2011

Back in the game. New Year, no injuries, old ambitions, fresh approaches.

50/50 or phone a friend

A good run doesn't always depend on your destination or your route, rather who you are running with.

This week I've struggled on my tod, knees screaming, back aching, on short runs around the local roads.

Cue mate swinging by en route to Wales and a glorious sunny morning and suddenly I've a 45 minute run under the belt, more freckles and found some fantastic new trails up the zig zag off Hill Road, round the mount behind to the cricket club and discovered the wee castle on the golf course.












Finishing off with a return jaunt along the seafront to show him Clevedon's showpiece probably made it one of the most picturesque circuits around.

And it's left me fired up for some more.

So give your mate a call and get running.

We even mentioned the BG words...







Posted on the hoof from a phone that challenges fat fingers.

Coastal come back

It's not quite Lourdes but six months on I'm finally getting back to running on the clifftops around Clevedon.

And to date, touch wood, things are holding up.

There's something about the sea which soothes aches and pains, or at least distracts your mind from them with an intoxicating array of ever-changing views. I could run along Coastal paths for days given the opportunity.




Which is why the first Endurance Life race reminder email hurt. It's a new race, on the Isle of Wight and sounds fantastic.

In 2008 with Ian, Sarah and keV we tackled the Gower leg of the series in glorious sunshine.

If you're a half marathon fiend then tuck into any of the Endurance Life races but watch out for the one in Portland.

Two miles along the pebbles on Chesil beach nearly finished me, until the sea did it's job turning my head.





...Posted on the hoof from a phone that challenges fat fingers.

Born to Run?

Zola Budd could hold the key to my foot knack.

At least that's what I'm trying to tell myself as we head towards the end of January and all I've managed is a light jog to the Clevedon chippy.

I've just finished the illuminating "Born to Run" by Christopher McDougall. It would be a former war correspondent who delves into long distance running. But it's not just any old account of all American all stars breaking the pain barrier over nauseating distances.

This is a tale of a Mexican tribe called the Tarahumara, with a shovel load of science and US ultra running history acting as light mortar to the real substance.

The shock revelation is this: How can guys who run in sandals and shun competition with the outside world beat the best the US have to offer? Because they run for fun and aren't fussy about their footwear meaning they run more on the front of their feet.

Should we throw away our orthotics and pricey Nikeys? Yet to be entirely convinced but it does make sense to strengthen your feet more by mixing things up.

I think Bob would approve, achieving his feat well before the days of Michael Jordan and co. helped revolutionise our footwear and the way we run. Didn't he train bare foot and save his plimsoles for the big day?

Right now I'll try anything, and it got me to the chip shop and back for starters.

Do you love physios too?

On my third visit to the physio...

Andy: Hi there, I've been doing the exercises but still no improvement in my foot from last time.

Physio: It is a really interesting presentation.

I don't know what more to do.

Perhaps I should get you to see my colleague who specialises in feet.

I specialise in knees....

Foot knack

There is a reason why you should stick to training plans. It avoids foot knack.

From running 30-40 miles a week to walking 100km straight off after two nights on the lash took its toll and a stress fracture has wrecked my summer.

Currently bouncing off the walls to the extent I've even taken up rowing.

BG set back number seven.

Still, it allows Ian more time to crack my half marathon PB and me to learn the art of patience.

I would much rather be doing the following though:

Trailwalker 2009

As the dawn broke over the South Downs, early morning dog walkers could be forgiven for rubbing their eyes.

Team Smurf emerged from the night intact as a unit, if lacking a little of our early banter and carrying slightly less vaseline than when we started.

JJ's boxer shorts were the only casualty en route. Cast aside once the rub of cotton pinned to thigh by blue polyester tights became too much.

Our early pace saw us heading for an easy sub 24 hours but as blisters took their toll and John Wayne imitations took hold due to chaffing, our passage through the rolling fields over 100km from Petersfield to Lewes to Brighton slowed.

I was one of the lucky ones. My feet survived unscathed thanks in no small part to my discovery at Arum's recommendation of socks by www.wingwear.com.

The only peril which befell me was falling asleep as we walked shortly before the sun returned to warm my frozen frame. For I foolishly felt it unecessary to take a fleece with me through the night and suffered horribly from the perishing wind sweeping in off the sea.

We finished at Brighton Racecourse shortly after 9am, 26 hours after starting. I was tired but not done. Not done that is until I had made it back to Bristol at 10pm that night via Horsham and Victoria bus station.

The painful part came with the realisation the next day that I had factured my foot. It's been three weeks now almost and while healing I'm still a way off getting back out running. Top tip: when your foot starts hurting, loosen the laces, don't just take another magic pill.

Trailwalker was an exceptionally well organised event, supported magnificently by Oxfam volunteers, who cheered walkers on from every checkpoint throughout the night, and ably staffed by the ever-smiling Gurkhas.

I can't recommend it highly enough. Get a team, get out there, raise money and amaze yourself at how far you can go.

Fed up of sponsoring 5km races?

I knew it wouldn't be long before the training plan went out the window.

Cue a call from Arum, the mate I met on my first mountain marathon with Nick.

"Andy, we're a man short..."

Very good cause, very long day. Please help: http://www.justgiving.com/walk100Kin30hours/

Closer than you think

It is tempting to blame house hunting as the key to less running this month - but that would be lying.

The prospect of a move out to Clevedon can but increase the number of miles passing under the feet. Not only is there the coastline to explore, there's the tricky aspect of still managing to get to work without the car...

Still, inspired by On Thin Ice on the telly, recent interviews with people who are going places such as Chris Wood and Jack Butland and simple winners like Norman Hunter, the prospect of running 13 miles to work, then home becomes ever more doable.

And it's a hop, skip and a jump to next Easter and a BG attempt. Isn't that right Ian? Nick?

Ultramarathon man

Dean Karnazes is unique. I've just finished his book, "Ultramarathon man: Confessions of an all-night runner", which charts his running career from the day he had a breakdown in a bar after work to the moment he broke through the 200-mile barrier.

The inspirational aspect is his enthusiasm and the fact he didn't properly take up the sport until he was 30.

Ignore if you can the fact he was a champion athlete at school, graced the cover of various windsurfing magazines in the meantime, and can get by on four hours sleep a night.

It's an easy read filled with plenty of useful tips, gung-ho quotes and up-lifting moments. But it is a book that shouldn't be handed to the likes of impressionable people such as myself who really need to learn to walk before they can run, let alone hear tales of the Western States Endurance Run which makes the BG sound like a warm-up.

A logical next step from Monday's four-mile 'Blaise Blazer' hill race. (26 mins and 13th in case you are reading Ian!)

Now where are my running shoes...