Weather improving ... ankle improving again after a less than pain free few runs midweek ... things are looking good again.
Today's 40 minutes run, for instance, took me up the valley to the village of Burley in Wharfedale and on the way back I came across Zack Whitehead and we ran together back into Otley. Zack has been running recently after a few years out of the sport because of a knee injury. If he can get back to running the sort of times he was five years ago that will be a great boost for Otley AC. Good to see him back running - enjoying it too.
My run, for no reason at all, was a over 15s per km quicker than expected. I have noticed recently that I do seem to be running a bit further in the time allowed. I guess my speed is returning as my fitness improves.
On Tuesday next week we travel to Belfast to help Keir tie up the loose ends regarding accommodation, etc at the end of his first year at university. And he wants us to help carry all the stuff he has to bring home. It's his birthday on Wednesday so we'll do something a bit special while we're there but he has recently acquired a girlfriend which we'll meet for the first time. Apparently she's very nervous about meeting me and Fay ... that's OK though because we're quite nervous about meeting her.
Next Saturday I plan to run another race but I'm undecided between the Kirkby Malzeard 10k or the local parkrun 5k.
Saturday, 25 May 2013
Sunday, 19 May 2013
seasonal weather ... very strange
I've been running on three consecutive days for a few weeks now and everything is still progressing well. Recently progressed from alternating running and walking to running non-stop. Feeling good but still doing lots of rehab exercises ...
... about 35 minutes a day at the moment which is much less than the 55 minutes I had to do daily in February. It will continue to decrease over the next six months or so but I strongly suspect that I'll have to do a little for many years to come.
Thoughts of racing have recently started to come my way. I'm trying very hard to not look for a race until late June or early July. The very fact that I'm thinking that way is a good sign and mentally I'm ready to go. Just need the body to catch up.
At last summer weather appears to be on the way. The bad weather during the World 24 hr Championships in Steenbergen ... well we had similar stuff here in Yorkshire. And William Sichel apparently had a heatwave during the 6 day race in Hungary at the same time. It seems to me that the world's weather is not how I remember it back in the 1970s. Summer's were hot and sunny, winter's were cold and snowy ... simple.
... about 35 minutes a day at the moment which is much less than the 55 minutes I had to do daily in February. It will continue to decrease over the next six months or so but I strongly suspect that I'll have to do a little for many years to come.
Thoughts of racing have recently started to come my way. I'm trying very hard to not look for a race until late June or early July. The very fact that I'm thinking that way is a good sign and mentally I'm ready to go. Just need the body to catch up.
At last summer weather appears to be on the way. The bad weather during the World 24 hr Championships in Steenbergen ... well we had similar stuff here in Yorkshire. And William Sichel apparently had a heatwave during the 6 day race in Hungary at the same time. It seems to me that the world's weather is not how I remember it back in the 1970s. Summer's were hot and sunny, winter's were cold and snowy ... simple.
Sunday, 12 May 2013
The race I didn't run
By all accounts the weekend's race in Steembergen, Netherlands was a hard one. At one point there was a facebook post by the Aussie team which read:
"at the moment we're having four seasons worth of weather ... every 15 minutes."
No doubt about it that is the stuff that makes things very difficult in a 24 hour race and, I guess on average, performances will have been reduced by about 5 % and the winner's distance was probably not as far as expected in a World 24 hr Championship race. Previous winning distances (men) are shown below and full results can be found on the DUV website.
2013 ... 269 km
2012 ... 277 km
2010 ... 273 km
2009 ... 257 km
2008 ... 273 km
2007 ... 263 km
2006 ... 272 km
2005 ... 268 km
2004 ... 269 km
2003 ... 270 km
2001 ... 275 km
Some of the UK performances seem to have been quite amazing in those circumstances ...
Steve Holyoak ... over 246 km and a new pb
Robbie Britton ... over 239 km and a new pb
Sharon Law ... over 226 km and a new pb
Karen Hathaway ... over 210 km and a new pb
Sharon set new Scottish records for 200 km and 24 hours (on the road). Amazing.
Debbie Martin-Consani, Emily Gelder, Pat Robbins, John Pares, Matt Moroz and Lizzy Hawker had less successful races and, unfortunately, I wasn't there so I can't really comment as to the reasons for that. Perhaps an injury or two.
Congratulations also to Torill Fonn who beat her personal best by almost 5 %.
Overall, as I'm a recovering injured ultra runner, I found it quite difficult mentally to keep up to date with all that was happening in Steenbergen ... I guess I'm just missing the racing a bit. I'm glad I persevered though as it has given me some much needed motivation for racing next year and training in the second half of this year (with perhaps a race thrown in ...).
Full results here.
"at the moment we're having four seasons worth of weather ... every 15 minutes."
No doubt about it that is the stuff that makes things very difficult in a 24 hour race and, I guess on average, performances will have been reduced by about 5 % and the winner's distance was probably not as far as expected in a World 24 hr Championship race. Previous winning distances (men) are shown below and full results can be found on the DUV website.
2013 ... 269 km
2012 ... 277 km
2010 ... 273 km
2009 ... 257 km
2008 ... 273 km
2007 ... 263 km
2006 ... 272 km
2005 ... 268 km
2004 ... 269 km
2003 ... 270 km
2001 ... 275 km
Some of the UK performances seem to have been quite amazing in those circumstances ...
Steve Holyoak ... over 246 km and a new pb
Robbie Britton ... over 239 km and a new pb
Sharon Law ... over 226 km and a new pb
Karen Hathaway ... over 210 km and a new pb
Sharon set new Scottish records for 200 km and 24 hours (on the road). Amazing.
Debbie Martin-Consani, Emily Gelder, Pat Robbins, John Pares, Matt Moroz and Lizzy Hawker had less successful races and, unfortunately, I wasn't there so I can't really comment as to the reasons for that. Perhaps an injury or two.
Congratulations also to Torill Fonn who beat her personal best by almost 5 %.
Overall, as I'm a recovering injured ultra runner, I found it quite difficult mentally to keep up to date with all that was happening in Steenbergen ... I guess I'm just missing the racing a bit. I'm glad I persevered though as it has given me some much needed motivation for racing next year and training in the second half of this year (with perhaps a race thrown in ...).
Full results here.
Tuesday, 7 May 2013
Fay and me
As regular readers will know Fay and I recently celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary. We didn't really know how to celebrate this milestone (not having done that before ...) but, in the end, we decided to go back to the place we spent our honeymoon. Not the same hotel - I don't think that exists any more - but the same part of the world.
I suppose the story starts back in early 1985, a few months before Fay's 18th birthday. We decided, without much fanfare, that we would get engaged on her 18th birthday and married on her 21st. Between mid 1985 and April 1988 we hardly talked about marriage at all but we hadn't forgotten.
In March or April 1988 (I forget which) I secretly organised a wedding for us. We both knew what we wanted - a quiet marriage with a minimum of fuss. And that included nobody from our respective families and no large party afterwards. On the first of May I asked Fay if she still wanted to marry me - the answer was 'yes' so I told her what plans I had made. Bradford Register Office three days later, 4.00pm.
At that point we still didn't have a ring but that was no problem, on the morning of the wedding we went and bought one - but the one Fay liked was a bit too small, hmmmm. After explaining the situation to the jeweller he agreed to try and stretch the patterned band of gold a tiny bit. But we had to go back at 3.00pm to collect it.
As the time approached we remembered that we needed two witnesses ... no problem, I'm sure these two passer's by wouldn't mind helping out for a short while. Luckily they agreed and our wedding went ahead without a hitch. Afterwards we adjourned to McDonalds and laughed quietly to ourselves about what we had done.
Our honeymoon was spent on the wonderful Gower Peninsula in south Wales. We were there five or six days touring the area and it's beautifully unspoilt beaches, coves and villages.
We realised we had to tell our families sooner or later so we arranged two trips and two bottles of champagne to help break the news. Of course some people were not happy that they had missed out on a wedding. Tough. It's our life ... we'll do it our way.
Twenty five years later the whole area is still an undiscovered gem of a place with many quiet beaches and bays which are absolutely stunning on the sunny days we were there.
PS ... all the best to the UK runners in Steenbergen at the weekend. Hope you all have a good one, and injury free.
PPS ... the same for William Sichel in a six day race he's running in Hungary (I believe Sharon Gayter will be there too).
PPPS ... also all the best to the other runners I know who are running in Steenbergen (Torill F, Sharon S, David K, etc).
I suppose the story starts back in early 1985, a few months before Fay's 18th birthday. We decided, without much fanfare, that we would get engaged on her 18th birthday and married on her 21st. Between mid 1985 and April 1988 we hardly talked about marriage at all but we hadn't forgotten.
In March or April 1988 (I forget which) I secretly organised a wedding for us. We both knew what we wanted - a quiet marriage with a minimum of fuss. And that included nobody from our respective families and no large party afterwards. On the first of May I asked Fay if she still wanted to marry me - the answer was 'yes' so I told her what plans I had made. Bradford Register Office three days later, 4.00pm.
At that point we still didn't have a ring but that was no problem, on the morning of the wedding we went and bought one - but the one Fay liked was a bit too small, hmmmm. After explaining the situation to the jeweller he agreed to try and stretch the patterned band of gold a tiny bit. But we had to go back at 3.00pm to collect it.
As the time approached we remembered that we needed two witnesses ... no problem, I'm sure these two passer's by wouldn't mind helping out for a short while. Luckily they agreed and our wedding went ahead without a hitch. Afterwards we adjourned to McDonalds and laughed quietly to ourselves about what we had done.
Our honeymoon was spent on the wonderful Gower Peninsula in south Wales. We were there five or six days touring the area and it's beautifully unspoilt beaches, coves and villages.
We realised we had to tell our families sooner or later so we arranged two trips and two bottles of champagne to help break the news. Of course some people were not happy that they had missed out on a wedding. Tough. It's our life ... we'll do it our way.
Twenty five years later the whole area is still an undiscovered gem of a place with many quiet beaches and bays which are absolutely stunning on the sunny days we were there.
PS ... all the best to the UK runners in Steenbergen at the weekend. Hope you all have a good one, and injury free.
PPS ... the same for William Sichel in a six day race he's running in Hungary (I believe Sharon Gayter will be there too).
PPPS ... also all the best to the other runners I know who are running in Steenbergen (Torill F, Sharon S, David K, etc).
Sunday, 28 April 2013
fitness improves
The week just gone was the one in which I began running on three consecutive days and resting on the fourth. So far all has gone well and there are no problems at all, it's still very early stages yet though.
Cycling and strength training is also progressing exceptionally well at the moment and my aerobic fitness seems to be getting better almost daily. One measure of this increase is heart rate when waking in the morning. This year, on a week by week basis, that has been:
[figures are the mean of the previous 28 mornings]
6 January ..... 51.6
13 January ..... 50.5
20 January ..... 49.4
27 January ..... 49.1
3 February ..... 49.2
10 February ..... 49.9
17 February ..... 50.1
24 February ..... 49.6
3 March ..... 49.4
10 March ..... 49.4
17 March ..... 49.4
24 March ..... 49.5
31 March ..... 49.3
7 April ..... 49.0
14 April ..... 49.1
21 April ..... 48.6
28 April ..... 47.9
Shame about my weight though. That remains about 3.5 kg above racing level.
Congratulations to Sue Harrison on her third place finish in the European 100k championships yesterday with a time of 7h 48:12. The other runner from UK finished in thirteenth with 8h 29:03. But where were all the other good British 100k road runners ?
Cycling and strength training is also progressing exceptionally well at the moment and my aerobic fitness seems to be getting better almost daily. One measure of this increase is heart rate when waking in the morning. This year, on a week by week basis, that has been:
[figures are the mean of the previous 28 mornings]
6 January ..... 51.6
13 January ..... 50.5
20 January ..... 49.4
27 January ..... 49.1
3 February ..... 49.2
10 February ..... 49.9
17 February ..... 50.1
24 February ..... 49.6
3 March ..... 49.4
10 March ..... 49.4
17 March ..... 49.4
24 March ..... 49.5
31 March ..... 49.3
7 April ..... 49.0
14 April ..... 49.1
21 April ..... 48.6
28 April ..... 47.9
Shame about my weight though. That remains about 3.5 kg above racing level.
Congratulations to Sue Harrison on her third place finish in the European 100k championships yesterday with a time of 7h 48:12. The other runner from UK finished in thirteenth with 8h 29:03. But where were all the other good British 100k road runners ?
Saturday, 20 April 2013
a marathon week
Well, this week has been fine for me. Using different shoes for strength training has worked wonders and I'm back on track again.
Running on Thursday morning wasn't easy though. Gale force winds and heavy rain meant that the 50 minutes felt like 150 minutes. Character building, as I often tell myself. Friday wasn't much better either. If the runs on Sunday and Monday go well (as I expect they will) then I can begin training on three consecutive days. Starting at a low level again and building up slowly so that the final three days will be running steadily for 50, 60 and 60 minutes.
But this week has been dominated by a couple of short races. One in Boston, USA and the other in London, UK.
The Boston marathon will be remembered, not for being a great race, but for being the scene of a devastation rarely seen at sporting events. Thankfully the perpetrators were identified and caught (or killed) but my thoughts go out to all those affected by the mindless violence of two brothers.
And so to tomorrow's race in London. For the past few years, when watching the London Marathon, my attention has not so much been on the elite runners looking to win the race but on those rare souls who have taken part in every London Marathon. The 'ever present club'. In particular I will be watching out for Chris Finill who has run every London Marathon in less than 3 hours, a remarkable achievement. Long may it continue Chris.
To finish today's post I thought I'd ask how many members there may be for the club of with the following rules:
- been a runner continuously since before 1981
- watched every single London Marathon live on TV
- doesn't particularly want to take part in the London Marathon
Count me in ...
Running on Thursday morning wasn't easy though. Gale force winds and heavy rain meant that the 50 minutes felt like 150 minutes. Character building, as I often tell myself. Friday wasn't much better either. If the runs on Sunday and Monday go well (as I expect they will) then I can begin training on three consecutive days. Starting at a low level again and building up slowly so that the final three days will be running steadily for 50, 60 and 60 minutes.
But this week has been dominated by a couple of short races. One in Boston, USA and the other in London, UK.
The Boston marathon will be remembered, not for being a great race, but for being the scene of a devastation rarely seen at sporting events. Thankfully the perpetrators were identified and caught (or killed) but my thoughts go out to all those affected by the mindless violence of two brothers.
And so to tomorrow's race in London. For the past few years, when watching the London Marathon, my attention has not so much been on the elite runners looking to win the race but on those rare souls who have taken part in every London Marathon. The 'ever present club'. In particular I will be watching out for Chris Finill who has run every London Marathon in less than 3 hours, a remarkable achievement. Long may it continue Chris.
To finish today's post I thought I'd ask how many members there may be for the club of with the following rules:
- been a runner continuously since before 1981
- watched every single London Marathon live on TV
- doesn't particularly want to take part in the London Marathon
Count me in ...
Sunday, 14 April 2013
injury update
Another week gone ... not too bad. Not perfect but OK.
Everything was fine at the start of the week but in the middle my ankle began to rebel a bit. Not much but enough for me to postpone thoughts of another race for a while. As it happened yesterday's run was entirely pain free but I thought it better to be safe than sorry.
Today was much better and confidence has been restored again.
I think the slight relapse was caused by the shoes I have been wearing for strength training. Wore a different pair today and it was like having new ankles ... absolutely no pain whatsoever.
Running earlier in the morning than usual is also a risk factor for ankle injuries because the achilles tendon remains relatively stiff for a while after waking up. Taking care to warm up properly has been helping with that, and I find it more fun running at that time of day. I've also been doing quite a bit more general flexibility work recently.
Still doing rehab exercises five times a day - eccentric achilles stretches, calf stretches and straight leg hamstring stretches.
Overall, progress is still being made and, as I've said before, I'm not interested in a quick fix. I want a permanent solution.
Everything was fine at the start of the week but in the middle my ankle began to rebel a bit. Not much but enough for me to postpone thoughts of another race for a while. As it happened yesterday's run was entirely pain free but I thought it better to be safe than sorry.
Today was much better and confidence has been restored again.
I think the slight relapse was caused by the shoes I have been wearing for strength training. Wore a different pair today and it was like having new ankles ... absolutely no pain whatsoever.
Running earlier in the morning than usual is also a risk factor for ankle injuries because the achilles tendon remains relatively stiff for a while after waking up. Taking care to warm up properly has been helping with that, and I find it more fun running at that time of day. I've also been doing quite a bit more general flexibility work recently.
Still doing rehab exercises five times a day - eccentric achilles stretches, calf stretches and straight leg hamstring stretches.
Overall, progress is still being made and, as I've said before, I'm not interested in a quick fix. I want a permanent solution.
Sunday, 7 April 2013
more ramblings ...
I know I haven't posted for a while but until I can start training and racing properly again I don't really have much say.
Everything is looking up though at the moment, especially in the early morning spring sunshine. Running at the break of dawn has been a real boost for me and I feel a renewed sense of wanting to get back to running for more than a few miles at a time.
Still must stick to the schedule though. That in itself is good training ... good mental discipline to stick so rigidly to a schedule for such a prolonged period.
The recent holiday period was good, especially as Keir finally managed to get here ... and then managed to get back to Northern Ireland without any problems despite the threat of more snow. We didn't hang around at the airport any longer than we needed to as Leeds Bradford Airport is a very cold place even in summer. Being situated on the top of a very large hill doesn't help.
Between training I've been helping Fay with decorating and fixing things about the house. Note that I'm only helping, Fay is much better at decorating than me so I let her get on with it. She enjoys it much more than I do too. Her recent health scare is well and truly in the past now too.
Although Fiona's is still ongoing and will be for quite some time probably.
Anyway that's enough of me rambling on for now ... more later.
Everything is looking up though at the moment, especially in the early morning spring sunshine. Running at the break of dawn has been a real boost for me and I feel a renewed sense of wanting to get back to running for more than a few miles at a time.
Still must stick to the schedule though. That in itself is good training ... good mental discipline to stick so rigidly to a schedule for such a prolonged period.
The recent holiday period was good, especially as Keir finally managed to get here ... and then managed to get back to Northern Ireland without any problems despite the threat of more snow. We didn't hang around at the airport any longer than we needed to as Leeds Bradford Airport is a very cold place even in summer. Being situated on the top of a very large hill doesn't help.
Between training I've been helping Fay with decorating and fixing things about the house. Note that I'm only helping, Fay is much better at decorating than me so I let her get on with it. She enjoys it much more than I do too. Her recent health scare is well and truly in the past now too.
Although Fiona's is still ongoing and will be for quite some time probably.
Anyway that's enough of me rambling on for now ... more later.
Wednesday, 27 March 2013
Latest News
I've recently seen that there is likely to be a third Commonwealth Mountain & Ultra Distance Championships. The organisers have invited countries to submit bids with a view to staging the races in 2015. The long term aim is still to have mountain races and ultra distance races at the 2018 Commonwealth Games (Gold Coast, Australia).
I represented England at both of the first two Commonwealth Championships (Keswick 2009 and Llandudno 2011) and they were extremely enjoyable events at which the camaraderie amongst the athletes of different countries and disciplines was second to none.
I will definitely be aiming for a place in the England team for 2015 and 2018 ...
... but reading the tender document put together by the Commonwealth Association of Mountain and Ultra Distance Running to help with prospective bids I see there is no mention at all of 24 hour races except on the final page. And that solitary mention is a bit ambiguous in that it could mean that the 24 hour race has been omitted from the document by mistake. Maybe. Hope so.
As you probably know I'm now running on two consecutive days (well, running and walking) and it seems to be going well. No problems at all although I sense that the walking bit is still necessary at the moment. Getting there though.
Keir finally arrived home on Sunday. He was due to arrive on Friday evening but his flight was cancelled until lunch time on Sunday. That flight took off OK and made it all the way to Yorkshire before circling over Leeds Bradford Airport for 30 mins or so. We did wonder about that but we were then even more shocked to learn that it was flying back to Manchester as there was too much snow to make a safe landing in Yorkshire. He finally arrived home at about 4.00pm on Sunday. Normally the journey from Ulster University to Otley would take him about 6 or 7 hours ... this one took an amazing 51 hours.
Hope the weather is better when he flies back at the end of next week.
Before I go, well done to Debbie M-C on her win at the Thames Path 100 mile race at the weekend. Apparently the weather was atrocious and the race was diverted from it's normal route. Personally, I wouldn't race 100 miles (161 km) only seven weeks before a 24 hour race but recovery rates vary enormously between runners and I'm sure she'll have a brilliant race in Steenbergen - and come away with another pb and Scottish record.
And finally ... all the best to those taking part in the Anglo Celtic Plate 100k in Perth [Scotland, not Australia] in a few days time. Hope the temperatures increase slightly.
I represented England at both of the first two Commonwealth Championships (Keswick 2009 and Llandudno 2011) and they were extremely enjoyable events at which the camaraderie amongst the athletes of different countries and disciplines was second to none.
I will definitely be aiming for a place in the England team for 2015 and 2018 ...
... but reading the tender document put together by the Commonwealth Association of Mountain and Ultra Distance Running to help with prospective bids I see there is no mention at all of 24 hour races except on the final page. And that solitary mention is a bit ambiguous in that it could mean that the 24 hour race has been omitted from the document by mistake. Maybe. Hope so.
As you probably know I'm now running on two consecutive days (well, running and walking) and it seems to be going well. No problems at all although I sense that the walking bit is still necessary at the moment. Getting there though.
Keir finally arrived home on Sunday. He was due to arrive on Friday evening but his flight was cancelled until lunch time on Sunday. That flight took off OK and made it all the way to Yorkshire before circling over Leeds Bradford Airport for 30 mins or so. We did wonder about that but we were then even more shocked to learn that it was flying back to Manchester as there was too much snow to make a safe landing in Yorkshire. He finally arrived home at about 4.00pm on Sunday. Normally the journey from Ulster University to Otley would take him about 6 or 7 hours ... this one took an amazing 51 hours.
Hope the weather is better when he flies back at the end of next week.
Before I go, well done to Debbie M-C on her win at the Thames Path 100 mile race at the weekend. Apparently the weather was atrocious and the race was diverted from it's normal route. Personally, I wouldn't race 100 miles (161 km) only seven weeks before a 24 hour race but recovery rates vary enormously between runners and I'm sure she'll have a brilliant race in Steenbergen - and come away with another pb and Scottish record.
And finally ... all the best to those taking part in the Anglo Celtic Plate 100k in Perth [Scotland, not Australia] in a few days time. Hope the temperatures increase slightly.
Friday, 22 March 2013
Keir and the World Championships
Woke up this morning to find lots of snow all around - I guess it must have been 10cm or so, everywhere. I know that isn't particularly deep but for this part of the world, near the end of March, it's lots.
Apparently there are only two places in the whole country with so much snow at the moment - Yorkshire and Northern Ireland and the consequences are that Leeds Bradford Airport and Belfast City Airport were both closed. They are open now ... but only just and with many flights cancelled or delayed.
Keir is coming home from university today for the Easter holiday. He is at Ulster University and is flying from Belfast City to Leeds Bradford. There are three flights today ... he's on the third but the first two have been cancelled. I think it's fair to say we're a bit worried at the moment.
Apart from that, news has recently appeared from British Athletics [new name for UK Athletics ... not sure why] about the team for the World 24 hr Championships in Steenbergen in May. On the men's team is John Pares, Pat Robbins, Matt Moroz, Robbie Britton and Steve Holyoak. If John is fit he should do very well - he's is capable of a top 5 placing at his best. Pat and Steve are both capable of over 240 km and I don't know too much about Robbie and Matt except that perhaps they prefer the trails. I really do hope everyone has an outstanding race though.
The women are represented by Lizzy Hawker, Emily Gelder, Debbie Martin-Consani, Sharon Law and Karen Hathaway. Lizzy broke the world 24 hr road record in her last race of this type (Llandudno - Sep 2010), Emily finished third in the last world championships and Debbie is the Scottish record holder. An excellent team and, again, I wish them all every success.
My recovery seems to be going well at the moment too. On Wednesday I had to forego my strength training and cycling though as I had to do some emergency DIY repairs in the bathroom. Without going into great detail I had to replace the light fitting, pull cord and part of the ceiling. Managed 20 minutes through the snow this morning with the same tomorrow and all in all everything seems OK.
Apparently there are only two places in the whole country with so much snow at the moment - Yorkshire and Northern Ireland and the consequences are that Leeds Bradford Airport and Belfast City Airport were both closed. They are open now ... but only just and with many flights cancelled or delayed.
Keir is coming home from university today for the Easter holiday. He is at Ulster University and is flying from Belfast City to Leeds Bradford. There are three flights today ... he's on the third but the first two have been cancelled. I think it's fair to say we're a bit worried at the moment.
Apart from that, news has recently appeared from British Athletics [new name for UK Athletics ... not sure why] about the team for the World 24 hr Championships in Steenbergen in May. On the men's team is John Pares, Pat Robbins, Matt Moroz, Robbie Britton and Steve Holyoak. If John is fit he should do very well - he's is capable of a top 5 placing at his best. Pat and Steve are both capable of over 240 km and I don't know too much about Robbie and Matt except that perhaps they prefer the trails. I really do hope everyone has an outstanding race though.
The women are represented by Lizzy Hawker, Emily Gelder, Debbie Martin-Consani, Sharon Law and Karen Hathaway. Lizzy broke the world 24 hr road record in her last race of this type (Llandudno - Sep 2010), Emily finished third in the last world championships and Debbie is the Scottish record holder. An excellent team and, again, I wish them all every success.
My recovery seems to be going well at the moment too. On Wednesday I had to forego my strength training and cycling though as I had to do some emergency DIY repairs in the bathroom. Without going into great detail I had to replace the light fitting, pull cord and part of the ceiling. Managed 20 minutes through the snow this morning with the same tomorrow and all in all everything seems OK.
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