Day 132 Friday 11th May 3 miles : miles to date 886.2 I have always known that running very long distances slows you down for short races, like say marathons. It should be no surprise therefore that the pins are for the sixth day in a row tired. So, I resorted to my emergency back up energy plan of Robbie Craig and a plate of Samaki na ugaili for lunch. My fellow ultrateer (temporarily suspended) has long preached the benefits of a good plate of Kenyan ugaili and to be fair, its lovely stuff. He mentions frequently that to run like a Kenyan, you have to eat like one. The slight problem, is that having done so, later I ate like an Italian, American and most of Europe as I moved from one foodstuff to another. It didn't help on tonight's regular and slow trot around the village, as the reality is I need a rest and not another 11 mile run. Like Saturdays planned run with the girls helping them to learn the Greensands Ridge route. Still, hopefully this time in two weeks we should be around 20 miles into the JB ultra trail run. We could do with a serious upturn in the weather mind you, as I would rather run all through the night in dry, warm conditions than the current damp overcast sky's we have at the moment. Still, as long as there are no injuries, I know that me and the lads will be towing the line at 6pm on the 25th May. If we can decide where to put the start line that is.

Day 131 Thursday 10th May 8.9 miles : miles to date 883.2 I'm not entirely sure that was a good idea tonight. Thursday club runs have become a quick, higher tempo cross country affair. When I am not er, knackered, they are one of my three staple harder runs of the week, along with faster speed work on a Tuesday and longer run on the weekend. The trouble is, I am still tired from Oxon and the following days run and I just dont have any energy. The reality is that not every run can be a corker and I probably should be tapering and cutting back. The normal likely lads were present and after a mile or so, I settled into a slower run with the amazing marathon mile muncher that is Paul Barton. Now, I like my marathons and ultra's but Paul is an out and out dedicated long distance specialist, having racked up a 100 marathons in a very short space of time and currently well on his way to the 200 mark. It was quite a sight to see the both of us miles off the pace in such a short distance and so far back that we thought that by the time we got back to the car park, everyone else would have left. I owe Paul one for dragging me around on what was a hard, slow and muddy run. Luckily, as I wasn't further up to help with the route, Phil Clarke managed to take the lads on two unscheduled detours so we weren't last! I even had time to take the mick out of Martin Beare and Terry Stanley for not running fast enough, despite the small fact that they both blasted around Silverstone 10k last night in amazingly quick times.

Day 130 Wednesday 9th May 3 miles : miles to date 874.3 Oh boy was I tired tonight. I think a mixture of the long run at the weekend, no rest and a 12 hour 37 minute man bug hit me late afternoon and I just felt awful. The feeling lasted until I got home and the moment I tried running, calvin the calf and his mate cyril tapped me on the shoulder and said, really? Do we have to? Yes was the answer to my two little running buddies, albeit I did promise a slow three miler around the village on my normal route. Sometimes when I don't feel good, I can snap out of it into the run but not today. My legs were sore, I was actually having a can't be bothered doing this type moment and for some reason my breathing was a bit laboured even at a slow pace. I know full well the answer is rest and I concede that Steve James is entirely right, but a slow three miler is in fact my idea of having a rest these days. I clearly wasn't right as after I got home, I declined a glass of red and even left half my pasta. Don't worry sports fans, a few weeks taper should get the pins working again in time for the inaugural John Bunyan ultra. Hopefully.

BMI ...again!!

Day 129 Tuesday 8th May 3.6 miles : miles to date 871.3 Due to a last minute flurry of paperwork, I missed tonight's club session and headed over to what turned out to be a mudfest run of Glastonbury proportions around Clophill woods. The first section wasn't too wet although the far side had been churned up by horses hoofs which is fair enough I guess given it is a bridleway. The conditions slowed me down a lot, which in hindsight was good given my legs are still feeling a little pummelled after the weekends running expeditions. Coming around one of the bends, I just glimpsed the sight of a foxes tail disappearing into the undergrowth. This was almost exactly the same spot that I have seen a fox on two earlier occasions. I am now fairly confident that it is the same one that I am seeing, given my in depth knowledge of the animals acquired through painstaking minutes searching the internet for fox related facts. Whilst searching for Basil Brush trivia, I wandered over to the BMI charts. I know I have had a moan about them before, so apologies for repeating myself, but what's the point in them? I weigh myself once in a blue moon, as I know if I have lost weight and more importantly if I am running faster. A number wont tell me that, although I did check out the scales yesterday. I have dropped down to 12 stone 1lb from 13 stone 10lbs at the start of this quest, despite my hedonistic party lifestyle. Ok, ok, despite a few jars in front of the television at the weekend. I have as a result picked up a marathon PB, unofficial half marathon PB, run every day, run a 40 mile race and yet on the BMI index I am still overweight!!! I think I only bother to look to make myself laugh at what you have to do to be "normal weight". To be on the right side of those charts, I think you have to live like a monk. Now I might have an A level in religious studies - no, really I have - but my monastic ambitions stop at the pub door. Right, time for a beer me thinks.

Day 128 Monday 7th May 3 miles : miles to date 867.7 I'm not entirely sure what felt worse today. My legs were stiff and heavy from the weekends running and the head was a tad sore from last nights vino consumption. I was not overly keen to run but as always, it wasn't a case of shall I but when. This afternoons showing of Moby Dick from 1946 was strangely compelling and it did slow me down in venturing forth on today's little jaunt. I was eventually pushed out the door towing two dogs behind me. I rarely take our border terrier out due to the fact that I outrun her. We have been dog sitting all weekend and a bouncy labrador managed to persuade Daisy to pick her little legs up for once. We normally lap the woods close to us once and she went around five times as we clocked up the miles. She is now knackered and sitting in her bed snoring loudly. Apparently dog owners look like their dogs. Daisy has short, fat hairy legs, has a bit of a pot belly, has dog's breath and likes having no.2's in the woods. Nothing at all like me then.....

Day 127 Sunday 6th May 10.5 miles : miles to date 864.7

I made a rash promise a few days ago to Fi that I would join her today for a cross country 10 miler, despite covering just below 40 yesterday. Having made that declaration, she was keen to hold me to it. My legs were not overly happy as I pulled on the shorts and laced up the daps, asking instead whether it might be an idea to save the planet a bit more by staying in bed. I had been tempted downstairs by my first ever toasted bagel with peanut butter and jam. Very American I know, but boy was it good and I am now addicted!
We had arranged to meet Francesca Hardwick and head over the fields close to home. Frankie came dressed for one of my lets head off in this direction and see where we end up type runs, having been warned by Fi. We were soon jauntering off for pastures new and rather surprisingly the pins were fine, albeit a little stiff. Last night, as we finished the 40 miler, I didn't want to run another foot and yet less than 16 hours later the mind and the body had repaired itself to such an extent that it wasn't really a problem.
That was due to almost entirely to Team F who were helping me across the pastures, they being the fabulous fit and fast fillies known as Frankie and Fi. Ladies, if it were not for you both, I would not have done such a long way on tired legs. It was yet another run that simply flew by. There are times when you run to the clock and you measure seconds and distances. There are also times when you just run with friends and just enjoy, with no pressure of expectation. Today was the later and I for one thank the girlies for what was I hope, a great trot for us all.

Oxon 40 miler

Day 126 Saturday 5th May 39.3 miles : miles to date 854.2
Driving down to the run today, I passed a blue van on a quiet duel carriageway. As soon as I did, it started to speed up on my inside, so I went a little quicker. The van speed up, I went faster and my new found nemesis road warrior began hammering after me, following all the way into Henley when I found out it was James Handley trying to catch up to wave hello!! I knew then that the lad was going to be all about speed, so Richard Jones and I resolved to let him run fast on his tod and we would plod. We started off nearly last and worked hard to keep that position. I thought the rules said runners went off at 9.30am, so we waited until then. The rules in fact said to go off by 9.30am, but of course me and satnav didn't bother reading them properly, or unlike James, study the maps intently making notes of route changes. That's why the place was empty as everyone had left. James clearly wasn't bothered as he had designs on a quick time and cut off's were not going to be an issue for him. The lad was fresh and hadn't got any racing miles in his legs, unlike the two old blokes starting with him. There four lady flyers doing the 20 mile version and it was nice to see them at the start. After the first checkpoint, we pushed James out the door and sat back down for another cup of tea. Given in the last few weeks I ran a x-c 29 miler and came third in not much past 4 hours (did I mention that?) and a marathon with a new PB (did I mention that?) and satnav has also run two quicker marathons, we just wanted time on our feet, which we got. Coming in last at the second checkpoint, the helper mentioned we had only just made it by 10 minutes. We didn't have a clue, having stopped at the top of one hill to take in the magnificent views and have a chat with some locals! We then made the next two checkpoints by the same margin, hardly seeing a sole as we did. We eventually caught a women carrying a tyre. 26 miles into a hilly, totally self navigating and cross country ultra and all we could do was catch someone with a tyre tied to their waste with a rope and traffic cone jammed in the middle. No, we had no idea why and we didn't stop to ask. The second half was a lot hillier and muddier than the first and the tired ultra boys catch phrase of walk the hills, was put to good use. Almost the entire route was off road and totally different to the last two years events. It was also very quiet, partly due to the 20 mile option going an entirely separate route which was a bit of a shame. We did catch a few towards the end, but the last few weeks running took its toll. We meandered to the finish in 9 hours 23 mins, a full 1 hour 22 mins behind James who did a sterling job in his first ultra. We certainly wanted time on our feet and boy did we get it. The route was a tad short due to flooding, so we didn't duck out at any point. Honest. Steve James has been chuntering on about rest, which is a word used by idyll, good for nothing, devil worshipping non runners, otherwise known as cyclists and triathletes. We all know the phrase rest is for the wicked, so I for one wont be resting tonight in bed, snoring loudly and dreaming of beer. I also wont be resting until noon in bed on Sunday, oh no not me. I'll just be keeping the mattress warm to help with global warming. Somehow. Right, I'm off to rest, err I mean save the planet....