Pollution in the City Streets

Having been back on the bike for the last two weeks, and despite spending this entire week getting soaked in the constant heavy rain on each trip in and out of the city, I decided to grab a new filter for my Respro bike mask. It's a facemask that contains a filter and basically goes over your nose n mouth to filter all the pollution of the cars, trucks, vans n buses when riding through the city streets. It's also doubled as a face warmer through the last month and a bit since I got it.

For anyone who doubts the effectiveness of these things, well, here you can see the old filter and the brand new one side by side...

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Sunshine!!

After a rather mundane week of just general life, and being back on the bike to and from work... Along comes Saturday.
20C and sunny!! A small glimpse of summer and the English getting into it as you can see on the left.
A short ride in the sunshine to collect a parcel from the post office, and it was a case of ‘Day underway’.

So it was beer garden weather for London. Shorts and shirts off for (some of) the English, but I still had a long sleeve top over a t-shirt and jeans. Don’t get me wrong here, as it’s nice to see the sun and have a day where the temperature is not in single figures, but it was only 20C...
I did feel for my Norwegian mate, Espen, (right) as he and his friends had come from -4C in Norway!! Was good to catch up with him and meet his best man, soon-to-be father in-law, as well as other in-laws and friend.

I must admit that it would have been a far better afternoon to have stayed in the beer garden as the display by Spurs against Bolton wasn’t much chop really. A rather frustrating game to watch in all. We did try and get a rendition of ‘O When the Spurs’ going, but without much success. Still a nice afternoon out in the sunshine before heading back to a pub for a few more pints and to catch up with a few other folk.

Sunday was also to be a bit of a footballing day, as I’d accepted Marty’s invite to join him in a pub to watch the Rangers v Celtic derby. Marty’s a Scot, and a keen Celtic fan. He fitted right in with all the other Scots in the pub in their green n white shirts. One Aussie amongst a mirad of Celtic fans who were well up for the game. This IS Scotland’s derby and plenty of serious passion was being shown by these folks.
Unfortunately, to suddenly be immersed in all things Scottish didn’t exactly help my situation considering what’s currently going on up there from my corner of the world, but like the rollercoaster of life I’m on, you just hold on for the ride and wait for it to finish...
At least Celtic won, so after a celebratory ale, we met up with Karyn in Sloane square for another drink in another pub and then dinner in one of the area’s oldest chinese restaurants.

Usual tube signal issues and it then took me nearly 2 hours to get home...

And if you're in a generous mood... www.justgiving.com/aussierunner as I still have a couple of hundred pounds to go. ;)

Hullo Peter n Judy

After a long week recovering from both the marathon and seeing Charity off to Edinburgh, it was time for Peter n Judy to arrive for their stay in France and the UK with a catch up dinner on the Friday night of their arrival in London. A very pleasant dinner and catch up in the hotel restaurant before retiring to their room for a coffee and some weekend planning. A quick shout out to Kadina - I know you’re reading, and I hope Emma’s doing well now!!

A small adventure on the way home from the tube made the night rather interesting. Brief summary is that two guys coming the other way and I bumped (okay, collided) with the one who didn’t make way on the narrowed footpath. They took exception, I probably should have said something different, and when he went for something in his pocket I didn’t wait to find out what it was. Two punches and two kicks from me, before I put my two best weapons into action and I legged it the hell out of there. Unfortunately, I let one of them get a hit in, but nothing serious or worth worrying about. So other than an adrenalin rush and a half I’m fine.
Saturday was a slow day anyway, feeling a bit snuffly, so just a sloth day in the end.

Sunday, and it was off to Dover to visit Dover Castle with Peter n Judy. Good old grey misty London showed us her ‘finest’ dull weather. Coffees in hand, we set off from Waterloo East on the train for Dover and her white cliffs.
Thankfully the skies cleared somewhat on the way there to give us a good view (through the trees) of the south-east countryside under some blue sky and sunshine. That strange English haze still hung around though, all the way to the coast and beyond.

We arrived in Dover and proceeded to make our way from the train station and look for transport to the castle. Once we’d seen how high up the Castle was from the train station, Peter’s idea of taking the nearby cab was on the money. A quick 5min tour through Dover and we were at the Castle.
Entry stickers on and we began our exploration of this amazing Castle and its surrounding grounds and hidden labyrinth of tunnels.

First stop once we were through the gates was the ‘restaurant’ and I use that term loosely, for lunch. It also housed Queen Elizabeth’s “Pocket Pistol”, which you can see here (right), although she must have had one hell of a large pocket!! Also there was one of the prototype bouncing bombs from the Dambusters project/mission. Rather impressive actually.
On we went to where the castle grounds met the tops of the cliffs of Dover, and the secret WWII tunnels and their accompanying tour. Over 3miles of tunnels have been opened in three distinct levels throughout the cliffs under the castle. They were used originally in the Napoleonic wars, but were then expanded and used extensively for WWII. The entire evacuation of Dunkirk and most of the D-day invasion was co-ordinated from within these tunnels. They also included a hospital as well as quarters for personnel. Absolutely fascinating, and I couldn’t help but think of those who would enjoy this.

Well, our tour guide had told us that no photographs were allowed, but if I didn’t use my flash, nor the illuminated screen, and did a bit of dawdling at the back of the group, then you would get to see these pics of what we saw.
Eventually, we made our way back to the outside world and onto a ledge of the cliffs themselves to conclude the tour at where else but the giftshop.

From here we made our way up. Up to the Admiralty lookout for a pretty spectacular view of the Dover harbour and back towards Dover itself. We then continued around the edge of the grounds to take the Battlements walk which took us around to the main keep itself. Passing all the canons and anti-aircraft installations along the way and pondering the funny little bunkers and how they were used over the centuries. Nice views of the countryside in the hazy sun and wind. And green too!!

Once we made it back to the Keep itself, we headed inward through the grounds to check out the Roman Pharos (lighthouse) and Saxon church. The Pharos, which is the only one of two that is still standing, is over 2000years old - quite impressive even if it didn’t look all that impressive. The small Saxon church is still in full working order and kept up quite well considering its age.

Back to the Keep and through the whole thing, including many of the original parts from the 12th century. Much of it, however, was recreating the life and times of the castle in the 1500’s. Still fascinating, and with many stairs to climb and smaller rooms and places to find and discover. Like the Thomas Beckett chapel, which can be found in one corner on about the 3rd level if you venture through a small alleyway. The longdrop wasn’t particularly well placed either, even if it was the King’s for when he stayed there - which apparently Henry VIII did quite often. It was a case of “look out below” because when you looked down, you could see the walkway below!
I can just see a Monty Python skit for such a happening -
“Did you hear about Barham?”,
“No”,
”He just got crapped on by the King!”,
“Lucky Bastard!”
But I digress...

Back outside and in the Keep grounds, we discovered the heritage and history of the Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment Museum. Quite interesting as it showed their history throughout several centuries up to today.

That done, and it was time to make our way to the entrance/exit and then back to the train station.
Waiting for the bus, we ended up grabbing another cab, and a cheaper one at that!!
A cruisey train ride back to London and Waterloo before heading to the bank of the Thames for dinner at Giraffe again!! Another nice night and dinner together.

All up a lovely day with a couple that I’ve grown up with since a toddler. Nice to be with such familiar people who are pretty much family. It made it far easier when those thoughts kept constantly coming up about missing someone who would have really enjoyed being with us...

Thanks Peter, Thanks Judy. See you in a couple of weeks once your tour of the UK returns to London.

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Ps.

www.justgiving.com/aussierunner - coz time’s running out to reach this target. You know you want to help out! ;)

Flora London Marathon

Saturday afternoon. The day before, and Charity has become quite ill so the day and evening is spent taking care of her. Her health was more important and so I ended up getting everything ready just after midnight. On top of my already reduced sleep, the rest of the last two weeks and the tribulations for the past 16weeks, I really wasn’t all that concerned. My only plan for the marathon now was to just go, run, take in the atmosphere and enjoy the day. A quick weather check and the 24hr forecast said that there’d be heavy showers at around 1pm - pretty much right in the middle of it. All part of the event and London in general I suppose...

Sunday morning. A nice sunrise, Charity feeling better, a bit of a late start, and we were on the bus to Bank and the light rail to Greenwich and the start. The closer we got the more and more folks appeared heading in the same direction. Interesting atmosphere on the way in too - hard to describe - friendly yet reserved or anxious maybe?

Anyway, we made our way to Greenwich Park and the start zone. The queues for the porta-loos were massive! So a quick bit of gardening with others was called for. Unfortunately, the start zone was runners only, which meant we stayed outside with many others who had family or friends with them. As a consequence this meant that many of us were shut out of the start zone when it was time to gather in the starting ‘chute’, and had to go around to the very end of the start zone to get in and then line up at the back of the ‘chute’. No problem you say? Well, it would have helped to be amongst runners of a similar pace as things were pretty crowded with the main portion of the other 35,000 runners.
The start went fairly smoothly as we walked to the start line, and didn’t actually break into at least a jog until about 5metres from the start line itself. Twenty something minutes had gone past since the actual start and when I reached it. Only 42.2kms to go...

Even in the first few kilometres the sides of the road were packed! In fact the entire length of the course was packed with spectators and well wishers. My first real taste of what was to come came at about the 2km mark when I was trying to get the idea of 40kms to go out of my head. A balcony full of half-cut cowboys, Indians and banditos having a Mexican party and suddenly chanting ‘Aussie Aussie Aussie, oi oi oi”. Now while I find that chant rather embarrassing, it was more just the frivolity of their little party and cheering to encourage us out there pounding the pavement that gave me a lift and a smile. I was told that the atmosphere of the event will carry me for the whole event, and I’ll admit it did. There were so many little things to see and enjoy. Things that the spectators were up to, things the runners themselves were up to. I guess one good thing about being down the back and moving up through it all was to see all the more unusual runners - stilt walkers, costumes and all manner of get-ups...

Every pub along the course had a band or dj pumping away. There were people everywhere. Plenty offering jelly babies and other lollies along the way. Kiddies with their hands out for high fives. If you’d printed or written your name on your shirt then folks would cheer you on by name. I heard about three ‘C’mon Simon’s and turned to see that I was near another Simon...
All good, these early stages as things were all new and to be experienced. No niggles or discomforts while just simply running and taking it all in - well, okay, so the top of my right ankle was a sore spot for some reason, but that came and went. Reaching the 10km mark pretty much on the hour mark was quite a nice surprise too. It meant that I could realistically do the whole event in 4hours, but I would need to not only maintain my current pace for the entire time, but also pick up the extra 2.2kms somewhere in there. Considering that I hadn’t run for more than 25kms before, I disbanded the idea and just kept on going for now...

The dark grey clouds that were moving towards us also gave me good enough reason to not push anything at this stage. They happily dumped out a good downpour on us for some time too! Thankfully it stopped raining before I reached Tower Bridge (the famous one that everyone thinks is London bridge). Turning the corner onto this famous bridge was something else. It was PACKED with spectators and they were LOUD. While my ipod had been doing a great job with my playlist of music for the day, it was pointless to have it on here - despite the lift I was getting from the Benjamin Gate's 'Rush'.

Not long after crossing Tower Bridge, came the 20km mark - nearly half way, and I was on 2hours. Again, time target possibilities came into the frame, but were fairly easily left again simply because I had no idea what was waiting for me beyond 25kms. I was feeling fine and travelling pretty comfortably, but things like The Wall and possibly becoming one of those floppy people you see staggering sideways near finish lines could lay ahead...

At this point I was still enjoying the atmosphere and the sites along the way. Happily just passing folks along the course, and looking forward to seeing Charity, Marty n Karyn at around the 15-16mile mark near Canary Wharf. With the sun now back out, a brief toilet stop in what seemed to be a VERY popular detour for the runners, I was drying out and feeling quite good. No niggles or discomforts either, which was a good sign. I passed through mile 15, 16 and 17 with no sign of either the Slug n Lettuce pub or it’s three occupants I was hoping to see. By mile 18 i was resigned to having missed them. Oh well, on we go... Then I hear a voice call out my name and turn to see Marty - perfect timing, so a quick u-turn to the sideline for a quick greet and then onward again. This section of the course then u-turns itself to go past the other side of the square of Canary Wharf, so while I was lamenting that I’d missed Charity n Karyn, they were there calling out. Another trip to the sidelines before nearly going arse-up on some discarded water bottles trying to get back onto the course.

Next up came the 30km mark and funnily enough, 3 hours. The whole time target thing re-emerged as I did the maths on maintaining a 6min/km pace and being able to possibly make 4:15 - the time that was my “predicted time” based on my time for the RuntotheG half marathon last May... Inspired by this idea I opened up my stride a bit with an idea of just picking the up the pace to just under the 6min/km. (In case you’re thinking that I was doing some amazing maths in my head here, I had my pace monitored by my heart-rate monitor watch and footpod, so I knew exactly what it was at all times.)

This proved to be that little too much as my left quad (thigh) started to hurt slightly. Uh-oh, need to take it easy and make sure I get through the last 12kms in one piece here. But it was just the run home from work. That’s all I had left to do - just a run home from work that I’d done countless times since January. It should be easy...
Well, it could have been except those dark clouds were back, and I don’t mean metaphorically either. Down came the rain, or more accurately, the hail. Hmmm... well, i’d done long runs in wind, rain, hail and snow before, so other than being uncomfortable I can still do this. Pull down the visor of my cap to protect my face and just keep going.

At just after 22miles I came across the other marathon runner from work! He looked stunned and told me that “I wasn’t supposed to see him here. I should have been somewhere up there well in front of him.” “Cheers for the thought Andrew. See you at the finish.”

By this stage, with the rain pouring down, the crowd numbers increasing! and the markers showing 23miles, I had only a 5K run left to do. If I could maintain a good enough pace, close to 5min/km then 4:15 is well and truly ON. So despite the now constant discomfort in my left quad, and the now REALLY annoying blister between my toes and ball of my foot, I kicked it up a notch.
Unfortunately, the traffic was starting to become an issue as the number of folks that would just stop and walk were increasing. It seemed like I was the only one who was increasing his pace, but also doing quite a bit of winding my way across the course. By 24miles it just became a case of calling “excuse me!” and just barging through any available spaces as I threaded my way through everyone. Another reason that starting in the correct time zone and running with like paced people would have been a help... Too bad, what’s done is done.

1 mile to go and 7minutes to do it in. I’ve no idea how quickly I can run a mile - I’m a metric baby for crying out loud!! But I wasn’t about to not give it a shot. I had no real idea of how much I had left in the tank, but I was going to drain it if I must.
“What are your legs?”...“Steel Springs”...“How fast can you run?”... You get the drift of the famous pep talk from Gallipoli... and yes, I did actually run it through my head at this stage. Hey, no one said that my head would be where it needed to be at that moment. Ipod blazing Dial 7’s ‘Crazy’, which probably couldn’t have been a better song at the time, and I went for it.

Definitely ambitious, and maybe a bit reckless, but it seemed to go well as even someone I passed called out encouragement as I legged it towards Buckingham Palace and the final 300yards. Unfortunately, I needed to do that final 300 yards in 32 seconds and I was done. I couldn’t go faster if I tried. It was then that I noticed two photographers under their ponchos on a road island between me and the finish. Time for an arm in the air and to make sure they got me (which you can see they did above on the right). I ended up crossing the line with a time of 4:16:10 - so close yet so far? Naah... To get to the line in the condition I did after everything and in such an unexpected time was enough to leave me on a high. Although there was a brief moment after crossing the line that standing still or walking was a struggle...

A shower, a rub down, ‘lunch’ and Charity awaited me in the Spinal Injuries Association marquee. From there it was a short tube ride to Covent Garden to meet up with Marty n Karyn and round out what turned out to be a top day being a part of a most enjoyable event. Would I do another one?
Yes. And a sub 4hour one at that - if all training goes to plan!!

Just the final £409 left to raise, so if you haven’t yet then www.justgiving.com/aussierunner is the place to go!!

As I sit here now with a pair of quite sore legs, hopefully this won’t be like an academy award bit, but there are a few folks to thank...

Charity. You may have broken my heart two weeks ago and left me in such a state where I questioned even being able to make the start, but you’ve been with me in this one from the beginning. Whether it’s been running together, massages, general encouragement or many of the other things you’ve done along the way. For being there as you were throughout the day itself. Thank You Honey.

Karyn n Marty. Thanks for all your support, especially in the last two weeks. Appreciate it!

Maryanne. Thanks for your words early last week. You may not realise it, but one thing you said really helped bring me back to the real world. It was just what I needed.

Becca at Sports n Spinal physios. Thanks for helping get me to the start line in one piece as well as through the whole thing without breaking.

Mum, Dad, Mark, Jen n Cuz - cheers for all your support throughout all this as well as the last two weeks.

Trish n Rina, for your thoughts n words in the last week.

To everyone who texted, emailed or sent me messages of encouragement in the lead up to the run itself - Thanks!! But Andy, 'An inspiration to us all' was a bit much! ;)

To ALL who have donated money to help me reach my sponsorship target for the Spinal Injuries Association. Both I thank you and so do the folks who receive help from SIA. Good on You!!

Funny how the song playing on iTunes right now is the Muttonbirds - ‘Ten Feet Tall’. Always a funny moment isn’t there...

Where to from here?

Who knows... Pamplona and the bulls are coming up soon, as is an invite to ride some of the french alps in late July, which is about the same time as a small bike race around France...

Perhaps after a bit of rest first.

Lead Up to FLM08

Okay, so I'm a bit behind, well a whole week to be accurate. Anyway, last sunday morning gave me an experience of some proper snowfall. Had to run out and catch some on the tongue - as you do.

As for the rest of the week, well, it just kept rolling on... I was still recovering from both the physical and emotional upheaval of the previous week, so training for the marathon was reduced to just a 5km run along the Thames on lunchtime on friday. Unfortunately, our obnoxious neighbours had chosen to crank the stereo til around 4am... Their repeat performance on friday night going til 4.30am wasn't appreciated either. So much for getting much sleep in preparation for the big run.

Charity had arrived late wednesday night (1.30am) for a weekend stay for the marathon, as was planned several weeks ago, which meant that the three most important nights for sleep were basically gone.

Thursday arvo was spent at the Marathon Expo to register for sunday's event and grab a few bargains, followed by a very pleasant pub dinner at Angel. Strange but nice, as it really felt like the last two weeks hadn't happened...

Friday night, after an evening stroll along the Thames, we got to have a night out with Karyn n Marty, and Row n Mark discovering the Thames-side restaurant, Giraffe. Excellent mexican place too.

A fairly relaxed saturday, however, Charity's turn to be ill this time for the day...

Looking good for tomorrow's marathon? maybe not... By now, all time targets are out the window. Time to just simply go, run and enjoy the atmosphere of the event.
Best laid plans, eh?



Don't forget - www.justgiving.com/aussierunner for extra donations to help me reach my target before I have to pay up several hundred pounds from my own pocket!

Holding On

What a week...

Well, after such a lovely weekend in Edinburgh, it took less than a week for things to suddenly take a turn for the worse. Some of you are aware of the situation, and I’m not going to go into it here, but suffice to say that;
a) once the marathon is done, the title of my blog will return to its original form and meaning,
b) Edinburgh is somewhere that is highly unlikely to be featuring on my ‘to visit’ list (although, I may do the Edinburgh Festival as was originally intended after seeing bits of it years ago on the Big Gig).
Confused? Well, we’re on a par then, and hopefully you’re not going through what I am...

The way the week’s gone, when Tom Cruise’ character in A Few Good Men says “...the hits just keep on coming”, I reckon I know what he means. My fundraising night, which should have had a good attendance and raised around £500 went into freefall and I scored a whole £50 for the night. I completely underestimated the attitude of the London Insurance industry...

With one week to go til the Marathon, this puts me in a real fix as I still haven’t reached half of my needed target.
So folks, if you were planning to donate, but just haven’t gotten around to it... Now’s the time!

www.justgiving.com/aussierunner or email me for account transfer info.

Why not do it now?

At least getting one of my birthday presents from home was a highlight for the week, with the other being a free stadium tour of White Hart Lane today. It was a Thank You from the Tottenham Hotspur Football Club for puting the flags out on the seats for the League Cup Final at Wembley back in February.
An interesting tour to see all the behind the scenes and get to poke around in places you don’t normally see. Like being able to take a seat in the coach’s seat on the touchline (left), or being the players’ rooms, walking the player’s tunnel, the trophy cabinets, or even sneaking a leak in the executive bathroom. All kind of cool if you’re in the mood.

Unfortunately, even though I have a one hour run to do tomorrow with a forcast of 0C and sleet showers, I reckon that 3rd is still on its way. And with work being a bit of a rollercoaster at the moment, anything's possible...

No matter. Over to you Mr Allman...

I have lived my life my way,
For tonight and for today.
It’s the strongest hearts they say,
That always survive

I’m falling through the years
As each dream, it disappears
When the night is full of tears
I’ll be holding on

Now this life is instant black
But I won’t be looking back
The rain washed out the tracks
I’ll never find again

I’m still reaching for the light
I’m still wearing out the night
And you know I’ll be alright
I’ll be holding on

When I stand alone
I don’t stand on memories
Of all the ones you’ve known
I’ll be holding on

I know how it is
I know how it will be
When all the rest are gone
I’ll be holding on

Well my life is made of sand
It falls right through my hand
Each day I make a stand
And I’ll see it through

I’ll be reaching for the light
I’ll be wearing out the night
And you know I’ll be alright
I’ll be holding on

When I stand alone
I don’t stand on memories
Of all the ones you’ve known
I’ll be holding on

I know how it is
I know how it will be
When all the rest are gone
I’ll be holding on...

Boat Race

Oxford v Cambridge on the river Thames, is something you would expect to be quite a spectacle. Naturally, good old London weather didn’t help with that...
A windy and rainy day saw Karyn, Martin and myself on the banks of the Thames by the Hammersmith bridge for the race. Loads of spectators still turned out, although it was hard to see beyond all the umbrellas.
With Karyn ‘chaired’ upon both Martin and my shoulders, our view was somewhat restricted. I saw a coxswain and tail of a boat through the gap between two heads further in front of me before it was all past us. We then headed down to the nearby park and big screen to watch the rest of the race.
After that it was a bit of a tour of the nearby pubs for the evening.

A week and a half to the London Marathon, so now’s the time folks - I still need just under a £1000... http://www.justgiving.com/aussierunner