I had my most interesting training session for the Reading Half Marathon to date today. To say the weather in the UK is volatile today would be an understatement. Apparently my brother, Phil, managed to get soaked on the way in to work, and while he was out at lunchtime. I managed to take the endurance to new levels though, as I battled through a 6km training run in hail and gale force winds!
The training has taken a nit of a knock over the past couple of weeks, as I had an intended break due to hols in Dubai, followed by an unintended break due to a bad stomach and a cold. No good! Given I hadn’t left enough time to train properly already, my aspirational sub 2hr time may not be achievable…
Month: February 2007
Dubai
OK, here they are, so without further ado…
…Pete and Shirl hit Dubai!
UAE
Shirls and I have taken advantage of her working in Dubai at the moment, and we’re in the middle of a cheap holiday break!
Personally I think her getting me to come out here was just a ploy to see me on Valentines Day, but I guess I’ll forgive her that 😉
We started our time out here by going on an overnight trip into the desert with Arabian Adventures. Riding (and sliding) around on the dunes in 350bhp 4×4’s was great fun, and I’ve got the piccies to prove it!
Something to aim for
Today, for the first time, running a half marathon at the end of March seems like a possibility.
I’ve signed up for the Reading Half Marathon, tempted by the offer to run for a good cause or two. I’m running to raise money for Reading Single Homeless Project, and hopefully a little for 24-7 on the side! If you’d like to sponsor me, links will be posted here soon on how to do that!
I’d like to be able to run the distance in under two hours, although I should have started training quite a while before I did for that to be a practical aim! Having said that, however, I ran 11km in 1hr 2mins today, so it may just be do-able.
Watch this space…
Let it snow…
…let it snow, let it snow.
I guess I’ll be working from Reading today then! Not quite the apocalyptic 7 inches that some of the media were reporting, but it is still snowing…
Winterish
I awoke this morning to one of those most beautiful winter mornings – heavy frost, bright sunlight and freezing cold. We haven’t had many of these in the South of England this winter, and so I was quick to enjoy the chance to get my camera out to try to capture the moment. These frosty berries were the resulting snap!
Apparently the wintery goodness is likely to get even more interesting tomorrow; up to seven inches of snow! Camera at the ready…
Back to prayer
Last weekend Shirley and I spend a quiet afternoon up at Douai Abbey near Reading. We’re trying to build more of a rhythm of quiet days into our routine, and the evidence that we’re not quite there yet was displayed by the entry in her diary, conspicuously missing from mine! Thankfully I’d not managed to double book us, so we drove up to the Abbey on the beautifully crisp and sunny Saturday afternoon.
YEEESSSSSS!
Its quite sad how happy this picture made me feel, accompanied by the following words:
“Your item with reference ZU12345GB was delivered from our LIVERPOOL Delivery Office on 30/01/07 .
We can confirm that this item was delivered before the guaranteed time.”
I’ve spent the last month replying to a ridiculous (and I use that word deliberately!) number of e-mails about 24-7’s accounts from our auditors, and despite my best attempts we only managed to get them in right before our companies house and charity commission deadlines. PHEW!