In Loving Memory

7:57 42.3 miles 7:33:50

Tyndrum - Bridge Of Orchy - Kingshouse - Kinlochleven - Lundavra - Fort William

                          Team Photo At Tyndrum

Tyndrum to Kingshouse

3:03:59 (including stops at Bridge Of Orchy and Victoria Bridge)

Having the alarm go off at 5:30 on a Saturday morning gives you the equivalent effect of getting in the shower with the temperature gauge set on the largest blue marking. It’s a shock to the system, and it’s not pleasant. Still with the clocks going forward the next night, it was very bright and in the end getting up didn’t seem too bad. Plus I was really looking forward to the run. We packed the car with everything I had bought, and too many changes of kit, and headed off to meet John.

When we arrived at Tyndrum most people were already there. As we all got ourselves ready, and put off the inevitable for as long as we could, a snow shower started to fall which looked ominous for the remainder of the day. So kitted out with Trail shoes, Gore-tex jacket, hat and gloves, I was ready for the off. We started off at a good sensible pace, although myself and Marco found ourselves at the front again. Things remained reasonably steady, but this section of the WHW to Bridge OF Orchy is one that you can really enjoy as it’s flat and the terrain is good. So we were a little faster than planned, but all arrived at Bridge Of Orchy feeling fresh and in high spirits. My back up team were there waiting (Mrs pacepusher and her Dad) and I grabbed a quick sandwich as my stomach was already telling me that breakfast had been too long ago. The weather had picked up and it was now quite a pleasant morning for running.

      Me, Marco And Thomas Arriving At Bridge Of Orchy

We continued away from Bridge Of Orchy feeling re-fueled and headed up the hill. It was only a couple of miles until I saw my support crew again at Victoria Bridge, and I grabbed another sandwich before heading off towards Kingshouse. As this is a longer section, about 10 miles, I also swapped my water bottle that I’d been carrying for my hydration belt. This allowed me to carry water and sports drink, as well as some additional sports gel.  This is a tougher stretch as it’s largely uphill but I still felt quite good and we pushed on well across Rannoch Moor. 

Having reached the top of the climb we enjoyed a nice long stretch down towards Kingshouse. That is until nature called. I heard John behind ask if I was alright as I’d stopped to walk a little to ease the suffering. As I began to explain that I was having toilet problems I turned to see John pointing his camera towards me. He was doing a short video clip. I look forward to seeing the next JK Spielberg production to recapture that moment!?!? Be careful John. There could be another ‘How Annoying?’ award coming your way. That would make you the only person to be awarded it twice!

After a stop of about 7 minutes and, obviously a visit to the toilet, we were off on the next leg of the run. This is where the sad part of the day begins. I decided to change my trail shoes, which were rubbing my ankle for my favourite Saucony Grid Omni 6 trainers (more frequent readers of my blog may know them as my Saucony slippers, as they are so comfortable, and I have run over 600 miles in them).

Kingshouse to Fort William

4:22:08 (including stops at The Devils Staircase, Kinlochleven and Lundavra)

When I came out of the hotel at Kingshouse the others were making a move (camaraderie anyone?). I still had to change my footwear, so began the section a good few minutes behind. I chased them over the next few miles and just caught them at the bottom of the aptly named Devil’s Staircase. I again grabbed my hydration belt, I had just been carrying a bottle of sports drink for the short section, and headed up the hill. At this point I realised I had used up too much energy chasing the guys and by the top of the evil climb, I was well back again.

      Despite Arriving At The Bottom Of The Devil’s Staircase
                      John And Gavin Still Manage A Smile

There was a light covering of snow at the top of the hill and perhaps road shoes weren’t a great idea, but my feet were now more comfortable, if a little wet. I could see Gavin had also dropped back a bit and was not too far ahead. So again, off I went in hot pursuit. Although I had struggled to walk up the hill, my legs felt fine when I started running again. This is something I need to consider for future training. Walking uses different muscles to running, so some walks up some hills and some runs back down again will be added to my plans. 

Heading back down the hill towards Kinlochleven, the paths had become more like a continual stream than a dry path due to the melting snow. In fact at some points a river would better describe them. I may have been delusional with tiredness by this point, but I swear there were wild salmon leaping upstream through the rivers that we were running down! 

I caught Gavin, and then caught the others up again, finding myself at the front charging down the hill with Marco. I love running downhill and was not at all worried about this. I was just pleased to be back with the pack again. The road shoes felt much better, and I felt as though I was running better in them than I had been in my trail shoes. At Kinlochleven, I refilled my various bottles of fluid, ate my Muller rice, and then headed off again with additional sports drink in mind. We were not hanging around at any of the meeting points. It was great to see Mrs pacepusher and her Dad at each point and it gave me a real boost. Thanks again both.

     Thomas Does His Best To Beat Grandma Into Kinlochleven

What they don’t tell you about the climb out of Kinlochleven, is that it’s worse than the Devil’s Staircase. Largely because you can never see the top. It should be called the Grim Reaper Staircase! Myself and Gavin were off the pace a bit heading up the hill and were practically in tears at the thought of walking up this hill after already running 80 miles on race day. It was bad enough after 30 miles!

At the top, we both struggled to get going, and the others had built quite a lead. Gavin was really struggling, he’s been injured recently, and said he was going to take a five minute walk break. I pushed on, and eventually found a good rhythm. I could see Davie ahead so once again headed off in pursuit. I never really gained on him, but he never really got away either. I saw that he had caught somebody up but couldn’t see who. The terrain was terrible through this section, and very wet again. It was really hard to maintain any kind of speed.

Lundavra appeared like an oasis in the dessert. I had really been struggling on alone through the previous section, feeling a little bit dizzy and sick, and so it was great to see some friendly faces. As I arrived I discovered that Davie had caught John, and they were just leaving as I arrived, so I wasn’t too far behind. I refilled all the bottles, took a couple of big gulps of chocolate milk (yum!) and headed off again over the final stretch towards Fort William. The back of it was well and truly broken as they say.

The final stretch of the west Highland way is lovely. Even if you are really tired. It undulates through a really dense woodland, which makes it almost impossible to sustain any kind of decent running pace, that’s if you can keep running at all. A lot of the path is very steep for short sections and walking is the only option. There were a lot of walkers on this section, and it feels good to go (in relative terms) flying past them. Despite this, I felt that I must have lost even more time on the others through this section. I felt really tired and that I was walking too often. I also almost had a nasty fall but saved myself at the last moment much to my relief.

Once you come out of the woodland, there is a nice wide downhill path that twists back toward Fort William. The terrain is good, and I was starting to enjoy myself running downhill with only a few miles to go. At one stage I glanced at my GPS and saw that I was running at 6:30 min/mile pace. I was quite impressed 40 miles into a run. Towards the bottom of the hill I spotted Davie and John. Much to my amazement I had caught them up. I was delighted. Having somebody to complete the run with seemed so much better than finishing alone. Coming down into the Braveheart Car Park I saw my support crew waiting to offer some additional support before the last mile or so to the leisure centre. This was great and gave me the final boost that I needed.

         Me, Davie & John Arriving At The
         Braveheart Car Park, Fort William

Myself and John pushed on as Davie was suffering from a bit of back pain. There was silent competition all the way back, us both pushing a little bit more than necessary. I’m sure if one of us had stopped for a short walk the other would have welcomed it! It came down to a sprint finish and I pipped John to the Fort William Leisure Centre car park entrance, only for him to continue casually past me to the main doors. I forgot that the race ends when you enter the centre not when you reach the car park. Shucks! …we’ll call it a draw John!?!?

Marco and Thomas had carried on running well and finished some way ahead of us, although they cheated and finished before the leisure centre!?!? Davie trotted in behind us, and Gavin was with my support crew having decided enough was enough at Lundavra. After a brave effort he had decided to call it a day with the London Marathon in mind. All the other runners that had started at various points had also had good runs so everyone was happy at the finish. We headed for the showers at the leisure centre , which proved to be the best pound ever spent. Once I had managed to get in, and John had explained how to operate the rather uncomplicated showers, “you just press the button”, I wasn’t sure I’d ever get back out. It was bliss. 

It was after the shower that I got the bad news. My favorite trainers had a big hole in them. I did the brave thing and put them in the bin. I was heartbroken. At least they had a spectacular run before their unceremonious send off. This post is in memory of those shoes. They shall be sadly missed!

          Nine Happy Runners At Fort William Leisure Centre

We went to the Crazyboy household for dinner and a few beers that evening which was a great way to finish a great day. Mrs pacepusher has also done a report on the day on her (new look) blog. The links on the side of the screen.

They say that in a marathon you’ll hit the wall at the point that matches the distance of your last long run. Myself and Marco worked it out that theoretically, having run 42 miles, we shouldn’t hit the wall until we’re in the pub on Sunday night and the race has well and truly finished!

Running Is An Expensive Hobby!

I have just returned from ASDA (other multi-store supermarkets available). I was buying supplies for the run tomorrow. It cost me a little over £26.00! I will not go hungry. In fact I think I may gain weight during the run. The picnic shall contain: tuna sandwiches (lots of), tuna pasta (copious amounts of), bananas (ideal for primates like me), carrot cake (obviously), blueberry Muller rice (why not?), chocolate milk (in case running 43 miles isn’t sickly enough), Jelly Babies (for consumption head first), and sports gels (obligatory). Not to mention 5 litres of water and 1 litre of sports drink. Oh, and a Mars Bar for emergency use (any excuse!) Do you think that will be enough?!?!? I also bought lots to eat tonight!

I started reading a book last night called, Never Hit A Jellyfish With A Spade, by Guy Browning. It’s a book all about how to do things, with sections such as (ooh the irony) How to… keep your dentist happy. I thought you all might appreciate a couple of snippets from the early chapters.

From, How to… exercise,

They say the devil makes work for idle hands. He also makes work for other parts of the body and this he calls exercise… after a really strenuous workout, you get a great feeling of well-being. This is due to the release of endorphins into the bloodstream, which are the body’s natural smugness generators… It’s very easy to get addicted to exercise. You can become so fit that you push yourself to even greater extremes, one of which is death.

From, How to… run a marathon,

Occasionally you’ll see people doing a strange sport called backwards stair climbing. This is what happens the day after you’ve run a marathon… The wall is where you start burning parts of your body that are normally left for furnishing - like fat and muscle. There is another bit that starts to get burnt away, and that is your will to live. Which is why during the first twenty miles of a marathon you can enjoy the scenery and the last six miles are like running in a cupboard marked ‘pain’.

From, How to… do extreme sports,

Extreme sports all boil down to thinking up great new ways of killing yourself and then extracting the death part at the last moment… The big secret with extreme sports is that they’re all rather easy. That’s because all extreme sports are gravity-assisted. No one classes ultra-marathon running… as extreme sports because they require monumental effort, discipline and strength.

Now this is my kind of training manual. No mention of drinking alcohol the night before a race though! I’ll keep you posted with any other helpful (?!?) information contained within the pages.

After my referral to the Daily Record yesterday, Debs posted a comment calling it the Daylate Record, which I thought was quite amusing. Any bitter rivalry there at all Debs?!?!?

I still have toothache! 

All Pain, No Gain

13:28 5 miles 35:56

1 7:10 2 7:17 3 7:14 4 7:13 5 7:03  Average 7:11 min/miles

Another attempt at an easy run today and a slightly better outcome. Still too fast, but at least this time I was closer to my marathon goal pace of 7:15 min/miles.

I wasn’t sure I was going to run today but my tooth ache is really not good, and I couldn’t face sitting around the house for two and a half hours in between lessons, so I went for a run. The problem now though is that the pain is even worse. I’ve given in and taken my strong pain killers which will send me drowsy and dizzy, so good luck to my next pupil. I don’t care as long as they take the pain away though.  Call me a man, but can you die from toothache?

The run felt very easy (and my tooth didn’t bother me during it) despite obviously tired legs which is good, and although the pace was just under my marathon pace, I felt like I was really taking it easy. I was aiming for nearer 7:30’s though. Why can I not run slower? When I set out to run a twenty mile route, 7:30 pace feels fast, so why can’t I run slower over five? I reckon it’s all in the mind. which is surprising because there’s not a lot in my mind! I studied a bit of sports psychology at University, so maybe I should delve into the books and try and find some answers.

Well writing this has taken my mind off the pain a bit and I think the painkillers are kicking in now. Thankfully. I feel a bit weird though. I can see the headline in tomorrow’s Daily Record, ‘Runner Found Dead At PC After Toothache Lead To Head Explosion’. You may mock but this is no man-flu. This is serious. I can’t even face my food, and if you know me at all, you will now realise just how serious!

I’m A GPS Addict!

19:17 8.42 miles 59:30

1 7:23 2 7:21 3 6:59 4 6:55 5 7:15 6 7:08 7 6:54 8 6:53 .42 2:41 (6:21 pace)  Average 7:04 min/miles

I was determined to take things a little easier last night, and I guess I just about managed. That is in comparative terms to recent Wednesday runs anyway!

We headed off a little faster over the first mile than normal which was good. I hate starting at practically walking pace. I ran mostly with my regular Wednesday mentor, Davie. The Headless Chicken just a spot on the horizon ahead for the majority of the run. My legs felt really heavy throughout most of the run, and Davie did a good job of allowing me to take it easy when I felt the need, and pushing me on a bit towards the end. He said a couple of times, “I don’t want to be responsible for spoiling your run on Saturday”. It was a good run despite the return of the rain and the need for a waterproof again.

My obsession with my GPS continues. I was well on the way to the club last night when I realised I hadn’t swapped my watch for my trusty GPS. Realising that my legs would not work without it, I returned home to get it. Almost being late for the club. I am obsessed with splits and distance. I love it!

I went to the dentist yesterday morning. She thinks I have an infection in the root of my tooth. She gave me antibiotics which I started taking immediately. However, after my run last night, I returned home to eat my dinner. Towards the last mouthful the pain became unbearable and I had to reach for some extra strong painkillers that I had from some previous disaster. Now I may be wrong. But I thought that after going to the Dentist, the pain was supposed to get better. Not worse. Still, there was no charge… I have to go back and get a crown on my broken tooth, they’ll over charge me then!

When Easy Runs Go Wrong

17:35 5 miles 34:37

1 7:02 2 7:01 3 7:03 4 6:42 5 6:39  Average 6:53 min/miles

I decided to run tonight without looking at my GPS. I find this very hard to do, but wanted to just run without worrying about my pace. I wanted this to be a nice easy recovery run, and was expecting to find it really hard work after yesterday.

So, when I completed the run (having managed to not look at my GPS - long sleeves essential!) and checked out my overall time and split times, I was a little concerned. I know I worked it a bit more over the last mile, but I had just been running a nice relaxed pace for the rest of the run. I expected miles two and three to be somewhere nearer 7:30 pace rather than 7:00’s, especially as I felt so slow up the hills and had to stop briefly for traffic.

I suppose I should be pleased with this, but my worry is that I’m rubbish at running slowly. This, as you might imagine, could cause me some problems during a 95 mile race! Tonight’s, so called easy run, was not even as slow as my target marathon pace, let alone the kind of pace I should be running the West Highland Way at. One thing tonight’s run does show me though, is that I’m getting stronger and stronger as a runner. After yesterday’s very painful 20 miles, I felt terrible. Yet today I was able to run 5 miles reasonably comfortably at sub 7:00 min/mile pace.

This weekend’s run on the WHW will be interesting then. We are running from Tyndrum to Fort William, a distance of about 43 miles. If I fail to run slowly enough, I will fail. Full stop! With the London Marathon only two weeks on Sunday, I also know that I need to take it easy (can 43 miles ever be taken easily?) if I want to have a good race there. Therefore, ’slow down’, must become my new mantra!

I’m going to the dentist in the morning. If you remember, I broke a tooth sometime ago on a slice of toast and have never been to get it looked at. That’s not the reason I’m going though. I’m going as I now have a tooth ache on the other side of my mouth. They say bad things come in threes. 1. I brake my tooth, 2. I develop tooth ache on the other side of my mouth, and then 3. The dentist gives me the bill. I can’t wait!

Easter Eggcess!

09:44 20 miles 2:36:01

1 7:28 2 7:45 3 7:42 4 7:34 5 7:44 6 7:34 7 7:41 8 7:42 9 7:41 10 7:41 11 7:43 12 7:46 13 7:56 14 8:00 15 7:54 16 8:11 17 8:03 18 8:02 19 8:03 20 7:51  Average 7:48 min/miles

Happy Easter everyone. I hope you all had an eggcellent time… yeah I know, that yokes not funny anymore!

So where have I been? Three days without a post must be some sort of record! The truth is, there comes a time in a runner’s life that he, or indeed she, must compete in a mass-participation event. This Easter was my time to do just that. So, for the last three days, I have competed with the masses in the running of a new race entitled, ‘Race For (A Normal) Life’. No running, no blogging, lots of unhealthy food, too much alcohol and not enough sleep. Which is why, when I returned to my not so normal life today, it was not pleasant!

I was hoping to run 22 miles at a slightly faster pace today, and to finish feeling reasonably strong, with something left in the tank. I didn’t run 22 miles, I ran 20. I didn’t finish feeling remotely strong, and the only thing left in the tank was all the junk I have consumed over the Easter period. Incidentally, It’s not that I love Easter, It’s been Mrs pacepusher’s 30th Birthday weekend, and so my parents and Granny were staying. Thus, out on Thursday night, Friday night, take out curry on Saturday night, and pre-run pasta washed down with lager on Sunday night. Not Ideal preparation. I will be good from now until the London Marathon!

I had the same feeling of shin splints at the start of the run today that I had last Tuesday. This was again followed by pins and needles in my feet, and lasted for about the first four miles. Despite this, I was feeling good until about 10 miles. It was a lovely day, and my only complaint was feeling a little too warm… yes, you heard right, too warm! Which is when it started to snow! I became so cold over the next couple of miles that I was really starting to struggle. I kept working though until the sun came back out, but then it snowed again, and then the sun came back out, and then (I was running for over 2.5 hours, this could go on a bit) it snowed, then…

On top of this amazing display of crazy weather variation, I got stomach cramps and felt really sick. I got slower and slower, until at the end, I felt as though I was running slower than I usually do on my second 20 mile run of the weekend. I wasn’t though, and all things considered, I finished in a reasonable time, with a perfectly acceptable average min/mile pace.

So what went wrong? I think that’s quite obvious. You can’t be a runner and live a normal life. But then, what is normal life?  

It’s a film according to t’internet! Released in March 1997 and containing lots of people I don’t know! So, according to the plot, this is a normal life,

Chris is a young idealistic cop who falls in love and gets married to Pam, a beautiful but emotionally unstable woman who suffers from alcoholism and drug addiction. While Chris is trying hard to have a normal life and some money, Pam is a big spender and their marriage is constantly troublesome with the financial situation getting worse and worse. The biggest blow comes after Chris loses his job. In the desperate situation Chris decides to use his police skills to rob banks.

I think I’ll go back to being a runner. Train on readers, we are the normal ones!

The Things I’ll Do For Beer

14:51 5 miles 35:41

1 7:21 2 7:48 3 7:24 4 6:34 5 6:35  Average 7:08 min/miles

What a bizarre run! Never before have I worked so hard to attain a sub 8:00 min mile, and yet worked so little to achieve a 6:30 min/mile.

As you may have guessed, it was blowing a gale out there. On mile two, the wind was joined by the most bizarre drizzly rain that appeared, at first, to just be blowing off the wet fields. It was actually stinging my legs, but was much easier to cope with than the dust and grit that had been blowing into my eyes on the first mile.

I had to work really hard to keep moving at a reasonable pace over the first two miles, and again over the Brookfield hills, before turning to finally find the wind on my back. I thought at first it was going to be one of those Bugbear winds that Debs talks about in her ‘My Race’ article. The type that blows into your face whichever way you turn. I did consider turning for home after two and a half miles to test the theory!

Still once the wind was behind me, things became somewhat easier. As always, it didn’t feel that strong behind me, and felt more like a crosswind. However, judging by my last two splits, it was to my advantage. At one point, running downhill and wind assisted, my quads were hurting due to the added forward pressure. I had to just let it go and, as they say, ‘run like the wind.’

Well I’m now off to change kit, and then catch the dreaded public transport to the gym for Body Pump. I hate buses. They smell, they make me feel sick, they take the longest route possible, the place you want to be is always between two stops, and they don’t give you any change when you haven’t (and who ever has?) got the right fare! But, if it means I can have a few beers later, I’m willing to cope with the trauma of taking five hours to get to Bellahouston Park via Edinburgh!

Pacepusher Is Back!

19:17 7.5 miles 51:50

1 7:52 2 7:11 3 6:55 4 6:48 5 6:42 6 6:41 7 6:45 7.5 2:56  Average 6:55 min/miles

A group of seven of us set out last night, beginning the run with the customary slow first mile. You’ll never guess who pushed the pace after that! So working up the hill through Kilbarchan on the second mile the pace picked up, and three of us broke away from the group, myself Ian and Robert. Davie was hanging back and chatting. I was feeling great, and relieved after the terrible run yesterday, so continued working the pace. Robert took over after about 4 or 5 miles and I kept closely behind him, before returning to the front and pushing things even more. We’d lost Ian by this point, as he was struggling to sustain the pace. I kept working right till the end, covering the last half mile at the pace I completed my mile reps at last week.

I was delighted with the pace of this run. Given that we started with such a slow first mile, and still ended up with an average below 7:00 min/mile pace, shows how hard we pushed. Best of all, over the last half mile, I took a good number of seconds off Robert and was first home. I know it’s not a race, but he beat my half-marathon PB by 4 seconds recently, and it felt like payback! Thanks Robert if you’re reading, I really enjoyed the run last night.

Due to the intensity of the run, there were no hilarious incidents, or banter to report. So sorry for the boring nature of this post. That said, it is supposed to be a training blog!?!?

The rain and wind woke me up at 3am this morning.  Summer’s over. I was intending on doing mile reps again today, but after last night, and the return of the wind, I’m going to leave it. I might do an easy 5 miles later, then I’m doing Body Pump, and then I’m going out for a Thai meal and a few beers tonight. It’s Mrs pacepusher’s 30th Birthday today so we’re allowed!… Happy Birthday Mrs p!

A Beautiful Day For A Run, But Not A Run For A Beatiful Day

09:35 7 miles 54:11

10 x (2 mins 30secs with 1 min 15 secs recovery)  

It’s an absolutely glorious day in Glasgow today. The sun is shining, the sky is blue and there’s no wind. It’s warm enough for shorts and T-shirt would you believe! But… that run was flipping awful! It was actually worse than that, but I don’t swear on my blog as there’s a link to it on Mrs pacepusher’s school website.

Having had a rest day yesterday, I thought I would head out this morning and do last nights club fartlek session, feeling fresh and in fine fettle. I wasn’t. From the moment I set off my calves tightened, which then led to a feeling of shin splints, followed by a pins and needles sensation in my feet. This is quite a common sensation for me when my legs are tired. I have no idea what causes it, but it feels weird!

So the 12 repetitions of 2 minutes 30 seconds that were planned, began as none. Then, refusing to give up, it became ‘I’ll just give one a go’. Despite that one being awful, I tried another. I was running up the steady incline of the cycle track towards Bridge Of Weir, and I decided that this was making things worse. It did feel as though I was running up Ben Lomond! So I bailed off the cycle track and hit the roads. Suddenly, I’d done four reps, and decided to make it to six. Then eight. Then threw in another lap of the block to make it to ten repetitions. If I could have faced another lap of Linwood, I would probably have completed the session, but the Police at the end of the road doing vehicle checks were already giving me a look that suggested that they might pull me in to check that I was fit to be on the roads!

It’s not that I felt much better as the session went on. It’s just that I’m stubborn, and hate to give in. The pins and needles and shin splints did disapear when I came off the cycle track, but my calves hurt throughout, as did most of the other muscles in my legs!

We’ll put today down as one of those bad days that you’ve got to have to have the good days. I still managed a reasonable session and my pace on each of the intervals wasn’t too bad (averaging about 6:30 min/mile pace) although this is slower than I would expect on intervals of this length. Still, all things considered, at least I managed a run on this year’s summer’s day!

I Hate Rest Days!

What are you supposed to do to pass the time when you don’t run? I’m having the night off and I’m so bored!

I tried watching Hollyoaks for the first time in a couple weeks. That’s not improved. Justin is now snogging (and a little bit more) Nancy, who is married to Jake, who was married to Nancy’s sister Becca, who left Jake for the then schoolboy Justin that she was teaching. Justin is also the father of Becca’s baby, but, with Becca now being dead, Nancy has been bringing up little Charlie with her Husband Jake, who thought he was the father. I’m not making this up. It’s ridiculous! As if that’s not bad enough, Nancy, who has dyed her hair red to show that she is now free from Jake, was wearing the most ridiculously old fashioned pink cardigan …yep! red hair, pink cardigan… nice!

Then, I turned over to BBC 2 and, ah, a bit of class. Mastermind. I don’t really want to tell you about this programme but, “…I’ve started so I’ll finish!” Very clever people those contestants, but they really should get a life. I think I got three questions right. The answers were, The Derby, Monarch Of The Glen and Waterloo Road. I know my strengths, and anything that requires being remotely studious, I won’t know! The best bit of the show, other than the interesting curtains that the eventual winner was wearing, was the penalty shoot out at the end. I’ve never seen this before. An exact tie between two contestants “23 points and no passes” or something similar. One had to leave the room whilst the first answered the questions. Then the other came back to answer the same questions. I got all 5 right the second time!

Then came those famous words, “can we watch Eastenders?”. The we being Mrs pacepusher and friend (friend/hairdresser who is cutting her hair). The threat of a return to the soap tonight by Ricky and Bianca left me with no choice but to run away to the sanctuary of the study and my PC. Upon when I realised that Mrs pacepusher was sitting on the desk chair to have said haircut. Thus, I have typed this in a strange squatting position, usually demonstrated only by natives of Vietnam!

The only reason I didn’t move off the sofa sooner was that I had just eaten too much dinner. Why? Because the best thing to do when you can’t run is eat and drink. It’s the only satisfying way to fill the boredom. Well, that and writing up your running blog when you haven’t even run!