Pinterest

Has anyone come across this. Do you know what it is. As far as I can make out it is just an excuse for people to collect the pictures they like online and store them in one place instead of clicking ‘Save Image as’

Well I have joined up and have started mounting many a boards of my inspirations of photos and images of objects I desire or have and even places that I love. If anyone is a member than please do check out my boards and maybe re-pin what you see. I can’t really go into any detail as I have no clue what the site does myself but I did say that about twitter and look at me now with 17,000 plus tweets two years on.

Oh well take a gander if you like Snowdon, Wales, Hiking, New Zealand, Running, History, Castles and Bridges which I guess should be all of you as that is all I write about in this blog with a little bias on the running element like why else do you read this dribble?? 🙂

See you all soon, and I hope you like what you see.

The Runners Code

Look at that it’s like buses, not a single post and then two come at once. This is a little moan something that I specialise in but I feel it should be said. Now I have only been running for a year or two and while I didn’t know what I was doing to start off with I sure as hell learnt. I also kept the passion up and called myself a runner. apparently the difference between jogging and running is runners are serious.

So with success of the olympics and the wonderful weather it was bound to happen that a bunch of people would reach for a pair of shorts and t-shirt along with their trainers that should have found their way to a bin  and reached for the front door ready to run in temperatures reaching 20 plus degrees and go for a run. ‘You not going to take some water?’ ‘Nah, no need. Just doing a few laps of the park’

Nope no water, these joggers, these glory runners don’t need water, they can do a whole two laps of their block before they collapse into a heap. Now don’t get me wrong if the Olympics has encouraged people to get out and do running then good. We are in a real boom of running at the moment and the more that wish to get on board the better. What I don’t like are the glory runners. The ones that take up the pavement when the sun shines. Or the ones that think they will give it a try and come out of the woodwork with their kit that  isn’t even fit for the charity shop. You know when you are a runner when you get up at 5am to fit your run in, or it’s snowing or bucketing down with rain and you are still going out to embrace that 10 mile run.

Now I know that I use to be one of these runners. I entered my first race to prove to myself I could run 10K, and made sure I entered a race so there was no option to give up, the outcome was I became addicted.

Now the other week I was out running and every runner apart from one or two were not obeying the ‘Runners Code’ and before you ask, then yes there is one (those who asked I take it aren’t runners?) An unspoken code between runners. I can’t go into too much details but you will know if you’re a runner when you know the rules. I can however digest a few of the rules to make the pavements a happier place.

1. Acknowledge other runners. Be with a nod, a thumbs up, a hello

2. Look before you cross the road. Don’t dart in front of cars. It makes the rest of us look bad.

3. Learn the ways of a two/three and even a four way pass

4. Don’t make other runners run out into the road, with their back to the traffic when passing you

They are just a few samples. Cyclists and walkers also have an unwritten code and lets face it most of it is common sense. But you can always tell the runners from joggers as joggers won’t say hello.

A simple acknowledgement does not hurt your training. While I don’t want to appear to be a snob I know we will not see many f these runners again come september. It’s like the unexperienced runners at races getting to the start rather than knowing their PACE and lining up further back.

Oh well time for a run, as it has just started raining so hopefully the joggers are all hiding under bus shelters waiting for the sun shine to dry that T-Shirt they has purchased back in 1994

Long Time no Bore

Well Hello all, I am still alive and at the moment still in the UK but will be going to NZ soon as I now have a Visa and have set a date, just need those plane tickets and some spends and then it’s NZ here I come. So how you all been? I hope you have been keeping well. I have still be running, and after my last 10K I did take some time off and am now in a little bit of a flap as I only have 9 weeks till the Snowdon Marathon and to be quite truthful am a little nervous over it as I have done zero training. I keep telling myself I have the miles in my legs and no the distance. I am somewhat thinking it will be like my 2nd half where I did no training or long runs what so ever and felt it easier than the first first half. I know I should not be going down this line of thought but I dod have the miles in my legs so within 8 weeks I can get some long runs in to remind my body what to expect.

So what has happened in the meantime. Well the Olympics were on telly and I managed to get the place I worked to allow me to watch every last-minute of the action. On the night of Mo’s 10,000  victory we were all sat in the green-room cheering on the Mobot. When he won the 5,000 I think I screamed my apartment block down. I have always found Mo an inspiration and someone to admire and seeing him get the double, word can not express how I felt.

I have also moved house, due to a leak in my last flat that no party seemed to be interested in getting sorted, so with the waterfall pouring through the light fitting filling a 5L bucket every 10-14 hours and water cascading down the walls it wasn’t long till the mold set in, and boy did it set in. That evil black and green mold even covered walls in other rooms that weren’t close to the original damage and it wasn’t just walls the spores liked attached themselves to0. Clothes, books, shoes, doors you name it and we probably had it cultivating there along with a load of what we think were drain flys (basically looked like small moths). Again the estates decided that this was not worth bothering about so we acted with our feet and walked.

So apart from work, and the running I have not done much. the other week I did some camping in the Lakes and bagged another 12 peaks over the course of two days which was nice. But my life at the moment is mainly work to save up for the plane tickets and pay the tax bill before I leave.

I suppose the other news is that I have been seeing a Physio who is making me touch my toes. I have a weak hip as we all know from previous posts, but it is also locking out which prevents me from bending to touch my toes. He has been working on my core and stability to strengthen and unlock the hip while making me a better runner. This is off course a whole blog entry in itself that when I get round to it will write it up as I am sure you are all so interested.

Oh well off to spend my Bank Holiday running around Heaton Park and the streets of Manchester to get those miles into my legs.

See you soon.