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Amsterdam- Week 12

Amsterdam, red light spells danger
Week Twelve

The week in numbers (so far)...

Miles ran: 43.56
Times I've been to the gym: 0 (i think i should cancel my membership)
Alcohol drunk: 2 bottles of red
Chocolate eaten: 2 yorkie duos
Diets maintained: 1, the Greek yoghurt diet

Weight: 11stone 13lb

Monday 15th September

What a thoroughly boring day.

Working and building kitchen units between appointments and trying to screw things to other things and glue things and hammer things and cut things. I glued some things that shouldn't have been glued and cut the odd thing that shouldn't have been cut but all in all made decent progress.

My house is very dusty and chaotic at the moment but the kitchen is starting slowly to take shape and my coffee cupboard is almost complete and once I've done that I'll probably give up with the kitchen and just staple some bin bags up to hide the walls.

Tuesday 16th September

Working in the morning and then from 2 I'm on kitchen jobs.

I need to build the next 2 full height cabinets and install the fridge and freezer into them, they are big and they are heavy and I am tired.

Spend 4 hours measuring, building, cutting and lifting a ridiculously heavy fridge and freezer into their cabinets and then after lots of faffing around realise that the bracket it clearly said to install in the bottom of the cabinet shouldn't be there.

So then redo everything. Remove the ridiculously heavy fridge again and remove the bracket and then put it all back together. It gets to 6pm and I'm wrecked and need to head to the club with the usual 4 mile warm up. After a mile of easy running I realise how wrecked I am and tonight is a long and fast session and I'm not sure I'll finish it.

Reps 1 and 2 are 300's and I'm okay.

Reps 3 and 4 are 500's and I'm struggling but hanging onto the group.

Reps 5 and 6 are 800's and I'm done, the group starts to pull away on rep 5 and I fall behind. We take a short recovery and start rep 6. I'm behind the main group with a few others and then at the 300 mark I push to close the gap and catch them.

Reps 7 and 8 are 1km.

I'm exhausted but I've never dropped out of a session before and I'm not starting now. Rep 7 and I'm way off the back and just aiming to finish. Rep 8 and it's the last one, the group pull away led by Vicky who is running in C to 'be sensible' and I'm way off the back. We get to the 300 mark and I try and close the gap, I managed to reel in a few people but Vicky's finished, ran home, had a shower and is already eating her tea.

Home and broken and asleep in bed by 10.

Wednesday 17th September

Again it's half day work and half day kitchen.

I'm up early and head out for an easy 4 miles along the coast listening ing to Roots Manuva.

Then home, some work and then more kitchen fitting. Today's job is sorting the coffee 'station', this is basically the only bit of the new kitchen I care about. It's a cupboard and inside it will be pull out drawers full of coffee stuff and a pull out tray with not one, but two coffee machines. Why two you ask ? Well because I want two and that's enough of a reason for me.

Anyway, I get very annoyed with some drawer runners that don't work and I get a bit snappy with Mrs J and have to sit down and listen to some music to calm down. I would have also had a coffee but I can't because those f'ing runners don't work and I can't plug the coffee machine in yet.

Then I realise the time and I need to head out to go to the Poly AGM. Lots of chat, lots of talking and then we're downstairs having a beer. We have quite a lot of beer and I go home a bit pissed and eat some chips and drink some coke and go to bed.

Thursday 18th September

Up early and hungover.

It's going to be one of those days.

I check my emails and find in my drunken state i must have ordered a Roots Manuva t-shirt last night but i was at least sober enough to order the correct size.

Today is a reverse of the last two days and it's kitchen all morning and then work in the afternoon and then club in the evening.

I start the day with breakfast which is a cup of coffee and a Yorkie Duo.

Then I finish my coffee station and it looks damn fine, the drawer runners were thrown in the bin and a better solution was thought of and I'm once again happy and not snappy.

Fridge, freezer and coffee station all sorted and now just needing handles. Let's forget about the rest of the kitchen for now and enjoy what's been achieved.

In the evening it's 6x1km on the seafront and it's cold and it's bloody windy. I set the groups off and run by myself, this is because I'm knackered this week and I know I'll fall off the group and would rather not have the pressure and just do my own thing. As it is the session is okay, I'm on pace for some, off pace for some and way too fast for one.

Home, shattered and can't face cooking so have a large bag of M&M's and a large bag of caramac buttons for tea.

I'm thinking of writing a book on sports nutrition.

Friday 19th September

No time for kitchen and no time for running today.

It's NT10k on Sunday so I'm booked solid today with runners needing massages, starting at 8am and finishing at 7pm.

Once again I'm knackered but get to the end of the day and drink a bottle of red wine whilst watching 'weapons' and thoroughly enjoy Poppy being scared shitless.

Parkrun tomorrow with a 7'ish mile warm up for a nice round 10 miler.

Saturday 20th September

Up early.

It's chucking it down.

I'm not running in that.

It goes past my time to leave to do my 7 miles.

It's still raining and looks utterly grim.

It gets later and I still haven't gone.

Gets to half 8 and rain has eased so I head out, turns out the rain hasn't eased and I'm cold and wet and a bit miserable. I do a few miles warmup but nowhere near the 7 i was supposed to do.

Parkrun done in 23 mins which felt pretty good today, I'm getting fitter but speed is proving to be tricky to get back. Probably because I'm 50 now.

Tomorrow is NT10K and a long run all merged together.

No booze tonight, no chocolate tonight.

Sunday 21st September

The plan is 9 miles at 8:30 mile pace and then the 10k at 8:00 mile pace.

I need to leave at 8:40 and this plan will work perfectly. Head inland for first few miles and then onto the coast to head to Shields for the start.

First mile a little slow and then I end up averaging 8:10/15 mile pace, it's too fast but feels fine and I'm weirdly enjoying it. Get towards the start and see a huge group of runners heading to the start, I had planned to run up and down the road until it started but a sudden change of plan and I stop and barge my way forward until I find a group from the Poly to stand with.

And then 5 mins later we're off.

So part 2 of today's fun and the plan now is to run at 8:00 mile pace.

Part 1 was too quick but I'll nail this.

Mile 1 in 7:14, it's downhill, it's fine.

Mile 2 in 7:53, it's uphill, it's fine and I'm on pace.

And then I start to settle into a 7:30 pace and it feels good, I see some Poly up ahead and start to pick them off and then aim for the next one. I pass Lloyd and give his arse a squeeze, this is always a tricky choice as on one hand I think it'll be funny and on the other there's a chance of grabbing a sweaty arse. Either way it's still funny so I do it and Lloyd informs me later he thoroughly enjoyed it.

Coming into the finish and I'm closing in on Lee, I catch him with about 20m to go and drag him along with me and I'm done.

10k in about 47 mins. It felt really good, not easy but comfortable and then home and a trip to IKEA to get yet more kitchen stuff.

And then home and oh yes, my new coffee machine has arrived. It's a thing of beauty and me and Poppy spend the afternoon making espresso, double espresso, iced coffee, iced coffee with cold foam, classic coffee, rich coffee, classic coffee with thin foam, classic coffee with extra foam, black coffee, white coffee.

By bedtime I'm buzzing, I've drunk a lot of coffee.

It's been a good day.

Can't wait for the morning and another coffee.

I can't sleep, im about 84% coffee.

Still awake.

Maybe i should go downstairs and sit and look at my coffee machine.

Coffee.

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