That’s a good option – thanks.

Are the family rooms small dorms? If so it’d be a great backup but we’d prefer a bit more space for sleeping if possible.

We camped around the Mosel, Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Neuschwanstein and the Black Forest and found the camping great. Didn’t find as many sites as in France but we had a decent guidebook.

There was no need to book pitches (June) but then we only had a Suzuki Swift and a 2-man tent.

Everyone was friendly and the local beers and wines were amazing.

“i snapped my forks… “

I saw your bike perched on its remaining leg near the finish – looked spectacular!

Results: http://www.yorkshirecyclocross.org.uk/2011/2011%20Winter%20series/Race%20results/Ilkley%20CC.htm

Only 31 in total in the Seniors, or is that 31 finishers? Felt like lots more than that.

That was great fun but my bike needs an epic clean!

My first time but, talking to some experts, apparently most courses have laps up to twice as long as ilkley. The terrain was apparently very typical.

Mtbs were allowed in this as it was a British Cycling ‘Go-Cross’, not a usual league race.

I had a couple of minor offs and was down to 2 working gears at the end but at least I had no major mechanicals, unlike loads of the field!

Ran yesterday, rode today. Lovely!

Why are you getting tight muscles? Suggests that something biomechanical might be stopping you from running freely. Running sensibly shouldn’t hurt.

Rollers are often used to treat symptoms, not causes.

I move them down to the end of my nose a) for the teacher look and b) to let the wind de-mist them for me.

Like the strategy Clover. Should suit me as my riding skills are terrible – going over the bars is a requirement of every ride anyway.

I’m going to keep telling myself that if I’m not in agony, I’m not going fast enough.

Ah, I’d missed that the beer is mobile. Would it be bad form to hire domestiques to keep a supply coming? I’ll need something to dull the pain.

Depends what you want. You want to do the best you can or just get under 2 hours?

If you’re running 3 times per week 8 months before and have done 2 hours in the past I’d suggest that with some good training you could knock big chunks off 2 hours.

I’m glad I got the opportunity to kiss my mum goodbye, though it was a few minutes after she died.

If it had been a few days I’m not sure it would have been helpful to me.

I dont agree we are not talking about making life or death decisions here but as the injured party you will be more motivated than a person who will see you for 30 minutes amongst 10 other people.
There is a huge amount of information online now and your physio may or may not give you great information as IMO their quality and comitmment varis.

Obviously not life and death but pretty serious in the context of matt getting to London.

After last year’s injury I completely disagree:

I developed left shin pain running flat out on a road descent to the finish of a 10mile road race. 3 days later I was in pain walking and couldn’t run a step.

Google diagnosis suggested shin splints or, worst-case, stress fracture. Physio (http://www.carnegiesportsphysiotherapyclinic.co.uk/theteam/graeme-everard-mcsp-hpc) took 5 minutes to diagnose a tight muscle in my back which was limiting the movement in my right hip so the impact was transferring into the shin on my other leg. A set of exercises done for 10 mins twice per day and I’m running better than ever.

Without him I’d still be icing and resting.

Appointment’s today hopefully, but any lay-off more than 1 week and I won’t be able to acheive what I want to at London.

A couple of weeks won’t make much difference. You’ll be able to maintain fitness and even build more depending on what you’ve been doing so far by doing bike intervals etc.

I was off injured for 4 of the 8 weeks before a 10k last year and still went a minute quicker than my prevous pb (36min).

Edit: don’t just rest and run on it – the symptoms might ease but you need to address the cause. Physio will check your biomechanics and treat accordingly. Internet diagnosis is really dangerous with this stuff!

Unlucky

What did the physio say?

My 2 year old was terrified by the Bob the Builder 3d film when (spoiler alert!) Spud crashes into the bird house.

Other than that, he had a great time!

It’s smaller than I’d expected and bloody busy in school holidays. At weekends I’d suggest going early in the day before the rush.

Worth doing if you get Tesco clubcard vouchers as you can get free entries.

This must be the broadest question ever!

Start here: http://www.golakes.co.uk/

Tricolore?

Slices of mozzarella, tomato and basil leaves.

With Parma ham is even better.

BoardinBob – Member

January and February are soul destroying months

Gotta love that New Year optimism!

I’m always amazed at how quickly the days change:

On 1st Jan sunset will be at 15:55 but by the end of Jan sunset will be 16:45 – 50 minutes later!

http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/astronomy.html?n=303&month=1&year=2012&obj=sun&afl=-11&day=1

It’s nearly summer!

At a beach barbecue. I was snorkelling with some guys, they harpooned a few fish, we gutted them, cooked them and ate them with some local beers as the sun went down.

Cost about 50p.

Edit: The most disappointing meal I ever had was here: http://www.joelrobuchon.co.uk/

2 Michelin stars, about £60 per head for pretentious but utterly flavourless food, no atmosphere, surly staff and (STW cardinal sin) crap coffee. I was so looking forward to it too.

Co-Op have Aberlour, Glenlivet, Jura and a Glenmorangie for £20.

I know people who run for Tod Harriers – always seems to be a really friendly running club.

you having a ******* laugh!!

Ha ha – no.

He sleeps from 7.15ish to 6.20/7 every day. Very rarely wakes up but if he does, he just goes back to sleep/ waits for the clock.

6.20’s ok for him to get up as 1) his sister is awake anyway, 2) it means I get to play with him for a bit before I go to work and 3) it means he’s likely to have a nap at lunchtime.

+1 for the Gro clock – it’s like magic. Our 2 year old sleeps brilliantly and part of that is down to the clock.

It’s set for 6.20 in the week and 7am at weekends and, even if he wakes early, he stays in bed until it’s time to get up. We then hear him shout ‘Sun’s up!’ and he charges into our room to say hi.

His sister, on the other hand, is a disaster! Teething, tummy bug, separation anxiety and dummy dependency.

Fair enough! It’ll go with the rest of the bodged bits on my bike.

Anyone know where I can get any more o-rings for the cruds? (Or does anyone have a spare lying around?!)

My front guard was full of slushy snow and in clearing it out with a pointy stick I snapped one of the o-rings attaching it to my fork.

Grr.

Yes

Some chav ran a Give Way and crashed into my wife. Claim was fairly straightforward as they admitted fault but it was handled fine.

They insisted on using their ‘preferred’ bodyshop though and the repairs weren’t great – a body panel never quite lined up.

We renewed.

Thanks kcr – I’ve heard good things about that but don’t have a hrm. Can I do it without, or do people think that a hrm is now an essential bit of kit?!

Thanks

Phil – the 15*1 is based on this HIIT study (though recovery is 75s): http://jp.physoc.org/content/early/2010/01/20/jphysiol.2009.181743.abstract

2*20 is long intervals; 4*5m, to be honest, I made up as I do it when running and it’s my favourite session!

Sufferfest sounds brutal but I don’t have a turbo, so I’m trying to find quiet roads to do all this on!

The difference between stuff I want and stuff I need has become clearer!

And I’m trying hard to limit impulse and bogof ‘bargains’ in Tesco.

My cousin has done Ranmoor to central Manc for a few years. He drives and tends to work from home a couple of days per week.

He tends to go early and leave early to try to beat the traffic but it’s usually awful. He does a lot of teleconferencing in the car!

He has an awful BMW X5 with snow tyres on it from Oct to about April!

Edit: Do you need to live IN Sheff or just near enough to get there quickly? Hathersage is ace and would help your commute.

I like Sunflower brand jasmine tea. Or gunpowder. Whittards do a nice cherry blossom tea too.

A friend in Singapore drinks Green Tea with XO cognac on a night out.

He says it tastes like bubblegum. Unbelievable waste of both tea and cognac!

Depends how quick you want to get there.

Tube’s probably quickest but boats and buses in London are ace – you get great views and a much better feel for the geography. It’ll take a while though…

While my wife was in labour I banged my knee on the hospital bed.

I borrowed her gas and air and it felt much better until she punched me and demanded the return of the mask.

She got me back when our second was born – her waters broke all over my best trainers and they had to be incinerated as clinical waste.

Thanks for the swim tips. It’s good to hear about reformed aqua-retards.

I’ve ordered the TI book as it’s less than £6 delivered from Amazon and it’d be daft not to give it a bash first.

And…. blow bubbles!

TSY – good question!

My aim is to do decent triathlons and open water swims so I really want to be efficient.

I’d ideally like to get lessons but it’s tricky to fit them in with a young family so I’ve been looking at both Swim Smooth and TI.

I like that they both start off with drills to get the technique right. The TI website utterly summed me up – fairly fit in general but struggling to move water out of the way and knackered after a couple of lengths!

From what I read I like the sound of TI and will have a look at the book, but has anyone got any tips/ recommendations/ experiences of learning in Leeds/ Airedale/ Wharfedale?

Learn to swim proper front crawl

Build a proper base of sensible running training without getting injured by building up too fast

One long ride per month

Get my old mtb from father in law’s garage and build it up as a singlespeed

Under 37mins for Leeds Abbey Dash on 20th Nov.

What would you have done if you had caught them?

For a bit of balance…!

Hud is ace. Great restaurants, good pubs, everything you need in a small space, amazing riding on the edge of the Peaks if you get up to Marsden/ Meltham/ Holmfirth. Golcar and Outlane are nice. The hill over towards Halifax is good too – loads of nice villages that way, eg Greetland.

Access to everywhere is good via the M62 (or M1 if you’re Holmfirth way)

We lived there as we have family in Manc/ Skipton and worked in Sheffield and Leeds. We were an hour’s drive from all of these.

We moved away last year and I still miss it.

A friend has freakishly good hearing. My wife said he has “the ears of a hawk”.

Also, I asked how much her planned trip to the hairdresser for hair straightening would cost. Her response: “About as much as a perm”.

I’m not sure if I’m stupid as I don’t know how much a perm is, or she’s stupid for thinking that I would know this.