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Week Eleven

The week in numbers (so far)...

Miles ran: 34.71
Times I've been to the gym: 0
Alcohol drunk: 2 bottles of red and some pub beers
Chocolate eaten: 1 yorkie duo
Diets maintained: 1, the Greek yoghurt diet & a pizza

Weight: 11stone 13lb

Monday 8th September

It's the day after the Great North and I'm pleased to say my legs feel fine.

The same, however can not be said about my head.

I am hungover once again, too many beers and fun was had and after 12 hours sleep I still feel grim and I'm working at 9am and then working all day.

I'm up at 8am and outside having a coffee in the sunshine, I feel awful but I'm a pro at this and will be fine.

I dig deep and get the 9am appointment done.

The next one is a little easier and by lunchtime I'm feeling human again, well human'ish.

Tuesday 9th September

It's Tuesday, it's club day and tonight it's track.

So, do I drop a group to D and be sensible?

Do I run in C and be sensible?

Or....

Do I go in C and when the group do every rep too fast just stick with it and act like a bit of a dick?

Answers on a postcard.

Wednesday 10th September

So last night was track and I acted like a dick and ran the first 2 sets too fast and then ran the final set like an even bigger dick.

It was fun. It was stupid. It hurt, but in a kind of good day.

Today was also another day of trying to get the kitchen done. The plan today was remove some wiring (didn't get this done), chase out some new cables (didn't do this), remove the final tiles (did this), remove the last cabinet (didn't do this), measure up for plywood for the floor (did this).

So a half decent attempt, also managed to sneak out today for a haircut and 4 miles easy along the coast.

But it wasn't easy because it started downhill and I went too fast and then kept going.

Coming back along the coast I spotted a friend and waved and shouted out "you alright" and gave him a thumbs up. He didn't respond. I thought this was a bit weird.

Then I realised it wasn't him. He's on holiday.

I turned to head back home and after a few minutes I saw him in the distance.

Ah shit. Do I pretend I still think I know him and wave, do I look away, maybe pretend to look at my Garmin. Do I turn up this street that takes me the complete wrong way and is uphill just to avoid this encounter?

Ah fuck it. I'll stare at my Garmin intensely and ignore him.

He sees me, he waves enthusiastically and says "hey man" and I naturally wave back. I don't know him and he doesn't know me. So was he forced into an overly friendly greeting through embarrassment or did he do it because he's now thinking he might know me?

Either way, he's my new best friend.

Sorry Ben.

Thursday 11th September

Today I decided it's time to start some marathon threshold sessions.

It's officially week 11 but realistically week 4.

So do I do the week 4 threshold which is 6 x 1 mile with 2 minutes recovs. Or do I do the week 11 session which is 4 x 2 miles with 2 min recovs.

Well like an absolute twat I of course decide to do the week 11 one even though I didn't do week 10 or 9 or 8 or 7 or, well you get the idea. I haven't done a single threshold session and I decide to just knock out a 4 x 2 miler. Oh and then there's the issue of pace, my normal threshold pace when fully fit would be around 7:00-7:15 mile pace. But clearly I'm not fit and not doing anything stupid like trying to hit that pace.

I head off on rep 1 at 7:15 pace. It's uphill and into the wind, I'm struggling already and I'm only a mile in. Dig deep and hit 2 miles and I'm wrecked. I slowed a bit but still a decent time and I feel trashed. Next rep is in 30 seconds.

5, 4, 3, 2, 1....

2 miles and this time it's downhill and feels easier, the pace is quick for the first mile and then I'm once again wrecked and mile 2 is killing me. I feel absolutely destroyed and still got 2 x 2 miles to go.

I'm at the Sandcastles, I've got 2 minutes to go until I start rep 3 going uphill and back into the wind.

At this point I have to make a decision. Do I sack this off and go home? Do I jog the next 2 reps just to get them done? Do I try and hit the pace?

And then I'm reminded of a quote from the philopher and all round man of wisdom Graham Hall. He likes to say "if something is worth doing, it's worth doing badly" or something like that.

I on the other hand live by the rule "ah fuck it, I'm going home". But today, it stirs something within me and I think to myself, maybe, just maybe I should grind this out and get it done. Graham is a fat guttsier (is that a word?) runner than me, he can dig way deeper and keep going when in the words of Billy Ocean 'the going gets tough'. Graham also bears an uncanny resemblance to Billy Ocean i think.

I, on the other hand am happy to quit at the drop of a hat and go home. If my head's not right then I know it's going to be grim and I'd rather not do it and recently my head has absolutely not been right for various reasons. For the last couple of weeks I've been drained, mentally and physically and I'm struggling to pull myself out of it.

Today, I find my inner Graham and I decide to just grind this fucker out. Rep 3 is awful, it's slow, it's uphill, it's into the wind and after a mile it hurts but I have to finish it.

Rep 4 to go, just 2 little miles downhill.

I do it. I do it badly. But I do it.

Then I drink some coke and go home.

I work, I smash some more things up in the kitchen, I do all the jobs I should have done yesterday and tidy the house, do some washing, clean the bathroom, have a shower and fall asleep in the middle of the day for an hour.

I wake up and go back to work.

I'm tired.

Friday 12th September

Another terrible night sleep and I'm working all day.

It's also Lily's birthday, she's 23. How do I have a 23 year old daughter? Up early to see her before she heads to work. This cheers me up, I do love being a dad and I love my kids more than anything on earth. I love my kids more than my trainers and my records. I love my kids more than my dog and man I love that fat stupid dog.

No running today, I tweaked something in my right quad on Thursday and my back on the right hand side is killing so I'm having a rest day and then back to it over the weekend and a massage booked for next week.

So today is work all day and then a glass of two of red wine tonight and some takeaway pizza for Lily's birthday and watching a movie.

Oh and cake, I ate quite a lot of cake.

Saturday 13th September

It's parkrun day. The plan for today is a decent long run and a parkrun tagged on the end.

Up at 6 as once again I couldn't sleep, cup of coffee and a slice of breakfast birthday cake and I've planned out a 12 mile route, the plan is 13 miles at 8:30 pace and then parkrun at 8:00 mile pace.

Out the door with a gel and some Kendal mint cake and I'm heading towards Deleval, the first couple of miles are bang on where I want them. Through Delaval and back towards Whitley and then up to Tynemouth and back and I'm felling pretty good.

Thursdays twing in the quad feels fine and the pace is picking up, I'm listening to Roots Manuva and as I start heading back to Whitley I realise I'm going to be early as the pace is about 15 secs a mile too quick. So my choice is to add extras on and time it for parkrun starting or do my usual philosophical thoughts of 'fuck it'.

I go with 'fuck it' and stop and have a chat with Tiger at the parkrun start. And then we're off...

So part 2 of the plan here is a parkrun at 8 min miles, mile 1 in 7:45, then 7:40 and then 7:42 and I feel really good. My longest run since the comeback, still only 14 miles but 14 miles pain free and a decent pace.

Home, coffee and then spend the day laying flooring in the kitchen and out to the clubhouse birthday party and the pub tonight.

A sensible bit now.... A massive thanks to those from the group that were able to come along to this, you may have noticed we made up 90% of the people there and it's a really good sign to see, so thank you all.

Sunday 14th September

So turns out the quad decided to come back and bite me on the ass.

A trip to B&Q to buy some flooring yesterday and I'm limping and my right leg is really painful, feels like I've pulled it and lifting my leg is very painful which is a bit of a worry. A worry I chose to totally ignore it and pretend its not happening.

I am however sensible and don't run today, this annoys me immensely as it means my mileage won't hit 40 this week and it ruins my little strava graph.

I spend the day doing kitchen jobs and get a massage booked in for next week, I figure 2 days rest ans then a massage and all will be well once again.

London 2023

Want to read all about my London adventure in 2023.

It's mostly about Ben, my sausage dog nemesis and wine.

LONDON CALLING

Yorkshire 2024

Enjoyed reading about London?

Now its time for York and reading about Bilbo, mushrooms and wine.

And Ben.

YORKSHIRE PUDDINGS

Manchester 2025

Well you've read the last two so may as well carry on.

Manchester, so much to answer for. Yeah Ben gets a mention or two

MANCHESTER - THE SECOND COMING