Since my last confession.....

Since I last posted on this here blog quite a lot seems to have happened, well, happened to me anyway.

On Thursday I teamed up with Jules and did my first serious run, eight miles round Richmond Park and amazingly I awoke the next day still able to walk, so that was encouraging.

I have stepped out of the loop since then after going on a work do to Hawaii, which was quite simply one of the best weekends ever. I am not one to make people jealous, but if you can imagine the best party you have ever been to, then put in one of the best locations you can imagine, add almost 3000 people, and a whole load of awards, of which you win one, and you'll be somewhere close. Oh, and did I mention it was all free? For three days. Flights, hotels, food and booze(although I still managed to spend £250, but so be it).

I have little doubt that this jaunt has probably set me back somewhat in my training, and as I sit at my desk at 5:15pm the day after returning, I am wondering if I can actually face hitting the gym tonight. The answer is most certainly no, but I fear I may have to give it a go anyway. Wish me luck.

Of course, it goes without saying that I spent much of the time out there telling everyone who would listen about the Everest Test, and as always the response was hugely encouraging. People love this stuff and hopefully we can capitalise on that and really start taking this up a level.

Padding up and getting the runs

During the last few weeks the Everest Test has become increasingly intense, which quite frankly, is bloody marvellous.

On Sunday 6th July eight of us ran the London 5K at some absolutely horrible hour; we met at 7:30am and having sunk multiple beers and eaten copious amounts of barbecued meat the night before I was actively encouraging everyone to "maximise our exposure" by going as slowly as possible. The race had to be completed in an hour so why waste coverage time by finishing any quicker??

My words clearly fell on deaf ears however, as we ran round in about 33 minutes which I was pretty surprised about - although I was more surprised by the fact that I thought I was going to die coming into the home straight and only have Ben Jarman to thank for his constant pep talks to get me over the line!

Now, as you may have read below I am planning to run a marathon at the end of September, so it is probably not such a good sign that I am struggling to get round a three-mile course. Well, hopefully come Berlin I will not be padded up and have a serious case of the meat sweats before I even start.

However, do not be surprised if that is the case on September 7th when myself and another load of Everest cricketers go round the Gyro 10K(http://www.gyro-events.com/) in full cricket gear once again, although I will do my utmost to avoid Kirt, Miles and Jules the night before this time!

Some of the boys are also doing the Nike 10k the week before but by the sounds of it full cricket gear is not acceptable dress for that one...tossers.

So, exercise aside I am spending my time desperately trying to avoid massive booze ups, which is really quite tough. Last weekend was my work summer ball - free alcohol all night - and this weekend is another company do, but this one is in Hawaii. Three days of non-stop alcohol consumption is likely to put my training back about two months, which is hardly ideal as I've only been doing it for six weeks, so at this rate I may not even make the start line!

My major concerns currently are my knees and constant blisters, I saw a physio yesterday who absolutely beat the crap out of me and left me bruised this morning, but it's all about no pain no gain eh?

So on that note I'm off to trap my hand in a door, as that's bound to hurt so I am sure make me gain in the long run....see what I did there?

Until next time....