When the music you are listening to is rubbish! However, as i found on my run on Sunday, if this is the case having the ability to turn the volume down without fiddling with my iPod is a great addition to the new Sennheiser range of sports earphones.

Almost exclusively since starting running a few years back I have been using Sennheisers. This pair is my third neck band pair following an incident with my first and a tree and my second set, whilst still functioning, have seen better days after being thrown numerous times to the bottom of the gym bag and squashed. I have always found the neckband earphones comfy and simple to use so when I got this new pair I had no real hesitations to ditch my old orange pair for the new black/yellow combination. » Continue reading “It doesn’t matter how good the earphones are…”

This weekend is possibly one of the first weekends since before Xmas where we had no concrete plans and intended on doing very little, mainly catching up on the hours of stuff we have sitting on the Sky+. This lack of plans made getting out for a run on both days pretty easy…

On Saturday I went out for a 4mile jog with a school mate and his brother. I thought it wouldn’t be a problem for my mate as he is always playing squash, cricket, hockey etc. Evidently, his body is cut out for short sharp sprints with recovery sessions and not longer slower runs. Anyway, 40mins later, I was running with his brother as we had been told to go on by my mate…hope he joins me again before the Mara – in 9 weeks if he wants he could get to half mara distance but 4M will do me Having company made the run fly by and the normal feeling of it being a pointless run didn’t seem to hold true today!

On Sunday I was scheduled to do a 14M run, I didn’t really fancy heading into London so opted for a local course using one of my dads routes as the main chunk of it. Not being in London this route is hilly! Heading into Loughton I started to make my way towards the roundabout at Epping but the final road aptly named ‘Goldings Hill’ got the better of me and as it was only going to be a turnaround point I stopped halfway and headed back on my way. » Continue reading “W6 D4&5 Warmup and long slow run”

This blog is way overdue and probably should have been put up a couple of months ago when I really was in my peak fitness, since then I have let it slide a bit. That said I am still fairly fit and if anyone ever fancy’s a 10k run or spinning session I’ll join you and hopefully keep up with you! Anyway this is a little post as I thought it rather appropriate during a time where another great story of a man who lost 15 stone through running is being released.

Whilst my achievement may be nowhere near that scale and Mike had to overcome far more hurdles than me I still have a sense of pride as to where I have got over the last few years in particular the last 12 months…

The picture on the right shows me at a work 2005 Xmas party . This was around the peak of my weight, I did nothing in regards to keeping fit and ate 2 ‘big’ meals a day. Weight gain was inevitable and a lazy lifestyle just speeded that up. At this time I reached a waist of 36inches and think (although can’t remember) these may have sometimes been tight. Unlike others I can’t blame alcohol, curries or late night kebabs it was just a case of snacking and ultimately eating poor food. During a sequence of events that saw my life change over the next few months I was given a reason for change, and slowly this started to happen.

Initially taking up squash with a colleague and occasionally hitting the gym I got a bit fitter but not much it wasn’t until a few of us started running at work and I got my Nike+ kit did I really start to really enjoy keeping fit. From March 08 I started running in a pretty big way. Having been the kid who was ready with the excuse as to why not to run cross country at school this came as a bit of a surprise to me and probably anyone who knew me back then. I genuinely enjoyed running and with the Nike technology I could be geeky with it too. Perfect!

As the months carried on and I was routinely doing a couple of runs a week at minimum I decided to get into a 10k, being the moneysaver that I am I entered a challenge with my Nike+ and after 30days of racking up the most miles I could (including runs in Florida!) I managed to blag a place in the 2008 Capital 10k. By this point I was already significantly fitter and had started to shed some weight. I was still enjoying running so it was perfect. I completed that run in a very respectable 53 minutes but deep down I wasn’t happy. Others around me had done better and I could be just as good as them!

For most people I know 10k would be the point they gave up, not me. I like a challenge, from a young age I have always been a trier and from that age I also got used to not winning and not being particularly good at anything but I would always give it my best. I think it is this competitive and never wanting to fail mentality that pushed me into my most extreme challenge of my life.

Now I can quite remember the sequence of events but around October 2008 I got the rejection marathon magazine but was also scheduled to run the Great South (another Nike+ competition!). I was upping my weekly mileage all the time and following the 10miler I had to decide whether 09 would be my first marathon year. Again by this point my fitness was still getting better, a gym membership for fitness first which resides quite literally across the road also kept me in shape with the option of quick lunch break sessions.

Following a sad family event with my girlfriend I was introduced to Fairhavens. This is a large hospice which is based in Southend, at the time I found out they had charity places and decided to sign one of those scary contracts confirming I’d raise the necessary funds in order to gain my place. Once I signed my contract I was in and running was now to consume my life for the next few months.

As a reader of runners world I knew how important it was to follow a schedule but what they suggested seemed to involve at the min 5 days of running a week. I could fit it 3/4 but to be honest I enjoyed spinning to much to take up another night with running so I proceeded to ignore all schedules and go it alone. I ensured, pretty much without fail, that every weekend I would do one long run ranging from 10 up-to 20 miles during the peak. I was dedicated, over the next few months I could probably count on one hand the amount of miss runs I did due to the typical feeble excuses.

Around Xmas Laura introduces me to Jon Robson, a personal trainer. Forking out a fair amount of money I was to add a fairly intense gym session on top of my already hectic running schedule. It was from October – March I really felt my weight come off but still amazingly I was having fun. Obviously marathon training is tough and eats away your time you need to factor in long runs which ontop of you have to remember how much it will take to recover.

In April, on a stupidly hot day (for England) I put on my running shoes and pounded the 26.2 miles of London streets. Perhaps my ignoring of the running schedule came back too haunt me but I was not in anyway prepared for the heat and 4:34 later I crossed the finish line. Slower than I hoped but more incredibly more than a stone lighter than when I started!! (obviously that weight went back on quickly).

So by April 09 I was down to around 12stone 8, a weight I have maintained till today. No doubt I could be lighter if someone assessed my diet. Whilst I have cut out a lot of rubbish from what I eat, I still enjoy bad foods too much to cut them completely. I have found what I think is a healthy balance between being a super fit 6 pack mens health guy and enjoying my life enough and being healthy enough not to care!

Recently a few of my mates went out and did a 10k, it was this event that really reinforced that I was probably quite fit. Completing a couple of minutes faster than my closest friend and also not far of 45mins I was almost at that next level of running! Foolishly after that run I stopped for a bit, but my shoes are back out and I have ideas as to where my next runs will be…

Anyway, I think what is probably due is a “then and now” photo to compare side by side and here you go, hopefully the difference is noticeable…

A few years ago I dusted off my squash racket and got back into the game – having not played it since school. A colleague and I would hit the court almost routinely on a Tuesday morning before work for a (mostly) friendly knockabout. We did this for some while and I think we got a little better and every so often I’d also head down with a school mate who would proceed to whip my arse as he was a in a whole different league to myself but he was also fairly happy to coach me in my ways. However, during my marathon training I put a stop to playing squash, as sports go it’s fairly intense on the ankles and also the body so thought it was probably best to put this alongside the other “high risk activities” and stop doing it!

Anyway Ad and I did get a sneaky game in early on in my training but today was a time for a rematch, he beat me last time (3 games to 2 I think) but we were both at a very similar level so thought it should be quite fun to play again, plus I have been promising it for months now!

Rocking up to London Bridge Fitness First at 830 I was already hot and bothered, the central line stopped at Stratford so had to change route and ultimately arrived late even though I had given myself a good 15/20 min extra time. Quick change and we were on the court…

I guess it should be fairly obvious that an enclosed room was going to be hot given the temperature outside but I don’t think either of us were totally prepared for the heat in there which was obvious from the start! I was already warmed up following a brisk walk from the station so let Ad hit about whilst I sorted out some fluid for during the game. Got back to the court and did a bit of racket / hand-eye calibration, I was shockingly bad and I am sure Ad must have been thinking that this morning was going to be a walkover (I was thinking the exact opposite)!

I won the racket-spin and elected to serve, lost the first game but I think it was a close one (I can’t believe I genuinely can’t remember – worrying!). However, after game one I managed to win 3 games in a row (again with very close scoring). At 3-1(best of 5) Adam suggested to play another game, not really sure why – I’m pretty sure he was as shattered and as hot as I was! He won this bringing the score to 3:2 to me and a reverse of last time. That brings the match score to 1:1 meaning a rematch is definitely on the cards!

Oddly whilst playing yesterday I felt a lot quicker around the court, managing to get to drop shots I don’t think I would have got to before. I can only put this down to my improved fitness. Also today was the first time I have ever really realised how little support squash shoes give. There were shots where I didn’t feel particularly comfortable when running to get the ball. I don’t really want to spend more money on a sport i barely do but I may have to look to see if they sell indoor shoes with feet that pronate in mind…?

Another cool thing about squash is as it’s high intensity my heart rate went through the roof reaching peaks of 184 (see graph below). To give some useful comparison when I go spinning even on the fastest sprints and biggest hills getting my heart rate above 170 is an almost impossible challenge, and during my runs I normally sit around a constant 175. I can’t really remember the last time I broke the 180 mark but apparently I was training in ‘zone 5′. Not really too sure what that means but all I do know was that the morning was tough and knackering so that must be good right??