Hilly Eighteen

I got my 18 mile run in today. My pal Graham and I set out just after 7a.m. this morning donned with head torches and made our way through the un-lit country lanes out of Kinver. We were heading over the border into Worcestershire to Trimpley Reservoir near the banks of the river Severn. The idea to run to here came from a short walk my wife and I did a couple of days previously from the beautiful village of Arley http://www.arley-arboretum.org.uk/ . This is a tiny, picturesque village on the banks of the Severn which has one post office, a church and lovely outside cafe where you can sit and watch the river go by while drinking tea. It also has an Arboretum which is well worth a visit. The nearest pub is across the river which you have to cross by footbridge which replaced the ferry many years ago. Just up from the pub is Arley railway station where a BBC comedy programme 'Oh, Doctor Beeching' was filmed. This is on the Severn Valley Railway http://www.svr.co.uk/history.php which runs a mainly steam train service between Kidderminster in Worcestershire and Bridgenorth in Shropshire.

The route Graham and I took was incredibly hilly and may not have been the best choice as a training run but for serious scenery it was well worth the swollen ankles and aching feet.

The miles will have to start piling up over the next couple of months so maybe we will incorporate parts of this one into a longer run. One of my ideas would be to concoct a route through four counties which isn't that difficult considering our location. They would include Staffordshire, Worcestershire, Shropshire and The West Midlands. But, that's another day.

Today's run: 30.24K/18.79mi in 3:38:18 average 11:37 pace 2,717 calories 5C/41F

This Year's Resolution and Goal's

I was out running 13K/8mi this morning with my pal Graham who has been helping me train for my eventual long treck across 'The Wall'. Up until this morning I didn't have a New Year's Resolution. More of a goal or several goals in fact. Most of those are to prepare for up and coming races and of coarse to run coast to coast across northern England.
But, while we were fighting against a freezing, wet wind and climbing one too many hills, I came up with a couple of resolutions. I must warn you, they are boring.
My first is to keep my workshop tidier. There are carpenters tools and bits of wood I've been saving left on the floor and on benches. Drives the missus barmy.
Next is I'm going to spend more time in the garden, especially attending the veg patch. There is nothing like eating food from your own garden I know. But it's getting out there in these cold months that makes me think it's not so bad popping to the shops and buying the stuff. Well so far this year I've prepared the raised beds for seeds and my next job is to tidy out the greenhouse and actually plant some of the seeds. See I told you they were boring. On a running/training related note. I've already started this one. I will stretch more, especially my ITB stretches. I will also keep updating and to log all of my activities on Buckeye Outdoors. http://www.buckeyeoutdoors.com/cgi-bin/training/traininglog

One other resolution that you may also notice I've started. I will use the more sensible metric measuring system in my blog first and the old Imperial measurement second.

Today's run: 13.89K/8.63mi in 1:23:30 average 9:40 pace 1,126 calories 2C/34F

How it all started

In January 2006 at the age of 46, I reached 109 kilos or 242lb (17st 4lb). I tried dieting and walking a minimum of 10,000 steps per day with limited success. I lost 4.5 kilos (10lb) and plateaued. In May 2006 I started running on the treadmill where I work and the weight started moving again but I got bored by 4k.

July 2006 I started running along the towpaths of my local canal. The weight just kept dropping off as I banged the miles in.

I entered local races of 10K and half marathons finishing most of them towards the back of the second third of the pack which I'm most happy with.

I'm now 88 kilos (195lb) which is a BMI of 27 for a 1.8m (6ft) bloke. I really would like to increase my distance rather than speed so my thoughts are that if I lose around 5 kilos it will be that much less to carry and hopefully make it that much easier to get in those extra miles. Plus, it will be that much less pressure on now my ageing joints.

My next venture is to run/walk 135k (84 miles) along the ancient Hadrian's Wall path (Hadrian's Wall is ancient - not the path) in April 2009. This will be a two day event accompanied by colleagues from work raising money for The Fallen Soldiers. Day one from the Solway Firth on the West Coast to Once Brewed at 69k (mile 43) then 66k (41 miles) from Once Brewed to Wallsend, Newcastle on the East Coast on day two.

The Territorial Army is providing transport, communication and accomodation and we're hoping to double our sponsorship through two major companies yet to be confirmed.

A Just Giving account will be set up in February for anyone who would like to donate to this cause.

Hopefully keeping this blog of my/our training will help keep me/us on track.

I'm new to blogging but I'm hoping things will improve as I get into it.