You'll Never Walk Alone

Day 6 of my Runners World SMART Coach schedule was a repeat of yesterday another easy 5 mile run at 9.20 mile pace. I found today harder than yesterday  though partly as I was feeling a little tired but also because overnight we have had another 5 cm of snow.

  Running this morning required a higher lift of the legs to go forward because of the depth of the new snow.This morning as I ran it again snowed heavily for a while and visability became quite poor for a time.  Sledges which for many years have really been "white elephants" only coming out for the odd day in Suffolk are actually getting a proper use this year.

On the ipod this morning I listened to the 'A Mile with Me' podcast episode 35 which had a focus on Antarctica which was very apt. What was great to hear and was inspiring when I most needed it most was the Celtic fans singing You'll Never Walk Alone.

If you are not familar with it you can find out more about the history and tradition here , these are the words  - When you walk,through a storm hold your head, up high and don't be afraid, of the dark At the end,of the storm,is a golden sky and the sweet silver song,of lark. Walk on, through the wind walk on, ... Video below

My time today for the 5 miles was 45.44. Mile splits were 9.05,8.52,8.55,9.16 and 9.32.

Fitted in my 100 push ups programme where I have reached day 2 of week 4. Today I did 25,29,25,25 and 41. My 41 was enough for me to take the lead in the push up championship at home until my son Tom has a go when I am sure he will regain the title.

Also went to see Avatar today and wore the 3D glasses over my own glasses which was ok . Verdict good film well worth watching. It has already taken 1.2 billion dollars world wide and is set to overcome Titanic. Rather than being a very alien film the storey line is very much an every day occurence of nature versus profit. You don't need to go to Pandora as the storey is happening some where in the world all the time where tropical rainforests and native people are ousted by giant corporations or desperate locals wanting the land for farming. Although a lengthy film the time passed quickly and I would be happy to watch again  I give it an 8 out of 10

Timworth Green Suffolk

A good run this afternoon. I did a 10 mile run which consisted of a 5 mile out and back run to Timworth Green.  The conditions were a lot better than of recent with the frost pretty much gone. There was a drizzle and a strong wind that continously pulled at my hat when the cross wind hit me on the return leg.

This run from Bury St Edmunds takes me to Fornham St Martin. Just opposite St Martins the church in the village is a path known as the drifts which provide some excellent off road running on good pathways.

My route took me along the Great Livermere drift which emerges at Barton Bottom the main B1106 road. I run straight acoss this road and continue up a minor road- so minor on Google Maps it just shows as two thin lines with no detail. After about 1.5 miles you reach the tiny settlement of Timworth Green.

I began to struggle on this run around 7-8 miles when I felt tired. I had been listening on the ipod to A Mile with Me a running podcast from Steve Chopper who is based in the Christchurch/ Bournemouth area of the UK. If you are not familar with running podcasts then in my view this is one of the better listens around. Well researched informative content. This isn't a podcast diary of Steve Chopper's running it is more of a magazine with features such as interviews and history of various places that he might visit within the UK.

For the last 2 miles when I was really struggling I switched to the Lillingtons album The Too Late Show. Listen to the Lillingtons here and then download the album for about a £5 from ITUNES. Who doesn't like a zombies tune !!

I saw them crawl out of their graves,
On the night of the living dead
I saw them eating human brains,
And it went right to my head
I saw something at school today,
A-walking through the hall
Were those zombies that I saw
Over at the shopping mall?

They’re zombies
I think I see them everywhere
We’re zombies
And I’m afraid they’re everywhere
We’re zombies
I think see them everywhere
We’re zombies
And I’m afraid they’re everywhere
We’re zombies

I saw them crawl out of their graves,
On the night of the living dead
I saw them eating human brains,
And it went right to my head
I saw something at school today,
A-walking through the hall
Were those zombies that I saw
Over at the shopping mall?

They’re zombies
I think I see them everywhere
We’re zombies
And I’m afraid they’re everywhere
We’re zombies
I think see them everywhere
We’re zombies
And I’m afraid they’re everywhere
We’re zombies

Have we all turn into zombies?
Have we all turn into zombies?
Have we all turn into zombies?
Have we all turn into zombies?

Looking at my mile times for todays run my 10 miles was run in 1.29.31 -  8.23,8.32,9.06,8.28,8.45,8.54,9.32,8.47,9.10,9.50

As you can see even the Lillingtons couldn't speed me up for the last 2 miles.

How am I getting on with the push ups? Anyone else doing them? Well I have completed Week 1 on the 100 Push Ups website and today was the 1st session in week 2. This consists of 5 sets of push ups with a minimum of a minute rest in between. Set 1 is 14 Set 2 is 14 Set 3 10 Set 4 10 and Set 5 is a mimimum of 15 and I did 18. The main thing is to keep good form and complete proper press ups.