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Well, it's that time once again and it only feels like Amsterdam was 5 minutes ago, but here we go again ...

The week in numbers ...
Miles ran:  48.94
Gym visits:  0
Chocolate eaten: 2 easter eggs
Alcohol  drunk:  lots, i was at a party (again)

Weight:  11st11lb

Couple of early appointments and then nipping into Whitley to ask if the records have been sorted yet.

They haven't been sorted, they tell me to come back later.

I go and get a few things from the shops and then pop into Room 305 for a coffee and I was going to get a sandwich but then see the price has increased to £12.50, it used to be £7.50 and this pisses me off so I message Lily to complain and just get some spicy fries instead.

Then I head back to the charity shop to ask of the records have been sorted yet.

They haven't.

At this stage I think it will be quicker for me to apply for a job at the shop, have an interview, start work, sort them myself, put some aside, buy them and then resign. But that seems a faff so instead I'll just come back tomorrow.

Track tonight and it's chucking it down .

The plan is to run B pace but at the back of B as the front of B won't be running B pace.

Graham sets of A and B and I set off C and then I start, I've got into a habit of doing track sessions alone. This is mostly due to the fact I'm being a massive baby and not wanting to run with B as I'm worried I'll get injured and/or they'll kill me.

My plan is 24 per 100, so 1:36 per lap.

I start too fast, I keep overlapping with A team which makes me run too fast for the first 100 and then try and settle down. I go through the first few reps at 22's which is too fast and then start to settle to 23's.

By the time I get to 35 sec recoveries I'm a bit knackered and start to drift to 23/24 but still keep every rep under 1:36

Last few start to hurt but I'm just above pace on all them. Home, shower, have some tea and watch Flight of the Conchords and then I remember I bought myself an Easter Egg today so I eat that.

As Ice Cube once sang, today was a good day. But unlike Ice Cube I don't have a drop top and I have no switch that can make the ass drop and I dont really want a beep from Kim as she sounds quite nasty.

It's threshold Thursday.

At this point on the plan I should be doing 3 x 3 miles at threshold pace but die to the injury lay off I missed a big portion where I should have been progressing from 3k to 4k reps and then building into the 3 mile reps. I don't have time for this now and dot want to jump in and attempt the 3 mile reps as this will firstly knacker me as I don't have the stamina and secondly depress me that I can't got the times and then I'll go into a whole downward spiral about not being fit enough and what's the point even bothering with a marathon and I'm a terrible runner and I might as well sell all my trainers and take up embroidery or knitting.

And I don't know to embroider or knit so then I'd get depresed about that.

But i am a bit of a demon with the sewing machine.

That reminds me of a story when I was at school and about 9 or 10 years old and was partnered with spoon head at a sewing machine, think I've mentioned spoon head before but he was called spoon head because his brother once heated up a spoon on the hob and held it on spoon heads face.  Not a pleasant story but that's the truth, his head was also quite spoon shaped ironically.  Anyway, during the sewing lesson as i was threading the needle he thought it would be funny to press the pedal and sewed two stitches straight through my finger nail and into my finger.

Back to the running now.

Wonder what ever happened to spoon head?

So to save the hassle of this I have instead changed my thresholds to 1 mile or 1k reps and I just do lots of them. Last week was 6 x 1 mile and this week I'm doing 12 x 1k and next week I'll go for 8 x 1 mile or 15 x 1k.

The plan today is steady 1k reps in 4:20 with a 60 second recovery and I'm doing them from the Sandcastles uphill for 1k and then back to the sandcastles with a 1k downhill. It's very windy and it's perfect so I have the tailwind blowing me uphill and the headwind when I'm coming downhill.

I start. I feel okay and heading uphill and rep 1 in 4:24

Then it's 4:21, 4:21, 4:24, 4:21, 4:19, 4:21, 4:23, 4:25, 4:20 and just two left to go. On the last one heading uphill I passed Graham who was put and run ing back towards Whitley. I take my 60 recov and start heading back downhill and I start thinking to myself, I wonder how far ahead Graham is? 

Then I start to speed up, as I come past the Kayak place I spot him well ahead just passing Infront. I only have a few hundred metres left to go and I'll never catch him, we'll not unless I speed up ridiculously and run a sub 4 min km pace which is just stupid as why would I do that just to pass him with a few metres left of my rep when he's just put running and doing a totally different session.

What kind of idiot after running over 6 miles of intervals would start going flat out to catch his mate for no reason. Run the risk of injury just because it seems funny at the time? I'm so glad I'm a mature adult that doesn't do stupid things.

I nail the rep in 3:42

I catch him with about 20m left of the rep.

As he comes past me I'm bent double retching a little bit.

Absolutely worth it.

I'm up and eating some fruity bread and having a coffee and then need to be out 6:50 at the latest to for the miles in. I'm a couple of minutes late and running inland through Whitley Lodge and then turn and head towards the coast and the plan is a Sluice loop and then head to Shields.

I got the seafront and suddenly hit the wind, my pace goes from 8 min miles to 8:40 miles and I'm struggling and pleased I'm not doing 23 miles but not happy I need to get all the way to Sluice.

It's awful all the way, I loop the houses and start to head back and see Cara heading towards Blyth and she looks just as miserable as me. I head to Whitley and pass Rob, Laura and shortly after Ivan who all looks as miserable as me. My pace is okay considering the wind but I do wonder when the wind will be behind me as so far it's been a headwind and a crosswind from both sides. I call the wind a bastard and keep running. Calling the wind a bastard reminds me of the charity shop bastards and the records and then I get annoyed and turn my music up as Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine have just come on and that cheers me up.

I run along and need to blow my nose, I think about blowing it on my top but I'm not an animal so instead I opt for the more cultured method of the blow into the hand technique and then flick it on the floor. At the exact moment I do this a lady comes out of her front door and I as I go past her drive she sees me blow my nose into my own hand then flick this into the road. I glance at her as I'm doing it and we fix eyes on each other for the entire duration. It seems to last an eternity and the expression on her face grows more disgusted with me by the second. I give her a big smile and then try and pull a face to convey that whilst I needed to do this I am truly sorry she had to witness it and I'm not usually the kind of guy that does something so utterly disgusting.

I don't think I pull this expression off very well.

She looks horrified and deeply disappointed in me.

I loop her street and head back towards Whitley and tag on the parkrun which I manage to do in under 24 mins and jog home for another 18.5 miler done at just over 8 min miles pace.

Sat night and I'm off out to Iain J's birthday party with Bain, Wallis and Mark 'disco legs' Shorting.

We drink a bit, chat a lot of shit and then head home. We also try and steal some of Iain's records but we don't get away with it.

All previous blogs are available to read HERE