There’s something about events that involve the military that run like clockwork. Not surprising really. Riot Runner down in Bordon was no different. The alarm bells rang when we looked at our emails telling us to be there from 9-10am for an 11am start – to pick race packs up – but there weren’t queues and it was fine. There were plenty of loos, refreshments and the race started on time.

It was our third off-road race of the season and it was less than a mile in when Jo said, “I think I’d like to do an road race next!”. Admittedly, it was -2C and concequently the rutted ground was hard as concrete, which was very hard going on the ankles and knees. Due to the cold, most runners – us included – dodged the icy water features and the 400 odd competitors soon strung out over the 7 mile course.

After about 4.5 miles we came across a water feature that couldn’t be dodged and, with giant ice cubes knocking into your shins, it was sooo cold that it took 5 minutes to get the sensation back into my legs. With so few people running and only a smattering of (hard working) marshalls, it wasn’t always clear which way to go. Fortunately, there was only one more water ice feature left and after 1:13:00 we finished.

Race packs consisted of a t-shirt, couple of bags of sweets, KitKat lollypop, water and banana. A better reward than Grim Challenge, but not up to HellRunner, which from listening to other runners’ post-race views is the favourite off road race in the calendar. That all said, we got a Sunday run in (we managed one yesterday too), burned off some calories (some 890) and stayed dry (from the thigh up). That’s a good enough excuse to eat cheese and crackers and chipsticks, our post-race gromph.

This weekend we’ve got Riot Runner, the latest in our series of off-road runs, with just Horseplay in March to finish the muddy part of the running season. It’ll be good to get a race in after having a bit of a quiet start to the year exercise wise. I haven’t dared get back on the scales, but know that all the good work from trekking in Morocco has gone straight back on the waistline.  Ah well, if it can come off once, it can come off again.

Last weekend was pretty poor on the running side (just a 4 miler to our name), but I did manage to go to the climbing wall for the first time in… well, years. I’ve always had a love-hate relationship with climbing, due to be crap at it and scared of heights, and generally find climbing walls boring. But that all evaporated when went to the Castle in London for the first time with K, who was down from ‘the North’. OK, it was the novelty factor, perhaps, but I definitely enjoyed the feeling of aching arms and the satisfaction of climbing that’s very difficult of explain.

I might even go again, although not at the expense of running, which is much more accessible and better for calorie off-setting.

I’m almost (and only almost) pleased to see that the snow is going. My running has taken a back seat for the past two weeks, but I did at least get a couple of walks in with Jo last weekend. At least now the big thaw is on, I can think about putting my trainers on…. I can feel the pounds piling on.

With Hellrunner just around the corner, I thought I ought to step up my running, so have been chuffed to do 28 miles in the last eight days (that’s not too bad for my short legs). It’s been a little bit of a shock to the system as the last few weeks have been spent building up to, and then doing, the Atlas Mountains trekking trip, so the ankles have been grumbling a bit.

Pick of the bunch circuit wise is Knowle Hill, which runs between Reading and Maidenhead. It’s just over eight miles of mostly flat countryside with only a few golfers at the beginning and a handful of dog walkers on the rest of the way around.

17/10/2009 Knowle Hill – lower circuit
Find more Runs in Maidenhead, United Kingdom

Second favourite circuit is a six miler around Swinley Forest in Bracknell. Navigation via a crappy £1 map from the Look Out Discovery Park is tricky, but having been a couple of times now I reckon we can probably manage a decent run without getting hopelessly lost.

Forget fat farms or speed dieting, I’ve (re) discovered that the quickest way of losing weight is to go on a trekking holiday. I’m just back from walking in the Atlas Mountains in Morocco and managed to lose 5 llb over 5 day’s walking. OK, I did have to hike for 5+ hours a day, eat only vegetables, cous cous and the odd bit of tinned fish, and give up alcohol for the duration, but it seemed to do the trick. The tummy bug in Marrakesh afterwards finished off any lingering doubts of putting it back on (although I have made up for lost time since).

It must have worked because when I was in Marrakesh and popped out for some bottled water, a local chap cheerily hailed, “Bonjour Sportif!”. Jo thought that he was cruising for some action, but I reassured her that he wasn’t wearing tight white jeans – as is the fashion amongst that fraternity according to Time-Out – so I must have been ok.

Yes, the summer’s on the way out: I had my first run in the dark tonight. Unfortunately, my usual route goes through the lovely Hill Garden, which is shut at night, so I have to circumnavigate around the edge. Apart from missing out on the lovely gardens, which were also used as some of the scenes for the film Scenes of a Sexual Nature, it makes it difficult to know whether my time was any good or not. I think if I had run it I might have managed a PB as I completed my alternative route in 39.17 (the gardens route comes in around the 43 minute mark, so I’m guessing it’s a little shorter).

I attribute my speedy time partly to listening to Muse’s new album, but also having some new footbeds in my trainers. I’ve been having real problems with blisters while hiking recently and bought some new sock liners and Super Feet footbeds. Eager to try them out I popped them in my trainers and I have to say they seemed to add a bit of support and comfort, so I’m looking forward to (off) road testing them in my hiking boots at the weekend. If you do buy some Super Feet I recommend getting them fitted. I got my feet checked out in Snow + Rock and the chap there recommended the black ones to mostly closely fit the shape of my foot arch.

After 1,100 miles and 52 days, Eddie Izzard has finishing line in sight

Congratulations are due to Eddie Izzard, who is due to finish the final lego of his epic 1,100 mile run – equivalent to running 43 marathons – arriving at Trafalgar Square this afternoon. He’s picked a nice day for it. At time of writing it’s absolutely peeing down in London.

According to a piece in the Guardian today, Izzard has been trying to take in 5-6,000 calories a day, starting with porridge in the morning and scoffing cakes in the afternoon. I’m less sure about the burger eating though. What’s all the more amazing is that he only had five weeks’ training in preparation, but the experience, he says, resembles driving a car on empty:

“If you imagine you drive in a tiny Mini across a wasteland where there is no petrol station and the petrol gauge is always on empty, that is me.

“I put a little in every night and the needle moves and then the next day I’m below empty again. I am falling asleep when I’m talking to people.”

Driving on empty – I’m sure.  But, as they say in Finding Nemo, he needs to “just keep swimming”, going on the weather he’ll be experiencing today. You can follow Eddie Izzard on Twitter (http://twitter.com/EddieIzzard) where there’s also details on how to donate to Sports Relief, which he’s raised £43k for so far.

I don’t know what was different about running tonight. Maybe it was the rain (I’m better running in cooler climes), perhaps it was the pre-run snack of yoghurt with some fresh ginger; or even the boiled sweet I sucked for the first mile. Whatever it was, I felt a lot fresher and springier than usual when I zipped around my West Hampstead circuit.

The past few weeks have been a bit quiet on the exercise and blogging front. I’ve been trying to do a bit more walking, in readiness for a five day trek in the Atlas Mountains, which I’m really looking forward to returning to. We had a nice few days in Cornwall recently (I can recommend the pasties, but not so much the Scotch eggs – but you’ve got to try these things) and did some of the coastal path.

Running has taken a little bit of a back seat, but I know that we can’t let it go completely – largely because we’ve signed up to the Grim Challenge (hard race through freezing cold mud) and the Hell Runner (even harder race through freezing cold mud) this winter.

It’s a good I like running in the freezing cold mud. So a run through the rain is a good bit of preparation for what lies ahead.

I don’t know if I actually had Swine Flu last month – I suspect not – but whatever I had left me feeling jaded and not really bothered about exercising. And despite all my bad food and drink habits, I do actually enjoy getting out of breath and charging around doing stuff.

Although I missed one game when I was ill, I have managed to keep up the Touch Rugby. We even managed a couple of wins, which propelled us into the playoffs. This was brought to a sudden halt last night when we were whipped by the top team. So next week is the 3rd and 4th playoff and then it’s all over until next year. I’m going to miss Touch – and the post match beers – but there’s talk of playing in a netball league over the winter, which could be interesting (I’ve played netball twice and, like running, I’m hardly built for it).

Running wise, it’s been really slow recently, but Jo and I did at least get out for a couple of runs at the weekend, which just about offset the Tex-Mex and cocktails on the Saturday and the ice cream on the Sunday.

Today, I’ve got a perfect excuse for not exercising: I had a wisdom tooth out and the dentist said that I should just go home and watch Home and Away and not run around or anything. Bearing in mind he also told me I couldn’t eat and drink for a good few hours, there’s absolutely not chance of that. Alcohol is another no-no, which really is a shame – I could do with a good stiff drink.

After recovering from swine flu a heavy cold, last night marked a return to Touch Rugby. With more than a week off exercise, I didn’t exactly feel sprightly, but it was a good night for three reasons:

1. We won (it doesn’t happen very often)
2. I scored (hanging around on the wing has its advantages) 
3. I didn’t drop the ball at all (although I did get a couple of disappointed looks from better-than-most-of-us Dave for not making the right runs; Nick was more encouraging saying I should play in the middle more)

The only bad news is that there’s only two more games left in the season. At least it might help my fitness. By the time we’ve had a few beers after each game, I’m not sure Touch nights are even calorie neutral.