The third in my series of Spotify playlists. I think there'll only be a few more of these... perhaps seven is a nice number?

Play 7 Playlist #3 30th June 2009

Here in My Heart - Erasure (Loveboat)
Roygbiv - Boards of Canada
Tel Que Tu Es - Charlotte Gainsbourg (5:55)
Caravan Girl - Goldfrapp (Seventh Tree)
You Know My Name - Chris Cornell (You Know My Name)
For Tomorrow (Visit To Primrose Hill Extended) - Blue (Midlife: A Beginner's Guide To Blur)
Higher Love - Steve Winwood

I had a lovely run out at Heaton Park this morning, and met some new Fetchies.

I just missed out on 30 minutes for 5K, which I'm putting down to my legs feeling tired. There was a lot of grief going on in my calves when I hit any inclines, of which the Heaton Park course has a few. Having regained my training mojo it's not a massive surprise, but it shouldn't take long for me to get comfy running out three or four times a week.

For the first time since April I managed to get myself out of bed for a run before work this morning, but my right calf isn't fully better after last Saturday's 5K. I ran downhill for nearly 2K this morning and it started to get a little tight, but as soon as I started the uphill return it started to hurt a little bit so just stopped and walked back. Under 2K doesn't sound like a great run, but at least I got out.

I've got runs all planned out in my calendar for the next month or so, to gradually get the mileage up to something useful. After what happened today, my next run will be Sunday's 10K in Leeds - hopefully there's enough time between now and then for my leg to be all better.

The second in my series of Spotify playlists.

Play 7 Playlist #2 16th June 2009

Spiralling - Keane (Perfect Symmetry)
And I Was a Boy From School - Hot Chip (The Warning)
So Why So Sad - Avalanches Remix - Manic Street Preachers (Forever Delayed)
Secret Smile - Semisonic (Feeling Strangely Fine)
Here Comes The Rain Again - Eurythmics (Boxed)
The Girl And The Robot - Röyksopp (Junior)
One Day Like This - Elbow (The Seldom Seen Kid)

Earlier in the year I entered about half a dozen 10Ks for this year, in order to give me plenty of reason to keep up with the training. The Mersey Tunnel 10K sounded ideal: it's in a city I lived in for 3 years, it's not far from my parent's house, it's a 10K (never run further than this: something I need to give some real thought to soon), and it has the novelty of including one of the Mersey Tunnels in the route. And so it was my first 10K since last December's Leeds Abbey Dash.

I think it's been very well documented that the weather on Sunday was, well, a bit warm. Abnormally warm. This was going to be a factor in my performance. An arguably larger factor would be the grand total of 42K that I'd run since that last race. I was positive going into the race but was under no illusions that I'd be heading for a personal worst, and I was targeting a 70 minutes finish.

This is all far less dramatic than it might actually sound, but I ended up in an ambulance late last night. And I hadn't even had a drink!

Anyhoo. I was coming down the stairs at home last night and somehow managed to bang the top of my head on the door frame really quite hard, hard enough for me to involuntarily let slip a loud expletive and for me to be left rubbing my head for a minute or too. Fortunately at first it seemed that was the end of it, but about twenty minutes later I started to feel decidedly unwell. At first I just felt a bit sick, but then I felt very nauseous, quickly followed by feeling decided dizzy and likely to faint. I'd felt like this on a couple of previous occasions and it usually passes after a minute or two, but after a couple of minutes it was only getting worse and so - as I'd given my head such a bump - I reluctantly picked up the 'phone and dialled 999.

Sharing playlists is becoming increasingly popular, and never let it be said that I'm not one for jumping on a bandwagon. With inevitable irregularity (but roughly once a fortnight if I can get my ass in gear), I'll be posting links to Spotify playlists containing just seven tracks that have been in my ears of late and have been hand-picked by my fair hand. For some reason, I'm calling it Play 7. Some old stuff to start with - give it a try.

Play 7 Playlist #1 2nd June 2009

Moving - Supergrass (Supergrass)
Think About It - Flight Of The Conchords (Flight Of The Conchords)
A Different Feeling (Ernest St.Laurent Remix) - The Avalances (Electricity EP)
Orange Crush - R.E.M. (Green)
Electioneering - Radiohead (OK Computer)
Troubled Mind - Everything But The Girl (Amplified Heart)
Gentle Hum - Finn Brothers (Everyone Is Here)

If you hear something you like, or want to suggest something good for a future playlist, leave me a comment.

It was my 21st time trial at Hyde Park this morning, but only my second this year. I was nearly four an a half minutes quicker this time out, which is more of my last run being rubbish (had to walk for a bit) than this run being good. Nice to get under thirty minutes again though, and I was really able to push hard for the first time since I started running again last month.

Thanks for the tips in my last blog. I made a deliberate effort to make sure my laces were well tied but not *too* tightly and I had no reoccurrence of foot numbness, or anything else for that matter.

Things are moving on alright. I'm running a few times a week, not far, but it's a good start. My legs need longer to recover than I'd like, but that'll improve gradually I'm sure.

My left foot was almost completely numb after about 5K today. This has happened a few times before and it's quite annoying as you can't really run on it. After walking on it for ten minutes or so the numbness was gone. It's a bit of a head-scratcher; at this stage I'm hoping that this will eventually stop happening as I build up strength and stamina in my legs again.

In ten days time I'm off to Australia. Aside from four days based up in Cairns, I've got a fortnight staying with friends in Sydney. It's going to be awesome!

Sometimes plan B is far better than your plan A. Today I went swimming again, and the net result: I swam. Like, properly swam. Not far, and not for long, but I've made enough progress to be able to go away and work on it.

I was talking to a very good friend last night who offered to give me some one to one tuition this afternoon. We went to a much better pool - one so classy that it had pictures of Stoxy and YP1 on the noticeboard by the changing rooms! The tuition was excellent and after an hour or so of working on technique, I was able to give it a whirl with reasonable success. My friend succeeded where Leeds City Council had failed.

We're both off to the pool again next week.

The best bit about today, though, was watching Saints beat Leeds in the Challenge Cup. Seriously awesome.

Since my last blog about my first run in ages, I've done one before-work run, done a session in the pool, walked to and from work three times, and then today did a 5K time trial. So things are moving forward.

Wednesday morning was my early run. I had intended to run on Tuesday evening, but after walking home from work I just want to rest and eat. Early mornings are ideal for me - I seem to be in a better frame of mind (which, if I run, lasts long into the rest of the day), I seem to perform better, and I can easily fit them into my ridiculous diary. It didn't start well, with my Garmin going haywire - the elapsed time started going backwards instead of forwards - so it didn't record my entire run. I comfortably managed approximately 6K, and could have easily gone on for more had I not set my alarm clock for the wrong time.

Thursday was the day I was nervous about. Basically, I can't swim. I had lessons whilst at school, but they weren't that successful. I clearly remember only getting two swimming certificates from the council whilst everyone else had several more. I really struggled with it and after school I didn't swim again.

Well, I've been out for a run today. To others it may not seem so much of a big deal, especially when you consider how far I actually went. However, after a total of 126 days of absolutely no running at all, just getting the kit on and going out was all that was really called for today.

126 days ago happened to be the Leeds Abbey Dash 10K - my last training run was actually over six months ago. I don't want to dwell on the reasons for such a long break just yet; rather, I'm focusing on putting it right.

Well, it's been a while. I haven't posted a blog since the end of September, and I haven't run at all since the end of November. In both respects, I feel I have rather a lot of catching up to do.

I've got a lot more excuses than I need to keep me inside, rather than going out running, which is probably why I've not been out. I won't list them all here. I know the weather is sub-baltic out there, but now I'm thinking it's about time I got back out there. Well okay, at the very least, I'm thinking about it.

Staggeringly, considering all the crap I've been eating for the last couple of months I've managed to keep my weight at a constant level. I don't think I can say the same for my fitness levels, although whenever I've taken a break before it's always surprised me how much of my fitness I've kept. We shall see. At some point. Soon.

I've already exhausted myself. I'd best go an have a little lie down.

At the weekend I did the Swansea Bay 10K, loved it, and set a cracking time. Conditions on the day were difficult and my preparations were less than ideal to say the least, but I ran my fastest 10K this year and I was less than a minute away from my PB set in 2004. In running a sub-60 I've met the main goal I set myself this year.

With Swansea being 280 miles away from Leeds, I opted to make a long weekend of it and I arrived there on Friday evening. We got started reasonably early and I quickly lost count of just how much I had to drink. I didn't get to bed until after it had got light, and I was up again by midday. Not quite my idea of an Olympian-style run-up to a big race. I had 24 hours to recover for the race and it at the time I really didn't feel anywhere near enough.

After last weekend's 10K I decided to go for two 5Ks this weekend. Given my 62 minute 10K in Sheffield, I put 29 minutes into my Garmin as a target for both races. On Saturday at the Hyde Park Time Trial I managed 28:37, and at today's Challenge St. Helens I came home in 27:22 which equals my second best 5K performance. It's only short distances, but in the context of the amount of training I'm doing it's encouraging stuff.

Next weekend I'm doing the Swansea Bay 10K. Let's see how I get on!

Before that I've got my second salsa session. I've already forgotten everything I learned last week :-(