Jogging Blogging

Blackpool Half Marathon

Sun, 11 Apr 2010 21:16:45 +0100

Finishing Time: 01:59:18
My plan today was to take it steady and see how fast I could run without killing myself. I surprised myself and ran my 2nd best ever time. The first couple of miles were a bit quick as they always tend to be but then I settled in to a very comfortable pace just above 9min/miles. This felt great and I felt I could run forever. My slowest mile was the 11th but I followed that with 2 quick laps to finish.
So a very good day and if I can run this easy when I do the Edinburgh Marathon then I predict a very good time for that as well.

England Kilomathon

Sun, 14 Mar 2010 16:18:33 +0000

Finishing Time: 02:43:11
The worlds first Kilomathon which covered the roads between Nottingham University and Derby County Football Ground. It was an early start leaving home at 5am to get down to the finish line for 7-30am. There I was met by a shuttle bus which drove us to the start line a full 1 and a half hours before the run began. This wasn't so good as it was really cold and there was nothing to do except stand and wait. Eventually we got going and the first 7 miles went really well. But then I took on some of the free gels they were offering at a water station. God these were awful, really sugary and sickly. That pretty much killed my race as I felt sick all the way round and at the finish I was in a bit of a state.
Still i made it round in a decent time and if nothing else it was another 16 miles under my belt as I train for the Edinburgh Marathon.

Great NW Half Marathon

Sun, 21 Feb 2010 11:00:47 +0000

Finishing Time: 02:08:22
My preparation for this felt perfect, even getting up in the morning to see an inch of snow on the ground didn't bother me (much). I arrived in Blackpool convinced I was gonna beat 2 hours for this run. Despite the snow it all began well. 4 miles in and well under my target, 7 miles in and still on for a good time. Then it all went wrong. For some reason I cant explain my legs just gave up. every step began to hurt and became such a massive effort. By 11 miles I was walking as much as I was running and my mind had given up as well.
Without a doubt a run to forget and I don't think I will ever know what went wrong. At least I got 13 more miles under my belt and its now on to my next run. The worlds first Kilomathon which is 26.2 km from Nottingham to Derby. A good test of how fit I am with a quarter of my training done.

Central Lancs Half Marathon

Sun, 7 Feb 2010 19:07:21 +0000

Finishing Time: 02:04:32
This should have happened on the 2nd January but due to the snow and ice was postponed until today. My 3rd half marathon in just 21 days means I have got my training off to a brilliant start. Nearly didnt happen though as I was at the hospital with debbie until 4 am. Managed to get home and grab 3 hours sleep before heading off and running this. I must be mental.

Catching Up

Wed, 3 Feb 2010 22:32:11 +0000

Hello everyone and Happy New Year. I’ve been neglecting my site quite a bit lately but thought I should get things back up to date as I start training for the Edinburgh Marathon in May.
Its been a bit of a crazy start to the new year with all that bloody snow which stopped me getting out running. That meant I went into 2 half marathons in January unprepared, and it showed. My times were reasonable but my body has been suffering. I do my 3rd half of the year so far this Sunday in Preston so hopefully I can post a good time.

So keep coming back and follow my training progress and I promise I wont hassle for sponsorship this year :-)

Brass Monkey Half Marathon

Sun, 24 Jan 2010 10:00:46 +0000

Finishing Time: 02:05:30
A steady 2nd half marathon on a very flat course. Decent time for start of year and also with the lack of training due to that bloody snow :-)

4 Villages Half Marathon

Sun, 17 Jan 2010 11:00:19 +0000

Finishing Time: 02:05:36
Well despite just a few short training runs I decided I still needed to attempt this. I went into with my training head on and aimed to just keep going at an easy comfortable pace. If it started to hurt I would ease back. Turned out to be a really good run on a brilliant course. It starts flat and then climbs very slowly from mile 8 to 11 but then from 11.5 to the end is a really fast downhill that felt fantastic. The organisation of this event was brilliant and the goody bag at the end had a medal and bottle of beer in it. You cant argue with that and I will defo be back next year. The time was very good for 1st run of the year and was 5 mins better than last years 1st run.

Manchester City 3-3 Burnley

Sat, 7 Nov 2009 16:36:56 +0000

Burnley Goalscorers: Alexander, Fletcher, McDonald
Attendance: 47,205

This result has to be on a par with the Man Utd game. Awesome result and by all accounts an awesome performance. 2-0 up to 3-2 down, it would have been so easy to roll over and die as we have a few times this season on our travels. But not this time. Never say die and dare to dream.

Burnley 2-0 Hull City

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 19:35:21 +0000

Burnley Goalscorers: Alexander 2
Attendance: 20,219

A good performance was needed and we got one although Hull helped by being so poor. They are doomed this year if thats anything to go by. Would have liked to see Nugent on earlier for the poor Fletcher but other than that no complaints.

Reverend & the Makers @ Man Academy

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 19:40:07 +0000

These are awesome live. My 4th time to see them and defo wont be the last. One and a half hours of thumping tunes performed brilliantly. Only downside to the evening was getting there to find I had missed The Backhanded Compliments who were the support band.

Great Cumbrian Run

Sun, 25 Oct 2009 00:30:40 +0100

Finishing Time: 01:59:30
I love this run, definitely my favourite each year. Conditions were really tough this year with heavy rain and gale force winds. I kept a good pace all the way round just keeping around 9 min pace that would give me the 2hour target. With one mile to go I knew it was going to be close and I need to be around 9 minutes for it. I pushed hard and when I entered the stadium for the finish I had one minute to do approx 200 meters. I have never pushed so hard in my life and as I crossed the line my legs were burning and I felt like throwing up. But I did it with 30 seconds to spare and that last mile was done in 8 min 45 secs. My 2nd time under 2 hours for a half marathon and now cant wait for the next.

Burnley 1-3 Wigan Athletic

Sat, 24 Oct 2009 00:26:35 +0100

Burnley Goalscorers: Fletcher
Attendance: 19,430

It had to end sometime and today was the day our home record crashed. Similar performance to the rovers game last week. A bright start that soon petered out into a lazy display. It was lit up for a short time when Nugent came on but even that did not last. This was a banker for a win so its the first time we have dropped points against our pre season predictions. We MUST put it right against Hull next week.