The Walker With Heart

Having vetoed a run on a dodgy ankle I decided to do something I've not done before, walk down the Leeds - Liverpool canal from Bootle to Liverpool. The ankle was suitable strapped and stuck in a reasonably supportative boot and wandered down the towpath, which was great fun especially when I found things like the house below: I also managed to loose the canal at one point - it seemed to go under a housing estate - though there was a set of locks down to a spur that I'll have to explore another day... So 8km to the total, ankle holding up, not a bad day! TTFN Paul

Well the week off has been had (off = 1 swimming lesson and 1 hard climbing session) so I should be up and raring to go for a decent 5 miler as prep for the Liverpool 10k next Sunday. However, for no apparent reason my right ankle feels like its been stomped on... My right ankle is the dodgy one from a trip a couple of years ago when leading the GUCH Walking Club along Hadrian's Wall - the best advice I can give is if you heavily twist an ankle walking another 70miles is not the best thing you can do... Ho Hum, so I thinking it'll be a power walk today, and a hard 5k mid week - which is way behind what I should be doing to get ready for a 10k, and indeed the 3km a day that I need to do for this little bit of madness... Add to the mix I'm peeling from the GNR run next weekend, and I'm not the happiest bunny in the hutch. However, we'll see how the ankle is later and see if I feel its worth taking a risk on it. Oh, if anyone is interested in the route I'm doin...

The much delayed Great North Run Blog!!!! Sorry all, the laptop has been playing up hence the lack of a post - that and scurrying around the country for meetings for my paid employment. The Great North Run is great - the sight of the Red Arrows swooping over your head at both the beginning and at the end is magic, the locals handing out sweets, biscuits and drinks out of their own pockets is just so nice and most of all the 53,999 other runners are a humbling group of people to run with. If you only want to do 1 half-marathon, if you're not bothered in the time you do it, and you can get in then this is the half-marathon for you. Its not a PB course, its got too many long nasty hills and far too many people for that. And that's fine this is a run you do for your enjoyment(!) and to do it. You do need a sense of humour, being overtaken by a giraffe/a push-me-pull-me get up, or even a quarter sized angel of the north can have an impact on your ego (the giraffe ...

Well, monies paid 1st lesson completed without too much drama. One of the instructors did ask if I was trying to steal all of the water in the pool after one pretty spectacular splutterfest... However managed to keep my head above water for significant periods... And apparently I have good legs... when I remember to relax (which is a weird way of putting it, but I get what she meant). So, now its rest and relax and pack and prep for Sunday... And for Mon and Tuesday when work dictates I'm in London, the ralgex will be minuted... So I'd like to say I was having poached salmon on wholemeal pasta, but its not - Pie and chips:-) TTFN Paul

Sorry for the gap between the blog posts... Be warned, this is one of those honest blogs I promised... Sometimes you get hit by news that throws you sideways, another GUCH I was close to died last weekend and it hurts. Three in a summer is not good, and there's no words I can say that describe that combination or sorrow and rage that I can't say what I should've said over the years and I wasn't a better friend. I hope all three of them would at this point have looked at me and told me to grow up stop being stupid, and to get on with it... Actually I'm fairly certain that 2 of them would and one would've just smiled and sighed at me! But life goes on, however painful their absences are, however much I'm going to miss the sage counsel, love of life and photography tutorials and all I hope is that some of what I do in my various roles would meet their approval. So to the running, or lack of it... I've no idea what I've done to my knee, bit its hurt lik...

I hope... A good solid 5km at lunchtime, nice and easy at 39min, but that included a lot of chat and more than a bit of walking. Which is probably how I'll be doing the GNR , nice and steady with lumps of running - not pretty but quietly effective. Also as if the 1000km isn't enough I've decided to finally bite the bullet and learn how to swim... Like many a kid with a dicky ticker swimming was a pain as a kid, the pools were always cold and with doctors orders to stay warm I think I got my 5m badge. I can do a length, on front or back, but that it... So to the local pool I will go in 2 and a bit weeks. Oh, and apparently I need some tightish swimming shorts, the instructor told me that "Board Shorts" weren't suitable, I had to ask what they were... Ho Hum, walking is much easier... TTFN Paul