Two more races....

First off I did the Bracknell Half again on the 29th April and completed it in 1:57:54. My pb for this course is 1:57:20 so not too bad going. Position 455 out of 717.

On Sunday 20th May I competed in the Staines 10k. The first time I ran this I finished in 56:07. This time I finished in 53:02, my pb for the 10k. Next 10k is Dorney at the end of June and I hope to shave a few seconds of my pb at this race too. Position 268 out of 484 and 17th out of 69 in my category.

My latest races....

In the last three weeks I have competed in two races - the Reading Half Marathon on the 25th March and the Maidenhead Easter 10 on Good Friday. Both races were particularly enjoyable, but then they always are when you do a good time! For Reading I finished in 1:58:52 (9:04 pace) and the Maidenhead 10 was a time of 1:27:59 (official gun time 1:28:44 and a pace of 8:47). My next race is Bracknell on the 29th April. Lets hope I continue with the improvements.

First "half" after knee op and Dad's accident.....

Well I'm back to running races again. Had knee operation and dad had a brain haemorrahge all within two days of one another at the beginning of September. Therefore didn't run at all for six weeks or so. Knee still not right but getting there. Dad fine now! Have been running slowly lately to try and get most of my running aerobic and not anaerobic. Has worked and my heart rate is a lot lower these days.

Anyway back to the 22nd Wokingham Half Marathon. My "Garmin" time was 2:03:10 and my official time was 2:04:27. 1338 out of 1679. Garmin time correct as started watch going over start line. Last year I did this race in 1:55:02 so quite a lot slower but think I could have pushed harder in places. Will try from now until 25th March when I compete in the Reading Half Marathon to pick up my times and to try and run a lot of my longer runs at half marathon pace.

Official Results of Burnham Beeches

I hate the official results. It makes me feel that I haven't done very well. Official time - 2:01:54. My Garmin made it 2:01:34 and I started the watch crossing the start line. Position - 566 out of 754 finishers. Thats the bit that makes me feel that I have not done well. I wish I could place higher but then I would have to run substantially faster to acheive that and I don't think I can.

18th wedding anniversay & Burnham Beeches Half Marathon!

It was our 18th wedding anniversay today and I celebrated by running in the 26th Burnham Beeches Half Marathon. My brother, Jason, described it as "slightly undulating". Well it was very very undulating. There were hardly any flat parts, it was either very very steep uphill or very very steep downhill!

Again disappointed with my time. I never wanted to go back over the 2 hours but as with Wycombe I have again today. 2:01:34! Exactly a minute slower than Wycombe, but I would say this was harder as after the first big hill at Wycombe it is relatively flat. Not at Burnham Beeches. I will post the official time and position when they are published. The time is my Garmin time and started when I went over the start line. No championchip timing for this event.

Montreux August 2006

Just got back from a short break to Montreux in Switzerland. We stayed at the Royal Plaza Hotel right on the banks of Lake Geneva. Stunning views and a wonderful hotel overall. Weather was a slight disappointment. The first day was glorious and we walked all the way to Chateau De Chillon. It was a wonderful place with tons of history. The second day we had a trip to a cheese factory and the Nestles factory. At lunch we visited Chateau De Gruyeres in the famous cheese town. On the third day we visited Gstaad. It is a lovely village, full of character and very similar to our usual haunt of Zermatt. We also took a cable car to Wispile. Unfortunately when we got to the top the cloud had closed in and you couldn't actually see down to the village!

Hilly Wycombe Half.....

Competed in the Wycombe Half Marathon on Sunday. Very hilly start to put it mildly! The weather was better this year though. Slight drizzle and cool, not that it seemed to help me. I find this course very challenging, not helped by me not having done any long runs of late. This being mainly due to my bad knee (cartlidge problem) and having trained hard recently for the Dorney Dash 10k. Garmin time of 2:00:34 (over the dreaded 2 hours which was a shame) and 608 out of 937 finishers. Official time (no chip timing) of 2:00:43. Must train hard now for the "hilly" Burnham Beeches half.