Run 10km in one go - Week 3

Slowly working my way up to 10km in one go.

Bit slow under foot due to slush and snow.

3km took me 20 minutes and 10 seconds.

Tried some road running on the way back but progress was just as slow due to the snow.

Above picture is the rail viaduct near Congleton.

Met a man and his dog walking back along the canal to head back down the Biddulph Valley Way. His barge had been stuck in the frozen canal for a week.

Loads of rain forecast for next week so should be easier under foot, sure to be muddy though in parts!

Run up Bosley Cloud

Friday was my first time up Bosley Cloud in 2013.

It was a good test of using my Salomon Speedcross 3 running shoes. Like many parts of the country there had been a covering of snow from the night before and it was snowing too.

The running shoes gave excellent grip in the snow running downhill, on the flat and uphill. (I'm inclined to take my Yaktax Pros with me next time if there is still snow on the top as it will have no doubt turned to frozen icy snow with the current cold spell).

In the below video you can see how the snow deepened with the ascent. The winds had blown the snow to form a snow drift along one on the walls near the top.

I was happy to get to the top under an hour given the conditions under foot and after having 2 months off any  proper cardio.

So the benchmark to beat for 2013 is 58 minutes 13 seconds.

Run 10km in one go - Week 2

Added an extra km from last weeks run so ran a total of 2km.

2km took me 13 minutes 1 second.

I wore my Yaktrax ice grips over my trainers and they definitely helped grip into the snow.

Peter Hook and the Light at Manchester Cathedral

Yesterday after walking up Bosley Cloud in the snow (video coming soon) with my friend G we set off to Manchester as we were seeing Peter Hook and the Light at Manchester Cathedral.

After discovering a few new bars we headed to the Cathedral and I was surprised that there was a bar. No glasses just plastic glasses but a pleasant surprise.

The stage was set up for an intimate gig and you could easily see all members of the band.

What must of been a set over an hour and a half they finished with Blue Monday.

Standing between two tall blokes! I managed to video the end of an excellent gig.

Back To My First Blog

It’s been over 2 years since I started my blog. Back then I had ideas of travelling to either America or Japan (prior to earthquakes etc) after seeing some of the UK.

In the end after a month I decided to try to get back into the workplace so I could fund overseas travels. 

Rather than the 4 months it had previously taken me to find work between jobs this time it has taken 26 months!

During this time I managed to eat away at the funds I’d saved. Twice I got back into debt but in using eBay to sell many of my items and a nice tax refund I am now back in credit (not much but credit!).

My new temporary job entails doing the daily commute back to Manchester but the trek to the station will help re-build my stamina after 2 months off from any cardio since I reached 1,000 miles over an 18 month period last November.

In my time off I’ve become fitter for 40, walked the whole 97 miles of the Cheshire Ring, and completed both the Gritstone Trail and the Dane Valley Way. Did a bit of running and got up to 5km in one go.

I’ve enjoyed volunteering (my name should be appearing in print this Spring) and becoming a Cheshire Marshal.

My YouTube channel has attracted over 7,000 views and currently 91 videos.

Going forward in 2013 I’ll continue to help support events as a Marshal. Build up to run 10km in one go. Get back to walking the Wales Coast and continue adding videos to my YouTube channel.

Run 10km in one go - Week 1

This morning did my first cardio for at least 2 months.

Time for my first 1km of the year was: 6 minutes 26 seconds.

Will add one km each week building up to running the full 10km in one go.

Got up-to 5km in 2012 with a time of 29 minutes 51 seconds.

Aim to run the full 10km under an hour.

Time Lapse Photograhy

Earlier on today I tried my first time lapse video using the Lapse It Pro app on Android on my Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 tablet.

You can see the results below.

Will be trying further videos, so look out for them!

First Lego short film

Just finished my first Lego short film.

Enjoy!

Pacific Rim Trailer

One of the trailers before I watched the Hobbit last weekend at the cinema was for the forthcoming film Pacific Rim.

After watching it I thought it seemed to be based giant robots taking on dinosaurs. So I've done a shorter version of the trailer using Lego.