T-108 - I Should Lard

7.1 Miles (119.4 Total)
67 Minutes (18 Hours 33 Minutes)

DONATE: www.justgiving.com/jamie-ross
FOLLOW LARDY BOY ON TWITTER: @Rooster1972.  Please follow me on Twitter for additional Lardy Boy updates


Well, what an eventful morning.  2 overtakes against this morning, rather disappointingly.  I am only going to count 1 of them though so that makes the score 2:2.


Overtake 1.  This one does not count.  The bloke wasn't even dressed for running, he had normal gear on and was sprinting.  The added sound of a nearby car alarm means that I can only conclude that he was a thief.


Overtake 2.  This bloke went past me without any apparent effort about halfway through my run.  He looked about 16 and full of life, the little shit.  If he is writing a blog I am sure it would read something like this.  'Overtook a fat bloke today, not sure I should count it though, I could swear he smelled of brandy.'


You see this is my major problem at the moment.  I am pleased that I have started my main training but at this time of year it is a real issue.  I see the hoovering up of food and drink around the house as a competitive sport at Christmas.  We had Christmas at home this year which was so nice.  The issue is that there is a barrel load of left overs, chocolate (a real weakness!) and booze (an even bigger weakness).  As I was drinking what was probably a triple brandy at 10 last night, I had not a care in the world.  At 7.30 this morning however it was a different matter.  I am surprised that the scales looked like this post-run.

In all honesty I was expecting worse.


The training schedule is asking 4 miles from me tomorrow, I think it will be more likely 'up yours, I feel crap and am doing nothing today cheers'.  As a result the next run is a 10 miler on Sunday morning.


I have entered a couple of races over the past few days, more on that later.  Also some New Year's resolutions to be considered.


Til then, a very Happy New Year, have a good one tonight.


LB
XXX

T-110 Days: Hilly Slippy Lardy

4.3 Miles (112.3 Total)
39 Minutes (17 Hours 26 Minutes)

DONATE: www.justgiving.com/jamie-ross
FOLLOW LARDY BOY ON TWITTER: @Rooster1972.  Please follow me on Twitter for additional Lardy Boy updates


Morning,


Like London Buses you wait for ages for a Lardy Run then 2 come along all at once.  This was a Lardy Boy on tour run, having spent the evening / night in the wonderful company of the family Durdles in Beaconsfield.  Having feasted on beer, wine, fish pie and churros (try it), a late night, not much sleep and a 5:45 start I set out and about in Beaconsfield.


This had the unfortunate side affect, hills.  Well one in particular that had me blowing out of my arse and looking none to attractive.  I am disappointed to report that this resulted in a minute of walking, something I never do!  Also being in the back of beyond meant rather icy and slippery roads which caused some issues.  Notwithstanding all the excuses above I got out and ran so that can't be bad.  Nothing much to report owing to a bit of a pea souper and I was busy dodging on and off road & avoiding chelsea tractors.


Have now consumed bacon sandwiches and all is well with the world.


Till tomorrow
LB
XXX

T-111 Days: The Return of the Lard

7.1 Miles (108 Total)
68 Minutes (16 Hours 47 Minutes)

DONATE: www.justgiving.com/jamie-ross
FOLLOW LARDY BOY ON TWITTER: @Rooster1972.  Please follow me on Twitter for additional Lardy Boy updates


Good morning one and all,


A belated Merry Christmas to you all and I hope that Santa delivered a bundle of goodies to you.


Today Lardy Boy finally returned to the roads after a 2 week lay off.  The first 10 days of the enforced break  was due to a nasty cold that ended up as a chest infections.  The last 5 days was to a complete abuse of my body, I would have attached a photo of my recycle bin but to be honest I am too ashamed to!  We had a top Christmas at home with various family and the Lardy Boy Christmas lunch went down a storm.


You will notice that we are now on the countdown to the big day in April.  Pre-Christmas was all about just getting out there and running.  As of this morning I have started my official 16 week training plan which to be honest looks brutal and terrifying in equal measure.  I would share the total mileage to go with you but it is too depressing, plus I will no doubt take a few short cuts along the way!


This morning's run was made difficult for a number of reasons:


1.  The first run in more than 2 weeks
2.  A 'refreshing' Christmas
3.  A particularly 'refreshing' trip to Twickenham yesterday to watch Harlequins.  As an aside I was devastated that the 'stars' from X-Factor were the stadium entertainment..... Shit, is there no escaping Simon 'Tossing' Cowell!!!?
4.  A 'refreshing' evening watching the mighty Arse tanning the chavvy hides of the West London Russians!
5.  An early start watching England giving Punter and his 10 Clowns a good kicking

Some of you wanted some photographs by way of proof of training.  Quite why I have no idea.  I should point out that the photo below was AFTER my run and not before, just so we are clear.  You will notice that I have purchased some base layers, which no puts me in the 'all the gear now idea' bracket.

Quite attractive I think you will agree.

Anyway some more family visits today followed by a night of festivities in Beaconsfield at the family Durdles.  This should make tomorrow's planned 4-5 miler a bit of a struggle however it will be another Lardy Boy on Tour production.

Till then, have a great day

LB

XXX

Days 37 - 45 - International Lard

0 Miles (100.9 Total)
0 Minutes (15 Hours 39 Minutes)

DONATE: www.justgiving.com/jamie-ross
FOLLOW LARDY BOY ON TWITTER: @Rooster1972.  Please follow me on Twitter for additional Lardy Boy updates


After a week of silence I thought I owed you some Lard!


Thanks so much to those who continue to sponsor me, including some people that I don't even know!  I am now over the £1,000 mark which is way above my expectations for this stage of the fund-raising.  Thanks to those who have helped spread the word.  Over the next few weeks my official training starts and I will share more detail with you all during next week as to how that will work.


On a fund-raising note I am a little disappointed that the prospect of me cooking up to 10 people of your choice a meal has gleaned a solitary £8.35 bid from my brother-in-law (He is Scottish).  Not only is this not enough, he wants me to be his only guest (worrying) and he is a vegetarian (even more worrying).  Please save me from this fate by sending bids in either as comments on this blog, on Twitter or Facebook.


The past week has been very difficult.  I got a cold at the beginning of last week that developed into a chest infection.  Now, as I am asthmatic I have to be very careful with these types of things.  As a result I haven't been for a run for 8 days now.  I am beginning to get better so am hopeful of a couple of runs before Christmas.  Also I am planning a few between Christmas and New Year before the training begins in earnest from the first week in January.


I will drop out another blog update pre-Christmas but in the meantime enjoy over-indulging this week and keep warm.  Again thanks for following the blog.


Til next time
LBXXX

Days 35 & 36

6.5 Miles (100.9 Total)
59 Minutes (15 Hours 39 Minutes)

DONATE: www.justgiving.com/jamie-ross
FOLLOW LARDY BOY ON TWITTER: @Rooster1972.  Please follow me on Twitter for additional Lardy Boy updates


Morning all


Nice to get out for a run this morning after a rather frustrating week.  Another working week that I was basically either working or daddy day-caring from 5am til 9pm left no time for a run.  Technically I could have gone out a couple of evenings but with Mrs R again in Dublin social services may have had an issue.


Anyway excuses out of the way.


I decided to go for a very early run this morning, mainly because it is my little girl's 3rd birthday party today (god I am getting old).  As a result the rest of my day will be filled with kitchen slavery and noisy children, deep joy.  As it was so dark I chose not to run down by the river.  It is lethal enough down there when you can see where you are going, also you never know how many Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstalls are down there (think about it).


So instead I chose to stick to the roads and run around some very attractive parts of West London, taking in such joyous sights as:

• Hammersmith Broadway
• Shepherds Bush Green
• Uxbridge Road (Acton)
• Acton High Street

It was quite nice running somewhere different although Lardy Boy couldn't help but notice that he was the only runner he saw all morning.  As a result I got a few odd stares, although the highlight was a totally hammered bloke trying to give me a hug on the Uxbridge Road.  I chose instead to dodge into the road to avoid him, I did look back and noticed that he reacted to my shimmy about 10 seconds too late and nearly fell into the road.  He was in pieces, I think he will be having a quiet Saturday.

Now I had planned a jaunt around Richmond Park tomorrow morning with my old mate, Simon Croxford.  I think I may have to let him down due to a diary cock up.  I am at a Christmas Do tonight and may get spangled.  If I don't manage a trip to Richmond Park tomorrow then I will have to try and do it over Christmas.  Sorry Croxy, will text you later.

The final thing I would like to point out is that I have managed to clock up over 100 miles of running so far. As a result I think that I require more financial rewards.  The running total now is in excess of £800 which is fantastic but there is a long way to go to get up to the £5k target I have given myself.

Anyway have a top weekend

LB

XXX

Day 33 & 34 - Fundraising

0 Miles (94.4 Total)
0 Minutes (14 Hours 38 Minutes)

DONATE: www.justgiving.com/jamie-ross
FOLLOW LARDY BOY ON TWITTER: @Rooster1972.  Please follow me on Twitter for additional Lardy Boy updates


I have not been able to go running this week yet due to work, unfortunately.  Mrs R is also in Dublin so when I am not working I am daddy-day-caring so little time to breathe let alone run anywhere.  However I thought I would write a few words about fund-raising.  I am so delighted to say that I am already up to £790.  Now, given the fact that the marathon is not until April means that I am re-forecasting (Finance people do that stuff sometimes) and now want to get to at least £5k.  Thanks very much to everyone who has donated so far, I really appreciate the incentive to train!


Now as a result I want to step things up on fund-raising.  As a result if you are interesting in sponsoring either this blog or indeed Lardy Boy himself (running tops etc) then please get in touch with me and we can discuss.


In addition I am offering a 'once in a lifetime' opportunity and that is Lardy Boy will provide you and up to 8 friends with a dinner party to the highest bidder at your house/flat/slum.  Please get in touch with me off line to put in your bids or just comment below and let's see if we can raise a lot more money for such a great cause.  Now many of you may not have had the pleasure of a Lardy Boy dinner but I have never killed anyone nor indeed given anyone food poisoning.  As a result I hope that this will be an enjoyable evening!  Bidding is open from today and I will close the bidding process off at the end of the month to try and get the bids up nice and high. 


If anyone else wants to get in on the act and join the fund-raising effort then please let me know and I would be delighted to come up with other methods of raising funds.  I will of course give credit where it is due!


Cheers
LB
XXX

Day 32 - Lard and Lard Only

8.1 Miles (94.4 Total)
74 Minutes (14 Hours 38 Minutes)

DONATE: www.justgiving.com/jamie-ross
FOLLOW LARDY BOY ON TWITTER: @Rooster1972.  Please follow me on Twitter for additional Lardy Boy updates


Blimey that was bloody hard this morning.  Once again I failed with the major principles of the 6 P's (Proper Preparation Prevents Piss Poor Performance), and Kevin Pietersen was the main issue.  The prospect of him twatting the Aussies into next week was too good to miss so I was up till 2am laughing my head off. 


I overtook someone again this morning but have disallowed the overtake so the score remains LB 2 The Rest of the World 1.  The reason?  The lady I overtook was jogging along and chatting on her phone, whereas yours truly was barely able to breathe....  


Just a reminder for anyone who has not read the blog written last week describing living with CDC to please click this link to do so.  This is my main motivation for not only doing the run but also writing this blog.


Congrats to Mr Alexander Brooks who correctly guessed yesterday's album, it was a bit of a simple one for old mates....  Today's is a classic and in my Top 5 albums of all time for what its worth.


Next week's running opportunities will be fairly limited however next weekend the plan is to do my peak pre Christmas run of 12 miles, before I spend most of the festive period undoing all my good work so far by overeating and drinking too much for a few weeks....


LB
XXX

Days 29 - 31 - Never Loved Lardy

6 Miles (86.3 Total)
56 Minutes (13 Hours 24 Minutes)

DONATE: www.justgiving.com/jamie-ross
FOLLOW LARDY BOY ON TWITTER: @Rooster1972.  Please follow me on Twitter for additional Lardy Boy updates.


Morning all


Now you would have to be monumentally stupid to run down by the river on a morning like this.  I mean, whilst it is a bit milder, there is a huge amount of ice on the towpath.  You would have to be a total shit for brains if you went down by the river this morning.


Anyway I ran down to the river this morning then along the towpath from Barnes to Kew, and home.   Miles 1 and 6 were fine, the middle miles I was either doing the running man uphill or looking like a fat Bambi downhill.


First run since last Saturday's 10 miler.  Now there are lots of reasons / excuses for this but the good news is the rest has finally sorted my dodgy hammy.  The time this morning was irrelevant to be honest, considering my less than 100% health and the bloody ice.  Add into the mix eating / drinking too much last night and then being up at 5 watching us spanking the Aussies, just getting out the front door could be considered a good effort.


A big thanks for the 150+ people who read the blog during the week explaining a little about living with CDC, it is a great cause to donate to so please do.  I am looking at sponsorship options for the blog and Lardy Boy, but need to get the traffic up a bit.  Any advice would be welcome.


Finally well done to Cristina Scavizzi who is 2 for 2 on the album names (2 glasses of wine at Nikki's leaving do Scav!).  Today's I think could be considered a little tricky, first correct answer on the blog, Twitter or Facebook wins.


Depending on how I feel in the morning I may do double Lardy Boy run for the weekend tomorrow.

Till then 
LB
XXX