Targets met :)

January draws to a close & I'm happy to have met all 4 of my targets :)

Only 3 miles to finish the month but 328 in total, i ran every day & averaged over 10.5 miles each of that day.

For february i'm gonna almost half my mileage, aiming for 172 to give me 500 by the end of Feb, looking to get my life back a little.

January was all about targets, those running ones I set myself & the work ones i had to achieve to keep my job, i think the running & positive attitude really helped me at work (along with a few friends putting some business my way & helping me in my hour of need & a degree of luck - not that i'll be telling the boss that !! LOL !!)

Roll on February - just over 3 months until the "Holy grail" at Windermere.

Keep on running

"Fox on the run" :)

5 went mad in Dorset !!!

On Friday, I headed off down to Dorset via South London & have to say 5 in a hyundai coupe is rather compact - was like Tetris trying to get us into the back - my head was on the ceiling & i'm 5ft 11, Nick is 6ft plus !!!

We finally made it to Portland & checked into the YMCA - rumours aren't true I wasn't dressed as a Cop, Nick didn't don the full Indian head dress but were rather worried about James in his string vest - he's lived in London too long !!!

We headed off to the pub for dinner & lasagne proved a popular choice & there were a few pints sunk & a few tales & jokes were told - all in really bad taste (as usual !) .

Race day Saturday @ the sailing academy (an excellent venue) - We headed out of the car park & within 400 yards our first challenge arrived a 45 degree incline stretching for almost half a mile - i managed to run 3/4 of it but then decided to conserve some energy which i needed as just 400 yards later there was a pyramid style knoll to clamber up almost on all fours !!!

over the first 4 miles alot of people flew past me, but i kept to my own pace & just kept going, i had some good chats with a variety of folks. Once at 8 miles there was no one within 400 yards behind me & the nearest ahead of me were 200 yards & to mentally keep me going i decided to try & reel in as many as possible & keep score, plus 1 for everyone I went passed & minus 1 for anyone passing me.

With about 10 miles gone we hit chisel beach & that seperated the men from the boys - everyone struggled & i didn't see a single person run the whole 1.5 miles - i ran 3/4 of it & I struggled less than most - rhythm was the key the running the pebbles.

the race was 2 laps & with all the folks i overtook on the beach each time i managed to get myself up to a score of 39 passed, not a single person came passed me & i was pleased to finish in 4 hours 37 - 12 mins quicker than last year in 33rd overall - a tough marathon but an enjoyable one.

After Portland we headed off to ledbury to crash at Philip's a fellow nutter & one of the greatest blokes i've ever met a true warm hearted Gentleman. We had a wonderful pasta meal with a a bottle & half of vino before turning in for the night.

Day 2 saw us make the short journey to Gloucester for a rendez vous at a Leisure centre & were greeted by all the "usual suspects" - there were at least a couple of dozen 100 club members & of course Mick n'Phil & I got to meet Fetchie's Fireman,Trin & Zoom plus fellow Brathay competitors Steve, Mark & Adam (briefly).

The race as it was last year lacked organisation although it was an improvement on 2008, with not knowing how far I had run the finish line caught me by suprise - i was aiming for sub 4 hours 30 & amazingly broke 4 hours.

The event was sadly marred by the death of one of the competitors as i came through 12 miles i saw the Paramedics finally having to give up CPR on a competitor, i hoped & prayed my first thoughts wouldn't be realised but sadly they were :( RIP

i think the weekend was a good warm up for May & best of all i had a good time with some great like minded people.

Best wishes

"Fox on the run"

Five go mad in Dorset !!!

A belated happy new year to you all :)

I guess you might be wondering where's he been for the past month ?

The answer is simply running,running, running.

I decided as part of my training for the 10 in 10 I would do 4 things in January

Firstly run as much as possible for the first 10 days straight of the year, which I did covering 125 miles (still not half of the distance i will have to cover in May)

my second challenge was to run all 31 days of January & I have done 21 straight days, feeling tired, was only just over 3 miles in my lunchbreak today.

My third challenge was to run a double & this weekend I will once again tackle the Portland Coastal & Gloucester marathons."The Famous 5" will be heading out of South London heading for Dorset & a night of pub grub, beers & darts - Don't think any of us would give "The Power" too many sleepless nights !!!

My final goal is to complete 310 miles for January (an average of 10 miles a day) I have never previously run more than 175 miles in a month & I am well on course for this goal too.

At the moment my running is providing me with some light relief & a mental break from the pressures of work, money & the threat of losing my job. Work has become a chore & the fun atmosphere that used to surround the place is gone :(

I can't wait for the lighter nights & warmer weather but i guess i'm not alone there, not sure the world is ready for my scrawny white legs in shorts but life ain't fair - deal with it - LOL !!!

good running

Foxy Davy !!