Road to London

When is a gym day not a gym day?

When you don't go to the gym obviously.

Yesterday was my back and forth along the coast 20 miler and I was feeling a little wrecked so fancied a lie in and then a message from Graham to say he was also knackered was just what I needed today.  A lie in and an enforced rest day.

So, today I shall instead tell you about my night out.  Me and Andy F went across the water to Sunderland to see Badly Drawn Boy at the Firestation.  Firstly I will say it was bloody brilliant, Badly Drawn Boy was superb and it was an excellent night.  Now the important bit and Andy will of course hate for me to tell this story, but ….

As we stood having a beer and a chat a fella approaches us and begins talking to Andy, obviously knows him and makes a joke about Hanson.  I assume they're mates but oh no, not at all.  The Fury has real life actual fans! 

The bloke had seen his stand up and reads his blogs and recognised him and came over to tell him how much he likes his blogs.  I've genuinely never been so impressed about something in my life, I think that now makes me his groupie.  Andy of course was cool as fuck throughout.

Didn't see Ben today, can't really talk about him in the blog this week as he's not at the club.  So this shall be a non Ben blog, not a single mention.

Sorry Ben.

Club on Tuesday, 500m reps on the track and lots of them.  

In the words of Ron, this session is about getting in right and nailing 10km pace in preparation for the upcoming races that most of the group will be doing.  So for B team that means 10 X 500m in 2 minutes a rep, nothing daft, just nail the pace, take the recovery and off we go again.

Split B team into 2 groups and neither of those groups contained Ben as he wasn't there.

We had a 5-10 second gap between the 2 B team geoups.  Rep 1 and Tom P at the front and me beside him and a slightly slow 2:04, rep 2 and we pick it up a bit to 1:59 and then it starts to get silly.  Now I'd love to blame Tom here but I took the next one and it was 1:55, I did apologise to the group, they didn't care, there was some swearing.

1:53, 1:55, 1:54, 1:51, 1:55, 1:50…. We closed the gap on the other B team with each rep until we became one big group and that just made everyone faster.

I shall entirely blame Tom, definitely wasn't my fault in any way.

Actually the more I think about it the more I think it's the fault of the other half of B team for letting us catch them.

And probably Ben somehow.

Wednesday should have been easy miles but a manic day at work and my left quad still hurts so decided to take an extra rest day this week.

Had a lovely snooze on the settee with Murphy in the hour I had set aside to go for a run, it was a far better use of my time.  

Again another Ben'less day.

I miss Ben.

Threshold Thursday this week was due to be 2 X 5km on the parkrun course.

My quad still isn't right but seems to be okay once I pick up the pace a bit so decided I'd start the session and see how it goes.

Rep 1 and holy shit, it's not actually windy.  Was aiming to hit 5km in 23 mins and came in on 22:59, took my recovery and then off again.

Rep 2 along the prom and then loop round onto the top and heading back to the skatepark and then I spot him.  

No, not Ben.

Yeah it was 'him' again. That little sausage dog in his fancy blue tartan jacket.  I eyeballed him, he eyeballed me, thought about pushing him down the hill, can you push dogs down hills ? I'd push my dog down a hill but can I do it to a stranger's dog ? Even if he is my nemesis.

Anyway, we see each other and the tensions is obvious for all to see.  Is it all gonna kick off again?  Do I strike early and get the first shot in? No, you know what I'm going to be the bigger man here...

I give him the nod instead, you know what I mean, the nod to say 'alright mate' and then I'm sure I see him reciprocate it.  Then I notice his owner staring at me weirdly as apparently a man giving a sausage dog a nod is somehow a weird thing to do. I feel me and sausage have turned a corner and developed a mutual respect for each other. Got home and told Murphy about it, Gail says it's weird that I have full on conversations with the dog, me and Murphy laughed about that later when she went to bed.

Anyway back to the session.  Second rep done in 22:53, home, shower, food and watch The Mandalorian with Murphy before getting back to work.

Club tonight and an easy run out to loosen off the quad a bit.  Really hoping Ben comes  but alas he was nowhere to be seen.

Ran the final rep with Michelle who was bossing it at the front of C team. 

Easy miles Friday, 4 miles along the coast planned and home and then I have a massage booked today.

However, I didn't fancy running today, so instead walked into Whitley for a coffee and a white chocolate cookie whilst people watching in Room 305.  I looked and looked and at one point I could have sworn I spotted Ben in the distance but no it was just some other bloke with a very slight Ben look.

When he got closer I realised he looked nothing like Ben, it was in fact a lady, an Asian lady, a very old Asian lady wearing a dress.  I'm hallucinating images of Ben.

A sad walk home for a deep tissue massage of the quad which bloody hurt but was much needed.  Final GP tonight and I'm not doing it, I'm being sensible and having a night off. So instead I walked to the pub along the route and heckled people, way more fun than running.  A superb run by Helen G who won this year's competition and then Crescent Club where I won a top for a 3rd place finish this year, yeah that's right I finished third in a race this year, snuck ahead of Matt F to steal the victory, that was revenge for Graham C doing the same thing to me in an earlier race.

And…..

And….

I sat and had a beer with Ben.  

It was marvelous, we chatted about the old times and the fun we have at training, I finished my drink, bid Ben farewell and skipped home happily.

And now a special mention for JJ, I collected his prize for winning the greatest ever GP marshal as he wasn't there and he gave me his bottle of wine, that's a true friend that is.  My brother from another mother that keeps me supplied in booze.  It's only because he doesn't trust himself drinking, he's a scary drunk, he'll take your head off if you look at him sideways.  

Never trust a Jamison, that's what I say.

Parkrun Saturday, threshold pace nice and steady.

Started slow, got faster, felt good.  

Gone 3 weeks without running into a single thing, today on the second lap I thought I was further from the fencepost than I was but nope, straight into it with my left forearm yet again.  Carried on like the true pro that I am and then came home and spent the day complaining to Gail about how sore it was, started to be slightly concerned when my whole forearm started to throb and I lost all feeling in my fingers but sure it'll be fine, I mean what's the worst that could happen ? 

Probably Ben's fault.

Sunday planning on 16 miles, maybe 18, haven't decided yet.  Hoping to spot Ben on my run, that would be a treat.

Today was kit try out day, race socks on, race shoes on, race shorts on, race sunglasses on, sports tape on the foot, lubed all the areas that needing lubing, deep heated the areas that needed deep heating.  A word of advice now.  

Never confuse these areas, it's a mistake you'll only make once.

And now a rant about Alphaflys.  I don't like them, they never felt right from the first day I got them, I've worn them a few times and they were good on an interval session but every time I feel them rub my left arch.  Today I had on the thick socks and two layers of Rocktape and 12 miles in and I felt it starting.  I also felt pretty knackered today, just never felt on top of the run at any point, pace was fine but just wasn't enjoying it.

Got to 15 miles and started worrying my foot was going to be an issue so stopped and walked, realised walking wasn't actually helping the situation as I was still wearing the shoes and actually meant it would take me longer to finish which seemed a stupid solution to my problem.

Then Laura came past and gave me the incentive to start running again, ran the final mile together and had a nice chat.  See Natasha I can run with other people and I'm not an antisocial miserable bastard all the time.

16 miles done and naturally co-op was calling for a cold drink.  Bottle of coke and today I didn't fancy a pastry so instead got myself a Whispa which is a superb breakfast choice.

The Alphaflys are going onto eBay, anyone want a pair of UK9.5 Alphafly 2's with less than 20 miles on them ? 

A new pair of bright red Endorphin Speed 3's are now winging there way to me as I type. 

So next week I start tapering and my legs need this.  Next Sunday is NT10k and the plan is to do 15 miles and tag it on the back, if I time it to perfection I will come through the back of the field without having to stop and will be aiming to average around 7:30-7:45 mile pace as part of my long run.

Tonight I shall also be drinking the bottle of wine JJ gave me and it shall be my final booze until after the marathon.  3 weeks now of watching my food, keeping the weight off and booze free.

Hopefully next week I can start talking about Ben again.

All previous blogs are available to read HERE