Paris..Done! Anyone for London Marathon 2009?

It was great to wake up this morning around 9am, coffee and croissants for breakfast and settle on the couch. Normally it would be eating at 7am and out the door for our long run. Now our Paris Marathon is over we are watching the London marathon in comfort.


Paris was excellent, we Eurostarred it there on Saturday morning which was a pleasant trip and found our little 2* hotel close to the train station. Our check in was very easy and surprisingly friendly given the reviews I had read about the hotel. He even went as far as showing us the best route to the expo to get our number. We got to the Expo just in time, beating the rain. After walking round the expo there was a free "Pasta Party", party being a bit of a strong word it was a bowl of pasta with some tomato based sauce on it. I wolfed down mine and went for seconds as I was worried about getting enough carbs.




The morning of the race we got up early and had some cereal followed by a peanutbutter and banana sandwich. The atmosphere at the start was amazing but the toilets were a bit of a disaster. We ended up queing for ages and got to our starting pen about 4 minutes before the gun went off!

The race started well for me, and I enjoyed the crying of Allez Allez which I found out was Go GO, not run you British Pig. So that spurred me on. Sarah had left me in her dust by this stage. I got to the 35km mark and really started battling. More long runs in training would have helped but now it was a case of getting round. Sarah did a great time of 3:21 while I was slower at 3:49. Our split times show how I started going backwards later on.

Km	Jason	Sarah
5	00:24:52	00:24:07
10	00:49:42	00:47:10
15	01:14:20	01:10:31
21	01:45:02	01:40:31
25	02:04:53	01:58:52
30	02:32:55	02:22:39
35	03:04:15	02:46:43
42	03:49:34	03:21:23

Crossing the finish line was brilliant, you got a medal, rain poncho thing I did not put on and as much fruit and water as you needed. There was even red wine on offer about 2km from the end, which I did not see anyone drinking.

After the race we showered and met up with a group of strangers from the Runnersworld.co.uk forum that I had been chatting with at the Auld Alliance. A scottish pub in the middle of Paris serving Guinness. 6 of those and I woke up on the Monday worrying more about my head than my legs. We even got to see the Olympic torch on the Monday before it got attacks by protestors.

Now we are back I will definately run a marathon next year. I have been diagnosed with a very mild heart condition called Acute Cardiomyopathy so will try and raise some money for them next year. The registration for the London marathon opens today at 12 so if anyone feels up for the challenge please register - London Marathon 2009

So here ends the Marathon updates till next year, thanks to everyone who read this and especially to everyone who donated. We managed to raise £750 for Starfish which is an Aids charity - http://www.justgiving.com/jasonsarah

See you at London next year!

Jason & Sarah

voulez vous coucher avec moi ce soir?

Two days till the marathon and I am getting nervous about heading to Paris. Although as I type this I am on a train back from Leighton Buzzard which has made me look forward to Paris. A small market town with market folk in it. Same surnames, smell like cabbage folk. As mentioned in the last posting its tapering time and carbo-loading. Had a huge pasta dish yesterday for lunch followed by a baked potato covered in Sarah’s secret sauce left over from our spaghetti blowyournose the evening before. Been really good in terms of drinking as well, although on Wednesday night Sarah brought home some wine we had ordered from the Sunday Times wine club and we got stuck into an Argentinian Red.

We Eurostar it to Paris tomorrow incredibly early, when we leave home the kebab shops will just be closing and tube engineering works over-running. Once we arrive we are going to have a short jog then find the expo to pick up our race pack. Then a relaxing evening carbo-loading and not drinking. Sunday morning we are up early to eat and get to the start. I know nerves will be playing a big part so they better have a lot of porter-loos. One of the features of this years race is the ability to get txt messages of how runners are doing. I have registered my phone so I’ll get the splits for the two of us. I’ll post those on here so you can see if I kept in the same postcode as her throughout the race.

Been reading an article on race tactics and it talks of visualisation and repeating mantra’s to yourself for motivation. Got Chariots of Fire stuck in my head still. The clip below is how I picture myself finishing. Again this is a motivational thing so my finish will be a little different, 1. It won’t be the final of an Olympic event, 2. I will not be trying to win the race 3. I will not go into the history books and have my race immortilised in film. But on the positive I’ll have comfier shoes on and cooler looking clothes. I also have a problem with “is he famous” syndrome. Given my Scottish Sean Connery type looks, tall well built frame and very fluid running style a lot of people see me and think “Isn’t he from the TV”, “Is he not a famous celebrity running for charity”. I have had to learn to live with this much the same as someone like Matt Damon, etc. But don’t worry I will focus on the run and dream about that drink after the race.

In case your wondering about the doctors note, I have had to self-certify myself for the race. Dr. J Bourne. The cardiologist said I was in perfect shape to run but did not give me a note in time, so I have created one which hopefully will get past the French officials. Luckily with 35000 runners doctors notes I should be okay. I’ll let you all know how I get on when I get back on Tuesday unlessyou see me on the news for streaking up the Eiffel Tower after too much to drink.

Chariots of Fire Clip

Snow Patrol

One week till the marathon in Paris and the nerves are kicking in. The past 7 days have allowed me to test out all my running gear. Last Sunday woke up to snow coming down which was a shock. I had to put the long tights on and jacket. I have lost one of my running gloves so instead of moon-walking 11 miles I put my cycling gloves on and ran in those. A surprising number of people were on the run, must all be running either Paris, London or Edinburgh. The good thing about the run was the very tasty birthday lunch Sarah’s sister put together. It was the twins first birthday. Your first birthday is like your last birthday, people have to gather your friends for you, you just kind of sit there, they have to help you blow out your candles....etc.

The rest of the week was left to getting a doctors note. To run Paris you need your doctor to sign approval. My medical file has an issue on it from years ago and my GP got cold feet and said I need more recent tests done! So spent Tuesday waiting to see a Cardio at Kingston hospital. I was the youngest person in the whole hospital wing by 35 years and even had an old women come up to me asking if I was Tom? Senile old bag although she may have just seen Top Gun and got confused.

This past weekend saw us doing our last longish run. 11 miles in much warmer weather. It was almost warm enough for me to wear my white string vest, but due to my lack of a tan I stuck with a t-shirt. The run along the Thames had us jumping puddles and dodging beer and cider cans left behind by the Boat race the day before. I think Fort Hare University beat Staines Polytechnic by 3 lengths. The run did not do us any good at all with us both feeling a bit stiff the next day. We have now been planning what we are going to eat before the marathon on Sunday morning. I have a feeling asking for lukewarm porridge with walnuts and seeds, sliced banana and topped with honey and washed down with strong black coffee might get us kicked out the hotel. Thinking of freezing some milk and taking muesli or perhaps taking some pasta and pesto to eat beforehand. Any suggestions welcome although currently with no doctors note I am going along as Sarah’s coach and will have croissants for breakfast!

22 Mile High Club

Last Sunday was our final long training run before the marathon. Ahead of us now is 3 weeks of tapering. This consists of doing no running, carbo-loading on beer and easter eggs and ..... hang on its the opposite of that. Basically you reduce your mileage while maintaining running and stay off the beer and watch your diet. We have three weekends to go. After that I will be the drunkest Zambian / Scot / South African marathon runner roaming the streets of Paris with a Stella pint in one hand and a stale croissant in the other.


So last weekend we both got up at 6:30am, had our pre-race meals (muesli followed by toast with honey and banana followed by a smoked mackarel and a cup of coffee). The race was in Cranleigh. Its a 15 mile or a 21 mile, decide on the day. So with Sarah driving and me navigating we ended up very lost in Guildford, saw a sign for Portsmouth and realised we better turn around. This was all happening in freezing wet weather. Finally we got to the recreation centre in Cranleigh 20 minutes late. We quickly got out the car and started the race route a mile early but a marshall pointed us in the right direction. We jogged along country roads in the peaceful rain without anyone else in sight. Finally after 2 mile, Sarah who had left me behind, signalled that runners were ahead. Boosted by this knowledge I started working the legs, picturing the dude from Chariots of Fire tearing round the bend in the 400m....... then realised there was still 20 miles to go. In the end I got round the 22 miles in about 3 hours.

We drove back and treated ourselves to a Sunday Roast at the Crooked Billet (i recommend the roast chicken in there, you will need a doggy bag) This weekend is Easter and I will do some running. Off to Sarah's sisters house for a birthday party on Sunday after our main run of the weekend. Looking forward to some rewarding birthday cake if the twins will give me a piece.

3 weekends till the marathon, the countdown has begun!

The owl and the pussycat went to sea in a beautiful pea-green boat!

Sunday saw us competing in the Reading Half Marathon. 13000 runners starting just down the road from at the Majeski stadium, and finishing in the stadium itself. We left early in the morning to drive there which should have taken 55 minutes. However a crash at the junction to get off the motorway delayed us quite badly, not as badly as the 5 men in skimpy running shorts standing next to their crashed car. We got on the shuttle bus after parking just in time and got to the start.

The organisation was excellent with the stadium offering a lot of toilet facilities. Tents were setup to drop bags off and Sweatshop had a shop there selling gels, energy drinks and surprisingly shoes. The main area of congregated people were those standing in what could only be described as the “dumping ground” Around 300 porta-loos with people lined up outside each of these green cubicles. We ended up joining the queue, a result of a bowl of porridge, prune juice and some carboloading drinks. It was fairly cold standing there but a stenchy warm steam blew across every so often, a by-product of the porta-loos.

We got underway just after 10, with the elite runners sprinting off first. There was a lone Kenyan and a number of Britain's touted as favourites. In the end the Kenyan wiped the floor, scooping the winning money and setting a course record. Our start was a little less subdued, I got into a manageable rhythm that allowed me to keep going forward. Watering holes were well stocked with water and Lucodaze. I heard they ran out of Lucozade for the slower runners – if that’s not motivation to run faster next time then nothing is. Brass bands along the way banged out some Rocky and Chariots of Fire theme tunes which helped and there were ladies handing out jelly babies to runners in need of a sugary fix.

The finish was in the stadium itself which was great as there was a big crowd cheering you in, it gave me the momentum I needed to catch the 50 year old woman I had been chasing down for the past 3 miles. 1hr 37 minutes was the finishing time. Sarah finished about 6 minutes before me and I found her at the bag drop. The medal and goody bag was much appreciated with plenty of lucozade and snacks. I nearly knocked Sarah out during the night though when I turned over bed, as I had proudly not taken off the medal.

My knees have been killing me today so decided to kill two birds with one stone. I bought a packet of frozen peas and wrapped it round my knee. At lunch time today they had de-frosted so much I added them to a bread roll and that took care of lunch. My knee is feeling much better but lunch did not apease me as much as I had hoped (dah doom dish). Still pasta this evening in preparation for tomorrow mornings training run.

Mile High Club

Well training is in full swing, its Sunday night and I am sitting here nursing very sore legs and a chaffed backside. The thought of an ice bath almost materialized, until I came to my senses and realised I did not have enough ice. Completed my longest training run of 18 miles. The last 3 of those were a real struggle and I had to promise myself a hot cup of tea at the end followed by a roast dinner. Bad news is I did not get the tea but Sarah is busy cooked an organic, cornflake fed, 20ft per chicken free ranging creatine free chicken. £7 for some bones and skin.

The training is on schedule at the moment although this past week saw me starting my first week in the office at my new employer, and no midweek training occured. The two weeks before that had me working in the restaurants that we supply. From chopping mushrooms to cooking pizza's to waitering on lunch time diners. The good news is the staff meals offered a choice of carbo-loading pasta dishes. I did a few midweek club training sessions which had us doing fartleks through Richmond Park in the dark, not sure what the deer thought of that. Don't think we will be running there this coming week as they are culling the herd, unless the coach thinks that will improve out perfromances.

The wedding plans are coming on nicely and I need to book the honeymoon. Treking through the Kalahari or sailing across the world have been put on hold. The marathon will be the endurance test for the year so a beach and some sun if what I need to look for. Any suggestions gladly accepted.

Windmilers

Its been a while since I posted on the Blog. As mentioned in the last posting we went to Hong Kong for Xmas and New Year. I really enjoyed it. We were staying in a village near Sai Kung so a little way from the main city section. The weather was a lot warmer than here, transport cleaner and more reliable, food tastier, beer colder, people shorter. Otherwise a lot of similarities.

In terms of running, I did three runs over the festive period. However the festive food and numerous bottles of Tsingtao beer almost had me paying extra at check-in for the flight back due to being overweight! Since getting back I have been trying to shed those kilograms to look more like Bruce Lee than the Golden Buddha, both of whom I bumped into in Hong Kong.

Two midweek runs were followed up with a long run on Sunday. I ran with the running club, Wimbledon Windmilers aiming to do about 11 miles. Setting off in the wet weather and jumping over puddles/mini-lakes of water on the Thames path I entered Richmond Park. I had been dropped by the group I was running with but using my keen sense of direction felt confident. Having run the route twice before I got to the ballet school in the middle of the park but that's where it all went wrong. I ended up turning right rather than left and came to the incorrect gate to exit the park. I kept running and eventually got the correct gate and just made it back through Wimbledon common and up to the Windmill before my legs gave way.

Sarah was back 50 minutes before me and was about to get a St Bernard, with whiskey round its neck, to sniff my spare sneakers to go out and search for me. I had done 16 miles instead of the 11. I limped around all of Sunday and passed out around 7pm. I was glad to have done my highest weekly mileage for about 3 months, but the aching legs and damaged male sense of direction has taught me an important lesson - Don't get dropped by the group!

Bloodsport vs Underseige

As Xmas approaches I must admit training has gone a bit downhill. Celebratory drinks and meals are giving me vital energy stores for the real training which starts in January. I just need to ensure the Xmas and New Year carbo-loading remains fairly calm. Sarah and I are in Hong Kong over this period so the warmer weather should allow for some training.

My brother and I are addicted to the quality movie offerings on ITV2 which usually dish up a variety of Steven Seagal or Jean Claude Van Damme blockbusters. The exception being other classics such as Cliffhanger or Roadhouse. The one thing I always wonder is who would win if they had to take on each other. Would the cook in Underseige destroy the undercover cop in Death Warrant?

This clip clearly highlights Seagals skills: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMu2xNBpyQc

Whilst this one shows Jean Claudes moves: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOIJtS4gbaY

I would probably back Jean Claude as he has not put on 30kilograms like the cook has. I'll be giving myself a weigh-in after I get back from Hong Kong which I hope will not be too scary, and use that as a base to work from. Its always good to have goals.

Have a Merry Xmas and good New year!

Airport Hotels

I have been in Northern Ireland for two days on business. I stayed in a lovely hotel last night with a spa attached, fantastic restaurant, plush room, spotless bathroom and massaging shower. I am meeting some people tomorrow morning at the airport at 8am so decided to check into the hotel at the airport. The yawning gap between the two hotels is incredible. I know people always say airport hotels are a little shady, but I went downstairs to ask for a towel as my room did not have any, the tattooed 50 year old war-horse behind the counter said "Sorry its out"??? The heating in the room is not working so tried making a cup of coffee to warm up, but I think the coffee has been here a while as it came out like a sugar cube and has a slightly grey colour. I am very concerned about the full Irish breakfast included in the room charge!

On the training front my ankle is still giving me grief so the mileage has dried up. I cycled into work on Monday and the ankle felt fine although I think that had to do with the freezing cold weather and slight hypothermia. Planning on picking up the running again on the weekend if I survive the night in this place. If you never hear from me again you know I have died from being eaten by bed lice or choked on the black pudding and champ breakfast.

Engaged!

Well training has taken a back seat in the past two weeks. I wrote two exams last week with my last run being a 10 mile. I also damaged my ankle so exams were good timing to take a break. Sarah and I also took a mini-break up to Edinburgh for three days. We stayed with my Aunt who has a delightful flat. The saying "Its grim up North" certainly applied to the weather while we were there. It must be 3-5 degrees colder than London. Just as well Sarah did not suggest any outdoor running. I have a feeling Long -Johns would be required and I have not worn those since High School.

The big news though is on Tuesday evening I proposed and Sarah said YES! I realise a few of you are probably in shock. I know I was destined to marry into Royalty or become Anne Robinsons 5th husband, but Sarah it is. Hahaha, just joking. I think you will be more shocked she said Yes to me! More surprising to me was how smooth my plan went. I had to lie when I went to buy the ring, the hide it in my shoe in my suitcase on the way up to Edinburgh. Then transition it to my pocket and finally onto the table. Seamless. I am thinking of changing careers and moving into Choreographing... Picture below is the moment after she said yes! You can see I am in shock.
















So I suggested we run the Paris Marathon and have everyone in the wedding party either running or waiting at the finish line and we get married right there. NO was the reply I got. Still I am very creative so will think of another gem of an idea soon. Back to running this weekend finally. Need to put some more miles into my legs before the Turkey season kicks in.

Lightning legs no more.....

Sitting at home sipping on an Italian red from the Sunday Times Wine Club, on my own. Sarah has gone out with a friend she has not seen in ages to leave me to study at home. I have been studying for most of the day, apart from setting up a new DVD player and not left the flat. The problem I had though was running out of bread and milk at about 9am this morning. So not eaten much, until Sarah came home to drop her bags off. She brought with her bread from heaven and milk from a cow. I went about rustling up one of my favourite dishes, eggs Ala Campbell. Such a tasty dish with some scrambled "walk around the farm hen" eggs on hand made rye toast lined with Italian wafer thin ham and french mature cheese, organic Ghanaian tomato's on the side and a blend of proper greasy spoon red and brown sauce to top it all. Very tasty although not sure it should be a pre-run meal. Okay will use it for special occasions like when I cook Sarah a romantic meal accompanied with a bottle of South Africa's finest wine, Tassenberg available here for £5.95.










So Rocky did the trick, yesterday before setting off for Tooting Common I psyched myself up with my favourite and brilliant motivational speak by Al Pacino in Any Given Sunday. It reminds me of my Dad giving me and my team a lecture at half time during a football match, althought the effect was lost on 8 year olds. At first my shins felt like Stuart Pearce and Neil Ruddock had sandwiched me in a tackle, but after a while things loosed up. I intended going 12 kilometers and ended up doing 22 kilometers. Very proud of myself I got home, and had an early night. I woke up this morning and it felt like someone had removed my legs and used them to smash down a non-load bearing wall to make their kitchen and lounge a modern expansive studio style space, then reattached them before I woke up. Its been good for the studying as I have not wanted to do much walking about so been stuck at the table all day.

The weekend weather is looking a bit rubbish really as you can see on the right of the page, so might try do some running tomorrow when avoid the rain, wind and cold on Sunday and stay indoors. I also need to come up with a motivating, inspiring playlist for the iPod. I think that's what kept me going on my run yesterday. So any suggestions please let me know. Right back to the red wine and a toast to Scotland "Lets stuff the Italians!!!"

Eye of the Tiger...

I am off this week on study leave with exams on Monday & Thursday next week. So the house is spotless, the oven cleaned, cupboards re-arranged and now I can start studying. Just joking the work is going okay but its meant a lack of focus on doing running. I have done a few runs and went to the gym yesterday. Thought I would get there at about 11am and it would be quiet. Did not realise that was the same time the Steroid Squad worked out. Did some treadmill and machine weights all to the beautiful sounds of weights being dropped, faces slapped and guys shouting "you can do it Krzysztof, one more" and the cry of "Arrrggghhhhh" then some high fives and some low fives. It beat the day time TV in the gym.

Sarah has been doing quite a bit of training and did the Grand Union Canal Half Marathon on Sunday. She did a fantastic time of 1:32 coming third in the ladies race. A new personal best. The scary thing is I am meant to keep up in the marathon. So yesterday I went and bought myself some Powerades and a lot of banana's with good intentions of hitting the gym this morning. But started studying and before I knew it the day was gone. However I just pulled out the ultimate motivation weapon. Who can forget the warrior cries of "Adrian......Adrian!!!!" Yes you guessed it. Rocky Balboa. Have had the new movie sitting on the DVD player for ages. I finally thought it was time to believe again. I have just pulled out my old school grey wooly matching tracksuit. And tomorrow I am going to pound the roads for an hour or so. My iPod is loaded with classic tunes from the movie as well as other classics like Bros & Milli Vanilli. To quote Apollo Creed:


"See that look in their eyes, Rock? You gotta get that look back, Rock. Eye of the tiger, man." Rocky III

Steroids for Xmas?

Its been a busy week work-wise. Like all good retailers we launched our Xmas campaign about 8 weeks before the actual event takes place, so now our stores are all bright red, fake snowflakes on the windows, the credits song from Die Hard I (fantastic movie) playing in stores. “Oh the weather outside is………” Training wise its been a little lean this week. I did the 12km river run on Tuesday.

I cycled into work in bright sunshine, lovely day outside. The temperatures this week have been very pleasant indeed. The river run starts at Putney Bridge, you tear along the river front, round Craven Cottage Stadium, back onto the river, past the office of Betfair, then over Hammersmith bridge, back along the other side. I had real problems with the glare of the sunshine on that side. I might need to bring out the “Big” sunglasses to prevent me running into cyclists and other runners. You then run past all the rowing clubs, over Putney bridge and back to the office. It’s a pretty good route, except the last section where you have grumpy looking people in big dark coats waiting for delayed buses. They don’t take to well to a guy in a bright running top with “Eye of the Tiger” blaring through his Ipod prancing past them. The worst thing from my point of view is having to run a lot quicker when people are around so you look good.

Sarah has been doing some training this week but also had a pretty busy working week. She is running this afternoon so I am going to have to sneak in some training behind her back to try keep in touch. We recently ran a 10 mile race and she finished about 8 minutes ahead of me. My male ego is still recovering. I have looked into horse steroids and other performance enhancing products. I even emailed ben.johnson@idrankfromthewrongbottle.com but got no reply.

Off to a comedy club this evening to get abused by some hack who has nicked material from classic comedians such as Jerry Seinfeld. Prior to that, meeting my brother for a drink at Tiger Tiger. He asked me to mention him in this blog. He lives and works in Colchester, has been single for quite a while now and is desperate to meet someone. If you know of any single females who list freckles, curly hair, large ears and fake teeth please let me know and I’ll pass on his details.

Have a good weekend!

Now the Sun comes out!

Yesterday was our long run with the club. I woke up to a miserable looking day, no rain but it was threatening. We have joined the Wimbledon Winmilers who are a very friendly and welcoming club. Three groups leave at 10am, a 3 mile, 5 mile & 7 mile. For longer runs a group leaves at 9:30am. Sarah normally runs the earlier time so I decided to join them. Some very fit guys and ladies in this early group. We set off with most people doing between 11 - 15 miles.

I ended up running with an Irish student as we were both going at about the same pace. Had a good chat along the way about her Masters in Drawing she was doing. Felt good all the way round, the rain started coming down towards the end but at least it was fairly warm. Ended up doing about 11 miles.

Today is a rest day although on my cycle into work some guy on a very flash bike came tearing past me at a traffic light. I could not let this injustice take place so broke a few land speed records and got onto his tail and slip-streamed for a while which he did not seem to enjoy. So legs got a brief workout.

Happy with the weekly mileage I did - 32 miles. Just need to keep it up this week.

Get up, don't roll over

Friday morning and Sarah had just left for work, my body needed more sleep. But my mind wanted more running miles. Instead of rolling over I got up and cycled into work. Changed into my running shoes and did the 12km run along the Thames again.

Had some rubbing on the arches of my feet on Thursday's run and by the end of this run I knew I had acquired some blisters. Sure enough a big blister on each foot. Sunday is my long run day so I got some Compeed blister patches and now hoping they do the trick.

I have new running shoes which strangely I got from Harrods. Now before you start thinking I have inherited money or won the lottery, they ran a great promotion recently where you got a free pair of shoes with every pair you bought. So Sarah and I both got two new pairs each. I have always ran in Asics and up till now stuck with the 1100. But I upgraded to the 2120's. They feel a lot more structured and I am enjoying them so far. The blisters came from running in very cheap office socks. Not going to make that mistake again!

Today is a rest day, I am studying while Sarah gets pampered at a Spa for the afternoon. Looking forward to doing a longer run tomorrow, rain predicted.

Kick Start

Kicked off my training for the Paris Marathon this week. Only got into running about 16 months ago. Had done the odd 10km run once a year. Met Sarah who is an excellent runner and my girlfriend. She caused me to catch the running bug. Have done a few 10km, 10mile and 15mile runs and have now taken the plunge to do a Marathon. Paris in May. We are doing a half marathon in March in case your wondering.

We are doing the run ourselves but thought we would try and raise some money for charity anyway. So have setup a website to do so, raising money for Starfish, who look after orphaned children affected by Aids. http://www.justgiving.com/jasonsarah

I'll be updating our progress on our training in the build up to Paris through the winter months. We have joined a running club which should help keep us motivated.

Did a 12km run this morning along the Thames, very fresh and I was thankful I had some thermal wear on. Although it looks like I may need to get out the running tights.

I cycle to work and back so hoping that is helping the fitness as well.