Hills and chills

It's bloomin' freezin' out there! It was so cold that I had ice in my beard by the time I finished! Today I covered 12.2 miles in 1h 32m. I'm slowly building up my weekly mileage and my long slow runs on Sundays. I Started out at about 8 minutes/mile and gradually built up to target marathon pace over the last 4 miles or so. My route followed a large chunk of the Brussels Marathon course. It's pretty hilly, but if you get your head down you don't really notice: I'm convinced these things are mostly psychological. That said, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't tired heading up the last hill!

Running is a great way to clear the head. And because I sit at a desk for most of the week, I enjoy reminding my joints and muscles what they're really there for. But it's more than that: I like to have goals too. In fact, I find it difficult to run regularly just to keep fit. So for anyone thinking of running a marathon, just sign up and think about it later! Once you have something to work towards, you'll be away.

Rest day tomorrow then either a threshold run or intervals on Tuesday. Ciao for now!

Shite bikes and recovery runs

Not a great start to the blog! I set off on my usual bike ride home from work last night, something snapped and my back wheel started wobbling about all over the place. Turns out there was a bolt missing (nicked, surely...) and the wheel came off its spindle (at least I think that's what it was). I don't seem to get on with bikes: a few months back I set off at a busy roundabout and my chain spontaneously snapped in half. I guess it's because I bought the cheapest piece of crap I could find to get me from A to B. False economy and all that...

The trouble is, I need my bike. It's a good way to cross train. I'd love to run every day but my legs can't hack it. I'm considering getting a semi-decent bike but don't really know where to start. I think I'd prefer a road bike to a mountain bike (there aren't many mountains in Brussels at any rate!) but will have to do a bit of scouting about.

This morning I went on a slow 4-mile run with my girlfriend Annie, who will be competing in her first ever 10k in March. I'll be running a half marathon on the same day (both events to be held in The Hague, the Netherlands). It should give me a good idea of how fit (or unfit) I am in the run-up to the big day. Will be doing 12 miles or so tomorrow. No rest for the wicked!

Confession

I totally stole the idea of raising money via a blog from Graham Holmes, who happens to be supporting the same charity as I am. He is a little braver than me, however. Graham will be cycling from Land's End to John o' Groats in the space of a week to raise funds. You'll find a link to his blog on the right. If you have really deep pockets, you could sponsor us both!