Wednesday 1 February 2012

Its February Already...


It seems like only yesterday that I was at home for Christmas. Life at home is very different to life in London. There are positives and negatives to both. Ill start with the negatives. Firstly, its cold and it rains so much in Cumbria. My parents don't believe me when I say it hardly rains in London, but seriously in the 18 months or so that I’ve been here I’ve been forced to run in the rain maybe twice. Secondly, its always windy for some reason. The biggest negative about Cumbria is the track situation. There's a track 5 miles away from my house in Whitehaven, but its never open. It used to have a hole in the fence round the back, but that’s since been covered up. In the rare event that I do get on it then its not a pleasant experience. Whitehaven is basically a coastal town with high banks on either side of the valley which it lies in. The track is on top of one of the banks, thus it gets battered by wind. Its a poor version of altitude training. So, the next option is Carlisle. Forty-five miles away. In a car it takes around an hour, maybe forty minutes if Tom Marper's driving. On public transport its about two and a half hours. Over Christmas there were times where I was leaving the house at 9.30 am and returning at 5pm and all I had done was a track session, no messing about or anything.

So what are the benefits of home?From a running viewpoint the quality of runs are much better than south west London. People rave about Bushy and Richmond park but they don't really compare to the mountains and forrests of the Lake District. This is a picture from a few years ago but its an example of how good it can be when it snows...looks like Narnia. The other picture is from a forrest not far from my house called Lowther Forrest. Its about 4 miles away from my house and its pefect for doing fartleks in.


Well, my parents make sure im kept well. Decent meals, plenty of tasty takeaways just like it used to be. As for Bryan, well im sure some of you will have heard many “craics” about his humour. Basically, if he was a better public speaker and based somewhere in the south there's a decent chance he'd be a comedian. Either that or....locked up in a mental asylum. “Spike Milligan made a living from it” , he says when I call him a nutter. Janice and Katey are very good cooks, but that's there role as northern women, in the kitchen. Another huge benefit of home is my mates. Whether its playing snooker with the lads or having a quiet Beverley down the Stanley Arms in Calderbridge, I wouldn’t have it any other way. Its become routine for the boys to go for an Indian just before the students amongst us go back. Seriously, the amount of ethnic produce we put away is ridiculous. Spice Land Indian is where we go, there motto is “Spice Land...meaning Land of Spice”. Retards. But they make good food.

Some big performances have went down in the last few days. Fellow Cumbrian, Tom Farrell ran a disgusting 7.52 a few days ago. The thought of running 15 laps indoors, at around 4.10 miling, gives me diabetes. Mitch Goose, brother to my house mate Carl, ran a very impressive 7.58, for his first time under 8 minutes. Over the shorter distances, Joe Thomas ran 1.47 in Glasgow and looked like he could of went a lap further. That boys in ridiculous shape. As for me, well im racing this weekend in Sheffield, the premise is 50 quid for sub 4. Should be able to pull it together.

Random Tiesto fact of the week is; Tiesto's pets are covered by morethan pet insurance. Thanks for reading.

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