Part two...

....all done. Had to push myself not to turn for home on more than one occasion, thats the problem running round Llanelli, your never really more than 3 miles from home.

Felt strong again except for a little niggle from the sciatica. Am a bit concerned though that when I stopped my right knee seized up competely despite having no pain for the whole 11 miles? Oh well, have had good stretch, hot bath and iced and is loads better so will see what tomorrow brings.

Happy days in the footy, COYS!

Part One...

......of 20 miles planned today out of the way nice and early. 9 in the bank. Felt strong and enjoyed it, especially the bite of flapjack after 30 minutes. Seemed to digest well so may well use that strategy in London.

Heart rate was lower than ever, whether this was because was early I'm not sure? 69%whr

Will see what tonights 11 miles bring.Back to bed for an hour now, then marking and prep, Spurs, Utd, Roast, Ironing, bathtime and away to go again....

Schoolboy Error....

...this morning, at least it was only the one though which is more than you can say for Wales last night. Stayed in a mates last night with the plan to break in my lovely shiny new Wave Inspire shoes running home this morning but forgot to take my foot pod with me so had to map my run. Doh!

Was supposed to be an easy 5 but seems only did 4.78. Not to worry though, was first run since Tuesday, after a bout of Delhi Belly, and in physical terms felt like the short break had done me a favour, last nights alcohol intake didn't help though.

Because of Laura's shifts will do a doubler tomorrow. 10 at 6 in the morning and 10 in the evening.

Off to make some flapjacks and a cheesecake now....

I had a choice...

...I made a choice.

The choice was an evening interval session (I hate speed work) or a night of eating crap.

I chose both.

Had to drag myself out of the door for interval work, especially now the secret door is closed. Ended up doing my 15 x 200m splits through the precinct in town. Had some funny looks but as most of these were from people who were having discussions with lampposts and shop window mannequins (don't think it was Kim Cattrall) I didn't feel too mental.

As all I have eaten today is a bowl of rice with chillis and peppers for lunch and pasta with the same ingredients for tea, two poached eggs, two yoghurts, a banana and an apple I refuse to feel guilty for the handful of cow biscuits I just consumed. May have another handful now actually or some shredded wheat...

Just Like Heaven

Sinking into a hot bath after a run/race of any kind, don't you agree? Well todays was better than heaven. Don't think this is blasphemous but I am willing to dodge a few bolts of lightning, just not today, I couldn't dodge a codding bean (old saying from my younger days, anyone recognise it?)

Anyway did 20 miles and am now sat here with a grin like a cheshire cat, wasn't feeling like that just over an hour ago though, the last 5 miles were the toughest thing I have ever done physically, and possibly mentally, but I did do them. Think is safe to say I now know what the wall feels like. Hard!

Not sure why was so much tougher than last weeks 18, a little warmer for sure? In terms of taking on lfuel during the run did exactly same thing as last week, couple swigs of lucozade every 3 miles. Obviously not enough. Had a little more porridge than usual this morning, could that have been a factor, or do I need to eat it closer to running? Maybe will try 3 hours before next week rather thanthe usual 4.

So many questions left unanswered, just hope I feel better than this come VLM...

More nutrition talk

Did 5 miles this morning after a few beers and packs of McCoys last night. God they are good crisps aye. Nice run, no niggles at all, hopefully will say the same after tomorrows 20.

Now I know regular subscribers to my blog will be thinking 'He said he wasn't drinking or eating crap' but I can explain myself. After my last blog, where I set out my stall for healthy eating, I decided to do some in depth research and ask some nutrition experts, namely here:

http://www.weightlossresources.co.uk/

Check it out, I'm not paying for full membership but you can learn a lot in the 24 hour trial period.

Turns out that to maintain current weight with amount of miles I'm doing need to be be consuming 4300 calories a day and if I want to lose 2lb a week, around 3200 calories a day. Trust me that is a lot of calories. To highlight this my intake for Thursday which was spread over 6 meals was;

• A bowl of porridge


• A banana


• An apple


• 100g wheat pasta with chiilis, peppers and spring onions


• 2 slices of soya bread with natural peanut butter


• 3 low fat yoghurts


• 500g portion of shepherds pie with peas and gravy


• 3 weetabix with sultanas and skimmed milk

Now this only came in at just over 2000 calories for the day with nutritional requirements nowhere near satisfied. This is not healthy when training for a marathon so really have to up my intake. I am happy to have twice as much pasta/rice for lunch or porridge for breakfast but that is about all I can do and would still be barely enough so have decided one a day a week it is important I have a day off healthy eating. Am sure you all agree...

Food Mountain

7 miles this morning which was fine physically but very difficult in terms of energy. Am sure this wasn't helped by the fact that I only did 10 miles yesterday evening but I think has more to do with my nutritional intake.

Am the first to admit my diet has left a lot to be desired over the last few weeks as my abstaining from alcohol (virtually) has seemed to lead to an addiction to chocolate and biscuits, in particular Double Deckers and Malted Milks, often together. If it wasn't for the amount of miles I was putting in I would weigh about 24 stone for sure. However I do believe that the amount of sugary stuff helped with the energy levels.

Now, having decided to loosely use lent as my motivation, I have cut out all the crap to get back to the healthy diet I enjoyed for much of the last three years. Is clear though that just one pancake, and a lack of calories overall since Tuesday morning has left my energy levels a little low so am going to have to go back to eating a food mountain of healthy stuff every day. 5 small healthy meals a day and a large portion of whatever I'm making for the kids for tea (not including chips) is back on the menu, in fact have just had 2 slices of natural peanut butter on soya bread and a low fat apricot yoghurt for afternoon snack. Shepherds pie tonight.....

Mmmm