The rallying call of the Bell!

I was busy all morning at meetings in the west so by the time I was heading home the sun was beginning to peep through the clouds and the skies were beginning to brighten up!

I reached home, switched on the PC and got one of those notifications that someone had posted in one of the Facebook groups I follow. I clicked on the link to see that one of the DCC riders had been out in the rain, wind and cold for an 80 miler including most of the hills in the area! It was an awesome achievement given the weather and knowing James he probably did it in shorts and a short sleeved bike shirt! So having read his post I looked out at the now balmy conditions and decided to shift my carcass out there.

I have to confess that it was one of those days, to be honest, where the comfort of the house was much more appealing than heading out but I pulled on the longs and enjoyed 7 miles in the sun. It was brilliant! When I got home I spent an hour on abs and stretching.

Here's hoping that the weather picks up at the weekend.

Tomorrow I'm meeting a pal, David Douglas, to chat about the London to Brighton run race later in the year. We talked about doing this at Christmas time and as I've not done an ultra before I figured it would be a great challenge to work towards post the August Ireman.

When I out and about last week I wandered past a stall selling those shoes that look like feet. I've read Born to Run by Chris McDougall which is all about the barefoot runners of the Tarahumara people of Mexico who are amazing distance runners. They race each other for pride and honour in the villages with champions running amazing distances as the races can last more than one day. It's a great read and I would highly recommend it.

One of the key issues about distance running is being in peak condition for the race and it gives me another reason to shift the extra pounds I'm still carrying. Danielle has been looking at food testing and we both have been fascinated by week 1 - all diet stuff was thrown out and full fat stuff brought back in. There was a list of what we can and can't have stuck to the fridge. The results this week have been good with neither of us hungry and eating a good balanced fresh diet. The hassle of cooking far outweighs the ready meals that we occasionally turn to and Danielle has shifted 5 pounds in 4 days while eating like a horse (post blog note that this description did not go down too well with Danielle!) - so all good so far.

Thought I'd add a picture of the scales which shows 1 st and 2 lbs so far as a bit of motivation - targeting sub 13 and a half (nearer 13 to be honest)

So the weekend lies ahead - got a few races coming up with the Tranent Tri next week, the Scottish Mountain Biking monthly race the week after and the Adventure 5 series following the first weekend in April. I've got a week to get my climbing legs back on!!

Now where did I leave my chocolate pudding........