned to run today. My experience of 'running's a damn sight easier when I've cycled a bit' meant I'd cycle a few times this week and then head out next weekend and all would be good. Then I saw the weather....

-2 C tomorrow morning when I'm due to be on a bike. No thanks, I already deal with enough tossers in BMW's* on a normal cycle commute so adding ice to that mix is quite frankly stupid!!

The final nail in the coffin was Lovely Wife has run 4 times in the last 8 days. Me? ZERO! OK, time to hit the streets. I'm extremely proud of LW but I can't let that go without a run! 9.4km were completed in a time slightly longer than planned but completed none the less and the guilt has subsided enough to have a glass of wine in preparation for dealing with (almost) anything tomorrow can throw at me.

I've also invested in 2 new pairs of running shoes that should get me through 2012. A white pair to lead me up to the marathon training and then these beauty's to get me through the training miles and the Berlin Marathon itself.

Now my sister reckons red trainers belong only to 'Stars of the HipHop scene' and as I'm neither hip nor do I hop, I can only assume she believes it to be a bad idea but as there's going to be 40,000 runners in Berlin, I've got to do all I can to stand out and I'm worried a long ginger beard just won't cut the mustard!

*tossers are available in other cars. Type 'German saloon car' into google for a starting point.

2011. A very good year

'Rain is falling, 
all around me, 
people running, 
on Christmas day, 
it's the morning for a run along the sea front, 
Merry Christmas, everyone!'

I love Christmas Morning running. Everyone is so friendly. 8 others along the seafront yesterday morning all enjoying a crisp morning. I followed my usual 10k route I do when I'm down at the in-laws and my legs certainly felt the lack of activity throughout December. The cycling and the running has been a little lax this month but after a year where I've done so much I'm proud of, I'm almost allowed this month off. Off being Grim and a Christmas day run. There's still time for more but with a crappy head cold, whether I'll bother is a different matter.

2011 has been: 13 races in 12 months. 4 personal bests that I was VERY happy with, travelled over my target of 2011km by 436km and a wonderful summer of rides with Dunwich Dynamo being the highlight.

Next year doesn't have distance targets or 'race a month' like 2011 did.  There's only 2 things I really want to do. Cycle Coast to Coast on the Single Speed and run the Berlin Marathon. That's it!

Bring on 2012, it's going to be a good one. I hope all your 2012's are everything you want them to be!

Old Deer Park 10k - Birthday Race Report

It's my birthday and I'll run if I want to. That was my philosophy when I booked this race. Described as flat and fast, I wanted a PB for my birthday. As I've mentioned before, I've never gone into a race aiming for a PB so this had potential to fail big time. However, I'm please to say, I didn't. Fail that is...

Getting the family up early for a drive to Kew on a Sunday morning, I knew it was meant to be chilly although I didn't expect this at 7:30am this morning. Would we even find Kew???

 
I'm glad to say we did, so parked up and wrapped up, off into the cold we went. We followed the mass of runners heading to the start area and I picked up my timing chip and tried to stay warm.

I'd heard a lot of negative reviews about the organisation of this race in events gone by but I have to say, it was fantastically done this time. The only exception to this was apart from your number and a couple of advertising leaflets, we got nothing through the post so working out what to do on the day was more guesswork than anything but considering all I had to do was pick up a timing chip, it wasn't exactly difficult.

With 5 minutes to go, I headed to the start and left Mrs HMC and The Boy to wander the park. The organisers started calling people forward by expected finishing time and knowing I wanted to go sub 49, I headed to the front of the sub 50 group.

Visibility had slightly improved at the start but those KM markers were destined to come from nowhere during the race.

The first 3 km are along the roads which were very well marshaled before hitting the Thames towpath for the rest of the race. Well at least I think it was the Thames. There was only about a metre of it visible but it was certainly cold and wet looking so I guess it must have been.

A couple of quick early kilometres got time in the bank and by the 4th KM, I knew I could run the rest at 5 minute KM and PB which was a nice thing to know. I then eased off to around that pace for the next few until 7km and then decided it was time to see if I could push on further.

At around 7.5km, you reach the part of the course where the quick runners are coming back towards you  before they veer off to the finish but this is also the point where the supporters are, cameras in hand.

RUNNING IN MY NOW DEFAULT BLUE TOP AND WHITE CAP

This was the only bit I found tough, running towards people who had already done the bit I needed to do but head down (well it's not exactly like there was a view) I plodded on while attempting to keep my footing on the cobbles. The wet and VERY slippery cobbles. Luckily there were only around 100m of them and then at 8.5km, it was time to turn for home. 

As usual for me at this point, it was keep running at the same pace, clock your 9km time then see what you can do to get you to the finish. A 4:35km was the answer giving me a finishing time of 47:53 and soggy feet from the grass.

After the medal, water, banana and Ribena, I found Mrs HMC and The Boy and we headed out to get some brunch in an old toilet. I'm not being nasty here, Arthurs on the Green is a converted toilet who served me a great cooked breakfast with loads of coffee and fresh orange juice. Just what a PB cracking birthday boy deserved!

And now for the bad...

I left the last post on a high but all in all, there's some bad news too. It all started back in May when I ran the BUPA 10k in under 50 minutes. I was utterly knackered and beaten (unlike a smiling fresh faced eatingtrees that crossed the line only a few seconds behind me) but also delighted. It was like I'd finally sped up after 2 and a half years of pretty much the same speed. I was overjoyed and did something stupid.

In 2010, I had a goal of running a Half Marathon in under 1:50:00. I failed miserably! Didn't even come close but totally unexpectedly, I acheived it on Sunday and this has triggered my something stupid.

I told myself that if I ever ran a half in under 1:50:00, I owed it to myself to try a full Marathon. The whole 26.2 miles. Every single one of the 42.2 km. I also said I had to do it in the following calendar year which means 2012 will be the year of the big one. Ah Crap!!

I have never wanted to do a full marathon. I don't have the dedication in training or ability to deal with that much pain. I also suspect I never will again but for one day only (although I hope it doesn't take the whole day) I will attempt to do a Marathon. No time limit, just completion. No word of a lie, I AM ALREADY NERVOUS ABOUT IT!!! The thought of it fills me with fear but by putting it on here, it makes it a lot more difficult to back out.

But I need your help. I need ideas of a great marathon to do. If I'm only going to do it once, I want it to be great. I want the event itself to numb the pain! I will consider any but be nice to the beginner please... the less hills the better. A few thoughts strike me... Berlin maybe? Rotterdam? What about around the lakes in Switzerland? Like Lausanne? What do you think?

As quick as 2 opposite pole magnets coming together!

On Thursday afternoon, I developed an annoying pain in my left knee. It was a pain like it needed to crack (which mine do regularly) but I just couldn't. Slightly bemused as I couldn't remember a twist, jolt, bang or anything that could have caused it so just put it down to a bad day and hoped with a day's rest, it would sort itself out and allow my to run a little 9.91km route back near my parents as we were visiting this weekend.

I could still feel it a little on Saturday morning but felt fine to run on so I headed out. I've only done this whole route once before and my stats tell me that this took 53:06 in Feb 2010. After last weeks Hertford 10k, I felt I should be able to beat this but with the knee pain yet to be diagnosed, I took a phone with me in case I had to make a call. Is it was, I didn't it was fine during the run and I was able to come in in 50:08!!! For me, that's monumentally quick. The only times I've run at that pace, it's been less than 6km. It felt good and means I'm looking forward to the BUPA 10k even more now. There could be a possible PB on the cards as it's so flat!

Those thoughts were slightly curtailed come Saturday night when bouncing/rocking the boy to sleep and the knee nearly giving way. Hmmmm. Come Sunday, all seemed fine again so I've got no idea what's going on there!!

A little bit of TLC needed I think to make sure it doesn't develop into something more.On another note, I was sent a Trion:Z bracelet to try so I decided to keep it on for a full week and see what I thought. Now apart from looking quite cool, I'm not entirely sure what these magnetic bracelets actually do. The website says things about why they're so much stronger than competitors magnetic bracelets and has quotes from famous people that wear them like Rory McIlroy (I hope he wasn't wearing it during the Masters last week then) but there doesn't appear to be anything to say a)what it does and b)how and whether it works.

You may look at my quick time on Saturday morning and say well it did something but considering I took it off on Thursday night, that doesn't mean much. I like the idea of alternative therapy and using different methods it's just I don't actually believe many actually do what they say they do.

I suspect, like most of these things, come down to a placebo effect of believing you feel better and hey, if that works for you then brilliant. I also think that if you would like one of these magnetic bracelets, then the Trion:Z website is a great place to look as it has a wealth of options and colours for you to choose from.

A top run

I had to get myself out for a run today as the weather looked like it could be a good one and I have the little matter of the eatingtrees home town race next week, that being the Hertford 10k.

It was also a chance to test a couple of recent items I'd been sent to review. Today's was a new top. Without a doubt, one of the softest tops I've ever had. It's like running in a cuddle! The only problem is that it was a long sleeve cuddle and we're coming into spring so it was quite warm. It would have been great to try this one about a month ago but beggars can't be choosers. They can just merely comment.

The top is from the people at BAM who produce some quite lovely Bamboo clothing. It's not designed primarily as a running top but something for everything. Running, cycling, skiing and hiking etc which means I'm pretty sure, it's going to get a lot of use and in that way, I'm certainly going to put their 'Non Smelly' claim to the test.

It felt like it was going to absorb a lot of moisture and being dark blue, I suspected that come the end of my run, it would all be a slightly darker colour and soaked. I was wrong. At the end of 14.34km in 1:19:07 and in quite warm temperatures, this was the result!

LOOK AT THAT FINE SPECIMEN. NO, I MEAN THE TOP

So all in all, really happy with it and I'd even be tempted to get a short sleeve version for myself apart from one thing, the short sleeve don't seem to have the zipped neck which in keeping the wind out really helps but in letting the air in, would be even better.

The run was a non eventful and quite slow trot around my usual route while listening to an audiobook . There really is nothing else to add but I do love spring. I think it could quite possibly be, my favourite season . Not too warm. Generally dryer and you don't have to wear half your wardrobe to go outside. Bliss

Next week's trip to Hertford will be lovely with promises of 10k runs, bike post removal, shisha and Mrs Eatingtrees' home cooked food to look forward to, how could it not. Right, I have a lawn to mo and boy to entertain. Enjoy your weekend's people!

A great weekend for a run

My usual Saturday morning weekend run was delayed by 24hrs this week as I had some friends coming over for the weekend and he fancied a run to increase his training as he's signed up for his first ever race. That being Grim's Beast in the East. That meant on Sunday morning, after passing the babies over to the wives for their breakfast we hit the road.

He'd generally been running around 9km as his max distance so I added a couple of km for good luck and plotted a course on roads, paths, bridleways, mud and gravel over uphills, downhills and the odd flat bit. My thoughts being that it would be better training for Grim than just some roads.

He runs at a similar pace to my half marathon pace so it was easy just to hit the usual rhythm and plodded on. He's also talker but he's a very interesting person so it meant we chatted for a lot of it and it never felt tough or a chore. We finished after doing 11.77km in 1:04:58.

This week I had my race number through the post for eatingtrees home town race, the Hertford 10k and also got into the London2Brighton bike ride again. This year, we'll be doing it on the new builds and my Mum will be part of the team too. Such a good event last year that we couldn't resist. Life is good right now!

Den Haag Half Marathon - Race Report

Last year, despite the company being fantastic, the food excellent and a new city being explored, my Lisbon weekend will only ever be remembered for that utterly hideous and confidence sapping race. It was time to banish those memories on another installment of eatingtrees and Hauling My Carcass' European adventure.

It washz time to head to De Nederlandshz for Den Haag Halve Marathon!

The road trip was on. At 7:50am on Saturday morning, myself, Mrs HMC and eatingtrees, left The Boy with the Grandparents and hit the road. 524km of tarmac minus around 50km for a train tunnel lay between us and a swimming pool, sauna and that accent that makes 3 people in a car attempt to say everything with that dutch twang.

The drive was good and pain free, we arrived in loads of time and got ourselves settled before heading out for the night to a little Italian restaurant we'd found on the world wide web. We had to wander around for 10 minutes before we found the restaurant but it gave us time to appreciate how pretty the centre of The Hague is. It just added to the excitement of the next day's race. Casa Caroni is a fantastic little restaurant with fantastic food, run like a family kitchen and amusing staff too and was perfect for what we wanted the night before a race.

CPC Loop Den Haag was going to be an unusual race for me. It was in the afternoon. I don't run in the afternoon at all really. I'm usually a 'get it out of the way early' kind of runner but Sunday I'd have to amend my plan some-what. As the bus we used to get into town travelled along one of the roads of the race, we had to head into town before 11am to make sure we could get there but with us needing to pick up numbers and timing chips etc, it didn't matter too much. In fact, it gave us more time to look around and see all the other races (they had 2.5k, 5k and 10k all before the HM). We could have had even more time but due to everything being in Dutch (as you'd expect) and being 1 of 3 incompetents who travelled without knowing a word of Dutch, it took longer than it probably should have. We walked right past it! 15 mins later, we were back.

A sandwich, some snackage and a couple of hours later, we were ready. The bag was checked in, Mrs HMC knew where she was heading and into the starting pens we went. Within 5/10 minutes, we were off. I had some stomach cramps just before the race and they were similar to the Cranleigh 10k last year but there was no way I was dropping out of this and I suspected that just like Cranleigh, it would sort itself out. The first 5-6km were quite hard. It was extremely busy with many people taking detours on cycle paths and across tram lines and but to be honest, I couldn't pick up the pace anyway. I guess the best description was uncomfortable. An irritant rather than a screaming pain.

However, after that, it just clicked. Suddenly it felt right. Suddenly the pain subsided. I just hit my consistent stride like I know how to do and settled in! It was feeling really good. Not fast, not slow but just good. I knew after the first quarter that a PB was nowhere near but I never expected it to be so it didn't bother me however, I knew I could still post a time I was very happy with and with the way it felt (did I mention it felt really good), under 2 hours was a definite.

The KM's were being ticked off and with a rough course map in my head, I knew where I was, how far I had to go and when I'd be running past Mrs HMC and her camera. 13.5km ish to be exact ish. I threw my cap to her (or to the foot of the lady next to her if I'm honest) as I'd gone without after 2km as I was just too hot and headed for the 'pier' part of the course. The support was still there cheering and blowing those little plastic trumpets as it had been all the way round and although I doubt my face showed it, I was smiling inside. When there's an event in The Hague, people make the effort to come out and see you!

A DEFINITE SMILE THERE

More KM's were ticked off and there was even a hill. Well slope. Slight incline really but it even had a tiny down bit too. The most I'd had to deal with up to that point was a speed bump. I didn't feel like I tired at all. Then suddenly, there was Central Station in the distance and I was near the finish! I carried on, head up, still feeling good and crossed the finish with a chip time of 1:57:37. Very bloody happy with that and honestly felt like I could have continued which is a first EVER for me! A few minutes later, a very smiley eatingtrees crossed the line and I could just tell he felt great too. You can check out videos, photos and my splits here and enter bib number 3286. Although I don't have a half way point time, by looking at the average speed and also the first and second 10k splits, I ran a negative split which only the second time ever I think!! I told you it felt good.

LOOK AT THOSE GRINS

A quick jaunt back to the hotel for another swim and sauna followed by the best meal of the weekend at a Kenyan restaurant called 3Stones and then a shisha once back at the hotel topped off what was probably my best race day ever!

The return drive had 'Gent' programmed into the Sat Nav as we were stopping for lunch in Belgium for eatingtrees birthday and sitting in a little local cafe, we chatted about how good the weekend had been while eating yet more great food before setting off for the final drive and cuddles with my little boy.

Thank you to the babysitting grandparents, a great city, some wonderful locals, some awesome food and mostly to my 2 travelling companions. I just have one question... Where to next year?

A bakers dozen plus a bit

The Hague Half Marathon is only 8 days away. This time next week, I'll be trying to remember that I should be driving on the wrong side as myself, Mrs HMC and eatingtrees hit the road.

I didn't get out last weekend as I was, along with the rest of the household, fighting a cold so it was an absolute must this weekend. With an audiobook in my ears I headed out on the normal route knowing that I would need to stop slightly short this weekend. Due to tiredness? aches? time taken? Nope. I needed to stop at the bakers to get an unbelievably good farmhouse loaf. It is bliss.

Cut it thick, add some bacon, spread and ketchup and a big mug of black coffee and you have the breakfast of kings! I was going to take a picture of the monster sandwich but I thought it would be a little cruel to all the people eating cereal this morning. However, exactly what I deserved after 13.96km in 1:13:25.

Right, I'm off to do some more planning for the trip. Have a good weekend all.

A long weekend

I decided to take Friday and Monday off work to spend some extra time with The Wife and The Boy and although we haven't particularly done much it's been lovely. It also gave me the chance to abandon my usual Saturday morning 'get it out of the way early' long run and instead, I decided to go out on both Friday and Monday morning.

Friday's was quite tough and I had to stop after an hour to stretch my calves as they were so tight. A hangover from the Wokingham Half I suspect but this morning's was a little easier although hardly any quicker. The 15:36km route was done in 1:22:31 and 1:21:49 respectively.

Nothing happened of interest around the route but after really enjoying it the previous few times I've run it, I'm getting the know the hills etc now so it's a bit dull. I think I'm going to have to get the audiobooks out for next weekend's run just to take my mind off it. Well unless anybody in the Surrey area wants to run between 17-19km next weekend at a pace of around 5:20 min KM's or 8:40 min miles? Nice and early on Saturday morning? About 8am? Excellent. See you there.

Both Mrs HMC and the Boy are suffering badly with colds at the moment as as I type this at 11am, both are in bed and I will be nominated cuddler for the day. Excellent!