Then, Now, Tomorrow

End of the year (almost) so its time to say Merry Christmas, a Happy New Year to one and all and lets hope that 2011 is bigger and better than 2010 - not that 2010 was a bad year anyway!

2010 had its fair share of ups and downs on the running front, in more ways that one. After starting the year with the Country to Capital 45 mile Ultra I suffered a leg injury in the Thames Trot, that continued to cause issues for the next few races, and after many months of training I went to the Grand Union Canal Race in not the best frame of mind - needing a break - which I duly got, whether I liked it or not!!!

2010 saw me break into Triathlon (one to be precise), but started a spark and is something I hope to build on for 2011 (amongst other things). There are other familiar races planned, a re-visit to the GUCR and London Marathon, for the Rainbow Trust Children's Charity, and hopefully other new events including the Baxter's Loch Ness Marathon (for reasons which will become apparent).

I have to thank my sponsors for their support over 2010, namely Buff (I'm on their sponsored page), Compressport, Polaroid and Fitness Footwear, all who have supplied me with running bits, and all who have kept me going, through rain and shine (and plenty of snow too). Without them this last year would have been a whole lot tougher!

Last, but certainly not least of all, my best wishes go to Alex Flynn after a momentous year for him (see http://www.alexflynn.co.uk/ for all the details), running in not only the Grand Union Canal Race (reaching 119 miles), also doing the Europe 135 Ultra, Marathon Des Sables, London Triathlon (despite having a deep-set fear of water), Country to Capital and other races along the way, and pushing his body and commitment to raising £1M for Cure Parkinson's Trust to the max - deepest respect to the guy and I know 2011 is expected to be even bigger and better for him and the 10 Million Metre Campaign - Keep Moving Mate!!!

Update in a few weeks on a number of things in the pipeline, and how training is going, despite the um… festive traditions and here's to a good year of racing for all!!

CHEERS!!

Rich

Best Running Reads???

Just a brief word, in response to a request i received after my last blog!

I was contacted earlier this week by Larry Dignan, who works for Onlinecollegecourses.com, who have just published a list of what they describe as "40 Exhilarating Reads for Runners", which can be found here, and he asked me, due to the nature of our shared interest, if i could post this list and ask for your comments and what your favourite running books are??

As you will see from the list there is a good selection of running guides, novels, Biographies and different running cultures around the world. One of my favourites is listed (Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen), although the list was sadly missing the excellent "Just a Little Run Around the World: 5 Years, 3 Packs of Wolves and 53 Pairs of Shoes", by Rosie Swale-Pope!

Have a look at the list and drop me some feedback, and i will pass all your comments (keep it clean!!!) back to Larry

I thank you for reading this and please don't forget to sponsor me as i run for Rainbow Trust Children's Charity next year - http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/Rich-Merry!!!

Let it snow!!!

Not a great deal of news for this update. Last week saw first snow of this winter in the UK, so a run to work and home last Friday was a must, and the pleasure of running along empty country lanes at 6am with the temperature at -5c (cold for UK) was immense (sad person that I am). Plenty of wild animal tacks around, some being very large too, along side my elephantine footprints!!!. The run was made more enjoyable with having a Buffwear Polar Buff on and the ever present R2's from Compressport - thanks to both companies for their support.

Additionally, following a call out of the blue from Atheer at Wildfire Word of Mouth, who had been reading my blog (i KNEW someone was) Adidas sent me a pair of Swoop 2's to try out and report back on, and I have to say that the grip and feel of the shoes in the snow was immense (I wonder if I can get car tyres with the same tread???). The "radioactive" colouring may not suit everyone, but the ride and comfort certainly will, and I can see myself putting in many miles across the trails over the winter period.














Talking of trail running - I am returning to the Colchester Harriers fold and will be running in my first X-country race in 5 years on Sunday week at Halstead, and will be heading out in the Swoop 2's, as spikes wont be suitable for the whole race - will be a true test of my fitness and stamina (5.5 mile course), and will be good to get back to training and running with others ahead of next years big races. One of the Harriers runners (Sean Ketteridge) is also running the Grand Union Canal Race, so hopefully I can meet up with him and get some training done (if he can slow down enough). I intend to race the GUCR un-supported next year, so need to spend long days out running alone, providing I can find the time to get the mileage in.

In my last ramble I said that triathlons were off next year, but I have been offered a possible place at the Harwich Olympic distance Triathlon in July, so (with my planning hat on) I have looked at a swimming training schedule and will use the recovery time after the GUCR to swim and cycle, rather than run and train that way - active recovery!!!

Enough ramblings for now!!

Don’t forget I can be sponsored for both the 2011 London Marathon and the GUCR at http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/Rich-Merry, monies to go to the Rainbow Trust Children's Charity and Cure Parkinson's Trust!!

Stay warm, stay safe, stay seen!!!