Worlds first looping water-slide

Leeds 10k - Training Diary - Sunday 22nd June 2008 - 0 days to go!

It's finally here!

All the training and worry have all come together, and what a fantastic day.

I'm still lost for words over the day but I'll probably add to the blog later when things start coming back to me.  I decided to do the run in my massive Guinness hat, for the simple reason of visibility.  Last year Lindsey had trouble seeing me through the other runners so I decided to wear a hat which made me over 7 feet tall also I figured it would be nice to get into the spirit of the run and enjoy it too.  

There was a great atmosphere in Leeds, even before we got to Millennium Square people were all milling about everybody was in a great mood both spectators and runners.  I was a little confused when I got to the start as last year we had to register our arrival but this year it was just turn up with your number on.  We got there in plenty of time and I had time to chill relax and do some stretches before moving to the line up. Video

We seemed to be an age waiting for the start of the run, I was listening into the conversations around me which was interesting, "I'm going to have some me time this afternoon", "do you think we'll make it round", etc.. a Mexican wave of hands came round and a round of applause for Jane and her family too, which I thought was a nice touch.  Finally after a countdown we were off.  I was about 150 meters behind the start line and it took almost 5 minutes to get to it and start running proper.

Just past the start line there was a TV crew, who waved and me to get a smile  - but I've no idea if it was broadcast as I haven’t seen it on the new (the hat was doing it's work).  I also had some shouts from kids spectating which made it all worth it.  We tracked round Leeds and back under the Dark Arches beneath the Railway station, I tried to get a "woop, woop" going as you can hear on this video I just missed out on a great Oggy Oggy Oggy - should have left the video running I guess.

So back and past the start line then out of Leeds center towards Meanwood (at least that's where I think it goes).  I was constantly being passed by people but I wanted to keep my own pace so I tried not to let it bother me.  A man passed me and said "don't get too hot headed" a comment about my hat, I thought that might be sound advice actually it was getting hotter by the second so I took it off to let my head breath a little.  That gave me the problem of what do I do with it. But I managed to shove my phone inside and I was fine.

The halfway point came quicker than I realised, the clock said 37minutes which considering how long it took to pass the start gate I was impressed with my time.  I ignored the drinking water stations as I'd got my own water with me, and I think that was a good idea, there's always a crush to the roadside when we pass them, then there’s the nightmare of half empty bottles scattered on the road surface - why can't people just use a bit of common sense when it comes to getting rid of their bottles?

The turnaround point was around 6k, it seemed a bit tighter than last year, everybody had to slow down to a walk to get around it, I was grateful of the pause but soon got back to my stride, I passed the portaloos and the second drinks station, and realised I was more than half way there.  There's a lot of cliches around running, "the wall", "the zone", etc.. I think I must have gone through my own version of both.. between 5 and 6k I felt like I wasn't going to make it, to be fair a lot of people had stopped running by that point and were walking, but as I came round the turnaround I felt revived, for the first time in the run I was also able to block out the other runners, and just concentrate on my own running and breathing.  Before I knew it I was passing people who had earlier passed me.

The penultimate hill back into Leeds as a real slog, the wind was in my face too and I'd decided to put my hat back on so I was fighting to keep it on too, but it was soon over and we were back into the city, what seems now like a short run - the last kilometre was through the shopping precinct, there was possibly the worst hill before we turned back into the Headrow and had a downhill sprint across the finish line.  The clock was just ticking over to 1:13, but because of the delayed start I later found out my run time was 1:09 making me 3 minutes faster than last year.

The race is timed using a chip which is laced into your running shoes, I needed to get back to the Millennium Square to hand mine in and get my goody bag and t-shirt (always worth the effort).

My family soon found me and I got hugs all round, I was so happy not only to get round but to have them there to cheer me on too.  It makes such a difference knowing there's somebody waiting for you at the finish.  We all went to have dinner together but because it was still surprisingly early we had to wait until the pubs started serving lunch

So all the work is done now, apart from collecting the sponsorship money, I think I raised just short of £200, hope it will be useful.  Thanks for reading my blog, it's been a long journey and I won’t hesitate to run next year now. I'm hoping to not loose my fitness like last year - so fingers crossed training won’t be half as tough.

Better than Unlimited Rice Pudding!

I have to admit that ever since Genesis of the Daleks Davros has scared the pants off me, the idea of being in the same room as him, his face, his voice just sent shudders up my back. He's far more terrifying than any dalek or cyberman because you can see the living creature within clearly - and he's a bitter twisted old man, the withered arm, the dryed eye sockets and that blackened mouth. I guess psychology students could give me dozens of reasons why he freaks me out but you probably all feel the same way as I do anyway.

I still remember at the end of Christopher Eclestone's series I mentioned to a friend if I ever hear the word "DOCK-TORR!" in that gravel perfect voice, I'd probably wet myself.. It turned out to be the Dalek Emperor but that was ok, I knew the other fraction would be out there somewhere, and it looks like all my christmas's have now come at once.  Ever since we say the tiny flash of escape pod at the end of Rememberance when Sylvester Mcoy destroyed the Davros's ship with the Hand of Omega I've felt there was unfinished business in the air.

I know Terry Molloy isn't in the Dalek throne anymore but I'm sure Julian Bleach will do a fine job, it's time for the next generation to see what what the back of the sofa looks like.

I'd like to thank everybody who've been responsible for bringing back my childhood nightmare, thank you all. 

Added Value in Schools

I don't normally get wound up by things on the news (Yeah right) but when I heard this one it really got to me. The madness of targets, figures and statistics is getting dangerous.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/7464842.stm

If the people are really using skewed figures to try and prove they are being tough on "failing schools" this is effecting kids education, and teachers jobs and all of their lives. 

I think it's pretty much common sense to judge a school by the amount of improvement a child has gone through since joining the school.  This is known as "Value Added", i.e. a child is tested when they first enter the school and this is used to measure their progress when they finally leave.  GCSE's and other exam results are a poor measure of a schools success, say for example a child joins the school at 11 without a reading age (which is more common than you'd believe), then "only" manages 3 GCSE's has the school failed? I think not..

Tags: Targets, school, Value Added, Measure, failure

Leeds 10k Training Diary - Sunday 15th June 7 days to go

I can safely say that today was my best training day ever in the history of training.  I know that's a pretty big statement to back up but read on and you'll see why.

Basically I ran from the same start point as I did last weekend, my fiancee's house.  The run I did last week was a round circuit, I figured I could add some more roads to it - sort of go round the houses a bit more. The problem was that I couldn't work a route which didn't involve going somewhere which might have been a dead end. So using http://walkjogrun.net, I managed to work out a completely new route, my local knowledge isn't as good as Lindsey's but together we found a route which was circular, and ended in the next village at 6.6 miles (10k) - She said she'd wait for me in the car in that village and bring me home from there.  But I said, I'd prefer to walk back and cool down.  Besides it's sunday morning there's no rush.

Just out of interest I worked out the total route distance back to her house, it came in at 8.02 miles (just short of 13k).

Well I was good Saturday night, only 1 beer and a glass of wine, and bed early (well before 12). I know it was only a practice run but I was still nervous about it.  I said I'd set off on my run at 9 (same time as the real run next week), By 8am I was laid in bed unable to sleep, I don't know if I was nervous or excited.  So I set off about 8:15, I also decided to take a bottle of water with me which was something I'd neglected to do last week.

The run itself was really good, a few people were up and about (a surprising amount actually) and I had a few "morning" greetings from complete strangers, which always makes me happy. The first couple of miles were easy going, I soon got into my breathing rhythm and when ever things started to feel achy I'd take a sip of water. The water really helped too, I don't think there was a single point during the run when I thought "I want to stop".  During last years training I reached a point where I felt that I could keep going what ever the distance - I got the rhythm right and everything else was just a matter of putting one foot in front of the other. 

Before I knew it I'd was more than half way round and looking at a sign saying 3 miles to go.  I was starting to think boredom rather than fitness was going to be my biggest problem when I reached the 6.6 marker point I'd noted last night.  So I had a choice.. stop and walk or carry on running.. so I did.

I got back to the village and I'd forgot it was market day there were loads of people milling about, the last thing I wanted now was to be stopped by some slack jawed gawker doing their shopping but I made it through them and with a final 100yd sprint I made the 8 mile point.

It might not sound like much but 8 miles is the furthest I've ever run in my life and to do it with energy to spare in slightly over the time I did 10k last year (I did it in roughly 1hour 20 mins) I was over the moon. I'm really looking forward to next weekend now.  I'll be doing my daily swim but I will only do a small run during the week to keep my legs moving.

Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy..

Tags: 8mile, 10k, happy, training

Leeds 10k Training Diary - Wednesday 11th June 12 days to go

• I did the 3000 meters at 2 school sports days when I was 14 & 15, I didn't do any training for them but despite being quite active I still wasn't able to complete them running and ended up doing at least 25% of the distance walking - to the boos and heckles of the crowd, who to be fair were bored to tears watching us go round and round.
• When I was in my late 20s I picked up running again - first time since leaving school and to begin with I had to do 1minute running followed by 1 minute walking - this went on for about 10 mins, but it was a good technique for building ability again - in the end I was doing a couple of miles at a time cross country running.
• In my mid thirties I started going to the gym regular - midlife spread has turned from an occasional annoyance to a full on epidemic, it takes more effort to keep my weight down now than ever before.  One of my biggest achievements  was completing a 5k on the running machine.

Tags: stamina, 7k, 10k, achievement, midlife spread

Leeds 10k - Training Diary - 8th June 14 days to go

Sunday Morning Run - This morning was a first for this year for a number of reasons;

• firstly it was my a Sunday morning - I've only trained on weekdays up till now. 

• It was also the first time I'd run from my fiance's, she lives in a lovely (so I thought) flat area with barely any raised ground at all.

• It was the hottest sunshine I've run in so far this year - even though it was round about the same time of day as the 10k I'm praying for cloud that day. It's such a massive factor in how you feel and perform.

I was stupid enough to not bother taking any water with me so that made the run even harder.  The route I took was a straight road with a turn around point at the end, then double back on myself.  It was strange that coming back (even into the wind) was easier than the run outwards. The only difference seemed to be that to start with I was running into the sun.

I also thought that doing the run on flat ground would make it easier - how wrong was I, it was just as tricky keeping going as it had been the rest of the week, but it was strange being able to see the turn around point from 3/4 of a mile away (lovely long straight roads).

The whole run was exactly 4 miles (the measure says 3.99 but that's down to my poor control with the mouse), so I'm going to do the same thing again next weekend but add an extra mile each way - this will give me my 10k run exactly a week before the real thing.

Practice makes perfect.

I have to say though that all in all I really enjoyed it, and the buzz when I got back lasted most of the day.  I'd highly recommend it.

Back on Tuesday....

Tags: run, flat, dehydrated, sun, 10k, practice

Leeds 10k - Training Diary - 6th June 16 days to go

Well I was over the moon last night - my running number arrived and my timing chip, this is a really clever bit of kit which you attach to your laces.  When you pass the start gate it clocks you then when you pass the finish gate it checks again.  You can then hand it in and a couple of days later check your time on the internet - what a world we live in.

No training today though - I was intending to go to gym this morning and hit the treadmills but I just couldn't open my eyes this morning. Don't get me wrong it's not lazyness, I was looking forward to going but I physically couldn't get up in time.  Even now I'm sat typing this through red blurry eyes.  Where's all my energy gone?

I'm hoping to get some weekend running done this weekend - the run itself is on a sunday so it's better to get some training around the same time of the week (if that makes sense).

Have a good weekend everybody.

Leeds 10k - Training Diary - 4th June 18 days to go

This morning I decided to tackle the opposite route to the one I did monday (by mistake), I figured it would be easier as all the hills would be downwards but would you know, they are just as bad. I must not have noticed.  I have to wonder how these runners who can do the 10k in under 45 mins train, I know I'm doing every minute I can spare and I'm still 1.5 miles short at that time.

I think the highlight of the run was when I saw a fox, it must have been laying low in the hedge bottom but as I got closer it decided to bolt for safety.  It ran a good 20 yards into a field and stood watching me as I went past.  It had just caught a rabbit and was still holding it in it's mouth.  I nodded to it and said, "enjoy it, you've earned it"..  there are lots of rabbits along my route I often see them making a run for it when they hear me coming.  I guess the puffing and panting must give me away quite a lot.

I finished in a good time (for me) about 44 minutes but when I measured it again it came up less distance than going the other way (what's all that about?).

Back to it Friday if I can get up :0)

Leeds 10k - Training Diary 2nd June 08 - 21 days to go!

4.4 Miles. I think I should explain my training route, basically there's a bypass which almost totally encircles my town, it has a footpath all the way along it.  If you think if the bypass like a clock face it goes from about 8 to 3 around.  The rest of the route is made up of running through housing estates and main roads.

What I've been doing over the past few weeks is running up to the 11 o clock point then running clock wise to 3 o clock and then taking the road routes back home.  And vice a versa doing the same route in reverse (this gives me a good mixture of up and down hills).

This morning however I set off on auto pilot - I intended doing the 4.75 mile run I'd been doing last week, but part way to the 11 o clock point I realised I'd run up the wrong road and was heading for the 12 o clock (missing a whole section out).  I made a quick decision to go the other way - thinking it would be a shorter run than I'd been doing but, with it being monday would be a good way to ease me into it. How wrong could I have been? the run I did was mostly uphills including my nemesis hill - so steep I'd think twice before trying to get a mountain bike up it. It's not so much a hill as a banking.  I was gasping for breath by the top but pleased I'd made it.

There's a strange feeling I get from hills, my body does what I call summiting, when I reach the top of a hill, I feel like I should throw my arms up cheering and stop running (Rocky style) but of course I have to carry on - there's no chance of stopping.  But my legs and lungs still seem to think I should stop.  It is good practice though in that I find that I can regain my breath while still running (as mad as that sounds).

I had a feeling it had been a hard run when I reached home and stopped I almost felt sick - something that never happens to me (the pass out of puke point), although that could be cus I don't push myself hard enough). Still it's been a good start to the week - just over 2 weeks to go now, feeling ready for it even though I haven't done a 10k this year yet.

Back on Wednesday :0)

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Tags: running, sumit, pass out, mistake, bypass, clockface, leeds 10k