A free picture of me.

Having fun on the closing stages of the marathon.

NO SLEEP TILL SNOWDONIA

I had very limited sleep the two nights before the marathon, why i worry i don't know. The marathon was excellent fun, i enjoyed every minute. I wanted to take it a bit easy and at the same time run at the sort of pace I'll be running the ultra. And to my surprise i found it comfortable all the way around. I even managed to run up the hill from waunfawr and didn't even consider walking, i was very surprised. Thinking back now if i hadn't of talked to so many people and maybe pushed myself harder i would of broken 4hrs, but what the hell i had a great time. I think the last mile i pushed myself the hardest and overtook nearly every runner to try and get under 4 hrs ( the thought of breaking the 4 hrs barrier never came into my mind until the last mile, silly me). According to my watch i managed 4hrs 2mins and a few seconds which i was happy with. The results haven't been published yet. The run is on S4C tonight, which i will be glued to.

Cant wait till Saturday

Well all is ready for snowdonia. Friday we did a 5 mile run around the mountain, it was slow and very enjoyable. Sundays run was approx 7 miles over the malvern hills, did'nt feel very good and i was glad when the run was over. Mondays run was supposed to be short and slow but with Sundays bad run i wanted my last run before snowdonia to feel good. So i decided to do the first ten miles of the beacons ultra. I felt good and enjoyed running along the canel towpath and felt good at the end.
I have decided not to waste myself when doing snowdonia, i want to enjoy the race and have fun. If i get under 5 hrs i will be happy but any time will do. My mission is to finish............

Oi jasper, what does TAPER mean?

Over the past three days i have recovered from my illness and have been doing slow 2hr hilly runs. With the beacons ultra not so far away i am finding it hard to slow things down in time for snowdon. But i suppose i will have to TAPER (hate that word) so will start from tomorrow. Training pogram for the next week.

tues 13th =5miles

wed 14th =rest

thurs 15th=1-2 hrs hilly

fri 16th= 1-2hrs hilly

sat 17th =rest

sun 18th = hilly 10mile (with marathon clothing)

mon 19th = 1/2 hr hilly / football on mountain with jasper

tues, wed, thurs, fri =rest

Today jasper and me done a nice slow hilly 2hr session and late afternoon paid a visit to brecon for a walk / run up to pen y fan (top really enjoyed). We were up there in time for a great sun set

Gastroenteritis

Thats the illness ive had over the past five days. Monday morning i phoned in work sick and by late afternoon couldnt i get out of bed. I went to the doctors on Wednesday and he diagnosed me with gastroenteritis. He advised me to take it easy and lay off the running for a bit, he said i should be ok for snowdonia but advised me to take it easy. Ive been a bit better since Thursday, ive been dying to get out for a run, my mind is willing but my body is saying 'NO NOT YET'. I am bored a the momemt, hanging around the house watching movies and killing teenagers on xbox live 'call of duty'. It's made me wonder how much of my time running takes up (not that i mind). Jasper of wondering what the hell is going on, we've had six days off from running, its the longest we've had off in approx 2 years....... which makes me wonder.

Everything has arrived on time for Snowdonia

My new road trainers, new shorts, new t- shirt and of course the sore throat and blues. I was concerned that my sore throat wouldn't arrive in time but luckily it has and fortunately its made me feel knackered and down. And the blues have come in time, captain paranoia is sitting on my shoulder asking me if I've done enough training for snowdon. I keep telling myself I've done enough but i question myself. Mileage is a big issue for me, sometimes i go out for approx 4 hrs and living in mountains and running on difficult trails i could only cover approx 20 miles but that 20 miles totals to approx 23 miles if done on the flat.
Things are not good in Andrew's running world at the moment, even to the point of jacking it all in and just enjoying running with jasper, do i do snowdonia.........?